Abstract: Managerial learning is a key mechanism for leveraging enterprises’ competitiveness. Particularly toward enterprises in developing countries, managerial learning is important mechanism for learning managerial knowledge, rules, approaches, and routines from leading enterprises located in developed counties, such as balanced score card, SWOT analysis matrix, target management and so on. Most of previous literatures mainly focus on technological learning aspects of enterprises in latecomer countries, while ignoring the emphasis of managerial learning issues. In the 1990s, there is a relatively concentrated exploration of managerial learning. Some researchers discussed the content, ways and influencing factors of managerial learning based on cases of enterprises located in Soviet Union, China, Hungary, Czech Republic and other countries. Although most of those researches focused on the definition and description of managerial learning practice, limited systematic analysis of learning processes and sources. The paper is constructed to fill the research gap. It focuses on “How enterprises do managerial learning?”, which further deconstruct into three sub questions: (1) Identifying the phase characteristics of managerial learning; (2) Exploring the relationship between joint venture and managerial learning; and (3) Analyzing the mechanisms of enterprise obtaining managerial knowledge.Managerial learning becomes an important way for Chinese enterprises to improve their management ability. The research is of significant theoretical and practical value for summarizing the successful experience of managerial learning. Since the reform and opening up, Chinese enterprises have acquired international knowledge through various ways. Take the automobile industry as an example, establishing Sino-foreign joint ventures once became an important way for them to acquire technical knowledge. Although abundant management knowledge is embedded in the joint venture network, most research results focus on the introduction, imitation, catching-up and innovation of hard technology knowledge. The paper explores the related research questions on the basis of managerial learning evidences and lessons from a firm-level single case study. The target case is the SAIC Motor Corporation Limited, which is one of the key enterprises in the Chinese automotive industry. Establishing joint ventures with international enterprises is an important feature of SAIC's development path, and joint ventures turn to be a critical network resource for SAIC to acquire leading technology and management knowledge. From 1985, when SAIC Motor Corporation Limited established joint ventures with Volkswagen, General Motors and Bosch, it has begun to adopt several best management practices, such as quality management, Crosby's zero defect management model, lean production management, project management, stock option incentive plan, and so on. Based on social network theory, the paper discusses the main process and origins of enterprise promoting managerial learning in detail. The main analysis process includes four steps: (1) Collecting data from diverse sources, involving the first-hand semi-constructed interviews of managerial team members, second-hand data of enterprise’s annual reports, news reports, and others from website; (2) Organizing raw data in forms of chart and table, and carding managerial learning events; (3) Analyzing managerial learning events to conclude main learning stages and sources of learning; and (4) Summarizing research results and managerial implications for firms.The research results indicateas follows: 1. The main process of enterprises’ managerial learning involves four stages like warming up, construction of modern corporation system, management system development, and implementation and optimization for new management practice. Management reform plays an important role in the process of managerial learning, and the intensity presents a trend of inverted U-shaped.2. Joint venture plays an important role on the managerial learning process of latecomer enterprises, such as narrowing the gap on managerial levels, and proving knowledge resources, human capitals, and investments on managerial learning. SAIC Motor Corporation Limited has experienced four joint ventures established periods: before joint venture (1955-1984), starting period of joint venture (1985-1999), joint venture boom period (2000-2006) and transformation period (2007- ). And it gained managerial resources in the process of developing joint venture.3. The sources of managerial learning refer to four aspects involving business coordination, personnel flows, external professional institutions, and intra-organizational learning center. Because management is the base for business coordination, so the higher the synergy between the two business partners, the more they encourage managerial learning behavior. And the higher the business synergy of the supply chain, the better the managerial learning performance of the jointventure company. Personnel flow is conducive to the diffusion and transfer of management knowledge, and it promotes organizational managerial learning mainly through direct management participation, consultation and supervision function. The higher the position of managers, the greater the influence of their management participation and consultation and supervision and the greater the contribution of such staff's turnover to managerial learning. Consulting companies, as professional organizations for disseminating management knowledge, are important members of enterprise management knowledge network and important channels for enterprises to acquire advanced knowledge from the outside world. Learning center is a full-time institution responsible for the diffusion and transfer of management knowledge within the enterprise; the larger the scale of the enterprise, the more significant the role of learning center.Based on the main research results, the paper constructs an integrated managerial learning framework of the SAIC Motor. The framework indicate that:(1) Joint venture is a learning mechanism for acquiring management knowledge, so the performance appraisal of joint venture should be making based on its contribution to firms’ technology learning and managerial learning; and (2) As important as the roles of business tie and political tie, management knowledge tie is a critical part of firms’ social network, and it consist of external business partners, some professional institutions, employees and intra-organizational learning centers. In addition, the paper shed new lights on catch-up literature from managerial learning, and provide implications for Chinese enterprises practicing managerial learning from four aspects as follows:(1) Emphasizing both the technological knowledge spillover and the managerial knowledge spillover of joint ventures; (2) Paying attention to the knowledge spillover on the supply chain, and making good use of the relevant business coordination benefits; (3) Highlighting the collaborations with external professional organizations like consultant firms, universities and so on; and (4) Enhancing the investments on the construction of intra-organizational learning centers and developing enterprises’ platforms for knowledge sharing.

Key words: managerial learning, SAIC Motor Corporation Limited, stages of learning, sources of learning