Psychological contracts of international business travellers
| Date | 04 November 2019 |
| Pages | 1701-1715 |
| Published date | 04 November 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-06-2016-0142 |
| Author | Carol Atkinson,Els Pareit |
| Subject Matter | Hr & organizational behaviour,Global hrm |
Psychological contracts of
international business travellers
Carol Atkinson
Business School, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK, and
Els Pareit
EasyPay, Brussels, Belgium
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of psychological contracts of international
business travellers (IBTs), a new form of expatriate that has arisen from the growing need for alternative
forms of internationally mobile talent. The research is conducted in Belgium, a country recognisedas a global
hub in which international assignments are essential to economic success.
Design/methodology/approach –Research in respect of IBTs is limited and semi-structured interviews
are used to explore Belgian employee perspectives.
Findings –The contract is more relational in nature than might be expected with an idiosyncratic mix of
relational and transactional obligations.
Research limitations/implications –The research is small-scale and qualitative and not widely
generalisable. Further it presents only employee perspectives. Nevertheless it generates rich insights into a
phenomena about which little is known.
Practical implications –The findings develop understanding of how to manage the valuable strategic
resource that is the IBT.
Originality/value –First, the research is of value to the International Human Resource Management field in
developing understanding of a newly emerging form of international employee, the IBT. Second, it
contributes to psychological contract research in both developing understanding the transactional/relational
balance and in generating much-needed rich and nuanced qualitative data.
Keywords Qualitative, Transactional, Belgium, Psychological contract, Relational,
International business traveller
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Since the late 1980s, the global economy has grown rapidly with an associated expansion in the
field of International Human ResourceManagement (IHRM) (Collings et al.,2007).WhileIHRM’s
focus has shifted from managing staff expatriation to broader organisational, contextual and
HR-related issues (Björkman et al., 2012; Björkman and Welch, 2015), much research remains
preoccupied with traditional, long-term international assignments. Only recently there has been
a growing research interest in alternative forms of international assignments (Mäkelä et al.,
2017; Pate and Scullion, 2018). Here we focus on an emergent, non-traditional form of
international employee, the international business traveller (IBT). We define an IBT as a
professional who works across countries for business purposes on a regular basis and for a
maximum of three consecutive weeks per assignment (Shaffer et al., 2012). We explore IBT
employment relationships using a psychological contract framework which explores employee
perceptions of their own and their employer’s obligations (Pate and Scullion, 2010), provides a
fruitful construct for analysis and explanation (Rousseau, 1995) and offers a mechanism for
effectively working to attract and retain scarce employees (Rodwell et al., 2015). There are no
existing studies of IBT psychological contracts and we develop in-depth understanding of how
Belgian IBTs experience and interpret their psychological contracts. Belgium is an interesting
context as it plays a “pivotal role”within the global economy (Sleeuwaegen and Peeters, 2012,
p. 7), assuming a strategic location on the north-western side of Europe and being one of the
most globalised countries in the world (OECD, 2013). Our research makes a number of
important contributions. First empirically to IHRM, in developing understanding of an
Personnel Review
Vol. 48 No. 7, 2019
pp. 1701-1715
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-06-2016-0142
Received 21 June 2016
Revised 26 April 2018
Accepted 15 October 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
1701
Psychological
contracts of
IBTs
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