The Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge is indexed in the CABELL'S, and ULRICH'S DIRECTORIES of Refereed Publications.   The primary goal of the journal will be to provide opportunities for business related academicians and professionals from various business related fields in a global realm to publish their paper in one source. The Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge will bring together academicians and professionals from all areas related business fields and related fields to interact with members inside and outside their own particular disciplines. The journal will provide opportunities for publishing researcher's paper as well as providing opportunities to view other's work.  All submissions are subject to a two person blind peer review process.

The Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge is published two times a year, March and September.  The e-mail: drsenguder@aol.com; Website, www.jaabc.com  Requests for subscriptions, back issues, and changes of address, as well as advertising can be made via the e-mail address above. Manuscripts and other materials of an editorial nature should be directed to the Journal's e-mail address above. Address advertising inquiries to Advertising Manager.

The Crucial First Three Months: An Analysis of Leadership Transition Traps and Successes

Dr. Steven H. Appelbaum,

Miguel Valero, MBA,

ABSTRACT

Transitions are critical time when small differences in the manager’s actions can have disproportionate impact on results. Leaders, regardless of their level, are most vulnerable in their first few months in a new position. Failure to create momentum during the first few months virtually guarantees an uphill battle for the rest of the manager’s tenure in the job.  A survey was conducted among 175 managers. The respondents were asked to rank Watkins’s seven common traps and seven principles for success by importance order. The results were not only analyzed for the overall group of respondent, but also, by position (manager vs. executive), by sex (male vs. female) and by years of experience (5 years and less vs. 6 years and more). The authors obtained a 38% response rate.  Sixty eight percent of the respondents were at the manager level while 32% were executives.  Overall and in every category of respondent, the mistake that ranked as the most important was “Being Isolated”. “Coming with the answer” ranked #2 in all category of respondent with the exception of the executives who ranked this mistake equally #1 with “Being Isolated”.

Balancing the Hybrid Self in the Competing Landscapes of Consumption

Kritsadarat Wattanasuwan, Ph.D.

ABSTRACT

The paper explores how a group of provincial women exercise consumption to balance their hybrid identities when they move to study in the capital.  Ethnographic fieldwork is employed to achieve an insight of the group’s consumer acculturation processes.  The interpretations reveal the complexly dynamic and paradoxical selves of these informants.  Although they aspire to urbanise themselves in order to assimilate properly into the new consumption space, they still wish to persevere their ties with the provincial roots.  Evidently, they seem to emerge in the third space where they can metaphorically be in both side at once through everyday consumption.  As migration fabricates hybridity of cultures and identities (Hall 1990), the self needs consumption practices tailored to the third space (1) (Bhabha 1990) in order to balance the hybrid self.  Indeed, the relationship between place, identity and everyday consumption is profoundly intertwined (Penaloza 1994; McDowell 1999).  The term ‘place’ which I discuss here does not refer to just a physical area, rather it embraces local ways of life such as customs, values and certainly consumption practices.  The notion of place also comprises symbolic meanings that we often incorporate into our identities. Thus, changing place (e.g. migration or even moving home) can frustrate and relocate our sense of identity.  In order to understand this complex relationship, I employ interpretive research via ethnographic fieldwork. Specifically I examined a group of six female students from rural areas who came to study at a university in Bangkok.

Are Customers’ Dissatisfaction and Complaint Behaviors Positively Related? Empirical Tests

Dr. Godwin Onyeaso

ABSTRACT

A large number of studies on customer dissatisfaction and complaints behavior as well as other related consumer behavior studies are predicated on the belief that there is a statistically significant positive relationship between customer dissatisfaction and complaints behavior. Using time series panel data, this study tested this assumption and found that:  dissatisfaction and complaints have a stable long run equilibrium relationship which permits them to positively influence each other, that past dissatisfaction explains current changes in complaints, that past complaints explain current changes in complaints, and that current changes in dissatisfaction explain current changes in complaints. Finally, strategic services management implications of these results about how service managers can use them to leverage their organizational performance through superior complaints management programs were briefly discussed.

Real Estate Investments with Stochastic Cash Flows

Riaz Hussain, Ph.D.

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the ownership of real estate as a long-term, risky investment. Using stochastic calculus, the risk is analyzed by assuming that the cash flows in a property investment are growing as arithmetic Brownian motion with the possibility of becoming negative, while the value of the property is growing as a geometric Brownian motion. The analysis takes into account depreciation and taxes. The results are useful for a corporation or a long-term individual investor interested in real-estate investments.  Both individuals and corporations invest in real estate. A family may invest in a home to live. A landlord will invest in a rental property to earn a living. A corporation can invest in a shopping mall on behalf of its stockholders. A university has to invest in a parking garage to alleviate the parking problem on campus.

Mutual Fund Acquisitions and the Wealth of Target Shareholders

Dr. Xiyu (Thomas) Zhou

Dr. Kevin C. H. Chiang

Dr. Craig H. Wisen,

ABSTRACT

The impact of mutual funds acquisitions on target shareholders’ wealth is an important topic considering the predominant role that mutual funds play as financial intermediaries.  The results of the present study indicate that while target funds experience lower distribution and operation costs in post-acquisition period, the overall impact of acquisition on target funds’ performance is negative.  These results suggest that mutual fund acquisitions destroy value in the long run.  This phenomenon is partially driven by an implicit desire to achieve diversification on the part of some bidders whose main businesses are not in the asset management industry.  The notion of shareholder wealth maximization is often advocated in corporate governance and control literature (see Jensen and Meckling 1976).  Because of this emphasis, shareholder wealth has been extensively examined in the corporate merger and acquisition literature (see Becht, Bolton, and Röell 2002; Gondhalekar and Bhagwat 2003; Knapp, Gart, and Becher 2005).  Relatively few studies though have focused on target shareholders’ wealth within the mutual fund industry.  Jayaraman, Khorana and Nelling (2002) studied mutual fund mergers that involve the combination of two funds across fund families. (2) 

The Iran - China Alliance

Kamrouz Pirouz, Ph.D. and Farahmand Rezvani, Ph.D.,

The impact of China’s rapid economic growth in the last fifteen years has led to a substantial increase in its demand for energy. Iran’s ample supply of oil and gas and its need to counterbalance pressure from Europe and especially the US, have combined to  initiate an alliance between the two countries. Our position in this paper is that this partnership is extremely beneficial to both countries and it should be strengthened in the years to come.  The recent rise in the price of oil which broke the $60 a barrel mark in late August of 2005 is due to underlying fundamentals. The combination of a strong  global demand, especially from China and India, coupled with tightness in supply and lack of excess capacity in refinery production worldwide, have been the main cause of the surge in oil prices. But political instability in the oil producing regions, especially the Middle East and Venezuela, and the resulting fear of supply disruptions have also added an element of unpredictability which becomes reflected in the price of oil.  This paper, after considering the causes of the rise in the price of oil since 2005 seeks to examine the impact of China’s rapid economic growth on total world energy demand and the possibility of its alliance with Iran as a rich energy source to provide China with ample supply of oil as well as natural gas.

The Capital Allocation in Developing Economies and their Vulnerability to External Shocks

Vefa Tarhan, Ph.D.

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates emerging market characteristics and whether or not emerging markets allocate scarce capital resources in an efficient manner.  One of the findings of the paper is that while there has been a steady improvement in these markets, there still are some distortions.  One of the significant problems is that the governments dominate the bond markets in these countries to the extent of completely crowding-out the private sector.  At the macroeconomic level, this in turn simultaneously encourages inflation and curtails economic growth.  At the corporate finance level, it forces firms to rely on short-term bank debt, exposing them to maturity risk, and also to borrow foreign currency denominated debt which exposes them to exchange rate risk.  Additionally, due to the volatility of these economies firms have higher betas and higher cost of equity than developed economies.  Using the events experienced during May-June 2006, the paper argues that these markets are susceptible to financial shocks created by hedge fund activities.  Finally, the paper provides a recipe for the measures that governments and other institutions can take for further development of these markets by broadening and deepening these markets.

Pricing American Options with Counterparty Risk

Lung-fu Chang, Ph.D. Candidate

Dr. Mao-wei Hung

ABSTRACT

This article evaluates the impact of default risk on the prices of American options by the two-point Geske and Johnson method. Using the two-point Geske and Johnson method, we provide the analytical formula to assess vulnerable American options by pricing vulnerable European and multi-exercisable options under risk-neutral measures and employing Richardson’s extrapolation. To demonstrate the accuracy of our proposed method, we compare values of the vulnerable American option from our proposed method with benchmark values from the least-square Monte Carlo simulation method. Numerical evaluations illustrate the impact of counterparty risk on the prices of European and American options and demonstrate the accuracy of our proposed method.   Over-the-counter (OTC) markets have come into the limelight in recent years. In the OTC market, financial derivatives of all types are widely traded. Financial institutions and corporate clients are the main participants in the OTC market. In contrast to exchange-listed options markets, there is no organizing exchange in OTC markets requiring options positions to be resettled daily and sufficient collateral posted. Therefore, the holders of OTC options are exposed to possible defaults from their counterparties. The traditional option pricing formulas suggested by Black and Sholes (1973) or Merton (1973) do not take counterparty risk into consideration. Several studies have concentrated on pricing vulnerable options, which are private contracts with the option payoff but without the protection of counterparty risk, as described by Johnson and Stulz (1987), Hull and White (1995), Klein (1996), Klein and Inglis (1999, 2001) and Hung and Liu (2005).

