Determinants of Expatriate Success in China
The author wishes to thank Lim Chwee Heng, Lee Hui Lih, and Yap Chau Kit for their assistance in data collection.
The focus of past research on expatriate management has been mostly on American, European, and Japanese multinationals with large expatriate populations. As a result, recommendations derived from it are clearly of limited use to companies and countries new to the international scene. In this study, we investigate the key success factors of expatriates of Singapore-based companies operating in China. Using a sample of 92 managers, we found that technical competency, nature of assignment, value of assignment, and expectation of immediate results were positively associated with expatriate success. Cultural competency, pre-departure training, marital status, and compensation, on the other hand, had no influence on expatriate success.
