The role of human resource management (HRM) in Australian-Malaysian joint ventures

This article examines human resource management (HRM) for successful Australian-Malaysian joint ventures (JVs), on the basis of survey data and case studies. The findings suggest that each phase of JV development had its own pattern of HR practices. Three phases of development were distinguished - initiation, transitional, and maturational. The first phase involved selecting, recruiting and training a skilled workforce and formulating rudimentary human resource policies. Cultural differences were most marked in this phase. The second phase, after three years of operation, involved evolution of human resource policies better suited to local conditions, and more polycentric management staffing. The final phase, after six years of operation, saw the development of a distinctive human resources system, and the minimisation of cultural differences as an operational issue. In this phase there was also a move to more geocentric management staffing.

Understanding the factors contributing to inter-partner trust in joint ventures

Forming an international joint venture (IJV) with a local (Chinese) partner is one of the popular ways available for an overseas investor to enter into small and medium business sectors in China. A joint venture is commonly viewed as a cooperative, rather than a competitive, business relationship between two or more partners. Interpartner trust is widely acknowledged as a key prerequisite for genuine cooperation between joint venture partners. Although the importance of trust in the context of joint ventures is well recognized, the question of how interpartner trust is formed has received only scant attention in academic as well as professional literatures. Drawing from diverse academic literature bearing on the formation of trust between partner firms, this paper explores the factors that may contribute to inter-partner trust in the context of joint ventures. The primary argument in this paper is that trust between IJV partners is determined by observable and objective social, economic and structural factors. In other words, it is argued that interpartner trust is rational and it does not require a 'leap of faith'.

Inter-firm complementarities in R&D : a re-examination of the relative performance of joint ventures

We compare duopoly outcomes between two alternative modes of research and development (R&D), viz. independent R&D and non-cooperative research joint ventures (RJVs), when there are complementarities between firm-specific R&D resources. When complementarity is high, RJVs lead to higher technological improvement and the reverse holds for low complementarity. In the intermediate range, the comparison depends on the relative imperfection in spillovers afflicting independent R&D. In sharp contrast to results on cooperative RJVs, non-cooperative RJVs lead to higher technological improvement when spillovers affecting independent R&D are low; the reverse holds for high spillovers. When RJVs yield higher technological improvement, they also yield higher industry profit and social welfare.

Human resource management and performance : a study of Australian joint-ventures in Malaysia

Examines human resource management and performance of successful Australian-Malaysian joint ventures. The findings suggest that each phase of joint venture development has its own pattern of human resource practices. Also discussed are human resource problems in joint ventures, strategies to overcome them and factors associated with success.

Developing reflexive capability for successful joint ventures between Australian and Malaysian property and construction professionals

Increasingly Malaysian property and construction firms are seeking to work internationally. Firms enter international markets through various strategies and typically property and construction professionals rely on developing various forms of cooperative and collaborative arrangements. The common modes of entry include international alliances, project joint ventures, partnerships, company joint ventures and large consortiums; which arise as a response to clients seeking expressions of interests from the international community or the firms seeking to internationalise approaching clients and/or potential host country partners. Increasingly project teams on international mega projects are composed of multiple key partners from different countries coming together to achieve a higher level of strategic flexibility. Establishing and maintaining local connections and business networks are therefore critical to ensure the success of exporting firms. This paper reports the findings of a project which explores factors affecting the performance of Malaysian property and construction professionals working internationally through effective joint ventures. The project seeks to develop a performance measurement framework to examine the extent to which Malaysian firms are developing sustainable business models internationally which adapt and respond to changing conditions. A generic framework was initially developed prior to this study through a grounded theory approach merging theory from internationalisation, design management and market knowledge literature followed by a case study empirical investigation and then further literature review based upon the themes which emerged from the case study analysis. A reflexive capability model for firms in managing both economic and non-economic capital; including social, cultural and intellectual capital was developed. This project seeks to build upon the reflexive model by adapting it to the unique contexts related to the specific geographic localities of exporting Malaysian firms. Specifically, the project explores the extent to which the performance measurement framework can be used to map capabilities Malaysian construction firms have and Which they need to develop in relation to developing and maintaining international collaborative partnerships. The preliminary results of one case study Malaysian architectural firm are discussed.

An examination of the joint venture market entry option in China : a case study of an Australian company's international marketing experience in China

There is a widely held view in the literature that foreign companies looking to invest in the China market should opt for joint ventures rather than wholly foreign-owned enterprises for many reasons, ranging from a smaller capital commitment to utilising the market knowledge of local Chinese partners. This paper examines this issue in the light of the experience of the Foster's Brewing Group which established three joint ventures in China only to reject this form of market entry option within a few years. The paper looks at some of the reasons behind Foster's rejection of the joint venture option and proposes some key guidelines that foreign companies should follow if they are to successfully establish joint ventures in China.

The role of trust in joint venture control : a theoretical framework

This paper develops a theoretical framework and a number of propositions for systematically studying the role of trust in the control and performance of Joint Ventures, a prominent form of inter-firm alliance. The proposed framework is more complete than the frameworks available in the extant literature because it incorporates both transaction related risks and the partner related risks which are likely to impact on the reliance on particular control patterns. Partner-related risks in joint ventures are represented by the level of inter-partner trust, while transaction-related risks are represented by the Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) variables of asset specificity, task complexity, performance measurability, and environmental uncertainty.

The framework also links one of the established management control typologies (i.e., behaviour, outcome, and social) to two of the alliance control patterns (bureaucratic-based pattern, and trust-based pattern) identified in the literature on alliance control.

Interpersonal trust and control behaviour of Chinese managers

Interpersonal trust is believed to influence the management and control of organisations in China. China's importance as a host country for foreign direct investments (FDIs) through multinational company subsidiaries (MNCs) and international joint ventures (IJVs) is growing rapidly. MNCs and INs located in China often employ local Chinese managers to control their subsidiaries or ventures. This makes it essential for designers of management control systems to have an understanding of the interpersonal trust-sensitive control behaviour of Chinese managers. One of the important aspects of control behaviour is how managers control their subordinates.

This paper examines the relationship between Chinese managers' trust in subordinates and their (Chinese managers') control behaviour towards the subordinates. On the basis of a questionnaire survey of a cohort of managers from Beijing, the study explores the effects of trust on the use of social controls, formal controls, and monitoring.

The findings of this study indicate that a manager's high (low) trust in a subordinate is associated with a low (high) level of monitoring, a high (high) level of social control and a high (low) level of perceived performance. The hypothesis that a superior's high (low) level of trust is associated with a low (high) level of reliance on formal controls was not supported. These findings, while indicative of control behaviour of Chinese managers in particular, also add to the growing academic literature on trust and control in general. In a practical sense, an
understanding of the trust-sensitive control behaviour of Chinese managers is particularly useful in designing and implementing effective control systems for international organisations operating in China.