Research Seminars in 2021

李兆基商业管理学院 Research Seminars in 2021

2021

IIBG Distinguished Professor Research Seminar Series

Getting Published in High Quality Journals

Professor Graham Kendall

Emeritus Professor, The University of Nottingham, UK
IIBG Distinguished Professor, B&A, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

8 Dec 2021

This seminar will focus on some of the areas that will help you get your research published in high quality journals. The speaker will share his experience from the perspective of an academic who has published widely and served as an Associate Editor and Editor-in-Chief, enabling the process to be seen through the lens of both an author and an editor.


It will cover areas such as “What is a high-quality journal?”, “What do editors look for when you submit a paper?” and “How you should respond to reviewer’s comments?”, but it will touch on other topics, guided by questions posed by the audience.

Defragmenting Determinants of Sustainable Food Choices: A Systematic Literature Review

Mr Kevin Chu

Senior Lecturer, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

24 Nov 2021

Sustainable food choices have been a popular research topic in the last two decades. It is believed that consumers' deliberate choices of sustainable food would drive the business to innovate more quickly the way they manufacture to minimise carbon footprints and even practise circular economy with minimum environmental costs. In this study we provide an integrative and analytical review of factors determining sustainable seafood choice of consumers. Relevant empirical research is integrated into the review. We synthesize the developing knowledge about the determining factors influencing the consumers' choice. With the use of Poeszi's Triad Model, which comprises 'motivation', 'capacity' and 'opportunity', this study develops a guide for the practitioners in the sustainable seafood industry, based on the major determinants that have been defragmented and integrated from hundreds of relevant academic studies. It provides the corresponding suggestions for the practitioners who would like to more effectively promote sustainable seafood consumption.

IIBG Distinguished Professor Research Seminar Series

Globalization and its Discontents – The Emergence of a New Global System

Professor Peter Buckley

Professor of International Business, Founder Director of CIBUL
Founder Director of the Business Confucius Institute at the University of Leeds, UK
Visiting Professor, B&A, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

17 Nov 2021

This presentation examines the response of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) to anti-globalization trends including the fracture in the world economic system, reactions to the negative consequences of globalization and protectionist policies and rhetoric.

The fracture of the world economy between “China” and “the West” as a result of “systemic competition”, the splinternet and the designation of increasing swathes of the economy as “strategic assets” has resulted in an integrated environment for business becoming more contested and difficulties in the smooth ordering of global value chains.

The rise of nationalistic policies and regional blocs together with the phenomenon of the “left-behind“ (the section of society disadvantaged by globalization) and other externalities leave MNEs exposed to a higher degree of regulation and increased opposition from (sections of) civil society. This is exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of the “Biosecurity State”. Global governance of value chains is thus changing and the presentation speculates on the form that this is likely to take.

Consequently, the strategies of MNEs must respond to the new circumstances, globally, regionally and nationally. The presentation examines the immediate responses of MNEs, their short run and long run strategies and speculates on the strategies that they are likely to implement in the long long run.

Immediate strategic change is that necessary to secure the survival of the MNE. Short-term strategies are information based concerning planning and foresight. Long-term strategies include reorganization, regionalization, aggregation and relocation strategies. Long  long-term strategies are much more fluid and include cartelization.

Overall, this suggests profound changes in the governance of global value chains under the orchestration of focal MNEs.

An Archaeological Examination across Interface: From Well-being to Good Life

Dr Joey Ng

Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

17 Nov 2021

Well-being has been popularized as a global concept, because it is regarded as universally significant to everyone.  This study offers an alternative view on well-being and assesses its discursive capacity.  An archaeological examination on well-being is presented.  By tracing the (trans) formation of the concept, additional ontological possibilities of well-being are revealed – Well-being is dynamic, but culturally-bounded.  The examination also dissects the problem of essentialism in the discourse.  This is illustrated along its transformation, where well-being is being appropriated to the Chinese (the other's) context.  Thus, revealing an insidious form of colonization through the globalization of a concept.  At last, the study offers 'a' plausible way of decolonization by opening up 'an' interstitial space – the discourse of good life, where the others are able to share the same discursive space with the West for dialogues.

