Historical Development of Chinese Management Reform Practices and the Administrative Behavior Research

Abstract

This study reviews historical development of Chinese administrative behavior research (mainly industrial/oranizational psychology) focusing upon the development of management reform policies that has taken place since the beginning of communist China under Mao in 1949. In China, broad areas relating to I/O psychology are divided into two disciplinary fields, namely managerial psychology and ergonomics. In addition to these academic fields, in early 1980s behavior science was introduced to cover new areas emerging out of business and economic growth. It was found that Chinese studies on administrative behaviors made a remarkable progress in personnel psychology (assessment and selection), leader behaviors (CPM leadership studies), motivation to work and reward systems, decision making and participation, joint venture operations, and engineering psychology and ergonomics. Development of these areas represents increasing modernization of China's management systems, however, further progress in administrative research is to be made to cope with the rapid industrialization facilitated by the socialist market economy policy since 1982. In conclusion, recommendations are made for the needed research areas to help promote the current socialist market economy policy. These areas include studies on 1) development of internal HRD systems, 2) implementation of organizational development programs unique to Chinese traditions, 3) developing decentralized decision making structure in the organization by creating participative leadership, and 4) creating new corporate culture independent of but compatible with Chinese national culture and ideology of socialism.