Job-related attitudes and expatriate managers' intention to quit a foreign assignment

Abstract

A prominent issue in international staffing literature is the premature return of an expatriate to his/her home country or resignation during or shortly after the international assignment. This paper is based on an empirical study that draws upon quantitative and qualitative data generated through self-administered questionnaires from among a sample of South African expatriate managers. The main purpose of the study was to determine to what degree job-related attitude predicts the intention to quit prematurely, or intention to quit their job during or post completion of an international assignment, and which job-related attitude variables are accountable for this intention to quit or not to quit. The findings provide empirical evidence that expatriate failure rates could reach unacceptable levels and job-related attitudes are identified as critical to the adjustment process. The results and recommendations may assist multinational corporations in South Africa to facilitate the expatriation and repatriation processes of managers, saving substantial sums of money and keeping valuable human capital within the multinational corporation as part of talent management.