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Purpose: This paper analyses the establishment and evolution of a public oversight body (POB) – the Egyptian Audit Oversight Unit (AOU) – and its implications for local auditing firms and practices. Design/methodology/approach: Primary data were gathered from 34 semi-structured interviews (including follow-up ones) between 2014 and 2020. Secondary data was obtained through publicly available documents and internal memos. Drawing on Debord's (1967) Society of the Spectacle, the insights focus on the POB's conception, materialisation and evolution in a context characterised by weak regulatory structures. Findings: Through a series of acts, the findings reveal how the AOU first accepted the image of "international best practice" oversight (the "metaphorical"), followed by the construction of the local structure and décor replicating a United States (US) style POB archetype (the "transformational") by primarily relying on visible processes/procedures. Yet, these mechanisms emphasised the spectacular nature of oversight, with little improvement for practice and limiting itself to "cracking down" on smaller local firms. A final stage (the "performative") reveals how the AOU seeks to expand its activities beyond its original mandate without challenging the image-driven nature of its oversight. Originality/value: The paper offers two key contributions. First, it reveals how actors, through a combination of symbolic and tangible measures, create a new performative reality of public oversight. Second, it advocates Debord's "spectacle" to complement other theoretical lenses, with a view to illuminating the materialisation stages that bridge the gap between proclaimed oversight policies and actual practices (including conscious and unconscious omissions) within a given political economy context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper enhances our understanding of how national culture impacts manufacturing performance (assembly speed, consistency between teams, etc.) during a production process move. The authors also investigate the efficacy of co-location as a strategy to enhance knowledge transfer from one organization to another. Design/methodology/approach: To study the impact of national culture on production process moves, the authors develop and employ a team-based behavioral experiment within and between an individualist society (the United States) and a collectivist one (China). The authors also examine the impact of co-location on knowledge transfer effectiveness within and between these two unique cultures. Findings: Interestingly, co-location has little impact on the performance of US recipient teams. Without co-location, Chinese recipient team performance lags significantly behind the US teams. However, firms can overcome these knowledge transfer challenges by co-locating source and recipient team members. These results suggest that firms should assess the national cultural context when considering co-location to manage their production move. There are contexts where co-location may be incredibly useful to facilitate an effective knowledge transfer (e.g. collectivist cultures like China) and contexts where this approach may not be as valuable (e.g. individualistic cultures such as the United States). Originality/value: This research contributes to the academic literature in several ways. First, while past research demonstrates that national culture can be an essential barrier to information and knowledge sharing, this paper extends these findings showing that co-location may effectively overcome this barrier. After the authors offer and test the merits of co-location, they also establish the boundary conditions of this approach by showing that the effect of co-location on knowledge transfer is contingent on the cultural context. This contribution enhances our understanding of the relationship between national culture and knowledge sharing and has implications for managers developing approaches to transfer knowledge between cultures. Second, the authors develop and execute a novel cross-country experimental design. While cross-country experiments have been done before (e.g. Ozer et al. 2014, Kuwabara et al. 2007, etc.), it is still rare to see such experiments due to them being "technically difficult and costly" (Ozer et al. 2014, p. 2437). This research not only offer insights into how teams of people from individualist and collectivist societies send, receive and comprehend production knowledge. It also documents how these teams convert this knowledge into production results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The authors aim to analyze the inequality in accessing distance learning during COVID-19 school closures. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use the Household Pulse Survey, which is an effort by the United States (US) government to measure the well-being of American families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors employ a regression analysis to estimate the inequality in accessing distance learning by race and household income. Findings: Disadvantaged children from nonwhite and low-income families have much less access to distance learning, including less access to online classes, digital devices and the Internet. Schools are critical providers of the Internet and digital devices to children from disadvantaged households. Schools and parents devote more attention to these nonwhite children by spending extra time on their learning activities. Originality/value: This paper estimates the inequality in accessing distance learning during the COVID-19 crisis. Also, the authors analyze the responses of schools and parents toward this inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper explores the social-behavioral aspects of financial markets. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of social relations and networks which contributed to the market crash in the US telecommunications sector in the late 1990s.Design/methodology/approach A network theoretic approach is used to examine historical qualitative data. The authors suggest that the network characteristics of financial intermediaries allowed security analysts to control and manipulate information that was disclosed to the investing public.Findings The authors find evidence that brokerage locations in the network of actors within the telecommunications market allowed select individuals opportunities to engage in unethical behavior and malfeasance. The authors further highlight the harmful effects of over-embeddedness by illustrating that strong and dense network ties within the financial sector were exploited to distort the flow and reliability of information. The paper concludes with a note on the generalizability of this study and an examination of the current economic-legal structure of the Wall Street.Originality/value Recently, some economists and network scholars have begun examining social relations more thoroughly in the financial sector. This paper is one of the first that focuses specifically on the role and network location of research analysts prior to a market collapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare conditions in informal day-labor markets in South Africa and the USA to better understand the nature of worker vulnerabilities in this market, as well as the economic conditions that have contributed to the growth of day labor. The conclusion considers interventions that are underway in the two countries to improve conditions in day-labor markets. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on national surveys of day laborers in South Africa and the USA. A random sample of day laborers seeking work at informal hiring sites was undertaken in each country. The paper presents key findings, compares conditions in South Africa and the USA, and analyzes the relationship between economic change, labor-market dynamics, and worker vulnerability. Findings – Day-labor work is characterized by low pay, hazardous conditions on the job, and tremendous income insecurity. The day-labor markets in South Africa and the USA perform somewhat different functions within regional economies. Within South Africa, day labor can be regarded as a survival strategy. The growth of day labor in South Africa over the past decade is a manifestation of a formal labor market that is incapable of absorbing the structurally unemployed. Here, day labor is the employment of last resort, allowing workers to subsist on the fringes of the mainstream economy, but offering few pathways into the formal sector. In the USA, the day labor workforce is a largely undocumented-immigrant workforce. Workers seek work at informal hiring sites, maintaining a tenuous hold on jobs in the construction industry. There is evidence of some mobility into more stable and better paying employment. Practical implications – This paper documents the need for policies and programs to increase employment opportunities for day laborers and to better enforce labor standards in the informal economy. Originality/value – This paper summarizes findings from the only two national surveys of day laborers that have been conducted, and it compares for the first time the dynamic within growing day-labor markets in a developed- and emerging-market context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the enforcement initiative announced by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in September 2014 directed at reporting violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) by public company officers, directors and significant stockholders. The paper considers the notable features of the first round of SEC enforcement actions pursuant to that initiative and proposes measures public companies and their insiders can adopt to enhance compliance with their reporting and related disclosure obligations under the Exchange Act. Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines the SEC’s enforcement initiative against the backdrop of the agency’s enforcement activity since 1990 for violations by public company insiders of the reporting provisions of Sections 13 and 16 of the Exchange Act. The paper summarizes the features of the reporting violations that attracted SEC enforcement interest in the recent proceedings and identifies the factors apparently weighed by the SEC in determining the amount of the penalties sought against those charged with the violations. Findings – The SEC’s latest enforcement actions are unprecedented for insider reporting violations. The new enforcement initiative represents an abandonment by the SEC of its largely passive approach of the past dozen years in which it charged insider reporting violations only when they related to fraud or other major violations of the securities laws. If reporting violations are flagrant, the SEC now promises to target the offenders for enforcement on a stand-alone basis without regard to other possible wrongdoing. The SEC also cautions that, as it did in some of the recent enforcement actions, it may charge companies that promise to assist their insiders in the preparation and filing of their reports, but do not to make the filings in a timely manner, with contributing to the filing failures. Originality/value – The paper provides expert guidance from experienced securities lawyers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the economic and psychological mechanisms in turnover at the managerial level. The paper investigates how (1) the ease of moving posed by alternative jobs (i.e. the economic mechanism) and (2) the desire to move due to low job satisfaction (i.e. the psychological mechanism) simultaneously influence top management team (TMT) turnover and these managers' subsequent job position and pay. Design/methodology/approach: Using 25 years of panel data on more than 2,000 top managers in the United States, the paper utilizes fixed-effects logistic regressions and the ordinary least squares model to test the hypotheses. Findings: The authors find that CEO awards (an economic mechanism) and low compensation (a psychological mechanism) independently have positive effects on turnover. Turnover due to the economic mechanism leads to a higher position and pay, whereas turnover due to the psychological mechanism does not guarantee the same outcome. Further, when examining how pay dissatisfaction influences turnover simultaneously with CEO awards, the authors find that managers with the highest pay leave their firm, and not those with the lowest pay. Originality/value: The paper employs the pull-and-push theory in the employee turnover literature and applies it to the top management team literature. By doing so, this paper contributes original insights to how economic and psychological mechanisms simultaneously affect managerial turnover and its subsequent outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address assumptions about the prevalence of change in human resource management (HRM) and organizational change literature, providing evidence from employee perceptions across three countries. The results indicate change was commonplace even before the pandemic disruptions of 2020. Design/methodology/approach: Given this study's exploratory, employee perspective, a cross-sectional self-report survey was used. Three survey panel samples were collected in 2017: US (n = 718), Australia (n = 501) and New Zealand (n = 516). Analysis of variance was used to test whether the prevalence of change differed significantly between countries or specific groups of employees. An analysis of comments on change types and emotional response provides further insights. Findings: The paper provides evidence of the ubiquity of change: 73% of employees are experiencing change at work and 42% perceived it as moderate to massive, with little variation between countries. Employees commonly experience more than one change, with those experiencing large amounts of change reporting predominantly negative emotional impacts. Research limitations/implications: The research provides a snapshot across three countries during a prosperous and relatively stable period, providing a point of comparison for the turbulent times we have faced in 2020" as the publication date will be 2021 the current text may not work as well. Since change can be arduous, the authors recommend that HRM researchers consider change prevalence as a contextual factor, and practitioners heed employee reactions to change, particularly during periods of significant change. Originality/value: In providing foundational evidence of change ubiquity in contemporary workplaces, this paper enables more accurate discussions regarding change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore resources or capabilities that enable medium-sized firms to be resilient, namely, to avoid and recover from supply chain disruptions. Design/methodology/approach: A case-study method is employed with four medium-sized manufacturing firms headquartered in the USA that have global supply chains. Data are collected from semi-structured interviews with key informants from diverse functions and managerial levels, archival documents, observation and a resilience assessment. Findings: Internal social capital emerged as a resilience-enhancing resource, comprising: structural capital grounded in small network size, geographical proximity among decision makers and low hierarchy; relational capital grounded in close relationships, commitment and respect; and cognitive capital grounded in long employee tenure. Originality/value: This is the first paper in the supply chain management literature to examine the resilience of medium-sized firms, an under-researched context. It is also the first paper to introduce internal social capital as a resilience-enhancing resource. Hence, this is among the few papers to propose a resilience-enhancing resource rooted not in a firm's supply chain operations but its human resources. This paper, moreover, identifies several facets of internal social capital within medium-sized firms. Finally, the paper makes several managerial contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Project goal setting, led by a project proposal development team, is an important operations process because effective goal setting aligned with the operations strategy can enhance project investment decision making, project success and thereby operations performance. The purpose of this paper is to argue that because of the strategic nature of this task, the organizational climate (OC) that the proposal development team works in is critical for the effectiveness of their goal setting. Design/methodology/approach: The authors raise hypotheses regarding the role OC plays in enhancing the effectiveness of the support senior executives provide to project proposal teams. The authors test the hypotheses in a longitudinal survey of 200 managers in the USA. Findings: Results show that a formal organizational process used by proposal development teams for setting project goals is highly effective and that an appropriate OC further intensifies the positive effect of such a process. However, a formal organizational process has no positive effect on effective goal setting if implemented in an environment with a poor OC. Originality/value: The paper contributes to the literature by finding that a positive OC intensifies the already positive effect of organizational support. In practice, the creation of such a climate can enhance project goal setting, project success, and as a result, operations performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect competition has on organizations' use of high-performance work systems (HPWSs). Specifically, using the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, it develops a logic for why firms will increase their use of an HPWS when competition increases. It investigates the direct effect of competition on HPWS use. Additionally, it takes a look at the impact market commonality and resource similarity have on the influence of competition on organizations' use of an HPWS. Design/methodology/approach: Survey method design was used to collect data about organizations from 127 alumni of two large Midwestern universities in the USA. Data were analyzed using OLS regression analysis. Findings: The main finding of this paper is that competition increases the use of HPWSs. There was not statistical support for the effect of market commonality or resource similarity to influence the competition–HPWS relationship. Originality/value: This study uses the RBV of the firm to understand how competition influences the adoption of HPWSs. Additionally, it also investigated the effect of market commonality and resource similarity, which has not previously been looked at. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study is to empirically test the link between servitization and trade credit in manufacturing firms as well as the boundary conditions of this link. Design/methodology/approach: Using a unique dataset of 4,974 observations covering 838 manufacturing firms publicly listed in the United States during 1990–2020, this study examines the impact of servitization on trade credit and the moderating impacts of financial slack and service relatedness based on fixed-effect regression models. Findings: The authors find that servitization shows a U-shaped relationship with trade credit. Besides, financial slack negatively moderates this U-shaped relationship whereas service relatedness has no significant impact on this relationship. Originality/value: This paper is the first to empirically verify the influence of servitization on trade credit in manufacturing firms based on longitudinal secondary data and signaling theory. The research findings can provide several important theoretical and managerial implications for scholars and practitioners in operations management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to introduce the special issue on "Human resource management and corporate entrepreneurship". Design/methodology/approach – The paper discuses the articles in the special issue, which investigate the relationships between human resource management and entrepreneurship from different points of view, approaches and employing different empirical contexts. Findings – The papers highlight different human resource management factors of entrepreneurial behaviour and their influence on corporate entrepreneurship. Results from different empirical contexts as small and medium-size firms, case studies, joint ventures, in the USA, China, and Spain, among others, make important contributions to the previous literature. Originality/value – The paper discusses the intersection and association between human resource management and corporate entrepreneurship. Human resources play an essential role in so far as they can encourage or hinder corporate entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to explore the interdependence between donor countries' health aid expenditures. The specific form of interdependence considered is the leader effect, whereby an influential country has a positive leverage effect on other donor countries' aid expenditure. The opposite case of a free-rider effect, whereby a single donor country has a negative leverage effect on its peers, is also considered. Design/methodology/approach -- Focusing on the identification of the leader effect avoids the estimation bias present in the identification of the peer group effect, due to endogenous social effect. The empirical analysis focuses on Development Assistance for Health provided by 20 OECD countries over the period of 1990-2009. Aid commitment and aid disbursement are distinguished. Findings -- When aid dynamics, country heterogeneity, and endogeneity are accounted for, there is no evidence that the biggest donor -- the USA, or the most generous donors -- Norway and Sweden, exhibit any leverage effects on other donor countries' aid expenditures. Originality/value -- This is the first paper to examine the leader and free-rider effects in health aid provision as previous studies focus on peer effects. Any evidence of leader or free-rider effects (or the lack of it) adds to the understanding of international political economy especially in the area of foreign aid provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of empirical evidence on the labour market effects of health insurance from the supply side. Design/methodology/approach: The study covers the largest peer-reviewed and working paper databases for labour economics and health studies. These include Web of Science, Google Scholar, Pubmed and the most popular economics working paper sources such as NBER, ECONSTOR, IDEAS, IZA, SSRN, World Bank Working Paper Series. The authors follow the PRISMA 2009 protocol for systematic reviews. Findings: The collection includes 63 studies. The outcomes of interest are the number of hours worked, the probability of employment, self-employment and the level of economic formalisation. The authors find that the current literature is vastly concentrated on the USA. Spousal coverage in the USA is associated with reduced labour supply of secondary earners. The effect of Medicaid in the USA on the labour supply of its recipients is ambiguous. The employment-coverage link is an important determinant of the labour supply of people with health problems and self-employment decisions. Universal coverage may create either an incentive or a disincentive to work depending on the design of the system. Finally, evidence on the relationship between health insurance and the level of economic formalisation in developing countries is fragmented and limited. Practical implications: This study reviews the existing literature on the labour market effects of health insurance from the supply side. The authors find a large knowledge gap in emerging economies where health coverage is expanding. The authors also highlight important literature gaps that need to be filled in different themes of the topic. Originality/value: This is the first systematic review on the topic which is becoming increasingly relevant for policy makers in developing countries where health coverage is expanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to characterize those who take part in three different type religious activities (prayers, monetary donations and worship attendances) in the USA using 1972-2010 General Social Survey pooled data. Design/methodology/approach – The authors have identified factors that affect each activity using Tobit analysis. Findings – There are only three common factors (marriage, race and parental background) that influence all of these three activities and the directions of impacts are not the same. Black churchgoers are more engaging in all of these three activities, the same is true for those whose parents attend church regularly. However, marriage has positive impacts on both worship attendances and monetary donations, but has negative impacts on prayers. Originality/value – This paper contributes by breaking down giving into three categories and using 38 years of pooled data in the US General Social Survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe specific techniques of "inquiry-based learning" employed by three instructors in Engineering schools, one in Europe and two in the USA. Design/methodology/approach – Theorists such as Bransford et al. argue that twenty-first century educators need to teach students to do more than simply remember and repeat information. Engineering educators Prince and Felder critique traditional methods of teaching in which instructors focus on mathematics and theory, but fail to convey practical applications of that knowledge. They advocate moving students to a higher level of learning – past the stage of memorizing and reciting data – to more sophisticated methods of analysis, synthesis, and application of knowledge. To enact such transformations, Prince and Felder recommend "inductive teaching methods," including "inquiry-based learning," in which students learn through engaging with challenges and a series of questions. The paper provides examples of inquiry-based learning activities from each of the authors. The paper then discusses the cross-pollination of ideas and describes how the authors have shared inquiry-based teaching strategies and collaborated to develop new and relevant assignments and approaches to teaching. Findings – The willingness of learners to discuss a range of pedagogical topics, from specific practices to shared experiences and readings, led to an exchange of ideas, and also to deeper reflections on current practices. The cross-pollination of assignments and techniques resulted in well-structured, stimulating, and relevant research projects that engage engineering students from Texas to Portugal, and from communication to technical classes. Research limitations/implications – The use of inquiry-based learning activities and the sharing of resources across continents aimed at improving learning and teaching requires expanding upon and further development. Originality/value – The paper demonstrates the use of cross-pollination of ideas, development of assignments and improved approaches to teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare knowledge of business concepts acquired at the end of undergraduate studies of management in France and the USA. Design/methodology/approach – Mind maps were used to examine what knowledge students retained toward the end of their undergraduate studies in business and management. Data were collected from two groups of students, one in France and one in the USA and they analyzed on computer software. Findings – The results indicate that the learning process may be influenced not only by the structure and content of the program but also by the environment in which such content is assimilated. This study provides examples of how culture can influence the way we learn and represent core business knowledge. Research limitations/implications – The research was based on a number of undergraduate students and cannot therefore be generalized to other subjects or other levels of studies at the present time. Originality/value – The paper moves away from traditional manners of collecting data through questionnaires and surveys in order to study the impact of management education and what students learn at undergraduate level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the under-researched dynamics of gender, workplace support, and perceived job demands in two different contexts, the United States and India. Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws from two studies conducted in different contexts (the United States and India) via different methodological approaches (quantitative and qualitative, respectively). In Study I of this paper, data was collected using questionnaires from a nationally representative sample of adult workers in the United States. In Study II, interviews were conducted with 48 workers in India, selected using convenience sampling. Findings: It was found that both in the United States and India, women perceived considerably greater job demands than men. In terms of workplace support, both the studies found that workplace culture and supervisors' support influenced the perception of job demands, but the same was not true for coworkers' support, which mainly helped in coping rather than actually reducing the perception of job demands. Research implications: The article contributes to research by concluding that job demands as a construct are not clearly segregated from gender demands or expectations, especially in the way women "perceive" it. Women construct job demands as "job-family" demands and workplace support as "job-family" support. Moreover, being a woman in the workplace, women feel the "burden" of gender. Practical implications: It would be useful for organizations and policy makers to understand that women remain "conscious" of their gender in the workplace, and for them, the meaning of job demands and workplace support are "job-family" demands and "work-family" support, respectively. Social implications: This research intends to contribute toward thinking about gender relations and empowerment of people within organizational and work settings from a new light. Originality/value: The present study provides an alternative way of thinking about gender, job demands, and workplace support. Its value underlies in the way it raises the voices of women workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect the rebuilding of the casino industry has had on the recovery efforts from Katrina. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses quarterly data from four states affected by Katrina, and a simple OLS model to test the effect the casino industry has had on personal income in the states. Findings - The paper finds that the casino industry has had a statistically significant positive impact on the economic recovery in casino states relative to non-casino states. Research limitations/implications - The paper examines a relatively short term. Other research has suggested that the long-run effects of casinos are less certain. As more data become available, the model could be re-tested. Practical implications - These results support previous evidence on a short-run economic stimulus effect from casinos. Originality/value - The paper extends previous work on the Katrina recovery by including more data, including a control sample of states without casinos, and weighting the income and revenue data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to review trends in labor relations and reconsider the value of bringing the works council model to the United States. Design/methodology/approach: A review of current trends in labor relations and strike activity and an examination of the constraints of the National Labor Relations Act to the implementation of works councils. Findings: The works council model could provide a robust means for managing labor relations tensions as well as emerging concerns of the next generation of employees. Originality/value: While there have been discussions of the legal limitations on adopting work councils in the United States, there has been no recent discussion of them in the context of improving labor relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to examine the dynamic relationship among immigration rate, GDP per capita, and and real wage rates in the USA. Design/methodology/approach -- The paper implements the Johansen-Juselius (1990, 1992) cointegration technique to test for a long-run relationship; and for short-run dynamics the authors apply Granger causality tests under the vector error-correction model. Findings -- The results show that the long-run causality runs from GDP per capita to immigration, not vice versa. Growing economy attracts immigrants. The authors also find that immigration flow depresses average weekly earnings of the natives in the long-run. Originality/value -- The authors are not aware of any study on the USA addressing the impact of immigrants on labor market using a tripartite approach by explicitly incorporating economic growth. It is therefore important to pursue a theoretically justified empirical model in search of a relation to resolve on apparent immigration debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Congruence of personal values to organizational (the profession) values affects job performance, job satisfaction and ethical behavior. The purpose of this paper is to answer two research questions: (1) what are the personal ethical values of today's leaders in the US accounting profession and (2) are these personal ethical values congruent with the profession's ethical code? Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a survey approach to determine the personal values of US-certified public accounting leaders. The personal values of the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) leaders were measured using the Rokeach Value Survey instrument. Findings: Findings show that for each highly prioritized personal value, there is one or more parallel with the profession's values, as represented by the US American Institute of CPAs ethics code. Research limitations/implications: This study was limited by the time period used. Future studies could include other time periods. This study could be used as a starting point for longitudinal studies to determine if personal values of professional accountants change over time. Practical implications: This paper offers a fresh understanding of the relationship of accountants' personal values to professional values. Social implications: This paper provides insights into the person–organization (P–O) fit of US accountants within their profession. Originality/value: This paper examines the P–O fit of accounting leaders, that is, the congruence of personal values and organizational values. The P–O fit contributes to job performance and job satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study empirically examines perceptions of environmental report believability based on a firm's relative performance and level of assurance obtained on environmental activities under the recently clarified and recodified attestation standards in the United States. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses a 2 × 3 between-subjects experiment to identify differences in 153 non-expert environmental report users' perceptions of report believability based on positive or negative firm performance and (level of) assurance provided by an accounting firm. Findings: Results show a main effect in that negative performance reports are perceived to be more believable than positive performance reports, as driven by negative performance reports being significantly more believable when no assurance is present. The firm performance effect is eliminated once limited or reasonable assurance is provided. Further, positive performance reports with limited, but not reasonable, assurance are perceived to be more believable than reports without assurance. No differences are identified within the negative performance condition. Practical implications: Limited assurance might be used as an impression management tool to enhance the believability of positive performance environmental reports. Users, practitioners, and standard-setters should also be aware that users might believe environmental reports are assured, even when no such assurance has been provided. Originality/value: This paper examines the impact of assured environmental reporting on users that review firms' environmental reports outside of a shareholder/investor role. The study also demonstrates conditions in which firm performance and assurance impact perceptions of report believability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide quantitative estimates on the impact of active labour market policy (ALMP) on youth unemployment in Europe based on a macroeconomic panel data set of youth unemployment, ALMP and