Business Commons^™

Strategic Ambiguity As A Discourse Practice: The Role Of Keywords In The Discourse On ‘Sustainable’ Biotechnology, S. R. Leitch, S. Davenport

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In this article we examined the ways in which strategic ambiguity (Eisenberg, 1984) in the use of keywords (Williams, 1976/1983) served an enabling function within a discourse marked by conflict and ideological divisions. Our analysis focused on the intertextual relationships between five documents intended by the Government to guide the development of biotechnology in New Zealand. Through our analysis we identified ‘sustainability’ as a keyword and three major roles for the deployment of the discourse strategy of strategic ambiguity in the use of this keyword. First, strategic ambiguity lent an internal and intertextual coherence to the texts (albeit superficial). Second, …

Intellectual Capital Reporting Between A Developing And Developed Nation, Indra Abeysekera

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Purpose - This paper examines the patterns of intellectual capital reporting (ICR) of large listed firms in a developing nation, Sri Lanka. The aim of this study is to highlight the differences in ICR practice between developing and developed nations.
Design/methodology/approach - The paper begins by examining each of the top 30 firms by market capitalization listed on the Colombo stock exchange in 1998/1999 and 1999/2000. Using the content analysis method, it reviews the annual reports of these firms to determine the types of intellectual capital (IC) items reported in Sri Lanka. It then compares these findings with a similar …

Human Capital Value Creation Practices Of Software And Service Exporter Firms In India, V. Murthy, Indra Abeysekera

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study explored the human capital (HC) value creation practices of the top seventeen software and service exporter firms in India. The study used HC disclosure attributes as a tool to the contents of the annual reports for the year 2003-04, to evaluate the type and amount of HC disclosed by the software firms. The study conducted semi-structured interviews with the Heads of Human Resources of fourteen software firms to obtain a greater understanding of the similarities between reporting and managed HC practices. The study identified most reported and least reported attributes of HC using content analysis and explained their …

Strategic Ambiguity As A Discourse Practice: The Role Of Keywords In The Discourse On 'Sustainable' Biotechnology, S. Leitch, S. Davenport

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In this article we examined the ways in which strategic ambiguity (Eisenberg, 1984) in the use of keywords (Williams, 1976/1983) served an enabling function within a discourse marked by conflict and ideological divisions. Our analysis focused on the intertextual relationships between five documents intended by the Government to guide the development of biotechnology in New Zealand. Through our analysis we identified ‘sustainability’ as a keyword and three major roles for the deployment of the discourse strategy of strategic ambiguity in the use of this keyword. First, strategic ambiguity lent an internal and intertextual coherence to the texts (albeit superficial). Second, …

The Efficiency Of Emerging Stock Markets: Empirical Evidence From The South Asian Region, Arusha V. Cooray, G. Wickramasighe

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper examines the efficiency in the stock markets of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF-1979, 1981), the Phillips-Perron (PP-1988), the Dicky-Fuller Generalized Least Square (DF-GLS-1996) and Elliot-Rothenberg-Stock (ERS – 1996) tests are used to examine weak form stock market efficiency. Weak form efficiency is supported by the classical unit root tests. However, it is not strongly supported for Bangladesh under the DF-GLS and ERS tests. Cointegration and Granger causality tests are used to examine semi-strong form efficiency. Semi-strong form efficiency is not supported as these tests indicate a high degree of interdependence among the …

Rent Seeking Or Market Strengthening? Industry Associations In New Zealand Wool Broking, Simon Ville

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper builds on recent conceptual work about associations that is drawn from the new institutional economics. It uses evidence from New Zealand wool broking to indicate the circumstances in which industry associations can operate effectively and in the broader public interest. Through their strong associative capacity and effective specialization of function, wool-broking industry associations developed flexible routines for managing wool auctions, mediated disputes, mitigated opportunism, addressed major market disruptions, and served as a communication channel with government. External pressures and monitoring from other business interests, governments, and a competitive wool market constrained rent-seeking behavior, preventing members from benefiting at …

The Institutional Legacy And The Development Of An Australian National Innovation System, Simon Ville

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Institutions are the rules of the game that help to shape the long-term historical development of societies. They mediate human interaction and can be more or less formal (or tangible) in nature ranging from systems of government to common modes of behaviour. Most formal institutions can be distinguished as economic, social, political or cultural in nature although such distinctions are more difficult to make for informal institutions. What is certain is the pervasive impact of all types of institutions on a country’s multifaceted development. Thus, economic performance may be shaped as much by a nation’s legal system as by its …

The Cyclical And Trend Behavour Of Australian Investment And Savings, Bruce Felmingham, Arusha V. Cooray

