Selectivity and market timing skills in the hedge fund industry: Do they persist?
July 2013
This paper investigates the persistence of hedge fund managers’ skills during periods of boom and/or recession. We consider a data set of monthly investment strategy indices published by Hedge Fund Research group. The data set spans from January 1995 to June 2010. We divide this sample period into four overlapping sub-sample periods that contain different economic cycles. We define a skilled manager as a manager...
Effective methods for health care organizations: An evaluation of excellence models
July 2013
Health care has become important agenda for both public and private sector organizations throughout the world. Many models were developed to assess the effectiveness of the service delivery by health care organizations. As a result, researchers and health care experts have published numerous articles in search for an excellent health care performance model. The purpose of this paper is to introduce and compare about 32...
Application of Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) in grading of suppliers: A case study
July 2013
Research in market and selection of the best suppliers is the main task in organization. Lack of attention to supply of materials and items and lack of collaboration with suppliers increase purchase cost, quality control and quality assurance costs, leading to non- satisfaction of products and services. The suppliers should be graded and selected based on criteria in order to collaborate with the supply of the...
Nokia and strategic agility
July 2013
The high-tech industry is the competitive strength as well as major profit source for countries in the world. However, these companies face a lot of uncertainties including market demands, technology progress and new competitors that bring new strategies and technology into the market. Because of self-owned operating system, Nokia is facing patent issues with Apple and the increasing number of competitors. Nokia faces...
Analysis of mergers and acquisitions in Brazilian companies
July 2013
This article sheds light on how synergies arise through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and how best to evaluate them in Brazil. Through a review of the literature, it was analysed how generated synergies are assessed across different methodologies. This article analysed the synergy gains in Brazilian mergers and acquisitions between 2000 and 2007. The study employed three of the four techniques identified:...
An empirical study into the impact of the executive development programme on individual level within a paramilitary organisation in South Africa
July 2013
The objective of this research study was to determine the impact that the Executive Development Programme (EDP) had on employees of a paramilitary organisation in South Africa, who had successfully completed the programme. A stratified sample was used from the Limpopo, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape provinces. A random sample was used for the Head Office Divisions. The participants were divided into groups, namely those...
Price discovery in the South African White maize futures market
July 2013
This study examined the price discovery process in the South African futures and spot markets for white maize. Engle-Granger and Johansen tests of cointegration were performed after which an Error Correction Model, Vector Error Correction Model and Impulse Response functions were formulated representing the long-run relationship between spot and futures prices for white maize. It was found that spot and futures prices...
Demographic dividend and literate life expectancy: The case of Pakistan
July 2013
During the demographic transition from high mortality and fertility to low mortality and fertility, the age structure of a country changes, so that for a period the proportion of the population (which is of working ages) rises and then falls. This period during which the working-age population is relatively large is often termed the ‘demographic dividend’, a phenomenon which may be...
The riba conundrum: The ethical appeal of Islamic banking
July 2013
The rule of Islam is simple: if you advance a loan, you are entitled to receive your capital only and nothing more. If you wish to secure profit, you should enter into a partnership and become a shareholder. Prohibitions against interest are not peculiar to Islam. If we were to trace back through history, a number of examples of such prohibitions can be found in the early Greek, Roman and Rabinnical thought. ...
Analysis of gender discrimination using the Gini index multiple decomposition method
July 2013
Income inequality is a frequent research theme in economical literature, due to its importance in rendering the condition of economical cohesion within society. Income inequality has multiple causes: resource endowment, skills, competences, attitude towards risk, chances etc. Problems appear when income inequalities are casued by various forms of discrimination. A consecrated instrument used for analysing income...
Research of personnel selection methods in the Greek private bank sector
July 2013
This research aims to estimate the extent to which the Human Resource Management sector of a private bank is influenced by external candidate parameters such as gender, age, appearance, social status, family planning, and medical or criminal records. The sampling method which was used was the method of cluster sampling and the statistical analysis included factor analysis and Chi-square statistic tests....
Designing a model for “Business process-orientation†using interpretive structural modeling approach (ISM)
July 2013
In today’s business world, organizations are continually striving to streamline their operations, increase their ability to respond to the market conditions and find new opportunities to differentiate themselves from their competitors; these conditions have caused them to focus more on business process and customer. There is extensive literature regarding the focus on business process and process orientation in...
Education is essential for economic growth in Pakistan
July 2013
The role of enhanced schooling, a fundamental part of most development strategies, has become contentious because spreading out of school achievement has not assured improved economic setting. This paper reviews the role of education in promoting economic interests that spotlight the role of educational eminence. Much evidence from developing countries suggests that education has strapping persuasion on economic...
