A STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF FACTORS INFLUENCING
INTERNATIONAL STAFF ALLOCATION:
A CASE STUDY OF WATER PURIFICATION COMPANY
Master Student
：Philipp Aschwanden
Advisor
：Dr. Lin, Tyng-Ruu
Institute of Management of Technology College of Management
National Chiao-Tung University
ABSTRACT
This exploratory study focuses on what factors and moderating variables influence Ultra Pure Water Service (UPWS) customers in making a selection in favor of foreign or local UPWS staff in Taiwan who lead to the Staff Allocation Strategy (the assignment of the right UPWS staff for the customer) of the UPWS company. Here in this case study, it focus more on the quality factor called INTERACTIVE QUALITY (WHO delivers the service) to evaluate the quality gap/perceived service quality compared to the functional quality (HOW the service is delivered) and technical quality (WHAT is delivered).
Keywords: Interactive Quality (WHO), Staff Allocation Strategy, B2B in Service Quality, Communication/Language Problems, Work Performance, Cultural Differences
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The work presented in this IMBA thesis was carried out at the Department of Management of Technology at National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, R.O.C., Taiwan. Several key people have contributed to this work.
First, I would like to thank my adviser Professor Lin, Grace T. R for her support, comments, and encouragement throughout the work leading to this thesis, Professor Wang, Yau-De for his support in cross checking the Chinese translation of the interview questionnaire and for his recommendations and Hsu, Yin-Tai for her translation of the interview/questionnaire into Chinese.
I am also grateful to all respondents who took the time to be in this study that helped me to accomplish this IMBA thesis.
Finally, I would like to thank all my fellow students at NCTU and especially my wife Chen, Shu-Nuan for her support and understanding during the IMBA study and thesis work.
CONTENTS
ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii CONTENTS iii 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 DEFINITION OF ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYMS 1 1.2 RESEARCH BACKGROUND 2 1.3 RESEARCH MOTIVES 5 1.4 RESEARCH GOALS 6 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 11 2.1 COMMUNICATION/LANGUAGE PROBLEMS 12 2.2 CULTURAL DIFFERENCES 152.3 ULTRA PURE WATER SERVICE WORK PERFORMANCE 19
2.4 QUALITY GAP/PERCEIVED SERVICE QUALITY 22
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 23
3.1 RESEARCH PROCESS 23
3.2 RESEARCH FRAMEWORK 26
3.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 26
3.3.1 RESEARCH APPROACH 26
3.3.2 LITERATURE REVIEW ON CASE STUDY MODELS 26
3.3.3 INTERVIEW AND QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD 29
4. DATA ANALYSIS 32
4.1 DATA COLLECTION AND SAMPLE SELECTING 32
4.2 DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS (FIRST STAGE) 32
4.3 DATA RESULTS 34
4.3.1 PERSONAL INFORMATION SECTION 1 34
4.3.2 COMMUNICATION SECTION 2 34
4.3.3 UPWS (ULTRA PURE WATER SERVICE)
WORK PERFORMANCE SECTION 3 34
4.3.4 CULTURAL DIFFERENCES SECTION 4 34
5. STATISTICAL ANALYSES 36 5.1 STATISTICS ANALYSES OF
THE QUESTIONNAIRE (FIRST STAGE) 36
5.2 STATISTICS ANALYSES OF
THE IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW (SECOND STAGE) 38
5.3 OTHER FINDINGS OF THE INTERVIEW/QUESTIONNAIRE
AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW 48
5.4 CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION 51
6. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH 54
6.1 SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH 54
6.2 CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE RESEARCH 55
6.3 LIMITATION OF THE RESEARCH 55
6.4 FUTURE RESEARCH 56 7. REFERENCES 58 8. APPENDIX 1 61 9. APPENDIX 2 73 10. APPENDIX 3 85 11. APPENDIX 4 95
1. INTRODUCTION
The first part on this research focuses on the research background, motives, and goals.
1.1 DEFINITION OF ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYMS
Acronym/Abbreviation Meaning
B2B Business to Business
CLV Collectivism
CRM Customer Relationship Management
CV Chinese Version
EV English Version
EPC Engineering/Procurement/Construction
ES Expected Service
FEM Femininity
GLOBE Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness
HRM Human Research Management
IDV Individualism
ISAS International Staff Allocation Strategy
JV Joint Venture
LTO Long and short-term time focus
MAS Masculinity
PDI Power Distance Index
PS Perceived Service
SAS Staff Allocation Strategy
TQM Total Quality Management
UAI Uncertainty Avoidance Index
UPWP Ultra Pure Water Plants
UPWS PC UPWS Parent Company
UPWS Ultra Pure Water Service
1.2 RESEARCH BACKGROUND
The following situation of the Ultra Pure Water Service Company (UPWS) is illustrated in Diagram 1.1.
Explanation:
Parent Company: A global company headquartered in Europe (Switzerland) with many subsidiaries and joint ventures worldwide.
JV Subsidiary
UPWS: A joint venture subsidiary from the parent company (75%) and a local company (25%) in Taiwan. Thirty employees of UPWS, including four to six expatriates. Customers: Represent a group of global/international/local organizations/companies or a
single company in Taiwan.
Profile of the UPWS Parent Company (UPWS PC) Group
The UPWS PC group is one of Europe’s leading companies for industrial and municipal water treatment their technology also occupies major positions in important growth markets in Asia. More then 1,000
Parent Company Expatriates Local employees
JV Subsidiary:
UPWS company
Stronger business connecting/knowledge trust/B2B relationship
Normal business connecting/knowledge trust/B2B relationship
Diagram 1.1: Status of the UPWS company
U
P
WS
c
o
m
p
a
n
y
’s
C
u
st
o
m
er
s
The Pharma & Life Science division offers complete water process solutions and services for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.
The Ultrapure Water division serves customers from the semiconductor, power generation, and petrochemical industries and offers various other branches in the areas of industrial process and wastewater complete solutions, include recycling.
The Food & Beverage division focuses on the foodstuffs and beverages industries, including water treatment and the production of syrups and preservations.
The Municipal Water treatment division is aimed at the communal water technology market and offers turnkey Engineering/Procurement/Construction (EPC) solutions.
Their production range encompasses all basic technologies for water treatment such as filtering, flocculation, evaporations, adsorption, and disinfection with UV radiation and ozone. Further products are ion-selective membranes, ion exchangers, electrodeionisation (EDI), and membrane-based systems (microfiltration, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, and reverse osmosis). See Diagram 1.2: Ultra Pure Water Plant (Simplified).
Diagram 1.2: Ultra Pure Water Plant (simplified)
Starting from their strong market position in Europe, the UPWS PC group has in the past few years set up a global network with production facilities in the USA, China, and India, and has extended the range of services offered to its globally active customers.
One part of the UPWS PC global network is the joint venture subsidiary UPWS company in Taiwan. The UPWS company in Taiwan focuses on business to business in the service industry with global, international, and local customers in Taiwan to provide after sales service (e.g., replacements, repair, trouble shooting, maintenance of parts, and middle orders for new Ultra Pure Water Plants [UPWP]) and
for two years has also provided offers for new Ultra Pure Water plants for semiconductor, TFT, and pharma companies.
