The subtle logics of knowledge conflicts in china’s foreign enterprises

Constanze Wang The Subtle Logics of Knowledge Conflicts in China,s Foreign Enterprises The Subtle Logics of Knowledge Conflicts in China’s Foreign Enterprises Constanze Wang The Subtle Logics of Knowledge Conflicts in China’s Foreign Enterprises Constanze Wang Köln, Germany Dissertation, Universität zu Köln, 2015 ISBN 978-3-658-14183-7 ISBN 978-3-658-14184-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-658-14184-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016939368 Springer VS © Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden 2016 This work is subject to copyright All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made Printed on acid-free paper This Springer VS imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH Acknowledgments Phenomena are quickly explained with some sort of “culture” Trying to thoroughly understand what indeed is cultural about them is, by contrast, a complicated and lengthy process The present study is the result of such a process It provides an alternative picture of “Chinese culture” in many ways by deeply engaging with one of the most controversial topics of doing business in contemporary China The study was pursued in the framework of the research project “Intellectual Property in Sino-German Cooperation” carried out by Bremen University of Applied Sciences and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research It has been accepted as dissertation by University of Cologne’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities While I am grateful to each and every one who directly or indirectly inspired or motivated me along the way, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Thomas Scharping, Björn Ahl, Monika Schädler, Renate Krieg, Minyan Luo and Joachim Freimuth for their particular support I also wish to thank the participating enterprises and interviewees who made the data collection possible September 2015 Constanze Wang Contents Figures and Tables 11 Tables 13 Abbreviations 15 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Introduction 17 Rationale 17 Objectives, Research Questions and Subject Matter 21 Literature Review and Research Gap 23 Disciplines and Fields 35 Structure and Sources 38 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Conceptual Framework 41 Knowledge Worker 41 Knowledge 45 Culture 50 Application to the Present Study 58 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Research Design and Methods 61 Philosophical and Methodological Considerations 61 Sample 62 Data Collection 65 Data Analysis 68 Validity, Reliability, and Objectivity 70 Generalizability 70 Contextualization 73 4.1 4.2 4.3 Compradors in China’s Foreign Enterprises 77 The Role of the Comprador for Foreign Businesses 77 Compradors in Chinese Economy 84 Compradors in Chinese Society 88 Contents 5.1 5.2 5.3 Intermediaries in China’s Foreign Enterprises 93 The Role of Intermediaries in China’s Foreign Enterprises 93 Intermediaries in Chinese Economy 99 Intermediaries in Chinese Society 102 6.1 6.2 6.3 Knowledge Workers in China 107 Identifying China’s Knowledge Workers 107 Knowledge Workers in Chinese Economy 113 Knowledge Workers in Chinese Society 121 7.1 7.2 7.3 The Property of Knowledge in Chinese Philosophy, History, and Law 131 Knowledge Property in Chinese Philosophy 131 Private Knowledge Protection in Premodern China 134 Valuable Knowledge in Chinese Law and Practice 138 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Knowledge Practices and Sino-German Conflicts 161 Cultivating a Limited Personal Competitive Advantage 161 Evaluating Efforts into Knowledge Application 169 Assessing and Convincing Counterparts 181 Investigating Relationships and Networks 188 Preventing the FIE’s