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Examines the strategies of 30 companies that managed to substantially improve margins, and notes that some are achieving remarkable results. Looks at three companies which looked beyond internal cost cuts and found dramatic profit improvements and these were: Starbucks, Kroger and Nexfar. These are recommended as they have dug deeper for today’s “hidden” treasure, which has improved long‐term business prospects.

As many large, urban areas have struggled to maintain a questionable building or build a new public library, the federal city, Washington DC, is not without similar conflicts. Add a cast of characters of city level politicians; new land available and city owned blocks away; a sad, but realistic budget; a building designed by a world renowned architect, despite that it is falling down around patrons; and you have questions that have been ignored by officials for decades. The biggest question: What is the best way to revive a decrepit central library, and how do you pay for it?

The purpose of the study is to evaluate whether the selection of accounting method used to value inventory increases or decreases the probability of a retail firm's ability to remain in existence.

This study employs a binary logistic regression model to predict group membership and the probability of failure. The study utilizes an unbalanced sample of US publicly traded failed and functioning retail firms over a ten-year period.

The results clearly support the conclusion that there is a difference in the probability of retail firm failure with respect to the accounting method used to value inventory. Merchants using a cost-based valuation method were 2.3 times more likely to fail than firms using a price-based method. The results also affirm existing bankruptcy literature by finding that profitability, liquidity, leverage, capital investment and cash flow are factors in retail failures.

The results suggest that traditional merchants cannot simply blame e-commerce or shifts in demographics for the retail Apocalypse; good management and proper valuation of stock still matter.

This study is the first to look at firm failure in the retail sector after the great recession of 2008, in an era known as the “retail Apocalypse.” In addition, this study differs from other firm failure literature by incorporating cost- and price-based inventory valuation methods as a variable in firm failure.

The overall goal of science is to build a valid and reliable body of knowledge about the functioning of the world and how applying that knowledge can change it. As personnel and human resources management researchers, we aim to contribute to the respective bodies of knowledge to provide both employers and employees with a workable foundation to help with those problems they are confronted with. However, what research on research has consistently demonstrated is that the scientific endeavor possesses existential issues including a substantial lack of (a) solid theory, (b) replicability, (c) reproducibility, (d) proper and generalizable samples, (e) sufficient quality control (i.e., peer review), (f) robust and trustworthy statistical results, (g) availability of research, and (h) sufficient practical implications. In this chapter, we first sing a song of sorrow regarding the current state of the social sciences in general and personnel and human resources management specifically. Then, we investigate potential grievances that might have led to it (i.e., questionable research practices, misplaced incentives), only to end with a verse of hope by outlining an avenue for betterment (i.e., open science and policy changes at multiple levels).

The primary teaching objective is to discuss the capital raising efforts of a firm under financial distress. It also provides supporting data to calculate cost of capital, DuPont/modified DuPont values and Altman’s Z-Score that can appropriately be incorporated into the discussion. Case-B provides information and data of the company’s recent performance and to changes in bankruptcy law in India. Overall, this case study provides ample scope to discuss, understand and provide the solution to the following key corporate finance themes as follows: 1. Analyzing accounting statements and examine potential earnings quality issue. 2. Predicting default and bankruptcy using qualitative analysis, financial ratios, traditional and modified DuPont models and Altman’s Z score model. 3. Examining the capital raising efforts of a distressed firm, which has already defaulted on borrowings. 4. To explore the impact of changes in regulation on the turnaround efforts of the firm as well as on the promoters of the firm.

Since 2005, Amtek Auto moved at a breathtaking speed with the goal of reaching $10bn in sales, from the current level of about $1.2bn. The group had acquired more than a dozen companies spending about Rs.5,000cr. ($850m) during this period primarily through borrowed funds. However, the market and business expansion was not happening as expected. The company’s capacity utilization was just about 40% (approx.) during much of this period. The mounting fixed costs of operation and debt servicing grew to the level of unsustainability, led the firm to default on its borrowing. Now the company had to quickly recapitalize itself to run its operations and retain the premier position in auto component industry. The company and its promoters were considering various methods of debt restructuring, asset sale and further equity infusion.

Introductory and elective level corporate finance.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

In this chapter, I propose an integrative framework for theorizing and empiricizing about talent management, based on the notion of “talent philosophies.” I believe that current debates about whether talent management should be inclusive or exclusive create the risk that our field will become fragmented, thereby undermining its social-scientific legitimacy. Nonetheless, this debate is absolutely correct in identifying the tensions between inclusive and exclusive approaches to talent management as a phenomenon. This, however, creates issues for talent management as a construct for scientific inquiry, as we need clear definitions and measures to create a cumulative body of research as a community. I propose that the solution lies in an expansion of our vocabulary as talent management researchers and identify four constructs that can help us structure and categorize our collective work: giftedness, talent, potential, and strength. Each of these constructs map logically onto different talent philosophies and talent management practices. In establishing “unity in diversity,” I believe talent management could finally make the transition into a more mature field of academic inquiry – although clearly phenomenon driven – characterized in equal parts by construct clarity, rigor, and relevance.

