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Chapter I. Introduction
Most people are happier when they can be successful at work. Job success comes in many forms, for example, achieving performance goals, getting a promotion or serving customers better. It is very important to achieve a success in work, because it will build your self-esteem, make you feel good about your place in the world and help you to earn as much money as you can in your given occupation. If you have the dedication, there is no question that you can to become the best at whatever you do in Taiwan.
This research encompasses interview of successful foreigners in Taiwan. Living and working in any foreign country opens you up to an entirely new way of living. All those customs and habits we have in our home countries are just that, habits. The rest of the world doesn’t
necessarily live and work the way your society does. It is not better or worse, it is just different.
So it is worthy to analyze what are the criteria of the good job performance for the Taiwanese.
Foreigners personnel interviewed are all stationed in Taiwan. Based on the different nature of their mission, they are expected to accomplish different tasks and their performance is likely to be evaluated according to the parameters of their assignment. The performance appraisal system influences the behavior and performance of individuals (McGregor, 1972), which is important for the organization’s development of future human resources, and can help employees grow and develop the competencies needed now and in the future (Beer, 1997). It follows that foreigners performance appraisal should be tailored according to the nature of their mission. In the
following paragraphs, we report our research methodology and review relevant literature
concerning each aspect in PM (performance management), including goal settings, performance appraisal, training and development, and performance-related pay.
1.1. Research Motives
Every year there are a lot of foreigners coming to Taiwan. After at least one year most of them want to stay in Taiwan, find a job and be successful at work. But why they would like to live in Taiwan and don’t want to go back to their countries? Our interviewees answered this question in the following way:
The first reason is: the living standards are higher than in the most of countries. And finding a job for a foreigner is not easy and the leaving costs increase constantly, the taxes and social
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security contributions are quite high. Living in Taiwan is definitively not easy, but we notice…even if life is not easy, Taiwanese people still can smile…
The second reason is: the life of foreigner has some specialties and this look (blond hair and blue-green eyes) distinguishes him from most other people. When they enter a store, a restaurant etc. they always get the full attention of all people around…which basically is not a bad thing, but sometimes the reaction of Taiwanese people is just too extreme. However, we think that the attitude of Taiwanese people towards foreigners is mostly nice, open and generous. Furthermore we think that Taiwanese people really esteem the abilities of foreigners, most obvious of course their Chinese abilities. Although we sometimes think that people in Taiwan esteem the Chinese abilities of foreigners (I just say “hello” to them and they immediately respond with “hey, your Chinese is really good!”), we quite often take the chance to talk Chinese with them, not caring about that they basically want to talk to us in English. After our conversation many will say
“Your Chinese is really good!” once again, but this time it wouldn’t just sound like being polite, but rather sound like real esteem.
The third reason is: most of the foreigners like to experience the life and the culture in a foreign country. For westerners Taiwan is very special and interesting, because Taiwan seems to combine the characteristics of the Taiwanese, Chinese and western culture…not to mention the Japanese influence.
One of my friends said to me “If I was considering about going back home right now, I could hardly keep my optimistic attitude on life like I have in Taiwan.” And this is the most important reason why a lot of foreigners would like to stay in Taiwan and to find work besides the teaching industry.
A finding a job for a foreigner in Taiwan isn’t that easy, but the most difficult is to be successful at work. This thesis investigates the reasons of the successful foreigners' job performance in Taiwan. Therefore we obtained interview with some successful people to examine the phenomena.
1.2. Research Background.
Foreigners’ management has attracted much attention in the field of International Human Resource Management (IHRM). Foreign employees are also among the most expensive
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personnel in any organization operating internationally (Dowling et al.,1999). Foreigners’
management involves issues and problems that go beyond those of most other types of
employees. Yet our understanding of these workers and their management is notably less than that of other employees. Indeed, foreigners are often far from being the best-managed employees (Dowling et al, 1999; Tung, 1998).
In this study we conducted interviews with foreign employees of five companies in Taiwan.
