An examination of factors affecting repatriates' turnover intentions

Purpose - This study seeks to address the challenge of repatriate turnover by focusing on how effective repatriation adjustment, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment are at predicting the Taiwanese repatriates' intentions to leave their organization. By building on the cross-cultural adjustment and turnover theories and researches, this study expands these recent findings to Taiwanese repatriates. Design/methodology/approach - Multiple regression was used to predict intent to leave and explain the impact of the three predictors on intent to leave. Correlation was used to compare the relationship of study variables. Findings - The results of multiple regression indicated that repatriation adjustment was the strongest predictor of intent to leave followed by organizational commitment. The combination of the three variables can predict approximately 58 percent of the variance of intent to leave. Overall interrelations among the independent variables showed a positive strong relationship and negatively related to intent to leave the organization. Practical implications - The results provide empirical evidence that repatriation adjustment, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment are negatively related to intent to leave the organization. Furthermore, the conceptual framework of this study can be a guide to future research in repatriates' turnover intention. Originality/value - The results of this study may help multinational organizations in Taiwan to enhance the international assignment process of their employees and keep valuable human capital within the organization.