Management Decision: Call for Papers

Management Decision is calling for papers for their Special Issue on "Why green management matters" Edited by: Professor David Lamond & Dr Rocky Dwyer

Background

Following the 2007 special issue "Alleviating poverty through trade", and the 2008 "Questions we ask about ethics in a global marketplace", this is the third in an ongoing series of special issues of Management Decision devoted to matters of ethics, sustainability and corporate social responsibility and woven in with the organising theme of the Academy of Management. In 2009, the theme is Green Management Matters.

The special issue will be edited by Rocky Dwyer and David Lamond and will appear under the title of "Why green management matters". It is scheduled for Volume 47, Issue 7 and will appear in August 2009 in CD format, as well as its usual hard copy version, to coincide with the Academy of Management Conference in Chicago.

Whether dealing with waste management or investment management, today's decision makers are confronted with the "green" in those decisions - sustainability, carbon footprints, industrial ecosystems, greenhouse gasses, and energy efficiency are some of the elements which are increasingly the "stuff" of those decisions, the criteria by which decisions are judged to be more or less sound.

This issue seeks to make a contribution to the debate about the "green" consistent with its title "Why green management matters". Papers are welcomed that explore green management and the principles which underpin this approach.

Questions such as "Can I just get by through paying someone else to have a smaller carbon footprint?", "Should business be my brother's (green) keeper?", and "Isn't my responsibility to the shareholders?" needs answers. Conceptual papers, as well as qualitative and quantitative research papers, are welcomed, as they add to the knowledge base about corporate social responsibility and ethics in relation to green management matters.

Papers

Submission of the full paper is required by 1 February 2009 for consideration for the special issue. Papers submitted will be subject to a minimum double-blind peer review process to ensure that this special issue maintains the excellent reputation and record of Management Decision.

For style guidelines please visit the Management Decision web site.

Submissions to Management Decision are made using ScholarOne's Manuscript Central http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/md.

Full instructions are on the author guidelines site. As a guide, articles should be between 3,000 and 6,000 words in length.

A title of not more than 12 words should be provided.

Please e-mail any queries to:

Professor David Lamond PhD E-mail: david.lamond@ntu.ac.uk

Dr Rocky Dwyer PhDE-mail: Dwyer.RJ@forces.gc.ca

ScienceDirect's Hottest articles July - September 2008

Every 3 months ScienceDirect distributes a list of the Top 25 Hottest articles published with in a specific subject area.


Here is the newest list available for Economics, Econometrics and Finance for the time period: July - September 2008:

Accounting is classed with Business Management and is available here.

1. Foreign exchange risk management in UK, USA and Asia Pacific multinational companies • ArticleJournal of Multinational Financial Management, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 185 - 211Marshall, A.P.Cited by Scopus (10)


2. Recent Developments in Corporate Governance: An Overview • EditorialJournal of Corporate Finance, Volume 12, Issue 3, Pages 381-402Gillan, S.L.Cited by Scopus (11)


3. The demand for organic foods in the South of Italy: A discrete choice model • ArticleFood Policy, Volume 33, Issue 5, Pages 386-396Gracia, A.; de Magistris, T.


4. Market efficiency, long-term returns, and behavioral finance • ArticleJournal of Financial Economics, Volume 49, Issue 3, Pages 283-306Fama, E.F.Cited by Scopus (405)


5. Investor protection and corporate governance • ArticleJournal of Financial Economics, Volume 58, Issue 1-2, Pages 3-27La Porta, R.; Lopez-de-Silanes, F.; Shleifer, A.; Vishny, R.Cited by Scopus (334)


6. Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature • ArticleJournal of Accounting and Economics, Volume 31, Issue 1-3, Pages 405-440Healy, P.M.; Palepu, K.G.Cited by Scopus (195)


7. World population and food supply - can food production keep pace with population growth in the next half-century? • ArticleFood Policy, Volume 27, Issue 1, Pages 47-63Gilland, B.Cited by Scopus (14)


8. The theory and practice of corporate finance: evidence from the field • ArticleJournal of Financial Economics, Volume 60, Issue 2-3, Pages 187-243Graham, J.R.; Harvey, C.R.Cited by Scopus (229)


9. Earnings management and earnings quality • ArticleJournal of Accounting and Economics, Volume 45, Issue 2-3, Pages 350-357Lo, K.