During the first period of operation (2000–2003), led by a local manager director and supported by a foreign supervisor of systems engineering (from the UPWS parent company in Switzerland), UPWS had fewer after sales service orders from their main customer but just enough orders from other smaller customers. The parent company decided by the end of 2003 to reorganize the JV subsidiary and to increase the shares of this subsidiary to the current level of 75%.
This reorganization had the consequence of bringing an additional foreigner from Europe on board as the managing director and director of the after-sales service at UPWS. He obtained more after-sales service orders from the main customers but nearly no orders from smaller customers. By the end of 2004, UPWS decided to hire an additional (local) director for the after-sales service; this director would not have the charge of leading the company.
Since the redundancy implementation of after-sales service directors, UPWS was able to increase the total after-sales service orders every year after the local director won back the smaller customers. This position redundancy of directors (both foreigner and local staff)—also called a double boxed situation— was also implemented in the sales and project division and the mechanical and electrical supervisor system engineering divisions.
The UPWS company has since realized that some customers (main customers) feel more comfortable working and communicating with a UPWS foreigner, and others want to work with UPWS local staff (smaller customers). I defined this phenomenon as
International Staff Allocation Strategy (ISAS) / short form (SAS) Staff Allocation Strategy or “Assigning the Right UPWS Staff to the Customer”
The UPWS company already tried to correctly employ ISAS by assigning right UPWS staff to the customer, but they came to the conclusion that the cultural differences between Taiwan customers, local UPWS staff, and the home country of the foreign UPWS staff (Europe, Germany, Switzerland, and Holland) created communication/language problems. The Ultra Pure Water Service work performance (after-sales service, service quality) was provided by both local and foreign staff of UPWS.
1.3 RESEARCH MOTIVES
For eight years, I have lived Hsinchu, Taiwan, and have worked in the Hsinchu Semiconductor Industry Science Park for UPWS as an expatriate in the position of “senior supervisor system engineer. My duties are to maintain, repair, trouble shoot and provide after-sales service to over 10 different semiconductor companies, which are also known as FABs, TFT companies, and pharma companies.
Over the years, I have had many interactions and cultural exchanges between local UPWS staff and local customers. With the increase on after-sales service, we had to hire local UPWS staff to support us. Over the years, I have witnessed how local or expatriate after-sales service director managers have handled, with varying success, the UPWS office in Taiwan.
The UPWS company now faces a phenomenon that has emerged over the last few years. The UPWS company in Taiwan needs to create a double box situation for each important job position, which means that some positions will be double occupied, because some customers prefer more local UPWS staff and some prefer the foreign UPWS staff.
The UPWS company and their customers (after a short interview with five to six persons) considered following factors:
1) Cultural differences and communication/language problems between home and host country can play a role in this phenomenon, but at the same time, the UPWS company realizes that all customers face nearly the same problems.
2) Next, they considered whether UPWS work performance (after-sales service, service quality) provided by the UPWS company’s local and foreign staff could have made an influence on this phenomenon, but this thought was never actually investigated or questioned with the customers.
The motive in this research is to investigate what factors influence the UPWS customers to select a foreign or local UPWS staff member with whom to work. The answers to this question lead to the staff allocation strategy for the UPWS company. I will concentrate first on three factors already mentioned during the short interview of the five to six persons of the UPWS company and their customers. Additionally (during the short interview), the UPWS company was interested to know how the foreign and local UPWS staff could provide better customer service (i.e., what are the strengths and
1.4 RESEARCH GOALS
The International Staff Allocation Strategy (ISAS) or in shorter form (SAS) Staff Allocation Strategy is a strategy of the UPWS company to assign the right staff (foreigner or local) to their customers. The SAS idea is to place the right person with the right customer for all customer service requests or projects. In other literature, this strategy is known as human resource management (HRM). “Human Resource Management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization's most valued assets—the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business” (Armstrong, 2006, p. #).
The goal of HRM is to help an organization meet strategic goals by attracting and maintaining employees (staff) while managing them effectively.
The difference between HRM and the UPWS company’s SAS is that SAS helps meet the company’s strategic goals, maintain employees (staff), and manage them effectively. But ISAS/SAS goes one step further: it also helps, at the same time, to satisfy the customers as a part of the service quality (customer service); the combination of employee/customer satisfaction is also known as total quality management (TQM).
Human resources are equally important for TQM success. Therefore, it could be said that people’s awareness of quality is central to TQM’s purpose (Psychogios and Priporas, 2007). Here we have the same situation: ISAS/SAS (or HRM) is important for the UPWS company’s service quality (or TQM). A definition of TQM by the American Federal Office of Management Budget Circular (cited in Milakovich, 1990, p. 209), describes TQM as “a total organizational approach for meeting customer needs and
expectations that involves all managers and employees in using qualitative methods to improve continuously the organization’s processes, products and services.”
This definition is also implemented in the UPWS company and their subsidiaries, but their contribution and responsibility to the TQM among the UPWS subsidiaries (wholly owned or JV companies) and the headquarters of UPWS is not the same.
The UPWS company headquarters is fully responsibility for TQM associated with the “hard” side of TQM (management tools and techniques) and the “soft” side of TQM (management concepts and principles) (Psychogios and Priporas, 2007), but the UPWS subsidiaries need to focus only on the “soft” side of TQM. See Table 1.1, “hard” aspects of TQM and Table 1.2, “soft” aspects of TQM.
Table 1.1: “Hard” Aspects of TQM
TQM Techniques, tools, and systems Statistical Process Control
ISO 9000 Series Pareto Analysis Matrix Diagram Histograms
Tree Decision Diagram Critical Path Analysis
Fishbone or Ishakawa Diagram
“Hard” TQM Practices Identified in Quality Management Literature (Psychogios and Priporas; 2007, p. 43).
Table 1.2: “Soft” Aspects of TQM TQM Concepts
Total Employee Involvement Continuous Improvement Continuous Training Teamwork
Empowerment
Top Management Commitment and Support Democratic Management Style
Customer/Citizen Satisfaction Cultural Change
“Soft” TQM Concepts Identified in Quality Management Literature (Psychogios and Priporas, 2007, p. 44).
What is the reason for this different contribution and responsibility to TQM (service quality) between the UPWS subsidiaries (wholly owned or JV companies) and the headquarters of the UPWS company? According the organization’s goals and strategy, TQM has clearly defined standards that all members of the organizations need to follow. These standards vary from organization to organization. The UPWS company and its subsidiaries unfortunately have no clearly defined standards on service quality (or TQM). The UPWS company headquarters delegates the definition, standards, regulations, and/or improvements of service quality to the customers under the control of the director from the subsidiary or JV company (here in Taiwan, it is the foreign UPWS director for after-sales service, a JV company) and is localized based on the different environmental situations with the thought that this provides more flexibility toward the customers in different countries.
