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China's huge population and rapidly developing economy have attracted many foreign companies, but operating in China can be very difficult. Connections are a necessity for most firms, and this usually requires a partner. Finding partners in China is very easy, but finding good ones is very difficult. Most potential partners can be categorized into a few main types. Some overseas, Hong Kong, or Taiwan Chinese really do have connections and/or know how to operate successfully in China. More often, they do not. Some PRC companies, private or state, actually want an operating joint venture (JV). Many do not, they simply want the privileges that go with having a JV. Discusses connections, different types of partners, advantages and disadvantages of having them, and offers hints on how to tell the good from the bad.

The aim of this paper is to measure new product development (NPD) success factors in the Thai food industry.

The quantitative research was designed based upon previous qualitative analysis by Suwannaporn and Speece. A total of 114 questionnaires sent to medium and large food companies were returned (17.5 percent of companies).

Managers' perceptions of the important success factors differ by job function, so that data about what is important cannot distinguish higher vs lower success rates. Manager perceptions of what factors are important do not match actual practice very closely, but they do report what is actually done in the NPD process consistently. Reported practices can distinguish success rates. Discriminant analysis shows that the use of marketing research is most critical in this industry. Internal communication in the NPD process and supplier linkages are also predictors of success rate, and strategy and planning plays a weak role.

NPD is context‐specific. The food industry is strongly market‐driven, so rapid adaptation to customers is critical. Strategy and planning is less important than an ability to remain flexible and move quickly in response changing consumer tastes. Most local companies have strong business secrecy, which is likely to inhibit collaborative research and development (R&D). However, supplier linkages do contribute in distinguishing companies with higher vs lower success rates.

This paper demonstrates that what managers involved in the NPD process believe to be the important success factors cannot always predict NP success rates.

The purpose of this paper is to examine “(Buddhist economics)” in urban reform Buddhism in Thailand. In the West, Buddhist economics is often perceived as a specific economic system, but understanding the sustainable development debate in Buddhist countries requires recognition that there are many versions.

The authors organize the discussion about Buddhist economics into a framework used in the sustainability debate. Current literature, largely from Thai writers, is analyzed to understand their positions on economy and environment.

Four representative movements are discussed which show substantial differences. Status quo Wat Dhammakaya feels that Buddhist economics is mainly about improving individual moral behavior within the current capitalist system, and needs little systemic change. Santi Asoke is explicitly anti-capitalist, and its most serious adherents live simple lifestyles in collectivist agricultural communities. “(Reform-from-within)” seeks a mixed economy containing both capitalist and socialist elements. Kuan Im is also between the extremes, largely small business capitalist and wanting some restraints on perceived predatory big business.

Buddhist perspectives are just beginning to enter mainstream western discussion on sustainability. The most common understanding of Buddhist economics in the west is incomplete, assuming only one form of Buddhist economics. In fact, Buddhist societies, represented here by Thailand, cover the whole range of thinking on sustainability.

Relationship marketing is widely regarded as effective in developing competitive advantage. But views on exactly what activities constitute relationship marketing may differ in various cultural settings. In‐depth interviews with account managers in commercial banks in Hong Kong yielded a list of activities considered critical to building relationships. In a following survey, account managers in Asian banks rated the importance of the various social activities higher than did account managers in Western banks, although all respondents were ethnic Chinese. The Western banks rated business activities more important than did the Asian banks. Factor analysis shows that managers in Western banks perceive dimensions of business activities consistent with recent thinking about relationship marketing. Respondents in the Asian banks do not view social activities and business activities to be distinct, nor do they distinguish strongly differentiated dimensions of business activity elements.

Chinese beer consumption has undergone major changes within the last decade. The combination of a growing middle class and greater exposure to foreign products has resulted in a significant increase in beer imports. The authors examined transformations in this market and how beer preferences have changed over time. This study focuses on changes is origin-specific preferences (e.g. German beer and Mexican beer) as reflected by habit formation (i.e. dynamic consumption patterns) and changes in demand sensitivity to expenditure and prices.

