bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Case studies and differentiated realities
Authors: Llewellyn Sue 
Published: March 2007

PurposeAlthough the case for case studies is now well established in accounting and management research, the exact nature of their contribution is still under discussion. This paper aims to add to this debate on contribution by arguing that case studies explore not one reality but several.Design/methodology/approachThis is a theoretical paper that discusses ontology using a deductive approach.FindingsThe paper argues that reality is differentiated into physical, structural, agential, cultural and mental realms.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper begins to draw out some of the implications of “differentiated realities” for case studies, but there is much more that could be said.Practical implicationsBecause case studies encompass differentiated realities, the paper discusses how expectations about the contribution of case studies should be intimately linked to the nature of the differentiated realities being researched.Originality/value“Differentiated realities” provides a fresh look status of case study findings and challenges the idea of a single social reality – as portrayed by both social positivism and social constructivism.
A guide to global virtual teaming
Authors: Gatlin‐Watts Rebecca , Carson Marsha , Horton Joseph , Maxwell Lauren , Maltby Neil 
Published: March 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to share with readers details of this consortium's multicultural virtual teaming project implementation and the lessons learned from experiences of the participating students and professors.Design/methodology/approachTo establish a preliminary relationship, virtual student teams exchange e‐mail messages with team mates at participating universities that provide introductions for each member of the team. Each team member uses these individual introductions to write a brief paper that introduces all team mates. Next, the students virtually interview one another to obtain answers to culture‐specific questions for each culture that is represented on the team. In some courses, this information is analysed using Hofstede's four dimensions of culture: power distance, individualism versus collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity versus femininity.FindingsBased on participants' experiences in these virtual teaming projects, the following recommendations are presented: emphasise relationship building; solicit widespread input for planning; and balance individual control with shared objectives.Originality/valueThese cultural virtual teaming projects proved to be valuable learning experiences for both the students and faculty who were involved.
Address matching bias: ignorance is not bliss
Authors: Bichler Gisela , Balchak Stefanie 
Published: March 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show that despite the critical importance of using accurate data when identifying geographic patterns and studying hotspots, few have explored the data quality issues introduced by Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software applications. While software manufacturers provide some information about the address matching process, critical details are left out or are buried in technical, and sometimes proprietary, jargon. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.Design/methodology/approachThe paper demonstrates, with three datasets of 100 cases each, how the assumptions built into popular GIS software produce systematically missing data during the data importing process commonly referred to as address matching.FindingsInclusion of directional indicators and zip codes are more important than previously thought. The results highlight the critical need to provide complete descriptions of research methodology. All geographic analyses must be accompanied with: information about the hit rate (percent of cases plotted), details about the software and process used to import tabular crime data, information about the software parameters set for the importation process (geocoding preferences), reference information about the street file used; and, an examination of the missing cases to identify some of the sampling error. When forecasting crime issues or identifying hot spots, analysts must be cognizant of the differential impact this bias will have on the generalizability of the results.Originality/valueThe paper explores previously neglected issues in data quality introduced by GIS software applications.
The magnetism of suburban shopping centers: do size and Cineplex matter?
Authors: Ooi Joseph T.L. , Sim Loo‐Lee 
Published: March 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to address two questions related to the magnetism or drawing power of suburban malls: first, does physical size matter, and second, what is the externalities effect of housing a Cineplex within a shopping center?Design/methodology/approachThe study was carried out through an extensive survey covering 1,283 shoppers in nine selected suburban shopping centers in Singapore. The effects of physical size and the presence of Cineplex on the magnetism on the selected suburban shopping centers are evaluated using analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests. Their effect on shopping duration and expenditure pattern is also empirically tested using a recursive simultaneous equations model.FindingsThe survey results affirm that both physical size and the presence of a Cineplex enhance the magnetism of suburban shopping centers. A larger shopping center can facilitate a greater variety of shops and create a more pleasant environment for the shoppers, thus enticing shoppers to visit and stay longer. Cinema patrons prefer to watch movies at Cineplex located in shopping centers. Controlling for the endogenous relationship between duration of visit and amount spent in the shopping center, the regression results show that, while physical size and Cineplex have a positive effect on the duration of visit, they do not necessarily have a direct effect on the amount spent by the patrons in the shopping center.Originality/valueOne of the main challenges for mall owners and managers located outside the traditional shopping belt is how to attract shoppers to patronize their malls. While the impact of shopping center size on retail rents and center attractiveness has been addressed in the literature, this paper adds some new insights into the field. The focus on whether the presence of a cinema complex within a shopping center affects its magnetism or not is novel.
Retail properties in Hong Kong: a rental analysis
Authors: Hui E.C.M. , Yiu C.Y. , Yau Y. 
Published: March 2007

