Technological innovation of firms in China: Past, present, and future

What do we know about technological innovation of firms in China? What are the directions for future research on this topic? This paper summarizes and discusses some of the newest literature on technological innovation of firms in China in the following three ways: (1) the influence of firms?? external factors, (2) the influence of firms?? internal factors, and (3) interfirm cooperation factors. Based on the analysis of these articles, we propose a framework which highlights these influencing factors, decision-making and implementation of technological innovation and innovation performance, in the context of China??s emerging economy. This framework sheds lights on future innovation research.     

Venture capital in China: Past,present, and future

This article reviews the literature on venture capital in China and examines where China’s venture capital industry has been and where it is likely to go in the future. Since the 1980s, venture capital in China has grown steadily alongside the robust national economy. The future is likely to offer even greater opportunities, as entrepreneurs are encouraged and property rights improve. However, there will also be a period of transition as the market continues to mature and as new legal structures and commercial arrangements emerge. Venture capital in China has many interesting differences from that in Western countries. The venture capital industry is shaped by the institutional context and China is no exception to this. This article also examines some specific differences between the system in China and that of the United States. Future prospects for venture capital are also appraised as China continues its transition to a market economy.

Managing 'green' product innovation in small firms

The growing social and regulatory concern for the environment is leading an increasing number of companies to considering 'green' issues as a major source of strategic change. In particular, this trend has major and complex implications on the technological strategy of a company and on its product innovations. Indeed, most authors acknowledge that eco‐efficiency will be one of the major challenges for R&D practice and theory in the next decade. Unfortunately, studies usually focus on large corporations. There is a debate as to whether this factor will affect R&D practices and product innovation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). A superficial glimpse at the problem could lead one to think that SMEs will not be major green innovators, especially as far as product technologies are concerned, and that they will simply try to comply with environmental regulations (mainly on production processes).
This paper shows that 'green' product innovation may occur and may also have strategic implications in SMEs. Starting from the analysis of four selected case studies and using a Precursors Events methodology, this paper illustrates why 'green' product innovation cannot be considered a marginal issue for most SMEs, even for those that are not directly affected by environmental regulations. Hence, the paper suggests a contingent framework to support SMEs in the analysis of the drivers of 'green' product innovation and in the choice of a proper R&D strategy that explicitly accounts for the eco‐efficiency of product technologies.     

Technological catch-up by east Asian firms: Trends,issues, and future research agenda

This paper reviews extant research on technological catch-up of East Asian firms, which has recently emerged as an important issue. We review 76 articles on technological catch-up in the East Asian context published in 17 journals over 23 years (1995–2017), covering the academic disciplines of strategic management, international business, entrepreneurship, technology and innovation management, and economics. Based on a systematic analysis of this literature, we develop an overarching framework to this topic. We then identify the major gaps in the literature and suggest areas for future research on technological catch-up of Asian firms.     

Transitioning from product to service-led growth in manufacturing firms: Emergent challenges in selecting and managing the industrial sales force

Despite the increasing strategic value of service-led growth in competitive and commoditized markets, firms frequently encounter problems orienting their industrial sales forces toward these new organizational objectives. To identify important potential challenges to firms attempting to make the transition to service-led growth, we conducted focus groups and depth interviews with 38 sales executives at goods-dominant business-to-business firms. Our discussion with C-suite managers uncovered four major transition issues, to wit, (1) the magnitude of change at the sales organization level triggered by a service transformation; (2) unique elements of selling hybrid offerings versus industrial goods; (3) the link between these differences and the sales proficiencies required for hybrid offering sales; and (4) potential individual differences among high-performing hybrid offering salespeople, compared with sales reps focused on goods sales. These insights highlight some of the managerial and sales force-level challenges that goods dominant firms will have to address as they attempt to initiate and maintain the transition to a service-led growth strategy.     

Geographic scope,product diversification,and the corporate performance of Japanese firms

The study extends research on the geographic scope, product diversification, and performance relationship by exploring both the antecedents and consequences of geographic scope. In so doing, it addresses a fundamental criticism of the geographic scope–performance relationship; namely, that the observed positive relationship between geographic scope and performance is spurious because it is the possession of proprietary assets that is the foundation of superior performance, not expansion into international markets per se. We tested the research model with data on the corporate performance of 399 Japanese manufacturing firms. In the partial least squares analyses used to examine the study’s six main hypotheses, we demonstrate that geographic scope was positively associated with firm profitability, even when the competing effect of proprietary assets on firm performance was considered. Further, we find that performance was not related to the extent of product diversification, although investment levels in rent‐generating, proprietary assets were related to the extent of product diversification. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Independent directors in Asian firms: An integrative review and future directions

