Beverley Holloway and David Mobbs
The independent health care industry is experiencing turbulence, withcompetitors currently seeking differentiation using quality focusedstrategies. In pursuit of such strategies…
Abstract
The independent health care industry is experiencing turbulence, with competitors currently seeking differentiation using quality focused strategies. In pursuit of such strategies increasing attention is being paid to the customer. Until now, understanding the customer has not been recognized for its full significance. Numerous methods of gathering information are being explored, with one of the larger providers introducing the use of regular customer focus groups. It is argued that this method, rarely employed in the UK, is particularly appropriate to use with patients as a customer group. The full potential of customer groups will only be realized, however, if part of a wider total quality approach, advocated by the authors.
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Phillip T. Lamoreaux, Lubomir P. Litov and Landon M. Mauler
We document the emergence of the Lead Independent Director (LID) board role in a sample of U.S. firms from 1999–2015. We find that firms that adopt an LID board role are larger…
Abstract
We document the emergence of the Lead Independent Director (LID) board role in a sample of U.S. firms from 1999–2015. We find that firms that adopt an LID board role are larger and have more independent boards, higher institutional investor holdings, and an NYSE listing. Firms with greater anticipated benefits from monitoring also adopt an LID role, e.g., firms with dual CEO-Chairman, with more takeover defense mechanisms, and with higher cash holdings. Using an event study methodology, we find that investors respond positively to the adoption of an LID board role. Lastly, using instrumental variables to address endogeneity in the LID board role, we find that firms with an LID are more likely to terminate poorly performing CEOs. Taken as a whole, these results suggest that the LID board role enhances firm value and improves the quality of corporate governance.
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This paper aims to examine jointly the CEO inside debt and firm debt to further investigate the compensation incentives on risky decision-making and the resulting financial policy…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine jointly the CEO inside debt and firm debt to further investigate the compensation incentives on risky decision-making and the resulting financial policy decisions concerning the debt structure of the firm.
Design/methodology/approach
Using S&P 1500 data from CRSP, Compustat, Execucomp and Capital IQ between 2006 and 2011, statistical analysis and regression models are used to determine potential correlations between the variable of interest, inside debt and debt control variables, including specialization.
Findings
Firms with high inside debt specialize in commercial loans and drawn credit lines. Larger firms diversify their debt holdings among commercial instruments and senior bonds. As firm size increases with inside debt, the effects are counteracted. Larger firms with high CEO inside debt have lower interest rates on these debt instruments and shorter maturities, suggesting a more conservative financing policy with regards to debt.
Research limitations/implications
Debt diversification is partially affected by compensation in the form of inside debt. Future studies of debt diversification should include CEO compensation controls.
Practical implications
For struggling companies or for those that want to return to a conservative financial policy, they can influence the CEO to make this decision by deferring his compensation to retirement.
Originality/value
This paper considers debt policy through the lens of a key decision maker, the CEO, and uses compensation as an incentive to determine what choices are made concerning debt.
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Laurie Krigman and Mia L. Rivolta
This paper aims to investigate the roles of non-CEO inside directors (NCIDs) in the new CEO-firm matching process using the context of unplanned CEO departures when immediate CEO…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the roles of non-CEO inside directors (NCIDs) in the new CEO-firm matching process using the context of unplanned CEO departures when immediate CEO succession planning becomes a sole board responsibility. Although critics argue that inside directors decrease the monitoring effectiveness of a board, inside directors arguably possess superior firm-specific experience and knowledge that can be beneficial during the leadership transition.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a comprehensive, manually collected data set of unplanned CEO departures from 1993 to 2012.
Findings
The authors find that NCIDs play an important role in the CEO transitioning process. They help firms identify qualified inside replacements and provide stability as the new permanent or interim CEO. In addition, NCIDs facilitate the transfer of information and help the new external CEOs succeed. They show that the longer the NCID stays with the company, the longer the tenure of the new CEO. They also document that the presence of NCIDs improves operating and stock performance; especially when the new CEO is hired from outside of the firm.
Practical implications
The impact of NCIDs is particularly important when the firm hires an outsider as the new CEO. These results suggest that board composition affects frictions in the CEO labor market.
Originality/value
The literature has predominantly focused on the downside of having inside directors. Too many inside directors on a firm’s board is often associated with ineffective boards and entrenchment. To the contrary, the authors focus on a potential benefit of having inside directors.
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Walter McFarland and David Jestaz
– The purpose of this paper is to suggest a relationship between talent development and organizational change, and to invite more research on this topic.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to suggest a relationship between talent development and organizational change, and to invite more research on this topic.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a viewpoint of the authors and not a research paper. It is designed to stimulate thinking and research.
Findings
There are no findings. The paper suggests that the expanded use of talent development interventions may improve workforce engagement in organizational change and invites more thinking and research.
Research limitations/implications
It is not a research piece, a viewpoint only.
Practical implications
One practical implication of future research is to better understand the link between neuroscience, talent development and change if any.
