Catch-Up and Competitiveness in China

Zhang examines the role of corporate structure, including the role of corporate headquarters, in the success of large firms. It considers these issues in relation to large global corporations, thereby providing a ''benchmark'', which is then used as a contrast in a discussion of corporate structure and the role of corporate headquarters within large Chinese firms, many of which have evolved from former government ministries. It includes a detailed case-study of firms in the crucially important oil and petro-chemical sector. Overall, the book shows what a hugely competitive battle China''s emerging ''national champions'' face with their global competitors, and puts forward policy implications both for large Chinese firms and for the Chinese government concerning how business systems should be reformed further still in order to construct globally competitive large industrial corporations.

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Table of contents : List of Tables
List of Figures
List of Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 The function of corporate headquarters
1. The firm as an administrative organisation
2. The multidivisional corporation
3. Corporate styles and Industrial characteristics
4. The network corporation
5. East Asian corporations
6. The global business revolution
7. Summary
Chapter 3 Corporate structure and headquarters' function: BP and Shell
1. BP
1.1 Organisational structure
1.2 Corporate headquarters' function
2. Royal Dutch/Shell
2.1 Organisational structure
2.2 Governing relationships
2.3 Corporate headquarters' function
3. Summary
Chapter 4 Government centralisation and corporatisation: CNPC and Sinopec from 1950s to 1997
1. Government centralisation: 1950s - 1970s
1.1 The 'massive campaign' model
2. Corporatisation and growing enterprise autonomy: 1980s - 1997
2.1 The 'big contract' model
2.2 Upstream: CNPC
2.2.1 Corporatisation
2.2.2 The 'oil company' experiment
2.2.3 Headquarters' function
2.3 Downstream: Sinopec
2.3.1 Corporatisation
2.3.2 Headquarters' function
2.3.3 The 'holding company' experiment
3. Summary
Chapter 5 Restructuring for vertical integration and flotation: CNPC and Sinopec in 1998 and 1999
1. Major restructuring: 1998
1.1 Disintegrated industry structure
1.2 Government restructuring
1.3 The new CNPC and Sinopec
2. Restructuring for flotation: 1999
2.1 Core businesses
2.2 Non-core businesses
3. Summary
Chapter 6 Corporate structure and headquarters function: PetroChina and Sinopec
1. PetroChina
1.1 Businesses
1.2 Corporate structure
1.3 Relationship with CNPC
2. Sinopec
2.1 Businesses
2.2 Corporate structure
2.3 Relationship with Sinopec Group
3. Corporate centralisation: PetroChina and Sinopec
4. Summary
5. Where is the headquarters?
Chapter 7 From production unit to autonomous enterprise and back to production unit: Daqing and Zhenhai
1. Daqing
1.1 Ambition
1.2 Struggle for autonomy and independence
1.3 Internal restructuring: 1996
1.4 Development strategies
1.5 Defeat
1.6 The reality
1.7 Non-core businesses
1.8 Prospect
1.9 Summary
2. Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Corporation
2.1 Ambition
2.2 Struggle for autonomy
2.3 Restructuring for flotation: 1994
2.4 Organisational structure
2.5 Centralised management system
2.6 Relationship with Sinopec
3. Summary
Chapter 8 The challenges for large Chinese firms
1. The world oil and gas in the 1990s
2. National oil companies
3. Consolidation of the western oil majors
4. Repsol YPF
5. Restructuring the Chinese oil industry
5.1 The 1998 reorganisation of the Chinese oil industry
5.2 The 2000 flotation of PetroChina and Sinopec
6. Global leading firms and Chinese large companies: comparison
6.1 Business capabilities
6.2 Organisational capabilities
7. Competitive landscape
7.1 Domestic players
7.2 Global majors
Chapter 9 Conclusion
1. Corporate headquarters' function
1.1 Leading and control
1.2 Planning and co-ordinating
2. Corporate headquarters with large Chinese companies
3. Policy implications
Bibliography