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Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the current situation of education for sustainable development, climate change education and environmental education in a nationwide context. Methodologically, this study calls for more research to go beyond case studies and take a similar approach to examine university curricula and facilitate cross-country comparisons. Design/methodology/approach: This paper examines the status of climate and sustainability curricula in Taiwan's higher education system. Using the course catalog for the 2020–2021 academic year, the authors constructed a unique data set that includes 1,827 courses at 29 major universities in Taiwan. In each institution, the authors search for course titles that include "climate," "sustainable/sustainability" and "environment/environmental" as keywords and code the courses according to their disciplines. Findings: The finding highlights the variations across institutional types and subject matters. Public universities have an average of 4.94 related courses per 1,000 students, whereas private universities have only 3.13. In general, the relevant courses are more concentrated in the STEM and bioscience fields. The curricula, however, are seriously constrained by the disciplinary structure and foster few transdisciplinary perspectives. Originality/value: The authors seek to go beyond case studies and offer one of the most comprehensive curricula samples at the national level. Taiwan adds an important data point, as the current literature focuses heavily on the USA and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop and empirically test a model that can predict factors affecting student recycling behavior. The theoretical model was based on motivation, place attachment, environmental concern and interpersonal altruism. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional study was conducted with college students in Taiwan using self-report questionnaires. Of the 800 distributed questionnaires, 523 were completed (response rate of 65.4%) and were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Partial least squares (PLS) were used to test the models and hypotheses. Findings: The results showed that environmental concern, motivation, interpersonal altruism and place attachment have significant positive effects on recycling behavior and motivation and place attachment have significant positive effects on interpersonal altruism. This research contributes to the existing literature by discriminating between two sorts of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Based on these findings, suggestions for future research and practical implications are presented. Originality/value: Few studies have linked motivation, interpersonal altruism, environmental concern and place attachment to recycling behavior. Therefore, this study aimed to explore these relationships, specifically as they affect college students' behavior. This paper anticipates that increased knowledge about recycling behavior could be used to support the wider adoption of recycling practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This response paper aims to comment on specific aspects of the position paper. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, the author presents a response to Fischer et al.'s contribution on "The Challenge for the Digital Age: Making Learning a Part of Life." While imperatives and narratives of learning in the future have been well articulated in the literature, their paper provides insights into lifelong learning in the digital age. Findings: The author raises comments on the comprehensiveness of the lifelong learning perspectives and the calls to action. Over the years, with multiyear efforts on the research-based evolution of the design, implementation and adoption of technology-supported learning environments in some parts of the world, the author believes well-researched innovative pedagogy and design principles have already to some extent impacted transformation of learning and teaching in normal schools. By referring to the work in the running of a model school in Taiwan, the author demonstrate some of the pathways that can guide innovation and work towards operationalizing a futuristic vision that is resonant with the one painted in the paper. The paper will end with some comments on how narratives on the future of learning will evolve. Originality/value: In trying to understand the lens that the vision would bring to learning on the digital edge, the author has provided commentaries to probe into the comprehensiveness of their vision of future learning. From an Asian perspective, the author describes one effort that can help make progress in moving towards this vision. It involves realizing the vision by grounding our designs in real experiments or instantiations, such as the interest-driven creator (IDC) experimental school in Taiwan, and highlight past research efforts which have been successful in transformation of classrooms and schools such as developing seamless learning for connecting learning in different spaces afforded by mobile digital devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine how situational factors with social support affecting purchase intention in social commerce (SC). In Taiwan's SC, the relationship between trust belief and purchase intention has always been a key issue. Design/methodology/approach: This study presents a research model that comprises five hypothesis with five constructs, including situational factors, social support, senses, trust belief and purchase intention. The model is tested on data collected from 532 valid samples in Taiwan, using structural equation modeling. The results show that, in order of importance, control senses and raise mediation trust belief reach the better purchase intention. Findings: The findings of the study provide practical insights in understanding how seller should notice consumer's trust belief, in order to enhance purchase intention for the SC as a whole. Originality/value: Much existing consumer behavior research is focused on decision making rather than the trust belief themselves. Accordingly, analyzing how senses influence trust belief and purchase intention is an important issue in SC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In this paper, the authors examined the changes in labour unrest and labour quality brought by high labour standards over a considerable period in Taiwan. Then, the authors studied the role of these changes in predicting the inflow of foreign direct investment (IFDI) in the country. To test the role, the authors measured the differences in effects of the two changes on wages, working hours and employment opportunities of skilled female and skilled male workers in FDI-intensive and non-intensive industries. Design/methodology/approach: Using a model built on pooled cross-sectional time-series data from 1999 to 2012, the authors measured the effect of changes in labour unrest and the presence of skilled workers on the net inflow of FDI. Using data from the Manpower Utilisation Survey (MUS), the authors applied differences–in–Differences-in--ddifferences- (DDD) and differences–in–Differences-in-ddifferences-in--differences- (DDDD) estimation methods to test the effect of changes in labour unrest and labour quality on three labour market outcomes, namely wages, working hours and job opportunities of skilled workforce. Findings: Increasing labour unrest affected the employment opportunities of almost every unemployed person seeking skilled jobs in Taiwan. When the authors compared the adverse effect of high labour standards on employment opportunities and working hours, the authors found women looking for skilled jobs in foreign-owned firms to be the worst affected. Besides, foreign firms paid different wages to skilled educated men than what foreign firms' domestic counterparts paid to skilled educated men employed in Taiwanese firms. Practical implications: An in-depth analysis of changes in labour unrest and presence of skilled workers because of high labour standards and the extent to which such changes helped the nation to attract FDI should be useful to policymakers interested in understanding the impact of legislative measures and policy reforms on labour market outcomes across industry types, which matter to foreign investors. If changes in labour unrest and labour quality influenced the inflow of FDI more to firms in one set of industries than the others, the same should have a bearing on revamping of future enactment and enforcement in Taiwan. Originality/value: Current study findings would not only provide broad lessons to policymakers in Taiwan but findings of the authors' country case study should be able to guide growing economies that are equally careful whilst raising the labour standards as most fear that high labour standards can deter inflow of FDI because of increasing labour cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to examine the "external effect" of a migrated star player on their domestic sport industries. By exploring the new aspect of star power, this study provides important insight and critical implication to many relevant stakeholders in the professional sports league. Particularly, this is critical under the recent circumstance where the globalization of sports products becomes the central strategic issue of the world-class leagues. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, the external effect of star players migrated from three Asian leagues (Japan, Korea and Taiwan) to Major League Baseball in the USA, the world-class baseball league, on their domestic league attendance demand was empirically investigated. For the analysis, comprehensive historical data from various reliable sources from each league were collected. Findings: The findings of the paper strongly support the external effect of migrated stars significantly existing in all the three leagues. The effect is consistent across various measurements of migrated star players. More interestingly, the effect was found to be mixed across different leagues; for example, migrated star players increases in domestic league attendance in Japan, while it decreases in Korea and Taiwan. This indicates that the external effect of migrated star players depends on the characteristics of the domestic leagues. In addition, it was found that the external effect was substantial enough to compare to the effect of major demand drivers such as team winning, competitive balance and star power. For managerial implications, this study also provides revenue projections induced by the impact of migrated star players. Originality/value: This study opens a new chapter related to star power topic and immediately calls for future studies regarding this external effect, particularly, theoretical and behavioral approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Taiwan experiences frequent seismic activity. Major earthquakes in recent history have seriously damaged the school buildings. School buildings in Taiwan are intended to serve both as places of education and as temporary shelters in the aftermath of major earthquakes. Therefore, the seismic performance assessments of school buildings are critical issues that deserve investigation. Design/methodology/approach: This paper develops a methodology that uses principal component analysis to generalize the seismic factors from the basic seismic parameters of school buildings, uses data mining to cluster different school building sizes and uses grey theory to analyze the relationship between seismic factors and the seismic performance of school buildings. Additionally, this paper employs the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to deduce the seismic assessment model for school buildings. Finally, it adopts support vector machine to validate the ANN's deductive results. Findings: An empirical study was conducted on 326 school buildings in the central area of Taichung City, Taiwan, to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Results show that thickness of wall and width of middle-row column relate significantly with school-building seismic performance. Originality/value: This paper provides a model that structural engineers or architects may use to design school buildings that are adequately resistant to earthquakes as well as a reference for future academic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In the current study, the researchers tracked the steps that were taken (in the past 20 years after the occurrence of the 921 earthquake) to enhance the safety of students and teachers on campus by rebuilding the schools according to higher standards. Additionally, the researchers analyzed the process of school reconstruction in Taiwan after the Chi-Chi earthquake, as well as the resilience of the rebuilt schools. Design/methodology/approach: This paper collected extensive relevant literature to serve as a basis for data analysis. Subsequently, they examined the conditions of selected schools before and after they were affected by the earthquake, as well as the reconstruction process of these schools. The purposive sampling method was also adopted to assemble a unique and representative sample. Findings: This study concluded a new disaster risk reduction education system in Taiwan, from safe learning facilities, school disaster management and risk reduction and resilience education perspectives. It encouraged school and community collaboration regarding establishing a comprehensive disaster management framework. Originality/value: The paper kept tracks of how schools recovered and restored after the 921 earthquake based on global disaster management trends and local disaster risk reduction education. It also highlighted the major changes within the school resilience system and the importance of disaster risk reduction education in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: According to human capital theory, companies derive economic value from the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) of their employees. Research conducted by strategic human resource management has focused on how investment in human capital can create a competitive advantage for an organization. The purpose of the paper is, therefore, to investigate how the choice of different human capital acquisition strategies – "make or buy" – can influence employee attitudes and behavior. Design/methodology/approach: This study explores the relationship between internal and external human capital strategies and employee's attitudes and behavior in Taiwan's IC (integrated circuit) design industry. The cross-sectional dataset derives from a sample of 49 human resource departments and 497 employees from 25 different IC design companies. Findings: The findings indicate that the decisions made on human capital strategies have an important influence on employee's attitude and behavior. The results also show that a climate of trust and perceived organizational support is a cross-level mechanism for both human capital strategy and employees' attitudes and behavior. Originality/value: There has been little research on the cross-level analysis of human capital acquisition strategies that can influence employee's attitudes and behavior. This study verified that internal and external human capital strategies do affect employees' individual perceptions of organizational support via the organizational-level climate of trust, which in turn influences employees' attitudes and behavior. This cross-level mechanism indeed will facilitate new insights into the nature of strategic human resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of place attachment and risk perception with bounded rationality on the willingness to live in a high-earthquake-risk area. Design/methodology/approach: The study establishes a hypothetical model on the basis of the theory of planned behavior, place attachment and risk perception. A structural equation model (SEM) measures the relationships between the variables. Findings: Place attachment affects individuals and their preferences; it makes them willing to continue living in high-earthquake-risk areas. Additionally, risk perception with bounded rationality (fatalism and optimism bias) might make people believe there is only a slight risk of physical injury or property damage. The overall findings moderately suggest that land-use regulations along fault zone areas are not necessarily driving households away, and such allowance of residential use in the current zoning regulation might mislead people that it is a safe area. Research limitations/implications: This study uses questionnaires in fault zone-regulated areas where only the fault line has zoning regulations. In addition, the application of SEM has to build upon theory and further examine both direct and indirect effects. The assessment criteria of the model might be limited by the sample amount, causing certain model-fitting results, which are not that significant. The overall findings might be limited by the geographical location and cannot be generalized to other areas in Taiwan. Practical implications: A more thorough assessment of land-use planning in earthquake-risk areas should consider households' risk perceptions and adaptation behaviors. Originality/value: Land-use regulations along fault zone areas might reveal earthquake risk in such areas or mislead people that it is a safe area. Place attachment and risk perceptions might affect individuals' judgments of whether such risk exists or not. The results could be referred to disaster management in high-earthquake-risk areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the impact of corporate social responsibility and hypocrisy on the relationship among psychological contract violation, trust and perceived betrayal. Design/methodology/approach: This study used purposive sampling and selected students in Taiwan as the research participants. The theory of psychological contract violation and consumer awareness process in violation hypocrisy on psychological contract violation were used to investigate the effect of its impact on trust and perceived betrayal. Then, the moderating effect of social responsibility and hypocritical on trust, and the mediating effect of trust between psychological contract violation and perceived betrayal were analyzed. Findings: The results indicated that hypocrisy had a significant and negative impact on psychological contract violation toward trust; hypocrisy had a significantly positive impact on psychological contract violation toward perceived betrayal; trust had a significantly negative impact on perceived betrayal; perceived betrayal had a significantly positive impact on both direct and indirect revenges; trust had a mediating effect between hypocrisy toward psychological contract violation and perceived betrayal; and higher hypocrisy would produce a stronger effect through trust on the relationships between hypocrisy toward psychological contract violation and perceived betrayal. Originality/value: Perception of consumers would differ whenever there were failures of service recovery occurred; especially, stronger betrayal feeling would be perceived with the companies who emphasized social responsibility and did not carry out what they should do. Research results could be references for companies whom advertising and praising social responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Although intellectual capital (IC) has been proven to be value-added for companies, the drivers of IC performance remain an under-researched area. From the perspective of corporate governance, the purpose of this paper is to examine how controlling the ownership of shareholders would influence IC performance. Design/methodology/approach: This study utilized value-added intellectual capital (VAICTM) and its subcomponents, namely human capital, structural capital and capital employed efficiencies, to proxy for IC performance and regression analyses to assess the association between controlling the ownership of shareholders and the IC performance of Taiwanese listed semiconductor firms for the years 2009–2017. Findings: Results show that controlling the ownership of shareholders is nonlinearly related to IC performance. Specifically, controlling their ownership positively affects the level of IC performance up to an optimal point before it turns to be a negative relationship thereafter. Practical implications: The results of this study can help policy makers and other stakeholders understand the role of controlling shareholders in determining IC performance. The findings of this study suggest a nonlinear relationship between controlling the