Strategic Management Policy Commons^™

Take Me Out Of The Ball Game: The Efficacy Of Public Subsidies In The Success Of Professional Sports Stadiums, Jonah Chodosh

CMC Senior Theses

This paper weights the relative advantages of multiple factors that lead to the success of professional sports stadiums in major markets, though a discussion of the arguments for and against public subsidies towards these projects. Using a logit statistical model, the paper determines that the two factors determining the highest likelihood of venue success include multiple tenants and access to mass transit. The analysis demonstrates that public subsidies towards stadiums don’t generate sufficient economic returns, and that successful stadiums can be created without using taxpayer funds.

Developing A Culturally Responsive Classroom Collaborative Of Faculty, Students, And Institution, Paul J. Colbert

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

Culture is integral to the learning process. It is the organization and way of life within the community of students and teachers and directs the way they communicate, interact, and approach teaching and learning. Although founded in particular values and principles, the academy, like most organizations, is impacted day-to-day by its culture. Yet, the traditional higher education institution has not been designed to operate within a racially or ethnically diverse student population. The social, political, economic, and cultural forces that support the institution influence the teaching and learning environments. To better address cultural diversity in the classroom, faculty must first …

The Efficiency And Profitability Improvement Of The Rehabilitation Operations And Management Of Non Performing Loans : A Case Study Of Bank Perusahaan Kecil & Sederhana Malaysia Berhad (Sme Bank)., Ridza Ramza Ramli, Mohd Prasad Hanif

Student Works (2010-2019)

The comprehensive study on Rehabilitation Department is conducted to identify which segment within the process flow that requires improvement. The management of Non Performing Loans (NPLs) in a Bank is very crucial as these accounts are actually reflects the performance of the Banks. The Rehabilitation Department main task is to ensure proper administration of Non Performing Loans to be executed in order to maximize the recovery income to the Bank. The department also responsible to provides desirable result in term of manageable and acceptable NPLs rate for the Bank. The current process flow which has been used and practiced by …

Finance Flies High: How Unilever Redesigned The Finance Function To Build Brand Value And Drive Growth, Barbara M. Tarasovich, Bridget Lyons

WCBT Faculty Publications

Unilever's finance team played a key role in the success of their brands. The company achieved its fourth consecutive year of accelerating organic sales growth from less than 0.5% in 2004 to more than 7% in 2008, according to Jim Lawrence, Unilever's CFO. Its strategy is to focus on volume growth and strengthening the competitive position of the company's brands. In this article, the authors examine how the finance function at Unilever was redesigned to deliver the firm's strategic goals, including an emphasis on volume growth and competitive position of its brands. Beginning in 2005, the finance team at Unilever …

Motivations For Us Foreign Direct Investment, Christina Buoninfante

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to determine US firms’ motivations for foreign direct investment and to explore to what extent US firms continue to invest into China and India. I first correlate the agricultural, industrial, and service sectors in the United States with those of China and India. I find that there is a positive relationship between the correlation of US sectors and the host country’s sectors and foreign direct investment into each sector. This supports the theory of Vernon’s product life cycle hypothesis, which explains that firms expand into lesser developed countries when their product becomes more sensitive …

Residual State Ownership, Policy Stability And Financial Performance Following Strategic Decisions By Privatizing Telecoms, Paul M. Vaaler, Burkhard N. Schrage

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We question previous research assuming that privatizing firm performance generally benefits from decreasing state ownership and the passage of time, both of which purportedly align principal-agent incentives promoting organizational decision-making that increases shareholder value. When state ownership shifts from majority and controlling to minority and non-controlling, the performance impact may be positive in the short run, particularly where there is instability in the local investment policy environment. Consistent with this proposition, we develop and test hypotheses derived from a minority and non-controlling or residual state ownership framework, grounded in credible privatization and institutional theory. We propose that: (1) residual state …

Futility Of Stimulus Funds In The Middle Of Huge Trade Deficits, Narendra C. Bhandari

Faculty Working Papers and Articles

The U. S. is facing an unprecedented environment of increasing unemployment, declining income, disappearing middleclass, and mounting trade deficit (about $731 billion in 2007). The government is providing stimulus funds to a selected number of organizations to help solve these problems. However, as long as the country continues to have huge trade deficits, these stimulus efforts may not help much, if at all. They may even worsen the economic situation. This could happen if the banking, insurance, construction, transportation, and other companies—receiving the stimulus funds—would offshore part of their production activities. Several American firms send certain number of jobs abroad …

Strategically Managing Resources And Revenue, Christine G. Springer

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

The author reflects on the use of strategic management in the success of the United States Postal Service. She states that the U.S. Postal Service has used the breakthrough productivity scheme to reduce mail-processing costs and address retail locations and bulk-mail areas. She believes that the service is committed in gaining sustained success through the scheme and in serving its customers effectively.

