• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.13-20
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• 2016

Firms can use working capital management which is one of the essential determinants to influence their profitability. The main theme of present study is to investigate the relationship between working capital management and profitability of Tobacco Industry of Pakistan. This study is based on secondary data collected from financial statements of selected companies of Tobacco Industry of Pakistan for the period of 2005-2014. For data analysis, both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. Correlation analysis is used to check the relationship between the variables, while multiple regression analysis is used to examine the effects of working capital management on profitability of firms. The result reveals that there is a strong negative relationship between variables of working capital management and profitability of Tobacco Industry of Pakistan. This means that as the cash conversion cycle increases, it will lead to declining of firm profitability and managers can create a positive value for shareholders by reducing the cash conversion cycle at optimal level. The study concludes that managers can create value for shareholders by managing the working capital well designed and implemented, and by keeping each components of it at optimal level.

• Korean small business review
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.1-36
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to identify the relationships among purposes and contents of smart factory building and continuous utilization of smart factory. Specifically, this study identifies two types of purposes of smart factory building as follows: (1) improving productivity, (2) increasing flexibility. In this study, three aspects of smart factory building contents were suggested like this: (1) automation area (facility automation vs. work automation), (2) big data system focus (radical transformation vs. incremental improvement), and (3) value chain integration area (internal value chain integration vs. external value chain integration). In addition, we looked at how firm size moderates the purposes - contents - continuous utilization of smart factory relationship. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 151 manufacturing companies. More specifically, out of 151 companies, 100 are small-and-medium-sized enterprises and 51 large-sized enterprises. All questionnaires were targeted at companies with Smart Factory level above level 2. The analysis results of this study using Smart PLS statistical programs are as follows. First, the purposes of smart factory building including increasing productivity and flexibility had positive impacts on all of the contents of smart factory building. Second, all of smart factory building contents had positive impacts on the continuous use of smart factory except big data system for incremental improvement of manufacturing process. Third, the impacts of smart factory building purposes implementation on smart factory building contents varied depending on whether the purpose is productivity improvement or flexibility. Fourth, it was founded that firm size moderated the relationships of purposes - contents - continuous utilization of smart factory in such a way that large-sized firms tend to empathize the link between flexibility and smart factory building contents for continuous use of smart factory, while small-and-medium-sized-firms emphasizing the link between productivity and smart factory building contents. Most of the previous studies have focused on presenting current smart factory deployment cases. However, it is believed that this research has made a theoretical contribution in this field in that it established and verified a research model for the smart factory building strategy. Based on the findings from a working-level perspective, corporate practitioners also need to have a different approach to smart factory building, which should be emphasized depending on whether their purpose of building smart factory is to increase productivity or flexibility. In particular, since the results of this study identify the moderating effect of firm size, it is deemed necessary for firms to implement a smart factory building strategy suitable for their firm size.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.151-171
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• 2014

