Ethical dilemma at work: the viewpoint of bank marketers in Nigeria

The study sought to investigate the major factors that constitute ethical dilemmas for bank marketers in the workplace. The conclusive research design was adopted, and the population of the study consisted of part-time postgraduate students in the faculty of management sciences at the University of Benin who are bank marketers. Research data were analysed using structural equation modelling. Results indicate that sales target and deceptive marketing significantly influence the ethical dilemma faced by bank marketers in Nigeria. The results also showed that respondents’ perception is related to education but not related to sex, marital status and age.

     

Non-GAAP earnings and board independence

We examine the association between board independence and the characteristics of non-GAAP earnings. Our results suggest that companies with less independent boards are more likely to opportunistically exclude recurring items from non-GAAP earnings. Specifically, we find that exclusions from non-GAAP earnings have a greater association with future GAAP earnings and operating earnings when boards contain proportionally fewer independent directors. Consistent with the association between board independence and the permanence of non-GAAP exclusions reflecting opportunism rather than the economics of the firm, we find that the association declines following Regulation G and that managers appear to use exclusions to meet earnings targets prior to selling their shares more often in firms with fewer independent board members. Overall, our results suggest that board independence is positively associated with the quality of non-GAAP earnings.     

Earnings management in Malaysian IPOs: The East Asian crisis, ownership control, and post-IPO performance

We find evidence of income-increasing earnings management in Malaysian IPOs, which occurs primarily for IPOs during a period of severe economic stress (the East Asian crisis). Within the high-ownership-concentration Malaysian market, post-IPO control concerns also appear to constrain IPO earnings management: owners seem willing to accept reduced IPO proceeds and signaling opportunities to increase the likelihood of retaining control of the company post-IPO. The requirement to provide a profit guarantee does not seem to greatly affect earnings management. IPO companies engaging in aggressive income-increasing earnings management have significantly worse market-based performance than their more conservative counterparts, but again only for IPOs issued during the economic crisis period. Overall, the results suggest that personal liquidity concerns are an important factor in IPO decisions during the economic crisis.     

[In]visible [in]tangibles: Visual portraits of the business élite

Visual portraits of the business élite are widely disseminated, and form significant sites for communicating messages regarding leadership and associated intellectual, symbolic and social intangibles, yet have been neglected in accounting research. At the same time, accounting for intangibles is recognised to be inadequate. This inter-disciplinary article constructs a framework from art theory to interpret portraits of the business élite and their associated [in]visible [in]tangibles. Four sets of rhetorical codes in portraiture are identified: physical, dress, spatial and interpersonal. Illustrative portraits from annual reports and the media are analysed to indicate how [in]visible [in]tangibles are portrayed through visual rhetoric.     

Are employers assessing the right traits in hiring? Evidence from Hong Kong companies

Employers constantly function as information processors. The personnel selection process requires employers to decide among candidates characterized by multiple attributes. The purpose of this study (N = 300) was to develop an understanding of the selection decision process of recruiters, and to identify inconsistencies, if any, between recruiters' perception on the ideal qualities for effective performance and qualities actually assessed during interviews. Moreover, the paper compares the direct and indirect approaches in attribute importance estimation. Conscientiousness was the ideal quality for effective performance and Extraversion was most assessed during interviews, unveiling the possibility that managers may not be assessing the right traits and hiring the right candidate. This paper is of significance because it provides useful feedback for HR professionals and hiring managers in understanding their cognitive and actual behaviour and heightens the need for better selection strategies.     

National differences in entrepreneurial networking

The paper reports findings of a study into the personal contact networks of Greek entrepreneurs, and compares these to results already published for other countries (Canada, Japan, Italy, Northern Ireland, Sweden, the UK, and the USA). Findings show that generic behaviour across borders cannot be assumed, although similarities exist in the under-representation of women as network members, the average age of network contacts, duration of relationships, and average monthly meetings. A clear example has also been provided of a culture where business networks are very deeply embedded in social structures, and where little or no evidence of an instrumentalist neo-classical model can be found. From a theoretical perspective, adaptation of Hofstede's four-dimensional model provides a generally robust interpretive framework for the results.     

Change and the development of entrepreneurial networks over time: a processual perspective

Although it is now well established that networks contribute to entrepreneurship by extending the individual entrepreneurial asset base of human, social, market, financial and technical capacity, little work, empirical or theoretical, has examined the dynamics of networking processes in a temporal framework. Drawing on evidence from three longitudinal case studies of entrepreneurs operating in the oil industry in the North East of Scotland, this paper presents an extensive empirical investigation into network transformation over time. We are thus able to chart networks in their historical contingency. This chronological lens allows us to view patterns in network continuity and change and enables us to develop a rich conceptual framework. The study demonstrates that networks are vital living organisms, changing, growing and developing over time. Yet set in their history, networks are much more than an extension of the entrepreneurial asset base. Our data shows how a reconceptualization of the nature of networking is called for; one which privileges an understanding of the relational dynamic as a structural configuration representing the social construction of the entrepreneurial environment. Thus our conceptualization proposes that networks actually create the environment, as it is understood and operated by the entrepreneur, and that consequently the networking process is the enactment of the environment.     

Is there a unit root in the inflation rate? Evidence from sequential break and panel data models

Using sequential trend break and panel data models, we investigate the unit root hypothesis for the inflation rates of thirteen OECD countries. With individual country tests, we find evidence of stationarity in only four of the thirteen countries. The results are more striking with the panel data model. We can strongly reject the unit root hypothesis both for a panel of all thirteen countries and for a number of smaller panels consisting of as few as three countries. The non-rejection of the unit root hypothesis for inflation is very fragile to even a small amount of cross-section variation. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.