bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Optimization of process factors for controlling defects due to melt shop using Taguchi method
Authors: Kumar Sushil , Satsangi P.S. , Prajapati D.R. 
Published: March 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the influencing factors which cause casting defects and determination of optimum value of factors to minimize these defects in a melt shop industry, situated in north India. Percentage contribution of these factors is also estimated to develop an empirical expression between process performance and independent input variables.Design/methodology/approachOptimization technique for melt shop process parameters of a cast iron differential housing cover based on the Taguchi method is proposed. The focus of this paper is on the robustness of the sand casting process and the case study is based upon a leading automobile foundry industry, located in north India. Taguchi's experimental design and regression analysis techniques are used to optimize the control factors, resulting in improvement of the product quality and stability. The various confirmation tests are also carried out in the range of process parameters.FindingsThe outcome of this case study is to optimize the process parameters of the melt shop process, which leads to minimizing the casting defects. The process parameters considered are: mild steel, pig iron, cast iron, ferrosilicon, lime stone, ferromanganese, cock and ferrochrome. Best proportions of charge constituents that are contributing to casting defects in melt shop are identified in the first stage. These identified factors are analyzed using “Design of Experiments” approach in the second stage. ANOVA analysis is also performed for robust design of factor values and an appropriate empirical model is formulated.Research limitations/implicationsA lot of effort has been put into developing the appropriate empirical model for the automobile foundry industry but additional work may also be done for gating design of the casting industry.Practical implicationsThe paper shows that the process parameters of any casting industry can be optimized and casting defects in the melt shop can be identified in the first stage.Originality/valueThe research findings could be applied to various manufacturing industries, especially the casting industries.
Antecedents and consequences of sales representatives' relationship termination competence
Authors: Geersbro Jens , Ritter Thomas 
Published: March 2013

Purpose– Most firms have a number of unprofitable customer relationships that drain the firms' resources. However, firms in general and sales representatives in particular hesitate to address this problem and, ultimately, to terminate business relationships. This paper therefore aims to investigate the antecedents and consequences of sales representatives' relationship termination competence.Design/methodology/approach– A model of antecedents of sales representatives' relationship termination competence is developed and tested using a cross-sectional survey of more than 800 sales representatives. The impact of the constructs “termination acceptance”, “definition of non-customer”, “termination routines” and “termination incentives” on termination competence are analyzed using PLS.Findings– A sales representative's termination competence is positively influenced by greater clarity and wider dissemination of the definition of a “non-customer”, higher prevalence of termination routines, and increasing degrees of termination incentives. Acceptance of relationship termination at the firm level does not appear to have a significant impact on sales representatives' relationship termination competence. In addition, termination competence significantly affects the value of customer portfolios.Practical implications– The findings suggest that managers should more actively consider relationship termination as a legitimate option in customer relationship management. In order to increase the value of a firm's customer portfolio, managers must not only provide a clear definition of the types of customers the organization does not want to serve, but must also implement termination routines within the organization. Managers also need to establish incentives for sales representatives to terminate relationships with unprofitable customers.Originality/value– This paper contributes to the currently scarce research on relationship termination by documenting results from a large-scale analysis of relationship termination.
REIT stock dividends: the policy and intra‐industry wealth effects
Authors: Lee Ming‐Long , Chiang Kevin C.H. , Lin Chia‐Wei 
Published: March 2013

