The Journal of American Academy

The Financial Structure of U.S. Born-Global Firms

Dr. Charles Braymen, Creighton University, Omaha, NE

Dr. John Wingender, Creighton University, Omaha, NE

ABSTRACT

While the influence of import competition on the decline of the manufacturing industry in the United States receives much attention in both the general press and academic literature, recent studies suggest that some firms are successful in establishing themselves domestically and immediately enter the export market. This paper investigates the financial structure decisions of these newly founded exporters by utilizing recent firm-level data from the Kauffman Firm Survey, which is a panel of firms founded in the United States during 2004. The results indicate a notable difference in both the scale and composition of the financial resources of exporters as compared to non-exporting firms. In particular, a statistically significant relationship between later stage funding via external equity and a firm’s export participation and intensity is found. This paper explores the relationship between the financial structure of new manufacturing firms and their exporting behavior. The period immediately following a firm’s establishment is commonly marked by extremely scarce financial resources. Thus, the already difficult task of overseas expansion may be compounded by the financial state of new firms that face limited equity and credit sources. Of the existing literature concerning the exporting behavior of new firms, the focus is typically on non-financial strategic behavior. This paper extends the literature by empirically examining the relationship between the financial structures of new firms and their exporting behavior.

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The Role of Stock Prices in Litigation

Dr. Donald Margotta, Northeastern University, Boston, MA

ABSTRACT

Stock prices play an important role in litigation but their role depends on the type of litigation and the relevance of assumptions underlying stock price theory in specific cases. This paper examines the role of stock prices in two types of litigation; one involves fraudulent statements which affect prices, the other with management decisions which affect prices but where no fraud is involved. It suggests that while market prices are useful in fraud cases and are often appropriate for assessing monetary damages, they might not always be so. It also finds that market prices are frequently not appropriate for judging governance cases. Law suits initiated by shareholders who were financially harmed by misleading corporate statements are called 10b-5 cases because they involve violations of Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5. At issue in such cases is the effect on stock prices from specific information events, typically the dissemination by a company of a fraudulent statement. Market prices in such cases are critical in legal proceedings such as class certification and are often, but not always, appropriate measures of the financial impact of the fraudulent information. Stock prices may be even less appropriate measures when governance decisions are at issue since 10b-5 litigation usually involves only the market’s assessment of information, while governance issues additionally involve management’s assessment of information. Those two assessments can be quite different and whose judgment should prevail may depend on specific circumstances of each case. The first part of this paper examines the role of stock prices in fraud litigation, while the second part examines their role in governance cases. Several phases of fraud litigation are discussed and the role of stock prices in each phase is analyzed.

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The Neomarketing Era: A Synergistic Relationship Between Marketing and Neuroscience

Dr. Roderick MacPherson, University of Montevallo, Montevallo, AL

Dr. Megan Sherod, University of Montevallo, Montevallo, AL

Dr. Stephen Craft, Dean, College of Business, University of Montevallo, Montevallo, AL

ABSTRACT

Neuromarketers have borrowed many of the tools and techniques that were developed by neuroscientists in order to better understand the workings of the human mind. Through novel application of this knowledge, neuromarketers have discovered many reasons why only limited progress has been made by marketing researchers in trying to understand consumer behavior. Since current theories propose that a preponderance of consumers’ decision-making is made at the subconscious level, it is understandable that consumers have been unable to precisely explain their behavior via traditional marketing research techniques. With the introduction of more powerful and higher resolution MRI scanners, coupled with functional applications, more exacting brain probing and stealth marketing methods have been the result. Consequently, marketers may soon be able to more decisively influence consumer behavior. Thus, the need to devise tight ethical guidelines for marketers and to educate consumers about this new capability is paramount. Every once in a while, a grand idea surfaces that has the potential to bring about profound societal changes. In an incremental fashion, just such a change has been sweeping across all fields of inquiry that study human behavior. Those who investigate human behavior on the college campus from biology, to business, to education, to the behavioral sciences, have already embraced many of the findings from applicable brain research studies and have begun to collaborate with neuroscientists to usher their own fields into the 21st century. Whether or not the impact of utilizing new scientific knowledge gleaned from the field of neuroscience will reach the threshold of Schumpeter's "Creative Destruction" has yet to be determined.

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Costing Government Outputs: An Assessment of Activity Based Costing

Dr. Veronica Hampson, University of Southern Queensland, Australia

Professor Peter Best, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia

Professor Marie Kavanagh, University of Southern Queensland, Australia

ABSTRACT

This research investigates the application of activity-based costing (ABC) practices for achieving an outcomes based performance management (OBPM) in an Australian State Government. The extent to which this approach is adopted and applied by the case study agency is examined. A mixed-method research approach was used, incorporating document analysis and case study interviews, to assess the effectiveness of implementation of ABC in the agency. Concerns are raised about the degree to which ABC is adequate, in the current state of implementation, for enabling the agency to know whether or not it is measuring the true costs of the outputs that contribute to the long term outcomes desired by the Government. Traditionally, public sector managers have not been concerned with issues such as costing of services because data of this type was rarely requested. The traditional public sector financial management platform gave a vertical view of each agency: a view that focused on departmental blocks of expenditure. This meant that agencies reported only on the resources consumed by work units within the agency. For accountability purposes, managers were held responsible for deviations between actual and budgeted expenditure. The gathering of costing data was rarely considered as was the idea of demonstrating an agency’s contribution to the achievement of cost effectiveness and/or cost efficiency of its services (Foltin, 1999: p 45). It is said that “necessity is the mother of invention”¹ and there is a sense of urgency by government in placing a much greater emphasis on holding managers accountable for both the efficiency and effectiveness by which they achieve their program objectives.

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Theory of Constraints Thinking Processes: A Copy Shop Case Application

Dr. Tony Polito, East Carolina University, Greenville NC

Dr. Margaret M. Capen, East Carolina University, Greenville NC

ABSTRACT

This paper illustrates an application of a portion of Eliyahu M. Goldratt's Thinking Processes, a set of tools that are part of his Theory of Constraints body of knowledge, by using them to examine the operational problems encountered by a local franchise unit of a large copy shop chain and to posit solutions. The problems noted by the local franchise unit were mapped into a Current Reality Tree, a diagramming process used to reveal the singular root cause of observed problems. That diagram deduced the problems were caused by the fact that the local unit had not embraced the corporation’s recent repositioning strategy into its own activities, decisions and requests. The root cause was then, in turn, used as the basis to create an Evaporating Cloud, a diagramming process that reveals the logical conflicts interfering with root cause removal. The Evaporating Cloud deduced that the local franchise unit had not embraced the repositioning strategy because it believed that if it did so, the division of its resources would cause it to achieve neither short‑term goals nor the repositioning strategy. An Evaporating Cloud also facilitates the generation of possible actions to resolve the conflicts and it was used to do so. Several secondary recommendations for improvement in efficiency were also made, based on the direct observation of routine operations while collecting the requisite information to conduct the Thinking Process analysis. 1984, Eli Goldratt first published his perennial best-selling “business novel” titled The Goal. In it, he argues that operational problems can best be solved by a cycle of continually identifying and resolving system bottlenecks, a philosophy he titled The Theory of Constraints.

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Perceptions of Consummate Love: The Effect of Love Industry on the Economy

Dr. Z. S. Andrew Demirdjian, California State University, Long Beach

Dr. Zara Mokatsian, Director, Near East Museum

ABSTRACT

Although one often hears the refrain that “love makes the world go around,” little does the average person know about its many facets and its inner processes. Only recently the field of psychology has begun to scientifically study this vital area which is germane to all humans of all ages, genders, and walks of life. Love is a complex phenomenon, encompassing friendship, passion, intimacy, and commitment including sex. Often, the topic has been shelved as mysterious beyond human comprehension. Recent research has also shed some light on the brain circuits in the hypothalamus involved in controlling sex and love. Romantic love, which brings couples together, and maternal love, which binds mother and child, also has survival value. Not only love has essential survival value for the individual, but that it has the major function for the perpetuation of the species and the preservation of a nation. The kaleidoscope of love runs the gamut of brotherly love, carnal love, filial love, and even homosexual love. None of these specific kinds of love are treated here. In this study we focus on consummate love, the passionate love between a man and a woman who have established in their relationship intimacy and commitment. At one time or another, virtually all of us have been involved with at least one of the different types of love, yet one takes it for granted such a valuable conception of love that one would know all about it when one is smitten by it.

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Perceptions of Instructors and Students with Respect to Synchronous Video Learning

Dr. John Griffith, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Dr. Marian C. Schultz, The University of West Florida

ABSTRACT

This research examined student and instructor perceptions on preference and perceived effectiveness of a university’s synchronous video learning based course delivery system. Instructors and students responded to surveys that asked if four learning modes (Classroom, Synchronous Classroom, Synchronous Home and Online) were equivalent. They were asked mode (modality) preference, effective in using Synchronous technology, if blending online components to a classroom course benefitted the learning experience, and if Veteran’s Affairs (VA) students chose class offerings based on reimbursement differences. The study found that respondents did not perceive mode to be equivalent, and indicated a preference for classroom instruction followed by Online, EV Home and EV Classroom. Both instructors and students indicated that instructors were confident/competent using Synchronous equipment and VA students indicated differences in reimbursement impacted their choice of learning mode chosen. Students who had taken a Synchronous class indicated that Home was their second most preferred method of learning. Recommendations included future research to evaluate the differences in student performance among the four modes of learning. Distance learning has been a part of the educational landscape since the 1700s (Harting & Erthal, 2005). It has helped to solve the issue of providing instruction at a time and place convenient for students. From correspondence courses to online instruction and video synchronous learning, universities have attempted to meet students’ desires to improve their lives through education.

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Online Tax Education: A Comparison of Student Performance

Dr. Stephen Gara, Drake University, Des Moines, IA

ABSTRACT

Online education has grown tremendously over the past 20 years. Approximately a third of U.S. college students enroll in at least one online course during their program. However, the effectiveness of this mode of delivery is still unsettled. The results are mixed with respect to student performance in online courses versus traditional face-to-face instruction. This study examines online student performance in an upper-level undergraduate taxation course. A comparison reveals that online students exhibited stronger performance than their traditional face-to-facer peers. Additionally, experience preparing a one’s own tax return is identified as a contributing factor to success in both online and traditional courses. Distance education has exploded over the past decade. Online enrollments have increased over 120 percent (USDOE, 2009). According to the Chronicle of Higher Education (2011) online enrollment in the United States exceeded two million students in 2009, more than doubling in size from 2004. Allen and Seaman (2010) report that the number of students enrolled in at least one online course increased from 1.6 million in 2002 to over 5.5 million in 2009 (approximately 30 percent enrolled students nationally). Growth is not only seen in increased students, but also in increased course offerings.

