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11 – 20 of over 1000
Article
Publication date: 6 February 2017

Xian Cheng, Liao Stephen Shaoyi and Zhongsheng Hua

The purpose of this paper is to measure the systemic importance of industry in the world economic system under the system-wide event – the crisis of 2008-2009, by viewing this…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to measure the systemic importance of industry in the world economic system under the system-wide event – the crisis of 2008-2009, by viewing this system as a weighted directed network of interconnected industries.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the authors investigate this crisis at three different levels based on network-related indicators: the “macro” global level, the “meso” country level, and the “micro” industry level. This investigation not only provides evidence for the systemic influence, that is, systemic risk, of the crisis, but also reveals the contagion mechanism of the crisis, which supports the stress testing. Second, the authors use a network-related business intelligence algorithm, the combined hyperlink-induced topic search (HITS) algorithm, to measure the contribution of a given individual industry to the overall risk of the economic system or, in other words, the systemic importance of the individual industry.

Findings

The HITS algorithm considers both the market information and the interconnectedness of the industries. Based on the stress testing, the performance of the combined HITS is compared with the purely market-based systemic risk measurement. The results show that the combined HITS outperforms the baseline in finding the top N systemically important industries.

Practical implications

The combined HITS algorithm provides a novel network-based perspective of systemic risk measurement.

Originality/value

Measuring the systemic importance based on the combined HITS algorithm can help managers and regulators design effective risk management policies. In this respect, the work initiates a research direction of studying the systemic risk in a business system based on a network-related business intelligence algorithm because the business system can be viewed as an interconnected network.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 117 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 21 December 2010

Massimo Garbuio, Dan Lovallo and John Horn

Mergers & acquisitions (M&A) are an important element of any company's growth plan. However, the actual performance of most M&A activity fails to live up to the expectations of…

Abstract

Mergers & acquisitions (M&A) are an important element of any company's growth plan. However, the actual performance of most M&A activity fails to live up to the expectations of the acquirers. The psychological biases that affect decision-making have been posited as a source of this disappointing performance. The broad strokes in which these biases have been offered up as explanation for M&A failure don't offer much insight into the specific causes, and therefore the actions business leaders can take to mitigate their impact. We review a 4-step M&A process, identify the different biases that affect the different stages, and then offer practical debiasing techniques targeted at that particular stage of the decision-making process. This targeted debiasing can help business leaders find practical solutions to this vexing problem. Finally, we review two biases that motivate decision makers to avoid pursuing M&A deals at all – to the detriment of achieving their growth targets.

Details

Advances in Mergers and Acquisitions
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-465-9

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1979

H. McCallion, G.R. Johnson and D.T. Pham

The insertion of a peg in a hole is the final phase in the assembly of a peg and a block with a hole. This paper briefly analyses the physical interaction between these two…

Abstract

The insertion of a peg in a hole is the final phase in the assembly of a peg and a block with a hole. This paper briefly analyses the physical interaction between these two components during insertion, describes a simple fine‐motion device which utilizes this interaction to insert pegs into closely‐fitting holes, and discusses possible variations to the construction of the device.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 June 2019

Nora Medhat Abdelkader

This paper aims to shed light on the previous ideological stands of the newly established Islamist parties in terms of the idea of party formation, and different models of their…

1765

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to shed light on the previous ideological stands of the newly established Islamist parties in terms of the idea of party formation, and different models of their relations with the social movements from which they emanated through focusing on some case studies, namely, Egypt and Tunisia, with an attempt to study their impact on the parties’ paths by concentrating on two dimensions: the decision-making process and alliances’ building.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is written according to the comparative case studies approach and Huntington’s new institutionalism.

Findings

The research findings proved that, in the light of the two case studies, there are two different models of relations exist between the Islamist political parties and the social movements they emanated from, and despite that both parties had come out from social movements or took the form of a movement in their beginnings and were established within the same context, they showed different perspectives in dealing later on with the new institutional and political context and their rising challenges. These perspectives affected the parties’ decision-making process and alliances’ building, as well as their institutional legitimacy and determined their political future.