Key success paths theory: Navigator of new product development strategy
July 2013
Rapid changes in high technology and amid global competition shorten life cycles of product and highlight the important role of new product development (NPD). Many studies explore key success factors (KSFs) and how they affect outcomes of NPD, but do not present recipes or combinations of KSFs for successful outcomes of NPD. The purposes of this paper are to explore the key success paths (KSPs) theory by creating and...
The effect of profit incentive of ICT industry on the relationship between ownership and corporate performance
July 2013
ICT industry dominated the global economic development in recent years, and Taiwan ICT industry was an important center for the global ICT development. This study analyzed the relationship between the ownership structure and performance of ICT firms in Taiwan. The subjects in the study were 199 ICT firms from 1994~2004. The empirical results showed that the effect of profit incentive on directors and managers was...
A diagnosis of knowledge management measuring incubated companies’ performance: A study case
July 2013
This study is aimed at recognizing how knowledge is captured, created, stored and used in two incubated companies. The survey was conducted at the “Intecponta Incubator”, located at the city of Ponta Grossa - PR, South - Brazil. The Knowledge Management Diagnostic (KMD) proposed by Bukowitz and Williams (2002) was applied. The efforts made were in regard to understand if the method could be used in...
A critical commentary on the business education debate in South Africa: The Master of Business Administration Degree (MBA) versus the Master of Arts Degree in Philosophy (MA)
July 2013
This opinion is written in narrative style and does not follow the classical research approach. The opinion attempts to comment on the Philosophy of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree, with special reference to MBA degrees offered by universities and business schools in Africa and South Africa and, similar management institutions on the continent, and makes certain salient comments on the MBA...
Common items in the companies’ information flow from the organizational structure and management of ideas through the perspective of the global cognitive theory
July 2013
Companies have to adapt their structures to environmental continuous changes. In crisis time is important to identify and appreciate what people can bring to businesses (ideas, knowledge, innovation, etc.) in order to survive by creating competitive advantages and exploiting what the environment offers. In addition, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have a deep impact on organizations; ICT are often...
Evaluation method of product configuration design integrated customer requirements and application
July 2013
Mass customization is an important production mode for the modern enterprise. Product configuration design is the core of mass customization. In the process of product configuration design, there are maybe many optional configuration schemes, but it needs the reasonable evaluation so as to scientifically and effectively select the optimal result from them. This paper takes the clear customer requirements as a part of...
Return to education in China’s rural labor market
July 2013
The purpose of this study is to estimate the return to education in China’s rural labor market. We find that education increases off-farm employment participation and earnings. An additional year of schooling increases the earnings of a rural worker by 4.50%. Individuals with an education of senior middle school and above have significantly higher wages than those without. Furthermore, the type of education...
Deregulation and privatization in Nigeria: The advantages and disadvantages so far
July 2013
The economic principles of deregulation and privatization were first introduced in Nigeria in the 1980s through the policy of structural adjustment programme (SAP). Since then, government monopolies had disappeared in many industries and over 85 public enterprises (PES) in mining, education, health, agriculture, transportation and telecommunication were transferred, either fully or partially to private owners. The...
The income tax deductibility of indirect empowerment measures relating to Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) in South Africa
July 2013
When an entity incurs expenditure relating to indirect empowerment measures of broad-based black economic empowerment (‘BEE’) (that is the preferential procurement, enterprise development, skills development and socio-economic development categories on the BEE scorecard), there are differing opinions on whether or not these expenditure will be deductible in terms of the South African Income Tax Act. The...
Willingness to pay for protecting natural environments in Pulau Redang Marine Park, Malaysia
July 2013
Although marine parks, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserves are established to conserve biodiversity and enhance ecotourism, some of the country’s protected areas are under threat whether at varying degree. The biggest threat arises from human encroachment. To rescue these resources, appropriate conservation strategy must be put in place. This requires proper valuation of the environment. Taking Pulau...
Role of rate of return, inflation and deposits on loan supply: An empirical study of banking sector in Pakistan
July 2013
In Pakistan, banks are experiencing a significant increase in supply of loans. Trend of financing through banks increases with passage of time. The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the major factors which have determining role in the supply of loans in local market of Pakistan. Statistical techniques have been used to relate the supply of loans with deposits, weighted average rate of returns on loans,...
Ownership structure and dividend policy evidence from the Tehran stock market
July 2013
The major purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse the influence of concentrated ownership and institutional ownership on dividend policy for Chemical and Medical firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) from 2002 to 2008. We used multiple regressions to examine the influence of ownership structure on dividend per share (DPS). The ownership structure variables used in this study include concentrated...
