Organizational support. Mechanisms to affect perceived overqualification on turnover intentions: a study of Chinese repatriates in multinational enterprises
| Published date | 06 November 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-11-2016-0213 |
| Date | 06 November 2017 |
| Pages | 918-934 |
| Author | Xiaoqian Ye,Ling Li,Xuejun Tan |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
Organizational support
Mechanisms to affect perceived
overqualification on turnover intentions:
a study of Chinese repatriates in
multinational enterprises
Xiaoqian Ye
School of Economics and Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
Ling Li
Wuhan University, Wuhan, China, and
Xuejun Tan
Center of the Wuhan Telephone Bank, China Construction Bank, Wuhan, China
Abstract
Purpose –Drawing on recent literature and empirical data, the purpose of this paper is to explore the
relationships between perceived organizational support (POS), perceived overqualification (POQ) and
turnover intentions (TI) in repatriates working in multinational corporations (MNCs).
Design/methodology/approach –Survey data were collected from 145 repatriates who had been
contacted beforehand from MNCs in China. Structural equation modelingand hierarchical regression are used
to examine the data.
Findings –It is shown that POQ and POS both affect repatriates TI, with POQ having the stronger effect,
while POS plays a mediatory role between POQ and TI. Specifically, under the same POQ, repatriates TI will
decrease as the POS increases.
Research limitations/implications –The study design is cross-sectional and based on self-reporting,
which makes causal explanations of the results difficult.
Practical implications –POQ and POS are both shown to influence TI, with POQ having the greater effect.
This means managers can offset the effect of repatriates POQ on TI by providing better support and
assistance, which can help MNCs reduce repatriates TI and retain employees.
Originality/value –This paper examines the antecedents of TI, and adds valuable new insights to the literature
on repatriation through its research data, offering further evidence that managers in transnational corporations
should pay more attention to organizational support policy on repatriates in order to reduce their turnover.
Keywords China, Turnover intention, Repatriate, Multinational corporations, Perceived organizational support,
Perceived overqualification
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Guided by the “One Belt and One Road”strategy, more and more Chinese enterprises have
answeredtheir government’scallto“go out”and expand their overseasbusinesses. According
to China’s Ministryof Commerce, in 2016, investors from Chinahave made direct investments
in 7,961 foreign companies from 164 countries. This necessitates a large number of their
employees to carry out overseas tasks, and experience the processes of expatriation and
repatriation. Repatriates are those who return to work and live in their home country after
completing international assignments (Kohonen, 2008; Kraimer et al., 2012). From their time
living andworking in a foreign environment,repatriates are oftenable to acquire international
management skills due to experiencing a period of continual learning, thinking and
solving problems more complex, uncertain or simply different than in their home country.
Employee Relations
Vol. 39 No. 7, 2017
pp. 918-934
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-11-2016-0213
Received 9 November 2016
Revised 26 March 2017
Accepted 28 March 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
This study was supported by Humanities and Social Sciences of Ministry of Education Planning Fund
and Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 16YJA630066; 71172204).
918
ER
39,7
Those skills can potentially help them identify and distinguish similarities and differences
between human behaviors, environments and cultures (Dickman and Harris, 2005; Kraimer
et al., 2012). Repatriates often display greater creativity in recognizing and seizing
opportunities, and may help their organizations take advantage of innovations, or shorten
their adjustment periods for new and changing situations (Wang, 2015).
Obviously, repatriates with experience in successful international assignments are
important drivers for multinational corporations (MNCs) due to their acquired knowledge
and specialist skills, which can enable MNCs’ability to compete in the international market.
However, MNCs are often accused of not using the competencies acquired by international
experienced individuals to their full potential (e.g. Sánchez Vidal et al., 2008), as there are
many factors that make it difficult to retain and fully exploit this valuable resource within
the organization (e.g. Black et al., 1992; Thompson et al., 2012). For example, since the repatriation
process involves re-entry into a familiar home country, it is often assumed to require much
less HR attention compared to expatriation, and repatriates often do not receive enough help
with the readjustment process and end up leaving their organizations (Tyler, 2006).
Typically, the turnover rate of repatriates is abnormally high (e.g. Jiang, 2011; Kraimer et al.,
2012; Yang et al., 2013). Brookfield Global Relation Services (2015) report reveals that
of the 159 participating MNCs, on average, the turnover rate of repatriates can exceed
55 percent within the first two years of their return to home countries and/or organizations
(29 percent within the first 12 months, and 26 percent during the second year); even after
two years, the turnover level remains at 24 percent. Moreover, Jiang (2011) held that in some
Chinese transnational corporations, the repatriates’turnover rate was as high as 70 percent
within the first two years. High turnover of repatriates represents a significant loss of time
and money for organizations, both as investment in their training, and as disruptions in
their continuity of projects management (Vidal et al., 2010). It also has the potential to affect
the morale of current expatriates and employees who are interested in overseas
assignments. Further losses may occur if those leaving employees take their expertise and
skill to a rival company. For these reasons, how to ensure the success of repatriation has
become one of the important issues to be solved in MNCs.
Much has been written on expatriates, such as how to select employees for expatriation and
their training (e.g. Gregersen, 1992; Gregersen and Black, 1996; Harvey and Novicevic, 2001),
how to improve their ability in cross-cultural adaptation (e.g. Tung, 1987; Stroh et al., 1998) and
how to improve their performance management during expatriation (Gamble, 2010).
Many studies have also investigated the impact of work-related support on turnover decisions
in the west (e.g. Eisenberger et al., 1990; Shore and Wayne, 1993; Hutchison and Garstka, 1996;
Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002; Maertz et al., 2007), but similar research in China has
been limited. Particularly, much less attention has been devoted to the repatriates’changes in
self-perception, perceived organizational support (POS) and motivation behind resignation
after return. The importance of these issues has been noted, and a few studies had examined
relationships between perceived underemployment (Bolino and Feldman, 2000; Verhaest and
Omey, 2006), perceived organizational career support and turnover intentions (TI)
(Maynard et al., 2006), especially the influenced of POS, proactive personality, organizational
commitment (Yan, 2012) and organizational citizenship behavior (Feldman and Turnley, 2004).
However, these studies have come to wildly different conclusions, i.e. the correlation between
perceived overqualification (POQ) and performance has been varyingly found to be positive
(Fine and Nevo, 2008; Luksyte et al., 2011), negative (Chen, 2009, 2010; Bolino and
Feldman, 2000) or nonexistent (Erdogan and Bauer, 2009).
Based on survey data on managers and employees in China, Liu et al. (2014) noted that
the mutual relationship between them can significantly regulate the correlation between the
latter’s POQ and performance. POQ is a form of underemployment where people perceive
themselves to possess more skills, experience, knowledge and abilities than a job requires,
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support
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