PurposeDuring the height of the financial/credit crisis of 2008, the US Internal Revenue Service issued temporary guidance that permits REITs (real estate investment trusts) to retain cash and pay “effective stock dividends” through 2009 to meet their income distribution requirement. The purpose of this study is to investigate the policy implications of this guidance on shareholders' wealth and the intra‐industry effects for non‐event, rival REITs when event REITs announced elective stock dividends.Design/methodology/approachThis study identified the announcements of the Revenue Procedures 2008‐68 and 2009‐15 and subsequent six equity REITs announcing the distribution of effective stock dividends in the first quarter of 2009. To assess their implications, this study adopted the event study methodology and multivariate regressions to examine the REIT price reactions and their distribution to the Revenue Procedure announcements and to the elective stock dividend announcements, respectively.FindingsThe Revenue Procedure announcements have positive wealth effects on the entire REIT market and REITs with higher leverage enjoy larger abnormal returns. During firm stock dividend announcement windows, non‐event, rival REITs have higher positive price reactions when the event firm and the non‐event firm are not alike and their returns have a low correlation coefficient, when the event firm has a large negative abnormal price reaction, and when the event firm pays cash/stock dividends in the mixture of 40 percent:60 percent, instead of 10 percent:90percent.Practical implicationsThe results will help REIT investors to make better decisions. This study produces important implications for investors to pick REITs which are likely to experience higher returns at periods of turmoil when announcements about dividend policy changes are expected.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study looking into intra‐industry effects of REIT dividend announcements and the policy implications of the elective REIT stock dividends permitted by the US Internal Revenue Service. The results of this study show that the informational signals associated with these announcement events are rich and have intra‐industry implications on REIT share prices.
Elective stock dividend in REITs: market reaction and determinants
Authors: Sah Vivek , Zhou Xiaorong 
Published: March 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to look at the market reaction to stock dividend announcements of real estate investment trusts (REITs) and further look at their determinants.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses standard event methodology for market reaction to determine abnormal returns and CARs. Additionally the paper uses a logistic regression to analyze determinants.FindingsUsing a sample of 37 announcements from fourth quarter 2008 till first quarter 2010, the paper finds a mean negative abnormal return of −1.23 percent on the day of the announcement. Further, following the announcement day, the paper finds a weak significant positive abnormal return on the day after that (+1), which may convey some optimism from the investors. Further, when the paper looks at the characteristics of such REITs, it finds that REITs with higher leverage ratio and larger asset bases are more likely to issue stock dividend. Additionally, the results also indicate that the stock dividend announcement lead to an abnormal turnover of 0.24 percent for these REITs on the day following the announcement. This may suggest an increase in the marketability of the stock dividend REITs after the announcement date.Practical implicationsFirst, the reaction of the market will help gauge the response of investors to such announcements. This could provide REIT managers information on ex‐ante investor reaction to such dividend decisions. Second, this study will help identify the characteristics of REITs that declare stock dividends. For investors who rely on market trading information, study in this regard will help them to build up their portfolios.Originality/valueThis is the only study that looks exclusively at stock dividends in REITs and the second study to look at stock dividends in REITs in general. It is different from the other study in this field because of its methodology, sample size and some distinct results.
Sustainable real estate
Authors: DeLisle James , Grissom Terry , Högberg Lovisa 
Published: March 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the notion of sustainability and research reporting price premiums for LEED‐certified buildings.Design/methodology/approachThis paper explores the notion of sustainability and research reporting price premiums for LEED‐certified buildings. The durability of certification levels is explored by converting projects developed under the initial NC2‐series system to a new vintage rating adopted in 2009. This conversion is made by applying Lagrangian multipliers to model stochastic impacts.FindingsThe study reveals that 18 percent of 591 projects developed under the NC2‐Series were “misclassified” in terms of certification levels when converted to new NCv2009 standards. To the extent the market has pursued LEED certification levels, the unanticipated changes may have led to the adoption short‐term solutions that are inappropriate due to the long‐term nature of real estate assets.Research limitations/implicationsGiven the complexity of the LEED rating system, it is unknown how the market will react to the lack of durability and approach pricing over the long‐term.Practical implicationsThe results indicate market participants should adopt a proactive approach to LEED certification.Originality/valueThe study identifies significant dynamics in the LEED certification system for new construction and behavioural responses that have not been reported in the literature.
Regional and global contagion in real estate investment trusts
Authors: Milunovich George , Trück Stefan 
Published: March 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate contagion between real estate investment trusts (REITs) within and across three geographical regions: North America, Europe and Asia‐Pacific. The paper also examines excess comovement between the considered national REIT markets on the one hand, and broad equity indices on the other. In particular, the authors are interested in contagion between the considered markets during the 2007‐2009 GFC period in comparison to the entire 2004‐2011 sample period.Design/methodology/approachUsing an international factor pricing framework similar to Bekaert, Harvey and Ng, the paper defines contagion as excess comovement between two financial markets, after removing the effects of the underlying economic fundamentals, i.e. risk factors, and time‐changing volatility. Controlling for economic factors is important for distinguishing between pure contagion and information spillovers, which may transmit through existing economic channels. The authors then analyse excess correlations between the derived standardized residuals, for REITS and equity markets in order to investigate excess comovement between the indices during the whole sample and GFC period.FindingsThe paper finds no evidence of excess comovement between the considered REIT and equity indices during non‐crisis sample intervals. However, the paper finds contagion between several national REITs and regional or global equity markets during the GFC period. The paper reports statistically significant excess correlations between national REITs and regional and world real estate markets during the entire sample period, while there is only limited evidence to suggest that the correlation amongst REIT markets has increased during the GFC period. The paper concludes that a similar degree of dependence persisted among national REIT markets over the crisis and non‐crisis sample periods for most markets.Originality/valueDespite the ongoing debate on contagion in financial markets, there is only a small body of literature investigating contagion specifically for property or real estate markets. This is even more surprising, since the GFC originated from a subprime mortgage crisis and was, therefore, heavily related to real estate. The paper extends the literature by testing for contagion between REITs considering eleven national markets across three geographical regions. In contrast, the existing literature is typically constrained to a significantly smaller number of markets. The paper also explicitly takes into account the impact of the recent GFC, and tests for contagion over this period.
Towards sustainable data centre operations in the UK
Authors: Jones Peter , Hillier David , Comfort Daphne , Clarke‐Hill Colin 
Published: March 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this practice briefing paper is to provide an exploratory review of the sustainability agendas being addressed and publicly reported by the UK's leading data centre operators.Design/methodology/approachThe paper begins with a short discussion of the characteristics of sustainability and an outline of the origins and development of data centres within the UK. The paper draws its empirical material from the most recent information on sustainability posted on the UK's leading data centre operators' corporate web sites.FindingsThe findings reveal that all the UK's leading data centre operators provide only limited information on their commitment to sustainability with the dominant focus being on its environmental dimension and with little attention being paid to social and economic issues. More critically the authors argue that these commitments are driven more by the search for efficiency gains, that they are couched within existing business models centred on continuing growth and that as such the UK's leading data centre operators are pursuing a “weak” rather than a “strong” model of sustainability.Practical implicationsThe paper suggests that leading data centre operating companies may need to extend their sustainability reporting and to introduce external assurance procedures.Originality/valueThe paper provides an accessible review of the sustainability agendas being pursued by the UK's leading data centre operators and as such it will interest academics, students and practitioners interested in both sustainability and data centre operations and developments.
Pricing of New Zealand dairy farmland
Authors: Shi Song , McCarthy Iona 
Published: March 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between dairy farmland prices and farmland rental incomes in New Zealand from 1982 to 2009.Design/methodology/approachUsing the net cash income received under a 50/50 share‐milking agreement to proxy the net cash rent, the paper attempts to explore the prices and rental incomes relationship using the present value model and then apply them in a pool regression model to show how farmers formulate their price bids.FindingsResults show that over the long‐term dairy farmland price growth tends to be in line with rental growth. However, there is substantially higher growth in land prices in relation to the rental growth since 2002. Moreover, the risk premium placed by farmland owners on future rental cash flows since 2002 appears substantially below the historical average. The research further shows that farmers nowadays place more emphasis on the current season's payout than historical incomes in their price bids.Practical implicationsAs a consequence the recent high land prices will be extremely sensitive to a permanent change to the low interest rate environment and future growth of dairy income. A policy recommendation is also highlighted.Originality/valueThe results of this paper indicates that the rapid price appreciation for New Zealand dairy farmland since 2000s might give rise to bubbles.
Time‐varying correlations between stock and direct real estate returns
Authors: Foo Sing Tien , Yao Tan Zhuang 
Published: March 2013

