IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cdf/wpaper/2026-1.html

The Performative Role of Soft Skills Education: Reshaping Business Realities through Cross-Cultural Learning in Chinese Organizations

Author

Listed:
  • Wu, Jie
  • Canales, J. Ignacio
  • Zhou, Peng

    (Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK)

  • Yan, Haifeng

Abstract

This study examines how soft skills education performatively shapes business realities across cultural boundaries. While prior research has treated soft skills as static capabilities, we demonstrate their role as performative forces actively reshaping organizational practices. Through in-depth interviews with Chinese graduates of UK universities working in China, our findings reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between structural performativity and organizational transformation, moderated by collective orientation (weakening effect) and absorptive capacity (strengthening effect) and pinpoint six key domains through which soft skills education acts as a performative mechanism. Our findings suggest that successful organizational transformation through soft skills education requires balancing international connections, cultural values, and knowledge integration capabilities. The study advances performativity theory in management education by demonstrating how educational practices actively construct organizational realities rather than merely describing them and provides insights for business schools on effectively harnessing performativity to create desirable organizational outcomes in cross-cultural contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Wu, Jie & Canales, J. Ignacio & Zhou, Peng & Yan, Haifeng, 2026. "The Performative Role of Soft Skills Education: Reshaping Business Realities through Cross-Cultural Learning in Chinese Organizations," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2026/1, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdf:wpaper:2026/1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://carbsecon.com/wp/E2026_1.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Scott L. Newbert, 2007. "Empirical research on the resource‐based view of the firm: an assessment and suggestions for future research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 121-146, February.
    2. Catherine Welch & Rebecca Piekkari, 2006. "Crossing language boundaries: Qualitative interviewing in international business," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 417-437, August.
    3. Arie Y. Lewin & Silvia Massini & Carine Peeters, 2011. "Microfoundations of Internal and External Absorptive Capacity Routines," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 81-98, February.
    4. Paul Hibbert & Ann Cunliffe, 2015. "Responsible Management: Engaging Moral Reflexive Practice Through Threshold Concepts," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 177-188, March.
    5. Akbar Zaheer & Geoffrey G. Bell, 2005. "Benefiting from network position: firm capabilities, structural holes, and performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(9), pages 809-825, September.
    6. Paul R. Carlile, 2004. "Transferring, Translating, and Transforming: An Integrative Framework for Managing Knowledge Across Boundaries," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(5), pages 555-568, October.
    7. Martha S. Feldman, 2000. "Organizational Routines as a Source of Continuous Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(6), pages 611-629, December.
    8. Tsui, Anne S. & Wang, Hui & Xin, Katherine R., 2006. "Organizational Culture in China: An Analysis of Culture Dimensions and Culture Types," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(3), pages 345-376, November.
    9. Boedker, Christina & Chong, Kar-Ming & Mouritsen, Jan, 2020. "The counter-performativity of calculative practices: Mobilising rankings of intellectual capital," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    10. Gautam Ahuja & Curba Morris Lampert, 2001. "Entrepreneurship in the large corporation: a longitudinal study of how established firms create breakthrough inventions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6‐7), pages 521-543, June.
    11. David A Ralston & Carolyn P Egri & Sally Stewart & Robert H Terpstra & Yu Kaicheng, 1999. "Doing Business in the 21st Century with the New Generation of Chinese Managers: A Study of Generational Shifts in Work Values in China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 30(2), pages 415-427, June.
    12. Erik Stam, 2015. "Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Regional Policy: A Sympathetic Critique," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(9), pages 1759-1769, September.
