Integrating internationalization in the user-centered software development process

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39143-9_27Proceedings of 5th International Conference, CCD 2013, Held as Part of HCI International 2013, Las Vegas, NV, USA, July 21-26, 2013Internationalization is a common practice today in software development. In the most basic sense, internationalization is carried out by applying localization design guidelines to face language translation, icon representation, character sets and so on. However, this practice is mostly intended for design purposes, which results insufficient when applying internationalization in huge projects and, specifically, through a concrete development process. In this paper, a broader framework is provided in order to ensure internationalization through a software development process. To this end, a set of activities and sub-activities will be presented involving not only design but pre-development, analysis, implementation and evaluation issues that need to be considered for a right internationalization assurance in international software development. The idea behind is to bridge the gap between simple and usual localization activities and the user-centered software development process as internationalization assurance also helps increase the quality and usability of the software overall.This work has been supported by the founded projects TIN2011-24139, S2009/TIC-1650 and TIN2011-15009-

Voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy: determinants and outcomes. An empirical study into the risks and payoffs of communicating corporate strategy.

Business leaders increasingly face pressure from stakeholders to be transparent. There appears however little consensus on the risks and payoffs of disclosing vital information such as corporate strategy. To fill this gap, this study analyzes firm-specific determinants and organisational outcomes of voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. Stakeholder theory and agency theory help to understand whether companies serve their interest to engage with stakeholders and overcome information asymmetries. I connect these theories and propose a comprehensive approach to measure voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. Hypotheses from the theoretical framework are empirically tested through panel regression of data on identified determinants and outcomes and of disclosed strategy through annual reports, corporate social responsibility reports, corporate websites and corporate press releases by the 70 largest publicly listed companies in the Netherlands from 2003 through 2008. I found that industry, profitability, dual-listing status, national ranking status and listing age have significant effects on voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. No significant effects are found for size, leverage and ownership concentration. On outcomes, I found that liquidity of stock and corporate reputation are significantly influenced by voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. No significant effect is found for volatility of stock. My contributions to theory, methodology and empirics offers a stepping-stone for further research into understanding how companies can use transparency to manage stakeholder relations

Financial and nonfinancial information in interim reports – Determinants and implications

This study examines the determinants and implications of the information disclosed in interim reports submitted to the Helsinki Stock Exchange in the period 1985-93. The determinants part of the work is based primarily on prior literature, firm attributes, and the development of the institutional regime. Specifically, nine classes of determinants of disclosure are derived. These are: (1) governance structure, (2) business risk, (3) market risk, (4) capital structure, (5) stock valuation, (6) firm growth, (7) growth potential, (8) firm size, and (9) yearly dichotomy variables representing the legislative climate. Disclosure was measured by two index classes: (1) overall, including both mandatory and voluntary disclosures; and (2) purely voluntary disclosures. The findings show that, besides the year in which an interim report is published, overall disclosure is related to the measures of business risk, growth potential, and firm size. In addition to these four factors, a firm´s governance structure is signifcant in the purely voluntary context. In the implications part of the study, the markets´ assessment of various combinations of unexpected earnings and unexpected levels of disclosure was analyzed via (1) cumulative abnormal returns, (2) earnings response coefficients, and (3) bid-ask spreads. The principal finding is that dislosure enhances the communication of earnings information to the market. This is particularly evidenced when the level of disclosure is as expected. The results add to the existing understanding of determinants and the use of accounting information in general and intrayear reporting in particular. Besides that, the findings have both managerial and legislative importance.      </p