Despite decades of research on human motivation within an educational context, there emerges neither one theory nor one pragmatic intervention that is commonly accepted. These observations raise two fundamental questions: why does human motivation confound a common theoretical base and why does it appear to resist interventions? Addressing these two fundamental questions, this thesis offers a literature critique that highlights motivation in education as value-laden. The thesis then posits that to understand motivational adjustment the critical focus lies not on the value-agents (lecturers, parents) but on the value-receivers (the students). Additionally, the thesis posits that an adequate comprehension of students' motivational adjustment requires a research methodology that embraces the defining context. The research subjects are two cohorts of trainee (Primary) teachers. The first cohort (N=47) comprises incoming students direct from Secondary education. The second cohort (N=33) are post Certificate in Education students with prior work and teaching experience. Both cohorts are enrolled in first semester, Batchelor of Education programmes at the Hong Kong Institute of Education in Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of the Peoples' Republic of China. A feature of this study is that the research subjects are ethnic Chinese. Reporting a semester-long study, a critique of 'motivation' is provided in the light of data collated from both pre and post semester questionnaires (N= 160) and mid and end semester interviews (N= 38). Data analysis displays the emergence over one semester of an underlying motivational conformity towards prioritising 'self-defense'. Three effects of prioritising 'self-defense' are noted: first, students' perception of an event is subservient to its short-term experience; second, cognition is subservient to affective responses and third, goals are determined by the interaction between the affective and cognitive responses. The thesis concludes by noting implications for further research in both human motivation and cultural studies. Key words: Motivation, teacher-training, culture. ethnic Chinese, Hong Kong (PRC).

Indonesia has the greatest number of overseas Chinese in the world; however, ethnic Chinese is the third largest ethnic group in Indonesia. Due to different history and culture, there is a gap between indigenous people and ethnic Chinese. Therefore, the Indonesian government regulated many policies which were against ethnic Chinese since 1949. The policies on ethnic Chinese during the periods of President Sukarno and President Suharto had been changed from loose to strict, and from strict to assimilation, and from assimilation to deregulation. After the era of Suharto, the policies on ethnic Chinese were changed again to pluralism. However, China is the specific factor in Indonesia¡¦s changing policy toward ethnic Chinese. Therefore, this research is trying to discuss Indonesia¡¦s changing policies on ethnic Chinese during the periods of President Sukarno and President Suharto and to the post Suharto era, which is also the democratization stage. After discussing the policy- changing on ethnic Chinese, the thesis will also analyze the role of China in the process of Indonesia¡¦s changing policies toward ethnic Chinese.

China has been a popular research subject in the past few decades, while the way to view China has witnessed dramatic changes. This research holds that it is important to systematically study the relationships between China studies and the social, economic and political forces guiding through analyzing the analytical angles selected by scholars have an impact upon how they perceive China. In the China studies communities, the ethnic Chinese scholars¡¦ knowledge of China in Southeast Asian is a noteworthy example: their identities imply diverse degree of Chinese history and cultural inheritance. The variety of ethnic Chinese identities represents the different epistemology of China. This research aims to add to the¡§Epistemology of China Studies¡¨ project by exploring the perspective of ethnic Chinese interpretation of China through Prof. Leo Suryadinata, who perceives China from a distant, yet culturally connected viewpoint. Through the sociology of knowledge approach, we could understand Leo Suryadina¡¦s China interpretation which involves an alien emotion in his academic and literature works, and also from the Southeast Asian Chinese society where he locates in. In Leo Suryadina¡¦s epistemology of China, China is an alien homeland and an object as he interprets it. On the other hand, as Leo Suryadinata¡¦s interpretational tool, China is a concept of ethnic Chinese identities with redefinition.

The purpose of my thesis is to demonstrate the economic development of China and Latin America. My reason for choosing these two regions for my study is because they are both Third World Nations. My intention on writing this thesis is to prove that culture and the informal business networks of China are the major forces of what is driving the Chinese economy ahead of Latin America. I will explain how the definition of culture ties in with the economic society of both regions. In writing about culture, I will attempt to explain if there really is a difference between trust in each society. To better interpret this thesis, I came up with several variables of economy that will help explain each region's development. These variables are federal direct investment (FDI), labor, and funding of businesses in each region. In my study, I present the different approaches that are taken by each region to attract FDI. In addition, I will explain how and if informal networking is beneficial to the work force and the funding of businesses in each region. The majority of my research for this thesis consisted on reviewing past articles of scholarly journals. From these journals I drew conclusions of my own and compared them to other scholars' work. I also analyzed such websites like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank and various others to be able to come up with my own findings necessary to complete my thesis. To anticipate the conclusion, this thesis notes how important it is for each region to find its own unique way to attract FDI and how culture can impact the development of an economy. In my thesis, I am including the importance of trust in the society and the significance of the informal business networks on the Chinese economy.

