Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Power Of Identity Cues In Text-Based Customer Service: Evidence From Twitter, Yang Gao, Huaxia Rui, Shujing Sun

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Text-based customer service is emerging as an important channel through which companies can assist customers. However, the use of few identity cues may cause customers to feel limited social presence and even suspect the human identity of agents, especially in the current age of advanced algorithms. Does such a lack of social presence affect service interactions? We studied this timely question by evaluating the impact of customers’ perceived social presence on service outcomes and customers’ attitudes toward agents. Our identification strategy hinged on Southwest Airlines’ sudden requirement to include a first name in response to service requests on Twitter, which …

Literature Review In The Generative Ai Era: How To Make A Compelling Contribution, Shan L. Pan, Rohit Nishant, Tuure Tuunanen, Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

As we write this editorial for this special issue, we are amidst the significant technological changes that are continuing to shape society. Since the emergence of ChatGPT in November 2022, humanity has become aware of the potential of generative AI (i.e., AI that can generate content) and large language models (LLMs) (i.e., AI models trained on a massive corpus of unstructured data). There is growing debate and discussion about the promise and perils of generative AI for the future of work, and academia is not immune. Premier journals in the IS domain, such as Information Systems Research, have published editorials …

Advancing And Championing Research: Research Librarians At Smu Libraries, Lip Hwee Tee, Benedict Yeo, Redzuan Abdullah

Research Collection Library

The presenters discuss the critical value that research librarians bring to the research ecosystem of a university. This overview highlights key responsibilities and functions undertaken by research librarians. In their muti-faceted contributions, research librarians provide well-rounded support to the university, across all user segments, in areas of education and research.

Further to that, Research Librarians lead or contribute as key members to strategic developments and service innovations. These include the development of a systematic literature review support service, setup and expansion of an Investment and Data Studio, and research support in SMU’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.

E-Dsge Model With Endogenous Capital Utilization Rate, Ying Tung Chan, Maria Teresa Punzi

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

Environmental policy research has increased due to stricter policies aligned with climate goals. However, to achieve the goal of net-zero emissions, the adoption of even stronger policies and increased carbon taxes is necessary, with transition risk becoming a major concern for companies. Even though governments worldwide have been employing a range of methods such as carbon tax, cap-and-trade, and intensity targets to mitigate the impact of climate change, a pivotal debate around determining the optimal policy that reduces emissions without harming the economy continues. Our paper delves into the environmental policy assessment emphasizing the role of endogenous capital utilization rates, …

Rapidill Experience Sharing: The Smu Libraries Story, Kai Leong Heng, Vincent Ong

Research Collection Library

No abstract provided.

Smu Redefines Lifelong Learning With Innovative Stackable, Applied Industry Practice Master, Singapore Management University

SMU Press Releases and News

Singapore Management University (SMU) will soon introduce a new educational offering – Industry Practice Master programme (行业实践硕士课程) – through its professional training arm, SMU Academy. For a start, SMU Academy will offer the Industry Practice Master of Digital Economy with two track specialisations - Data Protection and Data Governance, and Digital Supply Chain and Intelligence. SMU is the first university in Singapore to launch a stackable postgraduate programme that focuses on practical application. The programme also stands out for its emphasis on flexible learning, personalised learning, integrated SMU-employer partnership, and experiential and work-based learning; furthermore, lifelong learning coaches will also …

Neighbourhood Satisfaction And Networks Among Older Adults In Singapore, Rachel Ngu, Micah Tan, William Tov

ROSA Research Briefs

The built and social environment surrounding one’s place of residence is an important factor that shapes well-being and quality of life. This is especially so for older adults as their sphere of mobility decreases and their functional capacity may decline as they age, making their immediate environment more vital in shaping their lives. Studies have established the importance and impact of the physical environment on health and well-being of older adults across various communities (Addae-Dapaah 2008; Alidoust and Bosman 2015; Gale et al. 2011; Oswald et al. 2007). A study on older adults in Singapore found that living environment and …

Key Determinants Of Life Satisfaction In Older Adults, Barry Nuqoba, Yi Wen Tan, Yen Cong Wong, Wensi Lim

ROSA Research Briefs

Life satisfaction constitutes a fundamental facet of wellbeing, exerting an influence on an individual's mental and emotional state (Zissi & Barry, 2006). Among older adults, elevated levels of life satisfaction are frequently linked to a more optimistic outlook, contributing to improved health and resilience (Khodabakhsh, 2022; Zheng, Huang, & Fu, 2020). This in turn enhances societal involvement, both in the professional and social domains (Khodabakhsh, 2022). It is also vital to acknowledge that life satisfaction is a multifaceted construct, intricately influenced by an array of external and internal determinants. Life satisfaction is essentially a subjective judgement and assessment of one’s …

Does Fertility Matter For Middle Aged And Older Adults’ Risk Attitudes?, Christine Ho, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, Joanne Tan, Eugene Rui Le Tan

Research Collection School Of Economics

Given that risk attitudes influence many decisions, it is important to understand the factors that shape such attitudes in late adulthood, when individuals face important risky decisions. While research finds that parenthood tends to correlate with lower risk tolerance in western countries, there is a lacuna on whether such associations persist in late adulthood, and are applicable to the Asian context, where children are conventionally considered a linchpin of old age support. Data for middle aged and older individuals come from the nationwide Singapore Life Panel (N = 6,740). Multivariate statistical analyses are employed to estimate the associations between willingness …

A Study On The Effect Of Confucian Culture On The Work Enthusiasm Of Enterprise Employees, Mei Xu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Confucianism represents the core of Chinese philosophical ideologies and values, often regarded as the “root” and “source” of Chinese culture. Its influence extends beyond the realm of culture, imparting enduring impacts on the ethical and behavioral norms of Chinese individuals and organizations (Ip, 2009). Xue and Liu (2009) remarked, “It may seem as though the shadow of traditional Confucian culture has faded from view, but regardless of whether one acknowledges it or not, it remains deeply ingrained in the heart of every Chinese individual, serving as the foundation of the Chinese nation.” As a rising economic power, China’s market mechanisms …

Spatial Disaggregation Of Poverty And Disability: Application To Tanzania, Tomoki Fujii

Research Collection School Of Economics

Estimating poverty measures for disabled people in developing countries is often difficult, partly because relevant data are not readily available. We extend the small-area estimation developed by Elbers, Lanjouw and Lanjouw (2002, 2003) to estimate poverty by the disability status of the household head, when the disability status is unavailable in the survey. We propose two alternative approaches to this extension: Aggregation and Instrumental Variables Approaches. We apply these approaches to data from Tanzania and show that both approaches work. Our estimation results show that disability is indeed positively associated with poverty in every region of mainland Tanzania.

3 Groundless Myths That Get In The Way Of Workforce Inclusivity, Kenneth T. Goh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship (Education) Kenneth Goh discussed and debunked three groundless myths that get in the way of workforce inclusivity. He also called for companies to seek expert advice from relevant agencies and explore partnerships with institutions of higher learning, such as SMU, to pursue inclusivity in a sustainable manner. He added that SMU provides its students opportunities to work with companies and examine the feasibility of their inclusivity initiatives as part of their coursework.

Trait Self-Control, Emotions, And Openness To Alternative Viewpoints, Ming-Hong Tsai, Norman P. Li

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We examined openness to alternative viewpoints as an unexplored consequence of trait self-control. We conducted three studies to investigate the relationship between trait self-control and openness to alternative viewpoints during situations with different opinions and to explore various emotions as potential mediators of this relationship. Our results demonstrated a positive relationship between trait self-control and openness, and this relationship was mediated by decreased anger and increased emotions with positive valence, including attentiveness and serenity. In addition, trait self-control was negatively related to fatigue, but the relationship between fatigue and openness was not consistently significant across the studies. These findings clarify …

Common Bubble Detection In Large Dimensional Financial Systems, Ye Chen, Peter C. B. Phillips, Shuping Shi

Research Collection School Of Economics

Price bubbles in multiple assets are sometimes nearly coincident in occurrence. Such near-coincidence is strongly suggestive of co-movement in the associated asset prices and is likely driven by certain factors that are latent in the financial or economic system with common effects across several markets. Can we detect the presence of such common factors at the early stages of their emergence? To answer this question, we build a factor model that includes I(1), mildly explosive, and stationary factors to capture normal, exuberant, and collapsing phases in such phenomena. The I(1) factor models the primary driving force of market fundamentals. The …

Compensation Thresholds For Collective Sales: Singapore & Australia Compared, Seng Wei, Edward Ti

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Strata titles are a critically important Australian legal export. New South Wales’ (NSW) strata legislation has been particularly influential, having been adopted in numerous jurisdictions, including Singapore in 1967. As a statutory framework, strata law solves the problem of ‘floating freeholds’ by creating indefeasible ownership of individual units in a building, guides owners in managing the development, and sets out the dispute resolution process when disagreements occur. In an increasing number of jurisdictions (including Singapore and three states in Australia), strata legislation also enables the strata scheme to be terminated and sold for redevelopment where the requisite majority, as opposed …

What Drives The Perceived Legitimacy Of Collaborative Governance? An Experimental Study, Seulki Lee, Marc Esteve

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This study explores the perceived legitimacy of collaborative governance from a citizens’ perspective. We use a preregistered online survey experiment to test the effect of three factors—representation, performance information, and issue complexity—on the perceived legitimacy of a collaboration. Findings from 1,470 U.S. respondents show that representation and positive performance information influence citizens’ perceptions of collaborative governance legitimacy, while issue complexity has little impact. Additionally, heterogeneous treatment effects were found: respondents with low trust in public organizations factor representation more into their legitimacy perceptions of collaborative governance, while those with high trust in public organizations show little influence of representation.

