中国香港的企业员工管理dissertation代写范文
香港是中国的一部分,香港大约有98%的人口是广东的原住民，他们一直遵循中国传统文化模式(王贝,1985;黄,1985)。然而,在1997年之前,香港被英国统治了超过一个半世纪,它离开中国发展成为一种独特的社会实体(刘和矿,1989)。因此,难怪香港和中国在很多方面有差异。王贝(1985)形容香港为”最近出现的资本主义国家“。根据东教授(1988)的文献来说,香港的社会经济和政治制度与中华人民共和国是非常不同的。作为一个英国殖民地,香港的经济、教育和法律制度源于英语的传统,相当于发达的西方国家。此外,香港的行业竞争对手和技术都是与西方发达国家相关的(程,1986)。然而,我们可以看到一个非常不同寻常的情况。在中国盛行东方文化,社会主义法律和政治系统都由共产主义学说支配。此外,这些都是基于中国的产业仍不发达的情况下定制的。尽管中国已经采取了”门户开放“和”四个现代化“政策，但是社会政治和经济基础设施还没有完全达成自营。
Work adjustment of Hong Kong Employees in PRC
ABSTRACT
Most of the previous studies relating to the Hong Kong Chinese expatriates in the PRC focused on managerial employees only. This dissertation studied the work adjustment process of another group of Hong Kong Chinese: Hong Kong non-managerial employees who were working in the PRC on project-basis. Results showed that managerial and non-managerial employees experienced different types of work adjustment problems in the PRC. Hong Kong employees working in the PRC on project-basis also experienced different work adjustment problems from those who have permanent positions in the PRC. Moreover, results supported the hypothesis that non-managerial employees who reported to both the Hong Kong and PRC managers experienced a lower degree of work adjustment than those who reported to one manager only.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................6
• Differences between PRC and Hong Kong ......................................................................6
• Brief Literature Review on Overseas Chinese Expatriates in the PRC ............................7
• Focus of this Study ...........................................................................................................9
THEORIES AND HYPOTHESIS......................................................................................10
• Theoretical Framework for International Adjustment .....................................................10#p#分页标题#e#
• Hypothesis .......................................................................................................................13
METHODOLOGY..............................................................................................................15
• Target Group of this Study ...............................................................................................15
Definition of "Non-Managerial Employee" ................................................................................15
Definition of "Project-Basis"........................................................................................................15
• Adjustment Framework ....................................................................................................15
• Hypothesis ........................................................................................................................15
Instrument....................................................................................................................................16
RESULTS - ADJUSTMENT FRAMEWORK...................................................................17
• General Description of the Sample ..................................................................................17
Sample Size ................................................................................................................................17
Industry........................................................................................................................................17
Duration of Stay in the PRC .......................................................................................................17
Place of Assignment in the PRC....................................................................................................18
• Anticipatory Adjustment ....................................................................................................18
Training..........................................................................................................................................18
Previous Experience.......................................................................................................................19
• In-Country Adjustment .....................................................................................................19
Individual Factors......................................................................................................20
Sense of "Superiority"......................................................................................................20#p#分页标题#e#
Negative Perceptions towards HK People........................................................................20
Feeling of Isolation ..........................................................................................................21
Work-Related Factors.................................................................................................21
Role Clarity and Role Conflicts .......................................................................................21
Organizational Factors................................................................................................22
Hierarchy...........................................................................................................................22
Bureaucracy.......................................................................................................................23
Concept of Time................................................................................................................23
Sexual Discrimination.......................................................................................................24
RESULTS - HYPOTHESIS..................................................................................................25
• General Description of the Sample ....................................................................................25
• Mean and Standard Deviation of Work Adjustment ..........................................................26
• Correlation between Work Adjustment and Dual Lines of Authority................................27
Bivariate Correlation Analysis ....................................................................................................27
Chi-Square Ratios........................................................................................................................28
• Mean Difference between the Two Samples .....................................................................28
• Discussions ........................................................................................................................30
MAIN FINDINGS................................................................................................................32
• Permanent Positions vs. Project Basis in the PRC ...........................................................32
• Managerial vs. Non-Managerial HK Staff .......................................................................33
Interaction with the PRC Staff ................................................................................33
Corporate Culture and Systems in the PRC ............................................................34#p#分页标题#e#
Relationship Management........................................................................................34
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS..........................................................................36
LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH................................................................38
• Three Dimensions of International Adjustment ...................................................38
• Instrument ............................................................................................................38
• Source of Data .....................................................................................................39
REFERENCE.....................................................................................................................40
INTRODUCTION
Differences between PRC and Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a part of China, and approximately 98% of Hong Kong's population are Cantonese-speaking natives who follow traditional Chinese cultural patterns (Bond and King, 1985; Wong, 1986). However, before 1997, Hong Kong has been under British rule for more than a century and a half, and developed apart from China as a distinctive society entity (Lau and Kuan, 1989). Therefore, it is not surprising that Hong Kong has differences from China in many aspects.
Bond and King (1985) described Hong Kong as a recently emerged capitalistic state. According to Tung (1988), Hong Kong's socioeconomic and political systems are very different from those of the PRC. As a British colony, Hong Kong's economic, educational and legal systems grew out of English tradition and are reasonably comparable to those of the developed western countries. Moreover, the technologies of Hong Kong's industries rival the technologies used in developed countries of the West (Cheng, 1986).
However, we can see a very different picture in the PRC. In the PRC, the collective eastern culture, the socialistic legal and political systems all grew out of the communist doctrine. Moreover, the technology in the PRC's industries is still underdeveloped comparing to the western standards. Although the PRC has adopted the "Open Door" and the "Four Modernization" policies since 1979, the sociopolitical and economic infrastructures are still not self-supporting (Chiu, Jao and Wu, 1987; Youngson, 1983). Therefore, culturally and environmentally, the PRC, which is a unique blend of socialism and Confucianism, has many differences from Hong Kong, and has an even greater contrast to the other developed western countries (Tung, 1988).
