Helmut Kasper, Juergen Muehlbacher, Georg Kodydek and Liping Zhang
The labour turnover rate is in general 10 per cent in China. Although this rate is especially high for blue collar workers, fluctuation among qualified employees and managers is…
Abstract
Purpose
The labour turnover rate is in general 10 per cent in China. Although this rate is especially high for blue collar workers, fluctuation among qualified employees and managers is high as well. As a result, the economic development has led to high competition on the Chinese market. Moreover, companies also have to deal with lack of employees – especially highly qualified ones. The purpose of this paper is to figure out the impact of fringe benefits on the labour turnover rate of Chinese professionals.
Design/methodology/approach
The study subjects were 14 managers working for private companies in the Shanghai region. The authors conducted semi‐structured interviews as the primary data collection procedure to investigate reasons, opinions, and views about fringe benefits and employees' loyalty to their organisations.
Findings
The paper outlines highly diverse perspectives about fringe benefits. Furthermore, the authors show a series of reasons for labour turnover and motivators of Chinese professionals.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the compensation literature by analyzing the relation between fringe benefits and loyalty of Chinese professionals. Moreover, it shows to what extent fringe benefits influence labour turnover in China. It also presents the preferred fringe benefits of employees in Chinese companies.
Details
Keywords
Qingmin Hao, Helmut Kasper and Juergen Muehlbacher
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between organizational structure and performance, especially through organizational learning and innovation, based on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between organizational structure and performance, especially through organizational learning and innovation, based on evidence from Austria and China.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the literature and hypothesis, a theoretical, conceptual and structural equation model is set up through a questionnaire survey and sample of about 90 Austrian and 71 Chinese samples. Partial least squares were used in the analysis and the results are tested by bootstrap methods.
Findings
The findings reinforce the important infrastructure position of organizational structure on performance. First, organizational structure has more effects on organizational learning than on innovation, organizational learning has an indirect effect on performance through innovation, except the direct effect of structure on performance. Second, managers in Austria think structure has a more important effect on performance; both managerial and technical innovation influence performance, managerial innovation is not significant in China. Austrian companies prefer structural‐oriented innovation whereas Chinese prefer learning‐oriented innovation. Third, in a hi‐technology or knowledge intensive industry, organizational structures affect organizational performance mainly through innovation and organizational learning. But in traditional industry, such as labor‐ or capital‐intensive industry, organizational structure impacts organizational performance mainly through innovation. Fourth, for younger firms, learning is important in the relationship of organizational structure with performance, but in older firms, innovation is the mediator for structure on performance. Finally, senior managers think organizational structure improves performance directly and through innovation. But the middle and junior managers think organizational learning has an important mediating effect on performance.
Originality/value
The paper shows that innovation is a more important mediating variable in the influence of organizational structure on performance. Innovation needs to be encouraged at the strategy level instead of at the implication level.