How to Survive as an Expatriate in China
School of Management and Economics Course Code: FED 344 Strategic Management in Dynamic Organization Master Thesis
How to survive as an expatriate in China?
A case study based on three companies: IKEA, NCR and Texol
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Examinators:
Anders Hytter Marja Soila-Wadman
Authors:
Kamila Karcz Rongzhi Liu Joanna Adamska 820504 840818 820128
Tutor: Marja Soila-Wadman
Summary
The increase of foreign direct investment in China has resulted in the presence of a number of Western expatriates working in Sino–foreign joint ventures. These expatriate managers have to make things work in absolutely new settings. Therefore, without cross-cultural trainings, they may have very stressful experience in China. Understanding of the Chinese culture and Chinese society may ultimately save much frustration and money. With our thesis therefore we would like to explore how companies manage training processes before sending expatriates to China, and prepare them for further knowledge transfer to the employees in China. This has lead us to the following research question: “How do the Western companies manage process of sending expatriates to China?” The research is based on the experiences of three companies: IKEA, Texol Technical Solutions and NCR and demonstrates possible means that can be engaged by the companies to facilitate adjustment processes of their expatriates in China. The empirical data were gathered from interviews with managers from the mentioned companies. In order to analyze our empirical findings we present literature that was structured as follows: Training in the international context, training in the Chinese context and communication between expatriate and local employees. Both the literature review as well as our empirical data with analysis aspire to provide the reader with an in depth study of the importance of the selection of the right candidates and the provision of trainings, as it can help both to understand the unique Chinese cultural and
How to survive as an expatriate in China?
A case study based on three companies: IKEA, NCR and Texol
--
Examinators:
Anders Hytter Marja Soila-Wadman
Authors:
Kamila Karcz Rongzhi Liu Joanna Adamska 820504 840818 820128
Tutor: Marja Soila-Wadman
Summary
The increase of foreign direct investment in China has resulted in the presence of a number of Western expatriates working in Sino–foreign joint ventures. These expatriate managers have to make things work in absolutely new settings. Therefore, without cross-cultural trainings, they may have very stressful experience in China. Understanding of the Chinese culture and Chinese society may ultimately save much frustration and money. With our thesis therefore we would like to explore how companies manage training processes before sending expatriates to China, and prepare them for further knowledge transfer to the employees in China. This has lead us to the following research question: “How do the Western companies manage process of sending expatriates to China?” The research is based on the experiences of three companies: IKEA, Texol Technical Solutions and NCR and demonstrates possible means that can be engaged by the companies to facilitate adjustment processes of their expatriates in China. The empirical data were gathered from interviews with managers from the mentioned companies. In order to analyze our empirical findings we present literature that was structured as follows: Training in the international context, training in the Chinese context and communication between expatriate and local employees. Both the literature review as well as our empirical data with analysis aspire to provide the reader with an in depth study of the importance of the selection of the right candidates and the provision of trainings, as it can help both to understand the unique Chinese cultural and