Copyright 2000-2008. All rights reserved

The Women’s Millennium in a Man’s World

Dr. Z. S. Demirdjian

  

The struggles to gain social, economic, and political equality with men are long sagas in the annals of women’s history. So long as historical writing has been in the sphere of men’s influence, little coverage has been devoted to record the feminism movement in the world.  The modern movement of feminism, however, is usually traced to the late 18^th century, to the formation of women’s political clubs in Paris in the wake of the French Revolution.  Furthermore, this movement is also traced to the nascent campaign for female suffrage ushered in by the 1792 publication of Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft, an English writer (1759-1797).  The crusade of the feminists in the 19^th century centered on gaining for women the right to vote, property rights in marriage, and the right to be educated. Twentieth century feminism in the West, however, arising strongly in the United States in the 1960s, has targeted male patriarchy in all its aspects. Prominent among the issues attacked has been gender discrimination in a wide variety of fields beyond the political and economic parameters. A few examples of the issues attacked included linguistic studies, psychoanalysis, history, and many others.  Feminism has become both a tool of analysis and a practical program to ameliorate women’s lot in a predominantly man’s world since time immemorial.  

  

An International Comparative Study of Economic Development: The Recent Evidence

Dr. Tyler. T. Yu, Dr. Miranda M. Zhang, Dr. Lloyd Southern, and Dr. Carl Joiner, Mercer University, Atlanta, GA

 

ABSTRACT

 

Using data from 1990 to 2000 collected for 30 countries, ranging from high income, middle income, and low-income countries, this paper evaluates economic development by looking at the changes in socioeconomic factors between 1990 and 2000. The U.S. is used as the base country against which other countries are compared.  Five social and economic variables are selected and examined for each country.  These variables are: life expectancy at birth, infant mortality rate, adult illiteracy rate, merchandise trade exports, and GDP. Then, an ANOVA analysis is conducted to estimate the significance of the differences among these three groups in terms of the socioeconomic performance in the 10 year period.  The worldwide uneven distribution of wealth and ability to achieve economic development has been the concern of many economists, political decision makers and others. Despite the trend of globalization and liberalization of markets, which provides opportunities of lifting developing countries out of poverty, there seems to be persistent, if not increasing, inequalities among countries. According to Kevin Watkins (2002), a Senior Policy Advisor with Oxfam, globalization is exacerbating inequalities at various levels. Income gaps based on access to markets, productive assets, and education are widening, acting as a brake on poverty-reduction efforts. The question is: why are some countries more successful than others in closing the development gaps.  In order to find the answer to that question, we must first know where are the gaps and how large the gaps have become.

  

The Hewlett Packard – Compaq Computers Merger: Insight from the Resource-Based View and the Dynamic Capabilities Perspective

 Preeta Roy

Probir Roy

 

INTRODUCTION

 

In this paper, we investigate the ongoing challenges faced by consolidation in the technology industry. We focus on two different paradigms to explore value creation in acquisition events: the resource-based view (RBV) and the dynamic capabilities perspective.  We utilize the RBV perspective and Dynamic capability perspective to analyze the potential of technology mergers by focusing specifically on the merger of HP and Compaq. The HP-Compaq merger presents an interesting case in which these two paradigms can be used to gain insight on potential outcomes.  We begin with an overview of relevant literature.  We then analyze HP and Compaq in terms of resource mix and the combined synergies that might arise from related resources.  This is followed by an analysis of each company’s acquisition experience to determine if there exists the (dynamic) capability to integrate.  Mergers and acquisitions have been, and continue to be, a topic of great interest to researchers trying to understand the factors explaining why some firms perform better in managing the acquisition process than others.  In managerial practice as well as in academic writings, the management of the post-acquisition integration phase is established as the single most important determinant of shareholder’s value creation (or value destruction) in the acquisition process (Zollo, 2001).

 

Using Six-sigma to Improve Loan Portfolio Performance

Dr. Fataneh Taghaboni-Dutta and Dr. Keith Moreland

 

ABSTRACT

 

Six-sigma is a customer driven quality program that identifies critical customer requirements and incorporates them into process selection, design, and implementation.  Many manufacturing companies have implemented six-sigma initiatives to improve quality and precision of processes and outputs.  Applications to service firms have been much less common.  In this case study, we explore how six-sigma is used to design, measure, and analyze process loss and guide process improvements with respect to guarantor and refinancing decisions in the student loan industry.  The firm studied experienced poor performance in its portfolio of student loans acquired for rehabilitation and subsequent refinancing with the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae or SLMA).  Benchmarking and process review under six-sigma identified incongruence between employee incentives and organizational goals and poor up-front evaluation of the ability to rehabilitate (put in good standing) an acquired student loan as the primary causes for poor loan portfolio performance.  The company could improve performance through matching employee (customer representative) incentives with organizational goals and through comprehensive, more standardized, systematic review of loans considered for acquisition, rehabilitation and refinancing with SLMA.

 

International Pharmaceuticals Industry: The New Marketing Paradigm in the United States and Unresolved Issues of Public Policy

Lee Richardson, Ph.D. and Vince Luchsinger, Ph.D.

 

ABSTRACT

 

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the major industries in the world, and is increasingly owned by American companies. One of the major tools of marketing of the industry within the United States is direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. Approved on an interim basis in 1997 by the industry’s regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, annual expenditures already approach $3 billion annually. The industry faces increasing resistance to many of its practices, including rising prices, and numerous criticisms of DTC have not been resolved. Future trends for DTC depend on a number of factors and it is unrealistic to make firm forecasts of the future.  Some trends that have contributed to strong growth of the pharmaceutical industry are strong productivity of firms, robust and innovative research and development, demographic trends that result in a heavily prescribed older population, and a free market. Senior populations themselves are growing at an accelerated rate. Last and not least is the success of marketing strategies, especially traditional personal selling, but recently the addition of aggressive direct- to- consumer advertising programs (DTC), the core topic of this paper.

 

U.S. Trade Deficits with China and Mexico: The Hecksher-Ohlin Theorem Revisited

Dr. Farhad F. Ghannadian, Mercer University, Atlanta, GA

 

ABSTRACT

 

The trade deficit of the U.S. and the reaction of the second Bush Administration has been criticized by the media and politicians who demand more restrictions on trade.  A huge chunk of this deficit lies in two countries in which the U.S. is heavily involved in trading.  These countries are China and Mexico.  The two countries are different in every aspect one can imagine.  Mexico is a close neighbor, and China is over five thousand miles away.  Yet both of these countries and the United States exhibit the behavior predicted by two Swedish economists, Heckscher and Ohlin. The abundance of capital in the U.S. relative to China and Mexico and the abundance of labor in these countries relative to the U.S. will move these countries to produce those goods that are least expensive in terms of labor and capital.  This article looks at the products that are traded between the U.S. and China and Mexico and recommends strategies that can be employed by the U.S. government to improve the trade balance with these countries rather than fight the natural economic transition in the respective economies by legislation or trade barriers.  Recent trade talks between China and the U.S. with the new Chinese Premier’s visit to the U.S. in December of 2003 has created additional questions on trade.  China’s trade surplus of over $120 billion and its holding of U.S. Treasury bonds in excess of $100 billion have made its economy clearly interconnected to the U.S. In addition, China’s monthly wages are only $120 a month in the more expensive urban areas, and there are another 500 million peasants living in the countryside waiting to enter the industrial labor force. Recently the Bush Administration lifted the U.S. steel tariffs after twenty months of threats by the European Union to impose sanctions if they were not removed.

