China's Innovation System and the Move Toward Harmonious Growth and Endogenous Innovation

Observers around the world are impressed by the rapid growth of China’s economy. While outside observers tend to focus on the success story of unprecedented growth policy documents and recent domestic debates in China have pointed to the need for a shift in the growth trajectory with stronger emphasis on ‘endogenous innovation’ and ‘harmonious development’. This paper attempts to capture the current characteristics of China’s production and innovation system; how they were shaped by history and what major challenges they raise for the future. On the basis of the analysis the authors propose that it is possible to link together the two key concepts ‘endogenous innovation’ and ‘harmonious development’ by focusing innovation and development efforts in China on domestic needs, including social needs, rather than a one-sided focus on export-promotion and commodity production.China; economic growth; R&D; innovation systems

Managing organizational DSS development in small manufacturing enterprise

A number of Hong Kong manufacturing companies have moved their production to the People's Republic of China while retaining their supporting functions (such as marketing, distribution, etc.) in Hong Kong. As a consequence, their mode of operation has become more complex and demands better production planning and control (PPC). One solution is to use an information system in which all factory resources are integrated within a single framework for PPC. The main instrument of this strategy is an Organizational DSS (ODSS). This paper presents a case study of development and adoption of an ODSS in a small manufacturing enterprise. Analysis of the findings highlights the cultural as well as organizational underpinnings and the need for effective intervention before and throughout the computerization. The implementation strategies are described, with emphasis on prerequisite infrastructural developments, showing how they provide opportunities and constraints

The Role of State-Owned Enterprises in Chinese Cross-Border Mergers & Acquisitions : An Institutional Perspective

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by Chinese enterprises have played a crucial role in China’s expansion in the global economy. Thanks to the impressive internationalization of Chinese enterprises, China has become a major player in the world’s cross-border M&A market. Although there has been a growing body of research investigating the motivations for Chinese cross-border M&A, most studies have overlooked the China-specific mechanism of cross-border M&As undertaken by its state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This thesis aims to fill this important gap. Building on a political economy analysis, descriptive data exploration, and in-depth elite interviews with an emphasis on the institutional perspective, this thesis contributes to existing research by providing a new framework for conceptualizing the role of the informal and formal institutions in shaping the specific features of Chinese SOEs’ cross-border M&As. This thesis reveals a number of important findings. First, the political economy analysis highlights the concept of national rejuvenation as the key element of China’s informal institution. This informal objective has been formally institutionalized and can be observed through national policies and regulation. Second, the descriptive data analysis shows evidence of the directive from the state on the regional and industrial distribution of cross-border M&As by Chinese SOEs. Third, the in-depth interviews with China M&A experts confirm the top-down command where the objective of national rejuvenation is to be pursued by SOEs and SOE managers through cross-border M&As. The informal objective of national rejuvenation has been institutionalized, and through formal control mechanisms the state ensures that the objective of national rejuvenation is collectively shared among the state, SOEs, and SOE managers. The policy implications derived from this research reveal, the state implemented systems to regulate cross-border M&A activities that SOEs and SOE managers are expected to closely follow can be simplified to increase efficiency. The number of bureaucratic formalities can be reduced, as well as streamlining the M&A process, and delegating greater autonomy to SOEs and SOE managers

Outward Foreign Direct Investment from Malaysia: An Exploratory Study

Although Malaysia is well known as a host economy, there is little research on its investment abroad even though this has been steadily increasing over time. Using a case study approach based on Dunning’s OLI framework, seven firms are studied in order to understand their motivations to invest abroad as well as home and host country policies that have facilitated or hindered their investments. The main motivations for these firms to invest abroad are quite varied, ranging from the low labor cost advantage in the host country, saturation of the domestic Malaysian market, as well as the need to enhance their export-competitiveness in third-country markets and to exploit the domestic market potential in other countries. The main home country policy that has benefited the companies in their overseas investment is the full tax exemption on income earned overseas. Host country policies such as tax incentives, while attractive, are not considered to be critical in their investment decisions. Equity constraints are also not considered as obstacles.Malaysia ist als Standort für ausländische Direktinvestitionen bekannt. Obwohl in letzter Zeit die Zahl der ausländischen Investitionen aus Malaysia gestiegen ist, gibt es bislang keine Untersuchungen zu Motiven und Interessen der Investitionspolitik. Mit Hilfe des theoretischen Rahmens von Dunning werden sieben Unternehmen untersucht und nach Motivationen für Auslandsinvestitionen gefragt. Untersucht wird auch die Politik der Heimat- und Aufnehmerländer für Investitionen. Die Gründe der Firmen, im Ausland zu investieren, sind sehr unterschiedlich. Neben den Vorteilen niedriger Arbeitskosten im Gastland, der Sättigung des malaysischen Marktes und der Notwendigkeit einer höheren Wettbewerbsfähigkeit wird auch die Ausbeutung des Marktpotenzials anderer Länder genannt. Ein wesentliches Anreizinstrument des Heimatlandes ist die vollständige Steuerbefreiung für Einkommen, die im Ausland erworben werden. Als nicht entscheidend wird die Politik des Gastlandes eingeschätzt

Change and Transformation in Asian Industrial Relations

Authors argue that industrial relations systems change due to shifts in the constraints facing those systems, and that the most salient constraints facing IR systems in Asia have shifted from those of maintaining labor peace and stability in the early stages of industrialization, to those of increasing both numerical and functional flexibility in the 1980s and 1990s. The evidence to sustain the argument is drawn from seven “representative” Asian IR systems: Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, India, and China. They also distinguish between systems that have smoothly adapted (Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines) and systems that have fundamentally transformed (China and South Korea), and hypothesize about the reasons for this difference

Labor and Management Relations in Large Enterprises in Korea: Exploring the Puzzle of Confrontational Enterprise-Based Industrial Relations

bor_and_Management_Relations_in_LargeKorea_IR_by_Lee.pdf: 2099 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

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

This paper investigates responses to tax related ethical issues facing busines