Dhara Shah | Griffith University (original) (raw)

Papers by Dhara Shah

Research paper thumbnail of Indian Information Technology Expatriates on an International Assignment: Adjustment and Satisfaction

Effective preparation constitutes an important factor in ensuring the success of an expatriate as... more Effective preparation constitutes an important factor in ensuring the success of an expatriate assignment. Research has identified cross-cultural training as one of the key aspects in achieving inter-cultural effectiveness on an international assignment. However, there has been little attempt to explore this concept in an Indian information technology (IT) context. The study reported in this paper adopted a qualitative approach to explore the preparation of IT professionals from Indian IT multinational companies (MNCs) sent to Australia. Based on information gathered through semistructured interviews conducted with Indian IT professionals in Australia, this research indicates how factors during the preparation for the assignment influence their expectations and impact on their initial adjustment experience.

Research paper thumbnail of COVID-19 and self-initiated expatriate health workers: Spanish nurses in Germany

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research

PurposeGiven that the incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) varies greatly between cou... more PurposeGiven that the incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) varies greatly between countries, it becomes relevant to explore self-initiated expatriate (SIE) health workers' perceptions of home vs host country safety during a global pandemic. Thus, the paper aims to study the effects of COVID-19 on the expatriation experience of Spanish SIE nurses in Germany, focussing on perceptions of home and host country safety as push/pull forces on their intentions to repatriate or stay.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews (n = 10) were conducted with Spanish SIE nurses in Germany between April/June 2020 followed by instant messaging interactions with the same participants in October/November 2020. Data analysis was assisted by NVivo software.FindingsOverloaded by information from social networks about the impact of COVID-19 in Spain compared with the situation in Germany, Spanish SIE nurses had exacerbated feelings of stress, and some reported having experienced...

Research paper thumbnail of Deciphering in-store-online switching in multi-channel retailing context: Role of affective commitment to purchase situation

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

Research paper thumbnail of Work-life interface: experiences of Indian IT women repatriates

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

The growth of India’s Information Technology (IT) sector has enabled highly-skilled, aspirational... more The growth of India’s Information Technology (IT) sector has enabled highly-skilled, aspirational Indian women to enter this demanding sector and undertake projects at international client sites. D...

Research paper thumbnail of Career decisions of married Indian IT female expatriates

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research

Purpose Despite more than 50 years of research into gender and work, the impact of female expatri... more Purpose Despite more than 50 years of research into gender and work, the impact of female expatriates persists to be underrepresented in mainstream international human resource management (IHRM) literature. The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore the perceptions of married Indian information technology (IT) women regarding career and expatriating discussions they have with their husbands and its impact on their decision making to undertake international assignments. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 married Indian IT women who had undertaken international assignments after marriage. The study includes two data sets, 1: women on less than one-year assignment; 2: women on greater than one-year assignments. Findings The study found that women who went on short-term assignments of less than one year travelled alone and found it fortunate and convenient to leave their children in the care of their husbands, in-laws, parents and mai...

Research paper thumbnail of Cracking the cultural code

International Journal of Cross Cultural Management

The growth of Indian Information Technology (IT) sector has resulted in many Indian IT expatriate... more The growth of Indian Information Technology (IT) sector has resulted in many Indian IT expatriates conducting projects at international client sites. Yet little is known about the sociocultural communication challenges these expatriates encounter. Adopting a qualitative, interpretive approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 47 Indian IT expatriates at client sites in Australia. The cultural validation and sociocultural competencies framework of the Excellence in Cultural Experiential Learning and Leadership Intercultural Skills Program was used to analyse expatriates’ workplace interactions. Respondents reported a lack of understanding of the ‘unwritten’ sociocultural communication rules in Australia. Communication differences contributed to their frustrations and dissatisfaction during expatriation. Insights into Indian IT expatriates’ experiences of negotiating communication competencies abroad can inform cross-cultural management scholarship and cross-cultural tra...

Research paper thumbnail of Spousal Perspective of Expatriate Family Adjustment

The International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities, and Nations: Annual Review, 2007

The importance of expatriate adjustment and effectiveness is well established in the literature. ... more The importance of expatriate adjustment and effectiveness is well established in the literature. While some studies have explored the influence of expatriate families on the adjustment of the expatriate worker, research exploring the whole family's adjustment from the ...

