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Unionization is generally thought to improve employee welfare through higher compensation and benefits. However, managers of unionized firms have incentives to manage earnings downward to avoid sharing rents with unionized workers, which may explain why empirical findings on the association between unionization and employee compensation are mixed. This paper develops an analytical model incorporating earnings management into the relationship between newly unionized firms and employee compensation.

The authors develop an analytical model that relies on Nash bargaining theory and signal jamming (Stein, 1989; Fischer and Verrecchia, 2000; Dye and Sridhar, 2004) and model a setting where newly unionized workers' collective bargaining power increases substantially. The authors' model analyzes the relationship between newly unionized firms and employee wages and benefits while incorporating firms' incentives to engage in earnings management.

The authors find that newly unionized firms are more likely to engage in income-decreasing earnings management to avoid paying higher salaries and wages to workers. Further, the authors find that this association is more pronounced when (1) the correlation of firms' earnings across periods is higher, (2) the cost of earnings management is lower and (3) firms' earnings are more volatile.

This is the first paper to analytically model the effect of new unionization on firms' earnings management and workers' welfare. The authors' model offers new cross-sectional predictions that have not been tested in the prior literature. Specifically, the authors show that newly unionized firms are more likely to engage in income-decreasing earnings management; when earnings are more highly correlated, the cost of earnings management is lower and earnings are more volatile. The authors' findings may be relevant to regulators and policymakers.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to develop the college-attendance value scale (CAVS) in the Taiwan context to understand undergraduates’ reasons for or benefits from college education, and to examine how the value relates to additional motivational goals, academic performance, and expected terminal degree.

Data analyses involved sophomores (n=729) who completed a learning-experience survey that included CAVS of the personal value and collective value subscales, expected terminal degree, Achievement Goal Questionnaire, and cumulative grade point average (CGPA). Construct validity evidence was substantiated by the results of exploratory factor analysis (n=364) for two-factor identification, and by the results of confirmatory factor analysis (n=365) for a good model-fit.

The interrelations between variables in regression analysis supported the predictive validity; achievement goals were predictors of CGPA, while personal value was a sole predictor of expected terminal degree. Findings suggest that CAVS is a predictive measure for Taiwanese undergraduates’ academic performance and choices.

In terms of policy implications, college students’ values of college attendance should not only be regularly investigated by institutional research, but should be widely applied by university students, educators and administrators to facilitate the optimal learning development for each undergraduate.

The study develops a short but effective scale of college-attendance value for the Taiwanese students who usually attend college after graduating from high school. The CAVS is useful in manifesting the students’ major reasons for pursuing college education.

This study aims at investigating how energy strategies of China impact its energy shipping import through a strategic maritime link, the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS).

Vector error-correction modelling (VECM) is applied to examine the key energy strategies of China influencing crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping import via the SOMS. Strategies investigated include oil storage expansions, government-setting targets to motivate domestic gas production, pipeline projects to diversify natural gas import routes and commercial strategies to ensure oil and gas accessibility and cost-effectiveness.

For the crude oil sector, building up oil storage and diversifying oil import means, routes and sources were found effective to mitigate impacts of consumption surges and price shocks. For the LNG sector, domestic production expansion effectively reduces LNG import. However, pipeline gas import growth is inefficient to relieve LNG shipping import dependency. Furthermore, energy companies have limited flexibility to adjust LNG shipping import volumes via the SOMS even under increased import prices and transport costs.

As the natural gas demand of China continues expanding, utilisation rates of existing pipeline networks need to be enhanced. Besides, domestic production expansion and diversification of LNG import sources and means are crucial.

This study is among the first in the literature using a quantitative approach to investigate how energy strategies implemented in a nation impact its energy shipping volumes via the SOMS, which is one of the most important maritime links that support 40% of the global trades.

