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Executive compensation packages are often valued in an inconsistent manner: while employee stock options (ESOs) are typically valued ex‐ante, i.e., before uncertain ties are resolved, cash bonuses are valued ex‐post, i.e., by discounting the realized cash grants. Such a lack of consistency can, potentially, distort empirical results. A related, yet mostly overlooked, problem is that when ex‐post valuation is used pay‐performance measures cannot be well defined. Consistent use of ex‐ante valuation for all components of a compensation package would simultaneously resolve both of these problems and provide a natural framework for the analysis of agency problems. In this paper, we perform ex‐ante valuation of cash bonus contracts as if the executive’s performance were measured by the company stock price, demonstrate how the shape of the bonus contract influences the executive’s attitude toward risk, and study the pay‐performance sensitiv ty of such contracts. We commence by demonstrating that a typical executive bonus contract with a linear incentive zone has a pay off structure equivalent to a portfolio of standard and binary European call options so that the ex‐ante contract value is given by the linear combination of Black and Scholes call and binary call prices, with the strike prices at the boundary points of the incentive zone. Assuming that a risk neutral executive can choose the level of stock price volatility by selecting a set of projects at origination, we show that bonus contract terms can dramatically affect the executive’s risk taking behavior and pay performance incentives. Our results are extended to bonus contracts with non‐linear incentive zones, and performance share contracts with vesting risk.

Gives an in depth view of the strategies pursued by the world’s leading chief executive officers in an attempt to provide guidance to new chief executives of today. Considers the marketing strategies employed, together with the organizational structures used and looks at the universal concepts that can be applied to any product. Uses anecdotal evidence to formulate a number of theories which can be used to compare your company with the best in the world. Presents initial survival strategies and then looks at ways companies can broaden their boundaries through manipulation and choice. Covers a huge variety of case studies and examples together with a substantial question and answer section.

This paper analyses the value to a poorly diversified risk‐averse executive of a compensation package consisting of a risk free asset, restricted stock and stock options. The Lambert, Larcker and Verrecchia (1991) model is extended to include leverage and this facilitates comparison of cost to the firm and benefits to the executive of restricted stock and stock options. It also provides insight into the impact of executive risk aversion, firm leverage and underlying as set volatility on the value of a compensation package in the hands of the executive.

Facts vs Fantasies about the ECU. Advantages frequently ascribed to the ECU include the following:

The purpose of this paper is to assess the strategies for improving the competitiveness of Ecuador (ECU), Colombia (COL) and Peru (PER). It is one of the first studies using 36 indicators within the context of three South-American countries. It fulfills the lack of knowledge at the scientific work and its practical objective by identifying the factors that public policy may take into consideration urgently to improve the global competitiveness level of the countries for a sustainable development and considerations for a long-term integration.

It analyzes data of four-year average of international sources such as: The International Monetary Fund, The World Bank, The United Nations, among others. The factors were selected after a careful literature review, the final selection and the weight of each determinant was calculated using partial least squares-structural equation modeling. The calculation of the national and international competitiveness indexes used the double diamond for competitiveness theoretical frame.

From a national perspective, it was found that COL is the most competitive country followed by PER in the second place and ECU is in third. Internationally, the authors have found also that COL is the most competitive economy, PER in second place and ECU is in third.

This study has found that in order to improve the level of national competitiveness, ECU has to concentrate on improving and strengthening formal and non-formal institutions, which are reflected in: four factors, PER four, and COL three. To reach international competitiveness, ECU should improve four factors, PER five, and COL five formal and non-formal institutions.

This research is the first one on its field, it uses 36 competitiveness indexes and the PLS-SEM statistic methodology to assign the weight of competitive indicators and the DD theoretical frame to determine the relevance of its factors and it is oriented to advise decision-makers and provides the appropriate police guidelines for the national competitiveness strategy and improve their quality of life of its residents from: ECU-COL-PER. On the other hand, the academic implications of these results appear when calculating the weight-load competitiveness indexes using inferential multivariate analysis; it provides researchers and practitioners an analysis tool for comparing competitive factors of emerging countries from the DD approach without any weaknesses, as a framework to assist in formulating economic policy at the national and regional level.

Due to the difficulty of competitiveness operationalization, this research uses PLS-SEM to correlate its factors as the statistical methodology and the DD as the tool for the identification of theoretical indicators. This work may be taken into consideration for an immediate and sustainable improvement in order to win competitiveness than its neighbors.

This study is unique because the factors were selected after a careful literature review; the final selection and the weight of each determinant was calculated using PLS-SEM. The calculation of the national and international competitiveness indexes used the DD for competitiveness theoretical framework applied for the first time in a research for South America with 36 determinants. The result of this analysis compares the weak and strong determinants of these three member countries of UNASUR for the development of their complementarities and therefore the recommendations of public policy.

This paper aims to investigate the forces that influence the shifting of professional boundaries on the entry of a new medical occupation in Dutch hospitals – non‐specialist emergency physicians.

Five case studies of Dutch hospitals were conducted and the emergency physicians' implementation process was analyzed by means of force field analysis.

Emergency physicians were conceptualized as being the answer to unequivocal contextual changes. However, their contribution to better performance varies due to problems in the implementation process. Strong socio‐political forces between traditional specialties and these new doctors mediate the intended improvement. The emergency physicians aim to establish their own organizational‐, patient‐ and knowledge‐domain by redrawing professional boundaries but they are not on a par with the specialists who set these boundaries. Consequently, emergency physicians only gradually redraw the existing boundaries, resulting in limited added value. Their reaction is to obtain power by striving to develop into a recognized specialty; ironically, by becoming an additional layer in the traditional medical hierarchy they might lose their envisaged added value.

