More and more Singapore companies are internationalizing their businesses in china. They need Singaporean manager and professionals working to manage the company. However china is the most attractiveness country for expatriate to work, but is also one of the hardest places for them to succeed. Many expatriate and their family move from home country to host country because of the international assignment.
Nowadays the expat jobs in china became fewer. The association of executive search consultants (http://www.aesc.org/eweb) estimates that the number of expats in senior executive positions in China, India, Brazil, and Russia has declined from 56% ten years ago to 12% now. However, it should also be noted that while many companies announced their intention to hire fewer expats in china this year, there were also many other foreign companies less established in china who planned to hire more expatriate workers, keeping the number for 2009 and 2010 relatively stable. (Michael Webster, 2010)1
With the economic opportunity china offers, company executives must also consider the evidence regarding expatriate failure to complete overseas assignment varies from 20 to 50 percent. Accompanying costs to corporations from the failed overseas assignment have been estimates as high at $ 2 billion.
The expatriate will faced a difference culture in new environment that people said shock culture. The politic, environment, economic, culture and legal system between host and home country may difference that some time the expatriate can't afford it. This chapter will discuss the problem that make expatriate failed in their assignment and the strategy to minimize the problem that he might faces.
If the expatriate is emotionally prepared and educationally equipped for a world vastly different form the one he has known all his life, the likelihood of success is greatly enchanted. If he is unprepared or ill-equipped, he may find the assignment abroad frustrating, discourage, and costly to him, his family and his company. (illman,1980,p11)
The problem of moving the expatriate is not just about the fee but also about the ability of the manager as well as their family to adaptation in new environment and manage new people in the new workplace. Individuals undertaking these overseas assignments may encounter difficulties in the overseas workplace and society in which they will reside especially in china where their living standard high and many expatriate feel traumatic. Faced with such difficulties, they are unwilling to take up overseas assignments or it may result in failure of overseas assignment. Therefore a companies need to look into their problems and concerns in order to develop coping strategies to make overseas assignment more attractive and less threatening.
The companies need a professional expatriate who are often done their duty in international assignment to make the expatriate can be more flexible to a new environment. A foreign posting is a learning experience - learning to work in a different environment, to live in different culture and to meet the different people. But, sometime the expatriate feel not satisfy with a package that the company over to him.
Objective
The aim of this paper is to determine the measures that the company can take to minimize the difficulties and concerns that are likely to be faced by Singaporean expatriate on overseas assignment and the re-entry. This is to make overseas assignment more attractive and less threatening and enable them to manage, live and work in a foreign country.
This paper attempts to analyze and evaluate the expatriation and repatriation difficulties by Singaporean expatriates on overseas assignment.
Methodology
Identify and evaluate the difficulties faced by Singaporean expatriate in china and the problems of repatriation from articles and newspaper.
Extensive library research is done to arrive at the ideal expatriation and repatriation programs after evaluating the difficulties
Country cited throughout the paper refer to china. Findings on this country are based on library research
3. Key country differences between Singapore and China
Political
China is a communist country who wields great strength over her people in order to lead them. The regulation in communist party is close means citizens live in fear of the repercussions associated with not complying with this rule and turn to methods such as infanticide or abortion as a way to avoid them if they should conceive additional children. While the Chinese government has taken great strides to ensure that China's population does not explode or further exceed their ability to sustain the people of China, it does bring to mind whether or not the government can mandate the size of a family and put such pressure upon the people of China.
It holds real political power in China's de facto one party state. Party organisations run in parallel to those of the Government at all levels. The overwhelming majority of delegates to the NPC(national people congress) are party members. Party membership remains essential for a successful career, particularly in the public sector. Many successful entrepreneurs are also party members.
Although the constitution of the People's Republic of China guarantees freedom of speech, the right to a fair trial, press freedom, the right to follow a religion and the right to vote, in reality political censorship is widespread. Although individuals are accorded the right to protest, any organised demonstration is quickly suppressed. Organised opposition to the ruling party is not tolerated. Concerns have often been raised by the international community about China's record on human rights, with many allegations of abuses. China has the highest number of death penalty executions in the world, accounting for roughly 90% of the world total in 2004. China has a history of alternation between periods of political and social turbulence - sometimes involving violence and civil war - and longer periods of highly centralised authoritarian rule.
