Editorial: World governance, local government, SDG, strategies, environmental complaints, corruption scandals and reforms

This third issue of 2024 consists of eight articles, including the impacts of World Governance Index on Global Peace Index, Indonesian Muslim community’s municipal corporation policy with Sustainable Development Goals, local governments’ responses to environmental complaints in China, strategies changes in leadership management of the funeral service industry in Hong Kong, authentic strategy of local government agencies in United Arab Emirates, the dilemmas of Bangladesh as a weak state in South Asia, and two papers on corruption scandals and control in the Philippines.

A brief introduction of these articles is given below.

The first article is “The impacts of World Governance Index on Global Peace Index between 2008 and 2022” by Ahmet Keser, Oğuzhan Pehlivan and Yunus Gokmen. While many factors contribute to peace, economic and governmental factors are considered essential litmus tests for determining peace levels. This study examines the impacts of World Governance Index (WGI) variables on the Global Peace Index (GPI). The GPI serves as a key indicator of peace levels. Data from two databases covering 161 countries from 2008 to 2022 were collected and analyzed by using a logarithmic panel data regression model. According to the Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) estimators, five WGI components exhibit inverse relationships with the GPI (increasing WGI components leads to a decline in GPI, indicating an enhancement in peace quality). The most significant factor influencing peace is “Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism”, while the effects of “Voice and Accountability” and “Control of Corruption” are also noted. Extant studies have largely overlooked the interaction between governance and peace, often relying on regional data (with neighboring countries) or case studies on local solutions. This article evaluates governance quality and its dimensions in relation to peace conditions on a global scale, providing more generalizable results for policymakers and scholars.

The second article on “A text analytics study on the alignment of an Indonesian Muslim community’s municipal corporation policy with Sustainable Development Goals” by Fahmi Ali Hudaefi analyses the supervision policy of Municipal Corporations (MCs) in the Indonesian Muslim community regarding its alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a single case study, purposive sampling was adopted to select a municipal corporation policy issued by Ciamis Regency, West Java, Indonesia. A novel mixed methods approach, combining computer analytics and human intelligence, was adopted to perform text analytics. Text mining identified the most frequently occurring words — municipal corporation, regional, supervisor, regulation — from the sample but found no single word indicating business alignment with SDGs. Further qualitative inductive analysis revealed the critical role of MCs’ supervisory boards in business planning, execution, and reporting to align the MC businesses with local SDG initiatives. Aligning MC business activities with local SDG actions is entirely within the authority of supervisory boards which demands transformational leadership. This research pioneered an innovative blend of computer-assisted techniques and human reasoning to investigate the supervision policies of MCs concerning local SDG actions, with evidence from a Muslim community in Indonesia.

The third article is “The effects of conflicting economic and environmental goals on local governments’ responses to citizens’ complaints: evidence from China” by Xinghua Zhao and Zheng Cheng. It examines how local governments’ responses to citizens’ complaints about environment issues are affected when the complaints involve conflicting goals, particularly economic versus environmental goals. Focusing on the responsiveness of provincial governments to citizen environmental complaints on the Local Leader Message Board (LLMB) in China, this study collected 125,364 complaints lodged by citizens from 2013 to 2021. The results indicate that provincial governments prioritize citizens’ complaints across different types of issues. However, complaints embodying conflicting goals related to environmental issues are less likely to get a response. The impact of conflicting goals on government responsiveness is dynamic, with the likelihood of provincial governments responding to conflicting complaints initially increasing and then decreasing as economic dependence on industries rises. The findings enrich the understanding of the consequences of conflicting goals by highlighting their potential as a mechanism to explain the strategic reactions of governments to citizens.

The fourth article is “Strategic changes in talent development and leadership management in the funeral service industry in Hong Kong” by Alan Leung, Yui-yip Lau and Stephanie W. Lee. It identifies the strategic changes and explores the solutions for talent development and leadership management to address the challenges faced by the funeral service industry in Hong Kong. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with seven key personnel (funeral director, salesperson, coffin shop owner, and mortuary transporter) engaged in the funeral service industry in Hong Kong. Thematic coding was used to identify and organize emerging themes from the data. Four themes were identified: (1) Perception of the funeral service industry in Hong Kong; (2) Recruitment, retention, and talent development; (3) Prospects of the funeral service industry in Hong Kong; and (4) Other novel challenges. The findings reveal that the industry is facing radical challenges in modern times. A death-denying attitude is observed, which has severely undermined the study of the funeral service industry. Strategic changes in talent development and leadership management are required.

The fifth article on “Measuring authentic strategy in local government agencies in the United Arab Emirates” by Naceur Jabnoun develops an instrument for measuring authentic strategy and evaluates the adoption of its dimensions by the local government agencies in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The dimensions of authentic strategy are identified using factor analysis. Cronbach alpha coefficient and multiple linear regression are adopted to examine the reliability and predictive validity of the instrument. One-sided and one-way ANOVA are used to assess the adoption levels of the dimensions of authentic strategy. Three dimensions of authentic strategy are identified: (a) strategy uniqueness; (b) leadership commitment and stakeholders’ management; and (c) implementation. The results show that RAK local government agencies have adopted all three dimensions. There were no significant differences between the levels of adoption of the three dimensions of authentic strategy. The instrument can serve as an effective self-assessment tool for organizations aiming at developing genuine strategies and improving outcomes. This article adds to the limited literature on strategy within the Arab public sector by analyzing strategy practices in the UAE.

