Management with Chinese Characteristics: at the intersection of culture and institutions

With the rapid development of the Chinese economy, the proliferation of Chinese companies worldwide, and the increased presence of Chinese business schools in the international academic discourse, the research on Chinese organizations became a major research stream in international journals. A significant proportion of empirical research in the academic discourse on organizational issues stems from the People’s Republic of China, while the uniqueness of the external environment the country poses for its organizations still means a challenge in the generalization of these research results. According to the traditional approach to Chinese management, Chinese culture, especially the Confucian influence is a major determinant and explanatory variable behind the differences of Western and Chinese organizations. This dissertation aims to discover the influence of the Confucian ideology, other factors of the external environment, and the most relevant external and internal factors in Chinese management today. 1. Confucianism has many principles and values which could have an implication on modern managerial practices, such as the importance of moral force and rituals, the importance of loyalty or a harmonious society. However, the actual influence of Confucian ideology is more of a historical heritage for Chinese managers than actual influencing factor behind their practices. Chinese managers are proud of their heritage which gives them a sense of belonging, but their practices don’t follow Confucian principles more than the practices of non-Chinese managers do. Moreover, the empirical research results are highly influenced by the operationalization of Confucianism, for which there are countless different approaches – the ancient ideology and its many variations are a difficult concept to translate for management research. 2. It is important to note, that in the recent academic discourse, Confucian ideology is not a significant factor anymore. The external environment overall does not receive as much scholarly ...