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There has been an increasing amount of research on personnel selection in many business disciplines (Hough & Oswald, 2000; Breaugh & Starke, 2000). Research on internal auditor selection, however, has had limited exposure in the auditing literature (Bailey, Gramling, & Ramamoorti, 2003). Recently, Seol and Sarkis (2005) introduced an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model that used a decision hierarchy based on the CFIA (competency framework for internal auditing) framework. A limitation of AHP, however, is the assumption of strict hierarchical relationship that needs to exist among factors.

The purpose of this paper is an introduction of a more robust model, the analytical network process (ANP), which relaxes the strict hierarchical and decomposition levels of the hierarchy and incorporates possible interrelationships and interdependencies of various personnel selection criteria, factors, and alternatives. In illustrating the application, we return to the CFIA model framework, describe how and where interdependencies exist amongst the CFIA factors/attributes, and how ANP is used in the internal auditor selection process. The illustration will also describe some sensitivity analysis for the ANP approach. The tool is not without its limitations that include the potential for geometrically more questions and information elicitation from the decision makers. Finally managerial and research implications associated with the technique and results are described.

This paper aims to highlight the need to place focus on ensuring soft factors in construction projects’ design management and to discuss whether soft factors are hidden success factors.

The presented data is a result of findings from two master theses. The approach is qualitative research and consists of nine semi-structured interviews with design managers and two case studies involving document analyses, meeting observations and descriptions of seven interviews.

This empirical study demonstrates that soft factors are considered important for design managers’ achievement of a successful design process. Focus on soft factors promotes good communication and will improve team performances. Factors are hidden because they are invisible and immeasurable. Furthermore, soft factors are not defined as assigned tasks and are, therefore, easily neglected. Designers are hesitant to explore the possibilities of new technology owing to the fear that they will forfeit human interaction.

This paper is limited to the presentation of empirical findings. Therefore, theory is not a basis for the study but rather a framework for the discussion.

The results in this paper broaden the understanding of human behaviour during the design phase. This knowledge should be considered when the project’s delivery model is designed as it will safeguard actor concerns during the ongoing technological transformation.

This paper contributes knowledge of the view regarding soft factors among project actors. It expands the traditional understanding of value by adding soft factors to the traditional success measures of time, quality and cost.

This study aims to identify the factors and propose a conceptual framework for the civil aviation industry from the sustainability perspective with the participation of international entrepreneurs. Based on the results of this study, international decision-makers and entrepreneurs in the civil aviation transportation industry will better understand their decision-making processes. A combination of interpretive structural modelling (ISM) and matrix-based multiplication applied to a classification (MICMAC) was used to classify practical factors to depict a conceptual model based on their level and classification in the sustainable supply chain (SSC) of the civil aviation transportation industry. In this study, special attention has been paid to the issue of sustainability as an essential mechanism for developing international entrepreneurship in the civil aviation transportation industry. The factor of flexibility in service production was identified as the driver factor; the factors of organisational commitment to a SSC were found to have the highest driver-dependent power that can attract international entrepreneurs in this field.

Our study proposes a resource environment view (REV) of competitive advantage by unpacking the environmental origins of a firm’s competitive advantage. The key tenet of the REV is that the heterogeneity and imperfect mobility of strategic factor markets and institutions across countries explain how firms based in different countries would likely both create and sustain a competitive advantage. In particular, our study introduces the notion of “the paradox of environmental embeddedness.” The paradox lies in the fact that the same environmental conditions – in terms of strategic factor markets and institutions – that enable firms to create a competitive advantage can paradoxically also create a situation in which it is more difficult for these firms to sustain an advantage. Another important aspect of our study is that, to enhance our understanding of how firms manage the paradox of environmental embeddedness, our study specifies the resource environmental conditions under which firms’ internal and external resource-oriented strategies – that is, the development of dynamic capabilities and interventions in the country resource environment – are more beneficial when managing the environmental paradox. Overall, our theorizing has important implications for strategic management theory and practice.

When reporting wrongdoing internally, whistleblowers are confronted with the dilemma of weighing up their loyalty toward the organization (e.g., ethical standards) and their co-workers (e.g., the social norm of not snitching on peers). However, the role played by peers in the whistleblowing decision process and in the aftermath has rarely been addressed in existing reviews. We therefore perform a systematic review that identifies seven thematic clusters of peer factors, offering researchers an informative overview of (a) the peer factors that have been examined to influence the whistleblowing decision, and (b) the extent to which the whistleblower experiences adverse consequences from peers in the aftermath of whistleblowing. As peer factors seem to be important to explain and predict internal whistleblowing, researchers are encouraged to address in future works the research gaps our review unraveled.

Good market timing skills can be an important factor contributing to hedge funds’ outperformance. In this chapter, we use a unique semiparametric panel data model capable of providing consistent short period estimates of the return correlations with three market factors for a sample of Long/Short equity hedge funds. We find evidence of significant market timing ability by fund managers around market crisis periods. Studying the behavior of individual fund managers, we show that at the 10% significance level, 17.12% of funds exhibit good linear timing skills and 21.32% of funds possess some level of good nonlinear market timing skills. Further, we find that market timing strategies of hedge funds are different in good and bad markets, and that a significant number of managers behave more conservatively when the market return is expected to be far above average and more aggressively when the market return is expected to be far below average. We find that good market timers are also likely to possess good stock selection skills.