bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
It's 2008: do you know where your talent is? Connecting people to what matters
Authors: Athey Robin
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to speak of the importance of connecting people in the workplace. It describes the types of connections that foster employee development and engagement, and proposes methods and tools that help strengthen these connections.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis in this report is based on industry and literature reviews and interviews with top executives. It builds on research carried out by Deloitte Research on talent management.

Findings

In today's competitive talent market, it is not sufficient for companies to follow a traditional “attract‐retain” talent management strategy. A “develop‐deploy‐connect” strategy seems to better engage and meet the demands of the workforce. Of these three components, “connect” is emerging as the most important but least understood.

Practical implications

Because value today is created largely out of interactions, people's connections are increasingly important and complex. Companies that do not invest thought and effort in understanding this amorphous topic will find themselves battling attrition. Conversely, meaningful connections help people build the networks and relationship skills that lead to professional effectiveness and organizational growth.

Originality/value

This article categorizes connections into three main types: people to people, to a sense of purpose, and to the resources they need. It presents leaders with a solid framework, research‐backed ideas and leading practices to connect people for performance.
The big exit: executive churn in the wake of M&As
Authors: Krug Jeffrey A. , Shill Walt
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a ten‐year study on the effects of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on target company executives and discusses the importance of managing leadership issues during the merger integration process.

Design/methodology/approach

We followed the careers of more than 23,000 executives in over 1,000 target firms during a 17‐year period surrounding the acquisition. We then compared trends in executive turnover rates before and after the acquisition to understand the long‐term leadership effects of M&As.

Findings

Target company executive teams are generally stable before they are acquired. Following acquisition, however, firms can expect to lose 21 percent or more of their executives each year – more than double that experienced in non‐merged firms – for at least ten years after the acquisition.

Practical implications

Results show that M&As destroy whatever leadership stability target firms may have had prior to acquisition. The problem is to identify leadership instability when it occurs, understand the underlying causes, and take action to restore leadership stability in ways that increase decision making effectiveness and enhance long‐term performance.

Originality/value

In total, roughly ten years were spent compiling the data reported in this study. Given the labor intensity and length of time needed for such an effort, it is highly unlikely that a comparable database will be compiled again in the near future. This creates a unique opportunity to generate deeper insights into a variety of top management team issues in M&As that can be leveraged to improve the effectiveness of post‐merger integration engagements. We expect a variety of insightful findings to emerge as we continue to analyze these data and will report in future articles.
JBS interviews three business leaders
Authors: Foster Kim
Published: August 2008

Purpose

Interviews with three business leaders at the Leaders in London 2007 conference: Andrew Zolli, Benjamin Zander and Nick Wheeler

Design/methodology/approach

JBS interviewed the following three business leaders at the Leaders in London 2007 conference on a variety of topics including new technologies, music and entrepreneurship.

Findings

Three business leaders express their thoughts on a variety of topics affecting the modern business world.

Originality/value

These are exclusive interviews that range over a wide variety of topics, from the impact of the new technology to using music to change behaviour in the workplace.
Questions, questions
Authors: Marren Patrick
Published: August 2008

Purpose

To discuss the irrelevancy of one particular favorite economic question of current business punditry.

Design/methodology/approach

Opinion column.

Findings

This column examines the question “Are we in a recession?” and points out that the question is: unanswerable until far too late; and almost always of no real use in decisionmaking in the real world.

Originality/value

Hopefully, shows in a humorous way why this obsession with the question of “recession or not” is not useful.
Grow your business without leaving your competitive stronghold
Authors: Jackson Stuart E.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

Manufacturers and product suppliers with a strong market share in their selected segments often enjoy good profitability but find it hard to achieve strong growth without diversifying into new product segments where their established competitive advantage may no longer apply. One tactic to overcome this problem is for companies to expand the functionality of their offering to provide a more complete solution to customers' needs. In this column, Stuart Jackson considers a range of examples where companies that started with an emphasis on manufacturing or distributing product have successfully broadened their offering to include a range complementary services. The author then proposes four key questions for companies considering going down this path.

