Understanding Workplace Culture in Malaysia: Cultural Characteristics of Chinese-Malaysian Ethnic Society

The purpose of this article is to unearth the cultural characteristics of the Chinese-Malaysian ethnic society. Data collected from in-depth, one-on-one interviews with 25 participants revealed three themes that help us understand the between-group and within-group characteristics of Chinese ethnic group members in Malaysia: community affiliation and embeddedness, survival culture, and respect culture. These categories of meanings point to some unique ways in which cultural norms and values are conceptualised, valued, and constructed by Chinese-Malaysian ethnic group members. Findings suggest that Chinese Confucianism and native norms and values materialise in the Chinese-Malaysian context when members of the society are able to communicate constructively with each other through their own community affiliation, a feature that is itself part of their ethnic identity. The findings of this study have important theoretical and practical implications for managing cross-cultural and multi-ethnic relationships in the workplace.