Seminar – Managing in communist capitalism

Professor Mike Peng, University of Texas at Dallas

A country’s economic system has a significant impact on the behaviour and performance of firms operating in that country. Yet, management and organisational scholars have grappled with the nature of China’s economic system. Is it capitalist? If so, what “variety” of capitalism is it? We argue that China and other countries led by communist parties follow a unique, yet inadequately understood, variety of capitalism: communist capitalism. This distinct form of capitalism has unique implications for three main types of organisational form: state-owned, privately-owned, and foreign-owned firms. Enriching the varieties of capitalism literature, we argue that it is important to distinguish communist capitalism as a unique economic system. Leveraging the scholarly struggle to come to make sense of the contradiction of “communist capitalism,” we call for novel theory building that enhances the diversity and pluralism of management and organisational research.

Speaker bio

Mike W. Peng is the Jindal Chair of Global Strategy at the Jindal School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas. He is also a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award winner and a Fellow of the Academy of International Business (AIB). At UT Dallas, he has been the number one contributor to the list of 50 top journals tracked by Financial Times, which has ranked UT Dallas as a top 20 school in research worldwide. Over 60 of his articles appear on the Financial Times list (28 of them on the UTD list). Professor Peng received his PhD from the University of Washington. Prior to joining UT Dallas, he served on the faculties of the Ohio State University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and University of Hawaii. He has taught in five states in the United States (Hawaii, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington), as well as in China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam.

Truly global in scope, Professor Peng’s research has investigated firm strategies in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America. He is best known for his development of the institution-based view of strategy and his insights about the rise of emerging economies such as China in global business. He has published over 140 articles in leading journals, over 40 pieces in non-refereed outlets, and five books. Used in over 30 countries, his textbooks, Global Strategy, Global Business, and GLOBAL, are global market leaders that have been translated into Chinese, Portuguese, and Spanish. With over 37,000 Google citations and an H-index of 73, he is widely regarded as one of the most prolific and most influential scholars in global strategy. Among the top 1% most cited researchers worldwide, he is one of the only 70 top scholars in business and economics—and the only one from the Jindal School—listed among The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds (compiled by Thomson Reuters based on citation impact). Both the United Nations and the World Bank have cited his work. Recent research awards include a Journal of International Business Studies Decade Award (2015) and an Academy of Management Perspectives Best Impact Award (2014).

Professor Peng has served on the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Perspectives, Academy of Management Review, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of World Business, and Strategic Management Journal, and guest-edited a special issue for the Journal of Management Studies. At the Strategic Management Society (SMS), he was elected to be the Global Strategy Interest Group Chair (2008). He also co-chaired the SMS Special Conferences in Shanghai (2007) and in Sydney (2014). At AIB, he co-chaired the AIB/JIBS Frontiers Conference in San Diego (2006), guest-edited a Journal of International Business Studies special issue (2010), chaired the Emerging and Transition Economies track for the Nagoya conference (2011), and chaired the Richard Farmer Best Dissertation Award Committee for the Washington conference (2012). He served one term as Editor-in-Chief of the Asia Pacific Journal of Management. He managed the doubling of submissions and the successful bid to enter the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), which reported APJM’s first citation impact to be 3.4 and rated it as the top 18th most-cited among 140 management journals for 2010. In recognition of his significant contributions, APJM has named its best paper award the Mike Peng Best Paper Award.

Professor Peng has received numerous honours, awards, and grants. They include a US Small Business Administration Best Paper Award, a (lifetime) Distinguished Scholar Award from the Southwestern Academy of Management, two “New Hot Paper” designations for two papers representing the entire field of business and economics tracked by Science Watch, a (lifetime) Scholarly Contribution Award from the International Association for Chinese Management Research (IACMR), an NSF CAREER Grant ($423,000), and an honor to be inducted as an AIB Fellow. Professor Peng has been quoted in The Economist, Newsweek, US News and World Report, Yahoo Finance, Dallas Morning News, Texas CEO, Smart Business Dallas, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Exporter Magazine, The World Journal, Business Times (Singapore), CEO-CIO (Beijing), Sing Tao Daily (Vancouver), and Brasil Econômico (São Paulo), as well as on KERA/PBS TV, National Public Radio, and Voice of America.

For more information, please contact Luke Slater.