Managing the boundaries between work and home: a study with expatriates

Abstract This study aims to understand the tactics that expatriates use to manage the interface between work and home. This qualitative study was performed using in-depth interviews later submitted to content analysis, with 64 male Brazilian expatriates. The results showed that expatriates manage the conflicts that may appear in relationships with social actors from the organizational (e.g., employers, customers, and suppliers) and home (spouse, children, and parents) domains by using boundary work tactics. The analysis revealed a list of tactics that allow the expatriates to integrate or segment the work and home domains. This study suggests how expatriates can actively interact with people from work and home domains in such a way that they can build and maintain better work and home relationships during the period they are living in other country. Additionally, companies should develop work-home policies that consider the preferences that an expatriate and his family have for integrating or segmenting work and home domains.