Developing chinese economy overseas: Cross-cultural dilemmas in chinese–Dutch mergers and acquisitions

Sylvia van de Bunt*, Wenjia Chang-Howe

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The globalization of Chinese economy has a major impact on local companies worldwide today. Leaders of Chinese global mergers & acquisitions (M&As) face various cross-cultural dilemmas. This chapter captures the research on three Chinese-owned Dutch companies, examining critical M&A success and failure factors from a cross-cultural perspective. The data collected through interviews among Chinese and Dutch leaders allow us to get a better understanding of the leadership and cultural dilemmas within Chinese–Dutch M&A companies. Our findings contribute to the literature about cross-cultural dilemmas in a globalizing workplace. In particular, the findings contribute to the understanding of cross-cultural key constraints such as miscommunication, feelings of distrust, and nontransparency. We argue that these cross-cultural constraints may be caused by the perceived divergence of Chinese versus Dutch values toward, among others, the dilemma of “money and control” versus “trust and loyalty.” How to anticipate these Chinese–Dutch dilemmas in M&As? This chapter concludes that a more servant-leadership style is needed when anticipating these dilemmas to reconcile organizational cultural values.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationGlobalization and Development
Subtitle of host publicationEntrepreneurship, Innovation, Business and Policy Insights from Asia and Africa
EditorsNezameddin Faghih
PublisherSpringer
Pages243-267
Number of pages25
ISBN (Electronic)9783030117665
ISBN (Print)9783030117658
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Publication series

NameContributions to Management Science
ISSN (Print)1431-1941
ISSN (Electronic)2197-716X

Keywords

  • Cross-cultural dilemmas
  • Globalizing workplace
  • M&A
  • Organizational cultural values
  • Servant-leadership
  • Think global act local

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Developing chinese economy overseas: Cross-cultural dilemmas in chinese–Dutch mergers and acquisitions'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this