In many markets, organizations compete with rivals from all over the world, transcending national boundaries. We offer a theory to explain patterns of global competition, proposing that global competition "coevolves" in an ecology of learning organizations. Our theory points to certain conditions under which such evolution intensifies competition, but also to patterns of adverse selection within and among organizations. We test our theory in a study of organizational failure rates among all computer hard disk drive manufacturers that have ever existed, and find that our theory is able to explain patterns of competition in that industry over its history. William P. Barnett is an Associate Professor of Strategic Management and Organizational Behavior at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. He studies competitive systems within and among organizations, focusing especially on how competitiveness evolves as organizations grow and change. This research includes empirical studies of the evolution of organizational performance, the organizational and career determinants of entrepreneurship, the effects of technological and regulatory changes on competition among organizations, and how competitiveness evolves over time and across markets. His work reports on a range of firms and industries, including organizations in telecommunications, semiconductor manufacturing, beer brewing, newspaper publishing, and banking. Most recently he is studying the evolution of the computer industry. In 1988 he received his Ph.D. in Business Adminstration from the University of California, Berkeley.

The Honorable Wang Yunxiang has an extraordinary perspective on Chinese economic issues. His seminar will mainly concern the influence on China's economy and social development after China joins the WTO and will address key questions:

• How will America benefit from China joining the WTO? and
  
• What influences will be brought to the world's economy through China joining the WTO?
  

The Honorable Wang Yunxiang has had a distinguished diplomatic career. Since 1972 he served as Attache of the Chinese Embassy in the Republic of Malta(1972-1978), the first Secretary, Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Uganda (1984-1988), and the Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in the Kingdom of Norway. Thereafter, he served as the Deputy Director General of the Information Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1991-1996). In 1996, he was appointed as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the Republic of Zambia. The Honorable Wang Yunxiang has served as Consul General of the People's Republic of China in San Francisco since 1999.

Silicon Valley has become a melting pot of talent, opportunity, and capital from not only the United States but around the world. This seminar will focus on how Korean entrepreneurs can incorporate and manage high-tech ventures successfully in Silicon Valley by overcoming critical barriers--managerial, technical, and cultural. Based on in-depth case studies of Korean start-ups in Silicon Valley, this presentation identifies problems faced by entrepreneurs along the stages of venture development. It also suggests to Korean entrepreneurs a process to overcome barriers through support from partners and advisory experts in Silicon Valley and Korea. More specifically, this seminar will discuss the experiences of Korean start-ups in Silicon Valley in writing business plans, raising funds, hiring and motivating employees, and addressing cultural issues. In addition, some lessons and guidelines for foreign entrepreneurs in surmounting the obstacles for the successful incorporation and growth will be discussed, such as the importance of forming the founding team with complementary assets and the legal form of the entity.

Dr. Zong-Tae Bae is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Management, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Seoul, Korea. He is currently on sabbatical from KAIST and working as a Visiting Scholar of the Graduate School of Business (GSB) and the Asia/Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) at Stanford University. His research interests include various aspects of technology management and entrepreneurship. Currently he is conducting a research project on a global model of new venture development. He has published 10 articles in international journals such as R&D Management and Journal of Production Innovation Management. He received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Seoul National University in 1982, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Management Science from KAIST in 1984 and 1987, respectively.

In Southeast Asia over the last two centuries, Chinese traders, workers, and immigrants adapted to a changing series of local environments--pre-national, colonial, and post-colonial. At each stage, they broadened the scope of their activities. They were on the brink of working the modern global economy when the post-World War II nation-states of Southeast Asia were created. Nationalist agendas and the politics of cold and hot wars soon obliged the ethnic Chinese to make readjustments. New forms of globalization are changing the Southeast Asian environment once again. Will former strategies of survivalÑadaptations honed during the last fifty years, if not the past two hundred--help the region's ethnic Chinese to deal with globalization in the 21st century? Or will such accommodations need to be replaced? Will the ethnic Chinese mainly seek (or be obliged) to concentrate on saving themselves? Or will they be able to share their own skills and values on behalf of the viable nations and vibrant economies that Southeast Asia will need if it is to cope successfully with the new century's challenges? Wang Gungwu is Director of the East Asian Institute and Faculty Professor in Arts and Social Sciences at the National University of Singapore; Distinguished Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, also in Singapore; and Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra. Previously, he was Vice-Chancellor (President) of the University of Hong Kong (1986-1995) and Professor of Far Eastern History at ANU (1968-1986). He also taught at the University of Malaya (1957-1968). His many publications include The Chinese Overseas (2000), China and Southeast Asia (1999), The Nanhai Trade (new ed., 1998), and, as coeditor, The Chinese Diaspora (2 vols, 1998) and Changing Identities of Southeast Asian Chinese since World War II (1988). Prof. Wang was born in Surabaya, Indonesia, and grew up in Ipoh, Malaysia.