The sixth article is “The dilemmas of Bangladesh as a weak state in South Asia” by Md Abul Hasan. The complex environment of regional and extra-regional politics in South Asia renders the region more susceptible to economically and militarily weaker states. This article investigates the challenges and dilemmas encountered by Bangladesh due to the rapidly changing geopolitical dynamics and global political and economic upheavals. Through literature review, in-depth interviews, media reports and dialogues, four key factors are identified: (a) Bangladesh’s significance to major powers has increased; (b) it confronts many obstacles hindering its pursuit of a purely non-aligned foreign policy due to its strategic importance to these powers; (c) its internal factors including political turbulence, corruption, and fragile external relations, have been detrimental; and (d) the intensification of key powers’ influence has constrained its autonomy. This study underscores that weak institutions, least regional integration, and limited cooperation among states have compromised the autonomy of weak states like Bangladesh in South Asia. There is a need for unity and collaboration among these nations to address dilemmas in the interest of their national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and regional stability.

The seventh article on “Strong presidents and grand corruption scandals in the Philippines” by Eric V.C. Batalla provides evidence from the Philippines that strong presidents have failed to address systemic corruption despite their anti-corruption rhetoric and promises. This case study analyzes how strong presidents have dealt with the problem of corruption in the Philippines and to examine their handling of grand corruption scandals. Data were collected from court decisions, congressional reports, news reports, journal articles, and other academic publications. There are two major findings. First, none of the strong presidents were able to build the social and political foundations for anti-corruption reform. Second, in dealing with corruption scandals, the strong presidents observed selective persecution and particularistic concealment (cover-ups) instead of allowing the rule of law to prevail. These findings dismiss the idea of the sufficiency of strong presidents, some of whom project the possession of the political will necessary to combat corruption in the country. While the need for strong leaders has been emphasized in the anti-corruption literature, this article argues that such leaders do not necessarily add to the political commitment needed to fight systemic corruption or even lay the political, institutional, and social foundations for reform. Strong presidents in the weak Philippine state are powerless against the institutions and culture that encourage and tolerate grand corruption.

The eighth article on “Essential lessons from an unpromising source: what reformers can learn from the Philippines on corruption control” by Michael Johnston investigates the corruption control in the Republic of the Philippines. Dramatic “people power” episodes have occurred, but populism has also, at times, led to repression. Essential reform lessons are available. This article is a conceptual reassessment of corruption control in the Philippines. Central concerns include the types of corruption experienced in the country, incentives that might sustain collective action, the need to measure both corruption and reform, and linking reform to citizens’ quality of life. Top-down, whole-country approaches to reform often treat corruption as if it were the same everywhere, thereby emphasizing “best practices”. However, that can be misleading: a best practice in one society might be irrelevant, impossible, or harmful in another. The author advocates that contemporary reformers must carefully examine the historical, social, economic, and political contexts, as well as the consequences of corruption. Groups and activities seemingly unrelated to corruption control can prove essential. Reformers must fight corruption with people, not for them. The ultimate goal of reform must be justice: redressing imbalances of power while building social and political trust.

I wish to thank all the authors for contributing their papers to this issue and the reviewers for their critical but constructive comments in helping the authors to improve their papers. Finally, I thank Emerald and our editorial team as well as the members of both Asia Pacific Editorial Board and International Editorial Advisory Board for their contributions in making the successful publication of this issue possible. We hope these papers will enhance the understanding of various issues on world governance, local government, SDG, strategies, environmental complaints, corruption scandals and reforms across Asia and worldwide.

Peter K.W. Fong

Editor-in-Chief, PAP Journal

President, Hong Kong Public Administration Association

Professor Peter K.W. Fong, PhD (New York University), is President of Hong Kong Public Administration Association and Editor-in-Chief of PAP Journal. He teaches strategic management and supervises DBA students’ dissertations of the University of Wales TSD. He also serves as Principal Consultant of the International Chamber of Sustainable Development and holds memberships of HK Institute of Planners & Planning Institute Australia. He was a Teaching Fellow of Judge Business School, University of Cambridge; Visiting Scholar, MIT; Founding Director of EMBA programme, HKU Business School; Associate Professor, Department of Urban Planning and Urban Design, HKU; Executive Vice President of City University of Macau; Honorary Professor, China Training Centre for Senior Civil Servants in Beijing; Studies Director, Civil Service Training & Development Institute, HKSAR Government. He was appointed as Advisory/Visiting Professors by Tongji, Tsinghua, Renmin, and Tianjin universities in Mainland China, Chinese University of HK and HK Polytechnic University, and Consultants, the World Bank and Delta Asia Bank. Peter K.W. Fong can be contacted at: fongpeter@netvigator.com