Organizational Loyalty of Young Chinese People: Moral Virtues And
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ORGANIZATIONAL LOYALTY OF YOUNG CHINESE PEOPLE: MORAL VIRTUES AND CLASS HABITUS Von der Fakultät für Gesellschaftswissenschaften der Universität Duisburg-Essen zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Dr. phil. genehmigte Dissertation von Ognjanovic, Iva aus Belgrad, Serbien 1. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Flemming Christiansen 2. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Thomas Heberer Tag der Disputation: 09.07.2018 DEDICATION To my big extended family, who taught me to be curious and to love all people. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am eternally grateful to many extraordinary individuals and organizations without whom this dissertation would have never existed: All those at ElectriCo who were so enthusiastic about sharing their personal experiences with me and willingly gave up their time for an interview. Your words that have remained engraved on my mind kept me engaged and smiling throughout the entire writing process. I am especially indebted to all the members of ElectriCo for making my fieldwork a truly wonderful experience. Your continuous acts of kindness filled me with great joy and happiness. My supervisor, Professor Flemming Christiansen, who is an extraordinary doctoral father. I consider myself blessed to have been your student. There are no words to describe my gratitude for your endless patience, the time you invested in reading my chaotic drafts, and your honest and constructive guidance over the last seven years. Your insistence on adhering to deadlines in the final three years of my writing taught me focus, endurance and discipline, without which this dissertation would certainly never have been finished. Professor Thomas Heberer, who carefully assessed my dissertation and provided critique that it needed and enormously benefitted from. I am indebted to you for supporting me throughout my doctoral study, particularly for ensuring that a Chinese expert I selected attended our Beijing workshop, and for helping me remain in high spirits by offering your assistance in case my fieldwork went awry. Professor Frank Kleemann and Professor Tao Liu, who conducted the viva in a kind and enjoyable manner. You posed challenging questions that pushed me to think more seriously, thoroughly and analytically about issues related to the four theses. Everyone in the “Risk and East Asia” Research Training Group. Professor Winfried Flüchter, Professor Werner Pascha, and Professor Markus Taube, your critique and input upon my presentations helped me refine my arguments. Professor Karen Shire, your faith in my academic ability encouraged me to continue when I wanted to give up. Uta Golze, I’ll never forget how you came to my rescue when I needed a roof over my head. Dr. Chun-Yi Lee, Dr. Ann-Kathrin Prior, Susanne Löhr, Dr. iii Christian Schnack, Dr. Mei Yu, Dr. Armin Müller, Dr. René Trappel, and Melanie Wacker, our inspiring discussions, knowledge sharing, and heart-to-heart talks over coffee were invaluable in the moments of hopelessness during the first three years. Dr. Chih-Chieh Wang, you carefully listened to my constant babbling about chapters and gave insightful comments. I wouldn’t have been able to cope with deadline stress without our evening chats. The German Research Foundation (DFG) that relieved me of financial concerns and allowed me to fully focus on this research by funding my doctoral study. Dr. Jan Schmidt and all colleagues at the WWU Graduate Centre who gave me freedom to arrange my work schedule around my writing schedule, which enabled me to complete this dissertation on time. Your humor and empathy helped me remain sane and humane in the final six months. Ivana Luković, Danijela Raičković, Siniša and Vesna Vujasinović, Sorjana Michaels and my other dear brothers and sisters in Christ who encouraged and prayed for me throughout my doctoral journey. Marion Hopp, Lucia Oliveri, Matteo Bozzon, Christine Thieleke, and Adeleh Aftabtalab, your energizing distractions made long hours in front of the monitor physically bearable. My parents Sonja and Mladen for their limitless love and understanding especially during the writing-up stage, when my time constraints turned me into a terrible daughter who reduced her contact with her mom and dad to two Skype calls per month. I offer my sincere thanks to each of you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ..................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... v 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Background and purpose of the study ................................................................... 1 1.2. Significance and contributions of the study .......................................................... 3 1.3. Structure of the dissertation ................................................................................... 5 2. Literature review, analytical framework and methodology .................................... 7 2.1. Organizational loyalty in business ethics literature ............................................... 7 2.2. Postmodern times and organizational loyalty ...................................................... 14 2.3. Contribution of Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, capital, and field to the study of organizational loyalty ...................................................................................................... 19 2.4. Research questions and objectives ...................................................................... 22 2.5. Analytical framework .......................................................................................... 25 2.6. Methodology ........................................................................................................ 28 2.6.1. Data collection process ................................................................................... 30 2.6.2. Data analysis ................................................................................................... 35 2.6.3. Reliability and validity .................................................................................... 36 2.6.4. Ethical considerations ..................................................................................... 38 2.7. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 39 3. Content of organizational loyalty: virtues as types of moral capital .................... 40 3.1. Being ‘the best in class’: white-collars’ appreciation of expertise and lifelong learning ............................................................................................................................ 40 3.2. Being a ‘common’ worker: blue-collars’ practical expertise .............................. 47 3.3. White-collars’ ‘passion’ and diligence ................................................................ 54 3.4. Hard work of shop floor people ........................................................................... 61 3.5. Being a ‘kind’ person: the importance of humility, openness, helpfulness, and recognition in white-collar world .................................................................................... 67 3.6. Being a solitary man: blue-collars’ obedience and restrained helpfulness .......... 74 3.7. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 80 v 4. Grounds of organizational loyalty: values that matter in the workplace ............. 83 4.1. Leading a ‘colorful’ life: white-collars’ pursuit of self-fulfillment ..................... 83 4.2. Blue-collars’ escape from their ‘dull’ life ........................................................... 94 4.3. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 104 5. Analyzing fields to explain the differences ............................................................ 106 5.1. Fields of education and family .......................................................................... 106 5.2. China’s economy ............................................................................................... 114 5.3. ElectriCo’s structure of employee positions and related practices .................... 124 5.4. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 139 6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 141 6.1. Voluntary self-developing settlers and non-voluntary common wanderers: summary of key features of two types of distinctive postmodern habitus .................... 142 6.2. Theoretical and empirical contributions ............................................................ 145 6.3. Recommendations for future research ............................................................... 150 Appendix A. Background information on the interviewees ........................................ 152 References......................................................................................................................... 155 vi 1. Introduction 1.1. Background and purpose of the study The starting point of this research is the observation that China’s millennials