Retention in Challenging International Construction Assignments: Role of Expatriate Resilience
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 150, Issue 2
Abstract
Using the broaden-and-build theory, this study aimed to analyze the sufficient and necessary conditions that affect retention intention from the perspective of expatriate psychological resilience at an individual level. The study also explored how to enable construction workers to increase their efficiency at facing adversities during assignments and identify the types of construction workers who are best suited for overseas assignments in relation to the positions they hold. We applied multigroup structural equation modeling (SEM) and necessary condition analysis (NCA) to data obtained from 353 migrant construction workers in international construction projects. Among them, 243 participants were project managerial personnel (Group 1) and 110 were general project workers (Group 2). The SEM results showed that cross-cultural adjustment, self-efficacy, active coping style, and social support were significant predictors of expatriate resilience and retention intention via resilience in the two groups. The indirect effect of social support on retention intention through resilience was significantly higher in Group 2 compared with Group 1. The NCA results showed that social support was a sufficient and necessary condition for retention intention in the two groups. According to this finding, support systems are essential for expatriates. Moreover, expatriate resilience, active coping, self-efficacy, and cross-cultural adjustment were necessary for retention intention in the managerial group, whereas no minimum requirements were necessary for the nonmanagerial group. This complementary approach provides a guideline for construction managers and academics to identify essential bottlenecks, set priorities for improving expatriates’ resilience, and choose more suitable candidates for working on international projects according to the roles. Organizational managers can use expatriate psychological resilience as one criterion for selecting migrant project managers. The results also provide clear priorities and strategies for organizational managers to improve expatriate workers’ retention intentions, particularly because social support is extremely important for expatriates in nonmanagerial groups.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
The data generated or analyzed during the study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
Acknowledgments
The study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 72171048 and 72201249), the Scientific Research Foundation of the Graduate School of Southeast University (Grant No. YBPY2130), and the Graduate Research and Innovation Projects of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. KYCX21_0167).
References
Ayed, N., S. Toner, and S. Priebe. 2019. “Conceptualizing resilience in adult mental health literature: A systematic review and narrative synthesis.” Psychol. Psychotherapy 92 (3): 299–341. https://doi.org/10.1111/papt.12185.
Baker, F. R., K. L. Baker, and J. Burrell. 2021. “Introducing the skills-based model of personal resilience: Drawing on content and process factors to build resilience in the workplace.” J. Occup. Organ. Psychol. 94 (2): 458–481. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12340.
Black, J. S., and G. K. Stephens. 1989. “The influence of the spouse on American expatriate adjustment and intent to stay in Pacific Rim overseas assignments.” J. Manage. 15 (4): 529–544. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920638901500403.
Brown, C. J., J. Butt, and M. Sarkar. 2020. “Overcoming performance slumps: Psychological resilience in expert cricket batsmen.” J. Appl. Sport Psychol. 32 (3): 277–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2018.1545709.
Campbell-Sills, L., and M. B. Stein. 2007. “Psychometric analysis and refinement of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC): Validation of a 10-item measure of resilience.” J. Trauma Stress 20 (6): 1019–1028. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20271.
Connor, K. M., and J. R. Davidson. 2003. “Development of a new resilience scale: The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC).” Depression Anxiety 18 (2): 76–82. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.10113.
Dang, V. T., T. T. Vu, and P. T. Nguyen. 2021. “Workplace learning and foreign workers’ commitment to host cultural organization: The effects of cross-cultural adjustment and supervisor trust.” Employee Relat. 43 (1): 297–317. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-02-2020-0039.
Deng, X. P., S. P. Low, X. B. Zhao, and T. Y. Chang. 2018. “Identifying micro variables contributing to political risks in international construction projects.” Eng. Constr. Archit. Manage. 25 (3): 317–334. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-02-2017-0042.
DeSimone, J. A., P. D. Harms, A. J. Vanhove, and M. N. Herian. 2017. “Development and validation of the five-by-five resilience scale.” Assessment 24 (6): 778–797. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191115625803.
Dimitrova, M., S. I. Chia, M. A. Shaffer, and C. Tay-Lee. 2020. “Forgotten travelers: Adjustment and career implications of international business travel for expatriates.” J. Int. Manage. 26 (1): 100707. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intman.2019.100707.
Dul, J. 2016. “Necessary condition analysis (NCA).” Organ. Res. Methods 19 (1): 10–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428115584005.
Dul, J. 2021. “Advances in necessary condition analysis.” Accessed August 2, 2023. https://bookdown.org/ncabook/advanced_nca2.
Dul, J. 2022. “Necessary condition analysis (NCA) with R (version 3.2. 0): A quick start guide.” Accessed September 5, 2023. https://hdl.handle.net/1765/78323.
