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The purpose of the present study is to examine the effect of organic food certification labels of different third-party verification institutions on consumers' choice of organic food in terms of willingness-to-pay (WTP) using cue utilization theory.

The study conducted an experiment in which organic rice and organic certification labels were presented to 360 valid participants.

With different organic rice labels issued by various third-party verification institutions, including (1) foundations, (2) associations, (3) university certification centers and (4) private businesses, results indicate that consumers had different preferences and WTP for certain labels. The institutions preferred organic food labels issued by non-profit organizations. In addition, consumers showed different WTP as a result of different purchase motivations (e.g. health vs environmental protection).

These results imply that consumers might not have confidence in the organic labels issued by associations and private institutions. Therefore, different types of certification institutions can have significantly different impacts on consumers' WTP. The study further proposes that the extrinsic attributes of food products (i.e. the cues used in making a purchase decision) must be incongruent with the image of third-party certification institutions in order to develop more efficient communication of product information and to encourage consumers to give positive comments regarding organic food.

The purpose of this paper is to examine leading from the middle, which is consistent with calls to distribute leadership, while expanding the direction of influence, from the normal top-down to include a bottom-up or lateral direction. The paper proposes that the position of the vice-principal enables the role incumbent to lead from the middle as a boundary spanner. The research question was what leadership from the middle looks like for vice-principals.

The study consisted of interviews of 28 vice-principals and 10 principals. A mixed case and theme-oriented strategy was adapted, with member checking with each vice-principal.

The findings indicate that in leading from the middle, vice-principals play boundary spanning roles of connecting, translating and brokering: (1) connecting between organisational levels, (2) translating between vision/direction and actualisation, (3) connecting between middle managers and (4) brokering and translating between the ministry and the school.

Leading from the middle is a nascent concept which is worth exploring, given the complexity of educational systems with multiple ecological levels, and the need for leadership to create coherence between the levels.

Commodity histories generally posit colonies’ roles as mere producers but have overlooked their roles in shaping global consumption. This study aims to investigate how Malayan tin producers and British colonial institutions used public relations and advertising strategies as entrepreneurial tools to fend off competition from substitutes amid global economic and geopolitical transitions during the height of the Cold War crisis and post-war boom in the 1950s and 1960s.

This study draws on archival research of newspaper reports written in Singapore, the USA and Britain from the inter-war years until the 1960s. It also consults advertisements placed by the Malayan Tin Bureau on Time and Scientific American, data and views on tin scarcity by US congressional reports and commodity trends data published by the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of the Interior.

This paper demonstrates how the value of tin is recreated by manipulating its symbolic meanings and embedding them within the national and political contexts of the targeted consumer markets. This creative resistance against tin substitution was enacted through a transnational collaboration among colonial institutions, entrepreneurs in colonies and marketing strategists across geographies and territories.

This paper provokes further reflections on the importance of socially constructed meanings in shaping the market value of a product and the understanding of embedded political value systems in marketing generic commodities. Future research may adopt this perspective to reassess the framing of meanings of commodities in the contemporary setting, especially against rising concerns on the sustainability of mining natural resources, including minerals.

This study integrates the perspectives of Malayan tin producers in reframing the meaning of a commodity and so, widens the scope of historical analyses of commodities beyond the industrialized global North. It reassesses how a commodity’s marketing value evolves and interacts with colonial politics. It also highlights the collaborative nature of colonial governments and local producers in developing new uses and representations of a generic commodity to create new markets for its consumption.

The purpose of this paper is to explore mentoring experience through positioning theory lens. It discusses, specifically, the mentoring experience of beginning teachers and mentors in a school in Singapore.

This study uses a case study approach. The data are collected mainly through interviews with beginning teachers and mentors.

The findings suggest that beginning teachers who had an emotionally assuring mentoring experience had mentors who positioned themselves as emotional providers. Those who had a professionally fulfilling mentoring experience had mentors who positioned themselves beyond the providers of emotional support. Beginning teachers who had a less satisfying experience had mentors who positioned themselves as physically and emotionally unavailable. Mentors who had a professionally frustrating mentoring experience had beginning teachers who challenged their positioning. Those who had a personally enjoyable and professionally satisfying mentoring experience positioned themselves as not averse to learning from beginning teachers.

The findings suggest that schools may want to give more attention to mentor preparation, and it should not be a one‐off exercise. The findings also suggest that it may be a good idea to also consider a pre‐mentoring session for both mentors and beginning teachers before they embark on the mentoring proper.

Although this study is at best a research in progress, it, however, signifies the first step towards initiating a dialogue in this aspect as there are hardly any studies that mentoring particularly in the context of Singapore. For the teaching profession in Singapore, this is especially a significant first step.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the unique effect of ethnicity on people's internet connectedness. Internet connectedness is a multi‐dimensional relationship that individuals form with the internet.

Survey findings from a study of four ethnic groups living in seven residential areas within ten miles from the Los Angeles Civic Center indicate that ethnicity has a significant unique effect not only on the rate of people's internet access, but also on the three dimensions of the internet connectedness index: context and history; scope and intensity; and centrality, after controlling for individual socio‐economic factors.