Asian firms started to adopt independent directors (InDs) to boards only in the late 1990s after the Asian financial crisis. Despite its relatively short history, Asian firms’ practice of appointing InDs has yielded interesting research findings that may shed new light on the corporate governance literature and management research. However, the literature on InDs in Asian firms has been presented in a piecemeal fashion, which calls for researchers to review and synthesize the disparate findings and identify paths for future research. In this review paper, we identify and systematically analyze 65 articles related to InDs in the Asian context that were published in 21 leading academic journals from 2001 to 2016. Based on this analysis, we developed a framework with four links to map out the Asian InDs-related literature. We also discuss the limitation of the existing research and suggest future research direction on InDs in Asia.     

Factors that reduce rigid product adaptation decisions: The case of exporting firms in China

As a distinct stream of research, export marketing strategy examines management's reaction to environmental threats in the forms of export adaptation strategies. Review studies repeatedly found that product adaptation was correlated with superior export performance. Despite the insights gained from strategic export marketing research, there remains very limited knowledge concerning organizational factors that may reduce rigid product adaptation decisions. Based on the threat-rigidity theory, this study identified two critical factors that reduce rigid product adaptation decisions: export coordination and process control mechanisms. The empirical evidence showed that export venture performance was adversely affected by rigid product adaptation decisions, and such adverse effect was particularly strong when operating under technological uncertainty. Exporting firms are advised to reduce likelihood of rigid product adaptation decisions by expanding export coordination when integrating business functions within the firm and adopting process control when monitoring exchanges with foreign agents.     

The impact of innovation intensity,scope, and spillovers on sales growth in Chinese firms

We investigate the relationship between innovation and sales growth of firms in China. Innovation theories suggest firms create the technological knowledge needed to have market impact with their products and drive sales growth in different ways. These include: (1) through firms’ overall innovation intensity, (2) through decisions on innovation scope (depth vs. diversity), and (3) through knowledge spillovers from technological neighbors. Little research exists on how effective these approaches are for emerging market firms in pursuit of growth. To address this, we integrate and test the effects of these different knowledge creation mechanisms using data from Chinese firms over a five-year period. Findings show that innovation intensity and knowledge spillovers positively impact sales growth. We also develop and test a model capturing the non-linear impact of innovation scope. As predicted, we find a U-shaped relationship for depth of innovation and an inverted U-shaped relationship for diversity of innovation.     

Industrial services, product innovations, and firm profitability: A multiple-group latent growth curve analysis

Manufacturers in many industries seek service-led growth beyond their product core. Yet research on the link between service revenue growth and firm profitability is still at an early stage. To shed further light on this complex relationship, we report the results of a longitudinal study based on panel data of 414 companies in the German mechanical engineering industry collected over a five-year period. Employing latent growth curve modeling and using multiple group analysis, the study provides empirical evidence for the causality between service infusion strategies and manufacturers' profit trajectories. The results also reveal differential effects of service categories and the moderating role of manufacturers' product innovation efforts. For companies with high product innovation activity, services supporting the product (SSPs) directly increase firm profitability, while services supporting the clients' actions (SSCs) do not display any link with long-term profitability. Conversely, for companies with low product innovation activity, SSCs have a significant, positive effect on firm profitability, while SSPs have only an indirect effect. In sum, our findings caution managers that service offerings do not automatically improve company profits. Manufacturers must carefully consider the fit between their service offerings and product innovation activities to grow bottom line results.     

How does slack affect product innovation in high-tech Chinese firms: The contingent value of entrepreneurial orientation

Innovation scholars are interested in how slack affects product innovation in high-tech Chinese firms. We highlight that slack–innovation linkages may differ depending on whether slack is absorbed or unabsorbed, and argue that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) moderates the slack–innovation connection. Our empirical study of 308 high-tech Chinese firms suggests that unabsorbed slack is more strongly positively related with product innovation than is absorbed slack in high-tech settings. Meanwhile, firms with high levels of EO enjoy better effects between unabsorbed slack and innovation, but worse effects between absorbed slack and innovation. We also provide theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research.     

New new technologies: the future and the present of work in information and communication technology

This paper outlines a selection of technological and organisational developments in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector and analyses their likely challenges for workers and trade unions around the globe. It addresses the convergence of telecommunications and information technology, the related developments of ubiquitous computing, ‘clouds’ and ‘big data’, and the possibilities of crowdsourcing and relates these technologies to the last decades' patterns of value chain restructuring. The paper is based on desk research of European and international sources, on sector analyses and technology forecasts by, for instance, the European Union and Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development, and some national actors. These prognoses are analysed through the lens of recent research into ICT working environments and ICT value chains, identifying upcoming and ongoing challenges for both workers and unions, and outlining possible research perspectives.     

