John P.T. Mo and Andy M.S. Chan
States that small‐ to medium‐sized manufacturers are finding the ISO 9000 standards difficult to implement. Discusses a research project which investigates the factors influencing…
Abstract
States that small‐ to medium‐sized manufacturers are finding the ISO 9000 standards difficult to implement. Discusses a research project which investigates the factors influencing the process of ISO 9000 certification for these manufacturers and identifies the critical issues inhibiting its implementation. Uses the findings of the research project to formulate a strategy, which has been proved successful in a number of cases, to assist small‐ to medium‐sized manufacturing companies in obtaining ISO 9000 certification.
Details
Keywords
Albert P.C. Chan, James M.W. Wong and Y.H. Chiang
The construction industry plays a significant role to the economy of Hong Kong not only in terms of output but also the employment. The sector, however, has been severely hit by…
Abstract
The construction industry plays a significant role to the economy of Hong Kong not only in terms of output but also the employment. The sector, however, has been severely hit by the economic downturn in recent years resulting in serious unemployment. Employment planning becomes one of the critical aspects for the recovery of the economy. The main objective of this paper is to establish a labour demand model for the Hong Kong construction industry. The unique characteristics and the current conditions of the construction labour market are reviewed. Regression analysis based on 123 construction projects was used to compute the relationship between expenditure and site workers employed. The best predictor of average labour demand of construction projects in Hong Kong is found to be DL = 463 C 0.934, where DL is the actual labour demand in man‐days, C is the final cost of contract in millions. The labour demand‐cost relationship can be applied as a manpower forecasting model to estimate the total labour required for a given type of project. The developed model enables a more reliable and accurate planning of manpower requirements in the construction industry.
Details
Keywords
Citra S. Ongkowijoyo, Argaw Gurmu and Andi Andi
The complexities in strait-crossing cable-stayed bridge project are increasing the risks. This study aims to identify and analyze the significant and worth-considered construction…
Abstract
Purpose
The complexities in strait-crossing cable-stayed bridge project are increasing the risks. This study aims to identify and analyze the significant and worth-considered construction risks of the first, biggest and longest spanned strait-crossing bridge project in Indonesia.
Design/methodology/approach
As many as 32 risk events were identified and determined as the risks that exist and can be represented in the Suramadu bridge project context. Data was collected through a design-based questionnaire disseminated to experts involved in the project as well as semi-formal interviews. Several quantitative methods were applied to analyze the significant risks, such as relative importance index, Spearman’s rank correlation test and Mann–Whitney U test.
Findings
The analyses reveal that “unexpected natural behavior” confirmed by both contractor and consultant parties is the most significant and crucial risk event. Another risk event found to be significant is the “delayed payment.” On the other hand, it is also found that several risks within the legal category are found to be less significant compared to other major risk events.
Research limitations/implications
The results of the present research should be interpreted in the context of several limitations. Given these possible concerns regarding the generalizability of the findings, along with the relatively low rate of participants in the current research, additional studies are needed to provide a more complete picture of stakeholder perceptions who are involved directly in the construction environment as well as to identify more construction risks specifically in the large-scale bridge project.
Practical implications
This study has provided fundamental contributions to the body of knowledge and practical implication to promote and assist decision-makers toward developing a comprehensive risk assessment of a large-scale bridge project.
Originality/value
The analyses of outcomes and discussion, as well as the findings of this research, have shed light on the construction risks understanding, which contributes to delivering a theoretical framework for achieving large-scale bridge project success.
Details
Keywords
Joseph H.L. Chan, Daniel W.M. Chan, Patrick T.I. Lam and Albert P.C. Chan
The purpose of this paper is to identify the party most preferred to take the risks associated with the target cost contracts and guaranteed maximum price contracts (TCC/GMP) in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the party most preferred to take the risks associated with the target cost contracts and guaranteed maximum price contracts (TCC/GMP) in the Hong Kong context.
Design/methodology/approach
An empirical questionnaire survey was conducted with the relevant industrial practitioners to solicit their preferences of risk allocation in TCC/GMP construction projects in Hong Kong.
Findings
The survey findings indicated that risks on tender documentation and project design are better borne by clients, while construction related risks are perceived to be taken by contractors. The research findings are consistent with other similar studies on risk allocation in construction projects in general.
Practical implications
This paper has developed a preferred risk allocation scheme for the delivery of future TCC/GMP projects, taking Hong Kong as an example. It can serve as a useful guide for decision makers to determine an optimal risk allocation at the planning stage of a TCC/GMP scheme.
Originality/value
The paper can benefit both academic researchers and industrial practitioners in generating an equitable risk sharing mechanism for TCC/GMP projects. It provides sufficient empirical evidence, added to the growing body of knowledge and lays a solid foundation for further research such as an international comparison of various risk allocation schemes associated with this kind of contractual arrangement.
Details
Keywords
Ed Snape and Andy W. Chan
This paper aims to evaluate the suggestion that the antecedents of union commitment and participation may differ between foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) and state-owned…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to evaluate the suggestion that the antecedents of union commitment and participation may differ between foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China based on the view that SOE unions will focus more strongly on the traditional dual role, emphasising on managerial functions and employee welfare.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on employee surveys in two enterprises in Shanghai, one FIE and one SOE. Employee attitudes towards the union and enterprise were measured using a self-completion questionnaire, and data were analysed using structural equation modelling.
