1、 AsiaPacJManag(2012)29:367385DOI10.1007/s10490-010-9192-xThedevelopmentofentrepreneurshipinChinesecommunities:AnorganizationalsymbiosisperspectiveJiLi parasitisma relationship in which one member of the associationbenefitswhiletheotherisharmed;andcommensalismarelationshipbetweentwoliving organisms w
2、here one benefits and the other is not significantly harmed orhelped (Abmadijian Selmer, 1997). This sub-population of firms can be thought of asinteracting with the general population of organizations in their host countries andtheir presence affects the survival and growth rate of the others. The
3、theory ofThedevelopmentofentrepreneurshipinChinesecommunities 369organizational ecology uses the term competition to describe these interactions asthese firms are competing against one another for growth and survival (vanWitteloostuijn,2000).Thislineofargumenthasbeenaroundsincetheearlypartofthe 20th
4、 century and it draws analogies from the biological world. For example,Gause (1934) observed the coexistence of closely related species of beetles in acontrolledenvironment.Basedontheseobservations,Gauseproposedaprincipleofcompetitiveexclusion.Specifically,thisprincipleholdsthattwospeciesthatoccupyt
5、he same fundamental niche cannot coexist in equilibrium. This theory has had aninfluenceonthecompetitiveperspectiveoforganizationalecology(e.g.,HannanSimon,1992).Accordingtothistheory,speciesororganismsevolvethroughagradualprocessbasedonrandomchangesinthegeneticcodethroughnaturalselectionandcompetit
6、ionforresources.By considering institutions as analogous to special species or organisms in humansocieties, neo-Darwinism has been applied to the study of institutional change(Veblen, 1934). According to this view, institutions are subject to the rule of thesurvival of the fittest. Human beings stru
7、ggle for existence, prosperity, and socialstatus. In doing so, they choose certain institutions. Those institutions thataccomplish goals the most effectively and efficiently will survive; those that donotwillperish.Thus,theevolutionofsocialstructurecanalsobeseenasaprocessofthenaturalselectionofinsti
8、tutions(Veblen,1953).Today this neo-Darwinism is criticized as too simplistic of a description ofevolution. Researchers now know that the evolutionary process is not alwaysgradual.Newspeciesmayarisefromthemergingofdifferentspeciesinarelativelyshortperiodoftime(Sapp,1994).Thisisalsotrueintheorganizat
9、ionalworld.Forexample, since Chinas economic reform began in 1979, innovative new forms oforganizationsorinstitutions,suchasthefirmswithmultipleownerships(e.g.,TCLand Haier), and societal values that mixed socialism with different versions ofcapitalism,cameintoexistencequitequickly.Theymaterializedq
10、uicklyandcannotbeexplainedbytheneo-Darwinisttheory.Alsoevolutiondoesnotresultonlyfromcompetition. Sometimes it results from partnership, cooperation, and mutualism370 J.Lietal.(Boucher, 1985). Evolution may even occur through altruism, which refers to thebehavior of organisms that sacrifice the prod
11、uction of their own progeny or theirownfitnesstotheenvironmenttoenhancethefitnessofothers(Simon,1992).Takenas a whole, this burgeoning literature suggests that the concept of symbiosis,although taken from biology, can inform the world of organizations andmanagement.The word “symbiosis” is derived fr
12、om the Greek word for “live together.”Symbiosis is “the intimate living together of two or more organisms, calledsymbionts,ofdifferentspecies”(Margulis,1984:5).Itisapermanentorlong-lastingassociation between two or more different symbionts. Through this process, newspecies or organizations can emerg
13、e relatively quickly. Thus, symbiotic theory isabletoexplaintherelativelysuddenemergenceofnewinstitutionsororganizations.As Margulis and Bermudes (1985: 111113) put it, in bringing together divergentgenomes,symbiosis“hascreatedsomeofthemajorcellularinnovationsresponsiblefortheoriginofsomehighertaxa.
