bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
CSR into (new) perspective
Authors: Bazillier Rémi , Vauday Julien 
Published: May 2014

Purpose–This paper aims to provide a theoretical approach of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in order to assess whether CSR will develop as a concept pushing efficiently for more de facto social responsibility or will become a pure marketing artefact. The trade-off between the development of CSR behaviour and lobbying over regulations is a key element that will influence the evolution of CSR. The result is that if the world consolidates or if it tends towards multilateralism to a large extent, then CSR is less likely to have an efficient impact.Design/methodology/approach–Theoretical approach based on three fields: credence goods, greenwashing and political economy.Findings–The coordination is harder for lobbies in the more multilateral scenario. The more politically powerful group would lose its influence on the decision body in the multipolar scenario. If lobbies keep influencing their state governments, the efficiency would also be reduced in the regionalization or multipolar scenarios. The easiness of the greenwashing strategy is also crucial in order to determine the possible evolution of the CSR as a real commitment that benefits environment and society.Research limitations/implications–Countries may take advantage of CSR by offering an advantage to firms willing to develop CSR thanks to public regulations if greenwashing is easy and if the evolution of the world that prevails is similar to the tripolar or regionalization scenarios. This may also occur under the multipolar scenario but it would necessitate an effective international coordination.Originality/value–This is the first work that brings together the strategic behaviour of firms with respect to Corporate Social Responsibility and political economy determinants. The predicted evolutions of these two features according to the degree of multilateralism as well as how they are intertwined are also novelties of this paper.
Modeling of technology adoption in Botswana
Authors: Kiravu Cheddi , T. Oladiran Moses , Yanev Kamen 
Published: May 2014

Purpose– The conceptualisation of technology adoption has largely been based on the Bass or some Bass-derived model – notably, the logistic model. Logistic-type models offer limited insights regarding the adoption process dynamics or the utility value of their results. The purpose of this paper is to outline an alternative technology adoption framework based on complex adaptive networks.Design/methodology/approach– An agent-based methodological approach is proposed. In it the actors, factors, goals, and adaptive learning influences driving solar energy technology adoption (SETA) process are first substantiated by empirical evidence gathered using field questionnaires and then incorporated in the simulation of a dynamic complex adaptive network of SETA. The complex adaptive network model is based on simple heuristic rules applied using a modified preferential attachment scheme within a NetLogo simulation environment.Findings– The interim results suggest an emergent network where prominent hub “driver” agents underlining the robustness of the model are statistically discernible.Research limitations/implications– The research is limited to solar photovoltaic and solar water heating technology adoption in Botswana households; however, its results are far-reaching.Practical implications– These results can be related to sustainable energy policy design. There, targeted incentive mechanisms can be formulated against the backdrop of the identified environmental factors and actors; the aim being to accelerate and cascade SETA.Social implications– The results could also be cascaded to other sectors and other non-solar technologies, thus providing a general alternative framework for enabling the widespread adoption of technologies.Originality/value– This research therefore represents a novel way of utilizing the new science of networks to accelerate SETA.
Regulatory changes and the volatility of stock returns – the German solar energy sector
Authors: Schiereck Dirk , Trillig Julian 
Published: May 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of political risk on the German solar energy industry. The authors analyze the period from 2006 to mid-2011, when the technological development of this sector was remarkable while the whole industry is depending on political support and subsidies.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors apply an EGARCH model assessing potential changes in conditional volatility response of solar industry stock returns following political risk events.

Findings
– The results document major changes in political support of the solar industry drive capital market risk. Whereby favorable political news significantly decrease volatility response and unfavorable political news do not affect volatility response. Moreover, the authors find that the volatility response varies with the exposure to political risk. Companies with higher exposure to political risk show more significant volatility response.

Practical implications
– Political risk affects the cost of capital of companies in this sector. Thus, managers are able to time equity measures in a way that they can determine periods when the investor's required return is low due to a reduced risk premium. The authors suggest risk reducing public policy facilitates investments in those industries and thus fosters the development and diffusion of immature technologies.

Originality/value
– The paper helps policy makers, managers, and investors to assess the impact of political risk on the overall risk of the German solar energy sector and in a broader view of immature or high-tech industries that depend crucially on governmental support.
Lending terms, financial literacy and formal credit accessibility
Authors: Korutaro Nkundabanyanga Stephen , Kasozi Denis , Nalukenge Irene , Tauringana Venancio 
Published: May 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between commercial bank lending terms, financial literacy and access to formal credit by small and medium enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approach– In this cross-sectional study, the authors surveyed 384 business owners or managers of SMEs in Uganda. The authors applied confirmatory factor analysis to reduce the number of factors and identify the important elements that capture commercial lending terms, financial literacy and access to formal credit. The authors put forward and tested two hypotheses relating to the significance of the relationship between perceived commercial bank lending terms, financial literacy and access to formal credit using structural equation modelling with analysis of moment structures 18.Findings– The results suggest a positive and significant relationship between perceived commercial bank lending terms, financial literacy and access to formal credit. Moreover, the ANOVA results serendipitously show that access to formal credit varies with type of business and turnover. However, collateral and loan repayment periods are not observed variables for commercial bank lending terms. The most significant observed variable for commercial bank lending terms is interest rates. This, together with financial literacy, explains 31 per cent of the variances in access to formal credit by SMEs in Uganda.Research limitations/implications– The study is limited to the SME firms registered and operating in Kampala, Uganda and it is possible that the results are only applicable to these firms in Uganda. Nevertheless, the findings have implications to commercial banks wishing to improve the turnover of their micro-lending schemes.Practical implications– Efforts by the stakeholders to improve financial literacy of SMEs owners and managers must be matched with favourable interest rates if access to formal credit is to be enhanced.Social implications– The findings also have implications for governments aiming at improving access to finance to overcome income inequality problems, and also improve their growth.Originality/value– The results provide initial evidence of the aggregate explanatory power of interest rates and financial literacy for the criterion variable, access to formal credit by SMEs.
The state's role in promoting Nigerian financial development and economic growth
Authors: Chidozie Uzonwanne Godfrey 
Published: May 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this study is to propose a framework for conceptualizing the finance-growth theory in developing economies.

Design/methodology/approach
– The study uses a cointegration and error correction model to investigate the possible influence of key socio-political characters of a state on the causal relationship between financial development and economic growth. A developing economy (Nigeria) which had experienced decades of autocratic military governance was studied. Three characters of the state (ethnicity, civil war and military governance) were derived from a historical review and were introduced into the cointegration analysis as dummy variables.

Findings
– Evidence of a causal relationship was found to exist from financial development to economic growth and the characters of the state were found to have no significant impact on this relationship.

Research limitations/implications
– The research limitations were based on the reliability of data recorded between 1960 and 2007.

Practical implications
– This study is practical from the point of view of the integration of qualitative social disturbances into a quantitative model targeted at exploring the practical developmental impact these disturbances may have had and continue to have on economic growth.

Social implications
– The social implication of this study stems from the impact that adverse socio-political influences may have on financial development and economic growth.

Originality/value
– This is an original piece of research focused at understanding the unique social, political and macroeconomic circumstance of a strategically relevant developing economy.
Does income matter in the happiness-corruption relationship?
Authors: Arvin Mak , Lew Byron 
Published: May 2014

Purpose– Empirical evidence on the relation between happiness (life satisfaction) and corruption is barely perceptible in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to closing this gap by presenting some estimates using a large cross-section of countries over the period 1996-2010.Design/methodology/approach– The empirical model allows both corruption and per capita income to enter as arguments of a happiness “production function”. The correlation between happiness and corruption is presumed to be non-linear.Findings– While the results do not support the existence of a Kuznets-type trajectory, the study finds that the level of per capita income determines whether happiness and corruption are related and in what way. The authors estimate cutoff income levels at which corruption has a discernible effect on happiness. The results show that corruption reduces happiness, but only for high-income countries – roughly the upper half of the income range in the sample.Practical implications– Results nullify the oft-asserted statement that happiness is negatively linked to corruption in all countries. The nature of correlation is more complex.Originality/value– The paper goes beyond simply testing whether happiness is related to corruption. It conjectures that the relationship between the two variables is non-monotonic. Thus, the analysis considers the notion that the association between happiness and probity is income dependent. A novel feature of the empirical model is that the estimated income cutoff levels are endogenously determined. That is, income thresholds are not pre-determined. The authors also test for the robustness of the results by addressing the issue of potential endogeneity of corruption.
Labor productivity and obsolete skills in a growth model with production by layers
Authors: Gomes Orlando 
Published: May 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to study the growth dynamics in a model where labor productivity is shaped by two forces. On one hand, it is determined by the extent in which available technology has been already explored. On the other hand, some labor skills may become obsolete, jeopardizing the ability of the labor input in creating value, namely when a transition between technological states takes place.

