bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An empirical assessment of consumers' evaluations of web site service quality: conceptualizing and testing a formative model
Authors: O'Cass Aron , Carlson Jamie 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe objective of this study is to develop and test a specific conceptualization and modeling specification of web site service quality and the influence web site service quality has on e‐service provider loyalty and word‐of‐mouth.Design/methodology/approachData from an online survey of consumers across two studies were obtained.FindingsThe results support the conceptualization and operationalization of web site service quality and its effects on word of mouth and loyalty.Research limitations/implicationsImplications for the measurement of consumer perceptions of web site service quality are highlighted for researchers, and directions for future research are discussed.Practical implicationsE‐service providers should carefully consider customer experiences on their web sites, and their management efforts to ensure they design and deliver the appropriate levels of service quality derived through the specific components of web site service quality.Originality/valueThe findings are of value to e‐service practitioners managing web site service quality and offer empirical support to its formative conceptualization. The focus here on formative modeling will stimulate discussion among e‐service researchers and practitioners, which could result in richer e‐service quality measures leading to improved marketing decision making and web site quality management.
Corporate governance mechanisms and capital structure in UAE
Authors: Hussainey Khaled , Aljifri Khaled 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on corporate financial decisions in one of the emerging economies, United Arab Emirates (UAE). In particular, the paper examines the degree to which internal corporate governance mechanisms and an external corporate governance mechanism affect UAE firms’ capital structure.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a multiple regression analysis to examine the association between corporate governance and capital structure for a sample of 71 UAE firms listed either in the Dubai financial market or the Abu Dhabi securities market during 2006.FindingsThe paper finds that institutional investors have a negative impact on debt‐to‐equity ratio. This result does not support the “active monitoring hypotheses” where institutional investors are expected to exercise their voting rights effectively in order to prevent managers from reducing their “employment risk” at the expense of the interests of shareholders. It also finds that dividend policy is negatively associated with debt‐to‐equity ratio, while firms’ size is positively associated with debt‐to‐equity ratio.Research limitations/implicationsEmpirical analysis suggests that corporate governance mechanisms have important implications for UAE firms’ financial policies. UAE managers should be aware of the benefits of the implementation of effective internal and external corporate governance mechanisms while embracing international corporate governance standards. An effective implementation of the codes of corporate governance should improve the efficiency and effectiveness of UAE firms and the UAE stock markets.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no study that has yet empirically examined the effect of the corporate governance mechanisms on capital structure in UAE or Middle Eastern countries. This study offers the first evidence of the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on capital structure in UAE.
The role of corporate governance in earnings management: experience from US banks
Authors: Leventis Stergios , Dimitropoulos Panagiotis 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this research paper is to investigate the role of corporate governance in earnings management behaviour by US listed banks during the era of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act (2003‐2008).Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines the issue of accounting quality and corporate governance within banking corporations through the use of two different measures of earnings management, namely small positive net income and the difference between discretionary realized security gains and losses and discretionary loan loss provisions (LLPs), by applying a corporate governance index estimated from 63 governance provisions.FindingsThe research found convincing evidence that banks with efficient corporate governance mechanisms report small positive income to a lesser extent than banks with weak governance efficiency. Also well‐governed banks engage less in aggressive earnings management behaviour through the use of discretionary loan loss provisions and realized security gains and losses.Practical implicationsThe findings could prove to be valuable to investors since they must take into consideration the efficiency of each bank's corporate governance and demand supplementary information in order to reach a better investment decision when earnings are not highly informative.Social implicationsThe findings could prove to be useful for regulators since they are responsible for the acceptable level of corporate governance standards. Thus, they must consider strengthening governance mechanisms either though new legislation or stronger enforcement where earnings management is of such magnitude to that serious impedes information transparency and quality.Originality/valueThe present study aims to bridge a gap in the literature by investigating corporate governance and earnings management behaviour during a period of transition to an intensively legalized governance environment (SOX Act). The results contribute further evidence to the ongoing debate about the effectiveness of established corporate governance mechanisms.
