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1 – 10 of 57Khaled Halteh, Kuldeep Kumar and Adrian Gepp
Financial distress is a socially and economically important problem that affects companies the world over. Having the power to better understand – and hence aid businesses from…
Abstract
Purpose
Financial distress is a socially and economically important problem that affects companies the world over. Having the power to better understand – and hence aid businesses from failing, has the potential to save not only the company, but also potentially prevent economies from sustained downturn. Although Islamic banks constitute a fraction of total banking assets, their importance have been substantially increasing, as their asset growth rate has surpassed that of conventional banks in recent years. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a data set comprising 101 international publicly listed Islamic banks to work on advancing financial distress prediction (FDP) by utilising cutting-edge stochastic models, namely decision trees, stochastic gradient boosting and random forests. The most important variables pertaining to forecasting corporate failure are determined from an initial set of 18 variables.
Findings
The results indicate that the “Working Capital/Total Assets” ratio is the most crucial variable relating to forecasting financial distress using both the traditional “Altman Z-Score” and the “Altman Z-Score for Service Firms” methods. However, using the “Standardised Profits” method, the “Return on Revenue” ratio was found to be the most important variable. This provides empirical evidence to support the recommendations made by Basel Accords for assessing a bank’s capital risks, specifically in relation to the application to Islamic banking.
Originality/value
These findings provide a valuable addition to the limited literature surrounding Islamic banking in general, and FDP pertaining to Islamic banking in particular, by showcasing the most pertinent variables in forecasting financial distress so that appropriate proactive actions can be taken.
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Sucheta Agarwal, Kuldeep Kumar Saxena, Vivek Agrawal, Jitendra Kumar Dixit, Chander Prakash, Dharam Buddhi and Kahtan A. Mohammed
Manufacturing companies are increasingly using green smart production (GSM) as a tactic to boost productivity since it has a number of advantages over conventional manufacturing…
Abstract
Purpose
Manufacturing companies are increasingly using green smart production (GSM) as a tactic to boost productivity since it has a number of advantages over conventional manufacturing methods. It costs a lot of money and takes a lot of work to create an SMS since it combines a lot of different technologies, including automation, data exchanges, cyber-physical systems (CPS), artificial intelligence, the Internet of things (IoT) and semi-autonomous industrial systems. Green smart manufacturing (GSM) activities provide the foundation for creating ecologically friendly and green products. However, there are a number of other significant barriers obstacles to GSM deployment. As a result, removing this identification of these hurdles in a systematic manner should be a top focus of this study.
Design/methodology/approach
This article seeks to identify and prioritize the nine barriers based on research and expert viewpoints on GSM challenges. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is used to prioritize the barriers.
Findings
The result depicts that, financial constraints is the most important barrier that followed by scarcity of dedicated suppliers, concern to data security lack of understanding of the surroundings, inadequate top management commitment, proper handling of data interfaces lack of support by government, employees' lack of training, concern to data security lack of environment knowledge, fear of change/resistance and constraints of technology.
Research limitations/implications
The current research will help the manufacturing industry in Industry 4.0 to identify potential barriers to GSM implementation.
Originality/value
Green manufacturing (GM) entails the implementation of renewable production methods and eco-friendly procedures in manufacturing businesses. This study helps manufacturers come up with recycling and creative products, and manufacturers can give back to the environment by protecting natural areas by getting rid of the obstacles that get in the way.
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Amit Roy, Risto Ikonen, Tuula Keinonen and Kuldeep Kumar
Rising trends in alcohol consumption and early drinking initiation pose serious health risks especially for adolescents. Learner’s prior knowledge about alcohol gained from the…
Abstract
Purpose
Rising trends in alcohol consumption and early drinking initiation pose serious health risks especially for adolescents. Learner’s prior knowledge about alcohol gained from the social surroundings and the media are important sources that can impact the learning outcomes in health education. The purpose of this paper is to map adolescents’ perceptions of alcohol in Punjab, India and how these perceptions are related to their attitudes towards their social surroundings and the media.
Design/methodology/approach
The questionnaire was created after informal discussions with local people who consume alcohol and discussions with alcohol-related experts. Students from five schools (n=379, average age=13.6 years) in the urban region of Punjab, India, filled in a questionnaire. Quantitative tests were performed on the questionnaire data. Summative content analysis was performed for the textbook content about alcohol from classes 1 to 10.
Findings
Data suggest that students gain knowledge about alcohol from multiple sources, including society, the media and education. While society and the media can give misinformation, education did not provide them with factual scientific information about alcohol. Students from financially marginalized social surroundings experience the presence and use of alcohol more frequently; they trust the media and celebrities somewhat unquestioningly and, hence, are more at-risk.
Research limitations/implications
All participants in informal discussions as well as all participating schools in the study were from urban regions. Data about individual’s socio-economic conditions was not collected.
Originality/value
This research investigates perceptions of alcohol that are derived from adolescents’ social surroundings, perceptions of the media and perceptions gained through educational guidance in a developing country. Such multi-dimensional investigations have not been conducted earlier.
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Milind Tiwari, Adrian Gepp and Kuldeep Kumar
The paper aims at developing a global ranking system determining a country's appeal as a destination for money laundering.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims at developing a global ranking system determining a country's appeal as a destination for money laundering.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses principal component analysis (PCA), with a mix of standardised and unstandardised components relating to attractiveness, economic freedom and money laundering risk to come up with an index of money laundering appeal.
Findings
Four components relating to economic feasibility, financial liberty, government spending and tax regime are critical in influencing a country's money laundering appeal.
Research limitations/implications
This paper attempts to use a standardised and replicable methodology to condense into a single measure the complex and multifaceted phenomenon of a country's appeal as a destination for money laundering, thus avoiding the difficulty associated with precisely calculating illicit financial flows.
Practical implications
The ranking system could be used to determine the destinations attractive for laundering money. Such information can be used to come up with more effective preventative strategies to combat phenomena responsible for the stagnation of economic growth through tax evasion, corruption and creation of non-competitive markets.
Originality/value
It is the first attempt to use a statistical technique to understand the underlying components of a country's money laundering appeal.
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Kuldeep Kumar, Sukanto Bhattacharya and Richard Hicks
Recent research has confirmed an underlying economic logic that connects each of the three vertices of the “fraud triangle” – a fundamental criminological model of factors driving…
Abstract
Purpose
Recent research has confirmed an underlying economic logic that connects each of the three vertices of the “fraud triangle” – a fundamental criminological model of factors driving occupational fraud. It is postulated that in the presence of economic motivation and opportunity (the first two vertices of the fraud triangle), the likelihood of an occupational fraud happening in an organization increases substantially if the overall organization culture is perceived as being slack toward fraud as it helps potential fraudsters in rationalizing their actions (rationalization being the third vertex of the fraud triangle). This paper aims to offer a viable approach for collecting and processing of data to identify and operationalize the key factors underlying employee perception of organization culture toward occupational frauds.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper reports and analyses the results of a pilot study conducted using a convenience sampling approach to identify and operationalize the key factors underlying employee perception of organization culture with respect to occupational frauds. Given a very small sample size, a numerical testing technique based on the binomial distribution has been applied to test for significance of the proportion of respondents who agree that a lenient organizational culture toward fraud can create a rationalization for fraud.
Findings
The null hypothesis assumed no difference in the population proportions between those who agree and those who disagree with the view that a lenient organizational culture toward fraud can create a rationalization for fraud. Based on the results of the numerical test, the null hypothesis is rejected in favor of the alternative that the population proportion of those who agree with the stated view in fact exceeded the proportion of those who disagreed.
Research limitations/implications
The obvious limitation is the very small size of the sample obtained because of an extremely low rate of response to the survey questionnaires. However, while of course a much bigger data set needs to be collected to develop a generalizable prediction model, the small sample was enough for the purpose of a pilot study.
Practical implications
This paper makes two distinct practical contributions. First, it posits a viable empirical research plan for identifying, collecting and processing the right data to identify and operationalize the key underlying factors that capture an employee’s perception of organizational culture toward fraud as a basis for rationalizing an act of fraud. Second, it demonstrates via a small-scale pilot study that a more broad-based survey can indeed prove to be extremely useful in collating the sort of data that is needed to develop a computational model for predicting the likelihood of occupational fraud in any organization.
Originality/value
This paper provides a viable framework which empirical researchers can follow to test some of the latest advances in the “fraud triangle” theory. It outlines a systematic and focused data collection method via a well-designed questionnaire that is effectively applicable to future surveys that are scaled up to collect data at a nationwide level.
