This paper uses cross country regression analysis to look at the relationship between peace and per capita income, and, to see, after adjusting for per capita income, whether democracy and globalization are relevant for peace. The results suggest that there is an inverted U shaped relationship between peace and per capita income, and that both democracy and globalization are important factors, favorable important factors, for peace. Keywords: Peace, Development, Per capita income, Democracy, Globalization, Size of military, Prevention of war.
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Evaluation of the Nigerian Microfinance Banks Credit Administration on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Operations OLADEJO MORUF Pages: 505-517
The micro finance policy, regulatory and supervisory framework released by Central bank of Nigeria (CBN 2005) has put the accountants, managers and players in the microfinance sector in Nigeria on gear so as to meet the requirement for minimum capital base, increased profit performance, better liquidity position, increased volume of deposits and effective customer?s service delivery. The main thrust of the policy frame work was to purvey credit to the poor and the low income group. However the recent CBN report (2011) on poor performance of MFBs has put the capacity of the banks on enquiry as to micro credit delivery. The extent to which the SMEs have benefited from the credit scheme of MFBs has not received much attention in the literature. The study attempted to evaluate the convenience at obtaining credit, adequacy of the credit supplied relative to demand, timeliness of credit to operation, and cost of credit as a component of total overhead to selected SMEs located in Osun state of Nigeria. Data were collected through Questionnaire administered on SMEs as well as the annual reports and accounts of the selected MFBs. Analysis of the data and hypotheses tested showed positive and significant relationship between microcredit delivery service of selected MFBs and SMEs performance. However most MFBs seem to be competing with the commercial banks in universal banking rather than the microfinance banking they were purposely established to undertake. This manifested in the hesitation of credit to SMEs for fear of repayment. The study is expected to be useful to policy makers and players in the micro finance sub sectors of the economy. Keywords: MFBs, Microcredit delivery, Microfinance, SMEs, Credit Administration.
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Looking into Knowledge Management from Organizational Structure Perspective PARVANEH GELARD, KOROSH EMAMISALEH, MASOUD HASSANABADI and MOSTAFA SHAKOURI RAD Pages: 518-529
As the knowledge based economy grows exponentially, the knowledge assets become invaluable to the organizations. Effective use of knowledge has been crucial to the organization?s survival and success in competitive global markets and has a strong potential to problems solving, decision making, organizational performance enhancements and innovation. To manage knowledge effectively organizations need knowledge based structure. The organizational structure should align with organization strategies, fit existing organizational knowledge and lead to continuous improvement and organizational learning. In this paper the effect of organizational structure on knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and knowledge utilization is evaluated. The results support the view that organizational structure affects knowledge sharing and knowledge creation, organic structure can improve knowledge management in the organization. The population is built on firms of Kaveh Industrial City in Iran and the statistical method is use in this study. Keywords: Organizations, Knowledge, Strategies, Continuous improvement and Iran.
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Decline in the Effectiveness of Accounting Information A Logical Analysis of Divergence Between Goal and Reality BAI JIANDONG, TANG JIAO and YANG MIAO Pages: 530-548
The decline in the quality of accounting information in the special market environment of China is a common objective phenomenon. But because of the lack of the empirical data analysis, the traditional explanations for this phenomenon are limited to some fact determination or empirical judgment. Based on such fundamental principles as knowledge constraint, hypothesis of rational man, and insider control, this paper employs a logical empirical approach to establishing the logical empirical hypothesis and logical empirical model by selecting four kinds of factual evidence, namely, knowledge, cost, interest, and collusion. Through the proof technique of logical reasoning, this paper verifies the existence of the logical empirical hypothesis, and conducts the analysis of the factors affecting the decline in the quality of accounting information and the process in which these factors operate. To directly show the shocks to the accounting quality from the affecting factors, certain models are constructed, and the conclusion of this paper is presented. Keywords: Quality of accounting information, Knowledge constraint, Hypothesis of rational man and Collusion.