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Identifying the Goal Structures of Undergraduate Students Vis-à-vis Ethical Decision Making

Dr. Steven A. Taylor, Dr. Woojung Chang, Dr. Chiharu Ishida, Leyla Orudzheva, and Aaron Barton

Illinois State University, Normal, IL

ABSTRACT

Segal et al. (2013) present evidence that a problem appears to be emerging in that attitudes of university students toward business ethics appear to be changing in arguably undesirable ways. An argument is presented for increased efforts to bring judgment and decision-making and social psychological theory and practice to bear on this issue in order to assist in pedagogical efforts to strengthen college students’ underlying cognitive goal-related value structures. A qualitative method is demonstrated that operationalizes these goal-related value structures. The implications for stakeholders of business colleges are discussed. The nature of what “should” be taught in university education continues to be debated (e.g., Parker and Pearson 2013). However, one area of apparent agreement across stakeholders of business education worldwide is the importance of ethics as part of business curricula. Franks and Spalding (2013) assert that the importance of addressing business ethics in academic curricula cannot be overstated, as evidenced by its emphasis in the requirements of arguably the two most important international accrediting organizations of business and management schools -- the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and the Accreditation Council for Business Schools & Programs (ACBSP). Unfortunately, Segal et al. (2013) present evidence that a problem appears to be emerging in that attitudes of university students toward business ethics appear to be changing in arguably undesirable ways.

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Skills of Marriage Immigrants in Korea

Dr. Namchul Lee, Senior Research Fellow, Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education & Training

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the research is to explore policies to develop and apply human resources of female marriage immigrants in Korea. This paper carried out literature reviews and a survey on the current state of female marriage immigrants. In the survey, a total of 1,005 questionnaires were sent to 201 support centers for multi-cultural families, 5 questionnaires to each center and 203 replies from 31 centers were collected, which accounts for the return rate of 20.2 percent. The paper conducted analyses on demographic characteristics, residential characteristics, economic characteristics, the current state of economic activities, future job characteristics, experiences with skills development training programs, the desired job-related vocational training programs, and needs for relevant political support of vocational training programs. With the advent of multicultural society in Korea, a number of services targeting marriage immigrants have been introduced with participation from the central government, local governments, public institutions and various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and they are growing in quantity. Nevertheless, there are limits to satisfying all the needs of female marriage immigrants. The issues and matters associated with female marriage immigrants are not simply personal or confined to concerned families but they are of national and social responsibility. It is mainly because the problems relating to female marriage immigrants and their children in terms of social adjustment, children’s education, and homes tend have a considerable impact on Korean society. Female marriage immigrants need to be accepted as members of the Korean society.

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Institutional Self-Regulation and the Financial System Inquiry: Current Approaches and Future Trends

Carlo Soliman, BA LLM, Senior Lawyer, Notary Public, Part-time Academic TOP Education Institute New South Wales and Victoria University Sydney

ABSTRACT

As the effects of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) remain pervasive across global economies what emerges is that regulation per se is not a solution for the problems encountered by the financial and banking sector in recent times. Self-regulation has been a stable feature of the financial services landscape for a considerable period and, in the time following the Financial System Inquiry (FSI), its central function has been to provide assistance to the Australian Government in the development and enforcement of its legislative agenda. However, despite the increasingly important role of self-regulation, comparatively little is written about its effectiveness. In addition, how the concept is defined has also been overlooked. This article provides an overview of the various forms of self-regulation and suggests a framework with which to understand the definitional complexity of self-regulation in the present financial and banking environment. The recently announced inquiry into the Australian financial services industry provides an appropriate backdrop with which to consider and discuss the future of institutional self-regulation in the context of the modern Australian economy. In the decades following the Financial System Inquiry (FSI) (2), the Wallis Report (3) and more recently in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), regulation has gained prominence as Governments across the world struggle to promote and maintain efficient and well managed financial markets. A strong regulatory framework is often credited with increasing accountability, transparency and the promotion of investor protection and prudential control.

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The Moderating Effect of Business Organization Characteristics between the Entrepreneurial Orientation of Small

and Medium Enterprises and Firm Growth: Small and Medium Enterprises in Taiwan

Dr. Xiu E. Zhang, Jilin University, Jilin Province, P.R.C.

Pei-Hua Chin, Jilin University, Jilin Province, P.R.C.

ABSTRACT

One of the most commonly discussed questions is how small and medium enterprises (SME) maintain innovative abilities after the difficult entrepreneurial period and manage to develop as companies. This study constructed a theoretical model for the moderating effect of business organizational characteristics between the entrepreneurial orientation of SMEs and firm growth. SMEs in the highly entrepreneurial environment of Taiwan were selected as the research object and regression analysis was conducted to analyze the correlations between these 3 variables. The results indicated that the moderating effect of business organizational characteristics enable the entrepreneurial orientation of SMEs to be maximized, thereby promoting firm growth. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the foundation of the national economy. The robustness of these enterprises not only reflects a country’s development, but also provides numerous employment opportunities. Therefore, countries worldwide endeavor to create a friendly business environment for SMEs by devising increased incentives. Taiwan is small. The geographical island environment and scant natural resources have resulted in a special style of industry. In 1949, the economy was primarily based on a domestic system. Subsequently, Taiwan’s economy was connected to the international market because of the low labor cost and the assistance of international traders. Numerous enterprises devoted a substantial amount of effort and grew into well-known multinational corporations. Valuable studies have been completed by numerous scholars on SMEs. How do SMEs in Taiwan become sustainable companies, develop core competitiveness, and adapt to changing times and circumstances is worthy of exploration from various perspectives.

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Determinants of Saudis’ Desire To Purchase: A Field Study

Dr. Hussein Abdulla El-Omari, King Tala School of Business & Technology, Princess, Sumaya University for Technology, Amman, Jordan

ABSTRACT

Studies of consumers help firms and organizations improve their marketing strategies by understanding issues such as how: (a)The psychology of how consumers think, feel, reason, and select between different alternatives (e.g., brands, products); (b)The psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment (e.g., culture, family, signs, media); (c)The behavior of consumers while shopping or making other marketing decisions; (d) Limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities influence decisions and marketing outcome; (e)How consumer motivation and decision strategies differ between products that differ in their level of importance or interest that they entail for the consumer; and (f)How marketers can adapt and improve their marketing campaigns and marketing strategies to more effectively reach the consumer. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the main determinants of Saudis’ desire for purchasing. To do so, this study was based on a survey of 1286 households, randomly selected, living in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. The survey was designed to evaluate income and other elements that could play an important role in affecting the overall desire for purchasing their needs. Results from the survey show that virtually all the socioeconomic and attitudinal variables are important in explaining the main determinants of Saudis’ desire to purchase. Overall, 68% of surveyed Saudis households have indicated the importance of “desire to purchase” as opposed to their’ “financial status”.

