Human Resources Leadership

Business Leadership In China How to Blend Best Western Practices with Chinese Wisdom

By Frank T. Gallo
John Wiley & Sons June 2008

Specifications

ISBN-13
9780470823651
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons
Publication
June 2008
Format
Paperback , 240 pages
Jurisdiction
China ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

There are thousands of books that have been written on business leadership. Many of these have been translated into Chinese and many have been swallowed up by Chinese business people. China has an enormous need to improve the quality of its leadership and current and future leaders are starving for more information to help them get to the top. But what we are also hearing is that while they find these Western works intellectually stimulating, there is always something missing. It is naive for anyone to think that they can just take Western concepts and practices on leadership and make them work in China. They still need work. In fact, it is fair to ask whether these Western practices can actually be applied in China.

This book provides the bridge between Western ideas and concepts with the Chinese thoughts and wisdom.

Table of Contents

Foreword - The Bear and the Peacock (Description of the book and the meaning of the title)

Preface - A Personal Story (Personal experience as a new Western leader in China)

Introduction - Leading in China (Intentions of the book, methodology, format)

Chapter One - Some Basics about Leadership and the Special Leadership Needs in China (Survey data, barriers to building leaders in China, can you build leadership talent in China).

Chapter Two - Philosophical and Cultural Foundations of Western Leadership
 (How are Westerners raised and what are the foundations of their leadership? - individualism, independence, freedom, risk-taking, trust in others, etc.

Chapter Three - Philosophical and Cultural Foundations of Chinese Leadership
 (How are the Chinese raised and what are the foundations of their leadership? - values derived from Confucianism and elsewhere - collectivism, relationships, suspicious of outsiders, not going to extremes, balance, etc.)

Chapter Four - Leadership Competencies in China
 (Are there universal leadership competencies?  Are there competencies that are not valuable in one culture vs. the other?  Can they be interpreted differently?  There some competencies that Chinese believe that Westerners cannot easily attain.)

Chapter Five - Cultural Clashes and Making it Work in China
 (This chapter provides the details on how to take key cultural and business issues and make them work in China, no matter how different the original source.)

a. Trust
b. Truth vs. courtesy
c. Empowerment vs. hierarchy
d. Empathy
e. Individualism vs. collectivism
f. Decision-making
g. Motivating employees
h. Contracts - the rule of man vs. the rule of law
i. Risk-taking and innovativeness
j. Freedom
k. Independence

Chapter Six - What Should a Leadership Program in China Look Like?
 (This is an outline of what a comprehensive leadership program in China should look like.  It lists and describes the programs that must be in place and how to make them work best in China.)

Appendix 1 - Summary of the Interviewees (Biographical info on the 20 or so execs and consultants who were interviewed for the book.)

Appendix 2 - Acknowledgements

Bibliography

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