Business Commons^™

Unhappy Workplaces Look A Lot Like Unhappy Marriages, New Research Shows, Irit Alony

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Not all negativity in the workplace is a bad sign. Common sense says employees who describe their workplace in negative terms are the ones that are more likely to leave it, but new research shows this isn't the case.

How Does Corporate Governance Affect Loan Collateral? Evidence From Chinese Soes And Non-Soes, Can An, Xiaofei Pan, Gary G. Tian

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

We examine the effect of corporate governance on the collateral requirements for firms' bank loans in China. We find that firms with lower excess control rights and other large shareholders face lower collateral requirements, which is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises (SOEs) than in SOEs. Regarding board characteristics, we find that smaller board size, more independent directors, separation of the positions of CEO and chairman, and larger supervisory board size can reduce a firm's use of collateral; the effect of all the preceding characteristics is more pronounced in SOEs. Overall, our research suggests that, in China, corporate governance structures are …

Supporting Medicare Health, Equity And Efficiency In Australia: Policies Undermining Bulk Billing Need To Be Scrapped, Simon Eckermann, Lynnaire M. Sheridan

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Forget semantics; Federal health policies that undermine bulk billing and encourage 'user-pays' charging of patients for primary care move Australia towards a US-style health care system. They are expected to cost the health system more, not A$12 billion less, and undermine Medicare's bottom-line universal access equity, efficiency and health outcome objectives.

Board Diversity And Corporate Social Disclosure: Evidence From Vietnam, Trang Cam Hoang, Indra Abeysekera, Shiguang Ma

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Debates around sound corporate governance propose board diversity as a key attribute to sufficiently challenge executive management for stakeholder engagement. This study contributes to this debate by empirically investigating the effect of board diversity on corporate social disclosure (CSD) of Vietnamese listed firms. The study finds a significantly positive effect of diversity-in-boards (dissimilarities among directors within a board, i.e., demographic attributes of board members) on CSD while diversity-of-boards (dissimilarities among firm boards, i.e., board structure) has no effect on CSD. The results contribute by showing that a single theoretical approach can provide an adequate explanation for board diversity. The study …

To What Extent Did The Economic Stimulus Package Influence Bank Lending And Corporate Investment Decisions? Evidence From China, Qigui Liu, Xiaofei Pan, Gary G. Tian

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Using a panel of Chinese firms over the period 2003-2013, we show that, from the supply-side perspective, as a result of the implementation of the economic stimulus package in China, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) received more bank loans and invested more than non-SOEs. We further find that after the implementation of the economic stimulus package, bank lending became less responsive to firm profitability, and firm investments became less responsive to investment opportunities for SOEs, non-SOEs from favoured industries and regions, and non-SOEs with political connections. Overall, our findings support the view that the stimulus package and the associated increase in bank …

Branch Expansion And Banking Efficiency In Sri Lanka's Post-Conflict Era, Bolanda Hewa Thilakaweera, Charles Harvie, Amir Arjomandi

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This study assesses changes in the technical efficiency of commercial banks in Sri Lanka following the end of armed conflict in 2009. The weighted aggregate-efficiency technique, based on a group-wise heterogeneous subsampling bootstrap approach, is employed to compare efficiency levels during the periods 2007-2009 and 2010-2013. This technique allows for heterogeneity in environmental and regulatory conditions between the two periods while assuming homogeneity within each period. Our results reveal that the banking sector experienced a significant efficiency improvement post-conflict even with unprecedented branch expansion. The findings, therefore, controvert the mainstream view that bank efficiency declined with rapid industry expansion. Further, …

Ethnic Diversity And Trust: New Evidence From Australian Data, Silvia Mendolia, Alex Tosh, Oleg Yerokhin

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper investigates the relationship between neighbourhood ethnic and linguistic heterogeneity and individuals' local and generalised trust. A wide literature across economics and sociology has recognised the importance of trust in facilitating economic growth and development. We use fixed effects and instrumental variable regression and control for a wide set of individual and local area characteristics. Our results show that a 1 standard deviation increase in ethnic and linguistic fractionalisation is associated with a decrease in local trust of about 0.12 standard deviations, while we do not find any significant relationship between heterogeneity and generalised trust.

