Why do Expat Assignments to China Fail? (Part 2)

Posted on September 03, 2012 by Ed Britton, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

Really, I think the biggest reason failure occurs is because it is allowed to occur. (Rick Beck)

Part 1 opened with a tally of the reasons for failed expat assignments to China that were mentioned in replies on several Linkedin groups. After I wrote Part 1, the comments continued to pour in!

I have summarized some of the main points below that were made in the subsequent postings, with generous commentary.

Starting Right

I have watched professional baseball pitchers send their fast balls across home plate at something close to 100mph. I came upon a pitching run with a radar scope and decided to give it a try. My top speed was 35mph! That ended any pitching aspirations.

Some people don’t have the gene. Investing time, money and effort when the raw material isn’t there is a non-starter.

Nearly always it comes down to the wrong person at the wrong place.
Solutions should be sought in pre-scanning people before they come, not try to make the best of it once they have decided to come … (Paul Stuyver)
I agree that this whole process needs to begin right back at the selection process. Some form of assessment, or self-assessment measure – to gauge suitability, and motivation to integrate into a very different culture. Along with the family – are they suited/willing/motivated to attempt a life in what can seem like quite a hostile environment? (Belinda Allan)

If a person has unique qualities that the foreign office must have, then get creative about a workaround. Can the qualities be taught to a more foreign-friendly emissary? Can the information, skills etc. be delivered remotely? Are a series of short assignments an option – there and back in a few times? Or some combination of the above. A transplant with low adaptability in a foreign assignment is a significant business risk.

Sifting Culture and Development

Early in my China experience as a managing executive, I could see that there were some things that had to change, notwithstanding culture. For example, the company needed honest reporting about business
results whether good or bad news. There are other obvious examples where ‘culture’ and ‘outcomes’ don’t align and ancient culture must bow to current realities.

On the other hand, there are lots of ‘not so obvious’ situations where change may appear to be indicated but in fact is not necessary. And the third option, where change is necessary but the optimal solution is not in the same direction as would be taken in the West.

This issue is also linked with the pitfalls of MNC corporate policies in China trying to follow the same rule as elsewhere [rather than finding] a third way best of breed. (Nicolas Golovko)

Deciding when and how to preserve, change, adjust and create culture in a rapidly emerging economy is the unavoidable companion, indeed a very component, of development. In some ways, rocket science is easier because when you get it wrong the explosion makes it pretty clear. But managing the interface between culture and development is both complex, and difficult to observe and measure.

Value systems in Asia and the west have different origins and are different (not deficient); some cannot understand that. (Rai Karklins) Just because the people do something different than your culture back in the West, they are not backwards or wrong. I’ve seen my fair share of people think that since the people of the new host country do things a different way, that they are wrong, and they try to push their values onto the host country. (Michael Davie)

Cultural development must be lead by the natives of the developing country, but foreign influence has an important role to play in helping to interface with global realities, elucidate options and guide implementation. This is not a job for the new initiate who will be struggling with his/her own orientation and functioning in the foreign culture, and who is typically still home-culture bound.

The adjustment required of the foreign sojourner is the flip-side. Again, it’s much more than simply, ‘when in Rome, do as the Roman’s do.’ Culturally appropriate behavior/orientation for an expat is often necessarily different from culturally appropriate behavior for a native. Furthermore, the foreign
executive must understand how to be appropriately bicultural and not simply ‘go native.’

For example – The flexible ethics that some Chinese employ become a bit of a drug for some Westerners if they decide to adopt the same hilosophical viewpoints. Suddenly colleagues back home may have problems if you are viewed as being too Chinese in your thinking. I have seen people so intoxicated with flexible ethics that they will adopt having a “China wife” while supposedly being happily married back home; extracting “favors” from business partners that they would never dream of doing back in the West; or thinking of contracts as a mere suggestion rather than a document that should be adhered to. (Mike Santasiero)

Different expectations come from Chinese colleagues, too. A foreigner is seen to be and expected to be different. It’s the difference that is perceived to add value. Being different – in a good way – is key to establishing a beneficial and positive relationship. It’s called, ‘Playing the foreign card.’

Sifting culture is complicated because a developing culture is a spotty and moving target. What was so at the time your book on Chinese business culture was published might well be dated today. If people still think that it’s a must to wine and dine and Karaoke with business partners, then they havebeen sleeping the last few years. (Paul Stuyver)

In my first year in China, business men would rapidly drink themselves into a stupor to show a brotherly bond. Today, sometimes half the people at a dinner don’t drink and almost no one ever gets drunk. A cultural change like that can happen surprisingly quickly, but doesn’t happen everywhere at the same time – so, you really need to be on your toes.

The Family Factor

The critical role in the adjustment of the trailing spouse and family in an expat assignment was highlighted in Part 1. It also emerged in subsequent posts –

If you are working as an expat you are busy, but your family is basically in a prison cell apartment. (Rai Karklins) As a family, we’ve lived in 6 different countries … we discussed this very question in a class on Managing in Pacific Asia when I was at the Stanford GSB (1993). According to Prof. Bettignes, the most frequent cause of failed assignments is failure for the family to adapt … Interestingly, none of us in the class mentioned this – the majority of the class anticipated issues related to cultural adaptation in the workplace would be the #1 cause …over the years, I’ve seen many expats return home (even from places that I thought would be easy to live like Singapore) because the family couldn’t adapt. Spousal and family support are critical … a huge red flag is a family where [neither partner has] lived outside their home country. Extra effort is needed to 1) check the desire of both parties to move, and 2) provide extra support and follow up to ensure success. (Bijay Singh)

Academic literature and the testimony of expats living abroad make identical points about the central role of family adaptation in a successful expat stay.

