The Sino-Japanese War and the Formation of the State Enterprise System in China: A Case Study of the Dadukou Iron and Steel Works, 1938–1945

Bian, Morris L.

doi:10.1017/s1467222700005607

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The memory and learned experiences of past management practices were unlikely to have disappeared over night. Recent studies of the origin of the danewi identify its precursors in private‐, Nationalist‐ and Communist‐run enterprises of the 1930s and 1940s (Lü and Perry, 1997; Bian, 2002; Frazier, 2002). After all, even Lenin was a fan of Taylor – Soviet planning took lessons from Taylorism (Merkle, 1980, pp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transfer of Taylorist ideas to China, 1910‐1930s

Morgan

2006

Journal of Management History

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PurposeManagement is a “hot field” in China, yet little has been written in English about the history of management in China. Contrary to contemporary management literature, the paper aims to show that Chinese entrepreneurs and managers were exposed to modern management ideas from the early twentieth century. The paper is an initial exploration of the transfer of managerial knowledge to China, especially Scientific Management, during the interwar period.Design/methodology/approachDraws on Chinese journal articles and books from 1910‐1930s, supplemented with archive materials and secondary sources in Chinese and English.FindingsChinese industrialists, officials and academics were attracted to Taylor's ideas of scientific management during the 1920s and 1930s, which were experimented with on a wider scale than is commonly realized. The interest in “new” management extended beyond industrialists and industry officials to reportage in the popular press.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should consider first how new ideas about management and organization were implemented on the shopfloor in individual Chinese enterprises, and second examine the role of social networks constituted by native place, industry ties and professional association membership in the diffusion of managerial ideas among the Chinese business elite of the period.Originality/valueThe paper shows that the transfer to China of modern management as an ideas system was not a recent phenomenon, but part of a century‐long process of transfer and adaptation of western management theory and practice.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transfer of Taylorist ideas to China, 1910‐1930s

Morgan

2006

Journal of Management History

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“…According to Bian, the defining characteristics of China's state-owned enterprises include bureaucratic governance structure, distinctive management and incentive mechanisms, and the provision of social services and welfare. 108 When, how, and why did such an institutional pattern of China's state-owned enterprise take shape? Although studies of Chinese economic institutions abound, until recently none explicitly addressed this question.…”

Section: State Owned Industries and The (Central) State Enterprise Symentioning

confidence: 99%

Interpreting Enterprise, State, and Society: A Critical Review of the Literature in Modern Chinese Business History, 1978–2008

Bian

2011

Frontiers Hist China

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This article offers a critical review of literature in the area of modern Chinese business history from 1978 to 2008. It focuses on four interconnected topics: (1) the evolution of industrial capitalism, (2) the adoption of corporate hierarchies and/or social networks, (3) the change of financial institutions and monetary system, and (4) the development of state-owned industries and the formation of the (central) state enterprise system. The review reveals not only significant growth of the field of modern Chinese business history over the last three decades but also the existence of major gaps. The article concludes by considering the implications of its findings for understanding the political economy of business enterprises and enterprise systems in different national and historical contexts.

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“…[Tongji changshi, 1945: 7] In fact, political, economic, and administrative organizations not only were designated as danwei during the early 1940s, but they had already developed some of the defining characteristics of the post-1949 danwei, including a bureaucratic organizational structure, reliance on psychological incentives, and the lifetime provision of services and welfare. For example, during the Sino-Japanese War, the DISW created a bureaucratic governance structure, established distinct mechanisms for management and incentives, and provided social services and welfare for its employees (Bian, 2002).…”

Section: Meanings and Implications Of Wartime Guomindang Institutionamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, only recently have scholars begun to fully understand the war's profound impact on China as they illuminate how the war brought fundamental social, economic, and cultural changes; left a deep imprint on Chinese capitalism; and gave rise to the state enterprise system (Esherick, 2001;Bian, 2002;Coble, 2003). In what follows, I contribute to this ongoing discussion by demonstrating that the war also witnessed the most intensive activities of Guomindang state building.…”

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confidence: 99%

Building State Structure

Bian

2005

Modern China

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This article examines Guomindang institutional rationalization during the Sino-Japanese War and its implications. The author argues that the war witnessed the most intensive Guomindang efforts of state building characterized by rationalization of state institutions. Drawing intellectual resources from theories of public administration in the United States, the Guomindang pushed for institutional rationalization by implementing a three-in-one administrative system through the integration of planning, execution, and assessment. The Guomindang succeeded in creating institutions of central planning and assessment and increased the rationalization of state institutions but failed to achieve the level of administrative efficiency it had hoped for. Guomindang institutional rationalization contributed to the Guomindang's and the Communists' recognition of the desirability of central planning and a planned economic system. It also began the process of designating political, economic, and administrative organizations as danwei.Scholars of modern China have long appreciated the critical importance of the Sino-Japanese War in key historical developments. As many studies have shown, the war fostered the development of Chinese nationalism, hastened the collapse of the Guomindang regime,

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The Sino-Japanese War and the Formation of the State Enterprise System in China: A Case Study of the Dadukou Iron and Steel Works, 1938–1945

Cited by 5 publications

References 12 publications

Transfer of Taylorist ideas to China, 1910‐1930s

Transfer of Taylorist ideas to China, 1910‐1930s

Interpreting Enterprise, State, and Society: A Critical Review of the Literature in Modern Chinese Business History, 1978–2008

Building State Structure

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