A Conceptual Model for Bidirectional Service, Information and Product Quality in an IS Outsourcing Collaboration Environment

This paper advances theory on the process of collaboration between entities and its implications on the quality of services, information, and/or products (SIPs) that the collaborating entities provide to each other. It investigates the scenario of outsourced IS projects (such as custom software development) where the extent of collaboration between a client and vendor is high. Using the social exchange theory, the proposed conceptual model tries to establish the "bidirectional" nature of SIP quality in a collaborative environment, where the SIPs exchanged are possibly "dependent" on each other, and if any entity wishes to receive high SIP quality then it should make efforts to provide high SIP quality in return too. Furthermore, it advocates increasing efforts to link financial stakes (tangible or intangible monetary benefits or risks) to the quality of SIP being continuously exchanged throughout the project lifecycle

Comparing Virtue, Consequentialist, and Deontological Ethics-Based Corporate Social Responsibility: Mitigating Microfinance Risk in Institutional Voids

Due to the nature of lending practices and support services offered to the poor in developing countries, portfolio risk is a growing concern for the microfinance industry. Though previous research highlights the importance of risk for microfinance organizations, not much is known about how microfinance organizations can mitigate risks incurred from providing loans to the poor in developing countries. Further, though many microfinance organizations practice corporate social responsibility (CSR) to help create economic and social wealth in developing countries, the impact of such CSR practices remains an underdeveloped area of inquiry. We use a normative ethics lens to develop an ethics-based CSR theory that differentiates between three forms of ethics-based CSR—virtue, consequentialist, and deontological. We argue that while all three forms can help mitigate risk, virtue ethics-based CSR is potentially the most useful form of CSR toward mitigating microfinance portfolio risk. We test our hypotheses using a sample of microfinance organizations from across the world. Our findings suggest that virtue ethics-based CSR is not just an important philosophical paradigm; it can actually help mitigate microfinance portfolio risk when implemented in practice

Encouraging Entrepreneurship: Microfinance, Knowledge Support, and the Costs of Operating in Institutional Voids

This study focuses on the supplemented strategies of microfinance institutions (MFIs), in which the MFI offers nonfinancial services, such as entrepreneurship related knowledge, in addition to financial services to impoverished borrowers at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP). We examine two contextual factors— foreign direct investment (FDI) and loan defaults— to better understand the relationship between providing knowledge support to encourage entrepreneurship and costs of operating at the BoP for MFIs. In contexts where FDI is low and loan defaults are high, providing knowledge support to encourage entrepreneurship aggravates the MFI’s costs of operating at the BoP. However, in contexts where FDI is high and loan defaults are low, providing knowledge support to encourage entrepreneurship among impoverished borrowers does not aggravate the MFI’s costs of operating at the BoP. Hence, in emerging markets where governments welcome FDI and curb loan defaults, MFIs can viably support entrepreneurship among the poor

Resource Security: Competition for Global Resources, Strategic Intent, and Governments as Owners

We develop a resource security perspective by examining the resources that multinational firms acquire when investing abroad. Firms can acquire resources to increase power and decrease dependence for long-term security (exploration) or acquire resources for relatively shorter-term gains and consumption (exploitation). We find state owned enterprises (SOEs) acquire resources for exploration, and pay more for these resources than non-state owned enterprises (NSOEs). We contribute to the literature by suggesting that long-term resource security is of immediate importance to SOEs and their home countries, that ownership influences resource acquisitions, and investments can be a safeguard for the SOE’s home country’s future

Systematic assessment of accuracy of comparative model of proteins belonging to different structural fold classes

In the absence of experimental structures, comparative modeling continues to be the chosen method for retrieving structural information on target proteins. However, models lack the accuracy of experimental structures. Alignment error and structural divergence (between target and template) influence model accuracy the most. Here, we examine the potential additional impact of backbone geometry, as our previous studies have suggested that the structural class (all-α, αβ, all-β) of a protein may influence the accuracy of its model. In the twilight zone (sequence identity ≤ 30%) and at a similar level of target-template divergence, the accuracy of protein models does indeed follow the trend all-α \u3e αβ \u3e all-β. This is mainly because the alignment accuracy follows the same trend (all-α \u3e αβ \u3e all-β), with backbone geometry playing only a minor role. Differences in the diversity of sequences belonging to different structural classes leads to the observed accuracy differences, thus enabling the accuracy of alignments/models to be estimated a priori in a class-dependent manner. This study provides a systematic description of and quantifies the structural class-dependent effect in comparative modeling. The study also suggests that datasets for large-scale sequence/structure analyses should have equal representations of different structural classes to avoid class-dependent bias

