comparative value priorities of chinese and new zealand

now briefly summarise some major theories of culture and leadership, and present in
depth discussions of the two theories employed in this project.
Cultural Value Dimensions and Leadership
As noted above, the leader’s value system must be congruent with that of the followers
if the relationship is to be effective and sustainable. To maximise effectiveness, leaders
need to begin with a thorough understanding of the value systems of all constituents.
Additionally, leaders must develop self-understanding of their own value system, and
then communicate this value system to followers, if they are to be trusted and willingly
followed. Adams (1978), Ah-Chong and Thomas (1997), House et al. (2004), Powell
(1992), and Thomas and Ravlin (1995) demonstrate the existence of culture-specific
leadership prototypes. For example, Ah-Chong and Thomas (1997) found evidence that
in a cross-cultural leader-follower dyad, a follower’s perceptions of the leader may be
influenced by the ethnicity of the leader. In terms of leadership prototypes, and given
sufficient follower experience with the relevant ethnic group, we might expect a basic
category of leadership related to a specific ethnicity to exist that influences followers’
expectations and interpretations of a culturally different leader’s actions. This study
focussed upon behaviour of businesspeople; awareness of and preparation for these
differences can facilitate relationship building in business, especially in the early stages
of a transaction. The discussion of culture will start with Schwartz’ theory of value
priorities. The literature review and discussion assumes familiarity with history and
systems of theories of societal culture. Given that cultural context is an important
component of this study I will now provide cultural overviews of Guangzhou and New
Zealand.
HISTORY AND CULTURE OF THE GUANGZHOU REGION
For over 300 years, Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, has been central to
South China’s economic importance and prosperity as a foreign trade zone. The Pearl
River Delta region includes the vast nearby islands of Hong Kong, Macau, Zhu Hai,
Hainan and, arguably, Taiwan. Citizens of Guangzhou attribute their ancient city’s
history of import-export culture to the sea-faring Chinese traders migrating throughout
the world. The city also had to contend directly with foreign and often hostile powers
(Chen, 2000).
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