Efficiency in IPO Issuance Processes?

Is the online auction an efficient mechanism for pricing initial public offerings (IPOs)? Its intent was to minimize first day price surges in IPOs, which represented “money left on the table” for issuers. Evidence from Google's IPO suggests that the online auction process may not have minimized the first day price surge, since 82 percent of the IPOs issued in 2004 using the traditional process experienced less of an increase. Furthermore, a comparison of auction IPOs with traditional IPOs issued in the same year and in the same threedigit SIC code suggests that 44 percent of the auction IPOs have greater first day price surges than their traditional counterparts. A broader comparison of the pricing behavior of auction IPOs with traditional IPOs presents a mixed picture and suggests that the size of underwriter may be an important factor. The mispricing that occurs in auctions may be due to an informational asymmetry on the part of small investors. This informational gap could arise because small investors lack access to the information sources that institutional investors have or because companies are not required to provide detailed information in the online process, inasmuch as they don't undergo the rigorous scrutiny of investment banks in the traditional bookbuilding process. This informational gap may be alleviated by the SEC reforms of the “quiet period” and by the issuer providing more detailed information on the uses of the funds.     

Polarization,Inequality, and Growth: The Indian Experience

One issue that has attracted considerable attention recently among scholars interested in inequality and conflict is polarization. We analyze polarization in India over roughly the past three decades using consumption expenditure data. We show that both bipolarization and multidimensional polarization (on several dimensions: rural–urban, state, region) have increased since the 1990s. In the case of bipolarization, this is a reversal from an earlier trend (in the 1980s). Overall, our results suggest that the high growth that India has witnessed since the 1990s has been associated with widening disparities. Comparing polarization and inequality trends, we find similarities, but also some differences; we also show how the study of polarization can provide different insights. Our results therefore underscore the importance of studying polarization as distinct from traditional inequality.     

Economic Challenges in the Clean Energy Supply Chain: The Market for Rare Earth Minerals and Other Critical Inputs

The past few years have witnessed an increased impetus toward renewable energy to replace fossil fuels that has been driven both by environmental and national security concerns. Recent political instability in North Africa and the Middle East has added to concerns about the security of petroleum supplies. Nevertheless, renewable energy technologies are also exposed to supply chain risks for key inputs, especially rare earths, for which China is the dominant supplier. Rising price pressures in the rare earth market, due to increased demand, as well as China's tightening of export quotas, have magnified concerns about the availability of rare earths. This has led countries to develop strategies to find other sources, to substitute other materials, and to recycle. Over the longer term, the viability of the market for rare earths is dependent on the growth in demand for products requiring rare earth, the ability to find alternative supply sources to China, and possibly increased government support.     

Measuring effectiveness of TQM training: an Indian study

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a never ending process of improving work processes. It operates according to the premise that organisations cannot rest comfortably without continuously improving whatever is being done. There has to be a culture of continuous improvement and everyone in the organisation must strive towards it. This could be accomplished only through continuous training. The present study seeks to examine the role of training as well as measuring its effectiveness for successful implementation of TQM. For this purpose, data have been retrieved from a public sector enterprise manufacturing crude steel in India. The findings of the study are based purely on primary survey. Pearson's Correlation Coefficient with their significance levels have been used to measure the effectiveness of TQM training and the correlation between TQM training and selected factors. The authors have found that training creates awareness, builds employees’ commitment to quality policy and strategy, facilitates teamwork, enhances performance standards, and bolsters the skills and abilities of employees. However, the organisation needs to focus more upon improving communication competencies, multiple skill development and customer value training. Successful TQM training in the organisation needs more budgetary allocation and commitment, support and enthusiasm of the top management.     

Einzelbesprechungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Lernstress und Lampenfieber

Zusammenfassung  Endspurt in der Ausbildung — In unz?hligen Unterrichtsstunden und zahlreichen Praxiseins?tzen haben wir eine Menge gelernt. Doch in der Abschlussprüfung bleiben nur wenige Stunden, in denen man das unter Beweis stellen kann. Stunden, die über die Zukunft entscheiden.     

Multi-item scale usage in marketing journals: 1980 to 1989

The use of multi-item scales reported in six marketing journals during the 1980s is analyzed. The analysis replicates some aspects of the Churchill and Peter (1984) study and extends the examination to issues not reviewed previously in marketing. The database for the study is unique in that it attempts to incorporate every instance of scale usage from the defined domain. Among the findings is that the use of multi-item scales increased substantially during the 1980s but the reliability of those scales was not different from earlier periods. A majority of scales have their origins in marketing and nearly half of all scales were used to measure consumer behavior constructs. He is Director of the Office of Scale Research and has written theMarketing Scales Handbook along with Dr. Hensel. His research has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Marketing Education, and many other journals and conference proceedings. His research has emphasized measurement and advertising issues as well as ethical and social issues. He has published in journals such as theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Health Care Marketing, andJournal of Business Ethics. He also co-authored theMarketing Scales Handbook with Dr. Bruner.     

The Defense Industry: Tradeoffs Between Fiscal Constraints and National Security Challenges

The global defense sector is faced with uncertainty and volatility in government demand, which is driven by fiscal constraints, as well as shifting defense priorities in various nations. This paper discusses the challenges facing the U.S. government and defense contractors, and provides perspectives on potential strategies for these groups which are designed to mitigate risks and to sustain the defense sector. It emphasizes the importance of the continued growth of the defense sector through greater stability in funding, which would, in turn, assist in sustaining defense demand in response to national security challenges. The paper discusses the trends and composition in U.S. defense spending, the strategies used by the armed services to handle national security concerns and fiscal constraints, the impact on the defense industry of closure or development of key programs, and the strategies used by defense firms to handle the volatility in demand. Collaboration between nations may be a key strategy for sustaining global stability, since combining equipment and forces in various regions helps to alleviate fiscal constraints in various countries.     

Ethical dilemmas in marketing: A rationale

Because of their visibility, marketers are often perceived by society as engaging in unethical or questionable behaviors. The marketing literature does not specifically provide an explanation for this dilemma. This paper suggests that there are three major reasons for this problem: fluctuating limits of consensus, ethnocentrism, and utilitarian economic analyses. Dr Paul Hensel is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Kentucky. He received his Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Houston in 1982. He has published in Journal of Marketing Education, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Equal Opportunity International and Marketing Educator's Proceedings.Topics include marketing ethics, advertising effectiveness, and social responsibility in marketing.Alan J. Dubinsky (Ph.D., University of Minnesota) is a Visiting Associate Professor of Marketing in the School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He has served on the faculties of Southern Methodist University and the University of Kentucky. Prior to pusuing his graduate work, he was a territory manager for Burroughs Corporation. He has published widely in the areas of sales and sales management.     

Identification and classification of problems associated with evaluating social marketing efforts

The social, cultural, and economic climate of the 1980's present real pressure on social program administrators to evaluate their marketing efforts. Evaluation of social programs presents an array of problems or obstacles about which the social marketer must be aware. This paper identifies and categorizes these problems within a meaningful framework. The typology presented classifies social marketing program evaluation problems as being conceptual, macro- and micropolitical, and methodological. An understanding of the nature of these problems should assist the social marketer in overcoming their effects.