Application of ANFIS to exchange rate forecasting

The need of exchange rate forecasting in order to preventing its disruptive movements has engrossed many policy-makers and economists for many years. The determinants of exchange rate have grown manifold making its behavior complex, nonlinear and volatile so that nonlinear models have better performance for its forecasting. In this study the accuracy of ANFIS as the nonlinear model and ARIMA as the linear models for forecasting 2, 4 and 8 days ahead of daily Iran Rial/∈ and Rial/US$ was compared. Using forecast evaluation criteria we found that nonlinear model outperforms linear model in all three horizons.     

Does the implementation of a combination competitive strategy yield incremental performance benefits? A new perspective from a transition economy in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study examines the performance implications of implementing generic competitive strategies, and whether the implementation of a combination competitive strategy yields an incremental performance benefit over a single generic competitive strategy using data from Ghana, a Sub-Saharan African economy implementing economic liberalization policies. Two types of singular generic competitive strategies are analyzed: cost-leadership and differentiation. Our findings from the overall sample provide support for the viability and profitability of implementing coherent generic competitive strategies — cost-leadership, differentiation, and the combination of the singular strategies. The results further indicate that firms implementing a combination strategy tend to experience substantial incremental performance benefits over those implementing only the cost-leadership strategy. However, the incremental performance benefits to firms implementing a combination strategy do not significantly differ from the performance of firms implementing only the differentiation strategy. Furthermore, firms that implement a coherent competitive strategy (combination, cost-leadership, or differentiation) tend to gain considerable incremental performance benefits over firms that are stuck-in-the-middle. Implications are discussed.     

Audit Firm Tenure and Audit Quality in a Constrained Market

We examine the relation between audit quality and audit firm tenure in the Iranian audit market, which is constrained by government policies that create intense competition for clients among many small audit firms. We develop arguments that these circumstances create cost pressures that entrench low audit quality and render auditors' plans more predictable to managers wishing to misstate their accounts. Using publicly available data for the audits of listed companies in Iran prior to mandatory audit firm rotation and the incidence of misstated financial reports identified by the Iranian Association of Certified Public Accountants Inspection Office, we find that the likelihood of a misstatement is lowest in the first two years of audit firm tenure. We also find that the likelihood of misstatement is not associated with the year preceding a mandatory audit firm rotation, suggesting outgoing auditor effort is not sensitive to the prospect of subsequent revelations of deficiencies. Although our results from a pre-mandatory rotation period show that frequent rotations appear to improve the financial reporting quality in our sample, we are wary of interpreting these results as support for the mandatory audit firm rotation policy in Iran. Rather, we suggest this is a peculiar consequence of deficiencies in audit quality inherent in the Iranian market.     

Addressing the growth failure of the oil economies: The role of financial development

The oil exporting countries have experienced a relatively continuous fall in GDP per capita over the last 30 years. This is in spite of benefiting from a more than average of the rest of the world investment rate. The findings of this paper, report a lower level of financial development for the oil economies when compared with the rest of the world. We will show in this paper that the higher rate of investment of the oil economies can be explained mainly by the oil revenues and surprisingly, financial development has a net dampening effect on investment for these economies. The paper also shows that the weakness of financial institutions, contributes to the poor performance of economic growth of the oil economies and the weakness of financial institutions might be associated with the dominant role of government in total investment and the weakness of private sector.     

An empirically-derived multidimensional measure of expatriate success: reconciling the discord

This paper examines the discord surrounding how expatriate success, or effectiveness, is defined. We review the many ways that success has been conceptualized and then seek to reconcile these differences by presenting a multidimensional measure of success, based on data collected from 118 expatriate respondents worldwide. A series of factor analyses, along with reliability and item analyses yielded nine measurement scales which included cultural adjustment, work-related adjustment, career development, HQ-subsidiary coordination, assignment completion, professional/skill development, shaping and controlling the subsidiary, satisfaction and overall assignment effectiveness. The process by which these scales were developed is described in the paper and all items and scale reliabilities are presented.     

Opening Constructive Dialogues Between Business Ethics Research and the Sociology of Morality: Introduction to the Thematic Symposium

Journal of Business Ethics - Over the last decade, scholars across the wide spectrum of the discipline of sociology have started to reengage with questions on morality and moral phenomena. The...     

Assessment of statistical power in contemporary strategy research

The concept of statistical power was reviewed, and the power of 44 recently published empirical studies in strategic management was analyzed. Using small, medium, and large estimates of effect size, standardized 0.05 α, and assuming nondirectional nulls, the mean power figures were 0.23, 0.59, and 0.83 for the three levels, respectively. These results were generally similar to findings in other social sciences and were considered particularly important for strategic management research, given the correlational nature of many strategic management investigations and the complexity and evolving stage of the field which make small effect size more likely. Ways to improve statistical power in strategic management research were discussed.     

Towards a contingency theory of corporate planning: Findings in 48 U.K. companies

Among 48 U.K. companies those with more vulnerable core technologies employ more specialist planners, more forecasting and evaluative techniques, in proposal generation and evaluation, irrespective of size. Allowing for size, hostility of market conditions is associated with greater scope, status and involvement of planners, and diversification and divisionalization with formality and scope of planning.