bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Harvard, NIH, and the balance of power in the open access debate
Authors: Medeiros Norm
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper seeks to highlight the recent open access initiatives of Harvard University and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper discusses opportunities and consequences of the recent initiatives.

Findings

The paper finds that the NIH open access policy will make available tens of thousands of peer‐reviewed articles per year. The Harvard open access initiative may be a harbinger of things to come at other US universities.

Originality/value

This paper reinforces many of the concepts being discussed on the listservs regarding these remarkable initiatives.
From cuneiform to digital text encodings
Authors: Fox Robert
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This column aims to examine the role of text encoding, specifically Unicode, in modern digital library applications. It also seeks to examine the technical aspects of Unicode and how they impact those applications.

Design/methodology/approach

This column is simply exploratory, and examines issues regarding Unicode, text encoding in general, and what librarians should be aware of concerning technical aspects of the Unicode standard.

Findings

The paper finds that Unicode is the bedrock of all metadata in modern digital library applications. An awareness of how to identify and perform conversions on that data is critical to the support of these applications. Many aspects of functionality in forthcoming information resource tools will rely upon a familiarity with the technical aspects of Unicode.

Originality/value

This column explains the salient technical features of Unicode for those who may not be familiar with its inner workings. It also takes into account the impact text encoding has on the functionality of modern library applications.
Thinking outside the library box
Authors: Cervone Frank
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to the emerging concept of local contextualization in digital repositories.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes the concepts and issues related to local contextualization of digital repositories.

Findings

The paper finds that initial efforts in developing digital repositories focused mainly on digitizing library collections. Emerging trends indicate that expectations of patrons have changed and are increasingly tied to the collection and maintenance of materials that are not directly owned by the library. As repositories continue to evolve, libraries will need to be more proactive in contextualizing their digital repositories to the local environment. Unlike the current “one size fits all” model of digital repositories, contextualization emphasized thoughtful planning and implementation of services that are relevant to the local environment.

Originality/value

This paper describes an emerging trend in digital repository services.
Emerging alternatives to the impact factor
Authors: Banks Marcus A. , Dellavalle Robert
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to document the proliferating range of alternatives to the impact factor that have arisen within the past five years, coincident with the increased prominence of open access publishing.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper offers an overview of the history of the impact factor as: a measure for scholarly merit; a summary of frequent criticisms of the impact factor's calculation and usage; and a framework for understanding some of the leading alternatives to the impact factor.

Findings

This paper identifies five categories of alternatives to the impact factor: measures that build upon the same data that informs the impact factor; measures that refine impact factor data with “page rank” indices that weight electronic resources or web sites through the number of resources that link to them; measures of article downloads and other usage factors; recommender systems, in which individual scholars rate the value of articles and a group's evaluations pool together collectively; and ambitious measures that attempt to encompass the interactions and influence of all inputs in the scholarly communications system.

Originality/value

Librarians can utilize the measures described in this paper to support more robust collection development than is possible through reliance on the impact factor alone.
A new paradigm of knowledge production in higher education
Authors: Moravec John W.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This article seeks to introduce how the convergence of globalization, emergence of the knowledge society and accelerating change contribute to what might be best termed a new paradigm of knowledge production in higher education.

Design/methodology/approach

A review of the literature was conducted regarding the three driving trends of the new paradigm. Following a discussion on these trends, the new paradigm is discussed in relation to old and emergent paradigms of the twenty‐first and twenty‐second centuries.

Findings

The article concludes that the new paradigm requires a systems approach to thinking and leading in higher education.

Practical implications

This article provides a macro‐level perspective of the three phenomena as they impact higher education. Such perspectives provide insight to higher education leaders throughout the world on how tertiary institutions relate to the new paradigm of knowledge production. By putting the pieces of the new paradigm together, improved leadership directions for higher education and relevant policy actions may be identified to secure success through the twenty‐first century and beyond.

