bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An empirical study on the influence of environmental labels on consumers
Authors: D'Souza Clare , Taghian Mehdi , Lamb Peter 
Published: July 2006

PurposeDespite research studies indicating strong support for labelling information, uncertainty remains with respect to how labels influence consumers. This paper attempts to empirically investigate how consumers who differ in terms of environmentalism respond to labels.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected on an Australian sample using a structured questionnaire administered on the phone using quantum research (CATI) data collection services. A total of 155 questionnaires were completed and used for data analysis. The data were analysed using both descriptive measures and correlations between variables.FindingsThere appears to be a proportion of consumers that find product labels hard to understand. The research found that there are consumers who will buy green products even if they are lower in quality in comparison to alternative products, but would look for environmental information on labels. With respect to price sensitive green consumers, there appears to be a relationship between price sensitivity and “always” reading labels as well as indicating that there is “sufficient” information on product labels to make informed purchase decisions.Research limitations/implicationsIt was beyond the scope of the research to account for some of the utilitarian approaches to interpretation or in‐depth comprehension of label information. The sample size of 155, although selected using a probability method, may, to some extent, limit the overall accuracy of the results.Practical implicationsThe research offers some important information on different green consumer segments that would alert managers on how best to position environmental labels. Findings such as “Satisfied with labels” correlates with “Labels are accurate”, which suggests that businesses need to provide a clear, accurate and easily legible label design to encourage satisfaction with the accuracy of content and the communication aspects of a label.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to better understanding of green customers purchase intentions and the usefulness of ecological product labels. It offers some insights and assistance to businesses in planning their green product/labelling strategies.
A study of aluminium wire failure in automotive under‐hood applications
Authors: Yi Sung , Kyoo Park Sang , Choon Teo Kiat 
Published: July 2006

PurposeTo provide a design guideline for an automotive electronic module in order to improve its reliability in elevated environmental environments as well as in vibration environments.Design/methodology/approachWire looping profiles, gel heights, and effects of mechanical vibration on aluminium wire bond failures are studied. Natural frequencies of various wire profiles are evaluated and effects of gel heights on reliability of products are studied using stochastic finite element analyses. The frequency dependent properties of silicone gels used in electronic modules are characterized by the corn and plate test. An experiment was also conducted in order to confirm numerical results.FindingsThe present study shows that the gel plays an important role in wire bond failures and reliability of the product. The gel reduces the amplitude of vibration of electronic modules due to its damping characteristics. However, both analytic and experimental results indicate that the gel imposes extra weight on the wires and may induce stresses on heels.Research limitations/implicationsIn the future study, it is suggested that other gel materials should be studied since the properties of gel strongly depend on the frequency which will affect the fatigue behavior of bonding wires.Practical implicationsThe findings can be used as general design guidelines for wire bonding for automotive electronic modules.Originality/valueThe results will be very useful to design bonding wires for automotive electronic modules.
The relevance of value‐at‐risk disclosures: evidence from the LTCM crisis
Authors: Chipalkatti Niranjan , Datar Vinay 
Published: July 2006

