Power distance in cross-cultural environment: Observations from two Chinese companies in Europe

Shuo Wang; Pasi Fränti; Shuo Wang; Pasi Fränti

doi:10.3934/steme.2022012

STEM Education

2022, Volume 2, Issue 3: 173-196. doi: 10.3934/steme.2022012

Previous Article Next Article

Case study

Power distance in cross-cultural environment: Observations from two Chinese companies in Europe

Shuo Wang ^{1
,},
Pasi Fränti ^{2
,
,}

1.
Department of Social Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland; shuowangpsy@gmail.com
2.
School of Computing, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland; franti@cs.ue.fi

Academic Editor: Ergun Gide

Received: 01 May 2022 Accepted: 01 July 2022 Published: 06 September 2022

Cultural differences have a strong influence on the work and study climate in cross-cultural environment. A difference in power distance has been shown to be a major factor in decreasing motivation, especially when the superior follows a hierarchical leadership style but the subordinates expect equality. This can lead to high turnover rates in companies and low learning outcomes in schools if not taken into consideration. In this paper, we use examples to demonstrate how the problems appeared in two case studies of Chinese companies operating in Europe. The findings have been categorized into five themes: hierarchy, authority, closed communication, promotion, and unequal treatment.
- cross-cultural organization,
- power distance,
- Hofstede dimensions,
- motivation
Citation: Shuo Wang, Pasi Fränti. Power distance in cross-cultural environment: Observations from two Chinese companies in Europe[J]. STEM Education, 2022, 2(3): 173-196. doi: 10.3934/steme.2022012

Related Papers:

Abstract

Cultural differences have a strong influence on the work and study climate in cross-cultural environment. A difference in power distance has been shown to be a major factor in decreasing motivation, especially when the superior follows a hierarchical leadership style but the subordinates expect equality. This can lead to high turnover rates in companies and low learning outcomes in schools if not taken into consideration. In this paper, we use examples to demonstrate how the problems appeared in two case studies of Chinese companies operating in Europe. The findings have been categorized into five themes: hierarchy, authority, closed communication, promotion, and unequal treatment.

References

[1]	Hofstede, G., Culture's consequences : international differences in work-related values, Vol. 5., 1980, Beverly Hills, Calif.: SAGE.
[2]	Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G.J. and Minkov, M., Cultures and organizations: software of the mind: intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival (3rd ed.), 2010. New York: McGraw-Hill.
[3]	Breaking the silence culture: Stimulation of participation and employee opinion withholding cross-nationally. Management and Organization Review (2005) 1: 459-482.
[4]	Gerritsen D., Zimmerman J., Ogan A., Exploring power distance, classroom activity, and the international classroom through personal informatics. Int. Conf. on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED), 2015: 11‒20.
[5]	Leader humility and team creativity: The role of team information sharing, psychological safety, and power distance. Journal of Applied Psychology (2018) 103: 313-323.
[6]	Enterprise culture management in China: Insiders' perspective. Management and organization review (2008) 4: 291-314.
[7]	Paternalistic leadership. Wiley encyclopedia of management (2015) 1-2.
[8]	How power distance affect motivation in cross-cultural environment: findings from Chinese companies in Europe. STEM Education (2022) 2: 96.
[9]	Wang, S., Your next boss is Chinese: How European employees perceive organizational cultures in Chinese multinational companies, Dissertation in Education, Humanities, and Theology, No 105, University of Eastern Finland, 2017.
[10]	Space for STEAM: New creativity challenge in education. Frontiers in psychology (2021) 12: 812.
[11]	An Analysis on Sino-UK Cultural Differences in Education from the Perspective of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory (A Case Study of Are Our Kids Tough Enough?). Journal on Education (2022) 4: 373-384.
[12]	Exploring virtual reality for developing soft-skills in STEM education. IEEE World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF) (2017) 461-465.
[13]	Enhancing the success of mergers and acquisitions: an organizational culture perspective. Management Decision (2003) 41: 511-522.
[14]	Väisänen, K., Jääskeläinen, J.K., Kortesuo, K., Exit-opas yrittäjälle: näin trimmaat yrityksesi myyntikuntooni[Exit Guide for the Entrepreneur: Here's how to trim your business to sales], Alma Talent 2020. (in Finnish)
[15]	Consultancy.uk, Culture issues derail M & A transactions at an alarming rate.[Web page; Accessed 10-May 2022]. Retrieved from: https://www.consultancy.uk/news/19490/culture-issues-derail-ma-transactions-at-an-alarming-rate
[16]	Eriksson, P. and Kovalainen, A., Qualitative methods in business research. Los Angeles, Calif.; London: SAGE, 2008. https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857028044
[17]	Van Maanen, J., Tales of the field : on writing ethnography (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226849638.001.0001
[18]	Holding onto power: Effects of powerholders' positional instability and expectancies on interactions with subordinates. European Journal of Social Psychology (2006) 36: 451.
[19]	Distance in organizations. Human Resource Management Review (1993) 3: 321.
[20]	An exploratory study of employee silence: Issues that employees don't communicate upward and why. Journal of Management Studies (2003) 40: 1453.
[21]	Fei, X., 乡土中国修订版[Rural China]: Shanghai: Shanghai people's publishing house, 2013.

Reader Comments

Your name:*

Email:*
© 2022 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)