Global Champions in Waiting ——Prospects and challenges of Chinese Automobile firms M＆A activities on the world stage

In recent years, Chinese companies have accelerated their global activities in line with China＇s ascent as a major economic power. While some Chinesecompanies globalize organically, many others have pursued mergers and acquisitions （M＆A） to accelerate their global presence. High-profile deals such the SAIC＇s 50.6% acquisition of Korea＇s Ssangyong in 2004, Nanjing Auto Group purchased British auto company MG in 2006, and more recent Geely Automobile Holdings acquire＇ Australia＇s Drivetrain Systems Interna- tional, or DSI, the world＇s second largest auto transmission supplier in 2009, have introduced the world to a new generation of Chinese companies with aspirations to be global competitors. Under the circumstance of global financial crisis, as vehicles sales slump and companies burn through cash, many players in automobile industry are confronting cost pressure and tighter access to credit. As a result, many distressed assets are potentially up for sale. This also means opportunities for Chinese automobile players with international expansion to jump onto the global stage.     

NPC ＆ CPPCC in Foreign Officials Eyes

NPC ＆ CPPCC was closed in Beijing on March 13, during the two sessions, not only Chinese but the overseas kept a close watch on the two annual sessions, the proposals covering all fields of China development, for instance, to improve the people＇s livelihood, to perfect citizen＇s health care system, and to stimulate domestic demand. Our journalists also invited some foreign officials in China to comment on the event. During the interview, they paid close concern on the two sessions that it is favorable to access China＇s policies; so that they could convey the policy to the companies willing to invest in China or do business with Chinese companies. The officials were interested in the issues such as the ＂stimulus package＂, the reforms related to the democratization process, the environment protection, and the economic policy for foreign companies.     

Then And Now——How The Global Financial Crisis Will Affect Chinese Outbound investment

1. The future of outbound M＆A for Chinese enterprises
The background
As we read in the press lately, China＇s trade surplus and foreign-exchange reserves have fuelled its growing overseas M＆A activities over the last several years. Most commentators believe that this outbound activity will continue to increase. Some recent reports suggest, however, that since the current financial crisis began, there has been a slow down in China outbound M＆A activities,     

Private Enterprise to Be Dynamic Force of Future Overseas M&A

It means a lot of risks for Chinese enterprises to get involved in overseas merger and acquisitions.A new regulation enacted recently by the Chinese government requires state-owned companies not to purchase overseas business assets unrelated to their major business.Some companies thus felt worried that they would not be allowed to engage into any type of overseas merger and acquisitions.Ms.Shu Ya,IMAP director who is in charge of overseas M&A affairs of the Chinese enterprises,commented that such kind of regulations intend not to limit Chinese companies' overseas M&A strategy,but to encourage them to make headway into the global M&A market.     

China＇s 2009 public investment may exceed budget

Chinese companies may increase overseas mergers and acquisitions （M＆As） by 40 percent next year while outbound deal value may hit a record high of 30 to US$35 billion this year. The newspaper said, citing Wang Xiaogang, a partner at PrieewaterhouseCoopers LLP （PwC） China, that the major risk for Chinese companies in fostering overseas M＆A deals is the insufficient risk analysis capabilities, particularly in financial and legal aspects.     

China＇s Overseas M＆A in Global Economic Crisis

Overseas Merger and Acquisition（M ＆ A）is not only the major means for the entcrprises to expand repidly and operate globally,but also the significant strategic tools for acquiring advanced technology from other companies and seizing the market and other resources.The sustaining growth of our economy provides an optimal environment,while the breakout of the global financial crisis creates opportunities for Chinese enterpries＇ cross-border M＆G.Recently,whether it is the Chinalco confronting setbacks in investing Rio Tinto,Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery acquiring Hummer brand or two private companies intending to purchase Cardanro,all aroused wide concern.     

