bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Critical decisions and questions regarding serious case reviews – ideas from North West England
Authors: Flynn Margaret , Keywood Kirsty , Williams Shirley 
Published: September 2011

PurposeSerious case reviews (SCRs) are one means of learning the lessons arising from adverse, salient incidents and tragedies. Adult Safeguarding Boards in England are expected to have an SCR policy and procedure, to commission SCRs, to abstract and act on the learning, and to monitor the resulting action plans.Design/methodology/approachSince SCRs reflect a wide range of processes, the authors undertook a general review, drawing on their experiences of conducting and contributing to SCRs. They chose to pose sets of question‐prompts regarding the commissioning process, the management of the process, the appointment of a chair and author, the terms of reference, information‐sharing, confidentiality, involving relatives and making findings public. The compliance of the process with human rights legislation is also considered.FindingsWhilst the authors acknowledge the responsibility of organisations to promote continuous and cumulative professional learning, they do not promote SCRs as the sole means of learning about the ways in which professionals and agencies work together to safeguard adults at risk of abuse.Originality/valueThe paper challenges the perception that SCR can be streamlined, structured, codified, and constrained.
An analysis of failed takeover attempts and merger cancellations
Authors: Neuhauser Karyn L. , Davidson Wallace N. , Glascock John L. 
Published: September 2011

PurposeThis study seeks to analyze the differences between merger cancellations and three types of takeover failures: failures that are associated with targeted share repurchases (greenmail), failures in which the sole bidder simply withdraws the offer, and failures that are accompanied by a general share repurchase (buyback).Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses event study methods and regression analysis.FindingsThe paper observes negative target stock price reactions around all types of takeover failures and merger cancellations. However, the cumulative effect of takeover attempts is positive, suggesting that even unsuccessful tender offers generate permanent gains to target firm shareholders, while the cumulative effect of canceled mergers is negative. Furthermore, the market reaction to greenmail‐induced takeover failure announcements is no worse than that of voluntary withdrawals, suggesting that greenmail may play an efficient role in mitigating the effects of takeover bid withdrawals. Finally, while bidder wealth is destroyed in takeover failures, the effect of merger cancellations on bidders is considerably more devastating.Originality/valueThe paper provides evidence of negative stock price reactions to all forms of merger failure. The paper also shows that the cumulative effect of all types of takeover failures is still positive: suggesting that being put into play is still beneficial overall but that canceled mergers destroy value for both targets and bidders. The paper shows that the market reaction to greenmail‐induced failure announcements is no worse than other forms of failure. Finally, while there is an immediate downturn in target prices around a failure, the negative outcome is more severe for the bidders. Thus, the market sees that there was something useful about the anticipated change in corporate control, which was lost when it failed to be completed.
Family ownership and firm performance: evidence from Taiwanese firms
Authors: Shyu Jonchi 
Published: September 2011

PurposeUsing the panel data of 465 Taiwanese listed companies and taking into consideration endogeneity issues this paper aims to examine the influence of family ownership on firm performances.Design/methodology/approachThe use of a panel data set encompassing a five‐year period enables one to examine both cross‐sectional and within‐firm variations in the relationships between family ownership and firm performances. The paper also uses a simultaneous equation system to account for the endogeneity between family ownership and firm performances, and apply the quadratic equations to identify the percentage of family ownership that maximizes firm performance.FindingsWhen either a profitability indicator (ROA) or a valuation indicator (Tobin's Q) is applied, the empirical results show that family ownership positively affects firm performance. The results also show that the profitability of a firm (ROA) first increases and then decreases with family ownership. In other words, when families have more than 30 per cent control of the firm, the potential for entrenchment and poor performance becomes greater.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to examine the relationships between family ownership and firm performances, while simultaneously addressing the issue of endogeneity and identifying the optimal level of family ownership in Taiwanese firms. The finding that family ownership positively affects firm performance elucidates why a family firm is one of the most important business development models in Taiwan. Meanwhile, the finding that the percentage of family ownership should not exceed 30 per cent to avoid the occurrence of poor performance also suggests that excessive family shareholdings may not be necessarily healthy for a family firm in Taiwan.
Empowering rural consumers in emerging markets
Authors: Samuel Craig C. , Douglas Susan P. 
Published: September 2011

