Ethical Acculturation of Expatriate Managers in a Cross Cultural Context

Bibliographic Data

ID20501307
AuthorsGael McDonald (Institute of the Pacific United), Gael M McDonald, Patrick C K Pak (Hong Kong Polytechnic University)
Year1996
Volume3
Issue4
Pages9-30
Publication date1996-04-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCross Cultural Management An International Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1352-7606 • E-ISSN: 1758-6089
PublisherEmerald (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1108/eb008413
OpenAlexW2049027678
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited44

With limited intracultural ethical research in evidence this paper contributes to the theoretical discussion of expatriate ethical acculturation. Of particular interest to this study are the ethical attitudes of subcultural groups, particularly managers, who because of overseas assignment or immigration, are operating outside their usual national location. Research was undertaken to investigate whether ethical divergence or convergence, through acculturation, exists with ex patriate managers, and over what time period. Two locations, Hong Kong and Canada, were chosen for comparative study and the results indicated an interesting dichotomy. Ethical convergence, the adopting of host country ethical values, is evident with Hong Kong Chinese expatriate managers in Canada but did not occur with North American expatriates in Hong Kong. For the expatriate Chinese manager the research findings indicate that Hong Kong Chinese managers now residing in Canada develop a unique set of ethical attitudes that are significantly different from those of local managers in Hong Kong yet also significantly different from the attitudes held by local Canadian managers. A subtle form of ethical convergence is occurring. No significant relationship was found between ethical acculturation and the length of time being an expatriate Hong Kong Chinese manager in Canada except on two issues. For these issues the longer the time spent in Canada the greater the rise in ethical attitudes. A heterogeneous group of expatriate managers in Hong Kong was also evaluated and while predicate similarities existed between expatriates from China and Macau, statistically significant differences in ethical perceptions were found between the general population of expatriate managers (i.e. American, Australasian, British etc.,) and local Hong Kong Chinese managers

Acculturation · China · Cultural diversity · Demographic economics · Expatriate · Geography · Immigration · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Anthropology · Conflict Management and Negotiation · Ethics in Business and Education · Law · Management Theory and Practice · Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub