Business Commons^™

Entrepreneurship In Singapore, Jungho Lee

Research Collection School Of Economics

Singapore has completed its catch-up growth phase and needs to find a new growth engine. Entrepreneurship can contribute to a nation’s productivity growth. The purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, a theoretical framework is presented, along with empirical evidence, to understand government interventions aimed at boosting entrepreneurship. Second, using the framework, the chapter discusses whether Singapore’s current policies are suitable for helping entrepreneurship. The theory demonstrates four reasons why government intervention is needed: (1) resource misallocation, (2) positive externality, (3) entrepreneurial human capital, and (4) tax and default policies. Singapore’s government has implemented various policies that potentially fix market …

Evaluation Of In-Cab Air Quality For Nonroad Diesel Construction Equipment, Phil Lewis, Sherif El Khouly, Adam Mayer, Jeremy Johnson

The Professional Constructor

Previous research indicates that air quality near the cabs of nonroad diesel equipment may exceed recommended exposure limits for certain pollutants. The objective of this case study was to collect and analyze air pollutant data near the cabs of nonroad diesel equipment while performing real world activities. Using state-of-the-art instrumentation, the research team conducted 24 tests on nine different items of nonroad equipment. The team collected data related to pollutant concentrations of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, and black carbon. Average concentrations of carbon monoxide and nitric oxide did not exceed published exposure limits on …

Organizational Decision-Making In The Age Of Big Data And Artificial Intelligence, Anh Luong

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines organizational decision-making in the context of big data and artificial intelligence (machine learning) technologies. There are three studies. All three focus on collaborative decision-making in organizations, with study 1 examining it in the context of big data, while study 2 and 3 in the context of artificial intelligence.

Study 1: This study examines the impact of different manners of presenting information on collaborative decision-making performance. Using controlled economic experiments, I assign participants with a resource allocation decision-making task (adapted from the game theoretic public goods provision problem) and examine the collaborative outcomes of groups when exposed to …

Corporate Social Responsibility And Financial Performance: Does Board Diversity Matter?, Ozgur Ozdemir, Murat Kizildag, Tarik Dogru, Ilhan Demirer

Journal of Global Business Insights

In this study, the moderating effect of board diversity on the complex relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and financial performance is examined. The resource-based view of the firm and stakeholder theory are used as the theoretical foundation of the study. The hypotheses of the study are tested via fixed-effects regression using data for a sample of 1,234 firms and 5,102 firm-year observations for the period 2009–2013. The study finds evidence that CSR performance and financial performance are positively related, and the magnitude of this relationship is contingent on the level of board diversity. As corporate boardrooms become more …

The Role Of Perceived Social Support In The Theory Of Planned Behavior In Predicting Entrepreneurial Intention: Evidence From A Nigerian University, Yazeed Muhammed, Mohammed A. Dantsoho, Adamu A. Abubakar

Journal of Global Business Insights

Despite the usefulness of the theory of planned behavior in predicting intention and behavior in different domains, the sufficiency of its use in predicting and determining intention has been debated by many scholars. This paper extended the theory of planned behavior by including social support as a possible determinant of intention in the entrepreneurship domain while looking at one of the largest universities in Nigeria. Data were collected from 432 final year students of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria using a simple random sampling technique. Structural equation modeling was adopted using partial least square technique for data analysis. Perceived social …

Essence Of Partnership Management In Project-Based Learning: Insights From A University’S Global Project Programme, Gary Pan, Poh Sun Seow, Shankararaman, Venky, Kevin Koh

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Universities today are embracing teaching pedagogy of project-based learning (PBL) through collaboration with industry. PBL allows students to learn theory in the classroom, then apply what they have learned in the field, solving a wide array of business or societal challenges facing organizations, while at the same time, solidifying their own knowledge. While there are many benefits of such academic-industry partnership, there are also challenges that if not addressed, may have serious consequences. This study aims to develop a framework that highlights the essence of partnership management in a PBL setting and validate the framework by conducting a focus group …

Robust And Ethical Data Governance Critical To Growth In Digital Age, Themin Suwardy, Melvin Yong

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

With increasing digitalisation, and companies collecting an ever-increasing amount of their customer and business data, organisations have to become more accountable to stakeholders such as regulators, customers and investors on the issue of data. Observers say expectations are also increasing, with incidents of data breaches capturing much media attention. Just as corporate governance encompasses more than just compliance, experts say data governance is more than just data protection and security but also about creating value.

