Research Joint Ventures

Abstract.  Inter-firm collaboration is not new. What is new is that such collaboration has exploded during the past couple of decades, in parallel to the intensification of international competition. Moreover, the nature of collaboration has changed, shifting from peripheral interests to the very core functions of the corporation, and from equity to non-equity forms of collaboration. Importantly, cooperation focusing on the generation, exchange, and/or adaptation of new technologies has risen at very fast rates. Research joint ventures, the focus of this paper, belong in the latter category.
The proliferation of RJVs has created extensive interest among economists, business analysts, and policy decision-makers and led to the profusion of literature on the topic. This paper critically reviews the literature in industrial economics and strategic management that deals with RJV partner motives and RJV outcomes. The paper categorizes the different streams of this literature and indicates the state-of-the-art, synthesizes important understandings, and suggests key nodes of a future research agenda.     

Management of Sino-Sino Joint Ventures

Abstract

Since China's implementation of its open-door policy in 1979, the most effective way to obtain a foothold has proved to be to create joint ventures (JV) with a Chinese business partner. The foreign partner provides the transfer of technology, management skills, financing and access to international markets, whilst the Chinese partner contributes a production base with cheap land and labor, contacts with central and local government officials and access to the domestic Chinese market. The Chinese economy has benefited to a large extent from the creation of joint ventures in the past two decades. Hong Kong firms have used China as a production base for many years, usually with great success and to the mutual benefit of both. However, although Hong Kong firms had considerable experiences in running business and manufacturing operations in China, several have suffered substantially from their investment in joint ventures with Chinese partners. This paper evaluates various issues relating to the performance of equity joint ventures in China. The evaluation is based on a case study of four Sino-Hong Kong joint venture manufacturing firms in the electronics industry, and the findings of this paper indicate that there are number of important factors affecting the stability of joint ventures in China. Foreign investors' experiences in other areas may not be applicable to their investment in China because the operation of a joint venture in China is inevitably faced with a variety of problems that the foreign firms may not have encountered before.     

战略匹配对合资企业绩效的影响研究——基于中美合资企业的实证研究

关于合资企业的研究从不同学者分别论述了合资企业的战略、组织和文化的匹配性对合资企业绩效的影响。本文通过研究合资企业在合资运营之前战略匹配对中外合资企业四类绩效指标的影响研究。研究结果发现,目标一致(战略匹配)对合资企业满意度和总体竞争力有显著影响,而资源互补(战略匹配)对合资企业绩效无显著影响。     

外商在华出资的动态博弈

根据2002年统计,合作企业和合资企业当年未按合同出资的分别占56．0％和41．4％,违约行为相当严重。本文对外商在中国的出资行为进行博弈分析,探讨违约原因,反映中方和外方在投资中的相互博弈,以加强对实际投资的科学管理。     

中外合资企业文化差异:冲突与融合

合资企业不仅是中国利用外国资金的基本形式,也是中国引进先进技术和设备,学习国外先进管理经验的重要渠道.但是,必须看到由于中外合作双方来自不同的国家和地区,其社会政治法律制度不同,文化背景不同,由此而形成的经营理念、管理决策思维、企业行为方式等也有着很大的差异,因此在合作过程中出现管理冲突是不可避免的.正确认识中外双方的文化差异,努力搞好不同文化的融合,消除管理冲突,对促进合资企业的发展有着极为重要的意义.     

Antecedents and Effects of Parent Control in International Joint Ventures

Using a sample of 90 US–China manufacturing joint ventures, this study empirically tested a grounded-theory model of the antecedents and the effects of the structure of parent management control in international joint ventures. The results suggest that competitive and cooperative dynamics occur simultaneously between joint venture partners. On one hand, the relative bargaining power between the partners, derived from the negotiation context and from contributing critical resources to the venture, respectively, is a determining factor in management control; and the level of operational control exercised by a partner over the venture has a positive effect on the extent to which this partner's strategic objectives are achieved. On the other hand, the quality of the interpartner working relationship was found to have a strong, positive relationship with the achievement of strategic objectives for both partners.     

Believing Is Seeing: Joint Ventures and Organization Learning*

This paper develops a conceptual framework for the study of organization learning and applies it to learning in joint ventures (JVs). the framework presents a multilevel view of the phenomenon, suggesting that learning in organizations occurs at the individual, group and organization levels. the framework integrates behavioural and cognitive perspectives of organization learning and delineates both learning processes and outcomes. Four key elements of organization learning are addressed: the nature of managerial learning experiences, the sharing and integration of managerial learning within an organization, the insti-tutionalization of learning, and the relationship between organization learning and performance. In applying the framework to a study of learning and JVs, we observed firms with explicit learning objectives unable to put into place the appropriate mechanisms and systems to transfer knowledge from the JV to the parent. While individual managers in the JVs were often enthusiastic and positive about their learning experiences, integration of the learning experience at the parent firm level was problematic, limiting the institutionalized learning. the fundamental position in this paper is that a rigid set of managerial beliefs associated with an unwillingness to cast off or unlearn past practices can severely limit the effectiveness of organization learning.     