The Big End Of Town Meets The Local Council: The Investment Habitus Of Four Sets Of Australian Councils During The Gfc, Gregory Jones, Claire Beattie, Graham D. Bowrey, Ciorstan Smark

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 led to a substantial write-down in the value of investments such as collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) with one class of investors being NSW Local councils. This article analyses interviews with four different investor types (or sets) of local councils, each of which took a substantially different approach to CDO investment. This categorisation into sets was based on interviews of 28 individuals working within 14 local councils as well as commentaries on legal cases involving a class action of local councils suing Lehman Brothers Australia as well as Grange Securities over losses in their investments. …

Corporate Rebranding: An Employee-Focused Nonprofit Case Study, Paul A. Chad

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The purpose of this paper was to examine the process by which a nonprofit organization conducted corporate rebranding and to assess the relevance of the principles of corporate rebranding originally developed by Merrilees and Miller (2008) in relation to for-profit organizations. A community-owned nonprofit organization that recently introduced corporate rebranding was examined. Semistructured in-depth interviews with employees from all organizational levels explored the rebranding process and employee feelings toward the process. Findings revealed that, while ultimately successful, rebranding did not progress smoothly. Problems related to initial management attempts to utilize minimal external expertise and to low levels of employee involvement …

To Control Or Not To Control Oil Spills: Shell's Narrative Of Accountability In Nigeria, Sanja Pupovac, Mary A. Kaidonis, Lee C. Moerman

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Purpose - This paper re-considers corporate accountability with a specific focus on Royal/Dutch/Shell's discursive categorization of oil spills in Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach - Using text analysis, we reflect on the classification of oil spills as operational (controllable) and sabotage (uncontrollable) and the construction of self and the 'other' that inverts accountability relationship.

Findings - We found Shell's identity construction of self and 'other' assigns the causes of, and human agency to, oil spills that inverts the accountability relationship. Shell provides accountability of the communities but not to the communities. To control or not to control oil spills, is a question which …

How To Use C-Oar-Se To Design Optimal Standard Measures, John R. Rossiter

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Purpose: This paper aims to extend Rossiter's C-OAR-SE method of measure design (IJRM, 2002, p. 19, p. 4, pp. 305-335; EJM, 2011, p. 45, p. 11, p. 12, pp. 1561-1588) by proposing five distinct construct models for designing optimally content-valid multiple-item and single-item measures.

Design/methodology/approach: The paper begins by dismissing convergent validation, the core procedure in Nunnally's (1978) and Churchill's (1979) psychometric method of measure design which allows alternative measures of the same construct. The method of dismissal is the mathematical demonstration that an alternative measure, no matter how highly its scores converge with those from the original measure, will …

How To Improve Firm Performance Using Big Data Analytics Capability And Business Strategy Alignment?, Shahriar Akter, Samuel Fosso Wamba, Angappa Gunasekaran, Rameshwar Dubey, Stephen J. Childe

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The recent interest in big data has led many companies to develop big data analytics capability (BDAC) in order to enhance firm performance (FPER). However, BDAC pays off for some companies but not for others. It appears that very few have achieved a big impact through big data. To address this challenge, this study proposes a BDAC model drawing on the resource-based theory (RBT) and the entanglement view of sociomaterialism. The findings show BDAC as a hierarchical model, which consists of three primary dimensions (i.e., management, technology, and talent capability) and 11 subdimensions (i.e., planning, investment, coordination, control, connectivity, compatibility, …

Cooperatives: Governance And Accountability Systems For A Better World?, Vassili Joannides De Lautour, Corinne L. Cortese

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

To date, there are few general studies on cooperatives, with some being empirical, practical or issue-driven (Tchami, 2007 ) whilst others are very specialised (Gouil, 2010 ; Jaumier, 2016 ; Jaumier et al., 2012 ; Joannidès, 2013 ). In most cases, most studies focus on a particular type of organisation, generally farmers' cooperatives (Deroy and Thénot, 2012 ; Thénot, 2011 ; vanPeursem et al., 2016 ). Considering cooperatives as case studies often leads to empirical discussions of particular industries or countries, but rarely leads to a conceptualisation of the issues that affect the cooperative form (Béziaud, 2012 ; Diaz, 2012 …

A Conceptual Investigation Of Maintenance Deferral And Implementation: Foundation For A Maintenance Lifecycle Model, Christopher Savage, Karlheinz Kautz, Rodney J. Clarke

