Nattavud Pimpa

Relationship Value in Thai Business-to-Business Marketing

ABSTRACT This study focuses on value in the business-to-business relationship among buyers and sellers. Relationship value has long been one of the key research areas in marketing for business to business. By examining from the perspective of the buyers, this research identifies how business buyers can use marketing benefits, product benefits, technical benefits, logistics benefits, financial benefits, risk-reduction benefits, information benefits, and strategic benefits to predict buyer–seller relationship. The study confirms significant relationships among marketing benefits, product benefits, and value in retailer–supplier relationship. The analysis from this study supports that benefit in a business-to-business relationship can be created if suppliers work on mutual benefits with customers. The results also confirm that Thai business customers will look for business partners who can provide risk reduction and marketing benefits for their business.

Embracing Guanxi: The Literature Review

Guanxi is deeply ingrained in Chinese society and business etiquette; therefore, it is critical to understand and appreciate it to gain a commercial foothold in China. This paper explores the fundamental differences between Chinese and Western approaches to business dealings, to identify the factors that make it difficult for Western managerial practises to adopt guanxi. The authors identify the differences in the perception of trust in both societies and how this ultimately leads to clashes in cultures. However, there is also a need for Western practices to be more flexible and appreciate guanxi and its implications if multinational corporations are to succeed in China. The paper concludes by suggesting a possibility for both approaches to co-operate well, given the relative success of each approach in their respective cultures.

Transnational MBA programmes in Thailand

The Master of Business Administration (MBA) is one of the most widely available degrees for people in the business sector. The strong global demand for this qualification, coupled with economic considerations, has resulted in the common practice of universities establishing transnational MBA programmes in foreign countries. This qualitative study investigates how the transnational MBA programmes in Thailand cope with four key managerial areas: programme management, teaching, the learning style of students and research management. The evaluation considers the points of view of programme managers, lecturers and students. Their combined views are used to explore common grounds, problems and the direction and future of the transnational MBA programmes in Thailand. There are a number of challenges for the transnational MBA programmes in Thailand. In conclusion, transnational MBA programmes need to revamp their curriculum to combine local practices with the international context.

Strategies for Higher Education Reform in Thailand

This chapter focuses on issues of higher education reform strategies in Thailand during the post-economic crisis period (1997–2007). The Thai Government attests five key reform policies in teaching and learning, finance, human resources, research, and administration. When examining governmental policies and actions, educational law, and educational strategies from the Thai Ministry of Education, it is evident the implementation of reform strategies has been obstructed by a number of governmental structures such as staffing and quality of human resources, budget and finance, and consistency in policy and leadership. Increasing flexibility in higher educational management and transparency is the key to higher educational reform strategies in Thailand . Furthermore, Thai policy makers must adopt educational systems with greater responsiveness to global factors.

Management of education policy: the cacophony of education reform in Thailand

This paper explores various perspectives of educational policy makers regarding change in the Thai education policy and challenges of national education reform. A series of personal interviews with key policy makers from the Ministry of Education was conducted to explore their perceptions on local and global challenges of education reform. The results indicate three management themes: politics and education policy, curriculum challenges, and globalisation and education system.

Responsibility for Poverty: Sustainable Management by Mining Multinational Corporations in the Mekong Countries

ABSTRACT:To what extent can multinational corporations (MNCs) alleviate poverty in host countries? This paper explores this important question by examining managerial perspectives from MNCs and stakeholders in international business in Lao PDR and Thailand. In developing countries in Mekong region, such as Lao PDR and Thailand, the legitimacy of MNCs has been increasingly questioned in recent years. The rise of MNCs in the region has been evident since the end of the cold war. This has persisted during the era of trade liberalisation in Mekong area. When it comes to strategy for MNCs to promote sustainable management that promote long-term benefits to the citizens of the host countries, there has been little attention to understand how MNCs engage with other stakeholders to achieve their sustainable management strategies. In order to comprehend this complex issue, the researcher interviewed 18 professional personnel; 12 of them were managers and team members responsible for the development and implementation of sustainable management and strategies within their organizations (six participants from each country). The remainder were four participants from IGOs in Laos and two participants from a local labour association in Thailand. Participants were asked to discuss four broad topics: motivation for engaging CSR, major CSR activities in the local area, poverty alleviation and CSR activities, and relationships with all stakeholders in their projects. These broad topics were used to direct the conversation on critical aspects of internal and external influences, tools involved in developing CSR within their organizations, conflicts and opportunities around CSR and how they were addressed, and how this informed their understanding of CSR as organizations. The results confirm that contributions by MNCs in the form of economic and social development (public health promotion and educational development) require support from regulatory and community stakeholders in the host countries. Mining MNCs will need to work closely with formal and informal institutions in the community in order to practice and achieve their developmental objectives. Several other factors, such as cultural insensitivity and lack of social initiatives can promote unsustainable and disengagement practices among stakeholders. This study suggests that MNCs and stakeholders in international business should focus on preventive strategies to mitigate chronic poverty in the host countries. The critical perspectives of MNCs and poverty alleviation in developing nations require further discussions. This study has confirmed that MNCs can improve the condition of poverty in the host countries, if they fully understand the condition of the host countries, be flexible and can engage with local stakeholders in various circumstances.

Developing leadership curriculum for business education program in Asia

With the strong demands and challenges in the leadership components in the curriculum of management education, most transnational business education programs need to ensure the quality of learning and teaching, materials and resources, assessment strategy and content is at an optimal level. The importance of leadership training, beginning at the undergraduate level, has been recognized by many business schools worldwide. The focus on leadership knowledge, skills and action requires special understanding of both local and international contexts in each program. In many transnational education programs the understanding and implementation of various local cultural contexts that influence various aspects of leadership are not taken seriously by the providers of international business education programs. Hence, in this study, we question what should be done to improve the quality of leadership education in the transnational education program. In order to comprehend this complex business education question, a questionnaire survey was conducted with students, who enrolled in the leadership course in an Australian transnational program in Hong Kong and Singapore. In total, 582 students from Singapore and 282 students from Hong Kong participated in this study. Questionnaires were developed by research team members and pilot tested in Australia prior to the fieldwork in Hong Kong and Singapore. Eight curriculum components and outcomes were focused in this study. They included learning objectives; activities, resources, assessment, teaching and learning strategy/approaches, content, internationalisation, and educational technologies. The results from 271 respondents showed numerous differences that were significant in terms of student’s perceptions toward the curriculum between students from Singapore and Hong Kong. When it the generic descriptive statistics were analysed, the results showed that there was no consistency of a statistical mean position among students from Hong Kong and Singapore. The scores of standard deviation among Singaporean students were, in general, larger than those from Hong Kong. The larger standard deviations suggested that there were greater differences in participants’ perception towards curriculum components. The key differences among students in terms of quality were within leadership education include teaching strategy, technology in learning and teaching, assessment, learning activity, and learning resources. This study confirms that practical learning is important in leadership education. In the transnational education context, there is a profound need to integrate the local and international practical aspects into leadership education. More importantly, students’ diversity plays pivotal roles in the effectiveness of leadership education.

Analysis of software industry in India: local factors and global impacts

India has emerged as a major global exporter of software services in the international economy. Despite predictions that the industry would fail in the midst of global financial crisis, growth of software industry in India continues. This paper explains the development of software industry in India by examining global and local factors. It also discusses the structural factors contributing to the steady growth of software industry in India. By employing major concepts in structural government, cultural dimensions and supply chain analysis, this paper postulated challenges and potential future directions for software industry in India.