A Consulting Giant; a Disgruntled Client: A ‘Failed’ Attempt to Change Management Controls in a Public Sector Organisation

There has been very little research into management consulting interventions in public sector organisations, especially in emerging economies. This paper aims to fill this void by narrating the empirics of a consulting assignment carried out by a large international consulting firm in a Pakistani public sector organisation. The study found that consultants’ recommendations of ‘businesslike’ management controls, such as a modern performance measurement system and a ‘state‐of‐the‐art’ information system, were rejected outright by the client management. Employing a critical realist perspective that focuses on the structural conditions facing both the client and the consultants, and on the strategies adopted by both parties, the study aims to explain the empirics of the case. Through structural and strategic analysis, this paper aims to enhance our understanding of the dynamics of management consulting in public sector organisations, especially in emerging economies.     

Acceptance of Genetically Modified Foods with Health Benefits: A Study in Germany

A study was carried out in Germany in order to assess consumers' acceptance of genetically modified (GM) foods with health benefits (bread, yohurt and eggs). Acceptability of GM foods increases when its source does not involve animal products such as eggs. Three factors have been identified as direct antecedents of the acceptance of GM foods: respondents' attitude towards biotechnology, health consciousness, and time pressure, being the first one the most salient one. Price consciousness has an indirect positive impact (mediated by health consciousness) upon acceptance of GM products. Males were more likely to accept GM foods with health benefits.     

Countering Counterfeit Branding: Implications for Public-Sector Marketing

Counterfeit products are a large and growing problem. Counterfeiting has negative effects from both an economic and a consumer perspective. The majority of the research on counterfeiting has focused its attention at the individual level regarding consumers’ motivation toward buying counterfeit brands, which did not consider the influence of copy culture or mimesis. This paper conceptualizes counterfeit or fake branding at a cultural process level to more clearly illuminate the persistent marketing problem. First, we discuss the counterfeit-brand issue, then introduce the theory of mimesis to illuminate consumers’ relationships with counterfeit brands and issues of cultural appropriation. Next a model with implications for action and consequent propositions for policy are discussed. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Export Intensity and Exporter Characteristics,Resources, and Capabilities: Evidence From Chile

This study focuses on exporters in Chile in order to compare the characteristics, resources, and capabilities for export success (RACFES) possessed by high, medium, and low intensity exporters. Data for this study were collected throughan Internet survey of Chilean manufacturers that export. Of the 480 companies in the sample, 133 responded to the questionnaire consisting of 69 items, yielding a total response rate of 28%. The analysis of variance procedure was used to analyze linear items and the chi square procedure was used for nonlinear items. The results indicated that export intensity in Chile is very strongly associated with firms that are smaller in size, have had export operations for longer periods of time, are highly involved in foreign markets, and are vertically integrated with their international target markets. These firms have also been very successful in overcoming export barriers. They make greater use of promotional strategies to expand their export markets and use sales agents as a means for reducing distribution costs. These firms are more likely to have vertically integrated their Chilean operation with their international target markets and to have created working international networks. The major limitation of this research is that it was carried out in only one South American country, with a rather limited sample size. A practical implication of this study is that companies in small countries, endowed with comparative advantages based on natural resources, can successfully penetrate export markets by imitating Chile's thriving export companies. Export penetration factors for small, resource-based countries like Chile are not very different from those for large developed countries.     

Business Travelers’ Accommodation Selection: A Comparative Study of Two International Hotels in Cairo

The purpose of the present study was twofold. First, it aimed to determine what business travelers in two international hotels in Cairo, Egypt, the first being 5 stars and the second 4 stars, believed were the factors influencing hotel selection and their importance. Second, this work aimed to ascertain the extent of congruence between business guests on attributes that feature in hotel selection. Results showed that business travelers at the 5-star hotel assigned top importance to the attribute “accuracy of wake-up call”, whereas their counterparts at the 4-star hotel identified “security and safety of room” as their most important factor in hotel selection. The independent samples t-test identified statistical significant differences on 50 attributes between both sets of respondents. The eta-squared value was calculated to examine the magnitude of such differences. Despite the difference in hotel star rating, research findings did not reveal a large statistical difference on all attributes. However, a large statistical difference was discovered between respondents on 21 attributes; a moderate difference on 25 attributes and; a small difference on 4 attributes. The results of this study could equip accommodation managers with a better insight into the actual needs of business guests, the issue that could lead to their satisfaction and improve customer service.     

