Competition and strategy of Chinese firms: An analysis of top performing Chinese private enterprises

Purpose- The purpose of this paper is to analyse the key elements in the strategy of leading Chinese private firms in order to identify the key factors that are associated with the success of these firms. Design/methodology/approach- Secondary data source from the self report of 30 of the top 50 private enterprises of 2004 in China as the basis for analysis. In analysing these self reports, a table was compiled that records the name of each case study firm, nature of its businesses, its ranking in the top 50 in 2004, background of the owner entrepreneur/CEO, history of the firm, and key elements of strategies. Findings- The paper identifies that the key success factors of these firms appear to be associated with firm growth through business diversification, development of international market, strong emphasis on product innovation and quality enhancement, strategic marketing, product and corporate branding, and importantly, entrepreneurship of owner managers/CEOs and reform of corporate governance. Also revealed that top-performing Chinese private firms tend to adopt a high-commitment model of human resource management which emphasizes training and development, promotion by competence, extensive employee welfare provision, and enterprise culture development and management.