Galletly, Richard
(2022)
Psychological Contracts at an International Joint Venture University in China.
Doctor of Education thesis, University of Liverpool.
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Abstract
The Psychological Contract (PC) is an important concept within International Human Resource Management which has been defined as an employee’s beliefs about the ‘terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement’ between an employee and their employer (Rousseau, 1989, p. 123). When managing International Academic Staff (IAS), International Joint Venture Universities (IJVU) must seek to understand the needs and wishes of IAS, to aid retention and to manage them appropriately. Turnover levels of IAS are higher than most IJVUs would like, and therefore this understanding of the PC and PC breach must be understood. This research project explores how IAS working within an IJVU in China experience their PCs and various PC breach, what impacts there are on these IAS and how they respond to any breaches they experience. Working within a Critical Realist meta-theory and framework, this project applies a Critical Grounded Theory analysis to qualitative research within an ethnography of a Higher Education Institution (HEI) in China. Based on qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews within a single case study Chinese IJVU, new theories about the mechanisms leading to PC breach are developed, through an iterative process between the data, the literature and the researcher’s reflexive process. Findings about the mechanisms leading to PC breach are divided into three levels of reality, according to the Critical Realist framework: cultural, social, and individual levels. Key findings emerge: first, at the cultural level, some IAS learn to fit in and adapt to insider norms and practices common to the local national culture; second, at the social level, some IAS learn to remain loyal towards other insiders, exchanging favours with influential connections and volunteering; third, at the individual level, some IAS experience PC breach due to perceived unfairness and betrayal. The concluding chapter of this report examines how this research contributes to both theory and practice of managing IAS through an understanding of the PC in context, within the case study IVJU and beyond. In summary, this research demonstrates how some IAS are adapting to the context of a Chinese IJVU by fitting in with norms and practices common to the local national culture, remaining loyal to other insiders and nurturing influential connections; those IAS who have found ways to adapt to the national culture may avoid experiencing PC breach and perceived unfairness. This research contributes to the wider discourse about how IAS experience PC breach in Chinese IJVUs and Chinese organisations more generally; furthermore, it suggests ways that IAS can learn to adapt their behaviours to suit the national culture.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctor of Education) |
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| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Chinese Guanxi, Critical Grounded Theory, Critical Realism, Critical Realist Evaluation, International Joint Venture, International Joint Venture University, Psychological Contract |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Jan 2023 10:19 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Jan 2023 10:19 |
| DOI: | 10.17638/03166208 |
| Supervisors: |
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| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3166208 |
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