Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

Fitting Loss Distributions In The Presence Of Rating Variables, Farrokh Guiahi

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

This paper focuses on issues and methodologies for fitting alternative statistical models-parametric probability distributions-to samples of insurance loss data. The interactions of loss distributions, deductibles, policy limits, and rating variables in the context of fitting distributions to losses are discussed. Fitted loss distributions serve an important function in pricing insurance products. The methodology developed in this paper is applied to a sample of insurance loss data that has the lognormal as the underlying loss distribution.

Linear Empirical Bayes Estimation Of Survival Probabilities With Partial Data, Mostafa Mashayekhi

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

In this paper we consider linear empirical Bayes estimation of survival probabilities with partial data from right-censored and possibly left-truncated observations. Such data are produced by studies in which the exact times of death are not recorded and the length of time that each subject may be under observation cannot exceed one unit of time. We obtain asymptotically optimal linear empirical Bayes estimators, with respect to the squared error loss function, under the assumption that the probability of death under observation in a unit time interval is proportional to the length of observation. This assumption is sometimes implied by Balducci's …

A Sensitivity Analysis Of The Premiums For A Permanent Health Insurance (Phi) Model, Ben D. Rickayzen

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

This paper presents an analysis of the parameters used in a multi-state model for permanent health insurance (PHI). The model is a simplification of that used in the United Kingdom. To avoid using duration dependent probabilities, the model splits the sick state into several sub-states to act as a proxy for duration spent in a particular state. This enables a Markov approach to be adopted. Lapses are incorporated within the model, and the net premium for a particular policy is tested for sensitivity to the various parameters used, including their interaction with the lapse rate. One of our conclusions is …

Controlling The Solvency Interaction Among A Group Of Insurance Companies, Alexandros Zimbidis, Steven Haberman

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

Pooling of risks is an efficient risk management technique used by large employee benefit schemes of multinational companies to self-insure their retirement and other benefit obligations. This technique forms a basis for formulating a general control theoretic model for the interaction between insurance companies within a pooling network. The objective of these insurance companies is to avoid insolvency yet maintain stable premium and surplus processes. A general control system of equations that is used as a model for the interaction of m insurance companies within the network is first analyzed. An analytic solution is provided. Questions concerning the stability and …

Exponential Bonus-Malus Systems Integrating A Priori Risk Classification, Llufs Bermudez, Michel Denuit, Jan Dhaene

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

This paper examines an integrated ratemaking scheme including a priori risk classification and a posteriori experience rating. In order to avoid the high penalties implied by the quadratic loss function, the symmetry between the overcharges and the undercharges is broken by introducing parametric loss functions of exponential type.

Premium Earning Patterns For Multi-Year Policies With Aggregate Deductibles, Thomas Struppeck

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

MUlti-year policies with large aggregate deductibles or multiple triggers raise some interesting issues about the correct amount of unearned premium reserve that a company should carry. Examples in this paper illustrate some of the difficulties that arise when trying to establish such reserves. The basic approach taken here is that the pure premium portion of the unearned premium reserve should always be adequate to cover the remaining risk. This approach, however, can lead to some unusual and controversial earning patterns; there are even situations where a negative premium is earned. In addition, the earning pattern for a particular loss scenario …

Analyzing Management Fees Of Pension Funds: A Case Study Of Mexico, Tapen Sinha

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

Though the rates of return for public pension funds have been high over the past two decades, one critical aspect of the financing of this type of fund is often overlooked: high management fees. As a result, the rates of return for workers who have invested in these funds have not necessarily been high. Management fees charged on pension funds in Mexico result in a leakage of funds in the order of 20-30% of the fund. That is, the amount at retirement would have been 20-30% higher had there been no fees. A model is developed that includes all the …

If It’S Wrong, It’S Wrong; And More Talk Won’T Make It Right, David J. Cherrington, Owen J. Cherrington

Faculty Publications

We find the moral relativism underlying postmodernism quite disturbing when it comes to discussions of truth and honesty. The following experience illustrates the benefit of a clear, universal standard regarding cheating.

