International mobility and the challenge of expatriation the case study of expatrate’s manager in vietnam

HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY AND THE CHALLENGE OF EXPATRIATION: THE CASE STUDY OF EXPATRATE’S MANAGER IN VIETNAM DỊCH CHUYỂN QUỐC TẾ VÀ THÁCH THỨC DI TRÚ ĐỐI VỚI NGƯỜI NƯỚC NGỒI: NGHIÊN CỨU TÌNH HUỐNG CÁC CÁN BỘ QUẢN LÝ NƯỚC NGỒI LÀM VIỆC TẠI VIỆT NAM: TỪ THÍCH ỨNG GIAO THOA VĂN HÓA ĐẾN ĐỊNH HƯỚNG QUẢN TRỊ NGUỒN NHÂN LỰC QUỐC TẾ TRAN Van Nhu - Sarah MANGILII Summary Although the global economic crisis has caused most companies to review their costs of international assignments, the expatriation remains the best way of creating a global mindset among managers Expatriation is a big challenge both for expatriates and companies itself, especially while the arrived country is Vietnam – the fast growing emerging market From the expatriate point of view, it is to face a different culture and adapt his personal and professional life, for the sending company, it is to have a good return on investment, since this investment is significant Our research aims to analyze how the assignment phase is experienced by the individual expatriate This finding is also served as a tool for the Vietnamese managers to better understand what international managers really think about their country and the way people are working, and what could be changed in order to be compete better in this globalizing world The other aim of our research is, subsequently, to find out from the expatriates whether or not their companies tend to implement modern International Human Resource approach to maximize the efficiency of its staff The structured in-depth interviews have been conducted on 25 Hanoi’s expatriate managers in September 2008 The various interviewees composing the sample have been randomly picked up in business directories of foreign Investment companies in Vietnam, and more particularly Hanoi Our main findings have showed that most of the respondents have experienced the environmental pressures and cultural shocks, but they demonstrated their tenacity in overcoming the various crosscultural issues and all of them revealed optimism, sincerity and open-mindedness Different tactics                                                               CFVG  292   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI according to the profiles have been implemented to adjust Few disillusions appeared among some of the respondents who found their experience especially fastidious and who struggled more than the others to cope with their working environment and personal social life These disillusion engendered a feeling of rejection for the country in very few cases The expatriate who adjust in living and working in Vietnam tend to have established a very special relation with the country and their people, however without trying to become Vietnamese themselves The International Human Resource Management aspect showed in most cases a minor investment from the sending organization on the expatriate This mainly in terms of preparation and support during the assignment phase and it prevails among the younger expatriates without long professional experience The management of the expatriation as a whole cycle is often true, however only in terms of bureaucracy Key words: expatriation, cross-cultural adaptation, international human resource management, Vietnam Tóm tắt Mặc dù khủng hoảng kinh tế toàn cầu bắt buộc đa số doanh nghiệp phải xem xét lại chi phí bổ nhiệm nguồn nhân lực làm việc quốc tế, việc di trú làm việc nước cách tốt để tạo tư toàn cầu cho nhà quản lý Di trú làm việc nước thách thức lớn cho người nước công ty gửi lao động, đặc biệt điểm đến Việt Nam - thị trường phát triển nhanh Theo quan điểm người nước ngồi, phải đối diện với văn hóa khác thích ứng sống cá nhân nghề nghiệp họ với mơi trường mới; cịn cơng ty cử lao động làm việc, đạt lợi nhuận tốt đầu tư, khoản đầu tư thường đáng kể Nghiên cứu chúng tơi nhằm mục đích phân tích giai đoạn cử làm việc nước cá nhân nước trải nghiệm Phát coi cơng cụ hữu ích cho nhà quản lý người Việt Nam hiểu rõ nhà quản lý quốc tế thực nghĩ đất nước họ, cách thức họ làm việc điều cần phải thay đổi để cạnh tranh tốt giới tồn cầu hố Ngồi ra, nghiên cứu chúng tơi có mục đích tìm hiểu, từ cán nước ngồi xem cơng ty họ có xu hướng áp dụng cách thức quản lý nguồn nhân lực quốc tế để tối ưu hóa hiệu nhân viên hay khơng 293   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI Các vấn sâu tiến hành từ tháng năm 2008, với 25 cán quản lý nước làm việc Hà Nội Các cá nhân trả lời vấn mẫu điều tra chọn lựa ngẫu nhiên danh bạ kinh doanh doanh nghiệp nước tạ Việt Nam, đặc biệt Hà Nội Kết nghiên cứu cho thấy hầu hết người vấn trải qua áp lực môi trường cú sốc văn hóa, họ chứng tỏ kiên cường họ việc khắc phục vấn đề phức tạp giao thoa văn hóa tất bộc lộ lạc quan, chân thành sẵn sàng tiếp thu Tùy theo đặc thù cá nhân, chiến thuật khác thực để điều chỉnh Một chút vỡ mộng xuất với số người trả lời vấn cảm thấy kinh nghiệm họ đặc biệt khó khăn phải đấu tranh nhiều người khác để đối phó với mơi trường làm việc họ thích ứng đời sống xã hội cá nhân Tuy nhiên, trường hợp cảm thấy bị đất nước di trú chối bỏ họ vỡ mộng gây Những người nước điều chỉnh sinh sống làm việc Việt Nam có xu hướng thiết lập mối quan hệ đặc biệt với đất nước với người quốc gia đó, nhiên họ không cố gắng biến họ trở thành người Việt Nam Nghiên cứu quản trị nguồn nhân lực quốc tế cho thấy đa số doanh nghiệp gửi cán làm việc nước đầu tư ỏi cho cán họ Hoạt động quản lý nguồn nhân lực chủ yếu tập trung khâu chuẩn bị hỗ trợ cán quản lý q trình họ thực nhiệm kỳ cơng tác thường dành cho người nước trẻ chưa có nhiều kinh nghiệm nghề nghiệp Việc quản lý hoạt động di trú chu trình khép kín thường đúng, mặt thủ tục hành Introduction The multiplication of international joint ventures, alliances, subsidiaries of multinational organizations across national boundaries makes many organisations to view the management of expatriates as a critical part of their international human resource management strategy (Zhu & Purnell, 2006; O’Donnell, 2000; Boyacigiller, 1990) The competitiveness of global corporation depends largely on the effectiveness of their overseas operations Expatriation is a big challenge both for expatriates and companies itself From the expatriate point of view, it is to face a different culture and adapt his personal and professional life; for the sending company, it is to have a good return on investment, since this investment is significant 294   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI None of it is easy and both, assignee and sending company have to undertake adequate actions to avoid any failure of international assignment, representing substantial cost, both to the corporation and the individual expatriate involved (Wederspahn, Gary, M.,1992) The case of