Geographic diversification,product diversification,and firm cash flow volatility: the moderating effect of firm dynamic capability

Literature is largely inconclusive on the effects of geographic diversification and production diversification on firm performance. This impedes the understanding of diversifications and hinders the decision-making process in global practice. Further, performance indicators in the literature are mainly constrained to the returns aspect of the firm. Risk side factors such as the volatility of cash flow are largely neglected. This paper explores the inconclusive pattern of diversifications from the perspectives proposed by resource-based theories and dynamic capability theories. It examines how firm capability dichotomizes the relationships between diversifications and firm cash flow volatility. Results confirm that capability the roles of both geographic and product diversifications. A high capability is a necessary condition by which diversification strategies by themselves, or their joint effort, can benefit the firm.     

Volunteering personal information on the internet: Effects of reputation, privacy notices, and rewards on online consumer behavior

Accurate personal information provision is one of the most important determinants of the commercial development of the Web. However, consumers are usually reluctant to provide personal information or tend to provide false information online because of their concern about privacy violation risks. We employ a 2× 2× 2 experimental design to examine the effects of reputation, privacy notices, and rewards on online consumer behavior in volunteering two types of personal information on the Internet: demographic information and personally identifiable information. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.     

Trade liberalization,free trade agreements,and the value of firms: Stock market evidence from Singapore

We examine the effects of the United States–Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on the value of firms listed in the Singapore Exchange using event study analysis. Despite the predictability of the FTA negotiations, we find that one event – the removal of the last obstacle to the free trade deal in January 2003 – increases the value of firms in some industries by 1–11% on average. These results indicate that trade liberalization and FTAs do increase the value of firms.     

Mutuality as a control for information asymmetry: A historical analysis of the claims experience of mutual and stock fire insurance companies in Sweden, 1889 to 1939

We test two competing arguments regarding the influence of organisational form on underwriting performance using data from the Swedish fire insurance industry for the years 1889 to 1939 – a period of both economic growth and stagnation. Since mutuality is a response to information asymmetry problems, mutual insurers are expected to report lower annual claims relative to premiums than stock insurance companies. However, an alternative view is that stock insurers seek to reduce information asymmetry problems by issuing non-participatory rights insurance contracts with high deductibles that induce risk-sharing between the insurer's shareholders and policyholders. This implies that stock insurers are likely to report lower annual claims than mutual insurers. Our results show that organisational form is an important determinant of the claims experience of Swedish fire insurers, suggesting that mutuality acts as an effective control for information asymmetries in the market.     

Reducing distributor opportunism in the export market: Effects of monitoring mechanisms, norm-based information exchange, and market orientation

As monitoring mechanisms are critical to exporter–distributor relationships, the effectiveness of different types of monitoring mechanisms remains an important issue. Our study goes beyond the separate effects of monitoring mechanisms on opportunism, and tests the moderating effects of market orientation (MO) and norm-based information exchange on the monitoring mechanism–opportunism relationship. Based on survey data of 160 export ventures in China, we find that process control increases distributor opportunism, while norm-based information exchange and MO decrease it. Moreover, at high levels of norm-based information exchange and MO, the impact of process control on opportunism turns from positive to negative.     

Safety and minority ethnic communities A preliminary study on the home safety information needs of the Asian,Chinese and Vietnamese communities living in the UK in the 1990s.

Abstract

This article is about the safety information needs of the Asian, Chinese and Vietnamese communities living in the UK. The author describes the process by which the report Safety and minority ethnic communities was researched and written and details the recommendations arising from that research.

The report itself covered a two-year research project conducted between 1990 and 1992. The work was funded by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Health and carried out by the author.     

A Multinational Comparison of Key Ethical Issues, Helps and Challenges in the Purchasing and Supply Management Profession: The Key Implciations for Business and the Professions

This paper presents the findings of a study of purchasing and supply management professionals in India conducted to identify the key ethical issues they face in carrying out their work related responsibilities as well as to determine the extent to which various factors appear to be helpful or to present challenges to their efforts to act ethically in the course of their work. The Indian findings are then compared to those for studies conducted among purchasing and supply management professionals in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. Key findings for the four studies are summarized and implications for business and the professions are presented.