Purpose-The prime objective of this study was to assess the impact of microcredit on the household food consumption expenditure of the rural poor women in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach-Primary data was collected from the landless, marginal and small borrowers from Gazipur and Mymensingh districts of Bangladesh. The Simple Random Sampling (SRS) technique was used to select the samples. The Propensity Score Matching (PSM) technique was used to assess the impact of microcredit on the household food consumption expenditure. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the opinions of the borrowers about the role of microcredit in enhancing their food security status. Findings-This study showed that microcredit intervention made a significant contribution to increase the household food consumption expenditure of the borrowers. Originality/value- This study helps in formulation and smooth implementation of the food security programs for the rural poor women in developing countries. Keywords: microcredit, food security, poverty, women.
Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) practices are increasingly considered a crucial business strategy for organizations in environmental management and have impact on environmental performances of organization. Though much attention has been given on GHRM practices, very few studies exist relating to this issue in developing country context. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of different GHRM practices on the Organization's Environmental Performance (OEP) through Green Employee Empowerment (GEE). Methodology: The PLS path modeling technique is used to test the hypotheses of the study based on a questionnaire survey of 340 responses from the manufacturing sector. Findings: The empirical finding shows that the GHRM practices have significant effects on OEP and GEE was found positively mediate the impact of GHRM practices on OEP. Originality/Contribution: This research has theoretically contributed to the green HRM/HRM literature by discovering the relationship between various green practices and their results related to EP in manufacturing organizations. This paper extends the literature by exploring the indirect effects of GHRM on OEP via GEE. The results recommend that GHRM practices may lead employees toward green empowerment to achieve environmental performance.
Organisational learning is a broad concept and it has evolved over time. However, based on context and characteristic of the user organisation, the learning technique and process differs significantly. Whichever learning model a company employs, Knowledge Management (KM) remains an important business practice for all. With the advent and popularity of Social Media (SM), KM is becoming more and more dependent on the use of varied social online networks. Nevertheless, the issue of innovation though social media surrounded knowledge management is a matter of debate among scholars. This case study has explored this issue in the context of Samsung Group.
A rapid transition to online learning occurred in the United States in the Spring of 2020, triggered by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. An online survey questionnaire was administered in the Spring of 2021 to students enrolled in business programs in the United States at two universities to investigate the perceptions of students toward online business courses and the importance of engagement strategies within three types of interactions: learner-to-content, learner-to-teacher, learner-to-learner. Results indicated significant differences in perceptions among the groups (gender, online course experience, age) exist and provides guidance and practical suggestions to structure and design online business courses.
The currently observed incorporation of hidden and non-technological innovations, together with the emergence of the modern day fourth industrial revolution is actually contributing to change in our understanding of innovation and its measured contributions to success in entrepreneurship. This study provides a quantitative longitudinal study of the determinants of innovation, their role in entrepreneurship innovation capacity and how they collectively add value to economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa. The study used fixed effects with country dummies in the analysis where Stata software was used. The empirical results indicated that capital for domestic investment, labour, innovation and foreign direct were positively and significantly correlated with economic growth in SSA. It was concluded that the above variables were positively and significantly correlated with economic growth in SSA. It is recommended that respective countries should put in mechanisms to capitalize from the positive benefits of the above on the economy. This could be through increased investments in tertiary institutions and reduction of bureaucracy and corruption that will not only increase high quality production through increased labour productivity, but will also foster fair competition in the markets. Keywords: entrepreneurship, innovation, economic growth, Sub-Saharan Africa
Gender diversity has gained significant attention in accounting, finance, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature. This literature will enlighten the readers regarding the valuable understandings obtained from these studies, and to define knowledge holes and potential research paths. Though many papers are examining the determinants and consequences of gender diversity, however, this review suggests that organizations with weak corporate governance have a tendency to respond to the call of gender diversity regulations to capture the need of society. Additionally, the firm’s determinants and consequences of gender diversity vary across the countries based on local/regional demand, demographic attributes, and the nature of gender regulation. Most of the reviewed papers explore the consequences of firm gender diversity studies, and we classify these into (i) accounting implications, (ii) financial implications, and (iii) corporate governance implications (iv) CSR implications. This review indicates that corporate gender diversity has significant influences on organizations' financial reporting and corporate disclosures, financing, corporate investment, cash holding and dividends decisions, on overall corporate governance and socially responsible behavior. In analyzing the growing body of corporate gender diversity literature, this paper identifies critical flaws of past researches, and recommend suggestions for future studies.
