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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to take a look at significant contributions of Follett through the lens of critical biography to put her work in the context of her life events, her mentors, and the other major influences on her work. Design/methodology/approach -Critical biography is a qualitative method with which social historians research the individual scholar's or practitioner's critical incidents in life in order to explore and explain the subject's scholarly development and intellectual contributions, situated in the social and historical background of the subject. Findings -Key theoretical contributions of Mary Parker Follett, which seemed ahead of her time and inexplicable given that she did not work in the private sector, are revealed to be linked to her educational, professional and personal experiences. Research limitations/implications -Qualitative research in general and critical biography in particular are demonstrated to be the useful methods for providing context for management history. The limitation of author interpretation is recognized. Practical implications -The current usefulness of Follett's ideas are demonstrated and a case is made for increasing management history coverage in today's business schools. Originality/value -The paper offers a critical biography of Mary Parker Follett and provides a historical, social and political context for the evolution of her work.

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this research is to study the management approach of automotive industry managers and students in China. Design/methodology/approach -This paper focused on comparing the leadership orientation of respondents and compared 200 working managers with 181 graduate students in the automotive industry.Findings -It appears that these Chinese respondents from the automotive industry have significantly higher scores on the relationship orientation than task orientation. Managers have significantly higher scores on both dimensions of leadership. Similarly, the female respondents in China had similar scores as their male colleagues. Research limitations/implications -It appears that being socialized in a collectivistic or high context culture can lead to higher focus on relationship orientation. Based on the results, practical implications and application for future research are explored. Originality/value -This paper is original and analyzes the leadership orientation of respondents.

Chinese pharmaceutical market value is about USD 110 billion in 2009, and it has become the world's second largest market. Chinese pharmaceutical firms are becoming a growing player in global pharmaceutical chains. In this paper, sample firms are selected and surveyed with a focus on effective internationalization strategies and paths, through an empirical research, this paper summarizes the internationalization of Chinese pharmaceutical firms, and finds the effective strategies of international market entry are product upgrading along the industrial chains, international certification and cooperation, outsourcing and licensing, and other paths of overseas expansion. The implication for pharmaceutical firms in emerging market is to choose the suitable strategies based on own advantages, learn from the experience of other emerging market and domestic leading companies of internationalization, and gradually enter the standard market. This study not only provides international market entry strategies for the latecomers of Chinese pharmaceutical firms, but also enriches the internationalization theory of emerging market.