Business Commons^™

Debating Sociomateriality: Entanglements, Imbrications, Disentangling, And Agential Cuts, Karlheinz Kautz, Tina Blegind Jensen

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Sociomateriality is on everyone's lips these days. Since Orlikowski (2006; 2007; 2009), together with Scott (Orlikowski and Scott 2008; Scott and Orlikowski 2009) first introduced this term in organisation studies and in information systems (IS) research, we count an impressive number of contributions on this topic along with calls for papers in renowned journals and conferences. Without going so far as to propose sociomateriality as the defining identity of the IS field, as suggested by Hassan and Hovorka (2011), we acknowledge that this new lens offers a way of challenging and expanding the prevailing modus operandi of the theoretical foundations …

Economic Growth: Technical Progress, Population Dynamics And Sustainability, Simone Marsiglio

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Economic growth is probably the most important goal of every policy intervention because of its wide consequences on the welfare of current and future generations. Because of the current crisis faced by several industrialized countries, this is probably much clearer today than in the past. In order to determine whether and which kind of public intervention can be taken to restore the growth process, the first step is understanding the relationship between different factors and economic growth. The goal of this brief paper is to shed some light on the mutual implications of growth and some of these factors: demography, …

Stochastic Shocks In A Two-Sector Solow Model, Simone Marsiglio

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

We study a stochastic, discrete-time, two-sector growth model à la Solow (1956) characterised by perpetual growth. Assuming that exogenous i.i.d. shocks hit the physical production sector, we show that the capital dynamics can be converted, through an appropriate log-transformation, into an iterated function system converging to an invariant distribution supported on a Cantor set.

Population Dynamics And Utilitarian Criteria In The Lucas - Uzawa Model, Simone Marsiglio, Davide La Torre

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper introduces population growth in the Uzawa-Lucas model, analyzing the implications of the choice of the welfare criterion on the model's outcome. Traditional growth theory assumes population growth to be exponential, but this is not a realistic assumption (see Brida and Accinelli, 2007). We model exogenous population change by a generic function of population size. We show that a unique non-trivial equilibrium exists and the economy converges towards it along a saddle path, independently of population dynamics. What is affected by the type of population dynamics is the dimension of the stable manifold, which can be one or two, …

Why Do Patients Having Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts Have Different Costs Or Length Of Stay? An Analysis Across 10 European Countries, James Gaughan, Conrad Kobel, Caroline Linhart, Anne Mason, Andrew Street, Padraic Ward

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

We analyse variations in cost or length of stay (LoS) for 66 587 patients from 10 European countries receiving a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedure. In five of these countries, variations in cost are analysed using log-linear models. In the other five countries, negative binomial regression models are used to explore variations in LoS. We compare how well each country's diagnosis-related group (DRG) system and a set of patient-level characteristics explain these variations. The most important explanatory factors are the total number of diagnoses and procedures, although no clear effects are evident for our CABG-specific diagnostic and procedural variables. …

Do You See What I See? The Role Of Technology In Talent Identification, Sharna L. Wiblen, Kristine Dery, David Grant

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper applies a social constructivist lens to understand more about the ways in which technology shapes our understanding of talent management, in particular the processes of talent identification. Specifically, it examines similarities and differences in the identification of talent across a range of business units at a large professional services firm. The findings show that while objective evaluations of talent based on data and information were possible using talent-related technology, managers had subjective and widely different understandings of what constituted talent at the organisation and how to go about identifying it. These different understandings, based on organisational context, personal …

Idiosyncratic Volatility, Australian Stock Returns And Economy Conditions: Role Of Idiosyncratic Volatility In Asset Pricing For Australian Stock Markets, Bin Liu, Amalia Di Iorio

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This study examines the importance of idiosyncratic volatility in asset pricing for Australian stock returns from 1993 to 2010. We form an idiosyncratic volatility mimicking factor. In the presence of the Fama-French three-factor we find that the idiosyncratic volatility mimicking factor is priced in Australian stock returns over the sample period, implying that this type of volatility is significant in the pricing of Australian stocks. Further, we find that idiosyncratic volatility is priced during both economy expansions and contractions and our model captures greater variations in Australian stock returns during expansions than contractions.

Moral Hazard With Random Participation, Guillaume Roger

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper studies a principal-agent problem of moral hazard, in which the outside option is stochastic. This renders the agent's participation decision random from the perspective of the principal. The participation cost is no longer defined in terms of the agent's outside option but in terms of the principal's marginal benefit of participation. The optimal contract (i) entails information rents; (ii) features a trade-off between participation probability and rents and (iii) induces a lower effort than the standard model. Random participation results in weaker incentives and in twofold (ex ante) welfare losses. Menus of contracts (screening mechanisms) are not helpful …

Hr On The Line: Human Resource Managers' Contribution To Organisational Value And Workplace Performance, Paul J. Gollan

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This article examines the professional identity and role of human resource managers in fostering and implementing strategies that encourage high workplace performance.Workplace performance affects Australian competitiveness and this is the first detailed empirical analysis of Australian HR managers that combines case studies and survey methods. This research seeks to provide more in-depth knowledge and understanding of HR managers and line managers and how the HR function can contribute to high workplace performance. Overall this research suggests that while the HR function is likely to change in the future, its role is not diminishing in organisational decision-making. In particular, the HR …

Images As Mediating Texts In Annual Reports: The Case Of China Mobile, Xun Gong, Sudhir C. Lodh, Kathleen M. Rudkin

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Purpose: This study explores the dual ideological influences that the socialist political regime and the globalised market economy have on the visual images in accounting annual reports in the Chinese context. It also investigates how the visual discourse, in turn, constitutes and sustains competing ideological messages.

Design/Methodology/approach: Based on the 2010 annual report of China Mobile Limited, A critical discourse analysis is conducted at three levels. At the public discourse level, three areas of interest are drawn in interpreting the connotations of the visual discourse, including (1) Davison's (2010) rhetorical codes (physical, dress, spatial, and interpersonal); (2) two Chinese cultural …

Out-Of-Sample Stock Return Predictability In Australia, Yiwen Dou, David R. Gallagher, David Schneider, Terry S. Walter

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

We provide one of the first comprehensive studies on out-of-sample stock returns predictability in Australia. While most of the empirically well-known predictive variables fail to generate out-of-sample predictability, we document a significant out-of-sample prediction in forecasting ahead one-year and, to a lesser extent, one-quarter future excess returns, using a combination forecast of variables. We also find improved asset allocation using the combination forecast of these predictors. The combining methods are useful in predicting sector premia. Specifically, a sector rotation strategy relying on the combining methods outperforms the market by 3.27% per annum on a risk-adjusted basis.

Designing Is Service Strategy: An Information Acceleration Approach, Pierre J. Richard, Tim Coltman, Byron Keating

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Information technology-based innovation involves considerable risk requiring foresight; yet our understanding of the way in which managers develop the insight to support new breakthrough applications is limited and remains obscured by high levels of technical and market uncertainty. This paper applies discrete choice analysis to support improved empirical explanation of how and why decisions are made in information systems. A new experimental method based on information acceleration is also applied to improve prediction of future IS service strategies. Both explanation and prediction are important to IS research and these two behaviourally sound methods complement each other. Specifically, the combination of …

The Contribution Of Vacations To Quality Of Life, Sara Dolnicar, Venkata Yanamandram, Katie Cliff

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The contribution of vacations to people’s life satisfaction and Quality of Life (QOL) has recently attracted substantial attention among tourism researchers. Yet, most QOL scales do not include vacations: 7% explicitly measure vacations whereas 42% only include items relating to vacations within the broader Leisure domain. Leisure and vacations, however, differ substantially in nature with leisure referring to regular home-based activities and vacations being infrequent leisure activities away from home. As a consequence of the common amalgamation of vacations with leisure, there is limited knowledge about the specific contribution of vacations to people’s QOL. The present study (1) presents empirical …

Hope For The Future: Identifying The Individual Difference Characteristics Of People Who Are Interested In And Intend To Foster-Care, Joseph V. Ciarrochi, Melanie J. Randle, Leonie M. Miller, Sara Dolnicar

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

High-quality foster placements can help a foster-child to thrive and can counter some of the risk factors normally associated with being a foster-child. Unfortunately, demand for foster-carers has been outstripping supply. The present study sought to identify the characteristics of people who have high potential to become a foster-carer. A large, representative sample from the general population (544 male; 544 female; Mage = 40.8; SD = 13) completed an anonymous survey that included comprehensive measurement of demographics, personal resources (e.g. social support), personal characteristics (e.g. hope) and foster-care interest, intentions and information seeking. Analyses revealed that people who sought information …

Quality-Of-Life And Travel Motivations: Integrating The Two Concepts In The Grevillea Model, Sara Dolnicar, Katie Lazarevski, Venkata Yanamandram

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Over the past three decades, two bodies of literature have developed relatively independently: Quality of Life research in Psychology and Travel Motivations research in Tourism. Yet, the constructs underlying these two bodies of research are strongly interrelated. This book chapter: (1) reviews the Quality of Life research area with a specific focus on the role of vacations as a Quality of Life domain; (2) reviews prior work in the area of Travel Motivations with a specific focus on motivational segments which may be associated with differences in the importance people attribute to vacations in general; and (3) proposes a conceptual …

The Impact Of Husband’S Job Loss On Partners’ Mental Health, Silvia Mendolia

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of job loss on family mental well-being. The negative income shock can affect the mental health status of the individual who directly experiences such displacement, as well as the psychological well-being of his partner; also, job loss may have a significantly detrimental effect on life satisfaction, self-esteem and on the individual’s perceived role in society. This analysis is based on a sample of married and cohabitating couples from the first 14 waves of the British Household Panel Survey. In order to correct for the possible endogeneity of job loss, data …

Factors Affecting The Export Participation And Performance Of Thai Manufacturing Small And Medium Sized Enterprises (Smes), Yot Amornkitvikai, Charles Harvie, Teerawat Charoenrat

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper employed the 2007 Thai Industrial Census to empirically examine the effects of firm-specific and industry factors on a firm’s decision to export and the export performance of 65,111 Thai manufacturing SMEs which are classified into eight submanufacturing groups. Six econometric models are indentified to capture linear and nonlinear effects of firm-specific factors as well as to analyze each industry effect for Thai manufacturing SMEs. Four limited dependent variable models (i.e., the probit model, the logit model, the linear probability model, and the Tobit model) are used to study the factors affecting a firm’s export decision and its export …

Board Structure And Survival Of New Economy Ipo Firms, Nongnit Chancharat, Chandrasekhar Krishnamurti, Gary G. Tian

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Research Question/Issue: This study examines the relevance of currently accepted best practice recommendations regarding board structure on the survival likelihood of new economy initial public offering companies. We argue that industry context determines governance outcomes.Research Findings/Insights: We study 125 Australian new economy firms listed between 1994 and 2002. Each firm is tracked until the end of 2007 for monitoring their survival. We find that board independence is associated with an increase in the likelihood of corporate survival. We also find that the benefits of board independence increase at a decreasing rate.Theoretical/Academic Implications: The standard best practice recommendation of board independence …

The Organizational Virtuousness Of Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: A Case Study Of The Sri Lankan Family-Owned Enterprise Mas Holdings, Mario Fernando, Shamika Almeida

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Relatively little is known about strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Asian companies. In the post-tsunami period, the authors interviewed 23 senior executives at ten prominent companies in Sri Lanka. Nine of the companies responded to the tsunami with philanthropy based CSR initiatives. Interviews with three senior executives at the family-owned enterprise MAS Holdings revealed an explicitly strategic CSR approach. MAS Holdings, an apparel manufacturer owned by three brothers, is Victoria Secret's lead strategic partner and an ethical buying source for other well-known apparel retailers. This paper examines the organizational virtuousness of MAS Holdings' strategic CSR initiatives. The analysis uses …

Online User-Generated Content For Travel Planning - Different For Different Kinds Of Trips?, Anja Simms

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Travellers are increasingly turning to online user-generated content for vacation planning. Previous studies have looked at a variety of factors to explain differing levels of social media consumption between travellers. Previous research, however, has not examined the role of the role of trip characteristics (such as familiarity with a destination, location of a destination, trip length, travel planning lead time, and travel party composition) in this context. This study found that trip characteristics seem to play a key role when it comes to travellers' engagement with user-generated content for travel planning - a higher percentage of travellers turned to user-generated …