Incentives for the adoption of e-government by Greek municipalities

Purpose: The research aims to identify the incentives that play an important role in the evolution of e-government in Greece at local scale and its actual development level. It also investigates the factors and the perceived barriers that affect the development of local egovernment in Greek Municipalities, as well as the benefits they derive from it. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research is based on a survey that was conducted through a questionnaire to all 325 Municipalities of the country and includes data from 109 Municipalities that participated in the quantitative approach. Findings: While e-government is spread at a relatively satisfactory level, it appears that only a few Municipalities are performing well. Results highlight also the two main incentives that motivate Municipalities to adopt e-government: The first is the improvement of the efficiency of information exchange with the external environment and the second is managing internal issues-relationships in conjunction with the existence of prominent IT departments. Amongst the main factors that affect e-government adoption by Local authorities, budgetary constraints stand out, while the lack of personnel specialized in Information Technologies is identified as common obstacle. Practical Implications: Findings suggest that an integrated approach to e-government is needed in order to enable organizations to minimize failures and to overcome barriers and counter risks. The capacity to align e-government applications with the increasing and evolving needs and requirements of the citizens is the key to optimizing the benefits of eGovernment at local scale. Originality/Value: There is no similar empirical research in the context of Greece; hence, it seems important to increase the knowledge about the drivers of e-government adoption, especially in the public sector at the local scale.peer-reviewe

Corporate performance measures and stocks' prices returns: the case of Greece, 1992-2001

This study aims first at examining the value relevance of traditional accounting (EPS, ROI, and ROE) and value-based (SVA and EVA®) performance measures, in explaining stock returns’ variation in the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE). Pooled time-series, cross sectional data on 163 Greek companies listed in the ASE over the period 1991-2001 have been employed to examine this question. Relative information content tests revealed EPS, followed by EVA®, to be more closely associated with stock returns than ROI, ROE or SVA. However, the incremental information content tests suggested that EVA® adds more explanatory power to EPS than ROI, ROE and SVA. The significant role or ROI was also revealed. Since the performance measures under examination could not explain more than 13 percent of the variation in stock returns, the second aim of this study was to examine the perceptions and the investment strategies of market participants investing in the ASE. An empirical survey conducted from December 2003 to June 2004 asking from all user groups (official Members of the ASE, Mutual Funds Management Companies, Portfolio Investment Companies, Listed Companies, brokers, and Individual Investors) participating in the ASE to determine their investing practices. Data from 435 returned questionnaires revealed that although the professional investors follow the international practices (use fundamental analysis mostly), the individual investors and the brokers were more short-term focussed. Additionally, individual investors showed that they rely more on their instinct/experience and information from rumours and from the newspapers/media. However, this empirical research revealed the dynamic that EVA® conveys and the increasing interest of market participants in Greece. Overall, the contribution of his study comes from the fact that introduces the shareholder value added approach in the Greek capital market, and moreover, from its two unique samples, the methodology, and the revealed findings. Finally, it serves as a market paradigm both for the Greek context and for the emerging markets with the same market characteristics as Greece

Looking for synergy with momentum in main asset classes

As during turbulent market conditions correlations between main asset-classes falter, classical asset management concepts seem unreliable. This problem stimulates search for non-discretionary asset allocation methods. The aim of the paper is to test weather the concept of Momentum phenomena could be used as a stand alone investment strategy using all main asset classes. The study is based on exploring historical prices of various asset classes; statistical data analysis method is used. Results of the current study reveal that, in comparison to passive portfolio, Momentum method can significantly increase compounded annual growth rates and, in most cases, to achieve this result with better risk/return ratios.peer-reviewe

IT Adoption and Wireless Network Use for Logistics and Customer Service Performance in the Management of Freight Transport Enterprises

The paper presents the results of research on the determination of the significance of Information Technology adoption and wireless network use in freight transport enterprises for their logistics and customer service performance. The moderating role of organizational commitment, as well as organizational flexible and control orientation, was included in the research on the impact of IT endorsement and wireless networks application on freight transport enterprises’ achievements. The research procedure was conducted in 2022 in 278 freight transport enterprises. A quantitative survey in the questionnaire form was established and collected data analysis was completed using descriptive statistics methods and Structural Equations Modeling (SEM). The unveiled findings of the investigation indicate that IT adoption and wireless network technology maintenance, in their integration, facilitates the enterprises to obtain both their customer service goals and operational logistics performance. Moreover the implementation of IT can support the adoption of different organizational orientations’ approaches