PurposeRural consumers in emerging market countries are among the largest and fastest growing segments of the world's population. The purpose of this paper is to examine marketing's role in tapping potential in rural areas and suggest how firms can help potential consumers develop their purchasing power, thus creating a situation that benefits both consumers and the firm.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on information on company web sites (of both multinationals and emerging market firms) and other published information regarding these firms' activities in emerging markets. This was supplemented by personal interviews conducted with marketing executives in India.FindingsIt is found that marketing strategy must be developed de novo as strategies adopted in developed markets are not adapted to rural market conditions. This must be based on a thorough understanding of consumers, particularly their multiple roles as producers and consumers. In addition, firms need to focus on finding ways to empower consumers and enhance their ability to consume, by integrating them into the value delivery system. Finally, distribution is the key element in the marketing mix and firms must spend considerably more time focusing on infrastructure development and expanding distribution to ensure product availability.Practical implicationsThe paper identifies key strategic imperatives that need to be considered by firms from developed countries in designing successful strategies to reach and tap the vast potential of rural consumers in emerging markets.Originality/valueThe paper focuses on the role marketing can play in improving consumer income levels in rural areas of emerging market economies by integrating them into the value chain and enhancing their ability to consume.
Learning from a failed ERP implementation: a case study research
Authors: Venugopal C. , Suryaprakasa Rao K. 
Published: September 2011

PurposeEnterprise resource planning (ERP) projects failing to meet user expectations is a cause for concern as it often leads to considerable time and money losses. The purpose of this paper is to understand the causal factors for such failures in the Indian context.Design/methodology/approachA scientific case study research methodology was followed. The unit of analysis: a failed ERP project followed by a successful one in the same organization. Data were collected through interviews, observation and study of archival documents. Analysis was methodical and validated through a triangulation approach.FindingsThe results suggest that it is the manner in which key critical success factors (CSFs) such as top management support are operationalized; good project management; a smaller scope and a hybrid approach of integrating the legacy system with the ERP that facilitates adoption and leads to a succesful implementation.Research limitations/implicationsThe study extends the work of earlier researchers in a new market – India. It identifies important constructs, composites of existing CSFs, which future research could measure asex antepredictors of ERP project success.Practical implicationsThe authors offer several guidelines related to the role of top management, the importance of simplicity of scope, change management steps – all of which would help implementation teams better manage projects.Originality/valueThe two case methodology of a failed implementation followed by a successful one in the same organization is unique, in the Indian context. This is the closest to a controlled experiment one can have in case study research. The findings pave the way for the development of predictive instruments of ERP project outcomes.
What does the owner‐manager want and get out of the business?
Authors: Sjögrén Helena , Puumalainen Kaisu , Syrjä Pasi 
Published: September 2011

PurposeThe paper seeks to explain the differences in drawings (e.g. owner‐manager dividends and salary) strategies among small business managers to show that owner‐managers' personal work values impact on the strategic choices of firms. It also examines the relationships between owner‐managers' work values and the amount of dividends the entrepreneurs take out of the business in order to follow the chosen strategy.Design/methodology/approachThis paper contributes to the existing knowledge of entrepreneurship and small business management. Legal constraints and strategic motivations are essential to drawings strategy. The paper analyses the owner‐managers' work‐related values as a potential determinant of the drawings strategy. The empirical data used to test the hypotheses were drawn from a mail survey and financial statements. The final drawings strategy scales were formed with the help of exploratory factor analysis.FindingsThe findings provided evidence that work values are related to drawings strategy factors, and the factors reflect entrepreneurs' attitudes to drawings taken out of the business. However, the authors could not find any relationship between the drawings strategy and how entrepreneurs behave when they actually take dividends.Practical implicationsThe findings of this research surprisingly provided evidence that entrepreneurs are unaware of the peremptory provisions of the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act. When entrepreneurs decide on the amount of dividends, tax legislation clearly dominates their decision making. This could lead to a situation where the entrepreneur takes more dividends than the solvency test of the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act allows.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the existing knowledge of entrepreneurship and small business management.
How do controllers and managers interpret budget targets?
Authors: Kihn Lili‐Anne 
Published: September 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to further our understanding of how and why interpretations of budget targets differ from one person to another even in the same business unit.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative case study research approach is adopted, involving a review and analysis of the literature and interviews conducted among controllers and managers of a highly successful business unit.FindingsBoth the theoretical and empirical results suggest that organizational budgetary processes do not provide a similar understanding of budget targets for each person. While some shared interpretations are evident, individual‐level variations occur in the personal and subjective meanings that controllers and managers give to budget targets in their own consciousness, situationality and corporeality. A personal historical basis for understanding may impact a manager's interpretation of budget targets, but the interpretations can also be dynamic and change over time.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is both facilitated and limited by its basic assumptions and approaches, and the findings may be most relevant to companies with similar profiles. Nevertheless, the study furthers our understanding of the characteristics of controllers and managers and their perception of the meaning of this important feature of accounting in practice.Practical implicationsIt could be highly useful to jointly discuss the intended primary purposes and nature of organizational budget targets. Otherwise, people may understand targets in different and perhaps even contradictory ways, which could in turn impair the functioning of control systems.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to current budgeting research in that it interprets individual‐level differences.
Sustainability reporting and reputation risk management: an Australian case study
Authors: Hogan Janine , Lodhia Sumit 
Published: September 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which a leading Australian public company uses sustainability reporting to respond to reputation risk arising from proposed regulation.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a case study approach and both qualitative and quantitative methods of content analysis. The qualitative component is based on a framework of reputation conceptualisations and image restoration strategies adopted from existing literature.FindingsThe key findings of this paper are that the concept of reputation risk management (RRM) could assist in understanding what motivates sustainability reporting, and how proposed regulation could lead to a decrease in the quantity but increase in the quality of sustainability reporting. In addition, “honesty” is revealed as a potential RRM strategy.Originality/valueThe paper extends existing research on the RRM thesis by studying an Australian case of a reputation‐damaging event over a number of reporting years, examining a range of sustainability reporting media, and adding a quantitative aspect to an otherwise qualitative research framework.
Stock prices and exchange rate dynamics in selected African countries: a bivariate analysis
Authors: Adjasi Charles K.D. , Biekpe Nicholas B. , Osei Kofi A. 
Published: September 2011

