Search results

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Supreme Court’s decision in Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission, 138 S.Ct. 2044 (June 21, 2018).

The approach of this paper is to discuss the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) use of Administrative Law Judges (“ALJs”), and the litigation challenging the appointment of those ALJs, culminating in the Supreme Court’s decision in Lucia.

In Lucia, the Court held that SEC ALJs are “officers of the United States,” and thus subject to the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, which limits the power to appoint “officers” to the President, “Courts of Law” or “Heads of Departments.” Because the ALJ who presided over Lucia’s administrative proceeding was not appointed by the SEC itself, the Court held that the ALJ’s appointment was unconstitutional and ordered the SEC to provide Lucia with a new hearing in front of a new (constitutionally appointed) ALJ.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Lucia provides defense counsel with new ammunition to challenge SEC administrative proceedings. It will likely have a significant effect on many pending and already-concluded SEC administrative proceedings but also leaves open a number of important questions for further litigation.

This paper provides expert analysis and guidance from experienced securities litigators.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Federal Trade Commission v. Actavis, Inc. is a challenge to conventional antitrust analysis. Conventional civil antitrust cases are decided by a preponderance of the evidence. This means that conduct challenged under the rule of reason is only condemned if the conduct resulted in more competitive harm in the actual world than a world without the alleged violation. Under conventional analysis, the intent of the parties also plays only a supporting role in determining whether the conduct was anticompetitive. A holder of a valid patent has a right to exclude others practicing the patented technology. And, the patent holder is not assumed to have market power because it expended resources in maintaining exclusionary rights. Actavis creates doubts about these propositions in circumstances beyond the “reverse” payment settlement of a patent suit that may have delayed an alleged infringer market entry. This chapter explores whether applying Actavis logic to antitrust litigation can result in condemnation of practices where there is little chance of an anticompetitive effect, where the patent holder likely has a valid and infringed patent, where there is little reason to believe that the patent holder has market power, and where only one party, or no parties, to an agreement have an anticompetitive intent. This chapter also investigates whether Actavis creates new problems with standing analysis, damages calculations, and the balancing of efficiencies against anticompetitive effects. Nevertheless, the lower courts have begun to extend the logic of Actavis. This is apparent in the condemnation of no-Authorized-generic settlements.

Despite the existence of a variety of approaches to the understanding of behavioral and managerial ethics in organizations and business relationships generally, knowledge of organizing systems for fidelity remains in its infancy. We use halakha, or Jewish law, as a model, together with the literature in sociology, economic anthropology, and economics on what it termed “middleman minorities,” and on what we have termed the Landa Problem, the problem of identifying a trustworthy economic exchange partner, to explore this issue.

The article contrasts the differing explanations for trustworthy behavior in these literatures, focusing on the widely referenced work of Avner Greif on the Jewish Maghribi merchants of the eleventh century. We challenge Greif’s argument that cheating among the Magribi was managed chiefly via a rational, self-interested reputational sanctioning system in the closed group of traders. Greif largely ignores a more compelling if potentially complementary argument, which we believe also finds support among the documentary evidence of the Cairo Geniza as reported by Goitein: that the behavior of the Maghribi reflected their deep beliefs and commitment to Jewish law, halakha.

Applying insights from this analysis, we present an explicit theory of heroic marginality, the production of extreme precautionary behaviors to ensure service to the principal.

Generalizing from the case of halakha, the article proposes the construct of a deep code, identifying five defining characteristics of such a code, and suggests that deep codes may act as facilitators of compliance. We also offer speculation on design features employing deep codes that may increase the likelihood of production of behaviors consistent with terminal values of the community.

The purpose of this paper is to test a theoretical model examining the potential impact of abstract thinking on entrepreneurial intentions (EI). The impact of perceived desirability of entrepreneurship on the relationship between abstraction and intentions was also examined.

A total of 155 participants completed measures of abstraction, self-efficacy, desirability and EI. Hierarchical regression was used. A bootstrapping approach was utilized to test for mediation.

High levels of abstraction were positively related to EI, while also interacting with self-efficacy. High levels of abstraction counteracted otherwise low levels of self-efficacy, resulting in subsequently higher intentions. The perceived desirability of entrepreneurship mediated the relationship between abstraction and EI.

The scope of analysis and student population sample may limit generalizability.

The results identify a cognitive process that may help individuals overcome feasibility concerns. Entrepreneurial training programs might choose to instruct individuals that, when encountering a roadblock, they should focus on their ideals and the bigger picture rather than being discouraged by the challenges of the process.

The results provide insight into the psychological processes that lead individuals to become entrepreneurs. The study helps in explaining the mechanism by which a tendency toward abstract thinking leads to stronger EI and identifies an additional antecedent to individuals’ perceptions of desirability toward entrepreneurship.

This article investigates the possibility of studying modern organizations with the feudal model. We introduce feudalism as an ideal type and explain why it is necessary for understanding organizations. The model synthesizes several perspectives on intra-organizational conflict. After defining the feudal model and tracing its theoretical roots, we review several empirical studies to identify the conditions under which feudal conflicts arise. These factors include decentralization, structural interdependence, uncertainty and informal power. The feudal model highlights several overlooked aspects of organizations, including personal relations, the manipulation of formal rules, bribery, corruption and sabotage. However, given the model's limitations, we propose a “segmented approach” to social analysis, which emphasizes the need for multiple models to explain any organization, past or present.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a three-staged approach to configuration change management that uses a combination of complexity analysis, data visualization, and algorithmic validation to assist in validating configuration changes.

In order to accomplish the above purpose, the authors conducted a review of existing configuration management practices. This was followed by an in-depth case study of the configuration management practices of a major automotive OEM. The primary means of data collection for the case study were interviews, ethnographic study, and document analysis. Based on the results of the case study, a set of support tools is proposed to assist in the configuration management process.

Through the case study, the authors identified that the OEM used a configuration management method that largely represented the rule-based reasoning methods identified in the literature review. In addition, many of the associated challenges are present, primarily, the difficulty in making changes to the rule system and evaluating the changes.

The primary limitation is that the case study was based on a single OEM. However, the results are in line with other practices identified in the literature review. Therefore, it is expected that the findings and recommendations should hold true in other applications.

A set of configuration management tools and associated requirements are identified and defined that could be used to assist companies in the automotive industry, and perhaps others, in managing their option changes as they continue to move towards full mass customization of products.

The proposed approach for configuration management has not been seen in any other organization. The value of this paper is in the effectiveness of the proposed approach in assisting in the configuration change management process.

This study focuses on variations of the importance of core values through motivational domains of individuals by their cultural background. The effect of motivational domains on operational performance has also been investigated.

The study used survey as the main data collection method to elicit data from managerial workers in spa businesses in four regions of Thailand. An unpublished database of spa businesses was provided to the study by the Thai Chamber of Commerce.

Significant variations of the importance of motivational domains of managerial workers can be found according to the subculture of each of the four regions of Thailand. In addition, the motivational domains have found their significant impact on worker operational performance.

One of the limitations of this study may be the distribution of samples because the study focuses on spa businesses, most of which in each region are located in big tourism provinces that may not be wholly representative of the characteristics of each region.

This study will be of practical value for practitioners or managers of any firms since it is important to consider value variations when assessing the operational performance; workers, especially managerial workers, in each subculture may have different priorities in the motivational domains of their lives. This could affect their operational performance.

This is an original attempt to ascertain variations of core values through motivational domains by subculture. It fills a knowledge gap in under-researched area in the literature since so far a few studies have examined this issue in the ASEAN countries.