An Empirical Study of the Cultural Statements of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises

Abstract

As the pillar industry of national economy, China’s large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises (SOEs) need to advance their management system further. A systematic strategy focusing on culture building is critical for the success of such a transformation. In order to evaluate the degree to which the cultural construction of SOEs has arrived and whether it can support the development of SOEs in the future, we made an empirical analysis of the cultural statements of top 39 SOEs according to Deal and Kennedy’s cultural elements framework. The results showed that: (1) These SOEs’ cultural statements are of good quality. (2) The cultural statements are most concerned about values and external environment. (3) The quality of cultural statements of traditional companies is prior to high-tech companies, while companies in secondary industry have superior cultural statements than those in service sector. (4) China SOEs’ cultural statements consist of diversifying topics.