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Article
Publication date: 18 October 2021

Eddie Choo and Alessandro Fergnani

The aim of this study is to trace the factors that have contributed to the adoption and institutionalization of foresight practices within the Singapore Public Service, Government…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to trace the factors that have contributed to the adoption and institutionalization of foresight practices within the Singapore Public Service, Government of Singapore.

Design/methodology/approach

This study discusses the history of the adoption and institutionalization of foresight practices in the Singapore Government; this study has carried out content analysis of secondary literature and conducted 11 in-depth semi-structured interviews with elite informants.

Findings

This study finds that the adoption and institutionalization of foresight practices in the Singapore Government was brought about by a combination of five factors. The most foundational factor in our model is the role of institutional entrepreneurs, who drew upon the symbolic representation of Singapore’s vulnerability to legitimize the use of foresight, thus resonating well with local technocratic groups to maintain steady economic progress. This study further argues that the underdevelopment of foresight in the local private and academic domains can be at least in part explained by the historical connotations of foresight that were uncovered.

Research limitations/implications

As the findings are fruit of the authors’ interpretation of the secondary literature/interview data, they require further triangulation by future research.

Originality/value

This study presents the interpretation of elite informants’ accounts and historical documents to explain one of the most exemplar yet classified case studies of governmental foresight globally.

Details

foresight, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6689

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 April 2010

Eddie C.M. Hui and Xian Zheng

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze crucial variables of customer satisfaction towards residential facility management (FM) service, and to enable FM companies to…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze crucial variables of customer satisfaction towards residential facility management (FM) service, and to enable FM companies to deliver high quality services.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is based on a survey of customer satisfaction of one residential property in Hong Kong. FM service is divided into two interrelated clusters which are denoted by two latent variables, and then a specific structural equation model is developed for identifying and quantifying the influence of service and management quality on customer satisfaction and clarifying the causal relationships between these latent and observed variables.

Findings

The research reveals that: both service and management quality have significant positive effect on customer satisfaction, and the effect of service quality is larger than that of management quality when the indirect effect is taken into account; service quality is a crucial latent variable influencing customer satisfaction and it has a significant direct effect on management quality; how the individual observed variables work together to characterize the corresponding latent variables from an empirical point of view, and some key variables that should be focused on by facility managers in the housing sector are also identified.

Practical implications

Structural equation models are advocated for evaluating customer satisfaction in the housing property sector of facility management service. It can also be used in other sectors of facility management, such as office, retail property or some public property management like hospitals and schools. It has implications for facility management managers in how to improve residential customers' satisfaction level.

Originality/value

This paper presents a quantitative model of characterizing the degree of customer satisfaction.

Details

Facilities, vol. 28 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-2772

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 April 2020

Ken Yiu Kwan Fan, Patrick Lo, Kevin K.W. Ho, Stuart So, Dickson K.W. Chiu and Eddie H.T. Ko

This paper aims to study the information needs and online information-seeking behaviors on mobile platforms of performing arts students at a college level.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study the information needs and online information-seeking behaviors on mobile platforms of performing arts students at a college level.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey instruments were used to collect data from performing arts students at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts (HKAPA), a metropolitan’s major performing arts tertiary institution. Data collected were analyzed through descriptive statistics and other statistical methods, and the music-related students were compared with the production-related students.

Findings

The result reveals that performing arts students all owned their mobile devices and often used mobile apps for non-academic purposes, but they did not often use mobile library services or read online academic contents with their mobile devices. The participants considered inadequate signal coverage, slow loading time, difficulty in reading on a mobile device and the lack of specialized mobile apps as more significant barriers affecting their usage. There are some significant differences between the music-related and production-related student groups in that music-related students watched lectures on the library websites and used electronic music scores more often than the production-related students.

Practical implications

This study contributes to the input for enhancements and policies to future mobile services and facilities of performing art libraries.

Originality/value

There have been scant studies on the mobile learning needs of performing arts students, especially in Asia.

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1980

INDUSTRIAL catering is big business today with an annual turnover estimated at over £600 million per annum, of which half is paid in subsidies by employers. Because catering…

Abstract

INDUSTRIAL catering is big business today with an annual turnover estimated at over £600 million per annum, of which half is paid in subsidies by employers. Because catering facilities are usually only one small part of most undertaking's activities and because it is a field about which most managers know little or nothing, it is frequently not supervised and controlled in the same way as most other departments. As a result, considerably more than is necessary is often spent on indifferent facilities. Instead, staff catering services can and should be treated as any other cost centre. Decisions affecting them and methods of controlling them should be reached in the same methodical, systematic way as for the rest of the undertaking. Here are key questions from a British Institute of Management checklist to help you assess your refreshment and meal facilities:

Details

Industrial Management, vol. 80 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-6929

Article
Publication date: 17 April 2009

Alice Christudason

In the light of the property relativist theory, the purpose of this paper is to review the impact of radical amendments to strata legislation in Singapore in 1999 which, together…

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Abstract

Purpose

In the light of the property relativist theory, the purpose of this paper is to review the impact of radical amendments to strata legislation in Singapore in 1999 which, together with changes to the planning framework, stimulated private‐sector led redevelopment in Singapore. This was achieved through the introduction of majority rule (rather than unanimity) in collective sales (CS) of strata developments. The paper also addresses the issue of how a balance can be achieved between the property rights of majority and minority strata owners.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses case‐studies, planning provisions, and data on property transactions to analyse the effectiveness of the measures taken to address Singapore's land‐scarcity problem. Legal terms and their significance are addressed in a manner that will also be comprehensible to a non‐legally trained readership.

Findings

The cases demonstrate attempts by the authorities to clarify, and to provide a better balance to, the position of those whose property rights had been sacrificed at the altar of redevelopment and urban rejuvenation in Singapore. Nevertheless, there still remain numerous pockets of resistance to CS. These still need to be addressed to reassure the minority in the context of the property relativist theory.

Research limitations/implications

The continued groundswell of protests against collective sale means that there are further issues that need to be addressed to mitigate the plight of the minority. The response of parliament has been reactive, but it remains to be seen whether the minority's concerns have been adequately addressed.

Originality/value

The analysis of the cases, whose decisions turned on the authorities' interpretation of the controversial legislation, is instructive. These can provide valuable pointers for policy makers in other jurisdictions contemplating urban rejuvenation. The twin issues that are dealt with relate to how private‐sector redevelopment can be incentivised through planning measures, without riding roughshod over individuals' private property rights.

Details

International Journal of Law in the Built Environment, vol. 1 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-1450

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 January 2017

Jon S.T. Quah

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.

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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

Asian Education and Development Studies, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-3162

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 October 2018

Nouha Khoufi and Walid Khoufi

This study aims to investigate the determinants of delay in publishing audited reports.

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the determinants of delay in publishing audited reports.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is conducted on a sample of French listed companies, covering the period of five years (from 2010 to 2014). The authors use pooled ordinary least squares regression analysis, modeling audit delay as a function of the following explanatory variables relating to the attributes of companies and their auditors.

Findings

A statistically significant association is found between audit delay and type of audit firm, audit opinion, firm size, the month of year-end and profitability. The results suggest that audit delay lag is reduced by appointing an international audit firm but is extended by aspects of qualified audit opinion.

Originality/value

The contribution of this paper is to investigate audit report in a developed capital market by taking advantage of access to proprietary data on audit timing and audit opinion. This allowed to overcome some of the problems of data quality that inhibit importing research methods from France to other advanced capital markets.

Details

Managerial Auditing Journal, vol. 33 no. 8/9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-6902

Keywords

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