bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Carbon audit: a literature review and an empirical study on a hotel
Authors: Lai Joseph H.K. , Yik Francis W.H. , Man C.S. 
Published: June 2012

PurposeWorldwide, many carbon audit guidelines have been developed, but comparative reviews of these guidelines and empirical findings of carbon emissions from hotels remain limited. The aim of the study reported here was to bridge these knowledge gaps.Design/methodology/approachA comparative review of the legislations and guidelines for carbon audits in Australia, the UK and Hong Kong was made. An empirical audit, which entailed a series of site visits and interviews for collecting the record data of a typical hotel in Hong Kong, was conducted to identify the sources and amounts of carbon emissions from the hotel.FindingsConducting carbon audits for buildings in Hong Kong is entirely voluntary. Reporting of certain scopes of carbon emissions is at the sole discretion of the reporting party. Purchased electricity for the hotel is the dominant source of carbon emissions.Research implicationsAudits in future may follow the reported audit process to identify carbon emissions from other hotels to enlarge the pool of empirical findings, which is a prerequisite to developing carbon emission benchmarks and carbon footprint analyses.Practical implicationsThe suggestions made for overcoming the obstacles found from the audit are crucial for performing smoother and more complete audits in future.Originality/valueThe review findings and the practical problems identified are useful information for the stakeholders of carbon audits, including policy makers and facilities management practitioners.
Key performance indicators (KPI) for the sustainability of building energy efficiency retrofit (BEER) in hotel buildings in China
Authors: Peng Xu Peng , Chan Edwin H.W. , Qian Queena K. 
Published: June 2012

PurposeBuilding energy efficiency retrofit (BEER) not only provides excellent opportunities to reduce overall energy consumption of buildings in a city but also encourages environmental protection, the rational use of resources, and occupants' healthcare, which all contribute towards the sustainability of existing buildings. However, there is a lack of effective performance indicators to measure the sustainability of BEER projects. The aim of this paper is to formulate a list of key performance indicators (KPI) for the sustainability assessment of BEER in hotel buildings.Design/methodology/approachFirst, a literature review and in‐depth interviews with industry experts and academic researchers were conducted, which filtered the performance indicators for assessing sustainability. Second, a questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data from various groups of experts to analyze the significance of the selected performance indicators. Finally, a model based on fuzzy set theory was designed to identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the sustainability of BEER.FindingsEight KPIs were identified based on fuzzy set theory in this study. They are: quality performance, hotel energy management, cost performance, project profitability, energy consumption and resources saving, health and safety, stakeholder satisfaction, and innovation and improvement.Practical implicationsThe KPIs of sustainability of BEER identified for hotel buildings in China in this study can be useful reference for other similar research. However, with the different requirements for building types and building ownerships, the KPIs of sustainability of BEER for different buildings may be variable. The findings in this study may not be directly relevant to other types of building.Originality/valueKey performance indicators for the sustainability assessment of BEER in hotel buildings in China are identified and analyzed in this study. The KPIs can help decision‐makers to identify an optimal solution between alternatives, which presents the maximum sustainability performance.
Export decision‐making orientation: an exploratory study
Authors: Nemkova Ekaterina , Souchon Anne L. , Hughes Paul 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine two predominant export decision‐making orientations emanating from normative and descriptive decision theory, namely planning and improvisation and their coexistence within exporting firms. In addition, contingencies under which one may be more appropriate than the other for optimal performance consequences are identified.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative study was conducted with UK exporters by way of in‐depth interviews. The results were analyzed using within‐ and cross‐case displays of in‐vivo and literature‐based codes, based on Miles and Huberman's recommendations.FindingsThe study reveals widespread use of improvisation in export functions, and its co‐existence with export planning for enhanced decision‐making. In addition, resource‐ and capabilities‐based moderators are identified that may affect the ways in which planning and improvisation are related to export performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a preliminary study which addresses the two export decision‐making orientations together for the first time. Further quantitative research is needed to formally test the conceptual model developed.Practical implicationsExport decision‐makers often feel guilty about improvising, believing that planning is the accepted norm. Avoidance and covert use of improvisation, however, are not necessary. Indeed, export improvisation can have many positive consequences for the export function, especially when combined with export planning.Originality/valueResearch on export decision‐making has tended to focus on normative decision theory (from which planning emerges), largely overlooking descriptive approaches which identify improvisation as a valid decision‐making orientation. However, in today's global and competitive environment, better performance consequences are increasingly to be found in the faster and more creative export decisions that improvisation can afford. This study addresses for the first time how benefits can be drawn from employing a combination of export planning and improvisation.
