Expatriate Managers' Loyalty to the MNC: Myth or Reality? An Exploratory Study

Abstract

This exploratory study examines five antecedent conditions of organizational commitment among groups of American, Dutch, Israeli and British managers in six multinational banking corporations. Role, nationality, age, seniority, and rank are tested as correlates of the organizational commitment construct among three groups of managers: Headquarters (HQ) officials, expatriate managers, and host-country managers in foreign subsidiaries.

No support was found to the widespread belief that expatriate managers are more loyal to the company than host-country nationals. Age predicted organizational commitment more accurately than did nationality or role. Further analysis of the organizational commitment construct found evidence for a two-factor model: Loyalty/identification and involvement. Age was then found to be predictive of organizational loyalty/identification and nationality predicted organizational involvement. Managers' nationality could therefore be used to compare and differentiate their organizational involvement.