Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Hussein A. Hassan Al-Tamimi Title: FACTORS INFLUENCING PERFORMANCE OF THE UAE ISLAMIC AND CONVENTIONAL NATIONAL BANKS Abstract: The objective of this study is to investigate some influential differences in UAE’s Islamic and conventional national banks during the period 1996-2008. UAE Islamic banks have a small market share, though there is an increasing demand for their services. This gives rise to an examination of the factors that influence the performance of these banks compared with conventional banks. A regression model was used in which ROE and ROA were used alternatively as dependent variables. A set of internal and external factors were considered as independent variables including: GDP per capita, size, financial development indicator (FIR), liquidity, concentration, cost and number of branches. The results indicate that liquidity and concentration were the most significant determinants of conventional national banks’ performance. On the other hand, cost and number of branches were the most significant determinants of Islamic banks’ performance. Classification-JEL: G20,G21 Keywords: Bank performance, UAE Islamic banks, UAE conventional national banks Journal: Global Journal of Business Research Pages: 1-9 Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Year: 2010 File-URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/gjbres/gjbr-v4n2-2010/GJBR-V4N2-2010-1.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ibf:gjbres:v:4:y:2010:i:2:p:1-9 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Eric Girard Author-Name: James Nolan Author-Name: Tony Pondillo Title: DETERMINANTS OF EMERGING MARKETS’ COMMERCIAL BANK STOCK RETURNS Abstract: Although banks are central to the economic development and growth of emerging markets (Benston, 2004), most studies have not investigated the determinants of stock returns of this sector in these countries. This study, contributes to the literature in finance by investigating and identifying factors that investors should be concerned about while deciding about their investments in commercial banks in emerging markets. Our results indicate that apart from fundamental risk factors like size and price to book, duration gap, bank concentration, corruption, debt servicing socio-economic conditions, and percapita GDP also influence returns of commercial banks in emerging markets. Classification-JEL: F3; G1; N2 Keywords: multifactor models; commercial banks; emerging markets Journal: Global Journal of Business Research Pages: 11-26 Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Year: 2010 File-URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/gjbres/gjbr-v4n2-2010/GJBR-V4N2-2010-2.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ibf:gjbres:v:4:y:2010:i:2:p:11-26 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Andrew Manikas Author-Name: Michael Godfrey Title: INDUCING GREEN BEHAVIOR IN A MANUFACTURER Abstract: The triple bottom line (economic, environmental, and social performance) is an important approach to long-term sustainability of a manufacturing company. However, a manufacturer will always feel pressure to focus on the economic bottom line and to give at least equal importance to the second and third bottom lines (environmental and social performance). As environmental issues become more important to citizens, they demand enhanced environmental performance from companies by exerting pressure on public policy makers to enact regulations, taxes, permits, and penalties that motivate companies to improve their environmental performance. We present a model that could be used by governmental policy makers to predict the effects from reducing the number of emissions permits and increasing the penalties for exceeding allowable emission limits. Our model is for a product that has a limited selling season. We propose a newsvendor model to estimate a manufacturing company’s optimal production quantity based on maximization of expected profits given the cost of emission permits and penalties for exceeding emission limits allowed by the permits. In addition, the newsvendor model provides insights to policy makers on the effects of adjusting the regulatory levers of emission permits and penalties. Classification-JEL: M11, R38 Keywords: Triple Bottom Line, Manufacturing, Sustainability, Green Journal: Global Journal of Business Research Pages: 27-38 Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Year: 2010 File-URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/gjbres/gjbr-v4n2-2010/GJBR-V4N2-2010-3.