An Examination of Dividend Policy in the U.S. Restaurant Industry

Abstract

We examine the potential role that agency costs have on dividend payout policy in the restaurant industry. Specifically, we hypothesize that dividends serve to constrain the actions of management. Interest payments also have the same effect, and in a sense, may act as an effective substitute for dividend payments. Furthermore, the larger number of firm owners, the greater the need for dividends to control agency costs. Our findings show significant differences in debt ratios and the number of shareholders between restaurant firms that pay dividends and those that do not.     

The Impact of Shared IT on Efficiency and Learning

ABSTRACT

A growing percentage of enterprises around the world are implementing technologies and systems to support exchanges with suppliers. Through public and private networks, enterprises worldwide, particularly large enterprises, are increasingly connected to their suppliers. However, the role played by information systems and technologies in the context of exchanges with suppliers is not well known. Information technology (IT) has been presented as both a means for diminishing the importance of relationships with suppliers and as a means of enabling new forms of collaboration. We believe this apparent contradiction can be resolved by focusing on the impact of shared IT on firms' two key objectives: efficiency and learning. We hypothesize that shared IT increases both efficiency and learning, but through different mechanisms and under different conditions.     

Community Banks and Internet Commerce

ABSTRACT

This study examines the factors affecting a community bank's decision to develop Internet-based applications using survey data from representative community banks and secondary data regarding the financial institution's financial performance data (Call Reports). The results from a logistic regression show that there is a significant size effect in developing web and Internet commerce applications. Other factors determining Internet commerce activities include IT costs, use of PC-banking options, and the perceived competition in the local commercial loan markets.     

住院医疗费用控制的系统规制与微观治理分析

对患者住院医疗费用构成及影响因素进行分析,探讨新医改后的医疗控费方向,以某县级市属人民医院的5205例住院病例为研究对象,通过研究发现：（1）人均住院费用构成中,药占比大幅度下降了,而检查治疗费与材料费占比很高;（2）病种、科室、医嘱变异率、临床路径完成情况、疾病转归对住院费用都有显著影响;（3）医疗控费,在宏观上需要系统规制,完善医保、规范医疗、改革医药等政策联动。在微观治理上应将一些有效的控费手段如临床路径进一步完善,提高完成率,减少变异率等。     

论供应链成本控制

供应链成本控制对象主要是交易成本和作业成本,在网络信息技术的环境下,降低交易成本应采用ERP等系统,以此加强信息的交互或共享,从而达到降低交易成本的目的。对于各链节成员企业的作业成本的控制,应引入作业管理的思想,在各节点企业构建作业中心,以作业中心作为成本控制的责任中心,分别采取作业消除、作业改善和作业再造等方法和手段,从而达到降低整个供应链作业成本、提高供应链效率的目的。     

试论企业物流成本的构成和管理

物流被看作是企业最后的也是最有希望的降低成本、提高效益的环节。对物流成本的核算、分析和控制是企业必须面临的重要问题。     

企业物流成本控制方法的探讨

物流活动必然会带来相应的物流成本,然而对物流成本的控制,我国尚未形成完整的理论方法体系,本文就物流成本的特点以及物流成本管理中存在的问题进行了阐述,并提出了物流成本控制的相应对策。     

物流成本管理与核算模式的探讨

物流活动必然会带来相应的物流成本,然而对物流成本的控制,我国尚未形成完整的理论方法体系,本文就物流成本的特点以及物流成本管理中存在的问题进行了阐述,并提出了物流成本控制的相应对策.     

企业物流成本控制初探

企业物流是企业第三利润来源,是实现企业发展战略、营造企业核心竞争力的重要途径。物流成本控制则是企业物流的关键,只有正确认识物流成本,准确计算物流成本,才能为物流成本控制提供有效的信息。而只有对物流成本的有效控制,才能推动企业物流的合理化进程,提高企业的经济效益,全面增强企业核心竞争力。     

Social spending: Managing the social media mix

There is incessant demand for ‘proof’ of return on investment (ROI) for social media spending, and a significant degree of uncertainty among marketers with respect to allocating effort and budget to social media. In this article, we address these issues by identifying different ways that organizations use social media, highlighting important distinctions in these approaches and describing how to frame the spending decision for social media. Additionally, we identify dimensions that can be used to differentiate important types of social media in a social media mix, and relate this to tactical marketing execution. We also highlight the different nature of social objectives, the ‘backward’ process for meeting them, and the importance of establishing a social media ‘mission control’ as part of that process.     

Advertising Spending and Perceived Quality

Marketing Letters - In this paper we examine the relationship between advertising spending and perceived product quality. The questions we ask are: Does a product's advertising spending...     

How useful are IT research and analysis services?

How do firms keep abreast of new waves of information technology (IT) innovations such as CRM and Web services? Many engage IT research and analysis (R&A) firms such as Gartner Group and Forrester Research. But how do buyers of IT R&A offerings actually make use of these services, and how useful do they find them? Why do some companies choose not to use IT R&A services? We examine these questions in the context of a survey, and find that users and non-users of IT R&A services can be classified. Users fall into three groups: proactive, reactive and situational. Non-users are either cost-conscious or need-doubters. We compare the different groups and suggest the implications for management.     

Feasibility Frontier—A Method for Aligning Competitive Strategy with the Choice of IT Architectures

This article introduces an approach that addresses the challenge of aligning choices about IT architecture with the strategic goals of a corporation. This takes the form of a framework that captures how managers make IT architecture choices and how those choices impact an organization's competitive position. Based on microeconomic theory, the framework provides a set of conceptualizations for understanding alignment, plus some recommendations on how organizations should approach IT architecture adoption in a way that assures optimal alignment with strategic goals. The most important facilitating factor for the framework is the commitment to complete, accurate, and unbiased cost and quality assessment of business processes and their supporting IT infrastructure.     

What does the ‘inner world’ of Chinese managers tell us about their management values,thoughts and practices? An ethnographic study

This article aims to investigate an important implicit expectation held by many observers: the dramatic economic change presently occurring on mainland China would be accompanied by the transformation of Chinese managerial values, thoughts and practices. Using an ‘ethnographic’ approach, we seek to understand the forces that are currently shaping Chinese managerial values, thoughts and behaviours in some privately owned firms. A set of ten managerial assumptions at three levels – ‘self’, ‘managing’ and ‘organisation’ – are unveiled and we see how they function coherently in animating managerial behaviour with distinctive ‘Chinese characteristics’. The importance attached to ‘family’ when dealing with employees, the requirement to be as ‘flexible’ as possible in managerial behaviour and the compulsion to call for ‘harmony and stability’ indicate that our informants define good management in a unique way. Interestingly, after years of intense political, ideological campaigning, economic reforms and opening-up policies, a set of traditional Chinese values continues to shape their managerial behaviour.     

IT Controlling – Concepts and Transformation into Practice

In the first part the paper depicts central IT controlling terms and selected IT controlling concepts of the last decade. In the second part a performance oriented IT controlling concept describes central processes of the IT controlling concept by using a three step life cycle model in terms of a reference model. Finally some important results from a current survey concerning the development of IT controlling in German speaking countries are given. Based on these facts the paper describes the needs for action in academia and practice: The role of the IT controller has been established in German speaking countries, but there is disagreement concerning targets, tasks and processes of IT controlling, cost oriented tasks and reporting are dominating the practitioner’s work, established economic methods of IT controlling are not consistently used in companies. This article is also available in German in print and via http://www.wirtschaftsinformatik.de: Gadatsch A (2009) WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK. doi: 10.1007/11576-009-0166-x.