Faeth, P. C., and M. G. Kittler. 2020. “Expatriate management in hostile environments from a multi-stakeholder perspective—A systematic review.” J. Global Mobility Home Expatriate Manage. Res. 8 (1): 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGM-07-2019-0035.
Fan, W., Y. Luo, Y. Cai, and H. Meng. 2020. “Crossover effects of leader’s resilience: A multilevel mediation approach.” J. Managerial Psychol. 35 (5): 375–389. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-02-2019-0109.
Fisher, D. M., J. M. Ragsdale, and E. C. S. Fisher. 2019. “The importance of definitional and temporal issues in the study of resilience.” Appl. Psychol. 68 (4): 583–620. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12162.
France, T., L. Booysen, and C. Baron. 2019. “Cross-cultural professional experiences of female expatriates Finding success through agility, resilience, and essential relationships.” Cross Cult. Strategic Manage. 26 (4): 522–545. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCSM-05-2018-0062.
Fredrickson, B. L. 2001. “The role of positive emotions in positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions.” Am. Psychol. 56 (3): 218–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218.
Fredrickson, B. L. 2004. “The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions.” Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, Ser. B 359 (1449): 1367–1377. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2004.1512.
Gao, L., X. Deng, W. Yang, and J. Fang. 2022. “COVID-19 related stressors and mental health outcomes of expatriates in international construction.” Front. Public Health 10 (Jul): 961726. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.961726.
Gao, L., X. Luo, W. Yang, N. Zhang, and X. Deng. 2023. “Relationship between social support and repatriation intention of expatriates in international construction projects.” Eng. Constr. Archit. Manage. 30 (8): 3292–3309. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-10-2021-0931.
Good, S. C. 2021. “Are resilient employees better, happier, and healthier? A meta-analysis of individual resilience in the workplace.” Ph.D. thesis, Dept. of Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Univ. of Tulsa.
Grill, S., M. Rosenbaum-Feldbrügge, H. Fliege, and H. Rüger. 2021. “Expatriate adjustment over time among foreign service employees: The role of cross-cultural experience.” J. Global Mobility 9 (3): 338–360. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGM-01-2021-0009.
Hair, J. F., G. T. M. Hult, C. M. Ringle, and M. Sarstedt. 2021. A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Hair, J. F., J. J. Risher, M. Sarstedt, and C. M. Ringle. 2019. “When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM.” Eur. Bus. Rev. 31 (1): 2–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203.
Hair, J. F., M. Sarstedt, C. M. Ringle, and S. P. Gudergan. 2017. Advanced issues in partial least squares structural equation modeling. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Hartmann, S., J. Backmann, A. Newman, K. M. Brykman, and R. J. Pidduck. 2022. “Psychological resilience of entrepreneurs: A review and agenda for future research.” J. Small Bus. Manage. 60 (5): 1041–1079. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472778.2021.2024216.
Hartmann, S., M. Weiss, M. Hoegl, and A. Carmeli. 2021. “How does an emotional culture of joy cultivate team resilience? A sociocognitive perspective.” J. Organ. Behav. 42 (3): 313–331. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2496.
Hartmann, S., M. Weiss, A. Newman, and M. Hoegl. 2020. “Resilience in the workplace: A multilevel review and synthesis.” Appl. Psychol. 69 (3): 913–959. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12191.
Haslberger, A., C. Brewster, and T. Hippler. 2014. Managing performance abroad: A new model for understanding expatriate adjustment. 1st ed. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203111468.
Henseler, J., G. Hubona, and P. A. Ray. 2016. “Using PLS path modeling in new technology research: Updated guidelines.” Ind. Manage. Data Syst. 116 (1): 2–20. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-09-2015-0382.
Hou, J., Y. He, X. Zhao, J. Thai, M. Fan, Y. Feng, and L. Huang. 2020. “The effects of job satisfaction and psychological resilience on job performance among residents of the standardized residency training: A nationwide study in China.” Psychol. Health Med. 25 (9): 1106–1118. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2019.1709652.
Huff, K. C., P. P. Song, and E. B. Gresch. 2014. “Cultural intelligence, personality, and cross-cultural adjustment: A study of expatriates in Japan.” Int. J. Intercultural Relat. 38 (Jun): 151–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2013.08.005.
Ikizer, G., A. N. Karanci, and C. Dogulu. 2016. “Exploring factors associated with psychological resilience among earthquake survivors from Turkey.” J. Loss Trauma 21 (5): 384–398. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2015.1108794.
Jung, H. S., and H. H. Yoon. 2015. “The impact of employees’ positive psychological capital on job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviors in the hotel.” Int. J. Contemp. Hospital Manage. 27 (6): 1135–1156. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-01-2014-0019.