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ibf:gjbres:v:4:y:2010:i:2:p:27-38 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Hsin Hsin Chang Author-Name: Mohamad Rizal Bin Abdul Hamid Title: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF INTERNET BANKING IN TAIWAN Abstract: This paper investigates Internet banking adoption among Taiwanese bank customers. The paper examines the affect of involvement using TAM (technology acceptance model). From the PII (Personal Involvement Inventory) scales, the results indicate that involvement is significantly influenced by the characteristics of the person, stimulus and the situation. Two sets of regression analysis were conducted for the current study. The first analyze the direct influence of two factors, belief of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The second set investigates the affect of involvement on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use in determining behavioral intention. The study found perceived usefulness is strongly influenced by high involvement. Likewise, the study found that low involvement is strongly related to perceived ease of use. In determining behavioral intention, both high and low involvement significantly influence perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, respectively. Classification-JEL: M30, M31 Keywords: Internet Banking, Technology Acceptance Model, High Involvement, Low Involvement, Taiwan Journal: Global Journal of Business Research Pages: 39-47 Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Year: 2010 File-URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/gjbres/gjbr-v4n2-2010/GJBR-V4N2-2010-4.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ibf:gjbres:v:4:y:2010:i:2:p:39-47 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Framarz Byramjee Author-Name: Parimal Bhagat Author-Name: Andreas Klein Title: THE MODERATING ROLE OF RELATIONSHIP QUALITY IN DETERMINING TOTAL VALUE ORIENTATION Abstract: Among the several approaches to understanding value in business transactions, the one most frequently encountered in marketing, management, and economics literature is the tradeoff of benefits and costs, the difference or ratio of which is operationalized as value. In a complex business relationship involving goods and services as well as multiple business partners, assessing the total value of the system involves more complex transactional and relational dynamics than simpler one-time business transactions. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to offer a model of total value of a business system including antecedent factors and outcomes, and thereupon to study the role of relationship quality in moderating the value of the individuals in the business relationship. This paper uses the transaction cost approach to study the value in a business relationship to both the service-provider and client firm, considering the costs and benefits to each business partner. Next, it discusses the impact of the quality of the business relationship on the value perceived by each business partner. Finally, several outcomes of a total value orientation such as financial performance, competitiveness and, especially, end-customer value is considered. Classification-JEL: M10; M20; M30 Keywords: Value, Relationship Quality, Transactions, Costs, Benefits, Business Partnerships Journal: Global Journal of Business Research Pages: 49-62 Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Year: 2010 File-URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/gjbres/gjbr-v4n2-2010/GJBR-V4N2-2010-5.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ibf:gjbres:v:4:y:2010:i:2:p:49-62 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Adora Holstein Author-Name: Patrick Litzinger Author-Name: John Dunn Title: OPTIMIZING THE USE OF THE FISCAL STIMULUS FOR HEALTH IT IN THE U.S. Abstract: The fiscal stimulus of 2009 allocated about $19 billion over five years to advance the country’s push for a nationwide health information network. Information sharing among public health agencies and private health care providers has the potential for reducing public health threats and increasing public access to measures of provider quality. It can also help build and disseminate a database of cost-effective best practices in health care delivery. An analysis of existing evidence on enablers and barriers to adoption and effective use of electronic health records suggest that government intervention is justified. The market system will result in low utilization because of scale economies, externalities, network effect, and a need for national standards to ensure interoperability, privacy and data security. However, optimal use of the fiscal stimulus requires that financial and technical assistance be targeted on smaller physician practices and independent hospitals. Such assistance must be made conditional on adoption and effective use of a certified, interoperable system. The public health benefits will also be maximized the more health care providers participate in the national health IT network. Thus, in addition to awarding financial incentives, electronic submission of aggregated or de-identified health information must be mandated of all health care providers, not only those that are participants of Federal health programs. Classification-JEL: I18 Keywords: electronic health records, electronic medical records, national health IT infrastructure, government intervention to promote adoption of health IT Journal: Global Journal of Business Research Pages: 63-76 Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Year: 2010 File-URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/gjbres/gjbr-v4n2-2010/GJBR-V4N2-2010-6.