Employee Empowerment in China, A Case Study

Romie F. Littrell

Auckland University of Technology

Faculty of Business, International Business

Private Bag 92006, 46 Wakefield Street

Auckland 1020

New Zealand

Tel: 64 – 9 – 917 – 9999 ext 5805
Fax: 64 – 9 – 917 - 9629

Email: romielittrell@yahoo.com

Employee Empowerment in China, A Case Study

"Verité en-deça des Pyreneés, erreur au-dela." -- There are truths on this side of the Pyreneés that are falsehoods on the other.

-- Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, 1533 – 1592, from Hofstede (1993).

Abstract: A case study of attitudes toward employee empowerment by staff and management in a group of hotels in China is discussed. The general opinion of management theorists is that empowerment is not a workable concept in a Chinese organization, however, results of this study show a positive attitude toward empowerment, and successful implementation of a programme of empowerment. The case deals with a longitudinal study from 1996 through 2002, from the initiation of a management contract with a London-based hotel chain through a significant reduction of participation of expatriate managers from 1999 through 2002. Data is presented from 1999 and 2002 measuring employee and management opinions concerning empowerment. Results of the study indicate a positive attitude toward employee empowerment on the part of supervisor-level employees, with a lower, but still positive opinion of the practice exhibited by higher-level managers.

Introduction

This study will describe a hotel operation in the interior of China consisting of two hotels initially owned by a provincial government bureau and managed by a major international chain on a management contract. The success of the hotels stems from implementation of a “service-profit-chain” concept, including a strong management programme to empower employees. The last section of the study details results of a survey administered to attempt to assess opinions concerning empowerment by managers and supervisors in China.

What Is “Empowerment”?

From the "traditional" U.S. human relations school, e.g., Elton Mayo, Frederick Herzberg, Rensis Likert and Douglas McGregor, Herzberg (1968) spoke for them all when he said: “The primary function of any organization, whether religious, political or industrial, should be to implement the needs of men to enjoy a meaningful existence.” A meaningful existence was defined as one that provides freedom in work, opportunities for personal development, and the treatment of employees as partners rather than subordinates, sowing the seeds of today’s “empowerment” of employees.

Defining the concept, "to empower" means to enable, to allow or to permit, and can be conceived as both self-initiated and initiated by others. Empowerment is the process of enabling workers to set their own work-related goals, make decisions and solve problems within their spheres of responsibility and authority. An important part of empowerment is the definition of spheres of responsibility and authority by managemen.

Luthans (1992) suggests the following ways in which management can empower employees. Management can:

Express confidence in employees’ abilities
Hold high expectations concerning their performance
Allow employees to participate in the decision-making process
Allow employees freedom and autonomy in how they perform their jobs
Set inspirational or managerial goals for employees
Use position power in a prudent and positive way and limit the use of coercive power

This rather unfortunate, soft-headed definition seems to ignore employee responsibility and accountability for their actions, as well as training and development. (The author was party of such a partial implementation as an employee of IBM in the late 1990s, leading to more chaos than productivity enhancement, and requiring expensive subsequent "re-education".)

Features of Employee Empowerment

After studying the issue of empowerment for a number of years, the author developed a training course for management and staff, based upon this list of the features of employee empowerment:

· Discretion in performance of job

§ Routine Discretion (selection from alternatives)

§ Deviation Discretion (deviation from alternatives)

§ Creative Discretion (unspecified creativity, requires trust on the part of the employees and their managers)

· Sharing of information by management

§ What are the employees’ responsibilities

§ What are the managers’ responsibilities

§ Knowledge of organization’s goals

§ Knowledge of organization’s current performance

· Rewards based upon the organization’s performance (this is particularly important in China, as opposed to rewards based upon individual performance)

· How far is far enough in empowerment (intimate knowledge of employee capabilities by managers)?

The training was implemented as part of a “service-profit-chain” project, discussed below.

Barriers to the empowerment of employees

Managers may believe that to empower subordinates is to lose one’s own power. A way to overcome such a perception is to make sure that managers who empower their subordinates are not subsequently blamed for their subordinates’ failures nor ignored when their subordinates succeed. Vogt and Murrell (1990) suggest that an individual is empowered through trust, communication and participation that in turn bring about commitment to people, institutions, projects and experiences.

A Comment on a Comment Concerning Empowerment and Face in China. A colleague recently commented that “giving Face” in China was a form of giving up power on the part of the person giving Face to another, and is hence involved in empowerment. This does not appear to be the case. Social interaction in Chinese cultures involves dynamic relationships among the concepts of Face (mianzi and lian), favours (renqing), and relationships (guanxi).

There are two basic categories of face in Chinese culture. A person's lian face can be preserved by faithful compliance with ritual and social norms (e.g., by meeting the obligations of guanxi and renqing). One gains lian by demonstrating moral character. When one loses lian, one cannot function properly in the community. Mian represents a more Western conception of "face", a reputation achieved through success in life and frequently through ostentatious display of wealth (automobile brands, conspicuous consumption, wanton waste) or some desirable trait (education, position).

Guanxi (interpersonal relationships) is built upon friendship or intimacy oriented toward continued exchange of favours (as is an “Old Boy network”). In China the rules of guanxi are prescribed by lun, a set of Chinese feudal ethics that define the hierarchical relationships between the noble and the humble, the close and the distant, as well as the individual and the group (family or clan). Specifically, the three cardinal guides (ruler guides subject, father guides son, and husband guides wife) and the five constant virtues (benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and fidelity) work as the traditional ethical codes that still prescribe the differentiations among role relationships.

