Sustaining export-oriented value chains of farmed seafood in China

This thesis is intended to improve the understanding of China’s evolving export-oriented farmed seafood systems, and in particularly, shrimp and tilapia farming value chains in Southern China. An integrated, systems thinking and interdisciplinary approach in which both top–down and bottom–up approaches were combined. The research moved from system reviews, to field surveys and workshops, and then to improving sustainability by Action Research (AR), in order to form a holistic understanding of sustainability at both national and local scales. In the new millennium, the aquaculture sector has matured, and many factors now slow the growth rate of Chinese aquaculture production, such as increasing culture of high-value species and an emerging trend of extensification. There are been some strategy shifts in the aquaculture industry such as changing from a high production to high profit orientation and from causing environmental damage to ecological remediation. A key conclusion is that high growth rates, regularly used in policy dialogues, are misleading indicators and do not reflect, realistic or sustainable, growth profiles. Although overall Chinese aquaculture production is likely to further increase to meet an increasing and changing market demand, growth rates will decrease further. China already is and will continue to be a fisheries products net importer, however, if fishmeal excluded China will remain as a seafood net exporter. The status and development of four internationally-traded farmed seafood, tilapia, penaeid shrimp, macrobrachium prawns and striped catfish in China were reviewed. China is the largest producer of tilapia, penaeid shrimp and macrobrachium prawns, and striped catfish is not produced in significant quantities due to climate limitations. Meanwhile, China is the largest exporter of tilapia, the second largest exporter in the volume and third in value of shrimp in the world, while macrobrachium prawns mainly support domestic markets. Tilapia and penaeid shrimp were selected for further research. An analysis of tilapia and shrimp farm scale indicators and their relationship to farming system and market orientation, farm intensification and performance was made. Farm area, both land and water area, labour, including paid and unpaid were effective indicators to distinguish farm scale. Small-scale farms had higher land productivity in production terms but no difference in value output term, and they had much lower labour productivity than medium and large-scale farms. Farming systems were also correlated with land and labour productivities. Market orientation was closely linked to farm scale as most farms with an export orientation required registration with CIQ (China Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine) and were mainly large-scale. An assessment of local stakeholder sustainability perspectives along value chains revealed that more than 80% shrimp and tilapia farmers didn’t want their children to continue basing their living on aquaculture; because they considered it hard work, high risk and poorly remunerated. Farming was comparative stable with few changes in the five years prior to the survey. Major sustainability factors identified by stakeholders included input costs, profit, water availability & quality and the weather, most of which were outside their control. The measurement of these sustainability factors was firstly proposed by stakeholders and then developed to a set of sustainability indicators (SIs). Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used as evaluate the environmental performance of tilapia, pig and integrated tilapia-pig farming systems in China. Pig farming had higher environment impacts based on most impact categories than tilapia, and integrated farming systems. Sensitivity analysis showed that improvements of 5% and 10% higher feed efficiency, reduction of fishmeal in feed to 1% level and use of EU electricity could significant reduce overall environmental impacts. An action research (AR) approach was used to assess the practice of farm record keeping with farmers which were found to be generally low and a major constraint to improving product traceability increasingly demanded by consumers. Large scale and CIQ farms were more likely to keep records and for them to be detailed and analysed to inform improved management. Farmers’ motivation, ability and capability and background had significant correlation with record keeping practice. Two major dilemmas were identified by the analysis. Easy-to-use farm record-keeping system more suitable for less formally educated farmers was a clear requirement but useful storage and analysis of farm data capacity requires sophisticated management tools such as a computer system. Another dilemma is the need for coercion by regulatory authorities or encouragement through provision of education and training in increasing on-farm record-keeping to a level required for international trade and, increasingly, domestic markets. “Precision aquaculture”, value chain integrated solution, and further social-economic reforms were discussed. Finally, sustainable intensification, diversification, and extensification were proposed as strategies for China to meet the challenges of globalization and the growing demands of export and domestic value chains. In order to enhance sustainability of the sector and provide opportunities for small-scale farmers, the current status and changes of the Chinese social, economic context, food safety and environments issues were discussed. Farmers’ organizations, future consolidation, and land reforms were identified as key to the required changes of farmed seafood value chains

Organizational life cycle: leadership style and employee satisfaction: a case study of hospital in China

