BEST Scholarly Journals 2014

Supply Chain Management Education Using ERP Software: A Simulation-Based Approach Using SAP ERP-Sim

Dr. Jonathan Davis, The University of Houston Downtown, TX

Dr. Peter DeVries, The University of Houston Downtown, TX

ABSTRACT

Supply chain management is an increasingly important factor in competing successfully in the marketplace. In this paper, the authors examine how an enterprise resource planning (ERP) simulation approach is useful in teaching supply chain management concepts. ERP-Sim is an SAP-based simulation tool designed by HEC Montreal. The tool simulates a business in great detail, allowing student teams to control day-by-day business decisions and see results in an accelerated manner. Each student team manages transactions with customers and suppliers by sending and receiving orders, delivering products, determining pricing strategy, and managing inventory and cash flows. Student understanding was gauged using a pre-test/post-test method to measure teaching effectiveness, the results of which support the ERP simulation approach for certain pedagogical purposes. Business schools prioritize the integration of real-life examples, case studies, and technology into business curricula, and simulations provide an opportunity to meet this growing educational need. According to Faria et al. (2009), business simulations provide for dynamic business decision making, where students formulate a strategy and then carry out a series of decisions to implement the strategy. Constant feedback received from the simulations enables them to quickly evaluate their strategy and change it if necessary. This paper examines ERP-Sim, a simulation package developed by researchers at HEC Montreal to teach business process flow in ERP systems for business students. ERP-Sim is a team-based simulation that allows students to operate a business, make strategic decisions, forecast sales, and monitor market trends to determine pricing strategy.

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Countering Moral Muteness through Dialogue, Good Moral Conversation, and Conversational Learning

Dr. Ronald R. Sims, Professor, College of William and Mary, VA

Dr. William I. Sauser, Jr., Professor, Auburn University, AL

ABSTRACT

This paper takes a closer look at leaders’ responsibilities for building an organizational climate intended to proactively counter moral muteness. The paper first briefly discusses the concept of moral muteness as described by Bird (1996), then highlights the importance of dialogue, good moral conversation, and conversational learning as opportunities for leaders to create and build organizational climates best positioned to counter moral muteness and unethical or immoral behavior. The paper concludes with a brief summary of the role of the organizational leader in encouraging and supporting a new kind of conversation that catalyzes continuous dialogue and good moral conversation when it comes to business ethics and morality. “We have cast our own lot with learning, and learning will pull us through. But this learning must be reimbued with the texture and feeling of human experiences shared and interpreted through dialogue with each other” (Kolb, 1984, p. 2). Creating an organizational climate where employees feel safe to express their views on moral concerns is paramount to increasing the possibility of organizational leaders being able to counter moral muteness and unethical behavior. Talking and learning about ethics evokes high anxiety and often fear in an organization’s most seasoned employees no matter their level or responsibility. As a topic and organizational issue, ethics and morality have few equals in terms of uncertainty of outcome. Awareness of the strong tone of beliefs and emotion generated when ethical issues are discussed leads to expressions of dismay at a trend that focuses on organizational values, beliefs, behavior and actions without attending to issues of process.

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Would You Bet Your Savings on Today’s Best Analyst? A Re-examination of

Analysts’ Earnings Forecast Accuracy Persistence

Dr. Andreas Simon, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA

ABSTRACT

Investors can track, to a hundreds of a percentage point, how individual Wall Street analyst’s stock picks perform. But they are largely powerless in determining the degree to which an analyst’s results are a function of skill – and how much they are attributable to just plain luck. This paper investigates whether we can identify, in advance, analysts who will issue accurate earnings forecasts next year. In other words, we are interested whether it is possible for individual investors to identify analysts who are truly skilled and not just lucky. The results suggest that there is some persistence in analysts’ forecast accuracy. However, the difference in forecast accuracy is low, and analysts seem not to be immune to behavioral biases affecting average investors. Thus, investors would be better advised to go with index funds and not try to pick the best analyst. A potential explanation for our finding of very low persistence in the forecast accuracy is related to the findings in Groysberg, Healy, and Maber (2011) that earnings forecast accuracy is not related to analyst compensation. A general notion among investors, the media, and academia is that substantial differences exist in the earnings forecasting ability of Wall Street equity analysts.¹ In this article, we examine whether those differences are consistent. Exploration of whether analysts use consistent techniques to derive company earnings estimates is of benefit to market participants, who rely on the investment advice and research conducted by market professionals. In particular, are the substantial resources allocated to equity research within the major investment banks actually leading to the identification of mispriced securities and the investment potential of listed firms? Practically, it would be rational for investors to consider the earnings estimates of accurate forecasters more than the estimates of inaccurate forecasters (Sinha et al., 1997).

