bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Beta risk estimation of companies listed on the Ghana stock exchange
Authors: Newlove Asamoah Gordon , Quartey‐Papafio Anthony
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the Beta Risk Coefficient of 32 listed companies (shares), which are included in the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE All Share Index).

Design/methodology/approach

This research investigated some of the issues that can affect beta estimates (the measurement of returns, the choice of market index used, the length of estimation period, the sampling interval, the issue of normality, autocorrelation, the effect of thin trading, seasonality and stability) by using 32 listed companies. The methodology used was the Market model and some of the beta estimation techniques used included Scholes‐Williams' beta, Dimson's beta, and Fowler‐Rorke's beta.

Findings

The empirical results generally confirm the evidence by various researchers in the literature reviewed. However, the tests for the effect of thin trading and the effect of seasonality reject the null hypothesis (Ho: βMonday=βTuesday=βWednesday=βThursday=βFriday).

Originality/value

The study has about 95 per cent originality since the authors went into the field to gather all the data needed and did all the analysis.
The determinants of capital structure of Palestine‐listed companies
Authors: Abu Mouamer Faris M.
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between capital structure and debt lifetime among listed companies in Palestine stock market.

Design/methodology/approach

This study investigates firms that have been listed on the Palestine securities exchange (PSE) over a five‐year period (2000‐2004). In total, 28 companies were listed in PSE since 1999. Only 15 firms working in different economic sectors qualified to be included in the study sample according to the availability and continuity of published financial statements during the period of 2000‐2004. Variables used for the analysis include profitability, leverage ratios (total debt (TD), short‐term debt (STD) and long‐term debt (LTD)), liquidity (LQ), age, asset structure, and firm size and sales growth are also included as control variables. The panel character of the data allows for the use of panel data methodology. Panel data involves the pooling of observations on a cross‐section of units over several times.

Findings

The study has shown that the service companies have the highest TD ratio (53.69 percent), followed by industrial companies (50.86 percent), trade companies (34.11 percent) and agriculture companies (24.02 percent). The one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) shows no significant difference in the use of debt, neither total, LTD or STD among companies in the four sectors. Adding to that, ANOVA indicates insignificant differences among the companies in the sample with respect growth opportunities, size, age, tangibility (TAN), and LQ. The correlation analysis has shown that TD is positively and significantly related to TAN, on the country, no significant relationship between the long debt and STD on the one hand and age, growth, LQ, TAN, and size on the other hand.

Originality/value

This paper is the first that employs a new database containing the market and accounting data (from 2000 to 2004). This study will contribute in examining the relationship between capital structure and debt lifetime among listed companies in the Palestine stock market.
Electronic trading agreements
Authors: Alter Beth , Goodwyn Lauri
Published: May 2011

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze various issues a hedge fund manager should consider prior to executing any electronic trading agreement with a prime broker.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper discusses how hedge fund managers use electronic trading platforms and prime brokerage services; recommends considerations for hedge fund managers to keep in mind when negotiating electronic trading agreements, including scope of the license grant for the electronic trading platform, warranties, indemnification and limitation of liability, security, confidentiality, maintenance, customization and termination.

Findings

Prior to signing any electronic trading agreement, a hedge fund manager should assess a fund's requirements and conduct due diligence to confirm that the applicable prime broker can meet such needs. Since many electronic trading agreements impose various obligations on a hedge fund manager, prevent him/her from conducting business as expected or required and significantly limit the prime broker's liability, counsel should review such contracts prior to execution.

Practical implications

Hedge fund managers should analyze whether the applicable electronic trading services can meet their needs and also consult with counsel to understand the full legal implications of the electronic trading documentation.

Originality/value

This paper is intended to educate existing as well as new managers of hedge funds about the business and legal implications of electronic trading agreements. The authors are experienced attorneys who routinely negotiate electronic trading agreements with prime brokers.
Commodities tax compliance challenges: Dodd‐Frank and beyond
Authors: Lorence Roger D.
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the continuing diligence required of the tax compliance function of any investment vehicle that holds commodities contracts. In addition to monitoring Congressional developments that are likely to pick up where 2010's Dodd‐Frank Act left off, with the globalization of commodities trading, contracts traded on foreign exchanges are being added to the list of “Section 1256” contracts, which have special beneficial tax treatment under current law.

