Technology and policy in cable TV development in the UK

Although cable TV is often viewed in an entertainment context, its importance for technology policy rests with its relation to future national broadband network development. The authors argue that it could provide a means of assessing the benefits and technical direction of this greater project and government support for early cable ventures is advised for this purpose. Government policy should stress incremental technical advance and address the development problems likely to be encountered by cable TV as an infant technology.     

A Contingency Approach to the Employment Relationship: Form, Function, and Effectiveness Implications

In the United States, the at-will doctrine purports to give employers the right to terminate employees with or without notice or good cause. However, numerous exceptions have made protection afforded by the doctrine illusory, and wrongful termination litigation often results. Other countries such as Canada and New Zealand legally prohibit at-will employment, and require reasonable notice or justification when terminating employees. On the basis of comparison of nonunion employment in those countries with that typical in the United States, we examine alternative approaches to employment relationships (independent contractor, employee rights, and at-will), and offer suggestions for choosing among them strategically based on environmental contingencies, work characteristics, and outcomes valued by a given firm. Although the choice may be limited by law in some jurisdictions, we offer a more systematic approach for U.S. firms wishing to deal with the consequences of terminations proactively as part of their overall strategic planning process.     

Standard deviations implied in option prices as predictors of future stock price variability

Standard deviations implied in option prices have recently been introduced as being better than average predictors of future stock price variability. This article specifically studies the predictive ability of implicit standard deviations, taking into account the dividend problem and the problem of optimal weighting schemes of the standard deviations when there are several options on the same stock. Transaction data information was used to study the importance of non-simultaneities in observing stock and option prices.     

Theory and Tests of Generalized Purchasing-Power Parity: Common Trends and Real Exchange Rates In the Pacific Rim

The paper develops the theory of generalized purchasing-power parity (G-PPP) to explain the “stylized facts” of real exchange-rate behavior. the fundamental economic variables determining real exchange rates are nonstationary; thus, real rates are nonstationary. If the fundamentals are sufficiently integrated, as in a currency area, the real rates will share common trends. the theory is tested using the Pacific Rim nations. It is shown that G-PPP holds between each of the Pacific Rim nations and the large industrialized countries. There is only mild evidence that G-PPP holds among the Pacific Rim nations as a group.     

A comparison of ethical evaluations of business school faculty and students: A pilot study

This paper reports the results of a pilot study of differences in ethical evaluations between business faculty and students at a Southern university. Data were collected from 137 business students (46 freshmen and 67 seniors) and 34 business faculty members. Significant differences were found in 7 of the 30 situations between freshmen and faculty and four situations between seniors and faculty. When the combined means for each group were tested, there was no significant difference in the means at the 0.05 level of significance. A trend was revealed, however, in that the majority of the time faculty members were the most ethically oriented followed by seniors and then freshmen.Dr. Robert E. Stevens is Professor of Marketing at Northeast Louisiana University and is the author of 11 books and more than 80 articles. Dr. Stevens has served as a consultant to local, regional, and national firms for research projects, feasibility studies, and market planning, and has been a partner in a marketing research company.Dr. O. Jeff Harris is Professor of Management at Northeast Louisiana University. Prior to coming to Northeast, he taught at Louisiana State University, the University of Arkansas, and the University of Texas. Professor Harris has written three books and numerous articles and position papers. He is a consultant to many health care and processing organizations.Dr. Stan Williamson is an assistant professor of management at Northeast Louisiana University. He teaches strategy, human resource management, and management principles. Before this, he served as a senior executive for a regional health care system for 13 years and as a consultant in the health care field.     

Limit pricing,conjectural variation and entry

The paper investigates the relationship of the degree of tacit collusion among existing sellers on industry price when a threat of entry exists. A general model is developed which allows comparison of two seemingly unrelated strands of the limit pricing literature.     

Time preferences,cognitive abilities and intrinsic motivation to exert effort

The experimental literature has found a positive relationship between patience and performance in cognitive tests that are not incentivized by money. It has also been shown that unincentivized cognitive tests capture not only cognitive ability (CA), but also intrinsic motivation related to the test takers’ personality traits. In order to determine whether the relationship between patience and test scores is driven by intrinsic motivation or CA, we run an experiment in which subjects take either incentivized or unincentivized cognitive tests. We find that while incentivized test scores positively correlate with patience, the unincentivized scores are not related to the time preferences of our subjects. The observed correlation between patience and cognitive test scores therefore seems to be driven by CA rather than by intrinsic motivation related to personality traits.     

Building a Sustainable Bank: The Case of GTBank of Nigeria

GTBank of Nigeria has, in just 20 years, developed into one of the most profitable and sustainable financial institutions in Africa. The case identifies the choices that helped the bank emerge successful from several shocks to the Nigerian financial sector and has implications for other financial institutions trying to balance sustainability and profitability. On the basis of eight years of research on the bank, we illustrate six factors that have characterized its success: (1) effective leadership, (2) a focus on people rather than strategy, (3) adopting a simple and focused strategy, (4) a culture of sustainable banking, (5) confronting effectively the external environment, and (6) exploitation of technology to accelerate the business. GTBank’s story raises questions about what makes a company sustainable and analyzes the decisions that executives need to make, often in challenging external circumstances, in order to preserve the long‐term sustainability of an organization. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.