Guanxi are increasingly complex relationships that expand, day by day, throughout the lives of ethnic Chinese. One is born into a social network of family members, and as one grows up, group memberships involving education, occupation, and residence provide additional opportunities for expanding the network.

Intermediaries are important in the development of networks of guanxi. The expected methods are to use family connections, pointing out a previous association, using non-family-in-group connections, and a complex social interaction process using social skills such as the ability to play the rinqing (favour) game. Intermediaries are used in bringing out-group individuals into new relationships, and for asking for favours both large and small.

Guanxi works very well in the USA, as Nora Lum and Eugene Lum used it to make a lot of money for the U.S. Democratic Party and for themselves from 1992 until Al Gore’s presidential election campaign.

A reason why the Chinese value guanxi so much is their belief that the “rule of man” is more important than the “rule of law”. The “rule of law” can be subject to manipulation and interpretation (e.g., the liberal interpretation of the U.S. Constitution as a “living document” that can be reinterpreted over time). In China this is particularly true because different emperors in different dynasties in Chinese history designed laws that fit their needs or circumstances.

Renqing (favours) has many implications in Chinese cultures. The direct translation of the Chinese characters for renqing is “human feelings”. The dictates of renqing are that the human element should not be removed from human affairs, and a sympathetic give-and-take compromise should govern the relationships of men.

Ideally, renqing is an informal and unselfish give-and-take among people. In reality, accounts are kept carefully and strictly, and favours and obligations are weighed carefully, and the balances owed between people are known as well as if they were recorded in a ledger. The debts of renqing are not often written down or discharged rigidly and exactly. But they are remembered in minute detail and enforced by deeply rooted feelings of guilt, shame, and loss of Face in those who fail in the fulfilment of their obligations.

Renqing is often the basis of manipulation of adversaries in business negotiations. An obligation is created through a gesture that costs little, and the debt is called due when the adversary can only repay it with a more valuable concession.

So “giving Face” is a ritual, and if it is a favour, then a favour is expected in return. One does not empower another by giving Face; one places an obligation on that person.

One might argue that empowering employees also places and obligation upon them, however this obligation is not different in kind from the usual employee-employer one.

Empowerment, Collectivism/Individualism & Power Distance

Since the mid-1980s, in the now traditional cross-cultural literature stemming from the bodies of work of Hofstede, Trompenaars, Triandis, et al., students of the genre have become familiar with the dimensions of collectivism/individualism and power distance. When these traits are considered in the context of empowerment, researchers tend to expect collective cultures (clustered with resistance to change, adherence to tradition) and high power distance cultures (clustered with authoritarian, autocratic, directive management styles) to not be favourably disposed toward the concept.

If we can separate high power distance from autocratic, directive management practices, the trait is not necessarily antithetical to employee empowerment, only affecting the communication style between the manager and the managed. The benevolent parent can empower his or her children.

If we can separate collectivism from resistance to change, the behavioural traits associated with a collective culture can lend themselves effectively to the group orientation of empowerment.

Asia and Empowerment

While Asia has myriad cultures, the perceived degree of homogeneity depends upon one's point of view. Looking at Asia from the cultural diversity of North America or Europe the near-universal traits of high collectivism and high power distance may give the illusion of homogeneity. Experience in the area will give a different perception.

Greater China

The general opinion expressed in the literature is that in China employee involvement, participation, and empowerment are not universally embraced in the Chinese management culture. Many Chinese business owners and top managers feel threatened by the idea of delegating authority and therefore empowering employees. Authority is not delegated, changes are not supported, communication is not channelled, and information is not shared. Such behaviour is typical of the Chinese management system.

Richardson (1997), in a study of total quality management in Hong Kong, found that while delegating authority and empowering employees are essential elements of a successful TQM Programme, in Hong Kong firms, the concept of TQM actually conflicted with the beliefs, orientation, and management style of many executives. They did not consider it to be the right or useful way.

China: The Contrarian Viewpoint

Li (2000), in a study of marketing and human resource development in 72 manufacturing firms in the PRC, found that job enlargement, employee empowerment, and compensation systems seem to be effective motivators for Chinese employees in every functional area. On a 5-point Likert scale, “Improve employee’s responsibility”, and “improve employee’s quality control responsibility were ranked 7 and 8 in a ranking of 42 competitive emphases, both with means of 3.8, where 5 = “extreme emphasis” and 1 = “no emphasis” in importance of competencies.

The results from Li’s analysis indicated that emphasising marketing and human resource development positively related to every measure of performance, followed by manufacturing and product innovation competence.

Cross-cultural theory and practice

Analyses and descriptions of the characteristics and effects of cultures are many and varied, see E.T. Hall (1959, 1976), Hofstede (1980a, 1980b, 1989, 1991, 1994), Hofstede and Bond (1988), Shalom Schwartz (1992, 1994), Triandis (1994), Trompenaars and Hamden-Turner (1997), Ronald Inglehardt (1997), and many others. Any of the theoretical approaches can lead to more effective management and employee relations, if nothing else by making the manager and employee aware of cultural differences that they must learn to deal with.

