Routledge Advances in Asia-Pacific Business – serie

This book analyses the role of employment relations in the context of economic development in some of the key Asian economies: China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, the Phillipines, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.In recent years, these Asian economies have become increasingly more open and export-driven, and there is strong interest all over the world in the Asian economic `miracle' among practitioners and scholars alike. Although much has been written on this region, few books have concentrated on the human resource aspects of this growth. The authors build on the basic premise that the initial success of these countries has lain in low wages and suppression of workers' rights. However, they point out that as employment relations evolve enterprises will either pull out due to rising wages, or stay and prosper by adapting to higher wages. Cases are provided to illustrate both of these features.The evidence in the book suggests that unless a synergy is created between firm-level and state-level human resource policies in areas such as skill formation and workers' need for voice, economic growth is unlikely to be sustainable.

This book assessess the organizational flexibility and pragmatism of Japanese management styles and contrasts this with Western management approaches which focus more closely on patterns of stability. Issues in change and organizational renewal are covered by analysing the dynamic processes by which a Japanese company organizes itself, exploring such areas as networks, informatics, quality control circles and human systems management.

This volume analyses the business environment in East Asia with reference to trade and investment flows within the region and between East Asia and Europe. Focusing on the two-way flow of management ideas, investment and technology, this study highlights the way in which both sides can benefit.

This book examines how the South Korean state is able to execute national policies that are opposed to the interests of social constituents, despite the expansion of social power. The relationship between the government and big business provides an illuminating example of this. The author demonstrates how Confucian values, the role of the family and a firm hierarchical tradition have prevented South Korea from developing a modern state on the Western model.

This is the first systematic study of the nature, operation and contribution of entrepreneurship to the growth of Hong Kong. From a new entrepreneurial perspective of economic development, the author argues that the success of Hong Kong is attributable principally to adaptive entrepreneurship: product imitation; small scale enterprise; subcontracting and spatial arbitrage.

The greatest challenge to international business today is how to manage business operations across cultural boundaries. This is especially true in the case of China, which has attracted a massive amount of foreign investment and international trade recently. This new study examines three main themes:* the partnership of management through joint ventures* the human resource aspects of management* the management of communication, co-operation and negotiationThe crucial issue of trustworthiness, the different managerial practices in China and the West, the importance of being well prepared and understanding Chinese negotiations are the major contemporary issues identified and discussed in this book.

The economic crisis of 1997 called East Asia's economic miracle into question and generated widespread criticism of the region's developmental models. However, the crisis did little to alter the growing economic integration of American, Japanese and Chinese firms who have created cross-border production networks. This book addresses the changing nature of high-tech industries in Asia, particularly in the electronics sector, where such networks are increasingly designed to foster and to exploit the region's highly heterogenous technology, skills and know-how.

Hong Kong Management and Labour argues, in a series of previously unpublished, completely up-to-date contributions, that economic and social change has been ongoing in Hong Kong for many years, and political change is perhaps less important for labour and management in the region. This book is written bearing in mind the concerns of policy makers and managers - particularly human resource managers, and those interested in labour relations, trade unions, labour markets and law, and comparative management.

The History of Mitsubishi Corporation in London examines the culture clashes, the friendships and the changing businesses that Mitsubishi Corporation's London branch oversaw in the eighty-five years following its foundation. It examines the paradox of how Mitsubishi Corporation could operate internationally for nearly a century, and still remain resolutely Japanese. With the slowdown in Japanese economic growth however, this book asks whether the corporation needs to change its mission, as well as controversially questioning whether information technology is in fact a barrier to, rather than a driving force for, successful globalization. As a long-term employee of Mitsubishi both in Tokyo and London, Pernille Rudlin has a unique perspective on the world of Japanese corporate culture in Britain. No other corporate history has examined a Japanese subsidiary in such detail, including interviews with more than thirty employees past and present.

