Ownership structure, family leadership, and performance of affiliate firms in large family business groups

Utilizing the agency viewpoint, this research attempts to shed light on the issue of family leadership by examining ethnic Chinese family business groups in Taiwan. The study examines the performance implications of this kind of leadership under the ownership structure concern. The research results indicate that the ownership structure of the affiliate firm influences the likelihood that family leadership will be used. Specifically, if the founding family owns more direct ownership of the affiliate firm, the family will be likely to appoint a family leader at the affiliate firm. However, when the founding family has a greater degree of pyramidal ownership of an affiliate firm, family leadership will be less likely at that affiliate firm. Additionally, family leadership mediates the relationship between ownership structure and affiliate firm performance in a family business group. Family leadership positively affects the effect of direct family ownership on affiliate firm performance but does not significantly affect the negative relationship between pyramidal ownership and affiliate firm performance. The implications of these findings for future research on leadership in family business groups are discussed.     

The role of family management and family ownership in diversification: The case of family business groups

This study undertook a panel data analysis of the top 100 family business groups in Taiwan between the years 1988 and 2002 to investigate the role of family management and family ownership structures in diversification using an agency theory approach. The results show that, in the institutional context under study, family management and family ownership play key roles in diversification decisions in family business groups. Specifically, the likelihood of diversification declines as a controlling family assigns more family members to an affiliate firm’s key leadership positions. In contrast, the level of diversification increases as the degree of pyramidal ownership structure increases. The research findings presented in this study (1) clarify the roles that family management and the pyramidal ownership structure play in the diversification decisions of family business groups and (2) provide insights into family business groups’ growth.     

Business group affiliation and firm performance in a transition economy: A focus on ownership voids

In a transition economy, how does business group affiliation make a difference in firm performance? Under the broad label of institutional voids, what specific voids can business groups fill? This paper addresses these questions by drawing on insights from property rights theory and an institutional perspective. We argue that ownership voids, as a subset of institutional voids, occur due to the lack of unambiguously specified ownership of state assets in transition economies, and that business groups emerge to serve as the direct owners of state-owned enterprises to replace such voids. Based on a sample of 1,119 publicly-listed Chinese companies, we find that the interaction of business group affiliation and state ownership has a significant and positive effect on firm performance. Our findings point to business group’s substitution role in filling ownership voids in China’s transition economy.     

后金融危机时代世界物探行业发展趋势

金融危机以来,世界物探行业发展面临巨大挑战,当前处于“低谷期”,出现了新一轮“洗牌”.各大物探公司着眼于高端海上市场,大幅调整业务结构,剥离劣质资产,兼并收购符合其长期发展战略的技术公司,进一步提高自身的综合实力.同时,行业内的合作不断加强.在后金融危机时代,传统的以数据采集、处理、解释及油藏描述为核心的物探产业模式将转变为以数字油藏为中心,地震服务、地质研究、油藏监测为辅助手段的一体化的数字综合信息管理模式.未来陆上地震采集将更加强调设备的重要性.永久油藏监测技术(PRM)以及无源地震技术等将成为未来海上物探技术的发展方向.     

风险管理：对中国企业“走出去”的几点思考

中国从一个资本纯流入大国正迅速转变成一个资本投资大国。近10年来,中国大部分对外投资是通过央企对外并购实现的,并购多集中在石油矿产等能源与自然资源领域。中国企业＂走出去＂是必然的选择,风险再大也要坚定前行,但必须头脑清醒,战略明确,知己知彼,对自身的优劣和国内国际大环境有清醒的认识。中国企业＂走出去＂的前景虽然广阔,但亦荆棘密布,社会政治、货币汇率、自然灾害、企业投资决策以及经营管理等诸多风险如影相随。面对这些风险,即便是具有丰富国际运营经验的西方跨国公司也须如履薄冰。中国企业＂走出去＂还必须对文化整合、尊重企业自身发展规律和融入深刻变化的世界格局给予充分的重视,因为它们是能否成功的更深层次的因素。中国企业＂走出去＂,不仅应该让中国得益,也应该让世界得益,只有让所有相关方得益的项目才是风险最小的项目。一个企业,不论多强大,都必须谋求合作多赢,必须有所畏惧、有所节制,才能走得长远。     

