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  Titles (Click on a title to view the abstract)

  A Model for Pricing Derivatives on Ceiling Underlying Variables
  Antonio Camara

  A note on the Insurance Status in India for the Poor
  Preeti Agrawal

  Congruence among Objective and Subjective Quality-of-Life (QOL) Indicators
  Madhukar Angur, Robin Widgery, and Sudhir G. Angur

  Consequences of Ambition: A Cross-Cultural Study of Women Accountants
  Rajul Gokarn and Ravi Parameswaran

  Consumer Decision-Making Styles Among Indian Students
  B.M.Ghodeswar

  Collaborative Supply Chain Forecasting: A Lean Framework
  Eugene Fliedner

  Does Monetary Policy Signal Future Economic Risk? Investigating the Link between Monetary Policy Shocks and
  Stock Returns
  Tony Caporale and Mark J. Perry

  Efficacy of Existing IS Planning Models for E-Business
  Anjali S. Kaushik

  European Stock Market Linkages: The Effect of the Adoption of the Euro as a Single Currency
  Joseph Friedman and Yochanan Shachmurove

  Evidence of Interdependence and Integration in Asian Banking Markets: An Analysis of Share Price Indices
  John Simpson

  Gaps in GAAP on Consolidation Policies and Procedures: Case of Minority (Noncontrolling) Interest
  Mohammed S. Bazaz and Trimbak Shastri

  Knowledge Economy Relationship Management: Combining MIS with Market Relationship Strategies
  E. Vincent Carter and Rajni Goel

  Managing Advertising Creativity in a Deregulating Economy
  Rotimi Williams Olatunji

  Marketing Transforms in the CIS Curriculum
  Jerry Chin, Mary Chin, and Michelle Hulette

  Materialism among Young Consumers in China and Thailand: An Exploratory Study
  Kittichai Watchravesringkan &Barbara Dyer

  Modeling Web Applications
  Kieran Mathieson

  Online Discussion Enabled Mode for Case Instruction
  Ravi Parameswaran and R. Mohan Pisharodi

  Personality, Trust and Transformational Leadership Assessments: The 2004 Australian Elections
  Rajnandini Pillai and Brian D’Netto

  Prioritizing Ethical Concerns for the Australian Marketing Research Profession
  Madhav N. Segal and Ralph W. Giacobbe

  Profitability of Banks in India: An Assessment
  Narendar V. Rao, Rasoul Rezvanian, and Emmanuel Nyadroh

  Service Orientation as a Strategic Initiative: A Conceptual Model with Exemplars
  David Solnet and Jay Kandampully

  Sharing and Guarding Information: Managing Data Security in Supply Chain Networks
  Darian Unger and Rajni Goel

  Synthesizing Diverse Perspectives on Organizational Diversity: A Review and Extension of the Literature
  Deepak Sethi

  Technical Efficiency Measurement by Data Envelopment Analysis: An Application in Transportation
  Venkatesha Bhagavath

  The Effects of Relational Benefits on Retail Satisfaction
  David Martin-Consuegra, Arturo Molina, Agueda Esteban

  The Empirical Relation between Price Changes and Trading Volumes: Further Evidence from European Stock
  Markets
  Richard A. Ajayi, Seyed Mehdian, and Mbodja Mougoue

  Using Fine-Grained Likert Scales inWeb Surveys
  Kieran Mathieson and David P. Doane

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  Abstracts

  A Model for Pricing Derivatives on Ceiling Underlying Variables
  Antonio Camara   

  Eurodollar futures, Euroyen futures, and EuroCanada futures represent financial assets which have ceilings. This paper presents a
  theory which establishes a risk neutral valuation relationship (RNVR) for pricing derivatives written on upper bounded
  underlying variables. First, the theory is developed in a single period economy. It is assumed that there is a representative agent
  with a particular utility function of the HARA family of utility functions, and that aggregate wealth and the underlying variable
  are bivariate upper bound or negatively skewed lognormally distributed. Second, the theory is developed in a continous-time
  framework where the risk aversion assumption is dropped, and replaced by the assumption of two long lived underlyings
  dynamically traded. It is assumed that the risky underlying follows an upper bound or negatively skew geometric brownian
  motion which has, at the end of each period, an upper bound lognormal distribution. The model is applied to derive closed-form
  solutions for the price of call and put options. These solutions depend on an extra parameter, not contained in the Black-Scholes
  model, the upper bound parameter.