This paper discusses the changes of economic activities of ethnic Chinese in Ho Chi Minh City under different political regimes with different institutions. The thesis applied qualitative research methods with in-depth interviews, collected and analysed data from documents. The research result shows that under different social and political institutions, which are changed from French colonial period to the two different political systems during Vietnam War with the Communism in the North and the Capitalism in the South, and the socialist system carried out in the whole country after 1975, to the Doi Moi period after 1986, the Vietnamese Chinese conduct different economic activities in terms of business and trust in social relations. Before 1975, the Vietnamese Chinese traded heavily with the same ethnic group. The in-group business practices were changed after the institutional change after 1975, which pushed them to work more closely with other ethnic groups. The concept toward ¡§trust¡¨ (Xinyong) in Vietnamese Chinese community is gradually changed in accordance with the changes of social and political institutions.

越南與中國山海毗連，古來交通頻繁，華人或為謀生或為避禍，流寓至斯者不可勝數。如與其他華人移民社會相比，越南華人社會源遠流長，堪稱最為悠久的海外華人社群，是故越南華人研究於華僑華人研究、東南亞史、中外交通史，以及族群關係等領域皆有一定之學術價值。 越南華人的華語能力何以普遍低落？社會地位何以長期不振？凡此越南華人生活之樣貌，泰半歸因於早先越南政府其華人政策執行之結果。越南歷經君主、殖民、威權、共產政權的統治，在不同的歷史階段裡，華人扮演著不同的角色，他們或為當局開疆拓土的能臣、或為外交攻防的棋子、或為國家發展的障礙、或為繁榮經濟的夥伴，各政權與華人之關係固有良窳，其華人政策自有異同。 筆者擬視第二次世界大戰後越南之華人政策為一「(從屬)族裔政策」(policies vis-a-vis ethnic subordinates)，藉由二戰後越南華人政策編年史之重建，期解析歷任越南政府(法國越南殖民政府、越南民主共和國、越南共和國，乃至於越南社會主義共和國)華人政策之特質與導因，俾闡明越南華人政策自「強制性同化(Compulsory Assimilation)」趨向「包容(Accommodation)」之歷程。 就華人政策之特質而言，「政策意識形態」的內涵自然是一項重點(筆者將「(強制性)同化」或「包容」等主義皆視為一「政策意識形態」)，但如何對「政策意識形態」進行系統化分析，乃是關鍵所在。吾人將以「族裔互動指標」(亦即Gordon(1964)之「同化變項」)推論幾種不同「意識形態」取向的「政策原型」，進而以「政策原型」作為判斷實際「政策意識形態」之準據。 經由各章討論，本研究乃有以下發現：(一)第二次世界大戰以來，越南之華人政策體現了華人在族裔結構中之被動與羸弱，其從屬情境已然僵固；(二)就「政策意識形態」而言，第二次世界大戰後越南之華人政策原係以「同化」為主，迄1980年中期轉趨「包容」，惟無論同化抑或包容，乃至於在越南共和國時代對華人採取的「去特權化」，旨皆在造成越南華人之「在地化」；(三)二戰後歷任越南政府之華人政策側重於改造華人之社會結構與族裔意識；(四)二戰後歷任越南政府其「政體意識形態」與「華人政策意識形態」之相關性並不顯著：(五)綜觀二戰後歷任越南政府之華人政策，其導因主要包括「越南政府與中國政府之雙邊關係(越南對中國之依賴程度)」、「越南政府對華人之基本態度」，以及「越南政府之經濟戰略」三項。 (本論文榮獲2005年中研院亞太區域研究專題中心碩士論文獎助) / From the ancient time, ethnic Vietnamese and Chinese have been in contact with each other persistently since China and Vietnam are linked by mountains and rivers. Thousands of ethnic Chinese have flowed into and resided in Vietnam to earn a living and to run away from calamities in the past. Comparing with other overseas ethnic Chinese communities around the world, those in Vietnam have had a distant source and a long stream. Hence the study of ethnic Chinese in Vietnam has a number of academic benefits from understanding of overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese, to the study of Southeast Asia history, to the study of the communication between China and abroad, and to the study of interaction among ethnic groups. How does the ethnic Chinese in Vietnam lose their Mandarin ability? Why do they have an inferior social status? All of these features of ethnic Chinese in Vietnam could be a result of the implementation of Vietnam's policy toward ethnic Chinese. In Vietnam's history, there were assorted political stages, including monarchy, colonialism, authoritarianism, and communism, to name a few. Vietnam's ethnic Chinese have been participating in varied roles during these political times, including a pioneer in exploring barren lands, a chess-man in the diplomatic board game, an obstruction to the national development, and a business partner. Because of this complicated relationship with ethnic Chinese, every authority in Vietnam has established different policies toward ethnic Chinese as well. In this thesis, the author assumes that Vietnam's policies toward ethnic Chinese equate to policies vis-à-vis ethnic subordinates. Through the process of reconstructing the chronicle of Vietnam's ethnic Chinese policies after World War Two, this author is going to analyze the characteristics and the factors of these various policies from each Vietnamese authority (i.e., the so- called Vietnamese authorities including the French authority in Vietnam(1945-1954), Republic of Vietnam(1955-1975), Democratic Republic of Vietnam(1954-1975), and Socialist Republic of Vietnam(1975-2003))in order to enucleate the ideology of these policies that have been transformed from “Compulsory Assimilation” to “Accommodation.” As to the characteristics of ethnic Chinese policy of each authority, several questions are examined: “what is the ideology of each authority's ethnic Chinese policy?” is supposed to be a focus (The author is going to take “Compulsory Assimilation” or “Accommodation” as a sort of “ideology of policy”). Moreover, “how to analyze the ideology of ethnic Chinese policy that belongs to each authority?” is definitely a weight-bearing point. The author will use a so-called “index of interaction among ethnic groups (which was evolved from Gordon's (1964) variables of assimilation)”to theorize several “policy prototypes” dependent on each “ideology of policy”. According to these “policy prototypes”, we may analyze each authority's ideology of ethnic Chinese policy in detail. This research has five conclusions: 1. Vietnam's policy toward ethnic Chinese after WWⅡ embodies the passive and emaciated position in the Vietnam's ethnic structure; the subordinate status of ethnic Chinese has been enforced by the Vietnamese authority. 2. Speaking of the ideology of each authority's ethnic Chinese policy after WWⅡ, the main purpose of the policy had been “Compulsory Assimilation” in the very beginning; then it moved downwards to “Accommodation” in the middle of the 1980s; however, whether it was “Compulsory Assimilation” or “Accommodation”, these two ideologies of ethnic policy both caused Vietnamese ethnic Chinese's localization. 3. Vietnam's policy toward ethnic Chinese after WWⅡ specifically emphasized on reforming the social framework of ethnic Chinese and their ethnic awareness. 4. The extent of the interrelation between “the ideology of the authority” and “the ideology of the authority's ethnic Chinese policy” is low and unclear. 5. To make a comprehensive survey, this author has summed up three factors for Vietnam's policy toward ethnic Chinese after WWⅡ, and these factors are “the bilateral relationship between the Vietnamese and the Chinese governments (the extent of Vietnam's dependence upon China),”“the basic attitude of the Vietnamese authority toward ethnic Chinese,” and “the Vietnamese authority's economical strategy.” (This thesis has been rewarded a prize for MA Student Research Grants in 2005 by Center for Asia-Pacific Area Studies (CAPAS), Academia Sinica, Republic of China(Taiwan).)

