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Debt-related financial derivative usage by state and local governments became a very salient topic over the last few years in light of the Great Recession and its impacts on the efficacy of these financial instruments. However, there has been a dearth of systematic research on the types and kinds of derivatives state and local governments have actually employed in recent years. While anecdotes of financial derivative usage has grabbed the headlines (such as the case of Jefferson County, Alabama), there has been little research examining the derivative portfolios among states or local governments pre- and post-Great Recession. Using descriptive research, this paper attempts to rectify this gap in the literature for state governments as a means of better understanding how the recent financial crisis has impacted the critical debt management decision to use financial derivatives.

The esoteric area of financial derivatives has become quite salient in light of the financial crisis of the last few years. In the public sector, state and local governments have increasingly employed derivatives in their bond financings. This paper analyzes state and local governments’ use of a specific type of municipal derivative instrument (a floating-to-fixed interest rate swap) in a specific type of transaction (bond refinancing). The paper provides a case study of an executed bond refinancing transaction that employed a floating-to-fixed interest rate swap quantifying the substantial long-term costs financial derivatives can impart on state and local governments. The paper concludes with some specific lessons learned about debt-related derivative usage for public financial managers and offers some suggestions for further empirical and theoretical research in this area of public financial management.

The Chief Financial Officers Act and subsequent legislation require federal agencies to produce corporate-style financial statements. Arguments for financial statements drew on private sector analogies and suggested policy makers and managers would use the information to make better public policy and management decisions and improve accountability for financial management and program performance. Nearly all major government agencies have unqualified audit opinions and improvements in financial management are claimed. But benefits for policy making and management are not yet well understood. This paper examines the question by comparison with the private sector and by examining what agencies say about the uses and users of financial statement information. The emerging challenge in the evolution of federal financial reporting is to develop better government-specific analytical tools and other financial information for policy makers and managers.

This paper aims to examine the individual and combined effects of organisational and behavioural factors on employees’ attitudes and intentions to establish an information security policy compliance culture (ISPCC) in organisations.

Based on factors derived from the organisational culture theory, social bond theory and accountability theory, a testable research model was developed and evaluated in an online survey that involves the use of a questionnaire to collect quantitative data from 313 employees, from ten different organisations in Ghana. The data collected were analysed using the partial least squares-structural equation modelling approach, involving the measurement and structural model tests.

The study reveals that the individual measures of accountability – identifiability (2.4%), expectations of evaluation (38.8%), awareness of monitoring (55.7%) and social presence (−41.2%) – had weak to moderate effects on employees’ attitudes towards information security policy compliance. However, the combined effect showed a significant influence. In addition, organisational factors – supportive organisational culture (15%), security compliance leadership (2%) and user involvement (63%) – showed positive effects on employees’ attitudes. Further, employees’ attitudes had a substantial influence (65%), while behavioural intentions demonstrated a weak effect (24%) on the establishment of an ISPCC in the organisation. The combined effect also had a substantial statistical influence on the establishment of an ISPCC in the organisation.

Given the findings of the study, information security practitioners should implement organisational and behavioural factors that will have an impact on compliance, in tandem, with the organisational effort to build a culture of compliance for information security policies.

The study provides new insights on how to address the problem of non-compliance with regard to the information security policy in organisations through the combined application of organisational and behavioural factors to establish an information security policy compliance culture, which has not been considered in any past research.

The purpose of this study is to examine the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), knowledge management process (KMP) and dynamic capability (DC) toward the adoption of electronic commerce (e-commerce) of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in North Sumatera.

This study used a quantitative methodology using Smart PLS of structural equation model. A survey is done by distributing the questionnaires to the respondents (owner-managers) of SMEs across sectors. Using a convenient sampling technique, 131 respondents were selected. Using a cross-sectional survey design, 11 hypotheses were tested.

It is found that both innovativeness and proactiveness of EO have a significant relationship with e-commerce adoption (EA), while the risk-taking of EO is found as insignificant. Both risk-taking and proactiveness of EO are significantly related to KMP, but innovation of EO is found to be insignificant. Moreover, KMP significantly mediates the relationship between risk-taking and proactiveness of EO and EA, while KMP insignificantly mediates the relationship between innovativeness of EO and EA. Finally, it is found that DC has a significant relationship in EA.

By using the resource based-theory, the study on the decision of EA by SMEs is conducted which focuses on a number of internal and external factors influencing the adoption decision. This differs from other studies using theories of the technological, organizational and environmental, theory of acceptance and use of technology, theory of planned behavior, theory of reasoned action and others which emphasized on the implementation and usage of EA.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of factors that affect human resource competency (HRC) 4.0, employee readiness for transformational change as well as analyzing the mediating and moderating factors that influence the relationship of factors such as soft skills training and individual characteristics on employee readiness for transformational change and HRC 4.0.

