Traveloka to add awards with audience participation to Asia's Got Talent

Traveloka, Southeast Asia’s app for all hotel and flight needs and the presenting sponsor of the second season of AXN’s Asia’s Got Talent, Asia’s talent competition show, has launched the Traveloka Awards.

This is Traveloka’s initiative to give an award to the winner who has the most inspiring story across region. The most inspiring story will be selected based on the uniqueness of the participant’s talent and their connection story with family and friends.

Asia’s Got Talent returns to AXN in October this year, entertaining viewers with 10 episodes comprising five judges’ auditions, three semifinals, the finale and the results show where the winner will be revealed and awarded a cash prize of US$100,000 from Traveloka. During the first five episodes, two acts will be highlighted and their stories published online. At the end of episode five, the audience can vote for the most inspiring act, and that act will receive a major prize from Traveloka.

“Traveloka is excited to partner with Asia’s Got Talent where we see mutual partnership value... As the leading app for all hotel and flight needs in Southeast Asia, we are excited to empower the region’s talent as well as their journey to success with the support of their families and friends,” said Christian Suwarna, Traveloka Senior VP, Business Development.

“AXN’s strength is in creating powerful original productions that resonate with audiences, and then seamlessly integrating partner brands for maximum impact. We look forward to working with Traveloka to realise the dreams of our aspiring performers as they embark on the Asia’s Got Talent journey to stardom,” said Jacqueline Tok, VP, Media and Sponsorship Sales, Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia.

“Through Asia’s Got Talent 2017 we want to continually encourage people in the region to believe and chase their dreams while consistently providing the best travel experiences through all our products, especially to the people in Southeast Asia,” Suwarna concluded.

Traveloka has a presence in six Southeast Asia countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines, making Traveloka the largest online travel company in the region. Traveloka provides a range of travel needs in one platform, offering travel booking services to various domestic and international destinations. To date, the Traveloka mobile app has been downloaded over 20 million times.

posted from Bloggeroid

INSEAD study finds shareholder votes on CEO accountability raise company returns

Do shareholder votes improve CEO accountability and reduce corporate excesses? A new paper, Say Pays! Shareholder Voice and Firm Performance, published in the Review of Finance by Maria Guadalupe, Associate Professor of Economics and Political Science at INSEAD, shows that they do.

Prior to Guadalupe's research, there had been a lack of evidence on the consequences of adopting say-on-pay beyond the short-term market reaction. Existing research has generally examined the effect of say-on-pay after it has been legislated, which has produced mixed results.

Guadalupe’s research takes a different approach to isolate a causal estimate of the effects of say-on-pay. She examined 250 cases of proposals to adopt the say-on-pay policy from shareholders of S&P1500 firms between 2006 and 2010, which was before say-on-pay votes were mandatory.

Her conclusion is that say-on-pay has a positive impact on firms’ accounting and operational performance in the years following the vote to adopt say-on-pay. Firms that adopt say-on-pay in her sample have a higher return on assets and operating assets one year after the vote was introduced. The firms also saw a reduction in overheads and capital expenditure growth.

While she discovered no systematic change in the level or structure of CEO compensation itself or the probability of the CEO leaving the firm after a say-on-pay vote, she did find that say-on-pay increases shareholder value by about 5%.

“The say-on-pay changes CEO behaviour through two main mechanisms. First, by giving shareholders a channel to express their opinions, it intensifies board monitoring and pressure on the CEO to improve performance, especially as a negative vote could have consequences on the level of support the CEO receives within the firm. The prospect of a negative vote is also not one the CEO wants to face for the sake of his or her own career. The second is that the say-on-pay can affect the current level and structure of executive pay making it more closely tied with performance,” said Guadalupe.

Her study also finds that when shareholders in her sample put forward proposals to adopt say-on-pay, boards recommended a vote against it at shareholder meetings in 99% of cases. This, Guadalupe said, represents a misalignment of objectives between management and shareholders that mandatory say-on-pay votes can address.

“While the debate has moved on to whether to make say-on-pay votes binding, for which we have no evidence to support or dispute, it is clear that legislative intervention has addressed a market failure on two dimensions; first, aligning management closer to shareholders and second, giving all shareholders an equal voice,” she added.

HungryGoWhere canvassing votes for its first foodie awards

Voting has commenced for the first HungryGoWhere Awards. According to food review portal HungryGoWhere, the awards will feature 26 winners determined entirely by public votes.

Visitors to the award site have until 4 February to vote for establishments in five categories: Restaurants, Hawkers, Drinks, Occasions and Best of the Best. Voters are eligible for a lucky draw which is conducted after voting has closed.