IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v64y2011i1p74-80.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From hierarchy to hybrid: The evolving nature of inter-firm governance in China's automobile groups

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Yue
  • Tanaka, Akira

Abstract

Despite the rapid growth of automobile industry in China, much remains to be known about the governance structure especially the inter-firm relationship within the Chinese automobile groups. Against China's changing institutional environment and compared to the established knowledge on automobile group governance in Japan, this study provides a case analysis of the evolving nature of inter-firm relationship in one of China's major automobile groups, Tianjin Automotive Group (TAG). A top-down hierarchical administration characterizes the inter-firm relationship in TAG before 1999 due to the heavy influence of the old institutional arrangement. Over time, especially entering 2000, weakening institutional ties between the state and TAG forced the group to be more responsive to market changes and to systematically learn Japanese-style supplier management from a joint venture with Toyota Group. The paper provides rare insights into the evolution of governance structure among the emerging Chinese automobile groups and extends the institution-based view of strategy into the studies of inter-firm relationship in automobile industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Yue & Tanaka, Akira, 2011. "From hierarchy to hybrid: The evolving nature of inter-firm governance in China's automobile groups," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 74-80, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:64:y:2011:i:1:p:74-80
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148-2963(09)00315-4
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Williamson, Oliver E, 1979. "Transaction-Cost Economics: The Governance of Contractural Relations," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(2), pages 233-261, October.
    2. J McGuire & S Dow, 2003. "The persistence and implications of Japanese keiretsu organization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 34(4), pages 374-388, July.
    3. Asanuma, Banri, 1989. "Manufacturer-supplier relationships in Japan and the concept of relation-specific skill," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 1-30, March.
    4. Douglass C. North, 1991. "Institutions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 97-112, Winter.
    5. Tsuyoshi Numagami, 1998. "Perspective—The Infeasibility of Invariant Laws in Management Studies: A Reflective Dialogue in Defense of Case Studies," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(1), pages 1-15, February.
    6. Mike Peng, 2005. "Perspectives—From China Strategy to Global Strategy," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 123-141, June.
    7. Christina L. Ahmadjian & James R. Lincoln, 2001. "Keiretsu, Governance, and Learning: Case Studies in Change from the Japanese Automotive Industry," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(6), pages 683-701, December.
    8. Max Boisot & Marshall W. Meyer, 2008. "Which Way through the Open Door? Reflections on the Internationalization of Chinese Firms," Management and Organization Review, The International Association for Chinese Management Research, vol. 4(3), pages 349-365, November.
    9. Boisot, Max & Meyer, Marshall W., 2008. "Which Way through the Open Door? Reflections on the Internationalization of Chinese Firms," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(3), pages 349-365, November.
    10. Hemmert, Martin, 1999. "'Intermediate Organization' Revisited: A Framework for the Vertical Division of Labor in Manufacturing and the Case of the Japanese Assembly Industries," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 8(3), pages 487-517, September.
    11. Klaus E Meyer, 2007. "Contextualising organisational learning: Lyles and Salk in the context of their research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(1), pages 27-37, January.
    12. Dubois, Anna & Gadde, Lars-Erik, 2002. "Systematic combining: an abductive approach to case research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(7), pages 553-560, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gupeng Zhang & Jiancheng Guan & Xielin Liu, 2014. "The impact of small world on patent productivity in China," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(2), pages 945-960, February.
    2. Tu LYU & Xiangfeng JI, 2020. "A Meta-Analysis on the Impact of Social Capital on Firm Performance in China’s Transition Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-19, March.
    3. Wei, Li-Qun & Ling, Yan, 2015. "CEO characteristics and corporate entrepreneurship in transition economies: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1157-1165.