A Structural Equation Model of Total Quality Management and Cleaner Production Implementation

Dr. Ming-Lang Tseng and Dr. Yuan-Hsu Lin

Dr. Anthony SF Chiu and Chi-Horng Liao

ABSTRACT

A review of the literature revealed gaps in this area of organizational factors and cleaner production implementation, particularly inadequacy in this area of empirical testing of the organizational factors on cleaner production implementation. The aim of this study was to examine the total quality management elements and cleaner production implementation of numbers of manufacturing firm in order to determine the relationships among these variables. This research used of 267 Taiwan manufacturing organizations. The reliability (construct and item) and validity (convergent and content) of the constructs were evaluated. The result showed the Total quality management (TQM) elements were significantly and positively related to each other and cleaner production construct. A structural equation model constructed.

Evaluating the Decision to Adopt RFID Systems Using Analytic Hierarchy Process

Koong Lin and Chad Lin

ABSTRACT

Interests continue to grow in recent years for the adoption of Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technologies due to their capability for real-time identification and tracking. A good example of this was when Wal-Mart asked its top 100 suppliers to use RFID tags in 2005. This had a profound effect on the projected growth of RFID technology as well as potential applications in industries such as defense, wholesale, and retail. However, there are some business and technical problems and issues with the use of RFID technologies (such as data accuracy, costs and benefits, and security and privacy) and these warrant further research. Thus, this research aims to establish a decision analysis mechanism that can assist organizations to judge if they are suitable to adopt the RFID systems. The AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) methodology is employed to analyze the RFID adoption decision processes of both RFID expert and industry evaluators.   Global spending on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), according to Gartner, is likely to reach US$3 billion by 2010 (CNET, 2005). RFID can be used to integrate processes and technologies in order to conduct and manage global trade. Several major retailers such as Tesco in the UK and Metro in Germany are already rolling out large-scale RFID initiatives. For example, Wal-Mart asked its top 100 suppliers to use RFID tags by 2005 (EPCglobal, 2006).

Budgeting as a Competitive Advantage: Evidence from Sri Lanka

Siriyama Kanthi Herath, Ph.D. and M. W. Indrani

ABSTRACT

This study empirically explores the roles of Budgetary Control Systems (BCS) as a component of the Management Control System (MCS) in creating and sustaining Competitive Advantage (CA). More specifically, it attempted to reveal the existing accounting control practices in a manufacturing firm in Sri Lanka; Harischandra Mills Ltd (HML). The study examined how the BCS assisted in satisfying the demand for Coffee and Noodles at a competitive price leading to higher sales volume creating and sustaining a CA. The study reveals the budgeting process at HML and recognizes a number of roles performed by the BCS and it concludes that regardless of the fact that a BCS can play a leading role in establishing an efficient MCS for creating a sustainable CA, budgeting will not function in isolation. Instead, it can be used more effectively by strategically joining it with emerging strategic oriented knowledge enterprises. The management accounting literature proposes that effective planning and control are crucial for achieving organizational goals and objectives. Effective planning ensures that goals are selected with care and effective control ensures that the selected plans are implemented appropriately. Budgets perform an important role both in planning and control in achieving organizational goals.

Education and Labor Market in Knowledge-Based Economy of Korea

Namchul Lee, Ph.D.

ABSTRACT

The principal objective of this paper is to explore the reasons for male and female differences in participation rates in higher education and the labor market in Korea drawing on various aggregate data. Also, we compare to determine the relationship between education and labor market participation, and account for earnings inequality. More detailed attention is then given to issues concerning the changing composition of employment and unemployment in terms of occupation by gender.  The results suggest that the overall differences in higher education at the college level which has been a heavily male-dominated area and in the labor market are primarily due to differences in observed socio-economic factors, such as wage differentials and cultural characteristics.  Over the last forty years, education has been the main reason for the dramatic improvement the status of professional women. Educational attainment of the work force is a key development strategy aimed at promoting economic growth, and gender differences in education may be viewed as an important indicator of gender inequality (Mankiw etc, 1992). However, technology has proven to be an especially difficult area for women to penetrate professionally. They have been encountering very tough obstacles in the knowledge-based economy.

A Renewed Look at the Turnover Model for Accounting Knowledge Work Force

Yaying Mary Chou Yeh, CPA, DBA

ABSTRACT

In an effort to understand the change dynamics on work attitudes and perceptions of the twenty-first century knowledge work force, this study explores a turnover model including organizational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intent using accounting professionals as an example. Results from structural equation modeling (SEM) reveal that job satisfaction is the most important factor in determining employee propensity to leave for accounting knowledge workers. Organizational commitment is not critical in the turnover model for individuals with movement capital. Empirical test implies that firms should identify employees with different level of movement capital to design suitable retention programs. The conclusion of this study is also applicable to other high-level, service oriented knowledge employees in the age of knowledge economy.  Knowledge worker, as first coined by Peter Drucker in 1959, is one who works primarily with information to develop and use knowledge in the workplace. Accounting professional is one of such who accumulates intellectual capital and business intelligence through specialization and expertise. The management of accounting knowledge workers, especially in the aspect of human resource development, requires contextual and careful attention and connection. 

