cross-cultural management - expatriate interview

Cross Cultural Management (BMGT2004S) – Assignment 2FT UCD BBS 23 (B) – LEE XIAO PING (14210321)

1. Introduction

This paper seeks to explore cross cultural issues that expatriates experience when working and

living in a culture different from the one they grew up in. An expatriate interview is conducted

with an ex-expatriate currently residing in Singapore. In the course of the paper I discuss the

findings derived from the interview on both personal-reaction and analytical levels to evaluate

the success of interviewee’s experience.

2. Background

The interviewee for this paper is Bell (not her real name), a Polish woman who came to

Singapore for a work assignment. Now self-employed and running her own business, she has

been in Singapore for over seven years. Given Bell’s profile as an ex-expatriate currently

residing in Singapore, I therefore redefine ‘expatriate’ as a working professional who has worked

and lived, or is working and living away from his/her home country for more than six months.

3. Finding 1: Culture shock

From the interview, Bell mentioned that she had “thoroughly research things related to Singapore

before coming, so there weren't a lot of things I didn't expect”. In order to avoid culture shock,

she made intense preparations to ready herself for her move from Poland to Singapore. She had

longed to leave for a better country even at a young age “I always knew I wanted to leave Poland

for the longest time. I remember, I being seven years old or so, and bawling my eyes out to my

parents, begging them to move our family to Germany”. She further affirmed her desire to leave

her home country by the statement “… I just knew I need to get out”.

Bell feels that for herself, culture shock was positive - “I was positively shocked how easy it is to

be a female in Singapore compared to my country of origin”. Be it career wise “Never during the


course of my job interviews or work was my gender seen as a problem” or personal safety “I can

safely walk at night or be out alone”, “people are mindful not to brush against me in public

transport and public spaces”, she experienced gender equality in all aspects of her life here.

This was vastly different from Europe, more specifically, Poland. Bell was quoted saying “In

Europe, my gender was constantly used against me”. “… I was banned from attending any extra-

curriculum classes…” “My math teacher never gave me a chance to sign up for advanced math

classes…” “… a bunch of men who tried to convince me that I as a woman am ‘too fragile and

physically weak’ to attend uni” “... HR lady … could never ever allow me to pursue marketing as

a career because it’d be wrong for me to pursue my career… she believed it was very important I

make babies and devote my life to them” These examples highlight gender prejudice and

inequality Polish females may face throughout their lives. Bell deems the cultural shock as

positive, as she was empowered, as quoted “I could not believe how greatly the move improved

my life and career standing. It was the best thing that has ever happened to me”.

4. Finding 2: Integration into foreign environment

Singapore’s linguistic environment and transparent regulatory frameworks made Bell’s

integration easier. “The Singapore way” of diversity – “where people embrace their differences,

and want to celebrate them” signalled to Bell that she would not face prejudice nor

discrimination, making her adjustment to life here easier.

“The Singapore way” of diversity also helped Bell to build a strong support network from the

locals she interacts with. She named her first landlord “incredibly helpful and generous” and her

husband’s HR manager advising them “on many difficult issues”. Social media also helped her

integrate – “… whenever I felt lost or confused about something, I would just ask and always got

great advice and plenty of kind words from Singaporeans staying in touch with me”. Bell also

mentioned that her ex-boss also helped in language – “… my boss occasionally scolding me for

misuse of words during my first year in Singapore”.


Work-wise, even though Bell attributed in-team tensions to her being a risk taker and blunt, but

said that her bosses welcomed her, telling her that “it brings balance into the team”. As she

recalls, “I don't recall any serious conflict” expressing good relationships she had with her

colleagues, despite keeping relations professional – “to avoid personal interests getting tangled

with professional issues”. Now self-employed, she still maintains good relations with her ex-

colleagues “most of my close friends right now are my ex-colleagues”.

Bell sees herself no different from a local other than being more appreciative. As she said, “I

don't understand why people prefer to put on a coat indoors, rather than lower the aircon

power… it also shows a certain ignorance towards using up resources, like electricity”, “… I feel

I am much easier satisfied with things, so my level of happiness and general satisfaction is much

higher than that of a local person”.

Bell is definitely integrating well into Singapore culture. In the interview she even raised an

incident from the recent General Elections – “… when Cheo Chai Chen attacked Tin Pei Ling”

to illustrate her point. She further states “I feel super hurt when anyone suggest should ‘move

back home’”, speaking of her satisfaction with life in Singapore.

5. Reflection

5.1 Personal-reaction level

I personally felt that Bell would experience serious culture shock in Singapore. After all, cultures

of Singapore and Poland are poles apart. I expected that Bell would prepare herself for the move.

Generally people refer to culture shock as negative, to Bell however culture shock was a pleasant

surprise as she received warm hospitality enabling her to integrate well.

