Ching Choo Huang, Robert Luther, Michael Tayles and Roszaini Haniffa
The purpose of this paper is to explore if any disparity exists between human capital information desired by financial analysts and fund managers and actual disclosure of such…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore if any disparity exists between human capital information desired by financial analysts and fund managers and actual disclosure of such information in company annual reports, in the context of developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
Financial analysts and fund managers were interviewed to obtain opinions on the importance attributed to human capital information and whether their desired information is disclosed in the annual reports. Content analysis was then used to assess the extent and nature of human capital information actually provided in the annual reports of 100 listed companies in Malaysia.
Findings
Interviewees seek information on company management and key corporate decision makers who could provide a firm with competitive advantage. However, the human capital information provided is limited, and tends to focus on directors, many of whom may be figureheads with little impact on the way companies are run and in creating value for the firm. Accordingly, analysts rely on alternative sources to get their desired information – a costly process for private shareholders.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the literature on the demand for, and disclosure of, human capital information in the context of developing countries. It identifies the inadequacy of current human capital disclosure practices in company annual reports. The authors theorise that in developing countries, resource dependence, legitimacy-seeking and “culture” cause companies to pay relatively more attention to figureheads than value creators.
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Ching Choo Huang, Michael Tayles and Robert Luther
The purpose of this paper is to explore several contingency variables, namely environmental uncertainty, business strategy, technological advancement, market to book ratio, size…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore several contingency variables, namely environmental uncertainty, business strategy, technological advancement, market to book ratio, size, profitability and industry type in the context of management accounting and the availability of internal intellectual capital (IC) information.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was developed and posted to the managers of Malaysian companies. A multiple regression statistical technique was employed to analyse the data.
Findings
It is found that business strategy and technological advancement of customer service relate positively to the availability of internal IC information in Malaysian companies.
Research limitations/implications
The relatively small response of usable replies to the questionnaire survey is a limitation of this paper. The finding implies that companies with more internal IC information are more likely to be those of product differentiators and those who have undergone technological advancement of customer service. Malaysian companies tend to have a strong customer orientation and place great emphasis on managing customer capital (CC). Future research can investigate the types of IC information used by Malaysian managers to manage their CC.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature as it examines the relationship between context and IC within a contingency theory framework. Unlike other research which relates to external IC disclosures with firm‐specific variables, this research links contingency factors to internal IC information from related fields (management accounting and external IC reporting).
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Ching Choo Huang, Robert Luther and Michael Tayles
Though intellectual capital (IC) has received much attention for more than a decade, there is a lack of consensus on its components and definition. IC is a multi‐disciplinary…
Abstract
Purpose
Though intellectual capital (IC) has received much attention for more than a decade, there is a lack of consensus on its components and definition. IC is a multi‐disciplinary concept and the understanding of it varies across different business‐related disciplines. This paper seeks to propose a grouping of IC items based on empirical evidence in the form of managers' responses to questions about the availability of information about IC inside their companies.
Design/methodology/approach
A postal questionnaire was implemented across 520 companies listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia. The empirical grouping of IC derived by factor analysis is compared with a priori groupings constructed from the IC literature.
Findings
It is found that the conventional three a priori categories – namely human capital, customer capital and structural capital – expand into eight facets. Nevertheless, there is remarkable consistency between literature‐based expectations and empirical groupings.
Research limitations/implications
The paper takes a broad scope perspective and in this rapidly evolving field, is based on information in place in 2005. In addition, the usual limitations of postal questionnaire surveys apply. Extension of this research approach to other cultures may reveal a different set of groupings and such research is encouraged.
Practical implications
Managers and designers of information systems may use the findings as a benchmark against which to evaluate their own systems or proposals. More significantly, the eight‐factor model facilitates conceptualisation, measurement and management of IC and the preparation of IC reports.
Originality/value
This evidence‐based confirmation of the broad three‐category model, together with the empirical identification of more detailed facets, makes a contribution to the as yet largely normative literature on the classification of the components of intellectual capital.
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Hsin Hsin Chang, Ching Ying Huang, Chen Su Fu and Ming Tse Hsu
By integrating the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, technology acceptance model (TAM), and social capital theory, the purpose of this paper is to: develop a model of consumer…
Abstract
Purpose
By integrating the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, technology acceptance model (TAM), and social capital theory, the purpose of this paper is to: develop a model of consumer behavior and trial willingness toward nano-foods from product, consumer, and social perspectives; examine the effects of innovative features, consumer characteristics, and trust in authority on subjective perceptions (perceived trustworthiness and perceived benefit) as well as the social influence on attitudes toward nano-foods and trial willingness; examine the moderating role of product uncertainty on the relationship between these characteristics and subjective perceptions; and examine the effect of perceived benefit on perceived trustworthiness.