Findings
Findings suggest that pro-union attitudes were more salient in the FIE context. In contrast, SOE workers’ allegiance to the union appeared to be a less reflection of pro-union attitudes and was more narrowly instrumental.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that FIEs workers’ union allegiances are more likely to reflect a pro-union orientation, with SOE workers more likely to see their union allegiances in narrowly instrumental terms. In FIEs, with a profit-oriented and privately managed enterprise, union allegiances may be closer to those of Western market economies, whilst in SOEs, the “dual role” model persists, with unions a service provider rather than an independent employee representative.
Originality/value
The findings in this paper provide an initial test of the potential differences in the antecedents of union commitment and participation across FIEs and SOEs. Future research is needed to build on these findings, in particular, adopting multi-enterprise study designs across different enterprise types.
Details
Keywords
Fanny Fong Yee Chan and Ben Lowe
This study aims to extend the literature on marketing communications by exploring the effect of placing products in humorous scenes. It aims to ascertain the prevalence of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to extend the literature on marketing communications by exploring the effect of placing products in humorous scenes. It aims to ascertain the prevalence of placement scenes associated with humor in television programs and the effect of humor on brand persuasiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a two-phase research process. A content analysis of prime-time television programing was conducted to map the relative prevalence of brands placed in humorous contexts and for the selection of research stimuli. This was followed by a large-scale experimental study of 1,100 television viewers in Hong Kong with real stimuli that had been digitally manipulated.
Findings
The study found that a humorous context did enhance recall of placed brands but its effect on brand attitudes was mediated by audience involvement in the viewing and moderated by psychological trait reactance. Interestingly, and in contrast to conventional advertising, placing brands in a humorous context led to lower involvement in the viewing, which, in turn, resulted in lower brand attitudes. Individuals with low trait reactance were more positive toward brands placed in a non-humorous context than individuals with high trait reactance while individuals with high trait reactance were more positive toward brands placed in a humorous context, though the difference was less prominent.
Research limitations/implications
The findings help to illustrate when and how a humorous context contributes to the recall of and attitudes toward placed brands.
Practical implications
The results also facilitate marketers and program producers to choose the best placement context and design more effective placement strategies.
Originality/value
This research is the first to empirically examine the effect of a humorous context on the unaided recall of and attitudes toward brands placed in television programs.
Details
Keywords
Massimo Garbuio, Dan Lovallo, Joseph Porac and Andy Dong
Strategic option generation is a fundamental step in strategy formulation. Several lenses have been proposed to explain its foundations, including the microeconomics positioning…
Abstract
Strategic option generation is a fundamental step in strategy formulation. Several lenses have been proposed to explain its foundations, including the microeconomics positioning school, and the resource and capabilities based view of the firm. These approaches are largely based on inductive and deductive logics, which are not the logics that provide strategic options that are potentially novel, profitable, and largely differentiated from competitive offerings. In this chapter, we propose a unifying framework of the cognitive foundations of strategic option generation. Building on five fundamental cognitive acts – imitation, framing, analogical reasoning, abductive reasoning, and mental simulation, this proposed model both synthesizes the extant literature and provides guidance about promising avenues for future theoretical and empirical research.
Details
Keywords
Olga Matthias, Ian Fouweather, Ian Gregory and Andy Vernon
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the application and exploitation of Big Data (BD) to create competitive advantage. It presents a framework of application areas, and how…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the application and exploitation of Big Data (BD) to create competitive advantage. It presents a framework of application areas, and how they help the understanding of targeting and scoping specific areas for sustainable improvement. Empirical evidence demonstrates the application of BD in practice and tests the framework.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory approach is adopted to the secondary research which examines vendors’ offerings. The empirical research used the case study method.
Findings
The findings indicate that there is opportunity to create sustainable competitive advantage through the application of BD. However there are social, technological and human consequences that are only now beginning to emerge which need to be addressed if true long-term advantage is to be achieved.
Research limitations/implications
The research develops a framework and tests it only in two dimensions. This should be expanded. The vendor analysis limitations lie within the nature of the information available and the difficulties in mitigating against bias.
Practical implications
The suggested framework can help academics and managers to identify areas of opportunity to do so, setting new levels of performance and new agendas for business.
Originality/value
This work contributes to service operations management, building on Kranzberg (1986) and the impact of technology and on Fosso Wamba et al. (2015) by developing a systems application framework to further understanding of BD from a practical perspective to extend their research taxonomy insights. The case studies demonstrate how the use of BD enhances operational performance.
Details
Keywords
Since the launch of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) in 2003, Hong Kong cinema is believed to have confronted drastic changes. Hong Kong…
Abstract
Purpose
Since the launch of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) in 2003, Hong Kong cinema is believed to have confronted drastic changes. Hong Kong cinema is described to be dying, lacking creative space and losing local distinctiveness. A decade later, the rise of Hong Kong – China coproduction cinema under CEPA has been normalized and changed the once pessimism in the industry. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how Hong Kong cinema adjusted its production and creation in the first 10 years of CEPA.
Design/methodology/approach
Beginning with a review of the overall development, three paradigmatic cases are examined for reflecting upon what the major industrial and commercial concerns on the Hong Kong – China coproduction model are, and how such a coproduction model is not developed as smooth as what the Hong Kong filmmakers expected.
Findings
Collectively, this paper singles out the difficulties in operation and the limit of transnationality that occur in the Chinese context for the development of Hong Kong cinema under the Hong Kong – China coproduction model.
Originality/value
This is the author’s research in his five-year study of Hong Kong cinema and it contributes a lot to the field of cinema studies with relevant industrial and policy concern.