Effects of Public Negative Labeling on Team Interaction and Performance

Dr Elsa Chan

Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

10 Nov 2021

We examine how public negative labeling affects team performance. Across four studies, we test and find support for our model; that public negative labeling undermines team performance via reduced perceptions of team interaction quality. Our study contributes to the expansive conversation on team effectiveness which highlights that “fighting fire with fire” in terms of public negative labeling is ineffective for dealing with uncivil workplace behavior.

The Effects of Independent Non-Executive Directors (INED) on Company Performance

Dr Kevin Li

Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

3 Nov 2021

Many previous studies argue that the presence of independent non-executive directors (INEDs) can improve the quality of corporate governance and firm performance. However, research studies in this area is across different countries and stock exchanges have produced inconsistent conclusions. This study examines the relationship between INEDs and the performance of firms listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK). Given the stringent INED requirements applied to SEHK-listed companies over the last 20 years, whether increased INED presence is beneficial was investigated for the listed companies in Hong Kong by using a panel regression model.

The results of this study should help in reviewing the suitability of the current INED standards and whether they can be applied to different firm segments in Hong Kong. The policymakers/regulators could determine whether further revision of the current INED policy is necessary.

The results can be further investigated and applied to other emerging markets/regions worldwide and may be particularly suitable for regions with many family-controlled and state-owned enterprises.

IIBG Distinguished Professor Research Seminar Series

What Can We Learn from the History of Finance?

Professor Raphael Nicholas Markellos

Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia, UK
IIBG Distinguished Professor, B&A, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

27 Oct 2021

This seminar discusses three research projects dealing with the fascinating history of financial thought. First, is the story of the seminal real option transaction by Thales the Milesian, as recorded in Aristotle's Politics. We discuss unknown details of this account and provide empirical estimates based on plausible parameters. Second, we look into the history of finance via iconographical and sociological analysis of relevant images by prominent artists such as Jan Brueghel the Younger, William Hogarth and Edgar Degas. Visual representations and reflections of social, professional and everyday activities have been common since antiquity and works of art provide important historical narratives. Finally, we outline some key ideas of the so-called Dow theorists and discuss how these are related to later developments in the academic literature. Although Dow theory has been very popular and influential amongst practitioners for over a century, its innovativeness and importance in the development of modern finance have not yet been fully understood.

Nature, Human, and Machine: Awe for Nature Elevates Preference for Artificial Intelligence through Humanness

Dr Eujin Park

Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

27 Oct 2021

Although people persistently prefer customer services provided by humans over artificial intelligence (AI), little research has examined an affective cure for such non-humanity aversion. Since awe-inducing natural scenes make people believe that humans are insignificant and subordinate to nature, we argue that awe for nature diminishes humanity and, in turn, mitigates disinclinations for AI customer service. Throughout multiple studies, we exhibit that awe for nature diminishes humanness (study 1, 2, 3, and 4). People in awe for nature also preferred AI as assistants of humans (study 2) and even as self-governing agents (study 3). Customer's actual choice for a real AI service brand is also higher when in awe for nature (study 4). The effect persisted regardless of valence, for positive (study 1 and 3), mixed-feelings (study 2) and negative (study 4) awe for nature. Mediation analyses revealed that these preferences occurred due to nature-induced awe's influence on dehumanization. Our research provides a novel method of alleviating disinclination for AI customer service by investigating an affective consequence of encountering nature. 

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI) customer services; Awe for nature; Humanness; Financial AI services; Autonomous Vehicles (AVs); Robo-taxi services

IIBG Distinguished Professor Research Seminar Series

Which Sports Attract the Most Tourists?

Professor Bala Ramasamy

Professor of Economics and Associate Dean, China Europe International Business School
IIBG Distinguished Professor, B&A, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

20 Oct 2021

The 2020/21 pandemic has destroyed the tourist industry worldwide. As signs of some recovery from the pandemic begins to appear, countries and regions will be in a stiff competition to attract international tourists. A common strategy that has been used in the past was by hosting major events including sporting events. Our research project compares three countries and three sports – Australia, Canada and the UK and Formula-1 GP, ATP Tennis and PGA Golf. We find that there is no specific relationship between the sport and the location, and so organizers and government need to select the right event if they desire to attract more tourists. We extend this project by considering Shanghai and the source of tourists. We find that certain sports tend to be more popular among tourists from certain geographies.

