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As a consequence of the global financial and economic crisis, the European Commission recently reformed the audit market. One objective was to restore public trust in the auditing profession and thus to enhance the audit function. This study investigates whether perceptions of auditor independence and audit quality are influenced by audit firm rotation, auditor retention and joint audits, because regulators argue that these instruments can improve auditor independence and audit quality. Therefore, we conduct an experiment with bank directors and institutional investors in Germany. The results indicate a negative main effect for joint audits on perceived auditor independence, and that a rotation cycle of 24 years marginally significantly impairs participant perceptions of audit quality, compared to a rotation cycle of only ten years. Besides the main effects, planned contrast tests suggest a negative interaction between rotation and joint audit on participant perceptions of auditor independence. Moreover, a negative interaction effect is revealed between rotation after 24 years and retention on perceptions of audit quality. It is particularly noteworthy that we failed to identify a positive impact of the regulatory measures taken or supported by the European Commission on perceptions of auditor independence and audit quality.

Sheet processing of magnetic nanomaterials is emerging as a new branch of smart materials’ manufacturing. The efficient production of such materials combines many physical phenomena including magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), nanoscale, thermal and mass diffusion effects. To improve the understanding of complex inter-disciplinary transport phenomena in such systems, mathematical models provide a robust approach. Motivated by this, this study aims to develop a mathematical model for steady, laminar, MHD, incompressible nanofluid flow, heat and mass transfer from a stretching sheet.

This study developed a mathematical model for steady, laminar, MHD, incompressible nanofluid flow, heat and mass transfer from a stretching sheet. A uniform constant-strength magnetic field is applied transversely to the stretching flow plane. The Buongiorno nanofluid model is used to represent thermophoretic and Brownian motion effects. A non-Fourier (Cattaneo–Christov) model is used to simulate thermal conduction effects, of which the Fourier model is a special case when thermal relaxation effects are neglected.

The governing conservation equations are rendered dimensionless with suitable scaling transformations. The emerging nonlinear boundary value problem is solved with a fourth-order Runge–Kutta algorithm and also shooting quadrature. Validation is achieved with earlier non-magnetic and forced convection flow studies. The influence of key thermophysical parameters, e.g. Hartmann magnetic number, thermal Grashof number, thermal relaxation time parameter, Schmidt number, thermophoresis parameter, Prandtl number and Brownian motion number on velocity, skin friction, temperature, Nusselt number, Sherwood number and nanoparticle concentration distributions, is investigated.

A strong elevation in temperature accompanies an increase in Brownian motion parameter, whereas increasing magnetic parameter is found to reduce heat transfer rate at the wall (Nusselt number). Nanoparticle volume fraction is observed to be strongly suppressed with greater thermal Grashof number, Schmidt number and thermophoresis parameter, whereas it is elevated significantly with greater Brownian motion parameter. Higher temperatures are achieved with greater thermal relaxation time values, i.e. the non-Fourier model predicts greater values for temperature than the classical Fourier model.

The computational efficiency of subspace iteration is addressed relative to the data structures adopted for the very large and generally sparse coefficient matrices. The frequent triangulations and matrix multiplications demand that access to the terms in the coefficient matrices be unbiased. Reliance on virtual memory (paging) operating systems with no special considerations for localized data access is not adequate. Specific data structures must be designed that accommodate the needs of the numerical algorithm yet eliminate unnecessary paging. An implementation of the subspace iteration method using hypermatrix data structures is presented. Use of hypermatrices is shown to provide unbiased and localized data access. The various modifications to the conventional formulation are described and an example problem illustrates the potential benefits of the hypermatrix formulation. Possibilities for adapting hypermatrix data structures to new supercomputer architectures are discussed.

In business and management, cross-national and cross-cultural comparisons between countries have been a topic of interest for many decades. Not only do firms engage in business in different countries around the world but also within countries. The population has become more diversified over time, making cross-cultural comparisons within country boundaries increasingly relevant. In comparisons across cultural groups, measurement invariance (MI) is a prerequisite; however, in practice, MI is not always attained or even tested. Our study consists of three parts. First, we provide a bibliometric analysis of articles on cross-cultural and cross-national topics in marketing to provide insight into the connections between the articles and the main themes. Second, we code articles to assess whether researchers follow the recommended steps as outlined in the multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) approach. The results indicate that MI testing is incorporated in the toolbox of many empirical researchers in marketing and that articles often report the level of invariance. Yet, most studies find partial invariance, meaning that some items are not comparable across the cultural groups studied. Researchers understand that MI is required, but they often ignore noninvariant items, which may decrease the validity of cross-cultural comparisons made. Third, we analyze the dissemination of MI in the broader literature based on co-citations with Steenkamp and Baumgartner (1998), a widely cited article on MI in the field of marketing. We conclude by noting methodological developments in cross-cultural research to enable addressing noninvariance and providing suggestions to further advance our insight into cross-cultural differences and similarities.

