Browsing Asia Research Centre (ARC) by Title
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Singapore Chinese business strategies after failing in ChinaDahles, Heidi (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The focus of this paper is on the strategies applied by Singapore-Chinese businesses upon failing in their China business ventures. It has been argued that both the increase of Singapore ventures into China and the failures are due to either cultural issues (misinterpretation of ‘shared ethnicity’) or economic factors (differences in economic practices). Singapore businessmen apply inclusive strategies combining Western management styles with Chinese ways of doing business in order to reduce the risk involved with investments across national borders into China. Though largely successful, this strategy entails its own risks. Based on 10 case studies, this paper discusses the ways in which Singapore Chinese entrepreneurs respond upon failing in China and the strategies they develop to re-find their comfort zone for transnational business ventures. Keywords: Chineseness, Ethinicity, Entrepreneurship, Singapore, China, Business Strategies. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7401 Files in this item: 1
heidi.pdf (166.4Kb) -
Worm, Verner (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This chapter try to highlight some key elements of Chinese thinking described from a cultural and philosophical perspective starting with explaining the background for Chinese philosophy, mainly Confucianism followed by central concepts such as holism (ying/yang) and a discussion of the concept of change that appears to be somewhat unique because of the central position change occupies in the Chinese philosophy. More specific, but still important concepts like face, guanxi, the Middle way and paradoxes way are also elaborated on. For reference comparison is now and then made to western philosophy when it is found to clarify Chinese thought. Comparative philosophy brings together philosophical traditions that have developed in relative isolation from one another and that are defined quite broadly along cultural and regional lines -- Chinese versus Western is here chosen, but it is not to indicate that similar phenomena might not have appeared in other places in the world if not stated explicitly. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7415 Files in this item: 1
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Kok-Kheng Yeoh, Émile (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Although China is not a federal country, its public finance system does carry features of fiscal federalism. Since 1949, although the central government has consistently sought to exercise strong control over the country, it has at times done so by decentralist rather than centralist policies. The Dengist policies since economic reform began, for example, have had a strongly decentralist element, with continuing devolvement of control to the provincial governments, sometimes to such a degree that some observers have commented: "the centre pretends to rule and the provinces pretend to be ruled". This is also a period that witnessed the revival of old regionalisms, as well as the creation of new regionalisms brought about by increased local autonomy, rapid economic growth and increasingly globalizing trade and business linkages. While the oft-cited "China deconstructs" scenario seems at present far-fetched, the challenges posed by central-peripheral conflicts, ethnic resource contest and ethnoterritorial aspirations are real, in particular as they are being exacerbated by the country’s "retreat from equality�? and growing interregional economic disparity. In the light of these daunting exigencies, this paper explores the political economy of regional development in China, focusing on the intricate link between the country’s ethnic diversity and the role of the State in the economy, as the Asian giant warily enters a new stage of economic reform. Keywords: China, regionalism, ethnic diversity, inequalities, uneven development, regional disparities URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7409 Files in this item: 1
cdp 2006-012.pdf (1.088Mb) -
Strategic Policy Implications for Southeast AsiaKui, Ng Beoy (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to analyze strategic policy implications arising from possible threats and opportunities in the face of the emergence of China as an economic powerhouse. The focus of the paper is not on the regional approach through mainly regional co-operations but more on policy strategies and responses at the national level. Depending on their degree of national economic development, economic structure and comparative advantage, eight strategic positionings have been identified. Of these eight positionings, direct competition is considered as an unwise move, considering China being endowed with relatively cheap labour resources. Together with its huge domestic market which can serve as a magnet for direct foreign investment, competition in attracting FDI can be a daunting task for most to the Southeast Asian countries. Instead, competition based on niche areas through branding, for instance provides a feasible alternative. The other alternative is to avoid direct competition by upgrading its economy, venturing into those areas where China has no comparative advantage as well as looking inward for sources of growth. Others may adopt ‘connecting’ strategies such as complementing or supplementing the Chinese economy by meeting China’s increasing demand for natural resources or exploiting its huge domestic market. Still others may explore the possibilities of forging strategic alliance with China in the global market or playing the role of a middleman between China the West. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7397 Files in this item: 1
cdp 2008-026.pdf (241.2Kb) -
