Pi-Shen Seet

China's Reverse Brain Drain: Regaining and Retaining Talent

This review examines why mainland Chinese students who study abroad repatriate to China, how they fare on reentry to China, and whether they reexpatriate. We show that Chinese students are motivated not only by career and economic considerations when deciding to repatriate, but also by social and psychological concerns. They are chiefly pulled home by Chinas attractions (e.g., career and economic opportunities, family and friends, national cultural identity) and, to a lesser extent, are pushed away from the host country by deterrents (e.g., dissatisfaction with career and economic opportunities, lack of cultural assimilation). They are also pulled to stay in their host country by its attractions (e.g., career opportunities, childrens educational opportunities). On return, foreign graduates may suffer negative reactions, including reverse culture shock, poor cross-cultural readjustment, and unmet expectations, and a small but significant minority will reexpatriate. The study concludes with a set of potential research questions.

Understanding business success through the lens of SME founder-owners in Australia and Malaysia

Given the lack of consensus on how to measure success, this paper explores the meaning of business success as perceived by SME business owners in Australia and Malaysia. A qualitative methodology was adopted whereby semi structured interviews were conducted with ten entrepreneurs from each country. A content analysis of the interview data identified 20 criteria for defining success, broadly categorised into: 1) financial; 2) lifestyle; 3) social responsibility; 4) customer satisfaction criteria clusters. Interestingly, the answers provided by Australian entrepreneurs were largely similar to the Malaysians. However, slight differences relating to aspects of financial, lifestyle and social responsibility were identified. Overall, this study finds evidence for the utilisation of multidimensional measures of business success in Australia and Malaysia.

Understanding re-expatriation intentions among overseas returnees – an emerging economy perspective

This study investigates the reasons why returnees in an emerging economy, Vietnam, who have studied and/or worked abroad, and who have returned to their home country, intend to re-expatriate on their own initiative. We combine pull–push theory with the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to explain the re-expatriation intentions of returnees. Using path analysis on a sample of 290 Vietnamese returnees, we find three pull–push factors associated with home and host countries that have a significant impact on returnees’ intention to re-expatriate: (1) dissatisfaction with career and life in their home country, (2) reverse culture shock and (3) expected career, family and quality-of-life outcomes from re-expatriation. For the TPB, we find that attitudes toward re-expatriation and subjective norms affect returnees’ intention to re-expatriate. Further, these factors either fully or partially mediate the role of pull–push factors on intention to re-expatriate. The study adds to the limited number of empirical studies on self-initiated re-expatriation and brain circulation of returnees in emerging economies.

Knowledge transfer between actors in the innovation system: a study of higher education institutions (HEIS) and SMES

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand how and why small to medium enterprises (SMEs) access knowledge from external actors in general and from higher education institutions (HEIs) in particular and what is the extent to which these knowledge access pathways affect SME innovativeness. Design/methodology/approach – The paper involved both quantitative and qualitative approaches: a survey of 1,226 SMEs and a mini case study to follow-up on issues arising from the survey analysis. Survey data were analysed using both non-parametric and multivariate Poisson regression analysis. The case study was based on a medium-sized manufacturing firm in South Australia. Findings – While there are significant differences between the micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, the evidence suggests that SMEs generally use “generic” university–industry knowledge transfer pathways (e.g. published research results) rather than university–industry links with high “relational” involvement. More significantly, the...

Shocks among managers of indigenous art centres in remote Australia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons managers of non-Indigenous backgrounds move to, stay in, and leave their positions in Indigenous Art Centres in remote areas of Australia. Design/methodology/approach – This qualitative study used structured in-depth interviews of 21 managers of Indigenous Art Centres to explore their reasons for staying in or leaving their positions. Findings – The study finds that managers are not drawn to remote Art Centres for financial gain, or career advancement. In contrast, a broader range of pull factors beyond the job – in particular, the Indigenous community/environment and personal/family reasons – influence managers to stay or leave the job. However, the reasons for choosing to leave are qualitatively different from reasons given by managers who stay, pulling some managers to stay, whilst pushing other managers to leave. Significantly, shocks, in the form of threatening and frightening situations were also influential in explaining turnover. Re...

