Book Reviews

Hadi Soesastro and Man Pangestu (eds), Technological Challenge in the Asia-Pacific Economy, Sydney: Allen & Unwin, in Association with the Pacific Trade and Development Conference Secretariat at the Australian National University, 1990, pp. xiv + 371. A$34.95.

Jeffrey D. Sachs and Susan M. Collins (eds), Developing Country Debt and Economic Performance, Voi 3: Country Studies - Indonesia, Korea, Philippines, Turkey. Book I: Wing Thye Woo and Anwar Nasution, Indonesian Economic Policies and Their Relation to External Debt Management, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press for the National Bureau of Economic Research, 1989, pp: x + 821 (Book I, pp. 17-149).

Yoon-Je Cho and Deena Khatkhate, Lessons of Financial Liberalization in Asia: A Comparative Study, Washington DC: The World Bank, 1989, pp. xviii + 228.

Nick Devas (with Brian Binder et al.), Financing Local Government in Indonesia, Monographs in International Studies, Southeast Asia Series, No, 84, Athens, OH: Ohio University Center for International Studies, 1989, pp. xvi + 344. US$14.00.

James Clad, Behind the Myth: Business, Money and Power in Southeast Asia, London: Unwin Hyman, 1989, pp. xii + 275. £14.95.

Lea Jellinek, The Wheel of Fortune: The History of a Poor Community in Jakarta, Asaa Southeast Asia Publications Series 18, 1991, pp. xxviii + 214. A$24.95.

Daniel Benoit, Patrice Levang, Marc Pain and Olivier Sevin, Transmigration et Migrations Spontanees en Indonesie [Transmigration and Spontaneous Migrations in Indonesia]: Propinsi Lampung, Paris and Jakarta: Orstom (Institut Francais de Recherche Scientifique pour le Developpement en Cooperation) and Department of Transmigration, 1989, bilingual text in French and English, pp. 444, large Size (21 × 30 cm), + 20 separate maps (50 × 56 cm) + wall map (100 × 118 Cm).

J. W. Taco Bottema, Hoky Siregar, Sahat M. Pasaribu, Govert Gijsbers and Rofik S. Basuki, Potato in Indonesia: Prospects for Medium Altitude Production, CGPRT No. 21, Bogor: CGPRT, 1989, pp. xxvi + 136.

CGPRT, Soybean Commodify System in Indonrsio. CGPRT No. 3, Bogor. CGPRT, 1988, pp. xvi + 83.

BRIEFLY NOTED: H.W. Arndt, Pembangunan Ekonomi Indonesia: Pandangan Seorang Tetangga [Indonesian Economic Development: As Seen by a Neighbour], Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Press, 1991 [translation edited by Mubyarto], pp. xi + 286.

David Anderson (Ed.), Australia and Indonesia: A Partnership in the Marking, Sydney: Pacific Research Institute, 1991, pp. 63. A$5.00.     

book reviews

WAGE RESTRAINT BY CONSENSUS: BRITAIN'S SEARCH FOR AN INCOMES POLICY AGREEMENT, 1965–79 Warren H. Fishbein CONSENT AND EFFICIENCY: LABOUR RELATIONS AND MANAGEMENT IN THE STATE ENTERPRISE E. Batstone, A. Ferner and M. Terry INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY AT SEA Edited by Robert Schrank PARTICIPATION AND INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY: THE SHOPFLOOR VIEW Paul Rathkey SOLVING COSTLY ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS R. Blake and J. Mouton     

Organizing and personalizing intelligence gathering from the web

In this paper, we describe how an integrated web‐based application, code‐named FOCI (F lexible O rganizer for C ompetitive I ntelligence), can help the knowledge worker in the gathering, organizing, tracking and dissemination of competitive intelligence (CI). It combines the use of a novel user‐configurable clustering, trend analysis and visualization techniques to manage information gathered from the web. FOCI allows its users to define and personalize the organization of the information clusters according to their needs and preferences into portfolios. These personalized portfolios created are saved and can be subsequently tracked and shared with other users. The paper runs through an example to show how the use of a predefined domain template coupled with personalization can greatly enhance an organization and tracking of CI gathered from the web. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Book Reviews

Industrial Relations in the Future: Trends and Possibilities in Britain over the next Decade M. Poole, W. Brown, J. Rubery, K. Sisson, R. Tarling and F. Wilkinson Invitation to Industrial Relations T. Keenoy Years of Recovery: British Economic Policy 1945–1951 Alec Cairncross Britain's Economy: The Roots of Stagnation Aubrey Jones Challenges and Choices Facing American Labor Thomas A. Kochan (ed.) The Politics of Safety and Health G. K. Wilson Industrial Relations and New Technology Annette Davies Technological Change, Rationalisation and Industrial Relations O. Jacobi, B. Jessop, H. Kastendiek and M. Regini (eds.)     

