All work and no play? Antecedents of the leisure involvement of Taiwan expatriate managers in Mainland China

• Pages: 1215-1238
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-12-2017-0347
• Date: 07 October 2019
• Published date: 07 October 2019
• Author: Hung-Chieh Chao,Alastair M. Morrison,Bihu Wu
• Subject Matter: Economics

All work and no play?

Antecedents of the leisure

involvement of Taiwan expatriate

managers in Mainland China

Hung-Chieh Chao

School of Geography and Tourism,

Huanggang Normal University, Huanggang, China

Alastair M. Morrison

International College, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism,

Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and

Bihu Wu

College of Urban and Environmental Sciences,

Peking University, Beijing, China

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to construct and test an antecedent relationship path model for the

leisure involvement of Taiwan expatriate managers working in Mainland China. A leisure temporal-spatial

involvement (LTSI) was developed.

Design/methodology/approach –Burnout, perceived freedom in leisure and leisure coping strategies were

proposed in the conceptual model as antecedents of leisure involvement. A questionnaire survey gathered

information on the characteristics of respondents, including demographic/socio-economic details, expatriate

profile and leisure activity participation. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were

used in this research to measure the relationships among the four scale variables (job burnout, perceived

freedom in leisure, leisure coping strategies and leisure involvement).

Findings –The expatriate managers experienced high burnout levels, particularly in the form of exhaustion.

Their leisure involvement was mainly influenced by perceived freedom in leisure.

Research limitations/implications –This work contributes to the researchonleisureandexpatriationin

several ways. It is one of the first empirical studies to examine prominent leisure concepts (freedom, coping and

involvement) within the milieu of expatriation. The findings provide further support to the notion of the “presumed

cultural similarity paradox,”in that expatriates of Chinese ethnicity still had significant adjustment difficulties in

Mainland China. The research again confirms the challenges of Mainland China as an expatriation destination.

Practical implications –The research results have significant practical value and may assist Taiwan-

capital enterprises in improving expatriates’leisure life management. The section on Managerial and policy

implications outlines the implications for the actors involved.

Social implications –This work has social implications since the Taiwan expatriate managers are not

effectively adjusting to their work–life environments in Guangzhou. Greater social contact between locals and

these managers is recommended in the future.

Originality/value –A new scale for leisure involvement (LTSI), expressed in temporal and spatial

dimensions, is developed to fit the particular situations faced by expatriates. This is also one of only a few

empirical research studies to consider leisure involvement within an expatriation framework.

Keywords Expatriates, Human resource management, Employee involvement,

Human resource strategies, Burnout, Data analysis, Hours of work, Employees behaviour,

Employee turnover, Ethnic groups

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

Expatriates are employees sent by a parent company to work for a relatively long time

(usually six monthsup to five years) in an international (othercountry or regional) subsidiary

or branch (Silbiger and Pines, 2014; Financial Times, 2019). Expatriate employees from

International Journal of Manpower

Vol. 40 No. 7, 2019

pp. 1215-1238

© Emerald PublishingLimited

0143-7720

DOI 10.1108/IJM-12-2017-0347

Received 22 December 2017

Revised 5 March 2019

Accepted 10 June 2019

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-7720.htm

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Leisure

involvement of

Taiwan expatriate

managers

Taiwan are the core managers in Taiwan-invested manufacturing firms in China, and they

must adjust to working and living there to be fully productive in factories. However, many

have not adjusted well to the social and employment environments, causing inadequate

performance and premature departures. A contributing factor is the inability to reduce stress

through appropriate leisure activities (Lo, 2005), and to have a healthy work–life balance.

The main research aim was to construct and test an antecedent relationship path model

for the leisure involvement of Taiwan expatriate managers working in Mainland China. The

original contribution of this research to the literature on leisure within expatriation is in the

development of a new scale for leisure temporal-spatial involvement (LTSI) that specifically

applies to expatriates.

2. Literature review

In deriving hypotheses and building this research’conceptual model, three distinct streams

of literature were considered. First, research on expatriation and international job

assignments was consulted, and particularly work on expatriate success and failure. The

second focus was on leisure involvement and its antecedents, and perceived freedom in

leisure and leisure coping strategies. Third, literature on expatriate life in Mainland China

was reviewed. The research hypotheses are shown within the literature review according to

the themes to which they pertain.

2.1 Expatriate adjustment, failure and burnout

To agree or choose to work as an expatriate is one of the most difficult career decisions

(Cerdin and Le Pargneux, 2010), as well as representing a major expenditure for companies

(Scullion and Brewster, 2001; Harvey and Moeller, 2009; Silbiger and Pines, 2014). The

research literature suggests that a key to expatriate work success is the multi-level

adjustment to fit conditions in the host country (Tung, 1981; Black, 1988; Grinstein and

Wathieu, 2012; DeNisi and Sonesh, 2016). When expatriates do not adjust well to the

different work and social-cultural environments, expatriate failure can result. Expatriate

failure is generally described as the premature return of a staff member to the country of

origin (Mendenhall and Oddou, 1988; Causin and Ayoun, 2011; Andresen and Margenfeld,

2015; Kang et al., 2017; Andresen et al., 2018). Guttormsen et al. (2018) found that the context

(overall expatriation environment), duration of stay and geographic location affected

expatriates’self-assessment of failure and success.

The burnout felt by managers contributes to expatriate failure. Maslach et al. (2001,p.397)

define burnout as “a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the

job”demonstrated by “exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy”(reduced sense of personal

accomplishment). The emotional exhaustion experienced in burnout can result in the loss of job

enthusiasm and absenteeism (Maslach et al., 1996; Ericson-Lidman et al., 2007). Burnout can

occur in all domestic and international work situations; however, expatriation poses unique

challenges due to the need to adjust to new environments (Bhanugopan and Fish, 2006;

Fischlmayr and Kollinger, 2010; Silbiger and Pines, 2014). Black (1988) defines adjustment as the

“psychological comfort”in novel situations and environments. There are three facets to the

international adjustment that expatriates must make: work, interaction (with the host population

inside and outside of work) and general (or cultural) (Black et al., 1991; Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al.,

2005; Silbiger and Pines, 2014). Leisure participation falls into the third facet of adjustment.

2.2 Leisure involvement and its antecedents

Haworth and Veal (2004, p. 3) state that “the study of the work-leisure relationship brings

together two separate multidisciplinary research traditions: the study of work and the study of

leisure.”Expatriation is a unique work situation and focus for research. Based on the foregoing

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