Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T21:44:44.171Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Transformation of State-owned Enterprises in China: A StrategicAction Model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Runtian Jing  and
E. Patrick McDermott
Translated by
井润田
Runtian Jing
Affiliation:
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, China
E. Patrick McDermott
Affiliation:
Salisbury University, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Transformation is a vital challenge for Chinese state-owned enterprises(SOEs) and their top managers. To explore this increasingly important topic,we first summarize the institutional context of SOE transformation and theconflicting interests and interdependent relationships of six major actorsas inside/outside stakeholders. Based on the strategic action view ofinstitutional analysis, we emphasize the role of the change agent's level ofaspiration and political skills in transforming an SOE. Then, throughinductive case studies on the transformation of three SOEs, we address howtop managers, acting as change agents, can initiate and engage ininstitutional change through strategic actions such as negotiation,manipulation, and coercion; we also illustrate how they adopt differentactions to influence different actors. Based on the inductive results, wedevelop a theoretical model, which we refer to as the ‘strategic actionmodel’ that shows how the aspiration level, political skills, strategicactions, and change outcomes interrelate and offer insights into thestrategic action of top managers as change agents. Our most importantcontribution is revealing the interplay between the proactive role of insideactors as change agents and the enabling condition of institutionalcontext.

Keywords

aspiration levelpolitical skillstate-owned enterprisestrategic actiontransformation抱负水平政治技能国有企业战略行动改制
Type
Articles
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , March 2013 , pp. 53 - 86
Copyright
Copyright © International Association for Chinese Management Research 2013

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

Bai, C., Lu, J., & Tao, Z. 2009. How does privatization work in China? Journal of Comparative Economics, 37(3): 453–470.10.1016/j.jce.2008.09.006Google Scholar
Balogun, J. 2003. From blaming the middle to harnessing its potential: Creating change intermediaries. British Journal of Management, 14(1): 69–83.10.1111/1467-8551.00266Google Scholar
Battilana, J., Leca, B., & Boxenbaum, E. 2009. How actors change institutions: Towards a theory of institutional entrepreneurship. Academy of Management Annals, 3(1): 65–107.10.1080/19416520903053598Google Scholar
Benson, J., & Zhu, Y. 1999. Markets, enterprises, and workers: The transformation of HRM in Chinese state-owned enterprises. Human Resource Management Journal, 9(4): 58–74.10.1111/j.1748-8583.1999.tb00210.xGoogle Scholar
Boisot, M., Child, J., & Redding, G. 2011. Working the system: Toward a theory of cultural and institutional competence. International Studies of Management and Organization, 41(1): 63–96.Google Scholar
Carney, M., Shapiro, D., & Tang, Y. 2009. Business group performance in China: Ownership and temporal considerations. Management and Organization Review, 5(2): 167–193.10.1111/j.1740-8784.2009.00139.xS174087760000173XGoogle Scholar
Castel, P., & Friedberg, E. 2010. Institutional change as an interactive process: The case of the modernization of the French cancer centers. Organization Science, 21(2): 311–330.10.1287/orsc.1090.0442Google Scholar
Chen, F. 2006. Privatization and its discontents in Chinese factories. China Quarterly, 185: 42–61.10.1017/S030574100600004XGoogle Scholar
Child, J. 1993. Society and enterprise between hierarchy and market. In Child, J. Crozier, M. & Mayntz, R. (Eds.), Societal change between market and organization: 203-226. Aldershot: Averbury Press.Google Scholar
Child, J., & Lu, Y. 1996. Institutional constraints on economic reform: The case of investment decisions in China. Organizational Science, 7(1): 60–77.10.1287/orsc.7.1.60Google Scholar
Chongqing Branch of CITIC Industrial Bank. 2001. Exchange of equity of middle-sized SOEs: Based on the study of one case. Quantitative & Technical Economics, 1: 107–110. (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Day, R., & Day, J. V. 1977. A review of the current state of negotiated order theory: An appreciation and a critique. Sociological Quarterly, 18(1): 126–142.10.1111/j.1533-8525.1977.tb02165.xGoogle Scholar
Delmestri, G. 2006. Streams of inconsistent institutional influences: Middle managers as carriers of multiple identities. Human Relations, 59(11): 1515–1541.10.1177/0018726706072848Google Scholar
