bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Role of FDI on Stock Market Development: The Case of Pakistan
Authors: Raza Ali , . Zeshan Ahmed , . Mohammad Ahmed , . Tanvir Ahmed
Published: January 2020

The purpose of this study is to empirically analyze the role of foreign direct investment in developing host countryâ€™s stock markets and to examine whether they are related or not. The key interest turns around the admiring role of FDI in Stock market development of Pakistan. Our work also aims to investigate the effect of foreign direct investment along with domestic savings, exchange rate and inflation in developing Pakistan stock markets in a rapidly changing political environment. This study applies Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method of regression by using annual time series data for the period 1988-2009 in case of Pakistan to estimate empirical relationships among variables. The results disclose a positive impact of foreign direct investment along with other explanatory variables in developing Stock markets of Pakistan. The study findings can be used to help government policy makers to encourage FDI and take various steps to provide incentives and save foreign investors interest in a volatile political environment that prevailing in the country. Adequate facility of infrastructure can enhance FDI. The volatility of exchange rate and inflation rate should also be minimized through monitory policy while domestic savings must also be encouraged in the country through appropriate and encouraging saving policies. Our effort exclusively study development of Stock markets in Pakistan with special reference to foreign direct investment and other variables. Our study depicts a closer relationship between FDI and Stock Market Development.
Does Human Capital Expedite Economic Development? The Case of Pakistan
Authors: Mahmood Muhammad Tahir
Published: January 2020

The population merely is not a guarantee of the economic development of a country. The human capital increases the productivity of the workforce and develops the good working environment characterized by commitment and motivation. The low level of the human capital is viewed as one of the factors that may hinder the process of economic development in low developed countries. This conjecture seems working in Pakistan. This study is an endeavor to examine how human capital influences the economic development of Pakistan by using the time series data for the period (1971-2009). For the data analysis, the bound testing approach to co integration within the framework of the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) was used. The empirical results of all the proxies of human capital except â€˜expenditure on educationâ€™ supported the hypothesis.
Power Play in the German Wine Business: Are German Wine Co-operatives able to Use their Power to manage their Business Relationships?
Authors: Hanf Jon Henrich , . Erik Schweickert
Published: January 2020

Due to the pyramidal-hierarchical structure of supply chain networks power is an essential part of them and the fact that it is very often unequally distributed among the participants is quite obvious, which might represent great difficulties for member-owned enterprise coops. By clarifying the concept of power and identifying its five different sources, we were able to build hypotheses of how power affects cooperation and coordination â€“ the two main elements of chain management in wine business. The first aim of our research is to elaborate on the question of power. Furthermore, we will construct some hypotheses regarding the use of power as a chain management instrument. Our second aim is to apply our general findings to the wine production chain, analysing the power play between cooperatives and retailers, and between cooperatives and their members. Due to the explorative nature of our study, we based the elaboration of our second aim on oral interviews, which were conducted in 2009, as well as in 2010, at five major international food and beverage fairs (twice ProWein, Anuga, and twice Fruit Logistica) in Germany. In addition, we conducted a comprehensive review of the Lebensmittelzeitung â€“ the leading German food and beverage newspaper â€“ for the last five years. Discussing our hypotheses in the context of the German wine sector, in which cooperatives are still of high importance, we were able to show that power is a very useful tool for managing strictlycoordinated chains. However, depending on which source the power originates from, its effect may be completely different.
Stock Market Returns and Weather Anomaly: Evidence from an Emerging Economy
Authors: Mirza Hammad Hassan , . Naveed Mushtaq
Published: January 2020

Financial economists believe that the arbitrage forces in the market are the main reason of market efficiency and these forces are the fundamental concept of efficient market hypothesis (EMH). During last few years, various theoretical and empirical evidences have been presented to support the work of financial modeling for the markets with less than rational investors whose trading strategies are based on psychological factors like mood and emotions. Weather condition is among the substantial factors affecting investorsâ€™ mood and emotions. Present study investigates the impact of temperature on stock market returns in emerging economy of Pakistan. Using the daily temperature records and stock market indices of Karachi and Islamabad, the study has employed auto regressive (AR) â€“ generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model from 2006 to 2010. Based on AR (1)-GARCH (1, 1) estimation the study has found that weather temperatures of both Karachi and Islamabad are negatively related with Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) and Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) index returns, respectively.
The Relationship between Government Size and Economic Growth in Iran; Bivariate and Trivariate Causality Testing
Authors: Keshtkaran Salma , . Farzane Bagheri
Published: January 2020

