David Ng, Dong Thanh Nguyen, Benjamin Koon Siak Wong and William Kim Weng Choy
The purpose of this paper is to present a review of empirical studies on principal leadership in Singapore. It seeks to provide a general picture of Singapore principals’…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a review of empirical studies on principal leadership in Singapore. It seeks to provide a general picture of Singapore principals’ leadership qualities, styles, and roles.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a systematic review of empirical studies, using a “bounded” approach with a focus on the main findings of the reviewed studies. In all, 36 studies were selected for the interview. The findings of these studies were open coded, synthesized, and clustered into different themes.
Findings
The review revealed several qualities, characteristics, styles, and enacted roles of Singapore principals. While there are similarities between Singapore principals and principals elsewhere in the world, the review brought out some features unique to Singapore principals.
Originality/value
This review contributes to the growing literature in comparative research on principals’ leadership and their enacted roles, and concurrently functions as a guide for further research on school leadership in Singapore.
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William K.W. Choy, Prem Ramburuth and Bee Eng Adeline Lee
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the need for international managers to rethink current managerial practices, especially the application of a universalistic approach in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the need for international managers to rethink current managerial practices, especially the application of a universalistic approach in an international business context. A differentiated managerial approach is recommended to meet the challenges of a dynamic environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Literature review based on secondary data provides the analysis of the bilateral trade relationship between China and ASEAN. This paper cites the case of the China‐Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park project to illustrate the difficulties in international partnerships.
Findings
The findings highlight differences in business philosophies; differences in state bureaucracies and political viewpoints concerning business arrangements; socio‐cultural differences in values, and expectations of political and business leaders, and their people.
Research limitations/implications
The paper highlights the need for further research in Chinese managerial styles and knowledge.
Practical implications
The recommended differentiated management approach will allow international managers an alternative option in managing international teams and workforce diversity in cross border business partnerships.
Originality/value
The literature gap in this particular area of study presents an opportunity to explore new managerial approaches in international management practices.
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Kim Weng Willam Choy and Yen Ming Zhang
This purpose of this paper is to review the progressive development in bilateral trade and investments between China and the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN…
Abstract
Purpose
This purpose of this paper is to review the progressive development in bilateral trade and investments between China and the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since 1970. China's economic reform has served as a great incentive for ASEAN countries to engage in continuous political and economic dialogue with the economic giant as it is considered as one of the largest, growing markets in the world. The political and economic efforts initiated by ASEAN have sought to affirm an outward‐looking ASEAN in playing a pivotal role in the international community and advancing ASEAN's common interests, which include economic trade with China as regional partner.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of the literature based on secondary data provides the analysis of the stages of the Chinese political and economic reforms that had brought about improvement in the economic relationship between China and ASEAN.
Findings
The findings comprise reports that highlight the promising trend in investment relations between China and ASEAN.
Research limitations/implications
The paper highlights the need for further in‐depth analysis of Chinese political and economic reforms that will have a significant impact on regional trade and investment in the Asia‐Pacific region.
Practical implications
The paper will allow international managers of multinational enterprises to have a better appreciation of the political and economic developments in China and to consider options to enhance greater business partnerships with Chinese corporations.
Originality/value
The literature gap in this particular area of study presents an opportunity to explore new developments in the Chinese Government's economic reforms.
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S.T. Boris Choy, Wai-yin Wan and Chun-man Chan
The normal error distribution for the observations and log-volatilities in a stochastic volatility (SV) model is replaced by the Student-t distribution for robustness…
Abstract
The normal error distribution for the observations and log-volatilities in a stochastic volatility (SV) model is replaced by the Student-t distribution for robustness consideration. The model is then called the t-t SV model throughout this paper. The objectives of the paper are twofold. First, we introduce the scale mixtures of uniform (SMU) and the scale mixtures of normal (SMN) representations to the Student-t density and show that the setup of a Gibbs sampler for the t-t SV model can be simplified. For example, the full conditional distribution of the log-volatilities has a truncated normal distribution that enables an efficient Gibbs sampling algorithm. These representations also provide a means for outlier diagnostics. Second, we consider the so-called t SV model with leverage where the observations and log-volatilities follow a bivariate t distribution. Returns on exchange rates of Australian dollar to 10 major currencies are fitted by the t-t SV model and the t SV model with leverage, respectively.
Assesses the perceptions of service quality in China’s hotel industry, from the perspective of both international tourists and hotel managers. A questionnaire was used to survey a…
Abstract
Assesses the perceptions of service quality in China’s hotel industry, from the perspective of both international tourists and hotel managers. A questionnaire was used to survey a sample of 90 hotel managers and 270 international tourists who visited China and stayed at hotels in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. A descriptive statistics analysis was used (paired t‐test and independent t‐test) to evaluate the service quality of China’s hotel industry from both the tourists’ and the managers’ perspectives, and to investigate the four gaps: between tourists’ expectations and their actual perceptions; between managers’ perceptions of tourists’ expectations and the actual expectations of tourists; between managers’ perceptions of a hotel’s service delivery and tourists’ actual perceptions of the service; and between managers’ perceptions of tourists’ expectations and managers’ perceptions of their hotel’s service delivery. The results showed that tourists’ perceptions of service quality provided in the hotel industry in China were consistently lower than their expectations and that managers overestimated the service delivery, compared to tourists’ perceptions of actual service quality, in the hotel industry in China. From the result of gap analysis, it might be concluded that Delivery Gap and Internal Evaluation Gap were the main reasons contributing to the service quality shortfalls in the hotel industry in China.
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Danping Lin, Carman Ka Man Lee, M.K. Siu, Henry Lau and King Lun Choy
The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential impacts of various variables on product return activities after online shopping. Previous studies on customer behaviour have…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential impacts of various variables on product return activities after online shopping. Previous studies on customer behaviour have been predominantly concerned with return on used products and other product-quality-related constructs in the model. This study aims to specially examine the logistics service-related and customer intention–related variables for general products under the e-commerce circumstance.
Design/methodology/approach
Structured questionnaire data for this study were collected in the two southeast cities of China (162 useable responses). Structural equation modelling was used to examine the latent variables.
Findings
The results confirmed that product return intention has the greatest impact on online shopping returns with a direct effect of 0.63, followed by the flexibility in return (logistics service) with a direct effect of 0.49.
Originality/value
Such a model not only enriches the theoretical understanding of customer behaviour studies but also offers online shopping stores and platforms a quantitative benchmark and new perspective on the design of online shopping supply chains by considering product returns so as to improve the customer satisfaction.