Vietnam is even more interesting and challenging since it is a developing and fast-growing country Since the launch of market-oriented economic reforms in 1986, the Vietnamese economy has grown at a rate of 7% annually (Thu Thi H & al., 2010) The total registered capital of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam in 2001-2005 was about 13 times that of the 1988-2000 periods The FDI has strong impact on economic growth in Vietnam (Thu Thi H & al., 2010) Understand and manage the challenges of the globalized workforce is important to sustain the economic development Our research aims is thus to analyze how the assignment phase is experienced by the individual expatriates How they succeed in adapting themselves and their style of management to Vietnam? If they not succeed, what are the reasons? A stress will be put on the international manager in particular on the complex field of intercultural management To a larger extend, this aim is also to serve as a tool for the Vietnamese managers to better understand what international managers really think about their country and the way people are working, what they appreciate, and what could be changed in order to be compete better in this globalizing world The other aim of our research is, subsequently, to find out from the respondent and experts whether or not companies tend to implement modern International Human Resource approach or not This competitiveness should in theory not only achieved by the expatriate himself but also the organization that is sending Organizations need to view the management of expatriates as a critical part of their international human resource management strategy since employing an expatriate costs an estimated three to four times as much as employing the same individual at home The first part of the research will review the key notions and the cross-cultural adaptation scheme stages of the cross-cultural adaptation cycle through the literature Secondly, the theoretical expatriation cycle in terms of International Human Resource management strategic approach will be explored Thirdly, the qualitative study will be analyzed using these frameworks 295   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI Theoretical Framework 1.1 Culture shock and cross-cultural adaptation process There is no single definition of “culture” Schein (1985), from the classical managerial perspective, defines culture as how we understand ourselves, others and the environment within which we operate Hofstede G (1984), an expert on cross cultural differences and management, defined culture as “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another…Culture, in this sense, includes systems of values; and values are among the building blocks of culture” The core values that we develop during our lifetime are based on our community, ethnicity, religion, family, education The increasing of globalization makes individuals from different backgrounds to work together and the culture shock may occur The term of “culture shock” was first introduced by Kalvero Oberg (1960) Culture shock is characterized by the absence of familiar signs and symbols, often resulting in anxiety and frustration (Oberg K., 1960, cited by Friedman P.A & al., 2009) Culture shock is further perceived as part of cross-cultural adaptation process In order to assimilate to the host culture, the individual has to go through the stage of culture shock Many authors have developed differentiated stages of cultural shock (Bhaskar-Shrinivas & al., 2005; Black & al., 1991; Preston, 1985), but the four phases of cultural shock are typically considered as following: The honeymoon stage: in which the individual express his/her excitement, euphoria, positive expectations and idealization about the new culture Although there may be anxiety and stress, this stage tend to be interpreted positively The crisis or cultural shock stage: in which individual begins to show confusion and disorientation in behaviors due to cultural differences Feelings of frustration, isolation or hostility emerge in this phase The adjustment, reorientation stage: in which individual learns how to adjust effectively with the new cultural environment The adaptation, acculturation stage: there are many different adaptation options, especially given individual characteristics and goals The individual tends to build bridges across cultural differences and adopt a bicultural identity 296   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI Several researches identified 73 different skills, abilities and competencies related to the expatriate’s cross-cultural adaptation (cited by Yahmazaki & al., 2004) From this rich review of literature, Yahmazaki Y and Kayes C (2004) have proposed taxonomy of competencies necessary for the successful expatriate adaptation: - Building relationships with others; - Valuing people of different culture - Listening and observations - Coping with ambiguity - Translating complex information into another language - Taking action and initiative - Managing others - Adaptability and flexibility - Managing stress Since it is extremely difficult to find a manager matching these entire competencies, crosscultural training takes place to make the person gain and/or improve his/her profile Cross-cultural training provides the manager with the appropriate awareness level, cultural knowledge and particular skills that will ensure their effectiveness on the assignment place The organization needs to be committed to this kind of training, but the individual participant also needs to make a similar commitment to developing global mindset 1.2 International Human Resource Management: An Holistic approach For organizations to seek and ensure effective expatriate management, a strategic approach should be undertaken to the whole expatriate cycle The main phase of the expatriate includes the strategic planning phase, the predeparture phase (selection and preparation), the “during” assignment phase (performances measurement and support) and finally the repatriation phase (Brewster C & Harris H., 1999) The following part aims to describe these various stages through what has been suggested by the literature for the companies to manage more efficiently their international resources 297   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI The strategic planning phase: to assign whether expatriate or local? Generally expatriates are sent abroad to fulfill missions such as control and co-ordination of operations, transfer of skills and knowledge or managerial development To help organizations in achieving satisfactory strategic planning through making more rational and sensible sourcing decision, Cranfield School of Management has developed a tool entitled the ‘Expatriate Portfolio’ The aim is to help corporate managers identify how an international assignment