CERES :: Browsing by Author "Dickmann, Michael"

Browsing by Author "Dickmann, Michael"

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Open Access
Acting in the spirit of the whole: expatriate careers between the poles of personal intentions and of company and country policies
(University of Bamberg Press, 2022-10-17) Andresen, Maike; Dickmann, Michael; Suutari, Vesa
Expatriation has received a lot of research attention over the years due to the importance of expatriates to organizations as well as extensive impacts such international work experience has on expatriates themselves. To generate a better understanding about expatriation, it is essential to understand things in context, as "Every event and everything must come into being as a result of causes and conditions." (Dalai Lama, 1998). In this chapter we discuss four topics areas that we see as important issues in the international careers of expatriates and that have been studied within the GLOMO project. We also connect the themes of the following chapters with these four areas and briefly introduce the chapters. First, we discuss expatriates’ career paths, the career capital they develop abroad and thus may be able to utilize afterwards, and the impacts of expatriation on the longer-term career success of individuals. Second, expatriates’ identities, well-being and embeddedness are discussed. Third, we introduce some key global mobility management challenges that companies face when managing expatriation. Finally, the role of the host country in expatriation is discussed as an additional theme that has received less attention in earlier research.
Open Access
Addressing international mobility confusion - developing definitions and differentiations for self-initiated and assigned expatriates as well as migrants
(Taylor & Francis, 2014-01-14) Andresen, Maike; Bergdolt, Franziska; Margenfeld, Jil; Dickmann, Michael
The literature on international human resource management indicates a growing array of different forms of international work experiences such as assigned and self-initiated expatriation. However, the criteria for demarcation of these different forms and the term ‘migrant' are often unclear which leads to an unfortunate lack of comparability of research and a potential confusion for readers. Based on the sociological, psychological and economics literature, this article reviews and synthesizes the existing definitions of the three terms in the current research. A qualitative content analysis and the Rubicon model [Heckhausen, H., and Gollwitzer, P.M. (1987), ‘Thought Contents and Cognitive Functioning in Motivational Versus Volitional States of Mind', Motivation and Emotion, 1, 101-120.] are used as a theoretical base to structure the findings. The paper creates a criteria-based definition and differentiation of terms and then develops a typology of four different types of expatriates: assigned expatriates, interself- initiated expatriates, intra-self-initiated expatriates and drawn expatriates. Implications for management as well as for future research are outlined.
Open Access
Are your international salespeople culturally intelligent? The influence of cultural intelligence on adaptive selling behavior with B2B customers
(Emerald, 2021-08-03) Kimber, David; Guesalaga, Rodrigo; Dickmann, Michael
Purpose This study aims to investigate cultural intelligence (CQ) as an antecedent of adaptive selling behavior (ASB) and cultural distance and intrinsic motivation as moderators in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach This research builds on a survey to 310 US-based international sales executives (ISE) and multiple regression analysis to test the hypotheses. Findings The results show that CQ has a significant positive relationship with ASB, both as an aggregate construct and through its metacognitive, motivational and behavioral facets. Also, intrinsic motivation moderates such relationship, whereas cultural distance does not. Research limitations/implications The study includes only a sample of US-based international salespeople in the B2B context, which limits the generalizability of the findings to salespeople from other countries or other contexts. Practical implications The findings of this research suggest that supplier companies involved in international selling should consider the cultural intelligence of their salespeople for selection, training and coaching. Originality/value This study makes an important contribution to the literature on both ASB and CQ by expanding the knowledge on how to manage international salespeople effectively, considering the conditions under which CQ effects are expected and how these vary in this context.
Open Access
Boundaryless career drivers - exploring macro-contextual factors in location decisions
(2014-07-01T00:00:00Z) Dickmann, Michael; Cerdin, J-L
This paper explores what attracts individuals to live in a South East Asian city. It uses a boundaryless career approach that is interested in how people cross traditional career boundaries, including those related to country and location barriers. Going beyond an individual and organizational view, a more extensive model of location decisions is developed that incorporates broad macro-factor career drivers. "Boundaryless career drivers - exploring macro-contextual factors in location decisions" published in Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research has been selected by the journal's editorial team as the Outstanding Paper of 2014.
