Human Resources and Industrial Relations in China: A Time of Ferment

Abstract

This study of current industrial relations practices in mainland China draws on the relevant literature and particularly on the authors' discussions with managers and government and union officials in the steel industry during a visit to China in March 1983. The authors describe the recruitment, selection, placement, and training of blue-collar and managerial employees; the increasing use of financial incentives; and the “iron rice bowl” approach to discipline, which generally excludes discharge. They also discuss employee participation in management through workers' councils and trade unions and the sometimes conflicting functions of unions as both “arm of the state” and workers' representatives.