Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

Rising prosperity and a rapidly commercialising economy have transformed China into the world’s most important emerging market. Multinational retailers have rapidly expanded their presence in China since foreign participation in the sector was permitted in 1992. The aim of this project was to investigate and analyse the transfer of management practices and retail concepts by UK multinational retailers to their subsidiaries in China.

The study consists of semi-structured interviews of employees at UK owned retail stores in North and East China. The interviews are short as they are conducted on the shop floor while the interviewee is working. The interviews have been translated to English but the odd word is still in Chinese (Mandarin). Some interviews are transcribed while others are in note format.

The study forms part of a wider project which also looked at Japanese firms and includes further data not available from the UKDA. Further information is available from the Cultures of Consumption project web page and the ESRC award page.


Main Topics:

The interviews cover:

• employment history
• current employment role
• training
• appraisal
• interaction with customers
• job satisfaction