EMPOWERMENT IN THE MANAGER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP IN HONG-KONG - INTERDEPENDENCE AND CONTROVERSY

M. Deutsch's (1949) theory of cooperation and competition may be usefu lly extended to the study of effective, empowering, managerial leaders hip in Chinese settings. Results of structural equation modeling and E ther analyses on data collected from interviews of Chinese managers an d employees in Hong Kong indicated that cooperative goals contributed to constructive discussion between managers and employees and that suc h discussions, in turn, resulted in productive work and stronger work relationships. Cooperative goals and constructive controversy also pre dicted democratic leadership and the power of employees and managers. The results suggest that Chinese and North American managers may opera tionalize goals and controversy differently.