Eisenhardt, K. M. 1989. Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review, 14(4): 532–550.Google Scholar
Eisenhardt, K. M., & Graebner, M. E. 2007. Theory building from cases: Opportunities and challenges. Academy of Management Journal, 50(1): 25–32.10.5465/AMJ.2007.24160888Google Scholar
Ferris, G., Treadway, D., Perrewé, P., Brouer, R., Douglas, C., & Lux, S. 2007. Political skill in organizations. Journal of Management, 33(3): 290–320.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, S., & Hambrick, D. C. 1990. Top-management-team tenure and organizational outcomes: The moderating role of managerial discretion. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(3): 484–503.10.2307/2393314Google Scholar
Fligstein, N. 2001. Social skill and the theory of fields. Sociological Theory, 19(2): 105–125.10.1111/0735-2751.00132Google Scholar
Fligstein, N. 2006. Sense making and the emergence of a new form of market governance: The case of the European defense industry. American Behavioral Scientist, 49(7): 949–960.10.1177/0002764205285174Google Scholar
Garnaut, R., Song, L. G., Tenev, S., & Yao, Y. 2005. China's ownership transformation: Process, outcomes, prospects. Washington, DC: The World Bank and International Finance Company.Google Scholar
Garnaut, R., Song, L. G., & Yao, Y. 2006. Impact and significance of state-owned enterprise restructuring in China. China Journal, 55: 35–63.10.2307/20066119Google Scholar
Greve, H. R. 1998. Performance, aspirations, and risky organizational change. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(1): 58–86.10.2307/2393591Google Scholar
Groves, T., Hong, Y., McMillan, J., & Naughton, B. 1994. Autonomy and incentives in Chinese state enterprises. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 109(1): 183–209.10.2307/2118432Google Scholar
Guthrie, D. 1998. Organizational uncertainty and labor contracts in China's economic transition. Sociological Forum, 13(3): 457–494.10.1023/A:1022179408990Google Scholar
Gutiérrez, R. A. 2010. When experts do politics: Introducing water policy reform in Brazil. Governance, 23(1): 59–88.10.1111/j.1468-0491.2009.01467.xGoogle Scholar
Hargrave, T. J., & Van de Ven, A. H. 2006. A collective action model of institutional innovation. Academy of Management Review, 31(4): 864–888.10.5465/AMR.2006.22527458Google Scholar
Kotler, J. P. 1995. Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, 73(2): 59–67.Google Scholar
Krug, B., & Hendrishke, H. 2008. Framing China: Transformation and institutional change through co-evolution. Management and Organization Review, 4(1): 81–108.10.1111/j.1740-8784.2007.00092.xS1740877600000498Google Scholar
Lewin, K. 1951. Field theory in social science: Selected theoretical papers. In Cartwright, D. (Eds.). New York: Harper & Brothers.Google Scholar
Li, H. B., & Pvozelle, S. 2003. Privatizing rural China: Insider privatization, innovative contracts and the performance of township enterprises. China Quarterly, 176(1): 981–1005.Google Scholar
Li, S. X., Yao, X., Sue-Chan, C., & Xi, Y. 2011. Where do social ties come from: Institutional framework and governmental tie distribution among Chinese managers. Management and Organization Review, 7(1): 97–124.10.1111/j.1740-8784.2010.00187.xS1740877600002321Google Scholar
Li, Y., Wright, M., & Scholes, L. 2011. Chinese management buyouts and board transformation. Journal of Business Ethics, 95(2): 361–380.Google Scholar
Lu, Y., Tao, Z., & Wang, Y. 2010. Union effects on performance and employment relations: Evidence from China. China Economie Review, 21(1): 202–210.10.1016/j.chieco.2010.01.001Google Scholar
Ma, D. 2012. A relational view of organizational restructuring in transitional China. Management and Organization Review, 8(1): 51–75.10.1111/j.1740-8784.2011.00278.xGoogle Scholar
Maccoby, M. 1976. The gamesman: The new corporate leaders. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Meyer, M. W., & Lu, X. 2005. Managing indefinite boundaries: The strategy and structure of a Chinese business firm. Management and Organization Review, 1(1): 57–86.10.1111/j.1740-8784.2004.00004.xS1740877600000978Google Scholar
Meyer, R. E. 2006. Visiting relatives: Current development in the sociology of knowledge. Organization, 13(5): 725–738.10.1177/1350508406067011Google Scholar
Mintzberg, H. 1985. The organization as political arena. Journal of Management Studies, 22(2): 133–154.10.1111/j.1467-6486.1985.tb00069.xGoogle Scholar
Molm, L. D. 1997. Coercive power in social exchange. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Naughton, B. 2008. SASAC and rising corporate power in China. China Leadership Monitor, 24: 1–9.Google Scholar
