International Management: managing in the era of globalization

[Extract - English translation] Since the early civilization of human beings, trade activities cross borders and regions have occurred. The discovery of rich materials located in distant lands stimulated the excitingly historical exploration. Almost all the fortunes created by the industrial revolutionary were manufactured like this: taking raw materials obtained in one region to another one to process, then selling the products worldwide. It has been 200 years since this kind of trade model was defined as international trade. However, the con cept of globalization that came into being during the past years has a profound meaning. For business activities, globalization means integrating all the activities on the world scale. For many industries, investment, research, production, distribution and marketing are increasingly becoming globalized

Re-imagining and transforming events: Insights from the Australian events industry

Over the past year, COVID-19 has hit the events industry with unprecedented force, resulting in event cancellations, reduced employment and salary cuts, with most event organisations moving either partially or fully to virtual events. Most challenging is the uncertainty in regard to the way(s) that events will be reshaped and rejuvenated. Our aim in this study is to discover how practitioners interpret the pandemic in relation to events and how events are reimagined and transformed in a pandemic world. Theories relating to transformative experiences and resilience are used to explore the phenomenon. This study contributes a framework based on qualitative insights by event professionals, suggesting the industry should focus on key priorities for event transformation, namely connectivity, meaningful experience design, adaptive capacity and education and, finally, practitioner well-being. Research limitations are discussed, and future research is proposed. Keywords: event education, event experiences, event industry, human connectivity, meaningful events, transformatio

The Impact of Economic Reform and Associated Changes in Regulatory and Institutional Arrangements on the Role of Trade Unions in the People's Republic of China

As a result of a range of PRC government initiatives, including Deng Xiaoping's "Open Door" and "Four Modernizations" policies, the Chinese economy has undergone fundamental changes over the last two decades. Economic reform in the PRC has been supported and highlighted by China's recent entry into the WTO. This transformation in the Chinese economy has been associated with significant levels of reform in employment relations. These reforms have led to the development of clearer and closer links between labour-management relations and market forces. However, the real impact of these changes on the role of trade unions in the PRC is, by no means a straightforward one. New labour legislation has provided trade unions with greater scope than ever before in representing the interests of their members. However, transitions away from market dominance by State Owned Enterprises and the emergence of a robust private sector has led to a significant reduction in trade union influence. The situation is further complicated by the emergence and growth of foreign-funded joint ventures. This article examines the traditional role of trade unions in the PRC, as well as the key aspects of national culture influencing labour management relationships. It then explores the impact of recent economic changes, and the relationship between trade union roles and a range of organisational variables including location, ownership and size. It also explores the implications of current economic developments and cultural changes on the future of labour relations in the PRC

Management development in China

Chinese and Vietnamese organisations seeking to enhance the expertise of middle and senior managers through exposure to Western management theories and practices face two basic problems. The first problem is related to the relevance of Western management theory in a high-context transitional economy. The second problem is related to the development of suitable pedagogies for the cross-cultural transfer of management theory generally. Against the background of literature on international management, the paper describes a modified case study as a basis for the effective delivery of management education in high-context cultures

Changing attitudes to intellectual property rights in China: the nexus between Chinese culture and the rule of law

Many aspects of intellectual property rights (IPR) in China are canvassed in the literature. In this treatment of IPR, the cultural architecture of IPR is often promoted as the paramount explanation of the piracy of intellectual property in China. Notwithstanding culture's influence, the recent experience of Taiwan, a country with a similar cultural profile to that of China, suggests that China has the potential to establish a functional regime for IPR. This development, however, requires appropriate incentives and new norms for IPR. This paper identifies and analyses aspects of the cultural, social, economic, historical, and political architecture of IPR in China. While not downgrading the influence of culture on attitude formation, the experience of Taiwan indicates that the piracy of IPR

An Analysis of the Cross-cultural Transferability of Western Motivation Theories to the Developing Eastern, China Region

With the increasing globalisation of complex organisations, the need to understand cross-cultural issues and the gap betweeen theory and practice is crucial to organisational effectiveness. This research examines the question of the extent to which western motivation theories can be successfully transferred to other regions, and the extent to which the relevance and organisational utility of management education is constrained by cultural variables. The majority of academic theories about organisational effectiveness have their findings based on empirical data from U.S. and European cultures, usually during the last fifty years. In contrast, significant practical management and organisational activity now occurs in Asian, Chinese cultures. Changing both the historical and geographic assumptions and interactions of research may negate the value of accepted management theories. More specifically, academics and researchers have attempted to provide the relevant data for management theories about the relationships between organisational strategy, structure and behaviour, and between structure and culture: essentially stating that "alignment" is essential for improving organisational effectiveness. Data obtained from over thirty organisations in the sample demonstrates that these general theories concerning the alignment of structure and culture cannot be applied universally. Essentially, this negates the academic basis of the currently espoused management theories and restricts their general applicability. The conclusions from this research are supported by other researchers (Adler 1986; and Steers and Porter 1991), who agree that management theories, including motivation and leadership theories, are "culture bound". Organisational culture is strongly influenced by environmental factors and constraints; the cross-cultural transferability of these and other management concepts and theories is related to the degree of similarity and relative importance of these variables. The vital question for practicing managers is the extent to which these espoused management principles can be cross-culturally transferred to China. This research reviews the fundamental environmental constraints and variables from both an empirical and experience perspective. The paper concludes that management and organisational theories should be conveyed in terms subject to these constraining variables, not used as simplistic universal solutions