Questions whether human resources are being viewed in Slovakia in a manner which transcends profit maximisation. Compares three cases of corporate HR action in post‐communism: two take place within multinationals which have set up shop in the former Czechoslovakia and one is a domestic success story. The results of the field work are assessed with use of Talcott Parsons’ theory of modernisation.

The aim of this paper is to improve the understanding of strategies for how established companies can respond to disruptive innovation, handle increasing complexity, facilitate entrepreneurial culture and processes and successfully manage organizational ambidexterity.

A qualitative multiple-case study was conducted to explore successful practices of innovation ambidexterity (IA) and their organizational design, entrepreneurial culture and mindset, processes and leadership. Two internationally established firms that have launched and established IA programs provided deep insight, revealing their strategy and learning on the path toward effective IA.

The findings show that accepting and managing the inherent complexity increases within an ambidextrous organization strategy is a decisive factor in achieving effective IA. As a result, segmenting small organizational units and granting them extensive autonomy is proposed for managing the complexity of an organization while increasing its effectiveness. Furthermore, it is shown that this helps foster entrepreneurial culture, mindsets and processes as additional mediators for achieving effective IA. Coaching, empowerment and trust were identified as key factors of ambidextrous leadership values that encourage entrepreneurial behavior and decision-making.

To the best of the authors knowledge the first study connecting the research fields of complexity management, organizational ambidexterity theory and entrepreneurial culture while applying the fundamentals of systems theory to propose a practical management framework for successfully responding to disruptive innovation.

A series of studies was performed in late 1978 and early 1979 by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources Special Project staff and consultants to discover how ERIC online searchers were using free and controlled vocabulary in their search statements. Over 40 experienced ERIC online searchers were interviewed and more than half of these volunteered to show us their activity online. Over 650 search traces from 18 different ERIC online searchers using three different retrieval systems were analyzed. Findings show that controlled vocabulary terms are used in 68% of ERIC searches. Controlled vocabulary searching is higher if only terms which resulted in offline printed output are considered. The use of free text was more carefully scrutinized to see if we could discover ways to improve the ERIC database and its online access, since free text searchers have few online search aids besides the basic index with postings information. The vocabulary in 165 free text search statements was analyzed to determine whether ERIC descriptors and identifiers were incapable of representing these concepts. Information for every free text statement was sought on the following questions: (1) Is it a descriptor? (2) Is it cross‐referenced to an accepted term? (3) Is it a variant of a descriptor? (4) Is it expressible using descriptors? (5) Is it expressible using identifiers? (6) Is it only expressible using free text? Five tables summarize the output results of our comparative analysis of free text and controlled vocabulary searching. Six categories of search concepts were discovered for which searchers could only input free text terms or phrases. Online searching tests comparing free and controlled vocabulary were performed using six search topics. The free text search formulations had higher recall and controlled vocabulary formulations had higher precision. Search objective (high recall or high precision), we concluded, should dictate which formulation to use. All our findings helped point to the need for new searching aids for online ERIC searchers. Four displays exhibit what these might be; for example, an on‐line rotated descriptor or identifier display, and some linkage between free text and the Thesaurus. Responsible agents for effecting changes in searching ERIC online are identified and suggestions for improvements are addressed to these three agents.

The purpose of this research is to explore how immigrant library users view Auckland Libraries as a multicultural bridge in New Zealand. The research explored the various factors keeping different cultures apart in the New Zealand socio cultural systems and to find out the gaps in the provision of multicultural services in Auckland public libraries. The study also discusses the specific roles Auckland public libraries play in the development of multiculturalism in New Zealand from the perspective of immigrant users.

The study uses a qualitative research approach. Semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 participants including five library staff members and ten users of the Auckland library. Thematic analysis (qualitative data analysis, where data is grouped into themes) was used for data analysis.

