Serving or Being Served? Leadership under Conflicting Institutional Logics in Transition China

Drawing on institutional theory, we explore the indigenous leadership in China by analyzing the interaction between leaders and the institutional environment. We provide novel answers to three fundamental questions in leadership research: what leadership is, where leadership influences come from, and how leaders influence followers. In conceptualizing the Chinese institutional context in transition as ambidextrous, we argue that leadership in China is dominated by two logics: the professional logic adopted from Western democracy and the authoritarian logic originating in the local culture. Our arguments advance leadership research in general and contribute to the understanding of leadership in China in particular by developing a dual-logic leadership model that integrates an institutional perspective.