Susan R. Hume and Liam Gallagher
This study aims to examine the impact of taking environmental initiatives on the returns for service companies.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of taking environmental initiatives on the returns for service companies.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors gathered data for firms that are recognized for their leadership in environmental responsibility using a well‐known social responsibility ranking list. These data were used to compare with those that were ranked high on the index with those that were ranked lower, using Jensen's alpha and Sharpe ratio performance measures relative to a benchmark.
Findings
The upper‐ and lower‐ranked socially responsible firms had significantly higher risk adjusted returns and superior performance than the benchmark. Additionally, there is evidence that firms ranked in the lower group are better valued overall.
Research limitations/implications
A higher return for socially responsible firms suggests that public investors value environmentally‐friendly firms more highly today. Future research could build on this study by examining additional performance measures including four‐factor models and conditional variance.
Practical implications
The study suggests that a service company's commitment to environmental initiatives and the recognition of its commitment is an important signal today for the investor.
Originality/value
While prior research has considered manufacturing companies, this is the first study to examine the impact of a commitment to environmental initiatives for service industry firms. The findings of the empirical examination support the benefits of green initiatives to a significant component of the US economy.
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Weighs up whether a dumbing down has taken place in the British tabloid and broadsheet press. Material is presented from The Sun, The Daily Telegraph and The Times, and also from…
Abstract
Weighs up whether a dumbing down has taken place in the British tabloid and broadsheet press. Material is presented from The Sun, The Daily Telegraph and The Times, and also from a number of television channels for comparison. Provides evidence which suggests that, while there has been changes in news reporting it is not strictly one way and down; indeed, there is some evidence to indicate an upmarketing amongst the tabloid press and television.
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Purpose – This chapter discusses the criminalization of sharing music on peer-to-peer (p2p) networks. Taking the Italian situation into consideration, it aims to…
Abstract
Purpose – This chapter discusses the criminalization of sharing music on peer-to-peer (p2p) networks. Taking the Italian situation into consideration, it aims to introduce a socio-legal reflection about the processes of construction of this deviance.
Design methodology/approach – Adopting a constructionist approach, this chapter first explores the ways in which the social problem of music piracy was built in Italy. The choice of the legislator to place this practice within the category of criminal behaviour was analysed and examined. In the second section, the points of view of other participants involved in the practice of file sharing are taken into account.
Findings – Placing file sharing within the jurisdiction of criminal law does not seem to respond to the needs to counter the infringement of a shared social value, but it rather seems to reflect the protagonists’ involvement into the process of legislative decision about piracy conception and idea of the damage caused by this phenomenon, promoted and conveyed by the music business. The way in which piracy is conceived by Italian legislation emerges here in its partial understanding of the effects of this practice. Sharing music on digital networks appears as a highly conflicted crime, whose harmfulness is scarcely perceived by the society. Furthermore, file sharing repression policy seems to give shape to a new victimless crime, whose harmful effects do not seem to actually fall back on artists or consumers.
Originality/value – Sharing music on the net and violating copyright is little studied from the perspective of the sociology of crime. Using this approach, this chapter contributes to a better understanding of the phenomenon.
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Covers a special issue of this journal (E+T) which looks at various ways of keeping the workforce data specific and able to adapt. States that some of the articles explore the…
Abstract
Covers a special issue of this journal (E+T) which looks at various ways of keeping the workforce data specific and able to adapt. States that some of the articles explore the relationship between employers and the education world of business. Draws on experiences from the USA, the UK and Europe; and among the businesses discussed are: Microsoft; IBM; Maytag corp.; Vauxhall; St John Ambulance; McDonald‘s; Bradford Management Centre; Bayer; Newcastle upon Tyne City Council and the University of Northumbria; University of Leuven (Belgium); and Stanford University Office of Technology licensing. Proposes that the overriding theme herein is that the lethargy within UK companies must be overcome if the UK is to remain an economy with competitiveness as its catchword. Concludes that the recruitment of the right people, allied to training, will lead to retainment of the staff and increases in creativity and productivity.
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Ibrahim Sirkeci and Lóa Bára Magnúsdóttir
This study aims to examine the role of product attributes, applying the multi‐attribute model, on consumers' decisions to download digital music via unauthorised sources in the UK.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the role of product attributes, applying the multi‐attribute model, on consumers' decisions to download digital music via unauthorised sources in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected through an online survey. Consumer choice was measured through three sets of questions built on Likert scales to identify individuals' evaluation of importance placed on the eight attributes, when making a choice, and level of satisfaction with those, both for purchasing and downloading. Two logistic regression models are developed using background characteristics and responses to these three sets of questions. The consumer choice between purchasing digital music and downloading through unauthorised channels was analysed in regards to eight product‐specific attributes.
Findings
The results show that illegal downloaders expect a similar utility from both channels, while others tend to have a more positive attitude towards their chosen channel (i.e. purchasing). Background characteristics such as age, gender, education, and income show some relevance to the choice of music downloading channel. Regarding the importance attributed to and satisfaction from the eight product attributes, security of the source, variety of available music, quality, copyright, and legitimacy of the source are found to be significant in determining the choice.
Practical implications
This study is likely to guide digital music providers in designing their marketing plans using key attributes and consumer perceptions.
Originality/value
This is a rare study of downloading behaviour in the UK using a mixed population sample which is not dominated by students. Findings question the weight of price in decision making.
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Michael Spanu, Nicolas Sommet and Jean-Marie Seca
The consumption of music performed in different languages represents a significant aspect of the contemporary cultural experience. This phenomenon questions how different…
Abstract
Purpose
The consumption of music performed in different languages represents a significant aspect of the contemporary cultural experience. This phenomenon questions how different languages mediate music consumption in specific national contexts. In this paper, the authors investigate the case of live music consumption in France.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors surveyed 428 persons who saw 159 artists either performing in French or in English in 46 locations around Paris, France. The authors tested the effect of the language of the concert on three dimensions of music consumption: singing in unison, appraisal of the lyrics and dancing.
Findings
Multilevel analysis revealed that English was positively associated with dancing, whereas French was positively associated with the appraisal of the lyrics. The authors found no evidence that the language of the concert was associated with differences in singing in unison.
Originality/value
Results are discussed with respect to language diversity in the context of globalised popular music consumption.
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This chapter will examine the rise and downfall of the Irish Green Party from a party of protest through their elevation as junior coalition partners in the national government…
Abstract
This chapter will examine the rise and downfall of the Irish Green Party from a party of protest through their elevation as junior coalition partners in the national government from 2007 until 2011. An ‘Event History Analysis’ (EHA) (Berry & Berry, 1990) through an ‘Issue History’ (Szasz, 1994) will be applied to the key events in this process, in order to illustrate the key motivations, moments, potential successes and enduring difficulties which emerged during this time. An Event History Analysis provides an explanation for ‘a qualitative change’ that occurs as a result of key events in an organisation's history (Berry & Berry, 1990). An Issue History requires a trans-disciplinary analysis of events using theories and methods from history, sociology, political science, sources from the state, the media, surveys and the social movements, in addition to theories of political economy and postmodernism, to analyse various interrelated facets of the salient ‘issue’ being studied (Szasz, 2004, 2008).