Transcript Organizational consequences on social stratification

The Sociology of Chinese Organizations:
Observations and Commentary
Xueguang Zhou
Duke University
Why the choice of topic

Sociology of organizations as a core area
of research

The organizational lens to Chinese society

Relevance to organization researchers in
business schools
The field defined

Work published mostly by sociologists

Published mostly in sociological journals
Using sociological logics, concepts, and
analytical styles
 Since 1980s, mostly after 1990s

Social structure and organizations

Stinchcombe (1963)
 Social
structure and the founding of
organizations
Timing: Liability of newness
 Organizational form
 Resource base and constraints

 Historical
legacies
 Organizational consequences for social
stratification

Relevance to the Chinese setting
Organizations in Chinese society

Chinese society as an organizational society



State socialist redistributive system
Political processes based on formal organizations
Institutional changes take place through, and as part of,
organizational changes


Hiring, promotion practice
Leadership change
 Organizational change: government and firms, TVEs

Implications for social science research


Political science, sociology, economics, etc.
Two periods:


1980s – 1990, since the 1990s.
Nee (1989) as the landmark
Organization research before the 1990s


Early interests:

Selznick: the Organizational weapon

Schurmann: ideology and organization as two pillars of
communist movements
Parish and Whyte (1978), Whyte and Parish (1984)

Comprehensive studies of urban and rural areas in China

A large proportion is about formal organizaitons – how everyday
lives are organized through formal organizations.
Walder (1986): new traditionalism

Political sociology of employment relationship in
Chinese organizations

Organized dependency  political control


Disciplined particularism

positive compliance

Localized, individualized interests
Analytical rigor and rich observations on institutional
details
Other studies


Political science

Skilling: Organization-based pluralist interest group politics

Studies of Chinese bureaucracy

Implementation (Lieberthal and Lampton 1992)

Central-local government relationships

Shue’s “honycomb” model of local boundaries

Oi: struggle between the state and peasants over harvests
Anthropology

Skinner’s study of hierarchical market structure

Policy cycles in interactions between state policies and peasants’
response (Skinner and Winckler 1969)
Some observations

Mostly qualitative work
 Interviewers
in HK
 Fieldwork

Mostly area studies
 Not
linked to mainstream research activities of social
sciences


High sensitivity to historical/social context
Lack analytical power, theoretical logic
Research since the 1990s

Nee (1989)
 Theory-driven
 Introduce
China study into mainstream sociology
 Stimulate active research activities on transitional
economies

Two areas:
 Studies
of organizational phenomena
 Organizational consequences for social stratification
Research on organizational phenomena

Three representative studies
 Nee
(1992)
 Walder (1995)
 Lin (1995)
Nee (1992)

Organizational dynamics in China’s transition
economy
 Differential
survival/growth rates for different types of
organizations
 Theoretical logic: competition between markets and
redistributive mechanisms
 The case of hybrid firms:



Transaction costs in transition economies: coexistence of
markets and politics
In the long run…
Most directly speaking to organizational
phenomena in China’s transitional economy
Walder (1995)


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The question: Why have TVEs prospered?
Key idea: the role of local government as the
headquarters of local firms
The arguments:
 The
administrative reform of decentralization
 The incentive mechanism
 The monitoring mechanism

Unsolved questions:
 Incentive design as substitute to ownership?
 The empirical anomaly, but issues remain…
Lin (1995) “Local state socialism”
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Focus on one village in Tianjin
Emphasis on network-based social institutions
“Local coordination is built upon local, primarily kin,
network. This network pervades and superimposes over
a synchronized institution of economy, polity and society.
The indigenous institution is based on the traditional
Chinese family-village elements, decidedly unassociated
with or dictated by the principles of state socialism or
market mechanisms.”
Comments

Theory driven, original ideas
 Markets,

political mechanisms, networks
But
 Did
not stimulate subsequent follow-up
studies
 Did not formulate testable propositions
 Not directly situated in the sociology
organization literature
Studies in the sociology of
organization tradition

Guthrie (1999)
 Institutional
approach
 Isomorphic behaviors among Chinese firms

Keister (1998, 2001)
 Business
groups
 Broad ideas in economic sociology/organization

Zhou et al. (2003)
 Interfirm
contract relationships
 Comparative framework of three mechanisms
 Two Chinese cities
Comments
Theory driven
 Dialogue with mainstream organizational
issues
 Quantitative research

Extension of organizational analysis
Zhou (1993): Unorganized interests and
collective action
 Zhao (1998): Ecology of social movements
 CK Lee’s study of labor movements

Organizational consequences on
social stratification
Nee’s market transition theory
 Organizational hierarchies in urban China

 Walder
(1986), Whyte and Parish (1984)
 Lin and Bian (1991)
 Walder (1992)
 Bian (1994, 1997)
 Zhou et al. (1997, 2000)
Promotion and mobility in Chinese
organizations
Walder et al. (2000, 2001)
 Zhou et al. (1995, 2000, 2004)
 Bian et al. (2002)
 Cao (2001)

Discussion

Positive aspects in the second period:
 Theory
driven
 Sophisticated in research
 Quality of data information

Problems…
1.Loose link with organization literature

Most activities were not motivated from
organization literature;

Most researchers were not trained in the
sociology of organization;

Most analyses neither use analytical tools
nor speak to issues in organization
literature.
2.Internal organization as a “black box”
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The role of network
Promotion patterns and mechanisms
Contrast to earlier stages of American sociology
of organizations
 Gouldner
 Blau
 Selznick
 Crozier
3. Lack of accumulation of knowledge


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Strong mutation – theoretical ideas
Lack selective mechanisms – test
Why

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Lack of intellectual community
Talent pool in this field
Conclusion

Complementarity between sociology
and management in organization
research