Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T14:52:49.513Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Strategic Analysis of Product Recalls: The Role of Moral Degradation and Organizational Control

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Yadong Luo
Translated by
獬亚东
Yadong Luo*
Affiliation:
University of Miami, USA
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Although product recalls are neither new nor unique to China, China bears much of the bitter criticism from the media and negative reactions from the public. This essay discusses the reasons behind recalls from a moral degradation perspective, grounded in the larger framework of anomie theory. While making remarkable economic progress, China is also moving toward a society with degraded moral standards. This moral degradation propels illicit and immoral business practices. This essay further presents an analysis of recall from the organizational control perspective, tackling the issue of how safety and quality problems damage a firm's long-term corporate credibility, legitimacy, trust and governance in a competitive environment. Strategic repercussions of recalls include impairing capability building, organizational learning and resource allocation. The essay ends with a call for action by the Chinese government, firms and management researchers to address and further understand this complex issue.

Keywords

product recallmoral degradationorganizational control产品召回道德滑坡组织控制
Type
Editors' Forum – Made in China: Implications of Chinese Product Recalls
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , July 2008 , pp. 183 - 196
Copyright
Copyright © International Association for Chinese Management Research 2008

References

Bapuji, H., & Beamish, P. W. 2007. Toy recalls - Is China really the problem? Canada-Asia Commentary, 45: 1–9.Google Scholar
Bapuji, H., & Beamish, P. W. 2008. How to avoid hazardous design flaws. Harvard Business Review, March 2008: 1–2.Google Scholar
Barney, J. B., & Hansen, M. H. 1994. Trustworthiness as a source of competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 15: 175–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baucus, M. 1994. Pressure, opportunity, and predisposition: A multivariate model of corporate illegality. Journal of Management, 10: 699–721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baucus, M., & Near, J. 1991. Can illegal corporate behavior be predicted? An even history analysis. Academy of Management Journal, 34: 9–36.Google Scholar
Beamish, P. W., & Bapuji, H. 2008. Toy recalls and China: Emotion vs. evidence. Management and Organization Review, 4: 197–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Businessline. 2007. Toys: Time for a better game plan. Chennai: Financial Times Information Limited, October 16.Google Scholar
Campbell, S., & Moltzcn, E. F. 2006. Lenovo joins recall fray - Whitebook builders profit from notebook battery recall fallout. CRN, October 2, Issue 1214: 48–49.Google Scholar
Chan, R. Y. K., Cheng, L. T. W., & Szcto, R. W. F. 2002. The dynamics of guanxi and ethics for Chinese executives. Journal of Business Ethics, 41: 327–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cullen, J. B., Parbotccah, K. P., & Hoegl, M. 2004. Cross-national differences in managers' willingness to justify ethically suspect behaviors: A test of institutional anomie theory. Academy of Management Journal, 47: 411–421.Google Scholar
Durkheim, E. 1966. Suicide: A study in sociology. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Gioia, D. A., Schultz, M., & Corlcy, K. G. 2000. Organizational identity, image, and adaptive instability. Academy of Management Review, 25: 63–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Granovetter, M. 1985. Economic action and social structure: A theory of embeddedncss. American Journal of Sociology, 91: 481–510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harvey, B. 1999. Graceful merchants': A contemporary view of Chinese business cthics. Journal of Business Ethics, 20: 85–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Husters, T. 2003. China's nevo order: Society, politics and economy in transition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Jensen, G. 2002. Institutional anomie and societal variations in crime: A critical appraisal. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 22(7/8): 45–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luo, Y. 2002. Contract, cooperation and performance in international joint ventures. Strategic Management Journal, 23: 669–694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luo, Y. 2005. An organizational perspective of corruption. Management and Organization Review, 1: 119–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luo, Y. 2006. Opportunism in inter-firm exchanges in emerging markets. Management and Organization Review, 2: 121–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyles, M. A., Flynn, B. B., & Frohlich, M. T. 2008. All supply chains don't flow through: Understanding supply chain issues in product recalls. Management and Organizational Review, 4: 167–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKendall, M., & Wagner, J. III. 1997. Motive, opportunity, choice, and corporate illegality. Organization Science, 8: 624–647.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, K. D., Cullcn, J. B., Johnson, J. L., & Parbotccah, K. P. 2007. Deciding to bribe: A cross-level analysis of firm and home country influences on bribery activity. Academy of Management Journal, 50: 1401–1422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merton, R. K. 1968. Social theory and social structure. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Messner, S., & Roscnfcld, R. 1997. Political restraint of the market and levels of criminal homicide: A cross-national application of institutional-anomie theory. Social Forces, 75: 1393–1416.Google Scholar
PR Newswire. 2007. Over sixty percent of mainland China exporters spending more on quality control - Global sources survey. September 24.Google Scholar
Redfern, K., & Crawford, J. 2004. An empirical investigation of the ethics position questionnaire in the People's Republic of China. Journal of Business Ethics, 50: 199–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhea, S. 2007. US-Sino safety pact called ‘modest start’. Modern Healthcare, 37(50): 12–14.Google Scholar
Rosenfeld, R., & Messner, S. F. 1997. Markets, morality, and an institutional anomie theory of crime. In Passas, N. & Agncw, R. (Eds.), The future of anomie theory: 207–224. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.Google Scholar
Rousseau, D. M., Sitkin, S. B., Burt, R. S., & Camerer, C. 1998. Not so different after all: A cross-discipline view of trust. Academy of Management Review, 23: 393–421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schepel, H. 2006. European regulation of consumer product. Common Market Law Review, 43: 1789–1791.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, N. C., Thomas, R. J., & Quclch, J. A. 1996. A strategic approach to managing product recalls. Harvard Business Review, September-October: 102–112.Google Scholar
Tam, O. K. 2002. Ethical issues in the evolution of corporate governance in China. Journal of Business Ethics, 37: 303–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., & Shucn, A. 1997. Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 18: 509–533.3.0.CO;2-Z>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, P. C., Szeto, W. F., & Lee, S. K. 2003. Ethical perceptions in China: The reality of business ethics in an international context. Management Decision, 41: 180–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar