Cross Cultural Conflict for Expatriates Encounter in Organization or Workplace - Case Study Example

RОSS СULTURАL СОNFLIСT FОR ЕХРАTRIАTЕS ЕNСОUNTЕR IN ОRGАNISАTIОN ОR WОRKРLАСЕ Task Lecturer Name Date СRОSS СULTURАL СОNFLIСT FОR ЕХРАTRIАTЕS ЕNСОUNTЕR IN ОRGАNISАTIОN ОR WОRKРLАСЕ Introduction Cross-cultural management is increasingly becoming an important aspect of management, especially due to the increased mobility of labour due to globalization (Aquino-Russell & Russell 2010). Adapting to a new cultural environment requires adjustment and acceptance of new cultures, and this process usually leads to challenges such as language barrier, loneliness and Culture Shock (Harzing & Pinnington 2011). As a theoretical construct, Culture Shock is traceable is an important component in the understanding of cross-cultural adaptation. This paper discusses Culture Shock as a theoretical construct in the understanding of a cross-cultural case study. Case Study: Challenges of Working in China Economic growth has led to a need for more accountants with international exposure in China. However, it is notable that about 70% of all expatriates usually exit China early due to difficulties in adapting hence Culture Shock. Failure to understand the Chinese culture might bar a foreigner from good employment hence they give up.  The Chinese spend a lot of time building trust and relationships before they do business. In addition, change is more rapid when compared to other countries, for instance in terms of urgent client requests, regulatory adjustments and acquisition of new clients (Moore 2012). The most significant source of Culture Shock in China is the way people consider personal life to be more important than business. For instance it is unacceptable to skip a friend’s wedding because you went for a business trip. Chinese people also behave differently. They are quiet even in meetings as actions are believed to speak louder than words. In China, there is a lot of bureaucracy, and administrative procedures take really long hence the need for patience. Work-life balance is a big challenge, but once the expatriate learns to cope, living and working there becomes enjoyable (Economia 2012). Expatriate Working and Culture Shock as a Theoretical Construct Expatriate work can be challenging in terms of adjustment difficulties hence the reality of Culture Shock( O'Sullivan & O'Sullivan 2008). Language barrier can pose a great challenge. For instance, in China, English is not widely spoken, making it difficult for an Australian to communicate (Boncori 2013). According to Primecz et al. (2011), loneliness is also common as one is separated from familiar faces and stress arises from the difference of people’s behavior from one’s expectations. For example, if the foreigner values keeping time, he will be frustrated if others are late. There are also differences in aspects such as motivation and efficiency. For instance, in some cultures, freedom and control over tasks motivates while elsewhere, it is undesirable. Efficiency may be difficult to attain where consensus has to be built while in the culture decisions are usually made quickly and the building of consensus is considered slow. As a theoretical construct, Culture Shock is traceable to Kalervo Oberg (1901 – 1973), a Canadian author who used it in 1960 (Selmer 1999). According to Dutton (2011), he explained the loss of familiar symbols and signs in one’s social environment. He outlined its stages and analyzed each, after which he suggested ways of dealing with the stages. He termed the first as being ‘xenophilia’, a naïve fascination with a new culture. This slowly changes to xenophobia, where migrants group themselves into cliques and criticize natives while romanticizing their homelands and negatively stereotyping the hosts. They would later attain some kind of adjustment before finally reaching complete adjustment. Selmer (1999) explains that in Oberg’s model, there are five definite steps through which Culture Shock occurs. Here, there are feelings of excitement, enrichment and stimulation, and the person still feels close to all familiar things back at home. There is afterwards the Culture Shock stage, where the expatriate starts comprehending the extent of barriers that exist to performance of their job in a new country. Managers will for instance feel ineffective and emotionally distressed. According to Rupprecht (2007), family members will also be equally traumatized and expect the one who brought them to save them. This leads to a severe adjustment in both home and work fronts hence anger, confusion, frustration and distrust. According to Harzing & Pinnington (2011), the shock is followed by gradual adjustment. The individual starts regaining his effectiveness and self-confidence slowly, though with difficulty. He will engage trial and error and in some cases create relationships with helpful hosts or co-workers, in a process that leads to understanding a need to adapt to local culture then afterwards trying to embrace it. An expatriate will then be able to appreciate local cuisines, business practices and languages. Next, he undergoes an autonomy stage. He accepts the differences from home and feels ready to live with them. The feeling of isolation subsides and he starts viewing the environment as home. Functional proficiency is developed and afterwards, one enters the independent stage where they establish strong relationships with others and fully appreciate the new country. After being relied on to study expatriate behavior for decades, the understanding that progression takes place in phases through a sequential process was modified in the late 1990’s (Dowling et al. 2008). According to Stahl et al. (2012), the emerging perspective suggested that the process occurs in a repetitive and dynamic cycle comprising of negative and positive phases until Culture Shock subsides. This was presented as the Culture Shock triangle which shows the ways in which there are three dimensions namely emotions that handle mood swings/ thinking that will help in understanding foreign environments, identity development and social skills to build a professional and social network, and development of effective skills for managing the networks. The triangle examines the extent to which international managers have to deal with Culture Shock, so as to offer a framework to better understand others. In it, there are three adaptation levels that the subjects undergo. These are coping with the stress, a change of interpretation and perception hence cultural sensitivity and development of improved social skills. The three aspects may be applied to understanding the changes