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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the July 2007 introduction of a pre‐close call auction on the New Zealand stock market and its effect on share pricing quality and market manipulation.

Market quality was tested using the methodology of Pagano and Schwartz, which is based on changes in market model R²s. Closing price manipulation is detected by comparing mean bid‐ask spread characteristics of the periods before and after the introduction of the pre‐close call auction.

The closing call auction improves the quality of share pricing and reduces the incidence of market manipulation.

The paper confirms the effectiveness of the changes made to the method of closing the market for all firms in the market.

The paper extends knowledge of the effectiveness of closing call‐auctions. It is the first study in a low‐liquidity market and of shares with very low liquidities. Such markets have lower pricing quality and are more vulnerable to market manipulation. The study establishes the effectiveness of closing auctions in this environment.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight not only the pre‐closing, but also the continuing due diligence required of all parties in private placement life insurance or annuities invested in hedge funds.

This technical paper describes the due diligence process for these high‐end offerings, illustrating key concerns through case studies.

Recent events have caused the advantages, disadvantages and timing issues to crystallize, together with what issues require pre‐closing and post‐closing due diligence.

This paper provides timely guidance from experts approaching the issues from multiple disciplines – law, accounting, and financial analysis – to yield a comprehensive analysis of the position of all parties to the transaction.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate short‐selling around private investment in public equity (PIPE) issuances, for evidence of manipulative short‐selling by hedge funds.

The authors use the Regulation SHO short‐selling data in combination with information about hedge fund participation in traditional stock PIPE offerings from Sagient Research, and share price and trading volume data from the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) to examine the relations among hedge fund participation, short‐selling levels and stock returns surrounding such offerings.

It is found that significantly less pre‐deal short‐selling occurs when hedge funds are included in the PIPE investor group, and adjusted returns for firms with hedge funds as investors are positive in the pre‐deal period and negative in the post‐deal period. Both of these findings are opposite of the patterns expected given manipulative short‐selling by hedge funds. Pre‐deal and post‐deal adjusted returns and PIPE discount are unrelated to pre‐deal short‐selling by hedge funds, findings inconsistent with manipulative short‐selling by these investors. The evidence suggests that most hedge funds that invest in traditional stock PIPEs do not engage in manipulative short‐selling around these deals.

This paper is the first, to the authors' knowledge, to examine hedge fund participation and daily short‐selling around traditional stock PIPE issuances. Previous studies focus on structured PIPE deals, which do not represent the majority of the PIPE market at present. The daily short selling data used in this study allow for detailed investigation of market behavior not afforded by monthly short interest data used in previous studies.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between QSC (quality, service and cleanliness) inspection scores and financial performance in quick service restaurants.

Restaurant QSC inspection data were collected from 25 quick service restaurants of an international chain over a period of 18 months. Audited financial data were also collected for these participating restaurants. Using SPSS software, the data were analyzed for possible relationships between the restaurant QSC scores and the financial performance measured as total unit sales per week, revenues per available seat per week, and gross operating income for each month. Restaurant unit size is measured by total revenues per month.

Contrary to the commonly held belief, the relationship between QSC variable and restaurant performance is weak. This study found there was a “V” curve in QSC inspections and financial performance when restaurant size was chosen as the moderating variable.

The specific items measured in the QSC may differ across organizations, although the broad categories remain constant. Certain operational factors such as price changes, special promotions, additional restaurant openings in the specific area, and local economic conditions could have confounded the results.

The knowledge obtained from this study could help restaurant organizations determine the level of weighting given to a specific inspection variable. This study also suggests the use of FQSC inspections instead of traditional QSC to emphasize financial performance (F). This study demonstrates the liability and limitations of tying QSC inspections to merit raises and bonus plans as normally done in restaurants.

This paper is the first empirical study to analyze the QSC inspections of restaurants related to financial performance. In contrast to the past studies with food safety/health inspections, the current study focuses directly on QSC inspections conducted more frequently and in greater detail by the quick service restaurants with emphasis on operational and financial performance.

This paper offers an approach to deal with the value destruction caused when culturally incompatible organizations merge.

A field-tested Cultural Comparison and Integration Model is demonstrated. 10;

The model illustrates how managers can compare and integrate cultures of combining firms using “cultural levers”.

A case example of the model in practice is included.

The model has been tested in a large and medium size organizations in a variety of industries and nationalities.

COVID-19 accelerated change within the UK retail market. It encouraged the growth of online shopping, providing the necessary demand for grocers to invest in their operations, and transformed the economics of their businesses. As innovative new business models emerged, some existing retailers collapsed leading to significant changes on the high street. Landlords were also affected. As some retail tenants struggled to pay their rents, other parts of the sector prospered and sought additional warehouse capacity to cope with rising demand. Not only does this illustrate how different parts of the retail sector faired during COVID-19, but it also demonstrates how the move online has resulted in the emergence of new opportunities.