The Hotel Business in China

Managing a hotel in any developing country presents challenges in human resource management, shortages of supplies and materials, and excessive cost of supplies and materials. In initial stages of development of a hotel outside the major centres of Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing, the availability of well-trained and experienced managers does not exist. Expatriates need to be brought in for several years to train and develop local managers. Some hotel chains use "local expatriates", Chinese nationals brought in from more developed areas.

Due to the level of pay and benefits provided foreign expatriates, a very high level of expectation of performance exists on the part of the local hotel owners and managers.

The Hotel Business in Zhengzhou

The Crown Plaza and Holiday Inn Zhengzhou were developed from remodelled guesthouses owned by a bureau of Henan Province. In 1995, prior to the opening of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Zhengzhou, there was only one other hotel in the city certified to serve international guests, the Henan International Hotel, a 240-room property next door at 114 Jinshui Road, with a management contract with the French hotel company, Accor International. The International was identified as a Novotel-level property, but was not Accor branded.

There were several distinct upper level guest market segments, foreign guests, government official travellers, and Mainland Chinese business travellers, each with a distinct set of requirements.

Foreign guests were accustomed to well-managed, clean, well-maintained hotels, and, as some percent of travel expenses were deductible from taxes in many countries, price, while important, was not a primary consideration. With high expectations and demands, augmented by language communication problems, these guests could create stressful situations for hotel staff and management.

Government guests frequently preferred anonymity, extending to preferring private dining rooms with private entrances in restaurants. Price was not a concern at higher levels of officials. Some problems could occasionally arise with requests for rebates or for receipts higher than the cost of the meal, free food and drink for drivers or drivers' meals included in the official's bill.

Mainland Chinese business people, particularly the entrepreneurial class spending their own money, demand a combination of Face and low cost. For important business meetings, impressive lobbies, meeting rooms, and restaurants were necessary, for personal accommodations, low cost is desired. This combination is not common in hotels.

In the early days after China’s opening to the outside world in 1979, international hotels were viewed by many party officials, the police, and citizens as dens of inequity, sometimes bringing in undesired outside influences, providing a venue and demand for prostitution, and violating the Communist Party principle that we are all comrades, with no servants and masters. The level of service and accommodation of guests demanded in international hotels was dramatically different from that provided in traditional guesthouses.

Crowne Plaza Zhengzhou

Upon opening, the management cadre of twenty or so managers was half expatriates and half local managers, with a few local expatriates.

Sources of Stress

In any multilingual cross-cultural work environment both local nationals and expatriates experience the stress-inducing experience of having to deal with language problems. Speaking a second language for long periods is intellectually exhausting. If one cannot speak the local language then constant stressful situations arise from dealing with interpreters or dealing with attempting to understand the intent of the other person speaking a second language.

In an international hotel, employees and guests must deal with myriad accents. In a matter of minutes, a hotel employee might have to deal with English-speakers with accents from Germany, Japan, Italy, France, Spain, the USA, etc. Additionally, managers and guests whose native language was Cantonese Chinese spoke Mandarin with a "Southern accent".

Both managers and employees were placed in such stressful situations, hampering

employee-manager relations as well as guest relations, leading to occasional short tempers and placing difficulties on maintaining a trusting environment where the employee and manager believed the other would do the correct thing.

Environment: Cross-Cultural Management Issues

Using Hofstede's characterisations of the cultures we can get an idea of the myriad dynamics of the management team. (Nepal: The culture and business climates of Nepal are influenced by its location near India, where cultural, economic, and political ties have existed for centuries. In general the Nepalese business culture exhibits the common Asian traits of personal trust and relationships, paternalistic hierarchic organizations, and high-context communications. Personal communication: Nepali managers at the hotels. [Personal communication, Nepali managers, 1998])

Hofstede (1992) pointed out, employees and managers are human, and creatures of their culture:

An article I published in Organizational Dynamics in 1980 entitled "Do American Theories Apply Abroad?" created more controversy than I expected. The article argued, with empirical support, that generally accepted U.S. theories like those of Maslow, Herzberg, McClelland, Vroom, McGregor, Likert, Blake and Mouton may not or only very partly apply outside the borders of their country of origin -- assuming they do apply within those borders. Among the requests for reprints, a larger number were from Canada than from the United States…

Employees as humans was "discovered" in the 1930s, with the Human Relations school. Managers as humans, was introduced in the late 40s by Herbert Simon's "bounded rationality" and elaborated in Richard Cyert and James March's Behavioral Theory of the Firm (1963), and recently re-published in a second edition). My argument is that management scientists, theorists, and writers are human too: they grew up in a particular society in a particular period, and their ideas cannot help but reflect the constraints of their environment.

The idea that the validity of a theory is constrained by national borders is more obvious in Europe, with all its borders, than in a huge borderless country like the U.S.

In Table A the nationalities of the hotel managers over the timeframe of the case are sorted by power-distance and individualism/collectivism. Sorting by uncertainty avoidance and masculinity/femininity do not provide clear groupings of regions or cultures.

Reading the comments in Table B, on the managerial and personal behaviour of the general manager of the hotels, a Singaporean, we find complimentary comments on his low power-distance management style and accessibility from Chinese subordinates. Obviously "national averages" are not predictors of individual behaviour. Awareness of the results of cross-cultural research and theoretical models such as Hofstede's can only provide a model from which we can form expectations and observe individual deviations.

