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1 – 10 of 96Tarron Khemraj and Sukrishnalall Pasha
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it estimates the sterilization coefficients for several Caribbean countries. Second, it contributes to the literature by providing a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it estimates the sterilization coefficients for several Caribbean countries. Second, it contributes to the literature by providing a conceptual framework for understanding why regional economies with fully pegged exchange rate regimes have not allowed the money supply to be endogenous to capital flows. This paper notes that a high sterilization coefficient plus a de facto pegged exchange rate indicates the existence of dual nominal anchors.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a simple theoretical model to explain this phenomenon. The model combines the liquidity preference of commercial banks with an augmented uncovered interest parity equation.
Findings
The econometric evidence presented shows that several Caribbean economies with fixed exchange rate regimes also possess high sterilization coefficients. Given open capital accounts in the various economies, the paper argues that this finding contravenes the money neutrality thesis, which holds that only one nominal anchor can prevail in the long term.
Originality/value
The model emphasizes that the interest rate formation and liquidity preference of oligopolistic commercial banks – the dominant financial institutions in a post‐liberalized setting – prevents counteracting capital movements when monetary policy changes above or along a threshold or bank mark‐up interest rate.
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Victoria Baagøe-Engels and Jan Stentoft
There is increasing research interest in the expansion of the offshore wind energy sector. Recent research shows that operations and maintenance (O&M) account for around 20-35 per…
Abstract
Purpose
There is increasing research interest in the expansion of the offshore wind energy sector. Recent research shows that operations and maintenance (O&M) account for around 20-35 per cent of the total energy costs in this sector. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of O&M issues in the offshore wind energy sector to propose initiatives that can help reduce the cost of energy used by offshore wind farms.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on an in-depth literature review and a Delphi study of a panel of 16 experts on O&M.
Findings
Consisting primarily of conceptual papers and/or modelling papers, the extant literature identifies several challenges for O&M in the offshore wind energy sector. These challenges can be grouped into four categories: issues related with industry immatureness; distance/water depth; weather window; and policy issues. The Delphi study identified three other major issues that lead to increased O&M costs: too many predefined rules that limit development; lack of coordinated planning of the different services offered at the wind farms; and lack of a common approach on how O&M should be managed strategically.
Research limitations/implications
The present study is based only on Danish respondents. Future research needs to include various respondents from different countries to identify country-specific contingencies.
Practical implications
The paper provides an overview of the O&M issues in the offshore wind energy sector to prioritize where future resources should be invested and, thus, reduce O&M costs.
Originality/value
This is the first paper on O&M issues that bridges both literature studies and industry expert opinions.
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Elizabeth Murakami‐Ramalho and Kathleen A. Wilcox
The purpose of this study is to explore the implementation of response to intervention (RTI) in elementary schools. RTI is a systematic and comprehensive teaching and learning…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the implementation of response to intervention (RTI) in elementary schools. RTI is a systematic and comprehensive teaching and learning process intended to identify and prevent student academic failure through differentiated or intensified instruction.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an exploratory case study approach, this study observes the philosophical shift from removing students from the classroom for testing and remedial instruction, to incorporating a three‐tiered intervention approach beginning with the classroom teacher.
Findings
Findings show the strategies one principal used to implement RTI practices using a whole‐organization structured approach. Teachers and administrators jointly planned the strategies and created venues conducive for the intervention students needed to meet district, local, and national academic expectations.
Research limitations/implications
Research implications relate to the limited sample a single‐case study can provide. Nonetheless, the case brings useful steps at an administrative level in building successful structures for the focused improvement of teaching and learning processes.
Practical implications
Case studies provide a venue for practitioners and researchers to analyze possible approaches based on real examples. This study demonstrates possibilities in the adaptation of mandates to work on behalf of the improvement of children.
Originality/value
This study is significant since there is a growing interest in adopting RTI processes in several countries around the world and in providing possible models of implementation for practitioners and researchers.
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Chukwumerije Okereke and Kristina Küng
The purpose of this paper is to provide a descriptive analysis of the carbon management activities of the cement industry in Europe, based on a study involving the four largest…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a descriptive analysis of the carbon management activities of the cement industry in Europe, based on a study involving the four largest producers of cement in the world. Based on this analysis, the paper explores the relationship between managerial perception and strategy, with particular focus on the impact of government regulation and competitive dynamics.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on extensive documentary analysis and in‐depth interviews with senior managers from the four companies who have been responsible for and/or involved in the development of climate change strategies.
Findings
It was found that whilst the cement industry has embraced climate change and the need for action, there remains much scope for action in their carbon management activities, with current effort concentrating on hedging practices and win‐win efficiency programs. Managers perceive that inadequate and unfavourable regulatory structure is the key barrier against more action to achieve emission reduction within the industry. Interestingly, EU cement companies are also shifting their CO2 emissions to less developed countries of the South.
Originality/value
The paper analyses corporate climate strategy in one of the most carbon intensive and yet least studied industries. With specific focus on the EU, the paper highlights a number of policy approaches for encouraging the cement industry on the path of deeper emission reduction.
