ECONOMIC REFORM IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA: IMPLICATIONS FOR OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT TEACHING AND RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS

摘要

This tutorial session will provide background information of interest to teachers and researchers working today with organizations and enterprises in the People's Republic of China. Since the beginning of economic reforms, there have been substantial changes in the strategic management of China's manufacturing and commercial enterprises. These changes are most evident in the coastal areas and, in particular, in and around Special Economic Zones. As China prepares for entry into the World Trade Organization there is increasing pressure on the country's enterprises to move towards international standards of business and management practice. However, particularly at the operational level within Chinese enterprises, there are substantial number of cadres whose fundamental training and education was accomplished before the reforms. The result is often managerial and procedural habits and practices, which are unfamiliar to outside observers. This session will trace the evolution of the Industrial Policies of the People's Republic of China from the end of the Mao Zhedong Era through the period of Deng Xiaoping's influence, to the situation under President Zhang Zemin. Beginning with an explanation of the system as it worked before promulgation of the Economic Reforms, specific policies will be described, as well as their impact on the day-to-day operations of factories and other commercial ventures. Until Deng Xiapong Theory became the theme of its Industrial Policy, The People's Republic of China (PRC) was a "Marxist-Leninist-Socialist-Centrally-Planned Economy". From the mid-1950's until the early 1980's, all of the PRC's industrial and commercial output was organized and controlled accordingly. Since "Seek Truth From Facts" and "Build Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" have become watchwords for industry and commerce, important reforms have been announced and implementation has begun. While these changes are by no means complete - nor are they completely defined - they have already had a substantial impact on the operations of China's manufacturing and commercial organizations. While there is considerable publicity about enterprises such as JVs (Joint Ventures) and WOFEs (Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprises), thousands of SOEs (State-Owned Enterprises) remain. Several hundred are profitable; most are in critical condition. In JVs and WOFEs, the workforce was brought up under a system of direction and control radically different from common practice outside the PRC and the previous USSR. This has implications for foreign owners and managers today; it also has an impact on effective design and execution of teaching and research within the PRC. Professors Sprague and Fischer have lived and worked in the People's Republic of Chine since 1980 when they were Founding Professors at the National Center for Industrial Science and Technology Management Development (at Dalian). Professor Sprague is a member of the Core Faculty of the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai where she serves as Faculty Advisor for Case Development; she is also Professor of Operations Management at the Whittemore Scholl of Business and Economics, University of New Hampshire. Professor Fischer was previously President and Dean of the China Europe International Business School; he is Professor of Operations Management at IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland.