What do they have? : a qualitative research of traits of Chinese business leaders

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What do they

have?

A qualitative research of traits of Chinese business leaders

M

ASTER

T

HESIS

KAI HE - 10603387

August 15th, 2014

MSC BUSINESS STUDIES – LEADERSHIP &

MANAGEMENT

UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to thank my thesis supervisor Kyrill Goosseff. I am

fortunate to have him as my supervisor. He provide me many valuable

advice and guidance, which are very time-consuming. Secondly, I should

give my thanks to the respondents of my research. They are very busy at

their work. But they allocated their precious time on my interviews and gave

me numerous interesting viewpoints. Thirdly I should be grateful to my

family members. Without their support, I cannot get this thesis don.

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Chinese employees, who also has the people skills, systemic skills, and characteristic-based attributes of motives, self-identification and emotional stability. Chinese leaders demonstrate people skills in terms of their caring and concern of employees; use systemic skills to align interests and efforts to win peers and superiors’ supports and co-operation. Moreover, Chinese leaders’ leading motives and self-indetifications are conflated.

Contribution: This research will be of some value for cross-national comparative studies

between China and western countries. In practice, this research is of implcations for the selection and training of business leaders, and also can enhance managers’ understanding of the leadership process in Chinese contexts.

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1. Introduction

1.0 Background

As Bass (2008: 25) it is noted, "In industrial, educational, and military settings, and in social movements, leadership plays a critical, if not the most critical, role, and is therefore an important subject for study and research." Leadership, as “one of social science’s most examined phenomena" (Bass, 2008: 25), has received extensive attention in academia, and is a significant factor of importance in many fields. Gateway, the computer manufacturer, adopted Dell’s famous agile supply chain but ultimately failed to outperform Dell. An explanation of the difference in the two firms’ performance is leadership qualities of their executives (Yukl & Lepsinger, 2004).

This example also implies a 'gap' between leadership and management. Although some writers have argued that leadership and management can co-exist in one person, (Kotter, 2001; Yukl & Lepsinger, 2004), leadership and management are indeed parallel (Yukl & Lepsinger, 2004), and the former could be more highly-demanding: becoming a leader requiring a certain set of knowledge, skills, abilities and distinguishing characteristics which are only available to true leaders. (e.g. Mumford, Marks, Connelly, Zaccaro, & Reiter-Palmon, 2000). Regardless of occasional disagreements, authors have reached a general consensus that in practice that managers are not necessarily leaders: To be well-recognized and experienced as ‘real leader’ by their subordinates, managers cannot take their leadership for granted. This thesis rests on a basic assumption outlining the clear distinction between management and leadership (e.g. Kotter, 2001; Yukl & Lepsinger, 2004; Zaleznik, 1977): that the focus of leaders is not only on the business but also on people; leaders manage to transform employees into eager followers. Their influence stems not just from their official power in the organization, but from their 'charisma' and or motivational ability. This is in contrast to managers with the power comes from the organization, who are highly task-oriented, taking mostly instrumental views of their employees.

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But what makes a person a leader? An intuitive but persuasive explanation is that leaders are outstanding persons who have stood the test of time and demonstrates the ‘right stuff” to distinguish themselves from 'ordinary' people (e.g. Day & Antonakis, 2011; Kirkpatick & Locke, 1991; Zaccaro, 2007). This assumption is the foundation of the ‘trait school’ of leadership (Day & Antonakis, 2011), which is aiming to find out the individual difference between leaders and the ordinaries. With the longest history among all schools of leadership theory, the trait school experienced a resurgence in the mid-1980s that has continued to this day. (Day & Antonakis, 2011). For decades of development, leader traits have been empirically examined and horizon-broadened, making the trait theories one of the most consolidated and influential school (e.g.Zaccaro, Foti, & Kenny, 1991; Zaccaro, Kemp, & Bader, 2004)

Nonetheless, it should be noted that the study of leader traits has been primarily led and developed by Western researchers, while their Eastern counterparts, particularly Chinese scholars, have given it less focus on this topic. According to the findings of Ren and Wang (2008), from 1980 to 2006 there were only approximately four articles ( available in EBSCO and Elsevier Science) by Chinese scholars that empirically studied leadership traits, with domestic researchers having concentrated more attention on leaders in public service sector than on leaders in the business sector. It would be too quick to assume that the leadership traits identified through the glasses of western culture are necessarily universal, though similarities are as obvious as differences (e.g. Kong, 2003; Long, Huang, & Lau, 2012). Some research having indicated that the perceived traits of leaders are largely affected by cultural factors (e.g. Casimir, Waldman, Bartram, & Yang, 2006; Gerstner & Day, 1994). It is not difficult to understand that culture is an important variable. For instance, even within Europe, there is a gap in the views on leadership traits between North-Western Europeans and South-Eastern Europeans (Koopman, Den Hartog, Konrad, & et al, 1999)

1.1 Research goals and questions

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China context. Specifically how the leaders interact with subordinates and how they are valued by them

Although leaders (and managers) also bear the responsibility for achieving business goals, leaders' business capabilities are not studied in this thesis. Also not part of this study how leaders interact with parties outside the company. The emphasis is on determining why leaders act in the ways they do, and how they are perceived and why by their subordinates. Moreover, whether the findings match the Western view of modern leadership is also explored.

The research question is:

What are considered modern leadership traits in present Chinese companies and how do they relate to contemporary western culture-based modern leadership theories?

In order to answer the above research question, the following sub-questions need to be answered first:

1. What is the Western cultural perspective on leadership and what are the recent developments in leadership trait theories?

2. What is the Chinese cultural perspective on leadership?

1.1.1 Academic and societal relevance

As mentioned towards the end of section 1.0, the possible academic relevance of this research question is that the study could of a little help on deeper comparing and understanding of the role of western theories in explaining Chinese leadership stop sentence new sentence , a question which is still need to be further explored until recently (e.g. Ling, Chia, & Fang, 2000; Long, et al., 2012), On the basis of the study of leaders that are well-regarded by employees, this research is also of a social and practical relevance, in providing further understanding of Chinese leadership traits. This understanding can be applied in cross cultural contexts. The findings may have practical relevance in terms of managerial implications for the selection and training of business leaders, and also can enhance managers’ understanding of the leadership process in Chinese contexts

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1.2 Methodology Introduction

Qualitative research was chosen as the research methodology in this dissertation. This is because of three reasons (the exact details of the method are covered in section 3.2). Firstly, qualitative research is better suited to ‘Why’ and ‘How’ questions, which are the type of research questions chosen in section 1.2. Secondly, the research question is complex and covers a variety of factors and assumptions, and cannot easily be addressed by a single quantitative concept. Thirdly, the inherent complexity of leadership traits creates a requirement for qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews in order to allow for deeper understanding and interpretation.

