金融政策とイールドカーブ・ダイナミックス: ３国のパースペクティブ

公共政策プログラム / Public Policy Program政策研究大学院大学 / National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies論文審査委員: James R. Rhodes（主査）, Tatsuo Oyama, Roberto L. Gonzales, N.S. Coora

Translating urban tourist icons across cultures: an English-Malay perspective

Urban tourist icons such as Paris, Istanbul or Sydney are major pull factors of a destination and are often represented in tourist promotional texts (TPTs) to persuade potential tourists to visit a destination. The use of the ‗iconic advertising approach‘(Litvin & Mouri, 2009), which capitalises on the iconicity of tourist icons, is one of the most effective advertising approaches in affecting a destination image. The strength of this approach lies in its key function of representing easily recognisable and positive images that reinforce or simply recall the audience‘s previously held perceptions about the destination. However, the ways in which urban tourist icons are represented and perceived differ from one audience to another, for it is based on the cultural background of the audience. The differences in how these icons are represented and perceived pose a key challenge for translators of TPTs, whose role is to produce an effective translation in the target language and culture in order to persuade potential tourists in that language and culture. This paper discusses some of the cultural issues involved in translating tourist icons and analyses how a particular ‗tourist icon‘ is represented in a published English TPT (source text) for an Anglo audience and how it has been translated into the Malay language for a Malay audience. The translation (target text) is analysed in terms of its functionality and effectiveness within the cultural context of the target audience. The discourse analysis of the source and target texts is complemented by findings derived from focus group discussions and an analysis of authentic TPTs in Malay (parallel texts). Based on the analysis, a functionally adequate translation which takes into consideration the cultural differences, hence preserving the iconicity of the destination, is proposed

Editorial Notes Issues on Social and Environmental Accounting

The new millennium saw the emergenceof a new way of thinking about the functionsand duties of modern corporations.The growing international demands forcompanies to be more transparent andaccountable for their economic, socialand environmental impacts everywherethey operate. Corporate managers arepressed with more responsibility to servethe needs of society at large. Today,businesses are expected not only to increasetheir bottom line but also to operatewithin the ‘new moral marketplace’.Corporate morality is increasingly beingjudged by consumers, investors and employees.Terms that are alien to many afew years ago such as ‘green marketing’,‘environmentally friendly’, ‘gender sensitive’,‘fair trade’, ‘against animal testing’and many more become householdwords and high on consumers’ conscienceof today. Beyond that, globalissues like, the oil crisis, environmentaldegradation, human rights, labour issuesand energy issue forced the companiesto reconsider their objectives. Instead ofjust trying to maximize profit and pleasetheir shareholders, many multinationalcorporations are beginning to understandthat they now have a broad spectrum ofstakeholders. This includes investors,creditors, employee, governments,NGOs and the various communities inwhich they operate. Businesses have tosatisfy all these stakeholders’ needs, thushave an additional role and purpose.Hence, the term corporate social responsibility(CSR) was born.Whilst CSR in the seventies and eightiesare more towards meeting society’s expectations,and earn from society theinformal ‘license to operate’, disclosingsuch information falls under the task ofCorporate Public Relation Department.The information provided understandablywould be more of an image enhancerto communicate and demonstrate a company’scommitment to improve socialperformance. In today’s world the wholequestion of business and environmentalsustainability has emerged to the forefrontwith the ravages of climate changeand global warming. This increasinglycalls for companies to align their CSRstrategies to sustainability so that sustainablepractices can be further enhanced.With greater consumer sophisticationand expectation for sustainabilitydevelopment, CSR is gaining competitiveadvantage in terms of market share,attracting top talent and employee retention.Well focussed and managed CSRinitiatives should improve relationshipwith stakeholders and yield better financialresults through sustainable innovation,investment and decision making.Thus, there is the need for the accountingfraternity to step in to provide informationsuch as long-run profitability,sustainability, social and environmentalinvestment, improved performance and many more. Beyond that, the accountingprofession, academics, researches aswell as the practitioners need to play abigger role of not only providing datafor disclose but also the quality and theassurance of the data provided.Therefore, it is imperative that Issues onSocial and Environmental Accountingbe published to provide an avenue foraccounting academics, researchers aswell as practitioners to publish theirfindings and serves a platform for intellectualdiscourse. As can be seen fromthe articles published, this journal is indeedan international journal withoutdiminishing local flavour. Even thoughsome of the articles are country specific,authors from various countries like Japan,Malaysia, Indonesia and Canadadiscuss issues that are internationallyrelevant, interconnected and comprehensive.These issues such as Ethics, Environmental,Social, Disclosures, Sustainability,Performance, to name a few, allrelated to the 3 Ps’ (Profit, Planet andPeople) and the Triple Bottom Line, arescrutinised and deliberated in the articles.Through the years, CSR has evolves andcomes in variety of approaches. Nonetheless,its characteristics remain unaffected.Companies are starting to realizethat adopting socially responsible behaviourand voluntary course of action canprovide long-term interests. CSR is alsoessentially tied to the concept of sustainabledevelopment. It promotes integrationof economic, social and environmentaloutcomes in standard managementand accounting systems. ThereforeCSR should be continuously driven tohigher levels to build on existing practice,optimizing its impact and making apositive link between social responsibilitiesand best business practices. A trulyeffective CSR strategy should be alive,adaptable and embedded into the organisationand aligned to the commercialobjectives of the organisation. Thesestrategies must then be implemented andpractices, followed by reporting and disclosingthem to the various stakeholders.Copyright © www.iiste.orgÂ

Criteria of project success: An exploratory re-examination.