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Concept Design of a Management Tool for Measurement of Consumer Value

Added Assessment of Innovation Based Strategies

Dr. Pawel Filipowicz, AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland

ABSTRACT

Innovation based strategies, because they provide opportunities for creation of new markets based around innovative and strongly differentiated products or services, are an interesting growth alternative for companies wishing to develop competitive advantage in an unconventional manner. On the other hand, developing and introducing strongly differentiated products or services carries an inherent risk of introduction failure directly related to the perceived value, from a potential customer perspective, of the new products or services. This risk underlines the importance of active participation by potential customers in new technology development processes and thus, the need for management tools assessing the degree to which potential customers actively participate in the development process. This paper presents a conceptual framework describing one such tool and, based on the framework, a potential application which can support the development of differentiation strategies based on technology innovation. Market introduction of technologically innovative products or services is based around a desire to create offerings with superior customer value. In the advanced technologies sector, this implies a multi-level perspective on value creation because the product or service being introduced in effect, becomes a driver for company growth. In this context, value creation implies satisfying all the company’s stake-holders.

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Establishing Hospitals’ Core Competencies with Six Sigma Practices in the

ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)

Pareeyawadee Ponanake, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Thailand

ABSTRACT

This research aimed to study 1) the core competencies of private Thai hospitals as medical care centers entering the ASEAN Economic Community and 2) conduct the structural equation modeling of the influences of Six Sigma practices for establishing hospitals’ core competencies in the ASEAN economic community (AEC). The sample group for the research comprised 384 HA officers. The research was conducted from December 2012 to August 2013, and the research method used was purposive sampling through questionnaires. Statistical data analysis was performed using percentages, means, standard deviations, factor analysis and the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The research found that 1) the core competencies of private Thai hospitals as medical care centers entering the ASEAN Economic Community was at a high level of efficiency, and 2) that the Six Sigma practices directly influenced the core competencies of hospitals entering the AEC. Internal quality management directly influenced hospitals’ core competencies in entering the AEC. The Six Sigma practices directly influenced internal quality management and indirectly influenced the core competencies of hospitals entering the AEC through quality management. Current strategies in the service industry are focused on cost reduction, productivity improvement, cycle time reduction, defect reduction, inventory reduction, and increase workforce or work stations, among others. Since these are continuous operations, Six Sigma has become the prototype of the quality concept (Russell & Taylor, 2011).

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Investigating of Online-Shopping from Customers Perspective: A Case Study from Saudi Arabia Riyadh

Aftab Alam Khan, King Saud University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

The main purpose of this study research to identify the issues and influences to encourage the customers in Saudi Arabia through on online-shopping, this research is conduct with the help of online services using the statement of primary data; This Research Data are collected from online customer’s services and online customers specially are focused in Riyadh city. The study findings suggest the age; education; gender; employment status and quality important of Internet connection are used for online-shopping. Despite these awareness of the online purchases and its benefits, the social influence of modern technology and perceived ease of adoption of online shopping, the Saudi Arabia society have a significant impact on the attitude towards the probability of adoption of online banking services. Implications of the results are discussed and suggestions for future research are presented. Good news for e-commerce companies, is that the 81 billion online retail sales $ in 2007 to 144 billion $ in 2012 to grow according to a study by Jupiter Research published. The challenge for online retailers comes from the fact that the majority of this growth of existing buyers more new buyers who will come after this year. Which means that your customers are always mature and demanding when it comes to what they expect of stores online. "Retailers can expect, on a more experienced population of online shoppers," said Jupiter Research Analyst Patti Freeman Evans. "Online retail matures, online shoppers have become smarter on the finding free shipping and deep discounts," said Freeman Evans, author of the U.S. online retail forecast, 2007 - 2012."

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The Relationship between Timing Information and Stealth Trading in Option Markets

Dr. Han-Ching Huang, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan R.O.C.

Dr. Pei-Shan Tung, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan R.O.C.

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the stealth trading in option markets before scheduled and unscheduled corporate announcements. We find that the medium-sized trades contribute more to the option price change than small-sized trades. It indicates that the impact of lower transaction costs due to the decimalization on the lower bound of size of stealth trades among options is minimal. The extent of stealth trading before scheduled announcements is larger than that before unscheduled announcements, while the extent of stealth trading after scheduled announcements is smaller than that after unscheduled announcements. This paper investigates stealth trading in option markets before scheduled and unscheduled corporate announcements. Extant studies have shown that investors with private information would tend to trade less before the information is fully revealed. Barclay and Warner (1993) found that if stock price movements are mainly caused by private information being revealed through the trades of investors and if privately informed traders concentrate their trades in certain sizes – not too small (which is too expensive in terms of trading costs) and not too large (which could give them away) – then most of a stock’s cumulative price change will take place on medium-sized trades. They labeled this joint hypothesis as the “stealth hypothesis”. The hypothesis is based on Kyle’s (1985) model, which posits that informed traders attempt to camouflage their information to earn more profit by spreading their trades over time.

