Showing papers in "The International Journal of Business and Management in 2017"

An Analysis on BCG Growth Sharing Matrix

Abstract: In the 21st century, sustainable improvement of business faces various challenges for the global economic competition. But, these challenges can be overcome by the efficient business strategies. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) helps the business organizations to develop their efficiency for the successful operation of their business activities. To develop the efficiency of marketing decision making, the BCG Matrix plays an effective tool for strategic planning of product performance in industry and company level. It analyses to identify which strategic business units to invest in, which to sell off, and which to shut down. It helps a company to distribute their available resources through the efficient business management. It is one of the most popular and helpful consulting firms. The paper tries to provide a guideline to the business organizations to choose the best business policies by the use of BCG matrix.

Health Care Service Quality and Its Impact on Patient Satisfaction “Case of Al-Bashir Hospital”

Abstract: This study aimed to measure the impact of perceived health care service quality on patient satisfaction at a major government hospital in Jordan. For this purpose, the study developed an instrument based on modified ‘SERVQUAL’ using five service quality dimensions, namely: empathy, tangible, reliability, responsiveness and assurance. A survey was conducted to collect data with a total of 448 outpatient participants. Statistical techniques such as descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were employed to test the hypotheses. Results show that there is an impact of perceived health care service quality on overall patient satisfaction. Reliability had the most influence, followed by empathy and assurance. The study provided a set of recommendations.

The Linkage between ESG Performance and Credit Ratings: A Firm-Level Perspective Analysis

Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance on credit ratings. We argue that ESG factors should be considered in the credit analysis and the creditworthiness evaluation of borrowers because they affect borrowers’ cash flows and the likelihood of default on their debt obligations. Consequently, we develop our research by firstly reviewing the literature regarding ESG commitments within financial decision-making processes and then addressing the relation between ESG performance and the cost of debt financing. We reveal no unanimous results and no clear-cut boundaries on this matter yet. Secondly, to disentangle this relationship, which is not well defined by scholars, we empirically investigate the nexus between ESG performance and credit rating issues on a sample of 56 Italian and Spanish public firms for which ESG performance in 2015 was achieved. Our final sample includes 15 variables for 56 observations: 840 items are under analysis. Our findings suggest that ESG performance, especially concerning social and governance metrics, meaningfully affects credit ratings. We do not sort out significant results referring to environmental scores, so further research is needed to investigate this ever-growing matter and strengthen this considerable nexus.

The New Paradigm of the Omnichannel Retailing: Key Drivers, New Challenges and Potential Outcomes Resulting from the Adoption of an Omnichannel Approach.

Abstract: The rise of the Internet, mobile technologies and digital disruption have changed the retail business as well as the implementation of the levers of retail mix and the behavior of shoppers. Online channel has become an appealing channel where retailers can sell their products and services. The proliferation of channels and touch points has affected not only consumer behavior but also companies' business models. Many retailers have started to develop multichannel and omnichannel strategies by adding new channels through which interact with the customers. Retailers are now concentrating on how shoppers are influenced by new technologies and how they switch across channels during their research and buying process. Omnichannel retailing, defined as the conceptualization of the complete integration of all channels, with no distinction between the online and the physical channel, is the new retailing paradigm of today. The topic itself is particularly relevant as technological development continue to disrupt retail strategies and practitioners are debating as to how to respond. Particularly, managers are worried about how to manage the several touch points, which are now simultaneously available to customers. Concerning with the present research, we attempt to describe this development by analyzing the existing literature about topics that we can classify within the omnichannel paradigm. In order to explain how both literature and business models are moving from multichannel retailing towards the implementation of omnichannel strategies, we follow a blended approach based on literature review, theoretical background as well as some interesting managerial insights resulting from business’ case histories. To address the concerns of managers and retailers about the new challenges they will need to face in implementing an omnichannel retailing approach, we present a theoretical framework, concerning with the adoption of the omnichannel as an innovative strategy in the overall marketing strategies. To deal with the topic we start from three research questions that guide our literature review as well as our theoretical framework. We investigate what are the key drivers that have stimulated retailers to develop an omnichannel retailing strategy, what are the new challenges that retailers will need to face when they decide to implement an omnichannel strategy in their overall marketing strategy and finally what are the possible outcomes of a correct and successful implementation of an omnichannel retailing strategy. Therefore, our theoretical framework explains key drivers, new challenges and potential outcomes coming from the adoption of the omnichannel retailing in order to help managers and practitioners who might decide to enter the omnichannel retailing.