Ralston, Gustafson, Cheung, and Terpstra (1992 and 1993) have studied the differences in managerial values between PRC and Hong Kong managers. They found that the PRC managers scored higher in "Confucian Work Dynamism" than the Hong Kong managers, which meant the PRC managers placed more emphasis on social hierarchy, protecting the status quo, and personal virtue. Moreover, the PRC managers are more people-oriented and more concerned with maintaining a harmonious environment, while the Hong Kong managers are more task-oriented.#p#分页标题#e#
Therefore, it is not uncommon that Hong Kong people may find it difficult to adjust and work in the PRC's companies. Moreover, Hong Kong Chinese working in the PRC may be judged by different standards and more harshly than a westerner, because he/she is assumed to know about the Chinese culture and social norms, and he/she is expected to behave accordingly (Selmer, 1998). And more problems will be encountered if they are assigned beyond the Cantonese speaking Guangdong Province (Bjorkman and Schaap, 1994).
Brief Literature Review on Overseas Chinese Expatriates in the PRC
The cross-cultural adjustment of sojourners has long been discussed in a lot of previous literature (Brein and David, 1971; Church, 1982; Furhnam, 1988; Ward and Searle, 1991). Later, it was put into a more specified context - international adjustment of expatriate managers (Torbiorn, 1982; Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985; Black, Mendenhall and Oddou, 1991).
Most of the literature on international adjustment in the PRC focused on the western expatriate managers (Davidson, 1987; Rimington, 1996; Weldon and Jehn, 1996; Kaye and Taylor, 1997). Very few empirical studies have been done on the Hong Kong or other overseas Chinese expatriate managers. The followings are the brief review of these studies.
Bjorkman and Schaap (1994) studied human resource issues related to the use of expatriates in Sino-Western joint ventures in the PRC. They found that, some overseas Chinese expatriate managers perceived they did not have as much authority on the Mainland Chinese subordinates than their western counterparts. Some of them even felt that the Mainland Chinese hated them and envied them of their high income and freedom.
Selmer and Shiu (1996) interviewed Hong Kong Chinese expatriates working in Shanghai and Beijing, regarding their adjustment. The results showed that life and work in the PRC was different from Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong managers might encounter as many problems as western expatriates. They concluded that assigning expatriates to a similar culture could be as much as sending them to a very different culture.
McEllister (1998) also quoted a lot of evidence showing that overseas Chinese expatriates were encountered with many demanding circumstances from their mainland Chinese colleagues and subordinates.
Apart from studying the problems and difficulties encountered by overseas Chinese expatriates in adjustment, some research also tried to compare the adjustment process of the western expatriates and the overseas Chinese expatriates. Findings cast doubt on the policy that some multinational firms prefer to put an overseas Chinese expatriate manager rather than a westerner in the PRC, in the belief that this can reduce the cross-cultural problems. For example, Selmer (1998) found that overseas Chinese expatriates tend to use symptom-focused strategy more often, while the Western expatriates tend to use problem-focused strategy more. Selmer (1997) also found that although the overseas Chinese expatriates experienced a lower degree of culture novelty than the western expatriates, they were generally less well adjusted than the western expatriates, especially regarding work adjustment. Previous studies confirmed that it could be as hard, or even more difficult, for an expatriate manager to adjust to a close than a distant culture (Brewster, 2005; Brewster, Lundmark and Holden, 2003).#p#分页标题#e#
Focus of this Study
From the above literature review, we can see that all the previous studies relating to the Hong Kong Chinese expatriates in the PRC focused on managers only. Moreover, these expatriates have a permanent position in the PRC, and they are expected to stay and live in the PRC, maybe for a few years, or even more than that.
However, there are some Hong Kong people working in the PRC who are not covered by these previous studies, e.g. (1) those who are not in managerial grade, and (2) those who work in the PRC on project-basis, and do not have a permanent position in the PRC Company. Some of the examples are consultants, engineers, salespersons, etc.
Therefore, this study will focus on this group of Hong Kong Chinese working in the PRC. This piece of work will study their adjustment process in the PRC, and compare with the previous studies on expatriate managers. It will try to find out whether (1) if the employee is working on project-basis and does not have a permanent position in the PRC Company, and (2) works in the non-managerial grade; will affect the adjustment process, and whether they will experience a different set of problems and difficulties from the Hong Kong Chinese expatriate managers in the PRC. Moreover, it will also study whether dual lines of authority will affect the degree of work adjustment for non-managerial employee.
THEORIES AND HYPOTHESIS
Theoretical Framework for International Adjustment
In early studies on adjustment in cross-cultural settings, researchers conceptualized degree of adjustment as a unitary construct (Oberg, 1960; Gullahorn and Gullahorn, 1962; Torbiorn, 1982). Later in the 1980s, some research (Black, 1988; Black and Stephens, 1989) suggested that international adjustment has at least three facets, including (1) adjustment to work, (2) adjustment to interacting with host nationals, and (3) adjustment to the general environment.
Black, Mendenhall and Oddou (1991) proposed a comprehensive theoretical framework for international adjustment, and this framework has been supported by a series of empirical studies and literature on expatriates (Black and Stephens, 1989; Black and Gregersen, 1990, 1991a and 1991b; McEvoy and Parker, 1995). The following graph depicts this framework.
In the above framework, some variables are more strongly related to a specific facet. For example, job variables are related to work adjustment, but not general adjustment (Black, 1988). In this study, only work adjustment will be discussed. Therefore, the above framework will be modified in the following ways.
1. Only the variables related to work adjustment will be included, i.e. the non-work variables will be excluded.
2. The organization factors in anticipatory adjustment will not be included, because the selection mechanisms and criteria in an organization are very complicated and it is very difficult to measure this variable. Therefore, it is out of the scope of this study.#p#分页标题#e#
3. Logistic help from the host organization will not be included, because logistic support is expected to have a stronger relationship with interaction and general adjustment, rather than with work adjustment (Black, Mendenhall and Oddou, 1991).
