Hee-Tae Lee and Moon-Kyung Cha
This paper aims to identify the effect of social structure variables on the purchase of virtual goods. Using field data, it also tests whether their effects on a social networking…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify the effect of social structure variables on the purchase of virtual goods. Using field data, it also tests whether their effects on a social networking service are dynamic.
Design/methodology/approach
To achieve the research objectives, the authors have applied the random effects panel Tobit model with actual time-series corporate data to explain a link between network structure factors and actual behavior on social networking services.
Findings
The authors have found that various network structure variables such as in-degree, in-closeness centrality, out-closeness centrality and clustering coefficients are significant predictors of virtual item sales; while the constraint is marginally significant, out-degree is not significant. Furthermore, these variables are time-varying, and the dynamic model performs better in a model fit than the static one.
Practical implications
The findings will help social networking service (SNS) operators realize the importance of understanding network structure variables and personal motivations or the behavior of consumers.
Originality/value
This study provides implications in that it uses various and dynamic network structure variables with panel data.
Details
Keywords
Iris Xie, Rakesh Babu, Shengang Wang, Hyun Seung Lee and Tae Hee Lee
This study aims to investigate the perceptional differences of key stakeholders in assessing the Digital Library Accessibility and Usability Guidelines (DLAUG), in which design…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the perceptional differences of key stakeholders in assessing the Digital Library Accessibility and Usability Guidelines (DLAUG), in which design information is created and organized by types of help-seeking situations, to support blind and visually impaired (BVI) users. The stakeholders consist of BVI users, digital library (DL) developers and scholars/experts. The focus is on the identification of types of situations in which BVI users and developers show significant perception differences of DLAUG’s relevance, clarity and usefulness than the other two groups, respectively, and the associated reasons.
Design/methodology/approach
An in-depth survey was conducted to examine the perceptions of 150 participants representing three groups of key DL stakeholders: BVI users, DL developers and scholars/experts. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were applied.
Findings
The results show that BVI users and developers had significant perception differences of the relevance, clarity and usefulness of the DLAUG than the other two groups held on five situations, mainly because they played distinct roles in the development of DLs with differing goals and expectations for the DL design guidelines.
Originality/value
This is the first study that considers different DL stakeholders to assess DL guidelines to support BVI users.
Details
Keywords
Tae Hee Lee, Mina Jung and Youngseek Kim
This study aims to investigate the factors influencing the data sharing habits of psychologists with respect to academic reciprocity.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the factors influencing the data sharing habits of psychologists with respect to academic reciprocity.
Design/methodology/approach
A research model was developed based on Ostrom’s (2003) theory of collective action to map psychologists’ underlying motivations for data sharing. The model was validated by data from a survey of 427 psychologists, primarily from the psychological sciences and related disciplines.
Findings
This study found that data sharing among psychologists is driven primarily by their perceptions of community benefits, academic reciprocity and the norms of data sharing. This study also found that academic reciprocity is significantly influenced by psychologists’ perceptions of community benefits, academic reputation and the norms of data sharing. Both academic reputation and academic reciprocity are affected by psychologists’ prior experiences with data reuse. Additionally, psychologists’ perceptions of community benefits and the norms of data sharing are significantly affected by the perception of their academic reputation.
Research limitations/implications
This study suggests that Ostrom’s (2003) theory of collective action can provide a new theoretical lens in understanding psychologists’ data sharing behaviours.
Practical implications
This study suggests several practical implications for the design and promotion of data sharing in the research community of psychology.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the initial studies that applied the theory of collective action to the mechanisms of reputation, community benefits, norms and reciprocity in psychologists’ data sharing behaviour. This research demonstrates that perceived community benefits, academic reputation and the norms of data sharing can all encourage academic reciprocity, and psychologists’ perceptions of community benefits, academic reciprocity and data sharing norms all facilitate their data sharing intentions.
Details
Keywords
Corruption was a serious problem in Singapore during the British colonial period and especially after the Japanese Occupation (February 1942–August 1945) mainly because of the…
Abstract
Corruption was a serious problem in Singapore during the British colonial period and especially after the Japanese Occupation (February 1942–August 1945) mainly because of the lack of political will to curb it by the incumbent governments. In contrast, the People’s Action Party (PAP) government, which assumed office in June 1959 after winning the May 1959 general election, demonstrated its political will with the enactment of the Prevention of Corruption Act (POCA) in June 1960, which strengthened the capacity of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) to combat corruption effectively. Indeed, Singapore’s success in curbing corruption is reflected in its consistently high scores on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) from 1995 to 2012 as the least corrupt country in Asia. Singapore was ranked first with Denmark and New Zealand in the 2010 CPI with a score of 9.30. Similarly, Singapore has been ranked first in the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) annual surveys on corruption from 1995 to 2013. Why has Singapore succeeded in minimizing the problem of corruption when many other Asian countries have failed to do so? What lessons can these countries learn from Singapore’s experience in combating corruption? This chapter addresses these two questions by first describing Singapore’s favorable policy context, followed by an identification of the major causes of corruption during the British colonial period and Japanese Occupation, and an evaluation of the PAP government’s anti-corruption strategy.