Competitive Disadvantage 201 Acknowledging the FIE as a Stable Space 214 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Discussion 227 The Inner Logic of Knowledge Practices 227 The Roots of Sino-German Knowledge Conflicts 235 The Role of “Chinese Culture” 247 Solutions for Sino-German Knowledge Conflicts 261 10 Conclusions 269 References 273 Contents Appendices 313 Appendix 1: List of Interviewees 313 Appendix 2: Topic Guide 315 Appendix 3: Total Knowledge Workers 2002-2010 (1) 317 Appendix 4: Total Knowledge Workers 2002-2010 (2) 318 Appendix 5: Explanatory Notes to Figure 319 Appendix 6: Knowledge Workers (urban) 2002-2010 (1) 321 Appendix 7: Knowledge Workers (urban) 2002-2010 (2) 322 Appendix 8: Knowledge Workers (urban) per Age Group (2010) 323 Appendix 9: Knowledge Workers (urban) per Educational Attainment (2010) 324 Abstract Foreign businesses investing in China face severe problems surrounding the handling of valuable knowledge Critical issues are the excessive leakage of knowledge and insufficient knowledge sharing The way knowledge is handled by Chinese employees is widely believed to be induced by a “Chinese culture” at the national level, most prominently by Confucianism or collectivism Against this background, the present study investigates the actual role of culture within knowledge conflicts in German-invested manufacturing enterprises in China Qualitative interviews with Chinese and German employees reveal that culture essentially provides orientation for the daily handling of knowledge The evolving of the enterprise into a stable space over time is the crucial criterion for Chinese employees when deciding about sharing and disclosing valuable knowledge For German employees, in contrast, the enterprise with its formal organizational structures a priori is the most decisive reference point Distracted by a national “Chinese culture”, many German employees focus on the Chinese environment in search for explanations for knowledge conflicts, whereas Chinese employees focus on the enterprise as a stable space By embracing an understanding of knowledge interactions being strongly contingent on an enterprise’s stability, however, managers can take action to solve knowledge conflicts Keywords: Chinese culture, culture as practice, knowledge sharing, knowledge leakage, knowledge conflict, trade secret, knowledge worker, intermediary, foreign enterprise Figures and Tables Figure 1: Disciplines and fields of the present study 35 Figure 2: China’s knowledge workers in absolute numbers (2002-2010) 111 Figure 3: Number of knowledge workers (urban) by age group and education received (2010) 116 Figure 4: Knowledge workers within Chinese society’s ten strata 123 Figure 5: Practices informing the drawing of knowledge boundaries 228 Figure 6: The relation between the practices 234 Table 1: The sampled interviewees according to nationality, age, gender, and type of FIE 64 Table 2: The development of FDI, FIEs, and employees in FIEs (19852010) 94 Table 3: Overview of the four knowledge worker groups (KW1-4) 108 References 309 preventing trade secrets infringements], Zhongguo renmin gongan daxue xuebao, 01/2007, Beijing, pp 13-20 Yu, Mi 于米 (2011): “Geren/jiti zhuyi qinxiang yu zhishi fenxiang yiyuan zhijian de guanxi yanjiu: Zhishi huoxing de tiaojie zuoyong” [个人/集体主义义向与知识分 享意愿之间的关系研究：知识活性的调节作用/ Research on the relation between individualism/collectivism orientation and the 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baohu: jiantan lituoan dai gei waiguo qiye de qishi” [从力拓案看 企业商业秘密的保护：兼谈力拓案带给外国企业的启示/ Viewing enterprises’ trade secret protection from the angle of the Rio Tinto case: additionally discussing the illumination the Rio Tinto case brought about for foreign enterprises], Zhongguo faming yu zhuanli, 11/2009, Beijing, pp 14-16 Zhuang, Xulong 庄绪陈 (2010): “She waishangye fubai fancui shiyong wo guo xingfa ruogan wenti yanjiu: yi shanghai ‘Lituoan’ wei luoji qidian” [涉外商业腐败犯罪适 用我国刑法若干问题研究：以上海‘力拓案’为为编起点/ Research on several References 311 problems regarding the application of China’s criminal law for corruption crimes of foreign businesses: the Shanghaier ‘Rio Tinto case’ as a logical starting point]”, Fazhi yanjiu, 2010/02, Hangzhou, pp 84-90 360doc.com (2012): “Shenmeyang de rencai cai neng shiying shehui jingzheng?” [什么样 的人才才能适应社会竞争?