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

A spectral analysis of the Australian time series for the investment and savings ratios on monthly data over the period from September 1959 to December 2005 reveals that the major cyclical components of the savings and investment ratios cohere strongly. This suggests there is a medium to long term relationship between investment and savings. Further, the investment and saving ratios cohere strongly with the business cycle suggesting a procyclical pattern of investment and saving behaviour on Australian data. A subsequent long memory analysis reveals that the saving and investment ratios, the investment ratio and real GDP and the savings ratio …

What Motivates Which Volunteers? Psychographic Heterogeneity Among Volunteers In Australia, Sara Dolnicar, Melanie J. Randle

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Six psychographic segments of volunteers in Australia are constructed on the basis of their volunteering motivations. The resulting segments include “classic volunteers”, whose motivations are three-fold: doing something worthwhile, personal satisfaction, and helping others. “Dedicated volunteers” perceive each one of the motives for volunteering as relevant, while “personally involved volunteers” donate time because of someone they know in the organization, most likely their child. “Volunteers for personal satisfaction” and “altruists” primarily wish to help others, and finally,” niche volunteers” typically have fewer and more specific drivers motivating them to donate time, for example, to gain work experience. The segments are …

Democratising Organisational Knowledge: The Potential Of The Corporate Wiki, Helen Hasan, Charmaine Pfaff

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Attempts to impose knowledge management often ignore the vast organisational resource of workrelated tacit knowledge possessed by knowledge workers. Our research reveals that activities supported by social technologies such as Wikis, may provide a more appropriate capability for tacit knowledge management where a network centric focus is adopted. A corporate Wiki has the potential to engage the collective responsibilities of knowledge workers to transfer their collective experience and skills into a dynamic shared knowledge repository. However, the traditional organisational culture can be reluctant to allow this power shift which surrenders the monopolistic control of the few over the creation and …

Designing 3pl Services: Valuable Insights From Customers, Eddie Anderson, Tim Coltman, Timothy Devinney, John Gattorna, Byron Keating

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

As markets become more global and competition continues to intensify, firms are beginning to realize that competition is not exclusively a firm versus firm domain but a “supply chain against supply chain” phenomenon. For the providers of supply chain services the implications of even a modest increase in strategic importance implies greater complexity, as their operations are now more important to a thickening web of stakeholders that are more discerning and market literate. In this study we seek to open the black box of customer demand by identifying those factors that contribute most to the selection of a supply chain …

Call Centres And The Quality Of Work Life: A Public/Private Sector Comparison, Zeenobiyah N. Hannif

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The quality of work life is a traditionally under-researched area where call centres (CC) are concerned. Similarly, much of the existing call centre research is based on the private sector despite the public sector emerging as a large user of CC operations. This paper is based on empirical research conducted in two Australian CC’s to explore whether and how the quality of work life varies between the two sectors. Findings relating to three quality of work life elements are reported: job content, working hours & work-life balance, and managerial/supervisory style and strategies. Public sector call centre Govtcall emerges as being …

Systems Dynamics Modelling Of Human And Information Aspects Of Network-Centric Configurations, Helen M. Hasan

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper is based on the definition of a network-centric structure as one which enables members of an organisation to create and leverage information to increase competitive advantage through the joint efforts of creative individuals and independent teams. While the technical components of this environment are enabling, the organisational and behavioural components generate value as traditionally competitive workers strive to cooperate in self-directed, distributed teams. Many organisations are now complex hybrids of hierarchical and network-centric configurations and there is a need to increase our understanding of their human and informational aspects. Due to its suitability for managing complexity without reducing …

Frequency Of Communication Within Npd Projects: Implications For Key Measures Of Success, Elias Kyriazis

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The nature of cross-functional relationships during NPD projects has received considerable research attention with an emphasis on achieving successful integration. To achieve this functional integration new product development activities often require functional specialists to communicate with one another to achieve their respective task goals. This study examines the frequency of communication within NPD projects as reported by R&D Manager from 184 Australian NPD projects. We find that informal methods of communication have a positive relationship with three key NPD outcome variables such as perceived relationship effectiveness, interpersonal collaboration and NPD project success. This study provides empirical support for the proposition …

The Effects Of Employment On Academic Performance Of Australian Accounting Students, Anura De Zoysa, Kathleen M. Rudkin

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study examines factors that impact students engaged in paid employment while studying in a tertiary accounting program in a regional Australian university. It examines the differences in experience of domestic and international students. No direct significant relationship was found between paid employment and academic performance for the overall study sample. There was a positive relationship found between paid employment and academic performance with respect to domestic students. However, in the case of international students a negative relationship between paid employment and academic performance was observed. A significant positive relationship between a shift work pattern of paid employment and academic …

The Role Of Community Leaders As 'Senior Managers' In Place Brand Implementation, Gregory Kerr, Gary Noble, John Glynn

