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Determining the proper sample size and frequency of sampling such that quality is assured while financial losses are not unnecessarily incurred is critical to an effective quality program. The main purpose of the present work is to design a fuzzy controller to adjust sample sizes and frequency of sampling according to potential fuzzy benefit/loss. A set of fuzzy rules is given where, depending on the antecedents, the sample size and/or sampling frequency may be decreased, remain static or be increased. At any given moment the proportion of defects in the sample determines the firing strength of the rules suggesting an appropriate sample size and sampling frequency. The firing strength is then modified to include an analysis of the decision maker’s belief that as sampling takes place and adjustments are being considered benefit or loss would be incorporated prior to any action or adjustment to sample size and/or frequency.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.

Artificial neural network (ANN) models, part of the discipline of machine learning and artificial intelligence, are becoming more popular in the marketing literature and in marketing practice. This paper aims to provide a series of tests between ANN models and competing predictive models.

A total of 46 pairs of models were evaluated in an objective model-building environment. Either logistic regression or multiple regression models were developed and then were compared to ANN models using the same set of input variables. Three sets of B2B data were used to test the models. Emphasis also was placed on evaluating small samples.

ANN models tend to generate model predictions that are more accurate or the same as logistic regression models. However, when ANN models are compared to multiple regression models, the results are mixed. For small sample sizes, the modeling results are the same as for larger samples.

Like all marketing research, this application is limited by the methods and the data used to conduct the research. The findings strongly suggest that, because of their predictive accuracy, ANN models will have an important role in the future of B2B marketing research and model-building applications.

ANN models should be carefully considered for potential use in marketing research and model-building applications by B2B academics and practitioners alike.

The research contributes to the B2B marketing literature by providing a more rigorous test on ANN models using B2B data than has been conducted before.

The purpose of this paper is to make economic comparison of the proposed X¯ chart with the economic and economic‐statistical design of a multivariate exponentially weighted moving average (MEWMA) control chart proposed by Linderman and Love, using Lorenzen‐Vance cost model.

The economic design of proposed X¯ chart, using Lorenzen‐Vance cost model, is discussed in the paper. It is observed that sampling interval (h) and expected cost/hour (C) depend on various parameters of the chart, used in this model. When there is any change in any parameter of the chart, obviously both sampling interval and expected cost will be different. So it is suggested that one should use Lorenzen and Vance cost model (equation 1) to compute sampling interval and expected cost/hour for the proposed X¯ chart.

The economic design of the proposed X¯ chart has been compared with the economic and economic‐statistical design of the multivariate exponentially weighted moving average (MEWMA) control chart proposed by Linderman and Love. It is found that the proposed X¯ chart performs better than MEWMA chart proposed by Linderman and Love for sample sizes of 7, 9 and 10 for first set of parameters. The proposed X¯ chart also shows lower expected cost/hour than the MEWMA chart for sample size of 2 and 3 and for shifts of 2 and 3 for the second set of parameters.

A lot of effort has been made to develop the proposed X¯ chart for monitoring the process mean. Although optimal sampling intervals are calculated only for two sets of parameters for shifts in the process average of 1, 2 and 3, it can be computed for any set of parameters using the Lorenzen‐Vance cost model.

The research findings could be applied to various manufacturing and service industries, as it is more effective than the Shewhart and EWMA charts.

Auditing is seasonal, with the majority of U.S. public companies having a December fiscal year-end. This results in an audit “busy season” and “off-season” with a non-trivial seasonal impact on the pricing of audit services. We apply an economic framework that explains how audit seasonality affects both the magnitude and the price elasticity of audit demand and audit supply. We find that the audit busy season is associated with an audit fee premium of approximately 10% based on a meta-analysis of 97 analyses from 18 audit fee studies of U.S public companies. A meta-regression of the contextual differences in research design between studies reveals that examining only Big N attenuates the busy season effect size but does not eliminate it, and that the busy season effect size may be larger post-SOX.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the extent of stock repurchase and measures of corporate governance.

Using a sample of stock repurchase announcements by banks after the 2002 tax reform, the paper uses an event study methodology to confirm the positive market response to stock repurchase announcements. A regression analysis is then used to study the determinants of the abnormal response to the bank stock repurchases. Regression analysis is also used to analyze whether corporate governance variables are significant determinants of bank extent of stock repurchases and size.

Corporate governance techniques have little impact on market response to bank stock announcements, but are related to some extent to manager decisions regarding the stock repurchase. Board structure and executive/director stock ownership do not influence the market's response to repurchases. However, in some cases board structure is positively related to management's decision regarding the extent and size of the repurchase offer. Proportion of insider equity holdings has less influence on stock repurchase characteristics.

