International Adjustment: How Self-Initiated Expatriates and Assigned Expatriates Different From Each Other

摘要

Integrating three streams of literature--international adjustment, situation motivation theory and employee self-reliance, this paper creates a theoretical framework of how self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) and assigned expatriates (AEs) differ from each other with respect to adjustment of living and working abroad. A theoretical model for comparing the international adjustment outcomes between SIEs and AEs then is proposed: being intrinsic and indentified motivated and assumed more self-reliant, SIEs have a higher adjustment level compared to AEs. Moreover, it also postulates motivation and self-reliance as antecedents of such differences.