The role of exports,FDI and imports in development: evidence from Sub-Saharan African countries

The disappointing economic performance of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) economies in the late 1980s prompted reforms in foreign trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the early 1990s. Using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach and Pedroni panel estimation procedures that allow for heterogeneity, this study found that exports and FDI have a significant impact on economic growth. Granger-type causality tests show the interrelatedness of exports, FDI, imports and income variables. The results also provide evidence of a two-stage causal chain of exports, imports and income. This article calls for more market-oriented policy reforms in SSA countries.     

Higher education enrolment in Bangladesh: does the wage premium matter?

This paper empirically examines the decisions of individuals to enrol in a course of tertiary education in Bangladesh, focussing on the period 1999 to 2009. Of particular interest is whether the wage premium―the gap in wage earnings between tertiary and secondary school graduates―is associated with decisions to enrol in tertiary education. The analytical framework used here is the human capital theory, which is tested through a discrete choice model. Using data from Bangladesh Labour Force Surveys, empirical results suggest that the wage premium is positively associated with decisions of males to enrol in tertiary education, while for females there appears to be no such association. A battery of robustness tests supports our results.     

The Nature and Rationale of a Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting by Islamic Banks

Islamic banks have to abide by the revealed doctrines in Islam in conducting their business and financial transactions. They employ in-house religious advisers—often referred to as Shari'a Supervisory Board (SSB)—who issue a special report to inform users of financial statements whether or not the bank has adhered to the Islamic principles. Recently, a private standard-setting body—the Financial Accounting Organization for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (FAOIBFI)—has been set up to externally regulate the financial reporting by Islamic banks. The FAOIBFI has published two statements on the objectives and concepts of financial reporting to act as a framework in setting accounting standards for Islamic banks. This paper examines the FAOIBFI's approach for developing objectives and concepts of financial accounting and investigates its need for such a theoretical framework. It is argued that the FAOIBFI's objectives and concepts would not be useful in mandating accounting standards on issues that are affected by religious ruling. This does not necessarily mean that such a framework may not be useful in legitimating the FAOIBFI's role and in setting accounting standards for issues that are not governed by revealed moral doctrines although it will be subject to similar limitations to those found by other standard-setting bodies in utilising and applying their framework. However, it implies that the more the FAOIBFI sets accounting standards that incorporate religious ruling, the less it would tend to find its own objectives and concepts useful. The ambiguities that may arise from different interpretations of the religious rules will require resolutions primarily by reference to religious rather than accounting authority.     

An empirical analysis of the effects of monitoring intensity on the relation between equity incentives and earnings management

Prior studies suggest that equity incentives inherently have both an interest alignment effect and an opportunistic financial reporting effect. Using three distinct proxies for earnings management we find evidence consistent with the incentive alignment (opportunistic financial reporting) effect of equity incentives increasing as monitoring intensity increases (decreases). Furthermore, using the accrual-based earnings management and meet/beat analyst forecast models we find that the opportunistic financial reporting effect of equity incentives dominates the incentive alignments effect for firms with low monitoring intensity. Using proxies for real earnings management, we find that the incentive alignment effect dominates the opportunistic financial reporting effect for high and moderate monitoring intensity firms. However, for low monitoring intensity firms the opportunistic reporting effect mitigates, but does not completely offset, the benefits of the incentive alignment effect. Overall, these findings are consistent with the level of monitoring affecting the relation between equity incentives and earnings management.