This article discusses the potential benefits of using the Internet to conduct business — to boost business productivity and to enhance business competitiveness. Six key Internet…
Abstract
This article discusses the potential benefits of using the Internet to conduct business — to boost business productivity and to enhance business competitiveness. Six key Internet tools and how they can be used to support online commerce are briefly introduced. Ways in which businesses are capitalising on the use of the Internet as a major strategic tool for commerce are described. The extent to which local firms in Singapore are tapping into the Internet to increase business profitability is also outlined. While there are currently some problems hampering a more widespread adoption of Internet commerce, chief of which is the issue of security, there is nevertheless determined and concerted effort to resolve these.
There are ten universal principles of United Nations Global Compact in four areas namely human rights, labour, environmental and anti-corruption, and this chapter will explore the…
Abstract
Purpose
There are ten universal principles of United Nations Global Compact in four areas namely human rights, labour, environmental and anti-corruption, and this chapter will explore the sixth principle of labour standard on elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation, in particular the doctrine of constructive dismissal in Malaysian labour relations. Constructive dismissal is creating a new challenge in labour relation in Malaysia.
Methodology/approach
This chapter specifically analyses some of the constructive dismissal awards and its implication to labour relations in Malaysia. The methodology employed in this chapter is the analysis of case laws using criterion-based sampling from the Industrial and Superior Court awards on constructive dismissal.
Findings
There has been an increasing number of awards on constructive dismissal made by the Malaysian Industrial Court over the last nine years. From the year 2009–2013, the Industrial Court has made 663 awards on constructive dismissal, mostly against employers. With compensation awarded to each employee amounted to as much as 24 months of back-pay salary plus a month’s pay for every year of service, employers can no longer neglect this pressing issue.
Research limitations/implications
The concept of constructive dismissal falls within the purview of section 20 of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 in Malaysia. Constructive dismissal is a ‘deemed dismissal’ if an employer is guilty of a breach of the employment contract which goes to the root of the contract. It arises when a workman terminates his/her contract of employment and considers himself/herself discharged from further obligations because of the employer’s conduct.
Practical implications
With a good understanding of the constructive dismissal awards, it is expected that organizations will manage and treat their human resources as their greatest assets and prevent constructive dismissal claims from taking place. This will eventually help to improve and maintain harmonious labour relations. This chapter is likely to provide insights into the Malaysian labour relations environment for international business operations.
Originality/value
In the context of Malaysian labour relations, studies on constructive dismissal are limited as it is considered as a new area and a specific area of study. This chapter therefore hopes to fill the existing gap in the literature, to highlight some of the recent awards and lessons to prevent constructive dismissal claims from taking place and generally to contribute to the constructive dismissal literature.
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The purpose of this paper is to compare two corruption scandals in Singapore to illustrate how its government has dealt with these scandals and to discuss the implications for its…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare two corruption scandals in Singapore to illustrate how its government has dealt with these scandals and to discuss the implications for its anti-corruption strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper analyses the Teh Cheang Wan and Edwin Yeo scandals by relying on published official and press reports.
Findings
Both scandals resulted in adverse consequences for the offenders. Teh committed suicide on 14 December 1986 before he could be prosecuted for his bribery offences. Yeo was found guilty of criminal breach of trust and forgery and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. The Commission of Inquiry found that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) was thorough in its investigations which confirmed that only Teh and no other minister or public official were implicated in the bribery offences. The Independent Review Panel appointed by the Prime Minister's Office to review the CPIB's internal controls following Yeo's offences recommended improvements to strengthen the CPIB's financial procedures and audit system. Singapore has succeeded in minimising corruption because its government did not cover-up the scandals but punished the guilty offenders and introduced measures to prevent their recurrence.
Originality/value
This paper will be useful for scholars, policymakers and anti-corruption practitioners interested in Singapore's anti-corruption strategy and how its government handles corruption scandals.
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Outlines Hong Kong’s financial system during the pre‐unification era. Looks at recent issues, regulatory changes and its development as an international financial centre…
Abstract
Outlines Hong Kong’s financial system during the pre‐unification era. Looks at recent issues, regulatory changes and its development as an international financial centre. Considers banking, the stock market, the bond & futures market, the gold market, regulatory bodies and monetary and currency policies. Contrasts these with the pre‐unification system in China. Outlines the way that these two systems propose to exist together, looking at the potential benefits and problems this may bring.