The aim of this study is to demonstrate the relationship between government size and economic growth in Iran within bivariate and trivariate causality framework. For this purpose, Vector Auto Regressive Model, Johansen Test and Auto Regressive Distributed Lag Model were used for analyzing the long run relationship, whereas Error Correction Model was considered for the short run. Moreover Wald Coefficient was used for bivariate and trivariate causality test. The results show that the relationship between government size and economic growth in Iran is negative. Furthermore there is a one-way causality relationship for the long run and the short run-from government size to economic growth. Inclusion of unemployment and oil revenue (separately) as the third variable causes the relationship to remain negative. However the direction of causality depends on the choice of the third variable. If unemployment rate is considered as the third variable instead, there will be no causality between the two variables in the long run. Although in the short run government size is still the cause of economic growth. However, consideration of oil revenue as the third variable results in a two-way causality relationship between the government size and the economic growth in the long run and the short run.
Determinant Attributes of Customer Choice of Banks, Supplying Mortgage Products
Authors: Ahmed Irfan , . Shahid Mahmood , . Umar Farooq
Published: January 2020

The present study focuses on finding out the main attributes that determine the customerâ€™s choice of bank for supplying the mortgage products. The data has been gathered through questionnaires from 400 customers using mortgage products of different banks. Reviewing the literature four variable are taken for study to determine the dependent variable customer choice of banks using mortgage products and they include cost of bank, quality of services, confidence of customer in bank and convenience of customer using mortgage product. Results were analyzed using ordinary least square (OLS) regression and correlation techniques and findings of the data have been tested which appeared as significant statistically. The results indicated that choice of customers for the mortgage product depends on all the independent variables like quality of services, cost of mortgage product, confidence level of customers build by the bank and convenience of the customers. Further analysis can be done on exploring more independent variables, which are important for customers in choosing a bank providing mortgage products.
Importance of Price for Buying Environmentally Friendly Products
Authors: Kianpour Kamyar , . Maryam Asghari
Published: January 2020

This study considered price as an important indicator, which could affects customersâ€™ decisionmaking about buying an environmentally friendly product and investigated the intention of buyers for buying ecological product in comparison with non-environmentally friendly products with regard to price. For such a reason products have been categorized in three different categories such as: Short term, Middle term and Long-term products. The respondents were asked to answer whether they are interested to buy environmentally friendly products when the normal products exist in the market or they have no intention to buy these kinds of products. More over it has been tried to explore that how much the buyers will accept to pay more for environmentally friendly products rather than nonecological products in each category (short term, middle term and long term). Consequently, each category has been divided to six different percentage levels of price to indicate the percentage of acceptance by customers to pay more for the specified categories of eco-friendly products in comparison to non-environmentally friendly products. The result of this research shows that the majority of customers agree to pay certain percentage more to buy environmentally friendly products with eco labels and ecological characteristics rather than non-environmentally products when these green products are available in the market.
Determinants of Fixed Foreign Direct Investment in Botswana
Authors: Selelo Seloinyana Elizabeth
Published: January 2020

In this article, we explain the determinants of foreign direct investment in Botswana for the period 1980â€“2007. The government of Botswana has over the years provided investment incentives to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country but, despite these efforts, FDI has continued to be relatively low and skewed towards mining, especially diamond mining. Recent literature on investment is silent on the impact of economic growth rates on FDI inflows in developing countries such as this one. We examined economic variables that determined FDI in Botswana, and our study used the accelerator theory of investment to uncover the effects of FDI on the nationâ€™s economy. The dependent variable, FDI is expressed as a function of GDP growth rates, human capital, terms of trade, domestic investment, and government expenditure. We used time series annual data from Botswana Central Statistics Office (CSO) and employed both the co-integration and vector error correction model to find the short-term and long-term effects of FDI. The econometric results showed that economic growth rates better explains FDI flows in Botswana. The significance of economic growth is consistent with the acceleration theory of investment. This finding confirms that the accelerator theory is useful as a policy tool for planning investment outlay in developing countries. The findings are also useful for policy-makers in shading light on investment determinants that could be employed to achieve more FDI in Botswana.
A Study of the Impact of the e-CRM Perspective on Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty-Exemplified by Bank Sinopac
Authors: Liu Chun-Chu , . Li-min Chuang , . Chien-Min Huang
Published: January 2020

