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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether traditional conventions of the expatriate psychological contract have altered from both employer and employee perspectives. In essence to what extent have multi‐national corporations adjusted organisational practices to reflect changing circumstances and to what extent have expatriates altered their mindset towards employers' obligations and requirements.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on findings of three organisational case studies and is based on in‐depth interviews with HR managers, line managers and expatriates.FindingsThe findings reveale that the overall tone of the psychological contract from the employers' perspective is transactional. From an employee perspective, preliminary evidence suggests that the dynamics of the employment relationship is changing and that employees have responded to contract changes by seeking to ensure their employability and reduce their dependence on a single organisation.Practical implicationsThe paper focuses on four areas for managers: first, pro‐actively influencing expatriates' expectations thereby minimising misunderstandings; second, organisations should be very aware of "the remuneration market rate" for a particular location; third, policies of support and contact would aid feelings of integration. Finally, more attention should be paid new approaches to strategic talent management.Originality/valueThis paper contributes theoretically and empirically to the literature on expatriates' psychological contracts, an area where there is a dearth of empirical research. The paper also increases the understanding of the variety of expatriate perceptions in different contexts, thereby deepening the understanding of the importance of context in this area.

Previous research has estimated that only 3 percent of international managers are women. From the limited extant research in international human resource management in Europe it is evident that female managers are not progressing to senior management positions at comparable rates to their male counterparts. This paper highlights the additional challenges (or barriers) that female managers are faced with in their career progression to international managerial positions. Based on extensive empirical research, the paper illustrates the barriers which the interviewees believe limit women's international career opportunities. The paper also outlines the implications these barriers have for international human resource management in practice and makes some recommendations for future international human resource management policies.

Several approaches within the sociology of deviance stress the role of agents of control in the definition of behaviour as socially significant forms of rule-breaking. Yet studies of the operation of social control are rare. The paper takes up the attempt by Ditton, in Contrology, to develop a theory of crime in terms of the actions of controllers. It is suggested that Ditton's account gives insufficient attention to the constraints on controllers and in particular to the ability of subordinate groups to counter the exercise of control. Using case study material from several factories, relating to the control strategies of management and to one instance of an attempt to impose managerial definitions of discipline, a different account is developed. This stresses that the form taken by industrial discipline will depend on more general patterns of control over the labour process, with discipline being the product of distinct managerial interests and of workers' counter-strategies. It is suggested that this provides the basis for a realist, as distinct from an idealist or interactionist, interpretation of discipline and control.