The Nature of Managerial Work in the Chinese Enterprise Reforms. A Study of Six Directors

Abstract

This paper applies a conceptual framework, developed by Boisot (1986), to an analysis of the behaviour of Chinese enterprise managers. In a replication of Mintzberg's 1973 study of US managers, six Chinese enterprise directors were time studied over a period of six days, and the findings analyzed using the framework. It appears that although Chinese enterprise managers in the sample share many behavioural characteristics with their US counterparts, they do so in an institu tional setting that places a different construction on their behaviour. In particular, the analysis suggests that the Chinese firm is not available to them as an extension of their managerial prerogative and, if anything, is institutionally designed to constrain it. In such a setting, opportunistic behaviour expresses a personal survival strategy rather than a quest for personal gain.