Factors associated with the internal audit function's role in corporate governance
Authors: Sarens Gerrit , Abdolmohammadi Mohammad J. , Lenz Rainer 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate several variables that are theoretically associated with the internal audit function (IAF) having an active role in corporate governance.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses responses from 782 US Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) in the CBOK (2006) database for the investigation. The paper makes the assumption that an IAF has only one CAE, thus the dataset represents 782 US IAFs.FindingsIt is found that an IAF having an active role in corporate governance is significantly and positively associated with the use of a risk‐based audit plan, existence of a quality assurance and improvement program, and audit committee input to the audit plan. Control variables such as stock exchange listing, firm size, the existence of an internal control framework, and a CAE with an internal auditing qualification also are positively associated with the IAF having an active role in corporate governance.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation of this study is that CAE perceptions may deviate from actual practice. Also, the sample is limited to the US CAEs who are also IIA members, thus it may not reflect the views of non‐members and the CAEs from other countries.Practical implicationsThe results have implications for CAEs who wish to increase the chance for their IAFs to play an active role in corporate governance. The IIA may benefit from these results in its supporting role for the internal auditing profession.Originality/valueThe study is complementary to the literature on the existence and size of the IAF and reveals several avenues for further research.
SEC approves new FINRA rules governing communications with the public
Authors: Kelly Joseph P. , Curzon Elliott R. 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe paper aims to explain the new Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules governing communications with the public approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 29, 2012.Design/methodology/approachThe following are explained: categories of communication, pre‐use approval and record‐keeping requirements, filing requirements, content standards, use of investment company rankings in retail communications, requirements for the use of bond mutual fund volatility ratings, requirements for the use of investment analysis tools, communication with the public regarding securities futures, communication with the public about collateralized mortgage obligations, and the implementation date for the rules.FindingsWhile the new FINRA rules are based on the current provisions of the NASD Rules and Interpretive Materials they replace, there are some notable changes with regard to the communication categories, public appearances, and the approval, review and recordkeeping requirements.Originality/valuePractical guidance is provided from experienced securities lawyers.
China's QFII regime: a complete review of the regulatory scheme and compliance risks
Authors: Shipman Mark 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe paper aims to explain regulatory issues and considerations as to future regulatory changes that Chinese regulators may implement with regard to the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) regime.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes: the regulators responsible for QFII; the relevant regulations; the qualification process, including eligibility requirements and the regulators' preference for qualifying long‐term, buy‐side institutional investors (usually pension funds, insurance companies and mutual funds); the concept of the “open‐ended China fund”; rules governing the remittance and repatriation of capital and the lock‐up period; a provision that prohibits QFIIs from transferring or selling their quotas (for example, to create structured products offering their customers synthetic exposure to the Chinese securities market); available account structures; the investment process, including investment restrictions, required disclosure of interests, the short swing profit rule, over‐purchases and erroneous trades, stock index futures trading, and insider dealing and manipulation of the market; withholding taxes; and recent developments.FindingsChina's QFII regime has been a key component of China's staged opening up of its financial markets, in particular its public securities market, permitting foreign investors to gain access to the previously restricted RMB denominated A share market under relatively strict regulatory oversight.Originality/valuePractical guidance from an experienced financial services lawyer is provided.
Selected FINRA notices and disciplinary actions, March‐May 2012
Authors: Davis Henry A. 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe aim is to provide details of selected Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Regulatory Notices and Disciplinary Actions issued in March, April and May 2012.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides Regulatory Notice 12‐17, April 2012, “Telemarketing: SEC Approves Consolidated Telemarketing Rule,” and Regulatory Notice 12‐25, May 2012, “Suitability: Additional Guidance on FINRA's New Suitability Rule”.FindingsNotice 12‐17: FINRA Rule 3230 (Telemarketing) updates exiting NASD and NYSE rules that require member firms to maintain and consult do‐not‐call lists, limit the hours of telephone solicitations and prohibit members from using deceptive and abusive acts and practices in connection with telemarketing, and adopts provisions that are substantially similar to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules that prohibit deceptive and other abusive telemarketing acts or practices. Notice 12‐25: The new FINRA Rule 2111 requires, in part, that a broker‐dealer or associated person “have a reasonable basis to believe that a recommended transaction or investment strategy involving a security or securities is suitable for the customer, based on the information obtained through the reasonable diligence of the [firm] or associated person to ascertain the customer's investment profile.” In general, the new rule retains the core features of the previous NASD suitability rule, codifies several important interpretations of the predecessor rule and imposes a few new or modified obligations.Originality/valueThese are direct excerpts designed to provide a useful digest for the reader and an indication of regulatory trends.