The purpose of this paper is to explain why Singapore has succeeded in curbing corruption and to recommend three measures for enhancing South Korea’s anti-corruption strategy.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explain why Singapore has succeeded in curbing corruption and to recommend three measures for enhancing South Korea’s anti-corruption strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper compares the contextual differences between Singapore and South Korea before analysing Singapore’s effective anti-corruption strategy and identifying the weaknesses of South Korea’s anti-corruption strategy.
Findings
Singapore’s success in minimising corruption is the result of its government’s strong political will and the adequate budget, personnel and operational autonomy given to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau to enable it to enforce the anti-corruption laws impartially. To improve South Korea’s anti-corruption strategy, the Korea Anti-Corruption Agency should be established and adequately staffed and funded to investigate corruption cases. Those found guilty of corruption offences should be punished according to the law, without suspending their jail sentences or being pardoned by the president. Finally, the existing public outreach anti-corruption programmes should be evaluated to identify their weaknesses and improve their effectiveness.
Originality/value
This paper recommends three measures for South Korean policy-makers to improve their anti-corruption strategy by learning from Singapore’s success.
Details
Keywords
The study systematically analyses the path dependency and path-shaping of borrowed education policy, tracing it from the global through the national to individual schools. It also…
Abstract
Purpose
The study systematically analyses the path dependency and path-shaping of borrowed education policy, tracing it from the global through the national to individual schools. It also revisits the case schools after five years to map the school level policy paths.
Design/methodology/approach
Recently, path-dependency heuristics have drawn attention in predicting educational policy trajectories. However, these studies are primarily theoretical, and those empirical studies do not capture what happens at the school level. This paper fills the research gap by presenting a model that synthesises the research from diverse fields and is informed by findings from a longitudinal case study of educational outsourcing in public schools in Hong Kong and Korea.
Findings
The findings highlight path dependency interactions across educational levels diachronically and synchronically, while aptly incorporating the creative ways school leaders exercise their agency therein. The paper concludes with new insights into policy trajectory and education outsourcing.
Originality/value
The study substantiates and extends previously suggested theoretical models on the paths of travelling educational policies and identifies the factors that shape the paths. It also sheds light on how school leaders navigate the structures that constrain their actions or create a new path and pursue their educational goals.
Details
Keywords
Chan Hum, Tae-Hee Choi, Sing-Kai Lo, Say Sok and Wai Mui Christina Yu
This study examines the management practices and alignment features needed to develop academic staff’s careers, mainly focusing on teaching competencies in the evolving landscape…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the management practices and alignment features needed to develop academic staff’s careers, mainly focusing on teaching competencies in the evolving landscape of Cambodian public universities.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiple-case research design was adopted to collect data from interviews with 11 academic leaders and focus-group discussions (FGDs) with 13 academic teachers at two public universities in provincial Cambodia. A thematic approach was performed to code and analyse data to address the research questions.
Findings
This study found that the management of academic careers in the selected universities was hybrid, deregulating state control to relative institutional autonomy for contracted employees but rather centralised management for civil servants. However, weak institutional leadership and negligence in formulating comprehensive institutional guidelines for strategic human resource management (HRM) have caused misalignments of management practices to develop academic careers in the studied contexts.
Research limitations/implications
This case study limits its findings to two universities in provincial Cambodia. Nevertheless, this study adds to the scarce literature on the research topic in Cambodian public universities and opens a path for cross-institutional and national comparative studies on similar foci.
Originality/value
This is a ground-breaking study set in the evolving space of Cambodian public higher education, where attention to the research area remains limited.
Details
Keywords
Tae-Hee Choi and Ming Ming Chiu
Without universal access to a Covid-19 vaccine, many countries seek to prevent coronavirus outbreaks by closing schools and having students learn remotely. This study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Without universal access to a Covid-19 vaccine, many countries seek to prevent coronavirus outbreaks by closing schools and having students learn remotely. This study aims to examine its challenges for linguistic minority (LM) students and some practical strategies – both generally for all students and specifically for LM students.
Design/methodology/approach
This study synthesises the research literature and practices across countries on equity and remote learning. It helps (1) understand the differential difficulties during an epidemic across primary, secondary and tertiary school students, especially LM students from low socioeconomic status (SES) families who lack economic, human, cultural or social capital in family or school contexts, based on Bourdieu's theory, and (2) identify additional resources and flexible, creative solutions for improving access and learning conditions for LM students. The authors discuss examples from 13 countries and territories (including developed and developing economies) of transformations of in-class learning to online learning in part or whole.
Findings
The limited economic, cultural and social capital of LM students, especially from low SES families, and their schools, along with communication barriers hinder their remote learning. Crisis-induced school budget shortfalls require creative ways to transition teachers, students and parents to remote learning and to provide customised support for LM students. Schools can (1) partner with non-governmental organisations, religious organisations, businesses and government services to access/share remote learning resources for LM students; (2) help teachers, students and parents develop needed skills (via online systems, peer support groups and hotlines); (3) restructure teacher lessons and duties for remote teaching; and (4) capitalise on technology (e.g. texts, chats, whiteboards) to support LM students' remote learning – some of which can exceed their traditional face-to-face learning experiences.
Originality/value
This article is among the first to examine how the Covid-19 crisis disproportionately affects the remote learning of LM students, to specify effective, practical remedies and to inform suitable education and social policies across countries.