Assessing the Belt and Road Initiative as a narrative: Implications for institutional change and international firm strategy

This article explores the role of narratives as drivers that guide the institutional change associated with globalization and deglobalization. For China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to succeed as a driver of institutional change in favor of globalization, it must pass the narrative “virality” test and successfully contend with competing narratives. Rival narratives will be launched by firms and organizations worldwide that expect to win or lose from deglobalization or from new forms of globalization. This study develops a useful framework for establishing the extent to which China’s BRI is a genuine narrative or just a story. In this regard, four testable propositions are put forth to ascertain whether the BRI is values-based, extends an invitation to participate, is open-ended, and is associated with economic performance for both Chinese and non-Chinese participants. The analysis of the BRI-related institutional change that leads to globalization applies a theoretical lens centered on the narrative economics perspective and on the institution-based view and political economy perspective. Implications for BRI stakeholders, international business practitioners, and international business scholarship are outlined.

     

浅谈私人银行业务在我国内地商业银行的发展

私人银行业务是指以商业银行为主的金融机构面向社会富裕人士提供的以财富管理为中心的一揽子专业化的高层次金融服务.而随着中国经济金融的全面开放和内地富裕群体的日益壮大,外资银行纷纷企图在这一利润丰厚的财富蛋糕上沾点甜头.这项涵盖银行、保险、证券、信托、遗产安排、艺术品收藏与拍卖等领域的多元化服务,将成为中资银行丰厚利润的新...     

Recognition of entrepreneur’s social ties and firm innovation in emerging markets: explanation from the industrial institutional environment and survival pressure

Despite the extensive attention to the role of entrepreneurs’ business or political ties, few studies have distinguished the basis of those social ties. The aim of this study is to explore the different roles of the entrepreneurs’ personalized and formal social ties on the firms’ innovation performance. Based on renqing and formal rules, this study extends the social ties’ typology into four categories, namely, transactional business ties, transactional political ties, guanxi business ties, and guanxi political ties. Using data collected from 209 Chinese firms, we further identify the distinctive contributions of the different ties on the entrepreneurial firm’s innovation performance under different institutional environments and entrepreneurs’ survival pressure. This paper will help researchers and managers better understand the function of social ties in innovation in emerging markets, such as China.

     

中国独立石油公司海外发展机遇分析

2011年,中国石油公司海外油气上游并购显现新的特点,中资背景的独立石油公司海外油气业务取得突破性进展,已连续成功收购具有一定规模的海外油气上游资产并投入运营.建议中国独立石油公司的海外油气业务发展以适当规模的生产型项目起步,采取谨慎稳妥的投资战略,以边际油田开发项目为重点;关注风险较低的滚动勘探和潜力较大的前缘勘探项目,特别是政治高敏感地区的项目;适度介入以页岩气、页岩油或致密油为主的非常规资源项目.现阶段国内外经济及油气行业环境为中国独立石油公司海外上游业务发展创造了难得的机会,建议中国独立石油公司依靠专业服务团队科学合理地筛选油气项目,与中国国家石油公司在海外油气资产分布上互相补充,在项目运作上互相协同.     

对中国石油工业经济发展的几点认识

2010年12月16日,《中国石油工业经济若干问题回顾与思考》首发式在北京举行。这本书由中国三大石油公司支持和指导,百余位专家参加编写。它不仅记述了60年来中国石油工业经济发展的历程、重大决策、石油工业领导机关和重点企业在各个发展阶段的主要经济思想、重要经济事件和管理创新的实践与探索,而且基于对长期实践经验的总结和思考,形成了一些规律性的认识,有助于从经济角度探索具有中国特色的石油工业经济发展之路,可以为新时期中国石油工业的可持续发展提供借鉴。为了与读者分享本书的研究成果,从本期开始,本刊将连续选登书中的部分研究性成果。这部书分为综合篇、体制政策篇、陆上油气篇、海洋石油篇、炼油乙烯篇和数据图表篇。本期刊登的内容选自综合篇第三章。这一章总结了新中国成立以来石油工业经济发展的基本经验,提出了"六个坚持",即坚持把油气资源勘探放在首位,实现储量持续增长和战略接替;坚持正确的发展战略,促进石油工业与国民经济协调发展;坚持合理的经济政策,促进石油工业持续发展;坚持集中力量办大事的经验,提高石油工业的效率和效益;坚持处理好国家、企业、职工的关系,增强石油工业发展的生命力;坚持发扬优良传统,永葆石油工业基业长青。     