Evaluation of e-banking dimensions by Greek customers

The use of electronic banking is increased rapidly worldwide. However, the percentage of Greek e-banking users, even if it has increased, is still very low. The adoption of e-banking depends on some factors which are connected with the services that the banks offer and the satisfaction from these factors influences, the overall satisfaction. The aim of this study was the exploration of the perception of Greek e-banking users about the factors affecting the satisfaction from the use of e-banking and moreover the influence of their experiences in the perception’s formation. In order to achieve the aims of this study a research was realized, using a structured questionnaire, in 354 users of e-banking. The results show that Greek customers are quite satisfied from the e-banking dimensions and moreover the dimensions that mostly affect the overall satisfaction are “trust” and “convenience/ usefulness”.peer-reviewe

Herding by mutual fund managers in the Athens stock exchange

Behavioural finance is a paradigm receiving great attention in the last decades and shaking the foundations of modern finance. A broadly discussed behavioural bias is herding, i.e. the tendency of investors to imitate each others’ decisions. Herding is a phenomenon with far-reaching implications for financial markets, but its importance becomes even larger if it is exhibited by institutional investors. The present study attempts to investigate whether mutual fund managers in Greece herd when investing in the Athens Stock Exchange in the period 2001 – 2006. For this purpose, semi-annual portfolio holdings of 31 mutual funds are analysed using the methodology proposed by Lakonishok et al. (1992). The study concludes that mutual fund managers undoubtedly herd, with the extent of herding being irrelevant to the price movements observed in the market. Managers herd primarily when they trade in large capitalisation stocks or stocks that belong to the most “famous” indices.peer-reviewe

Innovative Business Models in Tourism Industry

[ES] This study examines the business models of four emblematic Digital Disruptive Intermediaries (DDIs), Airbnb, TripAdvisor, Expedia and Booking.com. The sources are constituted mainly by surveys, articles and expert opinions which are the main argumentation sources. The best practices for ideal business models in tourism industry through the analysis of the DDIs are the findings of the study. The main functions of the DDIs are Cataloguing, Reordering or filtering, Ranking and Recommending, Bundling, Sharing, Intent Casting, Channelling Actors, Pricing and Matching Actors. The originality of the paper derives from the SWOT analysis of the business models of the four well known DDIs. There is no previous analysis which evaluates the business models and discloses the main functions they perform.Valsamidis, S.; Maditinos, D.; Mandilas, A. (2020). Innovative Business Models in Tourism Industry. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 279-290. https://doi.org/10.4995/INN2019.2019.10146OCS27929

The effect of mergers and acquisitions on the performance of companies – the Greek case of Ioniki-Laiki Bank and Pisteos Bank

This study investigates the merger effects of two banks. The merger took place in mid 1999s and the effect was the Alpha Bank. The research is performed in two parts. The first part investigates the merger in the short-term, while the second part investigates the long-term effects of the merger exploring the relative position of the Alpha bank within the industry. Results show a beta-risk value for the Alpha bank which is a reconciliation of the beta-risks coefficients of the two banks, and moreover, reveal that Alpha bank is not only profitable but also competitive within the industry.peer-reviewe

Knowledge management enabler factors and firm performance : an empirical research of the Greek medium and large firms

Knowledge has become one of the most important driving forces for business success. Knowledge management helps organizations to find, select, organise, distribute, and transfer vital information. Through a successful knowledge management (KM) organizations improve their effectiveness and gain competitive advantage. The development of KM has led to the need of identifying its critical success factors. This study identifies and discusses the critical success factors or enablers that determine the KM effectiveness within organizations, which in turn influence the total performance of the firm. Based on existing frameworks and models, this study outlines the five most important factors that are believed to be critical for an effective KM implementation. This paper also investigates the effect of knowledge management effectiveness on firm performance. The proposed research model is tested via an online survey sent to 280 medium and large sized enterprises, randomly selected, all over Greece; from those only 109 answered the questionnaire correctly. The results of the study will help organizations to understand the impact that different enablers have on the KM successful implementation and how the effectiveness of KM affect firm performance.peer-reviewe

The Premium/Discount Of Closed-End Funds As A Measure Of Investor Sentiment: Evidence From Greece

We examine the proposition that the premium/discount (PD) of Greek closed-end funds (CEFs) is an accurate proxy for the small-investor sentiment risk. We find that the average PD explains the returns of portfolios of large capitalization and low book-to-market ratio stocks. In this context, we are unable to confirm a link between the perceived PD anomaly and the small size effect. Moreover, we show that the explanatory power of the PD for portfolio returns depends on the form of the asset pricing model used in the regression analysis. Finally, in terms of predictive ability, we find evidence that the PD predicts the size and the book-to-market premiums but little evidence that the PD predicts individual portfolio returns