• Identify the “East Asian Challenge” in terms of economic growth, foreign trade, foreign direct investment and role in global production chains.
• Discuss competing theories on national and global competitiveness, such as Porter’s Diamond and Nolan’s Big Business Revolution, in the context of contemporary Asian society with particular reference to China or Japan.
• Compare business networks and/or corporate governance models in China and Japan and evaluate the importance of recent reform.
• Define similarities and differences in the industrial structures and in enterprise management practices in China and Japan.
• Write a social science term paper that applies relevant material from the literature, showing a clear delimitation of the research question, and demonstrating an ability to apply standard rules for quoting and referencing.

The overall aim of the course is to provide a comprehensive outline of the social organization and competitiveness of Japanese and Chinese business organizations, in the context of contemporary Asian society, the international environment and the global production networks.

The course will start with an overview of Japan’s and China’s role in the global economy, followed by a series of lectures on the nature of Japanese/Chinese economic organizations. In addition the competitiveness of the two countries will be discussed in overall terms as well as from the perspective of selected industries and branches. Against this background the course then explores issues related to Japan’s/China’s approach to market economy and examines in detail Japanese/Chinese business networks, the form and structure of the Japanese/Chinese firm, the institutional, economic and political environment as well as the development of “alliance/network” capitalism.

This course is part of the overall Year 2 theme, "Economic and Cultural Context of Business Enterprises and Organisations". The course is intended for students of Asian language and economy and serves as an essential intellectual preparation for the 3rd year.

TBA