In order to ensure the validity of the data collected, this thesis utilizes the following measures:

 Triangulation (combination of documental analysis, semi-structured interview, and observation), so as to improve the reliability and validity of the research.

 Purposeful sampling (towards generating useful data for the project, Patton and Cochran, 2002) is used, the details of which can be seen in sections 1.3 and 3.6

 Multiple-case studies: towards obtaining a more holistic view

 Semi-structured interview: a compromise between focus on a specific topic and flexibility in interviews.

1.3 Preliminary conceptual model

The basic view of the traits of leaders are within (1) the leader him/herself; and between his (2) employees, who are his 'followers', and who are aligned with and voluntarily support the leader for reasons other than company's rules and management hierarchy (3) Other organizational members who are not officially under the leaders’ command, such as their peers and their bosses Through effective interaction and communication, leaders can win their goodwill and co-operation in order to facilitate their own work.

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Figure 1: Preliminary conceptual model of leadership in business organizations

2. Literature review

2.1 Scope-broadening of leadership traits

As referred to in Section 1.0, individual differences between leaders are the main consideration when assuming their respective traits. By identifying verifiable and accurate leadership traits, truly effective leaders are more easily promoted. In the mid-1950’s, researchers on this topic faced difficulties credibly identifying universal or viable leadership traits through empirical studies (DeRue, Nahrgang, Wellman, & Humphrey, 2011; Stogdill, 1948 : 597). Despite these difficulties, some amount of valid theories were established during this time. New evidence supports the existence of cross-situational traits (Zaccaro, 2012), alongside common academic theories that support a combination of interactive factors concerning abilities, skills, knowledge and personality (Lord & Hall, 2005; Uhl-Bien, Marion, & McKelvey, 2007; Zaccaro, 2012). Moreover, some authors have created a more extensive paradigm, beyond a simple leader-follower structure (Avolio, 2007; Zaccaro, 2012). As Mumford (2000) noted: “…leadership

Leader (1)

Rest of the firm(3) Employees(2)

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depends on an interactive package of complex skills” (Mumford et al, 2000: 160). The exploration of extensive attributes of leadership has gone on for some time. Compared to traditional research, this line of research has two major advancements:

(1) Broadened model

“Leadership,” according to the scholars who authored this model, includes not only “leaders” and “followers” but certain “stakeholders” of leadership: the followers, the associates, and the organization as a whole are also involved in leadership (Avolio, 2007; Lord & Hall, 2005; Zaccaro, 2007; Zaccaro, 2012) . Given certain emphasis on specific outcomes of leadership, if the leaders and followers have performed intensive research on leadership itself, all participants who are affected by leaders should be taken into consideration, for the benefit of the whole (M. D. Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Jacobs, & Fleishman, 2000; Uhl-Bien et al., 2007). According to Kotter (2010), given an increasing level of interdependence among peers and superiors in modern organizations, both horizontal relationships and vertical relationships are crucial to the success or even survival of organizations (Kotter, 2010).

(2) Clarification and divergence of “state-like” traits and “trait-like” attributes

The boundary between “skills”, which are trainable, and “traits”, which are more intrinsic, is blurred, according to this theory (Lord & Hall, 2005). Accordingly, some researchers therefore separated individual differences into two categories: a “trait-like” category, considered to be stable; a “character-based” and “stake-like’ category, which are difficult to obtain short-term, including personality-bound traits like cognitive ability; For example, social skills, which can be trained for and honed according to the mental maturity of an individual (Chen, Gully, Whiteman, & Kilcullen, 2000; Zaccaro, 2007; Zaccaro, 2012). Notably, these kinds of attributes are not totally distinct, instead they are interlinked (DeRue et al., 2011; Zaccaro, 2012).

Combining these two theories implies the necessity of a more comprehensive view of the “trait-like” and “state-like” attributes of leaders, while making careful consideration of peers and entire organizations, as well.

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2.2 The framework of leader traits in four groups

To reiterate, for the sake of a comprehensive and effective study of leadership, it is favorable to take into account not only leaders themselves, but any and all stakeholders in leadership, and both leaders’ state-like and trait-like attributes. In the next section, based on the first theory and the development and preliminary conclusions of (Figure 1), findings of leaders’ attributes will be discussed. These are based on the leaders’ “area of effect”, or the different contexts in which they operate: the external, including people, peers and superiors, and the internal, meaning any trait-like attributes of the individual leader.

In the context of employees, for example, people skills are needed. For peers and superiors, systemic skills are crucial. These skills are illustrated in Figure 2, and will be further clarified in the next chapter.

Figure. 2: a graphical summary of the literature review.

Characteristics-based traits 1. Motives and Values 2 Self-identification 3.Emotional Stability People Skills 1.Communication 2.Motivation Systemic Skills 1.Organization Understanding 2.Political Skills Business Skills LEADE R

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2.3 People skills

Academically, there is little dispute regarding the importance of people skills in leaders (Chen et al., 2000; Stogdill, 1948; Zaccaro, Gilbert, Thor, & Mumford, 1991). As early as the 1950’s, Katz postulated that leaders require certain human skills, including interpersonal and organizational understanding, social learning, and motivating others (Katz, 1974). Inspired by Katz and other earlier authors, a series of recent studies regarding social intelligence, (or “SI”,) were conducted by Zaccaro and his colleagues (Northouse, 2012). They proposed that SI includes “the ability to understand the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors of persons, including oneself, in interpersonal situations and to act appropriately upon that understanding…" (Zaccaro et al, 2004). Therefore, SI involves both cognitive (“social understanding”) and behavioral (“behavioral flexibility”) processes (Goleman & Boyatzis, 2008; Zaccaro, 2002). A leader with high SI is more likely to have the social insight and large information center (called “repertoire”,) to select situationally appropriate behaviors in different social scenarios (Zaccaro, 2002: .83).

Evidence showed that SI has robust and cross-situational correlation with leader recognition, rated in terms of “who is leading” by all participants involved, in experimental studies in both military service and other organizations (Kenny & Zaccaro, 1983; Zaccaro et al., 1991; Zaccaro, Kemp, & Bader, 2004). The effectiveness of these leaders is also accounted for (Bass, 2002; Connelly et al., 2000; Hogan & Hogan, 2002; Zaccaro, 2002; Zaccaro et al., 1991). In experimental surveys, participants with higher SI show favorable flexibility, quickly adapting to changing tasks and environments, resulting in other members’ perception of them as more “leader-like” and more capable of assigning meaningful and challenging tasks (Bass, 2002; Zaccaro et al., 1991; Zaccaro et al., 2004). The motivational effect of SI toward others is also significant, demonstrated through field surveys. In particular, Bass (2002) reaffirmed this through a survey of

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FedEx in 1988, which found SI to be significantly correlated with MLQ (Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire) score in the categories of charisma (.32) and inspirational motivation (.33) (Bass, 2002; Hater & Bass, 1988). These empirical findings reveal that high-SI leaders are better capable of winning employees’ recognition in communication and daily interactions, and motivating employees, due to their adaptive qualities.

