Search results

The procurement reforms carried out by the Government of Ghana have led to the creation of the Public Procurement Authority and the passage of the Public Procurement (Amended) Act 2016. Nevertheless, many obstacles could prevent an open and fair competition during the procurement of works. This significantly affects the success of Ghanaian construction projects. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the factors to enhance the success of the contractor selection phase of the Ghanaian public labor-based construction project.

A quantitative research approach was adopted by this study. Data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire to 377 respondents across Ghana. The data was then analyzed using structural equation modeling.

This study revealed that external, project procedures and project management factors impact the Ghanaian labor-based contractor selection phase success.

This study is limited to the contractor selection phase of Ghanaian public labor-based projects and developing nations with similar socioeconomic characteristics.

Strict adherence to this study’s findings will enable the government to undertake more infrastructure projects to raise the standard of living for its populace.

Although several studies have been conducted to improve the success of construction projects in developing nations, very little focus has been placed on the success factors of the contractor selection phase of public construction projects. These findings are vital in discovering for the first-time factors influencing the success of the tender stage of public labor-based projects in Ghana and developing nations with similar socioeconomic characteristics.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between formal ethics and ethics in practice in the empirical context of real estate agents (REAs) working in the residential housing market, including owner-occupied houses and owner-occupied apartments, in Sweden. The paper investigates problems with the Swedish middleman model of real estate agency with regard to the acceptance among REAs of borderline professional behavior.

We report on a survey distributed to all Swedish licensed residential REAs to investigate their attitudes towards eight scenarios displaying borderline ethical behavior. Firstly, the means of each scenario were calculated, investigating signs of distance between formal ethics and ethics in practice. Secondly, logistic regressions were run for each scenario separately, thereby investigating factors affecting misconduct among REAs.

The empirical results show a clear difference between formal ethics and ethics in practice and also illustrate that some scenarios of borderline ethical behavior are creating greater problems for the REAs.

In Sweden, the seller is the principal, assigning the REA to sell a house or apartment, but the regulation is clear on the role of the licensed REA as responsible for promoting an informed and fair sales process where the buyer is safe to act without their own representative. Our study contributes with information to policymakers on possible areas for the development of the middleman model.

The paper is the first to empirically investigate the middleman model of a Swedish real estate agency in relation to the business ethics of the agents. The use of scenarios in close relation to the everyday working context of REAs as tests of ethics of practice is also of original methodological value to investigate possible diversions of professionals from national regulations.

Grounded in the framework of social learning theory (SLT), the current study explores the impact of leaders’ unethical proorganizational behavior (UPB) on their subordinates’ self-management and moral self-efficacy, which, in turn, affect knowledge hiding and sharing among followers. This study aims to examine how instrumental thinking influences the relationship between leader UPB and subordinate behaviors, shaping knowledge sharing and hiding.

Using a longitudinal approach, this research uses a two-wave data collection strategy with a one-month interval. The study cohort comprises 378 employees drawn from technology service firms situated in China.

Empirical findings confirm that leader UPB is linked to increased follower self-management and knowledge hiding, as well as reduced moral self-efficacy. Instrumental thinking moderates these effects, amplifying knowledge hiding and diminishing moral self-efficacy while reducing knowledge sharing.

The study contributes to the existing literature on UPB by offering insights into the distinct consequences of leader UPB on knowledge-related behaviors of followers. Furthermore, the exploration of employees’ instrumental thinking in the context of leader UPB underscores the strategic manipulation of knowledge to fulfill individual goals, thereby enriching the underpinnings of the SLT. The study underscores the imperative for organizations to grasp the implications of UPB and underscores the necessity for stringent ethical frameworks to mitigate its deleterious impact.

The study contributes to the existing literature on UPB by offering insights into the distinct consequences of leader UPB on knowledge-related behaviors of followers. Furthermore, the exploration of employees’ instrumental thinking in the context of leader UPB underscores the strategic manipulation of knowledge to fulfill individual goals, thereby enriching the underpinnings of the SLT. The study underscores the imperative for organizations to grasp the implications of UPB and underscores the necessity for stringent ethical frameworks to mitigate its deleterious impact.

The present study addresses a gap in the current literature by elucidating the multifaceted outcomes of leaders’ UPB on paradoxical behaviors related to knowledge sharing and hiding among followers. This nuanced examination underscores the need to comprehend the intricate contingencies that accentuate the effects of UPB, particularly in the realm of leadership dynamics. Grounded in SLT, this study delves into leadership dynamics and ethical decision-making.

