Family-supportive organizations and supervisors: how do they influence employee outcomes and for whom?

In the present study, we examine a model which seeks to specify the process through which work-family supportive organizations and supervisors influence important organizational outcomes, including commitment and performance. Findings indicated that family-supportive organization perceptions are best conceptualized as influencing family-supportive supervisor behaviors, which in turn influence subordinate self-efficacy, subordinate affective commitment to the organization and subordinate perceptions of supervisor work effort. Subordinate self-efficacy and affective commitment were also both found to independently mediate the relationship between family-supportive supervisor behaviors and self-rated performance. Interestingly, the model functioned similarly for employees with and without dependent care responsibilities, indicating that work-family policies and support are important for all employees, regardless of their familial status. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations and future research directions are discussed.     

Building the sustainable iMuseum: is the virtual museum leaving our museums virtually empty?

This case study offers a combination of content analysis of secondary sources web sites and annual reports to profile online behaviour and practice for the museum sector. Using case analysis of 12 international and domestic museums, the role of services and the online interfaces offered in a museum context are presented. The arts and cultural sector sustaining museums has long been an essential part of enriching and informing the community of historical, scientific and artistic pleasures. The reduction in museum budgets, and the implementation of performance measures based on customer satisfaction management, museums face increasing pressure to attract wider audiences. This requires an understanding of visitor expectations, and experiences, and the identification of opportunities such as online channels to improve awareness and visitation. This case through the collation of data and analysis of 12 museums will present an overall view of current operations of museums internationally and there approach to online channels. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling regime shift behaviour in Asian real interest rates

In this paper we investigate whether real interest rates for a number of Asian economies are constant but subject to occasional jumps using the Markov switching technique. We find evidence that all six rates under consideration have generally been stable, only shifting in response to either international or country-specific shocks.     

Smooth Sailing?: Passengers' Assessment of Cruise Brand Equity

This study proposes and tests the influence of the cruise ship brand equity model on behavioral intentions by utilizing the constructs of brand loyalty, image, awareness, message, and perceived quality. The study found overall that brand loyalty and perceived quality were most influential on the behavioral intentions of cruise passengers. Specifically, repeat purchase intentions, the likelihood of recommending the brand to others, and brand preference were found to be significant in the model. The finding is consistent with extant literature which credits brand loyalty with being the most influential variable on cruise passenger's behavioral intentions. Brand image was the most highly correlated construct with behavioral intentions and was found to lack discriminant validity although theory distinguishes the two as separate constructs. The results from this study may be useful to cruise line corporations, particularly in formulating successful marketing campaigns and in encouraging relationship building with customers.     

Assessing Growth Estimates in IPO Valuations—A Case Study

A common practice in discounted cash flow (DCF) valuations of growth businesses is to forecast cash flows over some initial period (say, five years) and then use a "perpetuity-with-growth" calculation to estimate the "terminal" value beyond that period. The assumed growth rate generally has a very large effect on the overall valuation, and there is no universally accepted method for challenging the assumptions underlying the selected growth rate. This article presents a framework based on the concept of Market Implied Competitive Advantage Period (MICAP) analysis that can be used to evaluate such growth assumptions and then demonstrates the use of that framework in the IPO valuation of Jordan Telecom.     

Human resources in the 1980s

As the decade of the 1970s closes, new trends in human resources will test the ingenuity of corporate planners to produce policies for the 1980s that will match changing corporate demands with changing employee expectations. The 1970s have produced much-publicized problems--for example, the introduction to the work force of larger numbers of minorities and women--that are not yet fully resolved and that can be expected to continue. But the 1980s will bring their own special challenges. Shifting populations (such as legal and illegal immigrants), the women's movement's demand for equal pay for work of comparable worth, and the push for civil liberties at the workplace are all factors that will dramatically change the business climate. With these factors in mind, the author examines the 1980s' business environment, takes a backward look at planning policies in the 1970s, and shows how the priorities of those policies will have to be reevaluated to meet the challenges of the future.     

From contract to speech: the courts and CPA licensing laws 1921–1996

This paper explores the ways in which accounting, licensing legislation and the courts have intersected over time, shaping and reshaping the contours of the CPA's economic jurisdiction and thereby restricting and/or enhancing competition between CPAs and the uncertified. While much attention has focused on the use of legislation and favorable interpretations of these statutes as a means of obtaining and expanding exclusive areas of work, little work has considered the role of the courts as a forum in which to contest and thereby limit the expansion activities of CPAs. The courts have played an important role in deciding issues such as who can be called a CPA, who can be called an accountant and when can a CPA be called a CPA. In deciding these issues, the courts have relied upon shifting constitutional arguments to advance and curb the jurisdiction building activities of CPAs. Early arguments called upon notions of the freedom of contract to challenge legislatively imposed limits on who might perform accounting work. Such arguments were later supplemented and eventually supplanted by those based upon freedom of speech, a freedom only recently held to extend to commercial speech. These shifting arguments are traced in the paper which concludes with some observations about the changing significance of the CPA designation.     

Housing tenure choice

This article revisits the microeconomics of housing tenure choice. It asks, How does a rational consumer make housing tenure decisions? The article builds on earlier papers on the subject in two ways. First, it brings together all relevant components of the portfolio decision in a single and coherent analytical framework. Second, it presents numerical analysis with carefully chosen national data and post-1986 tax reform tax provisions. The conclusion is that occupancy required for ownership to be rational is probably somewhat longer than it was during the 1970s and early 1980s, and is probably longer than many economists suspect. It seems apparent from the numerical analysis that substantial segments of the U.S. population should not be owner-occupiers regardless of anticipated occupancy.     

美国次级按揭贷款危机的启示

在一连串警示信号后,美国"次级按揭贷款危机"成为近期的关注焦点。尽管有多家按揭公司倒闭、贷款拖欠率和被取消赎回权创历史纪录、次级贷款的要求也大大提高,但是到目前为止次级按揭贷款危机对美国重要金融机构的影响还是有限的。本文回顾了次级债市场的历史和结构,并认为,尽管债券发行和融资技术似乎增加了金融系统的稳定性,却是以降低对客户保护的监管效力为代价。最后提出解决该问题的建议。