Network capitalism and the role of strategy, contracts and performance expectations for Asia-Pacific innovation partnerships

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018. With the growth of emerging economies in Asia-Pacific over the last three decades collaboration with the aim of innovation between firms within and with partners outside the region have developed substantially. Not always have such partnerships fulfilled their anticipated strategic objectives. The literature suggests that the nature of market arrangements and the role of government within that system play a role, but also innate contracting practices and governance of innovation partnerships are related. Yet, our understanding about the specific relationships between these factors and the emerging partnership innovation culture that facilitates joint business activities in an Asia-Pacific context remains vague. In this conceptual chapter we suggest how characteristics of so called network capitalism in conjunction with the nature of contractual agreements between partners, the alignment of their innovation objectives and the ambiguity inherent in their mutual contributions to the partnership can be interpreted as indicators of joint innovation culture. However, while innovation partnerships generally may result to be bureaucratic, market, clan, or adhocracy, we discuss how in an Asia Pacific context, innovation partnerships are limited by the extent of codification and diffusion of information and the social embeddedness of economic transactions

Team Learning: the Missing Construct from a Cross-Cultural Examination of Higher Education?

Team learning should be an important construct in organizational management research because team learning can enhance organizational learning and overall performance. However, there is limited understanding of how team learning works in different cultural contexts. Using an international comparative research approach, we developed a framework of antecedents and outcomes in the higher education context and tested it with samples from the UK and Vietnam. The results show that a common framework is applicable in the two different contexts, subject to slight modifications. However, this study does not find that team learning (measured via the proxy of “attitude towards team learning”) exhibits any statistically significant relationship as a predictor of the proposed outcomes. Other findings from this study on educational contexts are important not only to scholars in this field, but also for practicing managers, particularly those who study and operate in the extensive global market

Factors Hindering the Performance of Construction Project Managers

It has been said that the effective performance of the Project Manager (PM) is the single most critical factor affecting successful project outcomes. Little is known, however, of the nature and extent of the hindrances to PM effectiveness in the Construction Industry (CI). This paper reports on the results of a worldwide survey of PMs concerning these issues and shows that they have the potential to be more effective and more productive in their working. Associated with this is a need to be more aware of progress and developments in the CI generally, more aware of progress and developments in their own organisation, more delegation of contract administration tasks and more general administrative support. Also highlighted is the lengthy working hours of PMs

International Careers and Career Success of Indian Women in Science and Technology: The Importance of Career Capital and Organizational Capital

This article presents a study on international careers and career success of Indian women in Science & Technology (S&T). We conducted interviews with 30 (upper) middle class Indian women in New Delhi and Bangalore (India) who pursued careers abroad as self-initiated expatriates (SIEs). Important elements of career capital competencies in international career pursuits and career success of Indian women SIEs in S&T were: (a) families who value higher education and careers of their female children, which motivated women to pursue international careers to elevate family class status (knowing-why); (b) the motivation to gain knowledge and skills in science and technology (knowing-how) and (c) the encouragement and support from family for women’s international career pursuits, and international networks (knowing-whom). Furthermore, findings show that patriarchy entrenched in Indian society and culture resulted in a lack of organizational capital, which impede career success of women in S&T. We advise organizations in India to implement HR policies and practices embracing the development of career capital to empower Indian women in S&T to be successful in their international careers. Keywords: Indian women, self-initiated expatriates, career capital, organizational capital, career succes