title: The efficacy of principle-based corporate governance practices and firm financial performance: An empirical investigation

authors: Reddy, Krishna

subjects: boards of directors

abstract: Purpose – This paper seeks to address the effect that principle-based corporate governance practices have on the financial performance of large publicly-listed companies. In 2004, the New Zealand Securities Commission (NZSC) promulgated nine high level principles and guidelines for all business entities with an aim of improving corporate governance practices and boosting investor confidence in the New Zealand capital market. This event provides a point for empirically testing companies' responses. 
Design/methodology/approach – Panel data for the NZX top 50 companies over the period 1999-2007 are analysed using ordinary least squares (OLS) and two stage least squares (2SLS) regression techniques to evaluate whether: those firms that were continuously compliant with the NZSC requirements perform better; and the firm performance post-NZSC recommendations is better than pre-NZSC recommendations. Tobin's Q, market-to-book (MB) and return on assets (ROA) metrics are used as dependent variables.. 
Findings – The findings indicate that large listed companies have universally adopted the Securities Commission recommendations, establishing subcommittees for audit and remuneration, and having a majority of non-executive/independent directors on the board which, on average, have seven members. There is support for the view that the NZSC recommendations have had positive influence on firm performance measured by Tobin's Q, MB and ROA. The results show that the presence of a remuneration committee has had a positive influence on firm performance. 
Research limitations/implications – This study provides empirical support for the corporate governance recommendations made by the NZSC in 2004, giving support to the principle-based corporate governance practices to be adopted in New Zealand. The sequential testing of each NZSC recommendation provides a comprehensive picture of performance outcomes which has not been achieved in prior research. The interdependency issues are of interest and the correlation between recommendations provides useful insights. 
Originality/value – This study offers insights for policy makers interested in adopting principle-based corporate governance practices within their country. Within New Zealand, public policy developments and stock exchange listing requirements/regulatory issues with associated compliance burdens are better informed as a consequence of the research.

text: The efficacy of principle-based corporate governance practices and firm financial performance: An empirical investigation Purpose – This paper seeks to address the effect that principle-based corporate governance practices have on the financial performance of large publicly-listed companies. In 2004, the New Zealand Securities Commission (NZSC) promulgated nine high level principles and guidelines for all business entities with an aim of improving corporate governance practices and boosting investor confidence in the New Zealand capital market. This event provides a point for empirically testing companies' responses. 
Design/methodology/approach – Panel data for the NZX top 50 companies over the period 1999-2007 are analysed using ordinary least squares (OLS) and two stage least squares (2SLS) regression techniques to evaluate whether: those firms that were continuously compliant with the NZSC requirements perform better; and the firm performance post-NZSC recommendations is better than pre-NZSC recommendations. Tobin's Q, market-to-book (MB) and return on assets (ROA) metrics are used as dependent variables.. 
Findings – The findings indicate that large listed companies have universally adopted the Securities Commission recommendations, establishing subcommittees for audit and remuneration, and having a majority of non-executive/independent directors on the board which, on average, have seven members. There is support for the view that the NZSC recommendations have had positive influence on firm performance measured by Tobin's Q, MB and ROA. The results show that the presence of a remuneration committee has had a positive influence on firm performance. 
Research limitations/implications – This study provides empirical support for the corporate governance recommendations made by the NZSC in 2004, giving support to the principle-based corporate governance practices to be adopted in New Zealand. The sequential testing of each NZSC recommendation provides a comprehensive picture of performance outcomes which has not been achieved in prior research. The interdependency issues are of interest and the correlation between recommendations provides useful insights. 
Originality/value – This study offers insights for policy makers interested in adopting principle-based corporate governance practices within their country. Within New Zealand, public policy developments and stock exchange listing requirements/regulatory issues with associated compliance burdens are better informed as a consequence of the research.

year: 2010

title: Vygotsky from ZPD to ZCD in moral education: reshaping Western theory and practices in local context

authors: Balakrishnan, Vishalache

subjects: Zone of Proximal Development

abstract: This article explores Vygotsky’s concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) in the Malaysian context to support local reform of the Moral Education (ME) classroom. Small groups of students in three different types of school were involved in a participant action research (PAR) project. Such classrooms in Malaysia bring together students from various ethnicities aligned with Hindu, Confucian and Christian beliefs and understandings. Using the Malaysian multicultural ME classroom as a case study, we offer some examples of group conversations around moral dilemmas that illustrate ways that collaborative processes beyond the individual might expand an individual student’s ZPD and the consensual as well as divergent views of each group as a whole. This suggests possibilities for an extension of the ZPD into a zone of collaborative development (ZCD).

text: Vygotsky from ZPD to ZCD in moral education: reshaping Western theory and practices in local context This article explores Vygotsky’s concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) in the Malaysian context to support local reform of the Moral Education (ME) classroom. Small groups of students in three different types of school were involved in a participant action research (PAR) project. Such classrooms in Malaysia bring together students from various ethnicities aligned with Hindu, Confucian and Christian beliefs and understandings. Using the Malaysian multicultural ME classroom as a case study, we offer some examples of group conversations around moral dilemmas that illustrate ways that collaborative processes beyond the individual might expand an individual student’s ZPD and the consensual as well as divergent views of each group as a whole. This suggests possibilities for an extension of the ZPD into a zone of collaborative development (ZCD).