Design/methodology/approach

This technical paper describes new technical rules applicable to the tax returns for taxpayers who trade in commodities contracts, as well as the need to be alert to future developments, whose likely parameters are provided.

Findings

After a period of low levels of new developments, commodities taxation has come to the fore in Washington and an increasing tempo of developments is expected.

Originality/value

This paper provides timely guidance from an expert on tax issues relating to tax planning and tax return preparation from commodities traders.
PWG issues report on money market fund reform options
Authors: Bier Stephen H. , Bogle Thomas C. , Murphy Jack W. , Babikian Kevin K. , Murphy Sean R.
Published: May 2011

Purpose

This paper seeks to explain the possible options detailed in the “Money Market Reform Options” report released by the President's Working Group on Financial Markets on October 21, 2010 for consideration by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper discusses reform options in the areas of: floating net asset values, privately sponsored emergency liquidity vehicles, mandatory redemptions in kind, insurance for money market funds (MMFs), a two‐tier system providing enhanced protections for stable net asset value (“NAV”) MMFs, a two‐tier system reserving stable NAV MMFs solely for institutional investors, regulating stable NAV MMFs as special purpose banks, and enhancing constraints on unregulated MMF substitutes.

Findings

The Report concludes that more should be done to address systemic risks presented by MMFs and the structural vulnerabilities of MMFs to runs, and discusses various reform options for the FSOC to consider, but does not recommend any particular reform.

Originality/value

The paper provides expert advice from experienced financial services lawyers.
SEC issues guidance to boards reviewing certain affiliated transactions
Authors: Ambler Diane E. , Greer Mark R.
Published: May 2011

Purpose

This paper seeks to explain recently published guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission clarifying the responsibilities of mutual fund directors when they make the determinations required by Rule 10f‐3 (permitting a fund to purchase securities from an affiliated syndicate), Rule 17a‐7 (permitting a fund to engage in certain cross‐trading) and Rule 17e‐1 (permitting a fund to use an affiliated broker).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explains guidance that was delivered in the form of a letter to the Independent Directors Council and the Mutual Fund Directors Forum.

Findings

Among other things, the Rules require that the board of a fund that relies on the Rules should undertake quarterly reviews and make certain determinations related to the potential conflicts of interest present. The guidance explains various ways in which a fund board may meet its responsibilities under the Rules, including review of each transaction, compliance officer summaries, and information from other experts. The guidance emphasizes fund boards' ultimate responsibility for making quarterly determinations required by the rules and the importance of meaningful dialogue in boards' evaluation of affiliated transactions.

Originality/value

The paper provides practical guidance from experienced securities lawyers.
SEC approves sweeping changes to FINRA's regulatory reporting rules
Authors: Weiss Harry J. , Lee Yoon‐Young , Newman Bruce H. , Eckert Paul R. , Hanselmann Claire R.
Published: May 2011

Purpose

This paper seeks to explain Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) Rule 4530, which requires members to report to FINRA certain internal and external findings of violative conduct and quarterly statistical and summary customer complaint information.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explains the background and provides an overview of FINRA Rule 4530; analyzes key provisions of the Rule, including the way it differs from legacy NASD and New York Stock Exchange Reporting Rules; and discusses next steps for FINRA members.

Findings

FINRA Rule 4530 requires members to promptly report findings of internal and external violations and provides interpretive guidance regarding these requirements. The new Rule imposes obligations beyond those set forth in current NASD Rule 3070, requires reporting of internal findings, and alters the now familiar materiality standard applied to NYSE Rule 351(a).

Practical implications

The new Rule will require members to enhance their policies and procedures to address the reporting of internal findings to define potentially reportable violations, identify decision‐makers to assess potential violations, create or modify reporting escalation procedures, and institute appropriate controls over reporting. Members may want to review their internal audit processes to reflect the new guidance regarding reporting based on internal findings of violations.

Originality/value

The paper provides practical guidance from expert securities lawyers.
Summary of selected FINRA Regulatory Notices October‐December 2010
Authors: Davis Henry A.
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this summary is to provide excerpts of selected Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Regulatory Notices and Disciplinary Actions issued in October, November, and December 2010.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides excerpts from FINRA Regulatory Notice 10‐45, Margin and Extension of Time Requests; 10‐51, Commodity Futures‐Linked Securities; 10‐57, Funding and Liquidity Risk Management Practices; and 10‐61, Independent Verification of Assets.