If we look on the “soft” aspects of TQM, there is one aspect of tremendous interest: customer/citizen satisfaction. In a total quality context, customer satisfaction is the driving force for an organization to improve its performance (Moore, Hopkins, and Hopkins, 1998; Zairi, 2000). Not only does the
organization need to improve its performance, but the employees of the organization (foreigner or local UPWS staff) need to improve their performance (UPWS work performance). To improve the work performance of each employee (foreigner or local UPWS staff), the organization (UPWS company) needs to make an inventory of customer data and customer complaints or recommendations. Compiling
this information will help UPWS come to an understanding of customers’ situations and needs, which will help evaluate and improve the work performance of each employee (foreign or local UPWS staff).
Lagrosen (2001) states that although a customer focus is revered, methods for developing a deeper understanding of the customer’s situation are not sufficiently integrated into TQM. Most researchers on customer service, quality service, or even TQM goes in the direction of developing a deeper
understanding of the customer’s situation. The focus is on HOW the service is delivered (functional quality) and WHAT is delivered (technical quality) to the customers. With HOW and WHAT, the customers can evaluate the service provided by the service company (Gronroos, 1982). “Service quality is a measure of how well the service level delivered matches customers’ expectations. Delivering quality service means conforming to customers’ expectations on a consistent basis” (Levis and Booms, 1983).
In the research from Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman (1985), which focuses on business to consumer (consumer/market), they implement a model that describes HOW the consumers evaluates service quality. These researchers introduce 10 criteria that determine service quality (regardless of the type of service).
The consumers compare HOW and WHAT is delivered to their perceived service (PS) and expected service (ES). They compare these items and arrive at an evaluation of the quality of service.
If we change by the framework from Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman (1985) the 10 criteria that determine the service quality (regardless of the type of service) with HOW (functional quality) and WHAT (technical quality), and then change the context of personal needs to personal/company needs (focus on business to business), then we will have following framework (also see Figure 1.1):
Diagram 1.3: Perceived Service Quality (B2B)
Word Of Mouth
PERSONAL/
COMPANY Needs Past Experiences
This framework is suitable if the service company has the same origin country as from which the company operates. The HRM needs to consider mostly the work performance of new employees according the strategy and goals of their company.
It is know that in labor-intensive services, quality occurs during service delivery, usually in an interaction between the client and the contact person from the service firm (Lehtinen and Lehtinen, 1982). In their research, they discussed three kinds of quality (but focused on business to consumer):
1) Physical quality, involving physical aspects associated with the service such as equipment or building;
2) Corporate quality, involving a service firm’s image or reputation; and
3) Interactive quality, involving interactions between service personal and customers.
How will interactive quality impact a company’s HRM? Or, in the case of the UPWS company, an SAS that has worldwide subsidiaries that provide customer service with local and foreign UPWS staff, what additional factors must also be considered when determining work performance?
WHO or WHICH UPWS staff member will the customer select (local or foreign) to deliver the best service? How can the company provide to customer the right UPWS staff (local or foreign)? What factors influence the customer when he or she selects the UPWS staff (local or foreign), which leads to the phenomena of ISAS/SAS by the UPWS company?
In this research, the proposition is that if a company is operating internationally or globally in the business to business service industry, and if the company has employees of different nationalities (locals and foreigners of different countries), WHAT and HOW the service is delivered is not enough to evaluate the delivered service quality. The WHO will deliver the service or INTERACTIVE QUALITY is also important criteria in the evaluation of perceived service quality.
The goal of this exploratory research is to focus on the new aspect of how the customer makes a selection of the person (WHO will deliver or execute the service by the customer?). What interactive quality is present, especially if the customer has the option to select between a local and a foreign (nonlocal) staff member to execute or deliver the service in the business to business service industry?
• Where can the International Staff Allocation Strategy (ISAS/SAS) of the UPWS company work into its framework?
• Are there more factors that were mentioned in the short interview (such as communication, cultural differences, and work performance) that influence the customers to make a selection in favor of a foreign or local UPWS staff member? (Remember, these factors lead to ISAS/SAS by the UPWS company).
• Are there moderating variables that will influence these three factors? Do
communication/language problem, cultural differences, and work performance affect the customers’ decisions (and hence, the company’s ISAS/SAS)?
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
The second chapter on this research focuses on the existing literature regarding factors that influence customers (business to business) in making a selection in favor of a foreign or local UPWS staff (which leads to ISAS/SAS of the UPWS company) and on a literature review on perceived service (PS) and expected service (ES).
First focus on three factors and on SAS that were mentioned during short interviews of five to six respondents of the UPWS company and their customers. Then, continue to look at additional factors that are reviewed in literature.
• Work Performance/Service Quality • Service Quality, B2B, TQM • Communication
• Relationship Marketing • Cultural Differences • Hofstede, GLOBE
In Chapter 1, we saw that the “soft” aspect of TQM is comprised of some factors that are similar (Psychogios and Priporas, 2007, p. 44). Here, we will investigate these aspects further.
“Soft” Aspects, TQM Concepts Total Employee Involvement
Continuous Improvement Work Performance/Service Quality
Continuous Training Teamwork
Empowerment
Top-Management Commitment and Support Democratic Management Style
Customer/Citizen Satisfaction Work Performance/Service Quality Cultural Change Cultural Differences
2.1 COMMUNICATION/LANGUAGE PROBLEMS
Here in this part of the study, it researched the communication/language problems and focus on how effectively the UPWS company and their customers communicate (language ability, clear understanding of the words, sentences, and meanings) in English and Chinese. We attempt to answer the question: “How does communication/language problem influence customers in making selections in favor of foreign or local staff?”
The other interpretation of communication is in the factor of work performance or service quality (Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman, 1985). This factor is defined as a focus on keeping customers informed in a language (technical language) that they can understand. This focus involves
• Explaining the service (with repair, maintenance, trouble shooting procedures); • Explaining how much the service will cost;
• Explaining the trade-off between service and cost; and
• Assuring the customer that the problem will be handled and solved.
I add “language problems” to the factor of communication to distinguish between the factor of
communication (new communication/language problems) and the criterion “communication” in the 10 determinants of service quality by Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman (1985) that focus on HOW one communicates, HOW one explains, and the way in which one communicates with the customers.
After the definition of the factor of communication/language problems, I will discuss the literature review about this factor.
There are already many studies existing that highlight the difficulties and differences in communication between expatriates (foreigner) and host country staff and costumers (locals). The multiplicity of language use and the diversity of cultures have a constraining influence on communication in multinational corporations (Terpstra, 1991). Culture and language are barriers that an expatriate (foreigner) will face if he/she tries to communicate with local staff or customers in the host country. An easy flow of communication is an important characteristic of a strong relationship (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). To easer the flow of communication, it is necessary to speak in a single language that both parties
In the research conducted by Du-Babcock and Babcock (1996) that describes the interactive communication process between foreign expatriates and local Chinese personnel (in Taiwan), they explored whether expatriates developed remarkably different communication strategies and ways of interacting with the local staff in three identified communication zones, taking into account both cultural and language factors. They focused on expatriate and local staff (working in the same
organization/company) and determined whether they were able to develop efficient but different communication systems in all three zones, as follows:
Zone One Communication. Expatriates (foreigners) might be able to use greetings, ordinary social expressions, and simple questions; however, almost all expatriate–Chinese personal communication is translated into English, as the expatriate cannot speak or understand enough Chinese to fulfill the complete communication process.
