Guest editorial

Citation

Yu, J. and Chen, R. (2013), "Guest editorial", Chinese Management Studies, Vol. 7 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/cms.2013.32307baa.002

Guest editorial

Article Type: Guest editorial From: Chinese Management Studies, Volume 7, Issue 2

It is really our honor to act as the guest editors for the special issue “Management across industries” of Chinese Management Studies (CMS). Industrial leadership and market-share gains usually depend upon the reproduction over time of differentiated technological knowledge and experience (Dosi et al., 1990; Amendola et al, 1993), which, in turn, has to be explained by the wide array of variables included in the innovation system studies.

Industrial developments in the large emerging countries such as China have increasingly gained significant attention in the global market place because of their massive markets and spectacular growth in the relative sectors. As China is considered as an imitation-oriented producer of low-cost products in traditional image, she is eager to boost more foreign investment in high-tech and new energy sectors which were congruent with the nation’s industry upgrading goals.

The theme of the “12th Five Year Plan” in China was the structural adjustment and industrial upgrading of the industrial landscape. This has aroused wide discussion such as “How is China upgrading her industrial competence home and abroad? Is the industrial clustering strategy taken by China effective in competence building? Should China take a technology leadership strategy?” We hope this issue can continue the academic dialogue on these topics.

The high-quality papers included in this special issue are very interesting and colorful. They explore many diversified industries. In the paper “Automobile industry, guanxi, and social networks in China: empirical study of 32 automakers and 477 parts suppliers”, Khan-Pyo Lee and Jang-Ho Choi examine the factors that affect the stability of interfirm trading ties in China’s auto industry. In particular, the effects of the attributes of transactions, asset specificity, and the similarity in firms’ positions within the institutional structure of administrative hierarchy on the stability of interfirm exchange relationship in China’s auto industry are studied.

In the paper “Electronic information industry, clustering and growth: empirical study of the Chinese enterprises”, Jianguo Fang and Huiwu Guo examine the effect of manufacturing industry cluster on firm growth in China and achieve many interesting findings.

In the paper “Evolutionary dynamics of high technology industry: modeling of semiconductor in China”, Yue Zhang, Jiang Yu and Yanmei Liu examine how institutional elements and market conditions shape and then reshape the development of the high-tech industries in the large emerging countries.

In his paper “Health care industry, customer orientation and organizational innovation: a survey of Chinese hospital professionals”, Yafang Tsai investigates the relationship between the strategy of market orientation and organizational innovation in the medical industry. The results of this study provide hospital administrators with a practical method for developing a management strategy for the development of China’s medical industry.

In the paper “The impact of supply chain integration on firm performance in the pork processing industry in China”, Jiqin Han, Hualiang Lu, Jacques H. Trienekens and S.W.F. (Onno) Omta investigate the effects of supply chain integration on firm performance in the Chinese pork industry. It provides important implications for local industry managers and policy makers, but also practical guidance for multinational meat processors who are interested in the Chinese market.

In the paper “Industrial cluster, government agency and entrepreneurial development: a case study of Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province”, Rongzhi Liu, Qingxiong Weng, Guanfeng Mao and Tianwei Huang, explore why the entrepreneurial activities are agglomerative in a cluster. They found that in Wenzhou, four major groups of government agencies which perform the functions of investment, research and innovation, industrial information and supporting service, were generated along with the development of the industrial clusters, it had been found that initial capital, technology support and human capital are the critical resources those institutes had tried to provide to facilitate the entrepreneurial activities in the industrial cluster.

Ralf Drauz exhibits the influencing factors and the process of internationalization with regard to Chinese automobile industries in his paper “The Chinese automobile industry’s strategic approach to internationalization: an in-depth multiple case study”.

In the paper “Tie diversity, ambidexterity and upgrading of the latecomer firm in global production networks: evidence from China’s plastic equipment industry”, Xin-min Peng and Dong Wu examine how the catching-up industry constructs ambidexterity resulting from tie diversity to break through the upgrading dilemma. They find the catching-up industry should not only form the strategic intent of actively building ambidexterity, but also develop diverse cooperative ties in global production networks.

As to China, the country’s size allows it to compete effectively across many industries and sectors under the globalization. Now China is eager to transform her growth dynamics from cost-driven to technology-driven by cultivating her indigenous capability and international competence. Under this setting, there are many significant topics to be explored at the industrial level. We would also like to thank all the authors and reviewers contributing to this CMS special issue. Thanks for the great support from Professor Foo, the Editor-in-Chief of CMS. Last but not least, thanks for the excellent support and help from Sophie.

Jiang YuGuest Editor

Rui ChenCo-Guest Editor