Bounded becoming: insights from understanding projects in situation
Authors: Sergi Viviane 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to suggest a situated conception of projects, in order develop finer understanding of how these endeavors emerge and unfold over time. The author proposes that these understandings should be rooted in a process ontology, conceive action as situated and focus on actual practices as they are performed by all project actors. Taken together, these dimensions can renew how one views and approaches projects and their management.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is illustrated with examples taken out of a study of a software development project, conducted in the ethnographic tradition.FindingsThe examples expose how a specific practice, planning, was accomplished differently depending on the moment and was affected by different circumstances and constraints. The paper also discusses how preferring a processual worldview is especially befitting projects. As endeavors instigated to create or to make something happen, projects are perpetually changing and in movement; it is therefore relevant that their conceptualization takes fully into consideration their intimate nature.Originality/valueThe originality and value of the paper lie in the combination of perspectives, which can be both useful in theorizing projects differently, and in enhancing practitioners' reflexivity. This combination, it is argued, can address a wide array of issues in the context of projects, can favor localized reflection on project management prescriptions and tools, and can help practitioners to sharpen their sensitivity to their own practice.
Chaperoning: practices of collaboration in the Panama Canal Expansion Program
Authors: Smits Karen , van Marrewijk Alfons 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how project partners respond to contractually agreed collaboration in an infrastructural megaproject. Problematic performances of megaprojects have shifted away attention from the instrumental towards the interpretative, focusing on daily work life, practices, power, ambiguity and sense making in project organizations. Such an interpretative perspective helps to better understand practices of collaboration in complex mega projects, which the authors studied in the Panama Canal Expansion Program (PCEP).Design/methodology/approachGiven the focus on daily work life, the authors chose an in‐depth single case study. Practices of collaboration have been studied during a one‐year ethnographic fieldwork period in Panama, in which the daily work life of project participants was intensely observed.FindingsFirst, it was found that practices of collaboration in complex projects change in periods of conflict. In these periods actors are forced to reflect upon their practices and to negotiate about new practices. Second, the authors identified collaborative practices in which a consultancy firm teaches their client and supervises its appropriate behavior. The authors have labeled these as chaperoning.Practical implicationsThis study illustrates that when innovation in contracts requires an innovative relationship between project partners, specific attention to this innovation and the related practices of collaboration enhances the collaborative relationship among partners, which can prevent cost overruns and delays.Originality/valueEthnographic fieldwork has not been used frequently to study project management practices. The paper builds upon a one‐year ethnographic fieldwork period to study practices in the daily work life of the project participants from “within”.
Exploration, project evaluation and design theory: a rereading of the Manhattan case
Authors: Lenfle Sylvain 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThere is a widespread agreement in the managerial literature that projects produce much more than what they deliver. However, most of the literature focuses on what project delivers (new products, processes, services …). This can be misleading, especially for highly innovative projects for which neither the goals, nor the means to reach them, are clearly defined at the beginning. Thus, contemporary research argues for a model in which project management is, first and foremost, a way to organize the exploration process. The question becomes the definition of a framework to evaluate the project results (success or failures). The purpose of this paper is to study this question by bridging project management and design literature. Indeed research on design processes propose tools that could help managers to better understand what has been delivered and learned during the exploration journey. The paper relies on the Manhattan case to illustrate the fruitfulness of this approach.Design/methodology/approachThe paper opted for an exploratory study using an historical case study: the Manhattan project. The author was able to draw on a large amount of historical material which has not yet been used to study the management of exploration projects. The paper focuses on a specific set of events likely to reveal the problems raised by the evaluation of exploration projects. Given the information available, it was considered that the point of “theoretical saturation”, which Glaser and Strauss proposed as the criterion to stop collecting data, had been attained.FindingsThe paper shows how recent development in design theory may provide a fruitful theoretical framework to develop a new evaluation framework to assess the results of exploratory projects in terms of both products designed and knowledge developed.Research limitations/implicationsBecause of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to explore this question further.Practical implicationsThe paper includes implications for the development of new evaluation tools for exploratory projects.Originality/valueThe question of project evaluation is of the greatest importance to enhance the management of exploration processes. The paper's bridging of design theory and project management constitutes an original approach.