10. Corporate governance and firm performance • ArticleJournal of Corporate Finance, Volume 14, Issue 3, Pages 257-273Bhagat, S.; Bolton, B.Cited by Scopus (1)


11. How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth? • ArticleJournal of International Economics, Volume 45, Issue 1, Pages 115-135Borensztein, E.; De Gregorio, J.; Lee, J.-W.Cited by Scopus (276)


12. Integrating the valuation of ecosystem services into the Input-Output economics of an Alpine region • ArticleEcological Economics, Volume 63, Issue 4, Pages 786-798Gret-Regamey, A.; Kytzia, S.Cited by Scopus (1)


13. Integrated ecological-economic modelling of water pollution abatement management options in the Upper Ems River Basin • ArticleEcological Economics, Volume 66, Issue 1, Pages 66-76Volk, M.; Hirschfeld, J.; Dehnhardt, A.; Schmidt, G.; Bohn, C.; Liersch, S.; Gassman, P.W.


14. Is Globalization Reducing Poverty and Inequality? • ArticleWorld Development, Volume 32, Issue 4, Pages 567-589Wade, R.H.Cited by Scopus (53)


15. Capital markets research in accounting • ArticleJournal of Accounting and Economics, Volume 31, Issue 1-3, Pages 105-231Kothari, S.P.Cited by Scopus (149)


16. The price of innovation: new estimates of drug development costs • ArticleJournal of Health Economics, Volume 22, Issue 2, Pages 151-185DiMasi, J.A.; Hansen, R.W.; Grabowski, H.G.Cited by Scopus (590)
17. Is financial openness bad for education? A political economy perspective on development • ArticleEuropean Economic Review, Volume 44, Issue 4-6, Pages 891-903Bourguignon, F.; Verdier, T.Cited by Scopus (2)


18. The ecology of ecosystem services: introduction to the special issue • EditorialEcological Economics, Volume 29, Issue 2, Pages 179-182Limburg, K.E.; Folke, C.Cited by Scopus (10)
19. Who makes acquisitions? CEO overconfidence and the market's reaction • ArticleJournal of Financial Economics, Volume 89, Issue 1, Pages 20-43Malmendier, U.; Tate, G.Cited by Scopus (2)


20. A new world order: explaining the international diffusion of the gold standard, 1870-1913 • ArticleJournal of International Economics, Volume 66, Issue 2, Pages 385-406Meissner, C.M.Cited by Scopus (5)


21. Ownership Concentration and Corporate Performance in the Czech Republic • ArticleJournal of Comparative Economics, Volume 27, Issue 3, Pages 498-513Claessens, S.; Djankov, S.Cited by Scopus (50)


22. Why do firms pay dividends? International evidence on the determinants of dividend policy • ArticleJournal of Financial Economics, Volume 89, Issue 1, Pages 62-82Denis, D.J.; Osobov, I.


23. Oil price dynamics (2002-2006) • ArticleEnergy Economics, Volume 30, Issue 5, Pages 2134-2153Askari, H.; Krichene, N.


24. Earnings quality at initial public offerings • ArticleJournal of Accounting and Economics, Volume 45, Issue 2-3, Pages 324-349Ball, R.; Shivakumar, L.


25. Mixed-variable fuzzy clustering approach to part family and machine cell formation for GT applications • ArticleInternational Journal of Production Economics, Volume 103, Issue 1, Pages 185-198Yang, M.S.; Hung, W.L.; Cheng, F.C.Cited by Scopus (1)

University news from Africa

SOUTH AFRICA: The politics of higher education

Karen MacGregor

Power changed hands within South Africa's ruling African National Congress a year ago, and national elections are looming. What the new ruling elite will mean for higher education is unsure, but the hot political issues this year look set to include teacher education and student fees, says Dr Cheryl de la Rey, chief executive officer of the statutory advisory Council on Higher Education.

