Volume 17 Number 01
The influence of national culture, history and institution on strategic management in Chinese firms: a complexity based perspective
Xueli (Charlie) Huang
China has become the driving engine for the world economy and presents many opportunities for foreign firms. Although much research effort has been devoted to studying strategic management in Chinese organisations, China is still one of the least studied countries. This paper takes a new approach – complexity view – to examining the strategic management in Chinese organisations. It aims to explain why Chinese managers behave differently to their Western counterparts. To do so, literature on the complexity studies is firstly reviewed and synthesised. This paper then examines how institutional and cultural settings and Chinese history influence the strategic management in Chinese organisations. Finally, several managerial implications based on the results of this paper are suggested.
Keywords: Strategic management, China, complexity, Chinese culture
An integrative view on absorptive capacity and national culture
Greta Greve, Andreas Engelen and Malte Brettel
Absorptive capacity and national culture have been two major constructs in management and organisation research during the past two decades. However there have been no endeavours to develop an integrative perspective. By means of a literature analysis, the present research develops an integrative model, building upon dynamic capabilities view and institutional theory. Propositions suggest that the adoption and the implementation of absorptive capacity are subject to national culture.
Keywords: National culture, absorptive capacity, cultural dimensions
A new framework in the quest for cultural understanding using Australia, Thailand and Japan as an example
Robert J Keating and Neil R Abramson
This paper identifies two new tools, the Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS) and Derrida’s deconstruction method, to identify cognitive differences between Australian, Thai and Japanese managers. The KTS identifies one’s temperament pattern, which describes ways in which human personalities interact with the environment to satisfy needs. Temperament theory has been extended to leadership/management theory to show that inborn temperament tendencies are differently distributed by cultural groups and these tendencies affect approaches to negotiations. Derrida’s deconstruction method offers a new approach to identifying a culture’s true diversity by recommending an analysis of the ‘difference-to-oneself’ within a culture before comparing ‘difference-between’ cultures. Results identified significant cognitive differences between the three countries and we offer suggestions on how Australian managers should approach negotiations in each country.
Keywords: Keirsey Temperament Sorter, Derrida’s Deconstruction Method, cognitive differences, negotiations
Life values and job satisfaction: comparing local managers to the Japanese and Chinese expatriates in Singapore
Soo Siew Choo, Halim Hendrik and Irene Chew Keng-Howe
This study investigates the inter- and intra-comparison of life and work values held by managerial employees working in large and well-established organisations in Singapore. Three groups of workers, namely the Singaporean Chinese, Japanese expatriates and PRC Chinese expatriates were surveyed to measure life and work values and job satisfaction. Our findings have demonstrated that there are significant variations in the life values and work values amongst the three nationalities. However, the Japanese and PRC Chinese expatriates shared similar life values, thus exemplifying the effects of Confucian Dynamism.
At the intra-level, differences in the occupational level exert little influence on the life values of the three national samples and the work values of the Singaporeans; differences in age exert little influence on the work values of the Singaporeans, Japanese expatriates and the life values of the Chinese expatriates. Similarly, differences in educational level have little influence on the work values of the Japanese. Specific life and work values were also found to have different moderating effects on the job satisfaction level of individuals and different nationals.
Keywords: job satisfaction, managers local and expatriate, China, Japan, Singapore
A performance analysis of wholly owned subsidiaries and joint ventures: electrical and electronic industry in Thailand
NoyNyo Aung Kyaw and Hla Theingi
This paper documents the performance differences between Wholly-Owned Subsidiaries (WOS) and Joint Ventures (JV) in electrical and electronics industry in Thailand for the period of 2000 to 2004. Unlike other studies, we analyse the performance differences using DuPont analysis. The impact of capital structure on the profitability of WOS and JV is further studies in this paper. We find that WOS have significantly higher sales growth, have more efficient asset management and carry higher debt ratios. On the other hand, JV are more efficient in cost control and thus have better performance in terms of ROS. Consistent with managerial overinvestment agency theory, debt ratio is positive and higher leverage of WOS lead to higher profitability. On the other hand JV’s better ROS performance helps them enhance their ROE.
Keywords: MNC performance, entry mode, DuPont analysis
Defending against turbulent conditions: results from an agent-based simulation
Karen L Blackmore and Keith V Nesbitt
We use an agent-based computer simulation to examine the impact of organisational strategy on enterprise performance within a turbulent operating environment. The simulation is designed to model consumers and four types of small- and medium-sized enterprises that behave with different strategies (Defender, Analyser, Prospector and Static). These agent-based organisations operate with different behavioural characteristics when making strategic decisions about the number of products to stock and which products to offer for sale. We present the results of experiments conducted using a series of simulations. Outcomes from these simulations indicate that organisations that employ Defender strategies perform best in a turbulent operating environment.
Keywords: agent-based modelling, strategic orientation, turbulent environment, small-medium sized enterprises, Miles and Snow typology