Publication

Title

East-Asian Wisdom in Cross Cultural & Strategic Management

Type

Journal Special Issue

Editors

Chris Baumann (Macquarie University), Winzar (Macquarie University), Tony Fang (Stockholm University

Deadline

January 1, 2017

Description

East Asian Wisdom and its impact on business culture and performance in a cross-cultural context

Co Guest-Editors:

Chris Baumann, Macquarie University, Sydney Australia, and Seoul National University (SNU), Korea

Hume Winzar, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia 

Tony Fang, Stockholm Business School, Stockholm University, Sweden

Summary

There is growing recognition that we can learn a lot from the East to inspire and enrich our mainstream theory and practice (Chen, 2010a, 2010b). Can we make good use of East Asian wisdom in cross-cultural and strategic management? For example, the teachings of Confucius have allegedly contributed to remarkable economic growth across East Asia, and Western researchers have struggled for decades on what it means and how to leverage Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and Yin Yang thinking into the generation of fresh theoretical and practical insights on research and business practices, respectively. It is not clear among commentators whether such perspectives are pure philosophy, religion, or ideology (Fingarette, 1972) or a combination thereof. In the context of cross-cultural management and strategy, how do these questions affect business culture and performance?

Hofstede and Bond’s study (1988) showed that countries in the Confucian orbit have experienced the fastest rate of growth since the 1950-60s. Winzar (2015) pointed out from the 1970s, Individualist economies (Europe and the US) outperformed Collectivist economies (China and Korea), and commentators argued that Collectivism holds Asian countries back. But by the 2000s similar commentators argued that Collectivism was responsible for the growth of the Tiger Economies. The situation has changed again as Chinese, Japanese and Korean technology (including innovation and, to a degree, brand building and management) now equal or exceed European and US companies on many measures. It has also been found that East Asia performs ahead of Europe, the rest of Asia, and South/Central America both academically (in terms of PISA) and in competitiveness (Baumann and Winzar, 2016). Much of our understanding of East-Asian cultures has been framed with Western-designed instruments (Fang, 2003), and too often we make broad conclusions along the lines of, for example, “Chinese managers are different from US managers, so Confucianism, and other orientations, must be responsible”. We make such broad inferences about the role of East Asian wisdom without attempting to “deconstruct” the construct. We can do better.

The discussion of the role of East Asian wisdom on management and related disciplines is not new. In this journal, several publications have paid attention to these issues, including Li’s (2016) theoretical explication of the Eastern Yin Yang frame and its application to paradox management, Fang’s (2012) conceptualization of culture in the age of globalization, as well as HR implications of Eastern values (Jiang, Gollan & Brooks, 2015; Chin, 2014), Western explorations of acculturation of expatriates and migrant managers in Asia (Selmer and Lauring, 2014), cultural differences and the aesthetics of product design (Shin, 2012), and ethical perspectives of Chinese and American managers (Pan et al. 2010). Elsewhere, we have seen seminal contributions on management practice in Confucian societies (Yeung and Tung, 1996), and important work on changing cultural values, behaviour and ethical conduct (Faure and Fang, 2008; Tung and Verbeke, 2010; Woods and Lamond 2011), along with valuable critical reviews highlighting the paradoxical nature of culture (Fang, 2003, 2006, 2010, 2012), the influence of Confucian perspectives on Western leadership and management education (Manarungsan and Tang, 2012), the implication of strategic thought in East Asian for business and management (Fang, 1999; Tung, 1994), and the evolution of institutional approaches to education more broadly (Baumann, Hamin and Yang, 2016). Further afield, in other disciplines, we see very comprehensive perspectives on the role of East Asian wisdom on political philosophy (Rozman, 1993), competitiveness and economic growth (Hofstede and Bond, 1988) and influences on Western philosophy generally (Wilhelm, 1972). Confucianism and countries in the ‘Confucian Orbit’ (Baumann, Hamin, Tung and Hoadley, 2016) have a new found focus in scholarly work on competitiveness, but equally so, scholars in multiple fields are curious about the roles of Daoism (Woolley, 2016), Buddhism (Vallabh and Singhal (2014) and Yin Yang (Fang, 2012).

