Leadership in Action: In Focus - Organizational Changes—A Tale of Three Countries

SCOPE AND PACE

The research done in China involved in-depth interviews conducted with more than fifty senior Chinese managers from large companies in a variety of industries. The interviews focused on this question: “Which three major experiences in your work or personal lives were key to your development, and what have you learned from these events?”

The researchers then analyzed the organizational changes reported in the interviews. The responses were organized first into thought units. For example, one manager who worked on restructuring his organization's entire sales system succeeded in producing a substantial profit for the company; he learned from this and afterward changed both his managerial practices and his views and perspectives. ...