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• Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2013 (Revised April 2014)

  Transitions Asia: Managing Across Cultures

  Roy Y.J. Chua and Dawn H. Lau

  The director of an interim executive search firm, Chee Lung Tham, faced a clash of culture and management styles when his mainland Chinese client threatened to fire the American interim manager that Tham had assigned. The client, Wong Lung, ran a family-owned garment manufacturing business along with his younger brother, as well as his two overseas-educated children. While Wong needed the American manager's technology expertise, his own brother and his team of middle managers were showing resistance to the new changes. Meanwhile, the American manager found himself caught in the web of family and company politics, and completing his assignment without the cooperation of the middle management was impossible. How should Tham approach the conflict and bring all sides into a productive working relationship?

  Keywords: China; family business; Cross-cultural Management; Management Style; Conflict Management; Family Business; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Service Industry; China;

  Citation:

  Chua, Roy Y.J., and Dawn H. Lau. "Transitions Asia: Managing Across Cultures." Harvard Business School Case 413-099, April 2013. (Revised April 2014.)  View Details

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• Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | September 2013 (Revised April 2014)

  Transitions Asia: Managing Across Cultures

  Roy Y.J. Chua, Sharon Mozgai and Dawn Lau

  The director of an interim executive research firm, Chee Lung Tham, faced a clash of culture and management styles when his mainland China client threatened to fire the American interim manager that Tham had assigned. The client, Wong Lung, ran a family-owned garment manufacturing business along with his younger brother, as well as his two overseas-educated children. While Wong needed the American manager's technology expertise, his own brother and his team of middle managers were showing resistance to the new changes. Meanwhile, the American manager found himself caught in the web of family and company politics, and completing his assignment without the cooperation of the middle management was impossible. How should Tham approach the conflict and bring all sides into a productive working relationship?

  Keywords: China; family business; Cross-cultural Management; Family Business; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Management Style; Service Industry; China;

  Citation:

  Chua, Roy Y.J., Sharon Mozgai, and Dawn Lau. "Transitions Asia: Managing Across Cultures." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 414-045, September 2013. (Revised April 2014.)  View Details

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• Article | Academy of Management Journal | December 2013

  The Costs of Ambient Cultural Disharmony: Indirect Intercultural Conflicts in Social Environment Undermine Creativity

  Roy Y.J. Chua

  Intercultural tensions and conflicts are inevitable in the global workplace. This paper introduces the concept of ambient cultural disharmony—indirect experience of intercultural tensions and conflicts in individuals' immediate social environment—and demonstrates how it undermines creative thinking in tasks that draw on knowledge from multiple cultures. Three studies (a network survey and two experiments) found that ambient cultural disharmony decreased individuals' effectiveness at connecting ideas from disparate cultures. Beliefs that ideas from different cultures are incompatible mediated the relationship between ambient cultural disharmony and creativity. Alternative mechanisms such as negative affect and cognitive disruption were not viable mediators. Although ambient cultural disharmony disrupted creativity, ambient cultural harmony did not promote creativity. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for research in workplace diversity and creativity.

  Keywords: creativity; culture; Creativity; Culture;

  Citation:

  Chua, Roy Y.J. "The Costs of Ambient Cultural Disharmony: Indirect Intercultural Conflicts in Social Environment Undermine Creativity." Academy of Management Journal 56, no. 6 (December 2013): 1545–1577.  View Details

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