Managerial philosophy of Chinese CEOs in modern business: A cross-cultural study

Abstract

Contrasting between the Hofstede cultural dimensions and the philosophical constituents of Confucianism, this study discloses the idiosyncrasy and incongruence of the leadership and stakeholder management of Chinese corporate executive officers (CEOs) across mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. As supported by the dialogs from 54 pan-Chinese corporate leaders, such peculiarity is perceptible thanks to the practical variation in respective local culture in that mainland Chinese CEOs are more autocratic and power-lopsided, emphasizing Confucian loyalty and ritual/propriety; Hong Kongese CEOs are hierarchical but flexible, accentuating Confucian loyalty and integrity, and the leaders of Taiwan are alternatively modest and less patriarchal, avowing the importance of Confucian integrity, righteousness, and humaneness. For business practitioners around the world, a fundamental but thorough understanding of such cross-cultural managerial dissimilarity is crucial not only to enrich one's inter-personal and inter-corporate experience, but also to prosper mutual corporate relationships and business capacity.