International assignment management in Asia: A study of the relation between social support mechanisms and assignment success among Western females

International assignments offer organizations an opportunity to transfer knowledge and develop global management talent. As globalization increases the demand for managers with global competencies, the escalating volume of international assignments has facilitated demand for assignment programming that manages complex human resource issues around assignee support. With this expansion, the concurrent growth of Western females on assignment has created a unique set of challenges to overcome to achieve assignment success. The objective of this study is to analyze and synthesize the social and structural support variables that contribute to the success of Western females on Asian-based international assignments. The current gap in literature suggests that a measurement of the impact of social and structural programming in the context of cross-cultural adjustment on the success of females on international assignments does not exist regardless of assignment location. As the construct of international assignment support is primarily exploratory in nature, this study attempts to examine the impact of assignee social support on workplace behaviors. This research will measure variables that contribute to assignment success based on social support for females on Asian assignments. It will provide evidence in support of the theories of Structuration and "Doing Gender." This quantitative, ex post facto survey study will reveal the variables that contribute to assignment success among Western females on Asian-based international assignments.