Kapiszewski, A. 2017. “Arab versus Asian migrant workers in the GCC countries.” In South Asian migration to Gulf countries, 66–90. New York: Routledge.
Konanahalli, A., and L. O. Oyedele. 2016. “Emotional intelligence and British expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment in international construction projects.” Construct. Manage. Econ. 34 (11): 751–768. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2016.1213399.
Kossek, E. E., and M. B. Perrigino. 2016. “Resilience: A review using a grounded integrated occupational approach.” Acad. Manage. Ann. 10 (1): 729–797. https://doi.org/10.5465/19416520.2016.1159878.
Kuntz, J., P. Connell, and K. Naswall. 2017a. “Workplace resources and employee resilience: The role of regulatory profiles.” Career Dev. Int. 22 (4): 419–435. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-11-2016-0208.
Kuntz, J. R., S. Malinen, and K. Näswall. 2017b. “Employee resilience: Directions for resilience development.” Consulting Psychol. J. Pract. Res. 69 (3): 223–242. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000097.
Lee, Y. 2017. “Exploring the impacts of relationship on employees’ communicative behaviors during issue periods based on employee position.” Corporate Commun. Int. J. 22 (4): 542–555. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-03-2017-0022.
Linz, S., I. Helmreich, A. Kunzler, A. Chmitorz, K. Lieb, and T. Kubiak. 2020. “Interventions to promote resilience in adults a narrative review.” Psychotherapie Psychosomatik Med. Psychologie 70 (1): 11–21. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-0830-4745.
Luthans, F. 2002. “The need for and meaning of positive organizational behavior.” J. Organ. Behav. 23 (6): 695–706. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.165.
Luthans, F., B. J. Avolio, J. B. Avey, and S. M. Norman. 2007. “Positive psychological capital: Measurement and relationship with performance and satisfaction.” Personnel Psychol. 60 (3): 541–572. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2007.00083.x.
Mesmer-Magnus, J. R., and C. Viswesvaran. 2007. “Expatriate management: A review and directions for research in expatriate selection, training, and repatriation.” In Handbook of research in international human resource management, 197–220. New York: Tylor & Francis.
Meuer, J., C. Troster, M. Angstmann, U. Backes-Gellner, and K. Pull. 2019. “Embeddedness and the repatriation intention of assigned and self-initiated expatriates.” Eur. Manage. J. 37 (6): 784–793. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2019.03.002.
Mishra, S., S. Beshai, A. Wuth, and N. Refaie. 2019. “Risk and protective factors in problem gambling: An examination of psychological resilience.” Int. Gambling Stud. 19 (2): 241–264. https://doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2018.1545242.
Morganstein, J. C., and B. W. Flynn. 2021. “Enhancing Psychological sustainment and promoting resilience in healthcare workers during COVID-19 & beyond: Adapting crisis interventions from high-risk occupations.” J. Occup. Environ. Med. 63 (6): 482–489. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000002184.
Norouzinia, R., A. Ebadi, M. Ferdosi, G. Masoumi, Z. Tayebi, and M. H. Yarmohammadian. 2020. “A systematic review of psychometric properties of workplace resilience measurement scales.” TPM-Test. Psychometrics Methodol. Appl. Psychol. 27 (2): 251–269. https://doi.org/10.4473/Tpm27.2.6.
Pavez, I., H. Gomez, L. Laulie, and V. A. Gonzalez. 2021. “Project team resilience: The effect of group potency and interpersonal trust.” Int. J. Project Manage. 39 (6): 697–708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2021.06.004.
Podsakoff, P. M., S. B. MacKenzie, J. Y. Lee, and N. P. Podsakoff. 2003. “Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies.” J. Appl. Psychol. 88 (5): 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879.
Richardson, A. L., and M. W. Gallagher. 2021. “Giving thanks is associated with lower PTSD severity: A meta-analytic review.” J. Happiness Studies 22 (6): 2549–2562. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00322-9.
Richardson, G. E. 2002. “The metatheory of resilience and resiliency.” J. Clin. Psychol. 58 (3): 307–321. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.10020.
Richter, N. F., S. Schubring, S. Hauff, C. M. Ringle, and M. Sarstedt. 2020. “When predictors of outcomes are necessary: Guidelines for the combined use of PLS-SEM and NCA.” Ind. Manage. Data Syst. 120 (12): 2243–2267. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-11-2019-0638.
Rook, C., L. Smith, J. Johnstone, C. Rossato, G. F. L. Sánchez, A. D. Suárez, and J. Roberts. 2018. “Reconceptualising workplace resilience—A cross-disciplinary perspective.” An. de Psicología/Ann. Psychol. 34 (2): 332–339.