Market Controls on Corporate Social Responsibility:  An Exploratory Study of Banking & Investment Policies (1)

Breena E. Coates, Ph.D.

ABSTRACT:

Corporate fraud, managed mendacity and other crimes necessitated passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (2). This conceptual paper resumes the discussion of corporate social responsibility by analyzing market controls that could facilitate business ethics, such as the “Equator Principles” in Banking, Grassroots Participatory Lending and other mechanisms. It explores these devices via a constructivist-interpretative methodology, using content analyses of scholarly and practitioner literature to deconstruct and synthesize business strengths,  weaknesses, opportunities and threats over the last 20 years, and thus make policy-relevant recommendations for business and government.  This exploratory study will be  followed by an empirical analyses using survey research and statistical analyses of banking and investment loan evaluation procedures.  This conceptual study examines how market controls could be an avenue for facilitating corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR is the expectation that companies see their corporate strategies and decision-making within a framework that includes sustainability of social and environmental resources, and a keener understanding of the negative externalities generated through business actions–and not just profit and loss considerations. (Deresky, 2006). Our current system of business accounting harks back to the industrial revolution which set forth business practices that were largely oblivious to their social and environmental impacts. One explanation given is that our gross domestic product, based upon the “national account” principles set forth by John Maynard Keynes, while useful in its exactitude for accounting for capital goods, is elusive and ambiguous in tracking the impact of business on social and natural resources.

A Factor Analytic Study of the Computer Anxiety Rating Scale: Evidence from an Egyptian University

Dr. Mansour Salman Mohamad. A. M. Lotayif

Dr. Ahmed El-Ragal,

ABSTRACT

Computer Anxiety Rating Scale (CARS) has been a topic of interest in computer literature for decades. The current study is an endeavor in this perspective. It attempts to determine the number of anxiety’s constructs within Woszczynski’s 16-item CARS. The experience of 344 undergraduate students was utilized to achieve the current study aims. Through Explanatory Factor Analysis (EFA), CARS was loaded on four factors that represent four constructs: future ambition about computer, technical, personal, and experience anxieties.  Technophobia and computerphobic are two terminologies surface as consequences of massive usages of computer applications in most life aspects. North, and Noyes (2002); and McIlroy et al (2001) have defined technophobia is the anxiety about present or future interactions with computers or computer-related technology; negative global attitudes about computers, their operation or their societal impact.

Executing Strategies on Intellectual Capital: Case Study for Management and Corporate Governance

Jui-Chi Wang (Amanda)

ABSTRACT

Skanida is the first company to report its valuable intangible asset on financial statement in the world and has made the distinguished contribution in intellectual capital (IC) development and affected greatly in today’s strategic management and business re-engineering practices. This case study first introduced the background of this Sweden company, and also its current financial performance.  Jan R. Carendi, former CEO of Skandia, had worked for Skandia for decades and contributed his initiative knowledge and vision to build the foundation of intellectual capital in Skandia.  Skandia Navigator was introduced to help the company to balance the financial and intellectual capital evaluation; therefore, the company’s successful factors can be visually seen and evaluated by quantitative ratios through the business development process. The strategic development and value creation as the hidden values of the company can be managed by utilizing the intellectual ratio and indicators.  The strategies for Skandia’s human capital, intellectual capital management and distribution channel were also discussed.  Furthermore, Skandia initiated extensive work on reshaping the group from a federative structure into a highly cohesive and uniformly governed group that makes effective use of operating synergies.  Finally, the key questions examined internally and externally would provide detailed analysis and suggestion in changing external business environment and competitive realities for Skandia. 

An Empirical Analysis Concerning the User Acceptance of E-Learning

Dr. Salih Zeki Imamoglu

ABSTRACT

With the rapid change of traditional practices, technologies, skills and accelerated rate of knowledge creation and dissemination; lifetime learning has become inevitable both for everyone and for every organization. An e-learning system is a promising alternative in the current educational revolution that is taking us from a print to a digitized culture, with a corresponding demand to deliver knowledge to educate large numbers of people over vast areas without the boundaries of time and place. The increasing importance of e-learning has made user acceptance a critical subject for both academicians and practitioners. Accordingly, in this study the e-learning concept is described with a detailed literature review, and user acceptance, in terms of perceived usefulness, is empirically investigated.

