Your search

The present study aimed to analyse the differences in the internalising problems (anxiety, depression, somatic complaints), assessed by different informants (teachers and students), according to the level of academic achievement and school adaptation level in secondary students. Furthermore, we examine the gender difference in the level of internalising symptoms. Finally, we analyzed the differences between teacher-rated and adolescents' self-reported internalising symptoms. The Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) was used for collecting informants’ data. The sample consisted of 882 secondary students (349 males and 473 females), while 50 came from public schools and 772 from private schools. No significant differences are found in internalising problems according to the level of academic achievement from both teachers’ and students’ perspectives. Generally, students who are well-adapted to the school context have the least symptoms of internalising problems compared to average and less-adapted groups from the teachers' perspective. In addition, from students’ perspectives, adolescent females present more internalising problems than males. Finally, teachers rated fewer internalising problems when compared to the students. In conclusion, the low level of awareness of teachers towards the internalising problems of students arouse attention. It is suggested that teachers should attend professional development programs in order to address to students’ internalising problems

Examining consumer perceptions of scent marketing in Macau's retail setting is the goal of this study. The study focuses on the following two primary uses of scent marketing in retail environments: subliminal application and application as a component of branding strategy. Qualitative research methodology is used. A total of ten consumer interviews produced the data. The findings show that consumers are in favor of scent marketing's use in retail settings. The use of scent marketing as a tool for establishing brands is preferred, and consumers find this approach to scent marketing to be more acceptable than its subliminal application. Although consumers believe that other factors, such as price, are typically more significant than scent when making purchases, the use of subliminal scents was not always evaluated negatively. Unless occasionally when making an unplanned purchase, consumers do not think that a subliminal scent can significantly impact their purchasing behavior

The aim of this research is to investigate how power distance orientation effects the relationship between perceptions of organisational politics and perceptions of organisational justice. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted on 172 full time workers in Macau, where respondents self-responded to questionnaires that were translated back-to-back into Chinese in order to accommodate the populations native language. This study found that power distance was contrary to our initial hypothesis of high-power distance equals to high politics and low justice. It was found that high power distance in facts equates to lower political perceptions and higher justice perceptions. This study contributes to understanding power distance in Macau as it is not noted in the Hofstede cultural dimensions. We also learned that having a longer distance between a position of power can contribute to less political activity and more sense of justice for the employees

The aims of the present study are to investigate the level of work engagement of the inclusive teachers in Macau and what potential factors would contribute to the increase of their level of work engagement. In this research, the framework of the self-determination theory developed by Ryan and Deci in 2000 was partially employed. I suggested the inclusive teachers’ self-efficacy and perceived autonomy to act as the independent variables, while perceived organisational support was involved as the mediating variable. Quantitative method was applied in this study by using an online self-response questionnaire (N= 150). The stratified sampling strategy was applied as well in order to ensure the representativeness. No gender difference of work engagement level was found among Macau inclusive teachers. Positive correlations were found among all variables. Besides, perceived organisational support was expressing positive mediating effects on the relationships between independent and dependent variables under some specific circumstances. For example, the relationship between efficacy to use inclusive instructions and emotional and physical work engagement; the relationship between perceived autonomy and cognitive, emotional, and physical work engagement. Theoretical and practical implications for the non-tertiary schools and inclusive teachers can be found in this study. Future studies should be continued to investigate the limitations and suggestions of this field of research

Online shopping in Macau has developed rapidly in recent years. And the success of Taobao is significantly hard to not notice. Its’ sales are breaking the record every year. However, there are a lot of negative comments towards Taobao. Various researches and data have shown that live-streaming is one of the biggest contributions towards Taobao’s sales and record breaking. This research aims to investigate deeply to understand how Taobao counters those issues and the role of live-streaming in relation to it. Based on a review of the literature in the relevant areas , qualitative methodology is adopted after thorough considerations. A small sample size of 10 were selected to conduct semi-structured in-depth interviews and the participants agreed to respond to answer the original interview questions and the follow-up questions. Analysis of the responses demonstrated e-customer service is the most influential variable towards repurchase intention. Live-streaming strategy can effectively and directly reduce constomer’s uncertainty of products and increase the efficiency of responsiveness. And product uncertainty and responsiveness speed are variables that impact purchase intention. The result demonstrated live-streaming's effectiveness in combating multiple negative aspects of Taobao and strengthening the positive aspects. On this basis, live-streaming is an impactful method to combat Taobao. In addition, e-service in terms of sufficiency of the staff’s communication skill have been found important towards customer’s satisfaction. A gap related to such an issue has been recommended in the further research recommendations along with other factors or sample groups, which are needed to explore deeply in the future