For the purposes of cross-cultural and strategic management, is East Asian wisdom a social and psychological framework that may vary across different cultural groups, or is it a constant that is manifested in different ways according to economic and social conditions? For example, does it make sense to say that one group is “more Confucian” than another? Or on one dimension or another? If so, then how do we derive empirical measures of the various facets of Confucianism?

These and many other questions niggle at Western (and Eastern) scholars as they try to understand how to better communicate, conduct business and formulate strategies across countries.

Topics

We are interested in any and all articles, so long as they address issues relating to East Asian Wisdom and cross-cultural management and strategy.

Topics can include, but are not limited to:

  • Conceptualisation and measurement of aspects of East Asian Wisdom, such as Confucianism, at the individual (micro), group (meso), and national (macro) levels.
  • Historical interrelationships between East Asian Wisdom and PEST (Political, Economic, Social, Technological) environments – antecedent or consequent relationships.
  • Interrelationships between East Asian Wisdom and Management, Business, Performance and Competitiveness.
  • Differences in East Asian Wisdom in the East Asia Region (e.g. China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam).
  • Differences in East Asian Wisdom among members of the East Asian diaspora – Contribution to intra-national diversity.
  • Mediating and/or moderating role of East Asian Wisdom in Cross-cultural research.
  • The role of East Asian Wisdom in the provision of services, product design and development.
  • The interplay between East Asian Wisdom and management and strategy.
  • Role of East Asian Wisdom (e.g., Yin Yang) in cross-cultural innovation and in the formation of competitiveness and economic outcomes.

East Asian Wisdom is multi-faceted and multi-layered, and we are interested in papers which address areas and concepts not usually found in the literature, or areas that are severely undeveloped or inaccurate in our current understanding. We are living in an era that has transitioned from “West leads East” to “West meets East” (Chen, 2010a, 2010b). Our theories and practices need to be and can be inspired by this historical transition.

Submission instructions

All manuscripts will undergo a double-blind review process. Submissions should be between 5,000-9,000 words, including references, figures and tables, and follow the manuscript requirement outlined on the journal’s website: http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm. The submission deadline is January 1, 2017. Please direct queries to: 

Associate Professor Chris Baumann, e mail: chris.baumann@mq.edu.au;

Associate Professor Hume Winzar, e mail: hume.winzar@mq.edu.au; and

Professor Tony Fang, Stockholm Business School, e-mail: tony.fang@sbs.su.se 

References

Baumann, C., Hamin, H., Tung, , R. L. and S. Hoadley, S. (2016), Competitiveness and workforce performance: Asia vis-à-vis the “West”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 28 (11).

Baumann, C., H. Hamin and S. J. Yang (2016). "Work ethic formed by pedagogical approach: evolution of institutional approach to education and competitiveness." Asia Pacific Business Review, 22 (3).

Baumann, C., and Winzar, H. (2016). The role of secondary education in explaining competitiveness. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 36 (1).

Chen, M.-J. (2010a). West Meets East: Enlightening, balancing, and transcending. Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management. June 14, http://aom.org/Meetings/annualmeeting/past-meetings/theme2011.aspx

Chen, M.-J., & Miller, D. (2010b). West meets East: Toward an ambicultural approach to management. Academy of Management Perspectives, 24(4): 17-24.

Chin, T. (2014). "Harmony as means to enhance affective commitment in a Chinese organization." Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal 21(3): 326-344.

Fang, T. (1999). Chinese business negotiating style. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Fang, T. (2003). "A Critique of Hofstede’s Fifth National Culture Dimension." International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 3(3): 347-368.

