The significance of interorganizational relationship is discussed in multiple streams of literature. However, many studies assume that interorganizational relationship is a uni-level construct. This paper suggests that interorganizational guanxi presents at both the individual and collective levels, and discusses how the dynamics of interorganizational guanxi influences knowledge sharing between alliances. The paper reinforces the concept of collective level interorganizational guanxi, reveals the link between individual level and collective level guanxi, and distinguishes the two levels of guanxi by analyzing their impacts on knowledge sharing between organizations. A theoretical model is developed and calls for further investigation through empirical research.

Although government intervention in economies has been widely debated lately, the extent to which government and market affect employees’ perceptions about their organization remains inadequately discussed. We took the initial steps to create measures of perceived government influence and perceived market influence, and examined how they might be associated with organizational politics and justice in Chinese organizations. Using structural equation modeling, we found that perceived market influence and perceived government influence had opposing impacts on organizational justice mediated by perceived organizational politics. Additionally, results indicated that firm type (state-owned vs. private) did not affect organizational politics, nor did it moderate the relationships between perceived market/government influences and perceived organizational politics.

Investor trading behaviors are always an important issue in behavioral finance and market supervision. This study examines the relationship between investor behavior and future market volatility. We first introduce a two-period OLG model into the futures market, and develop an investor behavior model based on future contract price. We then extend the model to two scenarios: complete and incomplete information. We provide the equilibrium solution, and develop two hypotheses, which are tested with cuprum tick data in Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE). Empirical results show that the two-period OLG model for future market is consistent with the market situation in China. More specifically, investors with sufficient information such as institutional investors usually adopt the contrarian trading strategy, whereas investors with insufficient information, e.g., individual investors, usually adopt the momentum trading strategy. These findings reveal that investor behaviors in the Chinese futures market are different from those of in the Chinese stock market.

Instant Messaging (IM) has become one of the most popular applications for many Internet users. While prior research has primarily focused on IM initial adoption, continued usage (or continuance) has not drawn much attention. This research integrates media choice theories with motivation theory to explain IM continuance. It tests the proposed model using data collected from a sample of 207 Chinese university students via an online survey. Results indicate that perceived enjoyment, perceived critical mass are key to IM continuance intention. Perceived social presence and perceived critical mass are positively associated with perceived enjoyment. We also find that perceived social presence, perceived media richness and perceived enjoyment have significant effects on perceived usefulness.

Previous studies have investigated alliance networks primarily from two alternative views, a relational view that focuses on the “strength of strong/weak ties,” or a structural view that refers to a firm’s position and structural embeddedness. We posit a firm’s network architecture, i.e., the portfolio of strong/weak ties, influences its conduct and performance. From a resource-based view, the network architecture itself could be a source of sustained competitive advantage. We argue that both network architecture and duration of a firm can enhance its performance. However, their effects and the interaction are contingent on different performance outputs. Using strategic alliance networks data from a survey of the manufacturing industry in China, we examine the performance implications of network architecture. Results suggest that benefits from networks may evolve with network duration, hence firms should search for optimal network configurations. By integrating an alliance portfolio, firms with dual network architectures can enjoy both the strengths of strong ties and weak ties and avoid the risks inherent in a pure strong/weak-tie network.

With the continuous progress of China’s industrialization, problems with the environment, health and safety (EHS) have become increasingly prominent. A study on EHS managers’ competency model shall help Chinese enterprises build up an EHS professional team and accomplish EHS managerial goals. This article adopts the “behavioral event interview” (BEI) method to extract characteristic indexes for EHS managers, and then conducts a questionnaire-based survey to collect data to establish and validate a basic competency model for Chinese EHS managers.

Focusing on the recognition and resolution of conflicts between newly-created business units and existing ones, this teaching case depicts the reasons, process, and problems in Advantech’s creation and management of its direct marketing force (DMF) during the company’s changing from a multinational corporation (MNC) to a globally integrated enterprise (GIE). It also describes the designed structure and business processes of DMF, and shows the underlying conflicts among the channel sales force (CSF), key account sales force (KASF) and DMF. Also demonstrated in the case are the methods Advantech adopted to solve the conflicts, including seeking a good combination of the traditional “spider” and “starfish” models, reconciling between centralization and decentralization, creating a crossover-collaboration mechanism among different divisions, and promoting a knowledge sharing system across different regions.

Kuxun is an online travel search company in China. This paper describes the transition and innovation of the company’s marketing strategy, from comprehensive information search to online travel search. It shows how Kuxun has successfully achieved strategic market transition from “all-round” to “specialized” through efficient market segmenting, targeting, and positioning (STP). The case also illustrates how Kuxun has become the top brand of Chinese online travel search by carrying out various types of innovative network marketing,including interactive experience marketing, precision marketing, and cooperative marketing.