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The Effect of Gender and Attachment on Forms of Workplace Bullying

Dr. Jacqueline N. Hood, Chair and Creative Enterprise Endowed Professor, University of New Mexico, NM

Elizabeth A. Hood, Brandeis University, MA

Dr. Kathryn J. L. Jacobson, University of New Mexico, NM

ABSTRACT

Bullying is becoming an increasingly important topic in the management literature as the negative consequences of bullying in the workplace become more understood. Although there has been a large amount of research on the prevalence of workplace bullying, as well as the individual and organizational consequences of bullying, little is known about the etiology of the bully. Further, although some research exists on gender differences in how workplace bullying is exhibited, overtly or covertly, there is a paucity of research on how attachment can impact bullying differently according to gender. This paper discusses two forms of workplace bullying and their relationship to attachment theory according to gender. Propositions for future research are provided. The current economic environment, along with organizational change initiatives (e.g., rightsizing, outsourcing, mergers), is stressful, with the individual employee experiencing heightened anxiety and fear. This anxiety and stress on managers and workers sometimes results in aggressive behavior towards others. When this aggressive behavior is targeted towards an individual or a group of individuals and is sustained over a period of time, it is referred to as bullying. Workplace bullying is becoming a topic of increasing importance for organizations attempting to cope with the high stress levels instigated by organizational changes as well as the global economic pressures. Managers need to ensure that they are creating a positive work environment in which they are able to retain the most productive employees. Workplace bullying can drive good employees out and decrease the productivity of those remaining in the organization.

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Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis Using Different Probability Distributions

Dr. Hassan A. Said, Austin Peay State University, TN

ABSTRACT

For several decades stochastic cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis has received ample attention in the accounting and finance literature, and still is fruitful not only because CVP analysis is itself an important accounting and finance issue, but also because methods developed in these area are often transferable to stochastic applications of other important accounting, finance and decision science problems. The CVP model delivers managers with the benefit of being able to answer specific pragmatic questions needed in today’s strategic business decisions. Because CVP analysis is based on statistical models, decisions can be broken down into probabilities that help with the decision-making objectives. This study investigates, explores, and applies the CVP model for the purpose of examining and comparing its applications to four different statistical distributions namely; Normal, Lognormal, Beta-PERT, and Kumaraswamy. Even though CVP analysis is based on specific information and requires tremendous attention to details, the best that it can do is provide approximate answers to questions, rather than ones that are mathematically exact. At the initial discovery stage, the CVP’s assumptions represent sacrifices in of the model's realism and accuracy, however, advancement in software technologies has made cost, effort, and computer time inexpensive and estimations of the random variables of the CVP model stochastically more feasible. Clearly, a "perfect" solution to an unrealistic model has very little analytic or practical value. The "powerful" enough approach is to handle diverse probability distributions and dependency concerns that fit the CVP model’s assumptions. Ultimately, management’s judgments have to be made after careful investigation and deliberation and not just be trusted solely on statistics.

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Does Increases in Leadership Expenditures Influence Native Hawaiian Public School Completion?

Dr. Larson Ng, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawai‘i

ABSTRACT

The following study attempted to analyze whether higher numbers of public high school completers can alone be achieved through increases of instruction expenditures among Native Hawaiians students. Using the high schools that comprise the predominately populated Native Hawaiian Leeward District, a correlation and bivariate regression procedure were employed to determine the nature and econometric relationship between leadership expenditures and high school completion from 2000 to 2007. Although leadership expenditures had predominately increased for all high schools, increases in completion were not observed for all schools. Moreover, with the exception of Waipahu High School, there was no conclusive econometric evidence to substantiate the idea that more expenditure in leadership leads to higher levels of high school completion during 2000 to 2007. Educational leadership, other than instruction, is a critically important factor that contributes to high school completion, where it is school administrators that set the goals and strategic direction for teachers to accomplish this task (Heck & Hallinger, 2010; Jarrett, Wasonga, & Murphy, 2010; Riley & Mulford, 2007). Accountability to the parents whose children attend public school is one of the major keys in sustaining quality education (Crum & Sherman, 2008; Jantzen, 2008). In the case of Native Hawaiian education, although Hawaii’s Department of Education (DOE) has historically allocated millions of dollars to further the advancement of Native Hawaiian students, Native Hawaiian’s are still the least likely ethnic group to graduate high school (Kanaiaupuni, Malone, & Ishibashi, 2005).