Social implications
Several indicators– including Gallup’s most recent Global Workforce Study are suggesting profoundly low levels of employee engagement globally. One reason suggested in sheer volume and complexity of organizational change. In effect, people may be overwhelmed. Better understanding how to engage people generally, and specifically during times of large-scale organizational change may contribute to both the working lives of people and to overall organizational performance. For this reason, more research is needed.
Originality/value
The link between talent development and organizational change has, for the most part, not been explored in the research literature. The potential value of brain science in informing this link has not been explored either. For the most part, the connections discussed here are original and, with rigorous research, could inform employee engagement and organizational change.
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Bradley Hughes, David J. Edwards, Igor Martek, Nicholas Chileshe and Wellington Didibhuku Thwala
A mixed philosophies epistemological design with inductive reasoning was adopted to develop new theoretical insights into the phenomena under investigation. First, interpretivism…
Abstract
Purpose
A mixed philosophies epistemological design with inductive reasoning was adopted to develop new theoretical insights into the phenomena under investigation. First, interpretivism was employed to contextualise the prevailing body of knowledge and source questions (and prompts) to be posed to practitioners. Second, a case study strategy (augmented by participant action research) was adopted to measure construction industry professionals' perceptions of the clerk of work's role and their impact upon both quality and safety of construction.
Design/methodology/approach
This research conducts a case study investigation of affordable and/or social home construction and examine industry's perception of the clerk of works (CoW) and their powers and responsibilities within existing legislation to impact quality of construction.
Findings
The findings illustrate that while the clerk of work's role positively impacts quality and safety of construction, it is hindered by cost and time constraints that are often prioritised. An analogy to “yield points” in materials science is then adapted to develop new theory to conceptualise the pivotal position that the CoW has in upholding quality construction. The research concludes with pragmatic recommendations (such as industry centric codes of practice) to mitigate quality and safety issues arising and signpost future academic research in this area.
Originality/value
UK construction has been criticised for prioritising costs and profits vis-à-vis quality and safety issues, as exemplified by the Grenfell fire. This study demonstrates the need for reinstatement of the CoW role in mitigating residential housing quality decline.
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To explore the importance of the board of director nomination process (that is, who nominates a given director for a position on the firm’s board) for the voting outcomes…
Abstract
Purpose
To explore the importance of the board of director nomination process (that is, who nominates a given director for a position on the firm’s board) for the voting outcomes, disciplining of management, and overall monitoring quality of the board of directors.
Design/methodology/approach
We exploit a recent regulation passed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requiring disclosure of the board nomination process. In particular, we focus on firms’ use of executive search firms versus allowing internal members (often simply the CEO) to nominate new directors to serve on the board of directors.
Findings
We show that companies that use search firms to find board members pay their CEOs significantly higher salaries and significantly higher total compensations. Further, companies with search firm-identified independent directors are significantly less likely to fire their CEOs following negative performance. In addition, companies with search firm-identified independent directors are significantly more likely to engage in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and see abnormally low returns from this M&A activity. We instrument the endogenous choice of using an executive search through the varying geographic distance of companies to executive search firms. Using this instrumental variable framework, we show search firm-identified independent directors’ negative impact on firm performance, consistent with firm behavior and governance consequences we document.
Originality/value
Given the recent law passage, we are the first to directly analyze the nomination process, and show a surprisingly large predictive effect of seemingly arm’s-length nominations. This has clear implications for thinking carefully through how independence is defined in the director nomination process.
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Clive Beggs and Alexander John Bond
Despite being a widely used management technique, cumulative sum (CUSUM) analysis remains almost unheard of in professional sport. To address this, CUSUM analysis of soccer match…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite being a widely used management technique, cumulative sum (CUSUM) analysis remains almost unheard of in professional sport. To address this, CUSUM analysis of soccer match data from the English Premier League (EPL) was performed. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate CUSUM as a tool for assessing “on-field” team performance. As a secondary objective, the association between managerial change and team performance was evaluated.
Design/methodology/approach
CUSUM was applied retrospectively to goal difference data for six EPL teams (Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham) over 23 consecutive seasons from 1995 to 2018. This was supplemented with change point analysis to identify structural changes in mean goal difference. Succession was evaluated by mapping historical managerial changes onto the CUSUM plots for the respective clubs.
Findings
CUSUM analysis revealed the presence of structural changes in four clubs. Two structural change points were identified for both Chelsea and Everton, one for Manchester United and Tottenham and none for Arsenal and Liverpool. Relatively few managerial changes coincided temporally with structural changes in “on-field” performance, with most appointments having minimal impact on long-term team performance. Other factors (e.g. changes in ownership) appear to have been influential.
Research limitations/implications
The study was limited by the fact that only successful teams were investigated.
Practical implications
CUSUM analysis appears to have potential as a tool for executive decision-makers to evaluate performance outcomes in professional soccer.
Originality/value
The study is the first of its kind to use CUSUM analysis to evaluate team performance in professional soccer.
