The Journal of Management and Business Research (JMBR) is the longest-standing and most representative academic journal in the field of management in Taiwan. Thanks to the efforts of our successive chief editors and editorial board, the JMBR has garnered high praise in the academic field of management. This year marks the 40th anniversary milestone of the JMBR. In the past 40 years, the international and Taiwan's academic environment has undergone substantial changes. Notably, the development of academic journals in Taiwan has encountered numerous challenges in recent years. Nonetheless, the JMBR strives to continue promoting academic research and development and providing a platform for academic exchange in the field of management. 

With our efforts, we have considerably increased the paper review speed of the JMBR and reduced the average number of days required for the initial review process to 60 days. For the previous 50 papers reviewed by the editorial team in the previous year, the initial review process required an average of 57 days to complete. The JMBR endeavors to maintain this paper review speed and provide authors and reviewers with real-time, high-quality online paper submission and review services.

The review policies and principals of the JMBR have been adequately updated to adapt to the changing academic environment. Previously, the review process was stricter and more judgement oriented, resulting in a higher likelihood of rejection for paper submissions that failed to meet the stringent quality threshold. However, given the role of the JMBR in supporting the development of academic communities and cultivating researchers and scholars, we have acknowledged the importance of providing opportunities for revision and improvement to papers with development potential. Thus, the paper review process was modified to allow for diagnosis-oriented reviews, with the JMBR and its reviewers playing supportive roles in the author cultivation and paper revision process. If a paper presents an interesting research topic and demonstrates potential for making academic contributions, the comments of reviewers should be aimed at helping an author to revise their paper through clear instructions for revision, thereby gradually guiding and assisting them in the development of their paper. In line with the changes to the paper review process, the review standards of the JMBR have also been amended to reduce the rigidity of review principles and to provide the editor-in-chief with greater decision-making authority. 

In April, the JMBR launched a call for papers for a special issue based on the theme “The Diverse Effects of Social Media: Prospective Academic and Practical Research.” The chief editors for the special issue were Professor Hsien-Tung Tsai of National Taipei University and Associate Professor Chih-Hung Peng of National Taiwan University. Social media plays a pivotal role in contemporary society; through diverse social media platforms, consumers can share their consumption experience through various channels and receive real-time feedback from others. In addition to changing interpersonal interaction models, social media has provided new tools  for corporations and non-profit institutions. Moreover, social media plays a crucial role in shaping public discourse and promoting public policies. Scholars in relevant fields who are interested in this theme are invited to share their research findings. The submission deadline for this special issue is January 10, 2024, and submissions may be in the form of a paper or long abstract. A seminar on the special issue is scheduled to be held on May 17, 2024. Please refer to the official JMBR website for more details. We welcome paper submissions from all authors with an interest in the theme.

The UMC Management Thesis Award, sponsored by United Microelectronics Corporation, has entered its 13th year. After undergoing numerous reviews, the JMBR was awarded the Honorable Mention Award. A published thesis recommended by the JMBR, namely “Must Be Framed to Legitimize: A New Venture in the Chinese Peer-to-Peer Lending Industry” won the Outstanding Paper Award; the theses “Abusive Supervision and Employee Voice Behavior: Mediation of Voice Efficacy and Moderation of Political Skills,” “Effects of Economic Insecurity on Consumer Ethnocentrism,” and “Knowing-doing-desirability Gap Exists? Exploring the Impact of Recruitment Information Disclosure on Applicant and Newcomers' Organizational and Job-Related Perceptions” won the Excellent Paper Award; and the theses “Does the Gender Composition of the Board affect Corporate Performance and Decisions? Evidence from Family Firms and Conglomerates” and “To Mentor or Not to Mentor A Job Demands-Resources Perspective” won the Judges' List Award. On behalf of the JMRB, we would like to congratulate the winning authors and invite all readers to read these articles.

Five papers are published in this special issue. In the first paper, “Ethical Discipline and Corporate Governance of Confucian Firms: Two Case Studies,” a case analysis of two representative Confucian firms, namely Wowprime and Sinyi Realty, was performed to explore how the two firms applied Confucianism to develop corporate governance from ethical and management dimensions. The findings of the paper differ from that of other studies that examined Confucian firms, which were limited by the backgrounds of the researchers that conducted these studies. The discussion can fill a literature gap and provide a practical reference for developing ethical discipline on the basis of Confucianism in ethnic Chinese regions and implementing said ethical discipline in corporate governance.

The second paper, “The Association between Key Audit Matter and Analysts' Behaviors: Evidence from Taiwan,” used non-finance and non-insurance firms that were listed on the stock exchange and over-the-counter market between 2016 and 2018 as samples to explore the relationship between Key Audit Matters (KAMs) and analyst behavior, thereby verifying the effectiveness of KAM disclosures. The empirical results indicate that analysts focused more on the disclosure of KAMs. When the disclosures of KAMs were more detailed, the forecast accuracy of analysts increased; however, how detailed the KAM disclosures were did not significantly affect the forecast dispersion of analysts. The findings contribute to the establishment of auditing standards, and they may serve as evidence for the competent authority to evaluate the effectiveness of the new statement on Auditing Standard No. 58. Furthermore, they can provide further insights into the practical value of the KAM disclosures and the content of disclosures.

The third paper, “The Role of the Media in Corporate Governance: Do the Media Influence Audit Quality?” examined the effect of negative breaking news in the mass media on audit quality after the announcement of the 2018 financial statement. The study discovered that the attention of mass media influences audit quality and strengthens the corporate governance effect. Additionally, firms audited by auditors who were previously associated with negative breaking news demonstrated a more cautious and conservative attitude in the auditing process, thereby improving their audit quality. The consistency of the research findings was validated by multiple sensitivity tests.

The fourth paper, “The Study on the Relationship between Social Responsibility and Financial Performance of Non-Profit Hospitals,” investigated the relationship between the social responsibility and financial performance of non-profit hospitals in Taiwan, clarifying the proportions of social welfare funding allocated to various types of hospitals (e.g., religion-based hospitals and enterprise-based hospitals) and examining the effect of social responsibility on the financial performance of various types of hospitals. The empirical results of the study can serve as a reference for the relevant competent authorities in promoting government policies and future legal optimization, thereby helping non-profit hospitals to fulfill their social responsibilities, manage their financial performance, and establish sound operating mechanisms to meet societal expectations.

In the fifth paper, “Future Career is not a Dream: The Impact of Career Adaptability Process on Career Success,” full-time employees who had worked in Taiwan for more than 3 months were selected as research samples and surveyed using online questionnaires. The paper applied career construction theory to explore the effect of career adaptability, which comprises personal and career-related resources, on proactive career behavior, and the mediating effect of proactive career behavior on the relationship between career adaptability and career success, which includes career satisfaction and career performance. Additionally, the paper examined the moderating role of focusing on opportunities, a cognitive motivational facet of the career future time dimension, to test the overall effect of the moderated mediation model. 

Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to everyone who contributed to the JMBR in the past 40 years, including all authors, reviewers, and editors. Through our contributions to knowledge, we have created a suitable platform for the submission and publication of papers in Taiwan. In the future, the JMBR will continue to strive for excellence. Please do not hesitate to contact us to share your opinions and feedback.