PurposeUnderstanding correlations between stock and direct real estate returns, which is the key factor that determines diversification benefits in a portfolio, helps formulate and implement better investors' asset allocation and risk management strategies. The past studies find that direct real estate returns have a low unconditionally (long‐run) correlation with the returns of equities. However, assuming that such correlation is constant throughout all periods is implausible. The purpose of this study is to test the time‐varying correlations of returns between general stocks and direct real estate.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses the dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) model, which is a simplified version of the multivariate generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model, proposed by Engle to test the time‐varying correlations between stock and direct real estate returns in six markets, which include the USA, the UK, Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.FindingsThe empirical results show significant time‐varying effects in the conditional covariance between stock returns and direct real estate returns. The results vary across different real estate sub‐sectors, and across different countries. It is observed that the conditional covariance increases in the boom markets, but becomes weaker in the post‐crisis periods. The authors observed significant jumps in the conditional covariance between the two asset markets in Singapore and Hong Kong in the post‐1977 Asian Financial crisis periods and in the post‐2007 US Sub‐prime crisis periods.Originality/valueThe past studies find that direct real estate returns have a low unconditionally (long‐run) correlation with the returns of equities. However, assuming that such correlation is constant throughout all periods is implausible. This study fills in the gap by using the dynamic conditional correlation models to allow for time‐varying effects in the correlations between stock and real estate returns.
Women directors on boards of Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts
Authors: Dimovski William , Lombardi Luisa , Cooper Barry 
Published: March 2013

