bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Reducing national freight logistics costs risk in a high-oil-price environment
Authors: Havenga Jan , Simpson Zane 
Published: June 2014

Purpose
– South Africa's logistics cost measurement was expanded to include externality costs, and scenarios based on the key exogenous risks were developed to inform mitigation strategies. This paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– The research approach is quantitative, based on a gravity-orientated freight flow model, a road transport cost model, actual transport costs for other modes, a warehousing cost survey, an inventory delay calculation (to inform warehousing cost calculations and inventory financing costs) and an externality cost calculation.

Findings
– Transport cost pressures are expected to deteriorate due to the increasingly negative outlook for the oil price and the internalisation of externality costs. The nature of these forces compels transport cost challenges to be addressed strategically through collaborative, industry-wide and even nationwide initiatives.

Research limitations/implications
– Key limitations are inconsistent commodity classification schemes across information sources, and incomplete container content data. The researchers are collaborating with information providers to address these issues and refine model accuracy and forecasting.

Practical implications
– The exogenous risks strengthen the argument for new approaches to South Africa's logistics cost challenges driven by the high densities of corridor freight flows.

Social implications
– The inclusion of externality costs highlighted the negative environmental impact of the current modal configuration and provides impetus for change.

Originality/value
– Major advancements to logistics cost modelling were made by incorporating externality costs and developing scenarios for risk mitigation. Freight flow data granularity (in excess of one million records) allows both aggregation to national-level intelligence to inform policies, large-scale infrastructure investments and industrial positioning, and disaggregation to enable practical application.
Investor perceptions of the benefits of political connections
Authors: Yang Fan , Wilson Craig , Wu Zhenyu 
Published: June 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate how foreign and domestic investors differ in their beliefs about the relative merits of a firm's political connections.Design/methodology/approach– These differences are employed to explain cross-sectional variation in the previously documented premium in A-share prices relative to otherwise equivalent foreign currency denominated B-shares for Chinese firms.Findings– Chinese domestic individual investors were excluded from owning B-shares of Chinese firms prior to February 20, 2001. The authors find that firms with more political connections have higher premiums and a smaller reduction in premiums associated with this event.Research limitations/implications– This is consistent with domestic block holders deriving additional benefits from politically connected firms.Practical implications– The findings also have important policy implications by showing that government can have a strong effect on the economy even without applying macro-policy tools.Social implications– Government ownership in listed companies can result in discrepancies among classes of investors with respect to their valuations. Furthermore, the prohibition of short sales prevents arbitrage from correcting this bias, and eventually the role of the market in allocating resources efficiently is undermined.Originality/value– The authors investigate the role of political connections as implied by the proportion of state ownership in explaining the A-share premium. Unlike previous studies that associate state ownership with political risk, the paper relates state ownership to political connections that are particularly beneficial to domestic large block shareholders. This interpretation is consistent with the findings and with previous literature on state ownership and political connections of Chinese firms.
An examination of the survivability of reverse stock splits
Authors: L. Neuhauser Karyn , H. Thompson Thomas 
Published: June 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the survivability of 810 reverse splits during the 1995-2006 period and show that companies that undertake reverse stock splits often fail within a relatively short time following the split.Design/methodology/approach– Applying both a logit model and an adapted version of the Hensleret al.(1997) accelerated failure time model to 810 reverse splits during the 1995-2006 period, the authors are the first to study the survivability of reverse split companies.Findings– The paper finds that the market reaction to the reverse split on the ex-date is an important predictor of the likelihood of survival and of survival time. The paper finds that the likelihood of survival also depends on firm size, pre-split firm returns, and the post-split share price level. The paper finds that post-split survival time also depends on firm size, pre-split operating performance as measured by return on assets, pre-split firm returns, leverage, and the post-split share price level.Practical implications– The study may be of interest to investors considering investing in stocks that have undergone reverse splits.Originality/value– The research sheds light on which reverse splitting firms are most likely to survive and for how long.
Corporate social responsibility, continuous process improvement orientation, organizational commitment and turnover intentions
Authors: Hollingworth David , Valentine Sean 
Published: June 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine how employee's perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) relate to their perceptions of an organization's orientation toward continuous process improvement orientation (CPIO). In addition, this research considers how employee perceptions of CSR and CPIO relate to work attitudes and behavioral intentions.Design/methodology/approach– Using structural equations analysis, the paper examines survey data obtained from employees of a USA-based financial services firm to test hypotheses regarding employee's perceptions of corporate engagement in CSR and continuous process improvement, as well as their work attitudes.Findings– Employee perceptions of CSR and of CPIO are strongly related. Both CSR and CPIO have similar, but still unique effects upon organizational commitment (OC). CSR and CPIO do not directly impact employee's intentions to leave, but they do have an indirect effect on intentions to leave, which operates through OC.Research limitations/implications– The design of the study precludes absolute conclusions regarding causality in tested relationships. The study design also limits generalizability.Practical implications– CSR and CPIO are strongly related, possibly due to shared cultural principles, suggesting that either CSR or CPIO may establish a basis in values that will support the other. Adding CSR to existing CPIO (or the reverse) is likely to enhance employee attitudes.Originality/value– This paper provides an empirical assessment of the relationship between continuous process improvement activities and CSR. In addition, it conceptually and empirically evaluates how CSR and CPIO simultaneously influence employee attitudes and behaviors.
Leadership in female SHGs: traits/abilities, situational or forced?
Authors: Singh Archana 
Published: June 2014