should be managed and whether a local should fill it or an expatriate The framework outlines four types of assignment based upon the degree of importance of the assignment to the parent organization, and suggests the most suitable type of appointment for each case (Brewster C & Harris H., 1999) The predeparture phase Selection Most often expatriates are selected from within the corporation The rational thinking is that current managers possess the technical expertise and are more in cohesion with the company’s culture (McDonald G., 1993) Within such companies that seek globally-minded workforce, research into criteria of effective international managers take more and more into account the so-called ‘soft’ skills such as self-awareness, flexibility, intercultural empathy, interpersonal skills and emotional stability This kind of selection of expatriates starts from the recruitment phase By keeping long-term goal in sight as early as in the recruitment stage, a firm can constantly have a pool of employees of which each member can contribute to the future international growth Tung (1981) selection approach incorporates several of these variables that contribute to the expatriate success Firstly, to identify clearly the nature of the job and an assessment of the qualities and attitudes required by the expatriate that will be on assignment The candidate’s self-evaluation also needs to be considered One major outcome of a good procedure is the self-decision of the expatriate candidate to proceed with the assignment Secondly, to obtain adequate information concerning the differences between the political, legal, social and cultural forces of the home country and the country of foreign assignment Thirdly, to evaluate the candidate’s willingness to serve in the foreign operation, actual preparation to so, and the ability to serve effectively in what could be a very huge difference in culture Finally, to asset the candidate and family’s abilily and willingness to live abroad A rigorous selection program should therefore consider both of the following considerations: 298   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI - The time devoted for the selection processes needs to be sufficient Often, expatriates are selected spontaneously because of an urgent staffing need in an overseas operation (Mc Donald G., 1993) A forecast of IHR needs to be done months in advance Long-term planning and recruitment schemes should be part of the selection efforts - The utilization of appropriate selection device Various instruments and tests coupled with interview can be used to better predict the likelihood of a successful placement (Mc Donald G., 1993) When evaluation by peer repatriates freshly returned from their assignment is possible, this can also be helpful to assess the candidate’s suitability Preparation: training, briefing and family orientation Research findings indicate that pre-departure preparation is positively related to general adjustment and effectual functioning of expatriates in their new environments (Mc Donald, 1993) Training Cross-cultural training and foreign language training are two forms of interventions that are suggested to be crucial in the pre-departure phase (Black & Mendenhall, 1990) Such training help the expatriate equipping with knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to cope with the cultural shock The cultural awareness, one of the major outcomes of this kind of trainings, facilitates working with people who have different social values and behavioral patterns As stated previously in the selection phase, many companies still assume that a manager who proved to be effective in the corporate main office is going to be as effective in the company’s subsidiary Once again, technical skills are important, but the ability to work with individuals and group who are diverse and are functioning according to different business norms is particularly remarkable for expatriates (Mc Donald, 1993) Even though the potential benefit or cross cultural training is strongly acknowledged, this type of training is not yet well provided by many corporations In addition, most of the corporations who offer such training tend to limit their efforts to a narrow briefing, which provides only little information on the host country’s political, economic and general living conditions (Dunbar &Katchen, 1990) Briefing Methods recommended for briefing vary and can include audio-video presentations, meeting with area advisors, session with former expatriates, and even a visit to the country of assignment by the 299   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI expatriate and family before the final transfer Knowledge obtained through the briefing program can assist the expatriate in developing reasonable ideas about realities and difficulties of the assignment It could also be essential in setting realistic expectations about working and living in the new environment Moreover, such knowledge can be helping the candidate to accurately assess his/her suitability or vice-versa for the specific assignment (Raffael, 1982) Family orientation Pre-departure preparation program directed at the family is very important since family members are usually more susceptible to a cultural shock than the expatriate While the expatriate becomes involved in his/her new assignment, it is the family that faces the difficult process of coping with the social and cultural unfamiliarity (Harvey, 1985) The spouse (since it is men that are often offered international assignment) usually have to deal with disruption of the children’s education, loss of close contacts with relatives and friends, and maybe even a loss of self-worth and identity The situation can be even more stressful if she had to leave behind her job and interrupt a career The during assignment phase Monitoring performance Monitoring performance during the expatriate assignment requires an understanding of the variables that influence an expatriate’s success or failure in a foreign assignment Three critical variables are the environment (for instance culture), job requirements and the personality characteristics of the individual Organisations need to balance the desire for a global standardised performance appraisal system with the local requirements of subsidiaries (Brewster C & Harris H., 1999) The performance review should allow for a two-way communication and could also serve as a motivational factor in that the expatriate efforts abroad can be recognized (Croft, 1995) Support Support during the assignment is believed to be essential for moral and psychological sustenance as well as for performance effectiveness of international managers Superiors and HR professionals in the home office need to give adequate consideration to the importance of keeping in close touch with their expatriates and