Frontiers and new vistas in women in management research

This paper addresses the theoretical and methodological issues in women in management research, as the field emerges out of its adulthood and steps into the age of maturity. The four fundamental issues addressed are (i) the need to conduct extensive research in this area; (ii) the need for synthesizing previous research findings and establishing a solid theory base on which further work can progress; (iii) the appropriate methodologies for generating further knowledge in the area; and (iv) future directions for research on women in management, taking both a basic and applied research perspective. Dr. Uma Sekaran is Professor of Management and Head of the University Women's Professional Advancement at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. She has published several books, book chapters, and journal articles, and has been bestowed the Distinguished Research Leadership Award by the International and American Biographical Institutes. She is on the Review Board of the Academy of Management Review.     

The Relevance of Stock and Flow-Based Reporting Information In Assessing the Likelihood of Emergence from Corporate Financial Distress

A number of recent studies have shown that earnings information is less useful and value relevant when firms are financially troubled. This finding has given rise to the consideration of alternatives. In this paper, we examine the contributions of book value-based proxies (normal earnings and abandonment value) and flow-based proxies (earnings and operating accruals) to the assessment of the likelihood of emergence from financial distress. Our prior reasoning is that while book value-based proxies may provide information about potential future cash resources, flow-based proxies, because they capture the progress of reorganization efforts underway, as opposed to mere potential, should be relatively more useful in assessing the likelihood of emergence from distress. Our findings are consistent with this explanation. We document that the primary predictors of emergence are flow-based proxies—in particular, cash from operations, net of earnings.     

Sources of Growth in East African Agriculture

A dynamic agricultural sector is critical for alleviating Sub-SaharanAfrica's current economic crisis, and for laying the foundationsof sustained future growth. In recent years, however, agriculturehas performed poorly in many African countries. Efforts to assistits recovery, often through structural adjustment lending, havesuffered from inadequate information about country- and region-specificfactors, and from an emphasis on macroeconomic policies withoutcomplementary interventions at the sector level. The articledescribes the patterns of agricultural growth in Kenya, Malawi,and Tanzania, and examines price and nonprice aspects of threesets of factors: initial endowments and subsequent exogenousdevelopments, general economic influences, and sectoral issuesand policies. It suggests that government action at the sectoraland subsectoral levels in such critical areas as land policy,smallholders' access to inputs, and agricultural research needsto be combined with macroeconomic reforms to achieve sustainedand broadbased agricultural growth.     

An Easily Implemented Framework for Forecasting Ticket Sales to Performing Arts Events

This paper presents an easily used framework for modeling ticket sales to performing arts and entertainment events. Unlike existing efforts in this area, our framework allows us to: (1) model demand for events that consist of more than a single performance; (2) account for the influence of promotional effort on ticket sales; and (3) account for sellouts of some performances. The framework is applied to ticket sales for a university theater company, where it predicts ticket sales well in both an estimation and holdout sample. We discuss how the framework has influenced the company's marketing decisions.     

Integrated Strategy Approach for Poverty Alleviation: A Paramount Priority for Africa

Abstract: This paper examines the nature and extent of poverty in Africa. It recognizes that poverty in the region is essentially a rural phenomenon and women are disproportionately affected. The paper argues for an integrated strategy approach to poverty alleviation in Africa which deals with the problem of poverty uprooting at three levels: 1) on those which can be addressed by an effective long term strategy of rapid and broad based economic growth; 2) those which require active population and human resource development policy; 3) and those which need special programs to uproot poverty Résumé: Ce document examine la nature et la portée de la pauvreté en Afrique. Il reconnait que la pauvreté est essentiellement dans la région un phénomène rural et les femmes sont disproportionnellement touchées. Le document plaide en faveur d'une approche de stratégic intégrée de la lutte contre la pauvreté en Afrique qui traite des problèmes d'eradication de la pauvretéà trois niveaux: 1) ceux qu'on peut résoudre par une stratégic efficace à long terme de croissance économique rapide et à base étendue; 2) ceux qui exigent une politique active de developpement de la population et des ressources humaines; 3) ceux qui ont besoin de programmes spéciaux pour extirper la pauvreté.     

Employee Relations and the Likelihood of Occurrence of Corporate Financial Distress

Abstract:   In this paper, we investigate the association of employee relations with the occurrence of onset of financial distress. We argue that if adverse economic conditions arise, firms that have maintained good employee relations will be more effective in obtaining temporary labor concessions. As a result, firms with good employee relations, to the extent they are dependent on labor in the conduct of business operations, should be more likely to avoid the onset of future financial distress. The empirical findings we document support this prior.     

Farm-Level Economic Performance of Genetically Modified Cotton in Maharashtra, India

A study of the commercial growing of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton in India, compares the performance of over 9,000 Bt and non-Bt cotton farm plots in Maharashtra over the 2002 and 2003 seasons. Results show that since their commercial release in 2002, Bt cotton varieties have had a significant positive impact on average yields and on the economic performance of cotton growers. Regional variation showed that, in a very few areas, not all farmers had benefited from increased performance of Bt varieties.