Chinese Companies In Middle Africa:Cultural Differences And Cross-Cultural Management

The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationship among organizational variables and the impact of cross-cultural dimensions on these organizational variables across Chinese and Middle African cultures. Literature review on cross-cultural values among Chinese and Middle Africans is presented in this study to elucidate fundamental cultural similarities and differences between China and Middle Africa.A subset of Burke-Litwin model (1994) was adopted to examine the relationships among organizational climate, management practices, employee performance, and employee satisfaction with cultures as external factors of the subset model. It is undeniable that the relationships among these four organizational variables (management practices, organizational climate, employee performance, and employee satisfaction) have been examined and validated in previous studies; however only limited numbers have focused on the cross-cultural disparities among Chinese companies in Africa.385employees working for Chinese companies in Middle Africa were surveyed. Respondents were asked to complete a survey measuring their perceptions on management practices, organizational climate, employee performance and satisfaction. The survey was established based on a scale of five levels (1=strongly disagree to5=strongly agree and other scale labels), including aspects such as communication, employee attitude and satisfaction level, which might directly or indirectly influence behaviours and employee performance within23Chinese companies operating in Middle Africa. Most questions were closed-ended questions and two questions were used as opened questions to give the opportunity to participants to respond in their own words instead of asking them to choose one of the fixed answers.Hofstede’s cross-cultural dimensions (1980,2001, and2008) were used to analyse the potential influence of these dimensions on the strength of the relationships between these organizational variables. Findings provide evidence of the existing role of the five cross-cultural dimensions as a moderator between the four organizational variables examined in the current study. Power distance, individualism, and masculinity were found to moderate the strength of the relationship between management practices and organizational climate. The relationship between organizational climate and employee performance was found to be moderated by uncertainty avoidance. In addition, individualism and masculinity were found to moderate the relationship between organizational climate and employee satisfaction.The results support the existence of a significant correlation of the transactional model variables across China and Middle Africa, while at the same time proving additional information about theoretical and practical cross-cultural differences between the two cultural backgrounds examined in the current study. Furthermore, findings are expected to contribute to cross-cultural management and international business studies, particularly about Chinese foreign investment in Africa.Among others, the current study has several innovative and new insight points such as:Even though there is an increasing number of comparative studies between China and Western multinational companies, only very few research studies concerning Chinese companies in middle Africa have been conducted. Besides, they mainly focus on Chinese investment and working conditions within Chinese companies in middle Africa rather than on intercultural matters. The current study provides theoretical and practical insights into cross-cultural values between these two cultural units. Based on the traditional Chinese cultural values and the concept of "Ubuntu", and other related studies to the African traditional culture, the current study gauged the essence of Chinese vs. middle Africans cultural business ethics orientations.To date, there are almost no national culture scores available for middle Africa; thus based on the instrument of Values Survey Modules (VSM08) developed by Hofstede (2008), the current study has calculated and generated national culture scores related to middle Africa. Furthermore, an in-depth comparison of the five cross-cultural dimensions’characteristics or traits between China and middle Africa was implemented.The transactional sub-model of Burke-Litwin (1992) was used to draw the conceptual framework related to the current research and also to evaluate the probable impact of the five cross-cultural dimensions as moderators on the relationship between management practices, organizational climate, and employee performance and satisfaction.Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) was used to test the hypotheses and to measure the moderating effect of cross-cultural dimensions on the relationship between the four organizational variables (management practices, organizational climate, employee performance and satisfaction) examined in the current study. Overall, the current research provides a great range of information and data related to cross-cultural management and values, communication skills, trainings, and human resources strategies, which might be of great benefit for Chinese and foreign managers expecting to obtain important returns from their operations in middle Africa.Another particularity of this study is the in-depth understanding of both cultural backgrounds by the author. Originally from middle Africa, he has lived about nine years in China, and worked for Chinese and Western companies in Shanghai.