ABSTRACT
As illustrated in Chapter 2, China has undertaken substantial reform of its economy since 1978 (see also Webber et al. 2002). The transformation of Chinese management structure and systems (Huang 1996) is closely related to wider market forces and reflects both greater globalization and market-orientation (Warner et al. 2005). The Chinese government claims that the transition to a market economy has been special and distinctive (see former Chinese President Jiang Zemin’s speech on the definition of a ‘socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics’, Beijing Review, 23-29 August 1993 and 12-18 July 1993). In such a transition the new management system will have both general and particular characteristics that mark its evolution (Warner et al. 2005).