The results indicated that African‐Americans lagged behind other ethnic groups in all three dimensions of their internet connectedness. This suggests that the ways in which the internet is incorporated into people's everyday lives are likely to differ by geo‐ethnic areas.

Implications of these results are discussed from a “communication infrastructure framework,” which provides an ecological framework to interpret the ethnic differences in the multiple dimensions of internet connectedness.

Several papers have investigated the use of foreign exchange (FX) derivatives but evidence on the use of international cash management meth ods to hedge FX is scarce. This paper contributes to the existing evidence by considering the use of international cash management systems to hedge foreign exchange (FX) risks using a sample of French and UK companies. We find that matching, netting and pricing policies are the most commonly used techniques in both the UK and French samples al though there is evidence of greater use of all cash management techniques in the UK. We also consider whether the theoretical explanations of hedging determine the use of cash management techniques for FX hedging, and if there are differences between the UK and French samples. We find support for the theoretical prediction that FX hedgers have higher levels of financial distress, and that these firms tend to be larger, more international and less liquid. We find little support for the under investment theory. The extent of internationalisation appears to play no role in the decision of French firms to use cash management techniques to manage FX risk, and the use of all cash management techniques were lower than in UK firms. These latter findings may be explained by the reduction in FX risk facing French firms following the introduction of the euro.

Considers TQM from a cultural perspective using the influence of Confucian work dynamism and Chinese cultural beliefs on Hong Kong companies. Asks if these cultural beliefs conflict with modern quality management philosophy and presents the findings of research covering Chinese literature, experts in Chinese philosophy and Hong Kong TQM experts. Outlines research methods and concludes that there are relevant principles which can be used when implementing TQM.

This paper aims to propose and test a model examining the relationship of guanxi with new product performance and customer loyalty in the context of internationalizing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China. Social network theory and information processing theory provide the theoretical lenses for this research.

Guanxi with suppliers, distributors and customers is measured as a second-order construct consisting of ganqing, renqing, and xinren/xinyong. Research hypotheses are tested using survey data (n = 212) gathered in Anhui and Shandong Provinces. The data are analyzed using smart partial least squares technique.

The findings reinforce existing studies, which show that a locally based social network can be extended to the success of early-internationalizing SMEs. Results also suggest that the relationship between guanxi and customer loyalty is stronger when technical uncertainty is low and when market uncertainty is low rather than high.

The data were gathered from the point of view of the SMEs and may not accurately reflect the perspective of the foreign customer. The findings may not generalize beyond the regions surveyed. The study does not differentiate among the type of supply chain member, and the location of the supply chain member was not measured.

Although guanxi is typically viewed as being localized within a country, guanxi with suppliers, distributors and customers can provide information and resources needed for successful export products. Second, internationalizing SMEs must understand that even though guanxi has positive impact on new product performance which directly leads to customer loyalty only when uncertainty is low.

Although guanxi has been studied, there are a limited number of empirical studies of guanxi in a supply chain context and most focus on buyers’ guanxi with suppliers. The research on guanxi with customers and distributors is also limited. This research addresses this gap by focusing on guanxi with suppliers, distributors and customers.

This paper aims to explain the factors shaping collective action within low-cost housing communities, focusing on parcel holders, through the utilisation of an expanded institutional analysis development (IAD) framework, which extends upon Ostrom’s foundational framework. Additionally, the paper explores four different property management approaches accessible to these communities.

The research employed a mixed-method approach comprising four sequential steps. Firstly, a quantitative inquiry entailed a questionnaire survey administered to 633 parcel holders across four low-cost housing schemes, aimed at discerning factors influencing collective action. Subsequently, a qualitative investigation involved face-to-face interviews with key stakeholders to elucidate the contributing factors of collective action, with a specific focus on Nursa Kurnia (a successful low-cost housing scheme comprising 200 units), accessible via Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road II. Thirdly, the study explored the social practice of “commoning the governance”. Lastly, the paper advocated for housing policy interventions, specifically proposing government subsidies for lower-income parcel holders.

Exemplified by the success of Nursa Kurnia, the research findings emphasised the importance of shifting local management’s mindset from a zero-sum approach to a win-win perspective. It highlighted the pivotal role of four factors (resource system, governance system, context and historical development) in shaping collective action and fostering improved property management practices. Moreover, the study highlighted the potential of “commoning the governance” as a new approach capable of addressing collective action challenges in low-cost housing management, presenting a promising avenue for future endeavours.

As more studies utilising the expanded IAD framework become available in the future, there is potential for further refinement and enhancement of the framework.

This study offers valuable insights for policymakers, property developers, local management and local communities, shedding light on challenges associated with the self-organisation of shared resources. Moreover, it highlights the potential of “commoning the governance” as a new property management approach to mitigate the impact of collective action problems.

The well-being of society’s most vulnerable segment is indicative of the overall societal health. This underscores the significance of addressing the interests and needs of these lower-income groups within the broader social context.

Exploring collective action within the context of self-organising low-cost housing, the study delves into an area marked by persistent challenges like free-riding tendencies and vandalism. Despite significant attention given to collective action issues in the past, the novel approach of “commoning the governance” remains unexamined in the realm of low-cost housing maintenance and management.