As the Taiwanese government gradually opens up the countryâ€™s banking sector in recent years, the number of financial institutions of Taiwan has increased rapidly. Until the end of January 2010, the number of the domestic banks is up to 37, the average number of the customers served in each branch is less than 4,000. As all banks wish to be more competitive in such an environment, new advertising and marketing skills are taken. New banking services and technology are also provided in order to attract more customers. The study aims to discuss the relationship among three aspects including the Electronic Customer Relationship Management, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Loyalty, and we choose Bank Sinopac users as subject. In addition, the following results are concluded by statistics and analysis: 1. Using e-CRM had obvious on the customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. 2. Customer satisfaction had obvious on the customer loyalty.
Potential Gains from Sector Timing in Taiwan
Authors: Hsieh Heng-Hsing
Published: January 2020

The dominance of the electronic sector in the Taiwanese stock market and the relatively low historical correlation between the Taiwanese electronic and financial sector indexes call for the exploration of sector diversity in the Taiwanese stock market. This study investigates the effectiveness of sector timing in Taiwan by evaluating the likely outcomes from switching between the electronic and the financial indexes for data spanning the period December 1999 through December 2012. The proposed sector timing strategy could be implemented using Taiwanese sector index futures. The market timer is assumed to have different timing abilities in the electronic-dominant market and the financial-dominant market. The main results of the research include that when transaction costs are taken into consideration, significant sector timing ability is required to beat the sector benchmark; and it is more important to improve the ability in timing the financial-dominant market in Taiwan.
Managerial Perceptions of the Impact of HRIS on Organizational Efficiency
Authors: Kumar Nikhal Aswanth
Published: January 2020

This study evaluates the impact of the HRIS system on HR functions, time management, cost management, managerial satisfaction and organizational efficiency. A sample of 101 managers was drawn from a Municipality in South Africa using cluster sampling. Data was collected using a selfdeveloped, closed-ended questionnaire comprising of 28 items, the psychometric properties (validity, reliability) of which was statistically assessed using Factor Analysis and Cronbachâ€™s Coefficient Alpha respectively. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicate that managers have a fairly positive view of the impact of the HRIS on organizational effectiveness with the greatest degree of confidence being placed on the impact of HRIS on time management and on HR functions. The results confirm that a well implemented and managed HRIS enables readily available information to be translated into more information sharing, greater knowledge transfer and management. Consequently, the HRIS has the potential to enhance the speed and quality of decision making and the realisation of the HR strategy, thereby enhancing organizational effectiveness.
Do Mutual Funds Attract the Right Investor? A Stochastic Dominance Approach
Authors: Seetharam Yudhvir
Published: January 2020

Decision theory is concerned with identifying values and uncertainties in a given decision that result in the optimal outcome (Wald, 1939). It is one of the core aspects of any financial or investment decision. We consider the case where the investor has the choice between a passive index (such as a market index) and an actively managed mutual fund. Our analysis aims to determine which option an investor will choose based on a statistical ranking method known as stochastic dominance. We then evaluate this choice against the background information supplied by the mutual fund to ascertain whether the choice given by stochastic dominance is indeed in line with the investor profile given by the mutual fund. It is found that of the 11 mutual funds examined over the sample period of April 2006 to April 2013, only 4 attract the correct type of investor, 3 attract a mixture of investors and 4 attract (arguably) the wrong type of investor.
Foreign Aid and Economic Growth: A Cointegration Test for Cambodia
Authors: Mitra Rajarshi
Published: January 2020

Recent studies have shown that foreign aid can have either a positive or a negative impact on economic growth. Due to this lack of general consensus the effectiveness of foreign aid for economic growth remains a contentious issue. This paper estimates a structural VECM for the period 1971-2009 and examines the long-run relationship between foreign aid and economic growth of an aid-dependent Asian economy, Cambodia. Johansen cointegration test indicates a significantly positive long-run effect of foreign aid on economic growth of Cambodia for the period of study.
Medium Term Expenditure and Fiscal Management in Nigeria: A Review of the (2005-2008) Framework
Authors: Ogujiuba Kanayo , . Omoju Sola
Published: January 2020

The Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) provides the link between policy priorities and the budget. Given that in developing countries in general, and in Nigeria in particular, there is a disconnection between planning, policy and the budget, the MTEF has increasingly been regarded as central to public expenditure reforms. The objectives of this paper are to review the MTEF and budget performance in Nigeria for the period 2005-2008, and identify the challenges undermining the effective operation of the budgetary processes. The paper gathered that the MTEF is the bridge between the national development plan, its underlying policies and the annual budget. Analysis of available data on budget performance during the review period shows that public finance in Nigeria have not been operated within the specifications of the MTEF and the budget, and the priorities expressed in the budget are not always in sync with national objective plans. Some of the identified challenges to effective public expenditure management in Nigeria include lack of citizenâ€™s participation in the process, the bureaucratic and inefficient nature of the civil service, large scale corruption, lack of proper coordination between the national development plan and budget, lack of adequate reforms in other key budget areas, such as execution, monitoring and reporting, lack of political commitment, and lack of adequate coordination between the national and sub-national governments.
The Conceptualisation of Tourism and Hospitality within a Public Administration Framework in South Africa: A Case study of a Tourism Provincial Administrative Authority in KwaZulu Natal
Authors: Balkaran R.
Published: January 2020

