Operational Risk Measurement in Banking Institutions and Investment Firms: New European Evidences

The banking/investment sector must deal with a new variable, Operational Risk, for explaining various recent crises and bankruptcies. Operational Risk, which can be defined briefly as the risk generated by possible failures of a entity's Information Systems (IS), must be measured, covered, mitigated and managed by applying a series of methodologies, each of which assumes that the IS of the bank operates at a certain Stage of Sophistication. The present study proposes a scheme of evolution that details the stages of enhancement in the sophistication of their IS that banking entities may implement, so as to be capable of capturing, mitigating and managing Operational Risk. Using econometric methods, we create a proxy variable to capture the IS Sophistication of each entity. Then, the factor of entity size has been analyzed, and the country effect is explored. Additionally, the importance of intangible assets is weighted, among others entity aspects. The entity size has been revealed as the variable with most influence on the plans formulated in this respect by European entities, against other variables also considered in the present study, such as the country effect or the importance of intangible assets. The work shows how IS decisions referring to Operational Risk management are very influenced by size. It could introduce competition differences in the European banking system.     

Interesting times: European criminal markets in 2015

Contemporary policing and the control of organized crime increasingly involve priority setting and planning. Criminal policymakers no longer focus on repressive aspects of organized crime, but want to be informed about coming challenges and threats in order to take appropriate preventive action. For that reason, there is a growing demand to change the traditional assessments of organized crime into analyses that include more prospective elements about current and potential future organized crime situations to identify specific risks or threats to society. Given the high degree of uncertainty that characterizes our understanding of organized crime, we suggest that scenario thinking can contribute to the strategic planning process of public and private security actors. We intend to advance this claim by means of an application of this technique to the organized crime involvement in criminal markets in Europe.     

Re-examining salesperson goal orientations: Personality influencers, customer orientation, and work satisfaction

Several scholars have noted the importance of relationship marketing and the critical role that salesperson knowledge plays in the formation of buyer-seller relationships. However, research on salesperson learning motivations has been relatively scarce compared with research on firm-level learning orientations. One promising stream of research in this area is salesperson goal orientation. Drawing from previous work in control theory, the authors extend previous research in this area by proposing relationships between personality influencers, goal orientations, customer/selling orientation, and overall work satisfaction. Their hypotheses are tested using data obtained from a sample of 190 real estate agents. The results provide support for their hypothesized model. Specifically, learning orientation is shown to positively influence customer orientation, while performance orientation is shown to positively influence selling orientation. Eric G. Harris (eharris@lklnd.usf.edu Ph.D., Oklahoma State University) is an assistant professor of marketing at the University of South Florida. His current research interests include goal orientation, customer orientation, and personality models applied to consumer and employee behavior. He has published articles in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Psychology & Marketing, theJournal of Consumer Marketing, theJournal of Business & Psychology, Services Marketing Quarterly, theJournal of Services Marketing, and theJournal of Marketing Management. John C. Mowen (jcmmkt@okstate.edu) Ph.D., Arizona State University) is Regents Professor and holds the Noble Chair of Marketing Strategy at Oklahoma State University. He has published articles in numerous leading journals, including theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Marketing, Decisions Sciences, theJournal of Applied Psychology, theJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychology and Marketing, and theJournal of Consumer Psychology. He is a past president of the Society for Consumer Psychology. His teaching and consulting interests focus on consumer behavior and motivating the workforce. His research focuses on the factors that motivate and influence the decisions of consumers and employees. Tom J. Brown (tom.brown@okstate.edu; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin) is Ardmore Professor of Business Administration and an associate professor of marketing at Oklahoma State University. His articles have appeared in leading marketing journals, including theJournal of Marketing Research, the Journal of Marketing, theJournal of Consumer Research, and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science. His current research interests include causes and effects of corporate reputation and the customer orientation of service workers. He is cofounder of the Corporate Identity/Associations Research Group. Teaching interests include marketing research, services marketing, and corporate communications. He is coauthor (with Gilbert A. Churchill Jr.) ofBasic Marketing Research (5th ed.). Consulting interests include marketing research, corporate reputation, and the customer orientation of service workers.     

Multicointegration in Stock-Flow Models

Multicointegration, in the sense of Granger and Lee (1990), frequently occurs in models of stock-flow adjustment and implies cointegration amongst I(2) variables and their differences (polynomial cointegration). The purpose of this article is two-fold. First, we demonstrate that based on a multicointegrated vector autoregression (VAR) two equivalent error correction model (ECM) representations can be derived; the first is expressed in terms of adjustments in the flows of the variables (the standard I(2) ECM), and the second is expressed in terms of adjustments in both the stocks and the flows. Secondly, we apply I(2) estimation and testing procedures for multicointegrated time series to analyze data for US housing construction. We find that stocks of housing units started and completed exhibit poly- nomial cointegration (and hence the flows are multicointegrated) and the associated ECM's are estimated. Lee (1992, 1996) also found multicointegration in this data set but without explicitly exploiting the I(2) property.     

Factors affecting non‐green consumer behaviour: an exploratory study among Chinese consumers

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that affect a typical non‐green consumption behaviour among Chinese consumers. A conceptual framework was developed and an empirical study was conducted using a geographically diverse sample of Chinese consumers. Based on the consumer choice theory, the conceptual framework in the current study included both economic and non‐economic factors. Ten research hypotheses were developed under the framework. A survey was conducted among 600 consumers in four cities in China in 2013. Confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used for hypothesis testing. The empirical results showed that consumer preference, reference groups, and face perception have a significantly positive effect on the consumers’ non‐green consumption behaviour; whereas budget constraints and social responsibility consciousness have a significantly negative effect on the consumers’ non‐green consumption behaviour. Furthermore, the current research demonstrated that the relationships between consumer non‐green behaviour and its four antecedents – budget constraint, reference groups, social responsibility consciousness and face perception – are significantly moderated by extravagant atmosphere; whereas the relationship between consumer non‐green behaviour and consumer preference is not moderated by extravagant atmosphere.     

Shower It,In Your Bathroom

Technology always brings us surprise and change life everyday. What you said,when you do your wool suits domestic cleaning with warm water at about 40° C,at your bathroom?Crazy?Easy-care?Wow,it’s all about MerinoFreshTM!     

Long-term care insurance matures as a benefit

Forty-eight percent of U.S. businesses now offer long-term care insurance (LTCI) coverage, an increase of 15% since 1998. As more organizations realize the added value of LTCI in the employee benefit package, they have also found that motivation to buy varies with employee financial standing, gender and age, and that targeted employee education as part of retirement planning is essential.     

Businessmen and land ownership in the late nineteenth century

This article analyses the proportions of personal to real estate wealth for a group of 295 businessmen profiled in the Dictionary of business biography . It shows that businessmen who owned land on a large scale in the late nineteenth century were a comparatively small group who retained a small proportion of their total wealth in landed assets. Low levels of social mobility are identified as a function of land purchase, and new insights are given into the relationship between wealth, status, and land ownership. Any integration of business and landed wealth in this period was not a consequence of businessmen becoming landowners.