Aligning strategic orientation with local market conditions
Authors: Griffith David A. , Kiessling Timothy , Dabic Marina 
Published: June 2012

PurposeOne role of a foreign subsidiary within a multinational corporation's (MNC's) global portfolio is to connect the MNC to foreign customers. To examine this key customer contact point, this study aims to examine the linkages between local market conditions and strategic orientation, and how strategic orientation influences knowledge management capabilities of MNC subsidiaries, employing the Miles and Snow strategic orientation perspective.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted of 112 managers in foreign MNC subsidiaries in Croatia. Data were analyzed with both discriminant analysis and MANCOVA.FindingsThe results indicate that in highly dynamic and competitively intense markets, MNC subsidiaries primarily employ a Prospector orientation. Furthermore, the results indicate that there is a significant difference in knowledge management capabilities among subsidiaries depending on their strategic orientation, with the Prospector orientation most closely aligned with knowledge acquisition, knowledge conversion and knowledge application.Practical implicationsThe findings highlight the importance of strategic orientation in MNC subsidiaries tailoring to local market conditions. The results suggest that MNC subsidiaries undertaking a Prospector strategic orientation develop greater knowledge acquisition, conversion and application capabilities.Originality/valueThis study conceptualizes the MNC subsidiary as a key marketing element of the global MNC whole and examines the nuanced relationships between the host environment and MNC foreign subsidiary strategic orientation as well as MNC subsidiary strategic orientation and knowledge management relationship.
Strategic orientations and export market success of manufacturing firms
Authors: Eibe Sørensen Hans , Koed Madsen Tage 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the association of international orientation and market orientation and their joint effects on export market success. Additionally, it aims to examine how firms’ foreign market portfolio diversity moderates this association.Design/methodology/approachOn the basis of a review of the literature on market orientation and international orientation in relation to manufacturers’ performance on export markets, the paper proposes a set of hypotheses. The hypotheses are empirically tested using 249 questionnaire responses from CEOs supplemented with census data.FindingsThe results indicate that international orientation is positively related to export market success and that this relationship is independent of market portfolio diversity. The paper provides insights to the limitations of the dominant position that holds market orientation as an undisputed valuable strategic capability since market orientation has different non‐linear associations with export market success depending on market portfolio diversity. Finally, the results indicate that the joint effects of international orientation and market orientation on export market success only are present for firms with a focused market portfolio.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors argue that the performance implications of different strategic orientations on export market success are context‐dependent and that firms’ market portfolio diversity assists in providing this nuanced insight. The study's empirical cross‐sectional setting limits inference about causality among the constructs.Practical implicationsWhile all exporting manufacturing firms may benefit from an international orientation, business practitioners are advised to pay particular attention to the diversity of their foreign market portfolio prior to allocating resources to market‐oriented activities.Originality/valueIn this empirical contribution, the authors show how international orientation explains performance differentials among manufacturing exporters as well as how market orientation positively moderates this relationship. Furthermore, the paper shows the context dependency of the value of firms’ market orientation on the basis of export market portfolio diversity.
Why does the microcredit borrowing rate differ across countries? A cross‐country study
Authors: Pereira Sofia , Mourao Paulo 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the socio‐economic variables that influence the number of micro‐credit projects worldwide. The paper also intends to study the socio‐economic variables that lead to a higher default rate. In order to do this study, the authors use a database from MIX and include some more variables.Design/methodology/approachThe paper intends to explore why the number of debtors/lenders is higher or lower depending on each country, and what variables influence this behavior. This will allow regions to be distinguished where there is more microcredit and on what basis and why, in some cases, it is found to have a higher incidence of default.FindingsThe results showed that green cases (characterized by a lower probability of default) are increased when more collateral value is required and the case is not in Africa. Higher levels of population under the poverty line, higher levels of the Gini Index, and being an African country lead to higher levels of yellow cases. It was observed that the percentage of red cases (characterized by a higher probability of default) tends to rise if there is a smaller value of firms using banks to finance investments, if there is a reduced expression of small firms, and if there are smaller values of collateral needed for a loan.Originality/valueThis is the first scientific paper on this field (heterogeneity of microcredit borrowing rates).