International Reality of Internet Use as Marketing Tool

Maria Teresa Borges Tiago and João Pedro Couto, Ph.D.

Maria Manuela Natário, Ph.D. and Ascensão Braga, Ph.D.

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes the factors that are associated with success in using the Internet as a marketing tool. We administered a questionnaire to companies on three continents, considering six levels, which range from financial results and customer relations to buying efficiency. We divided the companies into three groups using cluster analysis and tested the nature of the companies in each group on two levels, one regarding firm’s characteristics and another considering the approach that firms took in the use of the Internet marketing tools. The results show that the benefits vary according to the way the Internet application are explored; that commitment level can affect the results and the impact is superior in the companies that explore the Internet potentialities in a wider perspective. These results demonstrate that the Internet is not only a means of sales promotion, but also relationship management and that companies who invest in an integrated perspective are more successful. As limitations of the study we consider the need for more research into the types of company activities that use the Internet as a fundamental component of the business. This paper contributes to the research on this topic with new evidence in a broad geographic sample.

Optimal Stochastic Production Entry and Exit Models

Chuan-Chuan Ko, MBA

Tyrone T. Lin, Ph.D.

ABSTRACT

This study aims to evaluate the firm value by risk adjusted discounted factor with no leverage condition. The proposed model considers the market entry model with investment cost and the market exit model with exit cost simultaneously. The results of this study find out the hysteresis difference only accessed by production entry or exit model, and the threshold of production is more conservative than the traditional net present approach or real options approach.  The purpose of this work is to conduct study that when the project investment keeps out of debt, the anticipated rate of return on investment required by stockholders plus the risk premium shall be the revised risk discounted factor in order to measure the firm value. In addition, traditional financial management is based on the risk neutral approach to conduct measurement aiming at the stock price to convert into the firm value. That means the anticipated rate of return on investment is equivalent to the risk-free interest rate, which is accepted and identified by general finance scholars. However, when an enterprise is conducting real asset project investment consideration, if it utilizes the risk-free interest rate of the risk neutral approach as the anticipated rate of return on project investment, it will not be accepted by the practical sector.

Doing More Harm than Good: Unraveling the Mystery of Frustration Effects

Dr. Michael P. Lillis

Dr. Frank  J. Krystofiak and Dr. Jerry M. Newman

ABSTRACT

In a management context, there is a strong belief that employees view outcomes more favorably when they result from fair procedures rather than unfair procedures. Yet academic and popular accounts indicate that some procedural enhancements have the potential to backfire – i.e. process improvements can unexpectedly bring about an increased sense of injustice, thereby doing more harm than good.  This study attempts to provide an integrative framework for understanding this so-called “frustration effect”: when does procedural justice enhance, and when does it diminish, distributive justice.  To better understand the occurrence of frustration effects, the authors focus on Referent Cognitions Theory (RCT).  Using structural equation modeling in a multi-sample framework, evidence suggests that the trigger for the so-called ‘frustration effect” depends on a belief in one’s entitlement to a preferable referent outcome. If outcomes are bad enough, and fail to meet individual expectations for a more desirable alternative, procedural fairness does little to enhance perceptions of distributive justice. The results are discussed in connection with practices used to allocate scarce goods and resources

Audience Attitudes Towards Product Placement in Movies: A Case from Turkey

Dr. Metin Argan

Dr. Meltem Nurtanis Velioglu

Mehpare Tokay Argan, Ph.D. Program 

ABSTRACT

The practice of product (or brand) placement in movies and other multimedia has been an important emerging area of marketing and advertising communication in recent years. Marketers and movie producers now frequently use placement as the basis for multi-million dollar promotional campaigns. This study describes the attitudes of a sampling of Turkish moviegoers towards product placement in movies and analyzes data to determine the effect of product placement on a Turkish population of moviegoers. In order to examine product placement from an audience’s point of view, the study investigated a sample of Turkish moviegoers. The findings indicate that while there is generally a favorable attitude toward product placement, extensive commercial usage of product placement in movies is perceived by moviegoers as ethically less acceptable. The findings also indicate that movie going frequency and the level of movie enjoyment affect the attention paid to product-placement, whereas gender, age, education and income level do not affect attitudes towards product placement. The results of this research have significant implications for both the practice of marketing as a whole as well as to how the movie audience interprets product placement practices in Turkey.

Management Education Reform in a Knowledge Management Environment

Satya P. Chattopadhyay, Ph.D.

