Western Media Corporations' Risk and Strategies in Post
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WESTERN MEDIA CORPORATIONS’ RISK AND STRATEGIES IN POST-WTO CHINA DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Zhan Li, B.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2004 Dissertation Committee: Professor John Dimmick, Adviser Approved by Professor Thomas Schwartz _____________________________ Professor Prabu David Adviser Professor Steven Hills Communication Graduate Program Professor Mona Makhija ABSTRACT The media industries play a major role in the trend of globalization today. Western transnational media corporations (TNMCs) have been actively expanding their businesses around the world for maximized profits. China’s accession to WTO in 2001 demonstrated further openness of the economy to international competition. This study aimed to examine Western TNMCs’ risk and strategies in the Chinese media market after WTO in an attempt to provide insights into the global media giants’ perceptions, positions, and plans regarding the market. International business theories highlighted the effect of a firm’s external conditions on its strategy. Examination of Western TNMCs’ strategic behavior in transitional and emerging markets revealed that their equity ownership differs by location as affected by the level of risk they perceive in the market. Based on its external conditions, a firm’s perception of risk in terms of uncertainties about the market affects its control strategy in terms of equity ownership. Employing this innovative theoretical model, the study aimed to determine whether China’s WTO entry would lead to Western TNMCs’ lowered uncertainty perceptions and higher equity ownership in China as compared to before WTO, and a. The primary research method used in this study was interviews. A total of 15 informants from Western TNMCs and 17 from Chinese media organizations and government agencies constituted the final sample. ii Results of the study suggested that Western TNMCs’ risk perceptions showed no major discontinuity in China’s post-WTO era. In addition, their perceptions were basically consistent with the actual conditions of the Chinese media market, as well as those of the Chinese media professionals and policy makers. These findings reflect the Chinese government’s gradualism strategy in economic reforms and development, and in regulating the media industries. In response to the risk they perceive in a long run, Western TNMCs have plans for increasing control. A majority of them indicated possibilities to engage in higher forms of ownership. Also, they will continue to develop connections with governments and distributors, localize their products, and differentiate the products vis-à-vis their competitors. All these plans comprise a roadmap for Western TNMCs’ long-term development in China. iii Dedicated to my grandparents who raised me, to all my family members who gave me their unselfish love, and to my fiancée, Chen, who taught me how to love and be loved. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to especially thank my adviser, Dr. John Dimmick, for the continuous scholarly effort and support he has dedicated tothisdissertationtomakeitpossible,for his emotional encouragement and willingness to take me by hand through difficult times, and for his patience to help me correct stylistic and scientific errors. I would like to thank Dr. Steven Hills and Dr. Mona Makhija, for helping me polish the theoretical model of this study with their expertise in international business. I feel indebted to Dr. Thomas Schwartz, for his advice in policy research, and to Dr. Prabu David for his interest in joining my dissertation committee at the final stage. I am grateful to Tiedong Zhou, Jonathan Shen and Yuehong Wang for referring me to most of the interview subjects in this research. Without their help, the data collection of this project would not have been possible. I also owe thanks to all the media professionals who participated as informants of this study for generously providing valuable input to this research effort. I received support from the Phyllis Krumm Memorial International Scholarship in the process of writing my dissertation. I thank this scholarship for its recognition of academic endeavors with international perspectives. v VITA May 2, 1975.……………………………...Born – Beijing, China !997……………………………………….B.A. English Language and Literature, Beijing Normal University 1997 – 1999………………………………Anchor/Producer, Beijing Television Station 1999 – 2003………………………………Graduate Teaching and Research Associate, The Ohio State University PUBLICATIONS Research Publications 1. 1. John Dimmick, Yan Chen, and Zhan Li. (2004). Competition between the Internet and traditional news media: the gratification-opportunities niche dimension. Journal of Media Economics, 17(1), 19-33. 