 

An Analysis of the Incentives to Licensing in U.S. Information Technology

Dr. YoungJun Kim, The George Washington University, Washington D.C.

 

ABSTRACT

 

This paper investigates the validity of the potential factors that might affect the incentives of companies to license out their technology. Empirical analysis is provided with the help of a panel data set of observed licensing transactions worldwide involving information technology (IT) companies publicly traded in the United States. Our results show that transaction cost, market competition, and knowledge appropriability considerations weigh in heavily in explaining the licensing behavior. The important explanatory factors relate to the firm’s prior involvement in technology licensing, the industry concentration, the sales growth and the propensity to receive patents in the primary industry of the company. Company’s stock of technological knowledge (patent), the company size and R&D intensity also play a key role in determining manager’s licensing incentive.  There is anecdotal evidence that market for technology is less developed than socially desirable and not well functioned. For example, a study by British Technology Group found that large companies in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan ignore a large amount of their patented technologies, which could be licensed or profitably sold (British Technology Group, 1998). The inefficiency of market for technology is caused by a number of impediments it faces. The best-known obstacle to the efficient market for technology is the “appropriability problem”. In his early paper, Arrow (1962) argues that once an idea is disclosed to a potential buyer, it is possible for that buyer to use the information without paying for it. Because of this concern, a potential licensor would be reluctant to disclose the core of technology, depriving a potential licensee of the chance to evaluate it. Then, without being able to evaluate technology, buyers would be unwilling to buy the product.

 

The Impacts of Country-of-Origin on Brand Equity

Dr. Chien-Huang Lin and Danny T. Kao

 

ABSTRACT

 

In the era of global marketing, corporations have to keep an eye on the marketing environment to survive in the long run.  Branding strategies, as the key role in the marketing mix, are increasingly viewed as a powerful tool to obtain sustainable competitive advantages, to fully utilize available resources and to avoid bleeding price competitions (Aaker and Keller, 1990).  Brand equity is widely acknowledged as an index of measuring the effectiveness of branding strategies.  However, while facing numerous unfamiliar brands, consumers may fall into the dilemma.  Therefore, the country-of-origin (COO) becomes a critical external cue for consumers to depend on. Unfortunately, the country of brand-of-origin is not exactly identical to that of the brand-of-manufacture due to the international OEM businesses.  It is interesting to observe that how this phenomenon will impact on the brand equity.  The concept of brand equity was addressed by advertising agents several decades ago (Barwise, 1993).  Brand equity is currently not an account in the financial statements in practical field, however, it is significantly influential on revenues.  For example, Philip Morris, the manufacturer of Marlboro, had acquired Kraft Foods and Miller Beer.  AOL and Times Warner is another story of merger.  In the process of M &A, the assessment of brand value is absolutely indispensable, thus the importance of brand equity is even conspicuous.  For the time being, almost every industry is suffered from enduring economic depression and tries to reduce operational costs, as well as to raise up the profits simultaneously.  Brand equity is thus receiving more attentions.  While brand equity is beneficial for consumers to screen out messages in chaos, to reinforce the confidence of purchase decisions, and to create greater satisfaction, it will also conducive for sellers to increase marketing effectiveness and efficiency, to establish brand loyalty, to improve the profitability, and to distinguish from competitors (Huang, 2001). 

 

Making the Most of International Assignments:  A Training Model for Non-resident Expatriates

Spero C. Peppas, Ph.D., Mercer University, Atlanta, GA

 

ABSTRACT

 

Studies indicate that, as a result of globalization, most firms expect the number of employees they send on international assignments to grow.  However, with downsizing and an increased focus on the bottom line, the three to five year expatriate posting has all but disappeared, giving way to commuter, frequent flyer and virtual assignments.  With the evolution of these alternatives comes the need for new paradigms to prepare employees to perform effectively in different environments. This paper sets forth a 3-step, time- and cost-effective model to provide non-resident expatriates with basic macro-environment information and to acculturate them to their international destinations.  Given globalization trends, companies are realizing the importance of having employees who can function well in the international arena.  A 2002 study by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that 75% percent of firms surveyed expected an increase in the number of employees on international assignments.  At the same time, 82% of firms viewed cost reduction as a priority in international assignments (International assignments: key trends 2002, 2003).  Despite high costs, companies use expatriates for a variety of reasons, for example, to establish a business presence quickly in response to market developments; to provide skills that are not available in a particular country; to transfer technical knowledge as well as company culture and policy after mergers and acquisitions; and to allow employees to gain international experience as part of company management development programs (van der Boon, 2001).

 

Corporate Governance: Theory and Practice

Dr. Malek Lashgari, CFA, University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT

 

ABSTRACT

 

Various theories and philosophies have provided the foundation for the development of alternative forms of corporate governance systems around the world. Furthermore, as economies have evolved through time it appears that corporate executives have deviated from the sole objective of maximizing shareholders’ wealth. Owners of the capital have responded to these forces for the purpose of preserving their wealth and earning a reasonable return on their invested capital. Whereas internal corporate control, external financial market forces, and institutional investors’ responses have been effective in securing shareholders’ wealth, legal protection needs to be provided for them.  As a legal entity, a corporation enters into contracts to produce goods and services and it has the right to own property. Furthermore, the firm can borrow from various lenders and raise cash by issuing shares of its ownership. Shareholders would not only benefit from the earnings generated by the corporation, but by electing members of the board of directors they could indirectly oversee actions undertaken by the managers. These managers, as agents of the shareholders, are expected to perform for the best interest of the owners of the corporation.  Corporate managers can add value to common stockholders without decreasing the welfare of the other corporate stakeholders. For example, borrowing a portion of the capital that is needed for financing activities of the firm, would lead to a higher return to common stockholders. This is because borrowing is generally inexpensive for the firm in the face of taxation benefits available to business enterprises.  Executive decisions may result in a transfer of wealth from one group of shareholders to the other.

