Managing Expatriates in China: A Language and Identity Perspective [Hardcover]

Providing fresh perspectives on managing expatriates in the changing host country of China, this book investigates expatriate management from a language and identity angle. The authors multilingual and multicultural backgrounds allow them to offer a solid view on the best practices towards managing diverse groups of expatriates, including Western, Indian, and ethnic Chinese employees. With carefully considered analysis which incorporates micro and macro perspectives, together with indigenous Chinese and Western viewpoints, this book explores topics that include the importance of the host country language, expatriate adjustment, ethnic identity confirmation, acceptance and identity. The book presents a longitudinal yet contemporary snapshot of the language, culture, and identity realities that multinational corporation subsidiary employees are facing in China in the present decade (2006-2016). It will thus be an invaluable resource for International Management scholars, those involved in HRM and other practitioners, as well as business school lecturers and students with a strong interest in China.?

1. Introduction.- 2. Setting the Scene: Expatriates, Language and Culture in China.- 3. Host Country Language: Why It Matters, and Why Expatriates Need to Learn It.- 4. The Impact of Host Country Language Skills on Expatriate Adjustment and the Expatriate-Local Relationship.- 5. Gaining Acceptance from Local Colleagues: Evidence from Indian Expatriates in China.- 6. The Double-Edged Sword of Ethnic Similarity.- 7. Conclusion: Expatriate Language and Identity Challenges, and Recommendations for Expatriate Management.?

Ling Eleanor Zhang is Lecturer of International Management at the School of Management, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Her research centres on interaction across boundaries. She examines the boundary spanning of multicultural employees, social categorisation and conflâ