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.

---

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.

Opportunities and challenges for academic returnees in China

A growing number of Western-educated management PhD graduates are starting their academic career in Chinese business schools. While opportunities are abundant for these returnees, they also face the choice between developing internationally transferable assets and building locally embedded competences. Some possible solutions are discussed, at both personal and institutional levels.

How does strategic orientation matter in Chinese firms?

As China continues to transition toward a market economy, how strategic orientation affects firm performance has received significant attention. This article reviews the extant literature with a framework that depicts contemporary work on strategic orientation, the drivers of strategic orientation, and its boundary conditions. We identify important research gaps and propose to integrate institutional theory, dynamic capability perspective, and the knowledge-based view within the strategic orientation research stream for future investigations.

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.

Business groups in East Asia: Post-crisis restructuring and new growth

Business groups played an important role in the economic development of East Asian countries. Yet business groups in East Asia face an uncertain future. Following the Asian Crisis, foreign creditors and investors have demanded that business groups have more transparent operations and stronger corporate governance. At the same time, as governments in East Asia have loosened trade barriers, business groups have become subject to intense competition in domestic markets. This paper argues that business groups can survive or even prosper by taking initiatives in corporate restructuring. This paper also highlights some areas for further research on business groups in this region.

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.

The development of entrepreneurship in China

In this paper, we provide an overview of the extant research on the development of entrepreneurship in China. This research focus is a relatively recent phenomenon since China’s market transition started from late 1978. We review the literature over the 26 years from 1980 through 2005, as published in 11 leading English-language academic journals. We identify 68 articles from this review and analyze them based on the research subjects, methods, and firm types. From this review, and integrating with research on market transitions, we propose a three-stage model of market transitions that has important implications for entrepreneurship research in transition economies.

Asian management research needs broader initiatives and focused incentives

Meyer (2006) has offered an interesting array of initiatives that scholars in Asia can pursue in enhancing their contribution to the body of management knowledge. While the objective of his agenda seems timely and relevant, it raises some fundamental questions that encompass issues such as the scope of research questions that Asian researchers could pursue, the debate over rigor versus relevance, and the role of established top tier journals in furthering the Asian management research agenda. This paper discusses some of these issues in the spirit of fostering a continued dialog on the important questions that Meyer raises.

Business and government interdependence in China: Cooperative goals to develop industries and the marketplace

Although government withdrawal from business has traditionally been considered a key reform in developing a market economy, the Chinese government remains active. This study uses the social psychological theory of cooperation and competition to analyze the interdependence between government and business. Structural equation results of interviews of specific incidents collected from 105 government officials and business people in Shanghai, China, support the model that cooperative, but not competitive or independent, goals induce open-minded discussions that in turn strengthen their relationships, accomplish tasks, foster confidence they will work productively in the future, and develop their industry and the marketplace.

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.

A stage-dependent model of resource utilization,strategic flexibility,and implications for performance over time: Empirical evidence from a transitional environment

It has long been recognized that there is a tradeoff between exploration and exploitation. How organizations utilize resources across time and space will affect firm survival and growth. In this paper, we examine resource utilization and performance implications over time in an environment undergoing fundamental institutional transformation. Based on a large archive of Chinese government data from 1988, 1992, and 1996, the study finds that (1) the impact of resource utilization is contingent on the degree to which different resources are committed to factors of production, (2) the impact is curvilinear and only valid within an “optimal” range, and (3) the performance implications change over time. As firms enter later stages of the transitional process, efficiency becomes less important as they shift their strategic focus from exploitation to exploration, which requires more flexibility. These findings have significant bearing on the issue of upgrading technological competitiveness in China as the country becomes increasingly integrated in the global economy. Such insights may also have implications for other emerging economies in Asia.

Negative externalities of close guanxi within organizations

In this conceptual article we present a critical analysis of close guanxi, i.e., close personal connections, in terms of their negative externalities on organizations. We adopt a social dilemma perspective and examine how close guanxi parties, while cooperative toward each other, may nevertheless defect against the organization, causing negative externalities. We contend that relationalism exacerbates such negative effects of close guanxi and propose various institutional mechanisms and individual variables that can reduce them. Finally, we discuss research and practical implications of solving social dilemmas of close guanxi in Chinese organizations and strong ties in Western organizations.