ownership of shareholders and IC. Originality/value: This study provides an extended perspective in studies related to the determinants of IC by considering the resources provided by controlling shareholders. The definitions of controlling interests and IC applied in this study are compared and aligned with those found in the International Financial Reporting Standard 10 – Consolidated Financial Statements and the International Integrated Reporting Council, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing ambidextrous governance and risk management on repurchase intention in social commerce. Design/methodology/approach: A novel research model comprises nine research hypotheses with six constructs, including three dimensions of social capital (structural, relational and cognitive), contracts, relational risk and repurchase intention. The hypotheses are tested on data collected from 395 usable responses in Taiwan, using structural equation modeling. Findings: The findings of this study indicate that online merchants should reinforce their collaborative behavior and activities to improve ambidextrous governance mechanisms, and thus enhance repurchase intention. Research limitations/implications: The resultant findings only reflect the setting of Taiwan's social commerce marketplace. With the research model developed, future research on cross-country studies of various forms of social networking sites would be worth conducting to determine regional differences in the development of social commerce activities. Originality/value: Ambidextrous governance mechanisms have been gaining attention in buyer–supplier relationships. Extending ambidexterity research to the social commerce domain, the authors focus on ambidextrous governance that can include social and contractual governance elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to construct and test an antecedent relationship path model for the leisure involvement of Taiwan expatriate managers working in Mainland China. A leisure temporal-spatial involvement (LTSI) was developed. Design/methodology/approach: Burnout, perceived freedom in leisure and leisure coping strategies were proposed in the conceptual model as antecedents of leisure involvement. A questionnaire survey gathered information on the characteristics of respondents, including demographic/socio-economic details, expatriate profile and leisure activity participation. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used in this research to measure the relationships among the four scale variables (job burnout, perceived freedom in leisure, leisure coping strategies and leisure involvement). Findings: The expatriate managers experienced high burnout levels, particularly in the form of exhaustion. Their leisure involvement was mainly influenced by perceived freedom in leisure. Research limitations/implications: This work contributes to the research on leisure and expatriation in several ways. It is one of the first empirical studies to examine prominent leisure concepts (freedom, coping and involvement) within the milieu of expatriation. The findings provide further support to the notion of the "presumed cultural similarity paradox," in that expatriates of Chinese ethnicity still had significant adjustment difficulties in Mainland China. The research again confirms the challenges of Mainland China as an expatriation destination. Practical implications: The research results have significant practical value and may assist Taiwan-capital enterprises in improving expatriates' leisure life management. The section on Managerial and policy implications outlines the implications for the actors involved. Social implications: This work has social implications since the Taiwan expatriate managers are not effectively adjusting to their work–life environments in Guangzhou. Greater social contact between locals and these managers is recommended in the future. Originality/value: A new scale for leisure involvement (LTSI), expressed in temporal and spatial dimensions, is developed to fit the particular situations faced by expatriates. This is also one of only a few empirical research studies to consider leisure involvement within an expatriation framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Study location may cause a different type of socio-demographic, body mass index (BMI), study intensity and food-related behavior. The increasing number of Indonesia students who study abroad to Taiwan is interesting to be examined those factors related. The purpose of this study is to examine the food-related behavior of Indonesian college students in different study location. Design/methodology/approach: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used to administer questionnaires assessing socio-demographic, BMI, study intensity, meal preparations, food access and eating behavior of Indonesian college students (n = 493). Study location took in two cities and different countries (Indonesia and Taiwan). Analysis statistics was using frequency descriptive, Chi-square test, Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney U test, Kruskal–Wallis test and Logistic regression. Findings: The trend showed students who lived in Malang tended to have healthier eating behavior. Students tended to have a higher prevalence of low study intensity, dependent meal preparation and difficult food access in Taipei. There was a significant relationship between study location and study intensity (p < 0.01), study location and BMI (p < 0.01), study location and meal preparation (p < 0.01), study location and food access (p = 0.02). On the other hand, eating behavior had no significant relationship with study location (p = 0.28). Marital status became the most dominant variable in influencing obesity (OR = 0.198). Findings indicate that there are significant differences between study location with marital status, BMI, study intensity, meal preparation and food access, but not eating behavior. Moreover, married status is most influencing to obesity risk. Research limitations/implications: The limitations of this research were data of height and weight was not be measured directly. Moreover, the reliability of the instrument was unexpected. In the future, research needs improvement more sample for fixing it. Moreover, to support initiatives to incorporate eating behavior into body weight management strategies may be needed. The implications are to create an effective nutrition education for Indonesian college students. Hopefully, it will be influencing public attitudes and affecting the quality of life. Practical implications: Further investigation should consider longitudinal studies to explore the different effects of eating behavior on overweight and obesity. Nutritional education programs should give to young adults not only in developed but also in developing countries. Originality/value: This paper shows our findings about the difference study location that may cause a different type of eating behavior. The research subject was Indonesian college students who live and study in two cities, Malang-Indonesia and Taipei-Taiwan. The trend showed students who live in Malang tend to have healthier eating behavior. On the other hand, study intensity, meal preparation and food access were significantly different in both cities. Indonesian college students in Taipei tended to have the higher prevalence of low study intensity, dependent meal preparation and difficult food access. The authors believe that the findings would appeal to a broad audience, especially for improving meal preparation in college students who study abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The prediction of pre-election polls is an issue of concern for both politicians and voters. The Taiwan nine-in-one election held in 2014 ended with jaw-dropping results; apparently, traditional polls did not work well. As a remedy to this problem, the purpose of this paper is to utilize the comments posted on social media to analyze civilians’ views on the two candidates for mayor of Taichung City, Chih-chiang Hu, and Chia-Lung Lin.Design/methodology/approach After conducting word segmentation and part-of-speech tagging for the collected reviews, this study constructs the opinion phrase extraction rules for identifying the opinion words associated with the attribute words. Next, this study classifies the attribute words into six municipal governance-related topics and calculates the opinion scores for each candidate. Finally, this study uses correspondence analysis to transform opinion information on the candidates into a graphical display to facilitate the interpretation of voters’ views.Findings The results show that the topics of candidates’ backgrounds and transport infrastructure were the two most critical factors for the election prediction. Based on the predication, Lin outscores Hu by 17.74 percent which is close to the real election results.Research limitations/implications This study proposes new rules for the extraction of Chinese opinion words associated with attribute words.Practical implications This study applies Chinese semantic analysis to assist in predicting election results and investigating the topics of concern to voters.Originality/value The proposed opinion phrase extraction rules for Chinese social media, as well as the election forecast process, can provide valuable references for political parties and candidates to plan better nomination and election strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the issue of managing the major environmental costs from an accounting perspective. The current state of practices for managing the costs associated with the consumption of electricity, water and paper, as well as the generation of wastes within three universities in Taiwan, was investigated. The costs mentioned above were termed "major" environmental costs for the purpose of this study. Design/methodology/approach – Being an exploratory study, the paper followed a qualitative, case study methodology. A multiple-case design was chosen and three Taiwanese universities were investigated. The major source of data collection was through face-to-face interviews. However, available resources were also examined, such as the charts of accounts, annual reports, strategic plans, sustainability reports and information disclosed on the web-pages of the three universities. Findings – The findings demonstrated that there appeared to be a general absence of environmental management accounting (EMA) utilisation to manage the major environmental costs by the three universities. Efforts to improve environmental performance, in particular from an accounting perspective, were still lacking. Originality/value – The study contributes significantly to the following areas: providing specific information about how the major environmental costs are accounted for and managed; identifying limitations of current management accounting systems being used for the purpose of managing environmental costs; and extending the applicability of EMA to the higher education (HE) sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences in the effects of gender equality legislation on employment outcomes among female and male workers in industries with different intensity of foreign investment (namely, foreign direct investment (FDI)-intensive industries and non–FDI–intensive industries). The specific employment outcomes that were studied to compare the effects of the legislation are the working hours, employment opportunities, and wages of female and male workers in Taiwan.Design/methodology/approach Using data from the annual Manpower Utilization Survey, the authors applied a differences-in-differences-in-differences estimation method to test the effect of gender equality legislation on employment outcomes. By using multinomial logit, the authors measured the effect of the legislation on employment opportunities. To correct for simultaneity and selectivity problems/biases, the authors adopted Heckman two-stage selection procedures. Likewise, the authors used weighted least squares to solve heteroskedasticity in the wage and working hour equations. Further, the instrumental variable (IV) method was used to correct for simultaneity bias in the equation on working hour. The authors applied three stages estimation method following Killingsworth’s (1983) approach to measure the effect of the legislation on wages and working hours.Findings The authors found the restrictions enforced by the gender equality legislation (namely the Gender Equal Employment Act (GEEA), enacted in 2002) in Taiwan to have made certain impact on the workers’ working conditions in FDI-intensive industries. The major finding indicated that in a country like Taiwan, where the legislature tried tilling the perpetual gender gap in its labour market, by passing a law to counter inequality, could finally narrow the gender gap in wages among workers in the FDI-intensive industries. Although initially after the enactment of the GEEA (between 2002 and 2004), the gender gap in part-timers’ wages has widened, yet over a period of time the gap in their wages too has narrowed down, particularly during 2005-2006. The legislation, however, could not improve the job opportunities for full-time female workers’ in FDI-intensive industries. Besides, post 2002, the female workers were found to have worked for shorter hours than male workers, which according to us, could be largely attributed to the enforcement of the GEEA.Practical implications An in-depth analysis of the labour market effects of gender equality legislation should be useful to policymakers, especially those interested in understanding the impact of legislative measures and policy reforms on labour market and employment outcomes across industry types. If enforcement of a gender equality legislation has succeeded in reducing the gender gap more in one set of industries than the others (e.g. foreign owned instead of domestic industries), as the authors noticed in this study, then the same should have a bearing on revamping of future enactment and enforcement too.Originality/value Current study findings would not only provide the broad lessons to the policymakers in Taiwan, but the results that have emerged from a country case study could be referred by other growing economies who are enthusiastic about improving female workers’ working conditions through legislative reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – As a result of awareness of the increasing school accidents in recent years and severe damage to school infrastructure by Typhoon Morakot, this paper seeks to discuss the current natural disaster prevention education strategy in Taiwan and investigates the seriously damaged schools from Typhoon Morakot. Design/methodology/approach – Methods of analysis used in this paper include aerial photo interpretation of landslides and debris flows with the aid of field investigation and spatial rainfall distribution by GIS analysis. Additionally, the reasons attributed to the schools' damages and disaster prevention education strategies in schools after Morakot are discussed. Findings – After an overall review of the current disaster prevention education programs, the following items are to be stressed in disaster prevention education as a result of studying the effects of Typhoon Morakot: integration of disaster prevention education into formal school curricula; teacher training for campus disaster prevention education; development of a coalition of campus and community-based disaster management; and study of the impact of climate change and school vulnerability. School infrastructure safety evaluation and risk assessment, education materials and design activities for psychological recovery after disasters, and the connection of school safety management and community-based disaster prevention are deemed urgent after Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan. Originality/value – The current achievements of disaster prevention education in Taiwan include the development of operation and support mechanisms, curricula development and experimental schools selection, development of teacher training program, the popularization of disaster prevention education, the development and use of learning materials, and the determination of an effective assessment mechanism. It is expected that disaster prevention education will become part of the formal school curricula. School safety and vulnerability assessments as a result of climate change and student psychological recovery following disasters are urgent lessons to be implemented after learning from the results of Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose |!|#8211; The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of building codes in earthquake risk mitigation in Taiwan. Design/methodology/approach |!|#8211; Using probabilistic risk analysis tools with available data, this study assesses the exceedance probability of extensive damage limit for general buildings in their 50-year useful lives. The buildings were classified into 15 categories according to their construction materials and building height. Then, the effects of construction materials, building height and construction years are detected. Findings |!|#8211; The exceedance probabilities of extensive damage limit for all of the investigated buildings in their 50-year useful lives are on the order of 10-2. The effect of construction materials and building height on seismic risk of buildings is decreasing with the development of a seismic design code. Significant discrepancy of seismic risk still exists among some buildings. Research limitations/implications |!|#8211; Seismic risk analysis requires quite restrictive statistical idealizations for the relevant probabilistic terms in the mathematical formulation. The problem of imperfect simplification and lack of sufficient empirical data has shown the research needs for improvements of seismic risk assessment. The questions of what constitutes acceptable risk for various performance levels and how safe is safe enough remain context-specific. Originality/value |!|#8211; Although probabilistic risk analysis provides a tool for quantifying the probability of structural failure, current earthquake-resistant design procedures do not relate performance levels to probability. The paper explores some probability information for current earthquake-resistant design for general buildings during their 50-year useful lives and the information may provide some valuable information for future code calibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of media exposure and political party orientation on public satisfaction with and trust in the police in Taiwan.Design/methodology/approach Survey data were collected from more than 2,000 respondents in three large metropolises and two rural counties in Taiwan in 2011. Multivariate regression was used to assess the effects of media exposure and political party affiliation on public satisfaction with and trust in the police, controlling for crime experience, neighborhood conditions, background characteristics, and locality.Findings Taiwanese who were exposed to media reports of police misconduct and believed in the authenticity of such reports were more likely to have lower levels of satisfaction with national police and trust in the police. Though it varied somewhat by whether it was satisfaction with national or local police, the Taiwanese respondents who identified themselves as supporters of the opposition party, or politically neutral, showed lower levels of satisfaction with and trust in the police than supporters for the ruling party. Respondents who shared the same political party orientation expressed higher levels of satisfaction with local police.Research limitations/implications The measures of media influence, while classic and straightforward, were relatively simple and future research should not only quantify the links between media use and public trust, but also develop a qualitative cultural understanding of the communicative roles that the media play in shaping public perceptions of the police. In addition, while this study relied on a scientific sampling procedure, the sample cannot completely represent the general population in Taiwan.Practical implications It is important for police departments to cultivate good relations with the news media and to adopt a balanced role between law enforcers who are capable of curbing crime and reducing fear of crime, and moral guardians who are willing to uphold community social cohesion and value structures.Originality/value Despite a growing number of studies on public assessments in the police in Taiwan, empirical research on the impact of media and political