- with apologies for cross-posting -
Journal of World Business
Call for papers
Special Issue: Managing People in Global Markets –
The Asia Pacific Perspective
Deadline for submission 31 December 2010
The shift in the balance of economic activity from the Atlantic to the Pacific and the rise of sectoral manufacturing centres within Asia has led some scholars to proclaim the 21st Century as the 'Pacific Century' (Adler et al, 1986). Many of our foundational views of managing people in global markets are, however, based on empirical data and perspectives from the 'Atlantic'. While managing people in changing global environments is key for all multinational enterprises (MNEs), it is the highly varied and variable context of the Asia-Pacific region that presents unique challenges that are of increasing global significance and which remain under-researched. This special issue seeks to address this significant new set of challenges.
Extending from India in the west, to China in the north, the Pacific islands of the east, and Australia and New Zealand in the south, the Asia-Pacific region covers over one-third of the world's total land mass and over one-half of the world's population. From the large advanced economies of Japan, to the emerging mega-economies of China and India, Asia-Pacific includes countries at various stages of economic development. Culturally diverse, it has distinctive management practices that are embedded within significant indigenous concepts like kaizen and guanxi. However, it is the changing institutional and socio-political contexts that present MNEs with their greatest international management challenges. The emergence of Asian economies and their expansion overseas has revived debates on the new global players and, in particular, highlighted the importance of geopolitical issues. This transformation of the 'new competitive order' has presented MNEs with a new-found set of international human resource challenges. The expansion of trading areas, the drift towards regionalisation, the ability to exploit cost differentials on a global basis, the movement of talent and skills to high wage economies, and shifting demographics offer both opportunities and risks for MNEs. It is against this reshaping of the 'global landscape' that this Special Issue explores the new IHRM challenges that MNEs face in the Asia-Pacific. By exploring Asia-Pacific perspectives, this Special Issue will facilitate greater understanding and broader theorising of the international management of HR (Poon and Rowley, 2007).
This Special Issue invites cross-national papers that explore the challenges that MNEs face within the Asia-Pacific region. These papers may include some of the following, non-exhaustive, list of topics:
- Key strategic and international HRM issues that MNEs face in managing within the Asia-Pacific region,
- The diffusion of indigenous management practices across borders,
- the role of geopolitical factors in determining international HRM policies and practices,
- Competing models of governance: Anglo-Saxon and Confucian models of corporate governance.
All papers will be reviewed in accordance with Journal of World Business review process. Preference will be given to cross-national contributions that are intrinsically international in nature. Manuscripts should be formatted in accordance with the Journal of World Business publication guidelines. Manuscripts to be considered for this issue should be submitted electronically to both Special Issue guest editors:
Deadline for submission: 31 December 2010
Date of Publication: 2012.