Pamela Kent, Richard Anthony Kent, James Routledge and Jenny Stewart
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of voluntary governance mechanisms in Australia.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of voluntary governance mechanisms in Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
This study identifies similar choices of corporate governance by Australian firms and tests the effectiveness of the choices made based on the earnings quality of reported firms. Cluster analysis is conducted using governance best practice variables, firm size and an earnings quality variable.
Findings
This paper’s results support the voluntary governance approach for smaller firms, but suggest that mandatory governance requirements could be beneficial for larger firms. Evidence suggests that a benefit accrues for larger firms with the adoption of governance best practice. Cluster analysis indicates that larger firms tend to exhibit higher levels of adoption of governance best practice than smaller firms.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the literature by providing important information regarding the suitability of adoption of voluntary governance mechanisms in Australia.
Details
Keywords
Katrina P. Merlini, Patrick D. Converse, Erin Richard and Anthony Belluccia
Allocation of individuals' resources among multiple goals is an increasingly prominent theoretical and practical issue. Despite several theoretical perspectives that highlight the…
Abstract
Purpose
Allocation of individuals' resources among multiple goals is an increasingly prominent theoretical and practical issue. Despite several theoretical perspectives that highlight the potential role of affect in this resource allocation process, empirical work on the topic is quite limited with little focus on the activation dimension of affect. This study aimed to provide further insight into this issue.
Design
The current research explored the role of the activation dimension of affect in a multiple-goal environment. Specifically, 118 individuals participated in a 21-day longitudinal study in which they reported on affect and resource allocation related to two real-life goals.
Findings
Multilevel-modeling analyses indicated that activation positively relates to allocation of resources (effort, intended effort, and intended time devoted to a goal). The results also illustrate that task-related negative valence is a significant predictor for two of the three indicators of resource allocation (intended effort was the exception).
Value
This research informs theory and practice at the intersection of emotion and work motivation by investigating a relatively understudied dimension of affect and provides results that help clarify the role of affect during the pursuit of multiple, competing goals.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to carry out a detailed investigation of the mechanisms operating during decision making by the honey bee swarm, which is now considered to be one of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to carry out a detailed investigation of the mechanisms operating during decision making by the honey bee swarm, which is now considered to be one of the best examples of collective decision making outside the human domain.
Design/methodology/approach
This investigation is based on a review of the last 60 years’ published literature about swarm behaviour. It introduces a different perspective to the work by utilising a cybernetic model of a self-organising information network to analyse the findings of this body of research.
Findings
Scout bees evaluating potential nest sites accumulated support for their site by differential net recruitment, so the total scout numbers present at each site was a good measure of the total evidence in favour of the site and hence the relative probability of choosing it as the swarm’s new home. The accumulation of evidence continued at a number of alternative nest site locations until a critical quorum threshold was sensed at one of them. The first alternative to reach the threshold was chosen as the preferred nest site. Quorum scouts then prepared the swarm for departure and steered it to its new home.
Originality/value
Swarm decision making has not been modelled as a self-organising information network before. This novel approach reveals how a combination of network modifications, self-amplification, self-attenuation, cross-inhibition, integration and quorum mechanisms together contribute towards accurate group decision making.
Details
Keywords
Widgery of South, J. MacKenna and J. May
January 31, 1974 National Insurance — Insurable employment — Contract of service or contract for services — Factors for consideration by justices — Skilled workman paid block…
Abstract
January 31, 1974 National Insurance — Insurable employment — Contract of service or contract for services — Factors for consideration by justices — Skilled workman paid block price without deduction of income tax — Company not contributing to national insurance stamp — Defective scaffolding — Whether company liable — Whether workman “employed” — Approach of court — Factories Act, 1961 (9 & 10 Eliz. II, c. 34), s. 155 — Construction (Working Places) Regulations, 1966 (S.I. 1966, No. 94),regs.3(1)(a), 13(4), 28(1).
Usman Naeem, Rabih Bashroush, Richard Anthony, Muhammad Awais Azam, Abdel Rahman Tawil, Sin Wee Lee and M.L. Dennis Wong
This paper aims to focus on applying a range of traditional classification- and semantic reasoning-based techniques to recognise activities of daily life (ADLs). ADL recognition…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on applying a range of traditional classification- and semantic reasoning-based techniques to recognise activities of daily life (ADLs). ADL recognition plays an important role in tracking functional decline among elderly people who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Accurate recognition enables smart environments to support and assist the elderly to lead an independent life for as long as possible. However, the ability to represent the complex structure of an ADL in a flexible manner remains a challenge.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents an ADL recognition approach, which uses a hierarchical structure for the representation and modelling of the activities, its associated tasks and their relationships. This study describes an approach in constructing ADLs based on a task-specific and intention-oriented plan representation language called Asbru. The proposed method is particularly flexible and adaptable for caregivers to be able to model daily schedules for Alzheimer’s patients.
Findings
A proof of concept prototype evaluation has been conducted for the validation of the proposed ADL recognition engine, which has comparable recognition results with existing ADL recognition approaches.
Originality/value
The work presented in this paper is novel, as the developed ADL recognition approach takes into account all relationships and dependencies within the modelled ADLs. This is very useful when conducting activity recognition with very limited features.
Details
Keywords
The next month or two behind us and this decade will have passed, to merge in the drab background of the post‐war years, part of the pattern of frustration, failure and fear. The…
Abstract
The next month or two behind us and this decade will have passed, to merge in the drab background of the post‐war years, part of the pattern of frustration, failure and fear. The ‘swinging sixties’ some called it, but to an older and perhaps slightly jaundiced eye, the only swinging seemed to be from one crisis to another, like the monkey swinging from bough to bough in his home among the trees; the ‘swingers’ among men also have their heads in the clouds! In the seemingly endless struggle against inflation since the end of the War, it would be futile to fail to see that the country is in retreat all the time. One can almost hear that shaft of MacLeodian wit christening the approaching decade as the ‘sinking seventies’, but it may not be as bad as all that, and certainly not if the innate good sense and political soundness of the British gives them insight into their perilous plight.
Anthony Richard Grace, Lorelle Frazer, Scott K. Weaven and Rajiv P Dant
– The purpose of this research is to identify the critical determinants of a franchisee’s trust in their franchisor.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to identify the critical determinants of a franchisee’s trust in their franchisor.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach was used, and 30 interviews were conducted with franchising participants. The first phase of the research consisted of exploratory interviews with franchising experts (franchise lawyers, accountants, consultants, mediators and bankers), and the second phase consisted of semi-structured interviews with franchisees and franchisors across two franchise systems.
Findings
The research revealed five critical determinants of a franchisee’s trust in their franchisor: franchisee’s engagement in the system, franchisee’s confidence in the system, franchisee’s perception of a strong team culture, franchisee’s perception of franchisor competence and franchisee’s perception of franchisor character.
Practical implications
The research provides insight into how the aforementioned components can be developed within a franchise system to build franchisee trust. The paper also concludes with four practical recommendations that can be integrated within a franchise system to increase levels of franchisee trust.
Originality/value
This research builds on prior research into franchisee trust, providing an original contribution to the literature through the development of a practical model, showcasing critical determinants of a franchisee’s trust in their franchisor.
Details
Keywords
Viewing the last dying embers of 1984, the Orwel‐lian year of Big Brother and some of its not‐so‐far off the mark predictions, the unemployment which one cannot help feeling is…
Abstract
Viewing the last dying embers of 1984, the Orwel‐lian year of Big Brother and some of its not‐so‐far off the mark predictions, the unemployment which one cannot help feeling is more apparent than real, it is hardly surprising that the subject of Poverty or the so‐called Poverty arise. The real poverty of undernourished children, soup kitchens, children suffering at Christmas, hungry children ravenously consuming free school meals has not, even now, returned.