There is a lack of empirical research on the leadership styles applicable to hospitals, particularly in the fast changing healthcare environment of China. This study answers the following two questions: What are the different leadership styles that are suitable for different hospital development stages? What are the relationships between leadership styles, strategic positioning, culture and satisfaction? Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses of a large Chinese hospital, referred to as GZR hospital, this study shows that four different leadership styles are suitable for different hospital development periods. Transformational and charismatic leadership are suitable for the start up and the recession/regeneration periods; charismatic and parent leadership are suitable for the growth period; maintained leadership is suitable for the maturity period. The effectiveness o f the different leadership styles is in a descending order: transformational, charismatic, parent, and maintained. The findings suggest that hospitals need different leadership styles in different development stages. Analyses of survey data suggest that leadership style is significantly associated with strategic positioning, sub culture and employee satisfaction. This research contributes to the literature by proposing and empirically examining a theoretical model of the different types of leadership styles and their relationships with strategic positioning, sub culture and staff satisfaction in the unique fast changing environment of Chinese healthcare sector. It also makes practical contribution by highlighting how hospitals should align leadership styles with their development stages and make appropriate management choices to achieve desired organizational outcomes.A falta de pesquisa empírica sobre os estilos de liderança aplicados aos hospitais tornou se numa questão mais importante devido à mudança constante dos serviços de saúde da China. Este estudo responde às duas pergunta s seguintes: Quais são os diferentes estilos de liderança adequados para os diferentes períodos de desenvolvimento dos hospitais? Quais são as correlações entre o estilo de liderança, a posição estratégica, a cultura e o grau de satisfação dos empregados? Aplicando métodos quantitativos e qualitativos na análise de um grande hospital chinês (adiante denominado de GZR), este estudo identificou quatro estilos diferentes de liderança adequados aos diferentes períodos de desenvolvimento do hospital. A liderança transformacional e carismática é adequada para as fases de arranque e recessão / regeneração; a liderança carismática e parental são adequados para o período de crescimento; a liderança de manutenção/prática é adequada para o período de maturidade. A eficácia dos diferentes estilos de liderança ordena se de uma forma decrescente: transformacional, carismática, parental e manutenção. Os resultados sugerem que os hospitais precisam de diferentes estilos de liderança em diferentes períodos do seu desenvolvi mento. A análises dos dados da pesquisa sugere que o estilo de liderança está significativamente associado à posição estratégica, à subcultura e à satisfação do pessoal. Esta pesquisa efetuou um estudo empírico e propôs um modelo teórico dos diferentes tip os de estilos de liderança e as relações com a posição estratégica, a subcultura e a satisfação do pessoal no ambiente único de mudança constante dos serviços de saúde chineses, contribuindo para a literatura da área de saúde. Ao destacar que os hospitais devem alinhar os estilos de liderança e práticas de gestão com os diferentes períodos de desenvolvimento e que se encontram, este estudo está a contribuir para a melhoria das práticas de gestão hospitalar na China

Railway Reform in China.

The purpose of this working paper is to consider the current situation of Chinese Railways, the progress of reforms to date, and possible future developments. The first section describes the current problems of Chinese Railways, as a vast organisation subject to strong central control, facing enormous and rapidly growing demands which it is unable to satisfy. The progress of reform in Chinese Railways to date, and in particular the Economic Contract Responsibility System instituted in the late 1980's and the development of joint venture companies to build new lines, are then described. In the following section the key reform models found in other countries - deregulation and privatisation of vertically integrated regional companies; separation of infrastructure from operations with open access andlor franchising competitors; or reorganisation on the basis of business sectors - are then described. None is fully suitable for China, but it is suggested that a combination of sectorisation, more commercial independence, further development of joint public/private partnerships and more contracting out, is the most likely way forward

A case study on foreign investment in PRC's lubricants industry.

by Ha Fu-Lam.Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1989.Bibliography: leaves 61-63

