Business

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 13

  • (2007) Li, Yiqiong
    Thesis
    This thesis examines and explains multinational employers' experiences of localized shortages of skilled process workers in Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), China. It explains three challenges facing SIP employers in accessing sufficient skilled process workers and their responses within HRM to such challenges. These three challenges are employers' experiences with vocational education and training (VET) deficiencies in students' skill development, employers' experiences of poaching of skilled process workers by other companies, and employers' experiences of provision of workplace training for skilled process workers in their own companies. In response to these challenges, SIP employers have adopted various HRM measures that include differing combination of recruitment and selection, employee retention, training and development, and employment relations management. These policies and practices represent the different ways that SIP employers have attempted to meet the challenges of localized skill shortages in the context of their own business strategies.

  • (2009) Kim, Joseph Hyosup
    Thesis
    Rapid advancement in technology and increased trade across national borders led to an international trend towards valuing technology and knowledge-based assets. Consequently, there is a growing recognition that adequate intellectual property protection of all forms - patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets – are necessary in order to sustain a firm’s competitive advantage created by these assets. The importance of protecting intellectual property rights is particularly crucial in cultural industries such as music industry. By examining the link between the operation of multinational recording companies and the institutional environment of copyright in Korea, this thesis attempts to demonstrate the role of MNEs in shaping the institutional environment of the host country. \r\n\r\nThe institutional perspective provides the theoretical foundation for this thesis. The focus of the institutional theorists in International Business so far has been limited to the unidirectional flow of influence in the host country institution and MNE link – MNE as an organisation shaped by host country institution. By examining three aspects of copyright institution of Korea –regulative, industrial and cognitive aspects- we contend that institutional environment is not static, but evolves dynamically over time and the evolution reflects the dual institutional pressure. That is, institutions both affect and are affected by MNEs.

  • (2009) Sakolvieng, Ketkamol
    Thesis
    This study has investigated the evolution of Michelin Siam Group (MSG), a Thai subsidiary of the Michelin Group (France), over the period between 1987 and 2007. Particular attention has been given to the process of changing subsidiary roles as well as factors influencing the process. The study has adopted a qualitative case-study approach based on the data collected from interviews of senior managers at MSG. The analysis has demonstrated that over the past 20 years, MSG has undergone several changes in its charters and capabilities, with the changes in its roles accordingly. In its early years (pre-1997), MSG was a ‘local implementer’ in its MNC network, mainly serving the local market in a limited range of product lines mandated by the headquarters (HQs). Its charters, both manufacturing and commercial charters, have since been extended to cover broader product lines and international markets beyond Thailand through the accumulation of production capabilities enhanced by a range of training programmes. MSG has thus increasingly shifted from a ‘local implementer’ to a ‘regional/global implementer’. More importantly, it has also been revealed that the changes in MSG’s roles have been strongly influenced by the HQs. Through its control over decision making, the HQs has been heavily involved in introducing changes at MSG. However, the role of subsidiary, industry, and local environment factors should not be neglected. MSG’s increasing capabilities and superior performance coupled with the favourable and dynamic local environment as well as the competitive nature of an industry have been found to have instigated HQs’ favourable decisions for MSG. While the HQs has been the dominant driver of MSG’s roles and changes in its roles, the findings of this study largely appear to support the influences of the interplay of corporate, subsidiary, industry, and local environment factors in shaping subsidiary roles over time.

  • (2008) Riaz, Zahid
    Thesis
    This study examines the role of three institutional factors (regulative; normative and cultural-cognitive pillars of institutions) in addressing agency problems of Australia. In the wake of the series of corporate collapses of current decade, director and executive remuneration was identified as one of the major causes behind these scandals. The Australian government and other related organisations made both regulative and non-regulative institutional reforms to manage this agency conflict. These reforms, encapsulated in Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (CLERP) Act 2004 demanded an increased level of disclosure of director and executive remuneration particularly, the disclosure of performance based salary. Subsequently, these amendments provided an opportunity through a non-binding vote to shareholders to participate in executive remuneration decisions. This study proposes a new synthesis of institutional and agency theories by examining how institutional interventions addresses agency conflicts in the Australian context. A conceptual model is developed to measure both the conjoined and distinctive institutional impact on the disclosure level of director and executive remuneration in Australia. To measure and quantify the aforementioned impact a mixed method research strategy was used. First, content analysis as an investigative tool was used to develop a disclosure index which determined the level of disclosure of director and executive remuneration from top 100 Australian listed entities. Second, a conceptual model, positing the relationships between independent and dependent variables was verified through an econometric analysis of collected data, performed through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 15. The findings of this research reveal that there exists a significant difference between the levels of disclosure in the pre and post stages of the introduction of the CLERP Act 2004. This result highlights the significance of regulatory intervention in addressing agency conflicts. The study also indicates that regulative and normative pillars have a higher impact than the culture-cognitive pillar on disclosure practices of Australian firms. In light of these results, the new blend between agency and institutional theories highlight the role of different institutions, particularly the government, in stabilising the organisational practices for good governance and creating national competitive advantages.