Findings

Regulatory Notice 10‐45: FINRA Rule 4210 rule promulgates the margin requirements that determine the amount of collateral customers are expected to maintain in their margin accounts, including strategy‐based margin accounts and portfolio margin accounts; FINRA Rule 4220 sets forth the requirements for daily recordkeeping of initial and maintenance margin calls that are issued pursuant to Regulation T and the margin rules. Notice10‐51: Firms that offer commodity futures‐linked securities are reminded that they must ensure that communications with the public about these securities are fair and balanced, that recommendations to customers are suitable, and that their registered representatives adequately understand and are able to inform their customers about these securities before they recommend them. Notice 10‐57: FINRA expects broker‐dealers to develop and maintain robust funding and liquidity risk management practices to prepare for adverse circumstances. Notice 61: The SEC has approved and FINRA has adopted new FINRA Rule 4160 to strengthen its ability to independently verify assets maintained by a member at a non‐member financial institution.

Originality/value

These are direct excerpts designed to provide a useful digest for the reader and an indication of regulatory trends. The FINRA staff is aware of this summary but has neither reviewed nor edited it. For further detail as well as other useful information, the reader should visit www.finra.org
Core competencies of the new industrial organization
Authors: Simon Nobre Farley
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The contributions proposed in this paper are motivated by principles of incompatibility, and non‐equilibrium states, existing between the continuous growth in the level of environmental complexity and the insufficient cognitive capacity of the organization. From such a view, the purpose of this paper is to ask: what are the core competencies of the new industrial organization in the twenty‐first century?

Design/methodology/approach

First, the paper examines the characteristics and limitations of past and current industrial organizations; second, it contributes by extending their frontiers and by proposing technological, managerial and organizational core competencies of the new enterprise.

Findings

From such analyses, this paper introduces the features of customer‐centric systems (CCS) which represent new industrial organizations in the pursuit of high degrees of organizational cognition, intelligence and autonomy, and consequently, high degrees of agility and flexibility, in order to manage high levels of environmental complexity and uncertainty, to operate through intensive mass customization, and to provide customers with immersiveness.

Research limitations/implications

For further research, this paper suggests the investigation of practical implementation of the features of the new enterprise of CCS. In such a direction, it recommends additional reading on the concept and design of computational organizational management networks.

Practical implications

This paper emphasizes that CCS are firm types which strategically organize their resources and competencies around customers' values and needs, in order to involve customers into their business. By involving customers into their task environments and business, CCS‐based firms have the chance to understand their clients' real needs and to produce the appropriate goods and services.

Originality/value

The uniqueness of this paper lies in its attempt to master, analyze and integrate technological, managerial and organizational perspectives of past and current manufacturing organizations, which contribute to illuminate features and to identify core competencies of future industrial firms, which are in the pursuit of innovation and sustainable competitive advantage in the twenty‐first century.
Design of lean manufacturing systems using value stream mapping with simulation
Authors: Gurumurthy Anand , Kodali Rambabu
Published: May 2011

Purpose

Generally, the implementation of lean manufacturing (LM) starts with the development of value stream maps. However, it has been found that value stream mapping (VSM) suffers from various shortcomings. Hence, researchers have suggested the use of simulation along with VSM. The purpose of this paper is to present an application of VSM with simulation during the design of lean manufacturing systems (LMS) using a case study of an organisation following a job shop production system to manufacture doors and windows.

Design/methodology/approach

Simulation models were developed using QUeuing Event Simulation Tool for the case organisation to demonstrate how the case organisation will be changed after implementing various LM elements, apart from analysing the impact of implementing these LM elements on the organisation's performance.

Findings

Simulation studies were carried out for different scenarios such as “before LM” (current state VSM) and “after LM” (future state VSM). It was found that the case organisation can achieve significant improvement in performance and can meet the increasing demand without any additional resources.

Practical implications

It is believed that this paper will enable practitioners to appreciate the role of simulation in helping them understand how the operations department of the case organisation will be transformed during the design of LMS.