Design/methodology/approach
– A theoretical model is developed, based on previous work about hierarchical organizations of production, in order to build an integrated structure of analysis for growth, productivity, innovation and obsolescence of skills.

Findings
– In a setting in which output grows through the accumulation of layers of activity, the generation of income and the evolution of techniques will be determined by the choice of a representative agent, who faces a trade-off between consumption utility and the desire to maintain intact the skills of the labor force.

Research limitations/implications
– The theory provides an analytical structure to think about skill acquisition and skill obsolescence in the context of economic growth. Further work is necessary, namely at an empirical level, to test the validity and the reasonability of the model's implications.

Originality/value
– The paper sheds light on the role of labor productivity as a growth determinant. It seeks a deeper understanding on the relationship between human capabilities and the efficient use of technology.
Linking knowledge corridors to customer value through knowledge processes
Authors: Martelo-Landroguez Silvia , Cegarra-Navarro Juan-Gabriel 
Published: May 2014

Purpose–Spanish banks which took rescue packages are trying to find innovative ways to improve customer value. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which banks combine external knowledge with internal knowledge to build customer value.Design/methodology/approach–A firm ' s knowledge corridor is an organizational capacity, referring to the ability to absorb external knowledge and utilize it in generating innovative outputs. This paper examines the relative importance and significance of knowledge transfer and knowledge storage/retrieval processes as bridges between “potential absorptive capacity” and “realized absorptive capacity” and its effects on the application of knowledge through an empirical investigation of 76 banks.Findings–The results are calculated using structural equation modelling. This leads to the main conclusion that a “realized absorptive capacity” is unlikely without being fostered by the transference and storage of new knowledge and it therefore requires empowerment by its facilitating factors.Practical implications–The key managerial implication of this paper is that the survival and success of banks requires that administrators and the organizations they manage meet the challenge of combining external knowledge with internal knowledge.Originality/value–This paper provides empirical support for the argument that the impacts of external knowledge move up from the individuals to groups and then the entire organization. This interaction represents a single-loop learning process.
Future scenarios for management education
Authors: Thomas Howard , Lee Michelle , Wilson Alexander 
Published: May 2014

Purpose
– Business schools are facing unprecedented challenges, ranging from financial sustainability in some quarters to waning demand for the MBA to the potentially disruptive impact of massive open online courses. Given these challenges, how might the future of management education unfold? The purpose of this paper is to better understand how leaders in management education perceive these challenges and their likely impact on the evolution of the field.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors conducted in-depth interviews with 39 experts, the majority of who were in leadership positions at business schools. Each of these in-depth interviews was tape-recorded, transcribed and then content-analysed.

Findings
– The authors asked the panel of experts for their insights on what they perceive to be the most likely, best-case, and worst-case scenarios in the next ten years. The modal response for the most likely scenario was one where intense competition pushes schools to specialise and better differentiate their offerings, as they attempt to strengthen their position in the market. The best-case scenario was one where schools move closer to the practice, in an attempt to regain relevance and legitimacy. Finally, the experts described the worst-case scenario as a situation where management education as a whole fails to respond to the criticisms and challenges, leading the field down the path of greater and greater irrelevance.

Originality/value
– The insights gained from this research can be of strategic value to administrators and those in leadership positions in business schools who wish to anticipate shifts in the management education landscape and strategic responses of peer schools.
The business school model: a flawed organizational design?
Authors: Spender J.C. 
Published: May 2014

Purpose– There has been considerable discussion recently about business schools’ shortcomings and how their curriculum should be changed. Many presume discipline-wide agreement that managing is a rational and model-able decision-making practice. But practitioners are not convinced and often suggest rationality-dominated business schools are teaching impractical ideas. The purpose of this paper is to look at this discussion's micro foundations and offers a novel approach that presumes managerial judgment is crucial to firms’ processes and, indeed, is the reason firms exist.Design/methodology/approach– The paper combines discussion of the conceptual nature of firms and managing them with data about business schools’ growth and curriculum evolution.Findings– If we presume firms are rational apparatus for achieving known goals, managing is little more than computing; and if Knightian uncertainty is taken seriously, managerial judgment becomes the core of the analysis. But schools that attempt to train students’ judgment are extraordinarily difficult to manage, especially in the current academic environment.Originality/value– While many are aware of Knight's influential thinking, it has not yet been brought into a theory of the firm or of managing. The paper works toward a novel theory of the managed firm (TMF) in which management's uncertainty-resolving judgments are key.
Low carbon non-domestic building design process. An ethnographic comparison of design in Wales and England
Authors: Zapata-Lancaster Gabriela 
Published: May 2014

