THE IMPACT OF SPOUSE'S CAREER‐ORIENTATION ON MANAGERS DURING INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

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Abstract
The increasing internationalization of business and the rise of dual‐earner couples in the labour force combine to make the area of international human resource management and career development complex and important. This article examines results obtained from 67 American expatriate managers (EXM) in Japan of whom 47 per cent were part of a dual‐earner couple in America. the study found that career‐oriented spouses were almost seven times as likely to find employment after an international transfer as non‐career‐oriented spouses. It is argued that because career‐oriented spouses in general were able to find employment and avoid major job interruptions, there was no significant difference between the adjustment of expatriate managers whose spouses worked in the US before the transfer but not after and EXMs whose spouses worked before and after the transfer.