Browsing by Author "Zheng, Xiaosong"

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    Identifying key success factors for international joint ventures in China: a foreign parent perspective from finnish firms
    (Technická Univerzita v Liberci, 2014-06-11) Zheng, Xiaosong; Larimo, Jorma; Ekonomická fakulta
    International Joint Venture (IJV) has been one of the main foreign market entry approaches in the last decade and this is particularly true for entry to the huge Chinese market. Although IJVs have been a very commonly used entry form many studies have indicated that the IJVs have not reached the goals set for them or they have clearly failed. Recently there has been also a growing interest to examine the performance and determinants of successful IJVs in China from major developed countries. The studies have so far mainly focused on IJVs where the foreign partners are either from Asian countries or from big western economies like from the USA whereas research focused on IJVs established by firms from small developed European economies like from various Nordic countries has been extremely limited. This paper tries to shed some light on this gap by analyzing the performance and key success factors of Finnish-Chinese IJVs from a Finnish parent perspective. In the paper a conceptual model to examine key IJV performance determinants is first built up and then we apply this model in the analysis of a few Finnish-Chinese IJVs. The results of the study show that IJV performance depends on the measure of the performance. Focusing on management evaluation of performance the FDI experience and timing of entry are found to be the key success factors at IJV formation stage while partner commitment is the key success factor at IJV operation stage. At the end of the paper, conclusions are made and limitations are discussed together with an outline of future research directions.
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    Optimization of inventory cost control for SMEs in supply chain transformation: A case study and discussion
    (Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Zheng, Xiaosong; Chen, Yilin; Ekonomická fakulta
    With the continuous transformation of supply chains in various industries in China, the strategic landscape, industrial structure, industry rules, business models, and management logic have all changed dramatically, and the consumer market has become more demanding regarding pre-sales quality and after-sales service. Primarily for distribution companies whose primary business model is “buy and sell products and earn a profit margin,” the supply chain transformation has placed higher demands on inventory cost control. In this study, we propose an integrated approach for optimization of inventory cost control of internal supply chain management. The integrated approach includes an improved ABC inventory classification method, spare parts demand forecasting, and an adapted inventory management method. We then select a small and medium-sized home appliance distribution company as the case study because the company is at its early stage of inventory transformation due to the supply chain transformation. Using the case study and field research methods, we analyzed the specific impact of supply chain transformation on the company’s inventory cost control and demonstrated the efficiency of the integrated approach. This study finds that the case company can control inventory costs more efficiently and effectively after implementing the improved ABC inventory classification method. The proposed different demand forecasting plans can help improve the accuracy of spare parts demand forecasting. Finally, different inventory management methods based on different classifications of spare parts can help determine the appropriate spare parts ordering point and procurement quantity.