bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Confucian culture and whistle‐blowing by professional accountants: an exploratory study
Authors: Hwang Dennis , Staley Blair , Te Chen Ying , Lan Jyh‐Shan 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to use survey data to examine the impact of culture on current and future accounting and auditing professionals' intent to be whistle‐blowers in a Chinese cultural society.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines intent to whistle‐blow and factors influencing whistle‐blowing, using survey data collected by the authors.FindingsIt was found that a majority of respondents believe that a general sense of morality was the most important factor to encourage whistle‐blowing, with abiding by the policy of their organization as the second; it was also found that guanxi, fear of retaliation, and fear of media coverage may discourage whistle‐blowing in a Chinese society.Research limitations/implicationsThe data are all from Confucian societies, which perhaps limits its usefulness elsewhere.Practical implicationsThe paper will help auditors, accountants, and policy makers to design policies that encourage whistle‐blowing.Originality/valueThe paper uses original survey data collected by the authors, and the analysis will enable policy makers and professional accountants to anticipate and predict whistle‐blowing, a key factor in improving financial management and reporting, and possibly undermining auditor independence, audit quality, and the quality of financial reporting.
Environmentally friendly assembly of robust electronics without solder
Authors: Fjelstad Joseph 
Published: May 2008

PurposeTin‐lead solder has been the primary method for connecting electronic components to printed circuit boards since near the time of its inception. Over the last 60 years, solder has proven a viable assembly method over that time and there is a deep understanding of the technology won over years of practice. However, the European Union has banned the use of lead in electronic solder, based on the misguided assumption that lead in electronic solder represented a risk to human health. Aims to describe a new approach to manufacturing electronic assemblies without the use of solder.Design/methodology/approachThe paper discusses how the new era of lead‐free solder has resulted in a host of new problems for the electronics industry, many of which had not been experienced when elemental lead was included in the solder alloy.FindingsElectronics assembly technology literature is rife with articles and papers citing the problems or challenges of lead‐free assembly and proposing new or improved solutions or investigative tool to better unearth the problems of lead‐free. The new process has come to be known as the Occam process, named to honor the fourteenth century English philosopher and logician, William of Occam, whose rigorous thinking and arguments in favor of finding the simplest possible solution served as the inspiration and catalyst for the new approach.Originality/valueThe paper describes a new approach to manufacturing electronic assemblies without the use of solder.
Assessment of blind via holes – an alternative approach
Authors: Willis Bob 
Published: May 2008

PurposeTo present a simple way of assessing blind vias, making failure analysis easier to perform and generating less controversy.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes a procedure that may be used to examine blind via hole interconnections for routine testing or during failure analysis of a printed circuit board.FindingsThe technique described complements existing methods for assessing vias.Originality/valueThe paper details a new method of via assessment that can be an alternative to established techniques.
Cross‐country determinants of satisfaction with life
Authors: Kacapyr Elia 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the social, economic, and cultural factors that impact satisfaction with life (SWL) in 63 countries. The intent is to determine empirically the extent to which self‐reported SWL truly reflects well‐being.Design/methodology/approachA cross‐sectional data set of 63 countries in the 1990s is used to develop a model that explains SWL using social, economic, and cultural variables. The regression errors indicate that some countries are inexplicably happy or unhappy. If behavioral variables in these countries, such as suicide and fertility rates, are better explained by the model's fitted values than actual SWL, then cross country comparisons of subjective SWL surveys are invalid.FindingsSocial and economic factors explain about 66 percent of the variation in self‐reported happiness across countries. Respondents in former socialist‐bloc countries report surprisingly low levels of SWL given their circumstances while Latin Americans report higher‐than‐expected levels of happiness. These two geographic anomalies are attributed to cultural factors and dummy variables for each region are highly significant. People living in these two geographic regions are shown to behave in accordance with their reported levels of happiness, more so than their predicted levels, with regard to suicide and fertility rates. Even mean blood pressure in these countries is better predicted with reported levels of satisfaction than predicted levels. All this supports the notion that surveys of SWL are good measures of well‐being.Research limitations/implicationsThe results are obtained using cross‐country macro‐level data. The degree of aggregation, sample size, and presence of multicollinearity may hinder the identification of appropriate predictors of well‐being. On the other hand, these results corroborate those from larger, pooled, and individual‐level data sets.Originality/valueThe findings support the view that aggregated surveys of life satisfaction contain important information concerning the well‐being of citizens in a given country. Survey data can compete with other macroeconomic and sociological data to monitor progress and explain behavior at the national level.
