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Global Entrepreneurialism: A
Comparative Analysis of Entrepreneurial Spirit and Drive around the World
Dr. Ahmad Ahmadian, Professor,
Colorado State University-Pueblo, Pueblo, CO
Eric Curtiss, Colorado State University-Pueblo, Pueblo, CO
ABSTRACT
All Cultures include people who are
inclined to behave entrepreneurially. Such entrepreneurs deal with internal
forces (attitudes, fears, and inclinations), as well as external forces
(cultural norms, legal structures, and infrastructure). Those societies that
embrace and encourage the entrepreneurial spirit and which set appropriate
conditions necessary for entrepreneurial development tend to provide most
efficiently for their citizens. This paper considers legal structures and
cultural determinants related to entrepreneurship, internal attitudes of current
and would-be entrepreneurs, three case studies on entrepreneurialism around the
world, and insight on how governments can support entrepreneurial activity in
order to expand their economies and better provide for their citizens. Financial disparity across the
world is stark and becoming more divergent. Yet almost anywhere a person visits
in the world he or she will find business people starting small businesses and
large enterprises… people we describe as entrepreneurs. Such people start
things and improve things, creating livelihoods for themselves and those working
for them in the process. Those who are very successful create wealth for
themselves and their investors, many simply create jobs only for themselves, and
many fail. This paper will explore entrepreneurial drive and motivation
(“entrepreneurial spirit”) in the western context and around the world. While
some cultures support entrepreneurs better than others, all cultures include
individuals who are inclined entrepreneurially and who desire to positively
impact their societies by establishing businesses and creating jobs.
Entrepreneurial spirit encompasses four main points: innovation, risk, the
possibility for significant wealth creation, and relative speed of wealth
creation (Engineered Lifestyles, 2012). While some researchers argue that
starting any small business is an entrepreneurial venture, we will argue that
entrepreneurs are those people driven to take risks with an expectation in the
near-term of significant financial reward. We begin by reviewing
entrepreneurial spirit across the world and how successfully people start
businesses and thereby positively impact communities.
Offshore Outsourcing: Can U.S
Survive Without It?
Matt Oversby, Sam Houston State University,
Huntsville, TX
Dr. Balasundram
Maniam, Sam Houston State University,
Huntsville, TX
Dr. Hadley Leavell, Sam Houston State University,
Huntsville, TX
ABSTRACT
Outsourcing and its effects on the
U.S. economy is a topic among economists, politicians and analysts everywhere in
the current financial environment. This paper reviews United States’
multinational corporations (MNC’s) and whether they have the capability to
survive and prosper without the use of outsourcing. The viewpoints of
executives, politicians and academics will be included in the paper to provide a
well-rounded perspective on the key issues. The effects of significant events
such as the 2008 financial crisis will be addressed. The justification for
outsourcing will be considered and balanced against the problems inherent in
outsourcing. Offshore
outsourcing for the U.S. is the movement of domestic jobs by United States
multinationals to international locations to take advantage of the lower cost of
resources and labor. Outsourcing is a strategy which has been utilized by firms
for some time, but over the past decade outsourcing by U.S. MNC’s has gained
momentum as well as intensified scrutiny. There is a widespread assumption that
in order for MNC’s to compete internationally and domestically, they must
participate in outsourcing. Opponents however assert that outsourcing has caused
a serious loss of domestic jobs in the U.S and has contributed to a fragile U.S.
economy. The consensus among many U.S citizens is that outsourcing has played a
major role behind the slow recovery from the global financial crises.
Outsourcing is a strategy that helps major United States companies gain a
competitive advantage but in turn leaves the domestic workforce with lower
employment. Domestic and offshore outsourcing has been increasing significantly
throughout the industrial economies of the world. Domestic outsourcing is a
handing over of accountability and authoritative power for manufacture and
administration of a segment of a firm’s business, usually activities for which
the business has neither a strategic need or a singular capability, to an
outside domestic vendor who can provide better service and potentially higher
quality at a lower cost allowing the firm to concentrate resources and
investments on basic competencies and high growth areas. Domestic outsourcing
should not be confused with offshoring; outsourcing agreements create continuing
relationships between supplier and beneficiary, with a high degree of
risk-sharing according to Frajli, Poloski, and Tkalac (2003).
Spillover Effects of the 2008
Financial Crisis in East Asia Stock Markets
Dr. Jae-Kwang Hwang, Virginia
State University, Petersburg, VA
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the nature
of stock market integration among the US stock market and three East Asia stock
markets using daily stock market returns from January 2006 to March 2009,
analyzing before the crisis and during the crisis. The results support the view
that the continued strength of growth in China helps its market weather the
adverse consequences of the 2008 financial crisis. As a result, the benefits of
investment diversification can be still achieved by investors participating in
the Chinese stock market. However, the developed stock markets tend to be more
integrated during the financial crisis period, resulting in lesser benefits of
diversification among them.The collapse of the US housing market and the
bursting of the US mortgage bubble in the summer of 2007 triggered a global
financial crisis. In the early stages of the crisis, financial reforms in
emerging markets made it possible to temporarily insulate themselves from
adverse shocks originating from the US until the summer of 2008. However, many
financial institutions (e.g., Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and American
International Group) rapidly lost most of their market values because of a huge
increase in the mortgages delinquencies and foreclosures in the US. A prominent
feature of the 2008 financial crisis is that the crisis started in the US
financial sector and rapidly spread, spilling over into other sectors of the
economy as well as other countries. As a result, there are collapses of the
financial institutions, stock market crashes, liquidity problem on the credit
market. Furthermore, this crisis affected economies as well as financial markets
in the world. The equity prices in the world dropped more than 20% in three
months following September 15, 2008. The Asian equity markets have become
attractive to international investors given that they have high prospects for
economic growth. The Japanese market is taken into account for its role as the
regional market leader in the Asian region.
Managing Information Security
Risks: An Examination of Multiple Risk Perspectives
Dr. Someswar Kesh, Chair,
University of Central, MO
Dr. W. Raghupathi, Professor,
Fordham University, New York, NY
ABSTRACT
Information systems have
significantly contributed to our quality of life but at the same time added a
myriad of security risks. Because security breaches can have far reaching and
significantly disruptive consequences, it is imperative that organizations adopt
a comprehensive approach towards managing Information Technology (IT) security
risks. The field of risk management provides a plethora of theories and
frameworks that has the potential for improving IT security. This research
critically examines how IT risk management can benefit from multiple ontological
perspectives as well as various risk management theories and frameworks to move
towards a holistic approach for managing IT security risks. The pervasive and
dynamic nature of IT coupled with an explosion of security breaches require
organizations to come up with a comprehensive strategy for managing IT security
risks. To date, when it comes to IT security, most organizations have typically
relied on a technical approach to risk management. While the technical approach
provides a foundation for managing IT security risks, it is not comprehensive.
For example, in a recent attack on Saudi Aramco, the Saudi state owned oil
company, a person with privileged access unleashed a virus that erased data on
three-quarters of Aramco’s PCs (Information Security Magazine, 2012). Because
someone with privileged access can turn off technical protections like
anti-virus software, this case illustrates the need for a socio-technical
approach to IT security management. Most textbooks on IT security also
primarily focus on the technical aspects of security, like anti-virus software,
encryption etc. Only brief descriptions of social engineering and the
organizational aspects of security are covered. This paper discusses how
diverging ontological perspectives like modern positivism and the constructivist
paradigm as well as theories based on the psychometric paradigm and cultural
theory can provide directions for IT security risk research and embellish the
practice of IT security risk management.
Catalysts of Consumer Response to Brand Transgressions: Consumer Ethnocentrism
and Brand-Country Associations
Dr. Ross B. Steinman,
Widener University,
Chester, Pennsylvania
ABSTRACT
This research
reports results from two experiments on the individual as well as interactive
effects of consumer ethnocentrism, brand-country associations, and brand
transgression on consumer choice, attitude, perception, and behavior.
Participants were first measured on the personality trait of consumer
ethnocentrism using the Consumer Ethnocentrism Scale (CETSCALE) and then
randomly assigned to different brand transgression conditions where the brands’
country-of-origin was manipulated. USA brands as well as foreign brands were
utilized in this research. In certain conditions, the brand’s county-of-origin
was emphasized whereas in other conditions it was de-emphasized. Next,
participants were instructed to complete a series of consumer measures.
Consistent with previous research on brand norms violations there was evidence
that brand transgression had an immediate negative impact on consumer choice and
attitude. In addition, it was found that consumer ethnocentrism and
brand-country associations had a significant effect on how consumers relate to
the brand after a transgression has occurred. This research connects an
established literature on consumer ethnocentrism and brand-country associations
to an evolving literature on brand transgression. Consumers’ views on ethical
business practices suggest that principled behavior is a dynamic aspect of the
inestimable business relationship a brand has with its consumers. Perhaps a
topic of more interest given the modern business climate is consumer action and
reaction to unethical business actions (Alexander, 2002). Can marketing or
consumer researchers predict how consumers will respond to unethical brand
activities? Also, to what extent do consumers sanction brands for their
unethical behavior? There are many factors that might mediate the consumer-brand
relationship before, during, and after a brand’s immoral actions. The most
severe immoral brand actions are often referred to as brand transgressions. A
brand transgression is defined as a violation of consumer-brand
relationship-relevant norms.
Distributive Justice in Human
Resource Management: A Multisystem Approach
Dr. Douglas H. Flint, University
of New Brunswick, Canada
Lynn M.
