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The purpose of this study is to investigate the value investors place on S&P index additions relative to uncertainty surrounding the firm and the market. Investors look for reassuring signals or tell-tale signs around uncertainty.

Variation in the market response to announcements of S&P additions to the 400, 500 and 600 indices is examined against measures of risk factors. Internal risk factors include firm size relative to the index, total firm risk and liquidity, and whether the firm is a brand new index entrant. External risk factors related to market uncertainty are measured by the Chicago Board of Exchange volatility index.

Firms with lower market capitalization relative to the index, higher total risk, lower trading volume and first-time entrants to any S&P index elicit a positive market reaction compared to firms with less pricing uncertainty. In times of increased market uncertainty, investors tend to place more value on signals from respected institutions such as S&P, and riskier firms benefit more from inclusion in the S&P index. Overall, this study finds that the market overreaction is explained by the degree of uncertainty surrounding the added firms, as well as by the degree of market uncertainty at the time of the announcement.

The findings of this study suggest that investors interpret the prospect of S&P index addition as an opportunity for firms to reduce uncertainty surrounding them, and thus partially hedge their exposure to market uncertainty by joining an index tracked by dozens of index funds. The value of such a hedging strategy rises for riskier firms during market turbulence.

This paper aims to apply the Capital Market Liability of Foreignness (CMLOF) framework to the audit fees of a sample of foreign firms listed on US exchanges to examine whether American auditors price foreignness.

The four components of the CMLOF are institutional distance (civil versus common law system and enforcement), information asymmetry (disclosures and mandatory IFRS adoption), unfamiliarity (exports, English language and geographical distance) and cultural difference [Hofstede (1980) dimensions of culture]. These variables are examined in a regression model that explains audit fees to determine the auditor perception of risk associated with the CMLOF.

Examining the factors that mitigate perceived agency costs, this investigation determines that auditors price risk according to each component of the liability of foreignness. Audit fees are higher for shareholders of firms headquartered in countries exhibiting greater institutional distance, unfamiliarity and cultural distance. Audit fees are higher for firms when their home country requires additional disclosures or the adoption of IFRS to reduce information asymmetry.

CMLOF is costly for capital market participants and has implications for auditors, shareholders of foreign firms and managers considering listing in the US Auditors, and investors should carefully assess this risk for pricing and valuation, and managers should take action, to the extent possible, to reduce the firm-specific level of unfamiliarity and increase transparency.

This paper is the first to apply the CMLOF to examine whether auditors price aspects of foreignness of their non-US-headquartered clients.

The purpose of this paper is partly to complete Earl's framework, but more importantly to seek out the limits of what can be known and what cannot be known by each of the schools in his taxonomy, by addressing the absent epistemological foundation of what is being managed in his seven schools of knowledge management.

For each of the seven schools, the paper explores three related issues: the role of knowledge management systems in mediating between individual knowers and the community that needs to know; the context of Earl's knowledge management schools in terms of their focus on process and problems; and the consequences of the processes for identifying and validating knowledge.

Earl's framework survives this examination of its knowledge basis, suggesting that it is more robust, and captures more differences, than originally claimed. However, revelations about what can and cannot be known in each school suggest that knowledge management cannot be “done” until users and designers have greater sensitivity to the epistemological plasticity of what they purport to manage.

The paper's value lies in the re‐direction of knowledge management it suggests – a re‐direction away from technical solutions and towards examination of the epistemological and philosophical problems which are the chief reason for the continuing disappointment with knowledge management in many quarters.

WE place this special Conference number in the hands of readers in the hope and belief that it will offer features of distinct interest which will increase the value and enjoyment of Brighton. There can be no doubt that the organizers of Library Association Conferences have endeavoured to surpass one another in recent years; almost always, it may be said, with success. Brighton, like Blackpool if in a rather different way, is a mistress of the art of welcome, and it will be long before another town can surpass her in the art. She is at her best in September when the great, and to some appalling, crowds of her promenades have thinned out a little. This year, then, librarians have an interesting time ahead; although, as we glance over the programme again, we fear that the outdoor and other pleasures we have subtly suggested will occur only fitfully. There will be so much to do in the way of business.

Across the globe, every organization is striving to enhance the productivity and growth rate, but the prosperity and success of an organization is determined by the type of work environment in which it operates. To address this apprehension, this paper aims to determine the effect of toxic workplace environment on job stress that can badly affect the job productivity of an employee.

As an independent variable, toxic workplace environment was used as a complete spectrum consisting multiple dimensions named as workplace ostracism, workplace incivility, workplace harassment and workplace bullying. Job stress was used as a mediating variable between the spectrum of toxic workplace environment and job productivity. In this regard, self-administered close-ended questionnaire was used to collect the data from 267 employees of the health sector (HS) of Lahore region in Pakistan. For analysis purpose, we used confirmatory factor analysis to ensure the convergent and discriminant validity of the factors. AMOS 22 was used to check the direct and indirect effect of selected variables. Hayes mediation approach was used to check the mediating role of job stress between four dimensions of toxic workplace environment and job productivity.

The output demonstrated that the dimensions of toxic workplace environment have a negative significant relationship with job productivity, while job stress was proved as a statistical significant mediator between dimensions of toxic workplace environment and job productivity. Finally, we conclude that organizations need to combat/cleanse the roots of toxic workplace environment to ensure their prosperity and success.

This study aims to determine the effect of toxic workplace environment on job stress that can badly affect the job productivity of an employee. An empirical study in the context of the HS of Pakistan. This study, which is based on HS, has never been reported before in literature.