Singapore politic
The 'Singaporean Spirit' advocates authority and discipline. The paradox that 'Singapore is a democracy without freedom' rings true in the sense that with all the ingredients of a democracy, Singapore has been continuously ruled by one party. As regards the politics in Singapore one party - People's Action Party has been in power since 1956, and despite its long, unopposed rule, it is generally regarded as efficient and has created stable political and economic environment. There have been allegations against the government of being authoritarian where the opposition is tolerated very little. The odd marriage of democracy with authoritarianism is mainly due to Singapore's Chinese cultural heritage. Singapore's patriarchal rule is characterized by the government's absolute authority and its parental benevolence. It disciplines speeches and religious activities deemed detrimental to national interests, advocates individual obedience to the collectivist society and yet, at the same time, also holds the government accountable for the people Singapore believes in the rule by the crême de la crême of the society with an iron hand. Law enforcement includes flogging. The ruling government must be devoid of corruption. As soon as the People's Action Party came to power, it began to fight corruption through legal means. The success in keeping Singapore's government clean is largely credited to the establishment of the independent Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau. Appointed by the president and responsible directly to the prime minister, the bureau is almighty. Singapore boasts an efficient capital market, and actively facilitates the free flow of financial resources
Rigid law enforcement, however, does not preempt change. But changes have always been carefully managed so that no chaos will result. Stability is always the priority. A good example is Singapore's transition in political leadership. The process is long and gradual, but smooth and peaceful. In 1980s, the triune system of party, government and military was restructured. The amended constitution required that the president, who used to be chosen by the parliament, be elected directly by the people.
Economic
China's economy was once a centrally planned system that was largely closed to international trade. However, during the last quarter century, China's economy has changed to a more market-oriented economy with a rapidly growing private sector. Due to such rapid growth, China has become a major player in the global economy (CIA World Factbook).
Within the fastest developing economic in china means china has been created a challenging business environment for manager in the multinational company. In the developing country where the economy is often changing, make the manager confuse within a law, sometime the law is unclear and not consistence as well. Many managers fell frustrated because they don't understand the law.
David Chang from Philps china said "when decided to invest in china you can't use a normal process planning business. The manager can't calculate the chance of business in china within mathematical, because there still many uncertainty factor that u can plan.
Now, china is in the middle of market economic so standard business is not useful in china. Guy Mclrod from airbus china has an experience when they want to get a license in china, some manager can get easily and other need a long time to have it. All the process has never been done in the same way.
China and Singapore economies are very different. Singapore is a small former colony with no natural resources except its deepwater natural harbor and its strategic location at the opening of the straits of Malacca between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea and real independent economic base, wracked y ethnic tensions and labor and political unrest, and threatened by its larger neighbors, has become the most modern, successful, stable, and sophisticated economy in Southeast Asia. Singapore economic is more stable, every law is constantly, all the company need to follow the rule. Singapore has a fully developed industrial international economy. The country depends heavily on imports, as there are few natural resources on the island. There has been a consistent surplus in the overall balance of payments. There is a large degree of state control of the economy
In the rapidly developing Southeast Asian region, Singapore influence derives from its capacity to attract foreign trade, investment and finance, and to invest in turn in its neighbors. Continued economic development and wealth is also a vital prerequisite and foundation for stability within Singapore.
Culture
Singapore and china culture have some similarity in mianzi 'saving face'. Saving face in the these two country is also critical. Causing embarrassment to another person, such as correcting him or her, disagreeing with an older person or a superior, may cause a loss of face for all parties involved and can be very detrimental for business negotiations. Reputation and social standing strongly depend on a person's ability to control one's emotions and remain friendly at all times. If you have to bring up an unpleasant topic with a person, never do so in public and always convey your message in ways that maintain the other's self-respect. Reserve and tact are very important. Keep your cool and never show openly that you are upset.
But in China cultural practices is not only mianzi (face) but also guanxi (connections) and political concerns remain important in China (Bai and Bennington 2005). Cultural factors also influence the cognitive models that managers use in PAs.
