Cultural values, workplace behavior and productivity in China: A conceptual framework for practising managers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the Chinese cultural architecture on motivating workplace behaviour for enhanced productivity in Chinese workplaces.Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes the Chinese cultural architecture and presents a cursory review of the substantive literature in this field. Based on this review, a conceptual framework for managing within Chinese organizations is presented, based on the first‐hand experience in the field as well as anecdotal evidence provided by practitioners in international management.Findings – In the light of research, which suggests that the realities about motivation in the context of Chinese workplaces are more complicated than originally thought, this paper moves away from viewing Chinese workplace behaviour from a purely systems‐based perspective. Although ideas about collectivism and individualism certainly explain important aspects of workplace behaviour, an orientation to practicality and the emotive side of lif...

[1]  Yuan Wang,et al.  International Management: managing in the era of globalization , 2002 .

[2]  W. M. Juechter,et al.  Five conditions for high-performance cultures , 1998 .

[3]  R. Friedland.  Bringing Society Back In : Symbols, Practices, and Institutional Contradictions , 1991 .

[4]  T. Parsons.  The Social System , 1953 .

[5]  Alison M. Konrad,et al.  Human resource management trends in the USA ‐ Challenges in the midst of prosperity , 2001 .

[6]  K. Wheeler.  Cultural values in relation to equity sensitivity within and across cultures , 2002 .

[7]  W. Mak,et al.  Managing Human Resources in Hong Kong , 1996 .

[8]  N. Malhotra,et al.  A cross‐cultural comparison of behavioral intention models ‐ Theoretical consideration and an empirical investigation , 2001 .

[9]  N. Adler.  International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior , 1986 .

[10]  Dov Elizur,et al.  The structure of work values: A cross cultural comparison , 1991 .

[11]  A. Kimball Romney,et al.  Variations in value orientations. , 1961 .

[12]  Elizabeth Würtz,et al.  Intercultural Communication on Web sites: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Web sites from High-Context Cultures and Low-Context Cultures , 2005, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[13]  Change and development in pluralistic settings: an exploration of HR practices in Chinese township and village enterprises , 2000 .

[14]  T. Jackson,et al.  Foreign companies and Chinese workers: employee motivation in the People’s Republic of China , 1998 .

[15]  B. Ebrahimi.  Motivation to manage in Hong Kong: modification and test of Miner Sentence Completion Scale‐H , 1997 .

[16]  R. Coff.  Human Assets and Management Dilemmas: Coping With Hazards On the Road to Resource-Based Theory , 1997 .

[17]  C. Zhu,et al.  Managing People during Economic Transition: The Development of HR Practices in China , 2000 .

[18]  F. Fukuyama,et al.  The End of History, or a New Crisis?@@@The End of History and the Last Man. , 1993 .

[19]  David P. Lepak,et al.  Human Resource Management, Manufacturing Strategy, and Firm Performance , 1996 .

[20]  Harry C. Triandis,et al.  Dimensions of Cultural Variation as Parameters of Organizational Theories , 1982 .

[21]  K. Rodham,et al.  Money isn’t everything … or is it? A preliminary research study into money as a motivator in the licensed house sector , 1998 .

[22]  B. Massumi,et al.  The postmodern condition : a report on knowledge , 1979 .

[23]  Cary L. Cooper,et al.  Work environments, stress and productivity: An examination using ASSET , 2005 .

[24]  E. Hall,et al.  Understanding Cultural Differences , 1989 .

[25]  E. Durkheim,et al.  Rules of Sociological Method , 1964 .

[26]  S. Ang.  The power of money: a cross-cultural analysis of business-related beliefs , 2000 .

[27]  I. Alon.  Chinese Culture, Organizational Behavior, and International Business Management , 2003 .

[28]  B. Black,et al.  National culture and high commitment management , 1999 .

[29]  Gert Jan Hofstede,et al.  Cultures and Organizations - Software of the Mind: Intercultural Cooperation and its Importance for Survival (3. ed.) , 2010 .

[30]  M. Miles.  Power and Relationship: Two Elements of the Chinese/Western Divide , 2000 .

[31]  David A. Ralston,et al.  The impact of national culture and economic ideology on managerial work values : a study of the United States , Russia , Japan , and China , 2005 .

[32]  Business networking in the Chinese context: Its role in the formation of guanxi, social capital and ethical foundations , 2006 .

[33]  Linda Glover,et al.  The human resource barriers to managing quality in China , 2000 .

[34]  Nevis Ec.  Cultural assumptions and productivity: the United States and China. , 1983 .

[35]  P. Herbig,et al.  International motivational differences , 1997 .

[36]  W. Powell,et al.  The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis , 1993 .

[37]  Ed Snape,et al.  In search of sustained competitive advantage: the impact of organizational culture, competitive strategy and human resource management practices on firm performance , 2004 .

[38]  Adams Js.  Towards an understanding of inequity , 1963 .

[39]  Xinping Shi,et al.  The potential impacts of national feelings on international business negotiations: a study in the China context , 2003 .

[40]  A. Maslow.  Motivation and Personality , 1954 .

[41]  M. Porter.  The Competitive Advantage Of Nations , 1990 .

[42]  M. Foucault,et al.  Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977 , 1980 .

[43]  Carolyn P. Egri,et al.  Doing Business in the 21st Century with the New Generation of Chinese Managers: A Study of Generational Shifts in Work Values in China , 1999 .

[44]  J. Wrathall,et al.  Between Chinese culture and the rule of law: What foreign managers in China should know about intellectual property rights , 2006 .

[45]  Nils-Göran Olve,et al.  Acquisition of Managerial Values in The People'S Republic of China and Hong Kong , 1995 .

[46]  Robert C. Davis,et al.  The Achieving Society , 1962 .

[47]  G. Sadri,et al.  Do all carrots look the same? examining the impact of culture on employee motivation , 2003 .

[48]  Carolyn Wiley,et al.  What motivates employees according to over 40 years of motivation surveys , 1997 .

[49]  Anne S. Tsui,et al.  Loyalty to supervisor vs. organizational commitment: Relationships to employee performance in China. , 2002 .

[50]  M. Warner.  Human resources and management in China's 'hi-tech' revolution: a study of selected computer hardware, software and related firms in the PRC , 1999 .

[51]  Ricky Y. K. Chan,et al.  A test of the Fishbein‐Ajzen behavioral intentions model under Chinese cultural settings: are there any differences between PRC and Hong Kong consumers? , 1998 .

[52]  S. Clegg,et al.  Business Networks and Strategic Alliances in China , 2007 .