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Singapore Management University Report To Stakeholders 2005 - 2006, Singapore Management University

Report to Stakeholders

With the official opening of the city campus in January 2006, SMU marked a new chapter in the history of central Singapore and became an integral part of the area s continual cycle of renewal. Building on the legacy of venerable institutions in Bras Basah that formed the educational hub of yesteryear, our aim is to produce visionary leaders for tomorrow, imbued with a fine sense of ethics and social responsibility for the good of the community.

From its beginning, SMU has been a catalyst for the future development of higher education in Singapore. Two ways that we have done …

Theorizing, Measuring, And Predicting Knowledge Sharing Behavior In Organizations - A Social Capital Approach, Chay Yue Wah, Thomas Menkhoff, Benjamin Loh, Hans-Dieter Evers

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study aims to understand the social and organizational factors that influence knowledge sharing. A model of knowledge management and knowledge sharing was developed inspired by the work of Nahapiet and Ghoshal. Data on demographics and various social capital measures were collected from a sample of members of a tertiary educational institution in Singapore in 2003. Reward & recognition, open-mindedness and cost concerns of knowledge hoarding turned out to be the strongest predictors of knowledge sharing rather than pro-social motives or organizational concern. Overall, the findings provide evidence for the importance of a conducive organizational climate and state-of-the art performance …

Rhythms Of Life: Antecedents And Outcomes Of Work-Family Balance In Employed Parents, Samuel Aryee, E. S. Srinivas, Hwee Hoon Tan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study examined antecedents and outcomes of a fourfold taxonomy of work-family balance in terms of the direction of influence (work-family vs. family-work) and type of effect (conflict vs. facilitation). Respondents were full-time employed parents in India. Confirmatory factor analysis results provided evidence for the discriminant validity of M. R. Frone' s (2003) fourfold taxonomy of work-family balance. Results of moderated regression analysis revealed that different processes underlie the conflict and facilitation components. Furthermore, gender had only a limited moderating influence on the relationships between the antecedents and the components of work-family balance. Last, work-family facilitation was related to the …

The Perceptions Of Students Outside The United States On Cases Versus Lectures, G.W. Kester, R.A. Dean, David K. Ding, S.A. Hoover, M. Skully

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper reports the results of a survey of postgraduate students at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, the University of Melbourne in Australia, Monash University in Australia, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and the National University of Ireland, Galway regarding their perceptions of cases versus lectures. The respondents to our survey to prefer lectures in introductory courses and cases when used to supplement lectures or used in advanced upper level courses. They agree that cases are an effective way to provide them with an organizational context that enhances their understanding of the subject matter and how it relates to …

Comment: A Selective Overview Of Nonparametric Methods In Financial Econometrics, Peter C. B. Phillips, Jun Yu

Research Collection School Of Economics

These comments concentrate on two issues arising from Fan’s overview. The first concerns the importance of finite sample estimation bias relative to the specification and discretization biases that are emphasized in Fan’s discussion. Past research and simulations given here both reveal that finite sample effects can be more important than the other two effects when judged from either statistical or economic viewpoints. Second, we draw attention to a very different nonparametric technique that is based on computing an empirical version of the quadratic variation process. This technique is not mentioned by Fan but has many advantages and has accordingly attracted …

Regional Co-Operation And Low-Cost Investment Enclaves: An Empirical Study Of Singapore's Industrial Parks In Riau, Indonesia, Caroline Yeoh, Darren Lim, Adeline Kwan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Infrastructure can be unreliable and administration subject to corruption in Asia's rapidly developing economies. Foreign investment is thus drawn to privileged investment enclaves, as well as in and around centers of international infrastructure. This context provides opportunity for Singapore-styled industrial parks, through the provision of superior infrastructure, the ability to negotiate investment concessions at inter-government level and, where existing, through the links to influential Chinese business groups in the investment location. Batamindo Industrial Park and Bintan Industrial Estate in Indonesia were the prototypes. This paper revisits the Parks, and offers a stock-take on the challenges confronting these flagship projects. Evidence …

Review Of Roger Ames And David Hall, Daodejing: Making This Life Significant: A Philosophical Translation, Alan Kam Leung Chan

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Is there a need for another translation of the Laozi Daodejing? Although there are already over 100 translations in English alone, this present effort by Ames and Hall marks a welcome addition, in that it offers an engaging philosophical account of the Daodejing as chiefly concerned with “making this life significant.”

Effects Of Electronic Trading On The Hang Seng Index Futures Market, Joseph K. W. Fung, Donald Lien, Yiuman Tse, Yiu Kuen Tse

Research Collection School Of Economics

This investigation of the switch from open-outcry trading to electronic trading on the Hang Seng Index (HSI) futures contract reveals that the bid–ask spread narrows and the futures price plays more of a role in information transmission. Factors, such as anonymity in trading and fast order execution in electronic trading, attract informed traders to the futures market, enhancing the information flow. Our results provide support for the worldwide trend of transforming open-outcry markets into electronic trading platforms

The Structuralist Perspective On Real Exchange Rate, Share Price Level And Employment Path: What Role Is Left For Money?, Edmund S. Phelps, Hian Teck Hoon, Gylfi Zoega

Research Collection School Of Economics

No abstract provided.

