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Selecting Candidates and Managing Expatriate Assignments in China
Selecting Candidates and Managing Expatriate Assignments in China
DANIEL W. LUND
Expatriate Assignments in China AND RONALD JEAN DEGEN
To ensure the success of expatriate assignment in enterprises interested in doing business in China. In
China, it is critical that the most suitable candi- 2008, there were more than 101,000 foreign enter-
dates are chosen. This article provides a strategic prises legally operating in China, representing 2 per-
model for selecting, training, and supporting person- cent of all enterprises in China (www.stats.gov.cn).
nel and their families for assignments in China and Along with great economic opportunities, however,
for helping them adjust to Chinese cultures. Home- come great challenges associated with managing
country reintegration strategies are also provided ventures in China.
for developing experienced expatriates into global
organizational leaders. Well-planned selection, Foreign managers entering China encounter a myr-
preparation, support, and reintegration programs iad of societal complexities, including lengthy bu-
help to increase expatriates’ overall assignment ef- reaucratic processes, unfamiliar cultural norms, and
fectiveness and avoid the high costs associated personal and family adjustment issues associated
with expatriate failures. The proposed model is with living in China. Finding the most effective can-
based on Fernandez and Underwood’s (2006) criti- didates to manage operations in China, therefore, is
cal success qualities of expatriate managers in China critical. This article proposes a method for helping
and Avril and Magnini’s (2007) success qualities global enterprises to effectively select and retain the
for expatriates and their families. A prescription most suitable candidates for foreign assignments in
for expatriate effectiveness is proposed based on China. The method stresses the strategic importance
Lund and Barker’s (2007) study of expatriate man- of managing assignments before, during, and after
agers’ effectiveness in China, along with models for the posting.
promoting effective pre-departure preparation
and new-country adjustment support. © 2010 Wiley In 2008, there were 217,000 expatriates legally em-
Periodicals, Inc. ployed in China, nearly three times more than in
2005 (www.stats.gov.cn). However, some studies
China’s emergence as a global economic power have found that expatriate failure rates in China
in recent years has attracted the world’s atten- reach levels as high as 70 percent (Lund & Barker,
tion. With its double-digit growth rates of the past 2007). “Failure” is defined as the early return or
decade, China is predicted to become the world’s loss of an expatriate whereby a real or inferred fi-
second-largest economy behind the United States nancial loss can be calculated by the organization.
by the end of 2010 (“China Predicted to Become,” The cost of one failed international assignment can
2010). China also recently surpassed Germany as range from U.S. $250,000 to $1 million for some
the world’s largest exporter, with a 10 percent share organizations (Valner & Palmer, 2002).
of all global exports. Ranking second in terms of
imports, China has an 8 percent share of all global The strategic importance of international experi-
imports compared to the United States’ 13 percent ence is stressed by studies that find CEOs with
(“WTO: China Overtakes Germany,” 2010). Fur- six or more years of international experience rate
thermore, China’s population of nearly 1.4 billion higher on “organizational performance” and “indi-
offers an enormous potential market for foreign vidual value to the organization,” as perceived by
component of developing knowledgeable and expe- Exhibit 3. Professional Qualities of Candidates for Assignments
rienced global leaders. in China (Fernandez & Underwood, 2006)
Level 1: Professional Qualities
• Solid technical and corporate expertise
Criteria for Selecting Appropriate Candidates
• Proven management experience
When selecting candidates for assignments in China, • Ability to manage difficult situations
it is important to recognize that effective past per- • International experience
formance in Western-country contexts may not • Willing to accept a longer-term position in China
be a predictor of effectiveness in China. Al-
though past performance is an important considera-
tion for selecting candidates, Western management most suitable if they can first prove their professional
styles differ dramatically from the Chinese manage- qualifications in other foreign assignments, thereby
ment styles found in China. Western management demonstrating their personal ability to work in
styles and practices are typically governed by le- challenging international environments. Prior inter-
gal and organizational rules and regulations and national experience in developing countries in par-
are commonly driven by the directive of maximizing ticular can help the candidates adapt to the unique
shareholder wealth. Chinese management styles, in cultural and business challenges of China. Any prior
contrast, are primarily governed by Confucian ide- positive experience in China is also an advantage.
als that value relationships and the maintenance of We also add to this list a necessary fourth set of cri-
interpersonal and societal harmony. In the Confu- teria related to the candidate’s personal traits and
cian context, relationships are more important than family circumstances.
the maximization of shareholder wealth. Although
Western and Chinese managers share common day- Professional Qualities
to-day organizational processes, their managerial Candidates’ professional qualities are emphasized
styles, and the ideologies that govern those styles, first (see Exhibit 3). These qualities include solid
are fundamentally different (Lund & Barker, 2007). technical and corporate expertise and proven man-
agement experience and are important because
Fernandez and Underwood (2006) identify a series Chinese employees may have very high expecta-
of success qualities critical for expatriate managers tions of expatriate managers. As Chinese managers
in China. These qualities are arranged in three levels: gain expertise in global business practices, they
(1) professional qualities; (2) personal global quali- expect expatriate managers to contribute to their
ties; and (3) personal China-specific qualities. Can- learning experience with new knowledge and
didates for an assignment in China, for example, are skills. Expatriate managers who do not meet
Although the need for pre-departure and in-China To pursue effective global strategies, organizations
cross-cultural training and ongoing social support need both culturally adaptive managers in for-
is paramount, organizations commonly neglect such
eign offices and home-country managers who pos-
training and support when sending managers to for-
sess comprehensive and firsthand understanding of
eign postings. Training programs that do exist tend
to be ineffective, designed and run by unqualified in- global markets and individual country cultures.
dividuals appointed by their organizations (Hutch-
ings, 2003). Some organizations are unwilling to risk
investing in cultural training and support programs Motivations for expatriate managers typically in-
because of historically high expatriate failure rates volve monetary or promotion-based benefits that
(Hutchings, 2003). Although this is a circular ar- can vary widely depending on the organization, the
gument, there also exists the problem of how to de- location of the assignment, and any industry com-
velop an effective cultural training program and who pensation norms that may exist. Expatriate man-
would be best qualified to design and implement it. agers also need to have a clear understanding of how
their performance during an assignment in China
Regardless of such challenges, it is ultimately the re- benefits their own personal career and life goals.
sponsibility of the organization to provide the most Expatriates that perceive long-term benefits to them-
effective training that is within the organization’s selves and their family will more likely accept ad-
means to provide. Expatriates and any accompany- ditional assignments in China or elsewhere (Adler,
ing family members, likewise, have a responsibility 2002). With each foreign assignment, the expatri-
to proactively seek out and learn as much as they can ate’s potential for becoming an effective global or-
about China and its cultures before arriving in the ganizational leader is enhanced.
country and going through the adjustment process.
Developing Effective Global Leaders
Motivating Expatriates for the Next Global Assignment Global strategic advantage is increased among or-
Along with understanding the adjustment process, ganizations that recognize, reward, and utilize the
a deeper insight is also needed for how to con- wealth of firsthand experience offered by expatri-
tinually motivate expatriates for further assign- ate managers returning from foreign assignments.
ments in China and for their subsequent global Such managers can be developed and nurtured into
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