/ What kind of talents only could adapt to social competition?], May 6, 2012, http://www.360doc.com/content/12/0506/06/7712863_20895 7418.shtml (accessed May 22, 2013) Appendices Appendix 1: List of Interviewees Nationality German German Chinese German Chinese Chinese Chinese Chinese German Chinese German Chinese Chinese German German German Chinese German Chinese Chinese German Chinese Chinese Chinese Chinese Chinese Chinese Chinese Chinese Date of Interview 2009-09-07 2009-09-07 2009-09-07 2010-03-02 2010-03-02 2010-03-08 2010-03-08 2010-03-09 2010-03-09 2010-03-11 2010-03-11 2010-03-11 2010-03-12 2010-03-12 2009-09-09 2010-03-15 2010-03-15 2010-03-15 2010-03-15 2010-03-15 2010-03-15 2010-03-16 2010-03-16 2010-03-16 2010-03-16 2010-03-16 2010-03-17 2010-03-17 2010-03-17 Enterprise WFOE Place of Interview1075 Shanghai WFOE Beijing WFOE Guangdong WFOE Guangdong JV Shanghai WFOE Shanghai WFOE Jiangsu Int.-No (Atlas.ti) 55 56A 56B 83 84 60 41 42 59 10 43 11 12 61A 61B 44 13 62 63 64 14 1075 In order to preserve the anonymity of the interviewees only the level of provinces or municipalities is provided © Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden 2016 C Wang, The Subtle Logics of Knowledge Conflicts in China’s Foreign Enterprises, DOI 10.1007/978-3-658-14184-4 314 Nationality Chinese Chinese German German German Chinese German Chinese British Hungarian Chinese Chinese Chinese Chinese German Chinese Chinese Chinese German Chinese Chinese Chinese Chinese German Chinese Chinese Chinese Chinese German German Chinese German Chinese Chinese Chinese German German German Chinese Appendices Date of Interview 2010-03-17 2010-03-22 2010-03-22 2009-09-08 2010-09-08 2010-03-18 2010-03-18 2010-03-18 2010-03-19 2010-03-19 2010-03-19 2010-03-19 2010-03-19 2010-03-19 2010-03-26 2010-03-26 2010-03-26 2010-03-26 2010-03-26 2010-03-30 2010-03-30 2010-03-30 2010-03-30 2010-03-30 2010-03-30 2010-03-30 2010-03-31 2010-03-31 2010-03-31 2010-03-31 2010-03-31 2010-03-31 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 2010-04-02 2010-04-02 2010-04-02 Enterprise Place of Interview1075 JV Shanghai WFOE Shanghai WFOE Jiangsu WFOE Jiangsu JV Jilin WFOE 10 Beijing JV Beijing Int.-No (Atlas.ti) 45 49 78 57 30 40 15 46 16 17 48 54 65A 65B 18 37 66 50 82 67A 67B 51 69 52 68 70 71 72 19 53 73 74 20 21 76 75 38 39 77 315 Appendices Appendix 2: Topic Guide Part I: Interviewee Part II: Valuable knowledge Part III: Intangible capital1078            Position, function, department Age, qualification, career, how long in the enterprise Daily work and tasks1076 Main daily knowledge flows ( drawing main flows) Obstacles with handling knowledge Protection and exchange of knowledge Knowledge belongs to whom1077 Reflection upon intangible capital ( commenting on cards)1079 o Intellectual capital (green): invention (发明)1080, creativity (创新能力) o human capital (blue): experiences (经经), knowledge (知识), ability (才能) o social capital (yellow): relationships (人际际系), networks (际系网) o structural capital (orange): routines (日常常规), production processes/ management procedures (生产流程/管理程序), corporate structure (企业业构), corporate culture (企业文化) Role of each for daily knowledge interactions Importance of each for the enterprise Comparative significance ( card sorting) 1076 The rationale was threefold: to receive information on the person and his/her position, to get him/her to talk, and to acquire first indications of criteria for communicating valuable knowledge should be given by the interviewee himself before asking more concretely 1077 For these more sensitive questions vignettes were used, such as “Imagine two employees together developed a new product How would you treat them if you were their manager? How would you desire being treated being one of the employees?” The answers illuminated that the employee’s knowledge input still forms part of their knowledge which has to be adequately rewarded instead of being perceived as automatically belonging to the enterprise 1078 Intangible capital is a concept to estimate the market value of an enterprise with its nonphysical sources of future benefit (see chapter 2.2) Reflecting on the role of each for knowledge interactions serves as a point of departure for accessing possible (semi-)conscious criteria of sharing and disclosing knowledge 1079 Eleven cards each conveying one component of intangible capital in German, English and Chinese, every interviewee was asked to reflect upon The cards with the components belonging to the same category were in the same color and were put on the table at once 1080 The terms for each component were chosen according to the concepts chapter including Chinese language academic literature (see e.g Li Sheng and Yu Jun 2009: 13, Sun Baiyang et al 2008: 15) as well as through discussions with Chinese native speaking business actors, ensuring that the terms are commonly used in the Chinese business environment 316 Part IV: Enterprise1081 Appendices    Enterprise’s strength and core competencies Relationship to the enterprise Sense of belonging to enterprise, department, networks 1081 In the last part, probing into the role of the enterprise (department/network) for providing orientation within knowledge interactions was pursued Professional and Technical Personnel 专业技术人 员 (persons) 44,244,000 51,358,080 54,144,000 56,868,750 43,548,000 43,114,400 41,839,200 45,237,100 51,751,400 Clerk and Related Workers 办事人员 和有关人 员 (%) 7.0 7.7 7.6 3.7 3.4 3.7 3.8 4.0 4.3 Clerk and Related Workers 办事人员和有 关人员 (persons) 51,618,000 57,312,640 57,152,000 28,055,250 25,976,000 28,486,300 29,442,400 31,198,000 32,725,150 KW1 KW2 (persons)¹ (persons)² 108,397,800 56,779,800 122,068,480 64,755,840 124,080,000 66,928,000 96,297,750 68,242,500 78,692,000 52,716,000 80,839,500 52,353,200 79,804,400 50,362,000 84,234,600 53,036,600 98,175,450 65,450,300 Source: China Labor Statistical Yearbooks (National Bureau of Statistics of China 2003-2011) ¹ The knowledge worker group referred to as KW1 comprises unit heads, professional and technical personnel and clerks and related workers ² The knowledge worker group referred to as KW2 comprises unit heads as well as professional and technical personnel Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Total Unit Head Employment Unit Head Population 全国就业人员 单位负负人 单位负负人 总人口 (persons) (%) (persons) (persons) 1,284,530,000 737,400,000 1.7 12,535,800 1,292,270,000 744,320,000 1.8 13,397,760 1,299,880,000 752,000,000 1.7 12,784,000 1,307,560,000 758,250,000 1.5 11,373,750 1,314,480,000 764,000,000 1.2 9,168,000 1,321,290,000 769,900,000 1.2 9,238,800 1,328,020,000 774,800,000 1.1 8,522,800 1,334,740,000 779,950,000 1.0 7,799,500 1,340,910,000 761,050,000 1.8 13,698,900 Professional and Technical Personnel 专业技术人 员 (%) 6.0 6.9 7.2 7.5 5.7 5.6 5.4 5.8 6.8 Appendices 317 Appendix 3: Total Knowledge Workers 2002-2010 (1) Professional and Technical Personnel (大专以上) (%) 37.4 38.7 38.1 42.1 53.1 51.9 53.7 52.7 61.3 Professional and Technical Personnel (大专以上) (persons) 16,547,256.0 19,875,577.0 20,628,864.0 23,941,743.8 23,123,988.0 22,376,373.6 22,467,650.4 23,839,951.7 