bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Audit pricing and product differentiation in small private firms: evidence from Thailand
Authors: Zaman Mahbub , Chayasombat Jaravee
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– There is limited evidence on how differences in economic environments affect the demand for and supply of auditing. Research on audit pricing has mainly focused on large client markets in developed economies; in contrast, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the small client segment in the emerging economy of Thailand which offers a choice between auditors of two different qualities.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper is based on a random stratified sample of small clients in Thailand qualifying for audit exemption. The final sample consists of 1,950 firm-year observations for 2002-2006.

Findings

– The authors find evidence of product differentiation in the small client market, suggesting that small firms view certified public accountants as superior and pay a premium for their services. The authors also find that audit fees have a positive significant association with leverage, metropolitan location and client size. Audit risk and audit opinion are not, however, significantly associated with audit fees. Furthermore, the authors find no evidence that clients whose financial year ends in the auditors’ busy period pay significantly higher audit fees, and auditors engage in low-balling on initial engagements to attract audit clients.

Research limitations/implications

– The research shows the importance of exploring actual decisions regarding audit practice and audit pricing in different institutional and organizational settings.

Originality/value

– The paper extends the literature from developed economies and large/listed market setting to the emerging economy and small client market setting. As far as the authors are aware, this is the first paper to examine audit pricing in the small client market in an emerging economy.
Ownership structure and innovative behavior
Authors: Omri Waleed , Becuwe Audrey , Mathe Jean-Charles
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to expand understanding of the determinants of adoption innovation in SME context by empirically examining the effect of corporate governance structure on manager's innovative behavior. This was done through exploring whether ownership structure affects managers’ innovative behavior and if so, whether the effect is mediated by board composition.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using a sample of 197 managers within Tunisian SMEs, hypotheses were tested through structural equation modeling and especially using covariance structure analysis (or LISREL method) with Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) 18.0 software and maximum likelihood estimation method.

Findings

– The paper found that ownership structure is significantly associated with manager's innovative behavior. Further analysis arising from introducing outsiders’ representation on the board as a mediating variable reveals that the relationship is fully mediated by this variable.

Practical implications

– This study gives insights to policy makers who are interested in improving board efficacy in emerging economies such as Tunisia. Indeed, the study results should encourage nominating committees and seniors to reflect warily on an effective structuring of board composition by ensuring a certain priority for innovation activities in the firm.

Originality/value

– This paper extends the understanding of how ownership structure shapes strategic decisions such as innovation in emerging markets. In addition, it fills the literature void by introducing the board composition as a mediating concept between ownership structure and innovative behavior, which was neglected by previous researchers.
Clownpants in the classroom? Hypnotizing chickens? Measurement of structural distraction in visual presentation documents
Authors: Kearns Jodi , C. O’Connor Brian
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to consider the structure of entertainment media as a possible foundation for measuring aspects of visual presentations that could enhance or interfere with audience engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

– Factors that might account for the large number of negative comments about visual presentations are identified and a method of calculating entropy measurements for form attributes of presentations is introduced.

Findings

– Entropy calculations provide a numerical measure of structural elements that account for engagement or distraction. A set of peer evaluations of educational presentations is used to calibrate a distraction factor algorithm.

Research limitations/implications

– Distraction as a consequence of document structure might enable engineering of a balance between document structure and content in document formats not yet explored by mechanical entropy calculations.

Practical implications

– Mathematical calculations of structural elements (form attributes) support what multimedia presentation viewers have been observing for years (documented in numerous journals and newspapers from education to business to military fields): engineering PowerPoint presentations necessarily involves attention to engagement vs distraction in the audience.

Originality/value

– Exploring aspects of document structures has been demonstrated to calibrate viewer perceptions to calculated measurements in moving image documents, and now in images and multimedia presentation documents extending Claude Shannon's early work communication channels and James Watt and Robert Krull's work on television programming.
An information meta-state approach to documentation
Authors: X. Faucher Kane
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to bring both Simondonian and Deleuzian insights to bear upon the nature of documents and documentation by viewing them as non-representationalist, and as products of transduction and reticulation that render documents assemblages that are in constant negotiation with an environment as instances of a perpetually renewing problematic.

