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Transparent insulation materials (TIMs) have been developed for application to building facades to reduce heating energy demands of a building. The purpose of this research is to investigate the feasibility of TI‐applications for high‐rise and low‐rise office buildings in London, UK, to reduce heating energy demands in winter and reduce overheating problems in summer.

The energy performance of these office building models was simulated using an energy simulation package, Environmental Systems Performance‐research (ESP‐r), for a full calendar year. The simulations were initially performed for the buildings with conventional wall elements, prior to those with TI‐systems (TI‐walls and TI‐glazing) used to replace the conventional wall elements. Surface temperatures of the conventional wall elements and TI‐systems, air temperature inside the 20 mm wide air gaps in the TI‐wall, dry‐bulb zone temperature and energy demands required for the office zones were predicted.

Peak temperatures of between 50 and 70°C were predicted for the internal surface of the TI‐systems, which clearly demonstrated the large effect of absorption of solar energy flux by the brick wall mass with an absorptivity of 90 percent behind the TIM layer. In the office zones, the magnitude of temperature swings during daytime was reduced, as demonstrated by a 10 to 12 h delay in heat transmission from the external façade to the office zones. Such reduction indicates the overheating problems could be reduced potentially by TI‐applications.

This research presents the scale and scope of design optimisation of TI‐systems with ESP‐r simulations, which is a critical process prior to applications to real buildings.

The competition and challenges facing construction firms during the recent recession have brought risk management (RM) to the fore in people’s minds. Examination of the difficulties of implementing RM in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the UK construction industry has been relatively untouched. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

As part of on-going research to facilitate RM processing aimed at improving the competitiveness of SMEs, the difficulties in RM implementation were identified through a literature review of RM implementation in SMEs. Postal questionnaire were sent to SMEs who have experience of construction management.

Of the 153 of SMEs responding, most highlighted that the main difficulty experienced is how to scale RM process to meet their requirements. None of the available standards explain the fundamental principle of applying RM to the situations that SMEs find themselves in. This difficulty is further exacerbated by a lack of management skills and knowledge in the adoption of RM tools or techniques to identify and analyse the business’ risks.

The identified difficulties can be considered to develop a process to facilitate RM process within SMEs.

For Chinese women to progress, attention must be paid to alleviating the burden of the dual role of parenting and work responsibilities. The current situation, with the working woman having to accept that cultural values still make child care her responsibility, means that Hong Kong businesses can still use women to fill their basic labour requirements — a cheap, readily available labour force content to stay in factory situations. Comprehensive equal pay legislation is still required and amendment to the tax laws so that married women are not considered as appendages to their husbands. The China‐British agreement for the future of Hong Kong after the 1997 territory lease expiry should open doors for women politically, since a major goal for the intervening years is preparation for administration by local Chinese.

Various demands and requirements of foreign home-buyers from different background are yet unclear to most of the residential developers. The aim of this study is to blueprint a fuzzy mapping of psychological phenomena reflected in consumer behavior, and to develop a Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (Fuzzy-AHP) decision making model to assist residential developers in dealing with potential foreign customers. Through a questionnaire survey in the form of pair wise comparison matrix among 126 expatriates, this study introduces a new approach to assist residential developers dealing with expatriates' preference on house purchase in Malaysia in a simple and efficient way. With this fuzzy mapping, residential developers could utilize psychological phenomena to manipulate expatriates' preference on housing purchase rather than to merely comply passively.

We suggest that, in some specific settings, individuals may distinguish and be sensitive not only to the distributive, procedural, social, and informational dimensions of justice, but also subdivide the distributive justice dimension into two facets‐reward and task distributive justice. Results of three studies with Portuguese public university teachers reveal that a five‐factor model of justice (distribution of tasks, distribution of rewards, procedural, interpersonal, informational) is adequate, although factor analyses are not categorical in distinguishing interpersonal and informational justice. Results also show that individuals who work with high autonomy and outside close supervisory control in performing their jobs may be very sensitive to the way they feel treated by their superiors, even accepting as normal that the superiors make decisions with no participation, a finding that may be due to the feminine, affiliative, and high power distance cultural context.

