Anytime, Anyplace Learning in an Online Graduate Professional Degree Program

This paper describes experiences at Drexel University with use of an Asynchronous Learning Network to provide an online graduate degree for information systems professionals. Students in this program never gather for face-to-face classes but students and faculty engage in an active learning experience online. This paper provides an overview of the project's fundamental strategies, presents some evaluation data relevant to these strategies, and concludes with some observations based on the project experience.     

Entrepreneurship: skills and financing

This article analyzes an occupational choice model with risk-averse agents who are heterogeneous in terms of skills and wealth in a setting with financial frictions. We show that high- and middle-wealth individuals endowed with a balanced portfolio of skills upgrade their skills so that the resulting portfolio of skills is more balanced and choose entrepreneurship. In contrast, middle-wealth individuals endowed with an unbalanced portfolio of skills and low-wealth individuals specialize in the skill in which they have an absolute advantage and choose paid employment. Deeper financial development, a more balanced portfolio of skills, lower entrepreneurial risk, and a higher liquidation value for projects result in more entrepreneurship and higher welfare, while wealth redistributions and financial subsidies to entrepreneurs have an ambiguous effect on welfare.     

论广告要约的隐含条件

广告的特点决定了其中不确定因素太多,作为要约容易引起争议.但是,在广告内容非常明确、肯定,足以构成一项要约时,合理地理解其中的隐含条件,不仅符合人们日常对广告的理解,也更有利于公平处理当事人之间的关系.     

Factors Influencing Web Customers’ Willingness to Engage in Online Shopping with an Internet Retailer

This study is an effort to identify and analyze the factors that could potentially influence web customers’ willingness to engage in online shopping with an Internet retailer. Using the primary data collected from a large sample of a web-based consumer survey, researchers developed a structural Equation model that embodied those factors that potentially influenced web customers’ willingness to engage in online shopping with an Internet retailer. Seven constructs were considered to study the effects of those factors on the web customers’ willingness to engage in online shopping with an Internet retailer, including quality of service, inertia to change, economic value, stress reduction, enjoyment in doing business, comfort level with website, and aesthetic appeal. The proposed model is largely supported and validated by several statistical measures and tests.     

Understanding complaining responses through consumers' self‐consciousness disposition

The objective of this article is to determine whether a dissatisfied consumer would select a specific complaining behavior response based on his or her self‐consciousness disposition. The study used written scenarios where subjects waiting in line at a movie theater had to face additional waiting time as a consequence of an event associated with an intruder or with the service provider, and occurring either immediately in front of them or further away. Results indicated that, when faced with an additional delay related to an event occurring near them as opposed to further away from them, high private subjects, in contrast with low private subjects, had a significantly more negative perception of service quality and a strong tendency to display more negative word‐of‐mouth behavior. When faced with an additional delay related to an event occurring near them as opposed to further away from them, high public subjects, in contrast with low public subjects, had a significantly more negative perception of service quality and favored significantly more negative word‐of‐mouth behavior to express their dissatisfaction. Under a direct intrusion scenario, when compared with low public subjects, high public subjects favored significantly more negative word‐of‐mouth behavior and evaluated service quality in a significantly more negative way than when the loss of time was related to actions of the service provider. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Stereotypical Notions of the Entrepreneur: An Analysis from a Perspective of Gender

The principal objective of this paper is an analysis of the stereotypical figure of the entrepreneur in the Spanish context, from a perspective of gender. We provide evidence that the characteristics largely associated with an entrepreneurial individual are stereotypically male or androgynous, with a notable absence of female typologies. Our findings suggest that this relationship has an influence on the continued predominance of male entrepreneurial activity. This study contributes to the growing empirical literature on female entrepreneurship from an understudied perspective; gender stereotyping, demonstrating that socially constructed gender stereotyping persists in contemporary Spanish culture.     

THE RANGE OF TRADED OPTION PRICES

Suppose we are given a set of prices of European call options over a finite range of strike prices and exercise times, written on a financial asset with deterministic dividends which is traded in a frictionless market with no interest rate volatility. We ask: when is there an arbitrage opportunity? We give conditions for the prices to be consistent with an arbitrage-free model (in which case the model can be realized on a finite probability space). We also give conditions for there to exist an arbitrage opportunity which can be locked in at time zero. There is also a third boundary case in which prices are recognizably misspecified, but the ability to take advantage of an arbitrage opportunity depends upon knowledge of the null sets of the model.     

