Vol. 2 No. 2 (2021): July-December 2021

Foreword

The year 2021 witnesses the intensified China-USA rivalry in ASEAN. The authors from China ASEAN Studies of PIM (CASPIM), one of the most active think-tanks on China ASEAN in the country, draw the timeline of engagement between ASEAN and the two superpowers, compare their achievements in trade and investment, and speculate on China’s response in its Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) in the region. Covid 19 is another driver for change in ASEAN. Varaporn Klayprayong reviews how ASEAN dealt with the crisis in the past two years and ponders on how experiential learning should be adapted in terms of its internal and external environment when online learning becomes a norm during the pandemic. People and organizations are compelled to change in extreme uncertainties. Kyoko Kato et al. conducted a case study in Japan on an innovative method to develop management skills with a training session using percussion instruments (Drum Circle). They record and analyze the process, contents, and impacts of applying such a method in a workshop named “Team building with rhythm” for an innovative workplace. Nisha Nipasuwan et al. review extensively the literature on “learning to learn” in learning organizations and its impacts on employability for the future. A complimentary survey of HR professionals in listed companies in Thailand shows the gap and potential in “learning & development”. For changes at the operational level, Kritsana Lakkhongkha et al. acknowledge the increasing demand for logistics in ASEAN as a result of economic growth and expansion of e-commerce and suggest companies should integrate their marketing mix with the logistic and supply chain management, aided by new technologies. Isabella Wambui Kiranga et al. examines the factors affecting technology adoption in the mobile banking sector in Kenya, with a UTAUT model in terms of “performance expectancy”, “effort expectancy”, “social influence”, “facilitating conditions” and “culture”.

Prof. Dr. Tang Zhimin

Editor-in-chief