Managing ambiguous policies in China's telecommunication market

The Chinese telecommunications market is undergoing fundamental changes as it moves from state ownership to privatization. These changes have resulted in numerous ambiguous policies being announced, often by the same regulatory body. A key question is how management deals with these ambiguous policies. The answer depends on how the firm conceptualizes its network. In turn, this affects the firm's network positioning actions. These actions link the firm up with significant network counterparts, acting as information and knowledge guardian and processor. This article presents a framework for examining the connections between these ambiguities, network conceptualization, and network positioning actions. The article concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications, and of future research needs.