Managers’ interest in international assignments: the role of work and career satisfaction

International Journal of Intercultural Relations 26 (2002) 233–253

Managers’ interest in international assignments: the role of work and career satisfaction Kathleen Boiesa,*, Mitchell G. Rothsteinb b

a Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ont., Canada N6A 5C2 Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ont., Canada N6A 5C2

Abstract As business globalizes, organizations need to attract increasing numbers of qualified managers for international assignments. An understanding of the motivation underlying managers’ intention to accept such assignments would therefore be valuable. The purpose of this research was to examine relations between work attitudes and interest in international assignments. Three hundred and fifty Canadian managers responded to a questionnaire assessing their work attitudes as well as their interest in international assignments. It was found that specific facets of job satisfaction (company identification, satisfaction with coworkers, and satisfaction with financial rewards) were negatively related to interest in international assignments. It was also found that the relation between career satisfaction and interest in international assignments was moderated by managers’ general beliefs about such assignments. Finally, the results showed that expected satisfaction with specific job characteristics in a future job (opportunity to use competencies, to travel, and extrinsic rewards) were positively related to managers’ interest in international assignments. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for human resource planning in global organizations making use of international assignments. r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Employee attitudes; Geographical mobility; International assignments; Job characteristics; Managers; Occupational choice

1. Introduction The increasing globalization of business is making it necessary for organizations to require their managers to accept some type of international assignment on a *Corresponding author. Fax: +1-519-661-3961. E-mail address: [email protected] (K. Boies). 0147-1767/02/$ - see front matter r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 4 7 - 1 7 6 7 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 0 2 - 0

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short- or long-term basis. Organizations need to find ways to increase the attractiveness of overseas assignments, as well as decrease the rate of failure and early repatriation. To do so, it is important to understand the motivation underlying managers’ willingness to work on international assignments. This could contribute to an organization’s ability to adapt their relocation packages, the design of the overseas assignments, and their reward systems (Noe, Steffy, & Barber, 1988) to take into account managers’ expectations, and to facilitate human resources planning. Furthermore, it will assist organizations in making expatriate assignments more successful. The following discussion is based on three assumptions. First, we use the literature on willingness to relocate domestically to provide a theoretical basis from which to develop hypotheses at the international level, although differences between the two types of mobility (domestic versus international) are recognized (Noe & Barber, 1993). Brett and Stroh (1995) examined managers’ willingness to relocate domestically as a predictor of their willingness to relocate internationally and their results suggest that the theoretical framework developed for domestic relocation could be adapted to international relocation decisions. Second, especially when relocation research does not address the issue, we use turnover research to provide a theoretical basis for developing hypotheses on intention to accept an international assignment. Since an international assignment represents a change in job characteristics, such as co-workers, supervisors, and location, it could be considered a ‘‘particular form of turnover’’ (Eby & Russell, 1998). A number of studies in the area of job relocation derived hypotheses based on turnover research (e.g., Brett & Reilly, 1988; Kirschenbaum, 1991). Finally, interest in an international assignment is considered to be an intention or willingness to relocate. Intention is generally a good predictor of behaviour. Specifically, there is some evidence that willingness to relocate is a good indicator of the actual relocation decision. Brett and Reilly (1988) conducted a longitudinal study investigating the predictive validity of willingness to relocate domestically with regard to the actual relocation decision and found a significant effect over a five-year period. In addition to this empirical evidence, Fishbein and Ajzen’s (1975) theory of reasoned action provides the theoretical rationale for the use of an intention measure. According to their theory, attitudes will predict behaviour through the influence of intentions. Thus, attitudes (and subjective norms) will predict intentions that will predict behaviour. In this case, willingness to relocate is the behavioural intention, which predicts the relocation decision (the behaviour). In turnover research, intention to quit has received much attention. Mobley (1977, 1982) presented a model of turnover, based on withdrawal cognitions, that is useful in providing a theoretical rationale for the use of an intention measure. In the intermediate linkages model, dissatisfaction leads to thoughts of quitting, which lead to a search evaluation and behaviour, evaluation of alternatives, the intention to quit and, finally, to turnover. Thus, here again, attitudes lead to intentions, which lead to behaviour. Finally, in a meta-analysis study, Tett and Meyer (1993) tested several variables related to turnover. Intent to quit strongly predicted turnover, which, once more, emphasizes the validity of the intention in predicting behaviour. Furthermore, they found work attitudes to contribute independently to turnover, but this

