George Foster, Norm O'Reilly, Jim Best Devereux and Matias Shundi
This article seeks to enhance the understanding as to why head coaches and general managers (GMs) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Football League…
Abstract
Purpose
This article seeks to enhance the understanding as to why head coaches and general managers (GMs) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Football League (NFL) exit from their positions.
Design/methodology/approach
Three hypotheses were investigated using a series of quantitative and qualitative data from the past 30 years. The samples analyzed are comprised of 891 GM and coach annual observations for the NBA clubs and 949 GM and coach observations for the NFL clubs. Analyses include a logit analysis for coach exit/retention, a logit analysis for GM exit/retention and textual analysis via topic modeling via latent Dirichlet allocation.
Findings
Results show a correlation between a coach exiting and a GM exiting simultaneously, thus amplifying the importance of these two roles in enhancing or destroying the success of a club and supporting the need for a deeper understanding of both roles, particularly the GM. The results further highlight cultural differences across clubs in terms of GM and coach turnover, a factor that often is heavily influenced by club ownership.
Originality/value
The results support the role of owners in exits, confirm the importance of winning in avoiding an exit, find a high level of interrelationship between GM and coach exits and show that past culture of firings influences future exit decisions.
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Households are exposed to a wide array of risks, characterized by a known or unknown probability distribution of events. Disasters are one of these risks at the extreme end…
Abstract
Households are exposed to a wide array of risks, characterized by a known or unknown probability distribution of events. Disasters are one of these risks at the extreme end. Understanding the nature of these risks is critical to recommending appropriate mitigation measures. A household’s resilience in resisting the negative outcomes of these risky events is indicative of its level of vulnerability. Vulnerability has emerged as the most critical concept in disaster studies, with several attempts at defining, measuring, indexing and modeling it. The paper presents the concept and meanings of risk and vulnerability as they have evolved in different disciplines. Building on these basic concepts, the paper suggests that assets are the key to reducing risk and vulnerability. Households resist and cope with adverse consequences of disasters and other risks through the assets that they can mobilize in face of shocks. Asustainable strategy for disaster reduction must therefore focus on asset‐building. There could be different types of assets, and their selection and application for disaster risk management is necessarily a contextual exercise. The mix of asset‐building strategies could vary from one community to another, depending upon households’ asset profile. The paper addresses the dynamics of assets‐risk interaction, thus focusing on the role of assets in risk management.
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A systematic assessment of multinational enterprise (MNE) tax minimisation strategies at the firm level is difficult. This paper aims to present systematic evidence for Ireland of…
Abstract
Purpose
A systematic assessment of multinational enterprise (MNE) tax minimisation strategies at the firm level is difficult. This paper aims to present systematic evidence for Ireland of tax minimisation strategies at both an aggregate and individual firm level. The paper uses Apple and Google as its case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on 31 US intellectual property (IP)-intensive MNEs with substantial operations in Ireland. Financial and other data including tax payments were extracted from Form 10K and filings in Companies Registration Office in Ireland.
Findings
The paper develops three different measures of effective tax rates and that tax strategies have resulted in effective tax rates lower than the nominal US tax rate and far lower than those published in company accounts. Although two-thirds of profits are earned outside the USA, around 70 per cent of corporate tax is paid in the USA.
Research limitations/implications
The paper relies on data from a subset of MNEs operating in Ireland. The paper also uses publicly available data which may not be available for all firms.
Practical implications
The findings have implications for European Union (EU) tax policy and tax revenues in countries where MNEs operate. The paper also has implications for industrial policy based on attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Social implications
The study has implications not only for the equitable distribution of corporate tax payments and income distribution but also especially for a tax-based industrial policy.
Originality/value
MNE tax strategies, although of considerable public interest, are often obscure and poorly understood. The paper is original in providing a detailed examination of MNE tax strategies at the firm level and discussing some implications from a public policy perspective.