Fang, T. (2006). From “Onion” to “Ocean”: Paradox and Change in National Cultures. International Studies of Management and Organizations 35(4): 71-90.

Fang, T. (1999): Chinese Business Negotiating Style. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Fang, T. (2010). Asian management research needs more self-confidence: Reflection on Hofstede (2007) and beyond. Asia Pacific Journal of Management 27: 155-170.

Fang, T. (2012). Yin Yang: A new perspective on culture. Management and Organization Review, 8(1): 25-50.

Faure, G. O., & Fang, T., (2008). Changing Chinese values: Keeping up with paradoxes. International Business Review, 17(2): 194-207.

Fingarette, H. (1972). Confucius -- The Secular as Sacred, New York: Harper and Row

Hofstede, G. and M. H. Bond (1988). "The Confucius connection: From cultural roots to economic growth." Organizational Dynamics 16(4): 5-21.

Li, P. P. (2016). "Global implications of the indigenous epistemological system from the east: How to apply Yin-Yang balancing to paradox management." Cross Cultural & Strategic Management 23(1): 42-77.

Jiang, Z., P. J. Gollan and G. Brooks (2015). "Moderation of Doing and Mastery orientations in relationships among justice, commitment, and trust: A cross-cultural perspective." Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal 22(1): 42-67.

Manarungsan, S. and Z. Tang (2012). “Integrating Oriental Wisdom in MBA Education: The Case of Confucianism.” Leadership through the Classics. G. P. Prastacos, F. Wang and K. E. Soderquist, Springer Berlin Heidelberg: 377-387

Pan, Y., X. Song, A. Goldschmidt and W. French (2010). "A cross‐cultural investigation of work values among young executives in China and the USA." Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal 17(3): 283-298.

Vallabh, P., & Singhal, M. (2014). “Buddhism and decision making at individual, group and organizational levels.” Journal of Management Development, 33(8/9), 763-775.

Rozman, G., Ed. (1993). The East Asian Region - Confucian Heritage and Its Modern Adaptation, Princeton Univ. Press.

Selmer, J. and J. Lauring (2014). "Self-initiated expatriates: An exploratory study of adjustment of adult third-culture kids vs. adult mono-culture kids." Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal 21(4): 422-436

Shin, D. H. (2012). "Cross‐analysis of usability and aesthetic in smart devices: what influences users' preferences?" Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal 19(4): 563-587

Tung, , R. L.  (1994). Strategic Management Thought in East Asia. Organizational Dynamics, 22(4): 55 -65. 

Tung, R. L. and A. Verbeke (2010). "Beyond Hofstede and GLOBE: Improving the quality of cross-cultural research." Journal of International Business Studies 41(8): 1259-1274.

Tung, R. L. and C. Baumann (2009). "Comparing the attitudes toward money, material possessions and savings of overseas Chinese vis-à-vis Chinese in China: convergence, divergence or cross-vergence, vis-à-vis ‘one size fits all’ human resource management policies and practices." The International Journal of Human Resource Management 20(11): 2382-2401

Wilhelm, R., (1972). Confucius and Confucianism: Translated into English by George H. Danton and Annina Periam Danton. Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Winzar, H. (2015). "The ecological fallacy: How to spot one and tips on how to use one to your advantage." Australasian Marketing Journal 23(1): 86-92

Woods, P. and D. Lamond (2011). "What Would Confucius Do? – Confucian Ethics and Self-Regulation in Management." Journal of Business Ethics 102(4): 669-683

Woolley, N. (2016). The Emergence of Daoism: Creation of a Tradition, By Gil Raz. Routledge Studies in Taoism. London: Routledge, 2012 (paper 2014). Religious Studies Review, 42(1), 58-58.

Yeung, I. Y. M. and R. L. Tung (1996). "Achieving Business Success in Confucian Societies: The Importance of Guanxi (Connections)." Organizational Dynamics 25(2): 54-65

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