Financial Modeling of Quality Costs
Joe Abekah and Abdur Rahim
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
This study aims to improve the measurement of quality costs to improve corporate profitability because both overestimated and underestimated quality costs have adverse effects on firm profitability. It relies on the basic concept of differences in oversize and undersize costs that has been used in other areas of quality control, particularly manufacturing, and applies it to accounting through the financial modeling of quality costs. By definition, quality costs involve prevention costs, appraisal costs, internal failure costs, and external failure costs. Quality costs may also be observable or unobservable, and various techniques, including the Taguchi Loss Function, have been used to measure quality cost. By starting from the basic definition of: Total Costs = F + V(S), this study incorporates situations in which F and V are not random, and estimates the target value of quality costs when undersize and oversize quality costs are not symmetrical.
An Evaluation of Reward Systems for Introductory Accounting Students
Mark J. Mellon
Shelley M. Rinehart
University of New Brunswick Saint John, Canada
The beginning of the school term causes a stirring of excitement within every academic's heart. It is that time of year in which a professor's dreams of imparting wisdom upon the youth of today will soon come to fruition. Only one task remains before stepping into the classroom to enlighten the business leaders of tomorrow: the preparation of the course outline. A template approach can be followed for completing most sections of the outline, with the exception of the section outlining the marking scheme. The marking scheme must be one that will motivate the student to learn instead of just chasing points. This study investigates whether the act of placing a value on assignments has a positive effect on the student's learning as measured by his or her performance on the final exam in an introductory financial accounting course. Results suggest that the act of placing a value on assignments performed by a student is positively correlated with their success in the course.
Assessing the Financial Health of Co-operatives
Jorge Dietrich
F.J. Arcelus
G. Srinivasan
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
Given the essential role Co-ops play in the Canadian economy, it is important to develop methods to forecast their likelihood of insolvency, thereby preventing bankruptcy and allowing time to develop specific assistance programs. However, investor-owner firms form the basic unit of analysis of most popular bankruptcy predictors used in Canada. The question is whether the key underlying elements that differentiates the latter from Co-ops, justifies deriving specific bankruptcy prediction formulas exclusively for each type of business organization. To that effect, this research evaluates the efficacy of these current predictors and suggests an improved predictor for agricultural Co-operatives.
Business Cycles and Stock Market Performance: A Reassessment of the Linkage as a Guide to Investment Strategy in Canada
S. Huq, M. Kabir, and S.M. Selim
University of New Brunswick, Saint John, Canada
Stock markets are driven by expectations of future performance of the economy. It is in this context that stock indices are commonly used as one of the leading indicators of the business cycle. Since these indices in Canada largely reflect performances in the manufacturing and services sectors, it is often argued that such indices will only be of a limited significance in predicting the overall Canadian economy, which has a significant primary sector component. Using co integration analysis, this paper attempts to ascertain whether there is a significant long-term relationship between business cycles and stock market fluctuations. Forecasts using VAR models have been used to examine effectiveness of a strategy of shifting investments between equities and fixed-income assets to improve overall portfolio performance. Using quarterly data for Canada for 1960 to 2003, this study suggests that a significant improvement in the performance of a portfolio could be achieved by following an asset allocation strategy based on the linkage between the business and the stock market cycles.
Global Communication Technologies and the Impact of Culture, Media Richness and Technological Richness
Abdou Illia
Eastern Illinois University, USA
Assion Lawson-Body
University of North Dakota, USA
In the field of Information Systems, the Technology Acceptance Model by Davis (1989) is widely used by researchers in order to gain a better understanding of the adoption and use of technologies (Karahanna & Straub 1999). But there have been very few attempts to test that model in areas of the world other than western countries. Given the globalization of business and systems, there is a growing need to know what, if any, cultural dimensions the use influence information technologies. This study was conducted by administering the same instrument to 612 employees of Banking and Insurance organizations in China and Canada in order to assess the extent to which culture and communication media characteristics (such as media and technological richness) influence the use of communication technologies. The results show that there is a significant difference between Canadian and Chinese managers in terms of their need for media richness. The results also show that, contrary to what was expected, there are no significant differences between Canadian and Chinese in terms of their need for technological richness. Finally, the results show that there is a relation between users' need for media richness and some cultural dimensions.
