E-BUSINESS: GROWTH AND TRENDS IN THAILAND

The era of e-business has changed the old economic relationship among producers, traders, and consumers, and the new economic relationship is called extended or integrated relationship. In this context, this article has made an inquiry about the growth of e-business in Thailand. The change in technologies has a great impact on the old business models especially in the areas of strategies and customer engagement of business. The platform for changes in e-business is the internet, social media, and mobile technology. The majority of the people in Thailand are found to be accustomed to using mobile technology in recent years. Nevertheless, the growth of e-business in the form of B2B, B2C, and G2B/C transactions are not so admirable in Thailand from the analysis and findings of this study during the period of 2012 to 2016

THE GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS OF THAILAND: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ASEAN COMMUNITY

The current rate of technological expansion and the globalization of markets have made countries to be more competitive for their economic growth and prosperity. The Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) is a measure computed by the World Economic Forum every year since 1979 on the basis of 12 pillars of economic and human growth indicators. 138 world countries are included in the GCI 2016-17 and these countries account for 98% of the world GDP.  Thailand is the third major economy among the ASEAN community and it is classified as ‘Efficiency Driven Economy’ according to its score in GCI 2016-17. This study investigates the factors in which Thailand has greater strength and more weakness when compared with the other ASEAN countries based on the GCI indicators. Accordingly, Thailand seems to be comparatively weak in Innovation and Institutional factors but strong in Macroeconomic environment factors, Health and Primary Education measures, and Market Size.  The study concludes that if the economic and human development policies are formulated looking into these strengths and weaknesses, the country can become an ‘Innovation-driven economy’ within a short span of time.  

DIMENSIONS OF PATERNALISTIC LEADERSHIP AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES IN SMALL THAI FIRMS

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of paternalistic leadership dimensions (authoritarian, benevolent, and moral) on employee outcomes in small Thai firms. Outcomes examined include two intermediate outcomes (organizational commitment and job satisfaction) and one further outcome, resulting from organizational commitment and job satisfaction, which was self-reported in-role job performance. Paternalistic leadership was studied because of its cultural consonance in Thailand and its status as a frequently observed leadership approach. Data was collected from a sample of small firm employees in Thailand (n = 218). The study used a structural equation modeling (SEM)-based approach to examine the proposed relationships. The results showed that while benevolent and moral leadership had positive effects on employee organizational commitment and job satisfaction, authoritarian leadership had a weak negative effect on these two outcomes. Organizational commitment and job satisfaction had positive effects on job performance, with a stronger effect seen for organizational commitment. The implication of these findings is that some aspects of paternalistic leadership are effective for small firms in a Thai cultural context, but that authoritarian models of paternalistic leadership should not take precedence. This is useful information for small firm leaders as well as policymakers focusing on SME development

Households' livelihood strategies facing market uncertainties: How did Thai farmers adapt to a rubber price drop?

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