Originality/value

According to the authors' knowledge, no case study exists in the literature that discusses the application of VSM with simulation in an organisation that manufactures doors and windows using a job shop production system. Furthermore, the paper simulates the impact of those LM elements which were not considered by other researchers on the performance measure of the case organisation.
The enterprise system as a part of an organization's administrative paradox
Authors: Melin Ulf
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The main purpose of this paper is to discuss whether an enterprise system (ES) is a part of an organization's administrative paradox. The paper aims to question which role the ES has in organizing, focusing aspects of flexibility and stability.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a qualitative, longitudinal, case study of how an ES maintains, and even reinforces, existing administrative organizational structures. The theoretical lens used is mainly structuration theory.

Findings

An ES can take the part of an organization's administrative paradox. An administrative paradox is two sides of the same coin when coordinating organizations – the concurrent striving for flexibility and stability. The studied ES even centralizes control, creates norms, and enhances power for actors in positions of authority (top management). Because of its structure and configuration the ES is a powerful tool to coordinate. The ES is considered to be organizationally ungainly, but at the same time indispensable.

Practical implications

The paper provides valuable insights on how the studied organizations try to deal with standardization/stability and flexibility that can be valuable for other system users or implementers to learn from, as well as the analysis as a whole.

Originality/value

The paper combines structuration theory and theories covering the administrative paradox and aspects of coordination in order to analyze and discuss the implementation and use of an ES.
Railroad productivity analysis: case of the American Class I railroads
Authors: Shi Feli X. , Hoon Lim Siew , Chi Junwook
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an economic assessment of the productivity growth and technical efficiency of US Class I railroads for the period of 2002‐2007.

Design/methodology/approach

The US railroad industry has become increasingly concentrated with seven Class I railroads accounting for over 90 percent of the industry's revenue. Because the small sample size creates a dimensionality problem for data envelopment analysis (DEA) with contemporaneous frontiers, the authors use sequential DEA and calculate the Malmquist productivity indexes using sequential frontiers. Through a decomposition process, changes in productivity are attributed to technical efficiency change, technical change, and scale efficiency change.

Findings

Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) led the industry in terms of productivity growth (4.6 percent) and consistently stayed on the production frontier in every period studied; both BNSF and Union Pacific (UP) are top innovators in the industry, but UP trailed BNSF in both productivity growth and technological innovations by wide margins; and Grand Trunk Corporation was very good at “catching up” or leading its peers in efficiency improvements.

Research limitations/implications

Railroads have invested heavily in technology over the years to enhance efficiency and productivity. However, two recent economic studies find that railroad productivity has slowed in recent years. The authors' benchmarking analysis sheds light on how individual railroads performed relative to their peers, and what they could learn from industry best practice.

Originality/value

The benchmarking study enables the authors to report each railroad's performance instead of reporting industry‐wide aggregate indexes or industry averages which tend to mask performance variations. The paper also examines the causal factors of recent productivity growth and provides useful information for the industry and its regulators.
Performance and risk management in strategic cooperation
Authors: Ehrengren Lars , Hörnsten Bengt
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate if business practices for performance through risk control methods can be applied by defence forces in peace missions called for by the United Nations (UN) in order to improve the efficiency of such missions.

Design/methodology/approach

Extensive studies of existing theories on business cooperation risk control were performed as well as studies of the organizational and legal structures for Swedish participation in international military missions. These studies were followed by interviews with politicians and military officers of high ranks regarding cooperation in such missions and the interviews were analyzed with respect to the theoretical methods and their validity for the military sector.

Findings

The authors' conclusion is that an adoption of some of the existing business risk control management methods could improve the efficiency of military risk management. The first step in such organizational knowledge transfer is to improve the form for and the formulation of more stringent objectives for the military mission.

Originality/value

The study indicates how the performance of international peace missions can be improved by application of risk control methods from the business sector.
Workplace innovation for better jobs and performance
Authors: Pot Frank
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the need for workplace innovation policies and practices in Europe and evaluate programs that already have been developed.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes the concept of workplace innovation and trends in society explaining its emergence. The paper then presents and discusses the results of evaluation research as far as this is available.

Findings

A growing number of countries is conducting or developing some kind of programme on workplace innovation. These programmes differ in size and governance. Evaluation research shows that simultaneous improvement of performance and quality of working life is possible under certain conditions such as the participation of employees in change projects.

Research limitations/implications

Concepts and designs of evaluation research projects differ considerably. This gives new challenges for companies, trade unions, governments and researchers. In EU2020, little attention is paid to workplace innovation but there is a ray of hope in the draft integrated guidelines for employment policies and in the Flagship Initiative Innovation Union.

