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University of the Pacific

Globally competent leadership : comparison between U.S. American and mainland Chinese conceptualization of effective leadership

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>This project was conducted with the objective of measuring differences between U.S. American and Chinese preferences for specific leadership characteristics and behaviors. An online survey was administered to U.S. American and Chinese nationals working in U.S.-based multinational corporations (MNCs). Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they considered 112 characteristics or behaviors to contribute to or inhibit effective leadership. The data were statistically analyzed to measure variances in how the two samples responded to each item, and to provide insight into what characteristics or behaviors contribute to or inhibit effective leadership in China and in the U.S. The research findings were compared with cross-cultural/intercultural leadership literature, in particular the global leadership and organizational behavior effectiveness project (GLOBE).</p> <p>Several of the findings of this study are similar to those previous research projects conducted on U.S. and Chinese people. Specifically, charismatic and team oriented leadership, which previous research suggests are universal facilitators of effective leadership, were found to facilitate effective leadership. Additionally, many of the individual leader attributes found to facilitate effective leadership in the U.S and China respectively, were also reported to do so in this study. However, the findings also suggest that Chinese orientation towards uncertainty may be weakening, whereas the U.S. data provide a moderate level of support that suggests that the U.S. orientation along the in-group collectivism dimension is strengthening. Unfortunately, due to an unexpectedly small sample size, the findings of this project are limited in their utility. This project did, however, provide invaluable insight into the process of leadership research in China that will inform the design and further define the scope of the second phase of the research.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Level thesis:degree_level
Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Intercultural Relations
Year dc:date.available
2010

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Leisey, Robert
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Janet Bennett
  • Christopher Deal

Subjects

dc:subject × 6

Rights

dc:rights

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/760
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:scholarlycommons.pacific.edu:uop_etds-1759

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of the Pacific
Base URL
scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Leisey, Robert. Globally competent leadership : comparison between U.S. American and mainland Chinese conceptualization of effective leadership. Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted thesis, 2010. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/760