Nonlinearities between oil spot and futures markets： Evidence from intraday data

This paper builds on the literature of the relationship between oil spot and futures prices from the NYNEX market, both in their means and in their conditional volatilities, to investigate whether the association is linear or not. The novelty of this work is based on intraday data from both markets. The empirical findings indicate the presence of nonlinearities both in means and conditional volatilities. Moreover, non-linear causality estimations both in means and in volatilities reveal the presence of bi-directional causality, a fact that provides additional support to the hypothesis that both markets are driven by the same information sets.     

Theory summary on price discovery function of futures market

Price discovery is the basic function of futures market, and whether the futures market has the function of price discovery is an important research field for scholars both at home and abroad. This paper classifies the test methods and models on a basis of previous research, and introduces the applicable premise of research methods and models as well as the major research achievements of scholars at home and abroad, and also reviews the shortcomings of test methods and models.     

The concept of capital before and after industrial revolution： Islamic versus market economy

The concept of capital and ownership of capital in market economy and Islamic economy is different. Also the role that capital is expected to play in the economy is different in two economic systems. One of the key elements in creation of the capital （capital formation） is interest rate. In Islam interest is strictly forbidden. This paper reviews the concept of capital and the process of capital formation both before and after industrial revelation. In that context it also looks at the function of interest rate during the time of Prophet Mohammed and the present time.     

Modification of Costanza＇s model of valuing ecosystem services and its application in China

In the past, evaluations of ecosystem functions were mostly based on Costanza＇s model, whereas the spatial, quality and temporal characteristics of regional ecosystems were not considered in the model. Focusing on these issues, coefficients of regional difference, spatial heterogeneity and willingness-to-pay （WTP） were established to modify Costanza＇s model, and a new comprehensive valuation model of ecosystem functions is proposed. The analytical results indicate that the comprehensive model could evaluate regional ecosystem functions in China accurately and provide more helpful information for decision-making. The empirical study on Zhangbei County in Hebei Province shows that the intensive human activities could limit the provision of ecosystem functions while the planned ecological programs might promote the restoration of ecosystem functions.     

Generational management in corporate America： The differences and challenges in management of four generations of working adults

There are many differences and challenges that employers face while managing employees in the current work force. Our present day workforce is made up of a diverse group of people： Matures, also known as Veterans （age 55＋）, Baby Boomers （age 45-54）, Generation X （age 35-44） and Generation Y also known as Millennial （age 18-34）. The differences and challenges among these groups will be evident when reviewing recognition and praise, managerial styles, subordinate responses to generational leadership. Companies are stepping back and looking more holistically at how to develop programs and deploy technology that will speak to four distinct generations in the workforce （Sprague, 2008）. Each generation has their own definition of work ethic, responsibility, and performance. The best way to deal with the multi-generations is coming up with ways that make everybody feel like they are members of a team, thus helping them to learn how to develop a better way of communication than what exists between them now. If everybody is a part of a team, then they are all sharing the benefits that the other generations can bring to the table, making them a strong entity. Matures and boomers can become mentors to the X and Y＇s, and the X and Y＇s can then share and impart their knowledge of technology to the Matures and boomers. Companies in today＇s workplace must learn a better way to understand the values of the four generations, for it is very important in understanding and guiding these people in the workplace. Without this proper understanding, the guidance and alliance that managers are hoping to achieve will be even longer in the making and then one, possibly two, whole generations will be gone from the workforce and their knowledge and skill gone as well.     

Interest and profit

This paper argues that it is important to distinguish between the real rate of interest on money and the profitability of business enterprise. The former is a purely financial or monetary phenomenon （as claimed by Keynes） and the latter is in the nature of a surplus over and above the costs of production, including financing costs. There is an inverse relationship between the real rate of interest on money and the average mark-up or profit share. A synthetic theory of profit illustrates these points.     

Stress perceptions and leadership orientation of Malaysians： Exploring their similarities and differences with Americans

To explore the management orientation of employees in Malaysia and the United States, this paper focuses on comparing the leadership and stress perception of respondents in these two different countries. It appears that Malaysians and Americans have a significantly higher score on the relationship-orientation than task-orientation. Similarly, the female respondents in Malaysia had a significantly higher score on the relationship orientation. Finally, the responses of these 216 Malaysian respondents were compared with the 87 Americans, demonstrating significantly higher scores for respondents from the U.S. on both orientations. For management and practical application, suggestions and implications for future studies are presented.     