These companies are:
GIGABYTE is market leader in the technology industry, was founded in 1986, establishing ouncontested position in continuous technological innovation. By focusing on key technologies and achieving strict quality standards, GIGABYTE has been regarded as an innovative and trusted motherboard leader in the globe. To keep pace in a rapidly changing world, they have offered a comprehensive product line covering Graphics Cards, PC Components, PC Peripherals, Laptops, Slate Devices, Desktop PCs, Network Communications, Servers and Mobile Phones.
They dedicate to building up a full-range digital life, responding promptly and sonorously to consumer desires and needs. A solid set of technical and professionals skills combined with the ability to adapt to new challenges is a definite plus.
P. Mauriat/Albest Musical Instruments, the manufacturer of woodwind and brassmusical instruments, top 10 International brand in saxophones and trumpets industry, top 4
international brand in saxophones industry.P. Mauriat was created to make the Highest Quality Instruments with the Best Sound easy accessible to all music enthusiasts and players all around the world. At P. Mauriat, they set the highest standard for each of their instruments. Despite their achievements, they continue to look for new ways to improve their instruments, and that is why they listen to all comments from their endorsers, professional players and hobbyists alike.
Marubeni Transportation. The Project Taipei Taoyuan International Airport Link is a combined MRT and airport express link system. The system is approximately 52 km long with 24 stations and 2 depots. The system is to run an express links between the international airport and Taipei as well as an MRT between Taoyuan and Taipei. Project value US$ 1 billion.
Liankuann Enterprises Co., LTD. has been established in the radiator industry since 1979'.
They are a reputable world class professional manufactor with around 30-year experience in
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Taiwan and worldwide exporters (Japan, Italy, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Egypt, Jordan, Russia, Belarus, Philippines, etc). They specialize in brass radiators.They got lots quality certificate such ISO 9001 and ISO-2000. Their main products are including brass radiators, manufacturing tools and equipments. They can provide a complete line of aluminum and aluminum machine.
Polylight Electronics Co., LTD. (established in 1996) is an experienced manufacturer of electronic products -calculators, radio, clocks, currency converters, pedometers, radio controlled clocks etc. It is also a reliable partner of both OEM and ODM by combining its technical
expertise and efficient manufacturing processes with its ideas. The company aims to provide quality goods and service, competitive price and flexible delivery to worldwide customers.
1.3. Research Purpose and Problem Statement.
In this research we intend to study determinants of foreign professionals' performance, how to achieve success in work in Taiwan. One of the purposes was also to obtain detailed information on EPM – Expatriate Performance Management (practices, including goal setting, performance appraisal, training and development, and performance-related pay).
With the aim of this research three problem statements were pointed:
• We all go through changes constantly, situations and new environment can be numerous, so it is needed to keep a ready answer for the question “How to adapt yourself in Taiwan”.
• In order to be successful at your working place it is important to understand how to create a positive and productive relationship with the supervisor.
• Frequent meetings between supervisor and subordinate can produce intensive interaction. It is desired to undercover the differences in the arrangements of performance raters as well as the benefits and negative factors of feedback.
1.4. Terminology Used in the Research.
Job performance is a commonly used, the branch of psychology that deals with the workplace.
It's also part of Human Resources Management. It most commonly refers to whether a person
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performs their job well. Despite the confusion over how it should be exactly defined, performance is an extremely important criterion that relates to organizational outcomes and success. Among the most commonly accepted theories of job performance comes from the work of John P. Campbell and colleagues. Coming from a psychological perspective, Campbell describes job performance as an individual level variable. That is, performance is something a single person does.
Performance management (PM) has traditionally been used as a guide for employee
performance. Over the past 20 years, PM has expanded from evaluating employee performance to more comprehensive functions such as goal setting, training, feedback and development, and motivation (Mabey and Salaman, 1995). Through effective coordination of individual objectives and corporate strategy, as well as clearer communication and appropriate incentives, PM can help companies to induce desired employee behavior and better firm performance (Tahvanainen, 2000; Jackson and Schuler, 2003).
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