Board structure may have a more important role to play in the banking industry in regards to managerial decision‐making than equity ownership. Equity ownership in banks tends to be driven by bank size and therefore may have less of an impact on reducing agency problems within the banking industry.

The sample is taken after the 2002 tax reform, which provides an analysis of repurchases without tax effect implications. This is the first paper to study the contribution of board structure and equity ownership to stock repurchases in publicly‐traded banks.

Effect size is an important determinant of statistical power. However, very few experimental studies in international marketing (IM) report effect sizes and no meta‐analysis work in this regard has been done. The main objective of this paper, therefore, is to quantitatively document effect sizes of experiments in IM and to provide directions for further methodological improvement.

All articles published in the top three marketing journals and the top six IM‐related journals during the period 1992‐2005 were screened; this yielded 35 experiment‐based papers within the domain of IM. For each study, ten methodological characteristics relevant to IM experimental designs were coded.

The 35 studies reported 68 experiments, which produced a total of 1, 074 observations. Results reveal that, on average, for experiments in international business marketing, about 2.89 percent of the variance in a dependent variable (DV) is accounted for by experimental treatments, and a variance of 3.61 percent is shared by the independent and DV for experiments in international consumer marketing. Sampling method, type of subjects, type of design and number of countries are found to have significant influences on effect sizes.

This paper provides a quantitative, state‐of‐the‐art review of effect sizes in IM experiments, points out problems such as inappropriate reliance on an overall effect size index, and further offers useful suggestions on how to report and improve effect sizes.

This study aims to examine the association between firm size, profitability, leverage, auditor type and internet reporting and investigate the moderating effect of legal system, investor protection, masculinity, economic development, construction of disclosure index and measurement proxies of independent variables.

This study conducts a meta-analytic review for 59 research papers to synthesise quantitatively the results of previous literature on the determinants of internet reporting. This study uses Hunter and Schmidt’s (2004) procedures to conduct the analysis. There are three main procedures to be followed: calculating the weighted effect size, calculating observed correlation variance and sampling error variance and, finally, testing for homogeneity and moderating effects.

The results indicate a significant positive association between firm size, profitability, leverage, auditor type and internet reporting. The results confirm the prediction of agency theory, signalling theory, political cost hypothesis and diffusion of innovation theory. Moreover, the results show that investor protection, masculinity, economic development, construction of disclosure index and measurement proxies for independent variables moderate the association between profitability, leverage and internet reporting.

This study suffers from some limitations. First, corporate governance variables such as board size, role duality and board independence were not included in the analysis due to the limited number of studies that discuss the association between corporate governance and internet reporting. Second, the study does not control for the endogeneity problem.

Future research has to consider the moderating effect of investor protection, masculinity, economic development, construction of disclosure index and measurement proxies for independent variables on the association between corporate characteristics and internet reporting. Future research can extend this work by examining the association between corporate governance, ownership structure and internet reporting. The findings regarding the determinants of internet reporting should be on concern of regulatory authorities.

This study contributes to and extends previous meta-analysis literature by examining internet reporting determinants, as previous financial reporting meta-analysis studies give no attention to internet reporting.

We examine the use of relative performance evaluation (RPE), asymmetry in pay for skill/luck, and compensation benchmarking for a sample of firms involved in a spinoff. The spinoff affects firm characteristics that influence the use of the identified compensation practices. We test for differences in the compensation practices for the pre- and post-spinoff firms. We find that RPE is used for post-spinoff CEOs, but not pre-spinoff CEOs. Post-spinoff CEOs are also paid asymmetrically for luck where they are rewarded for good luck but not punished for bad luck. Both pre- and post-spinoff CEOs receive similar levels of compensation benchmarking. The study provides additional evidence on factors that influence compensation practices. Our spinoff sample allows us to examine how compensation practices are affected by changes in firm characteristics while keeping other determinants of compensation constant (i.e., the board and, in many cases, the CEO). Our findings contribute to the understanding of how the identified compensation practices are used.

This chapter summarizes the quantitative literature on whether intervention outcomes for students with learning disabilities (LD) are influenced by variations in IQ and reading level. The analysis clearly shows that a significant intelligence×reading level interaction emerges in treatment outcomes. Across a broad array of interventions it was found that studies which include samples with reading and IQ scores in the 16th and 25th percentile range (standard scores between 84 and 91) yield significantly higher effect sizes than studies that include samples in same low reading range but with higher IQ scores. An analysis of subsets of this data yield similar findings. Implications for definitions of learning disabilities that include measures of intelligence are discussed.