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In today’s Taiwan, sha-cha sauce is an indispensable ingredient for beef hot pot and stir-fried dishes. The purpose of this paper contextualizes the history of sha-cha sauce in Tainan, the oldest city in Taiwan, and argues that sha-cha sauce, introduced by Chaoshan immigrants, has contributed to new styles and habits of beef consumption tastes and habits in the post-1949 Tainan and beyond.

This paper uses documentary materials, oral interviews and diaries to explore the relationship between beef consumption and sha-cha sauce. It begins with an historical overview of Taiwan’s beef consumption during the Japanese colonial era (1895-1945). Then, it focuses on two Chaoshan business enterprises: the Bull-Head, which makes the world’s largest “canned sha-cha sauce,” and the Xiao Haozhou, a Tainan restaurant specializing in sha-cha beef hot pot. Finally, this study analyzes Xinrong Wu, a Tainan gentry whose diary entries from 1933 to 1967 documented the changing dietary habits of beef consumption among Taiwanese.

The Chaoshan migrants played an important role in introducing the sha-cha sauce to postcolonial Tainan, and this input bolstered the beef consumption among Taiwanese. The production of sha-cha provided a reliable source of income for these migrants in Tainan, and major businesses like the Bull-Head became the international brands of Taiwanese food products.

The study, though limited to Tainan, reveals the symbiosis between popularization of sha-cha sauce and widespread beef consumption in Taiwan.

This study helps researchers examine the connection between Chinese migrations and food culture.

This paper is an original scholarly investigation of the relationship between food diet and Chaoshan migration in postcolonial Tainan.

This study aims to identify the ability of gold and cryptocurrency (Cryptocurrency Uncertainty Index (UCRY) Price) as safe haven assets (SHA) for stocks and bonds in both conventional (i.e. stock indices and government bonds) and Islamic markets (i.e. Islamic stock indices and Islamic bonds (IB)).

The authors employed the nonadditive panel quantile regression model by Powell (2016). It measured the safe haven characteristics of gold and UCRY Price for stock indices, government bonds, Islamic stocks, and IB under gold circumstances and level of cryptocurrency uncertainty, respectively. The period spanned from 11 March 2020 to 31 December 2021.

This study discovered three findings, including: (1) gold is a strong safe haven for stocks and bonds in conventional and Islamic markets under bearish conditions; (2) UCRY Price is a strong safe haven for conventional stocks and bonds but only a weak safe haven for Islamic stocks under high crypto uncertainty; and (3) gold offers a safe haven in both emerging and developed countries, while UCRY Price provides a better safe haven in developed than in emerging countries.

Gold always wins big for safe haven properties during unstable economy. It can also win over investors who consider shariah compliant products. Therefore, it should be included in an investor's portfolio. Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies are more common for developed countries. Thus, the governments and regulators of emerging countries need to provide more guidance around cryptocurrency so that the societies have better literacy. On top of that, the investors can consider crypto to mitigate risks but with limited safe haven functions.

The originality aspects of this study include: (1) four chosen assets from conventional and Islamic markets altogether (i.e. stock indices, government bonds, Islamic stock indices and IB); (2) indicator countries selected based on the most used and owned cryptocurrencies for the SHA study; and (3) the utilization of UCRY Price as a crypto indicator and a further examination of the SHA study toward four financial assets.

The article seeks to explore the practical and theoretical implications of the ways in which senior figures in the National Health Service (NHS) interpret the role of the centre in relation to the delivery units of the health service. This is important in the light of recent plans for reorganisation of the NHS advanced by the new Conservative‐Liberal coalition government.

The article is based on interviews with civil servants and NHS staff at senior levels in the centre and in the strategic health authorities (SHAs).

It is found that, in practice, despite numerous attempts to separate out policy making from implementation/management, the two continue to be closely coupled and intertwined. Central staff and regional officials are found to be both steering and rowing.

Only a small selection of senior officials at the centre and only a small proportion of SHA senior managers and directors were interviewed.

The implications are far‐reaching. Unless special steps are taken, it seems likely that these senior officials, despite the creation of some new institutions and the curtailment of others, will continue to behave in broadly similar ways to those described here.

Empirical studies of the thinking, assumptions and behaviour of very senior officials in the health service are rare. The analysis in this paper explores the organisational conditions that shape the actions of these senior players.

This paper aims to investigate the efficiency implications of belonging to a strategic hospital alliance (SHA) and measuring the effects over capacity utilization of such agreements in a Mexican healthcare context.

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is the nonparametric methodology used, which supports both objectives. Technological gaps ratios are calculated by using DEA-metafrontier approach to compare efficiency between SHA members and a hospital’s control group. Also, hospital capacity utilization ratios are used as the maximum rate of output possible from fixed inputs in a frontier setting using directional distance functions. Data were collected from an alliance called Consorcio Mexicano de Hospitales in México, which has 29 general private hospitals and a group of 47 hospitals with same characteristics from a database made by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía for year 2014.

