Managerial ties, control and deregulation: An investigation of business groups entering the deregulated banking industry in Taiwan

This study investigates the determinants of business groups’ entry to the deregulated banking industry in Taiwan, from the perspectives of social capital and agency theory. The principal objective of deregulation is to increase the efficiency of resource utilization by introducing competition. However, the opportunities inherent in deregulation may induce a battle of strengths among interested business groups. Based on secondary data analysis, this study reveals that the managerial ties possessed by key individuals in a business group, and the degree of overlapping investment between the owner-managers, influences the likelihood of whether or not a business group will decide to enter the deregulated banking industry. The results of this study provide a valuable starting point from which to discuss the influence of internal and external personal networks on business strategy during a time of deregulation.

Location advantages and subsidiaries’ R&;D activities in emerging economies: Exploring the effect of employee mobility

With multinational corporations increasingly seeking subsidiaries’ specific advantages in foreign countries to develop their innovative capabilities, internationalization of research and development has been greatly emphasized. However, in emerging economies, managers are encountering the challenge of high employee mobility under the weak intellectual property protection regime. This article investigates subsidiaries’ employee mobility and proposes that it negatively moderates the relationship between location advantages and the level of subsidiaries’ R&D. This article extends R&D internationalization and enhances current understanding of subsidiaries’ R&D activities. Further, it provides managerial implications as to how managers can improve R&D outcome by mitigating obstacles in emerging economies.

Four tigers and the dragon: values differences,similarities, and consensus

This study examines the influence of economic and political factors that contribute to the convergence and/or divergence in value priorities of five East Asian societies—China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. We find that political and social-economic factors influence the values orientations of managers within this region. However, economic development level is an insufficient explanation for values convergence without consideration of the societal context and cultural traditions in which that development occurred.

Perceived effectiveness of influence strategies among Hong Kong managers

This study extended recent attempts to build a conceptual framework for the study of organizational influence behaviors. A hundred and four Hong Kong managers rated the perceived effectiveness of 16 influence tactics in six scenarios, covering three directions of influence—upward, downward, and lateral. Results consistently generated a two-dimensional model of basic strategies—the more nurturing, conformity-inducing Gentle Persuasion (GP); and the more agentic, compliance-pressuring Contingent Control (CC). A three-way interaction among these two strategies, the three influence directions, and gender was found, and the relationships between the perceived effectiveness of these strategies and the managers’ social beliefs explored.

The adolescence of Asia management research: <Emphasis Type="Italic">APJM</Emphasis>, 1997–2006

In this article we reflect on the adolescent years of Asia management research published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Management (APJM) by reviewing work published in the past 10 years (1997–2006). We report that during the last decade, APJM has published 223 research articles, written by 373 different authors, who are affiliated with 203 different institutions. Our discussion of the future of Asia management research is guided by Kuhn’s (Kuhn, T. S. The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962) perspective on the nonlinear progression of science. We argue that as a growing community, Asia management research is finding its “identity” and establishing its presence in the larger worldwide management research community. Following our analysis, we conclude that the growth of Asia management research—as captured by APJM publications—throughout its “adolescent” years has set forth a challenging and exciting path for the future. All authors contributed equally. We thank Mike Peng (Editor-in-Chief) for his encouragement and advice. This work was completed when Yu-Shan Su was a Fulbright visiting scholar at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). She thanks the Fulbright Association and the Taiwanese Ministry of Education for partially funding this work.

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Knowledge management and innovation strategy: The challenge for latecomers in emerging economies

The success of latecomer firms from the emerging economies challenges the conventional wisdom on entry timing and resource-based competence. Building on research on institutions in emerging economies and the resource-based perspective in strategic management, we propose a model to explain how resource poor latecomer firms in emerging economies catch up with the multinational incumbents. We classify latecomers based on their strategic learning intent as either emulators or blind imitators. The strategic learning intent depends on a firm’s complementary assets and its absorptive capacity. Firms that choose emulation develop flexible routines, while firms that choose blind imitation end up with rigid routines. Over time, when there is a need for resource renewal, firms that have flexible routines are better positioned to respond. We take the Chinese mobile phone industry as an exemplar to illustrate the core issues in latecomer catching up of emerging economy firms.