A new model of web-based application to social networking management systems

The emergence of the Web, in the 90’s, has brought a new concept of information sharing and interconnectivity. Being considered the greatest invention of the 20th Century, the Internet, and especially the Web, quickly became indispensable in many aspects of modern human life, changing the mindset of people ranging from how they go shopping through the Web to how they communicate in a completely innovative and unprecedented ways. With the advent of the Web 2.0, the second phase on the evolution of the Web technology, the Web became a much more interactive and collaborative tool, becoming easier to share online content. This technology is based on two distinct paradigms: usability and technology. It is considered a collection of new technologies, business strategies and social trends that let developers, easily and quickly, create new Web applications that were unimaginable until now. The rise of the blogs, in 1997, triggered a new way to communicate and share information among users over the Web. In fact, blogs increased exponentially in few years, which led to believe that a new online social trend was emerging. Later, with the emergence of online social networks, that social trend was confirmed. Nowadays, online social networks are part of everyday life for billions of people all over the globe, being considered as a new venue of innovation over the Web. It is through social networks that people get news in the morning, do business, meet and maintain contact with other persons. In the past few years, social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, Foursquare or YouTube became extremely popular. Some of these social networks, like Facebook, have more people than large countries. In 2012, Facebook had 1.01 billions of active users. Online social networks are a reflection of what happens in the real world, where people can share information and communicate just a mouse click away. Blogs came to bring the facility that users needed to create and maintain content, share interests and different points of view with other persons. To meet this needs, were created systems like Blogger or WordPress that let users create and manage blogs assuming the role of administrators and have the capability to manage online contents. With the advent of social networks, became common the desire of some users to create and maintain their own social networks, their own social communities, according to a different type of interests. This dissertation focuses on the creation of a Web-based application/platform which let users to create and maintain their own social communities. Through this platform, users assume the role of administrators where they can create and manage online content in a completely innovative, easy and very intuitive manner. Like administrators, they can create a diversity of social communities according to distinct interests, providing that communities to other users. On the other hand, that users have the capability to explore the entire community and can share comments or multimedia content, edit profiles and personal info, make friends and interact with them. To investigate this topic, the work presented in this dissertation was structured in two parts. First, a depth study about the concepts related with social networks was prepared. The discussion flow then passes to the topic related to online content management systems namely to the blogs management systems and software that include social networking features. Making a comparison between this type of systems, a new solution was presented and implemented. Compared with existing software that make possible create or integrate social networking features, this new solution don’t need any kind of installation process as well as technical knowledge once it is a fully integrated solution on the Web. Similarly, this platform is distinguished from most of the existing software because is a free solution. Relatively to social features, this platform is distinguished because the social features implemented are integrated without need any kind of installation support, via plugins or modules.O aparecimento da Web, nos anos 90, contribuiu para a criação de um novo conceito de partilha e interconectividade. Considerada por muitos a maior invenção do Século XX, a Internet, e em especial a Web, rapidamente se tornou uma ferramenta de trabalho indispensável em muitos aspectos da vida quotidiana da população mundial, mudando o pensamento das pessoas, desde a forma como se compra através da Internet à forma como se comunica de uma maneira completamente inovadora e sem precedentes. Graças ao aparecimento da Web 2.0, a segunda fase na história da sua evolução, a Web tornou-se numa ferramenta muito mais interactiva e colaborativa facilitando assim a partilha online de diversos contúdos multimédia. Esta tecnologia é considerada como uma colecção de novas tecnologias, estratégias de negócio e de tendências sociais, permitindo que os programadores, de uma forma fácil e intuitiva, criem aplicações inimagináveis até aqui. A ascensão dos blogs, em 1997, desencadeou uma nova maneira de comunicar e partilhar informação entre utilizadores sob a Web. De facto, os blogs aumentaram exponencialmente em poucos anos, levando mesmo a acreditar que uma nova tendência social estava para nascer. Posteriormente, com o aparecimento das primeiras redes sociais, essa tendência social acabou mesmo por se confirmar. Nos dias que correm, as redes sociais fazem parte do dia-a-dia de biliões de pessoas em todo o Mundo sendo, por esse motivo, consideradas como um novo meio de inovação baseado na Web. É através de redes socias que as pessoas recebem a maior parte das notícias pela manhã, gerem os seus negócios, conhecem e mantêm contacto com outras pessoas. Nos últimos anos, redes sociais como o Facebook, o LinkedIn, o Google+, o Twitter, o Foursquare ou o YouTube tornaram-se extremamente populares. Algumas destas redes sociais, como é o caso do Facebook, possuem mais pessoas que grandes países. Em 2012, o Facebook possuia cerca de 1.01 biliões de utilizadores activos. As redes sociais são uma reflexão do que acontece no Mundo real, onde as pessoas podem partilhar informação e comunicar à distância de um click. Os blogs surgem perante a necessidade dos utilizadores pretenderem criar e gerir conteúdos, de partilhar interesses e pontos de vista com outras pessoas. Para responder a estas necessidades, foram criados sistemas como o Blogger ou o WordPress que permitem criar e gerir blogs permitindo assim que utilizadores assumam o papel de administradores e que tenham a capacidade de gerir conteúdos multimédia. Com o aparecimento das redes sociais, tornou-se comum que os utilizadores pretendam criar e gerir as suas próprias redes sociais, as suas próprias comunidades sociais, de acordo com determinados interesses. Esta dissertação foca-se na criação de uma aplicação/plataforma Web que permita que utilizadores possam criar e gerir as suas próprias redes/comunidades sociais. Através desta plataforma, os utilizadores assumem o papel de administradores podendo criar e gerir conteúdos de uma forma completamente inovadora, fácil e bastante intuitiva. Como administradores, poderão criar uma diversidade de comunidades sociais de acordo com interesses distintos, disponibilizandoas assim a outros utilizadores. Por sua vez, esses utilizadores terão a capacidade de usufruir de todas as funcionalidades da rede social, podendo partilhar conteúdos, editar perfis e informações pessoais, fazer amigos e interagir com eles. Para investigar este tema, o trabalho apresentado nesta dissertação estruturou-se em duas partes. Primeiro, elaborou-se um estudo aprofundado dos conceitos relacionados com redes sociais. O fluxo de discussão passa depois para o tópico relacionado com sistemas gestores de conteúdos online, nomeadamente para os sistemas gestores de blogs e para softwares que incluem características de redes sociais. Fazendo uma comparação entre diferentes sistemas, elabora-se uma nova solução e procede-se à implementação da mesma. Comparativamente com o software existente que permite a criação ou integração de características de redes sociais, esta nova solução não requer qualquer tipo de processo de instalação, uma vez que é uma solução completamente integrada na Web. Do mesmo modo, esta plataforma distingue-se da maioria do software existente, visto que é uma solução completamente gratuíta. No que diz respeito às características sociais, esta plataforma distingue-se pelo facto de as características implementadas estarem integradas e também não requererem qualquer tipo de intalação, como por exemplo via plugins ou módulos

