UUProblem Members of the Singapore Heavy Equipment Spare Parts Industry face a multitude of challenges in developing their pricing strategy and practice, and in establishing, developing, and maintaining successful relational exchanges. They are unable to obtain any guidance from the pricing or relationship marketing literature. These works are either too complex or too general to be of any use to industry members. Consequently, much of industry strategy and practice occurs without the benefit of theory. UUThe Method An extensive review of existing literature was conducted in the major subject areas of pricing and relationship marketing. Literature on other subjects of channels, marketing mix, strategy, value, commitment, trust, cooperation, and satisfaction were also reviewed. A survey instrument was developed and field research was administered to 35 channel members of the industry. The results were analysed using SPSS 11. The results were used to construct a model of the role of pricing in relationship marketing. The model was constructed using Factor Analysis, Correlation Analysis and Regression Analysis. UUThe Findings The findings are all based on the perception of the channel members. Nine factors were extracted. These non-trivial factors to the Singapore Heavy Equipment Spare Parts Industry are: - Downstream supply considerations; - Product/Stock allocations; - Price gap resolution; - Perception of value/profitability; - Business volume; - Intermediate business relationships; - Leads and referrals; - Favourable pricing; and - Long-run relationships. At 5% significance (2-tailed), 4 construct paths were supported. These are: - Support gap correlates with actual price; - Support gap correlates with value; - Support gap correlates with price gap; and - Price gap correlates with value. At 5% significance (2-tailed), 8 hypotheses were supported. These are: - Price gap resolution correlates with commitment; - Price gap resolution correlates with cooperation; - Price gap resolution correlates with satisfaction; - Importance of constructive acts correlates with improved business volume; - Expression of intention to increase business correlates with increased business; - Importance of value correlates with increased business; - Value (through profitability) correlates with increased business; and - Importance of value correlates with improvements in: - Trust; - Commitment; - Cooperation; - Satisfaction; and - Increased business. UUConclusion Pricing has a profound and multi-faceted role in relationship marketing. It is a powerful tool. It has a role as a market tool with new relationships, as a development tool in the growth phase of relationships, and as a control tool in the mature phase of bilateral relationships between first and second echelon distributors. The study recommended that channel members utilise this tool concept and the management of value, price, and support gap in relational exchanges. / thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2003.

This essay attempts to explain and justify the style and structure of the novel within the traditions of contemporary literary writing. It will discuss realist conventions and devices applied in the novel, such as plot and character, and examine their effectiveness, or limits, in telling a story. The writing of this novel was prompted by the relentless stream of political events that has flowed through the recent history of Singapore. Since the island's independence from British colonial rule in 1965, a small ruling elite embarked on a ferocious nation-building programme that has not always recognised its citizens as individuals, but rather more collectively as workers, managers, professionals, housewives and students: each group expected to perform a specific role in society. State apparatuses such as law enforcement, the civil service and the mass media are engineered to direct the conduct of citizens from cradle to grave. This instigated, and provided the background to, the writing of Plato's Illusion. An objective of this novel is to document as well as imaginatively capture life in Singapore under its prevailing authoritarian rule. The writing strategy adopted is to represent politics in terms of individual 'common' experience, for almost every aspect of the private citizen's life has been politicised in Singapore. Government intervention and manipulation are situated in the personal affairs of attending university, getting a job, finding a husband and having children. In other words, by portraying the process and effects of those interventions on the characters in the novel, the body politics will simultaneously take on a more concrete shape with a face and an attitude. This strategy, used in the development of plot and characters, would be a good representation of life in Singapore, if the effects of government policies and the personal psyche were thoroughly explored and articulated. / Master of Arts (Hons)