Originality/value

Social innovation in the workplace, or workplace innovation, is a new concept, covering to some extent new practices that appear to be relevant for organisations and governments.
The impact of ICT use on new millennium learners' educational performance
Authors: Kang Myunghee , Heo Heeok , Kim Minjeong
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) use on the educational performance of new millennium learners (NMLs). Even though many factors might influence individual performance besides ICT use itself, the research focus was on the relationship between the behavioral patterns of ICT use and educational performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A nation‐wide survey with 1,071 tenth graders considered as NMLs was conducted in Korea. The behavioral patterns of the learners' ICT use were identified in three dimensions of place, purpose and context, and the educational performance was measured in cognitive, affective and socio‐cultural domains.

Findings

Based on correlation and regression analyses, the better use of ICT for NMLs and the directions for the future study related to ICT use and educational performance were suggested.

Research limitations/implications

Major contribution of this study is to divide ICT use into place, purpose and context of using ICT and to investigate their relationships with educational performance refined with cognitive, affective and socio‐cultural domains. Limitations of the study are coined with the samples and self‐report survey tools. Continuing effort to validate the tools and various samples is needed.

Practical implications

Policy makers could use the results of the study to implement the ICT diffusion and adaption process.

Originality/value

There is no such questionnaires related to ICT use and educational performance in Korea, as well as in other nations. More cross‐cultural studies would be a great help in the field of education.
TrAVis to enhance online tutoring and learning activities
Authors: May Madeth , George Sébastien , Prévôt Patrick
Published: May 2011

Purpose

This paper presents a part of our research work that places an emphasis on Tracking Data Analysis and Visualization (TrAVis) tools, a web‐based system, designed to enhance online tutoring and learning activities, supported by computer‐mediated communication (CMC) tools. TrAVis is particularly dedicated to assist both tutors and students in the task of exploiting tracking data of communication activities throughout the learning process. This paper focuses on the technical aspects of TrAVis, the visualization of students' tracking data and the experiment we have conducted in an authentic learning situation.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixture of iterative and participative approaches has been adopted for the design of TrAVis. Different versions of TrAVis were built during the progress of our research. The major changes in each build have particularly involved the conceptual design of data indicators of students' activities and the visualization techniques of the data indicators. Both case studies and experiments have been made to evaluate TrAVis.

Findings

This paper demonstrates how TrAVis provides a new experience in visualizing and analyzing students' tracking data. While it shows the originality and novelty of the system, it also reveals the potential benefits of TrAVis to both tutors and students in their online tutoring and learning activities.

Research limitations/implications

The result from the experiment is not sufficient to evaluate some specific aspects of TrAVis. As a matter of fact, the lack of user's feedback did not enable us to justify whether or not the proposed data indicators would be actually used by the users.

Practical implications

The data indicators shown in this paper are computed based on the real needs of the participants in the learning process. Online questionnaires were used and face‐to‐face interviews have been made to study the needs of the users throughout this research work.

Originality/value

One of the particularities of this research is the proposed system, TrAVis, objectively designed to better support the tutors in the tasks of monitoring and evaluating students on CMC tools. Plus, TrAVis is distinguished from the existing systems by its capacity in computing substantial data indicators, allowing the tutors to efficiently visualize and analyze both the process and the product of students' activities.
Capitalism and transparency
Authors: Murphy Jonathan
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the international NGO Transparency International's (TI) role in combating corruption, focusing particularly on TI's response to the global financial crisis of 2008.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a review of scholarly articles, newspaper reports, and TI publications.

Findings

The paper concludes that TI's uncritical approach to the functioning of international capitalism limits its ability to understand and challenge the systemic causes of corruption. Further, TI's attention to the manifestations rather than causes of corruption leads it to unfairly identify corruption as a failing of the global South rather than an inherent feature of international capitalism.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrates how TI's failure to address the widespread unethical conduct which was at the root of the global financial crisis derives from the organization's partial, legalistic and superficial definition of corruption.
Of legitimate and illegitimate corruption
Authors: Luis Rocha Jose , Brown Ed , Cloke Jonathan
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The concept of corruption is frequently represented as relating to social practices that violate established rules and norms. This paper, however, seeks to demonstrate that corrupt practices are often only possible because they in fact draw on existing institutional mechanisms and cultural dispositions that grant them a certain social approval and legitimacy. The paper aims to explore these issues through a detailed exploration of corruption in Nicaragua, which outlines how competing élite groups have been able to use different discourses to appropriate resources from the state in quite different ways, reflecting the use of contrasting mechanisms for justifying and legitimizing corruption.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper focuses on two key periods of recent Nicaraguan political history: that which occurred during the administration of ex‐President Arnoldo Alemán and the events that unfurled in the aftermath of a chain of bank bankruptcies that occurred in Nicaragua during 2001. These events are explored in the context of David Harvey's ideas of “accumulation by dispossession.”