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contribution was mostly limited to effects on intentions. Thus, work attitudes contribute to intent to quit, which, in turn, leads to turnover. This is consistent with Mobley (1977) and, in a broader way, with Fishbein and Ajzen’s (1975) model. It is equally consistent with studies of willingness to relocate that used these models to provide their theoretical rationale (Brett & Reilly, 1988; Eby & Russell, 1998; Kirschenbaum, 1991). 1.1. International assignments as a career decision Managers are cautious when it comes to accepting an expatriate assignment (see Adler, 1986; Taillieu, 1992; Weeks, 1993). The decision of going abroad can be disruptive to family and community life, and research in both the international and domestic relocation areas has focussed on these issues (e.g., Brett & Stroh, 1995; Brett, Stroh, & Reilly, 1992, 1993; Eby & Russell, 1998; Fox & Krausz, 1987; Gould & Penley, 1985; Landau, Shamir, & Arthur, 1992). However, other aspects of the relocation decision, such as factors relating to work and careers, have been relatively neglected. Noe and Barber (1993) and Noe et al. (1988) have advocated a more thorough examination of work-related factors as predictors of willingness to relocate. Eby and Russell (1998) emphasized the importance of career-related cognitions, which encompass employees’ self-efficacy for advancement, relocation beliefs, and desire for career advancement, in explaining willingness to relocate domestically. They also suggested that work attitudes will be important contributors to employees’ willingness to relocate domestically. Aryee, Chay, and Chew’s (1996) study of willingness to accept mobility opportunities in similar versus dissimilar cultures emphasized the importance of career-related factors. In a sample of Singaporean managers, they examined relations between a number of variables (i.e., demographic, personality, career, spouse-related, and company relocation policy) and managers’ willingness to accept mobility opportunities. They found career-related variables to make the most incremental contribution when attempting to explain managers’ willingness to relocate. This was true for relocation to both similar and dissimilar cultures. These findings suggest that relocation, in particular international relocation, should be considered from the perspective of a career-related decision. The purpose of this study is to investigate work- and career-related attributes influencing managers’ interest in international assignments. 1.2. Work attitudes related to managers’ interest in international assignments 1.2.1. Job satisfaction Results concerning the relations between job satisfaction and different indicators of willingness to relocate have been mixed. Noe et al. (1988) investigated the relation between mobility and job favourability, defined as the employee’s satisfaction with his/her work, and also looked at the discrepancy between the current and the ideal job, an indirect indicator of job satisfaction. They investigated four types of mobility, two of which involved relocation. Job favourability (satisfaction) did not

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relate significantly to transfers involving relocation. However, consistent with their prediction, discrepancy from one’s ideal job was a positive predictor of the intention to accept an offer for both lateral transfer with relocation and promotion with relocation. Brett et al. (1993) investigated job satisfaction and its relation to willingness to relocate domestically. Contrary to the hypothesis, job satisfaction did not significantly predict willingness to relocate domestically. However, they measured only two facets of the construct: satisfaction with wages and satisfaction with intrinsic factors. Furthermore, the first variable was assessed through the use of a one-item scale. The facets they measured cannot be considered to cover exhaustively the construct of job satisfaction. Some aspects of job satisfaction that were neglected in Brett et al. (1993) might have an impact on managers’ intentions to accept an international assignment. Veiga (1983), on the other hand, found relations between career mobility (a construct conceptually similar to relocation) and facets of job satisfaction. More specifically, Veiga (1983) found that satisfaction with recognition, advancement, and salary were negatively related to career mobility. Finally, Kirschenbaum (1991) found that dissatisfaction with the workplace was positively related to relocation intentions. These mixed results suggest that relations between work attitudes and relocation may be complex. First, they suggest that facet measures of job satisfaction are important to consider in this research rather than general measures of this construct. In addition, some aspects of job satisfaction that were neglected may have an impact on managers’ intentions to accept an international assignment. Because the literature is scarce with regard to these relations, it is difficult to make specific predictions about facets of job satisfaction. However, a few studies may be useful in suggesting certain facets that could explain some variance in managers’ interest in international assignments. The work itself (Adler, 1986; Mobley, 1982), financial rewards (Veiga, 1983), and career future (Adler, 1986; Tung, 1998; Veiga, 1983) seem to be all potentially important facets of job satisfaction in determining an employee’s intention to relocate. If the lack of clear findings regarding the relation between job satisfaction and relocation suggests that facets of job satisfaction should be measured, they also suggest that managers do not accept an international assignment (or any type of relocation offer) based solely on their job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Rather, this type of decision, as Aryee et al. (1996) suggested, may be career-related, which would imply that career satisfaction could be an important consideration in examining correlates of managers’ interest in international assignments. 1.2.2. Career satisfaction Although it has been established that relocation has important implications for careers, there is a paucity of studies that have looked at the influence of career satisfaction on employees’ willingness to relocate and turnover intentions. However, a number of studies have investigated variables closely related to career satisfaction, defined as the degree to which one is satisfied with the progress of his/her career. Noe and Barber (1993) and Aryee et al. (1996) studied several variables related to career satisfaction. They found that career insights and distance from career goals

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were positively related to willingness to relocate to a dissimilar culture. Veiga (1983) also studied concepts similar to career satisfaction. He found that fear of stagnation and career impatience were positive predictors of managers’ mobility. These studies, however, provide only indirect evidence of the relation between career satisfaction and willingness to relocate internationally. In sum, although career satisfaction has been neglected in research on turnover and willingness to relocate domestically, some variables related to career satisfaction have been investigated (Aryee et al., 1996; Noe & Barber, 1993; Veiga, 1983). These studies suggest that to the extent that managers are satisfied with the progression of their current career, they could be less likely to be interested in an international assignment.

