Dealing with the Banking Crisis： Has Japan Been in the Right Direction？

1. Introduction In the 1990s, the Japanese financial system had a series of crises and changes. As Hoshi and Kashyap （1999） estimated, the non-performing loans that Japan＇s banks remained as of the end of 1998 have exceeded US$ I trillion, around 7% of the GDP of that fiscal year. As a consequence, Japan＇s top banks have been continuously downgraded, resulting in a so-called “Japan Premium” charged by foreign financial markets when borrowing. Thus, the widespread bank failures have, in turn, limited the growth of the Japanese economy as a whole. During the period of 1991-2000, Japan＇s annual growth rate of per capita GDP has declined to 0.5% on average.     

New Basle Capital Agreement and Risk Management of China＇s Banking Industry

Adjustment of Basle Capital Agreement will influence the risk management and capital arrangement demand of the banks with different scales, operation level and environment. It will have widespread and profound effect on the competition strength of every country＇s banks in the global market. Starting with illustration of the present cond（tion of risk management in China＇s banks, the paper analyzes the major problems existing in the risk management system of China＇s banking industry, then puts forward some clues and suggestions to improve and better the risk management system of China＇s banking industry.     

Globalization and Voluntary Environmental Management in Developing Countries

Weak capacity to enforce regulations and sanction violators, and an emphasis on economic growth in developing countries has led to concerns about worsening environmental conditions and the potential for these countries becoming pollution havens for multinational corporations. International environmental standards, voluntary programs, and public disclosure programs have gained popularity because they engage market participants in providing incentives for self-regulation and have the potential to substitute for the lack of domestic regulatory capacity. This paper analyzes the motivations for firms to undertake voluntary environmental management and reviews the empirical evidence on the type of firms participating in such initiatives and their effectiveness in improving environmental performance. We also consider the special case of China that has witnessed dramatic globalization following its acceptance into the World Trade Organization and participation by its firms in global supply chains. We conclude with a discussion of the effectiveness of these efforts as a substitute for weak regulatory and civic society pressures in these countries.     

Analysis of the Competition in China＇s Supermarket Sector

China＇s supermarket sector has been growing with a high rate for ten years. Relying on the advantages of new formats and adapting to the economic change of China, several China＇s supermarket companies have replaced the traditional department stores to become the leading player in retail industry of China. Although the interesting phenomenon shows that although these supermarket companies have the inherent problems of shortage of capital and weaknesses in management, their expansion is more emphasized on sizes and speeds. Being weak in management and over squeezing ,margin from suppliers that might lead their position to be vulnerable. Their market share is taken by different competitors, more notably by foreign giant retailers. Competition will become more fierce and complex. Merging, making joint ventures with foreign investors, expanding into chain and fuU-format retailer, hunting for skillful people would be the key strategic options to keep the sector＇s growth.     

Chinese Industrial Pollution and Countermeasures

Chinese economy has been driven to grow at extraordinarily high levels in the past two decades. Pollution from industrial increasing presents the complexity of ＂Market Failure＂ and ＂Government Failure＂, and also the latter is more serious. The traditional public sector management appears inadequate to deal with the new challenge in environmental protection that emerges. We should reform public management behaviors and form regulations that ＂growth＂ is not the highest priority for government.     

The level of destination management in the South-Moravian Region

Tourism is not only a significant tool of prosperity in well-known tourist destinations, but it is also an important potential development element in developing rural regions. In Czech Republic, the field of regional development and managing destinations started to develop in the second half of the 1990s. Organizing tourism is in the phase of building and passes through natural development. Fierce competition between individual destinations imposes natural pressures on creating marketing managements of these destinations and such offer of products that perfectly come up to tourists＇ expectations. Together with increasing requirements, the demands on quality and well-prepared destinations within home tourism revive. In the final consequence, the level of destination management influences the increase in marketability and attendance in the region. The paper outlines the main theoretical basis, principles and tools of destination management, and subsequently it summarizes the results of the analysis, and conducted survey, the objective of which was to prove the functioning of these principles in practice. The practical verification of the functioning of destination management principles in Czech Republic has been conducted in the South-Moravian region （JMK） which is one of the most-often-visited regions in the country. The set targets have been reached not only by analysing available secondary data, but the techniques of depth interviews with experts in a destination management company have also been used, as well as the techniques of an orientation questionnaire survey among travel agencies and offices that should be one of the partners for a well-functioning destination management company.     

Research in the Securitization of the Non-performing Loans of China＇s State-owned Banks

In this paper, through analyzing the necessity of the securitization of the non-performing loans of China＇s state-owned banks, the author proposes some tentative ideas for the securitization of the non-performing loans and works out some problems that need to be solved in this process.     