Purpose - This study aims to explore the significant relationship of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and Ownership Structure with Dividend policy in financial companies listed - (Insurance and Banking sectors) - at Amman stock exchange for the year of 2019. Methodology - The study based on agency theory and Hofstede's cultural dimension theory to understand the nature of the theoretical relationship between these variables. The six Dimensions- (PDI: Power Distance Index; IDV: Individualism versus Collectivism; MAS: Masculinity versus Femininity; UAI: Uncertainty Avoidance Index; LOT: Long- Versus Short-Term Orientation; IND: Indulgence versus Restraint) are represented as proxies of Hofstede’s Cultural theory. On the other hand, Foreign Ownership; Concentrated Ownership and Institutional Ownership are represented as proxies of Ownership Structure. The Payout ratio is used as a proxy for the Dividend Policy. The questionnaire was distributed to target companies to measure cultural dimensions. The study tested the validity and reliability of the questionnaire by using the Cronbach Alpha factor. The researchers have employed the SSPS program to process the data statistically and to test the hypotheses and models of study. Further, Linear Regressions Technique was used to predict the significant relationship among the variables Findings - Results have shown that six Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and Ownership Structure have no significant relationship with Dividend policy. Conclusion - The study contributes to the existing literature by filling out the gap in studies that have been carried out on the impact of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and Ownership Structure on Dividend policy in Jordan. Furthermore, the study has practical implications such as directing the Jordanian companies to make an effective investment decision by recognizing the effect of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and Ownership Structure on Dividend policy. Also, helping researchers, thereby serving as an input and a motivation for further research in the future.
 The National Revenue Authority (NRA) of Sierra Leone has implemented employee work performance appraisals to enhance employee motivation and organizational performance. However, little research has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of these performance appraisals. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to establish the impact of fairness of manager’s recent appraisal, completeness of the appraisal and the extent of evaluation feedback of the appraisal system on employee motivation and the overall organizational performance. An online survey was conducted on a sample of 150 staffs at NRA. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique was used in analyzing the statistical data. Findings from the research show evidence that although employees are concerned about the extent of evaluation feedback of the appraisal system; the proposed model is adequate for evaluating the possibility of EWPA system in influencing employee motivation and organizational performance. The study recommends that feedback should involve discussions of strengths and weaknesses of the employees and actionable. Further, rewards should be given to employees whenever feedback is positive.
Background: Ethical leadership plays a vital role in improving the employees’ work engagement and has an effect on organizational citizenship behaviour. Despite the increase in awareness of ethical leadership in organizations, little attention has been given to this issue. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to draw on social exchange theory perspectives to examine the mediating role of work engagement in the relationship between ethical leadership and organizational citizenship behaviour. Methods: The study uses the cross-sectional design method and collected data from 321 employees working in the Public service Commission of Sierra Leone to test all hypotheses. Findings : The study finds that ethical leadership facilitates employees to engage in their work and encourages them to strengthening their organizational citizenship behaviour. Importantly, employees’ work engagement was found to positively mediate the effect of ethical leadership on organizational citizenship behaviour. Implications of the study and future research directions are also discussed.
There is a need for business students to develop soft skills in addition to technical skills, in order to successfully transition into the workforce. Hiring managers stress the importance for business students to have strong soft and hard skills in order to be competitive during the job search process. Hiring managers are finding that recent graduates lack soft skills such as presentation, listening, and teamwork, which many jobs require. The purpose of this qualitative study is to identify and determine what changes in soft skills/professional skills, specifically leadership, communication, and networking, business students may develop, after one year of involvement in a university marketing club; based on student perceptions. The results for this study show that business students who are members of an undergraduate university club for one year perceive improvement in the aforementioned soft skills. Based off the findings, business faculty should focus on incorporating soft skill development into their curriculum. Soft skill development could potentially better prepare graduates for entering the workforce. Â Â
This paper investigates the causal relationship between urbanization and per capita income of Bangladesh for the sample period of 1972- 2018. Both the Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) and Phillips-Perron (PP) tests are applied to find the existence of unit root in each of the time series data collected from World Development Indicators (WDI). To observe the long-run relationship between urbanization and per capita income this study relies on Johansen- Juselius cointegration technique. Empirical results of this paper confirm the presence of long-run relationship between the variables. The Granger causality test shows that causality between urbanization and per capita income is bi-directional.