[Abstract]: Singapore schools had encountered little involvement with legal issues in the past, and there had been a general feeling of complacency amongst educators that the situation was unlikely to change. Yet many English-speaking countries across the world had been experiencing increasing exposure to legal issues in their schools, and the question was whether Singapore was likely to share the same experience over time. Strong indications were beginning to appear that the situation was indeed changing, including a number of reported incidents in schools and evidence of changing attitudesamongst parents and educators.The study set out, therefore, to examine the types of legal issues that were emerging on the international scene, and particularly in the major jurisdictions withrelevance to Singapore, and to understand what the implications might be for Singapore. Thus, it was intended to identify the legal issues that seemed likely tobecome more prominent in the Singapore education system, to draw comparisons with events in other countries, and to examine the strategies that school leaders might adoptin order to manage legal risk effectively.This exploratory study used a mixed-method design, including document analysis and legal research, exploratory pilot interviews, in-depth interviews with verbatim transcription, and Q Methodology, which combined quantitative and qualitative techniques in order to interrogate and understand opinion. The study was conducted in four phases, moving from a broad survey of developments internationally, through a detailed analysis of issues in Singapore schools, to a deep understanding of the strategy preferences for coping with legal risk amongst senior educators. This then gave rise to aset of recommendations that could be used by policy makers and implementers, and by senior personnel in schools, to avert and manage legal risk and incidence in schools.

This study explores the concept and practical implementation of continuous innovation in logistics services, particularly Distribution Centres. Continuous innovation is a concept that requires a methodical, programmed, incremental and/or radical approach to business improvement involving employees at all levels in the organisational structure. Theories and models of innovation were analysed in the literature, at the outset of this research. As found by previous authors, specific characteristics of service forms did not allow direct application of traditional models of innovation. Most of these traditional models were constructed from the manufacturing perspective. As a result, a new innovation model was designed for this study. It can be used as a guide for understanding the components necessary in service forms to embark on continuous innovation. This model describes the process of service innovation and incorporates theories from literature, and some variables from the CIMA model. The study is exploratory in nature, using empirical data. The study identified, evaluated, compared and contrasted the factors in ten Distribution Centres in Australia and in Singapore that affected the use of continuous innovation in their operations and processes. The focus of the study investigated the drivers, capabilities, behaviours, contingencies, individual competencies and performance measures of innovation in Distribution Centres with logistics services. Overall, this study has made significant contributions in terms of the theoretical investigation adding to the body of literature. This study was exploratory, using case studies as a first hand approach in gaining an understanding of Distribution Centres. There are areas that would merit further investigation and future research. It suggested that additional work should be carried out to expand on this research and refine the model to meet the needs of a wider range of organisations in various service industries. In addition, there are recommendations flowing from this study concerning the practical management of logistics operations. They are addressed mainly to senior management who typically take lead in the implementation of innovative programmes within the organisation. Firms should address continuous innovation as a planned and integrated approach, taking into account many interacting factors that are essential for successful innovation. The challenge facing Distribution Centres is to develop efficient and flexible processes and systems, by continuously innovating to sustain a leading edge in the logistics industry / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>I en allt mer globaliserad värld ökar gränsöverskridande handel och kunskap om främmande</p><p>kulturer blir allt mer betydelsefullt. Sättet att göra affärer skiljer sig världen över och dessa</p><p>skillnader orsakar missförstånd och konflikter. Förståelse för andra kulturers värderingar och</p><p>beteenden i affärssituationer underlättar för skapandet och underhållandet av en affärsrelation.</p><p>Valet av ämne har sin grund i författarnas nyfikenhet och intresse för vad som krävs för att bli</p><p>en framgångsrik internationell affärsman, och i jakten på svaret kom ganska omgående</p><p>insikten om att det inte räcker med kunskap och förståelse för motpartens kultur. Minst lika</p><p>viktigt är vetskapen om den egna kulturen vilket ledde till frågan: Vad präglar svensk kultur</p><p>och vilken inverkan har den på svenskens sätt att göra affärer med utländska affärsmän?</p><p>Författarna har under studiens tid befunnit sig i Singapore och undersökningen har därför sin</p><p>grund i relationer mellan svenskar och singaporianer. Fyra öppna, individuella intervjuer med</p><p>svenskar som har erfarenhet och kunskap om affärsrelationer med utländsk motpart har gjorts</p><p>och presenterar arbetets empiriska del. Till detta används teori, dels information om</p><p>respektive nationalkultur, dels material gällande nationalkulturens olika dimensioner ur redan</p><p>gjorda undersökningar.</p><p>Målet med studien är att förklara hur den svenska nationalkulturen kan hjälpa respektive vara</p><p>ett hinder i relationer med utländska affärsmän och undersökningen visar en rad egenskaper</p><p>som beroende på situation och motkultur har positiv alternativt negativ effekt. Den poängterar</p><p>också vikten av att vara medveten om sin egen kultur och kunna anpassa dess särdrag efter</p><p>motparten och dennes kultur.</p>

