Reviews the literature on earnings preannouncements (EPs) and investigates their use as a communication strategy and the difference in investor’s reactions to occasional, regular…
Abstract
Reviews the literature on earnings preannouncements (EPs) and investigates their use as a communication strategy and the difference in investor’s reactions to occasional, regular and one‐off EPs by using 1995‐1997 US data on 1,444 EPs. Finds that in general, market reactions to PSs is larger than to formal earnings announcements, that about half the EPs were one‐offs and that firms tended to release all of their bad news but only some of the good. Analyses abnormal returns to suggest that investors anticipate earnings surprises better for repeated EPs, although there is no evidence that firms using them repeatedly choose their amounts differently from one‐off announcers. Briefly considers consistency with other research and avenues for further research.
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I show that the common residual income model assumption that return on equity approaches zero in the long run as competitive advantage dissipates is incorrect. This erroneous…
Abstract
I show that the common residual income model assumption that return on equity approaches zero in the long run as competitive advantage dissipates is incorrect. This erroneous assumption comes from the common misinterpretation of the spread between return on equity and the cost of equity as a measure of economic profit. I also show that an unbiased accounting system (Feltham and Ohlson, 1995), which would make such an interpretation acceptable, is unlikely to exist in actual financial statements. Finally, I argue that because an accounting system can be deemed to be unbiased only if the firm's value is already known, the concept is of little practical use for actual valuation work.
The skewness in security analysts' recommendations is well documented, and is generally attributed to analysts' need to maintain good relations with the companies they follow. I…
Abstract
The skewness in security analysts' recommendations is well documented, and is generally attributed to analysts' need to maintain good relations with the companies they follow. I examine another possible explanation — that analysts do not really rate stocks relative to the market, but incorporate overall market performance. Unlike other explanations for the skewness, this one implies there will be shifts in the recommendation distribution over time as market conditions change. I find that the shifts in the distribution during 1984–1992 are related to lagged market returns. Analysts moved toward more positive recommendations following months with poor market returns, and turned more negative following strong returns, suggesting analysts were betting on returns reversals. This effect was not observed during 1992–1999. However, the recommendation distribution shifted steadily toward buys during this period of overwhelmingly positive market returns. The results suggest that lagged market returns affect analysts' recommendation distributions. I document, however, that the recommendation distribution is not a useful market timing tool.
Elham Mousavidin and Leiser Silva
The purpose of this paper is to theorize the social dynamics of modifiable off-the-shelf software (MOTS) configuration process. The authors do so by formulating theoretical…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to theorize the social dynamics of modifiable off-the-shelf software (MOTS) configuration process. The authors do so by formulating theoretical propositions about the configuration process.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have conducted a comprehensive review of the literature on MOTS configuration and the associated challenges to draw on the properties of MOTS. The authors then examined these properties through the lens of social construction of technology to formulate the authors’ theoretical propositions.
Findings
The authors formulate theoretical propositions about the configuration process. The authors also develop four scenarios based on the authors’ theoretical propositions for managing the configuration process of MOTS. These scenarios categorize the difficulty level of the configuration by two theoretical groups: malleability and interpretive flexibility.
Practical implications
The findings especially the scenarios can guide practitioners when managing configuration processes.
Originality/value
The authors synthesize the literature on MOTS. The theoretical contributions emphasize the social dynamics in configuring this type of software which is an angle that has not been developed in previous literature.
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The purpose of this paper is to discuss a vibrant social service culture in British and Indian higher education institutions in the period 1905-1919. The paper explores the many…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss a vibrant social service culture in British and Indian higher education institutions in the period 1905-1919. The paper explores the many reciprocal influences between India and Britain, which lay behind the student social service movement. Developments in metropole and colony were so influenced by transnational movements of people and ideas that the common approaches and shared ideals which emerged cannot be fully understood by study of either setting in isolation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on a rich vein of college magazines and social service league publications as well as the writings of a range of enthusiasts for social service. The rapid spread of social service ideas across India and Britain relied on the exchange of ideas through English-language magazines and journals and the outreach work of leading social servants who addressed numerous student groups and meetings.
Findings
Developments in Indian and British student service were shaped by and shaped in turn a wider social movement in the early twentieth century. Indian and western educationalists spread ideas about student social service through lectures, publications and international exchanges. Student social servants in both metropole and colony shared a set of core values which made up an “ideal of service”. Students in both metropole and colony were enjoined to view their education as a period of preparation for greater service to the nation after graduation. Student service leagues were involved in reworking patriotic idiom to link social service with nation building.
Originality/value
The paper builds on recent work on social service and education to develop knowledge and understanding of transnational networks of educationalists, particular movements of people and ideas between colonial India and metropolitan Britain. Taking social service in higher education as a case study, the paper argues for the need to study developments in both metropole and colony in order to better understand reciprocal impacts.
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The primary objective of this paper is to study the relationship between voluntary earnings disclosures and a combined set of corporate governance attributes in France. We use…
Abstract
The primary objective of this paper is to study the relationship between voluntary earnings disclosures and a combined set of corporate governance attributes in France. We use binary logit models to check our hypotheses. The results indicate significant negative associations between voluntary earnings disclosures and ownership concentration, and between voluntary earnings disclosures and a unitary leadership structure. The results also show that French firms providing voluntary earnings disclosures are more likely to have higher foreign institutional investor's ownership, and to offer stock option plans for their executives. These findings shed the light on the corporate governance features that enhance incentives for voluntary earnings disclosures and those affecting these incentives under high ownership concentration.
