ABSTRACTS - PDF document

1 JA BE, Volume 8 , Number 1, 2008
JA BE, Volume 8 , Number 1, 2008 ISSN: 1542 - 8710 ABSTRACTS 1. THE INFLUENCES OF MARKET PROFESSIONALISM AND NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT ON MARKET PERFORMANCE OF ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURINGS IN THAILAND Peerawat Chailom, Mahasarakham University, THAILAND Phapruke Ussahawanitchakit, Mahasarakham University, THAILAND AB STR ACT This s t u d y i n ves t ig a t es t h e rel a tio n shi p s b etwe e n m ark e t p rofess i on a lis m , new p r o d uct d evelo pm e n t , a n d ma r k et p erf o r m a n c e, b a s e o n s o c ial c o g n iti v e p er s p e c ti v e by u s ing T h ai El e c t r o n ic Ma n uf a c t u ri n g Firm a s a s am p l e . The r e s u lts r e v e a ls th a t m a rk e t p r o f e ssi o nal ism h a s a si g n ific a n t p o sitive i m pa ct o n n e w p r o duct d e vel o p me nt a nd ma rket pr o f essi o nalis m . M o r e ove r , the s t u d y i n di c a ted th a t visi o n a n d e x p e r ie n c e w e re a n t e c e d e n t of ma r k et p r o f e ss io n a l is m . A d diti o n a lly, ma rket p rof e ssio n alism al s o h as a si g n i f ic a n t p o sitive r e l a tio n s h ip with c u st om er a n d c o mp etitor o ri e ntati o n. Co n tri b u tio n s a n d s u g g e s t i o n s f o r f u rth e r res e a r ch a r e al s o disc u ss e d . K e ywords: Vi s i o n, Ex p er i e n ce, Ma r k e t P r ofe ss i o n a li s m , C u s t om er Ori e nt a t i o n, C om p e t i t or Ori e ntati o n, New Pro d u c t De v e lo pm ent, Mar k e t Pe r f o r ma n c e 2. DEVELOPING CR E ATIVE THEMES FOR INT E GRATED MARKETING COMMUNICIATON: SUBJ E CTI V E EXPERIENCES AS DIMENSIONS OF VALUE IN OFFER I NGS Glen n a Pend l eton, Clevel a nd State University, Cleve l and, Ohio, USA Ashut o s h Dix i t, Cleveland State University, Clevelan d , Ohio, USA Lun d str o m, William, Cle v eland State University, Cl ev eland, Ohio, USA ABS TR ACT There are im portant c on c ept u al a n d pr a c tical pr o ble m s fac e d by r e se a rc h ers in d e ve l oping creative the m es for i n tegrated m arketing co m municatio n s for new e x p eri e ntial offerin g s. The auth o rs pr e s ent t w o m ajor str e a m s of the o ry, a nd d e vel o p a bas i c inte g r a t ed fra m ew or k reflecti n g the traditional m ulti - attribute appro a ch an d the n e w e r ex p eri e ntial a ppr o ach to custo m er val u e for th e s e n ew offer i n g s. In addition, they d i scuss the pr a c tical p roble m s in t h e develop m e nt of m easures for c u sto m er value. Th e s e p roble m s cent e r a ro un d the m any d i fferent e m otional “l e v e l s” of co n s truc t s t h at can be sp e c ified (i.e. en t ertain m ent, enj o y m ent, escape, a e st h etics, etc . ). A con t ributi o n of th i s s t udy is an in tegrated fr am ework that inc o rp o r at e s the newer in t r ins i c relatio n ship co n s u m ers have wi t h ex p eri e ntial offerings al o ng with the traditional mu lti - attribute as pec t s of offerings. Th i s in t rins i c co m p o nent is i m po r tant wh e n m arketers a re developi n g creative the me s for inte g rat e d m arketing co mm unications. Keywords: Experi e ntial Marketing, Intri n sic Value, Integrated M ark e ting Co mm unicatio n s 3. THE IMPACT OF THE N E W PENSION A C C OU NTI N G R U LES ( F AS 15 8 ) ON FINANC I AL STATEMENT ANALYSES Gyung Paik, Brigham Y ou ng Univ e rsity, Provo, Utah, USA Jeff Lark, Br i gham Yo u ng Uni v ersity, Provo, Utah, USA ABS TR ACT In this pap e r we e x a m ine the effect of FAS 158 on s om e key fina n cial rati o s th a t are used for financial state m ent analys e s . FAS 158 cha n g e s only the p r es enta t ion of a co m pa n

