Business and Management Education in China

Citation

Wright, R. (2006), "Business and Management Education in China", International Journal of Emerging Markets, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 190-193. https://doi.org/10.1108/17468800610658343

Dr Wright is a native of Romania and is currently Assistant Professor at Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire. She has a bachelor's degree in Accounting, a Master of Business Administration from Plymouth State University and a Doctorate of Business Administration in International Business from Southern New Hampshire University. Professor Wright has a varied professional and teaching experience in management and international strategy, and is currently pursuing research in the area of international strategy of multinational corporations in Central and Eastern Europe.

Business and Management Education in China marks a step towards a theory‐based approach to education. A comprehensive characterization of China's transition from different perspectives (economic, social, legal and political) complements the discussion on the many facets of management education in the country. The compilation of contributions presented in this book brings forth a variety of complementary perspectives that identify the efforts to respond to the challenges of new requirements of management. The text gathers a collection of works that addresses the economic and political environment in China, the challenges of transition, the importance of culture and the specific needs of Chinese management education. Most of the chapters use a pragmatic view in providing solutions to the problems of the educational system in general. The approach substantiates expectations of instructors and students and relates management education features in China to actual needs in the economy. The book is a welcome contribution to the emerging market literature offering a broad treatment of past, current and future economic structures and governance systems that supports the pragmatic approach to business and management education with wide applicability in other countries.

The choice and timing for the topic is argued appropriately by China's WTO membership, the increasing flow of investments in the country and the size of the economy. The review of China's transition and increasing links to the world economy sets the background for the discussion of pedagogical issues and best practices identified in the last two sections of the book.

The managerial challenges conveyed by the recent competitiveness standards of local and foreign businesses combine with the heterogeneity of contexts (cultural and institutional) among Greater China's regions. According to the first chapter's authors, “existing management education entities fall short of meeting these challenges”. The development of a unique and modern management education that responds to global integration and “utilization of brain circulation” is considered essential in China's internationalization process. The attempt to categorize business management challenges in this book, although somewhat limited, brings an insight into the complexity of change and the duality of strategic needs (public and private, practical and pluralistical goals). Institutional variety and cultural values differences form the context under which interregional firm collaboration is established. These are the premises for the management education challenges as presented by the authors: the need for region‐specific management theory, pertinent local training, and an optimal mix of theory and case applications. The beginning of the book makes an argument for cross‐region management research and theory development, which raises a series of questions answered in the following chapters.

The next four chapters of the economic transition review and its importance to the development of relevant management theories and pedagogies describe China's “socialist market economy” and the new management needs. A good comparison is presented between centrally‐planned management systems and skills and the current realities. Traditional Chinese management is characterized as top‐down and focused on production, whereas competitive business require an appreciation of risk and familiarity with financial management, marketing activities, leadership and cross‐functional integrative skills. Arguably one of the most important contributions of the book is the analysis of management requirements for the four ownership modes that have emerged throughout China' transition: the understanding of concepts of market positioning, competitive advantage, performance rewards systems, and marketing orientation. Resulting management skills find applicability in the state‐owned enterprises, as well as the private sector, foreign‐owned and joint venture businesses, and the emerging high technology sector. The complementary sources of management skills are identified as training within China, spillovers from foreign companies, and “demonstration effects”. The authors of the second chapter carry out a management skill audit guiding the following section which presents a teaching agenda for international business with wide applicability, and more significantly, direct management and management education implications in emerging markets. The authors of this chapter state that “Western managers operating in developing economies are ill‐served by education efforts that focus on general characteristics of culture”. They assert that “expatriate managers should be educated to understand that their success lies in their ability to create an effective working relationship in a prevailing governance environment created by the social, legal, and economic institutions that affect the means by which individuals and firms govern their property rights”. Although the idea is not new, the text does add to the instructional lessons governing the transition from a relation‐based to a rule‐based system, emphasizing the characteristics of the dynamic nature of governance systems in emerging markets.

Two issues are addressed separately: business ethics and distance education in China. As regards ethics education, the authors of the fourth chapter point to the national efforts aimed at “rebuilding […] the sense of righteousness” and “leadership in moral philosophy”. The research presented here is based on a survey that reveals a value system in transition, as China is redefining societal norms. Responding to the challenges and growing needs for management education, distance learning is seen as a solution to the quick internationalization of the higher education curriculum. A number of examples argue the appropriateness of adopting Anglo‐Saxon education systems and internet‐based programs.

The second part of the book deals with pedagogical aspects, and starts with a treatment of Confucian cultures and the implications for teaching expectations. Although this introduction is only marginally related to management education, it does provide an insight to China's tradition of introverted, closure‐oriented learning style and some optimal educational tactics. The topic continues to be the focus across the chapters of this section, with motivating propositions presented in Chapter 7. Despite the fact that there is some, arguably justifiable, overlap in the propositions, they bridge across managerial challenges stemming from cultural tradition, communism and the transitional state of the economy. The pedagogical methods suggested as an outcome of the analysis are mainly from a US based instruction point of view and argue for the use of a combination of US and Chinese examples and case studies, the incorporation of local history and the acceptance of culture and its inferences on learning style and ethical boundaries.

The following chapter (Chapter 8) refines the perspective taken across the entire text – the existing theory and pedagogical styles of the developed countries' educational systems have been introduced to China in response to the enormous and rapid managerial know‐how needs, but the level of their acceptance within local institutions has varied greatly. The discussion takes the previous propositions and arguments into the area of management education in a relevant analysis of the dilemma between the Western management education system and the Chinese cultural values. The nature of transformation of management education is nicely tied with the evolution of the local economy and institutions. The authors go deeper into the scrutiny of pedagogy dilemma and dissect the many facets that interact across management education and culture: nature of management knowledge, objective of training, methodology, etc.

Two examples of team teaching and case‐based teaching material emphasize the prerequisites of optimal transplant of Western‐style methodology to local environment and expectations. The recommendations are drawn from concrete implementation of joint educational projects. A subsequent study of soft technology transfers in China concludes on pedagogical needs to validate local experiences and the use of positive reinforcement.

The last part of the book focuses on business training in China, and brings an appealing portrayal of the evolution in management practices. Chapter 12 presents an excellent description of the emerging (paternalistic) leadership model in China and a clear and interesting investigation of the management development tools of tomorrow. The authors argue for management with a “broad and integrated view of the organization” and the assimilation of the “inherent strengths in the Chinese cultural patterns of group reliance and leadership” while defining “precise international experiences”.

Ensuing chapters overview efforts to create specialized graduate management programs with innovative pedagogical methods that bridge across academic and empirical practices. These endeavors prove the limitations of implementing education systems and methods that respond to the new requirements of management in transition in Greater China, and, more importantly present a first step in the successful integration of language, culture and business components. Such achievements are a prelude to the complete and optimal internationalization of the higher business education in China with the help of foreign education institutions and experts.

The concluding chapter reflects optimistically on the extent to which professional education provides an institutional model based on impersonal exchanges rather than on the tradition‐bound network of relationships.

The book has a few inherent shortcomings of collecting a series of contributions that are at times “truncated” from a larger study and have an overlap in analyses and perspectives. Nevertheless, the outcome is a pleasing effort of theory development which brings robust arguments for a pragmatic approach to management in the transition environment in China. The literature on emerging markets has advanced a variety of standpoints on numerous aspects of economic transformation and market development. The present book adds a new dimension – the management education designs that are most responsive to these economies' aspirations to become internationally competitive.