Leadership across the Pacific ocean: A tri-national comparison

Abstract: In spite of years of international management research that recognizes the crucial role played by culture, few researchers have studied how specific cultural characteristics may affect the ideal leadership styles as perceived by managers in different countries. This paper explores potential impacts of culture by examining the prevalent views of leadership in three countries that have intertwined economic interests across the Pacific Ocean: the United States, Japan, and Taiwan. These nations are similar enough in their economic systems yet differ significantly in many cultural dimensions. After identifying major attributes of desirable leadership styles in these three nations, we move ahead to trace their historical and cultural roots. Following an idiographic approach suggested by Teagarden and her colleagues, we have developed some propositions on the basis of both a literature review of the past cross-cultural research and a comparison of prevalent conceptions about leadership in three specific cultures. We argue that, although a multinational firm ought to maintain a certain degree of system-wide consistency in terms of its leadership style, the operational rules used overseas should be carefully blended into the local cultural context. Some feasible strategies that may help create a balance between globalization and localization are also discussed

On transplanting human resource practices to China: A culture-driven approach

Argues that, whether referring to-economic or bounded rationality, the notion of rationality is meaningful only in a specific cultural context. Proposes, by analogy, a culture-driven approach for rationally managing the human resource function in a global environment. Shows how culture provides additional explanatory power for human resource management (HRM) practices - beyond what is accounted for by political or economic structures - by comparing the USA with one of its major trading partners, Taiwan and with the People's Republic of China (PRC), a country with which the USA has had a rather checkered relationship, on their commonly-used practices of selection, reward systems, performance appraisal and participative management. Makes suggestions on how to reconcile cultural differences in transplanting HRM practices to China