Objectives of this paper are to: locate the study into a conceptual framework by conceptualising and clarifying Tourism and Public administration and management; Constitutional and legislative provisions relevant to the tourism and hospitality industries; National, provincial and local government administration with a view to locating Tourism and the Tourism Provincial Authority. Paper clarifies the intrinsic relationship between Government functions at national, provincial and local levels and the tourism and hospitality industries. The essence of the paper depicts the policy and a legislative framework formulated by government for the purposes of effective and efficient application to relevant structures at central, provincial and local levels. The welfare of the tourism and hospitality industries depend to a large extent on the delivery of services from public institutions at all levels of government.
Foreign Direct Investment, Economic Growth, and Environmental Concern: Evidence from Nigeria
Authors: Danladi Jonathan D.
Published: January 2020

One of the reasons pointed out, as the major cause of low investment in Nigeria is low saving. To bridge the saving-investment gap, there have been calls for inflow of foreign direct investment into the country. However, there are arguments about the impacts of FDI on the host country. Principal among the various arguments is its effect on environmental degradation .This paper sets out to examine the validity of this perception using Granger causality test. It examines the direction of causality between FDI and economic growth, Economic growth and Pollution, FDI and Pollution. The results revealed that there is no causality between the growth rate of GDP and FDI, growth rate of GDP and Co 2. The only causality found is a unidirectional causality between the growths of FDI grows and the growth rate of pollution. The direction is from growth rate of FDI to the growth rate of pollution. This paper concludes that government should make policy that will ensure that multinational companies use equipment that is environmentally friendly.
An Empirical Study of Corporate Brand Image, Customer Perceived Value and Satisfaction on Loyalty in Shoe Industry
Authors: Tu Yu-Te , . Heng-Chi Chih
Published: January 2020

A positive corporate brand image is not only increasing competition but also encourage consumers to repurchase. With loyal customers, companies can reduce the operating cost and acquisition expenses. This initial study was from relevant literature, then set up research structure and hypotheses. Survey was employed, and respondents collected from the customers of ASO in Taiwan. There were 208 usable questionnaires to analyze descriptive statistics, reliability, validity, and SEM model. Based on the research results, corporate brand image significantly affects customer perceived value, customer satisfaction and loyalty; customer perceived value has strong impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty for the sample; and customer satisfaction significantly affects customer loyalty. Therefore, companies should have a positive brand image to customers, and specifically focus on those factors in order to build a long-term and mutually profitability relationships with customers and create loyalty as competitive advantages in the markets. The study focuses on the industry of shoes in Taiwan, and adopts only a quantitative method. Future research could employ a different design to examine the causal relationships posited by the theories, and extension the study to discuss mediation or moderation among dimensions.
The Adoption of Internet Banking in a Developing Economy
Authors: Govender Jeevarathnam P
Published: January 2020

The international world has witnessed significant developments in internet banking. This has presented opportunities to both banks and customers in the world of e-commerce. The adoption rate for internet banking in South Africa has been low, compared to other developing countries. With a reasonably well developed infrastructure, South Africa presents itself with great market potential for internet banking. Given this scenario, this paper examines the factors influencing the adoption of internet banking in South Africa. A survey was conducted using a sample of 400 consumers using a quantitative and descriptive design. The results indicate a relationship between the selected biographical variables and the adoption of internet banking. Perceived usefulness, an indicator of relative advantage was associated with the adoption of internet banking. Users considered internet banking to be less complex and less costly than non-users. It emerged that both users and non-users did not consider social influences as being a factor in the adoption of internet banking.
A Matter of Intercultural Communication: Perspectives of International Students at a University in South Africa
Authors: Rawjee V.P. , . M. Maharaj
Published: January 2020