 

A Review of Employee Motivation Theories and their Implications for Employee Retention within Organizations

Sunil Ramlall, Ph.D., University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, MN

 

ABSTRACT

 

The article provides a synthesis of employee motivation theories and offers an explanation of how employee motivation affects employee retention and other behaviors within organizations.  In addition to explaining why it is important to retain critical employees, the author described the relevant motivation theories and explained the implications of employee motivation theories on developing and implementing employee retention practices.  The final segment of the paper provides an illustration with explanation on how effective employee retention practices can be explained through motivation theories and how these efforts serve as a strategy to increasing organizational performance.  In today’s highly competitive labor market, there is extensive evidence that organizations regardless of size, technological advances, market focus and other factors are facing retention challenges.  Prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks, a report by the Bureau of National Affairs (1998) showed that turnover rates were soaring to their highest levels over the last decade at 1.3 % per month.  There are indeed many employee retention practices within organizations, but they are seldom developed from sound theories.  Swanson (2001) emphasized that theory is required to be both scholarly in itself and validated in practice, and can be the basis of significant advances.

 

Determining Success Indicators of E-Commerce Companies Using Rough Set Approach

Faudziah Ahmad, Prof. Dr. Abdul Razak Hamdan and Dr. Azuraliza Abu Bakar, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

 

ABSTRACT

 

The successfulness of E-Commerce companies (ECC) depends on a large number of indicators. To include all relevant indicators in measuring success would present a tremendous burden in terms of data collection, analysis, and cost. Evidence in the literature, indicates that there are a limited number of critical areas necessary to the successfulness functioning of organizations (Rockart, 1979). Globerson (1985) found that three indicators were commonly used. While there is no hard and fast rule as to the correct number of indicators to use, it was recommended that not more than seven indicators should be used in measuring performance (Globerson et. al, 1991).   Rough set classification technique is proposed to identify the best set of ECC success indicators. The set of indicators are identified from the set of reduct that produce rules with highest classification accuracy. The indicators are ranked through computation of its frequencies of occurrences in reduct sets. The experiment conducted discovered important indicators ranked in the ten topmost orders and a set of reduced indicators was identified.  The internet-based revolution is far from over and more and more companies have realized the opportunities it offers. A study on ECC conducted by UNCTAD revealed that the global E-Commerce market was worth around US$ 615.30 billion and expected to grow to US$ 4,600 billion by 2005. An estimate by Forrester Research indicated that global online sales accounted for approximately US$ 2,293.50 billion of world trade during 2002 (Nasscom, 2003). The study of organizational performance has long being conducted by many research groups. Growth, profit, net income, Earning per share are some indicators that are looked at when inquiring about a company's performance.  A good performance indicates that a company is successful and poor performance indicates otherwise.  In general, “success” as defined by Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (1989) is “an achievement of a desired end, social position or wealth.  In relation to an organization, success is when an organization accomplishes its objectives that cover long-term achievements in terms of survival, effectiveness and efficiency, and productivity (Mescon, 1985).  

 

The Implementation of Total Quality Management Strategy in Australia: Some Empirical Observations

Dr. Richard Yu-Yuan Hung, Toko University, Chia-Yi, Taiwan

 

ABSTRACT

 

This paper reports a study designed to examine the key concepts of TQM implementation and their effects on organizational performance.  Process Alignment and People Involvement are two key concepts for successful implementation of TQM.  The purpose of this research is to discuss how these two constructs affect organizational performance.  The research hypotheses were empirically tested using a cross-sectional mail survey.  Based on 207 responses from Australia’s top 1000 companies and perception data from CEO’s and MD’s, this research confirms several existing research findings and presents some new results.  This research provides useful insight into the organization that uses TQM as an organization development program.  TQM strategies represent a paradigm shift from the earlier strategies of the 1980s in the approach to management science.  Studies showed that TQM was positively associated with performance outcome, such as financial performance and profitability (Cummings & Worley, 2001; Lawler et al, 1995) as well as with human outcomes, such as employee satisfaction, employee relations, and customer satisfaction (Lawler et al, 1995).  Although many TQM studies have been done to discuss the concept and principles, the key to successful TQM program is not fully understood (Weintraub, 1993).  According to Rivers and Bae (1999), successful implementation of TQM require a transportation of organizational information system infrastructure and other management systems so that they are aligned with the new TQM environment.  Powell (1995) suggested that tacit resources such as organizational culture, commitment, empowerment and business processes drive TQM success.  Sahney (1991) pointed out key concepts to implementation TQM, which included: top management leadership, creating a corporate framework for quality, transforming corporate culture, a collaborate approach to process improvement, integration with the process etc.  However, for TQM to be successful, management processes must be aligned and integrated within a TQM environment.  For example, the bureaucratic system must be transformed, strategies must be aligned, and information system must be integrated to make sure the TQM success.  Some studies showed that it is important for top management take a leadership role and shows a strong commitment at the time of implementing TQM (Lee & Asllani, 1997; Rivers & Bae, 1999; Weintraub, 1993).  Also Weintraub (1993) pointed out that the quality management process will be successful only when it becomes integrated with every employee’s activities.  Although reports of TQM success are plentiful in the popular literature, there are also reports of problems (Cummings & Worley, 2001; Powell, 1995; Fortune, 1991).  Many affecting factors of success TQM practices that result in performance, core processes and people are two major points to drive TQM success. 

 

Urban Land Pricing Under Uncertainty: An Introductory Model

Dr. Bruce Lindeman, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR

 

ABSTRACT

 

In the downtown areas of smaller cities, large buildings are rarely built. However, when the pressures of rising rents become great enough, it becomes likely that at some time in the near future a developer will purchase a suitable plot of available land and construct a new building. As the likelihood of this event becomes greater, speculators will begin to show interest in available plots of land, hoping to reap a profit by buying one (or more) and ultimately selling to the developer. However, until the developer ultimately decides upon a single plot, uncertainty will prevail among speculators as to which it will be. This paper develops a simple model involving two acceptable plots of land and varying numbers of speculators. The analysis shows that when only two speculators are involved, it is possible for them to buy the available plots at “bargain” prices. However, when three or more speculators show interest, the plots will be either “fully” priced, or overpriced. Further, the more uncertainly that prevails among speculators, the greater is the likelihood of more significant overpricing.  Speculation in land is a common practice. The objective is to buy land cheaply, when its immediate development prospects are poor, and to hold it for some time while it “ripens” into more valuable property suitable for development. This paper develops a simple model appropriate to the downtown areas of smaller cities where large buildings, such as high-rise office structures, are only occasionally built. From time to time, however, it becomes apparent that new construction will occur, and that in the near future a developer will seek a suitable plot of available land and construct a new building. The model focuses upon this interim speculative period. We define this period as the time during which it is certain that a new building soon will be built, but before a developer actually purchases a site. During this period, speculators (whom we will call buyers) bid on and try to buy suitable sites. This simple model assumes only two available sites, and examines situations involving varying numbers of buyers, varying situations of buyers’ bids for the two sites, and the effect of uncertainly upon the process.

