Topic > Skills of Global Leaders: Case Studies of Expats Working in China

China is considered one of the most attractive locations for foreign direct investment (FDI). Since 1978, Deng Xiaoping opened China to foreign trade and investment. In the early 1980s, the largest foreign investments came from Hong Kong, followed by Japan and Taiwan. In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), which promoted it to the top spot for foreign direct investment. In 2007, foreign direct investment reached a record $74.8 billion, a growth of nearly 40% compared to 2001. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay With the rapid growth of the economy, China becomes the fourth largest exporter and third largest importer since 2003. This is helped by an influx of expatriate managers. In the initial stage, expatriate positions are very senior, such as general manager, financial director or chief operating officer, necessary for managing joint ventures or subsidiaries. As China continues to grow rapidly, its GDP has grown by more than 50% since 1997. Many Chinese companies become large enough to focus on being global, which requires many different skills; like Huawei. It is the local Chinese company and is now the world's leading telecommunications solution provider. It hires a lot of talent with software skills from India. Since 2004, many different professional skills have therefore been needed. Talent is one of the headaches for multinationals in China. According to the China Daily, the number of legally employed expatriates in China reached a record 150,000 in 2005. In Shanghai alone, an estimated 40,000 foreigners work in half of the world's top 500 multinational corporations. There are many studies focused on key leadership skills; such as innovation, passion for business, communication skills, strategic risk taking, decision making, gaining trust, enabling performance and growth, collaborative influence. Among this leadership, Earnhardt found that the successful expatriate key leader in China must consider the cultural dimension. Deng indicated that intercultural skills affect leadership effectiveness in his paper at the Fifth International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change in Organization in 2005. In my companies, I have worked with many expatriates from different countries. Some have been very effective and others may not be able to complete the assignments and then return to their home country. In this project the key components are studied. Through a series of in-depth interviews with expatriates and local managers, key competencies can be identified in depth. The need for cross-cultural leadership effectiveness is a major challenge for multinational companies in China. The research hypothesis is that there is a relationship between intercultural leadership and their culture, national experience and other personal skills. It also varies in employee culture. A series of in-depth interviews will be conducted with 4 expatriate managers from different countries (those who need to live in Shenzhen or Shanghai) and 10 local Chinese managers who worked in multinational companies operating in 2008 and 2009. So the key components of the Cross-sectional analysis cultural leadership will be studied in the new environments of China. Many studies have been conducted on global leadership skills and China is one of the fastest growing countries, where many expatriates work. Many existing studies suggest the key role of leadership success of expatriates working in China. The effectivenessof intercultural leadership has been identified as the most important factor and affects their leadership. However, the effectiveness of cross-cultural leadership is a very complex issue and this is also the main challenge for expatriates working in China. The case study is chosen to study the context insights of Chinese-Western cultural difference and also its effectiveness in leadership skills. Based on the experiences of expatriates working in China, it is possible to share the real problems and how this contributes to the success of effective expatriate leaders working in China. The case study approach works best because it can provide an in-depth analysis of the challenges and experiences of these expatriates working in China and how these are linked to their cultural differences. In this project, different cultures of expatriates will be chosen because the relationship between cultural differences and their intercultural leadership skills will be investigated. The case study approach can also provide other factors that influence their cultural awareness and therefore their leadership effectiveness in the real situation. Since cultural differences are very complex, 4 expats from different countries will be chosen. This allows comparison of cultural differences between China and the West that could impact their cross-cultural leadership skills. The strategy of selecting expatriates from different countries is generally chosen because it is necessary to observe the relationship between different cultures and their intercultural ability. However, they all live in Shenzhen and work in the multinational company between 2007 and 2009. The years of experience are different. Their family stress and cultural background are very different. This will provide more data to analyze. At the same time, 10 local Chinese managers who reported to their expatriate leaders will be interviewed to understand further insights from their expatriate leadership. I have been working in a multinational company for more than 10 years. Because my company is a global company and China is considered a low-cost country to focus human resources for global integration program. Many foreign leaders are sent to China on assignments, and some could not complete their assignments and left. In-depth interviews will be conducted with my company's Chinese expatriates and local managers. More insights are known based on my work experience. The selection possibilities of these expatriates are more practical and the data should be quite good for analysis because I understand the background of the interviewees. The chances of the interviewees providing open and honest answers should be very high since I work in the same company and have good relationships with my colleagues. The case study approach produces the context-dependent type of knowledge and provides the role-playing type of situational knowledge. This may not be easily repeated as it depends on each situation and the contributing factors. However, these interviews will help to analyze the cultural dimension and how it can impact cross-cultural leadership skills and therefore have a significant impact on the effectiveness of successful leadership. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Based on the information and insights gathered through a series of in-depth interviews with Western expatriates and local Chinese managers, the key components of cross-cultural leadership capability can be studied in more detail; for example how this relates to cultural difference. (2005) 2009