A strategic analysis of surging Chinese manufacturers: The case of Galanz

Recent years have witnessed the surging of Chinese manufacturers, as China has become the world’s factory floor. This paper presents a case study of one of the most successful manufacturers in China, the Galanz Group, now the world’s largest microwave manufacturer. Based on theories of multinational corporations from emerging economies, the paper examines the process of Galanz’s integration into the global market. The company has developed unique competitive strategies that have made it a great success within China and in overseas markets. The Galanz model suggests strong strategic implications for both Chinese firms and incumbent multinational corporations.

Self-confidence does not come isolated from the environment

A smart way to build confidence is to gain the most success within the constraints of the environment. Trying things that the infrastructures fail to support may bring more frustration than confidence. Out of this consideration, Asian researchers might have concentrated on “original equipment manufacturing” type of research—exporting their research to the larger, Western market—in the past due to limited resources and colonial governance. However, with the change in environment, Asian researchers have to undo their old beliefs and participate in building infrastructures that facilitate original and advanced research in management.

Managers’ conflict management styles and employee attitudinal outcomes: The mediating role of trust

This study examines the mediating effects of trust on the relationships between manager’s conflict management styles (CMS) and employee attitudinal outcomes, as well as identifies the potential deviations in the areas of CMS and trust from the west in Chinese culture. One hundred sixty-nine employees in Guangzhou of China participated. As predicted, Integrating CMS of managers is found significantly correlated to trust and subordinates’ job satisfaction and turnover intention. Trust fully mediates the link between Integrating CMS and subordinates attitudinal outcomes. Results also support the expectations concerning the deviations on the impacts of the uncooperative CMS on subordinates under Chinese culture. Discussion and implications are presented.

Attributive change in top management teams as a driver of strategic change

This study examines the role of top management team (TMT) member succession in breaking organizational inertia. We compare the impact of two types of change in TMTs—in member number and demographic heterogeneity—on subsequent strategic reorientation using data on the diversification activities of firms in the Japanese textile industry. Our findings suggest that executive succession does not trigger strategic change unless succession entails change in the values and interests of executives embedded in their demographic traits.

Creating relational rents: The effect of business groups on affiliated firms’ performance in Indonesia

This research attempts to extend the discussion of business groups in emerging economies by treating business groups as a form of interorganizational network that generates relational rents among affiliated firms by creating technological and managerial capabilities. Based on the relational view, this research investigates whether value created by business groups depends upon sharing, combining, and exchanging unique and specific resources or assets among affiliated firms. Results show that technological capabilities contribute to create relational rents in terms of affiliated firms’ investment in R&D and human capital. Managerial capabilities also contributed to generating relational rents through investment in managerial knowledge acquisition for affiliated firms without R&D units and in training for affiliated firms with R&D units. However, learning by exporting and learning from imported input do not yield relational rents within business groups. Overall, these findings reveal that business groups as interorganizational networks are contingent on their internal, unique, and specific capabilities, as social capital theory argues.

Organizational values and procedures as antecedents for goal interdependence and collaborative effectiveness

Organizational values of people and respect and interdependent structures of team procedures and task interdependence may help departments believe their goals are cooperative and thereby coordinate effectively. CEOs in China completed measures of their organization’s values and interdependent structures and their Vice-Presidents completed measures of the department’s goal interdependence (cooperative, competitive, and independent) and collaborative effectiveness. Structural equation analysis suggested that values and interdependent structures promote cooperative, but not competitive or independent, goals that in turn results in collaborative effectiveness. These results, coupled with previous research, were interpreted as suggesting that people and respect values, team procedures, task interdependence, and cooperative goals are complementary foundations for synergy in China and perhaps other countries as well.

Asian contexts and the search for general theory in management research: A rejoinder

“Asian Management Research Needs More Self-confidence” (Meyer, 2006) generated a surprisingly extended and diverse set of responses from Asia and beyond. In this rejoinder, I draw together a few lines of arguments that have emerged in that debate with the aim of moving the debate—and thus Asian management research agendas—forward. In particular, I argue that context is a crucial variable to explain management behavior, yet for practical reasons, it has been neglected in research published in top journals. Thus, I challenge management scholars in Asia and beyond to devise new research strategies to enhance our understanding of the contextual boundaries of our knowledge.