Employee Incentives To Make Firm Specific Investment: Implications For Resource-Based Theories Of Corporate Diversification, Heli Wang, Jay B. Barney

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We argue that the risk associated with the value of a firm's core resources has an impact on employee decisions to make firm-specific investments, independent of the threat of opportunism that might exist in a particular exchange. We further explore mechanisms firms may adopt to mitigate the employee incentive problem stemming from the risk associated with core resource value. These arguments shed new light on resource-based theories of corporate diversification.

Obesity, Educational Attainment, And State Economic Welfare, Martin W. Sivula Ph.D.

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

For the first time in history, estimates of the overweight people in the world rival estimates of those malnourished. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2002) ranked obesity among the top 10 risks to human health worldwide. In the early 1960s, nearly half of the Americans were overweight and 13% were obese. Today some 64% of U.S. adults are overweight and 30.5% are obese. Even more alarming, twice as many U.S. children are overweight than were twenty years ago, a 66% increase. Non-communicable diseases impose a heavy economic burden on already strained health systems. Health is a key determinant of development …

Understanding The Impact Of Financial Decisions On Financial Statements: A Pedagogical Note, Tom Arnold, Leroy Brooks, Terry D. Nixon

Finance Faculty Publications

Viable financial planning requires financial managers' understanding of the consequences of impending decisions on their company's financial performance and position. Understanding the impact of prior decisions on their financial statements also enables future decisions aimed at improving their shareholders' wealth. This note intends to contribute to developing this capacity in finance students. We provide a presentation format directly connecting financial decisions to financial statement impacts. Bridging material covered in accounting courses and a finance student's needs as a possible future manager or analyst, this classroom pedagogy supplements and reinforces the objectives of the financial planning component of a finance course.

How Unilever Hpc-Na Sold Its Employees On The Balanced Scorecard, Bridget Lyons, Andra Gumbus

WCBT Faculty Publications

Unilever Home & Personal Care-North America (HPC-NA) not only takes marketing its products very seriously, but it heavily promotes its balanced scorecard to employees as well. No wonder Unilever HPC-NA successfully designed a unique strategy to communicate awareness of the BSC while encouraging its participation and use. Their experiences should prove valuable to other organizations implementing a balanced scorecard and to those just beginning to formulate a communications approach to internal stakeholders about its role, significance, and use. The Unilever HPC-NA marketing campaign provides an effective strategy that other firms may consider when marketing a balanced scorecard internally. The HPC-NA …

The Effects Of Asset Allocation And Active Management On Total Return Of Managed Funds, Florian Halili

Business and Economics Honors Papers

Portfolio managers are charged with maximizing returns for a given level of risk. There are practical problems that arise in creating an efficient portfolio and maintaining a target level of risk and return. This paper will identify two important factors that a manager needs to address in creating and managing a portfolio. The first step in creating a portfolio should be the establishment of the structure of the portfolio or the portfolio policy, what asset classes it holds and in what proportions. The structure of the portfolio is the main factor that shows how a portfolio is exposed to risk. …

Stimulating Firm-Specific Investment Through Risk Management, Heli Wang, Jay B. Barney, Jeffrey J. Reuer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This article suggests a rationale for firm risk management that has been largely ignored in financial economics literature. It presents an argument for harnessing the influence of a company’s stakeholders who, whether as employees, suppliers or customers, make a valuable investment specific to the company. Such investments are crucial for a firm’s competitive advantage, yet because they are firm-specific and therefore cannot be transformed or transferred, stakeholders are often concerned about the risks involved in making them. A company’s efforts to manage risk can therefore persuade stakeholders to make even greater firm-specific investments, bringing benefits to shareholders and stakeholders alike.

Pitney Bowes Calls For New Metrics, Mark Green, Jeanine Garrity, Andra Gumbus, Bridget Lyons

WCBT Faculty Publications

The importance of measuring strategy and action plans is here to stay. That is why savvy companies are using a scorecard. Pitney Bowes Inc. is one company that believes in the balanced scorecard. At PBI the basis is in place with a newly defined mission statement, individual objectives linked to the mission, and metrics designed to measure progress toward achieving those objectives. The company has been successful on several fronts. In fact, the balanced scorecard approach helped PBI to improve a process in its core business and ultimately saved the company millions.

Sampling Concepts, Paul Boyd, Ph.D.

