The Link Between Small Business Governance and Performance: The Case of the Ghanaian SME Sector

ABSTRACT

The present study set out to examine corporate governance practices of SMEs in Ghana and whether there is any linkage between these governance practices and financial performance. We employed two levels of interaction to achieve our objectives: The first is an interview for a general understanding of governance issues in the SME sector and the subsequent design of a questionnaire for an exploration of the linkages between governance issues and firm financial performance by employing a linear model. The study reveals that governance structures in SMEs are jointly influenced by credit providers and business ethical considerations. The regression results show that board size, size of audit committees, corporate ethics and the proportion of outsiders on the audit committees have negative impact on financial performance while independence of the board and the presence of audit committees enhance firms' financial performance. The findings have some policy implications in that it shows that exporting SMEs are relatively profitable. It is recommended that in an attempt to promote exports, the legal and regulatory environment should be conducive for these firms.     

Mobile device based smart medication reminder for older people with disabilities

With the latest research in the fields of medicine and pharmaceutical sciences, an increasing number of drugs are being invented to cure many fatal diseases and this has enabled people to live healthier and longer. Consequently, the rate of medication usage is increasing, particularly among the elderly. It is important that the medication prescribed by doctors is taken at the correct times of the day and in the correct dosages. This seems to be a significant problem encountered by older people with disabilities. As a result of forgetfulness or other problems, many older patients either do not take the correct medicines or the correct dosage at the appropriate times and this reduces the benefits of treatments and increases both healthcare costs and the mortality rates. In order to find a solution to this problem, a mobile phone and Cloud-based smart application has been developed to improve patient adherence, particularly for older people with disabilities. The novelty of the developed application is the use of a Cloud service to provide two-way communication in the form of feedback between the older patients with disabilities and the doctors so that the medication adherence of the patients can be monitored. Mobile application developers should find the developed mobile phone based medication reminder application for older people with disabilities a useful example application, and it should help them in developing other mobile applications for older people with disabilities.

     

Portfolio selection in a data-rich environment

We model portfolio weights as a function of latent factors that summarize the information in a large number of economic variables. This approach (hereafter diffusion index approach) offers the opportunity to exploit a much richer information base to improve portfolio selection. We use factor analysis to estimate the space spanned by the factors. This provides consistent estimates for the optimal weights as the number of economic variables and sample size go to infinity. We consider an empirical application to illustrate the practical usefulness of our approach. The results indicate that the diffusion index approach helps to improve the portfolio performance.     

模式错位与再造:基于资产融资与战略联盟的国内融资租赁公司组织模式的研究

本文从资产融资的角度揭示融资租赁与银行信贷产品的本质区别,解释了脱离资产融资和战略联盟是导致融资租赁行业发展缓慢的根本原因,分析了当前国内融资租赁公司发展过程中最大的障碍;通过借鉴国外融资租赁行业的发展模式,指出了确立基于资产融资和战略联盟的组织模式是国内融资租赁业务发展的现实选择。     

Monetary policy in a cash‐in‐advance economy: employment, capital accumulation, and the term structure of interest rates

Abstract.  In this paper we study the effects of monetary policies on employment, capital accumulation, consumption, and the term structure of interest rates in a cash‐in‐advance economy, where money is required for consumption expenditures. Monetary policy involves targeting the inflation rate. The detailed dynamics of the model are fully worked out. As no numerical analysis is involved, we are able to identify very clearly the different channels through which monetary policy will impinge on the important macroeconomic variables. The model is also used to discuss the 'Great Canadian Slump.' JEL Classification: E52 and E43     

Relationship between employees’ beliefs regarding training benefits and employees’ organizational commitment in a petroleum company in the State of Qatar

The study examined the relationship between the beliefs of senior staff Qatari national employees regarding training benefits as measured by the benefits of employee training, and employees’ organizational commitment as measured by the three‐component model of organizational commitment. This relationship was assessed through a quantitative associational research design. From the study site, Qatar Petroleum, a total of 283 responses were analysed using stepwise regression analysis. The findings suggest that there is a positive relationship between employees’ beliefs regarding training benefits and employees’ organizational commitment.     

Consumer ethics: moral ideologies and ethical beliefs of a micro-culture in the US

This study explores the ethical ideologies and ethical beliefs of African American consumers using the Forsyth ethical position questionnaire (EPQ) and the Muncy–Vitell consumer ethics questionnaire (MVQ). The two dimensions of the EPQ (i.e. idealism and relativism), and gender were the independent variables and the four dimensions of the MVQ (i.e. illegal, active, passive and no harm) were the dependent variables. A sample of 283 students from a historically black university was used to explore the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Findings suggested that consumers who scored higher on the idealism scale and lower on the relativism scale were more likely to reject questionable activities. On average, females expressed more willingness to reject questionable activities than males.     

Organizational Ethics in Developing Countries: A Comparative Analysis

Relationships with one’s employees, co-workers, or superiors create ethical dilemmas. Employees’ judgments and ethical perceptions have been extensively studied in Western cultures, but not in developing countries. The purpose of this investigation is to examine employees’ self-reported work-related ethics and compare them to their perceptions of co-workers’ and top managements’ along various morally challenging situations in three developing countries’ organizations. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman, known as the Gulf countries, were selected as the research setting – and provided the sampling frame – for this study. The results suggest that respondents perceived all ethically challenging situations as unethical and had significant differences among themselves regarding the ethical perceptions of self, as compared to perceptions of peers’, and top managements’. Discussion of the results and implications are provided.