Design/methodology/approach

– Simondon's work on metastability and transduction can offer particular insights into how the author views documents in terms of their materiality, signification, and possibly to move beyond the phenomenological bias in the treatment of documents.

Findings

– In understanding or describing the process of documentation as a reticulation or unfolding, the author also comes to view the document as an assemblage in perpetual negotiation. This paper adapts Deleuze and Guattari's articulation framework of expression-signification and provides a bit of groundwork towards two registers of information (first and second order) according to the preindividual process of that allows for the individuation of documents.

Originality/value

– This paper makes an original contribution to understanding the process of documentation and the product of documents in a more fluid, interdynamic context by shifting or displacing the traditional view of information.
The impact of mobile tablet devices on human information behaviour
Authors: Burford Sally , Park Sora
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– Mobile computing devices are a significant access point for information activities. Theories and models of human information behaviour have developed over several decades but have not considered the role of the user's computing device in digital information interactions. The purpose of this paper is to explore the information behaviours of young adults when they are given unlimited access to mobile tablet devices.

Design/methodology/approach

– As information tasks, behaviours and communities shift into digital environments, a researcher of these phenomena is required to mirror that movement with techniques that allow a full exploration of human behaviour and interaction in the online world. Following Kozinets (2009), “netnography” (ethnography in online communities) is applied in this study and all data are collected online from within a community of iPad users, established for the research purpose.

Findings

– This study reveals that access to mobile tablet devices creates significant shifts in the behaviours of young adults whose lives are immersed in digital information. Mobile tablet devices establish the potential for constant access to digital information and that opportunity is grasped by the participants in this research. Extensive use of mobile device applications or “apps” establishes a more selected and restricted view of information than that encountered in the open and expansive World Wide Web.

Originality/value

– This paper invites extension to human information behaviour theories and models to include a consideration of computing access device and of new mobility and constancy of access – all of which changes the circumstances and behaviour of the information actor.
The National Library of Singapore: creating a sense of community
Authors: Lin Hui , Luyt Brendan
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of the National Library of Singapore in the life of Singaporeans.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper uses historical research. McMillan and Chavis’ theory of sense of community is adopted as the analytical framework to delineate the role of the National Library of Singapore.

Findings

– The paper finds that the National Library of Singapore plays an important role in fostering a sense of community among Singaporeans. The transformation of the library to a truly public institution in 1950s effectively enlarged its boundaries. Upon joining the community of the library, local Singaporeans underwent a bidirectional process of influencing and being influenced. The library made strenuous efforts to meet the needs of Singaporeans in myriad ways, resulting in reinforcement of the sense of community among Singaporeans. A shared emotional connection in the community was engendered as a result of the frequent contact and high-quality interaction.

Originality/value

– While being influenced by various social and cultural frameworks under which it operates, the library actively takes part in and influences the society. The study of the library in the life of the users via the lens of sense of community provides a perspective to further understand the potential and power of libraries and how libraries can positively contribute to the society at large.
Review on IT adoption: insights from recent technologies
Authors: Gangwar Hemlata , Date Hema , Raoot A.D.
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on information technology adoption in organizations to understand the need of integrated models for technology adoption. It further makes an attempt to identify key parameters to integrate technology acceptance model (TAM) and technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework for firm level technology adoption. This integration is intended to improve predictive power of resulting model.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research papers are accessed from the popular databases from 2000 to 2012. The selected papers have addressed technology adoption in context of recent technologies such as e-commerce, ERP, RFID, EDI and knowledge management, etc. The paper attempts to review the studies based on TAM model and TOE framework to identify relevant set of variables for the adoption of these technologies in organizations.

Findings

– TAM and its extended versions have high capability to explain the technology adoption while the significance of TOE framework is similarly recognized in explaining technology adoption. This review presents a holistic picture of a set of variables which can be used in the adoption of similar technologies in future. Further, the study has advocated the integration of TAM model and TOE framework to improve their explanatory power in technology adoption. The identified set of variables of TAM model and TOE framework can be used to integrate the two. Guidelines for integrating the two are also explained.

Research limitations/implications

– This study provides a platform for studying adoption of similar technologies using integration of TAM and TOE.