Its Threats and Opportunities from the Perspective of Southeast AsiaBeoy Kui, Ng (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The purpose of the paper is to examine the economic impact of China on the Southeast Asian countries, mainly in terms of trade and investment. The paper attempts to examine whether the rise of China poses a threat to Southeast Asia as a region in the area of international trade, especially competition in the third markets. Can they be comrades rather than competitors in international market? Secondly, the paper also questions the concentration of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China implies a diversion of FDI away from the region. Are the FDI in China and Southeast Asian region complement each other in the international division of labour? On the other hand, the increasing role of China as an international trader and global investor provides an opportunity for Southeast Asia countries to integrate with the Chinese economy. The huge domestic market of China also provides vast opportunities for investment, especially through connections of their respective ethnic Chinese businesses in the region. In return, Southeast Asian countries, through their respective ethnic groups can also play a middleman role between China and the West, as well as between China and India together with the Middle East. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7395 Files in this item: 1
arc2006-15pdf.pdf (343.1Kb) -
How Headquarters Facilitate Business Model Innovation at the Subsidiary LevelCao, Yangfeng; Ping Li, Peter; Skat-Rørdam, Peter (Frederiksberg, 2013)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Primarily due to the large gaps in economic and institutional contexts between the developed and emerging markets, business model innovation (BMI) at the subsidiary level plays an important role for the success of small and mediumsized firms (SMEs) from the developed markets operating in the emerging markets as top-down venture. While some studies claim that the direct involvement of headquarters (HQ) of SMEs in the activities of their subsidiaries is essential, surprisingly little is known about how HQ specifically facilitates BMI at the subsidiary level, especially in the context of top-down venture. Adopting the method of comparative and longitudinal case study, we tracked the BMI process of six SMEs from Denmark operating in China. The emergent framework indicates that entrepreneurial aspiration and flexibility at the HQ level 2 Asia Research Centre, CBS, Copenhagen Discussion Paper 2013-42 are two primary facilitators of BMI at the subsidiary level via the mechanisms of commitment and cooperation. We also found that BMI performance would influence the two facilitators in a feedback loop. Hence, we can contribute to the literatures on international entrepreneurship and strategic entrepreneurship by integrating the two previously separated research streams via their shared theme of accelerated learning. In particular, this study helps solve the puzzle concerning fast and successful international venture. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8679 Files in this item: 1
Yangfeng_Cao.pdf (521.1Kb) -
Inter-Ethnic Relations and Economic Development in Penang, MalaysiaJacobsen, Michael (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Identity formation is probably one of the most discussed aspects of strategic positioning within anthropology, sociology and political science. In general notions of identity have been based on either an absolutist or primordial understanding of belonging or a constructionalist view in which social and political positioning in terms of identity formation are governed by a given societal context. This paper bases its understanding of identity formation on the latter approach. This means that depending of context individuals have several different although related identities to choose between when manoeuvring in a complex and dynamic social environment. Identity formation, achieved or ascribed, and its various forms of externalisation are thus negotiated and not absolute. The dynamic behind this notion of identity formation is individual agency strategically manipulating social, economic and political positioning in a given societal setup. To illustrate the complexities and in this case negative ramifications of social engineering the article focuses on inter-ethnic relations and industrial development in Penang, Malaysia. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7909 Files in this item: 1
CDP 2009-030.pdf (164.5Kb) -
Trade Unions in the Korean and Malaysian Auto IndustriesWad, Peter (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The paper aims to address the question whether the dynamic of autoworker unionism in South Korea and Malaysia was conditioned by, and eventually also influenced the globalization processes in the local auto industry? The conclusion is a contextualized "yes", and the core argument is the following: The financial crisis in 1997 was the dramatic peak of financial globalization in East Asia in the 1990s, and it did accelerate the existing trend in Korea towards centralized unionism in the auto industry, while it suspended the trend in the Malaysian auto industry towards decentralized unionism. Although the Korean and Malaysian unions were affected by the financial crisis from different structural and strategic positions, and were exposed to different national policies and corporate strategies of crisis management, the Korean unions and Malaysian unions generally followed, respectively, a more radical and militant and a more pragmatic and moderate strategy. In the global-local perspective we face two paradoxes. The first paradox is that in spite of the difference in union ideology, the outcome in terms of industrial relations (IR) institutions was rather similar in the sense that the auto industry contained a mixture of industrial and enterprise unions and formal or informal federations of these unions, and that collective bargaining was by and large undertaken bilaterally at the enterprise level. This situation was generated by a dynamic, which took the Malaysian system down from a centralized IR system within the low technology assembly industry (the globally subordinated local OEMs) to a rather decentralized IR system within the SOE-MNC controlled industry. The Korean system became more centralized through the confrontations between radical enterprise unions and authoritarian employers and authorities within an auto