Should I stay or should I go? A systematic literature review about the conceptualization and measurement of international relocation mobility readiness

Cultural differences in geographic mobility readiness among business management students in Germany and Spain ahead of graduation

Given the increased internationalization of organizations and economies of scale concentrated in urban centers, graduates are often expected to relocate for their first job. Based on Hofstede’s model and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), we examine the effects of cultural dimensions (individualism-collectivism and uncertainty tolerance) as well as subjective norms (parents’ and peers’ attitudes towards geographic mobility) on readiness for geographic job-related mobility in samples of German and Spanish business management students ahead of graduation from university. The study involved administering a survey questionnaire to 273 third- and fourth-year business management students of two large universities (one in Germany and another in Spain). Cross-cultural measurement invariance of the measures was confirmed, allowing for comparison of scores across the groups. We found that German students had generally a larger geographical mobility, whose readiness was predicted by parents’ and peers’ perceived attitude and uncertainty tolerance. Readiness for geographic mobility was also higher when social or material incentives are offered, yet geographic mobility readiness for career incentives and for social incentives was predicted by vertical individualism and horizontal collectivism, respectively. This study is one of the first to examine geographic mobility readiness among undergraduate management students in the two countries, who by nature of their training are expected to be mobile. The study also shows the differential effects of sub-dimensions of the Hofstede cultural dimensions.

The influence of personality on individuals' expatriation willingness in the context of safe and dangerous environments

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which a destination's security level affects the relationship between personality traits and individuals' expatriation willingness.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors apply an experimental vignette methodology using a 2 × 1 between subjects-design with two destinations characterized by different security levels (dangerous vs. safe) among 278 participants (students and employees). Partial least squares multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) was employed to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The findings indicate that different personality variables appear to impact individuals' expatriation willingness depending on the security level of a destination: emotionality and conscientiousness predicted expatriation willingness to dangerous environments, whereas openness to experience predicted expatriation willingness to safe environments. The personality traits of honesty–humility, extraversion and agreeableness were not found to influence expatriation willingness in either scenario.

Practical implications

The study discusses a set of practical recommendations for the selection and the management of eligible individuals who are willing to expatriate to dangerous locations.

Originality/value

The study is among the first to examine the influence of personality on expatriation willingness in safe and dangerous environments at the same time. It advances prior research by providing a more nuanced understanding of the context-specific effects of personality on expatriation willingness.

International academic mobility and innovation: a literature review

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a literature review in order to understand the relationship that exists between international academic mobility (IAM) and innovation and its impact on the countries of origin, country of destination and the countries of origin and destination simultaneously of academics.

Design/methodology/approach

After analysing 36 articles selected from 15 top journals by way of a systematic review of the literature, the authors located 20 variables, including five related to innovation with a positive, negative or null impact on the countries.

Findings

The five innovation proxies identified were: highly qualified human capital”, “attractive research and working conditions”, “patent filing”, “publications” and “research networks”, all related to Science, Technology and Innovation. The results highlight the evidence that the different dimensions of innovation have a differentiated impact on the countries of origin and destination and in both at the same time.

Practical implications

Knowing the types of innovation that IAM generates enables governments to invest in scientific, technological, economic and social development to choose the best measures for attracting and retaining academics. For the industry, technological catch-up and highly skilled labour means enhancing competitiveness and capacity building, growth in Research and Development (R&D), the creation of new products, patent filing, increased investments and the expansion of internationalisation.

Originality/value

This paper shows that the association between IAM and innovation is differentiated for the countries. Both countries involved in the association receive a positive impact in the publications and research networks. The main impact to countries of origin is the increase of highly qualified human capital. On the other hand, the benefits for the countries of destination concern patent filing, working conditions and an attractive research environment.