 

Identifying Global Leadership Competencies: An Exploratory Study

Cristina Moro Bueno, M.B.A.,  Grupo Antolin, North America

Stewart L. Tubbs, Ph.D., Eastern Michigan University, Michigan

 

ABSTRACT

 

The influence of globalization and technology requires new business paradigms and new leadership competencies. The goal of this study was two-fold. First, to test the Global Leadership Competencies Model developed by Chin, Gu, and Tubbs (2001) and secondly to identify Global Leadership Competencies. The model consists of a pyramidal hierarchy that represents developmental phases analogous to Maslow’s need hierarchy. The phases are (1) ignorance, (2) awareness, (3) understanding, (4) appreciation, (5) acceptance/internalization, and (6) transformation as leaders mature as a result of their international experiences.  For this qualitative study, 26 interviews were conducted with international leaders from several countries whose average international expatriate experience was 48 months. Results obtained demonstrated that the model was predictive.  The results presented also indicate that leaders consider the following to be some of  the most important global leadership competencies: (1) communication skills, (2) motivation to learn, (3) flexibility, (4) open-mindedness (5) respect for others, and (6) sensitivity.  For the full text see; Cristina Bueno. Global Leadership Competencies (GLC) Model. MBA Thesis, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan, 2003.

  

Public Policy Failure in Health Care

Dr. W. Guy Scott, Massey University at Wellington, New Zealand

 

ABSTRACT

 

Most governments in developed countries have evolved a health policy to improve allocative efficiency and distributive equity in the delivery of health care.  Many of these policies fail. This paper discusses policy formulation and analysis in health care, why policies fail, and suggests some solutions. A range of actions is necessary to minimise policy failures.  Policy makers must take into account the multidimensional nature of health status and the complex web of both health status and health policy determinants.  Appropriate perspectives must be adopted.  Tradeoffs between social equity and economic efficiency objectives and between stakeholder interests must be addressed.  All important costs and effects must be identified and taken into account.  Policy initiators, implementers, evaluators and consumers must communicate with each other.  Monitoring the effectiveness of a policy in achieving its equity and efficiency objectives should be an essential step in the policy cycle.  The primary objective of public policies for health should be to improve the health status of a nation’s population in an equitable and cost-effective manner (Evans, 1977). Delivery of health care is regulated and predominantly funded by the state (1) in the majority of developed economies. Public policies for health have evolved because  it is unlikely that health care will delivered both efficiently and equitably if resource allocation decisions are left entirely to the free market. Governments may impose regulations, introduce a national health insurance scheme, establish a national health service, or state fund or subsidise private providers of health care.

  

From Cultural Models to Cultural Categories: A Framework for Cultural Analysis

Dr. Nitish Singh, California State University, Chico, Chico, CA

 

ABSTRACT

 

In the marketing literature, culture has been predominantly measured by cultural values. But cultural values only measure the behavioral aspect of the culture. To understand and analyze culture in its totality we need to take into account not only cultural values, but also cultural forms, propositions, routines, customs, symbols and artifacts. The main objective of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework, which derives cultural categories by analyzing various stages of cultural formation, so as to provide a broader and more complete framework to analyze culture. In other words, this paper proposes a conceptual framework for cultural analysis that takes into account perceptual, behavioral and symbolic dimensions of culture and puts forth operational constructs to measure them.  In an attempt to analyze cultural phenomenon, researchers have proposed cultural categories, which can in some way operationalize and measure culture. One of the earliest attempts towards proposing cultural categories for analyzing culture came from Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck (1961). They proposed six cultural dimensions, namely (1) the nature of people (2) the persons relationship to nature (3) the person’s relationship to others (4) the modality of human activity (5) temporal focus of human activity and (6) conception of space. Similar attempts to categorize culture in terms of unique value orientations have come from Hall (1976), Hall & Hall (1990), Hofstede (1980), and Trompenaars (1994). The four cultural value dimensions of individualism-collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity-feminity, proposed by Hofstede (1980) have been extensively used in marketing and advertising literature to study cross-national differences. One limitation of all these cultural categorization studies is that they categorize culture only on basis of dominant cultural value orientations. In fact, culture can be studied not only at the level of cultural values, but also at the level of cultural forms, propositions, recipes, routines, customs, and systems of customs (Goodenough, 1981). According to D’Andrade (1984) and McCort and Malhotra (1993) culture should be understood from both behavioral and public aspects and from cognitive and private aspects. Moreover, cultural meanings are created and maintained by interaction between an extrapersonal world of objects and symbols and intrapersonal world of individual's mind (Strauss and Quinn, 1997). Thus, to understand and analyze culture in its totality we need to take into account both the intrapersonal world of cultural values and the extrapersonal world of cultural symbols and artifacts.

 

Understanding the Location Strategies of the European Firms in Asian Countries

Dr. Rizwan Tahir, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Dr. Jorma Larimo, University of Vaasa, Vaasa, Finland

 

ABSTRACT

 

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate how the location-specific variables and strategic motives have influenced the location strategies of the Finnish firms in ten South and Southeast Asian countries from 1980 to 2000. Despite the increased interest in FDIs, very few studies have been undertaken to empirically analyze the influential location-specific variables together with the strategic advantages in order to analyze the FDI choices of foreign investors. To the best of our knowledge, particularly the strategic motives have remained primarily anecdotal. This is apparently the first study to empirically analyze how the location-specific variables and strategic motives have influenced the location strategies of Finnish manufacturing firms in Asian countries. The research results indicate large market size of the host country low cultural distance between the host and home countries and low wage rates in the host country increase the probability of undertaking market-seeking and efficiency-seeking FDIs. Similarly, it has been found that low levels of inflation, low levels of risks and the high level of exchange rate fluctuations in the target country increase the probability of undertaking risk-reduction seeking FDIs.   Foreign direct investment (FDI) has always played an important role in the development of global economy.  In the early 1980s, world economy was weakened by the two oil shocks of the 1970s, which caused deterioration in the balance of payment and resulted in an increased external indebtedness and domestic inflation in many countries around the globe. One of the key strategies for the economic recovery in most of the countries was the promotion of foreign private investment and manufactured exports. The impressive growth particularly in East Asian economies could not be achieved without the flow of FDI that came from Japan, EU and US. Due to long-term benefits of private investments, countries around the globe cannot afford to lose the foreign direct investment, given their pressing employment problems, to sustain economic growth and industrialization.  In Asia, FDI inflows reached a record level of $143 billion in 2001 (World Investment Report 2002). Most of the Asian countries have replaced their traditional inward-oriented import-substitution policies with the export-oriented development strategies. The prevailing view is that FDI constitutes a combination of resources much needed in developing countries such as technology, capital, management and marketing techniques. Asian countries have increasingly recognized these advantages and a number of countries has either reviewed the existing policies or introduced new policies to create favorable investment environment and thus attract FDI. All are the reasons to identify the determinants and motivations of FDI.