Open Access
Building sustainable societies through human-centred human resource management: emerging issues and research opportunities
(Taylor and Francis, 2022-01-17) Cooke, Fang Lee; Dickmann, Michael; Parry, Emma
In this paper, we argue that adopting a human-centred approach to human resource management (HRM) will contribute to building sustainable workforces, organizations, communities and societies against a backdrop of a global pandemic and political and economic uncertainty. The economic and social cost of the pandemic will continue to be felt for years to come, and the road to recovery should be human-centred and sustainable, with built-in climate actions as part of the socio-economic rejuvenation programme. We draw on several cross-cutting themes to illustrate how the use of digital technology and how remote working, for example, may impact workers from different socio-economic backgrounds in diverse ways. We call for researchers to engage in in-depth qualitative research to identify new phenomena related to work and HRM in the context of accelerating adoption of digital technology and post-Covid recovery to explore power dynamics and forms of exclusion in the labour market and workplaces. Findings of these studies can contribute to positive policy actions to prevent the exacerbation of existing socio-economic inequality and exclusion. They will also contribute to new ways of conceptualizing HRM models and practices and extending HRM theories.
Open Access
The career competencies of self-initiated and assigned expatriates: assessing the development of career capital over time
(Taylor and Francis, 2016-05-04) Dickmann, Michael; Suutari, Vesa; Brewster, Chris; Mäkelä, Liisa; Tanskanen, Jussi; Tornikoski, Christelle
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.
Open Access
Career satisfaction of expatriates in humanitarian inter-governmental organizations
(Elsevier, 2021-03-03) Lazarova, Mila; Dimitrova, Mihaela; Dickmann, Michael; Brewster, Chris; Cerdin, Jean-Luc
We examine the careers of expatriates in an inter-governmental organization (IGO) who undertake a mix of hardship and non-hardship assignments. Considering the individual, organizational, and broader environmental domains, and using conservation of resources theory, we examine what contributes to such expatriates’ career satisfaction. Based on survey data, we find that career satisfaction is influenced by views of how their assignments fit their overall career and the procedural justice of their organization’s career management system. Since their careers – unlike careers in most multinational corporations (MNC) – are likely to include one or more hardship postings, we also look at whether these hardship postings are associated with lower career satisfaction. Our results provide support for such negative relationships only when IGO expatriates’ career motivations of dedication to cause and challenge-seeking are low. We contribute to a greater understanding of career success and expatriation outside the MNC ‘norm’ and to research on expatriation in extreme contexts.
Open Access
Career success across the globe: Insights from the 5C project
(Elsevier, 2016-08-21) Mayrhofer, Wolfgang; Briscoe, Jon P.; Hall, Douglas Tim; Dickmann, Michael; Dries, Nicky; Dysvik, Anders; Kaše, Robert; Parry, Emma; Unite, Julie
The Cross-Cultural Collaboration on Contemporary Careers (5C Project) conducted in-depth, longitudinal qualitative research into what career success means to people in a diverse range of countries; specifically: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, UK, and USA. This paper presents the seven major meanings of career success that emerged across these diverse global cultures and thus may be deemed relevant all around the world. These are financial security (being able to consistently provide the basic necessities for living), financial achievement (steadily making more money, wealth, incentives, and perks), learning and development (via continuous informal learning on the job and/or formal training and education), work-life-balance (between work and non-work, relationships, activities and interests), positive relationships (as signified by, for instance, enjoying working with people who you respect and admire), positive impact (by helping others in one’s immediate social environment and/or leaving some sort of legacy to a community, or society more broadly), and entrepreneurship founding one’s own enterprise or being able to invent and develop one’s own projects within the work context). We describe examples of each from different cultures and offer practical implications of these meanings for the primary stakeholders of career research: individuals, organizations, as well as counselors, coaches and consultants.
