A cross-cultural comparison of Asian and American managers' dependency patterns

Multinational Business Review, Spring 1997 by Michael, James

Dependency patterns between Chinese bosses and subordinates are quite different from American. While empirical data are lacking on China's power distance score, which is a measure of status differences between people in organizations, Hofstede (1984) surmises that China has a moderate power distance score. He may be understating the value since Chinese family businesses (CFBs) are reluctant to delegate authority to anyone outside the family (Chen, 1995; De Mente, 1989). Subordinates' dependency on bosses is likely to be high since they are dependent upon them for essential information and resources and approval of work activities (Chen, 1995). In addition, most Chinese businesses utilize a flat organizational structure and a high degree of centralization of authority, which creates a high degree of subordinate dependency on bosses (Kao, 1993).

In large state-run Chinese enterprises, bosses develop warm and friendly relations with their subordinates (Wall, 1990), and may even to a limited extent engage in some participatory management practices (Hofstede, 1984). Therefore, some degree of interdependency may exists between boss and subordinate. But as far as patterns of peer dependency are concerned in large state-run organizations, evidence clearly indicates a lack of horizontal integration of different work units (Lockett, 1988). These organizations are hierarchically or vertically structured, which enhances the subordinate dependency on bosses.

The quanxi network that provides inter-organizational dependency give Chinese family businesses a competitive advantage over Western firms. Since most CFBs are small, environmental and competitive information are acquired from quanxi inter-organizational networks that bind many firms into a giant "spider's web" (Chen, 1995: 90). These business connections provide CFBs with resources needed to remain competitive information, supplier and customer contacts, access to low cost capital, arbitration methods to resolve disputes (Chen, 1995). These networks of CFBs resemble the "network organization" found in the West, which is a new form of organizational structure designed to provide a high degree of strategic flexibility in hyper-competitive environments (Miles & Snow, 1995). It is interesting to note that what is now the latest rage in Western management practices - network structures - have existed for generations in the Chinese business community.

MANAGERIAL AND RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS

Table 1 summarizes our analysis of dependency patterns of Asian and American managers.

It is hypothesized that Americans have a lower degree of dependency on externals compared to Asian managers. Differences in external dependency patterns between Americans and Japanese/Koreans are caused by differences in industrial structures and cultural work values. Japanese and Korean organizations are more vertically-integrated than American and exhibit polychronic characteristics compared to the American monochronic beliefs. The Chinese have a higher degree of dependency on externals compared to Americans because of the cultural importance of quanxi. American managers should exhibit the lowest amount of dependency on their bosses, Koreans and Chinese the highest amount, and Japanese a relative moderate level of dependency. A similar pattern can be seen as it concerns dependency on subordinates but in the opposite direction. American managers should exhibit the highest amount of dependency on subordinates, Koreans and Chinese the lowest amount, and Japanese a relative moderate level of dependency. We also see differences in dependency patterns concerning peers and senior managers other than one's immediate boss. The Americans and Japanese are more dependent upon peers than Koreans and Chinese, and Americans are more dependent upon senior managers than Asian managers. The perception that Asian managers behave in a similar fashion is refuted by this analysis - Japanese dependency patterns are somewhat different from Korean and Chinese.