2 y ’ s p ens i on obli ga tions — no
y ’ s p ens i on obli ga tions — not the JA BE, Volume 8 , Number 1, 2008 ISSN: 1542 - 8710 su b s ta n c e. How e v e r, m ost key fin a nc i al ratios will be affected b e c a use of the c h ang e s in r e p o rting ca u s e d by F A S 158. For c om panies with ov e rfun d ed p ens i on pla n s, their asse t s and e q uity wi l l decre a s e; for und e rfu nd ed pe n si o n p l ans, their li ab ilities will increase whi l e e q uity d e cr e as e s. In this pa p er we exp l ore the m agnitu d e of the ch a ng e s in k e y fina n cial ratios brou g ht about b y i m ple m enting FAS 158. The c h an g es in the financ i al ratios w e re usual l y c a us ed by the rec l assificati o n of una m ortiz e d pe n sion gai n s /loss e s or pr i or serv ic e c o sts, the creation of de f erred tax a ssets, and i n cr e asi n g liabiliti e s. Our findin g s s h ow that, in general, the recl as sificati o n of pens i on - relat e d ite m s as assets, liabiliti e s, and e q uity i m pacts m ost co m pani e s to a m ini m al d egr e e. H o w e ver, while the i m pact to co m panies on a v erage m ay be ins i gnific a nt to financial state m ent users, so m e c om panies saw signif i cant c h ang e s to their financial ratios. T h ese ch a ng e s cou l d lead i n v e stors o r a n aly s t s to have an ov e rly - o pti m istic p e rsp e ctive of the co m pa n y. Ke y w o rd s : F ina n cial a cc o unting, pe n s i ons, fina n cial state m ent analysis 4. MOD E LING OF INTERNATIONAL POSITIO N ING PROCESS FO R NEW T R A DE EN DEAV O R S : A R AD I CA LL Y S U C C IN CT APP R OACH Somesh Ku m ar Sharma, Indian Institute of Science, Banga l ore, Ind i a R. Srinivasa n , Indian Institute of Science, Bangal o r e, India AB S R A CT The art i cle a im s to prese n t a m odel for effective int e rnational p o si t ioning p r o c es s (IPP). The obj e c tive of this pa p er is to radically red e sign the m ethodolo g y of IPP and to develop f o ur ph a se mo del. The first ph a se ass e ss e s the international b u s i ness capabil i ty of an org a nizati o n and s e co n d ph a se analyze t h e external e n viron m ent to identify the pot e ntial internat i onal m arke t s. The third p h ase m ak e s d ec i sion a b out entry m ode cho i ce a n d fourth p h ase foc u s e s on de f ining gl ob al co m petitive advantage. This pa p er sp e c ifically o btains the ty p e of infor m ation ‘ internati o nal bus i n e ss dec i s i o n m aker s ’ (IBDMs) co n s i d er for apprais i ng a nd tailor i ng custo m ized I P P. The auth o rs i d entify 1 2 pieces of infor m ation, essential and appro p riate for the prop o sed p ositi o n i ng pr o c es s. They u s e mu ltiple crit e ria dec i s i o n ana l ys i s ( M CDA) m ethods for utilizing the i nfor m ation o btained in t h e stu d y, for sh a ping u p IPP which h a s not b e en reveal e d in the literature for this p u rp o s e . Ke y word s : I nternati o nal Positioni n g Process (IPP), Model, Rad i cal Red e si g n i ng, C a rdi n al and Adj u v a nt Di m ensions, Multiple Cri t e ria D e c i sion Analysis 5. T H E OPTIM U M BOARDROOM COMPOSITION AND T H E LIMITATI O NS OF THE AG E N CY THE O RY Karim S. Re b eiz, Amer i c an Unive r sity of Beirut, Beirut, Leba n on ABS TR ACT I exa m ine the extent of the linkage b etwe e n the percent in de pen d ent dir e ctors in the boardroom ( m eas u r ed b y the ratio of indep e nd e nt direc t ors over total dir e c t ors) a n d the m arket ret u r n s of fir m s belo n ging to the tec h nol o gy, e n gine e r i ng a n d co m m unic a tion i n dustr i es. T he results i n dicate that an inde p end e nt boardroom configu r ati

