The Impact Of Job Factors On Chinese Expatriates Work Adjustment A Case Of Huawei India

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The Newcastle Business School

THE IMPACT OF JOB FACTORS ON CHINESE EXPATRIATES’ WORK

ADJUSTMENT: A CASE OF HUAWEI INDIA.

Masters Dissertation Proposal

Name _____________________________Programme _________________

(SURNAME) (FORENAMES)

This form MUST be accompanied by the NBS PG Dissertation

Registration Form (available from the Postgraduate Office)

The number of words for each section are for GUIDANCE ONLY.

1 Researchable Topic Area:

The topic for this research is about the impact of job factors on Chinese expatriates’

work adjustment: a case of Huawei India. The existence of Chinese expatriates in other

countries has become quite a common trend especially due to the establishment of

Chinese corporations in other nations. Most companies in China are expanding their

operations to other nations; hence recruiting their Chinese workers to go open in the

new operation centers. According to Bhatti et al. (2014), for more than five years now,

Chinese multinational corporations have been sending their workers to foreign

countries in order to work in the branch offices as well as subsidiaries. These

employees are known as expatriates, and they comprise those who temporarily reside

in another country than their own.

An example of a Chinese corporation that has been sending expatriates to other nations

is Huawei. Precisely, this Chinese multinational corporation has opened subsidiaries in

India and sent some of the Chinese expatriates to the region (Hutchings, 2014). The

main aim of opening this subsidiary has been in a bid to meet the current competitive

mobile industry by widening the market share. The main role of the expatriates has

been to allow the Huawei parent company to control its foreign subsidiaries more

closely and to improve the level of global coordination.

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Although various academic sources have discussed the existing relationship between

job factors and work adjustments, further research is still needed in this area,

especially on the Chinese expatriates. Therefore, this research takes the case of Huawei

India to analyze the impact of job factors on Chinese expatriates’ work adjustment.

2.Research Background

The subject of international work assignements has received a considerable level of

attention from management scholars. This is particularly in regard to the issue of

international human resource management (Li, 2016). As observed by Okpara and

Kabongo (2010), businesses and corporations are now increasingly required to send

managers and expertriates to foreign locations where their businesses are based.

International corporations have also increasingly noted the advantages of utilizing

individual with sufficient skills and experiences in efficient management and

operations of their respective international firms. Furthuremore, there is a preference

for business owners to use only those people who are socialized into the firm and those

who are well known to them. This reliance of people who are well socialized into the

firm and those well known by the company is used as a means of avoiding agency

problems commonly related with the managmenet of diverse organizations in various

parts of the world (Claus et al, 2011). Therefore, international assignments have been

occasionally used as a means of dealing with agency issues that emanate as a

consequence of management and ownership alongside their intensification through

distance.

Expansion of businesses in the global business arena have mandated local human

resource practices to adapt to internation practice level (Claus et al, 2011). However,

this shifting have brought with them different level of challenges for HR researchers

and professionals. Accordingly, job performance andexptriate adjustment is considered

as among critical challenges facing internatonal human resource operations globally

(Claus et al, 2011). Multinational firms have assigned a diverse range of expatriates for

their forein companies to enable them achieve their stated business objectives.

Furthuremore, these entities have recognized the role played by expatriates in

improving the general performance of their firms. As such, multinational firms have

also invested expansive amount of effort and resources to enhance their performance.

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This is after the realization that enhanced performance of forein operations are based

on effective performance of expatriates (Ramalu, and Rose, 2011). Stated differently,

it has been determined that the performance of expatriates is important for the success

or failure of organizations.

Due to globalization, and Chinese economic development, many Chinese expatriates

and professionals have been required to work in regions that are far from their homes.

Chinese ideology of economic development have mandated many Chinese companies

to establish their branches in different parts of the world including in Western, Asia

and African countries. Working in a country with a different culture is always

challenging to new employees. This is particularly for those people who do not have

the necessary language ability and cultural knowledge of the host nation. Therefore,

while in forein countries, Chinese expatriates and professionals face a myriad of

challenges when adjusting to the new environment (Hongyu, 2014). This study seeks

to analyze the job factors affecting Chinese expatriates when working in India. The

case study selected for this research is Huawei Corporation.