Economic security, well functioning courts and a good government
Authors: Mamoon Dawood 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to define economic security as a country's ability to redistribute incomes through a strong governance structure by practicing rule of law, eliminating corruption and a government that acts as a facilitator by formulating effective fiscal and monetary policy and regulation.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses two stage instrumental analysis and carries out second order asymptotic tests to establish the validity of the instruments.FindingsThe results suggest that courts that implement national laws effectively and punish corruption and a government that has balance budgets and investment friendly monetary policy ensures economic security by means of welfare friendly outcomes that favor the incomes of the poor and middle class. There is also evidence that redistribution takes place from rich to the poor. As a result, income and wage inequalities fall down.Originality/valueThe paper adds to the literature on institutions by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between institutions and inequality.
The missing movement: a Polanyian analysis of pre‐crisis America
Authors: Herman Dan 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to seek to apply Polanyi's theory of the double movement as a response to the effects of economic liberalization and globalization to the pre‐2007 American economy. In so doing, it seeks to ascertain the reasons why this assumed double movement did not materialize until after the post‐2007 global economic crisis.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is structured as a theoretical and historical analysis, building upon Polanyi's nineteenth century observations and applying them to contemporary policy economic and social experience in the USA in the late twentieth century. The argument proposes a correlation between the missing and/or delayed movement and the role of access to debt and participation in equity markets.FindingsThis paper argues that Polanyi's concept of a societal countermovement has been absent from the post‐1970 period of economic liberalism and globalization until just recently due to an explicit attempt by the forces of capital to circumvent its role in lessening the harmful effects of American capitalism. In particular, the double movement that should have sought to lessen income inequality, unemployment and wage stagnation was instead replaced by access to cheap credit and the democratization of market investments that spurred consumer purchases and a false belief that what was good for the markets was good for working class Americans.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper highlights the need for ongoing research into the sociotropic nature of trade and of economic policy, and its evolution throughout the contemporary period of economic uncertainty and economic transition.Practical implicationsThe paper proposes several policy implications arising from the contemporary application of Polanyi's double movement, notably related to international trade and public and political support for ongoing trade liberalization.Social implicationsThis paper highlights important connections in the relationship between economic policy and the day‐to‐day lives of those who are governed by it. Building on “everyday political economy”, it provides a foundation for arguments that a new balance must be found between economic globalization and transnational capital interests and domestic stability.Originality/valueThis paper promotes a novel approach to understanding the political economy of pre‐2007 America, in particular the reflexive nature of economic policy and societal perceptions.
Should managers estimate cost of equity using a two‐factor international CAPM?
Authors: Dolde Walter , Giaccotto Carmelo , Mishra Dev R. , O'Brien Thomas 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess how much difference it makes for US firms to use the two‐factor ICAPM to estimate their cost of equity instead of a single‐factor CAPM.Design/methodology/approachFor a large sample of US companies, the authors compare the empirical cost of equity estimates of a two‐factor international CAPM with those of the single‐factor domestic CAPM and the single‐factor global CAPM.FindingsThe authors find that the cost of equity estimates of the two‐factor ICAPM are reasonably close to those of either single‐factor model for US firms with low‐to‐moderate foreign exchange exposure; and second, perhaps surprisingly, for US firms with extreme foreign exchange exposure, that the cost of equity estimates of the two‐factor ICAPM tend to be very close to those of the domestic CAPM, and even closer than to those of the single‐factor global CAPM.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper's findings might prove useful to academic researchers wanting to resolve the seemingly contradictory empirical results on the pricing of FX risk.Practical implicationsThe findings will hopefully help managers decide whether they should go to the trouble of estimating a US firm's cost of equity with the two‐factor international CAPM instead of a traditional single‐factor CAPM.Originality/valueThe paper extends the existing literature by focusing on the two‐factor ICAPM, and finds some new and surprising empirical results.
Corporate foreign exchange speculation and integrated risk management
Authors: Aabo Tom , Andryeyeva Hansen Marianna , Pantzalis Christos 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how non‐finance departmental involvement in the management of exchange rate risks impacts the extent of foreign exchange speculation in non‐financial firms.Design/methodology/approachNon‐financial firms in a small open economy (Denmark) are surveyed to investigate the extent of foreign exchange speculation and how it is related to the degree of nonfinance departmental involvement in the management of exchange rate risks. The authors employ binary and ordered probit regression analysis.FindingsA positive link is found between the extent to which departments other than the finance department are involved in the management of exchange rate risks; and second, the extent to which the firm is likely to speculate – whether in the form of selective hedging or active speculation – on the foreign exchange market.Practical implicationsThe findings indicate that the trend towards a more integrated risk management approach in which the finance department is not the only department responsible for risk management may have the (unforeseen) consequence that foreign exchange speculation increases.Originality/valueThe paper's findings are important because the link between the extent of foreign exchange speculation and a more integrated risk management approach has not been addressed previously.