Vehicle Routing Problem With Parcel Locker And Public Transportation: Goods Delivery Using Mass-Rapid-Transit System, Pham K.M. Nguyen, Vincent F. Yu, Aldy Gunawan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The logistics industry is experiencing significant transformations with the emergence of modern technologies, well-established civil infrastructure, and mixed transportation methods. These changes are driven by the increase in mobility, sustainability, and eco-friendliness of logistics processes. As a result, recent works have focused on incorporating mixed fleets and omnichannel systems to the original vehicle routing problem which boosts the delivery system's efficiency, effectiveness, reliability, and customer satisfaction while reducing operational costs simultaneously. We augment the existing studies by proposing a new mathematical model that combines common mass rapid transit systems and delivery fleets to solve the traditional vehicle routing problem with …

Mobilizing For Elections: Patronage And Political Machines In Southeast Asia, Sebastian Carl Dettman

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Mobilizing for Elections is an exciting and ambitious mapping of the contours of modern patronage in the region. The book provides a conceptual framework to understand patronage in the context of electoral mobilization and answers a variety of questions about the mechanics and patterns of patronage in Southeast Asia: what kinds of patronage are distributed and how, the response of voters to patronage, and variation within and across the cases they consider. The authors examine patterns of what they call “electoral mobilization regimes” in three primary cases: Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, with additional evidence provided from Singapore, Thailand, and …

Time To Rethink Higher Education In Singapore And Set Our Own Agenda, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In a commentary, SMU President Professor Lily Kong discussed the need to rethink higher education in Singapore and set an impact agenda for Singapore and the region, instead of benchmarking achievements against universities elsewhere. She called for institutes of higher learning to start focusing on research and partnerships that can make a difference to the region.

Gender Bias In Cultural Tightness Across The 50 U.S. States And Its Links To Gender Inequality In Leadership And Innovation, Xin Qin, Roy Y. J. Chua, Ling Tan, Wanlu Li, Chen Chen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Cultural tightness theory, which holds that “tight” cultures have rigid norms and sanctions, provides unique insights into cultural variations. However, current theorizing has not analyzed gender differences in cultural tightness. Addressing this gap, this research shows that women are more constrained than men by norms within the same society. By recruiting 15,425 respondents, we mapped state-level gender bias in cultural tightness across the United States. Variability in gender bias in cultural tightness was associated with state-level socio-political factors (religion and political ideology) and gender-related threats. Gender bias in cultural tightness was positively associated with state-level gender inequality in (business and …

Effects Of A Mindfulness-Based Leadership Training On Leadership Behaviors And Effectiveness, Nina Tan, Eva Katharina Peters, Jochen Reb

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Objectives: Organizations increasingly integrate mindfulness elements into their leadership development. However, there is limited evidence supporting the efficacy of mindfulness-based leadership training (MBLT) due to a scarcity of intervention studies. Theoretically, little is known about mediating mechanisms through which MBLT might affect leadership effectiveness. Thus, this research examined whether MBLT can improve leadership effectiveness and whether leadership behaviors mediated this effect.MethodsWe conducted a quasi-experimental study conducted in a real-world setting with an active control condition. Sixty leaders from various industries participated in either a 2-day intensive MBLT workshop followed by three individual coaching sessions over 3 months, or a presentation …

3 Groundless Myths That Get In The Way Of Workforce Inclusivity, Kenneth T. Goh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship (Education) Kenneth Goh discussed and debunked three groundless myths that get in the way of workforce inclusivity. He also called for companies to seek expert advice from relevant agencies and explore partnerships with institutions of higher learning, such as SMU, to pursue inclusivity in a sustainable manner. He added that SMU provides its students opportunities to work with companies and examine the feasibility of their inclusivity initiatives as part of their coursework.