31,723,608.2 Clerk and Related Workers (大专以上) (%) 30.8 32.8 34.5 42.6 44.2 43.2 43.1 45.5 47.4 Clerk and Related Workers (大专以上) (persons) 15,898,344.0 18,798,545.9 19,717,440.0 11,951,536.5 11,481,392.0 12,306,081.6 12,689,674.4 14,195,090.0 15,511,721.1 KW3 (persons)¹ 37,597,813.8 44,274,386.6 45,932,912.0 40,056,072.8 37,942,532.0 37,879,080.0 37,824,961.2 40,601,077.2 52,632,695.9 KW4 (persons)² 21,699,469.8 25,475,840.6 26,215,472.0 28,104,536.3 26,461,140.0 25,572,998.4 25,135,286.8 26,405,987.2 37,120,974.8 Source: China Labor Statistical Yearbooks (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2003-2011) ¹ The knowledge worker group referred to as KW3 comprises unit heads, professional and technical personnel and clerks and related workers holding a college degree or higher ² The knowledge worker group referred to as KW4 comprises unit heads as well as professional and technical personnel holding a college degree or higher Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Unit Head (college degree and above/ Unit Head 大专以上) (大专以上) (%) (persons) 41.1 5,152,213.8 41.8 5,600,263.7 43.7 5,586,608.0 36.6 4,162,792.5 36.4 3,337,152.0 34.6 3,196,624.8 31.3 2,667,636.4 32.9 2,566,035.5 39.4 5,397,366.6 318 Appendices Appendix 4: Total Knowledge Workers 2002-2010 (2) Appendices 319 Appendix 5: Explanatory Notes to Figure The fluctuations of the absolute numbers of China’s knowledge workers between 2002 and 2010 (see figure 2) are scrutinized in more detail in the following The increase in 2003 was nearly equally caused by an absolute increase of total employed persons and the absorption of employed persons from non-knowledge work occupational categories.1082 The increase of total employed persons might in part have resulted from the first expansion of higher education enrollment in 1999 as a strong increase of bachelor graduates in the categories of professional and technical personnel as well as clerks and related workers can be observed In contrast, persons of the non-knowledge work categories might have rather been absorbed by the lower qualifications of knowledge work occupations Most obvious, in the years 2002 to 2004, KW1 was not only larger than in subsequent years but significantly larger than all other groups This was caused by the number of clerks and related workers accounting for twice as much compared to 2005 This is not only reflected by the absolute numbers but also by the simultaneous increase in this time span of KW2 and KW4 which both not include clerks The sudden relevant decrease of clerks and related workers in 2005 might well have occurred due to an adjustment of criteria of who was eligible to be included in this rather vague category Several observations sustain this assumption In 2005, the category “others” decreased from 7.8 to 0.3% Compared to the preceding and following years, this was an unparalled decrease This might be an indication for the rendering of the criteria for all categories more precisely in that year Furthermore, the only slight decrease of KW3 (including clerks and higher qualifications) shows that mostly the clerks with degrees lower than college have not been included in the category of clerks anymore 1083 These might have been classified into non-knowledge worker occupations in 2005, all of which show a relative increase.1084 Moreover, the numbers of clerks in both clerk-including KW1 and KW3 stayed relatively constant in the years following 2005 As such, the decrease might indeed have been caused by an adjustment of criteria rather than a ceteris paribus change of occupations Following the adjustment, a higher proportion of higher qualified clerks and related workers have been included in the group of KW1, alleviating the significant quantitative difference to the other groups 1082 NBS 2003: 