international journal of management

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International Journal of Management

Contents 27/2 Aug 10

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Effects of Information Technology Usage on Student Learning: An Empirical Study in the United States Tahir Aziz, Mo B. Khan, Raj Singh	205
Effects of Information Technology Usage on Student Learning: An Empirical Study in the United States Tahir Aziz Capella University Mo B. Khan California State University Long Beach Raj Singh Riverside University The purpose of this research was to investigate if computer use increased students’ active engagement in the learning process, as perceived by students.  Two aspects of learning were examined: active engagement of students in the learning process and (2) students’ interaction with fellow students and/or instructors.  A survey of 640 community college students from two community college districts in Southern California was conducted.  Both descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated using SPSS software.  Over 75 % of students either agreed or strongly agreed that use of IT helped them to be more actively engaged in learning.  About 72 % of students also agreed or strongly agreed that computers made it easier for them to understand materials that they did not understand in class. Two hypotheses were tested using Chi-Square and Paired Sample T tests.  The results of both tests of significance showed that (1) use of computers helped students in being more actively engaged in learning and (2) use of computers increased student interactions with fellow students and/or instructors.  The implications of the results for effective teaching practice are discussed in the paper.
The Determinants of Sophistication in Product Costing Systems: An Interview Study John A. Brierley	218
The Determinants of Sophistication in Product Costing Systems: An Interview Study John A. Brierley The University of Sheffield, England Product costing systems that include all costs in product costs have been defined as sophisticated systems in the literature. This paper examines the determinants of such sophistication in product costing systems through semi-structured interviews with 11 management accountants in Great Britain. In the interviews, each manager was asked to identify what factors cause all costs, rather than just some costs, to be included in product costing systems  The results show that the inclusion of all costs sophistication is determined by whether the parent company determines the software used by the operating unit; the power of the software chosen by the operating unit; the effect of parent company specifying the importance of product costs in decision making on managements’ demand for product cost information; the lack of funds available to invest in product costing systems; the lack of time available for and the cost of data collection and operating the product costing system; and the effect of having solely customized sales on the level of manufacturing technology, and the quantity of different materials and labour included in the product.
The Attitude of British Firms towards Saudi-British Business Negotiations: An Empirical Examination Salem M Al Ghamdi	226
The Attitude of British Firms towards Saudi-British Business Negotiations: An Empirical Examination Salem M Al Ghamdi College of Industrial Management, Saudi Arabia This study investigates British companies’ views on what constitutes critical success and failure factors in negotiating with Saudis. During the last five decades, Saudi-British business relationships have grown in terms of trade partnerships and many British firms have setup joint ventures contracts with Saudi organizations.  The findings from this research, using factor analysis on a 41-item questionnaire completed by 63 British firms, indicates that the British consider a mixture of personal and non personal factors, such as patience, and team’s hard work on one side and firm’s good reputation and good financing on the other side as critical factors in successful negotiations with Saudis. Moreover, among the failure factors studied, none were rated high in importance. Yet, these factors should not be ignored in their negotiations with Saudis. Understanding social customs, local business practices and decision making styles are important in generating pre negotiation contacts.
Relationships among Internal Marketing Perceptions, Organizational Support, Job Satisfaction and Role Behavior in Healthcare Organizations Wen Hui Yang	235
Relationships among Internal Marketing Perceptions, Organizational Support, Job Satisfaction and Role Behavior in Healthcare Organizations Wen Hui Yang China Medical University, Taiwan To satisfy the diverse demands of its customers and improve the quality of the healthcare it provides, healthcare organizations need to engage in both effective and internal marketing of their various services. For this to occur, employees should be viewed as internal customers and various internal marketing activities implemented to satisfy their demands. The purpose of the study was to explore the relations among internal marketing activities, as perceived be employees, organizational support, job satisfaction and role behaviors. A social exchange perspective is adopted in terms of which to examine the relationships between these four concepts. The research comprises a literature review from which eight testable propositions are developed as a guide for future investigations.