Overcoming Procrastination: Time Pressure And Positive Affect As Compensatory Routes To Action, Jana Kuhnel, Ronald Bledow, Angela Kuonath

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The current work seeks to identify factors that support action initiation from the theoretical lens of self-regulation. Specifically, we focus on factors that reduce procrastination, the delay of the initiation or completion of activities. We draw from action control theory and propose that positive affect operates as a personal and time pressure as a situational factor that unblock routes to action. High positive affect makes people less prone to procrastination because positive affect reduces behavioral inhibition and facilitates the enactment of intentions. By contrast, when positive affect is low, people depend on time pressure as an action facilitating stimulus. We …

An Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search For Heterogeneous Vehicle Routing Problem With Time Windows, Minh Pham Kien Nguyen, Aldy Gunawan, Vincent F. Yu, Mustafa Misir

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The heterogeneous vehicle routing problem with time windows (HVRPTW) employs various vehicles with different capacities to serve upcoming pickup and delivery orders. We introduce a HVRPTW variant for reflecting the practical needs of crowd-shipping by considering the mass-rapid-transit stations, as the additional terminal points. A mixed integer linear programming model is formulated. An Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search based meta-heuristic is also developed by utilizing a basic probabilistic selection strategy, i.e. roulette wheel, and Simulated Annealing. The proposed approach is empirically evaluated on a new set of benchmark instances. The computational results revealed that ALNS shows its clear advantage on the …

The Analysis Of Extended Producer Responsibility (Epr) For E-Waste Management Policy Drivers And Challenges In Singapore, Aldy Gunawan, Tasaporn Visawameteekul, Aidan Marc Wong, Linh Chi Tran

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper examines Singapore’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for managing e-waste, focusing on policy drivers, challenges, and young consumers’ attitudes through an online survey. Using the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), it models the relationships between awareness, norms, and perceived convenience. Findings emphasize the need for tailored policies, formal recycling promotion, and analysis of disposal factors, cost preferences, and incentives. Text analysis also highlights concerns from respondents’ recommendations.

Future-Proofing Companies With Climate Strategies, Sim Kee Boon Institute, Smu Office Of Research

Research@SMU Infographics

Scientists have shown that humans significantly contributed to global warming through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the last two centuries. The 2022 United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP27) and 2022 UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) focused on setting goals and collective action to address and reverse these negative consequences. Climate and sustainability experts discussed key insights from COP27 and COP15 at a recent panel discussion organized by the Sim Kee Boon Institute (SKBI) at SMU.

The (Simp)Le Truth About Excessive & Obsessive Romantic Behaviors In Men, Daniel Ho

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

There has been a growing trend in mainstream media of certain individuals being termed as simps, generally recognized as people who engage in costly or extravagant romantic behaviors toward a romantic interest, but are often met with no reciprocation. It is suggested that simping behaviors appear to be an evolutionarily maladaptive mating strategy where individuals engage in excessive and obsessive behaviors when pursuing a romantic interest. The current research aimed to explore this phenomenon, to identify specific traits and characteristics that are typical of simps and simping behavior. Across a set of two studies comprising an act nomination and act …

What Might David Do In The Face Of Goliath? The Effects Of Height On Status-Signaling Behaviours In Males, Nicole Ruiying Chen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

While the extant literature has looked mainly at how attractive, opposite-sex stimuli impacts our behaviour, much less is known regarding how exposure to same-sex stimuli may also wield influence on human behaviors. Proffering an evolutionary-based perspective, this study aims to investigate, in a sample of heterosexual males, how exposure to taller same-sex stimuli will differentially influence conspicuous status-signaling behaviors of shorter males compared to taller males, in the context of a mating motive. Two competing hypotheses are proposed: (1) shorter males will display greater conspicuous status-signaling compared to taller males in the presence of a tall male confederate and (2) …

Expressed Humility In Inter-Organization Interactions: Why And When Boundary-Spanning Leaders’ Expressed Humility Can Promote Partner Cooperation Commitment, Wenhao Yang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In an organization, expressing humility can promote more meaningful and satisfying relationships with others. Given its potentially positive effects, researchers have been interested in studying the promotion and management of expressed humility for decades. Although there is some literature on the mechanism of expressing humility within an organization, none of them has pointed out the positive effects of expressed humility between organizations represented by their boundary-spanning leaders. Specially, no research efforts have been devoted to understanding how expressed humility between partners affects the economic behavior and outcomes of organizations and when it is effective for positive effects.

In this paper, …

Search Models Of Money: Alternative Means-Of Payment And Consumer Behaviour With Credit, Kheng Tat Marcus Tan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation consists of three chapters on Search Models of Money.

The first chapter is a review of recent advances in Search Models of Money. It reviews the Lagos and Wright (2005) framework which is the workhorse of many modern search models with applications to models with Competing Media of Exchange to Fiat Currency, and models with Money and Credit. We trace the history of the development of search models of money from the first generation to present day. We highlight recent developments that address puzzles such as the coexistence of money in an environment where an asset serves as …