industry, which over time become much more indigenized, technologically advanced, export-oriented and diversified into multiple auto manufacturers and an under-wood of component suppliers. Yet, in both auto industries the large enterprise unions resisted organizational centralization, which could impede their autonomy. Due to the strength of unions of the market leading firms a breakthrough did happen neither in Korea nor in Malaysia, although the Koreans were a step ahead of the Malaysians having established a federation of metalworkers unions, including the important autoworkers unions. The second paradox is that the radicalism of the Korean autoworker unions was maintained during 1990s globalization of the auto industry, while radicalism was abandoned by the Malaysian autoworker unions in favor of union pragmatism, when the indigenization of the Malaysian auto industry unfolded since the early 1980s and a local auto supplier industry had been formed. This cross-country difference is partly explained by the different position held by the Korean and Malaysian auto companies in the global and local auto value chain. The radicalism and effectiveness of Korean autoworker unions sustained the development of dynamic efficiency among Korean auto manufacturing firms. In the same way, the intra-industry differences in wages and working conditions among auto manufacturing firms and components supplier firms were also related to the stratification of the domestic auto value chain, and this uneven distribution of benefits created obstacles of centralized unionization and collective bargaining. The centralized IR system in Malaysia evolved in an auto industry composed primarily of firms assembling imported CKD kits of components. The inequality of employment conditions between auto manufacturers and component suppliers was a driver of the strategy of centralized unionism and collective bargaining in Korea, while the inequality was not perceived as that significant by the Malaysian industrial union, since they had been dealing with these problems by the early 1990s. Keywords: Globalisation, trade unions, automobile industry, global value chain theory, East Asia, Malaysia, South Korea. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7410 Files in this item: 1
cdp2005-03wad samlet.pdf (172.8Kb) -
In Searching the Meaning of Chineseness in Greater ChinaCheung, Gordon C. K. (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Among the people in Greater China (People’s Republic of China [PRC], Taiwan and Hong Kong), needless to say, economic incentive, political relations and business relations all conjure up an ethos of relations, if not close bonds, among Hong Kong, Taiwan and the PRC. The rise of China matters to everyone who lives in Greater China. Hong Kong is already part of China. Taiwan, according to the PRC, cannot be independent without running the risk of a war. Yet, my question is that are those Chinese the same in Greater China? Do they have different identities? If living with China is inevitable, do they need to search for a new identity to face the challenges? Keywords: Chineseness, Greater China, identity, national boundaries, Hong Kong, Taiwan URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7396 Files in this item: 1
cdp 2006-010.pdf (189.7Kb) -
A Case Study of the Laundry Detergent Market in JapanFujiwara, Masatoshi (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper aims to describe how a commercially successful innovation occurs with the altering of the existing competitive structure in a market under environmental and competitive pressures. I study the history of the laundry detergent market in Japan and elucidate the manner in which Kao accomplished an innovation and increased their market share during the late 1980s. Kao introduced their new detergent Attack through a biotechnological innovation and dramatically changed the competitive structure to their advantage. The innovations introduced were of two kinds 1) fermentation engineering technologies to improve the cleaning performance of detergents by using alkaline cellulase, and 2) concentration of detergents to four times their earlier strength through changes in their powder processing technologies. This historical innovation that occurred in the laundry detergent market in Japan has a contemporary implication because combining firms’ activities and environmental sustainability has been one of the most crucial topics over recent years. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8440 Files in this item: 1
Masatoshi_Fujiwara_CDP_2011-37.pdf (268.8Kb) -
Assessing the Impact of Global Economics on Industrial Developments and Inter-Ethnic Relations in Penang, MalaysiaJacobsen, Michael (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Due to the increasingly integration and thus inter-dependency between the global economy, a given national economy and their societal embedment a triangulation between the three elements is a must if one is to understand the dynamic processes between them. This article focuses especially on the national economic and societal aspects of such a triangulation thus positioning the national dependencies of the global economy in the background. The notion of triangulation is perceived by the author to be more holistic and relational oriented compared to an approach based on decoupling. The latter aims through sector defined studies to assess the level of connectivity between global and national economics as well as between them and their societal embedment in order to detect whether there are potential fault-lines between the three thus mitigating the notion of decoupling. This article applies a triangular approach on the electronic and electrical manufacturing sector in Penang. It concentrates in particular on how companies within this sector relate to pertinent governmental initiated industry policies and the impact of the inter-ethnic related affirmative action policy in this connection. The global aspect of the triangulation has thus been put on a back burner in this study, as the article emphasises the importance of pointing towards the inter-dependency between the political, the inter-ethnic and the economic sectors in Penang, as they are perceived to condition each other. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8203 Files in this item: 1
