Environmental performance: Quality,measurement and improvement

Environmental management is becoming a key business management concern. Effective management requires appropriate and timely data on which decisions can be based. In addition, there is increasing pressure to provide reports on the environmental probity of companies. This requires objective, factual data. This paper considers this aspect from the perspective of the quality of environmental performance. Measurement techniques are outlined and their use in on-going performance appraisal and monitoring to show improvements is discussed. Potential pitfalls in taking reported environmental performance claims at their face value are also considered.     

Consensus analysts' earnings forecasts and security returns

This study examines the information content and informational efficiency of consensus analysts' forecasts in an Australian setting. Consistent with Lys and Sohn (1990) and Abarbanell (1991), analysts' forecasts were found to possess information content but did not incorporate all publicly available information. The empirical analysis in this paper suggests that negative security returns are associated with higher forecast errors. This contrasts with the results of Lys and Sohn (1990) and is consistent with a positive bias in forecasts. However, this did not preclude analysts' forecasts from being viable proxies for the market's expectations of future earnings.Michael Aitken, Alex Frino and Roland Winn are Professor, Senior Lecturer and Associate Lecturer, respectively, at the University of Sydney. The authors thank McIntosh Securities for the use of the McBARCEP database. However, the views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and are not intended to represent those of McIntosh Securities Ltd. The authors also thank two anonymous referees, Wai-Ming Fong and other participants at the Second Annual Asia-Pacific Finance Conference. The corresponding author for this paper is Roland Winn, Department of Finance H03, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.     

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Product Market Integration and Wages in Unionized Countries

This paper addresses the effects of product market integration on wages. We develop a two–country general equilibrium model of international trade with imperfectly competitive product markets and unionized labor markets. Integration is modelled as either a fall in fixed or variable trade costs. A reduction in fixed trade costs leads to an unambiguous decrease in wages, whereas a reduction in variable trade costs has an ambiguous effect on wages.
JEL classification : F 15; J 5; L 13     

解读资产管理公司的成功要素

在未来资产管理行业的竞争中,强大的品牌、有效的渠道、丰富的产品组合和深度的客户细分将成为关键的成功要素。个人用户的发展对于资产管理公司具有重要的意义。在中国,随着商业银行的进入,资产管理的行业格局将发生巨大的变化。对于独立的资产管理公司,在品牌和渠道处于弱势的情况下,如何通过产品管理、渠道建设和品牌建设提升自身的竞争实力至关重要;而对于商业银行,尽管具有品牌和渠道的天然优势,但只有能够提供有竞争力的产品才可以满足客户的需求,同时商业银行在拥有自身产品的情况下是否仍然代为销售竞争性产品也需要进行仔细衡量,从而在满足客户多样化需求和实现自身利益最大化中找到最佳平衡点。     

How to identify leadership potential: Development and testing of a consensus model

Building on two studies, the current article responds to urgent calls in the literature for more empirical research on how to identify leadership potential. Based on an extensive review of the 1986–2010 literature, and applying a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques, we developed a model of leadership potential consisting of four quadrants: Analytical skills (containing the factors Intellectual curiosity, Strategic insight, Decision making, and Problem solving); Learning agility (containing the factors Willingness to learn, Emotional intelligence, and Adaptability); Drive (containing the factors Results orientation, Perseverance, and Dedication); and Emergent leadership (containing the factors Motivation to lead, Self‐promotion, and Stakeholder sensitivity). Notably, the developed model steers clear from some of the typical issues that tend to hinder valid assessments of leadership potential (i.e., the confound between performance and potential, as well as that between leadership potential and successful, mature leadership). Furthermore, high consensus was found between top managers, line managers, and HR managers about the practical relevance of the proposed model. The article concludes with some specific future avenues for research and practice. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.