Purpose
– Microfinance/microcredit/self-help groups (SHGs), as an instrument of women's empowerment, have attracted the attention of many researchers. However, despite being one of the most important aspects of SHGs, leadership in these groups has been neglected in the existing literature. The purpose of this paper is to focus on leadership in women-SHGs, and particularly on factors contributing to the emergence of leaders.

Design/methodology/approach
– The research followed quantitative methodology. The study was conducted on women-SHGs in Dharavi (Mumbai, India), one of the largest slums in Asia. An equal number of leaders and non-leader members from women-SHGs were interviewed.

Findings
– The findings demonstrates that a “participative/democratic style of leadership” is preferred by non-leader members within female SHGs. It also highlights that apart from traits/abilities of members and their situation within family and the group, other external factors also contribute to the emergence of leaders within SHGs. Often, rules and regulations of formal institutions and government policies force the group to replace its most efficient leader with another with no proven leadership qualities. The findings compelled us to re-think: “Is it really traits or situations that influence the emergence of leaders within women-SHGs?” or, “Is it a matter of forced leadership?” Leadership in female SHGs needs to be understood in totality, within the framework of their domestic world and their socio-economic context.

Practical implications
– The findings of the study provide scope to governments and other formal institutions to re-evaluate their existing policies, rules and regulations in dealing with female SHGs in order to help women's empowerment in a real sense.

Originality/value
– The study was conducted using a limited number of female SHGs, but it provides an insight to existing practitioners, governments and other formal institutions that are working on microfinance and using SHGs to empower women.
Assessing disaster risks in supply chains
Authors: Lockamy III Archie 
Published: June 2014

Purpose
– As organizations increase their dependence on supply chain networks, they become more susceptible to their suppliers’ disaster risk profiles, as well as other categories of risk associated with supply chains. Therefore, it is imperative that supply chain network participants are capable of assessing the disaster risks associated with their supplier base. The purpose of this paper is to assess the supplier disaster risks, which are a key element of external risk in supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach
– The study participants are 15 automotive casting suppliers who display a significant degree of disaster risks to a major US automotive company. Bayesian networks are used as a methodology for examining the supplier disaster risk profiles for these participants.

Findings
– The results of this study show that Bayesian networks can be effectively used to assist managers in making decisions regarding current and prospective suppliers vis-à-vis their potential revenue impact as illustrated through their corresponding disaster risk profiles.

Research limitations/implications
– A limitation to the use of Bayesian networks for modeling disaster risk profiles is the proper identification of risk events and risk categories that can impact a supply chain.

Practical implications
– The methodology used in this study can be adopted by managers to assist them in making decisions regarding current or prospective suppliers vis-à-vis their corresponding disaster risk profiles.

