Linking career success motives and career boundaries to repatriates’ turnover intentions: A case study

Abstract

This study’s goal is to understand repatriates’ personal experiences about their career success motives in the years following an international assignment and how that may prompt turnover intentions. The case study comprises data from 8 Portuguese companies belonging to different industries. Overall, we interviewed 42 repatriates and 17 human resource organizational representatives. Building on career success literature, this study’s findings show that these repatriates’ main career–pull motives to stay with the organization are related to (1) Recognition and Affection, (2) Financial and Employment Security, (3) Developmental Career Opportunities, (4) and, lastly, Career Advancement. By comparison, these repatriates’ career–push motives to leave pertain to (1) the Lack of Developmental Career Opportunities, (2) Financial and Employment Insecurity, and (3) Recognition and Affection Breach. Furthermore, the findings shed new light on the role played by contextual-structural career boundaries as a mitigating factor in repatriates’ turnover intentions. Overall, we add a new contribution to the literature on career success and repatriation by showing that Affective career success motives (both Intra-Inter-Personal) are, on the whole, more important than Achievement career success motives in these repatriates’ turnover intentions.

Keywords:

• Career boundaries
• career success
• international assignment
• repatriates
• turnover intentions

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the participants of this research for their time and availability and for sharing their valuable experiences. They are also very grateful to the anonymous reviewers and the Editor for the suggestions and recommendations in the improvement of this manuscript.