Reshaping Risk Disclosure through Integrated Reporting: Evidence from Italian Early Adopters

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore Integrated Reporting (IR) and risk disclosure (RD) and demonstrating the interconnection between business strategies and risk. Through a content analysis, the paper explores the management commentary and Integrated reporting of Italian companies at the end of 2015.The study reveals that many of the companies have embedded financial reporting into IR. We find extensive information about risks and opportunities, in relation to the management of the six capitals. The paper represents an investigation into risk disclosure in IR. It adds knowledge to the opportunity offered by IR in meeting stakeholder’s information needs, compared to traditional tools of corporate reporting.The results could be of interest both for legislator and standards setters, to bring them up to date with enhanced disclosure of risk and opportunities which IR offers with respect to the more traditional forms of disclosure.This is the first country-based study investigating risk disclosure provided through IR looking at three different dimensions: the metrics of RD (monetary or non-monetary); the outlook orientation (past, present or future) and the type of risk news (good or bad news). The results are relevant to detect how companies act and what can be done to improve risk disclosure.

Utilizing Social Media to Encourage Domestic Tourism in Oman

Abstract: Nowadays people use social media in order to create, share or exchange information, pictures or videos in virtual communities and networks. Furthermore, followers can ‘like’, ‘share’ and ‘comment’ on other people’s content or posts. Obviously, social media sites have an influence on the decision-making process, especially in the tourism sector, which has economic benefits for the country; people utilize social media channels in tourism promotional activities in order to encourage and promote domestic tourism. Hence, this Study aims to investigate how to use social media technology in order to encourage and improve domestic tourism in Oman. Data were collected using a self-administrated questionnaire from individuals who are currently using social media sites and have an interest in domestic tourism in Oman. There are three main findings: 1) there are a large number of people who use social media technology to obtain information about different attractive places they wish to visit in Oman, 2) the majority of the respondents claim that negative experiences posted on social media about a particular destination influence their travel decisions, and 3) many of the respondents indicate that the Ministry of Tourism in Oman should utilize more social media tools such as Instagram, Twitter, etc. in order to encourage domestic tourism. This research has implications not only to the Ministry of Tourism to promote domestic tourism in Oman, but also to Omani people and tourists from other countries who visit or like to visit Oman.

The Impact of Enterprise Risk Management on Firm Performance: Evidence from Sri Lankan Banking and Finance Industry

Abstract: This study explores the impact of the adoption of enterprise risk management (ERM) practices on firm performance. A sample of forty five banking and finance companies listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) was selected for this study and uses both primary and secondary data for the empirical analysis. The extent of adoption of ERM practices was assessed by using the ERM integrated framework of committee of sponsoring organization (COSO) of the Treadway Commission of USA. Return on equity (ROE) is used as a proxy to measure the firm performance and uses multivariate regression analysis to assess the impact of key ERM functions on firm performance. This study finds none of the eight key ERM functions suggested by the COSO’s ERM integrated framework has a significant impact on firm performance. Event identifications, risk assessment, risk response and information & communication indicate a positive impact on firm performance. However, none of those impacts were significant. Surprisingly, empirical evidence reveals that objective setting; event identification, control activities and monitoring of ERM functions have a negative, but not significant, impact on the firm performance. These findings induce the corporate managers to pay a close attention to the cost-benefits considerations when designing and implementing ERM practices and not heavily relied upon and extensively invest on ERM as a vehicle for creating firm value.

A Study on Implications of Implementing Green HRM in the Corporate Bodies with Special Reference to Developing Nations

Abstract: Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) is very critical in helping different organizations achieve environmental sustainability. This is a novel concept in relatively many organizations and especially those in the developing countries. Although more effort is required to help organizations in the implementation of the green policy, some of these organizations have already embraced the concept and have been utilizing it in some or all their Human Resource Management (HRM) practices. The main HRM practices generally include recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management and appraisal, compensation and reward, empowerment and participation, and the management of the organizational culture. This shows that HRM has a major role to play in helping turn their particular organizations green. This sets the basis of this paper, which utilizes the desk research but proposes further research in the area considering that it is still a green concept in the field of HRM. For the purpose of this paper, the terms businesses, companies, organizations, and firms will be used interchangeably.

