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This case is real. To preserve client/consultant confidentiality, the industry has been changed and the firm disguised.

Strategic Measurement Systems (SMS) collect and analyze the performance information needed to manage processes and competencies that produce significant competitive advantage. An increasing number of companies are augmenting their traditional financial performance systems with these new measurements.

Results from international large-scale assessments, such as PISA surveys, suggest that boys do better in math and science, whereas girls do better in reading. How do gender gaps vary across subjects, when estimated simultaneously? Building on the work of Tsai, Smith, and Hauser (2017), we answer this question by applying a multilevel-MIMIC model that enables us to estimate gender gaps in two ways: gender differences in the effects of observed family and school factors on math, science, and reading scores; and the “adjusted” gender gaps in test scores across all three subjects after controlling for observables. We apply the model to 2012 PISA data of students aged 15–16 and enrolled in 9th or 10th grade in three East Asian (Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan) and three Western countries (USA, Germany, and the Czech Republic) that represent both similar and different types of school systems. Our findings indicate that the gender gap in math or science achievement in Western countries, favoring boys, does not necessarily apply to the East Asian countries examined here, while all three East Asian countries exhibit similar features of gender reading gaps in the 10th grade. There is evidence indicating that observed background and school factors impact boys’ and girls’ achievement in a similar way in USA, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the Czech Republic, but not in Germany. Overall, gender differences in family and school influences do not account for gender differences in academic achievement in any of the six countries.

Discuss in detail the uses which might legitimately be made of the following passage by the writer of a profound study of economic life and thought in France at the end of the reign of Louis XIV. In answering the question make full use of your knowledge of (a) historical criticism; (b) French economic and general history.

Industry and academia around the world stress the importance of professional skills (also known as soft skills, generic skills, or transferable skills) so it is necessary to be able to assess students’ attainment of these skills. An innovative method was developed in the USA for assessment of these skills in an engineering program (Ater Kranov, Hauser, Olsen, & Girardeau, 2008); this method was based around student discussion of an open-ended, unresolved, discipline-related problem, held face-to-face and subsequently analyzed using a rubric. In the research project described here, the method was adapted for the United Arab Emirates by writing appropriate scenarios for computing students, by modifying the rubric and by running the discussion on an online discussion board. The primary aims were to determine the feasibility of adapting the method and to examine its suitability. The results of the study showed that the method can be adapted and employed very successfully with UAE students. This paper presents the method, its adaptation and implementation, and the results obtained.

The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between changes in relative influence between marketing and R&D and new product performance (NPP). The aim is to theorize and test whether relative influence changes are beneficial for NPP.

An international survey was sent out to pharmaceutical companies worldwide, resulting in 106 usable questionnaires from knowledgeable senior managers. A model is estimated that relates recent and historic changes in relative influence to NPP.

There is a positive relationship between recent relative influence changes and subsequent NPP. Moreover, this paper finds that having a history of adaptation with respect to relative influence can serve organizations to build up capabilities that, in turn, strengthen the positive effects of recent relative influence changes on NPP. Finally, the paper shows that relative influence changes and integration between marketing and R&D positively affect NPP jointly.

A core finding, that is quite counterintuitive, is that instability with respect to relative influence changes can help organizations to become more competitive in new product development.

^∗ Indicates books which are especially recommended.

The purpose of this study is to show that despite the profound and commendable efforts of the SEC staff and many others in the legal system, aimed at combatting a billion-dollar hedge fund manager fraud, the perpetrators were effectively not held accountable for the unlawful conduct and hence did not bear the consequences of the conduct. This case highlights the presence of a significant risk that hedge fund investors are not fully accounting for and very likely not earning a commensurate premium for it. During the 1999–2002 period, Lauer and Associates inflated hedge funds’ valuations, misrepresented the holdings of the funds, shared fake portfolios with investors, did not provide reasonable basis for the excessive valuations of the investee companies and manipulated their security prices. In 2009, Lauer was found guilty of violating anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws and was ordered to pay US$18.9m in prejudgment interest and to surrender US$43.6m in ill-gotten gains. Despite the substantial evidence, on 11 April 2011 Lauer was acquitted in federal court, of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Five other associates received light sentences. Yet investors were around US$1.0bn which were never recovered or compensated.

The study applies clinical case analysis. The study produced detailed research and analysis of the of the US based Lancer Management Group fraud case. The focus is on the consequences to investors and other stakeholders in the hedge fund industry.

In 2009, Lauer was found guilty of violating anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws and was ordered to pay US$18.9m in prejudgment interest and to surrender US$43.6m in ill-gotten gains. Despite the substantial evidence, on 11 April 2011 Lauer was acquitted in federal court, of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Five other associates receive light sentences. Yet investors were around US$1.0bn. Investors’ losses were never recovered or compensated.

This is a clinical case study. It is not an empirical study. Findings should be carefully construed.

This study directs hedge fund investors and industry stakeholder to the real possibility of not fraud but also to the limited efficacy of the system in terms of providing protection and compensation to investors. Investors and stakeholders must pay close attention in the due diligence process to minimize probability of fraud.

Hedge fund industry fraud leads to devastating consequences to investors and obviously to their wealth and very possibly adversely impact local economy and community.

This study presents many events that show the extent of the fraud and how it was conducted. This paper shows despite the extensive effort of the regulatory and judicial system, the perpetrators of the fraud were not held accountable for their actions. This case does not point toward a macro system failure. It highlights the presence of a real risk that investors are not accounting for and very likely not earning a commensurate reward for it.