Originality/value

While the three component trends in the new paradigm are not unknown to the academic community, discussion of the trends as elements of a larger system is absent from most literature. Together, these new patterns of thought and belief are forming to harness and manage the chaos, indeterminacy, and complex relationships of the postmodern.
On the edge of hypercompetition in higher education: the case of the MBA
Authors: Sharkey Thomas W. , Beeman Don R.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

Hypercompetition has long been recognized as a significant problem in almost all manufacturing industries. Service industries are also experiencing the problems of hypercompetition. Now, it seems to be spreading to higher education with significant consequences. This paper aims to describe the movement toward hypercompetition and the implications specifically for the MBA program.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper directly compares the experiences of industrial hypercompetition with what is developing within universities. Since businesses are typically farther along in the process of responding to hypercompetitive markets, they provide insight into what educational institutions might expect to occur and how they could respond to this threat despite the differences between these two types of organizations.

Findings

The paper finds that technological change, globalization, and increased competition are the most important environmental challenges facing MBA programs today. Technology, in particular, seems to be acting as the principle disruptor of the traditional MBA model. Additionally, corporate MBA programs and international competition have become important considerations. The important question is will Peter F. Drucker be correct that traditional universities will be severely challenged by technology‐based competition?

Originality/value

This paper provides useful information on hypercompetition and the implications specifically for the MBA program.
Servicing service quality in higher education: quest for excellence
Authors: Yeo Roland K.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of service quality as a means of achieving long‐term competitive advantage in higher education. It further seeks to explore the influences of customer expectation, course design and delivery as well as learning support on service quality.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents the findings of a qualitative study conducted in a Singapore tertiary institution where in‐depth interviewing was employed and 12 academics were involved.

Findings

The study finds that perception of tertiary students as either customers or products will have a direct impact on the dynamics created within and outside a learning space. Quality service in higher education should aim at offering experiences that promote dialogue, inquiry and reflection in the long term.

Practical implications

Instructors should learn to balance the expectations of students without compromising on academic rigor. Curricula should be kept updated by consulting industry and economic trends. Learning support should be complemented by being student‐centered rather than merely task‐driven.

Originality/value

The strategic framework utilized by the Singapore institution has proven to be useful in achieving different aspects of service quality. It provides a starting model for a variety of contexts and paradigms to be built on.
Understanding trader heterogeneity in information markets
Authors: Finch Dezon , Berndt Donald J.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the growing body of research in prediction markets by using trading data as a means of characterizing trader behavior in these markets. Traders are placed in homogenous groups based on common Trading habits using clustering algorithms. Several behavioral themes are used to guide the analyses.

Design/methodology/approach

Several market experiments were run to collect trading data, which was then exported into a data warehouse. A secondary data analysis is performed on variables derived from the original trade data. In particular, k‐means clustering is used to form groups of traders that share common characteristics.

Findings

Participants can be classified into homogenous groups based on their trading behavior. Groups tend to differ based on the overall level of participation, how much of their trading activity is spent buying or selling, and how early they enter the market.

Research limitations/implications

More research should be done using a variety of variables to further determine the impact of various types of trader behavior on prediction markets.

Practical implications

Using insights gained from work like this, the design of prediction markets can be fine tuned to encourage behavior that contributes to trader participation and the overall accuracy of the market predictions.

Originality/value

Little research has been done to evaluate the impact of trader behavior on the accuracy of prediction markets. The authors used a new prediction market implementation to collect detailed trading data. This data was then used to derive higher level trading attributes that can he used to characterize traders. The k‐means clustering algorithm was shown to be an effective means of defining groups of traders who share common market behaviors.
Combining visualisation techniques to understand co‐operation in inter‐organisational systems
Authors: Laura Ponisio María , Sikkel Klaas , Riemens Lourens , van Eck Pascal
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an approach to support understanding of inter‐organisational systems.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach combines two types of graphical snapshots of relevant properties of each organisation, based on concrete data. The first type of snapshot provides a bird's eye view of the network that enables matching partners to form groups based on similarity. The second type of snapshot can be used to compare and contrast the information technology (IT) portfolio of partners to assess the extent to which each portfolio is ready to meet the needs of the inter‐organisational system. The approach has been applied in a case study that analysed E‐CUSTOMS, a large distributed system that connects the customs organisations of a number of member states of the European Union. The approach has been validated by showing the results to experts in the E‐CUSTOMS project, who confirmed the findings.

