The hidden potential of "managerial macroeconomics" for CEO decision making in MBA programs

Macroeconomics has profound strategic and tactical implications for CEO decision making, yet many top-ranked business schools do not offer this subject in its appropriately integrative and applied management context. I illustrate how the careful cultivation of "macroeconomic literacy" in the MBA classroom using four innovative instructional strategies can improve CEO decision making across all functional areas of the firm while helping to meet important AACSB learning goals, including curriculum integration, application of interactive teaching strategies, soft skills enhancement, and promoting a global perspective. © Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2006

Evolution of adaptation mechanisms: adaptation energy, stress, and oscillating death

In 1938, H. Selye proposed the notion of adaptation energy and published "Experimental evidence supporting the conception of adaptation energy". Adaptation of an animal to different factors appears as the spending of one resource. Adaptation energy is a hypothetical extensive quantity spent for adaptation. This term causes much debate when one takes it literally, as a physical quantity, i.e. a sort of energy. The controversial points of view impede the systematic use of the notion of adaptation energy despite experimental evidence. Nevertheless, the response to many harmful factors often has general non-specific form and we suggest that the mechanisms of physiological adaptation admit a very general and nonspecific description. We aim to demonstrate that Selye's adaptation energy is the cornerstone of the top-down approach to modelling of non-specific adaptation processes. We analyse Selye's axioms of adaptation energy together with Goldstone's modifications and propose a series of models for interpretation of these axioms. {\em Adaptation energy is considered as an internal coordinate on the `dominant path' in the model of adaptation}. The phenomena of `oscillating death' and `oscillating remission' are predicted on the base of the dynamical models of adaptation. Natural selection plays a key role in the evolution of mechanisms of physiological adaptation. We use the fitness optimization approach to study of the distribution of resources for neutralization of harmful factors, during adaptation to a multifactor environment, and analyse the optimal strategies for different systems of factors

Investigation of eGovernment Services and Alignment between Business and Information Systems

Inhabitant’s implementation of eGovernment services is a key objective for the Government of developed and developing countries. However, to improve the eGovernment services it is important for any Government to align all stakeholders so that the needs of citizens can be examined and addressed. This paper proposed a framework of an ideal pattern of alignment for the Government of Saudi Arabia. The framework has been validated empirically and the result indicates that the Government of Saudi Arabia is spending a huge amount of budget to improve the Government services, but still many services are slow and are not as per expectations. Therefore, citizens of KSA recommended alignment between eGovernment agencies and IS department.Final Accepted Versio

Exploring perceptions for Cyprus as a sustainable golf destination: Motivational and attitudinal orientations of golf tourists

The study examines the perceptions of golf tourists in Cyprus, focusing on the sustainable character of golf practices through a series of statements that explore their motivation, and the experienced attributes of the Cypriot golf tourist product. Based upon a survey in three Cypriot golf courses, results show that the major motives of golf tourists to visit Cyprus include the island’s natural characteristics and the friendly environment. Furthermore, their perceptions concern their social interaction, environment and relaxation. The findings provide insight for the policy-makers to understand golf tourists’ perceptions and design accordingly the Cypriot golf tourism product. An integrative model is proposed for examining the motivation and perceptions of golf tourists in relation to attributes that can shape meaningful experiences and the sustainable development of golf tourism. This line of inquiry can be a useful perspective in examining comprehensively the shaping of sport tourist experiences within a sustainability context

On Second Thought

{Excerpt} Remembering times past stimulates the mind and helps give perspective and a sense of who we are. Social reminiscence is a gain in performance without practice. Reminiscing, be it simple, informative, or of the life review, therapeutic variety—different but overlapping types exist—is a uniquely human activity that plays a vital role. By recalling the past, celebrating accomplishments and—as necessary—coming to terms with disappointments, individuals can achieve a heightened sense of personal identity and self-continuity, notably in their social relationships. At the confluence of voluntary memory and events, circumstances, and experience, they can find meaning and coherence in life and work

Driving online shopping: Spending and behavioral differences among women in Saudi Arabia

This study proposes a revised technology acceptance model that integrates expectation confirmation theory to measure gender differences with regard to continuance online shopping intentions in Saudi Arabia. The sample consists of 650 female respondents. A structural equation model confirms model fit. Perceived enjoyment, usefulness, and subjective norms are determinants of online shopping continuance in Saudi Arabia. High and low online spenders among women in Saudi Arabia are equivalent. The structural weights are also largely equivalent, but the regression paths from perceived site quality to perceived usefulness is not invariant between high and low e-shoppers in Saudi Arabia. This research moves beyond online shopping intentions and includes factors affecting online shopping continuance. The research model explains 60% of the female respondents’ intention to continue shopping online. Online strategies cannot ignore either the direct and indirect spending differences on continuance intentions, and the model can be generalized across Saudi Arabia

Integrating information and knowledge for enterprise innovation

It has widely been accepted that enterprise integration, can be a source of socio-technical and cultural problems within organisations wishing to provide a focussed end-to-end business service. This can cause possible “straitjacketing” of business process architectures, thus suppressing responsive business re-engineering and competitive advantage for some companies. Accordingly, the current typology and emergent forms of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) technologies are set in the context of understanding information and knowledge integration philosophies. As such, key influences and trends in emerging IS integration choices, for end-to-end, cost-effective and flexible knowledge integration, are examined. As touch points across and outside organisations proliferate, via work-flow and relationship management-driven value innovation, aspects of knowledge refinement and knowledge integration pose challenges to maximising the potential of innovation and sustainable success, within enterprises. This is in terms of the increasing propensity for data fragmentation and the lack of effective information management, in the light of information overload. Furthermore, the nature of IS mediation which is inherent within decision making and workflow-based business processes, provides the basis for evaluation of the effects of information and knowledge integration. Hence, the authors propose a conceptual, holistic evaluation framework which encompasses these ideas. It is thus argued that such trends, and their implications regarding enterprise IS integration to engender sustainable competitive advantage, require fundamental re-thinking

A Framework to Use Public-Private Partnership for Smart City Projects

The concept of Smart City has been emerging as a strategic set of integrated initiatives encompassing infrastructures, technology and digital services for the purpose of enhancing the quality of life of citizens. However, the development and implementation of Smart City projects require considerable investments that are difficult to fund with traditional public finance. In this context, Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) appear to be suitable solutions to overcome the shortage of public finance and cuts on public spending. However, the adoption of PPP forms for Smart City projects has not been fully explored and only experimentally applied so far. In order to promote the usage of PPP to finance Smart City initiatives, this paper proposes some PPP financial instruments and discusses the associated strengths and weaknesses. In particular, the use of Project Finance, Revenue Sharing and Social Impact Bonds are suggested as sound alternatives and suitable sources of financing for Smart City project

A Trade Institution as a Peaceful Institution?

Recent studies emphasize the occurrence of conflict as a rational economic activity as well as production and exchange. Agents are assumed to divide their efforts into fighting and productive activities, or as commonly denoted in ^Qguns^R and ^Qbutter^R. This paper does try to go beyond this ^Qmanichean^R idea assuming the Boulding^Rs concept of ^Qintegrative system^R. In particular, the paper investigates whether a trade institution committed to free and fair trade could foster ^Qpeaceful^R benefits for member countries. The analysis, produced in a very simplified world, counts as a founding pillar the Contest Success Function. The results of the model suggest that in an institutionalized scenario agents gain more both in terms of economic utility and in terms of peace than in ^Qcontinuing conflict^R and ^Qobstructed trade^R scenarios.Contest Success Function, Conflict, international Trade Institution.