Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Ove, Granstrand, Economics, Law and Intellectual Property: Seeking Strategies for Research and Teaching in a Developing Field
Ahmed Bounfour, The Management of Intangibles – the organisation's most valuable assets
R. S. Kaplan and D. P. Norton, Strategy Maps – converting intangible assets into tangible outcomes
Henry W. Lane, Martha L. Maznevski, Mark E. Mendenhall and Jeanne McNett, The Blackwell Handbook of Global Management – A Guide to Managing Complexity
Scott Shane, Edward Elgar, Academic Entrepreneurship: University Spin offs and Wealth Creation     

Japanese joint ventures with western multinationals: Synthesising the economic and cultural explanations of failure

Many research studies have been done to explain the reasons for the tensions and failures observed in joint ventures between Japanese and Western multinational enterprises. These studies have identified, with various degrees of sophistication, the existence of cultural differences as a primary determinant of failure. Alternative explanations focus upon a transaction cost approach, emphasising opportunism and the danger of cheating in such strategic alliances. This paper synthesises the literature through the development of a new conceptual framework. This framework, which distinguishes between economic and cultural reasons for failure, provides a new lens to view the literature. It is demonstrated that the simple view of cultural incompatibility needs to be replaced by an awareness of the combined impact of cultural and economic forces on the viability of joint ventures between Japanese and Western firms.Lee T. Brown is a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Management at the University of Toronto. Alan M. Rugman is Royal Bank Visiting Professor at the University of Alberta and Professor of International Business at the University of Toronto. Alain Verbeke is Assistant Professor of International Business at the University of Toronto. Helpful comments have been received from Nancy Adler, Mark Casson, Martin Evans, Tom Roehl, Mark Warner and Ken Watson.     

Performance criteria for production subunits in Australian manufacture

Forty-two measures of subunit performance are rated by 155 production managers, and these ratings are factor analyzed to yield performance criteria. Nine criteria emerged from this analysis and five of them are rated by the managers as significantly useful. One of the significant criteria suggests, rather surprisingly, that customer satisfaction is an important consideration to production subunit performance. The application of these results to managerial situations is discussed briefly.Dr Graham K. Kenny is a visiting Professor of Management from the Department of Management, College of Business Administration, San Diego State University; and Professor Alan S. Dunk is a Professor with the School of Economic and Financial Studies, Macquarie University. Thanks are due to John Brown, Bob Hinings, and John Waterhouse for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.     

Japanese horizontal keiretsu and the performance implications of membership

Our study investigates the effect of Japanese horizontal keiretsu group membership on firm risk and return. Like prior studies, our results show that horizontal keiretsu membership has a negative effect on firm profitability. However, we find that horizontal keiretsu networks are likely to increase the gap between targeted and realized returns, which we call the outcome–aspiration gap. Moreover, in contrast to prior studies, our results indicate that keiretsu membership does not enable member firms to reduce risks by smoothing profitability. Instead, our findings provide evidence that is counter to the conventional notion that Japanese horizontal keiretsu allows their member firms to trade off profits for reduced risk.

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Trade Union Growth, Structure and Policy, A Comparative Study of the Cotton Unions by H. A. Turner
The Executive: Autocrat, Bureaucrat, Democrat by Eugene E. Jennings
The Fundamentals of Management by W. S. Barry
Management, Men and Values by Abram T. Collier
The Management Process: An Integrated Functional Approach by William McNair Fox. Richard D. Irwin
Collective Bargaining versus Government Regulation: India and U.S.A. by A.V. Raman Rao
The Industrial Relations System of Pakistan by M. Ali Raza
Psychology in Administration: A Research Orientation by Timothy W. Costello and Sheldon S. Zalkind (ed.)
Workers, Factories, and Social Change in India by Richard D. Lambert
The Limits of Business Administration and Responsibility by G. Prys Williams
Democratic Values and the Rights of Management by E. Ginzberg and H. Berman
Models of Markets by Alfred R. Oxenfeldt (ed.)
Unified Operations Management by Arnold O. Putnam, E. Robert Barlow, and Gabriel N. Stilian
British Wage Councils by F. J. Bayliss
Managerial Problems in Public Enterprise by A. H. Hanson
An Investment in People.     

A financial comparison of Japanese and US manufacturers

This paper compares and contrasts the financial policies of Japanese and comparable U.S. manufacturing firms on the basis of 15 financial ratios. The findings indicate that there are significant differences between these two groups in 10 out of the 15 ratios investigated.Ali M. Fatemi is with the College of Business Administration at the Kansas State University. Hossein Safizadeh and Marna Jo Young are with the Wichita State University.     

