Marilyn F. Johnson and Ram Natarajan
We hypothesize that a CEO’s responsiveness to security analysts’ demands for information about the firm is influenced by the structure of the CEO’s compensation package. Our…
Abstract
We hypothesize that a CEO’s responsiveness to security analysts’ demands for information about the firm is influenced by the structure of the CEO’s compensation package. Our analysis is based on a sample of 469 CEO presentations to security analyst societies by 149 firms during the period 1984‐1988. Consistent with the argu ments of Nagar (1999; 1998) that CEO shareholdings and golden parachutes reduce the cost to the CEO of disclosing proprietary information, we find that CEO share holdings and the presence of golden parachutes are positively associated with the total amount of information that a CEO discloses at an analyst society presentation. Consistent with the argument that CEOs whose cash compensation is sensitive to firm performance have incentives to release bad news so as to lower expectations about future performance and, hence, bonus targets, CEO cash compensation performance sensitivities are positively associated with the CEO’s willingness to disclose bad news.
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In 2001 Enron filed amended financial statements setting off a chain of events starting with its bankruptcy filing and including the conviction of Arthur Andersen for obstruction…
Abstract
In 2001 Enron filed amended financial statements setting off a chain of events starting with its bankruptcy filing and including the conviction of Arthur Andersen for obstruction of justice. The end of 2001 and the first half of 2002 included a heightened level of publicity for the accounting practices of listed companies. This paper addresses whether there was a detectable change in the incidence of earnings management around this time period. Earnings reports released in 2001 and 2002 were analyzed. The results showed that revenue numbers were subject to upwards management. Benford's Law was used to detect such manipulations. Earnings Per Share (EPS) numbers showed a marked discontinuity in the distribution around zero which is consistent with upwards management. The results also showed a tendency towards neat round EPS numbers such as 0.10, 0.20, etc. The overall results are consistent with a small but noticeable increase in earnings management in 2002. Enron's reported numbers are reviewed and these show a strong tendency towards making financial thresholds.
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Janak Suthar, Jinil Persis and Ruchita Gupta
Foundry produces cast metal components and parts for various industries and drives manufacturing excellence all over the world. Assuring quality of these components and parts is…
Abstract
Purpose
Foundry produces cast metal components and parts for various industries and drives manufacturing excellence all over the world. Assuring quality of these components and parts is vital for the end product quality. The complexity in foundry operations increases with the complexity in designs, patterns and geometry and the quality parameters of the casting processes need to be monitored, evaluated and controlled to achieve expected quality levels.
Design/methodology/approach
The literature addresses quality improvement in foundry industry primarily focusing on surface roughness, mechanical properties, dimensional accuracy and defects in the cast parts and components which are often affected by numerous process variables. Primary data are collected from the experts working in sand and investment casting processes. The authors perform machine learning analysis of the data to model the quality parameters with appropriate process variables. Further, cluster analysis using k-means clustering method is performed to develop clusters of correlated process variables for sand and investment casting processes.
Findings
The authors identified primary process variables determining each quality parameter using machine learning approach. Quality parameters such as surface roughness, defects, mechanical properties and dimensional accuracy are represented by the identified sand-casting process variables accurately up to 83%, 83%, 100% and 83% and are represented by the identified investment-casting process variables accurately up to 100%, 67%, 67% and 100% respectively. Moreover, the prioritization of process variables in influencing the quality parameters is established which further helps the practitioners to monitor and control them within acceptable levels. Further the clusters of process variables help in analyzing their combined effect on quality parameters of casting products.
Originality/value
This study identified potential process variables and collected data from experts, researchers and practitioners on the effect of these on the quality aspects of cast products. While most of the previous studies focus on a very limited process variables for enhancing the quality characteristics of cast parts and components, this study represents each quality parameter as the function of influencing process variables which will enable the quality managers in Indian foundries to maintain capability and stability of casting processes. The models hence developed for both sand and investment casting for each quality parameter are validated with real life applications. Such studies are scarcely reported in the literature.
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Ram Singh and Alok Tewari
The study aims to model the factors influencing online learning adoption by Indian students as well as examine the mediating effect of attitude on the proposed relationships.
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to model the factors influencing online learning adoption by Indian students as well as examine the mediating effect of attitude on the proposed relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was conducted online using a well-structured questionnaire. The target respondents of the study were students of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in India. Structural equation modeling was employed on a final sample of 402 respondents to test the proposed hypotheses.
Findings
The results reveal that there is a significant impact of the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, social influence, peer influence and self-esteem on attitude toward online learning. Further, attitude significantly mediates the impact of these factors on intention to adopt online learning.
Originality/value
The study is one of the initial attempts in the backdrop of the pandemic to examine the mediating role of attitude in affecting intention to adopt online learning by university students in India.
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Naceur Jabnoun and Hussein A. Hassan Al‐Tamimi
Service quality is becoming more critical for banks to maintain their market shares. This paper develops a modified SERVQUAL for measuring service quality in the United Arab…
Abstract
Service quality is becoming more critical for banks to maintain their market shares. This paper develops a modified SERVQUAL for measuring service quality in the United Arab Emirates commercial banks. The instrument includes thirty items that belong to the five dimensions of SERVQUAL. The developed instrument was tested for reliability and validity and the results indicated that the instrument had only three dimensions. This paper also investigates the difference in significance between the instrument's dimensions. This is supposed to help managers focus their attention on the service quality dimension that matters most to customers.
