bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Land Reform In Turkmenistan: Does It Work?
Authors: Gluhih Rimma , Schwartz Moshe , Lerman Zvi
Published: March 2016

Turkmenistan is one of the 25 former socialist countries in Europe and Central Asia that embarked on a transition from plan to market in the early 1990s. In agriculture, the transition was expected to improve the productivity of the chronically inefficient collective farming inherited from the Soviet era. Improvements were to be achieved through the transfer of land and assets from collective farms to individual operators, in line with the established practice of agriculture in market economies. This study examines the progress of agricultural reform in Turkmenistan by focusing on land distribution, farm structure transformation, and changes in production patterns, marketing, and farm performance. The study is based on a survey of 143 private farmers conducted in Turkmenistan in 2000. Preliminary results indicate that, despite fairly generous allocation of land to individual farming, no significant performance improvements have been achieved so far, primarily because private farmers operate under severe environmental, institutional and political constraints.
The Localization Industry: A Profile of DNA Media
Authors: Cyr Dianne , Lew Richard
Published: March 2016

Since the mid-1990s the e-commerce industry experienced dramatic growth that was only the start of a business revolution. With the rapid expansion of Internet related infrastructure equipment and services that allowed low-cost global communications, the beginnings of a truly global economy began to take shape. Riding on the coat tails of this wave was software and content localization services that were a necessary component in selling products and services to different countries and across many cultures. The challenges of operating in a diverse, multicultural market are great, filled with cultural subtleties that can be a minefield for the uninformed. DNA Media, based in Vancouver, Canada, is a software localization company specializing in language, software application and content (Web-based technologies, application design, CD-ROM, DVD and multi-media versioning). The company enjoyed strong growth in its services in the last two years and, by the year 2000 it was in a position to expand rapidly. This case provides insight into how managers of a small but growing information technology company managed its growth, established its market in the software localization industry, and planned for the next phase of expansion.
Teaching E-Commerce: A Platform For Active Learning
Authors: Leong Leslie , Petkova Olga
Published: March 2016

The last several years, despite of the shakeout of the dot-coms, there has been an extreme interest in teaching E-Commerce. Many schools pioneered the development of E-Commerce programs. Relevant curricula at undergraduate and graduate levels were developed. Several conference and journal papers are treating the problems related to teaching E-Commerce. All of them agree that new pedagogies are needed in order to successfully teach E-Commerce. One of them is Active learning, which has not been explored so far with respect to the field of teaching E Commerce. This paper aims to propose that E-Commerce is a field naturally suited for active learning. The authors explore different active learning strategies and share their experiences in implementing them.
Relevant Issues Regarding The Delivery Of Database Courses Through Distance Education
Authors: Garman George
Published: March 2016

This paper discusses the issues that were involved in the development of two online database courses at The Metropolitan State College of Denver. These courses are CMS 3060 Database Management Systems and CMS 4060 Advanced Database Management Systems. In addition to the issues apparent in the development of regular courses, technology driven courses provide a special set of problems. This paper examines the integration of a remote relational database management system (Oracle) into an online course. Also, the paper discusses the use of the PC based Oracle Developer 2000 product in an online course.
A Collaborative Approach To 21st Century Business Technology Education
Authors: Richtermeyer Sandra B. , Chmura Alan , Walker Kenton B.
Published: March 2016

This paper reports on the University of Wyomings Master of Science in e.Business degree Program and experience from the first two years of its operation. The Program was initiated in response to the chronic shortage of graduates with skills in both business and technology. The program is a rare cooperative effort between the College of Business and the Department of Computer Science in the College of Engineering. We discuss the basic structure of the Program in terms of its interdisciplinary nature, accelerated delivery, educational objectives, team-oriented approach, classroom environment, involvement of business community, and skill sets emphasized. The primary tracks of study and courses within each track are explained. Demographic data on admitted and enrolled students is also presented. Challenges and plans for the future of the Program are also discussed.
A New Attraction Model For Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Selling Effort
Authors: Spiteri Joseph M. , Johnson William C.
Published: March 2016

Deployment analysis evaluates the allocation of selling effort directed towards achieving the firms sales objectives. While recent improvements in salesforce automation have resulted in more optimal levels of sales call effort, managerial judgments are still crucial to effectively deploy a salesforce. Moreover, the availability of large databases of target profiles, especially in consumer markets and some business markets like pharmaceuticals, has led to better targeting of accounts. Nevertheless, a robust model is still needed to post-hoc analyze the effectiveness of all these efforts. An analytical framework, based on the user-friendly Portfolio Model, has been found to provide more accurate diagnostic insights when the ideal perfect-knowledge benchmark is used as a comparison. The difference in this approach, which this paper calls the Attraction Model, is in the treatment of the variables. They have been operationalized to take advantage of perfect-knowledge in market shares, growth rates and account usage patterns obtained from a large random sample. In this way the frequency of sales calls, as a measure of the sales deployment efforts, can be scrutinized and the level of success evaluated when compared to the ideal effort. Strategic corrections can then be made for the next promotional period.
Accounting Reform In The Republic Of Moldova
Authors: Armitage Jack , Neider Mike , Shelaru Marina
Published: March 2016

