|
Journal Name: Asian Business & Management: September 2005, Volume 4, Number 3
Articles
The Impact of Top Management Team Demography on Firm Performance in China (pp227-250)
Li-Qun Wei (School of Business, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing and Department of Management, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong), Chung-Ming Lau (Department of Management, Chinese University of Hong Kong), Michael N Young (Department of Management, Chinese University of Hong Kong) and Zhihui Wanga (School of Business, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing)
Abstract:
This study examines the relationship between the demographic characteristics of top management teams (TMT) and firm performance in China. TMT members from Chinese firms were interviewed to see if the issues identified in the extant literature were relevant. This qualitative procedure was followed because of the exploratory state of upper echelons research in China. The second part of the study describes an empirical study conducted on a sample of publicly listed firms from a variety of industries. We tested the impact of average age as well as TMT heterogeneity on firm performance. In brief, we found that the average age of the TMT was positively related to performance. We also found negative relationships between TMT education heterogeneity and experience heterogeneity with firm performance. We develop an explanation for these results based on Chinese culture and the transitional state of the Chinese economy.
Keywords: top management team demography; upper echelons; Chinese enterprises; transitional economy
Organizational Commitment in the Restructuring Age: A Comparison of British and Japanese Managers in Manufacturing Industries (pp251-270)
Yasuhiro Okabe (Faculty of General Management, Shumei University)
Abstract:
Ever-intensifying global competition requires organizations to meet potentially contradictory requirements: cost-efficiency through restructuring and increased organizational competitiveness through high commitment. Despite its high necessity, obtaining full commitment from managers is becoming increasingly difficult. This paper investigates whether the organizational commitment of British managers in Japanese-owned plants in the UK and Japanese managers in counterpart plants in Japan can be attributed to either management techniques, culture, or enterprise/task structures constructed to fit the employment system in each country.
Keywords: British managers; Japanese managers; organizational commitment; employment system
Combinative Aspects of Leadership Style: A Comparison of Australian and Chinese Followers (pp271-291)
Gian Casimir and Zhidong Li (Newcastle Graduate School of Business, University of Newcastle)
Abstract:
As foreign investment flows into China, so too do foreign managers and management theories. China is Australia's third-largest trading partner, while Australia ranks in China's top-ten. As a consequence, there is a lot of interaction between Australian and Chinese organizations. It is therefore worth examining the preferred management styles of Chinese and Australians, due to the increasing need for international managers from these two countries to adapt to the requirements of different cultural contexts. This study is the first to provide a cross-cultural comparison of followers' preferences for combinative aspects of leadership style with regard to task-oriented leadership and socio-emotional leadership. Data were obtained from white-collar employees in Australia (n=101) and China (n=116) who provided Like/Dislike responses and rankings for four combinative styles relating to task-oriented leadership (ie Pressure) and socio-emotional leadership (ie Support). Both groups preferred to receive Pressure and Support contiguously and to not receive Pressure on its own. Differences in preferred combinative styles were found and these are discussed in terms of power distance and uncertainty avoidance.
Keywords: leadership style; cultural differences; scripts
Understanding the Strategic Motivations of Finnish Manufacturing FDIs in Emerging Asian Economies (pp293-313)
Rizwan Tahira (Department of International Business, University of Auckland) and Jorma Larimo (Department of Marketing, University of Vaasa)
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate how ownership-specific, location-specific, internalization and strategic advantages have influenced the location strategies of Finnish firms in 10 South and Southeast Asian countries from 1980 to 2000. Despite the increased interest in foreign direct investments (FDIs), very few studies have been undertaken to empirically analyse influential ownership-specific, location-specific and internalization (OLI) variables together with strategic advantages in order to assess FDI decision-making among foreign investors. To the best of our knowledge, strategic motives particularly have remained primarily anecdotal. This paper is apparently the first attempt to analyse how the above OLI advantages have influenced Finnish manufacturing firms in Asian countries. The research results indicate that large parent firm size, large international experience, large market size in the target country, low cultural distance and low wage rates increase the probability of market-seeking and efficiency-seeking FDIs. It has also been found that low levels of inflation, low levels of risk and a high level of exchange rate fluctuation in the target country increase the probability of risk-reduction seeking FDIs. Finally, the results show that high R&D intensity in the parent firm increases the probability of knowledge-seeking FDIs in Asian countries.
Keywords: FDI (FDIs); eclectic paradigm; location strategies; strategic motives; Asian countries
Effects of Cyclical Movements of Foreign Currency Interest Rates and Exchange Rates on the Vietnamese Currency's Interest Rate and Exchange Rate (pp315-330)
Phan M Ngoc (Faculty of Economics, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan), Phan T Nga (Nhat Quang Co., Ltd., Tu Liem, Hanoi, Vietnam), Nguyen T. Phuong Anh (Daiyu Co., Ltd., Hakata, Fukuoka, Japan) and Shigeru Uchida (Faculty of Economics, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan)
Abstract:
This study attempts to measure the effects of cyclical movements of interest and exchange rates of selected OECD currencies on the interest and exchange rates of the Vietnamese currency in the pre- and post-regional crisis periods (1995-1997 and 2002-2004). The regression results show that, in the pre-crisis period, the exchange and interest rates of the French franc significantly affected the exchange rate of the Vietnamese currency (VND). The VND exchange rate in the post-crisis period was; however, affected only by the exchange rates of the Euro and British pound vis-à-vis the US dollar. On the other hand, the VND interest rate is found to have moved independently with these foreign currencies' interest and exchange rates in both periods. Some brief explanations and implications are also provided in this study.
Keywords: VAR model; interest rate; exchange rate; Vietnam; OECD
Technical Efficiency and Productivity Change in China's High- and New-Technology Industry Development Zones (pp331-355)
Yu-Feng Ma (Department of Accounting, Soochow University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC) and Yeoung-Jai Goo (Department of Business Administration, National Taipei University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
Abstract:
This paper studies the relative efficiency and total factor productivity (TFP) change of the high- and new-technology industry development zones (HNTIDZs) in China. We apply the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) to the panel data sample, covering the period 1996-2002, for 53 HNTIDZs in China. All zones are, according to the Norman and Stocker suggestions, reclassified into eight areas. Viewed as a whole, the efficiency and TFP change of all areas are passable. This paper also divides HNTIDZs into five groups serving as reference for the agencies of authority over HNTIDZs as regards policy-making and strategic planning and development. As Xiamen, Chengdu, Huizhou,Wuxi, Shenzhen, Beijing Zhongguancun, Shanghai and Yangling have a technical efficiency (TE) of 1 at the frontier line of efficiency, there is no urgent need to make adjustment. The rest, in comparison, are relatively inefficient and should be adjusted according to input excesses and output deficits and this should benefit policy-makers.
Keywords: high- and new-technology industry development zones; efficiency; Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA); Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI); China
(This journal is available online: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/abm)
Posted with permission from the publisher.
|