 

A Transaction Cost Perspective on Motives for R&D Alliances: Evidence from the Biotechnology Industry

Yongliang “Stanley” Han, California State University, Sacramento, CA

  

In this paper, we examine the motives for R&D alliances formed by large pharmaceutical companies (LPCs) with new biotechnology firms (NBFs).  Using a sample of 638 R&D alliances formed by 15 global pharmaceutical firms between 1985 and 1998, we seek to interpret empirical evidence in the light of a transaction cost explanation for the motives behind R&D alliances. The results seem to be inconsistent with the transaction cost explanation.  With the emergence of the “new biotechnology”, which differs from earlier biotechnology in its focus on engineering specific changes in the genetic structure of microorganisms, over a thousand “new biotechnology firms” (NBFs) have been founded in the United States since the 1970s (Kenny, 1986; Pisano, Shan and Teece, 1988). As drug research is switching from a chemical to a biological basis, biotechnology has been widely perceived as a destructive or “competence-destroying” innovation for the pharmaceutical industry (Tushman and Anderson, 1986; Powell, Koput and Smith-Doerr, 1996).  Large pharmaceutical companies (LPCs) entered relatively late into the biotechnology industry. The emergence of biotechnology has changed to a great extent the way in which LPCs obtain critical R&D capabilities. Due to the complex nature of biotechnology, knowledge transfer in biotechnology R&D often entails severe problems such as uncertainty and weak appropriability (Pisano, 1990). Therefore, exchange of knowledge in biotechnology cannot be mediated by arm’s-length market transactions. Instead, it requires stronger governance structures such as strategic alliances (e.g., R&D contracts, R&D collaborations, joint ventures) and vertical integration (Williamson, 1985, 1991). Before the new biotechnology was invented, LPCs had few if any strategic alliances with small R&D firms (Pisano et al., 1988; Barley, Freeman and Hybels, 1992). To catch up with the new technological wave, LPCs have not only invested considerable resources in internal R&D projects in biotechnology, but also built various linkages with other firms and research institutions.

 

A Structural Equation Modeling of CEO Pay-Performance Relationships

Dr. Freddie Choo, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA

Dr. Kim B. Tan, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA

 

ABSTRACT

 

Previous CEO pay-performance research found a contemporaneous relationship between CEO pay and firm performance. We extended this contemporaneous relationship into its synchronous and lagged causal relationships by using structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze (1) the direction of causality between pay and performance, (2) the effect of prior pay on future pay, and (3) the effect of prior performance on future performance. We found (1) the direction of causality was from pay to performance, and not vice versa, (2) prior pay affected future pay, and (3) prior performance did not always affect future performance.  Previous CEO pay-performance research (e.g., Murphy, 1985; Lambert and Larcker, 1985; Jensen and Murphy, 1990; Hall and Liebman, 1997) found a contemporaneous relationship between CEO pay and firm performance. We extended this contemporaneous relationship into its synchronous and lagged causal relationships by using structural equation modeling (hereafter SEM) to analyze the synchronous relationships regarding the direction of causality between pay and performance; specifically, did pay affect performance, or was it vice versa? We also used SEM to analyze the lagged relationships regarding whether prior pay affected future pay, and whether prior performance affected future performance.   A contemporaneous pay-performance relationship is a correlational relationship measured at one point in time. Hall and Liebman (1997) argued that a significant contemporaneous pay-performance relationship does not imply an efficient relationship. They suggested that an efficient pay-performance relationship could be determined by the direction of causality within the contemporaneous relationship. This direction of causality can be determined by examining the synchronous (1) relationships (Felson and Bohrnstedt, 1979; Arbuckle, 1995; Finkel, 1995) of whether pay affects performance and/or performance affects pay. An efficient relationship is when the direction of causality is from pay to performance, which indicates that better pay leads to higher firm performance. In other words, pay is a performance motivator. If the direction of causality is from performance to pay, then it simply shows that higher performing firms pay better.  The effects of lagged or longitudinal relationships (Bentler, 1990a; Rosenthal and Rosnow, 1991) also may impact the pay-performance relationship. Rosenthal and Rosnow stated that, "The longitudinal [lagged] measurements of the same two variables, A and B [such as pay and performance], should potentially provide information about any causal relationships between them" (1991, p. 98).

  

Surveying the Topic of “Effective Leadership”

Xin-An Lu, Ph.D., Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, Shippensburg, PA

 

INTRODUCTION

 

With our world becoming more and more complicated, scholars of organizational studies are realizing that management alone cannot solve our problems. More and more of their attention is turning to leadership, which, scholars believe, may promise a solution to the myriad of our problems. Many (e.g. Covey, 1996; Deming, 1993; and Senge, 1990) believe that management deals with the area of things, control, and efficiency, all of which only strike at the branches of the evil. Leadership, on the other hand, deals with the area of people, “release” (a tapping of the energy reservoir of the people, the opposite of the concept of “control”, see for example Covey, 1996) and effectiveness, all of which represent an effort to strike at the root of the evil.  Although scholars have some agreement on leadership, there is not much congruence in their opinions on the question of what effective leadership is or what constitutes real leadership. After reading the prominent articles and books on this topic, I feel that four categories of ideas may emerge within the scholarly studies and opinions on leadership. Those that don’t quite fit neatly into a specific category are usually a combination of two or more of these categories. These categories may be designated as the following: (1) Leaders are people who know what to do with themselves; (2) Leaders are people who know what to do with their people; (3) Leaders are people who know what to do with the communication channels/environment within their organizations; and (4) Leaders are people who have a holistic picture of what is going on within their organization. Before elaborating on each category of ideas, I’d like to talk a bit about how these four categories fit with each other. If you look at these categories from a bird’s eye viewpoint, you will see that the first three make up the components of an organization--- the leader, the led, and the connection between them, i.e., the organizational communication channels. The fourth category is a synthesis of the first three, looking at the organization in a systemic manner.