providing them and their families with the needed support A major source of 300   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI concern for the manager while abroad is loss of visibility to those in home office and fear the out-ofsight out-of-mind phenomenon (Adler, 1987) Support during assignment may involve a wide range of formal and informal activities The development of communication channels, for instance, is crucial Nowadays, advanced technology facilitates communication Electronic mail, video conferencing, online information, and shared data bases are among the ways expatriates can remain linked to their home country (Croft, 1995) Informal support, particularly at the beginning can be very helpful This can include social and professional counseling provided by peers who have already been in the country of assignment for some time It also includes assistance to the newly arrived family with the day-to-day matters such as shopping, schooling, etc Repatriation An often neglected area in IHR management is the repatriation process and the subsequent career path of the international manager after the overseas assignment is concluded While the issues associated with expatriation are significant, those related to repatriation are equally important (Tung, 1981) Expatriate expectations of career advancement are not usually realized While overseas, the expatriate is not likely to be considered for promotion in the domestic operation When repatriated, he/she is also less likely to receive an upward move This is amplified in corporation that not consider international experience as an important criteria for advancement to high-level management positions (Adler, 1991) Organizations need to pay careful attention to the way in which they handle repatriation for two key reasons: Firstly, the cost of losing someone who is dissatisfied with his or her position on return is significant, both in purely financial terms and also in terms of the investment in human capital Secondly, expatriate assignments are crucial tools in the effort to create a translational mindset in the organisation Failure to disseminate the individual learning gained from a foreign assignment to others in the organisation is a barrier to the goal of becoming a truly global operation 301   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI The culture shock is generally triggered after event at work or in the personal life It seems that a majority of the respondent experienced the culture shock, but not with different paths intensity and according to the profile more or less positively The symptoms of the culture shock described by the respondents remained classical: Feeling of depression, doubt about one’s own ability, extreme fatigue, hostility towards the host culture and its members, stereotyping Some of the respondents don’t really realize the culture shock According to some of the respondent, the same symptoms can happen anytime in the home country (Respondent T especially) Respondent O belongs to group of respondent who didn’t feel the culture shock She was already familiar with Asia before to come to Vietnam But she insists on the fact that every little problem can take a disproportionate importance because the relatives and the home environment are not here Some people have the feeling to go through period of up and downs more than experiencing one particular cultural shock at the beginning of the stay (Respondent M “There is some days everything is good and other days where something minor happened and it shouldn’t be such a big deal, but it makes me snap I know I am overreacting I feel that everything is wrong with the people and with the country, and you know that this can also happen in your country but you have these very irrational moments I have much more ups and downs In the good days you feel like you are very confident and international and proud of yourself and in the bad days everything is bad and you don’t like it here and you start generalizing about the country.”) Some other respondents express clearly two adaptation cycles, one personal and the other professional The personal adaptation is generally being overcome rapidly after few weeks only but it can take more time to adapt on the professional level This will be discussed in the second part of the cross-cultural professional issues raised by the respondents Other external elements such as the environment play a role Solutions are implemented to face this “down” phases, this leads to a stage of adaptation Environmental pressures and culture shock The traffic The traffic (and the noise and pollution that goes along with) including an endless amount of motorbikes, buses, heavy trucks, cars, bicycles, ‘cyclos’ and pedestrians on the streets is extremely 306   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI chaotic for foreigners The rules of the road commonly accepted in the west in particular not apply here Traffic lights and pedestrian crosswalks exist but are completely disregarded The solution implemented among the respondent is to ignore the noise after a while This comes indeed unconsciously after a while The pollution is during rush hours very high, and can even have consequences on the health (people get Asthma or get sick on a regular basis) A big part of the respondent subsequently opted for a car (some have car and drivers with the job function) or is taking taxi every day to go to work Some of the respondents who where not ready for a motorbike when they first moved to Hanoi, opted for taxi or cars, in few cases, bicycle instead, and changed to motorbike after few weeks since they couldn’t cope with the traffic The traffic can even change the behaviour of some people on the road Respondent V assert that driving in Hanoi changed her into being very aggressive on the road, whereas she is very relaxed driving back home Even if the average speeds are quite slow, speeding is becoming more common, with negative consequences Foreigners that have been here few years have noticed an evolution in the traffic, and few of them stopped driving motorbike and even are getting more and more annoyed or scared in the worst cases (Respondent C) with the taxis drivers Driving motorbike remains however the favoured vehicle among the youth According to them, it is the most practical way to get to know the city and gives them the opportunity to understand the system better No possible relaxation on the streets Vietnamese live much more "out" in their neighborhoods than most of typical westerners, who live and work in closed-up buildings and travel everywhere by car The ‘Xe-om’ drivers and ‘Merchants’ and peddlers see foreigners as great sources of income They bargain aggressively and overcharge The solution implemented by the respondents who raised this issue is to go to the supermarket with fixed prices (Respondent