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Full-Text Articles in Business

The Oil And Gas Industry In Asia: Fuelling Growth At A Cost, Knowledge@Smu Oct 2007

The Oil And Gas Industry In Asia: Fuelling Growth At A Cost, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2007, China alone accounts for 15% of global energy consumption and 70% of growth in the consumption of coal. The review describes "robust demand" for oil and gas in Asia overall despite high prices. Dennis Ang, president of Statoil Asia Pacific, the Singapore based affiliate of Norway's largest company, shares his views with Knowledge@SMU on global energy issues, the environmental impacts of Asia’s fast growing demand for energy, and how the region could do more to move towards a`greener’ future.


Prediction Software Identifies Cellphone, Cable And Internet Subscribers Who Are Likely To Defect And When, Knowledge@Smu Oct 2007

Prediction Software Identifies Cellphone, Cable And Internet Subscribers Who Are Likely To Defect And When, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

Winning new customers is expensive. More businesses are acting proactively to forestall losing existing clients by using predictive software to help pinpoint those likely to defect. Singapore Management University marketing professor Andre Bonfrer is working in partnership with George Knox (Tilburg University), Jehoshua Eliashberg (The Wharton School) and Jeongwen Chiang (Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business) to develop a predictive model targeted at the subscription-based service sector.


Minimum Profitability Ruling A Boon Or Bane? Some Lessons From China, Knowledge@Smu Oct 2007

Minimum Profitability Ruling A Boon Or Bane? Some Lessons From China, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

China’s Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) stands out in its approach to tighten restrictions for listed companies wanting to initiate rights issues or seasoned equity offerings (SEOs). The country’s experience, relevant to other emerging markets, is the subject of a research paper published recently in the International Journal of Accounting, co-authored by Kevin C.W. Chen, accounting professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Singapore Management University accounting professor Jiwei Wang. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Do Direct Cash Flow Disclosures Help Predict Future Operating Cash Flows And Earnings?, Steven Francis Orpurt, Yoonseok Zang Oct 2007

Do Direct Cash Flow Disclosures Help Predict Future Operating Cash Flows And Earnings?, Steven Francis Orpurt, Yoonseok Zang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Motivated by recent FASB, IASB and CFA Institute comments, we extend the scant literature on direct method cash flow disclosures by exploring their predictive ability. A primary stated purpose of the direct method is to better forecast future operating performance. To test this purpose, we use a FERC (future ERC) methodology, finding that firms voluntarily producing direct method statements reflect more information about future earnings in their current stock returns than other firms. Supporting our FERC analysis, we document that substantial articulation errors exist when direct method cash flow components are estimated from either indirect method cash flow statements or …


When The Rumour Strikes..., M. Thulasidas Oct 2007

When The Rumour Strikes..., M. Thulasidas

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Managers should make use of the underground rumour mill to understand employee concerns. EMPLOYEES seek insights into where their organisation is heading. And they should, because what their organisation does has a direct impact on their well- being.


Preserving Privacy In Supply Chain Management: A Challenge For Next Generation Data Mining, Madhu Ahluwalia, Zhiyuan Chen, Arrya Gangopadhyay, Zhiling Guo Oct 2007

Preserving Privacy In Supply Chain Management: A Challenge For Next Generation Data Mining, Madhu Ahluwalia, Zhiyuan Chen, Arrya Gangopadhyay, Zhiling Guo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper we identify a major area of research as a topic for next generation data mining. The research effort in the last decade on privacy preserving data mining has resulted in the development of numerous algorithms. However, most of the existing research has not been applied in any particular application context. Hence it is unclear whether the current algorithms are directly applicable in any particular problem context. In this paper we identify a significant application context that not only requires protection of privacy but also sophisticated data analysis. The area in question is supply chain management, arguably one …


Analyzing Service Usage Patterns: Methodology And Simulation, Qianhui (Althea) Liang, Jen-Yao Chung Oct 2007

Analyzing Service Usage Patterns: Methodology And Simulation, Qianhui (Althea) Liang, Jen-Yao Chung

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper proposes that service mining technology will power the construction of new business services via both intra- and inter-enterprise service assembly within the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) framework. We investigate the methodologies of service mining at the component level of service usage. We also demonstrate how mining of service usage patterns is intended to be used to improve different aspects of service composition. Simulation experiments conducted for mining at the component level are analyzed. The processing details within a general service mining deployment are demonstrated.


