Growth without catching up: Organizational dynamics in the restructuring of the electronics industry in Hong Kong

In this paper we attempt to enrich the literature on the diversity of the East Asian experience by focusing on one critical difference between Hong Kong and the other East Asian Newly Industrialized Economies (NIEs) ̶ its distinctive path, since the 1980s, of industrial restructuring by relocation rather than upgrading. By mapping the trajectory of restructuring in the electronics industry, in the first section of this paper, we are going to use it as a critical case to illustrate the general pattern of restructuring in the manufacturing industry as a whole. To further unravel this paradox of growth without upgrading, in subsequent sections of this paper we take a fresh look at the development of the electronics industry from historical and organizational perspectives. We will argue that, in addition to the opportunities and constraints inherent in export-oriented original equipment manufacturing (OEM), environmental imprinting on the internal organizational dynamics of the firms in the industry has also had an effect. Our contention is that because of the dominance of the “sub-contractor model” in the development of Hong Kong industry, local electronics firms have developed a heavy commercial orientation in their organization, and lack a drive towards product innovation. Furthermore, the organizational models ac-quired during the formative period of the firms has continued to shape their development during the later periods. Analyzing the origins of firms clearly illustrates the “imprinting” effect of the organizational environment on internal organization. We will also discuss briefly the role of the broader institutional context in sustaining the sub-contractor model at the expense of alternative paths of restructuring. In the last section, the experience of the electronics industry’s restructuring will be revisited from this organizational perspective to highlight the significance of organizational dynamics in shaping Hong Kong’s unique path of industrial development.
本文以電子工業為個案，嘗試探討香港與其他東亞地區於工業轉型的異同。本文指出，香港電子工業以大規模外移而非技術升級的轉型策略之歷史及組織因素。主因是在電子工業發展初期，「外判型」經營模式在電子業佔了主導位置，引致廠商經營上帶有濃厚商業色彩，而缺乏內部技術提升之動力。分析成功大型企業之成立背景亦可以推斷外部組織環境也對企業之內部結構有所影響。
宏觀制度因素亦使到主流之組織型態得以長期延續下去，並塑造了香港工業轉型之獨特型態。 Copyright © 2001 Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.