education policy variables and further country-specific characteristics on labour market institutions and the broader demographic and macroeconomic environment for all EU-Member States. Design/methodology/approach: The authors follow the design of an aggregate impact analysis, which aims to explain the impact of policy on macroeconomic variables like youth employment and unemployment (see Bellmann and Jackman, 1996). This follows the assumption that programmes, which are effective in terms of improving individual employment opportunities, are going to make a difference on the equilibrium of youth unemployment. Findings: The findings show that both wage subsidies and job creation are reducing aggregate youth unemployment, which is in contrast to some of the surveys of microeconomic studies indicating that job creation schemes are not effective. This finding points towards the importance to assist young people making valuable work experience, which is a benefit from job creation, even if this experience is made outside regular employment and/or the commercial sector. Research limitations/implications: In terms of the variables to model public policy intervention in the youth labour market, only few indicators exist, which are consistently available for all EU-Member States, despite much more interest and research aiming to provide an exhaustive picture of the youth labour market in Europe. The only consistently available measures are spending on ALMP as a percentage of gross domestic product (in the different programmes) and participation stocks and entries by type of intervention. Practical implications: The different effects found for the 15–19 year olds, who seem to benefit from wage subsidies, compared to the effect of job creations benefitting the 20–24 year olds, might relate to the different barriers for both groups to find employment. Job creation programmes seem to offer this group an alternative mechanism to gain valuable work experience outside the commercial sector, which could help form a narrative of positive labour market experience. In this way, job creation should be looked more positively at when further developing ALMP provision, especially for young people relatively more distant to engagement in regular employment. Social implications: Improving the situation of many millions of young Europeans failing to find gainful employment, and more generally suffering from deprivation and social exclusion, has been identified as a clear priority for policy both at the national level of EU-Member States and for EU-wide initiatives. With this study, the authors attempt to contribute to the debate about the effectiveness of policies which combat youth unemployment by estimating the quantitative relationship of ALMP and other institutional features and youth unemployment. Originality/value: To research the relationship between youth unemployment and ALMP, the authors created a macroeconomic database with repeated observations for all EU-Member States for a time series (1998–2012). The authors include variables on country demographics and the state of the economy as well as variables describing the labour market regimes from Eurostat, i.e. the flexibility of the labour market (part-time work and fixed-term employment as a percentage of total employment) and the wage setting system (level and coordination of bargaining and government intervention in wage bargaining). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the elevation of the business-to-business (B2B) marketing field at the business school level. Design/methodology/approach: The study follows a Delphi method. The authors conducted two rounds of discovery to answer: why do you think universities do not highly appreciate publications in Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing or Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing? What would you suggest for improving the impact of such journals not only in the USA but around the world? Findings: Through the analysis of the coding transcript, four categories were found to elevate the B2B marketing field at the business school level: B2B as uncommon ground, B2B researcher practices, marketing science underpinnings and B2B marketing journals management. Originality/value: The value of current research is based on its explorative nature and application of grounded theory to provide a framework to analyze how to elevate the B2B marketing field at the business school level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reflect a critical perspective drawing from phenomenology, especially informed by a reading of Heidegger, to enhance and extend appreciation of the need to question accounting's meaning or delineation and how research might be undertaken into the accounting phenomenon and related areas. Design/methodology/approach: To illustrate and clarify argumentation in terms of accounting mobilization and the domain of accounting research, the mainstream and strongly positivistic accounting perspective adopted in the USA is critically assessed. At the same time, the authors elaborate how much of interpretive research (including much of that labeled critical) is also lacking in terms of the perspective articulated here. Findings: The paper stresses the case for questioning the taken-for-granted and conventional. It promotes reflexivity, cautious pragmatism, attentiveness to the value of the existing, responsibility to difference and otherness and openness to new possibilities as part of a deeper critical orientation. Originality/value: The paper draws from phenomenology, especially in Heideggerian terms to open-up new conversational domain to debate accounting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess how wages of US native workers with various educational backgrounds are affected by immigration. Design/methodology/approach – This paper estimates the responses of these workers' wages to the concentration of immigrants with various educational backgrounds in their local labour markets, using 1980-2000 US Census data and instrumental variables approach. Findings – Wages of native high school dropouts fall slightly in the presence of immigrant high school dropouts and high school graduates; wages of native high school graduates fall slightly in the presence of immigrant high school graduates, but rise in the presence of immigrants with higher levels of education; wages of native workers with some college education fall slightly with larger concentrations of immigrant high school graduates but rise slightly with larger concentrations of immigrant college graduates; and there is no evidence that wages of native college graduates are affected by immigration. Originality/value – No previous studies have considered these possibilities when assessing the impact of immigration on native workers' wages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines innovations in the United States industries. Establishment of the Saint Regis Paper Co. committee to determine the status of innovation in the paper industry; Principal barriers to innovation; Overcoming innovation barriers in the Scandinavian countries; Lowering the barriers to innovation from competition.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine recent trends in R&D offshoring by US multinational enterprises (MNEs) against a well-established conceptual framework derived from transaction cost and internalization theories, as well as challenges to it. Design/methodology/approach – The paper develops and tests a parsimonious model of cross-country variation in R&D performed by affiliates of MNEs based on a 31-country, 15-year dataset of US non-bank majority-owned foreign affiliates (MOFAs). Findings – Consistent with the implications of transaction cost and internalization frameworks, the findings show that the location of R&D offshoring is significantly determined by ownership of physical assets by MNEs in the host country and host country technological capability. Practical implications – R&D offshoring can enhance the quality and the quantity of knowledge flows between home country and host country R&D centers. The resulting positive knowledge spill-over effects can increase the welfare and productivity of an MNE and its home country in the long run. Originality/value – The paper provides a comprehensive explanation for MNEs' R&D offshoring based on transaction costs, internalization framework and technological factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to seek to apply Polanyi's theory of the double movement as a response to the effects of economic liberalization and globalization to the pre-2007 American economy. In so doing, it seeks to ascertain the reasons why this assumed double movement did not materialize until after the post-2007 global economic crisis. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is structured as a theoretical and historical analysis, building upon Polanyi's nineteenth century observations and applying them to contemporary policy economic and social experience in the USA in the late twentieth century. The argument proposes a correlation between the missing and/or delayed movement and the role of access to debt and participation in equity markets. Findings – This paper argues that Polanyi's concept of a societal countermovement has been absent from the post-1970 period of economic liberalism and globalization until just recently due to an explicit attempt by the forces of capital to circumvent its role in lessening the harmful effects of American capitalism. In particular, the double movement that should have sought to lessen income inequality, unemployment and wage stagnation was instead replaced by access to cheap credit and the democratization of market investments that spurred consumer purchases and a false belief that what was good for the markets was good for working class Americans. Research limitations/implications – This paper highlights the need for ongoing research into the sociotropic nature of trade and of economic policy, and its evolution throughout the contemporary period of economic uncertainty and economic transition. Practical implications – The paper proposes several policy implications arising from the contemporary application of Polanyi's double movement, notably related to international trade and public and political support for ongoing trade liberalization. Social implications – This paper highlights important connections in the relationship between economic policy and the day-to-day lives of those who are governed by it. Building on "everyday political economy", it provides a foundation for arguments that a new balance must be found between economic globalization and transnational capital interests and domestic stability. Originality/value – This paper promotes a novel approach to understanding the political economy of pre-2007 America, in particular the reflexive nature of economic policy and societal perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how potential exposure to missionary activity impacts both English language proficiency and labor market earnings of male and female immigrants to the USA. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses the pooled files of the American Community Survey (2005–2009). To estimate the relationship between the missionary activity of both Protestants and Catholics on an immigrant's English language proficiency using a linear probability model and their labor market earnings using the human capital earnings function that is estimated with an ordinary least squares model. Among other relevant variables, the analysis controls for the colonial heritage of the immigrant's country of origin. Findings: Overall, and within colonial heritages, the results indicate that male and female immigrants from countries with a higher concentration of Protestant missionaries tend to exhibit higher levels of English language proficiency and earnings, and those from countries with a greater concentration of Catholic missionaries exhibit lower levels of both, compared to countries with lower concentrations of missionaries. Furthermore, a greater proficiency in English enhances earnings. One of the important implications of the findings in this paper is that a "missionary variable" often used in other studies is too aggregate and may mask important findings because of strikingly different effects of Protestant and Catholic activities and characteristics of the missionaries. Originality/value: This study explores for the first time how, through a missionary concentration variable, potential exposure to missionary activity impacts the English language proficiency and earnings of immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Big data-driven supply chain analytics capability (SCAC) is now emerging as the next frontier of supply chain transformation. Yet, very few studies have been directed to identify its dimensions, subdimensions and model their holistic impact on supply chain agility (SCAG) and firm performance (FPER). Therefore, to fill this gap, the purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a dynamic SCAC model and assess both its direct and indirect impact on FPER using analytics-driven SCAG as a mediator. Design/methodology/approach: The study draws on the emerging literature on big data, the resource-based view and the dynamic capability theory to develop a multi-dimensional, hierarchical SCAC model. Then, the model is tested using data collected from supply chain analytics professionals, managers and mid-level manager in the USA. The study uses the partial least squares-based structural equation modeling to prove the research model. Findings: The findings of the study identify supply chain management (i.e. planning, investment, coordination and control), supply chain technology (i.e. connectivity, compatibility and modularity) and supply chain talent (i.e. technology management knowledge, technical knowledge, relational knowledge and business knowledge) as the significant antecedents of a dynamic SCAC model. The study also identifies analytics-driven SCAG as the significant mediator between overall SCAC and FPER. Based on these key findings, the paper discusses their implications for theory, methods and practice. Finally, limitations and future research directions are presented. Originality/value: The study fills an important gap in supply chain management research by estimating the significance of various dimensions and subdimensions of a dynamic SCAC model and their overall effects on SCAG and FPER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Premised on dynamic capability theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the link between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and operational responsiveness (OR). In addition, grounded in contingency theory, the authors examine the roles of competitive intensity and technological turbulence in affecting the entrepreneurial orientation and OR link. Design/methodology/approach: This study proposes that firms' entrepreneurial initiatives in terms of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking significantly affect their responsiveness. Competitive intensity and technological turbulence moderate the EO and OR relationship. Using hierarchical regression analysis, the authors analyze the data generated from a sample of 164 small-and-medium enterprises in the USA. Findings: The findings show that entrepreneurial initiatives are instrumental in responding to market requirements, which in turn results in superior performance. The authors also find that the interactive effects of innovativeness/risk-taking and competitive intensity are significant and positive, while those of innovativeness/proactiveness and technological turbulence on responsiveness are significant but negative. These findings imply that OR is effective when the level of competitive intensity is high while technological turbulence is low. Research limitations/implications: The authors conclude the paper by suggesting that entrepreneurial actions are pre-requisites for OR, which becomes effective only when the market experiences a moderate level of competition and a low level of technological change. The study provides implications for cross-functional research in the areas of entrepreneurship and operations management (OM) and also suggests future directions in this research stream. Originality/value: Although responsiveness has been recognized as a critical competitive capability in the OM literature, its relationship with EO is not fully understood and has not been empirically tested. Moreover, the interplay between EO and competitive intensity/technological turbulence and their effects on effective OR have not been gauged in the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Extant literature provides insights about consumers' purchase intentions (PI) and willingness to pay for reconstructed products but does not capture cross-cultural differences. The purpose of this paper is to understand consumers' PI for reconstructed products in a cross-cultural setting for the development of circular economy.Design/methodology/approach The sample includes consumers from two diverse societies (India and the USA). The authors conduct two sets of analyses in this paper. The first analysis attempts to identify the difference between the Indian and US consumers' PI for reconstructed products, who are residing permanently in their home countries. In the second analysis, the authors investigate the impact of socio-cultural norms on PI, for reconstructed products, of the Indian (USA) consumers relocated to the USA (India). In-depth interviews are conducted for data collection. Subsequently, data analysis was carried out using thematic analysis approach.Findings The results indicate that US consumers: possess altruistic buying behavior; are eco-centric toward waste disposal; strictly follow the regulations and socio-cultural norms; and have harmony orientation toward nature. In contrast, Indian consumers: possess utilitarian buying behavior; demonstrate anthropocentric attitude toward waste disposal; do not necessarily follow the regulations; and have mastery orientation toward nature.Practical implications At policy level, government in emerging economies should formulate regulations that promote the use of reconstructed products. At firm level, firms should exploit promotional and advertisement efforts to enhance awareness about reconstructed products.Originality/value The study is an early attempt in the literature to