Entrepreneurship and SME Strategy in the Chinese Economic Transition: A perspective of personal values

Abstract

The economic reform in China is creating a cultural context in which both Western and Eastern value systems relevant to business co-exist. Although the influence of Western culture on overseas Chinese owner-managers is discussed in the literature, it is unclear as to what extent Chinese CEOs on the mainland exhibit entrepreneurial as opposed conservative values and how their positions on the entrepreneurial-conservative continuum affect their strategic decisions. These issues are addressed in this study and interrelationships among the Rokeach and Chinese personal value systems assessed. The findings portray the Chinese CEO as having a dual value system comprising both entrepreneurial and conservative values both of which are necessary for successful business operation in the Chinese context. The findings reveal that the entrepreneurial-conservative continuum does not apply as simply to the mainland Chinese CEOs as depicted in the Western literature and that the association between Chinese values and strategies is more complex.