PurposePrevious studies have established that the failure of the hedge fund, long‐term capital management (LTCM), was associated with significant negative abnormal returns for many US banks, especially around September 2, 1998, when LTCM announced its failure. This study attempts to examine whether bank value‐at‐risk (VaR) disclosures were used by investors to assess the potential trading loss that a bank could suffer at that time.Design/methodology/approachThis study examines whether there was any association between disclosed VaR and the magnitude of abnormal returns and trading volume surrounding the announcement date.FindingsThe results indicate that there was no such association which suggests that investors did not use the VaR information to assess the potential trading losses of exposed banks. Banks that formed part of the LTCM bailout consortium and those with larger amounts of notional derivatives faced the largest negative reaction at the time of the failure announcement.Originality/valueVaR disclosures are costly to prepare and complex to interpret. The study finds no benefits of VaR disclosures to bank investors.
The threat posed by transnational political corruption to global commercial and development banking
Authors: McCormick John T. , Paterson Nancy 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThis paper explores the threat that transnational political corruption poses to both the world's development banking and commercial banking sectors.Design/methodology/approachThis paper was written from the perspective of someone who has served as a financial fraud prosecutor, an investigator for the World Bank, and currently as a banking supervisor and regulator. The paper uses three case studies to demonstrate how corrupt actors, using various fraudulent and corrupt schemes, steal funds from development banks, and then launder the illicit proceeds from these schemes into legitimate commercial banking systems around the world.FindingsThe paper describes the reputational and financial risks posed to the commercial and development banking sectors from transnational political corruption, and predicts that these risks will grow as more signatory nations to various anti‐corruption treaties and conventions criminalize the bribery of foreign public officials.Research limitations/implicationsLeft unchecked, both commercial and development banks face growing political, legal, and economic risks from political corruption.Practical implicationsDrawing on the lessons learned from the case studies analyzed in the paper, the author offers a number of practical recommendations aimed at reducing the threat posed to commercial and development banks from public corruption.Originality/valueThe paper establishes a common threat posed by transnational political corruption to both the commercial and development banking sectors.
Counterfeiting: links to organised crime and terrorist funding
Authors: Lowe Peter 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to highlight how terrorists are using counterfeiting to fund their operations.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides an overview of the links between counterfeiting and terrorism.FindingsTerrorist groups have multiple sources of funding, both licit and illicit. It is to be expected that terrorist groups and their sympathisers will become even more involved in counterfeiting and piracy in the future.Originality/valueThe paper provides insight into why counterfeiting is attractive to terrorists and why they will look more to this source of income in the future.
Conflict diamonds
Authors: Rodgers Elizabeth J.A. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the Sierra Leonean trade in “conflict diamonds” which has fuelled a rebel war in the country for more than a decade. In particular, it crucially asks whether the reform of the diamond trade by international legislative efforts to develop an international diamond certification scheme can stem the flow of “conflict diamonds.”Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws upon existing work and research to provide a detailed case study of international legislative attempts to curtail the trade in illicit diamonds from Sierra Leone, specifically by implementing a Certification of Origin Scheme.FindingsBased on existing research, the paper argues that the Certification of Origin Scheme has made a positive contribution to the illegal mining, trading and smuggling of conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone. However, peace and recovery will also depend on how extensive official and unofficial corruption is tackled.Research limitations/implicationsInternational efforts to limit the flow of “conflict” diamonds, the dynamics of the conflict itself and relevant research are all in a state of continuous development. It is therefore significant to view this paper within this ever changing framework.Originality/valueThis paper will be of value to those wishing to be introduced to the nature of the illicit diamond trade and recent efforts on behalf of the international community to solve the problem.
Building synergies between theory and practice
Authors: Nardo Massimo 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to expand on the idea that appropriate theory can lead to prompter and more effective action, or prevent the waste time and resources in trying to achieve empirically something we can never attain.Design/methodology/approachStarting from anecdotal examples, the paper shows how appropriate theory can lead to prompter and more effective action, or prevent from wasting time and resources in trying to achieve something we can never attain. Then it reports about an example of the potential for applications coming from a proper methodological approach (namely a research project carried out by the Ufficio Italiano dei Cambi in association with the London School of Economics) and its methodology. Finally it deals with complexity and the conditions for acting upon a system, the need to work out preventative monitoring instruments and how it may be approached. In the field of financial crime, a research project, which UIC (the Italian FIU) has been carrying out in association with the London School of Economics, explored a methodology aiming at mapping behaviours associated with money laundering in terms of IT assisted targeting models.FindingsThe process of model building rests on the appropriate design of the path that goes from choosing the elements to describe the behaviour, to identifying the better parameters to reflect them, and to setting out proper queries that match parameters within the available data. A proper methodology assists and assesses every component and step of the process. If we want to act in a system, we have to develop a systemic cognitive framework and a systemic approach. We must be aware that the system will react rearranging its internal structure and procedures, and take this reaction into account. If we want to combat effectively financial crime, it is crucial that we know what instruments and opportunities the system offers to those who are to act within it. We need to work out monitoring instruments to be used to predict/intercept crooks' possible actions. We must identify structural links and connections, risk areas and loopholes. We have to map our possible routes, discover connecting nodes and access points that are not sufficiently guarded, becoming able to address proper action. Research can do much to help find appropriate answers.Originality/valueThe paper addresses regulators, enforcers and academics in the field of anti‐money‐laundering and anti‐terrorism‐financing action. It shows that research can help both in developing/gathering knowledge and in integrating knowledge into action. This need for qualified, practical‐fitted knowledge is the widest field of possible co‐operation between research – a kind of new frontier in whose development to invest resources in search of innovation, synergies and new strategies for the times to come.
Accounting, purchasing and supply chain management
Authors: Joyce William B. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeTo not only help with price quality and reliability and speed of delivery but also to enhance value analysis, make‐or‐buy analysis and supplier audits and certification. Planning may also be enhanced and assistance may be derived in maintaining ethical standards.Design/methodology/approachAn integration of the managerial accounting and purchasing functions is discussed and illustrated. It is hypothesized that synergy can be gained by the organization and related stakeholders.FindingsThe purchasing function in business organizations is becoming increasingly important, and synergies can be gain by integrating the purchasing and managerial accounting functions.Originality/valueBy integrating the purchasing and managerial accounting functions, costs can be reduced and quality can be increased.
Managing quality effectively in supply chain: a preliminary study
Authors: Lo Victor H.Y. , Yeung Alice 
Published: July 2006