Haley, University of New Brunswick, Canada
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to
determine whether employees can discriminate between perceptions of the
distributive justice of different human resource systems. A survey of 89
employees in a call center was conducted and employee perceptions of performance
appraisal and promotions systems were measured. Factor analysis shows that
employees are able to distinguish these two different sources of distributive
justice. Perceptions of distributive justice are important to organizations
because such perceptions have been linked to a number of important
organizational outcomes. In order to counter the effects of poor perceptions of
distributive justice, organizations need to be able to determine as many sources
of these perceptions as possible. Our research findings suggest that employees
can distinguish at least two sources of distributive justice and, therefore,
future research should expand the consideration of the number of human resource
systems involved and consider different types of organizations that could be
affected. Distributive justice involves perceptions of the fairness of
organizational outcomes and derives from Adam’s (1965) equity theory. According
to equity theory individuals compare their inputs and their outputs to the
inputs and outputs of others in order form perceptions of the fairness of
allocation decisions. As an example consider two employees working at the same
job. At the end of the year one employee receives a raise and the other employee
does not. In this case receiving a raise is an output. By simply examining the
outputs it is difficult to determine if this decision is fair. Equity theory
suggests that the outputs will be compared to inputs. In this case inputs would
involve what each employee brought to the job and whether any differences in
these inputs warranted the difference in the outputs. For example, the employees
might be two teachers; if one of the teachers just completed a Master’s degree
this might explain that teacher’s raise. In this case the input would be the
attainment of educational level. The employees could be salespeople and if one
employee made her sales targets and the other did not this might justify the
raise. In this case the input would be the amount of sales generated.
Transition to IFRS: What Can
We Learn?
Dr. Stephen R. Goldberg, Grand
Valley State University, Michigan
Dennis C. Stovall, Grand Valley State University, Michigan
ABSTRACT
The Norwalk Agreement was signed
by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International
Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in October 2002 with the intention to develop
a single set of high quality financial reporting standards. The Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC), which oversees the FASB, in concept supports
convergence. Over the last ten years the IASB and the FASB have made great
advances towards convergence of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) to obtain the
single reporting standard goal. Certain elements have become points of
contention and thus have delayed the goal of overall convergence between IFRS
and US GAAP. These elements include fundamental differences and guidance related
to specific industries, transactions lacking guidance, and structural and
funding issues (PWC, 2009 and 2013).In 2008, the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) issued their proposed roadmap to aid U.S. issuing companies
with their transfer to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The
roadmap set forth several milestones that would require US companies to issue
their financial reporting under IFRS guidance by 2014. The timeline proposed by
the roadmap, which aspired for dual reporting to begin in January 2012 with
complete transference to IFRS by December 2014, has not been adopted. The
aspirations set by the SEC have since been delayed as several points of
contention were raised before January 2012, preventing convergence between US
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) and IFRS. Fundamental
differences in addition to guidance related to specific industries are the main
sources of contention between the FASB and the IASB (PWC, 2012). More recently,
in July of 2012 the SEC staff issued its latest final report regarding the Work
Plan for the Consideration of Incorporating International Financial Reporting
Standards into the Financial Reporting System for U.S. Issuers. This issuance
has been a huge step back from IFRS as The Staff report does not include a final
policy decision as to whether IFRS should be incorporated into the US financial
reporting system, or how such incorporation should occur. The Staff Report also
does not provide any insight on whether a transition to IFRS would be in the
best interests of US capital markets and US investors, as previously stated.
The Influence of People’s
Perception Variables on Retirement Planning Strategies in the United States
Dr. Doina Vlad, Seton Hill
University, Greensburg, PA
ABSTRACT
This research paper analyzes the
correlations between perception variables (consumer sentiment and inflation
expectations) and the growth of retirement assets in United States. The first
contribution of this paper shows the need for people to have a good and current
financial education/awareness, so they adjust their saving habits for their
retirement not only when the economy is struggling and they feel uncertain about
the future, but also when the economy is striving and they are able to save even
more. The second contribution of this paper is a focus on the implications. When
people have neutral attitudes on inflationary expectations on portfolio
retirement allocations, they don’t create excess demand in the market, and
over-inflate the asset prices. A negative implication is, if inflation does
occur in the future, people might find themselves unprepared and unguided on the
best inflation-protected asset allocations for their retirement. In the context
of the current economic turmoil, today’s reality is one full of uncertainties
and many people wonder about the future of their retirement. Are we going to
have a retirement, or more precisely, are we going to have the funds we need to
be able to retire? How are the continuous changes in the social, economic, and
political factors going to affect the retirement asset valuation? Is inflation
going to be present at higher levels than the ones we are used to in the future?
Does uncertainty about the future affect people’s behavior when it comes to
retirement asset allocation? To analyze this possibility, this paper
investigates the roles of additional behavioral factors (consumer sentiment and
inflation expectations) on people’s behaviors related to their retirement
planning strategies. Motivation for adding the behavioral variables to the
existing models lies in fast changing economic environments, and uncertainty’s
effects on people’s perception about their future and retirement. The data
analysis indicates consumer sentiment (with the coefficient statistically
significant at 1% level) was negatively correlated with the growth in retirement
assets.
Illegal Corporate Activities
and Their Effect on Financial Statement Disclosures: How Forensic Accountants
Can Help
Dr. Michael Ulinski, Pace University, Pleasantville,
NY
Dr. Roy J. Girasa, Pace University, Pleasantville,
NY
Anthony L. Fanelli, Pace University, Pleasantville,
NY
ABSTRACT
The researcher examined recent
sanctions and legal actions taken against multi-national corporations in
emerging markets by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other
non-US regulatory agencies to develop an exploratory study to determine the
effects of illegal activity on financial statement disclosures. In addition,
the researchers proposed that Forensic Accountants can help the independent
auditor and those in charge with corporate governance, to properly determine if
an illegal act that has occurred should be disclosed. The Foreign Corrupt Act
and international security agencies efforts to help signatory members enforce
security laws is used as the prism for determining whether an illegal activity
has occurred and if any financial statement disclosure is required. Conclusions
are drawn and recommendations for further studies are recommended. Illegal
corporate activities including corruption and bribery have increased as a result
of the global economy expansion especially in emerging markets. China, Russia
and other BRIC nations have young and newly prosperous populations that
multi-national corporations are desirous to tap into their consumer needs and to
expand their presents for lower cost labor and perceived reduced regulations
costs. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in a recent
study indicated 14 of the signatory countries have sanctioned 221 individuals
and 90 entities under criminal proceedings for foreign bribery. (ECD Data, June
2013) In a recent Wall Street Journal front page article, they reported that
$489 million in bribes were used by GlaxoSmith-Kline PLC to government
officials, hospitals and doctors in order to sell more drugs at higher prices.
(Wall Street Journal, July 2013) US Auditing standards have clarified and
expanded requirements on disclosure of illegal corporate activities effects on
financial statement disclosure. The PCAOB in its Release No. 2012-004 effective
for audits beginning after December 15, 2012, expands on AU Sec. 317.08 by
providing the following guidance: “Normally an audit in accordance with
generally accepted auditing standards does not include audit procedures
specifically designed to detect illegal acts.
The Grand Green Marketing
Strategy Boom or Bust?
Dr. Richard Murphy, Jacksonville
University, FL
Dr. Maja Zelihic, Ashford University, College of Business and Professional Studies
Professor Vince Narkiewicz,
Jacksonville University, FL
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to
determine if green marketing had an impact on consumer behaviors this long into
a recessionary period. The survey selected as the most suitable option for data
collection is the methodology used. This survey used a large number of
participants, as well as some worldwide data, which demonstrates how consumers
respond to green marketing and comparing country to country. The results
indicate while different countries face unique environmental issues, the luster
of the correctness of Green Marketing is fading as the costs continue to rise.
This study concludes that the length of the recessionary period has had a
significant impact on the green movement. The concept of “green marketing” was
officially introduced in 1975. As with any other marketing movements, it lived
through its peak stage and weathered many storms. Despite its perceived
importance and its “glorious” message, this marketing area is still not out of
troubled waters. One would think that four decades since its creation, the
concept of green marketing would not be as widely misunderstood as it is
nowadays. Green marketing is not being pursued as the good deed on behalf of the
humanity even though companies try to portray that image. It is serving its own
purpose through “use the environmental benefits of a product or service to
promote sales” (Gopal, 2012, p.1). Green marketing, in its core essence, is
simplistic notion of selling a product based on its environmental benefits. Now,
the product itself, “may be environmentally friendly in itself or produced
and/or packaged in an environmentally friendly way” (Strategic Green Marketing
for Survival, 2011, para. 7). More recently, the product itself may be found
falsely portraying its “green image” through the lack of knowledge and/or
intentional misrepresentation by the “green friendly” companies. The purpose of
this paper is to research the origin of green marketing, its prior successes,
and touch upon some reasons behind its current failure. It seems that the
1990s- deemed as a decade of environmental friendly initiatives are long gone
replaced by the consumers’ drive to pursue the cheapest products regardless of
vast environmental concerns.
E-Books Adoption for Business
Education
Dr. Lin Zhao, Purdue University
Calumet, Hammond, IN
Dr. Raida
Abuizam, Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN
ABSTRACT
E-book sales has been over one
billion US$ in 2012, and the market share of e-Books has increased sharply from
1.5% to over 16% in the past five years. There is no doubt that the emergence of
e-Books is changing the traditional ways of learning in business education due
to many technical advantages. Economical benefits are also considered as an
important factor to affect the adoption of e-Books among students and educators.
This study examines different factors which impact the adoption of e-Books for
the executive MBA program and three management courses in a regional university.