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Factors Affecting the SMEs in Agribusiness in the Northeastern Region of Thailand

Dr. Sutana Boonlua, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

ABSTRACT

This research used a quantitative research methodology. There are three aims to determine the affecting factors for SMEs in agribusiness in the Northeastern region of Thailand: (1) to investigate the effects of the five factors (Government, Organization, Production, Market, and International) of the SMEs in agribusiness in the Northeastern region of Thailand and (2) to provide policy implications from the findings. The respondents consisted of 106 SMEs entrepreneurs in agribusiness in the Northeastern region of Thailand. There are five hypotheses were conducted with data collected during April and May, 2013. There are 22 variables (after 2 variables were extracted from factor analysis) of which divided into five factors. The results show all hypotheses are supported at the 1% level of significance. Based on research finding, recommendations were made to the relevant government, producer, and entrepreneurs for the formulation of encouraging climate to increase the SMEs in agribusiness performance in the region. The agribusiness plays a significant role in Thailand and South-east Asian countries economy. Agribusiness is a critical export engine and continues to dominate those countries’ merchandise exports despite significant government initiatives to enhance the development of new industries. Successful agribusiness underwrites the provision of manufacturing and private and public service provision in rural areas. Scrimgeour et al. (2006) stated that the key features of agribusiness have been debated in the literature. However, it is appropriate to note that agribusiness is characterized by its links to biological production systems and the associated variability.

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Sub-Prime and Global Origins of Euro Sovereign Crisis

Dr. Sebastjan Strasek, Professor, University of Maribor, Slovenia

Bor Bricelj, University of Maribor, Slovenia

ABSTRACT

The paper researches the sub-prime and global crisis origins of the Eurozone sovereign crisis. We place the analysis of the European financial crisis in the context of both previous crises and find some striking similarities. The reasons leading up to the crisis were different for each country, but some of the factors were common: lax credit standards, property bubble funded by banks, highly exposed banking sector, contagion impacts through the financial market channel and through a generalized increase in global economic risk aversion. We suggest that the solution is not to add regulation, but to get rid of practices that come from being able to dump private loses on the public balance sheet. The euro crisis, triggered by the 2008-09 global financial crisis exposed external and internal imbalances in member countries. Unlike the U. S., where financial crisis is fundamentally about the bursting of the bubble in housing prices and over borrowing, in Europe, the current financial and debt problems have different economic roots, which had been built since euro launch in 1999. Two main views have emerged about euro-zone crisis. The first, so called German view (Allesandrini et al., 2012), prescribes the necessity of fiscal austerity in the south of the euro-zone to lessen the risk that the south many be forced to abandon the euro, the second, called Keynesian view (Merler and Pisani–Ferry 2012) which treat euro-zone sovereign debt crisis as being balance-of-payment crisis, with the euro-zone north benefiting from surpluses and the euro-zone south suffering from deficits.

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Strategic Managerial Accounting Capability for Sustainable Goal Achievement:

Empirical Evidence from ISO9001 Manufacturing Firms in Thailand

Chonthicha Thammavinyu, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

Dr. Phaprukbaramee Ussahawanitchakit, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