    13. T. Lawrence & R. Suddaby & B. Leca, 2011. "Institutional work - Re-focusing institutional studies of organization," Post-Print hal-00802293, HAL.
    14. Bernd Wurth & Erik Stam & Ben Spigel, 2022. "Toward an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Research Program," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(3), pages 729-778, May.
    15. Robert Huggins & Piers Thompson, 2014. "Culture, entrepreneurship and uneven development: a spatial analysis," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(9-10), pages 726-752, December.
    16. Mackenzie, Donald, 2006. "Is Economics Performative? Option Theory and the Construction of Derivatives Markets," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(1), pages 29-55, March.
    17. Joep P. Cornelissen & Jean S. Clarke, 2010. "Imagining and rationalizing opportunities : Inductive reasoning and the creation and justification of new ventures," Post-Print hal-02312342, HAL.
    18. AnnaLee Saxenian, 2006. "International Mobility of Engineers and the Rise of Entrepreneurship in the Periphery," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-142, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    19. Linda Argote & Ella Miron-Spektor, 2011. "Organizational Learning: From Experience to Knowledge," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1123-1137, October.
    20. Anne S. Tsui & Hui Wang & Katherine R. Xin, 2006. "Organizational Culture in China: An Analysis of Culture Dimensions and Culture Types," Management and Organization Review, The International Association for Chinese Management Research, vol. 2(3), pages 345-376, November.
    21. Candida Brush & Linda F. Edelman & Tatiana Manolova & Friederike Welter, 2019. "A gendered look at entrepreneurship ecosystems," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 393-408, August.
    22. Henk W. Volberda & Nicolai J. Foss & Marjorie A. Lyles, 2010. "PERSPECTIVE---Absorbing the Concept of Absorptive Capacity: How to Realize Its Potential in the Organization Field," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(4), pages 931-951, August.
    23. Frans A. J. Van den Bosch & Henk W. Volberda & Michiel de Boer, 1999. "Coevolution of Firm Absorptive Capacity and Knowledge Environment: Organizational Forms and Combinative Capabilities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(5), pages 551-568, October.
    24. Joep P. Cornelissen & Jean S. Clarke, 2010. "Imagining and rationalizing opportunities : Inductive reasoning and the creation and justification of new ventures," Post-Print hal-02276730, HAL.
    25. Ivan Montiel & Javier Delgado-Ceballos & Natalia Ortiz-de-Mandojana & Raquel Antolin-Lopez, 2020. "New Ways of Teaching: Using Technology and Mobile Apps to Educate on Societal Grand Challenges," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 243-251, January.
    26. Dirk C. Moosmayer & Sandra Waddock & Long Wang & Matthias P. Hühn & Claus Dierksmeier & Christopher Gohl, 2019. "Leaving the Road to Abilene: A Pragmatic Approach to Addressing the Normative Paradox of Responsible Management Education," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 913-932, July.
    27. Christopher Wickert & Corinne Post & Jonathan P. Doh & John E. Prescott & Andrea Prencipe, 2021. "Management Research that Makes a Difference: Broadening the Meaning of Impact," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 297-320, March.
    28. Oliver Laasch & Dirk Moosmayer & Elena Antonacopoulou & Stefan Schaltegger, 2020. "Constellations of Transdisciplinary Practices: A Map and Research Agenda for the Responsible Management Learning Field," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(4), pages 735-757, April.
    29. Jansen, J.J.P. & van den Bosch, F.A.J. & Volberda, H.W., 2005. "Managing Potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity: How do Organizational Antecedents matter?," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2005-025-STR, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    30. Laure Cabantous & Jean-Pascal Gond, 2011. "Rational Decision Making as Performative Praxis: Explaining Rationality's Éternel Retour," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 573-586, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mariano, Stefania & Al-Arrayed, Suad, 2018. "Combinations of absorptive capacity metaroutines: The role of organizational disruptions and time constraints," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 171-182.
    2. Khan, Zaheer & Lew, Yong Kyu & Marinova, Svetla, 2019. "Exploitative and exploratory innovations in emerging economies: The role of realized absorptive capacity and learning intent," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 499-512.
