The DBA programme curriculum will offer aspiring entrepreneurs, senior management executives, and mid-career industrial practitioners specialised knowledge and applied research skills. The programme targets to equip students with sophisticated problem solving skills required to tackle complex business problems and drive innovations, while ensuring that they understand good sustainability, social responsibility and ethical practices.

Besides, since 2024, the Singapore University of Social Sciences and the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences have jointly established a DBA program in Global Strategic Leadership. For admission details and application inquiries, please refer to the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences website at https://sle.ucass.edu.cn/info/1060/2622.htm

工商管理博士项目将为有抱负的企业家，高级管理人员和职 业生涯中期的工作人士提供专业知识和应用研究技能。 该项目旨在为学生提供解决复杂业务问题时所需要的技能和创新力，同时确保他们能够很好的理解可持续性，社会责任和道德实践。

除此之外，自2024年，新加坡社科大学与中国社会科学院大学也联合创建了全球战略领导力博士学位(DBA)项目。招生简章和报名咨询请参考中国社会科学院大学网页 https://sle.ucass.edu.cn/info/1060/2622.htm。

With in-depth training from DBA, graduates can look forward to advancing their careers in the following positions:

• Positions in consulting firms, think tanks, government agencies, etc., that require applied research skills;
• Management positions that require critical and reflective thinking, application of theoretical knowledge to complex problems, and skills to drive thought leadership and innovation;
• Teaching positions in the tertiary education industry.

通过工商管理博士项目的深入学习，毕业生可以期待在以下职位上提升自己的职业生涯：

• 咨询公司，智库，政府机构等需要应用研究技能的职位;
• 需要批判性和反思性思考，运用理论知识解决复杂问题，以及推动思想领导和创新技能的管理岗位;
• 高等教育行业的教职岗位。

1. What is the application fee?
   Application for graduate programmes is to be made online. Each e-application must be accompanied by a non-refundable application fee which is payable online only.
   • Singapore Citizen & Permanent Resident - $60.00 (subject to prevailing GST)
   • All other applicants - $100 (subject to prevailing GST)
     
   
   
2. How is the application process?
   Submit application materials online and pay for the application fee -> Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed - > Application outcome
   
   
3. How do I apply?
   You may start the online application by clicking the Apply Now button on the top of DBA programme page.
   
4. Is GMAT or GRE required for admission?
   No, GMAT or GRE score is not required for admission to DBA.
   
   
5. Is an interview required for admission?
   Shortlisted applicants will be required to attend an interview conducted by the University.
   
6. When should I apply?
   You should apply once application starts. We will consider applicants on a rolling basis – applicants who apply earlier would be offered places if they are deemed suitable.
   
   
7. How would DBA be structured?
   DBA students are required to complete 40 cu coursework (30 cu disciplinary courses and 10 cu research methodology courses) and submit a doctoral dissertation.
   
   
8. What is the requirement to graduate from DBA programme ?
   DBA students have to maintain a minimum CGPA of 3.0 in their coursework and satisfy doctorate dissertation requirements.
   
   
9. When & how will courses be held?
   Courses will mostly be held on 3 to 7 consecutive days including weekends from 9am to 6pm. Students can expect one of such courses every one to two months in the whole year. The DBA Programme arranges an overseas study trip every year, providing students with the opportunity to participate in immersive and practical business experiences. These include lectures, seminars, workshops, talks by invited guest speakers, site visits, etc.
   
   DBA also has a compulsory course which consists of 6 workshops running over two semesters (12 months). The workshops are contemporary topics in business and management and will keep on updating. The workshops are usually held from 7pm to 10pm on weekdays or weekends.
   
   
10. Is attendance to lessons mandatory? Any opportunity for make-up lessons?
    Attendance is mandatory and affects your participation marks. For all courses except BUS601, at least 2/3 face-to-face attendance is required for better academic learning and networking opportunities. If you are unable to participate in person, online participation is available. The courses are run once a year, so you can only re-register with the courses in the following year if you miss the current run.
    
    
11. What is the progression for dissertation?
    • DBA students need to successfully complete a qualifying examination (QE) and also a dissertation examination in order to satisfy the doctorate dissertation requirements. Both examinations will be assessed by committees comprising of the students' supervisors, SUSS full time faculty members and external examiners
      
    • In order to progress to the qualifying examination and maintain candidacy, DBA students are required to complete 40 cu of coursework and maintain a minimum CGPA of 3.0. After they have successfully passed the qualifying examination, their doctoral candidature will be confirmed. DBA candidates are then required to undertake an applied research project that culminates in producing a dissertation at the doctorate level. The dissertation should produce outputs that contain original applied research that is relevant to industry/professional practice and help to advance knowledge in these areas. Upon successfully defending their dissertations in the dissertation examination, DBA candidates will be awarded DBA degree.
      
      
12. What is the form of dissertation?
    Upon the completion of the DBA research, the candidate is required to submit a dissertation on his/her research, followed by an oral defense. Supervisors' approval shall be required for the submission of the dissertation.
    
