The Unique Value of Yin-Yang Balancing: A Critical Response

Balancing Formality and Informality in Business Exchanges as a Duality: A Comparative Case Study of Returnee and Local Entrepreneurs in China

“…Contrary to the Western 'either/or' logic, this unique pattern is rooted in the traditional Chinese philosophy of asymmetrical balancing, the first operating mechanism of Yin-Yang balancing (Li, 2012b(Li, , 2014. It posits that the opposite elements are partially conflicting for partial tradeoff and partially complementary for partial synergy (相生相克 in Chinese).…”

“…This shift implies that the institutional transition toward a rule-based economy pushed local firms to adopt formal elements as their dominant approach. The dynamic capability of Chinese entrepreneurs in reacting to the institutional environment flexibly and shifting between formal and informal elements effortlessly is rooted in the Chinese philosophy of transitional balancing, the second operating mechanism of Yin-Yang balancing (Li, 2012b(Li, , 2014. This operating mechanism is based on the same principle of having both partial tradeoff and partial synergy as the inner source of mutual transitions, which are often triggered by the dramatic changes in the external context.…”

“…Therefore, they must adopt an asymmetrical pattern to maximize their partial synergy and minimize their partial tradeoff. The rationale for asymmetrical balancing is that opposite elements tend to be more complementary and less conflicting when one element is more dominant than the other; in contrast, opposite elements tend to be more conflicting and less complementary when both elements are equally dominant (Li, 2014).…”

“…In other words, the formality-informality link is both conflicting and complementary in all aspects and at all times because, like all pairs of opposite elements, it should be taken as a duality (defined as opposites-in-unity for partial synergy and partial tradeoff, or 相生相克 in Chinese) in need of holistic and dynamic balances. This fundamental insight is rooted in the Yin-Yang balance (Fang, 2012;Jing & Van de Ven, 2014;Li, 2008Li, , 2012aLi, , 2012bLi, , 2014.…”

The emerging research on indigenous management in Asia

“…However, we must remind everyone that the Bindigenization-from-within approach^is still necessary to develop relevant indigenous theories before we can effectively engage in Bcross-indigenization geocentric approach^to developing geocentric theories (e.g., Li, 2006Li, , 2014Lin et al, 2015). Further, the quantitative methods and mixed methods could be used in the future to test the validity of those indigenous theories that are newly developed in the qualitative studies.…”