The Teenage Mind - Part 1, David J. Cherrington, Owen J. Cherrington

Faculty Publications

When we see teenagers do things that are seriously wrong or illegal we often ask, “Why did they do such a stupid thing?” “What in the world were they thinking?” In fact, teenagers do many stupid things and sometimes it appears they were not really thinking. But when we examine what goes through their minds it is easier to understand why they sometimes act dishonestly. We also learn that the excuses teenagers make for being dishonest are not much different than the rationalizations used by adults.

Role Playing And Cooperative Learning In The Ais Course, Dennis F. Togo, Kristi Jane Yuthas

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

The accounting information systems course is often viewed as difficult to teach because it contains topics that are less quantifiable and structured in comparison to courses in financial or managerial!cost accounting. Yet, many AIS instructors have developed successful teaching techniques that are suited to the AIS course. A creative teaching approach for the AIS course is that of role-playing organizations and their operations, especially for transaction cycles. In addition, cooperative learning can be nicely coupled with role playing because of their common emphases on social interdependence and shared learning. The benefits and guidelines for cooperative learning and role playing are …

Journal Of Actuarial Practice, Volume 9 (2001), Colin Ramsay , Editor

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

(The complete issue, including) ARTICLES

Analyzing Management Fees of Pension Funds: A Case Study of Mexico • Tapen Sinha 5

Premium Earning Patterns for Multi-Year Policies with Aggregate Deductibles • Thomas Struppeck 45

Exponential Bonus-Malus Systems Integrating A Priori Risk Classification • Lluis Benmidez, Michel Denuit, and Jan Dhaene 67

Fitting Loss Distributions in the Presence of Rating Variables • Farrokh Guiahi 97

Linear Empirical Bayes Estimation of Survival Probabilities with Partial Data • Mostafa Mashayekhi 131

Controlling the Solvency Interaction Among a Group of Insurance Companies • Alexandros Zimbidis and Steven Haberman 151

A Sensitivity Analysis of the Premiums …

A Study On Infant Formula Industry In Malaysia, Kaun Kwai

Student Works (2000-2009)

Since established in 1959, DUMEX (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. is the market leader in infant formula business in Malaysia. Stricter Code of Ethics for Infant Formula Products and increasing market competitiveness however, have awaken the need to examine appropriate marketing strategies in order to remain as number one in the infant formula segment. Marketing strategies proposed for infant formula industry in this study are predominantly based on capabilities of DUMEX (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. DUMEX Nutrition Services Team plays an important role in creating infant formulas awareness among health care professionals. Dilemma of high staff turnover generated a need to determine correlation …

Application Of Soft System Methodology In A Planned Organisational Change : A Case Study On Chs Ind. Bhd., Chew Choo Chan

Student Works (2000-2009)

The objective of this study is to gauge the organisation viability and performance by applying the Soft System Methodology, to draw a framework for a planned organisational change in a polywrap packaging material manufacturer. The selection of samples for observation and secondary data was based on census (for organisation level and group level) and probability sampling (for individual level). The stratified sampling method was used to select 30% (70 individuals) from 3 levels of employees in the organisation (which consists of 234 employees). The 5 points Likert Scale was used to measure the magnitude of the variables being evaluated. The …

A "New" Theory Of Management, Andrew Sikula Sr., Kurt Olmosk, Chong W. Kim, Stephen Cupps

Management Faculty Research

This article presents a "new" theory of management for the new millennium: "new" not because singularly the ideas are recent, but because the combination of these older ideas collectively is novel. To some extent, this article represents the reestablishment of previously existing employment ethics that for various and sundry reasons lapsed into disuse in the past several decades. This article discusses employee relations ethics (ERE) in terms of an ERE credo and a set of assumptions. The modern millennium mission states that all organizations (public and private) should primarily be employee centered, not owner or administrator controlled, customer or client …

Annual Report 2001, Houston Academy Of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library

Annual Reports: 1943 - Present

The file contains the annual report for the library from 2000-2001.

2001 Blue Cross And Blue Shield Of Florida Report To The Community And Blue Foundation Annual Report, Blue Cross And Blue Shield Of Florida, Inc.

Florida Blue Archives Printed Materials

Annual company report to the community for 2001 detailing Blue Cross of Florida's The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida's charitable initiatives, community involvement, business operations, financial assets and expenditures, and executive leadership.