Our findings imply that it is viable to adopt e-Books as required textbooks,
although the behavioral and technical barriers still exist. Traditional paper books have
dominated the publishing market for thousands of years. Although the efficiency
has been improved continuously in paper production, there are still over 20
million trees consumed each year for printing books in US. With the emergence of
Internet and digital technologies, e-Books have become a promising alternative
to traditional paper books due to the advantages of convenient access, powerful
functions, low costs, and eco-friendly. According to Association of American
Publishers (AAP), e-Books sales of 2011 grew 117% from the previous year and
generated the revenue of $969.9 million. The newer statistics of May 2012 report
record high monthly e-Books sales of $133.7 million, about 4 times of the total
sales of the comparable period in 2011 as Figure 1 shows. The market share of
e-Books in the second quarter of 2012 has reached 22%, about 8% growth from the
comparable period in 2011. As one of the largest bookstores with 27% e-books
market share, Amazon.com has been selling e-Books more than traditional books
since April 2011, and their CEO claimed “eBooks is now a multi-billion dollar
category for the company and was up approximately 70 percent from last year
(2011)”. On the contrary, Borders, the nation's second-largest bookstore chain,
didn’t adjust their marketing strategies to adapt the growth of e-Books, which
became one of the main reasons for their demise. All of these striking marketing
data and practices show that although printed books remain the highest market
share, there is no doubt that they are gradually losing their superiority to
e-Books.
Student perceptions of
e-learning Components within a Masters Level Financial Management Module
Dr. Alan Parkinson, University
College London, London, UK
Lynsie
Chew, University College London, London, UK
Roland Miller, Queen Mary,
University of London, London, UK
ABSTRACT
This paper is located in the
arena of Masters-level Financial Management module with ninety one registered
students in a UK university. It is concerned with identifying and exploring
students’ perceptions of influences, both positive and negative, of three
specific e-learning components upon their learning experiences. The components
are vote clickers, digital ink applications, and lecturecasts. The findings
inform educators and module designers in the pursuit of the development of new
blended learning modules, against a backdrop of increasing student expectations,
and particularly so in the context of the high level of fees for post-graduate
programmes. Students surveyed total ninety one with sixty eight responses
(74.7%). Data are collected through an on-line survey. The survey questions are
derived from two focus groups using semi-structured interviews, with the
interview themes informed from a literature review. The students in the focus
groups are also stratified representatively. Data are analyzed and explored
using absolute and relative frequencies. The exploration generates findings
suggesting the vote clickers and digital ink innovations are perceived as
enhancing the learning experience, but with mixed perceptions regarding
lecturecasts, with lessons for educators.
This
study seeks to identify which, if any, of three e-learning innovations
contribute positively towards the learning experiences of students studying a
Masters-level Financial Management module in a UK university, delivered across a
three month period. It also seeks to identify related matters which may have a
negative impact upon the learning experiences. The findings will inform
educators as they seek to design the curricula of modules in ways which improve
learning experiences when incorporating new technologies, particularly in the
context of blended learning.
A Phenomenological Study of
Registered Nurses Exposed to Toxic Leadership Behaviors:
What it Means to Health
Care Organizations
Dr. Annette B. Roter, Viterbo
University
Dr. Janice Spangenburg, Capella
University
ABSTRACT
One of the more subtle elements
of leadership concentrates on toxicity. Toxic leadership also referred to as
disruptive behaviors in the health care industry is a concern as health care
continues to evolve. This evolution within health care provides additional
stress, ambiguity and uncertainty for employees and leadership. All of these
elements can provide an environment full of toxicity. Health care organizations
today are facing paramount changes and leaders need to be ready to address these
changes along with guiding and leading their teams forward with positive
intent. Any type of volatile or toxic environment will pose additional threats
for health care organizations going forward. This phenomenological study
explored perceived toxic leadership styles by assessing and evaluating the lived
experiences of registered nurses located in the Chicago Metropolitan area. The
selection process of candidates for the study relied on purposive and snowball
sampling. A pre-study questionnaire was utilized to select participants who
indicated they were able to share their experiences with a toxic leader within a
hospital setting. Through sampling, 18 participants were asked to participate
in in-depth interviews. Through analysis of the data four key themes emerged.
These themes included (a) the toxic leader’s approach to leading, (b) leader
competence and leadership attributes, (c) the organization’s competence related
to addressing the toxic behaviors, and (d) the emergence of the phenomenon as it
related to the lived experience of register nurses. Implications of the study
showed that toxic leadership behaviors impeded team work, affected
communication, and was detrimental to the organization.
Store Choice in the
International Context: The Influence of Different External Reference Prices
Dr. Jane Dunnett, University of
New Brunswick, New Brunswick, Canada
ABSTRACT
When consumers in neighboring
countries travel across the border for shopping or vacationing, they often
encounter the same goods offered at different price points. In some situations,
the goods are available in both countries showing the two prices clearly marked
on the item. This practice may be justified when the exchange rate is
significantly different between the two countries, but becomes more of a concern
to consumers as the divide between the currencies reduces. This paper considers
the impact of pricing on consumer choice decisions for identical goods available
in neighboring countries at different price points when the foreign exchange
rate has reached a general level of parity between the two currencies. Using
the example of Canada and the United States, where the Canadian dollar has taken
a dramatic increase in value against its American counterpart over the past few
years, many consumer goods have traditionally been labeled at different price
points for the two countries. Canadian consumers were surveyed about the
importance of retailers adjusting their prices to reflect this changing exchange
rate. The same consumers were also asked to rate the importance to them of such
a pricing policy in their store choice decisions. With larger numbers of
consumers travelling, and consumers in neighboring countries travelling across
the shared border for shopping or vacationing, they use many different cues to
familiarize themselves with the retailers and goods they encounter, and to help
with their shopping decisions. Perhaps the store name is familiar to them from
television advertising or from other stores in the same chain located in their
home market. Brand names are often recognized across borders as many companies
expand across continents and around the world in their attempts to win larger
markets.
Fast Growing Pet Ownership in
Mexico: A Preliminary Field Study
Dr. Hyun Sook Lee, National
Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City
ABSTRACT
In Mexico, there is a fast
growing trend favoring pet ownership, similar to the trends world-wide. For
this preliminary study, some hypotheses were tested that they were adopting pets
looking for affections (Holbrook et al, 2001, p.1), and ready to afford pet care
costs without concern for their income level, which supports Staats and Horner
(1999, pp. 541-552) who mentioned that those with low incomes partitioned their
time more equally between family, friends, pets. Members of larger families
tended to adopt pets, although it was expected that members of smaller families
would do so based on Staats and Horner (Ibíd).
During 2007,
humanization was the #1 trend fueling growth in the $43 billion global pet food
market, according to Global Pet Food Industry Outlook, a new report from
Packaged Facts and Petfood Industry magazine. Outpacing all other trends by at
least 10 percentage points,,treating
pets like family outranked packaging convenience and special ingredient foods
which are also heavily impacting the market
(´Humanization´ …, 2007).
Despite
renewed economic uncertainty, the global pet care market continued to grow in
2012, with retail values approaching US$94 billion. Sales should continue to
grow between 2012 and 2017, thanks to the strength of pet humanisation and
emerging markets (Pet Care Forecast Revisit 2012: …, 2012).
Industry
insiders attribute the growing world pet market to the global humanization of
pets, whereby more and more cultures now regard companion animals as beloved
family members (Wolf, 2013).
Worldwide London-based market
research firm Euromonitor International has been monitoring world pet markets
with growing interest, and reports that the trend has increased exponentially
within the last five years (Wolf, 2013). One of the main drivers in the
pet market is the increase in pet ownership worldwide.
The Decision-Making Dimension
of the Systems Approach to Management
James Kennedy Turkson, Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
Rosemary Boateng Coffie, Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
ABSTRACT
Theoretically, a system is
anything made up of various parts. These parts are known as subsystems. At
every point in time, these parts should work in harmony so that objectives could
be achieved successfully. A system could be inanimate or animate item. Examples
of inanimate systems include vehicles, households, computer and institution.
Examples of animate systems are human beings, animals and insects. Both
inanimate and animate systems are made up of various subsystems. Such
subsystems are required to co-operate, collaborate and work together so that set
objectives could be achieved successfully. From practical, organizational and
managerial point of view, business organizations are equally systems made up of
subsystems which may take the form of departments, sections and/or units. There
is supposed to be collaborations among the managers and the other members in
these departments, sections and/or units so that organizational objectives could
be achieved successfully. All the managers in the various departments, sections
and/or units are required to work together as a team to make the system coherent
and closely-knit to make disintegration impossible. Closely related to the
systems approach to management is managerial decision-making. Decision-making
is a very important function of every manager’s job. The success and failure
stories of many organizations are the result of the quality of decisions made.
Many organizations have survived turbulent conditions. Others have also
collapsed in spite of favourable conditions. These varying conditions are the
result of the quality of decisions that managers at positions of authority and
responsibility made. The systems approach to management therefore enjoins top
managers in particular to be very circumspect and cautious in certain
decision-making activities. This is because, the quality of decision a manager
makes can go a long way to determine the success or failure story of an
organization as exemplified in the case study in this paper. ‘And the two shall
become one and inseparable until death separates them’. This statement is often
heard at wedding ceremonies when the officiating minister has to consummate the
marriage by making both the groom and the bridegroom aware that they are no
longer individuals but a ‘combined and unified whole’.