Parent country nationals or local nationals for executive positions in foreign affiliates: An empirical study of Japanese affiliates in Korea

This study examines how the host country experience of Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) affects their staffing policies for executive manager positions at foreign affiliates. Hypotheses on executive staffing policies for foreign affiliates are tested using survey data collected from 103 Japanese affiliates in Korea. Findings show that the level of global integration and the degree of centralization of decision-making positively affect an assignment of parent country nationals as executive managers of foreign affiliates. We further find that foreign affiliates’ experience in a host country moderates the effects of both global integration and centralization on staffing decisions for the affiliates.

Japanese <Emphasis Type="Italic">keiretsu</Emphasis>: Past,present, future

This article reviews major theoretical and empirical work on vertical and horizontal Japanese keiretsu. We first outline the history, characteristics, and strategic and performance implications of each type of business group. We then discuss changes in the Japanese economy during the post-1992 Japanese economic decline and their implications for the persistence and continued benefits of each form of inter-corporate grouping followed by a discussion of empirical findings regarding the continued role of keiretsu in the Japanese economy. The review concludes by exploring areas of future research into the evolution of keiretsu ties and their implications.

The formation and evolution of non-equity strategic alliances in China

Contractual joint ventures (CJVs) are a major form of non-equity strategic alliance in China, employed mainly by Hong Kong firms in the south China province of Guangdong. Due to their ambiguous legal status and the lack of conceptualisation and of their contractual nature, there has been little empirical research on CJVs. By theorising CJVs as a relational subcontracting arrangement and drawing on data from structured interviews with managers from both sides, this paper reveals the managerial decisions pertaining to the formation and evolution of the CJV non-equity alliances in Guangdong.

Does knowledge management matter for information technology applications in China?

This study explores the role of knowledge management (KM) in mediating and moderating the relationship between information technology (IT) and firm performance based upon the data collected from 236 firms in China. Through a structural equation model and hierarchical regression analysis, we found that KM capability partially mediated the performance impact of IT resources. Furthermore, KM capability affected the strength of the IT-performance relationship. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications are discussed and limitations of the study are highlighted accordingly.

Evidence of the practical utility of Wong’s emotional intelligence scale in Hong Kong and mainland China

Emotional intelligence (EI) has been an emerging topic for psychological, educational, and management researchers and consultants in recent years. However, there is a lack of scientifically valid measures of this concept, especially for those that have practical utility in the Asian context. Recently, a 40-item forced-choice instrument was developed for Chinese respondents in Hong Kong. We collected data in three studies to further test the practical utility of this instrument in Hong Kong and mainland China. The results provided clear evidence for the instrument’s practical utility. More research that uses this measure in Asian countries is required.

Familial capitalism in global institutional contexts: Implications for corporate governance and entrepreneurship in East Asia

Many of the world’s firms have a familial dimension; including some of the most dynamic and emerging markets of East Asia. However, this important aspect of organizing economic activity remains understudied and misunderstood. A central theme of this article is that while families matter in economic activity throughout the world, they matter in different ways depending on the institutional context. To illustrate this theme a varieties of capitalism perspective is used to develop a rudimentary global comparative framework. Institutional context is portrayed as a key determinant of the degree and type of family governance that typify national economies. Implications for corporate governance and entrepreneurship in East Asia are discussed.

Impact of state ownership and control mechanisms on the performance of group affiliated companies in China

This paper examines the moderating impact of state ownership and group control mechanisms on the relationship between diversification and performance of companies affiliated with large business groups in China. We find that the state ownership has enhanced the performance of group affiliated companies when they adopted higher degrees of diversification. We also find that cash flow rights have a positive impact on the performance of companies with lower degrees of diversification while in general group control rights have a negative impact on the performance. These results suggest that a group’s control mechanisms, derived from pyramid ownership structures, enable the dominant owners to expropriate the value from minority shareholders or tunnel corporate resources for their own interest.