PurposeThis is the first paper which aims to investigate factors that might influence the gender composition of boards of directors of Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts (A‐REITs).Design/methodology/approachThis study follows Mateos de Cabo, Gimeno and Nieto and the gender diversity literature and investigates the existence and number of women directors on the boards of directors of 37 A‐REITs from 2006 to 2011.FindingsThere is evidence that larger (by market capitalization) A‐REITs are more likely to employ a woman director and that A‐REITs with larger boards are more likely to employ a woman director and indeed more women directors. It also appears that A‐REITs whose head office is in Sydney are more likely to employ a woman director and also more women directors.Practical implicationsWomen seeking to be engaged as directors of A‐REITs are more likely to be employed by larger A‐REITs (by market capitalization), those with larger boards and those located in Sydney.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the existing literature on gender diversity by examining the factors that appear to influence the employment of women on A‐REIT Boards.
Habitat‐dependent prey availability and offspring provisioning explain an ecological trap in a migratory bird
Authors: Hollander Franck A. , Titeux Nicolas , Van Dyck Hans 
Published: March 2013

Summary

Ecological trapping implies a preference for low‐quality habitats over higher‐quality options. Although such a maladaptive decision‐making has been shown in a range of organisms, the mechanisms that underlie this habitat selection pattern often remain unidentified. We tested in a human‐modified environment whether food availability and food use of a migratory species operate as functional drivers of an ecological trap.

The Red‐backed shrike (Lanius collurio) is a migratory bird that was shown to breed preferentially in forest plantation clearcuts where reproductive performance is however markedly lower than in the traditional farmland habitat. We examined whether differences in food availability between forest and farmland habitats resulted in contrasting food provisioning to the offspring with, in turn, significant impact on the quality of the offspring.

Invertebrate prey items for shrikes were 41% more abundant in farmland, and prey size was 6% larger in forest habitat. Opposite to the pattern of prey size availability, larger prey items were delivered to the offspring in farmland than in forest habitat. Feeding visits by the parents were 22% more frequent in farmland, and evidence of strong among‐nestling competition for food was found in forest only.

This study demonstrates the existence of food limitation for an organism in a habitat type associated with high preference but low reproductive performance. This result offers a functional explanation for the mismatch between habitat preference and quality, and hence, for an ecological trap in the wild.

Beyond the case of migratory birds, this study draws attention to the point that human‐modified environments may lead to a biased perception of habitat quality relative to food availability and may induce an ecological trap for organisms that allocate only a limited time budget to habitat selection decision‐making.
Plant ecology's guilty little secret: understanding the dynamics of plant competition
Authors: Trinder Clare J. , Brooker Rob W. , Robinson David 
Published: March 2013

Summary

Plant competition has been studied for decades. Yet, it is still an elusive concept that means different things to different people, is resistant to direct study and is shrouded in semantic and statistical complexity. We still lack basic information about many competitive mechanisms, processes and outcomes and their relationship to other ecological processes, and about how local interactions between individuals are propagated through communities. We suggest here that two critical issues have been overlooked in previous studies.

First, there is a need for direct measurements of the process of competition as opposed to indirect mechanisms of competitive outcomes. Biomass has become the ‘industry standard’ for measuring competition, but we suggest that biomass cannot provide unambiguous insights into plant competition because it is the product of too great a range of factors and processes.

Second, the use of a single measure of competition at an arbitrarily assigned end point of an experiment misses much of the complexity of dynamic interactions between competing plants and can lead to erroneous interpretations. Here, we suggest approaches to handle these difficulties, using new techniques or the application of well‐known methods in a novel way. We also provide examples of systems or questions where the improved understanding these approaches could bring would be of particular benefit.

Ultimately, we suggest the need for a major shift in the way in which we consider and measure plant competition to identify broadly agreed rules for variation in its importance, its role in different communities and habitats, and how and whether it influences or drives patterns of species diversity and abundance.