Antecedents And Outcomes Of Perceived Locus Of Causality: An Application Of Self-Determination Theory, Daniel B. Turban, Hwee Hoon Tan, Kenneth G. Brown, Kennon M. Sheldon Oct 2007

Antecedents And Outcomes Of Perceived Locus Of Causality: An Application Of Self-Determination Theory, Daniel B. Turban, Hwee Hoon Tan, Kenneth G. Brown, Kennon M. Sheldon

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We extended self-determination theory by examining personality antecedents and self-regulatory consequences of perceived locus of causality (PLOC), which is the extent to which individuals perceive their actions as caused by internal or external reasons. We theorized that personality would influence PLOC and that individuals with internal PLOC would engage in more self-regulatory activities, which would in turn predict performance and enjoyment. We used structural equation modeling with data collected from 260 students at 4 time points to test our hypotheses. The model fit the data well. Although personality had direct effects on the self-regulatory activities of effort and meta-cognitive strategies, …


Research And Development Project Valuation And Licensing Negotiations At Phytopharm Plc, Pascale Crama, Bert De Reyck, Zeger Degraeve, Wang Chong Oct 2007

Research And Development Project Valuation And Licensing Negotiations At Phytopharm Plc, Pascale Crama, Bert De Reyck, Zeger Degraeve, Wang Chong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We describe a research and development project-valuation model developed for Phytopharm plc, a pharmaceutical development and functional food company based in Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom. Phytopharm uses the model to value the projects in its research and development portfolio, and in licensing negotiations with potential product development and marketing partners. We include different valuation methods, including net present value, decision analysis, and Monte Carlo simulation. We also consider the technological risks of product development, as well as the uncertainty of commercial success. In addition to determining a value for a product in development, the model proposes appropriate licensing contract structures. A …


European Venture Capital Market: Scaling Beyond Current Boundaries, Gerard George, Eva Nathusius Oct 2007

European Venture Capital Market: Scaling Beyond Current Boundaries, Gerard George, Eva Nathusius

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study systematically documents the perceptions of LPs, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs and their views of the trends and challenges facing the European venture capital market. The interest from LPs in European venture capital funds was found to be neutral to marginally negative because of historical returns. However, buoyancy in the supply of high quality opportunities at reasonable valuations has the potential to improve this outlook. The findings suggest that European venture capitalists still face structural barriers in the form of heterogeneous consumer preferences, improving but weak exit and fundraising environments, and the scarcity of LPs of significant size. The …


Forecasting In Rapidly Changing Environments: An Application To The Us Motion Picture Industry, Anirban Mukherjee, Kadiyali Vrinda Oct 2007

Forecasting In Rapidly Changing Environments: An Application To The Us Motion Picture Industry, Anirban Mukherjee, Kadiyali Vrinda

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Markets with rapidly changing environments provide forecasting challenges because of fewer similarities between past and future outcomes. In this paper, we provide a methodology that enables forecasting with relatively short histories. The application is to the U.S. motion picture industry where we forecast revenues in theatrical, sales (DVD and VHS), and rental channels. Using short market histories of similar products, we account for (1) observed and unobserved movie-specific characteristics, (2) seasonality of demand, (3) competition within and across multiple distribution channels (4) market expansion, substitution and complementarity between movies inside and across distribution channels. We extend the multiplicative competitive interaction …


Follow The Leader? Price Change Timing In Internet-Based Selling, R. J. Kauffman, Charles A. Wood Oct 2007

Follow The Leader? Price Change Timing In Internet-Based Selling, R. J. Kauffman, Charles A. Wood

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Internet technologies should lessen information asymmetry, prompting competitive price reactions, but this does not seem to be happening in Internet-based selling. We study empirical regularities of price change timing for music CD vendors and booksellers to assess several theoretical explanations. Our sample includes 123, 680 daily prices for 169 products and 53 firms. Bertrand competition is insufficient to explain our observation that sellers do not shift prices this way. Tacitly collusive responses to competitors' price changes are observed rather than price changes solely in response to demand or cost shifts as would be expected with Bertrand competition. We find evidence …


The Office Killjoy, M. Thulasidas Oct 2007

The Office Killjoy, M. Thulasidas

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

If you think stress makes you more productive, then you need to change. HOW can we manage stress, given that it is unavoidable in our corporate existence?


Differentiating Knowledge Processes In Organisational Learning: A Case Of ‘Two Solitudes’, Siu Loon Hoe, Steven L. Mcshane Oct 2007

Differentiating Knowledge Processes In Organisational Learning: A Case Of ‘Two Solitudes’, Siu Loon Hoe, Steven L. Mcshane

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The fields of organizational behaviour (OB)/strategy and marketing have taken different paths over the past two decades to understanding organisational learning. OB/strategy has been pre-occupied with theory development and case study illustrations, whereas marketing research has taken a highly quantitative path. Although relying on essentially the same foundation theory, these two solitudes have had minimal cross-fertilisation. Furthermore, both fields tend to blur or usually ignore the distinction between structural and informal knowledge processes. The marketing literature, in particular, relies on the MARKOR scale, which measures structural knowledge processes. Informal knowledge acquisition and dissemination processes are almost completely ignored. The purpose …


Clear Leadership: Promoting Organisational Learning And Squashing ‘Interpersonal Mush’, Knowledge@Smu Sep 2007

Clear Leadership: Promoting Organisational Learning And Squashing ‘Interpersonal Mush’, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

Gervase Bushe, management and organisation studies professor in the Segal Graduate School of Business at Simon Fraser University in Canada, is also a consultant and an award winning author in the field of organisational change and development. In July 2007, Bushe was one of the main speakers at the Seventh International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change in Organisations, held at the Singapore Management University. Knowledge@SMU spoke to Bushe about teaching Clear Leadership to facilitate organisational learning.


How Do Word-Of-Mouth Reviews Affect Product Sales? Applying The Stock Market Analogy To Online Stores, Knowledge@Smu Sep 2007

How Do Word-Of-Mouth Reviews Affect Product Sales? Applying The Stock Market Analogy To Online Stores, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

Online word-of-mouth communication -- such as product reviews by consumers -- has become a major information source about product quality. Singapore Management University information systems professor Nan Hu and his team investigated both quantitative and qualitative aspects of online reviews using Amazon.com as their study base. They found that, besides review scores, consumers do pay attention to other contextual information such as a reviewer’s reputation and exposure. Hu’s research also showed that the longer an item is on the market, the smaller the impact of online reviews on sales.


Supply Chain Excellence Is All About Providing, Knowledge@Smu Sep 2007

Supply Chain Excellence Is All About Providing, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

In a globalised economy, businesses are employing innovative methods to create value in the supply chain process. Operations, information and technology professor Hau L. Lee of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business recently delivered a keynote address on “Creating Value with Supply Chain Excellence” at the Singapore Management University. Lee talked to Knowledge@SMU about how supply chain innovations could be developed and realised, using a framework he designed on Value-Creation Evolutions.


Should China Keep Its Dollar Peg? Some Parallels From Japan, Knowledge@Smu Sep 2007

Should China Keep Its Dollar Peg? Some Parallels From Japan, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

At a recent Singapore Management University School of Economics Distinguished Lecture, Stanford University international economics professor Ronald I. McKinnon warned of a possible ‘lost decade’ of falling price levels and undesirably low interest rates in China, similar to those experienced by Japan in the 1990s. McKinnon draws parallels between Japan in the late 1980s and present day China in his paper entitled “Why China Should Keep its Exchange Rate Pegged to the Dollar: A Historical Perspective from Japan”. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Are Us Family Firms Subject To Agency Problems? Evidence From Ceo Turnover And Firm Valuation, Xia Chen, Zhonglan Dai Sep 2007

Are Us Family Firms Subject To Agency Problems? Evidence From Ceo Turnover And Firm Valuation, Xia Chen, Zhonglan Dai

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper investigates the impact of the founding family's presence in US public firms on the extent of agency problems related to CEO turnover decisions and on firm valuations after poor performance. In particular, we focus on three types of US public firms: family CEO firms, professional CEO family firms (family firms managed by a hired CEO outside the founding family), and non-family firms. We hypothesize that, the agency problem arising from the expropriation of small shareholders by large shareholders in family CEO firms and the agency problem arising from the separation of ownership and control in non-family firms, lead …


A Self-Motives Perspective On Feedback-Seeking Behavior: Linking Organizational Behavior And Social Psychology Research, Frederick Anseel, Filip Lievens, Paul E. Levy Sep 2007

A Self-Motives Perspective On Feedback-Seeking Behavior: Linking Organizational Behavior And Social Psychology Research, Frederick Anseel, Filip Lievens, Paul E. Levy

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Both the feedback-seeking literature in management and the self-motives domain in social psychology have focused on how motives affect the way in which people acquire information for self-evaluation purposes. Despite apparent conceptual similarities, the implications of research in these domains have not been fully integrated. This paper aims to link research on feedback-seeking behavior to recent theoretical developments in social psychology. First, the current perspective in management on feedback-seeking motives is depicted. Second, a well-established framework of self-motives in social psychology is introduced. Third, similarities and differences between these two motivational perspectives are discussed and a first step towards integration …


Insults In Your Inbox, M. Thulasidas Sep 2007

Insults In Your Inbox, M. Thulasidas

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Email is a boon at work, but aggressive staff may use it to inflict humiliation. Most of its impact has been positive. An email from the big boss to all@yourcompany, for instance, is a fair substitute for a general communication meet- ing. In smaller teams, email often saves meetings and increases productivity.


Social Influences On Organizational Attractiveness: Investigating If And When Word Of Mouth Matters, Greet Van Hoye, Filip Lievens Sep 2007

Social Influences On Organizational Attractiveness: Investigating If And When Word Of Mouth Matters, Greet Van Hoye, Filip Lievens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Previous recruitment studies have treated potential applicants as individual decision makers, neglecting informational social influences on organizational attractiveness. The present study investigated if and under what conditions word-of-mouth communication matters as a recruitment source. Results (N = 171) indicated that word of mouth had a strong impact on organizational attractiveness, and negative word of mouth interfered with recruitment advertising effects. Word of mouth from a strong tie was perceived as more credible and had a more positive effect on organizational attractiveness. For potential applicants high in self-monitoring, word of mouth had a stronger effect when presented after recruitment advertising. Finally, …


Combining Predictors To Achieve Optimal Trade-Offs Between Selection Quality And Adverse Impact, Wilfried De Corte, Filip Lievens, Paul R. Sackett Sep 2007

Combining Predictors To Achieve Optimal Trade-Offs Between Selection Quality And Adverse Impact, Wilfried De Corte, Filip Lievens, Paul R. Sackett

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The authors propose a procedure to determine (a) predictor composites that result in a Pareto-optimal trade-off between the often competing goals in personnel selection of quality and adverse impact and (b) the relative importance of the quality and impact objectives that correspond to each of these trade-offs. They also investigated whether the obtained Pareto-optimal composites continue to perform well under variability of the selection parameters that characterize the intended selection decision. The results of this investigation indicate that this is indeed the case. The authors suggest that the procedure be used as one of a number of potential strategies for …


The Size Of Venture Capital And Private Equity Fund Portfolios, Gennaro Bernile, Douglas Cumming, Evgeny Lyandres Sep 2007

The Size Of Venture Capital And Private Equity Fund Portfolios, Gennaro Bernile, Douglas Cumming, Evgeny Lyandres

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We propose a model that examines the optimal size of venture capital and private equity fund portfolios. The relationship between a VC and entrepreneurs is characterized by double-sided moral hazard, which causes the VC to trade off larger portfolios against lower values of portfolio companies. We analyze the structural relations between the VC's optimal portfolio structure and entrepreneurs' and VC's productivities, their disutilities of effort, the value of a successful project, and the required initial investment in a venture. We also test the model's predictions using a small proprietary dataset collected through a survey targeted to VC and private equity …


Evaluating The Blending Of An E-Learning Module Into A Knowledge Management Course: A Case Study From The Singapore Management University (Smu), Thomas Menkhoff, Tze Yian Thang, Yue Kee Wong Sep 2007

