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*Journal of Business Ethics*

*Call for papers*



*Co-evolution of Strategy, Innovation and Ethics: The China Story and
Beyond*



*Submission deadline: *June 1, 2020



*Guest Editors:*

*Dr. Justin Tan,* [log in to unmask]

Newmont Chair in Business Strategy and Professor of Management,

Schulich School of Business, York University, Canada

*Dr. Liang Wang*, [log in to unmask]

Associate Professor of entrepreneurship and strategy,

School of Management, University of San Francisco, USA





*Journal of Business Ethics* is pleased to invite submissions to a special
issue on *Co-evolution of Strategy, Innovation and Ethics: The China Story
and Beyond*.



As an emerging economy, China has made astonishing achievements in
innovation and technology in a wide variety of areas, including mobile
commerce, high-speed railway, innovative solution to environmental problems
(e.g., the restoration of Kubuqi desert), etc. Shenzhen, a former fishing
village, is emerging as "the global hub of innovation in hardware and
manufacturing" (*The Economist* special report, 2017). Evidences like these
indicate China's progress in turning itself into an "innovation society"
(Lewin et al., 2016; Yip and McKern, 2016). What accompanies these
achievements are the growing awareness of, and calls for, a higher
corporate social responsibility (CSR) standard in China, because this
emerging economy is still facing wide-spreading ethical, social and
environmental challenges, including but not limited to air pollution, poor
labor standard, corporate scandals, weak intellectual property protection,
regulatory loopholes, privacy infringement, etc. Unlike the advanced
economies, China has witnessed rapid advancements in technology and
innovation in a unique and changing institutional environment. As *The
Economist* recently posited, "ethical governance has long been the
Achilles' heel of China's scientific endeavor" (2018).



How should academic researchers, business practitioners, and policy makers
account for such paradoxical phenomenon? We posit that theoretical
explanations could benefit from a co-evolutionary perspective (Tan, 2009;
Tan and Litschert, 1994; Tan and Tan, 2005; Tan and Wang, 2011), which
emphasizes the temporal co-evolution and co-alignment between a changing
environment, transitional institutions, strategic adaptations, and the
performance implications (financial, social and environmental). From this
perspective, the practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Jamali
and Mirshak, 2007; Garriga and Melé, 2004; Snider et al., 2003; Aguinis and
Glavas, 2012; Tan and Wang, 2011) evolves over time, and at each point of
time strategic choices of firms are shaped by, and will reshape, the
changing environment (Tan and Tan, 2005).



For example, domestic firms in China like DJI more recently started calling
for stronger intellectual property protection in China as their
intellectual property outputs rapidly grow (Peng et al., 2017), potentially
leading to a stronger intellectual property protection system in the
future. Similarly, Alibaba as a technology giant in China is also leading
social innovation (Mirvis et al., 2016; Osburg, 2013; Jenkins, 2009;
Prahalad, 2006) by using its technology and platform to help poor people in
remote area become entrepreneurs and sell products to the global market
(Mirvis et al., 2016; Osburg, 2013; Jenkins, 2009; Prahalad, 2006). On the
other hand, the country also witnesses social and environment problems
created by technological innovation. For example, the bike-sharing business
initially was a solution to environmental problems of urban congestion, yet
it turned into both an environmental problem as hundreds and thousands of
bicycles ended in bicycle graveyard, and a social problem as millions of
users find it hard to get their deposit money back. Examples like these
show that co-evolution as a powerful theoretical perspective will help us
explain and predict the interplay and alignment between strategy, business
ethics, technology innovation, and institutions in transitional China.
China offers a laboratory setting to test existing theories and to build
new ones.



