The development of entrepreneurship in Chinese communities: An organizational symbiosis perspective

Abstract

Why has the rate of entrepreneurship gone down in Singapore? Why is entrepreneurship in Southern China (e.g., Guangdong or Fujian provinces) relatively higher than the rest of China? Why is corruption rampant in some Chinese business communities but virtually nonexistent in others? Although we often speak of "Chinese entrepreneurship" as a monolithic entity, the fact is that there are many variants of Chinese entrepreneurship and these variants continue to rapidly evolve and take on new forms. Yet mainstream management theory has been at a loss to explain these high rates of variation and evolution. To shed light on these issues, we introduce the idea of symbiosis from biology and adapt it to the development of entrepreneurship in Chinese ethnic communities. Symbiosis is the science of how different organisms coexist with each other in a self-sustaining system. Using this approach, we develop six propositions to explain what types of entrepreneurship are likely to evolve in different Chinese ethnic communities and how this process of evolution is likely to proceed. The implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

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“…In this context, trust can be defined as the degree to which a trustor believes in the goodwill and reliability of the trustee in a risky exchange situation (Das and Teng 1998), which is a determinant of relationship quality (Moorman et al 1992). Some authors show that trust influences the formation of strategic alliances or ventures (Gulati and Westphal 1999;Parkhe 1993), while others argue that it should function as a major positive force in partner cooperation by reducing uncertainty and risk in symbiotic relations (Li et al 2010). Trust can also help to create competitive advantages for partners because it lowers transaction costs and leads to better information-sharing routines (Das and Teng 1998;Fukuyama 1995;Kanter 1994;Kumar 1996;Lane and Bachmann 1996;Ring and Van de Ven 1992).…”

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