2002

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND JAPAN
Robert J. Ballon
Issue 23 (Vol. 12, No. 1), June 2002, pp. 5-20
In its process of industrialization, Japan, notwithstanding essential inputs of Western origin, had to develop an original approach adapted to local conditions. Japanese enterprise develops, rather than manages its human resources, an approach that affects employment, firm size and manpower utilization. This is promoted by Japan’s industrial society where trade associations, industrial groupings, indirect financing, and customer service converge on the challenge not of doing business, but of staying in business. Overall, industrialization was and is as much social as economic.

THE EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN BUSINESS STUDIES
Carmen de Pablos
Juan José Nájera
Jose Joaquín López-Hermoso
Issue 23 (Vol. 12, No. 1), June 2002, pp. 23-46
In the last forty years, the study of information systems has been nurtured by various approaches. Those originated from the theory of the economy of the firm are especially important. In this article, we conduct a comprehensive analysis of the major studies concerned with information technology and information systems in firms. A special emphasis is given to those studies which have attempted to analyse the main role of information technology and systems in the areas of strategic management and firm organisation.

GLOBALIZATION OF HRM: FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF EDUCATION-TRAINING OF LOCAL STAFFS EMPLOYED IN CHINA BY JAPANESE FIRMS
Kuniko Mochimaru
Issue 23 (Vol. 12, No.1), June 2002, pp. 57-66
As Japanese firms expand their business in China, many Chinese come to Japan for training.  This paper aims to analyze the HRM behavior of the Japanese firms in China from the viewpoint of education-training of local Chinese staffs and to consider what they should do to be successful in China and in the world. Analysis of published statistics and first-hand phone interviews with nine Japanese companies with firms in China were used to accomplish the aim. Education and training in Japan means a lot if a company is determined to be successful in global business.

A STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR SMALL-SIZED ENTERPRISES
Simon I. K. Wu
Hua-Cheng Xue
Issue 23 (Vol. 12, No. 1), June 2002, pp. 47-55
In the global competitive business market, Strategic Information Systems (SIS) is a key factor that affects the behavior of conducting business in small-sized enterprises (SSEs).  If an appropriate SIS is developed, it definitely enables a corporation to share information resources effectively and efficiently. The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review on the development of Information Systems (IS) and how are they used in SSEs. It examines the evolution of IS architecture, the development of SIS from IS, and the current trend of SIS in SSEs. At the end, we propose a conceptual model about how IS are used strategically to support strategic decision-makers, and helping SSEs differentiate themselves from competitors in the competitive market.

MANAGING QUALITY IN A GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN
Peter Neergaard
Issue 23 (Vol. 12, No. 1), June 2002, pp. 67-76
Based on literature in corporate citizenship, quality is defined as related to the product itself as well as to the environmental and social impact of the production in the whole value chain. Environmental-friendly labels, or eco-labels, which are appearing on a number of products, are a testimony to that. This is particularly the case for textiles where for example 'organic cotton' is increasingly perceived by consumers as attributes of quality. In the global economy many of the core activities of a company are outsourced to suppliers, often resulting in a long supply chain. Supply chain management becomes an important task for companies devoted to quality management. This is particularly evident for the textile industry. Companies in the West design and market their products, whereas the production of goods takes place in a long chain of independent companies scattered all over the world. But how can quality be managed in a long complex supply chain? The mainstream quality literature has not much to offer in this respect. The paper reports three different case studies and ways to manage quality in the supply chain. The paper also attempts to contribute to theory development by explaining the choice of control used in the supply chain by drawing on contingency theory and concludes that much more research has to be devoted to the issue.

THE HIDDEN ORDER IN THE CHINESE CORPORATION: A NEW MODEL TO EXPLAIN MANAGEMENT BEHAVIOR
Han Wei and Xi Youmin
Issue 23 (Vol. 12, No.1), June 2002, pp. 79-88
Culture has become a vital theme in the world of management for many years. In this paper, the authors argue that culture should be treated as a paradigm rather than a variable. A new model to explain management behavior from the cultural perspective of ‘trust, cooperation, and innovation’ is suggested. Some paramount characteristics and inferences of Chinese management are offered. Finally, a case study is presented.

Interviews with the Gurus
By Jorge Nascimento Ferreira
Jorge Nascimento Ferreira, editor of the renowned on-line management resource web page gurusonline.tv, brings to EAJM the latest from the management gurus
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YVES DOZ AND JOSE SANTOS PRESENTS THE METANATIONAL WAVE: The global companies that born in the wrong place
Issue 23 (Vol. 12, No. 1), June 2002, pp. 91-96
A team of researchers of INSEAD based on a study for Nokia in the 90's «discovered» a new kind of multinationals that they named  «metanationals». Professor Yves Doz, a well-known professor of global technology and innovation at INSEAD and Jose Pinto dos Santos, a Portuguese ex-CEO of European multinationals and professor of international management at INSEAD, co-authored with Peter Williamson, also professor at INSEAD, «From Global to Metanational», a book just published by Harvard Business School Press. Gurusonline.tv interviewed Doz and Santos, now at Singapore, in the new campus of INSEAD.