Teacher turnover is a global issue that has not received much research attention in Macau despite studies indicating that teachers in the region experience high levels of stress and burnout. Given that private school teachers account for a significant proportion (88.6%) of the non-tertiary education system in Macau, this qualitative study focused on this specific group who voluntarily resigned from their positions. Through in-depth interviews with 13 former teachers from different kindergartens, primary, and secondary schools, the research identified 50 reasons categorized into 15 factors under three categories. Although schoolrelated factors account for the most, personal reasons were found to be the primary driver. The findings of the study highlight the complex nature of teacher turnover which can be attributed to both single and multiple factors, in both direct and indirect forms. The factors could also interplay in both unidirectional and mutual relationships. A conceptual framework for teacher turnover in Macau was developed to address the 15 contributing factors and the complex interplay of these factors. This study could fill the gap in the literature and serve as a valuable resource for policymakers and school leaders seeking to reduce teacher attrition rates in the region

With the rapid expansion of mobile e-commerce, an increasing number of businesses have jumped into the fray in all facets of the mobile electric commerce industry chain. The payment link is the most competitive. From the norm in the sector to the consumer market, telecom operator rivalry, as well as third-party payment between different companies, never ceases. In the context of mobile e-commerce, however, competition has shifted from traditional product-centered to customer- centered, and business success frequently rests on the customer. As a result, the competition in the mobile e-commerce payment industry is essentially about competing for users. Mpay is characteristic of mobile e-commerce payment firm representatives; on the basis of theoretical analysis, combined with the reality of the economic background, the study chose Mpay mobile payment users as research subjects and analyzed the major variables of user acceptability. The model was built on the basis of an extensive evaluation of past research results of user acceptance model and reference to UTAUT model. The model considered performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence, facilitating condition as independent variables determining user behavior intention, Based on the conceptual model, the paper conducted an empirical investigation as a case study of a Mpay mobile payment user using data from a questionnaire, while also conducting a separate discussion of the impact of perceived risk and trust on user acceptance. The empirical results indicate that for mobile payment users, performance expectancy has the greatest positive effect on behavior intention, while facilitating conditions, social influence, perceived risk, effort expectancy, and trust have no effect. In addition, gender and age were discovered to influence user acceptance

"Cantonese opera (CO) represents an art form that had its golden time in Macao during the mid-twentieth century. CO still has many loyal fans but they mainly are in the older generation. The purpose of this study was to explore if CO is considered a cultural capital heritage in Macao, related to cultural identity and transmitted across generations to support social bonding. Applying a qualitative methodology, a script for exploring participants’ experiences and opinions about CO was designed, and different groups of individuals were recruited for semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The data collected was analysed by a thematic analysis of the verbatim transcripts. Findings show that in the past first contacts with CO happened in family and related social context, mainly during participants’ developing age. However, currently CO is no longer passed on to the next generation. Despite that the young generations acknowledging their cultural identities in CO, mainly in terms of Cantonese culture and Cantonese language, older individuals engaged with CO seemed to perceive their cultural identities more in depth in its history, literacy and music. Actually, engagement is an important factor that generates social bonds. The CO leisure practitioners, no matter young or old, experienced the effects of social bonding during the ritual of enquiry in the process of learning and practising CO. To improve CO’s preservation in Macao, the adoption of strategies such as developing new productions, crossover with other media, innovations in promotion targeting the young audiences, and absorbing audiences in the Great Bay area were proposed. Finally, the potential use of CO as a tool in counselling and community work is discussed. "