Research paper thumbnail of Spousal Perspective of Expatriate Family Adjustment

International Journal of …

The importance of expatriate adjustment and effectiveness is well established in the literature. ... more The importance of expatriate adjustment and effectiveness is well established in the literature. While some studies have explored the influence of expatriate families on the adjustment of the expatriate worker, research exploring the whole family's adjustment from the ...

Research paper thumbnail of Indian Information Technology expatriates on an international assignment: Impact of pre- departure preparation on initial adjustment

Effective preparation constitutes an important factor in ensuring the success of an expatriate as... more Effective preparation constitutes an important factor in ensuring the success of an expatriate assignment. Research has identified cross-cultural training as one of the key aspects in achieving inter-cultural effectiveness on an international assignment. However, there has been little attempt to explore this concept in an Indian information technology (IT) context. The study reported in this paper adopted a qualitative approach to explore the preparation of IT professionals from Indian IT multinational companies (MNCs) sent to Australia. Based on information gathered through semi-structured interviews conducted with Indian IT professionals in Australia, this research indicates how factors during the preparation for the assignment influence their expectations and impact on their initial adjustment experience.

Research paper thumbnail of Opportunity and opportunism: The expatriation practices of Indian information technology multinational corporations

Journal of International Management, 2016

Although effective International Human Resource Management during an international assignment con... more Although effective International Human Resource Management during an international assignment constitutes a significant factor in ensuring success of an expatriate assignment, there has not been much research that studies the expatriation practices associated with the global delivery model that has come to be identified with global outsourcing. The purpose of this paper is to understand the expatriation practices of Emerging Market Multinational Corporations (EMNCs) in the Indian IT sector, by examining the experiences of Indian IT workers sent to work on international client projects in a western country. We have used qualitative semi-structured interviews with 47 Indian IT expatriates from Indian IT MNCs working at client sites in Australia. We find that there is inadequate attention paid to expatriation both prior to emigration and while workers are overseas and employed at client sites. Such human resource shortcomings may be inherent in the global delivery model that is an important feature of Indian IT business. The implications of these findings are discussed in the paper.

Research paper thumbnail of Internationalization and HRM strategies across subsidiaries in multinational corporations from emerging economies—A conceptual framework

Journal of World Business

Research paper thumbnail of Indian Information Technology Expatriates on an International Assignment: Adjustment and Satisfaction

Effective preparation constitutes an important factor in ensuring the success of an expatriate as... more Effective preparation constitutes an important factor in ensuring the success of an expatriate assignment. Research has identified cross-cultural training as one of the key aspects in achieving inter-cultural effectiveness on an international assignment. However, there has been little attempt to explore this concept in an Indian information technology (IT) context. The study reported in this paper adopted a qualitative approach to explore the preparation of IT professionals from Indian IT multinational companies (MNCs) sent to Australia. Based on information gathered through semistructured interviews conducted with Indian IT professionals in Australia, this research indicates how factors during the preparation for the assignment influence their expectations and impact on their initial adjustment experience.

Research paper thumbnail of COVID-19 and self-initiated expatriate health workers: Spanish nurses in Germany

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research

PurposeGiven that the incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) varies greatly between cou... more PurposeGiven that the incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) varies greatly between countries, it becomes relevant to explore self-initiated expatriate (SIE) health workers' perceptions of home vs host country safety during a global pandemic. Thus, the paper aims to study the effects of COVID-19 on the expatriation experience of Spanish SIE nurses in Germany, focussing on perceptions of home and host country safety as push/pull forces on their intentions to repatriate or stay.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews (n = 10) were conducted with Spanish SIE nurses in Germany between April/June 2020 followed by instant messaging interactions with the same participants in October/November 2020. Data analysis was assisted by NVivo software.FindingsOverloaded by information from social networks about the impact of COVID-19 in Spain compared with the situation in Germany, Spanish SIE nurses had exacerbated feelings of stress, and some reported having experienced...

Research paper thumbnail of Deciphering in-store-online switching in multi-channel retailing context: Role of affective commitment to purchase situation

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

Research paper thumbnail of Work-life interface: experiences of Indian IT women repatriates

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

The growth of India’s Information Technology (IT) sector has enabled highly-skilled, aspirational... more The growth of India’s Information Technology (IT) sector has enabled highly-skilled, aspirational Indian women to enter this demanding sector and undertake projects at international client sites. D...