47 and 3, NBS 2004: 63 and (Exemplary calculation of KW1: Increase of 13,670,680 persons between 2002 and 2003; increase of total employed persons of 6,920,000 persons; corresponding decrease between 2002 and 2003 of non-knowledge worker occupational categories) 1083 The absolute number confirms that more than two thirds with a degree lower than college are not included in the category of clerks in 2005 anymore 1084 NBS 2005: 71, NBS 2006: 71 320 Appendices In 2006, all four groups decreased in numbers Whereas in KW3 and KW4 the decrease was relatively equally distributed among the respective occupational categories, the decrease in the KW1 and KW2 can mainly be attributed to the category of professional and technical workers This category shows that professional and technical workers with degrees below college have become less included in this occupational category since 2006 As constant numbers can be observed in the subsequent years, this occupational category also very likely followed the trend of adjustment toward higher qualifications The renewed rise of all four groups between 2009 and 2010 was mainly due to an increase in the categories of unit heads as well as professional and technical personnel The increase of the latter and the slight increase of clerks consisted of persons with qualifications of college degree and above It was only the unit heads who were still fairly represented in various qualifications The increase of knowledge workers within this period was also due to adjustments following the population census in 2010.1085 While total employment decreased by nearly 19 million persons, agricultural laborers alone decreased by more than 80 million persons, and the remaining knowledge and non-knowledge worker occupational categories all saw a respective increase in numbers.1086 1085 See e.g NBS 2010a: 3, NBS 2011b: (retrospectively displaying a lower figure of total employment for 2009 than NBS 2010a does) 1086 NBS 2010a: 60 and 3, NBS 2011b: 59 and Urban Unit Head Employment 城镇就业人员 单位负负人 (urban) (%) (persons) 247,800,000 4.0 256,390,000 4.1 264,760,000 3.9 273,310,000 2.9 283,100,000 2.7 293,500,000 2.4 302,100,000 2.1 311,200,000 2.0 346,870,000 3.4 Unit Head 单位负负人 (urban) (persons) 9,912,000 10,511,990 10,325,640 7,925,990 7,643,700 7,044,000 6,344,100 6,224,000 11,793,580 Professional and Technical Personnel 专业技术人 员 (urban) (persons) 34,196,400 38,714,890 39,978,760 34,710,370 34,821,300 34,926,500 33,835,200 35,788,000 45,093,100 Clerk and Related Workers 办事人员和有 关人员 (urban) (%) 16.9 18.2 17.5 8.0 8.0 8.4 8.2 8.6 8.7 Clerk and Related Workers 办事人员和有 KW2 (urban) 关人员 (urban) KW1 (urban) (persons) (persons)¹ (persons)² 41,878,200 85,986,600 44,108,400 46,662,980 95,889,860 49,226,880 46,333,000 96,637,400 50,304,400 21,864,800 64,501,160 42,636,360 22,648,000 65,113,000 42,465,000 24,654,000 66,624,500 41,970,500 24,772,200 64,951,500 40,179,300 26,763,200 68,775,200 42,012,000 30,177,690 87,064,370 56,886,680 Source: China Labor Statistical Yearbooks (National Bureau of Statistics of China 2003-2011) ¹ The knowledge worker group referred to as KW1 comprises unit heads, professional and technical personnel and clerks and related workers in urban areas ² The knowledge worker group referred to as KW2 comprises unit heads as well as professional and technical personnel in urban areas Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Total Urban Population 城镇人口 (persons) 502,120,000 523,760,000 542,830,000 562,120,000 577,060,000 593,790,000 606,670,000 621,860,000 669,780,000 Professional and Technical Personnel 专业技术人 员 (urban) (%) 13.8 15.1 15.1 12.7 12.3 11.9 11.2 11.5 13.0 Appendices 321 Appendix 6: Knowledge Workers (urban) 2002-2010 (1) Unit Head (大专以上) Prof (大专以上) (urban) (urban) (%) (persons) 4,609,080.0 44.5 5,003,707.2 46.1 