Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the pressures and drivers that have been experienced by Chinese manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in terms of green supply chain management (GSCM). Design/methodology/approach – The research framework and hypotheses are examined by a questionnaire survey through e-mails conducted in China in 2011. The empirical analysis is based on the data from 202 SME manufacturers in China. Validity and reliability of the items employed in the research is assessed through Cronbach’s α test. Hypotheses for the identification of GSCM pressures and drivers to SMEs as well as the differences that exist among different industrial sectors are tested by adopting descriptive statistics analysis and analysis of variance test. Findings – This study finds that Chinese manufacturing SMEs have been under pressures from a variety of sources, including regulations, customers, suppliers and public awareness in terms of GSCM. Besides, internal drivers are also an important encouragement for SMEs to consider GSCM. Moreover, Chinese manufacturing SMEs from different industrial sectors show some differences in experiencing pressures or being motivated by drivers. Research limitations/implications – The main limitations to this paper are the relatively small sample of SMEs and the potentially overlooked variables. Practical implications – Chinese manufacturing SMEs and their larger customers, as well as governments, are likely to obtain some implications from this study if they are willing to consider any GSCM initiatives throughout the supply chain. Originality/value – The paper clearly explores the GSCM pressures and drivers faced by the Chinese manufacturing SMEs where the results may differ from the findings through the studies on large enterprises or SMEs in other national context.

This study examines the relation between managerial ownership structure and earnings management. Unlike previous research which treats insiders as a homogeneous group, we further classify insiders into executives, outside directors, and blockholders to conduct an in-depth study. Earnings management is captured by discretionary accruals that are estimated using the modified Jones model. For a large sample of Taiwanese listed firms over the period 1997 and 2004, we find that discretionary accruals first increase and then decrease with executive ownership, forming an inverted U-shaped relationship. However, discretionary accruals are positively affected by director ownership and blockholder ownership. The results suggest that equity stake owned by top officers of a firm should be encouraged in order to reduce agency cost, thus enhancing information content of earnings.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine empirically whether corporate governance mechanisms have an effect on income-smoothing behavior in the People's Republic of China. Design/methodology/approach -The sample comprises 1,358 companies listed in the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Market during the period 1999 to 2006. By comparing the variability of income to the variability of sales, an income smoother can be identified if income is less variable than sales. Findings -The authors' empirical results show that income smoothing is more severe when the state is the controlling shareholder of the Chinese listed firm. Firms with more independent directors are more likely to engage in income smoothing. The governance mechanisms such as board of directors, supervisory board, audit committee, external auditors, and shareholders' participation are not effective in curtailing income smoothing in China. Practical implications -For Chinese firms and especially government-linked enterprises, the way in which they present themselves may be significant, since the image they present to potential strategic partners may be marred by suspicions of income smoothing. Originality/value -The paper presents the current development of China's corporate governance system and indicates that agency conflicts between controlling shareholders and minority investors account for a significant portion of earnings management in China.

As education is an important sector in every national economy, it is arguable that higher education is a key area of interest of both public and private institutions. With globalization, the higher education sector is internationalized through the mobility of the institutions and students alike. International students are increasingly moving to other countries in pursuit of education and other interests such as career opportunities, cultural and social experiences, and even migration.The present study investigates international students' motives in studying abroad and the impacts of these different motives on their evaluation of service quality of the institutions where they study. This study attempts to incorporate the motives of their study with the well recognized service quality model, namely SERVQUAL.This study was empirically conducted in a private higher education institution in Singapore, gathering data from 263 international students who are studying in the business programmes. The survey method was used to gather the required data about the motives, expectations and perceptions as well as the level of satisfaction with the education service provided by the institution under study.The study found that the students held four kinds of motives: academic & education, career & migration, pleasure & experience and work. The study suggests that educational marketers should consider the role and influence of the motives in evaluating service quality by international students and to develop their education programmes accordingly so that their level of service quality will be enhanced from the perspective of international students.

E-Business represents new avenues for sustainable competitive advantage. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are now expected to be digital-ready to continue as trading partners for their customers. SMEs require socio-technical skills and organizational skills and know-how to comprehend e-Potentials and transform them into e-Implementation. An e-Business planning framework is proposed here which links both in strategic and operations management by applying quality function deployment (QFD, also known as house of quality). The balanced scorecard (BSC) will be used to provide an organization overview to objectives setting, critical in ensuring e-Initiatives are aligned with organization vision and objectives.The paper presents the pilot stage of this research project, discussing how the proposed planning framework works. Data from a case study are employed, and expert advice was sought to prioritize and rank the system components (the 'whats') and their interrelationships. The paper begins with an introduction to the importance of e-Business to SMEs, and a brief review of the key components of the proposed framework. Next follows a discussion of the case study and how the framework can be applied in this particular situation. The paper concludes with suggestions for proposed future work; the conclusion can also be extended to provide a series of matrices to provide a clear, step-by-step planning framework for SMEs which are planning and implementing e-Business, by converting customer needs into feasible e-Business plans.