Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Canada
Psychological contracts offer an insight into the social exchange relationship between employees and their organizations. Their study typically considers what the employee provides to the organization (e.g., time and effort), and what the organization provides to the employee (e.g., compensation and work conditions). The organization is generally used as the focal social exchange partner, although employees can certainly evaluate relationships with various entities at multiple levels (e.g., with supervisors or work teams). This research project examines how employees make sense of distinct psychological contracts with individuals, groups, organizations, and cultures. We examine the complex context of expatriate employees, leveraging the presence of important internal and external stakeholders at multiple levels of analysis and using psychological contracts to strengthen the international management literature about distinct types of expatriate employees (e.g., assigned vs self-initiated expatriates).
