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Under the framework of the achievement goal and expectancy-value theories, this study aims to examine which motivational goals lead people to self-initiate an international assignment and predict subjective assignment achievements.

Data was collected from a convenience sample of 141 self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) from multiple locations. The first set of analyses tested the hypothesis that demographics and expectancies of competence in living and working abroad discriminate the individuals who initiate an international assignment for learning goals from the ones who value performance goals. The second set of analyses tested the hypothesis that individual expectancies and goals predict specific subjective assignment achievements and overall success.

The results show that SIEs who had greater confidence in their ability to live and work abroad were also more likely to move to pursuit performance goals. They also reported greater host adjustment and superior professional accomplishments, but not higher family achievements or success.

In contrast to the dominant descriptive approach to the study of SIEs, this study underpins the adequacy and potential of a motivational approach in predicting SIEs’ behaviors and outcomes. The theoretical and managerial implications for international business and cross-cultural management are further discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of perceived home and destination organizational culture characteristics and general satisfaction with the assignment as antecedents of expatriates’ withdrawal intentions.

Data were collected through a web survey of an international sample of expatriates with a broad representation of industries, organizations and countries of origin and destination.

The results indicate that home and destination organizational cultures affect expatriates’ withdrawal intentions, after controlling for demographics and national cultural differences, namely: home organizational culture has a stronger influence on withdrawal intentions from the organization, while host organizational culture affects withdrawal intentions from the assignment. Further, the relationship between host organizational culture and expatriates’ intentions to withdraw from the assignment is mediated by expatriates’ satisfaction with the assignment. Evidence was also found supporting a stronger and negative influence of the goal orientation dimension of organizational culture, thus suggesting that a collective orientation toward common business goals (i.e. solidarity) may help retain expatriates.

This study seeks to fill a gap in the literature by exploring the influence of organizational culture on expatriates’ withdrawal intentions, and the mediating role of expatriates’ satisfaction with the assignment, on that relationship.

In spite of the progress made in the last decades, women still face difficulties in being accepted and recognised as managers. The manager’s role has been perceived as masculine, and the gender stereotypes are therefore, a barrier to women’s access to management. With the aim to explore the relationship between gender stereotypes and management characteristics and discuss its implications for the discrimination of women in management a study was conducted among Portuguese undergraduate management students. The findings indicate that students of both sexes tend to perceive the “manager” category as closer to the masculine stereotype than to the feminine stereotype. Additionally, for male students the “man manager” and “manager” are more similar to each other than the “woman manager” and “manager” categories. However, the image of “woman manager” appears not to distance itself considerably from the “manager” stereotype as a result of her masculinisation. This paper discusses the implications of this asymmetric gender social representation that ultimately hinders the acceptance of women as a social group in the management context.

Taking the subordinates’ perspective, this paper aims to explore the supervisor-subordinate relationships and how daily interactions, personal ties and connections with the supervisors contribute more significantly, positively or negatively, to the subordinates’ well-being.

This exploratory study is based on the thematic analysis of data collected from two rounds of in-depth semi-structured interviews with 21 participants in a Portuguese utility company.

The subordinates’ perceptions of the nature and quality of their relationships with supervisors were found to have considerable effects on well-being. Positive effects were identified when subordinates feel emotionally supported and believe that supervisors truly care about them and are genuinely willing to listen to their concerns, but the most significant effects on the subordinates’ well-being are produced when the perceived authenticity of the supervisor allows the relationship to evolve into a state of relational closeness, and the subordinates connect with the person-as-real, the human being behind the mask who is playing the supervisory role. These findings reflect features of the cultural setting where the study was conducted.

The study provides evidence to support the argument that a better understanding of supervisor-subordinate relationships and their effects on well-being requires an integrated approach that considers the valuable contributions of different literatures and theoretical frameworks and the multiple dimensions of that relationship, including personal and non-work dimensions. This approach is particularly relevant in cultural contexts where these dimensions might play a critical role in work relations.

Tomando la perspectiva de los subordinados, el artículo explora las relaciones supervisor-subordinado y cómo las interacciones diarias, los vínculos personales y las conexiones con los supervisores contribuyen de manera más significativa, positiva o negativamente, al bienestar de los subordinados.