Michael Jacobsen CDP 2010-35.pdf (172.5Kb) -
Feminist Responses to Reproductive Policy in SingaporeLyons, Lenore (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper examines recent debates about reproductive policy in Singapore by examining the responses of two different groups of women - women Members of Parliament and feminist activists. Women currently make up 10% of MPs in Singapore. Although this figure is low when compared to average rates of female representation globally, it is the highest level in Singapore since Independence. All these women are members of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) in power since 1959. While publicly supportive of the view of the PAP male elite, this group of women has introduced a level of critique into reproductive policy not previously seen by the Singapore public. Local women’s groups too have played a visible role in public debates about population policy. The feminist group, the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) has had a long interest in reproductive policy issues and released its own position paper to address the government’s recent policy making. This paper examines the responses of these two groups of women towards the PAP’s pro-natalist stance. It explores the extent to which these women have challenged the PAP as well as the obstacles to an independent feminist voice on population matters Keywords: Singapore, population policy, reproductive policy, total fertility rate, feminism, women in politics URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7402 Files in this item: 1
05-04 cdp lyons bibl version.pdf (139.5Kb) -
[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The paper addresses the importance of network trade between Malaysia and China and assesses the extent of product upgrading in components traded. The study brings to the fore the following. First, China is emerging as an important market for component imports relative to component exports. As such the increase in two-way flows of parts and components for further processing and development, implying a shift away from assembly-end operations, remains insignificant. Second, network trade appears to have improved the quality of exports (reflecting the ‘moving up of the value chain’) destined to China, but the gaps between the unit values of export and imports have narrowed in the recent past, implying less product development. network trade, two-way trade, unit values, relative unit values, product upgrading URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7403 Files in this item: 1
devadason_clean.pdf (157.4Kb) -
Transnationalism and the 'Chineseness' of Enterprise DevelopementGomez, Edmund Terence (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The concept of transnationalism is characterised by an important contradiction. While it makes an important contribution to the literature on identity by focussing on the themes of hybridity and pluralism, when it discusses the issue of transnational capital, it falls into the trap of essentialising ethnicity. Transnational theorist argue that there exists a pan-ethnic unity among the Chinese diaspora that would enable this community to emerge as a new economic force globally. The case studies in this essay reveal, however, that transnational networks do not influence the way ethnic groups do business with co-ethnics in other countries. This study argues that there is significant competition among Chinese-owned enterprises, which explains the dynamism of these firms. There is also much evidence of inter-ethnic corporate ties involving Chinese firms. These findings bring into question the importance of common ethnic identity in transnational business transactions undertaken by the Chinese companies. Keywords: Transnationalism, Chinese Identity, Networks, Enterprise Development. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7404 Files in this item: 1
cdp 2006-007.pdf (198.0Kb) -
A Case of Danish Multinationals and their Subsidiaries in P.R. China and IndiaWorm, Verner; Xu, Xiaojun; Shinha, Jai b.P. (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: By drawing on a selective review of literature, we propose that the culture of Danish multinationals and transnational organizations interface with the Chinese and Indian societal and managerial cultures in order to create hybrid cultures in Danish subsidiaries in P. R. China and India. The hybrid culture moderates the relationships between the forms of knowledge and internationalization of multinationals on one hand and the transfer of knowledge on the other. It is postulated that stable cultural frames of the Danes and Chinese managers, both having stable cultural frame, will require long drawn efforts to overcome the cultural distance and transfer the various forms and levels of knowledge in the initial years of the subsidiaries. On the other hand, Indians’ style of switching their cultural frames will create less entry problems but more recurring problems once Danish multinationals will get going. Once the postulates are empirically validated, potential implications for strategic interventions are briefly discussed. Keywords: Knowledge transfer, culture, MNCs. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7400 Files in this item: 1
cdp2005-02worm.samlet.pdf (195.7Kb) -
Will China Continue to Hold Together?Brødsgaard, Kjeld Erik (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The recent Bo Xilai affair has created strains in the Chinese political system and has intensified the power struggle concerning the new leadership appointments due to take place at the 18th Party Congress. The pressure on the political system is intensified by a number of social phenomena such as increased fragmentation, vested interests, corruption, social unrest, increased income and social inequalities and a de facto reform stop since 2009. Some scholars believe that we now see the end of ‘resilient authoritarianism’ and that China either will experience a political and social collapse or move towards a democratic system. However, developments since 1989 show the regime’s amazing ability to revitalize its organizational capabilities and regain its Mandate of Heaven. It may be too early to declare the Party over. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8622 Files in this item: 1