What do Employers Want? Views of Chinese and Canadian Job Seekers
Ying Sun
University of Science and Technology, Beijing, P.R.C.
M.W. Luke Chan
Jim Tiessen
McMaster University, Canada
Rapid globalization has led to many studies focusing on cross-cultural issues and their implications for management. As China's importance in the international economy emerges, the level of international business cooperation continues to increase. This study (1) identifies differences in the cultural orientations of Chinese and Canadians entering the job market and (2) examines how these orientations are related to their perceptions of the criteria employers use when hiring. The analyses showed that the cultural differences were not consistent with Hofstede's previous work. Furthermore, there were significant differences in the qualities considered important when seeking employment. The results of this study increase mutual understanding and improve business relationships between the two countries.
An Examination of Chinese Consumers' Wine Purchasing Behaviour: The Effect of Country of Origin
Pierre Balestrini
Shan Wang
University of Surrey, United Kingdom
The article examines Chinese consumers' wine purchasing behaviour and, more especially, the importance of the country-of-origin in wine quality evaluation and wine purchasing decision-making. Data for this study was collected through evaluation and wine purchasing decision-making. Data for this study was collected through an interviewer-administered (structured) questionnaire targeted at randomly selected wine buyers in Chang Ning district of Shanghai. Chinese consumers tend to purchase wine for entertainment reasons - consuming it on social occasions - and are also attracted to wine for its health benefits. They are also more likely to use extrinsic cues rather than intrinsic cues to evaluate wine quality. Thus, country-of-origin information is a significantly more important cue than wine price for Chinese consumers when evaluating wine quality. However, albeit the country-of-origin information mean score is slightly higher, there is no significant difference in the importance of country-of-origin and brand as a factor used by Chinese consumers to assess wine quality. Chinese consumers also give more credence to country-of-origin information when they purchase wine for special occasion purposes (rather than for their own private consumption purposes). This research can significantly help wine marketers in better understanding the Chinese consumers and help them to draw viable segmentation and positioning strategies.
Exploring the Use of Internet Technologies for Understanding Foreign Market Opportunities among Japanese SMEs
Conor Vibert
Acadia University, Canada
Dermot Vibert
Tokyo, Japan
This paper reports on the findings of an exploratory study of the use of Internet technologies, and related software, by managers of Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to make sense of foreign market opportunities. Using a convenience sample of fifteen Japanese companies, it suggests common environmental scanning practices and technologies used by managers, these practices and technologies change when target markets are domestic as opposed to foreign. The paper also builds on data collected by the researcher from 14 Japanese managers in early 2003.
The Governance of International Technology Transfer: Analysis Based on Contracts
Salem Y. Lakhal
University of Moncton, Canada
This paper analyzes the governance of knowledge partnerships where each partner keeps his identity while the knowledge is transferred from the more powerful partner to the other. By using theories and five international cases of technology transfer alliances, the analysis reveals specific features of knowledge partnerships, mainly characterized by an unbalanced power in both knowledge and risk. The results also show that many studies dealing with alliances between partners having balanced power are no longer validated when one of the knowledge alliance partners has more power than the other.
Multilateral Trade Negotiations, Doha Round and Market Access: Implications for South & Southeast Asian Textile and Clothing Producers
Amir Mahmood
University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Ming Ouyang
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
The Asian producers of labor-intensive manufacturing products, such as textiles and clothing, expect that the Doha Round of trade negotiations will target tariff peaks, high tariffs, and tariff escalation that have been restricting their push to enhance their export market share in world markets in general, and in developed countries in particular. After evaluating the post-Uruguay Round tariff and non-tariff environment in the textile and clothing sector, this paper analyzes the implications of the complete removal of quota restrictions under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). The paper also provides an overview of costs and benefits of trade liberalization in general, and in the textiles and clothing sections in particular. The study draws key premises to formulate a comprehensive trade negotiation strategy and a set of recommendations in order to shape the negotiation stance of developing countries of South and Southeast Asia in the on-going negotiations on trade liberalization.
