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) 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” 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” 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 Strong mutation – theoretical ideas Lack selective mechanisms – test Why  Lack of intellectual community  Talent pool in this field

Conclusion Complementarity between sociology and management in organization research