Asian Studies Commons^™

Strengthening Social Fabric And Quality Of Life, Singapore Management University

Research Collection Office of Research

In this booklet, read about our research in the area of “Strengthening Social Fabric and Quality of Life”.

Contents:

Well-being of People, Groups, Organisations, Societies

• Serving the Underserved
• Does Family Background Affect Socioeconomic Mobility?
• Becoming a Happy Analyst
• Effective Childcare Subsidies
• Birds of a Feather Flock Together

Successful Ageing of People, of Populations

• Economic and Social Aspects of Ageing Successfully
• Exploring the Effectiveness of Smart Technologies in Eldercare
• Keeping our Silver Edge Sharp
• Sleep Quality & Dementia

Social Inclusion, Exclusion, Inequality

• The Helping Hand of Diversity
• Protecting Vulnerable Adults
• Finding the Path to an Inclusive Society
• Well-being of Singapore Youth …

Government Initiatives May Dovetail With Companies' Sustainability Reporting, Cecilia Tortajada, Wee-Kiat Lim, Ishaan Bindal

CCX Research

In a commentary, Associate Director of SMU’s Centre for Management Practice Lim Wee Kiat, together with Cecilia Tortajada from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and Ishaan Bindal from the Institute of Water Policy, noted that research has indicated that “sustainability reporting is somewhat stalled when it comes to driving impact”, and discussed the options to sustainability reporting. They also shared about their findings in their ongoing research on sustainability reporting which includes reviews of reports from 2014 by companies listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), to explain how PUB's efforts may dovetail with SGX's on sustainability reporting.

Audit Profession Must Rid ‘Overworked, Underpaid’ Image To Attract Best Talent, Chi Kwan Yuen, Gary Pan, Clarence Goh

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Many accounting graduates are deterred from joining the audit profession because of the perception that auditors are lowly-paid and made to work long hours.

Helping The Singapore Arts Sector Survive The Covid-19 Crisis, Su Fern Hoe

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

From online art classes to livestreaming performances and collective singing to cheer frontline healthcare workers, people across the globe are turning to the arts for much-needed connection and comfort amid the Covid-19 crisis.

Green Bonds For Financing Renewable Energy And Energy Efficiency In South-East Asia: A Review Of Policies, Dina Azhgaliyeva, Anant Kapoor, Yang Liu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Mobilizing private finance for renewable energy and energy efficiency is critical for Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) not only for the reduction of global temperature rise but also for meeting fast-growing energy demand. Two-thirds of green bonds issued in ASEAN were used to finance renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. This paper provides a review of green bond issuance and green bond policies in ASEAN. Issuance of green bonds in top three green bond issuing countries in ASEAN, i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, are reviewed in detail. Green bond policies in ASEAN are effective in promoting green bond issuance. …

Covid-19 Hr Challenge: Lessons From Vigilant Singaporeans, Richard R. Smith

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Lessons from Singapore that may benefit global HR business leaders in caring for the health and well-being of the workforce during this challenging time.

Emotions In Social Media: An Analysis Of Tweet Responses To Mh370 Search Suspension Announcement, Su Lin Yeo, Augustine Pang, Michelle L. F. Cheong, Tye Shi Jerome Quincy Yeo

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Considered one of the deadliest incidents in the history of aviation crises and labelled a “continuing mystery,” the ongoing search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 offers no closure. With endless media attention, and negative reactions of stakeholders to every decision made by the airline, this study investigates the types of emotions found in social media posted by publics to the MH370 search suspension announcement. It content analyzed 5,062 real-time tweet messages guided by the revised integrated crisis mapping model. Our findings indicated that, in addition to the four original emotions posited, there was a fifth emotion because of …

Can Influencer Marketing Make Herbal Tea Cool?, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

A Singapore-based influencer marketing platform is tasked with the equivalent of trying to “sell bell-bottoms to Millennials”

Customer Satisfaction Index Of Singapore 2019: Full Year Overview, Institute Of Service Excellence, Smu

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

The Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) computes customer satisfaction scores at the national, sector, sub-sector, and company levels. The CSISG serves as a quantitative benchmark of the quality of goods and services produced by the Singapore economy over time and across countries. The fourth quarter results mark the end of measurement for CSISG 2019. Singapore’s 2019 national score was computed using the data collected during these four quarters.

Csisg Fieldwork Methodology Whitepaper, Institute Of Service Excellence, Smu

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

Comparisons of Results and Respondent Demographic Profiles between Interviewer Administered Face-to-face Survey and Respondent Self-administered Online Survey for the Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG)

Tackling Regional Climate Change Impacts And Food Security Issues: A Critical Analysis Across Asean, Pif, And Saarc, Md. Saidul Islam, Edson Kieu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Climate change and food security issues are multi-faceted and transcend across national boundaries. Therefore, this paper begins with the premise that regional organizations are optimally positioned to address climate change and food security issues while actively engaging global partners to slow down or reverse current trajectories. However, the potential of regional organizations to play a central role in mitigating these vital concerns has not been realized. In this paper, we focus on three regional organizations—the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and set out to investigate …

A Multimodal Analysis Using An Exemplar From Japanese Television Advertising, Noel Murray

Business Faculty Articles and Research

A multimodal analysis is used to investigate for the presence of situated meanings of uchi/soto in Japanese advertising. The analysis supports the proposition that discourses of gendered relations of uchi/soto may be found in contemporary Japanese television advertising. The article argues that relations of uchi/soto provide a unique window into Japanese consumption behavior. I advocate for multimodal critical discourse analysis as a preferred methodology and theoretical framework for multimodal advertising research applications. I discuss social and economic implications of reproducing gendered relations of uchi/soto in advertising and offer suggestions for future research on situated meanings.

Brain Drain: The Impact Of Air Pollution On Firm Performance, Shuyu Xue, Bohui Zhang, Xiaofeng Zhao

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

By exploiting the exogenous variation in air pollution caused by China’s central heating policy, we find that air pollution reduces the accumulation of executive talent and high-quality employees. We also find that firms located in polluted areas have poorer performance, especially for firms with greater dependence on human capital.

Strategic Intent Of Obor: Enhancing Energy Supply Resilience, Loon Ching Tang, Joyce M. W. Low

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Since the launch of the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative in 2015, China has announced its intention to invest in major infrastructure projects to promote trade and co-operation with its trading partners along OBOR. This paper examines the current level of trading and key projects underway along OBOR so as to provide insights to understand its strategic intent. In particular, a network model is constructed to analyze the impact to China current and future demand for energy under various conditions especially during prolonged periods of supply uncertainties. Since these key projects are closely connected to the current and proven …

Superstition, Conspicuous Spending, And Housing Market: Evidence From Singapore, Jia He, Haoming Liu, Tien Foo Sing, Changcheng Song, Wei-Kang Wong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We study the effect of superstition and conspicuous spending motives on housing demand and price in Singapore. We find that buyers pay less for homes with unlucky addresses and more for homes with lucky addresses. There were fewer housing transactions on inauspicious days of the lunar calendar when people are advised to avoid making major economic decisions. This suggests that superstitious belief still affects economic activities. The demand for lucky addresses is also weaker on these inauspicious days, suggesting that superstitious belief indeed affects the demand for lucky addresses. Moreover, the price premium for a lucky address is significantly higher …

Financial Illiteracy And Pension Contributions: A Field Experiment On Compound Interest In China, Changcheng Song

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

I conduct a field experiment to study the relationship between peoples’ misunderstanding of compound interest and their pension contributions in rural China. I find that explaining the concept of compound interest to subjects increased pension contributions by roughly 40%. The treatment effect is larger for those who underestimate compound interest than for those who overestimate compound interest. Moreover, financial education enables households to partially correct their misunderstanding of compound interest. I structurally estimate the level of misunderstanding of compound interest and conduct a counterfactual welfare analysis: lifetime utility increases by about 10% if subjects’ misunderstanding of compound interest is eliminated.

How Inheritance Law Affects Family Firm Performance: Evidence From A Natural Experiment, Yong Kyu Gam, Min Jung Kang, Junho Park, Hojong Shin

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We argue that changes in the inheritance system affect incentives leading to sibling rivalry among descendants and therefore have a material impact on family firm performance. Using South Korea's 1991 inheritance law reform that stipulates the equal distribution of a deceased person's property to descendants, we find that the performance and operating growth rate in family firms show significant enhancement compared with those of nonfamily firms. Moreover, the positive effects are greater for family firms that undergo a business succession with multiple sons and married daughters. Overall, our results suggest that changing to equal bequests of inheritance has a positive …

Apply Liberally: Towards A Model Of Liberal Management Education, Howard Thomas

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Howard Thomas argues the case for integrating the liberal arts into management education so that the existing curricula emphasis on technological and analytical acumen is balanced with skills of critical thinking and ethical intelligence necessary for managerial judgment.

Factors Supporting Turkey’S Policy To Purchase Russian S-400 Anti-Air Strike Defense Units, Chendika Yonanda, Maryam Jamila, Zulkifli Harza, Ilman Syarif Masri

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Turkey is a member of the NATO military alliance since 1952, as a member of NATO, cooperation between Turkey and Russia invites counterparts from other NATO alliance countries. But even with criticism, Turkey continues purchasing S-400 from Russia . Therefore, this study aims to analyze the factors that support Turkey's policy on purchasing S-400.This research is a descriptive research through internet-based literature.Turkey's policy in purchasing S-400 analyzed using the concepts of Arms, Alliances and Security Tradeoffs proposed by James D. Morrow. James stated that there are three factors that influence the state to conduct arming; economic & military technological factors, …

Lee Kong Chian School Of Business Year In Review 2018-2019, Singapore Management University

SMU Corporate Reports

It’s been my privilege and honour to serve as your Dean for the past five years. As I complete five years, it offers an opportunity to reflect on our collective accomplishments to becoming a leading business school in Asia. I am delighted to report that the Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB) has continued its trajectory of growth and impact. Whether it is in our programmes, in our research, or in our engagement with industry, LKCSB shines brighter than ever.

