Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-xtvcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-24T10:16:38.986Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Taking the Path Less Traveled: How Responsible Leadership Addresses a Grand Challenge in Public Health, a Case Study from China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2023

Zhi-Xue Zhang Open the ORCID record for Zhi-Xue Zhang [Opens in a new window] ,
Xiwei Yi  and
Yuntao Dong
Zhi-Xue Zhang*
Affiliation:
Peking University, China
Xiwei Yi
Affiliation:
Peking University, China
Yuntao Dong
Affiliation:
Peking University, China
*
Corresponding author: Zhi-Xue Zhang (zxzhang@gsm.pku.edu.cn)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study unpacks how responsible leadership driven by a social mission can accomplish both social objectives and financial goals to support an organization's survival. We focus on a social enterprise in the healthcare industry in China and examine how it balances its social mission and economic goals by enlarging the capacity of medical institutions and providing high-quality services to a high number of patients. Through our analysis of the case firm, we reveal the motivation and actions of an entrepreneur in establishing a socially responsible firm and the social implications of responsible leadership in operating such an enterprise. We provide an important supplement and extension to the work of Smith and Besharov (2019) by demonstrating how a responsible leader in China manages the process of balancing social and economic goals. We further contribute to the understanding of how a socially responsible firm can improve the healthcare industry and the reform of China's healthcare.

Keywords

Chinese healthcare industrygrand challengemedical allianceresponsible leadershipsocial mission
Type
Article
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , August 2023 , pp. 838 - 855
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The International Association for Chinese Management Research

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

ACCEPTED BY Deputy Editor Johann Peter Murmann

References

REFERENCES

Cornforth, C. 2014. Understanding and combating mission drift in social enterprises. Social Enterprise Journal, 10(1): 3–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doherty, B., Haugh, H., & Lyon, F. 2014. Social enterprises as hybrid organizations: A review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 16(4): 417–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebrahim, A., Battilana, J., & Mair, J. 2014. The governance of social enterprises: Mission drift and accountability challenges in hybrid organizations. Research in Organizational Behavior, 34: 81–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, L., & Fu, H. 2017. China's health care system reform: Progress and prospects. International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 32(3): 240–253.Google ScholarPubMed
Maak, T., & Pless, N. M. 2006. Responsible leadership in a stakeholder society: A relational perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 66(1): 99–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muñoz, P., & Kimmitt, J. 2019. Social mission as competitive advantage: A configurational analysis of the strategic conditions of social entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Research, 101: 854–861.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peredo, A. M., & McLean, M. 2006. Social entrepreneurship: A critical review of the concept. Journal of World Business, 41(1): 56–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pless, N. M., Maak, T., & Waldman, D. A. 2012. Different approaches toward doing the right thing: Mapping the responsibility orientations of leaders. Academy of Management Perspectives, 26(4): 51–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaw, E., & Carter, S. 2007. Social entrepreneurship: Theoretical antecedents and empirical analysis of entrepreneurial processes and outcomes. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 14(3): 418–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, W. K., & Besharov, M. L. 2019. Bowing before dual gods: How structured flexibility sustains organizational hybridity. Administrative Science Quarterly, 64(1): 1–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stahl, G. K., & Sully de Luque, M. 2014. Antecedents of responsible leadership behavior: A research synthesis, conceptual framework, and agenda for future research. Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(3): 235–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, J. L. 2002. The world of the social entrepreneur. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 15(4/5): 412–431.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, J., & Wang, X. 2021. Research on China's integration of health services: Policy evolution and theoretical mechanism. Journal of Public Management, 18(3): 152–176.Google Scholar
Wang, S. 2003. The crisis and turning point of public health in China. Comparative Studies, 7: 52–88 (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Yunkang Group Limited. 2022. Global offering. Available from URL: http://www.yunkanghealth.com/upload/listedco/listconews/sehk/2022/0505/2022050500012_c.pdfGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Z. X., Dong, Y., & Yi, X. 2020. Building resilience via cognitive preparedness, behavioral reconfigurations, and iterative learning: The case of YunKang. Management and Organization Review, 16(5): 781–985.CrossRefGoogle Scholar