There has been a renewed debate on the controversial issue of gender differences on accounting course performance. The present study examined the impact of gender effects on students’ accounting course performance. To facilitate the analysis of data the study divided the gender effects into two categories that might have impact on the students’ performance those are: the gender of the students and the gender of the instructors. The study conducted a field survey of 202 students of Bangladesh University of Business and Technology who have already completed at least two accounting courses and experienced both the male and female instructors. The results of the courses examined in this study are financial accounting and management accounting. After analyzing the questionnaire, the study found there is a significant difference between the gender effects of the students and their performance. On the other hand, the study found no significant difference between the instructors’ gender effects and the students’ performance. The results of the study may enlighten the accounting educators and career counselors on what is required to effectively educate both genders.
Over the last four decades female labor force participation rate increases significantly in the South Asian countries, while it remains stagnant or sometime declines into the developed countries. The study is for investigating the macroeconomic determinants that play the vital role in decision making whether a female will participate in the labor force or not. Data are taken from five south Asian countries named Bangladesh, India, Sri-Lanka, Nepal, and Pakistan over the period of 1990-2015. Breusch-Pagan, Honda, King-Wu, Standardized Honda and Standardized King-Wu Lagrange Multiplier test confirm there exists cross-section effects. Hausman test confirms that fixed effect model is appropriate for empirical analysis for this study. But Breusch-Pagan LM test, Pesaran scaled LM test and Baltagi, Feng, and Kao bias-corrected scaled LM test confirm that there exist cross-sectional dependence in residuals. Therefore, Panel Corrected Standard Error (PCSE) model has been employed to get the unbiased estimators. Empirical results of PCSE model confirm that per capita GNI, Square of per capita GNI, Education, and Fertility rate have statistically significant impact on fertility rate in the south Asian countries. Empirical results also reveal the validity of inverted U shaped hypothesis of female labor force participation decision.
The way of communication and pattern of doing business have been changed remarkably due to adoption of social networking sites intensively in daily life. This study attempts to unveil the impact of environmental and organizational factors on SNSs adoption among the institutional investors in Bangladesh. By using structured online questionnaires, data were collected from the institutional investors. Partial least square based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), a variance based statistical analysis technique, was used to analyze the data. It explored that environmental and organizational factors are significant antecedents to adopt the social networking sites (SNSs) among the institutional investors. Remarkably, it found that environmental factors have significant impact on organizational factors during the adoption of SNSs among the institutional investors. Most remarkable finding is observed that environmental factors are more robust predictor than organizational factors during the adoption of SNSs. This study will enrich the existing literature by incorporating organizational and environmental factor as direct determinants of intention to use as well as TOE. It will help institutional investors and service providers to formulate strategy regarding the adoption of SNSs in institutional context.
Massive Global corporate scandals, financial crisis and collapses of large entities have diluted the investors’ confidence in the worlds capital market The auditing profession has also come under the spotlight, following the melodramatic flop of eminent companies without any prior warning signals and highlighted the miracle phenomena, the audit expectation gap (AEG). Based on a questionnaire survey with auditors and investors, this paper discovers significant audit expectation gap (AEG) in the areas of auditor’s general responsibility, auditor’s responsibility for fraud detection, auditor’s responsibility for internal control reporting assessment, meaning of the audit report, and also auditor’s responsibility for going concern reporting in Bangladesh. No expectation gap is emerged regarding the usefulness of audit report. Most of the gap has been refereed as reasonableness gap, but it can lead the standard setters and the practitioners of audit profession to set higher standards of performance.Â
Objectives : The purpose of this paper is to identify some potential sources of ethics which will motivate students to be more committed in guiding themselves on the proper use of Smartphone and in turn reducing the addiction risk. Method : This is a perspective paper that has been developed based on the literature review as well as based on opinion of the author. Findings: The paper argue that pasting some relevant religious teachings on the wall as an art installation in visible places would be a potential solution for minimizing addiction risk. The limitations and potential for further studies are also delineated at the end of the paper. Implications: Findings are useful for educators, policymakers, parents, and practitioners to overcome smartphone addiction risk and thereby improve learning performance. The suggestions presented in this paper from an objective morality point of view will enhance social harmony among the stakeholders within institutions. Contribution : Smartphone addiction is a growing phenomenon among students that endangers them from achieving their goals in academic life. Existing literature mostly sheds light on understanding the nature of addiction and its impact on academic performance. However, there is a dearth of research on how to minimize the addiction risk.
