Building the Global Competence for Asian Leaders Comparative study on the intercultural sensitivity of Chinese, Indonesian and Singaporean international assignees

Principle Investigator: Prof. Dr. Hora Tjitra & Dr. Hana Panggabean 

Research Partners: 

Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China 

 

Atma Jaya  Catholic University Jakarta, Indonesia 

 

Zhejiang University  of Technology Hangzhou, China 

 

Funding Partner: 

Human Capital  Leadership Institute Singapore 

 

Background In the last few decades, Asian economies have been growing impressively. Most of the worldwide operating corporations are present and engaged actively in the region. More recent development shows an increasing international trade and across-borders investment as well as a growing bilateral and multilateral free-trade agreement among the Asian countries (e.g. CAFTA).

Thus these corporations and organizations are under intense pressure to develop competent and effective teams to meet Asian (and global) customer needs and to manage sophisticated across-borders business cases. The demand of Asian leaders who is able to work in multicultural environment and manage the team with different cultural background becomes much greater than ever before. Hence it indicates the needs of systematic development of intercultural competence and sensitivity for Asian leaders.

This study attempts to apply indigenous approach to deal with the under-developed systematic knowledge for non-Western societies and the lacking of practices to develop global Asian leaders. Series of in-depth interviews with Chinese, Indonesian and Singaporean international assignees and their local co-workers will be conducted in China, Indonesia and Singapore in addition to an online survey.

Objectives • Elaborating the challenges and problem solving strategies of Chinese,

Singaporean and Indonesian business leaders in international co-operations.

• Identifying key learning experiences to develop and sustain ICS for Chinese, Singaporean and Indonesian business leaders.

• Creating learning materials for leadership developmental programs, e.g., case studies, critical incidents, culture assimilator.

Benefits of participating in the study • The exchange of views and experiences will improve participants' knowledge

and understanding of cultural encounters in international contexts.

• The study deliverables and recommendation will contribute for a systematic development program for Asian leaders.

• Presentations or workshops on findings from the study can be arranged upon request in participating organizations.

• Learning experiences that derive from sharing views and unforgettable experiences.

Expected results

• Comprehensive and systematic findings on the current situations and practices of Chinese, Indonesian and Singaporean international assignees in Asia.

• Theoretical framework and working model of the intercultural competence and sensitivity of Asian Leaders, incl. culture specific particularity of Chinese, Indonesian and Singaporean.

• Systematic study on the challenges and synergy potentials of pan-Asian Teamwork focusing on Chinese, Indonesian and Singaporean.

• Learning materials to systematically develop the intercultural competence and sensitivity of Asian Leaders, in particular the one with Chinese, Indonesian and Singaporean origins.

Research method

• Qualitative In-Depth Interviews: All together 96 in-depth Interviews are going to be conducted in Indonesia and China. In China, the respondents are Indonesian and Singaporean expatriates who have been working and living in

China for at least one year; as well as their local Chinese co-workers and counter-parts. Respectively in Indonesia, the respondents are the Chinese and Singaporean expatriates who are working and

living in Indonesia for at least one year; as well as their local Indonesian co-workers and counter-parts. All interview are going to be recorded and fully transcribed. A systematic qualitative analysis procedure will

be applied to analyze the interview data, supporting with a computer-based software.

• Quantitative Online Survey: For the online survey, 250 respondents in Indonesia and China are targeted.

• We ensure the confidentiality of the data.

Interview topics

• Intercultural working situation in international contexts

• Key issues in cultural encounter experiences

• Intercultural strategies in managing cultural differences in international contexts

• Chinese/Indonesian/Singaporean specific intercultural behaviors in international contexts

• Global competences needed for Asian leaders

• Learning strategies to develop Asian global leaders

Research team

• Dr. Hora Tjitra, Dr. Hana Panggabean, Dr. Juliana Murniati, Dr. He Quan, Jiewei Zheng, Dan Zhao, Jia Zhou, Xiaojuan Wang, Chaohui Zhang, Sebastian Partogi, Tayyibah Mushtaq, Teng Shentu, Yuanbo Liu, Xixie Zhang.

If you have any relevant questions, please feel free to contact: Dr. He Quan (based in China):

Dr. Hana Panggabean (based in Indonesia): quanhe@zjut.edu.cn / +86 137 7788 2511 hana.panggabean@atmajaya.ac.id / +62 817 704 769

For more information, please visit us at http:/sinau.me/hcli

Principle investigator

Prof. Dr. Hora Tjitra

Associate Professor for Applied Psychology, Zhejiang University, China

Extensive experience in: • Intercultural

Qualification, Training and Consulting

• Executive Assessment and Coaching

• Talent Development and Management

• Strategic Change & Organizational Development

Professional Background • Dr. Tjitra has performed international management consultancy, training,

assessment, coaching and research in Asia and Europe. His working areas are focused on intercultural management as well as human resource, organizational and strategic development.

• Prior coming to China, he used to live and work in Germany for fourteen years and was responsible for the global diversity as well as Asian business and management development practices of leading HR consulting companies in Germany.

• In addition to his consulting works, he held a position as associate professor for applied psychology at the Zhejiang University (China).

Educational & Professional Qualification • Dr.-Phil. in Cross-Cultural Psychology and Strategic Management from the

University of Regensburg (Germany) • Dipl.-psych. in Organizational Behavior and HR Management from the

Technical University of Braunschweig (Germany) • Certification in Hogan Assessment System (China/US), Strategic Management

from McKinsey&Co (Italy/Germany) and HR Management from INSEAD (Singapore/France)

• Member of International Academy for Intercultural Research and International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology

References / Sample Clients • International project experiences for top and middle management at the global

and national level in over ten countries in Europe and Asia. • Clients incl. SAP, Saint-Gobain, Barco, Ameco Beijing, SCHOTT, Siemens,

BASF, DHL, Telkom Indonesia, etc.

Dr. Hana Panggabean

Director of School of Postgraduate Programs, Atma Jaya Indonesia Catholic University

Extensive experience in: • Intercultural

Communication Research and Training

• Indonesia Cultural Values Research

• Executive Assessment • Human Resources

Management Training

Professional Background • Dr. Panggabean is a member of teaching staff at the Faculty of Psychology,

Atma Jaya Indonesia Catholic University and currently is the Director of the Graduate School Atma Jaya Indonesia Catholic University, Jakarta.

• Within the scope of her works at the university, her organizational practices include employee assessment, intercultural workshops and focus group discussions, organizational diagnostic survey, and trainings on communication skills, work ethic, entrepreneurship and workplace creativity.

• In addition to her academic career, Dr. Panggabean carries out practices in HR management and organizational area. Prior joining Atma Jaya Indonesia Catholic University, she was responsible for recruitment and assessment, system development, team building training, and organizational diagnostic survey.

Educational & Professional Qualification • Dr.-Phil. in Intercultural Psychology from the University of Regensburg

(Germany) • Bachelor of Psychology and Psychologist from the University of Indonesia

(Indonesia) • Board member of the Association of Indonesian Psychology (HIMPSI) • Board expert of the Association of Indonesian Industrial & Organizational

Psychology (APIO) • Member of International Academy for Intercultural Research and International

Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology

References / Sample Clients • Clients incl. DHL Indonesia, Swiss-contact Indonesia, Charoen Pokphand

Indonesia, Erlangga Publications, Universitas Pembangunan Jaya, etc.