Leo Yat Ming Sin and Suk‐ching Ho
Looks at consumer research in Greater China including Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Maps out the contributions within this area and guides future research. Examines the…
Abstract
Looks at consumer research in Greater China including Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Maps out the contributions within this area and guides future research. Examines the state of the art over the 1979‐97 period, with particular emphasis on the topics that have been researched, the extent of the theory development in the field and the methodologies used in conducting research. Uses content analysis to review 75 relevant articles. Suggests that, while a considerable breadth of topics have been researched, there remains much to be done, there is further room for theoretical development in Chinese consumer behaviour studies; and the methodologies used need improvement and further refinement.
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Information Technology (IT) has ushered in not only large societal opportunities but also large uncertain ‐ ties and risks. Future developments, like ubiquitous networked embedded…
Abstract
Information Technology (IT) has ushered in not only large societal opportunities but also large uncertain ‐ ties and risks. Future developments, like ubiquitous networked embedded systems, are technologies society may face. Such technologies offer larger opportunities and uncertainties because of their ability to widely distribute power through their small, inexpensive, and ubiquitous characteristics. Many interpretations of how these technologies may develop have been postulated, ranging from the conservative Precautionary Principle, to uncontrolled development leading to “singularity.” With so much uncertainty and so many predictions about the benefits and consequences of these technologies, it is important to raise ethical questions, determine potential scenarios, and try to identify appropriate decision points and stakeholders. Rather than going along an unknown path, perhaps lessons could be learned from recently deployed technologies, such as nuclear technology, that were controversial but offered similarly large potential benefits and risks. The experience of nuclear technology development, with its various successes and failures, is recalled and compared with potential scenarios in the development of networked embedded systems
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Ji-An Luo, Zhi-Wen Tan and Dong-Liang Peng
The passive source localization (PSL) problem using angles of arrival (AOA), time differences of arrival (TDOA) or gain ratios of arrival (GROA) is generally nonlinear and…
Abstract
Purpose
The passive source localization (PSL) problem using angles of arrival (AOA), time differences of arrival (TDOA) or gain ratios of arrival (GROA) is generally nonlinear and nontrival. In this research, the purpose of this paper is to design an accurate hybrid source localization approach to solve the PSL problem. The inspiration is drawn from the fact that the bearings, TDOAs and GROAs are complementary in terms of their geometry properties.
Design/methodology/approach
The maximum-likelihood (ML) method is reexamined by using hybrid measurements. Being assisted by the bearings, a new hybrid weighted least-squares (WLS) method is then proposed by jointly utilizing the bearing, TDOA and GROA measurements.
Findings
Theoretical performance analysis illustrates that the mean-square error of the ML or WLS method can attain the Cramér-Rao lower bound for Gaussian noise over small error region. However, the WLS method has much lower computational complexity than the ML algorithm. Compared with the AOA-only, TDOA-only, AOA-TDOA, TDOA-GROA methods, the localization accuracy can be greatly improved by combining the AOAs, TDOAs and GROAs, especially for some specific geometries.
Originality/value
A novel bearing-assisted TDOA-GROA method is proposed for source localization, and a new hybrid WLS estimator is presented inspired from the fact that the bearings, TDOAs and GROAs are complementary in terms of their geometry properties.
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This study aims to determine barriers to innovation and to develop a quantitative model for the barrier to innovation in Vietnamese construction organizations of different sizes.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to determine barriers to innovation and to develop a quantitative model for the barrier to innovation in Vietnamese construction organizations of different sizes.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review and discussions with experienced practitioners were implemented to determine barriers to innovation in construction organizations. The rank-based non-parametric test analyzed collected data from a questionnaire survey to examine if there were significant differences between the three groups of organizations, including small, medium and large construction organizations. The fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) technique was employed to develop barrier indexes (BIs) for organizations of different sizes in Vietnam.
Findings
The findings showed 17 barriers to innovation which were categorized into four groups, including organizational, human resources, economic and market barriers. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences regarding barriers to innovation between small, medium and large construction organizations in Vietnam. The post hoc test highlighted barriers to innovation differently separated into two groups: SMEs and large construction organizations. The FSE analysis integrated the identified barriers into the comprehensive BIs for SMEs and large construction organizations. The FSE analysis illustrated that the organizational barrier is the most critical barrier for SMEs. On the other hand, the market barrier received the most significant attention in large construction organizations.
Originality/value
This research is one of the first integrated barriers to innovation into a comprehensive formulation. The indexes provide the decision-makers with a practical and reliable tool to evaluate barriers to innovation in construction organizations of different sizes.