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2.4 Peers and superiors: systemic skills

According to Kotter (2010), embedded in modern organizations, leaders encounter increased diversity (different peoples with different perspectives,) and dependability (tightly-linked co-operations.) Kotter (2010) thusly accredited power and influence issues, which correspond to systemic skills, as the primary factors in leader efficiency (Kotter, 2010) within the overall context of an organization. Systemic skills largely involve interacting with the functional environment of a department and/or an organization itself. The functional environment is described systematically. When a leader is responsible for his or her department, he or she primarily desires success, and must know how to effectively discover and utilize the resources and potential supports which he or she needs, within the organization or outside of it (e.g. external suppliers and vendors, or other stakeholders.) People skills are then useful, but fall short of what is needed.

Coordinating the pursuit of group goals is another objective of leaders which has been regarded equally essential to another objective: influencing people (people skills) (Kaiser, Hogan, & Craig, 2008). Considering both systemic and complex theories, Mumford et al (2000) suggested that modern organizations face an increasing number of ill-defined social problems in the social domain which are beyond the boundary of interpersonal relationships, such as conflicts of interest between departments, and it is the leaders who are the most effective problem solvers. Other researchers also found that political issues are prevalent in decision-making (Eisenhardt & Bourgeois, 1988). Accordingly, business leaders, especially those who wish to be agents of change, must

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look beyond their own departments and take a strategic view, diplomatically “sell” their plans, and ally with their powerful peers and superiors, in order to win organizational support and sufficient resources (M. D. Mumford, Marks, Connelly, Zaccaro, & Reiter-Palmon, 2000; M. D. Mumford, Zaccaro, Connelly, & Marks, 2000; M. D. Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, et al., 2000; Nelson, Zaccaro, & Herman, 2010). As a result, organizational recognition, collating efforts, and overcoming organizational restrictions, namely “systemic skills” are necessary (Hogan & Hogan, 2002).

The importance of these systemic skills is corroborated by many researchers. For instance, Katz (1974) who explored conceptual skills and human skills, and Lords et al (2005) who researched the social skills of middle-level leaders. Some researchers, such as DeRue et al (2011), Hogan & Hogan, (who pioneered “sociopolitical intelligence”) and Mumford et al (2007) are inclined to combine this ability with “social skills”. This is not to say their categorization is invalid. This thesis, however, takes different angle by separating systemic skills from social skills, because the former requires the understanding of organizational contexts and procedural information, such as power structure and rules. To this effect, in this thesis, they are considered independent of each other (e.g., Zaccaro, 2012). As Mumford et al (2000) asserted, “…it is difficult to see how leaders can exercise social skills effectively without an intimate knowledge of peers, subordinates, and superiors” (M. D. Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, et al., 2000, . 19).

According to a survey of 1097 participants from five firms, influence tactics are used among subordinates, peers and superiors (Yukl & Tracey, 1992). Despite inspirational appeal (motivating skills) which are appreciated by all levels of organizational members, rational persuasion (persuading with factual evidence,) and coalition (looking for and drawing on the support of others,) are the most commonly used techniques in interactions with superiors. In terms of peers, exchange (offering others benefits in return of future benefits,) and legitimatizing (establishing legitimacy by verifying it with organizational rules or authorities,) are more often used (Falbe & Yukl, 1992; Yukl & Tracey, 1992). According to these studies, leaders with systemic skills meet the following two requirements: 1) Organizational structural and procedural understanding, which requires

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leaders to understand strategic goals, sub-systems of potential resources and potential supporters, and cultures and norms of the organization. This is similar to “strategic skills” and “conceptual skills” as defined by Mumford et al (2007) and Katz (1954). 2) Political skills, which require leaders to skillfully cope with the existing political climate of the firm, in order to complete deals and allies with powerful persons wisely, to achieve organizational goals. Politics potentially inhibit corporate performance, and leaders in successful firms should be capable of avoiding politics (Eisenhardt & Bourgeois, 1988). Logically, in order to avoid politics, one must understand what and where the politics in his or her organization are. In addition, politics, according to some authors, are a “necessary evil”, which can be used to improve organizational adaption ability in complex environment (Preffer, 1986, cited in Eisenhardt & Bourgeois, 1988).

These two concepts can been generalized as “organizational wisdom” (M. D. Mumford, Marks, et al., 2000, . 90). The first theory regards workability, the second is more about coordination. These ideas are also proven to be a crucial step for the growth of military leaders, public servants, and novice business leaders (Lord et al., 2001; Lord & Hall, 2005; M. D. Mumford, Zaccaro, et al., 2000; T. V. Mumford, Campion, & Morgeson, 2007). Quantitative surveys also indicate that as careers develop, a leader increasingly relies on both systemic skills and people skills (Lord, Brown, Harvey, & Hall, 2001; Lord & Hall, 2005; M. D. Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, et al., 2000; T. V. Mumford, Campion, & Morgeson, 2007).

Thus far, both people skills and systemic skills have been discussed. Development and utilization of both are to some extent situational, which is the reason that people skills and systemic skills have been categorized as “proximal” skills, directly affected by (and affecting,) the environmental factors (Zaccaro, 2007; Zaccaro et al., 2004). As mentioned in 2.1, however, Zaccaro and some other researchers also identified some attributes which are more personal, including “distal” attributes such as personality (Zaccaro, 2007). Moreover, researchers also found these attributes create a dispositional basis of leadership which frames the acquisition, development, and use of proximal skills (Connelly et al., 2000; DeRue et al., 2011; M. D. Mumford, Marks, et al., 2000; Zaccaro,

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2007; Zaccaro et al., 2004). These more personal characteristics will be further discussed in the next section.

2.5 Personal characteristics

Many articles are currently available on the personal skills of leaders (Northouse, 2012). Conversely, a major obstacle for researchers is the consolidated discoveries regarding leaders’ personal skills. Ten critical articles, between 1948 and 1999, were reviewed by Judge et al (2002), who admitted that “…no trait emerged as related to leadership in a majority of these [10 article] reviews” (Judge, Bono, Ilies, & Gerhardt, 2002, :766). This is due to the disorganization of past researchers’ descriptive structures (Judge et al, 2002). Nevertheless, these findings are still valuable to refine and generalize current theories. This paper argues that leaders must possess motives and values, self-awareness, emotional stability, a distinct learning style, and coping mechanisms for resistance and stress.

