Steven Davidson, Wei Ding and Anthony Marshall
To better understand the challenges and opportunities facing China, the IBM Institute for Business Value in cooperation with Oxford Economics surveyed 1,150 executives from across…
Abstract
Purpose
To better understand the challenges and opportunities facing China, the IBM Institute for Business Value in cooperation with Oxford Economics surveyed 1,150 executives from across China. Survey respondents represented a variety of industries and included executives from Chinese corporations, start-up enterprises, the government sector and educational institutions.
Design/methodology/approach
This report shares the executives’ vision for the Chinese economy, and proposes actions to help spark growth and positive change.
Findings
The Chinese executives surveyed see the current economic environment in China as encompassing five main challenges – immature services sector, declining domestic consumption growth, lending decisions creating over investment in some sectors, declining export growth and environmental issues impacting economic development.
Practical implications
The article identifies the six most important ways to accelerate China’s growth according to the executives:
Originality/value
Despite challenges, Chinese executives are optimistic about the country’s economic growth prospects. In fact, 93 percent of executives believe China will maintain stable to high growth of more than 5 percent over the next five years. And almost a quarter of them believe China will be able to return to its recent very high growth rates in excess of 8 percent.
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Wei Ding, Kaimei Peng, Tao Zou, Ruonan Wang, Jinshan Guo, Wei Ping Tu, Chao Liu and Jianqing Hu
The purpose of this paper is to develop non-leaching and eco-friendly antimicrobial waterborne polyacrylates with excellent antibacterial properties by grafting antibacterial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop non-leaching and eco-friendly antimicrobial waterborne polyacrylates with excellent antibacterial properties by grafting antibacterial vinyl monomer, glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) modified polyhexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride (PHMG).
Design/methodology/approach
PHMG of different molecular weights were modified by GMA to synthesize antibacterial vinyl monomer, GMA-modified PHMG (GPHMG). Different content and molecular weights of GPHMG were used to synthesize antimicrobial waterborne polyacrylates through emulsion polymerization.
Findings
The addition of GPHMG gained by modifying PHMG showed little influence on thermal stability of the films, but decreased the glass transition temperature(Tg). Meanwhile, the tensile strength decreased, while the breaking elongation increased. The antibacterial properties of the antibacterial films with different GPHMG contents were studied, when GPHMG content was around 0.9 Wt.%, antibacterial films showed excellent antibacterial activity (antibacterial rate >= 99.99 per cent). When weight content of GPHMG in the films remained constant, antibacterial property of films increased first and then decreased with the increase of molecular weight of GPHMG. The structural antibacterial polymer film had more perdurable antibacterial activity than the blended one.
Research limitations/implications
The grafting efficiency of GPHMG to antimicrobial waterborne polyacrylates could be further improved.
Practical implications
Antimicrobial waterborne polyacrylates with excellent antibacterial properties can be used to antibacterial coating and adhesive.
Originality/value
The antibacterial properties of films with different molecular weight of GPHMG were studied, and the durability and stability of antibacterial properties between structural antimicrobial films and blended antimicrobial films were also investigated by ring-diffusion method.
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Shuqin Zhang, Qian Huang, Hefu Liu and Youying Wang
This study aims to explore how team task-related social media usage (TSMU) and social-related social media usage (SSMU) affect employees' perceptions of intra-team cooperation and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how team task-related social media usage (TSMU) and social-related social media usage (SSMU) affect employees' perceptions of intra-team cooperation and competition and further individual creativity.
Design/methodology/approach
This study conducted a questionnaire survey on enterprises in China that have implemented social media and obtained 348 useable questionnaires from 55 work teams.
Findings
The results revealed that employees' perceptions of intra-team cooperation and competition can promote employees' creativity. Employees' cooperation perception can be significantly positively affected by TSMU and SSMU, whereas employees' competition perception can be significantly positively affected by TSMU. Regarding congruence, the results indicated that the more balanced between TSMU and SSMU, the stronger the competition perception.
Practical implications
Managers should pay critical attention to the role of team social media usage (SMU) in shaping employees' perceptions of their team environments. They should realize the different outcomes and the joint effects of the different types of SMU.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the social media literature by explaining the impact of team SMU on employees' perceptions and evaluations of team environments based on the social information processing theory. The study presents the relationships among team SMU, employees' perceptions of cooperation and competition and employee creativity. Moreover, this study expands research on the trade-off of SMU by exploring the impact of balanced and imbalanced SMU in a work team.