Quantifying the advantage of secondary mathematics study for accounting and finance undergraduates

We examine the role that secondary mathematics plays in the performance of students in introductory business courses. Students who pass more advanced secondary mathematics subjects perform significantly better in introductory business courses. This ‘mathematics effect’ is significantly stronger than the effect of other business‐related secondary subjects, such as economics or accounting. Our findings also confirm previous studies showing that secondary accounting is beneficial for studying first‐year tertiary accounting. Interestingly though, we find that studying secondary economics can detract from a student's introductory tertiary results in some courses. Our findings have implications for educators and administrators as well as current secondary students.     

The Strategic Use of Contextual and Competitive Interference to Influence Brand-Attribute Associations

Broadening brand positioning is challenging because strong brand images are resistant to change. Consumers are likely to reject attempts to associate new discrepant attributes due to incongruence with the brand's existing image. This research presents a contextual and competitive interference-based advertising tactic that facilitates acceptance of new attribute information into familiar brand meaning. Advertisers can influence new attribute associations by featuring an advertising image similar in both style and meaning to a competitor. Boundary conditions image similarity and competitor selection, and process variable response time, are investigated. This tactic presents a strategic way to use the cluttered advertising environment advantageously.     

The State of Asian Corporate Governance: A Presentation by Jamie Allen: CARE Conference | Hong Kong Polytechnic University | June 9, 2014

Since the 1998 Asian financial crisis, there has been considerable corporate governance reform in the region. But such reform has proceeded on two tracks. On one track, international rules are dominant, and common accounting and financial reporting standards are essentially accepted as necessary for trade and investment. On the second track, however, local cultural norms continue to exert a strong influence on the functioning of the boards, the quality of dialogue with shareholders, and the way they manage related party transactions and capital raising. As a consequence, in these matters of internal governance—where legacy issues and culture, and not international standards, continue to be the main driving force behind governance—there continue to be significant differences among Asian countries. And thus even as convergence is occurring in certain aspects of governance, it is expected to remain limited, particularly in the functioning of boards and internal governance. As for the case of China, there was such a flurry of rule‐making in the early 2000s—a national Code of Corporate Governance in 2002, and a Directive on Quarterly Reports in 2003—that people in Hong Kong used to enjoy saying that China's corporate governance standards were higher than Hong Kong's. But if that may have been true on paper, the reality has been quite different.     

An Empirical Examination of the Stated Purposes of Issuer Tender Offers to Purchase Common Stock

This paper documents the purposes of issuer tender offers to repurchase stock, as stated in Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosures, over the period 1994‐2006. We explore whether stated purposes relate to announcement period returns and find returns are significantly lower when repurchases replace dividends, distribute cash from unspecified sources, or occur subsequent to third‐party tender offers. Announcement period returns are significantly higher when repurchases are viewed by management as the best investment opportunity available or when they occur subsequent to previous repurchase programs. Finally, we find evidence in support of signaling theory and Jensen's (1986) agency cost of free cash flow theory.     

The Conflict Between Conservation and Recreation When Visitors Dislike Crowding: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of the Spatial Distribution of Recreational Beach Users

We investigate conflicts between wildlife conservation and recreational use that can occur at open-access sites when visitors dislike crowding. A theoretical model is proposed which determines the spatial distributions of visitors to a beach, given their willingness to walk to avoid crowding and the configuration of beach access points. This model is estimated for three sections of coastline in eastern England using data from aerial video photography. Visitor density is strongly and negatively correlated with distance from access points. Willingness to walk has a highly skewed population distribution. We discuss the implications of these findings for the management of conflicts between conservation and recreation at open-access sites.