comparative value priorities of chinese and new zealand

� In NZ, high Tradition values related to Tolerance of Uncertainty and Production
Emphasis imply that New Zealanders see Tolerance of Uncertainty, the
acceptance of relative chaos and uncertainty in the business system as
undesirable, and that leaders who pressure subordinates to work hard and excel
are counter to Tradition.
� The relationship of Universalism with preferred leader behaviour indicates New
Zealanders expect a leader to focus on the welfare of the in-group, rather than
the welfare of all people.
� The Guangzhou sample respondents do not see lack of administrative skill,
expressing caution and distrust, arrogance, impatience, and excitability as
detrimental to leadership. The NZ sample indicates caution and distrust in a
leader to be less preferred behaviours, but are only slightly concerned about lack
of administrative skill, arrogance, impatience, and excitability.
We should not forget that research studies are based upon averages, and do not predict
behaviours of individuals, but behavioural tendencies of societal groups.
COMPARISON OF DIMENSION RANKINGS FOR GUANGZHOU CITY AND NEW ZEALAND
Reality for human beings is socially constructed. Organisation theorist John Van
Maanen, Erwin Schell Professor of Organisation Studies at the Sloan School of
Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, introduces his students to the
doctoral program with the quote, “Perception is Reality” (quoted in Morgan and
Dennehy, 2004). When we New Zealanders engage in international business
transactions, we are defined by the perceptions of our business partners. Building
respect and trust start from these perceptions. Recalling Chapter 1, survey research by
INTOUCH (2008) and a Nielsen survey commissioned by New Zealand Trade and
Enterprise (NZT&E) found that international business partners, including the Chinese,
viewed New Zealanders as,
� nice but naive,
� clean and green but complacent,
� honest but not very worldly wise,
� being laid back, but with connotations of lazy and lackadaisical,
� having a business culture that is perceived as high in human values and low in
business acumen.
286