IIBG Distinguished Professor Research Seminar Series

Balancing the Need to Protect Technology and Access Knowledge when Conducting R&D Abroad

Professor Mario Kafouros

Professor of International Business and Innovation, Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, UK
IIBG Distinguished Professor, B&A, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

29 Sep 2021

When multinational enterprises (MNEs) conduct R&D in countries with weak protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), they gain access to new knowledge but also face difficulties in protecting their own technology. In such situations, the two objectives (knowledge access and technology protection) conflict with one another. This study examines how certain geographic configurations of R&D portfolios help MNEs create technology-protection mechanisms, balance the two objectives, and enhance their performance. The multi-country longitudinal analysis employed in this study explains why some MNEs benefit from conducting R&D in weak IPR protection countries while others do not, and identifies which mechanisms are most effective in protecting technology.

A Diary Study of the Impact of Psychological and Biophysical Traits on Daily Experience of Employee Ambidexterity

Dr Bobbie Chan

Associate Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

25 Aug 2021

IIBG Research Seminar on 25 Aug 2021

The ability to manage equally important yet conflicting imperatives, such as to simultaneously innovate and to refine existing business opportunities, is vital for organizations to survive and thrive in the current highly complex and unpredictable business environment. By the same token, ambidextrous employees who are able to master two sets of opposing, but complementary, skills or competencies at the same time are the prime assets of these organizations. Despite consistent evidence shows that employee ambidexterity has a positive influence on organizational level of ambidexterity, the primary focus is on the organizational level, with relatively much less attention to employee ambidexterity, let alone the required individual traits and state of employees.

Hence, we aim to explore the different factors affecting the daily levels of employee ambidexterity and its relationship with work outcomes. Drawing on the ambidexterity literature and cross-fertilizing with other domains, we examine the (1) daily flow experience as a key driver of employee ambidexterity, (2) psychological factors (i.e., perfectionism, humor, and autotelic personality), and (3) biophysical traits (i.e., prenatal testosterone exposure and physical fitness) that influence employee ambidexterity.

Learning Analytics with Proactive Systematic Interventions – Two Case Studies at OUHK

Dr Samuel Choi

Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

18 Aug 2021

IIBG Research Seminar on 18 Aug 2021

Learning analytics (LA) refers to the analysis and interpretation of data related to learner profiles, learning contexts and learner behaviour and interactions. The objective of LA is to provide valuable information to optimise or improve learning designs, outcomes and environments based on the analytical results. An analytics model (also known as an LA cycle) describes the typical five stages of the LA process: capture, report, predict, act and refine. In past years, these stages were often studied in isolation, and research effort was mostly focused on the first three stages, for example, developing an accurate prediction model. However, the intervention strategies and the refinements to the LA model (the last two stages) have rarely been discussed in detail. In this presentation, I will demonstrate how the LA with proactive systematic interventions were implemented in two different courses at OUHK. The results showed that the LA implementation was effective in identifying at-risk students at an early stage and the systematic proactive interventions can increase the success rate of students' learning.

*The Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) was renamed as the Hong Kong Metropolitan University with effect from 1 September 2021.

Organizational Cultures Determine Employee Innovation in response to Seasonality: Regulatory Processes of Openness and Resistance

Dr Dagnachew Leta Senbeto

Research Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

28 Jul 2021

IIBG

The existing literature on tourism seasonality focuses on seasonality's cause and impact but pays little attention to understand employees' reactions to off-season markets. Drawing from approach-avoidance and regulatory focus theories, we examine the influence of three organizational cultures on employee innovative behavior. We also propose two regulatory processes that mediate those relationships: employee openness and resistance to change. Using multisource data from hotel employees and managers, our results indicate that employee openness positively mediates innovative and collaborative cultures' relationships on employee innovation. In contrast, it negatively mediates the relationship between traditional culture and innovative behavior. On the other hand, employee resistance to change positively mediates the association between traditional culture and employee innovation. In contrast, it negatively mediates the relationships between innovative and collaborative cultures on employee innovation. Finally, we provide managerial implications and directions for future research in response to seasonality.

