Corporate Performance and Managerial Ties in China: Key Theories, Dimensions and Directions

In many countries, business practitioners, policy makers, pundits and laypeople want to know how strong China really is in business. In the preceding century, the overall tone of business comments on China was filled with fanfare and ovation. However, despite economic performance and seemingly inexorable growth, some global data in areas such as labour productivity and digital competitiveness, show a different and more nuanced picture.

This collection provides a multi-level reality check on the Chinese economy, firm performance and managerial ties. Given that China must transform its economy and business that can pull global talent together to produce high-end technologies for radically innovative products and services, this book proposes two questions. First, can China restructure its economy from a low-cost growth model to a high value-added innovative model without incurring major structural inertia? Second, can Chinese firms outperform competitors in global high value markets without relying on state initiatives, central funding mechanisms and public R&D institutions?

This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal, Asia Pacific Business Review.

Chris Rowley is Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, University of Oxford, UK; Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Education, Tohoku University, Japan and University of Business and International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland and Professor Emeritus at The Business School, City University of London, UK. He has over 30 years of experience in university systems in the UK, Europe and Asia and has won several international grants. He is the editor of three journals, including Asia Pacific Business Review, and has published over 700 articles, books, chapters and practitioner pieces. He regularly provides interviews, expert comments and opinion pieces to the international media, including news services, TV, radio and practitioner outlets.

Ingyu Oh is Professor of International Business at Kansai Gaidai University, Japan. He has spent most of his academic career teaching and researching Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese corporations, with an emphasis on leadership, governance, innovation and organizational evolution. He is currently Associate Editor of Asia Pacific Business Review.