MLB: The Next NBA China? The Importance of Isomorphic Process for MLB in China

• Author / Creator

  Liang,Ye

• Major League Baseball (MLB) has taken a series of actions over the past five years to penetrate the Chinese market. Watching the success of the National Basketball Association (NBA), MLB can easily identify opportunities in the Chinese market of 1.3 billion people. However, in comparison with an established American market, the Chinese market presents its own challenges and unknown factors. The focus of this paper is to explore the mimetic and coercive mechanisms of the Isomorphic process being used on the MLB. By describing the history of both the NBA and MLB in China, Institutional Theory offers a felicitous explanation for the reasons why, and how, the MLB has developed based on the practices of the NBA. Data were gathered from news reports and information presented on the official websites of the NBA and MLB. Results from the analysis indicate that a practical way for the MLB to explore the Chinese market is to mimic the practices of the NBA.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Isomophism
  • Basketball history in China
  • Baseball history in China

• Graduation date

  Fall 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3RH2M

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.