A Theoretical Perspective of Contract and Contractual Customer-Supplier Relationship in the Mobile Phone Service Sector

Abstract: Both contracts and contractual relationships as concepts have been rarely discussed from scholars’ perfectives in the Relationship Marketing (RM) branch of learning. Reviewing these concepts in the customer-service sector adds value because the majority of mobile service firms are losing their current contracted customers at a significant rate despite practicing different RM activities to retain active ones. Thus, this study introduces the concept of Contractual Customer Relationship Marketing (C-CRM) for the first time to the RM field of study and discusses how to employ Contractual Relationship Marketing (C-RM) especially in the use of contractual bonds to establish, maintain and extend customer-supplier relationships. This study targets various issues that are interrelated to the use of contracts to maintain and retain valuable customers in the mobile service sector. To explore these issues, this paper focuses on extending an understanding of contracts and their use in the contractual customer-supplier relationships. This requires an overview of the study’s topic in section one, with section two outlining the study’s importance. Section three provides an overview of the contract meaning and section four explaining the main benefits of using business contracts. Section five discusses the importance of using contracts for customer retention, then section six considers the contractual use in renewable situations, section seven reviews the relationship between contract use and customer switching, section eight explains how to employ contracts in prolonging customer-supplier relationships, and, finally, the concluding remarks are made in section nine.

The role of organizational trust, burnout and interpersonal deviance for achieving organizational performance

Abstract: In this study, the variables organizational trust and burnout which are considered to be affecting organizational performance are discussed for small-scaled business (food) enteprises. Although the effects of organizational trust and burnout on organizational performance are particularly examined, interpersonal deviance as another variable is also considered. We find that there is no significant relationship between employees’ burnout and organizational performance. However, there is a positive and significant relationship between organizational trust and organizational performance. We also find that, while interpersonal deviance has not any mediating effect on burnout and organizational performance, it has a negative and partial mediator role on organizational trust and organizational performance. Through designating a structural equation model, recommendations that are geared towards improving the organizational performance are made to the employers and executive officers

Strategic Agility and Its Impact on the Competitive Capabilities in Iranian Private Banks

Abstract: Developing capabilities of agility, rapid responsiveness and adaptation to environmental changes are known as tools to gain competitive advantage. Strategic agility is a developed type of agility that in addition to rapid response pays specific attention to strategic aspects and predicting changes in the environment before they occur. Most of the studies in the field of agility and competitive advantage have focused on productivity and agility of supply chain. And a small number of studies have assessed the determinants of strategic agility and its impact on financial, competitive and operative factors organizations; therefore, having the awareness of both this issue and also the importance of competitiveness in the current banking system, in this research we have tried to explain the concept of strategic agility and its determinants, and to reveal its importance in the banking sector and to investigate its impact on the competitive capabilities of the private banks in Iran. In terms of its aim, this study is an applied one, and regarding the data collection, it is descriptive- correlational. The statistical population of this research consists of managers and experts working in the Iranian private banks. A total of 150 managers and experts from the banks have formed the study sample. In this study, first based on conducted studies, a model was developed to study the effect of strategic agility on competitive capabilities, and then, by using the tests of confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson structural equation modeling and correlation, this model was reviewed and approved. The results indicate that strategic agility has had significant impact on the competitive capabilities of the private banks in Iran. Furthermore, among the dimensions of strategic agility, clarity of vision is the most influential factor in the competitive capabilities.

