Showing papers by "Hong Kong Polytechnic University published in 2010"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine a potential benefit associated with the initiation of voluntary disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities: a reduction in firms' cost of equity capital.
Abstract: We examine a potential benefit associated with the initiation of voluntary disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities: a reduction in firms’ cost of equity capital. We find that firms with a high cost of equity capital in the previous year tend to initiate disclosure of CSR activities in the current year and that initiating firms with superior social responsibility performance enjoy a subsequent reduction in the cost of equity capital. Further, initiating firms with superior social responsibility performance attract dedicated institutional investors and analyst coverage. Moreover, these analysts achieve lower absolute forecast errors and dispersion. Finally, we find that firms exploit the benefit of a lower cost of equity capital associated with the initiation of CSR disclosure. Initiating firms are more likely than non-initiating firms to raise equity capital following the initiations and among firms raising equity capital, initiating firms raise a significantly larger amount than do non-initiating firms.
2,153 citations
01 Jul 2010
TL;DR: This book discusses effect sizes, meta-Analysis, and the interpretation of results in the context of meta-analysis, which addresses the role of sample sizes in the analysis of power research.
Abstract: List of figures List of tables List of boxes Introduction Part I. Effect Sizes and the Interpretation of Results: 1. Introduction to effect sizes 2. Interpreting effects Part II. The Analysis of Statistical Power: 3. Power analysis and the detection of effects 4. The painful lessons of power research Part III. Meta-Analysis: 5. Drawing conclusions using meta-analysis 6. Minimizing bias in meta-analysis Last word: thirty recommendations for researchers Appendices: 1. Minimum sample sizes 2. Alternative methods for meta-analysis Bibliography Index.
1,930 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of attachment in predicting satisfactory holiday experiences and destination loyalty was explored, showing that positive emotional and cognitive bonds with a place could indeed affect an individual's critical assessment of a destination and his/her loyalty to the place.
1,051 citations
New York University1, Bangor University2, Pompeu Fabra University3, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences4, Hong Kong Polytechnic University5, University College London6, Alzheimer's Association7, Newcastle University8, Karolinska Institutet9, University of New South Wales10, Spanish National Research Council11, Cochrane Collaboration12, University of Washington13
TL;DR: NPTs emerge as a useful, versatile and potentially cost-effective approach to improve outcomes and QoL in ADRD for both the PWD and CG.
Abstract: Introduction: Nonpharmacological therapies (NPTs) can improve the quality of life (QoL) of people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and their carers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the best evidence on the effects of NPTs in AD and related disorders (ADRD) by performing a systematic review and meta-analysis of the entire field. Methods: Existing reviews and major electronic databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The deadline for study inclusion was September 15, 2008. Intervention categories and outcome domains were predefined by consensus. Two researchers working together detected 1,313 candidate studies of which 179 RCTs belonging to 26 intervention categories were selected. Cognitive deterioration had to be documented in all participants, and degenerative etiology
834 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine how cultural differences influence the returns of momentum strategies and find that individualism is positively associated with trading volume and volatility, as well as with the magnitude of momentum profits, and that momentum profits are also positively related to analyst forecast dispersion, transaction costs, and the familiarity of the market to foreigners.
Abstract: This paper examines how cultural differences influence the returns of momentum strategies. Cross-country cultural differences are measured with an individualism index developed by Hofstede (2001), which is related to overconfidence and self-attribution bias. We find that individualism is positively associated with trading volume and volatility, as well as to the magnitude of momentum profits. Momentum profits are also positively related to analyst forecast dispersion, transaction costs, and the familiarity of the market to foreigners, and negatively related to firm size and volatility. However, the addition of these and other variables does not dampen the relation between individualism and momentum profits.
830 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reviewed the current state of the simulation, optimization and control technologies for the stand-alone hybrid solar-wind energy systems with battery storage, and found that continued research and development effort in this area is still needed for improving the systems' performance, establishing techniques for accurately predicting their output and reliably integrating them with other renewable or conventional power generation sources.
809 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of customer participation on value creation and satisfaction for both customers and employees with different cultural value orientations in the context of professional financial services were investigated using data collected from 349 pairs of customers and service employees in two national groups (Hong Kong and the United States).