The effects of emotional intelligence on job performance and life satisfaction for the research and development scientists in China

To demonstrate the utility of the emotional intelligence (EI) construct in organizational studies, this study focuses on the effect of EI on job performance among research and development scientists in China. We argue that EI is a significant predictor of job performance beyond the effect of the General Mental Ability (GMA) battery on performance. This predictor effect is supported by results on a study of research and development scientists working for a large computer company in China. Our results also show that a self-reported EI scale developed for Chinese respondents, the WLEIS, is a better predictor of job performance than the scale developed in the U.S., the MSCEIT. Implications of the findings are discussed.

In search of confidence: Context,collaboration, and constraints

The development of any field of scientific inquiry involves global scholarly conversations. While we agree with Meyer’s (2006) key tenets, we extend his discussion of Asia management scholars’ need for self-confidence by exploring the role of context, collaboration, and constraints in global scholarly discourse. In particular, we highlight the need for consideration of multi-level context, the development of theories that are good for local stakeholders’ management practice and technology-facilitated and super-institutional collaboration. We illustrate our arguments for the development, legitimization, and institutionalization of Asia Pacific management research with examples from management and other scholarly disciplines in Australia, China, Europe, and North America.

Research rankings of Asia Pacific business schools: Global versus local knowledge strategies

Despite the increasing recognition of the importance of the research mission of universities, no previous work has investigated the research productivity and research strategies of Asia Pacific business schools. This article fills this important gap by conducting the first study to rank the publication productivity of 130 Asia Pacific business schools. Drawing on data from the UTD Top 100 Business School Research Rankings™ and several additional sources, we rank Asia Pacific business schools’ research productivity in three areas: (1) twenty-four leading business journals, (2) seven top management journals, and (3) five Asia Pacific management journals. We also extend this analysis by documenting the distinct publishing strategies of various Asia Pacific business schools—global, local, or both.

Individualism–collectivism as predictors of BPO employee attitudes toward union membership in India

Drawing on data from a survey of 342 employees from three BPO organizations in Mumbai (India), this study examined whether cultural variables of individual cultural orientation and organizational culture, and their interaction were predictive of employees’ attitudes toward union membership in BPO organizations in India where unionization has hitherto not taken place. Using regression analysis, the researcher found that over and above the effects of demographic and job-related variable, and work stress and job satisfaction, horizontal individualism could predict union attitudes significantly and negatively whereas vertical individualism and collectivism could predict the attitudes significantly and positively. Similarly, organizational collectivism could predict employees’ attitudes toward union membership significantly and negatively. Using the univariate analysis of variance, the researcher found that the contrast between personal value and organizational culture of an individualist working in a collectivistic organizational culture or collectivist working in an individualistic culture are found to have stronger influence on union attitudes compared to the congruence of an individualist working in an individualistic culture or collectivist working in a collectivistic culture. The results and implications of findings are discussed in the paper with reference to the literature on role of cultural and attitudinal variables in relation to organizational outcomes like union membership.

Venture capital in China: A view from Europe

This article provides commentary on the analysis of venture capital in China by Ahlstrom, Bruton, and Yeh (Venture capital in China: Past, present, and future. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 2007). The article considers issues relating to the scope of venture capital and private equity, the nature of venture capital and private equity organizations, the life-cycle process of VC investing, internationalization, and foreign venture capital firms. The paper identifies areas for future research and compares the Chinese VC context with those in Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe.

Feeling trusted by business leaders in China: Antecedents and the mediating role of value congruence

This paper examines the antecedents of felt trust, an under-explored area in the trust literature. We hypothesized that subordinates’ felt trust would relate positively with their leaders’ moral leadership behaviors and negatively with autocratic leadership behaviors and demographic differences between leaders and themselves. We also hypothesized the above relationships to be mediated by the leader-member value congruence. Results supported our hypotheses that value congruence mediated between autocratic leadership behaviors and demographic differences and subordinates’ felt trust, but not moral leadership behaviors, which had direct effects on subordinates’ perception of feeling trusted. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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.