Optimal Location Of Intermodal Freight Hubs, Illia Racunica, Laura Wynter

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We present an optimization model that has been developed to address the problem of increasing the share of rail in intermodal transport through the use of hub-and-spoke type networks for freight rail. The model defined is a generalization of the hub location problem in that it allows for non-linear and concave cost functions on different segments. A linearization procedure along with two efficient variable-reduction heuristics was developed for its resolution, making use of recent results on polyhedral properties of this class of problems. Computational experience and a qualitative analysis from a case study on the Alpine freight network is provided.

The Effects Of Sfas 131 Geographic Segment Disclosures On The Valuation Of Foreign Earnings, Ole-Kristian Hope, Tony Kang, Wayne Thomas, Florin Vasvari

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Foreign operations are becoming increasingly important for U.S. companies. We investigate whether the market’s valuation of foreign earnings is a function of the firm’s geographic segment disclosures. Specifically, we examine the effects of an increase in the number of geographic segments disclosed and the inclusion of earnings measures in geographic segment disclosures following the adoption of SFAS 131. We find strong evidence that our proxies for increased disclosure are positively associated with the valuation of foreign earnings. Our results are robust to a number of sensitivity analyses. Taken together, our results suggest that the pricing of foreign earnings is associated …

Human Mental Models Of Humanoid Robots, Sau-Lai Lee, Ivy Yee-Man Lau, Sara Kiesler, Chi-Yue Chiu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Effective communication between a person and a robot may depend on whether there exists a common ground of understanding between the two. In two experiments modelled after human-human studies we examined how people form a mental model of a robot's factual knowledge. Participants estimated the robot's knowledge by extrapolating from their own knowledge and from information about the robot's origin and language. These results suggest that designers of humanoid robots must attend not only to the social cues that robots emit but also to the information people use to create mental models of a robot.

Analysis And Insights From A Dynamical Model Of Nuclear Plant Safety Risk, Stephen Hess, Alfonso M. Albano, John Gaertner

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In this paper, we expand upon previously reported results of a dynamical systems model for the impact of plant processes and programmatic performance on nuclear plant safety risk. We utilize both analytical techniques and numerical simulations typical of the analysis of nonlinear dynamical systems to obtain insights important for effective risk management. This includes use of bifurcation diagrams to show that period doubling bifurcations and regions of chaotic dynamics can occur. We also investigate the impact of risk mitigating functions (equipment reliability and loss prevention) on plant safety risk and demonstrate that these functions are capable of improving risk to …

A Subjective Approach To The Study Of Oligopolistic Party Systems, Riccardo Pelizzo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The purpose of this paper is to present a new theory of the cartel party. My argument is straightforward. Assuming that parties are the political analog of firms, that party systems are the political analog of markets, that the shares of the electorate are the political analog of the market shares that firms control, Western European party systems share with oligopolistic markets some structural features. Yet, to know whether Western European party systems resemble oligopolistic markets, we need to know whether Western European party systems are non-competitive political markets exactly in the same way in which oligopolistic markets are not …

Book Review: Beyond Neutrality: Confronting The Crisis In Conflict Resolution, Nadja Alexander

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.

Statute And Public Policy In Private International Law: Gambling Contracts And Foreign Judgments, Tiong Min Yeo

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This note argues that because there is a legal distinction between the public policy defence to the enforcement of foreign judgments under the common law and the corresponding defence in the Reciprocal Enforcement of Commonwealth Judgments Act, the prohibition against the enforcement of foreign wagering transactions under Singapore law is no longer founded on public policy.

Critical Thinking Straight From The Heart, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The state of the hearts of our young people, specifically whether they have the moral courage to stand up for what they believe in, is in the spotlight again with this newspaper's upcoming Youthink pages intended to showcase their views. The Youthink pages might go some way to show if the concern with our youth is well-founded. An interesting issue is raised: What exactly is critical thinking?

A Multi-Agent Approach For Solving Optimization Problems Involving Expensive Resources, Hoong Chuin Lau, H. Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we propose a multi-agent approach for solving a class of optimization problems involving expensive resources, where monolithic local search schemes perform miserably. More specifically, we study the class of bin-packing problems. Under our proposed Fine-Grained Agent System scheme, rational agents work both collaboratively and selfishly based on local search and mimic physics-motivated systems. We apply our approach to a generalization of bin-packing - the Inventory Routing Problem with Time Windows - which is an important logistics problem, and demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of our approach.

Special Section: Human-Computer Interaction Research In Management Information Systems, Ping Zhang, Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, Izak Benbasat

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

No abstract provided.

