Search results

The purpose of this paper is to present an organized review of existing research on reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS). The paper considers majority of the prominent research articles in the domain of RMS published ever since RMS was envisaged in 1997.

The paper systematically reviews, classifies and analyses the published literature on postulations and design of RMSs. The general observations from the literature and research gaps recognized thereon are highlighted at the end of each section/sub-section.

The paper reveals important aspects related to RMS research since its inception. It also recognizes the areas of RMS research requiring more focus. The study also highlights open issues and future directions for further research.

The literature in the domain of RMS has so far been narrow. This paper reviews the prominent research in this field and presents an overview of its conceptual developments and various mathematical models for the RMS design and its optimization so far developed by the researchers. Further, manufacturing advancements and future directions have also been proposed for the efficient execution of RMS paradigm in manufacturing industries.

The paper provides an organized listing of published research work in the field of RMS. This work will provide an insight to the researchers, practitioners and others related directly or indirectly to this field to develop and understand better strategies for supervising and controlling the smooth implementation of RMS.

This paper aims to examine the role of corporate governance (CG) in the earnings management (EM) of affiliated companies in family business groups (FBGs) listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), using principal–principal agency theory.

The sample of 327 nonfinancial firms of the PSX, consisting of 187 group-affiliated firms and 140 nonaffiliated firms has been used in this study for the period of 2010 to 2019. The study uses different regression models for analysis, with robustness tests of various alternative measures of EM and FBG affiliation. In addition, endogeneity is controlled with the propensity score matching method.

The findings show that EM is less prevalent in affiliated firms compared to nonaffiliated companies. The results show a negative and significant relationship between FBGs affiliated firms and EM. Moreover, the results also show a positive relationship between EM and the interaction term of the CG index and group affiliation. It refers to the fact that effective governance cannot reduce EM in affiliated companies of FBGs as well as in the nonfinancial companies of the PSX. In addition, the quality of CG is higher in affiliated companies compared to its counterpart in nonaffiliated firms. The findings support the principal–principal agency theory that CG cannot mitigate the expropriating behavior of controlling shareholders against minority shareholders by reducing EM in emerging markets due to the ownership concentration phenomenon.

This research study has implications for small investors, government agencies and regulators. The findings of the study show that CG code should make it mandatory for companies to reveal information about their complex ownership structure and ownership information about affiliated companies and directors. Furthermore, it is suggested to revisit the code of CG in the Pakistani context of principal–principal conflict instead of the agent–principal explanation of agency theory based on Anglo–Saxon countries.

This research study has contributed to the CG and FBG literature in relation to EM in idiosyncratic settings of Pakistan. One of the prime contributions of the paper is the development of a comprehensive CG index. This research study used detailed, manually collected novel data on affiliated firms of FBGs in Pakistan.

This paper aims to examine whether family business groups’ (FBG) having the same network auditor among their affiliates mitigates earnings manipulation (EM).

This paper used unbalanced panel data from the years 2010–2019. The sample of the study is composed of 327 nonfinancial listed Pakistan Stock Exchange firms, consisting of 187 FBG-affiliated firms and 140 nonaffiliated firms. The ordinary least square and generalized least square regressions have been used to check the hypothesized relationship. Furthermore, the propensity score matching technique is used to ascertain comparable companies’ features and to control the potential endogeneity problem. Finally, the results are robust to various measures of EM and FBG’ proxies.

The findings of the study show that the same network auditor is reducing EM in FBG affiliates. In addition, the BIG4 same network auditors are also instrumental in constraining EM as compared to non-BIG4 audit firms. Overall, the results of this study depict that the same network auditor in FBG’s affiliated firms significantly influences EM. These results are robust with respect to generalized least squares and the endogeneity problem.

This research study has two important implications for the interested parties. First, although the authors find in this research study that the same network auditor is negatively associated with EM in the FBG-affiliated firms, however, FBG-affiliated firms might use opportunistically the real activity manipulation. Second, regulators highlight the change in audit partner/firm rotation, though the study findings indicate that regulators and practitioners may consider the benefits associated with the same network auditors for FBG.

This research study adds a new investigation to previous literature by examining the role of the same network auditors in the EM of the FBG’ affiliates. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to bring new knowledge by investigating the role played by the same network auditors along with the BIG4 same network audit firms in constraining EM in FBG.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship of board characteristics and firm performance for Indian companies.