The Role of Advertising Expenditure in Measuring
Indonesia’s Money Demand Function
Lee-Chea Hiew, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Dr. Chin-Hong Puah,
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Dr. Muzafar Shah Habibullah, Universiti Putra Malaysia
Abstract
Using the consumer
theory approach as suggested by Habibullah (2009), this study aims to shed new
light on monetary authority by incorporating advertising expenditure, a variable
that has been neglected in the past, into study of the money demand function in
Indonesia. In addition, different measurements of monetary aggregates
(simple-sum and Divisia money) have been used in the estimation to provide
better insight into the selection of a suitable monetary policy variable for the
case of Indonesia. Empirical findings from the error-correction model (ECM)
indicate that the advertising expenditure variable has a significant impact on
the demand for money. Furthermore, as compared to simple-sum money, the model
that used Divisia monetary aggregates rendered more plausible estimation results
in the estimation of money demand function. Over the centuries, numerous crises
have shaken the world’s economies and financial systems, including those of
Indonesia. Compared with neighboring countries that have also endured crises,
the recovery evolution in Indonesia has been slightly sluggish. A famous
economist, Benjamin Higgins, depicted Indonesia as “the number one failure among
the major undeveloped countries.” To escape from the journey of crisis, economic
reforms connected to economic policy as well as political stability are
important. Moreover, the revolution from economic crisis to economic reform
required the injection of money into all economic activities. Indisputably, the
sustainability and development of a nation’s economy will be dampened without a
sufficient money supply. In contrast, overabundance of money supply will create
inflationary pressure whereby it possibly will undervalue the value of money.
An Improved Optimization
Algorithm for Managing the Maintenance Scheduling of a Family of Machines
Dr. Jia-Yen Huang, National
Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung City, Taiwan
Dr. Ming-Jong Yao, National
Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu City, Taiwan
ABSTRACT
The maintenance cost could be
very crucial in many real world situations since the maintenance work is
subcontract or repairmen have to make a special trip from some central place to
carry out the work. In this study, to optimally coordinate the maintenance
schedule of machines so as to save the maintenance cost incurred, we propose an
improved Lipschitz optimization algorithm to secure an ε-optimal solution
for the Maintenance Scheduling Problem for a Family of Machines (MSPFM). By
utilizing the theoretical results, an efficient search algorithm that solves the
optimal solution for this problem is proposed. This analysis employs a fine-tune
procedure based on slope-checking and step-size comparison mechanisms to reduce
the number of search steps. Based on our numerical experiments, we conclude that
our proposed algorithm significantly outperforms the others existing approach in
the literature.
It is well-known
that the maintenance cost of machines is one of the major operating costs for
most of the enterprises;
therefore, it
is crucial to
determine an optimal maintenance schedule for
the machines.
An appropriate
maintenance schedule can
not only bring down the total operating costs, but also keep a satisfactory
utilization rate for a family of machines;
In the literature, such a problem is named as
“the Maintenance Scheduling Problem for a Family of Machines ”, which is
abbreviated as the MSPFM. In the MSPFM, the decision maker needs to determine
T (i.e., a basic planning period) and {k1,k2,…,km}
(i.e., the frequency of maintenance for machines) so as to minimize the
total costs incurred per unit time. Some researchers have been dealt with the
determination of economic maintenance scheduling in the fields of management
science/operations research/industrial engineering (see Goyal and Kusy, 1985).
Some studies which focus on the transportation fleet maintenance scheduling
problem have been presented, including Yao and Huang (2006), Huang and Yao(2007,
2008).
Iterated Variable
Neighborhood Search Algorithm for Solving Total Weighted
Tardiness Problems of
Single Machine Scheduling with Sequence-Dependent Setup Times
Dr.
Chun-Lung Chen, Takming University of Science and Technology, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
ABSTRACT
This paper investigates the
problems of single machine scheduling with sequence-dependent setup times with
the objective of minimizing the total weighted tardiness of jobs. An iterated
variable neighborhood search algorithm is proposed to solve the single machine
scheduling problems. A series of neighborhood structures, which is based on
random moves of a subsequence, is constructed to improve the performance of the
proposed algorithm. To verify the performance of the proposed algorithm,
computational experiments are conducted on a set of benchmark problems available
in literature. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is
very effective. In this study, we consider the problem of single machine
scheduling with sequence-dependent setup times (SMSDST) in order to minimize the
total weighted tardiness of jobs. SMSDST with performance criteria involving
due dates, such as total weighted tardiness or total number of tardy jobs, is a
reference problem in the industrial context (Anghinolfi and Paolucci, 2009).
The problem considered in this study is a NP-hard problem, and developing a
heuristic to solve such a problem is acceptable.In recent years, several
researches have applied heuristics to solve SMSDST problems. Cicirello and
Smith (2005) developed four different heuristics, namely, limited discrepancy
search (LDS), heuristic-biased stochastic sampling (HBSS), value-biased
stochastic sampling (VBSS), and hill-climbing using VBSS (VBSS–HC), to minimize
the total weighted tardiness of SMSDST. They used these improvement heuristics
and the simulated annealing (SA) heuristic to obtain solutions for a set of 120
benchmark problems with 60 jobs each. Since then, several algorithms have been
proposed to solve SMSDST problems, and the benchmark problem instances proposed
by Cicirello and Smith (2005) have been used to assess the performance of these
algorithms. These algorithms can be categorized into three groups, namely,
evolution-based, truncated branch-and-bound-based, and neighborhood-based
algorithms.
Tax System Factors and
Individual Tax Compliance Behaviour in Nigeria: Does the
Effect of the
Taxpayer’s Risk Preference Matter?
Dr. James O. Alabede, Federal
Polytechnic Bauchi, Nigeria
Dr. Zaimah Bt. Ariffin, College of
Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia
Prof.
Dr. Idris Md Kami, College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia
ABSTRACT
Tax system structure factors are
considered to be the primary determinants of tax compliance behaviour. The
influence that these factors exert on tax compliance behaviour depends on the
efficiency of tax administration. In some developing countries, the
administration of income tax is characterized by inefficiency and this raise
doubt about the effectiveness of the tax system factors in influencing the tax
compliance behaviour .This study determines the relationship between tax system
factors and tax compliance behaviour in the presence of the interacting effect
of taxpayers’ risk preference using empirical evidence of individual taxpayers
from Nigeria. The data collected for the study were statistically treated using
OLS-MMR technique. The results indicate that high tax audit probability increase
tax compliance behaviour. Furthermore, it provides evidence to show that
taxpayers’ risk preference negatively interacted with tax sanction to influence
tax compliance. The
dripping financial resource of government in the light of increasing social
responsibility has encouraged policy makers and researchers to pay great
attention to the problem of tax noncompliance in last few decades. Substantial
efforts had been committed in researching into the problem aimed at identifying
factors responsible for the phenomenon (Alabede Zaimah & Idris, 2011; Roth et
al, 1989; Wenzel, 2001). The first major work on the subject matter was done by
Allingham and Sandmo (1972) and the authors came up with a model to explain
factors affecting taxpayers’ compliance behaviour. This model which applied
deterrence theory recognizes tax audit probability and penalty as the factors
affecting tax compliance behaviour. The main assumption of the deterrence
theory is that an increase in either the probability of detection of crime or
punishment of crime or both will decrease the economic rewards of the criminal
activity. Therefore, as the probability of detection is high and/or punishment
of the criminal is high then this would deter individuals from committing
crimes. In relationship of tax compliance, the theory suggests that taxpayers
will be willing to pay tax only because of the fear of sanction; therefore as
tax fine or tax audit rates increase more taxes will be paid.
Joint Determinations of
Growth, Inflation and Inequality
Dr. Ho-Chuan (River) Huang,
Department of Banking and Finance, Tamkang University
Dr. Chih-Chuan Yeh, Overseas
Chinese University and National Taiwan University
ABSTRACT
Motivated
by the theoretical study of Jin (2009), this paper empirically estimates
the causal interrelationships among growth, inflation and inequality in a
unified simultaneous equations system. By applying the identification through
heteroskedasticity of Rigobon (2003) to a large panel data up to 37 countries,
we find that inflation exerts a significant, negative (positive) and causal
influence on growth (inequality), confirming the theoretical prediction of Jin
(2009). Moreover, there is also strong evidence indicating that faster growth is
associated with lower inequality, and lower inequality is accompanied with
higher inflation. This project plans to empirically explore the
inter-relationships among inflation, income inequality, and economic growth in a
unified framework. In the current literature, these important macroeconomic
variables are often analyzed in pairs, which include the inflation- inequality,
inequality-growth, and inflation-growth linkages. As such, our main focus is to
jointly estimate the interactions among inflation, inequality and growth using a
simultaneous equations system. In contrast to conventional instrumental
variables approaches, which mainly rely upon the exclusion restrictions for
identification, we consider a novel different estimation strategy which,
instead, depends on the heteroskedasticity-based identification approaches of
Rigobon (2003). In the following, we provide brief overviews on the theoretical
predictions and empirical evidences on the relationships among (pairs of)
inflation, inequality and growth. Theoretically, there are many studies
indicating that higher inflation is associated with higher income inequality.
For instance, in a shopping-time model where consumers have access to
alternative transacting technologies, Cysne, Maldonado and Monteiro (2005)
demonstrate that there is a positive relation between inflation and inequality.
In particular, provided that the productivity of the interest-bearing asset in
the transacting technology is sufficiently large, an increase in inflation rate
definitely results in worsened distribution of income, i.e., higher income
inequality.