PurposeOperations management literature prescribes various practices in supply quality management (SQM). However, few studies have described the SQM practices being conducted in Asian countries, especially in Hong Kong. The purpose of this study is to identify the critical SQM practices that conducted in Hong Kong.Design/methodology/approachWe used in‐depth industrial interviews and extensive literature review to identify some critical items for evaluating SQM practices. Accordingly, an instrument was developed. We validated this instrument with 90 leading manufacturing related companies in Hong Kong by using SPSS 9.0.FindingsFinally, we extracted ten critical factors for describing a SQM system. These factors could be clustered into three major groups namely supplier selection, supplier development and supplier integration.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper has not discussed the relationships among SQM practices, supplier quality and organisational quality. For future study, it will be worthwhile to consider these interrelations.Originality/valueThe newly developed instrument could be used to measure the practices of supply quality management in Hong Kong.
Collaboration planning in a supply chain
Authors: Cassivi Luc 
Published: July 2006

PurposeTo analyze how e‐collaboration tools affect different partners along the supply chain, and to categorize firms according to their level of collaboration planning within a supply chain environment.Design/methodology/approachFirst, a field study, which focuses on one large telecommunications equipment manufacturer and a few strategic first‐tier suppliers, provides the basis to fully understand the e‐collaboration methods and the various issues and concerns of the different members of the supply chain. It is followed by an electronic survey conducted with 53 firms worldwide acting in the same supply chain, which constitutes the second phase of the study.FindingsDifferent roles may be attributed to collaboration tools such as facilitating access to information, which affects knowledge creation capabilities, and assisting in the design of flexible supply chains. Furthermore, three separate groups with different levels and types of collaboration planning were identified. These groups appropriately represent the telecommunications equipment supply chain, where firms are either deeply involved in supply chain collaboration or very minimally concerned by it.Research limitations/implicationsBy focusing on the initial stage of CPFR, we might overlook some important links with the other two stages of CPFR. However, with a more focused approach, we were able to obtain detailed information on the collaborative planning stage. A second limitation is the selection of one specific supply chain, which makes the generalization to other supply chains difficult.Practical implicationsUnderstanding the role of CPFR in their supply chain and, more importantly, the role of collaboration planning in developing a network of partners.Originality/valueThis paper looks at how collaboration is planned, through CPFR actions, between members of a supply chain.
Benchmarking the operational efficiency of third party logistics providers using data envelopment analysis
Authors: Min Hokey , Jong Joo Seong 
Published: July 2006

