Testing some myths about I.T. outsourcing : a survey of Australia's top 1000 firms

This study examines the extent to which surveyed outcomes of IT outsourcing supported several commonly-argued propositions. Following confirmatOl), factor analysis, eight measures of success were used: access to skilled staff, technology benefits, economies of scale, cost reductions, strategic benefits, technical service quality, capacity to concentrate on core business, and overall satisfaction/value. The analysis produced some surprising findings. Some widely-promoted benefits of outsourcing were reported by most respondents, but other benefits that have been similarly promoted (such as cost savings) were reported by only a minority of respondents. There were no differences in success outcomes between medium-sized «500 employees), large (500 to 1000 employees), and very large (1000+ employees) organizations. There were some minor differences between government agencies and finns from the private sector, but no differences for key outcomes. Contrary to findings from case study research, "selective" outsourcing was no more successful than "total" outsourcing, although "total" outsourcing was uncommon. On the basis of these results, decision makers are urged to be cautious when planning to outsource IT services, and to be critical of claims that they will make substantial savings from outsourcing, or that outsourcing will automatically allow them to refocus more on their core business.

Board structure and firm performance : evidence from India's top 500 companies

The objective of this paper is to investigate the relationship between internal governance structures in Indian companies and financial performance. The
study includes an examination of aspects of the effectiveness of boards of directors', including composition of the board, board size and aspects of board leadership including duality and board busyness.

Green marketing in the top publicly traded Australian organizations

This paper examines the inclusion of sustainability into marketing activities of the top Australian firms. The results found that almost half of organisations (46%) did not integrate sustainability or environmental issues into their mission statement. Of those that did include sustainability in their mission, few then integrated environmental issues into other areas of their activities, as reported on their corporate web sites. This suggests that while sustainability is frequently talked about within organisations as being important, it does not necessarily translate in to a strategic integration across activities. Firms might therefore be using environmental issues tactically, which could unfortunately result in superficial attempts at becoming environmentally sustainable.

Board structure and firm performance : evidence from India's top companies

Manuscript Type: Empirical

Research Question/Issue: This paper investigates the relationship between internal governance structures and financial performance of Indian companies. The effectiveness of boards of directors, including board composition, board size, and aspects of board leadership including duality and board busyness are addressed in the Indian context using two theories of corporate governance: agency theory and resource dependency theory.

Research Findings/Insights: The study used a sample of top Indian companies taking into account the endogeneity of the relationships among corporate governance, corporate performance, and corporate capital structure. The study provides some support for aspects of agency theory as a greater proportion of outside directors on boards were associated with improved firm performance. The notion of separating leadership roles in a manner consistent with agency theory was not supported. For instance, the notion that powerful CEOs (duality role, CEO being the promoter, and CEO being the only board manager) have a detrimental effect on performance was not supported. There was some support for resource dependency theory. The findings suggest that larger board size has a positive impact on performance thus supporting the view that greater exposure to the external environment improves access to various resources and thus positively impacts on performance. The study however failed to support the resource dependency theory in terms of the association between frequency of board meetings and performance. Similarly the results showed that outside directors with multiple appointments appeared to have a negative effect on performance, suggesting that "busyness" did not add value in terms of networks and enhancement of resource accessibility.

Theoretical/Academic Implications: The two theories of corporate governance, namely agency and resource dependence theory, were each only partially supported, by the findings of this study. The findings add further to the view that no single theory explains the nexus between corporate governance and performance.

Practitioner/Policy Implications: This study demonstrates that corporate governance measures utilized in developed economies related to boards of directors have some synergies and relevance to emerging economies, such as India. However, the nature of business structures in India, for example the large number of family businesses, may limit the generalizability of the findings and signals the need for further investigation of these businesses. The evidence related to multiple appointments of directors suggests that there may be support for restricting the number of directorships held by any one individual in emerging economies, given that the "busyness" of directors was negatively associated with firm performance.

Predator mixes and the conspicuousness of aposematic signals

Conspicuous warning signals of unprofitable prey are a defense against visually hunting predators. They work because predators learn to associate unprofitability with bright coloration and because strong signals are detectable and memorable. However, many species that can be considered defended are not very conspicuous; they have weak warning signals. This phenomenon has previously been ignored in models and experiments. In addition, there is significant within- and among-species variation among predators in their search behavior, in their visual, cognitive, and learning abilities, and in their resistance to defenses. In this article we explore the effects of variable predators on models that combine positive frequency-dependent, frequency-independent, and negative frequency-dependent predation and show that weak signaling of aposematic species can evolve if predators vary in their tendency to attack defended prey.

Citation patterns within the leading top-tier finance journals implications for journal rankings and other issues

This paper examines all citations and self-citations to a list of 95 finance journals appearing in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics and Review of Financial Studies from 1995 through 2005. Additionally, the publication profile of 100 prolific authors in top-tier finance journals is tabulated for these 95 journals. Citations to non-finance journals in economics and accounting are also tabulated for comparison with their finance counterpart along with working papers. Six ranking schemes are constructed with each scheme identifying the top fifty finance journals. Citations to finance journals are highly concentrated within ten journals and similarly for self-citations. Authors of papers appearing in top-tier finance journals pay scant attention to the bulk of research published in other finance journals. Furthermore, these authors cite other economic journals with greater frequency than their counterpart in finance. Of the top fifty finance journals identified in this paper, only 21 are listed in Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), and this compares to approximately 500 listed economic journals. Some glaring omissions from SSCI are identified, but most notably the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Journal of Financial Research, Journal of Empirical Finance and Journal of Fixed Income. An analysis of 2006 citations patterns is also presented. The top-tier mantra assigned to finance journals has a void with the decision by the Journal of Business to cease publication with the November 2006 issue. This paper identifies five finance journals anyone of which could potentially fill the void.

Online communication of brand personality : a study of MBA programs of top business schools

Brand personality has often been considered from the perspective of products, corporate brands or countries, but rarely among service offerings. Moreover, there remains the consideration of how these entities are communicated online. This article explores the brand personality dimensions that business schools communicate and whether they differ in putting across clear and distinctive brand personalities in cyberspace. Three clusters from the Financial Times' top 100 full-time global MBA programs in 2005 are used to undertake a combination of computerised content and correspondence analyses. The content analysis was structured using Aaker's five-dimensional framework whilst the positioning maps were produced by examining the data using correspondence analysis. Results indicate that some schools have clear brand personalities while others fail to communicate their brand personalities in a distinct way. This study also illustrates a powerful, but simple and relatively inexpensive way for organisations and brand researchers to study the brand personalities actually being communicated.

Sooty owl ecology and recent small mammal decline

This thesis investigated the ecology of the threatened sooty owl, which was used to improve understanding of recent small mammal declines and how a top-order predator adapted to changes in ecosystem condition following European settlement. This knowledge will help improve biodiversity conservation and management of forested ecosystems in south-eastern Australia.