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To investigate CSR initiatives and suggest how these might re‐legitimate, where necessary, current systems of democracy.
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate CSR initiatives and suggest how these might re‐legitimate, where necessary, current systems of democracy.
Design/methodology/approach
The CSR programmes of the world's largest 60 companies were examined, along with more unusual CSR activities of smaller companies worldwide. Democratic systems were analysed to elicit what deficiencies exist in this form of government. CSR initiatives were classified according to the balance of their benefit to the community against benefit to the company itself. This classification was used to suggest how CSR might fill the democratic gap left by the increasingly global scale of government.
Findings
Too often, CSR comprises companies claiming credit for programmes they would be legally obliged to undertake or which increase company profits, although some CSR is genuinely altruistic. Traditionally, local communities have little say as to what companies put back into their neighbourhood however if competitions, for example “best kept village”, were encouraged involving companies at a local level, CSR would then have greater relevancy. Perhaps global actors, both corporate and governmental, would in this way gain legitimacy.
Research limitations/implications
Approximately 100 companies were used for this study. A larger sample could have been used although this selection covers most of the types of CSR currently being practiced. The findings are only applicable to democratic countries, although this system of government is practiced by the majority of countries worldwide.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a novel classification of CSR, by geographical scope and by type of initiative. New links are made between the concept of CSR and the deficiencies of the democratic system of government.
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The future is often portrayed as rational, logical, and informed by the continuing achievements of the scientific and technological revolution. In similar ways, our own time was…
Abstract
The future is often portrayed as rational, logical, and informed by the continuing achievements of the scientific and technological revolution. In similar ways, our own time was seen as marked by such advances by futurists of earlier decades. But at the end of the twentieth century, resistance to the claims of mainstream science and technology has grown to an extent unanticipated in these earlier appraisals. This essay argues that such resistance is liable to flourish in the twenty‐first century, and that understanding why this should be the case is important for studies of the future. In particular, this essay takes up the Fortean approach. This approach examines areas of human experience that are “damned” by mainstream science, and also examines the processes and strategies adopted both by those effecting the damnation, and those challenging it. The case being made is that although we can expect many of these damned phenomena to remain excluded – deservedly so in some cases – this will not always be the case.
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Third and last of a series of articles examining the case forcompetence‐based qualifications in the UK. Reviews the previous twoarticles prior to identifying strengths in the…
Abstract
Third and last of a series of articles examining the case for competence‐based qualifications in the UK. Reviews the previous two articles prior to identifying strengths in the competence philosophy and methodology and weaknesses in established practice. Concludes that competence‐based qualifications require modification in operation if they are to realize the potential benefits and advantages claimed. Two models of argued changes are provided as a basis for a suggested way forward.
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Shane Greenstein and Michelle Devereux
By 2006, Wikipedia had achieved the type of success that only a handful of young organizations could ever dream of reaching. It had grown from almost nothing in 2001 to become one…
Abstract
By 2006, Wikipedia had achieved the type of success that only a handful of young organizations could ever dream of reaching. It had grown from almost nothing in 2001 to become one of the consistently highest ranked and most visited sites on the Internet. This success brought new problems at a scale that no organization of this type had ever before faced. Exposes students to Wikipedia's brief history, the causes of its success, and the issues it faced going forward. Two topics form the focus: The first concerns the rules and norms for submission and editing, which raise questions about the ambiguity of Wikipedia's authority and the virtual cycle that keeps the site going; The second concerns the need to alter its practices as it gains in popularity, raising questions about what any wiki site, profit-oriented or open source, must do to scale to large numbers of participants and entries. These issues arise as part of a discussion about the site's priorities going forward.
To teach the factors that shape Wikipedia and wikis in general. Students will become familiar with the internal operations of wikis, open-source programs for developing text from many users. Also to facilitate teaching about factors that shape reference sites on the Internet, dividing discussion into three sub-topics: defining what Wikipedia is and what it is not, analyzing how it works, and understanding why it generates controversy in some circles.
