The Adjustment of spouses and expatriates and its relationship with expatriate’s performance in international assignments

Authors

  • Brunella Tristão Simonelli Faculdade Pitágoras Linhares, Linhares, ES
  • Bruno Felix von Borell de Araujo Fundação Instituto Capixaba de Pesquisas em Contabilidade, Economia e Finanças – FUCAPE, Vitória, ES http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6183-009X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18568/1980-4865.11221-34

Keywords:

Adaptation, Expatriate, Spouse, Performance

Abstract

The adaptation of an expatriate is a function of several factors and family issues have been identified as potential influencers in the process. However, little is known about the effect of the existing role of the spouse in the adaptation of the expatriate. Thus, the objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the adjustment of expatriates and their spouses with the performance of the expatriate. It is a quantitative study with 217 couples in which one member of the couple occupied the expatriate position. The results showed no significant relationship between the adjustment of the spouse and the performance of the expatriate, but revealed that the adaptation of expatriate moderates the relationship between these variables. These results suggest that the adaptation of the spouse can have an indirect relationship on expatriate performance, via the expatriate’s adaptation. These findings support the idea that companies should invest in organizational support to facilitate a better fit of the expatriate and his spouse to the host country culture and to promote a higher individual performance.

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Author Biographies

Brunella Tristão Simonelli, Faculdade Pitágoras Linhares, Linhares, ES

Master’s degree holder in Business Administration by Brazilian Fundação Instituto Capixaba de Pesquisas em Contabilidade, Economia e Finanças – FUCAPE. Owner of company Talento – Assessoria e Gestão em Recursos Humanos since 2003. She is the coordinator of the MBA (Masters of Business Administration) in People Management and Professor of the Psychology and Business Administration academic field at Brazilian Faculdade Pitágoras

Bruno Felix von Borell de Araujo, Fundação Instituto Capixaba de Pesquisas em Contabilidade, Economia e Finanças – FUCAPE, Vitória, ES

Professor at the undergraduate and post graduation lato sensu and stricto sensu courses at Fucape Business School. Coordinator of the MBAs in People Strategic Management and Human Leadership and Development and of MBAs In Company at the same institution.

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Published

2016-09-05

How to Cite

Simonelli, B. T., & Araujo, B. F. von B. de. (2016). The Adjustment of spouses and expatriates and its relationship with expatriate’s performance in international assignments. Internext - International Business and Management Review, 11(2), 21–34. https://doi.org/10.18568/1980-4865.11221-34

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Vol. 11 No. 2 (2016): Maio/Agosto

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