title: How does distributive justice affect work attitudes?  The moderating effects of autonomy

authors: Haar, Jarrod M.

subjects: benefits

abstract: Organizational justice has been a frequently used lens for understanding employee attitudes, particularly towards the fair distribution of rewards. This study of 184 New Zealand employees found distributive justice relating to pay, benefits, and rewards to be significantly linked to job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Further, job autonomy was found to significantly interact with these relationships. While employees with high job autonomy reported higher job satisfaction and lower turnover intentions when distributive justice was high, employees with little job autonomy registered significantly larger changes in work attitudes. The findings highlight the importance of felt independence and autonomy over work in the role that justice perceptions play in organizations.

text: How does distributive justice affect work attitudes?  The moderating effects of autonomy Organizational justice has been a frequently used lens for understanding employee attitudes, particularly towards the fair distribution of rewards. This study of 184 New Zealand employees found distributive justice relating to pay, benefits, and rewards to be significantly linked to job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Further, job autonomy was found to significantly interact with these relationships. While employees with high job autonomy reported higher job satisfaction and lower turnover intentions when distributive justice was high, employees with little job autonomy registered significantly larger changes in work attitudes. The findings highlight the importance of felt independence and autonomy over work in the role that justice perceptions play in organizations.

year: 2009

title: Corporate governance structures and financial performance: A comparative study of publicly listed companies in Singapore and Vietnam

authors: Nguyen, Tuan Van

subjects: Corporate governance

abstract: This study uses a dynamic modelling approach to investigate the relationship between corporate governance structures and financial performance of publicly listed companies in Singapore and Vietnam. The dynamic modelling approach facilitates answering the first research question: whether the relationship between corporate governance structures and firm financial performance persists in the Singaporean and Vietnamese markets when the relationship’s dynamic nature is taken into account. Moreover, by focusing on two different types of national governance systems in the Asian region (well-developed vs. under-developed), this study observes how the relationship between corporate governance structures and firm performance is moderated by each country’s national governance quality. By carrying out this observation, this study answers the second research question: whether the corporate governance–firm performance relationship varies according to the quality of national governance systems in which firms operate.
Two samples – including a total of 379 publicly listed non-financial companies  covering a four-year period from 2008 to 2011– are examined through the use of a two-step system generalised method of moments estimator. This estimation technique allows for potential sources of endogeneity inherent in the corporate governance–firm performance relationship, including dynamic endogeneity, simultaneity, and unobserved time-invariant heterogeneity across firms. 
The results suggest that the performance effect of corporate governance structures persists in both markets even after the dynamic nature of the corporate governance–firm performance relationship is taken into consideration. For the Singaporean market, the results also show that the three corporate governance structures (board diversity, board size and ownership structures) appear to have statistically significant effects on firm performance. For both markets, it is observed that there is a statistically significantly positive relationship between ownership concentration and financial performance. This finding supports the prediction of agency theory regarding the efficient monitoring effect of large shareholders in markets with highly concentrated ownership. 
For the Vietnamese market, the results show that board gender diversity has a positive effect on firm performance. Remaining robust even after the alternative proxies for gender diversity are employed, this finding is consistent with the perspectives of agency theory and resource dependence theory. The number of female directors in the boardroom also matters, supporting the view that if female board representation affects firm outcomes, this effect is more pronounced when the number of female directors increases. However, the marginal positive performance effect of board gender diversity ceases when the percentage of female directors reaches a breakpoint of about 20%. This finding suggests that there is perhaps a potential trade-off between the costs and benefits of board gender diversity.
Importantly, the results indicate that the relationship between the current performance and one-year lagged performance is statistically significantly positive in both markets, and robust when alternative estimation methods and models are employed. In line with Wintoki, Linck, and Netter (2012), among others, this finding suggests that the corporate governance–firm performance relationship should be investigated in a dynamic framework. This means that past firm performance should be considered as an important independent variable to control for potential effects of unobserved historical factors on current corporate governance structures and performance.
Furthermore, the results show that better national governance quality has a positive effect on firm performance, and that the performance effect of ownership concentration is contingent upon national governance quality. The results suggest that ownership concentration appears to have a stronger positive effect on performance of companies in Vietnam where the national governance system is underdeveloped. In contrast, concentrated ownership tends to have a weaker effect on financial performance of firms in Singapore where the national governance system is well-established. This finding is consistent with the argument that ownership concentration is an efficient corporate governance mechanism which can substitute for weak national governance quality. In the absence of effective national governance mechanisms, ownership concentration is likely to be an important corporate governance strategy for Vietnamese firms to control potential agency problems. On the contrary, in Singapore, where national governance quality – such as legal protection of shareholders – is much better, the role of ownership concentration in determining performance seems to be weaker.
This study is novel in that it is the first to explore the corporate governance–firm performance relationship using a dynamic modelling approach for the Vietnamese and Singaporean markets. The findings of this study significantly contribute toward a better understanding of international diversity on corporate governance by providing robust empirical evidence from the emerging and mature markets in the Asian region. This study also extends the corporate governance literature by enriching the understanding of the interaction between corporate-level and national-level governance mechanisms.