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  A note on the Insurance Status in India for the Poor
  Preeti Agrawal

  Insurance in India has come a long way since its inception, yet much remains to make it as available and widely-used as it should
  be. Insurance is more concentrated in relatively financially stable urban areas, but the requirement for a cushion to absorb risks is
  greater among rural and urban poor. Even after the opening of insurance to private players in India, its penetration is very low
  compared to that in developed nations, raising a central question: Is there a gap between what is offered and what is demanded?

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  Congruence among Objective and Subjective Quality-of-Life (QOL) Indicators
  Madhukar Angur, Robin Widgery, and Sudhir G. Angur

  This exploratory study addresses the value of subjective and objective indicators of neighborhood quality-of-life. Both types of
  indicators are found to be significantly correlated with resident evaluations of overall neighborhood quality. Subjective indicators
  of neighborhood conditions are more highly correlated to overall neighborhood quality (also subjective), than are objective
  indicators of neighborhood conditions. Various explanations have been offered to explain why there may be incongruence between
  the objective and subjective methods of examining the quality of neighborhood life. It is suggested that both types of indicators
  have value for decision makers.

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  Consequences of Ambition: A Cross-Cultural Study of Women Accountants
  Rajul Gokaran, Ravi Parameswaran

  This study seeks to assess the impact of ambition, employment status (students versus professionals) and country of origin on
  concerns of women accountants regarding advancing to top management positions. The study used multivariate analysis of
  variance and covariance. The findings indicate that all three of the factors have significant main effects. A few interaction effects
  are also significant. Demographic covariates such as age, marital status, and number of children had negligible influence. The
  authors conclude that ambitious women professionals are more likely to “stick it out” to achieve their career goals.

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  Consumer Decision-Making Styles Among Indian Students
  B.M.Ghodeswar

  This study is an investigation of the consumer decision-making styles among graduate (degree-holding) students of a business
  school in India. The model of Consumer Style Inventory (CSI) as suggested by Sproles and Kendall (1986) has been tested to
  validate the basic characteristics of these styles are grouped in 6-factor structure. While the seven decision-making styles
  validated are. (1) Perfectionalism and high-quality consciousness, (2) Brand consciousness and price equals quality. (3) Novelty
  and fashioin-consciousness, (4) Recreational and hedonistic shopping consciousness, (5) Impulsiveness and carelessness,
  (6) Confused by overchoice, and (7) Habitual and brand-loyal orientation. However, one decision making style, namely “Price
  Consciousness and Value for Money” was not confirmed in the data.

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  Collaborative Supply Chain Forecasting: A Lean Framework
  Eugene Fliedner

  This paper proposes a conceptual framework to forecast supply chain demand in a collaborative manner and ultimately to
  coordinate and integrate various supply chain partner management activities including purchasing, production planning and
  inventory replenishment. This paper explains the collaborative forecasting concept and framework, identifies benefits that can be
  achieved using collaborative supply chain forecasting, and identifies potential obstacles to implementation.

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  Does Monetary Policy Signal Future Economic Risk? Investigating the Link between Monetary Policy Shocks and
  Stock Returns
  Tony Caporale and Mark J. Perry

  We investigate the impact of monetary policy shocks on stock returns using an Arbitrage Pricing Theory framework. After
  controlling for other risk factors, we find that changes in a monetary policy index measure is a significantly positive risk factor
  that raises excess returns (risk premiums) on monthly U.S. stocks. We argue that this relationship is due to the signal to financial
  markets that changes in monetary policy reveal about the Federal Reserve’s forecast of future economic activity. Our result lends
  support to the findings of Romer and Romer (2000), and Peek, Rosengren and Tootell (2003) that the Fed possesses inside
  information that is not known to the public.

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  Efficacy of Existing IS Planning Models for E-Business
  Anjali S. Kaushik

  Information system planning is the process of identifying a portfolio of computer-based applications that will assist an organization
  in executing its business plans and realizing its business goals. There is no perfect IS planning process for each organization. Each
  organization ends up developing its own nature and model of IS planning, often by selecting a model and modifying it as it goes
  along in developing its own planning process. The IS planning models should provide a range of alternatives from which
  organizations might select an approach and begin to develop their own strategic IS planning process. This paper discusses the
  various IS planning models used by organizations and comments on their effectiveness. It also tries to comment on the gaps in view
  of the developments in information and communication technologies and consequent shifting of processes to organizations in the
  business network.

