Asian Companies Research Articles

Corporate Values, Personal Values, Cultural Congruence and Ethics: A Critical Exploration

This paper attempts to explore critically, some differences between ‘corporate values’ and ‘personal values’, as indicated by the values statements of a few well-known companies, both in the West and the East. It appears that values choices by Western companies tend to represent primarily ‘corporate values’, which emphasize the objective character of the organization. Indian companies seem to follow this lead. But most companies in other Asian countries appear to select values in terms of subjective character of individuals that should augment the performance effectiveness of organizations. ‘Corporate values’ tend implicitly to accord priority to objective or doing skills over subjective or being values. But in ‘personal values’ the subjective values dimension receives greater accent than the objective. This is because decisions and actions taken by ‘high skills’ persons may become unethical if their driving values originate from questionable subjective motives (values). Values are the cause, ethicality or unethicality the effect. Moreover, in the ultimate analysis ‘personal values’ at the very top have a pronounced influence on the tone of ‘corporate values’ for the organization as a whole. Besides, both Western and non-Indian Asian companies show close alignment of corporate or personal values with the values of the wider society to which they belong.

Branding for survival in Asia

Western brands have dominated the 'brandscape' over the last few decades. Global brands from Asia are few and far between. Even those we know well, such as Sony, are not doing too well. The challenge for CEOs of Asian companies is to adopt a mindset that places brand as the foremost weapon in the armoury of corporate strategy, and manage similar brand strategies with meticulous attention as that of Western brand managers. The bad news is that Asian brands are far behind their Western counterparts. The good news is that Asian CEOs have not only got the message, but are beginning to put Western branding techniques into practice.

Ownership, Control and Acquirers' Returns: Preliminary Evidence from East Asian Companies

This paper uses, for the first time, evidence from mergers and acquisitions in East Asian companies as a window to examine the complexity of corporate governance systems from a comparative perspective. Although evidence of firms making acquisitions bad for shareholders abounds, there has been relatively little attention in the legal literature to corporate governance problems that may arise in acquiring companies. Possible value destruction for investors can be huge if the inherent agency problems indeed prompt managers to make acquisitions not in the interests of shareholders. Furthermore, these problems are complicated by country or region specific corporate governance characteristics, making any type of generalization almost impossible. Capitalizing on previous studies of documenting expropriation risks imposed by large shareholder control in East Asian companies, I depart from static valuation analysis by adopting market-based event study methodology to examine whether such risks are perceived by investors in an acquisition context. My findings generally don't support the hypotheses theorizing a large negative effect of ownership and control separation. This piece of new evidence contributes to the strand of literature by cautioning against an overly sweeping conclusion that concentrated control by families is necessarily a bad signal to the market.

High-performance work systems in Asian companies

High-performance work systems (HPWSs) have recently attracted considerable interdisciplinary interest in the field of management, industrial relations and economics. There is rising interest in using high-performance work practices, because evidence showed that organizations that implemented such systems recorded remarkable success, especially in organizations in Western countries. The purpose of the study is to explore the extent to which HPWSs are used in organizations in three selected Asian societies and determine the extent to which HR systems directly enhance performance. Research from organizations in three Asian societies showed mixed results. A strong relationship between HR practices and the outcome measure—i.e., subjective performance ( profitability)—was observed. Managerial implications and future research direction will be discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

What makes a leader great?

Manfred Kets de Vries holds the Raoul de Vitry d’Avaucourt Chair in Human Resource Management and is Clinical Professor of Management and Leadership at the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD). Furthermore, he is the Director of INSEAD’s Global Leadership Center. He is also Program Director of INSEAD’s top management program: “The Challenge of Leadership: Developing your Emotional Intelligence”. He has lectured at management institutions worldwide, and has acted as a consultant in organizational design/transformation and strategic human resource management for leading US, Canadian, European, African and Asian companies. Manfred Kets de Vries brings a different view to the much‐studied subjects of leadership and the dynamics of individual and organizational change. Bringing to bear his knowledge and experience of economics, management, and psychoanalysis, Kets de Vries scrutinizes the interface between international management, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, and dynamic psychiatry. In this interview, he discusses his latest publication Are leaders born or are they made? The case of Alexander the Great and the implications his findings have for the modern business leader.

