Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationships among availability and perceived importance of human resources practices (HR practices), perception of organizational support (POS), perception of supervisory support (PSS), affective organizational commitment (AOC), turnover intentions, and tenure in a repatriate population. Based on previous research in repatriate and non-repatriate populations, this study predicted: HR practices would be positively related to POS, POS would be positively related to PSS and AOC, POS and AOC would be negatively related to turnover intention, the positive relationship between PSS and AOC would be fully mediated by POS, and tenure would be positively related to AOC and negatively related to turnover intention.

Data were collected from repatriates in a snowball sample using an online survey. There were 53 respondents, all of whom were repatriates that completed a foreign assignment lasting from 6 months to 5 years, completed and returned from their most recent foreign assignment within the last 3 years, and remained with the organization following the assignment. Five scales were used in this study; (1)?M. Lazarova and P. Caligiuri (2001)'s scale on the availability and perceived importance of HR practices, (2)?R. Eisenberger's (2003) Survey of POS, (3)?R. Eisenberger's (2003) Survey of PSS, (4)?J.P. Meyer and N.J. Allen's (1997) Affective Organizational Commitment scale, and (5)?H.B. Gregersen and J.S. Black's (1995) turnover intentions scale.

The study had several findings: (1)?HR practices was positively related to POS (r =.57, p<.001), (2)?PSS was positively related to POS (r =.79, p<.001), (3)?POS was positively related to AOC (r =.78, p<.001), (4)?AOC was negatively related to turnover intentions (r =.-70, p<.001), (5)?POS was negatively related to turnover intentions (r =-.69, p<.001), (6)?the positive relationship between PSS and AOC was fully mediated by POS, (7)?tenure was positively related to AOC (r =.47, p<.001), and (8)?tenure was negatively related to turnover intentions (r =-.49, p<.001). This study provides a framework for organizations in redesigning repatriation programs and interacting with repatriates in order to retain them. Limitations of this study and suggestions for future research are outlined.