The ongoing international crisis induces actors to rethink to their strategic choices and to find new ways to obtain, protect or increase their competitive advantage. Most of the current debate is on how to adjust the development trajectories and strategies in order to be able to face this critical period. In some cases the reaction has been a run towards lower costs, and in the consequent decline in quality that might result in a loss, instead of a gain, of competitive positions. In other cases the strategy has been to invest in research and to enhance the value added of productions. The case of China is emblematic. Not only because the country is undoubtedly among the leading economies in the world, but also because it is showing a great capacity to adjust to the changing scenario. For years it has been internationally renowned for having based its competitive advantage on low costs of labor and on the attraction of foreign firms. Now it is increasingly turning to higher value added productions, while at the same time favoring the emergence of “national champions”. In other words, the country seems to have been betting on excellence. We are not talking only about firms or entrepreneurs. We are also talking about territories and regions. However, excellence is not equally spread within the country. They are more evident in some provinces, where the industrial development is more advanced. Guangdong is undoubtedly one of these. The province has been chosen as the launching pad and testing laboratory of the opening process of the economy for the whole country. Since the launch of the open-door policy at the end of the 1970s, it has proven to be among the most prominent areas not only of China but of the whole world in terms of growth rates, industrial development, FDI attraction and export capacity. In this framework, this special issue sheds some light on the emergence (but also on the lack) of excellence at business, local and provincial level in Guangdong, which per se represents an excellence within the whole country.

Business excellence in China: firms, territories, regions

Rubini L.
2013

Abstract

The ongoing international crisis induces actors to rethink to their strategic choices and to find new ways to obtain, protect or increase their competitive advantage. Most of the current debate is on how to adjust the development trajectories and strategies in order to be able to face this critical period. In some cases the reaction has been a run towards lower costs, and in the consequent decline in quality that might result in a loss, instead of a gain, of competitive positions. In other cases the strategy has been to invest in research and to enhance the value added of productions. The case of China is emblematic. Not only because the country is undoubtedly among the leading economies in the world, but also because it is showing a great capacity to adjust to the changing scenario. For years it has been internationally renowned for having based its competitive advantage on low costs of labor and on the attraction of foreign firms. Now it is increasingly turning to higher value added productions, while at the same time favoring the emergence of “national champions”. In other words, the country seems to have been betting on excellence. We are not talking only about firms or entrepreneurs. We are also talking about territories and regions. However, excellence is not equally spread within the country. They are more evident in some provinces, where the industrial development is more advanced. Guangdong is undoubtedly one of these. The province has been chosen as the launching pad and testing laboratory of the opening process of the economy for the whole country. Since the launch of the open-door policy at the end of the 1970s, it has proven to be among the most prominent areas not only of China but of the whole world in terms of growth rates, industrial development, FDI attraction and export capacity. In this framework, this special issue sheds some light on the emergence (but also on the lack) of excellence at business, local and provincial level in Guangdong, which per se represents an excellence within the whole country.
2013
Rubini, L.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11392/2384094
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