Search results

What remains uncertain with corporate universities is the contribution they provide to their organizations, particularly when considered from the perspective of managers. Managers are important stakeholders, as they may participate in carrying out the mission and policies that govern the corporate university and participate in the programs offered. Organizations would benefit from knowing more about the perceptions of managers. The purpose of this paper is to study managers’ perceptions of the accountability of two corporate university programs in China and its relationship with the managers’ overall involvement in corporate university programs and their commitment to the organization.

The study was conducted in two state-owned organizations in China, a country in which many organizations have adopted corporate universities. A mixed-method approach was used to carry out the study.

The results showed that there was a moderate relationship between the managers’ perceptions of the accountability of corporate university programs, based on two management development programs and managers’ involvement in corporate university programs and their commitment to the organization. The results also showed a low relationship between managers’ involvement in their corporate university programs and commitment to the organization.

The findings provide implications for managing corporate universities in China and enhancing the accountability of these initiatives. The study serves as a basis for future studies involving corporate universities and on the accountability of and involvement in training.

The purpose of this paper is to bring out the possibility of selecting good leaders in Asian countries, i.e., China and Singapore.

Since comparative historical analysis enhances the objectivity for academic discussion, Deng Xiaoping’s and Lee Kuan Yew’s leadership successions have been chosen as the cases for studies by virtue of “method of agreement”. Incorporating “argument based on the contrary” into the context for macro-historical analysis, this paper characterises the duo’s successful (at least quite successful) leadership successions, thus offering an alternative paradigm beyond Western-style democracy.

Both cases of post-Mao China and the independent Singapore indicate that in quite a number of Asian countries, good leaders could still be selected beyond universal suffrage as practised among Western Electoral Democracies, mainly because of the elites-driven context. As to the duo’s succession results, Deng Xiaoping’s selection of leaders was somewhat successful, while Lee Kuan Yew’s was phenomenal.

This paper offers readers a glance over the possibility of selecting good leaders in Asian countries not fully based on Western-style democracy. Learning from the duo’s leadership successions, the West may treat elite politics as the supplement under Western Electoral Democracies in order to avoid their countries falling into the trap of populism. The West could meanwhile consider the exceptional criteria prized by the duo for leadership successions. Considering such interactions among elites in the real-life context, it could serve as an alternative model to Western-style democracy.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance implications of two major mechanisms for organizational learning (i.e. exploration and exploitation). Exploration refers to firm activities that explore new and novel knowledge, whereas exploitation reflects the extent to which a firm reuses its existing knowledge. The authors predict curvilinear (i.e. an inverted U-shape) relationships between exploration/exploitation and firm performance, respectively. That is, firm performance first increases with exploration/exploitation at a decreasing rate; then, firm performance decreases at an increasing rate after firm performance reaches a maximum point. Furthermore, the authors examine whether the curvilinear relationships are moderated by two types of firm–stakeholder relationships (i.e. firm–employee and firm–customer relationships).

Using the data from National Bureau of Economic Research, US Patent Citations Data File, KLD Research and Analytics Inc. and Compustat series, the authors construct an unbalanced panel data set of 3,070 observations in 554 firms from 1991 to 2006. To test the hypotheses, feasible generalized least squares regression is used.

In consistent with the prediction, the authors find inverted U-shape relationships between exploration/exploitation and firm performance. The authors also find that the curvilinear relationships are moderated by firm–employee relationships. The relationships between exploration/exploitation and firm performance become stronger when firms have better relationships with employees.

The study provides empirical evidence that better firm–employee relationships can strengthen the curvilinear relationships between exploration/exploitation and firm performance. The authors argue that future studies should extend to other stakeholder relationships, using more refined measures, and incorporating the concept of ambidexterity.

The findings suggest that managers should design innovation strategy based on performance implications of exploration/exploitation and that managers should also realize that stakeholder relationships can influence the relationships between exploration/exploitation and firm performance. First, the study shows that although exploration and exploitation can improve firm performance, too much exploration or exploitation is not good for firm performance. Therefore, managers should consider seriously the maximum point of performance that exploration and exploitation can reach and avoid too much exploration or exploitation. Second, firms can invest in firm–employee relationships to gain better performance implications from exploration/exploitation. The study shows that, as firms develop better firm–employee relationship, the relationships between exploration/exploitation and firm performance are stronger and firm performance is likely to reach a higher apex.