Originality/value

In the end, this paper attempts to deal with the degree of institutionalization these parties enjoyed, based on how the movements they emanated from had dealt with the dilemma of party building and the party-movement relations.

Book part
Publication date: 17 January 2022

Wendi Beamish and Annalise Taylor

Starting school is major educational transition for all children as it requires the forming of fresh relationships, settling into a new classroom environment, and engaging in more…

Abstract

Starting school is major educational transition for all children as it requires the forming of fresh relationships, settling into a new classroom environment, and engaging in more formal learning activities. For children on the autism spectrum, starting school is a stressful period due to the substantially changed conditions. With appropriate and flexible supports, however, these children can overcome their desire for sameness, belong to a community of active learners, and experience academic and social success. This chapter presents a practice model to support teachers seeking to successfully include and educate children on the spectrum in the early years of schooling. This Model of Practice comprises 23 practices aligned with the organizers of Belonging, Being, and Becoming from the Australian Early Years Learning Framework. The practices are foundational in nature and enable teachers to identify and use them in their planning and instruction in order to respond effectively to specific children's needs. The model has been field tested by early years teachers from 23 schools across three Australian states. Perspectives provided by these teachers about the model and how they used it in their classrooms are woven into the chapter. Their perspectives highlight the usefulness of the model as a classroom resource for teaching not only children on the spectrum but also those with diverse learning needs. Reported perspectives also indicate that using the model may enhance teachers' autism-specific knowledge and confidence in working with children on the spectrum. The chapter concludes with recommendations made by teachers for using the practice model.

Details

Transition Programs for Children and Youth with Diverse Needs
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-102-1

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 1 October 2008

Anabela Carneiro and Pedro Portugal

In this paper a simultaneous-equations model of firm closing and wage determination is specified in order to analyse how wages adjust to unfavorable product demand shocks that…

Abstract

In this paper a simultaneous-equations model of firm closing and wage determination is specified in order to analyse how wages adjust to unfavorable product demand shocks that raise the risk of displacement through firm closing, and to what extent an exogenous wage change affects the exit likelihood. Using a longitudinal matched worker-firm data set from Portugal, the estimation results suggest that, under the existence of noncompetitive rents, the fear of job loss leads workers to accept wage concessions, even though a compensating differential for the ex ante risk of displacement might exist. A novel result that emerges from this study is that firms with a higher incidence of minimum wage earners are more vulnerable to adverse shocks due to their inability to adjust wages downward. Indeed, minimum wage restrictions were seen to increase the failure rates.

Details

Work, Earnings and Other Aspects of the Employment Relation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-552-9

Book part
Publication date: 22 September 2009

Peter G. Klein and Lasse B. Lien

Ronald Coase's landmark 1937 article, “The Nature of the Firm,” framed the study of organizational economics for decades. Coase asked three fundamental questions: Why do firms…

Abstract

Ronald Coase's landmark 1937 article, “The Nature of the Firm,” framed the study of organizational economics for decades. Coase asked three fundamental questions: Why do firms exist? What determines their boundaries? How should firms be organized internally? To answer the first question, Coase famously appealed to “the costs of using the price mechanism,” what we now call transaction costs or contracting costs, a concept that blossomed in the 1970s and 1980s into an elaborate theory of why firms exist (Alchian & Demsetz, 1972; Williamson, 1975, 1979, 1985; Klein, Crawford, & Alchian, 1978; Grossman & Hart, 1986). The second question has generated a huge literature in industrial economics, strategy, corporate finance, and organization theory. “Why,” as Coase (1937, pp. 393–394) put it, “does the entrepreneur not organize one less transaction or one more?” In Williamson's (1996, p. 150) words, “Why can't a large firm do everything that a collection of small firms can do and more?” As Coase recognized in 1937, the transaction-cost advantages of internal organization are not unlimited, and firms have a finite “optimum” size and shape. Describing these limits in detail has proved challenging, however.1

Details

Economic Institutions of Strategy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-487-0

Article
Publication date: 9 November 2015

D. P. Dash

– The purpose of this paper is to offer a provisional framework for researcher development in contexts where postgraduate research education is developing.

