What is professional attire today? A conjoint analysis of personal presentation attributes

Personal presentation attributes have long been understood to affect perceptions of competence and capabilities. To that end, this study investigates seven attributes associated with favorable interview presentation, including overall physical attractiveness, neatness and grooming, clothing color, conservative versus trendy attire, professional versus casual attire, and body modification (including tattoos and piercings). Participants (n = 108), including students, faculty, and hospitality industry professionals, sorted an orthogonal array of 16 full-color, laminated cards that contained photos so that respondents could see levels of clothing color, clothing conservativeness, and degree of professional attire. The remaining attributes and their corresponding levels were shown on respective analog indicators. The conjoint analysis results indicate that grooming and professional attire are the most important attributes in shaping favorable perceptions. Furthermore, faculty perceived conservative clothing to be better while students and industry professionals indicated that trendy clothing creates a more favorable presentation on the part of a job candidate.     

Emotional arousal and entrepreneurial outcomes: Combining qualitative methods to elaborate theory

This qualitative study of innovators in the superyacht industry blends longitudinal content analysis with narrative case vignettes to extend nascent theorizing about the antecedents and consequences associated with the arousal of entrepreneurial emotion. The empirically grounded framework induced through our research offers two key theoretical elaborations. First, it extends the existing set of theorized antecedents by highlighting the overlooked roles played by dramatic performances (staged or improvised) and ambient conditions (project, actor and venue considerations). Second, it calls attention to the consequences of emotional arousal for such entrepreneurial outcomes as generating novel solutions to specific problems encountered during the creation process, developing innovative end products, and fostering a general context for innovation.     

Cash Flow Estimation and Cost of Capital for Overseas Projects

Several issues concerning foreign project evaluation are critically examined. The paper suggests that the point of view for analysis, cost of capital and cash flow estimation be internally consistent. Three points of views of analysis, local, global, and parent specific, are identified and various inconsistencies in the estimation of the initial outlay and project cash flows are identified. The elimination of the inconsistencies is discussed. It is argued that the treatment of blocked funds is relevant only from the parent specific point of view. A number of alternatives for the estimate of the terminal value is also suggested. The differences between the parent specific point of view and the global and local views are sharply drawn. An integrated scheme is also presented to underscore the need for consistency in evaluating foreign investments.     

Managed care, consolidation among health care providers, and health care: evidence from mammography

We discuss the effects of managed care on the structure of the health care delivery system, focusing on managed-care-induced consolidation among health care providers. We empirically investigate the relationship between HMO market share and mammography providers. We find evidence of consolidation: increases in HMO activity are associated with reductions in the number of mammography providers and with increases in the number of services produced by remaining providers. We also find that increases in HMO market share are associated with reductions in costs for mammography and with increases in waiting times for appointments, but not with worse health outcomes.     

Informal authority in organizations

We assert that decision rights in organizations are not contractible:the boss can always overturn a subordinate's decision, so formalauthority resides only at the top. Although decision rightscannot be formally delegated, they might be informally delegatedthrough self-enforcing relational contracts. We examine thefeasibility of informal authority in two informational environments.We show that different information structures produce differentdecisions not only because different information is broughtto bear in the decision-making process, but also because differentinformation creates different temptations to renege on relationalcontracts. In addition, we explore the implications of formaldelegation achieved through divestitures.     

Non‐profit vulnerability: An exploratory study

This mixed‐method study explores the symptoms and potential causes of non‐profit vulnerability within the Australian context. Following two focus groups with CEOs and Chairs of non‐profit organizations, an online survey was developed, pilot tested and distributed to non‐profit CEOs. Our findings suggest three symptoms that might be particularly useful in identifying non‐profit vulnerability: a substantial increase in unit costs/delivery hours; a substantial increase in the proportion of administration to program expenses; and a reduced ability to pursue the organization's mission. The results also suggest various potential causes of non‐profit vulnerability; in particular, Board inadequacies; External environmental threats; Project management issues; and Funding constraints.     

Speculations about geopolitics in the late 21st century

Speculations are made about the global power balance in the next century. The time frame is 50–100 years and the driving forces are economic, technological, and natural resource availability. It is believed that three dominant coalitions will emerge: a Western hemisphere maritime grouping led by the US and including the UK; a European grouping dominated by France and Germany; and an East and South Asia grouping led by Japan and including India. The underlying motivation for these alignments is the postulated failure of the World Trade Organization to achieve long-term global free trade. A short-term policy recommendation to upgrade the buying power of Western hemisphere consumer populations is developed from the analysis.