Creating an Enabling Environment for Urban Tourism Development: The Future of Bangkok

Dr Louisa Lee

Associate Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

21 Jul 2021

IIBG Research Seminar on 21 July 202
The study aims to reveal the key drivers that may shape the future city tourism of Bangkok. Since the early 20th century, tourism has emerged as a major section of the economy in many Asian cities. Despite the long-term growth of city tourism looks set to continue for the conceivable future, the costs of the tourism industry imposed on both natural and social ecological systems should not outweigh the benefits it brings in many other aspects. The roles of tourism development in shaping Asian cities are not well understood. A more rigorous understanding of the evolving drivers that shape the future of city tourism development is worth exploring. Focused attention is given to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand and a popular tourism destination in Asia. Critical urban theory underpinned the investigation. Key stakeholders from private and public sectors of Bangkok expressed their viewpoints on the major drivers changing the future development of urban tourism. Their thoughts aligned with the quadruple bottom line of sustainability – social, environmental, economic and governance bottom lines.

How COVID-19 Impacted the Strategies of Disney Parks in the World

Dr Ailie Tang

Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

7 Jul 2021

IIBG Research Seminar on 7 July 202
Due to COVID-19, Disney Parks over the world are greatly affected. This study aims to compare the strategies of Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland under the influence of COVID-19.  We will examine the latest operation procedures of the Disney Parks under COVID-19 and how these procedures affect the customer experience. Particularly, Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland impose different approaches towards the annual pass holders (i.e., customers who bought the ticket for park entry throughout the year). Tokyo Disneyland forbade the annual pass holders to enter the park because they had to restrict the number of visitors; while Hong Kong Disneyland extended the entry period of the current annual pass users and provided extra benefits to them (such as priority to watch the latest show). We will examine how it may affect the customer satisfaction and loyalty of the guests.

The Effect of Best Price Guarantee on Tourism Decision Making. Interactions with Price Comparison and User Power

Dr Fuad Mehraliyev

Research Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

30 Jun 2021

IIBG Research Seminar on 30 Jun 202
Online booking platforms frequently use “best price guarantee” and “price comparison” functions as persuasion strategies. Conditions under which these strategies are influential remain unknown. This study hypothesizes that the effect of these strategies depends on the targeted tourist's state of power (i.e. user power), and whether one or both of the persuasion strategies are used. A 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment reveals a significant three-way interaction effect among best price guarantee, price comparison, and user power on perceived transaction value. Best price guarantee affects perceived transaction value when the platform has no price comparison function and users are powerful. Perceived transaction value mediates the conditional effect of best price guarantee on intention to use.

Picture or Text Superiority? The Impact of Element Size on Communication Effectiveness

Dr Canice Kwan

Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

28 Jul 2021

IIBG Research Seminar on 23 Jun 2021

Element size is a fundamental feature of all visual communications, yet we lack definitive knowledge about whether to maximize picture or text size and how to balance the emphasis of these elements. Leveraging deep learning-based computer vision techniques, we measure and analyze the element sizes of more than 4,000 cover photos on Facebook. Based on the results of multivariate regression models with random effects, we find that enlarging pictures (relative to text) in cover photos produces more 'likes' for the Facebook pages that extensively embed text in pictures but results in a negative impact for the pages that avoid using text in pictures. Relatedly, enlarging pictures has a positive impact when the brand is high-end and product involvement is high. However, the effect reverses for low-end brands and low-involvement products. Two experiments supplement the findings from the field. This research elucidates the boundaries of picture superiority and has strategic implications for visual optimization and content strategies.