Study On Complaint Handling System In Jabatan Pembangunan Dan Penyelenggaraan Harta Benda, University Of Malaya, Azahar Awalludin

Student Works (2000-2009)

Customers are the lifelines of any organization and it is important to keep current patrons by avoiding or minimizing customer dissatisfaction. Within any industry, an effective complaint management system is capable to provide competitive edge to the organization with a positive philosophy and reputation. Complaint handling system offers organization an opportunity to correct immediate problems. Frequently, this system provides constructive ideas in improving and upgrading products and services. Many organizations recognize the importance of complaint handling system by establishing effective and innovative system to resolve complaints. One of them is Jabatan Pembangunan dan Penyelenggaraan Harta Benda, University of Malaya through …

Director Ownership And Financial Performance Of Listed Companies In Malaysia, Kiew Heong Yap

Student Works (2000-2009)

The ability to align managerial and shareholder Interests via the managerial ownership of equity is an important topic of Inquiry, with the governance issues arising from the separation of ownership from control. The primarily US and UK based literature and findings suggest that management is aligned at low and possibly high levels of ownership but is entrenched (pursuing self interest) at intermediate ownership levels. This paper examines the relationship between the performance of public-listed companies (PLC) and director ownership in Malaysia using accounting and market performance measures. The empirical results of the paper shows that as director ownership in a …

Advanced Information Systems: Impact On Organizational Reality, Rolf D. Dixon

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Today, with the proliferation of increasingly advanced information technologies in organizations, a significant challenge can be made to the traditional assumptions regarding the non-rationality of organizational behavior. It is the purpose of this paper to consider the effects of advanced information technologies on the spatial, structural, social, and informational processes of the organization and to suggest how this could, in fact, signal a return to the “rational” organization. This paper will consider the issue of organizational rationality in a normative manner with several propositions offered.

Option-Based Management Of Technology Investment Risk, Michel Benaroch

Management - All Scholarship

Real operating (flexibility) options embedded in a technology investment are valuable because they allow management to take rational, value-adding actions that could favorably affect operational traits of the investment (timing, scale, scope, etc.). These options, however, are not inherent in technology investments. Rather, they usually must be carefully planned and designed to fit each investment differently. Building on concepts from the area of financial risk management, this paper presents a methodology for planning the creation of specific operating options designed to maximize the value of a technology investment in light of the risks underlying that investment. The paper also illustrates …

Use And Effectiveness Of Decision Support Systems (Dss): Study Of The Saudi Private Sector, Ibrahim A. Alhunaishel

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In the industrialized world today, management is characterized by extensive use of computers to manage rapid change, information overload, and complex decision-making. Literature suggests that Decision Support Systems, computer packages offering information retrieval, problem-structuring models, decision alternatives, and other types of decision support, are effective extensions of human decision-making and offer substantial benefits to organizations utilizing them.

In spite of overwhelmingly positive reviews for DSS, empirical literature has produced inconsistent results regarding DSS effectiveness, and definitions of “effectiveness” and of DSS itself are varied and sometimes contradictory. Distinguishing DSS from MIS (management information systems) and other types of managerial computer …

Socio-Economic Determinants Of Childbearing In Peninsular Malaysia, K.T. Chan

Student Works (2000-2009)

The present study describes and examines trends and differentials in cumulative fertility according to seven socio-economic factors based on data availability and findings from past studies. Data show that fertility is still on the declining trend among Malaysian women. The salient findings of the study reveal that fertility differentials in terms of number of children ever born persist between the following population subgroups: Malays and non-Malays; rural and urban; East region and other regions. The high fertility among Malays is related to delayed termination in childbearing compared to other ethnic groups. Among the non-Malays, the fertility rate of Indian women …

Bookshop Inventory Management System (Bims) /, Loong Po Chang

Student Works (2000-2009)

All undergraduates of the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya are required to carry out a final year thesis project in computer or information technology related topic during their 3 years course in the university. This subject is one of the conditions must be fulfilled before they graduate. This final year thesis project takes 2 semesters and brings out 9 credit hours of total 120 credit hours. I, one of the students in the faculty, propose Bookshop Inventory Management System (BIMS) as my thesis title. I was assigned to and placed under the supervision of Prof …