There has been a growing interest in eating disorders among Singaporean medical professionals since the 1990s, and the Singaporean public is also starting to become aware of the risks of these conditions. This ethnographic research on eating disorders in Singapore, conducted in 2001, however, found that the majority of the informants with these conditions have struggled with a lack of understanding from others. This thesis aims to increase understanding by bringing these under-represented sufferers' voices to the forefront. This thesis focuses on the immense fear and guilt about gaining weight that are shared by these individuals. Unlike medical science, which usually considers such fear and guilt to be pathological, this thesis looks at these emotions as cultural by using the anthropological theory of feelings as well as the theory of the body politic. By illustrating how thinness has become an ideal image for Singaporean women in the past twenty years, cultural components of these feelings become readable to those without eating disorders. This thesis recommends two ways to increase understanding of the informants' inner struggles. First, medical science should consider culture a possible cause of eating disorders, since the exclusion of culture from the etiology legitimizes a lack of understanding on the part of those without eating disorders. Secondly, instead of asserting that appearance is unimportant, those without eating disorders should acknowledge that appearance plays an important role in human lives across every culture. Furthermore, they need to understand that while society superficially encourages people to accept themselves as they are, it stigmatizes fatness more forcefully. Lastly, they need to consider that the dieting industry often exploits medical science to justify its image of the ideal female body. / Graduation date: 2003

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 106-111)

I en allt mer globaliserad värld ökar gränsöverskridande handel och kunskap om främmande kulturer blir allt mer betydelsefullt. Sättet att göra affärer skiljer sig världen över och dessa skillnader orsakar missförstånd och konflikter. Förståelse för andra kulturers värderingar och beteenden i affärssituationer underlättar för skapandet och underhållandet av en affärsrelation. Valet av ämne har sin grund i författarnas nyfikenhet och intresse för vad som krävs för att bli en framgångsrik internationell affärsman, och i jakten på svaret kom ganska omgående insikten om att det inte räcker med kunskap och förståelse för motpartens kultur. Minst lika viktigt är vetskapen om den egna kulturen vilket ledde till frågan: Vad präglar svensk kultur och vilken inverkan har den på svenskens sätt att göra affärer med utländska affärsmän? Författarna har under studiens tid befunnit sig i Singapore och undersökningen har därför sin grund i relationer mellan svenskar och singaporianer. Fyra öppna, individuella intervjuer med svenskar som har erfarenhet och kunskap om affärsrelationer med utländsk motpart har gjorts och presenterar arbetets empiriska del. Till detta används teori, dels information om respektive nationalkultur, dels material gällande nationalkulturens olika dimensioner ur redan gjorda undersökningar. Målet med studien är att förklara hur den svenska nationalkulturen kan hjälpa respektive vara ett hinder i relationer med utländska affärsmän och undersökningen visar en rad egenskaper som beroende på situation och motkultur har positiv alternativt negativ effekt. Den poängterar också vikten av att vara medveten om sin egen kultur och kunna anpassa dess särdrag efter motparten och dennes kultur.

Thesis (D.Min.)--Asbury Theological Seminary, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 205-212).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1976.