Dr. Sutana Boonlua, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

ABSTRACT

This research aims to investigating the relationship between strategic managerial accounting capability and sustainable goal achievement. The conceptual model is proposed by drawing on the resource-advantage theory and the contingency theory. The data were collected from 283 ISO9001 manufacturing firms in Thailand. The effective response rate was 27.26%. The results demonstrate that strategic managerial accounting capability positively impacts operational planning efficiency, internal control quality, and information value increase. Then, operational planning efficiency, internal control quality, and information value increase have a positive relationship with decision-making success and business excellence outstanding. Furthermore, decision-making success has positive relationships with business excellence outstanding. Decision-making success and business excellence outstanding also have positive relationships with sustainable goal achievement. For the influences of the antecedents, this research found that top management long-term vision, accounting system quality, technology pressure, stakeholder force, and competitive turbulence affect strategic managerial accounting capability. For the moderating effect, organizational learning capability is factor that encourages the relationships between performance evaluation justice awareness and sustainable goal achievement. This research provides the directions and suggestions for managers to identify and justify key components of strategic managerial accounting capability that may be critical in the operation of a business that affects the sustainable goal achievement. Therefore, the firm should promote and encourage strategic managerial accounting capability in ways that generate more benefits for both firm and stakeholders.

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Assessing Innovation

Dr. Geoffrey A. Wright, Brigham Young University, College of Engineering and Technology, UT

Jacob Wheadon, University of Purdue, Engineering Education

ABSTRACT

This paper (and presentation) describes the development of an innovation test/assessment tool, including analysis of the content domain, identification of the learning outcomes, item creation, testing of the test, and initial validation that can be used in engineering and business education settings, or industry. The purpose of the project outlined in this paper was to develop an innovation test instrument and perform an initial validation. The test needed to cover a broader range of innovation skills defined by the Innovation Bootcamp curriculum and needed to evaluate individual students’ abilities at performing each of the tasks outlined therein. In industry and education, there is an increasing push for organizations and individuals to be more innovative (Wagner, 2010; Fagerberg, 1999). Rapid technological change has created the need for organizations and individuals to adapt quickly (Christensen and Eyring, 2011). Christensen (1997) described how disruptive innovations fundamentally change markets and require new ways of thinking for organizations to adapt and survive. He described how individuals in organizations need to think differently in order to compete in today’s marketplace. Because of the rapid rate of technological change that is occurring today, disruptive innovations are changing markets even faster than in the past. This has led to a greater need for people to cultivate innovation skills. Innovation skills are also needed to create job growth. Drucker (1985) showed that innovation has been the leading source of job creation in the United States over the last century. He called for organizations and individuals to focus their efforts on creating new value in society, both for their own good, and for the good of society in general. These calls have been echoed by politicians (Obama, 2011), economists (Friedman and Mandelbaum, 2011), and educators (Wagner, 2010).

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Strategic Marketing Creativity and Marketing Profitability: Empirical Investigation from

Information and Communication Technology Businesses in Thailand

Jaruporn Meesuptong, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

Dr. Prathanporn Jhundra-indra, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

Dr. Saranya Raksong, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

ABSTRACT

Enterprises confront the rapid change of competitive environments in the new economy. They are imperative to adopt strategic marketing creativity in order to maintain competitive advantage in the long term. Based on the perspectives of both Resource-Advantage and Dynamic Capability, they produce unique capability to allow better marketing profitability. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between strategic marketing creativity and marketing profitability. The six dimensions of strategic marketing creativity include new marketing idea generation, dynamic research and development orientation, marketing activity integration, value development originality, novel marketing concept, and useful marketing program implementation. The data were derived from a survey of 228 marketing executives in information and communication technology businesses in Thailand. Ordinary least square (OLS) regression analysis is conducted to examine all hypothesized relationships among variables. The results indicate that five dimensions of strategic marketing creativity have partially significant positive influences on all consequences. In particular, new marketing idea’s generation and useful marketing program implementation has strongly influenced on all consequences. Additionally, dynamic marketing learning as an antecedent of strategic marketing creativity strongly influences on strategic marketing creativity. Conclusions and suggestions for future research are also interesting to be discussed accordingly. In the digital era, the globally competitive environments are rapidly changed and a high complexity because there are growing liberalization and worldwide trading systems that are integrated in the pervasive developments of networks of communications technology. This speed of change is manifested and centered on swift changes in technology causing enlarged global competition and motivating the shortening product life cycles (Lee and Habte-Giorgis, 2004; Sadi and Al-Dubaisi, 2008).