Firms today have sought management effectiveness and efficiency utilizing information technologies (IT). Numerous firms are outsourcing specific information systems functions to cope with their short of information resources or IT experts, or to reduce their capital cost. Recently, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) as a new type of information system has become one of the powerful outsourcing alternatives. SaaS is software deployed as a hosted and accessed over the internet. It is regarded as the idea of on-demand, pay-per-use, and utility computing and is now being applied to support the core competencies of clients in areas ranging from the individual productivity area to the vertical industry and e-commerce area. In this study, therefore, we seek to quantify the value that SaaS has on business performance by examining the relationships among firm strategies, SaaS technology maturity, and business performance of SaaS providers. We begin by drawing from prior literature on SaaS, technology maturity and firm strategy. SaaS technology maturity is classified into three different phases such as application service providing (ASP), Web-native application, and Web-service application. Firm strategies are manipulated by the low-cost strategy and differentiation strategy. Finally, we considered customer acquisition as a business performance. In this sense, specific objectives of this study are as follows. First, we examine the relationships between customer acquisition performance and both low-cost strategy and differentiation strategy of SaaS providers. Secondly, we investigate the mediating and moderating effects of SaaS technology maturity on those relationships. For this purpose, study collects data from the SaaS providers, and their line of applications registered in the database in CNK (Commerce net Korea) in Korea using a questionnaire method by the professional research institution. The unit of analysis in this study is the SBUs (strategic business unit) in the software provider. A total of 199 SBUs is used for analyzing and testing our hypotheses. With regards to the measurement of firm strategy, we take three measurement items for differentiation strategy such as the application uniqueness (referring an application aims to differentiate within just one or a small number of target industry), supply channel diversification (regarding whether SaaS vendor had diversified supply chain) as well as the number of specialized expertise and take two items for low cost strategy like subscription fee and initial set-up fee. We employ a hierarchical regression analysis technique for testing moderation effects of SaaS technology maturity and follow the Baron and Kenny's procedure for determining if firm strategies affect customer acquisition through technology maturity. Empirical results revealed that, firstly, when differentiation strategy is applied to attain business performance like customer acquisition, the effects of the strategy is moderated by the technology maturity level of SaaS providers. In other words, securing higher level of SaaS technology maturity is essential for higher business performance. For instance, given that firms implement application uniqueness or a distribution channel diversification as a differentiation strategy, they can acquire more customers when their level of SaaS technology maturity is higher rather than lower. Secondly, results indicate that pursuing differentiation strategy or low cost strategy effectively works for SaaS providers' obtaining customer, which means that continuously differentiating their service from others or making their service fee (subscription fee or initial set-up fee) lower are helpful for their business success in terms of acquiring their customers. Lastly, results show that the level of SaaS technology maturity mediates the relationships between low cost strategy and customer acquisition. That is, based on our research design, customers usually perceive the real value of the low subscription fee or initial set-up fee only through the SaaS service provide by vender and, in turn, this will affect their decision making whether subscribe or not.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.12
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• pp.863-867
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• 2020

This study was conducted on financial data of 38 economic groups listed on Vietnam's stock market for the period 2009 - 2019 and it aims to provide an empirical evidence on the impact of working capital management policy on performance in all phases of the economic cycle of Vietnamese economic groups. The study uses FGLS estimation method with 2 dependent variables ROA, GOP, independent variables including INV, AR, AP, CCC, dummy variable representing different phases of the economic cycle, variables Control includes CAT, CR, LEV, SZ, GR. Research shows that the greater the level of investment by companies in liquid assets corresponding to a certain level of activity (shown by average days of inventory (INV), average days of collection. (AR), cash flow cycle (CCC)) the lower the rate of return on assets. The study also provides additional evidence of the negative effects of economic crisis on the performance of economic groups. The study also shows that the number of short-term asset cycles has a positive impact on operational efficiency, and the level of debt use has a negative impact on operational efficiency. This result implies that the managers of economic groups can increase the efficiency of businesses through a reasonable working capital policy.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.10
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• pp.129-139
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• 2020

The objective of this study is twofold: first, to investigate how organizations encourage factors that have an impact on employees' entrepreneurial behavior from employee's perspectives and experiences; and second, to discover how and why employees behave entrepreneurially within the organization. A case study method is considered as an appropriate approach to scrutinize intrapreneurial behavior because it principally concentrates on an investigation into a contemporary organizational phenomenon and context concerning entrepreneurial activities in-depth within its real situation. In data collection, an Asian multinational retail company was selected. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 24 executive-level employees who had been working in various departments for more than 5 years. Each in-depth interview lasts for a duration of 40 to 60 minutes. The results reveal several understandings into the combination of individual-level and organizational-level factors that promote the intrapreneurial behavior and activities of the established firm in the context of Thailand. In this regard, six factors have been found as the key determinants that make an impact on innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking behaviour of the employees. Those factors are personal preference, organizational stability, management support, compensation, reward system, teamwork, quality of relationship with colleagues, work autonomy and the quality of relationship with the superiors.

