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Lee Kong Chian School Of Business Year In Review 2020-2021, Singapore Management University Dec 2021

Lee Kong Chian School Of Business Year In Review 2020-2021, Singapore Management University

SMU Corporate Reports

The last 12 months have been a roller coaster for Singapore and the world. Vaccines initially offered what seemed to be a clear way out of the Covid-19 pandemic but the more transmissible Delta variant has complicated matters considerably. However, despite the many challenges that the school has faced, I am happy to report that we have had a very good year overall. First of all, after a thorough and grueling process, the school received its EQUIS re-accreditation that will be valid for five years. The school has also received re-accreditation from AACSB International this year as well. The re-accreditation …


Spurring Digital Transformation In Singapore's Legal Industry, Xin Juan Chua, Steven M. Miller Dec 2021

Spurring Digital Transformation In Singapore's Legal Industry, Xin Juan Chua, Steven M. Miller

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

COVID-19 has transformed the way we live and work. It has caused the processes and operations of businesses and organisations to be restructured, as well as transformed business models. A 2020 McKinsey Global survey reported that companies all over the world claim they have accelerated the digitalisation of their customer and supply-chain interactions, as well as their internal operations, by three to four years. They also said they thought the share of digital or digitally enabled products in their portfolios has advanced by seven years. While technology transformation is not new to the legal profession, COVID-19 has cemented the importance …


The Singapore Green Plan 2030: Analysing Its Implications On Law And The Legal Industry In Singapore, Wei Yao, Kenny Chng, Ken Wei Ong Dec 2021

The Singapore Green Plan 2030: Analysing Its Implications On Law And The Legal Industry In Singapore, Wei Yao, Kenny Chng, Ken Wei Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

While sustainability has always been an important policy imperative in Singapore, the advent of the Singapore Green Plan 2030 marks a significant development in this regard. Announced in February 2021, the Green Plan represents a concerted national-level strategic shift towards advancing the sustainability agenda in Singapore. With sustainable development now being a ‘major policy priority’, it is inevitable that the Green Plan will have important legal implications, each of which will be identified and analysed in this paper. More broadly, however, the paper also suggests that the Green Plan will open up valuable opportunities for environmental law to receive greater …


Leveraging Reward-Based Crowdfunding During Covid-19, Hannah H. Chang, Erin Jasmine Guillermo, Colin Chai Dec 2021

Leveraging Reward-Based Crowdfunding During Covid-19, Hannah H. Chang, Erin Jasmine Guillermo, Colin Chai

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Over the last year, Singapore firms have faced unforeseen market disruptions created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Worldwide country lockdowns, supply chain disruptions, and restrictions on business operations due to public health and safety measures posed non-trivial challenges. Many companies scampered to find alternative sources of revenue and ramp up their efforts at digitalisation - or risk the possibility of business closure.


'Good Administration' And The 'Good': The Normative Foundation For The Protection Of Legitimate Expectations, Wei Yao, Kenny Chng Dec 2021

'Good Administration' And The 'Good': The Normative Foundation For The Protection Of Legitimate Expectations, Wei Yao, Kenny Chng

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

An idea that has gained significant traction in both case law and academic commentary as a justification for the protection of legitimate expectations is the concept of ‘good administration’. Going beyond the usual criticisms of the concept’s ambiguity, this article aims to highlight an additional set of difficulties with the invocation of ‘good administration’ as the normative justification for the doctrine. This article’s central argument is that the concept of ‘good’ invoked by the idea of ‘good administration’ inevitably falls to be substantiated by a particular conception of what the ‘good’ requires as a matter of political philosophy. And given …


Tapping On Growth Opportunities Through Trade And Investment, Andy Feng, Gerald Foong, Geraldine Lim Dec 2021

Tapping On Growth Opportunities Through Trade And Investment, Andy Feng, Gerald Foong, Geraldine Lim

Research Collection School Of Economics

As a small and open economy, external developments play a crucial role in shaping Singapore’s growth prospects. In particular, external demand is pivotal in supporting the growth of Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) beyond the limits afforded by a small domestic market. Furthermore, due to the resource constraints faced by Singapore, its production of goods and services to meet both external and domestic demand requires a substantial use of imported inputs. Apart from trade, Singapore’s openness and outward-orientation also extend to its embrace of inward and outward investments to grow its economy and create jobs for Singaporeans. In view of …