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

The usefulness of any research is dependent upon how well the group studied represents the group about which decisions are to be made or conclusions drawn. That is, it depends upon how well the sample reflects relevant characteristics of the population. When it is possible to study every member of that group there is no problem, for on these occasions we can easily calculate the exact attribute (parameter) of interest for our population.

For example, if we were interested in determining the average number of gallons of gasoline sold to customers at our service station yesterday, we …

Better Organization's Performance In Local Commercial Banking Industry Through Strategic Balance Strategy, Seng Wah Ling

Student Works (2000-2009)

Similarity among firms has received a great deal of attention in strategic management and organization theories. Past researches observed that firms face pressures to be different and to be the same. By differentiating, firms reduce competition. By conforming, firms demonstrate their legitimacy. Both reduced competition and legitimacy improve performance. This study addresses the performance consequences of firm-level strategic similarity with Strategic Balance Strategy, which states that moderately differentiated firms have higher performance than either highly conforming or highly differentiated firms. This study examines the relative performance of local commercial banks in Malaysia from 1995 to 2000. The study investigates whether …

Survival Strategy Of Sunway Construction Berhad In 1997 Financial Crisis, Kok Leong Chow

Student Works (2000-2009)

Over dependence on the domestic market and government projects and lack of international exposure are the weaknesses of Sunway Construction Berhad, (SWCB), leading to being hit badly by the 1997 financial crisis. The financial crisis has only help to expose such weaknesses . The lack of marketing strategy and over-emphasis on closing of sale (Bidding of tender) do not help to face the challenges of the new business environment, such as trade liberalization ,merger and acquisitions, new entrants and Gatt's and protectionism. To survive well and to maintain growth, it is essential for SWCB to strengthen its competitive advantages and …

The Strategic Management Of A Large Scale Information Technology Project In The Financial Services Sector, Foong Seng Chee

Student Works (2000-2009)

Information Technology (IT) is one of the essential building blocks of modern organizations. Increasingly, IT is being used by innovative organization to facilitate the re-engineering of their business processes and in some instances to radically change the way in which they conduct business. Therefore, IT is no longer a technical problem but a business issues. IT strategy should be created to serve as a tool to implement an organization's business strategy and provide the company strategic advantage. The main purpose of this dissertation is to explore the issues surrounding IT strategy formulation and implementation especially in term of merging in …

Reform In The Electricity Supply Industry And Implementation Of A Competitive Electricity Market In Malaysia, William Kim Cheong Leong

Student Works (2000-2009)

Over the past decade, a number of nations have restructured their electricity industries. Several nations have also significantly reduced the government's role in the ownership and management of the electricity industries both at the state and national level. The wave of changes is driven by the forces of competition; the need to make the industry more efficient and allowing customers to have choices in deciding their electricity supplier, the package of services and the associated prices that best meet their needs. A crucial element of the deregulation and reform in the electric industry is the creation of a wholesale electricity …

The Implementation Of Strategic Planning In Irish Hotel Groups., Frances Alexandra Keys

Masters

The primary objective of this research was to examine the relative importance and success of forty factors over the past five years (1994-1999) that have facilitated and/or impeded the implementation of strategic plans within Irish hotel groups. This research studied twenty-four hotel groups, which consisted of ninety-five strategic business units. An extensive review of strategic management literature by theorists such as Andrews(1971); Ansoff (1990); Chandler (1962); Cole (1997); Day (1984); Drucker (1969); Greenley (1986, 1989); Gupta (1986); Hayes (1985); Hofer (1973, 1976); Mintzberg (1978, 1987, 1990, 1994); Ohmae (1988); Porter (1980, 1985, 1991); Schaffer (1984); Schendel and Hatten (1972); Thompson …

The Impact Of The Travel Account On The Malaysian Balance Of Payments, Goh Mei Lee

Student Works (2000-2009)

The current account deficits in the balance of payments have been a serious concern to policy makers and academicians in their efforts to formulate possible ways to assist the current account deficits . This study looks at the Malaysian services account balances in the current account of the balance of payment with specific focus on the travel account position. The long-standing deficits in the Malaysian current account position due to the services account deficits have been rather prominent in the ear1y I980's due to excessive external debts . The net investment payment ranked the highest in terms of generating outflows …

Regulatory Reforms In The Malaysian Telecommunications Sector, Wai Ching Poon

Student Works (2000-2009)

