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Doctor of Business Administration

Doctorate Degree Programme
(Postgraduate)

Focuses on training students to acquire in-depth knowledge and skills in selected management areas.

Doctor of Business Administration


Overview

Meet the Head of Programme at our online dialogue session via Zoom and have your questions answered!

• Session-SBIZ-BG1: Saturday, 09 March 2024, 10.00am - 11.00am

[ Find out more and register now! ]

The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) programme offered by School of Business of the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) focuses on training students to acquire in-depth knowledge and skills in selected management areas. With the training provided in this programme, entrepreneurs, senior management executives, and mid-career industrial practitioners are expected to develop rigorous and structural thinking process, acquire deeper knowledge and advanced research methodologies, and cultivate analytical skills that enable them to investigate and solve complex management problems and support evidence based strategy formulation.

The DBA curriculum offers exposure to knowledge relevant to the digital economy and provides students with a choice of management courses or a mix of multi-disciplinary courses to suit their applied research objectives. The programme is supported by a flexible learning environment that draws its benefits from SUSS's close linkage with industries.

The global economy is experiencing considerable uncertainty and challenges brought about by technological advancement and innovations, and changes in political landscapes and national demography. Managers and leaders need to develop a strategic mindset and global insights to address problems created by increasing economic volatility. The DBA programme is designed to produce graduates that are able to drive thought leadership in organisational change and organisational development, and effectively meet the challenges that disruptive technologies will bring to the economy.

Unique Features of the Programme

  • The programme provides graduates with in-depth training to develop rigorous and structural thinking process, cultivate analytical skills, and develop a strategic mindset and global insights.
  • The programme enables graduates to investigate and solve complex management problems, support evidence based strategisation, and drive thought leadership and innovation.
  • The curriculum design emphases sustainability, social responsibility and ethical practices of business operations.
  • It is an English Chinese bilingual programme. Students can benefit from SUSS's flexible teaching & learning environment, close industry linkages and opportunities to participate in overseas immersion courses.
  • SUSS DBA faculty and supervisors have an outstanding and diverse background across various industries. The faculty hold extensive teaching and research experiences.


新加坡社科大学商学院推出的工商管理博士学位项目注重学生在相关管理领域能力的培养,注重提高学生管理知识和技能的深度。通过本学位项目的训练,企业家、企业高级管理人员和处于职业生涯中期的专业人士将会形成严格的,结构化的思维模式,获得更深入的行业知识和先进的研究方法,培养定量及定性分析的能力,使其能够对复杂的管理问题进行调查研究从而提出解决方案,制定有实证支持的战略规划。

本学位项目招收来自中国,新加坡以及东南亚其他国家等不同背景的学生,让他们在同一个课堂里进行学习,在一带一路的大背景下,能够知识资源互补,互通有无。学生在本项目的学习过程将受益于新加坡社科大学灵活的学习环境,双语环境和与工业界建立的紧密联系。

全球经济正在经历由科技进步和创新、政治和人口的剧烈变化所带来的巨大的不确定性和挑战。企业的领导者和管理者需要发展出战略性思维和全球洞察力以便面对越来越大的经济波动。工商管理博士项目的训练能够让学生在一个企业和组织的改变和发展过程中对企业战略思维的改变起到引领的作用,以有效地面对颠覆性科技给经济带来的挑战。

项目主要特色

  • 本项目将为学生提供深入的思维训练,培养其严格和结构化的思维模式,培养定量分析的能力,培养战略性思维和全球洞察力。
  • 本项目的学习使学生能够对复杂的管理问题进行调查研究从而提出解决方案,制定实证支持的战略规划,引领企业创新和思维模式的改变。
  • 本项目的课程设置强调企业的可持续发展,企业对社会承担的责任和商业运行中的道德规范。
  • 本项目是一个中英文双语项目,学生的学习过程将受益于新加坡社科大学灵活的教学环境,与工业界建立的紧密联系,以及本项目的海外沉浸式课程学习体验。
  • 本项目的师资团队实力雄厚,大多具有资深行业背景和丰富的应用型研究和教学经验。这能为学生今后的职业生涯提供强大助力。

[ 下载宣传手册 ]

Admission Requirements

Refer to general admission criteria for graduate programmes.