Practical implications

– The researchers and managers can use the set of variables identified for adoption of similar technologies in organizations.

Originality/value

– The review presents a set of variables which can be used to study adoption of similar technologies in future.
Developing a multi stage predicting system for corporate credit rating in emerging markets
Authors: Al-Najjar Dana , Al-Najjar Basil
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to build a neural network system to predict corporate credit rating in Jordanian non-financial firms, using 19 different financial characteristics such as profitability, leverage ratios, liquidity, bankruptcy, and sales performance.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study adopts two neural network techniques namely, Kohonen network and Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN). Our sample includes the manufacturing firms that have provided the required financial information for the period from 2000 to 2007.

Findings

– BPNN has successfully predicted firms with high performance gaining A rating and the bankrupted firms with D rating for the period from 2005 to 2007.

Originality/value

– This study is the first study to investigate credit rating in Jordan using Neural Network technique.
Disintermediation in the apparel supply chain
Authors: Oxborrow Lynn , Brindley Clare
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The apparel industry has acted as a microcosm of global industrial change, exemplified by changes in structure, relationships and technologies. The purpose of this paper is to identify the risk drivers, the changing supply strategies and the relationships suppliers are developing or exiting from, notably because of the increasing power of retailers in the fast fashion sector.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research adopts a qualitative, case study methodology of the Leicester (UK) based suppliers who operate in the fast fashion market.

Findings

– Rich narrative data shows that the apparel supply chain has changed. The small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) have had more success in managing the upstream rather than the downstream, supported by their move towards a more design driven system. This willingness has been motivated by their wish to “own” the relationship with the buyer but this has not always resulted in greater power or returns and relationships have continued to be fractious.

Research limitations/implications

– There is a lack of research on supply chains, especially, apparel supply chains that focus on reality rather than best practice. This paper addresses the power relationships that are exerted in the supply chain and the cultural aspects that influence them, which have hitherto lacked academic focus.

Originality/value

– Adds empirical data to the theoretical work in the area, specifically, the shape of SME supply chains and the nature of risk in supplying fast fashion. It identifies the unequal power base of the supply chain and SMEs’ strategies for coping, or not, to some extent dependent on their culture.
Reluctant managers: Methodist ministers and management
Authors: Guerrier Yvonne , Bond Christopher
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a research from a study undertaken with Methodist circuit ministers in the UK and those that work closely with them. It considers in what way and to what extent ministers think of themselves as managers and to what extent and in what way they are expected to perform as managers by those they work with.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research that informs this paper was gathered through a qualitative study which involved in-depth semi-structured interviews with 22 participants both Methodist ministers and those who worked closely with them.

Findings

– The study shows that, whilst those who work with ministers typically do not problematize management and expect managers to be able to perform management tasks, the ministers themselves are ambiguous about or rejecting of the discourse of management.

Research limitations/implications

– The relatively small sample size limits generalizability.

Practical implications

– The study challenges trainers in this context and in other contexts where the “language” of management is contested or rejected to find a discourse of management which is acceptable.

Originality/value

– The study contributes to the small body of literature on management and the development of managers within religious organizations. It contributes to the literature on managerial identity and the importance of management language in becoming a manager by presenting an example where this language and identity is contested or rejected.
Motivating managers to develop their moral curiosity
Authors: E. Sekerka Leslie , N. Godwin Lindsey , Charnigo Richard
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to focus on an inward drive and commitment toward ethical discovery, which the authors refer to as the competency of moral curiosity. When directed toward moral decision making, the authors believe this ability can help managers effectively respond to their ethical challenges and contribute to an organizational environment that supports ethical performance.

Design/methodology/approach

– After presenting insights from the literature on curiosity and establishing its relevance, the authors describe a specific experiential learning tool designed to cultivate moral curiosity in organizational settings. The authors conduct a field study using this process to explore how moral curiosity can be strengthened through experiential practice.

Findings

– Results from the field study suggest that engagement in balanced experiential inquiry, a process that asks managers to reflect on their salient ethical dilemmas and then engage in both individual and collective meaning making, positively influenced participants’ curiosity toward moral decision making.