2.5.1 Motive and values

It is intuitively apparent that leaders must have goals. These exist irrespective of different expressions, such as “drive” and “achievement orientation” and others (Judge et al., 2002; Kirkpatick & Locke, 1991). There are few disputes on the existence and significance of leaders’ innate drive. Zaccaro (2004:12) accredited “motive and value” as one of the distal attributes in his model. He defined “motive and value” as the “…need for socialized power, need for achievement, and motivation to lead”. This is related to McClelland’s achievement theories (McClelland, 1965, cited in Zaccaro, 2004). More simply, this reflects the need leaders have to “do something” and “be someone”, which reflects the drive for making achievements, excising influence, and being ethical and recognized by others. To elaborate, Mumford et al (2000) argued that leaders who wish to solve complex social problems prevalent in modern organizations must meet three prerequisites, to start: a willingness to remedy complex social problems; a willingness to influence others; and a high degree of social commitment. Winter (2002) argued the

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balance of different motives – the motives for power which lead to power-seeking behaviors. Meanwhile, the leaders’ own value, translated into leaders’ desire for responsibility and affiliation, keeps him or her from being entirely driven by self-serving motives (Einarsen, Aasland, & Skogstad, 2007; Winter, 2002).

Persuasive evidence supports the contribution of motives and values to leader recognition, leader performance and leader self-learning, resulting in the continuous attention and improvement of proximal attributes such as people skills (Zaccaro, 1999; cited in Kirkpatick & Locke, 1991; Lord et al., 2001; Zaccaro et al., 2004 and Zaccaro et al, 2007). Another line of personality research also implies the importance of motives and values: according to Judge et al (2002) and DeRue et al (2011)’s meta-analysis, consciousness (measured in “achievement and dependability”,) and extraversion (measured in “sociability and dominance”,) are two of the strongest and most consistent indicators of leader recognition and leadership effectiveness. Notably, motive and values have conducive and chronic effects on people skills and systemic skills, as evidenced by Riggio and Mumford (2011)’s summary of longitude studies of leader development (Riggio & Mumford, 2011).

2.5.2 Self-identity

For years, authors have noted the difference between managers and leaders in their respective self-identification. (Lord & Hall, 2005; Zaleznik, 1977) Earlier leadership theorists insist that leaders inherently differ from managers in their “selves”. Leaders do not consider themselves equal to other members of their organizations. Leaders have personalized and emotionalized self-awareness, which drives them to pursue changes in their organization (Zaleznik, 1977). In short, leaders consider themselves sole changers of their environment. Nevertheless, recent theories are taking a more compromised and developmental view of leaders’ self-identities and contextual factors. Theories suggested by Avolio and his associates reveal that the center of authentic leadership is a journey of self-discovery, which is based on a compromise between leaders’ context and ego during long-term societal interactions (Avolio & Gardner, 2005: 351; Gardner, Avolio, Luthans,

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May, & Walumbwa, 2005). Moreover, by presenting a personal-relational-collective model which illustrates a shift in the self-identification of leaders as they grow, Lord et al (2005) also found fully-developed, expert leaders possess collectivist self-identities.

2.5.3 Emotional Stability

Self-confidence, adjustment, tolerance of stress, emotional maturity, and emotional flexibility are different expressions of emotional stability, as noted by many authors ( Calarco & Gurvis, 2006; Judge et al., 2002; Kirkpatick & Locke, 1991; Northouse, 2012). They argue that successful leaders are “…less likely to be caught in situations of high interpersonal stress… and less likely to be thwarted by them” (Judge et

al., 2002; Zaccaro, 1995, . 34). In other words, leaders with these skills are capable of

avoiding or tolerating negative emotions. In empirical studies, people with a high level of emotional stability are more likely to overcome negative emotions (Bass, 2002; Dickson, Den Hartog, & Mitchelson, 2003; Judge et al., 2002), score low on tests related to neuroticism, and are more likely to be flexible and enduring in stressful environments (Calarco & Gurvis, 2006). This is due to a lack of emotion which controls or distracts one’s attention and occupies one’s cognitive resources, which leads to biased cognition and inappropriate behaviors (Lord & Hall, 2005).

In addition the requirements for leadership skills already discussed, other important skills and abilities are worth noting in leaders, such as cognitive abilities and business knowledge (e.g.,DeRue et al., 2011; Kirkpatick & Locke, 1991). This study carefully considers importance of these attributes, as they are also crucial and have substantial supporting evidence (Bass, 2002; Hernandez, Eberly, Avolio, & Johnson, 2011). Cognitive abilities and business skills are not distinguishing features of leaders and managers, however. Both leaders and managers do require these abilities, therefore, they fall outside the boundary of this study.

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2.6 National cultural difference and traits of leaders

Thus far, the main attributes of leaders have been introduced. As Gordon and Yukl (2006) and Bass (1990) previously noted, an important question arises: Are these attributes universal? Previous studies indicate that the answer is both yes, and no. Universally-accepted traits such as integrity exist, but there exist also some culture-specific traits and behaviors (Den Hartog & Dickson, 2004; Den Hartog, House, Hanges, Ruiz-Quintanilla, & Dorfman, 1999; Dorfman et al., 1997; Gerstner & Day, 1994). Cultural differences and implicit leadership theories are popular explanations (Hernandez et al., 2011).

According to House et al (2002), “…followers compare and match the leaders’ displayed attributes and behaviors to the prototypes of leaders in their mindset.” This is based on followers’ recognition of leaders (House, Javidan, Hanges, & Dorfman, 2002; Lord et al., 2001). The building and activation of followers’ “leader prototypes”, the mental representations of idealistic leaders, (Lord et al, 2001:318) are largely impacted by culture (Brodbeck, 2000; cited in Casimir & Waldman, 2007). Cultural differences are expected to result in differences between the prototypes of leaders, and therefore their traits. That is why different nations have different prototypes for leaders. In terms of recent cultural analysis, the gap between Chinese culture and Western culture is obvious in evaluations of both Hofstede’s and Schein’s model:

 In Hofstede’s Model: China scored higher in power distance, collectivism, masculinity, and long-term orientation, but lower in risk avoidance (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005).  Research in Schein’s Model, which borrowed Schein’s organizational culture framework

to examine Chinese national culture: The Chinese have special basic assumptions and subsequent value systems, such as the assumption of an “ever-hostile world”, self-seeking human beings, the social reality of hierarchical power, and a derived cluster of utilitarian value systems (Kong, 2003, : 92).

2.7 Current studies of traits of leaders in China

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between China and Western countries reveal both similarities and differences. For example, according to data from project GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness,) for Chinese employees, admirable leaders are the silent doers (instead of passionate communicators,) who are modest and kind to others. As revealed in this study, kindness, (an indicator of charisma,) is a universal trait in most countries, but silence is less highly regarded by Westerners, or even Asians in other countries such as India (Den Hartog et al., 1999).