Applicants to the DBA programme need to fulfil the following criteria for admission:

  • A MBA or EMBA or a Master's degree in relevant disciplines.
  • A minimum of five years of work experience.
  • Applicants with relevant work experience but with other qualifications will be considered on an individual basis.
  • Depending on the proposed research topic, specific relevant work experience will be an asset.
  • A resume/CV form, please follow the template available here
  • A research proposal, highlighting:
    • research questions;
    • motivation;
    • how would society benefit from the findings;
    • how do you plan to conduct the research
    Please follow the research proposal template.
  • Two reference letters on the character of the applicant as well as achievements and capabilities of the applicant. Referees are required to submit the reference letters directly to the Student Admissions department at admissions@suss.edu.sg using the reference letter template available here.
  • Shortlisted applicants will be required to undergo one or more interviews.

This programme is open to Singapore citizens and permanent residents, as well as international students.

All applications are considered individually on merit, and the offer of admission is dependent on the number of places available in individual programmes. Admission is solely at the discretion of SUSS and the decision is final and binding. SUSS reserves the right to refuse admission and is not obliged to offer an explanation for the non-admission of unsuccessful candidates.

申请人必须满足以下条件:

  • 具有工商管理硕士(MBA)或者高级工商管理硕士(EMBA)或者相关学科的硕士学位
  • 不少于5年的工作经验
  • 具有其他学位资格但拥有相关工作经验的申请人将会被个别考虑
  • 申请者提交的博士论文研究课题,若具备相关的工作经验,将对申请有利
  • 请填写简历表,此处下载
  • 博士论文研究课题,重点突出
    • 研究问题;
    • 研究动机;
    • 研究结果如何让社会受益;
    • 您打算如何进行研究
    研究课题模板,请在此处下载
  • 两封推荐信,主要对于申请者的个性,个人成就和能力进行评价;推荐人请直接将推荐信发至招生部电邮admissions@suss.edu.sg,推荐信模板请在此处下载
  • 候选申请人将会被要求参加面试。

该项目面向新加坡公民,永久居民以及国际学生招生。

录取结果取决于该项目的剩余录取名额。新加坡社科大学招生委员会的决定是最终的,具有约束力的。 大学保留拒绝录取的权利,并且没有义务为申请不成功的候选人提供解释。

Financial Assistance

The University offers course fee concession for selected graduate programmes. Please click here for more details.

大学针对年长者和本校校友提供一些本科以上课程费用优惠。请点击此链接了解更多详情。

Programme Structure

DBA students are required to complete 40 cu coursework (30 cu disciplinary knowledge courses and 10 cu research methodology courses) and submit a doctoral dissertation. Courses will mostly be held on 3 to 7 consecutive days including weekends from 9am to 6pm. 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.

Upon the completion of 30 cu coursework, students are awarded with the Graduate Diploma in Business. After the completion of an additional 10 cu coursework, students are required to successfully complete a qualifying examination (QE) in order to be granted DBA candidacy. DBA candidates are required to undertake an applied research project that culminates in a dissertation at the doctorate level. The dissertation should produce output via original applied research that is relevant to industry/professional practice and advances knowledge in these areas. Upon successfully defending their dissertations in the dissertation examination, candidates will be awarded DBA degree.

The minimum candidature period for DBA is 3 years and the maximum candidature period is 7 years.

学生需要完成40学分的课程(包括30学分的学科知识课程(Disciplinary Knowledge Course)和10学分的研究方法课程(Research Methodology Course),以及提交博士论文。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。

完成30学分课程后,学生将被授予商学研究生文凭。完成额外10学分课程后,学生需要顺利通过博士资格考试(Qualifying Examination)以获得博士学位候选人资格(DBA Candidacy)。

博士学位候选人需要进行一个应用课题的研究,并撰写论文。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(Dissertation Examination and Defence),博士学位候选人将会获得新加坡社科大学DBA博士学位。

博士学位候选人资格的最短年限是3年,最长年限为7年。

Courses will mostly be held on 3 to 7 consecutive days including weekends from 9am to 6pm.

