Asia and global business

Abstract

Journal of International Business Studies (2010) 41, 373–376. doi:10.1057/jibs.2009.98 Four decades after the Journal of International Business Studies was launched, the first special issue focusing on Asia – in fact, the first special issue focusing on any specific region – is now being published. Most appropriately, this special issue is not just about Asia. It is about ‘‘Asia and global business’’, underscoring the growing interdependence between Asia and the rest of the global economy. First conceived in 2005, this special issue took 5 years to come to fruition. What we had in mind was to examine, from an international business (IB) perspective, how Asia and Asian firms recovered from the 1997 Asian economic crisis. Little did we know that, during the editorial process for this special issue, the world would be engulfed in another, much larger and much more severe economic crisis. Asia has now become the first region to rebound from the devastation of the ongoing global economic crisis, and it has risen to the challenge to lead the world toward economic recovery. In fact, during the worst months of 2008–2009, it was the weakened but, nevertheless, still positive growth of Asian economies, led by China and India, that offered the rest of the world a glimmer of hope. Overall, rain or shine, emerging Asia (excluding Japan) has been growing on average by 8% annually over the past two decades – three times the rate of developed economies (The Economist, 2009). While Asia leads the world in economic growth, Asia-focused research has not achieved sufficient scholarly advances, despite repeated calls to enhance its rigor and impact (Bhagat, McDevitt, & McDevitt, 2010; Bruton & Lau, 2008; Leung, 2007; Meyer, 2006; Peng, 2007; Tsui, 2007). Inspired by how far from behind Asian economies have sprinted forward, and by how much progress Asian firms have made, we believe that Asia-focused research is in a position to charge ahead, if a critical mass of like-minded scholars can be fostered. It is with these two objectives in mind – to foster Asia-focused research and to foster a community of scholars dedicated to doing top-notch research that is in Asia, on Asia, and of Asia – that we conceived, edited, and now publish this special issue.