"The purpose of the research aimed to explore the challenges and future possiblities of ways of promoting elderly social participation in Macau. As lack of related research has been conduted in Macau, this community services and government policies and to provide suggestions for improving the direction of sustainable development and future possible research topics in this area. The research adopts a qualitative and phenomenological approach to explore the current situations, difficulties and ideas through the industry experience and insights. Nine in-depth interviews with 9 representatives of elderly social service providers subsidised by Macau SAR Government from late April to July 2022 in Macau. The content analysis using open coding to collect inductive data. Throughout themetic analysis identified by four levels: individials, community and social services, governmental policies and infrastructures. Overall, the study found that the autonomy trend of future social participation of the elderly in Macao is enhanced by education and self-health concerns and they are more independent, but the participation of male elders and female elders is unbalanced. Social service providers for the elderly provide a large number of repetitive services and are too passive and dependent on government policies andsupport, resulting in a lack of innovative thinking. The infrastructure design promoted by the government does not consider the continuous health and activity development of the elderly. This study looks at the ability of the elderly in Macau to continue to develop their strengths in the future, and suggests the need to strengthen individual retirement life planning and development for the elderly, personal health monitoring improvement, diversification of social services, elderly-led community programs, private social enterprise capital, and elderly volunteering The urgency of the number of elderly people, more practical and effective elderly inclusive urban planning."

Projects are tactical and operational initiatives, and achieving specific outcomes through projects can help organizations achieve strategic goals. The effective use of project management tools and techniques is essential to achieve successful results, since the goal is to maximize the realization of the project's plan by effectively using the budget, time, and resources provided by the project owner to achieve the project's original purpose. The Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM) is a tool for measuring project management capabilities and is essential to improve project and portfolio performance in different industries. The main objective of this research is to analyze and characterize the maturity level and capacity of the IT industry in Macau and HengQin based on the assessment of the PMMM. The research also aims to assess and compare the maturity level in the IT industry in Macau and HengQin. An online survey was conducted and sent to IT project managers from Macau and HenqQin. A total of 34 responses were collected, divided into 3 different parts: Part I - General Information, Part II - Project Management Areas, and Part III - Perception. The results indicate that, in general, Project Managers state that their companies do not follow Project Management standards and best practices, classifying as Low and Very Low essential PM areas such as Planning and Scheduling (68%), Scope (61%) and Communications (64%). From a comparison perspective, project managers in Macau follow less formal frameworks than Hengqin in managing the triple constraints of the project. The collected data also indicate that Macau's communication management and stakeholder engagement are less mature than Hengqin's. Furthermore, the data indicate that maturity level is not necessarily related to education level, which means not higher education has a higher maturity level. Recommendations are provided for the IT industry in both areas, and specific comments are provided for each group or professionals. In conclusion, this work allows a novel characterization and a better understanding of the Project Management adoption and maturity level of the IT Industry in Macau and Hengqin

"In 2021/2022 academic year, there are 2,244 SEN students in Macau and its growth rate is 36% in ten years. However, at the present, there are 38 schools providing the related education to them. Admittedly, this is an unbalanced supply and demand. In fact, the teachers who work at inclusive education schools are bearing all responsibility to teach SEN students and their mental health is worth to attention. Moreover, there are 1,224 SEN students in primary (2021/2022 academic year), it accounting for 55% of all. That is, the numbers of their teachers are the most and they are representative. Therefore, exploring primary teachers’ burnout at inclusive education schools becomes the topic of this study, even more important, it is including to compare normal and resource teachers. This topic is rarer currently in Macau. On the one hand, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and (reduced) personal accomplishment are dimensions of burnout (Maslach et al., 1996). These become the dependent variables of this study. According Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) and the factors of self-efficacy in inclusive education (Sharma et al., 2012), the following hypotheses are provided to guide this study: (1) normal teachers’ emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment are higher than those in resource teachers; (2) teachers’ attitudes into inclusive education, (3) teachers’ self-efficacy to use inclusive instruction (SEII), (4) teachers’ self-efficacy in collaboration (SEC) and (5) teachers’ self-efficacy in v managing behavior (SEMB) both are negatively related to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment; (6) teachers’ stress of Covid19 is positively related to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. On the other hand, quantitative methodology, and snowball sampling are used in this research. At last, 132 responds are collected, including 100 normal teachers and 32 resource teachers. They are from 48 inclusive education schools in Macau. All data were analyzed by SPSS 25.0. The results of this study are followed: (1) teachers’ emotional exhaustion level is middle, their depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment levels both are low; (2) resource teachers’ emotional exhaustion and depersonalization are higher than normal teachers; (3) teachers’ attitudes into inclusive education negatively related to depersonalization but positively related to reduced personal accomplishment; (4) in the factors of self-efficacy, only SEII is negatively related to reduced personal accomplishment; (5) teachers’ stress of Covid-19 is positively related to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment."