Impact of Female Executives
on the Conservatism: Evidence from China Stock Market
Dr. Meiqun Yin, Beijing
International Studies University, P.R. China
Dr. Wang Huacheng, Renmin
University, Beijing, P.R. China
Jiang Haixia, Beijing
International Studies University, P.R. China
ABSTRACT
With the economic development
and progresses of feministic ideological consciousness, women's status has been
significantly improved. More female executives are also playing roles in
decision-making and management of the company increasingly. Numerous researches
have shown that there are many differences in personality, logic, ways of
problems solving, risk appetite between males and females. Using 2007-2012
financial data of listed companies in Chinese Stock Markets，we
conducted empirical analysis of the issue. The results show that the presence of
female executives in the executive team will significantly improve the
accounting conservatism, female CEO, as well as female CFO also lead the
company’s accounting conservatism to meaningfully improving. Dramatically, in
those enterprises which have the CEO and CFO both for females, the accounting
conservatism has not changed distinctly. As we all know, because of innate gender
differences, even with the same educational background and life experiences, men
and women have many differences in personality, way of thinking and handling
problems. These differences are reflected in all aspects, especially in risk
preferences, self-confidence and achievement needs.The studies of Zuckerman
(1994), Hersch (1996), Slovic (1996) have shown that when facing uncertainty,
women's behavior will be more cautious. Stinerock etc. (1991) found that women's
risk appetite was lower than men’s. In financial decision-making, they tended to
consult experts and were far more anxiety and caution. By using personal trading
data provided by a large U.S. broker, Barber and Odean (2001) found that
compared with female investors trading volume, male investors’ was higher than
45%. However, excessive trading reduced males’ earnings. The empirical studies
of Tan Songtao and Wang Yaping (2006) have found that the over-trading by male
investors was significantly higher than female investors’. This result indicates
that the, women are more cautious and conservative when making investment
decisions, while men tend to overconfidence. There is a lot of research about
the impact of female executives (especially women directors) on business
performance. Using a sample of 215 companies in Top 500 selected by "Fortune"
magazine's which data are from 1980 to 1998, Adler (2001) studied the return on
sales, return on assets and the return on shareholders' equity as a measure of
corporate performance. Adler found that companies with more females in their
administrative departments often earned more profit.
Corporate Social
Responsibility and Firm Performance
Dr. Roger C. Y. Chen, Professor,
National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Dr. Hui-Wen Tang, Tamkang
University, Taiwan
Shih-Wei Hung, National
Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
ABSTRACT
With the increasing importance
of corporate social responsibility (CSR), stockholders are more concerned about
the impact of firms’ CSR on operating performance. Using the inductance of 24
CSR rules, we construct a “Corporate Social Responsibility Index” as a proxy to
measure the CSR performance at about 738 listed firms during the 2010 in Taiwan.
A hedge portfolio that bought firms in the highest portfolio of the index (best
CSR) and sold firms in the lowest portfolio of index (worst CSR) would have
earned abnormal returns. We find that lower CSR performance firms have lower
stock returns, worse operating performance, lower values and higher operating
expenses. Confucius once said, “All people desire riches and wealth, but if
they cannot be obtained in the proper manner, they should not be pursued.” In
other words, corporations must consider the morality of their profit-seeking
behavior when pursuing profits to determine whether it violates the interests of
others. Business behavior which conflicts with morality and jeopardizes
stakeholder interests should be avoided. Such a concept stresses the importance
of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in sustainable firms. In essence, CSR
is a type of morality. In the past, corporate responsibility was generally
perceived as the responsibility to maximize the wealth of shareholders
(Friedman, 1970). However, this ideal in firms’ continuously downing costs to
increase shareholder profit, which produce numerous social problems, such as
child labor, environmental pollution and climate change etc. Consequently, many
international organizations and government have proposed regulations and
evaluation criteria for CSR (1). Previous studies differ on whether corporate
investment in CSR is beneficial for increasing corporate value. Certain scholars
have indicated that CSR investment requires firms to expend greater resources.
Investor Sentiment and Exchange-Traded
Fund
Premiums:
Evidence from an Emerging Market
Dr. Jung-Chu Lin, Takming
University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
ABSTRACT
Previous studies tend
to depict closed-end fund (CEF) discounts as a measure of individual investor sentiment.
While
exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are traded by institutional investors by a much
higher proportion than CEFs, this
paper aims
to examine the
proposition that premiums or discounts of ETFs are driven by a combined
sentiment of institutional and individual investors and hence can act as a proxy
for a broader investor sentiment. The proposition implies that premiums or
discounts on various ETFs move together, are correlated with prices of other
securities
which are affected by the
same investor sentiment, and can forecast stock returns better. We employ
correlation analysis, regression analysis,
vector autoregressive analysis, and Granger causality test and evidence ETF
premiums not only a more comprehensive sentiment indicator but also a
prophetic indicator compared to CEF discounts.
ETF
premiums as a sentiment
indicator can forecast future returns on various-cap stock portfolios which
cannot be attained by CEF discounts. The levels of
ETF
premiums Granger cause the
levels of CEF
premiums whereas changes
in CEF premiums
Granger cause changes in ETF premiums.
The classical financial theory of efficient markets holds that investors are
rational. The theory does not believe that investor sentiment can affect the
security prices and returns. Rather, it assumes that competition between
rational investors will be continued until the security prices reach
equilibrium. Even if some investors are irrational (noise traders), their
operations would be offset by arbitragers. This means that irrational investors
would not have a significant impact on the price of securities. As a result,
research on projected stock returns in the early stages does not consider the
psychological state and sentiments of investors until Kahneman and Tversky
(1979) first explored the impact of investor psychology on investment decisions
and thus on stock returns in their research.
The Effect of Fairness-Based
Relationship Quality on Relationship Performance and the Moderating Role of
Dependence
Flt. Lt. Suriya Soucksakit,
Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand
ABSTRACT
This study examines, in
buyer-supplier context, the effects of fairness perceptions (distributive,
procedural, and interactional) on relationship performance through the mediating
role of relationship quality in an environment where a small number of suppliers
dominates the industry and where buyers and suppliers are fundamentally
independent of one another. Using Thailand chemical fertilizer industry as the
study context with face-to-face questionnaire survey method, the total of 237
authorized dealers’ sample is obtained and analyzed through the use of
structural equation modelling technique. The study finds that distributive
fairness perception significantly and directly influences relationship
performance while procedural and interactional fairness perceptions indirectly
influence relationship performance through the mediating role of relationship
quality. Furthermore, by incorporating dependence structure as a moderator and
using multi-group moderation analysis, the study finds that dependence
perception weakens the impact of procedural and interactional fairness
perceptions on relationship quality. When an industry has only a
limited number of large suppliers, these few companies are, to certain extent,
able to control the market. As the products they supply are often almost
identical, the actions of one producer, for example in effecting a price cut,
will directly affect the remaining suppliers. This implies that supplying
companies, within a given oligopolistic market structure, do compete with one
another, to certain degree, on cost basis. Therefore, reducing transaction
costs would result in higher yield of return. Transaction Cost theory describes
the costs as being created to three criteria: asset specificity, frequency, and
uncertainty. Higher levels of these criteria lead to higher transaction costs
(Williamson 1979, 1981). As Morgan and Hunt (1994) suggested that trust lead to
reduction of uncertainty among members within a supply chain, therefore,
trusting relationship would enable firms to reduce their transaction costs.
However, in oligopolistic market environment where the market structure is
characterized by number and size distribution of firms, entry condition, and the
extent of differentiation that may give rise to several opportunistic behaviors,
what are the factors that would lead firms in supply network to have trusting
and long-term relationship.
Impact of Mandatory Job
Rotation on Ethical Tendencies of Financial Stuffs
Dr. Shu-Cheng Lin, ChungYu
Institute of Technology, Keelunng, Taiwan
ABSTRACT
Audit researches showed that
mandatory job rotation is an effective tool to prevent abuse (Carolyn, 1986),
and a limit terms for holding same position provides better chance to reveal
unethical issues. However, for most Asian family enterprises, financial stuffs
often gain the trust and attention of business owners, and thus have longer
terms in same position. Despite the few provisions on mandatory job rotation
that apply to these people, they remain highly loyal to their organization. As
the ethical tendencies of these financial stuffs remains of the utmost
importance as far as organizational security is concerned, henceforth the
purpose of this study is to clarify the impact of mandatory job rotation on
ethical tendencies of financial stuffs. Targeting financial stuffs from 41
companies in Taiwan, a total of 420 questionnaire copies were distributed, of
which 358 copies (85.2%) of valid questionnaires were retrieved. The results
show that the organizational commitment of financial stuffs under mandatory job
rotation was significantly lower compared to financial stuffs not under
mandatory rotation. Furthermore, the ethical tendencies of the employees under
mandatory rotation were significantly poorer as well. The results show that as
far as the organizational norms formed under the system are concerned, in
addition to the behavioral constraints formed on the surface of the system that
have to be taken into account, the impact of the system on the mentality of
employees also has to be given focus. This study highlights the inadequacies of
the system and the psychological impact on employees, which shall serve as a
reference when establishing management systems in the future. Research showed
that mandatory job rotation is an effective tool for preventing abuse (Carolyn,
1986), financial systems in countries around the world often set a maximum term
for holding the same position.
Firm Efficiency
Across Sectors: The Case of Public-Listed Firms in Malaysia
Zalila Othman, Universiti Utara
Malaysia, Sintok Kedah, Malaysia
Dr. Sallahuddin Hassan, Universiti Utara
Malaysia, Sintok Kedah, Malaysia
Dr. Mohd. Zaini Abdul Karim, Universiti Utara
Malaysia, Sintok Kedah, Malaysia
Dr. Mukaramah Harun,
Universiti Utara
Malaysia, Sintok Kedah, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
The objective of
this study is to determine the variation in firm efficiency across sectors of
firms listed on the Main Board of the Malaysian Bourse (formerly known as the
Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange). A sample of 156 firms listed at the bourse was
selected using the stratified random sampling method. Data Envelopment Analysis
(DEA) under the
assumptions of constant returns to scale (CRS) and variable returns to scale
(VRS) was
employed to estimate firms’ efficiency scores. Our findings have shown that
firm efficiency scores vary across sectors. However, there is no significant
difference in the mean efficiency among all sectors. Public-listed firms in
Malaysia are important in terms of providing productive employment and earning
opportunities. Thus, public-listed firms, which are the main component of the
business sector, have to operate efficiently lest this will hinder the business
sector’s performance and consequently jeopardized the development of the
country. Moreover, technological advancements and globalization have also added
significant pressure on the firms to increase their efficiency so as to survive
and remain competitive in the market. Despite their enormous influence on the
overall economic well-being of the country, large gaps remain in our knowledge
about the public-listed firms in Malaysia in terms of their efficiency.