Design/methodology/approach

In this article, Jackson considers service expansion strategies for companies in a number of different industries, including medical products, retailing, printing and photocopying, package shipping, processed foods and IT. Jackson then draws lessons that can be applied broadly across any business considering value added services as a way to provide new sources of profitable growth.

Findings

Just because you have exhausted opportunities to gain market share in your selected industry segment does not mean you need to diversify into unrelated markets in order to tap new sources of growth. Adding new services that provide a more complete solution to customers' needs can be a way to add new revenues from your existing customer base while at the same time cementing a deeper relationship with customers that can differentiate your firm from competitors. However, this path is not for everyone and may only make sense if the opportunity meets certain key criteria relating to customer needs, competitors and management capabilities.

Originality/value

By looking in detail at when value added services do or do not make sense, this article provides valuable insights into how to understand and predict when new service offerings will support increased competitive advantage and value creation.
Customer loyalty and employee engagement: an alignment for value
Authors: Gonring Matthew P.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of his paper is to show that the rational and emotional triggers associated with customer loyalty and employee engagement can be measured in a macro manner through mathematical indexing. Myriad factors, among them digitalization and disintermediation, have gradually eroded the power of an elite group of senior managers to control corporate messaging and manage corporate reputation. Other stakeholder groups, particularly employees and customers, have become empowered under these current corporate conditions. For this reason, establishing high levels of customer loyalty and employee engagement are leading determinants of brand performance. These indexes can serve as powerful tools to build integrated messaging.

Design/methodology/approach

This article explores the impact of customer loyalty and employee engagement on corporate performance, and identifies how these qualities can be quantifiably measured by sophisticated mathematical indexes. To do this, the authors review the factors that contribute to form corporate reputation, and how this formation process has changed over time. It places special emphasis on how senior corporate leaders have conceded branding power to employee and customer stakeholders.

Findings

By highlighting the promising early successes of companies leading this research, this paper demonstrates the potential advantages effective use of customer loyalty and employee engagement indexes can return. By acknowledging the power of these indexes, companies have the unique capability to build integrated communications solutions that address the expectations of both employees and customers, the two most contributory groups in building brand strength.

Originality/value

By shedding light on changes in the modern marketplace, this article can help shape thinking on effective ways to leverage human capital in order to maintain and grow brand and reputation.
Customer value‐based pricing strategies: why companies resist
Authors: Hinterhuber Andreas
Published: August 2008

Purpose

Customer value‐based pricing is increasingly recognised by academics and practitioners as the most effective approach to pricing for companies wishing to achieve increased profitability and sustained success. However, despite this apparent support for the implementation of value‐based pricing, the practical reality is that more than 80 percent of companies continue to price their products and services primarily on the basis of costs and/or competitive price levels. The present study investigates this phenomenon and identifies the main reasons for this gap between aspiration and reality.

Design/methodology/approach

A two‐stage empirical approach is employed: first, in a qualitative research, the phenomenon of implementation of value‐based strategies with groups of business executives participating in pricing workshops is explored. The result of this qualitative stage was then used to develop a questionnaire which was tested upon a significantly larger and more stratified population. Finally cluster analysis to summarize the results of this quantitative research stage was employed.

Findings

Based on a survey of 81 executives representing a wide range of B2B and B2C industries in Germany, Austria, China, and the USA, five main obstacles to the implementation of value‐based pricing strategies have been identified: deficits in value assessment; deficits in value communication; lack of effective market segmentation; deficits in sales force management; and lack of support from senior management. The paper also provides a range of remedies to overcome these obstacles.

Originality/value

In extant literature there exists a gap between: the widespread understanding of the superiority of customer value‐based pricing strategies; and the circumstance that customer value‐based pricing strategies are currently the least widely diffused major pricing approach. We cover thus gap by highlighting which obstacles exist to the implementation of value‐based pricing strategies and provide a series of remedies to overcome these obstacles.
Replacing incomplete markets with a complete mess: Katrina and the NFIP
Authors: Young Andrew T.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the stated goals of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and then demonstrate that in practice those goals have not been achieved, and at significant cost to US taxpayers.

