Features
International Team Examines Chinese Business Leadership
Study will look at the changing face of business in China today
BY REBECCA KENDALL
What does it take to be a successful business leader in China today? That's one of the questions a team of researchers from the University of Guelph and China aims to answer.
In recent years, China has seen many state-owned companies and businesses make way for public ownership and access to western markets, so the country is repositioning itself when it comes to developing strong models of leadership, says William DeMarco, senior associate for program development in Guelph's Centre for Studies in Leadership (CSL).
“China is shifting from a traditional communist nation to a multi-dimensional economic system that includes entrepreneurship and western-style business practices,” he says. “In the process, the country is developing its own style of leadership, part western and part traditional Chinese. Business leaders must develop new skills and competencies if they want to attract and retain workers.”
DeMarco is involved in a study of Chinese business leadership with CSL director Prof. Brian Earn; Prof. Karen Korabik, Psychology; and Li Zhang, a professor of business administration from China's Harbin Institute of Technology. Zhang, who is midway through a research leave at U of G, will be on campus until next August.
The study, which is a collaboration between CSL and Harbin's School of Management, will examine topics ranging from how business is changing in China's new economy and the influence tradition has on leadership styles to leadership in Chinese knowledge-based companies and the growing role of women in executive positions.
Earlier this month, the researchers gave a panel presentation at the conference of the International Leadership Association in Chicago, discussing how the emerging economy has affected business leadership in China. They believe that, in time, their findings will have a positive impact on Chinese leaders as well as on Canadian leaders who do business in China.
“Research and relationships with China are clearly an important part of Canadian business and North American commerce,” says DeMarco, whose previous research has included a comparison of high-performing leaders in Japan and the United States to determine the degree of cultural influence on their behaviour.
Earn notes that, in many cases, culture shapes a person's definition of appropriate business conduct.
“Things like treating others with dignity and behaving in an ethical manner are examples of traits that can be exhibited quite differently, depending on what those things mean in one's home country,” he says. “Many Canadian leaders approach these situations with all their cultural filters and see only the outer layers of what's really happening. They assume they understand what's going on when, in fact, they really don't.”
A common example of a misunderstood behaviour is “Guanxi,” a Mandarin word that describes building a business partnership based on strong personal relationships, says DeMarco.
“It's a term with great significant history, but the concept is viewed by westerners as nepotism or favouritism to the chosen few. It's neither of those. It's just a different way of doing business.”
Compare this with business practices in North America, where many transactions take place over lunch and a handshake, he says.
Understanding these differences is vital because misunderstanding can break a business deal and relationships are an important part of being successful in business, he says.
Chinese leaders need to find ways to negotiate a balance between the past and the present to make for a prosperous tomorrow, says Earn.
“They have tensions that western business leaders don't have. It creates an interesting case study for business leadership.”