{"id":1667,"date":"2019-09-09T11:10:30","date_gmt":"2019-09-09T10:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/?p=1667"},"modified":"2019-09-09T11:47:26","modified_gmt":"2019-09-09T10:47:26","slug":"how-does-the-pursuit-of-harmony-shape-expatriate-management-in-chinese-multinational-corporations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/how-does-the-pursuit-of-harmony-shape-expatriate-management-in-chinese-multinational-corporations\/","title":{"rendered":"How does the pursuit of harmony shape expatriate management in Chinese multinational corporations?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Since the 1980s, China has shifted from a planned economy to a socialist market-oriented economy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In our latest post, PhD researcher Muhao Du outlines the ambitions of his doctoral research on Chinese expatriate management. The post is based on his prizewinning poster presentation exhibited at the inaugural Welsh Postgraduate Research Conference in June 2019.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

My research focuses on the lifecycle of expatriate management in Chinese multinational\ncorporations (MNCs) through the experiences of the expatriates themselves. The\nstudy is placed in the context of the\nconcept of \u2018harmony\u2019, which is said to characterise the Chinese approach to human\nresource management (HRM)<\/a>. By focusing the research on the concrete experiences\nof Chinese expatriates, the research will develop detailed case histories and provide\na more personal insight into Chinese HRM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese context<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since the 1980s, China has shifted from a planned economy to a socialist market-oriented economy in line with China\u2019s economic reform and opening-up policy<\/a> (also called the \u2018open-door policy\u2019). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEconomic reform has played a critical and fundamental role in the development of China for the past four decades.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The open-door policy attracted foreign direct investment to facilitate\nChinese domestic development, signalling its insertion into the global economy.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1999, the open-door policy was overtaken by the \u2018Going\nOut\u2019<\/a> policy, which emphasised market and resource seeking motives, to\naccelerate outward <\/em>foreign direct investment by Chinese firms and to open\nthe Chinese domestic market further, to improve China\u2019s global competitiveness.\nThe \u2018Going Out policy\u2019 has contributed to many Chinese firms becoming\ninternationalised and eventually provided a solid foundation for China to later\naccess the World Trade Organisation.\nAs a result of this policy shift, increasing numbers of Chinese employees have\nbeen working overseas in Chinese MNC subsidiaries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recently, the \u2018One Belt and One Road\u2019<\/a><\/strong> project, proposed\nin 2013, has further facilitated the expansion of Chinese MNCs. This ambitious\nproject is a development strategy focusing on infrastructure development and\ninvestments in around 152 countries across Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America.\nThus, it can be predicted that the number of Chinese expatriates will be\nincreasing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evolution of Chinese HRM<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In parallel to the implementation of China\u2019s \u2018reform and opening-up\u2019\npolicy, Warner (2011, p. 3229) wrote that \u201ca new form of people-management, (renli\nziyuan guanli), which literally means \u2018labour force resources management\u2019,\nbecame \u2013 for good or ill \u2013 something of a synonym for what was to be generally\nunderstood as HRM (see Warner 2008 on this point).\u2019 It is important to note\nthat against the background of economic change, the state intervention characteristic\nof the Chinese business system persists. It plays a role in shaping people\nmanagement in the Chinese context and influences a particular approach to human\nresource management (HRM), deemed as Chinese<\/em> HRM (Warner 2008). It is to\nbe seen in \u201cspecific HR initiatives that are informed by the ideological values\nthat the state seeks to promote, namely, to build a knowledge society and a\nharmonious society\u201d (Cooke 2011a, p.3844). Though it has been claimed that\nChinese HRM is converging to the Western model, the impact of traditional\nChinese personnel practices remains strong and may be seen in traditions such\nas group orientation, loyalty and seniority and the distinctive role of the\nofficial trade union in the Chinese political context (Cai et al. 2011). The\nmain characteristics of Chinese HRM as involving paternalistic, hierarchical, compliant\nand coercive behaviours (see Cooke 2011b), yet the issue of \u2018harmony\u2019 is also\nimportant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept of harmony<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Chinese thought, \u2018harmony\u2019 is said to be associated with the principles of Confucianism<\/a>. Li (2006) defines harmony as the objective that people should behave or conduct any activities through a set of principles and\/or rules. The emphasis on the harmonious relationships and social obligation, as well as high moral standards to those in a higher authority position in a family and the society, has been claimed to give rise to a gentler management approach in China (Lin and Ho 2009). In practical terms, when such principles are transferred to the workplace, a key assumption is that the avoidance of conflict between employers and employees is a priority. There is resonance here with the unitary perspective that underpins HRM in Western settings such as the UK. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn China, pursuit of harmony at the workplace is understood to mirror and support a harmonious environment in society.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Throughout my PhD study, it will be interesting to examine how harmony is\nsustained and influences the management of expatriates not only while they are\non assignments working outside China but also when they return home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study will, therefore, follow the life histories of expatriates from recruitment through to repatriation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muhao Du<\/a> is a PhD candidate at Cardiff Business School.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His research focuses on expatriate management in Chinese multinational corporations. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
  • Cai, Z, M. et al. 2011. Explaining the human resource management preferences of employees: a study of Chinese workers. The International Journal of Human Resource Management<\/em>\u00a022(16), pp. 3245-3269.<\/li>
  • Cooke, F, L. 2011a. The role of the state and emergent actors in the development of human resource management in China. The International Journal of Human Resource Management<\/em>\u00a022(18), pp.3830 \u2013 3848.<\/li>
  • Cooke, F. L. 2011b. Human Resource Management in China: New Trends and Practices. <\/em>London and New York: Routledge.<\/li>
  • Li, C. 2006. The Confucian Ideal of Harmony. Philosophy East and West<\/em> 56(4), 583-603.<\/li>
  • Lin, L. H., and Ho, Y, L. 2009. Confucian dynamism, culture and ethical changes in Chinese societies \u2013 a comparative study of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The International Journal of Human Resource Management <\/em>20(11), pp.2402\u20132417.<\/li>
  • Warner, M. 2008. Reassessing human resource management \u2018with Chinese characteristics: an overview. International Journal of Human Resource Management<\/em> 19(5), pp.771\u2013801.<\/li>
  • Warner, M. 2011. Society and HRM in China. The International Journal of Human Resource Management<\/em> 22(16), pp.3223-3244.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since the 1980s, China has shifted from a planned economy to a socialist market-oriented economy. In our latest post, PhD researcher Muhao Du outlines the ambitions of his doctoral research […]","protected":false},"author":1727,"featured_media":1673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[213],"tags":[428,28,100,1107,115,1108,1110,1114,1112,1109,128,1113,440,198,95,1032,1115,16,407,1022,1116],"class_list":["post-1667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-management","tag-business-management","tag-cardiff-business-school","tag-cardiff-university","tag-china","tag-economy","tag-expatriate","tag-harmony","tag-hrm","tag-human-resource-management","tag-international-management","tag-management","tag-multinational-corporations","tag-multinational-enterprises","tag-phd","tag-policy","tag-recruitment","tag-reform","tag-research","tag-socialism","tag-welsh-postgraduate-research-conference","tag-world-trade-organisation"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paOfaS-qT","meta_box":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/620\/2019\/09\/Muhao-explains-research-to-Ieuan.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1727"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1667"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1680,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1667\/revisions\/1680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}