A PATOP Study of Philosophy and Business Management: Western vs. Chinese Business Structures in Taiwan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31866/2709-846x.2.2021.246741Keywords:
Business Management, Cross Culture, PATOP, Philosophical ValueAbstract
Introduction. Alignment between the philosophical value of the Western parent company and the structure of the local organization is essential to improve managing effectiveness and worker productivity. The alignment may need adjustment while considering whether a Western model is fitted into the Chinese workgroup. This study examines the philosophical value concerning business management within an organization and then explores which value is applicable to the modern Chinese structure in the context of Taiwan. Purpose and methods. The purpose is the holistic view of the Chinese model, as opposed to the separated approach of the West. It does not attempt to find the best philosophical framework of business management for local Chinese structure in Taiwan, as such a framework probably does not exist. Instead, it explores the specific phenomena considered during the process of emergence of business management framework when comparing philosophical value for both selected cases of Western and Chinese enterprises. The case study and PATOP model were used. Results. As a result, there has no single model that is absolutely appropriate to both business and people in one way or the other. Both Chinese and Western philosophical ways of doing business have merits and weaknesses, as illustrated. The implication of the results is the emerged PATOP model. The model indicates an ideal work environment where the Western approach is applicable to the Chinese structure in Taiwan. Conclusions. It concludes that the philosophical approach in doing business within the Chinese structure is erected in a way of “Middle of the Road” according to the PATOP emerged from the study. However, it should be noted that there will be drift as this emerged PATOP model used in the Chinese structure with western approach, indicating another issue “what an acceptable time for drift would be”?
References
Alton, J. (1989). Wa, Guanxi, and Inhwa: Managerial Principles in Japan, China and Korea. Business Horizon, 32 (2), 26-31, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0007-6813(89)80007-2.
Ames, R. T. (2017). Receiving a Confucian Conception of Human Nature: A Challenge to the Ideology of Individualism. Acta Koreana, 20 (1), 9-27, doi: https://doi.org/10.18399/acta.2017.20.1.001
Białas, S. (2009). Power Distance as a Determinant of Relations between Managers and Employees in the Enterprises with Foreign Capital. Journal of Intercultural Management, 1(2), 105-115.
Bond, M. H. (1991). Chinese Values and Health: A Culture-level Examination. Psychology and Health, 5(2), 137-152, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/08870449108400417.
Bond, M. H., & Hwang, K. (1986). The Social Psychology of Chinese People’. The Psychology of the Chinese People (M. H. Bond, Ed.). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 213-266.
Brake, T., Walker, D., & Walker, T. (1995). Doing Business Internationally: The Guide to Cross Cultural Success. New York: Irwin.
Chang, Y. Y. (2008). Cultural “Faces” of Interpersonal Communication in the U.S. and China. Intercultural Communication Study, 17 (1), 299-313.
Chang, P. T. C. (2017). China’s Secular Ruler’s Pragmatic Re-appropriation of Traditional Chinese Sacred Resources: A Critical Assessment. International Journal of China Studies, 8 (1), 25-43.
Chi, Z., & Seock-Jin, H. (2017). Guanxi Culture: How it Affects the Business Model of Chinese Firms. The China Business Model: Originality and Limits. Elsevier Project: Transaction Cost, 19-40, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100750-1.00002-4.
Chin, S. H., Poon, P. W. T., & Huang, К. L. (2003). Managing the Effectiveness of Library Consortium: A Core Value Perspective on Taiwan e-Book Net. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 29 (5), 304-315, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0099-1333(03)00070-3.
Coetzer, A., Inma C., Poisat, P., Redmond, J., & Standing, C. (2018). Job Embeddedness and Employee Enactment of Innovation-related Work Behaviours. International Journal of Manpower, 39 (2), 222-239, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-04-2016-0095.
Creswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design. California: Sage Publications.
Crist, E., & Kopnina, H. (2014). Unsettling Anthropocentrism. Dialectical Anthropology, 38 (4), 387-396, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10624-014-9362-1.
Earley, P. C. (1993). East Meets West meets Mideast: Further Explosions of Collectivistic and Individualistic Work Group. Academy of Management Journal, 36 (2), 319-340.
Ellis, R. (2009). Understanding Interpersonal Relationships in the Chinese Context. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 20, 23-37.