Hong Kong's transformation into a service hub: Regional development within "one country, two systems"

Following the return of Hong Kong to Chinese jurisdiction in 1997, there has been concern about the potential marginalization of Hong Kong within China's development. We argue that far from being marginalized, Hong Kong together with the Pearl River Delta is becoming the most dynamic region within China. © 2011 by the Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.published_or_final_versio

Impacts of High Speed Railway Station on non-metropolitan Cities in China：A Case Study of Wuhan-Guangzhou Line

High Speed Railways (HSR) is regarded as the main tool for achieving redistribution of population and economic activities in mainland China. With precedent success in many countries, the HSR are expected to have advantages of reducing transport cost and improving inter-city connection, which would provide great developing opportunities for cities have HSR station construction. However, many small and middle cities along HSR that planned station new town resulted in "ghost city", while the metropolitan central cities are becoming more and more crowded. That is to say, the economic impact of HSR is different on cities according to their developing degree. Because of the regional imbalance and disparity of market size between metropolitan central cities and periphery cities in China, population and economic activities would shift to larger market with reducing transportation cost by HSR. This paper discusses economic impacts HSR on cities based on the empirical study of Wuhan-Guangzhou HSR. A prospective analysis investigating the case shows the differentiation in urban population and economic development related to developing degree of cities along HSR. Reminding the fact that not all cities could benefit from the HSR project, small and middle cities which connected to the metropolitan central cities are actually the most vulnerable group. Helping these authorities making right developing strategy for HSR

Evolution and impacts of tourism policies in Hong Kong

Dissertação de mestrado, Economia do Turismo e Desenvolvimento Regional, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Algarve, 2017Tourism is becoming more and more important for economic development worldwide. The same applies to Hong Kong, a popular Asian tourism destination. The special history and political system of Hong Kong influences the development of tourism. This research aims to show how the development of tourism in Hong Kong was impacted by local policies, especially after the year 1997. A questionnaire was applied to investigate the impacts of tourism policies on the people who work in the tourism industry. The results show that the tourism policies made large impacts in Hong Kong tourism industry and led to the rapid development of Hong Kong. However, most people working in the tourism industry do not know the relevant policies affecting tourism. Moreover, the benefits from the development of tourism are not balanced among people with different backgrounds.O turismo tem-se tornando cada vez mais importante para o desenvolvimento económico em todo o mundo. O mesmo se aplica a Hong Kong, um popular destino turístico asiático. A história e o sistema político de Hong Kong influenciam o desenvolvimento do turismo no território. Esta pesquisa visa mostrar como o desenvolvimento do turismo em Hong Kong foi impactado pelas políticas locais, especialmente após o ano de 1997. Através de um questionário procurou-se investigar os impactos das políticas de turismo sobre as pessoas que trabalham na indústria do turismo. Os resultados mostram que as políticas de turismo tiveram grandes impactos na indústria do turismo de Hong Kong e levaram ao rápido desenvolvimento do território. No entanto, a maioria das pessoas que trabalham na indústria do turismo não conhecem as políticas relevantes que afetam o turismo. Além disso, os benefícios do desenvolvimento do turismo são muitos distintos entre os diferentes grupos socioecónomicos

Sustainability and Consumer Behaviour

This book highlights the latest research findings on sustainability within the context of consumer behaviour. It brings together the collaborative work of researchers from Finland, Denmark, USA, the Netherland, Mexico, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan and China to improve our understanding on consumer behaviour and its relationship with sustainable resource consumption. The thirteen chapters in this book focus on different aspects of consumer behaviour and sustainability, including purchase intentions towards recycled products, environment fit hospitality experiences, purchase intentions of recycling items, consumer loyalty, electric vehicle market consumption, consumption of the educational products, revisit intention, online complaint behaviour, consumer and CSR, eco-friendly behaviour, brand trust and social media consumer communication