Chan, I Y S; Leung, M Y and Yu, S S W (2012) Managing the stress of Hong Kong expatriate construction professionals in mainland China: Focus group study exploring individual coping strategies and organizational support. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 138(10), pp. 1150-1160. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Rapid expansion of the construction industry in mainland China has currently rendered it increasingly common for Hong Kong construction professionals to work in mainland China as expatriates. Given that the unfamiliar working and living environment further escalates these professionals' stress levels, the current study aims to explore and investigate (1) the experience with stress of Hong Kong expatriate construction professionals in mainland China, (2) the various individual coping strategies they adopt to cope with stress, and (3) the forms of organizational support that are effective in handling stress. Six focus groups (all Hong Kong construction professionals)-including four groups of expatriates working in various cities in mainland China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Macau), a repatriate group from mainland China, and a group without expatriate experience-were analyzed in the study. Hong Kong expatriate construction professionals in mainland China from all groups had experienced stress in their expatriate assignments. In group discussions, the participants identified six individual coping strategies and three forms of organizational support. To critically explore the coping strategies and organizational support for expatriate professionals, items addressed by the expatriate and nonexpatriate groups were compared. Various recommendations are made for both individual expatriates and related construction organizations.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction professionals; expatriates; individual coping strategies; mainland china; organizational support |
| Index terms: | construction industry, Beijing, construction professional, coping, construction organization, Hong Kong, China, Macau, Shanghai, strategy, focus group |
| Subjects: | organization, data collection methods, behavioral psychology, industry analysis, management, professional development, Geography |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Information Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here