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In Empowerment the Executive and Employee Perceptions of: Evsa Build Inc. In the Hosta is an Application AKYAY UYGUR and YESIM GUNEY Pages: 549-564
For operating in a globalizing world provides services sectors differentiated from each other, although a large number of managers who are decision-makers, where an enterprise of any one of the basic powers and duties of the employee show you the way. Boost; education, training, sharing, trust and support via personnel the authority to decide that for them, the responsibilities of control and a management approach. At the same time empowered staff, and resolve personnel grievances, as well as to develop themselves and also installs the application within which managers fulfil the roles that require strategy.The purpose of this study, within the scope of their methods of empowerment the private sector managers, employee expectations. The purpose of the research literature on the subject to perform detailed studies have been made. empowerment the literature utilized using dimensions within the scope of the survey, various site Building in Ankara Evsa Inc., face to face with the administrators who served in units providing retraining for workers already have been implemented. Key words: Employee Empowerment, Employee Perceptions, Manager Perceptions, Empowerment, Application.
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Chinese Firms Internationalization and Go-Global Strategies-Based on Zhejiang Firms Case Studies JUNJIE ZHANG and XIAJING DAI Pages: 565-579
The paper explores private firms? internationalization development path and latest tendency in Zhejiang province by centering on firms? internationalization motives, modes, foreign entry location choice, existed problems and problems solution or measures perspectives. The paper also selects several Zhejiang firms which have successfully implemented internationalization strategies as representative case studies. On the basis of thorough exploration and discussion, the paper argues Zhejiang firms? internationalization follows western traditional FDI theories on one hand, on the other hand, they also demonstrate a new model featured with accelerated international development by flexibly taking advantage of globalization?s new tendency, and it is worthwhile to note that new model cannot be fully explained by traditional theories. Meanwhile, Zhejiang firms? international development road is filled with challenges; the paper also recommends some problems solution and measures at the end. Key words: Private firms in Zhejiang, Internationalization and Go-global.
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Improving the Content of Auditor?s Report as a Means of Fathom to Audit Expectation Gap in Nigeria MUHAMMAD TANKO and ZAINAB DABO Pages: 580-599
Audit expectation gap is a phenomenon that presently attracts the attention of researchers all over the world. The basic problem is in the area of how the public perceives the role of the auditor, which in most cases centers on the prevention of fraud and irregularities. On the other hand the auditor and the auditing profession always exonerate themselves from the fact and perception of the public towards their work. However, the continued litigation against the auditor and the auditing profession has called on a rethink on the relationship of the auditor and the audit work he performs. This research therefore reviews the communication of the auditor to the public in form of the content of the auditor?s report to the public as the possible means of reducing if not eliminating the problem of the audit expectation gap. To achieve this, the study develops questionnaire based on the method used in the literature. The process ensures that data is collected for the public?s expectation on the issues of the expectation gap on the one hand, and then subsequently and side by side, we compare the issues with the auditors expected perception. The data collected was analyzed using a five-point likert type scale anchored by a five scale from ?strongly disagrees? to ?strongly agree?. Furthermore, to test for the significant difference in the audit expectation gap between the two parties of respondents both the parametric and non parametric statistical tests were used. In terms of the distribution of the questionnaire we used both the mailing approach and direct approach. The study presented the outcome of the research to show that there is expectation gap in the country as evidenced in the views of the respondents. Furthermore, improvement of the reports of the auditor has been recommended as a means of improving and or solving the problem of audit expectation gap in Nigeria. Key Words: Audit, Expectation, Gap, Fraud and Nigeria.