Huawei Company

Huawei Technologies Ltd is a Chinese multinational company dealing with

telecommunication equipments and networking services. This company which is the

largest manufacturer of telecommunication equipments globally is headquatered in

Guangdong, China. Initially established as a solely phone switch manufacturer,

Huawei has since expanded its business portfolio to include the manufacturer and

distribution of telecommunication devices, telecommunication networks, provision of

consulting and operational services to firms locally and internationally. Currently, the

company boasts of a round 170,000 workers in its global operations (Goswami, and

Witzel, 2012).

As part of its international marketing approach, Huawei opted to establish its presence

in the Indian market in 2000. In order to compete and succeed in this market, Huawei

invested its resources heavily and analyzed the market features to determine the best

strategy to apply. However, the company encountered a myriad of barriers to its

endeavour among of which included cultural barriers which it needed to deal with for a

smooth operation. It should also be noted Chinese companys are among the notorious

ones in using expatriates from their own countries rather than outsourcing them from

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the host nations (Goswami and Witzel, 2012). Therefore, the strategies that the

company employed in making its employees resilitent and confine to the Indian culture

need to be analyzed for possible replication by other companies. The challenges which

these employees faced also need to be explored to provide insights for international

human resource practitioners.

3.Significance of the Research

Findings from this research will provide key insights to international human resource

managers and business owners on the factors hindering expatriates in executing their

duties effectively in forein countries. Furthuremore, the results will guide Chinese

companies, as well as other ralted business entities to assess the adjustmet of their

expatriates. In addition, the level of knowledge for employees working or wishing to

work in other nations will also be raised. Furthuremore, researchers will as be

triggered by the findings and work towards undertaking more studies to determine the

job factors affecting expatraties from other backgrounds. Other areas of the human

resource subject will also be explored using the insights generated from this research.

4. Research Aim and Objectives

The overall aim of this research study is to investigate the impact of job factors on

Chinese expatriates’ work adjustment. Precisely, the study will take Huawei India,

which is a subsidiary of Huawei Technologies Ltd., as the case study. To achieve this

aim, the study will address the following objectives:

(1) To analyse the impact of role clarity on Chinese expatriates’ work adjustment in

Huawei India

(2) To evaluate the impact of role novelty on Chinese expatriates’ work adjustment in

Huawei India

(3) To determine the impact of role conflict on Chinese expatriates’ work adjustment

in Huawei India

(4) To explore the impact of role discretion on Chinese expatriates’ work adjustment in

Huawei India

5. Literature Review:

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5.1 Introduction

The aim of this section is to evaluate the critical assertions that various researchers

have made concerning the subject of study. Precisely, the research will identify some

of the research gaps and determine how to fill them using the present research. To

attain this objective, this research will be divided into three main sections. Firstly, it

will define the concepts of expartiates and work adjustments. Second, it will discuss

the key variables, which include role clarity, role novelty, role conflict, and role

discretion. Lastly, it will provide a summary section of the main findings.

5.2 Definition and Concept of Expatriates

According to Cole & McNulty (2013), an expatriate is an individual who resides in

another country other than that of their original citizenship. In the field of business,

expatriates are skilled employees who are sent abroad by the management of

companies to conduct operations in another country. For most companies, an

expatriate is relocated abroad for a given period of time raging from six to twelve

months (Bhatti et al., 2014). Since an expatriate has to start a new life in another

nation, he or she is likely to meet various challenges such as difficulty in adapting to

the local life or integrating with community members. Similarly, Suutari & Brewster

(2015) add that some of the expatriates find its challenging to adapt to the new

managerial styles.

5.3 Work Adjustments

Hutchings (2014) defines work adjustment as the comfort associated with the job-

related variables such as job novelty, job-related roles, and role conflict among others.

Armstrong (2015) adds to Hutchings’ research by defining adjustment as a process

through which an individual is able to feel suitable in living and working within a

given new or unfamiliar environment. Work adjustment is a key factor in enhancing

the level of job satisfaction in regards to working in the new environment. For the

expatriates to become productive, they must work in an environment that is positive.

Suutari & Brewster (2015) support Hutchings (2014) opinion by explaining that work

adjustment is a form of adaptation to new working conditions.