Conceptualising A Role For The Common Law In Environmental Protection In Singapore, Kenny Chng Dec 2021

Conceptualising A Role For The Common Law In Environmental Protection In Singapore, Kenny Chng

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In Singapore, the key institutions driving environmental protection are the legislature and the executive. The judiciary’s role in environmental protection has thus far been relatively minor. By drawing upon environmental law theory and comparative analysis of other common law jurisdictions, this paper aims to explore avenues through which the common law can be engaged more meaningfully to further environmental protection in Singapore. A conceptualisation of environmental law as directed at furthering the rule of law by promoting carefully-considered and participatory environmental governance will be suggested as a fruitful way forward for thinking about the role of the common law in …


Popular: Still Singapore’S Favourite Bookstore, Singapore Management University Nov 2021

Popular: Still Singapore’S Favourite Bookstore, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Popular is evolving into an omni-channel retailer to improve its customer experience


Burnout Isn’T Just Exhaustion: Workers Can Also Feel Cynical Or Inadequate, Tina Li Yi Ng, Andree Hartanto Nov 2021

Burnout Isn’T Just Exhaustion: Workers Can Also Feel Cynical Or Inadequate, Tina Li Yi Ng, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Employers, take note: There’s more to burnout which corporate wellness initiatives alone cannot solve, say SMU researchers. The huge wave of resignations spurred by the pandemic has forced companies to confront burnout, implementing “burnout breaks” to curb the loss of productivity that comes with working too much. Though initiatives like “mental health weeks” are widely appreciated, they merely scratch the surface and do not solve the issue. To truly put out the flames of burnout, a precise diagnosis of the problem is critical. This is especially true in Singapore, the world’s most fatigued country where one in two workers feels …


Making Money From Cryptocurrency? The Taxman May Call On You, Hern Kuan Liu, Vincent Ooi Nov 2021

Making Money From Cryptocurrency? The Taxman May Call On You, Hern Kuan Liu, Vincent Ooi

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Miners, forgers, hobbyists, traders – different rules apply. Just don’t assume crypto investment is somehow immune to taxation.


Smart Manufacturing And Its Implications For Singapore's Smes, Thomas Menkhoff, Surianarayanan Gopalakrishnan Nov 2021

Smart Manufacturing And Its Implications For Singapore's Smes, Thomas Menkhoff, Surianarayanan Gopalakrishnan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

While Covid-19 and the climate catastrophe continue to make headlines, local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are quietly setting the gears of Smart Manufacturing in motion with a strategic focus on digitising and automating production processes powered by "Industry 4.0" (I4.0) ready business models. A shared view among several interviewees we talked to recently in the context of an ongoing study on the impact of I4.0 on the business models of local manufacturers is that Industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT), machine learning, visual computing, automation and digital twining are deemed of great importance for the long-term competitiveness of Singapore's manufacturing ecosystem on …


Cashing In On Disruptions From Covid-19, Dennis Ng Nov 2021

Cashing In On Disruptions From Covid-19, Dennis Ng

Asian Management Insights

Promoting cashless payments at Singapore’s hawker centres


Fica: What Checks & Balances Are Needed Against Powers Being Used Inappropriately?, Tan K. B. Eugene, Benjamin Joshua Ong Oct 2021

Fica: What Checks & Balances Are Needed Against Powers Being Used Inappropriately?, Tan K. B. Eugene, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

COMMENTARY: "The key question is not whether the state should have powers to take countermeasures, but rather whether there are adequate checks against the risk of those powers being inappropriately used."


Compensation For Frivolous Or Vexatious Prosecution, Benjamin Joshua Ong Oct 2021

Compensation For Frivolous Or Vexatious Prosecution, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

According to section 359(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, an acquitted accused person may receive compensation if the prosecution was “frivolous or vexatious”. In Parti Liyani v Public Prosecutor, Singapore’s High Court – for the first time – comprehensively discussed what section 359(3) means and how it is to be applied. This article aims to outline and comment on the High Court’s decision, and to highlight several issues which may be explored in future.


The New Law On Foreign Interference – What’S Next For Businesses, Tan K. B. Eugene, Benjamin Joshua Ong Oct 2021

The New Law On Foreign Interference – What’S Next For Businesses, Tan K. B. Eugene, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a joint commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan and SMU Assistant Professor of Law Benjamin Joshua Ong discussed what the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Bill (Fica) means for businesses. They opined that businesses could have disclosure policies for themselves and their stakeholders, akin to conflict of interest disclosures. They also noted that more can be done to clarify the limits to government powers under Fica, and pointed out that conversations about foreign interference must go beyond Fica.


What Are The Four Traits Of Digitally Mature Organizations?, Clarence Goh, Gary Pan, Poh Sun Seow, Yuanto Kusnadi, Gek Choo Shirlena Tan Oct 2021

What Are The Four Traits Of Digitally Mature Organizations?, Clarence Goh, Gary Pan, Poh Sun Seow, Yuanto Kusnadi, Gek Choo Shirlena Tan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

A study conducted by Deloitte Southeast Asia and the Singapore Management University said there are four traits that could identify digitally mature organisations based on how they manage the governance, risk, and compliance aspects of digital transformation.


The New Law On Foreign Interference: What's Next For Businesses?, Tan K. B. Eugene, Benjamin Joshua Ong Oct 2021

The New Law On Foreign Interference: What's Next For Businesses?, Tan K. B. Eugene, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Bill (Fica) was passed in Parliament on Monday after about 10 hours of impassioned debate. Despite the government agreeing to several amendments proposed by the Workers' Party, the substance was not changed in any significant way. Although the government provided more details on how Fica is to operate, more details will be unveiled when it comes into operation. What does all this mean for businesses?


Teachers Who Complain About Burnout Are Not Bad Teachers, Bek Wuay Tang, Jacinth Jia Xin Tan Oct 2021

Teachers Who Complain About Burnout Are Not Bad Teachers, Bek Wuay Tang, Jacinth Jia Xin Tan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Psychology tells us it’s natural but wrong to assume teachers aren’t coping well with stress due to their own inability to manage time or be tough, say SMU’s Tang Bek Wuay and Jacinth Tan. A worrying spotlight was recently shone on burnout among teachers. In a Ministry of Education (MOE) engagement survey conducted in June, three in 10 teachers said they could not cope with stress at work.


Challenges To Social Mobility In Singapore, Kong Weng Ho, Marcus Kheng Tat Tan Sep 2021

Challenges To Social Mobility In Singapore, Kong Weng Ho, Marcus Kheng Tat Tan

Research Collection School Of Economics

Singapore had achieved impressive economic growth together with a high level of upward mobility since her independence in 1965. However, the growth process might have become more uneven, in addition to diminishing growth for a matured economy like Singapore, which is also a highly open city state subject to competitive forces from other economies. Singapore has fared well recently,
evident from the 2020 social mobility findings reported by the World Economic Forum and the decline in Gini coefficients for the past decade. We discuss the education system in Singapore and the recently formed National Jobs Council, both important institutions for …


Achieving Price Stability, Hwee Kwan Chow, Taojun Xie Sep 2021

Achieving Price Stability, Hwee Kwan Chow, Taojun Xie

Research Collection School Of Economics

The aim of delivering medium-term price stability is the stated objective of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. To this end, the central bank adopted an unusual exchange rate–based monetary policy framework that has served the economy well over the past decades. However, the shift from the phase of catch-up growth to a mature economy raises the question of whether the current monetary policy framework needs reformulation. Moreover, as global financial integration deepens, surges in cross-border capital flows impact Singapore’s exchange rate and asset prices, which has implications for economic dynamism and inclusion. Since a large and persistent deviation of the …