Corporate governance structures of 391 Indian companies out of CNX 500 companies listed on National Stock Exchange have been studied for their impact on performance of companies. Structural equation modeling methodology has been employed on data for five financial years from 2010 to 2014 for selected companies. Market-based measure (Tobin’s Q) and accounting-based measure (return on asset) have been employed for measuring firm performance.

Empirical findings indicate that there is significant positive association between board size and firm performance. Board independence is found significantly related to firm performance. Number of board meetings is found to be sending positive signal to the market creating firm value. Separation of CEO and chairman of the board is found to be value creating and overburdened directors affect firm performance adversely. Findings also suggest that the governance-performance relationship is also dependent upon the type of performance measures used in the study.

Limitations of this study are in terms of data methodology and possible omission of some variables. It is understood that the qualitative dynamics happening inside board meetings impact corporate performance. The strategic decisions-making process adopted by the boards to fight competition or to increase market share is not available in public domain easily. The decision-making processes and monitoring for implementation of these decisions could impact corporate governance-performance relationship. These parameters and their impact on corporate performance are not covered under the scope of the present study. However, the same could have thrown more light on governance-performance relationship.

The paper adds to the emerging body of literature on corporate governance-performance relationship in the Indian context using a reasonably wider and newer data set.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between board characteristics and firm performance for Indian companies.

Corporate governance structures of 391 Indian companies out of CNX 500 companies listed on National Stock Exchange have been studied for their impact on performance of companies. Panel data regression methodology has been used on data for five financial years from 2010 to 2014 for the selected companies. Performance measures considered are market-based measure (Tobin’s Q) and accounting-based measure (return on asset [ROA]).

The empirical findings indicate that the market-based measure (Tobin’s Q) is more impacted by corporate governance than the accounting-based measure (ROA). There is a significant positive association between board size and firm performance. Board independence is found significantly related to firm performance. Number of board meetings is found to be sending positive signal to the market creating firm value. Separation of chief executive officer and chairman of the board is found to be value-creating, and overburdened directors affect firm performance adversely.

Limitations of the study are in terms of methodology and possible omission of some variables. It is understood that the qualitative dynamics happening inside board meetings impact corporate performance. The strategic decision-making process adopted by the boards to fight competition or to increase market share is not easily available in public domain. The decision-making processes and monitoring for implementation of those decisions could impact corporate governance performance relationship. These parameters and their impact on corporate performance are not covered under the scope of the present study.

The paper adds to the emerging body of literature on corporate governance performance relationship in the Indian context by using a reasonably wider and newer data set.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationships among Syrian consumers’ information motivation and beliefs about and attitude towards Web advertising.

A cross-sectional investigation is conducted and the proposed model is tested and revised using structural equation modeling technique.

The results indicate that information motivation predicts three dimensions of beliefs about Web advertising, i.e. positively for information and entertainment; and negatively for irritation. It is found also that information motivation positively influences consumers’ attitudes towards advertising. As well as, information, entertainment and irritation are found to partially mediate the relationship between information motivation and attitude towards Web advertising. Additionally, values corruption is found to negatively influence Syrian consumers’ attitudes toward Web advertising.

Researchers are advised to use the validated scales in the present study when it comes to measure beliefs about and attitudes toward Internet advertising in the Syrian context or other Arab countries contexts. Also, further investigations using longitudinal design are needed to check the validity of our results on a longer period of time, besides using qualitative methods along with quantitative analyses could produce a wider vision to the results. Additionally, it is recommended that other types of Internet usage motivation are included in future studies’ models.

Advertisers promoting in Syria are encouraged to influence Syrian consumers’ attitudes towards Web advertising to be more positive and less negative through offering free and high-quality content of information, especially for Internet users with high levels of informative motivation. Additionally, producing informative, enjoyable, less annoying and less values corruptive could help promoting for favorable attitudes towards Web advertising.

This research comes to be one of the first studies to investigate Syrian consumers’ beliefs about and attitudes towards Internet advertising. Also, this study provides evidence of the direct relationship between information motivation and general attitudes towards Web advertising.

This paper aims to investigate the hot corrosion behavior of Ni-Cr and Cr3C2-NiCr coatings, deposited on T11, P91 boiler steels by detonation gun spray coating (D-Gun) process to enhance high temperature corrosion resistance.

