Cross Cultural Management : Expatriate Interview

Résumé du document

Jean Claude T is a 51 years old Frenchman who works and lives in Shanghai, China. He is married and has two children who study at the university. He was an expatriate for a French automobile company, Citroën, for many years. He has spent three years in Hungary and six years in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. One year ago, Citroën decided to lend Jean Claude T's knowledge and experience to GNFA, another French company. GNFA (Groupement National pour la Formation Automobile), his present employer, is a firm for automobile consulting and training created in 1995. This firm also offers its services all over the world, even in China, where the market is booming. Jean Claude T was sent there to reorganize the subsidiary of GNFA in Shanghai. He studied in France and obtained a degree from "IUT Genie Mécanique" (a technical school in mechanical engineering). He had already worked for Citroën before beginning to work abroad.

Extraits

[...] Cross Cultural Management Expatriate Interview The Description Jean Claude T is a 51 years old French man who works and lives in Shanghai, China. He is married and has two children who study at university. He was an expatriate for a French automobile company, Citroën, for many years. Indeed, he spent three years in Hungary and six years in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. One year ago, Citroën decided to lend Jean Claude T's knowledge and experience to GNFA, another French company. [...]

[...] Our analysis This interview showed us that Mr. T was well settled and happy in his new life in China. We thought that maybe there were a lot of prejudices about Chinese culture and that it was not so hard for a European to be well integrated in this country. But this very good experience must be put into perspective. Indeed this case fulfills all the necessary conditions to make this expatriation an excellent experience. He is very lucky that his wife can accompany him and successfully adapt to every country in which he works. [...]

[...] When you arrived, what surprised you the most? grey and low sky of Shanghai, the large number of bikes and buildings really surprised After the excitement of the first weeks, did you feel any after- effects due to the culture or being homesick? I didn't live in France for a long time when I moved to Shanghai. Moreover, 35-40% of the population in Kuala Lumpur is Chinese and 70% of the firms are managed by Chinese people. So I had already seen them in my last job. [...]

[...] When your employer tells you that you were going to work in China, how did you react? Were you worried about something (Culture, mentalities have been an expatriate for almost 7 years in Asia, and I have worked abroad for 12 years. It was probable that my next destination would be China. And I was not particularly worried about this destination”. He went in China before living in Shanghai for business when he lived in Malaysia. This country was not really new for him. What did you hear about China before living there? [...]

[...] Yet, Chinese culture and language are too difficult to be assimilated by Europeans. Even in UCD, as exchange students, we meet a lot of Americans and Europeans but never the Chinese students. Planning to live in China requires much thought and a good, long preparation. Despite good relationships at work, the Chinese are very proud of themselves and don't easily become friends with people from other countries. Jean Claude T said that it was difficult to have personal relationships with Chinese because of the cultural barriers. [...]