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  European Stock Market Linkages: The Effect of the Adoption of the Euro as a Single Currency
  Joseph Friedman and Yochanan Shachmurove

  Daily returns of stock market indices of the major Euro-zone countries of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain are
  analyzed for the period January 1, 1990 until May 2003. Additionally, the United Kingdom stock market is included in the
  analysis. The data is divided into two sub-periods to investigate whether the integration of the stock markets increased after the
  adoption of the Euro. The key issues examined concern how much of the changes in the stock indices in different countries can be
  attributed to innovations in other markets, and how fast events occurring in one market are transmitted to other markets.

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  Evidence of Interdependence and Integration in Asian Banking Markets: An Analysis of Share Price Indices
  John Simpson

  Analysis of banking stock price index data confirms significant positive relationships between several major Asian regional
  banking systems and the Japanese banking system. Regression analysis of a split sample of unlagged data shows that these
  relationships have increased in strength during the period of the study. Results are confirmed when multivariate vector
  autoregressive based cointegration and variance decomposition analysis is undertaken. The findings are important because they
  illustrate that Asian banking systems have increased the pace and scope of regional financial integration following the South East
  Asian currency crisis. The larger developed Japanese banking market retains its prominent regional influence even though high
  levels of non-performing loans have been reported that will require substantial recapitalisation over the next decade. No doubt
  banks in the region will remain under the scrutiny of regulatory authorities. Closer regional trade and investment ties through
  free trade agreements may be part of the reason for the flow on from economic to financial integration.

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  Gaps in GAAP on Consolidation Policies and Procedures: Case of Minority (Noncontrolling) Interest
  Mohammed S. Bazaz and Trimbak Shastri

  There still exist gaps in GAAP relating to accounting for business combinations, and preparation of consolidated financial
  statements including measurement and disclosure of minority interest in international accounting environment. During the past
  several years, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has issued several proposed statements on issues related to
  business combinations. However, issues relating to measurement and presentation of minority interest in consolidated financial
  statements have not been dealt with in a way that successfully addresses the differences. This paper describes some approaches to
  measure minority interest. Users of financial accounting information may prefer a range of values rather than a single estimate,
  such as book value. We believe that providing and disclosing a range of values is likely to enhance the relevance and reliability
  dimensions of information relating to minority interest on the date of business combination.

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  Knowledge Economy Relationship Management: Combining MIS with Market Relationship Strategies
  E. Vincent Carter and Rajni Goel

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  Managing Advertising Creativity in a Deregulating Economy
  Rotimi Williams Olatunji

  Advertising as an institution impacts on and is subject to the influences of other institutions in society, particularly the economy
  and politics. The Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), adopted in Nigeria in July 1986 remains a notable economic policy
  with profound consequences on the advertising industry. An advertising agency’s reputation is, among several considerations,
  built on its level of creativity, innovativeness and communication effectiveness. This study investigates the influences of Nigeria’s
  SAP, an economic deregulatory policy, on advertising creativity. A content analysis of 18 purposively selected advertising copy
  produced during three phases of SAP was carried out. Data obtained were analyzed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA),
  multiple classification analysis (MCA) and Scheffe procedure. Results indicate that the level of creativity in the selected
  advertisements declined remarkably during the period of economic deregulation than in the preceding or succeeding eras. A
  significant decline in the use of local creative inputs in advertisements production was much more pronounced during the period of
  economic deregulation. Appropriate recommendations were made on techniques for managing advertising creativity in a
  deregulating economy.

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  Marketing Transforms in the CIS Curriculum
  Jerry Chin, Mary Chin, and Michelle Hulette

  The traditional university business curriculum from accredited business programs is approximately one-half of the degree credits.
  In this paper, we hypothesize that class work outside of the college of school of business (General Education) can be a source of
  material for problems within the computer information curriculum. In particular, this paper uses the Truth Functional Form
  Algorithm from a logic course, normally targeted for students in philosophy, computer science, or mathematics. The problem is
  reduced to a string search problem with a computer programming solution and serves as a simple logic example for marketing
  students, broadening their university experience. The actual C# code is provided with the user interface in the appendix of the
  paper.

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  Materialism among Young Consumers in China and Thailand: An Exploratory Study
  Kittichai Watchravesringkan & Barbara Dyer

  In spite of the apparent globalization of consumerism, materialism has received relatively limited cross-cultural research
  attention. This article reports an exploratory study of materialism among young consumers in China and Thailand. The Richins
  and Dawson (1992) Material Value Scale (MVS) is used to collect usable data from 207 Chinese respondents and 248 Thai
  respondents. Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the collected data generates new insights and directions for future research.

