Compressing, Cyclic, and Continuing: Rethinking Time in Chinese Management
提出3C框架（压缩、循环、延续），揭示中国情境下独特的时间逻辑，并整合八篇论文展示时间动态如何影响组织认同、创业回归、创新、ESG战略等，对研究中国管理的学者有参考价值。
Abstract Time has long been recognized as a foundational lens in management research, yet most theories draw on Western linear assumptions that overlook alternative temporal logics. This introduction to the special issue on Advancing Temporal Research in Chinese Management situates China as a unique context where rapid economic transformation intersects with enduring cultural traditions. We develop a 3C framework, compressing, cyclic, and continuing, that captures an understudied Chinese temporal lens. Compressing reflects the urgency of accelerated growth and time scarcity; cyclic emphasizes recurring rhythms rooted in agrarian heritage, cultural practices, and institutional cycles; continuing highlights persistence and long-term orientation embedded in Confucian values and historical endurance. By applying this framework, we synthesize insights from the eight accepted articles and demonstrate how temporal dynamics shape organizational identity, entrepreneurial reentry, innovation, ESG strategies, and performance persistence. The 3C framework not only enriches the two dominant streams of temporal research, activity mapping and actors’ temporal orientations, but also broadens their global relevance by integrating culturally infused perspectives. In doing so, this special issue advances comparative temporal research and positions time as a central construct for understanding Chinese management and its wider implications.