Search results
1 – 10 of 493Suwastika Naidu and Anand Chand
– The purpose of this paper is to comparatively analyse the best human resource management (HRM) practices in the hotel sector of Samoa and Tonga.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to comparatively analyse the best human resource management (HRM) practices in the hotel sector of Samoa and Tonga.
Design/methodology/approach
This study examined best HRM practices used by the hotel sector of Samoa and Tonga by using self-administered questionnaires. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 73 hotels in Samoa and 66 hotels in Tonga. Out of the 73 self-administered questionnaires that were distributed in Samoa, 58 usable questionnaires were returned resulting in a response rate of 79 per cent. In the case of Tonga, out of the 66 self-administered questionnaires were distributed, 51 usable questionnaires were returned resulting in a response rate of 77 per cent.
Findings
The findings of this study show that there are 28 best HRM practices in Samoa and 15 best HRM practices in Tonga. This study also found that best HRM practices differ based on differences in internal and external environmental factors present in different geographical areas. The findings of this paper support the assumptions of the Contextual Paradigm of HRM and strategic human resource management.
Research limitations/implications
This study is based on a single sector of Samoa and Tonga. A single sector study limits the generalisations that can be made across different sectors in Samoa and Tonga.
Practical implications
Human resource managers should incorporate cultural, political, legal, economic and social factors in HRM practices.
Originality/value
None of the existing studies have examined best HRM practices used by the hotel sector of Samoa and Tonga. This study is a pioneering study that comparatively analyses the best HRM practices used by the hotel sector of Samoa and Tonga.
Details
Keywords
Gurmeet Singh, R.D. Pathak and Rafia Naz
The purpose of this paper is to scrutinize the issues, challenges, and impediments coming in the way of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) internationalization in small…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to scrutinize the issues, challenges, and impediments coming in the way of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) internationalization in small developing nations of South Pacific like Fiji and Samoa.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper encompasses both quantitative and qualitative data. Analyses of antecedents are descriptive in nature, while establishing the relationship between intervening variables and outcomes are quantitative. For quantitative data, structured questionnaires are used, while for the collection of qualitative data, archival and library research methods are employed. Structured questionnaire is used to collect data from 118 and 78 sampled respondents in Fiji and Samoa, respectively, and statistical analysis is performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences package.
Findings
These research findings pinpoint that the problem lies in evaluating the nature of issues affecting internationalization of SMEs. The results also show that the performance of Fijian and Samoan SMEs is same across different business sectors and those SMEs in these two countries exhibit different change patterns in their export growth.
Research limitations/implications
The scope of the paper is limited only to the SMEs in Fiji and Samoa and cannot in any way be generalized to large firms.
Practical implications
SMEs seeking to internationalize will need to learn a lot about the internal and external factors impacting their organizations. Many a times entrepreneurs believe that through sustained planning, they can reduce the shocks resulting from environmental uncertainty, however, in reality some of them may be able to benefit while others despite planning may not be able to overcome growth‐related problems, as they may require reactive action. Therefore, learning is essential in international expansion and so is having a clear understanding of the environment that entrepreneurs operate in. Future research should seek to highlight documented cases of SME internationalization.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the important studies taken in the context of Pacific SMEs. The research that has been conducted in the past are mostly confined to Asian countries, with very little in the area of SME internationalization. The findings of this paper will have relevance for policy making and supportive measures at government levels for SME internationalization.
Details
Keywords
Stephanie Perkiss, Tautalaaso Taule’alo, Olivia Dun, Natascha Klocker, Asenati Liki and Farzana Tanima
Temporary labour mobility programmes (TLMPs) are initiated by high-income nations to fill their labour demands by offering temporary work opportunities to migrants from low-income…
Abstract
Purpose
Temporary labour mobility programmes (TLMPs) are initiated by high-income nations to fill their labour demands by offering temporary work opportunities to migrants from low-income nations. TLMPs also seek to contribute to economic development in workers' home countries. This paper aims to assess the accountability of New Zealand's Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme and Australia's Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP) in reaching their economic development objectives in one sending nation, Samoa.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study with RSE and SWP workers and key informants (collectively stakeholders) in Samoa was undertaken to assess the contributions of these schemes to economic development. An interdisciplinary research approach was taken using the Pacific methodology of talanoa. Talanoa was used to “operationalise engagement” and empower local stakeholder accounts.
Findings
Talanoa supported the elicitation of accounts that contributed nuanced insights into the accountability of TLMPs. Specifically, stakeholder accounts revealed limitations in the ability of the RSE Scheme and SWP to meet their economic development objectives for Samoan communities and workers. Adjustments are necessary to meet Pacific nations' economic development objectives.
Practical implications
This study responds to calls for on-the-ground accounts of stakeholders involved in TLMPs. It provides insights that may contribute to the development of more effective TLMPs, particularly regarding economic development in workers' home countries.
Originality/value
Drawing on dialogic accounting literature, which calls for engagement with the marginalised, a talanoa approach has been engaged to assess TLMPs via on-the-ground participant accounts in a specific context. This paper introduces talanoa to the critical and social accounting literature, to move beyond a typical accounting qualitative interview process and encourage greater engagement and collaboration with Pacific scholars and partners.
Details
Keywords
This paper aims to examines the trade-offs that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) must make in navigating an inappropriate elite-driven global anti-money laundering anti-money…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examines the trade-offs that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) must make in navigating an inappropriate elite-driven global anti-money laundering anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML-CFT) order. This paper examines the case of Samoa, an under-researched Pacific Island nation. It is hoped that this paper will have a wider resonance for policymakers from other developing nations facing similar challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
It draws on the latest Samoan domestic source material and Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering Mutual Evaluation Reports to highlight the difficult balancing act that SIDS face in complying with complex global norms within their limited regulatory capacity and competing development priorities of financial inclusion and affordable remittance flows.