The following graph depicts the modified framework for this study.
According to the above theoretical framework,
1. Pre-departure cross-cultural training and previous international work-related experiences are positively related to accurate expectations, which are positively related to anticipatory adjustment and to the degree of work adjustment. Training need not immediately precede the international transfer, but more recent training would have the strongest effect (Brislin and Pedersen, 1976; Black and Mendenhall, 1990). Many researches support the correlation between previous international work-related experience and the degree of adjustment (Sterling, 1979; Church, 1982; Torbiorn, 1982; Black, 1988).
2. Self-efficacy, relational skills and perceptual skills are positively related to the degree of work adjustment. Self-efficacy means the ability to believe in oneself and one's ability to deal effectively with the foreign surroundings, even in the face of great uncertainty (Bandura, 1977; Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985). Relational skills can make it easier to interact with host nationals. Perceptual skills make it easier to understand and correctly interpret the host culture (Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985).
3. Role clarity and role discretion is positively related to work adjustment, while role conflict and role novelty is negatively related to work adjustment. Role clarity reduces the amount of uncertainty associated with the work situation, which would facilitate adjustment at work (Nicholson, 1984; Pinder and Schroeder, 1987; Black, 1988). Role discretion allows individuals to adapt their work role and setting to themselves, which makes it easier to utilize the previous behavior patterns and reduce uncertainty in the new situation. Role novelty is the degree to which the current role is different from past ones. Previous research showed that there was a negative relationship between role novelty and adjustment (Nicholson, 1984; Pinder and Schroeder, 1987; Black, 2008).
4. Low organization culture novelty and social support from the host organizational members are positively related with the degree of work adjustment. The greater the difference between the organizational culture of the subsidiary organization in the foreign country compared to the organization in the home country, the more difficult the international adjustment would be (Stening, 1979; Church, 1982; Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985). Pinder and Schroeder (1987) also showed that social support from the host organization could facilitate the cross-cultural adjustment.
This dissertation will study how each variable affects the degree of work adjustment of the Hong Kong employees working in the PRC. Moreover, the context of each variable will be discussed, e.g. what kind of training is provided to the Hong Kong employees, what kind of role conflicts they have in the PRC company, what kind of social support the PRC company and the mainland Chinese staff offers, etc.#p#分页标题#e#
Hypothesis
Some Hong Kong non-managerial employees working in the PRC have to report to both the Hong Kong managers, who station at either Hong Kong or the PRC, and the Mainland Chinese managers in the PRC workplace.
The dual lines of authority will foster power struggles easily and place stress on the Hong Kong non-managerial employee. Confusion exists over who reports to whom. Confusion and ambiguity create the seeds for power struggles. Reporting to more than one manager introduce role conflict, and unclear expectations introduce role ambiguity (Robbins, 1983; Griffin, 1993). The comfort of bureaucracy's predictability is absent, replaced by insecurity and stress.
Joint decision making made by both the Hong Kong and PRC managers may cause inefficiencies. Zald (1962), Strauss and Rosenstein (1970) found evidence to show that joint decision making can actually promote conflict. The joint decision making process permit a greater opportunity for the expression of existing disputes and allows more occasions for disagreements to arise. This is especially more likely to occur when true value differences exist between the Hong Kong and PRC managers.
Therefore, it is not uncommon that the Hong Kong and PRC managers may sometimes impose conflicting demands on the Hong Kong non-managerial employee in the PRC. Therefore, this two-manager employee must confront both managers on these demands and reach a joint decision. The Hong Kong employees have to maintain an effective relationship with both managers, and they have to display a dual loyalty toward both managers (Daft, 2002).
Moreover, when conflicts arise, the Hong Kong manager, the PRC manager, and the Hong Kong non-managerial employee have to resolve the conflict together. Therefore, they have to spend more in meetings (Hannagan, 1995).
As mentioned in the Introduction part, the Hong Kong Chinese may have to encounter cross-cultural adjustment problems and difficulties when they work in the PRC. However, the above literature suggests that, those non-managerial employees who have to encounter dual lines of authority may have extra work adjustment problems than those who report to one manager only. Therefore, they are expected to have lower degree of work adjustment.
Hypothesis: Hong Kong non-managerial employees who report to both the HK and PRC managers will experience a lower degree of work adjustment than those who report to one manager only.
METHODOLOGY
Target Group of this Study
This study will focus on those Hong Kong non-managerial employees who work in the PRC on project-basis.
Definition of "Non-Managerial Employee":
They have to report to people in the higher hierarchies in the organization and are under their direct supervision.
Nobody in the lower hierarchies has to report to them and they do not have to supervise anybody directly in the organization.#p#分页标题#e#
Definition of "Project-Basis":
They have a particular project, client or task to work on in the PRC. They will go back to Hong Kong after the project or task is finished. They do not have a permanent position in the PRC organization.
This study mainly consists of two parts, the adjustment framework and the hypothesis.
A.Adjustment Framework
Semi-structured in-depth telephone interviews will be conducted to the Hong Kong employees who are working in the PRC, and can fulfill the criteria of the target group listed above. The questions of the interview are mainly based on the modified theoretical framework for international adjustment. Open-ended questions will be used in order to explore the characteristics and problems in the work adjustment process.
B.Hypothesis
Questionnaires will be sent to (1) the Hong Kong non-managerial employees working in the PRC who reported to both HK and PRC managers, and (2) the Hong Kong non-managerial employees who reported to one manager only. This hypothesis mainly tests for the relationship between these two variables, "Dual Lines of Authority" and "Degree of Work Adjustment".
Instrument
The variable "Degree of Work Adjustment" will be measured by the scale developed by Black (1988), Black and Stephens (1989). In this scale, respondents were asked to indicate on a 7 point Likert scale (1 is "very unadjusted", while 7 is "completely adjusted") how unadjusted or adjusted they were to the 14 different items concerning their life in the PRC. However, within these 14 items, 7 items were related to the degree of general adjustment, 4 were related to the degree of interaction adjustment, while 3 were related to the degree of work adjustment, including (i) Specific Job Responsibilities, (ii) Performance Standards and Expectations, and (iii) Supervisory Responsibilities. Because this study targets at non-managerial employees, the item "supervisory responsibilities" will be replaced by "Relationship with Supervisors".