Capital Power： From Input to Output

After thirty yeas ＂going out＂ of China overseas investment, we learn from our failed lessons and also successful experience. Chinese enterprises are now standing at a new starting point of ＂going out＂. China is transforming from .＂capital input power＂ to ＂capital output power＂. With the approval of the National Development and Reform Commission of ER.C., the first China Overseas Investment Fair hosted by China Industrial Overseas Development ＆ Planning Association was convened on November 3rd-4th in China World Trade Center, Beijing. With forceful and orderly preparation since the beginning of 2009, ＂COI Fair＂ aims at providing professional service for Chinese enterprises overseas investment, in forms of both exhibitions and forums.     

Focus on Transnational Corporations and Global Economic Revival

Till now, there are 79,000 transnational enterprises and 790,000 foreign branches all over the world. Having a foreign direct investment totaled US$15 trillion, these transnational enterprises take a share of 40% in global production, 60% in trade, 70% in technology transfer and 90% in international direct investment. So, transnational enterprises are important driving forces for global economic growth, their global operation strategies are boosting the economic globalization, and their international investments are helping the economic globalization. Therefore, if the transnational enterprises can firstly overcome the eco- nomic crisis, they will lead the recovery and revitalization of global economy. In the recent sub-forum of Think Tank Summit hosted in Beijing, high-level government officials, senior executives from transnational enterprises and well-known economists from home and abroad had discussions on transnational enterprises and global economic revival, global M＆A and global industrial consolidation, transnational enter-prises and Chinese industrial revitalization, etc., under the theme of Cooperation and Responsibility of Transnational Corporation against the World Economic Crisis. On the closing ceremony, several leaders from Asia-Pacific chambers of commerce, including Mainland China, Hong Kong China, Japan and South Korea, together drafted Beijing Initiative, calling for against trade and investment protectionism.     

The Merger and Internationalization of Gome

Many enterprises are go- ing abroad,such as China Pe- troleum,Sinopec,China Min- metals,Lenovo and Huawei. All these manufacturers have achieved success in the inter- national market,however there are also many enterprises with roots in the domestic market that are developing overseas with additional capital.When the market develops to a cer- tain point a merger is the only way for some companies to     

Call for Textile Economic Recover

Chinese textile industry is a traditional sector boasting of competitive strength in global market. It＇s such a common phenomena that Chinese tourists are very difficult in finding a piece of clothes without a ＂Made-in-China＂ label in overseas supermarkets and malls. Even at the first World Expo, it was 12 silk produced in Huzhou, China, that caused a great sensation and won the Gold Expo in 1851, for the white and flexible silk was able to load 700 copper wires. And don＇t need to mention the Silk Road, originated from China.     

Mindfulness: Nurturing Global Mind‐set and Leadership

In this article, we attempt to explore global leadership and global mind‐set from the perspective of mindfulness. Through a synthesis of the literature on mindfulness and scholarship on global mind‐set and global leadership, this article explicates the importance of mindfulness in developing a global mind‐set and, thereby, acquiring global leadership competencies. Taking a task‐analytic approach to global leadership, we attempt to elaborate on how mindfulness can act as an important antecedent for global mind‐set and hence for global leadership. Implications for future research and managerial practice are highlighted. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Regional integration and the international strategies of large European firms

From the perspective of regional economic integration we decompose international strategy into regional integration strategy and three types of global strategy (global sales, global production, and pure global integration). Using 1100 firm-year observations we find that 60% of the largest European firms pursue a regional integration strategy. We also find that global strategies vary. We examine the firm specific factors that affect global strategies. In general, R&D capability determines a global production strategy, whereas firm size and managerial capability determine both a global sales strategy and a pure global integration strategy.     

