Connecting Eastern and Western Perspectives on Management: Translation of Practices Across Organizations, Institution and Geographies

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12526
• Author: Penny Dick,John E. Prescott,Li‐Qun Wei,Igor Filatotchev,Riikka M. Sarala
• Date: 01 January 2020
• Published date: 01 January 2020

© 2019 Society for the Advancement of Management Studies and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Connecting Eastern and Western Perspectives on

Management: Translation of Practices Across

Organizations, Institution and Geographies

Igor Filatotcheva,b, Li-Qun Weic, Riikka M. Saralad,

Penny Dicke and John E. Prescottf

aKing’s College London; bVienna University of Economics and Business; cHong Kong Baptist University;

dUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro; eSheffield University Management School; fUniversity of

Pittsburgh

ABSTRACT The exchange of academic knowledge increasingly f lows in both directions, from

West to East and East to West. The result is a rich and ever increasing development of theory

and understanding of practice, which is expected only to gain further momentum in the future.

This paper seeks to help establish a foundation for further development of this fertile exchange

of ideas between East and West. We reflect on the research focus of the main theories in

management studies in East and West. We discuss the topics of East and West in selected areas

of management studies, including competitive strategy, strategic leadership, and the human re-

source management to offer avenues for future research. Translating practices between the two

contexts creates institutional, leadership, strategy and organizational challenges while providing

new promising research avenues and opportunities to integrate East and West perspectives. We

also offer a more critical view on the relationship between West and East, focusing specifically

on the role of power and power relations in making sense of how management and organiza-

tion studies treat issues of cultural, institutional and philosophical divergence.

Keywords: cultural differences, management practices, theoretical reflection, transfer and evolution

INTRODUCTION

With the globalization and advancement of management research, the exchange of ac-

ademic knowledge increasingly flows in both directions, from West to East and East to

West. The result is a rich and ever increasing development of theory and understanding

of practice, which is expected only to gain further momentum in the future. This paper

seeks to help establish a foundation for further development of this fertile exchange of

ideas between East and West. Scholars have been making progress in research on both

Journal of Man agement Studi es 57:1 January 2020

doi:10. 1111/j om s .12 52 6

Address for reprints: Igor Filatotchev, King’s Business School, King's College London, Bush House, 30 Aldwych,

London WC2B 4BG, UK (igor.filatotchev@kcl.ac.uk).

© 2019 Society for the Advancement of Management Studies and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

2 I. Filatotchev et al.

the similarities and the differences in the two research contexts. However, we hope more

generally to develop further not only how the East may form boundary conditions (Busse

et al., 2017) to the established theories in the West, but also help to lay the foundation for

indigenous theory building from the East.

It should be noted that the term ‘East’ is taken quite broadly in this paper. While many

nations or regions are obvious to this term such as China, Korea, and Japan, we also con-

sider it to include other Eastern nations or regions such as India, and the Middle East more

broadly. Thus, we see the term as inclusive and not exclusive. By expanding on the geo-

graphic definitions of ‘West’ and ‘East’, we put emphasis on a number of key institutional

characteristics that may usefully differentiate these two research contexts. For example, one

distinctive feature of Eastern contexts is the predominant role of relationship governance

centred around founders and their families, and often the state, as opposed to Western gov-

ernance models underpinned by the principle of ‘shareholder supremacy’ (Bell et al., 2014).

Many countries in the East share the same legacy of ‘institutional voids’ compared to the

developed Western economies with mature sets of formal and informal institutions (Khanna

and Yefeh, 2007). Non-market competition based, for example, on political connections or

socio-religious beliefs underpinning the notion of social legitimacy is another important

characteristic of Eastern management practices. Also, the Eastern context is characterized

by a large informal economy, close to 70 per cent when agriculture is excluded (ILO, 2018).

While the informal economy can emerge as an entrepreneurial response to a multitude

of governance and structural issues, it can have adverse consequences, such as poor work

conditions, low productivity and lack of access to finance (ILO, 2018).

Bearing these differences and contextual contrasts in mind, we seek to address a diverse

set of issues which includes questions such as: How does understanding of topics histor-

ically developed in the West on a rich range of issues including corporate governance,

entrepreneurship, strategy, organizational behaviour, and human resources change as we

consider the East? Much of this research will be comparative in nature to establish the

exact differences that exist. Further, an important research question concerns the extent

to which theories from the West are transferable to the East and vice versa. What scope

is there for Eastern management research to forge its own path, as opposed to converg-

ing with Western models in terms of theory and methods? Bearing in mind institutional

differences outlined above, it is also important to understand if current theorisations

adequately capture similarities and differences between Eastern and Western cultures in

ways that allow analysis of key issues in management and organization.

This paper is organized as follows. First, we reflect on the research focus of the main the-

ories in management studies across East and West. Then, we discuss the topics of East and

West in selected areas of management studies, including competitive strategy, strategic leader-

ship, and human resource management, followed by a critical perspective on the relationship

between the East and the West. We conclude with a discussion on avenues for future research.

THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CONNECTING EASTERN AND

WESTERN PERSPECTIVES

Given the significant differences between institutional settings in the West and East, it is

not surprising that researchers have different research foci when applying mainstream