RESULTS -ADJUSTMENT FRAMEWORK
General Descriptions of the Sample
Sample Size
8 non-managerial HK employees who have worked in the PRC on project basis have been interviewed. Because no previous research have been done on the work adjustment of non-managerial HK employees in the PRC, this sample size is large enough to identify the important issues in this aspect, given the pioneer nature of this study. Moreover, this sample size is also comparable to other similar previous studies. For example, Selmer and Shiu (1996) interviewed 10 HK expatriate managers about their adjustment in the PRC; while Selmer and Ling (1997) interviewed 16 mainland PRC expatriate managers about their adjustment in HK. All interviews were conducted on the phone. The duration of each interview is about 30 minutes.#p#分页标题#e#
Industry
The interviewees worked in a wide range of industries, including accounting, airline, electronics, food and beverage, management consulting, manufacturing, metals, and trading. The companies in this sample also have different ownership structure, including joint ventures, branch office or representative office of multinationals, and company privately owned by HK investors.
Duration of Stay in the PRC
All interviewees have worked or have been working in the PRC on project basis since the beginning of 2008. The duration of each project ranged from 1 month to 6 months. Due to the geographical proximity, the interviewees were usually allowed to go back to HK on weekends, but the frequency of going back home depended on the distance between the place of assignment and HK. As told by some interviewees, several years ago, their colleagues who worked in the PRC went back home more frequently, e.g. every weekend. But now, most of them went back home less frequently, e.g. once a month. They said that the PRC has changed and improved a lot during the past few years, and it was much easier for HK people to adjust in the PRC than several years ago. For example, there was more entertainment in the PRC than before, and the telecommunications between HK and PRC became more affordable.All interviewees have worked or have been working in the PRC on project basis since the beginning of 2008. The duration of each project ranged from 1 month to 6 months. Due to the geographical proximity, the interviewees were usually allowed to go back to HK on weekends, but the frequency of going back home depended on the distance between the place of assignment and HK. As told by some interviewees, several years ago, their colleagues who worked in the PRC went back home more frequently, e.g. every weekend. But now, most of them went back home less frequently, e.g. once a month. They said that the PRC has changed and improved a lot during the past few years, and it was much easier for HK people to adjust in the PRC than several years ago. For example, there was more entertainment in the PRC than before, and the telecommunications between HK and PRC became more affordable.
One interviewee quoted that she used to have 12 free return tickets to fly back to HK annually. However, her company has reduced this benefit to 2 tickets only, based on the same belief that it was easier to for HK people to adjust in the PRC now. Another interviewee also had similar experience. His HK manager once gave pressure to him by saying, "You are going to station in Fujian, and we encourage you to spend more time there to learn their culture, and adjust yourself to the new life. So, we hope that you can stay there for weekends unless you have any emergency in HK."
Place of Assignment in the PRC
About two-thirds of the interviewees were assigned to work in the southern part of PRC, including Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan provinces. Others worked in the north (Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian), east (Shanghai) and central (Wuhan province) part of PRC. Mandarin is widely spoken in these places, although Cantonese, the dialect HK people speak, is also very popular in Guangdong province.
Anticipatory Adjustment
Training
Mandarin courses were provided to some interviewees, although most of them said Mandarin knowledge was considered as a necessary requirement when they applied for their job. Language training is important especially when the HK staff is assigned to work in provinces other than Guangdong, because the vocabulary and the commonly used phrases in these provinces are quite different from Cantonese.
Apart from language, pre-departure training on operations and production related to the assignment in the PRC were also provided to some interviewees. However, most of the interviewees who received these kinds of training thought that they were too theoretical and the time period was too short for the HK staff to really understand the operations. This theoretical training could just give them a brief idea about their working environment in the PRC, however, they still did not know exactly how everything was run practically after attending the whole training course. For example, one training mentor once told the interviewee that it was actually impossible to learn everything in the cargo department (airline industry) within one morning, when it takes at least 3 months to understand the operations. However, all interviewees agreed that the training did help them to have a psychological preparation for the assignment in the PRC.#p#分页标题#e#
No training on cultural differences between HK and PRC have been given to any interviewees.
Previous Experience
Previous Working Experience in the PRC:
Only about one quarter of the interviewees have previous working experience in the PRC. However, due to the wide diversity of ownership structure of corporations in the PRC, having previous experience did not necessarily mean to have an advantage in the work adjustment in the later assignment. It is because the organizational culture and the management style will be very different if the ownership structure is different. One interviewee said that he did not encounter any problems when he worked in the company privately owned by HK investors. But he did encounter work adjustment problems when he later worked for a joint venture in winch the PRC side has controlling interests.
Previous Working Experience with HK People:
If the local PRC colleagues have previous experience of working with HK people before, it will be much easier for the HK employees to adjust to the new working environment. The PRC colleagues would know more about the way HK people work and think if they had worked with HK people before. Moreover, they tend to have less negative perceptions towards HK people and misunderstandings tend to decrease.
In-Country Adjustment
Individual Factors Sense of "Superiority":
Not only some local mainland Chinese thought that HK people were more "superior", even the HK people themselves thought that they were more "superior" than the local staff. Because of this perception, many interviewees seldom explained to their PRC colleagues what they were doing unless it was necessary, e.g. reporting to their PRC managers. Most of the time they just did their tasks on their own. If they needed any cooperations or help from the PRC colleagues, they would just tell them what to do, but they seldom explained why. Some interviewees thought that even they taught the local staff, they would not understand. Therefore, it was quite common that the local PRC staff did not understand their HK colleagues, and this usually created misunderstanding, conflicts, and inefficiencies.
