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This thesis examines Canadian FDI (foreign direct investment) in China from 1978 to 2006 in the context of globalization and with a focus on the challenges faced by Canadian firms when doing business in China. Building on John Dunning's 'eclectic model' of FDI and Kobrin’s ‘bargaining’ approach, this study explores the relative importance of home country (Canadian) and host country (Chinese) factors in explaining outcomes for Canadian firms in China in the mining, manufacturing and service sectors. Using interview data collected from Canadian high-level management personnel working in these sectors during 2005 the study argues that it has been largely the host country factors that have been at work in causing difficulties for Canadian companies in China. These include issues such as Chinese government regulations and institutions, cultural differences between Canada and China, as well as market and business environment impediments in China. On the other hand, home country factors, particularly the small size of Canadian firms in China, have also played an important part in affecting the operations of Canadian firms there. The empirical analysis of the mining, manufacturing and service sectors revealed that Canadian firms in China are not a homogenous group and their experience and challenges can only be understood in the context of the particular sector that they are engaged in. In particular, Canadian firms in the mining sector have been more subject to pressures from the Chinese state, while firms in the manufacturing sector have been subject more to factors surrounding the Chinese market and business environment. Firms in the service sector have fallen in between, and have been subject to both factors such as state regulation and local market and business conditions. The survey analysis of some Canadian successful firms in China also suggests that the fate of Canadian firms does not hinge solely on cultural dynamics associated with either home or host country or regulatory issues, but also on the very real efforts that individual companies make to understand local conditions, and to become accustomed and to prosper in China.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of New Brunswick, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references.

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This thesis is comprised of three essays dealing with the survival and growth of business enterprises. The first paper (Chapter 2) explores a long-standing question in corporate venture management: How closely should a corporate parent link itself with its own venture? We challenge the conventional view that autonomy is best for venture growth by arguing that access to the parent's resources and capabilities (i.e., a "tight fit") is essential if a venture is to demonstrate competitive advantage. Data from 97 Canadian corporate ventures generally support the "tight-fit" hypothesis. We also find empirical support for the proposition that the relationship between a corporate parent and its venture(s) evolves over time; economic ties diminish with venture maturity, relational ties remain intact. The next paper (Chapter 3) models the growth and decline of young firms as a function of their initial asset stocks, initial capabilities, rate of capability development, rate of asset depletion, and failure threshold. Data from 246 Canadian corporate bankruptcies confirm that young firms fail due to insufficient organizational capital at start-up and inadequacies in managerial knowledge, financial management skills, and marketing abilities. Older firms, on the other hand, are more prone to failure due to environmental change. The final paper (Chapter 4) utilizes detailed survey data from a proportionally stratified, representative sample of 3,000 Canadian firms to evaluate industry- and firm-level determinants of young firm growth. The competitive environment is found to be a poor predictor of the growth of young firms. In general, growth of the seven to ten year old firms in our study did not follow the growth trends of the industries in which they operated. Among firm strategies, innovation was the strongest predictor of revenue growth. Also of note was the finding that different types of managerial experience were significant in different sectors. For service firms, general management experience was positively associated with growth, while for goods-producing firms industry experience was a more important factor.

The presence of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Constitution of Canada has transformed the historic discourse about what types of people should be appointed to the Supreme Court and the manner in which they should be selected. During the period between 1949, when the Supreme Court replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Britain as Canada's highest appellate body, and the Charter's entrenchment in 1982, the debate centered almost exclusively on questions of federalism. Specifically, the provinces argued that in a federal country, it is inappropriate that the status and composition of the court of last resort be left to the sole discretion of the central government. The Charter, with its enumeration of a variety of social categories, has produced new demands that the Court be more socially representative. Feminist legal scholars and women’s advocacy groups claim that a more representative judiciary in general and Supreme Court in particular would perform both symbolic and instrumental functions, while ethno cultural organizations have to date concentrated almost solely upon the symbolic dimension. By contrast, claims for self-government and separate justice systems illustrate that many aboriginal leaders believe their peoples’ grievances can best be met through disengagement from, rather than further integration into, Canadian political and legal processes. The Charter's presence also has conditioned demands for are formed appointment process. Now that the Court is to serve as the arbiter of citizen-state relations, many suggest, it is improper for the state to have sole control over who is appointed to that body, and therefore a more participatory and pluralistic appointment process is advocated. Clearly, these two broadly-defined reform agendas can conflict with one another. While the provinces demand more diffuse government involvement in the appointment of judges, those concentrating on the Court's Charter responsibilities believe that the state already unduly dominates the process. However, the current debate has further, largely unexplored consequences for potential reform. The failure of most participants in the debate, be they governments, scholars or advocacy groups, to articulate coherent approaches to questions of jurisprudential theory, combined with the difficulties inherent in applying the concept of representation to a judicial body, renders their critiques less valuable as guides to reform. Worse, their inadequate treatment of these issues often results in such critics undermining the legitimacy of the institution whose reform they seek.

This paper is a critical reflection upon commonly found distortions in the representations of the lives of Canadian women of South Asian origin in the Vancouver Sun. The strategy adopted consists in presenting first, the views of three South Asian women activists who acted as collaborators and analyzed the constituted sample of articles; second, feminist anthropological readings are used to draw upon a theory of discourse which looks at news-products as active elements in the construction of reality. It is then argued that by focusing on a narrow range of topics, the prevalent media discourse encourages news readers to develop a homogenous perspective on Canadian women of South Asian origin. The depictions in the press suggest that not only are these women oppressed, but this oppression originates in elements of their own culture and assimilation is only possible by relinquishing these "oppressive" cultural traits. It is argued that the media reinforces the dominant patriarchal, racist and classist discourses prevailing in Canadian society.

This study characterizes the content and internal structure of a set of conceptions of outdoor education. Fifty-four English speaking Canadian university programs or courses which were labelled, or contained as essential parts of their descriptions. The term outdoor education or any of a series of related terms provide the basis for analysis. A conception is defined as a coordinated set of central concepts, values and procedures which are explicit or implicit in course documents. The study employed a methodological triangulation. Content analysis of course documents provided the description of the values, central concepts and procedures associated with each course. Q methodology was performed by course conductors to review the 'values' and 'central concepts' components found in the content analysis and to express their views of the significance of those values and central concepts. A focused interview was conducted with fourteen course developers to confirm, refute or extend previously obtained data. Q methodology produced a typology of outdoor education comprising five primary conceptions¹ and one secondary conception: The Outdoor Recreationist, The Adventurer, The Education, The Life Skills Entrepreneur, The Environmentalist, Distinguishing features of each conception and features common among the primary conceptions are discussed. Focused interviews produced information about course conductor attitudes and training , the program's relationship with other fields of study, the concept's need for clarification, the need for a common knowledge base in outdoor education, and its relationship with the natural environment, teaching, recreation and education. Suggestions for further investigation are briefly discussed. "Environmentalist", "The Educator", "The Life Skills Entrepreneur", and "The Administrator" are heuristic devices which refer to an ideal type of individual who embodies a co-ordinated set of central concepts, values, and procedures which are explicit or implicit a conception of outdoor education.