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  Modeling Web Applications
  Kieran Mathieson

  This paper describes a technique called WAM, for Web Application Modeling. It helps designers create graphical models of small to
  medium sized Web applications. WAM helps designers visualize browser/server interaction as users work. WAM is easier to learn,
  and easier to use than UML.

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  Online Discussion Enabled Mode for Case Instruction
  Ravi Parameswaran and R. Mohan Pisharodi

  Advances in e-learning systems software have spawned a multi-billion dollar industry dedicated to the development of virtual
  classrooms, distance education, and online support for in-class instruction. Versatility in the use of such systems and tools by both
  instructors and students are engendering augmented instructional modes that blend the use of Internet-based tools and traditional
  instructional methods. The current paper illustrates the melding of online discussion forums with the most popular of business
  education teaching tools, the case methodology in an international marketing course.

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  Personality, Trust and Transformational Leadership Assessments: The 2004 Australian Elections
  Rajnandini Pillai and Brian D’Netto

  This study sought to identify leadership characteristics which transcend the business world and apply to leaders in other arenas.
  The study was conducted in the context of the 2004 Australian national election. Data were collected from 75 working students in
  Southeastern Australia. Voters were asked to rate the transformational/charismatic leadership of the two main candidates, John
  Howard (Liberal) and Mark Latham (Labour). As in studies conducted in the United States of America, party identification and
  transformational leadership predicted intent to vote for a particular candidate. Perceptions of candidate proactive behavior, need
  for achievement and trust in the leader were shown to be related to transformational leadership. Implications of the findings for
  leadership development and further research are discussed.

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  Prioritizing Ethical Concerns for the Australian Marketing Research Profession
  Madhav N. Segal and Ralph W. Giacobbe

  The study describes and operationalizes a framework on how best to focus and prioritize key ethical concerns in marketing research
  for the Australian marketing research profession and industry. Australian marketing research professionals' perceptions of a
  number of ethical areas are empirically assessed both in terms of seriousness of ethical lapses/violations of ethical practices and
  perceived frequency of such occurrences. While empirical findings provide guidance for the Australian marketing research
  industry and professional trade groups by indicating key priority areas for allocation of industry attention, time and resources to
  address unethical conduct and associated practices, the proposed framework is applicable in the context of other nations as well.

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  Profitability of Banks in India: An Assessment
  Narendar V. Rao, Rasoul Rezvanian, and Emmanuel Nyadroh

  In this study, using the most recent data available for the period 1998-2003, we examined the profitability of three ownership
  groups of banks operating in India; namely, privately-owned domestic banks (PRODs), publicly-owned domestic banks (PUODs),
  and foreign-owned banks (FOBs). Applying key profitability ratios to assess the comparative profitability of the three ownership
  groups of banks, we found that foreign-owned banks (FOBs) were better financial performers than privately-owned domestic banks
  (PRODs) and publicly-owned domestic banks (PUODs). We concluded that better control over expenses, more efficient use of assets,
  and judicious use of financial leverage could be the primary reasons for the superior performance of foreign-owned banks compared
  to the domestic banks.

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  Service Orientation as a Strategic Initiative: A Conceptual Model with Exemplars
  David Solnet and Jay Kandampully

  This study examines the service orientation literature and identifies hierarchical factors that should act as antecedents to a service
  orientation. As a result of these investigations, the study proposes a conceptual model for an effective service orientation, and
  elaborates on the need for service firms to direct their service orientation according to factors external to the firm. It also posits that
  service orientation is an evolving construct that must change as the needs of customers change, and suggests that service
  orientation should be a strategic initiative, rather than serving only as a tool to measure service performance. Outcome factors
  emanating from the effective implementation of a service-orientation strategy are then proposed. Two case studies illustrate the
  conceptual model.

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  Sharing and Guarding Information: Managing Data Security in Supply Chain Networks
  Darian Unger and Rajni Goel

  Companies must frequently balance the benefits and security threats of sharing information with suppliers. This paper broadly
  surveys and summarizes several recent cases of network hacking, compromised bidding systems, competitive business theft, and
  the inadvertent transformation of suppliers into competitors. We develop a general framework that categorizes these information
  threats and maps them to specific information technology (IT) and business policy solutions, including more stringent security
  procedures, enhanced software technology, and improved vetting. Depending on the specific threat, companies can purchase or
  implement distinct countermeasures as part of a larger strategy for IT security. Companies and supply chain experts can use our
  review and proposed framework to better understand information threats and improve their information sharing procedures.

