Expatriate's engagement and burnout: the role of purpose-oriented leadership and cultural intelligence

Flavia Cavazotte, Sylvia Freitas Mello and Lucia B. Oliveira

Journal of Global Mobility, 2020, vol. 9, issue 1, 90-106

Abstract: Purpose - This study analyzes the impact of purpose-oriented leadership and leader cultural intelligence on engagement and burnout among expatriates undertaking long-term corporate assignments, grounded on social psychology frameworks on interpersonal bias. Design/methodology/approach - A survey was conducted with corporate expatriates from 21 different nationalities, who work for large multinational companies and were on assignment in 23 distinct countries – including Brazil, China, Japan and the UK Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was used to evaluate the proposed hypotheses. Findings - Results indicate that leader cultural intelligence is associated with lower burnout and higher engagement among expatriates, and that purpose-oriented leadership is associated with higher expatriate engagement but not with lower burnout. Originality/value - This research contributes to the field by highlighting specific leader attributes that can foster successful expatriation: cultural intelligence and purpose-oriented leadership. The study adds to knowledge on leader–follower relationships amid national and cultural diversity by pointing to actionable leader qualities that can foster expatriate engagement and prevent his/her burnout.

Keywords: Expatriation; Leadership; Cultural intelligence; Purpose; Engagement; Burnout (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jgmpps:jgm-05-2020-0031

DOI: 10.1108/JGM-05-2020-0031

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