Learning Through Joint Ventures: A Framework Of Knowledge Acquisition

Joint ventures (JVs) are becoming an increasingly important organizational form in international business. When JVs are formed, valuable learning opportunities may be created for the venture partners. The primary objective in this paper is to explore the conditions under which firms exploit JV learning opportunities through the acquisition of knowledge. A framework of knowledge acquisition by JV partner firms is proposed. Using JV partner organizations as the primary level of analysis, the paper identifies various factors that influence the acquisition of learning, its value to the learning organization, and the migration of knowledge from the JV to the parent. Two firm specific learning-based concepts are developed: alliance knowledge accessibility and knowledge acquisition effectiveness.     

Joint Ventures in the U.S. Steel Industry:

A bstract . In 1958 Daniel Fusfeld examined the role of joint ventures in the U.S. steel industry and concluded that joint ventures served as a substitute for mergers forbidden by the Justice Department. Since the Fusfeld study, things have changed drastically for integrated domestic producers. Competition from imports and domestic mini- mills have forced steel firms into bankruptcies and missive plant closings. The contemporary industry's participation in joint ventures is examined in an attempt to understand steel's restructuring. Today's integrated producers jointly may hold tighter control over raw materials, participate in growing numbers of horizontal Joint ventures , and engage in numerous cooperative enterprises with foreign competitors, particularly the Japanese. Contemporary U.S. producers are becoming increasingly absorbed in the global economy.     

中国新的合资企业应记取的历史教益

随着跨国公司开始恢复与中国伙伴进行合作的兴趣,过去中外合资企业的一些经验教训值得记取。     

嵌入性网络、关系质量与国际合资企业不稳定演化

为防止国际合资企业在预期生命周期内的单方非意愿不稳定,提高国际合资企业的绩效,本文从国际合资企业的嵌入性网络出发,分析了组织间依赖关系质量对国际合资企业不稳定演化的决定机理,并构建演化模型全面剖析了组织间依赖关系质量与国际合资企业不稳定演化的动态关系,最后提出了防范国际合资企业不稳定的策略。     

国际合资企业的共生模型及其稳定性分析

为发掘国际合资企业稳定性的内在机制,提高国际合资企业绩效,利用共生理论和微分稳定性理论,在构建国际合资企业共生系统的基础上,划分了国际合资企业的两种类型,并分别建立了共生模型,对其稳定性问题进行了分析,最后运用共生模型对现实生活中的国际合资企业稳定问题进行了解释。     

中国企业与外商合资的风险与防范

利用外资对我国企业的发展起着积极的促进作用,但合资过程中也存在一定风险.一些外商采取不同手段压制中国品牌的发展,挤压中国产品的市场,转移合资企业的利润,减少中方股权份额等,致使合资企业面临种种危机.为此,我国企业在与外商合资的过程中,要建立切实有效的风险防范体系.合资前要做好调研和可行性分析,实施中要充分评估自己的资源和价值,制定规范的合资合同,合资后要建立科学的经营管理机制,强化对关键环节的控制权.     

中外合资企业会计制度的历史贡献及其启示

中外合资企业会计制度是我国会计制度建设历史中具有里程碑性质的会计制度,创造了若干新突破,做出了重要的理论贡献和实务贡献,体现了政治、经济、法律等环境对会计制度变革的影响,带给我们诸多值得深思和研究的相关启示。     

Post‐Formation Processes in Eastern and Western European Joint Ventures*

abstract This study examines the post‐formation processes that firms use to create successful international joint ventures (IJVs). Scholars have suggested that IJV performance is dependent on the post‐formation processes firms institute to overcome barriers to success created by differences in national culture, trust, ownership positions and control mechanisms. Based on a longitudinal study of eight eastern/western European IJVs, our study provides insights into these post‐formation processes, how these processes relate to each other, and how they relate to managers’ evaluations of IJV success.     

Predicting the Performance of International Joint Ventures: An Investigation in China*

ABSTRACT Organizational learning, resourcing and control have been identified in the literature as potential firm‐level influences on the performance of international joint ventures (IJVs). The study reported here examines the impact of these factors on the performance of Sino‐foreign IJVs. Their performance is assessed in terms of both ‘goal’ and ‘system’ criteria. The hypothesized performance determinants are found to be more strongly associated with variance in system performance than in goal performance. The main performance predictors are the parent companies’ experience with international business and joint ventures, and the quality of resources they provide to the joint ventures in respect of capital investment, new facilities and operational inputs. When good quality resourcing is provided, the sharing of control with local partners also predicts higher IJV performance. The performance effects of these factors appears to be cumulative, implying that further research should examine them together rather than singularly.     

Partner Characteristics,Information Asymmetry,and the Signaling Effects of Joint Ventures

We provide theory and evidence regarding the signaling effects of joint venture (JV) announcements. We argue that when a firm characterized by information asymmetry with respect to the stock market announces a JV, the growth opportunities and the quality of resources of the partner provides a signal to investors about the true value of the firm. Our study shows that (i) apart from synergies, JV announcements impact firm value also because of the information they convey about future growth opportunities; and (ii) JVs may not only validate but also ‘invalidate’ the quality of a firm by revealing that it is unable to attract strong partners. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

如何做好中外合资企业的党建工作

随着经济社会的发展,很多外资企业都看准中国市场,大力兴办合资企业,这给党建工作带来了新的课题。加强中外合资企业的党建工作,必须狠抓党组织建设,创新党组织工作方法,创新党员教育管理理念,提高党建工作的显效性。