The Malaysian telecommunications sector was privatized in 1987. A crucial ingredient in the success of the privatization of any telecommunications sector is the accompanying regulatory reforms. The main objective of this study is to examine the regulatory reforms that have taken place in the Malaysian telecommunications sector. Shifting the provision of telecommunications services operations away from the government makes it easier for the sector to achieve greater efficiency and possibly freedom from political intervention. This process can be further strengthened by innovative financing and investment strategies. In reality, firms are much better informed than the regulator. The key concept of …

Nonperforming Loans In Banking And Financial Sector, Ning Ning Chang

Student Works (2000-2009)

It is crucially important to understand the connection between banking sector fragility and the nonperforning loans (NPLs) problem. The problem of mounting NPLs gained much prominence during the recession that hit particularly all countries over the world in 1980s. It is again become prominent following the financial crisis that recently hit the Asian countries. This study examines various factors contributing to the NPL problem, where some endogenous as well as exogenous factors are identified. Poor management and poor lending policies, fraud and embezzlement, moral hazard incentives, heavy government intervention and weaknesses in prudential regulation and supervision are among the factors …

The Selective Capital And Exchange Controls In Malaysia : A Malaysian Perspective, Muhamad Shukri Abdul Rani

Student Works (2000-2009)

The latest financial and currency crisis that struck Malaysia in 1997 has exposed several macroeconomic weaknesses within the Malaysian economy, in light of the huge influx of international capital flows and speculative activities, and highlighted once again the issue of premature capital account and financial liberalization. These weaknesses such as economic growth well above potential output, loss of efficiency in the economy, current account deficits, over dependence on the banking sector for loans, which were later used for unproductive investments such as those in the stock and property markets have made Malaysia vulnerable to the shocks that emanated from the …

The Role Of The State In Economic Development : A Case Study Of Johor, Malaysia, Wei Lin Tan

Student Works (2000-2009)

Johor is one of the fastest growing stales in Malaysia. Its strong economic growth is very much to the credit of the state; in one form or another, the government intervened, systematically and through multiple channel to foster development. In relation to this, the study found that the state has not only created a business-friendly environment where the legal and regulatory structure was generally hospitable to private investment. the state has also established clear performance criteria for selective interventions and to monitor performance. In other words, intervention has taken place in disciplined and performance- based criteria. The State has been …

The Impact Of The Real Exchange Rates On Exports : The Malaysian Case, Lay Lian Chuah

Student Works (2000-2009)

Many studies have yielded contradicting results on the impact of real exchange rate volatility on exports. Therefore, this paper attempts to examine the relationship between real exchange rate volatility and Malaysian exports. The model of this study is adapted from Caballero and Corbo's ( 1989) paper. In this respect, this paper also uses the same standard calculation for real exchange rate (RER) volatility. However, a minor adaptation was made whereby the standard deviation, the measurement of real exchange rate volatility is refined by using trade weighted settlement in its computation. This would be a more accurate way of measurement, as …

Afghanistan's Economic Potentials And Malaysian Entrepreneurs' Perceptions, Abdul Sattar Murad

Student Works (2000-2009)

Afghanistan is a country that has started its economic development after the World War II, one of the very early beginners in launching its economic development programs; it is one of the least developed countries in Asia. This study reviews the economic potentials of Afghanistan including mineral, water, land resources and perception of Malaysian Investors. These two aspects of the study highlight the causes of low economic development and factors responsible for it. This study attempts to examine four logically linked questions, i.e. (i) what are the trade potentials of Afghanistan? (ii) What are the mineral potentials of Afghanistan? What …

Behaviour Of Trading And Non-Trading Stock Returns In The Malaysian Stock Market, Lay Khong Tan

Student Works (2000-2009)

This study examines the stock returns and volatilities of trading and non­trading day for seven KLSE indices from January 3, 1994 to November 26, 1999. Six return series are computed. They are the overnight, open to close, morning, afternoon, close to close and open to open series. There is consistently positive overnight return throughout Monday to Friday. The weekend effect or Monday effect is significantly positive. The returns of the morning, open to close, close to close series are negative particularly on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Except for Monday, other weekdays have positive afternoon return. Mean and variance return are …

Long Run Determinants Of Malaysia Trade Balance : A Cointegration Study, Lok Sin Kuar

Student Works (2000-2009)

This paper aims to study the long run determinants of Malaysian trade balance the cointegration method by using quarterly data from 1973 1Q to 1998 4Q. In order to study the long run equilibrium relationship, trade balance is tested against other macroeconomic variables which resembles monetary policy, exchange rate policy and fiscal policy. The final results is that interest rate is the only variable found to be cointegrated with the trade balance. As such, it implies that interest rate may be an effective policy instrument to rectify the problem of trade imbalances in Malaysia. On the other hand, other policies …