Critically assess to what extent industrial relations in China have transformed to market-driven relations.IntroductionWith the development of economic globalization, human resources is undergoing tremendous changes. Since the reform and opening up, under the guidance of Deng Xiaoping’s concept of “respecting knowledge and talents,” economic reform has been guided by the principle of “opening up the door” and “four modernizations” and has opened a new chapter in China (Naughton, 1995). From the old “instruction economy” to the new “socialist market economy” (Lardy, 1994; Nolan, 1995). With the advent of the “socialist market economy” (White, 1996), the status of Chinese workers has also been constantly changing, and the standard of living of most people has been greatly improved, especially on the continuous dilution of the “Iron Rice Bowl” employment system. However, due to the long-term impact of the economic system, a set of rigid institutional and ideological concepts formed in the management of talent are still needs to be further deepened to reform. In this essay, I will around the transformation of the Iron Rice Bowl, the trade union’s handling of labor relations, and the relations among Confucianism in these arguments. Namely, I will compare the models of Chinese and American how they convergence and divergence from these perspectives: employment system, trade union organizing and influence, relationship between employees and managers.Main bodyEmployment systemFrom the Iron Rice Bowl system to management autonomy, the labor contract system is introduced. The Iron Rice Bowl was born in the shadow of massive unemployment in the early 1949s. Even though half of the urban workforce was unemployed during the economic reform period, the government actively interfered with the employment market and provided its opportunities and alleviated the unemployment problem. The government encourages enterprises to recruit unemployed people on the loose recruitment principle and provide state subsidies to help enterprises. The consequence of this is that over-accumulation of the labor force in state-owned enterprises, lack of economic incentives and labors’ liquidity, resulting in the failure of the socialist regime’s economy (Fung, 2001). Therefore, in 1952, in order to correct the previous mistakes and be determined to curb the size of the Iron Rice Bowl, the first five-year plan launched in 1953, so as to make more rational use of the labor force and establish a unified system of labor distribution, in accordance with the requirements of the national plan, improve efficiency (Chang, 1993). After the economic reform and opening up in 1978, the gradual withdrawal of state-owned enterprises and the inflow of joint ventures and private ownership in China broke the Iron Rice Bowl and shifted from the state to management autonomy. What’s more, the labor market has become more fluid, the government started the reform of the wage system in state-owned enterprises and introduced the labor contract system in 1986, linking the wage level with the performance of enterprises. The government has played a guiding role in the development of the labor force (Warner, 1999; Ding et al., 2000).The GreatDepression of the United States in the 1920, after the First World War, theinherent contradictions of the capitalist system led to the economic crisis.The stimulus effect of government spending on the economy weakened, foreigndemand (exports) plummeted, a large number of workers were unemployed and theclosure of factories led to the unemployment rate (Dore, 1999). Thus, largeenterprises started to turn to the government for survival, in the New Deal ofRoosevelt in 1933, the crisis was temporarily solved and large-scale unemployedand poor people were relieved. The National Recovery Act fixed wages and pricesand brought workers Trade union rights, the establishment of a social securitysystem.Both China and theUnited States have experienced economic recession during the golden age of the economyin the economic golden era, but the government has adopted a policy ofstimulating the economy. Both the institutional changes and institutionalchanges have given a clear direction for the market economy to the twocountries.Trade union organizing and influenceTrade unions bringa stability relationship to employees and enterprises. The economicallyunreasonable labor market continues to limit the primacy of human capital inemployment distribution. Chinese trade unions have the dual wisdom ofrepresenting the collective interests of the state and safeguarding the rightsand interests in workers. Chinese trade unions have also changed into themanagement of their labor relations and can carry out political andinstitutional innovations (Sheldon, 2011). For instance, the New River sweaterindustry in 2003 exploited labor market tensions to create a crisis foremployers and endanger the local economy. The local government federation oflocal trade unions convened ‘collective bargaining’ for local labor and socialsecurity bureaus and labor representatives, culminating in a set of wageguidelines that were well-suited for all parties and stabilized the local laborrelations.While in theUnited States, American companies originated from the tradition of trade unionsand labor-management authorities, with the implications of welfare capitalismin an increasingly institutionalized industrial conflict and increasedgovernment intervention in the economy under the New Deal (Edwards and Ferner,2002). The companies and the state passed the Taft-Hartley legislation of 1947and the communist purge of 1949 strengthened ties to maintain the growing powerof the industry coalition (Dore, 1999). At the same time, the collectivebargaining of labor contracts and the institutionalization of qualificationterms has increased the employment stability and wage levels of workers.It can be seenthat the convergence on China and the United States, the trade union play anirreplaceable role in the construction of human resources due to their specialstatus and functions. However, the imperfect management of the human resourcesdepartment, the trade unions as voluntary mass organizations and organizationsin the enterprises, staff participation in decision-making, democraticsupervision, safeguarding the rights and interests of employees andenterprises, the relationship between labor and capital will also be stable,and enhance the service level, this is the influence of trade unions.Relationship between employees and managersThe impact ofcultural differences, Confucianism has far-reaching impact on China. Hierarchyand high rights are one of the elements of Chinese cultural values. Besides, the key aspect of Chineseculture is respect for age and hierarchy, group orientation, the concept offace and the importance of relationships (Lockett, 1988: 484–5).Before 2000, Bond et al. (1987) found that the Confucianism was deeply rooted,attaching importance of the relationship and the qualifications of seniorityand culture, the advocated social status culture cannot be easily removed fromChinese society or enterprises. Besides, employees focus on positions andsocial status, but pay more attention to the authority and status of superiors,they comply with the wishes of their superiors, take superior words and ordersto work, because only the superior can decision making instead of subordinates.But compared withthe United States, ITco is a classic welfare capital company with a unique andlasting influence (Jacoby, 1997). Strong internal labor market is associatedwith very high employment security and very low turnover rates; the salaryremains relatively good and the company launched a series of fringe benefitssuch as sickness and holiday pay; in addition, the global team makes everyemployees are equally represented, employees have the right to participate,discussing in the conference room and deciding what to do.This shows thatChina and the United States divergence in this respect. In the United States,employees are more engaged than China and their relations between staff andmanagers in China are not perfect enough, which means that will bring someerroneous consequences: the subordinates cannot be in any way disagreement withsuperiors, whether superior or not, makes it difficult for employees to expresstheir thoughts and suggestions to the manager. At the same time, the managercannot tolerate his staff to challenge his opinions. It can be seen that theshallow concept of human resources makes it difficult for some young andtalented people to stand out.ConclusionAs mentionedabove, a transformation of China from Iron Rice Bowl, improve the laborcontract system has raised the mobility and efficiency of workers and broughtlabor to the enterprises. Trade unions also took a leading position during thatperiod, bringing stability to the enterprises and employees labor relations andresolving the employment crisis. In addition, China was influenced by theConfucianism, workers cannot participate in decision-making, which hasdivergence with the United States. All in all, China has undergone a period oftransition from social-planned economy to social marketing, recognizing some ofits policy-making limitations and correcting them in a timely manner.Therefore, China can lead a trend from the transition from a socially plannedeconomic system to a market oriented trend.ReferencesAlmond, P., Colling, T., Edwards, T., Ferner, A.M., Gunnigle, P., Muller-Camen, M., Quintanilla, J. & Wächter, H. 2005; 2009;, “Unraveling home and host country effects: an investigation of the HR policies of an American multinational in four european countries”.Edwards, T. and Ferner, A. 2002, The renewed “American challenge”: A review of employment practice in US multinationals. 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