Design/methodology/approach

The objectives are achieved by describing statements of the NFIP and the legislation behind it, and then providing an analysis of the NFIP in practice in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Findings

The NFIP flood insurance primarily shelters lending institutions rather than flood victims. At subsidized rates, premiums covered little of the Katrina‐based claims, and future premiums cannot realistically be expected to repay off the resulting debt to the US Treasury.

Research limitations/implications

If the findings are accepted they lead one to conclude that government attempts to complete incomplete markets are fraught with inherent and exceptional difficulties.

Practical implications

The NFIP should be eliminated, allowing private insurance to be offered when profitable in floodplains and allowing property‐owners to make informed choices as to residence and development.

Originality/value

Attention to general disaster relief and the controversies surrounding private insurers and homeowners policies following Katrina have overshadowed the NFIP's federal flood insurance failings. This paper contributes to that relative void.
The finance of Katrina
Authors: Wood J. Stuart
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discover the causes of the devastation of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast and how it may be ameliorated.

Design/methodology/approach

Economic analysis of the prior conditions causing susceptibility to flooding, and of the subsequent events involving long‐term assets: how assets had been selected and what changes have occurred in the evaluation and selection process.

Findings

The devastation caused by the hurricanes was far exceeded by: the prior governmental misleading of entrepreneurs and property owners regarding the actual level of flood protection provided to New Orleans by the bureaucratic Army Corps “flood protection system”; the resulting Rothbardian “cluster of entrepreneurial error” which allowed the devastation of New Orleans capital goods; the Hayekian unintended consequences of government actions and pronouncements following the storm, which interfered with market signals, increased subjective risk, reduced return expectations of entrepreneurs for capital assets, reducing net present values below zero; and the Misesian bureaucratic inefficiency of the corps and other governmental agents both before and after the storm. A sharp increase in their perception of flooding risk caused market participants now to see that no improvement in flood control can be achieved under the present bureaucratic structure, and they have permanently increased their perceived risk and discount rates, thereby reducing the pace of asset emplacement. Replacing the system of Lachmanian heterogeneous capital assets and their communications connections destroyed by Katrina cannot be accomplished in the present situation. New government actions and regulations are continually changing, noisy, and have altered property rights. The interactive efficiency of the asset system has been decreased. Incorrect assets are being built, necessary assets are being neglected, and the communications network between assets is not being replaced.

Research limitations/implications

A finer level of detail could be investigated, focusing on smaller sub‐systems and interactions.

Practical implications

Greatest improvement in asset rebuilding would follow the elimination of all government regulations and regulatory agencies impeding the decision process, and private companies should be contracted to replace the destroyed wetlands and emplace flood controls.

Originality/value

The paper employs an inter‐disciplinary analysis of events using several different theoretical tools combined in an innovative way to examine why systematic errors were made and are continuing, and how errors can be stopped. The paper is of greatest value to those charged with repair of the damaged infrastructure of southeast Louisiana and Mississippi.
Who's to blame for all the heartache?
Authors: D'Amico Daniel J.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The wake of a natural disaster is a tumultuous setting. Resources are scarce, actions are quick, and emotions are high. Social commentators have often brought complaints against capitalism for promoting greed and selfishness during and after natural catastrophes. Most recently academics have introduced a unique perspective in addition to the more traditional criticisms. They claim that free‐market advocates have imposed capitalist theories and policies in the wake of crises to the detriment of traditional policies, preferred cultures, and democratically selected institutions. This paper aims to investigate these claims.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a discursive analysis.

Findings

It is argued that the left overlooks the case that capitalism and corporate businesses may be a natural part of local cultures and recovery processes. If such a claim is true, then the normative case against capitalist responses to natural disasters is weaker than has been presented. The two perspectives are speaking past one another.

Originality/value

The paper illustrates that claims against capitalism and market processes in the wake of natural disasters can be overstated and that it should be recognised that markets are an integral part of people's cultures and local identities.
Signaling effects of commercial and civil society in post‐Katrina reconstruction
Authors: Chamlee‐Wright Emily
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role private action has played in overcoming the collective action problem posed by Hurricane Katrina.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyses the post‐Hurricane Katrina situation with regard to commercial and civil society.

