UNDP Jobs - 65723- International Researcher to Lead Research on the 2

International Researcher to Lead Research on the 2016 Report on the Sustainable Development of Chinese Enterprises Overseas (literature review and report structure design)

Location :

Home-based, with mission travels to, CHINA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

09-May-2016

Application Deadline :

03-May-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Up to 3 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

15 actual working days

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

China is beginning a new chapter of overseas economic cooperation and sustainable development. Chinese government’s announcement of the “Belt and Road” Initiative on March 28th, 2015 brings forth Chinese companies new opportunities to “go global”, as well as steep challenges in establishing more sustainable overseas operation. Meanwhile, international community shows great interest and higher standards and requirements on overseas sustainable development of Chinese enterprises.

The successful publication of the 2015 Report on the Sustainable Development of Chinese Enterprises Overseas, jointly conducted by Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (CAITEC) under Ministry of Commerce, the Research Centre of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has generated tremendous interest from China domestically and international community. The three parties have decided to continue this research collaboration to publish annual flagship report on the sustainable development of Chinese enterprises overseas.

The 2016 Report on the Sustainable Development of Chinese Enterprises Overseas will consist of an extensive review of literature, a firm-level questionnaire survey, and case study featuring field research. UNDP China is now recruiting an international consultant and a national consultant to join the 2016 Report Writing Team.

Scope of Research:

The theme for the 2016 Report is to explore Chinese infrastructure construction enterprises’ roles in assisting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by countries and regions along the Belt and the Road. This theme is especially timely considering that the year 2016 is the very first year of the implementation of both the Belt and Road Initiative (B&R) and the SDGs, and is thus critical in identifying the baseline for future references and providing practical solutions and guideline for Chinese enterprises.

1. A review of literature

An extensive review of existing literature and researches is crucial to understanding the current state of knowledge of chosen theme, which serve as the foundation for the compilation of the report. This review of literature will aim at:

Understanding comprehensively and objectively the sustainability impacts described by existing literature of Chinese infrastructure construction companies’ operations to the host countries; and
Identifying the areas and indicators we need to measure so as to evaluate Chinese infrastructure construction enterprises’ roles in assisting host countries in achieving the SDGs.

Geographical focus: selected countries along the “Belt and Road”.

Industrial focus: Infrastructure construction in the areas of: Transportation, housing, power and energy, petrochemical, telecommunications, water conservancy, industrial construction, manufacturing and processing facilities, environmental protection and waste water (material) processing.

Literature sources: Policy researches from government think tanks, international organizations and NGOs, academic researches, legal documents, reports from private sector, and data and statistics.

2. Questionnaire survey

Based on the literature review, design questionnaire survey to Chinese infrastructure construction companies operating along the B&R countries on their sustainability performances.

The 2016 questionnaire will keep the main elements and structure of the 2015 questionnaire, while adding some elements of SDGs measurements. Expert consultation will be conducted upon the competition of the questionnaire design. Comments from academia and civil society stakeholders will be collected, and company representatives will be asked to fill-in the questionnaire as a preliminary survey.

Sampling and distribution: The population is all the Chinese companies that has operations in the 53 countries along the belt and the road. Population size, sample size and sampling method will be determined after the literature review. Questionnaires will be distributed through the Research Centre of SASAC and CAITEC. Questionnaires will be distributed through letters and emails, as well as through social media platforms and phone interviews to the headquarters of the sample companies, who will be responsible for collecting relevant information from field offices.

Note that it is important to track the response rate to the questionnaire by documenting the number of people the survey has reached to.

3. Case study

For the 2016 report, multiple empirical cases will be selected to examine and promote the “good practices” of Chinese companies’ overseas operations along the B&R countries, as well as to enrich the report content. In total of 5-8 case studies could be selected for the 2016 report, depending on the funding available to conduct field research.

The case studies feature field visit to Chinese companies operation sites in the host countries, interviews with Chinese companies from headquarters and field offices, as well as stakeholders from host countries, such as local communities, NGOs, and government, on their perceptions towards Chinese companies’ exiting sustainability performances as well as their pursuit to Chinese companies (through UNDP country offices).

Duties and Responsibilities

Main Responsibilities and Timeframe:

In consultation with UNDP China, CAITEC and the Research Centre of SASAC, undertake literature review, with a focus on existing firm-level surveys regarding multinational enterprises’ sustainability. (8 days)
Based on the literature review and in consultation with UNDP China, CAITEC and the Research Centre of SASAC, design the structure of the report. (2 days)
Based on the literature review, design the questionnaire and sampling methods in consultation with UNDP China, CAITEC and the Research Centre of SASAC. (5 days)

Expected Outputs:

By the end of the contract, the following outputs are expected:

A questionnaire for Chinese companies;
A detailed structure of the 2016 Report on the Sustainable Development of Chinese Enterprises Overseas.

Location and Expected Time Period:

The assignment will be home-based, with travel to Beijing for the final dissemination and discussion if needed. The consultant is expected to be available from early May to the end of July to finalized the research paper and participate in related activities.

Documents to be included when submitting your application:

Please provide Offeror’s Letter and proposal (download link: http://pan.baidu.com/s/1bpJl031) together with your CV while submitting application;
Please note that the system will not accept the uploading of more than one document so please merge or scan all your documents into one prior to uploading;
In the Offeror’s Letter and proposal, you will be asked to confirm your interest and availability for the assignment, and provide technical and financial proposal (You are expected to submit a financial quotation with daily rate of professional fees for the requested number of working days.).

Selection criteria:

Technical evaluation (including desk review of technical proposal, written test, interview, if any) - 70%;
Financial Evaluation - 30%;
The final offer goes to the highest combined score winner.

Competencies

The candidate should:

Have considerable policy-oriented research experience and in-depth knowledge related to Chinese outward foreign direct investment and multinational enterprises’ sustainable development;
Have extensive experience in designing and conducting questionnaire survey, and quantitative and qualitative analysis;
Have strong written and oral communication skills in English.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

PhD degree in development studies, international relations, political science, economics and other related fields of social sciences.

Experience:

Minimum 7 years related working/research experience;
Have considerable proven research experience related to Chinese ODI, international development, sustainable development, especially the sustainability of Chinese multinationals’’ in developing countries.

Language:

Have strong written and oral communication skills in English.