Culture lag in Chinese labour relations: managers’ perceptions and behaviour towards workplace trade unions (2009 - 2014)

ABSTRACT

Over the period of the mid-2000s to 2015, in response to increasing labour disputes and workers’ grievances, China initiated a series of regulatory reforms to promote collective labour relations and enhance workers’ rights. Surprisingly, these reforms were not as successful in limiting the increase in labour disputes as anticipated. To understand this puzzle, the current study goes beyond existing state-union dominated explanations for the problems in Chinese labour relations by examining Chinese managers’ perceptions and behaviour towards trade unions and workplace power-sharing over the years 2009–2014. The qualitative data collected from 21 firms revealed that managers viewed workplace trade unions as submissive assistants, dominated workplace employment decisions, and were not committed to power sharing. This evidence is consistent with the Chinese labour relations literature developed up to the mid-2000s, indicating unchanged managers’ beliefs, attitudes and behaviour in this regard. Drawing on cultural lag theory, this article argues that there exists an authoritarian cultural lag in China’s labour relations system, with managers still managing with their long-established authoritarian mode of thinking and acting against pro-labour changes in the macro environment. The concept of authoritarian cultural lag can assist in understanding why macro level pro-labour reforms have encountered difficulties in improving labour protection.

KEYWORDS:

• China
• cultural lag
• industrial relations
• manager perception
• trade unions

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Adjunct Professor Chris Nyland at Monash University for his suggestions on an earlier draft of this paper. We are also grateful to Professor Craig Phelan and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments that helped us to improve the manuscript. We thank Dr. Peter Mellor for proofreading and editing the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Judith Shuqin Zhu

Judith Shuqin Zhu (Ph.D. Monash University) is a senior lecturer at Newcastle Business School of The University of Newcastle, Australia. Her key research areas include labour relations in China, employer coordination in China, Chinese multinational corporations’ responses to trade unions and employer associations in host countries and human resource management strategy in Chinese multinational corporations. Her publications include contributions to Work, Employment and Society, Human Resource Management (US) and International Journal of Human Resource Management.

Cherrie Jiuhua Zhu (Ph.D. The University of Tasmania) is a professor of management in Monash Business School, Monash University. Her research areas cover cross-culture management, especially human resource management and labour studies; the impact of international business and globalization on emerging economies such as China, on their human resource and labour management policies and practices; and these policies and practices in multinationals in their host country subsidiaries. Her research has appeared in Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Human Resource Management (US), Journal of World Business, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Management International Review, and Journal of Human Resource Management, among others.

Cherrie Jiuhua Zhu

Judith Shuqin Zhu (Ph.D. Monash University) is a senior lecturer at Newcastle Business School of The University of Newcastle, Australia. Her key research areas include labour relations in China, employer coordination in China, Chinese multinational corporations’ responses to trade unions and employer associations in host countries and human resource management strategy in Chinese multinational corporations. Her publications include contributions to Work, Employment and Society, Human Resource Management (US) and International Journal of Human Resource Management.

Cherrie Jiuhua Zhu (Ph.D. The University of Tasmania) is a professor of management in Monash Business School, Monash University. Her research areas cover cross-culture management, especially human resource management and labour studies; the impact of international business and globalization on emerging economies such as China, on their human resource and labour management policies and practices; and these policies and practices in multinationals in their host country subsidiaries. Her research has appeared in Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Human Resource Management (US), Journal of World Business, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Management International Review, and Journal of Human Resource Management, among others.