Research paper thumbnail of Career decisions of married Indian IT female expatriates

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research

Purpose Despite more than 50 years of research into gender and work, the impact of female expatri... more Purpose Despite more than 50 years of research into gender and work, the impact of female expatriates persists to be underrepresented in mainstream international human resource management (IHRM) literature. The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore the perceptions of married Indian information technology (IT) women regarding career and expatriating discussions they have with their husbands and its impact on their decision making to undertake international assignments. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 married Indian IT women who had undertaken international assignments after marriage. The study includes two data sets, 1: women on less than one-year assignment; 2: women on greater than one-year assignments. Findings The study found that women who went on short-term assignments of less than one year travelled alone and found it fortunate and convenient to leave their children in the care of their husbands, in-laws, parents and mai...

Research paper thumbnail of Cracking the cultural code

International Journal of Cross Cultural Management

The growth of Indian Information Technology (IT) sector has resulted in many Indian IT expatriate... more The growth of Indian Information Technology (IT) sector has resulted in many Indian IT expatriates conducting projects at international client sites. Yet little is known about the sociocultural communication challenges these expatriates encounter. Adopting a qualitative, interpretive approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 47 Indian IT expatriates at client sites in Australia. The cultural validation and sociocultural competencies framework of the Excellence in Cultural Experiential Learning and Leadership Intercultural Skills Program was used to analyse expatriates’ workplace interactions. Respondents reported a lack of understanding of the ‘unwritten’ sociocultural communication rules in Australia. Communication differences contributed to their frustrations and dissatisfaction during expatriation. Insights into Indian IT expatriates’ experiences of negotiating communication competencies abroad can inform cross-cultural management scholarship and cross-cultural tra...

Research paper thumbnail of Spousal Perspective of Expatriate Family Adjustment

The International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities, and Nations: Annual Review, 2007

The importance of expatriate adjustment and effectiveness is well established in the literature. ... more The importance of expatriate adjustment and effectiveness is well established in the literature. While some studies have explored the influence of expatriate families on the adjustment of the expatriate worker, research exploring the whole family's adjustment from the ...

Research paper thumbnail of Spousal Perspective of Expatriate Family Adjustment

International Journal of …

The importance of expatriate adjustment and effectiveness is well established in the literature. ... more The importance of expatriate adjustment and effectiveness is well established in the literature. While some studies have explored the influence of expatriate families on the adjustment of the expatriate worker, research exploring the whole family's adjustment from the ...

Research paper thumbnail of Indian Information Technology expatriates on an international assignment: Impact of pre- departure preparation on initial adjustment

Effective preparation constitutes an important factor in ensuring the success of an expatriate as... more Effective preparation constitutes an important factor in ensuring the success of an expatriate assignment. Research has identified cross-cultural training as one of the key aspects in achieving inter-cultural effectiveness on an international assignment. However, there has been little attempt to explore this concept in an Indian information technology (IT) context. The study reported in this paper adopted a qualitative approach to explore the preparation of IT professionals from Indian IT multinational companies (MNCs) sent to Australia. Based on information gathered through semi-structured interviews conducted with Indian IT professionals in Australia, this research indicates how factors during the preparation for the assignment influence their expectations and impact on their initial adjustment experience.

Research paper thumbnail of Opportunity and opportunism: The expatriation practices of Indian information technology multinational corporations

Journal of International Management, 2016

Although effective International Human Resource Management during an international assignment con... more Although effective International Human Resource Management during an international assignment constitutes a significant factor in ensuring success of an expatriate assignment, there has not been much research that studies the expatriation practices associated with the global delivery model that has come to be identified with global outsourcing. The purpose of this paper is to understand the expatriation practices of Emerging Market Multinational Corporations (EMNCs) in the Indian IT sector, by examining the experiences of Indian IT workers sent to work on international client projects in a western country. We have used qualitative semi-structured interviews with 47 Indian IT expatriates from Indian IT MNCs working at client sites in Australia. We find that there is inadequate attention paid to expatriation both prior to emigration and while workers are overseas and employed at client sites. Such human resource shortcomings may be inherent in the global delivery model that is an important feature of Indian IT business. The implications of these findings are discussed in the paper.

Research paper thumbnail of Internationalization and HRM strategies across subsidiaries in multinational corporations from emerging economies—A conceptual framework

Journal of World Business