Fairbank, J. K. (1966). How to Deal with the Chinese Revolution. The New York Review of Books, 6 (12), 5-10.
Fan, X. (1995). The Chinese Cultural System: Implication for Cross-cultural Management. S.A.M. Advanced Management Journal, 60 (1), 14-22.
Farh, J., & Cheng, B. (2000). A Cultural Analysis of Paternalistic Leadership in Chinese Organizations. Management and Organizations in the Chinese Context (J. T. Li, A. S. Tsui, & E. Weldon, Eds.). London: Palgrave Macmillan, 84-127, doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230511590_5.
Farh, J., Hackett, R. D., & Liang, J. (2007). Individual-Level Cultural Values as Moderators of Perceived Organizational Support-Employee Outcome Relationships in China: Comparing the Effects of Power Distance and Traditionality. Academy of Management Journal, 50 (3), 715-729, doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/20159880.
Ferraro, G. P. (2010) The Cultural Dimension of International Business, 6th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Feuchtwang, S. (2016). Religions in the Modern World: Traditions and Transformations. New York: Routledge.
Filieri, R., Chen, W., & Lal Dey, B. (2017). The Importance of Enhancing, Maintaining and Saving Face in Smartphone Repurchase Intentions of Chinese Early Adopters. Information Technology & People, 30 (3), 629-652, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-09-2015-0230.
Firestone, W. A. (1987). Meaning in Method: The Rhetoric of Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Educational Researcher, 16 (7), 16-21, doi: https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X016007016.
Fulk, H. K., Bell, R. L., & Bodie, N. (2011). Team Management by Objectives: Enhancing Developing Teams' Performance. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 12 (3), 17-26.
Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. (1988). Do Inquiry Paradigms Imply Inquiry Methodologies? Qualitative Approaches to Evaluation in Education (D. M. Fetterman, Ed.). New York: Praeger, 89-115.
Gundlach, M., Zivnuska, S., & Stoner, J. (2006). Understanding the Relationship between Individualism-Collectivism and Team Performance through an Integration of Social Identity Theory and the Social Relations Model. Human Relations, (59)12, 1603-1632, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726706073193.
Hameed, S., El-Kafafi, S., & Waretini-Karena, R. (2019). Handbook of Research on Indigenous Knowledge and Bi-Culturalism in a Global Context. Hershey: IGI Global.
Hanson, K. O., & Rothlin, S. (2010). Taking Your Code to China. Journal of International Business Ethics, 3 (1), 69-80, doi: https://doi.org/ 10.1007/978-3-642-36022-0_6.
Hemmat, A. (2016). The Concept of the Manifestation of God in Chinese Symbolism: An Intercivilizational Hermeneutic Study. The Journal of Baha'i Studies, 26 (1/2), 55-89, doi: https://doi.org/ 10.31581/JBS-26.12.4(2016).
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. California: Sage Publications. (Series: Cross Cultural Research and Methodology; Vol. 5).
Hofstede, G., & Hofstede, G. J. (2005). Cultures and Organizations. Software of the Mind, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Hofstede, G, Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind: Intercultural Cooperation and its Importance for Survival, 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Ho, D. Y. F. (1986). Chinese Patterns of Socialization: a Critical Review. The Psychology of The Chinese People (M. H. Bond, Ed.). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1-37.
Hollebeek, L. D. (2018). Individual-level Cultural Consumer Engagement Styles. International Marketing Review, 35 (1), 42-71, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IMR-07-2016-0140.
Hu, A. (2016). Ancestor Worship in Contemporary China: An Empirical Investigation. China Review, 16 (1), 169-186.
Hu, M., Ma, Z., Jiao, S., Chen, X., Lv, X., & Zhan, Z. (2017). The Sustainable Personality in Entrepreneurship: The Relationship between Big Six Personality, Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy, and Entrepreneurial Intention in the Chinese Context. Sustainability, 9 (9), 1649, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su9091649.
Huang, L., Lu, M., & Wong, B. K. (2003). The Impact of Power Distance on Email Acceptance: Evidence from the PRC. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 44 (1), 93-101.
Hwang, H. K. (2012). Guanxi and Organizational Behaviors in Chinese Society. Foundations of Chinese Psychology. International and Cultural Psychology (Vol. 1). New York: Springer, 297-326, doi: https://doi.org/:10.1007/978-1-4614-1439-1_11.