3 on p ositively i m p a cts on th
on p ositively i m p a cts on the fi n anc i al p e rfor m ance of the fir m s, which is in co m plia n c e with the a ge n cy the o ry of the fir m . T he relati o nsh i p “bo a r d room config u ration - financi a l perf o r m ance” is h o w e v e r not line a r in nature, b ut rather c u rvili n ear with a n egative co nc avity. T h e i m plication i s that th e re i s a li m itation to the a ge n cy th e ory of the firm a s t h e opti m um boar d r o om confi g urati o n do e s not co n s ist of 100% i nde p end e nt dir e ctors; i n stead, it co m pr i s e s a m inori t y of i n si d e JA BE, Volume 8 , Number 1, 2008 ISSN: 1542 - 8710 dir e ctors to co m pe n sate for the infor m ation deficit inher e nt w i th a 100% inde p end e nt boardroom confi g urati o n. Ke y word s : B oard of D i r e c t ors; Corporate Gover n a n ce; Agency T h eory; Boar d r o om Co m position; Outsi d e Directors; Ins i de D i rect or s; Fina n cial Perf o r m ance 6. C O RP O RA T E SOCIAL RESPONSIBI L ITY AND O P ERAT I NG PERF O R M ANCE Maret n o A. Harjoto, Pep pe r di n e Univ e r s i ty, Mailibu, Californ i a, USA Hoje Jo, San t a Cl a ra Univ e rsity, and M o nte r ey Institu t e of Internati o nal Studi e s , Monterey, C a lifornia, USA AB S R T A C T W e ex a min e th e e ffect s o f interna l an d e xtern a l corpo r at e governa n c e an d m o ni torin g m echa n i s m s o n t h e fi r m s ’ ch o i c e o f corpor a t e socia l respo n sibilit y (CSR ) engag e m e n t an d oper a t in g pe r fo r m anc e en g agi n g in CS R a c tivitie s . Employin g a larg e an d e x tensiv e s a m p l e du r in g th e 1 993 - 200 4 pe r iod , w e fi n d t h a t th e CSR choic e i s associate d wit h go v ernanc e c haracte r i stic s in c l u d in g board l ea d ersh i p, bo a rd i nd epe n de n ce, institutional o wn e rship, an alyst foll o wi n g, and anti - t a ke o v e r p r o v is ions. A f te r co r rec ti n g f o r t h e endo g enous t r e a t m e n t e f f e c t , ou r r e s u l t s s ho w th a t c o nt r a r y t o t h e C S R o v e r - in v e st m e n t a r g u m e n t , CSR enga g e m ent posit i v e l y inf l ue n c e s fir m s ’ op e rating p e rfor m a n c e m easured b y ROA and op e rating p rofit. I n ad d i t i o n , a f t e r correcti n g t h e sele c tio n bi a s pro b l e m u s in g th e in s t r u m e nta l app ro ach , w e fin d th a t whil e t h e i m pa c t o f ext e rnal m onitoring by a na lyst follow i ng an d i n s t i t u t i o na l ow n ersh i p on operati n g perfor m a n ce is strong l y po s it i v e, i n te r na l m o nitorin g b y b o ar d l e a d ershi p an d i n s i de r b l ockhol d er s ’ ownership , p l a y a n ad v ers e r o l e on fi r m pe r fo r m a n c e a n d i n t e rna l m o n itorin g b y independe n t boar d pro v ide s p o sitiv e impact , b u t m o s tly insig n i f ica n t. Ke y w o rd s : Corpor a t e s o cia l respon s ibility ; cor p or at e gover n anc e ; analys t f o llo w ing ; fi r m pe r fo r m ance 7. DIFFER E N C ES BETWEEN L A N D - B A SED A N D O NLINE G A M BLERS Geoffrey Lee, University of W e stern Sydney, New S o uth Wal e s, Austral i a Robyn McG u iggan, University of West er n Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ABS TR ACT Ga m bling is ackn o wl e dg e d as a co m puls i ve pat h ologic a l dis o r d er that has p otential for n egative s o ci o - ec o no m ic i m pac t s in p e rsonal, work, social, l e ga l , and fin a ncial are n as. O nl i ne ga m bling has rap i dly gr o wn into a US$12 billion dollar i n d u stry in 2 0 05 with es