International Year of Planet Earth: four reports on status and trends
Authors: Simonis Udo E. 
Published: May 2008

PurposeIn 2007, the issues of global and climate change in particular, have become major issues in the social psyche. With the United Nations declaring 2008 the “International Year of Planet Earth”, this paper aims to look at four recent reports and comments on how the reports aim to deal with the climate and global change challenges ahead.Design/methodology/approachAfter a brief introduction to the subject, this paper looks at each of the four reports in turn. It describes the methodology of each report and then discusses its relative strengths and weaknesses. This is followed by a conclusion on the reports as a whole and where policy makers can make improvements.FindingsAll four reports are well structured and they have certainly raised the profile and illustrated the importance of global and climate change. However, there are a number of ways each could and should be improved in future updates.Practical implicationsThis paper aims to bring the reports to a wider audience and make recommendations on improvements to future reports on these important global issues.Originality/valueThe paper evaluates four recent reports on the important social issues of global change and climate change. By comparing and contrasting the reports, the paper gives an overview of what some of the larger policy makers are doing to tackle global and climate change. The paper also makes recommendations for improvements to the reports.
Growth of e‐financial services
Authors: Dandapani Krishnan 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a bird's eye overview of the special issue and its significance.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews relevant topics and provide perspective.FindingsCritical areas and future focus are identified in the paper.Practical implicationsThis work may stimulate future academic research and identify practical implementation challenges.Originality/valueThe paper provides perspective and impetus for future research.
Virtual bank failures: an investigation
Authors: Dandapani Krishnan , Lawrence Edward R. 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the causes behind the failures of virtual banks. This work underscores the importance of the differing financial metrics in the virtual and brick and mortar banking channels, when analyzing bank failures.Design/methodology/approach“Probit” analysis on the failed virtual banks and the failed brick and mortar banks revealed that the interest incomes in both banks are significantly different. The non‐interest income and non‐interest expense (NIE) of the surviving banks and the failed banks are explored to examine the causes for failure.FindingsSimilar to previous research it was found that the brick and mortar banks failed due to bad asset quality, but the failure of virtual banks is mainly due to high NIEs. For virtual banks to succeed, the institutions must focus on controlling the burden.Research limitations/implicationsA larger sample size would have been preferable and non‐availability of data limited the scope of the study. Continuing studies could explore the performance of Internet channels of existing brick and mortar banks.Practical implicationsThis study accentuates the importance of the differing business models underlying the two banking channels (virtual banks and brick and mortar banks). These channel specific differences underscore the significance of the financial metrics in operational evaluation.Originality/valueThis is probably the first study to examine the causes of failures of virtual banks and contrast them with brick and mortar banks.
E‐finance: status, innovations, resources and future challenges
Authors: Shahrokhi Manuchehr 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThis purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the status of e‐finance and discuss related issues and challenges. Provides data about growth of e‐finance in the last decade. Introduces advances and innovations in e‐finance and challenges facing the financial services and IT industries.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs the archival method of reviewing related literature (theoretical, applied and empirical) and organizing and presenting the topics to provide an overview of e‐finance status.FindingsThe major contributions and finding of this paper include all areas of e‐finance, application of technology to e‐finance, growth of the e‐finance in the financial services industry.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper provides areas of e‐finance that face many different challenges and calls for further research in a number of areas related to e‐finance technology and the interface of financial services and IT.Practical implicationsThe paper brings all scattered information and data about e‐finance under one umbrella that would make scholars and practitioners aware of advances in e‐finance and applications of innovations and new technology to financial services provided.Originality/valueThe main value or contribution of this paper is bringing together most of available literature, advances, innovations, application of IT in the financial services industry and showing how organizations could benefit from such innovations. It also provides ideas to scholars for further research in this area.
