Volume 11, Number 2, December 2008

EN:

With the increasing movement of employees across national boundaries comes a stronger focus on the needs of repatriates of multinational corporations. These workers have needs that are often unrecognized. In particular, they may suffer similar emotional dislocation to those working as expatriates. However, many companies fail to recognise or accommodate these concerns in their policies or practices. This paper proposes a model for developing an effective repatriation support process. It includes the four elements of policy development, construction of a repatriation agreement, the provision of repatriation programs, and the evaluation of the success of these strategies. The model is supported through the provision of a set of tools that may help guide those working in repatriation services.

EN:

When China switched its economic development focus from the Changjiang-Zhujiang Delta to the Bohai Sea, Tianjin and Hebei became two of the fastest developing areas in the country. As the hub of logistics, the port system plays an important role in increasing the region’s economic development. This paper reviews port logistics in Hebei and Tianjin, and explains the necessity of port cooperation in these areas. An index system for port logistics competition is proposed using factor analysis. The results can be used to guide the positioning and development of each port based on its individual strength, thereby improving the port logistics of the entire area.

EN:

Using disaggregate product data classified by the Harmonized System code, this paper computes the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) for seven major economies that, when combined, contributed more than 80% of global manufacturing exports in 1996-97 and 2006-07. Results show that in the last decade, Canada, the US, and Japan have lost their share of global exports, while China has increased its share three-fold. These losses occurred mainly for low-tech products for the US, but medium and high-tech (MHT) products for Canada and Japan. However, MHT products comprise the highest share of Japanese exports (70%) compared to Canada (which has the lowest share, approximately half of Japan’s). Canada is the only economy whose contribution to global MHT exports is lower than that of global total exports. Japan also has the highest share of RCA-based MHT exports of other East Asian countries (OEACs) and the US. China has the highest share of non-RCA- based MHT exports. Finally, the trade patterns for OEACs and Mexico did not change greatly in any dimension in the last decade. However, products with RCA have changed substantially in all economies, with the highest in Mexico.

EN:

Often referred to as China’s Second Sage, Mencius maintained and strengthened the Confucian tradition and added his own views on topics that are relevant to modern day managers. Mencius made managerial recommendations in such diverse areas as corporate governance, interpersonal relations, economic development, and human resources. The focus of this paper will be on Mencius’ management and leadership advice.