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SO SUCCESSFUL in user terms have been the leaflets, brochures and informational posters prepared in recent years by Lambeth Public Libraries' design studio, that an exhibition of…
Abstract
SO SUCCESSFUL in user terms have been the leaflets, brochures and informational posters prepared in recent years by Lambeth Public Libraries' design studio, that an exhibition of the graphic work of designers Adrian Hodgkins and Linda Grimes for the library service was mounted at the London College of Printing in Clerkenwell during May. The printed introduction to the exhibition remarks that ‘Lambeth and a number of other local authorities recognise the need for a high standard of graphic presentation for the publicity and dissemination of information of its activities’—a judgment which was amply confirmed by the work on display. Director Roy McColvin adds: ‘It is our view that a free, non‐institutionalised but appropriate design policy helps enormously, first to give information of the services, and secondly to publicise the activities’.
Kimberly R. Huyser, Jennifer Rockell, Charlton Wilson, Spero M. Manson and Joan O'Connell
Purpose – To examine potential sex differences among American Indian and Alaska Native peoples (AIANs) in diabetes prevalence, comorbidities, healthcare utilization, and treatment…
Abstract
Purpose – To examine potential sex differences among American Indian and Alaska Native peoples (AIANs) in diabetes prevalence, comorbidities, healthcare utilization, and treatment costs within the Indian Health Services (IHS).
Methodology/Approach – Data were drawn from the IHS Improving Healthcare Delivery Data Project with 437,608 persons in our analytical sample. We described sex and age differences in diabetes, comorbidities, healthcare utilization, and treatment costs among the adults with diabetes. We evaluated the statistical differences between men and women using confidence intervals calculated at the 95% level, with nonoverlapping confidence intervals indicating statistical significance.
Findings – The prevalence of diabetes among females was somewhat higher than that of males (10.82 vs 9.16%, respectively, p < 0.05). Among adults with diabetes, males had statistically higher prevalence of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and substance use disorders and fewer mental health disorders compared to females. Although males had overall lower average cost of services than females, males had higher utilization for hospital inpatient services than females, and females used more outpatient services.
Research limitations/implications – We are limited to one fiscal year of data and thus cannot predict the influence of healthcare utilization patterns on the overall health of this population. Although a large sample, the findings are only generalizable to the active users of the participating IHS Service Units.
Originality/Value of Paper – This study fills a major gap in our knowledge of sex differences in diabetes prevalence, comorbidities, healthcare utilization, and treatment costs among AIANs. Differences in the comorbidities that characterized the AIAN adult males and females with diabetes in this sample have important implications for mortality and cost of care. Diabetes management that addresses such gender-specific comorbidities, particularly substance use disorders among men and mental health disorders among women, promises to reduce these comorbidities and related complications.
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Patrick Hopkinson, Mats Niklasson, Peter Bryngelsson, Andrew Voyce and Jerome Carson
The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the life of the musician Brian Wilson from five different perspectives.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the life of the musician Brian Wilson from five different perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a mixed method of collaborative autoethnography, psychobiography and digital team ethnography to try and better understand the life and contributions of Brian Wilson.
Findings
Each of the five contributors provides different insights into the life and music of Brian Wilson.
Research limitations/implications
While the focus of this paper is on a single individual, a case study, the long and distinguished life of Brian Wilson provides much material for discussion and theorising.
Practical implications
Each individual presenting to mental health services has a complex biography. The five different contributions articulated in this paper could perhaps be taken as similar to the range of professional opinions seen in mental health teams, with each focusing on unique but overlapping aspects of the person’s story.
Social implications
This account shows the importance of taking a biological-psychological-social-spiritual and cultural perspective on mental illness.
Originality/value
This multi-layered analysis brings a range of perspectives to bear on the life and achievements of Brian Wilson, from developmental, musical, psychological and lived experience standpoints.