Open Access
Career success of expatriates: the impacts of career capital, expatriate type, career type and career stage
(Emerald, 2023-07-21) Mello, Rodrigo; Suutari, Vesa; Dickmann, Michael
Purpose This paper investigates whether career capital (CC) development abroad, expatriate type, career type, and career stage affect expatriates’ career success in terms of perceived marketability and the number of promotions. Design/methodology/approach The study presents findings from a 2020 follow-up study among 327 expatriates, including assigned expatriates (n=117) and self-initiated expatriates (n=220), who worked abroad in 2015 and 2016. Among that group, 186 had continued their international career, while 141 had repatriated. Structural equation modeling with robust maximum likelihood estimation was used to test this study’s hypotheses. MPlus 8.6 software supported the analysis. Findings The study outlines that CC developed abroad positively impacts perceived marketability and the number of promotions. Second, repatriates reported a greater degree of perceived marketability than those continuing an international career. Career type did not predict the number of promotions. The expatriate type did not influence any of the career success measures. Finally, expatriates in their late career stage did not achieve a similar level of career success as those in other career stages. Research limitations/implications All the expatriates were university-educated Finnish engineers and business professionals, and the career benefits of expatriation could differ for different sample groups. The study calls for more context-sensitive global careers research. The findings have positive implications for self-guided career actors considering working abroad. Organizations could focus more of their global talent attraction, management, and career efforts on self-initiated expatriates.
Open Access
Careers in context: An international study of career goals as mesostructure between societies’ career-related human potential and proactive career behavior
(Wiley, 2019-11-12) Andresen, Maike; Apospori, Eleni; Gunz, Hugh; Suzanne, Pamela Agata; Taniguchi, Mami; Lysova, Evgenia I.; Adeleye, Ifedapo; Babalola, Olusegun; Bagdadli, Silvia; Bakuwa, Rhoda; Milikić, Biljana Bogićević; Bosak, Janine; Briscoe, Jon P.; Cha, Jong‐Seok; Chudzikowski, Katharina; Cotton, Richard; Dello Russo, Silvia; Dickmann, Michael; Dries, Nicky; Dysvik, Anders; Eggenhofer‐Rehart, Petra; Fei, Zhangfeng; Ferencikova, Sonia; Gianecchini, Martina; Gubler, Martin; Hackett, Denisa; Hall, Douglas T.; Jepsen, Denise; Çakmak‐Otluoğlu, Kadriye Övgü; Kaše, Robert; Khapova, Svetlana; Kim, Najung; Lazarova, Mila; Lehmann, Philip; Madero, Sergio; Mayrhofer, Wolfgang; Kumar, Sushanta; Chikae, Mishra; Nikodijević, Naito Ana D.; Parry, Emma; Reichel, Astrid; Liliana, Paula; Posada, Rozo; Saher, Noreen; Saxena, Richa; Schleicher, Nanni; Shen, Yan; Schramm, Florian; Smale, Adam; Unite, Julie; Verbruggen, Marijke; Zikic, Jelena
Careers exist in a societal context that offers both constraints and opportunities for career actors. Whereas most studies focus on proximal individual and/or organisational‐level variables, we provide insights into how career goals and behaviours are understood and embedded in the more distal societal context. More specifically, we operationalise societal context using the career‐related human potential composite and aim to understand if and why career goals and behaviours vary between countries. Drawing on a model of career structuration and using multilevel mediation modelling, we draw on a survey of 17,986 employees from 27 countries, covering nine of GLOBE's 10 cultural clusters, and national statistical data to examine the relationship between societal context (macrostructure building the career‐opportunity structure) and actors' career goals (career mesostructure) and career behaviour (actions). We show that societal context in terms of societies' career‐related human potential composite is negatively associated with the importance given to financial achievements as a specific career mesostructure in a society that is positively related to individuals' proactive career behaviour. Our career mesostructure fully mediates the relationship between societal context and individuals' proactive career behaviour. In this way, we expand career theory's scope beyond occupation‐ and organisation‐related factors.