4 ti m ates o f between 14 and 2
ti m ates o f between 14 and 23 m illi o n players in 2006. T h e internet p r o v id e s an id e al c h annel to ser v ice ga m bl e rs though its i n her e nt c h ar a c ter i stics of ease of a ccess, co n v en i ence, i mm ersive at m os p her i cs, and instant a ne ou s results. F or g a m bling pr o v id er s, t h e chan n el o f fers a d vant a ges to tr a ditional l a n d - b a s ed ent e rpr is es i n l o w - c o st o p erati o ns, acc e ss to i nternati o nal m arkets and n ew f o r m s of ga m es. F o r the m ost p a rt, regulat or y m easures to m anage the online ga m i n g in d us t ry are reg a rd e d a s i n e ffective. As s u ch, t h ere is a call to con d uct research into the online gaming phenomenon. This s tudy c ompared demographic, beha v ioral, and psycho g ra p h i c charact e ris t ics of lan d - b a s ed ( n =2 2 9) and onl i ne gam blers (n=6 3 ) . Us i ng n on - para m etr i c t - tests a nd c o rre l atio n s, s e veral stat i s tically signific a nt differe n c e s were i den t ified. Despite the r e sults sh o w i n g that de m ogr a phic ch a r a c ter i st i cs c a nnot b e us e d to id en tify online g am blers within the sa m ple respo n den t s, stud e nts w e re id e ntified a s sp e ndi n g a nd wa g eri n g m ore m oney than the p eo ple in full - ti m e e m ploy m ent. A beh a vioral differe n c e w a s identified, w i th online g am blers e n ga g ing in c a si n o table ga me s signif i cant l y m ore ti m es p er m onth. The analys i s of the psych og raph i c differ e nc e s ind i cat e s that land - based g a m blers e x hibit h i gher m ean scores on the r e a s o ns w h y th e y g a m ble, wh i c h are for ch a rity, JA BE, Volume 8 , Number 1, 2008 ISSN: 1542 - 8710 at m osph e re and e xcite me nt, as a fav o rite activi t y , as a soc i al activity, a n d g reat e r belief in luck. The ana l ys i s of p erceptio n s of onli n e g a m bling i s co n s is tent with t h e literature in that, co m p a r e d with la n d - based g a m blers, onli n e g a m blers h a ve an o v e rall p osit i ve d i sp os ition to the b enefits of on l ine ga m ing. The st u dy r e co mm ends that govern m ent and pol ic y m akers m ust und e rsta n d the re a s on s for the hi g h inci d e n c e of stu d ent gam bling to d eve l op stra t egi e s to m ini m ize p rob l em ga m bling. In a d diti o n, reco mm endations o n poin t s of different i ation betwe e n lan d - b a s ed and onli n e ga m bling c h anne l s m ay as s i s t indu s t ry pra c titioners in e ffective m arketing of their serv i c e s . Ke y word s : Internet G a m bling, Online, Ga m ing R e s e arch, Ga m ing Behavi o r 8. C O RP OR A T E GOVER NA NCE A N D I N CENTIVE C O NT RA CT D E SIGNING Xinming De n g, W uh a n Un i v ersit y , W u h a n, Hubei Chi n a Ch o n g z hen Cheng, Hubei Universit y , W uhan, Hubei, Chi n a Xu t ao Zh e ng, Hubei University of Econ o mics, W u h an, Hubei, China ABS TR ACT This p ap e r mainly d i scusses the governa n ce issu e s from the contract arr a n g e m ent pers p ective, which exp l or e s the relatio n s a mo ng the a g en t s ’ residual claim p ara m eters, e f f o rt v a riabl e s , inc e ntive var i abl e s , e f fort c o st variable a nd i n centive c o st v a riable etc. through t h e d e s i gn of the i nc e ntive con t r a c t s. W e m ake the followi n g co n c l u sio n s: (1) T he i n centive con t r a c t s h a ve co n tingent char a c ter i stics; ( 2 ) Monitori n g e f ficie n cy i s i m por t ant to desi g n the incentive contr a c t s; ( 3 ) T h e princ i p

