A Case Study of Organisational Culture and Ideological Issues in a Joint Venture in China

Abstract

This study utilises interviews to investigate issues within a joint venture (JV) in China. The findings demonstrate that the organisational culture of this JV was dominated by its former state-owned enterprise (SOE) culture. The culture was influenced by Chinese culture, particularly by Maoist ideology. This organisational culture appeared not to be compatible with the liberalist ideology of the capitalist market economy. This incompatibility had contributed to management difficulties and financial losses for the JV. Discontent existed between the Chinese staff/workers and Western expatriates. Changing the organisational culture by changing staff may assist the JV to survive in the market economy.

Learning mechanisms in a technology based organisational change programme: an exploratory study between Chinese and Norwegian corporations

“…Chinese culture can be attributed as large power distance and relatively low uncertainty avoidance, and it is still rather collectivistic (Fan and Xiao, 2003;Hofstede, 1991;Jiang, 2001;Yukl et al, 2003). Norwegian culture is characterised by small power distance, medium to low uncertainty avoidance and individualism.…”

Fostering Entrepreneurship in China: A Survey of the Economic Literature

“…History, culture, and ideology have played a role in shaping the government attitude and a more or less entrepreneur‐friendly political environment (Tan, 2002). However, in the case of China, notwithstanding ideological frictions (Jiang, 2001), other important factors have contributed positively to entrepreneurial initiatives, including Confucianism, historical inheritance, and a long tradition of trading (Zheng, 2002; Laulusa, 2008; Lu and Tao, 2010; Ma and Cheng, 2010; Li, 2013; Spalaore and Wacziarg, 2013). Strangely enough, the dominant economic theories in the twentieth century have also generally contributed to undermine a favorable attitude with respect to entrepreneurship.…”