Insert Table A about here

Table A: Culture Dimension Scores of the Managers’ Countries-of-Origin

Sorted By Power Distance and Individuality/Collectivism

(Hofstede, 1980; Hofstede & Bond, 1988)

PD=Power Distance; ID=Individualism; MA Masculinity; UA=Uncertainty Avoidance; LT=Long-Term Orientation
H=Top third; M=Medium third; L=Bottom third -- among 53 countries and regions for the first four dimensions; among 23 countries for the fifth (* estimated)
	PD	ID	MA	UA	LT
High Power Distance, Low Individuality (High Collectivism)
Philippines	94	32	64	44
China	80	20	50	60	118
India (proxy for Nepal)	77	48	56	40
Singapore	74	20	48	8
Hong Kong	68	25	57	29	96
More Moderate Power Distance
Belgium	65	75	54	94
Pakistan	55	14	50	70
Italy	50	75	70	75
Low Power Distance, High Individuality
US	40	91	62	42	29
Australia	36	90	61	51
Canada	39	80	52	48
Netherlands	38	80	14	53	44 M
Germany	35	67	66	65	31 M

(The term “Western”, no longer to be set off in quotes, will be employed to include the body of theory and practice of management espoused by Western Europe and North America, excluding Mexico.)

Participative (and democratic) management practices that are formally adopted in many Western organizations could prove to be inappropriate practice when imposed in a context heavily influenced by a Confucian ethos.

As a reciprocal obligation, employees may expect expatriate managers to engage in informal and personalized relationships to ensure social support in their daily work. This expectation is often implicit rather than explicit in superior-subordinate relations and may come as a culture shock to those expatriate managers who are used to an impersonal style of management. The tension between personal and impersonal styles of management could expose expatriate managers and those they manage to problems of adjustment unless they have prior training in intercultural interactions (Cushner & Brislin, 1996).

This is borne out in a study of Chinese hotel employees by Huyton and Sutton (1996), finding that Chinese see Western managers as emotional, volatile, and demanding, but with a high degree of technical skill, and the ability to listen. The characteristics of volatility and emotion on the part of expatriates are considered by some staff to be due to frustration caused by communication difficulties, but others see this as a cultural problem. Expatriate Western managers are expected by many staff to be a universal panacea to all problems and, as such, expatriates can experience difficulties when delegating responsibility. Consequently, when local staff are faced with a problem they expect their foreign manager to solve it for them, as this is what they are used to from their Chinese managers.

Bass Hotels Mini-MBA Programme: The Employee-Service-Profit Chain

In 1998 the general manager of the Zhengzhou hotel attended a "mini-MBA" programme sponsored by Bass Hotels and Resorts (now SixContinents) and taught by faculty from Hong Kong University. Readings and assignments in the course included: Heskett, James L., Jones, Thomas O., Loveman, Gary W., Sasser, Jr., W. Earl, & Schlesinger, Leonard A. Schlesinger (1994) "Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work", Harvard Business Review, March-April, pp. 164-174

Upon returning from this training the GM laid out a plan to develop a "Service Culture" as the organisational culture in the hotels. The concept of the Service Culture was:

To instil in the managers and staff the idea that exceptional customer service was the most important aspect of their work;
Everyone has a customer to serve, whether another employee or employee group, a guest, a visitor, a vendor or supplier; they must all be provided with excellent service;
It was a manager's job to serve as an example of providing excellent service.

Intensive training programmes were designed and delivered to staff and management through the training department and by departmental training. The hotel employees began the process of learning to "thrill and delight" their customers.

The People-Service-Profit Chain At The Properties

The GM implemented the Service Culture project in the two hotels, to make consistent, good, friendly customer service a habit in the staff, service to both guests and other employees. The plan that was followed was implementing the "People-Service-Profit Chain" programme proposed by the HBSP publication, "Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work" (Schlesinger, 1994], adding “People” to focus the attention of staff and management. The Service Culture was further enhanced by monthly analysis and action on all elements of a corporate chain “Combined Quality Index” (described below) where the hotels have identified shortcomings. The road to success: focus on improvement, find the problems and fix them, make excellent service a habit, and communications. Communications within and without is essential.

The staff received consistent accolades from guests for their friendly service and English skills. An American guest was overheard by the author in a Crowne Plaza restaurant, "I love staying here on week-ends; the staff’s so friendly and eager to provide good service. In the hotel where I live during the week, only one guy speaks English, and when he's not there I never know what I'm going to be served in the restaurant. Here, I always get what I want."

People-Service-Profit Chain Component Measurements

The main components were to build and maintain a service culture in the staff and management of the hotels in which the employees develop habits for providing excellent service and exceeding guest expectations. Listed below are the nineteen points at which data can be collected and analysed into information to assess people-service-profit performance. Specific management and training plans were designed and implemented in each topic area. The hotels achieved overall success in implementing the principles of the chain, with good financial results.

Survey Data From The Hotels In This Case

From 1997 – 1999 data was collected concerning employee attitudes. The survey was offered to all full-time employees, approximately 450, of the hotels. At the time, the management of the hotels consisted of about a 50 – 50 split between indigenous Chinese managers and expatriate managers, at various times from Germany, Belgium, Nepal, Pakistan, the USA, Holland, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. The General Manager was initially from Germany, for approximately 2 years and then from Singapore, since 1995 and continuing today.