 ABSTRACT

This paper seeks to link knowledge management (KM) principles to needs that businesses expect will be filled by trained management graduates.  Knowledge management is defined, and business tasks are mapped onto a knowledge management scenario.  The need to change the emphasis of present management curriculum to reflect the new realities is substantiated. Specifically, the components of a knowledge management system: knowledge acquisition, strategic sense making and communication are described.  Ultimately, the goal of business education is to develop decision-makers of the future who will be able to make better quality decisions more efficiently in what is at the core, a problem-solving environment.  The business world is the customer of trained professionals that academic programs seek to deliver, and it is increasingly vocal about the needs that it wants met.  With ever-increasing sophistication in conceptualizing and articulating these needs, they are able to clearly identify the specific areas where they seek fulfillment.  They are looking for individuals who will be able to hit the field running.  They seek to hire employees who are competent, productive, innovative and able to anticipate and respond to crises.  The academic programs seek to prepare their students so that they will be up to the task ahead.  The students are provided with a body of knowledge that is a varying blend of theoretical principles and practical applications as they pass through the system. 

An Evaluation of Time-series Operational Performance on the Non-profit Hospitals in Taiwan

Ching-Kuo Wei

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to study the operational performance of the non-profit hospitals in Taiwan from 2000 to 2004.  This study adopts the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) and Bilateral Model to analyze the operational performances of 72 non-profit hospitals.  The results show that the operational performances of these non-profit hospitals regardless of the attributes present a common tendency that the performances of 2001 and 2003 regressed as compared to the previous year, while that of 2004 has grown as compared to 2003.  In addition, the implementation of Taiwan’s Health Insurance Global Budget System has a greater negative impact to the public hospitals; therefore, based on the category of authorization and responsibility, the operational performance of proprietary hospitals is better than that of public hospitals.   Non-profit hospitals are quite popular in Taiwan and can be categorized into two forms, public and proprietary, by their characteristics.  The public hospitals are established by the government to provide the basic health care needs for the public and also take care of the minority patients’ health services.  The establishment of proprietary hospitals is mostly because of the tax reason and enterprise’s image, and most major business groups have set up hospitals. Moreover, they succeed to introduce the business management model to the hospital operation. 

Entrepreneurial Cognition and its Linkage to Social Capital

Janusz K. Tanas, Ph.D. Candidate and John Saee Ph.D.

ABSTRACT

The main aim of this paper is to examine the cognitive and behavioral aspects of social capital and its influence on entrepreneurial development and economic growth. The paper presented is conceptual in nature with some support from secondary data assessment. Further, extant literature review seems to suggest that cognitive and behavioral aspects have received limited attention in the extant literature on social capital. The findings seem to suggest that cognitive and behavioral aspects are one of the main components of social capital which stimulate the development of trust, networking and relationships. Further, it is argued that cognitive coherence is a necessary catalyst for entrepreneurial development and thus economic growth.  Entrepreneurship is central to the development of the existing and the transitional economies (Aldrich 1999). Entrepreneurial activity serve as a vital component of national economic growth and development during transition as it encourages action, promotes job creation, consequently, improving well being of the entire country (Bednarzik 2000; Keister 2000). Entrepreneurial businesses form the nature of social and economic stratification in a transitional economy (Haltiwanger & Krizan 1998).

Chinese Management Philosophy – Study on Confucius Thought

Dr. Chiou-Hua Lin and Yuan-Kai Chi

ABSTRACT

It has been more than 5,000 years of the history in China.  Though through many disorders, these chaotic situations could finally be settled and an orderly situation may then be developed.  What can be relied on mainly is the continued contribution of both wisdom and effort from the well-learned people, creating the best management philosophy.  Management is a kind of complicated development process.  It has such features as target, method, input, time & space and development, etc.  However, Chinese Confucianism has influences on the cultural development, social progress, international relationship and peace in China for several thousand years.  These thoughts have long integrated into the management process and denotation.  The Chinese Confucius management philosophy is: starting from management of oneself, then developing to the management of an organization, and further marching toward the “benevolence”, “loyalty & forgiveness” thoughts, as a management philosophy that concerns “life with focus on service as a goal”:

A Methodological Classification in ES Implementation Research

Mei-Hsia Chiang

ABSTRACT

This paper classifies enterprise systems (ES) implementation research into variance research, process research and conceptual research with a methodological dimension. Classification in ES implementation researches can contribute to theory development and formulation in ES implementation literature. In addition, an ES implementation conceptual model is developed based on the hybrid of variance and process theory and the incorporation of some existing ES implementation researches. This conceptual model can guide future research by developing propositions to explain contradictory findings of business performance in ES implementation, to permit a generalization of findings to related phenomena and to put forward a research agenda. Overall, this paper is unique in two ways: first, a methodological classification in ES implementation researches is provided to facilitate a good theory-building procedure to improve theoretical development; second, a conceptual model of ES implementation is proposed to guide future research and practically successful ES implementation. Our analysis can add to knowledge accumulation and creation in the MIS academic and practical discipline.   Enterprise Resource Planning（ERP）systems are variously called enterprise-wide systems or enterprise systems (ES). Enterprise systems are commercial software packages that enable the integration of transaction-oriented data and business processes throughout its entire organization, eventually to assist the inter-organizational supply chain (Markus et al., 2000b).