• Korean small business review
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.67-93
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• 2009

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relations between financial constraints and dividend smoothing of innovative small and medium sized enterprises(SMEs) listed on Korea Securities Market and Kosdaq Market of Korea Exchange. The innovative SMEs is defined as the firms with high level of R&D intensity which is measured by (R&D investment/total sales) ratio, according to Chauvin and Hirschey (1993). The R&D investment plays an important role as the innovative driver that can increase the future growth opportunity and profitability of the firms. Therefore, the R&D investment have large, positive, and consistent influences on the market value of the firm. In this point of view, we expect that the innovative SMEs can adjust dividend payment faster than the noninnovative SMEs, on the ground of their future growth opportunity and profitability. And also, we expect that the financial unconstrained firms can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms, on the ground of their financing ability of investment funds through the market accessibility. Aivazian et al.(2006) exert that the financial unconstrained firms with the high accessibility to capital market can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms. We collect the sample firms among the total SMEs listed on Korea Securities Market and Kosdaq Market of Korea Exchange during the periods from January 1999 to December 2007 from the KIS Value Library database. The total number of firm-year observations of the total sample firms throughout the entire period is 5,544, the number of firm-year observations of the dividend firms is 2,919, and the number of firm-year observations of the non-dividend firms is 2,625. About 53%(or 2,919) of these total 5,544 observations involve firms that make a dividend payment. The dividend firms are divided into two groups according to the R&D intensity, such as the innovative SMEs with larger than median of R&D intensity and the noninnovative SMEs with smaller than median of R&D intensity. The number of firm-year observations of the innovative SMEs is 1,506, and the number of firm-year observations of the noninnovative SMEs is 1,413. Furthermore, the innovative SMEs are divided into two groups according to level of financial constraints, such as the financial unconstrained firms and the financial constrained firms. The number of firm-year observations of the former is 894, and the number of firm-year observations of the latter is 612. Although all available firm-year observations of the dividend firms are collected, deletions are made in the case of financial industries such as banks, securities company, insurance company, and other financial services company, because their capital structure and business style are widely different from the general manufacturing firms. The stock repurchase was involved in dividend payment because Grullon and Michaely (2002) examined the substitution hypothesis between dividends and stock repurchases. However, our data structure is an unbalanced panel data since there is no requirement that the firm-year observations data are all available for each firms during the entire periods from January 1999 to December 2007 from the KIS Value Library database. We firstly estimate the classic Lintner(1956) dividend adjustment model, where the decision to smooth dividend or to adopt a residual dividend policy depends on financial constraints measured by market accessibility. Lintner model indicates that firms maintain stable and long run target payout ratio, and that firms adjust partially the gap between current payout rato and target payout ratio each year. In the Lintner model, dependent variable is the current dividend per share(DPS_t), and independent variables are the past dividend per share(DPS_t-1) and the current earnings per share(EPS_t). We hypothesized that firms adjust partially the gap between the current dividend per share(DPS_t) and the target payout ratio(Ω) each year, when the past dividend per share(DPS_t-1) deviate from the target payout ratio(Ω). We secondly estimate the expansion model that extend the Lintner model by including the determinants suggested by the major theories of dividend, namely, residual dividend theory, dividend signaling theory, agency theory, catering theory, and transactions cost theory. In the expansion model, dependent variable is the current dividend per share(DPS_t), explanatory variables are the past dividend per share(DPS_t-1) and the current earnings per share(EPS_t), and control variables are the current capital expenditure ratio(CEA_t), the current leverage ratio(LEV_t), the current operating return on assets(ROA_t), the current business risk(RISK_t), the current trading volume turnover ratio(TURN_t), and the current dividend premium(DPREM_t). In these control variables, CEA_t, LEV_t, and ROA_t are the determinants suggested by the residual dividend theory and the agency theory, ROA_t and RISK_t are the determinants suggested by the dividend signaling theory, TURN_t is the determinant suggested by the transactions cost theory, and DPREM_t is the determinant suggested by the catering theory. Furthermore, we thirdly estimate the Lintner model and the expansion model by using the panel data of the financial unconstrained firms and the financial constrained firms, that are divided into two groups according to level of financial constraints. We expect that the financial unconstrained firms can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms, because the former can finance more easily the investment funds through the market accessibility than the latter. We analyzed descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and median to delete the outliers from the panel data, conducted one way analysis of variance to check up the industry-specfic effects, and conducted difference test of firms characteristic variables between innovative SMEs and noninnovative SMEs as well as difference test of firms characteristic variables between financial unconstrained firms and financial constrained firms. We also conducted the correlation analysis and the variance inflation factors analysis to detect any multicollinearity among the independent variables. Both of the correlation coefficients and the variance inflation factors are roughly low to the extent that may be ignored the multicollinearity among the independent variables. Furthermore, we estimate both of the Lintner model and the expansion model using the panel regression analysis. We firstly test the time-specific effects and the firm-specific effects may be involved in our panel data through the Lagrange multiplier test that was proposed by Breusch and Pagan(1980), and secondly conduct Hausman test to prove that fixed effect model is fitter with our panel data than the random effect model. The main results of this study can be summarized as follows. The determinants suggested by the major theories of dividend, namely, residual dividend theory, dividend signaling theory, agency theory, catering theory, and transactions cost theory explain significantly the dividend policy of the innovative SMEs. Lintner model indicates that firms maintain stable and long run target payout ratio, and that firms adjust partially the gap between the current payout ratio and the target payout ratio each year. In the core variables of Lintner model, the past dividend per share has more effects to dividend smoothing than the current earnings per share. These results suggest that the innovative SMEs maintain stable and long run dividend policy which sustains the past dividend per share level without corporate special reasons. The main results show that dividend adjustment speed of the innovative SMEs is faster than that of the noninnovative SMEs. This means that the innovative SMEs with high level of R&D intensity can adjust dividend payment faster than the noninnovative SMEs, on the ground of their future growth opportunity and profitability. The other main results show that dividend adjustment speed of the financial unconstrained SMEs is faster than that of the financial constrained SMEs. This means that the financial unconstrained firms with high accessibility to capital market can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms, on the ground of their financing ability of investment funds through the market accessibility. Futhermore, the other additional results show that dividend adjustment speed of the innovative SMEs classified by the Small and Medium Business Administration is faster than that of the unclassified SMEs. They are linked with various financial policies and services such as credit guaranteed service, policy fund for SMEs, venture investment fund, insurance program, and so on. In conclusion, the past dividend per share and the current earnings per share suggested by the Lintner model explain mainly dividend adjustment speed of the innovative SMEs, and also the financial constraints explain partially. Therefore, if managers can properly understand of the relations between financial constraints and dividend smoothing of innovative SMEs, they can maintain stable and long run dividend policy of the innovative SMEs through dividend smoothing. These are encouraging results for Korea government, that is, the Small and Medium Business Administration as it has implemented many policies to commit to the innovative SMEs. This paper may have a few limitations because it may be only early study about the relations between financial constraints and dividend smoothing of the innovative SMEs. Specifically, this paper may not adequately capture all of the subtle features of the innovative SMEs and the financial unconstrained SMEs. Therefore, we think that it is necessary to expand sample firms and control variables, and use more elaborate analysis methods in the future studies.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.61-72
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• 2013