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In the good old days, before civilisation and artificial eating habits caught up with mankind, the majority of people in the world got all the Vitamin B and protein their bodies…
Abstract
In the good old days, before civilisation and artificial eating habits caught up with mankind, the majority of people in the world got all the Vitamin B and protein their bodies needed through micro‐organic foods. Before the discovery of tea and coffee as beverages, European man drank beer and ale, and the people of Africa, Asia and Australasia drank palm wines. These drinks were prepared by the use of micro‐organisms or fermentation, and supplied large quantities of high‐grade protein and Vitamin B, so essential for health and growth. With the discovery of food yeast and the proposed manufacture of this remarkable food in the British Colonies, the modern diet is going to be revolutionised. The manufacture of bakers' yeast is a simple process and has been known to man for hundreds of years. Into a certain weight of yeast is. introduced a solution of sugars, nitrogen and phosphates and this is allowed to multiply and grow until it has increased its weight fourfold. During this time air is pumped into the solution so the micro‐organisms can breathe, and at the end of nine hours the yeast in the vat is separated from the bulk of the used food solution, washed and pressed ready for use. Yeast has become in recent years increasingly popular as a food, and research workers, knowing the value of yeast in the diet to correct deficiencies, have not been idle in this field. For many years Dr. A. G. Thaysen, Ph.D., M.Sc., has been conducting experiments with yeast, and now, under the auspices of the Colonial Products Research Council, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research is setting up a Micro‐biological Research Laboratory to carry out further experiments. As a result of visits to the West Indies by Sir R. Robinson and Professor Simonsen, it has been decided that this laboratory should be built in St. Clair, Port of Spain, where Dr. Thaysen will conduct experiments for an initial period of three years. Dr. Thaysen is of Danish origin, a naturalised British subject. He went to England early in 1914 to work at the Lister Institute on micro‐organisms, and when World War I. broke out the Admiralty secured his services for special war work. After the war he continued his research work with the Admiralty, and in 1936 his laboratory was transferred to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Recently the Colonial Products Research Council, by arrangement with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, secured Dr. Thaysen's services for the study of food yeast in the West Indies. Whereas bakers' yeast will only increase fourfold in nine hours, it has been possible to increase the weight of food yeast 64‐fold in the same time, and this yeast shows the same behaviour in its life cycle as is characteristic of all free living bacteria. The aim of these experiments is the manufacture of food yeast on an industrial scale, and some years ago a small pilot plant was started at Teddington, England, where some 100 to 150 lb. of food yeast could be produced weekly. With the experience gained at this plant, the Colonial Office has set up a commercial scale plant in Jamaica with funds provided under the Colonial Development and Welfare Act. Jamaica was chosen for the site of this first pilot plant in the West Indies because the West Indies Sugar Company had the available accommodation, surplus power and technical staff to manufacture food yeast economically, and also had adequate supplies of molasses, sugar and cane juice close at hand. A similar plant is under construction in India. In planning for a wide scale manufacture of food yeast it is necessary to select localities where there is an abundant and cheap supply of the necessary sugars or other carbohydrates. The West Indies and India, for instance, can supply molasses; Africa, maize and other grains; the Middle East, citrus fruit and carob beans; and Canada, Newfoundland and the United States, waste sulphite liquor from the manufacture of paper. Food yeast, as produced in the pilot plant, is a light, straw‐coloured flaky powder with a pleasant nutty or meaty flavour. It has a protein content of between 40 and 45 per cent., contains some 2 per cent. of phosphorus, a balanced proportion of Vitamin B, riboflavin and nicotinic acid, and is superior to liver and the various yeast extracts at present on the market. One ton of food yeast can be produced from 1·7 tons of sugar products or other carbohydrates. Food yeast has been fed successfully to livestock with remarkable results, and for human consumption it can be incorporated into flour for bread and biscuits and used for flavouring soups and stews. To quote Dr. Thaysen : “ It is essential to produce food yeast at the lowest possible price if it is to serve its primary purpose of supplying those sections of humanity who are least blessed with worldly riches with a wholesome and abundant protein and Vitamin B food.” In other words, it can well be seen that the discovery of food yeast is going to be one of the greatest contributions science has made in our own time, the atomic bomb notwithstanding, and with so many people in the world at the moment suffering from years of malnutrition in varying degrees, food yeast is going to be one of the Allied Nations' greatest contributions to the rehabilitation of the world and the immediate need to feed Europe, after years of war, can be faced confidently now that Jamaica is producing it in sufficient quantity.
Reviews three broad perspectives on our relationship with Nature,and the environmental strategies which flow from them, two of which areidentified with the Green movement. Argues…
Abstract
Reviews three broad perspectives on our relationship with Nature, and the environmental strategies which flow from them, two of which are identified with the Green movement. Argues that the first, which opposes economic growth and industrialism, is profoundly misguided though well‐intentioned and with wide appeal. By virtue of its association with the core ideal of a homeostatic relationship between human society and Nature, it is inextricably linked with the second perspective: a misanthropic one, which treats humanity itself as the cause of environmental problems and implies totalitarian solutions to these. The third perspective is a pragmatic one. It entails imaginative policy responses which can include regulation and taxation, but must, as in the issuing of tradeable permits, be tailored to act in symbiosis with market mechanisms.