Research Korner: Hong Kong Economy

Research Proposal On The Linkage Between Hong Kong Economic Stability And To The Attributes Related In Buying A Bunker Company In Hong Kong

Buy A Company               This paper discusses in detail the research proposal on the linkage between Hong Kong economic stability and to the attributes related in buying a bunker company in Hong Kong. In particular, the research will focus on the questions: “What are the related factors in buying a company in Hong Kong and to its economic stability?” In this research proposal, the background, context and theme of the study are presented; the objectives of the study and the research statements are formulated. Here, vital concepts, questions and assumptions are stated. Finally, the scope and limitation of the study, methodology to be used and the significance of the research are discussed. Further, this paper briefly reviews related literature.   PROBLEM TO BE INVESTIGATED Purpose of the Study Generally, the purpose of the research is to conduct an experimental study to determine the relationship of Hong Kong economic stability and to the attributes related in buying a company. The research will specifically identify the different factors related to buying a company in accordance to Hong Kong stability. Moreover, this proposed study would review relevant literature on the same topic.  Based on the preliminary review of literature, the researcher assumed that the attributes related in buying a company in Hong Kong has something to do to its economic stability. Research Question and Null Hypothesis The focus of this problem statement is to establish and determine the relationship between Hong Kong economic stability and buying a company. Currently, there are no studies that provide a definitive answer regarding the negative and positive influence of Hong Kong economic stability to the attributes affecting in buying a company and degree of their relationship. The researcher is hopeful that the proposed research will yield a significant result in terms of both positive and negative impact of Hong Kong stability to company buying in Hong Kong. Thus, the study will work on the following hypothesis: “There is a significant relationship between Hong Kong stability and buying a company.” This study will attempt to answer the following questions: 1.                  What are the positive factors in Hong Kong economic stability that has a significant effect in buying a company? 2.                  What are the negative factors in Hong Kong economic stability that has a significant effect in buying a company? 3.                  What is the degree of relationship of Hong Kong economic stability and buying a company? Definition of Terms Brief Overview of the Study             The proposed study will attempt to prove that there is a significant relationship between Hong Kong economic stability and reasons of buying a company?  A comparison of variables related in buying a company and Hong Kong stability, using experimental research method, will be made to investors, business group leaders and consumers. The study will be divided into five sections. The first section will introduce the topic and the background and nature of the problem. The second section will present a review of literature. The third section will discuss the methodologies that will be used for the study. The forth chapter will be presenting the results and findings. And the final section will present the conclusion.   BACKGROUND AND REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE             Pacific Rim stocks are so far down, a little uptick could mean big profits. The current situation of the world market reveals that there is a need for a safe evaluation in buying a business in Hong Kong. It is very important to consider the business profile of Hong Kong before buying a bunker company.             Assuming that the stock market isn't a pure game of chance, skilled bears make plausible arguments that the end is approaching: valuations are getting rather high, and the Asian crisis is bound to have a negative effect, at least at the margin, which could be enough to tip the odds. Now is the time to diversify, but where? In emerging markets, particularly Asia. Asian markets have nowhere to go but up, that's not to say that they'll recover this year or next - they don't need to. They've been slammed so hard, and they're operating from such a low base, that stocks you buy today could yield double-digit returns even if they creep up just a little. However, the listed and suggested considerations below in buying a company reveal the perfect appeal of Hong Kong in Market competition.             As Hong Kong becomes enmeshed in a deflationary scenario, the value of stocks has declined. This development has not gone unnoticed by local economic forces and there has been a rash of bottom-feeding recently.               The reasons for this are to buy back companies to simplify shareholdings, pay debt and to take public companies private. Assets are being bought cheaply as the current depressed state of the market has forced prices down.               In most cases, these moves are being spearheaded by majority shareholders and minority shareholders may not benefit. Minority shareholders usually invest in a company because they trust that the management over time will return a profit to them. Their position is quickly eroded when assets are sold.               Property developers are leading the reorganizations as the bottom has fallen out of the Hong Kong property market since the economic crisis of 1997-98. Property prices have declined as much as 60 percent since then.   