Facebook上的中国虚像

令人遗憾的是,在全球最大的社交网络平台上,中国企业成了非常尴尬的边缘角色。5月7日,Facebook CEO马克·扎克伯格身穿牛仔裤和运动衫,开着一辆黑色SUV来到位于纽约曼哈顿中心的喜来登酒店,启动了IPO路演程序。一个小时以前,狂热的投资者已经在酒店外面排成了长队。Facebook计划通过上市募资106亿美元     

A Management Capacity Constraint? Obstacles to the Development of the Overseas Chinese Family Business

Overseas Chinese family business (OCFBs) have gained a reputation for cost efficiency, responsiveness, and flexibility as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and as pioneers of the mainland's industrialization. This success is based upon a relatively simple ‘personally managed’ organization operating within a network of kin and ethnic relations. To what extent are mid-sized OCFBs now able to develop the capacity to compete in new strategic domains and manage more complex value chains? The paper examines competing views of the OCFBs organizational and competitive capabilities. The strategies of 50 mid-sized Hong Kong based manufacturing firms are used to provide insight into the questions of capabilities upgrading and long-term competitiveness in personally managed enterprises. In contrast to prevailing cultural and institutional accounts of OCFB behavior, the paper suggests that current (western) theory of the family firm and of organizational networks provides an alternative explanation of observed investment strategies and organizational structure.     

The courage to choose! Primogeniture and leadership succession in family firms

Research Summary : Building on a unique data set with information on the nuclear structure of entrepreneurial families, we integrate leadership succession into a socioemotional wealth (SEW) logic to test the antecedents and consequences of primogeniture vis‐à‐vis second‐ or subsequent‐born selection in family firm succession. Our findings suggest that appointing a family firstborn sibling is more likely when there is a high degree of SEW endowment and the family firm has pre‐succession performance below aspiration levels. Next, we find that appointing a second‐ or subsequent‐born sibling has a positive and significant effect on post‐succession firm profitability, particularly when the firm is in its second generation or later. Managerial Summary : What drives succession choices in family firms? What are the performance implications of each succession choice? These are questions of vital relevance for every business owner. Focusing on the pool of potential family heirs at the time of succession, our study adds to the debate on the drivers of succession choices by suggesting that having a family intensive governance structure fosters primogeniture as the main succession logic, even when the family firm is experiencing lower profitability. Our study informs business owners on the implications of different succession policies, suggesting that family firms that have the courage to disregard primogeniture and choose more wisely the family successor are also the ones experiencing higher post‐succession performance.     

Declared essential patents and average total R&D expenditures per patent family

The sharp increase in SEP declarations and declaring firms emphasizes the necessity for understanding firms’ innovation investment behavior in standardization. This paper empirically investigates whether declared standard-essential patents (SEPs) and the declaring firm’s business model (operationalized as a firm’s location in the value chain) are associated with a firm’s innovation investment behavior. To this end, we measure firms’ innovation investment behavior through average total research and development (R&D) expenditures per filed patent family for publicly listed firms from 1999 to 2018. Our sample mainly includes major SEP family declarants. We rely on a binary business model taxonomy differentiating upstream and downstream firms. Within that setting, total R&D expenditures rise with increasing fragmentation of declared SEP families, suggesting that firms adjust their R&D investments to declaration developments in standard-setting organizations (SSOs). We also show that upstream firms have significantly lower total R&D expenditures than downstream firms, which could indicate structural differences in their intellectual property (IP) and R&D management processes. Our results can help SSOs and regulators better understand firms’ innovation investment behavior.     

Labor market participation of Chinese agricultural households: Empirical evidence from Zhejiang province

This work is devoted to the analysis of the different labor market participation regimes of Chinese farm households over the reform process in the 1980s and 1990s. Using household data over the period 1986–2002 from the province Zhejiang, we apply a multinomial logit model to empirically examine household, farm, and regional characteristics affecting the probability that farmers participate in one of four alternative labor market regimes. As generally accepted, off-farm participation is the dominant form of farm households’ labor market participation. But rural households show additionally a significant impact on rural employment mainly linked with non-agricultural household business. Results suggest that labor market decisions are significantly related to several family, farm, and village characteristics. In particular, we find education to be a key determinant of participation. Furthermore, results point to a higher probability of female household members to take up off-farm work.     

