Effectiveness of Western MBA programmes for Chinese managers

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to address how management knowledge transferred through Western management education programmes is effectively perceived and applied to decisions by Chinese managers, who have a cultural background quite different from their Western counterparts.Design/methodology/approachThe paper first examines Western management concepts under Chinese culture and second reviews the development and status of Western Master of Business Administration (MBA) programmes in China. Third, the framework of a three‐dimension knowledge transfer model first developed in the USA is used to study the effectiveness of the transfer of academic management concepts to working managers in China through their perception of source, familiarity and usefulness of the concepts. A quantitative approach employing non‐probability sampling method is adopted to survey a group of working managers enrolled in a Western MBA programme in Xi'an.FindingsThe result shows education to be a much more important source of management knowledge for the Chinese managers than for their US counterparts who regard it as the least important.Research limitations/implicationsGeneralized interpretation of the results should be cautioned due to the limited scope of the study and the nature of non‐probability sampling method.Originality/valueThe findings form a basis for further research in how cultural differences between the West and China are tempering the effectiveness of Western MBA programmes to Chinese working managers so that educators can better design their management programmes for China.