Open Access
Careers of self-initiated expatriates: exploring the impact of context
(Emerald, 2023-08-16) Andresen, Maike; Suutari, Vesa; Muhr, Sara Louise; Barzantny, Cordula; Dickmann, Michael
Open Access
Chapter 15: Careers in turbulent environments: the impact of ‘Brexit’ on career motivations and behaviour in the United Kingdom
(Edgar Elgar Publishing, 2023-04-21) Dickmann, Michael; Parry, Emma; Chudzikowski, Katharina
This chapter explores the effects that the ‘hostile environment’ policy of the British government and the eventual exit of the United Kingdom (UK) from the EU, has had on the careers of international workers. Using insights from the career and hostile environment literatures, it concentrates on institutional, psychological and interactional perceptions that impact individuals’ career motivations and behaviors. Specifically, we explore and illustrate this using two cases of EU citizen who have lived and worked in the UK. We trace the development of their thinking and acting in the evolving career space over time to understand the effects of ‘hostile environments’ on their well-being, their identification with the host environment, their identity, career plans and coping approaches.
Open Access
Chapter 1: Careers: what they are and how to look at them
(Edgar Elgar Publishing, 2023-04-21) Mayrhofer, Wolfgang; Briscoe, Jon; Dickmann, Michael; Hall, Douglas T.; Parry, Emma
Careers are central to people’s lives, but difficult to describe and understand. Building on the notion that everyone participating in the workforce has a career, this chapter presents the major building blocks of careers along three dimensions, i.e. ontic, spatial, and temporal. The ontic perspective on careers centres on various conditions of the persons having a career. This includes issues such as their gender, age, job, career satisfaction, career stage - in short, everything that matters and helps to characterize the person’s condition. The spatial perspective acknowledges that careers unfold not in a vacuum, but in a defined social and geographical space. This space is structured by external and internal boundaries, populated by other individuals, groups, and organizations and governed by formal and informal rules that individuals may or may not be aware of. The temporal perspective points towards time as a crucial aspect underlying careers. In terms of career outcomes, the chapter presents seven facets of career success in three groups - growth, design for life, and material output - that individuals use across the globe: entrepreneurship, learning and development, work-life-balance, positive impact, positive work relationships, financial security, and financial success.
Open Access
Chapter 2: One, two, many ways – a hands-on guide to how to navigate this book
(Edgar Elgar Publishing, 2023-04-21) Mayrhofer, Wolfgang; Briscoe, Jon; Dickmann, Michael; Hall, Douglas T.; Parry, Emma
This book contains career stories in context from all the populated continents in the world. It demonstrates how to look at careers from various perspectives. The stories are grouped in to 6 key themes: personal characteristic, stability and change, boundaries and borders, gender, generations and organizations. the chapters commence with a point of departure that sets the scene, constitutes a dilemma or problem or the like before contextualizing the situation. This usually is done by a brief introduction to the country and its specifics with regard to the careers and the core of the emerging story. Reflections on the story point towards core issues and related theoretical discourses. ‘Stop and Think’ sections with a few questions intended to stimulate further thoughts about the story close the chapter and are geared to produce relevant take-aways for the reader.
Open Access
The correspondence model of cross-cultural adjustment: exploring exchange relationships
(Emerald, 2016-08-16) Haslberger, Arno; Dickmann, Michael
Purpose There has been tremendous interest in the field of cultural adjustment in the past decades. The work of Black and his colleagues has inspired many researchers. However, critics have pointed out that their original conceptualization has limitations; most of the insights building on their model have probably been harvested. Therefore, it is appropriate to investigate alternative ways at understanding the challenges in international assignments. In this paper we outline a model rooted in person-environment (P-E) fit theory. We follow Dawis and Lofquist’s Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA), which has had only a small influence on expatriate research to date. - Design/methodology/approach The paper develops a correspondence model of cross-cultural adjustment and explores the diverse factors and their interactions in-depth. The satisfaction of individual needs and corresponding environmental supplies (macro, micro and organizational factors) as well as the satisfactoriness of individual abilities and corresponding environmental requirements (macro, micro and organizational) is outlined. - Findings Based on the literature and the model a large number of hypotheses in relation to cross-cultural adjustment are proposed which allow new avenues in adjustment research. - Originality/value The contribution of this paper is to propose a model that addresses the main criticisms to the adjustment conceptualization of Black and his colleagues.
