Steven White

Comparing innovation systems: a framework and application to China's transitional context

Abstract This paper proposes a generic framework for analyzing innovation systems, anchored around five fundamental activities — R&D, implementation, end-use, education, linkage — and focused on the performance implications of a system’s structure and dynamics. Rather than simply describing the role and performance of particular actors, institutions and policies, this approach focuses on system-level characteristics, including the distribution of these activities within the system, the organizational boundaries around them, coordination mechanisms, evolutionary processes, and the effectiveness of the system in introducing, diffusing and exploiting technological innovations. The framework is applied to a comparison of China’s national innovation system under central planning and since reforms, revealing the evolving structure and dynamics of this system and current inconsistencies and perverse incentives that policymakers must address to realize their development goals. More generally, it provides a basis for addressing the implicit assumptions of organizational types, roles and convergence among innovation systems emerging in very different contexts, whether national, regional or industrial.

Competition, Capabilities, and the Make, Buy, or Ally Decisions of Chinese State-Owned Firms

What factors influence a Chinese state-owned enterprises choice among alternative strategies for acquiring complementary assets? In this study, I propose that the decision to make, buy, or ally to...

Rigor and Relevance in Asian Management Research: Where Are We and Where Can We Go?

Has our collective research effort focused on management in Asian contexts addressed salient questions and produced useful results? Where are we in terms of deepening and broadening our understanding of the antecedents, manifestations and implications of phenomena that are relevant in this region? What contributions have we been able to make to general theory and practice? Where should we be moving in terms of research focus, methodologies and contributions? This paper draws on 840 articles from 30 journals to assess the state of management research in Asian contexts. The basic conclusions are that too much of the research effort has been limited to simplistic comparisons, correlational analyses providing no insight into underlying processes, and skewed, idiosyncratic sampling. The result has been a lack of theory development and contribution to conceptual discourse beyond an audience specifically interested in Asia, with little relevance for management practice. This analysis points to clear recommendations for increasing both the rigor and relevance of this collective research effort, while at the same time acknowledging the considerable institutional and cognitive barriers to moving forward.

From imitation to creation: the critical yet uncertain transition for Chinese firms

Purpose – This paper aims to consolidate prior research from policy and management domains to identify stages in Chinas technological learning within the imitation paradigm during 1949‐2001, focusing on changes in the governments strategic priorities and policies and the nature, mode and sources of technological learning, then to contrast the firm and institutional features that have emerged under the imitation paradigm with those defining the emerging creation paradigm. The analysis leads to clear implications for both policy and management for the Chinese firms to make this transition and compete in higher value‐added global industries.Design/methodology/approach – An overview and conceptual paper based on observations and literature review.Findings – This paper derives a parsimonious set of four dimensions to demarcate five stages in the evolution of Chinas technological learning: the governments strategic priority, nature of technology, the mode and the source of learning. It identifies six factor...

ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSES TO MEET NEW PERFORMANCE CRITERIA : CHINESE PHARMACEUTICAL FIRMS IN TRANSITION

Abstract The current crisis in Chinas state-owned enterprises presents a paradox of performance. Since reforms began in the early 1980s, many state-owned enterprises are producing and selling more, some even reporting increasing profits. Recent discussions of the crisis facing these firms, however, reveal that most of the gains in these performance outcomes has been achieved without regard for efficiency; in many cases, simply by increasing inputs. Only now has the government explicitly recognized the need to shift emphasis from measures of performance based on scale—whether output, sales or profits—to those incorporating considerations of efficiency—return on output, sales and assets. We investigate the managerial and policy implications of such a shift in key performance criteria using longitudinal data on 66 Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturers. We find that both the level and growth in physical assets are the strongest correlates of scale-based performance measures. In contrast, activities which bring in engineering skills, lead to new product development, and increase the proportion of output that is actually sold are the strongest correlates of efficiency-based performance measures. For managers and policymakers, these results have important implications for the timing and level of investment in particular organizational activities and resources.

An exploration into regional variation in innovative activity in China

Based on Chinese patent data from the period 1985-95, this paper explores regional variation in innovative activity and performance. Preliminary analyses suggest that regional differences in economic activity and innovation inputs - personnel and funding - are closely related to differences in patenting activity. However, the results also suggest that personnel may be the most important factor. The data also suggest that regions are undergoing important changes in technological specialisation, although the eventual impact on economic performance and competitiveness is not yet clear.

Windows of opportunity, learning strategies and the rise of China's handset makers

This paper examines the linkage among the industry and policy environment, firm-level resources and capabilities, and the success of learning strategies in Chinas handset makers. Within a particular context – characterised by a large domestic market, disintegrated technological regime, established foreign irms and supportive government policies – these firms were able to exploit their own specific advantages and were also able to acquire new resources and capabilities, quite rapidly emerging as serious competitors in the domestic market vis-a-vis global incumbents. These latecomers have tightly linked their product innovation efforts to the local market characteristics and have created competitive advantages through their distribution channels. Our findings have strategic implications for new entrants in other industry and national contexts, and also for research on the critical conditions and processes supporting successful technological learning.

A survey of Chinese literature on the management of technology and innovation, 1987-1997

This paper reviews 98 Chinese language articles in order to introduce a growing body of research that investigates technology and innovation management issues in Chinas rapidly evolving transition economy, a context only recently receiving attention in the English literature.

Shanghai Automotive and Ssangyong Motor – A Tale of Two Dragons (B)

This second case of the 3-case series describes events from the time the deal was signed in October 2004 through October 2006. The new owners faced a range of major challenges to achieving the strategic objectives driving the acquisition. These included significant resistance and distrust from the Ssangyong union, local media, community and government, as well as the negative reaction to SAICs responses to those challenges. The case serves as a basis for assessing integration management, as well as rich material for discussing stakeholder management in a cross-border acquisition. It also highlights the particular challenges facing a newly-internationalizing firm like SAIC which has no experience in managing such issues abroad.

Hong Kong’s Venture Capital System and the Commercialization of New Technology

The objective of this chapter is to describe the features of Hong Kong’s venture capital system and make policy recommendations to improve its effectiveness as an institutional support for the establishment of new firms and the commercialization of new technologies as part of a larger objective of diversifying Hong Kong’s industrial base and creating a base for future economic growth. To do this effectively, we must address venture capital (VC) as a “system” rather than the more limited sense of a category of investment capital or a segment of the finance industry. With this broader scope, we will explicate the characteristics of specific types of actors and the formal and informal rules and norms by which they make decisions. As our analysis reveals, the current system has emerged from Hong Kong’s particular historical, social, political and economic environment. While logical in this sense, it has not proven to be very supportive of new technology-based ventures.