The 'Host' State and the 'Guest' Worker in Malaysia: Public Management and Migrant Labour in Times of Economic Prosperity and Crisis

In this contribution, the author reviews the current trends in HRM in the People's Republic of China. He then traces the impact of the post-1992 and 1995 economic reforms on Chinese personnel and industrial relations systems in both joint ventures and state-owned enterprises. Next, data from a recent field-investigation is reported vis-2-vis dimensions of HRM in these enterprises. The contribution particularly focuses on the problems of dimensionalizing HRM practices in such contexts. The author concludes that there may now be a growing but still limited overlap between joint ventures and state-owned enterprises in terms of their human resource policies and practices.     

Tenancy development in new shopping centres: implications for developers and retailers

This paper focuses on an investigation of the growing management and marketing problem of tenancy development in new shopping centres. The paper notes the critical importance of tenancy development in an increasingly competitive market, and reports on a survey of thirty shopping centres which examines patterns of tenancy development in the early crucial years of their growth. The survey highlights significant tenancy problems facing some developers/landlords, with major implications for rental income growth, retail synergy and sales growth, and for future shopping centre marketing strategies.     

Japanese Production Strategies and Competitive Success: Mazda's Quiet Revolution

This contribution discusses the degree to which changes in human resource management (HRM) have taken place in the China since the Special Issue on HRM in the Asia Pacific Region came out in 1997. At that time, we spoke of ‘relative convergence’ as being the main feature of Chinese HRM; this remains largely the case. As the non-state owned sectors in the Chinese economy expand and state-owned enterprises shrink correspondingly, the impact of World Trade Organization entry will lead to more competition and a greater role for market forces. The greater the impact of these changes on Chinese firms, the more Personnel Management will be replaced by HRM year by year. How rapidly this pragmatic, step-wise path proceeds will depend on how far the new norms become institutionalized and how far managers' as well as workers' mind-sets absorb and integrate them.     

Labour–management relationships in transitional economies: convergence or divergence in Vietnam and Indonesia?

Western labour–management relationships (both formal and informal), their respective rights, obligations and negotiating frameworks, have been well- established, understood, and supported by a complex set of associated legislation for decades. However, in many developing countries, including Vietnam and Indonesia, historical, socio-cultural, ideological or political factors constrained the development of such formalized employee relations until very recent times. This paper explores the different paths taken by Vietnam and Indonesia towards a modern employee relations system, with its concomitant positive and adverse consequences.     

Transformation of China's energy sector: trends and challenges

The conclusions presented here sum up the contributions in the Special Issue regarding the managing of China's energy sector, particularly regarding the demand and profile of energy as well as the marketization of the sector. Strategic, organizational and policy issues relevant to the main theme are set out. Both demand and supply scenarios for the nation's energy are seen as in flux, as the economy slackens and dependence on imports rises. Unprecedented levels of urban environmental pollution and steady growth of energy consumption in the wake of a rising living standard have brought the issue to headline-prominence as never before. China's rapidly increasing renewable energy will not change its heavy reliance on coal and a lesser extent oil in the coming decade. After decades of transformation, China's energy sector now operates in a domestic market characterized by strong governmental influence and monopolistic state firms. Abroad, China's firms are exposed to heavier market pressure and competition. While the state's policies have succeeded in ensuring energy supplies and propelling China's renewable energy manufacturers into global prominence and opening up domestic market, much room for improvement exists in the competitiveness of the domestic market and domestic energy firms, transparency of pricing and the effectiveness of regulation.     

The NAIRU,Aggregate Demand and Investment

The nature of the non‐accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) is analysed. The focus of our analysis is the role of aggregate demand and capacity in the context of the NAIRU. Two aspects of the relationship between the level of aggregate demand and the NAIRU are of particular significance. First, it is argued that the real wage–employment relationship based on enterprise decisions cannot be fully articulated without reference to the level of aggregate demand. Second, a model which allows for variable returns to labour and the notion of full capacity is used to explore the effects of shifts in the capital stock on the real wage–employment relationship. The model is specifically used to explore whether a sufficiently expansionary environment can generate sufficient investment to shift that relationship until the NAIRU is compatible with full employment. A number of limitations on the conclusions reached are considered, and the policy implications are briefly considered.     

United States concessions in the Kennedy Round and short-run labour adjustment costs: Further evidence

The intent of this article is to add further empirical evidence to the frequently espoused hypothesis that the decision-making process used by U.S. tariff negotiators is heavily weighted by their assessment of the likely labor displacement effects that trade liberalization may have on domestic interests. Using data on 477 workers displaced from six different industries the results demonstrate that industries with high labor adjustment costs received greater exceptions from the across-the-board tariff cut in the Kennedy Round of the Multilateral Trade Negotiations than industries with lower adjustment costs.     

Aesthetic Leadership in Chinese Business: A Philosophical Perspective

Confucian ethics play a pivotal role in guiding Chinese thinking and behaviour. Aesthetic leadership is emerging as a promising paradigm in leadership studies. This study investigates the practice of aesthetic leadership in Chinese organizations on the basis of Chinese philosophical foundations. We adopt a process perspective to access the aesthetic constellation of meanings present in the Chinese understanding of leadership, linking normative Confucian values to a pragmatic value rational world view, that rests on an ontology of vaguely defined norms that are malleable to different cultural contexts. Value rational pragmatism is explored in order to develop a deeper understanding of normative aesthetic leadership in China and to contrast it to instrumental aesthetic leadership. We empirically demonstrate the contextual specificity of aesthetic leadership in eight Chinese private- and state-owned enterprises (POEs and SOEs) through qualitative case studies. The findings provide a deeper insight into Chinese aesthetic leadership by proposing a dynamic leadership approach, from both ethical and instrumental perspectives, in the Chinese context.     

Supply and demand estimates for feed grains in China

In the past two decades, the use of grain to feed livestock in China has increased rapidly. A number of studies have examined demand and supply of grain for animal feed in China. Forecasts have been made. Generally, these projections have turned out to be well wide of the actual supply and demand. Further, forecasts of supply and demand for feed grains for the same time periods have differed greatly. Accurate forecasts of variables affecting supply and demand benefit both producers and consumers. Past forecasts of supply and demand of feed grain for livestock production in China are reviewed and reasons for discrepancies between projections are explored. Ways to improve projections of demand for and supply of grain for livestock feed in China are identified.