As Siemens, Not The Same Culture

With the intensification of globalization and the integration of the Chinese economy into theworld economy, more and more German multinational companies are entering China and theynow are playing an important role in the development of the Chinese economy. SiemensLimited, China (SLC), a famous German multinational company in which the author has hadan internship for nine months, operates quite well among the multinational companies inChina. However, in SLC, most managerial leaders are German and most subordinates areChinese, and thus German managerial leaders need to lead and manage Chinese subordinatesin the Chinese cultural context. Therefore, due to the differences between the German andChinese cultures which can influence leadership style, it is significant for German managerialleaders to recognize the cultural impact on their leadership style in order to achieve success inthe leading operations in the Chinese cultural context.This thesis attempts to identify the cultural influence on leadership style in SLC from the twosides of German managerial leaders and Chinese subordinates in order to elaborate thissubject as comprehensively as possible. After reviewing relevant studies and theories onChinese and German cultures as well as cross-cultural management, the author employs threecultural dimensions—Individualism vs. Collectivism, Power Distance and UncertaintyAvoidance—to conduct her study. Based upon the three dimensions, the author analyzes thecultural modes in SLC and puts forward three hypotheses. According to the data collectedfrom questionnaires handed out to German managerial leaders and Chinese subordinates, theauthor tests the three hypotheses and analyzes cultural impact on leadership style from thetwo sides of German managerial leaders and Chinese subordinates. The thesis finally pointsout the limitations of the study and proposes some recommendations for the achievement ofeffective leadership style of German managerial leaders in the Chinese cultural context andalso for future relevant studies.