text: Corporate governance structures and financial performance: A comparative study of publicly listed companies in Singapore and Vietnam This study uses a dynamic modelling approach to investigate the relationship between corporate governance structures and financial performance of publicly listed companies in Singapore and Vietnam. The dynamic modelling approach facilitates answering the first research question: whether the relationship between corporate governance structures and firm financial performance persists in the Singaporean and Vietnamese markets when the relationship’s dynamic nature is taken into account. Moreover, by focusing on two different types of national governance systems in the Asian region (well-developed vs. under-developed), this study observes how the relationship between corporate governance structures and firm performance is moderated by each country’s national governance quality. By carrying out this observation, this study answers the second research question: whether the corporate governance–firm performance relationship varies according to the quality of national governance systems in which firms operate.
Two samples – including a total of 379 publicly listed non-financial companies  covering a four-year period from 2008 to 2011– are examined through the use of a two-step system generalised method of moments estimator. This estimation technique allows for potential sources of endogeneity inherent in the corporate governance–firm performance relationship, including dynamic endogeneity, simultaneity, and unobserved time-invariant heterogeneity across firms. 
The results suggest that the performance effect of corporate governance structures persists in both markets even after the dynamic nature of the corporate governance–firm performance relationship is taken into consideration. For the Singaporean market, the results also show that the three corporate governance structures (board diversity, board size and ownership structures) appear to have statistically significant effects on firm performance. For both markets, it is observed that there is a statistically significantly positive relationship between ownership concentration and financial performance. This finding supports the prediction of agency theory regarding the efficient monitoring effect of large shareholders in markets with highly concentrated ownership. 
For the Vietnamese market, the results show that board gender diversity has a positive effect on firm performance. Remaining robust even after the alternative proxies for gender diversity are employed, this finding is consistent with the perspectives of agency theory and resource dependence theory. The number of female directors in the boardroom also matters, supporting the view that if female board representation affects firm outcomes, this effect is more pronounced when the number of female directors increases. However, the marginal positive performance effect of board gender diversity ceases when the percentage of female directors reaches a breakpoint of about 20%. This finding suggests that there is perhaps a potential trade-off between the costs and benefits of board gender diversity.
Importantly, the results indicate that the relationship between the current performance and one-year lagged performance is statistically significantly positive in both markets, and robust when alternative estimation methods and models are employed. In line with Wintoki, Linck, and Netter (2012), among others, this finding suggests that the corporate governance–firm performance relationship should be investigated in a dynamic framework. This means that past firm performance should be considered as an important independent variable to control for potential effects of unobserved historical factors on current corporate governance structures and performance.
Furthermore, the results show that better national governance quality has a positive effect on firm performance, and that the performance effect of ownership concentration is contingent upon national governance quality. The results suggest that ownership concentration appears to have a stronger positive effect on performance of companies in Vietnam where the national governance system is underdeveloped. In contrast, concentrated ownership tends to have a weaker effect on financial performance of firms in Singapore where the national governance system is well-established. This finding is consistent with the argument that ownership concentration is an efficient corporate governance mechanism which can substitute for weak national governance quality. In the absence of effective national governance mechanisms, ownership concentration is likely to be an important corporate governance strategy for Vietnamese firms to control potential agency problems. On the contrary, in Singapore, where national governance quality – such as legal protection of shareholders – is much better, the role of ownership concentration in determining performance seems to be weaker.
This study is novel in that it is the first to explore the corporate governance–firm performance relationship using a dynamic modelling approach for the Vietnamese and Singaporean markets. The findings of this study significantly contribute toward a better understanding of international diversity on corporate governance by providing robust empirical evidence from the emerging and mature markets in the Asian region. This study also extends the corporate governance literature by enriching the understanding of the interaction between corporate-level and national-level governance mechanisms.