Though much research on leadership attributes in China is conducted by foreigners, “…comparative leadership research is still less common” (Den Hartog & Dickson, 2004, . 396) and most studies are still in the preliminary stage (Casimir & Waldman, 2007; Long, Huang, & Lau, 2012). Moreover, as noted in Chapter 1.0, only a small number of domestic Chinese authors have studied this topic in recent years. Additionally, some researchers have noticed that more contemporary studies are required, as they found that younger Chinese employees (under 25 years old,) have much higher expectations of desirable leaders than their senior counterparts (between 26-35 years old) (Ling, Chia, & Fang, 2000). This indicates an emergent trend demanding more egalitarian leaders (Kong, 2003). This finding implies that investigations should continue, as the generation of Chinese citizens born after 1978 continue to mature, in a climate post-Mao under “Reform and Opening” policy, rife for overseas investors and Westernization.

3. Method

3.0 Themes and model in 2.1

The properties of leaders, in Western leadership theorists’ view, can be translated into three groups of interlinked skills: people skills, systemic skills, and characteristics-based traits. To this effect, a conceptual model has been formed. These attributes exist among other well-accepted traits, supported by empirical evidence and theoretical basis. However, they are merely abstract concepts which are difficult to measure and possibly too directive in interviews. For example, if asked a question about person’s skills, the

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interviewees may imply the presence of skills, but because they cannot be verified, their implication may be false. As a result, three themes which act as a guide for semi-structured interviews, are translated and refined:

1) Leaders’ relationships with subordinates.

2) Leaders’ relationships with peers and superiors.

3) Leaders’ own inner drives for leading others.

These themes are derived from the people skills, systemic skills and characteristics-based traits, but they are more likely to be quantifiable in interviews. As some researchers have recommended, "By linking various behaviors to underlying skills and knowledge, it may therefore be possible to formulate more comprehensive theories of leader behavior and leader performance..." (Hernandez et al., 2011; Michael D Mumford, Stephen J Zaccaro, Francis D Harding, et al., 2000:24). This philosophy is also adopted in this thesis.

3.1 Reasons for choosing Qualitative methods and how they are applied

It is difficult to imagine that leaders’ internal drives can be easily and dependably measured quantitatively. The psychological mechanism of leadership still needs to be further explored (Hernandez et al., 2011; Lord & Hall, 2005). Because leaders operate in a way that “involves the a more complex mix of behavioral, cognitive, and social skill” (Lord & Hall, 2005,: 592), this question will be even more complex when embedded in a non-Anglo-American culture (Den Hartog & Dickson, 2004).

Three companies are chosen as examples because they represent a range of organizations, from a traditional domestic SME (small and medium enterprise,) to a high-tech, multinational company, and have businesses in the second (production,) and the third (service,) industries. Moreover, companies of these three types structure ownership differently: Company A is family-owned; Company B is a limited company with several stockholders, and Company C is a joint venture, owned by German and Chinese

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investors. This cross-section is designed to reduce possible bias, because the two SMEs are in the same industrial chain. For the research in question, it is made more representative by the addition of a multi-national manufacturer within China. To this effect, the three different companies are investigated in order to distinguish Chinese cultural influences. For each case, there are five interviewees, making fifteen total: three ordinary staff members with at least four years working experience, one HR senior, and one promising leader.

Due to the complexities of individual leaders and followers, accordingly, qualitative research is best suited to the research question. According to Gephardt (2004), qualitative research is interpretive and can cover broader questions than quantitative methods, therefore more effectively revealing social phenomena. Moreover, the research question is likely better answered by obtaining immeasurable variables, like life stories, personal opinions, and examples which can only be probed by observation or conducting in-depth interviews, the key tools of qualitative research. Personal observation will not be part of the research. Moreover, as mentioned, leadership involves the sense-making process in employees’ mind. The research questions regarding why or how leaders behave in a certain way and their corresponding motivations are better answered by employing humanistic and qualitative methods than statistical methods (Patton and Cochran, 2002).

For the sake of precision, multiple cases studies will be employed. Due to larger and more diverse sample size, multiple case studies tend to be more holistic in reflecting true similarities which may be more culturally generalizable in a certain context than single case studies (Saunders and Lewis, 2012; Yin, 2010). The research in question is linked to Chinese culture, so a multiple case studies method is more appropriate, where multiple cases can provide a broader view than single cases, and possibly average variables, for example, preferring corporate culture over national culture (Yin, 2010).

Admittedly, given a culture which famous for stressing harmony and hierarchy, employees might be cautious on critically evaluating their seniors , it can be a reason why many mentioned leaders are not currently in the company, because it can be safer and

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more comfortable for Chinese employees to talking about those ‘outsiders’. Their current leaders are mainly positively talked, such as L1 and L2, but for the leaders who are not currently working for the firm, employees are more likely to discuss their former leaders’ weak points.. As a result, the data from the interview could be distorted. Fourthly, sometimes leadership is coming from distortion: the subordinates’ recognition process of leaders are in itself biased and distorted (Meindl, et al 1985). This qualitative research does not necessarily and always produce the facts, but that the facts found by qualitative interviews are 'only' the shared or not shared opinions of the respondents

3.2 Choice of data collection techniques change format

In this thesis, a semi-structured interview and documentary analysis are applied as data collection techniques. This combination of methods is an attempt to improve reliability and validity by using multiple methods and utilizing different sources, borrowing the philosophy of triangulation (Saunders and Lewis, 2012). Moreover, member checking, meaning feedback findings for respondents, is also used to further guarantee the validity of research (Patton and Cochran, 2002).

Derived from Figure 2 the semi-structured interview, which is “a method of data collection in which the interviewer asks about a set of themes using some predetermined questions, but varies the order in which the themes are covered and questions asked” is employed (Saunders and Lewis, 2012:151). The primary reason for choosing the interview as the main data-collecting tool is that research of leader qualities includes the subjective meaning of both values and beliefs. As a result, interviewees are most likely to have different and unexpected answers which require further interpretation. Secondly, the interviews need to be structured around several in-depth topics, used for every relevant respondent (Saunders & Lewis, 2012). Nvivo 10, a qualitative analysis software, was utilized for data analysis and refinement of emerging topics from raw data.

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3.3 Description of three cases

Interviewees were chosen from three firms located in the Canton province of China. The first case, (Company A,) is a small, family-owned construction company. The second case, (Company B,) is a larger and mid-sized real-estate firm, with around 1000 employees, whose businesses are more diversified than Company A. Company B includes real estate investment, property management, and hotel management. The third company, (Company C,) is totally different from the aforementioned two cases, a branch of a world-leading laboratory equipment manufacturer headquartered in Germany.

3.4 Data collection procedure

1. Preparation

To obtain access, phone calls and emails about the research were sent to senior managers of firms to gauge willingness to participate. After gathering permission from the managers of the three aforementioned firms, interview appointments were made, consent forms (see Appendix 2,) and an outline of interview questions were also emailed to the managers as guarantees privacy and ethical conduct, which is crucial to successful interviews (Yin, 2010).

2. Interviews

The interviewer visited the three firms with printed consent forms. Face-to-face interviews were then conducted one at a time. The interviews were conducted in Chinese, for the ease of both interviewers and interviewees. The interviews have been recorded and noted, following oral and written permission of each interviewee. Following the interviews, content was verified by briefly rephrasing the main points of the interview to respondents. In after each interview, consent forms were personally checked and signed by each interviewee.