Participants perceive that the Auckland Library had an advantage over other citizen service institutions in the development and services of multiculturalism in New Zealand. The participants understand that language, cultural background, beliefs and values are some of the causes of gaps between different ethnic groups, and only by learning from each other can groups enhance mutual understanding between them. The services and programs Auckland Library offer to immigrant enable various interactions among different cultural groups and enhance learning from one another to facilitate their integration into the New Zealand society. The findings show that Auckland public libraries have some gaps in multicultural services. In particular, there are more than 200 different ethnicities in Auckland, but the Auckland library's website does not have the function of a multilingual search tab service, lacks a multicultural book collection and some of the existing collections of books are of low quality, low literary value and so on. The study suggests that these issues need to be improved.

This was small-scale research involving the perspectives of only 15 participants. Nevertheless, the findings provide constructive insight into the development of multicultural services in Auckland libraries that can serve as a useful basis for a broader exploration of more immigrant groups in Auckland and New Zealand as a whole.

The results of this research will provide valuable information for the Auckland libraries to have a better plan for multicultural services in the future. The findings will also serve as a reference for improving multicultural services in the Auckland libraries.

Although other studies have looked at immigrants’ behavior and perception on various issues in New Zealand, this study is the first to look at how different immigrant groups percept Auckland libraries as a multicultural bridge to help integrate them.

A project was undertaken to determine the appropriateness of providing subject‐based courseware in an academic library's software center or microcomputer lab. The courseware was intended to provide remedial instructional support to re‐entry students in selected subjects. For this project, college algebra became the chosen subject because there appeared to be widespread local agreement that a number of adult students needed remedial instruction in college algebra. The question of the appropriateness of CAI in the library remains open. This service seems to be a viable one for academic libraries to offer. Success would be dependent on wide ranging cooperation involving the library, teaching faculty, computing staff, and instructional technologists.

This paper examines various turbulence models for numerical simulation of a steady, two-dimensional (2-D) plane wall jet without co-flow using the commercial CFD software (ANSYS FLUENT 14.5). The purpose of this paper is to decide the most suitable and most economical method for steady, 2-D plane wall jet simulation.

Seven Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) turbulence models were evaluated with respect to typical jet scaling parameters such as the jet half-height and the decay of maximum jet velocity, as well as coefficients from the law of the wall and for skin friction. Then, a plane wall jet generating from a rectangular slot of 1:6 aspect ratio located adjacent to the wall was investigated in a three-dimensional (3-D) model using large eddy simulation (LES) and the Stress-omega Reynolds stress model (SWRSM), with the results compared to experimental measurements.

The comparisons of these simulated flow characteristics indicated that the SWRSM was the best of the seven RANS models for simulating the turbulent wall jet. When scaled with outer variables, LES and SWRSM gave generally indistinguishable mean velocity profiles. However, SWRSM performed better for near-wall mean velocity profiles when scaled with inner variables. In general, the results show that LES performed reasonably well when predicting the Reynolds stresses.

The main contribution of this article is in determining the capabilities of different RANS turbulence closures and LES for the prediction of the 2-D steady wall jet flow to identify the best modelling approach.

This study aims to propose a theoretical model to explain mobile payment (MP) continuance usage in a physical store in Indonesia from a habit perspective. In detail, continuance usage was argued to be a consequence of habitual behavior which is related to specific actions conducted automatically, repeatedly and frequently. Therefore, the theoretical model was constructed on the theory of habit establishment.

In total, 220 Indonesian respondents were used to examine the theoretical model. Furthermore, a cross-sectional study was used through the use of a descriptive statistical approach to preparing data and descriptive analyses and structural equation modeling method for analysis.

Satisfaction was found to have the most substantial direct influence on the establishment of habit to use MP followed by perceived usefulness and perceived compatibility. Meanwhile, deal proneness and social ties were discovered to have a significant indirect effect on habit through the mediation of usefulness.

This study used the theory of habit formation to understand how user develops repeated behavior in MP usage which leads to continuance usage of the platform. There is limited explicit exploration and development of a theory based on this concept, therefore, this study is a contribution to the body of knowledge with respect to habit formation and its impacts on MP continuance usage.