Findings

An approach based on quantifiable and non‐quantifiable data that combines two visualisation techniques was used. The graphical snapshots obtained by applying this approach showed similarities and differences between countries that indicate opportunities and challenges in IT integration.

Practical implications

The approach provides a semi‐automatic method to understand inter‐organisational systems. If in need of successful co‐operation in groups within an inter‐organisational network, this approach will help the expert to ask the right questions.

Originality/value

An understanding of inter‐organisational systems is necessary, as co‐operation in inter‐organisational networks usually requires considerable up‐front investments in IT specific for this co‐operation.
Social enterprise as a socially rational business
Authors: Ridley‐Duff Rory
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper seeks to examine the discourses that influence policy and practice in social enterprises. In institutional circles, arguments are shaped by the desire to protect assets for the community, while entrepreneurial discourses favour a mixture of investment sources, surplus sharing and inclusive systems of governance. A critique is outlined that challenges policy‐makers and academics to move beyond the heated debate on “business‐like” activity through a deeper understanding of the social relations entered into (and created by) different social entrepreneurial activities.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is wholly theoretical. First, contradictions are exposed through a review of practitioner and scholarly literature. Thereafter, empirically grounded studies are used to develop a theoretical model that accommodates and accounts for diverse practices.

Findings

A broader perspective, that views human behaviour as a product of, and support system for, our socio‐sexual choices, is deployed to extend understanding of social capital. By integrating this into governance theory, workplaces come to be seen as complex centres of community‐building, replete with economic and social goals. The concept of “social rationality” is elaborated as an alternative way to understand the legitimacy of social entrepreneurial activity and management practice.

Originality/value

The paper concludes by developing a framework and typology that theorises social enterprise as a heterogeneous business movement. Each form of social enterprise integratessocially rationalthinking into its policies and practices. This suggests a different educational agenda for social entrepreneurs oriented towards the equitable distribution, and not accumulation, of social and economic capital.
The role of corporate art in the management of corporate identity
Authors: Kottasz Rita , Bennett Roger , Savani Sharmila , Ali‐Choudhury Rehnuma
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the potential contributions of corporate art collections (CACs) to the process of corporate identity management within companies.

Design/methodology/approach

Respondents in 181 enterprises in nine different countries completed a questionnaire concerning the roles of CACs in symbolising a firm's core values and culture, influencing the attitudes and behaviour of employees, and developing a company's external image. A regression analysis identified the variables that determined the primary roles of CACs in particular businesses.

Findings

CACs were routinely employed to facilitate marketing communications (internal as well as external) and to project corporate identities, including aspects related to a company's core values. Additionally collections were frequently used to symbolise core values to a firm's employees.

Research limitations/implications

Less than a majority of the sampling frame returned the questionnaire. Only a single manager was approached in each enterprise. Case studies of the roles of different kinds of CAC (classical, contemporary, etc.) in disparate industry sectors are required.

Practical implications

The results demonstrate that CACs represent a powerful marketing communications weapon capable both of attracting clients and developing corporate identity.

Originality/value

More than half theFortune500 companies and around 2000 other major enterprises in Europe and North America now collect art. This research was the first ever to investigate the use of CACs for marketing (especially corporate identity building) purposes.
Brand communities on the internet
Authors: Sicilia Maria , Palazón Mariola
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to provide a better understanding of the virtual communities' phenomenon.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reports a case study. It explains one of the most successful online strategies developed by a global brand, Coca‐Cola, in Spain.

Findings

This study has shown that a web site can act as a marketing tool to develop a group of loyal consumers around the brand. The strength of the Spanish strategy relies on the creation of a virtual community, which provides functional, social, and experiential values.

Originality/value

The paper analyses the evolution from off‐line communities to virtual communities. A uses and gratification approach is used to explain consumer participation in virtual communities. The paper offers some useful guidelines for the creation and maintenance of a virtual community.
“ … it's a general meeting, it's not for us … ”
Authors: Yeomans Liz
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the relationship between internal communication and organizational learning from an interpretive perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a review of the internal communication and organizational learning literature, an exploratory phenomenological methodology was designed to capture the “essences” of experiences relating to “communication” and “learning” among employees within a UK healthcare organization with an aspiration of becoming a “learning organization.” Transcripts of interviews were analyzed, coded thematically and the essences of experiences collectively synthesized into one description.

