Applicability of Leadership Theories in Anglo Countries into China - Essay Example

?Executive Summary Executive Summary of Introduction Culture is said to be an integral part of China’s existence in the world. With its abundant cultural background, it is important to consider China as a rich area for exploration on how leadership works out at its best. Leadership is important because it gives an organization its direction. This report to finds out the relevance of leadership theories applied in the United States, United Kingdom and other Anglo countries in China. This paper includes the discussion of the relevance or applicability of leadership theories in Anglo countries into China. The proponent tries to identify China as the chosen country for this report. The proponent also includes the discussion on how culture and practices in China differ from Anglo countries. Finally, this paper also includes the discussion of the relevance of the chosen western leadership theories in China. Supporting ideas in this report are obtained from relevant book references and academic journals. Executive Summary of Knowledge and Understanding Culture and stages of corporate development are found to be significant in explaining the detail between the difference of China’s traditional leadership approach and western theories of leadership. Cultural activities in leadership including the influence of family, politics and religious beliefs and principles are found to have important role to play in explaining the demarcation line between China’s own approach of leadership and its effort to combine western theories of leadership. Executive Summary of Evaluation China is open to western theories of leadership. It is found that China is not hesitant to accept the western view of leadership and it remains open to combine this perspective with its traditional practice. Table of Contents Page 1.0 Introduction 4 1.1 Background of the Report 4 1.2 Aims 5 1.3 Scope 5 2.0 Leadership knowledge and understanding 6 2.1 Background 6 2.2 Family and political connections in China 8 2.3 Influence of cultural practice on leadership 10 3.0 Evaluation 14 3.1 Western leadership theories and their applicability in China 14 3.2 China’s response to western leadership styles 15 References 19 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background of the report The rising economy in China is one of the best reasons why there is a need to understand the leadership theories, philosophies and processes applied by Chinese. It is important to consider that both Chinese and Western ideas have remarkable contribution to how leadership develops over time in China. There are different leadership theories that are clearly applied in China and these primarily include those obtained from Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, the Arts of War, and the writings of Mao and Deng. In short, China is home to different philosophies and ideas of leadership that at some point are integrated together for one single purpose. Leadership is about setting the direction and it is a matter of finding ways that would stimulate the entire organization to pursue the said direction. It is clear that running an organization or an entire country requires somebody who knows how to handle three important aspects such as leadership, management and administration. As noticed, leadership is more about sharing the vision and energizing the entire team to achieve such vision. On the other hand, managers nowadays are strongly equipped in their management skills through various ideas in managerial techniques that are adopted or learned from both external and internal environment. For instance, various managers have Master in Business Administration degree which involves not just the broad aspect of business administration but specifically on enhancing the manager’s skills. It is therefore clear that managers or even executive staffs must be able to identify specific rules and direction and implement them in order to have successful business operation. However, what seems clear in here is the thought that business, organization or the entire country requires leadership activity that will eventually aid the achievement of what is necessary and required. 1.2 Aims The purpose of this report is to be able to find out the relevance of leadership theories applied in the United States, United Kingdom and other Anglo countries in China. Thus, this paper includes the discussion of the relevance or applicability of leadership theories in Anglo countries into China. Thus, the proponent tries to identify China as the chosen country for this report. The proponent also includes the discussion on how culture and practices in China differ from Anglo countries. Finally, this paper also includes the discussion of the relevance of the chosen western leadership theories in China. 1.3 Scope This report is primarily based on research on cultures and practices in China that specifically includes research on leadership. This also includes the assessment or evaluation of how exactly China has adopted the prevailing leadership principles in the western theories of leadership. All supporting details covered in this report are cited from journals and relevant books about leadership and culture. 