Global career mobility, repatriation and career success of Dutch and Indian professionals

Abstract

This PhD research explores global career mobility of Dutch and Indian professionals categorized in three groups: 1) Company-Assigned Expatriates (CAEs);2) Independent Internationally Mobile Professionals (IIMPs) / Self-Initiated Expatriates (SIEs); 3) Repatriates.The purpose was to:- explore the motives for undertaking international career endeavours;- gain insight into repatriation reasons and experiences;- examine the influence of the individual, organisational, socio-cultural and economicfactors of the host and home country on repatriation distress and repatriate turnover intention; - explore the meaning of career success and the influence of career capital and organisational capital on career success. The first qualitative study explored repatriation experiences, repatriate turnover intention and boundaryless career success. The results of interviews with 25 Dutch and 30 Indian CAEs showed that the following factors influenced repatriation experiences and repatriate turnover intention: cultural identity changes, repatriation expectations of career advancement opportunities, labour marketability and knowledge transfer; economic circumstances and alternative employment opportunities in the home. This resulted in three forms of boundaryless career mobility:1) intra-organisational mobility, apparent among most Indian respondents who opted to remain with the organisation due to good career prospects within the organisation, in part based on the knowledge and skills that Indian respondents had acquired in The Netherlands.2) geographical boundary-crossing, encompassing consecutive international assignments for the same global organisation to escape the economic recession and resulting downsizing and unemployment in the Netherlands during 2008-2013;3) organisational boundary-crossing, primarily from employment to self-employment, evident among several Dutch and Indian repatriates who started their own businesses or NGOs designing and implementing new, innovative technologies and products in India to improve the living standards of the economically less advantageous people, and to contribute to the wealth of Indian society and the Indian economy. The second qualitative study among 30 Indian women in Science & Technology showed that their motives for global career mobility were personal and professional development, economic independence and increasing the family income and status.Women acknowledged the importance of the career capital competencies ‘knowing-why’, ‘knowing-whom’ and ‘knowing-how’ for career success and they conceptualized their career success in the realms of work–family balance, and contribution to the family, the science community and the sustainable societal and economic development of India. The third study investigated repatriation distress and repatriate turnover intention of Indian CAEs repatriated from the USA, generating 240 responses to an online questionnaire. Results showed that career activism had a significant effect on repatriation distress. Interestingly, a large cultural distance between the host (USA) and the home (India) country resulted in significantly less repatriation distress. Results further showed that career activism, global cultural identity change, organisational repatriation support, repatriation practices and alternative external employment opportunities significantly influenced repatriate turnover intention. In conclusion, this PhD research shows that individual motives for global career mobility, organisational practices, social networks and labour market factors influence repatriation experiences, repatriate turnover intention and career success of Dutch and Indian professionals.