Investigating the technology catching-up trajectory of Chinese Hi-Tech SMEs: an integrated framework from industry-, resource-, and institution-based view

Accepted for WLICSMB 2010Purpose This paper intends to review the literatures on the technology catching-up trajectory of latecomers in order to understand the innovation strategies of Chinese Hi-Tech SMEs (Gu & Tse, 2010; Xie & White, 2006; Chen & Qu, 2003; Lee & Lim, 2001; Kim, 1997). It also tries to construct an integrated framework to investigate their innovation strategies and the impact on organizational performance from the Industry-, Resource-, and Institution-based view (Peng, Wang, & Jiang, 2008). Design/methodology/approach The authors have reviewed papers published in the leading journals in the R&D field and proposed an integrated conceptual framework of innovation strategies of Chinese Hi-Tech firms based on Peng, Wang and Jiang (2008)’s institution-based view framework to examine the innovation strategy from Industry-, firm-specific Resource-based, and Institution-based View Originality/Value This paper pays attention to the institution factors in shaping Chinese SMEs to develop innovative capabilities. Chinese firms have comparative advantages, such as better comprehending Chinese local market, better understanding of local business environment comparing to MNEs. Our paper argues that by developing effective innovation strategies and improving innovative capabilities, Chinese SMEs will be able to survive from the severe competitions from state-owned enterprises and foreign firms in China

Employees’ perceptions of human resource management practices and employee outcomes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between employees’ perceptions of HRM practices and two outcomes, namely, employee commitment and turnover intention, in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in mainland China.Design/methodology/approach – This paper adopts a quantitative approach based on a sample of 227 employees working in 24 SMEs in eastern and western China.Findings – Employees’ perceptions of HRM practices such as training and development, reward management, and performance management, are significant predictors of employee commitment. A negative direct relationship is found between employees’ perceptions about the use of HRM practices and turnover intentions.Research limitations/implications – Although data were collected from two representative provinces of eastern and western China, the size of the sample may limit the generalisability of the findings to the wider region.Practical implications – The relationship between employees’ perceptions of HRM practices and employee outcomes in Chinese SMEs provides an effective way for SME owners and HR practitioners to generate desirable employee attitudes and behaviours, which, ultimately contribute to improving organisational performance.Originality/value – This is an original paper which makes a contribution by helping to address the dearth of studies which have explored aspects of the effectiveness of HRM in SMEs in China. In contrast to the majority of China-focused studies on this topic, it highlights HRM outcomes at the individual level rather than the organisational level. Further, the study involves SMEs in western China which is an under-explored region

POLICY ALTERNATIVES IN REFORMING POWER UTILITIES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A CRITICAL SURVEY

This paper examines the policy alternatives faced by developing countries in their endeavours to preserve and develop their electricity and gas systems, two service-oriented industries that - along with oil and coal - provide the bulk of the energy supply in both developed and developing countries. Even in very poor countries, industrially generated energy is indispensable for carrying out most economic activities. Therefore, Governments traditionally recognize that the supply of gas and electricity entails a fundamental public service dimension. Chapter I presents and defines the issues of liberalization, deregulation and privatization of energy utilities, and it attempts to locate energy reforms in a broader historical framework in which developing countries` Governments have faced increasing financial hardship. Chapter II reviews some experiences in energy sector reforms, focusing on some of the largest semi-industrialized countries in Latin America and Asia. A few remarks on the advisability of a flexible approach to reforming energy regimes in developing countries conclude the paper.