Using instant refunds to improve online return experiences

In the online return context, offering the consumer a satisfactory return experience is critical to an online seller's success. However, little is known about how online sellers can improve consumers' online return experience. This research examines whether an instant refund service can improve the online return experience. To obtain a comprehensive view of the outcomes of using an instant refund service, this paper also examines how the use of an instant refund affects several pivotal consumer responses. Study 1 analyzed the effects of an instant refund service on consumer responses in a post-purchase pre-return scenario, and Study 2 analyzed the effects of instant refunds on a set of key variables in a post-purchase post-return scenario, including satisfaction with the online return experience. For each study, the hypotheses of the effects of an instant refund on consumer responses were discussed, and a one-factor (instant refund service, yes vs. no) between-subject scenario experiment (with an additional related experiment in study 1) was conducted, using online panel data from Wjx.cn. One-way ANOVA was used to test the hypotheses. It is concluded that an instant refund service increases consumer satisfaction with the experience and improves other consumer responses. In terms of potential side-effects, instant refunds are not significantly associated with stronger product return intentions. These findings can help online sellers decide whether to evolve their conventional refund mode to a new instant refund mode.     

The Effects of Victim Anonymity on Unethical Behavior

We theorize that victim anonymity is an important factor in ethical decision making, such that actors engage in more self-interested and unethical behaviors toward anonymous victims than they do toward identifiable victims. Three experiments provided empirical support for this argument. In Study 1, participants withheld more life-saving products from anonymous than from identifiable victims. In Study 2, participants allocated a sum of payment more unfairly when interacting with an anonymous than with an identifiable partner. Finally, in Study 3, participants cheated more from an anonymous than from an identifiable person. Anticipated guilt fully mediated these effects in all three studies. Taken together, our research suggests that anonymous victims may be more likely to incur unethical treatment, which could explain many unethical business behaviors.     

“Society is Out There,Organisation is in Here”: On the Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility Held by Different Managerial Groups

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an increasingly significant managerial concept, yet the manager as an agent of corporate bureaucracy has been substantially missing from both the analytical and conceptual literature dealing with CSR. This article, which is both interpretative in nature and specific in reference to the U.K. cultural context, represents an attempt at addressing this lacuna by utilising qualitative data to explore the perceptions of managers working in corporations with developed CSR programmes. Exploring managerial perceptions of motives for CSR initiatives, methods of stakeholder engagement, organisational integration of CSR and its impact on managerial work, this study concludes that an instrumental approach dominates, which indicates an external–internal organisational paradox in the design and execution of CSR initiatives.     

“Do frogs jump as a result of privatisation?” Impact of privatisation on buyer–supplier relationships

As the cornerstone of the Conservative Government between 1979 and 1996, privatisation has undoubtedly had an enormous impact on the UK economy. On the whole, privatised companies have improved their performance in an ever increasing competitive environment by focusing on, among other things, a drive to reduce costs through bought-out goods and services. Research into Japanese companies, meanwhile, has highlighted the key role that supplier relationships play in their success. It has stressed the advantages of co-operative over adversarial relationships with suppliers, and evidence shows that an increasing number of Western companies are adopting this practice. This has raised the profile of purchasing in these companies with a change towards `better practice’ and improved management of the supplier base. From this new research a model of Feature and Construct Evaluation and Aggregation (FCEA) has been developed, in the search for a link to support the proposition that privatisation has an influence on purchasing strategies concerning supplier relationships. The research has shown that only a very limited link exists. Whilst Purchasing as an activity has increased in its importance and control, it has not become strategic. Purchasing strategies have not evolved or supported the business strategy as a result of privatisation, nor does privatisation encourage the development of purchasing strategies towards closer relationships with suppliers. This is compounded by the EC Directives that reflect an `open tender’ model of procurement, particularly evident in the emphasis on formal competitive tendering procedures and maintaining an `arms-length’ relationship with suppliers.     

How advertising claims affect brand preferences and category–brand associations: The role of regulatory fit

Two experiments examined whether selfregulatory goals addressed in advertising claims influence product preferences and category– brand associations. Experiment 1 provided evidence for the hypothesis that the fit between an advertising claim and consumers' regulatory focus has an impact on product preferences. Participants were more likely to prefer products presented in an advertisement with a claim compatible with the experimentally induced focus. Experiment 2 demonstrated that regulatory focus also has an impact on category– brand associations. Category–brand associations were stronger when the claim of a target brand was compatible with the regulatory focus at the time category–brand associations were measured. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

旅游管理专业交内综合实训的内容体系研究

旅游管理专业校内综合实训的意义在于为学生提供培养综合管理能力的训练平台,其最终目标是符合就业市场的需求。因此。设计旅游管理专业校内综合管理实训的内容体系应沿着以下思路进行：从征询就业市场对旅游管理专业毕业生的核心能力需求入手——设计以问题为导向的综合训练内容体系——设计综合实训与课程教学相结合的备选方案——在创新校内实训的运行方式中遴选好的方案。     

