Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T04:34:11.090Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Confucian Capitalism and the Paradox of Closure and Structural Holes in East Asian Firms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Sun-Ki Chai  and
Mooweon Rhee
Sun-Ki Chai
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii, USA
Mooweon Rhee
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A long-standing debate has taken place in the organizational sociology and social network literatures about the relative advantages of network closure versus structural holes in the generation of social capital. There is recent evidence that these advantages differ across cultures and between East Asia and the West in particular, but existing network models are unable to explain why or address cultural variation in general. This paper seeks to provide a solution by integrating a culture-embedded rational model of action into the social network model of structure, using this not only to re-examine the closure versus structural hole debate, but also to tie it to the literature on Confucian capitalism and the ‘East Asian Model’ of the firm. We argue that this integrated approach allows us to systematically analyse the relationship between culture and behaviour in networks and, more specifically, to explain why closure has been a more powerful source of productivity in East Asia than the West.

Keywords

Confucian capitalismEast Asian firmsnetwork closurestructural holes儒家资本主义、东亚企业、网络封闭、结构洞
Type
Articles
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , March 2010 , pp. 5 - 29
Copyright
Copyright © International Association for Chinese Management Research 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abegglen, J. C. 1958. The Japanese factory: Aspects of its social organization. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.Google Scholar
Abegglen, J. C. 1988. Kaisha: The Japanese corporation. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Becker, G. S. 1962. Investment in human capital: A theoretical analysis. Journal of Political Economy, 70(5): 9–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, D. A., & Hahm, C. 2003. Confucianism for the modern world. London: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, P. L., & Hsiao, H.-H. M. (Eds.). 1988. In search of an East Asian development model. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.Google Scholar
Bian, Y. 1997. Bringing strong ties back in: Indirect ties, network bridges, and job searches in China. American Sociological Review, 62(3): 266–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brocklehurst, M. 2005. Chinese family business. In Channon, D. F. (Ed.), Blackwell encyclopedic dictionary of strategic management: 1–36. London: Blackwell Publisher.Google Scholar
Burt, R. S. 1982. Toward a structural theory of action: Network models of social structure, perception, and action. New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burt, R. S. 1992. Structural holes: The social structure of competition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burt, R. S. 1997. The contingent value of social capital. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42(2): 339–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burt, R. S. 2000. The network structure of social capital. In Staw, B. M. & Sutton, R. I. (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior, vol. 22: 345–423. New York: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Burt, R. S. 2002. Bridge decay. Social Networks, 24(4): 333–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burt, R. S. 2005. Brokerage and closure: An introduction to social capital. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burt, R. S. 2007. Secondhand brokerage: Evidence on the importance of local structure for managers, bankers, and analysts. Academy of Management Journal, 50(1): 119–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chai, S.-K. 1997. Rational choice and culture: Clashing perspectives or complementary modes of analysis? In Ellis, R. & Thompson, M. (Eds.), Culture matters: 45–56. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Chai, S.-K. 2001. Choosing an identity: A general model of preference and belief formation. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chai, S.-K., & Hechter, M. 1998. A theory of the state and social order. Homo Oeconomicus, 15(1): 1–26.Google Scholar
Chai, S.-K., & Liu, M. 2008. Weak Confucian norms and the generation of economic cooperation in Chinese family firms. Working paper, University of Hawaii at Manoa.Google Scholar
Cho, Y.-H., & Yoon, J. 2001. The origin and function of dynamic collectivism: An analysis of Korean corporate culture. Asia Pacific Business Review, 7(4): 70–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chowdhury, A., & Islam, I. 1992. The newly industrializing economies of East Asia. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Clark, G. 1979. Japanese company. New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Cole, R. E. 1979. Work, mobility, and participation: A comparative study of American and Japanese industry. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Coleman, J. S. 1988. Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94(S1): S95–S120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coleman, J. S. 1990. Foundations of social theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
David, P. A. 1985. Clio and the economics of QWERTY. American Economic Review, 75(2): 332–337.Google Scholar
Douglas, M. 1970. Natural symbols: Explorations in cosmology. New York: Pantheon.Google Scholar
Douglas, M. 1982. In the active voice. London: Roudedge and Keegan Paul.Google Scholar
The Economist. 2008. Sayonara, salaryman - Employment in Japan. 386(8561): 56–58.Google Scholar
