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Chapter 4 74 4.4 Organizational support Following the domestic literature (e.g., Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002), organizational support encompasses all those practices and policies that are perceived by expatriates as conveying that the organization(s) values their contributions, cares about their well-being, considers their goals and values, treats them fairly, listens to their problems and helps to solve them. Prior studies have identified up to 43 such practices that organizations can implement to facilitate international assignments and to stimulate the social support expatriates perceive to be coming from the organization (Guzzo et al., 1994). Twenty-six studies in the current review have investigated perceived organizational support (POS) using different measures. Seventeen studies examined expatriates’ perceptions regarding the general supportiveness of organizations (e.g., Shaffer et al., 2001). Alternatively, four studies examined POS in terms of the specific practices implemented by organizations (Florkowski & Flogel, 1999; Jayasekara & Takahashi, 2014; Shih et al., 2010; Wu & Ang, 2011), whereas another four examined specific types or bundles of practices (Kawai & Strange, 2014; Kraimer & Wayne, 2004; Puck et al., 2008; Van der Heijden et al., 2009). Guzzo et al. (1994) investigated both general POS as well as specific practices and found that the effect of practices on IA success is indirect through expatriates’ general POS. 4.4.1 Organizational Support and Success The 26 studies demonstrated that POS is highly important for the success of IAs. In particular, the positive effect of POS on the more proximal success criteria is apparent. POS consistently has a positive effect on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of expatriates (Cao et al., 2014; Guzzo et al., 1994; Jayasekara & Takahashi, 2014; Kawai & Strange, 2014; Kraimer & Wayne, 2004; Liu & Ipe, 2010; Puck et al., 2008; Shaffer et al., 2001; Takeuchi et al., 2009; Shih et al., 2010; Supangco & Mayrhofer, 2014; Yahya et al., 2012). Similarly, positive relationships with expatriates’ adjustment were found in the majority of studies (Bhatti et al., 2013; Kawai &Mohr, 2015; Kawai & Strange, 2014; Kraimer & Wayne, 2004; Kraimer et al., 2001; Malek et al., 2015; Takeuchi et al., 2009; Wu & Ang, 2011; Wang & Takeuchi, 2007). Only three studies found nonsignificant effects of POS on adjustment. While Chen et al. (2010) likely found no effect due to their aggregated measure with low power, an effect of POS in Chen (2010) and Supangco & Mayrhofer (2014) may have been absent due to the support from alternative sources that was included in their models. POS consistently has a positive effect on the more distal success criteria, but the observed relationships are frequently indirect. Regarding the completion of assignments and the retention of expatriates, eleven studies demonstrated a positive effect of POS. However, combined, their results suggest that this effect is not only direct but also partially indirect through the adjustment, satisfaction and commitment of the expatriate (Cao et al., 2014; De Paul Chism, 2014; Florkowski & Fogel, 1999; Guzzo et al., 1994; Jayasekara & Takahashi, 2014; Kraimer & Wayne, 2004; Puck et al., 2008; Shaffer et al., 2001; Van der Heijden et al., 2009; Wang & Takeuchi, 2007; Wu & Ang, 2011).