Findings

The paper concludes that internal communication may contribute to the development of organizational learning through sense‐making processes. For the participants in this study, these processes were personal letters and memos, line management interactions and interactions with other colleagues. “Learning” was associated with the acquisition of knowledge through day‐to‐day interactions, self‐development and studying. However, some sense‐making activities designed to engage employees in organizational change were less relevant to participants.

Practical implications

The research highlights the need for internal communication strategies that match meanings to context, based upon research that recognises the social and culturally diverse nature of organizations; the interactions and identities of occupational groups; and how these groups in turn construct and reproduce their social world through discursive practices.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates the relevance of interpretive approaches to corporate communication research that gives prominence to the everyday, subjective experiences, perceptions and feelings of organizational members.
Speaking of change: three communication approaches in studies of organizational change
Authors: Johansson Catrin , Heide Mats
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of the present review of communication approaches to organizational change is to identify and further develop the range of perspectives available in the literature and to present a framework on communication and change that could underpin future research.

Design/methodology/approach

Research on communication, narratives, stories and discourse, which have mapped new terrain in the study of organizational change, is reviewed and discussed.

Findings

The authors conclude that despite the vast academic and popular change literature, communication approaches to change still remain underdeveloped and communication scholars are, with few exceptions, remarkably absent in the field. Three challenges for the future are proposed, that researchers of communication and organizational change need to consider.

Originality/value

This paper provides a comprehensive literature review in the field of communication during organizational change. By integrating these studies in a new framework of communication as tool, process and social transformation, the authors offer a new foundation for theory building in this area. Further development and integration of these three different communication approaches is suggested, which would offer better conditions for research and practice to embrace the complex processes of organizational change.
Surviving organizational change: how management communication helps balance mixed feelings
Authors: Nelissen Paul , van Selm Martine
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This study aims to examine the correspondence between the use and evaluation of management communication on the one hand and positive and negative responses to a planned organizational change on the other hand.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted among employees of a Dutch branch of a large international organization which had survived a recent planned organizational change. In a survey, respondents were asked to report on their opinions about the organizational change at the time of the study, and retrospectively report on their opinions about the organizational change at the introduction of the organizational change.

Findings

It was found that positive responses to the planned organizational change increased and negative responses decreased in the due course of the organizational change. In addition, survivors were ambivalent in their attitude towards the organizational change, as positive responses existed next to negative ones. With respect to the role of management communication it was found that satisfaction with management communication is most strongly related to responses to the organizational change as survivors who are satisfied with management communication score high on positive responses and low on negative responses.

Research limitations/implications

The study has methodological limitations as it employs a one point in time measurement.

Practical implications

This paper is a source for practitioners in the field of management communication as the results may guide them in focusing on maximizing employee satisfaction with management communication as this communication component is most strongly related to response to the organizational change.

Originality/value

This paper provides empirical evidence of the value of management communication for survivors of organizational change processes.
A communication model of employee cynicism toward organizational change
Authors: Qian Yuxia , Daniels Tom D.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The study was designed to generate and test a model of employee cynicism toward organizational change from the communication perspective in a higher education institution.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the theoretical framework of social information processing (SIP), the study investigated the communication processes in the social context, which contributed to employee cynicism toward organizational change in the higher education setting. Path analysis was used to test the overall model fit.

Findings

The findings suggest that the three variables, perceived quality of information, cynicism of colleagues, and trust in the administration, predict change‐specific cynicism, which, in turn, lead to intention to resist change.

Research limitations/implications

As an initial attempt to explain employee cynicism toward organizational change in higher education settings, this model inevitably has loose ends. Further research is needed to expand the model from a communication perspective.

Practical implications

The research provided administrators with strategies and advices to cope with employee cynicism during organizational change.

Originality/value

This is the first known study to examine the concept of change‐specific cynicism within the theoretical framework of SIP. It points to a new direction which warrants the attention of communication scholars.
The seven communication reasons organizations do not change
Authors: Salem Philip
Published: August 2008

Purpose

Management attempts to transform organizations seldom succeed. This paper aims to describe seven common communication behaviors accompanying those failures.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper integrates material from three recent communication and organizational change studies, recent change theory, and complexity theory to model communication and change processes. All the studies employed traditional ethnographic methods, but one study employed quantitative methods as well as part of a mixed methods design.

