National Differences and the Survival of Foreign Invested Enterprises in China

This research paper applies the Resource Based View (RBV) and the COX Proportional Hazards Model (COX HP) to investigate how differences in national factors between home countries and China impact the survivability of new Foreign Invested Enterprises (FIEs) in China. By identifying and examining key factors such as international experience, total R&D expenditure, direct investment flow abroad, access to foreign high-skilled people, and corporate adaptability and flexibility, this research seeks to analyze the survival ratio of a large sample of new foreign invested enterprises in China. The results of this project may help investors predict the risk of investing in emerging markets

Collaborative Product Representation for Emergent Electronic Marketplace

Griffith Sciences, School of Information and Communication TechnologyNo Full Tex

Management of e-technology in China

"e" technology is bringing about many challenges for companies, in particular for their managers. This concerns a vast range of business processes in many sectors of the economy and in nearly every country of the world. In rapidly industrializing China, companies and other organizations are actively finding their way by adapting, developing and exploiting new e-technologies. The paper's focus is the identification of the management issues in implementing e-technology in China. The paper reports on research into difficulties of establishing and operating e-business in China. In particular, it discusses management related to e-technology sharing and application. A brief review of literature is followed by the analysis of three recent case studies: an international IT services alliance, a financial services provider and an international manufacturing joint venture. All case companies are applying e-technology in China, but the role of e-technology differs in the three cases: adding a service line to the existing business processes; developing a new business process; and increasing efficiency and effectiveness in business processes. The conclusions present the emerging management issues: cooperation is a key asset in networking; the choice of business models plays an important role; adequate management attention for details such as a training program is require

Environmental Standards, Management Systems and the Illusion of Progress

This paper aims to specify the conceptual and operational limits of codified environmental management systems (EMSs). Taking technical standardization as a departure-point, it is argued that key shortcomings regarding the contribution of EMSs towards environmental performance improvement (and thus ecological sustainability) can be identified: First, there are limitations to the self-regulatory framework adopted by organizations. Second, there are problems inherent within the development of EMS from prior management systems approaches, mostly based on a narrow and limited definition of quality. Third, there are errors of implementation and associated certification which compound a lack of progress in environmental improvement and progress towards sustainability. The implications of these limitations are presented and it is demonstrated that they are compounded by an appearance of progress, when in reality, little is changing. The authors point out that this failure of system based self-regulation argues for a move to performance based regime, driven if necessary by regulation

Untangling the Relationship between New Venture Internationalization and Performance

To help untangle the inconsistency in prior performance studies for new venture internationalization, the dynamic capabilities perspective is revisited to consider whether the relationship is more complex than previously assumed. While internationalization requires the reconfiguration of routines and resources, survivability is argued to peak at moderate levels of internationalization where the associated resources and risk is balanced between local and foreign markets. In contrast, sales growth is suggested to peak at either low or high levels of internationalization where a singular market focus and set of capabilities is being exploited. The results confirm that the level of new venture internationalization exhibits an inverted U-shaped relationship with survival, while the opposite U-shaped relationship exists with sales growth

Capability-actor-resource-service : a conceptual modelling approach for value-driven strategic sourcing

