Leadership Expectations in China’s Workplace

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Expectations of Chinese Workers from their Leaders
Critical Leadership Qualities in China
Cultural Norms that Shape Managerial Behavior
Differences between Chinese and Western Management Styles
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Leadership is influenced by many factors that include personality, belief system, company culture, employee diversity, organizational vision and mission, and cultural norms. Culture is one of the most influential factors that shape leaders’ behaviors, attitudes, and thinking patterns. The decisions they make and the way they deal with their employees are greatly influenced by the culture in which they were raised and live in. Culture plays a key role in the development of attitudes, behavior, and perceptions. In addition, it determines the values, norms, and practices that leaders embrace. In China, culture is an important component of leadership. Globalization is presenting numerous challenges to organizations that want to expand to foreign countries because of variances in cultural practices between countries. For example, many multinational corporations are struggling with the challenge of developing effective leadership in China because of its culture that is different from that of the West.

Expectations of Chinese Workers from their Leaders

Chinese workers have great expectations from their leaders. They expect them to promote the concept of family and harmony by encouraging teamwork and deserting the idea of individuality in the workplace (Gallo, 2011). Successful cooperation and collaboration among employees depend on strong relationships that are founded on trust, honesty, and respect. Employees expect their leaders to use their communication skills and mandate to strengthen family and friendship bonds among employees (King & Zhang, 2014). Leaders should create, promote, and maintain harmony among employees (Gallo, 2011). Personal development is an important aspect of Chinese culture.

Employees expect their leaders to be inspirational and provide opportunities for both personal and professional development. Inspiring employees means behaving in ways that they can emulate. A manager’s character should be founded on values such as integrity, honesty, and transparency (King & Zhang, 2014). A recent study among Chinese employees revealed that progress, availability of study opportunities, and training and development are among the most important factors that people consider before joining an organization. In that regard, Chinese employees expect their leaders to develop training programs that develop their skills and increase work-related knowledge. They also need leaders to facilitate study leave so that they can advance professionally.

Critical Leadership Qualities in China

In China, there are certain qualities that are required for leadership to be effective in achieving organizational goals. Leaders should be inspirational, honest, transparent, open-minded, flexible, and should possess great communication skills. The Chinese leadership is greatly influenced by culture because of the effect of ancient philosophy that they value highly (Gallo, 2011). In that regard, their leadership is shaped by philosophical concepts. A major philosophical tenet that defines Chinese leadership is the importance of personal development. The Chinese value personal and professional development more than the financial or economic rewards of working (King & Zhang, 2014). Therefore, a great leader should possess the skills to motivate and inspire employees to pursue personal development. In addition, the leader should provide opportunities that promote growth.

An important trait that is required in leaders is adherence to ethics. The main goal of Chinese companies is to conduct business in ways that do not compromise ethics (Gallo, 2011). The profitability of their companies is secondary. Great leaders should be ethical, honest, and transparent to ensure that they honor the culture of putting ethics before profitability. This is a great challenge because many companies focus on profitability and in many cases, compromise ethics in order to keep their revenues high. Leaders are required to be people of great characters who never compromise even in situations where sticking to ethical practices lead to losses (King & Zhang, 2014). Integrity and character are important values that the Chinese embrace and apply in their lives. Integrity is so important that a Chinese employee will go to great lengths to save face either for individuals or teams. The image is about maintaining respect and dignity. Therefore, leaders should be honest and respectful.

The Confucian concept of harmony is an important cultural component that is incorporated into any organization’s cultures. The Chinese criticize the level of independence exhibited in Western countries because they describe it as showing off (Gallo, 2011). This concept encourages teamwork and collaboration. An individual who stands out from the rest in China causes disharmony and therefore, violates their cultural norm of maintaining harmony at all times. This is a challenging concept to comprehend because, in the United States, autonomy is encouraged at work because it promotes creativity and innovation (Vance & Paik, 2015).

On the contrary, working alone in China is discouraged. For example, an employee could face severe social consequences for coming up with a revolutionary idea without the participation of other team members. Teamwork is encouraged because Chinese cultural norms place great importance on the idea of family (King & Zhang, 2014). Chinese employees strive to integrate with others and their surroundings in order to maintain harmony. This can be very challenging for Western managers because creativity and innovation are sometimes hampered by teamwork because employees with great ideas could be too shy to talk or share their ideas (Vance & Paik, 2015). Therefore, leaders should be open-minded and flexible in their approach to dealing with employees and achieving organizational goals (Zhang, Tsui, & Wang, 2011).

Great communication skills are critical for leaders in China because of the unique style that their conversations assume. The concept of communication in China and the West is very different. In China, communication’s main objective is to build relationships and maintain harmony while in the West, communication is all about exchanging information, sharing ideas, and facilitating the successful completion of tasks (King & Zhang, 2014). Observing roles and status differences in conversations is important. An important aspect of communication in China is silence. Silence allows leaders to think things through and decide what course of action to take. In that regard, communication in China is indirect and it could take time to grasp the message for people who are not knowledgeable about the culture (Lam& O’Higgins, 2013). Leaders are expected to express themselves indirectly through the skillful use of both verbal and nonverbal communication. Leaders are required to avoid conflict and use communication to strengthen relationships among employees (Zhang, Tsui, & Wang, 2011).