Fear of Reporting Bad News: Why Risk and Loss Aversion Can Tempt Top Executives to Create Information Asymmetry

Top executives sometimes attempt to create information asymmetry through corporate reporting manipulation. In the United States, one method was not to report financials in certain quarters (this was a legal option before 1970), and a second method is to report inaccurate financials (which has been a major concern in the 1990s-2000s). This study argues that when cognitive bias of loss aversion is high, a firm?s risk can induce such attempts to create information asymmetry. This argument is based on prospect theory's loss aversion axiom, which states that people psychologically weigh losses more strongly than equivalent gains. In this study, a firm's risk is theoretically operationalized using independent variables of firm-specific risk (firm's unsystematic risk as assessed by stock market) and default risk (difficulty the firm faces in meeting its debt market obligations). Correspondingly, loss aversion is theoretically operationalized using moderator variables of institutional ownership concentration (as an indicator of shareholder resistance to loss aversion) and top executive in-the-money stock options to salary ratio (as an indicator of personal wealth that is exposed to loss if a firm approaches bankruptcy). Hypotheses are tested using data collected for a 6 year period from 1964 to 1969 and for a 9 year period from 1997 to 2006. Findings suggest that when cognitive bias of loss aversion is high, firm-specific risk in stock market and default risk in debt market may cause top executives to be fearful of reporting bad news, tempting them to create information asymmetry as a result. An implication is that the encouragement of risk (as recommended by agency theory) without factoring in the role of loss aversion (as highlighted by prospect theory's loss aversion axiom) can be counterproductive

DIALOGUE

In a recent Academy of Management Review article, Professor Andrew von Nordenflycht (2010) focused on defining professional service firms (PSFs). In the article von Nordenflycht argues that past research leaves the term professional service firms either undefined or at best provides only examples, such as law firms, accounting firms, etc. In addition, he argues that while most scholars agree that law firms and accounting firms fit the definition of PSFs, there is little consensus on what the \u27etc.\u27 refers to. Does it include ad agencies? Physician practices? Software firms? Why or why not? (2010: 155). The author\u27s contributions include (1) identifying three distinctive characteristics associated with PSFs (i.e., knowledge intensity, low capital intensity, and a professionalized workforce), (2) arguing that while all PSFs share knowledge intensity, they may vary based on the degree of intensity of the other two characteristics (i.e., capital intensity and professionalized workforce), and (3) describing manage? rial challenges facing each structural form and providing solutions. In this dialogue we discuss the limitations of the proposed definition, question the managerial challenges von Nordenflycht associates with PSFs, and critique the corresponding solutions he offers

2-(7-Hydr­oxy-2-naphth­yloxy)-N-(6-methyl-2-pyrid­yl)acetamide

In the title compound, C18H16N2O3, the dihedral angle between the naphthalene ring system and the pyridyl ring is 18.1 (8)°. The mol­ecules are inter­connected via C—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. Inversion-related mol­ecules are linked by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds into cyclic centrosymmetric R 2 2(22) dimers. Intra­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bonding produces an S(5) ring motif. The crystal structure is further stabilized by weak C—H—π inter­actions

Intersectoral Coordination for Nutrition in Zambia

The underlying determinants of nutritional status are adequate food, health and care; the goods and services related to these will necessarily be available from a range of sectors, provided in a coordinated fashion for maximum effect. Despite this recognition, there is currently little evidence of coordination between nutrition relevant sectors in Zambia. In Mumbwa District, a facilitated process is underway to coordinate ministries and NGOs involved in the provision of nutrition-related services. The creation of a District Nutrition Coordination Committee (DNCC) has been useful, and sustained facilitation has built trust and mutually supportive learning between diverse stakeholders. While recognising that it will take time for fully effective and implementable solutions to emerge, the DNCC is a potentially durable and effective way of addressing undernutrition over the long term. This article describes some of the theories, processes, challenges and learning from the first two years of the DNCC in Mumbwa