Expatriate Family Adjustment in China: How Organisational Support on International Assignments Matters

Presenter: Dr Dhara Shah
Senior Lecturer, Griffith Business School, Australia

Abstract:
In an increasingly competitive global market, organisations recognise the importance of enhancing their overseas presence through assigning expatriate managers. Discussions concerning the implications for organisational support practices towards family stakeholders beyond the expatriate have been limited (e.g., Caligiuri, Hyland, & Joshi, 1998; Kupka, Everett, & Cathro, 2008), with ‘even less attention’ on expatriate children’s experiences. This is despite research indicating that children’s adjustment is linked to expatriate employment outcomes (Larson, 2006; Schütter & Boerner, 2013). Contextually speaking, while there is research on families on international assignment (see Rosenbusch & Cseh, 2012; van der Zee, Ali, & Haaksma, 2007), further research is needed to fully understand the impact of international assignments in countries like China (Zheng & Smith, 2019) on expatriate spouse and children’s adjustment, and the influence of organisational support on it. The current study responds to a recommendation for further research on the impact of international assignments on families, and particularly trailing children (e.g., Brewster et al., 2014). This research examines how organisational support mechanisms extended to expatriate families influence the adjustment of the expatriate, the spouse, and accompanying children. We present data from 173 accompanying expatriate spouses in China and 135 expatriates employed in foreign and local multinationals in China. Our Study reveals that organisational support positively influences the adjustment of expatriates, their spouses, and children, although the dynamics amongst family members differ. Noteworthy results include that children’s adjustment impacts the expatriate spouse directly and  the expatriate’s adjustment indirectly, emphasizing the importance of direct organisational support for the family unit beyond the expatriate. The paper offers implications for international human resource management researchers and practitioners.

Biography:
Dr. Dhara Shah is a Senior Lecturer at the Griffith Business School, Australia. Her research expertise has been within the areas of cross-cultural adjustment, social innovation, career growth, training, IHRM, India, women entrepreneurship, and expatriates. She has successfully led and completed two social innovation action research projects (2019-2021) funded by Australian Government (A$772,200) and Queensland Government (A$87,910). She has published in the International Journal of HRM, Journal of International Management, Journal of Global Mobility, Journal of World Business, International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management, among others. In 2021, she won the Pro Vice-Chancellors Research Excellence Award and was a finalist for the India Australia Business and Community Awards for 2020-21.