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This study examines the pricing of knowledge‐based firms compared with firms that are less dependent on human resources. The results show that an increasing dependence on human resources is followed by a rise in abnormal return. The results indicate that investors are not able to distinguish personnel investments from expenses, leading to an underestimation of earnings and return. The findings suggest that investors may need accounting information on human resources to help improve investment decisions. There is no evidence in the present material to suggest that investors perceive knowledge‐based firms as more risky compared with firms with more accountable (tangible) assets.

The purpose of this study is to use an international dataset to examine what determines employee training from an organisational perspective, and to what extent training investments enhance company performance.

Data from 5,824 private‐sector organisations are used to examine determinants of training and the connection between training and profitability. OLS regressions and Probit estimates are used in the statistical analyses.

The results indicate that the provision of company training is largely determined by firm‐specific factors, such as human resource management (HRM) practices. The results further show that two widely used measures of training – incidence and intensity – are largely determined by different factors. Staff turnover (mobility) does not appear to be a decisive factor in explaining the provision of training on a national or company level, although it is associated with lower profitability to some extent. However, the single most important factor associated with profitability is how much is invested in training (intensity), suggesting that the economic benefits of training outweigh the cost of staff turnover.

This study contributes to the existing training literature by offering extensive access to internal measures of training, profitability, HRM practices, workforce characteristics and staff turnover for companies in 26 countries worldwide.

We have witnessed a significant transformation in the world economy and the organisations that comprise it. The economy of old was manufacturing‐based and relied heavily on tangible assets as determinants of value. In contrast, the present‐day economy is based on knowledge and information, intangible assets that are embodied in people. This shift has triggered the development of tools with which to measure these intangible assets. One accounting tool that is directly relevant to the measurement and, in turn, the management of human capital is human resource accounting. The purpose of this article is to discuss some current issues, recent advancements, and possible future directions for further development.

This study examines the accuracy of individual perceptions (self‐estimates) of acquired competence. A concept of relative competence is introduced to account for variation in rater elevation and differences in importance (significance) of specific competencies. The results indicate that the self‐estimates of job‐specific competencies are well executed. Because the distortion in elevation and stereotype accuracy is largely associated with general constructs, the findings suggest that we should focus on modeling competencies to the job. The results also show that even without a correction for interrater differences or a correction for the importance of different competencies, the competency model carries value‐relevant information.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview and history of human resource accounting (HRA) with the objective of promoting both continued academic research and organizational applications. The history of HRA illustrates how academic research can generate improvement in management systems. The paper defines HRA and suggests implications of measuring human capital for financial reporting and managerial uses. Recent Swedish‐based HRA applications with respect to measuring human assets and intellectual capital, including the Skandia Navigator, illustrate how intellectual history and developments in business schools can influence business history.

A small group of pioneering founders led the creation and early evolution of the service research field. Decades later, this article shares timeless service wisdom from ten of those pioneering founders.

Bowen and Fisk specified three criteria by which to identify a pioneering founder. In total, 11 founders met the criteria (Bateson, Berry, Bitner, Brown, Chase, Edvardsson, Grönroos, Gummesson, Parasuraman, Schneider and Zeithaml) and were invited to join Bowen and Fisk – founders that also met the criteria as coauthors. Ten founders then answered a set of questions regarding their careers as service scholars and the state of the field.

Insightful reflections were provided by each of the ten pioneering founders. In addition, based on their synthesis of the reflections, Bowen and Fisk developed nine wisdom themes for service researchers to consider and to possibly act upon.

The service research field is in its fifth decade. This article offers a unique way to learn directly from the pioneering founders about the still-relevant history of the field, the founders' lives and contributions as service scholars and the founders' hopes and concerns for the service research field.

To introduce the special issue focusing on the QUIS 9 symposium.

A brief perspective of the best papers presented at the Quality in Services (QUIS9) symposium held at Karlstad university, Sweden in June 2004.

Outlines some of the highlights surrounding the conference.

Provides a brief report of the context of the conference.

The aim of this paper is to identify and describe important dimensions of the service process as defined by customers, and to compare the results from a specific use context with the recent conceptualization of the experience room.

Public transport travellers were provided with a public transport travel diary and were encouraged to make detailed notes about their service experience during their journey. The diaries were than transcribed and coded in NVivo8 using a constant comparative method.

The qualitative analysis of the public transport travel diaries revealed six emerging themes of service experience: customer processes, other customers, physical environment, contact personnel, provider processes and wider environment. The interplay between these themes is what forms the service experience of customers. The inductive analysis of the empirical material contextualizes the experience room model in a utilitarian and facility‐driven service. This deductive analysis of 100 customer experiences shows that the dimensions customer involvement, customer placement and physical artefacts are most important for the customer's service experience in this context.

This paper offers a set of important empirically based customer experience dimensions with public transport. The paper also provides a contextualization of a theoretical model, the experience room model. The contribution results show the importance of interactions with other customers and the physical environment for the customer's experience.

Twelve pigment compositions derived from the xCaO·(50−x)ZnO·20B₂O₃·30P₂O₅·(x=10, 20, 30) and yMgO·(50−y)ZnO·20B₂O₃·30P₂O₅·(y=10, 20, 30) systems were prepared. The synthesis was carried out either by the medium‐temperature process or by the high‐temperature process followed by cooling in air and an isothermal crystallisation of the glass obtained. The pigments prepared by the medium‐temperature process achieved better corrosion results in styrene‐acrylate coating formulations, whereas those prepared by the high‐temperature process achieved better results in alkyd‐resin coating formulations. The anti‐corrosion results for the Ca‐Zn pigments were better than those for the Mg‐Zn pigments.