The purpose of this paper is to examine the business-government nexus in Hong Kong as a special case, thereby contributing to a comparative examination of various significant…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the business-government nexus in Hong Kong as a special case, thereby contributing to a comparative examination of various significant variables affecting the study of political and economic developments in East Asia.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper considers the privileged position afforded to the major business groups in Hong Kong’s political system as part of the pro-Beijing United Front. It adopts a historical perspective, relying on existing literature including media reports. As the author is both an academic and a long-term pro-democracy activist, his actual experiences and extensive interviews with various important participants in Hong Kong’s business and political communities offer valuable perspectives.
Findings
In the past, the business-government nexus was perceived to be a positive factor that contributed to the territory’s economic growth. In the past decade or so, though, increasing dissatisfaction with the Hong Kong government’s performance and the widening gap between the rich and the poor have led to the emergence of a legitimacy deficit on the part of the government, resulting in rising demands for democracy which have not been met. Divisions on these issues within the local business community have posed a severe challenge to the continuation of the business-government nexus.
Originality/value
The author’s actual experiences and his interviews with other participants in Hong Kong’s politics provide observations of significant value. The Occupy Central campaign, which took off in the territory in 2014, demands serious consideration in terms of its political development and a key element for consideration is the response of the business-government nexus to it.
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Keywords
Joseph L. C. Cheng is Professor of International Business and Management and Director of the Illinois Global Business Initiative (IGBI) in the College of Business at the…
Abstract
Joseph L. C. Cheng is Professor of International Business and Management and Director of the Illinois Global Business Initiative (IGBI) in the College of Business at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. During the 2008–2009 academic year, he was a visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong on leave from the University of Illinois.
Timothy Devinney, Torben Pedersen, Timothy Devinney, Torben Pedersen and Laszlo Tihanyi
This is the first volume of Advances in International Management under the new editorial team of Timothy Devinney, Torben Pedersen and Laszlo Tihanyi. We hope to continue the…
Abstract
This is the first volume of Advances in International Management under the new editorial team of Timothy Devinney, Torben Pedersen and Laszlo Tihanyi. We hope to continue the tradition established by our predecessors, Joseph Cheng and Michael Hitt, and also will work to bring a new perspective to the series. It is our intention to use the series less as a journal or book series and more as a forum for ideas and discussion – a view that builds on the tradition of the series but also aims to put it in juxtaposition to traditional publication outlets.
Taken together, these three chapters cover three important building blocks in the effective management of headquarters–subsidiary relations: corporate structure, executive…
Abstract
Taken together, these three chapters cover three important building blocks in the effective management of headquarters–subsidiary relations: corporate structure, executive attention, and resource allocation. A common theme across the three chapters is their focus on system flexibility and how this can be achieved for the MNE. Specifically, their research suggests that through the use of matrix structures coupled with conflict resolution training for managers, promoting subsidiary initiatives and profile building to capture headquarters attention, and allocating resources with limited committedness to foreign operations would enable the MNE to better scan and respond to a fast-changing external environment. This system flexibility is particularly important for MNEs that adopt the differentiated network model, which among other things, requires subsidiaries to share knowledge and resources in the formulation and implementation of company-wide response actions as demanded by the circumstance.
Joseph O'Leary and Tzung‐Cheng Huan
The article's aim is to provide an overview of articles in this issue.
Abstract
Purpose
The article's aim is to provide an overview of articles in this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The article gives summary information and perspectives on the articles that appear in the issue and provides information helping readers.
Findings
The article first discusses three articles showing what three journal editors see as topics and find acceptable as research methods. The other three articles appear because they have important implications that receive limited attention in the literature. These articles address innovative treatment of problems with information commonly collected on return (repurchase), vague units of count and ineffective data collection.
Originality/value
This research provides insights on what three journal editors research, and the priorities and innovative work on the need for better return data, for better terms for units (e.g. of analysis) and for more effective data collection.
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Joseph L.C. Cheng, Elizabeth Maitland and Stephen Nicholas
At the time of this writing, the world was experiencing its worse recession and financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. After half a century of world growth and…
Abstract
At the time of this writing, the world was experiencing its worse recession and financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. After half a century of world growth and two decades of transformation to capitalism by much of Eastern Europe and Asia, world national product and trade will fall this year. For the first time since the postwar growth miracle, multinational enterprises (MNEs) are restructuring, cutting their foreign investments and subsidiary operations. Many senior expatriate managers, particularly those working in the global finance industry, have lost their jobs or been repatriated. All eyes are on the upcoming G20 meeting in April, where the new U.S President Barack Obama will be meeting his counterparts from China, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and other member nations to discuss and formulate globally coordinated fiscal and monetary policies to help reverse the course of the current world economic turmoil.
Michael A Hitt and Joseph L.C Cheng
The early research on multinational enterprises usually relied on traditional economic theory or relatively simple, but powerful, theories developed in the field of international…
Abstract
The early research on multinational enterprises usually relied on traditional economic theory or relatively simple, but powerful, theories developed in the field of international business. They were developed to help us understand why firms entered international markets (e.g. Dunning’s eclectic theory). However, as the field of international management (and international business) has developed further, with more scholars from adjacent disciplines conducting research on issues of importance to international markets and multinational firms, newer, more diverse and complex theoretical perspectives have been developed and diffused. The purpose of this volume is to explore some of these important and newer theoretical perspectives. For example, herein, we examine the recent theoretical work on the metanational that emphasizes knowledge-sharing among subsidiaries on a global basis. We also explore theoretical issues related to international entrepreneurship, a new, important, and growing perspective in the field of international management. Additionally, we include work focused on the liabilities of foreignness and other critical issues in the management of multinational enterprises. As such, we believe that this volume provides a basis for future research on the multinational enterprise, and we hope that the work contained herein serves as a catalyst for such research using the different theoretical perspectives examined herein.
Joseph L.C. Cheng and Michael A. Hitt
At the time of this writing, the medical and health-care professionals are joining forces worldwide trying to stop the global spread of SARS and avoid the devastating consequences…
Abstract
At the time of this writing, the medical and health-care professionals are joining forces worldwide trying to stop the global spread of SARS and avoid the devastating consequences that it brings to the affected areas. This event once again reminds us of the inter-connected world in which we all live and the importance of international collaboration to address pressing global issues. In this volume, we have included contributing chapters from authors based in Asia, Europe, and North America to examine an emerging topic in the international management field – managing multinationals in a knowledge economy. The chapters are selected to reflect the influences of three key factors – economics, culture, and human resources – on managerial decisions that affect multinationals and their effective operations. A review of these papers suggests that, despite all the technological advances in cross-border communication and coordination, social capital and human resources are the most critical factors possessed by multinationals.