Western views and Chinese whispers: Re-thinking global leadership competency in multi-national corporations

Abstract

Multi-national corporations (MNCs) appoint Chinese managers at middle management level locally and make extensive efforts to develop their leadership capabilities, yet the number of Chinese managers progressing to senior global level leadership positions lags behind the expectations of both MNCs and local managers. MNC leadership models, often represented in leadership competency frameworks (LCFs), reflect implicit ideas of leadership largely common to executives who share similar (western) cultural backgrounds. This is reinforced by leadership literature that is also strongly influenced by a western perspective. Local managers from non-western cultural backgrounds may hold different conceptions of leadership and struggle to understand MNC leadership requirements. This study explores the leadership constructs of 31 senior global executives and those of 59 local Chinese managers in MNCs operating in China by means of repertory grid methodology. The differences between the two groups and between each group and the LCFs used in their organizations revealed important differences: half the key constructs of leadership used by the senior global leaders were not identified as important or commonly used by the Chinese managers. Most of the ‘missing’ constructs reflect charismatic and transformational leadership characteristics. When compared with the MNCs’ leadership frameworks, differences between the senior global leaders constructs and their company LCFs were found. The gaps between the Chinese managers’ constructs and the same frameworks were even greater. These findings have implications for global leadership theory and practice.