Zone Two Communication. The expatriate–Chinese communication is primarily conducted in English, but some communication exchanges are in Chinese. Chinese-language communication transactions are possible because zone-two expatriates are partially bilingual. The zone-two expatriates, although they could communicate in Chinese, still spoke less fluently in Chinese then their Chinese counterparts did in speaking English.
Zone Three Communication. The expatriates in zone three are fully bilingual; these individuals can choose to communicate in either English or Chinese.
It would be of interest if this approach could also be applied for business to business (B2B) in the service industry, but with some modifications on the context and focus based on the UPWS company and their customers.
Zone One Communication (B2B). The expatriate and host country customer might be able to use greetings, ordinary social expressions, and simple questions; however, almost all expatriate–host country customer communication is transacted in English or Chinese, with the support of a translator, as the expatriates can’t speak or understand enough Chinese and the host country customer can’t speak or understand enough English to fulfill the complete communication process.
Zone Two Communication (B2B). The expatriate and host country customer communication is primarily conducted in English, but some communication exchanges are in Chinese. Chinese language communication transactions are possible because zone-two expatriates and host country customers are partially bilingual. Sometimes a translator is still needed for language related to techniques or to contracts.
Zone Three Communication (B2B), Expatriate and host country customers are fully bilingual; these individuals can choose to communicate in either English or Chinese without a language linkpin (translator).
With the modified approach (applied for business to business in the service industry and between the UPWS company and their customers), it can indentify which communication zone the respondents are in and compare that with their answers on the interview questionnaire (FIRST STAGE), during which they were asked directly if communication/language problems influenced their selection or not.
For this research following proposition:
• If most of the respondents are in Zone One Communication, then more respondents should be influenced by the factor “Communication/language problems” when they select a foreign or a local staff. “YES, communication/language problems influence selection.”
• If most of the respondents are in Zone Three Communication, then few respondents should be influenced by the factor “Communication/language problems” when they make a selection in favor of foreign or local staff. “NO, communication/language problems don’t influence selection.”
• If most of the respondents are in Zone Two Communication, then some respondents should be influenced by the factor and some not. “Communication/Language problems can influence selection.”
The results will help to confirm whether communication and language problems are a factor considered by customers who are selecting a foreign or local staff member with whom to work. Knowing the answer to this question, UPWS can implement ISAS/SAS to better serve their customers and the company itself. The UPWS company can also gain a deeper understanding of the customers’ situations and language problems, helping the company to prepare better for meetings with customers (the support service quality mentioned in chapter 1.3).
2.2 CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
The culture of different nations and counties is well researched and documented regarding how it affects people of different cultures’ interactions (Haire, Ghiselli, and Porter, 1963; Hofstede, 1980, 1991, 1995; Triandis, 1982; Trompenaars, 1993). The most-used cultural differences approach is from Hofstede (four-dimensional model of natural culture, 1980) and includes the fifth dimension of long- and short-term time focus (Hofstede, 1995; Bond, 1988). This approach is broadly accepted as a descriptor of natural culture (Chow, Shields, and Chan 1991; Triandis, 1982).
1) Power Distance Index (PDI): the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally.
2) Individualism IDV vs. Collectivism CLV: individualism in societies in which the ties between individuals are loose; everyone is expected to look after him/herself and his/her immediate family. Collectivism is the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups.
3) Masculinity MAS vs. Femininity FEM: the distribution of roles between the genders, which is another fundamental issue for any society to which a range of solutions are found.
4) Uncertainty Avoidance Index UAI: society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to man's search for truth.
5) Long and short-term time focus LTO: values associated with long-term orientation are thrift and perseverance; values associated with short-term orientation are respect for tradition, fulfilling social obligations, and protecting one's “face.”
See in TABLE 2.1 for the country scores from Taiwan, Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands according the five cultural dimensions from Hofstede.
TABLE 2.1:
Hofstede’s Five Cultural Dimensions: Taiwan, Switzerland, Germany, and The Netherlands
TAIWAN SWITZERLAND GERMANY NETHERLANDS
Power distance PDI 58 34 35 38
Individualism/ Collectivism IDV CLV 17 A 68 67 80B Masculinity/ Femininity MAS FEM 45 70 C 66 14D Uncertainty Avoidance UAI 69 58 65 53
Long- and short-
term time focus LTO 87
E
-- 31F 44
A: More Collectivism B: More Individualism C: More Masculinity D: More Femininity
E: More Short-Term Time Focus (Tradition)
F: More Long-Term Time Focus (Thrift, Perseverance)
One of the newest research programs (global leadership and organizational behavior effectiveness, or GLOBE, 2002) focuses on culture and leadership in 62 nations by surveying thousands of middle
mangers through different industries in these countries. GLOBE also compares the cultures and attributes of effective leadership. Here are the nine cultural dimensions that GLOBE used for their surveys:
1. Power Distance
Power distributed equally
2. Collectivism I: Societal Collectivism
Organizational and societal institutional practices encourage and reward collective distribution of resources and collective action.
3. Collectivism II: In-Group Collectivism
Individuals express pride, loyalty, and cohesiveness in their organizations or families 4. Gender Egalitarianism
Minimizes gender inequality 5. Assertiveness Orientation
Individuals are assertive, confrontational, and aggressive in their relationships with others 6. Uncertainty Avoidance
Alleviate unpredictability of future events through norms, rules, and procedures 7. Future Orientation
Individuals engage in future-oriented behaviors 8. Performance Orientation
Collective encouragement and rewards for performance improvement and excellence 9. Human Orientation
See in Table 2.2 for the country scores from Taiwan, Switzerland, Germany, and The Netherlands, according the nine cultural practices from GLOBE. In Table 2.3, see GLOBE scores according to
“Cultural Clusters Classified on Societal Culture Practices” between Germanic Europe, Confucian Asian, and Taiwan.
TABLE 2.2:
GLOBE’s Country scores on Cultural Practices
TAIWAN SWITZERLAND GERMANY NETHERLANDS
Power Distance 5.18 4.90 5.25 4.11
Collectivism I: Societal
Collectivism 4.59 4.06 3.79 4.46
Collectivism II: In-Group
Collectivism 5.59 3.97 4.02 3.70 Gender Egalitarianism 3.18 2.97 3.10 3.50 Assertiveness Orientation 3.92 4.51 4.55 4.32 Uncertainty Avoidance 4.34 5.37 5.22 4.70 Future Orientation 3.96 4.73 4.27 4.61 Performance Orientation 4.56 4.94 4.25 4.32 Human Orientation 4.11 3.60 3.18 3.86
Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: the GLOBE Study of 62 Societies’, 2004 Switzerland without the French speaking part.
