Intellectual Capital and Uncertainty of Knowledge: Control by Design of the Management System

This research, couched in the resource-based view of the firm, investigates the potential for reducing an organization’s decision uncertainty within its intellectual capital (IC) operating environment. Using structural equation modeling, we empirically test if organizational design can reduce the perceived uncertainty related to an IC context, which we refer to as knowledge uncertainty. We found evidence that decentralization and technology infrastructure support a results-based IC management control system which in turn is associated with reduced internal decision uncertainty. Finally, our statistics support a good overall fit for our model. Our findings suggest that if managers structure their organizational control systems appropriately for developing IC capabilities, these systems can lead to reduced internal uncertainty regarding human, structural, and relational capital.     

Partial memories, inductively derived views, and their interactions with behavior

We explore the inductively derived views obtained by players with partial temporal (short-term) memories. A player derives his personal view of the objective game situation from his accumulated (long-term) memories, and then uses it for decision making. A salient feature that distinguishes this paper from others on inductive game theory is partiality of a memory function of a player. This creates a multiplicity of possibly derived views. Although this is a difficulty for a player in various senses, it is an essential problem of induction. Faced with multiple possible views, a player may try to resolve this using further experiences. The two-way interaction between behavior and personal views is another distinguishing feature of the present paper.     

THE INFORMATION CONTENT OF INFLATION-ADJUSTED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

This paper seeks to examine whether current cost accounting information provides additional useful information to users of accounts by examining the impact of such information on stockmarket activity. The statistical tests compare the share price movement of companies reporting current cost informa- tion with a control group of matched companies reporting only historic cost information. Wherever possible allowance is made for the impact of other information released at the same time as accounting information. The results seem to indicate that the release of current cost information had no traceable effects on the share market prices of the companies concerned.     

The wages of BMI: Bayesian analysis of a skewed treatment–response model with nonparametric endogeneity

We generalize the specifications used in previous studies of the effect of body mass index (BMI) on earnings by allowing the potentially endogenous BMI variable to enter the log wage equation nonparametrically. We introduce a Bayesian posterior simulator for fitting our model that permits a nonparametric treatment of the endogenous BMI variable, flexibly accommodates skew in the BMI distribution, and whose implementation requires only Gibbs steps. Using data from the 1970 British Cohort Study, our results indicate the presence of nonlinearities in the relationships between BMI and log wages that differ across men and women, and also suggest the importance of unobserved confounding for our sample of males. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The price of fear: Estimating the financial cost of bullying and harassment to the NHS in England

Using a spectrum of measures, this paper estimates some of the financial costs of bullying and harassment to the NHS in England. By means of specific impacts resulting from bullying and harassment to staff health, sickness absence costs to the employer, employee turnover, diminished productivity, sickness presenteeism, compensation, litigation and industrial relations costs, we conservatively estimate bullying and harassment to cost the taxpayer £2.281 billion per annum.     

Lodging Managers' Perceptions of Work and Personal Life: Balanced or Imbalanced?

ABSTRACT

This study serves two main purposes: (1) to assess lodging managers' perceptions of difficulties and success in balancing their personal and work lives, and (2) to investigate if lodging managers' work interferes with or is enhanced by their personal lives, or vice versa. The results indicate that most lodging managers believe that they have struck a satisfactory balance between their work and personal lives. This study identifies the respective bidirectional effects of the interaction between work and personal life. Personal life boundaries are more permeable to work demands than work boundaries are to personal life demands.     

The dynamics of multicultural NPD teams in virtual environments

Changes in the business environment, responses of companies to these changes and the available information and communication technologies (ICT) pose a number of challenges to present and future product developers, as well as to educational institutions. An appropriate response to these challenges is to create a solid basis for strategies to combat stronger competition, since existing educational programs have provided this only to a small extent. Several European universities provided this basis with the development of an international design course European Global Product Realization (EGPR). The main objective of the EGPR course is to provide a stimulating working environment for students, where they can conquer the design competences needed for their future professional practice. The main focus is put on multidisciplinary, multinational and multicultural teams, using virtual technological developments in solving a new product development (NPD) problem at a global level. This paper studies how the growth of the course internationally affects the design process carried out. A survey was carried out among the students of the past four courses and the analysis shows that the cultural background of the students has significant effect on their perception of the courses’ processes. This is a novel challenge that the developers of the course need to face in order to provide the highest level of knowledge possible to the students.     

Tone at the Top: An Ethics Code for Directors?

Recent corporate scandals have focused the attention of a broad set of constituencies on reforming corporate governance. Boards of directors play a leading role in corporate governance and any significant reforms must encompass their role. To date, most reform proposals have targeted the legal, rather than the ethical obligations of directors. Legal reforms without proper attention to ethical obligations will likely prove ineffectual. The ethical role of directors is critical. Directors have overall responsibility for the ethics and compliance programs of the corporation. The tone at the top that they set by example and action is central to the overall ethical environment of their firms. This role is reinforced by their legal responsibilities to provide oversight of the financial performance of the firm. Underlying this analysis is the critical assumption that ethical behavior, especially on the part of corporate leaders, leads to the best long-term interests of the corporation. We describe key components of a framework for a code of ethics for corporate boards and individual directors. The proposed code framework is based on six universal core ethical values: (1) honesty; (2) integrity; (3) loyalty; (4) responsibility; (5) fairness; and (6) citizenship. The paper concludes by suggesting critical issues that need to be dealt with in firm-based codes of ethics for directors.