Measuring performance of Chinese joint ventures

A parent firm has many choices when it comes to selecting the indicators for measuring performance of its international joint ventures (IJVs). This paper identifies the indicators, discusses the reasons and factors that influence these choices. Semi-structured interviews with five US parent firms that have Chinese IJVs reveal that the parents use a range of internal and external indicators but these indicators differ from those they use for the parents themselves. This is due to different cultural and political emphases between the US and Chinese. However, there is no consistency on the weighting on the choices of the indicators, but the respondents reveal a need for a transparent and consistent evaluation process. These findings have implications to the managers of both the parent firms and IJVs, and stakeholders.