Many countries of the former Soviet Union, including Moldova, are facing the challenge of building a strong economy that will lead to long-term economic stability. Like other former Soviet States, Moldova has had to undertake a total transition from a planned economy to a market economy. Economic reform in Moldova has been a slow, painful process with high unemployment rates. During the past 10 years, Moldova has made significant economic reforms, but much is yet to be accomplished. The purpose of this paper is to examine the accounting reforms that have taken place in the Republic of Moldova since 1991, when they declared their independence from the former Soviet Union. This paper will present background information on the Republic of Moldova, and examine the objectives of accounting reform, accounting practice reforms, and accounting education reforms.
Strategic Trade: Weighted Payoff Functions And Diverse Trade Patterns
Authors: Green Gregory G.
Published: March 2016

This paper extends the basic intra-industry trade model, Brander and Spencer (1985), in two directions. A weight is included in the foreign governments payoff function, similar to Collie (1997), which alters the traditional policy choice when this weight is different than one. We also require each firms output choice be nonnegative. These constraints and the weighted payoff function lead to several Nash equilibria that have not been analyzed in the intra-industry trade literature. Our analysis helps explain why industries satisfying the necessary conditions for intra-industry trade patterns may not actually display such trade patterns. [F12, F13, C72]
Japanese And Western Management Approaches: Is Convergence Occurring?
Authors: Duerr Edwin C. , Duerr Mitsuko Saito
Published: March 2016

Japans rapid economic growth in the 1970s and 1980s, and the success of a number of Japanese factories overseas, led to great interest in the Japanese managerial system and some specific techniques used by Japanese companies. A plethora of books and articles were written about the value of (or threat from) Japanese business-government cooperation, the Japanese employment system and management-labor cooperation, the avoidance of excessive competition, the wide use of long-term relationships and planning, and the emphasis on growth rather than short-term profits. There was also much written about specific Japanese techniques including the use of quality circles, continuous improvement, total quality management, flexible production, and just-in-time and lean production. Many European, Canadian, and U.S. companies adopted some of the most widely publicized Japanese techniques, often in substantially modified form. Important aspects of production and logistics were revolutionized. Some companies also used modified Japanese approaches in attempting to improve management-labor relations.In Japan, the economic problems from the 1990s to the present, and the success of some foreign firms, led to increased interest in Western management approaches. There was growing concern that the traditional Japanese ways of doing business were inadequate to cope with the changing international and domestic environments. During the past decade, there has been wide discussion in the business press of the need for adopting selected Western methods. A number of Japanese companies have announced that they are changing their traditional employment practices, and mergers and acquisitions have become increasingly common. It thus might appear that Japanese and Western managerial philosophy and approaches are converging.While Japan and the West have each benefited substantially from the adoption of ideas and techniques from the other, basic differences remain in the values, beliefs, and objectives of business, government, and society. In this paper, these differences are discussed, and the degree of convergence is seen to be limited more to techniques than to the basic assumptions, objectives, and strategies that drive business.
Enhance The Study Of Accounting With Those Negative Headlines
Authors: Laux Judith A.
Published: March 2016

The following treatise offers the argument that Enron and like scandals represent an opportunity to serve the profession by exciting our students, dispelling the stereotypes, elevating theoretical objectives above statistical sampling, catapulting accountants into a more symbiotic relationship with managers, expanding the career paths of accountants, and providing a springboard for improved teaching.
A Marketing Approach To Service Quality In Accounting: A Case Study
Authors: Waldmann Erwin , Ratnatunga Janek
Published: March 2016

Accounting firms operate in a competitive marketplace, consequently the quality imperatives and philosophies that currently apply to manufacturing are also relevant to service industries like professional accounting services. This begs the question of how quality should be defined and what pedagogy should be used for achieving the goal of continuous quality improvement. The service quality concepts are of particular relevance to management accounting due to its involvement in quality assurance in manufacturing. This paper looks at some of the research and methodologies developed by Marketing Science that takes a customer perceptive in defining and measuring service quality, and applies one such methodology, SERVPERF, to a firm in the Accounting and Management Consulting industry. In this study, data representing customer service quality (performance) perceptions and satisfaction with the services provided by the firm has been used to identify areas needing improvement. The study also identifies those areas in which the firm is effective in providing services. The results of this analysis appear to provide some support for conceptualising and measuring service quality as an attitude as suggested by Cronin and Taylor (1992).
Globalization And Religion
Authors: Skinner David
Published: March 2016

