As part of a research endeavour of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS) joint research group "Pacific Asia and Europe: developing interfaces", organized an international workshop titled: Asian Business Systems and Enterprise Strategies. The workshop was held on May 13 and 14 1996 on the premises of NIAS in Wassenaar and was convened by Dr J. Groenewegen and Professor J.A. Stam.
By J.A. Stam
Twenty-eight participants, scholars, experts and practitioners from Europe and Asia attended
the two-day workshop. The number of speakers was limited and they were invited to
introduce their research shortly so as to allow extensive discussion with the other
participants. All speakers presented current research.
Starting with an analysis of facts, figures and trends in trade and investment flows in Pacific
Asia (von Kirchbach, ITC, WTO, Geneva) we continued with a characterization of the Asian
Business systems, in particular the Japanese keiretsu and kigyþ
shudan (Odagiri, Tsukuba University, Japan). An international comparative perspective
was introduced into the discussion by looking at business systems around the world as
structures (networks) of power and bargaining (Ruigrok and Van Tulder, Erasmus University
Rotterdam). The first day discussions were closed with a challenging analysis of the
dynamics and future of business systems in Asia.
The second day started off with an insider report of APEC (and its latest developments) as
a platform for regional integration and facilitator of economic development. The great
diversity of interests and the different levels of development in the region affect the regional
cooperation under the aegis of APEC (Yamazawa, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo). Field
research among European, American and Japanese companies operating in Pacific Asia
revealed a variety of approaches to markets and business management (Mirza, Bradford
University, UK) while business support policies and economic development plans were
explained in detail by the ASEAN Secretariat (Kee Hwee Wee, ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta).
Case studies on European business strategies in Asia and Asian, i.e. Korean approaches to
the European market exemplified the dynamics of the region and completes the discussion
(Regnier, Bertsch, Busser, Van Hoessel).
The workshop was facilitated by the generous sponsorship of the International Institute for
Asian Studies (IIAS), the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and
Social Sciences (NIAS) and the Rotterdam Institute for Modern Asian Studies
(RIMAS).
The workshop was evaluated as very productive. Boundaries between disciplines and sub
disciplines were challenged and research results from both the political sciences and
economics domain proved to be contributive to new insights. It was generally understood
that economic research on Asia in Europe is well under way. In terms of quality as well as
direction. Both the format and the venue of the workshop were very much appreciated. The
results of the workshop will be published in one volume together with the results of the
political science and security workshop held at Clingendael (see report on this page). The
provisional title of the book is : Dynamics in Pacific Asia. Conflict, Competition, and
Cooperation -- Opportunities for Europe.