    
13. How do I find a DBA supervisor?Should I search for my dissertation supervisor during the course work stage or after QE?
    Upon admission to the DBA programme, a full-time faculty member from the School of Business at SUSS will be paired with each DBA student based on two-way choice. The full-time faculty member remains the role of DBA supervisor for the student throughout the programme. The supervisor’s domain of expertise or research interest shall correspond with the student’s research area.
    
    
14. How often should I meet with my supervisor?
    You are advised to meet with your supervisor on a regular basis. It’s required to meet with your supervisor at least once a month. Supervisors are usually available during their working hours. Progress report shall be submitted every semester to track your progress and to be approved by the supervisor.
    
    
15. What is the duration of the DBA programme?
    The minimum candidature period for DBA is three(3) years and the maximum candidature period is seven(7) years.
    
    
16. How much is the tuition fee?
    You can refer to this page for the most updated information.
    
    
17. If I am an international student, do I need to apply for visa to come to Singapore?
    The university will provide the necessary information to facilitate the application of student pass. For more information, please click here.
    
    
18. What is the difference between PhD and DBA?
    The PhD programme is to train researchers in the Social Sciences with an applied focus who can create knowledge, advance professional development and make an impact to society. The DBA programme is for business leaders, entrepreneurs, senior management who have curiosity for knowledge, and are willing to develop the structural thinking as a scholar, to make use of evidence-based applied research to answer the business-related questions and optimize the decision making.
    

1. 申请费是多少？
   研究生课程的申请将在线进行。每次在线申请均需缴纳申请费用，该费用不予退款，且仅支持在线支付。
   • 新加坡公民和永久居民 - $60 (不含税)
   • 其他申请人 - $100* (不含税)
     * 该费用不包含学生签证申请的相关费用
   
   
2. 申请流程是怎样？
   网上提交申请材料支付申请费用 –>入围的申请人将接受面试 –>申请结果
   
   
3. 如何申请？
   在工商管理博士项目页面上方，点击红色Apply Now即可开始网上申请
   
   
4. 什么时候开始申请？
   您应该在项目申请开放后申请。 我们将以滚动的方式审核申请人。早申请的候选人，一旦通过，将更早的获得录取名额。
   
   
5. 入学需要GMAT或GRE吗？
   不，入读DBA不需要GMAT或GRE成绩。
   
   
6. 录取是否需要通过面试？
   候选申请人将被要求参加大学的面试。
   
   
7. DBA的课程结构是怎样的？
   DBA学生必须完成40学分的学科知识课程（30学分学科课程和10学分的研究方法课程），以及撰写及提交博士论文。
   
   
8. 从DBA项目毕业的要求是什么？
   DBA学生学业成绩必须保持加权成绩（CGPA）最低3.0，并满足博士论文要求。
   
   
9. 课程时间安排以及课程将如何进行？
   大部分课程将通过上包括周末在内的连续3至7天的课程，从上午9点至下午6点。 学生可以在一年中每隔一到两个月学习一门课程。每年DBA 项目还会组织同学进行海外游学活动，深入实践；海外游学包括讲座，研讨会，工作坊，特邀演讲嘉宾讲座，实地考察等。
   
   DBA还有一门必修课，其6次研讨会将横跨两个学期。 研讨会是有关当代商业和管理方面的主题，具体内容将在每年不断更新。
   
   
10. 是否必须参加课程？ 有补课的机会吗？
    出勤是课程要求的一部分，并且直接关系到您的参与分数。除BUS601 课程以外的所有课程，我们要求学生至少有2/3的课程时间必须亲自到场，以便更好地进行学术学习和获得更多交流机会。如果您因特殊情况无法到场，可以选择线上参与。课程每年开展一次，如错过了今年的课程，需于第二年重新选择。
    
    
11. 学位论文的进程是怎样的？
    • 需要成功完成博士资格考试（QE）和论文考试，以满足博士论文要求。两项考试将由考试审查组评估，其中包括导师，新加坡社科大学的全职教师，和外部审查员；
    • 为了进入博士资格考试阶段并保持候选资格，DBA学生必须完成40学分学科课程并保持最低加权成绩（CGPA） 3分。在成功通过博士资格考试（QE）后，他们的博士候选人资格将得到确认。然后博士学位候选人将进行一个应用课题的研究，论文要求应达到博士水平。博士论文需体现应用研究的原创性，研究课题需与工业界或者行业现行的实践有关，研究成果能够推进这些领域知识的发展。在成功通过博士论文考试和答辩后，博士学位候选人将会获得新加坡社科大学DBA博士学位。
      
      
12. 论文写作的形式是什么？
    完成博士课题项目研究后，候选人必须提交其课题项目研究的论文，然后进行答辩。 提交论文需要通过导师的批准。
    
    
13. 如何寻找导师？
    一旦录取入学，在双向选择的基础上，将会根据每一位学生的需求为其配备导师。导师主要来自新加坡社科大学商学院全职老师。 在整个科目课程学习中，这位与其配对的老师将一直做为学生的博士导师之至毕业。导师的专业所长和研究兴趣应与学生的课题方向吻合。
    
