Relative Deprivation Theory In International Business Management

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The topics of expatriation , international assignments, and cross cultural adjustment have triggered a spirited debate among researchers in the literatures of international human resource management and international business management during the past decades (Black, 1988; Collings et al., 2007; Bird, Mendenhall, Stevens, Oddou, 2010). Due to the increase in fierce competition and globalisation 's intensity, multinational corporations (MNCs) are more inclined to capitalize on both international assignments and expatriates (Tungli and Peiperl, 2009). Expatriates are people assigned by their company in a different country to manage and control business operations (Noe et al., 2012, p.662). Moreover, international assignments are considered …show more content…

Consequently, this proposed topic is derived from the study of Ren et al. (2015) that integrated the relative deprivation theory with the self determination theory to explore their impact on expatriates ' thriving which, in turn, plays a vital role in their success in international assignments. However, the current study is quite different because Ren and his colleagues (2015) draw on Crosby 's relative deprivation model (1976) that emphasizes the role of comparisons between individuals in a social context in the emergence of the sense of being deprived. This is known as the "external referent approach". Consequently, they claim that expatriates may perceive deprivation if they lack the three constructs of the self determination theory which include: autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Ryan and Deci, 2000) compared to their local nationals in the host country in the same …show more content…

The number of MNCs in Egypt accounts for 880 companies operating in different industrial and service sectors (Nafie, 2012). This explicitly means the existence of expatriates from diversified cultural backgrounds, which is quite different from the Egyptian cultural values that may affect their actions toward perceptions of relative deprivation regarding autonomy, competence, and relatedness and their ability to thrive differently. Additionally, if they experienced limited levels of thriving, some of their work related outcomes ( for example, willingness to transfer knowledge) may be influenced negatively. So, this study will answer the following research

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