This chapter examines the relationship between culture and management in the
People’s Republic of China [PRC]. Culture will be treated as one of the main variables
accounting for the specific management scenarios that have evolved in China over the
last few decades1
(Warner and Joynt, 2002).
While China is home to the world’s oldest and most continuous culture, it has also
been subject to massive institutional changes since the nation-wide establishment of the
Communist regime in 1949. Comparison with other parts of China, namely Hong Kong
and Taiwan, which have not experienced the same socio-economic regime, raises the
question as to how much that is distinctive about management in China can be attributed
to Chinese culture as opposed to the prevailing institutional system. Certainly, the
chapters in this book on Hong Kong (Chapter 4 and Taiwan (as well as on Singapore)
indicate that there are substantial differences in corporate and managerial behaviour
between Mainland China and these other territories. The substantial divergence between
East and West German management practice and performance, which created a massive
challenge after re-unification in 1990, is a comparable example, as is also the two Koreas
today. In these cases, differences in behaviour cannot readily be accounted for by culture