NIGERIA: Renovations suspended at teaching hospitals

Tunde Fatunde

Crucial renovations at 12 academic hospitals in Nigeria by two Austrian medical engineering firms, under contracts worth US$291 million, have ground to a halt following an alleged plan by "over-zealous" officials in the Ministry of Health to re-award the contracts to other firms. The companies have gone to court claiming breach of contract. Lecturers and students at medical colleges affiliated with the hospitals are concerned and President Musa Yar 'Adua has been called on to intervene.

TUNISIA: Arab world adult education conference

A three-day conference on adult education and building a knowledge society in the Arab world opened on Monday in Gammarth, Tunisia. Titled "Investing in adult learning: Building knowledge and learning societies in the Arab region", it is one of five preparatory regional conferences for Unesco's Sixth International Conference on Adult Education, Confintea VI, which will take place in May in Belém, Brazil.

ZAMBIA: Government audits two universities

Clemence Manyukwe

Audits are underway at two of Zambia's largest higher education institutions, on the orders of the government, Higher Education Minister Professor Geoffrey Lungangwa told parliament late last year. This followed an attack on the government from parliamentarians over examination paper leakages and political interference at institutions of higher learning

ZIMBABWE: Brain drain project suffers brain drain

Clemence Manyukwe

A Unesco-sponsored initiative to stem the academic brain drain in five African countries faces collapse in Zimbabwe - as a result of the flight of lecturers. An end of year report by the vice-chancellor's office at Chinhoyi University of Technology said academic staff trained in grid computing as part of the initiative had left the institution for safer - pastures

EQYPT: Law tightens government control

Ashraf Khaled

A new civil universities law approved late last year by the Shura Council, the Egyptian parliament's upper house, is set to tighten the government's grip on higher education. The law provides for the creation of 17 new non-profit universities and makes the Ministry of Higher Education responsible for appointing half the institutions' boards of directors. The other half will be left up to the universities' founders and investors to select.

University news from the West

ISRAEL-PALESTINE: Operation 'Cast Lead' shuts universities
Helena Flusfeder
Universities in Israel and Gaza have been caught up in the savage conflict now raging in the Palestinian territory. All five universities in Gaza have been shut down while two were closed in southern Israel. "The academic situation in Gaza is collapsing. People's main preoccupation is to get food and stay alive. They feel that everywhere in Gaza is not safe," said one Palestinian professor.

FRANCE: Universities begin move to autonomy
Jane Marshall
Nearly a quarter of France's 80-plus universities assumed new powers of autonomy on 1 January under the government's Universities' Freedoms and Responsibilities law. The legislation gives the universities control over their budgets, staff recruitment and salaries, and other areas that were previously the responsibility of the state. All universities must adopt the reform by 2012, though academics and students continue to express their opposition.

RUSSIA: Rector calls for sweeping reforms
Nick Holdsworth
The rector of Moscow's Higher School of Economics - one of Russia's top universities - has called for a massive shake up in the country's system of higher education. Yaroslav Kuzminov, (shown here at a conference on the right of Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin), says unrestricted growth of university-level institutions in recent years has left Russia's higher education system a mess with wide disparities in standards of teaching and qualifications.

AUSTRALIA: Upheaval across university sector
Geoff Maslen
A plan to reshape Australia's higher education system, deregulate universities, vastly increase their enrolments, provide students with vouchers to study at the university of their choice and extend government funding to a bigger group of providers are among 46 wide-ranging recommendations being considered by the federal government.

UK: Research activity "world leading"
Diane Spencer
Cambridge University came top of the league again in the latest research assessment exercise carried out by England's higher education funding council, Hefce. The 2008 results, published just before Christmas, will be the last of their kind as the next process will be undertaken with a different method. After reviewing research conducted by 52,400 staff submitted by 159 universities and colleges, Hefce concluded that 54 % of UK research activity came into the top two grades of "world leading" or "internationally excellent".