2.0 Leadership knowledge and understanding 2.1 Background Chinese and Western ideas of leadership may vary at some point. However, it is important to understand the applicability of Western theories of leadership in China. China is an emerging economy and is found to have great economic potential in Asia because of its dynamic economic, political and social reforms as currently instituted by its new generations of leaders (Pittinsky and Zhu, 2005). Moreover, its political reforms have contributed social progress within the last 25 years. This is an indication of a strong influence of leadership activities within China. In particular, this country is home to rich domestic employment with remarkable cheap labor. This is an opportunity for emerging and continuing international business operations. In line with this, it is important to understand the level of leadership ideas that Chinese have in order to ensure successful business operations and organizational activities. However, it is important to consider that the bottom line is just a matter of finding the right human resource in order to achieve whatever is expected to be obtained. Most companies that want to expand their international operations include maximization of resources. In fact, globalization in practice is highly associated with maximizing resources. Human is one important resource that needs to be maximized at a very exclusive detail. China is such a good opportunity for finding profitable human resources due to substantial savings for labor expense. However, the issue is not just about gaining profit but on how to convert the human resource into a maximum potential. It is therefore clear that the entire process requires substantial understanding of other factors. One important point that is required prior to understanding leadership from Western perspectives is to identify Chinese culture. Organizational culture is reasonably viewed to be a significant factor that tries to influence how the entire leadership activities and cohesiveness should be pursued in an organization (Wendt et al., 2009; Kwantes and Boglarksy, 2007). An organization is composed of different people with different beliefs, personalities and attitudes. However, one important consideration is their culture. Culture is remarkably a very important component in an organization that needs to be taken into account. For instance, Chinese culture is different from Western culture such as from the United States, United Kingdom or Australia. It is difficult for an international company to invest in China, hire and manage manpower without basic information on how to manage the human resource from the said country. It is challenging on the part of multinational companies for instance to deal with multicultural relations (Peterson and Hunt, 1997). Culture implicitly gives important ideas on how to build up an organization that is to work out at its best. With different culture, it is difficult to manage and impart the same leadership style from Western ideas applied by countries such as the United States, United Kingdom or Australia into China. However, it is not only through culture in China that the influence of leadership and applications of its different theories from Western perspectives are observed. It is also through stages of corporate development that there is a clear demarcation between Chinese and Western perspectives of leadership. Today, China is willing to learn more about corporate governance from Western perspectives and this is evident on the stages of corporate development within Chinese business culture as enhanced by its capacity to explore richly in its economic, social and political reforms. The economic advantage that China has got today is being influenced and got even better by the level of leadership options as adopted from its traditional leadership approach and combined western ideas. However, the best way to implement this is through cooperation (Chen and Tjosvold, 2005). 2.2 Family and political connections in China Leadership in China especially in certain organizations such as business firm is commonly run by members of the family. One family replaces the other if necessary and so on. This means that family plays an important role in the kind of leadership that is going to take place in China’s business firms. However, it is a different pattern in Anglo countries. In the United States, business organizations are mostly run by professional managers that at some point may retire. The same pattern works perfectly well in Australia and the United Kingdom. Hiring other professionals for replacement is a common practice in the United States and other countries following the Western ideas of leadership. Leadership styles and strategies are therefore different in the United States compared in China. Chinese business organizations as run by families are more intense in their attempt to secure stability. As they consider their business as their very own, they have the tendency to decide things from the top influential member of the family and ensure stability in the long run. Business is automatically passed on from generation to generation of the family. In this reason, they are more into hands on to ensure that they got every detail about their business. This gives them the opportunity to rely on their own interest. The decision-making process is focused on the higher rank of the family who has sufficient influence to manage as dictated by their culture. Family influence therefore is tremendous in its scope within Chinese culture. In Chinese culture, family business is run mostly by the eldest son. There is a strong influence that this member of the family brings forward to the success of the company. Succession in business is passed on to the siblings, unlike in the US that the CEOs are replaced by someone else as an upshot of retirement or replacement of the board of directors in the firms. On the other hand, the communist approach in governance brings forward the ability of Chinese to do exactly the same pattern within their specific organizations. Communism has significant function played especially on the level that requires total control of the whole system. This is due to the fact that there are still many Chinese who believe the good intention of this political system for the people and the entire nation (Tang and Holzner, 2007). Thus, even though leadership in this case is mostly controlled by an individual trying to perpetuate power by initiating total control over the entire organizational system, it is still viewed by some as effective way for organizational growth and development. Family-owned businesses for instance are perpetuating in power just to be able to maximize their full potential. 