Germany (West): Former FRG
TABLE 2.3:
GLOBE’s Cultural Clusters Classified on Societal Culture Practices Scores (and Taiwan)
Germanic Europe Confucian Asia TAIWAN
Power Distance 3.47 4.19 5.18
Collectivism I: Societal
Collectivism 4.03 4.80 4.59
Collectivism II: In-Group
Collectivism 4.21 5.42 5.59 Gender Egalitarianism 3.14 3.18 3.18 Assertiveness Orientation 4.55 4.09 3.92 Uncertainty Avoidance 5.12 4.42 4.34 Future Orientation 4.40 4.18 3.96 Performance Orientation 4.41 4.58 4.56 Human Orientation 3.55 3.99 4.11
Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: the GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, 2004 Switzerland without the French speaking part.
Germany (West): Former FRG
Germanic Europe: Austria, Germany (former West), Germany (former East), The Netherlands, and Switzerland
Confucian Asia: Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, China, and Japan
If we compare the data on these Cultural Dimensions from GLOBE, we can see differences that may also influence the customer to make a selection in favor of a local or foreign UPWS staff (which later leads to SAS of the UPWS company).
1. Germanic Europe (Switzerland, Germany, and The Netherlands) is more individualism oriented versus Taiwan (which is more collectivism oriented, i.e., team/group work).
2. Germanic Europe (Switzerland high score) is stronger oriented in eliminating risk (avoiding uncertainty) in work and private life versus Taiwan.
5. Germanic Europe is less human orientated (fair, generous, caring, and kind to others) versus Taiwan.
Some cultural dimensions (behaviors and attributes) of the expatriates (foreigners) give them an advantage or disadvantage compared to the local employees in the same company, which can influence the customer to make a selection in favor of the local or foreign UPWS staff, impacting the ISAS/SAS of the UPWS company.
In this research, the use of the GLOBE questionnaire samples (which include cultural dimensions from Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions) will verify whether respondents are aware of cultural differences between them (Taiwan) and the UPWS staff (foreigners from Germanic Europe). Later there will be case questions to find out whether or not the cultural differences have an influence on the respondents
(customers) that leads to the UPWS ISAS/SAS in the FIRST STAGE of the exploratory research and, later, more in detail with the in-depth interview (SECOND STAGE).
2.3 ULTRA PURE WATER SERVICE WORK PERFORMANCE
In most services, quality occurs during service delivery, usually in an interaction between the customer and contact personnel of the service firm. For this reason, service quality is highly dependent on the performance of employees (Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman 1988). In the paper from Sharma and Paterson (1999) they mention technical (WHAT) and functional (HOW) quality in the consumer service and their impact on relationship and trust building. In the earlier research paper from Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman (1985),”A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research,” they also used research from Sharma Paterson (1999) to measure technical and functional quality in services for business to business. They introduced 10 criteria that determinant the service quality (regardless of the type of service).
If this research want to investigate the influence of UPW service work performance on the customer selection in favor of local or foreigner, later leading to ISAS/SAS, we have to focus on the individuals (WHO/WHICH) that deliver the high quality service from UPWS and evaluate the service delivery quality differences between local UPWS staff and expatriate UPWS staff. This factor was not tested by UPWS, and therefore no confirmation from UPWS and the different customers is offered.
Table 2.3 shows the 10 determinants of service quality, according the findings from Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman (1985), but in this research, we focused on individuals from the UPWS staff (local and foreign) and on the UPWS company work scope. These 10 determinants of service quality, combined with the technical (WHAT is delivered), functional (HOW is it delivered) quality, and WHO/WHICH
can deliver better service quality. As mentioned before, here we focus on the individuals of the UPWS staff (local and foreigners). Next, we have to modify the questionnaire to meet the needs of business to business services.
The purpose of using the 10 criteria that determine service quality (regardless of the type of service) is to see if the respondents have enough work and field experience to evaluate WHICH of the UPWS staff (local or foreign) can deliver better service and to determine their strengths or weaknesses. Also this study pose a case question to find out whether or not work performance has an influence on the
respondents, which leads to the UPWS ISAS/SAS (in the FIRST STAGE of the exploratory research, or later in the in-depth interview, SECOND STAGE). It focuses not only of the individuals but also on the UPWS company (the UPWS company is interested to know where the foreign and where the local UPWS staff can perform better customer service).
TABLE 2.3:
Determinants of Service Quality by Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman (1985) Applied to B2B Service Industry in the Case of the UPWS Company and Their Customers
RELIABILITY Involves consistency of performance and dependability.
It means that the firm (UPWS staff) performs the service right the first time. It also means the firm (UPWS staff) honored its promises.
It involves: Accuracy in billing. Keeping records correctly.
Performing the service at the designated time.
X X
RESPONSIVENESS Concerns the willingness or readiness of UPW staff to provide service. It involves
timeliness of service:
Mailing a transaction slip immediately. Calling the customer back quickly.
Giving prompt service (e.g., trouble shouting, shut down of the UPWP).
X X X
COMPETENCE Means possession of the required skills and knowledge to perform the service. It involves: Knowledge and skill of the contact personnel (UPWS staff).
Knowledge and skill of operational support personnel (UPWS staff). Research capability of the organization (UPWS company).
X X
ACCESS Involves approachability and ease of contact.
It means: The service is easily accessible by telephone, e-mail. Waiting time to receive service is not extensive. Convenient hours of operating.
Convenient location of service facility.
X X
COURTESY Involves politeness, respect, consideration, and friendliness of contact personnel. It includes: Consideration for the customer’s priority (quality of water).
Clean and neat appearance of public contact personnel (UPWS sales director).
X X
COMMUNICATION Means keeping customers informed in a language they can understand and listening to them.
It involves: Explaining the service (with repair, maintenance, trouble shooting procedure).
Explaining how much the service will cost. Explaining the trade-off between service and cost.
Assuring the customer that the problem will be handled and solved.
X X X X
CREDIBILITY Involves trustworthiness, believability, honesty. It involves having the customer’s best interest at heart.
It involves: Company name.
Company reputation (UPWS company).
Personal characteristic of the contact personnel (UPWS staff).
The degree of hard sell involved in interactions with the customers (UPWS sales, director).
X X X
SECURITY Is the freedom from danger, risk, or doubt.
It involves: Physical safety (trouble after replacement of parts; quality impact). Financial security (meet the customers’ monthly budget to keep good service delivery).
Confidentiality (Service contract, no publicity, or trouble).
X X X
UNDERSTANDING/KNOWING
THE CUSTOMER Involves making the effort to understand the customer’s needs.
It involves: Learning the customer’s specific requirements (water quality, safety, minimize risk).
Providing individualized attention (training, annual maintenance work). Recognizing the regular customer.
X X X
TANGIBLES Include the physical evidence of the service. It involves: Physical facilities.
Appearance of personnel.