There is considerable variation in the extent of globalization across industries. The authors attempt to identify the structural conditions of the industry that lead to these variations.

Based on a sample of 33 manufacturing industries over the nine-year period from 2007 to 2016, the authors test for antecedents of industry globalization.

The authors find that industry globalization is positively affected by medium levels of barriers to entry, industry competition, industry assistance, low and mediums levels of capital intensity, industry concentration and industry regulation and negatively affected by low levels of technological change and industry assistance. In addition, the life cycle stage of the industry has an impact on the level of globalization with the growth stage having the highest level of globalization.

First, the major limitation of the paper is that the authors rely entirely on trade data to measure the level of industry globalization. The authors did not have a choice because foreign direct investment (FDI) data are available only at the country level. Second, given that globalization can occur at the country, industry and firm levels, the focus on industry-level structural characteristics alone may be seen as a limitation.

The results of the study can provide guidance to practicing managers to apply industry analysis for predicting the potential for and direction of globalization of their industries. This will enable them to formulate appropriate strategies to cope with global competition.

The study has important public policy implications. National governments have many levers at their command that can be used to influence the structural characteristics of industries, such as industry regulation, industry assistance and industry concentration. They can selectively use these levers to either facilitate or impede globalization.

Much of the empirical focus of prior research on globalization has been on countries, rather than industries, as the unit of analysis. There is clearly variation in the extent of globalization across industries with some industries highly integrated while others remain primarily local or regional. Based on a novel approach to measure the extent of globalization at the industry level, the authors identify its antecedents. The value of the paper lies in the fact that the analysis of 33 manufacturing industries over a ten-year period shows that the structural characteristics of the industries drive their extent of globalization.

The assumption of free will in contemporary economics is an important starting point for socio‐economic analysis in contrast to methodologies which assume that human action is pre‐determined by forces beyond individual control. However, contemporary economic theory is devoid of choice in critical domains with important implication for economic analyses and public policy, given the ancillary assumption of the importance of market forces in determining choice behavior. The purpose of this paper is to argue that freedom of choice exists given traditional constraints such as relative prices and income.

This is a theoretical paper examining the assumption of free will in choice behaviour in economic theory. It makes reference to literature in economics and philosophy that shed light on this critical working assumption in economics.

Conventional analysis pays little heed to non economic constraints on human action that affect and delimit but do not preclude free choice or free will. Of vital importance to free will in choice behavior are institutions which delimit the extent of coercion in the decision‐making process.

An important implication for research is the determination of the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of free will in choice behaviour. Given the existence of free will and free choice, individuals are morally responsible for their choices. It is therefore important to determine the extent which free will exists and that which constrains free will in choice behaviour.

This paper challenges the extremes of the free will debate in economics and suggests the boundaries within which free will exists in economic behaviour. It also suggests the welfare implications of limitations on free will where no negative externalities exist.

Recent legislation in Europe and North America encourages women’s participation in corporate boards based on the belief that gender-diversified boards contribute positively to firm performance and increased competitiveness. Contrary to the West, the women’s participation rate in business has been traditionally high in China. The purpose of this paper is to find out whether gender-diverse corporate boards of Chinese automotive firms perform better financially than gender-homogeneous boards.

By drawing on data from the Chinese Government and Bloomberg, the authors compare and analyze the differences in financial performance (return on equity, asset growth, sales growth) and risk behavior (debt risk, R&D expenditure) of Chinese automotive firms with and without women on their corporate board.

There is significant evidence that firms with women on the board perform better across all three categories, with the exception of return on equity, for which they found no significant differences among the analyzed firms.

While women’s participation in corporate boards in China is low, the results of this study suggest to policy makers and firms alike to implement measures that support gender-diversified boards in order to take advantage of their potential to increase corporate performance.

So far, the performance of corporate boards of countries with a traditionally high share of female participation in the workforce has rarely been analyzed. Research focusing on the Chinese automotive industry is new and underrepresented, although China is the largest automotive market worldwide and a key industry of the domestic economy. This investigation contributes to the literature stream on board diversity in as well as to industry-related studies. With the example of the Chinese automotive industry, it provides empirical evidence of better performance of firms with gender-diversified boards within the categories tested.