In 1997 the Deputy Human Resources Manager from the USA implemented an employee opinion survey in an attempt to obtain data to improve morale and job performance. In 1998, the international chain management company implemented an employee survey worldwide, for the same purposes. This sample is from a group of managers and employees who have been exposed to Western-style management practices, training and development, and appraisal techniques, some since pre-opening in 1994.

Summary Report of Results of Employee Opinion Surveys

In 1998, employees were administered a corporate employee opinion survey. The ratings were reported a Likert scale with “5 = Very Satisfied” and “1 = Very Dissatisfied”.

Insert Table C about here

Table C. Hotel Employee Satisfaction Survey, 1998

Group average “favourable” (Likert 4 or 5) responses, all questions:	59.2%
“Empowerment” average, defined by the hotel group corporate survey staff	57.8%

Empowerment Scale Questions
8. I have the right to deal with my work in my own way.	57%
9. I have all the material and equipment I need to do a good job.	76%
10. I have all the information and reference material I need to do a good job.	68%
11. My opinion is taken into consideration in the hotels.	30%

The percent of favourable responses to question 8, as opposed to neutral and unfavourable (Likert 3, 2, 1), indicates that for a Chinese work group, they state that they have been empowered by the management of the hotels in the sample to some degree.

Results: Tolerance of Freedom Measurements

In 1999 and in 2002, this author (Littrell, 2002a) administered the Leadership Behaviour Description Questionnaire XII (LBDQ XII) to managers and supervisors in the hotels. Factor 6: Tolerance of Freedom reflects to what extent the manager allows followers scope for initiative, decision and action", indicates a propensity toward empowerment.

Data on ten cultural groups has been reported for the LBDQ XII. The Tolerance of Freedom results can be seen in Table D. The two samples in this survey, CN99 and CN02, produce average scores indicating that their opinion of the desirability of Tolerance of Freedom of the ideal leader in generally in the same range as other cultures in past studies. From 1999 to 2002 the number of expatriate managers in the hotels decreased from eleven to four, and the average for Tolerance of Freedom decreased from 3.90 to 3.75.

Insert Table D about here

Table D. Scores for Tolerance of Freedom by “Ideal Leader” by Country

Factor	CN 99	CN 02	HK Selmer	US Stogdill	US Black & Porter	US Mgr in HK Black & Porter	US Lucas Et al. Mgr	US Lucas Et al. Subord.	UK	DE	Average for All Studies
Tolerance of Freedom	3.9	3.75	4.3	3.7	3.88	3.63	3.9	4.0	4.0	4.1	3.92

Factor

Selmer

Stogdill

Black & Porter

US Mgr

in HK

Black & Porter

Lucas Et al.

Mgr

Lucas

Et al.

Subord.

Average for All Studies

Tolerance of Freedom

3.9

3.75

4.3

3.7

3.88

3.63

3.9

4.0

4.1

3.92

From: Black & Porter (1991), Littrell (2002a, 2002b), Lucas et al. (1992), Schneider & Littrell (forthcoming, 2003), Selmer (1997), Stogdill (1963)

In Table E can be seen the results of the mean ratings of various samples comparing expatriate managers and Chinese managers. The data indicate that the group of supervisors with Chinese managers believed that the ideal leader should be more tolerant of freedom than the group with expatriate managers. In Table E, their subordinates see their Chinese managers as being more tolerant of freedom than the group of expatriate managers, and Chinese managers indicate the ideal leader should be more tolerant of freedom than the expatriate managers.

In Table E we see that supervisors with expatriate managers produced an average rating of the ideal leader of 3.75. In 2002, many of these supervisors had moved to management positions, the average rating of 3.75 for 2002 indicates that the presence of expatriate managers had an effect on the opinions of the supervisors, demonstrated by the similarity of the average ratings. The average rating to the expatriate managers in Table E, 3.59, is the lowest average produced by any group studied.

The group identifying themselves as having a Chinese manager indicated the ideal leader should exhibit Tolerance of Freedom more frequently than the group with expatriate managers. This outcome could be explained by the fact that the current tendency in Western management styles is toward greater empowerment of subordinates. Most research into management and supervision of Chinese workers report indicating a desire for close supervision, and fear of punishment for initiative. Tolerance of Freedom might not necessarily be regarded as a sign of a good manager in an authoritarian management culture where subordinates expect the manager to take the initiative, make the decisions and take action. Transferral of these activities to the subordinates may be interpreted as an attempt by the manager not to do his or her job. The possibility exists that the expatriate mangers actually demonstrated Tolerance of Freedom more frequently than the Chinese managers (whatever their opinions indicated by responses to the questionnaire). Perhaps those Chinese subordinates who had experienced some level of “empowerment” enjoyed it less and valued it less than their compatriots who had not experienced it.

An alternate interpretation might be that the expatriate mangers job descriptions included a significant directive to train and develop their subordinates. In carrying out this duty, the expatriates may have supervised and directed their subordinates more closely and to a greater degree than the Chinese managers.

Table E.