Studying the role of using electronic commerce in development of handy-woven carpet exports compared to using the traditional methods
July 2013
This study examined the effect of using electronic commerce on development of Iran`s hand-woven carpet exports, compared to using the traditional methods. The study is a field study and the population consists of all of the Iranian hand woven carpet exporters. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the respondents surveyed for this study, a total of 65 questionnaires were administered to respondents...
The effects of coupon distribution program stocks on the stock exchange in Central and Eastern European countries
July 2013
n the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, all countries in East and Central Europe had to reform their economic, political and social bases. About economic reform, the first and the most important step was the privatization of state enterprises. Therefore, the distribution of shares of stock stamps was considered private advocates. This article attempts...
Evaluation of the entrepreneurial success factors of small, micro and medium farming enterprises (SMMEs) in the peri-urban poor communities of George municipality, Western Cape Province, RSA
July 2013
The aim of the study was to determine the entrepreneurship capacity of farming enterprises focussed small business in poor communities of George Municipality. The study was conducted in four (n=4) townships around George metropolitan areas. Only 10% the sample population was considered during quantitative data collection processes. The quantitative data collected was randomly selected whilst the qualitative data...
The biographical profiles correlates on the performance management system: A case of the university of technology
July 2013
The performance management system (PMS) has been topical in South African higher education institutions even though it is usually resisted by key stakeholders owing to poor consultation, inconsistencies and lack of knowledge and ownership of the entire process. This study aims to sheds light on biographial factors that hinder the processes of PMS from being as effective as it is supposed to be in the context of South...
The relationship among certain youths’ demographic variables and their social media browsing behaviour
July 2013
The increased use of social media particularly amongst youths has placed greater importance of social media as a marketing and communication tool. Based on this, this work is an exploratory study conducted among a convenience sample of 150 youths (university students); the relationship amongst their age, gender, social media browsing and purchasing behaviour was examined. It was ascertained through both multiple...
Economic miracle in China
June 2013
It has been 30 years since the reform and opening policy in 1978 in China. During the past 30 years, China has created an economic miracle with its rapidly developing economy, sharply expanding foreign trade and constantly improving living standard and all-time strong overall national strength. Key words: China, economic miracle, reform, opening policy.
Analysis of social and economic conditions in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa for a convergence to international accounting standards
June 2013
In 2000, the countries of sub-Saharan Africa were united for the attainment of asingle market, generating a system of unification of commercial language, called Accounting System (Sysco) of the Organisation pour l'Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires (OHADA). The Sysco-OHADE, inspired by the French model, was born from a local need. Meanwhile, international accounting standards emerged from a...
The influence of commitment-based HR practices and knowledge-sharing on employees’ innovation performance
June 2013
In this study, we examine firms that have implemented 5 single commitment-based human resources (HR) practices (CBHRPs), including participation, work design, training and development, performance appraisal, and compensation and rewards. This study uses a sample of 402 employees and 116 managers from 116 high-tech firms in Taiwan. The following results were obtained: (a) only participation, work design,...
Public sector employees’ view(s) of obstacles facing the development of Management Information Systems in the River Nile State-Sudan
June 2013
This study investigated and identified the obstacles facing the development of Management Information Systems (MIS) in the River Nile State (RNS). In addition, it checks out the existence, importance and the employment of MIS in the RNS. The study applied the descriptive research design of survey type. Data were collected from a sample of 221 employees which reflects that some RNS ministries holds different...
Adoption analysis of cloud computing services
June 2013
Making decisions for IT outsourcing is always a challenge for companies worldwide, and cloud computing has been growing as an alternative. This article analyzes the viewpoint of IT managers about the adoption of cloud computing services. It confronts the literature review on the main features of cloud computing with the opinion of sixteen managers responsible for IT departments in their companies. The...
Sports celebrities influencing the consumption of young people in the Brazilian context
June 2013
The purpose of this paper is to explain how young consumers’ behavior is influenced by sports idols and gender. The sample study consists of 202 graduates (113 women and 89 men). The results show that the relationship between idol and influence on the behavior of consumers towards claims or product change is significant and directly proportional. This confirms the first hypothesis. The second...
Applying encryption schemed to supervisory control and data acquisition systems for security management
June 2013
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) is the combination of telemetry and data acquisition. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system is compose of collecting of the information, transferring it to the central site, carrying out any necessary analysis and control and then displaying that information on the operator screens. Encryption Schemes are needed to secure communication in SCADA...
Can we apply Fibonacci retracement in the African market?