14、Thebirthofnewspeciesororganismsrepresentsmajor genetic reconstructions with synergistic capabilities unavailable to itsunassociatedcomponents.”ThreetypesofsymbiosisAccording to Abmadijian and Paracer (1986), there are three types of symbiosis:commensalisms,mutualism,andparasitism.Apartnershipinwhich
15、bothsymbiontsbenefit is a mutualistic symbiosisfor example, bees deriving nectar from flowersprovidepollination.Anassociationinwhichonesymbiontbenefitsandtheotherisneitherharmednorbenefitediscalledacommensalisticsymbiosislikeabirdlivinginatree.Arelationshipinwhichasymbiontreceivesbenefitattheexpense
16、ofahostorganism is a parasitic symbiosisfor example a tick living on a dog; almost allfree-living animals are host to one or more parasites. All three types of symbiosisdiffer from the relationship of competition in the sense that the symbionts are notcompetingforthesameresources.Anothercomponentofs
17、ymbiotictheoryistheGaiahypothesis(Margulis,1984).Gaia,anancientGreeknamefor“planet,”isdefinedasabiosphere,orthesumofallthe relevant organisms or elements other than an arbitrarily chosen organism, A,embeddedinitsenvironment(Margulisin essence it is a mutually beneficial relationship. Finally, we def
18、ine parasitism orparasiticentrepreneurshipasarelationshipinwhichanentrepreneurialfirmreceivesbenefit at the expense of some organizations in their host countries. All thesesymbiotic relationships of entrepreneurship differ from the relationship of compe-tition,whichhasbeenstudiedbypopulationecology;
19、thesesymbioticrelationshipsavoid competing for the same resources. Table 1 illustrates the three types ofsymbiosisfrombiologywithextensionandexamplesfromentrepreneurship.EntrepreneurshipinethnicChinesecommunitiesThe ethnic Chinese that founded businesses around Southeast Asia mainly camefrom coastal
20、 provinces of Southern China, such as Guangdong and Fujian (Pan,1990). Large-scale migration from these provinces began in the middle of theseventeenth century (Hunter, 1966) as a result of war and other social changes inChina.TheeighteenthcenturysawtheIndustrialRevolutioninEurope,coupledwiththeopen
21、ingoftheSuezCanalin1869,whichacceleratedthepenetrationofWesterncountries in Southeast Asia. These developments created demand for labor andindustrialmaterialsinSoutheastAsia.However,theopportunitiesthataroseoutofthese developments in general were not pursued by local or indigenous people inSoutheast
22、 Asia, but by Chinese immigrants. At the macro level, certain consistentpatterns in Chinese entrepreneurship can be observed (Ahlstrom, Young, Chan, inessenceitisamutuallybeneficialrelationship.indispensableinbusinessandvice-versa.Parasitism ParasiticsymbiosisA Parasiticentrepreneurship Entrepreneur
23、ialparasitismrelationshipinwhicha arelationshipinwhichan existsinChinesesymbiontreceivesbenefitat entrepreneurialfirmtheexpenseofahost receivesbenefitattheorganismaticklivingona expenseofsomeorganizationsintheirhostcommunitieswhenanentrepreneurialfirmsurvivesandsucceedsbybribinggovernmentdog.countri
24、es. officialstoobtainsomeimportantresource,suchasgovernmentorders,informationthatcanleadtoadvantage,orknowledgeonhowtoavoidpayingtaxesorgovernmentfeesorbenefitfromrentieragreements.aAdapted from Abmadijian and Paracer (1986). All three of these symbiotic relationships ofentrepreneurship differ from
25、the relationship of competition, which has been studied by populationecology,inthesensethatthesesymbioticrelationshipsavoidcompetingforthesameresources.aRentiercapitalismisatermusedinMarxismandsociologywhichreferstoatypeofcapitalismwherealarge amount of profit-income generated takes the form of prop
26、erty income, received as interest, rents,dividends,orcapitalgains(Pollin,2007).ThedevelopmentofentrepreneurshipinChinesecommunities 373inpartnershipswithmembersoftheirfamily(Chen,2001).ThegradualwithdrawaloftheWesternpowersafterWorldWarIIcreatednewopportunitiesfortheseethnicChineseentrepreneurs.Thee
27、arlyChinesetradersgraduallydiversifiedintoresource-basedeconomicactivities,suchasricemilling,tindredging,andrubberprocessing.Asaresultofurbanizationandotherfavorablemacro-economicconditions,Chineseentrepreneurs gradually moved into construction and property development,financialandbankingservices,an
28、ddown-streammanufacturingactivities,especiallythosethatinvolvedlowandmediumlevelsoftechnology(Ahlstrometal.,2004).These entrepreneurial activities were systematic and consistent. For example,ChineseentrepreneursdifferedfromtheirWesterncounterpartsinthattheytypicallydid not engage in high technology
29、or innovative activities. Moreover, theirentrepreneurial activities depended heavily on networks of kinship ties (Li Studwell,2007).Giventhisdivergence,wearguethatinstitutionalfactorsintheseSouthernChinesecommunities,ratherthaneconomicfactors,aresignificantinexplainingtheentrepreneurialactivitiesthe
30、re.Ontheotherhand,inrecent years, asystematic decrease inentrepreneurship insome other East Asian Chinese societies has been observed (Yang, 1986; Yeo,1997). For example in Singapore, Yeo (1997) reported that cultural values havechanged among managers in the Singaporean manufacturing industry in rec
31、entyears.Withregardtotheconceptsofculturalvaluesthatareidentified byHofstede(1991), Singaporeans scored significantly higher than their counterparts in HongKongandTaiwanonpowerdistance anduncertainty avoidance. Otherresearchersalso report similar findings (House et al., 1999; Li, Fu, Liu, Weber, 195
32、1). According to institutional theory, for instance, societal culture orinstitution shapes the behavior of people. In the case of Chinese entrepreneurship,however, the traditional Chinese cultural values, such as Confucianism, do notencourage people to venture overseas. Confucianism espouses that ch
33、ildren shouldavoidtraveling far awayiftheirparentsare still alive sothattheycanstayclose totheir parents to take care of them. Consistent with this value, Chinese governmentstraditionallydidnotwantpeopletoventureabroadbecausethatwouldhavethreatenedtheirsourceofrevenue.Historically,thosewhotraveledou
34、tsideChinariskedofficialprosecution;legislationtodiscourageemigrationexistedasearlyastheTangdynasty(618to906A.D.)andcontinuedformanysuccessivedynasties.ThecriminallawoftheManchus(theQingdynasty)notonlyprohibitedemigration,butalsoimposedanimmediate death sentence on Chinese emigrants who tried to ret
35、urn secretly, whichwasineffectuntilnearlytheendofthe19thcentury(Selmer,1997:129).Given all of these preexisting values and constraints, Chinese entrepreneurshipwasformedbyintegratingnewculturalvaluesfromEuropeancolonistsandregionaltraders. Since the Tang dynasty(618 A.D.), the provinces of Southern
36、China havebeen the center of Chinas foreign trade, first with Japan and Southeast Asia, andlater with Europe and North America. Local merchants were able to achieve highsocialstatusthroughoverseasventures,whichsetexamplesforthelocalpublicandformedaninstitutionalbeliefonthevalueofoverseasventures.Iti
37、stheintegrationof this Western value with traditional Chinese culture that formed ChineseentrepreneurshipinSouthernChina(Johnson,2003).However, as has been suggested, this Chinese entrepreneurship has never beenstatic, stable, or uniform. As a social institution with cognitive aspects, Chineseentrep
38、reneurshiphasevolveddifferentlyindifferentethnicChinesecommunities.InSingapore,forexample,asaresultofimportantpoliciesthathavebeenadoptedbythe Singaporean government, such as the promotion of Confucian values, someculturalelementshavebeenhighlightedorreintegratedintosocialinstitutions.TheseThedevelo
