Reciprocal adjustment? mainland Chinese managers in Hong Kong vs. Hong Kong Chinese managers on the mainland

Abstract

The adjustment of business managers from Beijing and Shanghai assigned to Hong Kong and of Hong Kong expatriates working in Beijing and Shanghai were compared in an exploratory study. The personal in‐depth interviews showed differences between the managers from the Chinese mainland and those from the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong. The mainland respondents perceived substantial adjustment needs inside and outside the workplace in Hong Kong, but made earnest efforts and experienced few obstacles. On the other hand, the predicament experienced by many Hong Kong managers on the mainland closely resembles the worst experiences of expatriate managers reported in the literature on international adjustment. The implications of these non‐reciprocal results are discussed, and possible reasons for such findings are speculated upon.