Individual, social and institutional factors influencing the willingness of employees to move and resettle internationally

Content and objectives

The willingness to work abroad for a defined period of time (international mobility) is becoming increasingly important in the business world. For many internationally operative companies, international work experience is a necessary prerequisite to consideration for management positions. Furthermore, the internationalisation of business activities has led to a general increase in demand for foreign employees. In addition, the shortage of qualified labour, particularly in Europe, is increasing the need for companies to attract and retain foreign employees in order to benefit from their manpower over the long term. A job abroad has thus increasingly become a ‘typical’ career step. The key elements to retain employees abroad are a fit between the job and the career as well as the fit between the individual, the organisation and the community, including social connections and attractive benefits for foreign employees who continue to work abroad.

The research project examines factors that affect employees’ willingness to work abroad as well as elements of that commitment. One goal is to determine the influence of subjectively perceived cultural distance on individuals’ impressions of cultural differences and on their willingness to move and possibly resettle.

Project goals

Identification of factors explaining the willingness of employees to work abroad for longer periods of time.
Analysis of reasons that negatively impact the desire to move abroad (e.g. familial obligations or concerns about the quality of life in the target country).
Derivation of recommended actions for organisations (e.g. international dual-career programmes) in order to increase situational readiness and thus the success of foreign assignments and the reduction of dropout rates.
Analysis of factors that contribute to the retention of foreign employees in a business, organisation and/or community abroad (job embeddedness).
Definition of cultural distance at the individual level and analysis of its influence on mobility and willingness to continue living in another country.

Methodology

The studies are based on qualitative and quantitative data (mixed methods). The following research methods are used: systematic literature review, grounded theory, qualitative content analysis, Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and structural equation modelling (SEM). Based on the results, a system of measurements is developed to determine the willingness of employees to move internationally and to remain in their positions, and the reasoning behind their motivations to leave or to stay is evaluated.

Social relevance and application of results

The benefits of international mobility are offset on the company side by high costs (e.g. reduced performance abroad, abandoned assignments abroad or the unfulfilled expectations of employees who choose to remain), which can result in a low return on investment (ROI) for both companies and foreign employees. For the individual, international mobility is usually associated with a variety of uncertain and new situations (e.g. adaptation to a new culture). If the parties involved are disinclined to face up to the challenges of international mobility, this can result in reduced performance and the discontinuation of activities abroad.

The research results provide knowledge regarding which factors have a positive or negative influence on the willingness and commitment to mobility. Recommendations for the organisational integration of internationally mobile employees are formulated. Thus, the results are of importance not only for foreign employees themselves, but also for organisations that employ an international workforce.

Bamberg competencies

By linking economic, psychological and sociological questions, theories and methods and deriving recommendations for individuals and employers, the research group works in an interdisciplinary manner and thus provides a relevant supplement to previous research on foreign employees.

Publications

Banevičienė, I., Andresen, M., & Kumpikaitė-Valiūnienė, V. (2024). Assessing the status quo of international employees’ adjustment research, 1990-2022: A bibliometric review, content analysis and future research agenda. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11, 633 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03098-y

Andresen, M., Lazarova, M., Caligiuri, P., Collins, D., Kumpikaitė-Valiūnienė, V., & Shaffer, M. (2023). Symposium on ‘New destinations need new ways! New methods for researching international remote work: Approaches, challenges and solutions’. European Academy of Management 2023 Annual Conference, “Transforming business for good”, Dublin/Ireland, June 14 - 16, 2023. European Academy of Management Proceedings, 2023(1), 29.

