bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
International financial reporting standards: an indicator of high quality?
Authors: Jacob Rudy A. , Madu Christian N. 
Published: August 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the academic literature on the quality of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), formerly International Accounting Standards (IAS), which are poised to be the universal accounting language to be adopted by all companies regardless of their place of domicile.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology used in this study is archival. The authors evaluate the academic empirical literature on the quality of IFRS.FindingsWith the world's capital markets becoming more and more inextricably linked, we believe IFRS represents a single set of high‐quality, globally accepted accounting standards that has the potential to significantly improve financial reporting comparability among companies on a worldwide basis.Originality/valueIt will be difficult to find any time in recent history when financial reporting has been catapulted to such enormous prominence. Some would argue that better reporting would have played a vital role in preventing the complete collapse of the world's financial system. This paper provides valuable input to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which has recently completed a roadmap, creating the potential for all US public companies to be required to file their financial statements in accordance with IFRS by 2014.
Analysis of reliability using masked system life data
Authors: Hutto Donald E. , Mazzuchi Thomas , Sarkani Shahram 
Published: August 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide maintenance personnel with a methodology for using masked field reliability data to determine the probability of each subassembly failure.Design/methodology/approachThe paper compares an iterative maximum likelihood estimation method and a Bayesian methodology for handling masked data collected from 227 identical radar power supplies. The power supply consists of several subassemblies hereafter referred to as shop replaceable assemblies (SRAs).FindingsThe study examined two approaches for dealing with masking, an iterative maximum likelihood estimate procedure, IMLEP, and a Bayesian approach implemented with the application WinBUGS. It indicates that the performances of IMLEP and WinBUGS in estimating the parameters of the SRA distribution under no masking conditions are similar. IMLEP and WinBUGS also provide similar results under masking conditions. However, the study indicates that WinBUGS may perform better than IMLEP when the competing risk responsible for a failure represents a smaller total percentage of the total failures. Future study to confirm this conclusion by expanding the number of SRAs into which the item under study is organized is required.Research limitations/implicationsIf an item is considered to be comprised of various subassemblies and the failure of the first subassembly causes the item to fail, then the item is referred to as a series system in the literature. If the probability of a each subassembly failure is statistically independent then the item can be represented by a competing risk model and the probability distributions of the subassemblies can be ascertained from the item's failure data. When the item's cause of failure is not known, the data are referred to in the literature as being masked. Since competing risk theory requires a cause of failure and a time of failure, any masked data must be addressed in the competing risk model.Practical implicationsThis study indicates that competing risk theory can be applied to the equipment field failure data to determine a SRA's probability of failure and thereby provide an efficient sequence of replacing suspect failed SRAs.Originality/valueThe analysis of masked failure data is an important area that has had only limited study in the literature due to the availability of failure data. This paper contributes to the research by providing the complete historical equipment usage data for the item under study gathered over a time frame of approximately seven years.
The effect of demand on stock prices: new evidence from S&P 500 weight adjustments
Authors: Hrazdil Karel 
Published: August 2009

PurposeMany papers have argued that there are long‐run downward‐sloping demand curves (LRDDC) for stocks. The purpose of this paper is to analyze this hypothesis using a new, unique, and ostensibly information‐free event: the re‐weighting of the Standard & Poor (S&P) 500 index from market based to free‐float based, which involves a significant shift in supply that, under the LRDDC, should result in significant and permanent price movements.Design/methodology/approachEvent study methodology is used to examine abnormal returns and trading activity around the free‐float weight implementation dates for S&P 500 firms with various investable weight factors.FindingsAs a result of S&P 500 index re‐weighting, affected stocks experience statistically significant excess returns of −1.54 percent during the event week. This return is reversed during the following 30 days as trading volume returns to normal levels. These results are contrary to previous studies that analyze ostensibly informational events and/or different exchanges.Research limitations/implicationsResults of this study indicate that arbitrage appears to be effective in eliminating a long‐term mispricing, which challenges the validity of the LRDDC hypothesis.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the body of literature on the S&P 500 index firms by providing supporting evidence for the price‐pressure hypothesis.
