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The Monascus pigment has been widely applied in the food processing industry as a functional additive. Lovastatin and polysaccharides are two important bio-active materials found in Monascus. Citrinin is considered as mycotoxin. Thus, it is important to produce high yields of intracellular Monascus pigments with high yields of lovastatin and polysaccharides, while maintaining low citrinin yields under liquid fermentation.

The intracellular yields of pigments, lovastatin, polysaccharides and citrinin; biomass; and reducing the sugar content of Monascus purpureus HBSD 08 were determined every day during a 10-day culturing period using lactose, maltose, sucrose, glucose, glycerine and xylose as the sole carbon sources. Additionally, the pigment composition was analysed by a thin layer chromatography (TLC) and the in vitro antitumor activities of the pigments were determined.

The maximal yield of pigments (55.44 U/mL after six days of culture) and lovastatin content (1,475.30 µg/L after five days of culture) were obtained in the presence of glucose and maltose as the sole carbon sources, respectively. The suitable carbon sources for high intracellular polysaccharides yields were sucrose, maltose and xylose. Glucose should not be chosen as the sole carbon source because of its high food safety risk. In vitro antitumor activities of pigments in the presence of different carbon sources were in the order of xylose > glucose = maltose > glycerine > sucrose = lactose. The pigment compositions in the presence of different carbon sources were the same from the TLC analysis. Thus, maltose displayed high intracellular yields of pigments, lovastatin and polysaccharides; high food safety against citrinin, and high in vitro antitumor activity during the ten days culturing period.

This study shows us the benefits of using maltose as a substrate in the production of intracellular Monascus pigments while ensuring economic and food safety.

Monascus pigment was widely applied in food processing industry as functional additive, so more attention was paid to the fermentation optimization of pigment production. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the best possible fermentative conditions for maximum production of biopigment using submerged fermentation (SFM) and solid state fermentation (SSF) by Monascus purpureus HBSD 08.

The biopigment was produced by using an SMF and an SSF with optimized substrate to achieve higher yield. The antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH radical scavenging ability, superoxide anion radical scavenging ability and hydroxyl radical scavenging ability. The pigment composition was analyzed by thin layer chromatography.

Maximum Monascus pigment production (79.6 U/ml and 1,102 U/g) were obtained under an SFM and an SFF. The antioxidant activity of the pigment in an SFM was significantly higher than that in an SFM. The composition of pigment was not different in an SFM and an SFF.

The study developed new conditions, and Monascus strain was a candidate for producing pigment in an SFM and an SFF. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is a first attempt toward comparative evaluation on antioxidant capacity and composition between pigment in an SSF and an SFM. This result will serve for Monascus pigment production.

This paper aims to theoretically investigate a knowledge management model from the combined perspective of knowledge acquisition and knowledge application and its effect on organizational performance.

This study reviews prior research on knowledge acquisition and knowledge application, puts forward the concepts of “the extensiveness of knowledge acquisition” and “the concentration of knowledge application” and more importantly proposes an integrated model by combining these two dimensions. Four case examples of enterprises are subsequently described and analyzed to illustrate the sources of knowledge acquisition, the objects of knowledge application and their influences on organizational performance.

Four knowledge management modes and their impacts are confirmed in this study. Specifically, the organization of the turbojet engine mode (high extensiveness of knowledge acquisition and high concentration of knowledge application) can achieve good performance. The pipeline mode (high extensiveness of knowledge acquisition and low concentration of knowledge application) is the second, which has limited influence on good organizational performance. Organizations with the flashlight mode (low extensiveness of knowledge acquisition and high concentration of knowledge application) can achieve limited performance under the appropriate environment. The candle mode (low extensiveness of knowledge acquisition and low concentration of knowledge application) is the worst, performance of which is poor due to the break of the knowledge chain.

This paper holds that organizations should actively use the turbojet engine mode, adopt the pipeline mode and the flashlight mode cautiously, and avoid falling into the candle mode.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to propose the concepts of “the extensiveness of knowledge acquisition” and “the concentration of knowledge application,” and provides a combined model for analyzing differences in organizational performance from the perspective of knowledge.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the development strategies of two Chinese global players in the high‐tech sectors.

The paper adopts a case‐study approach on Huawei Technology Co. Ltd (Huawei) and Jing‐Hua Optical and Electronics Co. Ltd (JOC).

While Huawei's first strategic decision was that of becoming a leader on the domestic market, the key choice for JOC was that of acquiring a European firm. However common features emerge: persistent investment in R&D, strategic collaboration with universities and presence of government supporting policies, even though the case studies suggest the existence of thresholds for firms to access the benefits of government policy.

The results pave the way for more general discussions on the emergence of champions of excellence in China. They reinforce the idea that Chinese industrial development is built on non‐conventional catching‐up processes at the country, local and firm level. They confirm that in order to fully catch the success of national Chinese champions the role of government policies should be better investigated.

Results highlight the importance of R&D investment and technology transfer also for SMEs in high‐tech sectors. As for policy makers, the practice of official institutional recognition – a well experimented form of rewarding used in China – might be an effective way to stimulate virtuous imitative processes.

The comparison of these two global players is itself original. Moreover there is a valuable attempt to understand from a national champion's perspective the importance of supra‐firms factors such as collaboration with other institutions and government policies.

Business strategy.