Abstract: Emergent perspectives in marketing highlight new opportunities for co-opting customers as a means to define and cocreate value through their participation. This study delineates and empirically tests hypotheses regarding the effects of customer participation (CP) on value creation and satisfaction for both customers and employees with different cultural value orientations in the context of professional financial services. Using data collected from 349 pairs of customers and service employees in two national groups (Hong Kong and the United States) of a global financial institution, this study examines how (1) CP drives performance outcomes (i.e., customer satisfaction, employee job satisfaction, and employee job performance) through the creation of economic and relational values and (2) the effects of CP on value creation depend on participants' cultural value orientations. Promoting CP could be a double-edged sword for firms: CP enhances customers' economic value attainment and strengthens the r...
803 citations
TL;DR: The experimental results on representative databases show that the proposed LBPV operator and global matching scheme can achieve significant improvement, sometimes more than 10% in terms of classification accuracy, over traditional locally rotation invariant LBP method.
782 citations
TL;DR: The authors linked CEO hubris to firm risk taking and examined the moderating role of managerial discretion in this relationship, drawing on upper echelons theory and behavioral decision theory, they examined the role of discretion in the relationship.
Abstract: This study linked CEO hubris to firm risk taking and examined the moderating role of managerial discretion in this relationship. Drawing on upper echelons theory and behavioral decision theory, we ...
780 citations
TL;DR: The results show that IS service quality is the most influential variable in this model (followed by information quality and system quality, thus highlighting the importance of IS servicequality for organizational performance), and the structural equation model exhibits a good fit with the observed data.
Abstract: Increased organizational dependence on information systems drives management attention towards improving information systems' quality. A recent survey shows that ''Improve IT quality'' is one of the top concerns facing IT executives. As IT quality is a multidimensional measure, it is important to determine what aspects of IT quality are critical to organizations to help Chief Information Officers (CIOs) to devise effective IT quality improvement strategies. In this research, we model the relationship between information systems' (IS) quality and organizational impact. We hypothesize greater organizational impact in situations in which system quality, information quality and service quality are high. We also hypothesize a positive relationship between system quality and information quality. We test our hypotheses using survey data. Our structural equation model exhibits a good fit with the observed data. Our results show that IS service quality is the most influential variable in this model (followed by information quality and system quality), thus highlighting the importance of IS service quality for organizational performance. This paper contributes theoretically to IS success models through the system quality-to-information quality and IS quality-to-organizational impact links. Implications of our results for practice and research are discussed.
767 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the role of microstructures on the fiber deformation behavior and present possible explanations for the enhanced properties of the nanofibers are discussed. But the authors focus on the techniques to obtain controlled structures and the mechanisms behind the size effect in electronspun fibers are given.
TL;DR: A novel region-based active contour model (ACM) with SBGFRLS has the property of selective local or global segmentation, which is more efficient to construct than the widely used signed distance function (SDF).
TL;DR: The experimental results indicate that graphene oxide sheets prefer to disperse well within the nanocomposites, compared with the pure chitosan, the tensile strength, and Young's modulus of the graphene-based materials are significantly improved.
Abstract: Nanocomposites of chitosan and graphene oxide are prepared by simple self-assembly of both components in aqueous media. It is observed that graphene oxide is dispersed on a molecular scale in the chitosan matrix and some interactions occur between chitosan matrix and graphene oxide sheets. These are responsible for efficient load transfer between the nanofiller graphene and chitosan matrix. Compared with the pure chitosan, the tensile strength, and Young's modulus of the graphene-based materials are significantly improved by about 122 and 64%, respectively, with incorporation of 1 wt % graphene oxide. At the same time, the elongation at the break point increases remarkably. The experimental results indicate that graphene oxide sheets prefer to disperse well within the nanocomposites.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the effects of largest-shareholder ownership concentration, foreign ownership, and audit quality on the amount of firm-specific information incorporated into share prices, as measured by stock price synchronicity, of Chinese-listed firms over the 1996-2003 period.
TL;DR: The authors found that consumer-generated ratings about the quality of food, environment and service of restaurants, and the volume of online consumer reviews are positively associated with the online popularity of restaurants; whereas editor reviews have a negative relationship with consumers' intention to visit a restaurant's webpage.
TL;DR: A new region-based active contour model that embeds the image local information by introducing the local image fitting (LIF) energy to extract the localimage information is proposed and is able to segment images with intensity inhomogeneities.
TL;DR: Experimental results on benchmark test images demonstrate that the LPG-PCA method achieves very competitive denoising performance, especially in image fine structure preservation, compared with state-of-the-art Denoising algorithms.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored how to develop the image and branding of a green hotel using the concepts of cognitive, affective and overall images, based on a survey of 416 hotel users.