 

Methodological Issues in Research on Business Casual Dress

Dr. Steven D. Norton, Indiana University South Bend, South Bend, Indiana

Dr. Timothy M. Franz, St. John Fisher College, Rochester, New York

 

ABSTRACT

 

Questions with different format regarding mode of dress at work were administered to 91 MBA students.  The questions were based on an earlier factor analytic study by the authors.   The predominant mode of dress was Business Casual.  Mode of dress was correlated with a number of personal and job characteristics.  Although the correlations among the various Mode of Dress questions were quite high, the format of these questions did have a substantial impact on correlations of dress with personal and job characteristics.  The more formal the reported dress policy, the more likely employees are to report a higher level Conscientiousness.  Employees who prefer a more formal dress policy report a higher level of Time Commitment, Conscientiousness, and Job Satisfaction.  They are more likely to report having a Higher Level Job and to directly dupervise more Employees. Employees who prefer to wear more formal clothes themselves report a higher level of Time Commitment, Work Intensity, feeling of Fairness, Conscientiousness, and Job Satisfaction as well as lower Stress.  They directly supervise more employees.  We provide suggested items and approaches for further research on Mode of Dress at work.During the past decade, a majority of the workforce has shifted from traditional, formal business attire to business casual or casual dress. For example, a poll by the Society for Human Resources Management shows that 90% of U.S. office workers go to work in business casual clothes at least once per week (Walter, 1996).   The poll found that employees were more satisfied with their company after it moved to a casual dress program. These practitioner surveys and similar popular press articles overwhelmingly portray casual dress policies as positive. For example, an article by the New York Times suggests that, when compared to traditional business attire, dressing casually eases tensions, improves communication between management and employees, and instills a sense of togetherness in organizations (Bragg, 1994).  ). An article in the San Francisco Chronicle suggests that casual dress policies help eliminate the natural communication barriers between managers and employees (Kazakoff, 1996).  A handful of studies have examined the impact of types of dress .  Research has examined the effect of dress policies on bottom-line results, but ignored how they affect individual employees. Specifically, Yates and Jones (1998) found that companies who initiate casual dress report a subsequent decrease in employee absenteeism. They argue that this is because it humanizes the workplace, eliminates barriers to communication, and fosters work-family harmony. However, they did not examine the impact of dress on employee productivity.  According to Franz and Norton (2001), business casual dress may result in different outcomes in the workplace. On one hand, business casual may lead to enhanced productivity because employees feel more comfortable in and positive about the workplace (e.g., Yates & Jones, 1998) If this is the case, people who dress casually should work harder, regardless of the task.  There is no other scientific research that we know of that has carefully investigated whether casual dress affects organizational outcomes

 

A Study of Golf Courses Management: The In-depth Interview Approach

Tai-heng Chen, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD

 

ABSTRACT

 

With the increasing popularity of golf in Taiwan, many new golf courses are being developed, creating a need for knowledgeable people to manage these courses. Golf course managers are responsible for the entire golf course.  They are responsible for golfers’ motivation, grounds management, pest control, and environmental protection. They are in charge of making the game fun for golfers. A professional golf course manager uses not only what he or she has learned from formal education but also what he or she has learned in the field, including matters of technology, planning, and the environment. The purpose of this study was to construct golf course management interview questions to examine the opinions of golf course managers on trends in golf and golf course management in Taiwan. With the increasing popularity of golf in Taiwan, many new golf courses are being developed, and this creates a need for knowledgeable people to manage these courses.  This education is necessary for the people of Taiwan, espcially for international students majoring in recreation.  The hope is to raise the standards of these new golf courses in order to make the links internationally competitive.  Even in the United States, golf managers are more educated than ever. According to Landscape Management, “Approximately 75 percent of GCSAA [Golf Course Superintendents Association of America] members have two or four-year degrees or have attended graduate school” (McGinnis, 1997, p. 6G).  The degree of professionalism is increasing in this field, and golf course managers face new and post challenges. This paper indicates what these challenges are and points out solutions discovered by practicing golf course managers.

 

A Structural Equation Modelling Analysis of Fairness Heuristic Theory

Douglas Flint, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB

Pablo Hernandez-Marrero, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.

 

ABSTRACT

 

Prior research on fairness heuristic theory of organizational justice has shown that procedural information is used when distributive information is lacking.  This study extends consideration of fairness heuristic in two ways: By testing fairness heuristic effects across four different combinations of procedural and distributive justice; and  by testing an ambiguous distributive outcome. Structural equation modeling is used to measure the directionality of procedural and distributive justice effects.  Procedural justice is of interest to organizations because of its impact on important organizational outcomes.  These include: performance (Ball, Trevino & Sims, 1995; Gilliland, 1994; Konovsky & Cropanzano, 1991; Welbourne Balkin & Gomez-Mejia, 1995), organizational commitment (Brockner, 1992; Konovsky & Cropanzano, 1991; Schaubroeck May & Brown 1994), job satisfaction (Schaubroeck et al, 1994), organizational citizenship behavior (Ball et al, 1995), commitment to organizational decisions (Greenberg, 1994; Korsgaard, Schweiger & Sapienza, 1995; Lind, Kulik, Ambrose & de Vera Park, 1993), turnover intentions (Schaubroeck et al, 1994, Olson-Buchanan, 1996),  theft (Greenberg, 1990, 1993), and retaliation against organizations (Skarlicki & Folger, 1997). Organizational systems that have been linked to procedural justice include: Employee discipline (Cole & Latham, 1997), inter-group conflict (Huo, Smith, Tyler & Lind, 1996), institutional racism (Jeanquart-Barone, 1996), performance appraisal (Barclay & Harland, 1995), pay for performance (St. Onge, 2000), and employee benefits (Tremblay, Sire & Balkin, 2000).  There are some conditions when procedural justice is more salient than others.  Fairness heuristic theory provides an explanation for these conditions.  Fairness heuristic theory deals with the impact of perceptions of procedural and distributive justice on formation of organizational justice judgments. The theory argues that “in incomplete or insufficient information conditions, people process information heuristically; for example, they use other information—such as procedural or outcome fairness—to substitute for information that would be most directly relevant but that is actually missing” (Van den Bos, 2001).  This study seeks to expand consideration of fairness heuristic theory in two ways. First, the effects of fairness heuristic are considered across different combinations of procedural and distributive justice. Second, considerations of the effect of fairness heuristic theory are extended to ambiguous distributive outcomes.  This theory has traditionally been tested only in the absence of distributive outcomes. 

 

Decolonization and International Trade: The Ghana Case

Dr. Albert J. Milhomme, Texas State University at San Marcos, TX

 

ABSTRACT

 

Many countries, former colonies of some colonial powers like Great Britain, and France, have acceded in the second part of the twentieth century to their political independence. What about their economic independence? A measure of this economic independence could be reflected in the evolution of their international trade, exports as well as imports, and the room of this trade within their gross domestic product.  This study, centered on Ghana, a former colony of Great Britain, might put some light on the rate of the evolution and the achievement or non-achievement of this economic independence of this country.  In 1957, as a colony of Great Britain, Ghana did export 38% of its total exports to Great Britain and did import from Great Britain 45% of its total imports. The United Kingdom had then at that time a dominant position which was the result of more than a century of effort to create and protect trade, to pump in finished products and pump out raw materials.  Has the United Kingdom kept an important position in Ghana today in 2003, 45 years after the independence?  This is the type of question some people have definitely answered by “yes”.  British companies are still very active in many formerly colonized countries and do a majority of their “International Business” in their old colonies. The reasons are basically to be found in the cultural ties and traditions established during colonial rule.  Other people have different feelings.  Because of historical events preceding independence, they believe that many formerly colonized countries would spurn companies from the former colonial powers. Ostracism was everywhere. If dependence may have existed for a short while, it did not last, a former colonizer losing very quickly its historically acquired economic advantages.  Study of the evolution of Ghana international trade with its former master, with some individual industrial countries, or with the world for the past 45 years might provide some interesting information on the decolonization process and the achieved, if any, economic independence.

