The effects of job-search motives and coping on psychological health and re-employment: a study of unemployed Hong Kong Chinese

We examine the influences of job-search motives and coping behaviours on psychological well-being and re-employment on 104 unemployed Hong Kong Chinese within a longitudinal context. Participants were tested on two different occasions separated by eight months. Results indicated that, at the first survey, use of coping strategies predicted higher psychological well-being while higher financial hardship was associated with decreased mental health. Results of ANOVA indicated that participants who scored high in employment commitment at the first survey were more likely to regain employment subsequently. Contrary to prior findings reported in studies with Western samples, psychological well-being was not affected by employment status at the follow-up survey. The psychological well-being of participants deteriorated from the first to the second survey. These findings point clearly to the significance of psychological factors in determining the response of Hong Kong Chinese to job loss. Implications of these data for future unemployment research among Chinese are discussed.     

香港会展业的成功之道及借鉴思路

香港会展业呈现出发展迅速、国际化程度高、展会主题定位明确、办展主体成熟、竞争激烈等特点,其会展经济的成功发展归因于香港自由的经济政策、巨大的市场需求、良好的软硬件基础、适当的展会定位和发达的电子商务技术。借鉴香港的经验,在内地会展业的发展过程中,应该明确政府功能定位、培植会展主体、提高展会国际化程度、实现专业化发展、开展网络展览、培育专业的会展人才。     

港股跃居全球之首,廉署肃贪功不可没——廉政公署在规范证券市场上的作用

2009年,香港成为世界最大的首次公开上市(IPO)证券融资市场,被誉为全球最自由的经济体系和最廉洁的地区之一。随着内地企业在港上市数量日益增多,廉政公署加强打击金融业界贪污罪行,基于属地管辖原则,近年来"国美电器"黄光裕、"创维数码"黄宏生等内地企业案中发挥显著作用。面对金融海啸,廉政公署将上市企业规范的问题摆在首位,开展廉署及企业的专业培训,全方位治理贪腐问题,值得研究与借鉴。     

A study of the employment system of Japanese multinational retailers in Hong Kong

This study examines the employment system of Japanese multinational retailing corporations in Hong Kong through two case companies - Morioka and Okadaya. The human resource management (HRM) practices- recruitment and selection, remuneration, and training and development - of the companies are studied. The different HRM practices applied to different groups of employees within each case company are compared using an employment systems model. The employment system is structured and multi-layered. The development of the structured employment system is then analysed in relation to the cultural and sectoral factors. It is shown that only the cultural characteristics of the Japanese parent companies can explain the ethnocentric management approach used in which Japanese personnel are employed in the internal labour marker (ILM) and local employees are employed outside the ILM. Economic and labour market conditions in both parent and host countries and sectoral characteristics have also contributed to the stratification of the employment system among the local employees. The implications of this study are that the long-term development of Japanese multinational retailers will be weakened if the structured employment system persists.     

粤港服务贸易自由化的难点及对策研究

为推动落实国家"十二五"规划有关内地对香港基本实现服务贸易自由化的目标,广东省十一届三次全会审议通过了《中共广东省委贯彻落实〈中共中央关于全面深化改革若干重大问题的决定〉的意见》,明确提出了要在2014年底率先基本实现粤港服务贸易自由化。从现状看,粤港服务贸易自由化进展顺利,成绩斐然。但由于国家政策、社会制度、服务贸易发展水平等方面的影响,粤港服务贸易自由化还存在较多的难点。争取国家政策支持,加强制度设计,加快重点合作区建设,是推进粤港服务贸易自由化的关键。     

港澳网络统战的系统观照——兼谈高校的网络统战工作

随着互联网的迅猛发展,积极推进网络统战工作是新世纪新阶段港澳统战形势的迫切要求。通过拓展网络统战工作,发挥高校统战工作优势,将能进一步做好港澳人心回归工作,更好地巩固和发展港澳爱国统一战线。     

中国移动（香港）并购融资安排及其启示

并购活动需要大量资金支持,融资难已成为制约大规模战略并购的瓶颈之一.本文基于并购融资安排理论,通过对中国移动(香港)有限公司一系列并购融资安排的详细描述、统计、分析,揭示了中国移动(香港)并购融资的一些规律,从而说明企业应根据自身实际情况选择不同的并购融资安排,这对我国上市公司并购活动的融资安排具有重要的借鉴意义.     