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Zaiyang Xie, Mei Wei, Xinyi Ding and Stanley Bruce Thomson
This case was designed for use at the undergraduate and MBA level in human resource management and international business. Upon completion of the case study discussion and…
Abstract
Learning outcomes
This case was designed for use at the undergraduate and MBA level in human resource management and international business. Upon completion of the case study discussion and assignments, students will be able to: (1) understand human resource management in multinational corporations and the importance of cross-cultural management and human resource integration in acquisitions; (2) understand the challenges and solutions faced by multinational corporations in the process of expansion; (3) analysis of what characteristics should be considered in CEO selection for managing a newly acquired company; and (4) analyze how to better promote global human resource management from the dimensions of localized HRM system reform and human resource structure reconstruction.
Case overview/synopsis
After a long period of negotiation, exploration, suspension and restart, Geely Group finally acquired 49.9% of the shares of DRB’s Proton Holding and 51% of the shares of the luxury car brand, Lotus Group. On the afternoon of May 24, Geely Holding Group held an acquisition signing ceremony with the Malaysia DRB-HICOM Berhad (hereinafter referred to as DRB). Geely’s commercial territory now extended into Southeast Asia, and its product spectrum increased to luxury sports cars.However, the completion of the acquisition did not mean peace of mind. On the contrary, Geely still faced a series of challenges because of differences in cultural background. The national cultures of the two countries (China and Malaysia) were very different, and so were the values of the two enterprises. Facing the challenges of promoting global human resource integration, Geely needs to make a fundamental decision on the HRM mode in the new-acquired company. Should Geely transplant its own management practice into the Proton, or adopt localized HRM philosophy? Which kind of global HRM practice would be more effective for supporting the new-acquired company developments in the future? In the post-acquisition management, how to better realize the global human resources integration become a key problem faced by Geely.
Complexity academic level
This case was designed for use at the undergraduate and MBA level in human resource management and international business.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only.
Subject code
CSS 6: Human Resource Management.
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Tehmina Amjad, Ali Daud and Naif Radi Aljohani
This study reviews the methods found in the literature for the ranking of authors, identifies the pros and cons of these methods, discusses and compares these methods. The purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
This study reviews the methods found in the literature for the ranking of authors, identifies the pros and cons of these methods, discusses and compares these methods. The purpose of this paper is to study is to find the challenges and future directions of ranking of academic objects, especially authors, for future researchers.
Design/methodology/approach
This study reviews the methods found in the literature for the ranking of authors, classifies them into subcategories by studying and analyzing their way of achieving the objectives, discusses and compares them. The data sets used in the literature and the evaluation measures applicable in the domain are also presented.
Findings
The survey identifies the challenges involved in the field of ranking of authors and future directions.
Originality/value
To the best of the knowledge, this is the first survey that studies the author ranking problem in detail and classifies them according to their key functionalities, features and way of achieving the objective according to the requirement of the problem.
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This paper examines radical reform of the Chinese public accounting profession in the 1990s. In particular, the paper seeks to provide a more nuanced understanding of the sources…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines radical reform of the Chinese public accounting profession in the 1990s. In particular, the paper seeks to provide a more nuanced understanding of the sources, responses and processes of this radical institutional change that effectively paved the way for development of the Chinese accounting profession into the twenty-first century.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical data that inform this study come from both archival materials (mostly in Chinese) and in-depth interviews. These data are analysed and interpreted from a neo-institutionalist perspective, drawing, in particular, on the concept of institutional logics and the concept of institutional work.
Findings
A state logic initially guided the development of the Chinese accounting profession but was seriously challenged in the 1990s following a series of high profile financial scandals. The findings reveal a shift to a new professional logic, which was made possible through multiple forms of institutional works instigated by various state actors.
Originality/value
Research into the radical reform of the Chinese public accounting profession in the 1990s was mostly quantitative in nature, focussing mainly on one reform programme, i.e. the disaffiliation of the accounting firms from their sponsoring agencies. This paper adopts a qualitative approach and is aimed at providing a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the institutional change process within its political and economic contexts.