5.3 Review of Literature on Job Factors and Work Adjustments

5.3.1 Relationship between Role Clarity and Work Adjustment

The role clarity of work adjustment is defined as the extent to which the expatriates are

aware of the duties that they are expected to perform in the oversea operations or

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assignment (Kawai & Mohr, 2015). When there is role clarity, the content of an

expatriate’s tasks, work methods, and priorities become clear such that he or she is

aware of their role in the new organisation. According to Savery & Swain (2016), there

is a direct correlation between role clarity and work adjustment in that when the roles

assigned to the expatriate are ambiguous it becomes challenging to choose the

necessary or appropriate behaviour. As such, ambiguity of the new roles assigned can

lead to employees feeling less effective and frustrated. On the other hand, expatriates

are able to adjust to a new working environment if they are aware of what the new

management expects from them in terms of skills and duties. Therefore, role clarity

has a direct positive influence on work adjustments.

5.3.2 Relationship between Role Novelty and Work Adjustment

Moulik & Mazumdar (2012) define role novelty as the degree or extent of the

differences that exist between the previous position of an expatriate with his or her

new one. When the tasks assigned are similar to those of the previous organization, it

becomes easier for an expatriate to adapt to the new working environment. However

when the roles differ, it becomes difficult to adjust to the new expectations. A research

study by Savery & Swain (2016) showed that role novelty was a key job factor that

had a significant impact on work adjustment. Another survey by Harris (2016) found

out that role novelty was a salient element in influencing the work adjustment and

overall satisfaction of expatriates. Therefore, there is a direct correlation between role

novelty and work adjustments.

5.3.3 Relationship between Role Conflict and Work Adjustment

Role conflict refers to a situation whereby an expatriate is expected to perform two or

more roles that are incompatible (Selmer & McNulty, 2017). Harris (2016) adds to the

research by stating that role conflict is a form of emotional conflict that arises when

competing demand is made on an individual in regards to fulfilling multiple unrelated

roles. According to Moulik & Mazumdar (2012), one of the main causes of role

conflict is the role ambiguity, which results in uncertainty of the expatriates. This

variable has a major impact on how employees are able to adjust to the new

environment. Role conflict prevents employees from achieving their maximum

potential due to the sudden high level of demand. In the human resource setting, role

conflict has a negative impact on the ability of an expatriate to adjust to the new

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environment (Selmer & Lauring, 2011), which in turn can lead to poor work

adjustment among expatriate employees.

5.3.4 Relationship between Role Discretion and Work Adjustment

Role discretion is another key determining factor of work adjustments. According to

Moulik & Mazumdar (2012), role discretion reflects the authority of the expatriate in

determining the parameters of the new position. Cole & McNulty (2013) also define

discretion as the freedom to make certain decisions within the constraints of an

expatriate’s authority. Greater role discretion enables an expatriate to use past actions

that were deemed effective at the previous workplace (Li, 2016). This makes

adjustments easier since it minimizes the level of uncertainty and increases the

confidence of the expatriates in their ability to perform and achieve within the new

environment. Evidently, role discretion plays a significant role in work adjustment.

Therefore, a high level of discretion has a positive impact on the adjustments of the

expartiates.

5.4 Summary

The section above has presented a critical assertion of the various theoretical

viewpoints regarding how job factors impact the level of work adjustments. The

factors play a key role on how expatriates are able to adapt to the new environment.

The four main job factors include role novelty, role conflict, role discretion, and role

clarity. The factors are key drivers of work adjustments, especially amongst the

Chinese expatriates who are sent to India. The previous research has only focused on

other motivational factors such as pay increment; hence, this research helps to fill in

the research gap. To fill the gap, the above research focused on Huawei India, which is

a major subsidiary of Huawei Technologies.

6 Details of your research

6.1 Research Participants

To fulfill all the objectives of the study, the investigator will identity credible research

participants. Precisely, this study will comprise the population of employees from

Huawei India, since it is the main case study. Preferably, the investigator will choose a

sample of participants who have been sent from China to India subsidiary as

expatriates. Therefore, to make the research more credible, the main participants will

be the Chinese workers in Huawei India.

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6.2 Research Instruments

For this study, the researcher will adopt the use of interviews since the study focuses

on gathering qualitative data. The use of interviews as a data collection method is

effective since it will help the investigator to obtain comprehensive information on the

level of work adjustments amongst Chinese expatriates in Huawei India (Given, 2008).