The authors estimated Chinese beer demand – differentiated by source – using a generalized dynamic demand model that accounted for habit formation and trends, as well as the immediate and long-run effects of expenditures and prices on demand. The authors employed a rolling regression procedure that allowed for model estimates to vary with time. Preference changes were inferred from the changing demand estimates, with a particular focus on changes in habit formation, expenditure allocating behaviour, and own-price responsiveness.

Results suggest that Chinese beer preferences have changed significantly over the last decade, increasing for Mexican beer, Dutch beer and Belgian beer. German beer once dominated the Chinese market. However, all indicators suggest that German beer preferences are declining.

Although China is the world's third largest beer importing country behind the United States and France. Few studies have focused on this market. While dynamic analyses of alcoholic beverage demand are not new, this is the first study to examine the dynamics of imported beer preferences in China and implications for exporting countries.

Argues that successful exporting to East Asian markets requires a good understanding of local conditions. One important issue is how consumers decide on products and how they view products from various countries. Hong Kong is representative of newly affluent markets which are growing throughout East Asia. In the beer market, Hong Kong consumers choose brands based on quality characteristics, especially taste. Other important aspects include the beer′s image and the country‐of‐origin. Brand loyalty is strong. Price is relatively unimportant to most consumers. Many beer drinkers believe that German beer is the best, though they may not always buy beer from Germany.

Aims to provide an outline of current transportation conditions to prepare companies considering entry to the Chinese market for the realities they will inevitably confront there. The transportation sector has not kept up with China′s rapid economic growth. Transportation has become a major bottleneck to further development of foreign business operations in China. As reforms have freed the economy, more goods are being shipped for longer distances. Railways, highways and shipping are now swamped beyond their capacity. In addition to inadequate infrastructure, transport companies, mostly state owned, operate inefficiently under near monopolistic conditions. Bureaucratic inefficiency and corruption make the movement of products even more difficult. Within the last year, Beijing has finally begun to take problems in the transport sector seriously, but it will likely be decades before transport operations in China run smoothly.

The importance of packaging design and the role of packaging as a vehicle for consumer communication and branding are necessarily growing. To achieve communication goals effectively, knowledge about consumer psychology is important so that manufacturers understand consumer response to their packages. this paper aims to investigate this issue.

The paper examines these issues using a conjoint study among consumers for packaged food products in Thailand, which is a very competitive packaged food products market.

The conjoint results indicate that perceptions about packaging technology (portraying convenience) play the most important role overall in consumer likelihood to buy.

There is strong segmentation in which packaging elements consumers consider most important. Some consumers are mostly oriented toward the visual aesthetics, while a small segment focuses on product detail on the label.

Segmentation variables based on packaging response can provide very useful information to help marketers maximize the package's impact.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the elements that health care personnel in Thailand believe are necessary for successful adoption of electronic medical record (EMR) systems.

Initial qualitative in-depth interviews with physicians to adapt key elements from the literature to the Thai context. The 12 elements identified included things related to managing the implementation and to IT expertise. The nationwide survey was supported by the Ministry of Public Health and returned 1,069 usable questionnaires (response rate 42 percent) from a range of medical personnel.

The key elements clearly separated into a managerial dimension and an IT dimension. All were considered fairly important, but managerial expertise was more critical. In particular, there should be clear EMR project goals and scope, adequate budget allocation, clinical staff must be involved in implementation, and the IT should facilitate good electronic communication.

Thailand is representative of middle-income developing countries, but there is no guarantee findings can be generalized. National policies differ, as do economic structures of health care industries. The focus is on management at the organizational level, but future research must also examine macro-level issues, as well as gain more depth into thinking of individual health care personnel.

Technical issues of EMR implementation are certainly important. However, it is clear actual adoption and use of the system also depends very heavily on managerial issues.

Most research on EMR implementation has been in developed countries, and has often focussed more on technical issues rather than examining managerial issues closely. Health IT is also critical in developing economies, and management of health IT implementation must be well understood.