Hwang, K. K. (2012). Foundations of Chinese Psychology: Confucian Social Relations. New York: Springer.
Hwang, K. K. (2016). The structure of Confucian Ethics and Morality. Psychology of Morality: New Research (M. Fuller, Ed.). New York: Nova Science Publishers, 19-59.
Hwang, K-K., Shiah, Y-J., & Yit, K-T. (2017). Editorial: Eastern Philosophies and Psychology: Towards Psychology of Self-Cultivation. Frontiers in Psychology 8, 1083, doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01083.
Jacobs, L., Goupei, G., & Herbig, P. (1995). Confucian Roots in China: A Force for Today’s Business. Management Decision, 33 (10), 19-32, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/00251749510100221.
Kim, K. (2017). Confucianism and Modernization in East Asia: Critical Reflections. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kim, M., & Hubbard, A. S. E. (2007). Intercultural Communication in the Global Village: How to Understand "the Other". Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 36 (3), 223-35, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/17475750701737165.
Kim, S. S. (2019). The Effect of Social Contexts and Formation of Individualism-Collectivism Orientation on Knowledge Sharing Intention: the Case of Workers in Korea. Journal of Knowledge Management, 24 (2), 196-215, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-06-2019-0284.
Kirkbride, P. S., Tang, S. F. Y., & Westwood, R. I. (1991). Chinese Conflict Preferences and Negotiating Behavior: Cultural and Psychological Influence. Organizational Studies, 12 (3), 356-386, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/017084069101200302.
Koller, J. M. (2016). Asian Philosophies, 6th ed. London; New York: Routledge.
Kubátová, J. (2012). The Influence of National Culture on Knowledge Management in China Managerial Implications for Central European Countries. Central European Business Review, 1 (1), 20-26, doi: https://doi.org/10.18267/j.cebr.4.
Kuo, C. (2013). e-Religion Relations in Taiwan: From Statism and Separatism to Checks and Balances. Issues and Studies, 49 (1), 1-38, doi: https://doi.org/10.7033/ISE.201303_49(1).0001.
Latane, B., Williams, K. D., & Harkins, S. G. (1979). Many Things Make the Light Work: The Causes and Consequences of Social Loafing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37 (6), 822-832, doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.37.6.822.
Lee, D. Y., & Dawes, P. L. (2005). Guanxi, Trust, and Long-Term Orientation in Chinese Business Markets. Journal of International Marketing, 13 (2), 28-56, doi: https://doi.org/10.1509/jimk.13.2.28.64860.
Lee, E. Y., & Anderson, A. R. (2007). The Role of Guanxi in Chinese Entrepreneurship. Journal of Asia Entrepreneurship and Sustainability, 3(3), 38-51.
Li, J., Lam, K., & Fu, P. P. (2000). Family-Oriented Collectivism, Collectivism and Its Effect on Firm Performance: a Comparison between Overseas China and Foreign Firms in China. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 8(4), 364-379, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/eb028923.
Leong, S. (2006). Managing in Chinese Culture: Cross-Cultural Interaction and Co-creation in Australian Invested Enterprises (AIEs). Doctoral Dissertation. Perth: School of Business, Curtin University of Technology.
Lin, L., Ho, Y., & Lin, W. E. (2013). Confucian and Taoist Work Values: An Exploratory Study of the Chinese Transformational Leadership Behaviour. Journal of Business Ethics, 113 (1), 91-103, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1284-8.
Lin, L., & Ho, Y. (2010). Guanxi and OCB: The Chinese Cases. Journal of Business Ethics, 96 (2), 285-298, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0465-6.
Locke, L. F., Spirduso, W. W., & Silverman, S. J. (1987). Proposals that work: A guide for Planning Dissertation and Grant Proposals, 2nd ed. California: Sage Publications.
Lockett, M. (1988). Culture and Problems of Chinese Management. Organization Studies, 9 (4), 475-496, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/017084068800900402.
Loiacono, E. T., & Lin, H. (2005). A Cross-Cultural Comparison of U.S. and Chinese Website Customers. Journal of International Information Management, (14) 1, 53-69.
Luo, J., & Yeh, Y. (2012). Neither Collectivism nor Individualism: Trust in the Chinese Guanxi Circle. Journal of Trust Research, 2 (1), 53-70, doi: https://doi.org/ 10.1080/21515581.2012.660355.