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ibf:gjbres:v:4:y:2010:i:2:p:63-76 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Victor Lewis Author-Name: Kenneth D. Kay Author-Name: Chandrika Kelso Author-Name: James Larson Title: WAS THE 2008 FINANCIAL CRISIS CAUSED BY A LACK OF CORPORATE ETHICS? Abstract: During the second half of 2008, the United States financial markets, and eventually all major world markets, were devastated by the aftermath of unethical lending practices by major lending institutions. These bad loans were made at the height of a real estate bubble in the United States. Aggressive lenders engaged in loans called sub-prime mortgages. These mortgages were extremely high risk and most of them violated traditional underwriting standards for the industry. Prudence and ethics were pushed aside as greed overcame good judgment among mortgage lenders nationwide. The problem was exacerbated by the packaging, and leveraging, of these loans by Wall Street financial companies. These companies leveraged these bad loans, and sold them to unsuspecting buyers as bundled investments in the secondary markets. When the overheated United States real estate market finally began a severe and protracted correction of fair market values due to these bad sub-prime loans made to questionable borrowers, not only did the real estate markets collapse but it resulted in a domino effect causing the collapse of major banks and a precipitous and protracted market drop in stock values, financial companies, insurers, and eventually the biggest financial crisis since the great depression. This paper will review the 2008 collapse, and evaluate the questionable practices among the various corporate and financial participants that caused a worldwide collapse of shareholder values. This paper will also explore and review the United States government’s various attempts to solve this great crisis including what proper ethical and legal safeguards are being considered to prevent a repeat of this disaster in the future. Classification-JEL: M00, M14, M48 Keywords: Journal: Global Journal of Business Research Pages: 77-84 Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Year: 2010 File-URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/gjbres/gjbr-v4n2-2010/GJBR-V4N2-2010-7.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ibf:gjbres:v:4:y:2010:i:2:p:77-84 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Siu-Kay Pun Title: VISUAL LANGUAGE SKILLS – DO BUSINESS STUDENTS NEED THEM Abstract: The use of visual images is an effective means not only to communicate with but also to elicit emotions from and to influence the masses. Present-day computer tools have removed the need for specialized equipment and personnel for the design and preparation of visual images. With globalization and the increasingly visual economy, there is an urgent need to develop visual literacy skills in business students. This paper discusses the cognitive benefits of learning the visual language. Through the experience from a general elective course at Nanyang Technological University, it studies the pedagogical approaches to the nurturing of visual language skills in undergraduates. Specially highlighted are the outcomes of the business students’ performance which were found to be very promising. Although nearly all of them had no background in the visual art prior to taking this course, the majority of them have the innate ability to acquire the basic concepts of the visual language and to apply these effectively in their design projects. Two of these projects are illustrated in this paper as examples of students’ works. This paper concludes with a reflection on the urgency for the training in visual language for our future workforce to compete in the new age. Classification-JEL: I20 Keywords: Visual Language, Visual Literacy, Business Education Journal: Global Journal of Business Research Pages: 85-96 Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Year: 2010 File-URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/gjbres/gjbr-v4n2-2010/GJBR-V4N2-2010-8.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ibf:gjbres:v:4:y:2010:i:2:p:85-96 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Laurent Arnone Author-Name: Olivier Colot Author-Name: Mélanie Croquet Author-Name: Angy Geerts Author-Name: Laetitia Pozniak Title: COMPANY MANAGED VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES IN GLOBAL BRAND STRATEGY Abstract: Nowadays, many international businesses are experimenting with virtual communities of consumers in order to foster relationships between them and their customers. However, analysis of their strategies has rarely been considered in the existing literature. In this framework, our paper aims at providing a better understanding of the creation process and the management of these kinds of communities at an international level. To this aim, in the first part of the article, we propose a