Research limitations/implications

– Limitations include challenges inherent to the field-study design, including lack of a control group and limited ability to predict long-term impacts of the intervention. Despite these concerns, the study has useful implications for managerial training and development. In particular, providing safe spaces where managers can discuss their ethical dilemmas is an important element of supporting their development into morally curious leaders who are interested in pursuing business ethics.

Practical implications

– Findings suggest that providing safe spaces where managers can discuss their ethical dilemmas is an important element of supporting their development into morally curious leaders who are interested in pursuing business ethics.

Originality/value

– The paper contributes to the research literature on ethics training and education for managers. The authors introduce the construct of moral curiosity as a competency that can be developed through experiential practice in organizational settings.
Walking with intangibles: experiencing organisational learning
Authors: Patterson Jennifer
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to apply experiential learning theory to discuss a UK project-based knowledge transfer partnership (KPT) project between a university and a third sector organisation offering outdoor and experiential education for around 32,000 inner city children annually. It uses different models to critically consider how different experiential paradigms or world-views support different understandings of project experience in the real world. It examines the nature of experiential learning through project experience, applying a phenomenological inquiry to reflect on how experiential learning is valued academically and culturally. It considers environmental influences to balance the relational practices that represent intangible experiential elements in partnership work.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using a postmodern qualitative methodology, this paper applies different frameworks to narrative, a synthesis of data from the project, an interview, literature and reflection to present a critical consideration of experiential learning constructs. It foregrounds the academic value of ethical subjectivity and as such also presents a reflective Feminist auto-ethnographic praxis grounded in the project.

Findings

– Experiential learning is critical for human inquiry. Valuing experiential learning methods differently offers ethical applications for facilitating project work and partner relationships.

Practical implications

– Applied experiential learning theory supports organisational understanding in project work. An ethics of subjectivity places equal value on expertise in its own environment leading to a facilitated rather than a hierarchical transfer of knowledge, critical for project success. The project is financially successful and has wide reaching social and environmental impact. Thinking differently about provision means a substantial number of children beyond those physically visiting the organisation will benefit through teacher training.

Social implications

– The UK government no longer funds outdoor education. This paper demonstrates the importance of fostering environmental relationships for human identity, to support education for sustainable development and wider societal and environmental understandings.

Originality/value

– Developed through project process this is a new values-based, environmental, organisational and educational transformational approach to partnership. It is useful in education, working in partnership with businesses and ESD.
Environmental sustainability in logistics and freight transportation
Authors: Marchet Gino , Melacini Marco , Perotti Sara
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to categorise the research on environmental sustainability in logistics and transportation on the basis of the main themes and study methods and proposes directions for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

– The review is based on 72 papers published from 1994 to 2011 in international peer-reviewed journals. The academic papers were analysed and categorised according to both their defining characteristics (i.e. year of publication, journal title, regions addressed, and research methodology adopted) and the themes tackled. Five key themes were examined: sustainability initiatives, reasons for adoption, benefits achieved following adoption, critical issues and barriers to adoption, and the evaluation and measurement of environmental initiatives.

Findings

– While many studies have addressed the issue of environmental sustainability within the supply chain as a whole, papers focusing specifically on environmental sustainability within logistics and freight transportation are fewer and relatively more recent. Although researchers have started to examine the decision-making process involved in environmental sustainability adoption in recent years, many themes, such as sustainability evaluation and measurement, and the level of adoption of sustainability initiatives in the context of the third-party logistics (3PL) industry are under-represented in the literature. As far as the methodology is concerned, our review revealed that many articles are either conceptual papers or empirical studies (i.e. mostly based on surveys or case studies), while simulation and analytical modelling have rarely been addressed.

Research limitations/implications

– While efforts were made to be all-inclusive, some research efforts may have inadvertently been omitted. However, the authors believe that this review provides an accurate representation of the body of research on environmental sustainability in logistics and transportation published during the specified timeframe, and that the resulting assessments are reliable.

Originality/value

– The paper offers a guide to the previous research on this topic and identifies the most important issues that need to be addressed in future research.
Current market development of energy performance contracting
Authors: Lee Pan , Ip Lam Tsun , Jye Dzeng Ren
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current market development of Energy Performance Contracting (EnPC) in Hong Kong and Taiwan, focussing on four key aspects: first, the potential building energy retrofits as an investment for future savings; second, the motivations for building owners toward the use of EnPC; third, the reasons for building owners not using EnPC; and fourth, the different approaches of Hong Kong and Taiwanese governments toward the promotion of EnPC.

Design/methodology/approach

– A dual-questionnaire survey was conducted both in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where the same set of questionnaire was sent to the key personnel of the energy services companies (ESCOs) in both regions as identified from the latest member lists of representative trade associations, supplement with 11 structured interviews.

Findings

– Apart from explainable differences, the results show the top rankings by the respondents of Hong Kong and Taiwan as follows: “Potential retrofit works” including lighting replacement with efficient fluorescent and light emitting diode lamps and improvement of air-con system. “EnPC Motivations” including owners’ lack of upfront capital and use of energy savings for other purposes may yield better returns; ESCOs’ provision of turnkey services. “Reasons not considering EnPC” including worry about its complexities; lack of familiarity with EnPC and long payback periods. As for promotional efforts for EnPC, the Taiwan government has taken more initiatives to foster its use both technically and financially.

Practical implications

– This study identifies market-related motivators and deterrents as experienced by ESCOs in implementing EnPC projects in two developed Asian economies.

Originality/value

– This study provides insightful information for the stakeholders about the latest market development of EnPC in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Do tenants pay energy efficiency rent premiums?
Authors: Gabe Jeremy , Rehm Michael
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– Using a unique data set, the purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that tenants pay increased accommodation costs for space in energy efficient office property.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors obtain lease contracts for office space in central Sydney, Australia. Empirical data on annual gross face rent and contract terms from each lease are combined with building characteristics and measured energy performance at the time of lease. Hedonic regression isolates the effect of energy performance on gross face rent.

Findings

– No significant price differentials emerged as a function of energy performance, leading to a conclusion that tenants are not willing to pay for energy efficiency. Six factors – tenancy floor level, submarket location, proximity to transit, market fixed effects, building quality specification and, surprisingly, outgoings liability – consistently explain over 85 per cent of gross face rent prices in Sydney.

Research limitations/implications

– Rent premiums from an asset owner's perspective could emerge as a result of occupancy premiums, market timing or agent bias combined with statistically insignificant rental price differentials.

Practical implications

– Tenants are likely indifferent to energy costs because the paper demonstrates that energy efficiency lacks financial salience and legal obligation in Sydney. This means that split incentives between owner and tenant are not a substantial barrier to energy efficiency investment in this market.

Originality/value

– This study is the first to thoroughly examine energy efficiency rent price premiums at the tenancy scale in response to disclosure of measured performance. It also presents evidence against the common assumption that rent premiums at the asset scale reflect tenant willingness to pay for energy efficiency.
Problematic customers and customer service employee retaliation
Authors: Kumar Madupalli Ramana , Poddar Amit
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of problematic customer behaviors on customer service employee (CSE) attitudes and subsequent retaliation toward customers.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data from five semi-structured in-depth interviews and a structured survey with 434 responses are used to develop and test the theoretical model. CSEs working in different call center companies serving American and European customers were approached using an established survey panel.

Findings

– Results using partial least squares methodology showed that problematic customer behaviors have significant effects on emotional dissonance and drain CSEs emotionally. Negative emotional reactions are positively impacted by higher emotional dissonance and exhaustion levels and, subsequently, lead to higher employees’ retaliation.

Research limitations/implications

– For implications, this study provides an understanding of the relationship between problematic customer behaviors and CSEs’ retaliation. Future researchers can utilize the findings to investigate employee retaliation in other marketing employees. Limitation was use of cross-sectional data.

Practical implications

– This paper provides call center managers with an understanding of the effects of problematic customer behaviors on employee attitudes. It discusses the need for understanding problematic customers and ways to manage the effects of such experiences. This research helps call center and customer service managers recognize the existence of problematic customer behaviors and retaliation of employees, and different levels of antecedents to such employee responses.

