Acknowledgement - Erasmus University Rotterdam



Acknowledgements

Pursuing a Ph.D. project is a both painful and enjoyable experience. It’s just like climbing a high peak, step by step, accompanied with bitterness, hardships, frustration, encouragement and trust and with so many people’s kind help. When I found myself at the top enjoying the beautiful scenery, I realized that it was, in fact, teamwork that got me there. Though it will not be enough to express my gratitude in words to all those people who helped me, I would still like to give my many, many thanks to all these people.

First of all, I’d like to give my sincere thanks to my honorific supervisor, prof. dr. M.A. van Hoepen RA, who accepted me as his Ph.D. student without any hesitation when I presented him my research proposal. Thereafter, he offered me so much advice, patiently supervising me, and always guiding me in the right direction. I’ve learned a lot from him, without his help I could not have finished my dissertation successfully.

Special thanks are also given to prof. dr. W.M. Lammerts van Bueren. He is the one who invited me, as a visiting scholar, to Erasmus University Rotterdam for my visiting research in 2000. He also helped me to find a supervisor when I expressed the desire to pursue my Ph.D. research in Erasmus University Rotterdam. His encouragement and help made me feel confident to fulfill my desire and to overcome every difficulty I encountered. At the last stage of my dissertation, he helped me to correct grammar mistakes in my dissertation, and suggested possible improvements. It is not sufficient to express my gratitude with only a few words.

I also appreciate the advice of the committee members, prof. dr. M.N. Hoogendoorn RA, prof. dr. L.G. van der Tas RA, for their critical comments, which enabled me to notice the weaknesses of my dissertation and make the necessary improvements according to their comments.

During my research, drs. C.D. Knoops offered me a lot of friendly help; he transferred to me his research links and suggested to me the necessary readings for pursuing Ph.D. research. Our conversations enlightened my way of thinking, and so I’d like to give my sincere thanks to Mr. Knoops for his generous help.

There are two people I need to mentioned especially, Mrs. Barbara Ko and Mr. Isaac Ko, their friendship and unselfish help enabled me to present my dissertation more fluently and clearly in English. Especially for Mr. Isaac Ko, it is hard to imagine how he can manage to finish editing so much work in such a short time. I owe them both my sincere gratitude for their generous and timely help.

I would like to express my appreciation to all those companies and persons who have offered me their time when I collected necessary data for my case study in their companies, including Harbin Boiler Co. Ltd. and Mr. Tang Hongjie; Orient Group Incorporation and Mr. Liu Fanhong; Shu Lun Pan Certified Public Accountants Co., Ltd. and Mr. Li Deyuan; DTT Shanghai CPA Ltd. and Ms. Elsie Chen etc. I am special grateful for Mr. Tang’s cooperative and comments on my case study report.

My sincere thanks go to all the organizations, which gave me their indispensable generous sponsoring, including the Chinese Scholarship Committee, the Huygens programme, the “Hoogeschool-Fonds 1920”, the Overseas Scholars Programme of Heilongjiang Education Bureau, China, and CHERC. Without their support and financial help, it would not have been possible for me to pursue and to complete this Ph.D. project successfully. I greatly appreciate CHERC and Mrs. Tseng’s effort for offering me facilities and so much support during my stay in Rotterdam, and for enabling me to travel back and forth between Harbin and Rotterdam several times.

I’d like to convey my heartfelt thanks to my home university, Harbin University of Commerce, and Accounting School of Harbin University of Commerce for offering me an ideal environment in which I felt free and could concentrate on my research. There are so many friends, both in China and in Rotterdam, who offered me so much kindly help. I give my sincere thanks to all these people.

I am very grateful for my mother. Her understanding and her love encouraged me to work hard and to continue pursuing a Ph.D. project abroad. Her firm and kind-hearted personality has affected me to be steadfast and never bend to difficulty. She always lets me know that she is proud of me, which motivates me to work harder and do my best.

Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my devoted husband Han Bo and my son Han Kan. They form the backbone and origin of my happiness. Their love and support without any complaint or regret has enabled me to complete this Ph.D. project. Being both a father and mother while I was away was not an easy thing for my husband. He took every responsibility and suffered all the bitterness to take care of my son and my family. Even when my son was ill, both of them would not let me know so as to enable me to concentrate on my research. I owe my every achievement to both of them.

Zhang Guohua

Rotterdam, January 2005

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