1.2.3. Managers’ beliefs about the advantages of domestic versus international assignments Managers’ general beliefs concerning the instrumental value of domestic versus international assignments should affect their interest in an international assignment. Eby and Russell’s (1998) analysis of factors influencing willingness to relocate emphasizes the importance of managers’ beliefs in understanding their relocation intentions. Indeed, they found that relocation beliefs, defined as the employees’ perception of a direct link between relocation and career advancement, was a significant predictor of willingness to relocate domestically. Adler’s (1986) study offers more specific insights regarding how students perceive international assignments to be beneficial to their career. In her survey, MBA students had mixed feelings concerning the instrumentality of international assignments for their career, life, and work. These were amongst the most frequent reasons given to accept as well as to refuse an international assignment. Thus, Eby and Russell (1998) as well as Adler (1986) have suggested that employees’ general beliefs can be important in understanding their willingness to relocate. Aryee et al. (1996) also highlight the importance of employees’ general beliefs as important factors in the decision to relocate. They go further to specify the role that these general beliefs may play. They suggest that the strength of the relation between career-related variables and willingness to relocate would depend, in part, on the extent to which employees perceive expatriate assignments to be instrumental to their career. Thus, they suggest that employees’ general beliefs may moderate the relation between career-related variables and employees’ willingness to relocate. Following the suggestion of Aryee et al. (1996), we hypothesize that managers’ beliefs about the advantages and disadvantages of international assignments could act as a moderator of the relation between career satisfaction and willingness to relocate internationally. Career satisfaction may be negatively related to interest in international assignments when managers believe that domestic job is instrumental to their career, whereas when managers believe that an international assignment is more instrumental to their career, current career satisfaction should not negatively affect interest in international assignments. Thus, regardless of their beliefs about international assignments, if employees are satisfied with the progression of their

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career in their current location, they may not wish to go through the uncertainty associated with accepting an international assignment. 1.2.4. Expected satisfaction with the job characteristics in the next job Mobley (1982) considers job satisfaction to be a present-oriented construct, while turnover is future-oriented. He advocates the use of a future-oriented measure of satisfaction such as future attraction of the present role. In the original intermediate linkages model, Mobley (1977; see also Mobley, Griffeth, Hand, & Meglino, 1979) included job satisfaction and the comparison of alternative jobs to the current job as predictors of intention to quit. Hinsz and Nelson (1990) tested Mobley’s (1977) intermediate linkages model and other competing models of turnover. They found that expected satisfaction with the job characteristics in the next job (comparison of alternatives to the present job) and job satisfaction were both significant predictors of turnover intentions. Furthermore, in a study of attitudes toward an employerinitiated relocation in the US military, Fisher and Shaw (1994) found that expected satisfaction with the next job, measured prior to moving, was positively related to pre-move attitudes toward relocation. Also, pre-move attitudes were positively related to post-move attitudes. Willingness to relocate is future-oriented, which suggests that expected future satisfaction may be an important predictor to consider. Furthermore, if the decision to accept or reject an international assignment is indeed a career-related decision, managers, in making that decision, should evaluate to what extent the assignment they will accept has characteristics they desire. Thus, people interested in international assignments should expect to be more satisfied with the job characteristics associated with international assignments. An examination of the literature on international assignments indicates that there are salient characteristics associated with these jobs. Considerable research has shown that autonomy, responsibility, and job challenge are major components of international assignments (Adler, 1981, 1986; Baker & Ivanevich, 1971; Birdseye & Hill, 1995; Black & Gregersen, 1990; Goman, 1994; . Naumann, 1993; Taillieu, 1992; Torbiorn, 1982). Furthermore, people interested in international assignments want to travel and learn from other cultures. They think that international assignments represent an opportunity to have a cross-cultural and personal growth experience (Adler, 1986). On the other hand, even though international assignments often involve higher salary and fringe benefits, they also often impose a financial burden on expatriates, which can take the form of taxes, moving fees and so on (Esquenazi-Shaio, 1996; Gregersen & Black, 1990). Therefore, we suggest that managers who expect to be more satisfied with the challenge, autonomy, responsibility, financial rewards, and opportunities to travel and learn from other cultures in their next job will be more interested in international assignments. To summarize, certain facets of current job satisfaction (i.e., financial rewards, career future, and kind of work) should be related to managers’ interest in international assignments. Furthermore, career satisfaction should be more strongly and negatively related to interest in international assignments if managers believe

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that domestic assignments can be more beneficial to their careers and personal lives than international assignments. Finally, managers’ expectation of satisfaction in the next job should be positively related to their interest in international assignments.

2. Method 2.1. Sample One thousand questionnaires were sent to a random sample of managers, selected from a 30-year period of graduates of a business school of a large Canadian university. Three hundred and fifty questionnaires were returned, for a response rate of 35%. 2.1.1. Sample characteristics The respondents’ age ranged from 32 to 50 (M ¼ 39:13; SD ¼ 4:76). They had, on average, 14.8 years of professional experience, which ranged from 6 to 30 years. The majority of the respondents were males (80.5%) and 88.4% were married, with an average of 2 children per family. The respondents occupied different managerial levels, the majority being executive managers (36.5%). About half of the sample had international experience (47.8%), the number of years of international experience ranging from 1 to 20, with a mean of 4.75 years for those who had international experience. Participants worked mainly in finance and insurance (24%); manufacturing (14.2%); oil and petrochemical (9.9%); business service (7.7%); and government service (6.0%). Analyses were conducted with a restricted sample of males aged 50 or less and results were compared with the entire sample. The pattern of results did not change significantly. Thus, analyses done on the full sample will be presented. 2.1.2. Data cleansing Items were averaged to create scale scores. These were calculated if all items composing the scale had a score or if only one score was missing. The data were subsequently examined on a variable by variable and case by case basis. Of the 350 cases, 32 cases were deleted because of too many missing data, for a usable sample size of 318. Finally, no outliers were detected. 2.2. Measures 2.2.1. Intention to accept an international assignment This scale, labelled ‘‘Interest in International Assignments and Careers,’’ assesses behavioural intention to accept an international assignment. The measure was developed by Adler (1986) and used in a survey conducted on MBA students investigating their intention to accept an international assignment upon graduation. The scale is composed of 5 questions asking the participants to rate, on a 7-point