CIO十年:一个阶层的兴起

这是一个从无到有,从弱到强,从边缘逐渐站立到舞台中央的阶层。中国企业的IT建设恰恰起于西方管理理论在中国社会几无踪迹的时候。从上世纪80年代到新世纪之初,中国企业完成了经济体制和现代企业制度的双重改造。面对日新月     

中国乙烯行业回顾、展望与思考

2011年,我国乙烯行业供需两旺,产能、产量双破1500万吨；原料多元化和装置大型化程度进一步提升,多元化的市场主体格局继续发展；装置国产化不断取得新突破,一批在建大乙烯项目积极推进.预计2012年我国乙烯产能和产量将双超1700万吨.“十二五”期间,我国乙烯产业仍将处于快速发展期,2015年我国乙烯总产能将达到2500万～2700万吨；乙烯产业将继续向大型化、一体化、基地化、产业集群化、经营主体多元化方向发展,布局将进一步优化,下游产品结构将继续向高端领域进军；乙烯原料进一步向轻质化、多样化发展,而且进口量增加,节能环保安全压力加大,装置的国产化水平和技术水平进一步提高；同时,来自中东、美国和周边国家和地区乙烯系产品的竞争压力和挑战将加大.为此,我国乙烯产业与石化产业必须转变增长方式,大力推进科技进步,在做大的同时着力做强,提高国际竞争力.     

基于全业务运营的中国电信营销渠道发展策略研究

随着中国电信行业的重组,具备全业务运营基础条件的新电信、新移动及新联通应时而生。面对相互间极为激烈的市场竞争,营销渠道作为市场开拓的动力核心开始成为运营商争先整合规划的焦点。基于此,文章对中国电信的营销环境进行分析;指出中国电信要适应全业务运营需要发展营销渠道,包括实体渠道、直销渠道、社会渠道及电子渠道;提出了中国电信在全业务运营下营销渠道发展的指导原则和总体定位以及中国电信全业务运营营销渠道的发展策略。     

CEOs’ Transformational Leadership and Product Innovation Performance: The Roles of Corporate Entrepreneurship and Technology Orientation

Product innovation is an important research topic that has stimulated significant interest among management scholars and practitioners. Leadership has been suggested to be a critical factor affecting product innovation. Numerous studies have documented that transformational leadership positively influences product innovation performance, which is conceptualized as the degree to which a new product and/or service has achieved its market share, sales, rates of asset return, rates of investment return, and profit objectives. However, there is a lack of studies examining the specific means through which transformational leadership influences product innovation performance at the firm level. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the processes through which such effect is achieved and to determine whether corporate entrepreneurship and technology orientation as intervening factors influence this effect. To test the hypotheses, data were collected from 151 matched top management team (TMT) members and chief executive officers (CEOs) from Chinese manufacturing firms. Two separate questionnaires were used to collect the data. TMT members’ questionnaire included measures of CEO's transformational leadership, whereas CEOs’ questionnaire included questions about corporate entrepreneurship, technology orientation, and product innovation performance. Hierarchical linear regression was used to test the hypothesized effects. The results of the analysis provided the support for the fully mediating role of corporate entrepreneurship on the relationship between CEOs' transformational leadership and product innovation performance. In addition, technology orientation was found to significantly moderate the CEOs' transformational leadership–corporate entrepreneurship linkage. Furthermore, the mediated moderation effect of corporate entrepreneurship on the relationships among CEOs’ transformational leadership, technology orientation, and product innovation performance was significantly supported. By studying leadership among CEOs, this study contributes to the research by elucidating the mechanisms through which transformational leadership influences product innovation performance. The mediating role of corporate entrepreneurship encourages managers to improve their leadership style so as to enhance the development of corporate entrepreneurship and innovation practices. The findings also show that technology orientation provides the conditions for the smooth translation of the CEO's transformational leadership into actual entrepreneurial activities. Hence, firms should prioritize technology orientation to optimize the implementation of transformational leadership so as to emphasize innovation and new venture creation.