African Journal of
Business Management

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Bus. Manage.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1993-8233
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJBM
  • Start Year: 2007
  • Published Articles: 4190

Table of Content: 23 September 2011; 5(21)

September 2011

Audit expectation gap: Concept, nature and trace

Audit expectation gap is not a new phenomenon in auditing literature. It somewhat gives bad reputation to external auditors. This paper addresses the nature and different dimensions of audit expectation gap around the world. The author comes to the conclusion that this kind of gap should be reduced by the auditor himself, by improving audit responsibilities, educating various users, and mandating new...

Author(s):  Mahdi Salehi

September 2011

The effects of psychological contract breach on various employee level outcomes: The moderating role of Islamic work ethic and adversity quotient

This study seeks to explore the moderating role of Islamic work ethic and adversity quotient over the relationship between psychological contract breach and various employees’ level outcomes (job satisfaction, employees’ commitment and intention to quit). After the extensive overview of scholarly research, we have come up with a conceptual model that perception of psychological contract breach has negative...

Author(s): Tazeem Ali Shah Bukhari, Muhammad Mohtsham Saeed and Muhammad Nisar

September 2011

Managing the state-civil society relations in public policy: Deliberative democracy vis-a-vis civil society movements in Malaysia

This paper is trying to examine the state-civil society relation and also argue from the theory of deliberative democracy in explaining the roles of civil society in Malaysia. Carolyn Hendriks sees deliberative, from two fundamental approaches; there are micro deliberative which concentrates on defining the procedural conditions of a structured deliberative forum and macro deliberative which are more concerned with the...

Author(s): Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani

September 2011

Consumers attribute analysis of economic hotels: An exploratory study

Service sector represents nearly 50% of Brazilian GNP in a sector which hotel industry has had a lot of changes as the entrance of international competitors. The objective of this article is to identify which attributes of low price hotel segment was more valuated causing more consumer´s satisfaction. For this reason an exploratory research using a structured questionnaire with pre selected attributes was...

Author(s): Edgard Monforte Merlo and Iraci de Souza João

September 2011

Causal analysis of customer needs in the banking system by applying fuzzy group decision making

Effective customer satisfaction investigation is a very important precondition in the banking system. It is needed to get the knowledge of how to use advanced methods to identify customer preferences, classification and prioritization of banks and how to use the evaluation result to improve their quality services. Iranian Bank also plays a leading role in providing financial facilities in which satisfaction of...

Author(s): Abbas Toloie Eshlaghy, Mohammadali Afshar Kazemi, Reza Radfar and Nasibe Abdolmohammadi

September 2011

The pricing and timing of the option to invest for cash flows with partial information

This paper extends real options theory to consider the situation where the mean appreciation rate of cash flows generated by an irreversible investment project is not observable and governed by an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of the uncertainnty of the mean appreciation rate on the pricing and investment timing of the option to invest under incomplete markets with...

Author(s): Jinqiang Yang, Zhaojun Yang and Dandan Song

September 2011

The impact of advertising appeals and advertising spokespersons on advertising attitudes and purchase intentions

The first purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of advertising appeals and advertising spokespersons on advertising attitudes and purchase intentions. The second purpose was to compare the effectiveness of the influences of different types of advertising appeals and different types of spokespersons on purchase intentions. A 2*2 factorial experiment design method was adopted. The cell phone industry was...

Author(s): Long-Yi Lin

September 2011

Building international entrepreneurship through entrepreneurship capital perspective

Is entrepreneurship capital theory useful for international entrepreneurship research and practice? In this paper, we describe how international entrepreneurship research can benefit from including the concept of entrepreneurship capital at the individual level of analysis. We define entrepreneurship capital as a composite measure of entrepreneurial proclivity, human capital, and social capital of the entrepreneur. We...

Author(s): Hao Jiao and Jeffrey A. Robinson

September 2011

Using greedy clustering method to solve capacitated location-routing problem

This paper introduces a new heuristic method to solve the location-routing problem (LRP). Facility location problem (FLP) and vehicle routing problem (VRP) are considered simultaneously in the LRP. The problem selects the location of depot(s) to be established among a set of potential sites. On the other hand, the allocation of customers to depot(s), and the distribution routes between the customers and depot(s) are...

Author(s): Ali Nadizadeh, Rashed Sahraeian, Ali Sabzevari Zadeh and Seyed Mahdi Homayouni

September 2011

The influence of the emotional intelligence on self monitoring

Self monitoring is an ability to consciously observe and regulate one’s own behaviour.Incorporating self monitoring in today’s research and practice is beginning to yield a better understanding of how organizational processes are substantially affected by individual issues of how they are seen by others. Especially in service industries, the effect of outcome of interactions of the employees with the clients...

Author(s): Sandhya Rani C., Priyadharshini R. G. and Kannadasan T.

September 2011

Is moral intensity applicable to natural environment issues?