In the culture where Guanxi has always been more important than laws, establishment of the legal framework has been futile without increased enforcement of existing laws. Foreign businesses are not the only ones frustrated by the problems that remain in China today. Nevertheless, guanxi is still regarded as one of the important determinants the success of the wholly owned foreign enterprises and joint venture business in China. The effect of the guanxi was very important to business in China, without local connection it would be almost impossible to set up a business in China. To maintaining guanxi the company should prepare a various types of paying such as management fees, gifts, entertainment and so on. Sometimes, the entertainment expenses were more than rmb100,000 per month ( see appendix 2)
The culture of Singapore is one exclusive kaleidoscope of all aspects of it that blend perfectly with the city and its people. The diverse population of Singapore, comprising of the Chinese, Malay, Indian and European immigrants, celebrate their own unique cultures that integrate with each other to present such a unique cultural diffusion. In any case, Singaporean Chinese dominate the business culture of the country. Singapore's culture is generally group-oriented. Asserting individual preferences may be seen as less important than having a sense of belonging to a group, conforming to its norms, and maintaining harmony among its members. Building lasting and trusting personal relationships is therefore very important, though to a lesser degree than in several other Asian countries. Some Singaporeans may engage in business while the relationship building process is still ongoing.
People in Singapore are usually very friendly and polite. This does not affect their determination to reach business goals, though, and your counterparts will patiently and persistently pursue their objectives. It is in your best interest to do the same. Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008 - Lothar Katz 2 In Singapore's business culture, the respect a person enjoys depends primarily on his or her status and rank, age, achievements, and education. You will commonly find leaders in senior roles to be of advanced age. It is important to treat elderly people with great respect. Long hours and hard wore, are expected, especially at the executive level. Admired personal traits include humility, experience, and team spirit.
Legal system
Some nationalities think that china has not a legal system but they are wrong. China has developed a legal system, largely geared to foreign investor, from scratch. Starting in 1979, china adopted its equity joint venture law" on the back of the open door policy which marked by Deng Xiaoping's ascendancy to power at the 11th party congress in 1987.(Laurence J.Brahm 2003)
Since that time, china has adopted legislation for equity as well as co-operative joint venture and wholly foreign-owned investment enterprises, complete legislation governing all aspects of intellectual property, foreign exchange control, and dispute resolution. In the past few years, China has put in place legislation to govern securities markets, and recently has adopted a corporate law.
The problem with the expatriate is that they do not understand how the Chinese legal system works and how it can benefit them. The system in china makes enormous sense for a developing country with an economy undergoing fundamental transformation. The law sets the parameters, but after an assessment of the situation the government will fill the gaps by implementing legislation. What one need to be aware of the shifting policies which often underwrite the law. The expatriate should understand these policies means understanding how the government thinks.
Singapore legal system measures the transparency and level of corruption in the legal system Singapore separated from Malaysia in 1965, becoming a sovereign and independent state. A new Supreme Court of Judicature Act was enacted in 1969 thus creating Singapore's own Supreme Court, comprising the Court of Appeal, Court of Criminal Appeal and the High Court. The Subordinate Courts Act was also enacted at this time, putting in place the District, Magistrates, Coroners, Juvenile Courts. In 1969, the jury system was abolished in Singapore, leaving all matters both civil and criminal in the hands of the judges. In 1968, the Syariah Court was established by virtue of the Administration of Muslim Law Act to deal with the application of Muslim law in Singapore.
4. Possible causes of failure of expatriate
Success in an expatriate posting depends on far more than possession of technical and functional qualifications alone. As expatriate assignment successes, both the company and the manager benefit from experience. Too often the manager is unable to perform effectively and recalled before the end of assignment.
The cost of failure is very heavy both to the firm and the expatriate that includes both direct and indirect cost. The direct cost (i.e. training, relocation, compensation and repatriation) is estimated at between $200,000 and $500,000 per candidate for MNCs, and Usbased firms lose over $6 billion annually in failed overseas assignments (Harvey and Novicevic 2000, 2001). In addition, the indirect/ implicit cost (i.e. reduced service to customers, the negative impact on implementing strategy, strained relations with home country networks and government officials) are thought to surpass the direct cost of expatriate failure (Scullion and Collings 2006;Wederspahn 1992). With personal costs, the individual suffers a loss of self-esteem, prestige, opportunities for promotion and possibly the expatriate's job. This loss will affect due to reducing their willingness / enthusiasm to undertake foreign assignments.