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anchored Likert scale (1=strongly disagree to 7=strongly agree) the degree to which they would consider accepting an international assignment. 2.2.2. Job satisfaction Job satisfaction was assessed through the use of the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR), which is composed of 42 items. This scale has yielded adequate reliability, convergent and divergent validity, and structural validity (Dunham, Smith, & Blackburn, 1977; Goffin & Jackson, 1988). The IOR measures eight facets of job satisfaction (i.e., kind of work; financial rewards; career future; company identification; amount of work; supervision; co-workers; physical conditions). Global satisfaction is obtained by averaging the scores for each of the eight scales. 2.2.3. Career satisfaction Career satisfaction was assessed through a scale developed by Greenhaus, Parasuraman, and Wormley (1990). It is a five-item scale measuring the respondents’ perception of their career progression, in terms of goal achievement, income, advancement, new skill acquisition, and overall career success. Responses are rated on a 7-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree to 7=strongly agree). 2.2.4. Expected satisfaction with job characteristics in the next job Measures of managers’ expected satisfaction with job characteristics in the next job were obtained from 42 items. The participants rated, on a 5-point Likert scale (1=I could not increase my satisfaction to 5=I could substantially increase my satisfaction), the extent to which they expected to be satisfied with 42 job characteristics in their next job. These items were developed from an extensive survey of the job characteristics literature (e.g., Hackman & Oldham, 1980). An exploratory principal component analysis with varimax rotation was conducted to investigate the structure of the 42 items. Following a first analysis, two items concerned with the location of the organization and its environmental responsibility were deleted. The loadings of these two items were not clearly associated with a single factor and it was felt that respondents might not have responded to them in the way they were intended. Following the deletion of these items, a principal component analysis was conducted and eight factors that were clearly interpretable were obtained, accounting for 64% of the variance. Items were included in each scale according to their highest factor loading. Each scale and its particular items, along with the factor loadings, can be found in the Appendix. 2.2.5. Managers’ beliefs about the advantages of domestic versus international assignments This scale was originally developed by Adler (1986). It is composed of six items, asking the participants to rate, on a 7-point Likert scale (1=domestic to 7=international) the degree to which domestic or international assignments were most likely to help them achieve their career objectives.

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3. Results Means and standard deviations for all variables can be found in Table 1. Table 2 displays the intercorrelations between the variables, along with the coefficient alphas obtained in the present study for each scale. Global job satisfaction was negatively, albeit weakly, related to managers’ interest in international assignments (r ¼ 0:10; po0:05). Significance levels are based on one-tailed or two-tailed tests, following the formulation of hypotheses (i.e., if a direction was hypothesized, it is based on a onetailed test, and if no direction was hypothesized, it is based on a two-tailed test). The correlation of career satisfaction with interest in international assignments was not significant (r ¼ 0:01; ns), as shown in Table 2. Because managers’ international experience could potentially have an impact on the hypothesized correlations, it was important to remove the variance due to this particular variable in order to test the hypotheses. Removing the variance due to managers’ years of international experience provides a very stringent test of the hypotheses. The introduction of job satisfaction in the second step in a hierarchical regression analysis, following the amount of international experience, did not yield a

Table 1 Means and standard deviations M

SD

2.91

1.55

Facets of job satisfaction 2. Supervision 3. Company identification 4. Kind of work 5. Amount of work 6. Coworkers 7. Physical conditions 8. Financial rewards 9. Career future 10. Global job satisfaction 11. Career satisfaction 12. Beliefs

3.56 3.42 3.86 3.29 3.68 3.63 3.75 3.79 3.62 5.18 4.23

0.86 0.75 0.73 0.70 0.61 0.74 0.65 0.83 0.50 1.21 1.08

Expected satisfaction with 13. Opportunity to use competencies 14. Opportunity to travel 15. Extrinsic rewards 16. Working conditions 17. Opportunity for social responsibility 18. Working with people 19. Status of the organization 20. Organizational culture 21. International experience

2.90 2.54 2.90 2.59 2.58 2.61 2.84 2.89 2.18

0.96 0.93 0.86 0.84 0.93 0.99 0.93 0.88 3.94

Variables 1. Interest in international assignments

Variables 1. Interest/international Facets of job satisfaction 2. Supervision 3. Company identification 4. Kind of work 5. Amount of work 6. Coworkers 7. Physical conditions 8. Financial rewards 9. Career future 10. Global job satisfaction 11. Career satisfaction 12. Beliefs Expected satisfaction with 13. Opportunity to use competencies 14. Opportunity to travel 15. Extrinsic rewards 16. Working conditions 17. Opportunity for social responsibility 18. Working with people 19. Status of the organization 20. Organizational culture 21. International experience

