Showing papers by "Technological Educational Institute of Western Macedonia published in 2008"

Evaluating Corporate Governance and Identifying its Formulating Factors: The Case of Greece

Abstract: Purpose: The paper seeks to establish a benchmark for the evaluation of the quality of Corporate Governance (CG) and to detect the factors that affect it in Greece.Design/Methodology: An Index of corporate governance quality is constructed using binary variables. Data from annual reports are used to identify the mechanisms and practices of corporate governance. An Ordinal Probit model is used to identify the drivers of corporate governance.Findings: CG quality in Greece is quite low, in terms of international best practices. The main drivers of CG quality are firm size, leadership or power concentration and board characteristics. Greek firms' CG quality dependent more on the balance of power within the firm, rather than performance or market for corporate control.Research Limitations: Data for the constructed index have been collected from the annual reports and not from questionnaires.Practical Implications: The study provides evidence that there is a different set of factors that affect CG quality than the ones in the Anglo-Saxon countries. The paper addresses the issue of proposed CG mechanisms relevance with the real CG problems. Identifying the factors that have an impact on CG quality, policy makers can focus on them to create a legal - regulatory framework that can improve the level of CG.Originality/value: The paper does not only measure CG, but it pinpoints its formulating factors. Furthermore, a need for new benchmarking tools to address the fundamental elements of corporate environment (ownership concentration, lack of market for corporate control, etc.) in Continental Europe is highlighted.

ESEM-EDX characterisation of airborne particles from an industrialised area of northern Greece

Abstract: The aim of this study was to characterise individual airborne particles collected from the Ptolemais-Kozani region (Western Macedonia), northern Greece. Throughout a 1-year period (March 2003 to February 2004), we collected several filters that captured airborne particles at seven sampling sites distributed throughout the area. The airborne particles captured on the filters were then characterised by environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). The particles were categorised as geogenic, biogenic and anthropogenic. The main anthropogenic airborne particles were fly ash (released from lignite-fired power plants) and carbonaceous (soot and char) and metalliferous (mainly iron- and copper-enriched) particulates. We present here characteristic ESEM and EDX spectra for the airborne particles and underline the presence of characteristic primary and secondary sulphates.

Executive Board Members' Remuneration: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract: Remuneration is considered to be closely connected with financial performance (positively), firm size (positively), the organizational structure (negatively) and corporate governance mechanisms (negatively). Furthermore, a connection of ownership structure and executives' remuneration has been well established (theoretically and empirically) in the literature (agency theory). The paper examines if these connections are valid in Greece. Greece hasn't the characteristics of an Anglo-Saxon country. Overall the study has proven that remuneration levels in Greece are defined by a different set of factors than the ones in an Anglo-Saxon country. Fundamental financial measures of performance are more widely used. The age of firms and corporate governance quality have a catalytic impact on remuneration levels.

Parliamentary Candidates Running on the Web for the 2004 Greek National Elections

Abstract: Unlike other media, the Internet is the most democratic medium of political marketing, offering equality to all political candidates irrespective of their finances, their political power, and their political careers. This study investigates Web use by candidates during their campaign in the 2004 Greek national elections. The use of the Web by candidates is explored according to a number of factors such as political affiliation, geographical region, gender, and political experience of candidates. In addition, the use of the Web is investigated via a content analysis of the candidates' Web pages. This study shows that Web use is related to political experience. Although more politicians are using the Web, limited use of interactivity and multimedia techniques reveals that Web candidates have not taken advantage of the Internet's potential as a political marketing tool.

PM10, O3, CO Concentrations and Elemental Analysis of Airborne Particles in a School Building

Abstract: Measurements of indoor and outdoor PM10, as well as indoor O3 and CO concentrations were conducted and are presented here. These measurements were carried out at an institute building, located in a suburban industrial area in Greece. Both indoor and outdoor PM10 samples were also collected and their elemental composition was identified by ED-XRF analysis. Twenty seven major, minor and trace elements were identified. The measurements took place generally in different periods of institute operation, from June 2004 to February 2005. The indoor PM10 concentrations which were measured during the normal operation period of the institute were found to be many times higher than the respective outdoor PM10 concentrations of the same periods. On the contrary, the indoor PM10 concentrations which were measured during the holiday period were found to be lower than their corresponding outdoor values. Indoor O3 and CO concentrations were found to be in low level. Indoor PM10 concentrations were found to be in a relative good correlation with O3 (r = 0.45) and in high correlation (r = 0.98) with CO concentrations. On average, total elements concentrations were much higher indoors relative to outdoors. Based on above findings we attempted to determine the pollution sources of the indoor environment and to investigate some parameters or chemical processes that affect indoor pollutants’ levels.

SMS in Everyday Political Marketing in Greece

Abstract: Short message service (SMS) is a new way of communication. Teenagers and young people are the main users of mobile messages. This paper examines the use of SMS for political advertising and political campaigning in Greece. A survey was conducted that tried to identify whether and how politicians use SMS for communicating with their voters. Are there different attitudes depending on the age and the gender of politicians? Do politicians use SMS only during their political campaign, or do they use it on a regular basis (i.e., to inform their voters of specific events or communicate with voters, such as sending greetings to their voters during Christmas, or to communicate with their political party)?

The role of organizational cultures in information-systems security management: A goal-setting perspective

Abstract: The aim of this research is to investigate the role of strong organizational cultures in setting information-systems security goals. In doing so, we explore and discuss the concept of culture within three financial organizations with different social and organizational structures, and seek to demonstrate the importance of having a cohesive culture in efficiently setting information-security goals. The relationship between goal setting, culture strength, and performance is also discussed, as there have been studies that indirectly indicate that such a relationship may exist. The contribution of this work to interpretive information-systems research consists of its study of culture and goal setting in a security-management context, and its grounding within an interpretive epistemology. In addition, this research promotes an interdisciplinary and interorganizational theory to foster dialogue that transcends industry-specific contexts and explores different organizational practices that can improve leadership's role in human life.

Political Marketing and Democracy: A Plea for Cross-Fertilization

Abstract: A few years back, in the summer of 2003 if I recall correctly, standing on top of a mountain range that surrounds the northern city of Kastoria in Greece, Bruce Newman—a pioneer in the field of political marketing and editor of the Journal of Political Marketing—came up with the idea of organizing a conference relating political marketing to democracy. In his words, ‘‘What better place to organize a conference on political marketing and democracy than in Greece, the birthplace of democracy?’’ ‘‘That’s a great idea,’’ I instantly replied, without realizing at the time the weight of my response. The acceptance of Professor Newman’s offer on my part entailed the obvious task of getting involved with the ‘‘mechanics’’ of overseeing and putting together, with my colleagues, an international conference. The idea, though, that the organization of the conference would set me off to a new intellectual journey in democratic politics was beyond the grasp of my imagination.

Efficient service provisioning through dynamic service task assignment in a multi-domain distributed computing environment

Abstract: Highly competitive and open environments should encompass mechanisms that will assist Service Providers (SPs) in accounting for their interests, ie, offering at a given period of time the adequate quality services in a cost-efficient manner Assuming that a user wishes to access a specific service composed of a distinct set of service tasks, which can be served by various Candidate Service Nodes (CSNs), a problem that should be addressed is the assignment of service tasks to the most appropriate service nodes The pertinent problem is concisely defined, optimally formulated and evaluated through simulation experiments on a real network test bed