Competing capitalisms: capital investment in American,German, and Japanese firms

This study explains one way the home country institutional environment causes strategy differences across firms from different countries. It contrasts the investment conduct of American, German, and Japanese firms in the 10 largest manufacturing industries. We find profound national differences among these firms that are stable across industries. These differing conducts are tied to the institutional environments of the home market. The shareholder firms of the United States make investments primarily in response to expected investment returns, measured by Tobin’s Q ratio. The coalitional firms of Germany and Japan make investments primarily in response to the availability of internal finance, measured by operating cash flow. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Southeast Asian capitalism: History,institutions, states,and firms

This paper examines the structures of capitalism in Southeast Asia. Following the lead of Gordon Redding and others, it argues that parallel to varieties of capitalism elsewhere, there are distinctive features to the Southeast Asian business system, but that institutions play a relatively large role compared to firm specific resources or industry structures. Historically, with the exception of Thailand all the countries in the region are former colonies. All including Thailand share a distinctive style of nationalism, and partly as a result of this, all are governed by states that claim to be strong and lay wide claims but whose capacities are low. Typical features of the region, particularly the roles of large business groups and the Chinese minority, also can be interpreted as a result of this history. One of the outcomes of the analysis is an extension of the varieties of capitalism approach along the dimensions of state capacity and state direction, and of the approach to the internationalizing firm along the dimensions of dynamic capacity and control of subsidiaries. A further outcome is a questioning of the traditional picture of indigenous Southeast Asian business people as lacking in entrepreneurial skills, or more broadly of Southeast Asian nations as lacking in entrepreneurial values. Rather, the past history of these countries has resulted in a set of structures that militate against successful entrepreneurial activity.

The growth of small high-tech firms: destinies and destinations of Innovation Centre 'graduates'

Considerable attention has been paid in recent years to the activity of innovation or technology centres and to their role in nurturing small firms. There is relatively little systematic evidence on the survival and performance of such firms, either during or after their tenancy of these centres. This article reports the preliminary findings of a survey of over fifty companies which 'graduated' from St John's Innovation Centre in Cambridge over the first eight years of its existence.     

直面《京都议定书》--《京都议定书》的过去、现在和将来

北京时间2月16日下午1时。旨在限制工业二氧化碳及其他温室气体排放量,以遏制全球气候变暖的《京都议定书》正式生效。这是人类历史上首次以法规的形式限制温室气体排放,目前全球已有包括中国在内的141个国家积地区签署了议定,中国二氧化碳排放量已位居世界第二。甲烷、氧他亚氯等温室气体的排故量也居世界前列,预测表明．到2025年前后,我国的二氧化碳排放总量很可能超过美国,居世界第一位。《京都议定书》的实施对中国以媒炭为主的能源结构和能源产监将产生持久和巨大的影响。在《京都议定书》正式生效之际。我们摘编了美国怀俄明州立大学经济系教授Jason F.Shogren的一篇文章,作者1997年（为京都会议做准备期间)曾在美国总统经济顾问团中任环境政策资深经济学家,文章对《京都协定书》的过去,现在和将来进行了描述．对参与其中的国家和地区所扮演的角色及其业务进行了分析。     

Cluster and performance in foreign firms: The role of resources, knowledge, and trust

Clustering, the grouping of firms in close geographic proximity to one another, can enhance the performance of affiliated firms by providing access to complementary resources. Despite that some studies have produced empirical evidence supporting the positive impact of clustering, other studies have found no such evidence. Consequently, the consideration of clustering alone to explain differences in firm performance may be insufficient. This study seeks to determine whether the enhancement of firm performance comes as a consequence of clustering at the location level, interorganizational trust at the relationship level, or resource and knowledge management (i.e., the mechanisms of system dependence) at the firm level. Examining a sample group of Taiwanese manufacturers investing in China, we find that interorganizational trust, resources, and the mechanisms of system dependence all have a positive impact on performance. Further, we find that resources interact with clustering to positively impact firm performance.     

The role of market and entrepreneurship orientation and internal control in the new product development activities of Chinese firms

In this study, we build a systemic conceptual model to describe the relationship among firm orientation, internal control systems and new product development, and to test empirically how market and entrepreneurship orientations affect the degree of improvement in new product development through personal control and/or output control in the Chinese transitional economy. Our research findings provide some valuable insights into new product development. Entrepreneurship orientation not only has a direct positive effect on the degree of improvement in new product development, but also indirectly has a positive effect on it through personal control. At the same time, market orientation, through output control, has a negative indirect influence.