An Empirical Study of Overseas Chinese Managerial Ideology*

This study of managerial ideology focuses on the question of legitimacy and attempts to reconstruct the way in which the role of the chief executive is perceived in the context of Overseas Chinese economic cultures. The location of the study is Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore and those studied were 72 chief executives in Chinese business organizations. Three determinants of present‐day beliefs are traced to the socio‐historical legacy of China, and these are identified as paternalism, personalism and a defensiveness derived from insecurity. The workings of their influence are traced via perceptions of the self, of relationships, of organization, and of society at large, to explain how executives rationalize their behaviour and their roles.