The greening of suppliers—in the South East Asian context

As South Asia is becoming an important manufacturing hub in the world, as a supplier of goods/services to several global players, the concept of ‘greening the suppliers,’ is assuming greater relevance. While more and more companies in this region are embracing the concept of ‘greening,’ this process has not been accompanied by sufficient research studies to provide insight into the extent and the nature of the implementation of the ‘greening’ process that is taking place in this region. This paper aims to provide an understanding of the extent of ‘greening’ that has been implemented and the underlying reasons for Asian companies to increasingly adopt it. The study, conducted across Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, identifies initiatives commonly taken by the companies in their greening endeavours and on the driving forces for these companies to take these environmental initiatives. It then clusters the companies with respect to the type of initiatives taken and the major driving forces considered by them. The analyses performed reveal the major driving forces that are responsible for the increasing endeavours in the greening of the suppliers.

Going global in R&D.

Economics and politics are making offshoring an increasingly attractive option for biobusinesses

Fareast goes West – new opportunities for Asian brands in Europe

Posits Asian countries have to redefine their competitive strategies and adjust their industries to the new situation that is happening in Europe. States Asian companies in the European climate require a new brand management approach, whereas in the USA 60 per cent of imported consumer hard goods come from China, but reckons this over‐dependence is dangerous and this is why Chinese companies are targeting Europe.

Asian company uses Liqui-Cel technology

A South-East Asian electronics company is using degassing technology developed by Membrana in a high purity water system to remove dissolved oxygen, according to a report in the US trade and technical press. This is a short news story only. Visit www.filtsep.com for the latest filtration industry news

Insider Trading and Corporate Governance Structure:
 Evidence from Southeast Asia

By examining the flow of the value-relevant information in annual earnings into stock price, we provide evidence that is consistent with the proposition that insiders of Southeast Asian companies controlled by the richest families are particularly aggressive in trading on their proprietary knowledge concerning this information. We find further support for this insider trading proposition based on tests that assume the presence of a strong incentive for insider trading (i) when there is a large change in earnings and (ii) before the first legal case in a country is brought against insider trading. We do not find similar evidence in the relatively well regulated market of Hong Kong or for family-controlled companies overall. Our test results are robust to controls for company-specific size, growth, and risk, as well as to alternative measures of the flow of information into stock price. These findings expand our understanding of how corporate governance structure affects the flow of information into stock price. In addition, these findings are consistent with the notion that insider trading leads to the incorporation of private information into stock price and improves the accuracy of stock price, which suggests that a company's stock price is more informative for companies in which insiders have relatively more opportunities and incentives to trade on their private information.

Buyer–supplier relationship: perspectives between Hong Kong and the United Kingdom

The relationship between buyers and suppliers has received considerable attention in recent years. Traditionally, buyer–supplier relationships were considered as adversarial, arms-length transactions. However, this relationship is moving towards a more collaborative approach. This change is subject to the belief that suppliers are essential sources to gain competitive advantage in world markets in terms of their expertise, knowledge and their ability to share risks. This paper presents the initial findings from the responses of large companies in Hong Kong about their supplier criteria requirement. The results are also compared with a similar study conducted in the United Kingdom to obtain a clearer picture concerning Eastern and Western approaches to strategic purchasing. This paper illustrates some of the key reasons for the differences between purchasing practices in European and Asian companies. Such information is potentially useful since it can be used as a reference guideline for suppliers when initiating collaborative relationship with customers, who may come from different cultural backgrounds.

Introduction to International Examples of Large Scale Systems: Theory and Practice

This article is an introduction to a series of papers by international authors who presented their work at the 2002 Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Each of the papers is concerned with an analysis of international, large-scale systems: SAP R/3 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation in China; the development of a major outsourcing contract in an Asian company; a strategic analysis of international electronic marketplaces; and a collection of case studies of electronic commerce in ten large Australian companies.