Purpose– The UK aims to reduce the carbon emissions in the building sector so as to achieve nearly zero-carbon new buildings by 2020. In 2010, a 25 per cent reduction of carbon emissions was mandated in England and Wales. The aim of this paper is to reveal how the design teams were coping with the energy regulation changes in 2010 in England and Wales.Design/methodology/approach– An ethnographic methodology was selected to investigate in-depth the real-time design process in four architecture practices. The study was analysed in detail and compared the design process of six non-domestic buildings in England and Wales. The data collection methods included interviews, non-participant observation and document analysis and were conducted for a period of 12-21 months per case study.Findings– The field findings suggest the disconnections between the project driver and the policy agenda and reveal what the design teams do to embed energy performance in routine project design.Research limitations/implications– Due to the in-depth nature of the data, no claims for generalisation or representativeness are made. However, the detailed analysis of the real-time design process reveals the designers’ enactment of the policy agenda, which is in essence a timeless phenomenon about policy intervention and performance-based regulations.Originality/value– The designers’ enactment of and responses to the policy changes become an analytical tool to infer lessons that can be learned from the process and lead to the achievement of expected carbon reductions and the success of the policy intentions.
The Nordic Five to Fifteen questionnaire could provide the basis for a common neurological disability variable
Authors: Illum Niels Ove , Gradel Kim Oren 
Published: May 2014

AbstractAimsAssessing disabilities in children is essential and Danish parents provide increasingly important feedback on how their child's disability affects daily living. The Nordic Five to Fifteen (FTF) parent questionnaire is widely used in Nordic countries to detect atypical or delayed development in children. Our study evaluated its internal validity and whether it could be used to generate a common disability variable across childhood neurological disorders and severities.MethodsThe 28‐statement FTF questionnaire was completed by the parents of children with spina bifida, muscular disorders, spinal atrophy, cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness, mental retardation and disability, who received treatment for brain tumours. Psychometric analysis and Rasch analysis of the five FTF code qualifier level data were carried out.ResultsA total of 227 of 332 (68.4%) parents participated. The mean qualifier score was 3.06 (standard deviation 0.89, range 2.31–4.26), and the variances mean was 1.57 (range 0.87–2.38). The corrected code‐total correlation was 0.65, and reliability was 0.96. The Rasch analysis demonstrated good fit alignment of codes.ConclusionThe FTF questionnaire can be used with children with neurological disabilities, and the Rasch scale analysis results indicate that it could form the analytical basis for developing a common disability variable.
Synthesis, In Vitro Protoporphyrinogen Oxidase Inhibition, and Herbicidal Activity of N‐(Benzothiazol‐5‐yl)hexahydro‐1H‐isoindole‐1,3‐diones and N‐(Benzothiazol‐5‐yl)hexahydro‐1H‐isoindol‐1‐ones
Authors: Wu Qiong‐You , Jiang Li‐Li , Zuo Yang , Wang Zhi‐Fang , Xi Zhen , Yang Guang‐Fu 
Published: May 2014

Protoporphyrinogen oxidase (EC 1.3.3.4) is one of the most significant targets for a large family of herbicides. As part of our continuous efforts to search for novel protoporphyrinogen oxidase‐inhibiting herbicides, N‐(benzothiazol‐5‐yl)tetrahydroisoindole‐1,3‐dione was selected as a lead compound for structural optimization, leading to the syntheses of a series of novel N‐(benzothiazol‐5‐yl)hexahydro‐1H‐isoindole‐1,3‐diones (1a–o) and N‐(benzothiazol‐5‐yl)hexahydro‐1H‐isoindol‐1‐ones (2a–i). These newly prepared compounds were characterized by elemental analyses, 1H NMR, and ESI‐MS, and the structures of 1h and 2h were further confirmed by X‐ray diffraction analyses. The bioassays indicated that some compounds displayed comparable or higher protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibition activities in comparison with the commercial control. Very promising, compound 2a, ethyl 2‐((6‐fluoro‐5‐(4,5,6,7‐tetrahydro‐1‐oxo‐1H‐isoindol‐2(3H)‐yl)benzo[d]thiazol‐2‐yl)‐sulfanyl)acetate, was recognized as the most potent candidate with Ki value of 0.0091 μm. Further greenhouse screening results demonstrated that some compounds exhibited good herbicidal activity against Chenopodium album at the dosage of 150 g/ha.