How Xiaomi Redefined What It Means To Be A Platform, Tony W. Wong, Yanting Guo, Liang Chen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Traditional platform businesses generally fall into one of two categories: Ecosystems, such as Apple’s App Store, which offer limited resources to a wide array of independently-run firms; and Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) companies, such as Intel Capital, which invest heavily into a small number of ventures that promise either financial or strategic returns. However, new research into Xiaomi’s growth strategy suggests that the Beijing-based electronics giant has developed a blended approach, borrowing elements of both traditional ecosystem and CVC firms to create a broad ecosystem of strongly-supported partner ventures. Based on a series of in-depth interviews with executives from both …

The 2021 Ipr Future Of Communications In Asia Report, Sarah Crawshaw, Alexis B. Fitzsimmons, Tina Mccorkindale, Pang, A., Stephen Thomas, Su Lin Yeo

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

IPR interviewed 27 senior communications executives who work for Asian-headquartered companies, specifically in mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore and India, through February 2020. Interviews were transcribed and a thematic analysis was conducted. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, IPR conducted follow-up focus groups with nearly 20 senior communications leaders in Asia in November and December 2020 to better understand the long-term impact of the pandemic on communications in the region. These sessions were conducted according to Chatham House rules, so the participants’ identifiers have been removed.

Towards Better Data Augmentation Using Wasserstein Distance In Variational Auto-Encoder, Zichuan Chen, Peng Liu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

VAE, or variational auto-encoder, compresses data into latent attributes, and generates new data of different varieties. VAE based on KL divergence has been considered as an effective technique for data augmentation. In this paper, we propose the use of Wasserstein distance as a measure of distributional similarity for the latent attributes, and show its superior theoretical lower bound (ELBO) compared with that of KL divergence under mild conditions. Using multiple experiments, we demonstrate that the new loss function exhibits better convergence property and generates artificial images that could better aid the image classification tasks.

2021-09-01 Message From The President, Morehead State University. Office Of The President.

Staff Congress Records

A message sent by the President of Morehead State University to the campus community regarding the vaccination of faculty, staff and students from September 1, 2021.

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Lost Causal: Debunking Myths About Causal Analysis In Philanthropy, Jewlya Lynn, Sarah Stachowiak, Julia Coffman

The Foundation Review

What if philanthropic evaluations told us that changes in the world had occurred, as well as how and why they occurred, including in what ways foundation funding and grantees contributed to those changes? What if evaluations made change pathways more visible, tested hypotheses and assumptions, and generated new insights based on what happened in the “black box” of systems change strategies? This type of learning comes from causal analysis — inquiry that explores cause-andeffect relationships.

Yet currently in philanthropy, particularly for strategies and initiatives that feature high complexity, few evaluations use robust techniques for understanding causality. Instead, philanthropic evaluation tends …

Community Foundations As Community Leaders: The Role Of Community Leadership In Creating Change, Colton Strawser

The Foundation Review

Community foundations claim to play an integral role in fostering philanthropy at a local or regional level across the United States, seeking to improve the quality of life for community residents. Their business model has three main components: grantmaking, fundraising, and community leadership.

As the newest addition to the community foundation operating model, community leadership remains the least examined component in terms of how these foundations define and pursue it. This article seeks to contribute to the literature on the challenges and benefits community foundations encounter in pursuit of a community leadership role.

Utilizing an exploratory design, interviews with leaders …

Editorial, Teresa R. Behrens

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Assessing Philanthropic Impact: How The W.K. Kellogg Foundation’S Building Bridges Initiative Supported The Field Of Philanthropic And Nonprofit Studies, Peter C. Weber, Robert Long

The Foundation Review

In the 1990s, nonprofit management education was an emerging discipline with few established academic centers seeking to increase connectivity, build out the field, and gain financial sustainability. While organized philanthropy supported this development, foundations’ impact on individual programs and the field more broadly is unclear.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Building Bridges Initiative, a $13.5 million, five-year program to fund nonprofit academic centers as a strategy to increase the nonprofit sector’s capacity, exemplifies the potentials and limits of a private foundation’s engagement with emerging academic disciplines. This article assesses the long-term sustainability of grant investments and to what degree successful projects …

Brazilian Foundations And The Responses To Covid-19, Marcos Paulo Lucca-Silveira, Pietro Rodrigues, Marketa Jerabek, Marcia Kalvon Woods, João Paulo Vergueiro

The Foundation Review

This article aims to systematically analyze the contribution of corporate and family foundations in the fight against COVID-19 in Brazil, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic. Despite its resultant economic and social crisis, the pandemic has sparked an unprecedented wave of philanthropy in Brazil. It is estimated that more than $1.2 billion has been raised and donated by corporations, corporate and private foundations, crowdfunding, and fundraising campaigns.

Foundations, in particular, have played an important role in financing relevant scientific work, supporting public policies, and assisting nonprofit organizations and vulnerable communities. And while there is increasing knowledge about …

Book Review: The Upswing: How America Came Together A Century Ago And How We Can Do It Again, Michael Layton, Tory Martin

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Tfr 13.3 Full Issue

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Learning Amid Disruption: Bouncing Forward Into A Changed World, Rachel Reichenbach, Jewlya Lynn, Jen Heeg

The Foundation Review

The philanthropic sector has come to recognize the importance of bringing a systems lens to its work, seeking to influence upstream drivers of complex problems, and being adaptive in its approaches instead of implementing static, multiyear plans. Yet, integrating these concepts into practice continues to pose a challenge.

