Baneviciene Irma, Pinto Luisa Helena, Kumpikaite-Valiuniene Vilmante
School of Economics and Business, Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania.
School of Economics, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
PLoS One. 2025 Jun 23;20(6):e0326848. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0326848. eCollection 2025.
Due to increasing global mobility flows, self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) in both employee and managerial roles are now commonplace. However, the influence of direct supervisors' international experience on the adjustment of SIEs remains underexplored. This study, grounded in signaling and similarity-attraction theories, addresses this gap through a qualitative examination of supervisors with international experience and at least one SIE under their supervision. The findings indicate that both foreign-born and locally born supervisors perceive their international experience as valuable in managing their international teams. Foreign-born supervisors, more frequently than their locally born counterparts, interpreted the uncertainty signals from their SIE employees as a reflection of empathy and open-mindedness, attributes shaped by their international backgrounds and cultural insights. Furthermore, the results suggest that all direct supervisors focus their support and actions primarily on facilitating SIEs' adjustment in the work environment, rather than in the non-work environment. This research offers theoretical and practical insights for international human resource management, highlighting the positive impact of supervisors with international experience on the onboarding and adjustment processes of new SIEs, thereby enhancing the management of international teams.
由于全球人员流动日益增加，担任员工和管理角色的自主外派人员（SIE）如今已很常见。然而，直属上级的国际经验对SIE适应情况的影响仍未得到充分研究。本研究以信号理论和相似性吸引理论为基础，通过对具有国际经验且至少有一名受其监督的SIE的上级进行定性考察，填补了这一空白。研究结果表明，出生在国外和出生在本地的上级都认为他们的国际经验对管理国际团队很有价值。与出生在本地的上级相比，出生在国外的上级更常将SIE员工发出的不确定性信号解读为同理心和开放心态的体现，这些特质是由他们的国际背景和文化洞察力塑造的。此外，结果表明，所有直属上级都将他们的支持和行动主要集中在促进SIE在工作环境中的适应上，而不是非工作环境。本研究为国际人力资源管理提供了理论和实践见解，强调了具有国际经验的上级对新SIE入职和适应过程的积极影响，从而加强了国际团队的管理。