The purpose of this paper is to study the heat and mass transfer with Soret-Dufour effects for the magnetohydrodynamic three-dimensional flow of second grade fluid in the rotating frame of reference.

Series solution is obtained by homotopy analysis method.

Increase in Soret number, Schmidt number and Dufour number, the heat transfer increases and mass transfer decreases. Effects of Prandtl and Eckert numbers are qualitatively similar as they assist the temperature profile and reduce the concentration of species. Increase in the length of the channel versus height increases the temperature profile but decreases the concentration field. Increase in the second grade fluid parameter causes reduction in both the temperature and concentration fields. The heat flux values at the lower plate are smaller than the values at the upper plate, whereas the situation is opposite in the case of mass transfer.

These findings will be useful for the fluid flow in porous channel.

This paper studies the impact of ownership structure on performance in European banking both prior and during the recent crisis. We use a panel of European banks during the period 1996–2011 and utilize random effects estimations in order to identify differences in bank performance (profitability, loan quality, and cost efficiency) due to differences in ownership structure. Both stakeholder and shareholder banks have distinct advantages, shareholder banks showing better profitability before the crisis but stakeholder banks having higher loan quality before and during the crisis. Differences in profitability and loan quality between stakeholder and shareholder banks before the crisis are especially pronounced in countries that experienced a banking crisis after 2007. There is strong a heterogeneity in performance between different stakeholder ownership groups. With the exception of private savings banks, profitability and loan quality of stakeholder banks has improved relative to that of general shareholder banks during the crisis years. The paper contributes to the previous literature by comparing pre-crisis and crisis performance and includes more refined ownership classifications. The results indicate that the survival of the stakeholder model is due to its competitive advantages. Our findings provide support for those arguing that the diversity of organizational structures is worth preserving. Ownership pluralism should become a policy objective in the banking industry.

The purpose of this paper is to predict the effects of magnetic field, heat and mass transfer and rotation on the peristaltic flow of an incompressible Newtonian fluid in a channel with compliant walls. The whole system is in a rotating frame of reference.

The governing equations of two-dimensional fluid have been simplified under long wavelength and low Reynolds number approximation. The solutions are carried out for the stream function, temperature, concentration field, velocity and heat transfer coefficient.

The results indicate that the effects of permeability, magnetic field and rotation are very pronounced in the phenomena. Impacts of various involved parameters appearing in the solutions are carefully analyzed.

The effect of the concentration distribution, heat and mass transfer and rotation on the wave frame is analyzed theoretically and computed numerically. Numerical results are given and illustrated graphically in each case considered. A comparison was made with the results obtained in the presence and absence of rotation, magnetic field and heat and mass transfer.

While some institutionalists have highlighted the explanatory power of organizational actors, others stress their social construction. In line with the latter perspective, the author states in the first part that, except from meta-theoretical reflections, the social sciences tend to utilize actor concepts without further reflection. The author also shows how actors are reproduced in social practice, excessively in media semantics and more rigid in legal affairs, and that experts and professional helpers constantly reproduce actor images and identities. The second part focuses on the differences between the three dominant types of actors: states, organizations, and individuals. Although rationalization constructs the three different types of actors, which share much in common as institutionally derived entities, each type – still – has its own distinctive qualities: welfare issues are crucial for states; emotional qualities are a characteristic feature of individuals; and stakeholder sensitivity is paramount for organizational actors.

Despite being a common term in the literature, there is little agreement about what the word “adaptability” means in the context of the built environment and very little evidence regarding practitioners’ understanding of adaptability. This paper aims to examine what practitioners in the building industry mean when they talk about “adaptability”.

This study adopted a qualitative approach, involving 82 unstructured face-to-face interviews with practitioners from a range of professional disciplines in the construction industry, including architects, engineers, facilities managers, property agents and planners. The interview transcripts were coded inductively to identify themes in the qualitative data.

The interview data revealed a wide range of perspectives on adaptability, particularly regarding terminology, the meanings practitioners associate with adaptability and the way in which these meanings are communicated to others in the industry. The applied meaning of adaptability varied depending on context.

Conflicting language, and different interpretations of adaptability, is a potential barrier to the development of adaptable buildings. A clearer articulation of the meaning of adaptability (particularly by clients) during briefing and design could give rise to a more appropriate level of adaptability in the built environment.

This study has addressed a gap in the existing literature by foregrounding the voices of industry practitioners and exploring their (sometimes very different) interpretations of adaptability in buildings.