CAPM Vs Fama-French Three-Factor Model: An Evaluation of Effectiveness in Explaining Excess Return in Dhaka Stock Exchange

Abstract: CAPM has been prevalently used by practitioners for calculating required rate of return despite having drawbacks. Fama French presented their 3 factor model in order to gap the limitations posed by CAPM model. This paper attempts to examine practical implications and effectiveness of Fama French model vis-a-vis the CAPM model in explaining excess return of Dhaka Stock Exchange by analyzing five publicly listed firms of Cement industry over 10 years period of 2004-2014. As the representative of market index, DGEN is taken from 2004 till 2013 and later on DSEX is taken. Simple and multiple linear regression analysis have been used against daily market return and respective companies return. Results shows that adjusted R square of Fama French model have a higher value than adjusted R square of CAPM model after running cross sectional regression of the observed panel data. It means that Fama French model is better predicting variation in excess return over Rf than CAPM for all the five companies of the Cement industry over the period of ten years. Low p values indicate that the coefficients are statistically significant. Nonetheless this paper concludes that the companies who want to use Fama French model instead of CAPM must evaluate the time and effort required to use the model before they replace CAPM with the multi factor model for their stock return analysis.

Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction in the Electronic Banking

Abstract: The present study aims to assess the degree of service quality and customer satisfaction in the electronic banking context in Battticaloa district. To achieve these objectives a questionnaire was developed with item measures that capture the service quality and customer satisfaction constructs. In a study of 231 respondents (51 percent of response rate), unidimensionality, reliability and validity assessments were conducted to validate the key constructs and one sample t-test was performed to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that service quality and customer satisfaction were at high degree in the electronic banking in Battticaloa district. The findings of this study assist the bank managers, academics and practitioners to develop and implement service quality and customer satisfaction related strategies in the electronic banking. Further, this study makes a contribution to the existing literature by comprehensively examining the notions of service quality and customer satisfaction in the electronic banking.

Factors Influence Internal Audit Effectiveness

Abstract: This study aims to examine to what extent internal audit effectiveness could be influenced by selected factors namely internal audit scope, internal auditor’s experience and senior management's response in the Omani public sector. Employing questionnaire including four sections with 48 questions for responds of 45 managers and 163 employees in Public Authority for Social Insurance (PASI) in the Sultanate of Oman, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and multiple regressions were employed to examine the relationships among the study’s variables. The study found that a significant relationship between internal audit effectiveness and its scope and auditors’ experience in the employees’ sample while they were insignificant in the managers’ sample. Finally, it is found that there is insignificant relationship between internal audit effectiveness and senior management's response. Based on the findings, an awareness has to be maximized on employees to better cooperate with internal audit staff to improve the applications of internal audit standards. Managers are well interested in organization’s activities and performance depending on the internal audit findings and observations. The board of directors has to take in its considerations the reasons of these insignificant results if the reasons are not related to the small size of the managers’ sample. The study’s contribution is to provide evidence regarding the influence of three mentioned factors on the internal audit effectiveness in public sector.

Exploring the Impact of Airlines Service Quality on Customer Loyalty: Evidence from Taiwan

Abstract: The purpose of this paper tries to explore what are the key factors to influence customers to choose an airline. The research assesses the service quality, brand image, perceived value and customer loyalty on Taiwan-based airlines. The study analyzes the data by applying structure equation modeling (SEM) from valid 560 questionnaires surveyed in the airports. To validate the measurement model, this study checks scale reliability, overall model fit, and validity using the CFA technology. Moreover, the two major indicators including convergence validity and discriminate validity were employed to assess scale validity. Many prior studies had proved that brand image has a positive influence on perceived value, this study had validated that perceived value has also a positive influence on brand image. The brand image assists in the relation between service quality and loyalty, and perceived value strengthens their relationship. Furthermore, brand image and perceived value mediate the effect of service quality on customer loyalty to display a distal effect. The strategic implications for the effects of service quality lead to repurchase intention and loyalty inclination, which are contributed to both scholarly advancement of knowledge and the state of managerial practice.