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Singapore devotes less than 4% of its GDP to healthcare in part because its average citizen is young. As the country has become developed, the birth rate has fallen…
Abstract
Singapore devotes less than 4% of its GDP to healthcare in part because its average citizen is young. As the country has become developed, the birth rate has fallen, life‐expectancy has lengthened and the cost of care has shown signs of escalation. This has occurred despite the extensive cost‐control measures built into the mandatory system of medical savings and the opt‐in supplement of medical insurance. The threat of care inflation is that much greater because of Singapore’s attempt to position itself as a regional treatment hub, because of rising incomes and expectations, and because of a shortage of doctors and nurses which is driving wages up. Old age is contributing to the problem but, the article shows, is not the only cause.
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Thi Vinh Tran Nguyen and Seng-Su Tsang
The current study proposes a moderated mediation model to predict work-from-home engagement during an emergency such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic based on…
Abstract
Purpose
The current study proposes a moderated mediation model to predict work-from-home engagement during an emergency such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic based on the integration of well-known concepts, including inclusive leadership, organizational support and perceived risk theory.
Design/methodology/approach
An online questionnaire on the Google Forms platform was designed and distributed to Vietnamese employees using a convenience sampling method. A total of 794 valid questionnaires were used for data analysis. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the proposed model and hypotheses. The instrument's validity and reliability were tested and ensured.
Findings
The study found that inclusive leadership has direct and indirect effects on work-from-home engagement through the separate and serial mediating roles of perceived organizational support and employee motivation. The present study also revealed that the effects of perceived organizational support and employee motivation on work-from-home engagement are strengthened by employee risk perception. Moreover, the study showed that perceived organizational support and employee motivation performed the lowest of the four elements that were considered, while the importance of these two factors was the highest.
Practical implications
These findings suggest that in an emergency such as COVID-19, contextual factors should be given more attention. Based on these findings, several theoretical and practical implications for human resource management are highlighted.
Originality/value
By integrating inclusive leadership, organizational support and perceived risk theory to explore employees' engagement in working from home during an emergency, the present study demonstrated that in addition to traditional factors, leadership and contextual factors should be considered for studies on working from home in an emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study established that these factors might encourage employees' work-from-home engagement.
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Ilyana Abdullah, Wan Hasrulnizzam Wan Mahmood, Hafidz Fazli Md Fauadi, Mohd Nizam Ab Rahman and Saiful Bahri Mohamed
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation of sustainable manufacturing practices in Malaysian palm oil mills (POMs) by comparing the status of their current…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation of sustainable manufacturing practices in Malaysian palm oil mills (POMs) by comparing the status of their current achievements and the levels of priority placed on their practices.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire survey was used to collect data about 20 sustainable manufacturing practices from 51 POMs located in Malaysia. A five-point Likert scale was considered for recording variations in priorities and current practices with regard to sustainable manufacturing. A Cronbach’s α reliability test and a binomial test were undertaken to assess the internal consistency and the validity of the survey data. Spearman’s ρ correlation analysis was employed to determine the linear correlation between each of the sustainability practices identified. Factor analysis was conducted to reduce the number of sustainable manufacturing practices based on factor loading and to derive a clustering of these factors.
Findings
The results showed that employees’ well-being has the highest level in terms of both priority and current achievement. However, for other sustainable manufacturing practices, there was a difference where the current achievement of these practices in the Malaysian POMs was seen to be slightly lower than the priority given to them. Strong correlation of significant value was observed between the minimization of production waste and pollution prevention practices. From factor analysis, 15 practices of high factor loading were grouped into a proactive sustainability strategy and a preventive sustainability strategy.
Research limitations/implications
The study was still relatively exploratory. Future studies could investigate the barriers to the implementation of sustainable manufacturing practices at Malaysian POMs. The sample, which consisted of 51 Malaysian POMs, represented an important sector of the Malaysian economy. Reliance on stated, rather than revealed, preferences may limit the implications of the analysis undertaken for this study, but it does represent a major step forward in understanding the past in what was a highly recommended sector for investigation due to the paucity of extant data. A more broadly based, random sample of POMs from other countries would provide a better understanding of issues related to sustainable manufacturing practices.
Practical implications
The results of this study can be used by practitioners to adjust the sustainable manufacturing practices currently applied and further studies may go on to examine the reasons and implications for discrepancies between priorities and desired sustainability goals in more detail.
Originality/value
The survey conducted about sustainable manufacturing practices amongst Malaysian POMs was focussed on the three dimensions of sustainability, namely, the economic, environmental, and social elements involved.