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Job Satisfaction and Employees’ Individual Characteristics

Dr. Danica Bakotic, University of Split, Faculty of Economics, Croatia

ABSTRACT

Job satisfaction is the employee’s general feeling about the job or the constellation of attitudes toward various aspects of the job. From this definition it is clear that this attitude is affected by the nature of the job which the employee performs as well as by the work environment where s/he works. However, these factors are not the only source of job satisfaction. Specifically, the employee’s individual characteristics are often a significant determinant of their job satisfaction. The aim of this paper is to analyze employees’ job satisfaction with regard to the following individual characteristics: gender, age and education. Empirical research was conducted on a sample of 4,430 employees. The research instrument was a questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed by the usual statistics methods, supported by the SPSS program. The results showed that there was a difference in job satisfaction between men and women. Namely, it was found that women were more satisfied at work than their male colleagues. Additionally, due to the employees’ age, the differences in job satisfaction were also detected. Specifically, cyclic movement of job satisfaction was discovered. This means that in some periods of employees’ life job satisfaction increased while in some period it fell, and in some it increased again. Furthermore, where the level of education was considered the results of this study showed the more educated employees were more satisfied at work.

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Toward a Theory of Corporate Governance in Non-profit Organizations

Helene Eller, University of Latvia

ABSTRACT

Corporate Governance is based on various theories. Common theory to explain corporate governance in for-profit organizations is agency theory. This theory assumes a goal conflict between the principal and the agent as both parties are utility maximizers. This research paper will show that in non-profit-organizations namely associations agency theory produces misleading interpretations. Such associations’ most important personal is volunteers and when working with them there is no goal conflict to state. The behaviour of these people is better mirrored in an alternative theoretical concept which is stewardship theory. Corporate Governance has become an important topic within science. Many worldwide crashes of corporations, due to a lack of guidance and supervision claimed for a “system by which companies are directed and controlled (Cadbury, 1992). Balance sheets and their rules to establish them to show an investor a true and fair view of a business failed (Mallin, 2007, p. 1). Balance sheets show figures but not underlying behavioural assumptions. Agency theory appears to be the dominant paradigm underlying most governance research (J. H. Davis, D. F. Schoorman & L. Donaldson, 1997, p. 20), (Miller, 2002, p. 434) as explaining obviously best an agency conflict built on the divergence of interests between the principal and an agent. The agency relationship is one of the oldest and most common codified model of social interaction (Ross, 1973, p. 134).

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Leveraging Public Social Software Platforms for Relationship Marketing in the Airport Industry

Marion Tenge, University of Latvia / University of Applied Sciences Kufstein, Austria

ABSTRACT

The use of Public Social Software Platforms (SSP), such as Facebook, by service providers for connecting and interacting with their customers has overcome the state of infancy and is approaching commoditization. Network connections crossing organizational boundaries have been acknowledged by scholar of various disciplines as a major source of competitive advantage. However, “the mere presence of firms (…) in a location creates the potential for economic value, but it does not necessarily ensure the realization of that potential” (Porter, 2008, p. 241). Based on Relationship Marketing / network approach to organizational work, this research explores how interacting with passengers on the SSP Facebook contributes to economic need satisfaction of airport organizations. As a theoretical background the research draws on the renown Balanced Scorecard / strategy map approach of Kaplan & Norton (2001a; 2004) and theories of socio-psychological needs (Dambmann, 2004; Deci & Ryan, 1987) as motivator of customer engagement in an online environment. Being responsive to service quality expectations of passengers is vital for providing competitive airport services. The quality of a service can be described as the perception of the way a service is performed in contrast to service expectations (Bolton & Drew, 1991; Grönroos, 1984; Parasuraman, Berry Leonard L., & Zeithaml, 1991).

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The Effect of Destination Image on Tourist Loyalty in Kinmen Battlefield Tourism: The Mediating Role of Tourist

Satisfaction and the Moderating Roles of Tour Guide Interpretation Performance and Perceived Value

Dr. Nien-Te Kuo, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, Taiwan

Dr. Kuo-Chien Chang, Chihlee Institute of Technology, Taiwan

Dr. Hui-Hsiung Huang, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Taiwan

Jui-Chou Lin, Ming Chung University, Taiwan

ABSTRACT

Using the battlefield tours of Kinmen island as a case study, this paper used regression analysis to elucidate the mediating role of tourist satisfaction, and the moderating roles of perceived tour guide interpretation performance and perceived value on destination image and tourist loyalty. The results confirm that tourist satisfaction is positively influenced by destination image, and tourist loyalty is positively influenced by tourist satisfaction. Thus, tourist loyalty is indirectly influenced by destination image through tourist satisfaction. Other key findings include the following: 1) the relationship between destination image and tourist satisfaction is stronger for tourists who perceived the interpretation performance of their tour guide to be highly effective than for those who perceived his or her interpretation performance to be low; and 2) the relationship between tourist satisfaction and loyalty is stronger for tourists who perceived the tour to be of high value than for those who perceived it as low. Over the past few decades, the development of tourism in Taiwan has rapidly advanced due to a growing economy and increased per capita income. In addition, convenient transportation systems and the introduction of the five-day work week in 2001 have also boosted domestic tourism. According to the 2012 Travel Survey of Taiwanese Citizens, the average number of domestic trips per person was 6.87 in 2012 (Taiwan Tourism Bureau, 2013).

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Gene Selection in Microarray Using Sequential Forward Selection Strategy

Dr. Hung-Yi Lin, National Taichung University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC

Dr. Po-Hsun Hou, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC

ABSTRACT

High dimensional feature space, low instance amount, and only a limited number of key genes crucial to bio-information classification problems are three difficulties in microarray analysis. Since different genes could likely preserve the similar information and in turn lead to the redundant classification effectiveness, a collection of discriminative genes do not necessarily facilitate classification procedure. To arrange the gene subsets with sufficient and necessary discrimination capability for classification problems, a novel selection strategy which integrates fuzzy cluster analyses and information gain (IG) into traditional sequential forward selection (SFS) algorithm is proposed in this paper. In terms of classification accuracy and discrimination power, the experimental results gained from six microarray datasets show that our model can efficiently select compact subsets of characterizing genes and these genes can perform well for various conventional classifiers. The emergence of microarray analysis and the technology of high-throughput screen encourage many powerful methods developed for biological and biomedical studies [Allison et al., 2006; Quackenbush, 2001; Smyth et al., 2003]. Microarray experiments can largely and entirely detect tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of gene expression levels at one time.

