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This chapter investigates the impact of policy interest rate news from the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) on stock returns and volatilities of U.S. NYSE and German DAX listed commercial banks. We find that Fed news has the most influence on both U.S. and German listed bank stocks and an unexpected policy rate increase (decrease) lowers (raises) returns and raises volatility in the majority of cases. On the other hand, ECB news generally increases bank stock volatility in the United States but has little impact within its own domestic banking industry. While our results for the U.S. listed banks confirm that their stock prices are more responsive in bad economic times and also during periods of monetary tightening, we find disparities for German banks suggesting that U.S. and European banking industries respond heterogeneously to monetary policy news but the Global Financial Crisis increased the sensitivity of all banks to monetary policy news.

Sensory evaluations to determine the shelf life of food products are routinely conducted in food experimentation as a part of each product development program, whether it includes a new product, product improvement or a change in type or specification of an ingredient. In such experiments, trained panelists are asked to judge food attributes by reference to a scale of numbers. The “failure time” associated with a product unit under test is usually defined as the time required to reach a cut‐off point previously defined by the food company. Important issues associated with the planning and execution of this kind of testing are total sampling size, frequency of sample withdrawals, panel design, and statistical analysis of the panel data, to list a few. Different approaches have been proposed for the analysis of this kind of data. In particular, Freitas et al. proposed an alternative model based on a dichotomization of the score data and a Weibull as the underlying distribution for the time to failure. Also, through a simulation study, the bias and mean square error of the estimates obtained for percentiles and fraction defectives were evaluated. These quantities were used to estimate the shelf life. The simulation study used only the same sample plan implemented in the real situation. This paper focuses on the planning issues associated with these experiments. Sample plans are contrasted and compared in a simulation study, through the use of the approach proposed by Freitas et al.. The simulation results showed that, in general, one can get results much more precise and with smaller bias with a shorter follow‐up time, allocating more panelists to each evaluation time.

Despite the challenge of precisely defining the nature of temptation, this paper seeks to collect contrasting perspectives of this less attractive side of leadership and sets out to find a cure, or rather prevention, for falling into its grasp.

Following a literature review of the temptations to which leaders succumb, the results of focused and intimate case studies of highly respected leaders highlight just what they are tempted with and how and why they particularly may succumb to hedonism, power and posterity.

Extracts of interviews with an international sample of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and significant others reveal a distinctly human experience from which it is considered no‐one is exempt. Included in the sample were female top managers but no discernable difference between the genders could be ascertained. The idiosyncratic nature of response to temptation positioned each interviewees experience as unique. It is concluded that certain measures need to be implemented in order to control and reduce the darker human tendencies when exposed to certain conditions.

The paper offers suggestions on possible strategies that leaders can adopt to guard against temptation.

This study used the Ivancevich and Matteson Stress Diagnostic Survey to gather data concerning job stress for a large national sample of internal auditors in the USA. Survey respondents indicated that the organizational job stressors in their work environment were more a source of stress than the so‐called individual job factors. Specifically, respondents would like to be paid more and participate more in the decision‐making processes relating to their jobs. Company politics and lack of training and development opportunities were other major sources of stress. Implications for the profession are clear. Internal audit managers should be aware of the job stress inherent in the nature of the work of an internal auditor and take appropriate steps to reduce organizational job stressors rather than face the risk of increased staff job turnover.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the status of Six Sigma's status in Brazilian companies and understand the integration of this program with other quality management approaches. Additionally, the critical success factors (CSFs) for Six Sigma implementation and primary Six Sigma program characteristics were identified. Finally, the results of the used of Six Sigma were analysed.

An extensive literature review illustrates the primary Six Sigma characteristics and its relationship with other quality approaches. The research methodology encompasses survey development and statistical analyses. Questionnaires are distributed to 1,000 large firms in the manufacturing and service industries in Brazil. Altogether, a total of 198 firms, of which 46 companies adopted the Six Sigma program, participated in this study.

The results suggest a synergic and incremental pattern of quality model implementation. The study reveals that companies that have adopted Six Sigma have a long history of implementing quality programs, which suggests a certain level of quality maturity. The studied companies perceive in Six Sigma an incremental evolution, which can be combined with earlier initiatives and provides strong synergy with ISO 9000. The findings of this study confirm the distinctive Six Sigma role structure suggested by several authors. However, three possible configurations of the role structure were found that differ in terms of training and the dedication of human resources involved in the Six Sigma program.

This study demonstrates the inherent limits of the research method adopted, the use of a non-probabilistic sample and a reliance on self-reported perceptions, which introduces bias to the analysis.

Important managerial implications of this study are related to the Six Sigma structure adopted. The capillarity of the program in the organisation as a whole can be related to the type of role structure configuration adopted. This structure can have an impact in terms of both numbers and employees’ and managers’ degree of involvement, as well as the type of training and resources provided.

The diffusion of Six Sigma in Brazilian companies is less widespread than in other countries. Three possible configurations of the role structure were found that differ in terms of the training and dedication of human resources entailed by the Six Sigma program. Three CSFs factors were identified: organisation, infrastructure and human resources.

Research on employee mobility has proliferated in the past four decades across four research traditions: Economics, sociology, management, and organizational behavior/human resource management. Despite significant overlap in interest and focus, these four streams of research have evolved independent from each other, resulting in a structural divide. We provide a detailed account of the research on employee mobility and the structural divide across disciplines. We document that the payoff from this profusion of research and increasing interest has been disappointing, as reflected in the limited number of cross-disciplinary citations, even among common topics of interest. However, our analysis also provides some encouraging signs in the form of specific journals and individuals who provide a bridge for cross-disciplinary fertilization.

Traditional fire practices are explored so as to understand transformative relationships to Country and as an analogy for developments in Indigenous Health. Stories of fire encompass the resistance of Indigenous Australians to colonial dispossession. Stories of fire engage Indigenous communities with law and culture and from this with health. Transformative knowledges can be built upon re-kindling Indigenous land and law practices through fire practices. Building relationships with fire and burning practices corresponds with the developing sustainable health and cultural practices across Indigenous communities.