5 al m ust p a y attention to t
al m ust p a y attention to the resi d ual i t self; ( 4 ) T h e agen t s ’ risk - n eutral ca n ’ t alw a ys pro m ise to at t ain the best o utco m e of the incent i v e con t r a c t s; (5) T h e pri n c i p a l s ’ first m over advan t a ge is an i m por t a nt factor to achieve the e f ficie n cy opti m ization of the inc e ntive con t ract. Ke y word s : F irm Gov e rna n ce; Inc e ntive Contract;Res i dual C l ai m ; Resi d ual Ri g h t s of Con t rol 9. ONL I NE C O NSUM E R S’ PERCEIVED RISK A N A LYSIS: A G R APHI C A L M OD ELING APP R O A CH Iks u k Kim, California State Unive r sity Los Angel e s , California, USA Fre d dy Su Jin Lee, Calif or nia State U n iv ersity Los A ngel e s , Calif o r nia, USA ABS TR ACT The r e s e arch was d e sig n ed to dir e ctly test how c o nsu m er s ’ perce i v ed risks from the pr ev io u s store e n viro nm ent and the Internet a re related to the Internet p u rchas i ng intent i on. The r e su lt s of the r e se a r c h cle a rly su gg ested that s om e ris k s a pp ear to be m ediated t h ro u gh the oth e rs in Internet sho p ping. Ke y word s : P erceived R i sk, Internet Marketing, G r ap h ical Mo d eling 10. S UBORDIN A TE CUS T OMER ROLES A ND S A TIS F A C TION I N MEDICAL SE R VICES S E C T O R * J u n g k i Lee, K o r ea Univer s i t y - S e jong, J o c h i w o n , C h u ngnam, Kor e a ABSTRACT This p a p e r e x plo r e s fact o rs th a t w o u l d po s iti v e ly af fe c t c u s t o m er s a ti s faction i n m edi c a l s e r v i c e i n d u s t r ies whe r e c u stome r s a r e k n o w n to h a ve a high r a te of d iss a tisfacti o n due to a p o w e r i m b a l a n ce in fa v o r of t h e JA BE, Volume 8 , Number 1, 2008 ISSN: 1542 - 8710 s e r v i c e pr ov i d e r . The stu d y applies the c on c e p t of p e r c ei v e d c ontr o l a n d i n v e s tig a tes whether t h e h i g her l e v e l o f p e rc e iv e d c o nt r o l act u ally e n h a nc e s the s a tisfacti o n lev e l with the s e rvice pro v ide r . F ou r o u t o f s i x h y p ot h e s es a r e s u p p o rt e d , i n d i c ati n g the s i g nifi c a nt r o le th a t p er c e i v e d c o n trol e x e r t s o n c u s t o m e r s a t i s f a c t i on in m ed i c al s e rvice int e racti o ns. I m p l icati o ns for future r e se a r c h a n d b u s ine s s a r e pro v ide d . Keywords: s u bo r d i n a t e r o l e s , medic a l s e r v i c es, perc e i ve d c on t r ol, c o g n i t i v e c o ntrol, behavi o ral co n trol, d e cisi o n a l control 11. SOVEREIGN CREDIT R A TINGS A ND MA C RO E C O NOM I C VAR I ABLE S : AN APPLIC A TION OF B O U N DS TESTING AP P R OA CH T O MA L AYSIA Mansur M a s i h, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Sa u di Arabia Abd Halim Ahmad, N o rth e rn Univ er sity of Malaysia Siti Nur a zira Mohd Daud, Unive r sity of Southampt o n and Islam i c Scie n c e University of Mal a ysia Ainulashik i n Marz u k i, Isl a mic S c i e nce University of Malaysia ABS TR ACT This p ap e r a im s to invest i gate the short - and lo n g - run m acr o ec o no m ic deter m inants of s o verei g n credit ratin g s i n de v el o ping co u ntries. Mal a ysia i s u s ed a s a c a se st u dy. T his st ud y e m pl o y e d quart e r l y d ata from 1991 t o 20 0 4. We app l y a r e cently d evel o ped ti m e s e ries t e chn i q u e cal l ed ‘A uto - Re g r e ss i ve Distr i buted L a g ’ (ARDL) [Pes a r an, Sh i n, and S m ith, Jo u rnal of Applied E c on o m etrics, 20 0 1] wh i c h h a s taken care of a m ajor

