Search results

This paper extends the merger pricing model associated with Larson‐Gonedes to the general question: how well does the premium developed from the pricing model forecast the securities market reaction of the actual merger? Based on a sample of 91 common stock mergers, shareholders in participating firms incur wealth losses about half the time but the magnitude of the gains outweighs the losses such that statistically significant gains are reported for both buyers and sellers. Removal of market wide price movements further increases the gains to shareholders. However, the premium consistently overstates the gain obtained by acquired firms and bears no systematic relationship to the gains registered by shareholders of acquiring firms. Financial analyses of mergers have focused almost exclusively on mergers as “events” with resultant measurements in abnormal returns surrounding the merger announcement/consummation to shareholders, and occasionally bondholders, in both buying and selling firms. Recent reviews of these studies by Halpern (1983), Jensen and Ruback (1983), and especially Roll (1986) stress the tentativeness of the findings and the ambiguity of their interpretation. The common feature of all this analysis has been on the ex post valuation of the merger event by the securities market from an informational content perspective. Alternatively, these studies have evaluated indirectly whether the price premium paid in an acquisition exceeds, equals, or is less than the market's valuation of the net present value of the merger, and how the spoils/losses are distributed between acquirers and acquirees. But never is the bid premium itself determined and then compared to the market's reaction upon public announcement. As Roll argues, the merger process involves three steps: “First, the bidding firm identifies a potential target firm; second, a ‘valuation’ of the equity of the target is undertaken…; third, the ‘value’ is compared to current market price… If value exceeds price, a bid is made…” Roil (1986, p. 198). This paper links the price premium offered in mergers to the market's reaction to the news of the merger, or alternatively, it compares Roll's steps two and three. The merger pricing model used is the exchange ratio determination model developed by Larson and Gonedes (1969) and applied to mergers by Conn and Nielsen (1977). The pricing model, commonly cited in finance texts (eg. Copeland and Weston (1988, pp. 757–763), has the advantage of being deterministic and thus provides a direct measure of the bid premium subject to a pareto optimal wealth constraint for shareholders in both buying and selling firms. The principal question this paper asks is: Does the price premium provide a consistent, unbiased forecast of the market's reaction? This is an important question from both the bidding firms' and target firms' perspectives for several reasons. First, the terms of the negotiated merger may signal important information to the securities market regarding the degree of agency costs in the merging firms. For example, an excessively high negotiated price for the target may indicate either the bidder has inept management or management insulated from shareholder interests. Thus, the terms of a merger may reflect not only the participants' expectations regarding the merger itself, but also be influenced by existing — although previously unknown — agency costs. The signalling information contained in merger announcement may obviously mask the expectational information, creating ambiguity in interpretation of market reaction. Second, distribution of the market reaction for buyers and sellers is important not only to participating firms' shareholders, but also to the effectiveness of the market for corporate control. A perfectly competitive merger market assures that merger premiums equal the expected value of the increased market values of merging firms. Thus, divergences between premiums and subsequent market reactions may have important implications for assessing the degree of competitiveness in the merger market, and hence, the effectiveness of mergers as a disciplinary force in the market for corporate control. Finally, the adequacy of ex ante merger pricing models remains an unexplored issue. Using an improved methodology, the Larson and Gonedes (LG) model is expanded to adjust for market wide movements in PE ratios; thus, merger specific influences on wealth positions are more clearly focused upon in contrast to the earlier work by Conn and Nielsen (1977). The earlier finding by Conn and Nielsen that approximately one half of mergers sampled in the 1960s failed to meet the pareto wealth constraint for participating firms is therefore re‐examined with an improved methodology and more recent sample of mergers occurring through 1979. The paper is organised as follows. Section I reviews and critiques the Larson‐Gonedes merger pricing model. Section II describes the empirical methodology and sample. Section III presents the empirical results and Section IV concludes with a summary.

The purpose of this paper is to examine and synthesize Argyris and Schön's Theory of Action and Kegan and Lahey's theory of Immunity to Change in order to produce an integrated model.

Literature discussing Argyris and Schön's Theory of Action (Model I and Model II), single and double‐loop learning, espoused theory and theory‐in‐use; and Kegan and Lahey's theory of Immunity to Change was examined. The two theories were then summarized, analyzed, compared and synthesized into an integrated model.

Within Kegan and Lahey's model of an immunity system, the Argyris and Schön Model I Unilateral Control Model should be considered a competing commitment. Kegan and Lahey's theory identifies a critical causal element (underlying assumption) not previously identified by the Argyris and Schön Theory of Action, thus opening the potential for expanded effectiveness by practioners of Argyris and Schön's theory.

Little attention has been given in the literature to comparing or integrating these two theories. The synthesis of the two theories opens the possibility of overcoming limitations experienced by practitioners promoting double‐loop learning in organizations.

The pace of new regulation has been quite rapid in the United States during the past fifteen years. Consider the number of major pieces of legislation that have been passed during this time span and you immediately gain insight into this fast‐paced regulatory climate. It has been argued by some that oversight during the 1980s was lax and that regulations were much less enforced than in previous decades. This may be true in certain areas such as antitrust enforcement, but there can be no doubt that the total body of regulation has been expanding continuously.

An appreciation of the legal environment becomes more important with each passing year for anyone involved in corporate finance. A casual glance at the morning newspaper will usually provide a quick reminder of just how much the two areas are interrelated. The current debate in the United States concerning health care legislation may well result in a package that has a tremendous impact on many companies and industries. Tax issues have been in the news recently as well. There have been a number of significant changes in tax regulations during the past decade, including the legislation just passed by the U. S. Congress in 1993. Smoking continues to generate considerable controversy, and one result has been courtroom battles between tobacco companies and local governments over antismoking ordinances. During the last year, the DuPont Corporation has been defending itself in court over charges that one of its products caused substantial damage to farm crops. Guilty or not, the risk and expense from product liability is an enormous problem confronting almost all companies today. Texaco settled a lawsuit with Pennzoil in 1988 for $3 billion in damages stemming from a battle for the control of Getty Oil. Texaco won that battle, but suffered a very serious setback in the courtroom.

This study explores the work practices of managers who increased working from home during the pandemic to determine what, if any, impact there was on the conditions for vertical leadership development.

The project utilized a survey approach. Each of the participants completed an anonymous online questionnaire using Google Forms. The questionnaire included four sections. The first section included informed consent and required participants to agree before completing the questionnaire. Participants provided general demographic information in the second section, including gender, age, race, job title, company size, average project team size and industry. The third section asked if there had been any change in their work location following the pandemic. The last section asked participants about their work practices.

This study demonstrates that managers continued to be engaged in vertical leadership development activities while working from home. It also suggests that managers faced challenges working from home following the COVID-19 pandemic, which were prime vertical leadership development opportunities.

To capitalize on these opportunities, organizations can more intentionally support the development of their remote staff.

THE Reference Department of Paisley Central Library today occupies the room which was the original Public Library built in 1870 and opened to the public in April 1871. Since that date two extensions to the building have taken place. The first, in 1882, provided a separate room for both Reference and Lending libraries; the second, opened in 1938, provided a new Children's Department. Together with the original cost of the building, these extensions were entirely financed by Sir Peter Coats, James Coats of Auchendrane and Daniel Coats respectively. The people of Paisley indeed owe much to this one family, whose generosity was great. They not only provided the capital required but continued to donate many useful and often extremely valuable works of reference over the many years that followed. In 1975 Paisley Library was incorporated in the new Renfrew District library service.

The paper builds on and extends the existing research on self‐control theory and fraud. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether low self‐control increases the odds of engaging in two common forms of fraudulent behaviors: check and credit card frauds.

The paper addresses these issues using a national, longitudinal sample of young adults.

The results of the multivariate logistic regression models indicate that individuals with lower levels of self‐control are more likely to engage in credit card and check frauds. These findings support Gottfredson and Hirschi's theoretical argument that fraudulent behavior is similar to acts of force in that it too is explained by the same underlying trait – low self‐control.

The paper underscores the importance of low self‐control in the etiology of fraudulent behaviors. Future researchers should examine the relationship between low self‐control and other fraudulent behaviors, particularly those occurring in the workplace (e.g. embezzlement).

Suggestions for preventing credit card and check frauds through situational crime prevention are provided.

The paper improves upon prior research by using a more representative sample and self‐reported fraudulent behavior.

Gang affiliation in youth is associated with increased criminal recidivism and an exaggeration of various criminogenic needs; affiliation also meets a variety of youth's personal and social needs. The purpose of this paper is to describe a study of the self-reported reasons for joining and leaving gangs, as well as the difficulties faced by Singaporean youth offenders in leaving youth gangs; it also explores the relationship between gang affiliation and family connectedness, educational attainment and early exposure to gangs.

This prospective study involved structured interviews and administration of questionnaires with 168 youth offenders in Singapore. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the research questions.

Gang-affiliated youth cited a desire to establish and maintain friendships as their primary reasons for joining a gang. Youth who left their gang reported maturing beyond this need and the activities of their gang, particularly in light of the deleterious impact of their gang-related activities on familial relationships and employment and financial status. Early exposure to gangs through family and neighborhood influences, and poor educational engagement increased the likelihood that youth would join a gang.

This study highlights the need for clinicians and other service providers to better understand the universal human needs that are met through gang affiliation and the correlates of affiliation.

Few studies have directly examined the factors relating to gang affiliation in a non-western context; this study may be relevant to professionals working in the juvenile justice and offender rehabilitation arenas.

Each of us has an implicit leadership theory, a mental model we are largely unaware of, that represents the skills, traits, and qualities that define effective leaders. Curiously, the peer- reviewed literature has reported almost exclusively on the ideal attributes of leaders, overlooking the axiomatic and taken-for-granted views people have about the activity we colloquially refer to as “leadership.” Some of these beliefs about leadership are so common and accepted as true that challenging them is counterintuitive, yet they can limit organizational effectiveness. In this article, we discuss four common leadership misunderstandings that contribute to the fabric of our self-evident, unexamined common sense view of leadership. Challenging these misconceptions provides the opportunity to create a new paradigm of leadership, one that could enhance organizational performance.

The purpose of this paper is to encourage other libraries to provide access to their own original content via the web. By way of case study, the process of identifying materials, scanning them and creating web access to original content will be explored.

To implement a book digitization project, three major things need to be present. The library must own material that was published prior to 1923, making them safely out of copyright in the USA; the library needs access to server space on the web and the library needs to own scanning equipment.

This project demonstrated that a library does not necessarily need to obtain grant funding to begin an effective and successful digitization program. It also revealed a few things that would improve the process and enhance the return on investment.

A library meeting, the criteria will be able to enjoy the considerable benefits of a digitization project which include favourable attention from researchers when access to original content is provided, and a greater selection of source materials for their institutional community.