    
14. 我应当多久见一次导师？
    建议您定期与您的导师见面。每月至少与您的导师会面一次。导师通常在工作时间内可以预约见面。每学期应提交进度报告，以跟踪您的进度并得到导师的批准。
    
    
15. 博士项目的时长？
    博士学位候选人资格的最短年限是3年，最长年限为7年。
    
    
16. 学费多少？
    费用明细请参考网页
    
    
17. 外籍学生如何申请准证？
    申请成功的外籍学生，学校会协助提交申请学生准证。详情请点击这里。
    


18. PhD和DBA有什么区别？
    PhD旨在培养以应用为重点的社会科学领域的研究人员，他们可以创造知识、促进专业发展并对社会产生影响。 DBA面向对知识有好奇心并想要发展学者结构思维的商业领袖、企业家、高级管理人员，基于数据支持的应用研究来回答与业务相关的问题并优化商业管理决策。
    

Tan Siew Gek Gayle (Supervisor: Associate Professor Chang Young Ho)
Doctor of Business Administration, Graduation Year: 2024

This study examines the effect of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance on firm valuation in Singapore. Using stock price and stock returns, it also examines if the firm valuation effects are more pronounced in state owned companies. Further, the study examines the value enhancing effects of companies’ ESG efforts with the incorporation of macroeconomic variables. The data comprises 51 Singapore listed companies with complete ESG and financial data during the five-year period from 2018 to 2022. The study finds that social performance and state ownership positively affect stock prices while the interaction of overall ESG and social performance with state ownership suggests negative relationships. The incorporation of macroeconomic variables appears to slightly weaken the positive effects of state ownership on stock prices while the interaction between overall ESG, social and governance performance with state ownership presents negative relationships. Along with social performance, overall ESG performance positively affects stock returns. The positive effects of social performance on stock returns appear to be slightly weakened with incorporation of macroeconomic variables. These insights emphasize the role of social initiatives in determining stock prices and returns, highlighting the complex interrelationships among ESG, state ownership, and financial factors. These findings hint that ESG improvements will not have visible impacts on stock prices in mature financial markets with stringent regulatory oversight and governments’ substantial influence over corporate practices could diminish differences in the market perception of ESG efforts between SOEs and non-SOE companies.

Ho Jia Jun Stephen (Co-Supervisor: Professor Wee Chow Hou, Dr Wang Yue)
Doctor of Business Administration, Graduation Year: 2024

Rapid digitalisation, catalyzed by new technologies such as cloud computing, social media, Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G, has given rise to the proliferation of big data (BD). Analysis of such big data, or big data analytics (BDA), has been shown to improve organisational performance. Yet, the adoption of big data analytics by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has generally been lagging their larger counterparts and extant literature investigating BDA adoption amongst SMEs is scarce. This inaugural empirical study looked into the key factors impacting the adoption of BDA amongst Singapore SMEs across all industry clusters as defined by Singapore’s Trade and Industry ministry, drawing clear linkages between the factors behind BDA adoption, the types of business values created as well as the positive impact on the SMEs’ market and financial performances of SMEs, using the combined Technology – Organisation – Environment (TOE), Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) and Resource Based View (RBV) frameworks. Prior experience with government grants, top management support and organisational readiness were seen to significantly impact SMEs’ BDA adoption, which gave rise to significant informational, transactional and strategic business values. The SMEs’ market performance was also found to have significant mediating effect between SMEs’ adoption of BDA and the corresponding financial performance. Apart from extending current literature, this study has also laid the foundation for future longitudinal investigation through the establishment of a SME BDA adoption benchmark which should provide useful insights into as well as serve as a useful catalyst in SMEs’ adoption of BDA, benefiting SMEs, BDA technology vendors as well as policy makers in the ever-evolving field of BDA.

Bian Jiang (Supervisor: Dr Wang Yue)
Doctor of Business Administration, Graduation Year: 2024

本研究深入探讨了中国职业教育领域中学生职业召唤的影响因素，重点分析了学校氛围、心理授权以及数字化教育支持和政策感知对职业召唤的作用。研究采用问卷调研法，以游戏职业培训班学生为样本，探索了学校氛围（包括教师支持、学生支持和自主性）对职业召唤的直接影响，以及心理授权在这一过程中的中介作用。此外，研究还考察了数字化教育支持的有用性和易用性感知、以及政策强度感知在心理授权与职业召唤之间的调节作用。
研究结果表明，良好的学校氛围对提高学生的职业召唤具有积极影响，而心理授权在学校氛围与职业召唤之间发挥着部分中介作用。同时，数字化教育支持的有用性和易用性感知，以及政策强度感知在这一过程中起到显著的调节作用。这些发现为职业教育学校在提升学生职业召唤方面提供了实践指导，强调了优化学校氛围、加强心理授权、利用数字化教育资源和提高政策宣传的重要性。
本研究的局限性在于样本选择的局限性和研究的时效性。未来研究可扩展至更多行业和专业，进行长期跟踪研究，以更全面地理解职业召唤的动态变化。总体而言，本研究为理解和改善职业教育学生的职业召唤提供了宝贵的见解，并为未来的研究和实践指明了方向。

