Electronic commerce in small to medium-sized enterprises : frameworks, issues and implications

Electronic Commerce in Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises: Frameworks, Issues and Implications addresses eCommerce issues in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a global setting. The book aims at addressing issues that are of importance to researchers, to students, and to professionals interested in the eCommerce field in SMEs and hence, interested in addressing issues pertaining to theory and to practice.

An analysis of the association between firms' investment opportunities, board composition and firm performance

The purpose of this paper is to identify the variables that influence the board structure adopted by firms and the subsequent relationship to the firm's performance. The results of this study of 229 Australian firms show that firms' investment opportunities are strongly associated with a higher proportion of executive directors ("EDs") on the board. The results also show that the negative relationship between a firm's investment opportunity set ("IDS") and firm performance is weakened at higher levels of non-executive director board domination. These results have implications for policy setters and managers of firms with investment opportunities

Dynamic knowledge integration in socio-technical networks: an interpretive study of intranet use for knowledge integration

A major challenge facing firms competing in electronic business markets is the dynamic integration of knowledge within and beyond the firm, enabled by internet-based infrastructure and emergent fluid socio-technical networks. This paper explores how social actors dynamically employ intranets to integrate formal and informal knowledge within evolving socio-technical networks that emerge, permeate and extend beyond the organisational boundary. The paper presents two case studies that illustrate how static intranets can be useful for dynamically integrating knowledge when they are interwoven with other knowledge channels such as e-mail through which flows the informal knowledge needed to make sense of and situate formal organisational knowledge. The findings suggest that businesses should carefully examine how employees integrate intranets with other channels in their work, and the shaping of knowledge outcomes that flows from such use. There are practical implications for the proper skilling of thepeople who share and integrate knowledge in this way. The paper also provides a framework for dynamic knowledge integration in socio-technical networks, which can help underpin future research in this area.

Costs of raising equity capital for U.S. REITs

The direct and indirect costs of raising equity capital by U.S. REITs through IPOs average 8.43% and 3.07%, respectively while these costs through SEOs average 4.63% and 1.18%, respectively. Ownership limit and the number of adverse risk factors identified in the IPO prospectus and underwriting syndicate structure determine such costs.

Learning context in Australian universities - perceptions of Chinese accounting students

The study concentrates on how Mainland Chinese students perceive and respond to the learning in Australian universities. Students' satisfaction with their educational experiences and the Australian learning context such as teaching, teacher/student relationship, assessment, workload and English language is explored in this study. Using focus groups, the results show that teaching, teacher/student relationships and English language are areas of concern.

Estimating the benefits of managing invasive plants in subsistence communities

This thesis addresses the issue of estimating the willingness of members of low-income communities to contribute to the management of the invasion of exotic plant species by applying the stated preference method of a choice experiment in the buffer zone of Chitwan National Park in Nepal.

Inequality, education and growth in Malaysia

This thesis explores some of the associations between income inequality, education and economic growth. In addition, the thesis also explores the effects of democracy and regime duration on growth. The analysis is conducted at three levels: for Malaysia as a nation using time series data, for a panel of Malaysian states and for a panel of Southeast Asian countries. The main empirical tools applied are metaregression analysis and panel data econometrics. Specifically, the thesis explores the following associations: (i) the effect of education on inequality; (ii) the effect of economic development and economic growth on inequality; (iii) the effect of education on growth; (iv) the effect of inequality on growth; (v) the effect of democracy on growth; and (vi) the effect of regime duration on growth.

Foreign direct investment and the stages of sector diversification

Foreign direct investment (FDI), when considered homogenous, has case-specific result on sector diversification. However, FDI when disaggregated by its type, market-seeking FDI diversifies developed countries, while efficiency-seeking FDI diversifies developing countries, particularly in the manufacturing sector. Flexible labour markets and well-established financial markets also play important role in this context.

Sectoral analysis on capital structure determinants among the Malaysia listed firms

This study highlights the sensitivity of capital structure determinants in each sector within the ensembles of Malaysia Listed Companies. Based on pooled OLS, fixed effect and Generalized Method of Moments analysis, the findings revealed that capital structure determinants vary across sectors due to its nature or characteristics.

The role of accounting in building financial capacity of Indigenous Australians.

 This study investigated the empowering and/or disempowering role that accounting can play in the building of financial capacity of Indigenous Australians.