Challenges for China's Development: An Enterprise Perspective

197 Pages·2005·0.74 MB·English

by  David Brown

Challenges for China’s Development
There is now no doubt that China is a major economic force, and the country’s
phenomenal recent rate of growth means that it is primed to become an even
bigger player on the world stage. The pace of reform for China’s enterprises of all
kinds has quickened as the Chinese have sought to cope with the challenges of
self-determination – strategic, financial and governmental – in a rapidly evolving
social and political context.
This timely collection explores China’s current challenges from the perspective of
the enterprise. It includes discussion of current and likely future overall trends,
reports on new research findings on the true extent of governance and accounting
reforms within enterprises, and considers the impact of increasing global competition
on strategy, business relationships and management culture across a range of different
kinds of enterprises. Starting with the macro view, contributors then focus on aspects
such as Chinese-European co-operation, Chinese shareholders, corporate governance,
the insurance industry, value creation and business style.
As China confronts large-scale economic, environmental, political and welfare
problems, this book will be an invaluable resource for academics and business people
examining the underpinnings of the Chinese economic system and its probable
course.
David H. Brown is Senior Lecturer and was previously Head of the Department of
Systems and Information Management at Lancaster University. His research interests
are in the field of systems and strategy. In recent years, he has taken a special interest
in the Far East and particularly in China, where he has worked since 1986.
Alasdair MacBeanis a Professor Emeritus and Director of the Lancaster Centre for
Management in China at Lancaster University. He has previously been head of the
Economics Department, a College Principal and a Pro-Vice-Chancellor. His research
is mainly in international trade and economic development, the economy of China
and transitional economies, and he has authored or edited eight books.
Routledge Contemporary China Series
1 Nationalism, Democracy and National Integration in China
Leong Liew and Wang Shaoguang
2 Hong Kong’s Tortuous Democratization
A comparative analysis
Ming Sing
3 China’s Business Reforms
Institutional challenges in a globalised economy
Edited by Russell Smyth and Cherrie Zhu
4 Challenges for China’s Development
An enterprise perspective
Edited by David H. Brown and Alasdair MacBean
Challenges for China’s
Development
An enterprise perspective
Edited by
David H. Brown and
Alasdair MacBean
First published 2005
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 2005 selection and editorial matter, David H. Brown and
Alasdair MacBean; individual chapters, the contributors
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Challenges for China’s development: an enterprise perspective / edited
by David H. Brown and Alasdair MacBean.
p. cm. – (Routledgecurzon contemporary China series; 4)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Business enterprises–China. 2. Privatization–China.
3. Government business enterprises–China. 4. Government
ownership–China. 5. China–Economic policy. 6. China–Economic
conditions. I. Brown, David H., 1946– II. MacBean, Alasdair I.
III. Series.
HD4318.C418 2005
338.951(cid:1)05–dc22 2004065147
ISBN 0-203-47933-5 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0–415–34133–7(Print Edition)
Contents
List of figures vii
List of tables ix
List of contributors xi
Preface xv
1 Introduction: China’s macro environment and
enterprise challenges 1
DAVID H. BROWN AND ALASDAIR MACBEAN
2 China’s economy and cooperation with Europe 12
SPEECHES BY FAN GANG AND LORD POWELL
3 SOEs reform from a governance perspective and its
relationship with the privately owned publicly
listed corporation in China 24
CHENG WEI-QI AND PHILIP LAWTON
4 Identifying ultimate controlling shareholders in Chinese
public corporations: an empirical survey 48
GUY S. LIU AND PEI SUN
5 Corporatisation of China’s state-owned enterprises and
corporate governance 58
JEAN JINGHAN CHEN
6 Insights into strategy development in China’s TVEs 72
DAVID H. BROWN, HANTANG QI AND YONG ZHANG
7 Value creation in Chinese and European business
relationships 87
IAN WILKINSON AND KEVIN YEOH
8 Guanxi, relationship marketing and business strategy 102
YUNYAN LI, MARTIN F. PARNELL AND NICK HAWKINS
vi Contents
9 A management control assurance in the different cultures and
institutions of China and the UK 119
DERMOT WILLIAMSON
10 China’s insurance industry in the twenty-first century:
challenges facing Chinese insurers 143
XIAOLING HU
11 Chinese business style in three regions: an exploratory
study of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou 156
TONY FANG
Index 173
Figures
4.1 Inner Mongolia thermal power corporation 50
4.2 Shenzhen Nan-Guang Group PLC 52
4.3 The Beijing Ufsoft Computer Software Co. Ltd 53
7.1 A model of value creation in business relations 91
7.2 Final Chinese and European path models 94
8.1 A new model: guanxi, relationship marketing and strategy 110
8A1.1 The relational exchanges in relationship marketing 112
8A2.1 A conceptual model of guanxiand relationship performance 113
8A2.2 FBT guanximodel 114
9.1 Context of gaining control assurance 134
9.2 Social context of cultural, institutional and economic factors 136
11.1 Number of years of experience by respondent 164
11.2 Differences in business styles between Beijing, Guangzhou
and Shanghai 167
11.3 General profile of business styles in Beijing, Guangzhou
and Shanghai 168

Tables
4.1 Distribution of the official shareholding classes in
Chinese PLCs 49
4.2 Who ultimately controls China’s PLCs in 2001? 55
5.1 Development of China’s stock market 61
6.1 Overall profile of TVE sector 2000 73
6.2 General information on the case enterprises 76
6.3 Characteristics of strategy process Shangfeng 82
6.4 Characteristics of strategy process Hengdian 82
7.1 Measures of model constructs 93
8.1 JIDE’s five development stages 108
8A2.1 Guanxiand outsider–insider dichotomy – perceptual
positioning 113
9.1 Hofstede’s cultural dimensions 121
10.1 Chinese insurance premium income 1980–2002 144
10.2 Number of insurance companies in China by ownership 147
10.3 Chinese life insurance market share, 2002 147
10.4 Individual agents and their contribution to life insurance 148
11.1 Western negotiators’ perception of the Chinese regional
differences 159
11.2 Chinese business style: summarizes the findings of the
core measured items across Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai 165