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Despite the fact that society and organizations rely heavily on Information Systems (IS) and software, the maintenance of vendor-supplied IS, in particular standard package software has gained little attention within the academic literature. This paper presents a conceptual study of the current state of research concerning the reasons for deferral and performance of vendor-supplied maintenance by the purchasing organization. These reasons have so far neither been investigated together nor from that perspective. Based on a systematic literature review and taking the purchaser's viewpoint, reasons for maintenance deferral and performance are identified from the literature. They build the groundwork and foundation …

Worse And Worse Off: The Impact Of Lymphedema On Work And Career After Breast Cancer, John Boyages, Senia Kalfa, Ying Xu, Louise Koelmeyer, Helen Mackie, Hector Viveros, Lucy Taksa, Paul J. Gollan

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Purpose: Our study examines the impact of breast cancer-related lymphedema on women's work and career. Our research addresses a significant knowledge gap regarding the additional impact of lymphedema on breast cancer survivors.

Methods: An online national survey was conducted with 361 women who either had breast cancer without lymphedema (Group 1, n = 209) or breast cancer with lymphedema (Group 2, n = 152). Participant recruitment was supported by the Breast Cancer Network Australia and the Australasian Lymphology Association.

Results: Both breast cancer and lymphedema had a significant negative influence on women's work and career. Respondents reported changes in employment …

Participation In Moral Hazard Problems, Guillaume Roger

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Two principals engage in Hotelling competition for an agent's services under incomplete information as to her outside option (location). This renders the agent's participation decision probabilistic from the perspective of each principal. Regardless of the market structure at equilibrium the optimal contract features a trade-off between participation probability and incentives. Rent and effort are inversely related and non-monotonic in the agent's transport cost and so in market structures; they increase (decrease) with competition. Uncertainty as to the agent's location may increase or decrease the rent compared to full information. This correspondingly harms or benefits principals.

Risky Utilities, Jean-Charles Rochet, Guillaume Roger

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

We develop a theory of "risky utilities," i.e., private firms that manage an infrastructure for public service and that may be tempted to engage in excessively risky activities, such as reducing maintenance expenditures (at the risk of provoking a breakdown of the system) or in speculation (at the risk of incurring massive losses it cannot bear). These risky utilities include financial utilities like exchanges, clearinghouses or payment systems, as well as standard utilities like electricity transmission networks. Continuation of service is essential, so risky utilities cannot be liquidated. The optimal regulatory contract minimizes the social cost among the contracts that …

Investing In Skill And Searching For Coworkers: Endogenous Participation In A Matching Market, Chris Bidner, Guillaume Roger, Jessica Moses

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

We demonstrate how search frictions have important yet subtle implications for participation in a skilled labor market by studying a model in which agents invest in skill prior to searching for coworkers. Search frictions induce the existence of acceptance-constrained equilibria, whereby matching concerns-as opposed to investment costs-dissuade the marginal agent from investing and participating in the skilled matching market. Such equilibria are robust, relevant, and have comparative static properties that contrast sharply with the intuitive properties arising in a benchmark static setting. We consider an extension with separate matching "marketplaces," and show that our main results continue to hold.

Communicating With Parents Of Obese Children: Which Channels Are Most Effective?, Melanie J. Randle, Anthony D. Okely, Sara Dolnicar

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Background: One of the strategies proven most successful in curbing rising rates of childhood obesity involves targeting parents as agents of change. Prior studies have focused on what messages to communicate, but few have investigated how they should be communicated.

Objective: To identify the channels most effective for communicating with parents of overweight and obese children and understand whether their use of parenting information sources differs from others in the community.

Design/setting: This study utilizes data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Families were included if weight and height information was available for parents and children at three …

The Perceived Impact Of The Agile Development And Project Management Method Scrum On Process Transparency In Information Systems Development, Karlheinz Kautz, Thomas Heide Johansen, Andreas Uldahl

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper contributes to research on information systems development (ISD) with a case study that demonstrates the positive impact of the agile development and project management method Scrum on process transparency in ISD projects. It is part of a project for which we developed a framework comprising of the six concepts productivity, quality, team leadership, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and process transparency for investigating the impact of Scrum. It provides operationalizations of the latter concept through five identified indicators. Despite the fact that the case unit had challenges, the indicators identified the areas where it managed to exploit the potential …