http://hdl.handle.net/10292/476 2010-07-30T04:57:03Z http://hdl.handle.net/10292/882 Title: Daily analysis of institutional and individual trading and stock returns: evidence from China Authors: Lai, Qiang Abstract: This dissertation examines the impact of institutional (and individual) trading on stock prices in China. Previous literature suggests three alternative hypotheses for this impact: price pressure, informed trading, and momentum trading, but has so far not been able to distinguish between them. Using a unique dataset that contains detailed daily institutional and individual ownership information for all Shanghai Stock Exchange stocks in China, I am able to examine the important relation between daily aggregate institutional (individual) trading and past, contemporaneous, and future stock returns at a daily level. I find strong evidence of price pressure, informed trading, and momentum trading of institutional investors. These findings have important implications for the efficiency of the financial market. 2010-05-10T22:53:01Z http://hdl.handle.net/10292/896 Title: Paying for goods and services using a mobile phone: exploring mobile payment use and adoption Authors: Mehra, Ridhima Abstract: Mobile payment is an application of mobile commerce which provides the user with an ability to pay for goods and services using their mobile device. It is a payment mechanism that gives the consumer an ‘anytime anywhere’ freedom to perform a transaction. The purpose of this exploratory study is to understand what factors inhibit or facilitate adoption of mobile payment, in a New Zealand context. To study the potential links between these factors and mobile payment adoption a hybrid of two adoption models (the Technology Acceptance Model – TAM, and the Input Output Process model – IPO) were used to build the research framework. A corresponding questionnaire was designed and data were gathered from a total of 267 respondents. The findings about ‘control relationships’ such as between perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, or perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and intention to use were compliant with prior work. The study identified service awareness as an important factor affecting the adoption of mobile payment. It was also found that consumer demographic characteristics such as income, professional status, ethnicity, and mobile phone spending may play significant moderating roles. The study contributes to the understanding of the dynamics of mobile payment adoption in the local context, and identifies avenues for future work in the area. 2010-05-26T03:55:27Z http://hdl.handle.net/10292/840 Title: The adoption and implementation of environmental management sstems in New Zealand hotels: the managers' perspective Authors: Ustad, Burzis Homi Abstract: Hotel businesses consume significant amounts of natural resources, expel large amounts of raw and solid waste and affect the sustainability of the natural environment in which they are developed and operate. To reduce the negative impact on the environment, the hotel sector worldwide has embarked on a course of implementing environmental management practices or a much formal tool called environmental management systems (EMS), an innovation which has been profoundly promoted to offer additional benefits to its adopters. Among various environmental issues that have been addressed, greening in the New Zealand hotel industry is rarely investigated. To better understand the environmental efforts of the New Zealand accommodation sector, this study sought to achieve four main objectives: to determine New Zealand hotel managers’ awareness of environmental management system (EMS); to identify sustainable programmes that have been implemented in New Zealand hotels; to explore the hotel managers’ understanding of the benefits associated with the adoption and implementation of EMS and to identify hotel managers’ understanding of the possible barriers associated with the adoption and implementation of EMS. To achieve the objectives of this study, the researcher employed a quantitative survey approach through which environmental management systems in the accommodation sector of New Zealand were examined. The data was collected through a postal questionnaire distributed to 41 hotels that agreed to participate in this research, out of which 36 hotels were involved in completing the survey. In total, 94 hotel managers participated in this study, representing 36 hotels from different parts of New Zealand. The key issues analysed in this study were environmental practices, awareness of EMS, reasons (motives), benefits and constraints for adoption and implementation of EMS. Hotels that participated in this study showed greater involvement in energy, water and waste management practices than hotels examined by previous research in different geographical areas. It was further noted that New Zealand hotel managers have a limited basic understanding of the term EMS, and this may be an indication that EMS is currently not being widely used as a management tool, but rather as an approach or framework for implementing environmental practices. This research provided some of the first practical evidence about New Zealand hotel managers’ perceived benefits and barriers of implementing EMS. The managers in New Zealand showed greater commitment towards environmental safety and conservation and indicated it to be the greatest motivator for implementing EMS. However, in this study similar benefits were identified as compared to previous research where marketing and cost saving opportunities were highly acknowledged. The study identified two main barriers for the implementation of EMS. These barriers are implementation cost and lack of supporting technology. It was indeed surprising that lack of human resources and no potential benefits were rated as a less important barrier of EMS. 2010-04-01T01:07:57Z http://hdl.handle.net/10292/839 Title: Investigating the impacts of shadow reports on the social and environmental reports of their targeted corporations Authors: Dai, Bing Abstract: This research aims to explore empirical evidence for understanding the impacts of silent and shadow reports on the social and environmental reports of the corporation they targeted. The impacts of shadow reporting are investigated according to the existence, nature and effectiveness of the impacts respectively. The method designed for this research is the combination of two in-depth case/site studies and a contextual analysis method. The first site is Save Happy Valley Coalition and Solid Energy New Zealand Limited. The second site is Action on Smoking, Health and British American Tobacco. The shadow reports published by the two Non-Governmental Organizations and the social and environmental reports prepared by the two corporations are examined by interpreting of the contents, language, structure and images presented in those reports. Comparison between the findings of the two sites is provided to enable a further understanding of the shadow reporting impacts. This study reveals that not only do shadow reporting impacts have positive impacts but also the effectiveness of the impacts appears very different. Shadow reporting has great potential to be effective in narrowing reporting-performance gaps, arguing against corporate hegemonic discourse, and being educative to corporate social and environmental reporting practice. The study focuses on the interpretation of the texts, images and contents which inevitably contains subjective and personal understanding. Furthermore, the research emphasises on the changes or improvements in the selected corporate reports such that all the data analysed are restricted as to information disclosed in the selected reports without triangulation with external sources. This research addresses the current gap in the literature on the understanding of shadow reporting impacts which would be valuable for the future development and engagement of shadow reporting. The second significance of this research is that it contributes a new method specifically designed for analysing the impacts of shadow reporting. 