The results indicate that efficiency is better at hospitals that belong to an alliance; it also shows an improvement of installed capacity management for hospital alliances in México.

The results can be useful for both private health organization managers and regulators themselves to adopt management practices that may end up having a favorable impact on cost and prices containment. Additionally, there are no previous studies neither in Mexico nor in Latin America that analyze the impact of strategic hospitality alliances on the efficiency and utilization of the capacity of private hospitals.

Este documento tiene como objetivo investigar las implicaciones de pertenecer a una alianza hospitalaria estratégica (AHE) en la eficiencia, así como cuantificar los efectos sobre la utilización de la capacidad de dichos acuerdos en el contexto mexicano de atención médica.

El Análisis Envolvente de Datos (DEA) es la metodología no paramétrica utilizada para lograr ambos objetivos. Las brechas tecnológicas se estiman empleando meta-fronteras calculadas mediante modelos DEA, comparando la eficiencia entre los miembros de la AHE y un grupo de control de hospitales. El nivel de utilización de la capacidad hospitalaria se calcula, utilizando funciones direccionales de distancia, a partir del máximo output alcanzable a partir de la dotación de inputs fijos. Los datos fueron obtenidos de la alianza Consorcio Mexicano de Hospitales en México, integrada por 29 hospitales privados generales, y de un grupo de 47 hospitales con las mismas características obtenidos de una base de datos del Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía para el año 2014.

adosLos resultados indican que los niveles de eficiencia son superiores en los hospitales pertenecientes a la alianza, así como una mejor gestión de la capacidad instalada en la alianza hospitalaria en México.

Los resultados pueden ser útiles tanto para los administradores de las organizaciones de salud privadas como para los reguladores, de forma que puedan adoptar prácticas de gestión con un impacto favorable en la contención de costos y precios. Asimismo, no existen estudios previos ni en México ni en América Latina que analicen el impacto de las alianzas estratégicas hospitalarias en la eficiencia y la utilización de la capacidad de los hospitales privados.

The paper aims to describe an evaluation study of advanced leadership programmes run for clinical leaders in the National Health Service (NHS) in England.

This was a limited, post‐hoc study, strongly influenced by a “moving target” problem, which collected and analysed reaction and learning‐level data through e‐mail questionnaires, document analysis and semi‐structured interviews.

Significant underlying unchecked assumptions in relation to the programmes were made and were never realised in practice. There were split funding arrangements and lack of clarity over the purpose of the programmes. While there were organisational and individual benefits achieved the programmes only partly met their original objectives.

The post‐hoc nature of the research study was a major limitation, together with the “bespoke” nature of programme delivery, This meant that the findings of the study were broad and general, rather than specific to each individual programme. Future evaluation studies would need to be planned with the programme design, rather than as an afterthought.

Robust project management arrangements are necessary for steering purposes in such complex leadership development programmes. A continuing diagnostic orientation is needed on the part of the programme provider. Programme titles matter – and create expectations. The contractual model potentially creates tensions between client(s) and provider.

Few evaluation studies of clinical leadership programmes have been conducted and reported. The case study offers a rich source of shared learning with regard to the complexity and challenges in this sphere.

The purpose of this paper is to identify, assess and explore potential risks that can affect long‐term viability of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in the post‐implementation and exploitation phase.

The research took a large Chinese private group as a case study. A theoretical ERP risk ontology, which was adopted from the literature, was used to frame the study and generate data collection tools. Two questionnaires were thus designed and used to explore ERP post‐implementation risks in the case company.

The study identified 37 risk events, of which seven were identified as the most critical for ERP exploitation in the case company. The findings show that organisational and human‐related risks are the crucial factors for potential ERP failure and not the usually suspect technical risks.

This study contributes to the knowledge of ERP in general, and provides valuable insights into ERP post‐implementation risks in large companies in particular.

The findings will not just be useful in supporting ERP risk identification and management in the large Chinese companies, but will also be beneficial to other large companies in general, which may be confronted with similar ERP exploitation challenges.

The majority of large companies in China and in the West have implemented ERP systems and engaged in the system post‐implementation phase. Most of the existing literature in the field focuses on the process of implementation. This paper looks forward to the risks involved in the post‐implementation phase. Understanding potential risks that may occur during ERP exploitation is vital for these large firms to achieve and sustain business success through their ERP systems.

Much empirical evidence is in conflict with the expectations of the service‐profit chain which suggests that increases in customer satisfaction will increase customer loyalty and earn additional profits from customers. Management focus on the achievement of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, and associated investment, might, therefore, be misguided, if they believe that the available empirical evidence supports a link between these variables and firm performance. The purpose of this paper is to help firms understand the value of their intangible assets – most notably the important role played by customers in increasing a firm's value.

On the basis of survey‐based research carried out in the Taiwanese credit card market, this paper generates a structural equation model facilitating the measurement and evaluation of the relative efficiencies of customer‐related strategies.