Change and continuity in Japanese corporate governance

Previous studies on Japanese corporate governance were largely based on the agency theory framework, and can be seen as attempts to understand the unique monitoring mechanisms in the Japanese context. This paper briefly reviews prior research and then discusses the recent changes in the environment that have been affecting Japanese corporate governance. Our central argument is that there is both change and continuity in Japanese Corporate Governance. We also present emerging research from an institutional theory perspective. In this line of research, corporate governance is treated as part of a nation’s institutional framework and hence, researchers need to understand unique institutional arrangements that affect corporate governance practices and their change or continuity.

Emerging trends in China's financial sector

This paper reviews the trends which emerged in the financial system in China over the period 1979 to 1987. Economic and social reforms, which began in late 1978, have produced some far-reaching and significant effects on the growth of the Chinese economy. These reforms have prompted changes in the financial system, including banking reforms to handle the flow of funds to finance domestic expansion, international trade, the foreign debt and other domestic and international financial and finance-related transactions. The paper reviews the developments and focuses on some of the problems with respect to balance of payments, imbalances and inflationary pressures.Cecil R. Dipchand is a Professor of Finance in the School of Business Administration, Dalhousie University, Halifax; J. Colin Dodds is a Professor of Finance and Dean of Commerce at Saint Mary's University, Halifax; Patricia McGraw is an Administrator in the Canada-China Management Education Programme, School of Business Administration, Dalhousie University; and Keng Chen is a Lecturer in the Economics College, Xiamen University, Fujian Province, PR China. The financial assistance of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is greatly appreciated.     

The role of the ideal organization in comparative management: A cross cultural perspective of Japan & Korea

It is popular to talk of the Confucian Work Ethic when explaining the successes of Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. This is not an accurate impression. The authors of this article found significant differences in management practices — both actual and ideal — between Japan and South Korea.Professors Lane Kelley, Reginald Worthley and Harry Lie are from the College of Business Administration, University of Hawaii while Professor Arthur Whatley is from the College of Business Administration & Economics, New Mexico State University.     

Perspective: Ranking of the World's Top Innovation Management Scholars and Universities

This paper extends Jeffrey Thieme's article “The World's Top Innovation Management Scholars and Their Social Capital,” published in 2007 in J P I M, in which he made a ranking of the world's top innovation managements scholars. This paper makes four contributions. First, this paper includes data on innovation management from articles published in two leading innovation management journals and eight top management and marketing journals during past 20 years (1991–2010). Second, this paper classifies 1229 articles into 29 categories, revealing hot topics and future research directions. Third, this paper ranks 1718 innovation management scholars over a period of 20 years from 1991 to 2010. Fourth, this is the first time that 625 universities have been ranked in terms of their current faculty research capabilities in the field of innovation management. The empirical data from the past 20 years show that the world's top 10 innovation management scholars are: Michael Song (University of Missouri‐Kansas City), Roger J. Calantone (Michigan State University), Erik Jan Hultink (Delft University of Technology), Mark E. Parry (University of Missouri‐Kansas City), Kwaku Atuahene‐Gima (China Europe International Business School), C. Anthony Di Benedetto (Temple University), Abbie Griffin (University of Utah), William E. Souder (Retired), Barry L. Bayus (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), and Christoph H. Loch (INSEAD). The world's top 10 innovation management universities are: University of Missouri‐Kansas City, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan State University, INSEAD, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Northeastern University, Texas A&M University, Stanford University, and Delft University of Technology.     

An empirical analysis of price discrimination among countries

This article examines empirically the proposition that in recent years many less developed countries (LDCs) have been consistently overcharged for products exported to them from OECD countries. For a wide group of both developed and developing countries importing from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members, unit export values expressed in SUS per metric ton are statistically analysed and, in the case of the selected (homogeneous) agricultural products, the proposition doesnot receive conclusive support. The overall implications are presented along with suggestions for further research.The authors are from the College of Business Administration, San Diego State University.     

Does Asian management research need more self-confidence? Reflections from Russia

This commentary on Klaus Meyer’s article, “Asian Management Research Needs More Self-confidence,” in the Asia Pacific Journal of Management (2006), discusses the need for Asian management research to look beyond the pressures for publication in top-tier, Western scholarly academic journals. We reflect on our nearly two decades of research on Russian management to illustrate many of Meyer’s ideas and insights in a different transition economy. We support his call for more context-specific research that can also offer contributions to global management knowledge as well as indigenous management practice.

Workers' perceptions of a Japanese company's song

The Japanese company song is reputed to inspire the working morale of employees and thus contribute to overall company performance. This article investigates the psychological impact of the company song on workers by analysing the question-naire responses obtained from a group of Japanese workers. The researcher found that differences in gender and generation gap were strong explanatory variables in terms of workers' perception of non-business themes in the company song, while differences in organizational status played a significant role in explaining differences in employees' perceptions of the business-related themes. Some practical implications are also discussed.The author is from the College of Commerce and Business Administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.     

