EXPATRIATE RELATIONS AND EXPATRIATION SUCCESS – EXTENDING PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACTS TO EXPATRIATE PARTNERS
Ulla Niemi-Ylänen, Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Technology Management, Tampere University of Technology, Finland

Abstract
The expatriate population is expected to keep growing in the near future. Expatriate employees are most often accompanied with partners. Several problems have been recognized facing the expatriating family members resulting sometimes in expatriation failures. Previous research on expatriation does not cover the relationships between expatriate partner and the organization of the expatriate employee. It is the author’s intention to use action-oriented research methodology to explore the underlying relationships between expatriate partners and their partners’ organizations and how these relationships relate to expatriation success from the expatriate partner perspective. It will be argued that the expatriate partners have their own psychological contracts with their partners’ organizations from the very early stage of the expatriation process. Research questions are raised regarding (1) the types of expatriation psychological contracts; (2) expatriation evaluation; and (3) how expatriate relations affect expatriation outcomes.
Keywords: expatriate partner, expatriate relations, expatriation success, psychological contract, qualitative interviews