is the balance rather than dominance or substitution of opposing forces
although at any particular moment there may be temporary and shifting
dominance. There is abundant rhetoric on a balance of opposing
perspectives from Chinese leaders. Examples include building both
material and spiritual civilization, following the logic of both reason
and affect, competition and cooperation, and delegation and control.
One striking characteristic of the interviews of Chinese executives
reported inChapter 8is that they draw inspirations from multiple
philosophical sources of East and West, from traditionalism and
modernism. These seem to suggest that the Chinese leaders are more
likely than their Western counterparts to adopt multiple, even conflict-
ing, perspectives in the analysis of an issue, and to see more overlap-
ping and complementary characteristics. In the case of incompatibility,
Chinese leaders may be more inclined to compromise than to resolve it.
A variant of the holistic approach is the contingency approach,
namely, choosing to apply a particular perspective from a variety of
perspectives only to a particular situation. For example, a leader may use
Confucianism as guidance in dealing with family relationships, modern
management principles in dealing with work relationships, and
Daoism in challenges of personal life. For example, the Chinese are
more inclined to seek inspiration from Daoism when facing enormous
uncontrollable adversity in work or in life. The active non-action
perspective encourages the individual to accept calamity with peace
of mind on one hand and to have hope and optimism on the other
hand, because in Daoism ups and downs, fortune and adversity, are
relative and transitory rather than fixed and permanent. The contin-
gency approach gives the Chinese leader the freedom to deal with
organizational complexities with flexibility rather than being overly
concerned with consistency. For example, contingency-minded Chinese
organizations may develop management systems which are responsive
to factors such as regional cultural differences, business ownership
types, and workforce characteristics.
In summary, philosophical diversity regarding leadership and mana-
gement in Chinese culture provides rich ideological and intellectual
resources for studying and practicing leadership in China. Eclectic
and holistic approaches open up topic areas of research on China and
cross-cultural comparative research and more effectively tap into a
diverse set of resources to deal with complex and dynamic issues at
a time of tremendous change.
24 Chao-chuan Chen and Yueh-ting Lee