comparative value priorities of chinese and new zealand

on the Schwartz Values Survey and the Leader Behaviour Description Questionnaire
XII. My central research question is what, if any, differences in individual and cultural
value dimensions exist between New Zealand and southern Chinese businesspeople, and
are these values related to preferred leader behaviour? Additionally, are they differently
related in southern China and New Zealand?
Results of analyses reported in Chapter 5 provide useful information concerning
interactions between businesspeople in Guangzhou, China, and New Zealand. I will
discuss the implications of these findings in this chapter.
The driver of value for this research project is the fact that ignorance of the interactions
of culture and managerial leader behaviour can have serious consequences for
businesspeople operating across national borders.
Bapuji and Beamish (2007) report that the recall of tens of millions Chinese-made toys
by Mattel 11 on August 14, 2007 shocked many parents in North America. Discussing
the recall the Robert Eckert, CEO of Mattel, Robert Eckert, said (Bapuji and Beamish,
2007: 1) “we wouldn’t have faced this problem if our suppliers followed the rules.”
Of course, neither he nor his Chinese counterparts understand one another’s rules of
values and behaviours. Further highlighting the lack of cross-cultural communication
skills, the study by Bapuji and Beamish (2007: 1) finds that the number of recalls of
Chinese-made toys has recently shown an upward trend. However, their examination of
the reasons for the increase indicates that the number of defects related to design issues
attributable to the company ordering the toys is far higher than those caused by
manufacturing problems in China.
Reflecting upon Fonterra’s 12 problems in Shijiazhuang, China, contaminated milk
powder manufactured by Fonterra business partner Sanlu Group harmed numerous
children and angered the general public. On 16 September 2008, Radio New Zealand
News (2008) reported, “Fonterra chief executive Andrew Ferrier told a media
conference on Monday afternoon that Fonterra and the Sanlu Group, which is 43%
11 Mattel Inc. is the world’s largest toy company based on revenue, http://www.mattel.com/
12 Fonterra dairy co-operative is headquartered in New Zealand and is a large local provider and exporter
of dairy products, handling about a third of international dairy trade, with milk procurement, processing
and sales in more than 140 countries. See http://fonterra.com and Enderwick (2009).
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