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their perspectives, a leader or a promising leader was established. The three tables below illustrates details of respondents:

Responde

nt 1 Male Engineer 12 years 27 min Not in

Responde nt 2

Male Engineer 15 years 30 min

Not in (Used to be in)

Responde

nt 3 Female Clerk 4 years 30 min Not in

Indicates Responde nt 5 Responde nt 4 Female Human Resource Departme nt Director 23 years 30 min In the firm, who is the president, Indicates Responde nt 5 Responde nt 5 Female Vice Director of Human Resource Departme nt

14 years 30 min Not in

The promising leader

Table 1: Respondents of Company A

Company B:

Number Gender Title/Posi tion Working experienc e Interview time Mentione d Leaders in/not in Mark

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the firm Responde nt 1 Female Directive Superviso r of Engineeri ng and Constructi on Managem ent

12 years 30min Not in

Responde

nt 2 Male

Project

Manager 13 years 30 min Not in

Responde

nt 3 Male Engineer 22 years 38 min

In the firm, who is an Executive Vice President Responde nt 4 Female HR Departme nt Director 10 years 30 min One is not in the firm, and another is In the firm, who is an Executive Vice President

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nt 5 Vice President

but used to be in)

leader

Table 2: Respondents of Company B, case 2

Number Gender Title/Posi tion Working experienc e Interview time Mentione d Leaders in/not in the firm Mark Responde nt 1 Female Supportiv

e Sale 4 years 32 min Not in

Responde nt 2 Male Director of Business Departme nt

Responde nt 3 Female Clerk of Operation (Warehou sing) Departme nt 5 years 13 min Not a specific person Responde nt 4 Male Designer and Product Engineer

Responde nt 5 (HR Manager)

Female HR

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Table 1: Respondents of Company B, case 3

Figure 3: interview process for each case and numbers of interviewees (the interviews in each cases began with three ordinary employees and an HR practitioner, nominating the leaders to be interviewed in the final stage) 3. Data collection and analysis

After the interviews, recordings were transcribed and translated into English. Then the document was imported into Nvivo 10 for analysis. A general description of the respondents can be seen in Tables 1, 2, and 3. Please note the column “mentioned leaders in/not in the firm”, which denotes leaders who are mentioned by the employee group as currently working for the firm. This is because the leaders who mentioned by interviewees are not necessarily working for the firm. Although these former leaders cannot be directly interviewed, the descriptions from the interviewees are valuable because 1) Former leaders are chosen by interviewees by comparisons to other managers in the interviewee’s career, thus aligning to the interviewee’s accurate perception of a leader. 2( As mentioned in Chapter 3.1, the leadership traits can also be reflected in

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followers’ perception and understanding.

4. Raw Data

In this chapter, data from the interview is presented and themes which emerged from interviews is analyzed. As the name of this chapter indicates, this chapter does not contain in-depth analysis and conclusions, the next chapter, “Analytical Discussion,” does this. To ensure the credibility and rigidity, typical quotes from interviewees are extracted.

The interviewees come from 3 different organizations. Almost every employee participant describes during their interview a leader who they are willing to follow in their career. Many leaders discussed are not currently working for the firms of A, B, or C. However, descriptions, examples and stories about these leaders are still valuable as references for research of leader traits, as mentioned in section 3.1.

HR managers also shared their opinions regarding the requirements for good leaders. Employees (3 persons) interviewee HR Managers (1 person) interviewee Leaders (1 person) intervewee

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Additionally, two leaders, the fifth participant who is a potential leader (L1) in Company A, and the tenth participant, a leader (L2) in Company B, were identified and interviewed. In case 3, Company C, there was no concentrated results nominating a leader. Both L1 and L2 have recommendations from the HR seniors and at least one employee.

According to the interview questions, Respondents’ narratives regarding traits of their respected leaders and their topics are concentrated in three themes:

1. Leaders’ relationship with subordinates. 2. Leaders’ relationship with peers and superiors. 3. Leaders’ motivations for leadership, as self-reported.

In the following section, interviewees’ answers about these three themes will be ordered and presented, in section 4.1-4.3. For each theme, findings from interviewees will be ordered and presented by their positions in three groups: ordinary employees, HR managers, and the leaders/potential leaders.

As an abbreviation for respondents, they are numbered in an “R + number” format. For example, “Respondent 1” is “R1”. The emerged leaders, (R5 and R10,) who emerged in interview are also abbreviated as L1 and L2, to make them more notable.

The next section will begin by presenting narratives from ordinary employees, then HR managers, then L1 and L2. For the group of ordinary employees, ten are interviewed—R1, R2, R3, R6, R7, R8, and R11, R12, R13, R14; HR managers are labeled R4, R9 and R15; leaders are R5 and R10 ( the R5 is a HR manager who is under the command of R4, who is also a HR senior and recommended R5 as a leader)

4.1 Leaders’ relationship with subordinates

4.1.1 Narratives from ordinary employees

All ten employee interviewees in companies A, B, and C have positive attitudes toward their leaders regarding their relationship with subordinates. Further questioning what defines their favorable relationships, the most frequent answer was simply that the leaders cared about their employees. Ten out of ten employees described their leaders as

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considerate, eight out of ten recalled examples of leaders’ personal benevolence toward them, regarded as evidence of leaders’ compassionate attitudes. The other two interviewees (R6 and R12) did not give examples, but they still described their leaders’ behavior toward them as “been considered” and “valued”.

In the subordinates’ minds, caring leaders produce gratitude. Among the eight interviewees who gave examples, what is interesting to notice is that five mentioned caring leaders extended assistance to employees’ personal lives, and three of them said the leaders provide care only within the boundary of the job. A typical example of personal care is R3’s example about L1:

“He lent us 10000 Yuan. You know, Mr. Xxx (L1) only knew us for a few months, but he still trusted us and lent us so much money. This is quite moving, not just for me, but also for all the intern students.”

The leader (L1, R5) lent 10000 Yuan (approximately 980 Euros,) to one of his trainees to help her cover living expenses. This example about a leader’s personal care not only signifies the leader’s generosity, but also demonstrates his personal concerns about subordinates’ personal life and well-being, which largely impressed the interviewed subordinate (R3), and has been attributed to L1’s kindness and level of mutual trust. There were four more examples of leaders caring for employees’ personal lives, including their personal health and stress level at work (R1 & R7), quality of meals at work (R2), and social relationship problems and family lives (R8). These caring behaviors contributed to a familial impression of the company among employees. R1, R3 and R8 also described their mentioned leaders as someone like “a big brother”. As R1 said,

“He is like a big brother who give us a sense of dependability. He is reliable, we believe that he can handle everything fine, you just do not have to think too much. …he can make others rely on and believe in him.”