L) Some others like to bargain to practice their Vietnamese The ‘Xeom’ drivers and merchants are also quite ruthless People asking for hand-outs are very persistent and at times unpleasant Since there was a long period in the Northern part of the country of relative isolation from the west, Vietnamese in Hanoi tend to be observers and commentators on life around them, especially on 307   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI westerners It is not easy to be watched and commented on, on a daily basis and to be asked questions considered somewhat intrusive by western standards (How old are you? Are you married? How much money you make? Why you have those children? And many more questions) Even if none of this is meant to cause offence, it is part of the culture (especially asking the age is the base in communication) and simple curiosity, it can be after a while becomes a form of harassment for expatriates that are living here and this stress them out in a long run Same like for the noise issue, the solution is to ignore the comment and keep answering to the questions This is not easy, especially for the People understanding Vietnamese This can lead to some extreme situation Respondent V narrated about her friend, who ends up regretting being fluent in Vietnamese after having heard comments everyday about sensible issues such as physical description Respondent L also evokes her hard time she is going through walking in the streets of Hanoi “It is very annoying when people stop you or stare at you In the street you feel always very nervous You can’t relax For me it is the most negative side here There is too much agitation It is just too much, you feel like Hollywood star with the paparazzi “ The climate Discomfort from heat and humidity extreme in June, July and August There is no Air Conditioning everywhere Some of the respondents also have physical reaction to the climate; get frequently sick due to the pollution and the sudden changes in Weather Respondent C and S particularly emphasized this point Social adaptation Friendship Socialization is managed differently according to the profiles Some prefers to socialize more with the Vietnamese (Respondent Y for instance), some rather create a small community with their own countrymen (Respondent A, L, and N for instance), some are totally mixed and don’t really make distinctions (Respondent P) Respondent N: “The good thing here is that Hanoi is a small city; you tend to meet lot of people from other nationality Also it is good in terms of sharing the so-call frustrations and getting to know how they their own adaptation and you can learn a few things from them” Respondent F, however, 308   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI is having trouble finding friends among the expatriate community He found that this was easier in Ho Chi Minh City One part the respondents who are married to a Vietnamese wife are the more eager ones to have social links with the spouse family and friends of the family Getting married is of course not the only way to make Vietnamese friends and many respondents had no trouble making Vietnamese friends, since the people in Hanoi are considered very friendly (except for Respondent E) once you get into knowing them It is however not easy to build friendship relationship with the locals on the long term for many of the respondents Few of them had more hopes and expectations Among the reasons given here is the language barrier Some of the respondents have the feeling of not being able to go very far in the conversations and give up after a while Most of the respondents were motivated to learn the language when they first arrived, but (even the most experienced in learning foreign languages like Respondents C, K) very quickly realized the difficulty and stopped learning Most of them tend to be efficient in basic communication The statement of Respondent F “Enough not to starve or get lost” illustrate well this fact Only two of the respondents managed to learn the language are fluent The language is, however not the only reason, the interests also are not the same Respondent L who speaks fluent Vietnamese says “It is difficult to forge friendship with people of my age I am a single women which is quite normal in my country They are all married and have kids, they care for the family I feel more enjoyable spending time with older Vietnamese people, I can learn a lot from them about culture and history However, I have a good relationship with my colleagues that speak Russian.’ Respondent I who spend more than 10 years in Vietnam explains that even a basic such as time is different “It is difficult to forge friendship because I like to eat late and to go out late, in the end, you just stay with the people of your own country, and this is easier” Respondent M describe also the similar thing “Before I came I thought I was going to have a Vietnamese lifestyle and hang out with Vietnamese friends, but this turned out not to be true I have few good Vietnamese friends, all my colleagues are Vietnamese, but socially, outside of work most of my friends are expatriates and I found this very important for me I need to relax and I must admit that 309   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI with the Vietnamese I cannot really relax, since I am always worrying about what I am saying or watching my behaviour.” Cultural life and Entertainment Frustrations concerning the lack of cultural activities and entertainment places have been expressed by a number of respondents from every ages and profile Respondent C declares that in Hanoi she is living a totally different life than in France She reads a lot more and goes to the gym to balance the lack of other activities that she normally does in her home city, like walking in the streets or going to the Museum Respondent R is feeling exhausted of going always to the same places and meeting the same people He needs to go to Thailand every months to “breathe” and “go back to the civilization” and “relax” This trend is confirmed especially among the youths who express a real need to travel around South-East Asia whenever possible Is there a reverse culture shock? The majority of the respondents have been interviewed in Hanoi during their assignment phase, and only respondents (Respondent I, H and O) were experiencing the repatriation phase Among the three respondents, there is no problem for the re-adaptation to the country of origin, even if their stay in Vietnam was long (From to 12 years) a long stay abroad The main comments are very positive, especially for Respondent I, for whom coming back to France was like a revelation He realized his professional value; feel more serene and efficient in his work now He had no difficulties to live normally in his new environment and even express some regrets for not coming