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Wenxi Chen, Daming Wei, Shuxue Ding, Michael Cohen, Hui Wang, Shigeru Tokinoya and Naotoshi Takeda
To meet the increasing needs for ubiquitous healthcare, a mobile phone‐based system for monitoring multiple vital signs is under development. In this paper, design and…
Abstract
To meet the increasing needs for ubiquitous healthcare, a mobile phone‐based system for monitoring multiple vital signs is under development. In this paper, design and implementation of the system architecture are described. The hierarchy of this system comprises three layers, which respectively handle multiple vital signs sensing, data/command communication via either wireless or wired means, and healthcare management. The fundamental basis of the sensing layer is a wearable cordless sensor device for monitoring vital signs without discomfort to the user during daily activities. The data communication layer performs bi‐directional information exchange between the sensing layer and the management layer. The uppermost management layer conducts data mining and analysis for risk factors assessment and healthcare. Overall considerations of implementation method and prototype fabrication are outlined. Finally, applicability to a variety of real‐world situations, and provision of customizable solutions not only for home healthcare but also for other vital signs‐related domains (such as emergency rescue and safety guarantee) are discussed. Three of the most promising applications based upon this system are described.
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The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of the dilemma of institutional duality (ID) confronting multinational corporations and to propose a workable solution…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of the dilemma of institutional duality (ID) confronting multinational corporations and to propose a workable solution for this problem.
Design/methodology/approach
The author has searched the literature using several terms directly related to the dilemma of ID and multinational firms.
Findings
The findings reveal that to attain “legitimacy”, subsidiaries strive to balance institutional pressures stemming from external environments in the host country and their parent organizations. Understanding institutional theories of multinational corporations enables the subsidiaries to manage external pressures. ID impact varies among subsidiaries, depending on institutional contexts and internal strategies of subsidiaries.
Originality/value
An “institutional duality incidence model” portraying how dual institutions make “legitimacy” problematic for subsidiaries is proposed. A framework for identifying factors generating ID dilemma and their management approach is also proposed. It is concluded that a multinational corporation that recognizes ID as a central concern is more likely to achieve and maintain a higher level of harmony with its subsidiaries and host countries.
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Chinmoy Bandyopadhyay and Subhasis Ray
Social enterprises are increasingly recognized as a new form of organization (combining social and business goals) providing innovative and scalable solutions to widespread and…
Abstract
Social enterprises are increasingly recognized as a new form of organization (combining social and business goals) providing innovative and scalable solutions to widespread and complex socioenvironmental problems. Yet, they often struggle to keep themselves afloat due to the difficulty in accessing required resources. Networking approaches provide social enterprises with cost-effective ways to fulfill these resource requirements. Such approaches, although useful, give rise to dilemmas while building ties with both financial and non-financial actors. Although much research has been conducted on social enterprise networking or partnerships, little is known about how social enterprises address such dilemmas. This chapter explores how do social entrepreneurs address moral dilemmas while networking with key stakeholders? To answer this question, we analyze the existing literature to understand the networking strategies adopted and the moral dilemmas experienced by the social entrepreneurs. Based on our review of literature, we present four kinds of social enterprises in terms of their networking situations and choices: (1) secluded saints (less known and less connected; high on moral values); (2) secluded devils (less known and less connected; low on moral values); (3) saints waving at the devils (well known and well connected; low on moral values); (4) saints in the pack of devils (well known and well connected; high on moral values). These categories are used to explain how social enterprises with different values, interact with and use their networks for different purposes. We discuss the possible consequences of each strategy and keep the question, how to reach the state of “successful saints,” open for future research. By presenting these different networking situations, our matrix sheds new lights on different social entrepreneurial networking options and their possible outcomes. This can act as a guide and a cautionary note, not only for the social enterprises but also for any hybrid organizations dealing with conflicting networking choices.
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Robert M. Pech, Richard J. Pech, Ding Wei and Hong Shi
Through a case study of the Jiangsu Little Swan Group Company in the People's Republic of China aims to describe the transition from initial attempts at imitation of products…
Abstract
Purpose
Through a case study of the Jiangsu Little Swan Group Company in the People's Republic of China aims to describe the transition from initial attempts at imitation of products through to the realisation that innovation would need to be purchased
Design/methodology/approach
Relates the ensuing strategic alliance between the Jiangsu Little Swan Group Company and Matsushita of Japan, the acquisition of critical technology, and finally, the development of the company' own R&D culminating in over 150 technology patents by the end of the year 2002.
Findings
Finds that Little Swan has demonstrated that it is possible to successfully make an extraordinary revolutionary shift from one industry into another.
Originality/value
The case of Little Swan clearly demonstrates that innovation can be successfully integrated into a firm from external sources through direct acquisition.