PROCEDURES Description of the Research Design There are three kinds of research methods, correlational, experimental and descriptive. (Walliman and Baiche, 2001) The correlational kind of research method is used due to ethical problems with experiments. It is also used due to practical problems with experiments. Moreover, inferring causality from correlation not actually impossible, but very difficult. This mode of study is widely applicable, cheap, and usually ethical. Nonetheless, there exist some "third variable" issues and measurement problems. The correlational research refers to studies in which the purpose is to discover relationships between variables through the use of correlational statistics (r). The square of a correlation coefficient yields the explained variance (r-squared). A correlational relationship between two variables is occasionally the result of an outside source, so we have to be careful and remember that correlation does not necessarily tell us about cause and effect. If a strong relationship is found between two variables, using an experimental approach can test causality. In the descriptive method, it is possible that the study will be cheap and quick. It can also suggest unanticipated hypotheses. Nonetheless, this method will be very hard to rule out alternative explanations and especially infer causations. This descriptive type of research utilizes observations in the study.  To illustrate the descriptive type of research, Creswell (1994) states that the descriptive method of research is to gather information about the present existing condition.  In this study, the experimental method will be used; it is the only method that can be used to establish cause-and-effect relationships (Creswell, 1994). That is, it is the only one that can be used to explain the bases of behaviour and mental processes. In this method, the subjects are split into two (or more) groups. One group, called the experimental group gets the treatment that the researcher believes will cause something to happen (this treatment is formally called the independent variable). The experimental and control groups are compared on some variable that is presumed to reflect the effects of the treatment, or outcome. This is formally referred to as the dependent variable. To come up with pertinent findings and to provide credible recommendations, this study will utilize two sources of research: primary and secondary.  Primary research data will be obtained through this new research study. The secondary research data will be obtained from previous studies on the same topic.  This research will base its findings partially through quantitative research methods because this permits a flexible and iterative approach. During data gathering the choice and design of methods will be constantly modified, based on ongoing analysis. This will allow investigation of important new issues about single parenting and questions as they arise, and allow the researcher to drop unproductive areas of research from the original research plan. This study will also employ qualitative research method because it intends to find and build theories that will explain the relationship of one variable with another variable through qualitative elements in research. Through this method, qualitative elements that do not have standard measures such as behavior, attitudes, opinions, and beliefs will be analyzed.  Furthermore qualitative research is multimethod in focus, involving an interpretative, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. Accordingly, qualitative researchers deploy a wide range of interconnected methods, hoping always to get a better fix on the subject matter at hand. For this research design, the researcher will gather data, collate published studies from different local and foreign universities and articles from books and journals; and will make a content analysis of the collected documentary and verbal material. Afterwards, the researcher will summarize all the information and make a conclusion based on the hypotheses posited.   Description of the Sample   The population for this study will be investors, business organization leaders and consumers. Samples will compose of sixty (60) respondents from different business sectors. Stratified random sampling business establishments will be used to ensure a sample representative of all socioeconomic levels in the business system. Ten (10) samples will be randomly selected from each business organization. The samples will be divided into two groups- Treatment and no Treatment.  Investors and business leaders will belong Treatment group and the other set of samples will belong to the other group. The design is a randomized pretest/posttest control group design. There will be an intervention of some type with the Treatment group.  The other group will receive some type of instruction but not the same. This will be done for the purpose of comparison. Therefore, it is called a comparison group because a true control group receives nothing.   Description of the Instruments           To determine what perception of the respondents pertaining buying a company and Hong Kong stability, the researcher will prepare a questionnaire and a set of guide questions for the interview that will be asked to the intended respondents. Questionnaires will be of a non-threatening nature that can be completed within 30 minutes. The respondents will grade each statement in the survey-questionnaire using a Likert scale with a five-response scale wherein respondents will be given five response choices. The equivalent weights for the answers will be:   Range                                                            Interpretation             4.50 – 5.00                                        Strongly Agree 3.50 – 4.00                                              Agree 2.50 – 3.49                                              Uncertain 1.50 – 