Global Networks and Innovation in China

About the Journal: Abstracting/Indexing/Ranking

• SCImago Journal Rank; Scopus; EBSCOhost, ProQuest; ABI/INFORM Complete
• ABS UK Academic Journal Ranking Guide (2); ABDC Journal Ranking List (B)
• Working towards Social Sciences Citation Index

Aims and Scope of the Issue

We invite scholars to submit papers for a special issue of International Studies of Management & Organization (ISMO). The focus of the special issue is on “Global Networks and Innovation in China.” The issue aims to contribute to the literature on global network management, and innovation in emerging economies.
As an emerging economy, China is quickly rising up the global ranks in a number of intellectual property-heavy sectors, with an increasing number of R&D centers, including both domestic and foreign-invested ones. Prime Minister Keqiang Li calls for “popular entrepreneurship and innovation” to achieve a “better-quality, more efficient, upgraded economy” (Two sessions of the government work report 2015). In the same year, Chinese government initiated “the Belt and Road” policy to further encourage Chinese firms to strengthen their network worldwide. These two policies facilitate the domestic and foreign-invested innovation, respectively.
Innovation is a key determinant for firm performance (Hamilton 1982; Hauser et al. 2006) and plays a key role in the firm survival and development (De Dreu 2006). In China’s transitional economy, where ongoing institutional transitions are shaping the competition landscape, there are a range of uncertainties that firms need to buffer against and/or eliminate (Bao, Chen and Zhou 2012; Zhou and Li 2012). Undoubtedly, innovation is an effective strategy for local firms wishing to increase their domestic and international competitiveness, and for China to survive amid global competition (Li and Atuahene-Gima 2001; Tellis et al. 2009). Institutional and market environment can both affect the effectiveness of innovation in China (Gao, Gao, Zhou and Huang 2015).
Multinational corporations (MNCs) have largely invested in R&D in China and their R&D centers diffuse knowledge to both local and international markets (Deng 2003; Fan 2006). From the ownership advantage theory, MNCs transfer advanced proprietary technology, immobile strategic assets (e.g., brands, local distribution networks) and other capabilities to their foreign subsidiaries (Li and Zhong 2003; Warner et al. 2004; Zhang 2003). As their competitors, local firms also actively absorb knowledge, which is demonstrated and leaked by foreign firms, to develop their unique technology (Ju et al. 2013). Therefore, the innovation capabilities in Chinese firms, including Chinese subsidiaries and local firms, have been largely strengthened.
The aim of this issue is to encourage authors to investigate innovation in China, from both domestic and international perspectives. For example, in the context of China, the institutional development, market complexity, internal business network and external global network actively influence the innovation of local firms and subsidiaries. How do these factors affect innovation interactively? Also, there is a gap in knowledge on the differences among innovation of local firms, subsidiaries and MNCs, and how do they interplay to create new knowledge through managing resources and networks worldwide. This Call for Papers focuses on the following research questions: How and to what extent do Chinese firms make a balance between incremental and radical innovation? How do members in an innovation team work together? How do Chinese firms facilitate innovation collaborations with other firms? How do Chinese firms maintain creativity of employees and motivate collaboration among employees? How do subsidiaries balance between knowledge transferred from MNCs and absorbed from local environment? How do MNCs decide what types of knowledge to disseminate to subsidiaries in China?
The above-mentioned topics and questions are still underexplored in the context of China. We believe that this issue can significantly contribute to extending the existing knowledge on this subject, and provide new insights to scholars and practitioners. We prefer comparative papers for this issue.

These are some of the potential topics that we seek conceptual and empirical papers on:

• The effects of intuitional complexity, inadequacy and development on innovation in China
• Creativity, trust and interactions of team members in facilitating innovation in China
• Innovation process in internet and e-commerce industry in China
• Organizational structure and innovation in China
• The effects of political tie, business tie, and global network on innovation in China
• A resource-based view of innovation and firm performance in China
• A social network view of innovation and firm performance in China
• An organizational ecology view of innovation and firm performance in China
• A balance between knowledge transfer from MNCs and adoption from local environment for subsidiaries
• Co-optation between local firms and subsidiaries in China
• Critical aspects and risks of managing global networks for innovation in China

Timeline of the Publication process

Submission of full papers via E-mail: 28 February, 2017
Editorial Desk decision: 15 March, 2017
Review report communicated to authors: 30 May 2017
Submission of Revised-papers along with ‘Author Response Letter’: 1 September 2017
Final Submission of the complete issue to Journal Editors: 30 March 2018
Schedule of Online/Print Publication: 2018/2019

Submission of Papers

All submissions must satisfy the theme of the special issue. The papers should be relevant to theory testing/development, and/or managerial implications. Please submit your manuscripts via email to: ismodcinemnes@gmail.com

About the Guest Editors

Tian Wei is an associate professor in strategic management at the School of Management, Fudan University in China. She obtained her PhD from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. She has published in reputable international refereed journals such as International Business Review, Journal of International Management, and others. Her research focuses on value creation and value destruction of international acquisitions, knowledge transfer in international business, and internationalization of Chinese firms.

Maoliang Bu is an associate professor at School of Business, Nanjing University, and adjunct professor at Hopkins-Nanjing Center. His research is mainly on globalization and environmental sustainability. His papers are published in journals such as Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Comparative Economics, and others. He is the co-editor of “Globalization and the Environment of China” (Emerald, 2014). Maoliang is an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow. He has previously worked as a post-doctoral researcher at University of Goettingen, and as a visiting professor at University of Groningen and University of Gothenburg.