The Influence of Asset Structure, Capital Structure, Risk Management and Good Corporate Governance on Financial Performance and Value of The Firm through Earnings and Free Cash Flow As An Intervening Variable in Banking Companies Listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange

Abstract: Banking companies that have gone public has the goal of increasing prosperity of the owners or shareholders by increasing the value of the company. The value of the company is very important because of the high value of the company which will be followed by a high prosperity shareholders. This study aimed to analyze the influence of asset structure, capital structure, risk management and good corporate governance on financial performance and value of the firm through earnings and free cash flow as an intervening variable in banking companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange. Data analysis techniques use Partial Least Square (PLS) and from data processing and hypothesis testing, produced 13 accepted hypothesis and 8 hypothesis is rejected. The results of this study were (1) asset structure influence positive and significantly to earnings, (2) capital structure influence negative and significantly to earnings, (3) risk management influence positive and no significantly to earnings, (4) Good Corporate Governance influence positive and significantly to earnings, (5) asset structure influence positive and significantly to free cash flow, (6) capital structure influence positive and no significantly to free cash flow, (7) risk management influence negative and no significantly to free cash flow, (8) Good Corporate Governance influence positive and no significantly to free cash flow, (9) asset structure influence negative and no significantly to financial performance, (10) capital structure influence negative and significantly to financial performance, (11) risk management influence positive and no significantly to financial performance, (12) Good Corporate Governance influence positive and significantly to financial performance, (13) asset structure influence positive and significantly to value of the firm, (14) capital structure influence positive and no significantly to value of the firm, (15) risk management influence negative and significantly to value of the firm, (16 ) Good Corporate Governance influence positive and significantly to value of the firm, (17) earnings influence positive and significantly to financial performance, (18) free cash flow influence positive and significantly to financial performance, (19) earnings influence positive and significantly to value of the firm, (20) free cash flow influence positive and no significantly to value of the firm and (21) financial performance influence positive and significantly to value of the firm.

Financial Versus Sports Performance: The Missing Link

Abstract: This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the financial and the sports performance of Italian football teams. To achieve this aim, a panel data analysis was performed, using financial statements and data from sports results. The panel dataset covers seven seasons (from 2007–2008 to 2013–2014) and 29 clubs that belong to the Italian “Serie A.” The results indicate positive effects between the expenses for football players’ salaries and the clubs’ sports performance but no significant effects between player transfer fees and sports performance.

Factors Affecting Management Accounting Practices in Malaysia

Abstract: Management accounting is the process of preparing management reports and accounts that provide accurate and timely, financial and statistical information to assist in management decision making. It is also known as the process of identifying, measuring, accumulating, analyzing, preparing, interpreting and communicating information to help managers fulfill the organization’s objectives. Management accounting practices are used by organizational managers at various levels and at the same time, it gives managers the freedom of choice as there are no constraints, other than the cost of information collected relative to benefits of improved management decisions. Studies have found that there are factors that may affect management accounting practices. Literature has indicated that factors such as--organization size, intensity of market competition, level of qualification of accounting staff and advanced production technology--may affect management accounting practices. The objective of this research is to study the impact of these factors on management accounting practices in Malaysia. A total of 200 respondents from Klang Valley, Malaysia were involved in the survey using purposive sampling. The results of the study revealed that organization size and advanced production technology have significant relationships with management accounting practices.

The Effect of Leader-Member Exchange on Innovative Work Behavior in the Saudi Hospitality

Abstract: This study investigated whether a relationship exists between leader–Member exchange (LMX) and innovative work behavior (IWB) of hotel sector employees in the territory of Riyadh. LMX’s overall effect on innovative employee work behavior can be seen in the values of R2 = 0.655 and adjusted R2 =0.423. Overall, the results explain 65 percent of the variation in innovative employee behavior, which represents a satisfactory and positive result for the study and supported the study’s hypotheses. One aim of the study was to improve our understanding of the effect that LMX has on IWB among the hospitality sector in Riyadh. LMX was found to be an important antecedent of IWB, and a high level of quality of LMX between employees and supervisors will inspire employees to be increasingly innovative while working.

Profitability and productivity of rice production in selected coastal area of Satkhira district in Bangladesh

Abstract: The present study was conducted to assess the profitability, constraints and factors affecting rice production in coastal area of Shamnagar upazila, Satkhaira district, Bangladesh by using stratified random sampling method. Simple statistical technique as well as Cobb-Douglas production function was used to achieve the objectives of the study. The study found that the small farmers (Tk. 10292.89) got higher net returns than the medium (Tk. 6894.39) and large (Tk. 4798.70) farmers per hectare, respectively. The undiscounted BCR was 1.38, 1.23 and 1.15 for small, medium and large farmers respectively. It is found that the coefficient of seed, fertilizer, power tiller, irrigation cost and human labor have significantly impact on gross return. Lack of saline tolerable good quality seeds, high price of inputs, low price of outputs and natural calamity were the major problems for rice farming in the study area though rice farming was a profitable enterprise.

