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The Score Reliability Of Draw-A-Person Intellectual Ability Test (DAP: IQ) For Rural Malawi Students
Get PDFIn this brief article, the reliability of scores for the Draw-A-Person Intellectual Ability Test for Children, Adolescents, and Adults (DAP: IQ; Reynolds & Hickman, 2004) was examined through several analyses with a sample of 147 children from rural Malawi, Africa using a Chichewa translation of instructions. Cronbach alpha coefficients for the 23 test items were calculated for the total sample, the six age groups represented in the sample, and gender. The interscorer reliability of test scores was also calculated. The obtained alpha coefficients for the 23 items for total sample (.81), the six age groups represented (.68 - .92), and gender (male .79, female .83) were comparable to those listed in the examiner’s manual. The coefficient for interscorer reliability was .85.
Advantages And Shortcomings Of Korean Chaebols
Get PDFThe prevalent form of business organizations in Korea is a chaebol. The chaebol is a diversified conglomerate. This paper addresses the following issues concerning Korean chaebols: 1) reasons for diversification, 2) advantages and shortcomings of chaebols, 3) issues facing Korean chaebols, and 4) chaebols’ managing the crisis and making reforms. We found that Korean chaebols managed to learn from the economic crisis and made successful reforms
Missing Links In Understanding The Relationship Between Leadership And Organizational Performance
Get PDFBoth researchers and practitioners have devoted considerable attention to the potential effects of leadership on organizational performance. Despite increased research into the leadership-performance relationship, major gaps still remain in our understanding. This paper reviews the published literature and identifies these gaps, highlighting implications for future research into the leadership-performance relationship.
Effect Of Macroeconomic Variables On Stock Market Returns For Four Emerging Economies: Brazil, Russia, India, And China
Get PDFThe relationship between share prices and macroeconomic variables is well documented for the United States and other major economies. However, what is the relationship between share prices and economic activity in emerging economies? The goal of this study is to investigate the time-series relationship between stock market index prices and the macroeconomic variables of exchange rate and oil price for Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) using the Box-Jenkins ARIMA model. Although no significant relationship was found between respective exchange rate and oil price on the stock market index prices of either BRIC country, this may be due to the influence other domestic and international macroeconomic factors on stock market returns, warranting further research. Also, there was no significant relationship found between present and past stock market returns, suggesting the markets of Brazil, Russia, India, and China exhibit the weak-form of market efficiency
Eco-friendly Retail Product Attributes, Customer Attributes and the Repurchase Intentions of South African Consumers
Get PDFPurpose –Consumers are becoming progressively aware of the significance of eco-friendly activities, and their environmental consciousness drives them to consume eco-friendly products and services more, and prefer to support organisations that favor conservational practices. Increased environmental impacts bring a rise in concerns locally and globally, on sustainability issues aimed at reducing non-conservative consumption patterns. Retail organisations are increasingly developing and marketing eco-friendly retail products to promote sustainable, eco-friendly consumption patterns. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between eco-friendly retail product attributes and South African consumers’ eco-friendly product repurchase intentions.Design/methodology/approach – A survey approach was employed involving 241 consumers in Southern Gauteng. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation analysis were conducted respectively to test the reliability and validity of the scales as well as the proposed hypotheses.Research findings– Retail product consumers’ response to the attributes of eco-friendly products is still important in predicting their eco-friendly product repurchase intentions. South African consumers’ eco-friendly attributes moderate their environmental sensitivity, hence their repurchase intentions.Practical implications – It is not enough to retailers and wholesalers to promote sustainable and recyclable packaging materials. They must also improve eco-friendly product-related attributes to satisfy consumer needs better, and should be cautious in the direct and moderating effect of eco-friendly customer-related attributes in devising marketing plans to promote eco-friendly products.Originality/value – The paper contributes to research by advancing understanding of how consumers make their repurchase intentions of eco-friendly retail products, providing retailers with managerial insights. The paper also presents limitations and directions for future research
Effects Of Market Orientation And Barriers To Market Orientation On University Performance: A Study Of Universities Of Technology In South Africa
