An empirical study of human resource management policies and practices in foreign-invested enterprises in China: the case of Shenzen Special Economic Zone

Information about human resource management (HRM) practices in foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in China has been limited to studies involving a small number of cases. This study provides an empirical assessment of HRM practices used in 158 FIEs operating in Shenzen Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of the Guangdong Province in southern China. Results suggest that FIEs have moved away from centrally planned job allocation, life-time employment and egalitarian pay towards open job markets at management and non-management levels, contractual employment where pay and longevity are based on individual worker and company performance and compensation plans that recognize differences in skills, training and job demands. These practices seem to reflect the influence of the economic reform in China. Other aspects of HRM practices used by FIEs, such as approximate equality of pay for men and women, limited differences between management and non-management salaries and widespread provision of housing and other benefits for employees, seem to reflect the influence of the Chinese socialist ideology.     

Taxation and income shifting: Empirical evidence from a quasi-experiment in China

China's new Corporate Income Tax Law was passed in March 2007 and took effect on January 1, 2008. It terminated the dual corporate income tax regime by removing the preferential tax treatments offered to foreign investment enterprises (FIEs) and unifying the corporate income tax regime for FIEs and Chinese domestic enterprises (DEs). This article uses a difference-in-differences approach to determine whether FIEs responded to the law by shifting income out of China. Employing the Chinese Industrial Enterprises Database from 2002 to 2008 to implement the analysis, we find that FIEs have responded to the law by shifting income out of China; the treatment effect for Hong Kong-Macau-Taiwan (HMT) investment enterprises is less negative than that for other FIEs, which implies that HMT investment enterprises might be less capable of shifting income across countries than other FIEs. The treatment effect by restricting the control group to State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) is less negative than that by restricting the control group to Private-Owned Enterprises (POEs), which is consistent with the perception that SOEs might enjoy more favorable treatment from the Chinese government than POEs. All three findings are consistent with tax-induced income shifting, and hence we conclude that taxation plays an important role in income shifting activities.     

Strategic human resource management,firm performance,and employee relations climate in China

We examined strategic human resource management (SHRM) and human resource practices in the People's Republic of China to assess the impact of these practices on firm performance and the employee relations climate. We also tested whether firm ownership moderates the above relationships. Empirical results from a sample of Chinese firms from various industries and regions showed that the levels of adoption of SHRM and HR practices were lower in state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) than in foreign‐invested enterprises (FIEs) and privately owned enterprises (POEs). Both SHRM and HR practices were found to have direct and positive effects on financial performance, operational performance, and the employee relations climate. However, the moderating effect of ownership type was significant for financial performance only. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Does the Natural‐Resource‐Based View of the Firm Apply in an Emerging Economy? A Survey of Foreign Invested Enterprises in China*

abstract This study explores whether enterprises operating in China benefit from the practice of the tenets of the natural‐resource‐based view of the firm (NRVF). To this end, a conceptual model is proposed that depicts the major determinants and consequences of the practice of NRVF. By and large, the survey data collected from foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) in China confirm the validity of the proposed model, and suggest that the NRVF is applicable in the world's largest and fastest‐growing emerging economy. These results remind FIEs in China of the opportunities to enhance corporate environmental and financial performance through the adoption of environmental strategies. Various regression and multi‐group analyses conducted in this study further reveal significant moderating influences of perceived environmental uncertainties, operating mode, and firm size on the process of achieving company‐wide ecological sustainability.     