PurposeIn an era of downsizing and financial cutbacks, the operational efficiency of third party logistics providers (3PLs) dictates their competitiveness and/or survival. In an effort to help 3PLs enhance productivity and price leverage in the increasingly competitive third party logistics market, this paper aims to develop a meaningful set of financial benchmarks that will dictate best practices. In particular, the paper proposes a data envelopment analysis (DEA) that is proven to be useful for measuring the operational efficiency of various profit or non‐profit organizations.Design/methodology/approachUsing the examples of major 3PLs in the USA, this paper is the first to illustrate the usefulness of DEA for measuring the competitiveness of third party logistics services. The proposed DEA model also helps 3PLs identify potential sources of inefficiency and provide useful hindsight for the continuous improvement of operational efficiency. Furthermore, the proposed DEA model not only helps 3PLs establish detailed policy guidelines in prioritizing the use of financial resources, but also helps them evaluate the effects of financial investment on the profitability of 3PLs.FindingsDEA study finds that the strength of 3PL service performances and the breadth of diverse 3PL services is somewhat correlated to the long‐term financial strength of 3PLs.Originality/valueThe main contribution of this paper includes the novel application of DEA to the performance measurement of 3PLS. The proposed DEA model not only helps 3PLS establish detailed policy guidelines in prioritizing the use of financial resources, but also helps them evaluate the effects of financial investment on the profitability of 3PLS.
Economic clusters and the supply chain: a case study
Authors: Patti Anthony L. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to illustrate the advantages for firms who build local supplier and customer relationships whenever possible.Design/methodology/approachA case study of a US petrochemical firm is used along with a discussion of Porter's economic cluster theory.FindingsThe firm outsourced two raw materials first to a firm about 200 miles away and then to a firm that built a plant across the street. By sourcing to a co‐located firm the company reduced its costs by $280,000 per year while simultaneously increasing quality by 6.5 per cent, reducing lead‐time by seven to ten days, and reducing raw material inventory from 800 tons to 30 tons.Research limitations/implicationsAs with all case studies, care must be taken when generalizing the findings of this study. This article provides empirical evidence that supports Porter's economic cluster theory.Practical implicationsManagers are reminded that even in the age of the global business environment, there is still practical value in constructing local supply chains. Government officials who are in charge of economic development are shown the value of targeting clusters of economic activity.Originality/valueThis article provides empirical evidence that supports Porter's economic cluster theory and has practical implications for managers and government officials.
UK Generation Y male fashion consciousness
Authors: Bakewell Cathy , Mitchell Vincent‐Wayne , Rothwell Morgan 
Published: July 2006

PurposeAs social theorists propose that there has been an intensification of social and commercial pressures on men to become fashion consumers, this paper sets out to examine the proposition by investigating fashion consciousness of Generation Y male consumers.Design/methodology/approachData were gathered from a survey of 346 male respondents aged between 18‐25 who completed a fashion consciousness questionnaire, which was then factor‐analysed.FindingsRelatively high levels of fashion consciousness were found, but not necessarily fashion adoption. Factor analysis showed that men view fashion in highly simplistic terms and there is still a strong “anti‐fashion” dimension to the average young male consumer.Research limitations/implicationsDrawing on the fields of psychology and sociology, it is argued that “anti‐fashion” fashion consumption creates the distinction necessary for men to create a defensible masculine practice.Practical implicationsThe “anti‐fashion” motivation is of interest to marketers and provides a basis for planning retailing and branding approaches. The key to fashion marketing for men would be to show how clothing could overcome some of these fears, e.g. not earning or achieving enough.Originality/valueBeing such a nascent potential market segment, there are no empirical studies that specifically focus on male Generation Ys.
Fashion occupational communities – a market‐as‐network approach
Authors: Ashton Philippa 
Published: July 2006

PurposeSeeks to explore the notion of fashion networks, both local and global, as a means by which “products” – economic and intangible – can be exchanged and to present research findings of a network study undertaken in the Nottingham knitting industry.Design/methodology/approachPresents a study of knitting companies in the Nottingham area of the UK using social network methods to identify the structure and role of the local and global networks in which these businesses sit and shows, by describing the networks of two contrasting companies, the advantages and challenges they afford to the learning of individual businesses and other participants in the local network.FindingsThe density of the local network is presented and the role of universities and regional development agencies is shown to be important. The profiles of two‐example companies shows one type which is well connected within the local network and another type which has good global links but is not well connected locally. The implications of these two kinds of profile are discussed.Practical implicationsIndicates the importance of developing balanced networks, which allow the dissemination of ideas, information and norms and provide opportunities for exchange.Originality/valueChallenges current ideas about fashion supply chains by exploring markets as complex networks of relationships which reflects the blurring of boundaries between firms and changing perceptions of “customers” and currencies of exchange. This paper revisits notions of markets in the context of the needs of small and medium‐sized fashion businesses and in particular focuses on their learning and development.