High-Performance HR Practices,Work Stress and Quit Intentions in the Public Health Sector: Does person–organization fit matter?

Drawing on the attraction–selection–attrition (ASA) framework, this paper examines a mechanism, namely person–organization (P–O) fit, through which high-performance HR practices (HPHRPs) affect two negative employee outcomes: work-related stress and quit intentions. Using a sample of Egyptian public health sector workers, a mediation model is tested empirically using structural equation modelling. The study results show that HPHRPs positively affected P–O fit, which in turn had significant negative associations with work stress and quit intentions. P–O fit also explained a high proportion of mediation in the relationship between HPHRP and both outcomes.     

IFRS Adoption in Emerging Markets: The Case of Jordan

The aim of this study is to research the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Jordan, which was one of the first Middle Eastern emerging economies to adopt IFRS. The paper investigates the related factors that pressure and prevent such adoption over time, and illustrates the developmental aspects of such adoption. An interpretive methodology is employed, and perceptions of the study's participants are analysed regarding the adoption of IFRS in Jordan, which is an area that is under researched. Semi‐structured interviews were undertaken to collect Jordanian experts’ perceptions. Based on the empirical data analysis and prior theoretical and empirical literature, an adoption model was developed, which can serve future studies as well. The model illustrates the paradox of accounting changes in emerging economies, in which the actual conditions that pressure IFRS adoption are also the conditions that prevent full adoption. The model also provides an explanation of the implementation process of IFRS in emerging economies at both country and corporation levels. It combines practical features and related theories in an integrative model seeking to explain the phenomenon of IFRS as a new accounting regulation change.     

Organizational mindfulness,mindful organizing,and environmental and resource sustainability

The research theorizes that environmental vulnerability can be minimized through mindfulness‐based strategies, and redesigning organizing processes, so that richer thinking is activated more quickly among greater number of people all of whom try to update their knowledge regardless of the knowledge source. It empirically evaluates the effects of organizational mindfulness and mindful organizing on resources and environmental sustainability. The model was tested in a very appropriate setting—Saudi Arabia, where increasing demand for and supply of energy culminates in unsustainable resources utilization and rise in greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental vulnerabilities. Data were collected from Saudi firms operating in the oil and gas sector and analyzed using SmartPLS software. The measurement and structural models were evaluated. The measurement model exhibits adequate model fit. The tests for the structural models show that four (of five) dimensions of organizational mindfulness (viz., commitment to resilience, deference to expertise, preoccupation with failure, and reluctance to simplify interpretations) and mindful organizing are significantly related at 5% significance level. Sensitivity to operations has no significant relationship with mindful organizing. Mindful organizing is significantly related to environmental and resources sustainability. Moreover, mindful organizing fully or partially mediates in the relationship between some of the dimensions of organizational mindfulness and environmental and resources sustainability. The study is one of the first to integrate mindfulness‐based approaches to sustainability and environmental research.     

The Effect of Governance Mechanisms on Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprise Cash Holdings: Evidence from the United Kingdom

This paper investigates the impact of governance mechanisms on small and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) cash holdings from 2000 to 2009, employing static and dynamic panel data analyses. We find no evidence that firm governance index and insider ownership affect cash holdings. This might indicate that governance mechanisms in SMEs are relatively weak. We also report that chief executive officer compensation has a positive effect on cash holdings. Firm‐specific factors such as firm size, leverage, and liquidity negatively affect cash holdings, whereas the research and development ratio and operating risk are positively associated with them. Finally, SMEs have target cash holdings and adjust to these.     

Global financial crisis and dependence risk analysis of sector portfolios: a vine copula approach

We use regular vine (r-vine), canonical vine (c-vine) and drawable vine (d-vine) copulas to examine the dependence risk characteristics of three 20-stock portfolios from the retail, manufacturing and gold-mining equity sectors of the Australian market in periods before, during and after the 2008–2009 global financial crisis (GFC). Our results indicate that the retail portfolio is less risky than the manufacturing counterpart in the crisis period, while the gold-mining portfolio is less risky than both the retail and manufacturing sector portfolios. Both the retail and gold stocks display a higher propensity to yield positively skewed returns in the crisis periods, contrary to the manufacturing stocks. The r-vine is found to best capture the multivariate dependence structure of the stocks in the retail and gold-mining portfolios, while the d-vine does it for the manufacturing stock portfolio. These findings could be used to develop dependence risk- and investment risk-adjusted strategies for investment, rebalancing and hedging which more adequately account for the downside risk in various market conditions.     