Bridging the Technology Gap in Brazil: The Case of Photonics Luciana Pereira, Guilherme Ary Plonski	243
Bridging the Technology Gap in Brazil: The Case of Photonics Luciana Pereira University of São Paulo, Brazil Guilherme Ary Plonski University of São Paulo, Brazil This paper presents a case of technological learning and commercial application using an advanced technology by a developing country. Despite major obstacles, it is possible to find certain technological niches where developing countries might succeed. One interesting example is the Brazilian experience applying photonics technology to develop cutting-edge medical devices products and bringing them to market. Empirical evidence is collected from a specific branch of companies using photonics technologies. These companies are predominantly composed by university spin-offs, created through interaction between scientists and managers, backed by public institutional support and personal capital. The results showed that focus on a niche market and product development strategy have enhanced the process of technological capability.
The Management of Reported Earnings to Avoid Political Costs: A Study of Saudi Arabian Firms Mohammed Al-Moghaiwli	254
The Management of Reported Earnings to Avoid Political Costs: A Study of Saudi Arabian Firms Mohammed Al-Moghaiwli King Saud University, Saudi Arabia Allegations of accounting fraud in have attracted much attention from both the financial press and accounting regulators. This study provides evidence of the practice of deliberate earnings management on the part of managers in Saudi Arabia. The empirical analysis is carried out using a sample of 46 companies listed on the Saudi Stock Market over the period 2005-2007, using multivariate statistical analysis. After controlling for ownership diffusions, the study’s overall findings confirm our expectation: managers of Saudi-listed companies which are large and have high ratio of foreign employees to total employees tend to manage earnings to avoid potential political costs. It is argued that these findings justify a detailed study of the political effects of the Saudi Government’s Development Plans on the overall integrity of financial reporting in Saudi Arabia.
The Effect of Culture on the Relative Wealth of Countries: An International Study Taghi Ramin, Nadeem M. Firoz, Alex P. Kwarteng	267
The Effect of Culture on the Relative Wealth of Countries: An International Study Taghi Ramin William Paterson University Nadeem M. Firoz Montclair State University Alex P. Kwarteng William Paterson University It is argued that the concept of “wealth” and the social-economic needs of individuals are both culturally determined. In line with this, we examine the extent to which economic success is related to cultural aspects in different countries. Specifically, we measured the dependence of economic success, as measured by an index of globalization, on the cultural dimensions of individuality and uncertainty avoidance. A two-variable regression analysis yielded coefficients of multiple determination (R2) that gave the extent of ‘dependency’ of  the measure of economic success on the two cultural dimensions. Data came from World Bank Publications and their Online Databases.  The resulting regression equations were statistically significant (R2 < 0.05) suggesting that economic success is positively related to cultural dimensions, with highly individual cultures and cultures with low avoidance of uncertainty doing better than those with the opposite cultural characteristics.
Effect of Employees’ Holdings on the Performance of Open-end Investment Funds: An Empirical Study in China Xubo Zhang, Chengbo Zhang, Zigang Zhang	278
Effect of Employees’ Holdings on the Performance of Open-end Investment Funds: An Empirical Study in China Xubo Zhang Wuhan Polytechnic University, China Chengbo Zhang Library of Suqian College, China Zigang Zhang Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China In response to the new disclosure requirements introduced in China, this paper examines whether higher holding by employees is associated with improved performance of open-end investment funds. All 330 Chinese open-end funds in June 2007 were investigated. The percentage of annual original returns, annual objective-adjusted returns and annual risk-adjusted return at the end of June 2008 were used as measures of the performance of these open-end funds. Depending on the assumptions employed, 42% of the funds have some employee holdings, with their shares being between 1.31% and 0.003% of the size of the funds. We found no evidence support the view that higher employee holdings, by percentage, are related to improved performance. In contrast, t-test showed that funds with some employee holdings had significantly original and objective-adjusted returns. In addition, the same result was obtained when the percent of employee holdings were related to open-end fund fees and portfolio turnovers. Neither expense ratio nor portfolio turnover was related to employee holdings. These findings support the notion that the holding of shares by employees does not help open-end fund investors and hence suggest that the disclosure of such information is does not assist or help managers in the making of portfolio allocation decisions.