Louth, J. (2011). From Newton to Newtonianism: Reductionism and The Development Of The Social Sciences. Emergence: Complexity and Organization, 13 (4), 63-83.
McCracken, G. (1988). The Long Interview. California: Sage Publications. (Series: Qualitative Research Methods; Vol. 13), doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412986229.
Milton, C. (1981). Human Behaviour in Organizations-Three Levels of Behaviour. London: Prentice-Hall.
Mote, F. W (1989). Intellectual Foundations of China, 2nd ed. New York: Random.
Needham, J. (2004). Science and Civilization in China (K. G. Robinson, Ed.). (Vol. 7, Part. 2). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Oyserman, D., & Lee, S. W. S. (2008). Does Culture Influence What and How We Think? Effects of Priming Individualism and Collectivism. Psychological Bulletin, 134 (2), 311-342, doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.134.2.311.
Peppas, S. (2002). Attitudes toward Business Ethics: Where East doesn't Meet West. Cross Cultural Management, 9 (4), 42-59, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/13527600210797488/.
Petrakis, P. E. (2011). Cultural Background and Economic Development Indicators: European South Vs. European North. Modern Economy, 2 (3), 324-334, doi: https://doi.org/10.4236/me.2011.23035.
Ping, H., & Yan, T. (2013). The Comparison of Chinese and American Interpersonal Relationships. International Academic Workshop on Social Science. Atlantis Press. (Series: Advances in Intelligent Systems Research), 1118-1120, doi: https://doi.org/10.2991/iaw-sc.2013.258.
Qi, X. (2011). Face: a Chinese Concept in a Global Sociology. Journal of Sociology, 47 (3), 279-295, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783311407692.
Quer, D., Claver, E., & Rienda, L. (2010). Doing Business in China and Performance: a Review of Evidence. Chinese Management Studies, 4 (1), 37-56, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/17506141011032990.
Ralston, D. A., & Gustafson, D. J. (1993). Differences in Managerial Values: A Study of U.S., Hong Kong and PRC Managers. Journal of International Business Study, 24 (2), 249-377, doi: https://doi.org/0.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490232.
Ravishankar, M. N. (2015). The Realignment of Offshoring Frame Disputes (OFD): An Ethnographic Cultural Analysis. European Journal of Information Systems, 24 (3), 234-246, doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/ejis.2014.5.
Rhee, J., Zhao, X., Jun, I., & Kim, C. (2017). Effects of Collectivism on Chinese Organizational Citizenship Behaviour: Guanxi as Moderator. Social Behaviour and Personality, 45 (7), 1127-1142, doi: https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.6128.
Rhodes, J, Lok, P., Yang, S., & Xia, Y. (2011). The Effects of Organizational Intangible Factors on Successful Enterprise Resource Planning Systems Implementation and Organizational Performance: A China Experience. Asian Business & Management, 10 (2), 287-317, doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/abm.2011.2.
Roepke, R., Agarwal, R., & Ferratt, T. W. (2000). Aligning the IT Human Resource with Business Vision: The Leadership Initiative at 3M. MIS Quarterly, 24 (2), 327-353, doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3250941.
Saee, J. (Ed.). (2011). China and Global Economy in the 21st Century. New York: Routledge.
Sangren, P. S. (2012). Fate, Agency, and the Economy of Desire in Chinese Ritual and Society. Social Analysis, 56 (2), 117-135, doi: https://doi.org/10.3167/sa.2012.560209.
Schaberg, D. (2005). A Patterned Past: Form and Thought in Early Chinese Historiography. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center.
Sivin, N. (1966). Chinese Conceptions of Time. The Earlham Review, 1, 83-92.
Silverman, D. (2000). Theory in Qualitative Research. London: Thousand Oaks; California: Sage Publications.
Steenkamp, J., & Geyskens, I. (2012). Transaction Cost Economics and the Roles of National Culture: a Test of Hypotheses based on Inglehart and Hofstede. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40 (2), 252-270, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/S11747-011-0266-1.
Su, C., Sirgy, M., & Littlefield, J. E. (2003). Is Guanxi Orientation Bad, Ethically Speaking? A Study of Chinese Enterprises. Journal of Business Ethics, 44 (4), 303-312, doi: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023696619286.
Tarnas, R. (1991). The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our Worldview. New York: Harmony Books.
