International and Area Studies Commons^™

The New South Wales Carers’ Responsibilities Act, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center, Georgetown Federal Legislation Clinic

Memos and Fact Sheets

Enacted in 2001, the New South Wales Carers’ Responsibilities Act (“CRA”) prohibits discrimination against employees with caregiver responsibilities and provides access to reasonable flexible work arrangements. Under this law, employees have the right to request accommodations for their carer responsibilities, and employers have an affirmative obligation to consider and grant reasonable accommodations that do not impose an unjustifiable hardship. The affirmative accommodation requirement extends to requests for flexible working hours, working from home (telecommuting), part-time work, and job-share arrangements.

Experimental And Empirical Perspectives On Grid Resource Allocation For The Singapore Market, Danny Oh, Steven Miller, Nan Hu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we describe our work on using the Tycoon system developed by HP Labs to provide a market-based resource allocation and bidding framework for a grid. We discuss how we intend to evaluate the feasibility of the Tycoon system by measuring its economic performance using agent-based simulation experiments for a particular type of grid usage scenario, namely, the digital media market scenario. We will also discuss a related effort in collecting and using real grid data from the National Grid Pilot Platform in Singapore and how we will be using real data collected to derive actual usage patterns …

Strategic Communication In Crisis Governance: Singapore’S Management Of The Sars Crisis, Jin Yan, Augustine Pang, Glen T. Cameron

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The contingency theory of conflict management and current crisis management literature are integrated in this paper to examine how crisis has been communi-cated and managed by the Singapore government and what kinds of strategies arose during the various stages of the SARS crisis life-cycle. Findings show that the Singapore government played a predominant role in managing how its multiple publics perceived the crisis by extensive communication through the news media. The media, in turn, playing a supporting nation-building role, assisted the government's management and communication of the crisis. To effectively manage the perception and emotion of the various public, the …

The Rise In House Prices In China: Bubbles Or Fundamentals?, Jianying Hu, Liangjun Su, Sainan Jin, Wanjun Jiang

Research Collection School Of Economics

The dramatic rise of house prices in many cities of China has brought huge attention from both the governmental and academic circles. There is a huge debate on whether the increasing house prices are driven by market fundamentals or just by speculation. Like Levin and Wright (1997a, 1997b), we decompose house prices in China into fundamental and non−fundamental components. We also consider potential nonlinear feedback from the historical growth rate of house prices on the current house prices and propose a semiparametric approach to estimate the speculative components in the model. We demonstrate that the non−fundamental part contributes a relatively …

Government Ownership And The Performance Of Government-Linked Companies: The Case Of Singapore, James Ang, David K. Ding

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In an emerging economy, the alternative to government control is often no governance. We investigate the governance structure of government-linked companies (GLCs) in Singapore under the ownership/control structure of Temasek Holdings, the government holding entity, which typically owns substantial cash flow rights but disproportional control rights and exercises no operational control. We compare the financial and market performance of GLCs with non-GLCs, where each has a different set of governance structure, the key difference being government ownership. We show that Singaporean GLCs have higher valuations and better corporate governance than a control group of non-GLCs. The results hold even when …

The Subtlety Of Political Risk With Foreign Direct Investment: The Case Of The Vietnamese Sugar Industry, Tom Arnold, Bonnie Buchanan, Janice Lo

Finance Faculty Publications

Political risk entails more than a host country taking advantage of investment from foreign sources. A more subtle form of political risk is attributable to the host government's mismanagement of policies that may be intended to attract foreign direct investment, but may have unintended consequences. A perfect example is the ''One Million Tonne Sugar Program " sponsored by the government of Vietnam during the mid-1990s. What appears to be a very lucrative investment for foreign investors becomes a financial disaster due to the inability of the government to allocate resources efficiently and police its borders from smugglers.

Information Value Of Credit Ratings In Asia Ex-Japan Markets, Chen Zhou

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This study investigates the information value of credit ratings by exploring the relationship between ratings and security price. Unlike previous studies, we concentrate on the major markets ex-Japan in Asia. We begin with an investigation of rating reclassification as well as credit watch placement events by three leading international rating agencies. We show that markets with differing level of sophistication behave differently. Specifically, South Korea and Hong Kong are found to respond in a similar manner. Indonesia shows possible ign of information leakage. In the cases of Malaysia and Thailand, significant and positive equity price responses exist for upgrades, suggesting …

Where Should The Action Be - Inside The Classroom Or Outside The Classroom? A Comparison Of The Action-Learning Outcomes In Singapore, China, Korea, New Zealand And Australia, Jens Mueller, Wee Liang Tan, Hanjun Hu, John Thornton

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

No abstract provided.

Change Leadership In Small Enterprises: Evidence From Singapore, Thomas Menkhoff, Yue Wah Chay

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Leading change processes in an enterprise is a challenge for many entrepreneurs. Numerous elements influence the outcomes of such transformation processes, including the adopted change leadership style, the implementation skills of the entrepreneur, the particular scenario of change in terms of urgency of change and resistance, the scale of change as well as macro variables. This article sheds light on the change leadership approaches of small Chinese entrepreneurs in Singapore. It aims at examining widespread common-sense assumptions that æAsianÆ small entrepreneurs adopt mostly directive-coercive (autocratic) change leadership approaches. We argue that there is indeed a great diversity and heterogeneity amongst …

E-Government Capabilities And Crisis Management: Lessons From Combating Sars In Singapore, Shan Ling Pan, Gary Pan, Paul R. Devadoss

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The city-state of Singapore has been highly ranked for its e-government services. Over the past two decades, it has leveraged its IT infrastructure for economic development and transformed its public services. The SARS outbreak in 2004 turned into a national health crisis because it spread rapidly and the medical community had little knowledge of how to treat the new mutation of the corona virus. Yet, several Singaporean government agencies utilized the e-Government infrastructure and related resources to quickly bring the outbreak under control. In particular, the government?s IT infrastructure streamlined communications, information exchange, and data flow, and significantly eased collaboration …

Using Community Service Projects To Teach Leadership And Team-Building: Theoretical Foundations, Students' Reactions And Practical Considerations, Gilbert Tan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper discusses the theoretical foundations of utilizing Community Service Project (CSP) or service-learning to teach Leadership and Team-Building. It examines the students’ reactions to this innovative method of instruction. This is done through conducting a content analysis of students’ learning journals, in which students reflect on their CSP learning experiences. Two themes emerged from the data: (a) variety of learning experiences, and (b) impact of CSP experience. The data suggested that students derived a variety of learning experiences from the CSP. In addition, there were attitudinal and learning impacts associated with the CSP experiences. The paper also outlines some …

Fostering Total Wellness Through Peer Helping: Reflections On The Smu Experiences, Gilbert Tan, Timothy Hsi

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Peer Helping is widely implemented in Colleges and Universities in the United States and Canada. Despite the popularity of these programs, very little has been researched on peer helping in the Asian context. This paper traces the theoretical foundations of peer helping and the nascent development of a peer helping program in the Singapore Management University and how this program has developed since the beginning of 2004. The initial focus of the program was based on the model of paraprofessional student counselors assisting their fellow peers through difficult moments in their lives. Over time, the program was fine-tuned to embrace …

The Emergence Of Corporate Forms In China, 1872- 1949. An Analysis On Institutional Transformation, Wai Keung Chung

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

To Pete Or Not To Pete: Review Of The Practical Entrepreneurship Teaching Engagement (Pete) Model To Produce Practically Relevant Entrepreneurial Learning: A Comparison Of The Effectiveness Of Action-Learning In Entrepreneurship In Singapore, China, Korea, New Zealand And Australia, Jens Mueller, John Thornton, Joe Dewberry, Wee Liang Tan, Hanjun Hu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Purpose: To discuss the effectiveness of a sustainable entrepreneurship training program in several countries in Asia, used by global firms to identify junior management talent, by applying the PETE model of creating an engaging action-learning program. Design/Methodology/Approach: Current literature is reviewed to make a case for the applicability of action-learning based entrepreneurship training. The results of interviews with more than 20 senior level managers of multi-national corporations in 5 Asian countries are compared to self-evaluations of more than 300 student participants and more than 30 faculty evaluations of the program. We use the Practical Entrepreneurship Teaching Engagement (PETE) model to …

The Viability Of Stimulating Technology-Oriented Entrepreneurial Activity In China, Taiwan, Japan, And South Korea: How Regulations And Culture Encourage The Creation, Development And Exploitation Of Intellectual Property, Matthew L. Goldberg

Brigham Young University International Law & Management Review

No abstract provided.

Understanding Interpersonal Trust In A Confucian-Influenced Society: An Exploratory Study, Hwee Hoon Tan, Dave Chee

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Adopting a qualitative methodology, this exploratory study examined the construct of trust and its factors of trustworthiness as perceived in a Confucian-influenced society. The findings of our study indicated that there are emic differences in the meaning of trust as perceived in a Confucian-influenced setting. Specifically, we found a heavy reliance on affective factors of trustworthiness in the decision to trust. In addition, we found a number of factors unique to the context that facilitates the development of trust: diligence, perseverance, filial piety, thriftiness, respect for authority, a shared value of collective effort, harmonious relationship in the office, humbleness and …

Enclaves For Enterprise: An Empirical Study Of Singapore's Industrial Parks In Indonesia, Vietnam And China, Caroline Yeoh, Wilfred Pow Ngee How, Ai Lin Leong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The dynamics of globalization have prompted governments to re-examine accustomed policies, and search for alternative strategies, in order to re-position their economies for the future. This paper explores the spatial context of state involvement in the new economics of competition, with the focus on Singapore’s much publicized, and controversial, orchestration of its state enterprise network to encapsulate economic space for Singapore-based firms to expand into the Asian region. This strategic initiative is promulgated on the exportability of Singapore’s ‘state credibility’, systemic and operational efficiencies, and technological competencies, to locations where these attributes are less certain. A logit model is applied …

Re-Engineering Economic Space: The Case Of Singapore's Transborder Industrialization 'Experiments' In Asia, Caroline Yeoh, Wilfred Pow Ngee How, Di Kun Goh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

No abstract provided.

Staying Ahead Of The Competition: Insights From Singapore's Manufacturing Enclave In Vietnam, Caroline Yeoh, Di Kun Goh, Wilfred Pow Ngee How

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The apparent success of Singapore-styled industrial parks in attracting foreign investments into the emerging Asian economies to capitalize on cheap and abundant resources has led, pari passu, to a mushrooming of similarly-patterned competitor parks in close proximity to the flagship projects. Many of the competitor parks offer either similar or comparable facilities, lower rates, or, in some cases, both. The ensuing dynamic competitive interactions between the competitor parks and the Singapore-styled parks have forced a re-examination of the viability of the Singapore advantage in navigating the economics of competition, and in sustaining competitive advantage. The Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP), unsurprisingly, …

The Korean Language And The Effects Of Its Honorifics System In Advertising: Deferential Vs. Informal Speech As Regulatory Prime On Persuasive Impact, Jin K. Han, Yong Seok Sohn, Kun Woo Yoo

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

A very prominent feature of the Korean language is its extensive honorifics system, where the speaker is obliged to adopt a level of speech (deferential vs. informal) befitting the status of the target audience. As the context for using deferential (informal) speech parallels the setting for prevention (promotion) focus, we set out to examine whether the Korean honorifics system itself functions as a natural prime for regulatory orientation. In Study 1, we find that deferential (informal) speech style activates prevention (promotion) focus in the addressee. Accordingly, we show that ad copies in deferential (informal) speech style resulted in regulatory fit …

Exporting Expertise: Singapore's Gambit In Vietnam Revisited, Caroline Yeoh, Ai Lin Leong, Xun Cai

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Infrastructure can be unreliable and administration subject to corruption in Asia’s rapidly emerging economies. This context presented Singapore with unique opportunities to export its expertise to locations where these attributes are less certain, through the provision of superior infrastructure, the ability to negotiate investment concessions and, where existing, through the links to influential business groups in the investment location. This strategic initiative is further premised on the perception that Singapore’s positive reputation with multinationals, as well as ‘guanxi’, or connections, with Asian business networks, will give the industrial-township projects a marketing advantage. Their progress is a litmus test of Singapore’s …

Subethnische Dimensionen Des Veraenderungsmanagements In Asiatischen Klein- Und Mittelunternehmen: Trends In Singapur, Ulrike Badibanga, Thomas Menkhoff

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Against the background of a rapidly changing business environment, the article examines the organisational change management behavior of the owner-managers of small and medium-sized enterprises in Singapore. The analysis of survey data is aimed at ascertain whether there are any differences between Chinese and English-educated small (Chinese) businessmen in terms of Change Management (CM), a dichotomy which is of great historical and politico-cultural significance in Singapore. The survey data show that there are indeed differences between the subgroups (e.g. with regard to the initiation of a more participatory people management style) but these variations turned out to be far less …

The Impact Of Ownership Structure On Wage Intensity In Japanese Corporations, Toru Yoshikawa, Phillip H. Phan, Parthiban David

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The authors studied the effect of ownership structure on human capital investments as indicated by wage intensity, defined as the ratio of expenditure on employee wages to sales, in a sample of 996 Japanese manufacturing firms during their economic recession of 1998-2002. They found that domestic shareholders, with interests beyond financial considerations, enhance wage intensity, especially when performance is low, and thereby safeguard human capital investments. Foreign shareholders with sole interest in financial returns have an opposite effect; they reduce wage intensity when firm performance is low.

The Effects Of Ownership And Capital Structure On Board Composition And Strategic Diversification In Japanese Corporations, Toru Yoshikawa, Phillip H. Phan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The board of directors plays an important role in solving the agency problem between shareholders and management. This paper investigates the relationships between ownership and board structure with the diversification strategy of large Japanese firms. The results show that corporate nominee directors are associated with lower levels of product diversification of their investee firms. This suggests that nominee directors in large Japanese corporations see themselves representing specific interests and therefore investors should pay attention to board composition in order to assess the level of protection they can expect to receive. Even without any apparent agency problem with management, there remains …

Corporate Divestitures And Spinoffs In Singapore, Francis Koh, Winston T. H. Koh, Benedict S. K. Koh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper discusses the different forms of corporate divestitures, the motives for this corporate activity, and the empirical findings about their economic outcomes. A sample of corporate divestitures is also used to identify the main motivations in the Singapore context. We conclude that divestitures are carried out to achieve operational efficiency and gain incremental profitability and liquidity. Using share price data around the event-dates, we show that announcements of divestitures generally lead to significant increases in the returns of the parent company. The positive abnormal returns are related to the relative size of the divestitures and the computed accounting gains. …

The Performance Of Value And Growth Portfolios In East Asia Before The Asian Financial Crisis, David K. Ding, Jia-Leng Chua, Thomas A. Fetherston

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We examine value and growth portfolios in seven East Asian countries just before the onslaught of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. The value premiums in these countries, except in Indonesia, Taiwan, and Thailand, are found to be mainly positive. After controlling for firm size, risk, liquidity, and growth potential, we find higher returns among value stocks with a small firm size and low growth potential in Hong Kong and Malaysia. In Japan and Singapore, higher returns are found in growth portfolios with a small firm size and low growth potential. Growth stocks in Taiwan with a small firm size, and …

Competing At The Frontier: The Changing Role Of Technology Policy In Singapore's Economic Strategy, Winston T. H. Koh, Poh Kam Wong

Research Collection School Of Economics

For an economy competing at the global frontier, an innovation-based growth strategy requires a well-developed technological infrastructure, a set of capabilities-focused technology policies, as well as an institutional environment that stimulates innovation and entrepreneurship. This paper examines the role played by science and technology policy in an economy's transition to an innovation-based growth strategy. We discuss the challenges governments face as they restructure economic institutions to deepen R&D capabilities and encourage technology creation. We review Singapore's experience in this regard and assess its ongoing efforts to remake itself to compete at the global frontier.

Disproportionate Ownership Structure And Ipo Long-Run Performance Of Non-Soes In China, Xiaoming Wang, Jerry Cao, Jinghua Tang, Gary Gang Tian

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper examines the relationship between ownership structures and IPO long-run performance of non-SOEs in China. Although non-SOEs underperform the market in general after IPO but the poor performance is mainly caused by the IPOs with ownership control wedge. Non-SOEs with one share one vote structure outperform those with control-ownership wedge by 30% for three years post-IPO performance in adjusted buy-and-hold returns. Non-SOEs with control-ownership wedge have higher frequency of undertaking value-destroying related party transactions. These findings suggest that non-SOEs need to improve corporate governance such as disproportionate ownership structure to better safeguard the interest of long-run shareholders.

La Alianza Cubano-Venezolana:¿”Neobolivarianismo Emancipador” O Expansión Del Totalitarismo?, Hernán Yánez

Institute for Cuban & Cuban-American Studies Occasional Papers

El estudio examina algunos de los antecedentes, así como los principales fundamentos ideológicos y de pragmatismo político que subyacen en la nueva alianza cubanovenezolana, incluido el eje político continental que Castro y Chávez intentan consolidar ahora en América Latina, según los lineamientos de un “nuevo mapa estratégico” y el financiamiento básicamente proveniente de la llamada diplomacia del petróleo de Hugo Chávez. Se subrayan ciertas coincidencias con el caso cubano, presentes en los métodos y secuencia para el ascenso al poder por Hugo Chávez, aportando además elementos de juicio sobre las etapas más tempranas de la colaboración del régimen de Castro …

The Cuba-Venezuela Alliance: “Emancipatory Neo-Bolivarismo” Or Totalitarian Expansion?, Hernán Yánez

Institute for Cuban & Cuban-American Studies Occasional Papers

This study examines the background as well as the ideological foundations underpinning the Cuba-Venezuela alliance. Castro and Chavez are now trying to consolidate a new political axis in Latin America, funded by Chavez’ oil diplomacy. Similarities with the Cuban experiment are highlighted, as well as Castro’s collaboration with the leadership of the Movimiento Revolucionario Bolivariano-MBR 200. The various dimensions of the cooperation between Venezuela and Cuba are explored, with emphasis on its political objectives and impact on each country. Following are some of the main conclusions of the study:

• Venezuela is providing in excess of 90,000 barrels of petroleum …