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Dr. Zhu shares her ideas about her research and her experience working with IGI Global

Why Every Organization Should Be More Connected With Culture, Hear From Expert Dr. Valerie Zhu

By IGI Global on Mar 23, 2018
Book cover image Often referred to as a global village, the world is more connected and more diverse than ever before, as it is relatively easy for people around the globe to communicate and interact with each other. Nonetheless, cultural differences still persist, undermining or complicating certain human interactions. Dr. Valerie Zhu from Xi’an University of Science and Technology, China, and author of the book Examining Cultural Influences on Leadership Styles and Learning From Chinese Approaches to Management: Emerging Research and Opportunities, uses her own experience as a business-woman to inform her research and highlight how cultural realities impact the way business is conducted on a global scale.

What inspired you to pursue research activities in your research area?

The initial inspiration for me to step into the research of cultural issues has been derived from my experience of being a bi-lingual tour guide and a translator after I had earned my bachelor’s degree in international studies. Shortly after that, I have joined an international trade corporation as a business-woman, which gave me lots of opportunities to be involved in business negotiations and traveling all over the world.

During this period, I have been experiencing numerous cases of failed business negotiations due to cultural differences. I have observed that in many cases, failure in business is not because one party “hurts” the other party, but because of cultural differences which caused misunderstanding and ruined the business in the end. Piles of business cases have enabled me to conclude that a thorough understanding and strong communication is vastly important for the success of business negotiation. With the strongest desire to do research on cultural issues and management, I resigned from my position in the corporate world, despite all my accomplishments, including being named the most admired business person for six consecutive years. Then, I went to the U.K. to get my master’s degree in business administration and my Ph.D. in management science and engineering, and I also participated in the post-doctorate program of business case writing and teaching. To date, I have never regretted to have chosen this hard and thorny path and I am sure I will still be in this field for the time being.

Why are your respective areas of research important to the field at large?

When indulging in the research of cultural issues, one has chosen a long and hard Odyssey, I should say. The abstractness of culture itself makes it hard but more and more reading related to it will open a window, leading to more interest and curiosity. That is the very footprint of being a researcher of cultural issues. Therefore, some important aspects that I could easily select can be seen as follows:

  • To know some of the cultural things provides an opportunity to seek the roots of ourselves, as culture is part of us, just like the biological genes in ourselves.

  • No matter which sub-direction you are interested in the field of cultural research, the more you read, the broader mind you would have developed to help you look at the world in a more accommodative, inclusive and reasoned way.

  • To assist readers with the appropriate attitudes toward foreign culture, that is, to learn it; to know it; to understand it; to adapt to it; to respect it and to enjoy it. So, learning and research in cultural issues is an enjoyable thing.

  • It is of vital importance for people today to have at least some knowledge about cultural issues, as we are living in a global village.


    • In your opinion, what are some of the benefits of your research to its community of users?

    Some of the benefits users can obtain from my research are as follows:

  • How cultural differences influence leadership styles? Understanding the theory of reasoned action deeply with concrete examples.

  • To understand the statement “there is not a one- for- all leadership style”. An appropriate leadership is always a perfect interaction among leader-follower-context.

  • Demographic features play moderating functions while investigating the cultural differences influences over leadership styles.

  • Looking into the research of abstract topics such as cultural issues, triangulation research methodologies are called for in order to guarantee the reliability and validity of research results.


    • global diversity
    What are the future directions of your research areas?

    Specifically speaking, my research interest falls into several directions rather than just one. Investigating cultural issues in business organizations is the area I am profoundly interested in, as I think cultural issues affect lots of aspects of conducting business. For instance, speaking from the perspective of the theory of reasoned action, cultures and value systems determine our attitudes, and our attitudes in turn determine our behaviors, because human behaviors are the reflections of cultural genes. Therefore, cultures and value systems not only influence leadership styles, but also affect our way of living, career orientation, making friends, etc. So holistic and kaleidoscopic as cultures and value system, they influence every layer of human work and life. In my view, some aspects of research pertinent to cultural issues that will be trendy and of great interest are:

  • How value shifts from one generation to another in specific countries from a longitudinal perspective?

  • The implications of cultural shifts for Human Resources managers to manage new generations in the 21st century;

  • Taking into consideration of science and technologies, especially with the rapid development of social media and globalization, how to tackle the problem of cultural divergence and convergence?

  • When more and more people become global citizens today, is there a universal culture dominating in this world? If so, what is it? Is it still necessary to emphasize the diversity of cultures?


    • What has your experience been like publishing with IGI Global?

    Being a professional researcher and educator, one of the most important things is to have my research findings published with the right publisher. The process of getting things published is actually a two-way selection: the publisher wants to seek the right authors with the right content of the right quality at the right directions to feed the right readers, while the author is also trying to find the reliable and renowned publishers as his or her agents to make things accomplished. Therefore, a harmonious linkage is of key importance between the author and the publisher if things are going smoothly. From this aspect, IGI Global has left me the best impression in our cooperation to speak from my experience working with them since 2010. I appreciate their core value of being “disseminator of knowledge;” I am grateful for their timely and very expediate response to my queries and I could sense their high and positive teamwork spirit among different units. In a flat and “the death of distance” world today, I am willing to play my part of being “disseminator of knowledge” just as IGI Global advocates.

    IGI Global is grateful for the opportunity to work with Dr. Zhu and we look forward to the continued collaboration with her to ensure this valuable research is made available to the global community. For more information please be sure to check out Dr. Zhu's book, Examining Cultural Influences on Leadership Styles and Learning From Chinese Approaches to Management: Emerging Research and Opportunities, along with the following related publications, and recommend them to your library.

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