PurposeThis paper seeks to explore the relationship between market positioning and rents of retail facilities in Hong Kong.Design/methodology/approachRegression analysis is deployed in the paper to find out the impact of various attributes, in terms of a retail facility's physical characteristics, market positions, and location, on the annualized per‐area net rental income. The sample data obtained from the initial public offerings of the Link real estate investment trust (REIT), one of the largest REITs in the world, is used for analysis.FindingsThe study finds that district centers command the highest average rental levels, followed by local and estate centers. As the effects of positive externalities for unorganized shops are smaller, the average rental levels for shops are generally lower. In terms of the impact of individual attributes on rents, a retail property's age and its efficiency ratio have negative relationships with rents, while its size (in terms of gross floor area) and the amount of shops positively affect the facility's rental levels.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough obtaining the largest possible dataset in the Link REIT portfolio for the study, the sample is not considered big enough to detect the impact of the location of a retail facility on its rental adjustments. Further studies are required with regard to this issue.Originality/valueThe results of this study give planners and developers of retail facilities some insights about the effects of market positioning on a retail facility's performance on the leasing market.
The significance and performance of retail property in Australia
Authors: Newell Graeme , Peng Hsu Wen 
Published: March 2007

PurposeRetail property is an important property investment sector. The purpose of this paper is to assess the importance of retail property type, size and region in Australian retail property and the strategic role of direct retail property and retail listed property trusts (LPTs) in a mixed‐asset portfolio.Design/methodology/approachThis paper analyses the performance of retail property in Australia over 1995‐2005 for both direct and indirect retail property. Risk‐adjusted performance analysis is used to assess the added value of retail property in a mixed‐asset portfolio, with the portfolio diversification benefits of retail property also assessed.FindingsThe paper finds that retail property and retail LPTs have delivered substantial risk‐adjusted returns and portfolio diversification benefits over 1995‐2005. The retail property sub‐sectors of retail property type, size and region have different performance characteristics; particularly highlighting the substantial role of geographic diversification as the most effective portfolio diversification strategy for retail property investors. Direct retail property and retail LPTs are also identified as having different performance characteristics and each contributing substantially to an institutional property investment strategy.Originality/valuePrevious retail research has been at an “overall” Australian retail property level. This paper rigorously assesses retail property at a retail sub‐sector level regarding retail property type, size and location. This level of analysis enables more informed and practical investment decision‐making regarding the role of retail property in a mixed‐asset portfolio for both direct and indirect retail property as part of an institutional property investment strategy.
The effect of stock option grants on voluntary employee turnover
Authors: Balsam Steven , Gifford Richard , Kim Sungsoo 
Published: March 2007

PurposeThe objective of this research is to examine the effect of a broad‐based option program on voluntary employee turnover.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines the effect of a broad‐based stock option program in a Fortune 100 company during the 1990s and uses logistical analysis.FindingsEmployee turnover is an issue due to the costs involved in recruiting and training replacements. Voluntary turnover can be reduced if a cost can be imposed on the departing employee. This cost need not be an explicit cost, but can take the form of a benefit forgone when the employee departs. Along these lines, stock option grants to employees, if properly structured, have the ability to reduce voluntary employee turnover. The paper finds that voluntary turnover is lower during the periods in which the option cannot be exercised, i.e. the vesting period. This effect is strongest for employees approaching retirement, but also holds for employees leaving the company for other reasons.Originality/valueThe finding that unvested options reduce or delay voluntary turnover, which while intuitive, has not to the author's knowledge been shown previously, and is important for those involved in the compensation plan design process.
The effects of accounting knowledge on the omission of value added information in wealth measurement and distribution decisions
Authors: Picur Ronald D. 
Published: March 2007

