Objectives and Research Methodology
REsearch objectives
The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong has conducted the Junzi Corporation Survey every year since 2011. This year’s survey is the seventh study of the series. Conducted in the most objective and scientific fashion through a rigorous research procedure over the years, this widely-recognised academic survey has always being the glamour of the industry. The survey aims at promoting a new academic viewpoint that adopts “Five Virtues of Junzi” as a code of ethics for operation and awarding accolades to corporations with demeanour typifying Junzi.
ResEARCH METHODOLOGY
Rigorous Data Collection: from Personal Impression to In-Depth Analysis
The Junzi Corporation Survey in 2018 is a quantitative study conducted by means of questionnaire that is the approach constantly adopted in the past six years. The design of the questionnaire which was based on the previous questionnaires and the model of Junzi Corporations was then modified by the research team. After years of testing, the questionnaire has demonstrated a high level of validity. The method of collecting data followed the approach of that of last year. The evaluation of different organizations’ performance in business ethics by the public was investigated in a progressive manner. Due to the large number of organizations, the research team did not evaluate all of them based on the Five Virtues, namely “Benevolence, Rightness, Propriety, Wisdom and Trustworthiness”.
The data collection in 2018 finished in September. The survey teams randomly selected 31 locations across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories from the District Council Constituencies, which covered the entire Hong Kong. The investigation was coordinated by the Research Institute for Business (RIB), the Marketing Department, and the Marketing Society of the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, face-to-face street interviews were conducted. In the entire survey period, the survey teams collected 2,337 pubic responses in total.
Rigorous and Reliable Research Process
The survey teams, which comprised of 59 students from the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, carried out all the field work. All survey team members had to satisfactorily complete training before being assigned to the fields. The survey was conducted by means of interview as mutual trust between the interviewers and interviewees can be effectively built up. In addition, it allowed the interviewers to effectively explain to the interviewees the abstract concepts embedded in the questionnaire (for example, Junzi, Benevolence, Rightness, Propriety, Wisdom, Truthworthiness). We, therefore, believed that we can collect data of relatively high quality by means of interview. Every team is assigned a leader, who is a student experienced in conducting survey. In the meantime, we set up a monitoring system. The research team and inspectors from time to time made spot checks in randomly selected areas to ensure the reliability of data.
Comprehensive Sampling across the Territory
Similar to the survey that was conducted in 2017, we adopted a two-stage sampling method. First, the survey teams randomly selected various locations across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories from the 2015 District Council Constituencies, which covered the entire Hong Kong. Next, face-to-face street interviews were conducted through quota sampling according to age and gender. Like the previous surveys, the Junzi Corporation Survey in 2018 took constituencies as the sampling frame. This method enhanced the representativeness of the samples as they were taken randomly from citizens from different age groups in various constituency areas.
Scope of Survey
To aligned with the aim of the survey, i.e. to identify “Junzi corporation” in the perspective of consumers, the seven industries to be selected as the survey targets in a large extent can truly reflect the lives of the general public. The seven industries are wholesale and retail, postal services and transportation, tourism, finance and insurance, accommodation and catering, information and communications, as well as real estate. Different from that of in previous years, the Hong Kong Standard Industrial Classification Version 2.0 from the Census and Statistics Department are used to determine the names of the seven industries and the classification of corporations. The classifications used are comparable to the latest industry information in Hong Kong so that the public can convey feedbacks or opinion to the corporations accordingly. Moreover, the public can generally conduct fair assessment upon these corporations given that they have a basic understanding of the corporations among these industries.
