REFINEMENTS IN THE ISMAIL-LOUDERBACK STOCHASTIC CVP MODEL*

This paper presents results concerning the Ismail-Louderback stochastic cost-volume-profit model. For the case where demand is normally distributed, an analytic expression for the output that maximizes the probability of achieving specified profits is obtained and a new procedure for determining the output that maximizes the profits, given a target level of probability of their being achieved, is developed. If opportunity costs of lost sales are zero, then analytic expressions for both the above outputs are obtained for any demand distribution.     

管理层权力、在职消费与产权效率——来自中国上市公司的证据

国外近年大量研究表明,薪酬激励并不必然解决代理问题,薪酬的制定与执行机制可能使其成为代理问题的一部分。具体而言,管理层可能利用其权力影响甚至自定薪酬,从而寻租最终降低了薪酬的激励效用,中国的制度背景也为上述现象提供了可能。本文利用2001-2004年我国上市公司数据实证检验了管理层权力对于作为隐性薪酬的在职消费以及企业绩效的影响。从董事长总经理两职兼任、股权分散和高管长期在位视角构建了管理层权力的综合计量指标,研究中运用了普通最小二乘法和广义矩估计方法,并进行了稳健性检验。本文的研究结果表明,管理层权力是影响薪酬激励及其绩效的重要因素,我国要重视管理层权力及其引起的过度职务消费的治理问题,民营控股企业的内部权力治理不容忽视。     

IMPACT OF PARTICIPATION IN THE BUDGETARY PROCESS ON MANAGERIAL ATTITUDES AND PERFORMANCE: UNIVERSALISTIC AND CONTINGENCY PERSPECTIVES*

Data from responsibility-center managers reveal that greater budgetary participation contributes to managerial performance and attitudes in high-environmental-uncertainty situations but hampers performance and attitudes in low-uncertainty situations. Higher budgetary participation reduces managers' propensity to create slack in high- (but not in low-) uncertainty conditions.     

TALKING ABOUT PROBABILITIES: A LOGICAL PROBLEM FOR OR/MS

The correct interpretation of a natural language statement is determined as much by convention and shared meanings as by logical content. Therefore, when the word “probability” is used in the statement of a decision problem, the intended interpretation is not always clear. If such a statement also contains explicit probability formulae, confusion and even paradox may result. In this article, a problem involving cascaded inference is interpreted in four ways, three of which are regarded by the authors as legitimate or reasonable. The problem was originally suggested by Einhorn [3] and further discussed by Libby [10]. It is suggested here that a formal, mathematicist interpretation of the word “probability” might lead to inappropriate analyses of some decisions.     

Concepts,Theory, and Techniques INFLATION,MAINTENANCE OF CAPITAL,AND THE IRR MODEL OF CAPITAL BUDGETING*

Businesses operating under inflationary conditions need capital-budgeting models that help them judge the adequacy of returns on their investments and also allow them to keep capital intact by considering the erosive effects of inflation. The model proposed in this paper computes a modified internal rate of return (IRR); if cash inflows from a project are divided between earnings and recovery of capital, total recovery equals that amount which the capital-budgeting concept adopted by the business specifies (such as the original investment in constant dollars or its replacement cost). Under this model, a project should be accepted only if this computed rate equals or exceeds a hurdle rate that consists of the inflation-free rate of return plus the effect of inflation on such a return. Other modifications to the IRR model suggested in the literature do not completely satisfy the objective of capital budgeting under inflationary conditions.     

AN ANALYSIS OF THE USEFULNESS OF DISAGGREGATED ACCOUNTING DATA FOR FORECASTS OF CORPORATE PERFORMANCE*

The purpose of this paper is to derive the conditions under which disaggregated accounting data contribute to more accurate forecasts of corporate performance. A comparison formula is derived and applied to actual data. The results obtained indicate that disaggregated data do not necessarily produce better forecasts of corporate performance than do aggregated data. The paper concludes with implications of the results to some reporting issues.     

Involving Information System Users in Defining System Requirements: The Influence of Procedural Justice Perceptions on User Attitudes and Performance

This study incorporates the theoretical framework of procedural justice into the information system (IS) user participation research paradigm. In a field setting, 726 subjects representing 59 local newspaper sites took part in a fully randomized, longitudinal experiment. Four increasing levels of participation concerning specifying system requirements were manipulated: mute, voice, choice, and voice plus choice. As the participation level increased, procedural justice judgments increased correspondingly. Perceptions of control over the development process, satisfaction with the outcome, and objective measures of performance increased from the mute to voice conditions, were unchanged from the voice to choice conditions, and increased again as participation was manipulated at the highest level—voice plus choice. The rich contextual field setting in which this experiment was conducted, combined with strong attitudinal and performance results, encourage researchers to integrate the psychology of procedural justice into the study of IS user participation.     

JOINT PRODUCT COST ALLOCATION IN THE CONTEXT OF COST-PLUS PRICING DETERMINATIONS WITH NON-UNIFORM MARKUPS

Companies that use cost-based pricing sometimes manufacture products that involve joint cost allocation. A problem with this is that, while product prices are a function of the full cost, joint cost allocation methods using net realizable values depend on the product prices. This paper demonstrates that when all costs and production quantities are known or can be budgeted, it is possible to simultaneously determine unique product prices (having non-uniform markup rates) and cost allocations using the net realizable value method.     

A Multiple Objective Embedded Network Model for Human Resource Planning and an Implementation of the Tchebycheff Method

A multiple objective embedded network model is proposed to model a variety of human resource planning problems including executive succession planning, compensation planning, training program design, diversity management and human systems design. The Tchebycheff Method, an interactive multiple objective programming solution procedure developed by Steuer and Choo [32], is implemented using NETSIDE, a computer routine for solving network problems with side constraints developed by Kennington and Whisman [17]. This paper demonstrates how the network structure common to many types of human resource planning problems can be exploited to improve solution efficiency, and how our approach extends the use of network models in human resource planning by including multiple objectives and extranetwork constraints. An illustrative example demonstrating the modeling and solution approach is presented, and the potential applications of these approaches in two specific areas of human resource planning are discussed.