Shared Leadership and Employee Satisfaction in China: A Multiple Correspondence Analysis of Gender and Education Aspects of Participative Leadership Models

The relevance of researching on modern management approaches is today´s dynamic labor market's demand for flexible leadership models, such as shared leadership, to attract talents in companies by meeting employee´s requirements of more participation in management tasks. This paper aims for the investigation of gender and education level related influences on attitudes toward shared leadership and employee satisfaction in a Chinese cultural context for a better understanding of possible limitations of shared leadership. Shared leadership is mainly explored with a focus on its origins in North America, the study of shared leadership in the Chinese culture is underrepresented. This quantitative research is conducted through an online survey, distributed by WeChat, involving 103 Chinese employees, with 39 women and 64 men, 34 years old on average, in a manufacturing work environment to approve the industry relevance. The convenience sampling ensures a high level of trust and data quality of the respondents regarding sensitive information about employee satisfaction and attitude toward shared leadership. Only existing, validated questionnaires were used. The survey regarding employee satisfaction is based on Spector (1985). The survey regarding attitude toward shared leadership is based on Small (2007). The results are evaluated by their means, standard deviations, correlation analysis and multiple correspondence analysis. Statistical analysis is performed by XLSTAT. The first hypothesis (H1), suggesting a clustering effect by gender and education level on shared leadership's scope, is not significantly confirmed by the correlation analysis. The multiple correspondence analysis raises suspicions about men exhibiting higher employee satisfaction and a more negative attitude toward shared leadership than women. Individuals with a bachelor's degree tend to display ambivalent attitudes toward shared leadership. The second hypothesis (H2), proposing a positive correlation between attitude toward shared leadership and employee satisfaction, is not confirmed by the correlation analysis. No significant correlation is found among the variables for the entire sample of Chinese respondents. The third hypothesis (H3), proposing an ambivalent attitude of Chinese employees toward shared leadership, is confirmed by the calculated mean score within the survey by Small (2007). There are potential reasons for this ambivalence, e.g. suggesting a conflict between traditional and modern values in China. This paper recommends a deeper understanding of ambivalent employee satisfaction at work to enhance the effectivity and efficiency of planned leadership changes. Tailored leadership training should be designed to align with the preferences of these specific target groups. Future research directions could focus on strategies for persuading team members to embrace a shared leadership approach. Additionally, exploring the reasons behind negative attitudes toward shared leadership paves the way for further research, such as examining potential connections with hierarchical power structures.