The Chinese connection? Adjustment of Western vs. overseas Chinese expatriate managers in China

Western multinationals often assign overseas Chinese expatriate managers (OCEMs) to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the belief that the cultural distance will be less for them than in the case of Western expatriates, making the former adjust easier than the latter. However, as incidental evidence indicates that overseas Chinese expatriates in China can encounter considerable adjustment problems, the present study attempts to settle the matter by directly comparing the adjustment of Western and overseas Chinese expatriates assigned to China, Western expatriate managers (WEMs) and OCEMs on assignment in China responded to a survey assessing the extent of culture novelty they perceived, as well as their degree of adjustment and subjective well-being. The results showed that although the Chinese expatriates experienced a lower degree of culture novelty than their Western counterparts, they were generally less well adjusted than the WEMs, especially with regard to work adjustment. However, this did not result in any significant difference in subjective well-being. Implications for business firms operating in China are drawn and future research is discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.