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Brand management is now being applied to places to stimulate economic and social development. While the literature advocates the benefits, it suggests that the process of implementation is not understood. Referring to the corporate brand-place brand analogy and the important role of senior management in corporate branding, this paper examines the role of community leaders, as the senior management equivalent, in two cities which have implemented a place brand strategy. This paper provides an insight into the importance of community leaders as drivers of the place brand as well as the cultural change which may be required to ensure the …

Beyond Ubiquity: Co-Creating Corporate Knowledge With A Wiki, Helen M. Hasan, Joseph A. Meloche, Charmaine Pfaff, David Willis

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Despite their reputation as an evolving shared knowledge repository, Wikis are often treated with suspicion in organizations for management, social and legal reasons. Following studies of unsuccessful Wiki projects, a field study was undertaken of a corporate Wiki that has been developed to capture, and make available, organizational knowledge for a large manufacturing company as an initiative of their Knowledge Management program. A Q Methodology research approach was selected to uncover employees subjective attitudes to the Wiki so that the firm could more fully exploit the potential of the Wiki as a ubiquitous tool for tacit knowledge management.

Toward A Valid Measure Of E-Retailing Service Quality, John R. Rossiter

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

E-retailers are major players in the field of electronic commerce and their success would seem to depend on service quality, because they are selling the same products that traditional retailers sell. This article critiques Collier and Bienstocks [5] new measure of e-retailing service quality and shows how the stages of e-retailing service quality can be more validly measured by adopting Rossiters [12] C-OAR-SE procedure for scale development. Collier and Bienstock`s measure is insufficiently valid because the measure (1) fails to specify the hierarchical objects that form the construct, and measures the overall object, e-retailing, wrongly by focusing on completed transactions; …

Does Ownership Affect A Firm's Performance And Default Risk In Jordan?, Rami Zeitun, Gary Gang Tian

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine the impact of ownership structure on firm performance and the default risk of a sample of publicly listed firms.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines the impact of ownership structure on firm performance and the default risk of a sample of 59 publicly listed firms in Jordan from 1989 to 2002.

Findings – The main findings were: ownership structure has significant effects on the accounting measure of performance return on assets (ROE); government shares are significantly negatively related to the firm's performance ROE; defaulted firms have a high concentration ownership compared with non-defaulted firms …

Impact Of Fluctuations In Oil Prices On Libyan Economic Growth, Abdusalam Yahia, Mokhtar M. Metwally

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper examines the impact of fluctuations in Libyan oil exports on Libyan economic growth. The paper uses "export as an engine of growth model". Such a model is applied to total output as well as sectoral outputs. However, this study uses a Koyck distributed lag scheme. The paper also uses cointegration analysis to examine the long-term trade relationship between Libyan GDP and its oil exports. The results suggest that are spread effects from oil exports to the rest of the economy. However, when both the component and inflationary effects are excluded (but not the real gain from the rise …

Macroeconomic Determinants Of Corporate Performance And Failure: Evidence From An Emerging Market The Case Of Jordan, Rami Zeitun, Gary Tian, Steve Keen

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study investigates the impact of aggregate economic risk on a company’s performance and failure in a panel estimation using 167 Jordanian companies during 1989-2003. Our finding shows that unanticipated changes in interest rate negatively and significantly affect firms’ performance measured by ROA, which suggests that an interest rate rise increases the cost of borrowing and then further negatively affects a firm’s profit. We also found that both the production manufacturing index and Islamic credit facilities positively and significantly affect a firm’s performance. The positive and significant impact of Islamic credit facilities reflects the importance and the significance of the …

A Cultural-Historical Activity Theory Approach To Users, Usability And Usefulness, Helen M. Hasan

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper takes an historical overview of the field of Human-Computer Interaction. Itdescribes how the cognitive psychology emphasis on user involvement in systemsdevelopment of the 1980s reached its limit by the early 1990s. At this point the focus shifted onto support for the tasks of users using computer-based systems in real contexts, a focus that ideally suits the mobile, ubiquitous and social technologies of the new millennium. The Cultural-Historical Activity Theory provides an appropriate framework for understanding this phenomenon and is adopted in this paper to present the work, over a seven year period, of a usability laboratory grounded in …

The Impact Of Exchange Rate Volatility On Indonesia's Exports To The Usa: An Application Of Ardl Bounds Testing Procedure, Arief Bustaman, Kankesu Jayanthakumaran

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper investigates the long-run and short-run impacts of exchange rate volatility on Indonesias exports of priority commodities to the United States of America over the monthly period 1997-2005. Estimates of cointegration relations are obtained using ARDL bounds testing procedure. Estimates of the short-run dynamics are obtained using an error-correction model. The results show significant positive and negative coefficients among the range of commodities. However, in the long-run, majority of commodities tend to support the traditional view that higher exchange rate of volatility leads to higher cost and to less foreign trade. The net effect of exchange rate uncertainty on …