that take place when for instance an Australian manager has to go to China. The emotional component can be used in checking if the individual is going through any negative emotions towards the new country. With this, it is possible to implement coping mechanisms that will help in dealing with the change. The thinking aspect can also on its part be used in checking whether there is a gap in the person’s cultural learning. Someone else can for instance learn if the manager needs more support or information so as to reduce the effect of the change in environment. The identity and social skills may be applied in checking which relationships and networks the person will need to establish so as to enable them work better on the job and in socialize more. As a concept, Culture Learning is closely associated with Culture Shock. Adekola & Sergi (2012) explain that Culture Learning dwells more on the behavioural aspects of intercultural contact, considering social interaction as being a skilled and mutually-organised behavioural performance. It is also believed that the stress or conflicts that arise from intercultural contact are due to the new person lacking the social skills that can help them integrate into the host society. Cultural learning was considered the basis upon which cultural training and therefore development of competence is based. According to Ward et al. (2005), a related concept to Culture Shock is stress and coping or ‘affect’. Unlike culture learning which is founded in the behavioural component, stress and coping deals with the affective part that examines the satisfaction and psychological wellbeing of the person who is going to work in a new cultural setting. Yue & Quynh (2012) explain that Culture Shock was modified through development of the Affect-Behaviour-Cognition (ABC) theoretical model. In this, Culture Shock is viewed in terms of the management of ways through which people perceive, behave and think upon exposure to a new cultural environment. Its focus is on two elements; the psychological component and the socio-cultural component. The psychological component indicates satisfaction while the socio-economic one refers to the individual’s ability to operate well in a new cultural environment. The Culture Shock process occurs in three levels; the behavioural, the affective and the cognitive. The affective level deals with the individual’s coping mechanisms and stress levels. The behavioural level on its part deals with the knowledge and skills that can be attained by the worker while the cognitive level focuses on the person’s self identity. The theory deals with adjustment and adaptation and may be used in understanding the coping process through which the international employee or manager undergoes in adapting to foreign culture (Ward et al. 2005). Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory is applicable in dealing with Culture Shock. According to Stahl et al. (2012), it is based on the premise that by assessing six aspects of a culture, it is possible to understand and fit into it. The expatriate can assess and adapt to the power-distance index in which low scores imply that power relations are democratic, with members being considered equals. Greater power-distance means that the less powerful accept the dominance of others and hierarchical structures. There is also assessment of how people integrate themselves into groups. An individualistic culture focuses more on personal goal attainment while in a collectivist society, group goals and well-being are greater issues than individual ones. The ways in which the society handles unexpected events, situations and change in general can also be evaluated to see tolerance to change and rigid rules, laws or regulations. In Hofstede’s model, one has to observe the importance allocated to masculine values. Where masculinity is predominant, gender differences are more pronounced, with ambition and competition being extremely high. Low scorers have a smaller gap between the genders and relationship building is valued more. A short-term oriented society will on its part value its traditions and invest a lot in building of relationships while in a long-term orientation, the future is looked at more than the past or present, rewards are valued and goals always set. A society that values restraint more also has stricter social norms and rules and drive satisfaction is regulated and discouraged (Ward et al. 2005). Culture Shock was later redefined into the acculturative stress under the acculturation theory. There were two reasons for this. First was that the word shock suggests something negative, unlike stress which can have both negative and positive aspects. Stress is therefore a better representation of acculturation because cultural adjustment produces both negative and positive experiences (Stahl et al. 2012). As a criticism, there was never generalizable or conclusive support for Culture Shock as presented in the U-curve adjustment model as presented by Oberg. It is not every person in a new country that starts out the ‘honeymoon phase’ as suggested. Even though depression is quite common, it cannot be said to be universal. The general amount of literature produced afterwards did not adequately support the idea of the Culture Shock phases. Further studies also suggested that the U-curve hypothesis was too generalized and vague to be useful (Selmer 1999). Conclusion Moving into a new cultural setting always poses a challenge to newcomers. However, the extent to which they can adjust depends on how much one is able to accept the loss of familiarity and identity. Every culture comes with its own at times unique beliefs, values, practices and norms. As long as he or she is open-minded, adapting becomes easy hence Culture Shock can be minimized. As a theoretical construct Culture Shock suggests that there are definite stages in adapting to a new cultural setting. The individual therefore has the ability to learn, adapt and even predict the new conditions. Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory for instance can help to guide the understanding. Although ciricized for not having adequate empirical backing, the Culture Shock model effectively proposes Culture Learning and understanding at the emotional, affective and cognitive levels as means of coping with the pressures of adapting to a new environment.   Bibliography Adekola, A and Sergi, B. 2012, Global Business Management: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, Ashgate Publishing, London Aquino-Russell, C and Russell, R., 2010, Expatriate Managers: Powerful or Powerless? 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