Realising the benefits of investment in project management training
Authors: Egginton Bill 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the barriers experienced as “apprentice practitioners” transitioned from a course of project management (PM) education into a project‐centric work place, in order to improve understanding of the limitations of classroom‐based education at the level of the individual.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes a longitudinal study over two years, during which data were collected from a series of on‐line surveys and one‐to‐one interviews with a data set that comprised 78 military students.FindingsThe research results confirmed some of the benefits associated with classroom‐based PM education (learning the language, tools & techniques) and identified key barriers to the application of learning in the workplace.Research limitations/implicationsThe study's validity, particularly in respect of generalisability, should not be overstated. Organisational maturity plays a part in shaping the approach to individual learning and these aspects were not assessed.Practical implicationsThe paper argues that a more strategic approach to PM people development is required, involving a move away from traditional classroom‐based interventions at the level of the individual to a paradigm where the same individuals are able to immerse themselves in active team‐based learning as part of their day‐job.Originality/valueThe findings of this study resonate with those of earlier work and set the PM situation into the context of other disciplines.
Gantt charts revisited
Authors: Geraldi Joana , Lechter Thomas 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore a classic tool in project management, which for some has become almost synonymous with project management: the Gantt chart. The Gantt chart was developed in the early twentieth century, at the heart of Scientific Management; yet, the chart is used with very little adaptation across a wide range of types of projects. In this conceptual paper, the authors question its universal and unreflective use.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyse the conceptual roots of the Gantt chart, its historical development and use, derive its engrained principles, and analyse its implications to the management of projects.FindingsWhile a Gantt chart can be useful to cope with some of the “complicatedness” of projects, and embraces the importance of time and timing, it is based on principles that are not valid to all projects. The consequence is a propagation of a management approach that does not explicitly cope with complexity, ambiguity, uncertainty and change. In that respect, the Gantt chart fails to acknowledge insights from years of organization theory research and project management research with a firm grounding in contingency theory.Originality/valueWhile the majority of contemporary project management thinking already accepted that a normative use can be inappropriate, the practice is still pretty much embracing this approach. By showing the conceptual roots of the Gantt chart, the authors hope to make some of its limitations more evident to practitioners and academics, and encourage its use to be more reflective and contextualised.
PERT, Polaris, and the realities of project execution
Authors: Engwall Mats 
Published: September 2012

PurposeThe general purpose of this paper is to give Sapolsky's classical study of the Polaris Project, written in 1972, the credits it actually earns. In addition, there are two more specific aims: to discuss the role and usage of project management techniques, such as PERT (programme evaluation and review technique), in the practices of project execution; and to display the power of thorough empirical case studies in order to deepen our understanding of the realities of project execution.Design/methodology/approachThe paper constitutes a detailed review of the content and contributions of the book The Polaris Systems Development written by Harvey M. Sapolsky in 1972. The paper presents the main ideas of the book and discusses its implications for contemporary project management research.FindingsSapolsky's work, The Polaris Systems Development, is an important account of some of the most significant courses of events in the birth and formation of project management, especially the creation of PERT as a technique for project coordination. However, by going beyond the rhetorical surface of the project management, Sapolsky shows that PERT never played the role in Polaris that it is generally claimed to have had. The paper puts these findings in context and discusses why this has been ignored in project management research so far.Research limitations/implicationsScholars focusing on project management research need to distance themselves from its historical tight bounds to project management textbooks and administrative project management techniques. There is a strong need for a broader empirical basis and pluralism in theoretical perspectives in the study of the realities of project execution.Originality/valueThe paper recapitulates a classic account of the formative period of project management, which so far has generally been ignored in project management research. In addition, it discusses three functions of project planning techniques: boundary objects for coordination, political features for legitimacy and trust building, and cognitive means for the social construction of a predicable future.