6 li m itation of the conventio n al
li m itation of the conventio n al coi n tegrating t ests in that t h ey suffer fr o m the pr e - test biases. B ased on the ab ove ri g or o us m ethodolo g y, our ev i de n ce tends to su g gest that both in the sh o rt - and l on g - ru n , Debt rati o s s u ch as (De b t to GDP, D e bt Service to R e serv e ) and US T r e asury Bill rate ( 3 - m onths) ap p ear to h a ve h ad a signif i c a nt i m pact on Malaysi a ’ s s o vereign cr e dit ratings. The findings of the stu d y te n d to indicate that Malaysi a ’ s short - a nd long - t e rm ability to pay its debt c o ntain i nfor m ation for the pred i ction of her credit ratin g s. T hese findin g s are pl a us i ble and h a ve strong pol ic y i m plicati o ns f o r developi n g countri e s like Malaysia. Keywords: M alaysia, sovereign cred i t rating, m acro e cono m ic v a ri a bles, ARDL cointegration 12. THE FED E RAL RESER V E AND T HE AMER I CAN BUSINESS CYCLES Adil H. Mou h ammed, University of Illinois at Springfie l d, Springfield, Illinois, USA ABS TR ACT This p a per a t te m pts to e x p lain the F e d ’ s be h av i or of i ncre a sing a n d d e cre a sing the fed e ral f u nds rate. A Vebleni a n ap pro a c h i s d evelop e d a nd u s ed to expla i n such a b e h avi o r. T h e p a per argu e s t h at si n c e 1 968 ev e r y r e c e ss i on was pr e c e ded b y a n incre a se in t h e federal fun d s rate. This d ec i sion alw a ys p r o m otes a n evo l vi n g r e c e ss i on. The Rec e ssio n s of 1991 and 20 01 were pr ec eded by i n creas i ng the f e deral f u n d s rate s e veral t i m es. The F e d m ade such dec i s i o ns b e ca u s e it tr i ed to re d uce wage sh a re a n d c a p a city utilization and to control e m ploy m ent. This behavior will increase profits at the expense of the under l y ing popu l ation. T he recent e c o no m ic s l ow do w n of 2 00 7 - 0 8 w a s a l so prec e ded by in cr e as i ng the federal fun d s rate sevent e en ti m es but for a failed re a s on of m ai n taining t h e exch a nge r a te of the dol l ar d u ri n g an inflationary condition of a high b u dget d efici t . Ke y words : Fed, Fe d eral Fun d s Rat e , Busin e ss Cyc l e, Profit Share, L ab o r Share, Rate of ca p aci t y Utilization, Veblen JA BE, Volume 8 , Number 1, 2008 ISSN: 1542 - 8710 13. S A TISFA C TION AND CUSTOMER PE RC E IVED N E ED IN ADO P TING AN E N TRE P REN E UR I AL INNO V ATI O N Notis A. Pag i avlas, Wi n s t o n - Salem Sta t e University, Wi n s ton - S al e m, North Carolina, USA ABS TR ACT This s t udy e x pl o r e s the effects of c o nsu m er satis f action with ex i s ting opti o ns of a high invo l v e m e n t serv i c e as it shap e s p erce i ved ne e d for an alt e rnative and l i keli h o o d to try a n ew entr e pr e ne u rial offering. Esp e cial l y in bus i ness - to - bus i n e ss ma rke t s, he a vy u s e rs are expect e d to be the m ost feasib l e tar g et m arket in switching to “s u peri o r ” alternativ e s . R e s u lt s ind i cate t h at this m ight not be the c a se. While respo n den t s i n a surv e y s t udy ind i cat e d re l ative l y lo w s a tisf a c tion with attribut e s of e x isti n g air tra n sp o r t co mm ercial serv i c e s , and need for a n alternat i v e, t he c o rrelati o n betw e en the two m eas u res w a s not signif i cant. In addition, l o wer sat i sfact i on did not r e late to the ex p r e s sed likeliho o d to utilize the ne w serv i c e, o n ce avail a ble. T h ese