A.Negative Perceptions towards HK People:
Some Mainland Chinese felt that HK people disliked the PRC Government. They could not understand why the HK mass media always criticized the PRC Government. Some interviewees have been criticized by their PRC colleagues that they did not love their motherland and were not as patriotic as Mainland Chinese.However, not much has been done to help the HK staff to overcome these problems in these aspects. No pre-departure training on culture differences between HK and PRC has been given to the HK staff working in the PRC. This kind of training has been neglected due to the belief that there is not much cultural difference between HK and PRC. However, this study and many previous research papers have shown that this is not true in the reality. Therefore, it will not be surprising that the HK staff feel psychologically discontented when they work in the PRC workplace.All interviewees have worked or have been working in the PRC on project basis since the beginning of 2008. The duration of each project ranged from 1 month to 6 months. Due to the geographical proximity, the interviewees were usually allowed to go back to HK on weekends, but the frequency of going back home depended on the distance between the place of assignment and HK. As told by some interviewees, several years ago, their colleagues who worked in the PRC went back home more frequently, e.g. every weekend. But now, most of them went back home less frequently, e.g. once a month. They said that the PRC has changed and improved a lot during the past few years, and it was much easier for HK people to adjust in the PRC than several years ago. For example, there was more entertainment in the PRC than before, and the telecommunications between HK and PRC became more affordable.
Some interviewees said that their PRC colleagues also had other negative impressions on HK people, e.g. HK people were more materialistic, and had a much higher living standard. Moreover, HK staff usually received higher pay than the local staff. Some interviewees did feel that their PRC colleagues envied HK people, and this influenced the relationship between them.#p#分页标题#e#
B.Feeling of Isolation:
Over half of the interviewees did have the feeling of isolation. They felt that the local staff isolated them, but at the same time, they also admitted that they isolated themselves from the local staff. The local staff did not mix with the HK people, because they usually had negative perceptions towards HK people. They seldom interacted with their HK colleagues except for work-related reasons. HK people isolated themselves from their PRC colleagues because they thought that they had different interests and culture from their PRC colleagues, and it was difficult to find common topics between them. Therefore, they preferred to click to other HK staff, or to be alone. Moreover, they felt that the local staff had negative perceptions towards them, so, they did not want to mix with their PRC colleagues. However, almost all interviewees have never had any intentions to spend more time with the local staff in order to understand them more, or to make them understand HK people more.
Work-Related Factors
Role Clarity and Role Conflicts:
Some interviewees said that their role was not clear when they first started their job in the PRC. They might be expected by their HK supervisors to perform certain tasks. But then, they might find out their PRC supervisors might have different expectations. Most of the interviewees said that they would try to please the both HK and PRC sides if possible. However, the most frustrating thing was when conflicts arise. They did not want to be viewed as "unable to adjust" and "incompetent" by their PRC supervisors. They also did not want to displease their HK supervisors because they would return to the HK office after the end of the project. Almost all interviewees agreed that role clarity and role conflicts were the most important determinant of the degree of their work adjustment.
Organizational Factors
A.Hierarchy:
Under the influence of Confucius teachings, Mainland Chinese emphasized on social hierarchy and ordering relationships by status and seniority. Many interviewees said their PRC colleagues paid more attention and more respect to the older and senior staff, than to the younger and junior staff. Seniority and years spent in the industry were considered more important than personal capabilities in some PRC corporations. Therefore, university graduates were usually considered as "young boys/girls just graduated from university without any experience and knowledge". One interviewee said that she worked in the PRC in officer grade, after she has just graduated from the university. However, she felt that even the clerks in her office did not pay much respect to her, because most of the clerks had spent several years in the company, or even longer. And they thought that they knew more and were more capable than this officer. It is very different from HK corporate culture, in which personal capability and educational level were much more important than time spent in the company when determining the personal success in the company. Therefore, it is not surprising that in many HK companies, young, smart university graduates can climb up the corporate ladder much faster than their colleagues who have already spent many years in the company.#p#分页标题#e#
Almost all interviewees thought that the PRC organizations they worked for were more hierarchical than their HK companies. There were different sets of expected behavior in different hierarchies in the organization. Subordinates have to obey their supervisors. They seldom question their supervisors' decisions. However, nowadays, many HK companies encourage upward communication among the organization. Moreover, the relationship between supervisors and subordinates is more relaxed and informal. It is not uncommon that subordinates and their supervisors are good friends after office hours. This difference made some interviewees felt uneasy to adapt to the new work environment in the PRC.
B.Bureaucracy:
Moreover, the PRC corporate culture was more bureaucratic than that of HK. Some administrative routine procedures in the PRC corporations frustrated the HK staff very much. For example, one interviewee said that managerial approval was needed whenever she claimed expenses, regardless of the amount. For expenses more than RMB6000, CEO's approval was required, which was seen as bureaucratic, unnecessary, and inefficient by the many HK staff.
C.Concept of Time:
Time and schedule are very important in HK corporations. However, many interviewees said that their PRC colleagues have a less stringent attitude towards time and schedule. Therefore, they were easily frustrated when their PRC colleagues could not fulfill the tasks on time, and these situations happened quite frequently in many interviewees' companies. One HK consultant said that when she planned the time schedule for the project in the PRC, she had to bear in mind that the local Mainland Chinese have different concept towards time. So, she incorporated this factor into the schedule, i.e. allowed more time to complete one task.
D.Sexual Discrimination:
Many interviewees, especially female, felt that sexual discrimination was more serious in PRC than in HK. Mainland Chinese often paid less attention and respect to female's opinions in the workplace. One female interviewee worked as a consultant in the PRC. However, most of her PRC colleagues (most of them were male) had not treated her as a consultant. They thought that she was a secretary, or an assistant to her other male team members. Many interviewees agreed that in most meetings, male dominated the discussion. Usually, there were very few female participants in the meeting, and they seldom voiced their opinions. Some female interviewees felt that they were "expected" not to voice their opinions too. Moreover, sexual harassment is not uncommon in the PRC. One female interviewee said that she was once harassed by her PRC supervisor.