Career Path Development and its Impact on Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Greater Amman Municipality

Abstract: This study aimed to measure the impact of career path development (career planning and career management) on organizational citizenship behavior in greater Amman municipality. The study population is consisted of (122) managers at middle managerial level in greater Amman municipality. The current study used simple random sample. Based on this, a total of (90) respondents were targeted, from which a total of (85) answered questionnaires were retrieved, of which (3) were invalid. Thus, (82) answered questionnaires were valid for analysis.The questionnaire consisted of (30) items of close ended response type about independent and dependent variables. The study used the statistical analysis SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences); for testing the hypotheses through regression analysis.The results of testing hypotheses have shown that there is There is a statistically significant impact at level (P<= 0.05) of career path development with its dimensions: (career planning and career management) on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in Greater Amman Municipality. And illustrated that (65.9%) of the explained variation in organizational citizenship behavior in greater Amman municipality can be accounted for career path development with its dimensions: (career planning and career management). The study recommended that organization should use reward systems that support the organization's career development strategy and enhancing the OCB.

Exploring Factors that Affect the Well-Being of Healthcare Workers

Abstract: While the literature on well-being has largely explored workers in different industries, and much has been written about patient well-being and quality of life in recent years, little attention has focused on the well-being of healthcare professionals. This study aims to provide a relevant state-of-the-art on the healthcare sector within the context of well-being. The paper employs a systematic literature review, following the PRISMA guidelines, to find relevant studies; the analysis of results is then provided by using Herzberg’s two-factor theory to explore factors affecting the well-being of healthcare workers. The literature review revealed that few relevant studies were conducted before the year 2013; only a recent increased attention to this theme, with a particular focus on nurses, enabled this study to confirm several factors individuated in the general literature on well-being and to highlight some other factors specific to healthcare. This paper provides suggestions to build a better and healthier work environment, highlighting that managers need to focus their attention on creating conditions that facilitate intra- and inter- professional relationships, on providing healthcare workers with adequate solutions for their well-being, and on strengthening the individual employee’s identification with, and involvement in, the organization.

The Impact of Customer Relationship Management on Achieving Service Quality of Banking Sector of Jordan

Abstract: Definitely, the world is becoming chaotic and affects all aspects of life. One of these is customers who become more severe in their needs, expectations, desires, and preferences. Organizations must consistently realize this issue by communicating and building effective relationships with them for better-enhancing services quality. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship between customer relationship management and service quality of Jordan banking sector. The researchers relied on descriptive and analytical approach through a survey questionnaire used to obtain data from 150 respondents who were at all levels in the 22 operating banks in Jordan, only 141 were returned but 13 of them were excluded because they were invalid for statistical analysis, only 128 questionnaires were valid and considered with a ratio of 85%. The findings revealed that a moderate level of importance in customer relationships management was apparent while an increasing awareness in the service quality of banking sector of Jordan was dominant. The study also found a strong correlation between customer relationship management -except customer satisfaction and loyalty- and the service quality of banking operated in Jordan. Additionally, results showed that a significant and statistical effects at (P<0, 05) of customer relationship management with its dimensions (customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, customer attraction, customer retention, customer value, customer culture, customer knowledge) in service quality of Jordan banking sector. Finally, study results revealed that customer knowledge, customer retention, and customer culture are the most influential dimensions in the services quality of Jordan banks sector.