Maturity policies of CEO severance contracts and forced internal turnover
Authors: van Dalsem Shane 
Published: August 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of executive severance contract maturity policies on the likelihood of forced turnover and the length of tenure for CEOs who are forced from their positions.Design/methodology/approachThe paper utilizes logistic and accelerated failure time models to test the hypothesis that severance contracts decrease information asymmetries resulting in an increased likelihood of forced turnover and a shortened tenure for those CEOs who are forced out.FindingsThe results provide evidence that fixed‐term severance contracts increase the likelihood of forced tenure and decrease the length of tenure for CEOs who experience a forced turnover during the period, while time‐independent contracts do not.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitation is the possibility that an omitted variable jointly determines the likelihood of the presence of a severance contract and the effect on forced turnover. Future research should investigate other possibilities beyond the CEO coming from outside of the firm.Practical implicationsThe findings confirm that the maturity policies of severance contracts affect forced turnover. The results suggest that there may be a benefit in designing severance contracts to expire to encourage more efficient turnover of underperforming CEOs.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the empirical corporate finance and accounting literature by differentiating between forced and unforced turnover when analyzing the effects of severance contracts and demonstrating that the time dimension of severance contracts may provide the desired result of encouraging the identification of CEO‐firm mismatches.
In government we trust: rise and fall of Canadian business income trust conversions
Authors: Kryzanowski Lawrence , Lu Ying 
Published: August 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the market impact of announcements that publicly traded limited liability firms would convert to business income trusts, and to test the robustness of the tax motive as the primary determinant of any conversion announcement effects by estimating the market impact of the announcement by the Canadian Federal Government that the corporate income of Canadian income trusts would be taxed at the trust level.Design/methodology/approachEvent‐study methodology (including various tests of robustness) is used to examine the market impacts of the initial conversion announcement and the announcement that the corporate income of Canadian income trusts would be taxed at the trust level. Cross‐sectional regressions are used to identify the determinants of the market effect associated with income trust conversion announcements.FindingsThe paper finds that the market‐ and risk‐adjusted abnormal returns (ARs) are positive and very significant on the announcement dates and not significant on the conversion effective dates. The price discovery process is not as smooth for the Canadian government's announcement after the market close on Halloween day 2006, that it would tax income trusts at the trust level. While the ARs are negative and very significant on the first and second trading days after the announcement, much of the second day ARs are reversed in the subsequent two days. Furthermore, negative and significant ARs precede the government announcement. The market impact of trust conversion announcements is primarily related to the tax savings associated with such conversions and more weakly related to potential agency problems associated with free cash flows.Research limitations/implicationsThe research indicates the importance of any taxation changes associated with changes in organization form on firm value. It also identifies the potential for informational leakage associated with government decisions.Originality/valueThe paper highlights the importance of taxes and tax changes and organization form changes on firm valuation.
Publicly traded homebuilders’ and insiders’ trading: a new perspective
Authors: Ghosh Sudip , Abdou Khaled 
Published: August 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the insiders’ activities (buy/sell) during the recent meltdown of the homebuilders’ industry.Design/methodology/approachThis study applies a regression model to analyze the relationship between the insiders’ net sales and variables that could be affecting the trading decisions controlling for other market variables.FindingsThe results show that CEOs of homebuilding companies had net positive selling activities and enjoyed massive gains by timing the market correctly. The insiders’ massive selling period was followed by significant declines in share prices of homebuilding companies. More specifically, CEOs (but not all top executives) acted as contrarian investors and sold when the share prices hit a record high, coupled by optimistic analysts’ recommendations, which were later seen as incorrect by the market. Also, CEOs sold at a time when EPS was at its highest level.Research limitations/implicationsThe current work can not disprove the “argument of diversification” cited by insiders as the reason for their stock sell off, mainly because it is not possible to obtain data about the CEOs’ personal portfolios.Practical implicationsThis paper implies that CEOs were able to time the market by forecasting the trend in their industry.Originality/valueThe paper investigates the period between January 2004 and August 2007 which is characterized by mass selling by CEOs in the whole industry of home building companies and not only a specific entity.
Determining US workers' training: history and constructivist paradigm
Authors: Altman Brian A. 