Previous research about moral intensity has mostly centered on ethical issues related to people, with relatively less exploration of ethical decisions related to the natural environment. Therefore, this study investigated perceptions toward three aspects of business environmental ethics, including natural ecology definition, business ecological role and business environmental protection; as well as the relationship...

Author(s): Chieh-Wen Sheng and Ming-Chia Chen

September 2011

The impact of human resource (HR) performance management on project outcome

To ensure successful accomplishment of projects, quality performance of the project team is required to be maintained. The existing literature declares scope, time, cost and quality as quadruple constraints for project’s success while management of human resource (HR) communication, procurement and risk are declared support functions. Literature further acknowledges that HR management functions are dealt with low...

Author(s): Imran Haider Naqvi, Syed Haider Ali Bokhari, Shazia Aziz and Kashif-ur-Rehman

September 2011

Organizational culture and performance: The mediating roles of innovation capacity

This study highlights the service-dominant logic perspective of a firm’s complex capability. The links between the functions of marketing strategies and distinctive capabilities indicate the importance of service management innovation, and emphasize the conceptualization of a service economy to verify the model. The model proposed in this study examines the relationships among market orientation, interaction...

Author(s): Wen Hai Chih, Ling Chu Huangand Tsung Ju Yang

September 2011

Cross-level effects of ethical climate on the relationship between psychological contract breach and ethical decision-making intention

This study explored the relationship between psychological contract breach and ethical decision-making intention. Previous studies analyzed the relation mainly from the Western cultural perspective, thus leaving the Eastern context. In this regard, the present study examined the cross-level moderating effect of ethical climate on variables at the individual level. Forty state-owned and private companies...

Author(s): Gou-Fong Liaw

September 2011

Capturing Arab gulf market: An analysis of Malaysian exports competitiveness in the market

In recent years, the Arab Gulf Countries in particular Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has been an attractive market destination for the Asian businesses. China, India, Japan and other Asian countries have huge interest in developing close relationships with the six nations. As an emerging economy in the West EasternAsia, the GCC offer huge interest in doing businesses and become a gate for the Middle Eastern markets....

Author(s): Mohd Fauzi bin ABU-HUSSIN, Ahmad Azam bin SULAIMAN MOHAMADand Mohd Yahya bin MOHD HUSSIN  

September 2011

Open business models: A case study of System-on-a-Chip (SoC) design foundry in the integrated circuit (IC) industry

In the global IC industry, business models have evolved into design foundry models and manufacturing foundry service models over the past twenty years. The concept of system-on-a-chip (SoC) refers to integrating all components of a computer or other electronic system in a single integrated circuit (IC). Due to the increasing complexities of SoC devices, it is impossible for one IC design house to have the...

Author(s): Po-Young Chu and Wan-Chen Chen

September 2011

Port performance: The importance of land transport in a developing economy

This study set out to establish that land transport system in the country of destination, determines the turn-around time, capacity utilisation of port infrastructure, facilities and cargo-handling equipment and general port performance. Of particular interest, is the contribution of road transport infrastructures and system to the magnitude of turn-around time, port performance and general economic growth and...

Author(s): Mobolaji S. Stephens and Wilfred I. Ukpere

September 2011

A linear price model for insect-damaged industrial roundwood: A case study in Northeastern Turkey

Wood production has been among the most important objectives in forest resource management for a long time. Therefore, quality and quantity losses, especially caused by bark beetles in growing stock and wood based products, have been a prominent problem. In recent years, Artvin State Forest Enterprise in Northeastern Turkey has been affected by bark beetles, which caused serious destruction in forests. This study aims...

Author(s): Atakan ÖZTÜRK,  Bekir KAYACAN and Kemal DÄ°KÄ°LÄ°TAÅž

September 2011

Influence of transformational leadership on employees outcomes: Mediating role of empowerment

The purpose of the study is to find the relationship of transformational leadership with organizational commitment and innovativeness, and to know if empowerment mediates the relationship between the transformational leadership, the organizational commitment, and the innovativeness. It was hypothesized that transformational leadership is positively related with organizational commitment, innovativeness, and empowerment....

Author(s): Tazeem Ali Shah, Muhammad Nisar, Kashif-ur-Rehman and Ijaz-ur-Rehman

September 2011

Analyzing the technical efficiency on the effects of foreign portfolio investment in the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Turkey

This paper investigates the contribution of foreign portfolio investment (FPI) to firms’ technical efficiency and total factor productivity by applying two empirical methodologies over a sample of firms. In the study, panel data is from 45 small businesses (small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs) in Turkey were observed between 2006 and 2010 years. We will analyze the effects of foreign portfolio...

Author(s): Selman Duran and Cemal Zehir

September 2011

Development of personnel internal benchmarking by 360° feedback approach with a case study in AT Pipe Company

The main purpose of this study is to enhance internal benchmarking by the use of 360° feedback approach. Therefore, internal benchmarking has been developed for personnel's performance evaluation. The study has been conducted in AT Pipe Company. Statistical population includes personnel of the sales department and customers and data has been gathered by questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics and...

