Search results

In order to maintain competitiveness in a global market, more Hong Kong manufacturers are continuing the pursuit of quality management after being certified to ISO 9000. They strive for other quality management practices/approaches for continuous improvement such as the total quality management (TQM). Successful implementation of the TQM generates impressive performance measures such as improved product quality, increased productivity, improved cycle time, increased customer satisfaction, improved supplier performance, stronger employee relations, and increased return on investment and market share, etc. In view of this demand, organizations need to understand and study the important issues that incorporate them in successfully implementing the TQM‐based quality systems. A survey with questions associated with the seven core elements of strategic quality management identified by Tummala et al. was conducted in 2001 in order to investigate the current quality management practices towards the implementation of TQM in Hong Kong electronics and toys products manufacturing industries. The results of the survey from both industries are compared and the key findings are summarized in this paper.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the linkage effect provides a better understanding of export‐led growth hypothesis in developing countries.

The literature review on the externalities of export‐led growth implied a hypothesis that the higher the linkage effect of export manufacture or industry is, the greater the externality effect and the faster the export growth of it will be in developing countries. The export growth pattern of the Hong Kong electronics industry and some selected data from China's export manufactures have been used to verify the hypothesis.

The findings have strongly supported the research hypothesis at both the product and industry level.

In the ELG model, it is the externality and the linkage effect of export that lead to the output growth of an economy. The findings have illustrated that the ELG model cannot simply be based on the effect of the amount of export or the export growth rate, rather the externality and the linkage effect of export should also be incorporated into the model.

Many people believe that good documentation systems are vital for quality performance of a company. However, if the system is not optimized or it does not take the specific industry into consideration, inefficiency may result. Therefore, in the process of implementing the ISO 9000 standards, careful matching between the standard requirements with the practical characteristic of the industry is very important. Based on a questionnaire survey of the electronics industry in Hong Kong, this paper describes the research findings in searching to optimize the documentation system for this industry.

Recent studies have advocated the impact of technological innovation capabilities (TIC) on firms' competitive performances. This paper adopts a study framework of innovation audit to examine the relevance of TIC on the innovation performance of the electronics industry in Hong Kong (HK)/Pearl River Delta region.

Empirical data were acquired through a recent survey of electronics firms in the region. Pearson correlation and regression analysis were employed to examine the relationship between TIC and innovation performance.

The results verify that R&D, resource allocation, learning, and strategy planning capabilities can significantly improve the innovation sales. R&D and resource allocation capabilities can also significantly improve new product introduction.

The paper contributes to existing literature by studying the impact of TIC on innovation performance in HK. It also explores two out of seven TIC – R&D and resource allocation capabilities – to improve firms' innovation performance in the region.

This paper is one of very few that provide empirical evidence of the TIC and innovation performance in HK. It also revisits the audit framework proposed by recent innovation studies, which helps theoretical development.

Past research has suggested the influence of family‐oriented collectivistic culture on the behavior and performance of traditional Chinese manufacturing firms. However, insufficient empirical research has been conducted to empirically test the influence. More importantly, insufficient research has been conducted to test how the collectivistic culture in Chinese societies would affect the performance of manufacturing firms. This paper addresses these issues by comparing the behaviors and performance of two groups of firms in China, i.e., investment from overseas Chinese firms and investment from non‐Chinese Western firms, in one of China's fast‐growing manufacturing industries. Interesting differences are found between the overseas Chinese firms and those from other foreign countries. The findings support the influence of societal culture on firms' behavior and performance, but do not support the predictions on performance based on the arguments of cultural distance. This paper concludes with a discussion on implications of the findings for both researchers and practitioners.

Client‐supplier collaboration has been an imperative approach to new product development (NPD), in which a good product specification management system and practice is crucial to the assurance of product quality. This study investigates product specification management in client‐supplier collaborative NPD. Based on the interviews and survey study, 12 problems and 13 good practices of product specification management are identified. It also compares the importance and degree of the implementation of the product specification practices in Hong Kong electronics industry. The results suggest that more intensive practices should be implemented for better product specification management.

