Socialism and confucianism: Problems of Chinese management

Abstract

Abstract National culture and traditions exert tremendous influence on the formation of organizational cultures and their performances. Many have agreed that the economic progress of east Asian nations has benefitted from the Confucian ethic. But, for a long time, the Chinese economy was not nearly as dynamic. One typical of socialist economic system. What was the influence of Confucianism during this period? The paper exammed Confucianism and cultural environment of Chinese management, especially the four aspects:1. respect for hierarchy and age; 2. group orientation; 3. the concept of face; and 4. the importance of guanxi. And then it discussed socialism and Chinese management problems, such as structural problems of organizations, the issues of managerial resources, efficiency problems and labor management. And then, the paper analyzed Confucian impact in the deficient socialist management systems to see whether the key values of Confucianism are in conflict with the key values of socialism. The conclusion was that some of the management problems in China that are typical of socialist systems have been aggravated by the values of Confucianism, which, when combined with capitalism, tends to contribute more to dynamic economic development. Reasons were also discussed. Therefore, the key to Chinese management reform lies in the success of combining market system with positive Confucian values. The tendency to totally ignore the influence of Confucian tradition in introducing western management is as harmful as the tendency to preserve all Confucian traditions.