全球广告标准化与全球品牌一致性的关系模型

全球化背景下,通过全球广告策略来建立和维护能被不同国家市场普遍接受的具有独特形象的全球品牌是跨国公司亟需解决的问题,本文据此提出了全球广告标准化与全球品牌一致性的关系模型。全球广告在综合考虑企业内外部因素的前提下,通过战略、执行和语言的不同程度的标准化,可以塑造全球品牌的识别和全球品牌形象,进而实现全球品牌个性、文化、定位和价值的一致性,并最终促使全球品牌正面性、认知度和忠诚度的提升。     

From travel to virtual work: The transitional experiences of global workers during Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed how global work is conducted in multinational enterprises. There has been a rapid and forced shift from global mobility to global virtual work. Taking a transition perspective and drawing on event system theory, this paper examines the transitional working experiences of global workers amid a global health pandemic. Through 32 in-depth interviews (pre- and in-Covid-19), our findings reveal how this exogenous event has transformed previously unquestioned and enshrined global work routines. By unpacking the transition process, we find that global workers were challenged to reconfigure the structural and relational dimensions of their global work. We disentangle the strategic and sustainable lessons learnt on the future of global working for multinational enterprises.     

Transforming business education to produce global managers

In recent years, globalization of businesses has occurred faster than the internationalization of business schools—in terms of faculty, students, and curriculum. Indeed, there is now a disconnect between global economic realities and the ability of business schools to produce global managers. This article discusses mission-based strategies for international business education and proposes opportunities that increase global awareness, global understanding, and global competence through student and faculty engagement and development. These changes will advance business schools’ mission of producing global managers.     

全球价值链中零售企业创新战略研究

经济全球化时代零售企业竞争力的提高,取决于零售企业的全球价值链创新能力、整合全球客户资源和供应链资源的能力。7-11、宜家、沃尔玛、巴黎春天等跨国零售企业制定和实施了不同的全球价值链创新战略,吸引一流供应商和客户进入自身价值链,进而掌握了全球价值链主导权和控制权。     

Predicting effectiveness in global leadership activities

Given the importance of effective global leadership, both academics and practitioners alike have become increasingly interested in ways to develop successful global business leaders. This study of over two hundred global leaders found that high contact cross-cultural leadership development experiences and the leaders’ personality characteristics were predictors of effectiveness in global leadership activities. Testing hypotheses based on social learning theory and the contact hypothesis, extroversion is found to moderate the relationship between high contact cross-cultural leadership development experiences and effectiveness on global leadership activities: Highly extroverted leaders with a greater number of high contact cross-cultural leadership development experiences are the most effective on global leadership activities.     

Integrating global and local procurement for superior supplier working relations

Globalization is forcing global organizations to focus on processes that will enable them to more effectively and efficiently integrate and coordinate their activities throughout their worldwide organization. As such, global sourcing is becoming a standard practice in many global organizations. Using a dataset of 1455 observations from the suppliers of a North American-based global manufacturer of high technology products, this research evaluates how a global company can utilize a globally integrated procurement organization to achieve global and local sourcing responsiveness and superior supplier working relations. The study found that if a global procurement organization aspires to achieve exceptional supplier working relations, it should be highly integrated across its geographic regions with knowledgeable global and local procurement personnel who effectively communicate with the firm's suppliers, while working closely together in a coordinated manner to achieve a globally responsive supply chain.     

The impact of the global factory on economic development

The global factory is a structure through which multinational enterprises integrate their global strategies through a combination of innovation, distribution and production of both goods and services. The global factory is analysed within a Coasean framework with particular attention to ownership and location policies using methods that illustrate its power in the global system. Developing countries are constrained by the existence and power of global factories. Firms in developing countries are frequently constrained to be suppliers of labour intensive manufacturing or services into the global factory system. Breaking into this system is difficult for emerging countries. It requires either a strategy of upgrading or the establishment of new global factories under the control of focal firms from emerging countries. The implementation of these strategies is formidably difficult.     

Global cities: A multi-disciplinary review and research agenda

Multinational enterprise (MNE) location decisions are central to international business (IB) scholarship and research shows that global cities are key MNE investment locations. Despite growing awareness of their importance to MNEs, most literature on global cities resides outside the IB domain. To provide IB scholars with a foundation to advance global city research, we conduct a multi-disciplinary review of top journal articles organized into three themes: the nature of global cities, MNE strategic decisions in global cities, and outcomes of MNE investment in global cities. We use this framework to synthesize findings, discuss theoretical implications, and provide future research directions.