Hot corrosion studies were conducted in secondary super heater zone of boiler at 900 °C for 10 cycles on bare and D-Gun coated steel specimens. The microhardness and porosity values of as-sprayed coatings were measured before exposing the specimens in the boiler environment. Each cycle consisted 100 h of heating in the boiler environment followed by 20 min of cooling in air. The weight change measurements were performed after each cycle to establish the kinetics of corrosion using thermogravimetric technique. X-ray diffraction, SEM techniques were used to analyze the corroded specimens.

Uncoated boiler steel experienced higher weight loss. The Cr3C2-NiCr coating was found to be more protective than Ni-Cr coating. The phases revealed the formation of oxide scale on coated specimens, mainly consist of nickel and chromium, which are reported to be protective against the hot corrosion.

There is very limited reported literature on hot corrosion behavior of Ni-Cr and Cr3C2-NiCr coatings deposited on the T11 and P91 substrates by detonation gun (D-gun) spray technique. T11 and P91 alloy steels have been chosen for this study because these two alloys are used to manufacture boiler tubes used in Indian thermal power plants.

Archival research is a much under-rated and under-utilized method of research in management studies. Yet multi-disciplinary undertakings being observed in recent times, such as in knowledge management (KM) systems, business history and social network studies, among others, indicate that there is a lot of potential to be explored. The purpose of this paper is to highlight this point and make a case for its inclusion in the researcher’s toolkit in the future.

The authors follow a two-stage method here: the first stage being an improvised process to benchmark articles for this review; while the second stage involves content analysis and synthesis of the same.

The authors have dealt with the intricacies of the archival research methodology by minutely examining the fieldwork steps, proxies generation, other related processes of triangulation, etc. With the discussion on “multi-disciplinary undertakings,” the authors offer not only a selective bibliography of works that have effectively harvested this family of methods, but also critique the nuances involved. Finally, coming into more contemporary concerns and developments, the authors undertake an in-depth look at technological applications in the domain of KM, in case study mode. Methodological richness leads to substantive granularity. As such, the authors argue that archival methods contribute to the robustness, contextuality and holism of any research endeavor, more so in the study of business and organizations.

This paper is based on the literature review.

This paper makes a case for archival method’s contribution toward the robustness, contextuality and holism of any research endeavor, more so in the study of business and organizations.

This paper re-positions the method of archival research as a viable and sophisticated tool for researchers to employ effectively in singular or mixed method studies.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between the readability of annual reports and corporate performance in Qatari listed firms while controlling for a firm’s competitive position, governance structure and specific features such as size, age and industry type.

This study relies on both agency theory and legitimacy theory to develop testable hypotheses. It uses a sample of 126 firm-year listed companies in the Qatar Stock Exchange to test obfuscation in the annual reports through examining the association between the readability of Narrative Disclosures (NDs) and corporate profitability, financial risk and agency costs for the period from 2014-2016.

The findings show that firms with higher annual report readability are more profitable and have lower agency costs, which is an indication of the existence of “obfuscation.” Qatari firms may use narrative complexity as a disclosure strategy to enhance their image and consequently maintain their social legitimacy.

Although the study findings suffer from limited global generalization, they can be generalized across Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Thus, future cross-country research is encouraged.

The findings encourage Qatari policymakers to instate a policy for “Plain English” writing to make NDs easy to read by international investors.

This study is one of very few studies that examines the readability of annual reports in emerging market economies, i.e. Qatar. The study contributes to the paucity of research that examines English-written annual reports in non-English speaking countries.

Green innovation and green acquisition are key green marketing strategies. This paper aims to explore and compare the drivers of green acquisition and green innovation strategies firms adopt. Moreover, the moderating role of top management team (TMT) sustainability commitment is investigated.

The research model used secondary data based on 1,565 firm-year observations in the beverage and food industry in the US. The two-stage control function approach was used for data analysis.

Media attention motivates firms to pursue both green innovation and green acquisition. The TMT sustainability commitment plays a pivotal moderating role. It strengthens the link between environmental regulation stringency and green innovation but weakens the impact of media attention on green acquisition.

Managers can leverage the study’s findings to guide sustainable marketing decisions in response to environmental regulations and media scrutiny. Policymakers and investors can encourage firms to adopt more sustainable practices, helping align corporate strategies with Sustainable Development Goals 9 and 12.

Though green innovation determinants are extensively studied, most studies rely on surveys or qualitative methods rather than secondary data. Also, as an alternative to developing in-house green technologies or products, the drivers of green acquisition remain unclear despite its growing prevalence. This study addresses both gaps in the sustainable marketing literature.