Ethics,gratuities, and professionalization of the purchasing function

This study investigated (1) whether potential future purchasing agents were predisposed to accept gratuities or whether the practice of gratuity acceptance is a manifestation of the job itself, (2) whether the existence of a code of ethics forbidding gratuity acceptance curtails the occurrence, and (3) whether disparities in ethics policies between the sales and purchasing functions affect gratuity acceptance. Hypotheses based upon the concepts of organizational concern and institutionalized ethics are developed and empirically tested. Results suggest that future purchasing agents are predisposed to accept gratuities and that formal written ethics policies decrease the acceptance of gratuities. Disparities in ethics policies between the sales and purchasing functions concerning gratuities failed to affect gratuity acceptance significantly.Gregory B. Turner is assistant professor of marketing at Livingston University. He has published inThe International Journal of Logistics Management and theTransportation Journal.G. Stephen Taylor is Associate Professor of management at Mississippi State University. His research interests include ethics in computer usage, performance appraisal, and turnover control.Mark F. Hartley is Assistant Professor and National Association of Purchasing Management/Carolinas-Virginia chair of Purchasing at the College of Charleston. His research interests include ethics and professionalization of the purchasing function.     

Application of replacement theory in dairy cows and its use in disease treatment

A model to simulate the costs and returns of an individual dairy cow over 14 years under various assumptions of genetic potential, health status and management was developed especially to evaluate the effects of diseases that reduce production and reproduction efficiency and to evaluate alternative management interventions. Data were collected from the Food Animal Health Resource Management System (FAHRMX), Today's Electronic Planning (TELPLAN), Today's Electric Farm Accounting (TELFARM) databases and secondary sources at Michigan State University. A case study of cystic ovaries was analysed using the model. The results showed that it is more economical to treat cystic ovaries than not to treat, and treatment with Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GNRH) was superior to Human Chrionic Gonadotropin (HCG). Four to five lactations were the optimum for keeping a dairy cow to replacement and it was estimated that there is a loss of US$0.45 per day of extended calving interval (days open beyond the optimal 70 days).     

The complex integration strategies of multinationals and cross country dependencies in the structure of foreign direct investment

The behavior of many multinational enterprises is not well described by existing models of foreign direct investment (FDI). Firms often follow strategies that involve vertical integration in some countries and horizontal integration in others, a strategy known as complex integration. This paper presents a three-country model that is used to analyze why firms might follow a strategy of complex integration. My analysis reveals that complex integration strategies create complementarities between potential host countries that have important implications for the structure of FDI. The analysis also shows that falling transport cost between countries may increase the importance of complex integration strategies.     

Advertising with Subjective Horizontal and Vertical Product Differentiation

In this paper, we analyze the impact of advertising on markets wheresubjective horizontal and vertical product differentiation are important. A simple model showshow advertising can be used to create subjective horizontal and vertical differentiation.The model predicts that firms are likely to be symmetric when advertising creates subjective horizontaldifferentiation and that name and generic brands are most likely to coexist in markets whereadvertising creates subjective vertical differentiation. In all cases, the ability toadvertise creates distance between products which increases the market power of firms. Finally, severalreal world examples are used to illustrate the conditions under which the model is most relevant.     

The Robustness of the APT to Alternative Estimators

We test the robustness of the APT to two alternative estimation procedures: the Fama and MacBeth (1973) two-step methodology; and the one-step procedure due to Burmeister and McElroy (1988). We find that the APT is indeed sensitive to the chosen estimator and assumptions about the factor structure of stock returns. We believe that our findings have implications for the estimation of asset pricing models in general.     

Condition-Based Depreciation — The Engineering Perspective

Condition-based depreciation (CBD) is a method of accounting for the combined maintenance and renewal effort required to ensure infrastructure asset networks retain their service potential. CBD methods entail the calculation of an annuity based on detailed asset management plans, which forecast works programs over the foreseeable lifecycle of the network and link them to service need projections. CBD has not gained wide acceptance by the accounting profession, because of concerns about the methos underlying assumptions and potential problems with its application. These concerns are analysed from the perspective of the engineering profession (which is frequently the custodian of such assets), and the feasibility of the method demonstrated in a number of case studies.     

Statistical Decision Problems and Bayesian Nonparametric Methods

This paper considers parametric statistical decision problems conducted within a Bayesian nonparametric context. Our work was motivated by the realisation that typical parametric model selection procedures are essentially incoherent. We argue that one solution to this problem is to use a flexible enough model in the first place, a model that will not be checked no matter what data arrive. Ideally, one would use a nonparametric model to describe all the uncertainty about the density function generating the data. However, parametric models are the preferred choice for many statisticians, despite the incoherence involved in model checking, incoherence that is quite often ignored for pragmatic reasons. In this paper we show how coherent parametric inference can be carried out via decision theory and Bayesian nonparametrics. None of the ingredients discussed here are new, but our main point only becomes evident when one sees all priors—even parametric ones—as measures on sets of densities as opposed to measures on finite-dimensional parameter spaces.     

Initial public offerings in the gaming industry: an empirical study

The fastest growing segment of the hospitality industry is gaming-related business. This industry has experienced record numbers of companies going public, and their stocks are considered favorable long-term investments. Research in the initial public offering (IPO) area suggests that investors acquiring stock at the initial offering price earn large returns. The purpose of this study was to determine if large returns are being experienced for IPOs in the gaming segment of the hospitality industry, and if these large returns were limited to investors who purchased the stock at the initial offer price. There were 14 gaming-related companies selected for the study. The conclusions supported research reporting that the highest returns from IPO investments are made when the stock is purchased at the initial offer price. This study concludes that returns based on the initial offer price were greater than the casino index and the IPO index. When the investor purchased the stock at the first day's closing price, however, returns compared to the two indices were surpassed only after holding the stock for 8 weeks.