A comparative analysis of Japanese firm productivity： Solow residual and Malmquist productivity index

For some time, two major kinds of Total Factor Productivity （TFP） have existed independently of each other： the Solow residual and the Malmquist Productivity Index （MPI）. The Solow residual was introduced in macro economic growth models, and the MPI has been used in micro economics and management studies. As both indices were developed independently, few studies utilize both together and compare the results. This paper uses the same data to compare the two productivity indices by setting to determine the economic implications of combining the two indices. We discovered that we could decompose TFP with each aspect of the Soiow residual and MPI. We could then interpret their relationship in the business cycle. Our results indicated that the frontier shift in MPI of Japanese firms often occurred when the Solow residual increased, meaning that improving oroductivitv with the Solow residual could be generated by a firm that could shift new production frontiers.     

Reviews of the research on water resources management system at home and abroad

The reform of the system of water resource management abroad has started since the 50s of last century, it has left us a lot of experiences in many aspects with the innovation of system, such as the legal environment in water resources, water rights, water market theory, and the ＂participation＂ management of water resources, these experiences has been promoted in more than 40 developing countries. Based on analyzing the theory and experiences of water resources management both at home and abroad, especially the theory and experiences of agricultural water resources management, this paper puts forward the main problems waiting for further investigation in China＇s water resources management and provides some reference and inspiration for the innovation of the system of water resource management in China.     

Knowledge Management and Customer Relationship Management for Accounting Services Companies

By combining the abilities to respond directly to customer requests and to provide the customer with a highly interactive, customized experience, companies have a greater ability today to establish nurture and sustain long-term customer relationships than ever before. The ultimate goal is to transform these relationships into greater profitability by increasing repeat purchase rates and reducing customer acquisition costs. Customer relationship management （CRM） has a significant potential to leverage an organization＇s performance, but it does not come without a clear sense of destination and typically without pain. For the research methodology we use the database of customers of a Romanian accounting services company Vulpoi ＆ Toader Management SRL, which is an important player in this market. The goal of our paper is to find out the link between knowledge management （KM） and CRM for this company and how these ＂innovations＂ contribute to increasing the value of the business.     

The role of new ICTs in the sustainable development of industrial cluster： a case study of Yangxunqiao textile cluster

The wide application of new information and communication technologies （ICTs） has been argued to be critical in local economic development, while the application of new ICTs will affect the development of industrial cluster, especially those small and medium-sized enterprises （SMEs）. This paper examines Yangxunqiao textile cluster located in Zhejiang Province as a case study to focus on the role of ICTs in the sustainable development. We argue ICTs application in firms boost flexible and customized production approach, improve e-commerce market channel and raise supply chain management. We also pay special attention to the spatial implication of ICTs adoption in industrial cluster, and suggest that application of ICTs tend to lead to further clustering of SMEs in the location with mature production chain. Our analysis shows that new ICTs are a facilitator in the sustainable development of the industrial cluster.     

Sense of Crisis Is the Original Strive for Enterprise＇s Development

＂Thrive in calamity and perish in soft living＂ is an ancient Chinese philosophical thought, which is instructive to modern enterprise management, The sense of crisis can be changed into that of competition and innovation. If one enterprise wants to remain invincible all the time, it has to have senses of crisis, considering the possible threat and crisis in safe places and take precaution before anything happens. Consistent progress and innovation is the guarantee for the enterprise＇s continuous and healthy development,     

Management Modes of Employment Relationship under a Changing and Reforming Circumstance in China： a Competitive Advantage Perspective

Since the 1990s, organizational environments in China have taken an unprecedented, unrelenting and largely unpredictable change, competitive advantage has increasingly depended on core employees, conventional and rigid employment modes have been confronted with a serious challenge. In contrast to pervious work in employment relationship, this paper explores how to achieve and maintain sustainable competitive advantage through differential management of employees in a business climate characterized by increasingly fierce competition and diverse human resources. On the assumption that human capital is idiosyncratic and according to a two dimensional matrix of strategic value and firm-specificity of human capital, the paper establishes a binary matrix model and develops a classification of four types of workers： firm-specific core employees, generic key employees, generic ancillary employees, and idiosyncratic allied employees. Each is viewed as playing a different strategic role in organization and should be developed and supported by different employment modes： commitment management based on skill, productivity management based on job, compliance management based on short-term contact, and collaboration management based on alliance, in order to facilitate employment relationship management in congruence with other HR practices and enterprise strategy for winning sustainable competitive advantage.     

Return to Endogenous Financial System via Corporate Bonds

After 35 years＇ reform and development, China has established an ＂exogenous＂ financial system. This type of financial system was created outside of real economy rather than derived from its inherent demand. To improve the role of market mechanism in allocation of financial resources, China＇s financial system must be reformed to be endogenous in real economy, which means, expanding the financial options available to enterprises and households so that they can compete with financial institutions such as commercial banks in financial market. Corporate bonds, with their advantages in matching the supply and demand of funds, can play important role in cultivate the endogenous financial system com- bined with real economy.     

