Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the life adjustment of Taiwanese expatriate managers in Sino-Taiwanese joint ventures in mainland China. In addition, human resource management practices in these joint ventures were also explored.
The results showed that:
(1) Taiwanese expatriate managers believed that their socio-cultural values were not much different from those of mainland Chinese. Furthermore, Taiwanese expatriate managers understood quite well the socio-cultural values of mainland Chinese. In addition, there were a little differences between Taiwanese expatriate managers' values and their corporate values.
(2)In general, the life adjustment of Taiwanese expatriate managers in mainland China was fair. It can be explained by the following reasons: a)The person adaptability (including cross-cultural adaptability, interpersonal skill, conflicts-resolution competency, et al.) was fair; b)59% of Taiwanese expatriate managers did not live with their spouses in mainland China, and both their life adjustment and job satisfaction were worse than those living with their spouses; c)The administration support from headquarters in Taiwan was moderate; d)The work load of Taiwanese expatriate managers was a little bit overloaded, and there were some inconsistencies between the work demands from their mainland Chinese supervisors and those from their Taiwanese supervisors.
(3)Taiwanese expatriate managers received moderate social support from their family, friends and mainland Chinese employees. In addition, the better social support the Taiwanese expatriate managers received, the better their life adjustment and job satisfaction.
(4)Those Taiwanese expatriate managers who had better personal adaptability and were willing to work in mainland China had better life adjustment there. Furthermore, the degree of social support was the best prediction of life adjustment.
(5)In general, the human resources management practices in the subsidiaries in mainland China were not much different from those in headquarters in Taiwan. And though the opportunities for personal growth and promotion were better in the subsidiaries in mainland China, personnel training-and-education was worse in the subsidiaries in mainland China than in headquarters.