Civil service leadership selection in China: historical evolution and current status

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The aim of this paper is to examine the evolution and development of the selection process and methods used by the Chinese government for appointing public officials. Design/methodology/approach -The paper adopts an approach combining literature and document reviews with discussion with field experts. Findings -China has a long history of selecting the most able individuals for government officials. During the political turmoil of the twentieth century, this was abandoned for ideological reasons. Current selection criteria and process are increasingly based on solid psychology and management approaches.Research limitations/implications -This paper is an overview of developments in Chinese government official selection approaches and process. Practical implications -It may serve as a baseline for future research and practice on exploring sound and institutionalized selection methods and processes. Originality/value -This is an initial attempt to explore senior Chinese officials' selection process.

Understanding the indigenous Chinese concept of suzhi (素质) from an HRM perspective

“…The expression "de cai jian be, yi de wei xian (德才兼备, 以德为先)" has defined as the required two-dimensional suzhi, prioritizing "morality/integrity (de)" over "talent/ brilliance (cai)" in selection and appointment processes, at least for government agencies. Indeed, these criteria have been reportedly used by the government since 2011 to guide their cadres' job placement activities and their selection and appointment of government officials (Hu, 2011;Gu et al, 2012). To operationalize these criteria in HRM practice, though, requires the establishment of minimum qualifications or threshold suzhi to establish the dimensions of "de" and "cai" by which a person can be considered qualified for a given position.…”

“…In practice, determining the talent (cai) dimension of the suzhi set for candidates has largely been addressed in recent decades via knowledge testing and psychological assessment which have each seen significant improvement in measurement accuracy (Gu et al, 2012). An important challenge in this case is seen when multiple candidates for the same position pass the screening and enter the "high suzhi area".…”

Indigenous Chinese HRM research: phenomena, methods, and challenges

“…The two departments perform separate functions with one set of staff and different foci. While a few studies have started to reveal the functions of the OD in leadership selection and management development in the literature (Gu et al, 2012;Wang et al, 2009), we know very little about the mechanism and the processes related to HRM. Exploring the OD phenomenon can help better understand executive succession, executive compensation, and factors affecting their performance, as well as executives with dual careers switching between SOE leadership and public administration (Li, 2011).…”

Influence of local governments on the greening of the manufacturing sector: A perspective on environmental governance objectives

“…China adopts a governance system of "centralized political power and decentralized economic and environmental power" to govern the country, and in order to promote economic and social development, all levels of government set future development goals in different plans and programs and promote their implementation by lower levels of government [ 13 ]. L Lower-level governments have strong motivation and willingness to promote the goals of higher-level governments because the leaders of government at the lower levels in China are appointed by the government at the higher level [ [14] , [15] , [16] ]. In most federal countries abroad, the executive head is elected by the public [ 17 , 18 ], and various goals set by local governments are greatly influenced by the population within their jurisdiction.…”