Findings

The paper argues that private recovery efforts within commercial and civil society challenge this assumption. Mutual assistance, commercial cooperation, and the redevelopment of key community resources help to overcome collective action problems by reducing the high costs of an early return and by signaling the potential for widespread recovery to individual actors. Though most redevelopment plans assume that a large‐scale government response is the only way to overcome the collective action problem.

Originality/value

Even in the absence of a government‐led reconstruction effort, the strategies described in the paper offer Gulf Coast residents tools for solving the collective action problem presented in the wake of catastrophic devastation.
The futile fight against (human) nature
Authors: Dirmeyer Jennifer
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The paper aims to discuss bureaucratic management, over‐confidence in scientific theory, information distortion and lack of coordination with particular focus on the post‐Hurricane Katrina situation.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examines efficiency arguments for centralized control and the potential for government failure. It also analyzes the disaster of Hurricane Katrina with these problems in mind.

Findings

The Flood Act of 1928 officially transferred the responsibility of flood protection along the Mississippi River to the federal government. While it is true that local provision failed to eliminate the problem of flooding, the problems caused by federal provision have not been fully appreciated. The specific characteristics of flood protection as well as the general problems caused by bureaucratic management and the absence of market mechanisms suggest that local provision of flood protection is a more efficient solution.

Originality/value

The arguments in this paper suggest that, the previous belief in centralized flood management was unfounded.
A matrix approach to informal markets: towards a dynamic conceptualisation
Authors: Vande Walle Gudrun
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The informal economy is more than the inverse of the formalised economy, but is a dynamic environment. It is less limited by legal rules, state control, bureaucracy or tax regulation. On the other hand the informal market is less visible than the regular economy. The purpose of this paper is to find out how informal markets are currently developing.

Design/methodology/approach

This contribution is based on a literature review of primarily European work from scholars active in different disciplinary fields, concentrating upon presentations made during the seminars given for the EU Framework 6 CRIMPREV programme. It is structured using a matrix of potentially interesting variables: disciplinary interaction and the need for a multidisciplinary discourse; the position of nation states as a fundamental variable for the existence of the informal economy; general global economic dynamics and their implications for the concept of the informal economy; the interplay of formal, informal and criminal markets; the functionalities of informal markets for the classic survival economy; the dangerousness of wrong perceptions of informal markets and finally the contribution of different methodologies to the knowledge of the informal economy.

Research limitations/implications

The matrix is incomplete and further input is welcome.

Originality/value

This paper could be a start for the comparison of analyses of informal markets in time and space, without the limitations of the classic categories such as organised crime and in limiting definitions.
Workplace crime and the informal economy in Ukraine
Authors: Rodgers Peter , Williams Colin C. , Round John
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the criminal workplace activities of both employers and employees in Ukrainian enterprises. It challenges traditional definitions of corruption and suggests that the practices that can be observed fit into the category of organised crime because of the country's economic framework. The paper also explores how the practices are partially a legacy of Soviet economic processes.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 700 household surveys were completed in three cities, Kyiv (where 450 surveys were completed), Uzhgorod (150) and Kharkiv (100). To complement these, approximately 25 in‐depth interviews were undertaken with workers in each region. Furthermore, ethnographic observations and “kitchen table” interviews also played an important role in the research. Although the research was oriented towards those working in informal economies, business owners (both formal and informal) were also interviewed.

Findings

As well as revealing the endemic nature of corruption in Ukrainian workplaces and the high levels of informal activity undertaken by workers, the research found that many people wish for their workplace to become more regulated.

Research limitations/implications

Further interviews could have been carried out with state officials and in more locations. The implications are multiple but mainly they demonstrate the difficulty that those charged with economic reform in Ukraine must face.

Originality/value

It is one of the first studies to explore these issues in Ukraine using a variety of research methods.
Economic organized crime networks in emerging democracies
Authors: Dobovšek Bojan
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight both the ways in which transnational organized crime has developed and will develop, and also some problems in relation to financing economic organized crime networks. These are related to the problem of state capture problem in emerging democracies.

Design/methodology/approach

The literature and other sources have been reviewed to analyse trends relating to transnational crime organisations.

Findings

It was found that criminal organisations have moved in the last few years to strengthen their economic power, putting pressure on to states' politics through their networks. In some cases (such as tycoons in transitional countries) it seems that they have already entered a third phase – movement into politics. This form of elite organized crime could be characterised as a fifth branch of state authority, because it is influences, through the means of a great amount of money, corruption, networking and extortion, both the state economy and policy.

Originality/value

The analyses and conclusions help us to understand the transformation of organized crime and its influence on modern society, especially in emerging democracies. This may allow politicians and others to predict how economic organized crime will act in the future and how to avoid the current pressure being exerted by these groups.
A case study on the misuse of hawala banking
Authors: van de Bunt Henk
Published: August 2008

Purpose

Since 9/11, hawala banking (financial service providers who carry out financial transactions whereby cash, cheques or other valuable goods are accepted at one location and a corresponding sum in cash or other remuneration is paid at another location) has attracted a great deal of attention. Much has been written on the subject, but so far little empirical research has been conducted into the misuse of hawala banking for criminal purposes. This paper aims to fill this gap.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper contains an analysis of 12 police files on the use of hawala banks by perpetrators of crime. The data gathered from these cases are compared to what has been reported on hawala banking in the existing literature.

Findings

The literature emphasises the importance of trust between client and banker, as well as between hawala bankers themselves. Trust is supposedly based on strong social ties (ethnic and family ties). The 12 cases studied (almost all of which concerned the misuse of hawala banking by drug dealers) put the significance of trust into perspective: the importance of ethnicity and personal trust should not be exaggerated. When the stakes are high, a common social background and shared ethnicity between bankers, as well as between bankers and their clients, seems to be less important than is often assumed.

Originality/value

The paper goes beyond the traditional focus on trust and strong social ties.
Tenure, firm's performance, and CEO's compensation
Authors: Nourayi Mahmoud M. , Mintz Steven M.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the association between Chief Executive Officer (CEO) tenure, compensation, and firm's performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper compares the influence firms' performance on CEOs' cash and total compensation based on the length of tenure. It also examines pay–performance relationship for new CEOs vs those serving their last year in such positions.

Findings

The firm size appears to be a significant explanatory variable for CEOs' cash and total compensation regardless of CEOs tenure and measure of performance. Additionally, firms' performance is a significant determinant of cash compensation for CEOs during the first three years of their work as CEOs and not significant for those with 15 years or more as the company's CEO. Both market‐based and accounting‐based performance measures are negatively correlated with CEOs' total compensation regardless of length of experience.

Research limitations/implications

This study did not differentiate routine CEO changes, i.e. normal retirement, from the non‐routine ones. Additionally, the results may be limited by the temporal nature of the sample. Future studies dealing with CEO turnover should cover a longer period of CEO' tenure and examine the nature of CEO's dismissal. Such a research design may provide additional insight to the CEO compensation and influence of performance measures in executive contracts.

Originality/value

This research offers some evidence in support of CEO incentives relative to the length of service as the firm's CEO. The findings indicate differences in pay–performance sensitivities on the basis of CEO's tenure. Comparing the pay–performance relationship for individuals serving their first year and those serving their last year as the firm's CEOs, the paper detects statistically significant differences in influence of performance on cash compensation.
New insights into executive compensation and firm performance
Authors: Canarella Giorgio , Gasparyan Arman
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the relation between executive compensation, firm size and firm performance on a panel of the so‐called “new economy” firms in the USA over the period 1996‐2002.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use two measures of performance, total shareholder return and return on assets, and concentrate on total CEO compensation, which includes stock option compensation, as equity‐based compensation practices have been prevalent in new economy firms. The estimation process uses both the feasible generalized least squares method of Parks and Kmenta and the panel corrected standard error method of Beck and Katz. These methodologies investigate error structures that do not conform to the classical ordinary least squares assumptions.

Findings

The econometric results indicate that estimates on firm size are robust to alternative specifications of the error structures. There is evidence however that the effect of firm size on CEO compensation is more significant after the stock market crash of 2000. The opposite holds true for the estimates on firm performance. In addition, estimates on firm performance are more sensitive to the estimation method and the specification of the error structures.

Research limitations/implications

The research presented in this paper is a first step in the direction of understanding the pay to performance relation in the “new economy” industries in the USA. Additional research is warranted, which should extend both the time series and the cross section aspects of the data.

Originality/value

The paper fills an important gap in the existing literature by providing rigorous econometric evidence on the pay to performance relation in the so‐called “new economy” industries. The evidence provided in this paper is relevant as it complements the findings in the literature on executive compensation in the so‐called “old economy” industries, which typically make up the samples of most previous studies.
Synchronous and lagged relationships between CEO pay and performance of quality companies
Authors: Tai Lawrence S.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the synchronous and lagged relationships between CEOs' pay and the performance of a group of public companies that had won a very prestigious award: the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA).

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses three rates of return to represent firm performance: return on assets, return on equity and holding period return. Regression analysis is used to determine the direction of causality between CEO pay and firm performance and the existence of lagged relationship between them.

Findings

The findings indicate the existence of synchronous and lagged relationships between CEO pay and firm performance. However, the direction of causality is mainly from pay to performance, and not vice versa.

Research limitations/implications

The results presented in this paper are limited by the small sample size of MBNQA winning companies. Although the award began in 1988, only a few companies won the award each year and many of them were not public companies. In addition, five companies won the award twice and one company won the award three times, which further reduces the sample size.

Originality/value

This paper finds the existence of synchronous and lagged relationships between CEO pay and firm performance for a group of quality companies.
CEO compensation, firm performance and operational characteristics
Authors: Nourayi Mahmoud M. , Daroca Frank P.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the impact on executive compensation (both cash and in total) of regulation, size of sales and number of employees, and nature of the business in terms of new‐economy vs traditional.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses the ExecuComp database as the information source. Regression analysis is used to test hypotheses that focus on firm size in terms of sales, market and accounting returns, and the number of firm employees. The sample consists of 455 US firms from 25 industries, and covers the period 1996‐2002.

Findings

Firm size and market‐based return are the most significant explanatory variables in affecting executive compensation. More limited support was found for accounting‐based returns, as was changes in the number of employees.

Research limitations/implications

Findings of this study may be limited by the temporal context. Around the turn of this century may have been an unusual time in America's corporate history. The economic outlook of the late 1990s may be fundamentally different from the one facing firms now or in the future. Consequently, future research will be needed to determine to what extent these results can be generalized to periods of different economic prospects.

Originality/value

This study examines the impact of firms' operational characteristic on Chief Executive Officer (CEO) compensation.
Dividend payout and executive compensation: theory and Canadian evidence
Authors: Bhattacharyya Nalinaksha , Mawani Amin , Morrill Cameron K.J.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper seeks to present and test a model of the association between dividend payout and executive compensation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors develop a model based on Bhattacharyya whereby managerial quality is unobservable to shareholders, and therefore first‐best contracts are not possible. In the second‐best world, compensation contracts motivate high quality managers to retain and invest firm earnings, while low quality managers are motivated to distribute income to shareholders. These hypotheses arising from the model are tested on data for Canadian firms' dividend payouts over the period 1993‐1995 using tobit regression analyses.

Findings

Consistent with the predictions of the Bhattacharyya model, the results show that, ceteris paribus, earnings retention (dividend payout) is positively (negatively) associated with executive compensation. These results hold when payout is defined as common dividends plus common share repurchases.

Research limitations/implications

The Canadian data provide only limited information on the components of executive compensation. A more useful test would be possible with more detailed information on, for example, salary, bonus, and benefits.

Originality/value

Several recent papers have documented an association between dividends and executive compensation. This paper presents and tests a model that provides a potential explanation for this link.
The monthly and trading month effects in Greek stock market returns: 1996‐2002
Authors: Floros Christos
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The paper aims to investigate the monthly and trading month effects in the stock market returns of the ASE using daily data before and after the crisis of 1999‐2001. In addition, the study seeks to consider data from both periods of the ASE, before and after the upgrade of the market (May 2001).

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines the calendar effects in the Greek stock market returns using an ordinary least squares (OLS) model. Daily closing prices of the General ASE Index, FTSE/ASE‐20 and FTSE/ASE Mid 40 are used to calculate daily returns. The time period includes data from 26 November 1996 to 12 July 2002 for General ASE Index, 23 September 1997‐30 August 2001 for FTSE/ASE‐20 and 8 December 1999‐30 August 2001 for FTSE/ASE Mid 40.