Get PDFMarket orientation has been illuminated as a critical component in shaping an institution’s success. While marketing orientation is embedded within the philosophical foundation of marketing, its operationalisation does not automatically translate in university success as there are various constraints, which impede its implementation. The objective of the study is to examine the influence of market orientation and the current barriers to market orientation on university performance among universities of technology (UoTs) in South Africa. This paper employs a cross-sectional quantitative survey. Data from a convenient sample of 507 academics in five UoTs are analysed. Through confirmatory factor analysis and structural model analysis, these relationships are discerned and explained. The findings of the study support theoretical arguments that higher education institutions (HEIs) can be successful in terms of their performance by initiating and adopting market-oriented activities. This study contributes to the critical challenge facing UoTs as a new type of HEI within a South African context in creating a culture and climate that maximises organisational learning, resource utilisation and capabilities to create superior university performance. Based on the findings, limitations and implications for further research are also provided. Management of UoTs can also enhance performance of their institutions by implementing key recommendations that the study advances
Physical Attacks: An Analysis Of Teacher Characteristics Using The Schools And Staffing Survey
Get PDFThis study investigated physical attacks as reported by public school teachers on the most recent Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) from the National Center for Education Statistics administered by the Institute of Educational Sciences. For this study, characteristics of teachers who responded affirmatively to having been physically attacked in the past 12 months were examined. Teacher characteristics associated with being physically attacked appeared to be proportionate to those found in the general population of teachers who were not physically attacked. Several notable exceptions were gender, school type, years of experience, and school location. The mean number of physical attacks varied greatly within all characteristics examined. Of the twelve teaching areas, special education had the highest percentage of teachers who reported being physically attacked in the past 12 months and the highest mean number of physical attacks per teaching area
Information Content Of Analyst Recommendations: Evidence From The Danish Biotechnology Sector
Get PDFThe purpose of this paper is to document the performance of analyst recommendations for biotechnology firms listed at the Copenhagen Stock Exchange during the period between 2001 and 2010. Our results show that analysts are able to reveal value relevant information via their recommendations. We report that buy recommendations are followed by significantly positive returns and sell recommendations are followed by significantly negative returns. However, we also show that performance of analyst recommendations is not uniform across all firms. It depends on the extent of information asymmetries present within firms. We show that analyst recommendations contain no value for firms with the least level of transparency (lowest intellectual capital disclosure, lowest analyst coverage, and lowest frequency of recommendations). However, as information environment improves, value of analyst recommendations also goes up. We recommend biotechnology firms to improve on their disclosure levels
Technical Efficiency And Its Determinants: An Empirical Study Of Surgical Instruments Cluster Of Pakistan
Get PDFThe empirical study was conducted to examine the technical efficiency of SMEs in the export-oriented surgical instruments cluster of Sialkot, Pakistan. Data was collected through survey questionnaire from 70 SMEs, listed at Census of Manufacturing Industries and Federal Bureau of Statistics. For data analysis, Cobb-Douglas production function and an inefficiency model based on stochastic frontier approach, estimated through OLS method, were employed. The study draws on its inferences from both the qualitative and quantitative data. There was widespread prevalence of technical inefficiencies and provision of indirect inputs, labor, material and energy found to be significant determinants of technical efficiency. Moreover, this export-oriented industrial cluster is shown to experience constant returns to scale. Provision of proximate specialized surgical instruments and raw-material market is recommended. We also put forward cluster-specific suggestion of pursuing of 'triple-helix+1' model, whereby local community is integrated with the traditional triple helix forces. It was further advocated that by reducing the prevailing technical inefficiency in this urbanization economy, productivity can be enhanced by as much as 5.6%. Implications for cluster-based industries are drawn from our findings to provide pragmatic recommendations to both policymakers and prospective entrepreneurs
The Usefulness Of The Tax Avoidance Proxy: Evidence From Korea
Get PDFThis study aims to verify the usefulness of the tax avoidance proxy developed by Desai and Dharmapala (2006) in the setting where accounting-tax alignment is relatively high and aggressive tax planning is restricted. By using a large set of firms in Korea, I empirically test whether the tax avoidance proxy detects the management of book-tax and book-only accruals. My findings show that downward management of book-tax accruals for tax reporting purposes is not detected by the tax avoidance proxy. However, upward management of book-only accruals for financial reporting purposes is captured by the tax avoidance proxy. In addition, the tax avoidance proxy better detects simultaneous management of two accrual components than management of book-tax accruals alone. Lastly, the tax avoidance proxy is more powerful in detecting tax avoidance activities in a sample of firms with high tax and financial reporting costs than in firms that carry high tax costs but low financial reporting costs. The results of this study imply that the tax avoidance proxy can be a good indicator only when used for firms that are conscious of their financial reporting costs and have incentive to manage both taxable and book income at the same time under the setting where book-tax conformity is high and aggressive tax shelters are restricted. This study sheds light on the usefulness of the tax avoidance proxy which has been widely used in the accounting studies and provides a caveat to researchers that the proxy should be employed with caution and in appropriate setting.