back to France earlier Respondent H is enjoying more his family life after work and during Week-ends In Hanoi, Respondent H had to be available also out of the working hours, to meet business partners or to welcome colleagues from the headquarters for instance Respondent H says he was like an “Ambassador” of the country each time someone from other country was coming to visit Finally, three of the respondent kept a huge tenderness for Vietnam and the Vietnamese people, are still strongly linked to this country and are planning to go back for visit and holiday on a regular basis The reverse cultural shock has been described by some of the respondents who came back for short visit to their home country It is the case for Respondent E, which express the reverse culture choc 310   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI as the first real culture choc he ever endure ‘When I have culture shock it is when I go home and I expect it to be familiar Every couple of years when I go back, it is obvious that things are messed up I cannot say that I really miss the US as a unified entity, I just miss particular things, such as Basket Ball and live music.” 2.1 Adjustment of the management style Implementation of authoritarian-oriented management style This authoritarian-oriented management style is sometimes already implemented (company of Respondent X for instance), sometimes it has to be implemented by the respondent him/herself on some particular aspect of the work of his/her co-workers (Respondent R), or their all work ( Respondent K) This management style is favored most of the time for the operational everyday work In most of the cases, it is a “controlling approach” focusing in the gain in work efficiency “This approach implies a continuous following up of the manager, regular meetings, and good networking within the office or workplace to make sure that the manager has got access to all the information and also that they have got chance to ask the relevant questions to the staff.” (Respondent G) This is part of the job that the respondents didn’t expected, that they didn’t in their own country or country of previous assignment.) Respondent M declares: “My way of managing has changed In the US we work as a team and we all talk about what we are going to openly Here I realized that in large part most of the colleagues I have conversation with; it is more seen as manager and staff (…) So I have to figure out by myself exactly what we are going to do, give clear understanding of what needs to be done, clear instructions with schedule, which is taking off the creativity out of the process, and this is frustrating because I feel that they should know how to their job better than me, and if I give instructions they might not be done the most effective way, but if I don’t that, nothing gets done.” Respondent K declares that it is very difficult to communicate with his co-workers and seems quite disappointed by the style of management he had to implement after many disillusion in the workplace “Now, I apply the authoritarian method of: Do what I ask without arguing.” 311   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI Implementation of knowledge-sharing and educational management style Most of the respondents who admit facing suspicion and resistance within the work environment choose to reach efficiency by giving the co-workers access to the knowledge These respondents choose to implement a long term approach, by introducing the partners and co-workers to new concepts and making them understand the reasons of the change or requirement and make them willing to change (It can happen in some cases that the respondents choose to utilize the authoritarian approach for some aspects of the work and this second one at for other aspects, according to the situation) Few examples emerged from the study, the respondent are respectively from the tourism, ICT and consultancy sector and also public organization: 1) Respondent R explains “staff here is a push towards a certain level of service I had to change the way they perceive hospitality Especially in the tourism business, more particularly in the hotel business, it is like being in a play, with everyone having a role as an actor, smiling and being friendly being part of this role To support this we also initiate on staff to the concept of Luxury with some special training programs for the new staff especially It is a real opener for them Most realize that luxury is not just a new pair of branded jeans or shoes, but it goes much further than that.” Respondent C, who is also working in the tourism sector, also says “we implement training session to sensitize the staff on the tastes of the foreign clients regarding traveling The aim is not to ask them to like their tastes but to better understand the demand.” 2) MIS and data management and data capitalization is also another major concept that has been evoked by some of the respondents, especially from the ICT and consultancy sector Respondent D explained how he had to manage a change in the habits of the people in the in provinces in northern Vietnam for a project assisting in developing a monitoring and evaluation system for poverty reduction “Most of the partners in the provinces were not familiar with the computer, the data were written by hand Furthermore, they were not familiar with transmitting proper data (…) the initial situation when the project was first launched was bad 400 communes, wrote some table and distribute it to its district Each district send another summarized table of the data to its province, and a final summarized 10 pages version was finally send to Hanoi We loose the information, which was 312   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI summarized at each level We can not any analysis, because there was no proper database This is what they understood from monitoring and evaluating.” To overcome this, Respondent D went in each province explained than the concept was about collecting a really source of information down to the communes level This could end up being a big database of about 400 communes, which would enable them to analyze, use graphs and ask the right questions, so that poor household can benefit more than the non-poor, and you can and ask excellent And they have never done that before Respondent U also spend time making his staff understand the concept of business acumen, that is to say understanding of the business: ‘When I first came I realized that my team worked well but people didn’t really look into the reason why they where here I had trouble explaining to them the responsibility of us being part of this business In a retail company your marketing staffs has to know how much money the company makes, what is their responsibility, how much profit they have to bring into the company This is why I explained how the price structure was working How the profit is being put Now they understand Before these prices have been kept very secret since the management approach was different This was not communicated to them It was not because of their incapacity to accept, but it was the management decision not to reveal everything It doesn’t work that way anymore.’ Respondent U expects his staff to know everything, since the knowledge is the biggest selling point of his company ‘It is Important to keep the asymmetry of information between us and the buyer, but not between us inside the company.’ He also adds that is very for him important to show the example first in order for the co-workers to understand better He provides an example regarding aftersales services “We received a customer complain recently I took the whole complain very seriously, visited the client personally and sort it out, even if it was not my job to it’ 3) The sensitive issue of the Business Ethics had to be clarified by Respondent F to his business partners He could not accept to cross the line, even the “exchange of money” is common practice “What is accepted in Vietnam is not acceptable for our global organization” Respondent P, who also evoked this sensitive issue, could not fight against the system and had to accept it to make things done 2.2 Major personal skills developed and gained by the respondents During the interview, the respondents were asked which personal skills have been very useful for them to adapt to working and living in the country The majority of the respondents considers their 313   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI personal background (bi-culture, children of expatriates, travellers), and their previous professional experiences abroad as a big asset for their acculturation Among the other skills evoked is patience, sense of humour, and optimism The second question raised was about the skills that the respondents had to improve for their acculturation The results of the interview showed that many respondents had to work hard on being more patience The “leadership” skills have also been often quoted Respondent R explains “you have to lead your team, hold their hand I feel like being the bus driver and my mission is to make them understand that we are in the same bus and show them that they can rely on me.” Also more practical skills like giving clear instructions has been very challenging for many respondents (such as Respondent M) and being less shy (such as Respondent W), which also lead to the leadership skills Another practical skill raised is to define priorities and taking problems with more distance The last question concerning the personal skills focused on the ones that the respondent still don’t have but wish to have for a better adaptation to the country An overwhelming majority of the respondents answered that Vietnamese language was the skill they wish to have The table below summarizes the various answers given by the respondents: Skill Personal and Professional background, patience, adaptability and (already have) flexibility (taking people as they come), independence, adventurous, optimism, language Skill Leadership, Rigueur and clarity, Self confidence, Define priorities, (have improved) taking problems more easily,(e.g tolerance with taxi drivers), listening skills Skill Proficiency in Vietnamese language, Rigueur (still don’t have) IHRM: Still a long way towards the expatriation’s holistic approach Our research reveals that the holistic approach of taking the expatriation as a whole cycle is not implemented in the concrete business life by the organizations 72% of the respondents have been sent 314   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI by an organization Among the interviewed expatriates, almost the totality hasn’t been through the holistic approach presented in the theoretical framework Selection process Firstly, the selection process tends to be rather quick and informal The survey shows that the expatriates with long professional experience abroad seem to be favoured Most of them are referred to the Human Resources department (or the person in charge of the selection) by the top management Some respondents, even without working experiences abroad, not pass through any interview process if the organization already assumes they are suitable for the job Respondent Y, and U have been directly assigned for his position in Vietnam: “My name has been given by someone, who referred and convinced the Vice president that should be selected I just had to introduce myself after the decision has been taken” Another category of respondents knew about the position and directly applied They were motivated by a change in the career path, gaining experience abroad, experiencing a new culture or coming back to Vietnam if the country was already experienced in the past (Respondent X, R, M, T) Most of them tend to think that both their motivation and personal adaptability have been decisive for the selection Only one of the respondents, respondent X had psychological test before the selection He says he doesn’t appreciate those test since he doesn’t like being categorized Preparation Generally all the sending company seems to organize all the practical details for the expatriate, such as housing, banking, insurance and the entire standard package Only some of the expatriates have to find the accommodation by themselves However, most of the respondents never had a proper personal preparation before the assignment One of the explaining factors is most of the time there is not much time for such matter Respondent F describes how urgent the position had to be fulfilled in Vietnam His personal situation reflects many cases of the respondents “The position was so urgent to fill that I only had month to relax in Australia after my last assignment in Papua New Guinea.” Another point is that in many cases, the duration of the assignment is undetermined One other reason is that the organizations believe in the ability of the expatriate to adapt by him/her self and not see the point of doing such training 315   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI (Especially for Vietnam, which is a country where very few expatriate of one organization are sent, they may not see the return on investment) Briefing and training, if they are given, are usually very informal processes Few respondents, especially from Asia, have been given the opportunity to come to Hanoi before the beginning of the assignment to get a general idea of the city and the country Most of the respondent expatriates are single, so there is no need to consider the family briefing for the sending organization (Being single seems to be reflecting an important factor considered by the organizations while selecting the individuals among international organization