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20 21

0.90

0.06 0.87 0.16** 0.59** 0.88 0.01 0.47** 0.56** 0.87 0.02 0.19** 0.28** 0.32** 0.89 0.13* 0.46** 0.54** 0.46** 0.19** 0.71 0.02 0.20** 0.42** 0.23** 0.19** 0.30** 0.76 0.16ww 0.36** 0.50** 0.35** 0.18** 0.36** 0.25** 0.89 0.02 0.52** 0.63** 0.55** 0.25** 0.45** 0.32** 0.43** 0.80 0.10w 0.71** 0.84** 0.73** 0.48** 0.68** 0.54** 0.62** 0.78** 0.87 0.01 0.28** 0.41** 0.49** 0.12* 0.34** 0.22** 0.52** 0.58** 0.55** 0.88 0.42** 0.14* 0.20** 0.16** 0.13* 0.15** 0.02 0.14* 0.13* 0.20** 0.17** 0.78

0.13w 0.31** 0.34** 0.36** 0.02 0.25** 0.14* 0.31** 0.28** 0.37** 0.36** 0.20** 0.93 0.26ww 0.15* 0.22** 0.14** 0.07 0.21** 0.10 0.22** 0.18** 0.24** 0.15** 0.22** 0.47** 0.72 0.12w 0.20** 0.33** 0.21** 0.10 0.25** 0.15** 0.48** 0.22** 0.36** 0.34** 0.18** 0.66** 0.44** 0.84 0.04 0.16** 0.29** 0.16** 0.25** 0.16** 0.29** 0.22** 0.25** 0.34** 0.23** 0.09 0.44** 0.40 ** 0.53** 0.67 0.06 0.20** 0.36** 0.17** 0.11 0.22** 0.09 0.20** 0.26** 0.30** 0.21** 0.08 0.57** 0.37** 0.57** 0.52** 0.64 0.10 0.25** 0.28** 0.24** 0.13* 0.26** 0.07 0.17** 0.26** 0.31** 0.24** 0.12* 0.66** 0.42** 0.47 ** 0.40** 0.57** 0.82 0.10 0.21** 0.36** 0.17** 0.00 0.26** 0.13* 0.21** 0.28** 0.30** 0.19** 0.07 0.51** 0.34** 0.43** 0.36** 0.44** 0.41** 0.77 0.07 0.48** 0.48** 0.31** 0.17** 0.26** 0.11 0.32** 0.35** 0.46** 0.30** 0.18** 0.69** 0.39** 0.55** 0.46** 0.56** 0.64** 0.52** 0.87 0.24** 0.12** 0.15** 0.016 0.04 0.06 0.02 0.02 0.09 0.10 0.02 0.10 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.04 0.02 0.01 0.17** 0.03

Note: Coefficient alphas are presented in boldface along the diagonal. *po0:05; two-tailed. **po0:01; two-tailed. wpo0:05; one-tailed. wwpo0:01; one-tailed.

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Table 2 Intercorrelations and coefficient alphas

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significant change in the squared multiple correlation (DR2 ¼ 0:003; DF ð1; 315Þ=1.909, ns). This suggests that the weak relation observed between global job satisfaction and managers’ interest in international assignments may have been due, at least in part, to their years of international experience. It was hypothesized that certain facets of job satisfaction (i.e., the work itself, financial rewards, and career future) would be more likely to be negatively related to managers’ interest in international assignments. An analysis of the facets of job satisfaction and their relations with interest in international assignments revealed that, of the eight correlations, only three were significant: managers’ company identification (r ¼ 0:16; po0:01), satisfaction with their co-workers (r ¼ 0:13; po0:05), and satisfaction with their financial rewards (r ¼ 0:16; po0:01). This lends partial support to the hypothesis. A moderated multiple regression analysis was conducted in order to test for the hypothesized moderation effect of managers’ general beliefs about the advantages/ disadvantages of international assignments on the relation between career satisfaction and managers’ interest in international assignments (see Table 3). A hierarchical regression analysis was conducted where career satisfaction and beliefs were entered together in the second step (after removing the variance due to international experience), and the product term of the two variables entered in a third step. The second block, where career satisfaction and beliefs were introduced in the regression equation following the introduction of international experience in a first step, explained 20.8% of the variance. The addition of the product term in the third step yielded a significant change in the squared multiple correlation (DR2 ¼ 0:025; DF (1313)=11.230, po0:01). Thus, this hypothesis was supported. In order to illustrate the interaction, the sample was split into two groups according to their general beliefs about the advantages/disadvantages of domestic versus international assignments. Participants with a score lower than four ðN ¼ 102Þ were placed into the first group and participants with a score higher than four Table 3 Moderated multiple regression of career satisfaction by beliefs Interest in international assignments R2

DR2

DF a

Step 1 International experience

0.055 (0.052)

Step 2 Career satisfaction beliefs

216 (0.208)

0.161 (0.156)

32.163**

Step 3 Career satisfaction X beliefs

0.243 (0.233)

0.027 (0.025)

11.230**

b 0.235**

a df=2,314 for the F test of DR2 in step 2; df=1,313 for the F test of DR2 in step 3. **po0:01: Note: Values in parentheses refer to shrunken R2 :