2. Sherry Baker, Scott C. Hammond, Hongmei Gao, and Zhan Li. (2003). The changing shape of Chinese broadcast journalism in the market economy: practitioners’ perspectives at the turn of the century”. 31st University of Manchester Broadcasting Symposium, 2001. S. Ralph, H. Manchester and C. Lees (Eds.). United Kingdom: University of Luton Press, 131-138. FIELD OF STUDY Major Field: Communication vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………ii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………...iv Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………......v Vita……………………………………………………………………………………......vi List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………...x List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………xii Chapters: 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………….1 1.1 Key definitions and concepts……………………………………………………2 1.2 Overview of study……………………………………………………………….4 1.3 Issues on globalization…………………………………………………………..9 2. The SCP paradigm and global industry……………………………………………13 2.1 The basic premise……………………………………………………………...13 2.2 Modification to the original SCP model……………………………………….14 3. International business theories……………………………………………………..17 3.1 Dimensions of analysis………………………………………………………...18 3.2 Early theories…………………………………………………………………..21 3.3 The internalization theory……………………………………………………...22 3.4 The eclectic approach………………………………………………………….23 3.5 Global strategy………………………………………………………………....24 3.6 The integration-responsive model……………………………………………...27 3.7 Summary……………………………………………………………………….28 4. The globalization of media………………………………………………………...32 4.1 International media marketplace……………………………………………….33 4.2 Eastern and Central Europe……………………………………………………34 4.3 Asia…………………………………………………………………………….38 4.4 Summary……………………………………………………………………….41 vii 5. The Chinese media market………………………………………………………....45 5.1 Administrative structure of Chinese media ……………………………………46 5.2 Competition…………………………………………………………………….49 5.3 Technology…………………………………………………………………….50 5.4 Commercialization……………………………………………………………..51 5.5 Internationalization…………………………………………………………….51 5.6 Initial moves……………………………………………………………………52 5.7 Summary…………………………………………………………………….....54 6. Conceptualization………………………………………………………………….57 6.1 Strategic alliances……………………………………………………………...57 6.2 Entry strategies and foreign direct investment…………………………………59 6.3 Pattern of TNMCs’ strategic behavior…………………………………………60 6.4 Risk and environmental uncertainties……………………………………….....67 6.4.1 Government and policies………………………………………………...70 6.4.2 Economy…………………………………………………………………72 6.4.3 Competition………………………………………………………………73 6.4.4 Product market and demand……………………………………………...73 6.4.5 Resources and services…………………………………………………..74 6.4.6 Social and cultural conditions……………………………………………74 6.5 Summary……………………………………………………………………….78 7. Research questions.………………………………………………………………...81 8. Methodology……………………………………………………………………….95 8.1 Case studies and interviews……………………………………………………96 8.2 Approaching research questions……………………………………………...100 8.3 Summary……………………………………………………………………...112 9. Findings…………………………………………………………………………..114 9.1 Overview of Western TNMCs studied……………………………………….114 9.1.1 The Walt Disney Company……………………………………………..116 9.1.2 The News Corporation Limited………………………………………...116 9.1.3 Sony Pictures Entertainment……………………………………………117 9.2 External conditions…………………………………………………………...119 9.3 Western TNMCs’ uncertainty perceptions…………………………………...122 9.4 Uncertainty perceptions of Western TNMCs vs. Chinese media professionals………………………………………..126 9.5 TNMC decision makers’ cognitive models…………………………………..130 9.6 Comparison of cognitive models……………………………………………..133 9.7 Western TNMCs’ pattern of ownership in China…………………………….139 viii 9.8 Western TNMCs’ strategic plans in Chin………………………………….....144 9.9 Utilizing knowledge and experience gained elsewhere in China…………….152 9.10 Summary……………………………………………………………….…...155 10. Discussion………………………………………………………………………...158 10.1 Summary of research……………………………………………………….158 10.2 Limitations……………………………………………………………….....163 10.3 Future research……………………………………………………………. .168 References………………………………………………………………………………171 ix LIST OF TABLES Table Page 3.1 Summary of international business theories……………………………………....29 4.1 Strategic behavior of Western TNMCs in Eastern and Central Europe…………..36 4.2 Strategic behavior of Western TNMCs in Asia…………………………………...40 4.3 Summary of Western TNMCs’ strategic behavior in Eastern and Central Europe and Asia…………………………….……..……...42 5.1 Strategic behavior of Western TNMCs in China……………………………….....53 6.1 Ordinal scale of TNMCs’ strategic behavior……………………………………...62 6.2 Chi-square analysis of TNMCs’ strategic behavior…………………………….....65 6.3 Summary of uncertainties………………………………………………………....71 8.1 Measurement of external