Understanding bus rapid transit route ridership drivers: An empirical study of Australian BRT systems

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems are an increasingly popular public transport option internationally. They provide rail-like quality for bus services for a fraction of the cost of fixed rail. Many claims of high and increasing ridership have resulted from BRT system development; however, it is unclear exactly which aspects of BRT system design drive this. This paper explores whether BRT design features, among other influences, significantly increase ridership above and beyond the impact of service levels. It does so using a series of regression models undertaken on 77 BRT and non-BRT bus routes in Australia which is known for its diversity in BRT route design. Explanatory variables used included service level, frequency, speed, stop spacing, share of segregated right of way, vehicle accessibility, employment and residential density, car ownership levels and BRT infrastructure quality. Five models explored the role of these variables. Two models found that service level dominates predictions of boardings per route km although they suffer from endogeneity. Further models control for this influence by modelling boardings per vehicle km. Overall results suggest that some BRT infrastructure treatments such as right of way have a significant impact on ridership but the influence of infrastructure is within the context of high service levels. The role of accessible vehicles has also been highlighted in this research, although more research is needed to clarify this influence. The paper concludes with a discussion of the various influences on ridership and recommendations for existing policy and future research.     

International Strategy Formation in Small Canadian High-Technology Companies– A Case Study Approach

For some companies, especially in the high technology sector, internationalisation is no longer a matter of choice, but of necessity. This paper explores the strategy development patterns of internationalising small high-technology companies in an environment where windows of opportunity close quickly. Findings from in-depth interviews suggest that emergent strategies within or outside established networks are likely to trigger small high-technology companies' initial internationalisation. Further overseas expansion is constrained by resource availability. This study demonstrates that internationalisation is an iterative process that happens in a holistic way much more than a systematic one. Rather than trying to fit small and medium enterprises' (SMEs') internationalisation patterns into a stage model, managers and policy-makers should recognise the importance of networks. Training and programs could, therefore, help identify strategic networks of importance for the companies and assist them in both contributing and taking advantage of these.     

Cargo cult science and the death of politics: A critical review of social and environmental accounting research

We present here an extensive literature review delineating the main theoretical parameters that have shaped the discursive field of Social Accounting/Social and Environmental Reporting (SER). In doing so, we reflect upon the way in which theory is used in SER focusing particularly on its political character. We show that SER theories have been developed in isolation from, and in contradistinction to, other organisational literatures and the social sciences more generally. This self-referentiality has precluded consideration of whether accountability is a realistic or desirable demand to make of corporations. In an age where political antagonism has been seriously eroded in the Western World, we argue that if SER is to avoid complicity in this, then SER research must break free from its self-imposed theoretical limitations and embrace a goal beyond accountability.     

Measuring the Performance of Banks

Banks do not publish accounts in quite the same way as other companies, and nor should they. But they should not be immune to conventional standards of performance ranking and evaluation. This companion piece to Business Strategy Review articles on measuring company performance applies some performance benchmarking to a sample of European Banks. The result: they must do better.     

Text Analysis Software: Commonalities,Differences and Limitations: The Results of a Review

In this paper we discuss the tendencies infunctionality and technology of software for textanalysis and reflect on those areas where moredevelopment is needed. The basis for this discussionforms a comprehensive review of fifteen currentlyavailable software for text analysis (Alexa and Zuell,1999). In the review the following software packageswere individually presented in a detailed andextensive manner: AQUAD, ATLAS.ti, CoAn, Code-A-Text,DICTION, DIMAP-MCCA, HyperRESEARCH, KEDS,NUD^*IST, QED, TATOE, TEXTPACK, TextSmart,WinMAXpro, and WordStat. Here we only delineate ourmethodology and criteria for selecting which programsto review and concentrate on discussing the types ofsupport the selected programs offer, the commonalitiesand differences of their functionality, point to someof their shortcomings and put forward suggestions forfuture development.     

A systematic literature review of crowdfunding and sustainability: highlighting what really matters

Management Review Quarterly - This article systematically reviews literature at the intersection of crowdfunding and sustainability. It analyzes the extent to which the current research foci in...     

Evaluating the impact of inequality constraints and parameter uncertainty on optimal portfolio choice

We present new analytical results for the impact of portfolio weight constraints on an investor’s optimal portfolio when parameter uncertainty is taken into account. While it is well known that parameter uncertainty and imposing weight constraints results in reduced certainty equivalent returns, in the general case, there are no analytical results. In a special case, commonly used in the funds management literature, we derive analytical expression for the certainty equivalent loss that does not depend on the risk aversion parameter. We illustrate our theoretical results using hedge fund data, from the perspective of a fund-of-fund manager. Our contribution is to formalize the framework to investigate this problem, as well as providing tractable analytical solutions that can be implemented using either simulated or asset manager returns.     

Using an Electronic Bulletin Board in Teaching Business Ethics: En route to a virtual agora

In this article the experiences of teachingbusiness ethics using electronic bulletinboards are described and discussed with a viewto developing useful guidelines andconsideration of best practice. The focus is onan electronic bulletin board on anundergraduate eCommerce degree for teaching amodule called `eCommerce in Legal and EthicalContext'. The issues of computer-mediatedcommunication (CMC) in the context of aBusiness Ethics course are discussed. Thepreconditions for its successful use includeability to use the technology, requiredparticipation in the use of the board, and theproper use of the board for pedagogic purposes.We conclude that electronic bulletin boards arewell suited to complementing other learning andteaching media on business ethics courses, andat best could create a virtual meeting ormarket place; an agora for businessethics debate.