The findings help managers to understand the relationship between customer‐related strategies (customer acquisition, retention, and add‐on selling) and their impact on customer measures and ultimately firm performance. Customer lifetime value is shown to be the most important indicator of financial performance and the firm's shareholder value; the customer loyalty measure is shown to have no impact on shareholder value, and to be negatively related to the implementation of an acquisition strategy.

The paper is conducted within the Taiwanese credit card market, and the findings may not be generalisable to other locations or to other markets.

These empirical findings suggest that marketing strategy has a central role in the formulation of financial policy, since such strategies can be shown to have an impact on the financial value of the business.

The paper provides further evidence linking customers with firm value, which will be important for management decision making and resource use.

This study aims to accurately calculate the magnetic field distribution, which is a prerequisite for pre-design and optimization of electromagnetic performance. Accurate calculation of magnetic field distribution is a prerequisite for pre-design and optimization.

This paper proposes an analytical model of permanent magnet machines with segmented Halbach array (SHA-PMMs) to predict the magnetic field distribution and electromagnetic performance. The field problem is divided into four subdomains, i.e. permanent magnet, air-gap, stator slot and slot opening. The Poisson’s equation or Laplace’s equation of magnetic vector potential for each subdomain is solved. The field’s solution is obtained by applying the boundary conditions. The electromagnetic performances, such as magnetic flux density, unbalanced magnetic force, cogging torque and electromagnetic torque, are analytically predicted. Then, the influence of design parameters on the torque is explored by using the analytical model.

The finite element analysis and prototype experiments verify the analytical model’s accuracy. Adjusting the design parameters, e.g. segments per pole and air-gap length, can effectively increase the electromagnetic torque and simultaneously reduce the torque ripple.

The main contribution of this paper is to develop an accurate magnetic field analytical model of the SHA-PMMs. It can precisely describe complex topology, e.g. arbitrary segmented Halbach array and semi-closed slots, etc., and can quickly predict the magnetic field distribution and electromagnetic performance simultaneously.

Environment, social and governance (ESG) practices and shareholder activism are making significant strides in the decision-making policies and processes for all firms. This study aims to assess the impact of ESG on the dividend payout decisions of firms in India. In addition, it also aims to determine how shareholder activism influences the impact of ESG on dividend distribution decisions.

The authors gather relevant data from 78 non-financial listed Indian firms from 2016 to 2020. This study undertakes longitudinal data analysis, with fixed effects and calculation of robust standard errors. In addition, the slope test is used to examine the effects of the interaction between ESG and shareholder activism.

It is found in the study that not only does ESG positively impact the dividends but also shareholder activism positively impacts the dividend distribution decisions. Surprisingly, the authors see a significant but negative interaction impact of shareholder activism on the positive association of ESG with dividend distribution decisions. In other words, ESG impacts dividend distribution decisions differently at levels of shareholder activism. When shareholder activism is low, ESG positively influences dividend distribution decisions. However, when shareholder activism is high, ESG negatively influences dividend distribution decisions.

This result has significant implications for all the stakeholders, including shareholders. A shareholder expecting a dividend could decide correctly through the current study’s findings. In cases of high shareholder activism, investors may skip picking a stock if investors expect high ESG to influence the dividend distribution decisions favourably. On the contrary, investors may choose a stock if shareholder activism is low and all else remains the same.

Literature has some evidence of the influence of shareholder activism and ESG (in silos) on the dividend distribution decisions in the firms. This study attempts to contribute by bringing forth the interaction effects of shareholder activism and ESG on dividend distribution decisions.

This study aims to examine the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) adoption on differentiation and cost leadership strategies and how governance structure moderates this CSR–strategy relationship.

The study data were retrieved from Thomson Reuters for non-financial firms between 2013 and 2019, and a fixed-effects panel regression analysis was executed.

The results indicate that CSR fosters cost leadership strategy but weakens differentiation strategy. This result supports the value generation school for cost leaders but also confirms the agency theory perspective for differentiators. Moreover, the governance structure does not moderate the relationship between a firm's CSR engagement and its business strategy, which implies a lack of corporate policies that concurrently consider both its CSR investment and strategies.

The findings of this study imply that cost leaders can integrate CSR practices into their business strategy and use their CSR engagement to increase their competitive position by stimulating cost efficiency and creating greater turnover. On the contrary, for differentiators, there is a trade-off between environmental and social engagement and business strategies. Thus, they are advised to enrich their unique product development abilities through the integration of environmental and social practices and reinforce their competitive position by addressing stakeholders' interests. The practical implication of the moderation analysis is that there is no rooted corporate policy behind the connection between CSR and firm strategy for both cost leaders and differentiators, which constitutes a missing link.

The findings of this study are of critical importance for firms, offering justification for the integration of two vital perspectives: social and environmental sustainability and financial sustainability. The moderating effect of governance performance tests the upper echelon's role in maintaining both sustainability perspectives concurrently and strengthening the legitimacy of the firms in society. Although maintaining a business strategy is important for shareholders' interests, pursuing a social and environmental sustainability strategy is crucial for meeting the expectations of all stakeholders.