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Margaret McNeil and Kerry Pedigo
Explores the nature and type of ethical dilemmas experienced by western Australian managers engaged in import/export operations. Highlights the strategies used by these managers…
Abstract
Explores the nature and type of ethical dilemmas experienced by western Australian managers engaged in import/export operations. Highlights the strategies used by these managers in terms of what can be done to resolve ethical conflicts in subsequent cross‐cultural business activities. Employs a qualitative research method, the critical Incident Technique, to provide a rich and powerful picture of the challenges and strategies found. Generates a matrix which brings together the manager’s recommendations on essential ethical actions and practices with particular ethical problems.
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Jose O. Diaz and Karen R. Diaz
“When James Boswell returned from a tour of Corsica in 1765 he wrote: ‘It is indeed amazing that an island so considerable, and in which such noble things have been doing, should…
Abstract
“When James Boswell returned from a tour of Corsica in 1765 he wrote: ‘It is indeed amazing that an island so considerable, and in which such noble things have been doing, should be so imperfectly known.’ The same might be said today of Puerto Rico.” Thus began Millard Hansen and Henry Wells in the foreword to their 1953 look at Puerto Rico's democratic development. Four decades later, the same could again be said about the island.
Jean Hiebert and Yolanda Hollingsworth
The purpose of this paper is to describe a library‐based hardship fund for librarians in personal financial crisis.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe a library‐based hardship fund for librarians in personal financial crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
Discusses the proposal for library‐based financial support to sustain librarians' memberships to professional organizations and travel expenses for one year.
Findings
Libraries supporting professional development should assist librarians achieve this goal in times of personal financial hardship when a crisis may prevent the librarian from carrying on with his/her normal commitments.
Originality/value
Although similar plans exist at the university level, none exist at the immediate, personal level of the library.
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Gyu‐Chang Yu and Jong‐Sung Park
The paper's objective is to explore the effect of downsizing on both a firm's financial performance in terms of profitability and efficiency, and a firm's employee productivity.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper's objective is to explore the effect of downsizing on both a firm's financial performance in terms of profitability and efficiency, and a firm's employee productivity.
Design/methodology/approach
Analyzed six‐year longitudinal financial data of 258 listed Korean firms between 1997 and 2002 along with survey data of 2000. Using multiple regression, the paper investigated the relationship between downsizing and three measures of financial performance and two measures of organizational performance: return on assets, asset turnover, operating income per employee, sales per employee, and value added per employee. Five dependent variables were standardized by industry average.
Findings
First, firms implementing downsizing tended to suffer more financial difficulties than their counterparts. Second, downsizing showed a positive effect by improving a firm's profitability and efficiency, but no effect on employee productivity. Third, the improvement of financial performance (ROA) by downsizing was greater among companies that had not experienced any loss than among those that had experienced loss.
Research limitations/implications
First, there is a possibility of overestimation or underestimation since we do not know if firms classified as non‐downsizers actually downsized during 2000‐2002. Second, the magnitude of downsizing was not measured. Third, the effect of layoff and “honorable retirement” was not analyzed separately.
Practical implications
Downsizing is more effective when a firm implements it proactively, and less effective when a firm implements downsizing after a financial loss as a “quick fix” to a financial problem.
Originality/value
The paper utilizes a unique experiment opportunity with Korean firms since the economic crisis in 1997 to investigate the recent phenomenon of downsizing in Asian countries. The paper provides new evidence for why downsizing can improve a firm's financial performance, but not employee productivity in Korean firms.
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Given a growing literature indicating that downsizing is not an effective way to address financial decline, having either little impact or negative impact on the financial health…
Abstract
Purpose
Given a growing literature indicating that downsizing is not an effective way to address financial decline, having either little impact or negative impact on the financial health or market valuation of financially troubled companies, what is the alternative for those companies in financial trouble? Three sets of alternatives to downsizing are available to companies suffering financial trouble: strategies addressing personnel/fix costs, strategies focused on addressing cost cutting/variable costs and strategies addressing strategic planning/revenue. Although alternatives to downsizing have been identified, little research has been conducted comparing the impact of downsizing vs alternatives to downsizing on firm performance. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This present study looked solely at strategies focused on addressing personnel/fix costs. Focusing primarily on forced attrition (downsizing) vs temporary attrition and/or natural attrition, this research attempts to determine whether specific groupings of alternatives to downsizing are more effective at addressing financial decline that companies find themselves in as compared to downsizing. This included relying on temporary attrition, natural attrition or doing nothing at all.
Findings
The research presented here indicates that various alternatives to downsizing have an immediate positive impact on measures of profitability and a positive long-term impact on one measure of efficiency: revenue per employee. Evidence shows that temporary attrition leads to better financial outcomes than natural attrition than forced attrition or downsizing.
Originality/value
The research presented here indicates that various alternatives to downsizing have an immediate positive impact on measures of profitability and a positive long-term impact on one measure of efficiency: revenue per employee. This has implications for managers put in the position of having to make a decision whether to downsize or not.
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As CD‐ROM becomes more and more a standard reference and technicalsupport tool in all types of libraries, the annual review of thistechnology published in Computers in Libraries…
Abstract
As CD‐ROM becomes more and more a standard reference and technical support tool in all types of libraries, the annual review of this technology published in Computers in Libraries magazine increases in size and scope. This year, author Susan L. Adkins has prepared this exceptionally useful bibliography which she has cross‐referenced with a subject index.
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