Doubts often arise about what and who actually determine project success. The purpose of this article is to explore the issues from different perspectives of people looking at the project. The difference between criterion and factor is first discussed. Criteria are the set of principles or standards by which judgement is made; whereas factors are the set of circumstances, facts, or influences which contribute to the result. This article then proposes to classify project success into two categories: the macro and micro viewpoints. Some pictorial representations and models are presented to assist in the understanding of the concepts. It is suggested that two criteria are sufficient to determine the macro viewpoint of project success: completion and satisfaction. Whereas the completion criterion alone is enough to determine the micro viewpoint of project success

Hybrid iterative learning control of a flexible manipulator

This paper presents an investigation into the development of a hybrid control scheme with iterative learning for input tracking and end-point vibration suppression of a flexible manipulator system. The dynamic model of the system is derived using the finite element method. Initially, a collocated proportional-derivative (PD) controller using hub angle and hub velocity feedback is developed for control of rigid-body motion of the system. This is then extended to incorporate a non-collocated proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller with iterative learning for control of vibration of the system. Simulation results of the response of the manipulator with the controllers are presented in the time and frequency domains. The performance of the hybrid iterative learning control scheme is assessed in terms of input tracking and level of vibration reduction in comparison to a conventionally designed PD-PID control scheme. The effectiveness of the control scheme in handling various payloads is also studied

Assessing and comparing the innovativeness and creative climate of firms.

The innovativeness of eight manufacturing firms (or four matched pairs of firms) in Malaysia was measured and compared using certain criteria. Initially, we selected the four matched pairs of firms (each pair is comprise of a more innovative and a less innovative firm) from various manufacturing sectors based on whether or not the firms in each pair have implemented computerized manufacturing systems. Further assessments of the innovativeness of the firms were based on: changes/continuous improvements carried out; introduction and implementation of technologies (machines, processes, etc.); interactions of the firms with their external environments; and number of training programs organized by the firms to stimulate innovation and creativity among its employees. In addition to assessing the innovativeness of the firms, the creative climate questionnaire (CCQ) developed by Ekvall et al. was utilized to assess their creative climates. As expected, the results obtained demonstrate that the more innovative firms were found to have introduced more computerized systems and incremental and technological changes, to have more interactions with their external environments, to have organized more training programs aimed at encouraging creativity and innovation, and to have more creative climates when compared to the less innovative ones. The results of this study indicate that in order for a firm to be innovative, it needs to continuously implement many types of changes and technologies in response to environmental needs. Furthermore, the results also confirm in a different culture (i.e. a developing country) earlier Scandinavian studies which have been used to justify the international use of the Ekvall's CCQ. However, it appears that, although the CCQ is a good predictor of higher and lower innovative performance of firms, the instrument on its own is unable to indicate the extent of innovative strengths/weaknesses without using additional criteria or benchmarking

Life Cycle Climate Performance Assessment for R1234yf As a Low GWP Drop-In Alternative for R134a in Domestic Refrigerators

Aligning with the global movements towards mitigating CO2 emissions and regulations to phase out HFC refrigerants, many low GWP refrigerants are being tested and proposed as fourth-generation refrigerants. R1234yf is a refrigerant with a GWP of less than one and has a high potential to replace R134a, which has a GWP of 1300, and it is the most commonly used refrigerant in domestic refrigerators. In this study, an energy performance evaluation and a life cycle climate performance assessment for R1234yf were conducted and compared to those of R134a based on a baseline domestic defrost refrigerators. Four different charges of R1234yf (166.5g, 185g, 202g, and 221g) were tested on three thermostat points (low, medium, and high) and compared with the recommended manufacturer charge of R134a. This study ended up with R1234yf can reduce daily energy consumption by 5 to 2% depending on the thermostat setting. Also, the R1234yf charge optimization to the lowest life cycle CO2 emissions shows that reducing the charge from the baseline value of 185g to 166.5g proves to be the best option. In addition, all R1234yf charges achieved lower evaporation temperature than R134a at all thermostat settings. Also, R1234yf charges were able to achieve similar freezer and refrigerator air temperatures to that of R134a

The impacts of network relationships on SMEs' internationalization process.

In today's globalization era, more and more firms are striving to have an international presence, even though they face many challenges. Based on a multisite case study method, this article examines how indigenous Malaysian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) use their network relationships to facilitate their internationalization process. The evidence from the case of three software firms and one control firm in this study support the firms' internationalisation process in the ways that network relationships trigger and motivate them to internationalize, influence their market-selection decision and mode-of-entry decision, help them gain initial credibility, allow access to additional relationships and established channels, help in lowering cost and reducing risk, and influence their internationalization pace and pattern

Innovations and continuous improvements and their impact on firm's performance.

This paper examines the influence of innovation and continuous improvement practices on the competitiveness of firms, which in turn affect their performance. Results obtained from 112 Qatari firms confirm that continuous improvements had a significant positive influence on the firms’ competitiveness. Among six of the ten Ekvall’s creative climate factors examined, only four had some positive influence on the competitiveness of the firms. The authors also found that the organization’s internal environment had significant positive influence on the competitiveness of the firms. Furthermore, results show that organizational competitiveness significantly influenced performance. Managerial implications of the findings are also provided