Bahman P. Ebrahimi

Perceived Strategic Uncertainty and Environmental Scanning Behavior of Hong Kong Chinese Executives

Abstract Against the backdrop of the handover of Hong Kong to the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and the existence of an atmosphere of uncertainty in the territory, I attempted in this study to examine the relationship between perceived environmental uncertainty and scanning behavior of Hong Kong Chinese executives. Contrary to expectations, results indicated that Hong Kong Chinese executives perceived higher degree of uncertainty in the competitive, customer, and economic sectors than the political. These managers also scanned the task environment more intensely than the remote. Finally, there was a positive relationship between the degree of perceived strategic uncertainty and scanning behavior as measured by frequency and interest.

Executive Environmental Scanning, Information Source Utilisation, and Firm Performance: The case of Nigeria

This study examined sources of information used, environmental scanning practices, and organisational performance of CEOs of 47 small to medium-sized Nigerian manufacturing firms. The results show that environmental scanning practices vary from firm to firm depending on the characteristics of the environment within which they have to operate. For the Nigerian sample there was greater scanning frequency in the economic and political/legal sectors of the environment, followed by the customer/market and competitor sectors. Environmental scanning frequency did not appear to affect organisational performance as measured by profit margin and return on equity. There was a preference for internal over external sources of information, but there was no difference in the use of personal and impersonal sources. The results are evaluated in light of the characteristics of the Nigerian environment and the results of prior scanning research.

Personal characteristics and adjustment of Chinese mainland business expatriates in Hong Kong

Chinese mainland business expatriates assigned to Hong Kong were surveyed assessing their socio-cultural and psychological adjustment. The investigation explored the association of a variety of personal characteristics with adjustment to work and life in the territory. The main results of the study showed that expatriates from the neighbouring Guangdong Province, male expatriates, younger expatriates and expatriates who were accompanied by their spouses were better adjusted in Hong Kong than others. On the other hand, expatriates recruited directly from universities were less well adjusted than those hired from other sources. Implications of these findings are drawn and future avenues for improving and extending this kind of exploratory research are discussed.

Managerial motivation and gender roles: a study of females and males in Hong Kong

Chinese women are often perceived as passive, submissive, lacking aggressiveness and a drive to be successful managers. Using a previously validated culturally modified Miner Sentence Completion Scale‐H (for hierarchic), this study compares the motivation to manage a sample of 156 BBA and MBA students in Hong Kong. Results indicate no significant differences between the scores of males and females on the total MSCS‐H or its components, including assertiveness and competitiveness. Gender role differences are not supported by differences in managerial motivation of Hong Kong business students.

Career management of business expatriates from China

Chinese mainland business managers assigned to Hong Kong responded to a mail survey exploring issues on career management. The group of mainland managers was compared with a sample of Western expatriates, mostly from the US, France, and Britain. It was found that the Chinese expatriates had a significantly lower score than their Western counterparts on all the studied individual level career management variables: expatriate career preferences, meeting career goals within the corporation, career development fit, and right career move. Of the corporate level policy variables, corporate expatriate pool and separate expatriate careers also had lower scores for the Chinese than the Western managers. These findings support the behavioral process model of internationalization claiming that internationalization is a matter of learning. Implications of these results for internationalizing Chinese corporations are discussed.

Environment, Executive Information Search Activities, and Firm Performance A Comparative Study of Hong Kong and Nigerian Decision-makers

This study examines the relationships between perceived strategic uncertainty, environmental scanning, information source use, and firm performance in Hong Kong and Nigeria. The results of the study provide strong support for the assertion that the external environment of firms differs from country to country. The results indicate that there is a positive relationship between perceived strategic uncertainty and frequency and level of interest in the industry and macro sectors of the environment for both samples of decision-makers. Hong Kong decision-makers ascribe a greater level of dynamism to the technology sector, while the Nigerian sample attribute a greater degree of perceived strategic uncertainty to the political/legal, economic, and resource availability sectors. The two samples of decision-makers seem to differ in their use of information sources, with the Hong Kong executives relying on a broad range of sources and the Nigerians depending primarily on impersonal sources. There are also differences in the impact of scanning on firm performance. Significant relationships exist between scanning frequency, interest, and performance in Nigeria but not in Hong Kong.

Motivation to Manage in China and Hong Kong: A Gender Comparison of Managers

Although women comprise an important part of the labor force in Hong Kong and the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), they remain underrepresented and underutilized in managerial positions. This study investigates the applicability of role motivation theory in the Chinese culture and examines if lack of motivation to manage is a potential explanation for this underrepresentation. Data were collected from 127 Hong Kong (68 men and 59 women) and 175 mainland Chinese (128 men and 47 women) managers. As expected, Hong Kong managers possess significantly higher levels of motivation to manage than do their PRC counterparts. There are, however, no significant gender-based differences in levels of motivation to manage in either Hong Kong or the PRC. Lack of motivation to manage does not appear to contribute to the underutilization of Chinese women in management in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Adjustment of Chinese mainland vs. Western business expatriates assigned to Hong Kong

Business expatriates from the PRC mainland and Western countries assigned to Hong Kong were surveyed assessing their sociocultural and psychological adjustment. Despite their common cultural heritage, the results showed that Chinese mainland business expatriates were less well adjusted to work and life in Hong Kong than their Western counterparts. Implications of these findings are discussed and future avenues for improving and extending this kind of exploratory research are examined.

Motivation to manage in Hong Kong: modification and test of Miner Sentence Completion Scale‐H

Examines the construct validity of the Miner Sentence Completion Scale form‐H (MSCS‐H for hierarchic) as a measure of managerial role motivation theory in Hong Kong. Managerial motivation or motivation to manage has been shown to be a major cause of managerial effectiveness and success in large bureaucratic organizations in the USA and elsewhere. Data were collected from a sample of Hong Kong business students. A three‐part questionnaire containing the MSCS‐H, demographic and educational background information, and objective measures relating to the MSCS‐H and its subscales was used as the research instrument. No significant influence of demographics and educational variables on levels of managerial motivation were detected. As hypothesized, the objective measures including the preference for managerial jobs and employment with a large company positively correlated with levels of motivation to manage. In addition, relevant questionnaire measures positively correlated with the underlying constructs of MSCS‐H. Overall, analyses provide further support for the construct validity of the theory’s main construct (MSCS‐H) in Hong Kong.

Corporate career support: Chinese mainland expatriates in Hong Kong

Business expatriates from the Chinese mainland assigned to Hong Kong responded to a questionnaire regarding availability and usage of corporate career development activities. It was found that corporate development activities had a very low availability, indicating little interest on the part of the Chinese parent organizations to assist in the development of their expatriates’ careers. Comparing these findings with western expatriates in the territory, the Chinese expatriates were at a clear disadvantage. Nevertheless, those career development activities that were made available by the Chinese assigning organizations were well used.