Western Project Management in Chinese Enterprise Essay Example
Western Project Management in Chinese Enterprise Essay Example

Western Project Management in Chinese Enterprise Essay Example

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  • Pages: 2 (514 words)
  • Published: January 9, 2017
  • Type: Essay
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The Western project management (PM) approach differs from the traditional vertical management method. For an organization to adopt this approach, it requires the use of PM techniques and tools as well as the development of shared cultural values among its members to support PM adoption (Kendra & Taplin, 2004). The study of culture can be done at the levels of artifacts, values/beliefs, and underlying assumptions.

In this study, the PM culture refers to the values and beliefs that encourage the use of the PM approach, while the Chinese culture refers to the traditional values and beliefs popular in China that heavily influence the culture of Chinese enterprises. The main cultural barriers hindering the adoption of the PM approach in Chinese enterprises can be summarized in the following four points:

  • The Doctrine of the Mean that stresses to avoid con

    ...

    flict by pushing disagreement under the surface, requires people to be less direct and less open, and encourages people to use compromising and smoothing strategies for dealing with conflict. * The strong hierarchy that requires large power distance between superior and subordinator.

  • The family consciousness that stresses long-term relationships, singularity of group, the central role of jiaozhang, and guanxi-oriented evaluation of other people.
  • The boss orientation that stresses to make the boss happy and evaluate people by their hierarchical position.
  • Empirical evidence exists regarding the cultural barriers in Chinese enterprises mentioned above.

    • The DOM doesn’t constitute a major cultural barrier to the use of the PM approach. It is generally consistent with the PM’
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integration requirement.

  • The major cultural barriers for Chinese enterprises to use the PM approach are from the family consciousness, strong hierarchy, and boss orientation.
  • State-owned enterprises have the most significant cultural barriers in all four sets of values/beliefs. They even have cultural barriers in the DOM values/belief. Joint-stock enterprises have less significant cultural barriers than state-owned ones, but still have significant cultural barriers in the values/beliefs of family consciousness, strong hierarchy, and boss orientation. The reform of state-owned enterprises is more difficult on the cultural level than on the ownership level.
  • Private enterprises and joint ventures don’t have significant cultural barriers. They can learn and internalize the PM-relevant values/beliefs more easily that state owned or joint-stock enterprises. Especially, joint ventures is the most supportive of the PM approach among the four categories of enterprises.
  • The enterprises with a long history of 16 years and above (most of them are state-owned) have more cultural barriers than those with a shorter history. The former enterprises have cultural barriers even in the DOM value/belief, and their traditional culture developed in the long history is quite difficult to change.
  • PM training has critical impacts on the culture of Chinese enterprises. The more PM training, the more supportive of the PM approach an organizational culture is. PM training can well reshape organizational culture towards the PM values/beliefs in state-owned, joint-stock, and private enterprises. * Chinese enterprises' study and use of the PM approach are sustainable. The more an enterprise receives PM training, the more it

  • would like to receive in the future.

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