Learning cyber trust using a triadic functioning analysis: a qualitative approach

The issue of cyber trust has been scattered in several different fields, including computer science, information science and some social sciences. Although social informatics has been a subject of systematic analytical and critical research for more than three decades, previous research has rarely noted the importance of social informatics on cyber trust. Therefore, it is essential to establish a research framework that applies in cyber trust from a perspective of social informatics so that cyber trust may be achieved by different professionals and researchers. This study presents the factors under which cyber trust thrives from a perspective of social informatics. Social informatics research pertains to e-commerce from a perspective of both social and technical changes that shed some light on cyber trust for business professionals and researchers.     

Auditor Industry Specialization,Political Economy and Earnings Quality: Some Cross‐Country Evidence

Using cross‐country data, we evaluate the impact of investor protection on the association between earnings quality and audits by industry specialists. Our findings show that the positive association between industry specialist auditors and earnings quality as documented in the literature is affected by the political electoral system, which reflects investor protection rights in a country. We document that audits by industry specialists are associated with higher earnings quality in countries with the proportional electoral system, reflecting weak investor protection. Our results also confirm Kwon et al.'s findings that overall there is a positive association between earnings quality and audits by industry specialists in countries with weak legal enforcement. Our findings, however, indicate that Kwon et al.'s results are valid only for countries with weak investor protection reflected by the proportional electoral system and not for countries with strong investor protection reflected by the majoritarian electoral system. These findings thus suggest that higher earnings quality of firms audited by industry specialists across countries can especially be expected when investor protection is low and legal enforcement is also weak. In addition, our research suggests that future cross‐country studies could explicitly consider the role of the political electoral system of a country in evaluating corporate governance, management and accounting issues.     

EVIDENCE OF EARNINGS MANAGEMENT FROM THE MEASUREMENT OF THE DEFERRED TAX ALLOWANCE ACCOUNT

Positive accounting literature has provided empirical evidence regarding firms' characteristics that cause their managers to make particular accounting decisions. The purpose of this study is to extend this line of research to the area of accounting for income taxes. The research is designed to identify accounting choice variables that influence managers' decisions to change the level of the deferred tax asset valuation allowance under SFAS No. 109. Specifically, the study presents an empirical examination of whether managerial discretion over the valuation allowance appears to be used for earnings management purposes. Evidence of earnings management motivations can provide insights into whether it is an appropriate accounting policy to give management considerable discretion to choose the level of the valuation allowance.     

Women-friendly HRM good for QWL? The case of Hong Kong based companies

Organizations in Hong Kong were surveyed to gauge how women-friendly they were and how their human resource managers viewed the effect of women-friendly HRM policies and practices on employees' quality of work life. It was found that only about half of the policies mentioned in the questionnaire were practised by less than 10 per cent of the organizations. Principal component analysis conducted showed that organizational women-friendliness was multi-facet in nature. Using these facets - women friendly dimensions (WFDs) - as criteria and controlling for size, the study found that firms with American and European origins were more women-friendly than Hong Kong firms. Furthermore, when American companies were compared to Hong Kong companies, it was on the WFD of career development that the former were significantly higher than the latter. In contrast, when comparing European organizations with Hong Kong organizations, it was the WFD of flexibility on which the two differed most markedly.     

Hostile Attribution Bias and Negative Reciprocity Beliefs Exacerbate Incivility’s Effects on Interpersonal Deviance

The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating roles of hostile attribution bias and negative reciprocity beliefs in the relationship between workplace incivility, as perceived by employees, and their interpersonal deviance. Data were collected using a three-wave survey research design. Participants included 233 employees from a large manufacturing company in China. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the hypothesized relationships. Our study revealed that hostile attribution bias and negative reciprocity beliefs strengthened the positive relationship between workplace incivility and interpersonal deviance. This relationship was the most positive when both hostile attribution bias and negative reciprocity beliefs were high. The findings provided evidence that directing employees to depress hostile attribution bias and negative reciprocity beliefs may attenuate the effects of workplace incivility on interpersonal deviance. Implications for theory, research, and management practice are discussed.     

Income growth,redistribution, and subjective well-being in Taiwan – a simulation study

This study simulates different income growth and income distribution scenarios in Taiwan in 2001, and examines how social happiness and people's happiness at different income levels change. Without taking downward comparison into consideration, the simulation supports income redistribution in favour of the poor. When the downward comparison is taken into consideration, the simulation does not support any kind of income redistribution. The present study investigates the relationship between income inequality and subjective well-being, and shows that a change in the Gini index can be interpreted in terms of a shift in revealed subjective well-being.     

Required human resources competencies in the future: a framework for developing HR executives in Hong Kong

The management of human resources has emerged as a critical factor in creating and maintaining the competitive edge of a business. The HR manger should be a business partner who plays the role as a diagnostician and a strategist in the company. Hong Kong HR practitioners are known to be poorly equipped to play such a part since professional HRM training in Hong Kong have largely neglected strategic aspects. At the time of the study, Hong Kong experienced its worst economic downturn since 1984 where bankruptcy and unemployment are at an all time high. This study aimed to provide updated views on the competency needed for future HR leaders in Hong Kong in face of the challenges ahead. Against the background of a literature review, a survey contrasted the views of CEOs and HR executives regarding the required level of competencies of future HR leaders in Hong Kong. The findings establish an empirical basis for a framework guiding the direction and content of the future development of HR practitioners in Hong Kong.     

Status Goods and Market Powers

Status goods are often produced by firms with market powers. Taking this into account, we construct a new class of models of status goods, which refutes many important results in the conventional models without assuming market powers. Specifically, relative consumption effect normally leads to under‐consumption of status goods, which is the opposite of the conventional result. Generally speaking, status goods may be over‐ or under‐consumed, depending crucially on a widely overlooked factor in the literature ? the elasticity of marginal status. More competition tends to support overconsumption and is not necessarily welfare‐enhancing. Our results call into questions if, as often suggested in existing literature, a general taxation is an appropriate solution to tackle market bias from status seeking.     

Content analysis of leadership in Asia‐Pacific organizations

Leadership and management are important factors that influence the ability of organizations to fulfill their goals. In this article, the role of two organizations was analyzed to determine which leadership styles are appropriate. The Asia‐Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) are two international organizations in the region of Asia‐Pacific with similar goals but dissimilar organizational natures, properties, functions, and structures. Past studies researching APEC and PECC have mainly taken the perspective of macroeconomics or international relations. The intent when carrying out this study was to adopt a nontraditional approach to studying APEC and PECC by using a qualitative leadership and management methodology. By referring to identified leadership practices through content analysis and explored organizational paradigms through a narrative approach, this study recommends the application of suitable leadership and management practices to empower these two organizations and other similar organizations in the United States and other countries.