Paying more attention to the reasons of failure, which draws in variables such as selection, training in the needed skills of communication, language and specific management practices are important for the success of expatriate
Successful executive are more self-aware than their less successful counterparts as they better understand their own values. That self- awareness will have to extend to what an executive does not know as past strengths can be a future weakness but the key is learning which is which.
Eschbach, Parker and Stoeberl (2001) argue that culture shock and fatigue are the important indicators of an expatriate failing to make the required cross-cultural adjustment. Increasing an expatriate's ability to adjust to the host culture can increase his or her productivity (Dowling, Festing and Engle 2008; Murray, Poole, and Jones 2006; Eschbach, Parker, and Stoeberl 2001; Waxin and Panaccio 2005). Considerable work problems facing managers also limit the number of expatriates working in china. Most expatriates have considerable problems developing 'Guanxi' (relationships) in china. Guanxi is a key concept for understanding social behaviour in China, linking interpersonal relationships and the attainment of desirable resources. This entails an obligation to reciprocate favours by providing some kind of scarce resources. This importance of Guanxi is special vital for various aspects of joint venture. It may be needed to access different kinds of raw material; access to prospective buyers and even in the company winning a business deal. It is common for inexperienced expatriate managers to be taken completely by surprise at the deep cultural differences in their posted country.
The high expatriate failure can be seen as an individual and organizational problem. The individual problem such as inability of spouse to adjust like dual career issues, inability of expatriate adjust, other family related problem expatriate's personality or lack of emotional maturity, lack of motivation to work overseas, lack of language preparation and inadequate culture. On the other hand the failure can be occur from the organizational that the company has lack of career planning, inadequate compensation programs, and inadequate training program.( see appendix 3)
However, one of the most common reasons for the failure of international assignments is the problems of adaptation of spouse and family (Black & Stephens, 1989). Adjustment of the spouse has been empirically demonstrated to be related to the spouse's favorable attitude toward the assignment and self-initiated pre-departure training (Black & Gregersen, 1991b).
The table is presented the failure causes by family and the issues that make overseas assignment become difficult.
Family Situation
Issues
Spouse Support
If the spouse is unsatisfied with the assignment expatriate find it difficult to adjusting into
the host culture
Unsatisfied spouse contribution, for the success of the assignment is very low since they are looking towards to escape from the current situation.
spouse Maladjustment
Adaptive spouse (Open-minded, Adventurous) tend to assimilate into culture quickly but who do not adapt to different culture will lead expatriate to withdraw from the assignment.
Presence of children
Children find themselves strange and unfamiliar to the new culture and leaving friends, family members cause stress for them
Dual career couple
Might create stress for spouse if they couldn't find a job in the host country where as he/she was on a good job before and dropped it for the international assignment.
In international dual-career situations, there is both a direct and an indirect influence on the couple/ family adjustment. The direct impact can be illustrated by the potential loss of the trailing spouse's income and potential future earnings during the duration of the expatriate assignment. Beyond the altered financial state, the trailing spouse may have indirectly influence such as lose social support provided by extended family and friends, experience significant adjustment due to loss of professional identity, have problems associated with the family unit due to children's unwillingness to relocate, have difficulty in finding employment during the relocation, the trailing spouse can experience heightened stress and tension due to professional isolation and loss career, which in turn can 'spill over' into the work environment of the expatriate manager. Frequently, dual-career couples are entering a commuting relationship during the expatriation of one of the spouses, attempting to mitigate the negative consequences of disrupting the other spouse's career. It is estimated that 25% of dual-career couples do not move the family/spouse, but continue to commute between the home and host countries when one of them is relocated overseas (Bunker et al. 1992). Chew(1983) observes that the Singapore worker that include manager is very conscious of safeguarding their career prospects, since the government does not believe in welfarism, and economic restructuring is so frequent and threatening. To ensure stable career growth, Singapore manager engage actively in training and further education and not risk career stagnation by being complacent about his paper qualifications and skills.
