Economic reform, ownership change and human resource management in formerly state-owned enterprises in the People's Republic of China: A case-study approach
Affiliations: [a] Department of Management and Marketing, University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia | [b] Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK | [c] School of Philosophy and Sociology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Ying Zhu, Department of Management and Marketing, University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia. Tel.: +61 3 83449771; Fax: +61 3 93494293; E-mail: y.zhu@unimelb.edu.au
Abstract: At the macro-level, economic reform in the PRC since 1978 has led to the implementation of a multi-ownership system. The consequent transformation of Chinese formerly state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has been a major way of improving efficiency and increasing competition. However, the restructuring process has been almost always accompanied by controversy, particularly vis a vis a balance between improving efficiency and competitiveness of businesses on the one hand, and developing harmonious labour-management relations on the other. This article exemplifies the evolution of SOEs from a human resource management (HRM) perspective by using a case-study approach with three illustrative examples of SOE transformation. Our main finding is that there was no ‘one-size-fits-all' solution to SOE reform and that there were alternative ‘strategic choices' vis a vis both ownership form, as well as HRM.