39、pmentofentrepreneurshipinChinesecommunities 377elements include a high power distance and uncertainty avoidance (Li theyhaveaccesstobusinessinformation,capital,entrepreneurialprojects,andasocialstructurethatencouragesandfacilitatestheirventures.Hence,althoughthis symbiotic relationship does not crea
40、te direct mutual benefits, the ethnichomogeneity of these Chinese entrepreneurial firms functions as an institutionalarrangement that facilitates survival and growth. This emphasis on the value of378 J.Lietal.familyandkinshipalsoexplainssimilartypesofcommensalisticentrepreneurshipinothersocietiesorc
41、ommunities,suchasthoseofItalyandSouthKorea.Inallthesesocieties,theeffectsoffamilyvaluesorkinshiphelpoffsetsomeoftheconflictinginterests or potential competition among small entrepreneurs. As a result, whencompared with other cultures, small entrepreneurs with this cultural element aremore likely to
42、remain in close proximity and form networks of commensalisticentrepreneurs.Consideringthiseffectofculture,wepropose:Proposition 2 The more the cultural element of the value of family or kinship ispresent in a given entrepreneurial culture, the more likely is the development orpersistenceofcommensali
43、sticentrepreneurs.Second, mutualistic entrepreneurship is likely to be found in an entrepreneurialculture that emphasizes innovation and creativity. More specifically, the societalcultureinsomesocietiesorcommunitieshasanelementofencouragingindividualsor firms to find new opportunities and novel solu
44、tions to doing business. Thiscultural element stresses not merely innovation in technology, but also innovativeorganizational arrangements, such as strategic alliances. A typical example ofmutualismistheinterdependencybetweenMicrosoftandIBMwhenBillGatesfirstbegan developing MS DOS (Aldrich theselect
45、ionofanewformofentrepreneurship,suchastheChineseentrepreneurshipstudiedinthispaper,dependsonwhetheritcanextracttheattention,acceptance,andcomplianceofthehumansocietyofwhichitisapart(North, 2005). Here, the critical factor is the function of Gaia, which is a self-balancing and self-maintaining system
46、 that selects a given institution to ensure itspersistenceasasystem.IfaninstitutioncanpasstheselectionofGaia,thenitwillbepreserved;otherwise,itwilldie.ThedevelopmentofentrepreneurshipinChinesecommunities 381Table2 Summaryofpropositions.Propositionno.1PropositionEntrepreneurshipofChineseethniccommuni
47、tiesismalleableinasymbioticprocess,withinwhichitmergesandre-mergeswithculturalelementsfromforeignsocietiesorothersources.2 Themoretheculturalelementofthevalueoffamilyorkinshipispresentinagivenentrepreneurialculture,themorelikelyisthedevelopmentorpersistenceofcommensalisticentrepreneurs.3456Themoreel
48、ementsofinnovationandcreativitythereareinagivenentrepreneurialculture,themorelikelyisthedevelopmentofmutualisticentrepreneurship.Thefewerculturalelementsofuncertaintyavoidanceandrespectforthelawthereare,themorelikelyitisthatparasiticentrepreneurswilldevelop.Throughsymbiosis,newformsofentrepreneurshi
49、pcanemergeandsucceedinashortperiodwithoutalongperiodofevolution.Entrepreneurialcultureinagivensocietyinfluencesorshapesentrepreneurialactivities,butentrepreneurialactivitiescanalsocreateorchangeanentrepreneurialculturethroughinteractionwithotherelementsinaGaiasystem.Itshouldbeemphasizedthatalthoughentrepreneurshipisnotalivingorganism,itcannotsurviveindependentlyfromlivingorganisms,orspecifically,humanbeings.Entrepreneurshipinagivensocietyorcommunitypersistsasacognitiveinstitutioninthecollectiveandindividualmindsofhumanbeings,andthetheoryofsymbiosissuggeststhatwecannotsep