Lanier (1979) asserted that: managerial and technical competence may not be a major factor as less than one-third of premature returns arose from work-specific reasons; cultural adaptation processes mainly determined the expatriate's success or failure. In main point is the companies have chosen the right technician to do a job, but expatriate failed to adjust different culture in a new environment and they tend less flexible, tolerance.
(Oddou 1991, p303 and Tung 1988) believe that it is important to be adaptable since the new job and environment is not the same as what the manager is used to at home. Stress is a central element of international relocation. By their very nature, overseas assignments are characterized by stress, uncertainty concerning outcomes, lack of control over situation, and ambiguity concerning expectations (Public Personnel Management Volume 39 No. 2 Summer 2010 169) of the 40 most stressful life events, can be directly associated with international relocation of a family. The most important to expatriate is he should be easy going, open mind, and ambition to faces their problem in China. Expatriates are generally motivated to succeed and excited about gaining international experience. As a result, they often work long hours in the early part of their posting to do "whatever it takes" to be successful. They are also adapting to seemingly overwhelming cultural differences with local staff and greatly expanded responsibilities.
International relocation, as such, can be an extremely potent Stressor for the entire family. The negative effects of stress can be moderated by social support. For the civilservice family, though, each new assignment means abandoning friends and family, the people who make up the social support system. As a result, the wives of expatriates spend a lot of time by themselves and are cut-off from their own family and friends. At the same time, the wife is usually dealing with problems for which she has no previous experience. So not only does the family have to deal with the stress of the international relocation, it also has to do so without being able to rely on a familiar social support system. Most expatriate managers are challenged and excited to be in their new postings. They need to spend a lot of time at work since they are under pressure to adapt to the new culture and their overall responsibilities are often larger than they have experienced before.
5. Strategies to minimize expatriate failure
Population in Singapore has different nationality such as china, Malaysia, Indonesia, british. If the company send a worker Singaporean Chinese it would be easier to them to adaptation in china, because many of them can speak mandarin. They have a similar culture between Singaporean Chinese and china, so the culture shock would be reduced. But when it come out with Malaysian or Indonesia or british. The company should be selective before make a decision. They should make sure that the expatriate and their family can be adaptation with the new environment as well. Cross culture training is the most effective program for the expatriate before they go.
5.1. Psychological screenings for expat managers and assess the family
In many industries, the performance of the expatriates can improve or break the organization. Having the right people in the right places at the right time could be the key to a company's success in the international area. It is therefore imperative to select, prepare and retrain the most suitable candidates for expatriation. The company should be screening carefully anyone being considered for an overseas assignment. In many cases, the companies have established screening for those under consideration for overseas posting. The assessments help the company to determine if there is any danger of mis-adaptation. This assessment is very effective way. It tries to show whether a person is really prepared to accept a different culture, seeking to uncover any problem attitudes, such as a general distrust of people from other culture or an inability to change in order to adapt to a different environment.
Another strategy is still uncommon among the multinational companies, is to assess not only the expat manager being sent to china but also his or her spouse and children. Many companies rarely interview or assess the family members before sending them to china.Assessing a candidate's spouse is essential in determining the candidate's suitability and to include spouses in training programs. The company should make sure that their spouse is equally open and flexible to adapt in new environment. It cannot be successful if one of the members is open and flexible and other is not, the home situation will cause the posting to.
5.2. Pre move preparation and training for spouse and family
The companies also provide briefing or cultural training for both the manager being sent on assignment and his or her family. Cross culture training for expatriates and their spouses, whose own adjustment will likely be affected by culture novelty, is vital for the success of international assignments. The briefing preparing the expatriate must formulate criteria for success and communicate these to the expatriate and dependants. These criteria must be both realistic and specific. The criterion takes into account the duration of the posting and adjustment period, headquarters policy concerning expatriate postings at the subsidiary, local culture and business condition and the characteristics of the subsidiary, organizational and technological difference between it and the manager's previous post.
The non-work factor, culture novelty and spouse adjustment, were important direct effect of interaction and general adjustment, as predict by black et al. (1991).The assignee's spouse is likely to be given the option for intercultural training, even though spousal dissatisfaction with the host country. Pre move training for families as critical to adaptation. It is should to help families prepare for life in China by providing useful, relevant information on the issues most critical to them: choosing international schools, sourcing healthcare providers, finding community organizations to join or social causes to support, or investigating employment options.