7 find i n g s sh e d light in t o
find i n g s sh e d light in t o dec i s i o n m aki n g process e s that do n ot conf o rm to stan d ard m arketing d i scussio n s and fi n din g s relati n g to adopting an entr e pr en eurial offer in g. Post hoc theoret i c al e x pl a natio n s incl u de the concepts of “des i red” vs. “ad e qua t e” serv i c e l e ve l s that influence co n s u m er c h oice a nd de m and for alt e r n ativ e s . K e y w o rd s : opportuni t y recogn i tion, consumer f e edba c k, ent r epren e ursh i p, ser v ice 14. DET E RM I N ANT S O F AUD IT FEE S IN K UWA IT Bader Al - Sh a mma r i, P u blic Auth o rity f o r Appli e d E d u c ati o n a n d T r a i n i n g , Ku w a it A b d u l l ah A l - Y a q out, P u blic Aut h ority for Ap p lied E d u c a t ion a n d Training, K u w ait Ahm a d Al - Huss a i n i, Pu b lic Auth o rity f o r A p pli e d E d ucati o n a n d T r a i n i n g , Ku w a it ABSTRACT M a ny s t u d ies h a ve be e n c o n d ucted on t h e m a rk e t f o r a u dit s e rvices in d e v e lop e d c o u n t r ies, b u t to d a te v e ry few h a v e f o c u s e d o n d e v e loping c ou n tri e s in g e n e r a l a n d Mid d le Ea s t e rn c o u n t r ies in p a rti c ular. This s t u dy in v e s ti g ates the a u dit ma r k e t in K u wait, a c o unt r y for which this m a r k et h as n ot b e en i n v e s tig a ted bef o re. W e d e v e lo p ed a mo d e l for t h e d e te rm in a n ts o f au d it fe e s that t a k e s i n to acc o u n t clie n t siz e , r isk, c om plexit y , pr o f i t a bility, ind u s t ry a n d a u dit o r. O u r fin d in g s s h ow t h at t h e r e a r e si m ilariti e s in t h e d e t e r m i n ing f a c t o rs f o r a u d it fe e s in Kuw a it a n d oth e r c o u n tries pr e vi o usly s t u d i e d. H o we v e r , we al s o f o und d iffer e n c e s . Co n trary to t h e f i n d in g s of m o s t o f the o t h e r s tu d ies t h e r e is n o fee p r e m i u m in Kuw a it for t h e B ig F o ur a u diti n g fi rm s . This s t u d y s h ows t h at t h e le v e l of a u d it fe e s is p o sitive l y assoc i ated w ith cli e nt size a n d co mp l e xi t y o f cli e n t o p er a t i o n s . Oth e r va r ia b les a re n ot si g nific a nt. K ey w ords: Au d it F e es, Cli e nt c h a ract e ristic s , Big Four A u dit Firm s , Ku w ait 15. DETERM I NING E A RN I N GS Q U ALITY: A M U LTI - F AC T OR MO DEL APP RO A C H Gre g ory M. Dempst e r , H a mpde n - Syd n ey Colle g e, Hampd e n - Sy d ney, VA, USA ABS TR ACT We d e vel o p an ec o no m etric m odel of earn i n g s qu a lity deter m in a tion, based o n object i ve a nd publ i c ly - avai l able da t a, for ass i sting a uditors and r e se ar c h ers int e r e st e d in det e c ti n g the effec t s of e a rn i n g s m anage m ent. We c h o o se a m ulti - f a ct o r m odel a p proach wh i c h a llows the e c o no m etric da t a to indicate the se n s itivit i es of i m portant “factor s ” in the earni n g s quality det erm ination process, isolating factors th a t best act as “pred i ctors” of earn i ngs quality in a backward - looking ti m e series. In order to illustrate the JA BE, Volume 8 , Number 1, 2008 ISSN: 1542 - 8710 m ulti - factor m odel ap p r o ach, we e m ploy hypoth e tical data f a shion e d on t h e criteria set forth in the Bellov a ry et al. (200 5 ) Ear n ings Q uality Ass e ss m ent (EQA ) . Ke y w o rd s : E arni n gs Q ual i ty, Earnings Mana g em e nt, Multi - F a ctor Mode l s 16. DEVELOPING AND MEASURING DI ME NSIONS O F SUPPLY CHA I N CAPAB