typology making it possible to distinguish between three types of international community strategies. After that, we follow a case study research design (DSA) and set the focus on the analysis of the creation process of two virtual communities coordinated by an international brand and implemented in the UK and in France. This allows us to highlight the strategic reflection, the tools and the roles of the people involved in the implementation of a community strategy. These elements are then considered under the lens of international marketing theories. Classification-JEL: M31 Keywords: virtual communities, international strategy, DSA, consumption communities Journal: Global Journal of Business Research Pages: 97-112 Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Year: 2010 File-URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/gjbres/gjbr-v4n2-2010/GJBR-V4N2-2010-9.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ibf:gjbres:v:4:y:2010:i:2:p:97-112 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Perunjodi Naidoo Author-Name: Prabha Ramseook-Munhurrun Author-Name: Jeynakshi Ladsawut Title: TOURIST SATISFACTION WITH MAURITIUS AS A HOLIDAY DESTINATION Abstract: Tourist satisfaction is one of the most important concerns of competitive destinations as it considerably impacts on the tourist’s choice of the holiday destination, and the decision to visit the destination in the future. As a result, tourist satisfaction is one of the most investigated topics in the field of tourism due to its role in the survival of a destination. Several studies have researched tourist satisfaction; however, there has been limited investigation of tourist satisfaction with small island holiday destinations. This paper reports the findings of a study carried out to determine tourist satisfaction with the holiday destination Mauritius, a small island situated in the Indian Ocean. The method used consisted of a questionnaire distributed at the international airport among 400 departing international tourists. Findings are analyzed and the implications are discussed. Classification-JEL: M31 Keywords: Tourist satisfaction, destination, tourism, Mauritius Journal: Global Journal of Business Research Pages: 113-123 Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Year: 2010 File-URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/gjbres/gjbr-v4n2-2010/GJBR-V4N2-2010-10.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ibf:gjbres:v:4:y:2010:i:2:p:113-123 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Susan Baxter Title: EVIDENCE ON THE MARKETING APPROACHES TARGETING GAY AND LESBIAN CONSUMERS Abstract: Diversity is an important concept in business and marketing and is utilized in campaigns to attract consumers. This study examines the level of diversity in print media that targets the niche market of gays and lesbians. Race and gender are examined to determine if, in fact, marketers are being innovative in reaching this target market, or are we still using an old paradigm. This study, which examined over 3000 models used in gay and lesbian targeted media proves that we still use the old paradigm of white male models in the advertisements that we used in the 1960s. Classification-JEL: M1, M30 M31, M37 Keywords: Content analysis, diversity, GLBT, gay, lesbian, print media, niche market Journal: Global Journal of Business Research Pages: 125-139 Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Year: 2010 File-URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/gjbres/gjbr-v4n2-2010/GJBR-V4N2-2010-11.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ibf:gjbres:v:4:y:2010:i:2:p:125-139 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Komlan Sedzro Title: A UNIFYING APPROACH FOR COMPARING ONETIME PAYOUTS AND RECURRING DIVIDENDS Abstract: This paper examines the market responses to four cash payout methods: regular dividend increases, special dividends, tender-offer repurchases and open market repurchases. We also investigate the reasons why firms choose one payout form over another. We use relative, and discounted relative, residuals as the unifying concepts whereby the market reaction is related to payout magnitude and likely recurrence as need be. With these measures, the responses to one-time payouts and recurring dividends can be directly compared and integrated for testing purposes. Our results show that various forms of payouts can be equally effective provided the form is properly chosen, repurchases being more efficient for erasing larger stock undervaluation whereas dividends will best be chosen for mitigating agency problem. Classification-JEL: G32; G35 Keywords: Relative Residuals; Signaling; Agency Theory; Regular Dividends; Special Dividends; Tender Offer Repurchases; Open Market Repurchases Journal: Global Journal of Business Research Pages: 141-154 Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Year: 2010 File-URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/gjbres/gjbr-v4n2-2010/GJBR-V4N2-2010-12.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ibf:gjbres:v:4:y:2010:i:2:p:141-154