Dynamic Linkages Between The Thai And International Stock Markets, Surachai Chancharat, Abbas Valadkhani

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper investigates the existence of cointegration and causality between the stock market price indices of Thailand and its major trading partners using monthly data (1987-2005). The Engle-Granger two-step procedure and Gregory and Hansen (1996) test (allowing for one structural break) provide no evidence of a long-run relationship between the stock prices of Thailand and these countries. We argue that there exist potential long-run benefits from diversifying the investment portfolios internationally to reduce the associated systematic risks across countries. However, in the short run there are three unidirectional Granger causalities running from the stock returns of Hong Kong, the Philippines …

Cross-Cultural Differences In The Development Of Trust In Relational Service Exchange - An Empirical Analysis Of The Moderating Role Of Uncertainly Avoidance, Jan H. Schumann, Florian Wangenheim, Zhilin Yang, Sandra Praxmarer, Fernando Jinenez, Marcin Komor, G Shainesh

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Customer trust is of high importance for customer relationship management in services.

While service providers increasingly provide their services globally, little is known about cross-cultural differences in the way customers develop trust in their service providers. The present paper fills this void by providing a research model that builds on the idea that cross-cultural differences in the development of trust can be explained by moderating effects of uncertainty avoidance. This view is supported by results of an empirical analysis conducted in the banking context in six countries. Managerial implications are derived and directions for further research are proposed.

Tariffs, Subsidies And Profits: A Re-Assessment Of Structural Change In Australia 1901-1939, David Merrett, Simon Ville

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper offers a re-interpretation of the drivers of structural change in Australia from federation until the outbreak of World War II. The broad story of structural change is that manufacturing increased its relative share of both output and employment while the share of the farm sector and mining contracted. The large tertiary sector, including construction, oscillated around its mean. The conventional wisdom is that these shifts were largely the result of government policy, particularly the increase in trade barriers that stimulated import substitution by manufacturers. However, if the unit of analysis is the firm rather than the economy then …

Differences Within And Between Travel Preference, Planned Travel And Choice Behavior Of Australians Travelling To Asian And Overseas Destinations, Uraiporn Kattiyapornpong, Kenneth E. Miller

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study seeks to examine differences in travel preference, travel intention and destination choice behavior of an aggregated set of Australian travelers. Additionally the study seeks to relate income, age, gender, life cycle and life style of Australians to the preference, planning and choice of Asian and overseas destinations. A large representative sample of 49,000 Australian respondents is utilized. Binomial regression is used to profile travelers to Asia and overseas in general. Specific significant variables and differences are highlighted. There are consistent relationships between travel preference, planning and choice and the set of independent variables of income, life cycle and …

Family Values And Cultural Continuity Among The Displaced East Bengal Hindus In Kolkata, Golam Sarwar Khan, Muhammad K. Chowdhury

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In the process of resettlement in Kolkata, the East Bengal (EB) Hindu refugee-migrants initiated some strategic plans for their unity. These plans were reflected in their attitudes of retaining family values, marriage practices and distinct cultural boundaries. EB Hindus known as Bangal tended to maintain such distinctive attitudes because they could not easily socialise and adjust themselves with the local people of West Bengal (WB) known as Ghoti. Initially, the EB Hindus felt threatened by maintaining distinct cultural values and supremacy primarily for their unsettled status. Even after a stay of over 30 years in Kolkata, most EB Hindus could …

Mean Reversion Versus Random Walk In Asian Stock Prices: Evidence From Multiple Structural Breaks, Surachai Chancharat, Abbas Valadkhani

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper examines whether Asian stock prices for 9 countries are trend stationary or follow a random walk process using the Zivot and Andrews (1992), Lumsdaine and Papell (1997) tests and monthly data (1987:12-2005:12). With one structural break test results provide evidence in favour of random walk hypothesis in 6 countries. Moreover, when two endogenously-determined structural breaks are considered, this hypothesis was rejected for the same 3 countries, suggesting a robust conclusion regarding the non-stationarity of stock prices world wide. In addition, the dates of structural break in most cases point to the Asian crisis in the period 1996-1998.

Double Vision: The Theory Of Mutual Causality And The Strategic Balanced Scorecard, Edmund W. Watts, Carol J. Mcnair

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Management accounting researchers have criticised the practitioner-oriented management accounting techniques of the last decade for lacking integrated theories. A contrasting perspective is that these emerging techniques are not atheoretical, but rather natural applications of existing theory as defined in complementary disciplines. Using concepts theory, this paper relates the strategic balanced scorecard (SBSC) to the theoretical concepts of cybernetics. The three fundamental characteristics of cybernetics: causal relationships, communication and change are compared to the SBSC in practice. The results align the practical characteristics of the SBSC to contemporary descriptions of theory, specifically those directed towards abstraction and explanation, thus providing a …