This PhD research addresses a problem within strategic sourcing, which is a critical area of strategic management that is centered on decision-making related to procurement. Strategic sourcing is related to two disciplines: (i) procurement and supply management and (ii) strategic management. Sourcing is the strategic part of procurement that refers to tasks like determining cost saving and value-driven opportunities, choosing the most appropriate go-to market strategies, and selecting and evaluating suppliers for building long-term and short-term contractual relationships. Many companies face challenges in obtaining the benefits associated with effective strategic sourcing. Although the concept of strategic sourcing is fairly well recognized, managers are still challenged by many barriers to its implementation. The main problem is the lack of practical instruments (i.e., tools and techniques) to implement the value-driven management approach to strategic sourcing, while at the same time preparing companies for fact-based decision-making by delivering data management and data analytics capabilities. This is the problem which is addressed with this PhD research. To address this problem, the research goal has been defined as “develop a modeling approach that enables companies 1) to drive fact-based decision-making with respect to procurement data management and procurement analytics”; and 2) to implement strategic sourcing toward achieving value-driven targets”. We apply conceptual modeling as our main solution approach to achieve the above research goal. We define three major areas where conceptual modeling can contribute to strategic sourcing decision-making: conceptualization, design and computer support. The proposed conceptual modeling approach is characterized by four different perspectives: (i) a way of thinking (i.e., a conceptual foundation), (ii) a way of modeling (i.e., a modeling language and method to use it), (iii) a way of working (i.e., a model-based analysis approach), and (iv) a way of supporting (i.e., a computer-aided design tool). The scope of PhD research is limited to the first three perspectives, while for the fourth perspective a solution architecture will be proposed as part of future research. This PhD dissertation is a paper-based dissertation consisting of six chapters. Three chapters (chapter 3, 4, 5) of this dissertation have been submitted to international peer-reviewed journals (chapter 4 is published and chapters 3 and 5 are accepted) and one chapter (chapter 2) has been published in the post-conference proceedings of an international workshop

Strategies to Improve the Survival Rate Beyond 5 Years for Small Business in Guyana

AbstractIn Guyana, small business entrepreneurs with less than 25 employees without a success strategy fail at a high rate. These entrepreneurs need to develop strategies to improve survivability beyond 5 years. Grounded in Porter’s five forces theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies used to assist small business entrepreneurs in Guyana to sustain profitability beyond 5 years. Participants were four business owners in the manufacturing and accounting sectors who sustained their business beyond 5 years of operations. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and a review of organizational documents, including websites and meeting notes. Using Yin’s five-phased cycle, three themes emerged: ensuring customer service quality, competitive strategy, and effective marketing. One recommendation is for manufacturing and accounting services entrepreneurs to personalize customer service, building positive relationships with customers. The implications for positive social change include the potential for successful small business entrepreneurs to create jobs in the local community, thereby helping to alleviate poverty in the community

Industry Best Practices Contributing to Small Business Success

Small business owners generate jobs within the local community, but half of new business owners often fail to sustain operations for the first five years. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore strategies that small business owners in central Texas used to sustain their businesses beyond the first 5 years. Schumpeter\u27s theory of economic development grounded the study. Data collection included semistructured face-to-face interviews with a purposeful sample of 20 small business owners due to their success in creating strategies resulting in sustaining their businesses beyond 5 years in a postrecession business environment. All interpretations from the interview data included member checking to validate the credibility of the findings. Using the van Kamm method for thematic analysis, four themes emerged that included conducting business near federal and state organizations, having a business mentor, improving competitive positioning by focusing on improving both the quality of goods and services as well as innovating the customer experience, and adapting to rapidly changing economic conditions and destabilizing events with optimism and perseverance. Of these, the two most successful strategies entrepreneurs employed to improve survivability was conducting business near federal and state organizations with concentrated levels of workforce employees for sustained levels of returning business, as well as having one or more business mentors as an external source of entrepreneurial mentorship or information. Social change implications for small business owners include the potential to provide new strategies for small business sustainability, reductions in local unemployment rates, and improved community-based networks

Competition, Evolution and Optimisation: Comparisons of Models in Economics and Ecology

Discusses concepts of competition in economics and ecology and the relevance of evolution to both subjects. It is suggested that although speciation or increasing biodiversity tends to occur in undisturbed ecological systems, the opposite trend may occur in economic systems. Competition based on optimisation plays a significant role in theories of the evolution of species and some theories of the evolution of business or industrial structures. But evolution does not result in optimal selection of species or businesses for the future, and there is scope for doubt about what is being optimised by survivors in the evolutionary process. Ecological or biological theories of intra-specific competition involving scramble and contest competition are outlined and economic analogies are identified. It is argued that heterogeneity or diversity of individuals within a population of competing members has important implications for the sustainability or stability of populations involved in these types of competition. Comparisons are made between the survival of new industries and the probability of survival of populations of species