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David Manry and David Stangeland
This research uses accounting information to supplement abnormal returns evidence in order to gauge the performance of greenmailed firms. Our results support the management…
Abstract
This research uses accounting information to supplement abnormal returns evidence in order to gauge the performance of greenmailed firms. Our results support the management entrenchment hypothesis; target firm earnings are poor relative to industry in the years surrounding the greenmail event, and earnings do not significantly improve as would be expected under the shareholders' interest hypothesis. This result holds after adjusting for greenmail premia net of tax effects. Evidence on investment spending suggests firms that pay greenmail differ substantially from their industries, but in a negative direction. In contrast, the industry‐adjusted earnings of non‐greenmail repurchasing firms are significantly greater than the earnings of greenmailed firms. Together, these results are consistent with the contention that greenmailed firms are not managed in shareholders' interests; they underperform their industry, the poor operating results are not attributable to higher investment outlays associated with a long‐term strategic focus, and performance does not improve. This is consistent with observed negative abnormal returns being attributable to both a lost takeover premium and a lost opportunity for improved corporate performance.
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The US Copyright Office has released the final report Libraries, Publishers and Photocopying, which describes in detail the volume and characteristics of photocopying and…
Abstract
The US Copyright Office has released the final report Libraries, Publishers and Photocopying, which describes in detail the volume and characteristics of photocopying and interlibrary loan in public, academic, federal and special libraries in the US. Also described are results of a survey of US publishers about their serial and book income and photocopying permission requests, as well as the results of personal interviews conducted with library users about their own photocopying done on library coin‐operated photocopying machines. The study, conducted under contract by King Research, Inc., of Rockville, Maryland, was designed to provide data as input to the US Copyright Office's five‐year review of the new US copyright law which took effect on January 1st, 1978. Copies of the final report ($25 in the US, $30 elsewhere) are available from King Research Inc., PO Box 71, Rockville, Md 20850, USA.
The business process modeling notation (BPMN) is an increasingly important standard for process modeling and has enjoyed high levels of attention in business practice. In this…
Abstract
Purpose
The business process modeling notation (BPMN) is an increasingly important standard for process modeling and has enjoyed high levels of attention in business practice. In this paper, experiences are shared from several research projects investigating the uptake and user acceptance of BPMN by analysts world‐wide. This personal viewpoint aims to offer a number of implications for business process management (BPM) practice and seeks to stimulate and guide further research and other developments in this area.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper offers a personal viewpoint based on the experiences and findings gathered from survey research and interviews on the use of BPMN. While details on research execution are mostly omitted, references are provided to guide the interested reader to the methodology used in the original studies.
Findings
First, statistics are provided on the usage of BPMN by process modelers world‐wide. Amongst others, it is shown that the high interest in BPMN has created a massive demand for BPM education and training. Second, a number of usage problems related to the practice of process modeling with BPMN are described and suggestions are provided as to how organizations have developed workarounds for these problems. Third, it is suggested that BPMN is over‐engineered and more insights into practical usage are needed for future development.
Research limitations/implications
While being based on empirical research, a limitation of this paper is the lack of detail about research execution; however, references are provided. The paper offers a personal viewpoint on the state of current and future practice of process modeling and discusses a range of implications for future research.
Practical implications
The paper describes a number of commonly encountered pitfalls when modeling processes with BPMN. It also provides directions for the organizational implementation and future development of process modeling as well as implications for various BPMN stakeholders.
Originality/value
This viewpoint is derived from some of very few empirical studies on the usage of BPMN specifically and BPM standards generally.
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Remco Dijkman, Oktay Turetken, Geoffrey Robert van IJzendoorn and Meint de Vries
Business process models describe the way of working in an organization. Typically, business process models distinguish between the normal flow of work and exceptions to that…
Abstract
Purpose
Business process models describe the way of working in an organization. Typically, business process models distinguish between the normal flow of work and exceptions to that normal flow. However, they often present an idealized view. This means that unexpected exceptions – exceptions that are not modeled in the business process model – can also occur in practice. This has an effect on the efficiency of the organization, because information systems are not developed to handle unexpected exceptions. The purpose of this paper is to study the relation between the occurrence of exceptions and operational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper does this by analyzing the execution logs of business processes from five organizations, classifying execution paths as normal or exceptional. Subsequently, it analyzes the differences between normal and exceptional paths.
Findings
The results show that exceptions are related to worse operational performance in terms of a longer throughput time and that unexpected exceptions relate to a stronger increase in throughput time than expected exceptions.
Practical implications
These findings lead to practical implications on policies that can be followed with respect to exceptions. Most importantly, unexpected exceptions should be avoided by incorporating them into the process – and thus transforming them into expected exceptions – as much as possible. Also, as not all exceptions lead to longer throughput times, continuous improvement should be employed to continuously monitor the occurrence of exceptions and make decisions on their desirability in the process.
Originality/value
While work exists on analyzing the occurrence of exceptions in business processes, especially in the context of process conformance analysis, to the best of the authors’ knowledge this is the first work that analyzes the possible consequences of such exceptions.