    3. Martinkenaite, Ieva & Breunig, Karl Joachim, 2016. "The emergence of absorptive capacity through micro–macro level interactions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 700-708.
    4. Yildiz, H. Emre & Murtic, Adis & Zander, Udo, 2024. "Re-conceptualizing absorptive capacity: The importance of teams as a meso-level context," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    5. Burcharth, Ana Luiza Lara de Araújo & Lettl, Christopher & Ulhøi, John Parm, 2015. "Extending organizational antecedents of absorptive capacity: Organizational characteristics that encourage experimentation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 90(PA), pages 269-284.
    6. Tepic, M. & Trienekens, Jacques H. & Hoste, R. & Omta, S.W.F. (Onno), . "The Influence of Networking and Absorptive Capacity on the Innovativeness of Farmers in the Dutch Pork Sector," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 15(3), pages 1-34.
    7. Rafael Sancho-Zamora & Isidro Peña-García & Santiago Gutiérrez-Broncano & Felipe Hernández-Perlines, 2021. "Moderating Effect of Proactivity on Firm Absorptive Capacity and Performance: Empirical Evidence from Spanish Firms," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(17), pages 1-15, August.
    8. Vijaya Venkataramani & Chaoying Tang, 2024. "When Does External Knowledge Benefit Team Creativity? The Role of Internal Team Network Structure and Task Complexity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(1), pages 92-115, January.
    9. Ellen Enkel & Annika Groemminger & Sebastian Heil, 2018. "Managing technological distance in internal and external collaborations: absorptive capacity routines and social integration for innovation," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(5), pages 1257-1290, October.
    10. D׳Souza, Derrick E. & Kulkarni, Shailesh S., 2015. "A framework and model for absorptive capacity in a dynamic multi-firm environment," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 50-62.
    11. Ritter-Hayashi, Daniela & Knoben, Joris & Vermeulen, Patrick A.M., 2021. "Temporary employment: Curse or blessing for a firm's absorptive capacity?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    12. Alberto Marzucchi & Chiara Franco & Sandro Montresor, 2011. "The potential face of absorptive capacity. An empirical investigation for an area of 3 European countries," Working Papers 2011R08, Orkestra - Basque Institute of Competitiveness.
    13. Azni Zarina Taha & Mozard Mohtar & Mahfuzur Rahman & Thamil Maran Periannan & Noor Ismawati Jaafar & Tey Lian Seng, 2025. "The impact of technology orientation, technology opportunism, and change orientation on the firm operational performance: a moderated-mediation analysis," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 89-110, March.
    14. Ghisetti,Claudia & Marzucchi,Alberto & Montresor,Sandro, 2013. "Does external knowledge affect environmental innovations? An empirical investigation of eleven European countries," INGENIO (CSIC-UPV) Working Paper Series 201301, INGENIO (CSIC-UPV), revised 23 May 2013.
    15. Kamal Sakhdari & J. Henri Burgers, 2018. "The moderating role of entrepreneurial management in the relationship between absorptive capacity and corporate entrepreneurship: an attention-based view," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 927-950, December.
    16. Bedford, David & Bisbe, Josep & Sweeney, Breda, 2022. "Enhancing external knowledge search: The influence of performance measurement system design on the absorptive capacity of top management teams," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    17. Weidner, Nadia & Som, Oliver & Horvat, Djerdj, 2023. "An integrated conceptual framework for analysing heterogeneous configurations of absorptive capacity in manufacturing firms with the DUI innovation mode," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    18. Ferreras-Méndez, José Luis & Fernández-Mesa, Anabel & Alegre, Joaquín, 2016. "The relationship between knowledge search strategies and absorptive capacity: A deeper look," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 48-61.
    19. Ebers, Mark & Maurer, Indre, 2014. "Connections count: How relational embeddedness and relational empowerment foster absorptive capacity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 318-332.
    20. Dingler, Annika & Enkel, Ellen, 2016. "Socialization and innovation: Insights from collaboration across industry boundaries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 50-60.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • A2 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cdf:wpaper:2026/1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Yongdeng Xu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ecscfuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.