Abstract
With this study, we contribute to the literature by investigating how institutional, market, and firm factors affect an incumbent firm’s strategic adaptation in China’s transitional economy. Drawing on results from a case study of China’s telecommunications industry, we develop an integrative framework suggesting that institutional, market, and firm factors will have direct impact on strategic adaptation. More importantly, we propose that institutional and market factors will also indirectly affect firms’ strategic adaptation through changing their operational autonomy and resource contingencies. Research implications are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aldrich, H., & Fiol, C. M. Fools rush in? The institutional context of industry creation. Academy of Management Review, 19: 645–670
Allmendinger, J., & Hackman, J.R. 1996. Organizations in changing environments: The case of East German symphony orchestras. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41: 337–369.
Barney, J. 1991. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17: 99–120
Boisot, M. 1996. Institutionalizing the labor theory of value: Some obstacles to the reform of state-owned enterprises in China and Vietnam. Organization Studies, 17: 909–928
Carroll, G.R., Goodstein, J., & Gyenes, A. 1988. Organizations and the state: Effects of the institutional environments on agricultural cooperatives in Hungary. Administrative Science Quarterly, 33: 233–256.
Chandler, A.D. 1962. Strategy and structure: Chapters in the history of the America American industrial enterprise. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Child, J. 1994. Management in China during the age of reform. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press
China CommunicationNet. 2001. China Telecom share network resource with Bank of China. May 24:.
China Posts and Telecom Daily. 2001. China Telecom concentrated on the “four large networks.” February 28:.
China Telecom, 2001. China Telecom’s ambition is not limited to be no.1 in domestic market.. January 2.
Choi, C.J., Lee, S.H., & Kim, J.B. 1999. A note on countertrade: Contractual uncertainty and transaction governance in emerging economies. Journal of International Business Studies, 30: 189–201.
D’Aunno, T., Succi, M., & Alexander, J.A. 2000. The role of institutional and market forces in divergent organizational change. Administrative Science Quarterly, 45: 679–703.
Davis, G.F., Diekmann, K., & Tinsley, C.H. 1994. The decline and fall of the conglomerate firm in the 1980’s: The deinstitutionalization of an organizational form. American Sociological Review, 59: 547–570.
Davis, L.E., & North, D.C. 1971. Institutional change and American economic growth. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Fama, E.F. 1980. Agency problems and the theory of the firm. Journal of Political Economy, 88: 288–307.
Fligstein, N. 1985. The spread of the multidivisional form among large firms, 1919–1979. American Sociological Review, 50: 377–391.
Fligstein, N. 1996. Markets as politics: A political-cultural approach to market institutions. American Sociological Review, 61: 656–673.
Guo, R.C., & Xu, Y. 1992. Economic accounting system for posts and telecommunication enterprises. Beijing: Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications Press.
Hoskisson, R.E., Hill, C.W., & Kim, H. 1993. The multidivisional structure: Organizational fossil or source of value? Journal of Management, 19: 269–298.
Hoskisson, R.E., Eden, L., Lau, C.M., & Wright, M. 2000. Strategy in emerging economies. Academy of Management Journal, 43: 249–267.
ITU. 2001. International Telecommunication Union world telecommunication indicators database. Geneva: ITU
Kornai, J. 1980. Economics of shortage. Amsterdam: North-Holland.
Kraatz, M.S., & Zajac, E.J. 1996. Exploring the limits of the new institutionalism: The causes and consequences of illegitimate organizational change. American Sociological Review, 61: 812–836.
Lawrence, P.R., & Lorsch, J.W. 1969. Organization and environment. Homewood, IL: Irwin.
Li, H., & Atuahene-Gima, K. In press. The adoption of agency business activity, product innovation, and performance: A study of high technology new ventures in China. Strategic Management Journal.
Lu, Y. 1996. Management decision making in Chinese enterprises. London: Macmillan
Meyer, J., & Rowan, B. 1977. Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83: 340–363.
Nee, V. 1992. Organizational dynamics of market transition: Hybrid forms, property rights, and mixed economy in China. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37: 1–27.
North, D.C. 1990. Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Oliver, C. 1997. Sustainable competitive advantage: Combining institutional and resourcebased views. Strategic Management Journal, 18: 697–713.
Peng, M.W. 1997. Firm growth in transitional economies: Three longitudinal cases from China, 1989–96. Organization Studies, 18: 385–413.
Peng, M.W. 2000. Business strategies in transition economies. Thousand Oaks, CA; London, New Delhi: Sega Publications.
Peng, M.W., & Heath, P.S. 1996. The growth of the firm in planned economies in transition: Institutions, organizations, and strategic choice. Academy of Management Journal, 21: 492–528.
Pfeffer, J., & Salancik, G.E. 1978. The external control of organizations. New York: Harper & Row.
Powell, W., & DiMaggio, P. J. (Eds.). 1991. The new institutionalism in organizational analysis. London: University of Chicago.
Rona-Tas, A. 1994, The first shall be last? Entrepreneurship and communist cadres in the transition from socialism. American Journal of Sociology, 100: 40–69.
Wang, Q.S. 2001. Monopoly industries due to be reformed. Singtao Daily: 27 March:.
Williamson, O.E. 1970. Corporate control and business behavior. Englewoods Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Wu, C.G., & Zhang, R.C., 1992. An analysis of the seemingly high profit in the industry. Posts and Telecommunication Economy, 18: 6–9
Xu, Y. 2000. Fixed-mobile interconnection: The case of China and Hong Kong SAR. Research report for International Telecommunication Union,.
Xu, Y., & Pitt, D.C., & Levine, N. 1998. Competition without privatization: The Chinese path. In S. Macdonald & G. Madden (Eds.), Telecommunication and socioeconomic development: 375–392. London: Elsevier Science
Yang, H.R., & Wu, X.N. 1989. The postal service in new China. Beijing: Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunication Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Xu, Y., Li, H. (2002). From Politics to Markets: A Case Study of Chinese Firms’ Strategic Adaptation. In: Tsui, A.S., Lau, CM. (eds) The Management of Enterprises in the People’s Republic of China. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1095-6_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1095-6_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5392-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1095-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive