Organisational values and styles of decision-making process: a comparative study of Chinese and Australian managers

This study explores the relationship between Styles of the Decision Making Process (SDMP) and organisational values. During the past decade the relationship between decision making and organisational values has attracted academic attention. However, most of this kind of research focuses on h o w values influence the decision making content. The impact of organisational values on S D M P has been largely ignored. Selecting and controlling SDMP is a key of management success. SDMP involves the roles of participation as well as cognitive style that play in the decision making process. Organisational process-oriented values (OPV) act as the major factor in determining the degree of participation of S D M P within an organisation. With a comprehensive review of previous relevant studies, discussion of the nature of organisational values and the impact of the environment on S D M P , a conceptual model is presented for studying the determinants of the relationship between O PV and S D M P . Methods of cross-cultural comparative survey and interview were used as instruments in this research. 440 questionnaires were distributed among managers in eight organisations of both China and Australia. This research contributes to the literature on organisational values and decision theory by inferring that the theory of organisational process-oriented values has a broad application in organisational behaviour, by providing theoretical and empirical evidence to confirm the existence of a linkage between O P V and S D M P , and by providing an analysis of the differences of O P V and S D M P between Chinese and Australian managers related to backgrounds of national values. Both scholars and managers may benefit from understanding the relationship between organisational values and decision making, especially O P V and S D M P , from a perspective of the cross-cultural setting