International Listing as a Means to Mobilize the Benefits of Financial Globalization: Micro-Level Evidence from China

This paper proposes a micro-level framework to account for how firms in developing economies overcome domestic institutional constraints. It illustrates that the mechanisms enabling those firms to benefit from financial globalization are more complex than the “direct” financial channels outlined in the neo-classical approach. China provides an important example in this context, as its capital market liberalization has been limited and neither the legal nor financial system is well developed. Yet micro-level evidence from China’s internationally listed enterprises indicates that innovative firms can overcome institutional thresholds, secure access to international capital, and benefit and learn from international capital markets. This can in turn induce market-level improvements through regulatory competition and demands for a more standardized system of economic regulation

Labour Administration Reforms in China

[Excerpt] This publication provides an explanation of the comprehensive labour administration system in China, including its recent advances, with emphasis on its public services functions, such as public employment, labour inspection and social insurance services. With the recent improvements to both the legal framework and the institutions of labour administration, it is believed that these public services will play bigger and more active roles in ensuring compliance with legislation and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of employers and workers alike

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICIES, INDUSTRIAL REFORM AND TECHNICAL PROGRESS IN CHINA. CAN SOCIALIST PROPERTY RIGHTS BE COMPATIBLE WITH TECHNOLOGICAL CATCHING UP?

This paper analyses the quest for technological progress in China, a large, semi-industrialized, socialist developing country. In the introduction, it is argued that international income convergence is not an automatic product of market forces. Therefore, the path of technological progress in a less advanced country is dependent on its bsorptive capacity, which can be enhanced by the development of an effective national innovation system. The specific meaning attached to key terms such as technological progress, market-compatibility and “socialism” are also explained. Section II briefly illustrates the relative position of China in the international division of labour, as well as some basic economic and social indicators. Section III contends that the huge amount of FDI flowing to China is not per se a major source of technical progress, but important gains can be obtained t h r o u g h strategic bargaining with large transnational corporations from industrialized countries. Section IV sketches the main lines of evolution of Chinese technological culture since the inception of the reforms and provides basic data on China’s R&D system. Section V analyses the new focus of innovation and research policies and describes the major science and technology programmes. Section VI shifts the analysis to the level of industrial enterprises, arguing that a kind of symbiosis exists among the two groups of public firms. Collective enterprises reali ze their comparative advantage specializing in simpler industrial activities and benefit from technological spillovers from state-owned enterprises, while the latter are undergoing a process of upgrading and rationalization in order to gain a strong position at the upper end of the technological spectrum. This section also presents and illustrates aggregate data on production and employment trends in China’s industry and proposes a tentative estimate of the technical change component of labour productivity growth in state-owned enterprises, showing that it has been substantial and increased in the late 1990s. Section VII concludes that China’s experience so far shows that a radical improvement in a socialist economy’s ability to achieve technical progress is not inconsistent with the reaffirmation, in a new and diversified form, of a fundamentally public framework of property relations.

Defining And Measuring Green FDI: An Exploratory Review Of Existing Work And Evidence

This paper was developed at the request of the OECD Working Party of the Investment Committee to document efforts to date to define and measure green FDI and to investigate the practicability of various possible definitions, as well as to identify investment policy restrictions to green FDI. It does so by reviewing the literature and existing work on the contributions of FDI to the environment; by providing a two-part definition of green FDI; and by discussing various assumptions necessary to estimate the magnitude of \u27green\u27 FDI

Ethics and taxation : a cross-national comparison of UK and Turkish firms

This paper investigates responses to tax related ethical issues facing busines

Logics of Action, Globalization, and Employment Relations Change in China, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines

A logic of action framework is developed in order to conceptualize and understand the impact of globalization on employment relations, as well as to predict the future trajectory of employment relations. The argument is that the interplay between three different logics of action, i.e., the logic of competition, the logic of industrial peace, and the logic of employment-income protection determines the employment relations pattern in any given nation. The strengths of the logics themselves are determined by five often related factors, i.e., economic development strategy, the intensity of globalization, union strength, labor market features and government responsiveness to workers. Drawing on extensive field research on national policies and workplace practices in India, China, the Philippines and Malaysia, we show support for our framework. We find that ER patterns are reflect different combinations of logic strengths, that globalization\u27s impact on employment relations is not only complex, but contingent, and we suggest that long term convergence in employment relations is unlikely given variations in the combinations of logic strengths in different countries, and changes in logic strengths over time