Bell had faced gender discrimination and inequality back home, therefore her intention to move

to Singapore. This was contrary to my perception of Western countries being gender equality

advocates. Asian societies typically share the same trait – patriarchy where men head the

households and are breadwinners of the family. For example, Peranakan culture although is

matriarchal, the babas (men) are the breadwinners and nyonyas (females) confined to the

households. It occurred to me that gender inequality is still an issue in Western countries as I


listen to Bell detail her encounters to me. True that there were traditional beliefs and perceptions

that local females may still be obliged to abide by, but there was minimal stereotyping and

prejudice that I experienced, no matter in social, personal or professional settings. This part of

the interview turned out to be culture shock for myself, rather than what Bell had defined

positively in the interview.

As a local I am proud of what Bell states as “the Singaporean way” of diversity. I interact,

socialise and work with people of all ethnicities, recognising and respecting differences. With

her strong support network and also her own efforts I saw no wonder in Bell’s ease into

integrating well in Singapore.

Having worked with multicultural colleagues albeit from similar cultures (Malaysia, Taiwan,

Hong Kong), I had my fair share of conflicts due to miscommunication and perception

differences. It was certainly interesting to know of Bell working easily with her colleagues,

bringing “balance” to her work teams. Definitely Bell has gone the extra mile to fit into the

Singaporean professional environment. Her local colleagues also readily welcomed her,

respecting her views and making her feel inclusive.

Comparatively Bell seemed to be more appreciative than the typical Singaporean. I was guilty of

the aircon issue and also the level of satisfaction. Locals tend to be so pampered that we take

things for granted. Bell raised the ‘Motherhood is a weakness’ saga from the recent General

Elections (Hon, 2015). Her attentiveness to local current issues was what that had I convinced

that her integration is absolutely successful. I believe given Bell’s stay here for seven years and

counting, she is not just an expatriate; she has already gone native.

5.2 Analytical level

5.2.1 Culture shock: gender inequality and egalitarianism

As above-mentioned, Bell experienced culture shock in terms of gender inequality and

egalitarianism. Table 5.2.1 presents a comparison of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions rating of

masculinity (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.) (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.), United Nations’ Gender

Inequality Index (GII) (United Nations, 2013) for Singapore and Poland:


Country Hofstede’s masculinity UN GII ranking

Singapore 48 15

Poland 64 26

Table 5.2.1 Hofstede’s cultural dimensions rating of masculinity, United Nations’ Gender

Inequality Index (GII) for Singapore and Poland

The comparison reveals a connection: the more masculine a society is, the lower its ranking on

GII. I therefore draw a correlation that gender equality and masculinity are related to a certain

extent.

I have selected two cultural drivers of gender egalitarianism – religion and political systems

(House, et al., 2004) to further analyse:

Singapore promotes racial and religious harmony in its society due to the multicultural makeup.

All religions therefore enjoy equal footing in Singapore. On the other hand, Catholics form the

overwhelming majority in Polish society (StayPoland.com, n.d.). The Church held traditionalist

views on women as mother and wife (Heinen & Portet, 2009). This perhaps explains Singapore’s

scoring on Hofstede to be slightly effeminate, and Poland inclining towards masculinity due to

the extent of influence religion has on societal norms and values. Heinen & Portet (2009) argued

that government standing and policies were greatly influenced by the Church’s traditionalist

views, therefore resulting women on lesser social status as men. In comparison, the ‘strategic

egalitarianism’ approach (Lazar, 2001) by Singapore government had women entitled to equal

social rights as men along with education and employment opportunities. Religion therefore had

limited influence on gender equality in Singapore.

Singapore given its society composition is more diversified than Poland, therefore Bell would

find herself being accepted by Singaporeans, and therefore having her expatriate experience a

positive one.

5.2.2 Integration into foreign environment: success factors

I attribute Bell’s success to the following factors:

Bell’s desire to relocate was the greatest deciding factor for her to accept the assignment. She

was cross-culturally trained, having strong support and hence flexibility allowing her to adjust


quickly. Language proficiency further facilitated her communication, she being English educated

could communicate well with locals, despite little hiccups during her early years here (Wang &

Fang, 2007) (Kaczynska & Turpeinen, 2007) These factors had her willng to integrate into

Singapore environment not only made her expatriate assimiliation extremely successful; they

motivated her to seek Singapore residence.

6. Conclusion

Bell’s expatriate assimiliation was a resounding success that led to her settling in Singapore

long-term. Her desire to relocate, views on Singapore as a ‘better country’ and also willingness

to integrate were drivers of success. Redefining culture shock as ‘positive’, she experienced

gender equality here unlike back home, which was contrary to my perception of western

countries being gender equality advocates. She also had strong support to integrate with the

Singapore environment, faciliated by language proficiency and cross-cultural research. Given her

satisfaction with life here, I look forward for Bell to seek Singapore permanent residency in the

near future.

cross-cultural management - expatriate interview

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