Benefits and barriers of telework: perception differences of human resources managers according to company's operations strategy

Telework as an integration of Information and Telecommunication Technologies with Human Resources management, means a new job organisation paradigm for companies working in the New Economy. However there are very few empirical studies that have analysed the perception differences of telework benefits and barriers in industrial and service companies. This paper contributes with empirical data to the relationship between the use of telework techniques and the implementation of this new work organisation with the company's operations strategy. The paper uses data from Spanish companies to test the relationship between innovation, employee training, and other production strategy performance parameters with the feasibility of telework adoption.     

Separating microstructure noise from volatility

There are two variance components embedded in the returns constructed using high frequency asset prices: the time-varying variance of the unobservable efficient returns that would prevail in a frictionless economy and the variance of the equally unobservable microstructure noise. Using sample moments of high frequency return data recorded at different frequencies, we provide a simple and robust technique to identify both variance components.     

Love or Money? The Effects of Owner Motivation in the California Wine Industry

Models that assume only consumer tastes determine the characteristics of supply are restrictive; producers can gain utility from aspects of production and pay for deviating from demand by accepting lower financial returns. We model and measure motivations of California winery owners, and analyze their effects on quality and price. We find utility–maximizers are more likely to produce high quality and set higher quality–adjusted prices. Profit–oriented owners are less likely to produce high quality wines. These results suggest that the presence of hobbyists who enjoy producing high quality may lower financial returns in the segment and discourage profit–maximizers from locating there.     

Managing multiple dimensions of manufacturing performance — an exploratory study

Drawing on qualitative data collected during semi-structured interviews with 36 profit centre managers in manufacturing firms in Victoria, Australia, this study seeks to explore the mechanisms used to manage multiple manufacturing performance dimensions arising from the pursuit of profit centre strategy. Where measures capture potentially conflicting influences on the manufacturing cost function, strategy implementation is facilitated by loosening control reactions to cost variances and through explicit attempts to integrate multiple measures. However, a joint emphasis on performance dimensions relating to manufacturing efficiency and customer responsiveness emerges as problematic. In contrast, a joint emphasis on quality and efficiency is relatively easily managed. It is suggested that in the context of responsiveness strategies, the difficulty of designing complete measures inhibits the effectiveness of performance measurement systems as a facilitator of strategy implementation.     

Grounded Theory und ihre bisherige Anwendung in der empirischen Controlling- und Rechnungswesenforschung

Zusammenfassung  Die Bildung von Forschungshypothesen ist zwar immer ein kreativer, sollte aber gleichzeitig kein unsystematischer Prozess sein. Im vorliegenden Artikel liegt der Fokus auf der Methodenunterstützung des Entdeckungszusammenhangs. Die Methode der Grounded Theory bietet einen Bezugsrahmen für qualitative empirische Studien, mit dem Theorien entwickelt werden, die aus dem Textmaterial zu begründen sind. Eine Literaturanalyse verdeutlicht, dass das Potenzial dieser Methode bisher in der Controlling- und Rechnungswesenforschung weitgehend ungenutzt bleibt. Anhand einer Diskussion empirischer Studien, welche auf die Methode zurückgreifen, werden Anwendungsm?glichkeiten der Grounded Theory für diese Disziplinen aufgezeigt.

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Summary  Creating research hypotheses is always a creative but not necessarily an unsystematic process. In our study we introduce a method supporting the logic of discovery. The grounded theory approach provides a framework for a systematic development of theories emerging from empirical data. A literature review stresses that the potential of the method so far is unused in accounting research. The grounded theory approach is introduced to support empirical work within this research field. Options for an application of the method in accounting research are shown by the means of a discussion of empirical studies. Furthermore the reader gets hints for reference studies.

     

中国海外并购屡遭挫折

[英国路透社3月20日]中信证券与贝尔斯登的合作计划已经搁浅，这可能是中国海外并购活动的最新一次失败案例。     

The appraisal of ordinary shares by Saudi investors

This paper reports on a questionnaire survey about share valuation practices among investors and their intermediaries in Saudi Arabia. The findings suggest that fundamental analysis is used most by investor respondents where a P/E multiple is applied to an earnings forecast to generate a prediction of future price. However, technical analysis is also used to a much greater extent than in developed markets. Finally, the results indicate that quarterly and annual reports as well as newspapers are widely consulted by investors when forming their expectations about share valuations.     

Immobiliencontrolling — Optimierung der immobilienbezogenen Kosten durch Gründung einer Generalmietgesellschaft

Ohne Zusammenfassung Dipl.-Ing. (univ.) Michael Belau ist Director und Head of Rental Management Dipl.-Wirtschaftsing. (FH) Michael Schildger ist Vice President und Head of Finance Dr. Verena Sturm ist Manager Corporate Real Estate Services     

An analysis of option pricing under systematic consumption risk using GARCH

An issue in the pricing of contingent claims is whether to account for consumption risk. This is relevant for contingent claims on stock indices, such as the FTSE 100 share price index, as investor’s desire for smooth consumption is often used to explain risk premiums on stock market portfolios, but is not used to explain risk premiums on contingent claims themselves. This paper addresses this fundamental question by allowing for consumption in an economy to be correlated with returns. Daily data on the FTSE 100 share price index are used to compare three option pricing models: the Black–Scholes option pricing model, a GARCH (1, 1) model priced under a risk-neutral framework, and a GARCH (1, 1) model priced under systematic consumption risk. The findings are that accounting for systematic consumption risk only provides improved accuracy for in-the-money call options. When the correlation between consumption and returns increases, the model that accounts for consumption risk will produce lower call option prices than observed prices for in-the-money call options. These results combined imply that the potential consumption-related premium in the market for contingent claims is constant in the case of FTSE 100 index options.