ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the effects of economic reforms in China on the management of production. Modernization, decentralization of decision making and increased foreign investment are seen as being major imperatives to change in the technologies, production methods and management practices employed in manufacture. It explores the extent to which contemporary Western operations management theory explains management practice in Chinese enterprises. The main conclusion is that Western management literature and analytical frameworks only provide a partial explanation of manufacturing management practice in China. The context of production within Chinese organizations and society in general is very important in order that the constraints impinging upon manufacturing decisions might be identified, and possibly removed. Further empirical studies at the factory level are therefore required in order that we might better understand the process of manufacturing decision making within the modern Chinese enterprise.