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The case explores information technology (IT) company Mindtree’s journey of 20 years from the time it was founded in 1999 to be different from others, and how it became a target…
Abstract
Learning outcomes
The case explores information technology (IT) company Mindtree’s journey of 20 years from the time it was founded in 1999 to be different from others, and how it became a target for acquisition by an Indian diversified conglomerate in 2019. It offers insights into developing organizational culture and values in an organization, threats faced by a company when promoters dilute their shareholding, and the strategies followed by the acquirer and the target firm. It also deals with the challenges in the acquisition of a knowledge service digital firm. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to: identify the circumstances under which a company can become a target for hostile takeover; describe motivations of the acquirer firm in an acquisition; distinguish between acquisition and hostile takeover, and discuss salient features of Securities and Exchange Board of India (substantial acquisition of shares and takeover) regulations, 2011; list the defenses a target firm can adopt to ward off hostile acquirer; explore strategies followed by acquirer and target firms; analyze important ingredients of organization culture, and importance of cultural congruence in an acquisition; and discuss challenges faced by an acquirer in India, namely, legal, retention of clients and key people in the target firm particularly in hostile environment.
Case overview/synopsis
The case explores how ten IT professionals founded mid-tier IT services company Mindtree in 1999 in Bengaluru, India (home to Infosys and Wipro) to be different from others – by inserting themselves at a higher level in the value chain, being philanthropic as a part of broader business strategy to attract a certain kind of employee and customer. It developed a culture of equality, consideration and respect. Its attrition rate of 12 to 13 per cent was significantly lower than the Industries. Mindtree crossed annual revenue of US$1bn for FY 2019 and was growing at twice the industry’s growth rate. The most attractive part was that its proportion of revenue from digital services was about 50 per cent as compared to 25-35 per cent of other services vendors. With time, the share of promoters/founders declined and increased one investor’s shareholding of V. G. Siddhartha and his related entities. In early March 2019, the promoters’ stake was 13.32 per cent while Siddhartha had 20.32 per cent. Larsen and Toubro (L&T) one of India’s conglomerate entered into a share purchase agreement on March 18, 2019 with Siddhartha to acquire his 20.32 per cent stake. Immediately, L&T asked its broker to purchase up to 15 per cent of share capital of Mindtree at a price not exceeding INR 980 per share (each share of face value INR 10). This would trigger an open offer by L&T to purchase additional 31 per cent shares of Mindtree. The action of hostile takeover bid by L&T evoked emotional criticism from Mindtree founders. Mindtree efforts to defend itself could not materialize. L&T’s stake crossed 26 per cent on May 16, 2019. After Indian regulator SEBI’s approval, L&T’s open offer to buy shares from Mindtree shareholders commenced on June 17, 2019. The case examines motivation of the acquirer firm particularly when it is a conglomerate, and how a well-performing company became a target for hostile takeover. It looks at vulnerabilities of a target firm, and defensive steps a firm can take to fence itself against such takeover. The case also explores how organizational culture is built in a people-oriented business, namely, digital services, and what role it plays in a merger of two firms.
Complexity academic level
The case is suited for postgraduate students of management, as well as those undergoing executive courses in management.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
Subject code
CSS 11: Strategy.
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Pratibha Singh and Garima Malik
As fitness apps have integrated gamification elements into their design to transform exercise into a compelling and competitive experience, this study draws on the expectation…
Abstract
Purpose
As fitness apps have integrated gamification elements into their design to transform exercise into a compelling and competitive experience, this study draws on the expectation confirmation model (ECM) and self-determination theory (SDT) to propose a comprehensive framework for sustained usage by satisfying the psychological needs of users.
Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal study design is utilized where data from 598 fitness app users were gathered over two distinct phases separated by 24 weeks, where data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings
The findings until phase 1 depict that motivational affordances significantly affect mastery, autonomy and relatedness, which in turn exert a significant influence on flow. Identification and compliance have a more pronounced effect in phase 2 compared to stage 1 of the analysis.
Research limitations/implications
Individuals are more prone to being swayed by fellow members of their social group who share an affiliation with fitness apps, leading them to sustain their usage of fitness apps. These insights can potentially guide app developers and marketers in formulating strategies based on modifiable factors to foster sustained growth for gamified fitness apps.
Originality/value
This study takes a novel stance by employing social impact theory (SIT) in a longitudinal setting to reveal how users react to identification and compliance effects during initial and post-adoption usage of gamified fitness apps.
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Riccardo Amirante, Luciano Andrea Catalano and Paolo Tamburrano
The purpose of this paper is to present a full 3D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis of the flow field through hydraulic directional proportional valves, in order to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a full 3D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis of the flow field through hydraulic directional proportional valves, in order to accurately predict the flow forces acting on the spool and to overcome the limitations of two-dimensional (2D) and simplified three-dimensional (3D) models.
Design/methodology/approach
A full 3D CAD representation is proposed as a general approach to reproduce the geometry of an existing valve in full detail; then, unstructured computational grids, which identify peculiar positions of the spool travel, are generated by means of the mesh generation tool Gambit. The computational grids are imported into the commercial CFD code Fluent, where the flow equations are solved assuming that the flow is steady and incompressible. To validate the proposed computational procedure, the predicted flow rates and flow forces are compared with the corresponding experimental data.
Findings
The superposition between numerical and experimental curves demonstrates that the proposed full 3D numerical analysis is more effective than the simplified 3D flow model that was previously proposed by the same authors.
Practical implications
The presented full 3D fluid dynamic analysis can be employed for the fluid-dynamic design optimization of the sliding spool and, more generally, of the internal profiles of the valve, with the objective of reducing the flow forces and thus the required control force.
Originality/value
The paper proposes a new computational strategy that is capable of recognizing all 3D geometrical details of a hydraulic directional proportional valve and that provides a significant improvement with respect to 2D and partially 3D approaches.