Changes and challenges: The Royal Navy's China Station and Britain's East Asian empire during the 1920s

Examining Britain’s position in 1920s East Asia at a point amid changes in the international balance of power, this thesis bridges the gap between the existing imperial and naval accounts of a key transition point in global history. In doing so, it focuses upon the foremost organisation involved in maintaining and supporting the peripheral regions of imperial influence, the Royal Navy’s China Station. The thesis provides an important new segment to help in explaining the wider story of the slow decline of British imperial and naval dominance in the 1920s. Foremost among the findings is an emphasis on how heavily inter-related Britain’s strategies for China and Japan were during the decade. Indeed, China was expected by the Admiralty to play a pivotal role in any future relationship between the British Empire and the increasingly expansionist Japan, which adds a significant new angle to existing discussion of Britain’s far eastern defence strategy. Providing fresh insights into how those grand strategies were implemented in practice, the thesis shows how naval officers serving in the region willingly and repeatedly deviated from official policy on a day-to-day basis in order to assist their counterparts from friendly powers. Likewise, the evolving threats posed by state and sub-state actors in China are shown to have led to the deployment of vast Royal Navy task force to Shanghai in 1927, which is now generally overlooked and misunderstood. That event marked the last time Britain was able to confidently display its global naval dominance to the world. Among the more controversial findings, the thesis reveals how the Admiralty secretly circumvented the Washington Treaty by developing military aviation capabilities at Hong Kong under the guise of imperial policing. In doing so it provides the first clear evidence that alongside Germany and Japan, Britain was also actively contravening the post-1918 disarmament treaties it had only recently signed. Away from preparations for another major conflict, the thesis also provides a fresh examination of the contrasting accounts of two violent clashes involving Britain in 1920s China. In doing so, the thesis shows that it is possible to establish a more balanced understanding of events such as the Nanjing and Wanxian incidents, despite the highly polarised accounts of what happened. Finally, the human side of the story is explored, during which the thesis discusses changing attitudes towards and use of Victorian gunboat diplomacy. Moreover, the stresses of commanding gunboats in such isolated circumstances are shown to have pushed some young officers beyond breaking point, with disastrous consequences for themselves and others. Archival material that is entirely new to histories of the Royal Navy has been used throughout the thesis, adding crucial details such as the important role of Treaty Port volunteer corps in influencing warship deployments. Likewise, by delving deep into the naval archives, the thesis helps to move the imperial histories beyond the wall of steel and blue uniforms to consider the Royal Navy as a complex entity containing a diverse set of individuals. In combination the thesis provides the first detailed examination of the Royal Navy’s everyday work maintaining the British Empire in East Asia against the wider backdrop of the transformative changes in world geopolitics

Annual report on research activities 2002-2003

https://commons.ln.edu.hk/research_annual_report/1001/thumbnail.jp

News Clipping from 1994 Relevant to Our Interest in Chernobyl

News coverage that could inform our work in Chernobyl and USA... eg, CLINTON WEIGHS NEXT STEP ON RADIATION TESTSRTw 1/1/94 9:42 AM HILTON HEAD, SC, Jan 1 (Reuter) - President Clinton said Saturday he supports Energy Secretary Hazel O\u27Leary\u27s release of documents disclosing secret Cold War radiation tests on people and said the next step is to decide what to do with the information. See more at https://archives.library.tmc.edu/dm-ms211-012-0025

Infrastructure and the Remaking of Asia

Infrastructure and the Remaking of Asia offers a new understanding of how technological innovation, geopolitical ambitions, and social change converge and cross-fertilize one another through infrastructure projects in Asia. This volume powerfully illustrates the multifaceted connections between infrastructure and three global paradigm shifts: climate change, digitalization, and China’s emergence as a superpower. Drawing on fine-grained analyses of airports, highways, pipelines, and digital communication systems, the book investigates infrastructure both “from above,” as perceived by experts and decision makers, and “from below,” as experienced by middlemen, laborers, and everyday users. In so doing, it provides groundbreaking insights into infrastructure’s planning, production, and operation. Focusing on cities and regions across Asia, the volume combines ten tightly interwoven case studies, from the Bosphorus to Beijing and from the Indonesian archipelago to the Arctic. Written by leading global infrastructure experts in the fields of anthropology, architecture, geography, history, science and technology studies, and urban planning, the book establishes a dialogue between scholarly approaches to infrastructure and the more operational perspective of the professionals who design and build it. This multidisciplinary method sheds light on the practitioners’ mindset, while also attending to the materiality and agency of the infrastructures that they create. Infrastructure and the Remaking of Asia is conceived as an act of translation: linking up related—yet thus far disconnected—research across a variety of academic disciplines, while making those insights accessible to a wider audience of students, infrastructure professionals, and the general public

Annual report on research activities 2001-2002

https://commons.ln.edu.hk/research_annual_report/1000/thumbnail.jp

Improving Capabilities and Strategic Fit in Governmental Agencies

A thesis submitted....The notion of Strategic Fit has been and remains to be one of the most important arguements in the fields of business strategy and strategic management. This research study examines the key concept of ‘strategic fit’ and its associated theories and seeks to investigate the causes that have created ‘strategic drift’ in Abu Dhabi’s governmental agencies in the infrastructure sector with the aim of improving their performance. However, for organisations, public or private, it still remains to be the most important notion and one that cannot be ignored because it is about the success of the organisation in its external environment where all competitive activity takes place. Thus, there are many underlying factors such as organisational culture, structure and organisational history that impact, or influence, the level of fit that organisations achieve. Therefore it is imperative that research is further undertaken on a deeper and wider level to fully understand the concept and importance of strategic fit and how it can be achieved. Hence, a research study in this area, especially in developing cities such as Abu Dhabi, is well justified and needed. The lack of strategic fit that has been witnessed in the Abu Dhabi’s infrastructure sector over the past few years continues to be, and it is a clear indication of a developing mismatch between the government and its policies and the agencies that implement them. However, this is clearly a major issue for the government going forward, if polices are developed with no clear understanding of the available resources and capabilities. Similarly, the study also seeks to determine why a strategic fit has not been achievable by the Abu Dhabi government. Though the government has developed policies to better serve its people, it continuously faces issues of policies not being implemented, or being implemented too late and targets not been met according to the original brief. It has been identified that there are numerous deficiencies between the various government agencies in the infrastructure sector in terms of keeping pace with governmental policies - consequently, resulting in strategic gaps with an increasing possibility of a possible strategic drift, if these issues are not addressed effectively and in a timely manner.The study further wishes to explore if strategic gaps have occurred as a result of inherent cultural, historical, political and/or structural aspects of the Abu Dhabi government and its numerous agencies – simply because these issues can be seen as preventative to change and progress which, in turn, can lead to strategic gaps and strategic drift in the long term. The research paradigm selected for this research study is that of the pragmatist approach and subsequently the key methodology employed throughout this research is that of the mixed methods. That mixed methods research is an intellectual and practical synthesis based on qualitative and quantitative research. Also, This research provides a summary of the important findings, proved hypotheses, achieved aim and objectives, and significant contribution to the knowledge of strategic management through the development of the “Community Innovation Scheme”, the “3-Spectrums of Change”, the “4Ms Change Model”; and the resulting framework model; the “Government Strategy Model”

New tools and recommendations for a better management of harmful algal blooms under the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive

Marine harmful algal blooms (HABs), caused by various aquatic microalgae, pose significant risks to ecosystems, some socio-economic activities and human health. Traditionally managed as a public health issue through reactive control measures such as beach closures, seafood trade bans or closure of mollusc production areas, the multifaceted linkages of HABs with environmental and socio-economic factors require more comprehensive ecosystem-based management approach tools to support policies. This study promotes a coordinated understanding and implementation of HAB assessment and management under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), targeting the achievement of Good Environmental Status (GES) in European marine waters. We introduce two novel tools: GES4HABs (GES for HABs) decision tree, and MAMBO (environMental mAtrix for the Management of BlOoms), a decision support matrix. These tools aim to streamline HABs reporting and prioritize resource allocation and management interventions. The GES4HABs decision tree defines a sequence of decision steps to identify HAB management strategies according to their state (evaluated against predefined baselines) and causes (anthropic or natural). MAMBO is proposed to address different HABs and their interaction with human and environmental pressures. The matrix utilizes two axes: natural trophic status and level of human influence, capturing major aspects such as nutrient supply. While acknowledging the limitations of this simplified framework, MAMBO categorizes marine regions into quadrants of varying management viability. Regions with high human influence and eutrophic conditions are identified as most suitable for effective management intervention, whereas regions with minimal or mixed human influence are deemed less amenable to active management. In addition, we explore and describe various indicators, monitoring methods and initiatives that may be relevant to support assessments of HAB status and associated pressures and impacts in the MSFD reporting. Finally, we provide some recommendations to promote the consideration of HABs in ecosystem-based management strategies, intensify efforts for harmonizing and defining best practices of analysis, monitoring and assessment methodologies, and foster international and cross-sectoral coordination to optimize resources, efforts and roles