The question whether the family should simply stay in the home country, or whether singles are most suitable, also appeared in the discussion. I haven’t run across anything in the literature. My own observation is that, in the case of long term expat experiences, the greatest success is most often
realized in a well-adjusted family setting, in contrast to a singles or mal-adjusted family situation. Cross cultural marriages, however, can be really tough over the long term – although I’ve seem some perfectly
successful Chinese-American pairings.

Yeah, rocket science just might be easier!

Is Culture Shock in China Really Different?

Having lived myself as expat for 9+ years in a couple of countries (Greece, UK and China) I would say that the failure rate in China or any other country would be about the same. The challenges are pretty much the same. (Dr. Frederic Caufrier 柯付锐)

Ease of adapting to a foreign culture can be reasonably expected to follow a similar pattern to ease of learning a foreign language. Cultural distance will be a factor. The distance between the ‘Far East’ and the ‘Far West’ is extreme. However, the basic pattern of ‘culture shock’ and acculturation remains. And, as Caufrier points out, “The challenges are pretty much the same.”

Support from Headquarters

Naiveté at headquarters about the culture factor was mentioned in several posts. Ashish B. points out that, “Overseas assignments are always given to brilliant executives who the management feels can carry the mantle in an alien world …” but adds that all the great leadership is for naught if they are unable to identify and connect with the staff to implement their agenda. Headquarters needs to be ‘China smart,’ too.

Success also depends a lot on the company. Is it following Western or Chinese biz-standards? Is the company really supporting expats or are you expected to solve all issues by your selves? Simple things like English-speaking IT-support, English-operating systems, English-guidelines … (Michael Tiefenbacher) Another important factor is the corporate/headquarters decision on the China market. Sometimes, those decisions are made without fully understanding the situation and do give the expat enough authority to handle the field situations. (Richard Zhao)

The culture factor is critical in settling business goals that can realistically be met in the foreign business environment. Expecting outcomes that are unattainable creates dangerously high business risk, and can come about when factors like business culture and executive adaptability are left unconsidered –

Foreign firms have expectations that are very difficult for ANYONE to meet, let alone parachuting in someone unfamiliar with the culture and systems to make sense of organizations that were put together differently, and sometimes for different reasons [than would be the case in the West]. Failure occurs because of lack of preparation and lack of patience for outcomes. (Rick Beck)

Brilliant performance in the context of the home business environment certainly does not always translate into the same level of performance as an expatriate. Will performance translate? And if translation really happens, what will performance in the new environment look like?

Companies tend to look at candidates from a point of capabilities rather than adaptabilities. They tend not to set up the right expectation with the employees before they take the assignment, telling them that this is only another job but in a different country. (Fred Lam)

How long does it take to transition to a foreign business culture?

It takes about 3-4 years (and lots of up and down cycles) to end up at a stage that allows you to put your home country and guest country at the same level. Dr. Frederic Caufrier 柯付锐

Depending on the language skills I would say five to seven years myself. I find it absolutely crazy that companies send people here for three year assignments then send them home. At three years they are just starting to get to know the real way things work here and so the company is totally selling itself short. (Richard Daniel)

The focus of cross-cultural training and coaching is to reduce the pain and risk of a foreign assignment for both the executive and their family, and to accelerate the approach to effective cross-cultural leadership. My take on the average time to cultural adjustment squares with both Caufrier and Daniel – 3 years is fast and 7 years is not uncommon – a long time to be at risk and in sub-optimal performance.

When training/coaching reduces acculturation to 2-3 years, it’s doing it’s job.

Living in the Culture

Taking the plunge to live as part of the local culture provides a richer, more valuable and genuine foreign experience. It also helps one adjust more rapidly. Having an open mind is the key to adapting. Get involved in the local community. Make friends with the locals. Learn the language. (Rai Karklins)

If developing executives with foreign savvy is an important outcome of such assignments, then isolating them in compounds is counter productive.

‘Expatriate programs are good for developing better managers, our research suggests. We believe that companies could make them even better by ensuring that expats are not cocooned from the local culture during their stints abroad. The more expats interact with locals and local institutions, the more creative and entrepreneurial they’ll become.’ Dr. Frederic Caufrier 柯付锐, quoting Harvard Business Review

September 2010 (HBR Reprint F1009B): ‘Be a Better Manager: Live Abroad’ by Maddux et al.

Cultural learning ‘on the street’ translates into cultural savvy ‘on the job.’ Also, picking up just a little of the local dialect (not simply speaking standard Mandarin) can go a long way in building personal relationships

What if you ‘look’ Chinese?

A final comment. Foreigners who simply ‘look’ Asian notice a disadvantage because they can’t play the ‘foreign card’ effectively. My colleagues from Asian extraction experience the most rejecting behavior of any foreigners. Do they have all of the disadvantages of being foreign, and none of the advantages?

Yes, you might think that because I have a Chinese heritage, it will be easier for me. Contrary to your thinking, because I am Chinese by heritage, the locals tend to be more unforgiving. (Fred Lam)

Cultural adjustment is complex, difficult and time consuming. It’s painful and risky. There are real and substantial business costs in terms of both fails and lost opportunities. But, that risk can be substantially reduced with diligent pre-screening, education, orientation, and support that includes executive and
family coaching.

The goal should be acculturation within 2 to 3 years, but that is achievable only with planned, concerted and informed effort. Learning the culture on your own is no more effective than learning the language on your own. Countries in East Asia are no longer in a subordinate economic position relative to the west.

Cultural fluency is an expectation.