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Employment Volatility and Bank Lending in Taiwan

Dr. Shu-hen Chiang, Department of Finance, Chung-Yuan Christian University

ABSTRACT

This study examines whether external macroeconomic factors such as foreign trade, monetary policy, and the national business cycle as well as internal regional characteristics such as industrial diversity, local environment and local bank development can explain the volatility of employment in Taiwan’s regions. Based on a panel data of 23 counties and cities for the period 1997-2008, it is found that employment volatility in Taiwan’s local economy is highly dependent on local bank lending. Taiwan is a typical small open economy with a strong international competitiveness by application of growth pole theory to pour massive public resources into strategic industries or specific regions. A notable example is Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park. However, the fact that public investment is exceedingly concentrated in some specified industries or regions will lead to higher economic and employment risk and this worry is really emerged from a sequence of structural changes of global economy and technological revolution (Chiang, 2009). Therefore, the importance of economic volatility is especially noteworthy in the case of Taiwan economy and the purpose of this paper is to explore into the sources of volatility in Taiwan's local economy. Furthermore, it is well known that small and medium-scaled enterprises (SMEs) have made essential and critical contributions to Taiwan economic miracle for more than 30 years (Abe and Kawakami, 1997). Hu (2000) has further mentioned that Taiwan’s successful experience with SMEs is unique and can be regarded as a role model for the developing world.

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Integration of Auxiliary Staff in New Product Development Processes

Christoph Staita, University of Lativa

ABSTRACT

Numerous research and practical publications in business management, economics, sociology, psychology and information sciences have been dealing with the topic of New Product Development (New PD) team performance, especially with modern development theories as concurrent/overlapping engineering, coherent division of labour, the application of theories of competence diversity, of constraints, of motivation, of job satisfaction and cognitive dissonances in New PD under the aspects of economic and socio-psychological efficiency. In contrast to the majority of investigation in the area of New PD concentrating on the question of how to optimise lead time, cost and quality by reducing the diverse constraints in the cooperation of the various professions resp. operational business functions concerned with the process of New PD (e.g. Ehrlenspiel, 2007; Wittenstein, 2007; Kliesch-Eberl, M. & Eberl, P., 2009; Haon et al., 2009) this issue is analysing the efficiency potential within the individual working unit of mechanical PD departments. The empirical evidence of unbalanced task allocation in this specific nucleus of New PD due to over-assessed SW tool capabilities and job enrichment demands by integrating drawing set documentations into the task content of design engineers on the one side and the insights received from intensive literature review and extended theoretical analysis on the other side encouraged the author to propose and discuss a model of Integration of Auxiliary Staff within mechanical development teams (MDTs) that relieves engineers from documentation tasks.

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An Efficient Clustering Method Based on Cuckoo Search for XML Documents

Dr. Tsui-Ping Chang, Ling Tung University, Taiwan, R.O.C

Kun-Jheng Jhong, Ling Tung University, Taiwan, R.O.C

Dr. Shih-Ying Chen, National Taichung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, R.O.C

ABSTRACT

XML has emerged as the universal format for data exchange in Internet. As the concept of data sharing becomes popular in Internet, more and more XML documents are used in many applications. Therefore, how to acquire the useful information among XML documents is an important issue. XML document clustering is an important technique to acquire information from many XML documents. It compares similarity between XML documents to obtain good clusters and helpful information. Therefore, the performance of XML similarity measure approach is significant for XML clustering. Recently, several researches have been proposed for XML clustering by designing new XML similarity measure techniques. These researches focus on the tree edit distance between two XML documents and thus cluster XML documents. However, these researches do not consider the features (i.e., structure and content) of XML documents and result in the performance of computing the tree edit distance between documents is degraded. In this paper, the features of XML documents are analyzed to design a suitable clustering method, namely XCS, for efficiently computing similarity between XML documents to obtain a good clustering result. XCS not only efficiently computes the tree edit distance between XML documents but also is a new heuristic method based on Cukoo Search algorithm to find better clustering solutions. The simulation results also show that XCS outperforms other techniques of clustering XML documents.

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Model of Network Thinking in Management of Knowledge Flow Processes in Sports Enterprises

Prof. Wojciech B. Cieslinski, University School of Physical Education in Wroclaw, Poland

Prof. Andrzej Rokita, University School of Physical Education in Wroclaw, Poland

Dr. Piotr Głowicki, University School of Physical Education in Wroclaw, Poland

Dr. Iwona Chomiak-Orsa, Institute of Business Informatics, Wroclaw University of Economics, Poland

Jakub Mierzynski, Institute of Business Informatics, Wroclaw University of Economics, Poland

ABSTRACT

The authors describe a model of “network thinking” as a tool for the development and improvement of knowledge-related processes. Emphasis is placed on the analysis of the impact of process management and business models related to project and process organisation of sports enterprises and improvement and professionalization of academic sport. Network thinking should support the flow of knowledge in sports enterprises and improve the organisational and ICT effectiveness. It is therefore demonstrated that the purpose of the research includes presenting the relationship between networks thinking and knowledge flow processes. Modern sports enterprises function on the market in a manner similarly to most businesses. Commercialization is the key reason for seeking effective methods and models of management. Obviously, the nature of the operations of sporting clubs within the area of group sports, such as: football, basketball, volleyball and handball makes it necessary to create separate business models that could be applied in order to develop effective sporting club management. Within the framework of the grant obtained in connection with the creation of the e-AZS platform (Academic Sports Association platform), the authors of this article focus, among other topics, on the analysis and monitoring of business processes in the area of training, organisational and financial operations.