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How to Analyse Automotive Industry Centres? - A Potential Methodological Model

David Fekete, Szechenyi Istvan University, Doctoral School of Regional and Economic Sciences, Gyor, Hungary

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, the regional science and research programs about automotive industry are perhaps mostly connected in Gyor. This is due to the fact that the regional science is institutionalized in Győr for more than three decades ago, and the outstanding development of the city is depending on the automotive industry's performance. On the base of the Széchenyi István University many scientific researches took place or are currently in progress in connection with automotive industry. I summarize in this study the structure, the methodology of the most important researches in connection with automotive industry (“The Győr Region of the Automotive Industry, as the New Directions and Means of Regional Development” and “The Development of the Economic and Social Field of Activity of the Regional Innovation and Technological Knowledge Centre of the Automotive Industry at the Széchenyi István University.” titled research programmes) in order to sum up potential methodological principles of analyzing automotive industry centers. I show in the study the importance of connections between local authorities, automotive industry companies and tertiary education system and R&D institutions and I also suggest potential methodological tools. The institutionalised appearance of the regional science in Győr almost three decades ago and the significant development of the town mainly due to the achievement of the automotive industry together resulted in several finalised and presently in-progress research projects at the Széchenyi István University in the field of automotive industry and regions of automotive industry.

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Human Resource Diversity Management Capability and Firm Survival: Empirical

Evidence from Hotel Businesses in Thailand

Nutcha Caron, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

Dr. Karun Pratoom, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

Dr. Pakorn Sujchaphong, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

ABSTRACT

Human resource diversity management has emerged as an important workplace issue for businesses in the twenty-first century in the modern organization and has long been recognized as a key constraint leading employee attitudes and behaviors towards working and organization which in turn, creates a competitive advantage. The research aims to examine the relationships among human resource diversity management capability, its consequences; organizational commitment effectiveness, organizational citizenship behavior, and organizational loyalty efficiency, as well as organizational outcomes; organizational creation outstanding, organizational innovation success, and firm survival. In addition, internal and external environments as antecedents; long-term vision, flexibility orientation, resource readiness, organizational experience, and environmental uncertainty are also examined. The results were derived from a survey of 202 four-to-five star hotel businesses in Thailand using ordinary least square (OLS) regression analysis to examine the relationships among variables in the model. The results indicate that human resource diversity management capability is positively and significantly associated with all its consequences. Organizational loyalty efficiency is an essential element for organizational citizenship behavior and firm outcomes. For antecedents, most of the variables are important factors for building human resource diversity management capability, except resource readiness. Moreover, theoretical and managerial contributions for a strategic perspective also suggest future directions for research in this vein which are discussed. Human capital is an invaluable and indispensable existing resource and of key importance for any organizational effectiveness and the source of the firm’s competitive advantage (Kumar and Shekhar, 2012).

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Measurement of Local Entrepreneur Sector’s Expectations Concerning Research Institutions

Katalin Czako, Regional and Economic Doctoral School, Szechenyi Istvan University, Gyor, Hungary

ABSTRACT

Sector of local entrepreneurs creates an informative field for activities aiming to reach regional development. As this sector is important part of development policies Lengyel, (2010), Zonneweld and Waterhout (2010), Horváth (2011), Rechnitzer (2014), there are several applicable research methods in which framework, local developers trying to call attention of other local characters. In my present paper the first results of a research in progress are going to be reported. The study summarizes what expectations an international multinational company has got concerning a local innovative knowledge Centre. The introduced results in the study were processed as part of a 18 months long research program which is realized in an East-Central European town and the surveys are still in progress. The overall aim of the research program is to elaborate and develop the inner structure and the economical-social function of a Regional Innovative and Technological Knowledge Centre. The operation of the knowledge Centre is based on industrial and higher educational cooperation. In the course of the elaboration of the economic and social functions, it is an important goal to reveal the demand for local industrial participants and, according to this, an efficient operation of a future research Centre is going to satisfy local needs. In the interest of its realization, an interview-like survey is being done with local business characters. In the first part of this study the method of the measurement is going to be introduced.

