Globalisation has triggered a search for new ways of doing business worldwide. Globalisation necessitates learning and also provides tremendous opportunities for mutual learning, which must be created and tapped into to keep up with the pace of relentless change (Brown and Eisenhardt, 1997). According to Khilji and Rowley (2013), South Asia offers a new perspective on these issues and learning plays an extensive role in addressing the challenges raised by globalisation. A rich history, vast population and many diverse cultures make East Asia a fascinating area for study. China, a part of East Asia and one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies, is home to great cultural traditions and complex and rapidly changing societies. With the international environment becoming more competitive and demanding, South Asia and East Asia need to adapt to the changing needs of the world, which can be educational, technological or social. According to the World Bank (2013), South Asia is a region where transformation and complexity are most apparent, and a report by the World Bank itself in 2016 states that growth in developing East Asia is expected to remain resilient over the next three years.
Even though South Asia is having a growing influence on the global economy, there are many challenges that hinder its socioeconomic development. Khilji (2012) identifies the many challenges in South Asia with reference to demography, human development agendas, corruption and the security situation. It is home to half of the world’s poorest population (World Bank, 2013). Human development in particular is a low national priority (Ghani, 2011), which has resulted into low literacy rates, gender disparities, uneven income distribution and a low percentage of professional workers the in workforce. According to Zakaria (2008), quality of education is questionable in this region. Corruption is widespread and has severely undermined economic growth. In addition, Khilji (2012) contends that terrorism and internal conflicts in some countries (particularly Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan) deter foreign investment and economic development. Furthermore, according to Ahmed and Ghani (2007), it is the least integrated region in the world. South Asian organisations are facing many challenges that include a rapidly growing population (Khilji, 2012), poor organisational design, lack of visionary leadership (Balasooriya et al., 2010; Khilji and Wang, 2006), and rigid business policies that generally hinder the growth of smaller entrepreneurial firms, resulting in frustration among managers (Khilji, 2013). Hence South Asian countries have to improve their skills and innovation capabilities to improve their economic performance and welfare (Dahlman, 2007).
On the other hand, East Asia has shown accelerated growth since the global financial crisis. In 1990, more than 60 percent of people in East Asia were in extreme poverty; now, only 3.5 percent are. East Asia emerged as the global hub for manufacturing, particularly in information technology products. Production is fragmented across the region, but knitted together in vertically integrated supply chains to serve global markets. But this region also faces many challenges. According to the World Bank, many countries in the region have to worry about losing as much as 15 percent of their working-age population by 2040. Aging population and low fertility rates are to be blamed as 36 percent of the world's population aged over 65 currently live in East Asia. It is a region of many half-frozen conflicts and has a host of territorial and maritime disputes. In spite of accelerated economic growth the region has many domestic problems, such as regional inequality, environmental degradation and corruption, which all threaten its economic strength.
Trillions of dollars of financial wealth have been eroded and millions of jobs have been wiped out in the wake of global financial crisis. Organisations in the West have finally woken up to the East-meets-West approach (Chen and Miller, 2010; Prahalad and Mashelkar, 2010; Tung, 2012; Wooldridge, 2010). This approach requires a blending of ideas, high cultural awareness and an openness that leads to mutual learning. Knowing how to change has become a critical challenge for all organisations in today’s complex environment (Piderit, 2000; Zhou et al., 2006). Organisations should develop global networks of meaningful social relations that facilitate learning and engage in adaptive change. Learning is essential for South Asian and East Asian organisations in order to address the challenges these region are facing. This learning does not only have to come from the West. According to Khilji (2013), South and East Asia can learn a lot from each other – thus advancing an “East-meets-East” approach. The West can also learn from the East in terms of leadership. In fact, scholars and practitioners are being urged to take a closer look at and learn from Indian practices and Indian corporate leaders (Cappelli et al., 2010; Kristie, 2010; Power, 2011). Other business practices, such as the BRAC and social business models that originated in Bangladesh, are also being emulated in the West now.
Both micro- and macro-level studies are invited for this special issue. Quantitative and qualitative approaches are also welcome. We encourage authors to come forward with promising topics to diversify and widen research on the given theme.
The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the
Conference on Peaceful and Prosperous South Asia-Opportunities and Challenges (ICSA-2017), but we are also inviting other experts to submit articles for this call.
Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Regional integration for adaptive change
- Leadership in South and East Asia
- Innovation in South and East Asia
- South and East Asian business models for prosperity
- Educational change in South and East Asia
- Social change in South and East Asia
- Learning models for peace and prosperity of South and East Asia
- Ending poverty in South and East Asia: a necessary change
Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 15 July, 2017
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