International Association for Chinese Management Research Dissertation Grant and Workshop Topic: Indigenous Management Research in China

In general terms, indigenous research is any study about a uniquely local phenomenon that examines its local (emic) implications and/or its global (etic) implications. Whether a study is indigenous or not can be judged by a simple rule that the study involves at least one construct or variable unique to a local phenomenon. Further, the quality of an indigenous study can be assessed by the novel contribution of such unique construct or variable in terms of building new theories or revising the extant theories. This can be a working definition of indigenous research with two central features: providing unique and novel perspectives concerning a local phenomenon.