Nee, V. 1992. Organizational dynamics of market transition: Hybrid forms, property rights and mixed economy in China. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37(1): 1–27.10.2307/2393531Google Scholar
Oliver, C. 1991. Strategic responses to institutional processes. Academy of Management Review, 16(1): 145–179.10.5465/AMR.1991.4279002Google Scholar
Peng, M. W., & Health, P. S. 1996. The growth of the firm in planned economies in transition: Institutions, organizations, and strategic choices. Academy of Management Review, 21(2): 492–528.Google Scholar
Poole, M. S., & Van de Ven, A. H. 2004. Theories of organizational change and innovation processes. In Poole, M. S. & Ven, A. H. Van de (Eds.), Handbook of organizational change and innovation: 374-397. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Powell, W. W., & DiMaggio, P. J. 1991. The new institutionalism in organizational analysis. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Qian, Y. Y. 2000. The process of China's market transition (1978-1998): The evolutionary, historical, and comparative perspectives. Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, 156: 151–171.Google Scholar
Rodrigues, S., & Child, J. 2008. Corporate co-evolution: A political perspective. Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Schneider, S. L. 1992. Framing and conflict: Aspiration level contingency, the status quo, and current theories of risky choice. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 18(5): 1040–1057.Google Scholar
Scott, W. R. 1994. Institutions and organizations: Toward a theoretical synthesis. In Scott, W. R. & Meyer, J. (Eds.), Institutional environments and organization: Structural complexity and individualism: 55–80. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Seo, M., & Creed, D. 2002. Institutional contradictions, praxis and institutional change: A dialectic perspective. Academy of Management Review, 27(2): 222–248.Google Scholar
Strauss, A. L. 1978. Negotiations: Varieties, contexts, processes, and social order. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Suddaby, R., Elsbach, K., Greenwood, R., Meyer, J., & Zilber, T. B. 2010. Organizations and their institutional environments – bringing meaning, values and culture back in: Introduction to the special research forum.. Academy of Management Journal, 53(6): 1234–1240.10.5465/AMJ.2010.57317486Google Scholar
Sun, P., Wright, M., & Mellahi, K. 2010. Is entrepreneur-politician alliance sustainable during transition? The case of management buyouts in China. Management and Organization Review, 6(1): 101–121.10.1111/j.1740-8784.2009.00157.xGoogle Scholar
Uhlenbruck, K., Meyer, K. E., & Hitt, M. A. 2003. Organizational transformation in transition economies: Resource-based and organizational learning perspectives. Journal of Management Studies, 40(2): 257–282.10.1111/1467-6486.00340Google Scholar
Walder, A. G. 2011. From control to ownership: China's managerial revolution. Management and Organization Review, 7(1): 19–38.S1740877600002291Google Scholar
Walder, A. G., Li, B., & Treiman, D. J. 2000. Politics and life chances in a state socialist regime: Dual career paths into the urban Chinese elite, 1949 to 1996. American Sociological Review, 65(2): 191–209.10.2307/2657437Google Scholar
Walter, C. E. 2010. The struggle over ownership: How the reform of state enterprises changed China. Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies, 28: 83–108.10.22439/cjas.v28i1.2669Google Scholar
White, R. E., Hoskisson, R. E., Yiu, D. W., & Bruton, G. D. 2008. Employment and market innovation in Chinese business group affiliated firms: The role of group control systems. Management and Organization Review, 4(2): 225–256.10.1111/j.1740-8784.2008.00107.xS1740877600003806Google Scholar
Yin, R. 1994. Case study research: Design and methods (2nd ed.). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publishing.Google Scholar
Yiu, D., Bruton, G. D., & Lu, Y. 2005. Understanding business group performance in an emerging economy: Acquiring resources and capabilities in order to prosper. Journal of Management Studies, 42(1): 183–206.10.1111/j.1467-6486.2005.00493.xGoogle Scholar
Yu, B. B., & Egri, C. P. 2005. Human resource management practices and organizational commitment: A comparison of Chinese employees in a state-owned enterprise and a joint venture. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 43(3): 332–360.10.1177/1038411105058706Google Scholar
Zhao, W., & Zhou, X. G. 2004. Chinese organizations in transition: Changing promotion patterns in the reform era. Organization Science, 15(2): 186–199.10.1287/orsc.1030.0046Google Scholar