Fudenberg, D., & Maskin, E. 1986. The folk theorem in repeated games with discounting or with incomplete information. Econometrica, 54(4): 533–554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galaskiewicz, J. 2007. Has a network theory of organizational behaviour lived up to its promises? Management and Organization Review, 3(1): 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galaskiewicz, J., Bielefeld, W., & Dowell, M. 2006. Networks and organizational growth: A study of community based nonprofit. Administrative Science Quarterly, 51(3): 337–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gargiulo, M., & Benassi, M. 2000. Trapped in your own net? Network cohesion, structural holes, and the adaptation of social capital. Organization Science, 11(2): 183–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerhart, B. 2009. How much does national culture constrain organizational culture? Management and Organization Review, 5(2): 241–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gold, T., Guthrie, D., & Wank, D. (Eds.). 2002. Social connections in China: Institutions, culture and the changing nature of guanxi. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Granovetter, M. S. 1973. The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6): 1360–1380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, G. G. (Ed.). 1991. Business networks and economic development in East and Southeast Asia. Hong Kong: Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong.Google Scholar
Hamilton, G. G. 1996. The theoretical significance of Asian business networks. In Hamilton, G. G. (Ed.), Asian business networks: 283–297. New York: Walter de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, G. G., & Biggart, N. W. 1992. Market, culture and authority: A comparative analysis of management and organization in the Far East. In Swedberg, R. & Granovetter, M. (Eds.), The sociology of economic life: 181–224. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Hechter, M. 1987. Principles of group solidarity. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Hofheinz, R., & Calder, K. E. 1982. The Eastasia edge. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Hofstede, G. 1991. Culture and organizations. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Iwaki, A. 1988. Firms scour U.S. colleges for Japanese graduates. Japan Economic Journal, 26(19): 6.Google Scholar
Janelli, R., & Yim, D. 1993. Making capitalism work: The social and cultural construction of a South Korean conglomerate. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Johnson, J. D. 2004. The emergence, maintenance, and dissolution of structural hole brokerage within consortia. Communication Theory, 14(3): 212–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kato, T. 2001. The end of lifetime employment in Japan? Evidence from national surveys and field research. Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, 15(4): 489–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keister, L. A. 2000. Chinese business groups: The structure and impact of interfirm relations during economic development. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kim, C. S. 1992. The culture of Korean industry: An ethnography of poongsan corporation. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.Google Scholar
Kim, S., & Briscoe, D. R. 1997. Globalization and a new human resource policy in Korea: Transformation to a performance-based HRM. Employee Relations, 19(4): 298–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kipnis, A. B. 1997. Producing guanxi: Sentiment, self, and subculture in a North China village. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Koike, K. 1980. Nihonteki koyo kanko (Japanese employment practices). In Shinposha, T. (Ed.), Keizaigaku daijiten (Encyclopedia of economics), vol. II: 100–108. Tokyo: Toyokeizai Shimposha.Google Scholar
Koike, K. 1988. Understanding industrial relations in Japan. London: St. Martin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koike, K. 1996. Learning and incentive systems in Japanese industry. In Aoki, M. & Dore, R. (Eds.), The Japanese firm: The sources of competitive strength: 41–65. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Krackhardt, D. 1999. The ties that torture: Simmelian tie analysis in organizations. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 16: 183–210.Google Scholar
Krugman, P. 1994. The myth of Asia's miracle. Foreign Affairs, 73(6): 62–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lave, C. A., & March, J. G. 1975. An introduction to models in the social sciences. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Lee, K., & Hahn, D. 1999. Market competition, plan constraints, and asset diversion in the enterprise groups in China. Working paper, Seoul National University, Korea.Google Scholar
Lee, H.-C. 1998. Transformation of employment practices in Korean businesses. International Studies of Management & Organization, 28(4): 26–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, D. 2006. Samsung electronics: The global Inc. Seoul: YSM.Google Scholar
Lewis, D. 1969/2002. Convention: A philosophical study. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Lin, N. 2001. Social capital: A theory of social structure and action. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manrai, L. A., & Manrai, A. K. 1995. Effects of cultural-contexts, gender, and acculturation on perceptions of work versus social/leisure time usage. Journal of Business Research, 32(2): 115–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
March, J. G. 1999. A learning perspective on the network dynamics of institutional integration. In Egeberg, E. & Lægreid, P. (Eds.), Organizing political institutions: 129–155. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press.Google Scholar
Morris, M. W., Podolny, J. M., & Ariel, S. 2000. Missing relations: Incorporating relational constructs into models of culture. In Earley, P. C. & Singh, H. (Eds.), Innovations in international and cross cultural management: 52–90. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nee, V., Opper, S., & Wong, S. 2007. Developmental state and coiporatc governance in China. Management and Organization Review, 3(1): 19–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nonaka, I., & Takcuchi, H. 1995. The knowledge-creating company: How Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
North, D. C. 1981. Structure and change in economic history. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