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that their leaders’ care extended to their personal lives. Their examples were focused on the leaders’ coaching and mentoring solely at work. These three interviewees titled their leaders “coach,” “philosopher,” and “mentor,” who teach employees to work diligently. R13 said:

“By her observation… she noticed my way of speaking is unusual, then she told me, ‘Hey, you will annoy our clients…’ She just can detect (mood) problems of employees…I learned a lesson from her, and in that year, I was the sales champion in my department.”

In this example, by detecting R13’s emotional problems on the job, this leader’s coaching radically changed R13’s emotionalized working attitude to become more professional, motivating the employee to achieve higher working performance. Examples from R11 and R14 are also about a leader who has provided coaching to help their subordinates to improve their working performance or overcome difficulties.

4.1.2 Narratives from HR managers

Out of the three HR managers (R4, R9 and R15), two (R4 and R9) also have praised certain leaders’ rapport with employees. The third HR manager (R15) complained that the mentioned leader had not given enough attention to employees, though the leader is a high performer and outstanding businessman. She said,

“However I personally do not think he [a former general manager] did well with people… I know he is passionate at work, but I wish he was more concerned about the staff. ‘Pushing’ employees is necessary, but pulling (softer) approaches are also important as well.”

Nonetheless, this counter example also implied that the R15 is actually assuming that true leaders should care of employees, which is why she made the complaint of lack of people caring.

Additional evidence can be also detected when discussing the requirements of ideal leaders with other HR managers, the other 2 HR managers’ interviews implied the importance of relationship-building between leaders and subordinates.

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R9 in company B pointed out a kind of exchanging relationship between caring leaders and motivated employees:

‘An ideal leader should be tender, mainly take positive attitudes to employees while fully understanding their dark sides, and knowing how to align these to organizational goals… Employees will ‘automatically’ show their gratitude toward this kindness in hard-working…’

The motivating capability of certain leaders is more straightforwardly explained by R4, who describes an experience where a leader cared for her:

“You will feel… deeply grateful and cherish this honor, and work harder.”

R4 regarded care from her leader as a surprise and an honor given to her, which motivated her to work harder.

4.1.3 Narratives from the leader (potential leader)

When talking about their interactions with subordinates, for the two leaders, ”care” was also a key word. L1 (R5) and L2 (R10) mentioned their intent to create a friend-tutor relationship in order to best motivate their subordinates. L1 (R5) defined the role he endeavored to play as a “reliable friend” in the organization:

“I think I am, and I have to be, someone worthy of friendship from my associates.” L1 also gave details about how he conducted relationships with his subordinates:

“I want my subordinates to learn things from their job… I also want to solve their problems in life… Their problem are mainly about job issues, especially stress and other mood problems caused by the job, such as unhappiness and lack of recognition. I think I am responsible for leading them out of these difficulties.”

According to these quotes, L1 was trying to 1) facilitate subordinates’ learning and development; and 2) provide help for those who were suffering emotional and social problems. In short, when interacting with employees, he emphasized compassion for subordinates, regarding both their personal and professional lives.

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is mostly likely a caring leader. He briefly mentioned his dedication to the care of employees by saying, “Be employees’ good teachers and helpful friends.”

He additionally described an exemplary leader who had a major impact on his early career as someone who

”… cared for my family life and my personal development.”

Furthermore, in R8 (a subordinate)’s narrative about L2’s routine behaviors, L2 proved very concerned regarding the employees’ family lives and social relationship problems, (see 4.1.1.).

In sum, caring and concern is emphasized by interviewees as an important aspect of the interaction between leaders and followers. Moreover, the extension of caring and concern varied by different organizations in some degree. In a total Chinese organization, the caring is more extensive, from family problems to working problems.

4.2 leaders’ relationship with superiors and peers

Nine of the ten employees, two of the three HR managers, and both leaders provided positive comments on their leaders’ ability to manage relationships between peers and superiors, without any reduction in productivity.

More specifically, the interviews revealed that the core of leaders’ ability to manage these relationships productively was common goals, and heightened ability to understand and balance different interests of different people. With peers, leaders can put aside minor differences so as to seek common ground in collaboration with other departments. With superiors, good leaders understand their company’s politics and policies then distribute interests wisely.

4.2.1 Narratives of employees

Nine out of ten interviewees in the employee group regarded their leaders’ relationship with peers and superiors as generally successful. They believed that their collaboration with other departments was constructive and effective. Not all of the responders, however, were able to provide detailed examples regarding their leaders’ management of the relationship between peers and superiors. This could be due to limited

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proximity to senior level managers preventing close observations of their behavior and process. However, according to some valuable narratives which did contain examples (R2, R3, R11 and R13,) finding shared goals, balancing interests, and understanding guanxi are the main facets which promote leaders and maximize their growth within the company.

R13, for example, described how the mentioned leader changed the reward system to be more transparent and accessible, in order to obtain the support of other departments: “The new reward system is group-based, not only based on the efforts of our own department, but also taking other supporting associates into consideration. She made a metaphor: ‘People are interest-driven, if we can eat the steak, at least our peers should have their soup.’ In this way, others will also help you next time.”

According to R11, the mentioned leader not only has high level of systemic skills, but also encouraged and taught employees to adopt systemic thinking in their own work, such as the understanding of what links their job to other departments. As R11 said, “He thinks a lot. He also told us how to think. For example, he asked us to think of the link between our position and other departments, and what our job means to the whole firm.”

R3’s example concerned L1’s ability to cope with disagreeable peers calmly and cooperatively. Most employees are uncomfortable with performance appraisals, which is one of the functions of L1’s department. L1 was able to assuage the disagreeable employees, as noted by R3’s description:

“Some new employees are very troublesome. But he never loses his patience… to be frank, it is OK if you become angry, because it is another departments’ fault. But he still does not get angry, not because he does not know, he has good insight, but he does not care (of those misbehaviors of new employees), that does not mean that he does not know.”

R2’s mentioned leader was described as a fair judge of vendors and suppliers in his construction project. Given the highly competitive market of the construction industry, vendors and suppliers possess very weak negotiation power when facing clients – they

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often must tolerate nitpicks and late payments. R2’s leader, though, gave them reasonable, fair and fact-based treatment, which built a good reputation among the contractors.

“Moreover, he never makes late payment to vendors, which is very rare in China. You know, he has the nickname ’the god’s judge’ – he is fierce, but fair, very fair.”

Though R2’s mentioned leader did well in balancing the interests of vendors and suppliers, his upward relationship management is not as favorable as his horizontal relationship management with peers and contractors, because he underestimated the resentments of the bosses’ relatives, a one of the main reasons he resigned (forced to resign). R2 recalled:

“He even declared, ‘I am fully ready to deal with boss’s folks’ angrily.’ At that time he was supported by the boss’s brother, but when the boss’s brother left, his enemies forced him to leave.”

