Globalisation has led to increasing international mobility amongst business and education professionals. Whilst expatriate management literature focuses on expatriate assignment of corporate executives, expatriate academics remain an under researched group. Higher education literature has focused on internationalisation of education systems, notably the growth in international strategic alliances between universities, and mobility amongst students. Therefore compared with what is known about the student body, very little is known about the experiences of internationally mobile academics. Drawing on a qualitative study of academics, this paper evaluates the use of metaphor for understanding the “motivation to go” overseas and the “experience” of expatriation. It evaluates four metaphors which have emerged from the study for expatriating and four others for the experience of expatriation. Finally it suggests that the voluntary, self‐selecting expatriate should be much more extensively researched.

Purpose -To explore self-directed expatriates' relationships with their home and host countries by drawing on an existing model of expatriate managers' allegiance to home and host organizations. Design/methodology/approach -Using a qualitative methodology and thematic analysis, the study draws on interviews with 30 expatriate academics in four countries. Specifically, the paper draws on Black and Gregersen's model of allegiance to home and host organizations to explore the different dimensions and the strength and weakness of those relationships. Findings -The findings suggest that, while the model of allegiance presents a useful starting-point, further modifications are required in order to cater for the complexity and dynamism of relationships with home and host countries. Research limitations/implications -Whereas the paper focuses on UK expatriates, it may be that other nationals may experience different relationships with their home and host countries. Moreover, it may be useful to explore the relationships of other self-directed expatriates such as managers and corporate executives, or medical personnel. Originality/value -The specific value of the paper is that it explores a hitherto under-researched theme and provides an insight into the identified dimensions of self-directed expatriates' relationships with their home and host countries.

This paper focuses on the relatively unexplored link between international experience and academic careers. Drawing on a study of 30 British academics in four countries, it reports how they accounted for their decision to take an overseas appointment and how they evaluated that appointment. The contemporary career literature is used as a framework for analysis connecting the findings with “traditional” and “new” career themes. The desire to travel was found to be a key driver in taking the overseas appointment. When it came to evaluating the overseas appointment, however, upward career mobility in the context of increasing internationalisation was a major concern. The paper offers a number of key concerns for managers in institutions of higher education, particularly those concerned with the management and recruitment of international faculty.

This article examines two blogs written by the spouses of game developers about extreme and exploitative working conditions in the video game industry and the associated reader comments. The wives of these video game developers and members of the game community decry these working conditions and challenge dominant ideologies about making games. This article contributes to the work intensification literature by challenging the belief that long hours are necessary and inevitable to make successful games, discussing the negative toll of extreme work on workers and their families, and by highlighting that the project-based structure of game development both creates extreme work conditions and inhibits resistance. It considers how extreme work practices are legitimized through neo-normative control mechanisms made possible through project-based work structures and the perceived imperative of a race or 'crunch' to meet project deadlines. The findings show that neo-normative control mechanisms create an insularity within project teams and can make it difficult for workers to resist their own extreme working conditions, and at times to even understand them as extreme.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a research agenda and raise practical issues relating to the increasing complexity of the internationally mobile professional.Design/methodology/approachThe paper considers the developing issues in the use of alternative forms of international assignment (short‐term, commuter, flexpatriate) and the existence of the independent internationally mobile professional and raises questions for research and practice.FindingsThe paper suggests that alternative forms of international assignment and assignee are under‐ researched. Additionally, the large number of independently mobile professionals in the global economy need to be further researched, while organizations should recruit for international assignments from the external as well as internal labour markets when circumstances allow.Originality/valueThe paper raises under‐researched questions in the study of international assignments and suggests more strategic approaches to the practice of managing international assignments.