High performance work systems and organizational performance: an empirical study of Taiwan's semiconductor design firms

This paper presents a study examining the relationship between high performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational performance in Taiwan's semiconductor design industry. The hypotheses are tested by matching and analysing data collected from field interviews with 21 HR managers and surveys of 21 senior operations managers and 1,129 employees. The results of the statistical analysis demonstrate that the effective use of employee empowerment practices is positively related to organizational performance.     

The limitation of monotonicity property of option prices: an empirical evidence

Many option pricing models are based on the assumption that the underlying asset price follows one-dimensional diffusion process. An alternative approach is to test the properties that should hold for all models based on a given stochastic process for the underlying asset. Following Pérignon (2006 Pérignon, C. 2006. Testing the monotonicity property of option prices. Journal of Derivatives, 14: 61–76. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), we test the empirical validity of the monotonicity property for option prices by collecting all transaction data from 1 July 2006 to 31 December 2006 for option contracts traded on the Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX). We find that sampled intraday option prices violate the monotonicity property between 29.97% and 57% of the time, and that call and put prices often increase, or decrease, together. We also find evidence to show that the frequent violations of the monotonicity property are to a large extent attributable to microstructure effects and that they arise from rational trading tactics.     

Corporate diversification and CEO turnover in family businesses: self-entrenchment or risk reduction?

Our study investigates differences in CEO turnover between focused and diversified firms to determine whether diversification strategies are necessarily associated with governance efficiency in family businesses. We find that large family CEO firms are more likely to engage in corporate diversification than are small non-family CEO firms and their CEOs are seldom replaced. Large family CEO diversified firms also have lower turnover sensitivity relative to focused firms. The results imply that the CEOs of diversified firms have entrenched themselves, thereby increasing agency costs within family businesses. However, we fail to find diversification discounts in family businesses. It is interesting that CEOs tend to diversify their businesses in order to decrease firm risk. Founding families favor risk-reducing decisions in order to maintain family wealth and prestige; suggesting that family businesses are more interested in survival than growth. Although family businesses may benefit from risk reduction, a negative relationship between diversification level and CEO turnover is still evidence of poor corporate governance. Agency theory may not completely account for the adoption of diversification strategies in family businesses and corporate diversification may weaken the effectiveness of internal monitoring mechanisms.

Modeling Corporate Citizenship and Its Relationship with Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

Citizenship, such as corporate citizenship and organizational citizenship, has been an important issue in business management for decades. This study proposes a research model from the perspectives of social identity and resource allocation, by examining the influence of corporate citizenship on organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). In the model, OCBs are positively influenced by perceived legal citizenship and perceived ethical citizenship, while negatively influenced by perceived discretionary citizenship. Empirical testing using a survey of personnel from 18 large firms confirms most of our hypothesized effects. Theoretical and managerial implications of our findings are discussed.     

An exploratory study of the relationship between customer-based casino brand equity and firm performance

This exploratory study examines the relationship between customer-based casino brand equity and firm performance using Macau casinos as a sample. The results indicated that better-performing casino brands were associated with greater customer-based brand equity, which comprises brand loyalty, brand image and brand awareness. Furthermore, Asia Pacific-based casino brands in Macau outperformed their U.S.-based counterparts in terms of customers’ perceived quality, suggesting the need for U.S.-based casino brands to better cater for the needs of Macau casino visitors and to localize their services. Future research directions are also suggested.     

The moderating effects of market orientation and launch proficiency on the product advantage-performance relationship

The relationship between product advantage and new product performance has been identified in prior research and cannot be overlooked. However, the moderators between the two constructs have received little attention. This study examines how market orientation and launch proficiency exert contingent influences on the product advantage-performance relationship. Prior research indicates that new product performance is a multi-dimensional concept constituted by different types of performance, yet the way product advantage and its moderators influence certain types of product performance has not been investigated. This study examines the same issues under different dimensions of new product performance. A total of 112 Taiwanese biotechnology firms form the analytical sample. Two interesting findings are revealed. First, product advantage is significantly and positively related to market performance, but has no significant influence on financial performance. Second, market orientation and launch proficiency in tactics indeed moderate the relationship between product advantage and new product performance, either as a whole or in respect to different types of product performance. Obviously, these findings contribute detailed evidence to the theoretical nexus between product advantage and new product performance.     

Exploring corporate citizenship and purchase intention: mediating effects of brand trust and corporate identification

Corporate citizenship represents various organizational activities and status related to the organization's societal and stakeholder obligations. This study develops five different dimensions of corporate citizenship and examines the relationship between the five dimensions and purchase intention by including two key mediators. In the proposed model of this study, purchase intention is indirectly affected by economic, legal, ethical, general philanthropic, and strategic philanthropic citizenship via the mediation of corporate identification and brand trust. Empirical testing using a survey of 353 consumers from various industries confirms most of our hypothesized effects. Last, managerial implications for corporate leaders and limitations of our findings are discussed in depth.     

The entrepreneurial process: an integrated model

In this study, a model for examining the process of how a person becomes an entrepreneur was developed by integrating planned behavior theory (PBT) with motivation-opportunity-ability (MOA) theory. The model posits that motivation, opportunity, and ability affect entrepreneurial intentions through personal attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. A sample of 258 valid questionnaires was collected from entrepreneurial training-course participants in Taiwan. Based on this sample, a structural-equation analysis reveals several interesting results. First, personal attitude and perceived behavior control have a direct effect on entrepreneurial intentions. Second, subjective norms indirectly affect entrepreneurial intentions through personal attitude and perceived behavior control. Third, motivation affects entrepreneurial intentions through personal attitude and perceived behavioral control. Fourth, ability exhibits a directly positive association with entrepreneurial intentions, and indirectly affects entrepreneurial intentions through perceived behavioral control. Fifth, subjective norms affect entrepreneurial intentions through personal attitude and perceived behavioral control. These findings suggest that our model provides more information than those offered by PBT or MOA in understanding the process of becoming an entrepreneur.     

Comparing employment interviews in Latin America with other countries

This study compares job interviews (n = 11,667) in Mexico with those in the following countries: Belgium, Russia, Taiwan, and the U.S. The findings support our hypotheses, which are based on a meta-cultural framework. The results reveal that in Mexico and Taiwan women are less likely to conduct interviews. In addition, interviewers asked different questions. Outside the U.S., interviewers asked applicants about their family, marital status, and children. In Russia and Taiwan, they asked about applicants' reasons for quitting their last job. In Belgium, Russia, and Taiwan, they asked about applicants' wage and salary expectations. In Belgium and Russia, they less often asked about applicants' values, opinions, and beliefs. This study suggests that in some countries employment interviews are more than a test of job-related knowledge, skills, and abilities. This report provides a taxonomy that is useful for comparing interview questions in Latin American and other countries as well as directions for future research.