When Does Decision Autonomy Increase Expatriate Managers' Adjustment? An Empirical Test

Abstract

To enhance understanding of expatriate adjustment, we examine the effect of the decision autonomy afforded to expatriate managers on their own adjustment as well as the moderating effect of global integration pressure. We further investigate the mitigating effect of a parent company's operational experience with a particular foreign subsidiary on this relationship. We examine these issues using survey data from 187 expatriate general managers and 24 corporate headquarter executives working in the global hotel industry. The results of the study support the hypotheses postulated. We discuss implications of these findings.