Sarstedt, M., C. M. Ringle, and J. F. Hair. 2021. “Partial least squares structural equation modeling.” In Handbook of market research, 1–47. Berlin: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05542-8_15-2.
Schunk, D. H. 1991. “Self-efficacy and academic motivation.” Educ. Psychol. 26 (3–4): 207–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.1991.9653133.
Schwarzer, R., J. Bassler, P. Kwiatek, K. Schroder, and J. A. X. Zhang. 1997. “The assessment of optimistic self-beliefs: Comparison of the German, Spanish, and Chinese versions of the general self-efficacy scale.” Appl. Psychol. 46 (1): 69–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.1997.tb01096.x.
Shin, J., M. S. Taylor, and M. G. Seo. 2012. “Resources for change: The relationships of organizational inducements and psychological resilience to employees’ attitudes and behaviors toward organizational change.” Acad. Manage. J. 55 (3): 727–748. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.0325.
Silbiger, A., B. R. Barnes, R. Berger, and D. W. S. Renwick. 2021. “The role of regulatory focus and its influence on the cultural distance—Adjustment relationship for expatriate managers.” J. Bus. Res. 122 (Apr): 398–410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.09.021.
Sukhov, A., L. E. Olsson, and M. Friman. 2022. “Necessary and sufficient conditions for attractive public transport: Combined use of PLS-SEM and NCA.” Transp. Res. Part A Policy Pract. 158 (May): 239–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2022.03.012.
Takeuchi, R. 2010. “A critical review of expatriate adjustment research through a multiple stakeholder view: Progress, emerging trends, and prospects.” J. Manage. 36 (4): 1040–1064. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206309349308.
Taylor, S. E., D. K. Sherman, H. S. Kim, J. Jarcho, K. Takagi, and M. S. Dunagan. 2004. “Culture and social support: Who seeks it and why?” J. Personality Social Psychol. 87 (3): 354. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.87.3.354.
Todt, G., M. Weiss, and M. Hoegl. 2018. “Mitigating negative side effects of innovation project terminations: The role of resilience and social support.” J. Prod. Innovation Manage. 35 (4): 518–542. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12426.
Tugade, M. M., and B. L. Fredrickson. 2007. “Regulation of positive emotions: Emotion regulation strategies that promote resilience.” J. Happiness Stud. 8 (3): 311–333. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-006-9015-4.
Turner, M., S. Holdsworth, C. M. Scott-Young, and K. Sandri. 2021. “Resilience in a hostile workplace: The experience of women onsite in construction.” Construct. Manage. Econ. 39 (10): 839–852. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2021.1981958.
Umar, T. 2022. “The impact of COVID-19 on the GCC construction industry.” Int. J. Serv. Sci. Manage. Eng. Technol. 13 (2): 1–17. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJSSMET.20220301.oa1.
Vacharkulksemsuk, T., and B. L. Fredrickson. 2013. “Looking back and glimpsing forward: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions as applied to organizations.” In Vol. 1 of Advances in positive organizational psychology, 45–60. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group.
Xia, N., N. Sun, and S. Ding. 2022. “How psychological capital drives the initiative of project managers in the Chinese construction industry: The roles of work engagement and decision authority.” J. Manage. Eng. 38 (4): 04022031. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0001066.
Xiao, S. Y. 1994. “The theoretical basis and research application of social support rating scale.” J. Clin. Psychiatry 4 (2): 98–100.
Xie, Y. 1998. “Reliability and validity of the simplified coping style questionnaire.” Chin. J. Clin. Psychol. 6 (2): 114–115.
Yeung, N. C. Y., B. S. Huang, C. Y. K. Lau, and J. T. F. Lau. 2022. “Finding the silver linings in the COVID-19 pandemic: Psychosocial correlates of adversarial growth among Filipina domestic helpers in Hong Kong.” Psychol. Trauma Theory Res. Pract. Policy 14 (2): 291–300. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001069.
Yu, M., J. Wen, S. M. Smith, and P. Stokes. 2022. “Building-up resilience and being effective leaders in the workplace: A systematic review and synthesis model.” Leadership Organ. Dev. J. 43 (7): 1098–1117. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-09-2021-0437.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 150 • Issue 2 • February 2024
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 13, 2023
Accepted: Sep 25, 2023
Published online: Nov 30, 2023
Published in print: Feb 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Apr 30, 2024
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
Cited by
- Lili Gao, Xiaowei Luo, Yi Wang, Na Zhang, Xiaopeng Deng, Working in Hostile Environments: Exploring the Effect of Job Stressors on Expatriate Adjustment in International Construction Projects, Journal of Management in Engineering, 10.1061/JMENEA.MEENG-5808, 40, 3, (2024).