The flexpatriate psychological contract: a literature review and  future research agenda

Pate, Judy; Scullion, Hugh

Abstract

Since the 1980s, research on international assignments (IA) has principally focused on traditional long-term expatriates. However, due to pressures to reduce long-term expatriate assignments and the emergence of a portfolio of more flexible staffing options, there has recently been a growing focus on the deployment of alternative forms of IA. This paper focuses on one form of alternative IA, flexpatriation, where employees undertake frequent international business trips without relocating. More specifically, we critically examine the flexpatriate employment relationship by applying psychological contract theory to yield insight into both the employer and the employee perspectives, which has been neglected in previous research. The article also examines some of the key HR challenges in managing flexpatriates and contributes to both the IHRM and psychological contract literature by presenting an agenda for future research in this area.

Citation

Pate, J., & Scullion, H. (2018). The flexpatriate psychological contract: a literature review and  future research agenda. The international journal of human resource management, 29(8), 1402-1425. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1244098

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 15, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Oct 19, 2016
• Publication Date: Apr 28, 2018
• Deposit Date: Dec 19, 2018
• Print ISSN: 0958-5192
• Electronic ISSN: 1466-4399
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 8
• Article Number: 2
• Pages: 1402-1425
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1244098
• Keywords: Flexpatriate psychological contract
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1195095
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09585192.2016.1244098
• Related Public URLs: http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/130593/