Humanity United — a foundation dedicated to cultivating the conditions for enduring freedom and peace — had been grappling with this charge when the disruption caused by COVID-19 led it into a crisis response mode in 2020, similar to many other philanthropic institutions. That disruption also challenged our old ways of being, …

Front Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Back Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Prefabrication In Buildings With Focus On Emerging Mep Rack Systems, Mark Daniels, M.G. Matt Syal

The Professional Constructor

The growth in technology and automation has influenced the construction industry to explore prefabrication alternatives in building design and construction. In addition, the shortage of skilled labor is accelerating the push for the adoption of prefabrication in building industry. This paper provides an overview of the present construction market and labor trends and summarizes various levels and categories of prefabrication. It then provides detailed information on an emerging MEP prefabricated solution known as the MEP rack systems. The implementation of the MEP rack systems is discussed with the help of a hospital case study project. It concludes with the discussion …

Case Study Of Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems To Support Bridge Inspections, Joseph M. Burgett, Gurcan Comert

The Professional Constructor

This paper presents the results of a case study conducted to evaluate the potential benefit of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commonly referred to as drones, as a tool to improve the bridge inspection workflow. The study conducted two experiments to determine how well deficiencies could be detected using a UAS. Both experiments were conducted using the same test bridge. The first experiment was carried out by the bridge inspection engineers (BIEs), who had previously inspected the bridge using traditional methods. They used the drone to search for inspection points identified in the inspection report. The second experiment was conducted by …

Stick Built Vs. Panelize Wall/Truss Framing For New Home Construction: A Time Study Labor Comparison., Eric A. Holt, Jim Anzlovar, Alexander Welsh

The Professional Constructor

Due to many trends in the construction industry (material cost increase, labor shortages, supply chain issues, pandemic, market demand outpacing supply), the homebuilding industry is looking for alternative ways to frame homes. In response to the National Housing Endowment (NHE) Request for Proposal, the researchers reviewed the literature on the housing market’s current state regarding the scale and scope of the skilled construction framers shortage and the current market share of single-family framing method; stick-built vs. panelization. Working with industry part ners, the team analyzed time studies for multiple new home builds. It was found that panelized wall framing systems …

Minority And Female Participation In Construction Industry Apprenticeship Programs, Richard Bruce, Aaron Sauer, Patrick Sells, Curtis Bradford

The Professional Constructor

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Current Population Survey, nearly 90 percent of the 10.7 million people employed in the construction industry are white males (2021). This statistic will remain unchanged unless more minorities and females are recruited into the industry. For craft workers, a primary recruitment mechanism is the registered apprenticeship program. This study analyzes the U.S. Department of Labor’s Registered Apprenticeship Database (RAPIDs) from 2000 to 2019 to identify trends for new apprentices. The study found that there was no change in the proportion of new female apprentices in the previous 20 years and no change …

Exploring The Experiences And Effectiveness Of Student Loan Entrance Counseling, Manoj Thekkadathu Oommen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Student loan debt is one of the most pressing issues in the United States today. The rate of student loan debt in the United States continues to rise year after year, and the country is experiencing a crisis of increased student loan debt. A program that started with a budget of $15 million in 1965 to expand access to higher education has increased exponentially to over $1.5 trillion in student loan debt today. Students are ushered into the college experience often without possessing a firm grasp of basic financial literacy skills. Federal legislation mandates borrowers to take a 30-minute counseling …

Hazy Team Composition Processes: Shared Team Leadership, A Strategy To Team Excellence In Higher Education, Pervaiz Masih

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teamwork is an emergent property of efficacious organizations. Team-based and result-oriented organizational structures are gaining momentum, increasing 6% each year. Over 80% of organizations globally deploy teams by putting ordinary people to work together for extraordinary performance. The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center is a unique institute that teaches foreign languages in an immersive and team-based environment. This mixed-methods research study investigated (a) the teaching team composition processes, (b) the applicability of trust and diversity in team composition, and (c) the impact of shared team leadership in the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. Data were collected from 82 …

Singapore Will Soon Have Workplace Anti-Discrimination Laws: Here’S What You Need To Know, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Work is often a significant part of one’s life. Decisions by employers — including hiring decisions and choices on how to treat employees at work — can have life-changing effects on lives and livelihoods. Therefore, if there were reason to suspect that some employers make such decisions on the grounds of applicants’ or employees’ race, sex, or other personal characteristics without a valid reason, then we should be worried. If that were to become widespread, our society would suffer. Some people would face greater challenges than others at work, and therefore in life, merely because of who they are.

Implementing An Insolvency Framework For Micro And Small Firms, Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) represent the vast majority of businesses in most countries around the world. Despite the economic relevance of these firms, most insolvency jurisdictions do not provide adequate responses to MSMEs. Moreover, with a few exceptions, the academic literature on insolvency law has not traditionally focused on the treatment of MSMEs in insolvency. This article seeks to contribute to the debate by exploring the primary features and problems of MSMEs in insolvency as well as the weaknesses of the ordinary insolvency framework to deal with MSMEs. It also provides a general overview of the primary reforms …