Search results

This paper aims to evaluate the value creation of cross-border acquisitions conducted by Chinese firms and determinants that result in the different performance. During the recent decades, the world has witnessed multinational enterprises (MNEs) from emerging economies undertaking aggressive cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M & As). This phenomenon raises great attention in the international business community, and also challenges the traditional understanding in the extant literature.

The authors examine 272 cross-border M & As associated with 48 target countries during the period 1996-2012.

Evidences show that cross-border expansions on average point to negative performance in the short term. The authors also find that prior cross-border M & A experiences, ownership structure of the acquirer (state-owned vs private) and acquirer size positively affect the performance of the acquiring firm.

In addition to contributing to cross-border M & A literature, the findings also provide useful guidance to outward foreign direct investment by firms from emerging economies.

This study aims to explore the unique establishment of the early stage of the Alipay ecosystem in Malaysia by the Chinese-based Ant-Financial Services Group (Ant-Financial is the parent company of Alipay). Alipay, a Chinese m-payment technology, is used by Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia. With the diverse set of domestic–foreign stakeholders formed within this early stage of the Alipay ecosystem in Malaysia, this empirical study provides fresh insight that is different from the typical group of domestic stakeholders and crucial for a successful early stage of an m-payment ecosystem establishment. This early stage of the Alipay ecosystem in Malaysia set a promising precedent for the next m-payment ecosystem for Malaysians.

This exploratory case study examined the early stage of the Alipay ecosystem established in Malaysia. The authors collected primary data from eight respondents through qualitative, semi-structured interviews. These respondents were identified using a snowballing technique, including individuals with relevant knowledge. To ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information, the authors triangulated the primary data obtained with other primary and secondary data sources.

The results elucidate how Ant-Financial established the early stage of the Alipay ecosystem in Malaysia. A significant aspect of this establishment was the strong collaboration between Alipay-Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (Alipay-Malaysia as a subsidiary in Malaysia) and three Malaysian banks. This collaboration, which was backed by Bank Negara Malaysia, allowed Alipay-Malaysia to obtain its regulatee status in 2017, making it lawful to provide escrow e-money services in Malaysia. Following this, Alipay-Malaysia gained support from local merchants under these banks’ networks to accept Alipay from Chinese tourists. This study revealed that the early stage of the Alipay ecosystem in Malaysia was characterised by a diverse set of domestic-foreign stakeholders and functioned effectively from the outset. Consequently, in 2018, Malaysia was ranked among the top ten countries in global Chinese tourist spending.

This study of Alipay in Malaysia from 2016 to 2022 was challenging. Initially, the authors faced the obstacle of information scarcity as the respondents kept the information confidential to reduce rivalry. In the middle stage of our study, the authors encountered information inconsistency due to numerous erroneous personal assumptions and predictions. At that time, limited official information about Alipay’s establishment in Malaysia was available. It took a long time to gather primary and secondary data. The authors cross-examined these data by comparing different sources and triangulated them by validating the findings with other data sources. When Alipay was widely accepted in Malaysia and attained the top 10 position in global Chinese tourist spending, the COVID-19 outbreak froze the global tourism economy and reduced Alipay transactions. Later, the Malaysian Government enforced a nationwide movement control order that halted Alipay operations.

This study documented the early stages of the Alipay ecosystem establishment in Malaysia and made two contributions. Firstly, our research contributes to understanding the strategic approaches of an m-payment ecosystem establishment from a developing country-drawing from the Malaysian experience. Secondly, our study offers practical lessons for other m-payment service providers aiming for global expansion. The lessons learned in developing an early stage m-payment ecosystem in Malaysia, the strategies, a diverse set of domestic-foreign stakeholders’ roles and their collaboration within the Alipay ecosystem established in Malaysia are worth noting.

Up to this point, no exploratory qualitative study has been conducted on the early stage of an m-payment ecosystem (dominated by a foreign m-payment technology) in a developing country. By addressing the research question of “How has Ant-Financial established the early stage of the Alipay ecosystem in Malaysia?” this study provides a unique perspective on the establishment of an early stage Alipay ecosystem, underscores the strategies of an early stage Alipay ecosystem establishment and understand a diverse set of domestic-foreign stakeholders’ roles and their collaboration within such ecosystem that contributed to the existing theory of m-payment ecosystem.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore how China uses a social credit system as part of its “data-driven authoritarianism” policy; and second, to investigate how datafication, which is a method to legitimize data collection, and dataveillance, which is continuous surveillance through the use of data, offer the Chinese state a legitimate method of monitoring, surveilling and controlling citizens, businesses and society. Taken together, China’s social credit system is analyzed as an integrated tool for datafication, dataveillance and data-driven authoritarianism.

This study combines the personal narratives of 22 Chinese citizens with policy analyses, online discussions and media reports. The stories were collected using a scenario-based story completion method to understand the participants’ perceptions of the recently introduced social credit system in China.

China’s new social credit system, which turns both online and offline behaviors into a credit score through smartphone apps, creates a “new normal” way of life for Chinese citizens. This data-driven authoritarianism uses data and technology to enhance citizen surveillance. Interactions between individuals, technologies and information emerge from understanding the system as one that provides social goods, using technologies, and raising concerns of privacy, security and collectivity. An integrated critical perspective that incorporates the concepts of datafication and dataveillance enhances a general understanding of how data-driven authoritarianism develops through the social credit system.

This study builds upon an ongoing debate and an emerging body of literature on datafication, dataveillance and digital sociology while filling empirical gaps in the study of the global South. The Chinese social credit system has growing recognition and importance as both a governing tool and a part of everyday datafication and dataveillance processes. Thus, these phenomena necessitate discussion of its consequences for, and applications by, the Chinese state and businesses, as well as affected individuals’ efforts to adapt to the system.