RESULTS - HYPOTHESIS
Questionnaires were mailed to the HK non-managerial employees who have worked or have been working in the PRC on project basis. Altogether 30 usable questionnaires were returned, in which 38% were from those employees who worked under both HK and PRC managers and 62% were from those who worked under one manager only.#p#分页标题#e#
General Description of the Sample
Dual lines of authoritySingle line of authority
AgeMean25.1225.16
Standard deviation1.331.29
GenderMale60.5%67.6%
Female39.5%32.4%
Marital statusSingle90.7%87%
Married9.3%
Length of stay in PRCMean2.03 months1.98 months
Standard deviation1.101.32
Place of assignmentSouthern China67.4%73.9%
Eastern China16.3.5%
Northern China9.3%5.8%
Others7.0%5.8%
No. of staff in PRC workplaceMean297.67252.17
Standard deviation212.12192.21
Ownership structure of PRC workplaceMultinationals27.9%23.2%
State-owned enterprise16.3%20.3%
Joint ventures16.3.5%
Privately-owned14.0.1%
Partnership9.3.6%
Collectively-owned9.3%8.7%
Publicly-listed7.0.6%
These two samples were very similar to each other in the above seven dimensions. More than 70%) of each sample was between 24 and 26 years old. Male has a higher proportion than female in both samples. Most of them were single, mainly because they were still very young. The average length of the stay in the PRC for both samples was about 2 months, and about 70% of them were assigned to the southern part of China, e.g. Guangdong and Fujian Provinces. The size of the PRC workplace, in terms of the number of staff, and also the ownership structure were also quite similar between these two samples. About 60% of both samples were multinationals, state-owned enterprises, or joint ventures.However, not much has been done to help the HK staff to overcome these problems in these aspects. No pre-departure training on culture differences between HK and PRC has been given to the HK staff working in the PRC. This kind of training has been neglected due to the belief that there is not much cultural difference between HK and PRC. However, this study and many previous research papers have shown that this is not true in the reality. Therefore, it will not be surprising that the HK staff feel psychologically discontented when they work in the PRC workplace.All interviewees have worked or have been working in the PRC on project basis since the beginning of 2008. The duration of each project ranged from 1 month to 6 months. Due to the geographical proximity, the interviewees were usually allowed to go back to HK on weekends, but the frequency of going back home depended on the distance between the place of assignment and HK. As told by some interviewees, several years ago, their colleagues who worked in the PRC went back home more frequently, e.g. every weekend. But now, most of them went back home less frequently, e.g. once a month. They said that the PRC has changed and improved a lot during the past few years, and it was much easier for HK people to adjust in the PRC than several years ago. For example, there was more entertainment in the PRC than before, and the telecommunications between HK and PRC became more affordable.
Univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was used to confirm that there were no significant differences between these two samples on the above seven dimensions.
Mean and Standard Deviation of Work Adjustment
Dual lines of authoritySingle line of authorityMean Difference
Mean Std. Dev.Mean Sid. Dev.
Job responsibilities4.091.005.540.811.44
Performance standards and expectations3.581.015.060.971.48
Relationship with supervisors3.051.115.000.941.95
The means for the three dimensions of work adjustment were lower for those HK non-managerial employees who worked under dual lines of authority than those who worked under one manager only. This implied that dual lines of authority might result in lower degree of work adjustment.
The mean of adjustment was the highest for job responsibilities, and the lowest for relationship with supervisors. Moreover, the mean difference between these two samples was the highest for relationship with supervisors. This implied that among these three dimensions of work adjustment, the HK employees under dual lines of authority were the least adjusted to the relationship with supervisors, compared to those under single line of authority.#p#分页标题#e#
Correlation between Work Adjustment and Dual Lines of Authority
Chi-Square test was carried out between the two variables, work adjustment and dual lines/single line of authority. Results showed that each dimension of work adjustment was correlated to the dual lines/single line of authority. Employees worked under dual lines of authority had a lower degree of work adjustment in each dimension than those under single line of authority.
The following is the highlight of the results.
(I) Bivariate Correlation Analysis
Job responsibilities
Dual/Single line of authorityCorrelation coefficients2-tailed significance level
-0.62340.000
Performance standards and expectations
Dual/Single line of authorityCorrelation coefficients2-tailed significance level
-0.59350.000
Relationship with supervisors
Dual/Single line of authorityCorrelation coefficients2-tailed significance level
-0.68890.000
(II) Clii-Square Ratios
Job responsibilities
PearsonLikelihood ratioLinear-by-linear association
Dual/Single line of authorityValue of the ratio46.6255.0243.14
2-tailed significance level0.0000.0000.000
Performance standards and expectations
PearsonLikelihood ratioLinear-by-linear association
Dual/Single line of authorityValue of the ratio40.9847.9239.09
2-tailed significance level0.0000.0000.000
Relationship with supervisors
Dual/Single line of authority PearsonLikelihood ratioLinear-by-linear association
Value of the ratio57.6466.8052.68
2-tailed significance level
0.0000.0000.000
Mean Difference between the Two Samples
t-test was carried out between the two samples on each dimension of work adjustment. Results showed that the means of the two samples were significantly different from each other in each dimension, and dual lines of authority resulted in a lower scoring of adjustment.
The following is the highlight of the results.
(I) Job Responsibilities
Mean Difference =1.4432
Levene's Test for Equality of Variances: F= 0.526 P= 0.470
t-test for Equality of Means
Variances t-value df 2-TailSig SE of Diff 95% CI for Diff
Equal 8.36 110 0.000 0.173 (1.101, 1.785)
Unequal 7.98 76.19 0.000 0.181 (1.083, 1.803)
(II)Performance standards and expectations
Mean Difference = 1.4766
Levene's Test for Equality of Variances: F= 0.724 P= 0.397#p#分页标题#e#
t-test for Equality of Means
Variances t-value df 2-TailSig SE of Diff 95% CI for Diff
Equal 7.73 110 0.000 0.191 (1.098, 1.855)
Unequal 7.67 86.69 0.000 0.193 (1.094, 1.859)
(HI) Relationship with supervisors
Mean Difference =1.9535
Levene's Test for Equality of Variances: F= 1.983 P= 0.162
t-test for Equality of Means
Variances t-value df 2-TailSig SE of Diff 95% CI for Diff
Equal 9.97 110 0.000 0.196 (1.565,2.342)
Unequal 9.59 78.13 0.000 0.204 (1.548, 2.359)
Discussions
Results from the above tests supported the hypothesis that the HK non-managerial employees who worked under both the HK and PRC managers would experience a lower degree of work adjustment than those who worked under one manager only.