Workplace Fun and its Correlates: A Conceptual Inquiry Mildred Golden Pryor, Lisa Pryor Singleton, Sonia Taneja, John H. Humphreys	294
Workplace Fun and its Correlates: A Conceptual Inquiry Mildred Golden Pryor Texas A&M University-Commerce Lisa Pryor Singleton Texas A&M University-Commerce Sonia Taneja Texas A&M University-Commerce John H. Humphreys Texas A&M University-Commerce This article addresses the concept of workplace fun as a real phenomenon which has distinct causes and consequences, some of which we discuss in this article.  We also present a fun continuum which says that workplace fun is not “an all or nothing” situation.  Rather, workplace fun is experienced along a continuum of less fun to more fun.  The importance of this theory is that it encourages organizational leaders to realize that (1) Some factors decrease (while other factors increase) the potential for workplace fun; (2) They and other stakeholders can work together to increase the extent to which people experience workplace pleasure; and (3) Workplace fun positively impacts key performance indicators which can result in increased employee morale, higher creativity and innovation, better performance, greater organizational commitment, and lower turnover.  The concept of workplace fun has hypothesized correlates which we intend to investigate empirically in future research, especially in the area of employee performance.
Effect of Implementation Reasons, Implementation Plans and System Modifications on E-commerce Outcomes: A Structural Equation Approach Mahmoud Yasin, Mário Augusto, Andrew Czuchry, João Lisboa	303
Effect of Implementation Reasons, Implementation Plans and System Modifications on E-commerce Outcomes: A Structural Equation Approach Mahmoud Yasin East Tennessee State University Mário Augusto University of Coimbra. Portugal Andrew Czuchry East Tennessee State University João Lisboa University of Coimbra. Portugal Due to recent marketplace changes and advancement in information technology, more and more organizations are re-engineering their operations, systems and strategies to be consistent with the emerging e-business model.  Therefore, the growth of the different facets of e-commerce has been unmistakable in recent years.  Understanding the factors which contribute to effective e-commerce implementation can be the difference between a me-too e-commerce application and a strategic advantage.  Using a sample of fifty-one organizations, a structural equation model is utilized to test three research hypotheses.  Based on the results of this study, it is concluded that the path to e-commerce implementation effectiveness is defined by careful planning and the systematic re-engineering of organizational systems and culture to be e-commerce conclusive.
An Explanatory Model for the Decision to Enter Emerging Markets: A Shareholder Perspective Anthony J. Kos	320
An Explanatory Model for the Decision to Enter Emerging Markets: A Shareholder Perspective Anthony J. Kos Youngstown State University This paper proposes an alternative framework for making the decision the to enter emerging markets. The approach takes the view of the shareholders of a multinational enterprise to analyze the entry decisions: whether or not enter an emerging market and how to enter the market. Emerging markets provide opportunities for multinational enterprises, and also pose great risks if a multinational enterprise enters. It is theorized that if excessive returns are less than the associated risk firms will choose not to enter. If potential returns are greater than the risk associated with entry into emerging markets, firm risk tolerance is a determinant of entry mode choice. Firms with low risk tolerance are predicted to enter through joint ventures or strategic alliances while those with a higher tolerance for risk are likely to enter through wholly owned enterprises.
An Alternative to the Simplex Method for Solving Linear Programming Problems: A Managerial Perspective Ben Lev, Krzysztof Kowalski	326
An Alternative to the Simplex Method for Solving Linear Programming Problems: A Managerial Perspective Benjamin Lev Drexel University Krzysztof Kowalski Department of Transportation, State of Connecticut The objective of this paper is to develop a simpler alternative to the widely-used Simplex Method for solving linear programming problems, from the perspective of practicing managers.  It allows bounded variables where the lower and upper bounds could be negative or positive, therefore eliminating the need for introducing additional variables for the purpose of preserving non-negativity. The variables upper bounds do not require additional constraints. The inequality constraints are handled through slack/surplus variables.  In contrast to the Simplex Method there is no need for substituting variables and all operations are performed only on the original equations. This method can not only form the basis for more efficient computer programs, but can also enable linear programming problems to be more easily taught to a larger audience than at present, that includes practicing managers.