Findings

In contrast with more classic practices of corruption in Nicaragua that have openly violated existing formal rules and norms but appealed to an ethos of redistribution and a historically‐specific concept of “the public” in order to imbue their actions with legitimacy, the corrupt practices related to recent banking bankruptcies engaged in an extensive instrumentalization of formal state institutions in order to protect élite parochial interests and to achieve “accumulation by dispossession” through appealing to the legitimating support granted by multilateral financial institutions.

Originality/value

The paper illustrates sharply the inadvisability of perspectives that narrowly define corruption in legalistic terms. Such perspectives focus exclusively on the state as the location of corruption, whereas clearly, in Nicaragua as elsewhere, corruption is a far more complicated phenomenon which crosses the artificial boundaries between private and public sectors. It also evolves and takes a myriad different forms which are intimately connected with the ongoing struggles for control of accumulation processes, suggesting a much more integral role for corruption within accumulation strategies than often allowed for in both orthodox economic and Marxist literatures on capital accumulation.
The looting continues: tax havens and corruption
Authors: Christensen John
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider the activities of tax havens in the global financial markets and explore their role in providing a supply‐side stimulant for corrupt practices. It aims to argue that the corruption debate needs to shift to a second phase in which the role of tax havens as supply‐side stimulants features more prominently.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the author's original research into the practices and activities of tax havens, the paper explores the operational features of tax havens, with particular focus on their role in providing opaque and complex offshore structures through which illicit financial flows can be routed to disguise their origins, method of transfer and true beneficial ownership. The paper explores how bankers, lawyers and accountants create complex and opaque offshore structures to facilitate economic crime and impede investigation.

Findings

Despite severe limitations imposed by the absence of rigorously researched statistical data on capital flows into and out of tax havens, the paper argues that the available data support the view that tax havens have become prominent features of the globalised capital markets, and their activities create a criminogenic environment in which illicit financial flows are easily disguised and hidden amongst legitimate commercial transactions. The paper notes that effective remedies are available to reduce financial market opacity, but political will is lacking to take effective action.

Originality/value

This paper tackles a new and under‐researched subject. Drawing on the author's experiences of working on a prominent tax haven for a total of 14 years, the paper brings attention to the impact of tax havens on international development.
A snapshot of key information systems (IS) issues in Estonian organizations for the 2000s
Authors: Ifinedo Princely , Ifinedo Airi
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight key information system (IS) issues in Estonian organizations for the mid‐2000s. This research is a follow‐up to an initial effort in the country in 1993, in which a similar theme was investigated. The primary objective of this present study was to compare and contrast the findings in the previous study with the present effort.

Design/methodology/approach

The Delphi method was used. Viewpoints of both information technology (IT) professionals and non‐IT professionals (business managers) in the country were sought across two rounds of the Delphi method.

Findings

The findings suggest the following: the past decade has produced salient changes in the ranking of key IS issues for Estonia; it appears that there is a convergence of opinions on key IS issues in both the Estonian public and private sectors; and there are significant differences in key IS issues across professional groupings (IT and non‐IT).

Research limitations/implications

The ranking of issues as opposed to rating issues was used in the data analysis. Ranking items is more challenging to participants and might be a limiting factor. The sample size of this study is small and perhaps a larger sample would yield better insights.

Practical implications

Those in charge of IT resources in Estonian organizations, as well as policy makers in the country, may benefit from the information provided herein. Such insights may facilitate better understanding of current key IS issues in the country.