year: 2012

title: Mormonism and the white possessive: Moving critical indigenous studies theory into the religious realm

authors: Simon, Hemopereki

abstract: This essay responds to the pressing need to pursue topics related to Mormonism from a research perspective that is at once critical, culturally affirming, and grounded in Indigenous views. The goal here is to provide a theoretical framework for Critical Indigenous Studies perspectives to emerge in Mormon and Lamanite Studies. I therefore submit the following questions as a contribution to and critique of Lamanite Studies within the broader fields of Mormon, Cultural, and Religious Studies:
1. Which theoretical frame(s) from Critical Indigenous 
Studies is/are best suited to address Lamanite and Mormon issues? 
2. How might we reframe current Critical Indigenous 
Studies Theory to undertake research on Mormon and 
Western religious topics? 

To address these questions, the article first outlines its 
positionality as a basis for understanding Simon’s approach to the research. The bulk of the research here focuses on describing Lamanitism in terms of its relationship to racism and whiteness. The article therefore continues with a description of the figure of 
Hagoth in The Book of Mormon, with a particular emphasis on their relationship to Te Moana-Nui-ā-Kiwa. From there the article outlines Unger’s theorem of contextuality and considers how Lamanitism might be considered an “artificial context” from a Critical Indigenous Studies perspective. A discussion of the Doctrine of Discovery, Manifest Destiny, and Moana Jackson’s idea of the culture of colonization is followed by a description of the “Racial Contract” and its speculative extension to Indigenous adherents of the Mormon Church. The article then explicates important and interrelated tikanga values from Te Ao Māori such as tapu and mana. Lastly, the article identifies the “white possessive” as a key doctrine for Critical Indigenous Studies and undertakes a reworking of the doctrine for its application to the Mormon Church. More specifically, I transmute the notion “white patriarchal sovereignty” into “white patriarchal salvation” in order to tailor it to critical Indigenous discussions of the Church. 
In my conclusion I attempt to answer the question – What is to be done? I assert that the Church is in conflict with the cultural revival of Te Ao Māori and the idea of “original instructions.” The Church’s claim to salvific truth and thinking is contradicted by my very identity and culturally informed ontology. The ensuing discussion confirms that as a colonizing entity the Church operates parallel to the government as a co-invading force in Indigenous lands. The idea of a Lamanite people as Polynesians, which includes Māori is called into question. I provide a continuum model to explain Indigenous realities in relation to religiosity and decolonization and suggest some topics as case studies for further investigation. The true purpose of this article is to facilitate the integration of critical Indigenous with Mormon and/or Lamanite Studies to bring about much-needed dialogue, discussion, and debate on the place of indigeneity in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

text: Mormonism and the white possessive: Moving critical indigenous studies theory into the religious realm This essay responds to the pressing need to pursue topics related to Mormonism from a research perspective that is at once critical, culturally affirming, and grounded in Indigenous views. The goal here is to provide a theoretical framework for Critical Indigenous Studies perspectives to emerge in Mormon and Lamanite Studies. I therefore submit the following questions as a contribution to and critique of Lamanite Studies within the broader fields of Mormon, Cultural, and Religious Studies:
1. Which theoretical frame(s) from Critical Indigenous 
Studies is/are best suited to address Lamanite and Mormon issues? 
2. How might we reframe current Critical Indigenous 
Studies Theory to undertake research on Mormon and 
Western religious topics? 

To address these questions, the article first outlines its 
positionality as a basis for understanding Simon’s approach to the research. The bulk of the research here focuses on describing Lamanitism in terms of its relationship to racism and whiteness. The article therefore continues with a description of the figure of 
Hagoth in The Book of Mormon, with a particular emphasis on their relationship to Te Moana-Nui-ā-Kiwa. From there the article outlines Unger’s theorem of contextuality and considers how Lamanitism might be considered an “artificial context” from a Critical Indigenous Studies perspective. A discussion of the Doctrine of Discovery, Manifest Destiny, and Moana Jackson’s idea of the culture of colonization is followed by a description of the “Racial Contract” and its speculative extension to Indigenous adherents of the Mormon Church. The article then explicates important and interrelated tikanga values from Te Ao Māori such as tapu and mana. Lastly, the article identifies the “white possessive” as a key doctrine for Critical Indigenous Studies and undertakes a reworking of the doctrine for its application to the Mormon Church. More specifically, I transmute the notion “white patriarchal sovereignty” into “white patriarchal salvation” in order to tailor it to critical Indigenous discussions of the Church. 
In my conclusion I attempt to answer the question – What is to be done? I assert that the Church is in conflict with the cultural revival of Te Ao Māori and the idea of “original instructions.” The Church’s claim to salvific truth and thinking is contradicted by my very identity and culturally informed ontology. The ensuing discussion confirms that as a colonizing entity the Church operates parallel to the government as a co-invading force in Indigenous lands. The idea of a Lamanite people as Polynesians, which includes Māori is called into question. I provide a continuum model to explain Indigenous realities in relation to religiosity and decolonization and suggest some topics as case studies for further investigation. The true purpose of this article is to facilitate the integration of critical Indigenous with Mormon and/or Lamanite Studies to bring about much-needed dialogue, discussion, and debate on the place of indigeneity in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

year: 2022