Examines the recent research on advertising in mainland China over the 1979‐1998 period. Suggests that findings show a sustained effort in academic research/publications on advertising in China is in the early stage of its development and whilst many areas have been researched, there are many more yet to be touched. Concludes that the research is seldom based on established theoretical or conceptual framework and the research methods and types of analysis used have not been very advanced when compared to general advertising research.

The author was commissioned by the Association of Banks in Singapore (ADS) to redraft the ABS's Guidelines on Prevention of Money Laundering to replace its earlier guidelines after the revision of the money laundering laws under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (SCA) and the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act (MACMA). While asked to redraft the guidelines (ABS Guidelines) within the legal framework of the new anti‐money laundering regime, the task was also to redraft the ‘know your customer’ rules which would constitute the best practices in Singapore's banking industry for combating money laundering activities. The purpose of this paper is not ‘good compliance’ from the regulator's or a bank's perspective but from the banking industry's perspective in Singapore for the combating of money laundering.

Examines the recent research on advertising in mainland China over the 1979‐1998 period. Suggests that findings show a sustained effort in academic research/publications on advertising in China is in the early stage of its development and whilst many areas have been researched, there are many more yet to be touched. Concludes that the research is seldom based on established theoretical or conceptual framework and the research methods and types of analysis used have not been very advanced when compared to general advertising research.

This paper investigates the location determinants of foreign investors and how the location decision‐making impacts on their knowledge transfer strategies. Survey data were collected in Yunnan, a southwest province of China. By examining two different sets of location factors at both the national and provincial levels, the research found that location factors at the provincial level, rather than at the national level, directly influenced foreign investors’ knowledge transfer strategies. The research also found that the support of Yunnan’s local government compensated for the underdeveloped endowment conditions of the province, significantly increasing knowledge transfer of foreign investors. The research suggests that foreign investors need to make appropriate location selection to efficiently exploit their ownership advantages. A well‐structured policy regime is required of host countries in order to encourage knowledge transfer by foreign investors.

Economic statecraft is a critical aspect of China’s foreign policy and has played a vital role in China’s relations with its Asian neighbors. The Chinese economic ties with Asia are significant not only because China is the second largest economy in today’s world but also because it has an important impact on regional economic co‐operation and international supply chains. Relentless growth in military buildup and more assertive foreign policy led many pundits to focus almost exclusively on political and military aspects of the Chinese grand strategy in Asia. The purpose of this study is to re‐examine this picture by studying China’s economic statecraft in the region.

This paper will address following research questions: How does the Chinese foreign economic policy serve its political aspirations in East Asia? Why has China increasingly relied on a combination of economic pressures and incentives to achieve its foreign policy objectives? How effective is China’s economic diplomacy as a strategic weapon? What are the limitations of such policy? What challenges does Beijing face in exercising its economic power in East Asia?

Beijing has a comprehensive, long-term grand strategy in Asia, and economic statecraft is a major component of it. Economic statecraft is a double-edged sword. It has given the People’s Republic of China more political influence but frictions and disputes between China and its trading partners are growing as well. Even with the slower growth of the Chinese economy, China will continue to be a game changer for the region. The economic diplomacy has long been part of the foreign policy toolkit used by the People’s Republic of China and will play more important role in the years to come.

Thus far, China’s expanding economic ties with many countries in the world have not generated significant spillover effects. Although China is the dominant economic partner for every country in East Asia, its “soft power” remains to be weak. With the slower growth of the Chinese economy, another looming issue is whether China is going to be able to make a shift away from a trade- and export-led growth model that brought its dramatic economic success. All these could lead China’s economic statecraft less potent. Meanwhile, it should be noted that Asian economies that once relied on the USA are reaching a turning point as China comes to the fore, a trend that may challenge the existing international order. Should this momentum continue, it could alter the balance of power between Washington and Beijing in the region.

For Beijing, economic statecraft concerns both the economic dimension of foreign policy and the strategic dimension of economic policy. Although there is a growing literature on China’s soft power and military capabilities, the study of the economic dimensions of China’s foreign policy remains underdeveloped. With rising confidence and sophistication, Beijing has deployed economic resources to achieve geopolitical aims.

Needless to say, China’s economic statecraft has already triggered heated debate in the United States, Asia and elsewhere in the international community. However, the study of the Chinese economic diplomacy has received relatively little scholarly attention in the English-speaking world. This paper will fill a gap in the analysis and literature.