Providing Childcare, Christine Ho, Sunha Myong Sep 2021

Providing Childcare, Christine Ho, Sunha Myong

Research Collection School Of Economics

Women’s economic empowerment has been hailed as one of the most remarkable revolutions in the past 50 years. Yet, women still face the lion’s share of the burden of childcare despite major progress in their education and earnings capacity. This is particularly salient in many Asian countries. This chapter proposes a synthesis of the state of knowledge on childcare and discusses policy-relevant issues applicable to the Singapore context. Selected policies are documented and lessons from the international landscape are discussed. Raising children incurs both direct costs in the form of childcare and opportunity costs in the form of career costs. …


Covid-19 And The 2020/21 International Moots Season, Siyuan Chen Sep 2021

Covid-19 And The 2020/21 International Moots Season, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This is the seventh annual review of Singapore’s performance in international moot court competitions. While the previous season already felt the ravaging effects of the pandemic, it was more of the same this season, although this time round, all the major competitions were prepared to go online.


Singapore Will Soon Have Workplace Anti-Discrimination Laws: Here’S What You Need To Know, Benjamin Joshua Ong Sep 2021

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.


A Clarion Call For Businesses To Do Right, Tan K. B. Eugene Sep 2021

A Clarion Call For Businesses To Do Right, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally on Sunday signalled a putative shift in the government's policy towards tackling workplace discrimination and supporting lower-wage workers. While the tripartite approach remains the bedrock in industrial relations, the government is prepared to adopt a more muscular approach through regulation by legislation. Businesses must recognise the concerns of workers amid the unpredictable arc of the global pandemic. It cannot be business as usual.


Why 9/11 Matters To Singapore, Tan K. B. Eugene Sep 2021

Why 9/11 Matters To Singapore, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan discussed why 9/11 matters to Singapore. He opined that when it comes to countering the terrorist threat, civil society has an important role to play in strengthening inter-faith engagement and understanding.


Tackling Singapore’S Terrorism Threat: Bringing The People Back In, Tan K. B. Eugene Sep 2021

Tackling Singapore’S Terrorism Threat: Bringing The People Back In, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Eugene K B Tan, Associate Professor of Law at the Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University, considers Singapore’s response to the threat of terrorism following 9/11. This essay is based on an article published in the journal, Law and Policy (2009).


Singapore: National Report For The Global Access To Justice Project, Tan K. B. Eugene Sep 2021

Singapore: National Report For The Global Access To Justice Project, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Global Access to Justice Project is gathering the very latest information on the impact of the world’s major justice systems, analyzing legal, economic, social, cultural and psychological barriers that prevent or inhibit many, and not only the poor, from entering and using the legal system. The country report for Singapore follows the common framework provided by the Global Access to Justice Project Questionnaire.


Singapore In The Global Value Chains, Pao-Li Chang, Tran Bao Phuong Nguyen Sep 2021

Singapore In The Global Value Chains, Pao-Li Chang, Tran Bao Phuong Nguyen

Research Collection School Of Economics

This chapter analyses the participation of Singapore in the global value chains (GVC): how much of its gross exports are GVC-related trade; how downstream it is; and which countries are its key upstream and downstream trade partners. The analysis is carried out both at the country aggregate level and at the sector level. New formulas are proposed in the gross export decomposition framework of Koopman, Wang and Wei (2014) and Borin and Mancini (2017), to characterise a country/industry’s downstreamness in the GVC and the importance of each trade partner in its backward/forward linkages. Singapore started off with a very high …


Sporting Excellence And Ns: Abiding Principles For Rite Of Passage For Singaporean Sons, Tan K. B. Eugene Sep 2021

Sporting Excellence And Ns: Abiding Principles For Rite Of Passage For Singaporean Sons, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan discussed how strict criteria for long-term national service (NS) deferment are necessary and fair to preserve universality and equity for all national servicemen, and must be applied without fear or favour. He explained the principles undergirding NS and gave examples of athletes achieving sporting excellence alongside fulfilling NS duties.


Covid-19 And The 2020/21 International Moots Season, Siyuan Chen Sep 2021

Covid-19 And The 2020/21 International Moots Season, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This is the seventh annual review of Singapore’s performance in international moot court competitions. While the previous season already felt the ravaging effects of the pandemic, it was more of the same this season, although this time round, all the major competitions were prepared to go online.