Informed Indulgence: The Effects of Nutrition Information Provision and Dietary Restraint on Consecutive Food Consumption Decisions

Dr Grace Oh

Research Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

16 Jun 2021

IIBG Research Seminar on 16 Jun 2021
Nutrition and menu labelling have been increasingly implemented worldwide. This research examines the effect of nutrition information provision on the immediate and subsequent consumption decisions of restrained and unrestrained eaters. Across three experiments, we found that nutrition information did not generally affect choices between low-calorie and high-calorie options, irrespective of dietary restraint. However, restrained eaters who chose a high-calorie option in the presence of nutrition information indicated they would reduce subsequent intake. Nutrition information does not necessarily reduce the choice of relatively high-calorie food, but it can help restrained eaters reduce subsequent intake after a high-calorie choice. These results suggest that despite not having an immediate effect on choices, nutrition and menu labelling may benefit restrained eaters at a later time.

The Effects of Expatriate Empowering Leadership on Host Country National Knowledge Sharing: A Self-Expansion Perspective

Dr Emmy van Esch

Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

9 Jun 2021

IIBG Research Seminar on 9 Jun 2021

Knowledge sharing is essential to the competitiveness and survival of multinational corporations (MNCs), particularly in today's highly globalized knowledge-based economy. MNCs often employ expatriates as knowledge agents to disseminate and transfer critical knowledge from the parent organization to its host country operations and vice versa. However, despite the proliferation of international assignments, knowledge sharing between expatriates and host country national (HCN) colleagues continues to be problematic, particularly when individual differences (e.g., in terms of culture, nationality, ethnicity, language) between the expatriate and HCNs are pronounced. This study aims to reveal how the knowledge sharing process between expatriates and HCNs can be enhanced despite the presence of such differences. Drawing on the self-expansion theory we propose that an expatriate's empowering leadership style will enhance HCN knowledge sharing via a self-expansion process. In addition, we propose that HCNs' cross-cultural competence acts as an important enabler of this process. Implications for research and practice are discussed. 

Acknowledgement: The work described in this presentation is fully supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (UGC/FDS16/B06/19).

Public Sentiment Is Everything: Host Country Public Sentiment Toward Home Country And Acquisition Ownership During Institutional Transition

Dr Kelly Chen

Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

2 Jun 2021

IIBG Research Seminar on 2 Jun 2021
Under strict scrutiny of public governance primed by international relation tensions, geopolitics, and the rise of social movements and public activism in the globalized economy, public sentiment is exerting increasing pressure on multinational corporations (MNCs). Utilizing the context of inward acquisition, a sensitive cross-border action that often triggers sentiment of host-country nationals, we theorize from the public sentiment perspective and the public thermostat analogy that foreign acquirers will adjust their ownership levels in target firms according to how they perceive to be acceptable and legitimate as expressed by host-country nationals' public sentiment toward their home country. Using a sample of 410 acquisition deals from 22 foreign countries/economies into China during 2010–2017 and a sentiment analysis of 100,902 blog posts, we find that a host country's public sentiment toward the acquiring firm's home country is positively related to acquisition ownership levels, and has a mutualistic symbiotic interaction with the host region's marketization level. Our study contributes to the study of informal institutions by proposing public sentiment as a new form of informal institution that is normative-cognitive whilst affective, and can be mobilized and communicated broadly and timely via a public sphere to confer social, political, and cognitive legitimacy to MNCs.

Eastern Halloween Effect: A Stochastic Dominance Approach

Dr Leah Li

Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

26 May 2021

The Eastern market wisdom of “May is poor, June is bleak, and July will turn around” unveils an international stock markets dynamic that lower returns in May followed by an even worse return in June but rebounding back to an upward trend in July. This wisdom is termed as the “Eastern Halloween” effect in this paper which has some similarities with the traditional Halloween Effect. However, the traditional risk approaches fail to explain this Eastern Halloween effect satisfactorily. We apply the stochastic dominance method to examine the Eastern Halloween effect and provide solid evidence of the existence of the Eastern Halloween effect.

Leadership, Innovation Capability, and SMEs' Product Innovation Performance: The Moderating Roles of Reward Philosophy and Entrepreneurial Culture

Dr Sindy Chung

Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

12 May 2021

IIBG Research Seminar on 12 May 2021
Innovation is vital to the survival and prosperity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Such firms have the inherent liability of limited resources, which creates a barrier to their pursuit of innovative activities. To compete with larger incumbents and sustain competitive advantages, leaders, the principal decision-makers, play a key role in devising innovation strategies and have overall responsibility for firms' ultimate performance. 

