With the continued expansion of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese enterprises are increasingly operating in culturally diverse environments, where cross-cultural management challenges have become a critical concern. Among these, the effectiveness of Chinese leadership styles in foreign cultural contexts remains insufficiently understood. This research proposes to investigate how traditional Chinese leadership styles—authoritative, benevolent, and virtuous—affect employee performance in Pakistan, an important partner country under the BRI framework. It also seeks to investigate how perceived support from the organization and cultural intelligence moderate these correlations. This study will use an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design with a focus on quantitative analysis supported by qualitative insights. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews with managers and employees will provide deeper insights into the contextual dynamics underlying leadership effectiveness. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design is adopted, with a primary focus on quantitative analysis supported by qualitative insights. The findings are expected to contribute to leadership and cross-cultural management literature by extending Chinese leadership theory into an Islamic cultural context and by examining the interaction between leadership styles and key moderating factors. Practically, the study aims to provide insights for multinational Chinese enterprises to enhance leadership effectiveness and improve employee performance in cross-cultural settings. Overall, this research will provide both theoretical and practical contributions to understanding leadership effectiveness in international business environments, particularly within the context of China–Pakistan economic cooperation under the BRI.
Bano et al. (2026) studied this question.