Bank‐in‐a‐box
Authors: Kumar Kuldeep , van Hillegersberg Jos 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to describe the experiences with the development and use of an agile component‐based architecture for enabling the requirements for the transformation of financial services.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology used is a case study. Findings –The findings of the case study indicate that while technically it is feasible to develop and implement such an architecture, a number of managerial and organizational issues need to be addressed before such architecture can become successful.Originality/valueFor the practitioners and managers in the financial services industry, this study provides a potential solution to its need for an agile technology platform that can keep aligned with its evolving business requirements.
Internet banking services and credit union performance
Authors: Dandapani Krishnan , Karels Gordon V. , Lawrence Edward R. 
Published: May 2008

PurposeExisting empirical evidence indicates internet banks worldwide have underperformed newly chartered traditional banks mainly because of their higher overhead costs. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of internet banking services on credit union activity.Design/methodology/approachThe impact of internet banking services on credit union over the period 1999‐2006 was studied and regression equations were estimated for the growth in assets, operating expenses and return on assets as functions of portfolio characteristics, economic conditions and a dummy variable indicating if the credit union has adopted internet banking services.FindingsThe operating costs of credit unions providing web access were found to be significantly higher than those credit unions which do not have any web account offerings. There is increased growth in assets for the credit unions which have worldwide web accounts although this relationship is statistically significant in only three of the eight years studied. The return on assets show that the credit unions with web accounts have similar average profitability to those credit unions that do not provide the facility of internet access to their customers.Research limitations/implicationsConsideration could be given to running the regressions with the number of years the web site has been in place instead of just a dummy variable and putting in common bond dummy variables. Some common bonds are so narrow it may not pay to have internet services.Practical implicationsEven though there are costs associated with providing internet services, the retention of profitability and the evidence of potentially higher asset growth rates suggest the importance of internet banking and the trend of internet banking adoption is expected to continue in the near future in the credit union industry.Originality/valueThis is a pioneering study on the effect of internet banking services on the costs, growth and profitability of Credit Unions in the USA.
Successful approaches to teaching through chat
Authors: Devlin Frances , Currie Lea , Stratton John 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine whether librarians at the University of Kansas are providing instruction through chat in order to develop best practices for training purposes.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyzed a sample of chat transcripts using the “ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education” to determine whether librarians were utilizing opportunities for instruction in the chat medium. Using this analysis, they selected the best examples of instructional techniques.FindingsStudents were open to receiving instruction through chat. Librarians who were most successful in providing assistance to students demonstrated persistency and approachability in their interactions.Practical implicationsThe authors developed a list of top ten practices for instruction through chat which can be used for training purposes.Originality/valueLibrarians need to continue to develop instructional techniques to create more opportunities for teaching moments in chat. The paper raises awareness of the impact of librarians' demeanor in the online environment.
Who's who in brand communities – and why?
Authors: Ouwersloot Hans , Odekerken‐Schröder Gaby 
Published: May 2008

PurposeBrand communities may manifest the ultimate degree of connectedness between a consumer and a brand. Research typically approaches such communities as collections of highly homogenous members but generally fails to recognize them as individual persons with their own idiosyncratic backgrounds and reasons to join the community. This article aims to explore whether a community population can be meaningfully segmented on the basis of different motivations to join.Design/methodology/approachInformation from two communities is collected, following the customer‐centric model of brand community of McAlexander et al.. The relationship variables in this model are used as a segmentation basis in cluster analysis to identify various segments. Different kind of motivations can be identified with the relationship variables of the McAlexander et al. model.FindingsMultiple segments based on different consumption motivations exist. Two investigated communities show significant overlap in the identified segments. Furthermore, the findings suggest that segments evolve in relation to the lifecycle stage of the community.Practical implicationsSegmentation is important for fine‐tuning marketing efforts, particularly for brand communities. Members of communities share dedication to the brand but are heterogeneous in many respects.Originality/valueTreating a brand community as a marketing tool requires an understanding of the composition of its population. This study explores how to achieve this understanding and links community characteristics to theoretical concepts surrounding consumer behaviour.
