Purpose -This paper aims to present an empirically informed model of the underlying factors that enable effective cross-cultural leadership. It also outlines procedures for using the model to assist expatriate managers to develop the capacities that underlie effective cross-cultural leadership. The model encompasses the complexity of cross-cultural leadership issues in China, the importance of having some theoretical knowledge on the topic, and the need to be flexible and pragmatic in applying this knowledge. Design/methodology/approach -A conceptual framework of the factors that interact to produce effective cross-cultural leadership was developed from the literature. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 32 Western expatriate managers and 19 local Chinese managers working in Australian businesses operating in Shanghai and Beijing. Within each interview, respondents were asked what they believe are the keys to successful leadership in Australian-Chinese cross-cultural workplaces. Findings -The interviews revealed a core series of cross-cultural leadership competencies that call upon all three of transformational leadership, emotional intelligence, and cultural intelligence. Practical implications -The findings and perspectives presented here should assist organizations in their selection and development of expatriate leaders. The paper argues that organizations should focus less upon skills and more upon underlying attitudinal and cognitive enablers. Originality/value -Whilst most cross-cultural leadership studies to date have focused on examining and explaining cultural differences and their influence on leadership effectiveness, this paper focuses on individual orientation and capacities.

The aims of the study are to explore the satisfaction of health-care staff in Chinese public hospitals with different aspects of their organizational environment and to identify factors affecting this satisfaction. The satisfaction of hospital staff members with organizational environment could be associated with the quality of patient care and patients' satisfaction. The design of the study is in the form of a survey. A questionnaire survey was performed from April to November 2008 to collect demographic characteristics of hospital staff members and analyse which organizational environment factors (hospital security policy and professional care, environmental security, safety of operations and management of human resources) influence staff satisfaction. Hospital members' satisfaction scores were high for hospital security policy and professional care but lower for safety of operations, the security of the environment and management of the human resources (lowest). Multivariate analysis identified that hospital size (large hospitals scoring highest), department (non-clinical department such as administrative or logistics department), professional title (student), position (administration) and years of employment (<3 years) were independently positively associated with overall satisfaction with organizational environment (P < 0.05). These results indicated that in China, hospital staff members were mostly dissatisfied with the administration and management of human resources. The organizational environment of hospitals should be improved to improve staff satisfaction.

Over the past two decades, four-fifths of the business immigration to Australia originated from China. Australian business migrants are required to undertake a two-step migration pathway: first they demonstrate a certain level of assets and business success to qualify for temporary entry and then, through successful business activity, they qualify for permanent residency (PR). Using in-depth interview narratives and survey data, this article explores migration motives and experiences of Chinese business migrants in Melbourne, Australia and situates them within the conceptual framework of middle-class transnationalism and ‘dual embeddedness’. We found that our respondents were primarily driven by motives other than the likelihood of business success in Australia, such as the prospects of good education for their children and a cleaner environment. Gaining Australian PR emerged as the key milestone in the migration process, allowing migrants to move freely between home and host countries and live as ‘dually embedded’ transnationals.

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The rapid on-going demographic shifts in workplaces present challenges to Human Resource Development (HRD) scholars and practitioners, creating a significant demand for diversity initiatives that help organizations harvest diversity. To address inconsistencies in diversity research results and limitations of current diversity intervening process theories, the authors propose an extended intervening process model (EIPM) from the perspective of how group processes underlie the linkage between diversity and performance. The model predicts both positive and negative effects of diversity depending on the intervening roles of group processes and moderation effects of research contextual factors. While extending the knowledge by incorporating three group processes simultaneously, this conceptualization can be regarded as the first theoretical framework that explains both positive and negative effects of diversity found in one study. Implications of the present framework for future research are discussed.