Findings

Data describe six common communication behaviors during failed organizational change efforts. The combination of these behaviors suggests a seventh pattern. Communication during failed efforts seldom involves enough communication opportunities, lacks any sense of emerging identification, engenders distrust, and lacks productive humor. These problems are compounded by conflict avoidance and a lack of interpersonal communication skills. Members decouple the system, sheltering the existing culture until it is safe for it to reemerge later.

Research limitations/implications

The integration of data from three studies with theory improves transferability, but more studies would improve the veracity of the results. Only one study employed quantitative data along with qualitative data. Organizational change research may need to employ mixed methods and augment results through simulations to understand time‐dependent processes.

Practical implications

Results point to the limitations of management and impersonal communication. Change is a messy business, and transformational change will not happen unless management is willing to tolerate the ambiguity and the sense that emerges in communication. Results also point to the importance of communication skills in hiring practices.

Originality/value

Few essays integrate results from several studies. This paper challenges accepted management practices and extends the growing understanding of the limits of individuals to control social change; it also adds to the literature on and application of complexity theory.
Communication, sensemaking and change as a chord of three strands
Authors: van Vuuren Mark , Elving Wim J.L.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The paper aims to propose practical and theoretical consequences of emerging lines of thinking about communication during organizational change.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper suggests several benefits that a sensemaking approach may have in enhancing organizational success in general and the effectiveness of communicating change in particular.

Findings

It is suggested that the negative effects of a myopic view on information provision during change distracts from the importance of other communication activities. The fact that changes often fail to meet the expected goals can be partly attributed to the misbalance between information and communication. For practical purposes, it is suggested to stress the importance of energy in organizations and work meaning. Future research could benefit from a focus on framing. Three topics that relate to framing, i.e. conflicts, informal communication, and storytelling are suggested.

Practical implications

Suggestions for practice how to organize communication during organizational change and which topics to address are offered.

Originality/value

Several insights that emerge from new lines of thought in literature on organizational behaviour, organizational communication and change are used in this paper to give practical advise to change agents, and suggest directions for future research.
Examining supply chain networks using V‐A‐T material flow analysis
Authors: Lockamy Archie
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of V‐A‐T analysis in the management of supply chain networks.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a conceptual overview of V‐A‐T analysis as a procedure for categorizing manufacturing facilities, and explores the use of V‐A‐T analysis as a technique for the management of supply chain networks.

Findings

There are several challenges to the effective management of supply chain networks. However, organizations can overcome these challenges by understanding the nature of network control points as revealed through the application of V‐A‐T analysis on their supply chains.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is conceptual in nature and must be validated through empirical research studies.

Practical Implications

The concepts presented can be used by supply chain professionals to increase the likelihood of effective supply chain management within their organizations, and by supply chain researchers to further explore the use of V‐A‐T analysis as a tool for examining supply chain networks.

Originality/value

The paper makes a start in filling a void in the literature concerning how V‐A‐T analysis can be used as a tool to facilitate improved supply chain management.
Determinants of manufacturers' selection of distributors
Authors: Lin Jiun‐Sheng Chris , Chen Ching‐Rung
Published: August 2008

Purpose

How manufacturers select distributors who can contribute to distribution efficiency has become an important issue for channel management. While the last decade has seen large shifts in manufacturing and distribution practices, there has been very little empirical research investigating manufacturers' selection of distributors. This study attempts to fill this research gap by proposing and empirically evaluating factors important to manufacturers when selecting distributors.

Design/methodology/approach

The study developed a research framework for manufacturers' selection of distributors. Four key constructs were derived from marketing, supply chain, and logistics literature to investigate their influences on distributor selection: firm infrastructure, marketing capabilities, relationship intensity, and logistics capabilities. Four hypotheses were developed and tested with a sample of Taiwanese information technology (IT) manufacturers.

Findings

Multi‐item scales were developed and validated through standard psychometric procedures. Hypotheses were tested with ordinary least squares regression analysis. The four constructs were found to have positive influences on manufacturers' selection of distributors.