The end of apartheid in South Africa in 1994 saw many higher education institutions identifying opportunities to increase their intake of international students by introducing student exchange programmes. Based on South Africaâ€™s ethnically diverse society, cultural differences pose various challenges for international students. This results in intercultural communication apprehension and therefore, a negative experience for international students. The aim of this research is to examine the cultural challenges faced by international exchange students studying at a university in South Africa. A quantitative descriptive methodology was employed for this study. Themes emanating from the literature review were used to develop a research questionnaire that consisted mostly of closed-ended questions followed by a few open-ended questions. The questionnaire was administered to ninety nine international students. The findings of the investigation indicate that the majority of international students experience culture as a challenge, which impacted on their ability to communicate and to be understood. To add credence to the international studentsâ€™ experiences and the exchange programme, this paper therefore, suggests that issues around culture and intercultural communication is introduced as a core study module for all first-time international students before they arrive in South Africa.
Manufacturing Production and Non-Agricultural Employment rate in South Africa: Time Series Analysis
Authors: Muzindutsi Paul-Francois
Published: January 2020

South African is faced with a high unemployment rate; however, the countryâ€™s manufacturing sector is one of the sectors that have been linked with job creation. Nevertheless, the growth in manufacturing production may not increase employment opportunities if this sector continues to shift to technology-intensive methods of production, which displace labour. This study uses a vector autoregressive (VAR) model to estimate the interaction between manufacturing production and the employment rate in South Africa from 1970 to 2013. Results revealed that both variables were stationary at the first difference and there was a long-term equilibrium relationship between the variables. In the short term, a significant positive relationship between manufacturing production and employment rate was observed. Granger causality test showed that there is a causal link from manufacturing production to the employment rate. A comparison between apartheid and post-apartheid periods showed the long-run relationship only existed in the post-apartheid period of a more open economy. Findings of this study revealed that a growth in the South African manufacturing sector is linked with employment opportunities in the short-run. However, these opportunities may be reduced by changes in technology which promote capital intensive production. As such, policy-makers should encourage policies that promote a mix of labour and capital intensive production in order to maintain these employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector.
Factors Influencing Debt Financing within State-owned Corporations in Kenya
Authors: Nyamita Micah Odhiambo , . Nirmala Dorasamy
Published: January 2020

Debt financing is deemed crucial for economic development, as evidenced by the positive relationship between financial deepening and economic growth. Majority of studies on debt financing have been undertaken using data from developed economies, focusing more on private sector nonfinancial corporations. This study, therefore, attempts to fill the gap in the literature by investigating the factors influencing debt financing, using data from corporations within the public sector and from a developing economy. The study applied the fixed effects (FE), random effects (RE) and the general methods of moments (GMM), using the panel data regression analysis. Profitability, asset tangibility and corporation growth, were identified to be the main factors influencing debt financing within state-owned corporations in Kenya.
Malaysian Y Generation Consumer Research: Does Gender and Technology Literacy affirmative towards E-commerce activities?
Authors: M. Dileep Kumar , . Harvi S.
Published: January 2020

The last two decades have experienced rapid expansion of information and communication technology. This wide application of internet stated its influence on attitude and adoption of internet among various generations. The generation Y which is â€œthe millennial generationâ€, are the major one who has connected with the technology, especially with internet usage, and is widely in every aspect of life. They adopt technology application in shopping product and services, moving away from traditional purchasing behavior of consumer. Though various studies have come out in the area of generation Y and technology adoption, very less studies are observed connecting gender, and contextualizing the topic to the Malaysian context, considering the consumer internet usage attitude and e-commerce activities. Hence this particular study, then observed and analyzed generation Y attitude towards internet usage and e-commerce activities with its moderating effect of gender variation.
Entrepreneurial intentions of South African rural university students: A test of the theory of planned behaviour
Authors: Malebana Justice
Published: January 2020

This paper investigates the entrepreneurial intentions of 329 final-year commerce students in a rural university in the Limpopo province. The study is based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). The objectives of the study were to test whether the TPB can help explain the entrepreneurial intentions of rural university students; to determine whether rural students will have intentions to start a business and to test the validity of the entrepreneurial intention questionnaire in a South African context. The study was conducted by means of a survey. SPSS was used to analyse the data. The results indicate that entrepreneurial intention of the respondents can be predicted from the attitude towards becoming an entrepreneur, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms. The findings reveal that the TPB is a valuable tool in understanding entrepreneurial intention of rural university students in South Africa. The majority of students intend to start a business in the future and the entrepreneurial intention questionnaire was found to be a valid instrument to measure the entrepreneurial intention of students in a South African context. Recommendations for policy makers, entrepreneurship educators and researchers have been highlighted.
The Effects of Foreign Resource Inflow and Savings on the Economic Growth of South Africa: A VAR Analysis
Authors: A. Temitope L.
Published: January 2020

