A study of corporate market and non‐market behaviors in Chinese transitional environment
| Published date | 25 January 2008 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17544400810854487 |
| Pages | 36-48 |
| Date | 25 January 2008 |
| Author | Zhilong Tian,Shuai Fan |
| Subject Matter | Economics |
JCEFTS
1,1
36
Journal of Chinese Economic and
Foreign Trade Studies
Vol. 1 No. 1, 2008
pp. 36-48
#Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1754-4408
DOI 10.1108/17544400810854487
Competitive interaction
A study of corporate market and
non-market behaviors in Chinese
transitional environment
Zhilong Tian and Shuai Fan
School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
Wuhan, People’s Republic of China
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to integrate the co rporate market and non-market behaviors
(such as social, legal, and political activities) into the research of competitive interaction.
Design/methodology/approach – ‘‘Structured content analysis’’ is used in analyzing the
longitudinal data of five real estate enterprises from an industrial journal during the last seven years.
Findings – Competitive interactions with market and non-market contents involve the expanded
competitive scope, behaviors, and relationships. New explanations beyond previous literatures are
provided to explain the expanded competitive behaviors (especially in resource-oriented and mixed
scope) by analyzing the characteristics of actions and responses.
Practical implications – Firms must effectively focus on the interaction of market and non-market
competitive behaviors. Industrial competitors in the market environment can engage in collaborative
or cooperative actions with non-market issues in order to obtain collective benefits.
Originality/value – This paper expands on previous studyies of competitive interaction by
integrating the important non-market content, especially categorizing it in the Chinese transitional
environment with typical evidence.
Keywords Competitive strategy, Organizational behavior, Response flexibility, China
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Since the 1980s the competitive interaction involving specific moves and countermoves
made by rivals within industries has drawn attention from a number of researchers
(e.g. Chen and MacMillan, 1992; Smith et al., 1992), and it was proposed that
organizational vitality may depend more on the quantity, quality, and speed of a firm’s
and its rivals’ on-going actions and responses in the competitive arena than on the
traditional concept of sustainable advantage (D’Aveni, 1994). However, this stream of
research generally focuses on market behaviors, and takes little account of firm’s
social, legal, and political actions which are recognized as corporate nonmarket
behaviors – ‘‘using the organization’sresources to integrate obje ctivesand to under take
coherent activities directed toward the political, social, and legal environment in order
to secure, either permanent or tempo rary competitive advantage over other actors in
the process’’ (Boddewyn and Brewer, 1994; Shaffer, 1995; Baron, 1995; Quasney, 2003).
In fact, many scholars suggested the significance of cor porate nonmarket behaviors in
today’s drastic competition (Getz, 1997; Bonardi, 2004). Baron (1995) argued that, for
many firms, market success not only depends on their effective operations o r
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1754-4408.htm
The authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) for its financial
support (project no. 70472058). The authors also acknowledge the valuable comments of two
anonymous reviewers of the Journal of Chinese Economic and Foreign Trade Studies.
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