4.2.2 Narratives of HR managers

Two out of three HR managers (R4 and R15,) positively reviewed their cooperation with the mentioned leaders. The one left (R9,) only generally commented that her mentioned leader is social and respectable, also her requirements for a promising leader.

R4 explained L2’s ability to build coalitions and working relationships among different departments:

“He is good at bridging internal works and external works of the firm. He has a holistic perspective of both the internal and external environment.”

R15 reported her cooperation with the mentioned leader was 80% successful. Although, as quoted in Section 4.1.2, the leader was blamed for being impersonal, the HR manager also spoke of this leader as possessing a “driving force” and passion for performing good, thorough work. This driving force comes from the leader’s task orientation. With shared goals, co-operation can be fulfilled. She said,

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“80% of the cooperation with him is successful, we quarreled for the other 20%, then the problem was finally tackled… This is because he is a man of ideas, and his working attitude is worthy of respect. He has a kind of driving force to overcome potential obstacles.”

4.2.3 Narratives from the leaders

Interestingly, L1 and L2 regarded potential conflicts between departments as inevitable and part of a daily routine, thus stressing the roles of perspective-taking and seeking common goals in their co-operation with peers and superiors.

L1 described his interaction between peer departments as based on understanding and balancing different conflicts and interests. By finding shared goals, he was able to get things done. He says,

“Other departments have their angles, we have ours. It is nonsense to assume that others have the same feelings and thinking like me. So I need to be more flexible… There must be some conflicts of interest, inclusiveness is a part of my job. So how to balance them, how to reduce them. It is a challenge. First I have understand the reason for resistance, and have the interest of the company in mind.”

R2 also assumed a diversity of interests in the organization, and claimed that his peers and superiors have “…their special abilities and special personalities”, which deserve respect and understanding. He also described his strategy of cooperating with peers based on his assumption of shared goals among managers:

“I believe that they, peers and bosses, have the need for achieving and working out something, this is the fundamental thing of our cooperation. All of us want to get things

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done. With these common goals, conflicts, even if there are any, can ultimately be tackled in a harmonious way.”

In total, political skills and knowledge of organization members are emphasized. According to the interviewees, Chinese leaders are capable of aligning different interest and find the common goals to implement their jobs. The procedural knowledge is less stressed.

4.3. Leaders’ mental inner drives in their leadership

There are both differences and similarities in leadership motives between L1 and L2. The motives of L1 tended to be more individualistic, while L2 was more collectivistic. When asked questions about their motives in leadership, L1 reported that his leadership is driven by:

“My sense of responsibility, personal ambition, and the need of being recognized by members of the organization.”

L2 had a stronger sense of personal commitment to his subordinates’ welfare:

“Since I am at the center of my subordinates, being in this position means I have to take care of their interests and welfare, and give them opportunities to grow and to earn their decent living, and also activate their sense of responsibility as well.”

L2 thinks less about himself and more about the well-being of his followers than L1. L1 and L2 also described their self-evaluation in the organization. When discussing their respective roles in their organizations, L1 posited, “I have to self-position in the organization.” He also said he has different positive images among different groups within his organization. His boss called him a “hardworking and loyal” subordinate, his peers consider him “worth making friends with”. His subordinates call him a leader who can bring forth a “chance of promotion and development”. He also called himself a proactive communicator and builder of organizational culture. He said,

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“Working for this company for eight years, I found that I like the culture of this firm. As an HR manager, I have the duty to ‘direct’ the members to into this culture. …what I mean is via my behaviors. The challenge is how to transfer the culture to new members through my behaviors in interaction.”

In conversation, the duality of L2’s roles between his boss and subordinates is reflected in the way he self-identifies. He tended to regarded himself as a mediator between the board members and his followers.

“It is the truth that the boss hired me because I can get things done. But I also have responsibility for my subordinates, for the motivational climates in the projects which I am in charge of. My people follow me not only because I am the representative of the boss… I am standing at somewhere in the middle between the boss and my people.” The interviewees are more concerning their self-identities, and they believed that they are driven by these self-perceived identities. Being a certain kind of person are both their motives of leading and their self-awareness.

5. Discussion and Conclusion

In Chapter 5 the research question and its sub-questions will be answered, significant findings from the raw data part will be further discussed and compared to theory findings of CH 2: Literature.

In Chapter 2, the first sub-question ‘What is the Western cultural perspective on

leadership and what are the recent developments in leadership trait theories’ has been

answered by the presenting a comprehensive model of 4 skills of leaders. The major findings are: firstly, leaders need people skills to communicate and motivate the subordinates, and people skills require the leaders SI. Secondly, leaders need systemic skills to find helpful sources and supports from the peers and superiors, who are more likely to successfully co-work well with those who have knowledge of structure and

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procedure, and have political skills. Thirdly, leaders must have their inner drives to make themselves to be leader and gearing up to meet the challenges in leadership process. Of course in practice, leaders as well as managers have to have good business skills to make right business decisions and implementing decisions effectively. However, business skills is not a distinguisher between leaders and managers, both of who have to be a competent businessman. This is why business skills are outside of the scope of this thesis.

In Chapter 4, based on the 3 themes which are presented in Chapter 3: 1.

Leaders’ relationship with subordinates; 2.leaders’ relationship with peers and superiors; 3.leaders’ own inner drives in leading, descriptions about leaders’ interactions with different groups and their own inner drives. Several findings emerged (especially examples and opinions) which are relevant to how Chinese leaders behave in their different relationships and what are their inner drives in their leadership. To be more specific, Chapter 4 revealed that:

1. Chinese leaders are caring for subordinates

2. Chinese leaders are able to understand the power structure and align peers and bosses by common interests;

3. The oneness of the leading motivation and leader identities, as well as a high level of emotional stability.

Detailed discussion of 1, 2 and 3 is in the latter sections.

5.1 Chinese leaders’ people skills in relationship with employees

5.1.1 Caring from leaders and brother-like image creating

Many authors have described many domestic business leaders in Eastern Asia as ‘paternalistic leaders’, which are defined as those who acting in a manner similar to the way a father behaves toward his children.’ (Aycan, 2006 : 455). Chinese leaders and employees tends to bring family-like atmosphere into their organizations, and the

What do they have? : a qualitative research of traits of Chinese business leaders

What do they

have?

A qualitative research of traits of Chinese business leaders

M

ASTER

T

HESIS

KAI HE - 10603387

August 15th, 2014

MSC BUSINESS STUDIES – LEADERSHIP &

MANAGEMENT

UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to thank my thesis supervisor Kyrill Goosseff. I am

fortunate to have him as my supervisor. He provide me many valuable

advice and guidance, which are very time-consuming. Secondly, I should

give my thanks to the respondents of my research. They are very busy at

their work. But they allocated their precious time on my interviews and gave

me numerous interesting viewpoints. Thirdly I should be grateful to my

family members. Without their support, I cannot get this thesis don.

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