This study investigates the factors influencing the vocational calling of students in the field of vocational education in China, with a focus on analyzing the impact of school atmosphere, psychological empowerment, and the support of digital education and policy perception on vocational calling. The research employed a questionnaire survey method, using students from video game vocational training classes as the sample. It explored the direct impact of school atmosphere (including teacher support, student support, and autonomy) on vocational calling, as well as the mediating role of psychological empowerment in this process. Additionally, the study examined the moderating role of the perceived usefulness and ease of use of digital education support, and the perception of policy intensity, between psychological empowerment and vocational calling. The results indicate that a positive school atmosphere has a beneficial impact on enhancing students' vocational calling, and psychological empowerment plays a partial mediating role between school atmosphere and vocational calling. At the same time, the perceived usefulness and ease of use of digital education support, and the perception of policy intensity, significantly moderate this process. These findings provide practical guidance for vocational education schools in enhancing students' vocational calling, emphasizing the importance of optimizing the school atmosphere, strengthening psychological empowerment, utilizing digital education resources, and enhancing policy advocacy. The limitations of this study lie in the limited selection of samples and the timeliness of the research. Future studies could extend to more industries and specialties and conduct long-term follow-up research to more comprehensively understand the dynamic changes in vocational calling. Overall, this study provides valuable insights for understanding and improving the vocational calling of vocational education students and points out directions for future research and practice.

Aurora Wang (Supervisor: Professor David Lee)
Doctor of Business Administration, Graduation Year: 2024

数字经济时代，市场中滋生出了大量的、各种各样的数字资产。数字资产在产业数字化转型、数字化业务发展中发挥着重要价值，并逐渐成为关键生产要素。数字资产的价值已经引起社会各界的关注与重视。而完善数字资产交易体系，对于盘活数字资产，进而促进市场经济和数字经济的高质量发展具有极大的意义。因此，如何建立高效、可信、安全的数字资产交易体系成为市场热点。
本研究以“数字资产去中心化交易”为研究对象。首先，剖析学术界关于区块链技术、数字资产、数字资产（去中心化）交易的研究现状，并在此基础上明确了数字资产的相关定义，分析了区块链技术在数字资产交易中的价值。其次，通过分析数字资产交易的宏观环境（包括：政治环境、经济环境、社会环境、技术环境等），剖析了数字资产交易市场痛点，总结了关于数字资产去中心化交易模式的特点及优势。此外，通过梳理数字资产交易形成的条件及数字资产去中心化交易的形成基础，本研究创新性的构建了数字资产去中心化交易生态模型和数字资产去中心化交易平台架构模型。本研究认为，安全、透明、可信、高效是数字资产去中心化交易模型设计所需考虑的要素；界定数字资产去中心化交易生态参与方是实现数字资产供需双方自由匹配与可信交易的基础；分布式架构、开放API以及SDK/H5是实现数字资产去中心化交易高频、高量、高并发的途径；可信数据共享、资产可信、全维度风控管理机制是推进数字资产去中心化交易的核心等。最后，通过选取典型案例项目--Uniswap、Kyber Network、Opensea以及FTX，进一步实证了上述两种模型的合理性。本研究所提出的数字资产去中心化交易模型具有一定的前瞻性，其设计理念、设计方法、设计路径亦可为去中心化交易平台的迭代及优化提供参考。本研究初步提出的数字资产去中心化交易模型，能够解决市场中存在的一些问题，但亦需持续关注新兴技术及前沿IT架构在该领域的应用模式，探索更加安全、可广泛使用的数字资产去中心化交易范式。

In the era of the digital economy, a large number of diverse digital assets have emerged in the market. Digital assets play an important role in the digital transformation of industries and the development of digitization businesses, gradually becoming critical production factors. The value of digital assets has gained attention and recognition from various sectors of society. Therefore, establishing an efficient, trustworthy, and secure digital asset trading system holds great significance for revitalizing digital assets and promoting the high-quality development of the market economy and digital economy. Consequently, how to establish an efficient, trustworthy, and secure digital asset trading system has become a market hotspot.
This study focuses on "decentralized trading of digital assets." Firstly, it analyzes the current research of blockchain technology, digital assets, and (decentralized) digital asset trading in the academic field. Based on this analysis, it provides clear definitions of digital assets and analyzes the value of blockchain technology in digital asset trading. Secondly, by analyzing the macro-environment of digital asset trading, including political, economic, social, and technological environments, it identifies pain points in the digital asset trading market and summarizes the characteristics and advantages of decentralized trading models for digital assets. Additionally, by examining the conditions for digital asset trading and the foundations of decentralized digital asset trading, this study innovatively constructs an ecological model for decentralized digital asset trading and an architectural model for decentralized digital asset trading platforms. The study asserts that security, transparency, trustworthiness, and efficiency are essential considerations for designing decentralized digital asset trading models. It defines the participants in the decentralized digital asset trading ecosystem as the foundation for achieving free matching and trustworthy transactions between digital asset suppliers and demanders. Distributed architecture, open APIs, SDK/H5, trustworthy data sharing, trustworthy assets, and comprehensive risk management mechanisms are the pathways to achieve high-frequency, high-volume, and high-concurrency decentralized digital asset trading. Finally, by selecting representative case projects such as Uniswap, Kyber Network, Opensea, and FTX, the study further demonstrates the rationality of the aforementioned models. The proposed decentralized digital asset trading model in this study has a certain degree of foresight, and its design principles, methods, and paths can provide references for the iteration and optimization of decentralized trading platforms. The preliminary decentralized digital asset trading model proposed in this study can address some of the issues present in the market. However, it is necessary to continuously monitor the application patterns of emerging technologies and cutting-edge IT architectures in this field in order to explore a more secure and widely applicable paradigm for decentralized digital asset trading.