Using Online Tutorials To Teach The Accounting Cycle, Tracey Chunqi Zhang, Lay Chin Low, Poh Sun Seow

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The accounting cycle is an important yet difficult topic for introductory financial accounting students to learn. These students often lack the business context to understand the accounting cycle and find the traditional teaching approach dry. This problem motivates the authors to examine whether a blended learning approach via online tutorials can improve students’ perceived knowledge of the accounting cycle for the undergraduate introductory financial accounting course. The authors developed four innovative online tutorials with a coherent storyline to enable students to learn the accounting cycle and to supplement in-class learning. To test the effectiveness of online tutorials, an independent survey …

Performance Of Cross-Border Acquisitions: Evidence From China, Yuanyuan Fan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The number of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in China has increased dramatically in recent years. Under China’s “go global” strategy, Chinese firms are devoting more capital and time to developing their overseas business. Cross-border M&As make up a large proportion of these activities. Therefore, it is crucial to determine what factors affect the performance of cross-border acquisitions.

Previous studies show that the acquirers’ post-merger performance is affected by various factors. Those papers mainly focus on domestic M&As. However, cross-border M&As also have unique features. In this study, I focus on Chinese cross-border acquisitions and the factors that affect the …

Exploring How Philippine American Nonprofit Leaders Build Trust With Their Staff And Volunteers, Dominic Fernando Laureano

Dissertations

Purpose: Although a considerable amount of literature exists regarding leadership and trust, little research focuses on Philippine American nonprofit organizations and their leadership. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how Philippine American nonprofit leaders build trust with staff and volunteers using the five domains of competency, consistency, concern, candor, and connection.

Methodology: This phenomenological qualitative study collected data via semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and review of artifacts. The study sample was comprised of 10 Philippine American nonprofit leaders from Southern California. Weisman’s Trust Model served at the theoretical framework of the study and guided data collection and …

An Analysis Of Open Innovation Determinants: The Case Study Of Singapore Based Family Owned Enterprises, Annie Koh, Esther Kong, Giuseppe Timperio

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Family businesses play an important role in the growth of global economy, and while they are arguably perceived as a conservative form of organization with high risk aversion and reluctance to change, counterintuitive empirical evidence show that they are most effective in ideation and commercialization of innovation projects. In the current business environment of rapid change in work patterns, fast adoption of enabling technologies for seamless collaborations across industry and geography, along with intense competition and high uncertainty, enterprises have no choice but to maximize returns on innovation investments. Therefore, they are increasingly dependent on an ecosystem-based approach to innovation …

Optimal Control For Transboundary Pollution Under Ecological Compensation: A Stochastic Differential Game Approach, Ke Jiang, Ryan Knowles Merrill, Daming You, Pan Pan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

To account for previously ignored, yet widely observed uncertainty in nature's capability to replenish the natural environment in ways that should inform ideal design of ecological compensation (EC) regimes, this study constructs a stochastic differential game (SDG) model to analyze transboundary pollution control options between a compensating and compensated region. Equilibrium strategies in the stochastic, two player game inform optimal control theory and reveal a welfare distribution mechanism to form the basis of an improved cooperative game contract. A case-based numerical example serves to verify the theoretical results and supports three key insights. First, accounting for various random disturbance factors, …

2019 Asia Insights: Building A Great Place To Work For All: The Untapped Power Of Gender Diversity In Asia, Richard Raymond Smith, Evelyn Kwek, Tyler Thorpe

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Through this study, we hope to increase understanding of the context, considerations and practices to leverage the amazing diversity of our region. We hope to learn more about what makes a strong workplace culture, particularly in Asia. We turn our attention to the topic of diversity and inclusion, with a focus on gender diversity in the Asian workplace. This is one of the largest studies in Asia to highlight gender differences and evaluate how psychological safety, inclusion and belonging result in strong teamwork which in turn contributes to building high performing great workplaces.

Luxuriously Succeeding In China, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

To succeed, luxury brands in China must speak to the aspirations and yearnings of young Chinese and help them become a “better me"

Customer Satisfaction Index Of Singapore 2019: Q3 Results, Institute Of Service Excellence, Smu

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

The Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) computes customer satisfaction scores at the national, sector, sub-sector, and company levels. The CSISG serves as a quantitative benchmark of the quality of goods and services produced by the Singapore economy over time and across countries. This is the CSISG’s 13th year of measurement.

Five Ways To Build Profits From Blockchain Enterprises, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Innovative Chinese companies are seeking a first-mover advantage

Handmade With Love, Anna Lim

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

Anna Lim of The Soup Spoon discusses the importance of investing in staff engagement and keeping true to your brand DNA.