Development of Ukraine and Donetsk Export Potential: International Economic Integration Aspect
Yuriy Makogon
National Academy of Science of Ukraine
Medvedkin Taras
Donetsk National University, Ukraine
The present paper is dedicated to analyzing the present situation of the economy of Ukraine in the frames of modern worldwide globalization tendencies. In the present article the current tendencies in the Ukrainian economy is observed. The article consists of two parts. In the first part, the state export potential is determined in the frames of export, branches of industry, the largest foreign investor, and the most preferable key industries for the investments. The next part of this paper is dedicated to the economy of the Donetskaya oblast region as the most prospective area of Ukraine which gives more than 20% of state export. In the paper, the authors find out the tendencies of the development of the region in the dynamic of the past 5 years. The authors place high emphasis on the activity of free economic zones and territories of priority development, which possess the tax benefits and which are used as an economic instrument for attracting foreign investments.
Fuzzy-based Pattern Recognition for Effective Business Intelligence
B. Sashikala and Tapas Mahapatra
ICFAI Business School, ICFAI University, India
Business Intelligence is the main resource for success in future business worlds. This paper suggests a framework of a fuzzy-based pattern recognition system for effective business intelligence. The pattern recognition method suggested is the classical syntactic method. Classical syntactic methods of pattern recognition are based on the theory of formal language and grammar. In these methods, pattern classes are represented by languages, each of which is a set of strings of symbols from a vocabulary that are generated by the pattern grammar. These methods are suitable for recognizing patterns that are rich in structural information yet can not be easily expressed in numerical values.
The Managerial Features for Public and Non-Profit Organization in Turkey
J.G. O. Volkan Ozbek
Turkish Naval Academy, Turkey
Ali Akdemir
Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey
Presently, organizational survival is too difficult: organizations are constantly struggling in a world constantly in a state of flux. This struggle is imperative for their survival. Globalization has resulted in the expectation for optimal performance in any organizational activities. From this viewpoint, it should be admitted that if a common mentality of the organizational goals and activities to be performed is not shared by everyone in the organization; it is not possible to accomplish success. Hence, the greatest part of what has to be done for the creation of such integrity falls onto the managers. If they accomplish success in their managerial activities, it means that they obtain managerial success. In our paper, we claim that the managers from various managerial stages have to assume command of their organizations by keeping some parameters leading their managerial success. These parameters fall into two groups: those peculiar to the organization and those peculiar to the manager. The latter is investigated in three sub-groups: technical; emotional; and social & intellectual. Finally, a research done on the managers of public and non-profit organizations in Turkey is given and the viewpoints of managers from different managerial stages are related to the aforementioned parameters.
Survey of Executive Motivation in China: Comparison between State-Owned and Private Enterprises
Min Zhu
Southwestern University of Finance & Economics, China
Researches on China's state owned enterprises are mainly focused on the reform issues with a qualitative approach. This empirical study examines the methods of assignment to the managerial post and motivation-hygiene determinants for executives between private sector and state-owned enterprises in China. From a survey of 305 Chinese executives, we find that all executives prefer to be assigned by a board of directors, that executives in private businesses are better motivated that those state-owned enterprises, and that further works have to be done to increase motivation of executives in state-owned enterprises.
Polarization of Procedural Justice: Social Comparisons
Douglas H. Flint
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
Pablo Hernandez-Marrero
University of Toronto, Canada
This study examines the polarization of perceptions of procedural justice. Specifically, the social comparisons mechanism of polarization is investigated. No polarization effect was found under conditions of low procedural justice. Polarization effects varied under conditions of high procedural justice.
Multi-Sources Teaching Evaluations for Universities and Faculty Members
Judy Ann Roy
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
This paper presents a brief review of teaching evaluation literature and reports on the findings of a recent study on faculty members' perceptions of teaching evaluation processes, to understand how information from student ratings and other instruments are used to assess teaching behaviours in higher education institutions. The study reveals the relationship between two fundamental needs related to the assessment of teaching behaviours: the institution's need to assess the quality of individual teaching and the instructor's need for feedback. A qualitative phenomenological case study approach was chosen to explore the way teaching is evaluated at the university level. In-depth interviews were conducted to gather data at five schools of business in Atlantic Canada. Five major themes emerged from the data: 1. the use of student ratings as the primary source of data used to assess teaching; 2. the need to use multiple sources and types of information to assess the quality of teaching; 3. the role of reflection, self-reflection, and self-assessment in the improvement of teaching; 4. the need for continuous improvement in the quality of post-tenure teaching; and 5. the need for equitable assessment of teaching and research.