Enhancing our understanding of HRM in the Chinese industrial sector, this book explores the emerging role of HRM in China's industrial enterprises. A significant contribution to the theory of HRM, this book will be essential reading for students and researchers of Business and Management, HRM and Asian Business.

European retailers have successfully internationalised their activities in Europe but have been less successful in North America. American retailers have been successful in their home market but less so in Europe. The major European and American retailers are now entering Asia and competing directly with each other in a substantive way fort he first time. These Western retailers, using modern managerial methods, are entering markets typified by more traditional managerial approaches. Western managerial cultures and values are interfacing with Asian ones. The results of these moves are new stresses for Asian retail structures that bring a new dynamism to Asian retailing. The contributions in this book explore the conflicts and benefits that arise as retailing in Asia becomes internationalised. The contributions are provided by experts in retail research from across Asia and for the first time in depth analyses are provided of the ways that Western retailers are provoking change in Asia. The book results form a seminar held at the University of Marketing and Distribution Sciences, Kobe, in November 2001 under the auspices of Society for Asian Research in Distribution. Scholars from across the region presented research results of their analyses of the New Commerce now appearing in Asia.

This book represents the first study of economic restructuring in reform era China to apply the concepts of identity and corporate space; notions that have become increasingly relevant as foreign invested and Chinese ventures face complex operational and societal issues in the wake of globalization.Peverelli uses his own theoretical framework to examine and detect multiple identities of Chinese enterprises within a larger, comprehensive organization theory. A host of practical case studies taken from Peverelli’s time as a consultant help to illustrate this original theory, while providing a practical reference to the modern Chinese economy and Chinese management.Chinese Corporate Identity will prove a valuable resource to academics working in organization theory, cultural anthropology, sociology, and business and economics. In addition, its supporting case studies will be of interest to consulting firms, foreign embassies and consulates in China.

This book represents the first study of economic restructuring in reform era China to apply the concepts of identity and corporate space; notions that have become increasingly relevant as foreign invested and Chinese ventures face complex operational and societal issues in the wake of globalization.Peverelli uses his own theoretical framework to examine and detect multiple identities of Chinese enterprises within a larger, comprehensive organization theory. A host of practical case studies taken from Peverelli’s time as a consultant help to illustrate this original theory, while providing a practical reference to the modern Chinese economy and Chinese management.Chinese Corporate Identity will prove a valuable resource to academics working in organization theory, cultural anthropology, sociology, and business and economics. In addition, its supporting case studies will be of interest to consulting firms, foreign embassies and consulates in China.

Enhancing our understanding of HRM in the Chinese industrial sector, this book explores the emerging role of HRM in China's industrial enterprises. A significant contribution to the theory of HRM, this book will be essential reading for students and researchers of Business and Management, HRM and Asian Business.

This book assessess the organizational flexibility and pragmatism of Japanese management styles and contrasts this with Western management approaches which focus more closely on patterns of stability. Issues in change and organizational renewal are covered by analysing the dynamic processes by which a Japanese company organizes itself, exploring such areas as networks, informatics, quality control circles and human systems management.

European retailers have successfully internationalised their activities in Europe but have been less successful in North America. American retailers have been successful in their home market but less so in Europe. The major European and American retailers are now entering Asia and competing directly with each other in a substantive way fort he first time. These Western retailers, using modern managerial methods, are entering markets typified by more traditional managerial approaches. Western managerial cultures and values are interfacing with Asian ones. The results of these moves are new stresses for Asian retail structures that bring a new dynamism to Asian retailing. The contributions in this book explore the conflicts and benefits that arise as retailing in Asia becomes internationalised. The contributions are provided by experts in retail research from across Asia and for the first time in depth analyses are provided of the ways that Western retailers are provoking change in Asia. The book results form a seminar held at the University of Marketing and Distribution Sciences, Kobe, in November 2001 under the auspices of Society for Asian Research in Distribution. Scholars from across the region presented research results of their analyses of the New Commerce now appearing in Asia.