The study sought to determine the influence of career management on firm performance at the firms which are listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The study was anchored on resource based view theory and shareholder value maximization theory. The research design used was a cross-sectional survey, target population included the head of human resources and finance directors in all the listed firms since they were better placed and conversant with the subject of this study and were involved in the development of the policies and review of performance. Sample size comprised of 136 respondents and data was collected through structured questionnaires to meet the objectives of the study. Responses were tabulated, coded and processed by use of a computer Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) to analyze the data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics techniques were used to analyze the data. Findings revealed that the relationship between career management and firm performance was positive and statistically significant. The study concluded that career development and planning, career mentors/ counseling, career centres and firms planning for employee growth and progression are key career management determinants for the performance of firms listed in the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) and recommended that career management practices should be widely adopted by NSE listed firms as doing so would lead to improved performance.
Hedge fund actvism is hedge funds trying to change how companies are managed. The main advantage and disadvantage of hedge fund activism have been identified as reduction of agency costs and myopia. But one fatal problem with existing literature on hedge fund activism is that they have not realized that the same activism tactic can have different effect on companies with different characteristics. This paper seeks to fill this gap by examing one of these firm-specific factors, corproate life stage. It conducts case studies on activism campaigns at Apple, eBay and HP. It shows that companies at later life stages are less vulnerable to myopic hedge fund activism, have more corporate governance concerns and are more likely to benefit from hedge fund activism. Thus the law should be reformed to encourage activism tailored to specific circumstances of target companies.
Spanish Abstract: La consideracion de aspectos de responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC) en las decisiones sobre la actuacion empresarial se ve influenciada por diversos factores, entre los cuales destacan las creencias personales de los decisores respecto de las que constituyen las responsabilidades de la empresa en la sociedad –factor de motivacion interna de la persona – y la influencia de los diversos grupos de interes con los que la organizacion interactua – factor de motivacion desde el entorno. El estudio presentado en este articulo, realizado en una muestra de estudiantes de maestria del Peru y del Brasil, tuvo por objetivo analizar como esos factores son percibidos por los encuestados cuando deben priorizar los diversos campos de actuacion social responsable de la empresa. Los resultados indican que el factor economico tiende a ser el principal motivador en la mayor parte de los procesos decisorios. Por otra parte, se evidencio el hecho de que los grupos de interes ejercen mayor influencia en temas vinculados con la oferta de productos y servicios, contexto en el cual la legitimidad percibida en las demandas de esos grupos es el atributo que se destaca como el mas importante al priorizar los ambitos de actuacion empresarial.English Abstract: The attention on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in decisions about business performance is influenced by several factors, among which the personal beliefs of decision makers for what are the responsibilities of the business in society –internal personal motivation factor – and the influence of the stakeholders with which the organizations interacts – external environment motivation factor– stand out. The study shown in this paper, conducted on a sample of graduate students from Peru and Brazil, aimed to analyse how these factors are perceived when they have prioritize the various fields of social action of the business. The results indicate that the economic factor tends to be the main motivator in most decision-making processes. Moreover, the fact that interest groups exert a greater influence on issues related to the supply of products and services, context in which the perceived legitimacy of the demands of these groups is the attribute that stands out as the most evident important to prioritize the areas of business performance.
The paper provides evidence about Basel II, as international banking regulations failure in recent global financial crisis. It describes old and new banking regulations main aspects on the base of before and during financial crisis periods. Banks’ holding of reasonable capital buffers in excess of minimum requirements could alleviate the procyclicality problem potentially exacerbated by the rating-sensitive capital charges of Basel II. Determining the sufficient buffer size is an important risk management task for banks. Actual bank capital is driven by bank income and default losses, whereas capital requirements within Basel II are driven by rating transitions. New regulatory approach to measuring capital adequacy appears consistent with banks’ own risk evaluations. The purpose of the paper is to show Basel II’s role in financial crisis based on qualitative inductive research. Also paper mentions some political aspects of modern banking regulations and future suggestions and recommendations for after crisis banking future.
