Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to Construct a Measure of the Magnitude of Consequences Component of Moral Intensity

The purpose of this work is to elaborate an empirically grounded mathematical model of the magnitude of consequences component of “moral intensity” (Jones, Academy of Management Review 16(2),366, 1991) that can be used to evaluate different ethical situations. The model is built using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) (Saaty, The Analytic Hierarchy Process, 1980) and empirical data from the legal profession. One contribution of our work is that it illustrates how AHP can be applied in the field of ethics. Following a review of the literature, we discuss the development of the model. We then illustrate how the model can be used to rank-order three well-known ethical reasoning cases in terms of the magnitude of consequences. The work concludes with implications for theory, practice, and future research. Specifically we discuss how this work extends the previous work by Collins (Journal of Business Ethics 8, 1, 1989) regarding the nature of harm variable. We also discuss the contribution this work makes in the development of ethical scenarios used to test hypotheses in the field of business ethics. Finally, we discuss how the model can be used for after-action review, contribute to organizational learning, train employees in ethical reasoning, and aid in the design and development of decision support systems that support ethical reasoning.     

The relevance of Chinese developmental experience to developing countries

The Chinese experience and success in economic development during the past 30 years are seen as a model by many underdeveloped countries. Since 1952 China has followed 2 different strategies: 1) the radical approach, emphasizing self-reliance, autarchy, and very limited foreign trade and bureaucracy, and, 2) the pragmatic approach, giving priority to heavy industry, sophisticated technology, and centralized control. Since Chinese politics became deeply intermingled with these 2 lines of thought, there is a certain degree of uncertainty about the final direction that will emerge with a degree of continuity. Obviously, evaluating China's developmental experiences for other countries' purposes is not the same as evaluating them for China's purposes. However, in its totality China has been able to demonstrate the validity of certain goals; the transplanting of Chinese strategies in foreign countries, or the mechnical imitation of Chinese innovations would not work every time; but the adoption of certain innovations, if the proper environment is available, would have a positive impact on developing societies.     

Oligopoly models with different learning and production time scales

We propose a modelling approach to study Cournotian oligopolies of boundedly rational firms which continuously update production decisions on the basis of information collected periodically. The model consists of a system of differential equations with piecewise constant arguments, which can be recast into a system of difference equations. Considering different economic settings, we study the local stability of equilibrium, proving the destabilizing role of the time lag between two consecutive learning activities. We investigate some particular families of oligopolies showing the occurrence of both flip and Neimark–Sacker bifurcations, as well as the evidence of multistability with the coexistence between different attractors, occurring when oligopolies consisting of both technologically different and identical firms are studied.     

Social Responsibility and Performance: Does Strategic Orientation Matter for Small Businesses?

This paper examines whether strategic orientation toward corporate social responsibility (CSR) is instrumental in shaping small firms’ social responsibility practices leading to their enhanced financial performance and reputation. Data were collected from 182 small businesses operating in Malaysia based on random sampling technique and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. Analysis of the findings confirm that small firms’ long‐term strategic approach toward CSR is critical in driving their responsible practices toward environment, customer, community, employees, and suppliers which in turn impact small firms’ financial performance and better reputation building. These findings suggest that customers' and employees’ interests are strategic imperatives that small firms should address in enhancing their financial performance and building better reputation in the community. These findings have important implications for small firms’ strategic policy posture which are highlighted in the paper. The paper also identifies the possible limits of the research and suggests avenues for future studies.     

Corporate governance and long run performance of seasoned equity issuers

This paper examines the effect of corporate governance on the likelihood of issuing Seasoned Equity Offerings (SEO) between 1990 and 2005. It also examines the long-run post-issue performance using operating and stock return measures. Our results suggest that well-governed firms are less likely to issue equity. Nevertheless, when they do so, they outperform both matching non-issuers and issuers with minimal shareholders’ rights from pre- to post-issue—with the highest operating out-performance occurring in the two post-issue years. A negative correlation exists between the post-issue performance and the anti-takeover measures, primarily, the protection associated with management entrenchment. Nonetheless, measures of board structure do not appear to affect the post-issue operating performance. Overall, corporate governance appears to be an effective internal control mechanism that restrains managers’ incentives to either take an SEO issuance decision that does not serve the interests of shareholders or invest the capital raised in value-destroying projects.     

Estimating Volatility Persistence in Oil Prices Under Structural Breaks

Policy makers and financial market participants are interested in knowing how shocks affect the volatility of oil prices over time. We accurately compute the volatility persistence by incorporating endogenously determined structural breaks into a GARCH model. Contrary to previous findings, we find that oil shocks dissipate very quickly but have a strong initial impact. Understanding this behavior is not only important for derivative valuation and hedging decisions but for broader financial markets and the overall economy, for which there are significant consequences.     

The exchange value of the dollar and the U.S. trade balance: An empirical investigation based on cointegradon and Granger causality tests

This article performs tests of Granger causality in the relationships between the nominal ad real exchange rates of the dollar and the U.S. trade balance as well as its price and quantity components over the period 1973:IIQ–1989:IIIQ. Our results suggest: (i) weak statistical evidence of unidirectional causality running from the nominal exchange rate to import prices and nominal trade balance (ii) no statistical support for the proposition that the real exchange rate simply “accommodates” changes in the real trade balance, and (iii) strong (no) causal links between the nominal and real exchange rates and export (import) volume. We tentatively conclude that movements in the exchange rate have a rather limited effect on the trade balance and that this effect is more likely to materialize on the export side of the trade balance.     

Evaluating the operational and profitability efficiency of a UAE-based commercial bank

This study investigates the operating and profitability efficiency of 15 branches of UAE-based commercial bank utilising the data envelopment analysis method. The results indicate that efficiency levels among the various branches vary and that there is room for improvement. Profitability efficiency appears to be higher than operational efficiency. Regarding the financial ratios analysis, a consistent effect cannot be obtained and it cannot be determined which branch has an overall position in terms of higher performance. The historical analysis of the branch network performance indicates that management should consider major operational improvement efforts to reduce employees' expenses and other operating expenses combined with an increase in the total loans portfolio. Improvement in both interest and non-interest revenues is required to increase profitability efficiency of the whole branch network.     

Consumer heterogeneity in the longer-term effects of price promotions

While a significant literature has emerged recently on the longer-term effects of price promotions, as inferred from persistence models, there is very little if any attention paid to whether such longer-term effects vary across different types of consumers. This paper takes a first step in that direction by exploring whether the adjustment, permanent, and total effects of price promotions, and the duration of the adjustment period, differ between consumers segmented based on their usage rates in a product category and their loyalty to a brand. We also investigate whether such consumer segmentation will improve the forecasting performance of persistence models at both product category and brand levels. Expectations are developed based on consumer behavior theory on various effects of price promotions, such as the post-deal trough, the mere purchase effect, the promotion usage effect, and responsiveness to competitor's reactions. Evidence from household-level supermarket scanner data on four product categories is provided. We find substantial differences between consumer segments and provide insights on how managers can increase the longer-term effectiveness of price promotions by targeting each consumer segment with a different promotion program. In addition, consumer segmentation is found to significantly improve the forecasting performance of the persistence model for two of the four product categories. For the other two product categories, consumer segmentation provides forecasting performance similar to that obtained from aggregate-level persistence models.