To Be or Not to Be in Thrall to the March of Smart Products

This article explores how perceived disempowerment impacts the intention to adopt smart autonomous products. Empirically, the paper builds on three studies to show this impact. Study 1 explores the relevance of the perceived disempowerment in respect of smart autonomous products. Study 2 manipulates autonomy of smart products and finds that perceived disempowerment mediates the link between smart products’ autonomy and adoption intention. Study 3 indicates that an intervention design―that is, a product design that allows consumers to intervene in the actions of an autonomous smart product―can reduce their perceived disempowerment in respect of autonomous smart products. Further, Study 3 reveals that personal innovativeness moderates the role that an intervention design plays in product adoption: an intervention design shows a positive effect on adoption intention for individuals with low personal innovativeness, but for those with high personal innovativeness no effect of an intervention design is present on adoption intention. The authors suggest that managers consider consumers’ perceived disempowerment when designing autonomous smart products, because (1) perceived disempowerment reduces adoption and (2) when targeted at consumers with low personal innovativeness, an intervention design reduces their perceived disempowerment.     

Ethically Related Judgments by Observers of Earnings Management

Merchant and Rockness (1994, p. 92) characterize earnings management as "probably the most important ethical issue facing the accounting profession" and provide initial evidence of the ethical judgments of various organizational members. The current study extends their work by examining the extent to which an individual's ethically-related judgments in response to earnings management activities are associated with the individual's role.In an experimental study, evening MBA students read three hypothetical scenarios involving a manager engaging in earnings management. The scenarios involved a gain from an operating activity, a gain from an accounting activity, and a loss from an accounting activity. Before reading the cases, however, participants were randomly assigned to one of three roles: a shareholder, another manager from the company who is unfamiliar with the manager in the case, or another manager from the company who is familiar with the manager in the case. Following each case, participants made four ethically related judgments.Participants assuming the role of another manager from the company who is unfamiliar with the manager in the case were expected to reach more unfavorable ethically related judgments than were shareholders or a manager who is familiar with the manager in the case. Generally, the results supported these predictions for accounting based earnings management activities but not for the operating based case.     

Goods-market competition and profit sharing: a multisector macro approach

This paper develops a theoretical model that relates the degree of goods-market competition with the extent of profit sharing. Our multisector framework indicates that increased competition in goods markets leads to an increased weighting on firm profits in an optimally indexed contract. Consequently, our model predicts that a rising extent of profit-sharing arrangements in the United States should accompany an increase in the degree of goods-market competition. Available, but limited, data on profit sharing in the United States are generally consistent with this fundamental implication of the model.     

Dwijendra Tripathi. The Oxford History of Indian Business

Dwijendra Tripathi has provided an invaluable service to scholarsand practitioners in business management, history, and socialsciences with his book, The Oxford History of Indian Business.Tripathi is considered to be the founder of the field of businesshistory (with an emphasis on all facets of this history includingpolitics, economics, and society) in India. His tenureship atthe Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad led to the adoptionof an academic and research program in business     

A direct solution method for pricing options in regime‐switching models

Pricing financial or real options with arbitrary payoffs in regime‐switching models is an important problem in finance. Mathematically, it is to solve, under certain standard assumptions, a general form of optimal stopping problems in regime‐switching models. In this article, we reduce an optimal stopping problem with an arbitrary value function in a two‐regime environment to a pair of optimal stopping problems without regime switching. We then propose a method for finding optimal stopping rules using the techniques available for nonswitching problems. In contrast to other methods, our systematic solution procedure is more direct as we first obtain the explicit form of the value functions. In the end, we discuss an option pricing problem, which may not be dealt with by the conventional methods, demonstrating the simplicity of our approach.     

A Short History of Efficiency

Efficiency is a management concept with a long history, running from scientific management to business process reengineering. In the early 20th century Harrington Emerson, an engineer, argued that an efficient organisation was a necessary prerequisite to task and process efficiency. Rejecting the machine metaphor of scientific management, Emerson conceived of an organic organisation where efficiency was a natural occurrence, not an imposed set of targets and procedures — a concept that has a lot in common with total quality management and a management philosophy that remains valid and important.     

The rocky road to modernity: 20 years of the Russian capital market

From a modest start almost 20 years ago, the Russian financial market has emerged as a major force in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This article offers a retrospective account of the two decades of development of the financial sector in Russia, with an emphasis on the securities market; outlines the main stages in its development; and proposes an assessment of the capital market in comparison to other international markets. We conclude with an overview of the market's performance during the current financial crisis. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.