Findings

The results show that there is no January effect. In other words, daily returns are not higher in January than in any other month. Moreover, the results for the trading month effect show higher (but not significant) returns over the first fortnight of the month.

Practical implications

The results have important implications for both traders and investors. The findings are strongly recommended to financial managers dealing with Greek stock indices.

Originality/value

The contribution of this paper is to provide evidence using data before and after the financial crisis of 1999‐2001 in Greece.
The influence of the political elections on the course of the Athens Stock Exchange 1996‐2002
Authors: Floros Christos
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The paper's aim is to examine the influence of the Greek political elections on the course of the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE). Using daily data from the ASE General Price Index, it seeks to empirically examine the effect of political elections (Parliamentary and European elections) on the course of the ASE over the period 1996‐2002.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines the relationship between Greek political elections and ASE using ordinary least squares (OLS) models. It concentrates on the pre‐election and the post‐election periods of the last decade. Daily closing prices of the General ASE index are used for the period 1996‐2002.

Findings

The results show that two months prior to the elections index performance increases on average and the mean daily fluctuation decreases. One month before the elections, index performance decreases, the mean daily fluctuation increases and the change of daily exchange value increases on average. During the three‐month post‐election period, there is a considerable increase of index progress. Furthermore, between three and six months after the elections, a decrease in performance is found, while for a collective six months after the elections, there is remarkably positive course. Using a simple OLS model with a dummy variable, it is found that there is a negative effect of the political elections on the course of the ASE. However, this effect is always insignificant.

Practical implications

The results have important implications for traders, investors and political analysts. The findings are strongly recommended to financial managers dealing with Greek stock indices.

Originality/value

The main contribution of this paper is to provide evidence using data before and after the financial crisis of 1999‐2001 in Greece.
Forecasting one‐day‐ahead VaR and intra‐day realized volatility in the Athens Stock Exchange Market
Authors: Angelidis Timotheos , Degiannakis Stavros
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The aim is to evaluate the performance of symmetric and asymmetric ARCH models in forecasting both the one‐day‐ahead Value‐at‐Risk (VaR) and the realized intra‐day volatility of two equity indices in the Athens Stock Exchange.

Design/methodology/approach

Two volatility specifications are estimated, the symmetric generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) and the asymmetric APARCH processes. The data set consisted of daily closing prices of the General and the Bank indices from 25 April 1994 to 19 December 2003 and their intra day quotation data from 8 May 2002 to 19 December 2003.

Findings

Under the VaR framework, the most appropriate method for the Bank index is the symmetric model with normally distributed innovations, while the asymmetric model with asymmetric conditional distribution applies for the General index. On the other hand, the asymmetric model tracks closer the one‐step‐ahead intra‐day realized volatility with conditional normally distributed innovations for the Bank index but with asymmetric and leptokurtic distributed innovations for the General index.

Originality/value

As concerns the Greek stock market, there are adequate methods in predicting market risk but it does not seem to be a specific model that is the most accurate for all the forecasting tasks.
Challenges in assisting schools of librarianship and information studies in developing countries
Authors: Johnson Ian M.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to review traditional forms of international support for developing schools of librarianship and information sciences, and traditional approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

The review draws evidence from the literature and the author's extensive international experience.

Findings

The study notes that the traditional approaches have not been entirely successful, and that the sources of support for these approaches are changing. In the light of the growth in the number of schools in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, it suggests that traditional approaches may not be practicable. Alternative approaches suggested in the past have included making teaching materials available, including access to them over the internet, but these may be no more appropriate or practicable. The paper then draws on recent research into the emergence of electronic publishing in Latin America. Whilst there are still flaws in the electronic publishing system, it may suggest a possible new way forward.

Practical implications

The challenge now is to determine how to facilitate similar support for developing schools of librarianship and information sciences internationally.