Bank branch efficiency evaluation by means of least absolute deviations and DEA
Authors: Tsolas Ioannis E. , Giokas Dimitris I. 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the efficiency of individual branches of a large Greek bank through the application of both goal programming (GP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA).Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs a particular least absolute deviations (LAD) technique (i.e. a special case of GP/constrained regression) and DEA as two performance measurement methods. The performance evaluation by means of GP is assessed utilizing two alternative conceptual (parametric functional form‐loglinear) models: one focusing on transaction and one on production efficiency. The DEA assessment using the transaction efficiency model is performed under the specifications of constant or variable returns to scale.FindingsThe two methods do provide confirmation of each other's findings. The results support the main claim that there is a strong relationship between the rankings obtained by GP and DEA. Moreover, the GP results indicate that there is a relationship between bank branch transaction and production efficiency.Practical implicationsThe results may be of interest to stakeholder groups such as bank shareholders, managers, and regulatory authorities.Originality/valueThe paper is believed to be the first to examine the application of GP and DEA to measure the efficient use of resources of bank branches in Greece in terms of location (urban‐rural).
Internet financial reporting: Turkish companies adapt to change
Authors: Bozcuk Aslihan E. 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the sophistication of internet financial reporting (IFR) for Turkish listed firms and explore firm‐specific drivers.Design/methodology/approachThe study surveys the web sites of all firms listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) during December 2009 using a well‐established scoring system to measure IFR.FindingsIt is found that size, auditor and corporate governance effects, as measured by a multivariate regression analysis framework, affect the sophistication of IFR. However, in extending the analysis by running separate regressions for small and large firms, these effects prevail only for large firms. Evidence also supports the industry effect for both small and large firms. Overall, large firms, audited by large international auditors, and included in the Corporate Governance Index of the ISE, are more likely to use sophisticated disclosure formats such as audio and video files, internal search engines and hyperlinks inside their annual reports.Originality/valueUsing a unique data set, this paper provides a snapshot of how well Turkish companies adapt to change in IFR. Its novelty lies in its addressing the issue of IFR sophistication and the impact of firm‐specific factors, such as profitability, growth prospects, firm size, ownership, corporate governance environment and industry effects, for the first time as they apply to Turkish firms.
Precipitation of ZnO‐SiO2 oxide composites in the presence of natural rubber latex and selected non‐ionic surfactants
Authors: Laurentowska A. , Ciesielczyk F. , Siwińska‐Stefańska K. , Jesionowski T. 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to obtain ZnO‐SiO2 oxide composites of low bulk density, high homogeneity and consisting of the smallest possible particles. The optimum parameters of precipitation of ZnO‐SiO2 oxide composites impregnated with natural latex rubber were established. The formation and impregnation the ZnO‐SiO2 oxide composites were made to occur simultaneously.Design/methodology/approachThe influence of non‐ionic surfactants added during the precipitation process on the physico‐chemical properties of the oxide systems obtained was investigated. The products were characterised by determination of bulk density, absorption capacities of water and paraffin oil, particle size distribution (applying NIBS and laser diffraction methods), as well as SEM observations of surface morphology and microstructure. Moreover, the colorimetric characteristics of the oxide composites obtained and sedimentation profiles in water were analysed. Energo‐dispersive microanalysis of the products enabled determination of the content of ZnO and SiO2. The surface area (BET) and the size and volume of pores were also estimated.FindingsModification of the oxide composites with nonylphenylpolyoxyethyleneglycol ethers was found to improve the basic physico‐chemical parameters of the ZnO‐SiO2 hybrid systems and to change the character of its surface to become more hydrophobic. The conditions in which samples with the best properties were obtained were concluded to be optimum.Research limitations/implicationsOnly the selected non‐ionic surfactants were applied as modifying agents of ZnO‐SiO2.Practical implicationsThere is a possible application of ZnO‐SiO2 oxide composites as activators of rubber compounds and barrier materials in textiles.Originality/valueThe proposed method of ZnO‐SiO2 oxide composite synthesis in the process of precipitation with simultaneous modification with non‐ionic surfactants provides products with desirable dispersive‐morphological parameters and a hydrophobic surface character.