 

The Effects of Mentoring on Perceived Career Success, Commitment and Turnover Intentions

Dr. Therese A. Joiner, Dr. Timothy Bartram, and Terese Garreffa, La Trobe University, Australia

 

ABSTRACT

 

Few studies have empirically examined the relationship between mentoring and protégé turnover intentions.  This paper which is largely exploratory, examines the relationships among mentoring, perceived career success, organizational commitment and the effect on protégés’ turnover intentions.  Empirical data is drawn from an Australian subsidiary of a large US multi-national firm.  Results suggest that a successful mentoring program may be an important factor in positively influencing protégés’ perceptions of career success and organizational commitment, which inturn is likely to reduce their turnover intentions. Additional qualitative data also revealed that both career enhancement and psycho-social functions of the mentoring process were valued by the protégé. Implications for practitioners and future research are discussed.  Mentoring in organizations can be viewed as a developmental relationship whereby managers provide assistance and support to particular subordinates (protégés) on an individual basis (Kram, 1985, Orpen, 1997; Higgins and Kram, 2001). The mentoring process can serve both career enhancement and psycho-social functions for the protégé. Career enhancement roles in mentoring include sponsorship, coaching, exposure, protection and provision of challenging assignments.  The psycho-social functions include acceptance, counselling, emotional support and role modelling (Kram, 1985).  Practitioners and academics alike have underscored the importance of mentoring because of the benefits that accrue to the protégé as well as the organization (Dansky, 1996; Broadbridge, 1999; MacGregor, 2000).  Organizational benefits include improved recruitment and induction procedures (Clutterbuck, 1991), leadership development, improved succession planning (Clutterbuck, 1991; Zey, 1984), and increased organization commitment (Baugh, Lankau and Scandura, 1996; Orpen, 1997; Scandura, 1997).  Few studies have empirically examined the relationship between mentoring and protégé turnover intentions (Kleinman et al., 2001 and Scandura and Viator, 1994 are notable exceptions). Given that intention to leave is the best predictor of actual turnover (Lee and Mowday, 1987), and given the significant negative consequences of high turnover (e.g., increases in training costs and productivity losses), one of the aims of this study is to explore the association between mentoring and the protégé’s intention to leave the organization. 

 

Internet Shopper Demographics and Buying Behaviour in Australia

Dr. Joshua Chang, Charles Sturt University, Australia

Dr. Nicholas Samuel, The University of Canberra, Australia

 

ABSTRACT

 

There has been a rapid growth of online shopping amongst Australian consumers.  The development creates a need for a greater understanding of the association between the demographic characteristics of shoppers and their online shopping behaviour.  This study suggests that gender, age, income and location are associated with different patterns of online purchasing frequency and expenditure.  The findings enable a better understanding of online shoppers relevant to market segmentation variables.  Businesses have developed strategies for consumer markets in order to gain leverage in rapidly expanding e-markets.  Due to benchmarking processes, most companies are already interlocking business strategies and e-commerce, causing e-commerce to replace conventional and physical marketing channels for cutting edge solutions (Merrilees and Miller 1996).  Many changes have occurred in the area of retailing, and these include changing retail structures, improving technological developments, changing market conditions, and the emergence of more affluent, mobile and time-scarce consumers (Shim and Eastlick 1998).  Changing consumer lifestyles and lack of time may make it more difficult for consumers to shop at physical locations such as stores and shopping malls, making the option of online shopping a viable alternative to shopping at physical locations.  The changing nature of consumer lifestyles at home and at work are altering where, how, and when consumers shop (Davies 1995).  The Australian household structure has undergone dramatic change since the 1970s.  According to Cheeseman and Breddin (1995), nearly half of all Australian families are two-income families.  While in the early 1970s, around 40 percent of married women participated in the workforce in some capacity, this is now well over 60 percent.  This changing household structure has led to an increased premium on leisure time.

 

Internationalizing the Business Curriculum: Developing Intercultural Competence

Dr. A. G. Cant, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA

 

ABSTRACT

 

American businesses are confronted with the need to operate outside the comfort of their own cultural environment.  To be successful global managers requires the development of five key global cultural competencies; cultural self-awareness, cultural consciousness, ability to lead multicultural teams, ability to negotiate across cultures and a global mindset.  Given U.S. business students very limited understanding of other societies and their cultures, business colleges face a major challenge to prepare students for global assignments.  Of the three methods used by colleges to internationalize the business curriculum, only one approach provides the opportunity for students to develop the global cultural competencies necessary for them to succeed in a global career.  The creation of an international business degree or major allows students to gain insight from humanities and language courses and from actual international experience. While business has always operated between communities and across national boundaries, the world now faces a new era of unprecedented global economic interactions.  This highly competitive marketplace requires sophisticated management competencies necessary to work with staff, customers, suppliers, and government officials with fundamentally different values, assumptions, beliefs and traditions.  Managers in domestically focused firms have had the relative comfort of working within their own culture, whereas in the international marketplace cross-cultural management is the norm. 

 

Change-Adept Classroom

Mominka Fileva, Ph.D., Davenport University, Dearborn, Michigan

 

ABSTRACT

 

This paper reveals an experiential approach to teaching a graduate course in Organizational Behavior.  Based on Kanter’s (1997) concepts of change-adept organizations in business, the whole course was designed as an experiment creating a change-adept organization in the classroom environment.  The end result was a learning environment that was flexible, less structured, and flatter in hierarchy.  The key elements included empowerment of students, learning contracts drafted by students, and a grading process involving a peer review system, designed by students. The role of the instructor in such a classroom naturally shifted to balancing, juggling contradictions, and providing guidance. Creating a classroom based on the key characteristics of Kanter’s (1997) concept of business change-adept organizations gave the students the opportunity to experience empowerment and the increased responsibilities that come with it, self-discipline and self-management, autonomous decision-making, peer review of performance, freedom and desire to innovate, decentralization, and learning in all directions. The change adept classroom provided students with better learning power to understand the nature of empowerment and decentralization and when, how, and to what level they would efficiently work in a business environment.  There has been no doubt that the traditional way of teaching management classes – lectures, case analysis, role plays, research, etc. – gives the students adequate theoretical knowledge and practical insights of the real business world.  However, they all remain secondary level information.  In most cases, the learning process is most successful when students have first-hand knowledge or can experience the phenomenon being studied (Obach, 2000; Wedell and Wynd, 1994)).  This report presents an experiential approach towards teaching Organizational Behavior by creating a classroom that is a model of a change-adept organization.  The purpose of this experiential approach was to create an environment that allows students to experience first hand the effects of empowerment on the organization and on the innovation process and to analyze the preexisting conditions and factors that make flatter in hierarchy organizations successful.  In the change-adept classroom, given specific objectives and guidance from the instructor, the students were totally empowered to participate in the designing of the syllabus, which included choosing instructional methodologies and the types and topics of assignments; to design and implement a peer review evaluation system that was an integral part of the grading process; to draft and discuss with the instructor their learning contract; to plan and conduct or facilitate discussions and brainstorming sessions, and to organize themselves in teams in order to accomplish chosen assignments.