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Hot Money and Stock Prices in China

Dr. Ling Feng, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, China

Dr. Ching-Yi Lin, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan

Dr. Chun Wang, Brooklyn College, The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York

ABSTRACT

China has recently experienced large hot money inflows, a measure of all recorded and unrecorded short-term capital inflows, and an accompanying surge in stock prices. Based on a data-based Local Projections approach, this study uses a monthly-frequency time-series dataset covering the period from January 1997 to November 2010 in China and finds that hot money inflows have significantly contributed to rising stock prices in China, especially as the financial liberalization deepened. The recent huge capital inflows and appreciated asset prices in China have attracted considerable attention. As indicated by Prasad and Wei (2007), capital flows to China have increased dramatically in both dimensions of volume and volatility in the past decades. ‘Hot money’ refers to short term capital flows that can move in and out of host market very quickly. Chari and Kehoe (2003) documented that hot money inflows are believed to cause financial instability in recipient countries. Kim and Yang (2009) showed that such inflows tend to produce boom-bust cycles. Given the potential impact of China’s economy on the global economy, economic conditions in China are of considerable concern to the policymakers. The hot money phenomena are particularly interesting in China since China has been the main destination of gross capital flows since 1990s. Observing the surge of stock prices accompanying large hot money inflows into China, this study investigates the potential impacts of hot money on Chinese stock prices.

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The Influence of Organizational Trust upon Affective and Calculative Commitment

Professor Dagmara Lewicka, AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow, Poland

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the results of empirical research on links between the types of organizational trust (vertical, horizontal, institutional) and selected elements of organizational commitment (affective, calculative). It was assumed that a high degree of organizational trust (vertical, horizontal and institutional) creates favourable conditions for organizational commitment. The relationship between trust propensity and organizational commitment was also investigated. The research was carried out with the use of a questionnaire in a sample group of 92 employees. The obtained results made it possible to identify relationships between types of trust and commitment in the tested sample. Flexible organisations need employees who are full of energy for actions, self-confident, enthusiastic, passionate and loyal to their jobs. Therefore, the attention of both researchers and practitioners is focused on the problem of commitment. The employee commitment is the driving force of an organisation which is bound for success, where committed employees often exceed expectations when undertaking goals and tasks. The employee commitment can be measured by their willingness to stay in a given organisation and provide services for it. The Hay Group Insight employee surveys (www.haygroup.com) conducted among a few hundred thousand workers in organisations representing different industries in 47 different countries prove that highly committed employees may increase business results by about 30 percent and fully committed employees may exceed their expected results by 2.5 in comparison to their uncommitted colleagues.

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Cooperation in Business Education: What about Trust?

Dr. Herve Chappert, ISEM - Universite Montpellier 1, France

Dr. Thuy Seran, ISEM - Universite Montpellier 1, France

Dr. Estelle Pellegrin-Boucher, ISEM - Universite Montpellier 1, France

Abstract

These last years, universities are more likely to develop international programs. Some of them use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to offer international academic partnerships based on e-learning solutions. We study the case of a partnership between a Public European University and a Private African University. The model of teaching is Blended E-Learning in which courses are mainly taught by European professors via a Distance Education Platform and face-to-face seminars are made by African professors. The collaboration of two institutions (public and private), in an international context (one in France, one in Cameroon) with different cultures, based on a new technology project (e-learning), raises the problem of control of this change. We focus on the shape of alternative control based on trust. The originality and interest of this research are multiple. First, it allows us to confirm the characteristics of trust and distrust in a successful cooperation. Then, it integrates three different theoretical approaches: Inter-organizational strategies, interpersonal relationships and management control. Finally, the qualitative methodology we used in this case study shows different parts of a trust and distrust in project managers’ relationships. This research aims at increase our knowledge of trust and distrust in inter-organizational relationships based on ICT projects. In this paper, we show how a French university establishes an international academic partnership with a private higher education establishment in Cameroon based partially on distant e-learning (Blended E-learning) and how the partnership develops between the two organizations.

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The Enterprise Development Center: Exploring Key Challenges of Business Incubator

Dr. Hanadi Mubarak Al-Mubaraki, Kuwait University, Kuwait

Dr. Ali Husain Muhammad, Kuwait University, Kuwait

Dr. Michael Busler, Richard Stockton College, NJ

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to investigate and identify the four key challenges of incubators in the Enterprise Development Center (EDC) located in New Jersey (NJ), United States (US). To achieve the aim, the research used a qualitative research methodology that included an interview. The research findings suggest two priorities for incubators in the EDC. 1) The first priority is to address the economic, industrial, and cultural challenges in the EDC, which will lead to high levels of local and regional business development as well as creating jobs. 2) The second priority is on policy challenges in the EDC. The research adds value to academicians and practitioners such as government, funded organizations, institutions, and policy makers. Today, all governments are working to find suitable economic models to help businesses reach a high survival rate (Al-Mubaraki, Ahmed and Al-Ajmei, 2014). According to the U.S Small Business Administration office, the rate of failure for a small business ranges between fifty‐five and sixty‐five percent over a four to six year span (US Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 1992). The rate of failure reduced to twenty percent after using business incubator (McKee, 1992). Numerous researchers have identified incubators as important to the growth and successes of businesses involved (Hayhow, 1997; Jones, 2001; Murphy, 2000; Rice, 1992; Roper, 1999; Sherman, 1999; Whettingsteel, 2000; Wonnacott, 2001). Incubators provide significant levels of tangible services important to the establishment and survival of the businesses they assist (Carroll, 1986; Brown, 1998; Dowling, 1997a; 1997b; Hayhow, 1996; Kalis, 1996c; Rice and Matthews, 1995; Schuyler, 1997; ANZABI, 1999b; Bruton, 1998; Al-Mubaraki, 2008; Al-Mubaraki and Busler, 2010a).