Various Ratings Comparing Chinese and Expatriate Managers

Tolerance of Freedom

Mean Rating by Supervisors

with Chinese Managers

Mean Rating by Supervisors

with Expatriate Managers

T-Test Results

Mean Scores for “Ideal Leader” for Group with Chinese Managers Compared to Group with Expatriate Managers

3.97

3.75

p=0.043

Tolerance of Freedom

Mean Rating by

Chinese Managers

Mean Rating by

Expatriate Managers

T-Test Results

Mean Factor Scores for Chinese Managers Compared to Expatriate Managers as rated by their subordinates

3.39

3.24

Not significant

Tolerance of Freedom

Mean Rating of

Chinese Managers

Mean Rating of

Expatriate Managers

T-Test Results

Comparison of mean factor score ratings by subordinates of their Chinese managers and expatriate managers

3.86

3.59

p=0.003

Table F compares the Chinese managers with the hotel supervisors, indicating that the supervisors (younger employees) significantly prefer more tolerance of freedom than the group of managers. Whether this trend holds as they grow older and rise in the ranks remains to be seen. The data in Table H indicate a movement in scores that is correlated with the promotion of supervisors trained by expatriate managers. The newer supervisors, with less exposure to expatriates have a lower average score, indicating a lower preference for Tolerance of Freedom in the ideal leader.

Insert Table F about here

Table F.

Comparison of Senior Chinese Managers and Chinese Supervisors and Lower-level Managers

Tolerance of Freedom

Mean for Senior Managers

Mean for Supervisors

T-Test Results

(Significant

Difference)

Comparison Of The “Ideal Leader” Descriptions Between Senior Managers and All Other Sample Respondents

3.27

3.91

p=0.001

In Table G, on average, the Ideal Leader and the Chinese Manager received almost identical average factor scores from supervisors and managers, with the expatriate manager average significantly below the ideal.

Insert Table G about here

Table G.

Ratings of Managers by Their Subordinates

Tolerance of Freedom

Ideal

Leader

Chinese

Managers

Expatriate

Managers

Ideal vs. Chinese

T-Test

Ideal vs. Expatriate

T-Test

Comparisons of mean

factor score ratings by their subordinates of Chinese managers and expatriate managers and the hypothetical “Ideal Leader”

3.9

3.86

3.59

n.s.

p=0.0006

Insert Table H about here.

Table H.

Comparisons Of Mean Score Ratings Of The Hypothetical “Ideal Leader”

Tolerance of Freedom

Chinese

Managers

Chinese Supervisors

T-test Significance

1999

3.27

3.91

p=0.001

2002

3.92

3.71

n.s.

Discussion

The outcome of Chinese managers being more tolerant than expatriate managers is difficult to explain other than by the tendency of the members of a group to assume the characteristics of the group leader over time, the ultimate expression being “hero worship”. Observing day-to-day management, supervision, and training in the hotels, the expatriate managers tended to be more demanding, more prescriptive, and engaging in more direct supervision than Chinese managers. The expatriate managers had job descriptions that included a large training and development component, whereas the Chinese managers were more oriented to management and supervision of operational procedures. The data do indicate that the newer supervisors surveyed in 2002 have a lower average than those with more exposure to expatriates.

If employees with expatriate managers respected their manager (as they are required to do under Confucian rules), then the less tolerant expatriate could be the model of the ideal leader. This trend is borne out in Table E.

Litzinger & Schaefer (1982) postulated that the leader follower relationship is a reciprocal, power-sharing arrangement.

In order to be a good leader, a person must first have learned to be a good follower. This idea has long been recognized by writers such as Hegel, whose ''dialectic of master and slave'' points out that there is not only followership in the leader, but leadership in the follower... In the context of an organization, its leader is its obedient servant. The common acceptance of values in an organization forms the link between obedience and command, and leaders cannot break this link without destroying the legitimacy of their rule (as did Richard Nixon). Followers hold power over their leaders, since followers grant authority by either giving or withholding their obedience; a leader must be the best follower of the organization's goals or others will not trust and follow him/her. Different styles of leadership call for different styles of followership; a good follower is able to choose an appropriate followership style.

The results in Table E would seem to contradict their proposition in this particular situation, indicating that the group norms were moulded by the leader rather than the leader accepting the group norms. This idea is expressed by Gardner (1993) in his definition of the process of leadership.

“…the process of setting an example that inspires an entire group to pursue goals held by both the leader and his or her followers.”

Conclusions

The results of the employee surveys in the hotels samples show that more than half the respondents indicated that they were empowered in their ability to do their work as they see fit. From Li's (2000) results and those obtained above, it seems obvious that the Western concept of empowerment has application in job performance improvement in a conducive environment in China.

As the feeling of empowerment is an attitude, opinion, or belief on the part of the employee, there will be cross-cultural differences relating to what empowerment actually means to the employee. What is empowerment to a Chinese, French, German, Italian, US, Mexican, etc., worker may not be empowerment to the others.

Future Plans

Plans are in the works to implement studies of cross-cultural definitions of empowerment, initially through self-report methods,

first employing free form statements from employees and managers in different countries,

and then developing adjective check-lists and descriptive statement check-lists for validation and development in to a cross-cultural empowerment attitude assessment instrument..

References & Sources

Conti, T. (1997), Organizational Self-assessment, Chapman & Hall, London.

Conti, T. 1997. Organizational Self-assessment, Chapman & Hall, London.

Edgeman, R.L. & Scherer, F. (1999) “Systemic leadership via core value deployment”, The Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol 20 Issue 2.

