Abstract

Western researchers conceptualized Chinese culture mainly as Confucianism or collectivism and hence examined how these two cultural forces influenced organizational communication practices in China. While these two cultural forces may have contributed to organizational communication practices in China, another important source of influence, Mao Zedong Thought, which epitomizes Chinese communist political ideology, remains unexplored. Thus, the purpose of this project is to investigate whether Mao Zedong Thought is a contributing philosophy influencing organizational communication practices in China, and if so, to what extent it influences them. Themes were identified in the works by Mao Zedong Thought and then analyzed with respect to how they related to four types of organizational communication practices: decision making, leadership, conflict management, and performance control. The selected themes were translated into questionnaire items of a survey instrument. The survey results suggest that Mao Zedong Thought is a contributing philosophy influencing organizational communication practices in China and it is a major source of influence on Chinese organizations. Organizational characteristics such as geographical location and individual characteristics such as age, education, and income mediated Mao Zedong Thought's influences on organizational communication practices. These findings were discussed in terms of why Mao Zedong Thought fundamentally shapes organizational communication practices in China. Methodological issues and future research directions were discussed as well