1014

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to offer a provisional framework for researcher development in contexts where postgraduate research education is developing.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a reflective essay. The author draws out lessons from his research education initiatives in India and Malaysia spread over a decade (2003-2013). The lessons are based on favourable and unfavourable processes which affected those initiatives. The processes are then synthesised in two stages, to arrive at a provisional framework.

Findings

The framework is presented as a cyclical process blending five focal themes: identity, connections, network, skills and roles. Implementing such a process would require sustained institutional collaboration and a supportive policy environment.

Research limitations/implications

Given the limited experiential basis of this reflective exercise, the framework should be considered provisional in nature. There is a need to discuss and assess the framework in other contexts.

Social implications

Countries such as India and Malaysia have set ambitious targets for doctoral completion. Well-endowed scholarships have been put in place. However, doctoral programmes are still not yet widely popular. A need exists to direct policy debates towards the kinds of researchers needed and how to develop those kinds of researchers.

Originality/value

The paper presents a first-hand reflective account of the opportunities and constraints of research education in India and Malaysia. The exercise has produced a provisional framework for researcher development that could be adapted and assessed in other contexts.

Article
Publication date: 21 November 2008

Andrew Paddison and Kine Olsen

The aim of this paper is to explore, through exploratory qualitative research, how perceptions of involvement and risk, for female consumers, influences their information search…

1186

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to explore, through exploratory qualitative research, how perceptions of involvement and risk, for female consumers, influences their information search and product evaluation decision‐making for over‐the‐counter (OTC) painkillers.

Design/methodology/approach

In‐depth interviews were conducted amongst 25 female OTC painkiller purchasers from one pharmacy. Females are more engaged with and have a greater likelihood to use OTC medication. Despite the benefits of applying qualitative approaches when researching self‐medication, there are few self‐care qualitative studies.

Findings

Despite the greater availability and awareness of OTC medicines, the purchasing process is still underpinned by inherent risk. Alongside base levels of involvement, painkillers had situational importance with there being unease as to the risk involved. Consumers felt uncertainty as to the worth of their knowledge and this was compounded by a lack of informational clarity. Finally, the risk of side‐effects and the relative importance of subjective beliefs often took precedence during evaluation.

Research limitations/implications

Information needs to be made more accessible, whilst there is scope to capitalise upon family history as interpersonal sources were deemed to be empathetic. As the study was conducted once in a “local” setting, the time span and level of interactivity could be extended by studying consumers “lived experiences”. Triangulated research amongst related parties, such as pharmacists, could build on this exploratory study.

Originality/value

OTC medicine sales have grown with self‐medicating consumers purchasing painkillers the most frequently. Previous research has stemmed from medical sociology, pharmacy practice and public policy, and there is a lack of contemporary (UK) consumer behaviour research on OTC painkiller purchasing.

Details

International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, vol. 2 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6123

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 1 January 2012

Dan Mahoney and Wesley W. Wilson

Over the past 50 years, air travel in the United States has increased from approximately 33 million passengers in 1960 to over 607 million passengers in 2007 (National

Abstract

Over the past 50 years, air travel in the United States has increased from approximately 33 million passengers in 1960 to over 607 million passengers in 2007 (National Transportation Statistics, 2011, Table 1–40). This is over an 18-fold increase in air travel in the past five decades. Over that same time period, the number of airports increased modestly, from 15,161 in 1980 to 19,750 in 2009. The number of those airports serving public commercial traffic is even smaller, and has declined from 730 airports in 1980 to 559 in 2009 (National Transportation Statistics, 2011, Table 1–3). Together, these two facts point to phenomenal growth among airports (measured by the number of passenger trips).

Details

Pricing Behavior and Non-Price Characteristics in the Airline Industry
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-469-6

11 – 20 of over 1000