1.1 Introduction
Growing engagement of Chinese global investment, aid and trade in Africa has led to increased business interaction, organisational cooperation and trade between Chinese and African organisations and employees in southern Africa (BBC News, 2015). These international Chinese-African employee interactions, which take place at governmental, private or community engagement levels, have increased the scientific interest in Chinese-African cooperation and interaction significantly during the past years (Bird & Fang, 2009; Brewster, Carey, Grobler, Holland, & Wärnich, 2008; Mayer, Boness, Louw, & Louw, 2016).
Increasing intercultural and international research has identified the need for growing successful intercultural communication , interaction and organisational strategies, as well as human resource management in international cooperation to manage differences and conflict and to focus on similarities and synergies of members of different cultural origin and groups (Mayer, 2008a; Samovar, Porter, McDaniel, & Roy, 2014). Although Chinese and African people have conducted trade and led intercultural relations for many centuries (Mayer, Boness, & Louw, 2017), these relatively new forms of intercultural employee interactions should be based on an in-depth understanding of cultural aspects and business behaviours of the individuals, teams and organisations involved. Several researchers have described the many challenges that Chinese organisations experience in global expansion and in intercultural management and leadership (Wang, Freeman, & Zhu, 2013). Others, however, note that Chinese-African cooperation in terms of dialogue and understanding has improved significantly during the past 15 years (Ni, 2015).
An in-depth understanding of cognition, affect and behaviour within the intercultural realms can lead to an increased intercultural understanding and intercultural competence and therefore lead to improved and more relaxed and successful intercultural interactions (Mayer, 2008b). In culturally diverse intercultural communication situations, the process of intercultural communication and how it is conducted are critical factors in establishing and maintaining cooperative and effective intergroup relations (Gudykunst, 1986; Hall, 1976; Mayer et al., 2016; Spencer-Rodgers & McGovern, 2002). Spencer-Rodgers and McGovern (2002) point out that differences in cognition—such as those expressed in values, norms, fundamental epistemologies, beliefs and thoughts—influence negative stereotypes. Further, along the process of intercultural communication , the experience of differences in affect and behaviour can impact negatively on intercultural communication itself. Such experiences include differences in emotional expression, perception and behaviour, involving how language, customs and communication styles are understood, expressed and used. Other studies have agreed with and expanded on this research, showing that perceived differences at cognitive, affective and behavioural levels can lead to lowered work effectiveness (Moreland, Levine, & Wingert, 2013). This may eventually result in negative overall evaluations of members of “the other group” (Spencer-Rodgers & McGovern, 2002).
Chinese-African management interactions are growing rapidly within China as well as within southern African countries (African Economic Outlook, 2014). However, recent studies in southern African contexts have shown that Chinese-African intercultural interactions are accompanied by stereotypes and cultural prejudices (Handley & Louw, 2016), which influence the management of employees, as well as the employee engagement, organisational dynamics and the success of the organisation (Jackson, Louw, & Zhao, 2013; Park & Alden, 2013).
Currently, many international and intercultural management and business interactions seem to bring with them verbal, non-verbal and paralingual misinterpretations—and are therefore based on misunderstandings rather than on mindful and interculturally competent interactions. On both sides, Chinese-African employees and managers who are involved in business interactions strive to flourish in local, organisational and global cooperation initiatives (Mayer et al., 2017). However, employees receive hardly any guidance or training to improve their intercultural business cooperation. Consequently, researchers have drawn attention to the need for developing new intercultural training tools for the Chinese-African context of organisational and individual cooperation (Xing, Liu, Tarba, & Cooper, 2016), since cooperation still presents serious challenges (Wang et al., 2013) and often causes frustration, unsuccessful interactions, intercultural prejudices and stereotyping (Mayer et al., 2016).
To increase their intercultural competence in short-, medium- and long-term interactions, Chinese and African employees can benefit from intercultural training (Xing et al., 2016). Xing et al. (2016) explain that intercultural learning can take place when members of both cultures are able to take cultural concepts into account, which might lead them to recognise similarities. Writers such as Handley and Louw (2016) suggest that Chinese and African leadership examine and compare the concepts of Confucianism in the Chinese cultural context and Ubuntu in the African cultural context (Xing et al., 2016).
During the past years, research projects and information concerning Chinese-African employee interactions and human resource management have grown (Xing et al., 2016); however, practical and applied training materials which provide insights into how to manage Chinese-African interactions successfully are rather rare, since research of Chinese investment in Africa has been studied primarily according to international trade and political economy perspectives (Kaplinsky & Morris, 2009). The need, however, for considering Chinese-African relationships in organisations and business has been pointed out before (Kamoche, Chizema, Mellahi, & Newenham-Kahindi, 2012). This seems to be particularly important when considering mutual benefits and development beyond international aid and trade (Bräutigam, 2009; Bräutigam & Tan, 2011).
This book responds to the call for practical intercultural insights and competent ways of dealing with intercultural interactions in international management, with special regard to Chinese-African organisational and business interaction. In Chaps. 2 and 3, Chinese and African culture-specific concepts of management and leadership are introduced and discussed, before specific case studies are presented.
1.2 Managing Intercultural Interactions Successfully
In international management, organisations can be defined as social, complex, open, adaptive and autopoietic systems (Mayer, 2011), which are seen as a product of the complex interaction of the environment and various intra-organisational factors such as human resources and their interrelations and management (Glasl, 1994; Mayer, Tonelli, Oosthuizen, & Surtee, 2018). Usually, organisations are embedded in supra-systems such as societies while containing subsystems such as individuals and subcultural groups. At the same time, organisations are viewed as complex and dynamic, made up of constantly changing relationships between the entities involved. Challenges within organisational systems are usually dealt with in culturally based ways in terms of their approaches and outcomes (International Council for Science, 2002). A particular challenge is the management of consistency, order and understanding in international management and intercultural interactions because supra-systems of the host society of the organisation, as well as cognition, affect, and behavioural orientations of individuals and subgroups inside organisations vary (Mayer, 2011). Further, individuals in organisations are influenced by their own identities and values, by the organisational culture and by the organisational structures and dynamics (Mayer, 2008a). The values, identities, organisational culture and structures within international and intercultural management and organisational settings become increasingly complex and need to be reflected and constantly re-evaluated so as to create a dynamic and inclusive culture in which motivational levels and well-being are high (Mayer & Kraus...