Observations on the organizational commitment of Chinese employees: comparative studies of state-owned enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises

Although recent research has begun to touch upon the organizational commitment of Chinese employees, most studies have been limited to the transposition of Western methodology to a Chinese context. This paper examines two groups of Chinese employees, those working in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and those working in foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs), and compares the organizational commitment of each group. In order to reflect Chinese characteristics more accurately, the present study used a questionnaire incorporating items drawn from previous Chinese and Western studies. The various multidimensional structures of organizational commitment put forward by both Eastern and Western researchers to date have been re-examined using a sample of 1,232 industrial employees. Results indicate that a five-factor component model, including affective commitment, active continuance commitment, passive continuance commitment, normative commitment and value commitment, fits the data best. The key findings of this study are that SOE employees have higher levels of active continuance commitment and passive continuance commitment, and a lower level of value commitment, than employees of FIEs. It can be inferred from these differences that, in contemplating appropriate measures designed to foster the commitment levels of Chinese employees, management should recognize that the measures required to achieve such a goal will vary according to form of economic ownership (SOEs vs. FIEs). Implications for human resource management in both SOEs and FIEs are discussed.     

基于时间竞争的供应商关系管理实证研究

实证研究企业供应商关系管理的状况对制造企业基于时间的竞争战略的影响。研充结果表明．相互投资和涉入程度是影响企业基于时间竞争绩效的主要因素．相互投资和涉入程度越高，企业制造环节中的时间竞争绩效越好。在我国．双方的信任关系、一般信息分享两个指标都和提高制造环节中的时间绩效没有确定的线性关系。     

The impact of organizational structure on time-based manufacturing and plant performance

The innovation and organizational theory literatures argue that implementing radical innovation can be facilitated or hindered by the organization’s structural design. As firms attempt to cope with an external environment that is changing from industrial to post-industrial, how do they implement change? This study develops a research framework that examines relationships among various structural dimensions (i.e. number of layers in the hierarchy, level of horizontal integration, locus of decision-making, nature of formalization, and level of communication), time-based manufacturing practices, and plant performance. Based on 224 responses from manufacturing firms, this study develops instruments to measure these organizational sub-dimensions using part of this sample (N=104), and it tests the structural relationships with the remaining responses (N=120). Results indicate that the nature of formalization, the number of layers in the hierarchy, and the level of horizontal integration have significant, direct, and positive effects on the locus of decision-making and level of communication. Locus of decision-making and the level of communication, in turn, have significant, direct, and positive effects on time-based manufacturing practices. Finally, time-based manufacturing practices have a significant, direct, and positive impact on plant performance.     

基金业绩影响因素研究——基于基金经理特征视角

通过对基金经理特征与基金业绩关系的实证研究考察了年龄、性别、任期、工作经历、银行背景、教育背景、资格证书等经理特征对基金业绩的影响。实证结果表明,年龄、任期、MBA与基金业绩负相关,银行经历与基金业绩正相关,博士学历反而没有硕士学历的经理基金业绩好,女性经理业绩强于男性,工作经历对业绩影响不大,CFA证书持有者业绩略好,金融专业背景经理业绩强于其他专业。研究还发现,硕士毕业于国内排名前十位高校的基金经理管理的业绩,获得比其他经理管理的基金高出13.6%-15.4%的投资收益率。研究结论表明,较高的人力资本和社会资本有利于基金业绩的提升,而经验资本影响不大。     

The effects of internal versus external integration practices on time-based performance and overall firm performance

This paper examines the effects of integration practices on time-based performance and on overall firm performance (financial and market share). Integration practices are grouped into two categories: (1) external strategic design integration, which reaches across firm boundaries to involve suppliers and customers and (2) internal design-process integration, which comprises more tactically oriented, integration practices that match design requirements and process capabilities. First, regression results show that both internal and external integration are related to time-based performance, which in turn is related to firm performance. Thus, two indirect routes to firm performance are identified. Second, hierarchical regression reveals that integration directly affects firm performance even after time-based performance is accounted for. Finally, we found that the interaction of internal and external integration is significantly related to both market share and financial performance (after controlling for all other effects). This latter result suggests that the joint use of external and internal integration practices has a synergistic effect on firm performance.     