Conceptualising the entrepreneurial process using Chinese classics: a paradoxical perspective

This paper aims to build a conceptualisation of the entrepreneurial process from major Chinese classical works of thinking, a non-traditional source of management thought. In particular, it argues that a paradoxical perspective of the entrepreneurial process is an appropriate conceptualisation. It follows the perspective that there is a high component of nation-specific or culture-specific contexts in entrepreneurship. This paper covers the concept of paradox in management theory before establishing a link between paradox and the understanding of entrepreneurial phenomena in that a theory of paradoxical logic is an especially appropriate one to analyse the phenomena of creativity and innovation. Applied to two mini-case studies of Chinese entrepreneurs, it is also suggested that reconciling paradoxes is a dynamic capability that allows entrepreneurs to differentiate themselves and when used appropriately, can facilitate innovation and growth of new ventures.

Entrepreneurial Competencies and Firm Performance in Emerging Economies: A Study of Women Entrepreneurs in Malaysia

This study examines the effects of the different types of entrepreneurial competencies on firm performance in ventures founded by women entrepreneurs in Malaysia. Focusing on the concept of entrepreneurial competencies incorporating competencies of analytical planning, innovation, enforcement/implementation, leadership, teamwork and networking, we tested the relationships between these different types of entrepreneurial competencies and firm performance using data collected from 117 women entrepreneurs in Malaysia. Our findings indicate that only enforcement/implementation and network competencies have significant effects on firm performance. In particular, we find that network competency firm performance. The paper sheds some light in relation to women’s entrepreneurship in emerging economies, and recommends further research that could assist policymakers in implementing more effective initiatives to encourage and develop women entrepreneurs for the success of the economy.

From Brain Drain and Brain Gain to Brain Circulation: Conceptualizing Re-Expatriation Intentions of Vietnamese Returnees

Much of the extant literature in the field of brain circulation has tended to focus on talented individuals leaving their home countries (brain drain) or talented graduate/professionals returning to their home countries (reverse brain drain). As part of its economic strategy to transform its economy, Vietnam has adopted measures aimed at tackling skill shortages and reversing the so-called “brain drain” by attracting back overseas Vietnamese graduates/professionals. This reversal, however, may be temporary as Vietnamese returnees may go abroad again (in other words, re-expatriate), if for example, they are unhappy and do not adjust well to their home country. This paper reviews research on the reasons behind why Vietnamese returnees who have studied and/or worked abroad in advanced/developed economies, and have returned to Vietnam, may decide to re-expatriate on their own initiative. We find that intentions to re-expatriate are affected by different pull and push factors associated with the home and host countries. Vietnamese returnees are pulled abroad by host country attraction (e.g. higher salaries and better job opportunities), and pushed away from their home country by home country dissatisfaction (e.g. dissatisfaction with the working environment in Vietnam). Further, negative re-entry experiences (e.g. reverse culture shock and poor cross-cultural readjustment) may prompt Vietnamese returnees to consider re-expatriating. This chapter adds to the limited number of studies on brain circulation and re-expatriation of returnees in emerging economies. It contributes to theory by developing a conceptual framework of factors affecting the re-expatriation intentions of returnees in the context of an emerging economy, notably Vietnam. It also offers a number of implications for the Vietnamese government and managers with respect to retaining Vietnamese returnees.

The Influence of the Government on Corporate Environmental Reporting in China: An Authoritarian Capitalism Perspective

This study uses panel data to investigate the different roles of the Chinese government in influencing companies’ decision making about corporate environmental reporting (CER) via a two-stage process. The results show that the Chinese government appears to mainly influence the decision whether to disclose or not, but has limited influence on how much firms disclose. The results also show that the traditional model of authoritarian capitalism (under which state-owned enterprises [SOEs] are the major governance arrangement) is transforming into a new model. In the new model of authoritarian capitalism, the Chinese government uses newer, more sophisticated tools to manage both state-owned and non–state-owned companies. In addition, these new governance arrangements appear to be more efficient than the traditional model. The findings of this study have implications for both the Chinese government and for Chinese companies, as well as making important contributions to the literature and knowledge of CER in China.

Managing the Re-Entry Process of Returnee Government Scholars in an Emerging Transition Economy - An Embeddedness Perspective: Managing the Re-Entry Process

This paper reports the findings of a study that investigates the factors affecting the re-entry and readjustment process of returnee government scholars in Vietnam. These returnee scholars were originally sent overseas to study as part of changes introduced by the Vietnamese government to develop its domestic talent pool. Using the perspective of home country embeddedness, we find that career and community embeddedness factors, together with readjustment factors, have an effect on returnee scholars’ career and life satisfaction in their home country. These factors subsequently affected their intention to stay or reexpatriate. The study contributes to public sector change management theory by examining factors affecting the re-entry process of returnees within an emerging transition economy. It also adds to the limited studies on understanding and managing the re-entry processes and state-led diaspora strategies among returnee government scholars from emerging transition economies, and their effectiveness.