Published: August 2009

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to review two accounts of the history of workplace learning and training in the USA that emphasize issues of power and control in the determination of what training occurs, and place these issues at the center of their analyses.Design/methodology/approachThe two texts are reviewed and a constructivist paradigm is considered to address issues raised in the texts.FindingsIt is suggested that a constructivist view by managers and workers can foster a positive approach to determining what training workers receive, allowing for worker training that meets the needs of managers as well as workers.Research limitations/implicationsWhile these two works were the only ones identified through a literature search that focuses on the history of who determined worker training in the USA, and they prove insightful on this topic, this paper is limited in that these works are now respectively approximately one and three decades old.Practical implicationsImplementation of a constructivist view of determining training for workers can meet the needs of managers as well as workers, avoiding a zero‐sum game view.Originality/valueBy reviewing these two texts, and considering a constructivist paradigm in addressing issues raised by the authors, a vision of a constructivist approach to determining training is presented, with advantages to workers and managers.
Building a bridge of understanding
Authors: Brown T.C. , McCracken Martin 
Published: August 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to look at the issues concerning barriers that managers face in relation to participation in training and transfer of training, which have become increasingly important to HRD scholars and practitioners. To date, these areas have largely been examined independently. This paper aims to argue that there is an increasing need to understand and explore these two areas in unison.Design/methodology/approachAlthough this paper is primarily conceptual in nature, in order to investigate a model derived from relevant literature, survey data from 137 Canadian employees, mostly from the broader public sector, was examined. These respondents completed a short transfer of training questionnaire three months after a one‐day managerial training programme. In this study, open‐ended questions investigating training barriers are analysed.FindingsThe exploratory examination of information from participants of a managerial training programme suggests that the model which links literature on participation in training and transfer of training warrants additional examination. Most significantly, there was substantial overlap between the participation and transfer barriers with the most common barriers being linked to “lack of time” and “unsupportive culture”.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of this paper is the relatively small sample size with regard to data concerning barriers to transfer. However, the authors feel that a key implication is that a “bridge of understanding” is created concerning the numerous factors that impact participation in training, transfer of training and the relationships between them. Hence, HRD practitioners and scholars can now use this model to begin to understand how they might improve the overall quality of training programmes and to further explore the relationship between transfer and participation.Originality/valueThe conceptual model developed further integrates the respective literatures pertaining to management training participation and transfer of learning in the workplace. The proposed model shows how barriers to participation can become barriers to transfer and how barriers to transfer from one programme may become barriers to participation to subsequent learning activities.
The evaluation of HRD: a critical study with applications
Authors: Tomé Eduardo 
Published: August 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze critically the most important methods that are used in the evaluation of human resource development (HRD).Design/methodology/approachThe approach is to ask two questions: What are the methods available to define the impact of HRD in the economy? How can we evaluate the evaluations that have been made?FindingsThere are two main perspectives to evaluate any program, by results (counting occurrences) and by impacts (calculating the differences the investment made in the society). The first type of method does not find the impact of the program, the second type does.Research limitations/implicationsThe analysis is limited by existing studies on HRD. The implications are that the conditions that underline the existence of HRD programs define the type of evaluation that is used.Originality/valueThe results of this paper put the evaluation problem in a new perspective. It explains the difference between methodologies (results and impacts) and scientific fields used (public administration, social policy, HRD, KM, IC, microeconomics, HR economics) by the type of person responsible: public administrator, private manager, HRD expert, knowledge manager, IC expert, microeconomist. The differences between the applications of those methodologies based on the type of funding – private, public, external – are also explained.