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Impact of Service Quality on Customer Loyalty in the Hotel Industry: An Empirical Study from Ghana KOFI POKU, MARIAMA ZAKARI and AJARA SOALI Pages: 600-609
The hotel industry contributes significantly to Ghanas development. However, they face the challenge of meeting and exceeding their customers expectations through high quality service delivery in order to ensure customer loyalty which is the bedrock of any business. The study investigates how service quality impacts customer loyalty in Golden Tulip, a 4-star hotel; Miklin Hotel, a 3-star hotel and Lizzies Hotel, a 2-star hotel in Kumasi, a leading city in Ghana. 50 customers seeking lodging and boarding services were randomly selected and 5 staff members were purposively selected from each hotel for the study. By use of the SERVQUAL model through survey questionnaire and interviews, the study reveals that customer satisfaction is not based solely on the rankings/classification of the hotels but on service quality that gives value for money which in turn produces customer loyalty. Miklin Hotel produced most satisfied and loyal customers, followed by Golden Tulip Hotel and then Lizzies Hotel contrary to the classification order. In addition to responsiveness service quality variable for Miklin, empathy and assurance variables made significant impact on customer loyalty for guests from Miklin and Golden Tulip hotels, while reliability accounts for the loyalty of guests from Lizzies Hotel. This confirms the direct relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty. Tangibility does not play any significant role in developing customer loyalty for all the hotels because the guests were least satisfied with it and are likely to take it for granted in their quest for change. The study recommends that hotel classification should not be based mainly on the tangible factors alone but rather on comprehensive service that provide value for money and impact on customer loyalty. Key words: SERVQUAL, Satisfaction, Hotel, Loyalty and Tangibility.
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Factors Influencing Sacco Members to Seek Services of Other Financial Service Providers in Kenya DANIEL ONWONGA AUKA and JOSEPHINE KABURA MWANGI Pages: 610-626
The primary aim of this study is to examine the factors that influence Sacco members in Kenya to seek financial products from other financial service providers. The study investigated the factors that make Sacco members to seek the services of other financial service providers. Saccos are saving and credit co-operatives societies. Saccos are quasi financial institutions that mobilize savings, provide loans as well as other products to their members. To achieve this objective, the study employed the survey involving a sample of 100 Sacco members drawn from 18,833 members of the 44 Saccos operating within Central Rift Valley Region of the cooperative society. Stratified Random sampling was used to select respondents and a questionnaire was used to collect data from Sacco members. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Hypotheses were tested using correlation analysis and regression analysis. Correlation analysis tested the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable while regression analysis was used to determine the contribution of each independent variable to the dependent variable. The findings of the study revealed that a large number of Sacco members took loans offered at the Saccos in spite of the cut throat competition by other financial institutions and that the Saccos were not as competitive as other financial service providers in terms of processing and delivering of financial products, the type of products offered and customer relations . Key Words: Saccos, Sacco Members, Influencing Factors and Financial Institutions.
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Design Activities and the Difference Level of Sales and Profits Performance of the Batik SMEs in Malaysia WAN NUR SYAHIDA WAN ISMAIL, MOHD ZULKIFLI MOKHTAR and AZWADI ALI Pages: 627-642
In this research, data on 186 batik SMEs were analyzed on their organizational resources in term of design activities. The objective is to examine if the design activities of high performance batik SMEs differ significantly from low performance batik SMEs. The high and low performance batik SMEs were categorized based on their annual sales and profits for three consecutive years. For this purpose, the questionnaires were distributed among 186 batik business owners in Kelantan and Terengganu, Malaysia. The data collected were then analyzed using Mann-Whitney U Test and Discriminant Analysis. The result found that the high sales performers were actively involved in the design activities. The significant difference was also found between high and low profit performers in term of design activities. Among the activities, the discriminant analysis results showed that introducing new design was the main factor that distinguished the performance of sales between SMEs while design from customer?s specification was the only cause that distinguished the level of profit performance between SMEs. Overall, the significant findings in this study will provide some guidance for low performers to identify their weaknesses by comparing the organizational resources possessed by the high performers. Key Words: Performance level, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Design Activities, Resource-Based View, Batik Industry.
