The Value of Social Capital for the Success of SPAC IPOs

This paper explores the role of social capital in contributing to the success of a new breed of organizations known as ‘blank check companies’ or special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) that are set up solely to target and acquire listed companies as a fast-track route to gain listing status in the stock market. The paper is a case study of Pershing Square Holdings Ltd., St. Peter Port, UK (PSH), which launched SPAC IPOs (Initial Public Offerings), Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd., New York, NY, USA (PSTH), which succeeded in raising the largest capital from influential investors in 2020. Social capital theory is employed to provide theoretical structure for the analysis. Using annual reports, publicly available information on the internet, as well as social media platforms related to the company and its strategy, the authors critically analyse and highlight how the Tontine’s founder and his team utilized their structural, relational, and cognitive social capital to attract investors and gained recognition as the most successful SPAC IPO in the market in 2020. The authors found the ability to structure a SPAC IPO that departs from a typical SPAC, and the choice of timing to enter the SPAC market resulted in an over subscription and higher market valuation ratings of its IPO, as well as allowed the sponsor to be selective of its investors. This is the first study to address the significance of social capital at the individual and organizational level in creating value for SPAC IPOs. Potential investors can gain understanding and insights on the mechanics of SPAC IPOs and the importance of the founder’s social capital in ensuring successful investment. Successful SPAC IPOs will create interest in the marketplace and enhance the value of investment for investors and helped private companies to get listed faster

Innovation as an Element of Strategic Management Accounting

Strategic management accounts (SMA) is designed to maintain the optimal position of the economic entity in the external environment. Such position is supported through implementation of a set of measures based on the elements and characteristics of SMA which makes it possible to use fully the whole potential of the production system. This system is based on the principles of production efficiency and allows the fluctuations in socio-economic indicators measuring the performance of an economic entity in a certain period of time and in a certain economic zone. A possible way to achieve this effect is to create the company’s reproductive circuit, which has an innovative basis. The reproduction circuit is a set of conditions aimed at the continuous implementation of reproductive processes in relation to the resource potential of an economic entity, which allows and stimulates the introduction in its production process a number of innovation technologies to get additional effect in accordance with the requirements of intensification.The reproduction circuit is divided into external and internal. The former forms a set of external stimulation actions, and the latter is focused on the use of inducing action of information and technological nature, as well as an internal mechanism of the enterprise.Consolidation of the external and internal reproduction circuit determines the efficiency of each production unit of the economic entity, taking into account the speed of its adaptation to the new operating conditions by different parameters.Elements and characteristics of SMA are those functions that make SMA uniquely different from other forms of accounting (management accounting and financial accounting). This article represents the relevance of the analysis of innovations, as one of the elements of SMA

Efficacy of artificial seeds in the delivery of bioactive compounds to the seed dwelling larvae of Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

Artificial seeds offer an important method to assay the bioactivity of natural and synthetic compounds against insect larvae that develop within the cotyledons of seeds. Here, the efficacy of artificial seeds as a mechanism to deliver bioactive compounds to larvae of the bruchid beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus, was compared to that of black-eyed beans that had been imbibed with the same bioactive compounds: malachite green or the methanolic extract of neem (Azadirachta indica). Females laid an equivalent number of eggs on control artificial seeds in comparison with black-eyed beans, although egg-to-adult survival on artificial seeds was reduced. Manipulation of the hardness of artificial seeds influenced female oviposition decisions, with more eggs laid on the harder seeds, although seed hardness had no effect on egg-to-adult survival. Incorporation of neem extract or malachite green into the artificial seeds resulted in 100 larval mortality, while larval mortality on seeds imbibed with neem extract or malachite green was between 50 and 70 . This suggests incorporation of toxins into artificial seeds, produces a more sensitive assay of compound toxicity in comparison with the method of imbibing seeds and offers a useful method to study of seed-arthropod interactions. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Exploring the ethical identity of Islamic financial institutions via communication in the annual reports.

NoIslamic Banks (IBs) are considered as having ethical identity, since the foundation of their business philosophy is closely tied to religion. In this article, we explore whether any discrepancy exists between the communicated (based on information disclosed in the annual reports) and ideal (disclosure of information deemed vital based on the Islamic ethical business framework) ethical identities and we measure this by what we have termed the Ethical Identity Index (EII). Our longitudinal survey results over a 3-year period indicate the overall mean EII of only one IB out of seven surveyed to be above average. The remaining six IBs suffer from disparity between the communicated and ideal ethical identities. We further found the largest incongruence to be related to four dimensions: commitments to society; disclosure of corporate vision and mission; contribution to and management of zakah, charity and benevolent loans; and information regarding top management. The results have important implications for communication management if IBs are to enhance their image and reputation in society as well as to remain competitive