This study draws on the resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capabilities perspective (DC) to develop a model linking leadership (resource) to innovation (dynamic capability) and product innovation performance (sustainable competitive advantage). In addition, it suggests that reward philosophy and entrepreneurial culture can enhance or hinder the effect of transformational and transactional leadership on exploratory and exploitative innovation in the context of SMEs. 

Using a quantitative research method, 151 valid pairs of questionnaires (i.e. 302 respondents) were collected from the top management of small and medium-sized manufacturing firms in China. The empirical findings showed that transformational leadership behaviors could foster both exploratory and exploitative innovation. Transactional leaders, consistent with the literature, could facilitate exploitative activities, but not exploratory innovation. The data analysis also indicated that different types of innovation delivered different benefits to firms. In addition, reward philosophy and entrepreneurial culture had divergent moderating effects on the relationship between leadership style and innovative outcome.

Man of Steel (Still): Examining the Impact of Moving Mediation (Tai Chi) on Relieving Emotional Exhaustion and Physical Fatigue for Emotional Labour in Shift Work

Dr Ka Shing Woo

Associate Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

5 May 2021

IIBG Research Seminar on 5 May 2021
Approximately one fifth of the workforce is shift worker, engaging in different types of work shift schedule such as afternoon shift, evening shift, and night shift that spans across early morning. Shift work can be a double blow to frontline service employees (or emotional labour). On the one hand, they have to deal with the emotional disparity between what they actually feel and what they are required to display when interacting with customers. On the other hand, night shift work in particular contradicts to circadian rhythms. Human beings are cued to be awake by the day light and to sleep by the night fall. This periodicity of awakening and falling asleep around the 24-hour cycle forms circadian rhythms. The disruption of circadian rhythms creates different sources of stress (e.g., high blood pressure and fatigue) that are deleterious to the employees' mental and physical health.

Given the detrimental effects of shift work, we propose a controlled experimental study to examine the relative ergogenic effect between mindfulness training and Tai Chi in buffering against both emotional exhaustion and physical fatigue. Tai Chi, as a movement-based meditation, aims to achieve a state of relaxation through low-impact body movements, specific breathing patterns, and meditative techniques. The results of this study will not only contribute to the literature by investigating a significant but yet unexplored topic of emotional labour, but will also provide managerial implications to practitioners on how to improve the well-being of frontline service employees in a city that never sleeps.

Assessing the Severity of Human Raters on Scoring Essay Writing

Dr Kinnie Chan

Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

28 Apr 2021

IIBG Research Seminar on 28 Apr 2021
As a process of collecting and interpreting evidence of student progress, assessment aims to inform reasoned judgments about what a student knows relative to the identified learning goals. The results of ongoing accumulative assessment have effects on the final grade of students and their competitiveness in pursuing a higher degree in the future. Thus, it is important to ensure fairness and consistency of assessment as it impacts students' future learning, achievement and motivation to learn. This research looks into the nature and variables of fair essay assessment. The Many-facets Rasch Measurement (MFRM) is implemented to examine the fairness and consistency of raters in order to reach congruency of student essay scores if a significant discrepancy is observed. It also attempts to measure the effects of rater severity applying the Rasch model to compare/co-calibrate the scales of raw scores of human raters for essay writing assessment.

Nepotism and CEO Compensation in Family Firms: Evidence from China

Dr Tak Yan Leung

Associate Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

28 Apr 2021

IIBG Research Seminar on 14 Apr 2021

Self-serving nepotism has often been considered detrimental to the financial prospect and survival of family firms. Referring to the agency, stewardship, and embeddedness perspectives, this paper investigates nepotism in compensation arrangements for family-member CEOs. Based on a sample of Chinese listed family firms, this research shows that a CEO is more likely awarded a pay premium for being a 'nepot' (a family member) in a firm with high family embeddedness (as measured by family board representation). The inclination for nepotistic compensation is greater in a family firm located in the region marked by the rice subsistence subculture (as opposed to the wheat and herding subsistence subcultures) and in the region characterized by non-Mandarin sociolinguistic subcultures (as opposed to the Mandarin sociolinguistic subcultures). Moreover, the positive association between the pay of a family-member CEO and family board representation is more pronounced when the CEO is politically connected. This research suggests that family embeddedness, cultural embeddedness, and political embeddedness should be considered in future nepotism research.