orientation on satisfaction with and trust in the police remains very limited. This study represents one of the first attempts to assess factors related to media and political party orientation in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The digital divide is a concern, as the inequality of information access might have significant influences on social development and quality of life. The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceived benefit of Digital Opportunity Centers (DOCs) programs on remote area participants from the perspective of computer anxiety and personal information ability.Design/methodology/approach The Taiwanese Government has built DOCs in remote areas to provide information technology (IT) training and learning programs to citizens residing in these areas. DOC program participants in Taiwan voluntarily completed a self-report questionnaire; the authors received 2,105 completed questionnaires, with a response rate of 84.2 percent. This research used partial least-squares (PLS) to empirical the research model.Findings Using PLS, the results show that information and communication technology ability influences the perceived benefit of DOC programs; computer anxiety has significantly negative effects on package software use, internet use, and IT usefulness; and internet use and IT usefulness have positive effects on perceived benefits.Originality/value IT is continuously advancing, but digital resources are still lacking within remote areas. DOCs provide citizens different types of learning experiences related to economic, social, and educational development. DOC programs provide participants with opportunities to obtain and improve basic IT knowledge and abilities and decreasing the digital divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is, primarily, to investigate the relationships of the project leader's competencies with job satisfaction, and their impact on project performance. The second objective is to determine whether job satisfaction plays a mediating role in the relationship between leadership competency and project performance. The third objective is to examine the moderating role of project type in the relationship between job satisfaction and project performance. Design/methodology/approach – To address the primary aims, a questionnaire-based survey was used to measure the project leader's competency, the job satisfaction of team members, and the performance of projects in the Taiwanese police departments. The structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used to validate the research model. Findings – The results show that job satisfaction mediates the effects of leadership competency on project performance. Furthermore, these results prove that complexity, workload, method, and project duration have a moderating effect on the relationship between job satisfaction and project schedule success. Research limitations/implications – The research was limited to inspecting projects in the Taiwanese police departments. The data analyzed in this study are project-specific. Practical implications – This paper reports on the findings about leadership benefits and provides recommendations for improving police project performance. Originality/value – This research is the first to provide empirical evidence that supports the expectation of improving police project performance by developing leadership competencies. Findings from this study are helpful to project leaders in deciding whether to develop certain competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Previous empirical studies on the nature of the relationship between ownership and corporate value have produced mixed results. Meanwhile, effective management of knowledge-based intellectual capital has become a key factor to corporate success, both in firm performance and corporate value. Thus, this paper aims to reexamine the link among ownership, proxies for intellectual capital and corporate value in the emerging Taiwan market. Design/methodology/approach – Using two-stage least square estimation of panel data in a simultaneous equations framework, the authors focus on: What is the interdependent impact of ownership on corporate value through the mediating role of intellectual capital (IC)? Does ownership directly or indirectly (i.e. via IC) influence corporate value? Does it persist across industries? Findings – The empirical results suggest that the relationship between ownership and corporate value mainly depends on industry characteristics and the nature of proxies for intellectual capital in the emerging Taiwanese market. Further, the impacts of ownership on corporate value in more traditional industries are even stronger, that is, there exists the direct impact of ownership mechanism on corporate value. Notably, for the high-tech firms, ownership can indirectly affect corporate value through the moderating role of intellectual capital. Research limitations/implications – The implication reminds managers and investors not merely focusing on ownership mechanisms as the main value-creation information, but a thorough review of IC should be made in order to avoid making incorrect decisions. The limitations suggest areas for further research. For instance, it is important to extend the role of intellectual capital (i.e. to employ other variables to proxy for IC) in exploring the interdependent impact of ownership on corporate value. Originality/value – The paper potentially adds to ongoing research by extending the importance of the concept of IC in assessing the interdependent impact of ownership on corporate value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – University libraries are increasing their e-book collections. The purpose of this study is to investigate graduate students' usage of and attitudes towards e-books at National Taiwan University. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 20 graduate students from the fields of humanities, social sciences, science and technology, and medicine were interviewed. Findings – The results indicated that graduate students used e-books mainly for the purposes of study and research. Monographs were the type of e-book that students used most often, followed by textbooks and reference tools. While they appreciated the convenience of using e-books, students mentioned several limitations. They liked the keyword search function of e-books. Most of the time, graduate students browsed a few paragraphs or pages online and then printed out copies for further reading. They also borrowed the corresponding paper versions of the e-books from the library. Students preferred that university libraries supply both the electronic and paper versions. In certain aspects, students' use behaviour was found to vary among disciplines. Originality/value – This study highlights multiple aspects of graduate students' use behaviour with respect to e-books. The findings could be used to enhance e-book collection development in university libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to evaluate issues of different scripts in the same record (in MARC21 and Chinese machine-readable cataloguing (CMARC)) and Chinese internal codes (i.e. double-byte character set) when implementing Koha. It also discusses successful efforts in promoting the adoption of Koha in Taiwan, particularly the contributions from Koha-Taiwan. Design/methodology/approach - A Koha CMARC/MARC21 testbed was set up to discuss issues of multi-scripts and Chinese internal codes when implementing Koha, and to determine to what extent the various features of CMARC, which are not present in MARC21, such as linking fields, can be supported in Koha and what is required to implement them if they are not available. Findings - In contrast to western characters, Chinese internal codes cause extra work, as special programming for character conversion is required when working with Koha. This situation is commonly seen in Asian countries such as China, Japan and Korea. This paper recommends implementing CMARC, MARC21 or even any other type of MARC format in Koha with strong commercial-level support. Practical implications - Koha-Taiwan serves Koha Chinese users around the world. A successful Koha-Taiwan could be a model around the world. Originality/value - In recent years, the concept of implementing an open-source library management system has been coming to the fore. In Taiwan, the local-based commercial library system covers more than one quarter of the library system market in academic libraries because the company provides better tailor-made support, mainly in scripts and multiple internal codes, than do western-based commercial library systems. Evaluations and conclusions from this paper will be useful to countries where multi-scripts and double-byte character sets are issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to compare the competitiveness of the economies of Taiwan. and Korea. Design/methodology/approach - The comparison between Taiwan and Korea is based on the average value of the data over five years (2000-2004). It applies a generalized double diamond model approach to analyse the overall competitiveness of these two small open economies. Findings -- Taiwan surpasses Korea in all decisive factors with the exception of the demand condition in the domestic diamond in the years 2000-2004, which is due to Korea's population being more than double Taiwan's. As to the international diamond, Taiwan enjoys comparatively high competitiveness, and its international diamond is better than Korea's in all four parts. Research limitations/implications -- The data sources include: Indicators of Science and Technology, Taiwan, 2004 and 2005, Korean National Statistical Office and related statistical data obtained from various government agencies, including data on factor, demand, firms strategy, structure, and rivalry covering the period from 2000 to 2004, whereas related and supporting industries only covered the years 2000-2003. Originality/value -- This is the first paper to apply a generalized double diamond model approach to analyse and to compare the competitiveness of the economies of both Taiwan and Korea. Its empirical evidences and policy implications is of interest to academicians, government officials, and business managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the conceptual and empirical