Purpose - It is widely accepted that the process of developing marketing strategy is composed of three steps: market segmentation, target market selection and positioning. However, mass marketing strategy based on cost reduction through economies of scale and standardized products, can be also an effective strategic option. Many marketing scholars including Theodore Levitt emphasize the importance of applying the mass production concept to various industries including service industries. Especially, in times of economic downturn, the capability of providing consumers with low-priced, value products can be an important source of competitive advantage, as well as the ability of providing high-priced premium products. Marketers should decide whether they will implement mass marketing strategy or target marketing strategy. The present study theoretically shows that firms should understand the target customers' price elasticity as well as the firm's cost structure in order to make such a strategic decision. Research design, data, and methodology - Instead of implementing an empirical study, this study provides a theoretical(mathematical) investigation on the effect of consumers' price elasticity on a firm's optimal price level, profit, sales volume, revenue, and cost. The results are mostly deduced from derivative calculations and several graphs are utilized to represent the results on the relationships between the variables under study. Results - The analytical results suggest that it is more profitable for a firm to adopt the segment/target marketing strategy (more specifically the differentiation strategy) when the degree of consumers' heterogeneity is high and the proportion of the fixed cost in the total cost is low. On the other hand, if the degree of consumers' heterogeneity is low and the fixed cost is high, it is better to adopt the mass marketing strategy or the cost leadership strategy. The strategy of concentrating on a single target market will be effective when consumers' needs are highly heterogeneous but the fixed cost is high. Any of the three types of generic strategies proposed my Porter(1980, 1985) can be applied when both the consumers' heterogeneity and the fixed cost are low. This study also proposes the contribution-margin-based method for developing the optimal pricing strategy. Conclusions - One of the primary roles of marketers is to find a proper compromise between the two conflicting goals of maximizing customer satisfaction and minimizing cost. In order to do so, he or she should understand the characteristics of the target customers as well as the cost structure of the firm. In addition to the theoretical analyses, this study discusses several business cases and explains how superior companies find the optimal compromise position between these two goals and dominate the market. One of the radical changes recently taking place in business arena is the reduction of production and distribution costs of both physical goods and information due to the advancement and the wide diffusion of information technology. The cost reduction combined with lowered priced elasticity incurred by customized products and services, will enable many firms to adopt the mass customization strategy.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.255-268
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• 2017

