Industrialisation and the evolution of managerial values across three regions in the People's Republic of China

Abstract

Market reform and China's recent entry into the World Trade Organisation has stimulated much research into Chinese managerial values and the decision making process, with the aim of developing better understandings and practices for those doing business with the Chinese. A growing body of research is suggesting the emergence of a new profile of Chinese manager, incorporating a unique combination of more liberal, individualistic and 'Westernised' values alongside aspects of traditional Confucianist thinking. Despite this, there is little empirical research that describes the precise nature of such trends and suggests which traditional values have, or will, be retained and which will die out, as China adopts elements of market capitalism and economic modernisation. This study examines differences in individual values of managers across three regional groups in the People's Republic of China. A factor analysis ofthe Chinese Value Survey (Chinese Culture Connection, 1987) found little overlap with the dimensions described in the original study. Five factors were identified which resonate with well established themes in Confucian philosophy. In a sample of 200 managers, partial support was found for the hypothesis that values of managers from the more industrialised and modernised regions of China converge toward those of more western market-driven economies.