Anglo-Chinese leadership : a study of leadership within Asian-based executive teams, comprised of Hong Kong Chinese and western managers

Leadership in Anglo-Chinese executive teams. by Ritchie Bent Centre for Labour Market Studies University of Leicester April 1999 During the past 50 years, much has been written about the notions leadership and management. The last twenty years, however, has seen a strong research shift towards business leadership. For the most part, this research has been conducted in the West and focused on Western leaders. These findings have in turn been ‘exported’ to the developing economies of the world, mainly through Western educators, consultants, books and more recently, the internet. However, as far back as thirty years ago, the transferability of such ideas was challenged on the basis of culturally differing values and beliefs giving rise to different behaviours. Much has since been written about cultural diversity. Most of these studies have been comparative in nature, with conclusions being drawn from cultures observed in isolation, rather than in the context of multicultural interaction. In more recent years, however, a growing interest has emerged in multicultural work groups. With this interest has emerged a growing recognition that culturally diverse teams, when managed well, can outperform their homogeneous counterparts. This finding has critical implications for business leaders, who now increasingly find themselves operating and living beyond their domestic boundaries. This thesis is therefore about leadership in multicultural situations. More specifically, it is about senior level leadership within teams comprised of Hong Kong Chinese and Australian or British managers, working together in Asian-based, multinational organisations. The thesis will present arguments which challenge some of the conventional thinking about leadership, when applied to multicultural situations. The thesis will also provide new perspectives on the pitfalls of cultural stereotyping, identify underlying tensions which exist within multicultural executive teams, and the associated behaviours. However, most important of all, the thesis will add to our body of knowledge, by addressing what is arguably one of the most compelling business challenges for the new millennium, multicultural leadership. ** ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ** Many people have provided help, advice and support during the five years of this research and I am indebted to them all. However, I would like to express particular thanks to my supervisor, David Ashton and his colleague, Dr. Alan Felstead, of the University of Leicester, for their invaluable guidance. In Hong Kong, I owe gratitude to Dr. Michael Bond of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who continually made me stand back and question my assumptions. Thanks also go to Eleanor Ling, OBE, Director of Jardine Pacific, who allowed me extensive access to people and resources. I am further indebted to my colleague, Anita Lo, who proved to be an ever-present sounding board for ideas. Special thanks are also given to my secretary, Shirley Lau, who proved to be a master of document recovery, a slave to the photocopier, and a great ‘manager’, who in the face of my heavy work and travel schedule, somehow helped me pull all this together. Finally, I owe a great gratitude to my wife Sarah, and three children, Sophie, Lucy and Jack (who arrived on the same month I started this research). They will be pleased to hear that our next family holiday will be the first without laptop and files.