published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Economics / Master / Master of Philosophy

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.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Political Science, 2008. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-164).

Thesis (doctoral)--Rand Graduate School, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 130-138).

Following the growing emphasis on the monitoring role of independent directors in the board of directors in the stock exchanges of Western developed countries, companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange are required to appoint independent non-executive directors (INEDs) representing at least one-third of their boards under the Listing Rules. Unlike those Western developed capital markets where listed companies are widely held, most listed companies in Hong Kong are controlled and managed by families. This means realistically, INEDs of those family-controlled listed companies can only be appointed to the boards with the support from the controlling owners. Under such circumstances, the INEDs' ability to monitor the performance of the management of those companies independently is put in doubt. This thesis intends to conduct a qualitative study using phenomenological approach to explore and understand the role and effectiveness of INEDs in family-controlled listed companies in Hong Kong based on the INEDs' lived experiences. The study is the first of its kind in the Hong Kong corporate governance research arena, as research studies on corporate boards and directors have often adopted a quantitative approach, using only publicly available archival data without in-depth discussions with the subjects on their real experience and views on their jobs. Accordingly, issues related to directors in family-controlled listed companies that require in-depth discussions with these directors are impossible to be addressed by such research approach. Through semi-structured interviews with INEDs of companies listed in Hong Kong, this thesis has contributed to the existing knowledge and literature in the research on INEDs and corporate governance in family businesses and provide useful hints and ideas to practitioners, listed companies, investors, regulators and policy-makers.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005. / With the largest growing population and "the world's fastest growing economy" (Jacob, 2004:20), China has an enormous pool of potential consumers who want to improve their lifestyles. China's opening of its retail market has encouraged the entrance of foreign retailers and has increased retailing. Many international companies and Chinese retailers are eager for a share of the Chinese market. China has made many reforms to its policies and regulations in order to join the World Trade Organization, and has evolved into a major investment destination for foreign investors. As a member of the World Trade Organization, China will benefit from increased access to the foreign market, but in return, it will have to expose itself to competition from foreign companies. The retail environment in China is evolving as markets mature. These markets are ripe for cultivation by foreign retailers whose advanced systems, operations, management and marketing skills can bring added levels of efficiency and enhanced performance to the Chinese markets. Many multinational retailers have operations in China and may more plan aggressive expansions to roots themselves. The foreign retailers have superior merchandising expertise, advanced management techniques, strong capital, reputable foreign brands, excellent service and flexible strategies. In addition, they have the wisdom to hire capable local managers to help them bridge cultural gaps to attract customers into their stores and build effective customers relationships. Foreign retails have set about changing the shopping behaviour of their Chinese customers. They import well-known foreign brands, create comfortable shopping environments, set prices applicable nationwide and create marketing campaigns that are extremely attractive to Chinese customers. According to a customer research survey, Chinese customers are becoming more discerning and sophisticated. They are moving from finding the best price to seeking the best quality, showing increasing brand awareness and loyalty to foreign brand-name goods. The Chinese retail market environment is becoming more complicated and competition is becoming intense.

No description available.

The interweaving of China's "reform and opening-up" policy of 1978 with globalisation has shifted the landscape of Chinese economic geographies (CEGs). With influential economic, social, and ideological functions, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) vividly illustrate the multiple political economic, geographic, and socio-cultural dimensions of these changes. Regions with concentrations of SOEs have been particularly impacted. This includes North East (NE) China, which historically held the highest proportion of employment in SOEs and has witnessed the closure of many SOEs and regional decline. Explanations of these changes emphasise the structural and institutional mechanisms of reform under globalisation. I argue this extensive literature regards workers as passive factors of production and limits discussions of space and time. Drawing on scholarship on Global Production Networks (GPNs) and Assemblages, I propose a new conceptual framework that positions the everyday life of each worker at the heart of SOE transformation. My central research question is: "how are workers" everyday lives implicated in SOE transformation?" I explore this by re-reading transformation as the coming together of reform under globalisation with the lived experiences, practices, and affective encounters of workers' everyday lives. The novelty of this framework leads me to sketch three general research propositions rather than setting formal hypotheses. I address the research question and demonstrate my framework by using qualitative research methods and building grounded theory. To explore the differentiated ways in which SOEs are transforming, I studied 13 SOEs from three major cities of NE (Harbin, Changchun, and Shenyang). A three-phase research design was deployed. I completed 62 individual and 8 group interviews. To increase the reliability and replicability of the results, I triangulated data by considering in-depth interviews, public policy documents, internet forums, movies and magazines, and on-site field observation. The empirical findings are presented in three chapters which depict, respectively, the lived experiences, practices, and affective encounters of everyday life. First, I explore workers' lived experiences of social relations in the context of reform and their link to specific spatial arrangements. I characterise interdependent social relations and spatial arrangements constitute the socio-spatial formations. The next chapter further explores workers' mobile and immobile practices and the changing meanings of time and space of SOE socio-spatial formation. Third, I describe how encounters and affects give rise to intensity of feelings which reproduces practice and impacts the SOE socio-spatial formation. In a nutshell, understanding SOEs as socio-spatial formations implies that transformation is not "meted out" by a state or abstract market force but an "always already present"process of mutual constitution of lived experiences, practices, and affective encounters in everyday life. Overall, my thesis expands economic geographic knowledge by highlighting the ongoing and processual nature of space and time and, more specifically, by valorising worker agency. I reflect on implications for CEG to combine with cultural and social geographies. I conclude by calling for an ontological shift of focusing on the emergence and contingency of CEGs.

As global competition intensifies, more companies have found that it is imperative to develop quality management systems that will continuously improve the quality of their products, simply in order to survive. Total quality management (TQM), a term widely accepted as a new management philosophy which was developed based on the management practices in Japan, may hold the key to unlock American industries’ competitive power. It is understandable that many American managers have embraced TQM with great enthusiasm since the early 1980s. China, on the other hand, adopted a policy of economic “reform and openness” in 1978; the goal of this more “open and reformed” policy was to create a better economic, social, and political environment for its state-run enterprises in order to improve their efficiency. Since then, however, western management systems ---- including total quality management ---- have been introduced to Chinese managers. Realizing the potential of TQM in helping those state-run enterprises, the Chinese government has taken a leading role in promoting the implementation of TQM. Rules and regulations have been instigated to enforce the government’s determination to pursue TQM. Moreover, the news media in China has taken an active role in the process of promoting TQM. Special programs have been produced to raise people’s attention to those quality related issues. Despite the early start and wide support received from the government, media, and industry, the effectiveness of TQM implementation in China’s state-run enterprises has been far from satisfactory. Quantity, not quality, is still a main concern of many managers in China. “Shady” products (products of suspect quality) are still sold in the markets. The overall quality level achieved by the Chinese products is clearly below the quality standard set by developed countries. Why have China’s state-run enterprises failed to reap the benefits of implementing total quality management? The main objective of this thesis is to report research that examines the recent history of quality management in China, the national movement toward TQM, the benefits some enterprises have gained since implementing TQM, and the reasons of China’s failure to reap TQM’s full benefits. It is hoped that the experience of China’s TQM implementation can assist other countries in developing a better strategy and to avoid making similar costly mistakes. / Master of Science