Internal controls systems and the risk performance characterizing small and medium manufacturing firms in the cape metropole

Abstract: In recent years, manufacturers are refocusing and intensifying their keenness on the nature of risks within their operational environments. They are also concerned about their risk exposures. Numerous stakeholders, including government, creditrating agencies, stock exchanges, occupational agencies and institutional investors are increasing their call for significant focus on effective risk oversight and optimised risk performance. For the manufacturing firms, the primary focus is production which exposes them to complex risks. This study investigates how small and medium manufacturers are optimising their internal control systems in order to mitigate risk. The study seeks to understanding how internal controls are utilised by manufacturing SMEs to mitigate and prevent risks, and how internal controls are implemented by manufacturing SMEs. The study is conducted on selected manufacturing SMEs in the Western Cape, South Africa. The study follows a qualitative research paradigm, adopting case-based interpretive approach employed to support the data collection, data analysis and data presentation methods. Manufacturing SMEs that are in process of implementing effective internal controls within their businesses would have a better understanding of the importance and value of preventing or mitigate risk. An analysis of interviews with managers and owners from manufacturing SMEs indicates that businesses that often create contingency risk plans, and implement internal control systems are less exposed to risk. Their risk-buffer strategies towards perceived risks helps them achieve higher risk performance.

Progression from ideal state to good governance: an introductory overview

Abstract: Good governance, first appeared in the nineties within the United Nations, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund refers to describe how public organizations best conduct public affairs and deliver public goods and services. Today, about three decades later good governance seems to be still popular since there are still many challenges ahead for many governments especially in less-developed and developing countries. This paper revisits that good governance incorporates some representative principles of an ideal state. What is an ideal state? What are the canons of an ideal state? What are the main characteristics of good governance based on ideal state? These and similar questions are the subject matter of this introductory paper.

GARCH Models with Fat-Tailed Distributions and the Hong Kong Stock Market Returns

Abstract: As one of the world’s largest securities markets, the Hong Kong stock market plays a significant role in facilitating the development of Chinese economy. In this paper, we investigate a suite of widely-used models, the GARCH models in risk management of the Hong Kong stock market returns. To account for conditional volatilities, we consider a new type of fat-tailed distribution, the normal reciprocal inverse Gaussian distribution (NRIG), and compare its empirical performance with two other popular types of fat-tailed distribution, the Student’s t distribution and the normal inverse Gaussian distribution (NIG). We show that the NRIG distribution performs slightly better than the other two types of distribution. Also, our results indicate that it is important to introduce both GJR-terms and the NRIG distribution to improve the models’ performance. Our results illustrate that the asymmetric GARCH NRIG model has practical advantages in quantitative risk management, and serves as a very useful tool for industry participants.

Organizational Success as a Mediating Variable of the Relationship between Organizational Learning and Organizational Excellence: A Study on Telecommunications Sector in Egypt

Abstract: The overall objective of the research is to identify the role of Organizational Success (OS) as a mediator variable in explaining the impact of Organizational Learning (OL) on Organizational Excellence (OE). The research community represents all employees at Telecommunications sector in Egypt. Due to time and cost constraints, the researcher adopted a sampling method to collect data for the study. The appropriate statistical methods were used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses.The research found a number of results, the most important of which are: (1) there is a significant effect between OL (mechanisms and means of learning, vision and mission of the organization, empowerment of employees, knowledge management, application and use of technology) and OS (survival and growth). Multiple regression analysis model showed that there is an impact of OL as an independent variable on OS as a dependent variable; (2) there is a significant impact between OL and OE (excellence of leaders, excellence of subordinates, excellence of operations, cultural excellence and financial excellence). The multiple regression model showed that there is an impact of OL as a independent variable on OE as a dependent variable; (3) the existence of a significant effect between OS on OE, after the multi regression model showed that there is an impact of OS as a independent variable on OE as a dependent variable; (4) there is an impact of OS as a mediating variable in clarifying the impact of OL on OE. In other words, there is an indirect effect of the independent variable (OL) on the dependent variable (OE) through the mediating variable (OS); that is, OS plays the role of partial mediation in the relationship between OL and OE.The study referred to a number of recommendations, the most important of which are: (1) attention to the process of OL, and to consider it as a tool to solve most organizational problems; (2) the interest in spreading the culture of OL and adopting a clear vision. This requires an organizational climate that cares about the learning process and this strengthens OS opportunities; (3) the need to invest learning in the promotion and development of OS opportunities; (4) the application of modern technology, exploiting it to the maximum possible capacity, and linking them to the process of learning and knowledge management; (5) continuing to promote policies that seek to empower workers and the need to follow the method of decentralization and delegation of authority, (6) the importance of selecting and attracting workers according to efficiency and eliminating surplus in the preparation of workers in a manner that leads to the achievement of effective performance, (7) aspiring to possess the characteristics of the OL as a strategic option to survive in a changing environment on an ongoing basis; (8) maintaining the professional competence of employees and increasing their levels as they are an important way to gain customer confidence and efficiency in service delivery.