Issues Raised In Cross-Border Mergers, Karen Cascini, Abdel M. Agami

WCBT Faculty Publications

There has been a significant increase in the number and value of cross-border mergers among multinational businesses in recent years. Some of the reasons for this increase are due to an increase in competition, the growth in global markets, and the rapid changes in technology. In order to justify a merger, management usually claims that the merger will produce synergy. It claims that the merger will increase revenues, earnings, cash flows, the value of stockholders' equity, and will benefit society. The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the issues involved in cross-border mergers among multinational businesses, suggest …

New Evidence On The Structuring Of Ceo Incentive Pay Ratios, Rajaram Veliyath, James J. Cordeiro

Faculty Articles

The model examines both determinants of CEO incentive pay ratios that are controllable by the CEO, and those that are less controllable, based on a sample of 316 Fortune 500 firms in 1992. Firm diversity, firm growth opportunities, outside blockholdings, and the number of analysts following the firm were positively related to CEO incentive compensation ratios, while firm unsystematic risk, CEO stockholdings, and industry regulation had a negative impact. Finally, industry-specific influences were evident on incentive compensation ratios.

B2b Portal: Web-Enable Fulfillment System, Oi Ching Wong

Student Works (2000-2009)

The Web-enable fulfillment system is basically a web site that enables suppliers to automate and structure the order fulfillment process to help ensure that products and services meet or exceed customer’s exact requirements including quality, quantity and specifications. The intelligence of the system will be the server where all calculations and business rules are applies. Business-to-business (B2B) e-Commerce implies that both the sellers and buyers are business corporation. Purchase order is used as the system default as the business partners rarely use credit card for payment. Therefore, the order fulfillment process begins when an approved order is routed to the …

Sistem Pembelian Kereta Baru Dalam Talian, Jaafar Muhammad Hanif

Student Works (2000-2009)

Latihan ilmiah merupakan salah satu kursus wajib yang mesti diambil bagi memenuhi keperluan pengijazahan dalam pengajian Sarjana Muda Sains Komputer Universiti Malaya. Bagi memenuhi tujuan ini, saya telah memilih tajuk sistem pembelian kereta baru sebagai tajuk tesis dan penyelia ialah En. Mustaffa Kamal b. Mohd Nor. Dalam membangunakan sesuatu sistem, cadangan projek diperlukan bagi menjelaskan kefahaman pelajar terhadap sistem yang akan dibangunkan. Dalam cadangan projek ini saya akan menerangkan secara ringkas tentang sistem yang akan dibangunkan, bagaimana sistem akan dibangunkan, objektif pembangunan sistem, apakah kelemahan dan kebaikan sistem yang akan dibangunkan, siapakah pengguna-pengguna sistem, peralatan-peralatan yang digunakan dalam pembangunan sistem, …

Virtual Estore - Ves.Com, Hean Giap Tan

Student Works (2000-2009)

This is an e-commerce project that suitable for medium-scaled company. It allows companies to register as retailer and sell their product online. Customer can choose and compare products' price from different retailer in this system and pay for their products online using credit cards. Before developing this system, surveys on several development tools are carried on. After the literature surveys, appropriate software tools are chosen. Besides, some existing Malaysia e-commerce website also investigated and their weaknesses are identified. Strength of foreign e-commerce is reviewed, hopes that it will help in developing the system. Furthermore, correct methodology of the project is …

Fsktm Rooms Reservation System, Sheau Yun Voon

Student Works (2000-2009)

For the past few years, the room reservation system at Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology (FSKTM), University Malaya, has been carried out manually. In order to keep up with fast growing technology, it is worthwhile to develop a computerized room reservation system. With this automated system, the faculty will be able to increase efficiency in management operations and time saving. Following from that, I have decided to develop this FSKTM Rooms Reservation System, or RRS as my final year project. FSKTM Rooms Reservation System is a combination of internet-based system and client-server application system. This system is developed …

Electronic Marketing, Sin Yong Choo

Student Works (2000-2009)

In the world of twenty-first-century business, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and Internet technologies are rapidly coming together. ERP software is used to share accurate information with trading partners. Meanwhile, Internet help to connect people, streamline processes and help reduce costs. Easy-to-use, web-based business environments help companies get to the point, and focus on what they do best. Integrated Business Solutions (IBS) developed under ERP concept, which enables the company for managing their daily business processes systematically. IBS consists eight modules that meet the needs of customers, suppliers, partners and employees. The eight modules are E-Human Resource, E-Supplier, E-Banking, E-Sales, E-Marketing, …