Chew Chin Hui Andrew (Supervisor: Dr Jiang Zhiying)
Doctor of Business Administration, Graduation Year: 2023

B2B (business to business) companies often tend to price sub optimally and fail to capture the true value of their offering because they do not fully understand their customers’ preferences for products or services. Such insights can be gained from formal price research such as conjoint analysis. A case study is conducted with a leading energy management company to prove that willingness to pay can be sought. It also investigates what attributes and how much customers are willing to pay for each attribute. The results illuminate surprising insights on the most valued attribute, debunking internal marketers’ long held assumptions and opens the possibility to launch an alternative product that could potentially win a high level of market share. This research shed light on how systematic research can be applied to improve B2B firms’ pricing practices to impact profitability.

Low Wai Lup (Supervisor: Associate Professor Zhang Meilin)
Doctor of Business Administration, Graduation Year: 2023

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been recognized as one of the most disruptive technologies for marketing management. Many enterprises recognizing AI’s potential have tried adopting AI as a strategic differentiator. However, evidence from industry and academia showed that adoption had been primarily in business-to-consumer (B2C) organizations. Very few studies have looked into the adoption of AI for marketing in business-to-business (B2B) organizations. This research aims to identify the factors affecting B2B marketers’ intention to adopt AI for marketing. We interviewed experienced B2B marketers and AI subject matter experts for their insights. Drawing upon the analysis and theories on the process and context of the TOE framework, we present a structural equation model for assessing AI adoption intent in B2B marketing. We hypothesize that four themes from our analysis impact the intention to adopt AI for B2B marketing. Survey data shows that the Maturity of Technology and Technology Support Infrastructure themes influence B2B marketers’ intention to adopt AI for marketing, which presents significant and consequential implications for stakeholders in the ecosystem. We explain why some factors in existing literature may not be applicable for B2B marketing AI adoption. Our results also show that there might be some truth in the saying “AI is the new shiny toy,” with B2B marketers not considering pertinent factors when forming the intention to adopt marketing AI.

Yow Su Chin (Supervisor: Prof David Lee)
Doctor of Business Administration, Graduation Year: 2023

This research studies the use of Virtual Reality Applications for user adoption of a Robo-Advisory system. The study is set against the backdrop of innovation in financial services and the increasing adoption of digital platforms, known as Robo-Advisory platforms, to perform such services. RAs enable all classes of investors to participate in financial markets at lower cost, by automating their investment decisions, thus enabling more financial inclusion. However, the adoption of RA seems to be only at the “early adopter” stage. As a new technology, they follow the typical technological diffusion process. Regulators are also cautious. Early adopters tend to be young, financially literate, and technologically literate. However, would this imply that other demographic groups would be more resistant to such adoption? The key to understanding adoption, is to understand “trust”. Cultural and demographic differences aside, the user must trust the technology. RAs must therefore be designed to build trust in people. This study approaches the question using a Systems Design approach and adds some innovative Virtual Reality elements to an existing Robo-Advisory system, to examine whether it can improve adoption. Findings are that such features improve the attitudes of trust amongst users and encourage user sign-ups. The implications are that Robo-Advisory platforms can explore introducing VR elements and other aspects of Web3.0 into their platforms. Extending the reach of such platforms to otherwise disadvantaged groups can further encourage financial inclusion.