Japanese management in Singapore: Convergence of human resource management practices

This paper discusses the transfer and adaptation of Japanese human resource management practices to Singapore. By comparing Japanese parent companies, their subsidiary companies in Singapore, and comparable local Singaporean companies, the modifications to the practices of the Japanese parent companies and the adoption of local practices by Japanese management are made evident. The findings seem to uphold both the convergence and the contingency theses.Dr. Chong Li Choy is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Management, National University of Singapore. Prof. Hem C. Jain is from the Faculty of Administration, University of New Brunswick.     

Personal value systems of Japanese trainees and managers in a changing competitive system

A study of personal values held by Japanese and foreign students, trainees and managers showed recent Japanese trainees slightly more conservative than their 1979 cohorts. Foreign students and foreign managers held more pro-American work values than either Japanese managers or trainees. Finally, for the Japanese respondents, there was some evidence of specific shifts away from the Japanese employment system in the areas of thenenko compensation and promotion systems in their organisations.Roy J. Adams is a Professor of Industrial Relations in McMaster University; Richard B. Peterson is a Professor of Management and Organization in the University of Washington; Hermann F. Schwind is an Associate Professor in St. Mary's University.     

Indian business groups: Evolution and transformation

Business groups are an important constituent of many emerging economies. In this paper, we focus on the evolution and transformation of Indian business groups (IBGs) over two economic eras — pre-reform era (pre 1991) and reform era (post 1991). To this end, we analyze IBG behavior during these periods, and explain the implications of such behavior on IBG value creation. Our conceptualization of IBG dynamics utilizes the perspectives of product relatedness and institutional relatedness, and undertakes a broad review of the extant literature.

Asia’s national innovation systems: Institutional adaptability and rigidity in the face of global innovation challenges

This paper explores several features of, and changes in, innovation capacity in Asia. The growth of technology-based industries has been a critically important element of Asian industrial development and has required extensive institutional support for the diffusion of innovation and technological learning. As a number of Asian countries reach the global technological frontier they need to develop new capabilities for creating “radical” innovations in order to sustain their international competitiveness. Using the analytical frameworks of national innovation systems and varieties of capitalism, the paper reviews some systemic and environmental factors encouraging and constraining these developments. By referring to illustrative case studies of institutional evolution within Taiwan’s national innovation system and technological entrepreneurship in Korea, the paper argues that whilst there are major developments in models of innovation support, emulating those found in liberal market economies, enduring cultural legacies can remain influential. It highlights the central importance of social as well as economic institutional adaptation. Some management and policy implications of this attribute are considered, and a future research agenda is proposed.

The effect of political events on Japanese foreign direct investments

This article presents the findings of an investigation of the impact of conflictive and cooperative political events in 62 host countries on Japanese foreign direct investments during the period 1965 to 1980. In addition, the study provides evidence of the relative importance of economic conditions and intergovernmental relationships as determinants of foreign direct investments by Japanese firms. It is argued that in analyzing the effect of political events on foreign direct investments, one must not only take into account the conflictive political conditions within the host countries, but also cooperative political developments and changes in intergovernmental relationships. The findings of this study are compared with the results of investigating the impact of political events on foreign direct investments by United States and German multinational firms. Similarities and differences are highlighted as well as their probable causes. As such, this study makes a contribution to the conceptualization of political risk in an international business context.Dr. Hans Schollhammer is Associate Professor and Chairman of the International Management Program, Graduate School of Management, UCLA; Dr. Douglas Nigh is Assistant Professor of International Business, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania. The authors acknowledge with gratitude the financial support provided by the United States-Japan Friendship Commission for this research project.     

Competitive dynamics research: An insider’s odyssey

This paper introduces competitive dynamics research, a body of work that has emerged in the strategic management field over the last two decades. I will focus on my scholarly pursuit—both the substance and the process—during the early years of my faculty career. I will use my twelve core publications written during this period to outline the entire research program, highlight the makeup of each of the four sub-streams of the program, and show how these streams are linked. I will also share my personal learning in the process of building this research program. The paper aims to convey some firsthand experience for researchers and scholars, especially those starting in their careers and international scholars who are interested in publishing in major U.S.-based journals, so they can construct their own research programs and cope with the manifold process challenges in research and publishing.

Problems and prospects of Japanese companies' training programmes

This article examines the training programmes typically found in Japanese companies and their future trends. By comparing three types of combinations of training programme and promotion system the study brings to light potential problems in business training practices.The author is from the Department of Business Administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.