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  Synthesizing Diverse Perspectives on Organizational Diversity: A Review and Extension of the Literature
  Deepak Sethi

  Organizations face conformity pressures, and become isomorphic with their institutional environment in order to attain
  legitimation, which increases organizational homogeneity. After the legitimation phase however, organizations face increasing
  competitive pressures forcing them to adopt idiosyncratic strategies, which drives them towards more heterogeneity. Synthesizing
  insights from the population ecology, institutional theory and strategy perspectives, this study examines the effect of conformity
  and competitive pressures upon organizational diversity. It presents several theoretical propositions based on a typology of
  strategic responses to such conflicting pressures, and the resulting impact on organizational legitimacy, competitiveness, and
  structures, thus promising a fruitful stream for further research.

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  Technical Efficiency Measurement by Data Envelopment Analysis: An Application in Transportation
  Venkatesha Bhagavath

  There has been an ever-growing concern to measure efficiency of decision-making units (DMUs). Regression and Stochastic frontier
  analysis have been the popular methods of measuring the same. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is one of the latest additions to
  the bracket of these techniques. DEA is essentially an optimization algorithm, which develops efficiency scores for all DMUs on a
  scale of zero to 100% with units receiving 100% efficiency score being called efficient. Further a simple modification in the DEA
  model also accounts for scaling efficiencies especially for large sized DMUs. In this study, technical efficiency measurement of State
  Road Transport Undertakings (STUs) was done using the data on a sample of 44 Indian state road transport undertakings. Using a
  variable return to scale model, efficiency scores were developed for all the state road transport undertakings. The study has
  revealed that only eight out of 44 STUs were scale efficient. One of the interesting findings of the study is that STUs operating as
  companies were relatively more technically efficient than others.

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  The Effects of Relational Benefits on Retail Satisfaction
  David Martin-Consuegra, Arturo Molina, Agueda Esteban

  Interest in the subjects of relational benefits and satisfaction has been growing among marketing researchers and practitioners.
  The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of relational benefits on retail satisfaction. This study presents a causal model
  that identifies a connection between relational benefits, achieved through a stable and long-term relationship with a given
  establishment, and retail satisfaction. Based on a theoretical discussion regarding the relationship between relational benefits and
  retail satisfaction, an empirical research among European customers was conducted using convenience sampling to test the
  hypothesized relationships. Multiple item indicators from prior studies were employed to measure the constructs. The results show
  that confidence, special treatment and social benefits identified by literature on the matter have a direct positive effect on the
  satisfaction of regular consumers with their retailers.

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  The Empirical Relation between Price Changes and Trading Volumes: Further Evidence from European Stock
  Markets
  Richard A. Ajayi, Seyed Mehdian, Mbodja Mougoue

  Extant literature on price-volume relation of stock markets relies mainly on standard linear Granger causality tests and draws
  evidence mostly from individual or aggregate US stock markets and those of other major industrial economies. This paper employs
  linear and nonlinear Granger causality tests to examine the price-volume relation of 10 relatively small European stock markets.
  Because these markets present a broader range of institutional, organizational, and structural factors than the major industrial
  markets, their analyses will enrich the literature on price-volume relation of stock markets. The empirical results using the
  traditional Granger causality tests indicate, in general, a mild causal relation between stock returns and trading volumes. In
  contrast, the nonlinear Granger causality tests indicate a stronger causal relation between the two variables. These results
  demonstrate the largely untapped capacity of nonlinear techniques to unravel financial asset price dynamics that may be beyond
  the scope of linear analyses.

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  Using Fine-Grained Likert Scales in Web Surveys
  Kieran Mathieson and David P. Doane

  Online surveys offer measurement possibilities that paper surveys do not. This study examines fine-grained Likert scales.
  Traditional Likert scales limit respondents to a small number of points, often five or seven. Fine-grained scales let respondents
  select any point on the scale. The study (1) shows how fine-grained scales can be implemented on Webbased surveys, (2) tests the
  effect of fine-grained scales on statistical power, and (3) presents data on respondents’ use of fine-grained scales in practice. We
  conclude that using fine-grained scales is a worthwhile investment.

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