Therefore, this paper focuses on the efficiency of public-listed firms, how this
varies across different sectors and the subsequent implications for industrial
policies in Malaysia. This study derives firm-level estimates of technical
efficiency and compares the mean of technical efficiency across sectors. These
analyses allow us to address the issue of variation of efficiency of firms in
different sectors. Our analyses have shown that firm efficiency do vary across
sectors. Firms in the industrial products sector are most efficient, followed
by firms in the construction and consumer products sector, while firms in the
trading/services industry have the lowest efficiency.
An Analysis of Poverty,
Vulnerability and Risk Management Among Rural Household in Peninsular Malaysia
Dr. Ahmad Zafarullah Abdul Jalil, Universiti Utara Malaysia
Dr. Mukaramah Harun, Universiti Utara Malaysia
ABSTRACT
Malaysia has been recognized as
one of the countries that has successfully reduced the problem of poverty among
its population. In 1970, the poverty level stood at 49.3 percent of the total
population. However, the recent trend in the literature that moved towards the
re-conceptualisation of poverty in terms of insecurity or vulnerability, have
brought out another issue of how poverty should be tackled in Malaysia. In this
study, we examined how rural households in Malaysia behaved when faced with a
risk and how this would affect their livelihood and therefore the level of
vulnerability to poverty. Our findings show that rural households in Malaysia
faced a variety of risks and they have employed several strategies in order to
cope with the risks. However, not all these strategies are effective in dealing
with the risk and this has resulted in a negative impact on the livelihood of
the households. Our study also found that income and savings level are the main
factors that will determine the odds for a household to recover from a crisis.
The findings of this study imply that there is room for the government or any
other relevant authorities to intervene to improve the availability and
effectiveness of risk coping strategies of rural households in Malaysia. During
the last few decades, Asian economies have experienced tremendous economic
growth. According to Balisacan and Fuwa (2007), Asia’s gross domestic product
(GDP) growth has consistently outpaced those of other regions of the world in
the past thirty years. The region’s economic growth rate averaged about 4.0 per
cent per year, while the corresponding figures for developed countries and the
world were about 2.6 per cent and 2.7 per cent, respectively. In these emerging
market economies including Malaysia, the relatively strong economic growth
experienced during the last few decades have led to a considerable decrease in
actual poverty rates. Malaysia has indeed been recognized as one of the
countries that has successfully reduced the problem of poverty among its
population. In 1970, the poverty level stood at 49.3 percent of the total
population. The rate was later reduced to 8.1 percent in 1999 before reaching
3.7 percent in 2011 (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2011). Another measure
of poverty, the hardcore poverty rate has also declined significantly from 1.2
percent in 2004 to 0.7 percent in 2009 (Department of Statistics Malaysia,
2011).
Government’s Policy, Poverty
and Income Distribution in Malaysia
Dr. Mukaramah-Harun, Universiti
Utara Malaysia
Dr. Ahmad Zafarullah Abdul
Jalil, Universiti Utara Malaysia
ABSTRACT
The paper aims to highlight the
link between government policies represented by the government expenditure
policies with the change in poverty and income inequality in Malaysian economy
throughout the years. Using a detailed Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) framework
for Malaysia and a multiplier model, this paper shows that there is a link
between various government policies towards poverty and income distribution with
the change in poverty and income inequality throughout the years. The paper also
found that the government policies have benefited all household groups by
increasing their incomes in all Malaysia Plans. The SAM constructed in this
paper is useful and interesting data. The SAM is more disaggregated, the income
mappings are more detailed and the effects on poverty and income distribution
are therefore more sensitive to the change of government policy. The role of
the government in economic growth, poverty eradication and income distribution
could be executed by its expenditure and taxes. Since taxes compliance in
Malaysia is relatively low compared to developed countries, poverty and
redistributive policy are more effective through government expenditure. The
government can reduce poverty and shape directly the income distribution through
its component expenditure design and pattern. Therefore, in all adjustment
policies for poverty and income distributions, the government expenditure
adjustments could play a key role and hence have received much attention. The
primary concern is on the efforts towards ensuring government efficiency in
poverty and income distribution that requires measures to increase high-priority
related programs and to reduce expenditures on low-priority related programs.
This is to ensure that the government expenditure for achieving the objective of
low poverty and income equality is utilized efficiently. There was a remarkable
success in reducing poverty of almost all Malaysian. Incidence of poverty
decreased tremendously from 52.4 percent of population in 1970 to 3.6 percent of
population in 2007.
The Impact of Country of
Origin on Consumers' Purchasing Intentions
Merve Coskun, Istanbul Technical
University, Turkey
Sebnem Burnaz,
Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
ABSTRACT
Although consumers are mostly
affected by the brand image, quality, and price information of the product while
making purchasing decisions, they also consider the “made in” label that gives
the information of the manufacturing country or brand country. Consumers give
importance to the knowledge of country of origin (COO) of a product when
deciding to purchase since country image related to brand or product might have
positive or negative associations in consumers' mind and affect their
perceptions. The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of
country of origin as brand country and manufacturing country, brand name, price
and product material on purchasing decision. Data were gathered via a
questionnaire and mainly conjoint analysis method was used to analyze the data.
The sample of the study covered 204 female consumers over 18 years old in
Istanbul, Turkey. Leather shoe was selected as the product category and
imaginary brands were created for the purpose of the study. The study explores
about the importance degree that consumers give to the factors affecting
purchasing decision of a leather shoe brand new to the participants. Findings
show that female respondents prefer local brands made in home country and price
is the most important factor affecting their purchase intention. Also consumer
ethnocentrism level of respondents was measured in the context of this study and
it is revealed that consumers exhibited upper-middle level of ethnocentrism. It
is expected that the results of this study can help leather retailers and
manufacturing firms in designing their marketing strategies and managing their
brands. With the increasing impact of globalization, the physical borders
between countries begin to lose meaning. In addition, a good produced anywhere
in the world is now offered to the consumers all around the world at the same
time depending on the rapidly developing technologies. In today's world, the
survival of retailers and manufacturing companies is dependent upon target
consumers' perceptions about their products. Therefore it is important to
analyze how consumers’ purchase intentions are formed as response to the
international marketing activities of the firms which want to have global
success.
The Distribution of the MNEs
Group Tax Bases Between the EU Member States: The Situation in the Czech
Republic
Dr. Danuse Nerudova, Mendel
University, Brno, Czech Republic
Dr. Veronika Solilova, Mendel University, Brno, Czech Republic
ABSTRACT
At present, enterprises
belonging to the MNEs group are mostly taxed as separate entities in the state
of their residence without the possibility of the consolidation for tax
purposes. However, under CCCTB system MNEs group would be able to create one
group for taxation purposes and to consolidate its profits and losses. The
consolidated tax base of the MNEs group would be shared among the Member States
according the allocation formula, taking into account the location of assets,
labor force and sales of the enterprise. Member States will impose the tax rate
on the tax bases, which will be different from the current situation when
separate entity approach is applied. Based on that, the Member States will also
raise different tax revenues. The aim of the paper is to draw the map of the
division of the MNEs group taxes base between the individual member States in
current situation – i.e. when applying separate entity approach, based on the
empirical analysis of the data available from the Amadeus database. European
Commission has worked for more than 10 years on the possible model of common
system of corporate taxation in the European Union. Its effort resulted into a
publication of CCCTB directive proposal on 16th March 2011. The CCCTB proposal
represents a unique system. Its aim is to achieve the reduction of compliance
costs of taxation, elimination of internal transfer pricing and to establish the
possibility of internal cross-border off-setting of losses and profits. It is
considered that under CCCTB system, fair tax competition should be established.
CCCTB system aims to harmonize the rules for corporate tax base construction and
to provide the possibility of full consolidation of group profits within the
European Union while leaving tax rates at the discretion of EU member States.
Therefore, the nominal corporate tax should become transparent for the
enterprises, because it should reflect real tax burden. In fact, nominal
corporate tax base will become comparable due to the application of the unified
rules for the tax base construction.
Insider/Outsider Succession
in Russian Nonprofit Organizations: Views from the Field
Dr. Joseph C. Santora,
International School of Management, Paris, France
Dr. James C. Sarros, Monash
University, Caulfield, Victoria, Australia
Anna Kalugina, Deputy Financial
Director, Open Health Institute, Moscow, Russia
Dr. Mark Esposito, Grenoble
Ecole de Management, Grenoble, France & University of Cambridge-CPSL,UK
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to
determine the nature of insider vs. outsider succession in nonprofit Russian
organizations. Twenty-nine Russian nonprofit executive directors completed a
questionnaire on executive succession and related issues. Unlike other research
findings, the data indicated most executive directors believed insiders were the
most likely successors. Who these successors are, however, remains unclear, and
may be as much a feature of the nonprofit sector as it is a feature of the
Russian ideology. More research is needed to clarify this assertion. This
paper attempts to answer some questions about executive succession issues in
Russian nonprofit organizations. It focuses on 1) the degree to which Russian
nonprofits plan for executive succession, and 2) the selection of
insiders/outsiders to replace departing executive directors. As with many events
that occur in Russia, the inner workings of its nonprofit sector organizations
have often been veiled in secrecy. This paper peeks into that secrecy by using
data collected on succession issues in this sector. Learning about Russian
nonprofit succession planning and who is preferred to replace departing Russian
nonprofit executive directors could make a meaningful contribution to further
our understanding of the nonprofit world in another cultural context. This
research not only fills an existing international research gap in the
literature, but it also serves as a benchmark for future nonprofit research in
the field. Further, it becomes part of the emerging international research on
nonprofit succession (e.g., Comini & Fischer, 2009 [Brazil]; Comini, Paolino, &
Feitosa, forthcoming [Brazil]; Bassi, forthcoming [Italy]; Bozer & Kuna,
forthcoming [Israel]; Godói-de-Sousa & Fischer, 2012 [Brazil], Santora, Sarros,
& Cooper, 2011 [Australia and the US]). We begin our article by presenting a
brief discussion of the challenges in nonprofit succession. We then introduce
the recent literature on insider-outsider selections in nonprofits. Next, we
describe the research methods used to collect the data.