Post-Crisis Trends in Asian Management

This article reviews recent major changes of management practices among Asian companies and analyzes trends of development. The 1997 financial crisis, combined with the ‘Information Revolution’ and globalization, brought unprecedented pressures on traditional Asian companies to change. Japanese keiretsu, Korean chaebol, ethnic Chinese family businesses and even China's state-owned enterprises have begun to transform themselves, though the pace of such transformation varies from country to country.

The Adoption of Electronic Procurement in Singapore

The emergence of new Internet technologies has far-reaching ramifications on the way business is conducted. Notably, it has given rise to e-commerce, which is the transaction of business via the Internet. Recognizing the importance of the Internet as a powerful business tool, many Asian companies have moved quickly to take advantage of electronic commerce. This study explores the role of business-to-business e-commerce, with an emphasis on e-procurement among companies in Singapore. It examines the impact of Internet-based technology on the buyer side of the procurement function, how e-procurement is helping organizations to enhance their competitiveness and the challenges to its adoption. The study also presents the findings from a survey conducted to gain insight into the adoption of e-procurement among companies in Singapore. Specifically, it seeks to uncover the prevalence of and extent to which companies in Singapore are adopting e-procurement, the benefits reaped and the barriers encountered in the course of implementation.

Asian telecommunications: market deregulation and competition

This paper deals with the reforms in the way telecommunications were offered in Asia when many Asian governments deregulated their telecommunications sectors in the 1990s, which led to the sectors' rapid growth and development, allowing some countries to catch up with the west in the most advanced telecommunications technology within a short period of time. With more competition in the market after deregulation and the poor performance of the global telecommunications sector in recent years, the Asian telecom companies had to reassess their strategies and adopt different business models. The market potential of wireless technology and broadband as well as e-business is still favourable both in the developing and mature markets of Asia, although telecom operators are cautious about the implementation of the 3G spectrum.

Total quality management in the West, East and Russia: Are we different?

The article is devoted to an analysis of the main differences and similarities in total quality management (TQM) practice in Western, Russian and Asian companies. Analytical results are based on comparative studies of data collected in 12 countries, Russia, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Australia, India, Sweden, England and New Zealand, in the 1990s. It is shown in the study that Western and Asian companies have more in common between them than with Russian companies. Russia is standing a bit aside in terms of state-of-the-art leadership style, presenting to some extent double standard ways of running business, inherited from the soviet era. Russian TQM clearly reflects the current transition economy status, but not necessarily inherent national characteristics. Thus, particular emphasis is given in the study to the TQM experience in transitional economies as such, the purpose of this being to point to practical implication in order to help Russian producers and distributors to obtain improved market acceptance and sustainable development.

Collaborative buyer‐supplier relationships in Hong Kong manufacturing firms

The relationships between buyers and suppliers have received considerable attention in recent years. Traditionally, buyer‐supplier relationships were considered as adversarial, arm’s‐length transactions. However, this relationship is moving towards a more collaborative approach. This change is subjected to the belief that suppliers are essential sources to gain competitive advantage in world markets in terms of their expertise, knowledge and their ability to share risks. The paper presents the initial findings from the responses of large companies in Hong Kong about their supplier criteria requirement. The results are also compared with a similar study conducted in the United Kingdom to obtain a clearer picture concerning Eastern and Western approaches to strategic purchasing. Some of the key reasons for the differences between purchasing practices in European and Asian companies are outlined. Such information is potentially useful since it can be used as a reference guideline for suppliers when initiating collaborative relationships with customers, who may come from different cultural backgrounds.

Asian Corporates: Willing Participants in the Reporting Revolution?

Asia represents one of the most diverse regions of the world in terms of culture, politics and economies. Not surprisingly, there is a comparative variety in who is publicly reporting, where and why. As might be expected, those countries with stronger, more mature economies are the regional leaders, notably Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. Japan is far ahead in terms of numbers of companies reporting and also has two award schemes in place to reward best practice and innovation. Both South Korea and Hong Kong are increasingly reporting, but with limited sophistication and an emphasis on environmental issues. With the development of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), participating Asian companies are able to access a global network of reporting organisations and substantial collective experience. A number of Japanese companies have already cited using the GRI framework in preparing their reports, whilst five Asian companies are involved in the current GRI feedback process, including one in Singapore and one in Thailand. The region's reporting pioneers are being driven by globalisation and international peer pressure. Moreover, whilst Asian companies have been notorious for limited corporate governance and transparency in their financial affairs, business models are changing and this evolution is likely to promote better disclosure not only of fiscal performance but also on environmental, health, safety and social issues.