2.3 Influence of cultural practice on leadership Confucianism is just one of the basic religious principles that China has to take into account in its leadership performance. In fact, Chinese are strongly integrating religious principles in their leadership performance. In business for instance, Chinese are strong advocate of supernatural forces that have become part of whatever leadership activities they try to initiate. For instance, Chinese strongly believe the importance of Feng Sui in order for their business to succeed. This belief allows them to be guided with certain principles on how their business has to be managed with the right approach of implementation. Thus, it is no longer a question of what leadership principle has to be applied but the entire issue about leadership in China has well-built connection with its culture. Tracing the very nature of this brings forward to the connection of the past generations of leaders in China. The existing ideologies of former leaders in China have specific influence on its current condition. For instance, there are generations of leaders in China and it started from Mao Zedong as part of the first generation of leaders down to the latest of what the country has in recent years. The latest leaders in the country are said to be those who are born in postwar years of 1945 to 1955. These leaders are known to be transformational leaders because under their governance there is a strong emphasis on political and socio-economic reform programs. Based on leadership theories, they can be culture specific or the other way around (Ergeneli et al., 2007). Under this initiative, China’s economy has consistently grown in recent years. This only implies that leadership indeed has strong economic influence. Just like in the case of the United States or Australia, it takes important understanding of leadership principles in order to effectively govern and essentially address the needs of the country. Business has substantially improved not just because of cheap labor but there is a strong opportunity for economic growth and development in general. The conventional leadership approach in China especially among family-owned business empires requires someone else who is an immediate member of the family especially the eldest one. However, nowadays, there are increasing numbers of Chinese leaders that are emerging and who are Western-trained. This only implies that there is an emerging leadership philosophies existing in China that strongly work hand on hand with its existing culture resulting to diversified options (Tsui et al., 2006). In the United States for instance and even the existing philosophies of leadership applied in Australia, leadership involves styles. Directive leadership is very common which primarily includes the directions given by the top executives to others in the firms. This means that leaders are very much in charge within the firm to give directions and suitable implementation for business. Directive leadership is very common in the United States but is declining in frequency (Mills, 2005). Directive leadership is very common in Asia especially in China considering that most firms are family owned. The head of the family or those given the authority to manage the business has the opportunity to take charge and give specific directions. This level of leadership is highly authoritative in nature and eliminates higher possibility for participative leadership which allows teamwork. In Europe particularly in Germany, teamwork is required by law and in Japan it is an integral part of national cultural norms (Mills, 2005). Directive leadership is very common in China and specifically among Chinese business firms in order that they will be ensured with their political power within the firm and at the same time allows the company to stand firm for its stability. Directive leadership is about creating influence. Leaders have specific followers in this leadership style and the point is to be able to influence them to achieve organizational objectives. There is a strong role of people and change within the concept of leadership. In the context of directive leadership, leaders are given their own ways in order to achieve specific change, influence and achieve organizational objectives in line with handling people (Lussier and Achua, 2007). The main point of doing this is to achieve specific level of firm performance. In the United States for instance, leadership is instituted especially among CEOs as a specific way towards firm performance. The applicability of this principle is evident among 125 firms in China with CEOs applying leadership behaviors in a Chinese context. The results show that behaviors of these CEOs were primarily in line with achieving firm performance (Wang et al., 2011). This only implies that leadership activity in China is just a means to achieve the best firm performance just like in the United States. This is a clear implication that leadership is a means for achieving the right performance of the firm. When it comes to this, there is no difference at all how leadership is viewed in China and in the United States and other western cultures. The Machiavellian leadership approach emphasizes that the end justifies the means. In Chinese business firms, considering that the leader is very much in charge of how the whole business operates, there is a good chance that leaders have the opportunity to make their own move just to be able to achieve what they want to obtain. There is a strong process involved in here that results to specific outcomes including suspicion, trust, dislike and affection (Lussier and Achua, 2007). It is argued that there is a strong influence of Mao’s government application of physical punishment and outright terror in its leadership approach (Freedman and Freedman, 1982). This approach is specifically a strong coercive power that tries to influence how individual firm for instance tries to implement leadership in action. The outcomes particularly involve both positive and negative effects and there is a good chance to evaluate specific moves on how specifically effective they have become. In recent years, new economy business leaders in China are not just highly western-centric in their approach for leadership, but they are also maximizing the immediate advantage of information technology. This is the thing that is most common in the United States. In fact, this can be considered as high-tech type of leadership (Mills, 2005). These leaders even though western-centric in their approach for leadership, but their actual practice have been highly influenced by their national culture. 