HRD in a multipolar world： An introductory study

In the last two decades, the economic and political world was radically transformed. At the start, in the 1980s, the USA and the USSR ruled, in a bipolar context. But, after the fall of the Communist regimes, in the 1990s, a different form of world power sharing emerged, in which the USA, the European Union and Japan were the major players. That change was evident from the documents that were made by those political powers （i.e. the Lisbon agenda on human resource development （HRD））, which in itself contained a forecast of the world situation in 2010. However, life is by nature unpredictable, and the unforeseeable changes happen all the time. And, in the last decade, several main players emerged in the world scene, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, the Arab World and Africa. In consequence, at the present moment, the world economy exists around at least 9 main players, 3 old and foreseen and 6 new and not foreseen. It is the author＇s opinion that this societal transformation should be addressed by the HRD community, because HRD scholars must study the more national relevant cases in a world that is changing very fast. Accordingly, in this paper, the author tries to make a rather introductory study in which he/she tries to define the basic economic variables for the HRD markets, namely demand, supply, need, equilibrium, investment, stock, flow, and return, for the USA, Japan, Brazil, Russia, India and China. The author uses the last available data, even if we tried to put the analysis in a historical perspective. The author concludes that several very different forms of situations exist in the HRD markets of those very important political entities.     

Sharing and evaluation of a new community co-management model for protecting Crested Ibis: a case study of Crested Ibis National Nature Reserve, China

The Crested Ibis（Nipponia Nippon） is endemic to Qinling Mountains of China and was once abundant over vast areas of north-east of Asia habitat.During the 20th century,however,the population declined greatly in numbers.Habitat quality used to be the main threat to this species but recent actions by the government and wildlife protection organizations have brought this under control.With the establishment of Crested Ibis Nature Reserve in China,conflicts between socio-economic development and Crested Ibis conservation have become more acute.How do we deal with the relation between Crested Ibis conservation and community development？ In this study,the Crested Ibis Nature Reserve co-management model namely ＂companies ＋ farmers ＋ Nature Reserve＂ model is proposed and evaluated with demonstration investigation methods,including continuous six-year fixed-site socio-economic development data of surrounding community,company sales revenue data and monitored data of Crested Ibis Nature Reserve.The results show that farmers＇ income and conservation awareness increased greatly from 2003 to 2008; company sales revenue has increased by about 20% annually in the recent years; management level has noticeably improved in Nature Reserve,the scope of Crested Ibis habitat has expanded 50 hm2; chemical composition of habitat reduced year after year; and the number of Crested Ibis had been growing annually.At the end,the success of the model is evaluated,and problems in implementation of the model are discussed from the following aspects：management system,co-management concept,economic base of partners,marketing mechanism,technical capacity and so on.     

Intelligent tools and techniques for modern management

In order to make decisions all companies need information. As a rule, all the informatics systems of a company contain a multitude of data and turn these data into information that has to be analyzed in order to make decisions. It is a slow process. The solution of this drawback is given by Business Intelligence （BI） applications that can help companies increase income or diminish costs by offering the executive management appropriate information on the basis of which quick and efficient decisions can be taken.
The main purpose of the paper is to prove the necessity that BI tools should be used by the modem manager. Managers are aware of that by putting into practice the BI solutions, opportunities of getting control over the business process and methods are improved and better, timely analysis functions of the performance parameters can be obtained.     

The importance of product positioning and global branding for sustaining competitive advantage within the companies＇ global marketing strategy

In today＇s globally competitive world, because of the globalization, new business patterns and the changing nature of consumers, the companies feel the necessity to act strategic in the market and to reach up the target markets and sustain maximum customer satisfaction in order to compete and survive. In this context, within the study it is tried to define product positioning in international markets and global branding strategies conceptually and to focus on their contributions to the overall competitive advantage of the company. Initially, the study tries to present the association between product positioning and global branding approaches of the companies and sustaining competitive advantage. Justifications for the examination of the importance of companies＇ international product positioning and global branding orientations as a basis of creating competitive advantage were derived from the literature. It is suggested that the companies＇ product positioning and global branding orientations and sustaining competitive advantage are the important aspects in multinational management and international business areas. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of product positioning and global branding strategies of the companies with special references to various industries and global brands.     

