China in Central Asia: Geopolitical, Economic, and Sociocultural Vectors of Influence

Utilizing the Chinese Diaspora by Russian Firms: Capabilities and Legitimacy Implications

“…Hence, a growing interest in Russia to pursue business relations with Asia, especially China, a trend further facilitated by common political past, historic cooperation, and relative cultural and institutional similarity between the two countries. Second, our case provides a glimpse into the ways in which China is trying to increase its influence in the worldnot only through geopolitical and economic prowess but also through 'soft power'by spreading its culture, values, language, products, and management practices (Latukha & Veselova, 2019;Ryazantsev et al, 2019). Our case is an example of what political scientists have observed recentlythat rightly or wrongly, many countries, especially those with a communist/socialist past, like Russia, are increasingly forming positive views of the Chinese political-economic model and trying to emulate it (Eurasia Group, 2019).…”

“…Outward migration from China has been accelerated even more by recent economic reform and openness policies in the country. Not only has it become more possible for Chinese citizens to travel and immigrate abroad, but the authorities have deliberately sought to leverage the diaspora contingency worldwide for the purposes of the country's modernization and international influence (Boldurukova, 2015;Priebe & Rudolf, 2015;Ryazantsev, Vazirov, Pismennaya, & Delovarova, 2019). In the last 15-20 years, Chinese firms have developed impressive technological and organizational capabilities paving the way for their positioning in the world economy and contributing to rising global innovativeness and competitiveness of the country at #14 and #28 worldwide, respectively (Child & Rodrigues, 2005;Global Competitiveness Report, 2019;Global Innovation Index, 2020;UNCTAD, 2019;Yeung & Liu, 2008).…”

“…The same positive attitudes extend to Chinese products and businesses. Chinese restaurants, language schools, traditional medicine centers, and shops with China-specific products are growing and becoming increasingly popular in the Russian market (Ryazantsev et al, 2019). China's 'go out' 'soft power' policy aimed at spreading its culture, values, language, products, and overall influence around the world (Ryazantsev et al, 2019) seems to have worked in Russia.…”

“…Culture-oriented DIs, such as Confucius institutes, can also play a role in this process. Currently, there are 24 Confucius centers in Russia (Ryazantsev et al, 2019) that provide cross-cultural and language training and can be used as an additional resource for Russian companies to develop the global capabilities of their employees. Third, engaging with the diaspora provides Russian firms with valuable network access, which can be leveraged to influence the perceptions of key legitimating actors in China (e.g., business partners, customers, government entities) about the focal firm.…”

“…Moral legitimacy is a judgment of whether a company does ‘the right thing’ with regard to outputs and consequences (e.g., standards, quality, and safety), systems and processes, firm structures, and company's leaders and official representatives (Scott & Meyer, 1991; Suchman, 1995). It is affected by the organization's human capital, leadership characteristics, managerial experience, ability to adopt established standards and procedures, and governance, for example dispersed ownership (Deeds, Mang, & Frandsen, 2004; Delmar & Shane, 2004; Rutherford, Mazzei, Oswald, & Jones-Farmer, 2018; Tornikoski & Newbert, 2007). Cognitive legitimacy reflects the taken-for-grantedness (i.e., ‘this is what we do here’), comprehensibility, understandability, and plausibility of an organization's actions (Suchman, 1995).…”