Introduction
Businesses are growing globally and thus giving various opportunities to organisations and individuals to grow career-wise. With these global business expansions, an individual gets an opportunity to work abroad or the ongoing projects of the company on foreign land allows these representatives to work with natives. Every culture has its customs and tradition and they are also reflected in our work culture. Various cases reflect that it becomes very difficult for a Chines immigrant to work in American culture or vice versa. The articles listed below focus on various culture shock experienced by these representatives.
Article 1
Shi, L., & Wang, L. (2014). The culture shock and cross-cultural adaptation of Chinese expatriates in international business contexts. International Business Research, 7(1), 23.
The article focuses on the important causes of cultural shock by “Chinese business representative “and the difficulties they faced in adjusting to the international business environment. To identify the causes of cultural shock a semi-structured interview and an online of 80 Chines business experts who were associated with organizations who did business globally. The finding of the study highlighted eight major causes of cultural shock were “language, professional communication, religion, time coordination, power distribution, traditions, openness and socialism. The study also concluded that almost all expatriates face the problem of culture shock while doing business internationally and were extremely affected by the mentioned issues. The research further reveals three major problems such as inability to adapt to business communication, languages barriers and the extreme pressure from work duties. On the bases of research conducted various measures are proposed. (Shi & Wang, 2013)
The article has focused on eight major factors of cultural shock which have not been considered in other articles cited below. The study specifically focuses on a particular country which has experience of cultural shock. The study was conducted on the people of China who went abroad for work. The article highlights the major causes of cultural shock and the survey illuminates that almost every individual has experienced cultural shock which has affected the business greatly.
Article 2
Selmer, J. (2004). Psychological barriers to adjustment of Western business expatriates in China: newcomers vs long stayers. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 15(4-5), 794-813.
The article focuses on the psychological factor and sociocultural adjustments of western business expatriates working in China. To study the problem a mail survey was conducted and the psychological barriers for adjustment and its impact on socio-cultural and psychological adjustment were studied. This was an exploratory study and the finding concluded that the continuous incapability and unwillingness to adjust with newcomers have affected various aspects of sociocultural adjustment but it doesn’t affect the emigrants’ psychological adjustment. It has been observed that these factors have not stabilized over time in anyways there are no effects in case of long stayers in China. The study also suggests that in upcoming time both factors of inability and unwillingness towards adjustment may become of some importance. Paper suggests various points for selection of emigrants for job selection in China. (Selmer, 2004)
The article focuses on people who came to China to work and the cultural shock they experienced while doing business. The article focuses on two factors i.e. the psychological factor and sociocultural adjustments and their impact. These factors have been a great part of cultural shock and highlight major issues of cultural shock.
Article 3
Ruben, B. D. (1989). The study of cross-cultural competence: Traditions and contemporary issues. International journal of intercultural relations, 13(3), 229-240.
The article studies cross-cultural communication skills attained by individuals or people working overseas to cope up with problems encountered by them. Though this paper it was observed there exists cultural shock difficulties, adjustments at the personal level, adaptability with regards to culture and cross-cultural effectiveness. The problem was significant in businesses which came in the form of project failures, the return of workers and loss of time and money. Though the studies it was observed that these problems occurred due to personal adjustment issues or due to lack of cultural participation. It was concluded that they needed a perspective so that the essential needs of the business were met. (RUBEN, 1989)
The article focus on the factor of individual adjustment with regards to culture and cross-cultural effectiveness. It considers the problems caused by these cultural shocks in the business. It highlights the major causes of cultural shock.
Article 4
Kaye, M., & Taylor, W. G. (1997). Expatriate culture shock in China: A study in the Beijing hotel industry. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 12(8), 496-510.
The article explores the existence of cultural shock occurred among emigrant managers in the joint venture hotels in Beijing and China region. The article focuses on factors infusing culture shock. The exploratory study was conducted and a model was proposed that predicted cultural shock which was determined by situations and intercultural sensitivity. The finding reflected a strong relation between cultural sensitivity and cultural shock. It was concluded that Asian expatriates experienced a great level of cultural shock due to inter-culture sensitivity. (Marianna Kaye, 1997)
The article shares a case of the joint venture of hotel industry where the cultural shock was experienced. The study is a case analysis which has not been studied in any of the previous articles cited. The article highlights the strong relationship between cultural sensitivity and cultural shock.
Article 5
Fink, G., & Holden, N. (2002). Collective culture shock. Contrastive reactions to radical systemic change.
The article focuses on culture shock experienced during organizations moving from one economic system to another or when these businesses undergo expansion. By analyzing various factors it was suggested that culture shock has four components namely “integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization”. This extension movement results in difficult social adjustments and undergoes an extreme challenge for a systematic way. To demonstrate the collective cultural shock the research was examined in four countries Russia, Europe, South Africa and Japan. The observation reflected that these shocks are the result of economic complexity, specific social and political situations. The article concludes that culture shock is an important factor or tool for managers who are responsible for constructing and evolving international business strategies to understand the complexities of culture shock or to adjust to the change in the traditional system of management. (Gerhard Fink, 2002)
In this article, the cultural shock is studied on the economical aspect which has not been considered in any other article. The article studies cultural shock in four countries Russia, Europe, South Africa and Japan and results conclude the causes of culture shock. The article highlights that is a key factor responsible for constructing and evolving international business strategies.
Conclusion
From the above cases, we could conclude that immigrants have faced a lot of difficulties while doing business on foreign land. The culture shift has been one of the reasons for that has affected various business tremendously. Due to the cultural shock organisations have undergone huge losses.The language barrier, adaptability and pressure of work duty timing and cultural difference have been a major reason for these cultural shock which can be overcome by giving initial training to the representatives about language and culture.
References
Fink, G., & Holden, N. (2002). Collective culture shock. Wien: Research Institute for European Affairs.
Kaye, M., & Taylor, W. (1997). Expatriate culture shock in China: a study in the Beijing hotel industry. Journal Of Managerial Psychology, 12(8), 496-510. DOI: 10.1108/02683949710189102
Ruben, B. (1989). The study of cross-cultural competence: Traditions and contemporary issues. International Journal Of Intercultural Relations, 13(3), 229-240. DOI: 10.1016/0147-1767(89)90011-4
Selmer, J. (2004). Psychological barriers to adjustment of Western business expatriates in China: newcomers vs long stayers. The International Journal Of Human Resource Management, 15(4-5), 794-813. DOI: 10.1080/0958519042000192951
Shi, L., & Wang, L. (2013). The Culture Shock and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Chinese Expatriates in International Business Contexts. International Business Research, 7(1). DOI: 10.5539/ibr.v7n1p23
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