Changes in the marketing and operational capacity of retail sector firms through corporate securitization

Corporate securitization is a structured finance product that retail companies use to raise funds on the back of their operating assets. We investigate whether corporate securitization enhances the retail firm's marketing and operational capacity through a set of structural enhancements including operating covenants. Operating covenants are designed to mitigate the financial and operating risks of a securitized business and improve its marketing potential. Using the case of a retail firm's securitization, the United Kingdom's Mitchell's & Butler's, we find some support for this conjecture. We also find that corporate securitization is more successful where managers have considerable scope for making changes in the retail firm's operating and marketing environment.     

Managing international joint ventures to improve performance: The role of structural and social mechanisms

Poor performance has been a major concern in research on international joint ventures (IJVs). This study integrates the IJV management mechanisms from transaction cost theory (TCT) and social exchange theory (SET) in order to gain insights into management mechanisms that improve IJV performance. The framework consists of three structural (i.e., symmetric dependence, symmetric equity share and resource complementarity) and three social (i.e., trust, communication and cultural adaptation) IJV management mechanisms, which are considered as potential determinants of IJV performance. Based on the analysis of data collected from 89 IJVs established by Nordic firms in Asia, Europe and the USA, results indicate that TCT-based symmetric dependence and resource complementarity on the one hand and SET-based trust, communication and cultural adaptation on another significantly improve IJV performance. However, impact of symmetric equity share on IJV performance remains negative and non-significant, explaining that IJV partners may consider it rather a safeguard to their own stake and interests in IJVs. In addition, SET-based IJV management mechanisms are found to be more effective than the TCT-based IJV mechanisms in improving IJV performance.     

No-arbitrage under a class of honest times

This paper quantifies the interplay between the no-arbitrage notion of no unbounded profit with bounded risk (NUPBR) and additional progressive information generated by a random time. This study complements the one of Aksamit et al. (Finance Stoch. 21:1103–1139, 2017) in which the authors have studied similar topics for the model stopped at the random time, while here we deal with the question of what happens after the random time. Given that the existing literature proves that NUPBR is always violated after honest times that avoid stopping times in a continuous filtration, we propose here a new class of honest times for which NUPBR can be preserved for some models. For these honest times, we obtain two principal results. The first result characterizes the pairs of initial market and honest time for which the resulting model preserves NUPBR, while the second result characterizes honest times that do not affect NUPBR of any quasi-left-continuous model (i.e., in which the asset price process has no predictable jump times). Furthermore, we construct explicitly local martingale deflators for a large class of models.     

Integrating sustainability practices into islamic corporate governance for sustainable firm performance: from the lens of agency and stakeholder theories

Quality & Quantity - While the literature indicates that Islamic Corporate Governance (ICG) practices enhance firm performance, there is scant research on how sustainability practices affect...     

The significance of employee skill in flexible work organizations

Pressures for flexibility among enterprise employees have been explained in previous studies to be largely the result of exogenous factors driven by market pressures for improved product variety, quality and service. This paper derives new insights into the concept of flexibility based on the premise that manufacturing systems based on traditional hierarchical control have significantly given way to enterprise practices that stress a direct connection between employee skill enhancement, market outcomes and rewards. Through an analysis of the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WER98) the study provides a more substantive explanation of the variables associated with flexibility, which have become significant in the transition process towards modern enterprise practices. Flexibility is demonstrated to be not only market driven but also dependent on endogenous factors directly promoted by management that stress workforce participation, collaborative working and multifaceted skills development. We provide empirical support for these arguments from an analysis of WERS98.     

A NOTE ON THE EFFECTS OF TAXES ON OPTIMAL INVESTMENT

We integrate two approaches to portfolio management problems: that of Morton and Pliska (1995) for a portfolio with risky and riskless assets under transaction costs, and that of Cadenillas and Pliska (1999) for a portfolio with a risky asset under taxes and transaction costs. In particular, we show that the two surprising results of the latter paper, results shown for a taxable market consisting of only a single security, extend to a financial market with one risky asset and one bond: it can be optimal to realize not only losses but also gains, and sometimes the investor prefers a positive tax rate.     

Does CPI Granger-cause WPI? New extensions from frequency domain approach in Pakistan

The present study significantly contributes to the economic literature by investigating the direction of causality between WPI and CPI by applying frequency domain causality approach developed by Lemmens et al. (2008) based on spectral approach. We use monthly frequency data covering the period of 1961–2010 in case of Pakistan. Our results provide evidence of cointegration between the variables. Furthermore, we find unidirectional causal relationship running from CPI to WPI that varies across frequencies i.e., CPI Granger-causes WPI at lower, medium as well as higher level of frequencies reflecting long-run, medium and short-run cycles. This implies that CPI should be a leading indicator for important policy decisions pertaining to monetary or fiscal policies in Pakistan.     

“New Normal” implications for global talent in the wake of economic nationalism and slowdown

As a result of global economies' protectionist policies, followed by economic nationalism and a downturn, there is a shortage of talent with the requisite skills, knowledge, and abilities to meet the contingencies amid COVID-19. The recent developments have necessitated multinational businesses to manage their talent in a new international business context. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of the “New Normal” for global talent which is manifested by economic nationalism and slowdown. This study used an inductive method to qualitative research, conducted in-depth interviews with 28 top executives from multinational corporations. The implications for the global talent emerged from the current study as skill enhancement based on the emerged business model; training and development pertinent to new responsibilities and activities; adaptability to changes in the macroenvironment; emphasis on employee proactivity, experimentation, and risk-taking; emphasis on hyperspecialization to take on contract positions; global talent needs to participate in remote learning; global talent must emphasize on mental health issues; and registering in talent exchange programs to fill talent skill shortages.