The Data Frontier: Expanding Empirical Horizons in Chinese Management Research

Lori Qingyuan Yue, Mia Raynard

Abstract
This editorial examines the empirical foundations of Chinese management research through an analysis of data sources and research designs in all empirical papers published in Management and Organization Review (MOR) over the past five years. Our review shows that 53.2% of studies rely on archival or secondary data, with 37% of quantitative studies focusing on publicly listed firms. While established datasets provide consistency and comparability, their prevalence may limit opportunities to explore China’s diverse organizational ecosystem. We identify three promising avenues for advancing the field: (1) expanding empirical attention to include a wider variety of organizational forms, (2) leveraging emerging computational methods, digital trace data, and AI-enabled technologies, and (3) recognizing the development of novel datasets as valuable scholarly contributions in their own right. We also examine how recent regulatory developments are creating new considerations for research design while reinforcing the value of collaborative approaches between international and Chinese scholars. We contend that by embracing methodological pluralism and adapting to evolving data landscapes, management scholars can generate additional novel insights that illuminate the complexity and distinctiveness of Chinese organizational life.

Keywords
Chinese management, data regulation, data sources, digital data, research design, research methods

Managing Intellectual Property in China: A Multidisciplinary Review and Recommendations for Future Research

Jiayue Sun, Shixiang Wang, Minyuan Zhao

Abstract
Despite extensive media coverage on issues related to intellectual property (IP) in China, the academic literature on this topic has been sporadic. Two factors might be at play here. One is the multifaceted nature of IP: as IP is a legal asset with significant implications for firm performance and social welfare, the literature is scattered in various disciplines such as law, economics, strategy, and political science. The other is the unique institutional environment in China: policy-driven investments in IP have resulted in the decoupling of IP as a value appropriation mechanism in market competition and IP as a nonmarket strategy to engage with regulators. This review aims to bring the multiple streams of literature into a structured framework, with a side-by-side comparison with research based in developed countries, mostly in the US. Building on the combined research streams, we then recommend avenues of future research that can potentially speak to a broad audience in innovation, competition, and nonmarket strategies.

Keywords
institutional environment, intellectual property, IP strategy, nonmarket strategy, value appropriation

Cross-Functional Coordination, Status–Authority Asymmetry, and Contingent Exploitation of Digital Technology

Xiao-Yun Xie, Chencan Ye, Qiongjing Hu, Wei He, Haibin Dai

Abstract
Cross-functional coordination is common in contemporary work and requires professionals with different expertise and roles to cooperate to complete tasks. However, conflicts can exist between functions. This study focuses on a specific factor that impedes cross-functional coordination – status–authority asymmetry, where professionals with lower status are assigned functional authority to supervise higher-status professionals and demand their compliance with particular processes or tasks. The existing literature suggests strategies for the low-status group to elicit the high-status group’s compliance; however, neither approach is cost-effective. We identify new opportunities in the digital age and investigate how low-status professionals can utilize digital technology to improve cross-functional coordination. We conducted a 17-month ethnographic study in a Chinese hospital to determine how low-status pharmacists obtain compliance from high-status doctors in the prescription review process. We propose that contingent exploitation (i.e., strategically restricted utilization of digital technology) is an effective strategy to achieve the low-status function’s purposes. Through strategic configuration of process streamlining, knowledge imprinting, and compliance enforcement, the low-status group can exert functional authority without evoking fierce resistance from the high-status group. This study contributes to the literature on cross-functional coordination and extends our understanding of technological adaptation in a cross-functional context.

Keywords
cross-functional coordination, ethnography, healthcare, status–authority asymmetry, technological adaptation

Things We Do, Costs We Yet Don’t Know: Social Sharing as a Catalyst of Service Sabotage

Erica Xu, Kan Ouyang, Xu Huang, Jason D. Shaw, Long W. Lam

Abstract
Building on recent advancements in moral disengagement theory and shared reality theory, we propose that employees do not need to directly experience frequent customer mistreatment to trigger their moral disengagement. Specifically, when employees frequently share their mistreatment experiences with coworkers, even infrequent instances of customer mistreatment can evoke heightened levels of moral disengagement. Conversely, when social sharing occurs less frequently, infrequent instances of customer mistreatment are associated with lower levels of moral disengagement, while more frequent customer mistreatment is linked to higher levels of moral disengagement, which then positively relates to service sabotage, indicating a positive indirect effect of the frequency of customer mistreatment on service sabotage through moral disengagement. Results from two independent time-lagged studies involving samples of call center employees (Sample 1 of Study 1), casino cage cashiers (Sample 2 of Study 1), and service representatives (Study 2) recruited from an online research platform, lend support to our propositions.

