Environmental Scanning Practices of Travel Agent Companies in Singapore

The success of tourism firms relies heavily on their ability to adapt to the changing external environments. Environmental scanning, as the acquisition and use of information about external events and trends, has received greater attention in the tourism management literature. This study investigated the environmental scanning initiatives of travel agent companies in Singapore through a questionnaire survey. In total, 42 completed forms were returned from 319 invited firms. The findings discovered a positive relationship between the scanning frequency and the perceived strategic uncertainty of task environment. It was also found that human information sources were used most frequently for collecting environmental information due to their highest reliability, while electronic sources were under-utilized probably due to lack of computer-based information system and awareness toward the importance of online information.     

COMPETITION AND CASCADES IN MARKETS: AN AGENT‐BASED MODEL OF ENDOGENOUS MERGERS

We present an agent‐based model of endogenous merger formation in a market with turnover of market participants. We describe the dynamics of the model and identify the conditions under which market competition is sufficiently disrupted to prompt extended periods during which mergers are desirable. We also demonstrate how merger waves can be triggered by industry shocks and firm overconfidence. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does monitoring decrease work effort?: The complementarity between agency and crowding-out theories

Agency theory assumes that tighter monitoring by the principal should motivate agents to increase their effort, whereas the “crowding-out” literature suggests that the opposite may occur. These two assertions are not necessarily contradictory provided that the nature of the employment relationship is taken into account [Frey, B., 1993. Does monitoring increase work effort? The rivalry between trust and loyalty. Econ. Inquiry 31, 663–670]. Results from controlled laboratory experiments show that many principals engage in costly monitoring, and most agents react to the disciplining effect of monitoring by increasing effort. However, we also find some evidence that effort is crowded out when monitoring is above a certain threshold. We identify that both interpersonal principal–agent links and concerns for the distribution of output payoff are important for the emergence of this crowding-out effect.     

税务代理制度建构与税收通则法条文设计

税务代理涉及纳税主体权利保护、征税主体的行政效率以及一国税制的有效运行和完善,我国《税收基本法（税收通则法）》应该对其加以规范,学者对此也有不同建言。文章通过对税务代理制度建构的法理分析,对照典型国家税务代理立法例,分析了我国现有税务代理制度运行中存在的主要矛盾和问题,提出了完善我国税务代理制度的建议,并拟订了《税收基本法（税收通则法）》有关税务代理的具体条款。     

植入“过度自信”因素的委托-代理合同研究

传统的委托代理关系研究假设委托人和代理人都是完全理性的,但大量研究表明,双方参与人并非完全理性,最显著的非理性表现就是过度自信。本文将行为经济理论与委托-代理理论相结合,把代理人过度自信的因素引入Holmstorm—Milgrom模型中,对代理人的参与约束条件进行了改进,建立了代理人过度自信情况下的委托-代理模型。研究结果表明,代理人的过度自信水平与代理人的绝对风险规避度和努力成本以及外生不确定性因素有关,代理人适当过度自信将给委托-代理双方带来更高的收益。     

基于个体的集成化供应链企业动态合作框架

以往在研究集成化供应链的企业间合作问题时,往往假设供应链的结构是稳定的.过于强调伙伴关系的稳定性,而缺乏对环境动态变化的应对措施,从而降低了各个节点企业的自治程度.不利于非线性相互作用的发生,使供应链的整体状态处于停滞.解决上述问题的对策是用个体来模拟供应链中的节点,个体处于一个集成的环境下,彼此之间通过三个相互关联的网络结构交互作用,通过Petri网采集流网络当中的必要信息,建立个体行为集,再通过神经网络学习合作策略,从而使供应链中的节点企业能够动态地产生合作方案.     

代建制项目风险因素浅析

代建制项目风险因素的确定是项目风险管理的基础。风险因素因其与项目的资金情况、施工水平、项目所处地域、项目实施的时间等大环境关联度较高,所以,在项目的风险因素的确认过程中就要充分考虑到以上这些因素对风险管理的影响。文章从政策风险、环境风险、管理风险、经济风险四个方面对代建制项目管理的风险因素进行了梳理和分析,具有较强的实际指导意义。     

基于代理的网格安全体系结构模型的研究

本文首先介绍了网格的相关概念,然后对网格中的安全问题进行了详细讨论。在分析网格安全技术的基础上,给出了一些定义和形式化的描述,然后讨论了一种基于代理的网格安全体系结构参考模型,该模型实现了网格安全体系结构与网格体系结构的融合。     

多式联运下工程合同管理研究——浅谈多式联运经营人风险的防范

多式联运下,经常发生多式联运经营人在向货主赔偿之后向区段承运人追偿的情形。实践中,区段承运人通常会以其为多式联运经营人的代理人,或者实际区段承运人的代理人而非区段承运人的身份而逃避责任,这就为多式联运经营人的追偿带来了麻烦。从实践中存在的问题出发,分析发生上述问题的原因,进而提出在现有制度下识别"承运人"与"代理人"的各种标准,最后提出避免问题发生的办法,以期对多式联运经营人提供帮助。     

XH固沙剂在青海湖沙漠地区的试验研究

本文主要对XH固沙材料在沙漠地区中选择沙丘较高,风速较大的迎风坡流沙面进行每平方米喷播不同用量的XH固沙材料,来研究它的渗透性,耐水性,保水性,耐老化性,抗冻融稳定性和耐风蚀能力等进行不定期的观测研究来选择最佳XH用量的固沙效果,便于在今后推广应用时为治理沙漠工程提供有力保障。