Do Rural Land Markets Increase Inequality? Evidence From A Chinese Province, Qian Forrest Zhang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Using a 2001 provincial survey, we find that disparities in land-rights distribution have greatly increased in rural China, and the growth of land markets is directly responsible for that. The land markets tend to concentrate land in those who can more efficiently use it. This translates disparities in land-rights distribution to magnified inequality in farm income. However, such widening disparities caused by land markets have compensatory effects on overall rural inequality, as land markets tend to bring up families who would fall at the bottom of income distribution in the absence of such markets. Expansion of markets, in this case, …

Defining (Multiple) Selves: Stories From The Field, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The ‘Self’ in late-modernity is never singular but multiplies across different discourses, practices and positions. It is constructed through difference. It is only through a relation to the ‘Other’ that the ‘Self’ can be defined. This paper endeavours to map the endless negotiations of my ‘Self’ as male Australian academic of Chinese descent, a Malaysian citizen, a Bruneian resident, and an Indonesian specialist, over a period of fieldwork in Jakarta in 2004. It discusses how I defined my multiple ‘Selves’ to different individuals and communities, how they in turn defined me, and how these constructions were always shifting. Depending on …

Transborder Industrialization And Singapore's Suzhou 'Experiment': A Paradox Of Context?, Lu Gao, Wee Tan, Caroline Yeoh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

No abstract provided.

Integrating Business Opportunities In Contiguous Economies: A Note On The Low-Cost Manufacturing Enclaves In Batam Island, Indonesia, Wee Tan, Caroline Yeoh, Kevin Wongso

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

No abstract provided.

Strategic Management For Economic Development: Remaking The Singapore 'Model', Caroline Yeoh, Wilfred Pow Ngee How

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The dynamics of international economic competition have far-reaching policy implications for both developing and developed countries. Established industrial and trade policy regimes in most countries are under tremendous strain, and this applies even to the dynamic Newly Industrialising Economies (NIEs). The outward-oriented development strategies of the Asian NIEs, which once seemed unbeatable, have run up against protectionist barriers in the developed countries, and increasingly, against competitive pressures from other up and coming developing countries. Governments in these NIEs have had to re-examine accustomed policies and strategies, and search for alternative strategies and programs, in order to re-position their economies for …

Domestic And Foreign Earnings, Stock Return Variability, And The Impact Of Investor Sophistication, Dan Segal, Jeffrey L. Callen, Ole-Kristian Hope

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine the importance of foreign earnings relative to domestic earnings for a sample of U.S. multinationals using variance decomposition. Our methodology represents an alternative and complementary approach over the prior literature, which is based on traditional regressions and earnings response coefficients. We document that domestic earnings are more important in explaining the variance of unexpected returns than are foreign earnings and that the relative importance of domestic earnings is a decreasing function of investor sophistication. Last, we classify institutional investors as either short- or long-term oriented following Bushee [1998]. We find that the variance contribution of foreign earnings increases …

Ownership Structure, Investment Behaviour And Firm Performance In Japanese Manufacturing Industries, Eric Gedajlovic, Toru Yoshikawa, Motomi Hashimoto

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Using data spanning the 1996-98 fiscal years of 247 of Japan's largest manufacturers, we empirically evaluate the extent to which a firm's investment behaviour and financial performance are influenced by its ownership structure. To do so, we examine six distinct categories of Japanese shareholders: foreign investors, investment funds, pension funds, banks and insurance companies, affiliated companies and insiders. Our findings strongly indicate that the relationship between the equity stakes of a particular category of investor and a firm' s financial performance and investment behaviour is considerably more complex than is depicted in simple principal-agent representations. Such a result emphasizes the …

Intellectual Capital Performance And Cash-Based Incentive Payments: Impact Of Remuneration Committee And Corporate Governance Features, Jean-Luc Wolfgang Mitchell Van Der Zahn, Inderpal Singh, Alistair Brown

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

No abstract provided.

Voluntary Decisions On Audit Committee Composition And Expertise And The Influence Of Board Of Director Characteristics: Further Evidence From Singapore, Jean-Luc Wolfgang Mitchell Van Der Zahn, Inderpal Singh

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

No abstract provided.

Understanding Business Group Performance In An Emerging Economy: Acquiring Resources And Capabilities In Order To Prosper, Daphne W. Yiu, Garry D. Bruton, Yuan Lu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The prevalent organizational form in most emerging markets is business groups. These groups have typically been viewed through a transaction cost economics perspective where they are perceived as responses to inefficiencies in the market. However, the evidence to date on what generates a positive business group-performance relationship in such environments is not well understood. This study expands the understanding of business groups by employing the resource-based and institutional theoretical perspectives to examine how groups acquire resources and capabilities to prosper. The empirical evidence is based on over 224 business groups in the emerging economy context of China and shows that …

Smooth Test For Density, Aurobindo Ghosh, Anil K Bera

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Recently econometricians have shifted their attention from point and interval forecasts to density forecasts because at the heart of market risk measurement is the forecast of the probability density functions of various financial variables. In this paper, we propose a formal test for density forecast evaluation based on Neyman's smooth test procedure. Apart from accepting or rejecting the tested model, this approach provides specific sources (such as the location, scale and shape of the distribution) of rejection, thereby helping in deciding possible modifications of the assumed model. Our applications to S&P 500 returns indicate capturing time-varying volatility and non-gaussianity significantly …