A Conversation with Paul T. Bateman: Dealing with Global Multinational Mergers

Paul T. Bateman is Global Head of J.P. Morgan Fleming Asset Management for Europe, Asia and Japan. He has been actively engaged in the financial services industry since 1967 after graduating from Leicester University. He began his career in the Actuarial and Technical Department at Save & Prosper and advanced to Group Marketing Manager and then Vice-President for Marketing of First Investment Annuity Company, a U.S. subsidiary of Save & Prosper, in 1972. In 1988 he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Save & Prosper Group Limited and a Director of Robert Fleming Holdings Ltd. Paul also has served on the Boards of LAUTRO, the Life Assurance and Unit Trust Organization, and the Personal Investment Authority before being named Chairman of Robert Fleming Asset Management Limited in 1995. Following the merger with Chase Manhattan in August, 2000, he was named Global Head of Chase Fleming Asset Management. Following the J.P. Morgan-Chase merger in December, 2000, he became Global Head of the combined asset management business outside of the U.S. J.P. Morgan Fleming Asset Management operates across 4 regions: the Americas, Europe, Asia and Japan. With assets under management of over $600 billion being serviced by nearly 700 investment professionals, J.P. Morgan Fleming Asset Management is one of the premier global investment management companies in the world. Nicholas Mathys: Could you briefly go into some of the basic operations in terms of size, geographical coverage and so on of J. P. Morgan-Fleming Asset Management? How have the mergers, first with Chase and then with J. P. Morgan, affected your operations? Paul Bateman: We now have something like six hundred and twenty (620) billion U.S. dollars under management globally which puts us comfortably into the top ten of asset management businesses worldwide. About a third of those assets are fixed interest in cash and two thirds in equities. If you take it from the Fleming standpoint which was where I came from, pre-merger we managed 90 billion U.S. dollars. Then post-Chase that went up to about 160 billion U.S. dollars. Fleming's assets were primarily equity and Chase was primarily cash with a little bit of fixed interest and some equity. J.P. Morgan has added the remainder ($450 billion) in roughly equal proportions of cash, equity and fixed income. So you can see that the merger was transformational; moving the companies from pre-merger state of mid league to post-merger state of being clearly in the top ten. We operate across all of the key markets in the world now, U.S., Europe, U.K., Japan, Asia, with a growing engagement in emerging markets. The culture issue is one where we now have a truly global brand, but a global brand which has genuine local decision making and a local face in each of the geographic areas in which we operate. So, for example, in Asia we operate with a management team whose career commitment is to Asia and we are seen as an Asian company with a global resource behind it. Likewise in Japan, the U.K., Europe and the United States. N.M.: What kind of leadership challenges did the merger create for you? Paul Bateman: I think the major challenge was that prior to the merger you had organizations which had closely knit management teams and which were operating with flat management structures. The size of the merged entity made this impossible to sustain. For example, I will relate to you a conversation I had with one of my senior managers yesterday. He said that before the merger he was very close to the strategy of the company involved in giving input directly into the strategy decisions. What happened post-merger is that, because of the increased size, there was an extra layer between him and the top and he found himself cut off from strategy discussions. And because of the wider range of new business introductions being given he was busier and was focusing much more on process and task execution rather than strategic development. …

Valuation Fundamentals in Asia

Investing in Asian companies can reap rewards for investors only if investors use a disciplined procedure to evaluate the financial health of Asian companies. Investors must stretch beyond the boundaries of standard fundamental analysis and closely examine companies' accounting policies, management attitudes, and pro forma financials. Investors also need the assistance of Asian market regulators and governments to encourage further development of the Asian markets.