Findings
Samoa and other SIDS in balancing the existential risks of “blacklisting” with the significant regulatory opportunity costs of compliance undertake an expensive form of AML-CFT window-dressing. Policymakers need to be more sensitive to the needs and regulatory opportunity costs of small jurisdictions, particularly when questions about the effectiveness of the AML-CFT remain open.
Research limitations/implications
The author notes Samoa’s offshore center’s role in raising its risk profile. However, owing to this paper's limited scope offshore center (OFCs) will not be explored in depth. Further research is needed in this area.
Originality/value
There is a dearth of contemporary academic research into AML-CFT regulation in the South Pacific and Samoa specifically. This paper presents through its Samoan case study insights into the cost-benefit calculations that small jurisdictions must make in seeking to comply with elite global AML-CFT norms vis-à-vis competing policy goals such as financial inclusion and ready access to remittance flows.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to examine claims that the removal of tenure in favour of fixed‐term employment contracts has led to some politicization of top‐level appointments in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine claims that the removal of tenure in favour of fixed‐term employment contracts has led to some politicization of top‐level appointments in the Samoa public service. The intention is not only to shed light on how politicization is perceived in a small developing society, but also to determine whether such claims are well founded and if so, what the implications are for a small public service like that in Samoa.
Design/methodology/approach
Data are gathered from government documents, literature review and the experience of the author as a former senior public servant in Samoa.
Findings
While the claims cannot be fully endorsed at this stage, it is clear that there was some politicization of senior public service appointments and, importantly, the outcomes in most cases were unfavourable for Samoa's public service.
Originality/value
Politicization of the appointment of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in Samoa's public service since the shift to employment contracts in the early 1990s has not previously been reviewed. Apparently the ramifications of politicizing the appointment of CEOs have, in most cases, proved unproductive for the public service and its stakeholders. Hence the Public Service Commission, which is the main advisory body, urgently needs to recommend necessary changes to avert political appointments in the future.
Details
Keywords
Examines the socio‐economic situation of the least developed Pacific Island nations (Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tuvalu and Kiribati) and the type of economics development…
Abstract
Examines the socio‐economic situation of the least developed Pacific Island nations (Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tuvalu and Kiribati) and the type of economics development advice which they have been given in recent years. Suggests that this advice was based on neo‐classical models and was insensitive to the institutional and cultural backgrounds of these countries. Argues that because of the insensitivity, proposed policies may be doomed and could result in further economic hardship.
Details
Keywords
Using the United Nations’ definition of least developed nations, examines the socioeconomic situation of the least developed Pacific island nations, namely the Melanesian…
Abstract
Using the United Nations’ definition of least developed nations, examines the socioeconomic situation of the least developed Pacific island nations, namely the Melanesian countries – the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, the Polynesian countries – Samoa and Tuvalu, and the Micronesian country – Kiribati, and critically discusses the type of development policy advice given to these nations by Bretton Woods’ institutions and their “relatives”. Suggests that the emphasis of these institutions and many donor countries on the desirability of business‐led development, structural adjustment policies and the globalisation of these economies has paid insufficient attention to the cultural background, institutional and other constraints encountered by these economies and may have added to political instability in this region, as well as the occurrence of poverty and growing inequality. A different set of policy proposals would have emerged if greater account had been taken of the general views of Myrdal rather than relying almost exclusively on the neoclassical economic paradigm. This is especially unfortunate because severe poverty (even more so than in much of Asia) exists in several of these least developed nations e.g. the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
Details
Keywords
Abstract
Richard P.C. Brown and Dennis A. Ahlburg
For more than a quarter of a century there has been substantial emigration from the smaller island states of the Pacific to metropolitan fringe states, mainly the USA, New Zealand…
Abstract
For more than a quarter of a century there has been substantial emigration from the smaller island states of the Pacific to metropolitan fringe states, mainly the USA, New Zealand and Australia. Migration reduced unemployment in island states and remittances have contributed to raised living standards. This paper provides a better understanding of the implications of remittances for economic and social development in the Pacific region. It discusses alternative explanations of remittances, estimates of the size of remittance flows, the impact of remittances on the home country, and policies that influence the flow of remittances. Much of the empirical work in this paper is based on Tonga and Samoa, although the findings apply more generally to other Pacific island nations.
Details
Keywords
Rory A. Walshe, Denis Chang Seng, Adam Bumpus and Joelle Auffray
While the South Pacific is often cited as highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, there is comparatively little known about how different groups perceive climate…
Abstract
Purpose
While the South Pacific is often cited as highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, there is comparatively little known about how different groups perceive climate change. Understanding the gaps and differences between risk and perceived risk is a prerequisite to designing effective and sustainable adaptation strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
This research examined three key groups in Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu: secondary school teachers, media personnel, and rural subsistence livelihood-based communities that live near or in conservation areas. This study deployed a dual methodology of participatory focus groups, paired with a national mobile phone based survey to gauge perceptions of climate change. This was the first time mobile technology had been used to gather perceptual data regarding the environment in the South Pacific.
Findings
The research findings highlighted a number of important differences and similarities in ways that these groups perceive climate change issues, solutions, personal vulnerability and comprehension of science among other factors.
Practical implications
These differences and similarities are neglected in large-scale top-down climate change adaptation strategies and have key implications for the design of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation and therefore sustainable development in the region.
Originality/value
The research was innovative in terms of its methods, as well as its distillation of the perceptions of climate change from teachers, media and rural communities.
Details