The Influence of Dimensions of Corporate Governance on Firm Values Using an Applied Structural Equation Model

Chung-Cheng Hsu

ABSTRACT

This research was conducted mainly to study the influence of dimensions of corporate governance on firm values by applying a Structural Equation Model. This paper analyzes whether factors such as equity ownership structure, directors’ and supervisors’ structure, and information transparency are appropriate for studying corporate governance effects on firm value. Information transparency is the variable used to indicate the quality of a corporate governance mechanism. This study uses the index of the Securities and Futures Institute to divide the information transparency of a corporate governance mechanism into high and low groups. The results show that information transparency can profoundly influence the efficiency of corporate governance and  enhances firm values. also: (1) confirmed validity of the overall structural model; (2) showed that, once information transparency within a firm is established, the equity ownership structure and directors’ and supervisors’ structure have significant influence on the firm’s value; and (3) showed that a strong relationship exists between the composition of the board of directors and information transparency.

Gender Differences in Burnout among Life Insurance Sales Representatives in Taiwan

Dr. Chiang Ku Fan and Chen-Liang Cheng

ABSTRACT

There is a paucity of studies in which the relations among work-related gender differences are examined. Business competition has heightened, which has also increased the stress of workers. Life insurance  is a vying business, but few studies have investigated burnout in this industry, particularly the relationship between burnout and the gender of sales representatives. Burnout was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI; Maslach & Jackson, 1986), which was the main measure of experienced job strain. The life insurance sales representative pool (N = 250) was selected using stratified sampling among employees in 29 life insurance companies in Taiwan. Mean scores were calculated for the three MBI subscales. Differences in mean scores were assessed using multivariate analysis of variance. Variables on which gender differences existed were selected as possible concomitant variables. Gender differences in burnout among Taiwan life insurance sales representatives were found to exist. However, our results indicate that underlying factors, such as working hours, have a profound effect on these differences.

Understanding E-learning Consumers: The Moderating Effects of Gender and Learner Diversity

Dr. Yao-kuei Lee

ABSTRACT

Understanding consumer behavior is vital in formulating marketing strategies as consumer may form different perceptions due to individual differences for any given marketing stimulus. Using an e-learning acceptance model (Pituch and Lee 2006), a sample data of 259 Taiwanese undergraduates was used to investigate the effects of gender and learner diversity on consumers’ cognitive beliefs and intentions. The results revealed that the differences in construct means between males and females occurred at the front ends of the path model while those between nontraditional and traditional learners were at the opposing ends. It implied that different needs of various learner groups for e-learning, rather than academic discipline or gender seem to drive the differences in intention to use e-learning for distance education and for supplementary learning. In addition, gender and learner diversity moderated some of the model relationships. In particular, women’s adoption intention for distance education purpose was more strongly influenced by system interactivity and women’s perception of e-learning usefulness was negatively influenced by self-efficacy. System functionality predicted intention to use e-learning as a supplementary learning tool for traditional students, but not for nontraditional students, and perceived usefulness predicted intention to use e-learning for supplementary learning more strongly for nontraditional students than for traditional students. These findings help prioritizing the marketing efforts for different learner groups.

Re-innovation: The Redefined Definition

Chi-Jyun Cheng

Dr. Eric Shiu

ABSTRACT

When redesigning a new product it is not only the time and the cost that are important, but also its characterization. While innovation has been much researched, re-innovation is essentially undefined and obscured. The authors attempt to illuminate the concept by reporting the insights obtained from their exploratory research. Eventually, this research provides a rigorous definition of re-innovation.  When facing with either decreasing customer loyalty or falling market share caused by rapid environmental changes, companies often provide new products to speedily deal with these changes (Lukas and Menon 2004). However, research has shown that it is not easy for some current customers to accept a new product which is based on breakthrough innovations (Treacy 2004). In addition, most new consumer products fail (over 90 % each year) one of the reasons being that they use radical technologies which do not meet consumers’ requirements (Christensen et al. 2005).  Conversely, companies can remain competitive by offering new products which are modified versions of existing products (Rothwell and Gardiner 1989). In fact, to constantly improve an existing product is a requirement of continued success for an organization (Rothwell and Gardiner 1983; Randal et al. 2005). This is partly because following this approach may not only reduce the cost of developing a new model but also decrease the lead time in bringing it to the market (Zangwill and Kantor 1998). Another possibility is that new product uncertainty could decrease (Song and Montoya-Weiss 2001). It is also possible that existing customers are more accepting of redesigned current products, because of the use of incremental technologies (Treacy 2004).  Finally, perhaps this new model with slight changes would fit a company’s strategy regarding its competitors (Lin 2003).