year: 2015

title: Mahi Toi Skills in Contemporary Education, Training and Maori Development

authors: Joseph, Makarita Ngapine Tangitu

subjects: Kia mau ki nga taonga tuku iho o nga tupuna

abstract: Since the 1980’s, national investment in human capital and skill formation policy in education has been promoted as key to economic success and social inclusion. Social inclusion, however, is often expressed as helping citizens to become employable. Although employability is a key focus of skills formation and education policy, the context of the western ideologies that it derives from and caters to perpetuates the exclusion of mahi toi (arts and crafts) skills in education. Using a kaupapa Māori approach, two key informants who specialise and teach mahi toi skills, either rāranga (weaving) or pounamu (jade/greenstone), were interviewed. The aim was to get a better understanding of how these skills can contribute to personal, professional and Māori development in the 21st century, and to provide information indicating where and how these skills can be learnt, either through private training enterprises (PTE) or public tertiary educational institutions (TEI), thereby highlighting the value of teaching and learning rāranga and pounamu skills. Findings from analysing their pūrākau indicate that learning rāranga or pounamu skills can provide a foundation for believing in your potential, contribute to cultural identity, improve confidence and communication skills, help an individual be bestowed or acquire mana, offer a type of therapy, enhance career progression and professional identity, provide financial rewards and stability, and help with the revitalisation and transfer of cultural knowledge. Ultimately, it is concluded that mahi toi skills such as rāranga and pounamu can contribute to the development of an individual’s personal and professional lives, but also has benefits for the organisation where they become employed as well as extended whānau, hapū and iwi.

text: Mahi Toi Skills in Contemporary Education, Training and Maori Development Since the 1980’s, national investment in human capital and skill formation policy in education has been promoted as key to economic success and social inclusion. Social inclusion, however, is often expressed as helping citizens to become employable. Although employability is a key focus of skills formation and education policy, the context of the western ideologies that it derives from and caters to perpetuates the exclusion of mahi toi (arts and crafts) skills in education. Using a kaupapa Māori approach, two key informants who specialise and teach mahi toi skills, either rāranga (weaving) or pounamu (jade/greenstone), were interviewed. The aim was to get a better understanding of how these skills can contribute to personal, professional and Māori development in the 21st century, and to provide information indicating where and how these skills can be learnt, either through private training enterprises (PTE) or public tertiary educational institutions (TEI), thereby highlighting the value of teaching and learning rāranga and pounamu skills. Findings from analysing their pūrākau indicate that learning rāranga or pounamu skills can provide a foundation for believing in your potential, contribute to cultural identity, improve confidence and communication skills, help an individual be bestowed or acquire mana, offer a type of therapy, enhance career progression and professional identity, provide financial rewards and stability, and help with the revitalisation and transfer of cultural knowledge. Ultimately, it is concluded that mahi toi skills such as rāranga and pounamu can contribute to the development of an individual’s personal and professional lives, but also has benefits for the organisation where they become employed as well as extended whānau, hapū and iwi.

year: 2018