Changing attitudes to intellectual property rights in China: the nexus between Chinese culture and the rule of law

Many aspects of intellectual property rights (IPR) in China are canvassed in the literature. In this treatment of IPR, the cultural architecture of IPR is often promoted as the paramount explanation of the piracy of intellectual property in China. Notwithstanding culture's influence, the recent experience of Taiwan, a country with a similar cultural profile to that of China, suggests that China has the potential to establish a functional regime for IPR. This development, however, requires appropriate incentives and new norms for IPR. This paper identifies and analyses aspects of the cultural, social, economic, historical, and political architecture of IPR in China. While not downgrading the influence of culture on attitude formation, the experience of Taiwan indicates that the piracy of IPR

An Analysis of the Cross-cultural Transferability of Western Motivation Theories to the Developing Eastern, China Region

With the increasing globalisation of complex organisations, the need to understand cross-cultural issues and the gap betweeen theory and practice is crucial to organisational effectiveness. This research examines the question of the extent to which western motivation theories can be successfully transferred to other regions, and the extent to which the relevance and organisational utility of management education is constrained by cultural variables. The majority of academic theories about organisational effectiveness have their findings based on empirical data from U.S. and European cultures, usually during the last fifty years. In contrast, significant practical management and organisational activity now occurs in Asian, Chinese cultures. Changing both the historical and geographic assumptions and interactions of research may negate the value of accepted management theories. More specifically, academics and researchers have attempted to provide the relevant data for management theories about the relationships between organisational strategy, structure and behaviour, and between structure and culture: essentially stating that "alignment" is essential for improving organisational effectiveness. Data obtained from over thirty organisations in the sample demonstrates that these general theories concerning the alignment of structure and culture cannot be applied universally. Essentially, this negates the academic basis of the currently espoused management theories and restricts their general applicability. The conclusions from this research are supported by other researchers (Adler 1986; and Steers and Porter 1991), who agree that management theories, including motivation and leadership theories, are "culture bound". Organisational culture is strongly influenced by environmental factors and constraints; the cross-cultural transferability of these and other management concepts and theories is related to the degree of similarity and relative importance of these variables. The vital question for practicing managers is the extent to which these espoused management principles can be cross-culturally transferred to China. This research reviews the fundamental environmental constraints and variables from both an empirical and experience perspective. The paper concludes that management and organisational theories should be conveyed in terms subject to these constraining variables, not used as simplistic universal solutions

Management development in China

Chinese and Vietnamese organisations seeking to enhance the expertise of middle and senior managers through exposure to Western management theories and practices face two basic problems. The first problem is related to the relevance of Western management theory in a high-context transitional economy. The second problem is related to the development of suitable pedagogies for the cross-cultural transfer of management theory generally. Against the background of literature on international management, the paper describes a modified case study as a basis for the effective delivery of management education in high-context cultures

The individuals in Mao's collective kingdom: a study of motivational needs of PRC state-enterprise employees

The purpose of this study was to understand the motivational needs of PRC (People's Republic of China) state-owned enterprise employees by utilising Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory as a framework. The focus of the research was to develop an explanation for the motivational needs of the PRC state employees. A qualitative inquiry was developed in three stages of group interview, seven semi-structured interviews and observation as preliminary study, main data collection and supplementary data collection method respectively. Data analysis methods consisted of the traditional method of examining the interview files manually and by using the computer program Ethnograph v.5. The research investigated the content in each category of Maslow's hierarchy of needs in the PRC context. It found that physiological needs consist of housing and medical subsidies. Safety needs consist of staying employed in the state-owned enterprise though the research also found that some of the managers indicated that this category of need may not be important. There is a significant focus on the belonging needs category, especially on the PRC state employees' relationships with their managers. Self-esteem needs include respect and recognition for these PRC state employees and that motivators in this category include bonuses, travel and promotion. Lastly, the study indicates that self-actualisation may be an abstract ideal for these employees. Interestingly, self-actualisation also includes a comparison of the employees among themselves to gauge their own abilities and achievements. The research proposed that the motivational needs in this study depict an emerging sense of individualism from these PRC state employees. This is attributed to economic and social changes taking place when the research was conducted. The emergence of individualism is particularly apparent in higher-level needs of belonging, safety, self-esteem and self-actualisation. In addition, extrinsic forms of reward in the form of bonuses, travel and housing subsidies are more prevalent than intrinsic forms of moral encouragement, and they tend to motivate the employees individually. These factors strengthen the argument that individualism is emerging as a part of the motivational needs of the PRC state employees