The authors find the inverted U-shape relationships between exploration/exploitation and firm performance, moreover, the authors add two contingent factors associated with stakeholders that can help exploration and exploitation contribute more to firm performance.

This study aims to build an indigenous Chinese management model based on Chinese culture.

This study adopts new institutionalism as its theoretical foundation, examines the core values of Chinese civilization in retrospect and identifies the key features of a Chinese management model. In this study, the authors develop a “glacier model” and test its reliability with the Haier Group.

This study proposes a new definition for a management model: a knowledge system based on institutional civilization that reflects management theory and practice. It analyzes the institutional environment of Chinese civilization: the recessive bottom-most layers are CBTLG (Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, legalism and Guan theory) and MDSX (Mao Zedong thought, Deng Xiaoping theory, scientific thoughts of development and Xi Jinping thought), the dominant principles are “Socialism and Mixed Economy” and the core values of Chinese culture compose the layer between them. This study concludes that the distinguishing features of Chinese management are harmonious management, the order-diversity pattern and Tai Chi management.

This paper only discussed the management model of China. Based on the conclusions of this paper, in the future, researchers comparative studies on Chinese management and other countries’ management models with glacier model. By so doing, people can have a more comprehensive understanding of management models of different cultures.

The management characteristics contained in Chinese culture can provide more abundant knowledge for understanding current organizational management issues. A better understanding of the characteristics of a Chinese management model based on Chinese civilization is conducive to foreign investment or cross-cultural cooperation between Chinese and foreign enterprises.

This study provides a new perspective in studying Chinese management. The theoretical values of the glacier model are as follows: it is rooted in a Chinese management context; it makes up for the insufficiency in the current study of institutionalism; and it guides cross-cultural communication and management. The authors hope that the study attracts the attention of more scholars. Any civilization of any region or country can construct its own management model using the frame of the glacier model.

Non-point source pollution risk assessment for surface drinking water catchments is an important basis and premise for the scientific management over water environment, while remote sensing technology may timely find the spatial distribution pattern and variation of risk. Coupling the Non-point source model and remote sensing data is a potential method for the water environment risk assessment. The dual Non-point source model independently developed by China is chosen to study its practical applicability in the experimental catchment area of Hebei Yuecheng Reservoir in combination with the remote sensing and GIS data, and to study the spatial distribution pattern of the Non-point source Phosphorus (P) pollution generated by the spatial landuse. The result shows that:(1) the coupled model is well adapted to the catchment area of Hebei Yuecheng Reservoir, and the simulated Non-point source P load is strongly related to the observation data of the hydrologic stations such as Liujiazhuang, Guantai and etc.; (2) The disorderly development of social economy is the main cause of Non-point source pollution, and the farmlands, urban and rural residential areas in the catchment area are the major risk sources of Non-point source pollution; (3) the two assessment units, catchment unit and administration unit, are employed in this study. They are complementary to each other, which is convenient for management because they can reflect not only the P risk distribution but also the specific location of the administration areas within the risk area.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social irresponsibility (CSIR) co-exist within many firms. Yet, without understanding how CSR and CSIR are related, our knowledge of these concepts is incomplete. This study initiatively explores four relationships between prior CSR/CSIR and subsequent CSR/CSIR.

This study uses the KLD database as the source of measures on CSR and CSIR. The final sample contains 1,820 firms and 14,420 firm-year observations from 1991 to 2013. The Arellano—Bond GMM estimator is used to test the hypotheses.

The empirical analyses yield the following results: (1) a positive relationship between prior CSR and subsequent CSR, (2) a negative relationship between prior CSR and subsequent CSIR, (3) a positive relationship between prior CSIR and subsequent CSR and (4) a positive relationship between prior CSIR and subsequent CSIR.

