Are Chinese Teams Like Western Teams? Indigenous Management Theory to Leapfrog Essentialist Team Myths

Abstract

Our study analyzes a gap in research on Chinese and Western management teams, based on a broad literature review. We claim that prevalent theoretical perspectives in the management team literature might be biased toward a Western-centric view of team dynamics. This obscures alternative ways of understanding top teams encompassing Chinese cultural traditions. We outline how an essentialist team conceptualization leads to a paradox consisting of three mutually contradicting myths. Myth 1 implies that Western groups of managers comply with theoretically “ideal” team processes and characteristics. Myth 2 derives from research literature on Chinese teams claiming that team features are assumed absent or weak in China due to cultural particularities. Paradoxically, the same research tradition constructs another third myth by reporting that Chinese teams successfully comply with the Western ideal team model. The three coexisting myths point to a theoretical confounding of contextual mediators in team processes. We discuss how indigenous Chinese leadership theory and Chinese systems of philosophy give Chinese teams access to distinct and effective team processes to reach high-performance outcomes. This paper aims to open the rich possibilities of Chinese management and team practices to the cross-cultural context, and on return to novel understanding of Western teams beyond traditional essentialist theory anchors.

Limits of a Second Language: Native and Second Languages in Management Team Communication

“…The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of two widely different languages (English and Chinese) on mono- and bilingual subjects’ ability to predict and explain a commonly occurring communication barrier in management involving Chinese and Western participants as earlier described in research ( Smith et al, 1997 ; Chen and Tjosvold, 2005 , 2006 , 2007 ; Wilkinson et al, 2005 ; Arnulf, 2014 ; Arnulf and Kristoffersen, 2014 ; Casas Klett and Arnulf, 2020 ). In particular, the focus of the study was on how cognitive and meta-cognitive characteristics of the languages may obstruct the dialogue process while at the same time making it difficult for the organizational participants to overcome the communication barrier.…”

“…This study was designed to avoid the possibility of culture blindness that has been shown to be prevalent in studies using Likert-scale measurement instruments ( Kamnerdmongkhol and Bjørnstadjordet, 2019 ; Arnulf and Larsen, 2020 ; Casas Klett and Arnulf, 2020 ). To ensure sensitivity to the cultural differences in focus, the design is experimental in nature.…”

“…Primarily, a growing body of research on indigenous theories of leadership and management has exposed the limitations of imposing constructs from one part of the world to another ( Li, 2012 ). For example, a recent study of cross-cultural management team research found a series of methodological paradoxes that can only be adequately addressed by taking the behavioral implications of abstract constructs into account ( Casas Klett and Arnulf, 2020 ).…”

“…Being at the opposite ends of the individualism-collectivism spectrum, Eastern and Western cultures often show wide differences ( Toffoli and Laroche, 2002 ; Casas Klett and Arnulf, 2020 ). A review by Schmitt et al (1994) found a series of differences affecting management and business such as face saving, time perspective and differences in individualism/collectivism ( Hofstede, 1980 ; Hofstede et al, 2010 ).…”

“…A review by Schmitt et al (1994) found a series of differences affecting management and business such as face saving, time perspective and differences in individualism/collectivism ( Hofstede, 1980 ; Hofstede et al, 2010 ). Cultural differences have also been found to affect managerial decision making ( Ralston et al, 1999 ; Casas Klett and Arnulf, 2020 ).…”