Cultural Norms that Shape Managerial Behavior

The managerial behavior of leaders is shaped by cultural norms that influence thinking patterns and decision making. They include ethics, responsibility and accountability, perception of time, collectivism, relationships, and the importance of face (Vance & Paik, 2015). The Chinese value relationships above all else and will always strive to build them before conducting business (Lam& O’Higgins, 2013). They will go to great lights to save face either for individuals or teams. Loyalty, integrity, and responsibility are core components of their culture that managers are expected to embrace and incorporate in their management styles. Their actions and decisions are expected to strengthen bonds between employees and not break or weaken them (Lam& O’Higgins, 2013). Exceptional managers are inspirational and set examples that employees can follow and learn from.

Differences between Chinese and Western Management Styles

The main source of differences between Chinese and American management styles is culture. There are several cultural variances that influence how organizations are run, how business is conducted, and how leaders behave. Chinese and American management styles are different in many ways including variances in communication styles, social and behavioral etiquette, relationships, the importance of personal image, and the understanding of family and harmony. The management style of the Chinese can be described as ‘parental’ while that of America can be described as democratic (Lam& O’Higgins, 2013). In China, a manager plays the role of a parent who nurtures, protects, cares, and supervises her children to ensure that they do the right thing.

Discipline and attention to detail are the core aspects of the Chinese management style. Therefore, micromanagement is a common practice in organizations. Chinese managers also spend a lot of time and resources taking care of employee welfare because they believe that part of their job is to care for their employees (Vance & Paik, 2015). On the contrary, the management style in America is very different. A manager plays the role of a resourceful democrat who develops the vision and strategies to apply but gives subordinates the freedom to execute the vision. The American manager encourages two-way communication with employees and cherishes their input in decision-making and problem-solving processes (Vance & Paik, 2015). In America, micromanagement is discouraged because it demotivated employees by making them feel incompetent to do their work satisfactorily.

Responsibility and accountability are perceived differently in China and America. Even though they are important in both places, the levels of execution are different. In America, managers assign responsibilities to employees individually and hold them accountable if they fail to deliver (Lam& O’Higgins, 2013). Tasks are given with clear instructions and the expected outcomes. Each employee is then held accountable for the results they achieve. In China, tasks are usually assigned to teams and groups. Therefore, employees are held accountable as part of teams rather than as individuals. The assignment of responsibilities affects accountability within an organization as well as the mentality that employees develop (Zhang et al., 2011).

The perception of time in America and China is different. Conducting business n America is faster because Americans are quicker at making decisions and their communication is direct to the point (Zhang et al., 2011). In China, it is important to keep time and build relationships with clients before engaging in any business transaction. This approach prolongs the process of doing business and can frustrate Americans because their main focus is closing a business deal and moving on to the next without necessarily building relationships (Vance & Paik, 2015). On the other hand, the Chinese build relationships because of their propensity to make long-term commitments. On the contrary, Americans focus more on short-term commitments and rewards (Vance & Paik, 2015). The Chinese value time and consider lateness a sign of disrespect. Americans value time as well. However, their approach is more flexible than that of the Chinese.

The Chinese value collectivism while Americans value individualism. Chinese managers in corporate responsibility and loyalty into their management styles because of the influence of traditional cultural norms (Vance & Paik, 2015). Chinese managers have begun embracing individualism as a core component of encouraging innovation and creativity (Lam& O’Higgins, 2013). However, they idea of collaboration and cooperation is still the primary guiding principle of their management approach. Social obligations to authority, family, and society are held in high esteem. Therefore, the team is more important than an individual. Managers create and implement workplace policies that focus on the welfare of teams and groups rather than the welfare of individual employees. In America, management embraces a more individualistic approach that values the attainment of individual goals and objectives (Vance & Paik, 2015). Managers assign tasks and responsibilities to individuals. Team work is important and encouraged. However, individual employees are always responsible for the outcomes they attain. Even in team work situations, each employee is assigned a task that he/she is held responsible. Americas value success more than social class because their individualistic culture encourages the use of creativity to solve problems and generate revolutionary ideas (Vance & Paik, 2015).

Conclusion

Leadership has many variances and it is influenced by many factors that include personality, values, belief system, organizational vision, and cultural norms. In China, leadership is highly influenced by philosophical tenets that were developed by ancient philosophers such as Confucius. There is a very thin line between cultural and business values. Major aspects of business include relationships, saving face, cooperation ad collaboration, accountability, responsibility, and communication. Chinese leaders are expected to use their communication skills to build relationships among employees and create harmony. In addition, they are required to encourage cooperation and collaboration because collectivism is more valued than individualism. In workplaces, managers hold teams accountable for the achievement of results. It is important for American managers wishing to work in China to understand their communication as well as management styles. The Chinese communicate indirectly and will go to great lengths to save face. Respect and honor are important cultural norms that they value.

References

Gallo, F. T. (2011). Business leadership in China: how to blend best Western practices with Chinese wisdom. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

King, P., & Zhang, W. (2014). Chinese and Western leadership models: a literature review. Journal of Management Research, 6(2), 1-21.

Lam, C. S., & O’Higgins, E. (2013). Emotional intelligence and leadership styles in China. Asia pacific Management Review, 2(25), 1-13.

Vance, C. M., & Paik, Y. (2015). Managing a global workforce: challenges and opportunities in international human resource management. New York, NY: Routledge.

Zhang, A. Y., Tsui, A. S., & Wang, D. X. (2011). Leadership behaviors and group creativity in Chinese organizations: the role of group processes. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(5), 851-862.

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