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Welcome to the third issue of Web Journal of Chinese Management Review. The articles in the current issue cover a broad array of work relevant to today's hot Chinese management issues, with a special emphasis on studies related to Taiwan. These articles continue the wide-ranging vision for our Journal. The articles in the current issue are summarized below.
The first article could be one of the very early intraday analyses for the Taiwan stock market. The study investigated the impacts of investor meetings on stock prices and trade volumes. It also studied the fairness of information given in investor meetings. The study found that, from the authors' event analysis and intraday analysis, investor meetings provided incremental information and implications. Furthermore, it was found that stock prices and trade volumes were at unusual levels after investor meetings. Individuals' trade volumes and amounts were unusually large too. The authors suggested that these could be an indication of insider trading. Since insiders can benefit from using their own information, the quality and fairness of information given at investor meetings are questionable.
I really enjoyed reading the second article. The study used an S-curve model to calculate the amount of literature in the area of supply chain management from 1990 to 2003. The author used the number of articles published, the number of writers in the field, and the development trend to predict the future research directions for the subject area. The author suggested that the rise in supply chain management literature began in 1990. In 1999, the number of published articles reached a turning point. It is estimated that the field will reach a stage of maturity by 2005. Thereafter, it is estimated that each year around 445 articles will be published. In Taiwan, research in the area of supply chain management has the following focuses: electronic commerce, enterprise resource planning, logistics, global operations management, quick response, information sharing, the value chain and competitive advantage, among others. The links among supply chain management, electronic commerce and enterprise resource planning will become better developed and streamlined.
In the third article, the authors attempted to use a microscopic approach to study the possibility of implementing company policies in small and medium-sized enterprises. These policies include a board of directors of integrity, the protection of shareholder rights, the protection of beneficiary rights, performing auditors’ duties and functions, and increasing transparency. Using the survey method, these policies were then linked to firm performance measures in order to evaluate the impacts of company policies on firm performance.
The fourth article looked at the implications for banks to improve their ATM services. By reviewing the literature and using marketing research methods and statistical methods, the authors investigated the service quality of an ATM network. The findings suggested that users are either dissatisfied or neutral about the ATM network. Some key factors for improving the service quality of the ATM network have been identified. These factors are 'to provide important information needed by the users', 'to provide convenient channels for users to report problems', and 'to provide a quick response service for answering users' questions'. These factors could help banks improve the quality of their ATM networks and so increase their competitive advantage.
In recent years, information technology and artificial intelligence have continued to evolve rapidly. They provide many tools for investors and marketers to predict the mutual fund markets. The authors of the fifth article attempted to use the concepts of grey system (GS), back-propagation network (BPN) and adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to build forecasting models for estimating the net asset values of mutual funds. The estimated models showed that the ANFIS model offers the best forecasting performance followed by the BPN and GS models. Nevertheless, all three proposed models by the authors performed better than the traditional buy-and-hold strategy.
Finally, the authors of the last article in the present issue used the research framework of Goffman (1959), Grove and Fisk (1983) and Grove, Fisk and Bitner (1992) entitled 'service experience as theater' to describe the management of online businesses in the culture industry. The authors analyzed 147 questionnaires by using factor analysis. Their results suggested several main factors contributing to the improvement of these businesses. The authors suggested that internet safety and user privacy are the basic requirements for survival. The keys for profitability are labour quality and marketing activities. For labour quality, it was found that staff skilled in multiple disciplines are of relatively high value when compared to those skilled in a single discipline. For marketing activities, businesses should focus on factors like service quality, webpage display, and pricing.
I hope you find the content of this issue thought-provoking. Happy exploring, and remember to feel free to submit your studies and original thoughts to us for review and publication.
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