Suchergebnisse

This book features several introductory readings about the "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI), a strategic development initiative launched by the Chinese Government under the leadership of President Xi Jinping in 2013 to jointly build an economic belt along the Silk Road. Some of the key objectives of BRI, previously known as One Belt, One Road (OBOR) or Silk Road Economic Belt, include promoting infrastructure development, trade and investments in Asia, Europe and Africa. BRI is a gigantic development initiative whose key components include the creation of several interconnected economic land corridors (=belts): China–Mongolia–Russia; China–Central Asia– West Asia, China–Pakistan, the China–Indochina peninsula and Bangladesh–China–India–Myanmar.

This essay outlines some of the benefits and challenges of implementing strategic knowledge management systems in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with reference to respective initiatives in the Republic of Singapore. The article addresses following research questions: What is knowledge management (KM) and why has it become an issue? How can SMEs benefit from strategic KM? What are the potential pitfalls of KM applications in small firms? What are the strategic imperatives of using KM in SMEs? Do small and large firms require different KM systems? What are the critical success factors which have to be considered during implementation? How do smart and KM-enabled SMEs look in reality? Some of these issues will be illustrated by a case-study of a small intelligent pest control firm in Singapore whose owners made effective use of development grants provided by government agencies tasked with the transformation of Singapore's small business sector in line with official IT-related development blueprints. Since the 1980s, the Government of this dynamic city-state in Southeast Asia has implemented several policy measures to realize the vision of an "intelligent island" aimed at remaining relevant in the global knowledge-based economy.

Against the background of the current rapidly changing business environment, the article examines the organizational change management behaviour of the owner-managers of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore. The analysis of survey data is aimed at ascertaining whether there are any differences between Chinese and English educated small (ethnic Chinese) businessmen in terms of Change Management (CM), a dichotomy that is of great historical and politico-cultural significance in Singapore. The survey data show that there are indeed differences between the subgroups (eg with regard to the initiation of a more participatory people management style) but these variations turned out to be far less pronounced than expected. Access to information and actionable managerial knowledge appears to be a key precursor to the various change management approaches used by both groups. Chinese educated businessmen in particular seem to be somewhat disadvantaged in this respect, as modern change management literature is still largely only published in English.

This essay outlines some of the benefits and challenges of implementing strategic knowledge management systems in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with reference to respective initiatives in the Republic of Singapore. The article addresses following research questions: What is knowledge management (KM) and why has it become an issue? How can SMEs benefit from strategic KM? What are the potential pitfalls of KM applications in small firms? What are the strategic imperatives of using KM in SMEs? Do small and large firms require different KM systems? What are the critical success factors which have to be considered during implementation? How do smart and KM-enabled SMEs look in reality? Some of these issues will be illustrated by a case-study of a small intelligent pest control firm in Singapore whose owners made effective use of development grants provided by government agencies tasked with the transformation of Singapore's small business sector in line with official IT-related development blueprints. Since the 1980s, the Government of this dynamic city-state in Southeast Asia has implemented several policy measures to realize the vision of an "intelligent island" aimed at remaining relevant in the global knowledge-based economy.

The authors examined the influence of individual and situational characteristics on the motivation to mentor. Respondents were managerial employees (N = 167) in the maintenance career stage employed in public and private sectors in Singapore. The model accounted for 41% (RJ2) of the explained variance in the motivation to mentor with the additive or main effects contributing 37% (AR 2) and the interaction terms contributing a modest 4% (AR 2). The significant findings indicate that the motivation to mentor may be predicted by individual characteristics (altruism, positive affectivity), situational characteristics (employee development-linked reward system and opportunities for interaction on the job), and their interaction terms (opportunities for interaction on the job and altruism). Limitations of the study, implications of the findings, and directions for future research are discussed.

Key Features:Examines how concepts such as value creating knowledge architectures can be applied to the requirements of both developing countries and emerging markets in AsiaProvides lessons learned from Asia's successful knowledge-based economies such as South Korea and Singapore as well as insights how countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Uzbekistan attempt to strategize on knowledge for developmentSuitable for policy-makers, leaders in development and business as well as graduate students who want to enhance their knowledge for development capabilities aimed at leveraging on knowledge as factor of production in an era of accelerated innovation and profound knowledge traps.

Data obtained with a questionnaire instrument from managerial employees (N = 200) in Singapore were used to examine some antecedents of subjective career success. The choice of antecedents was informed by recent calls to place research on career issues in the context of an individual's life roles. Confirmatory factor analysis (LISREL VII) was used to examine the one-factor and three-factor models hypothesized to underlie the subjective career success data. The results revealed a three-factor model to have adequate fit statistics - financial and hierarchical success, and career satisfaction. The antecedent sets of human capital, work values, family and structural or work variables accounted for over 40% of the explained variance in each career success dimension. While the career success dimensions were influenced by different variables, individual-organizational value congruity, quality of parental role and internal labor market emerged as consistent antecedents of the career success dimensions. The pattern of significant antecedents of the career success dimensions was interpreted as providing support for the approach that underpinned the study. The limitations of the study, and practical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.