North, D. C., & Thomas, R. P. 1973. The rise of the western world: A new economic history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Okimoto, D. T., & Rohlen, T. P. 1988. Inside the Japanese system: Readings on contemporary society and political economy. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Olson, M. 1965/1971. The logic of collective action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Orru, M., Biggart, N. W., & Hamilton, G. G. 1997. The economic organization of East Asian capitalism. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Parke, R. D., Simpkins, S. D., McDowell, D. J., Kim, M., Killian, C., Dennis, J., Flyr, M. L., Wild, M., & Rah, Y. 2002. Relative contributions of families and peers to children's social development. In Smith, P. K. & Hart, C. H. (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of childhood social development: 156–177. New York: Blackwell Publishers.Google Scholar
Podolny, J. M. 2005. Status signals: A sociological study of market competition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Podolny, J. M., & Baron, J. N. 1997. Relationships and resources: Social networks and mobility in the workplace. American Sociological Review, 62(5): 673–693.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pucik, V., & Lim, J.-C. 2001. Transforming human resource management in a Korean Chaebol: A case study of Samsung. Asia Pacific Business Review, 7(4): 137–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reagans, R. E., & Zuckerman, E. W. 2008. Why knowledge does not equal power: The network redundancy trade-off. Industrial and Corporate Change, 17(5): 903–944.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redding, S. G. 1988. The role of the entrepreneur in the new Asian capitalism. In Berger, P. L. & Hsiao, H.-H. M. (Eds.), In search of an East Asian development model: 99–114. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.Google Scholar
Redding, S. G. 1990. The spirit of Chinese capitalism. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhee, M. 2004. Network updating and exploratory learning environment. Journal of Management Studies, 41(6): 933–949.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhee, M. 2007. The time relevance of social capital. Rationality and Society, 19(3): 367–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhee, M. 2010. The pursuit of shared wisdom in class: When Chinese thinkers meet James March. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 9(2): forthcoming.Google Scholar
Rohlen, T. P. 1974. For harmony and strength: Japanese white-collar organization in anthropological perspective. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schelling, T. 1960. The strategy of conflict. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Stiglitz, J. F. 1996. Some lessons from the East Asian miracle. World Bank Research Observer, 11(2): 151–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsai, W.-H., Hung, J.-H., Kuo, Y.-C., & Kuo, L. 2006. CEO tenure in Taiwanese family and nonfamily firms: An agency theory perspective. Family Business Review, 19(1): 11–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsui, A. S. 2006. From the editor: Contextualization in Chinese management research. Management and Organization Review, 2(1): 1–13.Google Scholar
Tu, W.-M. 1984. Confucian ethics today: The Singapore challenge. Singapore: Federal Publications.Google Scholar
Tu, W.-M. 1989. The rise of industrial East Asia: The role of Confucian values. Copenhagen Papers on East and Southeast Asian Studies, 36(1): 81–98.Google Scholar
Tu, W.-M. (Ed.). 1996. Confucian traditions in East Asian modernity: Moral education and economic culture in Japan and the four mini-dragons. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Weber, M. 1963. From Max Weber. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Weidenbaum, M. 1996. The Chinese family business enterprise. California Management Review, 38(4): 141–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weidenbaum, M., & Hughes, S. 1996. The bamboo network. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Whetten, D. A. 2009. An examination of the interface between context and theory applied to the study of Chinese organizations. Management and Organization Review, 5(1): 29–55.Google Scholar
Whitley, R. 1992. Business systems in East Asia: Firms, markets and societies. Newbury Park: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, B. 1996. Culture, institutions and business in East Asia. Organization Studies, 17(3): 421–447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wong, S.-L. 1985. The Chinese family firm: A model. British Journal of Sociology, 36(1): 58–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wong, S.-L. 1988. The applicability of Asian family values to other sociological settings. In Berger, P. & Hsiao, H.-H. M. (Eds.), In search of an East Asian development model: 134–154. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.Google Scholar
Wong, S. S.-K., & Ko, A. 2009. Exploratory study of understanding hotel employees' perception on work-life balance issues. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(2): 195–203.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Woo-Cumings, M. (Ed.). 1999. The developmental state. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xiao, Z., & Tsui, A. S. 2007. When brokers may not work: The cultural contingency of social capital in Chinese high-tech firms. Administrative Science Quarterly, 52(1): 1–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamagishi, T. 1995. Social dilemmas. In Cook, K. S., Fine, G. A. & House, J. S. (Eds.), Sociological perspectives on social psychology: 311–354. Needham Heights, NY: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Yang, M. M.-H. 1994. Gifts, favors, and banquets: The art of social relationships in China. New York: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Yao, S. 2002. Confucian capitalism: Discourse, practice, and the myth of Chinese enterprise. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Yeung, H. W.-C. 2000. Limits to the growth of family-owned business? The case of Chinese transnational corporations from Hong Kong. Family Business Review, 14(1): 55–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar