Effective Japanese leadership in China: co-operative goals and applying abilities for mutual benefit

Abstract

In the global marketplace, managers and employees must work together even though they may have suspicions based on their different countries' historical rivalry. Social psychological research suggests that co-operative goals and applying abilities for mutual benefit can strengthen the leader relationship between Japanese managers and their Chinese employees. Working in Japanese enterprises in Shanghai, China, 100 employees in private Japanese companies in China indicated their goal interdependence with their Japanese and Chinese managers, their applying abilities for mutual benefit and their conclusions that their manager had valuable abilities and was an effective leader. Structural equation analysis suggested that applying abilities for mutual benefit mediates the relationship between goal interdependence and leader resourcefulness and effectiveness, especially when the manager is Chinese and less so when their manager is Japanese. These results, coupled with previous research, were interpreted as suggesting that co-operative goals and applying abilities for mutual benefit contribute to effective leadership even when managers and employees have different nationalities.