The role of perceived employer obligations in the interpretation of and reaction to expatriate compensation practices

Best Paper Award of EIASM's 3rd Reward Management Conference 2011 (RMC 2011)International audienceIn this paper I examine the relationship between expatriates' perceptions of their compensation package and their affective commitment. The results of this cross-sectional study amongst 263 Finnish expatriates suggest the mediating role of the employee's perceptions of fulfillment of their employer obligations. This leads to the consideration that employees systematically assess their total reward package, interpret and give meaning to these compensation signals in terms of fulfillment of perceived employer obligations and simultaneously re-adapt or adjust their attitudes at any moment thorough their exchange relationship. In addition, this study gives empirical support for some of Rousseau and Ho's (2000) theoretical arguments regarding psychological contract (PC) issues in compensation. Furthermore it provides evidence that three of the PC feature measures for employer obligations developed by Janssens, Sels and Van den Brande (2003) can be replicated. Finally the implications of these findings for future research are discussed

INTERNATIONALISM ANCHOR: CONSTRUCT OPERATIONALIZATION AND SCALE VALIDATION

The internationalism anchor describes individuals who are primarily excited by working in international task environment, who prefer developing their professional competencies in international settings, and search for new experiences by getting to know unfamiliar countries and different cultures (Suutari & Taka, 2004). This anchor is thought to lead the career choices of an increasing number of individuals nowadays. This in-progress research paper presents an operationalization of this construct and examines its validity and correlates.Career Anchor; Internationalism; Expatriates; Self-Initiated Expatriates;

The career competencies of self-initiated and assigned expatriates: assessing the development of career capital over time

Building on a modern careers approach, we assess the effects of working abroad on individuals’ career capital. Given the dearth of longitudinal studies, we return to a sample of economics graduates in Finland eight years later. We measure changes in three dimensions of career capital; ‘knowing how’, ‘knowing whom’, ‘knowing why’ and find that company assigned expatriates learn more than self-initiated expatriates. All three career capital areas benefit from international experience and all are increasingly valued over time. Based on our findings we conclude that a dynamic notion of career capital acquisition and use is needed. Managerial implications include the need for a wider view of talent management for international businesses

Expatriate Compensation: A Total Reward Perspective

For the past decade it has been pointed out that employee perspectives on and reactions to HRM should be reinstated within the relationship between HRM practices and performance, since employees are deemed critical to organizational outcomes. Furthermore, research has shown the limited effect of financial compensation practices on employee commitment and retention. The scarce theoretically grounded studies which have examined expatriate compensation have been guided by the view that financial compensation is a pivotal control and incentive mechanism, a flexible means to achieve corporate outcomes. This dissertation considers expatriate compensation from an individual perspective. It comprises four articles, of which three are based on empirical data. The first theoretical article brings to the fore the necessity of considering expatriate compensation as embedded into the employment relationship, which is itself entwined with the international environment of the expatriation. In the second article the relationship between expatriates' state of psychological contract related to their compensation package and affective commitment is investigated using quantitative empirical data. The third article examines more closely this previous relationship by considering the mediating role of perceived employer obligations. The fourth articles uses qualitative interview data to investigate, from a total reward perspective, what factors influence career decisions of global careerists. The dissertation shows that organizations would do well to encompass rewards most valued by expatriates into their compensation packages. Secondly, it shows that expatriates systematically assess their total reward package, interpret and give meaning to compensation signals in terms of fulfillment of perceived employer obligations. Simultaneously they re-adapt or adjust their attitudes at any moment through their employment relationship. Thus to retain expatriates organizations might do well to pay more attention to what expatriates value most in their employment relationship rather than simply paying them more

Organizational practices, management styles, objectives and performances in Community Supported Agriculture: a historical overview

International audienc

Organizational practices, management styles, objectives and performances in Community Supported Agriculture: a historical overview

International audienc

The expatriate’s family as a stakeholder of the firm : a responsibility viewpoint

In this paper we argue for the recognition of the expatriate’s family as a stakeholder of the firm during the expatriation. We demonstrate why the expatriate’s family can be regarded as a stakeholder of the parent company and what kind of a stakeholder the family is. Additionally, we argue that the parent company needs to develop and apply a holistic well-being orientation to show stakeholder responsibility in the international assignment (IA) arena. We apply the theory of stakeholder salience to the IA relationship because it provides a theoretical framework for integrating the family into the expatriation process. Yet this theory does not necessarily provide a framework for assessing the social functioning of expatriates and their family members. Since expatriation often leads to a radical shift in family roles and living circumstances, family members (or indeed the expatriates themselves) cannot replicate all elements of their previous lives in the host country. Therefore, we use the capabilities approach to complete the theoretical framework, as this approach provides an evaluative mechanism which highlights how a socially responsible relationship between the company and the family can be advanced to foster well-being and quality of life for the family members as well as the expatriate, even if their functioning abroad differs from their functioning in their own country.peerReviewe