Westerners see 'glass ceiling'
More Westerners than Asians believe women still encounter a glass ceiling in the corporate world, according to a survey on management differences between the two cultures.
The belief Asians work longer hours than Westerners also was dispelled in the survey, carried out by Arthur Andersen Business Consulting last year in Germany, France, the US and the Asia-Pacific region.
Of 421 people questioned, 85 per cent of Westerners - compared to 48 per cent of Asian respondents - believed women still faced difficulties in reaching upper management positions.
Mildred Tan Beng-mei, director of Arthur Andersen's Singapore office, brushed off suggestions Asians were less aware of the glass ceiling than their Western counterparts, attributing the difference in perspectives to the role of women in Asian societies.
'If you look at the family structure, they have a much stronger position and a much more well-respected position in the social structure,' she said.
Of those surveyed - mainly 35-44 year-olds making between US$50,000 and $100,000 - 70 per cent lived in the Asia-Pacific region and only 29 per cent were women.
The survey showed that a small but almost equal number of expatriate Westerners and Asians believed bribes were important to business practices when working in the region.
Of the Western expatriates working in Asia, 93 per cent admitted to working more than 46 hours a week, while 72 per cent of the respondents living in the West and 64 per cent of Asians said they toiled past regular work hours.
Similarities existed between the two in their ideas about the attributes of good managers and indicators of personal success.
Management styles varied however, with Westerners being more open and confrontational while Asians were more paternalistic and placed more emphasis on corporate loyalty.
Ms Tan said the survey was carried out in response to a number of queries from Westerners about differences in business practices in Asia.