An adoption model of cloud enterprise resources planning for Malaysian small and medium enterprises

The Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system offers promising benefits for the development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). It helps to address many of the challenges faced by SMEs and significantly promotes them in terms of business operations and use of resource. Despite its benefits, the research on cloud ERP adoption among SMEs in developing countries has not been fully explored, leading to a low rate of cloud ERP adoption among SMEs. Furthermore, the factors which influence SMEs to adopt the cloud ERP system are still unclear. In an attempt to tackle the aforementioned situation, this research investigated the influencing factors that have determined and enhanced cloud ERP adoption rates. To identify factors and develop the model used in this research, the researcher conducted a Systematic Literature Review (SLR). The model was proposed based on three integrated Information System (IS) predominant theories, namely, Technology- Organization-Environment (TOE) framework and Fit-Viability Model (FVM) with extension of Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory to scrutinize the influential factors leading towards Cloud ERP Adoption. Thirteen hypotheses were developed to test and validate the model based on the decision to adopt cloud ERP. A positivism paradigm with quantitative approach was applied to conduct this research. Purposive sampling technique and a survey method were applied and data were collected from SMEs who have already adopted cloud ERP that provided 174 usable responses. The analysis was conducted by using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique through Partial Least Squares (SmartPLS 3.2.7) software to determine the significant relationships of the independent factors to Cloud ERP Adoption. The results showed that Task- Technology Fit, Task Interdependence, Relative Advantage, Compatibility, System Trust, Security, Top Management Support, Employee Cloud ERP Knowledge, Cost Saving, and Competitive Pressure were significantly related to Cloud ERP Adoption. On the other hand, Security was found to have no relationship (p > 0.05) with Task- Technology Fit. Similarly, Government Support and Vendor Support were found to have no relationship (p > 0.05) with Cloud ERP Adoption. In line with this, the research model can be explained as 65.2% of variance from all the independent variables. This implies that the model has substantial predictive power to explain cloud ERP adoption. Finally, this model can be used to guide cloud ERP ecosystems to enhance their knowledge so as to successfully evaluate and adopt the cloud ERP system

Building exterior paint performance in tropical salty environment of Lagos

Materials that are used for exterior finishes of buildings are their last line of defence against the elements of climate. The compliance of the materials with the environment will determine their performance and consequent repainting. A high percentage of buildings? exterior surfaces are finished with paint in Lagos in the south-western region of Nigeria that has additional climatic stress of saline air from the Atlantic Ocean. This research examines the factors that influence the use of paint and the occurrence of salt impact indicators as parameters for measuring its performance in Lagos, Nigeria, in order to determine the repainting requirement when applied as exterior finish. A mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative methods was used. Survey was done to collect data for the analysis. The study area was bifurcated into two zones (Zone A & B) in order to compare the performance of painted exterior of the buildings along the coast with the hinterland. After exhaustive literature search, variables identified were used to investigate the phenomenon. While some variables were measured using Likert?s scale, some were simply measured through categorical and continuous scales. A total of 317 questionnaires were returned out of the 384 sample size of the first target population. Guided interview was conducted on sixteen (16) architects and six (6) paint manufacturers provided information on salt resistant paint of the second and third target population respectively. Various appropriate statistical models were used with the significance level set at p<0.05 in processing the data to obtain results for inferences. Findings show that the choice and usage of paint as exterior finish for buildings in the study area depend on experience, professional advice, availability, cost, societal influence and cultural values. The performance and climatic compliance are jettisoned because of cultural attachment to colour that paints make available with relative ease. All salt impact indicators appeared earlier in Zone A than Zone B. These also necessitate earlier and frequent repainting in Zone A. The number of years required for repainting in Zone A and Zone B are 2 and 4 years respectively compared with 5-7 years established in past researches as required for repainting in other parts of the tropical region. The outcome of the research facilitates maintenance forecast and schedule for painted exterior in the tropics