风险投资家背景与创业企业经营绩效关系分析——基于沪深A股的实证研究

选择沪深A股上市公司中风险投资支持的企业数据,利用t检验和多元回归方法来分析风险投资家的背景对创业企业经营绩效的影响。研究发现,风险投资家的教育背景、国际经验、政府背景以及证券从业背景,对创业企业经营绩效具有显著的正面影响;风险投资家在两家或者两家以上创业企业兼任董监事,对创业企业绩效具有显著的负面影响。这一研究丰富了公司治理文献,为正确理解风险投资家对创业企业经营绩效的影响提供了新的观点;并为创业企业对风险投资家的选择提供了依据,使创业企业治理理论得到一定的补充。     

跨国公司在华物流外包对企业绩效影响的实证研究——以企业战略为调节变量

在现有理论文献和调查的基础上,提出假设,利用问卷统计分析,对跨国公司在华实施的企业战略在物流外包与企业绩效的调节作用进行了实证检验,研究结果表明,跨国公司在华实施的成本领先战略会促进物流外包对财务绩效、市场绩效和运作绩效的正向影响;跨国公司在华实施的差异化战略对物流外包与企业绩效间的关系不产生影响。     

Corporate environmental performance,environmental management and firm risk

Using a sample of 1,632 U.K. firm‐year observations from 2002 to 2013, this paper investigates the impact of multidimensional corporate environmental performance (CEP) on firm risk. Considering two dimensions of CEP, namely environmental management performance (EMP) and environmental operational performance (EOP), we find that EMP serves as an effective mechanism in reducing firm risk, and such an effect is mainly driven by the manufacturing sector. Meanwhile, there is no clear association between EOP and firm risk. However, our findings highlight a moderating effect of EOP on the relationship between negative EMP and firm risk. This provides new insights into the value of multidimensional CEP and suggests that the complex relationship between outcome‐ and process‐based environmental performance is important for understanding the real effects of CEP on firm risk. Our results have important implications for managerial decision‐making in strategy and risk management, as well as for policymaking in environmental regulation.     

When East meets West: interaction effects of organisational ownership structure,gender and (un)met expectations on workers' attitudes in China

This study adopts a framework of structural contingency and gender theories in a case-study-based investigation of changes in workers' attitudes towards their jobs and employers when working for enterprises with alliances with varying degrees of closeness to Western partners (equity joint venture- and contract joint venture [CJV]-type alliances). Workers moving from non-foreign-invested enterprise (FIE) to FIE employment perceived their enterprise FIEs to have more HR practices, and their attitudes towards their jobs and companies became moderately more positive. There were, however, limited differences by alliance type. This was explained by the intervening role of gender in the relationship between structure and attitudes, producing the unexpected result that CJV women experienced the least positive change in their attitudes, a finding the authors explained utilising (un)met expectation theory.     

Social networks of female tech-entrepreneurs and new venture performance: the moderating effects of entrepreneurial alertness and gender discrimination

The social networks of entrepreneurs are an important factor affecting new venture performance. Based on the survey data of 316 new ventures in China, this paper explores the relationship between the social networks of female tech-entrepreneurs and new venture performance, and examines the moderating effects of entrepreneurial alertness and gender discrimination on this relationship. Our findings reveal that: (a) the social networks of female tech-entrepreneurs have a positive effect on new venture performance; (b) the entrepreneurial alertness of female tech-entrepreneurs has a positive effect on new venture performance; and (c) gender discrimination against women has a negative effect on new venture performance. Moreover, we found that gender discrimination negatively moderates the relationship between the social networks of female tech-entrepreneurs and new venture performance. We also found that entrepreneurial alertness positively moderates the relationship between the social networks of female tech-entrepreneurs and new venture performance. Our findings provide theoretical and practical implications for female technical individuals in the entrepreneurial practice, and shed light on the study of entrepreneurship theory in other emerging economies.     

Interfirm Channel Relationships,Influence Strategies and Performance in China

Abstract

This paper empirically examines the relationship between inter-firm channel relationships, influence strategies and suppliers' performance. A survey of 103 foreign partners from Sino-foreign joint ventures in the food industry in China shows that channel relationships have a major positive effect on supplier's channel performance. While the influence strategy of “threats” is negatively related to supplier's channel performance and channel relationships, “suggestive litigation” has a positive influence on performance, on the contrary to findings in Western countries. Although a business relationship with an emphasis on “legal effect” is not desired on the part of distributors, it enhances channel relationships. The influence strategy of “request” as a Western phenomenon does not work well in China, and has an inverse effect on channel relationships. Implications for practitioners and researchers are discussed.     

