RT Article
T1 Aesthetic Leadership in Chinese Business: A Philosophical Perspective
JF Journal of business ethics
VO 101
IS 3
SP 475
OP 491
A1 Zhang, Haina
A1 Cone, Malcolm H.
A1 Everett, André M.
A1 Elkin, Graham
A2 Cone, Malcolm H.
A2 Everett, André M.
A2 Elkin, Graham
LA English
YR 2011
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1785642340
AB Confucian ethics play a pivotal role in guiding Chinese thinking and behaviour. Aesthetic leadership is emerging as a promising paradigm in leadership studies. This study investigates the practice of aesthetic leadership in Chinese organizations on the basis of Chinese philosophical foundations. We adopt a process perspective to access the aesthetic constellation of meanings present in the Chinese understanding of leadership, linking normative Confucian values to a pragmatic value rational world view, that rests on an ontology of vaguely defined norms that are malleable to different cultural contexts. Value rational pragmatism is explored in order to develop a deeper understanding of normative aesthetic leadership in China and to contrast it to instrumental aesthetic leadership. We empirically demonstrate the contextual specificity of aesthetic leadership in eight Chinese private- and state-owned enterprises (POEs and SOEs) through qualitative case studies. The findings provide a deeper insight into Chinese aesthetic leadership by proposing a dynamic leadership approach, from both ethical and instrumental perspectives, in the Chinese context.
K1 China
K1 Instrumentalism
K1 Pragmatism
K1 Confucian Ethics
K1 aesthetic leadership
DO 10.1007/s10551-011-0734-z