Abstract
Adopting a responsible leadership (RL) lens and drawing on intergroup behavior and social identity theory, we analyze a sample of 111 expatriates using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Our findings indicate that RL enacted by host-country supervisors is positively associated with international assignees’ cross-cultural adjustment and affective well-being at work, in turn leading to better expatriate performance. RL may thus facilitate adjustment and well-being in the host country. We emphasize the support potential when expatriates’ supervisors are guided by a strong values foundation and exhibit stakeholder engagement. In this way, we aim to provide a perspective for studying leadership dynamics in the expatriation context that goes beyond leader-follower dyads within organizations. We believe that expatriation research can benefit from adopting a broader stakeholder view on leadership that considers business-society interrelations and outline some direction that might take.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Acknowledgment
This paper is financed by National Funds of the FCT – Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology within the project UIDB/04928/2020.
Data availability statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.