Originality/value
– As part of a comprehensive supplier risk management program, organizations along with their suppliers can develop specific strategies and tactics to minimize the effects of supply chain disaster risk events.
Agricultural marketing and food safety in China: a utility perspective
Authors: L. Ortega David , G. Brown Colin , A. Waldron Scott , Holly Wang H. 
Published: June 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore Chinese food safety issues by analysing select incidents within he Chinese agricultural marketing system.Design/methodology/approach– A marketing utility framework is utilized to discuss some of the major food safety incidents in China and potential solutions are explored.Findings– The paper finds that food safety issues arise from problems of asymmetric information which leads to the profit seeking behaviour of agents distorting rather than enhancing the creation of one of the four types or marketing utility (time, form, place and possession). Additionally, structural causes found within the Chinese food marketing system have contributed to the food safety problems.Research limitations/implications– This is not an empirical research with numerical data.Originality/value– This study is one of the first to address Chinese food safety problems from an agricultural marketing utility perspective. Key anecdotes are used to support the claims made in this study.
Effects of two staffing decisions on the performance of MNC subsidiaries
Authors: Ando Naoki , Paik Yongsun 
Published: June 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between foreign subsidiary staffing and subsidiary performance by focussing on two staffing practices: first, the ratio of parent country nationals (PCNs) to foreign subsidiary employees and second, the number of PCNs assigned to the foreign subsidiary.Design/methodology/approach– Hypotheses predicting curvilinear relationships between the assignment of PCNs and subsidiary performance are tested using a panel data set consisting of 4,858 foreign subsidiaries of Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs).Findings– The results demonstrate that the two staffing practices have different effects on subsidiary performance. The ratio of PCNs to foreign subsidiary employees has an inverted U-shaped relationship with subsidiary performance, while the number of PCNs assigned to the subsidiary has a linear and negative effect on subsidiary performance.Research limitations/implications– The results of this study are subject to limitations. First, the sample used in this study consists solely of the foreign subsidiaries of Japanese firms. This research design limits the generalizability of the findings of this study. Second, other decisions related to subsidiary staffing such as the ratio of PCNs in the subsidiary's top management team need to be examined to advance understandings of the relationship between subsidiary staffing and subsidiary performance.Practical implications– MNCs need to identify the appropriate number of PCNs at which they can achieve the optimal trade-off with the PCN ratio to enhance the competitiveness and the performance of a foreign subsidiary. In doing so, they need to take into consideration that an increase in the number of PCNs has an immediate negative effect on the workplace morale of host country nationals.Originality/value– This study incorporates two staffing practices into its analyses and shows that they have different implications for subsidiary performance. The results suggest that focussing on one staffing practice alone limits understanding of the complex relationship between foreign subsidiary staffing and subsidiary performance.
The impact of the UK governments spending review into the Feed in Tariff (FIT) on the installation on photovoltaic panels in the residential sector
Authors: Elnokaly Amira , A.J. Martin Benjamin 
Published: June 2014

Purpose
– In October 2011 the Government brought in measures to reduce the revenue provided by the Feed in Tariff (FIT) system. This change came under a lot of opposition due to the potential affects that it would have upon the industry. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential benefits of the FIT and the impact that the Governments Comprehensive Spending Review had upon the industry and its uptake by the householders.

Design/methodology/approach
– For the study and to calculate the benefits of the FIT, a predictive modelling tool was built that could calculate the potential income and savings for a household. A photovoltaic (PV) installation was then monitored for over a year and the results of the predictive modelling tool were compared to actual results produced from the system to show how accurate the modelling tool was. The impacts of the Governments comprehensive spending review and the potential impacts in the industry were then calculated and discussed.

Findings
– The FIT is still a good incentive for people investing in PV. However, the reduction in the FIT may impact the “Rent a Roof” system and this in turn will impact most heavily on lower income families. The research also concluded that the changes in the political agenda have had a major impact on the FIT for both the industry and the community. Thus, the solar FITs will continue to be an attractive incentive in place to pay for heating through renewable means and thus ensuring reducing the own carbon footprint. Concomitantly, well-developed ownership schemes need to be put in place.

Originality/value
– The reduction in the FIT was the right move by the Government as it should prevent the increase in energy bill prices which will affect the people without PV at this point in time. It also has been set so that it is still generous enough to encourage the industry and stimulate installation as there is still profit but not in a way that should put people off. The UK may just have to take time to realise that the FITs are still a good deal after the very generous tariff that preceded them.
Passive immunity with multi‐serotype heat‐killed Shigellae in neonatal mice
Authors: Barman Soumik , Koley Hemanta , Nag Dhrubajyoti , Shinoda Sumio , Nair Gopinath Balakrish , Takeda Yoshifumi 
Published: June 2014

AbstractThe short‐ and long‐term passive protective efficacy of a mixture of heat‐killed cells of six serogroups/serotypes of Shigella strains (Shigella dysenteriae 1, S. flexneri 2a, S. flexneri 3a, S. flexneri 6, S. boydii 4, and S. sonnei) were studied in neonatal mice. Neonatal mice from immunized dams exhibited significant short‐ and long‐term passive protection against individual challenge by each of the six Shigella strains. High IgG and IgA titers against the lipopolysaccharide from each of the six Shigella strains were observed in sera from immunized dams.
Overcompensation and phase effects in a cyclic common vole population: between first and second‐order cycles
Authors: Barraquand Frédéric , Pinot Adrien , Yoccoz Nigel G. , Bretagnolle Vincent 
Published: June 2014