Originality/value

The paper represents the first study to propose and empirically test a research model examining factors affecting manufacturers' selection of distributors. Distributors can strengthen their competitive advantage by improving their competence in the four dimensions.
Reason has no sell‐by date
Authors: Gerber Adam , Godet Michel
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to respond to Richard Slaughter's essay on “Is America the ‘land of the future’?”

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on a variety of literature and the authors' opinions to present the case in favour of Enlightenment values.

Findings

The paper finds that the USA is perhaps the most faithful political expression of the eighteenth century Enlightenment whose values have since been assimilated throughout the world. Enlightenment values are not beyond criticism, but that does not justify uninformed anti‐American attitudes.

Originality/value

The paper provides a counter‐balance to Slaughter's essay by arguing for a reasoned debate on the issues.
American culture, corporate culture, and the transformation of business practice: the role of social foresight in a restorative economy
Authors: Morgan Dennis
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the role of American culture in social foresight as practiced by American futurists. It also seeks to describe how American culture has been expropriated by corporate culture, which is global. Finally, the paper seeks to depict various scenarios of the future of the USA and to consider an imperative of the futurist to reform the role of the professional futurist consultant in the capacity of social foresight that sets as its chief aim the transformation of business practice towards a sustainable, restorative economy.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a critical approach to American and corporate culture by exposing major assumptions behind business ideology and practice. It also applies the same critical approach to the way futures has been practiced within the capitalist paradigm during the past 50 years. It is a civilisational critique that also points towards an integral solution for sustainable, restorative business practice.

Findings

It was found that superficial efforts at sustainable solutions will not be enough to manage the impending collapse of industrial civilization. What is required is a wholesale transformation that is indicative of a paradigm shift towards a natural capitalism in which business practice is totally guided by sustainability and restoration of the natural systems rather than mere, narrowly focused “bottom line” ideology. It finds that social foresight can play a positive role in directing this transition and crisis of humanity.

Originality/value

Hopefully, the paper will contribute to the progress of futures towards a more specifically focused matter of social foresight. It should help futurists to recognize their leadership role, which should guide business entrepreneurs and social innovation towards the realization of sustainability and restoration. At the same time, it emphasizes the need to embrace rather than shun activism, to link with other progressives who seek to redefine the relationship of government and business through democratic means. The paper emphasizes the need to protect and restore a future that is being systematically undermined and destroyed.
The United States as a land of the future1
Authors: Richardson Jacques , Robinson Berol
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how the USA can maintain a position of leadership in a world of growing competition and constraints.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper points out elements of both strength and correctable weakness of the USA in the foreseeable future.

Findings

It was found that today's shortcomings are not overlooked, while the conditions of future national self‐expression and external rivalry are considered in a world becoming smaller and more closely interacting by the day.

Originality/value

The thrust of the essay is that of constructive self‐criticism, sorely needed at a moment of serious self‐doubt among the US population.
Necklace or noose? Challenges to American hegemony
Authors: Burman Stephen
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider the most likely future for the American empire. It is a speculative essay that takes as its starting‐point Slaughter's argument that the American Empire is unsustainable.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper shows that at this moment of flux in international affairs America enjoys unprecedented power but is meeting growing opposition. After a review of how America came to be in its current position the argument develops along different lines, exploring the capacities of states that might challenge the USA and exploring the new networks between states and other agencies that exclude America.

Findings

The paper finds that, while these networks have become increasingly dense, they are as yet insufficiently coherent to challenge US hegemony. If the USA adopts a less aggressive approach to the management of globalization it can build a new international architecture that will adorn its hegemony and avoid the new networks becoming a noose that will strangle its power. The US reaction to the new web of interstate and non‐governmental relationships that exclude it, and are motivated to some extent by a desire to challenge its authority, has the potential to determine the longevity of American power and the future path of international affairs.

Originality/value

The paper provides a measured perspective to distinguish between the idea of America and the reality of its foreign policy.
Emerging human capital analytics for investment processes
Authors: Royal Carol , O'Donnell Loretta
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to respond to the increasing pressure on financial markets to more systematically value the intangible assets in listed firms.

Design/methodology/approach

Using qualitative research techniques on the trading floor of Merrill Lynch Investment Bank in Sydney and Hong Kong, four tools for human capital analysis have been developed by the authors.

