Grace Cheng, managing director of Korn/Ferry Beijing, said the idea for the survey came last year when several mainland companies made significant moves to become global multinationals.

Around that time, Chinese electronics giant TCL bought French television maker Thomson Electronics, and mainland computer manufacturer Lenovo was in talks with IBM to buy Big Blue's PC business.

At the same time, companies such as Huawei and Zhongxing had gone international through organic growth.

'One of the biggest challenges we have heard about is that, when Chinese companies go overseas, they run into lots of problems with cultural integration,' Dr Cheng said.

'The chief executives of those companies have the task of helping the management teams on both sides work together effectively, based on trust.'

In the first of a series of studies, the Guanghua-Korn/Ferry team asked Peking University EMBA students to take part in a range of team situations and analysed the participants in terms of leadership style.

About 70 per cent of those surveyed were men and the average age was 37. Two-thirds of the participants were chief executives and 86 per cent had at least a bachelor's degree.

More than a third worked in the private sector, while 31 per cent worked for state-owned enterprises.

Another 30 per cent worked with multinationals or were self-employed.

Compared with western executives, the mainland chief executives appeared much more task-oriented and had a stronger intellectual (hierarchic) style.

'What struck me was the extent to which senior leadership skills in China are clustered at the bottom of the leadership competence hierarchy, and it is exactly this leadership that is going to make China global,' Dr Cheng said.

'When somebody is task-oriented, he has a style that is top-down, gives orders and instructions, and expects others to follow. Intellectual leaders are very data-driven, highly analytical and always pursue a solution that to them is the best of all. They have great ideas, they are visionaries, but they do not emphasise process.

'Western chief executives in a team environment show a stronger sociable style and are a lot more participative. They are actually quite the opposite in everything. Participative people are always aware of the needs of others, want feedback from others. And they use the time to make sure everybody understands the decision.'

Managers who rise up the ranks in the global context tend to become more inclusive in their decision making. But the opposite seems to be the case on the mainland.

Dr Cheng said mainland managers tended to have a style similar to a western supervisor who is data-driven, task-oriented and likely to give orders.

'We feel there is a big transition when a supervisor becomes a manager,' she said. 'He has to develop a different set of skills, and these include being more sociable, inclusive, embracing [and] consensus-driven.'

The researchers looked at whether the dramatic differences in approach had cultural roots.

To test the theory, they compared the mainland data with results for chief executives in the four dragon economies - Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, markets with strong historical ties with China.

Although the four dragon respondents were more 'command-and-control' oriented than their western counterparts, they were also more social and participative than the mainland executives.

In addition, the four dragons sample indicated a progression from task to social focus as the respondents moved up the management ladder, a change not detected in the Peking University students.

'We found that managers from the four dragon economies had very similar styles [compared] with their western counterparts,' Dr Cheng said.

'They are very different from the Chinese executives, too. So culture doesn't seem to explain it.'

With culture out of the picture, another explanation could lie in the relative youth of the mainland market.

'It could be [to do with] the stage of development in China, where private enterprises have just had a history of 20 years, whereas western companies have prospered for over 100 years, and western business culture has been in the four dragon economies since the 1950s,' Dr Cheng said.

'The mainland is highly entrepreneurial, so that would probably explain why chief executives of Chinese companies are visionary. But they are also very strong taskmasters.'

When the market was in its early stages, entrepreneurs had to be task-oriented, but they had to change their leadership tack when their companies evolved from small operations into big companies.

'When we talk about leadership styles, we have to recognise that there are no better styles and no worse styles. The styles are either appropriate or not appropriate to the situation,' Dr Cheng said.

Guanghua associate professor Zhang Zhixue said part of the issue was that with certain processes the mainland business environment still tended to be focused on an individual leader rather than the institution.

'After they have founded the firm, they do not want to establish process systems. That means everything in the company relies on the chief executive, his style or her style,' Professor Zhang said.

The survey results had implications for mainland companies looking to expand and foreign players coming to the mainland, he said.

'The western practice tells us that the chief executive adopts a more participative style. Chief executives in China should learn this practice to be top managers. However, if you are in China, you may have to adapt yourself a bit before you can change the Chinese company gradually.'

Korn/Ferry Asia-Pacific president Charles Tseng said mainland staff excelled at business development, sales, marketing and government relations, but many lacked a strong foundation in leadership roles.

'As Chinese companies globalise, especially when you go into a knowledge economy like the United States, to be successful and to motivate acquired talent you may need to understand how people from that environment will think and work,' Mr Tseng said.

'The other side of the coin is for multinationals coming to China to understand that there is a different style of leadership, action and thinking among leaders in China.'

Ways to lead

Task-focused (decisive) Emphasises rules and procedures, task focus and clarity about goals and objectives.

Social (flexible)

Centres on engaging others, initiating relationships, co-operating readily and providing positive reinforcement.

Intellectual (hierarchic) Emphasises high standards, demanding goals, strong opinions supported by logic and data, and a take-charge attitude.

Participative (integrative) Focuses on ensuring participation, listening openly, seeking consensus, building teams and exploring new approaches.

Conclusions

The leadership style detected among mainland executives probably reflects the stage of development of local enterprises. As these companies become more complex and expand overseas, they will need a new style of leadership.

A global management culture appears to be emerging as a result of the influence of large multinational corporations and the needs of a large, complex organisation with operations around the world.

Up-and-coming managers face challenges that are different from - and in some cases the opposite of - what they have encountered in the past. Relying on past successes and habits

is no guarantee of future success.

Early high performance is an important but insufficient indicator of later higher performance under different demands.

A person's ability to adapt their style of leading and thinking can be critical when choosing and grooming leaders.