Author(s): Arash Shahin and Rouhollah Sheikhaboumasoudi

September 2011

An analysis of training needs of evaluation professionals of agricultural and extension programs in Iran

This study aimed to understand the competences needed by agricultural and extension evaluation experts in Iran. Using a descriptive and correlational research design, a valid and reliable self-completion questionnaire was utilized for data collection from a sample of 132 out of 170 managers and professional staff involved in agricultural and extension evaluation programs. The professionals mostly preferred to...

Author(s): Razieyeh Namdar, Gholamreza Pezeshki Rad and Mohammd Chizari

September 2011

Designing a model for explanation of internet banking acceptance rate

The present article tries to utilize structural equations model to explain internet banking acceptance rate. So accordingly, three factors including innovation characteristics of electronic banking system, individual characteristics of bank customers and market facilitating conditions have been used based on different theories proposed. Measurement of the variables by the use of questionnaires based on the comments of...

Author(s): Ebrahim Chirani, Mohammad Taleghani and Yalda Rahmati

September 2011

Job motivation and organizational commitment among the health professionals: A questionnaire survey

The objective of this study is to investigate the level of organizational commitment and motivation as well as the relationship between health staff’s organizational commitment and motivation within state hospitals. Using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the relationships between the organizational commitment and motivation were examined. Data for this study were obtained through...

Author(s): Selma Altindis

September 2011

Different ways of synergistic effects of human resource management (HRM) practices on organizational performance: A method of 2+2 =5

Synergy is a main characteristic of human resource management (HRM) system. It highlights the hidden characteristics of HRM system. This research paper has empirically tested that internally consistent and complementary HR practices/components in the HR system are more able to predict and enhance the organizational performance than the sum of individual practice. The data was collected from the sample of 109 firm...

Author(s): Qura-tul-aain Khair and Muhammad Mohtsham Saeed

September 2011

Structural equation modeling analysis of effects of leadership styles and organizational culture on effectiveness in sport organizations

This study examines the effects of leadership styles and organizational culture on organizational effectiveness in Iranian sport organizations. 341 sport experts in the Physical Education Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran and various sport Federations voluntarily filled out the Denison organizational culture survey (DOCS), multifactor leadership and organizational effectiveness questionnaires. Results of...

Author(s): Farshad Tojari, Mahboub Sheikhalizadeh Heris and Ali Zarei

September 2011

A study of supply chain replenishment system of theory of constraints for thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) plants

The thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) including three fundamental process stages: array process, cell process and module process is generally called liquid crystal panel by consumers. Each process stage existing the variable manufacturing flow-process and characteristic of capacity results in acquiring individual objective in each plant,...

Author(s): Horng-Huei Wu, Sheng-Hung Tsai, Chih-Hung Tsai, Roland Tsai and Mou-Yuan Liao

September 2011

The retrenchment effect on job performance with mediating effect of work life balance

The purpose of this research is to find out the surviving employees during a period of economic recession in 2009/2010 and jobs cut down in Pakistan. Present research paper finds out the relationship between employees who survived retrenchment/lay off during economic recession and job performance with mediating role of work load, work to family conflict and stress (work life balance). The main focus in this paper is...

Author(s): Hassan Imam, Tahir Masood Qureshi and Muhammad Aslam Khan

September 2011

Effects of utilitarian and hedonic atmospheric dimensions on consumer responses in an online shopping environment

As in physical environments, one of the most important research topics is related to the effects of the characteristics of these new interactive virtual environments on different dimensions of human behaviour. This is particularly relevant in the case of consumer shopping behaviour on the internet. In this line, research on webmosphere, and specifically, the impact of utilitarian and hedonic atmospheric dimensions...

Author(s): Carlota Lorenzo-Romero, Miguel-Ángel Gómez-Borja and Alejandro Mollá-Descals

September 2011

The analysis of the basic dynamics of entrepreneurship in creating competitive advantages: The case of organized industrial zone in Turkey

In this study, the effect of entrepreneurship on firm performance, firm performance and growth regardless of sectoral differences from a macro perspective were analyzed in the light of the data gathered from 3034 firms operating in organized industry zones in Turkey. According to the results of the correlation analysis, positively significant relationships between firm performance and dimensions of entrepreneurship,...

Author(s): Orhan Çoban and H. KürÅŸat GüleÅŸ

September 2011

Cost-benefit analysis in selected air trips using a non parametric method

The Brazilian airlines industry went through great changes since its deregulation at the beginning of this century. The appearance of Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, the first low-cost, low-fare, mass Internet ticket vendor airline in Latin America made passenger competition fiercer. The country’s airline crisis, with its delayed and cancelled flights, the duopoly created by Gol’s purchase of Varig,...

Author(s): Vitor de Souza Lima, João Carlos C. B. Soares de Mello and Lidia Angulo Meza