Work role stressors and turnover intentions: a study of professional clergy in Hong Kong

Work and occupational stress have long been concerns for employees and human resource managers as they cause many negative outcomes. Most of the previous studies on work stress were conducted in Western countries, while limited research has addressed this important topic in the Asian context. In this study, we examine the effects of several work role stressors (i.e. role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload and work–family conflict) on emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction and intentions to leave. Additionally, we test the mediating effects of emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction between the relationship of role stressors and intentions to leave. Data were collected from a sample of 887 professional clergy in Hong Kong. The results of regression analysis show that role stressors have a significant impact on both emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction, which in turn affect respondents' intentions to leave their organization.     

Revisiting the expatriate failure concept: A qualitative study of Scandinavian expatriates in Hong Kong

This article advances the understanding of expatriate failure, which remains a contested social phenomenon in international work life as well as scholarly research. The study challenges the definition of expatriate failure and its inherent biases, i.e., the epistemological primacy of the firm level and the failure/success binary. We argue that this qualitative study of 51 Scandinavian expatriates in Hong Kong can contribute to advancing theory on the expatriate failure concept by asking individual expatriates what constitutes failure to them. By applying social constructionist and social anthropological ideas to the expatriate failure concept debate, we develop the internationality thesis which demonstrates a discrepancy between the expatriates’ perceptions of successful international assignments and the actual nature of their lived lives; many expatriates desire to enrich their lives through experiencing an international/intercultural and adventurous lifestyle, but, in fact, living lives with limited intercultural exposure and interaction. We conclude by proposing a reconceptualisation of expatriate failure in terms of offering both a new definition and approach to researching expatriate failure in which time/duration, context, and geographical location need to be taken into account. We believe the new approach can overcome some of the empirical unsoundness of mainstream definitions.     

Human resource flexibility,organizational culture and firm performance: an investigation of multinational firms in Hong Kong

This article explores the relationships between human resource (HR) flexibility, organizational culture, and organizational performance. Drawing on previous works, we develop a conceptual model that links the constructs together. It is hypothesized that the three sub-dimensions of HR flexibility (i.e. employee skill flexibility, employee behaviour flexibility, and HR practice flexibility) affect adaptability culture, which in turn impacts HR-related and market-related outcomes. The data were collected via a questionnaire survey of HR directors/managers in multinational corporations (MNCs) in Hong Kong. The results of structural equation modelling (SEM) reveal the positive effects of employee behaviour flexibility and HR practice flexibility on adaptability culture. Employee skill flexibility, however, exerts no such effect. Further, adaptability culture is found to affect both HR-related and market-related performance in a positive manner.     

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.     

Personal characteristics and adjustment of Chinese mainland business expatriates in Hong Kong

Chinese mainland business expatriates assigned to Hong Kong were surveyed assessing their socio-cultural and psychological adjustment. The investigation explored the association of a variety of personal characteristics with adjustment to work and life in the territory. The main results of the study showed that expatriates from the neighbouring Guangdong Province, male expatriates, younger expatriates and expatriates who were accompanied by their spouses were better adjusted in Hong Kong than others. On the other hand, expatriates recruited directly from universities were less well adjusted than those hired from other sources. Implications of these findings are drawn and future avenues for improving and extending this kind of exploratory research are discussed.     

Predicting employee commitment and satisfaction: the relative effects of socialization and demographics

This study compared the relative influences of organizational socialization and demographic variables on job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Organizational variables were assessed by asking 193 Chinese employees in Hong Kong to evaluate socialization within their companies, namely: (1) training received; (2) understanding of the organization; (3) co-worker support; and (4) future prospects within their companies. Dependent variables were standard measures of (affective, continuance and normative) commitment and of satisfaction (with co-workers, pay, promotion, supervisors and the work). Results revealed higher correlations between the socialization measures and job satisfaction and commitment than between the demographic measures and the dependent variables. Although a few demographic measures had some predictive power, the regression analyses confirmed that the socialization variables were consistently stronger predictors of both satisfaction and commitment. Strategic implications for human resource management are discussed.     

The effects of cultural types on perceptions of justice and gender inequity in the workplace

This study uses the horizontal and vertical distinction within individualism and collectivism as a theoretical framework to predict differences in employee perceptions of organizational justice and gender inequity. In this study we survey 514 solicitors working in law firms in Hong Kong. Results of regression analysis indicated that horizontal-collectivism (HC) had a significant positive effect on procedural justice and vertical-individualism (VI) had a significant and positive effect on distributive justice. Vertical- and horizontal-individualism (VI and HI) had positive and significant effects on both perceived gender bias and perceived gender discrimination. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings and suggest future research directions.     

