Determinants of innovative behaviors among self-initiated expatriates
Pages | 349-369 |
Published date | 06 November 2019 |
Date | 06 November 2019 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-09-2018-0321 |
Author | Taiba Hussain,Perihan Iren,John Rice |
Subject Matter | Hr & organizational behaviour,Global hrm |
Determinants of
innovative behaviors among
self-initiated expatriates
Taiba Hussain, Perihan Iren and John Rice
College of Business, Zayed University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Abstract
Purpose –Expatriate mobility is increasing globally, in volume and diversity. A growing element of this
overall increase has been the greater share of self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) working outside their home
countries. In some host countries, SIEs make up a majorityof the overall workforce. The purpose of this paper
is to examine the determinants of innovative work behavior (IWB) of SIEs in one such country. Drawing upon
leader-member exchange (LMX) theory and the conceptual framework of the resource-based view of career
capital, the authors’examine the influences of LMX, perceived innovation-reward, job knowledge and
contextual knowledge on SIEs’IWB.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper is based on the analysis of survey results from 229 SIEs
based in the United Arab Emirates. The authors use hierarchal regression and an SPSS macro to assess the
significance of the interaction effects.
Findings –Results indicate significant direct effects for LMX and perceived innovation-reward on SIEs’
IWB. Results also reveal significant interaction effects suggesting that the relationship between LMX and
SIEs’IWB is stronger when job knowledge is high and when reward for innovation is high.
Originality/value –This is the first study to examine the determinants of SIE’s IWB. This study
investigates the effect of LMX, career capital differences (job knowledge and contextual knowledge) and
perceived innovation-reward on SIEs’IWB. This is also the first study to examine the interaction effects of
LMX and individual differences (job knowledge and contextual knowledge) on SIEs’IWB.
Keywords Expatriates, Innovation, Quantitative, Career capital, Leader-member exchange (LMX),
Innovative behaviour, Self-initiated expatriates
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
There is an increase in volume and diversity of expatriate mobility (Caligiuri and Bonache,
2016; Jonasson et al., 2018). According to the United Nations (2017), the number of
international migrants has increased faster than the world’s population, and 74 per cent of
migrants areof working age. Self-initiatedexpatriates (SIEs) representthe largest share of the
expatriates worldwide (Ceric and Crawford, 2016). SIEs are individuals who decide on their
own to expatriate to search for a job abroad and self-fund their expatriation without
organizational support, for career, professional, lifestyle, cultural and personal reasons
(Tharenou, 2015, p. 162). SIEs often play a critical role in the development of organizational
knowledge withintheir host countries (Ahrens et al., 2018),bringing capabilities that are often
scarce in locallabor markets. SIEs are often highlymotivated, valuing achievement, influence
and financialbenefits available fromtheir international roles(Inkson et al., 2004). These values
also inspire innovative and entrepreneurial behaviorsat work, ensuring that they are likely to
be valuable groups of individuals within their employers (Doherty et al., 2011).
An increasingly competitive business environment is raising the need for organizations
to develop and deploy innovative products and services more frequently and more
effectively (Birdi et al., 2016). A precursor to the achievement of such market innovations is
the presence within organizations of innovative employees (Sanz-Valle and Jiménez-Jiménez,
2018). As such, developing a better understanding of the determinants that encourage
innovative work behavior (IWB) in the context of SIEs is an important challenge (Anderson,
Potočnik and Zhou, 2014). IWB has been defined as “an employee’s intentional introduction
Personnel Review
Vol. 49 No. 2, 2020
pp. 349-369
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-09-2018-0321
Received 2 September 2018
Revised 29 May 2019
Accepted 9 July 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
349
Determinants
of innovative
behaviors
or application of new ideas, products, processes, and procedures to his or her work role,
work unit, or organization”(Yuan and Woodman, 2010, p. 325). The innovation literature is
rich with models that attempt to explain determinants of IWB in domestic settings (Scott
and Bruce, 1994; Yuan and Woodman, 2010; Wang et al., 2015; Schuh et al., 2018).
Nevertheless, the research on the determinants of IWB among SIEs is very limited (Selmer
et al., 2015). This study aims to investigate SIEs’IWB in light of previous innovation models
that incorporated individual predictors and contextual predictors of IWB and the
interactions among these predictors (Amabile, 1988; Amabile and Pratt, 2016; Birdi et al.,
2016; Scott and Bruce, 1994; Woodman et al., 1993). In this study we include contextual and
individual factors that have been widely cited in previous innovation research and examine
the interaction between them among SIEs. Contextual factors include leader-member
exchange (LMX) (Scott and Bruce, 1994; Yuan and Woodman, 2010; Wang et al., 2015; Schuh
et al., 2018) and perceived innovation-reward (Scott and Bruce, 1994; Yuan and Woodman,
2010). Individual factors include job knowledge and contextual knowledge (Amabile, 1988;
Amabile and Pratt, 2016; Birdi et al., 2016).
Since the work of Inkson et al. (1997) there have been numerous calls for more research
on SIEs (Brewster and Suutari, 2005). These calls have intensified as expatriation has
increasingly been viewed as a positive driver of the long-term development of both
individuals and organizations (Ahrens et al., 2018; Reiche et al., 2011). Previous research on
SIEs has focused on identifying the career competencies (Suutari et al., 2018) motivation
(Vaiman et al., 2015) and adjustment (Nolan and Morley, 2014) of this group of the
workforce. Although research on SIEs is growing, it remains relatively poorly established
(Vaiman et al., 2015).
Meanwhile, and relatedly, developing better measures of SIEs’performance is of
increasing importance (Kraimer et al., 2001). Despite the significant and growing expatriate
literature overall, few studies have empirically investigated determinants of expatriate
performance (Brookfield, 2012). Studies that have explored expatriate performance argued
the need to extend assessments of expatriate performance beyond just task performance
(Kraimer et al., 2001). One way this can be achieved is through assessing SIEs’IWB, and
consequently providing better insights into the positive impacts that they have on their
employer organizations. IWB can be categorized as an active performance concept through
which employees self-initiate actions aimed at improving work circumstances or creating
new ones (Parker and Collins, 2010). IWB has become a common measure of employee
performance (Wang et al., 2015).
This paper aims to contribute to the theoretical understanding of how and why SIEs
exhibit IWB in the workplace by studying the effects of contextual variables and individual
variables on SIEs’IWB. Based on LMX theory and career capital theory we examine the role
of LMX, perceived innovation-reward, job knowledge and contextual knowledge on SIEs’
IWB. The positive relationship between LMX and IWB in domestic settings has been
thoroughly confirmed (Scott and Bruce, 1994; Wang et al., 2015; Garg and Dhar, 2017; Schuh
et al., 2018). This study contributes to the research on LMX by examining the relationship
between LMX and IWB among SIEs (Jannesari et al., 2017). Most of the literature on
expatriate’s rewards and compensation overlooks SIEs (Kim et al., 2018). Because of the
unique motivations of SIEs and their value for multinational corporations, there is a need for
more research examining the effect of rewards on SIEs’work-related outcomes, such as IWB
(Kim et al., 2018). This paper contributes to the research of SIEs by investigating the
relationship between perceived innovation-rewards and SIEs’IWB (Kim et al., 2018).
The types of capabilities that enable employees to perform IWB are still unclear
(Anderson, Potočnik and Zhou, 2014; Birdi et al., 2016; Klijn and Tomic, 2010). The
particular types of employee knowledge and skills that are important for innovation have
not been adequately identified in previous research (Anderson, Potočnik and Zhou, 2014;
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