An integrated model for analyzing the development of the 4G telecommunications market in Taiwan

Previous studies of development trends in the telecommunications industry have estimated market potential but have seldom integrated analyses of customer preferences and macro-environmental factors (political, economic, social, and technological analyses). In order to more accurately analyze 4G technological trends and market penetration and provide implications for businesses and policymakers, we use conjoint analysis to analyze customers' preferences for telecommunications technology and integrate the results with data from scenario analysis and the Delphi method to address possible scenarios for the development of 2G, 3G, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), and long-term evolution (LTE) in Taiwan. We then use the innovation diffusion model to forecast the sales volume for these four technologies in Taiwan over the next 10 years. Finally, we provide suggestions for policymaking and strategic actions for 4G stakeholders.     

Introducing ‘Journeys Home’

Homelessness, despite being a major social policy issue in Australia, is an area that is not well served by data. Most sorely lacking is any large‐scale panel study that follows a broad sample of persons with recent experience of homelessness and unstable housing histories. In 2010, the Australian Government set about rectifying this deficiency when it commissioned the Melbourne Institute to undertake a new panel study, now known as ‘Journeys Home’. This study draws its sample from the population of Centrelink income‐support recipients, targeting persons identified in the administrative data as having recent experience of homelessness, as well as others with similar characteristics who may be vulnerable to housing difficulties in the future. This article summarises the design of this new study and reports on fieldwork outcomes from the first two waves of data collection.     

Enterprise Bargaining and Productivity in Australia: What do We Know?

There appears to be widespread consensus, at least in industry and government, that enterprise bargaining has been beneficial for productivity. Many academics, however, have argued that the link between bargaining structure and workplace productivity is a contentious one, and that research has been unable to establish a relationship. The present paper re-examines the existing evidence. The review reinforces the need to exercise caution before asserting that enterprise bargaining is necessarily beneficial for workplace productivity. The main conclusion that emanates from this review, however, is not the absence of a clear-cut finding, but how poorly developed the relevant research literature is.     

The Relationship between Federal Deficits and Real Interest Rates

Real interest rates fluctuated a great deal since the 1970s. In the 1980s federal deficits accelerated and their impact on both nominal and real interest rates gained lots of attention. Based on monthly and quarterly data from January 1971 to December 1997 it is found that federal deficits had significant positive effect on the real interest rates: Personal income or consumption are found to have significant positive impact on the real interest rates, whereas expected inflation and money supply are found to have negative impact on the real interest rates. These findings are consistent with the conventional economic theory.     

The Selection of Distribution Channels in China

This contribution first traces the development of the distribution system in China from state monopoly to one which permits the limited participation of foreign ventures, and examines the problems faced by foreign investors in managing the distribution channels under such a transitional economy. Due to China's abundance of linguistic, cultural and economic differences, combined with growing territorialism at the provincial level, different problems may be encountered in different citieslregions, and therefore foreign investors need to modify their distribution strategies accordingly. Detailed case studies are provided as illustrations.     

Correlations between external knowledge and the knowledge chain as impacting service quality

Service Quality continues to be a major concern amongst consumers. As a result, in order to provide the continuous improvement of service quality that will lead to consumer satisfaction, this study explores the impact of external knowledge and knowledge chain on service quality. The results of this study found that absorptive capacity of the external knowledge is indeed an important source of competitive advantage. Hence, enterprises should apply the knowledge chain in order to gather external knowledge from customers, suppliers and competitors, as well as transforming the knowledge to enhance their service quality.     

Firm Resources and Corporate Venturing Investment

Corporate venturing (CV) in which established firms invest in new entrepreneurial businesses involves identifying opportunities and creating new combinations of resources to seize opportunities. Moving beyond literature that has focused predominantly on the consequences of CV, we adopt a resource‐based view to examine how knowledge‐based and organizational‐slack resources relate to the level of firm CV. The implications of the findings for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2011 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring the Influence of Organizational Ethical Climate on Knowledge Management

In recent years, knowledge management has been utilized as an essential strategy to foster the creation of organizational intellectual capital. Organizational intellectual capital can be derived both individually and collectively in the process to create, store, share, acquire, and apply personal and organizational knowledge. However, some organizations only focus on the development of public good, despite the concerns arising from individuals’ self-interest or possible risks. The different concern of individual and collective perspectives toward knowledge management inevitably leads to ethical conflicts and ethical culture in the organization (Jarvenpaa et al., J Manage Inf Syst 14(4):29–64, 1998; Ruppel and Harrington, IEEE Trans Prof Commun 44(1):37–52, 2000). The purpose of this study is to examine the ethical climate within the organization and its possible influence on members’ evaluation, satisfaction, engagement, and job performance with respect to knowledge management practice. The research results reveal that several types of organizational ethical climate coexist in the organization and have different degrees of influence on employees’ attitude as well as participation in knowledge management activities. In this article, we argue the importance of organizational ethical climate and highlight the implications of such a climate for facilitating knowledge management.