Consumer perceptions of brand architecture in financial services
Authors: Devlin James F. , McKechnie Sally 
Published: May 2008

Purpose“Brand architecture” is an organisation's approach to the design and management of its brand portfolio. Previous research, focused on the views of practitioners, identified a “multi‐corporate” approach in financial services, where a “family of main brands” was incorporated into an organisation's brand portfolio, often in the form of brands traditionally associated with separate companies. The current study seeks to provide contrasting insights from consumer data and to highlight the conceptual and practical implications of the findings.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative methodology was adopted for the study incorporating six focus groups containing an average of nine participants.FindingsThe findings from the current study offer empirical support for the conceptualisation of the corporate brand playing a predominant role in services markets. In doing so, the findings also suggest that the alternative conceptualization of a “multi‐corporate” approach advocated by practitioners and identified previously is not validated by consumer‐based research.Research limitations/implicationsThe context of the study reported may be limited by its restriction to a single category, financial services.Practical implicationsPractitioners' rationales for maintaining multiple brands are, in the main, undermined by the views of consumers. Organisations should consider rationalising their brand architecture in order to benefit from significant cost savings.Originality/valueThe consumer perspective on brand architecture is significantly under‐researched and as a result this paper provides valuable insights, and a significant contribution to existing literature.
Undesired self‐image congruence in a low‐involvement product context
Authors: Bosnjak Michael , Rudolph Nina 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe paper seeks to investigate the incremental value of a construct termed “undesired self‐image congruence”, and capture consumers' perceived closeness to negatively valenced brand‐related attributes over and above established self‐image congruence factors known to affect consumption‐related attitudes and intentions.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire‐based study was used to assess consumers' attitudes and intentions to consume a low‐involvement product (Marlboro cigarettes; n=211). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were employed to determine the incremental predictive value of the newly introduced undesired congruity component over and above established self‐image congruence facets.FindingsUndesired congruity proved its substantial and incremental value in predicting consumption‐related attitudes, but did not directly influence purchasing intentions.Research limitations/implicationsAvoidance motives related to undesired brand images appear to influence purchase decisions at early stages of the decision‐making process, namely in attitude formation and evaluative responding. Controlled experimental approaches with a broader set of products should be used to corroborate this potential research implication.Practical implicationsBecause negative stereotypical images appear to feed into purchase‐related decision processes at early stages, due caution should be exerted in primary data collection and brand positioning. Primary data collection should capture both positive and negative brand‐related meanings attributed by consumers. Because the results show that undesired congruity has an incremental explanatory effect, positive versus negative symbolic meanings are clearly not just “two sides of the same coin”. Consequently, brand positioning should define its strategy by simultaneously maximizing both the closeness to desired symbolic meanings and the distance to undesired symbolic associations.Originality/valueThe value of the paper lies in testing the operation of undesired congruity and in quantifying its incremental contribution in the symbolic consumption context.
Photochromic properties of (E)‐3‐(2‐adamantylidene)‐2‐[5‐(4‐diethylaminophenyl)‐2‐methyl‐3‐furylethylidene] succinic anhydride doped in polystyrene film
Authors: Bahajaj A.A. , Asiri A.M. 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the photochromic performance of photochromic compounds in polymer matrices.Design/methodology/approachThe polystyrene films doped with photochromic fulgide were prepared and the effect of UV irradiation were studied using spectrophotometer. The reversible reaction was effected using white light. The effect of heat was also determined.FindingsA film of the green coloured fulgide 2‐E doped in polystyrene polymer was irradiated with UV light (366 nm), the film turned blue. The latter colour was partially switched back to the original green colour when the film was irradiated with a white light. Increasing the annealing temperatures, increases the percentage conversion of 2‐C to 2‐E. The observed large bathochromic shifts in λmax of 2‐C and the partial conversion of 2‐C to 2‐E were rationalised on the bases of electronic and steric effects. It was found that both isomers 2‐C and 2‐E absorbed white light and they interconvert. The kinetics of photocoloration and photobleaching processes were followed spectrophotometrically by monitoring the absorbance of the ring closed product 2‐C at its λmax of 620 nm. The apparent first‐order rate constants for both processes were determined. It was found that there was slight variation in the rate constant for photocoloration reaction with annealing temperature. On the other hand, the apparent first‐order rate constant of the photobleaching reaction decreases with increasing the annealing temperature.Research limitations/implicationsThe polystyrene polymer doped photochromic fulgides described in the present paper was prepared and studied. The principle of study established can be applied to any type of polymer or to any type of photochromic compounds.Practical implicationsThe photochromic materials developed can be used for different applications, such as coatings and holography.Originality/valueThe method developed may be used to enhance the performance of photochromic materials.