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IFRS Socio-Cultural Orientation: SCO Observers & Dialogue Partners

Dr. David R. Borker, Manhattanville College, NY

ABSTRACT

In addition to its six member participants, The Shanghai Cooperative Organization (SCO) has six members and defined relationships with eight other nations. India, Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan are SCO observer countries. Observer countries are either interested in future inclusion as full members of SCO, or are viewed as attractive candidates for membership by Russia or China. Turkey, Sri Lanka, and Belarus are dialogue partners which are defined by the SCO Charter as a state or organization that shares the goals and principles of SCO, and wishes to establish relations of equal mutually beneficial partnership with it. Together these relationships represent SCO’s aspirations to expand into a larger pan-Asian economic and security organization. This paper examines the sociocultural potential of the SCO related states to establish and sustain sufficiently high quality financial reporting to support mutually beneficial trade, and to successfully allocate international capital. The analysis is based on previous research into cultural accounting value methods. That research examined Hofstede cultural value dimensions and Gray corresponding accounting value dimensions to develop country accounting value profiles that were compared with a posited ideal IFRS favorable accounting value profile. More recent research has quantified a country’s sociocultural IFRS orientation using a Composite IFRS Orientation Index and an Expanded IFRS Orientation Index that incorporates additional sociocultural factors of perceived corruption, political risk, educational level, and regulatory business orientation. Improvement of financial reporting and the financial reporting infrastructure opportunities of the SCO observers and dialogue partners are discussed and directions for further research are examined.

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Applications of Exotic Options in Corporate Finance: A Panorama

Dr. Jian Wu, Neoma Business School, Cedex, France

ABSTRACT

The financial markets have made unprecedented progress over the past decades. The progress is of such magnitude that it runs the risk of separating the financial markets from the corporate world. In fact, some innovative market instruments are mostly used for speculation and arbitrage activities, without being well understood or used by firms. To be sure that the financial markets remain in their right track, it seems necessary to reduce such a gap. This article aims to show how exotic options, one of the most sophisticated financial instruments, can be used in different areas of corporate finance, such as the financing decision, the investment decision, the capital structure analysis, and the corporate governance. For each of these fields, we illustrate some application examples by specifying the exotic options in question including their payoffs, and their specificities relative to traditional options. By providing an overview on applications of exotic options in corporate finance, this work could help firms and investors better understand how these financial instruments work and how they can be used. It could also make academic researchers aware of the necessity to find more real applications to ensure the long-term viability of these ingenious products. Over the last few decades, financial markets have made unprecedented developments. Thanks to advances in information and communication technology, the implementation of the margin system, and the standardization of products, transactions in financial markets are becoming faster, safer and more fluid.

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University Student (U-S) Relationship Marketing: A Causality Study with Evidence from an Egyptian University

Dr. Mansour S. M. Lotayif, Business Department, Beni Suef University, Egypt

ABSTRACT

The current study aims at identifying the causality relationships amongst three sets of variables. First; between satisfaction and relationship antecedences (i.e. service quality, facilities, information technology, and social activities), second; between reputation and relationship antecedences, finally; between loyalty and relationship antecedents, affective commitment, reputation, trust, relationship strength, and calculative commitment. The experiences of 217 Egyptian students were utilized to achieve these objectives. Throughout multivariate analytical technique (e.g. multiple regression), significant causality relationships have been supported these relationships. However, no significant relationships between loyalty and trust, relationship strength, and calculative commitment were found. Nowadays, environmental changes such as privatization, diversification, decentralization, internationalization and increased competition in higher education are common to most countries worldwide (Luminiţa, 2009). Enviably, these environmental' changes affects the performance of higher education institutions and could be seen as the driving forces for the marketization of higher education (Maringe, 2006). Therefore, the successful organization is the one that build sustainable bridges with its environmental stakeholders via what so called "relationship marketing" (RM). Those stakes might be any individual or group of individuals either impacted upon by the university or able to impact on the achievement of university's objectives (Freeman, 1984). In other words, stakeholders are the individuals and groups that have the power to directly impact on the future of the organization (Bryson, 2004).

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The Influence of Impulse Purchases and the Positive–Approach Effect on Emotional Accounting

Dr. Chien Shu-Hua, Professor, National Taichung University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan

Dr. Wu Jyh-Jeng, Professor, National United University, Miaoli, Taiwan

Dr. Wang Chun-Hsi, National Taichung University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan

Chin-Lin Chuang, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology and

Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the influence of emotional accounting on financial innovation products by using reverse mortgages as an example. Reverse mortgages are an innovative financial product designed for elderly people to mortgage their houses to support themselves in old age. Particularly, this study examines the influence that impulse purchase and the positive–approach effect have on emotional accounting when consumers receive innovative financial services; this influence subsequently alters consumers’ trust attitude. The results show that positive emotions affect consumers’ trust and serve as a mediating variable between impulse purchases, the positive–approach effect, and trust. At the end of December 2013, 2,694,406 senior citizens older than 65 years resided in Taiwan, accounting for 11.52% of the population and thus rendering Taiwan an aging society. The national birth rates in developing countries in Asia have exhibited a continual decline, demonstrating aging trends. An aging population reduces the labor force and causes a lack of social welfare; thus, pension problems and the relatively expansive healthcare that senior citizens require after retirement poses a major challenge to governments when formulating financial policies. Reverse mortgages are a feasible resolution for enhancing the financial situations of elderly people (i.e., owning real estate but lacking monetary assets). This innovative financial product was formally introduced in Taiwan in 2013; however, because of the traditional thinking that “with land comes wealth” (The Great Learning), senior citizens hesitate to transfer the ownership of their homes to banks.

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