Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T14:24:46.580Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Country Context in Management Research: Learning from John Child

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2015

Joseph L. C. Cheng
Joseph L. C. Cheng*
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In honouring John Child receiving the 2012 IACMR Lifetime Contribution Award, we present this Editors’ Forum to showcase his research into the influence of country context on organizations. The forum starts with an invited paper by Child and Marinova that analyzes the challenges faced by Chinese firms in their outward foreign investment. This is followed by four commentaries from Klaus Meyer, Peter Murmann, Kwok Leung, and Gordon Redding. The forum concludes with some reflections by Child and Marinova on the commentaries. Collectively, these six papers provide rich and inspiring insights into John Child’s approach to research and how we can learn from it. Five general observations are offered as suggestions for improving current research practice, including: (1) deepening contextual understanding; (2) theorizing across disciplines; (3) respecting the phenomenon; (4) recognizing cultural contingencies; and (5) rebalancing research criteria.

摘要

摘要

为了向荣获2012年IACMR终身贡献奖的John Child致敬，我们呈献了这个主编论坛来展示他有关国家情境对组织影响的研究。本论坛以Child和Marinova的受邀论文开始，这篇论文分析了中国企业对外投资面临的挑战。随后是由Klaus Meyer, Peter Murmann, Kwok Leung和Gordon Redding等人所作的评论。最后是Child和Marinova对上述评论进行的评论。总体而言，这六篇论文所提供的丰富且具有启发性的见解，有助于了解John Child的研究方法，并帮助我们了解如何从中学习。为提高当前的研究实践提供了五点观察，包括：（1）深化情境性的理解，（2）跨学科的理论建构，（3）尊重现象，（4）承认文化的权变性，以及（5）研究标准的再平衡。

Keywords

Chinese management researchcontextual effectscross-national researchinterdisciplinary theorizingorganization theory中国管理研究情境性影响跨国研究跨学科理论建构组织理论
Type
Forum Introduction
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , November 2014 , pp. 337 - 346
Copyright
Copyright © International Association for Chinese Management Research 2014

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

Barney, J. B. 2005. No new theory. Paper presented at the panel, Opportunities and Challenges in Developing New Management Theory: Processes Used by Top Scholars. Academy of Management Meeting, Honolulu.Google Scholar
Boisot, M., & Child, J. 1996. From fiefs to clans and network capitalism: Explaining China’s emerging economic order. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41(4): 600–628.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buckley, P. J. 2002. Is the international business research agenda running out of steam? Journal of International Business Studies, 33(2): 365–373.Google Scholar
Cantwell, J., & Brannen, M. Y. 2011. Positioning JIBS as an interdisciplinary journal. Journal of International Business Studies, 42(1): 1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, J. L. C. 1994. On the concept of universal knowledge in organizational science: Implications for cross-national research. Management Science, 40(1): 162–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, J. L. C., & McKinley, W. 1983. Toward an integration of organization research and practice: A contingency study of bureaucratic control and performance in scientific settings. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28(1): 85–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, J. L. C., Guo, W., & Skousen, B. 2011. Advancing new theory development in the field of international management: Contributing factors, investigative approach, and proposed topics. Management International Review, 51: 787–802.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, J. L. C., Birkinshaw, J., Lessard, D. R., & Thomas, D. C. 2014. Advancing interdisciplinary research: Insights from the JIBS special issue. Journal of International Business Studies, 45(6): 643–648.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Child, J. 1972. Organizational structure, environment and performance: The role of strategic choice. Sociology, 6(1): 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Child, J. 1981. Culture, contingency, and capitalism in the cross-national study of organization. Research in Organizational Behavior, 3: 303–356.Google Scholar
Child, J., & Marinova, S. 2014a. The role of contextual combinations in the globalization of Chinese firms. Management and Organization Review, 10(3): 347–371.Google Scholar
Child, J., & Marinova, S. 2014b. Response: Reflections on the commentaries. Management and Organization Review, 10(3): 405–409.Google Scholar
Davis, F. G. 2010. Do theories of organizations progress? Organization Research Methods, 13(4): 690–709.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, S. R., & Blake, C. A. 2006. The future of interdisciplinary research and training: How to conquer the silo guardians. Experimental Biology and Medicine, 231(7): 1189–1191.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hambrick, D. C. 2004. The disintegration of strategic management: It’s time to consolidate our gains. Strategic Organization, 2(1): 91–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hickson, D. J., Hinings, C. R., McMillan, C. J., & Schwitter, J. P. 1974. The culture-free context of organization structure: A tri-national comparison. Sociology, 8: 59–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohn, M. L. 1987. Cross-national research as an analytic strategy. American Sociological Review, 52(6): 713–731.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leung, K. 2014. Globalization of Chinese firms: What happens to culture? Management and Organization Review, 10(3): 391–397.Google Scholar
Lewin, A. 2014. Emerging economies open unlimited opportunities for advancing management and organization scholarship. Management and Organization Review, 10(1): 1–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, K. E. 2014. What the fox says, how the fox works: Deep contextualization as a source of new research agendas and theoretical insights. Management and Organization Review, 10(3): 373–380.Google Scholar
Murmann, J. P. 2014. Reflections on choosing the appropriate level of abstraction in social science research. Management and Organization Review, 10(3): 381–389.Google Scholar
Przeworski, A., & Teune, H. 1970. The logic of comparative social inquiry. New York: Wiley-Interscience.Google Scholar
Redding, G. 2014. The unexamined differences in dreams: Chinese firms’ globalization and interface challenges. Management and Organization Review, 10(3): 399–404.Google Scholar
Rosenfield, P. L. 1992. The potential of transdisciplinary research for sustaining and extending linkages between the health and social sciences. Social Science and Medicine, 35(11): 1343–1357.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schoonhoven, C., Meyer, A., & Walsh, J. 2005. Pushing back the frontiers of organization science. Organization Science, 16(4): 327–331.Google Scholar
Shenkar, O. 2004. One more time: International business in a global economy. Journal of International Business Studies, 35(2): 161–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Starbuck, W. 2009. The constant causes of never-ending faddishness in the behavioral and social sciences. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 25: 108–116.Google Scholar
Tsui, A. S. 2006. Contextualization in Chinese management research. Management and Organization Review, 2(1): 1–13.Google Scholar
Tsui, A. S., Nifadkar, S. S., & Ou, A. Y. 2007. Cross-national cross-cultural organizational behavior research: Advances, gaps and recommendations. Journal of Management, 33(3): 426–478.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van de Ven, A. H., & Jing, R. 2011. Indigenous management research in China from an engaged scholarship perspective. Management and Organization Review, 8(1): 123–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weick, K. E. 1989. Theory construction as disciplined imagination. Academy of Management Review, 14(4): 516–531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar