Incentives to underprice

an initial public offering, the choices made by issuers, such as the offer price, might not appear to be wealth maximizing. In this article, we argue that the choices are strategic. Based on the model developed by Barry (1989), we show that the average change in the issuer's wealth (4.52 per cent) is lower than the average loss implied by underpricing (12.09 per cent). Our results support the notion that the choices issuers make at the offering generate a compensatory benefit in the aftermarket. That the issuer may well not suffer a net wealth loss from the offering is in accordance with continued initial public offering activity.

Correctness ensuring process configuration : an approach based on partner synthesis

A configurable process model describes a family of similar process models in a given domain. Such a model can be configured to obtain a specific process model that is subsequently used to handle individual cases, for instance, to process customer orders. Process configuration is notoriously difficult as there may be all kinds of interdependencies between configuration decisions.} In fact, an incorrect configuration may lead to behavioral issues such as deadlocks and livelocks. To address this problem, we present a novel verification approach inspired by the ``operating guidelines'' used for partner synthesis. We view the configuration process as an external service, and compute a characterization of all such services which meet particular requirements using the notion of configuration guideline. As a result, we can characterize all feasible configurations (i.\,e., configurations without behavioral problems) at design time, instead of repeatedly checking each individual configuration while configuring a process model.

The impact of corporate venturing on a firm's competence modes

In this conceptual paper we investigate how corporate venturing influences an organization's competences. The impact of various types of corporate ventures on the portfolio of strategic options of a firm's competence modes (Sanchez, 2004a; Sanchez & Heene, 2002) will be assessed by distinguishing two fundamentally different dimensions of corporate venturing: technology and product (Block & MacMillan, 1993). We argue that the level of product and factor market dynamism mediates the effect of corporate venturing on a firm's competence modes. Corporate ventures that significantly increase the level of product or factor market dynamics will increase the flexibility in all five competence modes. These ventures have a direct effect on the lower-order competence modes and an indirect, lagged effect on higher-order competence modes through feedback loops. The developed framework and the propositions contribute to managing the ability of a firm to change its coordination, resource, and operating flexibility in order to sustain value creation.

Metaheuristic approaches to the hybrid flow shop scheduling problem with a cost-related criterion

In the paper, the flow-shop scheduling problem with parallel machines at each stage (machine center) is studied. For each job its release and due date as well as a processing time for its each operation are given. The scheduling criterion consists of three parts: the total weighted earliness, the total weighted tardiness and the total weighted waiting time. The criterion takes into account the costs of storing semi-manufactured products in the course of production and ready-made products as well as penalties for not meeting the deadlines stated in the conditions of the contract with customer. To solve the problem, three constructive algorithms and three metaheuristics (based one Tabu Search and Simulated Annealing techniques) are developed and experimentally analyzed. All the proposed algorithms operate on the notion of so-called operation processing order, i.e. the order of operations on each machine. We show that the problem of schedule construction on the base of a given operation processing order can be reduced to the linear programming task. We also propose some approximation algorithm for schedule construction and show the conditions of its optimality.

On importer trust and commitment : a comparative study of two developing countries

Purpose: Relationship trust and commitment are two key dimensions of international exchanges. Both have been extensively investigated from an exporter (as opposed to importer) perspective in developed country (as opposed to developing country) contexts. To address these gaps, this study aims to develop a model of antecedents and outcomes of importer trust and commitment in two developing countries.---------- Design/methodology: The authors test the proposed model using data from Chile and Bangladesh. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).---------- Findings: SEM analysis revealed that most of the hypotheses were supported in both the Bangladeshi and Chilean context. The findings of this study also suggest that the effects of importer transaction-specific investments on importer commitment are distinct in the Bangladeshi context. Practical implications: Practically, these results show that trust and commitment are essential for enhancing importer relationship performance in developing countries. Importer trust in a foreign supplier is effective when suppliers are competent and provide relatively superior facilities, as opposed to opportunistic proclivity. Importer commitment to a foreign supplier is stronger when importers perceive that the foreign supplier is not opportunistic, but is knowledgeable and experienced with the importer market, and they perceive that it is an advantage importing from that supplier. Cultural similarity between importers and foreign suppliers improves importer trust in both countries. However, importer commitment in Chile increases with importer transaction-specific investment, but this is not found to be the case in Bangladesh.---------- Originality/value: This study contributes to the importer-exporter exchange relationship literature by testing a model of antecedents and outcomes of importer trust and commitment. The tested model is one of few that considers developing country contexts and incorporates two novel antecedents of trust and commitment: importer knowledge and experience, and supplier resource competency.

The role of U.S. timberland in real estate portfolios

Timberland is seen as a long-term investment which has recently received increased institutional investor attention in many countries and potentially provides added value in a mixed-asset portfolio. Using the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF) timberland series, this paper analyses the risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits of timberland in the United States over the period of 1987-2007. U.S. timberland is seen to have been a strongly performed asset class with significant portfolio diversification benefits over this period; with a significant portfolio role separate to that of real estate. However, recent years have seen reduced risk-adjusted returns, with some loss of portfolio diversification benefits of timberland with stocks and real estate. Global drivers are likely to see increased future demand for timberland investment.

Antecedents of importer relationship performance in Latin America

Emerging market importers are increasingly engaging in relationships with foreign suppliers. Nevertheless, characteristics of the institutional and cultural environments of countries may affect relationship behaviour. Furthermore research on relationship marketing primarily focuses on the marketing activities of exporters from developed countries and much less attention is paid to the import side of the exchange process. Thus, the objective of this study is to empirically examine importer relationship performance in a Latin America context. This article proposes and tests a conceptual model that includes the antecedents and outcomes of trust and commitment with a survey of Chilean importers. The model uses confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to develop the construct measures and structural equation modelling (SEMS) to test the model. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the driving forces of trust and commitments and their influence on importing firms' performance in an emerging market context.