Originality/value

– The study investigates an under-researched phenomenon, problematic customer behaviors. It provides evidence of relationship between problematic customer behaviors and CSE retaliation. This study is one of the few to investigate employee retaliation in services.
The moderating roles of organizational justice on the relationship between emotional exhaustion and organizational loyalty in airline services
Authors: Hur Won-Moo , IL Park Sang , Moon Tae-Won
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper was to analyze the moderating role of organizational justice in the emotional exhaustion–organizational loyalty link. Emotional exhaustion resulting from an employee’s emotional labor usually leads to negative outcome such as organizational loyalty. Following conservation of resources theory and social exchange theory, the authors argue that the relationship between flight attendants’ emotional exhaustion and organizational loyalty is moderated by distributive, procedural and interpersonal justice.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data were gathered from a sample of 247 flight attendants in South Korea. Hierarchical moderated regression analysis was conducted to test the hypothesized relationship.

Findings

– The study results provide support for the moderating role of organizational justice such as distributive, procedural and interpersonal justice in the emotional exhaustion–organizational loyalty link.

Originality/value

– This study contributes to the extant literature by empirically validating the moderating effect and clarifying the role of three types of organizational justice simultaneously, which has not been addressed in previous research.
Cohesion and individual well-being of members in self-managed teams
Authors: Markova Gergana , T. Perry John
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate interactions among members of self-managed teams (SMTs). The authors were interested in how leader emergence, group potency, and opinion compliance were related to team cohesion and member well-being.

Design/methodology/approach

– In a simulated business environment, the authors surveyed 236 students working in 54 SMTs. Participants reported their interactions and experiences at several points of time during class. Individual responses about team cohesion and group potency were aggregated for the purposes of the analysis.

Findings

– The paper found that leader emergence was associated with reduced cohesion among members and diminished individual well-being. Group potency was modestly associated with better cohesion among team members. Participants of more cohesive groups reported higher individual well-being. Opposite to the predictions, opinion compliance was not significantly related to individual well-being.

Research limitations/implications

– Within the limitations of the study design, the results suggest that leader emergence may have adverse effect on team interactions. Future research should investigate the positive and negative implications of an emerging leader in SMTs.

Practical implications

– The broad application of SMTs in organizations necessitates a critical examination of team dynamics and individual experiences of members. Along with team productivity, managers should consider the effects of team interactions on employees’ well-being. Employees who are drawn to more discretionary work such as SMTs may not favor leader emergence.

Originality/value

– The findings suggest that leader emergence may have negative implications for other team members and the overall team functioning.
The relative information content of cash flows and earnings affected by their extremity
Authors: Mostafa Wael
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– Many studies examine the relative information content of earnings and cash flows from operations. Most studies find that earnings have higher information content than cash flows. An interesting question that follows is whether these findings hold after controlling the extremity of earnings and cash flows. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative information content of earnings and cash flows in the following four different cases: first, moderate earnings vs moderate cash flows, second, extreme earnings vs moderate cash flows, third, moderate earnings vs extreme cash flows, and fourth, extreme earnings vs extreme cash flows.

Design/methodology/approach

– To assess the relative information content of earnings and cash flows for each of the four cases mentioned above, the authors compare the explanatory power for regression of returns on unexpected earnings relative to regression of returns on unexpected cash flows. Therefore, the author compares the adjusted R2 of the model with earnings variables and the model with cash flows variables using Vuong's test, that examines the statistical significance of the difference between adjusted R2s of the rival (non-nested) models, and interpret a statistically higher adjusted R2 as an indicator for higher relative information content.

Findings

– The results show that: first, when both earnings and cash flows are moderate, earnings are more highly associated with stock market price changes than cash flows, second, when both earnings and cash flows are extreme, earnings also have greater relative information content than cash flows, third, when the extremity differs between earnings and cash flows, the moderate variable is superior to the other extreme variable in explaining security returns. These results suggest that earnings are definitely more value relevant than cash flows. However, only in cases when cash flows from operations are moderate and earnings are extreme, cash flows possess higher information content than earnings.

Practical implications

– The explanatory power for stock returns will be higher for earnings or cash flows depending on which is more highly persistent. This result reverses the conventional finding of the superiority of earnings over cash flows in explaining security returns.