A Cross- country study of the effect of institutional ownership on credit ratings

Abstract: A considerable number of studies have examined the relationship between corporate governance (CG) structures and corporate performance (e.g., Yermack, 1996; Gompers et al., 2003; Beiner et al., 2006; Renders et al., 2010; Ntim et al., 2012; Kumar & Zattoni 2013; Griffin, et al., 2014). In contrast, despite its importance as demonstrated by the recent financial crisis, studies examining why and how a corporation’s CG mechanisms might influence its credit ratings are rare (e.g., Switzer and Wang, 2013;Matthies, 2013; Tran, 2014). This research, therefore, seeks to contribute to the extant literature by exploring the effects of (CG) mechanisms on corporate credit ratings. Specifically, using a sample of 200 firms from 10 OECD countries over ten years covering the pre- and post-2007/08 global financial crisis period from Anglo American (i.e., Australia, Canada, Ireland, UK, and US) and Continental European (i.e., France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain) traditions and employing a total of 200 listed companies, this paper hopes to achieve a number of objectives. First, the paper attempted to assess the levels of compliance with, and disclosure of, CG principles contained in the 2004 OECD CG Code in firms from two different traditions: Anglo America and Continental Europe. Second, the paper sought to investigate the relationship between CG mechanisms and credit ratings. These relationships will be explored by employing firm-level CG mechanisms (ownership structures measured by Institutional Ownership) by accounting for firm-level control variables (e.g., firm size, growth, profitability, and leverage) based on a multi-theoretical framework that incorporates insights from agency and legitimacy theories. The findings revealed that there was a strong negative relationship between institutional ownership and credit ratings. From the descriptive analysis, it was shown that institutional owners did not have a very high credit rating. When the control variables were assessed, it was shown that they had a negative influence on the credit ratings with sales growth and leverage and positive significant relationship with firm size, corruption index, power distance and Anglo American countries.

Evaluation of Bank's Performance by using Balanced Score card: practical study in Libyan Environment

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to contribute to the understanding of how BSC is developed and applied in evaluating the performance of The Jumhouria Bank (JB) in Libya. Using the concepts of Kaplan and Norton, and the data made available from the bank, a BSC was derived to measure the performance of the bank between 2007-2010. The analysis assisted the cause-effect relationships between the non-financial, and the financial dimensions of the BSC. Due to lack of research work, in this area, in the banking sector in Libya, this study shall contribute to the knowledge on how banks in Libya may apply the BSC to evaluate their performance, and how they might turn strategic vision into potential performance. The author proposed some future research needs required in this area. The use of the BSC developed here is limited to the bank studied; however, the approach could trigger off reflections among policy makers and other banks to start using the BSC.

Determinants of New Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Access to Bank Credit: Case Study in the Phu Tho Province, Vietnam

Abstract: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a very important role in the Vietnamese economy. Specifically, new SMEs are seen as a suitable solution to cope with development issues such as poverty and a high unemployment rate. In Vietnam, a high SME failure rate is due to lack of capital and poor managerial experience of owners. Most existing research on SMEs focuses on well-established stages, and less attention is paid to new SMEs. This paper investigates the determinants of credit access by SMEs existing for less than forty-two months in the Phu Tho province located in Northern Vietnam. The quantitative data were collected from 259 SMEs in 2015. The regression analysis reveals that a business plan, the firm size, and networking (emotional trust, knowledge trust, and approachability) are the main drivers of access to bank loans by new SMEs. About 64% (165 observations) of new SMEs in our sample did not get any bank loan caused by high collateral requirements, unfavorable interest rate, poor business plans, limited networking, and lack of government support. The results also indicate that, among the selected explanatory variables, having a concrete business plan significantly affects the bank loan ratio (total bank loans over total capital). Based on these results, we derived political implications.