Este estudio exploratorio se basa en el análisis temático de los datos recopilados en dos rondas de entrevistas semiestructuradas en profundidad con veintiún participantes en una empresa de servicios públicos portuguesa.

Se encontró que las percepciones de los subordinados sobre la naturaleza y calidad de sus relaciones con los supervisores tienen efectos considerables en el bienestar. Se identificaron efectos positivos cuando los subordinados se sienten apoyados emocionalmente por los supervisores y creen que realmente se preocupan con elles y están genuinamente dispuestos a escuchar sus preocupaciones. Los efectos más significativos en el bienestar de los subordinados se producen cuando la autenticidad percibida de los supervisores permite que la relación evolucione hacia un estado de cercanía relacional, y los subordinados se conectan con la persona real, el ser humano detrás de la máscara, que es el supervisor.

Este estudio proporciona evidencia que respalda la idea de que una mejor comprensión de las relaciones supervisor-subordinado y sus efectos en el bienestar requiere un enfoque integrado que tenga en cuenta las valiosas contribuciones de diferentes literaturas y marcos teóricos y las múltiples dimensiones de esa relación, incluidas las dimensiones personales y no laborales, para dar sentido a las relaciones supervisor-subordinado en contextos culturales donde podrían desempeñar un papel fundamental.

A partir da perspectiva dos subordinados, o artigo explora as relações supervisor-subordinado e como as interações diárias, os laços pessoais e as ligações com os supervisores contribuem de forma mais significativa, positiva ou negativamente, para o bem-estar dos subordinados.

Este estudo exploratório baseia-se na aplicação da análise temática aos dados recolhidos em duas rondas de entrevistas semiestruturadas e em profundidade a vinte e um participantes, em exercício de funções em empresa portuguesa de serviços públicos.

Os dados recolhidos permitem concluir que as percepções dos subordinados sobre a natureza e a qualidade das suas relações com os supervisores têm efeitos consideráveis no bem-estar. Foram identificados efeitos positivos quando os subordinados sentem que os supervisores os apoiam emocionalmente e realmente se preocupam com os subordinados e estão genuinamente dispostos a ouvir as suas preocupações. Os efeitos mais significativos no bem-estar são obtidos quando dos subordinados percepcionam a autenticidade do supervisor, permitindo que o relacionamento evolua para um estado de proximidade relacional, e os subordinados se conectam com a pessoa real, o ser humano por detrás da máscara: o supervisor.

O estudo fornece evidência que permite sustentar o argumento segundo o qual uma melhor compreensão das relações supervisor-subordinado e dos seus efeitos no bem-estar exige uma abordagem integrada que tenha em conta as contribuições valiosas de diferentes literaturas e quadros teóricos e as múltiplas dimensões da relação supervisor-subordinado, incluindo a dimensão pessoal e não profissional, particularmente relevantes em contextos culturais em que estas podem desempenhar um papel crítico.

The purpose of the paper is to shed additional light on the Englishisation process in higher education (HE), by exploring the contentious and divisive nature of language changes and the different ways in which individual academics experience that process and craft ways of resisting institutional attempts to naturalise the use of the English language in teaching and scholarly writing.

Based on a self-ethnographic insider study in a Portuguese university setting, the data were gathered from multiple sources and over an extended period of time and presented as stories selected as illustrative examples of resistance.

The Englishisation process goes beyond language issues and tends to be associated with increasing competitive pressures and the implementation of international standards that might challenge the cultural mind-set and long-established practices; by exacerbating old political divisions and tensions, the Englishisation process uncovers a confrontation between different visions of the role and nature of the university that seems to co-exist and compete in the same setting – the community of scholars and the market-led university.

The paper adds to the debate on the implications of the Englishisation process in HE showing that resistance to the growing use of the English language might not be about the language after all. It is the full package that comes with the Englishisation process that really seems to matter.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which negative age-based metastereotypes mediate the relationship between the representation of older workers and two forms of stereotype threat in the workplace: own-reputation and group-reputation. Adopting a social identity perspective, this paper also explores whether age diversity beliefs moderate the relationship between negative age-based metastereotypes and stereotype threats.