PurposeThe paper aims to investigate the relationship between stock prices and exchange rate movement in seven African countries.Design/methodology/approachIt uses vector autoregressive (VAR) cointegration and impulse response analysis to determine the long‐ and short‐run linkages between stock prices and exchange rates.FindingsCointegration analyses indicate a long‐run relationship between stock prices and the exchange rate in Tunisia, where exchange rate depreciation drives down stock prices. A short‐run error‐correction model also shows similar results. Impulse response analyses for other countries show that stock returns in Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius and Nigeria reduce when induced by exchange rate shocks but increase in Egypt and South Africa. Shocks induced by either stock prices or the exchange rate are more protracted in Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius and Nigeria than in South Africa and Egypt.Originality/valueThis is one of the few studies on Africa which tests for long‐run dynamics and impulse response shock dynamics within a VAR framework. Again unlike other studies it also concentrates on more countries in the sample.
The investor behavior and futures market volatility
Authors: Wang Yun , Hua Renhai , Zhang Zongcheng 
Published: September 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether the futures volatility could affect the investor behavior and what trading strategy different investors could adopt when they meet different information conditions.Design/methodology/approachThis study introduces a two‐period overlapping generation model (OLG) model into the future market and set the investor behavior model based on the future contract price, which can also be extended to complete and incomplete information. It provides the equilibrium solution and uses cuprum tick data in SHFE to conduct the empirical analysis.FindingsThe two‐period OLG model based on the future market is consistent with the practical situation; second, the sufficient information investors such as institutional adopt reversal trading patterns generally; last, the insufficient information investors such as individual investors adopt momentum trading patterns in general.Research limitations/implicationsInvestor trading behavior is always an important issue in the behavioral finance and market supervision, but the related research is scarce.Practical implicationsThe conclusion shows that the investors' behavior in Chinese future market is different from the Chinese stock market.Originality/valueThis study empirically analyzes and verifies the different types of trading strategies investors could; investors such as institutional ones adopt reversal trading patterns generally; while investors such as individual investors adopt momentum trading patterns in general.
The relationship between childhood depressive symptoms and problem alcohol use in early adolescence: findings from a large longitudinal population‐based study
Authors: Saraceno Luca , Heron Jon , Munafò Marcus , Craddock Nick , van den Bree Marianne B. M. 
Published: September 2011