Tan Teck Keong Patrick (Supervisor: Associate Professor Joseph Lim)
Doctor of Business Administration, Graduation Year: 2023

Empirical studies have found that for companies that show a lack of ESG activities, investors expect to be compensated for the risk premium over and above firm-specific size, value and momentum-based risks. Thus, firms that do good by adopting sustainable corporate policies reduce downside risks which in turn enhance the firms’ stability. Companies with strong ESG characteristics typically have above-average risk control and compliance standards, and suffer less frequently from severe incidents such as fraud, embezzlement, corruption, or litigation cases. Consequently, ESG companies have less stock-specific downside or tail risk in the company’s stock price. This research seeks to understand why, given the evidence, there is a lack of pull or push factors for ESG investing in Singapore. Overall, this research contributes to the literature and practice by explaining the level of ESG awareness and actual ESG investing in Singapore. This research creates an awakening call for regulators and market participants to engender long-term developments in the Singapore fund management industry in five ways. First, an increase in government support, industry consultations and regulatory clarity to promote and accelerate ESG investing. Second, a proliferation of ESG education and accreditation for market participants which include fund managers, institutional and retail investors, issuers and analysts to equip them with the knowledge and skills for ESG implementation. Third, a more focused marketing strategy by fund management firms to promote ESG funds and socialise the benefits of ESG investing. Fourth, a new mission for NGOs/NPOs to further their ESG agenda by promoting ESG investing. Finally, the emergence of donors’ voice in support of societal good via ESG investing. Going forward, it is envisaged that the Singapore Government will study the gaps in the ESG investing ecosystem in Singapore to provide more support, incentives and ESG-friendly regulations. Furthermore, the fund managers operating in Singapore can expect an increase in ESG investing as a result of targeted marketing strategy and more co-ordinated ESG activities by NGOs/NPOs through fund managers, investors and donors.

Tay Kok Choon (Supervisor: Associate Professor Calvin Chan)
Doctor of Business Administration, Graduation Year: 2023

In the contemporary digital landscape, companies must prioritize two key strategies to flourish: (1) digitalisation – the integration of digital technologies into existing processes for enhanced efficiency; and (2) digital transformation – comprehensive organisational change in response to industry trends. This research study addresses a gap in the literature by utilizing a case study methodology to investigate the influence of leadership on digital transformation and digitalisation in two organisations in Singapore: DBS Bank Limited (DBS) and Hotel Jen Tanglin Singapore (HJTS). Specifically, the study examines how leadership orchestrates digital transformation and digitalisation in these organisations. The findings underscore the divergent approaches to digital transformation adopted by DBS and HJTS. DBS's leadership emphasized a comprehensive, organisation-wide transformation, accentuating vision, culture, and stakeholder engagement. This approach galvanized teams to surpass expectations, necessitating substantial investment in human resources and organisational culture. Conversely, HJTS's leadership targeted digitalisation to address specific operational challenges, such as labour shortages. By employing autonomous robots and optimising processes, HJTS sought to enhance operational efficiency and guest satisfaction while preserving the significance of human interaction. Nonetheless, HJTS's approach exhibited a limited focus on wider business model innovation. Drawing on the study's findings, insights and guidance are drawn for corporate executives and policymakers wishing to promote and implement digital transformation and digitalisation.

Liu Hon Yi (Supervisor: Prof David Lee)
Doctor of Business Administration, Graduation Year: 2023

The new Web3.0 economy is currently at the forefront of technology adoption and integration to achieve unprecedented high growth. Given the inherent nature of the new Web3.0 economy, business is radically different from conventional business models, and the factors of consideration and valuation framework that investors used before may no longer be comprehensive and exhaustive. This paper proposes a strategic valuation framework for new Web3.0 economy companies that recognizes their unique features and capabilities. The 4E Principle, comprising Economies of Scale, Economies of Scope, Economies of Integration, and Economies of Convergence, defines four essential attributes of the new Web3.0 economy business framework that can help companies achieve sustainable social business for the future. The paper argues that conventional valuation frameworks are insufficient to encapsulate all the factors of consideration for new economy companies due to factors such as negative or unpredictable cash flows and rapidly pivoting business models. The proposed framework provides a dynamic and relative measurement that can be used to analyse and compare Web3.0 companies. It can supplement or modify traditional valuation models and provide insights into their potential value, which may remain unreflective in conventional models. The paper studied two case studies Alibaba Group and Lufax Holding Ltd with their historical events and the corresponding market valuations to demonstrate that the framework can complement traditional financial data in explaining the market valuation. The paper further applies this framework to Grab Holdings, cryptocurrencies, Coinbase, and five digital banks in Singapore, predicting which bank will have better comparative advantages. The paper concludes that as the industry continues to evolve, new approaches and frameworks must be developed to keep up with the pace of change. Further research is needed on the impact of social causes, governance, and industry regulations on the sustained success of a firm beyond this paper's scope.

Wang Xiao Sheng (Supervisor: Associate Professor Alex Qian)
Doctor of Business Administration, Graduation Year: 2022