PurposeThis study aims to examine whether accounting knowledge is associated with a decision maker's tendency to ignore value added information in wealth measurement and distribution decisions.Design/methodology/approachA between‐subjects laboratory experiment was employed. Subjects prepared accounting reports that measured and distributed an entity's wealth based upon given accounting data. Accounting knowledge was measured as: a discrete variable by classifying subjects into high‐, low‐ and no‐accounting knowledge groups, and a continuous variable by classifying subjects on the number of accounting courses completed.FindingsFindings provide empirical evidence that high levels of accounting knowledge interferes with a decision maker's ability to incorporate value added information (versus accounting profit) in wealth measurement and distribution decisions.Research limitations/implicationsThis experiment used subjects from the USA where the production and disclosure of a value added report is not mandated. The results should be tested in a country where the statement of value added is routinely produced, disclosed and audited.Practical implicationsThis study shows the dysfunctional effect of accounting knowledge which appears to hinder performance in wealth measurement and distribution decisions.Originality/valueThis is the first attempt to explain why decision makers may ignore value added information in wealth measurement tasks and distribution decisions by focusing on the role of knowledge structures.
R&D productivity: an exploratory international study
Authors: Ding Yuan , Stolowy Hervé 
Published: March 2007

PurposeThe objective of this exploratory paper is to investigate the impact of R&D expenditures on company performance. R&D activities play an essential role in the future economic development and financial performance of firms.Design/methodology/approachThe research design is based on an earnings equation associating earnings with recorded assets, R&D expenditures and selling, general and administrative expenses (proxying for advertising expenses). The paper determines a rate of return on R&D for each given sample of firms in six developed countries.FindingsThe results corroborate previous studies of American companies, which found that reported earnings, adjusted for expensing of R&D, reflect realized benefits from R&D. This study provides further evidence on the positive contribution of R&D activities to future company performance, although this contribution can vary from one country to another.Research limitations/implicationsBeing exploratory in nature, this paper suggests several areas for investigation.Originality/valueWith the exception of some American studies, the economic effectiveness of investment in R&D is seldom demonstrated explicitly by the literature, and to the best of our knowledge, there are no existing studies on R&D productivity taking an international approach.
Making the case for the competitive advantage of corporate social responsibility
Authors: Smith Alan D. 
Published: March 2007

PurposeSeeks to provide practitioners of management with a sense of the importance of strategically leveraging social responsibility in that it provides a sustainable competitive advantage and requires a culture that can successfully execute a combination of activities. These activities include deeply studying the forces that can shape the future of the industry and gathering intelligence about current and potential social and political issues, involvement of stakeholders, managing stakeholder expectations, decision making, incorporating the decisions into the strategic plan and tactical activities, communicating symbols to stakeholders, and ethical business behavior.Design/methodology/approachA review of the applied literature on practices and actual examples in the Pittsburgh area have shown that innovative responsible strategy, exceeding government requirements and considering multiple stakeholders, is a long‐term objective.FindingsA firm must control the triple‐bottom‐line, or the environmental, societal, and economic aspects of the firm's performance, especially with the strategic aspects of the resource‐based view of the firm as its foundation. Historically, a concentration on improved operational effectiveness and overcapacity created a temporary economic advantage accompanied by increased profit and firm value. Such an advantage is short‐lived; investors may be satisfied, but competing companies will eventually mimic technological and material improvements.Practical implicationsThis article describes how corporate evolution from the early 1900s where few organizations were acting in a socially responsible manner and they were criticized; it was thought that these companies were too large and had too much power. With the recent ethical disasters of Enron and WorldCom, the same criticisms are being voiced as a major flaw in American business education.Originality/valueIt would be difficult to find someone who views socially responsible behavior as a negative. However, social responsibility is not without its skeptics. The prolonged advantage of corporate social responsibility ensures sustainable economic advantage and should be a long‐term objective of any organization.
Managing in the global village
Authors: Sussland Willy A. 
Published: March 2007

PurposeThe purpose of the “Process of Management” is to help management to excel in creating value in their business so as to satisfy the significant stakeholders.Design/methodology/approachThe business value is the profit and competitive potential that can be leveraged from the resources. Processes deploy the resources onto the targeted critical success factors. Accordingly, management must focus the attention of all the live forces of the enterprise on the interactions between the two value‐drivers, namely resources and the processes.FindingsThe “Process of Management” is a comprehensive and connected framework that proposes a systemic, systematic, and stimulating way of thinking, acting, and innovating.Practical implicationsThis program features original and very detailed mind‐maps to show up the tangible and intangible resources so as to enable the leadership to deploy the most effective configuration of resources onto the critical success factors. We recommend a dual valuation system that combines conventional financial figures with estimation of the value added or destroyed on the resources.Originality/valueA clear concept of the five components of organizational capital enables the leadership to provide “self‐referrals” and to empower “self‐managed units” to take timely initiatives. This program is easy to implement because groups appreciate being given a structured way to interact. Any type and size of organization can use this program in order to involve all the live forces of the enterprise and to increase strategic and organizational effectiveness.
Neutrophilic dermatosis of the hands: Presentation of eight cases and review of the literature
Authors: DEL POZO Jesús , SACRISTÁN Felipe , MARTÍNEZ Walter , PARADELA Sabela , FERNÁNDEZ‐JORGE Beatriz , FONSECA Eduardo 
Published: March 2007