The World Production and Trade of Rare Earth Elements： The Position of the Pacific Area

In this paper we analyze the characteristics of the so-called rare earth elements （REEs） and its industrial applications. We present the policy, or lack thereof, in the countries in the Pacific Rim for its mining and commerce, and the current and future weight that rare earth minerals will have in international trade. The technological revolution experienced over the last 25 years, has brought the REEs to the public＇s attention for being instrumental in obtaining catalysts, lasers and optical fiber, luminescent substances and LEDs, superconductors, permanent magnets, batteries and ultra-capacitors. China＇s leading position as the supplier of these minerals worldwide, and its recent export restriction policy for domestic industrial activities have driven up international prices. Price increase for REEs is leading to the need for both recycling and its replacement. It has also led other countries in the Asia Pacific Rim to prospect new potential sites on their own territories, or even to restart operations in deposits that had been previously abandoned. Those strategies will likely gain greater importance as environmental pollution problems associated with the exploitation, processing, and recovery of REEs increase.     

Lessons from ＂Audit Storm＂ in China

The phenomenon of ＂Audit Storm＂ in China shows that transparency in government audit has been improved and increasing attention from the public has been paid to it, as government auditing and the mass media in China make joint effort to become a powerful source of supervision of government financial administration. Lessons drawn from Audit Storm show that more need to be done to systematically ensure public accountability in China, including improving the independence of China National Audit Office （CANO）, strengthening the manning of Chinese National People＇s Congress （NPC） and Ministry of Finance （MoF）, improving NPC and MoF joint cooperation with CNAO, insisting on more transparency in public funds allocation and management, the introduction of an effective responsibility system, and so on.     

A survey of the influencing factors and models for resident＇s household waste management behavior

The problem of household solid waste has been concerned and researched on by municipalities and researchers.At present, household solid waste has been changed to management problem from technical one. From the point view ofmanagement, the research on household solid waste is to study the factors which influence resident’s behavior ofmanaging their waste. Based on the literature review, firstly, this paper summarizes those factors which have alreadybeen identified to have impact on resident’s behavior of managing their waste. They are social-demographic variables,knowledge, environmental values, psychological factors, publicity and system design. Secondly, three typical models ofthe relationship between factors and behavior, which are factors determining task performance in waste management,conceptualization of waste management behavior and the theoretical model of repeated behavior on household wastemanagement, are analyzed and the deficiencies of these models are also analyzed. Finally, according to the currentsituation in household waste management and the culture and resident’s habits in China, this paper puts forward aresearch focus and suggestions about resident’s behavior of household solid waste management.     

The Impact of Automation in Service Industries＂ An Empirical Study

Academic research into service industries has explored the characteristics of interpersonal interactions between employees and customers, but there are few studies addressing the issues of consumer interaction with technology and its influence on the objectives and results of the operations subsystem. This study examines the elements of the service encounter, and the changes automation originates in them and their relationships. The paper also examines changes in the elements and results of the operations subsystem, as a result of automation. We propose that the customer＇s relationship with employees and/or technology and automated systems for the service impact the objectives and results of the operations subsystem, all of which could have an effect on the company＇s competitive position. The empirical study is focused on four industries, namely, toll motorways, car parks, carwash and video/DVD rental companies, in an attempt to identify objectives that lead companies to implement automated processes affecting the customer＇s relationship with the company. The hypotheses generated are contrasted with a structural equation modelling. The results confirm that the customer＇s relationship with employees and automated systems for the service impacts the objectives and results of the operations subsystem. Also, the results show how automation can enable firms simultaneously to achieve acceptable levels of flexibility and productivity, two dimensions that have traditionally been considered opposites.     

Problems Existed in Applications of Cointegration Theory in China

Although the Cointegration Theory was founded by the C.W.J Granger and other economists in the 1980s, it was not widely used in China until C.W.J Granger was awarded with Nobel Prize in 2003. Since then, a lot of economic papers introducing or applying Cointegration Theory have emerged, but the phenomenon of misuse of this theory possibly arose at the same time. Based on some of these papers obtained from web site （www.cnki.net）, this paper explores the applications of Cointegration Theory in China and draws some initial conclusions. Most of these applications are reasonable, but some of them are a bit blindfold or even contradictory in conclusions, which indicates that the overall application quality has a large room to get improved and should be paid more attention by academe.     

A ＂Paradox＂ in China＇s Environmental Management： An Argument From a Comparative Study on Waste Recycling Policies Between China and Japan

China appears to have a ＂paradox＂ in its environmental management policies. For example, China＇s recycling policies appear paradoxical. With its rapidly expanding economy, China is now the world＇s largest emitter of urban waste. Under such a situation, China is aiming to build up a recycling economy by enacting a number of related laws. Despite the development of waste recycling regulations, however, the load on the environment by continuously increasing waste has not reduced in China so far. What explains this seemingly paradoxical situation of waste recycling in China？ It has been pointed out in the previous study on China＇s climate change policies that environment protection falls under the rubric of sustainable development in China. The question here is whether the same story can be applied to areas other than climate change in China＇s environmental management. This paper examines it in the area of its waste recycling policy. This paper conducts an evaluation of waste recycling regulations in China by comparing it with the experience of Japan, China＇s next-door advanced country. It concludes that the waste recycling regulations in China do not primarily aim at reducing the environmental load by reducing the amount of waste but rather for the main purpose of recycling and reusing resources effectively for the sake of economic development.