[Dwomoh et. al., Vol.5 (Iss.6): June, 2017] ISSN- 2350-0530(O), ISSN- 2394-3629(P)
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Management
DEALING WITH DUAL CAREER COUPLES: A TOOL FOR ACCEPTING
AND MAKING INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS EFFECTIVE
Gabriel Dwomoh
*1
, Asiamah Yeboah
2
, Evelyn Owusu Frempong
3
*1
Institute of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development, Kumasi Technical University,
Ghana
2
Department of Marketing, Kumasi Technical University, Ghana
3
Department of Management and General Studies, Christian Service University College, Ghana
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v5.i6.2017.2015
Abstract
The study seeks to explore existing literature on how MNCs are dealing with dual career couples
for international assignees to accept international assignment and what these MNCs have not
been able to provide so that contribution can be made to the existing literature. The study was
exploratory research where the contributions of various authors were assessed to determine if
dual career couples pose a threat for international assignees to accept international assignment.
The exploration reveals that MNCs need to deal with issues associated with dual career couples
since it contribute significantly to the rejection of international assignments. There are various
strategies MNCs adopt in order to entice the international assignee’s spouse to give his or her
blessing to the international assignment and mainly among them captured in the literature are
providing a lump sum payment for the trailing spouse, inter-firm networking, assisting the
trailing spouse to find job in the host country, engaging in reciprocal arrangement with other
MNCs to find job for the trailing spouse in the host country and providing career support in order
to make the trailing spouse skills, knowledge and abilities relevant to the host country job
market. The study identified two strategies that could be used to deal with dual career couples
which were not captured in the literature and these are the active involvement of the expatriate
spouses in the recruitment and selection process and the use of virtual assignments by relying on
the availability of technology for international assignments.
Keywords: Dual Career Couples; MNCs; International Assignment; Spouse; Expatriate.
Cite This Article: Gabriel Dwomoh, Asiamah Yeboah, and Evelyn Owusu Frempong. (2017).
“DEALING WITH DUAL CAREER COUPLES: A TOOL FOR ACCEPTING AND MAKING
INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS EFFECTIVE.” International Journal of Research -
Granthaalayah, 5(6), 181-188. https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v5.i6.2017.2015.