The training sessions allow those to send the expat and their family "look-see" visit to china for inspection before posting an executive to china. After they learn from training season from home country, now they can visiting housing complexes, finding international schools for their children, see where is the hospitals, the recreation areas, and the China office where the expat will work. The trip like this should help prepare the expatriate and family for relocate and confirm before the move if they aren't suited to life in China. The most important is the expatriate should meet with GM employees who have recently returned from the country, peers who can help their burning question. They cover many aspects of living in China, from traffic conditions to practice in using chopsticks.
Come to china for a look-see for a week and bring your spouse, "says Kenneth Yu, the company's china managing director. "Sometimes we underestimate the impact on the family when a family moves to a country like China. For the employee (the work environment isn't so different) they switch on their PC, they are doing the same work. But you forget the spouse and children; they are living in a totally different environment, especially the spouse. If the spouse did not have a say in the move, she or he could become very negative and that is the beginning of the end. When the companies bring people to China, allow the employee and the spouse to participate in the decision making about housing, schools.
The training sessions are offered for the entire expat family. For example; Rachel, a 50-year-old Canadian, has accompanied her husband to Ecuador, Malaysia, and now Scotland. She received both culture-specific and culture-general training, which included discussions of how her own cultural perspective could affect her judgments and interactions in the host country. Rachel is certain that this cross-cultural awareness made her life overseas much easier. "I was more prepared," she says. "Without the insights of cross-cultural training, I would not have the ability to open my heart to other cultures."
Singaporean expatriates of Chinese ethnicity who speak Mandarin have lesser social culture problems compared to their western counterparts. These Singaporean expatriates tend to have a better understanding of the local culture but is no panacea.
Language
Language is a critical element of culture and is one from of acculturation. Longer and more intensive language training is always at the top of pre-departure training priorities. Knowledge of language of the host country is a common prerequisite for a foreign postings.
While international managers differed on whether language classes for expatriate executive and families were essential, everyone agreed that knowledge of Chinese does help in adapting to china. The key to understanding the characteristics of china is participate in language courses. Learning a language is not simple recalling usable phrases and expressions. Knowing a language also means being aware of embedded social-culture nuances. (Gloria Chan, 1995). It is the key to the culture and door opener to personal relationships. Put the expats being sent to china into inter-culture seminars and also language courses.
Offer flexible support and customized benefits
Recognizing both that every family is different and that many companies are under pressure to downsize expatriate packages, several of the china based expats recommended offering expatriate hires customized benefits where they and their families choose those perks that are most benefit to them. In some cases, for example, the companies give the expatriate alternative between providing educational assistance allowance such as paying the school fees and costs incurred by the expatriate in employing a tutor to teach the children the mother tongue which is included in the school curriculum as benefits in the financial package or subsidiary from company to have annual visit to the their home country. Designing and maintaining an appropriate compensation package although complex is crucial because the need to consider and reconcile parent and host-country financial legal and customary practice appendix 4 shows the breakdown of component of an expatriate compensation package. There should be consideration of expatriate base salary due to wide variations in the net spendable income. Purchasing power of the expatriate is also affected by the relative cost of living.
The company is usually involved in locating and subsidizing appropriate housing, suitable educational facilities for children, whether in the overseas location or at home, arranging and subsidizing regular home leave and locating suitable medical facilities.
Provide ongoing support for the family
Pay attention to the spouses of expats living in China. In addition, because the level of adjustment experienced by expatriates' spouses directly influences the adjustment process of the expatriates themselves, firms must place more emphasis on preparing spouses for international assignments and supporting those spouses once in the foreign environment. Having a person in the firm that the spouse could contract directly, rather than relying on 'second hand' information from expatriate, would help to reduce much of the uncertainties associated with settling into a foreign culture. Also, with the increasing number of dual career, it is likely that more spouses will want to work. By offering employment assistance, such as help with work visas or subsidized career development activities, MNCs can facilitate the adjustment of these spouses. Even simple action will help to make them feel supported.