The interconnected challenges of climate change and social inclusivity have placed unprecedented pressure on businesses to adopt responsible practices. While previous research has explored the individual impacts of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and diversity initiatives, there remains a dearth of comprehensive investigations into how these factors collectively influence carbon emission scores. Drawing on the legitimacy theory, we explore whether ESG and diversity scores predict global companies' carbon emission scores. As concerns about the environmental impact of businesses grow, understanding the relationships between ESG performance, diversity management, and carbon emissions becomes imperative for sustainable corporate practices.

The primary dataset for this study includes 1,268 worldwide firm-year data for 2021. The sample is subjected to missing data examination as a component of the filtration process. Data preprocessing is performed before machine learning analysis, including verifying missing data. Our research resulted in the final sample, which includes 627 worldwide firm data from 2021. Data regarding all publicly traded companies was obtained from Refinitiv Eikon.

Our findings showed that corporate carbon emission performance in global corporations is influenced by ESG performance and total diversity score.

Firms involve in ESG as well as diversity practices to be able to achieve sustainable success. Yet, the forecasting of carbon emissions based on ESG scores and diversity scores remains inadequately established due to conflicting findings and enigmas prevalent in the literature.

A hinderance to businesses across the UK, employment fraud and absenteeism are phenomenons that need to be addressed. Fraud is a topic that remains largely unexplored for the HR profession, and covert surveillance emerges as a brilliant and effective solution to tackle the challenges that hundreds of businesses face when trying to clamp down on employment fraud.

This study provides insight for HR professionals as to how employee surveillance can be harnessed safely to help tackle employment fraud and absenteeism, whilst unlocking a productive and healthy environment.

Public sector organisations face a particularly significant challenge when grappling with absenteeism, with absence rates nearly double that of the private sector. A key focal point of this research revolves around the startling fact that absence rates in the public sector are alarmingly high. Still, robust investigations into these matters are seldom conducted, leaving the door wide open for fraudulent activities to persist. Covert surveillance offers a proactive approach to identify and address the root causes of almost endemic absenteeism, ensuring a healthier and more efficient workplace.

By embracing the power of covert surveillance, businesses not only protect their legitimate interests but also contribute to a workplace environment that thrives on transparency, honesty and loyalty. This study effectively outlines how HR professionals can effectively deploy covert surveillance to ensure they are staying within the guidelines of the law, whilst still clamping down on bad actors and protecting their bottom line.

This study aims to draw upon the broaden-and-build theory to examine the relationship between perceived organizational virtuousness and employees’ innovative behavior. Moreover, the study investigates the indirect relationship between perceived organizational virtuousness and employees’ innovative behavior via thriving. Additionally, this study examines whether creative personal identity strengthens the relationship between thriving and innovative behavior.

A quantitative research methodology was used to test the proposed moderated mediation model. Data was gathered from 206 respondents from organizations in different industries. The SPSS PROCESS tool was used for hypotheses testing.

The findings of the study revealed that there is a positive relationship between perceived organizational virtuousness and employees’ innovative behavior. Additionally, the results also support that there is an indirect relationship between perceived organizational virtuousness and innovative behavior through thriving. The findings revealed that creative personal identity strengthens the relationship between thriving and innovative behavior.

The findings of the study provide implications for managers who can promote and shape virtuous organizational contexts to drive positive employee attitudes and behaviors.

This study addresses the call of scholars to extend the body of research on the outcomes of organizational virtuousness. The study contributes to the limited body of knowledge regarding the relationship between organizational virtuousness and employees’ innovative behavior. Furthermore, it elaborates on the precise mechanism through which perceived organizational virtuousness can increase employees’ innovative output. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current study is also the pioneer attempt to examine the role of a personal identity factor in influencing the relationship between employees’ experience of thriving and their innovative behavior.

The purpose of this study is to explore how the risk of management motives for fraud can be assessed in external audits.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 experienced external auditors to explore their perspectives on the methods they employ to assess the risk of management motives for fraud.

The study identifies six methods external auditors can use to assess management motives for fraud. It emphasises that assessing management motives requires auditors to go beyond understanding these motives and necessitates a sceptical and analytical mindset. Auditors need to identify the accounts most vulnerable to management manipulations, observe management attitudes and assess the credibility of management assertions. The auditors in this study highlight specific accounts frequently manipulated by management. Still, manual year-end journal entries are the most vulnerable to management manipulations as they are subject to fewer controls. They recommend increasing the sample size to 100% and assigning more experienced staff, particularly, those with qualifications in fraud examination or anti-fraud training, to audit these vulnerable accounts thoroughly. They also provided examples of how auditors can identify management motives for fraud, observe management attitudes and assess the credibility of management assertions.