Inspired by a deep curiosity about these profound development, this special
issue aims at exploring the theories and practices of the co-evolution and
co-alignment between strategy, business ethics, technology innovation, and
institutions over time in China from a co-evolutionary perspective. The
unique co-evolutionary pathways of China, in comparison to the other
economies, will have profound implication to the business ethics
literature. Topics of Special Interest include but are not limited to:



   - Moral implications of technology in China. How do managers in China
   approach morally important issues in designing, developing and
   commercializing technologies (Martin and Freeman, 2004)? What are the
   antecedents and consequences (Marshall, 1999)?
   - Ethical issues of emerging technologies, including but not limited to
   artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, E-commerce and
   Internet technologies in China. How does the rapid development of
   technologies in China shape, and is shaped by, ethical issues such as
   privacy (Martin, 2008; Kracher and Corritore, 2004; Drake et al., 2000;
   Donaldson, 2001)?
   - Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in China. How business ethics as
   foundation of economic activities shape the pathways towards technology and
   innovation? How do Chinese firms adopt the CSR philosophy and practices?
   How does this affect the Chinese firms' strategy, innovation, and
   performance?
   - Social innovation and entrepreneurship in China. How Chinese firms
   equipped with the advanced technology turn social issues and problems into
   business opportunities? What are the implications for organizations and the
   society?
   - CSR and social innovation of MNCs in China. How do the subsidiaries of
   MNCs, particularly those in the high-tech industries, practice CSR and
   social innovation in China, and what are the impacts (Tan and Wang, 2011)?
   - Intellectual property protection and technology innovation. How does
   the intellectual property system in China shape innovation and
   entrepreneurship (Lewin et al., 2016; Miles et al., 2004), and
   frame-breaking innovation in particular (Liou et al., 2016)?
   - Sustainability, environmental issues and technology innovation. How
   has the technology innovation of companies, both domestic and foreign,
   helped China address its environmental problem and build a more sustainable
   society? How do firms in China practice the triple bottom line? How do the
   choices of new technologies affect ethics in China (Poesche, 1998; Stieb,
   2001)?
   - Triple bottom line of Chinese firms. How do Chinese firms embrace and
   adopt the triple bottom line performance matrix (Norman and MacDonald,
   2004)? What are the impacts?
   - Sustainable development goals (SDGs) of Chinese firms (Payne and
   Raiborn, 2001; López et al., 2007; Chang, 2011). How do Chinese firms
   embrace and adopt the SDGs as proposed by the United Nations? What are the
   impacts?
   - Business ethics with Chinese characters. How business ethics is
   embedded in China's unique cultural, social and institutional environment,
   and how different is it from the rest of the world (Ip, 2009; Su and
   Littlefield, 2001; Whitcomb et al., 1998)?
   - Comparative study between Chinese firms and their counterparts in the
   co-evolution of technology innovation and CSR practices.



The topics listed are meant to be illustrative; submissions on any topic
that relates to the theme of the interplay between technology, innovation
and business ethics in China are encouraged. Submissions should be prepared
in accordance with *Journal of Business Ethics* style guide and submitted
to www.editorialmanager.com/busi/ between *April 1* and *June 1, 2020*.



Be sure to indicate that it is for the special issue, "*Co-evolution of
Strategy, Innovation and Ethics: The China Story and Beyond*". Selected
authors of submissions will be invited to attend a *Journal of Business
Ethics* special issue workshop in China in late 2020. At this conference,
authors will receive developmental feedback from the editorial team and
invited discussants. Detail about the conference will be announced later
with sufficient advance notice. Participation in the workshop is not a
necessary condition for paper submission and editorial decision. Similarly,
invitation to the workshop does not guarantee acceptance.



Please note that as a journal policy, an article submitted to this Special
Issue is considered a submission to *Journal of Business Ethics *and
therefore cannot be resubmitted to a regular issue of the journal.

References (see attached)


------------------------------
Liang Wang
Associate Professor
University of San Francisco
San Francisco CA
[log in to unmask]
------------------------------

-- 
Dr. Liang Wang 王亮

Associate Professor & Department Chair
Department of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Strategy
Associate Director, China Business Studies Initiative
School of Management
University of San Francisco
Co-editor, Journal of Business Ethics Special issue "Co-evolution of
Strategy, Innovation and Ethics: The China Story and Beyond"

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