Taylor, F. W. (1991). Scientific Management. New York: Greenwood Press.
Tjosvold, D., & Sun, H. F. (2001). Effects of Influence Tactics and Social Contexts in Conflict: An Experiment on Relationships in China. International Journal of Conflict Management, 12 (3), 239-258, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/eb022857.
Tjosvold, D., Sun, H. F., & Wan, P. (2005). Effects of Openness, Problem Solving, and Blaming on Learning: An Experiment in China. The Journal of Social Psychology, 145 (6), 629-644, doi: https://doi.org/10.3200/SOCP. 145.6.629-644.
Triandis, H. C. (1988). Collectivism v. Individualism: A Reconceptualisation of a Basic Concept in Cross-cultural Social Psychology’. Cross-cultural Studies of Personality, Attitude, and Cognition, (G. K. Verma, & C. Bagley, Eds.). New York: St. Martin’s Press, 60-95, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08120-2_3.
Triandis, H. C. (2014). Universal Truths: Can Universally Held Cultural Values Inform the Modern Corporation? Cross Cultural Management, 21(3), 345-356, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/CCM-12-2013-0186.
Trompenaars, A., & Hampden-Turner, C. (1998). Reading the Waves of Culture. Understanding Cultural Diversity in Global Business, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Tu, W. M. (1985). Confucian Thought: Selfhood as Creative Transformation. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York.
Wang, Y. (2011). Mission-Driven Organizations in Japan: Management Philosophy and Individual Outcomes. Journal of Business Ethics, 101 (1), 111-126, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0712-x.
Whiteley, A. (2001). PATOP for Leaders and Managers: The Decision Making Activity. Perth: Curtin University of Technology.
Whiteley, A., Cheung, S., & Zhang, S. Q. (2000). Ideology in Context. Human Resource Strategies in China. Singapore: World Scientific, 25-42.
Whiteley, A., Cheung, S., & Zhang, S. Q. (2000). Human Resource Strategies in China. Singapore: World Scientific Publishin, doi: https://doi.org/10.1142/4073.
Whiteley, A., & McCabe, M. (2002). Sustainable Change. A Case on the Waterfront. Australia: Vineyard Publishing, 63-72.
Wilson, M., & Dalton, M. (1996, May). Selecting, Developing and Supporting Expatriate Managers [Unpublished paper].
Wong, Y. L. (1998). Li and Change. The Paideia Archive: Proceedings of Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, 24. Boston: American Organizing Committee, Boston University, 74-79, doi: https://doi.org/10.5840/wcp20-paideia199824422.
Wu, W. P, & Yong, L. (1998). Transaction Cost, Cultural Values and Chinese Business Networks: the Implication and Recommendations for Foreign Firms Doing Business in China. Doing Business with China (J. Reuvid, & L. Yoing, Eds.). London: Kogan Pages, 179-189.
Yang, K.-S. (1986). Chinese Personality and Its Change. The Psychology of The Chinese People (M. H. Bond, Еd.). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 107-170.
Yau, H. M. (1994). Consumer Behaviour in China: Customer Satisfaction and Cultural Values. London: Routledge.
Yau, O. H. M. (1988). Chinese Culture Values: Their Dimensions and Marketing Implications. European Journal of Marketing, 22 (5), 44-57, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005285.
Yin, R. K. (2009). Case Study Research, 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
Zamet, M. J., & Buvarnick, M. E. (1986). Employee Relations for Multinational Companies in China. Columbia Journal of World Business, 21(1), 13-9.
Zhang, Q. (2016). Humanity or Benevolence? The Interpretation of Confucian Ren and Its Modern Implications. Human Dignity in Classical Chinese Philosophy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 53-72, doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-70920-5_3.
Zhao, L., & Ha-Brookshire, J. (2018). Importance of Guanxi in Chinese Apparel New Venture Success: a Mixed-method Approach. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 8 (13), 21-32, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40497-018-0099-1.
Zohar, D., & Marshall, I. (1994). The Quantum Society: Mind, Physics and a New Vision. New York: W. Morrow.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Leelien Ken Huang
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The authors retain copyrights to the work and at the same time grant the magazine the right to first publish it under the terms of theCreative Commons Attribution License, which allows other persons to freely distribute the published work with a mandatory reference to its authors and its first publication.
The author of the published article has the right to distribute information about it and to post references to work in the electronic repository of the institution.
