Course Title: Managing Global Governance, Business Strategies for Rule-based and Relation-based Economies
About the Course:
The major challenge in doing business across countries is how to cope with different political, economic, and social systems. In such a complex environment, the key to successfully conducting international business is to understand and manage global governance.
Governance environment refers to the political, economic, and social institutions that facilitate and constrain the choices a firm has to govern its business interests and enforce contract. For example, in a country with a fair and efficient legal system, firms rely on public institutions (courts and judges) to resolve business disputes. We call this system the rule-based governance system. In a country where laws are opaque and biased, and official corruption is rampant, firms tend to avoid public institutions and rely on private relationship (connections) for protection and enforcement. We call this system the relation-based governance system.
When a market is small and closed, relation-based governance can be very efficient and effective because the cost of monitoring and enforcement is low; when a market expands from local to national to international, relation-based governance becomes costly and cannot compete with governance that is rule-based, that is efficient when the scale and scope of the market is extensive. Furthermore, when the two systems meet, confusion and chaos result, which is a major cause for frictions and failures in international business. Thus it is vital for multinational managers to understand the two systems and formulate strategies to successfully navigate within and between the two systems.
This seminar is designed to help participants understand the basics of global governance and the two major systems - the rule-based and relation-based systems, the impact of the governance environment on business, and how to formulate strategies to conduct business across countries.
The seminar will be conducted in a highly interactive style. The contents include the introduction of theoretical frameworks, case analyses, and discussions and exchanges of experiences and insights on how to conduct business within and between the two systems.
Schedule
9:00-10:00
Governance environment - rule-based vs. relation-based systems
10:00-11:00
Capital markets in rule-based and relation-based societies
11:00-12:00
Trade and marketing between rule-based and relation-based societies
1:00-2:00
Organization and management in rule-based and relation-based societies
2:00-3:00
Information Technology and Global Governance
3:00-4:00
Strategies for the transition from relation-based to rule-based governance
Instructor: Dr. Shaomin Li, Old Dominion University
Dr. Shaomin Li is a Professor of Management at Old Dominion University. Professor Li graduated from Peking University in economics, obtained his Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University, and was a post-doctoral fellow in East Asian studies at Harvard University.
His research interests include global environment of business, political economy, strategy, and e-business. He has written and edited nine books on political economy and management. Professor Li has published more than 30 research articles in such journals as the Journal of International Business Studies and California Management Review. His research has been featured by The Economists and reprinted by Harvard Business School. His commentaries have appeared in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. He has been interviewed by CNN, BBC, and the Voice of America on international issues.
Professor Li has extensive international experience. He has worked in three countries/regions, and visited twenty-six countries/regions in Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania. He spent six years in Hong Kong studying the political and economic environment of business in the greater China region. He served as a director of AT&T EastGate Services to oversee the development of China's market. He was the founding CEO of iEast.com, Ltd., an advertising solution platform serving Hong Kong and China. He has provided strategic consulting for AT&T, Fidelity Investments, Johnson & Johnson, AIG, and the United Nations.