This study adopts both the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) analysis and the Impulse-Response Function (IRF) to examine the importance and the effects of domestic savings and foreign direct investment (FDI) on South African economy, using data spanning over the period 1975 to 2011. While the level of domestic savings is quite low, compared to other emerging economies, South Africa has also been struggling to attract inflow of foreign resources. The form of savings in South Africa is different from the western way of savings; hence the low levels of domestic savings. The variables considered were tested for stationarity and they were all stationary before proceeding to test for cointegration and then estimate and VAR. The cointegration test revealed that there was at least one cointegrating equation; which signifies that there exists a long-run relationship among the variables. The results from the VAR Granger test of causality depicted that domestic savings lead economic growth, while economic growth leads investment. This result of the IRF also showed that while increased domestic savings is important to improve the level of economic growth in South Africa, it also leads FDI. This means that the economic environment needs to be suitable in order to attract foreign investments. The results obtained are reliable and stable as the model passes a battery of diagnostic tests. The study proposes some recommendations for policy.
A Study of RelatÄ±onship between Perceived OrganÄ±zational Justice and Individualism Collectivism Values Among Academic Staff
Authors: ESEN Åžaban , KARADEMÄ°R AslÄ± Ã‡Ä°LLÄ°OÄžLU
Published: January 2020

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the individualsâ€™ perceptions of justice in the organizations they work in and the personality tendencies of individualism or collectivism they have. For that reason, firstly the concept of organizational justice and the values of collectivism and individualism were explained; their relationship was mentioned through theoretical and empirical studies in the literature. As measurement tool, survey method was used. The surveys were conducted on 133 academicians working at Bartin University which is one of the state universities in Turkey. As a result of doing reliability analysis and factor analysis, the last form of scale was given. The perceived organizational justice handled in the scale was composed of three dimensions which are distributive justice, procedural justice and interactional justice; and despite individualism and collectivism have four sub-dimensions (horizontal individualism, vertical individualism, horizontal collectivism and vertical collectivism) this was not taken into account in the study and they were discussed from only individualism and collectivism dimensions. In consequence of ANOVA analyses performed, it is found that there is a low relation between collectivism value and distributive justice as well as between individualism value and interactional justice. The findings of ANOVA analysis showed that in the demographic characteristics only the title variable groups showed significant differences between interactional justice and individualism. By multi-regression analysis, it is seen that as much as procedural justice increases the exhibited collectivism characteristic increases, in similar way as much as distributive justice increases the collectivism characteristic increases. There was no obvious significant correlation between individualism variable and justice dimensions.
Prisoner-warder ratio parity in a South African Correctional Centre: Repercussions on prison work environment and correctional security personnel
Authors: Magungxu Vuyokazi , . Philani Moyo
Published: January 2020

South Africa has one of the highest inmate populations in the world. In order for the South African Correctional Services system to provide an environment conducive for the appropriate rehabilitation and reformation of its many inmates, it requires a balanced prisoner-warder ratio based on international standards. But is this the case in South African prisons? This is one of the questions that this article engages as it examines the prisoner-warder ratio at the East London Maximum Correctional Centre (ELMCC) in an effort to understand the effects of prison overcrowding on the prison work environment and correctional personnel. Based on empirical evidence gathered through qualitative techniques, the study finds a disproportionate prisoner-warder ratio at the ELMCC. This disproportion has a number of negative effects on the prison work environment and direct security personnel on duty. For example, high absenteeism is rife with warders frequently on sick leave while others are regularly on temporary incapacity leave. High stress levels are also a major problem pushing many warders into alcohol abuse. Cognitive job satisfaction and organizational commitment are also negatively affected by this disproportion with the majority of warders indicating poor work performance due to low morale and lack of motivation.
Organizational Diversity Management and Job Satisfaction among Public Servants
Authors: Munyeka Wiza
Published: January 2020