0.0610 0.408**

0.988**

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ðN ¼ 191Þ were placed in the second group. Participants with a score of four were excluded from this analysis, because four corresponded to ‘‘equally met,’’ and it was felt that these participants should not be categorized as having a preference for domestic or international assignments. Two separate regression analyses were conducted, and the results yielded a positive relation between career satisfaction and managers’ interest in international assignments when managers saw more advantages in international assignments, as opposed to domestic assignments ðr ¼ 0:34Þ: When managers believed that domestic assignments were more likely to fulfil their expectations, career satisfaction was negatively related to their interest in international assignments ðr ¼ 0:20Þ: The interaction is represented graphically in Fig. 1. The factor analysis of expected satisfaction with the job characteristics in the next job revealed eight factors (see Appendix). It was hypothesized that three of these factors (i.e., opportunity to use competencies, opportunity to travel, and expected satisfaction with the extrinsic rewards) would be positively related to interest in international assignments. As shown in Table 2, these three factors were significantly related (opportunity to use competencies, r ¼ 0:13; po0:05; opportunity to travel,

3.5

Interest in International Assignments

3

2.5

2

1.5

Domestic Assignments 1

International Assignments 0.5

0 1

2

3

4

Career Satisfaction Fig. 1. Interaction of career satisfaction and beliefs.

5

K. Boies, M.G. Rothstein / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 26 (2002) 233–253 245 Table 4 Regression analysis of facets of expected satisfaction Interest in international assignments R2 Step 1 International experience

0.055 (0.052)

Step 2 Expected satisfaction with Opportunity to use competencies Opportunity to travel Extrinsic rewards

0.122 (0.111)

DR2

DF a

b 0.235**

0.067 (0.059)

7.918** 0.004 0.005 0.254**

a df=3,313 for the F test of DR2 in step 2. **po0:01: Note: Values in parentheses refer to shrunken R2 :

r ¼ 0:26; po0:01; expected satisfaction with extrinsic rewards, r ¼ 0:12; po0:05). None of the other factors were significantly related. Thus, the hypothesis was supported. A regression analysis was conducted to look at the unique variance of each predictor (see Table 4). In this regression, the three hypothesized facets of expected satisfaction (i.e., opportunity to use competencies, to travel, and extrinsic rewards) were entered as a block, after removing the variance due to years of international experience. The introduction of the three facets of expected satisfaction with the job characteristics in the next job yielded a significant change in the squared multiple correlation (DR2 ¼ 0:059; DF ð3; 313Þ ¼ 7:918; po0:01).

4. Discussion On the basis of several findings in the turnover and domestic relocation literature, it was suggested that job satisfaction may be negatively related to managers’ interest in international assignments (Kirschenbaum, 1991; Stumpf & Hartman, 1984; Tett & Meyer, 1993; Veiga, 1983). However, other studies in the field of domestic relocation did not find such a relation (Brett et al., 1993; Noe et al., 1988). Thus, it was suggested that the scales used to assess job satisfaction in these studies may not have captured the construct entirely, neglecting some important facets of job satisfaction. Results of the present study suggest that three facets of current satisfaction could be particularly influential in understanding the relation between job satisfaction and willingness to relocate internationally. Satisfaction with financial rewards, with the co-workers, and company identification were negatively related to managers’ interest in international assignments. The non-significant finding found in Brett et al.’s (1993) study between satisfaction with wages and willingness to relocate domestically could

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thus be due to a methodological problem (use of a single-item scale) or to a genuine difference between predictors of domestic and international relocations. An interaction effect was hypothesized, with managers’ beliefs about the advantages of domestic versus international assignments moderating the relation between career satisfaction and managers’ intention to accept an international assignment. This hypothesis was supported. A negative relation was observed between career satisfaction and managers’ interest in international assignments for those who believed that domestic assignments would be more instrumental to their career than international assignments. However, a positive relation was observed for managers who believed that international assignments would be better for them. This latter finding was unexpected. The hypothesis did not predict a positive relation between career satisfaction and managers’ interest in international assignments when they believed that such an assignment would be instrumental to their career. Since career satisfaction is current, it was hypothesized that when career satisfaction is high, there would be no interest in an international assignment even if managers held positive attitudes about such assignments. However, the positive correlation between career satisfaction and interest in international assignments for managers who believe that an international assignment is the way to further their career may be interpretable if career satisfaction is considered in terms of occupational commitment. Career satisfaction and occupational commitment tend to be positively related (Lee, Carswell, & Allen, 2000). Thus, managers who are more satisfied with their career are also those who feel emotionally attached to their occupation, and who will most likely strive to achieve more. In this light, it may be that managers who are more satisfied with their career (who have higher ambition) will want to accept an international assignment if they think that this type of assignment can help them further their career. On the other hand, managers highly satisfied with their career and who believe more in domestic assignments as a way to climb up the organizational ladder will not want to accept an international assignment. Thus, managers who have high career satisfaction may have higher occupational commitment and, in consequence, may be more willing to accept assignments that may further their career. This, in turn, may be determined by their general beliefs about the advantages/disadvantages of international assignments. Based on this discussion, future research is needed to investigate the role of occupational commitment in the relation between career satisfaction, beliefs about international assignments, and managers’ intention to accept an international assignment. Occupational commitment may be a predictor in its own right, a moderator of the relation between distance from career goals and willingness to relocate, or a covariate. Consistent with the literature, there was a positive relation between managers’ intentions to accept an international assignment and their expectation of increasing . satisfaction with the job challenge (e.g., Adler, 1981, 1986; Taillieu, 1992; Torbiorn, 1982) and opportunity to travel (e.g., Adler, 1986; Taillieu, 1992). Furthermore, a positive relation was also found between managers’ interest in international assignments and their expected satisfaction with extrinsic rewards. Fisher and Shaw (1994) had already demonstrated that assessing expected satisfaction with certain