Keywords
customer mistreatment, moral disengagement, service sabotage, shared reality theory, social sharing

Superstition and Corporate Philanthropy: Evidence from Chinese Zodiac Year Belief

Lin Zhang, Guo Zhang, Chenlv Zeng, Honghui Chen

Abstract
Superstitions are unproven beliefs that shape decision-making. While many studies have examined their influence on corporate financial decisions, few have addressed their impact on corporate social responsibility (CSR). In this study, we focus on the superstition associated with the Chinese zodiac year – a belief linked to bad luck – and investigate its effect on firms’ charitable donations. Drawing on literature concerning stress appraisal, resource building, and corporate philanthropy, and using data from Chinese listed firms from 2008 to 2020, we find a positive association between a CEO’s zodiac year and corporate donations. Furthermore, this effect is weakened by CEO’s overconfidence and amplified by increased negative media coverage of CEOs during zodiac years. This study contributes to the literature on the outcomes of superstitions in management, the antecedents of corporate philanthropy, the boundary conditions of stress appraisal, and the agency motivations of corporate philanthropy. Managerial implications are also discussed.

Keywords
CEOs, corporate philanthropy, resource building, stress appraisal, superstitions, zodiac year belief

The Power of Policy: Market-oriented Environmental Regulation and Green Transformation of Firms

Xuejiao Ma, Xiaojun Ma, Yanzhi Zhao, Wen Qin

Abstract
With the goal of achieving carbon neutrality, the green transformation of manufacturing firms has become a major trend, and exploring its influencing factors is of great practical significance. This study examines whether the carbon emissions trading policy can promote firms’ green transformation by analyzing its characteristics through both institutional pressures and incentives. Using a fixed-effects panel data model and data from Chinese A-share listed manufacturing firms during 2010 and 2020, the basic empirical results confirm their positive relationship. We further examine the moderating roles of both external institutional environments and internal resources. The results suggest that, as external moderators, regions with high public environmental attention and government subsidies can amplify the positive impact. Internally, for firms with executives who have environmental experience, the carbon emissions trading policy has a greater impact on their green transformation, while higher resource slack plays the opposite role. Additional analyses suggest that, in the short term, this policy may hinder the green transformation of firms in adjacent regions and potentially lead to economic losses for the pilot firms.

Keywords
carbon emissions trading policy, green transformation, institutional environment, institutional theory, manufacturing firms

Can a Penalty for Environmental Violations Promote Corporate Environmental Governance? An Analysis of the Deterrence Effect from the Perspective of Peer Influence

Shan Xu, Wei Xie

Abstract
Previous studies have primarily advocated enhancing the deterrent effects of sanctions against offending firms to prevent organizational environmental violations. However, despite stricter regulatory environments, violations that cross the ‘red line’ remain pervasive. Limited research has delved into the factors that influence an organization’s ability to learn from environmental sanctions imposed on others. To address this gap, inspired by social learning theory, we examine whether environmental sanctions imposed on violating firms deter environmental governance among their industry and regional peers using a sample of Chinese-listed firms from 2008 to 2021. Our findings indicate that increasing the frequency and severity of penalties for offending firms – particularly those leading firms and state-owned-enterprises or those with close ties – can affect the environmental governance practices of their peers, both in terms of process and outcome, underscoring the critical role of peer influence in enforcing environmental regulations. Additionally, the current article also concludes that the general deterrence effect on peers is more pronounced in competitive industries and regions with underdeveloped legal frameworks.

Keywords
deterrence direction, environmental governance, environmental penalty, general deterrence effect, legal environment, peer firms