issues related to sexual harassment (SH) in a police department in Taiwan. Design/methodology/approach - Survey data were collected. Through the analysis, the paper proposes that SH can be better divided into two subcategories: quid pro quo and hostile work environment harassment. Multivariate analysis is used to explore the sources of SH. Findings - It was found that both types of SH can be better explained by work environment variables than by demographic variables, but the specific sources differ. Hostile work environment harassment is predicted by the extent to which female officers perceive or experience that deployment and transfer practices are influenced by their gender. Quid pro quo harassment is related to job barriers and dodging from work. Research limitations/implications - The two scales used in this research have captured the core of SH, but they might not fully depict the nature of SH in the police department in Taiwan. The sample was limited to the largest police department in Taiwan and it may not represent the entire police in Taiwan. Practical implications - If hostile work environment and quid pro quo harassments are related to different organizational factors, it is useful for policy makers in the police to differentiate these two different types of SH and develop differential prevention and response measures. Originality/value - This paper highlights the need to differentiate quid pro quo and hostile work environment harassments. It fills a gap in the literature by providing the baseline information on the prevalence of SH in one police department in Taiwan and by examining sources of SH in a profession dominated by males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the relationships among repatriates' perceived psychological contact fulfillment, counterfactual thinking, and job attitudes. Design/methodology/approach - The paper sampled 135 repatriates from 16 multinational companies (MNCs) in Taiwan through a survey questionnaire. The paper used hierarchical regression analyses to test its hypotheses. Findings - The study results showed that repatriates' perceived fulfillment of their psychological contracts was negatively related to turnover intent and positively related to organizational commitment, after controlling for the variables of change assessments. The study also finds a positive relationship between upward counterfactual thinking and turnover intent and between downward counterfactual thinking and organizational commitment. Moreover, repatriates' perceived fulfillment of their psychological contracts was found to be related to upward counterfactual thinking but not downward counterfactual thinking. Practical implications - A subjective perception of psychological contract fulfillment is a more important predictor of job attitudes than actual changes in position, pay, and skill improvement. Therefore, it is important for MNCs to maintain open communications with their repatriates to ensure clear understanding of the agreement existing between employees and the organization. Originality/value- In the international human resource literature, it is unclear whether the relationship between expatriates' (or repatriates') perceived fulfillment of their psychological contract with their job attitudes are simply due to their assessments of actual changes in pay, position, and skills. In the case of repatriation, the paper clarifies the phenomenon by distinguishing both repatriates' assessments of changes before and after expatriation and their perceived fulfillment of psychological contracts (and their counterfactual thinking). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide an explanation of factors influencing online music purchase intention of Taiwanese early adopter of online music, which can help the online music practitioners of Taiwan to develop better market strategies. Design/methodology/approach - An empirical survey was used to test the hypotheses. Data were collected from a total of 302 online Taiwanese early adopters of online music. A structural equation modeling (SEM) is proposed to assess the relationships of the research model. Finding - The findings in this paper show that the perceived value of online music is a significant factor in predicting the purchaser intention of buying online music in Taiwan. Also, the beneficial factor of the perceived usefulness and playfulness are identified in addition to the sacrificing factor of the perceived price for assessing the value. Moreover, purchasers and potential purchasers differ in the determinants underlying the perceptions of value, which customers hold towards online music. Practical implications - The results in the paper facilitate to understand what encourages and impedes the purchase intention of early adopters of online music in Taiwan. Originality/value - The value of this paper is to establish a theoretical model incorporating the value-intention framework into technology acceptance model to investigate the purchase behavior of early adopter of online music in Taiwan. The results of this study help online music practitioners of Taiwan and other Asian countries culture similar to Taiwan to create a success business model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - There is an active effort by major libraries in Taiwan to offer integrated searching as part of their information services. The purpose of this paper is to report a low-cost and high-flexibility system, &lt;?LIPS-DOI&gt;, which can carry out integrated searching with respect to resource management. Design/methodology/approach - The paper first reviews the related techniques and then designs an integrated search system based on the concept of resources management. The reported system, &lt;?LIPS-DOI&gt;, is composed of three modules: enumeration module, description module, and resolution module. The various digital contents are first imported into &lt;?LIPS-DOI&gt; and thereafter the system is put into operation. Findings - A low-cost and high-flexibility system for integrated searching can be implemented and put into operation. In addition to digital objects, physical objects could also be managed and searched in the proposed &lt;?LIPS-DOI&gt; system. This system will redirect users to the original system in which these physical objects reside. Research limitations/implications - Due to the nature of management, registered users have to manage their own objects using the features provided by &lt;?LIPS-DOI&gt;. Originality/value - Such a system will empower library end users to find materials of mixed formats residing in disparate locations from a single interface. It was also designed with an eye toward integration with its DOI counterpart in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the pilot implementation of an industry-specific web portal as an IT resource on textile SMEs organisational performance. Using a resource-based perspective, portal delivery functionalities, considered as non-physical IT resources, are analysed using the dimensions of portal usefulness, portal interface, and service-oriented portal functions on SMEs users’ perceived outcomes of organisational performance. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative and quantitative approaches are used to explore the research hypotheses. Data were collected using field interviews and survey from senior executives of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Taiwanese textile industry. Findings – Results indicate that the service-oriented portal function dimension, consisting of portal maintenance service, B2B function, and cloud computing, significantly influences organisational performance. Unexpected findings, such as the negative impact of greater industry benchmark information on perceived SME performance, deserve further investigation. Research limitations/implications – The study extends the theory and knowledge on the resource-based view and its implications on e-business organisational performance of SMEs. The study also offers findings relevant to the design of portal sites for SME administrators and information service providers. Limitations of the research include a small size and the industry-specific data limiting the generalisability of the findings. Practical implications – Research results practically serve as informative indicators for policy makers, information service providers, and SMEs executives to evaluate feasible elements for web portal design in traditional industry. Findings from this study may help portal service providers in designing better web portal functionalities for SMEs. Originality/value – This study contributes to the IT business value literature by identifying the linkages between industry-specific portal delivery functionalities and perceived organisational performance through the examination of portal usefulness, portal interface, and service-oriented portal function for textile SMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceptions and satisfaction between police officers and citizens on Kinmen Island (of Taiwan), using an analytical framework that combines five primary dimensions and 25 corresponding determinants. Design/methodology/approach – It considers recent developments in the application of performance measures and management to public and, particularly, police services. It goes on to assess comparative rural police performance which suggests that the application of targets could ultimately serve to provide the overall satisfaction with police services. Findings – The findings of the study suggest that perceptions and satisfaction of both citizens and police staff may result in the success of the policing management, and that police managers have to satisfy their citizens with a high level of service quality based on different localities. Practical implications – From managerial perspectives, police managers should consider both the service quality and customer satisfaction constructs as determinants of behavioural intentions, based on the fact that satisfaction can be a strategic key to maintain long term relationship with citizens as it is found of significant impact on the intentional behaviour. Originality/value – This research adds empirical support to this vein of literature and has identified the five main dimensions and the 25 sub-dimensions as important constructs for police service quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – A subject of continuous debate in the field of organizational change research and management practices is on whether downsizing strategies result in improved firm performance. The purpose of this paper is to propose and empirically examine dynamic firm capabilities as a major missing mechanism of firm performance. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses the data of 154 Taiwanese firms that employed an organizational downsizing strategy as the sample for testing the research question. Findings – The results indicate that a responsible downsizing strategy can result in greater firm performance for the development and enhancement of dynamic firm capabilities. Originality value – This research introduces dynamic capabilities into the downsizing context, and the empirical results provide new theoretical insight into downsizing and dynamic capabilities research, suggesting that downsizing should be regarded by management as resource management rather than a cost-cutting action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – To measure the effects of work-sharing arrangements on participants' subsequent labor market outcomes in Taiwan such as full-time employment rates, working hours of women and men and the difference in scale effect and effect of substitution between hours and employment for women and men. Design/methodology/approach – Using the data from Manpower Utilization Survey, we applied the differences-in-differences estimation method to test the effects of work-sharing arrangements on working hours, wage and employment. Multinomial logit was used to measure the effects of work sharing on full-time employment. In order to correct the simultaneity and selectivity problems, we followed the Heckman two-stage selection procedures to solve the selection bias, and used weighted least squares to solve heteroskedasticity in the wage and hour equations. The instrumental variable (IV) method was used to avoid simultaneity bias in the hour equation. Findings – This paper found the restrictions enforced by law on working hours have negative effects on employees' working conditions in certain industries in Taiwan. After controlling the working hours, we found the wages paid to women and men have increased subsequent to the enforcement of law. However, compared to men the net wage earned by women has increased to a lesser extent. It was further observed that with enactment of work-sharing law, the employment rate of women has considerably declined since 2001. Main findings assimilating the results for hour, wage and full-time employment suggest that a country like Taiwan (with work-sharing arrangements implemented by law) has witnessed a smaller gap between women's and men's working time and wages during 2001-2002. However, for the period of 2003-2006 the amendment that introduced compressed work week brought a larger gender gap in working hours as well as wages. In other words, the implementation of work-sharing law has reduced the gender gap in hours and wages during 2001-2002, but the prevailing gender gap in hours as well as wages has worsened after the introduction of compressed work week during 2003-2006. Practical implications – An in-depth analysis of labor market effects of work-sharing law will be useful for the policymakers, especially those interested in understanding the impact of their policies on labor market outcomes like wage, hour and employment, and finding out whether policies were effective at reducing the gender gap in given outcomes. Originality/value – Findings of the present study should not only provide the broad lessons for policymakers in Taiwan, but the results that have emerged from the country case study may be referred by other Asian countries who want to bring a change in working and employment conditions for their labor by implementing work-sharing law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This study aims to examine the impact of cultural orientation on consumer perceptions regarding the ethics of online retailers (CPEOR), and to understand the influence of CPEOR on e-loyalty intention. Design/methodology/approach – The paper operationalizes Román's CPEOR scale and Triandis' individuality and collectivism typology. A valid sample of 949 respondents is collected via an online survey. Findings – Consumers with horizontal individualism, and with horizontal and vertical collectivism tend to hold higher perceptions of e-retailers' ethics. The higher consumers perceive positive CPEOR, the more they tend to purchase from the same online sellers. Practical implications – Multinational enterprises must understand the possible effects of cultural context on consumer attitudes of e-retailers' ethics before they can create successful marketing strategies. Additionally, if e-retailers maintain shopping situations where transactions are secure, private, and certain, e-shoppers are more likely to be inspired to repurchase from the same vendors. Originality/value – The CPEOR scale, which includes security, privacy, non-deception and fulfillment dimension, is greater completeness to evaluate consumer perceptions of e-retailers' ethics than scales using a unidimensional approach. This study further examines both individualism and collectivism at the individual level, which is rare in the existing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to employ the perspectives of uses and gratification theory and experiential marketing to investigate the antecedents of virtual community (VC) members' attitude formation and knowledge-contribution intention through the sense of virtual community (SOVC) and the interaction between their motivations and experiences in a peer-to-peer problem solving (P3) VC. Design/methodology/approach – This study chose a well-known professional IT VC in Taiwan, the ITHelp community, as the target for data collection. An online survey linked from the homepage of this community was used through the cooperation of the vendor of this community. This study employs the partial least squares (PLS) method to examine the research model. Findings – The results show that members' attitudes toward their VCs are determined by the interaction between their motivations for and experiences with P3 VC usages. Moreover, SOVC plays full mediating roles in the relationship between attitude toward P3 VC and knowledge-contribution intention. Research limitations/implications – VC managers need to aim at creating pleasant experiences for their members and foster their belongingness and consciousness to form higher SOVC. The conclusions are restricted to a VC that involves IT-related issues, which focuses problem solving rather than being socially oriented. Members of IT P3 VCs are usually highly innovative and enthusiastic about new IT products, which is quite different from the membership of other P3 VCs. Originality/value – Extant studies seldom considered the effects of SOVC and members' experiences on knowledge-contribution behavior. The mediating role of SOVC and the interaction between motivations and experience can enhance our understanding about online knowledge-contribution behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish customers' markets and rules of dynamic customer relationship management (CRM) systems for online retailers. Design/methodology/approach – This research proposes a procedure to discover customers' markets and rules, which adopts the recency, frequency, monetary value (RFM) variables, transaction records, and socioeconomic data of the online shoppers to be the research variables. The research methods aim at the supervised apriori algorithm, C5.0 decision tree algorithm, and RFM model. Findings – This research discovered eight RFM markets and six rules of online retailers. Practical implications – The proposed framework and research results can help retailer managers to retain and expand high value markets via their dynamic CRM and POS systems. Originality/value – This research uses data mining technologies to extract high value markets and rules for marketing plans. The research variables are easy to obtain via retailers' systems. The found customer values, RFM markets, shopping association rules, and marketing decision rules can be discovered via the framework of this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of work characteristics on members' self-efficacy and collective efficacy, and the subsequent effect on police officers' performance. Design/methodology/approach – A multilevel model is adopted to analyze quantitative data obtained by using 812 police officers and 54 chiefs of police stations in Taiwan as the research objects. Findings – The authors found that work characteristics affected members' self-efficacy and collective efficacy, which further affected the individual- and group-level performance and the contextual effect of social work characteristics (SWCs) and collective efficacy on self-efficacy and individual performance. The authors also confirmed the cross-level moderation of social characteristics on the relationship between motivational work characteristics (MWCs) and self-efficacy, and between self-efficacy and individual performance. Research limitations/implications – A limitation was the characteristics of the sample, which consisted of mostly first-line uniformed police officers in Taiwan. From the perspective of managerial implications, it is felt that police organizations should beef up the training on police officers' collective efficacy, such as building group spirit, improving members' sense of responsibility, and building up trust with the organization. Originality/value – The findings prove that the study of work design is particularly important for enhancing the management effectiveness of police organization, because it explains the causes of a number of organizational behaviors as well as a number of important results that influence the police organization (e.g. efficacy and performance). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to find answers to the following questions: How do employers think about e-portfolios? Do employers really see e-portfolios as a suitable hiring tool? Which factors in students' e-portfolios attract potential employers? Can e-portfolios be successfully used by students in their search for a job? Design/methodology/approach – A semi-structured interview survey was used in this study. All ten interviewees were HR managers from ten different companies. They were interviewed face-to-face between December 2010 and May 2011. In order to collect a broad range of multiple ideas, the interviewees came from a wide range of industries including tourism, product design, real estate, information and technology, insurance, recruitment service, and others. Findings – The results of this survey showed that the e-portfolio is perhaps still in its early stage of development. Nevertheless, the employer interviews indicate a high and consistent level of interest by the employers, indicating a promising future of the e-portfolio as a job search tool. In addition, employers can use specific information to conduct to pre-screen candidates. On the other hand, they may include the e-portfolio as a factor in the final phase of the selection process to obtain a deeper and more complete level of information (e.g. learning reflections) that can clearly demonstrate a job applicant's characteristics and potential for career development. Originality/value – Faculty members and career service staff in universities and colleges should consider promoting e-portfolios to employers as a promising tool for selecting their next employee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – In the personal selling industry, it is particularly difficult for salespeople to manage a conflict of interest that exists between the company and customers. The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of time based compensation on salespeople's selling decisions when the conflict occurs. Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaire surveys were collected from 361 full-time life insurance salespeople in Taiwan. Findings – The results indicate that compensation, training, and marketing policy may affect salespeople's selling decisions. Originality/value – Very little research addresses what salespeople would do when a conflict of interest occurs between the company and customers. Also, how time based compensation would affect salespeople's selling decisions in company-customer conflict is unknown. Furthermore, training and marketing policy may affect salespeople's selling decisions in the conflict. This paper relates to these issues and provides some discussions of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of organizational climate and structure on knowledge management and firm innovativeness from the social capital and social network perspectives. Design/methodology/approach -- The empirical study employed a questionnaire approach. The sample for this study was drawn from the population of the top 5,000 Taiwanese firms listed in the yearbook published by the China Credit Information Service Incorporation. Regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses in a sample of 146 Taiwanese firms. Findings -- The findings suggest that knowledge management is positively related to firm innovativeness. In addition, the effect of knowledge management on innovativeness is positively moderated by supportive climate and decentralized, integrated, and less formalized structure. The study also examines the effects of organizational climate and structure on knowledge management and the results indicate that innovative and supportive climate are positively related to knowledge management. When the organizational structure is less formalized, more decentralized and integrated, knowledge management is more enhanced. Practical implications -- Firms need to be aware of the critical role of organizational structure and climate in the transition process of knowledge management to innovative products or services. Originality/value -- This study contributes to the literature by investigating the relationships among organizational contexts of climate and structure, knowledge management, and firm innovativeness from the social capital and social network perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors influencing whether a multinational corporation (IVINC) appoints an expatriate or a local national as the CEO of its subsidiary. Design/methodology/approach -- The study proposes a framework comprising ownership-specific, location-specific and internalization-specific factors to examine determinants of expatriate CEO assignment. MNCs' subsidiaries in Taiwan were selected for the study. Findings - For the effect on the assignment of an expatriated CEO to a subsidiary, the factors of a subsidiary's capability and size, MNC's global strategy and internalization motivation are positive; in contrast, the factor of the host country's locational advantages is negative. In addition, in circumstances of large cultural distances, the effect of high internalization motivation is positive and that of low internalization motivation is negative. Research limitations/implications -- The research does not differentiate between two different types of expatriates and focuses on advanced countries' MNCs' subsidiaries in Taiwan. The theoretical implication of the study lies in the application of the perspectives of resource-based view and transaction cost theory on an MNC's decision concerning the assignment of an expatriated CEO for subsidiaries. Practical implications -- MNCs could make a subsidiary's staffing decision by taking into account ownership-, location-, and internalization-specific factors. Failure to do so will lead to poor operation of the subsidiary. Originality/value -- The research contributes to knowledge about the determinants of expatriate CEO assignment, and illuminates the importance of ownership, location and internalization factors for MNCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to combine Mäkipää et al., Füller et al. and Ahonen et al. with regard to CBI ideas and applies them to the new product development process of the firm. The main research links user innovation and commercialization, and the discussion between the members creates centripetal and condensation strengthening factors. A complete model is developed for empirical testing. Design/methodology/approach - The sample is 143 participants from five online communities of firms operating in Taiwan, namely Microsoft, Working House, Inventec Corporation, Hometec Technology Inc., and Asustek Computer Inc., that were contacted and asked to participate in the study. Data were collected from March 19 to May 31, 2008 via the web for internet users using a standardized questionnaire. Excluding those surveys that were undeliverable and those who believed that it was inappropriate to respond, the overall effective response rate was 87 percent (125 of 143). Findings - This research proposes four other factors to promote the member participation CBI degree effectively, and further affects them to participate in the company's desire for three stages of new product development. But studies regarding the participation product concepts and design stage also find the members comparatively are not interested. Finally, a complete model is developed for empirical testing. It seems to be a promising source of innovation capabilities for new product development. Research limitations/implications - The focus in this study is on how the integration of community members into new product development using the community based innovation method leads to encouraging results. Nevertheless, it is difficult to claim its general usability. So far, there is no study indicating the effectiveness and efficiency of CBI for ongoing, continued consumer integration. Then studies concerning the impact of CBI on innovation success are just beginning, and are restricted to the initial findings of a few case studies. Therefore, the actual market impacts of co-developed products has not been tested on a large scale, as most of the CBI projects have not been carried to the point of testing the innovations in an actual marketplace. Originality/value - The main contribution of the CBI method lies in the systematic utilization of the existing, but so far merely exploited, innovative potential of online communities. However, none of the previous studies have integrated these variables into a more comprehensive framework. A complete model is developed for empirical testing. And the discussion between the members creates centripetal and condensation strengthening factors. The main research links user innovation and commercialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to develop a theoretical model that enables us to examine the antecedents and consequences effects of members' helping behavior in online communities. It also aims to develop a complete model for empirical testing. Design/methodology/approach - The sample is 425 participants including nine online communities in Taiwan, including Yahoo! Kimo, CPB, Sony music, etc.. who were contacted and asked to participate in the study. Data were collected between August and December 2007 via the web for Internet users using a standardized questionnaire. Excluding those surveys that were undeliverable and those who believed that it was inappropriate to respond, the overall effective response rate was 84 percent (355 of 425). Findings - The empirical results suggested that online communities members' helping behavior represents a large pool of product know-how. They seem to be a promising source of innovation capabilities for new product development. Research limitations/implications - The research only aims to experimentally investigate complete model of helping behavior in online communities. But this research has not dealt with a double role of online communities' members so far, linking innovation with commercialization. They seem to be a promising source of innovation capabilities for new product development. Practical implications - The phenomenon of helping behavior among members may become a major source and channel for information in the decision making process for the purchase of products. Therefore, a major finding derived from the empirical application is that community members are capable and willing to contribute to virtual co-development. Originality/value - Many variables have been evaluated for their influences on the helping behaviors of the members of the online communities. However, none of the previous studies have integrated these variables into a more comprehensive framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]