Findings

These tools provide mechanisms for securities analysts to more systematically analyse the intangible aspects of publicly listed firms on global stock exchanges.

Research limitations/implications

Given the complex regulatory requirements on securities analysts in many developed economies, these tools are predicated on analysts using publicly available information.

Originality/value

Specifically, the tools use a systems approach and can assist securities analysts to be more systematic in their analysis of management quality of publicly listed companies, as it is manifested in a firm's management systems.
Managing IC by antennae: evidence from cultural organizations
Authors: Donato Fabio
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to point out whether Italian cultural organizations recognize, measure and manage intellectual capital (IC).

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical research on the subject of (IC) in cultural organizations has been carried out. Interviews have been realized with directors of Italian cultural organizations and a questionnaire submitted to a sample of 100 individuals involved in the Italian cultural sector.

Findings

Italian cultural organizations recognize the importance of IC, but they do not measure IC. Nonetheless, they claim to manage IC, even if they do not measure it through numerical indicators. A non‐metric approach for the visualization of IC has been rejected, as well. Controversial and ambiguous statements are discussed.

Research limitations/implications

There is a gap between the directors' statements and their organizational behaviour. Most of them declare the need for IC numerical indicators, but only in one case is an overall IC performance measurement system in place.

Practical implications

The usefulness of the paper is that practitioners may reflect on the obstacles to the implementation of an IC measurement system in cultural organizations.

Originality/value

Cultural organizations are “unknown terrain” in terms of research into IC and may therefore suggest an innovative path for the analysis of IC. In this context, the paper discusses the need for either a metric approach or a non‐metric approach for the representation – and then the management – of IC.
Intra‐industry variety as an outcome of intellectual capital
Authors: Peltoniemi Mirva
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to argue that the kind of variety among firms that is a condition for economic progress is fundamentally based on the intellectual capital (IC) of each firm.

Design/methodology/approach

The theoretical analysis is illustrated with case study findings from the Finnish games industry.

Findings

The firm heterogeneity essential for the development of a knowledge‐intensive industry cannot be accurately captured with the concepts “routines” or “dynamic capabilities”. Instead, IC should be adopted for this purpose as it emphasises the skills, actions and determination of people and their interactions, thus capturing the uniqueness of each firm.

Research limitations/implications

Case study findings from other knowledge‐intensive industries would be needed to make the argument more general.

Originality/value

Papers approaching IC from the industry‐level have been scarce, likewise papers tying IC to the evolutionary theory of economic change.
The hidden face of intellectual capital: social policies
Authors: Tomé Eduardo
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the societal supply of intellectual capital (IC).

Design/methodology/approach

Conceptual analysis supported by statistical data.

Findings

The supply of IC is closely related to the existence of Welfare States (WS).

Research limitations/implications

A wider and deeper study should complement this one.

Practical implications

Politicians, Non‐Governmental Organizations and private organizations should understand that they can help the creation of the IC level they need in their countries and organizations, by supporting the creation of WS and social policies.

Originality/value

Social policies are neglected in the IC discussions, and this paper puts them at the core of the IC problematic, with wide and deep practical implications.
Further evidence on financial analysts' reaction to enterprise resource planning implementation announcements
Authors: Jennifer Ho Li‐Chin , Liu Chao‐Shin , Tsay Jeffrey
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to re‐examine the issue of financial analysts' reaction to enterprise resource planning (ERP) announcements by employing actual firm data and archival earnings forecast observations. As an extension of prior ERP studies, this paper also tests whether forecast revisions vary with the timing of adoption.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on 188 firms that announced ERP plans during the years 1993 through 2002, this paper investigates the financial analysts' reaction to ERP announcements by comparing their earnings forecasts issued immediately before and after the ERP announcement. To examine the effect of adoption timing, this paper partitions the sample into three groups: early (1993‐1997), middle (1998‐1999) and late (2000‐2002) adopters.

Findings

Results show that significantly positive revisions occur in longer term forecasts (i.e. three‐year‐ahead forecasts) but not in the shorter term predictions such as one‐ and two‐year‐ahead forecasts. In addition, there is some weak evidence that financial analysts react less positively to middle adopters than to early or late adopters. This finding could be attributed to the fact that many firms adopted ERP systems to work out the Y2K problems during the 1998‐1999 period.

