Repatriates’ organizational commitment in the Indian information technology (IT) environment

Abstract

Expatriation is the process of sending employees to another country, for example, managers who are posted overseas to lead a subsidiary of a multinational enterprise (MNE). Companies spend huge amounts of money on their expatriates. For example, Stelmer (2001) estimated that most companies spend between US $300,000 and US $1,000,000, annually, on each individual on foreign assignment. On completion of the international assignment (or multiple such assignments), the expatriates return home, and then the process of repatriation begins. However, companies often underestimate the extent and importance of the repatriation process, on the basis that the employees are just '‘coming back home’’ and thus will have no difficulties in adjusting to their own environment (Stroh et al., 1998; Adler, 1981; Tung, 1998). Such underestimation of the repatriation process is viewed as a contribution factor for the high turnover among repatriates. There is strong evidence that employees who have been sent to work abroad are more likely to seek new job opportunities than those who have remained in the home country (Stroh, 1995).