The Israeli economy is in an age of change. It is changing at a fundamental level from labor-intensive, low technology industries to cutting edge high technology products aimed for export markets. Now that Israel is a major source of innovation, technology has become a source of significant connections with Silicon Valley. Major activities between the US and Israel are growing, and the trend, particularly with Silicon Valley, is now stronger than ever. What are the major kinds of ties between Israel and Silicon Valley? And what factors are driving the economic activities in Israel? Yishai Laks holds the position of the Government of Israel's Consul for Economic Affairs for the United States Northwest region (including Northern California, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana). From his headquarters in Santa Clara, California, Mr. Laks directs all aspects of economics relationships between the region and Israel, assisting US companies in establishing investments, joint ventures, and trade relationships with Israel and Israeli companies. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Laks served as Economic Advisor to the Director General in Israel's Ministry of Industry and Trade from 1994 to 1997. During his tenure, he advised the Director General on all aspects of the Ministry tasks and work. From 1992 to 1994 Mr. Laks was in charge of the trade between Israel and the East European and EFTA countries at the Foreign Trade Administration. Mr. Laks received his B.A. and M.B.A. from Tel-Aviv University, Israel emphasizing in Marketing and International Management.

Zi Zhongyun is one of China's leading scholars on international relations. She is the author of The Origin and Evolution of U.S. Policy Towards China, 1945-1950; On the Shore of the Sea of Learning; Forty Years of U.S.-Taiwan Relations, 1949-1989; and the forthcoming Looking at the World with Cold Eyes: Revelations of the Ups and Downs in the 20th Century. Her edited volumes include, A History of Postwar U.S. Foreign Relations, from Truman to Reagan; Building up a Bridge of Understanding: American Studies in China, 1979-1992; and Initial Contributions to Theories on International Politics in China. She has served as Director of the Institute of American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Editor-in-chief of the Journal of American Studies in China, and was the Founder & first President of the Society for Chinese Scholars of Sino-American Relations. Madame Zi was also Visiting Fellow, Institute of International Studies, Princeton University, and Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, D.C.

Trinitron color TV, the Walkman, the CD. Sony, the company responsible for these and countless other products, has set the standard for consumer electronics. The Japanese company has also become the brand name best known and most highly esteemed by Americans. But how much do we really know about Sony, the company? For the first time in any language, John Nathan takes us behind the scenes at Sony in his groundbreaking book, SONY: The Private Life (Houghton Mifflin; Sept. 28, 1999). Nathan gives us a rare inside look at the makings and workings of this modern business wonder. He portrays the remarkable individuals who built the company as well as the interpersonal relationships that have shaped it. John Nathan has been engaged with Japan for forty years and has been accused more than once of thinking like a Japanese. In 1963, he entered the Department of Japanese Literature and linguistics as the first American to be admitted as a regular student at Tokyo University. In 1964, he published the first of many translations for Yukio Mishima's The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea. In 1967, he introduced Kenzaburo Oe to Western readers with his translation of A Personal Matter. Nathan returned to Japan in 1972 to write and co-direct, with Hiroshi Teshigahara, a feature film about American deserters from Vietnam in the Japanese peace underground. In 1974, Nathan received his Ph.D. from Harvard and published, Mishima: A Biography. Thereafter, Nathan devoted himself to making films. He has since written and produced forty documentaries. In 1994, Nathan became the first Takashima Professor Japanese Cultural Studies at U.C. Santa Barbara. Currently, he teaches courses on Japanese film and literature, consults for Japanese and Asian corporations, and continues to translate Japan's Nobel Laureate in Literature for 1994, Kenzaburo Oe.

Recently the "Asia-Europe Vision Group" published its report "Asia-Europe Partnership in the 21st Century," outlining a bright, prosperous and trouble-free future of inter-regional relations. Does this rhetoric match reality or is it just wishful thinking? At least for the time being, official relations between Europe and Asia remain on a historic low. Several EU-ASEAN meetings, for instance, were cancelled. The Asian Financial Crisis, changing foreign policy strategies as well as conflicting norms and values have weakened the so-called 'third link' of the post Cold-War order. Furthermore, in many Asian capitals the Kosovo war has resulted in deep distrust of European intentions in world politics. How serious are the recent turbulences in EU relations with Southeast and Northeast Asian countries? Will they hinder the implementation of far-reaching visions and goals such as the proposed Asia-Europe Free Trade Area? Dr. Joern Dosch is a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at Shorenstein APARC. He is also Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Mainz, Germany. Former affiliations include UCSD, Johns Hopkins University, the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS, Singapore), Singapore, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS, Jakarta). Dr. Dosch served as a member of the board of directors, German Society of Asian Studies, and participates in various international research projects on Europe-Asia relations and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific. He has published two books and ca. 20 articles on ASEAN, European and US policies in Asia, democratization in Southeast Asia and International Relations theory.

Esprit, the European Strategic Program in IT, is the oldest and largest R&D program funded by the European Commission. A fundamental rule for participation in Esprit is the requirement to build networks among partner organizations from at least two European Union countries. This talk will explore formal collaboration and informal information networks in Esprit. It will also air some doubts about the value of formal collaborations of the Esprit type, and highlight how successful networks often emerge out of personal and informal networks among key individuals in Europe and beyond.

Dimitris Assimakopoulos is a Visiting Scholar in Sociology sponsored by Professor Mark Granovetter. He is Lecturer in Information Systems in the Hull University Business School and Honorary Research Fellow in the Sheffield University Management School. Dimitris studied civil engineering, architecture and planning before he received his PhD on the emergence of the Greek GIS (Geographic Information Systems) community from the Department of Town and Regional Planning at the University of Sheffield in 1997. His broad area of research is social and organizational informatics with a particular interest in the emergence of new technological communities at both national and trans-national scales. Current research funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council and the European Commission focuses on formal collaboration and informal information flows in Esprit.