- Gordon Redding
-
Stanley Gordon Redding
Gordon Redding (born 30 May 1937), MA, PhD, D.Econ h.c., is an influential British professor, academic, author, editor, consultant, director and secretary general. He is today considered one of the most prominent specialists on China and the regional ethnic Chinese, having published over 10 books and 100 articles related to the subject. He retains a number of professorships, and is currently working on the development of the HEAD Foundation (Human Capital and Education for Asian Development) and its main project the SERV (Sumatra Education and Research Valley), acting as Secretary General of the HEAD, based in Singapore.[1] He also spent 24 years at the University of Hong Kong, where he founded and directed the HKU Business School [1] (now the Faculty of Business and Economics).[2]
Contents
Early life
Redding was born in Bootle, Lancashire, England, the son of Leslie Redding and Georgina Redding (née Mitchell). He also has a sister, Lesley Redding. Redding was educated at Bootle Grammar School, and attended University of Cambridge, where he read Economic Geography at Fitzwilliam College. He also possesses a doctorate from Manchester Business School and an honorary doctorate from the Stockholm School of Economics.
Career
Professional career
After university and national service, Redding started work in the retail industry in the UK, as an executive for the department store group Owen Owen Ltd. He later relocated to Hong Kong, allowing him to research extensively in Asia. He spent 24 years at the University of Hong Kong, where he founded and directed the Business School, now the Faculty of Business and Economics, ranked 1st in Asia (Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings). He also founded and directed the Poon Kam Kai Institute of Management [2] at HKU in the field of executive education.[3]
He has also served as a consultant on general managerial strategy and organization for global corporations and multinational companies, including HSBC, Cathay Pacific, Hutchison Whampoa, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Bank Mandiri, BHP Billiton, Christie’s and a number of regional conglomerates.[4]
Redding also worked in the diamond industry, as Director of Strategy for De Beers, well known for its monopole of the diamond market.
He was Director of the Euro-Asian Research Centre [3] of INSEAD in France, for seven years. He still retains a professorship there in the field of Asian Business and Comparative Management. For two decades he was honorary Secretary of the Association of Deans of Southeast Asian Graduate Schools of Management. His work also includes his presence on the editorial boards of ten journals, including Organization Studies [4], International Journal of Human Resources Management [5], Pacific Focus [6], Journal of Asian Business [7], Monash Mt. Eliza Business Review, Asia Pacific Journal of Management [8], Asia Pacific Business Review [9], de Gruyter Studies in Organization, Management and Organization Review [10].[5]
He teaches and directs programs for both Master of Business Administration and executives, and collaborates in research with colleagues in Europe, Asia, and North America. He has been a guest faculty member for Wharton School, Duke University, Columbia University, University of Southern California, Australian National University, Stockholm School of Economics, University of Hawaii, University of Zurich, Xiamen University and Zhejiang University.
He as also addressed conferences at the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University (also known as Harvard Kennedy School)[11], Manchester Business School, University of Stockholm, Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (also known as Science-Po Paris), among others. He is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Hong Kong, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Stockholm School of Economics, alongside Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
He received the annual Award for Distinguished Scholarship of the International Association for Chinese Management Research in 2006.
Academic career
Following his doctorate at the Manchester Business School and spending 10 years working in the retail industry, Redding moved to Hong Kong where he furthered his specialisation in the field of comparative management, and the comparative research of societal systems of capitalism, with a focus on the role of culture, religion and social capital on the economy.[6]
His main theory work has been on Chinese management, notably in The Spirit of Chinese Capitalism (1990),[7] with Michael Witt and The Future of Chinese Capitalism (2007), plus a further ten books and approximately a hundred academic articles. His most recent book is on the role of religion in development, The Hidden Form of Capital (edited with Peter Berger).[8] His works have been cited in The Economist and the Financial Times, and his contributions to journals and reviews include the Journal of International Business Studies [12], Management and Organization Review [13], Organization Studies [14],[9] and International Studies in Management and Organization [15], about the intricate links between cultural heritage and institutions, as well as the role of societal patterns of rationale in the stimulation of economic infrastructures.
Recent Work
Redding has more recently been serving as Secretary General of the HEAD Foundation, a think-tank based in Singapore, currently working on the construction of a large research valley and science park in Sumatra, Indonesia. The Head Foundation’s aims are the growth of human and social capital in Pacific Asia in the interests of societal progress.
Personal life
Redding has two sons from a first marriage, Philip (born July 1965, CEO) and Peter (born August 1967, Director in the retail industry). He also has a son from a second marriage, Thurstan (born August 1992), studying at University of Cambridge. His wife is author and journalist Laura Lam. He is now based in Singapore, Hong Kong and France. Personal interests include Asian art, travel, brick and stone walls, photography and Victorian biography.
Selected Publications
Berger Peter L. and G. Redding (eds) The Hidden Form of Capital: the Spiritual Contribution to Prosperity, London, Anthem Press, 2010.[10]
Redding G. and M A Witt, The Future of Chinese Capitalism, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007.
Redding G. The Spirit of Chinese Capitalism, New York, de Gruyter, 1993.
Redding G, (2005) The thick description and comparison of societal systems of capitalism, Journal of International Business Studies, 36, 123-155.
Redding G. (2008) Separating culture from institutions: the use of semantic spaces as a conceptual domain and the case of China. Management and Organization Review, 4:2, 257-289.
Redding, Gordon (2010) The business systems of Asia, in H.Hasegawa and C.Noronha (eds) Asian Business and Management, London, Palgrave Macmillan. 7-30.
Boisot M., J.Child and G. Redding (2011) Working the system: towards a theory of cultural and institutional competence’, International Studies in Management and Organization, 41, 1, 63-96.
References
- ^ http://www.headfoundation.org/organization
- ^ http://www.internationalforum.com/Directory%20Links/Directors.htm
- ^ http://www.icmi.com.au/Speaker/Asia_Speakers/Gordon_Redding
- ^ http://gmba.doshisha.ac.jp/faculty/g_redding.html
- ^ http://www.icmi.com.au/Speaker/Asia_Speakers/Gordon_Redding/Biography
- ^ http://knowledge.insead.edu/FutureChineseCapitalism080804.cfm?vid=83
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz-hQiC1jgY
- ^ http://www.icmi.com.au/Speaker/Asia_Speakers/Gordon_Redding/Biography
- ^ http://oss.sagepub.com/content/15/3.toc
- ^ http://www.allbookstores.com/Gordon-Redding/author
External links
Categories:- 1937 births
- Academics of the University of Hong Kong
- Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
- Alumni of the University of Manchester
- English academics
- Living people
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