Edgeman, R.L. & Scherer, F. 1999. “Systemic leadership via core value deployment”, The Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol 20 Issue 2.

Fukuyama, F. (1995) Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity, Hamish Hamilton, London

Fukuyama, F. 1995. Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity, Hamish Hamilton, London

Gardner, John W. 1993.On Leadership.

Gorzen, A. (1998a) Case Study: Mabuchi Motor Co., Ltd.”, Richard Ivey School of Business, Western Ontario University, London, Ontario, Canada.

Gorzen, A. (1998b) Teaching Note for Case Study: Mabuchi Motor Co., Ltd.”, Richard Ivey School of Business, Western Ontario University, London, Ontario, Canada.

Gorzen, A. 1998a. Case Study: Mabuchi Motor Co. Ltd.”, Richard Ivey School of Business, Western Ontario University, London, Ontario, Canada.

Gorzen, A. 1998b. Teaching Note for Case Study: Mabuchi Motor Co. Ltd.”, Richard Ivey School of Business, Western Ontario University, London, Ontario, Canada.

Hall, E.T. 1959. The Silent Language. New York, New York: Anchor Press.

Hall, E.T. 1976. Beyond Culture, New York, New York: Anchor Press.

Hammer M. & Champy, J. (1994) Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution, Harperbusiness, New York.

Hammer M. & Champy, J. 1994. Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution, Harperbusiness, New York.

Herzberg, F. (1968) Work and the Nature of Man, Staples Press, London.

Herzberg, F. 1968. Work and the Nature of Man, Staples Press, London.

Heskett, James L. Jones, Thomas O. Loveman, Gary W. Sasser, Jr. W. Earl, & Schlesinger, Leonard A. Schlesinger, L.A. 1994. "Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work", Harvard Business Review, March-April, pp. 164-174

Heskett, James L., Jones, Thomas O., Loveman, Gary W., Sasser, Jr., W. Earl, & Schlesinger, Leonard A. Schlesinger, L.A. (1994) "Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work", Harvard Business Review, March-April, pp. 164-174

Hoecklin, L. (1995) Managing Cultural Differences Strategies for Competitive Advantage, Addison-Wesley, Wokingham, England.

Hoecklin, L. 1995. Managing Cultural Differences Strategies for Competitive Advantage, Addison-Wesley, Wokingham, England.

Hofstede, G. & Bond, M. H. 1988.. Confucius & Economic Growth: New Trends In Culture's Consequences. Organizational Dynamics, 164.: 4-21.

Hofstede, G. (1980) "Motivation, Leadership, and Organization: Do American Theories Apply Abroad?", Organizational Dynamics, Summer, pp. 42-63.

Hofstede, G. (1982), “Cultural pitfalls for Dutch expatriates in Asia”, Euro-Asia Business Review, Vol. 1 No. 1.

Hofstede, G. (1983), “Cultural pitfalls for Dutch expatriates in Asia”, Euro-Asia Business Review, Vol. 2 No. 1.

Hofstede, G. 1980. "Motivation, Leadership, and Organization: Do American Theories Apply Abroad?", Organizational Dynamics, Summer, pp. 42-63.

Hofstede, G. 1980a. Culture's Consequences: International Differences In Work Related Values. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Hofstede, G. 1980b. Motivation, Leadership And Organization: Do American Theories Apply Abroad? Organizational Dynamics, 91.: 42-63.

Hofstede, G. 1982. “Cultural pitfalls for Dutch expatriates in Asia”, Euro-Asia Business Review, Vol. 1 No. 1.

Hofstede, G. 1983. “Cultural pitfalls for Dutch expatriates in Asia”, Euro-Asia Business Review, Vol. 2 No. 1.

Hofstede, G. 1989. Organizing For Cultural Diversity, European Management Journal, Vol. 7 No 4.

Hofstede, G. 1991. Cultures And Organisations: Software Of The Mind, McGraw-Hill, London.

Hofstede, G. 1993. Cultural Constraints in Management Theories. Academy of Management Executive. 71.: 81-94.

Hofstede, G. 1994. The Business Of International Business Is Culture, International Business Review. 3. 1: 1-14.

Inglehardt, Ronald 1997. Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Societies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Karasachol, L. & Tannock, J.D.T. (1999) “A study of TQM implementation in Thailand”, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol 16 Issue 5

Karasachol, L. & Tannock, J.D.T. 1999. “A study of TQM implementation in Thailand”, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol 16 Issue 5

Li, L.X. (2000) "An analysis of sources of competitiveness and performance of Chinese manufacturers", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 20:3, pp. 299-315.

Li, L.X. 2000. "An analysis of sources of competitiveness and performance of Chinese manufacturers", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 20:3, pp. 299-315.

Littrell, R. (2002) “Desirable Leadership Behaviours of Multi-Cultural Managers in China” Journal of Management Development, Vol 21.

Littrell, R. 2002. “Desirable Leadership Behaviours of Multi-Cultural Managers in China” Journal of Management Development, Vol 21.

Litzinger, William & Schaefer, Thomas 1982. Leadership Through Followership, Business Horizons; (25)5: 78-81.

Litzinger, William & Schaefer, Thomas 1982. Leadership Through Followership, Business Horizons; 25. 5: 78-81.

Loretta, D and Polsky, W. (1991), “Share the power”, Personnel Journal, September, p. 116.