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facets of the next job could be useful in military settings. The present study suggests that this variable may prove useful in explaining managers’ intention to accept an international assignment in a variety of settings. The finding that managers’ desire to travel was an important determinant of their interest in international assignments is interesting if we consider the fact that international assignments are not always pleasurable experiences. International assignments may have quite a negative impact on the family, from a personal as well as a professional standpoint. It has been shown that managers who accept an international assignment often find themselves without a position upon their return, or with a position that does not match their newly acquired skills (Adler, 1981; Feldman & Thomas, 1992; Tung, 1998). Furthermore, international assignments can impose a financial burden on the expatriate’s family. Finally, the adaptation of the expatriates and their family can be arduous. Thus, managers may need to be more realistic about associating international assignments with the opportunity to travel, although the other factors that managers believed would increase their job satisfaction (i.e., opportunity to use competencies, obtain a challenging position, and experience more autonomy in their work), indeed have been found to characterize international work. It is worth noting that the relations observed between work attitudes and managers’ intention to accept an international assignment were similar to those expected between work attitudes and turnover intentions. This supports Dalton’s (1997) argument that researchers should not see turnover and relocation as two completely independent constructs. It also supports the assumption that willingness to relocate can be considered a particular form of turnover (Eby & Russell, 1998). Thus, the body of literature on turnover intentions can be used successfully to derive hypotheses with regard to willingness to relocate. However, more research is needed to determine the degree to which different sets of antecedents will be related to turnover intentions and willingness to relocate. Organizations should be aware that managers can potentially consider international assignments as a form of turnover or withdrawal from the organization. A negative relation between job satisfaction and intention to accept an international assignment and between career satisfaction and managers’ intentions should not be the motivational basis for accepting such an assignment, from an organization’s perspective. Indeed, managers should not want to go abroad in order to withdraw from their job or their organization. The cost of failure of an expatriate assignment is too high (Goman, 1994) to take the risk of sending managers abroad in order for them to escape from an unpleasant situation. However, if organizations recruit managers on the basis of realistic assumptions about the nature of the international assignment, these managers will more likely achieve the elements of job satisfaction they expect, which would be a positive outcome both for the managers and their organizations. The results clearly suggest that international relocation should be considered not only as a personal and family decision, but also as a career decision. Indeed, career satisfaction was related to managers’ intention to accept an international assignment, although this relation was moderated by managers’ general beliefs in

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international assignments. These results support Aryee et al. (1996) findings, where career variables had the most incremental variance in predicting willingness to relocate to both similar and dissimilar locations. Furthermore, it supports Noe et al. (1988) and Noe and Barber (1993) contention that career variables may be important elements in explaining managers’ willingness to relocate. Finally, these results also lend support to Adler’s (1986) findings that reasons for graduates to accept or reject international assignments were very often related to their careers. Thus, career satisfaction, and other career-related variables, may prove valuable in predicting managers’ interest in international assignment. The present study as well as the knowledge accumulated to date suggest that theoretical models of international relocation should include work- and careerrelated variables, such as job satisfaction, career satisfaction, and expected satisfaction along with non-work related variables, such as family and community ties, that have also been shown to be important determinants of willingness to relocate internationally (Brett & Stroh, 1995) and domestically (e.g., Brett et al., 1992, 1993; Landau et al., 1992). Furthermore, the present study found that career satisfaction was only related to managers’ interest in international assignments when managers’ beliefs about international assignments were taken into account. Thus, future research on international relocation may also consider using similar types of moderator, in order to make career satisfaction a meaningful predictor of intention to accept an international assignment. The findings also have implications in terms of selection and career planning. First, organizations should develop realistic job previews that prepare expatriates for the reality of international assignments. The realistic job previews (RJP) should include career prospects upon return. This study demonstrated the value of considering international relocation as a career move, and the RJP should reflect that. Furthermore, the selection of managers for international assignments should take into account the fact that some managers want to go abroad in order to either escape from an unpleasant situation at home, or to travel. These reasons, however, would be insufficient motivation for accepting an international assignment. Thus, organizations need to develop additional screening procedures in order to select managers for international assignments, which include assessing the motivational basis for their interest in such an assignment. Organizations need to find ways to address managers’ concerns about their careers and their motivation to accept an international assignment in the first place. They will need to highlight the link between an employee’s international relocation and his or her career aspiration. Finally, more systematic career planning is necessary to ensure that managers have the possibility to obtain a position that matches their newly acquired skills and knowledge upon their return. 4.1. Limitations and future directions The sample used in this study seems to be a fairly representative sample of Canadian managers with respect to industries, functional specialization, managerial level, age, and tenure. However, our findings may not generalize to other

Table 5

Item Interesting and challenging work Variety of work assignments Opportunity to make use of special abilities and talents Opportunity to direct others Opportunity to work independently on the job Opportunity to learn new things Opportunity to demonstrate leadership skills Opportunity for advancement or promotion Opportunity to assume responsibility Status of my position within the organization Participative decision making style of the organization A supportive and nurturing environment Employment equity practices of the organization Training and development opportunity in the orgnization A supervisor who recognizes my abilities A supervisor who assists in my career development A supervisor who evaluates me fairly Satisfying expectations from others Salary Fringe benefits Holiday time Pay and other rewards are directly linked to performance Pay and other rewards are fair in relation to what others received Relatively large organization Image of organization as successful and high performing Status of the organization within the community/industry Growth and potential of the organization Flexible working conditions Alternative career opportunities

