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Center for Global Business and the Economy

 

Joint Research

Joint research funded by Stanford's Presidential Fund for Innovation in International Studies

Why Are Indian Firms Poorly Managed? A Survey and Randomized Field Intervention
Principal investigators: John Roberts, Graduate School of Business; Nicholas Bloom and Aprajit Mahajan, Economics; Thomas Heller and Erik Jensen, Stanford Law School.

The biggest single reduction in poverty in the history of mankind was achieved by the industrialization of China since 1978, which lifted almost 500 million people out of poverty. India has not experienced this level of poverty reduction because its manufacturing firms have not achieved the productivity gains seen in China. Recent evidence suggests one key factor is the poor management practices adopted by Indian firms.

This project examines why poor management practices persist in India and are much more common there. It focuses in particular on evaluating the relative importance of informational, legal and development barriers. The project will undertake a field survey of Indian firms to evaluate their knowledge of modern management techniques and a field intervention aimed at upgrading management practices in a randomized sample of Indian firms, comparing their progress to a control group of untouched firms.

Joint research with The Stanford Project on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

The Stanford Project on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE) is led by Co-Directors William F. Miller, Professor Emeritus, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Henry S. Rowen, Asia/Pacific Research Center, along with Associate Director Marguerite Gong Hancock. Working with SPRIE are associated faculty and a team of international graduate research assistants from Stanford's Graduate School of Business, Institute for International Studies, School of Engineering, and departments of History, Political Science, and Sociology. This multidisciplinary Stanford team collaborates with partners from academia, industry, and governments at the forefront of their respective regions around the world.

SPRIE research projects in process

China's Quest for Independent Innovation

Chinese government leaders have launched a campaign for 2010 focused on "independent innovation". The goal is to reduce dependence on foreign technology by creating higher value-added home-grown products, services, and technologies. China's quest is the subject of SPRIE's research on identifying patterns, sources, and practices of innovation in China's information and communication technology (ICT) industries.

Leadership in China's High Tech Companies

High tech companies in China are experiencing a dramatically increasing need for effective leadership. SPRIE and Heidrick & Struggles, a premier global executive search firm, have partnered to collect data and conduct in-depth interviews with 40 executives in China's high tech firms to explore leadership competencies and strategies in an environment that is experiencing rapid growth and significant transitions.SPRIE Publication

SPRIE Publication

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Getting Results in China: How China's Tech Executives Are Molding a New Generation of Leaders (November 2006)

Past studies conducted by SPRIE

The Rise of Asia's High-Tech Regions

2003-2006 (Completed)