Kjeld_Erik_Broedsgaard_2012-39.pdf (214.0Kb) -
Reconceptualising the Chinese Diaspora in Southeast AsiaJacobsen, Michael (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper argues that the fluidity that permeates the contemporary international community is driven by especially political and economic globalisation, which has a huge impact of the relationship between the nation and the state. As the individual nation state is increasingly depending on the international community for its economic survival this dependency on the global has as a consequence that it rolls back aspects of national sovereignty thus opening up the national hinterland for further international influences. These developments initiate a process of disaggregating state and nation, meaning that a gradual disarticulation of the relationship between state and nation produces new societal spaces, which are contested by non-statist interest groups and transnational more or less deterritorialised ethnic affiliated groups and networks. The argument forwarded in this article is that the ethnic Chinese utilises these newly created spaces for setting up diasporic like networks thus providing substance for transnational ethnoscapes or nations without states. Keywords: globalisation, nation state, diaspora, ethnicity, Chinese, Southeast Asia URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7394 Files in this item: 1
michael-07.pdf (225.9Kb) -
The Case of Chinese Indonesian EntrepreneursKoning, Juliette (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Two things characterize the ethnic Chinese overseas: their subjection to discrimination and their over-representation (relative to the local people in the place of destination) in self-employment and entrepreneurship (Chan Kwok-bun 2004:xiii). Much has been written on ethnic Chinese firms in Southeast Asia. A major part of the scholarly attention has gone into trying to understand and explain business success. As such the debate has for a long time, in a rather dichotomizing way, been divided into capitalist (profit maximisation) and cultural (personal relationship) explanations as the main drivers for this so-called success. Since the late 1990s the debate has entered a new phase, sometimes referred to as the "revisionist mood‿ enhancing the deconstruction and de-mystification of ethic Chinese businesses. Interestingly enough the debate has been rather quiet on issues of identity and ethnic self-representation. This is where this paper tries to fill a gap. By focusing on the role and meaning of ethnicity and religion (as identity markers) in enterprise development, leadership and management styles, and decision-making and networking I hope to contribute to a better understanding of the significance of "being Chinese overseas‿ and "New-Born Christian‿ in entrepreneurial identity. Empirical case material on several new-born Christian ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs of small and medium sized companies in Indonesia shall be used to explore this delicate relationship. The overtly non-Christian socio-political domination and the contested citizenship position of ethnic Chinese in parts of the region shall be features of the necessary contextual discussion. Keywords: Ethnic Chinese, Indonesia, Entrepreneurship, New Order, Chineseness. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7392 Files in this item: 1
cdp 2006-005.pdf (294.0Kb) -
Experiences from SingaporeOoi, Can-Seng (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper draws inspiration from Edward Said’s orientalism, and examines how the three National Museums of Singapore – the Singapore History Museum, the Singapore Art Museum and the Asian Civilizations Museums – are orientalized. The process is mediated through the museums’ close links to tourism promotion in the city-state. The tourism authorities in Singapore have found that the city destination has become too modern and western for many tourists, and the destination has embarked on a campaign to make Singapore more oriental. The creation of the museums is one strategy to orientalize Singapore; these museums assert different layers of Singapore’s oriental identities. Each museum appropriates the tourist orientalist imagination in different ways. This paper argues that the orientalist imagination can be understood as a set of knowledge resources for the construction of local identities to enhance a destination’s uniqueness and attractiveness. Besides reviewing Said’s orientalism, this paper visits criticisms of the theory, within the context of the orientalization process of museums in Singapore. Keywords: orientalism, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore History Museum, Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore tourism. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7399 Files in this item: 1
cdp05-01-csooibibl.pdf (170.2Kb) -
Bhattacharyya, Sudipta; Abraham, Mathew; D’Costa, Anthony (Frederiksberg, 2013)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper uses the structuralist framework of agriculture-industry synergy in an economy to discuss the performance of the agricultural and industrial sectors in India. The industry – agriculture relationship is argued to be integral to economic development as the agriculture sector supplies raw materials, surplus labour to the industrial sector and acts as a source of demand for industrial goods. However, in India this relationship has been complex. This paper looks at the supply side constraints in the agricultural sector and the demand side constraints in the industrial sector to assess the poor development and growth in the two sectors. It concludes that India has not followed the structuralist pattern of sectoral development and poor agricultural growth has not been conducive for demand led industrialization, adversely affecting factor markets for both labour and land. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8642 Files in this item: 1
CDP 2013-40 samlet.pdf (472.2Kb)