While the beneficial impact of supply chain integration (SCI) and modular product design are generally acknowledged, few empirical studies have examined how an organization can achieve better performance through SCI with modular product design. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between SCI and modular product design, as well as their impact on product performance.

By surveying 251 manufacturers in Hong Kong, structural equation modelling is used to test the research constructs and the hypothesized model.

The results confirm that information sharing, product co‐development and organizational coordination are crucial organizational processes within SCI. Companies that have high levels of product modularity appear to be good at product co‐development and organizational coordination directly and at information sharing indirectly. Furthermore, companies that have high levels of product co‐development or product modularity appear to have better product performance.

This paper theoretically and empirically identifies three specific organizational processes within SCI (information sharing, product co‐development and organizational coordination), which affect modular product design and product performance. These more specific findings were previously absent from the literature. However, the study is limited to the cross‐sectional nature of a survey study, the operationalization of SCI and product modularity, and the nature of the product types.

This paper empirically examines the relationships between SCI and product modularity, which has seldom been attempted in previous research. It clearly identifies exactly which processes within SCI are directly and indirectly related to product modularity.

This paper aims to examine how an organization can achieve higher performance through integrating supply chain product co‐development (SCPC) and modular product design.

Based on a comprehensive review of literature on product development, supply chain management and system theory, the four proposed hypotheses concerning the relationships among SCPC, product modularity (PM), manufacturing capabilities and product performance (PP) were tested empirically through a sample of 251 Hong Kong manufacturers.

SCPC is found to have a direct and positive relationship with PM and PP. PM improves flexibility and customer service and in turn PP.

Given the cross‐sectional nature of the study and the focus on manufacturing industry, future research should replicate this study in different industries with more longitudinal studies.

The study provides solid evidence that managers should involve their suppliers, internal functional units and customers early in their design stages, especially in the decisions relating to PM. The study has also demonstrated that product co‐development affects PP in both direct and indirect ways.

The present study empirically verifies the relationships between supply chain integration and modular product design by means of SCPC and PM. Similar empirical research is absent from the literature on relevant disciplines.

Coopetition is a revolutionary mindset that combines competition and cooperation. This paper aims to determine and to examine success factors critical to coopetition strategy management and to explore the identified factors in Hong Kong manufacturing.

Based on a literature review and expert interviews following the analytic hierarchy process, this paper identifies and prioritizes seven critical success factors and 17 critical success sub‐factors comprising three success factor categories: management commitment, relationship development, and communication management.

The results show that management leadership and development of trust are the most important success factors. Based on the factors identified, the authors propose a hierarchical model for coopetition strategy management, which has been validated in Hong Kong industry to facilitate the formulation of action plans for better coopetition management.

The prioritization of critical success factors and sub‐factors can help practitioners understand their relative importance and develop improvement plans in cases where they lack sufficient resources to deal with all factors simultaneously.

This paper identifies the critical factors for implementing coopetition and also validates and prioritizes them in Hong Kong manufacturing industry. It provides valuable information that can help manufacturers accomplish coopetition.

Much of the extant literature on the Chinese Family Firm highlights the unique cultural heritage and social context in which they are embedded as primary determinants of their strategic behavior. In contrast, few studies have examined the strategic behavior of Chinese Family Firms from an economic perspective. In this paper, we address this gap in the literature by applying Dunning's eclectic theory of the MNE to the Chinese Family Firm. In doing so, we generate a series of testable propositions. We suggest that although the strategic behavior of Chinese Family Firms will differ significantly from those of classic Western MNEs, they are nonetheless amenable to interpretation according to Dunning's analytical constructs of ownership (O), internalization (I) and locational (L) advantages. More specifically, we find that like the classic Western MNE, the Chinese Family Firm can be understood as a viable mechanism for capitalizing on particular configurations of OLI advantages in international markets.