An Analysis On The Transformation Of Development Paradigm For Chinese Oil Industry In The Perspective Of Organizational Sociology (1988-2008)

With the development of Chinese market-oriented innovation policy and the gradual embedding into global economy and production system for Chinese economy since the late of 1980s, China's main big state owned industries such as Steel industry, Auto industry, Oil industry, Telecom industry and so on which are tightly related to national finance and the fundamental social life of common people began to have a gradual industrial change in order to be in lines with the requirement of marketization and globalization. As a typical case, the shift of Chinese Oil industry development paradigm reflected the market-oriented transformation of Chinese economic system since the start of the opening and innovation policy and the globalized development of Chinese economy.As one kind of grand phenomenon of organizational and institutional change, the development paradigm of Chinese Oil industry during 1988 and 2008 had a great transformation which can be described as a shift from the pattern of so called "Closed-Administrative" before 1998 to the one of so called "Opened-Marketization" after 1998. This kind of industrial paradigm transformation has four dimensions. The first one is the evolution of pricing mechanism of oil and oil products which can be generalized as the change from governmental planned or administrative pricing system to the market-oriented pricing system especially a pricing mechanism which is in lines with global oil market; The second dimension is the change of the organizational format or the governance structure of national oil companies from "national administrative unit" to "modern enterprise"; The third matter is that the market participation or market competition structure had a transformation from local-limited competition which was under the monopoly of central government to the format of Oligopoly or multi-level competition in which the state owned oil companies took a monopoly advantage; The fourth important change means a shift of international cooperation strategy from "Introducing-in" policy which aims at attracting foreign capitals and technology to "Going-out" policy which aims at outputting capitals and technology.On how to explain industry development and its evolution, the existed studies has formed three types of interpretation perspectives or approaches. They are the marketism interpretation perspective which is represented by neo-classic industry theories, Institutionalism theoretic perspective which is represented by historical institutionalism school and organizational institutionalism school in economic Sociology, and the perspective of networkism which is represented by the theories of networks and social capital. These three types of interpretation perspectives which have a transparent inclination of structuralism take market mechanism, government and its institution construction, industry network and social capital as the core mechanism on understanding industry development respectively.To be different from the existed interpretation perspectives, this research attempts to introduce the strategy analysis of Organizational Sociology into our industry analysis. And we will regard the transformation of industrial development paradigm as one kind of special phenomenon of organizational and institutional evolution. We hope to find the deeply seated structure or dynamics of this organizational and institutional change through the way of describing or outlining the power relationship or power games which are constructed by different actors on particular issues or matters. Concerning the transformation of development paradigm of Chinese oil industry, the change of special industrial system and organizing mechanism in the formal level has never simply followed the formal logic of organization or institution for example market, institution or network. On the contrary, around the particular matters of paradigm transformation of Chinese oil industry, the particular power games or strategic games which are constructed by different actors who have their own acting abilities and critical resources would be the real deeply seated dynamics of the paradigm transformation of Chinese oil industry. In other words, this kind of industry development paradigm transformation would probably adhere more to the logic of so called "Power relationship" or "Power game". Through the deeply survey on the evolution of market pricing mechanism, organization format, market participation and international cooperation of Chinese oil industry during 1988 and 2008, especially the intricate outlining on relative power game and its organizational environment, actors' abilities and their key resources, actors' strategies, this research found that except for the influences of market, government and its institution construction, networks and social capital which as surface layer structures or formal mechanism, the transformation of development paradigm of Chinese oil industry would be deeply more influenced or shaped by the mechanism of power game in the practical action realm. We can say that this kind of complicated Power relationship or Power game is the real deeply seated dynamics of the paradigm transformation for Chinese oil industry.