Investment opportunities and Irish equity offerings

Numerous empirical studies confirm that the stock market reacts negatively to the announcement of an equity issue. Yet some seasoned offerings occasion a positive market response. Studies investigating the differentiation of positive from negative responses should contribute to our understanding of both market and firm behaviour. In addition, few studies to date have examined market responses in other institutional and/or geographical settings. A sample of 95 open offerings by Irish firms between 1987 and 1994 is investigated and, surprisingly, a neutral market response is discovered. The hypothesis that a positive market response is due to a firm's growth opportunities is tested. The intuition underlying this growth opportunity hypothesis is that investors perceive the potential gain in growth opportunities and willingly fund such investments. The Irish evidence supports this hypothesis. It is conjectured that the lack of a long-term debt market in Ireland may explain these results.     

Strategic exchange in the development of Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS)

The potential of computerised human resource information systems (HRIS) is often not realised for several reasons. Taking a relational/processual rather than a systems approach, a case study of a global HRIS developement project is examined using strategic exchange to highlight important social considerations of organisational, group and individual projects.     

The Diversion of Order Flow on French Stocks from CAC to SEAQ International: a Field Study

The competition between SEAQ International and Continental European equity markets to attract transactions in the most actively traded European stocks has intensified since the late 1980s. Because their transactions are organised in a different manner, and because reporting standards are not the same, comparisons of official transaction volumes from SEAQ International and the French CAC market system are misleading. The objective of this paper is to scrutinise the order flow for French stocks and the reporting procedures on both market systems, so as to ascertain the effective transactions on each market and estimate actual market shares. Based on both the observation of official statistics and a field study of order flows conducted among five large and active brokerage houses with a book on both markets, SEAQI's market share in French stocks as reported in previous studies using only official volume statistics seems largely overstated.     

Consumer Confusion Over the Significance of Meat Attributes: The Case of Veal

Animal scientists today can produce pale colored grain-fed veal, thus achieving a high quality grade, while averting concerns over unethical treatment of milk-fed calves and excessive antibiotic use in milk-fed veal production. It is feared, however, that consumers may reject pale cuts of veal labeled as Grain-fed. Random parameter logit analyses of data from repeated choice experiments conducted in six suburban supermarkets in Quebec (n = 1027) revealed that intrinsic color of veal meat and extrinsic labeling of production method may significantly influence product choice; however, the direction of effects were inconsistent across ethnic and non-ethnic consumers and between experienced and non-experienced consumers of veal meat. Price effects were significant, but with a positive mean and a large standard deviation, indicating that, for many consumers, price may act as an surrogate indicator of veal meat quality. Older freshness dates were significantly discounted. It thus appears that most consumers will not categorically reject pale veal meat with a grain-fed label.     

On the relationship of hope and gratitude to corporate social responsibility

A longitudinal study of 308 white-collar U.S. employees revealed that feelings of hope and gratitude increase concern for corporate social responsibility (CSR). In particular, employees with stronger hope and gratitude were found to have a greater sense of responsibility toward employee and societal issues; interestingly, employee hope and gratitude did not affect sense of responsibility toward economic and safety/quality issues. These findings offer an extension of research by Giacalone, Paul, and Jurkiewicz (2005, Journal of Business Ethics, 58, 295-305). Lynne M. Andersson, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Human Resource Management at the Fox School of Business and Management, Temple University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her teaching and scholarship focus on the dark side of business organizations; in particular, she’s been examining some social maladies that are arguably associated with late capitalism (cynicism and incivility) as well as the role of social activism in countering capitalist barriers to sustainability. Robert A. Giacalone, Ph.D. is Professor of Human Resource Management at the Fox School of Business and Management, Temple University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His research interests focus on the impact of workplace spirituality and changing values on business ethics. He is currently Co-editor of the Ethics in Practice book series. Carole L. Jurkiewicz, Ph.D. is the John W. Dupuy Endowed Professor and Women’s Hospital Distinguished Professor of Healthcare Management at Louisiana State University. She has published numerous research articles, books, and news articles on the topics of organizational ethics, leadership, and behavior.     

Centralised order books versus hybrid order books: A paired comparison of trading costs on NSC (Euronext Paris) and SETS (London Stock Exchange)

This article compares the cost of trading large capitalisation equities on the hybrid order-driven segment of the London Stock Exchange and the centralised electronic order book of Euronext. Using samples of stocks matched according to economic sector, free float capitalisation, and trading volume, our study shows that transaction costs are lower on the centralised order book than on the hybrid order book. The presence of dealers outside the electronic order book favours the frequency of large trades, but is associated with higher execution costs for all other trades and higher adverse selection and inventory costs inside the order book.     

The Transition to the Euro: Some Perspectives from Economic Psychology

The reactions of EU consumers to the arrival of the euro are likely to be far more complex than people's typical pragmatic and expedient adaptations to everyday economic change. This article discusses the major problems and psychological issues that are likely to arise in domains where the euro can be expected to have a major impact. More specifically, the domains considered include the following: the symbolic meanings of money; learning, remembering and information- processing; judgement and decision-making; expectations, concerns, and beliefs of EU citizens (consumers); and, propaganda, communication and attitude change. The article concludes with a number of tentative policy recommendations.     

Right from Wrong: The Influence of Spirituality on Perceptions of Unethical Business Activities

A network sample of 162 employees from across the U.S. was studied to assess the relationship between individual spirituality and perceptions of unethical business activities. Analyses indicate that degree of individual spirituality influences whether an individual perceives a questionable business practice as ethical or unethical. Ramifications of these findings regarding the role of spirituality in enhancing workplace ethicality, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.