STATE OF LOGISTICS: A VISIONARY PERSPECTIVE

Mentzer and Kahn (1994) advocated that the Journal of Business Logistics (JBL) needed to mature. As a follow‐up to that study, the authors analyzed the Journal from the second half of 1993 through the first issue of 2005. Though the study results suggest that more rigorous research has been conducted over the last decade in the field of logistics, did it improve the Journal? Are the standards and criteria put forth in Mentzer and Kahn (1994) the standards and criteria toward which JBL should strive? To address these questions, qualitative interviews were conducted with visionaries in the field of logistics to: (1) investigate the standards and criteria that should be used to gauge the maturity of JBL and (2) determine the future direction of JBL and the discipline.     

Economic incentives and the demand for accounting information: Perspectives from medieval English finance

In this paper we examine similarities that medieval English finance bears to modern systems of national finance. First, the medieval system afforded economic incentives which invited potential abuse by self-interested parties; second, while proposed solutions to such abuses were both administrative and fiscal, the fiscal monitoring solutions were largely accounting in nature. We discuss several of the medieval abuses and their accounting-based solutions instituted from, roughly, A.D. 1200 to 1375. We conclude that many of the economic factors and competing relationships of constituent groups are remarkably similar in principle and application to today’s environment. By gaining a perspective on their historical bases, we can gain a richer understanding of current practices.     

Adapting human resource planning in a changing business environment

Contemporary human resource planning (HRP) practice is described on the basis of a survey of 137 companies. Results indicate widespread use of simple forecasting techniques and increased acceptance of HRP during the turbulent 1980s, supporting the notion that HRP adapts to the business environment and has increasingly become a line management process. The forecasting component of HRP was found to serve several functions, the most frequent being developmental. HRP problems have evolved into concerns about the strategic planning role of HRP in the 1990s as opposed to the more technical issues of the past.     

Structuring financial statement analysis projects to enhance critical thinking skills development

This paper documents a method of structuring financial statement analysis projects to enhance the development of students’ critical thinking skills. The project is structured in a cooperative learning framework in which a student accesses financial statement information from the World Wide Web, performs a financial statement analysis, and then engages in an exercise with other students who have analyzed firms in the same industry. Both the individual and team phases of the project offer opportunities for students to develop several important critical thinking skills.     

Hedging grain price risk in the SADC: Case studies of Malawi and Zambia

We use simulation methods to examine the results of hedging maize food security imports into Malawi and Zambia on the South African Exchange (SAFEX). Results show that hedging using either futures or options can spread import costs over time, thereby reducing variability, and also possibly generating lower average costs. These benefits are increased if hedging only takes place when local prices are at less than import parity and also if the hedge is levered. However, problems will remain so long as intra-regional transport costs remain high.     

Patient safety: the four domains of nursing leadership

The role of the nurse leader in patient safety can be characterized as follows: to establish the right culture; to infuse that culture with shared leadership so that the expert voice at the bedside is really defining the work; to possess the competencies necessary to coordinate and advance this complex initiative; and to forge both internal and external partnerships, because we will not be able to do this work alone. To further the work on this topic, nurse leaders who participated in the Nursing Leadership Congress are committed to identifying additional resources to help nurse leader colleagues drive patient safety efforts throughout their organizations.     

Hospital RNs' and CNOs' perceptions of the impact of the nursing shortage on the quality of care

The results of analyses of the 2002 and 2004 National Sample Surveys of RNs and the 2004 National Sample of CNOs document the widespread perception that the shortage of nurses is a major problem for the overall quality of patient care in hospitals. In the eyes of the majority of hospital RNs and CNOs surveyed, care processes involving communication, timely response to pages and telephone calls, delays in patient discharges, and the time patients had to wait for tests and procedures were all affected negatively by the nursing shortage. These results are not encouraging.     

Is the shortage of hospital registered nurses getting better or worse? Findings from two recent national surveys of RNs

The results of two recent national surveys of RNs that were conducted at a time when the nursing shortage in the U.S. was in full force (2002) and 2 years later (2004) were compared. The findings provide a mixed assessment: on the one hand, there is evidence that the shortage has eased since 2002 and that there have been notable improvements in the lives of nurses; on the other hand, the shortage has had a negative impact on hospitals and nurses, and longstanding problems associated with the workplace environment remain.     

An Antitakeover Amendment for Stakeholders?

The non-financial effects (NFE) antitakeover amendment addresses the duties of company directors and management when faced with a possible takeover bid. The NFE amendment either permits or requires managers to consider the interests of the company's stakeholders during takeover bids. Other types of antitakeover devices have been viewed as protecting either stockholder or management interests. The NFE amendment would appear to protect a broad spectrum of interests including those of company employees, creditors, and the community in which the company operates. Positive market returns to the adoption of NFE amendments provide some evidence that investors approve. The percent of both management and institutional ownership are positively related to the market reaction to the NFE amendment adoption. To the extent that institutional ownership proxies for the broad spectrum of stakeholder interest, NFE devices, unlike some other amendments that have been studied, appear to be in the interests of more than a single interest group.