University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1987 A Chinese conception of "management" : an interpretive approach (Singapore). Siew Kim Lee University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Lee, Siew Kim, "A Chinese conception of "management" : an interpretive approach (Singapore)." (1987). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 4291. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/4291 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A CHINESE CONCEPTION OF "MANAGEMENT” -AN INTERPRETIVE APPROACH (SINGAPORE) A Dissertation Presented By SIEW KIM LEE Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION September 1987 Education @ Copyright by Siew Kim Lee 1987 All Rights Reserved. 11 A CHINESE CONCEPTION OF "MANAGEMENT - AN INTERPRETIVE APPROACH (SINGAPORE) A Dissertation Presented By SIEW KIM LEE Approved as to style and content by: JL Dr. Linda Sraircich, Member £y e. GeorgeUrch, Acting Dean School of Education iii DEDICATION TO MY PARENTS for their endless love, support, confidence, endurance and faith. Without them, without me. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my appreciation to people who have helped me in this project in different ways. First of all, my special thanks to Sheryl Riechmann Hruska, for her warmth, care, guidance, understanding, love, and both intellectual and emotional support. There is no other person who could be as wonderful as she is to be my chairperson. Thanks to Linda Smircich, who has been very intellectually stimulating both in and outside of this project, and has shared her warmth and friendship in her own way. Thanks also to Bailey Jackson for his unique perspective and clarification on the project. Special thanks also goes to Paul Hsu from the National University of Singapore for his resourceful and helpful support in the research field work. His expertise in Chinese management has provided invaluable guidance in the project. My special appreciation to the Lee Foundation in Singapore for their financial sponsorship in the project. Also my appreciation to the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, especially to Louis Lim for his recommendation. v I would like to thank Dwayne Wilson (School of Education), Alfred Hudson (Anthropology Department), and John Nirenberg (National University of Singapore) who were supportive of my ideas. My heartfelt thanks to Tony Leow for his love and tremendous support; Yang Ling Zhang for her friendship and help; Tan Siew Guan for her emotional support and patient listening, Lee Chee Hua. for his sharing and encouragement, and Eileen Sung for her assistance in the translation. My sincere thanks to all my friends who have helped and supported me in one way or another. vi abstract A CHINESE CONCEPTION OF "MANAGEMENT" AN INTERPRETIVE APPROACH (SINGAPORE) SEPTEMBER, 1987 SIEW KIM LEE, B.A., NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE M.ED., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS ED.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS Directed by: Professor Sheryl Riechmann Hruska To a large extent, management is perceived as a Western notion and is based on Western assumptions and norms. Most of our understanding of management came from the American experience. The problem lies in the assumption by these writers and researchers that what they think is true in the West, it is true for all cultures. This is a problem in cross-cultural management theory and practice. This study was an attempt to challenge the imperialism in cross-cultural management. It attempted to voice the Singaporean Chinese managers' conception of Chinese management through a Singaporean Chinese researcher using an interpretive approach. vii The specific purposes were to (1) discover Chinese managers’ perception and definition of management; and (2) describe the way they manage. This study followed an interpretive paradigm of research and analysis which allows representation of the perspective of the participants. It aimed to reveal and reflect the world as it is. Metaphor was used as a means to understand how Chinese managers in Singapore perceived Chinese management and how they manage. Six interviewees from Singapore local Chinese organizations were selected for the study. Indepth interview was used as the research method. The research findings were presented through six stories and five scenes. Six stories (Chapter Four) were presented how they felt about Chinese management, their organizations and their managerial work. The five scenes (Chapter Five) were the interpretation and analysis of the ’’stories”. Scene 1 focused on the Chinese managers' perception of the characteristics of Chinese management. Scene 2 contrasted the differences between Western management and Chinese management. Scene 3 highlighted the dilemma of the old and young generations and the dilemma in integrating Western and Chinese management. Scene 4 presented four metaphors viii t and a meta-metaphor that capture the conceptions of Chinese management. Scene 5 presented five metaphors that describe the work of Chinese managers. The research findings were discussed in relation to the literature. Implications for Singaporean Chinese managers, management educators, organizational theorists, cross-cultural studies and future research were presented . IX TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.. CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION.1 Introduction.. Background to the Problem.6 Problem Statement.14 Research Questions.15 Purpose of the Study. 16 Approach to the Problem.19 Significance of the Study.24 CHAPTER II - LITERATURE REVIEW.27 Introduction.27 Part I: Philosophical Approach.28 Part II: Social-Cultural Approach.33 Part III: Chinese Management in Singapore.55 Conclusion.63 CHAPTER III - RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.65 Introduction.65 Rationale.^5 Process.^ 1 Preliminary Study.^"7 1. Purpose.11 2. Sample. 3. Procedure. 4. Results.7q 5 . Discussion.* * x Research Design. 34 1. Sample.. 2. Information Collection Procedure.89 3. Indepth Interview.. 4. Analytic Procedure.93 Epistemological Issues.96 CHAPTER IV - PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS... 100 Introduction.100 Story 1 : T.S. .103 Story 2 : T.F.132 Story 3 : T . YB.155 Story 4 : T .EB.166 Story 5 : H.179 Story 6 : C.191 CHAPTER V - INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS.203 Introduction .203 Scene 1 : Perception of Chinese Management.205 Scene 2 : The Contrast Between Chinese and Western Management.225 Scene 3 : Dilemmas Between the Old and Young Generation; Dilemma in Integrating Western and Chinese Management.230 Scene 4 : Metaphors of Chinese Organization and Management .245 Scene 5 : What Do the Chinese Managers Do?.255 CHAPTER VI - SUMMARY, DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS.260 Introduction.^60 xi Major Findings - Summary and Discussion.262 Disscussion on the Research Findings in R e 1 at ion to the Literature....283 Implications of the Research Findings .302 Limitations of the Study.309 Conclusions.. APPENDICES Appendix A : A Note from the Researcher.313 Appendix B : Sample.316 Appendix C : Theme Categories. 317 Appendix D : Interview Questions.318 BIBLIOGRAPHY.319 XI 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Introduction This dissertation studies the Chinese conception of "management" in the context of Singapore. It is an attempt to understand the Chinese conception of "management" from the Chinese managers' point of view. It is hoped that through a basic understanding of the Chinese conception of "management", a new realm of organization concepts, theories, technologies and strategies could be discovered and developed for Chinese organizations in Asian countries. Adler (1986) has pinpointed the problem in cross-cultural management. "Until recently, most of our understandings of management came from the American experience: Americans and American-trained researchers observed the behavior of people in United States-based organizations. Based on their observations and research, they developed models and theories to explain the behavior. The problem was in their assumption: they implicitly assumed that what was 'true' for Americans working in I 2 the United States was also true for people from other countries. Both researchers and managers tended to assume that work behavior was universal" (Adler 1986:vii) To a very large extent, "management" is perceived as a Western notion and is based on Western assumptions and norms. The vast majority of organizational behavioral research and the main theoretical models have come from highly individualistic Western societies. "Management" is usually taken for granted as being that which is defined in the Western textbooks: "Management is the process of setting objectives and coordinating the efforts of personnel in order to attain them. Note that by its very definition, management involves getting things done through other people. The manager must be a planner, communicator, coordinator, leader, and controller; and most of all the manager must be a facilitator. He or she must smooth the way for subordinate performance (Hodgetts, 1985:4) . "Management determines the effectiveness and efficiency of organized activities" (Greene, Adam and Ebert, 1985:9) . Recently, due to Japanese success in the