Abstract: As the public is increasingly concerned about environmental issues, green management is rapidly becoming a strategic tool that can enhance a hotel's competitive advantage. This study explores how to develop the image and branding of a green hotel using the concepts of cognitive, affective and overall images. The study, based on a survey of 416 hotel users, also investigates how a green hotel image can affect behavioural intentions (i.e. intention to revisit, intention to offer positive recommendations to others and willingness to pay a premium). The findings confirm that cognitive image components (namely value and quality attributes) can exert a positive influence on a green hotel's affective and overall images. The affective image is also found to positively affect a green hotel's overall image. A green hotel's overall image, in turn, can contribute to more favourable behavioural intentions. Quality attributes were found to be more powerful than value attributes. The importance of the concept of selfish...
TL;DR: A detailed literature review of the research and developments of the vertical-borehole ground-coupled heat pump (GCHP) technology for applications in air-conditioning is given in this paper.
TL;DR: This paper reviews tourism studies published from 1996 to July 2009 that pertain to methodological approaches to website evaluation, and analyzes the initial work and continues up to recent developments in website evaluation.
TL;DR: This paper proposes a novel extension of the MF approach, namely the MF-FDOG, to detect retinal blood vessels, and achieves competitive vessel detection results as compared with those state-of-the-art schemes but with much lower complexity.
TL;DR: A conceptually different approach toward the biaryl syntheses is uncovered by using DMEDA as the catalyst to promote the direct C-H arylation of unactivated benzene in the presence of potassium tert-butoxide.
Abstract: A striking breakthrough to the frame of traditional cross-couplings/C-H functionalizations using an organocatalyst remains unprecedented. We uncovered a conceptually different approach toward the biaryl syntheses by using DMEDA as the catalyst to promote the direct C-H arylation of unactivated benzene in the presence of potassium tert-butoxide. The arylation of unactivated benzene with aryl iodides, or aryl bromides and even chlorides under the assistance of an iodo-group, could simply take place at 80 °C. The new methodology presumably involves an aryl radical anion as an intermediate. This finding offers an option toward establishing a new horizon for direct C-H/cross-coupling reactions.
05 Sep 2010
TL;DR: The number of atoms is significantly reduced in the computed Gabor occlusion dictionary, which greatly reduces the computational cost in coding the occluded face images while improving greatly the SRC accuracy.
Abstract: By coding the input testing image as a sparse linear combination of the training samples via l1-norm minimization, sparse representation based classification (SRC) has been recently successfully used for face recognition (FR). Particularly, by introducing an identity occlusion dictionary to sparsely code the occluded portions in face images, SRC can lead to robust FR results against occlusion. However, the large amount of atoms in the occlusion dictionary makes the sparse coding computationally very expensive. In this paper, the image Gabor-features are used for SRC. The use of Gabor kernels makes the occlusion dictionary compressible, and a Gabor occlusion dictionary computing algorithm is then presented. The number of atoms is significantly reduced in the computed Gabor occlusion dictionary, which greatly reduces the computational cost in coding the occluded face images while improving greatly the SRC accuracy. Experiments on representative face databases with variations of lighting, expression, pose and occlusion demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed Gabor-feature based SRC (GSRC) scheme.
TL;DR: In this paper, a two-step process was used to construct a hybrid of graphene oxide nanosheets and surface modified Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles (NPs) using tetraethyl orthosilicate and triethoxysilane to introduce amino groups on its surface.
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper proposed that voice behavior is target-sensitive and that there are two types of voice behavior: speaking out (voice toward peers) and speaking up (voice towards the supervisor).
Abstract: Voice behavior refers to the behavior that proactively challenges the status quo and makes constructive changes. Previous studies have explored the antecedents of employees' voice behavior, but to whom employees are likely to voice their thoughts has remained rarely examined. We propose that voice behavior is target-sensitive and that there are two types of voice behavior: speaking out (voice toward peers) and speaking up (voice toward the supervisor). Transformational leadership facilitates both speaking out and speaking up. However, it produces effects on employees via different types of employee identifications. Specifically, social identification predicts only speaking out, while personal identification predicts only speaking up. In contrast, affiliative extra-role behavior is less target-sensitive, and transformational leadership influences affiliative extra-role behavior via both social identification and personal identification. We examined our hypotheses by collecting both self-reported and coworker data from 191 Chinese employees in different organizations. Our hypotheses gained general support from the data. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
TL;DR: A BMG composite that exhibits large tensile ductility with signifi cant work-hardening capability is reported, which offers a new paradigm for developing BMGs with improved ductility as practical engineering materials.
