Chinese Cultural Roots and Their Influence on Managerial Issues

This chapter explores the cultural roots of the People’s Republic of China and their influence on managerial issues. China has progressively opened its market to the international competition and Western companies would like to gain access to its potential. However, differences between Chinese and Western cultures and business practices may influence the effective profitability of the investment in China. The chapter focuses on the key principles of the Chinese cultural environment, by taking into consideration the variety of contexts in which managerial issues are embedded, historical, geographical, socio-cultural, theoretical, to mention but a few. In China, a country where business relations are highly socially embedded, these aspects play a pivotal role in the shaping and advancement of daily business operations. In order to analyze the main features of the Chinese wisdom and culture, the chapter examines a set of key principles and their origins within Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, Mohism, and Yin-Yang thinking: guanxi, jiating, renqing, ganqing, lian and mianzi, lijie and keqi, and feng su xi guan. The chapter also provides practical examples to embrace the paradox of different views in management and support foreign practitioners in managing cultural issues in the Chinese business environment.