This study examines whether firms with tax avoidance of Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) performance is tempered by the extent firms engage in CEO turnovers. Considering the increasing interest in CSR activities of the firm to secure sustainable growth of national economy, this paper investigates the benefit and cost of CSR activities by combining the agency theory using the firm level data. Prior studies document that investors positively value tax avoidance. The rationale for this finding is that tax avoidance provides cash savings that can be used by firm managers to generate future shareholder wealth. Prior studies also show that investors' valuations are sensitive to the risk of future negative tax outcomes. Assuming that many types of CSR performances are low risk, low yielding uses of firm resources, we posit that higher levels of CSR performance may signal to investors that cash generated via tax avoidance has not been fully used to generate a return sufficient to offset the risk associated with aggressive tax planning strategies. Consistent with this argument, we predict and find that the positive association between CSR performance and tax avoidance is significantly weakened when firms have higher positive levels of CEO turnovers. Further, we predict and find that 'philanthropic' types of CSR activities in particular are associated with investor discounting of tax avoidance. We interpret our results as suggesting the equity market views CSR activities to be ostensibly funded through cash savings generated via tax avoidance.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.665-673
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• 2021

Default has become an extreme concern in the current world due to the financial crisis. The previous prediction of companies' bankruptcy exhibits evidence of decision assistance for financial and regulatory bodies. Notwithstanding numerous advanced approaches, this area of study is not outmoded and requires additional research. The purpose of this research is to find the best classifier to detect a company's default risk and bankruptcy. This study used secondary data from the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) and it is time-series data to examine the impact on the determinants. This research examined several different classifiers as per their competence to properly categorize default and non-default Pakistani companies listed on the PSX. Additionally, PSX has remained consistent for some years in terms of growth and has provided benefits to its stockholders. This paper utilizes machine learning techniques to predict financial distress in companies listed on the PSX. Our results indicate that most multi-stage mixture of classifiers provided noteworthy developments over the individual classifiers. This means that firms will have to work on the financial variables such as liquidity and profitability to not fall into the category of liquidation. Moreover, Adaptive Boosting (Adaboost) provides a significant boost in the performance of each classifier.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.99-110
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• 2021

This study aims to examine empirically the industry and economic fundamental factors that affect the stock prices of the leading palm oil company in Indonesia. The dynamics of stock price are analyzed using the autoregressive distribution lag (ARDL) model both for symmetric and asymmetric effects. The data used in this study are monthly data for the period from 2008:01 to 2020:03. In the long run, the company stock price moves in line with the competitor company stock price at the current time. The palm oil price has a positive effect on the stock price. Meanwhile, inflation negatively affects the stock price in the short run. The estimated equilibrium correction coefficient indicates a reasonably quick correction of the distortion of the stock price equilibrium in monthly dynamics. However, fundamental factors have asymmetric effects, especially the response of stock price when these factors decrease rather than increase in the short run. Stock prices that are responsive to declines in fundamental performance should be of particular concern to both investors and management in their strategic decision making. The results of this study will contribute to the enrichment of literature related to stock prices from the viewpoint of economic analysis on firm-level data.