INDIA-AUSTRALIA: Joint venture research academy
The first joint institution for research and research training in areas of mutual importance to India and Australia has been established between the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, or IITB, and Monash University in Melbourne. The new institution was officially opened at the end of November and is a centre of research excellence in clean energy, water, biotechnology, mineral exploration and computer simulation.





'Doing Diversity in Higher Education'
Editor of new collection of essays discusses the role of professors in welcoming and educating students of all types.

The Impact of a Ban on Affirmative Action
New study projects a 35 percent drop in minority enrollments at the most competitive four-year colleges and universities -- but little gain for white students










Practise what you preach
A lack of quantitative analysis and a tendency to avoid policy-based research has left the study of higher education in the UK in the doldrums

The wizards of Oz
The 'Melbourne model' has prompted universities worldwide to consider broadening undergraduate degrees. But the template does not win over everyone

Academics fear PhD quality is slipping
Staff say that pressures to get more students through quickly are harming standards





For-Profit University Begins A Large Media Campaign steven bell
An online educator is presenting itself to potential students as “a different kind of university.” The school is Kaplan University. A campaign for Kaplan University, which began last week, carries the theme “A different school of thought” and suggests that learning online is a way to develop talent that could otherwise go to waste. The campaign is the first national, multimedia effort for Kaplan University. The campaign arrives as the popularity of distance learning for adults, through online universities and colleges, continues to grow. Read more

New simplified access to the OECD National Accounts

The OECD national accounts - GDP and main aggregates - are now available in a new simplified electronic format. Data are derived from OECD.stat, they are updated on a daily basis and they follow the presentation of the publication "National Accounts of OECD Countries, Volume I".

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table 1. Gross domestic product (GDP): expenditure approach
Table 2. Gross domestic product (GDP): output approach
Table 3. Gross domestic product (GDP): income approach
Table 4. Disposable income, saving and net lending/net borrowing
Table 5. Population and employment in persons, national concept
Table 6. Employment in persons and hours worked by industry, domestic concept

Here is an example of Table 1:

(click on the image to enlarge)

Annual Report 2007

The IASC Foundation's Annual Report 2007 (63 pages) is now available to download.

The annual report includes an overview of the Trustee's oversight activities for 2007, as well as reports of the Chairman of the IASC Foundation Trustees, the IASB Chairman and independent auditors.

Here is the table of contents:

1. Report of the Chairman of the IASC Foundation Trustees
2. Putting public accountability first: A report of the Trustees’ oversight activities for 2007
3. Funding of the organisation
4. Report of the Chairman of the IASB
5. Trustees of the IASC Foundation
6. Members of the International Accounting Standards Board
7. Members of the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee
8. Members of the Trustee Appointments Advisory Group
9. Members of the Standards Advisory Council
10. Report of the independent auditors
11. Statement of comprehensive income
12. Statement of financial position
13. Statement of cash flows
14. Notes to the financial statements
15. 2007 financial supporters
16. IASB pronouncements current at 1 January 2008

IASC publishes IFRS Taxonomy 2009 for public comment

The International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) Foundation announced the release of the near final version of the IFRS Taxonomy 2009 for public comment.

Download Exposure Draft of the IFRS Taxonomy 2009 [ZIP, 857 KB]
Download documentation of changes [PDF, 70 KB]

The IFRS Taxonomy 2009 is a translation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as issued at 31 December 2008 into XBRL (eXtensible Business ReportingLanguage), a language that is used to communicate information between businesses and other users of financial information.

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The specific characteristics of XBRL allow companies, regulators, investors, analysts and others using the IFRS Taxonomy 2009 with easier filing, access to and comparison of financial data.
XBRL is rapidly becoming the format of choice for the electronic filing of financial information – particularly within jurisdictions reporting under IFRSs.

In addition, on 4 March 2008 the recent US SEC rule that allows non-US companies listed in the US to file their financial reports according to IFRSs as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) became effective. According to this rule non-US companies that choose to submit their financial reports in IFRS electronically will have to do so using the IFRS Taxonomy 2009.

The IFRS Taxonomy 2009 builds upon the architecture of the IFRS Taxonomy 2008. Amendments to the 2009 IFRS Taxonomy mainly reflect changes in IFRSs. However, improvements in the syntax (not affecting semantics) of the taxonomy have led to a decrease in size and download time.

