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A Comparison of the Higher Education Systems of Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong as a Model for Developing Nations, 1945-1980
The purposes of this study were to (a) examine higher education activities from 1945 to 1980 before Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong became newly industrialized countries; (b) study the higher education reforms that each country made in its progress in order to meet the challenge; (c) compare and contrast the higher education systems that were adopted; and (d) identify a single Asian higher education system model (descriptive model) for any country that desires to become an industrialized country. Historical research was utilized in this study. This study was approached as follows: First, the economic growth of the countries under study was examined. Then, the countries' higher education systems were compared and contrasted. The result is at least one possible higher education system model that can be used by any country to improve the future performance of its higher education system. The study concluded that the models of higher education used by Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong from 1945 to 1980 were not identical. However, they came to similar conclusions in terms of economic development. In this case, an emerging industrial country like the social and economic condition of Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong would find that adoption of those higher education models might be appropriate. For instance, an emerging country with a social and economic system like Taiwan would find Taiwan's higher education model appropriate for adoption in that country. On the other hand, if an emerging industrial nation has social and economic criteria dissimilar to those of Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, a proposed single model of higher education would be appropriate, with an adjustment to suit the national resources, cultural background, and structure of trades and the labor force of that country.
Military Spending, External Dependence, and Economic Growth in Seven Asian Nations: a Cross-National Time-Series Analysis
The theme of this study is that seven major East Asian less developed countries (LDCs) have experienced "dependent development," and that some internal and external intervening factors mattered in that process. Utilizing a framework of "dependent development," the data analysis deals with the political economy of development in these countries. This analysis supports the fundamental arguments of the dependent development perspective, which emphasize positive effects of foreign capital dependence in domestic capital formation and industrialization in East Asian LDCs. This perspective assumes the active role of the state, and it is found here to be crucial in capital accumulation and in economic growth. This cross-national time-series analysis also shows that the effects of external dependence and military spending on capital accumulation and economic growth can be considered as a regional phenomenon. The dependent development perspective offers a useful way to understand economic dynamism of East Asian LDCs for the past two decades.
The Relationships of Cross-Cultural Differences to the Values of Information Systems Professionals within the Context of Systems Development
Several studies have suggested that the effect of cultural differences among Information Systems (IS) professionals from different nations on the development and implementation of IS could be important. However, IS research has generally not considered culture when investigating the process of systems development. This study examined the relationship between the cultural backgrounds of IS designers and their process-related values with a field survey in Singapore, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Hofstede's (1980) value survey module (i.e., Power Distance (PDI), Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI), InDiVidualism (IDV) and MASculininity/femininity) and Kumar's (1984) process-related values (i.e., technical, economic, and socio-political) were utilized in the data collection. The hypotheses tested were: whether the IS professionals differed on (H.,) their cultural dimensions based on country of origin, (Hg) their process-related values based on country of origin, and (H3) whether a relationship between their cultural dimensions and their process-related values existed. The countries were significantly different on their PDI, UAI and MAS, but not on their IDV. They significantly differed on their technical and sociopolitical values but not on their economic values. IDV and MAS significantly correlated with the process-related values in Singapore, Taiwan and the United States. In the United Kingdom, UAI significantly correlated with socio-political values; and MAS significantly correlated with technical and socio-political values. In Taiwan, UAI significantly correlated with technical and economic values. PDI did not illustrate any significant correlation with the IS process-related values in all four countries. In Singapore and the United States, UAI did not significantly correlate with any of these values. The results provide evidence that IS professionals differ on most of their cultural dimensions and IS process-related values. While IDV and MAS could be useful for examining the relationship between culture and systems development, research involving PDI and UAI might be of questionable benefit.
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