PhD research in stress management of Hong Kong construction professionals in Mainland China

Abstract

Under the supervision of Dr. Meiyung LEUNG, Isabelle Yee Shan CHAN has graduated from her PhD study at the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, City University of Hong Kong this year. Throughout the past few years, she has been conducting research in the areas of health, safety, stress, and cultural management targeting construction surveyors, project managers, workers, and general construction professionals in Hong Kong (HK) and Mainland China (MC). In line with the above research studies, she has participated in, supported, and successfully completed a number of research projects, which resulted in 26 international publications in book, journal papers, conference papers in the construction management and engineering. Isabelle's PhD research mainly focuses on the stress management of Hong Kong construction professionals in Mainland China. Since the start of the recent economic boom in MC, the construction industry there has undergone continuous expansion. There is an increasing number of international construction projects in MC and many construction companies in HK have therefore expanded their business into MC. These have led to an increasing number of HK construction professionals working in MC. Taking up an expatriate assignment in MC involves not only job relocation, but also potentially having to face a language barrier, experiencing difficulties in cooperating with the locals, facing problems arising from different construction standards and systems, poor public security, and so on. All these issues may escalate their stress levels. In addition, due to the misconception that there are a lot of cultural similarities between HK and MC, HKprofessionals are often not equipped with effective coping behaviors nor provided with appropriate organizational motivations. Clinical studies have shown that stress has a significant impact on an individual’s performance. Hence, this research aims to understand how the performance of HK professionals can be enhanced through stress management. To achieve this aim, three progressive studies were conducted for the adoption of triangulation method, which includes the focus group study, large-scale questionnaire survey, and case studies. Based on the results revealed by the final model, various recommendations were made for individual HK professionals and construction organisations respectively. To further disseminate the study results, papers have been written in the construction engineering and management field.