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With a lack of research conducted in an Asian context for teaching difficult knowledge, this study utilized the term “teacher agency” to explore how teachers access their agency…
Abstract
Purpose
With a lack of research conducted in an Asian context for teaching difficult knowledge, this study utilized the term “teacher agency” to explore how teachers access their agency to teach difficult knowledge in Taiwan (e.g. White Terror and the conflict with the PRC). Using a case study design, this study documents how six social studies teachers access their agency for teaching difficult knowledge, then explores how these teachers have been influenced by or resisted the unique contextual factors in Asia.
Design/methodology/approach
Given that teaching difficult knowledge is in itself necessarily a contentious task, the following research question guided my study: How do teachers in Taiwan encounter difficult knowledge? Two subsidiary questions frame my inquiry: (1) How do teachers in Taiwan enact their professional agency to teach difficult knowledge? (2) What contextual and individual factors have teachers been impacted by and resisted in order to teach difficult knowledge? My study sought to gain an understanding of history teachers’ agency and difficult knowledge teaching in two public senior high schools in Taiwan. The case study framework allowed for the examination of contemporary phenomena by employing a variety of evidence, including documents, artifacts and narrative interviews (Yin, 1994).
Findings
Utilizing two concepts— difficult knowledge and teacher’s agency— the findings illuminate the fact that teachers enact their professional agency to teach difficult knowledge by using unofficial documents, integrating alternative resources and building dialogue with students. In addition, another finding shows that contextual and individual factors formulate teachers’ professional agency to teach difficult knowledge. Lastly, this study reflects the fact that social/historical trauma and collective memory are part of difficult knowledge but also serve as contextual factors impacting teachers’ agency.
Research limitations/implications
Disadvantages of this method during the interviews include the self-consciousness of participants, which could affect her/his own willingness to share or discuss issues.
Practical implications
This study provides opportunities for people to understand conflicts, difficulties and injustice many teachers in different national contexts are facing now. In addition, I hope this study could provide the chance to reflect on its situation in each country and give references to other readers and teachers.
Originality/value
This study reflects the difficulties many teachers are facing but also challenges the assumption that teachers do not often enact their agency for teaching difficult knowledge in places like Taiwan. In addition, this study illustrates the fact that teachers’ agency has been impacted by individual factors and contextual factors. However, teachers can resist contextual factors by creating more space and creativity for their students to learn about difficult knowledge. Most importantly, this study reflects the fact that teachers have been influenced by contextual factors, and these contextual factors are the concepts of difficult knowledge that teachers have crystalized to create different representations about that difficult knowledge. Lastly, because this study explores teachers’ history teaching of difficult knowledge in Taiwan, this study provides opportunities for people to understand conflicts, difficulties and injustice which Taiwan has been facing now. Fortunately, I hope this study could provide the chance to reflect on its situation in each country and give references to other readers and teachers.
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The paper aims to provide up-to-date analysis on how a country like Singapore, with a rich tangible and intangible cultural heritage associated with burial customs, approaches…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to provide up-to-date analysis on how a country like Singapore, with a rich tangible and intangible cultural heritage associated with burial customs, approaches heritage preservation while ensuring modernisation and sustainable growth.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is an exploratory analysis of the association between cultural heritage preservation, particularly the one associated with elaborate burials, and the need for modernisation in Singapore. It mainly uses desk research tools, fieldwork and interviews with death services providers to build a set of conclusions. It employs a historical review approach and uses comparative analyses with other countries in the Asian region to substantiate the arguments.
Findings
The paper provides insights about how, since its independence, Singapore has switched to pragmatic models of growth and development which imply maximising the limited space available, often at the cost of precious cultural heritage. The rapid development has had a significant impact on the country's burial customs and legacies, particularly on elaborate graves and tombs, which traditionally use a considerable amount of space. The analysis concludes that Singapore is in the constant challenge of exploring alternative ways of handling death and its ramifications.
Originality/value
This paper presents a new outlook on the relationship between the preservation of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage associated with death practices and a sustainable approach to modernisation in the context of Singapore.
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Hassanudin Mohd Thas Thaker and Abdollah Ah Mand
The volatility of bitcoin (BTC) and time horizon is the center point for investment decisions. However, attention is not often drawn to the relationship between BTC and equity…
Abstract
The volatility of bitcoin (BTC) and time horizon is the center point for investment decisions. However, attention is not often drawn to the relationship between BTC and equity indices. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the volatility and time frequency domain of BTC with stock markets.