This case study is appropriate for MBA and EMBA courses, especially for courses oriented to emerging markets such as China. It can be used in Business Strategic Management or similar courses, combined with the methodology lectures of Managing Entry Modes and Competitive Strategy.

This case study provides material for understanding/studying the development of a large Chinese software enterprise.

As a result of Chinese ITO and BPO market in the face of re-structuring in 2012, Huawei invested in ChinaSoft in May and Vance info merged with HiSoft in August, both of which make ChinaSoft the third largest market-share owner. However, ChinaSoft has a dilemma in its strategic planning for the next three years. If it cannot break through the suppression from the first and the second placed companies, it may lag behind very soon. If it strives for the No. 2 position in market share, is organic growth or M&A strategy the right approach to adopt? Thus, ChinaSoft is now in need of strategic reform and restructuring. The case study analyzes the approaches that Chinese enterprises can adopt in order to sustain overall cost leadership strategies and avoid the related risks in the ITO and BPO industry.

This case study intends to encourage students to learn and use methodologies such as Porter's competitive strategy framework; Rugman and Collinson's theory, selecting and managing entry modes; four basic global strategies, by Hill and Jones.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Founded in 2004, OPPO has experienced the boom of the Chinese mobile phone market, the trend of mobile Internet and the prosperity of the smartphone market. While adjusting its business structure based on changes in the market environment, it has transitioned itself from an audio device manufacturer to a smart-phone manufacturer that offers hardware, software, and service.

This case study focuses on OPPO's evolution and strategy, and provides an insight into its history, competition, and strategic choices based on whether or not OPPO should release a feature phone with a foldable display at the MWC 2019, and discusses the core competitiveness that helped OPPO succeed against the market downturn. This case study helps students understand the development of corporate strategies and the process of building core competitiveness in the microcompetition in the red ocean market. We also wish to help students understand how to come up with the most appropriate decision-making framework and conduct a critical analysis on the issues based on the internal and external factors of their businesses while they make strategic decisions. When it comes to different dimensions and indicators coming to contradictory conclusions in particular, what should the manager of a business do to make the correct strategic decision?

This chapter outlines a dynamic model of compositional strategic advantage for resource-poor firms where the attractiveness of the product offering in terms of scope and perceived value-to-price ratio identifies a number of elementary compositional strategies. A resource-poor firm can establish a compositional strategy composed of one or more of these elementary compositional strategies. It is argued that how the compositional strategic advantage is formed by three indispensable factors of aspiration (asymmetry between ambition and position), attitude (be “ALERT” to change), and action (use the asymmetry to create advantage). It is explained how the underlying theoretical rationales are particularly useful to understand the successful expansion of multinational Chinese firms and coinciding with basic cultural values.

The objectives of this research are to (1) fill the evidence gap of circular business activities and (2) enrich the knowledge base about the drivers of and barriers to circular economy business model (CEBM) that supports e-waste reduction in China’s mobile electronics industry. To answer the overarching research question of whether there are CEBMs emerging to address e-waste in China’ mobile electronics industry, we in this paper divided it into three sub-questions: (1) What CEBMs can support e-waste reduction? (2) Is there evidence for their implementation in China? and (3) What are the drivers of and barriers to these business model innovations?

We started with setting the scene on the importance of better e-waste management and the scale of e-waste problem in China. Building on the oft-quoted ReSOLVE framework, developed by EMF (2015) and consolidated in Lewandowski (2016), we have refined from it 11 CEBMs to suit the context of e-waste reduction. These 11 models include regenerate, life cycle extension, take-back services, product sharing systems, optimise resource value, produce on demand, circular supplies, resource recovery, industrial symbiosis, product-as-a-service and transformative innovation. We have mapped these refined models against the evidence of circular business practices identified in the corporate sustainability reports of eight out of top 12 mobile electronics manufacturers in China.

Our research findings show that six out of these 11 CEBMs are de facto practised in many of these companies. They include life cycle extension, collection services, optimise resource value, circular supplies, resource recovery and industrial symbiosis, although circular economy is still early-stage endeavours in the industry. As confirmed in our expert and company interviews, CEBM stems largely from profit and policy drivers. The key to building successful CEBMs to eliminate e-waste is, indeed, multi-stakeholder collaboration across the mobile electronics industry, which involves effective collection, reuse and recycling systems.

The lessons learnt can promote peer learning among EEE manufacturers and inform policymakers of effective strategies to create an enabling environment in which circular economy models can thrive.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a broadened and integrated red team strategy with concrete steps to help companies better deal with the disruptive forces prevalent in the world today and turn disruptions into growth.

This paper synthesizes and builds on previous research and relevant business cases accumulated through our research and executive teaching experience. The authors offer a broadened and integrated red team strategy with practical guidance for business executives

The authors provide four key steps to help companies implement the red team strategy: create a red team culture and encourage diverse perspectives; establish an independent red team to overcome organizational inertia; use the red team to embrace disruption and growth opportunities; and take a milestone approach to red team execution and resource allocation.

More research on red team strategy is needed to delve into the underlying factors and delineate the boundary conditions for specific details in this strategy and implementation.

The red team strategy provides concrete steps to help companies in their efforts to adapt to and capitalize on disruptive forces.

The red team strategy extends the concept and application of red teams and integrates previously fragmented ideas and practices into a systematic model with simple steps, which make it easier for companies to cope with disruption.