Riverboat casinos’ impact on host communities: Comments from business owners and residents

A qualitative component was incorporated in a gaming impact study to explore how business owners and residents make sense of their lives and experiences with the presence of a riverboat casino in their community. Data collected were categorized to summarize their perceptions on the effect of riverboat casinos on their businesses, their lives, and the community. Most respondents’ comments represented a balanced view of the casinos’ influence. Increased gambling addiction appeared to be their major concern. This article provides insights of the real feelings of people who were affected the most by the gaming development.     

Australian Trade Unions' Responses to Human Resource Management Initiatives in a Globalized Era

Within the development of a human resource (HR) philosophy, the HR function has been elevated to take an active role in business strategic planning processes. It should be co-ordinated and integrated to support the notion of human resources as a source of competitive advantage, and these changes should be accompanied by greater involvement in HR matters by all managers and employees as part of their everyday work. This research focuses on the role of trade unions and their strategies in maintaining a pro-active position within workplaces that embrace a HR framework. If the goal of a unified workforce, committed to common goals, is to be realized it is critical that industrial relations reflect this philosophy. Employee commitment becomes a pivotal precondition for success. This view raises questions about whether dual commitment to both the organization and union is possible, or indeed whether such an approach precludes the need for unions. Greenfield sites, relatively free from past negative stereotypes, have been identified for the research because they offer an untarnished opportunity for the practice of effective HR principles and the observation of union responses.     

Good disclosure doesn't cure bad accounting—Or does it?: Evaluating the case for SFAS 158

This paper investigates whether the newly required recognition of the funded status of defined benefit (DB) plans under SFAS 158 is incrementally value relevant in its adoption year (2006) relative to the corresponding amounts which were previously disclosed from both equity investor and credit rating perspectives. In equity valuation models, we use a sample of 878 firms (1756 firm years) offering DB plans in 2005 (disclosure year) and 2006 (recognition year), and find no incrementally significant association with market prices of newly recognized amounts under SFAS 158 over the same information that was disclosed pre-SFAS 158. Our credit rating tests, using a sample of 428 DB firms (856 firm years) for 2005 and 2006 also show no differential impact of recognition over disclosure. Overall, we find that equity investors price the SFAS 158-imposed pension differential while credit rating agencies do not, regardless of whether such information is recognized or disclosed in the financial statements. Our results are consistent with efficiency in both equity and credit markets with respect to pension information and suggest that SFAS 158 has not changed the way market participants in aggregate use pension-related financial statement information.     

The agency problem and the moderating role of culturally based management style on Chinese managers’ discretionary accruals

Upon completion of overseas acquisitions, Western firms typically hire Chinese locals or expatriates to run their Chinese operations. This action is an important consideration because a Western executive's managerial style may impact Chinese employee behavior differently than a Chinese executive's managerial style. Utilizing an experiment with Chinese managers as participants, we examine the effect of the agency problem (when both an incentive and opportunity to act in line with one's self-interest are present) on Chinese managers’ discretionary accrual decisions, as well as the role that their executives’ culturally based management style (Eastern versus Western) plays in affecting their propensity to manage earnings. We find that Chinese managers tend to override corporate concerns and recommend higher discretionary expense accruals in an effort to maximize their two-year bonus potential when the agency problem is present. Conversely, they tend to recommend lower discretionary expense accrual figures to help achieve corporate goals when the agency problem is not present. Interestingly, we also find that an executive's culturally based management style moderates the impact of the agency problem in that Chinese managers’ willingness to manage earnings across agency problem conditions is significantly more pronounced in the presence of a Western (U.S.) executive than in the presence of an Eastern (Chinese) executive.     

Assessing policy measures for the stimulation of intermodal transport: a GIS-based policy analysis

Intermodal transport is the combination and integration of several transport modes (such as rail, inland waterways with road transport). In order to make the transhipment easy and efficient standard loading units are used, such as containers or swap-bodies. As for the main haul, more environmental friendly modes are used (rail and inland waterways) and a modal shift towards these modes can help in reducing the congestion. Therefore several policies are directed to stimulate the intermodal transport market.In this paper, a location analysis model for Belgian intermodal terminals (LAMBIT) is developed and used to assess different policy measures in Belgium. The simulations show that the different policy measures oriented towards the rail/road and inland waterways/road combinations should be incorporated in a coherent, integrated vision, in order to not create a modal shift between the different intermodal transport options. The methodology can easily be extended towards a European scale.     

Making evaluation an integral part of injury programme implementation

Uncertainty about the nature of evaluation can lead to injury prevention programme evaluations being poorly resourced and poorly conducted. The aim of this paper is to demystify programme evaluation and, by stressing its function, offer a perspective on evaluation that may encourage its more widespread integration in the general activity of injury prevention and control. Programme evaluation is best understood simply as the process of getting answers to essential questions about a programme. Methodology used in evaluation needs to be based in empirical science but is otherwise unrestricted except by the chosen question and the practical circumstances relating to the programme and the community in which it is implemented. Discussion about which methodology is appropriate for evaluation research is (unwittingly) a debate about 'which questions should you be asking?'. If the right people ask the right (and properly formulated) questions and build the means of obtaining the information to answer these questions (using appropriate methodology) into the conduct of the programme then evaluation will no longer be a problem but an essential component of the overall effort to reduce the community burden of injury.     

The impact of gasoline price fluctuations on lodging demand for US brand hotels

Analyzing US brand hotels, over a 13-year period, this study provides empirical evidence of a significant negative relationship between gasoline prices and demand for certain lodging products, controlling for economic factors (i.e. gross domestic product and population density). Applying principles from microeconomic demand theory to the literatures on gasoline price elasticities, consumer demographics and lodging demand, a set of hypotheses were devised to test the relationship between gasoline prices and lodging demand for specific hotel locations and price segments. Using fixed effects models, the results reveal that lodging demand decreases as gasoline prices rise in all segments except upper-upscale and all locations except urban areas. Hotels in midscale without food and beverage and economy market segments, in resort, suburban and highway locations, exhibit the greatest association between gasoline price shifts and demand. Implications of these findings are discussed for both hospitality research and practice.     

Next generation workforce

The health care industry has become a very complex business. CQsts are rising and resources such as funding and human capital are diminishing. Human capital resources are about to reach true crisis proportions. The vital workforce we have counted on is expected to begin thinning as large numbers of Boomers retire. Not only does this deplete the workforce from a pure numbers perspective, but it also affects intellectual capital and institutional memory. Generational trends and characteristics have affected the workforce environment and will continue to do so as another generation continues to enter the workforce. Generation Y, also tagged Nexter, offers core values that can bring positive changes to the health care workforce. Technology continues to change at lightning speed. Embracing new technology and using it to refine the way we do business will help deliver success. Meaningful strategic plans are needed to change the model of business delivery and employee care in our future workforce.