International Business research overwhelmingly tends to focus on firms that are perceived as rising international stars. This study, on the other hand, is motivated by the desire to examine other types of business organizations as they navigate the globalization process. In particular, a holistic view of family business groups (FBGs) and mainstream internationalization models governed by the concept of firm-specific advantages (FSAs) are con­fronted with the empirical findings of actual business expansion via personal connections. This serves as the conceptual framework of the study when investigating the nature of competitiveness of FBGs. Thailand is chosen as the research setting because of its both distinct and relevant economic and cultural background. The analysis begins by quantitatively exploring the population of the 139 largest Thai FBGs. Then, more fine­grained explanations are developed as a series of comparative case studies are carried out. Overall, the findings shed light on the study of emerging multinational corporations (EMNCs) in general by detailing and probing the evolution of Thai FBGs. Focus is on the internationalization process(es) and the subsequent need for organiza­tional adjustments; the latter involving imposing a measure of discipline on family affairs as well as modernizing business operations. This adds to the hitherto established notion of latecoming EMNCs simply scaling the techno­logical ladder. In essence, the tension between the "easy" path of relying on connections (i.e., what here is termed "the bamboo network") and the more "difficult" path of building competitiveness (i.e., going beyond the bamboo network) is exposed and explained. This study thus contributes to our understanding of the firm internationalization process. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan i Stockholm, 2011

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