Comparison of decision styles of business managers in two international companies within a rational decision-making context

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to compare the decision styles of business managers in China with those in South Africa, taking cognisance of certain variables such as nationality, gender, and occupational group within a particular homogeneous industry. The first consideration was to conduct on international comparison and compare the similarities and differences of decision styles within a rational decision-making context. The second consideration was to investigate whether decision styles vary between the variables identified above. The survey was conducted in two companies, namely South African Breweries Limited and Tsingtao Co., Ltd who conduct business in South Africa and China, respectively. The research population comprised of 180 business managers in both companies. The research study revealed that there is no significant difference of decision styles between the business managers in both companies. The conclusion drawn from this analysis is that the business managers in South African Breweries Limited and Tsingtao Co., Ltd have considerable flexibility and find little difficulty in changing from one style to another as the situation warrants. This conclusion is supported by the findings submitted by Rowe and Boulgarides in their seminal work published in 1992.