Hybrid leadership: a study of the leadership (roles and characteristics) of nine Chinese university presidents with U.S. experiences
type: CreativeWork
description: Globalization is producing an increasingly interconnected world with blurring political, economic, and particularly cultural boundaries among nations. The growing interconnectedness and the resulting hybridization of cultures call for leaders with compatible leadership abilities. However our existing leadership frameworks fail to answer the call. The field of leadership studies remains Eurocentric and dichotomized. This research is an exploration of a new leadership framework which responds to this changing dynamic. It is an exploratory interview study of the leadership (roles, characteristics, and experiences) of Chinese university presidents with U.S. experiences. Thirty-five participants in total were interviewed, nineteen of whom were university presidents. This report focuses on the findings from the interviews of nine university presidents with US experiences in addition to their experiences in other cultures. The participants are all from key second-tier universities in four large/developed cities in China. Each interview lasts about two hours. Data is analyzed and presented thematically. A western-Chinese hybrid approach has been used during the entire process of conducting the research. The interviewees’ accounts and the researcher’s Chinese and American hybrid interpretations dialogue dynamically for analysis. The identified themes on the leadership roles, characteristics, and the Chinese and American experiences and influences show that these presidents integrate and blend all they have learned from China, the U.S., and from other cultures to solve China’s problems. Their leadership roles and characteristics demonstrate Americanness, Chineseness, and elements from the other cultures they have been exposed to. More importantly, the presidents integrate these elements dynamically, creatively and adaptively, and their integration is contextual-personal contingent. These findings suggest an emerging leadership model/concept, hybrid leadership, as the research…
abstract: Globalization is producing an increasingly interconnected world with blurring political, economic, and particularly cultural boundaries among nations. The growing interconnectedness and the resulting hybridization of cultures call for leaders with compatible leadership abilities. However our existing leadership frameworks fail to answer the call. The field of leadership studies remains Eurocentric and dichotomized. This research is an exploration of a new leadership framework which responds to this changing dynamic. It is an exploratory interview study of the leadership (roles, characteristics, and experiences) of Chinese university presidents with U.S. experiences. Thirty-five participants in total were interviewed, nineteen of whom were university presidents. This report focuses on the findings from the interviews of nine university presidents with US experiences in addition to their experiences in other cultures. The participants are all from key second-tier universities in four large/developed cities in China. Each interview lasts about two hours. Data is analyzed and presented thematically. A western-Chinese hybrid approach has been used during the entire process of conducting the research. The interviewees’ accounts and the researcher’s Chinese and American hybrid interpretations dialogue dynamically for analysis. The identified themes on the leadership roles, characteristics, and the Chinese and American experiences and influences show that these presidents integrate and blend all they have learned from China, the U.S., and from other cultures to solve China’s problems. Their leadership roles and characteristics demonstrate Americanness, Chineseness, and elements from the other cultures they have been exposed to. More importantly, the presidents integrate these elements dynamically, creatively and adaptively, and their integration is contextual-personal contingent. These findings suggest an emerging leadership model/concept, hybrid leadership, as the research…
author: Tian, Qingyan
language: en
keywords: globalization, culture, higher education, leadership, hybrid culture, hybrid leadership, hybrid methodology, Chinese and American culture and leadership, Chinese leadership with global characteristics, global leadership, university presidential leadership, university presidential roles and characteristics, Chinese university presidency
date published: 2013-05-24T22:08:45Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:25:34Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/44354