Summary

Population cycles in voles are often thought to be generated by one‐year delayed density dependence on the annual population growth rate. In common voles, however, it has been suggested by Turchin (2003) that some populations exhibit first‐order cycles, resulting from strong overcompensation (i.e. carrying capacity overshoots in peak years, with only an effect of the current year abundance on annual growth rates).

We focus on a common vole (Microtus arvalis) population from western France that exhibits 3‐year cycles. Several overcompensating nonlinear models for populations dynamics are fitted to the data, notably those of Hassell, and Maynard‐Smith and Slatkin.

Overcompensating direct density dependence (DD) provides a satisfactory description of winter crashes, and one‐year delayed density dependence is not responsible for the crashes, thus these are not classical second‐order cycles. A phase‐driven modulation of direct density dependence maintains a low‐phase, explaining why the cycles last three years instead of two. Our analyses suggest that some of this phase dependence can be expressed as one‐year delayed DD, but phase dependence provides a better description. Hence, modelling suggests that cycles in this population are first‐order cycles with a low phase after peaks, rather than fully second‐order cycles.

However, based on the popular log‐linear second‐order autoregressive model, we would conclude only that negative delayed density dependence exists. The additive structure of this model cannot show when delayed DD occurs (here, during lows rather than peaks). Our analyses thus call into question the automated use of second‐order log‐linear models, and suggests that more attention should be given to non‐(log)linear models when studying cyclic populations.

From a biological viewpoint, the fast crashes through overcompensation that we found suggest they might be caused by parasites or food rather than predators, though predators might have a role in maintaining the low phase and spatial synchrony.
Industrial District and the Multiplication of Labour: The Chinese Apparel Industry in Prato, Italy
Authors: Lan Tu 
Published: June 2014

AbstractSince the 1990s, the Chinese apparel industry in Prato has developed from a few stitching workshops into full‐fledged production networks. However, persistent disparity between the Chinese and Italian labor has triggered widespread social tensions. Drawing upon the recent literature of critical labor studies, this paper offers a different perspective to see the disparity in terms of the multiplication of labor across scales. The Chinese labor in Prato is made cheap and flexible by the proliferation of institutional and social borders, which were in turn inadvertently produced by Italian immigration policies, Chinese social norms, and local and regional economic conditions. In particular, the Chinese migrant workers have played an active role in producing social borders and in their own exploitation. Therefore, the labor polarization in Prato can hardly be solved by local institutional arrangements, and Italian trade unions have failed to organize the Chinese migrant labor in Prato.
Wing and hindlimb myology of vultures and raptors (Accipitriformes) in relation to locomotion and foraging
Authors: Hertel Fritz , Maldonado Jesús E. , Sustaita Diego 
Published: June 2014

AbstractHerein, we compare functional muscle properties among convergent forms of large, obligate avian scavengers. We performed quantitative analyses of all the muscle masses and cross‐sectional areas (CSA) of the wings and hindlimbs of five species from two families, Cathartidae (New World vultures; Cathartes aura and Vultur gryphus) and Accipitridae (Old World vultures and raptors; Gyps africanus, Aquila rapax, and Buteo lineatus). These species comprise two paraphyletic functional groups, raptors (Aquila and Buteo) and vultures (Gyps, Cathartes, and Vultur). Our ordination analyses based on all of the muscles of the wings, hindlimbs, and wing and hindlimb muscles combined produced patterns that appeared to be more related to phylogeny, with a hint of a functional signal in wing muscle CSA. However, when wing muscles were grouped according to their functional roles (upstroke, downstroke, and wing stabilization), the percentages of mass and CSA allocated to the upstroke and stabilizing muscles were 1.4–5% greater in the vultures than in the raptors. Conversely, when hindlimb muscles were grouped according to their roles in grasping and terrestrial locomotion, the percentages of mass and CSA allocated to grasping muscles were 5.9–14% greater in the raptors. Our results provide a baseline for future lines of inquiry aimed at understanding how muscle mass and CSA are affected differentially across locomotor modules, possibly in response to differential demands on wing and hindlimb function experienced by these disparate accipitriform clades.