Organization and action in a Chinese state-owned service intermediary: the case of Sinotrans

摘要

Thompson's (1967) framework is regarded as one of the classic work for analysing organizations in the West. This paper analyses organizational changes in Sinotrans utilizing a longitudinal case study to examine whether Thompson's framework is valid for understanding firms in a transitional economy. As a Chinese state-owned service intermediary, Sinotrans faces uncertainty arising from political interference from government and party institutions. Over time it has faced increasing market pressure, which has caused it to attempt to close off its technical core by short run strategies that have frequently then been reversed. Thompson's (1967) framework proves to be an excellent means of capturing the dynamics of Sinotrans' actions by focusing on the changing types of uncertainty with which the managers in Sinotrans have attempted to cope.