Corporate Governance Practices and the Pandemic Crisis: UK Evidence

Purpose - This article aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the corporate governance practices in the United Kingdom. We adopt a case study approach and employ content analysis, using internal and external media releases as well as annual reports to analyse the impact of the pandemic on governance practices. Design/methodology/approach - The research design is qualitative in nature and adopts a case study approach. HSBC, an international bank, is used as the case study and a content analysis of internal and external information released after the COVID-19 outbreak is employed. Themes arising from the analysis are discussed and recommendations are made. Findings - Results from the thematic analysis show that firms must be resilient in difficult times, follow sustainable practices and are attentive to the well-being of their employees. Firms must address the adequacy of their IT Infrastructure and assess the IT related risks during these times. Practical implications – The pandemic crisis triggered unprecedented changes in the manner the firms are governed and managed. The recommendations made by the study have practical implications for firms who can adopt them to be make the business resilient and sustainable. Originality/value - To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the impact of the pandemic and analyse firms’ responses to the crisis in the corporate governance context. This study contributes to the corporate governance literature by providing insights of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Origin and peripheral distribution of the thoracic and abdominal median nerves in the fifth instar larva of the silkworm, Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae)

The origin and peripheral distribution of the median nerves of the prothoracic and sixth abdominal ganglia have been traced using methylene blue staining technique. Each median nerve (MN), after originating from the posterior part of the ganglion, bifurcates into two transverse nerves (TN) that extend laterally into the right and left halves of the hemi- segment. The TN of thoracic median nerve bears two motor branches that innervate spiracular muscles and dorsolateral muscles, while the TN of sixth abdominal ganglion bears five motor branches and two sensory branches. Its motor branches innervate three groups of muscles, namely, musculi laterales interni, musculi dorsales interni laterales and musculi dorsales interni mediales, while its sensory branches extend over the body wall in the ventrolateral and dorsolateral areas of the hemi-segment. The median nerves are connected to ganglionic nerves by median nerve connectives that facilitate intersegmental coordination. The functional role of median nerves in respiration, blood circulation and intersegmental coordination is discussed keeping in view their projections and innervations

The impact of leverage on stock returns in the hospitality sector: evidence from the UK

This paper examines the relation between capital structure and abnormal returns for the UK hospitality sector by using an investment strategy based on hospitality firms’ capital structure. We find that abnormal returns are higher, 0.53 percent per annum, for medium leverage hospitality firms, and it can be increased up to 0.91 percent by investing in medium leverage and low price-to-book value firms. The findings raise an important issue for the hospitality sector as the firms in this sector are continually aiming to raise external finance to fund expansion. This is a unique situation when compared to other sectors in the economy whereby investors earn higher abnormal returns when investing in low levered firms (Muradoglu and Sivaprasad, 2012a)

Lecture Notes (3) Principal Stress, Plane and Angle

Lecture note

Lecture Notes (4) Mohr’s Circle

Lecture note

An Empirical Analysis of the Performance of Sponsored versus Non-Sponsored IPOs:Evidence from India

India is one of the largest IPO markets in the world. However, IPO research in the developing world is limited. The primary objective of this study is to test the performance of Indian IPOs based on sponsored versus non-sponsored issues. We classify the IPO sample into venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) sponsored issues and non-sponsored ones and include key operating characteristics as performance predictors.The dependent variable is the buy and hold abnormal returns (BHARs). The study uses key operating characteristics such as market capitalization, net sales, EBITDA, depreciation and amortization, price-to-book, asset turnover and leverage. A cross sectional analysis is applied to test the long run performance.Sponsored IPO issues convey favourable information to investors about future earnings and prospects of the firm. Our findings indicate that sponsored issues and, in particular PE sponsored issues are perceived by investors as an indicator of quality certification for the Indian IPO market There are significant differences in terms of market size, industry classification and key operating characteristic.This study has had to deal with much smaller samples of PE and VC when compared to similar studies conducted in the developed markets such as UK and US. Further robustness tests on the market performance using factor models posed a problem due to limitation of the availability of the factors. For the capital markets investors and policy makers, this research demonstrates the increasingly important role that private equity and venture capital funds play in the investment landscape in India. It exhibits the increasing investor confidence in the Indian capital markets. Using a sample of Indian IPOs comprising VC-sponsored and PE-sponsored issues, this study analyses the performance of Indian IPOs in an emerging market setting. This study, thus, contributes to the limited IPO research undertaken in developing markets

The value effects of changes in leverage: Evidence from the Travel and Leisure sector

It is well documented that the Travel and Leisure sector is capital intensive when compared to other sectors due to the high level of capital required for fixed assets. Given this, this paper examines the relation between changes in leverage and stock returns of firms in this sector, in addition to examining whether changes in leverage have any significant effect on a sector basis. Using a final sample of 173 firms over the period between 1993 and 2012, we find that leverage only acts as a significant determinant of returns in the case of highly levered firms, as would be the case in the Travel and Leisure sector

Component Integrity Evaluation

The increasing demand for higher output efficiency coupled with rising material costs have forced man-made structures to be very critically designed.Components are now pushed to their limits, having to operate at higher stress levels and in more severe environments. Moreover, the conseque-nces at stake should a component fail are now greater than ever. Hence their design has to conform to the higher stan-dards of safety demanded