ANALYZING HARSH WORDS IN A SENSITIVE SETTING - AMERICAN EXPATRIATES IN COMMUNIST-CHINA

This paper demonstrates the use of computer-aided text analysis to inv estigate a sensitive issue in organizations: hostile conflict. The con text is American expatriate managers in the People's Republic of China . The text analyzed is from interviews of American expatriate managers describing conflicts with other Americans in the Sino-American joint venture and with their Chinese counterparts in the joint venture. We u se interpretive categorization techniques and multidimensional scaling analysis, frequency counts and context ratings of the conflict descri ptions to develop and investigate research questions regarding the use of hostile words in a sensitive setting (communist China). We discuss the disparities among the text analysis methods and why some may not be appropriate for examining organizational conflicts in foreign count ries. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.