capture cross-cultural differences for reconstructed products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the most influential countries and universities that have contributed to science in the field of industrial marketing research during the period from 1990 to 2015.Design/methodology/approach Bibliometric methodology is adopted, focusing on the most productive and influential countries and universities within this discipline, for the scientific community analyzing journals listed in the Web of Science (WoS) database from 1990 to 2015 and is supplemented by using VOS viewer to graph the existing bibliometric networks for each and every variable.Findings Evidence that the USA and UK remain leaders in the investigation of industrial marketing research. Finland stands at the third place, leaving Australia and Germany behind. In reference to the universities, Michigan State University ranks as the leader.Research limitations/implications The process of data classification originates from WoS. Moreover, to provide a comprehensive analytical scenario, other factors could have potentially been considered such as the editor's commitment to leading journals, to partnerships and conferences, as well as other databases.Originality/value This paper takes into account alternative variables that have not been previously considered in previous studies, such as universities and countries in which the transcendental contributions to this field have taken place, providing a closer look, which gives rise to further discussions and studies with more detail to the history of this science in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Supreme Court's decision in Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission, 138 S.Ct. 2044 (June 21, 2018).Design/methodology/approach The approach of this paper is to discuss the Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") use of Administrative Law Judges ("ALJs"), and the litigation challenging the appointment of those ALJs, culminating in the Supreme Court's decision in Lucia.Findings In Lucia, the Court held that SEC ALJs are "officers of the United States," and thus subject to the Constitution's Appointments Clause, which limits the power to appoint "officers" to the President, "Courts of Law" or "Heads of Departments." Because the ALJ who presided over Lucia's administrative proceeding was not appointed by the SEC itself, the Court held that the ALJ's appointment was unconstitutional and ordered the SEC to provide Lucia with a new hearing in front of a new (constitutionally appointed) ALJ.Practical implications The Supreme Court's decision in Lucia provides defense counsel with new ammunition to challenge SEC administrative proceedings. It will likely have a significant effect on many pending and already-concluded SEC administrative proceedings but also leaves open a number of important questions for further litigation.Originality/value This paper provides expert analysis and guidance from experienced securities litigators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to answer the following research question: at the time of founding of a startup, what entrepreneurial conditions would influence the long-term offerings of HR benefits? To answer this question, our study examines the effects of four founding conditions of startups – total assets, founder's education, industry experience and startup experience – on the basis of the resource-based view of firms.Design/methodology/approach Using data from the Kauffman Firm Survey (KFS) conducted in the period 2005–2010, this paper analyzed the relationships between the founding conditions and the offering of HR benefits by 4,148 new ventures during the first five years after founding. In addition, this paper examined the relationships of the same founding conditions to the offering of each of seven specific benefits: alternative work schedule, bonus plan, health insurance, paid time off, retirement plan, tuition reimbursement and stock options.Findings Three conditions at founding – total assets, founders' education level, industry experience – have a positive and enduring influence on the offering of HR benefits to the employees. Startup experience has a significant effect on benefit offerings during the first year after founding but no significant effect on benefit offerings in subsequent years. All founding conditions have significant and long-lasting positive effects on each benefit, except for startup experience, which has a negative effect on some benefits.Originality/value The HRM literature indicates that there has been a surprising gap between practical interest and academic research with regard to benefits. In addition, there is a dearth of research on how entrepreneurs make strategic decisions such as offering benefits to their employees. The study represents an attempt to fill in this gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper is a rejoinder to Lusch and Vargo's defense of their service-dominant logic paper against criticism. Design/methodology/approach – The paper responds to Lusch and Vargo's defense and criticism of the initial article primarily through examining the logic of their case. Findings – The paper finds that both the charges and the arguments against the criticism have no merit. Research limitations/implications – The paper offers guidance as to the approach needed to advance the study of service marketing. This rejects the notion that viewing all businesses as service entities is a progressive approach but recommends a disjunctive definition of service, which would throw up service-categories that needed to be studied in their own right if progress is to be made. Originality/value – The paper suggests that Lusch and Vargo's S-D-dominant logic is unlikely to be practically fruitful while remaining theoretically limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This paper aims to describe the SFAS 109/Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification 740. Design/methodology/approach -- This paper is an overview of a topic. Findings -- SFAS 109 establishes the financial accounting and reporting standards for the effects of federal, state and foreign income taxes. Originality/value -- The paper is a good discussion for non-tax financial executives. It is a valuable read for anyone looking for an introductory paper on the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to provide an analysis of securities class action filings in 2017 along with related trends over time and a comprehensive current view of the securities class action landscape.Design/methodology/approach The paper details 2017 securities class actions and related trends by measures including the number and size of filings; market capitalization losses; litigation likelihood for US versus non-US exchange-listed companies; status and outcomes of filings (settled, dismissed, continuing); core versus merger and acquisition filings; individual versus institutional investors as lead plaintiffs; and concentration of class action activity by industry sector, stock exchange and court circuit.Findings The number of federal securities class action lawsuits filed in 2017 reached a record high for the second straight year. The jump was spurred by a sharp increase in lawsuits targeting mergers and acquisitions. The 412 securities class action filings in 2017 represented a more than 50 per cent increase from the previous record of 271 filings in 2016.Originality/value This paper details analysis by legal and industry experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Indicators for quality of schooling are not only relatively new in the world but also unavailable for a sizable share of the world’s population. In their absence, some proxy measures have been devised. One simple but powerful idea has been to use the schooling premium for migrant workers in the USA (Bratsberg and Terrell, 2002). The purpose of this paper is to extend this idea and compute measures for the schooling premium of immigrant workers in the USA over a span of five decades.Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors focus on the schooling premia for the Latin American and the Caribbean region and compare them to those of migrants from other regions, particularly from East Asia and Pacific, India, Northern Europe and Southern Europe, all relative to immigrants from former Soviet Republics. The available data allow us to measure such premia for workers who graduated from school, either at the secondary or tertiary levels, in their home countries between 1940 and 2010.Findings The results show that the schooling premia in Latin America have been steadily low throughout the whole period of analysis. The results stand after controlling for selective migration in different ways. This contradicts the popular belief in policy circles that the education quality of the region has deteriorated in recent years. In contrast, schooling premium in India shows an impressive improvement in recent decades, especially at the tertiary level.Originality/value In this paper, the authors extend the idea of computing schooling premium for migrant workers in the USA (Bratsberg and Terrell, 2002) and present comparative estimates of the evolution of schooling premia in 17 Latin American countries for both secondary and tertiary schooling levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine wealth dynamics through the Great Recession along a dimension previously not studied, religious affiliation. Specifically, this paper analyzes wealth differentials and relative wealth losses among religious groups at the mean and along the wealth distribution before and after the Great Recession.Design/methodology/approach Drawing on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and including a wide array of control variables, the paper analyzes the impact of religious affiliation groups on wealth pre- and post-Recession, using OLS, generalized least squares and quantile regression models.Findings The findings show that wealth differentials among religious groups exist both before and after the Recession and that wealth disparities are greater for people at the low end of the wealth distribution, who lost disproportionately more wealth across religious groups.Social implications The results suggest that the Great Recession further increased wealth inequality yet along another dimension, religious affiliation. These findings imply that in order to decrease wealth inequality and minimize other harmful effects of adverse macroeconomic events, religious institutions may provide education on financial management strategies, especially to those at the low end of the wealth distribution.Originality/value This paper is the first of its kind to build upon two bodies of literature: the research on religion and wealth and the research on wealth losses and the Great Recession. It is also the first paper to explore the religion–wealth relationship after the Great Recession and along the wealth distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to assess the evolution of labour-market performance in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) over the last decade, considering the robustness of the claims made in an important OECD follow-up study. Design/methodology/approach -- The paper sets up an empirical framework calibrated on an important OECD follow-up study, and suggests some ways in which the impact of unobserved heterogeneity and outliers on policy estimates can be treated in a cross-section framework. The framework applies to the data for 30 OECD countries. Findings -- The paper finds that changes in labour-market performance are inversely linked to lagged unemployment. Changes in the share of construction workers are also significant even in the presence of various kinds of policy change indicators. As far as the latter are concerned, the results highlight the role of unemployment benefits and, especially, active labour-market policies. Research limitations/implications -- The kind of policy change indicators used do not allow the adoption of panel data techniques. Practical implications -- An important policy role seems to emerge for unemployment benefit reforms and, even more so, active labour-market policies. The evidence also supports the contention that the construction sector is important for labour-market performance. Originality/value -- The paper brings to the fore novel evidence about cross-country labour-market performance at a time when this issue is of high interest for citizens and policy-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper seeks to identify, examine, and discuss the unique challenges for lesbians who serve in leadership positions in corporate America. Design/methodology/approach - Drawing upon a multi-disciplinary framework of management, diversity, feminist, and leadership literature, the paper critically examines the myriad of pressures exerted upon all women in leadership positions, and then identifies the pressures that are specific and unique for lesbians. Findings - There are pressures that are unique for lesbian leaders. These pressures include negotiating the heterosexism of the organization; invisibility versus visibility, and gender expression and gender role expectations. Originality/value - The paper provides implications for human resource development to assume a stronger and more active role in uncovering tacit issues embedded in leadership so that organizational workplaces become locations of greater equity, access, and fairness for all who aspire to leadership positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to attempt to look at the link between labor market risks and social insurance demands by taking occupational unemployment rates, and specificity of skills into account. Design/methodology/approach - Occupational unemployment rate is treated as an estimate of labor market risk in addition to human capital investment. Then, the variations in Germany and the USA - with diverse labor markets and a considerable difference in terms of social insurance support - are examined. Findings - The results suggest that occupational unemployment rate is explanatory for the demands for social insurance along with income. Practical implications - Conclusions reached in the paper aim to contribute to the understanding of the political support for social insurance and hence provide tools for the design of such insurance mechanisms. Originality/value - Contrary to the widespread association between the type of human capital and social insurance preferences in the literature, the paper argues that the cross-country variations can be explained by occupational unemployment rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine SEC rule amendments that permit a mutual fund to use a three- or four-page "summary prospectus" to satisfy statutory prospectus delivery obligations and amendments to a fund's statutory prospectus requirements that require key information in a standardized order at the front of the document. Design/methodology/approach - The approach is to explain the SEC's regulatory changes to the basic mutual fund disclosure documents designed to help investors choose among the more than 8,000 mutual funds. Findings - The in vesting public's use of the internet for fund research and fund transactions has made it possible for the SEC to take a "layered" approach to disclosure documents, providing an investor with a short-form document and making available more detailed information on fund web sites. The SEC will likely follow suit with other documents and updated compliance requirements. Originality/value - The paper will assist fund legal counsel and compliance professionals: to comply with the new statutory prospectus requirements: and to determine whether the summary prospectus is an appropriate disclosure document for a particular fund. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to discuss the SEC's Proposed Release 33-8861 of November 21, 2007, "Enhanced disclosure and new prospectus delivery option for registered open-end management investment companies." Design/methodology/approach -- The paper provides an overview of the proposed rule. It then discusses its impact on the industry, investors, and the environment; and how the summary prospectus could impact retirement plans. The paper answers some frequently asked questions; and provides an implementation timeline. Findings -- The paper finds that the SEC has proposed a rule for a shorter, simpler, standardized prospectus that would tell investors what they need to know within three to four pages and provide web access to more detailed information if desired. The stated goal is provide the average investor with clear, succinct information and also to standardize information to facilitate fund-to-fund comparisons. The summary prospectus also offers a significant opportunity to reduce publishing and mailing costs and may provide the mutual fund industry with the impetus to migrate from paper-based to electronic disclosure. Originality/value -- The paper provides insight from a financial disclosure systems provider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the management strategy adopted by Journal Sentinel Inc. (JSI) to survive the surge of competition in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. External influences that changed the fundamental drivers of revenue and profit growth of JSI; Operational challenge for JSI; Discussion on the strategy development process. INSET: Journal Communications--the USA's oldest employee-owned company.

This paper has been written following the refusal of US Big Six firms to participate in a context-based research project on the new-client-acceptance decision, in spite of their claims that current audit research is too far removed from the realities of practice. The paper aims to problematise the firms' refusal, arguing that it exemplifies efforts at policing the development of academic knowledge on the part of gatekeepers who strive to make researchers work on technicalities, thereby mitigating the risk that research may tarnish the profession `s legitimacy. Insights into the social construction of the gatekeepers' efforts at policing knowledge are provided by the multilateral negotiations with the firms, showing initial differences in gatekeepers' boundaries of acceptable research, and subsequent between-firm discussions that resulted in the firms' joint decision to refuse participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]