8 ILITIES Abirami Rad h akr i s h nan,
ILITIES Abirami Rad h akr i s h nan, M org a n S t ate University, Baltimore, U S A ‘Sri’ V. Sridharan, Cl e mson University, Clems o n, USA D e ssa David, Morg a n State University, Baltimore, USA Steve Davis, Cle m son Un i v ersity, Cle m son, USA D. D e Wayne Moore, Cle m son Universi t y , Clemson, USA ABS TR ACT This r e s e arch pa p er d e vel o ps and e m pir i cal l y vali d a te s the co n s tr u c t of S u pp l y Cha i n Ca p ab i lities (SCC). Us i ng data from 96 buyer - su p plier d y ad s , we d e vel o p and e m pirically validate two di m ens io ns of SCC – Capabilities of Upstream Dyad and Capabilities of Downstream Dyad. Content validi t y, reliabili t y, unidi m ens i o n ality, co n v er gent val i dity and d i scri m inant val i dity of the SCC co n s tr u c t are e m pirical l y establ i s h ed. Ke y w o rd s : S upply C h ain Ca p abilities, Empirical R e se a rch, Structural Equati o ns Mo d eling 17. DIVIDE N D RE D U CTI O NS A N D THE P E CKI N G OR DER T HE OR Y Richard H. F osberg, W illiam Paterson University, Wayne, New Jersey, USA ABS TR ACT Fa m a and F r e n ch ( 2 00 1 ) disc o v e r ed that over t h e last s e v e ral d e ca d es t h ere h a s b e e n a m arked red u ction i n the prop o rtion of fir m s pay i ng d i vide n ds. One p ossib l e explanati o n for the red u ction in t h e pro p e n sity of fir m s to pay divid e n d s is that a la r ge n um ber of fir m s are followi n g the peck i ng ord e r the o ry in financ i ng their o perati o ns. If this is the c a se, then a r e d u ction in divi de nd p a y m ents shou l d be acco m pani e d by a re d uct i on in the u s e of d e bt fina n cing b y m ost fir m s. In this stu d y I fi n d t hat to b e the c a se. Sp e c ifical l y , th e re i s a dir e ct rela t ionship between f i rm divi d end p a y m ents a nd the a m ount of d e bt financ i ng a firm us e s to fi n ance its o p erations. Th i s relatio n sh i p i s fo u nd to ho ld for both t h e 1 9 90 - 19 9 4 and 20 0 0 - 20 04 ti m e p e ri o ds. A dditio n ally, the th e re is no ev i de n ce t h at fir m s are mo ving a w a y from the pecki n g ord e r the o ry in t h e latter ti m e peri o d. Th i s r e sult sug ge s ts that t h e i ncre a se in t h e nu m ber of fir m s p a ying divi d en d s in the e a rly tw e nty - first cen t ury not e d b y Jul i o a nd I k enb e rry (2 00 4) i s n ot the result of fir m s aban d oning t he p e ck i ng order the o ry. Ke y word s : Dividen d s, Ca p ital Structure, Pecki n g Or d er 18. THE IMPACT OF STRUCTURAL EMPOWERM E NT ON PROJECT MANAG E R’S OR GA NIZA T ION A L CO M MITMENT Sheila M. Smith, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA ABS TR ACT Us i ng Rosa b eth Moss K a nte r ’ s Structural T h eory of Org a nizatio n al Beh a vior (197 7 ) a s the theoret i c al foundati o n, this st u dy e x am ined the influe n ce of str u ctural e m power m ent on organ i zational co mm it m ent JA BE, Volume 8 , Number 1, 2008 ISSN: 1542 - 8710 a m ong 7 9 pr oject m a n ag e rs. K anter ( 1 977, 1 97 9 ) sugg e st p erc e ptions of f o r m al power, i n for m al p o w e r, and ac c e ss t o op p ortuni t y , infor m ation, r e so u rces, and su p port have i m plica t ions f o r a n e m ploye e ’ s org a nization a l co mm it m ent. Resul t s i ndicate that e m pow e red proj e c t m anag e rs exh i bit a str o ng co mm it m ent to an or g an i z a tion. Ke y w o rd s : struct u ral e m pow e r m ent, organ i zational co mm i t m ent, proj e c t m ana g e m ent