SPEAKING UP THROUGH WHISTLEBLOWING
GERALD VINTEN
Issue 24 (Vol. 12 No. 2) pp. 107-125
Whistleblowing - informing on illegal and unethical behaviour – has been present throughout history, but is most likely to surface in individualistic, rather than collectivist, cultures where the expression of conscience is permitted. Individually, those with more highly developed cognitive moral development are more likely to blow the whistle. Organizations which engender commitment are more likely to avoid disruptive whistleblowing through channelling it in ways which harness it for the general benefit of organization, employee and stakeholders. Anthropological observation of organizational workings suggests that the activities which may be the substance of whistleblowing activity are commonplace. It is not surprising that not all will encourage whistleblowing, and their views are outlined, together with a response. Survey evidence indicates that whistleblowers may well be drawn from the ranks of an organization’s most loyal, model and even long-serving employees. The results of a large scale and comprehensive UK survey indicate congruence with the direction of previous accumulated research findings. They also indicate that the nuances of whistleblowing activity are now well recognised, and that whistleblowing is now generally internalised into normal organizational workings, rather than regarded as an aberration. Legislation, public opinion and a shift in attitudes seems to have produced the most supportive environment ever for UK whistleblowers.

AN ANGLO-CHINESE STUDY OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
RODNEY MCADAM & MIN WANG
Issue 24 (Vol. 12 No. 2) pp. 129-158
The aim of the study is to compare and contrast the approach to Quality Management in both UK and Chinese construction companies. The continual rapid development of Chinese construction companies and the investment of UK construction companies in China have led to a focus on Quality Management. There is a need for harmonisation of Quality Management definitions, practices and developments if current progress is to be maintained. An initial analysis of 12 leading Chinese construction companies is followed by an in-depth comparative case analysis involving a Best Practice UK construction company and a leading Chinese construction company. The results indicate that Chinese construction companies face a challenge to move their Quality Management programmes beyond ISO 9000 derivatives and cultural change aspirations. There is a need for an increased implementation focus on processes and measures.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND PERFORMANCE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZE ENTERPRISES IN MACAO
CHANG CHI WA DOROTHY
Issue 24 (Vol. 12 No. 2) pp. 159-174
The importance of small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Macao is unquestionable since they account for over 90% of the total business. Due to limitations in financial and human resources, the owners of these SMEs have a dominating influence on the firms’ operations. On the other hand, ‘entrepreneurship’, as a decisive factor to the success of SMEs, has been raising concern to management staffs, deserving growing attention by academic researchers, and being advocated and ranked as a policy priority for rule makers. The present study is based on a framework for the analysis of entrepreneurial profiles, which contains elements linked to psychological characteristics and personal experiences of various SME owners. A comparison of the firms’ performances will help to find out the differences in the propensity to entrepreneurship that leads to different kinds of organizational behavior.

QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND THE LEARNING ORGANIZATION: TWO COINS OR TWO FACES OF THE SAME COIN?
ANTONIO FRANSCISCO TEIXEIRA
Issue 24 (Vol. 12 No. 2) pp. 175-184
This article analyzes the commonalities between quality management and the learning organization. It argues that if quality management is viewed in its broadest sense as a new philosophy of management, it concerns the same type of vision of organizational life as the one of the learning organization. The difference occurs mainly in the adoption of different languages of description, as a result of the fact that the analyses have their origins in different scientific disciplines.

THE IMPACT OF AIR NORMALISATION BETWEEN THE TAIWAN STRAITS ON MACAU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: SCENARIO DISCUSSIONS
VONG TZE NGAI
Issue 24 (Vol. 12 No. 2) pp. 187-195
Political disagreement leads to a complete ban on direct air services between mainland China and Taiwan. Air travel demand across the Taiwan Straits has to rely on interline arrangement in a third country stopover. This phenomenon has benefited Hong Kong and Macau as the ‘ideal’ transit gateways across the Taiwan Straits given their unique geopolitical factors. To consolidate as a prominent gateway, the Macau International Airport is in competition with, if not supplement to, the neighbouring Hong Kong airport which serves the same markets (mainland China and Taiwan) with the same purpose. This paper aims to evaluate the strategic viability of the Macau International Airport to sustain its current role in the present and future.