Originality/value

This research offers a snapshot of key IS issues in Estonian organizations for the mid‐2000s. More importantly, this work complements a prior study on the same topic that was conducted in the country in the 1990s.
Organisational innovativeness in Estonian biotechnology organisations
Authors: Jaakson Krista , Tamm Dorel , Hämmal Gerli
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The biotechnology sector provides business‐to‐business service and continuous innovation is an imperative for biotechnology organisations in order to survive. The aim of this paper is to outline the elements in Estonian biotechnology organisations that inhibit them from becoming more innovative, and based on that, suggest how managers can increase their organisational innovativeness (OI).

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on single‐respondent structured interviews that were carried out in 15 biotechnology organisations in Estonia. The questions were divided into five categories: strategic orientation to innovation, processes related to resource allocation, processes related to work organisation, behaviour related to innovation initiation and behaviour related to innovation implementation. For each category OI the score was calculated and analysed.

Findings

The study hypothesised that OI is about half of its potential and the lowest scores were expected to emerge in the resource allocation to innovation and processes related to work organisation categories. The authors found that OI was higher than expected among the study sample and the only resource allocation score was significantly lower than the scores of other categories. Surprisingly, the score of strategic orientation to innovation was the next lowest after resource allocation.

Practical implications

The results imply that Estonian biotechnology organisations could increase their innovativeness by better integrating innovation into their formal strategy and rewarding employees for innovative ideas. Also, specific aspects in other categories are elevated (rotating employees across functions/regions, introducing development discussions, etc.) that would enhance OI.

Originality/value

The originality of the paper lies in its profound overview of recent literature on OI, and the development of an interview questionnaire that covers a range of relevant issues assumed to support innovation.
A construct of META‐RELQUAL: measurement model and theory testing
Authors: Svensson Göran , Mysen Tore
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test a measurement model of a META‐RELQUAL construct.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based upon a survey and random sample of small‐ and medium‐sized companies in Norway. Respondents were contacted by phone and a total of 581 surveys were mailed. In total, 212 surveys were returned generating a response rate of 36.5 percent.

Findings

The goodness‐of‐fit measures of the tested measurement model of the META‐RELQUAL construct were all found to be within the recommended guidelines. The recommended guidelines for convergent, discriminant and nomological validity, as well as construct reliability, were all met. It is concluded that the measurement properties of the META‐RELQUAL construct applied in Norwegian manufacturer‐supplier relationships indicate acceptable validity and reliability.

Research limitations/implications

The tested META‐RELQUAL construct appears to be accurate for those Norwegian business relationships studied, but only further testing in other companies will verify its universal application if it is to be seen as a valid and reliable measurement for other companies' business relationships too. Suggestions for further research are provided.

Practical implications

This study is of managerial interest to executives since it provides a framework of constructs to be considered in corporate efforts in maintaining satisfactory levels of relationship quality in business relationships.

Originality/value

The META‐RELQUAL construct makes a contribution to theory since it outlines a higher order construct and measurement instrument for the benefit of other researchers and practitioners in the field.
CSR in an emerging country: a content analysis of CSR reports of listed companies
Authors: Gao Yongqiang
Published: May 2011

Purpose

Given the country‐specific characteristics of corporate social responsibility (CSR), there is an increasing interest in studying CSR in developing countries. Such studies play an important role in broadening people's knowledge of CSR under different economic, social and cultural conditions. The purpose of this paper is to examine the CSR reports (CSRRs) of listed companies in the largest emerging market, namely China.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a content analysis of 81 CSRRs (2007) of listed companies in domestic security markets of China (the Shanghai Security Exchanges and Shenzhen Security Exchange), the CSR features of Chinese companies are thoroughly evaluated.

Findings

The main findings of the study are as follows. Only 5.05 percent of listed companies published their CSRRs in China, and 4.42 percent of them issued a separate CSRR. Most companies (97.18 percent) use “CSRR” as the name of their stand‐alone CSRRs; 79 percent of companies hold a positive attitude to taking on social responsibilities, while no company holds a negative attitude. Various social issues and stakeholders of companies are addressed in CSRRs. In general, state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) have higher propensity to address most of social issues, which may reflect that SOEs are more politically sensitive than non‐SOEs because most of the social issues are just “political slogans” proposed by the Chinese Government in recent years. However, non‐SOEs have better performance than SOEs in addressing the interests of stakeholders. Meanwhile, industrial firms show higher propensity to address the interests of stakeholders than service firms.