Loretta, D and Polsky, W. 1991. “Share the power”, Personnel Journal, September, p. 116.

Louie, K. (1980) Critiques of Confucius in Contemporary China, Chinese University Press, Hong Kong.

Louie, K. 1980. Critiques of Confucius in Contemporary China, Chinese University Press, Hong Kong.

McKenna, S. (1995) "The cultural transferability of business and organizational re-engineering: examples from South-east Asia", The TQM Magazine, Vol 07 No 3, pp. 12-16.

McKenna, S. 1995. "The cultural transferability of business and organizational re-engineering: examples from South-east Asia", The TQM Magazine, Vol 07 No 3, pp. 12-16.

Morden T. (1995) “International culture and management”, Management Decision, Vol 33 Issue 2

Morden, T. & Bowles D. (1998) “Management in South Korea: a review”, Management Decision, Vol 36 Issue 5

Morden, T. & Bowles D. 1998. “Management in South Korea: a review”, Management Decision, Vol 36 Issue 5

Mwaura, Sutton, J. & Roberts, D. 1998. “Corporate and national culture - an irreconcilable dilemma for the hospitality manager?”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol 10 Issue 6.

Mwaura, Sutton, J., & Roberts, D. (1998) “Corporate and national culture - an irreconcilable dilemma for the hospitality manager?”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol 10 Issue 6.

Nesan, L.J. and Holt, G.D. (1999), Empowerment in Construction: The Way Forward for Performance Improvement, Research Studies Press, Baldock.

Nesan, L.J. and Holt, G.D. 1999. Empowerment in Construction: The Way Forward for Performance Improvement. Baldock: Research Studies Press.

People’s Daily (1993a) “The Central committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council Publish Guidelines for the Reform and Development of China’s Education, 3 March, p. 1.

People’s Daily (1993b) “The Politbureau of the Central Party Committee of the Chinese Communist Party holds a plenary meeting to discuss some important issues in the development of reform.”, 3 March, p. 1.

People’s Daily 1993a. “The Central committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council Publish Guidelines for the Reform and Development of China’s Education, 3 March, p. 1.

People’s Daily 1993b. “The Politburo of the Central Party Committee of the Chinese Communist Party holds a plenary meeting to discuss some important issues in the development of reform”, 3 March, p. 1.

Porter, M.E. (1980), Competitive Strategy, The Free Press, New York, NY

Porter, M.E. (1985), Competitive Advantage, The Free Press, New York, NY.

Porter, M.E. (1990), The Competitive Advantage of Nations, The Free Press, New York, NY.

Porter, M.E. 1980. Competitive Strategy, The Free Press, New York, NY

Porter, M.E. 1985. Competitive Advantage, The Free Press, New York, NY.

Porter, M.E. 1990. The Competitive Advantage of Nations, The Free Press, New York, NY.

Schlesinger, L.A. (1994) "Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work", Harvard Business Review, March-April, pp. 164-174

Schlesinger, L.A. 1994. "Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work", Harvard Business Review, March-April, pp. 164-174

Schwartz, S. H. 1992.. The Universal Content and Structure of Values: Theoretical Advances and Empirical Tests in 20 Countries. In M. Zanna Ed.. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. 25.: 1-65. New York: Academic Press.

Schwartz, S. H. 1994.. Beyond individualism/collectivism; New dimensions of values. In U. Kim, U. Ed. Individualism And Collectivism: Theory, Method, And Applications. Newbury park, CA: Sage.

Stogdill, R.M. (1963) “Manual for Leadership Behaviour Description, Questionnaire - Form XII: An Experimental Revision”, Bureau of Business Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.

Stogdill, R.M. 1963. “Manual for Leadership Behavior Description, Questionnaire - Form XII: An Experimental Revision”, Bureau of Business Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.

Tenser, R.K. (1993), “Empowering high performing people to promote project quality”, Journal of Management in Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 321-8.

Tenser, R.K. 1993. “Empowering high performing people to promote project quality”, Journal of Management in Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 321-8.

Triandis, Harry C. 1994. Individualism and Collectivism: Conceptual Clarification and Elaboration. In Kim, Uichol, Ed. Individualism and Collectivism: Theory, Method, and Applications. Series: Cross Cultural Research and Methodology, Volume: 18. Newbury park, CA: Sage.

Trompenaars, Fons & Hamden-Turner, Charles 1997. Riding the Waves of Culture. Brealy Publishing.

Vogt, J. F. and Murrell, K. L. (1990) Empowerment in Organizations: How to Spark Exceptional Performance, CA, University Associates

Employee Empowerment in China, A Case Study

Employee Empowerment in China, A Case Study

Introduction

What Is “Empowerment”?

Features of Employee Empowerment

Barriers to the empowerment of employees

Empowerment, Collectivism/Individualism & Power Distance

Asia and Empowerment

Greater China

China: The Contrarian Viewpoint

Cross-cultural theory and practice

The Hotel Business in China

The Hotel Business in Zhengzhou

Sources of Stress

Environment: Cross-Cultural Management Issues

People-Service-Profit Chain Component Measurements

Survey Data From The Hotels In This Case

Summary Report of Results of Employee Opinion Surveys

“Empowerment” average, defined by the hotel group corporate survey staff

Empowerment Scale Questions

Results: Tolerance of Freedom Measurements

Discussion

Conclusions

Future Plans

References & Sources