Originality/value

The main finding confirms that financial analysts consider ERP implementations beneficial to the adopters in the long term. Companies contemplating ERP adoption should take this time horizon into account.
Timeliness, conservatism and financial transparent firms under the Greek accounting setting
Authors: Dimitropoulos Panagiotis E. , Asteriou Dimitrios
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper's aim is twofold: first, it seeks to examine the impact of financial transparency on the returns‐earnings relation and second, to test for the existence of conservative accounting between 1995 and 2004.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from a sample of 105 non‐financial firms listed at the Athens Stock Exchange and were analyzed using ordinary least square (OLS) regression models.

Findings

Results indicated that conservative accounting is existent in the Greek accounting setting, but weak evidence regarding earnings timeliness was found. Additionally, evidence was found showing that disclosure improves earnings informativeness for firms with low conservatism but not in the case of firms with high timeliness. Overall the findings suggest that there are cases where better disclosure may not result on more informative stock prices.

Originality/value

The present study adds to the existing literature by examining the issue of timeliness and conservatism within the context of an emerging capital market like Greece. To the authors' knowledge, this the first study which considers the aforementioned issues in the Greek accounting setting.
The impact of thin trading on day‐of‐the‐week effect
Authors: Al‐Khazali Osamah M.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of thin trading on the day‐of‐the‐week effect in the emerging equity markets of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Researchers have stated that emerging markets are typically characterized by low liquidity, thin trading and possibly less well‐informed investors with access to unreliable information and considerable volatility. It is well known that thin trading can affect the results of empirical studies on patterns of equity markets by introducing a serious bias into the results.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applies a stochastic dominance approach to detect the day‐of‐the‐week effect. The reason for utilizing this approach is that the parametric tests are not strictly appropriate for assets with non‐normally distributed returns. In fact, stochastic dominance is a useful tool for making comparisons among distributions without relying on parametric assumptions.

Findings

The findings indicate that there is day‐of‐the‐week effect in published daily prices, while daily effect vanishes when data are corrected to remove any measurement bias arising from thin trading. The stochastic dominance results show that the day‐of‐the‐week effect in the UAE equity markets is not present when we correct raw data for thin and infrequent trading.

Originality/value

There has been no research in the literature testing the day‐of‐the‐week effect on the emerging financial markets in the UAE. The study provides empirical evidence on their degree of market efficiency. If the day‐of‐the‐week effect exists, this means that the Abu Dhabi Securities Markets and the Dubai Financial Markets are inefficient. These results will help investors to develop a good investment strategy
Where the dirty surplus accounting flows are?
Authors: González Sánchez Mariano , Mateos Ansótegui Ana I. , Falcó Montesinos Antonio
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to locate the specific items from the financial statements that are responsible for the dirty surplus accounting flows and how important they are in its explanation.

Design/methodology/approach

It is generally accepted that some country accounting rules allow some operations that can generate dirty surplus in the annual statements. Working on this basis, it is necessary to consider information at the same time across firms and across time, using panel data econometric techniques. A static panel data estimated by generalized least squares can be used to correct correlations between firms and account numbers or a dynamic panel data estimated by GMM‐SYS with instrumental variables to avoid endogeneity.

Findings

Results show that in a static panel data model, the income statement items have a lower explicative power of balance sheet items variations, having higher explicative power a dynamic one (AR(1)). Results show that, specifically, financial assets, debts and book value capture the dirty accounting flows.

Research limitations/ implications

Working in differences reduces the explicative power of the income statement and working in levels could be inconsistent if it is impossible to contrast, first, stationary in data due to their shortage. It is suggested that future works increase the frequency of the observed data, and contrast the cointegration as a way to check the accounting relationships.

Practical implications

It is important to evaluate whether the income statement can (or cannot) explain the financial position of a firm. Also it is important to know where dirty surplus accounting flows are located can be useful for firms' valuation.

Originality/value

The econometric technique proposed in the paper deals with the main limitation in accounting research: information is bigger in cross‐section (number of firms) than in time series (economic periods).