5,245,425.1 45.9 3,503,287.6 55.3 3,133,917.0 58.0 2,810,556.0 57.1 2,258,499.6 58.7 2,352,672.0 57.9 5,118,413.7 65.8 Prof (大专以上 Clerk (大专以上) (urban) (urban) (%) (persons) 15,217,398.0 34.5 17,847,564.3 36.5 18,350,250.8 38.9 19,194,834.6 46.4 20,196,354.0 47.2 19,943,031.5 46.2 19,861,262.4 46.1 20,721,252.0 48.9 29,671,259.8 50.5 Clerk (大专以上) (urban) (persons) 14,447,979.0 17,031,987.7 18,023,537.0 10,145,267.2 10,689,856.0 11,390,148.0 11,419,984.2 13,087,204.8 15,239,733.5 KW3 (urban) (persons) 34,274,457.0 39,883,259.2 41,619,213.0 32,843,389.4 34,020,127.0 34,143,735.5 33,539,746.2 36,161,128.8 50,029,407.0 KW4 (urban) (persons) 19,826,478.0 22,851,271.5 23,595,676.0 22,698,122.2 23,330,271.0 22,753,587.5 22,119,762.0 23,073,924.0 34,789,673.5 Source: China Labor Statistical Yearbooks (National Bureau of Statistics of China 2003-2011) ¹ The knowledge worker group referred to as KW1 comprises unit heads, professional and technical personnel and clerks and related workers in urban areas holding a college degree or higher ² The knowledge worker group referred to as KW2 comprises unit heads as well as professional and technical personnel in urban areas holding a college degree or higher Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Unit Head (college and above/ 大专以上) (urban) (%) 46.5 47.6 50.8 44.2 41.0 39.9 35.6 37.8 43.4 322 Appendices Appendix 7: Knowledge Workers (urban) 2002-2010 (2) Clerk and Related Workers 办事人员和有 关人员 (urban) (persons)¹ 301,776.90 2,836,702.86 4,496,475.81 4,345,587.36 4,647,364.26 4,345,587.36 4,164,521.22 2,685,814.41 1,780,483.71 362,132.28 211,243.83 KW1 (urban) (persons) 697,902.44 7,727,569.86 14,031,932.11 13,844,969.18 14,483,209.98 13,191,466.10 11,535,508.72 6,443,110.25 3,907,490.55 762,420.26 438,790.55 87,064,370.00 Total employm ent by edu attainm (%)² 3.2 11.1 11.1 11.0 13.7 14.7 12.2 8.0 7.4 4.0 3.5 99.9 Total employment by edu attainm (persons) 24,377,977.98 84,561,111.11 84,561,111.11 83,799,299.30 104,368,218.22 111,986,336.34 92,941,041.04 60,944,944.94 56,374,074.07 30,472,472.47 26,663,413.41 761,050,000.00 Total employed persons with college and above (% of age group)³ 1.3 12.5 20.7 16.5 11.6 8.4 7.9 5.4 3.2 0.7 0.5 Total employed persons with college and above (persons) 316,913.71 10,570,138.89 17,504,150.00 13,826,884.38 12,106,713.31 9,406,852.25 7,342,342.24 3,291,027.03 1,803,970.37 213,307.31 133,317.07 76,515,616.57 Total employed persons with college and above (% of total)⁴ 0.41 13.81 22.88 18.07 15.82 12.29 9.60 4.30 2.36 0.28 0.17 100.00 KW3 KW3 (urban) (urban) (persons)⁵ (%) 207,212.67 29.69 6,911,239.88 89.44 11,445,013.24 81.56 9,040,648.92 65.30 7,915,922.46 54.66 6,150,629.91 46.63 4,800,758.92 41.62 2,151,823.88 33.40 1,179,518.27 30.19 139,470.07 18.29 87,168.79 19.87 50,029,407.00 Knowledge workers without tertiary Education (urban) (persons) 490,689.77 816,329.98 2,586,918.87 4,804,320.26 6,567,287.52 7,040,836.19 6,734,749.80 4,291,286.37 2,727,972.28 622,950.19 351,621.76 37,034,963.00 Source: China Labor Statistical Yearbook (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2011b) ¹ NBS 2011b: 70 Only figures for age groups of urban occupational categories are available ² NBS 2011b: 54 Educational attainment not available for occupational categories; only available for total employment Urban employment is neither available ³ NBS 2011b: 53 Figures present the sum of percentages of college, bachelor and master graduates ⁴ Variables for calculating KW3 (urban) Calculation with "Total employed persons with college and above" (76,515,616.57) = 100 As variables are used for calculating the proportion for each age group, the fact that employment is not available specifically for urban areas is not significant ⁵ The Part of KW1 (urban) with college degree and above is the equivalent