Kong, Siew-Huat
(2003)
A Portrait Of Chinese Enterprise Through The Lens
Of Organizational Culture.
Asian Academy of Management Journal (AAMJ), 8 (1).
pp. 1-20.
ISSN 1394-2603
Abstract
By adopting a cultural perspective of organizations, and more specifically, using the structural
model of culture as a framework, this investigation attempts to discover the underlying structure of
reality in mainland Chinese organizations.This study proposes that at the heart of Chinese
organizational culture lie three dominant assumptions, namely "the ever hostile environment",
"social reality in hierarchical order", and the "self-seeking human being", which relate to the
environment, group, and individual respectively. This triad of assumptions not only animates
Chinese organizational culture but also constitutes a unifying thread connecting the different
components of this culture. The outward manifestations of this mix of organizational assumptions
can best be depicted as a clash of two cultural elitist forces – power and role culture. While power
culture is characterized by bonds of personal patronage, personal connections, and displays of
personal authority and subservience, role culture emphasizes institutional authority, the rule of
law, and meritocracy. The former is presently in command of organizational leadership while the
latter has emerged principally as a response to the excesses of the former. Interestingly, although
the two cultures are supported by two different sets of values, they rest on a common set of
organizational assumptions
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