  • (2007) Li, Xiaobei
    Thesis
    The interaction of the personnel boundary in inter-firm relationship management is viewed as particularistic in China instead of universalistic as in many Western cultures. Specifically, guanxi networks, the Chinese system of inter-personal relationship, have strong strategic implications for business interactions. The practices of guanxi and the social norms associated with guanxi are complicated. On the one hand, guanxi practices can be traced back to Confucianism; on the other hand, guanxi s significance has been changing in line with China s economic reform. In this research, we have attempted to find what presently constitutes good guanxi in inter-firm relationship management against this dynamic backdrop. Additionally, from the transaction cost economies (TCE) perspective, we provide an analysis that guanxi-based business practices offer transaction cost advantages as an alternative to market-based practices. We argue that such advantages partially result from guanxi s effect on the reduction of opportunist behaviors. Backed up by 97 questionnaire responses from firms in Shanghai and 15 semi-structured interviews, our study confirms that, in inter-firm relationships management, trust, affection and long-term orientation are features of close guanxi. To enhance guanxi quality, familiarization by self-disclosure and the presence of mutual benefits are also necessary, providing practical implications for business practitioners in China. Our study also indicates that guanxi business partners are expected to be obligational in business and flexible in contingencies. Opportunistic behaviors can be mitigated by adopting guanxi practices, supporting the TCE logic. In an absence of a rationalized legal system, guanxi may fill the gaps in the enforcement of the written contract.N

  • (2008) Gao, Fei Yi
    Thesis
    Despite the increasing significance of Chinese family businesses (CFBs) as an important sector in China’s fast-growing economy, family businesses in China have received little research attention in the literature. The aims of this study are two-fold. First, the study examines the current human resource management (HRM) practices of selected family businesses in the country in areas of recruitment and selection, training and development, performance appraisal, and rewards. Second, it investigates differences in HRM practices of CFBs between the eastern-coastal and inland regions of the country. From a questionnaire survey of 205 CFBs operating in seven cities in two regions, this study has found that CFBs combine their traditional informal, relationship-based HR practices with western-style HR practices. Furthermore, both univariate and multivariate analyses have demonstrated significant regional differences in HRM, thus supporting the argument that a firm’s HR practices are shaped by institutions in which the firm operates. The findings of this study make important contributions to both research and practice. First, the findings have provided further evidence to the applicability of institutional theory to the explanation of HRM practices. Second, the study has also provided some practical implications for HR managers of firms, both domestic and foreign, in China. However, results of this study need to be interpreted with caution because external validity is sacrificed to an extent given its focus on family businesses, a non-probability sampling method and relatively small sample size. In addition, the cross-sectional approach adopted in the study fails to identify changes in HRM over time. Despite the limitations, however, this study has contributed to the body of knowledge by enhancing our understanding of CFBs in China and their HRM that have been under-researched empirically.

  • (2002) Donoghue, Leigh
    Thesis


  • (2009) Liu, Jen Wei (John)
    Thesis
    This study examines what role three institutions in Taiwan - state bureaucracy, local business groups and multinational corporations, played in the development of the flat panel display (TFT-LCD) technology. The thesis adopts the 'Triple-alliance' conceptual framework to understand how these three institutions cooperated to develop TFT-LCD; it argues that it is vital to understand the interactions among these three institutions in order to map the development of a high technology industry in a late industrializing country. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are adopted in order to validate the utility of the 'Triple-alliance' conceptual framework. The qualitative part of the study employed five semi-structured interviews to gain first hand understanding of the development of the TFT-LCD industry. The interviews were supplemented with secondary sources from annual reports, newspapers, and trade journals. In the quantitative part of the study, data was collected from 100 information technology related firms listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Hierarchal multiple regression analysis investigated the relationships between institutional factors and firm performance. The findings reveal that there exists a strong relationship between institutional alliances and firm performance. The positive relationship highlights the significance of the 'Triple-alliance' framework in helping explain the institutional mechanism often adopted by late developing nations and firms to help develop indigenous technologies.