2010-03-31T20:23:14Z http://hdl.handle.net/10292/884 Title: An investigation of web-based social and environmental disclosure practices in the New Zealand wine industry Authors: Yang, Qian Abstract: This research aims to investigate web-based social and environmental disclosure (SED) practices in the NZ wine industry which consists of both the industry body (NZ Winegrowers) and individual member wine producers.   The method of content analysis of websites was adopted to determine and differentiate 644 member wine producers registered with their industry body and wine industry body’s web-based SED. Only 45 of the member wine producers disclosed SED practices via their websites. Further, legitimacy theory was used as the lens to analyse the level and content of disclosures in web-based SED in the NZ wine industry.   The findings were that a legitimacy gap currently exists between the industry body, NZ Winegrowers’ expectations and the individual member wine producers’ actual performance regarding social and environmental disclosure practices. This study also provides evidence to support previous literature that a positive relationship is observed between the company size and SED. In addition, findings related to the content of the disclosures have revealed that the web-based SED seems to be a strategic method to enrich the NZ Winegrowers and its members’ reputation for business success.   Three limitations were considered in this research, (1) the selection of communication media of SED in this study (only focused on web-based disclosures); (2) timing issues of data collection where web disclosure are collected at one point in time; and (3) the use of content analysis which does not analyse how disclosures are being presented or their effects.  The findings of this research provide an insight into web-based SED in the NZ wine industry and identify potential implications for the NZ wine industry – implications which might be beneficial to the NZ wine industry in trading expansion in overseas markets. 2010-05-11T20:38:38Z http://hdl.handle.net/10292/867 Title: The integration of information and communication technology into secondary technology teachers' pedagogy in New Zealand Authors: Almadhour, Badr Abstract: The worldwide integration of information and communication technology (ICT) into education has advanced significantly over the last two decades. ICT has changed the quality of education, and it is clear that students now expect ICT as part of their learning experience. Many current forms of information and communication technology may be effective teaching resources if used wisely and meaningfully. It is therefore important for educators to understand how to best use ICT in teaching and learning. Having ICT in the education environment does not automatically ensure that high quality effective teaching and learning take place. The teachers’ role is all-important here. To improve the use of ICT in the educational environment we need to understand teacher perspectives so that we can improve teachers’ ICT skills, and in many cases, change their perceptions about ICT. This research sought to address the following research question: what are teachers’ perceptions regarding integrating ICT with pedagogy in the technology classroom? The findings presented in this dissertation represent some New Zealand secondary technology teachers’ perspectives on integrating ICT. The findings show that teachers use various ICT tools to differing degrees, depending on their perspectives relative to ICT and their level of professional experience in ICT use. Teachers are integrating ICT in instructional processes and see the future as highly ICT-integrated. They use a variety of ICT tools, for example the Internet, digital cameras, video cameras and video players, computers, printers, scanners, data show, presentation, educational software, CAD and electronic boards. In order to integrate ICT meaningfully into classrooms teachers need both the commitment and the technological skills to do so. Teachers understand their need for PD and believe in undertaking such development, but they have a lack of time to achieve it. 2010-04-27T04:02:42Z http://hdl.handle.net/10292/827 Title: Factors that determine firm performance of New Zealand listed companies Authors: Safarova, Yana Abstract: This study examines the determinants of firm performance of New Zealand listed companies over the period of 1996-2007 during which one recession occurred. I explore a number of performance proxies such as Return on Assets (ROA), economic profit (EP) and Tobin’s Q in relation to firm characteristics to see what factors determine firm performance. In addition I examine the question of whether the importance of these factors changes depending on the state of the economy. The regression model encompassed eight key factors that have been found to have the most impact on the operating performance of the companies in other markets. These factors are; intangibles, corporate governance, cash on hand, leverage, firm specific risk, size, growth and tangibility. The results have supported previous studies’ findings to some extent, with size being the most important factor determining firm performance, followed by growth and leverage with the weaker relationships. Other factors appeared to be marginally related to the operating performance at different significance levels. 2010-03-16T20:08:11Z http://hdl.handle.net/10292/917 Title: Motivation, barriers and impacts of mobile technology in four OECD countries: a literature review of e-government service deployment Authors: Wang, Yang Abstract: Information and communication technologies significantly influence the work of local and central government agencies. An electronic government (e-Government) service is capable of providing intangible value to all stakeholders, and additionally builds a linkage for effortless communication between government and citizens. This dissertation aims to examine factors and issues that influence the e-Government service deployment, including advantages, disadvantages and its future trends. The researcher has conducted a systematic literature review and qualitatively analysed 136 recent articles about e-Government services deployment in four countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). A range of factors relevant to e-Government service deployment motivators, barriers and future trends are identified and an internationally applicable framework of e-Government service deployment is constructed. Mobile technology and its impact on e-Government service deployment are investigated. M-Government has been identified as an extension of e-Government service deployment. 2010-06-16T12:00:00Z