Titel:

Creating and leveraging social capital in international careers: A systematic review and future directions

Author(s):

Friederike Mathey (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). Contact: friederike.mathey@vu.nl

Abstract

International employees (IEs) stipulate a unique human resource to multinational companies (MNCs) because of their broad international social network (social capital) from which they access various support resources. However, the benefits of IEs’ social capital is questioned by contrasting results. This suggests that certain conditions are likely to shape how social capital is created and how it contributes to individual and organizational outcomes. Yet, given a fragmented nature of the literature the understanding of these conditions remains limited. To address this gap, we critically review work published between 1973 and 2020. We develop an integrative framework of the conditions under which IEs’ social capital is created and leveraged. Three factors influence the creation of social capital: organizational, job and cultural factors. We suggest that IEs’ networking behavior is a mediator for the acquisition of international support networks and close with recommendations for future research.