1. Research on the Management of Enterprises in the People’s Republic of China: Current Status and Future Directions

The opening of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the external world has changed the economic landscape around the world. With China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), past speculations about China as a world economic power in the 21st century has become a reality few would dispute anymore. With more than 25 percent of the world’s population, China is a market that promises exciting opportunities for all multinational corporations. In the past 20 years, its GDP has increased more than tenfold (Ahlstrom, Bruton, & Lui, 2000), and its economic growth has been sustained at 8 percent every year (The Economist, 2001). The Economist forecasts that if China continues on the path of a market-based economy and adheres to its commitment to the World Trade Organization, by 2020, it will have grown to the size of the United States economy today. Most forecasts put China as the second-largest economy in less than 15 years. Thus, encouraging evidence abounds to suggest a great potential for China’s continuing growth and expansion, domestically and globally. The leading companies in the major sectors in the domestic economy to date are all Chinese domestic firms. For example, Legend dominates the computer industry, Haier dominates the home appliances sector, and China Mobile has the majority market share in the mobile communications industry. Further, the private sector (comprising all non-state-owned firms), which was