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Strategic Audit Professional Commitment and Audit Survival: An Empirical

Research of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in Thailand

Nakarn Buaphuean, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

Dr. Supparak Janjarasjit, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

Dr. Phaprukebaramee Ussahawanitchakit, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

ABSTRACT

This study aims at investigating the influences of strategic audit professional commitment on audit survival through professional citizenship behavior, best audit practice, and professional loyalty awareness. The mediator variables that are audit quality, audit success, and audit survival are depedent on variables that moderate the variables of certified public accountants (CPAs) in Thailand. In this study 405 certified public accountants (CPAs) from Thailand are the sample of the study. Strategic audit professional commitment is a hypothesis that is to have direct and indirect effects on audit survival. Also, professional citizenship behavior, best audit practice and professional loyalty awareness are proposed to become keys mediators of the relationships among strategic audit professional commitment and audit survival. For the relationships among strategic audit professional commitment and its consequences can explain by the Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Future research is suggestion to seek other consequence variables of strategic audit professional commitment for literature review. Higher strategic audit professional commitment was associated with a higher level of professional citizenship behavior, best audit practice, professional loyalty, audit quality, audit success and audit survival. Theoretical and managerial contributions are explicitly provided. Conclusion and suggestions and directions of the future research are included. Over the past more than two decades of internal accounting in countries around the world, regulators have focused more on the quality of financial reporting. The most important measure is to provide a system to oversee the auditors to provide strict confidence and prevent errors in the future.

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Perceived Product Quality and Soft Drink Brand Loyalty in the Lebanese Market

Dr. Abdul-Nasser El-Kassar, Lebanese American University, Lebanon

Albert Andraos, Lebanese American University, Lebanon

Garo Agopian, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY

ABSTRACT

Pivotal proofs from marketing literature and similar methodological research works as well as supporting insights from an exploratory study are combined in a theoretical paper that defines and examines the shared meanings of perceived product quality and brand loyalty. This study begins with a conceptualized part that answers the fundamental question “What do consumers mean by product quality and brand loyalty?” in the context of soft drinks. The paper then attempts to present an exploration of the linkage between these two elusive concepts by calculating the correlation of the quality-loyalty relationship. The discussion focuses on the soft drinks industry in Lebanon with data gathered through a questionnaire. Implications and propositions about the concepts are presented for managing the perceptions of quality and loyalty through differentiated and integrated marketing communication tools. Marketing is an interdisciplinary field which draws on knowledge and decisions from the social and behavioral sciences including social, clinical and cognitive psychology, sociology and anthropology – the study of humankind – as well as orientations and concepts from many other fields and disciplines such as philosophy, design and management. Some even go as far as to call marketing “applied economics”. The rise of holistic marketing that occurred at the turn of the century led to a shift in the understanding of marketing as a field of art and science. Moreover, the adoption of the holistic marketing concept fueled the recent development of one of the most interesting trends in marketing, the realm of consumer behavior. Consumer behavior is an offshoot of marketing that that focuses on directly dealing with the dissection of the mainstream consumer decision making process.

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Organizational Renewal Capability and Firm Sustainability:

An Empirical investigation of Chemical and Chemical Products Businesses in Thailand

Piyawan Khumyat, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

Dr. Karun Pratoom, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

Dr. Pakorn Sujchaphong, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

ABSTRACT

The current global business environment is highly competitive and turbulent. Thus, firms need to continually renew themselves to ensure success in competitiveness and in sustainable achievement, as firms need to deal with the changing situation by finding effective ways. Therefore, this research investigates the relationships between organizational renewal capability (including dynamic organizational learning, continuous organizational development orientation, proactive knowledge improvement awareness, flexible business practice concentration, and aggressive idea generation) on firm sustainability via organizational value creation, organizational innovation effectiveness, organizational excellence efficiency, and organizational competitiveness. Moreover, five antecedent variables, namely, top management support, organizational change readiness, organizational knowledge focus, technology turbulence and environmental uncertainty, are examined for their impact on five dimensions of organizational renewal capability. The conceptual model is proposed by drawing on the theories of Dynamic Capabilities Theory and Contingency Theory, both within the capability stream. The model is empirically tested by using data collected from mail surveys from among chemical and chemical products businesses in Thailand. Multiple regression analyses are utilized to examine and demonstrate the relationships among the consequents and the antecedents of organizational renewal capability. The results reveal that the posited five dimensions of organizational renewal capability have positive associations with five outcomes and five antecedents have positive associations with each dimension of organizational renewal capability. Competition in today’s business environment is becoming more global. Organizations are thus faced with unexpected changes and pressure from this increasing and constantly changing competition. Competition can arise in the same or in a different industry in which there is rivalry among both existing firms and new entrants.

