Coping and adjustment of Western expatriate managers in Hong Kong

This article examines coping mechanisms of Western expatriate business managers in Hong Kong to determine how these strategies are associated with the expatriates’ sociocultural and psychological adjustment. This is important since the few previous studies that have touched upon expatriate coping strategies have focused on other topics which affected both their samples, methodology and findings. Furthermore, effective coping strategies can be taught in cultural training programs better preparing expatriate candidates for their foreign assignments. As predicted, the results indicated a clear positive association between problem focused coping and both sociocultural and psychological adjustment as well as a negative relation between symptom focused coping and both dimensions of adjustment. Implications for international business firms and future research of the findings are discussed in detail.     

A strategic contingency approach to expatriate assignment management

This exploratory study examines how expatriate management practices differ with respect to three international management strategies (local, centralised or global) in 27 mature multinational corporations. In particular, this study examines the categories of expatriate assignments, the strategic integration of expatriate assignments into leadership development and the types of human resource practices that firms utilise to manage expatriates. Results indicate that organisations differentially assign expatriates based on the firm's respective international management strategy. Firms with a global management strategy made greater use of developmental expatriates, had a greater number of senior managers with expatriate experience and had a stronger focus on leadership development through expatriation. Firms did not differ with respect to their use of expatriate management practices based on their international management strategy.     

Managerial characteristics and willingness to send employees on expatriate assignments

This paper examines the characteristics of managers that influence their willingness to send employees on expatriate assignments. Data from 336 senior managers in a major U.S. professional services firm indicate that managers who are higher up in the organizational hierarchy are more willing to send employees on expatriate assignments. In addition, our findings show that managers who have more extensive international experience are more inclined to send employees on such assignments and that managers with expatriate experience themselves are much more willing to send their employees overseas, regardless of whether they currently work with international clients. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Understanding expatriate manager performance: Effects of governance environments on work relationships in relation-based economies

Evidence shows that the majority of Western expatriate managers fail in their job assignments in developing countries. To go beyond attributions of expatriate failure to “cultural differences” this article responds to calls for a theoretical basis for understanding expatriate performance by using a recently developed framework of rule-based and relation-based governance environments to examine how the macro-environment of a country's governance system affects the creation of effective working relationships between executive level expatriate managers and Host Country Nationals (HCNs) on the executive's management team. Based on cross-cultural psychological contract research [Rousseau, D.M., Schalk, R. (2000). Psychological contracts in employment: Cross-national perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.] and the premise that expatriate performance is largely a function of the ability to manage discrepancies between the rule-based expectations of the Western MNC culture and the relation-based expectations of local employees, we develop research propositions to promote future HR research designed to examine the effect of the governance environment on the working relationships between American managers and Chinese HCNs. Implications for future HR efforts to improve the performance of expatriate managers in relation-based societies are also discussed.     

Expatriate or local bosses? HCN subordinates' preferences in leadership behaviour

This article explores host-country national subordinates’ preferences in leadership behaviour comparing expatriate bosses and local bosses. From a sample of 240 middle managers in Hong Kong with experience with both local Chinese bosses and expatriate bosses from a broad spectrum of Western and Asian countries, it was found that the subordinate managers assessed the leadership behaviour of their expatriate bosses to be significantly closer to that of their perceived ideal boss. American leadership behaviour was the most preferred and Japanese leader style was the least preferred, with British leadership style comprising a middle group. Implications of these findings for international business firms and future academic research are discussed.     

Job attitudes and organizational justice in joint venture hotels in China: the role of expatriate managers

In a survey of local employees in joint venture hotels in China, perceived interactional justice was found to be predictive of job attitudes, and perceived salary fairness in comparison with expatriate managers explained additional variance in job attitudes. Compared to previous results, local employees now perceived their pay as much more unfair when compared with that of expatriate managers. In addition to perceived justice, perceived managerial practices of expatriate managers and incentives received were also predictive of job attitudes of local employees. Consistent with previous results, employees working with overseas Chinese and Japanese managers reported less positive job attitudes than those working with Western and other Asian managers. These differences were related to neither perceived differences in managerial practices or managerial experiences of the expatriate managers nor perceived differences in incentives received. The justice framework provides the best explanation for these results.     

What Do Expatriate Managers Know About Their HCN Subordinates' Work Values

Abstract

To be able to adjust to a foreign work environment, expatriate managers need to know what to adjust to. This article explored to what extent expatriate executives are familiar with the work values of their host country national subordinates in Asia. A field study investigated Swedish top managers' perceptions of the work values of their middle managers who were employed in Swedish subsidiaries in Hong Kong. The result showed that the Swedish executives significantly underestimated the importance of the work values of their subordinates in one third of the investigated values. Managerial implications of the findings are discussed.     

Women abroad: getting the best results from women managers

Abstract This study explores the work environment of expatriate women managers in American corporations and investigates the determinants of their job satisfaction. The strategic importance of global assignments has increased over the years. The real cost of unsuccessful expatriates extends beyond the monetary expenses. As the number of women managers working overseas increases, so does the importance of this topic. Additionally, because women in expatriate positions are relatively new, their needs for job satisfaction and career aspirations are not known to most organizations. This research intends to fill this gap. The study concentrates on four major areas that are considered important for obtaining job satisfaction: (1) the way in which organizations design their overseas jobs, (2) women's skills and characteristics, (3) international human resource policies of companies and (4) the cultural environment of host countries. The applied research covers two phases: a study of expatriate managers during their assignments overseas and the evaluation of overseas experience upon their return. The results indicate that women in overseas assignments are satisfied overall with their jobs. However, organizational variables are more strongly related to job satisfaction. The nature of job design in overseas postings has the greatest impact on women's job satisfaction. When the jobs are enriched, women gain intrinsic rewards and have high job satisfaction. Organizational support also contributes to the satisfaction of women expatriates. Training, mentoring and repatriation preparations have high impact on women's success and satisfaction. Women expatriates are more concerned with their repatriation and future advancement than their present assignments. The findings are important for theoretical and practical reasons. Theoretically, the achievement and satisfaction of women managers overseas cannot be simplified without taking into account organizational, personal and cultural factors. Practically, companies need to respond to the individual needs of expatriate women managers and then decide on their assignments and their repatriation accordingly.     

High involvement work system,work–family conflict,and expatriate performance – examining Taiwanese expatriates in China

This study explores the effects of multinational companies (MNC) implementation of a high involvement work system (HIWS) for their expatriates on both expatriate work–family conflict (WFC) and their performance. We surveyed 174 Taiwanese expatriates stationed in China. Data were collected on: (1) perceived human resource management (HRM) practices concerning ‘high involvement work system’; (2) perceived work–family conflict; (3) job satisfaction; and (4) supervisor ratings of expatriate job performance. Structural modeling techniques helped us examine in one model the interdependent relationships among high involvement work system, work–family conflict, and expatriate performance in their host country. Our results show that a high involvement work system is positively related to expatriate satisfaction and performance. However, a high involvement work system is also positively related to expatriate work-family conflict, which in turn is negatively related to expatriate satisfaction and performance. Our findings remind managers that a high involvement work system may produce multiple effects on various dimensions of employee work life, and not all of these effects may be positive.     

Dual-career couples during international relocation: The trailing spouse

Expatriate relocation is a complex process which is influenced by a variety of issues. One issue, the dual-career couple, increases the likelihood of dissatisfaction and failure of the foreign assignment. The trailing spouse plays a critical role in the amount of stress/conflict experienced by the expatriate and she/he is key to increasing the success rate of expatriate managers. This research reports on a survey of 258 dual-career couples and their concerns with: (1) willingness to relocate; (2) unique adjustment issues; (3) stress/conflict generating situations; and (4) the type/level of support provided by the expatriate managers' MNCs.     

An empirical test of a correspondence model of expatriate managers' work adjustment

We develop and empirically test a model of expatriate managers' work adjustment. In this model we relate the fit between work-related abilities and needs of expatriate managers as well as the fit between the job requirements of, and incentives associated with, an international assignment to the level of expatriate managers' work adjustment. We test this model with data gathered by means of an electronic survey among 118 German expatriate managers. The empirical findings largely support our theoretical model. The paper enhances our understanding of expatriate managers' work adjustment and its antecedents and contributes to the theoretical and empirical basis of research into expatriate management.     

Developing leaders rather than managers for the global marketplace

The key to successfully competing in the global marketplace may be staffing key expatriate positions with accomplished /skilled leaders. Past research has focused on preparing managers to successfully expatriate to foreign assignment and repatriate back to the United States. The high failure rate and general lack of effectiveness of many expatriate managers may be attributed to not having a cultural match between the assignment and the leadership style of the expatriate. This article explains the complex issues associated with multicultural leadership and proposes a diagnostic leadership matrix based upon internal and external cultural constraints.     

Pay disparity in multinational and domestic firms in China: the role of pro-disparity norm

A survey of Chinese employees was conducted in China to examine the antecedents and consequences of a pro-disparity norm concerning the pay disparity associated with expatriate managers and with Chinese managers recruited from distant geographical areas (outside managers). These two groups, especially expatriate managers, tend to receive high salaries. Interactional justice received from outside managers was positively related to pro-disparity norm and task interdependence with them was negatively related to pro-disparity norm, but no significant relationship was found for expatriate managers. When innovative climate was high, interactional justice and task interdependence showed a positive relationship with pro-disparity norm. With regard to consequences of pro-disparity norm, when innovative climate was high, it was positively related to compliance with the requests of expatriate and outside managers and positively related to knowledge sharing with them.     