 

Critical Success Factors of Transferring Nursing Knowledge  in Hospital’s Clinical Practice

Dr. Ming-Tien Tsai, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Ling-Long Tsai, Meiho Institute of Technology & Ph.D. Candidate, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

 

ABSTRACT

 

This paper aimed to explore the critical success factors of transferring nursing knowledge during the hospital’s clinical practice.  The researchers conducted 3 focus group interviews and consulted with 17 clinical instructors, resulted in a 78-item questionnaire.  460 nursing students were selected as samples, 443 nursing students turn in questionnaires, the completed questionnaires were 422.  The analysis of their responses was a combination of means and factor analysis.  The results indicate three critical factors that make nursing knowledge transform successfully.  The first factor motivation implies that efficient knowledge transfer is based on nursing students’ willingness to learn.  The second factor link to practice explained that the techniques to connect the theory and practice is necessary.  The third factor nursing skills expressed that practicing sufficient nursing skills before clinical practice is prerequisite for nursing students. It is wildly accepted that school’s primary function is education.  In professional education, School offers students curriculums to gain knowledge, while apprenticeship system proffers the opportunity to utilize their knowledge on the target issue.  In traditional learned professions, always include two dimensions: theory and practice.  In nursing programs, schools teach nursing students about nursing theories and skills.  However, they may not realize how to apply their knowledge until hospital’s clinical practice.  Severinsson (1998) found there exists a gap between nursing theory and practice.  In order to improve the integration of theory and practice, a high standard of clinical practice is necessary. Clinical supervision may assist nursing students to digest the nursing process.  Clinical training plays as a bridge to connect theory and practice.  Performing nursing skills in the hospital is regarded as apply nursing knowledge according to an theoretical-based framework.  It is crucial to know how nursing knowledge could be transferred to nursing students. To date, only minority of studies investigated nursing knowledge transfer, especially on the individual level.  The purpose of the present study was to explore the factors that could make nursing students transfer nursing knowledge successfully during hospital’s clinical practice.

 

An Investigation of Critical Success Factors in the Adoption of B2BEC by Taiwanese Companies

Dr. Hsiu-Yuan Tsao and Dr. Koong H.-C. Lin, Ming Hsin University of Science & Technology, Taiwan

Dr. Chad Lin, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia

 

ABSTRACT

 

This exploratory study examines what critical success factors are relevant to adopting business-to-business electronic commerce (B2BEC) in the small and medium-size enterprise (SME) sector in Taiwan.   Well known for the vibrancy of this sector, Taiwan is embracing and aggressively promoting information technology and e-commerce (i.e., B2BEC) and this is particularly true among many of the leaders in the electronic manufacturing industry.   Since the economy of Taiwan is so heavily dependant on the performance of small and medium-size electronic enterprises, enhancing their competitiveness is a major, pressing issue.   We propose some critical factors and examine whether or not the SME sector uses them to leverage the Internet and realize the benefits of adopting B2BEC. Business-to-business e-commerce (B2BEC), in the form of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), serves as a cheaper alternative for small-medium enterprises (SME) to do business online and reach potential customers worldwide.  Electronic commerce technology is particularly useful in allowing businesses in the SME sector to collaborate on providing better service to customers as well as to compete more effectively against major competitors (Loughlin, 1999).   Many electronic markets have been set up to facilitate inter-organization transactions and to increase market access for both suppliers and buyers (Giaglis et al., 2002).  However, despite the widespread use of B2BEC in the SME sector, few organizations have realized much of the benefit expected from its adoption (Hart and Estrin, 1991; Lee et al., 1999).   Moreover, its progress has been particularly hampered in Asia by many unforeseen technical, organizational, legal and economic difficulties, which have diminished its value (Lynch and Beck, 2001).   Although the Internet and electronic commerce have attracted considerable research interest in Taiwan, relatively scant attention has been paid to developing comprehensive methods of designing, applying, and implementing B2BEC by small-medium enterprises.   In this paper, therefore, we aim to identify the critical success factors behind B2BEC in that industrial sector.

 

A Model to Estimate the Default Risks for Callable Corporate Bonds: Evidence from the U.S. Market

Dr. David Wang, Golden Gate University, San Francisco, CA

 

ABSTRACT

 

This paper presents a model for estimating the default risks implicit in the prices of callable corporate bonds. The model considers three essential ingredients in the pricing of callable corporate bonds: stochastic interest rate, default risk, and call provision. The stochastic interest rate is modeled as a square-root diffusion process. The default risk is modeled as a constant spread, with the magnitude of this spread impacting the probability of a Poisson process governing the arrival of the default event. The call provision is modeled as a constraint on the value of the bond in the finite difference scheme. The empirical results are encouraging. First, the estimated default probabilities are consistent with Moody’s ratings. The estimated default probabilities rise with lower ratings and fall with higher ratings. Second, the relationship between the estimated default probabilities and other bond characteristics is consistent with the intuition. The estimated default probabilities are negatively correlated with maturity and positively correlated with coupon payment, age, and issue size. This paper can be used both as a benchmark for models for estimating the default risks associated with callable corporate bonds and as a direction for future research.  Default risk has always been a major topic of concern for financial intermediaries and any agents committed to a financial contract. The standard theoretical paradigm for modeling default risks is the contingent claims approach pioneered by Black and Scholes (1973). Much of the literature follows Merton (1974) by explicitly linking the risk of a firm’s default to the variability in the firm’s asset value. Although this line of research has proven very useful in addressing the qualitatively important aspects of estimating default risks, it has been less successful in practical applications. The lack of success owes to the difficulty of modeling realistic boundary conditions. These boundaries include both the conditions under which default occurs, and in the event of default, the division of the value of the firm among claimants. Firms’ capital structures are typically quite complex and priority rules are often violated. In response to these difficulties, an alternative modeling approach has been pursued in a number of articles, including Madan and Unal (1994), Jarrow and Turnbull (1995), Duffie and Singleton (1999). At each instant, there is some probability that a firm defaults on its obligation. This is called the instantaneous probability of default.

 

 

Purchasing Power Parity: Evidence from Asia Pacific Countries

 Dr. Shyam Bhati and Dr. Michael McCrae, The University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia

 

ABSTRACT

 

Long run purchasing power parity between countries of Asia pacific region is investigated using a cointegration approach. Quarterly data on exchange rates of Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand are used in this study. The result provides evidence of the existence of pu