The primary research focus of this dissertation revolves around the concept of a "plugin" program. It raises a fundamental question about whether a building can attain long-term usability through metabolic flexibility (plugin units and their reconfigurable space), promoting adaptability (accommodating various program transfers), and meeting sustainable future criteria. Specifically, this dissertation inquires whether this "plugin" building design, with its reconfigurable units and metabolic system, can adapt to different spatial programs and become sustainable architecture

Employees in the hospitality industry, in particular, face difficult conditions such as overwork, job security, understaffing, and work-life imbalance in today's fast-paced society. Because of that, employees in the hospitality industry experience high levels of occupational stress. Severe conditions of occupational stress may not only lead to health issues for the employee but also affect their work performance. In order to get a better grasp of how occupational stress affects the employees in the hospitality industry in Macau, the research questions are: 1) What are the sources of stress in the Macau hospitality industry? 2) How does the COVID-19 pandemic change the perception of occupational stress among employees in the Macau hospitality industry? How do the companies help the employees in the Macau hospitality industry cope with occupational stress? have been formulated. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven participants working in the hospitality industry, with a median age of 39 years and a median range of 13 years. Based on these interviews, participants expressed their perceptions of occupational stress under the categories of distress and eustress, while coding schemes were applied to all semi-structured interviews. The results on distress showed that reactions from employees and their working conditions, in particular, were the two most important determinants of occupational stress, while motivation helped people grow and develop their confidence. For the changes in occupational stress due to the pandemic, mental reactions from employees were the most significant determinant of occupational stress in the Macau hospitality industry during the changes brought about by the pandemic in these years, closely followed by employee job insecurity. In order to cope with occupational stress, employees should take responsibility for coping with their stress, but employers also have a role to play in this process, like providing good communications and proactive assistance to the employees. Finally, employees' responses were described as more negative as a result of their experience. Further research could focus on more methods for employees to cope with occupational stress in both physical and mental ways

This study examined the relationships between organizational justice, job satisfaction, and subjective well-being of medical doctors and nurses in Macao. It applied a quantitative methodology through a cross-sectional applying self-response questionnaires to 149 healthcare workers. Consistent with the group-engagement model (Tyler & Blader, 2003), findings indicate that organisational justice and job satisfaction improve subjective well-being. Yet, inconsistent with the model and our hypotheses, organizational justice did not affect work satisfaction. Finally, nurses experienced less positive justice perceptions than doctors. The study provides insights into the relationship between organizational justice, job satisfaction, and subjective well-being among healthcare professionals, which might help enhance working conditions. Healthcare organizations should prioritize promoting job satisfaction and justice perceptions to increase healthcare personnel's subjective well-being. The cross-sectional design limits causal inferences about variable relationships, and the self-reported data may have social desirability or response biases. Still, the originality and value of this paper lie in its contribution to the literature on the well-being of healthcare workers, particularly in the unique context of Macao. To our knowledge, this is the first study in Macao to examine the relationship between organizational justice, job satisfaction, and subjective well-being among healthcare workers