1

2 0.687 0.695 0.700 0.662 0.636 0.594 0.746 0.608 0.748 0.701 0.407 0.100 0.213 0.162 0.309 0.320 0.304 0.323 0.323 0.053 0.107 0.302 0.313 0.114 0.113 0.134 0.285 0.139 0.141

3 0.190 0.204 0.262 0.333 0.034 0.044 0.263 0.393 0.182 0.204 0.416 0.588 0.437 0.494 0.775 0.744 0.725 0.042 0.068 0.066 0.026 0.313 0.386 0.218 0.119 0.122 0.140 0.139 0.177

0.285 0.199 0.182 0.058 0.124 0.283 0.081 0.267 0.214 0.204 0.135 0.100 0.196 0.109 0.075 0.123 0.202 0.476 0.709 0.689 0.604 0.714 0.614 0.065 0.103 0.068 0.218 0.196 0.079

4

5 0.288 0.219 0.154 0.073 0.139 0.118 0.134 0.115 0.109 0.088 0.273 0.326 0.241 0.156 0.143 0.049 0.144 0.188 0.082 0.145 0.015 0.183 0.095 0.639 0.779 0.719 0.681 0.094 0.112

0.112 0.212 0.157 0.049 0.199 0.100 0.059 0.102 0.014 0.136 0.353 0.232 0.309 0.302 0.038 0.119 0.002 0.092 0.055 0.189 0.379 0.085 0.151 0.010 0.136 0.138 0.016 0.722 0.768

6

7

8

0.180 0.195 0.158 0.179 0.396 0.400 0.163 0.104 0.104 0.032 0.081 0.301 0.088 0.251 0.177 0.006 0.200 0.084 0.020 0.187 0.284 0.074 0.053 0.035 0.112 0.308 0.016 0.086 0.051

0.038 0.050 0.122 0.050 0.115 0.127 0.039 0.022 0.096 0.122 0.059 0.013 0.037 0.089 0.088 0.074 0.093 0.167 0.089 0.097 0.182 0.015 0.076 0.144 0.035 0.015 0.084 0.009 0.076

0.170 0.090 0.109 0.219 0.077 0.011 0.209 0.218 0.254 0.219 0.166 0.059 0.075 0.043 0.103 0.247 0.089 0.322 0.038 0.136 0.209 0.012 0.106 0.016 0.143 0.093 0.010 0.003 0.112

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Factor loading

Factor loading Item

1

2

3

4

5

6

Attractiveness of physical facilities Reasonable working hours Opportunity to work as part of a team Opportunity to interact with others on a regular basis Friendly and congenial colleagues Opportunity to work outside of the office Opportunity for work related travel Opportunity to work internationally Opportunity to benefit society Job security Ethical business practices of the organization

0.203 0.024 0.326 0.447 0.276 0.380 0.145 0.055 0.308 0.087 0.323

0.075 0.074 0.382 0.221 0.272 0.185 0.043 0.116 0.145 0.179 0.238

0.128 0.211 0.016 0.091 0.130 0.014 0.114 0.156 0.105 0.138 0.287

0.338 0.071 0.083 0.124 0.143 0.281 0.142 0.018 0.185 0.109 0.237

0.350 0.561 0.071 0.004 0.145 0.378 0.089 0.025 0.391 0.171 0.181

0.024 0.333 0.595 0.604 0.664 0.178 0.140 0.022 0.022 0.250 0.297

7

8 0.271 0.106 0.057 0.174 0.075 0.466 0.826 0.829 0.071 0.099 0.046

0.151 0.244 0.043 0.161 0.244 0.051 0.050 0.084 0.440 0.681 0.310

Note: Boldface indicates highest factor loadings. Factor 1=opportunity to use competencies; Factor 2=organizational culture; Factor 3=extrinsic rewards; Factor 4=status of the organization; Factor 5=working conditions; Factor 6=working with people; Factor 7=opportunity to travel; Factor 8=opportunity for social responsibility.

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Table 5 (continued)

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nationalities. Additional studies are needed to verify the generalizability of the findings. The scale used in the present study to assess managers’ intention to accept an international assignment was generic. It was asking to rate, in general, how likely managers were to accept an international assignment. It did not specify if the relocation would happen intra- or inter-organizationally, nor did it specify the region of the world in which the relocation would occur. This could have an impact on the strength of the relations. Noe and Barber (1993) and Aryee et al. (1996) found that variables differentially predicted relocation to similar versus dissimilar communities. In an international relocation situation, measures that are more specific to the type of move may be more useful for obtaining relations with specific facets of job satisfaction. More specificity on the measure of intention to accept an international assignment would also be useful for examining relations with organizational and occupational commitment.

5. Conclusion The present study attempted to relate certain work attitudes with managers’ intention to accept an international assignment. It was found that certain facets of job satisfaction were related to managers’ interest in international assignments. Also, the relation between career satisfaction and managers’ intention was moderated by their beliefs about international assignments. Finally, managers’ expected satisfaction with the opportunity to use competencies, to travel, and with the extrinsic rewards in the next job were positively related to their intention to accept an international assignment.

Appendix Summary of items and factor loadings for varimax orthogonal eight-factor solution for expected satisfaction with the job characteristics in the next job (see Table 5).

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