A cross-sectional design was adopted with bootstrapped mediation and moderation analyses. The data were collected from 567 older workers working in 15 manufacturing companies.

The analyses provide support for partial mediation and for a moderation effect of age diversity beliefs in the relationship between negative age-based metastereotypes and own-reputation threat. The results hold while controlling for age, objective organizational age diversity, and organizational tenure.

The limitations of this study include its cross-sectional nature and the need for further work regarding older workers’ metastereotypes about middle-aged workers.

For stereotype threat interventions to be effective they must identify beforehand the target and the source of the threat. Moreover, interventions should aim for the development of a sense of identity on the organization as it may pave the way for members of different age groups to build bonds and for intergenerational boundaries to be blurred.

This paper contributes to the literature by showing the importance of negative age-based metastereotypes in workplace age dynamics. It also provides further support for a multi-threat approach to the experience of age-based stereotype threats in the workplace.

Taking a social identity approach, the purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which age-based stereotype threat mediates the relationships between older workers’ negative age-based metastereotypes and two negative work attitudes: organizational disidentification and work disengagement.

A two-wave cross-sectional design was adopted to collect data from 423 blue-collar older workers of the Portuguese manufacturing sector. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediation model.

The analyses show that age-based stereotype threat partially mediates the relationship between negative age-based metastereotypes and negative work attitudes. Moreover, findings suggest that older workers respond to negative age-based metastereotypes through threat reactions, and undesirable work attitudes.

This paper contributes to the literature by showing the importance of negative age-based metastereotypes and age-based stereotype threat in workplace dynamics. It also provides evidence that age threats impair the relationship older workers keep with their organization and their work.

The purpose of this paper is to examine, from the venture capital (VC) managers’ perspective, the impact of the international financial and sovereign debt crises on the VC industry in Portugal, and the changes and adjustments VC managers were forced to adopt to their procedures and current practices to cope with these challenges.

A two-step research design was adopted to best capture the dynamics of the crisis. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and content analysed. The initial set of interviews with ten VC managers was conducted in 2011, immediately before the country bailout; and the second set in 2013, when the full impact of the debt crisis was being felt.

The study shows that the crises had a significant impact on the VC industry producing a complex and dynamic environment with high levels of uncertainty. The VC managers’ contradictory perceptions reflect their own struggle to figure out the best way to deal with the pressures in such a volatile environment where new opportunities may also arise. In general, VC firms became more selective adopting a more prudential attitude and tighter control mechanisms.

This study contributes to the field by analysing, from the VC managers’ perspective, the cumulative impact of the international financial and sovereign debt crisis on a European VC market with specific features: small dimension of the industry operating in a bank-centred capital market and where family-owned SMEs predominate.

Although the gap between rhetoric and reality is not a specific human resource management (HRM) feature, the disconnection between discourse and action seems to have reached unusual stages in this case. Not much is known about HRM in Portugal, but it is clear that Portuguese academics and practitioners have extensively adopted the global HRM rhetoric. With an environment apparently unfavorable to the HRM normative model, this paper examines the ways in which global HRM rhetoric meets Portuguese reality.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which Portuguese companies have incorporated equality‐ and diversity‐related issues into their management discourse, and examine the prevalent rhetoric on these matters.

A comprehensive content analysis of the web sites of the 500 largest companies plus the 20 best companies to work for in Portugal, in 2005, according to the ranking of The Great Place to Work^® Institute Portugal.

The analysis of the web site data shows that equality and diversity rhetoric mirrors, to a large extent, the dominant US discourse and ignores the necessary adaptation to the local context. However, there are significant differences in the adopted rhetoric according to the origin of the ownership control (native vs foreign) and the intended audience (local vs global). Native owned companies with web sites intended to a local audience tend to ignore diversity issues altogether.

The study was limited to a single country's data, and to the discourse rather than actual practices. However, the paper adds to the debate on the globalization of management knowledge stressing the limitations of adopting the “one size fits all” management rhetoric as opposed to developing rhetoric more appropriate and that fits into the local context.

The paper provides an account of the equality and diversity rhetoric adopted by the most prominent organizations operating in Portugal, suggesting that such rhetoric is mainly for external consumption.