Due to the expansion of the Internet and advancements in technology, e-commerce has been frequently and widely used nowadays. The popularity of online shopping continues to develop and become increasingly common, yet, the concept of impulsive buying has consistently drawn significant attention over the years. In order to fit into the current shopping trend, recognizing the needs and wants of online shoppers as well as providing appropriate approaches are essential tasks for companies to achieve. The question of how to attract consumers to make purchases has been a concern for a long time, and in fact, it is necessary to explore consumers’ online purchase decisions in relation to their impulse buying behavior. In accordance with current academic knowledge, the main objective of this study is to investigate factors that influence consumers' online impulsive buying behavior based on external stimuli (such as sales promotions and websites characteristics) and the elements of marketing mix strategy (product, price, place, and promotion). According to the analysis, the promotion strategy has been identified as the most significant influence on consumers’ decision to make an online impulsive purchase. Therefore, the findings from this study are beneficial for companies and marketers to build a framework in order to develop suitable and effective strategies in order to encourage and stimulate consumers' desire for purchases. Furthermore, the research applies the qualitative methodology by conducting semi-structured interviews with 11 consumers who have previously experienced an online impulse buying

Human emotions can be meticulously associated with decision-making, and emotion can generate behaviours. Due to the fact that it could be bias and exhaustively complex to examine how human beings make choices, important groups of study in finance are stock traders and non-traders. The objective of this work is to analyze the connection between emotions and the decision-making process of investors and non-investors to understand how emotional arousal might dictate the process of deciding policy. As facial expressions are fleeting, neuroscience tools such as AFFDEX (Real-Time Facial Expression Analysis), Eye-Tracking, and GSR (galvanic skin response) were adopted to facilitate the experiment and its accompanying analysis process. Thirty-seven participants attended the study, ranging from 18 to 72 years old; the distribution of investors and non-investors was twenty-four and thirteen, respectively. The experiment initially disclosed a thought-provoking result between the two groups under the certainty and risk-seeking prospect theory; there were more risk-takers among non-investors at 75%, while investors were inclined toward certainty at 79.17%. The implication could be that the non-investing individuals were less complex in thought and therefore pursued higher returns besides a high probability of losing the game. In addition, the automatic emotion classification system indicates that when non-investors confronted a stock trending chart beyond their acquaintance or knowledge, they were psychologically exposed to fear, anger, sadness, and surprise. Investors, on the contrary, were detected with disgust, joy, contempt, engagement, sadness, and surprise, where sadness and surprise overlapped in both parties. Under time pressure conditions, 54.05% of investors or non-investors tend to make decisions after the peak(s) of emotional arousal. Variations were found in the deciding points of the slopes: 2.70% were decided right after the peak(s), 37.84% waited until the emotions turned stable, and 13.51% were determined as the emotional indicators started to slide downwards. Several combinations of emotional responses were associated with decisions. For example, negative emotions could induce passive decision-making, in this case, to sell the stock; nevertheless, it was also examined that as the slope slipped downwards to a particular horizontal point, the individuals became more optimistic and selected the "BUY" option. The support of physiological monitoring tools makes it possible to capture the individuals' responses and discover the science of decision-making. Future works may consider expanding the study to more significant demographic populations for further discoveries

The inundation problem in Macao is getting more attention recently, especially after the destructive impacts of typhoons Hato (2017) and Mangkut (2019). The inundation caused by storm surges is getting more severe with the rapid sea-level rise in Macao. Moreover, the potential threat of a tsunami in Macao, may be enhanced with rising sea-level. This research evaluated the risk of coastal hazards in Macao by analyzing the local meteorological data. The results of the analysis indicate a rising trend in the tropical cyclone intensity and more severe storm surges are expected to occur in the future. Moreover, this research explores the potential of Nature-based Solutions (NbS), particularly mangroves, to address the inundation problem in Macao. The study included a preliminary laboratory-based experiment and the application of local mangroves data in numerical models. The results of the experiment and numerical models demonstrate the ability of mangroves to attenuate waves. These findings, although preliminary, indicate that mangroves could be a promising NbS to address inundation issues in Macao. To effectively implement this NbS, further field investigations are needed to measure attenuation in-situ, as well as determine optimal locations for mangrove restoration projects