人才驱动模式给中国带来新的发展动力，中国逐渐把人才的重要性提升到战略高度。各地都认为那些稀缺的“人才金字塔”最顶端的顶尖人才是引领推动城市科技创新、转型发展的关键力量，成为了现阶段中国城市间人才竞争中争夺最激烈的部分。为了创造城市引才品牌，吸引潜在的人才，近几年地方政府出台了很多吸引外国高端人才相关的政策，提升和保持城市竞争力。本研究将聚焦在A类外国高端人才，深入了解浙江省杭州、宁波、嘉兴三个城市引进海外高端人才的基本政策和实施现状。杭州、宁波、嘉兴三地吸引外国高端人才的政策，基本代表了中国现阶段城市吸引外国高端人才的现状、趋势和发展。 本研究通过文献查阅，比较分析、问卷采访等形式，运用定性分析法，分析三地引进海外高端人才的政策举措以及阻碍政策效应的问题，审视政府在应对人才政策迭代及加码过程中的“治理”视角，并提出相应对策建议。城市的能级与城市对人才的吸引力正相关，在全球顶尖人才分布不均的情况下，要吸引这些风毛菱角的顶尖人才，人才政策的战略重点应该放在与区域经济相匹配的一流的大事业平台和大产业生态上。人才政策同质化竞争只会带来恶性竞争和大量的投机与寻租行为，人才政策取向应该遵循城市的定位、资源禀赋、经济地理优势等错位发展。

The talent-driven model has introduced new development momentum to China, and China has gradually raised the importance of talent to a strategic height. All local governments believe that the top talents are the key forces promoting technological innovation, transformation and development. It has become the most intense part of the talent competition among Chinese cities. Local governments in China have introduced policies to attract top foreign talents in recent years to maintain and enhance competitiveness. This study explores policies and implementation status regarding measures that are designed to attract Class A top foreign talents in the cities of Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Jiaxing in Zhejiang Province. The policy making and implementation of Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Jiaxing represent the current status, trend and future development of talent policies among cites in China. Using literature review, comparative analysis and online survey, this study adopts a qualitative perspective to analyse policies regarding the recruitment of top foreign talents among three cities, as well as issues that would hinder their effectiveness. This study also examines the government’s perspective in dealing with replacements and enhancement of foreign talent policies, and ultimately proposes suggestions for policy making. The main conclusion of this study is that the capacity of a city is positively correlated with the city’s attractiveness to talents. Given the uneven distribution of the world’s top talents, the talent policy should focus on facilitating the building of business platform and industrial ecology that match the unique regional economy. Homogeneous talent policies will only encourage ineffective competitions, speculations, and rent-seeking behaviours. The general direction of the talent policy should follow the city's strategic position, resource endowment, and economic and geographic advantages.

Li Wang Jian (Supervisor: Associate Professor Yu Yinghui)
Doctor of Business Administration, Graduation Year: 2022

自中本聪发布比特币白皮书以来，数字货币市值和区块链去中心化应用生态都呈现急剧增长态势，特别是以以太坊为标志的区块链2.0出现后，区块链和去中心化应用范围不断扩展，商业模式、技术研究也不断创新。时至今日，去中心化领域已经完全成为一个不可忽视的产业和生态，并原生出顽强的生命力和创造力，持续超多元化、规模化方向发展。当前，去中心化金融总体规模已经达到千亿美元规模，但总体发展还处于指数曲线攀升阶段，以区块链为代表的分布式技术以其去中心化、不可篡改可追溯、多方协作自治等特点，具备在金融领域广泛运用的技术基础，且已经经过市场初步验证，能够解决目前金融领域存在的诸多瓶颈。 区块链、去中心化技术源自最早小众人群对新金融体系的探索，其本质也是金融科技的创新，到目前为止，去中心化世界最有创新性、最具传播能量的就是其金融应用，以至于去中心化金融已经完全成为当前世界范围内金融体系所不可或缺的组成部分，给下一代新金融体系的自成长提供了极大的助力，然而由于去中心化金融技术复杂度、地区间监管政策不一致性等因素的限制，导致去中心金融领域仍然存在诸多信息亟待解决的问题，制约着去中心化金融普及和新金融体系的深化发展。总体来说，去中心化金融发展仍然处于早期阶段，本身存在认知深度和广度限制，业界普遍还缺乏技术理论基础以及应用方法论。因此，积极探索去中心化金融的应用现状、分析和思考其未来具有重要的现实意义。 本文基于当前去中心化金融业务发展现状、去中心化技术应用现状、综合外部环境等，从去中心化金融体系现状构成、应用价值及解决的问题、未来演进趋势方向三个方面综合立体阐述了去中心化金融内容，对从业者关心的为什么需要去中心化金融、当前如何参与去中心化金融、去中心化金融未来如何发展三个核心问题作出了明确回答。