Tools or equipment used to provide the service. Physical representations of the service. Other customers in the service facility.
X X X
2.4 QUALITY GAP/PERCEIVED SERVICE QUALITY
As mentioned earlier in Chapter 1.4, in the research from the framework of Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman (1985), the 10 criteria that determine the service quality (regardless of the type of service) that represent most the HOW (functional quality) and the WHAT (technical quality), they found that the customers (in their case, consumers) made a comparison of what they think that they could receive (expected service, ES) and what they actually received (perceived service, PS). They are three QUALITY GAP outcomes:
1. ES > PS, the perceived quality is less then satisfactory and will tend toward totally unacceptable quality, with increased discrepancy between ES and PS.
2. ES = PS, the perceived quality is satisfactory.
3. ES < PS, the perceived quality is more then satisfactory and will tend toward ideal quality, with increased discrepancy between ES and PS.
Already, many researchers have used this quality gap schema to evaluate the technical and functional quality in the consumer market or in business-to-business industry (Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman, 1985, 1988; Sharma and Patterson, 1999).
The purpose of this comparison (quality gap) between expected service (ES) and perceived service (PS) is to know whether the customers use the same evaluation schema to evaluate the delivered service quality by the UPWS staff (local or foreign) or not. For this research, it used this quality gap schema (also called perceived service quality by Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman [1985]) to investigate the customers’ evaluation of the perceived service by the UPWS staff (local or foreign).
Diagram 2.1:
Quality Gap (B2B) focused on ISAS/SAS (WHO will deliver the service), simplified
International Staff Allocation strategy/ Assign WHO/WHICH will
deliver the service.
Quality Gap between Expected Service (ES)
and
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, it describe the research process, framework, and methodology that is used for collecting the information and data necessary for obtaining answers to the research motives and goals in Chapter 1.
3.1 RESEARCH PROCESS
After the definition of the research motives and goals in Chapter 1, I selected an exploratory case study (identifying questions and select types of measurement prior to the main investigation). To collect the information and data for this case study, I used a standardized personal interview
(fixed-alternative/closed) questionnaire with qualitative and some quantitative items. During the preparation of the questionnaire and interview concept and structure, I asked possible respondents to participate in taking my questionnaire.
Later, the interview/questionnaire were tested over a focus group (four persons) that helped to indentify some missing parts in the questionnaire, and some adjustments were ordered. The next step of the research process was the translating of the English questionnaire into Chinese. The new Chinese version (CV1) was crosschecked by an expert, and the expert corrected some Chinese characters (CV2). With two versions of Chinese translation, I gave the expert the original English questionnaire version (EV) to cross check which of the two Chinese versions was better translated from the English version (EV). From nine persons, four preferred CV1 and five preferred CV2. No clear answer was given, but it indicated that both CV translations were similar.
To find which CV I should use, I gave only the two CVs to different persons, and I asked the two groups (one group in the north and one in the south of Taiwan) to select which of them they understood better.
The following results came back:
Group North (Hsinchu): 8 persons 2 persons for CV1 6 persons for CV2 Group South (Koushiung): 7 persons 1 person for CV1
6 persons for CV 2
Decision: Use of the second Chinese version (CV2) for the questionnaire/interview
To get a high response of the questionnaire (collecting data), I personally handed out and picked up all questionnaires directly to the respondents (54 questionnaires out and 53 back) on their workplaces (UPWS office/customer FAB or CUP). I chose this way because I could meet most of the respondents
during my daily work at their plant, and most of the respondents could more easily find time to fill out the questionnaire during their break time at the office. With this personal effort, I could also check at the same time whether all questions were filled out and whether I could find some unusual answers. I could also more deeply interview them to understand better their answers. The negatives of conducting the questionnaire this way were that it took more time to collect the data, and I could not record the in-depth interviews until after the filled-out questionnaires were returned. (Digital or tape recording is strongly forbidden by all UPWS customers.)
The interview questionnaire (FIRST STAGE) was less then one hour, and the respondents had to fill out an interview questionnaire about how they chose between local and expatriate UPWS staff among these three factors:
• Communication/Communication Zone • Cultural Differences
• Ultra Pure Water Service Work Performance
After all interviews and questionnaire were collected, all data and information was analyzed. The next step (SECOND STAGE) was to conduct an in-depth interview to understand more why each had made his or her selection and to discuss how important each factor was to them when they were making their selections. (See also Diagram 3.1: RESEARCH PROCESS.)
Definition of the research motives and goals
Short interview with respondents; finding factors
Preparation interview and questionnaire
Translating in Chinese, examination of the translation by an expert, cross check over focus group (two groups: North and South Taiwan)
FIRST STAGE Interview and questionnaire
Analyze in-depth interview of the SECOND STAGE
Q – Testing on focus group, revision after testing
Selecting respondents for interview and questionnaire
IMBA thesis research report and findings
Diagram 3.1: RESEARCH PROCESS
Retesting if needed
Testing of the translation
Analyze interviews and questionnaire of the FIRST STAGE
3.2 RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
Based on the research motives and goals in Chapter 1, I concluded my research framework as Figure 3.2 below. This research was based on the research framework again to conduct some related analyses to find the answers within the framework, to conduct discussions and to arrive at conclusions.
3.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.3.1 RESEARCH APPROACH
In this research, the CASE STUDY approach was choose because it focused on a problem that exists within the UPWS company and their customers, to investigate what factors have an influence on the selection/choice between UPWS local/expatriate staff that leads to IASA/SAS by the UPWS company. To collect the data for this case study, I used a non-standardized interview/questionnaire (open-ended with possibilities of in-depth interviews and with qualitative and less quantitative items). Most of the definitions are from Foundations of Behavioral Research by Kerlinger and Howard (2000); Wadsworth, SSPS, Statistics for Business and Economics” by McClave, Benson, and Sincich (2007), or from the Internet.
Diagram 3.2: RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
FACTORS influencing customers to make selection
in favor of local or foreign UPWS staff that leads to
ISAS/SAS of the UPWS company
MODERATING VARIABLES
Quality Gap between Expected Service (ES)
and
Perceived Service (PS)
ISAS / SAS
Assign foreign or local (WHO) will
deliver/execute the service.
evaluated, the circumstances under which it is used, the characteristics of the people involved in it, and the nature of the community in which it is located. Thick description also involves interpreting the meaning of demographic and descriptive data such as cultural norms and mores, community values, ingrained attitudes, and motives. Unlike quantitative methods of research, like the survey, which focus on the questions of who, what, where, how much, and how many, and archival analysis, which often situates the participant in some form of historical context, case studies are the preferred strategy when HOW or WHY questions are asked. Likewise, they are the preferred method when the researcher has little control over the events and when there is a contemporary focus within a real-life context. In addition, unlike more specifically directed experiments, case studies require a problem that seeks a holistic understanding of the event or situation in question using inductive logic/reasoning from specific to more general terms.