The Relationship between Board Characteristics and Financial Performance: An Empirical Study of United States Initial Public Offerings Hsueh-En Hsu	332
The Relationship between Board Characteristics and Financial Performance: An Empirical Study of United States Initial Public Offerings Hsueh-En Hsu Fortune Institute of Technology, Taiwan This study investigates the relationship between board characteristics and financial performance for 223 U.S. firms making initial public offerings from 2000 to 2002. Board characteristics include board independence(i.e., outsiders-dominated boards), board quality(i.e., board expertise and educational background ) and venture capital directors. Financial performance is measured by Tobin’s Q. Tobin’s Q is calculated as the sum of the market value of equity, the book value of preferred stock and the book value of total debt divided by the book value of the firm’s assets. The sample firms are obtained from Thompson Financial SDC database. Empirical results show that board independence are negatively related to firm performance. As expected, board quality are positively  related to firm performance. However, there is no evidence that venture capital directors are positively associated with financial performance.
The Impact of Endogenous Investment on Economic Growth: An Analysis on Advance-Retreat Course Theory Feng Dai, Jing Xu Liu, Song Tao Wu	342
The Impact of Endogenous Investment on Economic Growth: An Analysis on Advance-Retreat Course Theory Feng Dai Zhengzhou Information Engineering University, China Jing Xu Liu Zhengzhou Information Engineering University, China Song Tao Wu Zhengzhou Information Engineering University, China Advance-Retreat Course (ARC) is a theory that explains how socio-economic growth takes place. The main argument of ARC is that economies progress though a natural process of initiative followed by retreat in response to environmental pressures. Based on the conclusions of an analysis of ARC in the economic arena (F. Dai, et al., 2007, 2008 and 2009), this paper analyzes the impact of changes in interest rates and endogenous investments on long-term economic growth in terms of the principles of ARC theory. Based on the application of ARC theory, it develops a number of solutions to the problem of economic growth and provides an analytic technique for using ARC theory to suggest optimum endogenous investment strategies for stimulating economic growth. The empirical analysis, whose results are consistent with predictions from ARC theory, offers a number of suggestions for improving economic growth in the United States
Market Reaction to Government Announcements about Accounting Standards: An Empirical Study in Taiwan Grace M. Liao, Chilin Lu	359
Market Reaction to Government Announcements about Accounting Standards: An Empirical Study in Taiwan Grace M. Liao Chung Jung Christian University, Taiwan Chilin Lu National Formosa University, Taiwan In 2007 Taiwan introduced a new accounting standard (SFAS no. 39) in terms of which listed companies were required to recognize share-based compensation awards as allocations from retained earnings, which aligned Taiwan for the first time with  International Accounting Standards (IASs). To align with IASs, this standard provides an accounting standard for employee stock bonus by recognizing expenses that reflect the real value of the income statement and of a firm’s earnings. It is a standard that should affect accounting earnings, and hence the stock prices for listed firms in Taiwan. This paper examines market reactions to the announcement of SFAS no. 39. Our empirical results show that stock prices reacted significantly and negatively to the standard during the announcement period.
The Choice of Cost Drivers in Activity-Based Costing: Application at a Chinese Oil Well Cementing Company Pingxin Wang, Fei Du, Dinghua Lei, Thomas W. Lin	367
The Choice of Cost Drivers in Activity-Based Costing: Application at a Chinese Oil Well Cementing Company Pingxin Wang Hangzhou Dianzi University, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China Fei Du University of Southern California Dinghua Lei Xi’an Jiaotong University, China Thomas W. Lin University of Southern California In recent years, activity-based costing (ABC) has become a popular cost and operations management technique to improve the accuracy of product or service costs for firms to stay competitive. Two authors went to Xi’an area to collect a sample data on fuel overhead cost, number of wells, well-depth, distance, weight, and ton-kilometers at a Chinese oil well cementing company. We also verified the data accuracy with the company controller. This study investigates how to choose the appropriate cost driver of fuel overhead costs when adopting ABC . Using the linear regression analysis and the maximum r-square improvement (MAXR) model selection method, the empirical results show that among the five possible cost drivers of the number of wells, the distance from the office to the field, the weight of the cement and additive materials, the depth of well cementing, and the ton-kilometers measured by the product of the distance and the weight, the best cost driver is the product of the distance and the weight.  Thus, by applying the ABC system and using the product of the distance and the weight as the cost driver will improve the fuel cost allocation accuracy among individual wells.