Global diversification strategy and corporate profit performance

Based on a sample of 62 multinationals, this paper examines the impact of global diversification strategy on corporate profit performance by integrating the product and the international market dimensions of diversification. The results suggest that the corporate profit performance impact of related and unrelated diversification varies contingent upon the extent of a firm's international market diversification. One important lesson of this work is that both business strategy researchers and managers should review corporate diversification as having distinct yet interactive strategic dimensions—product and international market—and they would do well to recognize both the different and the joint effect of these dimensions on corporate profit performance.     

Key institutions in business and management education research

The authors investigate institutional productivity in business and management education (BME) research based on the analysis of 4,464 articles published by 7,210 authors across 17 BME journals over a 10-year period, involving approximately 1,900 schools worldwide. Departing from traditional disciplinary silos, they examine the BME research field as a whole by including all traditional business disciplinary areas and producing two top 100 rankings, one based on raw number of author publications and the other based on weighted scores reflecting journal quality and coauthorship.     

The 7th Asia-Pacific CHRIE Conference

Despite the increase in use of user-generated electronic content as an information source by tourists, its influence in destination image formation is not yet fully understood. This research aimed to explore the communicated destination image held by tourists to Zanzibar Island (Tanzania) by utilizing communications in Lonely Planet. Content analysis of 214 posts using TextSTAT yielded 13 destination attributes. Comparatively, functional attributes were dominant in potential tourists whereas post-travel image perception was dominated by psychological attributes. Those who have visited tended to have a positive image of the island compared with those who are planning to visit the island. The results necessitate the differential use of the functional- and psychological-based information in communicating with tourists at different information-search stages. Studies to capture communications in another language are recommended as well as the employment of methodologies that might reveal hidden images held by tourists.     

A logistic regression point of view toward loss given default distribution estimation

We propose a new procedure to estimate the loss given default (LGD) distribution. Owing to the complicated shape of the LGD distribution, using a smooth density function as a driver to estimate it may result in a decline in model fit. To overcome this problem, we first apply the logistic regression to estimate the LGD cumulative distribution function. Then, we convert the result into the LGD distribution estimate. To implement the newly proposed estimation procedure, we collect a sample of 5269 defaulted debts from Moody’s Default and Recovery Database. A performance study is performed using 2000 pairs of in-sample and out-of-sample data-sets with different sizes that are randomly selected from the entire sample. Our results show that the newly proposed procedure has better and more robust performance than its alternatives, in the sense of yielding more accurate in-sample and out-of-sample LGD distribution estimates. Thus, it is useful for studying the LGD distribution.     

Structural effects of cognitive and affective reponses to web advertisements,website and brand attitudes,and purchase intentions: The case of casual-dining restaurants

This study investigates the structural relationships among responses to website advertisements, website attitudes, brand attitudes, and purchase intentions in the case of web advertisements for casual-dining restaurants. Responses toward advertising (Rad) factors were categorized as cognitive responses and affective responses. The SEM model in LISREL was used to examine the interrelationships among the proposed hypothesized constructs. Several empirical results were obtained. First, Rad had a positive effect on website attitudes. Second, website attitudes had a positive effect on brand attitudes. Third, brand attitudes had a positive effect on purchase intentions. Finally, some discussion and implications of the study are provided.     

Predicting issuer credit ratings using a semiparametric method

This paper proposes a prediction method based on an ordered semiparametric probit model for credit risk forecast. The proposed prediction model is constructed by replacing the linear regression function in the usual ordered probit model with a semiparametric function, thus it allows for more flexible choice of regression function. The unknown parameters in the proposed prediction model are estimated by maximizing a local (weighted) log-likelihood function, and the resulting estimators are analyzed through their asymptotic biases and variances. A real data example for predicting issuer credit ratings is used to illustrate the proposed prediction method. The empirical result confirms that the new model compares favorably with the usual ordered probit model.     

The Measurement of Consumption Efficiency Considering the Discrete Choice of Consumers

In this study we propose a mathematical definition of the consumption efficiency of multi-attribute products in the price–quality space. A new model, the discrete Range Adjusted Measure (RAM) model, is suggested as an empirical tool to measure the level of consumption efficiency. We further discuss the effect of consumption efficiency on the innovation incentive. Empirical work is made for the mobile phone market. We expect that the consumption efficiency concept will contribute to the extension of the traditional framework of production efficiency analysis on the one hand and to the understanding of the nature of innovation in a technology-intensive market on the other hand.JEL Classification: C67, D11, D12, D21     

Non-regular professionals' dual commitment in South Korea: antecedents and consequences

There is a growing concern with whether nonregular professionals are concurrently committed to both the organization and their profession and whether such commitments are beneficial to that organization. This article seeks to investigate the relationship between organizational justice variables and the dual commitment of nonregular professionals via perceived organizational support (POS) and the subsequent effect of the dual commitment on organizational citizen behavior. Hypotheses are developed and then tested through structural equation modeling with data collected from a total of 1143 part-time instructors at South Korean universities. The findings of this study reveal that the perceptions held by nonregular professionals of organizational justice constructs concurrently influence organizational commitment and professional commitment via POS and that both commitments are positively associated with altruistic behavior. The findings advance our understanding of the dual commitment of nonregular professionals and provide universities with managerial implications as to how to manage effectively part-time instructors. Limitations, directions for future research, and conclusions are presented.