ABC Joint Products Decision with Multiple Resource Constraints

Li-Jung Tseng

Dr. Chien-Wen Lai

ABSTRACT

Owing to capacity constraints, the companies that produce joint products have to assess the economic desirability of further processing joint products beyond the split-off point. This applies especially in a situation where market demands exceed the company’s production capacity. In order to maximize total profits, these companies must learn how to utilize the limited resources efficiently. The aim of this paper is to develop an ABC approach for the further processing decision of joint products, with multiple resource constraints. With the approach presented in this paper, companies producing joint products could consider the process costs and the limited resources simultaneously and determine which products provide the higher unit profit per constrained resource. By applying this approach, companies producing joint products could utilize constrained resources more efficiently and this would lead to an optimal further processing decision for joint products with multiple resource constraints.

TCE Mode Selection Criteria and Performance

Dr. Lisa Y. Chen

ABSTRACT

The concept of transaction cost economics (TCE) has been frequently used to analyze the determinants of entry mode choices. Throughout the literature, TCE has been used in many empirical studies to identify several crucial factors. This study, with grounding in the theoretical basis of TCE, investigates the factors that comprise multinational firms’ decisions to operate in foreign markets, with a view toward predicting performance. With a cross-sectional descriptive survey research design, a survey was developed for this study, in order to test the hypothesis and measure the variables. The survey was mailed to executive officers of U.S.-based small, mid-sized, and large multinational companies. The results of this study demonstrate that the effects of TCE variables were significant predictors of entry mode choice decisions and that the degree of control afforded by each entry mode choice had significant influence on mode performance.  The cost of implementing a particular mode of entry is an important consideration in the choice of entry mode (Rajan & Pangarkar 2000). Recently, researchers have stressed the need to supplement efficiency considerations of the transaction cost model with strategic issues concerning entry modes (Aulakh & Kotabe 1997). Firms are expected to choose the governance or entry mode that minimizes the costs of carrying out particular transactions. In application, transaction cost economics (TCE) is concerned with comparing different institutional arrangements for carrying out economic activity (Burgel & Murray 2000; Williamson 1985).

Cross-Cultural Leadership Behavior Expectations: A Comparison Between United States Managers and Mexican Managers

Dr. Sergio Matviuk

ABSTRACT

In the present global market, cross-national operations are common, which increases the interaction and relationships between people from different national cultures. The success of these cross-cultural business operations depends on the ability of the parties to understand and predict their counterpart’s behaviors. This ability is impacted by the people’s behavior expectations regarding how their counterpart’s should behave; because, if the behavior expectations do not match with the observed behavior, then the probability of conflicts and misunderstandings increases exponentially. This study focused its attention on the cross-cultural business relationship between the United States and Mexico and investigated if there were significant differences in leadership behavior expectations between a group of U.S. American managers and a group of Mexican managers. This study was cross-sectional and field-based, using a survey instrument to gather data. The Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI, Kouzes & Posner, 1997), adapted to define an ideal leader, was used to determine the leadership behavior expectations of each group. The results indicated that the U.S. American group had significantly higher leadership behavior expectations than its Mexican counterpart for all assessed leadership behaviors, which is helpful to anticipate potential sources of conflict when people from these countries interact. Results also suggested that variables such as education, gender, age, and their interaction had significant effect on participants’ leadership behavior expectations.

An Experimental Approach to Test Theories on Time Pressure in Online Time-Limited Promotions

Dr. Ching-I Teng

Li-Shia Huang

Wen-Chun Yeh

ABSTRACT

Previous research on online time-limited promotions rarely considered the influence of time pressure using an experimental approach (except for Lin & Wu, 2005). By using an experiment, this study examines several theories on time pressure and finds the limitations of previous theories: (1) time pressure increases choice deferral tendency, contradicting the findings of Dhar and Nowlis (1999), (2) time pressure both directly and indirectly influences total purchase amount, contradicting the findings of Herrington and Capella (1995) and (3) the construct of ‘perceived fulfillment of the shopping plan’ both directly and indirectly influences revisit intention, extending the findings of Teng, Huang and Chang (2006). Finally, implications and future research opportunities are discussed.  What are the benefits of stores imposing time pressures on shoppers? What are the influences of time pressures on shoppers? Do the effects of time pressure vary according to the products being purchased? Previous studies did not fully answer these questions.  This paper contains three contributions by remedying the shortcomings of the literature. First, past works rarely examined the influence of perceived time pressure on choice deferral in online time-limited promotions while only Lin & Wu (2005) pioneered to explore the impact of moderate time pressure.

Is there a Dividend to an Institution for having an Accredited College of Business?

Dr. Antonina Espiritu

Abstract