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Social Media Behavior and Influence on University Students in Lebanon

Dr. Abdul-Nasser Kassar, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon

Annelie Moukaddem Baalbaki, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon

ABSTRACT

Social Networking is becoming an essential part of our everyday life. People of all ages, cultures, backgrounds, genders and professions are joining these networks to interact, communicate and socialize with each other. These social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn) are engaging consumers from all over the world and keeping them busy and entertained. The number of users joining these networks is increasing by the day since it not just because it is a social trend to do so, but because of several benefits and advantages generated from joining social media. Consumers use these online social networks to share their interests, backgrounds, activities, photos, stories and real-life connections with their “friends”. They also share experiences with the products and services that they buy. Companies, on the others hand, use these social networks to communicate with their customers, attract them, engage them, build relationships with them and eventually trigger them to buy their products and services. This research tries to explore the social media habits of university students in Lebanon and its effect on their behavior as consumers. It also explores the effect of electronic word of mouth. In other words, it looks into the effect of recommendations by friends and by experts on the consumer behavior and buying intentions. Quantitative data was collected and studied through the use of a questionnaire. The sample composed of 227 university students living in Lebanon since this age group represents a major customer base. According to Alkhas (2011), social media network is a new marketing phenomenon because it has become a new instrument used for integrated marketing communications. Moreover, it is used to allow companies grow a solid relationship with their customers. Social media involves a wide range of ways to share information.

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Strategic Learning Management Orientation and Firm Sustainability:

An Empirical Investigation of Auto Parts Businesses in Thailand

Mongkol Ekkaphan, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

Dr. Karun Pratoom, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

Dr. Pakorn Sujchaphong, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

ABSTRACT

Strategic learning management orientation has been viewed as one of key components that influence organizational performance. Drawing on the organizational learning theory and contingency theory, the objective of the study is to investigate the relationships among strategic learning management orientation and its consequences; organizational productivity, operational success, business excellence, corporate competitiveness and firm sustainability and also to explore the antecedents influence of executive proactive vision, competitive knowledge, potential technology adaptation, and business environment complexity . The results were derived from a survey of 115 auto parts firms in Thailand provided the interesting points of the strategic learning management orientation was directly associated with firm sustainability. The hypothesized relationships among variables are examined by using ordinary least square (OLS) regression analysis. Results suggest that strategic learning management orientation are positively related to organizational productivity, operational success, business excellence, and corporate competitiveness which are as the mediator between strategic learning management orientation and firm sustainability. Executive proactive vision, potential technology adaptation, and business environment complexity do play an antecedent role in this study. Moreover, theoretical and managerial contributions, conclusion, and suggestions for future research are also interesting to be discussed. Globalization is a phenomenon of the 21st century. There are drastic transitions in their competitive environment such as political, social, cultural, technological and economical changes in the market conditions (Zhang & Zhang, 2003).

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Issuing Firm Valuations pre- and post-IPO: Which Risk Component Matters?

Dr. Marie-Claude Beaulieu, Laval University, FSA, Qc, Canada

Habiba Mrissa Bouden, Laval University, FSA, Qc, Canada

ABSTRACT

This paper studies the role of firm and IPO market risks on IPO pricing. We decompose total risk into its systematic and idiosyncratic components to reveal which one affects pre- and post-IPO valuations. Our results show that IPOs are undervalued relative to a matched sample of traded firms when accounting for IPO market idiosyncratic risk during the IPO registration period. When we examine post-IPO valuation, we find that only the idiosyncratic risk of the issuing firm is not incorporated in the IPO market price in the first trading day. We also note that the level of idiosyncratic risk in the IPO market during the IPO registration period positively affects the issuing firm idiosyncratic risk in the early aftermarket stage. Overall, we show that IPO mispricing in the pre-offer period is explained only by the measure of idiosyncratic risk. Previous research on IPOs reveals a short-term anomaly, IPO underpricing (Ibbotson, 1975 and Ritter, 1984), which challenges our understanding of asset pricing. Information asymmetry, agency problems, signal and litigation are proposed explanations for this phenomenon. Typically, underwriters set an offer price below the fundamental value of a firm to motivate investors to purchase newly issued shares. This deliberate underpricing induces high initial IPO returns during the early aftermarket stage. To measure underpricing, authors such as Ritter (1984) often use the IPO initial return as measured by the percentage difference between the IPO price on the first day of trading and the IPO offer price. Purnanandam and Swaminathan (P&S) (2004) note that IPO aftermarket prices during the first days of trading do not correspond with the fundamental value of the issuing firm (p. 812). They use the market value of a selected established firm with characteristics similar to a given IPO to estimate the IPO relative value ratio (p. 818).