Research limitations/implications

The results of this study indicate that CSR reporting practice is still at an early stage of development in China. Meanwhile, Chinese companies tend to follow the Chinese guidelines in issuing CSRRs rather than adopt international guidelines. In addition, Chinese companies are somewhat politically sensitive in addressing social issues. A major weakness of this study is that the sample only represents the best companies in assuming social responsibilities in China, thus some results cannot be generalized to all Chinese companies.

Originality/value

The paper helps people, especially Westerners, to comprehend CSR in China. To the author's knowledge, this paper is the first of its kind to examine CSR in China.
Institutional change at the frontlines
Authors: Bjerregaard Toke
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on how actors within, on the surface, similar organizations cope and work with imposed institutional changes.

Design methodology/approach

This research is based on an ethnographic field study addressing why, despite being exposed to the same institutional demands, organizational actors respond by developing diverging institutional orders of appropriate organizational conduct. This research examines how middle managers and frontline staff in two similar Danish social care organizations respond to demands to adopt a New Public Management (NPM)‐based logic of individualized service delivery.

Findings

The study shows how institutional diversity may underlie apparently similar organizational structures and responses. NPM‐style modernization efforts partly converged with diverse professional motives and rationales around, on the surface, similar organizational changes. The findings illustrate how differential institutional orders are maintained by middle managers and frontline staff despite exposure to the same demands.

Research limitations/implications

There are different limitations to this ethnographic field study due to the character of the methodology, the limited number of organizations, informants and time span covered. Attending to micro‐level processes within organizations provides a rich understanding of how particular forms of organization and action emerge in response to institutional demands. This calls for more ethnographic research on how actors within organizations cope and work institutional change.

Originality/value

Relatively little organizational research has addressed how individual actors at the lower levels of organizations cope and work with institutional changes using ethnographic methodology.
Examining collaborative learning modalities (CLM): critical multicultural education online?
Authors: Brantmeier Edward J. , Aragon Antonette , Folkestad James
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a very difficult, yet all important and ongoing research question – how do we best use online collaborative learning modalities (CLM) to supplement conversations in multicultural education courses?

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study examined emergent themes in asynchronous threaded discussions created by 23 students within a Master's level multicultural education course at a large land‐grant university in the USA.

Findings

Engagement in threaded discussions fostered student understanding of a systems perspective of social realities. Power, privilege, and oppression related to race, gender, and economics in the USA were explored through student use of real world, concrete examples – something that does not always occur in face‐to‐face classroom encounters constrained by time and the pacing of curriculum.

Research limitations/implications

Researchers would like to see more empirical research in using technologically mediated, CLM to foster conversations surrounding power, oppression, and privilege in efforts to advance the pedagogies of critical multicultural education.

Practical implications

Using threaded discussions seems to be a promising practice in teaching critical multicultural education content.

Social implications

This research project provides understanding of how CLM can help establish systems perspectives – perspectives critical to multicultural education.

Originality/value

This paper advances the conversation related to promising practices in multicultural education. Scarce empirical research exists related to critical approaches to multicultural education online.
Impact of problem‐based learning on student experience and metacognitive development
Authors: Downing Kevin , Ning Flora , Shin Kristina
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of problem‐based learning (PBL) in higher education based on a large sample of first‐year undergraduates from two programmes at a Hong Kong University (n=132). One programme uses an entirely problem‐based approach to learning, whilst the other uses traditional methods.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) as a measure of metacognition, differences in metacognitive development are explored between each group of students between the beginning and end of their first 15 months in each programme.

Findings

Despite significantly weaker entry scores on the LASSI, the mean final scores, taken after 15 months and three semesters of study in the different curriculum environments demonstrate dramatic improvements in metacognition for the PBL group. In addition, analysis of student learning experience measured at the end of the programme revealed that the PBL group reported significantly higher scores in their overall course satisfaction and generic skills development.

Practical implications

The paper argues that, in addition to the formal learning context, everyday challenges emerging from the additional new social contexts provided by problem‐based curricula provide fertile environments for the development of metacognition and enhancement of the learning experience. The implications of PBL environments on fostering constructivist learning and enhancing student experience are discussed.

Originality/value

This research is original in its use of the LASSI inventory as a pre‐ and post‐measure of metacognitive development in undergraduates. This is an online questionnaire administered to two groups of students following similar programmes except one is problem based and the other more traditional, and the results are strikingly significant.