In scholarly circles, case studies are frequently discussed within the context of qualitative research and naturalistic inquiry. Case studies are often referred to interchangeably with ethnography, field study, and participant observation. The underlying philosophical assumptions in the case are similar to these types of qualitative research because each takes place in a natural setting (such as a classroom, neighborhood, or private home), and each strives for a more holistic interpretation of the event or situation under study. Unlike more statistically based studies, which search for quantifiable data, the goal of a case study is to offer new variables and questions for further research.
Qualitative research is used to help us understand how people feel and why they feel as they do. It is concerned with collecting in-depth information by asking questions such as, “Why do you think that?” Samples tend to be smaller compared with quantitative projects that include much larger samples. Depth interviews or group discussions are two common methods used for collecting qualitative information.
Quantitative research is used to measure how many people feel, think, or act in a particular way. These surveys tend to include large samples—anything from 50 to any number of interviews. Structured questionnaires are usually used, incorporating mainly closed questions (questions with set responses). There are various vehicles used for collecting quantitative information.
The qualitative method is used to gain information that cannot be directly observed and measured (e.g., thinking, feelings, intensions, and behavior). Case study, observation, and ethnography are considered forms of qualitative research. Results are not usually considered generalizable, but are often transferable. Therefore, to select the case study approach for this research is justified.
They are several case studies types:
Illustrative Case Studies
These are primarily descriptive studies. They typically utilize one or two instances of an event to show what a situation is like. Illustrative case studies serve primarily to make the unfamiliar familiar and to give readers a common language about the topic in question.
Cumulative Case Studies
These serve to aggregate information from several sites collected at different times. The idea behind these studies is the collection of past studies, which will allow for greater generalization without additional cost or time being expended on new, possibly repetitive, studies.
Critical Instance Case Studies
These examine one or more sites for either the purpose of examining a situation of unique interest with little to no interest in generalizability, or to call into question or challenge a highly generalized or universal assertion. This method is useful for answering cause-and-effect questions.
Exploratory (or Pilot) Case Studies
Exploratory research is a type of research conducted because a problem has not been clearly defined. Exploratory research helps determine the best research design, data collection method, and selection of subjects. Given its fundamental nature, exploratory research often concludes that a perceived problem does not actually exist. Exploratory research often relies on secondary research such as reviewing available literature and/or data, or qualitative approaches such as informal discussions with consumers, employees, management, or competitors, and more formal approaches through in-depth interviews, focus groups, projective methods, case studies, or pilot studies. The results of exploratory research are not usually useful for decision making by themselves, but they can provide significant insight into a given situation. Although the results of qualitative research can give some indication as to the "why,” "how" and "when" something occurs, it cannot tell us "how often" or "how many." Exploratory research is not typically generalizable to the population at large.
Validity and Reliability of Exploratory (or Pilot) Case Study
A valid and reliable range of responses for the qualitative study (Psychogios and Priporas, 2007) must be obtained by following two specific criteria in selecting interviewers in the SECOND STAGE (in-depth interview).
The first criterion refers to the in-depth respondents themselves and is related to their 1. Age
2. Educational background
3. Level of experience (working years in this job position) 4. Functions that they employ.
The second criterion was related to the in-depth respondent’s organizations (company) and includes 1. The size of the company that they are working (numbers of employees)
2. Years of existence
3. The domain in which that they operate (public/private) 3.3.3 INTERVIEW AND QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD
There are a variety of methods to collect data for a case study. Some common methods include personal interviews, protocol analyses, field studies, and participant observations.
The personal interview far overshadows the others as perhaps the most powerful and useful tool of social scientific research. The interview is a source to gain the primary data. For the case study, I will use a personal interview and combine it with a questionnaire to collect background information and data.
There are two broad types of interview: structured and unstructured, or standardized and
non-standardized (Cannell and Kahn, 1968). In the non-standardized interview, the questions, their sequence, and their wording are fixed. An interviewer may be allowed some liberty in asking questions, but relatively little. The non-standardized interviews are more flexible and open. With unstructured interview, the researcher can get ideas concerning the interviewee’s motives also called depth interviews. They are especially useful for doing exploratory studies.
Next, two types of questionnaire items are in common use: • Fixed-alternative (or closed) and
• Open ended
Fixed-alternative items offer the respondent a choice among two or more alternatives (yes/no, agree/disagree).
Open-ended questions are flexible; they have possibilities of depth; they enable the interviewer to clear up misunderstandings (through probing), to ascertain a respondent’s lack of knowledge, to detect ambiguity, to encourage cooperation and achieve rapport, and to make better estimates of respondents’ true intentions, beliefs, and attitudes.
Three kinds of information are included in most questionnaires:
• Faced-sheet information (identification, gender, marital status, education, income, and the like) • Census-type (or sociological) information
• Problem information
The questionnaire/interview in this case study has the following four sections: 1. Personal information (gender, marital status, education, income, etc.)
This section focuses on the respondent’s geographical background to see if his or her answers on the questionnaire can be used.
2. Communication with a case A and B
The questions in this section should give the answer to whether the factor communication/ language problems can influence the respondent to make selection in favor of a foreigner or a local, or whether it has influence on selection. It also should give us a more clear picture of how many of the respondents are in which communication zone (1, 2 or 3) that can later support the ISAS/SAS (need of interpreter or not, preparation of the meeting) and to understand the customers better. To find out, the respondents need to evaluate themselves regarding how well they can read, write, and speak English, how many languages they can speak, write, and read, where they learned English, where they use it, and how much they can understand without an interpreter.
In addition, they had to make a choice between a foreigner, a local engineer, or the need for more consideration (factor “communication and language problems” are not the only considerations) with a focus on communication/language problems for a case A (an extremely important installation project) and for case B (installation project not so important).
3. UPWS Work Performance with Case A and B
In this questionnaire section, the questions are based on the 10 criteria that determine the service quality (see Table 2.3 of the previous research from Zeithaml V. A., Berry L. L., and
In addition, they had to make a choice between a foreigner, a local engineer, or the need for more consideration (factor “work performance” are not the only considerations) with a focus on work performance for a case A (an extremely important installation project) and for case B
(installation project not so important). 4. Cultural Differences with Cases A and B
The questions for the last factor in section four should give answer to whether the factor cultural differences can influence the respondent to make selection in favor of a foreigner or local or no influence on selection. The respondents were given the findings of the nine cultural dimensions by GLOBE, and they had to answer five statements (related more to UPWS work operation) from the GLOBE research findings (agree/disagree) to verify whether the respondents are aware of cultural differences between them (Taiwan) and the UPWS staff (foreigners from Germanic Europe) or not.
In addition, they had to make a choice between a foreigner, a local engineer, or the need for more consideration (factor “cultural differences” are not the only considerations) with a focus on cultural differences for a case A (an extremely important installation project) and for case B (installation project not so important).
4. DATA ANALYSIS
This chapter will focus on data collecting, sample selecting (scanning of respondents), the demographic profile of the respondents, and the general data results of the interview/questionnaire.