The Relationship Among Firm
Size and Firms’ e-business Efficiency
Dr. Bozidar Jakovic, Faculty of Economics and
Business, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Dr. Lovorka
Galetic, Faculty of Economics and
Business, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Dr. Ivana Nacinovic Braje, Faculty of Economics and
Business, University of Zagreb, Croatia
ABSTRACT
E-business is a contemporary
business organization form which is based upon the intensive application of
information, internet and communication technologies in managing current
business activities. It helps companies to achieve the competitive advantage on
the global market. This paper explores the relationship among the firm size and
company’s e-business efficiency. The analysis is performed by using secondary
data on the application of the e-business in the companies in 29 European
countries, as well as on the primary data obtained by a survey on 252 Croatian
companies. A relevant empiric research was conducted which gives up-to-date
information on the relationship among firm size on e-business efficiency. The
hypothesis that firm size measured as the number of employees affects the
e-business efficiency is accepted. Electronic business (e-business) encompasses
the electronic information exchange within the organization, as well as between
the organization and all other subjects. New ways for doing business are
developed through the innovative usage of information and communication and
internet technologies. It helps companies to achieve the competitive advantage
on the global market (Jaković, 2012). Furthermore e-business does not consist
only of internet companies or sales and purchases on the web, e-business is a
much broader concept which includes also the internet related technologies so as
to integrate and reorganize the internal company activities, business processes
and external linkages (Li, 2006). E-business evolves rapidly and its
significance grows, but also the factors that affect it change daily (Chaffey,
2007). Understanding the effective adoption of technological innovations, such
as e-business, is arguably one of the key challenges facing organizations (Voola
et. al., 2012). In today's dynamic and uncertain economic and business
environment, companies and organizations try to find new ways in order to
achieve their strategic goals, and ensure their long-term success.
The Profession of Accountancy
in Turkey
Dr. Huseyin Cetin, Necmettin
Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey
Tuna Han Samanci, Karamanoglu
Mehmet Bey University, Karaman, Turkey
ABSTRACT
In the present day when
globalization is the most determinative element of economic life, accounting and
accountancy, which are described as “The Language of Managements,” have an
importance that gradually grows, and this process brings professional staff of
accountancy in one of indispensible actors of commercial life. Accountants are
among the persons of whom national and international managements,
establishments, and states feel the need and trust at most or should have
confidence anymore, and in this way, accountancy has become one of the
professions that are at most preferred. Accountancy is a profession which is
based on a longest past, directs the commercial life along the history with the
functions on which it bears, and in this manner, also affects on social life,
and has a great significance in terms of both a management and community and
state. The accounting systems differentiating from country to country in the
historical process have been synchronized with each other in the period in which
we are, and so, it has become one of the most important justifications of global
economy. In this Study, it will be given information about the profession of
accountancy and the professional accounting chambers. The development of the
profession of accountancy has followed a parallel course to the improvement and
development of managements. The establishments in which accounting practices are
carried out are the industrial, commercial, and service organizations.
Accountancy presents a support service for these establishments and
organizations. Therefore, the development of these establishments, in
particular, the improvement of industrial organizations directly affects on the
development of the profession of accountancy. The root of the modern accounting
system used in Turkey is the code of “Kanunname-i Ticaret” (The Code of
Commerce) dated 1850, which was regulated based on “Code de Commerce,”
which entered into force in France in 1807.
The Impact of the
Enterprise Resource Planning Systems on Company’s E-business Efficiency
Dr. Mario Spremic, Faculty of Economics
and Business, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Dr.
Bozidar Jakovic, Faculty of Economics
and Business, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Dr. Ivana Nacinovic Braje, Faculty of Economics
and Business, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Dr. Nevenka Cavlek,
Faculty of Economics
and Business, University of Zagreb, Croatia
ABSTRACT
Enterprise information systems
speed up the flow and communication of information throughout the company,
making it easier for businesses to coordinate their daily operations. Electronic
business (e-business) is a contemporary business organization form which is
based upon the intensive application of information, internet and communication
technologies in managing current business activities. In this paper an analysis
of the impact of Enterprise resource planning systems (ERP Systems) on the
company’s e-business efficiency is made. The analysis is based upon the
secondary data on the application of the e-business in the companies in 29
European countries, as well as on the primary data obtained by a survey on 252
Croatian companies. A relevant empirical research was conducted (using Hi-square
and T-test of arithmetic mean differences) which provides new evidence on the
impact of number of employees on e-business efficiency. The hypothesis that
indeed number of employees affects the e-business efficiency is accepted. New
ways for doing business are developed through the innovative usage of
information and communication and internet technologies. E-business encompasses
the electronic information exchange within the organization, as well as between
the organization and all other subjects. It helps companies to achieve the
competitive advantage on the global market (Jaković, 2012). Furthermore
e-business does not consist only of internet companies or sales and purchases on
the web, e-business is a much broader concept which includes also the internet
related technologies so as to integrate and reorganize the internal company
activities, business processes and external linkages (Li, 2006). E-business
evolves rapidly and its significance grows, but also the factors that affect it
change daily (Chaffey, 2007). Understanding the effective adoption of
technological innovations, such as e-business, is arguably one of the key
challenges facing organizations (Voola et. al., 2012). In today's dynamic and
uncertain economic and business environment, companies and organizations try to
find new ways in order to achieve their strategic goals, and ensure their
long-term success.
Using Score Carding Processes
to Identify Barriers for Total Performance Rating (TPR)
Values in a Commodity
Association
Dr. Roger D. Hanagriff, Texas A&M
University, TX
Dr.
Robert Strong, Texas A&M University, TX
ABSTRACT
The objectives of this study
were to demographically describe this beef breed association’s membership and to
determine membership’s perceived barriers to Total Performance Rating (TPR)
values. Results are derived from 282 member survey responses from a census of
all 527 active association members, which is a 53% response rate. Respondents
were mostly: from Texas (48.7%), over 45 years of age (79.4%), have less than 50
head (50.0%), earning less than 40% of their income on the ranch (86%), and
describe their ranch as a Seedstock enterprise (52%). This study finds that
members are utilizing the breed characteristics they find important in their
business and marketing decisions and little discrepancy between the importance
of breed characteristics and use of those items can be found. However, there
are rankings of high use and importance variables such as docility, maternal,
weaning weights, yearling birth weights, body condition score and yearling
weights. These contrasts the lower valued or used areas of rib eye area, hot
carcass weight and intramuscular fat. Member’s perceived barriers to
implementing more TPR performance measures resulted in that none of the
previously determined barriers ranked as an agreed barrier to implementation,
which identifies there is use in the promoting and management of the
association. Research has indicated that consumers are increasingly interested
in branded products that offer product attributes aligned with their demand
preferences (Howard and Allen 2006, Velasquez, Eastman, and Masiunas 2005,
Patterson et al. 1999, Adelaja, Brumfield, and Lininger 1990). As these
consumer preferences increase, the associated commodity groups also create
stronger alliances that assist their producers in building stronger genetics,
improved supply chain control and marketability. Commodity associations have
long attempted to support their associated industries in a variety of manners.
This business association sometimes acts as an individual business with a focus
to gain profits and reduce risk. According to Pascale et al. (2000), firms must
be proactive in managing uncertainty to create long-term value because
uncertainty has upside potential as well as a downside exposure.
Corporate Governance in
Croatian Banks
Dr. Marijana Ivanov, University
of Zagreb, Croatia
Ante Roncevic, Croatian
Radio-television, Zagreb, Croatia
Dr. Jurica Simurina, University
of Zagreb, Croatia
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to
analyses the quality of corporate governance in Croatian banking industry given
the requirements and standards known as OECD Principles of Corporate Governance,
but also given the recent failure of banks in Croatia. The paper provides an
assessment of fulfillment of normative frame of corporate governance in terms of
creating the legal and institutional regulatory framework as well as the degree
of objectives given the best practices available. It also provides an evaluation
of the banks in Croatia in terms of meeting the set of standards and best
practices in corporate governance. We found that although formally most
requirements are met, performance by mostly small and state owned banks in
Croatia given their corporate governance may be considered flawed. The
corporate governance can be defined as a system by which companies are directed
and controlled including the relationships among management, the board of
directors, shareholders, and other stakeholders in a company. These
relationships provide a framework within which corporate objectives are set and
performance is monitored (Monks and Minow, 2011). Depending on the context in
which they are presented or used, it is possible to identify (1) internal and
(2) external mechanisms of corporate governance (Tipurić et al, 2008). The main
internal mechanisms of corporate governance are: board of directors (or dual
model with separated supervisory board and management board), executive
compensation, ownership concentration, stakeholder relations and disclosure.
External mechanisms includes: the market for corporate control, legal and
regulatory framework including activities of supervisory authorities, protection
of minority shareholders and competitive conditions.
