Integration and Autonomy in Organizational Governance: A Comparative Study of Two Government-Owned Railways in Hong Kong

This article identifies the patterns of integration and autonomy in organizational governance in two government-owned railways in Hong Kong in relation to relevant external and internal actors from the government, market and civil society. The Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation, a government department turned into a statutory corporation, and the Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited, a statutory corporation turned into a listed company, are both profitable enterprises. They have been subjected to similar macro-governance influences (mainly political and policy changes), but their patterns of integration and autonomy with relevant actors in organizational governance are not the same. The historical variations in the integration-autonomy patterns, notably an increased tendency for government intervention, as well as major differences between the two railways in their relationships with market and civil society actors, can often be explained by three interrelated factors, namely, political conditions, community expectations and performance.

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