A Hong Kong view of offensive advertising

Considerable research has been conducted on offensive advertising in Western countries. However, not much is known about consumers' views of offensive advertising in an Asian context. This research, which was conducted in Hong Kong, aimed at identifying what product/service advertisements consumers find offensive, what executional styles consumers find offensive, consumers' tolerance of offensive advertisements in different media and the effects of offensive advertisements on consumers' purchase intentions. The results from a survey of 200 consumers showed that chat-line services and funeral services were considered the most offensive products or services to be advertised. When looking at the manner of advertising, sexist themes, indecent language and nudity were found to be the major reasons for the respondents finding advertisements offensive. In general, direct mail was considered to be a medium that prompts lower tolerance by consumers to potentially offensive advertisements while men and women's magazines were considered to be media that prompt higher tolerance to potentially offensive advertisements. Finally, it was found that levels of advertising offensiveness had an effect on purchase intentions.     

A Comparative Study of the Benefits of Applying Target Cost Contracts Between South Australia and Hong Kong

This article aims to identify and analyze the key benefits of adopting Guaranteed Maximum Price and Target Cost Contracts (GMP/TCC) over and above the traditional lump‐sum contractual arrangement through an empirical questionnaire survey conducted in South Australia and compared with the findings in Hong Kong. The Mann‐Whitney U Test indicated differences in perception between the two groups of respondents on the majority of the identified benefits. The study has provided an in‐depth understanding of the perceived benefits of the GMP/TCC scheme, hence leading to a wider application of those alternative integrated procurement strategies in both regions for reference by the construction community at large.     

香港社会中介组织的经验与启示

近年来,香港各级各类中介组织在促进经济社会事业发展中发挥着越来越重要的作用,借鉴香港社会中介组织发展的有益经验,探求国内社会中介组织发展的特色之路尤为关键。     

The evolution of a regional container port system: the Pearl River Delta

This study investigates the progress of container port system development in South China, focusing particularly on the interplay between Hong Kong and the other ports in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. After identifying the downgrading trend of Hong Kong from a transshipment hub port for Asia and for China as a whole to a regional load center and the emergence of other deep-sea direct-service ports, the paper looks into the causes of this structural change of the port system. Four major causes are identified: the cost-base competition, the impact of the unique “one-country two-systems” policy, the impact of globalization and container standardization, and the impact of multi-modal accessibility and connectivity. The paper reveals that the interplay between different governments and between the governments and port operators are the local mechanisms that together as a whole respond to the shippers’ needs and the shipping lines’ pressure. It confirms that the interdependencies and competitive relations between terminals are being played out at a regional level. While the particular situation of the PRD is unique in many regards, the features emerging there, with its dominant hub, its network of feeder ports and its emerging direct-service non-hub terminals, are being replicated elsewhere.     

Bank generic strategies: does Porter's theory apply in an international banking center

This study examines banks' competitive strategies and their relationship with performance in a highly internationalized banking center, Hong Kong. The factor analysis results have, by and large, provided support to Porter's three strategy typology. Nevertheless, the empirical findings from the cluster analysis and the subsequent inter-group comparison of performances have cast doubt on Porter's stuck-in-the-middle proposition by demonstrating that banks adopting a multi-strategic approach did outperform other strategically monotonous rivals. While the stuck-in-the-middle proposition is grounded in the premise of inherent inconsistencies for pursuing more than one generic strategy simultaneously, the resource-based view and the present empirical findings hint at the feasibility for well-resourced banks to combine apparently incompatible value creating activities in a synergistic way to achieve integrated flexibility and consequently, a sustainable multi-strategic position. It is suggested that this feasibility very much depends on a bank's organizing and coordinating capabilities that are developed and refined through managerial commitment, learning and experience, as well as a careful assessment of various organizational activities and its inter-relationships within the entire business system.     

SIR ALAN WALTERS' ROLE IN THE REVIVAL OF CURRENCY BOARDS1

In a speech given in 2004, at a meeting held at the Institute of Economic Affairs in honour of Sir Alan Walters who died in 2009, John Greenwood explains Sir Alan's critical role in the creation of a currency board in Hong Kong in 1983.     

A Holy Hall of Chinese Traditional Arts——Hong Bao Tang ＆ Its Host Mr.Cheng Maoquan

The Chinese traditional cultures are es- sential part of the 5,000-year civilization of China.It has become more and more important how to pass on the quintessence of the Chinese traditional culture when the national economy is advancing by leap and bounds.[第一段]     

影响港澳经济增长的制度因素探究

澳门与香港的经济发展水平存在较大差距 ,其根本原因在于两地制度及其效率存在着明显的差别。本文从产权制度、政府的权威及其法制状况三方面 ,对此问题进行了比较分析。认为 ,要实现澳门经济的有效增长 ,必须尽快实施制度创新。     

粤港澳特别合作区的法律思考

在产业结构升级、区域经济一体化等挑战面前，探索新的合作模式已成为粤港澳三地紧迫的共同诉求。以特别行政区基本法为核心的宪法性法律文件群、WTO协定群和CEPA法律文件群为粤港澳合作提供了稳固的法律框架，它们所规划的发展蓝图呈现出的是一个相互嵌套交叉的波纹结构，使粤港澳合作具有了阶段性、试验性、双向性和都市性等特点。     

港澳台商投资广东制造业的集聚效应及其对区域竞争力影响

本文根据产业集群理论,区域竞争力理论和突变理论的基本原理,采用突变级数法、弹性方法,以及回归分析方法,对港澳台商投资广东制造业的集聚程度及其整体的集群效应进行定量研究,并找出两个众多因素共同作用的系统——制造业集群系统与区域经济系统的内在数量关系。