Weisheit, J. (2018). Should I stay or should I go? A systematic literature review about the conceptualization and measurement of international relocation mobility readiness. Journal of Global Mobility, 6(2), 129-157. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGM-01-2018-0003

Agha-Alikhani, B. (2018). Adjustment in international work contexts: Insights from self-initiated expatriates in academia. Thunderbird International Business Review, 60(6), 837-849. https://doi.org/10.1002/tie.21928

Andresen, M., & Bergdolt, F. (2017). A systematic literature review on the definitions of global mindset and cultural intelligence: Merging two different research streams. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 28(1), 170-195. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1243568

Andresen, M., Biemann T., & Pattie, M. W. (2015). What makes them move abroad? Reviewing and exploring differences between self-initiated and assigned expatriates. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(7), 932-947. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2012.669780

Andresen, M., & Margenfeld, J. (2015). International relocation mobility readiness and its antecedents. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 30(3), 234-249. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-11-2012-0362

Andresen, M., Bergdolt, F., Margenfeld, J., & Dickmann, M. (2014). Addressing international mobility confusion: Developing definitions and differentiations for self-initiated and assigned expatriates as well as migrants. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(16), 2295-2318. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2013.877058

Andresen, M., & Biemann, T. (2013). A taxonomy of global careers: Identifying different types of international managers. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(3), 533-557. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2012.697476

Andresen, M., & Muskat, B. (2020). Cultural distance and self-initiated expatriate’s willingness to relocate - A research agenda. In M. Andresen, C. Brewster, & V. Suutari (Eds.), Mastering the context of self-Initiated rxpatriation: Recognising space, time and institutions (pp. 55-71).Routledge. (Open Access)

Dickmann, M., & Andresen, M. (2018). Managing global careerists: Individual, organizational and societal needs. In M. Dickmann, V. Suutari, & O. Wurtz (Eds.), The management of global careers. Exploring the rise of international work (pp. 149-182). Palgrave Macmillan.

Andresen, M., Dickmann, M., & Suutari, V. (2018). Typologies of internationally mobile employees. In M. Dickmann, V. Suutari, & O. Wurtz (Eds.), The management of global careers. Exploring the rise of international work (pp. 33-62). Palgrave Macmillan.

Andresen, M., & Bergdolt, F. (2018). Internationale Karrieren von Erwerbstätigen: Wege, Pfade, Systeme und Erfolge. In S. Kauffeld & D. Spurk (Hrsg.), Handbuch Karriere und Laufbahnmanagement (pp. 1-22). Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-662-45855-6_25-1

Selmer, J., Andresen, M., & Cerdin, J.-L. (2017). Self-initiated expatriates. In Y. McNulty & J. Selmer (Eds.), Research handbook of expatriates (pp. 187-201). Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781784718183

Andresen, M. (2017). Local and international? Managing complex employment expectations. In P. Dowling, M. Festing, & A. Engle (Eds.), International human resource management, 7^th ed. (pp. 311-317). Cengage.

Andresen, M. (2013). Local and international? Managing complex employment expectations. In P. Dowling, M. Festing, & A. Engle (Eds.), International human resource management (pp. 305-311). Cengage.

Andresen, M., & Muskat, B. (2020). Individuals’ perception of and attitude towards cultural distance: Understanding its impact on the willingness to relocate internationally. Academy of Management Careers Division Conference, “Careers in Context: Theorizing in and about Turbulent Times”, Vienna/Austria, February 14-15, 2020.

Andresen, M., & Volodina, A. (2017). Are they ready to travel continuously? Exploring types of international business travelers and their international mobility readiness. In: Proceedings of the 17^th conference of theEuropean Academy of Management (EURAM), “Managing Knowledge: Making Knowledge Work”, Glasgow/UK, June 21-24, 2017.

Andresen, M., & Bergdolt, F. (2014). Unraveling the research findings on the concept of a global mindset: A systematic literature review. In: Proceedings of the International Human Resource Management Conference 2014, "Uncertainty in a Flattening World: Challenges for IHRM", Cracow/Poland, June 24-27, 2014.

Deutschland ist attraktiver als gedacht.
Interview, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Column „Wirtschaft“, 18.10.2021, p. 17.

Andresen, M. (2016). How working abroad can boost your career.
Interview mit Prof. Dr. Maike Andresen, total jobs, posted by Sophie Bianchi, 02.08.2016
http://www.totaljobs.com/insidejob/working-abroad-career/