Global Financial Crisis: An African Perspective

This paper reviews the expanding financial turmoil that has been triggered by the Asian crisis. It examines the factors behind the crisis, its impact on African countries and the main lessons and policy implications for African countries. The onset of the Asian crisis seems to have taken everybody by surprise because the Asian countries that were hit by the crisis had been among the most successful in sustaining high rates of economic growth, keeping high saving and investment rates and improving the quality of life of their citizens. However, the emerging consensus is that the Asian crisis is a hybrid of structural and policy distortions (macro- and micro-economic) in the affected economies. The impact of the crisis on African countries was mainly transmitted through declines in export prices and volumes. The low demand for primary commodities induced by the crisis and the large depreciation of Asian currencies appear to have played major roles in depressing commodity prices. With only a few exceptions, the commodities that suffered large price declines are those for which Asia constitutes an important market (e.g. oil) and/or those mostly supplied by Asian countries (e.g. copper, timber and rubber). Africa’s oil-exporting countries, which experienced large deterioration in their terms of trade, were the most affected. For the continent as a whole, export proceeds declined by 9.5 per cent between 1997 and 1998. This was the product of a 7 per cent decline in export prices and a 2.5 per cent decline in the volume of exports. The paper estimates that the crisis has caused the growth rate in the region to slide down by 1.2 percentage points, which indicates a loss of US $6.2 billion using aggregate GDP for 1997 as the base. To put this in an order of magnitude, it is about US $2 billion higher than the annual average flow of FDI to the continent in recent years. For the majority of African countries where the inflow of private capital is small and where public debt is dominant, the traditional risk management policies, such as adopting realistic exchange rates and reducing government deficits and inflation rates, should continue to be major policy tools to prevent financial crisis. However, as the role of private capital increases the design of macroeconomic policies would need to heed the lessons emerging from Asia. One basic lesson is that careful sequencing of domestic and external liberalization is needed. In that, restrictions on the capital account, especially on the more volatile capital flows should be lifted only after the domestic financial sector has been strengthened with adequate regulatory and supervisory institutions. This is particularly true because the Asian crisis has shown that reserves, even at very high levels, can be quickly depleted given the scale and volatility of short-term capital flows. Le présent document analyse le développement de la tourmente financière déclenchée par la crise asiatique. Il examine les causes de cette crise, son impact sur les pays africains, les principaux enseignements à en tirer et ses incidences politiques pour l’Afrique. Le déclenchement de la crise asiatique semble avoir pris tout le monde de court. Les pays asiatiques touchés sont parmi ceux qui avaient enregistré des taux de croissance économique des plus élevés, maintenu des taux d’épargne et d’investissement des plus soutenus, et amélioré le plus la qualité de vie de leurs citoyens. Cependant, de l’avis général, la crise asiatique résulte de la conjonction de distorsions d’ordre structurels et politiques (macro et micro économiques) dans les pays touchés. Son impact sur les pays africains a été principalement ressenti é; travers la baisse des prix et du volume des exportations. Le fléchissement de la demande des produits de base et la forte dépréciation des monnaies asiatiques provoqués par la crise ont manifestement joué un rôle déterminant dans la chute des cours des produits de base. A quelques exceptions près, les produits dont les prix ont sensiblement baissé sont ceux pour lesquels l’Asie constitue un important marché (par exemple le pétrole) et/ ou ceux qui sont essentiellement fournis par les pays asiatiques (cuivre, bois, caoutchouc). Les pays africains exportateurs de pétrole, qui ont subi une détérioration marquée de leurs termes de l’échange, ont été les plus touchés. Pour l’ensemble du continent, les recettes d’exportation ont baissé de 9,5 pour cent entre 1997 et 1998. Cette situation résulte de la baisse de 7 pour cent des prix et de la contraction de 2,5 pour cent du volume des exportations. Ce document estime que la crise a entraîné un ralentissement de croissance de 1,2 point de pourcentage, soit une perte de 6,2 milliards de dollars EU, si l’on utilise comme base le PIB global de 1997. Traduit en ordre de grandeur, ce chiffre est d’environ 2 milliards de dollars supérieur au montant des flux moyens annuels d’IDE obtenus par le continent au cours de ces dernières années. Pour la majorité des Etats africains oú l’apport de capitaux privés est faible, et la dette publique écrasante, les politiques traditionnelles de gestion de risque, comme l’adoption de taux de change réalistes et la réduction des déficits publics et du taux d’inflation, doivent demeurer les principaux moyens d’action pour prévenir les crises financières. Cependant, à mesure qu’augmente le rôle des capitaux privés, la conception des politiques macroéconomiques devrait tenir compte des leçons qui se dégagent de l’expérience asiatique. La principale leçon est qu’il faut faire preuve de prudence dans la programmation de la libéralisation interne et externe. Dans cet esprit, la restriction des mouvements des capitaux, notamment ceux de capitaux les plus volatiles, ne doit être levée qu’après la consolidation du secteur financier au niveau interne avec le concours d’institutions compétentes de réglementation et de contrôle. Cette précaution est d’autant plus nécessaire que la crise asiatique a démontré que les réserves, même à des niveaux très élevés, peuvent s’épuiser rapidement du fait de l’ampleur et de la volatilité des flux des capitaux à court terme.     

Bankruptcy reform in the Middle East and North Africa: Analyzing the new bankruptcy Laws in the UAE,Saudi Arabia,Morocco, Egypt,and Bahrain

For years, countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have been trying to increase entrepreneurship rates and attract foreign investment, however, their bankruptcy statutes remained antiquated and punitive in nature. Potential start‐ups and foreign investors have been deterred from these markets due to a lack of alternative solutions to liquidation and a fear of punishment for business failure. At least seven countries in the region have now taken steps to modernize their bankruptcy laws to provide restructuring mechanisms and other measures designed to incentivize risk‐taking rather than to deter it. With this year's crash in oil prices, an unprecedented global pandemic and an imminent recession, an effective bankruptcy system has become even more critical to avoid catastrophic results for the employment rates and economic value of the companies in the region. However, despite these recent reforms, significant improvements are still needed to maximize the value and benefits of bankruptcy procedures in the face of these growing economic threats.