Effects of Demographic
Variables on Organizational Commitment Among Employess’
Dr. Razali Mat Zin, King Fahd
University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia
ABSTRACT
This empirical study examined
the relationships between three dimensions of organization commitment and three
selected personal characteristics (age, education level and salary), The model
tested in this research is based on the pioneering work of Meyer and Allen in
1997. The survey instruments were administered to one hundred and fifty
engineers who are Saudi nationals working full-time in Saudi Aramco. The results
support Meyer and Allen's argument that employees with less education are likely
to have fewer job alternatives, and therefore, are more likely to be committed.
Also, employees with higher salaries were more committed than employees with
lower salaries. This study can provide superiors and subordinates with a better
understanding of how to successfully operate in this modern era of business
environment. One of the main concerns for many companies today is staff
retention. Employees leaving their organizations or intending to leave their
organizations are costing these organizations substantially. Because of this
adverse effect on organizations, employees' commitment to their organizations
and intentions to leave are two important predictors of the turnover of
employees. Saudi Arabia is witnessing an unprecedented unemployment phenomenon.
One main reasons for such a gloomy situation is that the education system and
the labor market are poorly aligned (Moussa, 2013). The curriculum content is
largely controlled by a religion-based authority whose members are not equipped
with the skills to judge the requirements of the market demand. In addition,
many Saudi nationals are not prepared or motivated to meet the requirements of
the private sector. Furthermore, current policies do not address concerns of
employers as the needs to hire nationals differ from one industry to another
(Fakeeh, 2009). Companies survive and prosper when they succeed in retaining
and maintaining their skilled employees. Employee loyalty inevitably becomes a
crucial item for companies to remain at and maintain a competitive advantage.
Possible Approach to the
Implementation of IFRS for SMEs over the World
Dr. Veronika Blaskova, Mendel
University, Brno, Czech Republic
Dr. Hana Bohusova, Mendel University, Brno, Czech Republic
ABSTRACT
Small and medium sized companies
(SMEs) have an important position in the economy, mainly in the area of
employment. They represent a heterogeneous group, possessing different size,
sector, or location. Due to the growing significance of SMEs over the world, the
harmonization of financial reporting of SMEs seems to be necessary.
There was developed
a special standard for SMEs (IFRS for SMEs) which could meet the financial
reporting needs of these entities.
There are approximately 80 countries over the world which have already adopted
or planning to adopt the IFRS for SMEs. The adoption of the IFRS for SMEs is
voluntary; however, it is expected that the standard will gradually become
world-wide accepted. The aim of the paper is a predictive model concerning the
potential adoption of the IFRS for SME development. The model development is
based on evaluation of the current approach to the IFRS for SME adoption and
implementation over the world. The model construction is based on indicators
describing individual countries which have already adopted the IFRS for SMEs.
The
statistical methods are used for the comparison of countries which have already
adopted the IFRS for SMEs with those which have not adopted it yet. The level of
economic development and other characteristics are used for comparison. The
t-test reveals whether the values of the indicators differ in case of countries,
which have already adopted the IFRS for SMEs and countries, which do not intend
to adopt it. Small and
medium sized companies (SMEs) have an important position in the economy, mainly
in the area of employment despite the fact that until
the mid of 20th century most researchers considered SMEs as an impediment to
further economic development and SME. Due
to the growing significance of SMEs over the world, the harmonization of
financial reporting of SMEs seems to be necessary. This is the reason why the
International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) took part in the project IFRS
for SMEs development. The publishing of final version of IFRS for SMEs in July
2009 was the final result of this project.
The main aim of a
special standard for SMEs (IFRS for SMEs) is to meet the financial reporting
needs of entities that do not have public accountability and publish general
purpose financial statements for external users. This standard could be a
suitable instrument for a SMEs financial reporting harmonization.
Data Mining Application in
Forecasting the Demand for Oil in Saudi Arabia
Dr. Mohammed A. Al-Sahlawi,
Professor of Energy Economics,
King Fahd University of
Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
ABSTRACT
Saudi Arabia possess almost
one-fifth of the world’s proven oil reserves, it is the largest producer and
exporter of oil in the world, and maintains the world’s largest oil production.
Saudi Arabia was the world’s leading producer and exporter of total petroleum
liquids in 2012. Its economy remains heavily dependent on oil where petroleum
exports accounted for almost 90 percent of total export revenues in 2011.
However, Saudi Arabia is the major consumer of oil and oil products in the
Middle East, particularly in the area of transportation and power generation.
Domestic consumption growth has been spurred by the economic boom as a result of
historically high oil prices and large fuel subsidies. Saudi Arabia ranked the
world’s 13th largest consumer of total primary energy in 2009, of which about 60
percent was petroleum-based. Given these facts, the Saudi demand for oil became
an important issue. This paper is focusing on forecasting the demand for oil in
Saudi Arabia using data mining method. Since first oil crisis of 1973, energy
demand and supply received the highest attention of academics as well as policy
makers. Energy modeling in general and modeling energy demand in particular
became a very essential task for planning and management purposes.
Bhattacharyya and Timilsina (2009) provides a recent survey of energy demand
models. Most of the studies surveyed concentrate on estimating demand
elasticities for different types of energy mainly oil and oil products in
developed countries. However, Alsahlawi (1988) studies the demand for energy in
the GCC countries. An early attempt of estimating and forecasting the demand
for oil and oil products in Saudi Arabia is Alsahalwi (1997). Moreover,
econometric analysis is the general feature of most energy demand studies.
However, variation in energy modeling and differences in energy demand models
are attributed to many factors such as energy types, various economic sectors,
data availability, estimation periods, and economic development level of the
countries. One important outcome of energy modeling is forecasting the demand
for energy.
The Mediating effect of
Customer Involvement and Brand Image on e-CRM Implementation and
Brand adaption:
An Empirical Study in Franchising System
Dr. Mohammad A. Al-Motairi, King
Saud University, Riyadh Saudi Arabia
Soad A. Al-Meshal, King Saud University, Riyadh Saudi Arabia
ABSTRACT
This study investigated
different relationship paths between e-CRM implementation and brand adoption in
franchising systems. More than that, this study explored the mediating effects
of two mediating variables namely, customer involvement and brand image on the
e-CRM implementation and brand adoption relationship. Participants were 200 male
and female franchising consumers from different positions, social classes and
ages. The findings of this study showed positive and significant relationships
that contributed to the academic and practitioner perspectives. Findings,
implications, limitations and future studies were provided. Due to the
importance of CRM as part of the revolutionary impact of technology, an
integration of web channels enhances businesses to interact more with the
consumers (Feinberg & Kadam, 2002). Therefore, e-CRM has greater promise for the
businesses as a solution brought into the businesses (Bentum & Stone, 2005; Q.
Chen & Chen, 2004; Jang, Hu et al., 2006; Lin & Huang, 2007). Accordingly,
franchising as a contractual choice for business expansion is mainly based on
relationships between companies and customers (Kavaliausk & Vaiginiené, 2011).
The major goal for franchising companies is to increase the level of adoption
for their brands. This will directly affect the profit level and customer
satisfaction. However, taking into consideration the e-CRM implementation as a
strategic tool, two main constructs could have an essential role in brand
adoption level: customer involvement and brand image. Therefore, this study
investigates the mediating effect of these two constructs on e-CRM
implementation and brand adoption in franchising systems. The aim of this study
is to identify the mediation effects of customer involvement and brand image on
the relationship between the independent variable e-CRM implementation and brand
adoption, a dependent variable in franchising systems in the Saudi Arabian
context. The increasing emphasis on building committed customer relationships
is the core of any successful organization (Pennie et al., 2011).
Do Financial Constraints
Matter to Earnings Management?
Mei-Hsiu Tsai, National Taichung
University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan
ABSTRACT
This paper aims to initially
take one step advance to discuss the effect of financial constraints on earnings
management, rather than to survey the effect of financial distress on earnings
management. This study explores the earnings management of financial constraint
and non-financial constraint firms in Taiwan, and finds that financially
constrained firms significantly affect corporate earnings’ manipulative
behavior, especially abnormal accruals, while non-operational incomes are not
notably utilized by financially constrained firms. We find that external
auditors will lean on financially distressed firms to employ conservative
accounting policy, with the purpose of reducing audit risk. Similar with the
financially distressed company, the financially constrained company also has
this kind of phenomenon. The continuing series of business scandals, from Enron
to WorldCom,
reveal evidence that
financially distressed firms manipulate earnings to conceal the truth of their
encountering financial crisis, only to be eventually discovered and lead to a
major world stock market crash, as well as fear by
investors and the public. Furthermore, prior literature stresses how
pre-bankruptcy firms have motivation for earnings management to cover any
financial distress they face (Lin et al., 1997; DeAngelo et al., 1994). Baum et
al. (2011) test how the financial system’s structure and level of development
influence their financial constraints. Chen and Wang (2012) examine how the
financial constraints of repurchasing firms affect their post-buyback
performance. Behr et al. (2013) investigate whether and how financial
constraints of private firms depend upon bank lending behavior. Until now, to
the author’s knowledge, little research studies whether the financial constraint
influence earnings management of firms. Except financial distress, furthermore,
the covenant hypothesis of positive accounting theory predicts managers from
firms approaching debt covenant violation incline to inflate book earning in
attempt to loosen the possibility of debt covenant violation. By using a sample
of 94 firms that reported covenant violations in annual reports, DeFond and
Jiambalvo (1994) test this hypothesis by examining the abnormal total and
working capital accruals. Time-series and cross-sectional models are used to
estimate normal accruals. Over the year prior to violation, both models indicate
that abnormal total and working capital accruals are significantly positive.
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