Evaluating The Blending Of An E-Learning Module Into A Knowledge Management Course: A Case Study From The Singapore Management University (Smu), Thomas Menkhoff, Tze Yian Thang, Yue Kee Wong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In 2005, the authors of this essay led the development and launch of SMU’s (Singapore Management University) first e-learning package on ‘Knowledge Management’. The package is aimed at supporting SMU’s mission to be committed to an interactive, participative and technologically-enabled learning experience. Since its inception in 2000, SMU’s educational and administrative practices are modelled after American institutions, in particular the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. To support SMU’s unique pedagogy, wireless technology for mobile computing is a central feature at SMU. Against this background, the paper features a self-critical and reflective case study of the roll out of …


Asymmetries In Stock Returns: Statistical Tests And Economic Evaluation, Yongmiao Hong, Jun Tu, Guofu Zhou Sep 2007

Asymmetries In Stock Returns: Statistical Tests And Economic Evaluation, Yongmiao Hong, Jun Tu, Guofu Zhou

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We provide a model-free test for asymmetric correlations in which stocks move more often with the market when the market goes down than when it goes up, and also provide such tests for asymmetric betas and covariances. When stocks are sorted by size, book-to-market, and momentum, we find strong evidence of asymmetries for both size and momentum portfolios, but no evidence for book-to-market portfolios. Moreover, we evaluate the economic significance of incorporating asymmetries into investment decisions, and find that they can be of substantial economic importance for an investor with a disappointment aversion (DA) preference as described by Ang, Bekaert, …


Job Satisfaction As Mediator: An Assessment Of Job Satisfaction's Position Within The Nomological Network, Marcus Crede, Oleksandr S. Chernyshenko, Stephen Stark, Reeshad S. Dalal, Michael R. Bashshur Sep 2007

Job Satisfaction As Mediator: An Assessment Of Job Satisfaction's Position Within The Nomological Network, Marcus Crede, Oleksandr S. Chernyshenko, Stephen Stark, Reeshad S. Dalal, Michael R. Bashshur

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Job satisfaction's position within the nomological network and the mechanism outlined by theories of social exchange suggest that job satisfaction functions as a mediator of the relationship between various antecedent variables and volitional workplace behaviours. We extend social exchange theory to include perceptions of the total job situation and develop a model that positions job satisfaction as a mediator of the relationships between various internal and external antecedent variables, and three volitional workplace behaviours: citizenship behaviours, counterproductive workplace behaviours, and job withdrawal. The fit of a fully mediated model is good and all four classes of antecedents (dispositions, workplace events, …


Robust Local Search And Its Application To Generating Robust Schedules, Hoong Chuin Lau, Fei Xiao, Thomas Ou Sep 2007

Robust Local Search And Its Application To Generating Robust Schedules, Hoong Chuin Lau, Fei Xiao, Thomas Ou

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we propose an extended local search framework to solve combinatorial optimization problems with data uncertainty. Our approach represents a major departure from scenario-based or stochastic programming approaches often used to tackle uncertainty. Given a value 0 < ? 1, we are interested to know what the robust objective value is, i.e. the optimal value if we allow an chance of not meeting it, assuming that certain data values are defined on bounded random variables. We show how a standard local search or metaheuristic routine can be extended to efficiently construct a decision rule with such guarantee, albeit heuristically. We demonstrate its practical applicability on the Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problem with minimal and maximal time lags (RCPSP/max) taking into consideration activity duration uncertainty. Experiments show that, partial order schedules can be constructed that are robust in our sense without the need for a large planned horizon (due date), which improves upon the work proposed by Policella et al. 2004.


Keep The Talk Flowing, M. Thulasidas Sep 2007

Keep The Talk Flowing, M. Thulasidas

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Specialisation is good. It lets us go deep into a specific field of endeavour, but at the expense of a broad overview of everything.


Singapore’S Cpf Retirement Scheme: Delivering More Bang For The Buck, Knowledge@Smu Aug 2007

Singapore’S Cpf Retirement Scheme: Delivering More Bang For The Buck, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) is one of Asia’s oldest and best known defined contribution retirement schemes. As the country rapidly ages, government policymakers are paying close attention to whether its citizens and residents are saving enough for retirement. Benedict Koh, Olivia Mitchell and associates recently prepared two working papers which examine the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS) as well as its potential to adequately support members in retirement.