Abstract
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This study sought to examine the relative impact of several competing sources of values and ideologies—Chinese Traditional Values, Capitalist Values, Socialist Ideology and Deng Xiaoping’s Philosophy—on Chinese businesspersons. In contrast to previous research that has focused almost exclusively on cultural influences, this research was aimed at also understanding political influences.
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Questionnaire data from 487 respondents drawn from two cities and three industrial sectors was analyzed by means of structural equation modeling.
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Positive and significant relationships were revealed between Socialist Ideology and both Chinese Traditional Values and Deng’s Philosophy. While a negative and significant relationship was shown between Socialist Ideology and Capitalist Values, Capitalist Values were positively and significantly related to Deng’s Philosophy.
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Chinese businesspersons live with some apparent contradictions between espoused values and the realities of economic life. The paper explores how they are reconciled and examines their implications for various stakeholders.
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Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of several persons to this paper: Dr Tony Pecotich (deceased September 2012) to the initial development of this research; Professor Ying Zhu, Director of the Australian Centre for Asian Business at the University of South Australia, for his constructive comments on an early draft of this paper; and the editor, Dr Joachim Wolf, and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments through the review process.