This study provides comprehensive evidence of the dynamic relationships between CSR and CSIR by incorporating multiple relationships between these variables into a single study. It also identifies key contexts that shape these relationships and identifies several promising areas of further inquiry.

This study is the first to examine the dynamic CSR – CSIR relationships in a single study. Most previous studies investigate either CSR or CSIR; few studies have incorporated them into one study.

This study refines theory of social capital by nesting it within a cultural context. More specifically, it aims at describing, explaining, and predicting the role of wasta, a social capital concept, as a moderator in the relationship between employees' ethical idealism and work engagement in Lebanon.

Based on a survey questionnaire translated from English into Arabic, 317 responses were collected from employees in Lebanon. Confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were employed to test the hypothesized relationships among the examined variables.

Ethical idealism was found to be positively related to work engagement, and wasta was found to moderate the relationship between ethical idealism and work engagement. Work engagement levels of employees who displayed high levels of ethical idealism were less influenced by the negative effect of wasta than work engagement levels of employees who displayed low levels of ethical idealism.

Human resource managers, international negotiators, and global executives in Lebanon may use the findings of this study to update corporate human resources systems, such as employee recruitment and selection, handbooks, orientation, training programs, and performance appraisal, to better address employee attitudes toward the practice of wasta.

The study adds ethical idealism as an antecedent of work engagement, demonstrating the significant impact that wasta, with its positive and negative characteristics, has on the engagement of employees from the Arab world.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the uniqueness of management development in China during 1990 and 2010 as represented by the MBA education, and to explore its successes and challenges in the Chinese transitioning context.

The authors adopted an approach that integrated content analysis of literature, historical data and interviews.

It was found that successful practices such as the National MBA Education Supervisory Committee, the top‐down approach by the government, the emphasis on international collaborations and faculty development, national MBA entrance examinations, and other related measures have maintained the MBA education system on its current development course, while challenges from the ever‐changing context, the balance between internationalization and localization, curriculum design with the Chinese characteristics will continue to shape the future of MBA education in China.

Copying from others for management development in the initial stage may be feasible, but it is the localization that ensures flexibility and sustainability.

There has been insufficient systematic assessment of MBA education in China. This paper examined MBA practices and challenges in the past two decades of development and offers policy implications for future program development.

That “education should be geared to modernisation, the world and the future” is the developmental trend of modern education and the current orientation of educational reform. After the 1980s, three major historical currents emerged in the world: peace and development, the new industrial revolution, and the ideological emancipation movement. In the historical stage of peace and development, education will become the most important industry for various countries as they seek subsistence, development and even supremacy. The new industrial revolution has been signalled by the rapid development of the intellectual industries, mainly those of education, scientific research, and information. In the process of further expanding the use of “electronic brains” (i.e. computers, lasers, genetic engineering, biological technology, superconductors and other high‐technology), the potential for “human brains” – namely the wisdom of human beings – must be further tapped and developed. Therefore research into the functions of the human brain (such as observation, memory, thinking and imagination), and into the ways and means of how best to develop its functions comprehensively, has become the new subject of theory and practice in education. Future education will certainly be international in concept.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the urgency to ensure the preservation of the news archives of the crisis-packed Hong Kong-based Asia Television (ATV), the first Chinese television station in the world. This paper also explores the life and times as well as the future of the historical collections of the ATV archives, which is a treasure trove that covers key events in Hong Kong’s history since 1957, a decade before its major rival Television Broadcasts Limited began to go on air.

Adopting the qualitative approach with in-depth face-to-face interviews, the now defunct ATV News’ longest-serving as well as its very last Chief Librarians discusses the bleeding of priceless history in the 62-year-old news archives which contain Hong Kong’s collective memories.

An important role of the old news footage is to capture the public’s memories and to take people back to the actual unfolding of landmark events. The interview answers open the way for readers to understand the ways television archives hold immense historical value for a city’s memory and what could be done and preserved before their disappearance.

This paper will be of interest to those historians, journalists, scholars and archivists, including news librarians, who are interested in learning how the ATV’s half-a-century-old archival news footage is a significant asset and cultural record to the former colony.