The world-wide shift in demographics, changing immigration patterns and social change are all factors that affect the work environment. (Brevis & Vrba, 2014: 194). The demands of globalization, technological innovation, economic imperatives, ecological sensitivity and the need for sustainable development are the challenges that business organizations worldwide face in order to survive. From the human perspective the challenges are about socio-political transformation and especially about managing and celebrating diversity (Magretta, 1999). The diversity aspect of the topic is an important part of the economic landscape in post-apartheid South Africa where phrases like â€œeconomic freedomâ€ are voiced from labor unions and political figures alike. These calls from the likes of Julius Malema, the then leader of the African National Congress Youth League, Zwelinzima Vavi, the General Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions and Matthews Phosa, Treasurer-General of the African National Congress are often the focus of news reports (ANCYL march â€“ Day 2, 2011; Phosa calls for economic freedom, 2012; Vavi, 2012). Almost half the organizations reported that the biggest challenge facing organizations over the next ten years is obtaining human capital and optimizing their human capital investments (HR Magazine. 55, no.11 (November 2010): 80) in Bohlander & Snell (2013: 21). Bohlander & Snell (2013: 21) further answer the question of why is this so? Changes in the demographic makeup of employees, such as their ages, education levels, and ethnicities, are part of the reason why. In this current study, a population study of 50 public servants in a selected public sector industry was used. Data was collected through the administration of the organizational diversity questionnaire and job satisfaction questionnaire. Individuals in the population sample were instructed to complete a questionnaire as a measuring instrument. The copies of ODQ and JSQ were distributed among public servants at a selected public service department.
Does the Repurchase Rate Affect Inflation in South Africa? An Empirical Analysis Using an Impulse Response Function
Authors: Leshoro Temitope L.A.
Published: January 2020

The repurchase rate (repo rate) is the most common monetary policy instrument that the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) uses to control inflation and endeavours to keep it within the inflation target band of 3% to 6%. This study examines the effect of the repo rate on inflation rate along with other variables using the Impulse-Response Function (IRF) of a Vector Autoregressive (VAR) technique. This study uses quarterly data spanning over the period 1980Q2 to 2013Q3. The response of a shock in repo rate on inflation rate and vice versa is generally positive. The results show that given one standard deviation shock in the repo rate, inflation rate will initially increase up until the second quarter after which it starts to decline, and increases again in the fifth quarter. The results obtained from the VAR granger causality test show that repo rate leads the gross domestic product (GDP) growth and inflation rate. There is bidirectional causality between inflation and repo rate; and the result is the same, even after structural break was accounted for. The VAR shows no evidence of instability and autocorrelation, hence the results are reliable. The study suggests some policy recommendations.
Perceived Brand Personality of Symbolic Brands
Authors: MÃœLLER RE-AN
Published: January 2020

Brand personality can be defined as a set of human characteristics associated with a brand (Aaker, 1997).This study reports on the perceived brand personality of symbolic brands as seen by Generation Y students from one higher education institution campus located in South Africa. The respondents were asked to write down the first brand that came to mind for eight symbolic product categories. The top two brands in each category were used in a self-administered questionnaire. A second group of respondents were then asked to write down personality traits they associate with each of the identified brands. These findings, present a unique viewpoint regarding a number of brands and how the respondents perceive their brand personalities.
Determinants of Working Capital Investment in South Africa: Evidence from Selected JSE-Listed Firms
Authors: Kwenda Farai
Published: January 2020

This paper analyses the determinants of working capital investments of 92 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) over the period 2001-2010. Working capital management has grown in significance from being a survival issue to a strategic and competitive tool. Using the Generalized Method of Moments estimation, the study found that firms pursue target levels of current assets. However, the adjustment process is relatively slow. The study found that leverage, short-term finance and fixed investment significantly influence the level of working capital investment, while operating cash flows, state of the economy, firm size and sales growth rate were found to be statistically insignificantly related to working capital investment. The study recommends that managers understand the driving factors of working capital investment since working capital investment influences the value of the firm.
Critical Realism in Management Accounting Research: The Relevance of the Work of John R. Commons
Authors: Covaleski Mark A.
Published: January 2020

This paper re-affirms Professor Modell's argument as to the importance and potential contributions of viewing economic relationships as intricately tied with social concerns. As such it is fruitful for management accounting researchers to conceive of such notions as economic agency and rationality as being socially constructed phenomena. Here I draw heavily from the work of early institutional economists such as John R. Commons who was among the earliest to recognize the importance of working rules around transactions such as accounting in social decision making and resource allocation.
How Calibration Committees Can Mitigate Performance Evaluation Bias: An Analysis of Implicit Incentives
Authors: Grabner Isabella , Künneke Judith , Moers Frank
Published: January 2020