The IFRS Taxonomy 2009 was reviewed by the external XBRL Quality Review Team (XQRT) that was established by the IASC Foundation at the end of 2007. Interested parties are invited to access the near final version of the IFRS Taxonomy 2009 and submit comments by 12 March 2009.

In accordance with XBRL International policy the near final version of the IFRS Taxonomy 2009 is freely available on this Website. The final version is expected to be released in early April 2009, when it will also be freely available.

IASB and FASB announced membership of Financial Crisis Advisory Group

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) announced the membership of the Financial Crisis Advisory Group (FCAG) late last year.

The FCAG is the high-level advisory group set up by the boards to consider financial reporting issues arising from the global financial crisis. The group includes recognised leaders from the fields of business and government with a broad range of experience in international financial markets.

As previously announced, the FCAG will be jointly chaired by Harvey Goldschmid, former Commissioner, US Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC), and Hans Hoogervorst, Chairman, AFM (the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets).

For a full membership list of the FCAG please click here

Major exporters pledge ongoing credit support for developing country imports

Image: woodsy

Thirty-six exporting countries,including 29 OECD members, issued a statement pledging continued export-credit support for international trade deals in line with a call by G20 leaders for emerging and developing economies to retain access to financing for imports in the present financial crisis.

The countries are:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, European Community, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States.

Impact of the economic crisis on employment in OECD countries

The OECD area economy has entered recession and labour market conditions are rapidly deteriorating in many countries, according to the latest issue of the OECD Economic Outlook (No. 84, November 2008).

OECD projections indicate that the average unemployment rate in the OECD area may reach 6.3% in the last quarter of 2008, from 5.5% a year earlier. The unemployment rate is projected to increase further in the next 18 months and peak at 7.3% in the second quarter of 2010.

Overall, these projections suggest an increase in the number of unemployed persons in the OECD area from 34 million in 2008 to 42.1 million in 2010 – the most rapid rise in OECD unemployment since the early 1990s.

(click on the images to enlarge)

Read more

Back to Basics!

I’d like to say welcome back, but since most of you started before me, I’ll just say that I hope you had a wonderful rest during the festive season and that 2009 will bring less stress!

With the classes almost upon us, I’d like to give you some information on the training sessions I provide as well as a refresher on the Library services on offer:

Image: danzo08

Training
I provide training to all postgraduate students, both on individually and in groups.
· Individual training is done by appointment only – please give my details to all your postgraduate students
· Training is usually for an hour and a half and please send your new student assistants for training – it will improve their service to you tremendously

A few pointers to keep in mind when scheduling a group/class library session:
· I am more than happy to give a presentation/demo or hands-on training during class time. The library has a training venue with 14 computers that can accommodate about 28 students. If your class is bigger, I am happy to do training in the Labs as well.

If the class is an evening class the follow will come into play:
o I do only one evening training session per week
o Please let me know a week in advance so that I can book our training room and prepare the manuals
o The library training/session must be in the first hour (i.e. starting at 17:30 or 18:00 at the latest) and will be for an hour

Keep in mind that I am responsible for the training of 8 departments’ postgraduate students as well as 1st year training during January - March – so please let me know well in advance if you want me to train your class.

Library Services
In a nutshell I offer:
Training – for yourself, your student assistants and your postgraduate students
Alerting – be the first to know if a specific journal or article on your research topic has been published, or keep up to date with the publications of a specific author
Access to other universities – gain free access to all resources of other South African universities
Publishing – I can assist you in finding an accredited publication for your article, or a co-author or conference you can present at
Money - Want to know how much money you have left to buy books or databases with? Need help in weeding out old material? Just ask
Referencing – The university subscribes to RefWorks, a software package that automates the referencing and citation functions, please ask if you’d like me to show you how it works
Current Awareness – remember to check this blog regularly for updates on library services as well as relevant information for your subject area

My office is located on the 1st floor of the Library (by the Reference section) and you are more than welcome to come by for help or assistance.