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Comprehensive Audit Planning Proficiency and Sustainable Audit Success:

An Empirical Research of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in Thailand

Supawadee Chopset, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

Dr. Suparak Janjarasjit, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

Dr. Saranya Raksong, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

ABSTRACT

The objective of this research is two-fold; the first is to examine the effects of comprehensive audit planning proficiency on sustainable audit success through the mediating effect of effective audit judgment, audit value increase, audit risk reduction, efficient audit report, and audit reputation of certified public accountants (CPAs) in Thailand. Second, is to the study impact of long-term audit vision, audit profession well-roundedness, audit experience, audit learning competency, and business situation dynamism on comprehensive audit planning proficiency. In this research, data were collected by mail survey questionnaire administered to the 205certified public accountants in Thailand who are the sample of this study. The results of OLS regression analysis suggest that comprehensive audit planning proficiency has a significant positive effect on comprehensive audit planning proficiency consequents. Additionally, comprehensive audit planning proficiency consequents have a significant positive with efficient audit report, audit reputation, and sustainable audit success. Moreover, the influences of the antecedents, this research found that long-term audit vision, audit profession well-roundedness, audit experience, audit learning competency, and business situation dynamism have a significant positive effect on comprehensive audit planning. Future research needs to identify and examine other variables that may affect comprehensive audit planning proficiency, as well as mediating variables, in order to increase the contributions and benefits of the study. Also needs to collect data from different groups of other auditing professions, such as tax auditors (TAs) and governmental auditors (GAs) in Thailand.

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Do University Outcomes Measure Up: An Australian Case Study?

Dr. Veronica Hampson, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia

ABSTRACT

This research investigates the application of a change-based approach to outcomes based performance management (OBPM) in two Australian Universities. The extent to which this approach is adopted and applied by the two Universities selected for the research is examined. A mixed-method research approach was used, incorporating document analysis, as part of Stage 1, and case study interviews, as part of Stage 2, to assess the effectiveness of implementation of OBPM in these Universities. This paper reports on the results of the document analysis from key documents from two Australian State Universities. Concerns are raised about the degree to which OBPM is adequate, in its current state of implementation, for enabling these Universities to know whether or not it is contributing to the long term outcomes they desire. Performance measurement in all its various forms has become a central feature of much contemporary accounting research. The measurement of performance is increasingly common within universities, driven probably by Government policy that has seen the withdrawal of government funding so as to shift universities from being full funded to being partially subsidized. Universities are increasingly being asked to find productivity improvements, increase student contributions to funding, and to report on the educational impacts of their activities.

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The Effect of Conservatism in Current Earnings’ Ability to Predict Future Cash Flows vs Future

Earnings (Empirical Study of Manufacturing Companies in Indonesia Stock Exchange)

Ni Made Mega Primandari, Bournemouth University, UK

ABSTRACT

This research aims to test the effect of conservatism in current earnings’ ability to predict future cash flows and future earnings by using two different measurements of conservatism. Conservatism is measured by nonoperating accruals (Givoly and Hayn, 2000) and asymmetric timeliness measure (Basu, 1997). This research use 50 listed manufacturing companies in Indonesia Stock Exchange from the period of 2000 until 2011 as the sample. Regressions models are used to answer the research questions. Based on the result, conservatism increases the ability of current earnings’ to predict future cash flows based on nonoperating accruals method. On the other hand, the result using asymmetric timeliness measure indicates that conservatism reduces the ability of current earnings to predict cash flows. While, for the future earnings prediction the result from nonoperating accruals measurement shows that conservatism increases the ability of current earnings’ to predict future earnings. However, the result is not significant. Meanwhile, using the asymmetric timeliness measure, it found that conservatism decreases the ability of current earnings to predict future earnings. Therefore, these results suggest that the use of different conservatism measurement generates different results. Financial reporting is one source of information that communicates the financial condition of the company’s operating activities in a certain time to interested parties. According to IASB Framework, there are some qualities that cause financial information helpful for business and financial decision-making.

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