This paper is based on the first Dutch hospitals that implemented emergency physicians. The number of cases is therefore limited. Moreover, the study took place at an early stage of emergency physician implementation.

The extent of successful redrawing depends on the implementation's transition logic, the existing degree of differentiation and boundary permeability and on the ideological power developed by the leaders.

The introduction of emergency physicians is currently being discussed in many countries worldwide, and some countries consider following the Dutch example of non‐specialist doctors. This paper supports health professionals and hospital managers in not falling prey to the same pitfalls as some Dutch hospitals.

Nowadays, connected vehicles are becoming quite complex systems which are made up of different devices. In such a vehicle, there are several electronic control units (ECUs) that represent basic units of computation. These ECUs communicate with each other over the Controller Area Network (CAN) bus protocol which ensures a high communication rate. Even though it is an efficient standard which provides communication for in-vehicle networks, it is prone to various cybersecurity attacks. This paper aims to present a systematic literature review (SLR) which focuses on potential attacks on CAN bus networks. Then, it surveys the solutions proposed to overcome these attacks. In addition, it investigates the validation strategies aiming to check their accuracy and correctness.

The authors have adopted the SLR methodology to summarize existing research papers that focus on the potential attacks on CAN bus networks. In addition, they compare the selected papers by classifying them according to the adopted validation strategies. They identify also gaps in the existing literature and provide a set of open challenges that can significantly improve the existing works.

The study showed that most of the examined papers adopted the simulation as a validation strategy to imitate the system behavior and evaluate a set of performance criteria. Nevertheless, a little consideration has been given to the formal verification of the proposed systems.

Unlike the existing surveys, this paper presents the first SLR that identifies local and remote security attacks that can compromise in-vehicle and inter-vehicle communications. Moreover, it compares the reviewed papers while focusing on the used validation strategies.

Nowadays, automotive engines are controlled by electronic control units (ECUs), and the engine idle speed performance is significantly affected by the setup of control parameters in the ECU. The engine ECU tune‐up is done empirically through tests on a dynamometer (dyno). In this way, a lot of time, fuel and human resources are consumed, while the optimal control parameters may not be obtained. The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel ECU setup optimization approach for engine idle speed control.

In the first phase of the approach, Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) and a multi‐input/output least squares support vector machine (LS‐SVM) is proposed to build up an engine idle speed model based on dyno test data, and then a genetic algorithm (GA) is applied to obtain optimal ECU setting automatically subject to various user‐defined constraints.

The study shows that the predicted results using the estimated model from LS‐SVM are in good agreement with the actual test results. Moreover, the optimization results show a significant improvement on idle speed performance in a test engine.

As the methodology is generic it can be applied to different vehicle control optimization problems.

The research is the first attempt to integrate a couple of paradigms (LHS, multi‐input/output LS‐SVM and GA) into a general framework for constrained multivariable optimization problems under insufficient system information. The proposed multi‐input/output LS‐SVM for modelling of multi‐input/output systems is original, because the traditional LS‐SVM modelling approach is suitable for multi‐input, but single output systems. Finally, this is the first use of the novel integrated framework for automotive engine idle‐speed control optimization.

The purpose of this paper is to explain how Edith Cowan University (ECU) Library improved the accessibility of their web site, aiming for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.0 Level AA. It describes the results obtained.

Initial testing by consultants was conducted in October 2012. The web site was defined as all webpages which appear part of the library web site, including supplier webpages, plus pages from the university web site and library web site. Library staff applied the recommendations to pages which they could edit, and discussed the recommendations with suppliers to improve their product ' s accessibility. The web site was re-tested in June 2013.

ECU Library web site failed WCAG 2.0 Level A standard in the initial testing and re-testing. Many individual pages which failed initially passed the re-test. The smallest improvement was seen in suppliers’ web sites.

This paper could help libraries to improve web site accessibility, as it covers negotiating with suppliers to upgrade their web sites, plus upgrading editable webpages. It shows initial and re-test results, allowing libraries to compare their results to those of ECU. Legislation and guidelines state web sites should be accessible to all users and organisations providing non-accessible web sites risk being sued.

A web site not complying with WCAG version 2.0 would be very difficult for people with disabilities to access. Upgrading ECU Library ' s web site will provide all users with more equal access to the resources.

This study describes problems in upgrading academic library webpages and related supplier web sites and organisation web site to improve accessibility for people with disabilities.

The purpose of this study is to develop a framework for a freight consolidation company to adopt blockchain for the shipping community. Our research critically examine the challenges faced by a global shipping company that offer freight consolidation businesses and explore the use of Blockchain technology to enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of freight booking operations.

This paper is a case study, ECU Worldwide, with focus on transforming their operations using blockchain technology for the freight booking industry. As the case is explorative in nature, the research aim to unearth the complex blockchain adoption phenomenon in the industry as the technology is very nascent at present. The research is primarily grounded on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) theory.

The research finds that blockchain technology supports solving many issues and inefficiencies of global shipping operations but there are some barriers that they need to overcome. The research provides a framework and recommendations for global company to consider when considering Blockchain technology for implementation. Our research finding shows that smart contracts can be set up at critical points along with the shipment route namely the storage, customs, carrier, transporters and consignee stage to ensure greater security and transparency.

The research provides recommendations to key stakeholders involved in freight forwarding segment of logistics industry while adopting blockchain technology. Apart from the methodological limitation of the research, the research is limited to Singapore in terms of geographical coverage.

The drivers and barriers identified in the study can give practitioners insight of using blockchain for the industry. The proposed framework can assist companies in the shipping industry to prepare themselves to adopt blockchain for the community.

This case study is the first of its kind to examine the use of blockchain to explore the adoption in logistics Industry in Singapore and perhaps worldwide.