A Comparative Study Of Chinese And Western Management Culture

Chinese culture and Western culture are two important cultural systems in human society,which influence,impact and sometimes oppose each other at the same time.Together they influence and shape the different social development patterns in China and the West.As a subsystem of culture,management culture is a cultural tendency formed in the process of management,which deeply affects the development of management.Many differences between Chinese and Western management cultures,including geographical environment,basic structure of the society and historic and ethnic traditions,result in different management concepts,systems,behaviors and modes between Chinese and Western management cultures.Therefore,from the perspective of comparative study,this paper attempts to analyze the Chinese and Western management cultures,find the development law of management culture and promote the exchange and fusion between Chinese and Western management cultures.Based on the importance of management culture and many differences between Chinese and western management culture,this paper conducts a thorough analysis of the two cultures.Firstly,it interprets the management culture from the relation of culture and management.As a cultural tendency born in the field of management,management culture is an integration of the spiritual culture,institutional culture and material culture of management formed by the practical activities of management.Therefore,management culture is an organic and integrated system.Secondly,it explores the origins of the differences of the Chinese and Western management cultures.Chinese culture is rooted in the geographical features of major rivers and vast inland centered around the ethical spirits,thrives to realize the ethical spirits,and attempts to achieve the integrated harmony focusing on people through ruling the country by virtue.At the same time,the Western culture is a system centered around rules and regulations,as well as contract spirit in practice,and tries to achieve efficiency through ruling the country by law.Two distinctive cultures result in two distinctive management cultures.The essence of Chinese management culture lies in the harmony of people guided by a spirit of ethics,while the essence of Western management culture lies in efficiency guided by a spirit of ruling by law.Thirdly,it carries out a comparative study of Chinese and Western management cultures on spiritual,institutional and material levels.The cultural basis of Chinese and Western management spirit is different.Based on the traditional people-oriented culture,Chinese management spiritual culture emphasizes on the people-oriented overall harmony and advocates on loyalty instead of profit,while the Western management spiritual culture is based on rationality and pushes for the scientific and rational reasoning.Both China and the West have different premises of human nature.The three main views of human nature are kind,evil and flexible.The corresponding institutional cultural orientation is the rule of virtue,the rule of law,and the flexible management.The Western theory of human nature is based on the famous hypothesis of human nature,which is “economic man” hypothesis,“social person” hypothesis,“self-actualization person” hypothesis and “complex person” hypothesis.Each kind of human nature hypothesis also corresponds to “scientific management system”,flexible management system,humanized management system and balanced management system.The orientation of the overall system culture in China leans towards the rule of virtue,hoping to promote the inner awakening of human beings by using moral inspirations.The Western institutional culture as a whole tends to rule by law and uses detailed institutional rules to motivate and restrain people to realize the priority of efficiency.Chinese and Western management modes shows that the Chinese management mode is a pyramid,in the form of a vertical family management mode,so decision-making is more rapid and thoughts are more unified,which pays attention to the overall development,but inhibits individual development.The western management mode presents a culture of horizontal and flat management mode,which responds more quickly,has a more reasonable structure,and encourages individual innovation.The differences of Chinese and Western management cultures on spiritual,institutional and material levels determine their unique advantages and disadvantages.Finally,the development law of Chinese and Western management culture is explored to find the way of integration of Chinese and Western management culture.In modern society,management culture has become an important factor and internal support of modern national management competition and management development.Therefore,different management culture proposes different management development paths and development prospects.In the process of management,different characteristics of Chinese and Western management culture reflect their respective advantages and disadvantages,which leads to the trend of the integration of Chinese and Western management culture.Therefore,a comparative study of Chinese and western management culture with an open attitude will certainly provide many enlightenment for the development of Chinese and Western management,which is of great value to the research of management theory and the development of management practice.