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This chapter examines China’s corporate governance and accounting environment that shapes the adoption of internationally acceptable principles and standards. Specifically, it…
Abstract
This chapter examines China’s corporate governance and accounting environment that shapes the adoption of internationally acceptable principles and standards. Specifically, it examines international influences, including supranational organizations; foreign investors and international accounting firms; domestic institutional influences, including the political system, economic system, legal system, and cultural system; and accounting infrastructure. China’s convergence is driven by desired efficiency of the corporate sector and legitimacy of participating in the global market. Influenced heavily by international forces in the context of globalization, corporate governance and accounting practices are increasingly becoming in line with internationally acceptable standards and codes. While convergence assists China in obtaining legitimacy, improving efficiency is likely to be adversely affected given that corporate governance and accounting in China operate in an environment that differs considerably from those of Anglo-American countries. An examination of the corporate governance and accounting environment in China suggests heavy government involvement within underdeveloped institutions. While the Chinese government has made impressive progress in developing the corporate governance and accounting environment for the market economy, China’s unique institutional setting is likely to affect how the imported concepts are interpreted and implemented.
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It has become accepted, almost as an article of faith in the tourism industry, that a major option, open to both large cities and traditional resorts which wish to maintain or…
Abstract
It has become accepted, almost as an article of faith in the tourism industry, that a major option, open to both large cities and traditional resorts which wish to maintain or increase their tourism earnings, is the generation of large scale conference tourism through the construction of large convention or congress centres. Implicit in this assumption is a belief that large scale conventions will continue to occupy an important place in the tourism industry.
James Murray, Raymond MacDonald and Victor Levenson
This paper summarises three empirical studies investigating staff attitudes towards client sexuality, with special consideration of issues surrounding HIV infection. A…
Abstract
This paper summarises three empirical studies investigating staff attitudes towards client sexuality, with special consideration of issues surrounding HIV infection. A questionnaire survey design was employed, with 585 participants completing three separate questionnaires. Between 1990 and 1998 staff attitudes towards client sexuality became more positive, with a significant reduction in the number of staff agreeing with mandatory HIV testing over the three studies. In the final study, a significant number of staff Reported being unaware of, or uninfluenced by, organisational sexuality policy. The interaction between policy, staff beliefs and practice is discussed. When staff are aware of the policies on sexuality, their beliefs and attitudes appear to filter these policies, with staff behaviour influenced by an interaction between policies and beliefs. In conclusion, policy development needs to involve inter‐agency collaboration, as well as staff and client user input, for best practice in sexuality.
C. Janie Chang, Joanna L.Y. Ho and Anne Wu
This paper aims to examine resource allocation behaviors of US and Taiwanese managers to help multinational firms understand the potential for divergence in resource allocations…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine resource allocation behaviors of US and Taiwanese managers to help multinational firms understand the potential for divergence in resource allocations under different contextual conditions by managers from different national cultures.
Design/methodology/approach
The experimental design was developed as a 2 (national culture) × 2 (degree of project completion) × 2 (nature of market information) factorial design. The first two were between-subject factors. Because we would investigate subjects’ responses to both favorable and unfavorable conditions, the nature of market information was designed as a within-subject factor. Also, to avoid an order effect, half of the subjects first received favorable information and then unfavorable information, and the other half received the market information in the opposite order. Questionnaires were distributed randomly to subjects.
Findings
The results show that Taiwanese managers are less willing than US managers to continue a project in the presence of favorable information, but that both groups are equally willing to continue the project when receiving unfavorable information. Furthermore, Taiwanese managers allocate more funds than US managers do when the project is near completion. The authors use uncertainty avoidance and individualism to explain the different judgment and decision behaviors of these two cultural groups.
Research Limitations/implications
In this study, the authors examine only two contextual factors in resource allocation contexts. There are other important contextual factors associated with national culture that should be scrutinized, such as risks involved in each project, incentive plans related to performance evaluation and information asymmetry between central managers and division managers. It would be interesting for future studies to examine these factors in conjunction with different dimensions of national culture.
Originality/value
This study provides empirical evidence of the impact of different aspects of national culture (i.e. uncertainty avoidance and collectivism/individualism) on managerial resource allocation in light of different degrees of project completion and different types of market information. The results of our experiment add to both practice and theory of management. The findings of this study help top-level managers better understand the effects of national culture on division managers’ resource allocations. Hence, it may be possible to design incentive schemes and decision aids to mitigate the divergence in judgments and decision-making that can be attributed to cultural differences. This study also contributes to the management literature by extending our knowledge of complex managerial resource allocation decisions by incorporating the role of national culture with contextual factors.