Kaijun Guo

Culture and transformational change with China's accession to the WTO: The challenge for action research

Purpose – China is passing through transformational change from membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and this requires an understanding of knowledge processes and of how action research approaches to organizational development (OD) can lead to effective knowledge migration. The paper seeks to provide an example of such an approach, based on social viable systems (SVS) theory.Design/methodology/approach – Illustration of the problems of WTO will be indicated. Approaches to OD in China based on action research perspectives may be particularly suitable to helping Chinese organisations deal with transformational change.Findings – A new model of action research that draws on SVS theory is discussed, and an illustration of a structured approach to inquiry is provided. It is hypothesised that such an approach may well be compatible with features of Chinese business culture (e.g. long‐term focus, pragmatism, collectivism, moderate masculinity, face, lack of comfort with face‐to‐face criticism).Resear...

Coherence, pathology and change in Chinese commercial banks

Abstract In this article, the traditional organisation development (OD) methodology is adapted into a new form called organisation patterning (OP), which is able to explore coherence, pathology and change in Chinese commercial state-owned banks. This occurs by shifting it into a cybernetic frame of reference that provides a new way of understanding organisational change. OP is better able to deal with resistance, power and control issues than traditional OD is. It is applied to the notions of coherence and pathology in the Chinese commercial banking system through a questionnaire analysis of state-owned banks in different Chinese regions. OP is different from traditional OD, incorporating new knowledge derived from a cybernetic paradigm called knowledge cybernetics. It is better able to understand coherence and pathologies and is applicable to understanding change in Chinese commercial state-owned banks. This study only concerns well-established state-owned commercial banks in China. There might be different conclusions for other types of enterprises. The study also offers guidelines for managing change in Chinese banks, especially with respect to coherence, pathologies and kinematics.