    4. Liu, Yi & Zhang, Hengyuan & Chen, Daniel Q., 2024. "On the economic implications of international travel restrictions: Evidence from Chinese MNEs’ firm value," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    5. Burström, Thommie & Wilson, Timothy L. & Wincent, Joakim, 2020. "Dynamics of after-sales managers’ strategizing work: What, why and how," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 119-131.
    6. Wang, Lei & Jiang, Fuming & Li, Jun & Motohashi, Kazuyuki & Zheng, Xiaosong, 2019. "The contingent effects of asset specificity, contract specificity, and trust on offshore relationship performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 338-349.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chan, Jin Hooi & Reiner, David, 2019. "Evolution in inter-firm governance along the transport biofuel value chain in Maritime Silk Road countries," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 268-282.
    2. Wang, Chengqi & Hong, Junjie & Kafouros, Mario & Boateng, Agyenim, 2012. "What drives outward FDI of Chinese firms? Testing the explanatory power of three theoretical frameworks," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 425-438.
    3. Carney, Michael & Dieleman, Marleen & Taussig, Markus, 2016. "How are institutional capabilities transferred across borders?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 882-894.
    4. Lin, Yue, 2015. "Firm heterogeneity and location choice of Chinese firms in Latin America and the Caribbean: Corporate ownership, strategic motives and host country institutions," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 274-292.
    5. Matsushima, Noriaki & Mizuno, Tomomichi, 2013. "Vertical separation as a defense against strong suppliers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 228(1), pages 208-216.
    6. Akira Takeishi & Yoshihisa Noro, 2017. "Keiretsu Divergence in the Japanese Automotive Industry," Working Papers hal-02952225, HAL.
    7. Katsuki Aoki & Miriam Wilhelm, 2017. "The Role of Ambidexterity in Managing Buyer–Supplier Relationships: The Toyota Case," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(6), pages 1080-1097, December.
    8. Vissak, Tiia & Francioni, Barbara & Freeman, Susan, 2020. "Foreign market entries, exits and re-entries: The role of knowledge, network relationships and decision-making logic," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1).
    9. Chan, Chui Shiam & Pattnaik, Chinmay, 2021. "Coevolution of home country support and internationalization of emerging market firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(4).
    10. Fathallah, Ramzi & Carney, Michael, 2024. "The business family as an institutional arbitrageur: Internationalization across institutional contexts," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 59(2).
    11. Qiliang Mao & Xianzhuang Mao, 2021. "Cultural barriers, institutional distance, and spatial spillovers: Evidence from regional industrial evolution in China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 1440-1481, September.
    12. Banterle, Alessandro & Stranieri, Stefanella, 2008. "The consequences of voluntary traceability system for supply chain relationships. An application of transaction cost economics," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 560-569, December.
    13. Göller, Daniel & Stremitzer, Alexander, 2014. "Breach remedies inducing hybrid investments," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 26-38.
    14. Gloria Ge & Hugh Wang, 2013. "The impact of network relationships on internationalization process: An empirical study of Chinese private enterprises," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 1169-1189, December.
    15. Shih-Chang Hung & Yung-Ching Tseng, 2017. "Extending the LLL framework through an institution-based view: Acer as a dragon multinational," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 799-821, December.
    16. Liu, Yulong & Yu, Yang, 2018. "Institutions, firm resources and the foreign establishment mode choices of Chinese firms: The moderating role of home regional institutional development," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 111-121.
    17. Khanindra Ch. Das, 2013. "Home Country Determinants of Outward FDI from Developing Countries," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 7(1), pages 93-116, February.
    18. Oliver Gürtler, 2010. "Haggling for Rents, Relational Contracts, and the Theory of the Firm," Schmalenbach Business Review (sbr), LMU Munich School of Management, vol. 62(4), pages 359-377, October.
    19. Svetlana Ledyaeva & Päivi Karhunen & Riitta Kosonen & John Whalley, 2015. "Offshore Foreign Direct Investment, Capital Round-Tripping, and Corruption: Empirical Analysis of Russian Regions," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 91(3), pages 305-341, July.
    20. Lixin Zhou & Yan Han & Chaoli Gou, 2019. "Influence of Family Involvement on Family Firm Internationalization: The Moderating Effects of Industrial and Institutional Environments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-17, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:64:y:2011:i:1:p:74-80. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.