Business Commons^™

Nurturing Entrepreneurship And Growing Entrepreneurs, Sun Sun Lim, Abdullah Khurshid, Dexter Ye Kai Tan, Gabrielle Lay Khim Tan

Asian Management Insights

How Southeast Asia’s universities can pave the way.

Universities in Southeast Asia:

1. Can unlock the potential of changemakers in driving economic growth through entrepreneurship education.

2. Accelerate the growth of the ASEAN start-up ecosystem by facilitating technology commercialisation, leveraging regional networks for mentorship and funding, and fostering cross-border collaborations.

3. Have birthed at least five of Southeast Asia's unicorns and are set to lead the way in producing more.

Building Success In The Philippine Retail Sector, Jimmy Thai

Asian Management Insights

Jimmy Thai tells us about how the Primer Group has expanded to become the retail giant it is now.

Achieving Success In Silicon Valley, Desmond Lim

Asian Management Insights

Desmond Lim tried, failed, and finally succeeded with Workstream, an app that helps businesses hire and manage hourly workers.

Don't Try To Be A Superman, N. Edwin Widjornako

Asian Management Insights

N. Edwin Widjonarko, co-founder and Director of Technology of Xurya, speaks about his entrepreneurial journey in Indonesia’s solar power generation space.

Navigating Economic Headwinds, Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara

Perspectives@SMU

Temasek’s CEO Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara believes Southeast Asia will be a bright spot amidst global headwinds. Being a networked organisation could make all the difference.

The Creative Response And The Entrepreneur, Martin Jes Iversen

Perspectives@SMU

Schumpeter’s 1947 essay still holds valuable lessons in the 21st century

Business Families As Stewards Of Sustainability, John Cheng, Ankesh Shahra, Cynthia Handriani Wijaya, Louise Dudley

Perspectives@SMU

The drive to preserve the business for future generations makes family-owned enterprises especially suited to sustainability initiatives. Embracing ESG frameworks will help measure their effectiveness

Digitally Transforming Chicken Rice, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Lao Hung Jia's dreams of selling Singapore’s national dish all over the world might just happen thanks to cashless payment and a matured food delivery ecosystem. There is just one problem: sorting out the pre-packed chilli sauce

Lead With Your Heart, Hyper Innovate, And Make A Difference, Steve Johanns, Singapore Management University

Asian Management Insights

Steve Johanns, founder and former Chairman of Veriown Global, is now taking smart villages into Sub-Saharan Africa through his company Villedge Solutions. He talks about his entrepreneurial journey in the world of hyper innovation and the secrets found in last mile empowerment.

From Bus Uncle To Botdistrikt, Abhilash Murthy

Perspectives@SMU

How Abhilash Murthy turned a fun project into a successful chatbot company

Growing Startups In Asia, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Localisation matters, but would-be startup founders should focus on customer needs rather than being fixated on being the next unicorn

How Is Fintech Helping Digital Entrepreneurs In Developing Communities?, Carmen Leong

Perspectives@SMU

FinTech is playing an important role in helping digital entrepreneurs tap into growth opportunities in Indonesia's developing communities, according to UNSW Business School research

Successful Startups: The Right Founder, Problem, And People, Ken Hsu

Perspectives@SMU

A lot hinges on communication, execution, and thinking like Chris Rock

Getting On The E-Commerce Carousell, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Carousell has achieved impressive user numbers. Can the online marketplace now convert that into profitability?

Education And Innovation: An Interview With Charles Chen Yidan, Charles Yidan Chen

Asian Management Insights

Education and innovation are not only the engines of economic growth in an increasingly knowledge-based global economy, but they also lead us to the solutions of the crises we face today.

Handmade With Love, Anna Lim

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

Anna Lim of The Soup Spoon discusses the importance of investing in staff engagement and keeping true to your brand DNA.

Getting Personal, Ching Yann Ho

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

Ho Ching Yann of Triceratops shares how being candid and sincere with customers sets her apart from the competition.

Dressing The Future, Christopher Halim, Raena Lim

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

Christopher Halim and Raena Lim of Style Theory review the importance of appropriate automation and necessary systems in growing a young company.

Inventive Solutions, Alson Teo

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

Alson Teo of Stamfles International reflects on inventing the iKook and why automation is essential to scale.

Building A Better Business With Retention Policies, Richard Huggins

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

Richard Huggins of Rabbit Carrot Gun comments on Singapore’s manpower challenges and his radical solutions

Selling Service In Retail, Sharon Wong

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

Sharon Wong of Motherswork speaks about expanding to China and building brand loyalty with customers and staff.

How To Design For Your Customers, Selma Bamadhaj, Nur Rulhuda

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

Selma Bamadhaj and Nur Rulhuda of Lully Selb school us in the importance of personalised service and turning customers into friends.

Serendipitous Stylings, Yi Lian Ng

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

Multihyphenate Yi Lian Ng reflects on her seemingly radical career change and life as a florist, freelance writer and stylist, and accidental entrepreneur

Growing Together, Shannon Ong, Mike Foo

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

Shannon Ong and Mike Foo of Woods in the Books discuss the significance of diverse stories and the importance of growing with your customers.

It Takes Two, Faye Sit, Ernest Ting

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

Faye Sit and Ernest Ting of Hook Coffee contemplate Singapore’s service standards and if the Singapore market is ready for better service.

Paying It Forward, Joshua Sim

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

Joshua Sim, founder of The Beautiful Moment Photography, defines service excellence in a surprisingly relatable way — through emotional intelligence.

Creating Meaning In Work, Eunyce Yap, Joanna Lam

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

Eunyce Yap and Joanna Lam, Founders of fashion label, Love & Bravery, tell us why there should always be more to business than just the bottom line.

The Future Of Local Food, Eng Su Lee

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

Restaurateurs Lee Eng Su and Lee Chan Wai share their views on Singapore’s hawker food culture and how they want to change Singapore’s food industry.

Social Capital, Informal Governance, And Post-Ipo Firm Performance: A Study Of Chinese Entrepreneurial Firms, Jerry X. Cao, Yuan Ding, Hua Zhang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Social capital can serve as informal governance in weak investor-protection regimes. Using hand-collected data on entrepreneurs' political connections and firm ownership, we construct several original measures of social capital and examine their effect on the performance of entrepreneurial firms in China after their initial public offerings. Political connections or a high percentage of external investors tend to enhance firm performance, but intragroup related-party transactions commonly lead to performance decline. These forms of social capital have a strong influence on the performance of Chinese firms, whereas formal governance variables such as board size or board independence have little effect. Although social …

Social Capital, Informal Governance, And Post-Ipo Firm Performance: A Study Of Chinese Entrepreneurial Firms, Jerry X. Cao, Yuan Ding, Hua Zhang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper explores the links between entrepreneurs' social capital and post-IPO firm performance in China's unique capital market and regulatory setting. Using hand-collected data on entrepreneurs' political connections and firm financial information, we construct original measures for various types of social capital and examine their roles in determining the accounting and financial performance of entrepreneurial firms after an IPO. On one hand, firm accounting performance is enhanced by entrepreneurs' bridging social capital, such as political connections or a willingness to share power with external investors. On the other hand, bonding social capital such as intra-group related party transactions causes performance …