Among the two married expatriates of the sample (Respondent N and A), both of them are living separately from their spouses) Respondent N benefited from a cross-cultural training in the form of days workshop to be prepared for the assignment This workshop took place for a large group of expatriate (no focus on a specific country) This was good enough for Respondent N, who is quite adaptable and already sensible to the issue of cultural differences According to him, however, the workshop remained too general and he was in the end not convinced of its efficiency on the other people in the group During assignment phase During the assignment phase, the expatriates keep mainly a professional link with the contact they have to refer to within the sending organization Most of the respondents from the public organization don’t keep any links with the headquarters When the Human Resource Department, local or international exists, the structure is considered in most of the cases as a bureaucracy only There is no support from this part during the assignment period Respondent U declares: “You are alone; it is always about you surviving.” Anticipation of the return Most of the sending organizations have repatriation programs The anticipation of the career advancement, however, is mainly managed by the expatriate himself Respondent U clearly states “You are the pilot for the career advancement (…) you have to state clearly what you want, ask if there is any opportunities If they say yes, then you take it If they say no, you should ask what else you can do.” Otherwise, there is generally no tacit knowledge transfer between the expatriate and the sending organisation It is a very “egoist” process (Respondent X ), Respondent U also states “All the skills I 316   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI gained during the assignment are kept and used while a career advancement’s opportunity shows But it is not only for my company that I am learning, it is also for my personal development.” According to Respondent R other contacts will take better care of setting an appropriate repatriation strategy “The General Manager will be more helpful in anticipating repatriation than the Human Resource Manager The Human Resource department see more the repatriation as a puzzle They send you for the next position according to the assignments that needs to be fulfilled The General Manager will recommend you for more suitable job and make sure that your next position suits to your personality and skills, even if it takes a longer process.” Among the French respondents who went back to their country or that are planning to go, the feeling of “urgency to go back to France” is expressed, even among the young ones (Respondent V) They fear to be categorized as “eternal expatriate” and not “suitable to the French standards” anymore This was not so obvious with the respondents from other nationalities It seems that France has still a long way to go before to start evaluating or considers long-term international experiences Conclusion This exploratory research aims at first giving an overview of the “Hanoian Expatriates” and their cross-cultural adaptation in personal and professional life A second goal is to estimate how the expatriate cycle is being handled by the sending company Most of the respondents clearly demonstrated their tenacity in overcoming the various crosscultural issues and all of them revealed optimism, sincerity and open-mindedness Different tactics according to the profiles have been implemented to adjust, and different reactions came along with, according to the profiles of the respondents Few disillusions appeared among some of the respondents who found their experience especially fastidious and who struggled more than the others to cope with their working environment and personal social life These disillusion engendered a feeling of rejection for the country in very few cases The expatriate who adjust in living and working in Vietnam tend to have established a very special relation with the country and their people, however without trying to become Vietnamese themselves The few cases of rejection in the sample reflect a tendency of the expatriates to reach extremes: either they enjoy being here or simply cannot cope with the place and leave it This is purely hypothetical A bigger scope research may help us in future time to check this hypothesis and to valid our empirical result in larger scale 317   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - XÃ HỘI The International Human Resource Management aspect showed in most cases a minor investment from the sending organization on the expatriate This mainly in terms of preparation and support during the assignment phase and it prevails among the younger expatriates without long professional experience The management of the expatriation as a whole cycle is very often true, however only in terms of bureaucracy It would have been interesting to also get the point of view of few Human Resources managers from the sending organization, but unfortunately all of the attempts to establish contacts remained in vain Our paper reveals that considerable hope of the expatriate’s replacement by locals and is put into the young well-educated generation of Vietnamese, which is widely recognized as ambitious, hard working, optimist and very gifted at languages 40% of respondents think that the issue of loyalty is there and to get Vietnamese to replace the representative managers on the long term will help the organization to save costs This will merit deeper study in future time References Adler, N (1991) International Dimension of Organizational Behavior Boston Pws Kent Bhaskar-Shrinivas, P., Harrison, D.A., Shaffer, M.A., and Luk, D.M (2005) Input-Based and Time-Based Models of International Adjustment: Meta-Analytic Evidence and Theoretical Extensions”, Academy of Management Journal, 48, 257–281 Black, J., and Mendenhall, M (1991) The U-Curve Adjustment Hypothesis Revisited: A Review and Theoretical Framework, Journal of International Business Studies, 22, 225–246 Black, S.J., & Mendenhall, M (1990) Cross-cultural training effectiveness: A review and theoretical framework for future research, Academy of Management Review, 15, pp 113-136 Boyacigiller, N (1990) The role of expatriates in the management of interdependence, complexity, and risk in multinational corporations, Journal of International Business Studies, 21 (3), pp 357-381 Brewster, C & Harris, H (1999) International HRM: Contemporary Issues in Europe, Routledge, London Croft, B (1995) User Friendly, Personal Journal, pp.113-117 318   TÀI LIỆU HỘI THẢO HỘI THẢO QUỐC TẾ ĐÓNG GÓP CỦA KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI – NHÂN VĂN TRONG PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ - 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