Country Relational Distance, Organizational Power and R&D Managers: Understanding Environmental Challenges for Foreign R&D in China
Asia Pacific Business Review, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 425-450, 2007
26 Pages Posted: 3 Aug 2008 Last revised: 19 Jul 2010
Date Written: July 19, 2010
Abstract
This paper examines the challenges of foreign R&D in China, based on interviews with 32 senior R&D managers. It confirms the findings from previous studies that many barriers still exist in China for foreign R&D, and such barriers include institutional environment, infrastructure and labor management. Among the three categories, issues related labor management, such as increasing labor cost and mobility, lack of experience and creativity and cultural differences among the research staff, show to be most challenging for management, while China's institution and infrastructure largely have been aligned up with those in many other countries. This study also finds that responses from R&D managers are not consistent, and the differences could be largely explained by three types of factors: relational distance between the parent country and China, the strength and experience of foreign companies, and manager's personal experience and closeness with China. Further studies are needed to explore these issues due to the small sample size of this study.
Keywords: Foreign R&D, Globalization, MNC, Environmental barriers, Institution, R&D Management, China
JEL Classification: O18, O31, O34, O38, O53
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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