ABSTRACTAims  Depressive symptomatology can increase risk of development of alcohol problems in young people. Tension reduction and family interactional theories may explain the relationship between depression and problematic alcohol use in youth. This study addresses the nature of the longitudinal relationship between these two behaviours. The available literature is currently inconclusive about whether there are gender differences in these relationships; this is also examined.Design  The association between childhood depressive behaviours and adolescence problematic alcohol use was examined using ordered logistic regression models. Evidence of gender differences and the impact of relevant covariates on these relations were examined. Missing data were imputed using a Multiple Imputation by Chained Equation (MICE) approach.Settings  The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a large UK population‐based birth cohort.Participants  A total of 4220 British boys and girls.Measurements  Depressive symptomatology was assessed in childhood (mean age = 10.6, SD = 0.2) using the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ). Problematic alcohol use was assessed from several questions queried in adolescence (mean age = 13.8, SD = 0.2).Findings  Childhood depressive symptoms were associated with increased risk of problematic alcohol use in early adolescence for girls [odds ratio (OR) = 1.14, P = 0.016] but not boys. This association for girls weakened (OR = 1.12, P = 0.058) when a priori selected covariates were taken into account, particularly the family and greater social environment.Conclusions  Problematic alcohol use in girls (but not boys) is associated with prior depressive symptoms. This association may be attributable to several family and social environment factors, suggesting that a family interactional theoretical model may explain these findings.
Nonbinding Voting for Shareholder Proposals
Authors: LEVIT DORON , MALENKO NADYA 
Published: September 2011

ABSTRACTShareholder proposals are a common form of shareholder activism. Voting for shareholder proposals, however, is nonbinding since management has the authority to reject the proposal even if it received majority support from shareholders. We analyze whether nonbinding voting is an effective mechanism for conveying shareholder expectations. We show that, unlike binding voting, nonbinding voting generally fails to convey shareholder views when manager and shareholder interests are not aligned. Surprisingly, the presence of an activist investor who can discipline the manager may enhance the advisory role of nonbinding voting only if conflicts of interest between shareholders and the activist are substantial.
Overconfidence and Early‐Life Experiences: The Effect of Managerial Traits on Corporate Financial Policies
Authors: MALMENDIER ULRIKE , TATE GEOFFREY , YAN JON 
Published: September 2011

ABSTRACTWe show that measurable managerial characteristics have significant explanatory power for corporate financing decisions. First, managers who believe that their firm is undervalued view external financing as overpriced, especially equity financing. Such overconfident managers use less external finance and, conditional on accessing external capital, issue less equity than their peers. Second, CEOs who grew up during the Great Depression are averse to debt and lean excessively on internal finance. Third, CEOs with military experience pursue more aggressive policies, including heightened leverage. Complementary measures of CEO traits based on press portrayals confirm the results.
Overconfidence, Compensation Contracts, and Capital Budgeting
Authors: GERVAIS SIMON , HEATON J. B. , ODEAN TERRANCE 
Published: September 2011

ABSTRACTA risk‐averse manager's overconfidence makes him less conservative. As a result, it is cheaper for firms to motivate him to pursue valuable risky projects. When compensation endogenously adjusts to reflect outside opportunities, moderate levels of overconfidence lead firms to offer the manager flatter compensation contracts that make him better off. Overconfident managers are also more attractive to firms than their rational counterparts because overconfidence commits them to exert effort to learn about projects. Still, too much overconfidence is detrimental to the manager since it leads him to accept highly convex compensation contracts that expose him to excessive risk.
Are Incentive Contracts Rigged by Powerful CEOs?
Authors: MORSE ADAIR , NANDA VIKRAM , SERU AMIT 
Published: September 2011

ABSTRACTWe argue that some powerful CEOs induce boards to shift the weight on performance measures toward the better performing measures, thereby rigging incentive pay. A simple model formalizes this intuition and gives an explicit structural form on the rigged incentive portion of CEO wage function. Using U.S. data, we find support for the model's predictions: rigging accounts for at least 10% of the compensation to performance sensitivity and it increases with CEO human capital and firm volatility. Moreover, a firm with rigged incentive pay that is one standard deviation above the mean faces a subsequent decrease of 4.8% in firm value and 7.5% in operating return on assets.
Fabrication and Electrical Properties of Sol–Gel‐Derived 0.63Bi(Mg1/2Ti1/2)O3–0.37PbTiO3 Thin Films
Authors: Liu Longdong , Zuo Ruzhong 
Published: September 2011

High Curie‐temperature 0.63Bi(Mg1/2Ti1/2)O3–0.37PbTiO3 (BMT–PT) ferroelectric thin films with a morphotropic phase boundary composition were successfully fabricated on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by sol–gel spin‐coating method. The effect of annealing temperatures on the structure and electrical properties of BMT–PT thin films was explored. The scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy images indicate that the film annealed at 675°C for 30 min has a relatively dense and uniform microstructure and a thickness of about 375 nm, together with optimal dielectric and ferroelectric properties of remnant polarization 17.8 μC/cm2, coercive field 75 kV/cm, dielectric permittivity 1477, and loss tangent 0.07 at 1 kHz. The results indicate that the BMT–PT thin film has potential applications in high‐temperature ferroelectric devices.