philanthropists to external communities and causes, but charity is
not expected to start internally with business employees. In any case,
benevolence to employees does not seem to be as morally compelling
in Western as it is in Chinese thoughts of leadership. In fact, paternal-
ism has a more pejorative than positive connotation in corporate
America.
Culture-building
The second remarkable point is the importance of culture-building
in the incipient Confucianism some two thousand years ago, especially
in Xunzi’s view of culture-building as part of the fundamental task
of community-building. Culture is what makes an organization or a
community rather than a mere tool created for accomplishing organ-
izational business objectives (Tsuiet al., 2006 ). Culture is therefore
the essential part of community identity. Furthermore, Xunzi placed
culture-building squarely on the shoulders of organization leaders.
Indeed, it is not only a major part of the job responsibility but also
the moral duty of the leader to create a community culture for the
organization. While culture can be conceived in abstract guiding
principles and virtues, Xunzi elaborated proper behavioral norms
and social and symbolic rituals in shaping and maintaining organiza-
tional culture. The Chinese therefore seem to have a rich tradition of
ritualistic and symbolic culture to induce organizational identity, and
organizations are expected to be cultured in ways that go beyond
achieving task efficiency and productivity.
Moral character of the leader
The third theme, which is related to the first, is the great importance of
the moral character of the leader, which runs across all of the leadership
theories discussed in this book except for Legalism. The high tolerance
for leader authority and leader discretion in relation to subordinates
and to the established rules and regulations is matched and balanced
by the high moral standards expected of leaders. Confucianism held
explicit ‘‘double’’ moral standards: higher for leaders than followers,
and higher for high- than for low-position leaders. Western transform-
ational leadership theories emphasize the leader’s ability to transform
followers’ self-interest to the collective interest of the organization,
but the Chinese leadership philosophies put self-transformation of the
leader as the prerequisite and the foundation of the followers’ and
18 Chao-chuan Chen and Yueh-ting Lee