ABSTRACTPustular dermatosis of the dorsal hands is a peculiar variant of Sweet's syndrome described by Strutton et al. Nevertheless, not all authors accept this entity. We present a retrospective study of eight cases of neutrophilic vasculitis of the hands. Three patients presented with lesions only on the dorsal hands, three with lesions on the palmar surface and two with lesions on the dorsal and palmar surfaces of the hands. The patients with lesions on the dorsal surface presented a pustular aspect, and the histopathological examination revealed a high degree of vascular damage with presence of vasculitis and, in one case, with fibrinoid necrosis. Therefore, the term pustular vasculitis of the dorsal hands introduced by Strutton et al. should probably be conserved. Our cases may have demonstrated a peculiar clinicopathological disease with its own entity.
Predictive value of GADD153, p21 and c‐Jun for chemotherapy response in gastric cancer
Authors: Akatsu Yukako , Saikawa Yoshiro , Kubota Tetsuro , Akatsu Tomotaka , Yoshida Masashi , Kitagawa Yuko , Otani Yoshihide , Kumai Koichiro , Kitajima Masaki 
Published: March 2007

We sought to determine whether changes in the expression of early response genes (GADD153, p21 and c‐Jun) are indicators of chemotherapy response in gastric cancer. Three human gastric cancer cell lines were exposed to 5‐fluorouracil or cisplatin in vitro. Xenografts of TMK‐1 cells in nude mice were also treated with 5‐fluorouracil or cisplatin in vivo. For each of these treatments, we tested for a correlation between early gene expression levels and inhibition ratios derived at a later time. A 5‐fluorouracil derivative, S‐1, and cisplatin were administered to 12 patients with advanced gastric cancer for 3 weeks. Gene expression levels were measured using biopsy specimens obtained by endoscopy soon after initiation of chemotherapy. There was a significant correlation between expression levels of these genes at 24 h and inhibition ratios at 72 h in vitro. Cut‐off values determined from receiver‐operating characteristic curves were 1.3 for GADD153, 1.8 for p21 and 2.1 for c‐Jun There was also a significant correlation between gene expression levels at 2 days and inhibition ratios at 21 days in vivo. Cut‐off values were 1.8 for GADD153, 1.9 for p21 and 2.2 for c‐Jun. Levels of early response gene expression in patients showing progressive disease were significantly lower than those in patients with partial response. Changes in the expression of the three early response genes soon after drug administration could improve predictions of the final outcome of chemotherapy in gastric cancer. (Cancer Sci 2007; 98: 707–715)
HIV, injecting drug use and harm reduction: a public health response
Authors: Ball Andrew Lee 
Published: March 2007

ABSTRACTInjecting drug use is driving HIV epidemics in many countries around the world. There is evidence that such epidemics can be averted, halted and reversed if comprehensive HIV programmes targeting drug users are put into place. The term ‘harm reduction’ is used widely to describe the goals, policies and interventions of such programmes. However, despite its rapidly expanding use, the term has no universally accepted definition. This paper aims to describe the evolution and branding of the term ‘harm reduction’ and the adoption of the concept across a wide range of countries. It highlights a range of issues that remain controversial in the harm reduction discourse related to HIV and injecting drug use, including: the definition of ‘harm reduction’ and related terms; the scope of harm reduction; the promotion of a public health versus drug control dichotomy; the feasibility and appropriateness of harm reduction in low‐ and middle‐income countries; and the strength of evidence on harm reduction interventions. The paper argues that harm reduction should be a core element of a public health response to HIV/AIDS where injecting drug use exists. The effectiveness of policies and programmes targeting drug users should be measured against public health outcomes. This requires the alignment of drug control measures with public health goals. A ‘model package’ for harm reduction is proposed, which provides guidance to countries on the selection of evidence‐based policies and interventions, including: interventions for reducing HIV transmission; treatment of HIV/AIDS and associated comorbidities; appropriate models of service delivery; creation of supportive policy, legal and social environments; and strengthening of strategic information systems to better guide responses.