Studies On Corporate Culture Of Private Enterprises In China:the Case Of SD Corporation

Apart from favorable political, social and economical conditions, good governance also contributes to the booming of private enterprises in China since the reform and opening up. Undoubtedly, corporate culture constitutes crucial element of good governance. Both researchers in the academia and practitioners in business realize that appropriate corporate culture is one of the key explanatory factors for competitiveness. Based on the case study of SD Corporation, this paper aims to unpack and analyze the distinguished culture in private enterprises in mainland China and explore potential problems and possible solutions.This research takes divers analytical tools, such as case study, random sampling (with105respondents), descriptive statistics, and in-depth interview. This study also heavily rely on second-hand data, including laws and regulations, policy documents, company reports, investigation reports, and other archives.It is found that nearly more than half employees in SD Corporation hold positive attitudes towards five dimensions of corporation culture:career development of employees, harmony of interpersonal relationship, customer-orientated service, social responsibility, and innovation. At each dimension, the range of score is from one to five. The higher the score, the more positive the dimension is and the more largely accepted among members corporation culture. We find that the average score of career development of employees is30.73, and both emphasis on team building and encouraging cooperation above4.0; the average score of each sub-dimension of customer-orientated service is from4.14to4.28; the performance range of social responsibility is from3.88to3.94; average scores of the first three sub-dimensions of innovation are all above4.0. It is reasonable to conclude that five dimensions of corporation culture of SD are largely recognized and accepted by employees.The positive culture partly explains the relative success of this company. However, the statistics also finds that employees’ perception of corporation culture varies with position, education level, age, and working seniority.Problems of SD are evident. First, this company is characterized by family business and nepotism. Second, it overemphasizes hierarchy and depresses rank and file. Third, it lacks institutionalization and rationalization in many aspects of management. Last but not least, it is deeply embedded in networking with government officials. Finally, this paper provides possible solutions for problems mentioned above. First, SD needs to thoroughly practice people-centered development idea; second, it should cultivate harmonious spirit in the corporation; third, customer-oriented services shall be enhanced; fourth, establishing institutions that encourages innovation is really essential; last but not least, human resources management shall be based on the principle of fairness.