Abstract: Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) have shown a unique combination of mechanical, chemical, and physical properties, [ 1–5 ] but their room-temperature brittleness has been the stumbling block for real structural applications. [ 6 , 7 ] To answer this challenge, the concept of developing composite microstructures by combining the glassy matrix with crystalline phases at different length scales has been developed, through which an improvement in tensile ductility has been obtained in several zirconium and titanium-based BMG composites. [ 8–13 ] However, these BMG composites showed a macroscopic strain softening phenomenon with an early onset of necking (i.e., the maximum strength occurs at the yield point) because of a lack of workhardening mechanisms (endows the materials with minute damage tolerance), which would give rise to serious engineering problems therefrom. In this Communication, we report a BMG composite that exhibits large tensile ductility with signifi cant work-hardening capability. Our current fi nding offers a new paradigm for developing BMGs with improved ductility as practical engineering materials. A work-hardening phenomenon in compression has been reported in both BMGs and BMG composites and a few scenarios were proposed for understanding the strain-hardening capability, such as severe lattice distortion in the crystalline phases, pile ups of dislocations close to the interfaces between the reinforced phases and matrix, [ 14 ] atomic-scale inhomogeneity in the amorphous phase, and stress-induced martensitic transformation. [ 15–17 ] To date, however, a working-hardening capability has not been discovered in tension for BMGs or their composites. Referring to the concept of the TRIP (transformationinduced plasticity) steels, [ 18 ] in this study, we attempted to fabricate a BMG composite with isolated spherical crystalline phases that undergo martensitic transformation during tensile deformation. With such a special composite structure, large tensile ductility and signifi cant work-hardening capability could be induced. Figure 1a shows a representative cross section of the current BMG composite, which demonstrates a typical BMG composite microstructure that contains spherical crystalline phases homogeneously embedded in the amorphous matrix.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors measured the viscosity of unentangled, short-chain polystyrene films on silicon at different temperatures and found that the transition temperature for the viscoity decreases with decreasing film thickness, consistent with the changes in the T(g) of the films observed before.
Abstract: Most polymers solidify into a glassy amorphous state, accompanied by a rapid increase in the viscosity when cooled below the glass transition temperature (T(g)). There is an ongoing debate on whether the T(g) changes with decreasing polymer film thickness and on the origin of the changes. We measured the viscosity of unentangled, short-chain polystyrene films on silicon at different temperatures and found that the transition temperature for the viscosity decreases with decreasing film thickness, consistent with the changes in the T(g) of the films observed before. By applying the hydrodynamic equations to the films, the data can be explained by the presence of a highly mobile surface liquid layer, which follows an Arrhenius dynamic and is able to dominate the flow in the thinnest films studied.
TL;DR: It is analytically show that delivery lead time strongly influences the manufacturer's and the retailer's pricing strategies and profits, and the difference between the demand transfer ratios in the two channels with respect to delivery leadTime and direct sale price, customer acceptance of the direct channel, and product type have great effects on the lead time and pricing decisions.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined whether quality dimensions have an impact on perceived value, which, in turn, affects satisfaction and loyalty, in the context of the Punggi Ginseng festival.
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper examined how the legal and regulatory changes in China affect the relationship between client economic importance and audit quality and found that the propensity to issue modified audit opinions (MAOs) is negatively correlated with client importance from 1995 to 2000.
Abstract: This study examines how the legal and regulatory changes in China affect the relationship between client economic importance and audit quality. At the individual auditor level, we find that the propensity to issue modified audit opinions (MAOs) is negatively correlated with client importance from 1995 to 2000. However, from 2001 to 2004, when the institutional environment became more investor‐friendly, the propensity to issue MAOs is positively associated with client importance. These findings are corroborated by an analysis of regulatory sanctions. Although client importance measured at the office level is also negatively related to the propensity for MAOs from 1995 to 2000 without controlling for the auditor‐level client importance, this result is sensitive to model specification and sample composition. Our results suggest that (1) institutional improvements prompt auditors to prioritize the costs of compromising quality over the economic benefits gained from important clients; and (2) the imp...