Business Commons^™

The Decline Of Global Market Leaders, Xiaowen Tian, John Slocum

Xiaowen Tian

Integrating capability-based and institution-based views in a multilevel framework, we argue that managerial capability to acquire loans to finance business expansion has an inverted U-shaped relationship with global market leadership. The negative effect on global market leadership of excessive loan-acquiring capability is amplified under business-friendly market institutions that ease access to credit. Managerial capability to utilize resources productively positively moderates the relationship between loan-acquiring capability and global market leadership. The role of resource-utilizing capability is attenuated under business-friendly market institutions that facilitate overinvestment. The study helps explain recent decline of global market leaders in advanced market economies.

What Determines Mnc Subsidiary Performance? Evidence From China, Xiaowen Tian, John Slocum

Xiaowen Tian

The paper challenges the view that MNC dictates a subsidiary’s business strategy and operations in accordance with the integration-responsiveness (IR) framework. The paper integrates the IR framework with contingency theory to argue that a subsidiary needs discretion to craft its own effective business strategy in light of the environmental exigencies facing the subsidiary in the host country. It may do so at variance with the MNC’s strategy. Evidence from China supports that subsidiary managers should take strategic initiatives in response to specific host country environment.

A Strategic Management Approach To Guanxi In China, Xiaowen Tian, Moxi Song, Ran Tian

Xiaowen Tian

This article adopts a strategic management approach to addressing the issue of how to achieve both corporate profitability and corporate social responsibility in dealing with Guanxi in the Chinese business context. It argues that environment scanning, strategy formulation, strategy implementation and strategy evaluation and control should be the key components of strategic management of Guanxi. The article proposes a practical framework for managing Guanxi strategically in the emerging China market, and illustrates the framework with cases in the real world.

International Business Research Amid Accelerated Globalisation: An Editorial, Xiaowen Tian

Xiaowen Tian

Extract

The landscape of global business has changed dramatically since the 1980’s and the market competition has now become truly global with the rise of emerging market countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and China. Competing in the rapidly changing global business environment, companies face new challenges and have to deal with a wide range of emerging issues that they either have not experienced or have not paid attention to before.

The special issue of the Journal for International Business and Entrepreneurship Development includes six papers that discuss the issues faced by companies in accelerated globalisation today. In the editorial, …

Socially Responsible Foreign Direct Investment: A Challenge To Tncs In Emerging Markets, Xiaowen Tian, Moxi Song, Ran Tian

Xiaowen Tian

A widening gap between the rich and the poor is found in most, if not all, emerging market countries that have recently opened up to FDI and is threatening the sustainability of economic progress in these countries. The study finds strong evidence that FDI contributes to the widening gap between rich and poor regions through negative productivity spillovers in the largest emerging market of China, and provides some theoretical explanations. The study discusses implications of the findings for transnational corporations in making socially responsible investment and for emerging market countries in attracting foreign investors to poor regions.

Conviction And Punishment: Free Press And Competitive Election As Deterrents To Corruption, Xiaowen Tian, Vai Lo

Xiaowen Tian

Democratic institutions are not equally effective in curbing corruption. Using a criminal behavior model, this study formulates the hypothesis that corruption offenders, being risk-inclined, are deterred more by conviction-reinforcing democratic institutions than by punishment-reinforcing democratic institutions. Evidence based on cross-country regressions strongly supports this hypothesis, indicating that compared with competitive election, free press is a more effective deterrent to corruption. While shedding light on why corruption remains rampant in some electoral democracies - particularly the illiberal democracies - this study identifies a key to corruption control.

Fdi Technology Spillovers Within And Across Industries: Evidence From China, Xiaowen Tian, Shuanglin Lin

Xiaowen Tian

Using panel data of 11324 firms in China from 1996 to 1999, the study finds that FDI tends to generate positive technology spillovers to domestic firms within the same industry, but adversely affect productivity of domestic firms in other industries. It is also found that both the positive and the adverse effects are more significant at the local than the national level. Evidence from China thus suggests that FDI technology spillovers are in favor of domestic firms within the same industry rather than domestic firms in other industries, and are most likely to affect domestic firms within the same locality. …

Law For Foreign Business And Investment In China, Vai Lo, Xiaowen Tian

Xiaowen Tian

In trying to establish a presence in China, foreign investors have found it imperative to understand the regulatory environment of this potentially huge market. This book provides an up-to-date overview of the legal framework for doing business in China. It covers such topics as state structure; legislative amendments and enactments on direct foreign investment; the court system; the legal profession; business entities; foreign investment enterprises; contracts; intellectual property; labor and employment; consumer protection; taxation; securities; and dispute resolution.Apart from explaining legal principles, the book highlights liberalisation measures that China has undertaken to fulfil its WTO commitments; elucidates complicated legal concepts …

Managing Fdi Technology Spillovers: A Challenge To Tncs In Emerging Markets, Xiaowen Tian

Xiaowen Tian

Prior studies on foreign direct investment (FDI) technology spillovers have offered little guidance to transnational corporations (TNCs) on how to protect and exploit technology across borders. The present paper argues that TNCs can manage technology spillovers through selection of entry modes, selection of technologies, and selection of investment priorities in the affiliates they establish in foreign markets. A number of hypotheses are derived from theoretical analyses and are tested against firm-level data from China. The findings of the paper have significant implications for TNCs that face fierce competition from local firms in emerging markets.

Property Rights Developments And Productivity Gains In China: A Law And Economics Perspective, Xiaowen Tian, Vai Lo

Xiaowen Tian

Extract:

Property rights developments have been taken as a major reform measure to improve efficiency in transition economies in recent years. The economic rationale was most clearly spelled out by the property rights theory. According to this theory, well-defined property rights can serve as the basis for the proper functioning of markets because they provide incentive; stimulate competition; and engender the efficient use of resources, technology innovation, and output growth in a world of scarcity (Furubotn and Pejovich, 1972). In other words, the more property rights move into private hands, the greater the efficiency gains, and the more rapid is …

Managing International Business In China, Xiaowen Tian

Xiaowen Tian

With the rise of China in the world economy, investors from all over the world are moving to explore business opportunities in this market. Managing international business in a transition economy like China is a daunting challenge. Tian presents a practical guide to major managerial issues faced by foreign investors in the China market including strategic management of Guanxi, entry mode selection, alliance management, negotiation with Chinese partners, human resource management, marketing management, protection of intellectual property rights, and corporate financial management. These issues are analyzed in the light of relevant theoretical models of international business, with reference to current …

Law And Investment In China: The Legal And Business Environments After Wto Accession, Vai Lo, Xiaowen Tian

Xiaowen Tian

The Chinese market is appealing, but the Chinese legal system is very complicated. A basic understanding of Chinese law is absolutely crucial for companies investing in this fast-growing and potentially huge market. Since China is moving toward a socialist market economy and is increasingly integrated into the world market, some aspects of China's commercial law are different from, while others are moving into line with, those of mature market economies.

This book provides an introduction to the Chinese legal system, focusing on laws and regulations on foreign direct investment and highlights recent government policies and measures undertaken to intensify economics …