A typologies of traveler in Thailand： Using traveling patterns approach

This research investigates the characteristics of Thai to discern what their traveling behavior patterns. It indicated five different traveling patterns, which were named, ＂Physical action＂, ＂Conservation of nature＂, ＂Service expectation＂, ＂Intend to travel＂ and ＂Obedience of law and order＂. It revealed that their traveling patterns were physically passive, less environmentally aware and knowledgeable, service expected, multi-purpose and short trip, and moderate obedience of law and order. The relation of sociodemographic profile （gender, age, education and income） to their traveling patterns was analyzed using Chi-Square tests. Discriminant analysis was run as a way of examining the accuracy and usefulness of the ecotourist scorecard. Using the concept of a hard-to-soft ecotourist with discriminant analysis, 51.4% was soft ecotourist, 39.3% was medium ecotourist and 9.3% was hard ecotourist. Although not identified, it is likely that there are subgroups （0.3%） within the hard ecotourist with the higher scoring tourists being most active ecotourist. The findings showed that the majority of Thai people tend to be comfortable nature-based tourist with less environmentally aware and knowledgeable. In fact, it could be argued that tourists in natural environments, even if they try to minimize their impact, may cause more environmental damage than tourist on a city tour.     

Quantificational analysis and simulation of Technical Barriers to Trade with two country model

The Technical Barriers to Trade （TBT） is an important problem faced to the export of China. Based on the number differences of TBT notifications between countries, we propose the concept and computational method of the technical barrier coefficient. By means of price-production and price-demand functions, a trade model with a developed country and a developing country is designed. The available trade policies such as technical barriers, tariffs and export subsidies are simulated and analyzed. According to the simulation results, several trade strategies to come over technical barriers are suggested. These suggestions were provided to several export enterprises for their export strategy design.     

A comparative analysis of Japanese firm productivity： Solow residual and Malmquist productivity index

For some time, two major kinds of Total Factor Productivity （TFP） have existed independently of each other： the Solow residual and the Malmquist Productivity Index （MPI）. The Solow residual was introduced in macro economic growth models, and the MPI has been used in micro economics and management studies. As both indices were developed independently, few studies utilize both together and compare the results. This paper uses the same data to compare the two productivity indices by setting to determine the economic implications of combining the two indices. We discovered that we could decompose TFP with each aspect of the Soiow residual and MPI. We could then interpret their relationship in the business cycle. Our results indicated that the frontier shift in MPI of Japanese firms often occurred when the Solow residual increased, meaning that improving oroductivitv with the Solow residual could be generated by a firm that could shift new production frontiers.     

The effect of firm size and firm activities on CSR practices of selected Chinese-Filipino-owned MSMEs in Metro Manila

Socially-responsible business and ethical behavior of companies have been of interest to academia and practice for decades, but the focus has almost exclusively been on large corporations, while small and medium-sized enterprises （SMEs） have not received as much attention （Hammann, et al., 2009）. Worthington, et al （2006） recognized the need to encourage socially-responsible business practices among the 90 per cent or more of the world＇s businesses that are classified as SMEs. Perrini, et al （2007） found that size explains the differences in firms＇ willingness to define and implement such specific corporate social responsibility （CSR） strategies, while Murillo and Lozano （2006） concluded that it still remains to be explored whether manufacturing companies tend to apply CSR more extensively, or whether businesses oriented to other business have a tendency to incorporate CSR into their management patterns to a higher degree. Moreover, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in her 7 June, 2002 speech, recognized the importance of Chinese-Filipinos in helping improve the Philippine economy, and yet, not much research had been done on this sub-sector. Thus, this paper focuses on the effect of finn size and finn activities on the social responsibility practices of selected 30 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises （MSMEs） in Metro Manila which are owned by Chinese-Filipinos. Survey questionnaires and interview were used for gathering data, while a correlations test was used to analyze the data and to conclude whether finn size and finn activities have an effect on the sampled companies＇ CSR practices.     

The possibilities of entering new markets for Romanian companies from wood manufacturing industries

Romania has the potential of resources, labor and real capacity to adapt to the gait of a global economic competition. But it required a long term policy and environment which could support this potential value. If not, we will risk turning into a consumer economy, consumption will not be funded on internal production and become supplier of labor services for peripheral. In the context of economic crisis, Romanian furniture retains its significant competitive advantages, including the price in export markets. The most important markets for exporters of furniture from Romania are Ukraine and Russia, markets with great potential, but affected by problems such as devaluing local currencies, and recently, imposing new duties.     

Basic conditions study to accelerate the realization of transformation of Shaanxi＇s economy growth mode

It is an urgent and important economic work in the moment and the next period for China to realize the transformation of economic growth mode. Relatively, there must be certain basic conditions. This article makes elaboration of the basic conditions, which accelerate the change of Shaanxi＇s economic growth mode from government angle, and proposes countermeasures for it, according to Shaanxi＇s situation and the requirement of scientific development concept, in order to provide basis for the government＇s economic growth transformation.