Does a Lack of Harmony between the Firm and the Middle Manager Affect Intent to Leave?: A Qualitative Study
Lance J. Edwards
MT Tech of the University of Montana, USA
The study examined whether a lack of harmony between the top-level management's policies in support of employee participation and the middle manager's propensity for participative decision making (PPDM) can affect middle manager turnover. The methods used in this research were the open-ended questionnaire and follow-up interviews. Data from interviews consisted of direct quotations from middle managers about their experiences, opinions, feelings, and knowledge; while the document analysis of the questionnaire studied data from the open-ended, written responses to interview questionnaires. The analysis suggested that the middle manager respondents considered themselves more participatory than not, that they felt their firms were not supportive of participative management, and, as a result, they did not perceive a harmony of style between themselves and their firms. The research went on to suggest that the managers were willing to consider leaving and were capable of leaving their firms in the event of a disharmony between themselves and their firm. As sixty percent of the managers reported a disharmony, these findings should draw top managements' attention and action.
The Two-Commodity Maximum Multiroute Flow Problem
Donglei Du
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
We consider the two-commodity maximum multiroute flow program in an undirected network, which is a nontrivial generalization of the ordinary two-commodity maximum flow problem. We devise an efficient combinatorial algorithm based on augmenting paths to solve the problem which always outputs a quarter-integer solution. However, no explicit max-flow/min-cut relationship is known for this problem. This greatly complicates the analysis of the proposed algorithm compared to those for the ordinary two-commodity maximum flow problem.
Primal Degeneracy in Linear Programming
Yang Yuan
Dalhousie University, Canada
Since the early 1950s, linear programming has been one of the most widely used tools in mathematical planning. Since that time, the simplex method has been established as the primary tool for solving linear programming problems. One of the conditions that may occur during the execution of the algorithm is called primal degeneracy. In benign cases, primal degeneracy may simply cause the algorithm not to find better solutions for a while ("stalling"), while in malignant cases, there may be indefinite stalling (called "Cycling"), so that no optimal solution will ever be found. This paper surveys a variety of approaches in the literature that have been proposed to cope with stalling and cycling. This includes some novel thoughts on an approach to the problem.
Using Mixed Integer Programming to Create Forest Operations Plans
Evelyn W. Richards
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
Forest operations planning problems involve decisions about where and when to do harvesting and silvicultural prescriptions; what products to produce, and where to send them; and what production and transportations systems to use. In our context, the planning horizon is five years, and there are many constraints to the problem. In addition, constraints that are specific to the forestry situation further complicate the problem. Recent improvements in commercial Mixed Integer Programming solvers have led us to reconsider what models we should create to help planners with these problems. Options that would have been unthinkable even two years ago are now possible. The question is: what is the gain from introducing more decisions, constraints, and goals into these models?
Locating Landfills - Issues and Solutions
H.A. Eiselt
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
During the past 10-20 years, a major concentration has occurred in the location of landfills. The demand for improved environmental controls has led to the decrease of the number and the increase of the capacity of landfills, thus implying the need for transfer stations, where the garbage is compacted and reloaded onto larger trucks. Whereas some provinces, such as New Brunswick, have gone through a consolidation phase in which many dumps are replaced by a few well-designed landfills, others, such as Alberta, have not yet done this. This paper reports on the optimized locations of landfills in these two provinces. In the case of New Brunswick, it is also possible to compare the optimized locations with those realized in practice.
Market Orientation - A Tool for Revitalizing the Economic Well-Being of Communities in Seasonal Industry Settings
Reginald Sheppard
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
In the past decade, market orientation (MO) development has been at the fore for many researchers and practitioners. It has been argued that MO leads to improved firm performance and profitability. Many gaps remain in the literature base. Likewise, much has been written about economic development, especially in a community and regional context. At a fundamental level such initiatives impose on a society the need for continual improvement and to develop platforms that lead to sustainable development. Again, many gaps remain. Using the Parsimonious Modelling Approach (Gray et al., 1998), this paper examines market orientation development in seasonal industry settings, focusing on the primary industry sector (fishing) in New Brunswick. Furthermore, it positions MO development as a tool which can facilitate economic development and revitalization. An attempt is made to address two key questions, 1. What marketing and management strategies can and should be used in such settings, and 2. What is the economic importance of MO in this particular industry setting? The first question, once an MO model has been arrived at, addresses practical issues and implications for managers and researchers, while the second attempts to provide the genesis for a broader theoretical discussion and framework. To legitimize this study, a discussion of the economic value and importance of seasonal industries is presented.