Originality/value

– In contrast to previous studies, the authors control for the extremity of earnings and cash flows when evaluating the relative information content of earnings and cash flows from operations.
The restorative potential of senior centers
Authors: S. Rosenbaum Mark , C. Sweeney Jillian , Massiah Carolyn
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to help senior center managers and service researchers understand why some patrons experience health benefits, primarily fatigue relief, through senior center day services participation.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors conduct two separate studies at a senior center. The first study represents a grounded theory that offers an original, basic social process regarding mental restoration in senior centers. The second study draws on Attention Restoration Theory (ART) and employs survey methodology.

Findings

– Senior center patrons who perceive a center's restorative stimuli experience health benefits such as relief from four types of fatigue, enhanced quality of life, and improved physical and mental well-being.

Research limitations/implications

– The paper shows that senior centers may be relatively inexpensive, non-medical services that can help patrons relieve fatigue symptoms, which are often treated with pharmaceutical medication and medical visits. A limitation is the small sample size, which restricts generalizability.

Practical implications

– The results show that senior center managers may promote patron health by fostering service designs and programs that allow members to temporarily escape from everyday life and interact in an ever-changing environment that fosters a sense of belonging.

Social implications

– Senior center day services help patrons relieve fatigue, and its symptoms, in an affordable, non-medical, and non-pharmaceutical manner.

Originality/value

– The paper clarifies the role of senior centers in patrons’ lives by drawing on ART. Senior centers that can offer patrons restorative environments are likely to play a significant role in patrons’ physical, social, and mental well-being.
Mother, researcher, feminist, woman: reflections on “maternal status” as a researcher identity
Authors: Frost Nollaig , Holt Amanda
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to discuss the ways in which a researcher's maternal status as “mother” or “non-mother/child-free” is implicated in the research process.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper draws on the experiences as two feminist researchers who each independently researched experiences of motherhood: one as a “mother” and one as a “non-mother/child-free”. The paper draws on extracts from the original interview data and research diaries to reflect on how research topic, methodology and interview practice are shaped by a researcher's maternal status.

Findings

– The paper found that the own maternal identities shaped the research process in a number of ways: it directed the research topic and access to research participants; it drove the method of data collection and analysis and it shaped how the authors interacted with the participants in the interview setting, notably through the performance of maternal identity. The paper concludes by examining how pervasive discourses of “good motherhood” are both challenged and reproduced by a researcher's maternal status and question the implications of this for feminist research.

Originality/value

– While much has been written about researcher “positionality” and the impact of researcher identity on the research process, the ways in which a researcher's “maternal status” is implicated in the research process has been left largely unexamined. Yet, as this paper highlights, the interaction of the often-conflicting identities of “mother”, “researcher”, “feminist” and “woman” may shape the research process in subtle yet profound ways, raising important questions about the limits of what feminist social research about “motherhood” can achieve.
When you have a hammer in your hand, everything looks like a nail
Authors: Corroto Carla
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– Taking Community Design Centers (CDC) in the USA as case studies, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of a type of service learning increasingly found in colleges of architecture. Typically, the CDC is a model of architecture's civic engagement that makes claims to “give back” to under-served communities and enhance student learning with applied architectural design work.

Design/methodology/approach

– This project is part of a long-term engagement as participant observer and ethnographer in the field of architecture. Fieldwork in this investigation is presented as four case studies in separate and specific contexts.

Findings

– Initial findings suggest there are conflicting intentions and aspirations at work through service learning in architecture and its implementation calls into question who or what is served. The author argues architecture's epistemology, pedagogical structure, and ideology precludes effective civic engagement.

Originality/value

– The value of this research is the understanding of how those with power and resources are able to frame their work in low-income communities as service, even though there is little of worth given. It also demonstrates how stratification is reinforced through institutional arrangements in the USA.
An assessment of academic librarians’ instructional performance in Sri Lanka
Authors: Wickramanayake Lalith
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this research paper is to look at the overall instructional performance of academic librarians in Sri Lanka and shed light on the challenges and potential problems facing the implementation of quality information literacy (IL) in university libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data were collected by means of a questionnaire, which was sent to all professional academic librarians working in Sri Lankan university libraries. The results were analyzed using frequency and percentage distributions.

Findings

– The results reveal that the organizational structures of academic libraries do not clearly acknowledge the academic librarians’ role in library instruction. Though most academic libraries had formal instruction policies, the majority had not appointed instruction coordinators. Academic librarians were not satisfied with the assessment of their teaching by library administrators, even though most of them had teaching experience. Most of the user education programs which they practiced were not up-to-date. Academic librarians’ interest and positive attitudes with regard to library instruction, particularly for IL was the other significant factor explored by the study.

Research limitations/implications

– The study focuses only on academic librarians. The exclusion of other university stakeholders such as teaching staff, students, administrators and others from the study poses a significant limitation.

Originality/value

– The results of this study can be generalized to academic libraries in Sri Lanka and to academic libraries in other developing countries.
Stages of instruction: theatre, pedagogy and information literacy
Authors: Furay Julia
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this article is to offer a new perspective on library instruction by examining its relationship with various aspects of theatrical performance.

Design/methodology/approach

– The author uses personal observations as inspiration to examine what has been written in scholarly literature about various theatrical practices in instruction, applying the conversation to the library instruction context. Additionally, research from business and professional literature is also incorporated into the discussion. This literature review focuses on three general areas. First, a review on how to use tools and perspectives from the theater to help librarians prepare their lessons; second, an examination of the librarian as performer; and third, a discussion on how theater might help librarians deal with repetition and burnout.

Findings

– The literature on this subject has been extensive and includes an all-encompassing range of practical suggestions, research findings and theoretical analyses.

Research limitations/implications

– This article looks at this subject through the lens of scholarly literature. Empirical research on this topic is still needed.

Practical implications

– The author presents a number of theatrical practices librarians might consider incorporating into their instruction sessions.

Originality/value

– Much has been written about the connection between teaching and theatrical performance, but seldom from a librarian’s point of view. This article is of value to librarians looking to develop a memorable one-shot instruction session and those looking to examine the connection between teaching and performance.
Productivity in professional Spanish basketball
Authors: Brosed Lázaro Marta , Espitia-Escuer Manuel , I. García-Cebrián Lucía
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to evaluate the performance of Spanish first-division basketball teams, in terms of efficiency, by defining previously a productive function and obtaining also their potential output. Second, to examine the total factor productivity evolution having information from several years, which allows us to draw conclusions about the changes in the efficient frontier.

Design/methodology/approach

– In order to assess the efficiency level and the potential output of each team in the ACB competition, between the season 2008/2009 and 2011/2012, an input-oriented version with constant returns of data envelopment analysis is used. The total factor productivity evolution is studied by employing the values of the Malmquist index.

Findings

– The main conclusion is that the final position of the Spanish basketball teams depends on the efficiency and any technological progress is needed to maintain themselves on top of rank.

Practical implications

– Performing on the field efficiently is the best way to increase the profits by generating savings, which minimize costs. This analysis allows us to make a series of observations, comments and conclusions with regard to the management of the budgets and the relationship between efficiency and sports performance.

Originality/value

– The innovations provided by this paper are the use of a different methodology and a different analysis unit from the previous studies. Moreover, it focuses on European basketball, specifically the Spanish league, which is considered the most powerful league after NBA and whose connection with academic studies is quite limited to date. Finally it tries to incorporate the play-off stage, which is complicated but really interesting because of the contest design of these competitions.
Is human capital protection effective? The case of the Basque Country in Spanish football
Authors: Calero Jonatan , del Corral Julio
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether the protection that some football teams submit to the football players from its region has a positive effect on the quality of the football players from these regions. Particularly, it is analyzed the natural experiment offered by the Basque Country.

Design/methodology/approach

– First are evaluated the productivity of the regions and thereafter it is analyzed the efficiency of the regions using a production function approach. Lastly, it is evaluated the evolution of the human capital from the under-19 to the absolute national team to determine if the human capital protection of the Basque Country clubs is effective in improving the human capital.

Findings

– The main finding is that the protection's effect to the productive factors submitted into a competitive environment, exerts a positive influence on the development and growth of this factor, because the protection offers more possibilities of promotion and improving his productive capacity.

Originality/value

– To the best of knowledge there is no paper that has analyzed the effectiveness of a human capital protection policy.