Information technology investments and the management consulting industry witnessed unprecedented growth in the last decade. This led to regulators’ (SEC and Congress) allegations that consulting services that are provided by incumbent auditors may be disguised extra payments to auditors for favorable financial reporting. However, there may be alternative valid reasons for procurement of consul...

In this paper, the Cox proportional hazard model is used to answer several questions. In general, fourteen variables are applied in four groups: firm, industry, expenditure human resources specific characteristics as well. According to the previous literature in this field, the findings of this paper also show that the factors which affect life duration of firms are different between industries...

This paper analyzes the use of two important human resource practices (self-managed work teams and formal training programs) in U.S. manufacturing. These practices are often used in conjunction with each other and their use is associated with improved firm performance, thus the term “high performance work systems.” The results of this paper raise concerns about the interpretation of studies tha...

Article History Received: 7 September 2017 Revised: 21 September 2017 Accepted: 28 September 2017 Published: 5 October 2017

Purpose – This study aims to examine how firm strategy may affect customer satisfaction in relationship to service the characteristics of quality, servicescape and value. Specifically, this research utilizes Porter’s depiction cost leaders and differentiation strategy to suggest customers may be satisfied even if they rate value or quality lower than for another similar firm. Design/methodology...

In small economies, domestic market size constraints are expected to influence the economic growth process. This paper hypothesises that they will also influence the size and growth of firms in these economies. The paper accomplishes two main objectives. Firstly, it examines the nature of the firm size-firm growth relationship in Jamaica. It tests Gibrat’s Law – that there is no observed relati...

This paper examines the exporting behaviour of Russian manufacturers by considering the interaction of firm characteristics and external conditions. An important distinction is made between general exporting activity and export to developed countries. Firm features and specific export experience are found to be important in determining the international orientation of manufacturers and the dest...

Required) Cloud Computing (CC) is emerging as a new paradigm of providing IT support of firms’ processes and activities, which has a great potential to offer important benefits, but at the same time firms perceive that it poses some risks as well. Its adoption by firms has been lower than the initial expectations. So it is quite important to conduct research on its adoption by firms and identif...

This paper analyzes the relations among firm-level stock option portfolio incentives, investment, and firm value based on a sample of Finnish firms during the time period 1987 – 2000. Utilizing exact and complete information regarding stock option portfolio characteristics, we find some evidence that firm investment is increasing in the incentives to increase stock price (delta) and risk (vega)...

a r t i c l e i n f o This paper contributes to the literature by identifying the causal effect of firm investment on exporting behavior. The identification hinges on regional variations in the 2004 value-added tax pilot reform in China, which generated positive investment shocks. The instrumental variable estimation results show that firm investment significantly and substantially increases th...