4.1 DATA COLLECTING AND SAMPLE SELECTING
The selection of interview respondents is conducted according the contact that I have already. To some, I have more contact and to others, I need to make more contact through a UPWS local staff person. During the preparation of the questionnaire and before handover of the questionnaire, I selected from the UPWS company’s customers (section managers, operators, engineers) of the facility department (water and gas) about 45 to 60 persons (who agreed to fill out the questionnaire) for the research. During the handover, I asked other persons to fill out the questionnaire randomly (some respondents were also a part of the facility departments and have contact with foreigners).
To get a high response with the questionnaire (collecting data), I personally handed out and picked up all questionnaires directly to the respondents (54 questionnaires out and 53 back) on their workplaces (UPWS office/customer FAB or CUP). I chose this way because I could meet most of the respondents during my daily work at their plant, and most of the respondents could more easily find time to fill out the questionnaire during their break time at the office. With this personal effort, I could also check at the same time whether all questions were filled out and whether I could find some unusual answers. I could also more deeply interview them to understand better their answers. The negatives of conducting the questionnaire this way were that it took more time to collect the data, and I could not record the in-depth interviews until after the filled-out questionnaires were returned. (Digital or tape recording is strongly forbidden by all UPWS customers.)
After the analysis of the questionnaire results, chose 17 respondents for the in-depth interview to find out more deeply why and how they made their selection in favor of foreign or local UPWS staff or why they made no selection.
• In the facility department (UPWS company’s customers), there is a dominance of the male engineers and managers.
• The average reading and writing of English is higher than the average of speaking. According to the deeper interview with some respondents, they were more focused on learning to read and write in English in their school than they were in practicing speaking in English. They reported less opportunity to meet with foreigners and speak in English.
• Still, more then 55 % of the respondents are afraid or a little afraid to speak English with foreigners. They are mostly afraid to say something wrong in English (the wrong English grammar or the use of the wrong words).
Table 4.1: Demographic Profile of the 55 Respondents
Gender: Male (96.4 %)
Female (3.6 %)
Age: 25 – 34 (30.9 %) 35 – 44 (65.5 %)
45 – 55 (3.6 %)
Marital status: Single (21.8 %) Engaged (1.8 %)
Married (76.4 %)
Children: With children (63.6 %) Average of 1.9 children living
with respondents
Education level: College (10.9 %) Bachelor (49.1 %)
Master (38.2 %) Ph. D. (1.8 %)
Job position:
Engineer (21.8 %) Senior Engineer (58.2 %) Manager (12.7 %) Section Manager (3.6 %) Other (3.6 %)
Department: Facility (89.1 %) Finance (1.8 %)
Other (7.3 %) Sales (1.8 %)
Yearly holidays: 7-11 days (21.8 %) 12 – 16 days (45.5 %)
>17 days (32.7 %)
Annual income: <700,000 NT$ (16.3 %) 700,001~900,000 NT$ (29.1 %)
900,001~1,100,000 NT$ (16.4 %) >1,100,001 NT$(38.2 %)
Nationality: (R.O.C.) Taiwanese (96.4 %) Not Taiwanese (3.6 %)
Speaking English: Average scale 3.84 (between 1 to 7 scale)
Reading English: Average scale 4.31 (between 1 to 7 scale)
Writing English: Average scale 3.95 (between 1 to 7 scale)
Afraid of speaking English:
Yes (9.0 %) A little (45.5 %) No (45.5 %)
4.3 DATA RESULTS
The order of all data results from the questionnaire was made according the sections in the questionnaire before. Each question has a number, and the first one indicates to which section it belongs (example: Section 4 cosmopolitan, question 4.31).
4.3.1 PERSONAL INFORMATION SECTION 1
Personal information (gender, marital status, education, income)
4.3.2 COMMUNICATION SECTION 2 Communication with a Case A and B
4.3.3 UPWS (ULTRA PURE WATER SERVICE) WORK PERFORMANCE SECTION 3 UPWS Work performance with a Case A and B
4.3.4 CULTURAL DIFFERENCES SECTION 4 Cultural differences with a Case A and B
4.4 DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS (SECOND STAGE)
This research observed the profiles of the in-depth interview respondents (see Table 4.2), I concluded that their demographic characteristics vary across age groups, educational backgrounds, and years of
experience. This indicates a representative range of respondents according the criteria that were set for the in-depth interview (SECOND STAGE) in Chapter 3.
Table 4.2: Demographic Profile of the 17 in-depth interview Respondents
Gender: 16 x Male (94.1 %)
1 x Female (5.9 %)
Age: 1 x 25 – 34 (5.9 %) 15 x 35 – 44 (88.2 %)
1 x 45 – 55 (5.9 %)
Education level: 11 x Bachelor (64.7 %) 5 x Master (29.4%)
1 x Ph. D. (5.9 %)
Job position:
1 x Engineer (5.9 %) 8 x Senior Engineer (47.1 %) 5 x Manager (29.4 %) 2 x Section Manager (11.8 %) 1 x Other (5.9 %)
Department: 15 x Facility (88.2 %) 1 x Sales (5.9 %)
1 x Other (5.9 %)
Annual income: <700,000 NT$ (5.9 %) 700,001~900,000 NT$ (17.6 %)
900,001~1,100,000 NT$ (11.8 %) >1,100,001 NT$(64.7 %)
Work experience: < 7 years (23.5%) > 7 < 10 years (52.9%)
> 10 years (23.5%)
Afraid of speaking English:
2 x Yes (11.8 %) 5 x A little (29.4 %) 11 x No (58.8 %)
5. STATISTICAL ANALYSES
The purpose of this chapter is to find the answers to the proposition statements from Chapter 1 and 2 with the data results of the interview/questionnaire (Chapter 4.3) and the in-depth interview results (Chapter 4.4).
5.1 ANALYSIS OF THE INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE (FIRST STAGE)
The direct questions asked the respondents if any factors influenced them to select between foreign and local UPWS staff. The answer YES means that the factors did influence the respondent to make a selection in favor of a foreign or local UPWS staff.
In Case A, the respondent was confronted with a situation (important project and focused on the factor) during which he/she had to make a selection in favor of a foreign or local UPWS staff, or else he or she could make no selection (meaning that the respondent didn’t think that this factor was the only
consideration for selecting a leading UPWS engineer for this project).
In Case B the respondent was confronted with a situation (not important project and focused on the factor) and he/she had to made a selection in favor of a foreign or local UPWS staff, or else he or she could make no selection (meaning that the respondent didn’t think that this factor was the only consideration for selecting a leading UPWS engineer for this project).
These three questions were applied for all three factors in the interview/questionnaire. In Table 5.1, you will find the results of these three questions that focused on the three factors influencing one’s selection in favor of a foreign or local UPWS staff.
Table 5.1: Made Selection in Favor of Foreign or Local UPWS Staff (FIRST STAGE) Made Selection in Favor of
Foreign or Local UPWS Staff COMMUNICATION
WORK PERFORMANCE
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES Direct question (independent of the
type of project) 28 (50.9%) 54 (98.2%) 17 (30.9%)