This paper empirically examines whether globalization has a religious dimension. As far as the author can determine, no one has previously tested the question. The study concludes that publicly available databases show that much of globalization, or lack of it, can be predicted from data on the religions practiced in a nation.
Loopholes And Financial Innovation
Authors: Cohen Christopher , Kane Stephen
Published: March 2016

The loophole phenomenon occurs in financial services, bureaucratically controlled marketplaces, as well as in our everyday lives. Whenever an entity writes a rule, that entity simultaneously creates many loopholes (Kane, 1977). Loopholes provide a way to pervert regulations and may even stimulate innovation. Different parties search out loopholes to adapt to changes as processes evolve over time. We discuss how various parties have reacted to specific loopholes. Our discussion seeks to provide a better understanding of the evolutionary interplay between financial innovation and regulation as well as to provide instruction on how to identify and exploit loopholes.
Transfer Pricing In Transnational Operations: A Case- And Literature-Based Analysis
Authors: Taylor Virginia A. , Knaus E.J. (Roy) , Matthews William E.
Published: March 2016

This paper represents a combined case- and literature-based analysis of transnational pricing and highlights the difference in the issues and perspectives of the business and academic environments. Following an introduction to the issue (noting the growing importance of the transfer of goods from one organizational entity to another within a multinational firm), a short case - The Henderson Company - illustrates how a relatively simple announcement can lead to a lengthy and heated discussion that points out the differences in opinion both between the headquarters and the subsidiaries and between the various regional entities themselves. The analysis of the case reflecting the concerns and perspectives of the members of the international management team (in terms of involvement and partnership, legal and operational concerns, competitive marketing strategy, and evaluation, compensation, and motivational issues) is followed by a literature-based analysis that looks at the complexities of the situation in terms of management, economics, taxation, and finance research. The paper concludes with the recognition that the issue of transnational pricing is a complex one that needs to be addressed from both an organizational perspective and from an international viewpoint emphasizing the development of ways of more accurately reflecting cost allocations.
The Changing Structure Of The Global Wine Industry
Authors: Roberto Michael A.
Published: March 2016

This paper examines the distinctive economic structures that exist in the wine industry in various regions of the world, and it identifies the critical forces driving changes in the structure of this industry. The paper accomplishes these objectives by applying concepts from industrial organization economics, agency theory, and the field of competitive strategy.
Psychometrics Of Hotel Service Quality: Comparative Factor Structures Of Alternative Market Segments
Authors: Alpert Mark I. , Raghunathan Rajagopal
Published: March 2016

When different market segments are encountered, can the same instrument be used to understand and predict the determinants of customer perceptions of service quality, satisfaction and retention? This paper analyzes a national sample of over 18,000 U.S. customer surveys regarding hotel experiences in a range of properties from budget to near-luxury accommodations. Its purpose is to examine the dimensionality of customer satisfaction for business vs. pleasure travelers, and male vs. female guests, in order to determine the appropriateness of conceptualizing and measuring service quality with the same instrument for these potentially divergent segments. Our findings provide good evidence of factor stability across these segments, using the multi-item scales that are employed by one of the largest privately held hotel chains in the United States. Within the common factor structure, modest but intuitively reasonable differences in the importance of service attributes in determining customer loyalty for different segments do emerge.
Global Equity Markets and International Diversification
Authors: Kashefi Javad , McKee Gilbert J.
Published: March 2016

Interest in global investing has increased tremendously over the last several years. U.S. investors seek to reduce risk by diversifying globally. The risk reduction benefits hinge upon the relationships between U.S. stock market indexes and other international stock market indexes. Portfolio research studies have shown that adding new assets that have low correlation with those already held will enhance the risk to return ratio for the new portfolio. Global diversification may provide a similar risk reduction when an investors portfolio is expanded to include foreign securities. This study examines relationships between U.S. stock markets and world equity markets to investigate whether international diversification provides additional diversification benefits to U.S. investors.The data for this study include the annualized equity returns and standard deviations computed for 61 indexes (11 Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Indexes and 50 national market indexes that were calculated for the period January 1988 to November 2001. Nine portfolio diversification strategies are examined to obtain efficient frontiers. These portfolios are constructed based upon risk-reward ratios (coefficients of variation), systematic risk (beta) and using different MSCI International Market Indexes.Our analysis suggests that: (1) a portfolio constructed based on coefficients of variation of less than 2 (no index had a ratio of less than 1) as a criterion had the best result; (2) the domestic portfolio (S&P500) provided the second best risk-return to the investors; (3) among MSCI Indexes, FAREAST indexes had the worst performance as did China among the 50 countries; (4) the presumption that low correlations (less than 0.5) would be an attractive means of reducing the portfolio risk did not produce the best risk-return trade off; and (5) the size of the coefficients and long-term stability of the correlations between country indexes have increased.Finally, the efficient frontiers point of inflection for this study (January 1988-November 2001) for most of the portfolios occurred at more than 45 percent investment in U.S. market. This result is consistent with prior studies that found the point of inflection for a portfolio consisting of U.S. and foreign stock markets generally occurs at about 40 percent. Our result is dramatically different from the Sharma, Obar, and Moser (1996) study that concluded the point of inflection for their four portfolios occurred with only 10 percent invested in the U.S. market.
Aligning ICCP Certification With The IS2002 Model Curriculum: A New International Standard
Authors: McKell Lynn J. , Reynolds John H. , Longenecker Herbert E. , Landry Jeffrey P.
Published: March 2016

This is a progress report on actions to align vendor neutral certification for computing and Information Systems professionals with academic standards as codified by the IS2002 Model Curriculum.
China In The 21st Century: Will ICT Sustain Economic Growth?
Authors: Gabberty James W. , Calloway Linda Jo
Published: March 2016

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate critical thinking about Chinas ability to consistently grow its economy by leveraging its information and communication (ICT) infrastructure in such as way as to prolong the competitive advantage it now enjoys from its ability to attract multinational corporations (MNCs) attention. The success of Chinas transition towards economic and societal advancement is underpinned, to a large extent, by its total ICT investment. A competitive ICT profile is an antecedent to innovation, making Chinas intention to become a significant force in the global knowledge economy more viable. This paper interprets current evaluations of Chinas innovation circumstances in light of factual and perceptual data that represents the nations ICT capabilities in the context of its standings with other nations.
Market Expectations And Probability Distributions Implicit In Option Prices
Authors: McIntyre Michael , Nitani Miwako
Published: March 2016

This paper investigates whether specific characteristics of the returns distributions implied by options prices constitute useful information for the purpose of predicting changes in market direction. The key distributional characteristics we focus on are skewness, kurtosis, and the probability weight in the extreme tails of the implied distributions. We present a new methodology for extracting the returns distributions and apply it to S&P 500 index futures-options prices for twenty days surrounding the four largest market reversals in calendar 2001.
Russian Entrepreneurship: A Question Of Ambiguity Or Certainty, Risk Taking Or Risk Averse?
Authors: Gallagher J.G.
Published: March 2016

This article stems from a case study based on a series of in-depth interviews carried out on the All Russia Association of the Blind (VOS). It traces how two of the most successful VOS enterprises, Enterprise 13 in Moscow and Revda in the Urals, responded to the dynamic changes (both economic and social) that confronted them after the introduction of the free market economy. It examines the strategies, developed and emergent, created since 1991 by these two enterprises. In particular it traces the emergence of the entrepreneurial manager and his adaptation to the catalyst of change - growth, through the development of creative and proactive solutions to these environmental changes. In essence the contention is that in a period of flux where turbulence is high and change inevitable strategic leadership, driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, comes to the fore as a natural consequence of market forces. Risk taking and high tolerance of ambiguity mark the innovative leader.For hundreds of years the Russians had lived under centralising, autocratic regimes. In April 1985 Gorbachevs Perestroika changed this. Perestroika introduced the seeds of a democratic political system and the beginnings of a market economy which was to supplant the failing Marxist model.Inevitably, the outcome was a situation of unparalleled complexity. Perestroika broke the Russian business mould. It created uncertainty by introducing ambiguity in the form of competition. The environment became increasingly unstable and the future uncertain. Enterprise directors had to take a step into the unknown. It was a period which started in 1991 with great expectations and aspirations but by 1997 had, through the erosion of the economic base, progressed to fear and trepidation as earlier dreams were unfulfilled. Finally, after the currency collapse of 1998, came the unexpected windfalls of import substitution and enhanced exchange rate benefits which led to the re-emergence of hope in the future as the expected economic deterioration failed to materialise.By 1998 the relationship between strategy, structure and performance was rewritten to capitalise on the emerging opportunities. But this entailed a deliberate destruction of the old business methodologies and relationships, the bending of rules, and the creation of a new culture based on risk. In essence it meant the emergence of a new set of core competences driven by a strategic leadership geared to handling ambiguity and oriented towards risk taking. A breed not readily found in Russia or the VOS enterprises.
Achieving Business Excellence Prize: The Case Of Trimo Trebnje d.d.
Authors: Tekavcic Metka , Peljhan Darja
Published: March 2016

The late 1980s and early 1990s saw a global realization of the strategic importance of quality, and many countries established programmes to recognize quality and excellence. Companies pursuing an excellence strategy soon recognized that the award frameworks offered more than just a vehicle for recognition. The frameworks were seen to be best-practice models for implementing excellence strategies, performing self-assessments, benchmarking and, ultimately, delivering improved performance. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we present the business excellence from the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence model point of view. Second, we describe how employee results, customer results, and favourable society results are achieved through leadership driving policy and strategy, people, partnerships and resources, and processes, which ultimately lead to excellence in key performance results in a manufacturing company that won the 2002 Slovene National Quality Award based on the EFQM Excellence model.
A Binary Choice Model For Optimum Entrepreneurial Development In An Economy Facing Environmental Constraints
Authors: Ekanem Nkanta Frank
Published: March 2016

This study describes a methodology for estimating a choice model for an optimum entrepreneurial development which allows the funding and other intervention policies to enhance the formation of small and medium enterprises to be used in developing national policy agenda. Five policy objectives are described for the Nigerian unique situation. But whatever national policy objectives are deemed relevant in any situation, we propose that such policy objectives be chosen and implemented in a transparent manner and supported by annual on-site monitoring and performance evaluation for a period deemed necessary to enable the goals to be realized.
Pricing In Portuguese Molds Industry: A Matter Of Survival
Authors: Rodrigues Ana Isabel , Nunes Rosa Maria Correia
Published: March 2016

This paper intends to present a proposal of pricing model to the Portuguese molds companies, which considers the sector specificities, as the job production system and the used capacity level. After presenting a synthesis of the main theories in literature, we will present a brief characterization of Portuguese molds companies. Finally, we present our suggestion of long term pricing for this sector.
Social Welfare Effect Of Ghana Cocoa Price Stabilization: Time Series Projection And Analysis
Authors: Matthew Uwakonye , Nazemzadeh Asghar , Solomon Osho Gbolahan , Etundi William J.
Published: March 2016

Wide fluctuations in the price of an agricultural product are often correlated with inelasticity of supply and/or demand for the product. The issue of whether such fluctuations are desirable or undesirable for cocoa producing countries has still to be settled. Among those who believe that price fluctuations are undesirable and should be reduced, there are divergent opinions as to how these fluctuations should be reduced. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of price stabilization on the economic welfare of producers and consumers of Ghana cocoa. Hence this study will estimate supply and demand functions for Ghana cocoa. Parameter estimates will then be used to predict social welfare gains and losses from increased cocoa price stabilization. On the demand side an increase in disposable income influences consumers positively in buying cocoa products. On the producer supply side, independent variable explained 86.5 percent of the variations in supply of cocoa by farmers. Welfare gains measured in this study do not account for additional storage costs that would be incurred by Ghana Marketing Board to make complete prices stabilization operational. Given rather unstable supply and demand functions for Ghana cocoa as indicated by their respective variances, the buffer inventory required by the Ghana Marketing Board to stabilize Ghana cocoa prices would likely be large, so is the resource cost of maintaining that buffer inventory. With respect to welfare implications, this study supports the argument that price stabilization will benefit Ghana cocoa farmers as well as consumers. Society as a whole benefits by the net gain in welfare based on Massels model.
Can Perfume Increase The Response Rate To A Face-To-Face Survey?
Authors: Adenskaya Larisa , Dommeyer Curt J.
Published: March 2016

After this paper reviews the literature related to the use of scent in marketing and other fields, it describes an experiment that manipulated the use of a perfume on a personal interviewer. The results indicate that perfume can be used to enhance the response rate to a face-to-face survey without incurring a sample bias or affecting the item omission rate. Suggestions for future researchers are offered.
Management Styles And Cultural Differences: Bridging The Productivity Gap In The Implementation Of Information Technology
Authors: Merchant John E. , Merchant Sylnovie
Published: March 2016

This research project reports on a study of cultural values (work values) of different nationalities around the world as it relates to the implementation of Information Technology. It is an on?going study of workers from several nations and what cultural/work values they bring to the work environment. For multinational corporations with worldwide information systems, this study provides them with realizations of what approaches to take in dealing with different nationals. At the same time, it is an attempt to develop and test a model for classifying nationalities based upon their cultural orientations and the type of orientation that they feel most comfortable working in: formal or informal.
Long Term Inter- And Intra-Regional Stochastic Trends To Middle East And North African Capital Markets
Authors: Girard Eric , Ferreira Eurico J.
Published: March 2016

This paper investigates the contribution of Middle East and North African (MENA) capital markets to global strategic asset allocation. Eleven MENA stock markets are examined from January 1st, 1990 to December 30th, 2001. Cointegration studies are conducted on daily, weekly and monthly stock market index price to investigate long-term market linkages. Our results indicate few pairwise stochastic trends between markets, but no common long-term co-movements. We suggest that MENA markets provide diversification potentials for the global investor and should not be treated as a block for global strategic asset allocation purposes.
Franchising In China: The Case Of Medicine Shoppe
Authors: Foote Paul Sheldon , Gao Zheman
Published: March 2016

As franchising becomes more favorable in China, both foreign and local franchisers and franchisees will benefit from the successful business model developed by Medicine Shoppe.
Economic Growth And FDI In China
Authors: Cai Francis , Cheng Huifang , Xu LianZan , Leung C.K.
Published: March 2016

This paper studies the importance of foreign direct investment (FDI) in economic development in China. By analyzing the data from China and comparing China with other developed and developing countries, the paper finds that FDI becomes a force in economic growth, especially in the later stage of industrialization; Specifically, the paper finds that a countrys foreign trade is the engine in the initial stage of the economic development, while FDI is the main force in the post-industrialization stage.
Shareholder Value In The Third Wave Of Acquisitions
Authors: Hergert Michael
Published: March 2016

Acquisition activity in the United States has occurred in three distinct waves. During the 1960s, acquisitions were predominantly made in areas unrelated to the acquiring firms. Later analysis of this conglomerate boom generally indicated that little or no shareholder value was created in this process. A second wave of acquisition and divestiture activity in the 1980s was characterized by the unwinding of the conglomerates and a search for synergy between the buyer and the acquired firm. The evidence on value creation for this period is somewhat more encouraging, although most studies indicate that firms did not succeed in creating profits through acquisitions. A third wave of acquisitions occurred in the late 1990s. This was an unprecedented era of merger and acquisition activity. Nearly $4 trillion worth of mergers occurred from 1998-2000. This represents a volume of activity greater than the previous 30 years put together. This study examines the returns to acquiring firms during this period and compares them to previous studies of acquisition performance. Was it different this time? This study indicates that shareholder value was generally reduced in making acquisitions, although some factors can mitigate the degree of poor performance. On average, acquiring firms lost 4-7% from making acquisitions. There is evidence to support the conventional wisdom that firms often overpay making acquisitions and that the size of the stock premium can be tied to firm performance. However, after controlling for the price premium, there is significant evidence of wealth creation (synergy) from the transaction.
Strategic Interactions Between Fishermen And A Coastal Nation
Authors: Wachsman Yoav
Published: March 2016

Coastal nations can impose conditions of use on foreign fishermen that operate in their Exclusive Economic Zone. We develop a game-theoretical model in which a fishery owner maximizes the revenue that it collects from fishermen that operate in its EEZ by charging them a fishing fee. We find that if the number of fishermen is exogenous the owner selects a fee that is higher than socially optimal. On the other hand, if the owner can choose the number of fishermen, it does not restrict entry to the EEZ and selects a fee that maximizes net return. Alternatively, the owner can use a two-tier tariff to extract all the net return from the fishery.
Attaining The Knowledge Organizational Paradigm: Theoretical Views Of The 21st Century Organization And The Case Of Slovenian Institute For Learning Enterprises
Authors: Dimovski Vlado , Penger Sandra
Published: March 2016

As we enter the first decade in the twenty-first century, contemporary management thinking is being profoundly reshaped by two new convictions: managing organizational knowledge effectively is essential to achieving competitive success; and managing knowledge is now a central concern, and must become a basic skill of modern manager. In the paper we would like to present the impact of the increased interconnectivity of people and organization, and to perform the new organizational paradigm that provides a modern knowledge construction of the 21st century organization. Therefore, the paper focuses on the process of attaining the knowledge organization, and enlightens different theoretical architectures of the 21st century organization. Modern forms of organizational structures range from horizontal, process and team structures to virtual networks. We illustrate the impact of organizational paradigm in the Slovenian economy with a case study, where we examine the Slovenian Institute for Learning Enterprises (SILE). SILE was registered as a non-profit institute and established by 18 flourishing major Slovenian enterprises in January 2001 with the aim of developing the concept of learning organization (LO) and diffusing the concept of knowledge management (KM) to become regular practice in Slovenian enterprises.
How Estimates Of Share Of Voice (SOV) Affect Advertising Budgeting Decisions
Authors: Whipple Thomas W. , Walcer Lou
Published: March 2016

An advertising budgeting procedure that compares share of voice to share of market for a brand and its largest competitor has been employed in established consumer packaged goods categories. This study implements similar procedures in a capital goods category, namely medical imaging equipment. Alternative estimates of share of voice and their impact on advertising budgeting decisions are considered. Advertising budgeting recommendations are presented.
Global Supply-Chain Strategy And Global Competitiveness
Authors: Sabbaghi Asghar , Sabbaghi Navid
Published: March 2016

The purpose of this study is to provide an analysis of global supply chain in a broader context that encompasses not only the producing company, but suppliers and customers.The theme of this study is to identify global sourcing and selling options, to enhance customer service and value added, to optimize inventory performance, to reduce total delivered costs and lead times, to achieve lower break-even costs, and to improve operational flexibility, customization and partner relations. In this context, an integrated management information system will be viewed as the key instrument that captures all relevant data and makes it available to the appropriate decision-maker and that provides an optimizer and decision-support function supporting various phases of the decision-making process, requiring the identification of cost cutting and value adding strategies. The properly integrated management information systems will help companies to gain the critical global competitive edge to survive in today's markets. We suggest various strategies in sourcing, manufacturing/operation, and marketing that can provide a competitive global supply chain strategy for a firm to increase value. We provide case studies where these strategies have been successful as well as case studies where they have failed.
Who Benefits And Who Loses From The Regionalization Of World Trade?
Authors: Castanias Richard P. , Yelamanchi Yamuna
Published: March 2016

As regional blocs evolve, developing countries within blocs are prime beneficiaries. Trade between developed countries in different blocs falls relative to theoretical predictions. Many developing countries outside major blocs are the losers. The primary factor driving evolving trade patterns is the lowering of barriers to trade (however defined). As economic integration progresses, a trade zone may evolve into a common market, economic union, or monetary union, facilitating the lowering of trade and growth-inhibiting frictions. Furthermore, barriers to trade will continue to decline within a trade zone faster than between trade zones, but the benefits of economic integration will not be equally shared across all nations in a zone. Policy implications and directions for future research are then discussed.
Do Government Regulations Prevent Transfer Pricing Manipulations?
Authors: Chan Canri
Published: March 2016

This study investigated the effects of government regulations and incentives on the setting of transfer prices. I found significant main effects of both variables on transfer price choices. Transfer pricing is important, particularly for Multinational Corporations (MNCs), because of increased trends toward globalization of business activities and, simultaneously, decentralization. These trends have led to increased pressures for sound internal pricing systems, specifically transfer pricing, in order for organizations to ensure optimal and efficient allocations of organization resources and to provide profit performance measurements (Tang 1992). It has generally been recognized in the literature that in order to maximize after tax cash flows, MNCs shift profits from high to low tax jurisdictions. Governments in some countries, particularly those with high tax rates, are greatly concerned as to whether or not companies attempt to avoid tax liabilities via transfer pricing manipulation, specifically in terms of trying to shift profits to lower tax jurisdictions, and have enacted laws to limit transfer price choice.
International Internet Retail Marketing: Do Product Characteristics Really Matter?
Authors: Taylor Leland , Mujtaba Bahaudin
Published: March 2016

Many practitioners and academic researchers are engaged in the evaluation and study of the impact of the Internet on global retail marketing. Findings have generally focused on the unique attributes of the Internet marketplace and many have discussed product attributes or characteristics which seem important to market success. However, a 2003 Irish retail study claims there are no correlations between the types of product purchased on the Internet and challenges the validity of product characteristics as an important consideration for Internet marketing (Golden, Hughes and Gallagher, 2003). This article reviews the development of product characteristic marketing theory and discusses the findings of recent studies which investigate product characteristics and their importance to Internet based international retail marketing plans.
Risk Diversification In World Stock Markets
Authors: Hsu H. Christine , Wei H. Jeffrey
Published: March 2016

The benefit of risk diversification refers to the reduction in the portfolio risk when different stocks are combined into a portfolio. This risk reduction benefit exists because not all stocks are moving together through time; this is presumably true for stocks from different countries. The smaller the degree of co-movements in the world stock markets (i.e., the less the correlation between the markets), the greater is the risk reduction effect. Thus, it makes sense for a US investor to invest globally as long as the foreign stock markets are not highly correlated with the U.S. market. Nevertheless, recent evidence shows that the correlations between the U.S. and various foreign stock markets are evolving through time due to the integration of world capital markets and international capital flows. Now that we witness the increased interdependence of the world stock markets, does it still make sense to diversify globally? In this paper, we address the question of global risk diversification from the US perspective.
Trade And Industrial Policy Analysis With Specific Reference To Automotive Industry Programmes: Lessons For Developing Countries
Authors: Damoense Maylene Y.
Published: March 2016

Over the last two decades the global auto industry has undergone important structural transformations and policy reforms posing complex challenges for low-volume automobile producing countries. More specifically, during the 1990s, rapid growth in sales and production were experienced in the global auto market, which has interestingly, been largely attributable to strong growth registered in emerging markets instead of the Triad regions. This paper provides a sectoral perspective analysing trade and industrial policies of selected emerging auto countries and concludes with recommendations for future automotive policy particularly for South Africa and other developing countries that are important to developing internationally competitive and sustainable automotive sectors.
Japan Banking Inc.: Problems, Solutions, And Implementation: An Economic And Cultural Perspective
Authors: Pollard Dennis , Chuo Shirley
Published: March 2016

The focus of this paper is to obtain a realistic estimate of real Japanese Bank Losses. The insights gained will include: Factors contributing to bad loans, method of disposal of bad loans, future prescriptions regarding the Early Warning System/Diversion Process will be put forth and conclusions for future economic methods to monitor guide turnaround.
Real Wage Rate And Productivity Relationship In The Declining U.S. Steel Industry
Authors: Nwaokoro Amaechi Nkemakolem
Published: March 2016

This study examines the relationship between the real wage rate and productivity in the U.S. steel industry in the critical period of 1963-1988. This period witnessed a declining steel output and employment, increasing productivity, and a slight increasing real wage rate. The severity of the decline was felt in the 1980s. The popular explanation focuses on the nominal wage rate relative to productivity (non-nominal value). The study is based on high-frequency monthly data set on output, employment, productivity, wage rate, factor prices, and national unemployment rate. Also control factors are constructed for the steel import protection and non-protection regimes. Some econometric modeling issues are addressed. Recognizing that productivity is stochastic and is potentially an endogenous variable, it is instrumented with a set of productivity-related variables including controls for various steel protection and non-protection regimes. Third, the wage in the industry is modeled as a function of exogenous productivity, price of steel products, national unemployment rate, and real interest rate. Serial correlation characterizes the data, and this is corrected with inter-temporal effect of the real wage rate, and with a differencing model. The main results of the study are threefold.First, OLS and Instrumental Variable (IV) estimates show that productivity is the key variable for explaining the real wage rate. Second, like in the literature, the study finds that heavy and autonomous capitalization has an impact on the rising productivity. Third, the study identifies an inter-temporal high real wage rate as the driving factor for explaining the short run real wage rate.These results are somewhat sensitive across specifications.
Testing For Purchasing Power Parity In A Panel Of Middle-Eastern Countries
Authors: El-Ramly Hala
Published: March 2016

The attention given to testing for purchasing power parity (PPP) using middle-eastern data has so far been very limited. This paper tests for PPP in a panel of twelve countries from the Middle East. Four different unit root procedures are used to test for the mean reversion property in the real exchange rates of these countries. The evidence in support of PPP in the tested panel is generally found to be weak.
Empirical Study Of The Relationship Between Energy Consumption And Gross Domestic Product In The U.S.A.
Authors: Chima Christopher M. , Freed Rodney
Published: March 2016

The role of energy in the economy is an important issue. There is a general belief and agreement amongst economists, researchers, analysts, and policymakers, that energy consumption is related to economic activity and plays a key role in the process of economic development. However, the precise nature of this relationship between energy consumption and economic growth remains debatable. While some ambiguity has remained regarding the direction of causation--- whether from energy to economy or from economy to energy --- the importance of the energy GDP interaction is well recognized. Energy use is a necessary input to economic growth and is also a function of growth. This paper begins with a literature review of the work that has been done to date on the energy-GDP relationship in several countries. Then, an analysis of the historical data for the U.S.A. from 1949 2003 is presented along with mathematical models. The contributions from this paper are that first, we clarify that energy conservation policies will not harm the U.S. economy. Second, we employed a macroeconomic model based on Multiple Model Estimation to determine the relationship between energy consumption and GDP in the United States for the stated time period. Our model suggests that the causation goes both ways: from energy to the components of GDP, and from GDP to energy consumption.
FDI And Economic Growth In CEE And MENA Countries: A Tale Of Two Regions
Authors: Kherfi Samer , Soliman Mohamed
Published: March 2016

This paper examines the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth in two different regions: Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The main findings of our analysis suggest that FDI has a positive effect on growth only in EU accession countries while the effect of FDI on growth in MENA and non-EU accession countries is negative. Candidacy to EU membership is considered as a driving force for stronger commitment and more serious reforms that may have led to the positive effect of FDI on growth.