Interest in qualitative research in Chinese contexts has grown rapidly, yet publishing such work in leading management journals remains challenging. Reviewers often recognize the empirical originality of China-based studies while questioning their theoretical generalizability. In response, this editorial develops a front-end framework for theoretically justifying qualitative research in Chinese contexts. We articulate three complementary justificatory modes – contrastive framing, extreme focusing, and indigenous exploring – that help authors explain how Chinese empirical settings can serve as sources of theoretical insight rather than merely as distinctive backdrops. We define each mode, illustrate them with published exemplars, and offer practical guidance on when to use each approach alone or in combination. In doing so, we show how contextual distinctiveness can be converted into analytic leverage: by revealing blind spots in dominant theories, surfacing mechanisms that are otherwise difficult to observe, or generating novel concepts from locally emergent phenomena. Beyond supporting authors studying China, the framework also offers a broader vocabulary for theorizing from underexamined contexts in qualitative management and organization research.

Indigenous management theories often seek to evolve from context-specific explanations to broader theoretical contributions. Yet such expansion is frequently undermined by two recurring problems: meaning drift, where construct labels travel while their underlying meaning or measurement shifts, and mechanism slippage, where theories are stretched through post hoc moderators or rotating mediators rather than coherent causal explanations. This paper introduces a Gate-and-Expand framework that builds on Chen’s (2025) theory-evolution map and specifies two checkpoints for credible theoretical expansion. Gate 1 (Construct Portability) evaluates whether a focal construct retains comparable latent meaning and measurement across contexts. Gate 2 (Mechanism Transportability) examines whether a compact, pre-specified causal mechanism continues to explain outcomes and outperforms plausible rival explanations when the theory is extended. By clarifying evidentiary standards for expanding contextual and explanatory scope, the framework helps distinguish credible theoretical extension from overreach and supports more cumulative indigenous management research.

This study examines how CEOs’ hobby of reading fiction reinforces empathy and, in turn, is associated with higher corporate philanthropy. Grounded in the Empathy–Altruism Hypothesis, we propose that fiction-reading sustains and deepens a multidimensional yet integrated empathic capacity, which motivates prosocial organizational decisions. With a large dataset of CEOs from non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs) listed in China’s A-share market from 2001 to 2018, we show robust evidence that firms led by fiction-reading CEOs engage more in corporate philanthropy; additionally, we confirm that empathy mediates this positive relationship. Furthermore, a difference-in-differences analysis with CEO transition data reveals a significant increase in corporate philanthropy with a newly appointed fiction-reading CEO. Supplementary results show that fiction-reading CEOs promote broader prosocial practices, including employee welfare and ethical governance. By introducing fiction-reading as an unobtrusive, verifiable measure of empathy, this study offers a novel methodological approach for tracing the micro-foundations of corporate social responsibility.

The behavior of parent-incumbents depends not only on their own intention to hand over the family firm but also on their child-successors’ willingness to take over. Drawing on socioemotional wealth (SEW) theory, we develop a model of the impact of perceived child-successors’ willingness on parent-incumbents’ corporate philanthropy prior to succession. We argue that perceived child-successors’ willingness increases parent-incumbents’ transgenerational succession anticipation and the resulting desire to preserve SEW, which in turn motivates them to engage more in corporate philanthropy. However, parent-incumbents facing a greater threat of state expropriation engage less in philanthropy, as they anticipate a lower likelihood of successful transgenerational succession. Using data from a national survey of Chinese family firms, we find support for our hypotheses. Our findings highlight the significance of internal succession anticipation and its interplay with the external institutional environment in shaping family firm philanthropy.

Existing literature posits that corporate financial performance has a positive relationship with philanthropic donation intensity. However, the relationship between financial performance and philanthropic donation intensity may be more complex than what has been depicted. In addition to the legitimacy pressure for philanthropic acts, we suggest that well-performing firms also face strong competitive pressure to sustain high financial performance, which reduces the motivation to increase philanthropic donation intensity. Considering the joint influence of legitimacy and competitive pressures, we propose a log-linear relationship between financial performance above aspiration and philanthropic donation intensity, that is, philanthropic donation intensity increases at a decreasing rate with firm performance above aspiration. We further introduce state ownership (which amplifies legitimacy pressure) and market competition (which intensifies competitive pressure) as two moderators of the main relationship.

Many mergers and acquisitions (M&As) fail, and an emerging body of literature highlights the role of prejudice in derailing the M&A process. While prejudice is frequently observed in M&As, strategies to mitigate these biases remain underexplored. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, this study focuses on Chinese acquisitions in the UK and examines how managers from both the acquired and acquiring organizations navigate prejudice through emotional sensemaking. The findings demonstrate that emotional sensemaking plays a critical role in shaping the post-acquisition integration (PAI) process and its outcomes. Specifically, sensemaking supported by emotional intelligence facilitates the accommodation or reduction of prejudice, while emotionally unintelligent sensemaking tends to reinforce it. By focusing on the dynamic, interactive emotional exchanges between managers at the micro level, this study offers a fresh lens on the integration process beyond traditional strategic or structural explanations. The study contributes to the literature by advancing the understanding of micro-level emotional sensemaking in the PAI, emphasizing the dynamic, interactive nature of emotional sensemaking between acquirer and acquiree managers, and its impact on the integration process and outcomes.

Extant studies on cross-border venture capital (VC) investment predominantly focus on how country-level formal institutions impact the flow of VCs across borders, but the potential role of country-level sentiments in this process has received less attention. Drawing upon the trust literature, we explore how home country political sentiment affects cross-border VC investment. Using data on Chinese VCs’ cross-border investments from 2000 to 2021, we find that home country political sentiment positively affects the amount of cross-border VC investment. Government VC (GVC) and connected VC (through sentiment transmission) positively, while investor managerial team education and investor host country experience (through sentiment suppression) negatively, moderate the influence of home country political sentiment.

In pursuit of innovation, firms increasingly rely on technological acquisitions to access diverse, non-redundant knowledge. However, the effectiveness of such acquisitions, especially those involving geographically distant targets, remains uncertain. Existing research typically treats the acquiring firm as a unitary actor, overlooking the internal geographic structure of corporate groups. Drawing on economic geography and network theory, this study examines how the geographic distance of both headquarters and R&D subsidiaries from the target affects post-acquisition innovation. Based on 346 domestic technological acquisitions by Chinese corporate groups, we find that the headquarters-target distance impedes innovation due to integration challenges, while the subsidiary-target distance promotes it by providing heterogeneous knowledge. Headquarters-target proximity further strengthens the positive effect of subsidiary-target distance, highlighting their complementary roles in the recombination of diverse knowledge. However, geographic dispersion within the corporate group negatively moderates both distance effects by increasing coordination burden and diminishing the marginal returns to knowledge diversity. These findings provide valuable insights into how corporate groups reconfigure their geographic R&D networks by technological acquisitions to leverage geographic distance.