An Empirical Investigation of Polish Dairy Markets: Time Series Analysis Approach
Wojciech Kozlowski
University of Warmia and Mazury, Poland
Ming Ouyang
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
Fang Wang
Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada
In this paper, we use time series techniques to investigate Polish dairy markets by examining marketing persistence of the top 20 brands. As a preliminary study, we first picture Polish dairy markets by summarizing the longitudinal sales for the periods of the first quarter of 1996 to the second quarter of 2002. This presentation would enable researchers to gain an understanding of the market at both the industry as well as the firms levels. We then test the brands' stationarity and discuss their managerial implications. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to study Polish dairy markets using marketing science methods. In the next phase of study, we will estimate the brands' degrees of persistence with respect to explanatory variables, including prices, advertising expenditures, and distributions.
Does Quality Management Implementation Depend on Ownership of Business? An Empirical Study in Thailand
Charunya Parncharoen
Dhurakijpundit University, Thailand
This paper aims to investigate similarities and differences in the relationship between quality management practices and its outcomes across ownership of businesses, such as family-owned businesses, private corporations, multinational corporations, government agencies, and state enterprises. A survey was conducted using Rao, Solis, and Raghunathan's framework as a basis, and sent to Thai businesses. A total of 733 questionnaires were returned (a 32.58% response rate) with 712 usable for this study. Using structural equation modeling, the results suggest that top management plays a crucial role in ensuring the success of quality management. The results also reveal the differences in the associations between quality management practices and quality performances across ownership of business. Implications for valuing the role of organization-level variables as part of implementing a successful quality management program are discussed.
The Non-central Chi-square Chart with Two-Stage Samplings
Antonio F.B. Costa
UNESP-São Paulo State University, Brazil
M.A. Rahim
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
In this article, we consider the non-central chi-square statistic with two-stage samplings. During the first stage, one item of the sample is inspected and, depending on the result, the sampling is either interrupted or it goes on to the second stage, where the remaining sample items are inspected and the non-central chi-square statistic is computed. The proposed chart is not only more sensitive than the joint and R charts, but operationally simpler too, particularly when appropriate devices, such as go-no-go gauges, can be used to decide if the sampling should go on to the second stage or not.
E-Business Information Security: A Managerial Approach
Eben Otuteye
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
In the new economy, information is one of the most important assets of an organization, second only to human resources. Information is critical both as input and as output. Hence, information security management is of high priority. In contrast, the Internet, which is the primary medium for conducting e-business, is by design an open non-secure medium. Since the original purpose of the Internet was not for commercial purposes, it is not designed to handle secure transactions. Surveys show that lack of transaction security is one of the key reasons why businesses are hesitant about converting to e-business. This paper first presents an outline and analysis of the security needs of online businesses. This is followed by an evaluation of the current tools and practices for ensuring e-business security. The shortcomings of the present practices are noted. A managerial framework for e-business information security is presented. The key characteristic of this approach is that it is an insurance-based risk management process which encompasses the entire information infrastructure of an organization This framework thus models information security as a management problem compared to the currently more technically oriented perception.
Trust and Loyalty: A Cross-Cultural Comparison
Carole Bonanni
Dianne Cyr
Simon Fraser University, Canada
This research examines how website trust differs across cultures (using a four-country sample that includes Canada, the U.S., Germany, and Japan). More specifically, the research looks at institutional-based trust (McKnight et al, 2002) and addresses: (1) how consumer attitudes towards security, privacy, legitimacy of the online vendor, and quality assurance differ across cultures in the context of e-commerce, (2) how consumer attitudes affect website trust, (3) how website trust and e-loyalty (the latter defined as intent to return to the site to purchase) differ across cultures, and (4) how website trust results in e-loyalty. Implications of the research are relevant for academics and practitioners who seek empirical understanding of how to better address cultural issues related to website trust. A review of the literature is presented, including hypotheses for testing. Preliminary results are presented.