Open Access
Data mastery: A key global mobility challenge
(2017-06-27) Dickmann, Michael; Marsh, Vicki
Open Access
Developing Career Capital for Global Careers: The Role of International Assignments
(Elsevier, 2005-11) Dickmann, Michael; Harris, Hilary
Creating organizational processes which nurture global careers is a key task for global companies. International assignments are normally viewed as positive by both individuals and organizations for the development of global career competencies. This paper reports a qualitative study into the effects of international assignments on global careers. The research takes account of the dual dependency within global careers by contrasting individual and organizational perspectives. It highlights the importance of informal norms and develops a more nuanced picture of the impact of an international assignment on the career capital of individuals within one global organization.
Open Access
Developing organizations’ dynamic capabilities and employee mental health in the face of heightened geopolitical tensions, polarized societies and grand societal challenges
(Taylor and Francis, 2024-02-21) Cooke, Fang Lee; Dickmann, Michael; Parry, Emma
The year 2023 witnessed intensified geopolitical tensions, military conflicts, and international economic sanctions, with heightened risks and uncertainties for businesses, especially multinational enterprises. In this editorial for 2024, we focus on two phenomena—international sanction and mental health—as critical issues for human resource management research and practice. These two issues are closely related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 3: Good health and wellbeing and Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions). We draw on dynamic capability theory to illustrate how organizations can develop corporate capabilities to survive and thrive in a volatile global business environment. We suggest sets of research questions to inform policy decisions and practice. We also outline practical implications for human resource professionals.
Open Access
“Do i have the right to lead?“ identity work of emerging Russian business leaders in a leadership development programme
(Cranfield University, 2022-03) Shapenko, Andrey; Dickmann, Michael; Horwitz, Frank
Through a qualitative study of 30 Russian managers and entrepreneurs who graduated from an 18-month Master of Business Administration Programme (MBA) in Moscow, Russia, the research answers two questions: (1) what does leadership mean in the Russian context as described by emerging Russian business leaders? and (2) how do these leaders develop their leadership identity within a leadership development programme? Key research findings reveal that perceptions about effective leadership in Russia are changing, presumably due to a generational shift, and that the leadership identity work in a leadership development programme is fuelled by participants' efforts to promote their leader efficacy. The thesis contributes to social identity theory, implicit leadership theory, and identity theory. Social identity theory is enriched by proposing specific characteristics of Russian leadership identity and describing the challenges emerging Russian leaders face because of conflicting leadership prototypes for self-to-leader comparison. Implicit leadership theory benefits from the evidence that perceptions about Russian leadership characteristics are changing; emerging business leaders prefer a more participative, humane oriented, transformational approach over a transactional, directive and authoritarian one. Finally, identity theory is strengthened by establishing a link between leader efficacy and leadership identity work and by proposing a process model of leader efficacy development and leadership identity work within an educational programme. The study also indicates avenues for further research.
Open Access
Does international work experience pay off? The relationship between international work experience, employability and career success: A 30-country, multi-industry study
(Wiley, 2021-12-11) Andresen, Maike; Lazarova, Mila; Apospori, Eleni; Cotton, Richard; Bosak, Janine; Dickmann, Michael; Kaše, Robert; Smale, Adam
Drawing on human capital theory, our study examines the relationship between international work experience and individuals' career success in terms of promotions and subjective financial success. We propose that these relationships are mediated by external employability and hypothesise a moderating role of national-level economic freedom. Using data from 19,421 respondents, residing in 30 countries and working in different occupational groups (managers, professionals, clerical and blue-collar workers), our results suggest that international work experience is positively related to promotions and subjective financial success across our study's different national contexts. These positive relationships were mediated by individuals' perceived external employability. Some support for the moderation of the relationship between international work experience and employability through economic freedom was only found when we differentiate between different types of international work experience. The findings enhance our understanding of the association between international work experience and career success from a human capital perspective.