Audit standards (e.g. ISA 240, SAS99) lack explicit guidance on assessing management motives for fraud, but auditors are required to consider it in fraud risk assessment. This study proposes guidance recommendations to improve auditors' ability to assess this risk, which could be integrated into professional audit standards and training materials to improve auditors' professional scepticism, ability to challenge management and skills in fraud risk assessment.

Assessing the risk of management motives for fraud in external audits has received limited attention in the literature. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to address this knowledge gap.

Our study investigates the influence of peer performance on the earnings management decisions within publicly traded Indian companies. There is mixed evidence in the literature, with the impact of peer performance on earnings management in emerging markets being notably underexplored. Additionally, the study explores whether robust corporate governance mechanisms can mitigate earnings management practices. Our study offers policy insights into these areas.

Our study used a longitudinal panel dataset from 2011 to 2020, utilising idiosyncratic returns of peer firms as an external measure of peer performance. This approach is further enhanced by the usage of alternative discretionary accrual metrics, which could be a robust measure for both market leaders and followers.

Our study employs two distinct methods, accrual and real earnings management, to assess earnings management. The findings indicate that peer performance triggers earnings management within peer groups, showcasing managerial opportunism in financial reporting to align with peer achievements. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that robust corporate governance effectively curtails earnings management, especially in industries where peer influence is significant.

Our study offers valuable insights for regulators, highlighting that enhancing the institutional framework with stringent corporate governance mechanisms can effectively reduce earnings management in companies within emerging markets.

The paper is a novel attempt in emerging markets to show that managers engage in opportunistic reporting to align with the performance of their peers and that governance strategies effectively mitigate these practices in such markets.

Linguists classify the world’s languages into two types: futured and futureless. Futured languages (e.g. French) require speakers to grammatically mark future events, a construction that is optional in futureless languages such as German. This treatise examines whether the grammatical structure of the predominant language in a given country explains firms’ propensity to engage in controversial marketing and environmental management practices. This is expected to happen because a speaker’s future time perspective and temporal discounting vary depending on the type of language used.

The sample period for this research was from 2001 to 2020. The sample of the study consists of 5,275 firms representing 47 countries. The sample is comprised of firms from 29 countries where the predominant language is a strong future time reference (FTR) language and 18 countries with a weak-FTR language. The maximum number of firm-country-year observations of the study was 39,956. This study employed multi-level mixed effects modelling as well as other relevant estimation techniques such as random effect panel regression, ordinary least square regression and two-stage least square regression.

This research empirically demonstrates that firms based in countries where the predominant language requires speakers to grammatically differentiate between the present and the future – known as strong-FTR or futured languages – engage more often in controversial marketing- and environment-related practices than those located in countries where the predominant language does not necessarily require grammatical differentiation between the present and the future (known as weak-FTR or futureless languages).

The findings are important for managers of firms with foreign subsidiary operations: top management teams of such firms need to be aware that their foreign subsidiaries’ propensity to engage in controversial marketing and environmental management practices varies depending on the predominant language those subsidiaries use. Also, firms located in countries with weak-FTR languages need to be more rigorous in their selection process when considering forming a joint venture or acquiring a firm in countries with strong-FTR languages.

The current research enriches the burgeoning body of literature on the effect of language on corporate decision-making. It extends the body of knowledge on the impact of language structure on firms’ inclination to engage in controversial marketing and environmental management practices.

This study aims to examine the impact of an organization’s internal and external corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives on employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Drawing on the social identity perspective, the authors proposed and tested a mediation model to understand the psychological mechanisms underlying the effects of CSR. The study sample comprised 263 employees from Italian manufacturing firms.

Our findings indicate that external CSR orientation is positively associated with employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Furthermore, the mediating effect of job satisfaction partially explains the positive relationship between external CSR orientation and organizational commitment. Moreover, we found that the positive impact of external CSR on employee outcomes is strengthened when combined with internal CSR.

This research has practical and theoretical implications for organizations seeking to enhance employee engagement and commitment through CSR initiatives and sheds light on how CSR can shape employee attitudes and behaviors toward the organization.

This study brings a novel contribution to the field by examining the impact of both internal and external CSR initiatives on employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment.