The impact of executive coaching on the performance management of international managers in China

Abstract

In an action research case study eleven managers of a UK subsidiary based in China participated in an executive coaching intervention of 6-10 sessions in person and over the telephone. The purpose of the study was to explore the impact of executive coaching on the development and performance of expatriate managers and the host-country national Chinese managers individually and working together as a part of a management team. This study represents the first exploration of executive coaching for international managers of a single organisation, where the participants were a mixture of Western expatriates and non-Western host-country nationals. Qualitative measures were taken and the responses suggest that the international managers found the executive coaching intervention to be valuable, satisfying and a sound investment of the organisation’s time, energy and expense. The findings further support that coaching enhanced leadership development and managerial effectiveness through the building of emotional intelligence capabilities of self-awareness, emotional control, communication strategies, self-reflection and empathy. The executive coaching intervention also resulted in increases in happiness and confidence and decreases in stress. The study further found that executive coaching outcomes and performance could be moderated by the relationship between coach and client and the impact of culture on the coach and the coached managers. The research study suggests that coaches may be able to improve the effectiveness of coaching by developing a greater understanding of the role of the host-country’s culture and the international human resource issues of international assignments. Based on the study here then, executive coaching is recommended for international managers, regardless of cultural origin or host-country location.