Marriage to the Same Kind: Organizational Political Ideology and Mergers and Acquisitions

Dr Dawn Chow

Research Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

7 Apr 2021

This study contributes to the growing literature on organizational political ideology by positing that acquiring firms choose targets with similar organizational political ideology in their effort to retain employees postmerger. Using a sample of M&A announcements in the United States from 1996 to 2014, we find a positive relationship between the similarity of political ideologies of the merging organizations and the likelihood of M&A announcement. In addition, we find that our main relationship is stronger the more homogeneous the organizational political ideology of the acquirer, and the more the human capital intensity of the merging firms. In addition, we find support for the proposed mechanism that drives the main relationship. We thus introduce the concept of organizational political ideology into the debate over the influence of organizational values in M&As, and we extend the theoretical application of political ideology to settings with inter-organizational partnerships.

Built Environment and the Metropolitan Pandemic: Analysis of the COVID-19 Spread in Hong Kong

Dr Cong Liang

Research Assistant Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

24 Mar 2021

IIBG Research Seminar on 24 Mar 2021

The COVID-19 reported initially in December 2019 led to thousands and millions of people infections, deaths at a rapid scale, and a global scale. Metropolitans suffered serious pandemic problems as the built environments of metropolitans contain a large number of people in a relatively small area and allow frequent contacts to let the virus spread through people's contacting with each other. The spread inside a metropolitan is heterogeneous, and we propose that the spatial variation of built environments has a measurable association with the spread of COVID-19. This paper is the pioneering work to investigate the missing link between the built environment and the spread of the COVID-19. In particular, we intend to examine two research questions: (1) What are the association of the built environment with the risk of being infected by the COVID-19? (2) What are the association of the built environment with the duration of suffering from COVID-19? Using the Hong Kong census data, the confirmed cases of COVID-19 between January to August 2020 and a large size of built environment sample data from the Hong Kong government, our analysis are carried out. The data is divided into two phases before (Phase 1) and during the social distancing measure was relaxed (Phase 2). Through survival analysis, ordinary least squares analysis, and count data analysis, we find that (1) In Phase 1, clinics and restaurants are more likely to influence the prevalence of COVID-19. In Phase 2, public transportation (i.e. MTR), the public market, and the clinics influence the prevalence of COVID-19. (2) In Phase 1, the areas of tertiary planning units (i.e., TPU) with more restaurants are found to be positively associated with the period of the prevalence of COVID-19. In Phase 2, restaurants and public markets induce long time occurrence of the COVID-19. (3) In Phase 1, restaurant and public markets are the two built environments that influence the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases. In Phase 2, the number of restaurants is positively related to the number of COVID-19 reported cases. It is suggested that governments should not be too optimistic to relax the necessary measures. In other words, the social distancing measure should remain in force until the signals of the COVID-19 dies out.

The Model of Goal-Directed Behavior in Tourism and Hospitality: A Meta-analytic Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Dr Bryan Chiu

Associate Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

3 Mar 2021

IIBG Research Seminar on 3 Mar 2021

The model of goal-directed behavior (MGB) has been widely utilized to explore consumer behavior in the fields of tourism and hospitality. However, prior studies have demonstrated inconsistent findings with respect to the relationships of the MGB variables. To address this issue, we conducted a meta-analytic review based on studies that had previously applied the MGB. Moreover, we compared the cultural differences that emerged within MGB. By reviewing and analyzing 37 studies with 39 samples (N = 14,581), this study found that among the relationships within MGB, positive anticipated emotion was the most influential determinant in the formation of consumer desire. In addition, different patterns of relationships between Eastern culture and Western culture were identified within MGB. This article is the first meta-analysis to address the application of MGB in tourism and hospitality and, thus, contributes to the theoretical advancement of MGB.