Lok and Crawford (2004) examine the differences between east and west in the determinants of manager's perception of their level of job satisfaction and commitment. The determinants selected are organizational variables of leadership and organizational culture. Managers from Hong Kong and Australia were included in this study to represent this east-west dichotomy. This study is based on the assumption that the differences in national characteristics such as power distance, collectivism and risk orientation are well established between east and west.

Organizational culture can influence how people set personal and professional goals, perform tasks and administer resources to achieve them. Organizational culture affects how people think consciously and subconsciously, make decisions and ultimately the way in which they perceive, feel and act. Past researches have suggested that organizational culture can exert considerable influence in organizations particularly in areas such as performance and commitment. There are various forms or types of cultures being proposed e.g. four forms of organizational cultures (networked, mercenary, fragmented and communal), three perspectives (i.e. integration, differentiation and fragmentation) and three main types of organizational cultures (i.e. bureaucratic, supportive and innovative). Since individuals bring their personal values, attitude and beliefs to the workplace, their levels of commitment to the organization therefore may differ. Values, attitudes and beliefs are reflected in different national cultures. In cross-cultural research, it is acknowledged that there are significant differences in national culture characteristics between the eastern and western cultures.

For example, the existence of high power distance values and a bureaucratic culture in Chinese companies is well acknowledged. Since organizations in Hong Kong are mainly managed by ethnic Chinese, their relative high power distance preference and Confucian values can make significant influence on the organizational culture. Confucian values are often associated with obedience, respect of authority and loyalty. For example, the owners and senior management of the Korean and Chinese companies are the one who make important decisions. Owners and executives are on top of any bureaucratic structure in these companies. Direction and orders tend to be top-down and there is little delegation and empowerment. However, this is generally the reverse in western companies. Both US and Australia are relatively low power distance countries where values of democracy, equalitarianism and participation are more prevalent. Authority is legitimized more on performance and merit in the US and Australia whereby, there is a greater delegation and decentralization of decision-making and control. However, studies have shown that greater empowerment by management could further enhance the employees' participation, productivity, satisfaction and commitment. Although western companies have bureaucratic structure and rules, they are mainly used to coordinate activities and reporting purposes. On the contrary, Chinese companies see bureaucracy as ownership, control and centralized decision-making. Employees must follow instructions without questions. On the basis of these differences between Chinese and Australian cultures in power distance, control, decision-making and governance, it is predicted that national cultures can influence the company's organizational culture, leadership style and subsequently, their level of job satisfaction and commitment.

This study has investigated the effect of organizational culture and leadership style on job satisfaction and organizational commitment in Australian and Hong Kong samples. Also, differences between the two samples on mean values of these variables were also investigated. The results of this study revealed that the Australian managers scored more highly the innovative and supportive culture measures, and on job satisfaction and organizational commitment. This is consistent with studies that have shown strong positive link between empowerment, job satisfaction and commitment. As for bureaucratic organizational culture or on consideration and initiating structure leadership styles, no significant difference was found between these two samples.

The result of the study is found not inline with earlier studies that suggested Confucian values, high power distance, autocratic decision making style, and family ownership in Chinese companies would provide a stronger bureaucratic culture and initiating structure leadership style in the organization. The findings could possibly be explained if there were a high proportion of managers in the sample who were working for multinational corporations and not family-owned businesses. However, this explanation cannot be tested since the information is not available. In addition, it is revealed that the impact of innovative and supportive organizational cultures on commitment, and the impact of an innovative culture on satisfaction, is stronger with Australian managers than Hong Kong managers. There is no significant difference found with the impact of leadership style on job satisfaction and commitment between Hong Kong and Australian managers.

In conclusion, this study confirms that organizational culture and leadership styles are important organizational antecedents of job satisfaction and commitment. Besides, it also demonstrates moderating effects of national culture on the impact of certain demographic, leadership and organizational culture variables on job satisfaction and commitment.