This research is a quantitative research with descriptive statistics. The analytical tool used is a structural equation model of partial least squares (PLS). This research was conducted at five Bank Indonesia Offices in Aceh and North Sumatra Provinces. Using a proportional random sampling technique, 200 respondents of employees were selected.

The results of this study are as follows: (1) both soft skill training and individual characteristics have a significant effect on HRC 4.0; (2) HRC 4.0, soft skill training and individual characteristic have a significant on employee readiness for transformational change; (3) soft skill training has significant effect on employee readiness for transformational change through HRC 4.0; (4) individual characteristic has a significant effect on employee readiness for transformational change through HRC 4.0; (5) the effect of HRC 4.0 on employee readiness for transformational change moderates by transformational leadership; (6) the effect of HRC 4.0 on employee readiness for transformational change moderates by employee commitment to change.

This research contains valuable novelty, which is a new concept of HRC 4.0 that is linked to soft skill training and individual characteristics variables, and employee readiness for transformational change. Furthermore, transformational leadership and employee commitment variables have significant effect in moderating the influence off HRC 4.0 on employee readiness for transformational change.

This study aims to examine the effect of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on the export performance of apparel small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the role of multiple differentiation strategy as a mediation effect between their relationships. It has also investigated the moderation impact of export market category between EO and performance relationship. The multiple differentiation strategy comprises the product (PDD), customer (CTD), service (SVD) and brand (BDD) differentiations.

A cross-sectional survey was carried out by providing a questionnaire to senior managers and owners of the apparel SMEs from the developed and developing markets exporters. The primary data of 550 was treated by the partial least squares-structural equation modelling) technique for final analysis.

The study revealed EO’s positive and significant effect on SMEs’ export performance. The study has found the mediation effect of product, customer and brand differentiation strategies between EO and export performance relationships from the mediation analysis. In contrast, service differentiation has found no mediation effect. However, the moderation effect (export market category) has revealed an insignificant effect between EO and performance association.

The findings of this study are based on one country data analysis. This study has been conducted in the SMEs of the apparel industry in Bangladesh, considering only owners and senior-level managers of the firms.

This research has drawn the attention of managers/owners to EO and multiple differentiation strategies enhancing export performance from the developing country context, such as Bangladesh. Multiple differentiation as a competitive strategy is the pioneer application of mediating effect between EO and export performance relationships. Moreover, this research has investigated the effect of the export market category as a moderator. Dearth research has applied the export market category to investigate the moderation effect between EO-performance models. Therefore, current research has theoretical and practical contributions to the international entrepreneurship and strategic management literature.

In response to the financial crisis that began in 2007, United States President Barack Obama signed H.R. 4173, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, into law on July 21, 2010. “Dodd-Frank” is intended to correct certain problems in financial markets by federally regulating the activities of independent municipal financial advisors and comprehensively expanding regulatory oversight over credit rating agencies. This article reviews the legislation and its financial management rationale, and discusses its actual and potential impact on the future operations of the municipal securities market and its participants.

The background of missile costs is discussed. Missiles are new and very costly. Developments in this field have been subjected to political vicissitudes which have often upset long‐term developments. Missile technology is on the frontier of science and there is no background of knowledge to draw on; much basic and expensive research is required. Missile engineering models are complex in detail and assembly, and therefore costly, and constant change occurs while making and testing the model. The complexity and functional requirements of missile parts are running a parallel race with the machines and processes being developed to fabricate the materials required. The usually small runs required in missile production again add to costs. Imposed on all these activities is the requirement that reliability of near 100 per cent is needed and in no case can reliability be allowed to be secondary to cost. The inflight life and shelf conditions for a missile are usually fairly well established and 100 per cent reliability for a short operating life with a long shelf life are the real requirements. There is a considerable tendency to overdesign for reliability. Some costly features of design such as finest finish, closest tolerances and highest strength are carried over by habit from aircraft design and are not always required in missiles. Having examined some causes of high costs, a programme for cost reduction is set out. Costs can be reduced by: (i) earlier freezing of designs making changes only in groups of several changes at wider intervals, (ii) making a more realistic approach to reliability designs, (iii) selecting tolerances in a more analytical manner according to individual needs, (iv) selecting materials on the basis of actual design requirements instead of using the very best materials available even when the short life makes them unnecessary, (v) avoiding tool‐room methods in production engineering, (vi) setting work standards on as many operations as possible and enforcing them to the greatest degree possible, (vii) selecting the best type of workers to make the transition from development models to production missiles as smooth as possible, and (viii) setting up rigid systems and parts designation procedures for handling production parts. Finally, methods of organizing research and development and production for bridging the gap between engineering design and production are proposed.