Design/methodology/approach
The results of the structural equation model (SEM), with nano-food knowledge data collected from 431 respondents, supported the research model and revealed the main effects hypothesized in this study and the moderating effect of product uncertainty. Simple slope analysis was further adopted to test the significant moderating effects.
Findings
The SEM results indicated that innovative characteristics (relative advantage, lack of observability, and novelty), consumer characteristics (perceived technology application), and social characteristics (trust in authority) affect perceived trustworthiness or perceived benefit. Social influence also has a direct effect on attitude toward nano-foods and trial willingness. Product uncertainty significantly moderates the relationship between characteristics (relative advantage and perceived technology application) and subjective perceptions (perceived trustworthiness and perceived benefit).
Research limitations/implications
With increasing numbers and kinds of nanotechnology products now being developed and sold, it is important to go further to determine consumer perceptions and attitudes toward these. This study, thus, applied the DOI, TAM, and social capital theory to examine this issue. However, other theories might also be used to carry out research from other perspectives. This study should, thus, be seen as preliminary, and it is hoped that more works will discuss consumer attitudes toward nanotechnology products in the future.
Practical implications
When a new nano-food is introduced, the current study suggests that food manufacturers use the description on the package as a communicative tool. Detailing the advantages of nano-foods on food packages might be a useful way to enhance trial willingness and to reduce the fears and insecurities related to the use of nano-related products. In addition, if food manufacturers could cooperate with organizations or individuals seen as having some authority in this area (e.g. nanotechnology researchers) in order to disseminate accurate information about nanotechnology and related food products, this might be an effective way to increase sales and profits.
Originality/value
This is the first paper integrating the DOI, the social capital theory and the TAM to empirically investigate consumer willingness to try nano-food products.
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Fan-Chen Tseng, T.C.E. Cheng, Kai Li and Ching-I Teng
No studies in the extant literature have explored the role of media richness, i.e., the ability of media to enhance understanding among communication partners in a timely manner…
Abstract
Purpose
No studies in the extant literature have explored the role of media richness, i.e., the ability of media to enhance understanding among communication partners in a timely manner, in determining customer loyalty to mobile instant messaging (MIM). Grounded in media richness theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine how media richness influences customer perceived values, consequently contributing to customer loyalty to MIM.
Design/methodology/approach
Collecting data by an online survey, the authors apply partial least square procedures for hypothesis testing.
Findings
The authors obtain the following findings: multiple cues are positively related to functional value; immediate feedback is positively related to social value; personal focus is positively related to self-expressive value; language variety is positively related to all the above values that lead to user loyalty; and language variety has the strongest effect on user loyalty to MIM.
Originality/value
A first attempt to examine the impact of media richness on user loyalty to MIM, this study provides insights for MIM service providers to make decisions to build loyal user bases.
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Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American…
Abstract
Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.
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Chia-Ching Cho, AnAn Chiu, Shaio Yan Huang and Shuen-Zen Liu
As the rise in expenditures will be even faster when the baby-boom generation soon reaches healthcare-dependent ages, healthcare providers are facing cost management decision of…
Abstract
Purpose
As the rise in expenditures will be even faster when the baby-boom generation soon reaches healthcare-dependent ages, healthcare providers are facing cost management decision of achieving superior performance. Taiwan provides a unique environment that the dialysis service providers face only one medical buyer. The purpose of this paper is to discuss cost factors of dialysis facilities.
Design/methodology/approach
This study provides a comprehensive analysis of factors influencing the dialysis costs using the data collected from a large renal clinic chain at Taiwan. The multiple linear regression analysis is employed to examine the factors influencing dialysis costs. The research sample composed of 1,255 patients is collected from 16 dialysis centers in Taiwan.
Findings
The results indicate that the treatment costs of dialysis are influenced by managerial factors including capacity utilization rate (CUR), the percentage of shares held by the owners and the geographical location of clinics (LC). The findings assist renal clinics to identify the parts critical to the cost control. Our results indicate that medical variable costs for performing the dialysis treatments are significantly influenced by such managerial factors as CUR, the percentage of owners’ shares holding and LC.
Practical implications
By identifying a comprehensive set of costs drivers for dialysis services, this study provides useful information for both health providers and policy makers. In specific, the result assists these providers to consider the utilization of better mechanisms/instruments to control costs by increasing the operational efficiency and achieving the economies of scale.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to exploring costs drivers that are generally absent from the extant literature. The result suggests that the regulators should be aware that the dialysis providers may reject costly patients. Hence, to establish the appropriate monitoring mechanisms to prevent such incidence is important. Finally, many other countries in addition to Taiwan also have a similar practice as national health insurances or services (e.g. Medicare in the USA or National Health Service in the UK). Those health systems may all face a similar cost control issues for handling end-stage renal disease patients. The analysis can help health systems worldwide to better design the reimbursement rates to account for the differences existed in dealing with the dialysis treatment costs.