The two managers in dual lines of authority might have different expectations on the HK employee, which usually created conflicts and frustrations to the adjustment process of the employee. The different expectations, instructions and requirements by the two managers might make it confused for the employee to know exactly what should be done and how the work should be done. Therefore, they usually had a lower degree of work adjustment. Moreover, they had to handle relationships with two different managers at the same time. They had to show loyalty and satisfy both of them at the same time, and this could make it very difficult to handle the relationships with their supervisors. Therefore, the sample of dual lines of authority has the lowest adjustment scores in relationship with supervisors, and the mean difference between the two samples was also the highest in this dimension.
Therefore, apart from the variables in the theoretically adjustment framework, this study showed that dual lines of authority could have an effect on the degree of work adjustment for non-managerial employees.
MAIN FINDINGS
Almost all of the previous research focused on the study of the adjustment process of expatriate managers in a new culture environment. Some related examples are adjustment of the HK Chinese expatriate managers in the PRC (Selmer and Shiu, 1996), adjustment of the PRC expatriate managers in HK (Selmer and Ling, 1997), and comparison of the adjustment between the ethnic Chinese and Western expatriate managers in the PRC (Selmer, 1997 and 1998). Up to now, no previous research has been done on the adjustment of the non-managerial HK staff who worked in the PRC on project basis. This study not only highlights the problems and difficulties these HK employees encountered in their work adjustment, but also tries to find out whether these HK employees and the HK expatriate managers encountered different problems in work adjustment in the PRC.
Permanent Position vs. Project Basis in the PRC#p#分页标题#e#
Those HK employees who worked in the PRC on project basis usually stayed in the PRC for a shorter period of time (at most 6 months in this sample) than those expatriates who have permanent positions in the PRC (the average was several years in many research samples). They knew they would stay in the PRC for a short period of time only and they would return to HK once the project was finished. They tended to spend less time to socialize with their PRC colleagues, to learn the host culture, or to adapt to the norms of the new environment. Therefore, seemingly, this sample of HK employees had less adjustment problems than the HK expatriate managers in the PRC, because they had fewer interactions, or they even avoided interactions with the local people and the host culture. However, it does not mean that they did have fewer adjustment problems in the reality. Most of the time when they encountered adjustment problems, they just ignored them because they thought that they did not need to endue these problems for a long time. However, as long as the problems were not solved, the psychological contentment of the HK employees and their work efficiencies would be deteriorated.Those HK employees who worked in the PRC on project basis usually stayed in the PRC for a shorter period of time (at most 6 months in this sample) than those expatriates who have permanent positions in the PRC (the average was several years in many research samples). They knew they would stay in the PRC for a short period of time only and they would return to HK once the project was finished. They tended to spend less time to socialize with their PRC colleagues, to learn the host culture, or to adapt to the norms of the new environment. Therefore, seemingly, this sample of HK employees had less adjustment problems than the HK expatriate managers in the PRC, because they had fewer interactions, or they even avoided interactions with the local people and the host culture. However, it does not mean that they did have fewer adjustment problems in the reality. Most of the time when they encountered adjustment problems, they just ignored them because they thought that they did not need to endue these problems for a long time. However, as long as the problems were not solved, the psychological contentment of the HK employees and their work efficiencies would be deteriorated.
Managerial vs. Non-Managerial HK Staff
Comparing the results of this study with those of the previous studies on expatriate managers, it is obvious that these two groups of HK employees encountered different types of problems in their work adjustment in the PRC.
Interaction with the PRC Staff
As mentioned in the results, HK non-managerial staff in the PRC tended to work on their own, and they seldom explained, discussed, or interacted with their PRC colleagues unless it was necessary. They avoided confrontations with the local staff even they had any complaints or dissatisfaction. After work, they seldom socialized with the local staff. Therefore, it is not surprising that the sample of this paper did not mention many problems directly related to the interaction with their PRC colleagues.
However, because of the supervisory nature of the job, the HK expatriate managers had more interactions with their PRC subordinates. Therefore, more difficulties and frustrations arise. For example, they had to spend a lot of time teaching and explaining the work to their PRC subordinates, and the subordinates seldom followed orders or instructions. Moreover, some younger and less experienced expatriate managers experienced serious problems with the PRC subordinates who tried to isolate them and refuse to accept any work arrangements or instructions given by them.
Therefore, non-managerial HK staff overall experienced fewer problems in interactions with the PRC staff than the expatriate managers in the PRC.
Corporate Culture and Systems in the PRC
The sample in this study had many difficulties in adapting to the corporate culture and the existing systems in the PRC workplace, which were quite different from the HK ones. For example, they felt that the PRC workplace was more hierarchical, bureaucratic and sex discriminatory. Moreover, concept of time and schedule was also different in the PRC. Therefore, they had to change their expectations, to be more endurable in order to adapt to the new culture and systems.#p#分页标题#e#
Instead of adapting to the host corporate culture and systems, many expatriate managers introduced new systems from HK to the PRC workplace. They preferred their PRC subordinates to adjust to the HK way of doing things. However, the stronger they tried to change the working environment and systems, the more resistance and problems they encountered, and more frustrated they became.
Therefore, non-managerial HK staff experienced problems in adapting to the existing corporate culture and systems in the PRC workplace, while the HK expatriate managers experienced problems in changing the existing corporate culture and systems.