of KW3 (urban) Unit Head 单位负负人 (urban) Age Groups (persons)¹ 16-19 35,380.74 20-24 471,743.20 25-29 1,238,325.90 30-34 1,698,275.52 35-39 2,170,018.72 40-44 2,217,193.04 45-49 2,004,908.60 50-54 1,096,802.94 55-59 684,027.64 60-64 129,729.38 65+ 47,174.32 Total Professional and Technical Personnel 专业技术人 员 (urban) (persons)¹ 360,744.80 4,419,123.80 8,297,130.40 7,801,106.30 7,665,827.00 6,628,685.70 5,366,078.90 2,660,492.90 1,442,979.20 270,558.60 180,372.40 Appendices 323 Appendix 8: Knowledge Workers (urban) per Age Group (2010) 4,345,587.36 4,647,364.26 4,345,587.36 4,164,521.22 2,685,814.41 1,780,483.71 362,132.28 211,243.83 1,698,275.52 7,801,106.30 2,170,018.72 7,665,827.00 2,217,193.04 6,628,685.70 2,004,908.60 5,366,078.90 1,096,802.94 2,660,492.90 684,027.64 1,442,979.20 129,729.38 270,558.60 47,174.32 180,372.40 KW1 (urban) (persons) 697,902 7,727,570 14,031,932 22,457,404 13,844,969 14,483,210 28,328,179 13,191,466 11,535,509 6,443,110 31,170,085 3,907,491 762,420 438,791 5,108,702 1951-1955 1957-1961 1946-1950 1952-1956 until 1945 until 1951 1966-1970 1972-1976 1961-1965 1967-1971 1956-1960 1962-1966 1976-1980 1982-1986 1971-1975 1977-1981 born between (urban) (year) 1991-1994 1986-1990 1981-1985 Entering primary school (urban) (year) Entering primary school (urban) (persons) 1978-1982 1973-1977 1968-1972 1988-1992 1983-1987 Entering lower middle school (urban) (year) 92% 3,594,892 1963-1967 90% 686,178 1958-1962 88% 386,136 until 1957 Entering primary school (urban) (%)² 80% 72% 65% Entering lower middle school (urban) (%)² 1981-1985 1976-1980 1971-1975 1991-1995 1986-1990 Entering upper middle school (urban) (year)² ³ 2,875,914 1966-1970 494,048 1961-1965 250,988 until 1960 Entering lower middle school (urban) (persons) 28% 30% 32% 42% 55% 50% 41% 40% Entering upper middle school (urban) (%)² 805,256 148,214 80,316 1,033,786 Entering upper middle school (urban) (persons)⁴ Sources: China Labor Statistical Yearbook (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2011b), Tanigawa 2005 ¹ NBS 2011b: 70 Only figures for age groups of urban occupational categories are available ² Figures taken from Tanigawa (2005: 12-14) who calculates the proportion of urban lower middle school graduates who entered upper middle school Where age groups not correspond, average values of Tanigawa's age groups are used ³ Exact calculation possible as age groups from the China Labor Statistical Yearbook 2011 and those used by Tanigawa exactly correspond ⁴ These figures reveal that only 1,033,786 senior knowledge workers entered upper middle school directly after graduating from lower middle school, while the majority of 4.1 million either at most completed lower middle school or had their formal education disrupted Age Group 16-19 20-24 25-29 Total 16-29 30-34 35-39 Total 30-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 Total 40-54 55-59 60-64 65+ Total 55+ Unit Head 单位负负人 (urban) (persons)¹ 35,380.74 471,743.20 1,238,325.90 Clerk and Related Workers 办事人员和有 关人员 (urban) (persons)¹ 301,776.90 2,836,702.86 4,496,475.81 Professional and Technical Personnel 专业技术人 员 (urban) (persons)¹ 360,744.80 4,419,123.80 8,297,130.40 324 Appendices Appendix 9: Knowledge Workers (urban) per Educational Attainment (2010) .. .The Subtle Logics of Knowledge Conflicts in China’s Foreign Enterprises Constanze Wang The Subtle Logics of Knowledge Conflicts in China’s Foreign Enterprises Constanze... 5.2 5.3 Intermediaries in China’s Foreign Enterprises 93 The Role of Intermediaries in China’s Foreign Enterprises 93 Intermediaries in Chinese Economy 99 Intermediaries in Chinese... allegedly provokes the sharing or disclosing of knowledge in the interest of an arbitrarily defined in- group” rather than in in the interest of one’s enterprise Within the intellectual property