Search results

Information systems' security is more critical than ever before since security threats are rapidly growing. Before putting in place information systems' security measures, organizations are required to determine the maturity level of their information security governance. Literature review reveals that there is no recent study on information systems' security maturity level of banks in Ethiopia. This study thus seeks to measure the existing maturity level and examine the security gaps in order to propose possible changes in Ethiopian private banking industry's information system security maturity indicators.

Four private banks are selected as a representative sample. The system security engineering capability maturity model (SSE-CMM) is used as the maturity measurement criteria, and the measurement was based on ISO/IEC 27001 information security control areas. The data for the study were gathered using a questionnaire.

A total of 93 valid questionnaires were gathered from 110 participants in the study. Based on the SSE-CMM maturity model assessment criteria the private banking industry's current maturity level is level 2 (repeatable but intuitive). Institutions have a pattern that is repeated when completing information security operations but its existence was not thoroughly proven and institutional inconsistency still exists.

This study seeks to measure the existing maturity level and examine the security gaps in order to propose possible changes in Ethiopian private banking industry's information system security maturity indicators. This topic has not been attempted previously in the context of Ethiopian financial sector.

Since the European Union’s (EU) Charter of Fundamental Rights became binding in 2009, data protection has attained the status of a fundamental right (Article 8) throughout the EU. This chapter discusses the relevance of data protection in the context of security. It shows that data protection has been of particular relevance in the German context – not only against the backdrop of rapidly evolving information technology, but also of the historical experiences with political regimes collecting information in order to oppress citizens.

Authorities have set up numerous security checkpoints during times of armed conflict to control the flow of commercial and humanitarian trucks into and out of areas of conflict. These security checkpoints have become highly utilized because of the complex security procedures and increased truck traffic, which significantly slow the delivery of relief aid. This paper aims to improve the process at security checkpoints by redesigning the current process to reduce processing time and relieve congestion at checkpoint entrance gates.

A decision-support tool (clearing function distribution model [CFDM]) is used to minimize the effects of security checkpoint congestion on the entire humanitarian supply network using a hybrid simulation-optimization approach. By using a business process simulation, the current and reengineered processes are both simulated, and the simulation output was used to estimate the clearing function (capacity as a function of the workload). For both the AS-IS and TO-BE models, key performance indicators such as distribution costs, backordering and process cycle time were used to compare the results of the CFDM tool. For this, the Kerem Abu Salem security checkpoint south of Gaza was used as a case study.

The comparison results demonstrate that the CFDM tool performs better when the output of the TO-BE clearing function is used.

The efforts will contribute to improving the planning of any humanitarian network experiencing congestion at security checkpoints by minimizing the impact of congestion on the delivery lead time of relief aid to the final destination.

This study aims to explore the impact of systematic liquidity risk on the averaged cross-sectional equity return of the Indian equity market. It also examines the effects of illiquidity and decomposed illiquidity on the conditional volatility of the equity market.

The present study employs the Liquidity Adjusted Capital Asset Pricing Model (LCAPM) for pricing systematic liquidity risk using the Fama & MacBeth cross-sectional regression model in the Indian stock market from January 1, 2012, to March 31, 2021. Further, the study employed an exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic (1,1) model to observe the impact of decomposed illiquidity on the equity market’s conditional volatility. The study also uses the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) model to illuminate the return-volatility-liquidity relationship.

The study’s findings indicate that the commonality between individual security liquidity and aggregate liquidity is positive, and the covariance of individual security liquidity and the market return negatively affects the expected return. The study’s outcome specifies that illiquidity time series analysis exhibits the asymmetric effect of directional change in return on illiquidity. Further, the study indicates a significant impact of illiquidity and decomposed illiquidity on conditional volatility. This suggests an asymmetric effect of illiquidity shocks on conditional volatility in the Indian stock market.

This study is one of the few studies that used the World Uncertainty Index (WUI) to measure liquidity and market risks as specified in the LCAPM. Further, the findings of the reverse impact of illiquidity and decomposed higher and lower illiquidity on conditional volatility confirm the presence of price informativeness and its immediate effects on illiquidity in the Indian stock market. The study strengthens earlier studies and offers new insights into stock market liquidity to clarify the association between liquidity and stock return for effective policy and strategy formulation that can benefit investors.

This paper aims to examine the effects on firms' outcomes of a new government regulation on the private security industry that aimed to enhance the selection and training processes for armed-private security officers.

By using human capital theory and using a data set built from various public sources, this study analyzes the effects of a new regulation implemented in 2013–2014 in Brazil mandating psychological assessments for hiring private security armed officers. Firm-level data and a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) identification strategy are used to investigate the effects on turnover and human capital outcomes.

The study identifies substantial changes resulting from the new government regulation in private security firms. While it has led to increased turnover rates, the regulation has also facilitated firms in enhancing the human capital composition of their workforce by enabling the recruitment of more experienced personnel.

This research informs to current debates on the effects of policy interventions on firm's outcomes by showing how regulations aimed to improve the configuration of human capital can generate win-win situations for both firms and citizens, despite the short-term trade-offs between higher turnover rates and improved human capital outcomes.

Refining selection and training processes can enhance the workforce in private security firms by replacing less capable professionals with more experienced ones. Insights from this study offer guidance to policymakers and industry practitioners in shaping effective business and public policies.

This study underscores the role of training and psychological assessments in enhancing the composition of human capital in the private security industry.

By highlighting the role of policy interventions in establishing barriers to unskilled workers engaging in hazardous activities, this study contributes to the burgeoning literature in strategic management on the interaction between policy interventions and firm outcomes.

The authors set out to show how key private security industry actors in Sweden establish body-worn cameras (BWCs) as a tool to protect private security officers from the public the officers police and to improve the work environment of the officers.

The authors conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with key personnel involved in the implementation of BWCs. The authors' analysis focused on delineating recurrent moral stories and affirmative environments to show how BWC use was made legitimate as a work environment tool.

The authors show how BWC use by private security officers patrolling public spaces in Sweden is legitimized by four organizational narratives: (1) the vulnerable security officer and the caring employer, (2) defenders of protective regulation, (3) moral selves and morally dubious others and (4) function creep and moral guardians. The authors explain how such organizational narratives are key to establishing and legitimizing the use of BWCs as a tool to improve the work environment of private security guards, and how certain narrative environments promote such organizational narratives in Sweden to improve the work environment of private security guards.

The authors' findings in this article add to a small but growing literature on BWC use in policing outside of the USA and the UK as well as to the hitherto very limited research from the work environment and managerial perspectives. The authors illustrate the importance of organizational narratives and narrative environments for understanding organizational change involving legitimation of new technologies.

This paper examines the relevance of Public-Private-Community Partnerships (PPCPs) as an alternative mechanism in enhancing food security during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond in Zimbabwe. It also draws attention to the complexities of adopting PPCPs, and proposes possible options to improve their effectiveness.

The study applied concurrent mixed research methods. The sample population comprised multiple stakeholders in the area of food security and agricultural financing in Zimbabwe. The research adopted purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Data were collected through questionnaire, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) and documentary analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse quantitative data, while qualitative data analysis was conducted thematically.

Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity was a consistent challenge in Zimbabwe. The pandemic has worsened the situation by further disruption of food systems and limiting people's access to food. PPCPs could be feasible alternative as they enhance value chain collaboration, improve access to inputs, reduce information asymmetry, ensure trust and facilitate risk sharing. PPCPs require proper design, control of transaction costs, clear definition of partners' roles, fair risk sharing, trust, and flexibility.

PPCPs are yet to be adopted in the Zimbabwean agricultural sector. The research informs policymakers on the need to implement multi-stakeholder collaborations in food production.