This is because through the interviews, participants will be in a position to give their

genuine opinion; hence providing the researcher with in-depth information. After

selecting the research instrument, the investigator will identify the participants and

informs them on how the interviews will be conducted. The interviews will be

conducted using ‘layman’ language in a bid to enhance a high level of understanding

amongst the respondents. By using interviews to collect data, the researcher will have

enough time for interacting and communicating with the selected respondents.

6.3 Data Collection and gaining access

6.3.1 Data Collection

The process of data collection will involve selecting the appropriate tools for gathering

data for the study in a bid to address the research objectives (Chawla & Sodhi, 2011).

To obtain adequate data for the study, the researcher will first seek permission from

the management of Huawei India, The investigator will compose an email to the

company about two weeks in advance in order to ensure that the management had

adequate time to set up the place for the interview. After permission is granted the

researcher will visit the corporation in India and request the Chinese employees to take

part in the interviews. For this study, the researcher will identity 2 managers and 4

Chinese expatriates from Huawei India as the main respondents of the interview. The

main purpose is to conduct face-to-face interviews with the managers as well as

employees. By selecting the middle managers, it will be easier to identity credible

information since they are more familiar with the performance and well-being of

employees at the firm. Each of the interview session will take about 20 minutes.

6.3.2 Gaining Access

To access the interviewees in an ethical and credible manner the research will have to

follow certain modalities and procedures (Hutchings, 2014). This will ensure that there

are no cases of intrusion, which is unethical and may risk the researcher from being

rejected by the corporation under study. Therefore, in order to gain access, the

investigator will send a formal request letter to the management at Huawei, India. This

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letter will highlight the main reason for conducting the interviews at that particular

time and how the research is useful to the investigator’s academic progress as well as

the company. To access the respondents the researcher will physically meet the

Chinese employees and request them to take part in the interviews. During the

meeting, the investigator will make a personal introduction to the selected employee

and inform them the purpose of the study. Additionally, contacting the HR manager at

the firm will enable the researcher to reach out to the 5 middle-level managers at the

company. The managers selected should have more than 3 years experience at the

Huawei firm to prove that they have adequate knowledge about the operations of the

company. Each of the respondents will be interviewed separately within the company

offices. The researcher will then record and store the interviews safely in a laptop for

further analysis.

6.4 Data analysis

After collecting all the required data, data analysis will take place. Since this research

focuses on obtaining qualitative data, the researcher will use the content analysis

technique. According to Bryman & Bell (2015), content analysis is a research

technique in which the researcher identifies the similarities and differences that are

found in the qualitative data. For this study, the investigator will identity the key word

derived from the interviews and the secondary data obtained from the journals and

company’s reports. The coding process will then take place, after which the researcher

will evaluate both the similarities and differences that will be identified from the

collected information/data. The similarities and differences will be identified by the

investigator searching for key words found in the responses of the participants

(Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2015). Based on the variations and correspondence of

the responses, the investigator will manage to form a general view and come up with

solid and conclusive findings. Lastly, for a complete data analysis process, the

researcher will compare the analyse information with previous literature on the subject

of study. This will help in determining of the research findings were true and credible.

7 Research ethics

When conducting the study, the researcher will have to follow and observe certain

ethical expectations and practices. Firstly, the researcher will seek permission from the

company before selecting the respondents to avoid cases of unethical intrusion

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(Bryman & Bell, 2015). This will ensure that the firm is informed on the intention and

duration of the investigation. Second, the researcher will pledge to remain anonymous

by not disclosing those who took part in the interviews. This will ensure that the

participants are comfortable with the level of confidentiality; hence giving honest

feedback and opinions. Additionally, before setting up the interview, the researcher

will request for informed consent from the interviewees. The aim of this consideration

is to make sure that the identified respondents participated in the interview willingly

without being coerced. The researcher is also expected to maintain the confidentiality

of the responses provided (Bryman & Bell, 2015). To do this, the investigator will

safeguard the responses in a laptop secured with a password. It will also be important

to ensure that data is not shared with third parties without the respondents consent.

Fourth, the researcher aims to maintain utmost confidentiality of all the responses

provided by safeguarding the forms containing the data under lock-and-key. The

researcher will ensure that the data will not be shared with any third party without the

permission of the respondents. More so in case the researcher would like to use the

data for other purposes other than those intended, prior permission will be sought from

them. Observing these ethical practices will ensure that the process of gathering data

was is credible.

8 Conclusions

Overall, the above research study is vital both practically and theoretically.

Theoretically, this study will help in strengthening the knowledge on the concept of

work adjustments amongst expatriates. By defining key concepts, and analysing the

various empirical studies, the investigator will create a good basis for practitioners in

gaining knowledge about work adjustments within the mobile industry. The researcher

will also fill the gap left by previous authors; hence contributing greatly to the body of

knowledge that analyses the influence of job factors on work adjustments amongst

Chinese expatriates. Although previous research has focused on the topic of work

adjustments, there have been few omissions on Chinese employees. Therefore,

previous work has not examined or recognised some key concepts. This study explores

the various concepts of work adjustments in the mobile industry. In addition, the

research is also practically vital since it is conducted when most multinational

companies are opening subsidiaries in new countries and sending their workers to new

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environment. Therefore, the study helps to analyse the experiences of the expatriates.

By analysing the various variables, the study informs about the experiences of

employee expatriates.

8 Timetable for your research:

It will take a total of six months to complete this dissertation. The figure below

presents a schedule showing the main activities.

Month

Activity

January 2018

Composing of the literature review

February 2018

Data collection process

March 2018

Selecting methodology

April 2018

Data analysis

June 2018

Findings and conclusions of the study

July 2018

Submission after proofreading

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9 Reference List

Armstrong, M. (2015). Employee reward. London: Chartered Inst. of Personnel and

Development.

Awais Bhatti, M., Mohamed Battour, M., Rageh Ismail, A., & Pandiyan Sundram, V.

(2014). Effects of personality traits (big five) on expatriates adjustment and job

performance. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 33(1), 73-

96.

Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2015). Business Research Methods. London: OUP

Chawla, D. and Sodhi, N. (2011). Research Methodology: Concepts and Cases. New

Delhi: Vikas Publishing

Cole, N., & McNulty, Y. (2013). Why do female expatriates “fit-in” better than males?

An analysis of self-transcendence and socio-cultural adjustment. Cross Cultural

Management: An International Journal, 18(2), 144-164.

Claus, L., Lungu, P. A., & Bhattacharjee, S. (2011). The effects of individual,

organizational and societal variables on the job performance of expatriate managers.

International Journal of Management, 28(1:2), 249-271.

Hongyu, L. (2014). Cross-Cultural Adjustment Factors of Chinese Expatriates in

Portugal. Dissertation submitted as partial requirement for the conferral of Master in

Human Resources management at ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon.

Given, M. (2008). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods. London:

SAGE

Goswami, T., and Witzel, M. (2012). The case study: Huawe’s entry to India.

Retrieved 1

March from https://www.ft.com/content/a7c4d656-fe89-11e1-8028-

00144feabdc0

Harris, H. (2016). Global careers: Work-life issues and the adjustment of women

international managers. Journal of Management Development, 23(9), 818-832.

Hutchings, K. (2014). Cross-cultural preparation of Australian expatriates in

organisations in China: The need for greater attention to training. Asia Pacific Journal

of Management, 20(3), 375-396.

Li, Y. (2016). Expatriate Adjustment and Expatriate Learning. In Expatriate

Manager’s Adaption and Knowledge Acquisition(pp. 7-72). Springer Singapore.

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2015). Research Methods for Business

Students. New York: FT Prentice Hall.

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Okpara, O., & Kabongo, D. (2010). Cross-cultural training and expatriate adjustment:

A study of western expatriates in Nigeria. Journal of World Business, 46(2011), 22–30

Ramalu, S., Wei, C., & Rose, C. R. (2011). The effects of cultural intelligence on cross

cultural adjustment and job performance amongst expatriates in Malaysia.

International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(9), 59-71

Savery, L. K., & Swain, P. A. (2016). Leadership style: differences between

expatriates and locals. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 6(4), 8-11.

Selmer, J., & Lauring, J. (2011). Expatriate academics: job factors and work

outcomes. International Journal of Manpower, 32(2), 194-210.

Selmer, J., & McNulty, Y. (2017). Research handbook of expatriates. Cheltenham,

UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.

Suutari, V., & Brewster, C. (2015). The adaptation of expatriates in Europe: Evidence

from Finnish companies. Personnel Review, 27(2), 89-103.

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