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Milind Tiwari, Adrian Gepp and Kuldeep Kumar
The purpose of this study is to review the literature on money laundering and its related areas. The main objective is to identify any gaps in the literature and direct attention…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to review the literature on money laundering and its related areas. The main objective is to identify any gaps in the literature and direct attention towards addressing them.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review of the money laundering literature was conducted with an emphasis on the Pro-Quest, Scopus and Science-Direct databases. Broad research themes were identified after investigating the literature. The theme about the detection of money laundering was then further investigated. The major approaches of such detection are identified, as well as research gaps that could be addressed in future studies.
Findings
The literature on money laundering can be classified into the following six broad areas: anti-money laundering framework and its effectiveness, the effect of money laundering on other fields and the economy, the role of actors and their relative importance, the magnitude of money laundering, new opportunities available for money laundering and detection of money laundering. Most studies about the detection of money laundering have focused on the use of innovative technologies, banking transactions or real estate- and trade-based money laundering. However, the literature on the detection of shell companies being explicitly used to launder funds is relatively scarce.
Originality/value
This paper provides insights into an area related to money laundering where research is relatively scant. Shell companies incorporated in the UK alone were identified to be associated with laundering £80bn of stolen money between 2010 and 2014. The use of these entities to launder billions of dollars as witnessed through the laundromat schemes and several data leaks clearly indicate the need to focus on illicit financial flows through such entities.
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Rajneesh Kumar, Raj Rani Gupta and Kuldeep Kumar
A dynamical two‐dimensional problem of a homogeneous transversely isotropic fibre‐reinforced generalized thermoelastic solid with an overlying acoustic fluid layer has been…
Abstract
A dynamical two‐dimensional problem of a homogeneous transversely isotropic fibre‐reinforced generalized thermoelastic solid with an overlying acoustic fluid layer has been considered to investigate disturbance due to mechanical load. Laplace and Fourier transform techniques are applied to solve the problem. Uniformly distributed and linearly distributed forces are applied to illustrate the utility of the approach. A numerical inversion technique has been applied to obtain the solution in the physical domain. Numerical results are obtained and presented graphically to show the effect of anisotropy along with the comparison of homogeneous transversely isotropic fibre‐reinforced generalized thermoelastic solid and isotropic elastic solid.
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Kuldeep Kumar, Paul C. van Fenema and Mary Ann Von Glinow
In today's internationalized world, value creation consists of knowledge and work integration involving workers from around the world. Members of these globally distributed work…
Abstract
In today's internationalized world, value creation consists of knowledge and work integration involving workers from around the world. Members of these globally distributed work teams (GDWT) encounter organizational behavior issues (identity, cultural differences, and leadership) and organization design issues (dependencies, information processing, media use, and teamwork structures). While most research on GDWT focuses on the first set of issues, this chapter is among the few to systematically explore the second set. We propose and elaborate on strategies for either reducing the intensity of collaboration, or enabling teams to collaborate intensely on a global scale. Implications for research and practice are explored.
S. Gamesalingam and Kuldeep Kumar
Describes the ability of modern computer‐driven multivariate statistical analysis to deal with complex data and the development of statistical models for predicting financial…
Abstract
Describes the ability of modern computer‐driven multivariate statistical analysis to deal with complex data and the development of statistical models for predicting financial distress. Applies multivariate techniques to 1986‐1991 financial ratio data for Australian failed (29) and nonfailed (42) companies; and explains the techniques used (principal components analysis, factor analysis, discriminant analysis and cluster analysis) and the different types of information they can provide to help identify the distress levels of companies. Predicts that multivariate methods will change the way researchers think about problems and design their research. An unusually clear exposition of the application of multivariate methods.
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M. Ishaq Bhatti, Kuldeep Kumar and Michelle Schofield
In recent years there has been a revolutionary approach in business, governments and industry due to advances in computer technology and efficient statistical methods. This paper…
Abstract
In recent years there has been a revolutionary approach in business, governments and industry due to advances in computer technology and efficient statistical methods. This paper examines and offers practical suggestions for those in human resource improvement in output quality and the workplace atmosphere in light of Deming’s principles of human resource management.
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