Originality/value

The paper challenges orthodox thinking about support for new schools of librarianship and information sciences in developing countries, and invites consideration of how new communications media could play a part in this process.
Enhancing the quality of LIS education in Asia
Authors: Sattar Chaudhry Abdus , Khoo Christopher S.G.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to describe continuing effort to develop a repository of teaching materials for sharing and reuse in library and information science (LIS) schools in Asia. It also aims to propose a framework for carrying out a user study to validate the taxonomy and metadata, and evaluate how they support the reuse of teaching materials in four Asian countries.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a combination of approaches. The first phase focuses on building a repository of learning materials powered by taxonomy and metadata with enhanced searching and browsing capabilities. The second phase uses different evaluation techniques to propose a framework for assessing the usability of learning materials.

Findings

The potential for reuse of teaching materials in the area of information organization is examined by analyzing how various aspects of this topic are covered in three Master's programs in Information Studies, Knowledge Management, and Information Systems at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. A faceted taxonomy has been helpful in tagging different types of learning objects. A metadata scheme based on DC‐Education and LOM has been used for enhanced description of learning materials.

Originality/value

This paper makes contributions in several ways. It suggests guidelines for developing taxonomies in different domains; describes steps in building repositories of learning materials; and suggests a methodology for studying reusability of learning material.
Cultural mediation in library and information science (LIS) teaching and learning
Authors: Abdullahi Ismail
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to highlight the importance of culturally mediated instruction in library and information science (LIS) teaching and learning.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses three distinct approaches in culturally mediated instruction and learning environment, as product, process, and philosophy. The paper deals with the general concept of the cultural dimension of human development through identification of students who are culturally different from the main stream orientation, by creating culturally mediated instruction in a learning environment The paper further elaborates the role of LIS schools in this direction. It concludes by suggesting ways in which LIS education could be improved by being inclusive with the changing global society and its needs.

Findings

It is evident that culturally inclusive instruction can enhance the learning of LIS students who are responsive to the needs of their diverse communities and who are able to be change agents to their institutions and professions.

Originality/value

The paper presents ways by which LIS educators can create a better learning environment base inclusive of all cultures represented in the classroom. It redefines diversity of library education in a culturally mediated teaching and learning environment.
Rekindling the passion in your library job
Authors: Topper Elisa F.
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the concept of job burnout and what can be done to solve the problem.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a literature review and practical strategies to jumpstart a stalled job.

Findings

The findings suggest that there are techniques that can be incorporated into one's life to make work meaningful once again.

Originality/value

The paper draws attention to the fact that in time one may experience job burnout and aids in determining what can be done to turn the experience around.
Competitive intelligence
Authors: Calof Jonathan L. , Wright Sheila
Published: August 2008

Purpose

The article traces the origins of the competitive intelligence fields and identifies both the practitioner, academic and inter‐disciplinary views on CI practice. An examination of the literature relating to the field is presented, including the identification of the linear relationship which CI has with marketing and strategic planning activities.

Design/methodology/approach

Bibliometric assessment of the discipline. Findings reveal the representation of cross disciplinary literature which emphasises the multi‐faceted role which competitive intelligence plays in a modern organization.

Findings

The analysis supports the view of competitive intelligence being an activity consisting dominantly of environmental scanning and strategic management literature. New fields of study and activity are rapidly becoming part of the competitive intelligence framework.

Research limitations/implications

The analysis only uses ABI Inform as the primary sources for literature alongside Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) and Competitive Intelligence Foundation (CIF) publications, particularly the Journal of Competitive Intelligence and Management. A more comprehensive bibliometric analysis might reveal additional insights. Simple counts were used for analytical purposes rather than co‐citation analysis.

Practical implications

Attention is drawn to the need for the integration of additional, complementary fields of study and competitive intelligence practice. It is clear that today's competitive intelligence practitioner cannot afford to rely on what they learned 20 years ago in order to ensure the continued competitive advantage of their firm. A keen understanding of all business functions, especially marketing and planning is advocated.

Originality/value

While there have been bibliographies of competitive intelligence literature there have been few attempts to relate this to the three distinct areas of practice. This article is of use to scholars in assisting them to disentangle the various aspect of competitive intelligence and also to managers who wish to gain an appreciation of the potential which competitive intelligence can bring to marking and business success.