2.49                                              Disagree          0.00 – 1.49                                        Strongly Disagree   Moreover, the researcher will also conduct interview with the respondents. The interview shall be using a semi-structured interview. It shall consist of a list of specific questions and the interviewer, at times, does deviate from the list or inject any extra remarks into the interview process. The interviewer may encourage the interviewee to clarify vague statements or to further elaborate on brief comments. Otherwise, the interviewer attempts to be objective and tries not to influence the interviewer's statements. The interviewer does not share his/her own beliefs and opinions. The structured interview is mostly a "question and answer" session. For validation purposes, the researcher will initially submit a sample of the set of survey questionnaires and after approval; the survey will be conducted to five respondents.  After the questions were answered, the researcher will ask the respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further improvement and validity of the instrument.  The researcher will again examine the content of the interview questions to find out the reliability of the instrument.  The researchers will exclude irrelevant questions and will change words that would be deemed difficult by the respondents, to much simpler terms. The researcher will exclude the five respondents who will be initially used for the validation of the instrument.  Explanation of Procedures The project procedure will be broken down into five key stages; problem definition, research design, data collection, analysis of results and presentation findings and recommendations.  The original idea for the research project is developed by the project owner.  The idea is discussed with the supervisor and other students. The project supervisor then provided guidance on developing the hypotheses and key reference material that would be needed for the project. After the approval of this research proposal, the researcher will review literature pertaining to the topic. Afterwards, significant issues and problems will be identified. The researcher will then start determining the population for the study, following the sampling. For this study, the researcher will focus on Hong Kong. The researcher will ask the consent of the investors and business leaders and consumers. They will be ensured that their response to the survey and interview will be handled with high confidentiality. The procedures in data gathering will cover three months. The researcher will collate, tally and tabulate the results. A preliminary analysis will be done before submitting the final draft to the supervisor.  Discussion of External Validity             The researcher will attempt to make the sample as representative to the population as possible. The population will be investors, business leaders and consumers, although more emphasis will be attributed to the consumers. The study will only cover Hong Kong. Different business organizations will be selected through stratified random sampling so as to have a representative sample in relation to socioeconomic backgrounds. In each organization, ten respondents  will be selected through a systematic random sampling. Discussion of Internal Validity             The researcher will make sure to rule out any threats to the internal validity of the study. The researcher will consider events that occur during the course of the program that might impact the final outcome. In the testing part, the researcher will make sure that the content of the testing instrument used in pretest does not duplicate the posttest. Instead, the researcher will make the content of the posttest reflective of the pretest. Moreover, the researcher is hoping that participants will not drop out from the program. In presenting the findings of the study, the researcher will ask the help of a statistician in interpreting the results of survey and tests. References Arlow, Peter and Gannon, Martin J. “Social responsiveness, corporate structure, and economic performance” Academy of Management Review Vol. 7 No. 2. Chrisman, J.J., R. W. Archer (1984). Small business social responsibility: some perceptions and insights. American Journal of Small Business Vol. 9 (2). Dayton, Kenneth, chairman. Dayton Hudson Corporation. Lecture delivered at the University of Michigan. [October 30, 1975]. Nader, Ralph and Andrews, Kenneth R. (1983). “Reforming corporate governance: Difficulties in overseeing ethical policy. California Management Review. Vol. 26 No. 4. Petit, T. A. (1967). “The moral crisis in management. McGraw-Hill: New York. Spencer, H., and D. Heinze (1973). "Decision Making for Social Involvement--Some Criteria and Model Theoretic," in Academy of Management Proceedings, ed. T. Green and D. Ray, thirty-third annual meeting, Boston, Mass.: August 19-22, 601-607. Stroup, M. A. and Neubert, R. L. (1987). "Doing Good, Doing Better: Two Views of Social Responsibility -- The Evolution of Social Responsibility," Business Horizons Vol. 30  No. 2. Thompson, J. K. and Smith, H. L. (1991).  “Social responsibility and small business: Suggestions for research. Journal of Small Business Management. Vol. 29. Trost, C. (1988), "Senate Passes Easing of Bill on Job Leaves," Wall Street Journal, September 28, 10. Van Auken, P.M., R.D. Ireland (1982). “Plain talk about small business social responsibility”. Journal of Small Business Management Vol. 20.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Research Proposal On The Linkage Between Hong Kong Economic Stability And To The Attributes Related In Buying A Bunker Company In Hong Kong

Buy A Company This paper discusses in detail the research proposal on the linkage between Hong Kong economic stability ...