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National Culture and Leadership Styles on Employee Job Satisfaction: A Cross-National Comparison Between Chinese and UK Universities

Jiawei Yan

Abstract


The accelerating globalization greatly promotes the exchange of university academics  among different nations. However, few studies have addressed the impact of cultural differences on their perceptions of workplace leadership styles and job satisfaction. Therefore, the study tries to fill the gap by comparing the job satisfaction of 16 academics working in the UK and Chinese universities. A qualitative approach with semi-structured interview and thematic analysis was adopted. It turned out that all the participants had lower level of job satisfaction when exposed to the new environment and experienced some kind of cultural shock. Interestingly, it would eventually go up if supportive leadership intervened in cross-cultural communication. Overall, Chinese participants tended to show higher level of job satisfaction. Therefore, it is recommended that to increase employee’s commitment, leaders could employ supportive leadership style and familiarize with employees’ national cultures to foster an inclusive organizational culture.

Keywords


National Culture; Organizational Culture; Leadership Style; Job Satisfaction; Higher Education Institution

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18686/mmf.v6i7.7628

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