Relationship Management
Many non-managerial HK staff had to work under both the HK and PRC managers. They felt most frustrated when these two managers had different expectations on them and conflicts arise. Therefore, they had to spend a lot of efforts in handling the relationships with them.
On the other hand, the HK expatriate managers spent time on managing the relationship with headquarter, e.g. through periodic reporting and meetings. Their greatest frustration was when headquarter did not understand situations in the PRC, e.g. when "lubrication money" was needed in order to establishing "guanxi".
Therefore, the relationship management of non-managerial HK staff should be of smaller scale and less sophisticated than that of the HK expatriate managers. However, the former relationship management involved more human politics, while the latter one involved more bureaucracy.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
Since the "Open Door" policy in 1979, the economic environment and the living standard in the PRC have been improving. The PRC government has been putting a lot of efforts to develop many coastal cities, e.g. Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, etc. Nowadays, these cities are quite comparable to HK in terms of living standard. Moreover, the transportation and telecommunication systems have been developed and improved a lot during the past few years, the HK people working in the PRC no longer feel that they are isolated in an remote area. Lastly, the educational level in the PRC has improved a lot, e.g. most of the local staffs working in multinational companies in the PRC is university graduates and has studied English before. This can facilitate the communication between the HK and PRC staff. All these factors make it easier for the HK people to adjust to the new working environment in the PRC than before.
However, differences in the corporate culture and systems, management style, and work method still exist between HK and PRC workplaces. And this is one of the main reasons for frustrations and problems in work adjustment in the PRC. Moreover, both the HK and PRC people have negative impressions towards each other, and this still remains one of the main barriers in the socialization process between them. Actually, these problems have existed since there were HK people working in the PRC, and have been mentioned in many previous research papers.#p#分页标题#e#
However, not much has been done to help the HK staff to overcome these problems in these aspects. No pre-departure training on culture differences between HK and PRC has been given to the HK staff working in the PRC. This kind of training has been neglected due to the belief that there is not much cultural difference between HK and PRC. However, this study and many previous research papers have shown that this is not true in the reality. Therefore, it will not be surprising that the HK staff feel psychologically discontented when they work in the PRC workplace.All interviewees have worked or have been working in the PRC on project basis since the beginning of 2008. The duration of each project ranged from 1 month to 6 months. Due to the geographical proximity, the interviewees were usually allowed to go back to HK on weekends, but the frequency of going back home depended on the distance between the place of assignment and HK. As told by some interviewees, several years ago, their colleagues who worked in the PRC went back home more frequently, e.g. every weekend. But now, most of them went back home less frequently, e.g. once a month. They said that the PRC has changed and improved a lot during the past few years, and it was much easier for HK people to adjust in the PRC than several years ago. For example, there was more entertainment in the PRC than before, and the telecommunications between HK and PRC became more affordable.
From the company's standpoint, it is much more expensive to send a HK staff to work in the PRC than just recruiting a local staff in the PRC. The basic salary of a HK staff is usually several times higher than that of a local staff. Moreover, there are also costs incurred in the accommodation in the PRC and transportation to and fro between HK and PRC. Therefore, companies should better make sure that these high costs are spent worthwhile.
Firstly, as mentioned before, previous working experience in the PRC may help the HK staff to adjust to the new workplace to a certain extent. However, this is usually considered as an advantage only, but not a requirement in the recruitment or selection process, especially for the non-managerial staff. As long as the staff can speak Mandarin, most companies consider them "qualified" to work in the PRC, regardless of whether they have any previous working experience in the PRC. Therefore, companies should put more emphasis in this aspect in recruitment and selection process.
Secondly, pre-visits to the workplace of the assignment by the HK staff are encouraged if the place of assignment is near to HK. This allows them to have a clearer picture of their future workplace. The more accurate their expectation is, the better they can adjust themselves in the new workplace. As mentioned before, some interviewees said that they still could not figure out exactly out everything was run after attending the pre-departure training on operations or production systems. Therefore, it will be much better if this kind of training can be accompanied by pre-visits to the workplace.
LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH
Due to the pioneer nature, there are still some limitations and areas needed to be improved in this study. Therefore, some areas are suggested for further research in this section.
Three Dimensions of International Adjustment
According to the adjustment framework suggested by some research (Black, 1988; Black and Stephens, 1989), international adjustment should have at least three facets, including work, interaction, and general adjustment. This study only discussed about work adjustment. In order to fully understanding the adjustment process of HK non-managerial staff working in the PRC, the other two dimensions, interaction and general adjustment, should be included in the future research.#p#分页标题#e#
Instrument
In this piece of work, the degree of work adjustment was measured by the scale developed by Black (1988), Black and Stephens (1989). This scale has three variables, including specific job responsibilities, performance standards and expectations, and relationship with supervisors. However, there are also other variables that have effects on the work adjustment. Black (1990) suggested that both "motivation to go overseas" and "spouse adjustment" were positively correlated to the degree of work adjustment. Parker and McEvoy (1995) suggested that "promotion opportunities after going back home" and "compensation level" were also positively correlated to the degree of work adjustment. Therefore, further research can try to incorporate more related variables into the adjustment framework.
However, all the variables and models mentioned above have been built based upon prior published academic theories. Some key casual variables may have been overlooked.
Therefore, apart from using the variables in the academic theories and models, it is much better to conduct a series of open-ended interviews with the target group. For example, by asking the target group "What factors do you personally think that have contributed to your adjustment level?" or "What have you noticed about the others who have failed or succeeded in their adjustment?", researchers may be able to discover some variables which have been overlooked in academic models and theories.
Source of Data
This study has only one source of primary data, which are the HK employees who worked in the PRC. It can reveal the adjustment process from the HK employees' point of view only. Further research should try to interview representatives from the HK companies that send their staff to the PRC, e.g. human resource managers, managers supervising the HK staff in the PRC, etc. This can help to understand the adjustment process from the companies' point of view; e.g. what are the expectations of the HK companies towards the adjustment of their staff in the PRC? What problems do they think their staff will encounter in the PRC? What caused the problems?
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