Expatriate success may depend on a “learning orientation”: Considerations for selection and training

To support globalization, managers increasingly are sent to live and work in other countries. An unsuccessful expatriate assignment is costly for the organization and damaging to the individual's career, yet few companies have adequate processes for selecting and training expatriate managers. The concept of “learning orientation” is proposed as a valuable dimension for assessment and training. Employees with weaker learning orientation tend to withdraw from situations that could result in low judgment of performance; those with stronger learning orientation adapt and continue. The described approach can benefit employees and their families and can increase the organization's chance for international success. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Human resource management in Chinese multinationals in the United Kingdom: The interplay of institutions,culture, and strategic choice

This is a study of the challenges faced by Chinese expatriate managers and their strategic responses in securing a workable degree of alignment in UK subsidiaries, against a backdrop of competing home‐country and host‐country pressures. Although much of the literature on home‐country and host‐country effects tends to either adopt a culture or an institutional approach, this study highlights the intermeshed nature of the two. In locating cultural dynamics within an institutional firmament, this study juxtaposes the effects of each and draws conclusions as to their intersection. It is founded on in‐depth interviews with home‐country and host‐country managers. The findings suggest, on the one hand, Chinese expatriate managers tended to see local regulations as an obstacle to efficiency, rather than as a means to access context‐specific complementarities. On the other hand, these managers recognized the need to fit in with established locally specific ways of doing things and in securing sufficient staff buy in to sustain operations, and played a key intermediary role between headquarters and subsidiary.     

Personal attributes of expatriate managers,subordinate ethnocentrism,and expatriate success: a host-country perspective

This study had two objectives. First, to establish the relative importance of expatriate managers' job knowledge, relational leadership skills, and cultural openness and adaptability for expatriate success from the perspective of host-country national subordinates, and to test whether these personal attributes are related to expatriate success criteria (expatriate work adjustment, subordinate commitment, subordinate job satisfaction, and unit performance). Second, to test whether host-country national subordinate ethnocentrism is related to expatriate work adjustment. Respondents were 129 host-country national subordinates of expatriate managers. Results showed that subordinates perceived all personal attributes as important and that all personal attributes were positively related to most of the success criteria. However, relational leadership skills was the most important personal attribute, and it was the crucial success factor for expatriate managers' unit performance. Subordinate ethnocentrism was negatively related to expatriate work adjustment. Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

How does perceived underemployment influence expatriate job-related outcomes? A moderated mediation study

Abstract

Although research has investigated the consequences of underemployment in domestic settings, research on the effects of underemployment among expatriates remains limited and has yielded inconsistent results. From a theoretical perspective, there is a need for a better understanding of the mechanisms through which underemployment affects various work-related outcomes and to account for potential contingencies. Drawing on the person-job fit literature and research on organizational identification, we theorise and empirically examine how and under what conditions underemployment influences expatriate performance. Using an original primary data-set of 103 Japanese expatriate managers in the UK, we find that underemployment affects expatriate work outcomes by increasing expatriates’ maladjustment and that this effect is moderated by the level to which expatriates identify with their organization.     

Expatriate learning: exploring how Japanese managers adapt in the United States

We present an exploratory study of how Japanese expatriates adapt to working in the United States over time. We view expatriate adaptation to a host culture through the lens of Experiential Learning Theory and learning style. Results of two studies, using quantitative and qualitative data, conducted in Japanese multinational corporations doing business in the USA reveal how learning style in Japanese expatriates changes over time and how Japanese managers differ from their US counterparts. Results suggested that Japanese managers become more concrete and more active in their learning styles over time spent in the USA. Results also revealed that the learning style of expatriates changes in response to cultural demands and that the patterns of change do not necessarily reflect that of US managers. We suggest that Japanese managers do not directly assimilate into US culture but develop specialized modes of adaptation to their host culture. Results of the study are generalized into eight propositions to guide future research on expatriate adaptation to a host culture.     

Pacific Basin Managers: A Gaijin,Not a Woman

Pacific Rim business is the fastest growing in the world. To remain competitive, no major North American firm dare ignore Asia. Traditionally, very few women have held managerial and executive positions in Asia, Can North American firms successfully send female expatriate managers to Asia or must they limit international management positions to men? To answer this question, fifty-two women were interviewed, each of whom had held at least one management position in Asia. They were overwhelmingly successful. The study describes who the women are, how they were chosen, and their professional experience as female expatriate managers in Asia.     

Personality traits and cross-cultural competence of Chinese expatriate managers: a socio-analytic and institutional perspective

Drawing from socio-analytic theory and institutional theory, this study investigates the influence of personality traits on cross-cultural competence (CCC) in Chinese expatriate managers' overseas managerial experiences. Given the growing importance of Chinese outward foreign direct investment to other economies, this study is timely as it expands our knowledge of expatriates from this large emerging ‘superpower’. In order to explore the impact of personality traits on CCC, multi-level in-depth interviews were conducted including interviews with 25 Chinese expatriate managers, 15 foreign colleagues and 10 cross-cultural experts or expatriate supervisors. The findings suggest that although conscientiousness and openness emerge as major traits that may contribute to CCC, their influences are considerably constrained by institutional differences between home and host countries. This study contributes to theory building by proposing a new conceptual model that incorporates institutional factors into socio-analytic theory to explain how personality traits contribute to CCC of expatriates. It also advances the field by examining the experiences of expatriates from an emerging economy and how their experiences differ from those previously researched.