Since Nakamoto released the Bitcoin white paper, the market value of digital currency and the application ecology of blockchain decentralization have shown a sharp growth trend. Especially after the emergence of blockchain 2.0 marked by Ethereum, the application scope of blockchain and decentralization has been continuously expanded, and the business model and technical research have been continuously innovated. Today, the field of decentralization has evolved into an industry and ecology that cannot be ignored. It has demonstrated tenacious vitality and creativity and continues to develop in the direction of super diversification and scale. The overall capitalisation of decentralized finance has reached US $100 billion, and it is still undergoing exponential growth. The distributed technology represented by blockchain has the potential to be widely adopted in the financial field due to its characteristics of decentralization, tamper proof and traceability, multi-party cooperation and autonomy, and there has been preliminary evidence in the market that it can be utilised to solve existing bottleneck problems in finance. Blockchain and decentralized technology originated from the earliest exploration of a new financial system by a small group of people. Its essence is also the innovation of financial technology. So far, the most innovative and powerful applications in the decentralized world are the financial applications, and decentralized finance has become an indispensable part of the current global financial system, empowering the self-growth of the next generation of new financial system. However, due to the limitations caused by the complexity of decentralized financial technology and the regulatory inconsistencies across regions, etc., there are still many obstacles remained to be overcome in the field of decentralized finance, which otherwise restricts the mass adoption of decentralized finance and the in-depth development of the new financial system. In summary, the development of decentralized finance is still in its early stage and the technical theories and systematic methodologies of implementation are still lacking in practice. It is of great importance therefore to further investigate the development trends of decentralized finance and to improve the theoretical framework, so as to provide guidance and applicable tool and methodologies to practitioners. This paper examines extensively and thoroughly the current development of decentralized finance, the applications implemented, and the conventional financial bottleneck problems solved. It then analyses the developmental trends of decentralized finance and offers recommendations for its future development. I also try to answer in this paper three key questions that matter the most to practitioners: why is decentralized finance needed, how to participate, and what is the future of decentralized finance.

Tan Chee Meng William (Supervisor: Associate Professor Chang Young Ho)
Doctor of Business Administration, Graduation Year: 2022

This study examines the Singapore Open Electricity Market (OEM) which had 21 Electricity Retailers when it was launched in 2019. This number of retailers appeared to be large compared with other network industries with similar market size, but a smaller number of market participants. The study explores how these Electricity Retailers interact and compete with each other for customers, given the relative differences in market shares and market power. Two approaches are employed to analyse how Electricity Retailers compete – the structural model approach and non-structural market approach. The structural approach takes two measures, concentration ratios and Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) while the non-structural approach takes the Lerner Index that measures the degree of monopoly power. The Electricity Retail market is benchmarked against three other network industries of similar characteristics – the products or services are necessities that are frequently consumed and purchased, the choice of retailers is often invisible to others making the purchase decision a fairly low involvement decision and there is a state or quasi-state body involved in the industry. The three network industries are the Mobile Telco, Grocery and Taxi industries. The Mobile Telco and Taxi industries appear to be very highly concentrated while the Electricity Retail and Grocery industries appear to be less concentrated. The high Lerner Index for the Mobile Network Operators of the Mobile Telco and the Taxi industries suggest these industries act like a monopoly. Pricing is not used much as a competitive tool for the four network industries in Singapore and market participants appear to follow the pricing set by market leaders, with market participants in the Mobile Telco and Taxi industries acting as implicit cartels to maintain prices. The inverse of HHI presents an effective number of market participants in each network industry that could replicate the level of competition and concentration at each industry, which appears to be eight, three, seven and four for the Electricity Retail, Mobile Telco, Grocery and Taxi industries, respectively. These estimates are confirmed by the respective concentration ratios of each industry.

Wong Keng Siong (Supervisor: Associate Professor Chang Young Ho)
Doctor of Business Administration, Graduation Year: 2022

Serial defaults by some countries have been said to be a common phenomenon, even though credit defaults by sovereign borrowers are known as “low default probability” events. This study therefore sets out to validate the perception that some countries are more predisposed to sovereign defaults than others. Recent sovereign defaults have also revived the debate about the roles and relevance of credit rating agencies. This study then looks at usefulness of ratings issued by rating agencies in providing advance warnings of sovereign defaults. Finally, this study seeks to find commonalities amongst countries that has defaulted so that metrics can be developed to identify future defaulters. Probit tests using panel data dating back to 1975 support the view that sovereign borrowers are likely to default in the first seven years following a credit default. Tests of the sample means of the notch differences of the ratings issued by the Big Three rating agencies in the periods before a sovereign default suggest that credit ratings are not predictive of imminent sovereign default. Subsequently, multinomial probit regression has identified the Worldwide Governance Indicators and the Human Development Index to be statistically significant drivers of sovereign defaults.

Toh Meng Sung Christopher (Supervisor: Associate Professor Chang Young Ho)
Doctor of Business Administration, Graduation Year: 2022

This study aims to prove the hypothesis that the Chinese Coal industry will prosper if Chinese Coal companies adopt environmentally sustainable practices. First, this study identifies the forces and hurdles that are preventing Chinese Coal miners from adopting environmentally sustainable practices. Second, it proposes solutions for the Chinese coal miners to practice in an environmentally sustainable and profitable manner, namely environmental management and organizational change. A qualitative approach is employed to investigate the hypothesis, namely document review and analysis of company website materials, an online qualitative questionnaire, face-to-face interviews with selected people at some of the Chinese Coal companies and experts’ views. Espoused theory and institutional logic confirm the applicability of theories in the context of the Chinese Coal industry. The findings of the thesis demonstrate that the development of the Coal industry in China can be reconciled with the strengthening of environmental regulations, together with the adoption of environmentally sustainable practices, and on this base, suggests the Coal industry has a promising future.