Abstract
All organizations manifest some features of a total institution; however, no other commercial organization is as close to that metaphor as the Chinese state-owned enterprise (CSE). After establishing the similarity between the CSE and the total institution, the present paper uses four types of total institution to describe the CSE: a work camp, a religious order, a prison and a boarding school. The functions of each of the four for the Chinese system are considered, and individual and group repercussions are assessed. Finally, a typology of organizational totality is proposed, and theoretical implications are drawn.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