While prior research on performance evaluation bias has mainly focused on the determinants and consequences of rating errors, we investigate how a firm can provide implicit incentives to supervisors to mitigate these errors via its calibration committee. We empirically examine the extent to which a calibration committee incorporates supervisors' evaluation behavior with respect to their subordinates in the performance evaluation outcomes, i.e., performance ratings and promotion decisions, for these supervisors. In our study, we distinguish between lack of skills and opportunism as two important facets of evaluation behavior, which we expect the calibration committee to address differently. Using panel data of a professional service firm, we show that supervisors' opportunistic behavior to strategically inflate subordinates' performance ratings is disciplined through a decrease in the supervisors' own performance rating, while the supervisors' skills to provide less compressed and, thus, more informative performance ratings is rewarded through a higher likelihood of promotion.
Demand Analysis of Termite Control Service in Jakarta
Authors: Rahman Mohamad Miftah , Nandika Dodi , Simangunsong Bintang Charles Hamonangan
Published: January 2020

Termite is an economically important pest species in the pest control industry and considered as one of the urban pests. Although it had caused a great loss, only a few studies on termite control demand were found. This study attempted to identify determinants and build the econometric model of termite control demand in Jakarta. The findings are expected to give the pest control industry a better understanding of the pest control market. Two ad-hoc models, linear and double log models, were investigated using the Least Square Dummy Variable (LSDV) technique. The results showed that the double log model was found better than the linear model based on sign expectation and significance. The price of termite control service, building permits, price of structural metals and dummy variables for the large company were statistically significant determinants, whereas dummy variables for risk class were not. Termite control demand for medium and small companies was not significantly different, but both of them were significantly lower than demand for the large company. This study also found that the demand for termite control was elastic.Keywords: demand analysis, econometric modeling, pest control, termite control, urban pest
The Cause of Sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria) Damping-off Disease: Survey and Identification in Permanent Nursery, IPB University
Authors: Istikorini Yunik , Sari Okta Yulia
Published: January 2020

Damping-off generally occurs in seedlings that have just germinated. This disease can cause severe damage, decay, and seedling death. The research was aimed to compute disease incidence and severity of damping-off and to identify the causal of damping-off disease in Paraserianthes falcataria. The survey was examined by using scoring with a 10% sampling intensity. The identification of morphological characteristics was examined macroscopically and microscopically. The result showed that the disease incidence most frequently occurred on 5-month-old seedlings in an open area of 75,00%, and the lowest was on 3-month-old seedlings in an open area of 13,40%. The immense severity of the damping-off attack occurred on 3-month-old seedlings in the greenhouse area of 37,78%, and the lowest occurred on 3-month-old seedlings in an open area of 2,84%. The causal of damping-off disease on P. falcataria in Permanent Nursery of IPB University was Rhizoctonia sp. Pathogenicity test toward P. falcataria seed showed 100% of disease infection. Rhizoctonia sp. caused seed decay hence inhibited seed germination.Keywords: damping-off, Rhizoctonia sp., sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria)
Algorithm for Calculating the Basic Optimal Parameters of Magnetic Devices of Telecommunication-Information Control Systems
Authors: Ismibayli Reshad E.
Published: January 2020

For calculating magnetic devices of telecommunication –information control systems used the optimal directed graph. On the based the directed graph defining optimal parameters of magnetic devices: complex magnetic resistance, optimal value, complex size of magnetizing force of the coil and other.
A System for Synchronized Navigation of an Environment by Mobile Agents
Authors: Ekpar Frank Edughom
Published: January 2020

This paper discloses methods, systems and devices for synchronized navigation of an environment by a plurality of mobile agents wherein aspects of the navigation of one or more of the agents are used to moderate aspects of the navigation of one or more other agents. In one embodiment, two mobile agents - a baby stroller and a caregiver – are configured in a manner that facilitates tandem navigation of the environment by the mobile agents. In yet another embodiment, a wheelchair designed to transport a disabled person navigates in tandem with a guide such as a human guide, a guide dog or any other suitable agent. Other embodiments including an entertainment application in which a mobile agent follows or leads another are also disclosed.
A Survey on the Effects of Cutting Parameters on Surface Roughness When Milling 40Cr Steel Using End Mill Cutter
Authors: Son Nguyen Hong
Published: January 2020

In this paper, the empirical research on the effects of cutting parameters on surface roughness when milling 40Cr steel with face mill is conducted. The cutting parameters in this study include the cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut. The tests are conducted in the form of Central Composite Design. The analysis shows that, for both Ra and Rz: (1) the feed rate has the greatest effect on surface roughness, followed by the degree of influence of the depth of cut, cutting speed with insignificant effects on surface roughness. (2) only the interaction between the feed rate and depth of cut have a significant effect on both Ra and Rz; the interaction between the cutting speed and feed rate, the interaction between the cutting speed and depth of cut have negligible effects on the surface roughness. In addition, the regression equations showing the relationship between Ra, Rz and cutting parameters is developed in this study.