Intercultural training: six measures assessing training needs
Authors: Graf Andrea , Mertesacker Marion 
Published: August 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop recommendations for measures assessing intercultural training needs for international human resource management. Based on scientific as well as application‐oriented criteria the aim is to select six measures assessing general intercultural competencies and with the help of behaviour ratings in interactive intercultural exercises to evaluate the psychometric quality and practicability of the questionnaires for training purposes.Design/methodology/approachPsychometric quality including prognostic power of ICSI, FLCS, NVCCS, ISAS, TIHK, and SIB was tested by correlating subjects' questionnaires results with observations of their actual behaviour in intercultural exercises.FindingsSatisfying psychometric quality and prognostic validity of almost all measures was found. Especially TIHK, ICSI, and FLCS score well for assessing training needs whereas the results for SIB were problematic.Research limitations/implicationsThe study observed student participants of the same culture. Replication studies should examine large samples of different cultural backgrounds and manager populations.Practical implicationsHuman resource managers may benefit from gaining knowledge about which measures to use for identifying employee's weaknesses in intercultural competence in order to create tailor‐made training interventions.Originality/valueThe study is the first providing information about the psychometric quality, including predictive power, of six measures, that assess intercultural skills to detect intercultural training needs.
The emotional impact of leaders' behaviours
Authors: Fowlie Julie , Wood Matthew 
Published: August 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to analyse MBA students' actual experiences of both good and bad leadership and the resulting emotional responses; to determine which emotionally intelligent competencies, if any, have greater importance in times of change.Design/methodology/approachThe paper follows a deductive approach: moving from the general to the particular based within the phenomenological paradigm, extending Goleman's inductive research into emotional intelligence competencies. Goleman's framework was adopted because his research was based upon competency models from both private and public organisations, which matches the MBA students' experiences.FindingsThe findings suggest that bad leadership equates to a lack of self‐management and relationship management competencies; however good leadership is not the exact opposite. If a person has developed self‐management competencies it does not follow that he/she will be considered a good leader. Leaders should aim to have a clear focus on their followers; in other words, highly developed relationship management competencies. It also appears that face‐to‐face communication is relevant.Research limitations/implicationsThe research adopted a qualitative approach, with a small sample, which limits the generalisability of the findings. Also, the interpretation of the responses was based on the researchers' knowledge of Goleman's model, which could be considered to be subjective.Practical implicationsThis research could be used to support HRD professionals in the design of both selection and developmental programmes for managers, including competency descriptions, introduction of testing and developmental activities.Originality/valueThe paper discusses the role of emotions in management and adds to the evidence that the competencies within the relationship management quadrant could be used as selection and developmental criteria.
Aberration coefficients in the optics of accelerator tubes
Authors: Trowbridge C.W. , Emson C.R.I. , Hyder H.R.McK. 
Published: August 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of the finite element (FE) method in calculating accurate field gradients to achieve good estimates of aberration coefficients in accelerator tubes.Design/methodology/approachGradient fields up to third order are calculated using FE calculations with higher order basis functions. A commercial code with the ability to use high order basis functions was embedded within the MathCad system which provides a convenient interface for evaluating the aberration coefficients. Analytic and realistic models are used to test the methodology.FindingsIt is shown that the ability to use higher order FEs achieves sufficient accuracy and smoothness to allow the third order aberration coefficients to be determined with confidence.Originality/valueThe results demonstrate the importance of using higher order basis FEs in determining optical properties of accelerator tubes and other particle optical devices.
Asymptotic Fourier decomposition of tooth forces in terms of convolved air gap field harmonics for noise diagnosis of electrical machines
Authors: van der Giet M. , Rothe R. , Hameyer K. 
Published: August 2009

PurposeThe electromagnetic excited audible noise of electrical machines can be mostly attributed to radial forces on stator tooth‐heads. The methodology proposed in this paper uses numerical field simulation to obtain the magnetic air gap field of electrical machines and an analytical‐based post‐processing approach to reveal the relationship between air gap field harmonics and the resulting force wave.Design/methodology/approachThe simulated air gap field is sampled in space and time and a two‐dimensional Fourier transform is performed. The convolution of the Fourier transformed air gap field by itself represents a multiplication in space time domain. During the convolution process, all relevant combinations of field waves are stored and displayed using space vectors.FindingsThe effectiveness of the proposed approach is shown on an example machine. Particular examples of individual force waves demonstrate how the approach can be used for practical application in analysis of noise and vibration problems in electrical machines. The proposed method is compared to the result of a Maxwell stress tensor calculation. It shows that the deviation is small enough to justify the approach for analysis purposes.Originality/valueThe combination of analytically understood force waves and the use of numerical simulation by means of air gap field convolution has not been proposed before.