Ep. 115: Chinese corporate culture and identity: theory & practice with Dr. Peter J. Peverelli

China Business Cast

Episode Content:

The first book we will discuss is about Chinese Corporate Identity. Peter looks at Chinese corporate identity as an extension of social identity, i.e. as it is bestowed onto the individual by the social group. We will analyze a case described in a book “Lukang: the construction of a state-owned enterprise”, pg. 42-78, where CEO leader of a State-Owned Enterprise is at the same time responsible for shaping the company’s identity in a context of a city: providing jobs to people, who are enjoying a certain level of prestige, and ensuring business results; but also he is responsible to deliver results on a national scale: because his company generates a substantial amount of foreign currency for China.

It is just one person, but because he assumes the two identities (national-level vs. city-level), he experiences pressure to meet demands of different social groups, which sometimes have conflicting interests. We will discuss why it’s important to think about it when engaging your business partners and how a foreign company should apply this knowledge in business life.

The second book we will discuss is about Chinese Entrepreneurship. His book analyzes 7 cases of entrepreneurs, researching how their social capital shaped their entrepreneurial journey and their stories. We will analyze one case in particular “Real Estate Entrepreneur Wang”, pg. 61-71, where Peter deconstructs the story of success of Ms. Wang’s real estate development in Beijing. Ms. Wang gets the rights to develop a residential estate in Beijing by promising to manage the estate and provide for the needs of the residents. She identifies transportation as one of the key needs, and therefore gives up some land and develops a public bus route; she identifies education as another key need of the residents and therefore opens a set of schools (a kindergarten, a primary and a middle school).

Because she positions herself as a responsible entrepreneur committed to redefine the way the citizens of China’s capital live, she gains support from local governments and gains required approvals. We will discuss the importance of seeing the bigger picture and serving the needs of different stakeholders for the long-term success of your business and how you can apply this to your business operations in China.

• Peter’s unique story of a cross-cultural life and a cross-disciplinary career
• Identity construction processes based on social inclusions
• The concept of “guanxi” and how to build business processes based on visualized social inclusions
• Collaborating with semi-governmental organizations to achieve your goals in China
• How to educate a client as a business consultant?
• An opportunity to win Dr. Peter J. Peverelli’s book

Episode Mentions:

• Reach out to Dr. Peverelli via [e-mail] or LinkedIn
• Website: https://research.vu.nl/en/persons/pj-peverelli
• Cross-cultural Human Rights Centre: https://crossculturalhumanrightscentre.com
• Peter’s blog on Chinese Food and Culture https://chinafoodingredients.com
• Peter Peverelli, Song, Jiwen. “Chinese Entrepreneurship: A Social Capital Approach”, 2012. https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783642282058
• Peter Peverelli “Chinese Corporate Identity”, 2006. https://www.routledge.com/Chinese-Corporate-Identity/Peverelli/p/book/9780415546768
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