智力资本与企业战略绩效:基于中国上市公司的实证研究

基于企业资源观的分析框架,从促进企业竞争优势的稀缺战略资源特性出发,构建了智力资本贡献于企业战略绩效的关系模型。采用上市公司2006-2008年的相关数据,对智力资本与企业战略绩效之间的相关性进行了实证研究。研究结果显示物质资本与企业战略绩效显著正相关,人力资本对企业具有积极的价值创造作用,结构资本与企业战略绩效呈一定程度的正相关关系。     

The mediating effect of psychological empowerment on the relationship between participative goal setting and team outcomes – a study in China

In the late twentieth century, it is popular to research the effect of participative goal setting. The general conclusion is that the relationship between participation and performance is inconsistent and unclear at individual level. With team becoming a more dominant mode in organizing, motivating, and managing, it is worthwhile to investigate the effect of participation in team goal setting. This study aims to test the mediating effect of psychological empowerment (PE) on the relationship between participative team goal setting and team identity and team performance. Executive MBA students (371) in 75 groups from China Europe International Business School in China participated in the study. The data from Business Strategy Game and questionnaire found positive relationship between participative team goal setting and team identification, and team performance is partially mediated by PE. Implications for the goal-setting theory and practice are discussed, and future research directions offered.     

建筑企业低碳动态营销能力构建

本文在西方学术界所提出的动态营销能力概念基础上,针对建筑行业提出了低碳动态营销能力概念,将其划分为低碳产品研发跨部门管理流程、低碳顾客关系跨部门管理流程和低碳供应链跨部门管理流程这三个维度,将环境不确定性作为调节变量首次在建筑行业研究低碳动态营销能力与市场绩效的作用关系,并以武汉市185家建筑企业为样本对其进行了实证检验。研究发现,建筑企业低碳动态营销能力对市场绩效有显著正向影响,环境不确定性在建筑企业低碳动态营销能力与市场绩效之间发挥着正向调节作用。     

Do external diversity practices boost focal firm performance? The case of supplier diversity

Based on the resource-based view, we propose that external diversity practices such as supplier diversity may affect firm performance. We find that the relationship between supplier diversity and short-term performance (i.e. productivity) is moderated by context such that firms in declining industries experience positive productivity effects while firms in munificent industries witness negative effects. For longer-term profitability (i.e. Tobin's q), we do not find support for a positive relationship between supplier diversity and long-term performance. However, positive supplier diversity effects emerge in munificent environments. Overall, in support of the strategic human resource management approach, we conclude that the effect of external supplier diversity on firm performance is contingent upon environmental munificence, which documented the necessity to include supplier diversity as a relevant component of a comprehensive diversity and equality management system.     

战略性企业社会责任与企业绩效:顾此失彼还是两全其美?

企业社会责任与绩效关系的研究作为社会责任领域的核心问题至今仍未能形成一致性结论,基于长期导向的战略性企业社会责任概念为回答这一问题提供了新的视角。本文根据2011—2017年中国制造业上市公司的经验数据,通过对前瞻性环保和战略性慈善这两种典型活动的考察,分析了战略性企业社会责任及其不同类型对绩效的影响作用。研究结果表明：内向型SCSR活动对绩效具有显著正的累积效应,当这一活动与企业生产经营关联度高时对绩效的提升效果更为明显,从时间维度上看对绩效的提升效果呈现先负向后正向的动态变化且具有持续性;而外向型SCSR活动对绩效的影响仅在能够被消费者感知时才能发挥正向影响,从时间维度看短期内即可发挥对绩效的提升效果,但这一效果随时间的推移而逐渐减弱。