A review of the Chinese cultural influences on Chinese enterprise management

Abstract

In order to create and sustain competitive advantage, a company should not only develop technologies to create products and processes that meet customer needs, but also stimulate a corporate culture that commits to continuous performance improvement. Managing corporate culture is one of a number of important factors that make for organizational change and business success. This paper reviews the cultural roots and identifies the characteristics of Chinese cultural values and management. A comparative analysis of the differences between Anglo-American and Chinese cultures is made. The cultural influences on Chinese management systems are then elaborated with reference to enterprise management in Mainland China and Hong Kong. With unique cultural heritage, collective orientation has a pervasive influence on the mode of Chinese management and organization. The prevailing Chinese culture values stress largely the paternalistic approach to management, acceptance of hierarchy and the importance of relationships. Today's Chinese enterprises need to determine changes in practice or value or both aspects of corporate culture in order to facilitate organizational change and maintain a competitive edge over their rivals. The paper also discusses the links of cultural values to employee involvement (EI) and total quality management (TQM), and initiates a need to manage cultural influences on EI/TQM practices to improve organizational performance in Chinese enterprises.

Convergence-divergence of HRM in the Asia-Pacific: Context-specific analysis and future research agenda

“…In this regard, scholars have regularly looked at the challenge of application of Western management and organization theories in the Asia-Pacific context (e.g., Paik et al, 2011;Rodrigues & Child, 2003). Indeed, Pun et al (2000) conducted a comparative analysis between Anglo-American and Chinese cultures, and reported the pervasive influence of Chinese cultural heritage and collective orientation on Chinese organizational life. In order to adapt to the increasingly global business environment, these authors suggest the need to determine changes to aspects of Chinese management culture.…”

ICT Driven Knowledge Management in Developing Countries: A Case Study in a Chinese Organisation

“…Traditional Chinese cultural values pervasively influencing the management mode and organisation is one of the outstanding characteristics of Chinese organisations [15]. From a cultural perspective Lotus has been studied earlier [1].…”

The changing role of guanxi in influencing the development of entrepreneurial companies: a case study of the emergence of pharmaceutical companies in China

“…Although the importance of guanxi is debatable (Liao and Sohmen 2001;Yu et al 2013), most researchers agree that its evolution has played a crucial role in the development and expansion of entrepreneurial companies since it creates positive value for those companies. Guanxi can guide entrepreneurial companies in terms of: choosing suitable partners, obtaining useful information and complementary resources and capabilities (Pun et al 2000;, recognizing entrepreneurial opportunities, accurately positioning themselves with regards to the needs of market development , and reducing uncertainty and risk in an unstable institutional environment Liao and Sohmen 2001;. Moreover, guanxi also serves as a governance function, which can reduce the negative influence on firm performance exerted by factors such as weak market-supporting institutions, the absence or imperfection of contractual property rights agreements and so on Boso et al 2013).…”