June 2013
Forecasting was one of the most important issues facing companies. Technical analysis was the use of trends and charts to understand and analyze investors' behavior and their effect on subsequent price action of financial instruments when the trend is so clear or support and resistance levels obtained through Fibonacci ratios. The applicability of Fibonacci trading in the stock market for the western...
Job satisfaction level among university staff: Case study Iran
June 2013
This research is aimed at studying job satisfaction level among staff of Islamic Azad University, Naragh Branch and the prime objective for conducting the research is to study the effects of some material and non-material factors on the job satisfaction and motivation level of the university staff. To explore and study this issue, several items have been carefully considered and their relationships with job...
Accounting reforms in the Middle East: A portfolio -returns approach
June 2013
This paper examines the value relevance of accounting information in selected Middle Eastern countries (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and UAE) for the per-period and post-period of accounting reforms, which could describe the effect of accounting standards reform in these countries. The result obtained from portfolio approach shows accounting information is value relevant to investor in all selected stock exchanges....
Applied data mining techniques in insurance company: A comparative study of rough sets and decision tree
June 2013
Nowadays, customers are the essential elements of marketing for business operation. It is a critical and unignorable task in exploring valuable customers for companies and estimating customer values. According to the definition of Customer Life Value (denoted as CLV), a suitable model was found in this study and customers’ present values were estimated by given data from insurance company. Two data...
Will the knowledge economy signal the end of academic freedom?
June 2013
The emergent industrialisation of China and India has led to a fundamental rethink of policy in all Western industrialised nations and trading blocks including the UK and EU. This has led to the concept of a ‘knowledge economy’ (KE) in which the utilisation of knowledge capital will replace traditional methods of employment (a ‘brains versus braun’ market place). A large number of...
Scale efficiency of Islamic banks of Pakistan
June 2013
This study investigated the scale efficiency scores of Islamic banks of Pakistan for the period 2006 - 2009. Non-parametric technique Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was applied on the data collected from the annual reports of banks. Both CRS and VRS specification were applied to calculate scale efficiency under input-orientation. The results suggest the Dawood Islamic bank was the most scale efficient...
Does new technology always win? Study on diffusion route of new technology and related factors
June 2013
On the basis of sufficient analysis on product value and consumer’s technology preference, we improve Joseph Farrell and Garth Saloner (1985)’s model, and then simulate the market diffusion route of new technology by three random tests in the paper. Furthermore, we study the results of random tests to find out the fundamental conditions for new technology replacing old one. The study indicates...
Using AHP and ANP approaches for selecting improvement projects of Iranian Excellence Model in healthcare sector
June 2013
Healthcare has a long tradition in developed methods and models to assess the quality of work. There have been several models presented for deployment and assessment of quality management which much more attention is paid to organization excellence models due to their being total and complete. The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) excellence model can be used for continuous improvement of...
Surveying the impact of green product on consumers’ buying decision process: Case study of consumers of energy saving bulbs 2266-2270, 21 June, 2013 DOI: 10.5897/AJBM11.3025
June 2013
Dynamic economy leads to consuming more natural fuel, which has negative effect on the environment. Traditional marketing overemphasizes customers' wants and does not consider social welfare and environmental problems. Consequently, these limitations lead to green marketing. Moreover, there are different kinds of researches on this matter. This paper has been handled with the purpose of surveying the...
Integration of Kano’s model and SERVQUAL for enhancing standard hotel customer satisfaction
June 2013
The purpose of this study is to establish a new methodology for decision analysis. This is done by integrating Kano’s model and SERVQUAL to help organizations identify core service quality attributes that will effectively enhance customers’ satisfaction. SERVQUAL does not consider the non-linear impact of quality attributes and quality improvement effectiveness. Kano’s model determines...
The convergent use of mobile phones: A comparison of user behaviors between Australia and Taiwan
June 2013
The emergence of device convergence with regard to new design and data services have transformed the use of mobile phones from solely for voice and text communication into various purposes, namely personal information management (PIM), entertainment, e-mail communication, and commercial transactions. However, most of the existing literature on mobile technology adoption has thus far focused on the...
The effects of organizational practices and social norms on self-reported extra-role work behaviour and mental health
June 2013
To date, little is known on how organizational practices and social norms influence self-reported work behaviour and mental health, especially in the African context. A good understanding of these influences can help in developing policies that contribute to efficient and productive work behaviour. These factors are potentially important in ensuring organizations perform well and survive in the current economic climate....
Eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) and its implementation in Serbia
June 2013
The way people are doing business are changing fast under pressures such as growing number of environmental concerns, public pressure, regulatory measures, demands of consumers and shareholders for environmentally friendly products and services, so it is becoming more and more important for organizations/companies to demonstrate sustainability of their investment strategies and operations. A management tool...
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