点击此链接了解项目课程设置(英文)。
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。

Course Title
课程名称
Credit Unit
学分
Remarks
备注
Compulsory
必修课程
Contemporary Topics in Business and Management
当代商业与管理专题
5Course schedule: Courses consist of 6 workshops. Each workshop is 3 hours.
Course venue: Singapore and overseas

上课日程:6次工作坊,每次三小时
课程语言:英文(配中文同声翻译)
上课地点:新加坡及海外
Applied Research in Business and Management
商业和管理中的应用研究
10Course schedule: courses are conducted intensively
Course language: English (Chinese interpretation service provided)
Course venue: Singapore

上课日程:集中型授课模式
课程语言:英文(配中文同声翻译)
上课地点:新加坡
Strategy
战略
5Course schedule: courses are conducted intensively over 3 days
Course language: English (Chinese interpretation service provided)
Course venue: Singapore

上课日程:3天集中型授课模式
课程语言:英文(配中文同声翻译)
上课地点:新加坡
Doctoral Dissertation
博士论文
80
Elective (Business)
商业选修:需修读20学分
Strategic Leadership & Management for Excellence
战略领导力&卓越管理
5Course schedule: courses are conducted intensively over 3 days plus site visits
Course language: English (Chinese interpretation service provided)
Course venue: Singapore and overseas

上课日程:3天集中型授课模式加上公司参访
课程语言:英文 (配中文同声翻译)
上课地点:新加坡及海外
Corporate Governance, CSR and Change Management for Sustainability
公司治理,企业社会责任和可持续性变革管理
5
Managing Technology and Innovation
技术与创新管理
5
Business Economics and Public Policy
企业经济学与公共政策
5
Marketing for the Future Economy
新经济时代的市场营销
5
Inclusive FinTech
普惠金融科技
5
Graduate Unrestricted Electives
(Complementary courses up to 10 cu)
研究生无限制选修课
(最多可免费旁听10学分)
Level 5 graduate courses from other graduate programmes
其他研究生项目提供的5级课程

10
Course schedule: courses are conducted during one weekday night across a few consecutive weeks
Course language: English
Course venue: Singapore
上课日程:连续几周的某个工作日晚上
课程语言:英文
上课地点:新加坡

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.

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。

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 not mandatory, however, it may affect your participation marks. Besides, for some courses, we do have the minimum attendance requirement. Through course recording or broadcast tool, you are able to review the content. 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 table 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?
    出席不是强制性的,但是,它可能会影响您的课堂参与分数。 此外,对于某些课程,我们有最低出勤率的要求。 通过课程录制,实时直播等工具,您将可以上网查看和收听课程内容。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?
    准确的数额可以参考这张表格

  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。

Deriving Customer Value Using Conjoint Analysis: A Case Study of a B2B Market Leader

Chew Chin Hui Andrew
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.



Examining the Intention of Adopting AI in B2B Marketing through the TOE Framework

Low Wai Lup (Liu Weili)
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.



Impact and Challenges of Virtual Reality Applications for User-Adoption of a Robo-Advisory System

Yow Su Chin
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.



Environmental, Social and Governance in Investing (“ESG investing”) in Singapore

Tan Teck Keong Patrick
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.



Leadership in Digital Transformation & Digitalisation

Tay Kok Choon
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.



Emergence of new web3 companies and the 4Es principles

Liu Hon Yi
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.



中国浙江省三市的外国高端人才政策研究
A Study of High-level Foreign Talent Policies In Three Cities of Zhejiang Province

Wang Xiao Sheng
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.




去中心化金融:构建个体主权新金融体系
Decentralized Finance : Building a New Individual Sovereignty Financial System

Li Wang Jian
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.




Network Industry and Business Models: Competition and Economic Efficiency

Tan Chee Meng William
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.



Past Sovereign Defaults, the Predictability of Future Defaults and the Usefulness of Sovereign Ratings

Wong Keng Siong
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.



Environmental Sustainability and Coal Mining in China: Espoused Theory and Institutional Logic

Toh Meng Sung Christopher
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.

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