3.0 Evaluation 3.1 Western leadership theories and their applicability in China China without question is hybrid in its approach when it comes to stand on leadership. Chinese are slowly influenced by western culture. However, the entire process of leadership is still based on the actual stages of leadership development. There is growing evidence suggesting that Western theories of leadership and their techniques are predominant in China even though its traditional leadership is still being applied (Gao et al., 2011). As an upshot of its historical foundation, Chinese give most value on virtuous leadership than on authoritarian leadership (Gao et al., 2011). Western approach of leadership therefore seeks to maximize the importance of obtaining wide array of achievement in different aspects of China’s achievement in areas for social, political, economic, technological, legal and environmental aspects. These aspects have to perform well in order to achieve good governance. Prior to it, there is a need to come up with the right leaders at the right time for effective results. In general, there is a strong need of support for leadership techniques in western culture especially when it is applied in China. 3.2 China’s response to Western leadership styles Despite its vibrant dominance with cultural heritage, China remains to be open for possibility when it comes to Western approach of leadership. The main thought is that China has long been trying to effectively exercise Western leadership styles and it is evident on its traditional leadership teachings. The very difference is the application of religion in its leadership approach, whereas the western approach of leadership is very productive with philosophies, principles and dominant theories. Chinese philosophies are actually in line with leadership approach of the western culture but excluding its highly religious principles. Chinese leaders do not just believe in the importance of achieving effective leadership, but they are highly influenced by religious principles (Overmyer, 2003). In fact, their decision-making process at some point is highly motivated by their traditional beliefs and principles. Traditionally, business among Chinese highly involves culture. The introduction of western leadership theories results tocombining western approach of leadership plus traditional Chinese beliefs. For instance, the existence of family-owned business firms in China and wherever part of the world is a remarkable proof that in practice, leadership among Chinese is in line with their traditional principles. However, the thought of enduring in the business world especially in the midst of competition and globalization brings forward a room for Chinese leaders to adapt western way of leadership and management principles. This is due to the fact that the latest generations of Chinese leaders in China and in other parts of the world learned to maximize their chance to learn more about business in the same way how other nationalities learned the western way. However, some Chinese managers are less satisfied with adaptation of cultural similarity with its western counterpart (Lin and Malhotra, 2011). This proves that traditional leadership within the context of Chinese cultural heritage cannot just be easily eliminated. Putting this in the context of political and government perspective, China has to essentially learn how business and governance should work out in the midst of globalization and in the midst of integrating different markets as one. China has to adapt different international policies and employ international relations which are highly western in approach. In line with this, China has long been exposed to western way of leadership approach as there is always a good reason to integrate it under economic consideration. For as long as China is willing to take the plunge as among of the nations with leading economy, there is always a need to stay focus on how the international business performs under a highly influential western approach. Considering that the United States has long been performing a staggering economic performance in the history, it is remarkable that its leadership style has strongly influenced the world. Part of this influence is obviously applied and experienced by China and its Chinese leaders. The constant interaction with the business world and international policies and relations has long been considered important part of China’s staggering economic performance. From this, it can be deduced that China has indeed learned to apply the basic principles of western leadership approach. 3.3 Leadership and its moral principles Leadership and its moral principles in China have certain established pattern just like with that of the western ideas. As stated earlier, leadership in China has established connection with the leadership pattern as expressed by strong religious principles. Confucianism for instance has strongly emphasized connection between leadership and moral principles (Tsui et al., 2006). China is home to diverse and vibrant dominance of beliefs. These beliefs in general are in line with what is believed to be moral based on what the religious principles strongly suggest. Religious background of leadership in China is an integral part of its cultural heritage. This in return has specific influence on how its leaders exercise their capacity to lead, run and establish an organization. For instance, political leadership in China has a strong root on moral principles (Xie et al., 2005, Townsend, 1972). References Chen, Y. F., and Tjosvold, D. (2005) ‘Cross-cultural leadership: Goal interdependence and leader-member relations in foreign ventures in China.’ Journal of International Management, Vol. 11 (3): 417-439. 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