Epidemics,labour markets and unemployment: the impact of SARS on human resource management in the Hong Kong service sector

This article examines the links between epidemics and their economic consequences, specifically in terms of their impacts on labour markets and jobs. To exemplify the above, we examine the effects of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) on the Hong Kong economy, its labour market and its level of employment and unemployment. The article hypothesizes that the greatest impact would be on human resource management (HRM) in the service industries and on particular sub-sectors, such as the hotel sector. It concludes that the dramatic demand and supply ‘shocks’ significantly affected both the demand for and the supply of labour in the sector, with discernible HRM consequences.     

The Changing Nature of Border,Scale and the Production of Hong Kong's Water Supply System since 1959

This article investigates the making of Hong Kong's water supply system since 1959. It starts by assessing the perspectives provided by the regime approach and the political ecology literatures. The case of Hong Kong brings in ideas from border studies and draws attention to the changing nature of the border to explain socio‐ecological and scaling interactions. The case study maps the border relationship between China and Hong Kong (and Britain), and the political tussle between them over the control of water supply to the city in the late colonial period 1959–78, which resulted in the creation of a localized self‐sufficient water supply system in Hong Kong, and the consolidation of Hong Kong's scale as a colonial city‐state under British rule. It further explicates the change in the nature of the political border since 1979, and the processes by which Hong Kong abandoned attempts to strengthen its local supply, becoming dependent on supply from the regional Dongjiang water networks, as well as the transformation of its scale to become a subordinate of the larger political unit in subsequent years.     

The performance effects of human resource managers' and other middle managers' involvement in strategy making under different business-level strategies: the case in Hong Kong

We first developed theory arguing that HR managers' and other middle managers' involvement during strategy making would have different effects on performance for firms pursuing different business-level strategies. Then, our empirical study tested the hypotheses in the context of HR managers and middle managers in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China. We found that HR manager involvement during strategy making was positively related to perceptions of future business performance. The use of a differentiation strategy was also positively associated with future performance. Neither the use of a cost leadership strategy, however, nor involvement by other middle-level managers, was directly related to perceived future performance. Interestingly, pursuit of a cost leadership strategy, combined with either high HR manager involvement or high middle manager involvement, produced high business performance. Thus, we found a positive and significant interaction such that increasing levels of manager involvement in strategy and a cost leadership strategy was associated with much higher levels of performance. Lower levels of manager involvement combined with the cost leadership strategy, however, were related to much lower performance. No such interaction effect was apparent for differentiation strategies.     

The effect of participative management on organizational performance: the case of Taiwan

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of participative management on the behaviour of employees and the financial effectiveness of the enterprise. The analytical data are based on the survey of 308 Taiwan enterprises. Multiple regression results show that both suggestion system and labour-management committee have a positive impact on employees' behaviour in terms of turnover and absenteeism rates. Likewise, the quality control circle (QCC) and profit sharing have a positive impact on organizational effectiveness as seen in profit and revenue growth rates. However, employee stock-ownership plans and grievance-handling systems have negative effects on both performance indicators - employee behaviour and organizational effectiveness. The practical implications are also discussed.     

Observations on the organizational commitment of Chinese employees: comparative studies of state-owned enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises

Although recent research has begun to touch upon the organizational commitment of Chinese employees, most studies have been limited to the transposition of Western methodology to a Chinese context. This paper examines two groups of Chinese employees, those working in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and those working in foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs), and compares the organizational commitment of each group. In order to reflect Chinese characteristics more accurately, the present study used a questionnaire incorporating items drawn from previous Chinese and Western studies. The various multidimensional structures of organizational commitment put forward by both Eastern and Western researchers to date have been re-examined using a sample of 1,232 industrial employees. Results indicate that a five-factor component model, including affective commitment, active continuance commitment, passive continuance commitment, normative commitment and value commitment, fits the data best. The key findings of this study are that SOE employees have higher levels of active continuance commitment and passive continuance commitment, and a lower level of value commitment, than employees of FIEs. It can be inferred from these differences that, in contemplating appropriate measures designed to foster the commitment levels of Chinese employees, management should recognize that the measures required to achieve such a goal will vary according to form of economic ownership (SOEs vs. FIEs). Implications for human resource management in both SOEs and FIEs are discussed.