The authors investigate employer practices toward expatriate managers and how those practices relate to retention-relevant outcomes (e.g., organizational commitment, intent to quit, and intent to return early to a domestic assignment). The psychological contract is investigated as a mediator of this relationship. A model in which the psychological contract mediates the relationship between organizational practices and retention-relevant outcomes is empirically constructed. The authors also refine the construct of the psychological contract and report managers' experiences as expatriates.

This article examines the psychological contract and human resource practices as communications relevant to that contract. We argue that employees, at certain times only, systematically analyze their employers' HR practices for meaning vis‐ri‐vis their psychological contract. Judgments about the adequacy with which their psychological contracts are fulfilled result from such systematic analyses, and these judgments have important effects on employee commitment. Practical implications of our analysis are also discussed.

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