From a theoretical perspective, Islamic banking and finance is different from conventional banking and finance because interest (riba) is prohibited in Islam. The unique feature of Islamic banking and finance is its profit-and-loss sharing (PLS) paradigm. As such, the equity stock market mechanism follows this unique PLS paradigm without the involvement of riba, gharar and maysir, allowing Shari’a sensitive investors’ access to the stock market. But the problem is to identify the Shari’a compliant equity stocks (that are both Shari’a compliant in the capital structure as well as the underlying business) within the equity stock market. In order to assist the Shari’a sensitive investors, the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (DJIMI) for the first time in history issued the first Shari’a screening methodology in 1999 that facilitated access to the stock market. Subsequently, a number of other Shari’a screening methodologies have been developed by other index providers, banks and regulators; all of them are derivatives of the DJIMI. The rules used in the screening process have not originated from the Holy Quran or the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and accordingly are not considered absolute rules. These screening methodologies have been criticised in the literature for being imprecise, inconsistent, lacking credibility and on the use of Shari’a screening thresholds restricting the Shari’a non-compliant activities. The study is designed to address two main areas: 1) to examine the historical development of Shari’a screening methodologies to date, and 2) to investigate how the existing Shari’a screening methodologies can be enhanced for the benefit of the Islamic banking and finance (IBF) industry. A qualitative analysis is carried out in the first part of the study. A statistical technique of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is carried out in the second part of the study. The examination of the first part of the study shows that the fundamental variables underlying existing screening methodologies should be based on actual interest income and interest expense as it’s the actual interest received or paid that is Shari’a non-compliant instead of on the basis of source of funds (debt, receivables). This part of the study also finds that the Shari’a screening methodologies were introduced as a need of the time under Maslahah (public interest and rule of exception). It was expected that scholars and practitioners would review and revise the screening methodologies over time to ensure adherence to Shari’a. However, they have remained the same while the Islamic banking and finance industry has developed significantly. Further examination of current practices, suggested Shari’a screening thresholds to be dynamic and ones based on the growth and development in Islamic banking and finance. Based on findings of the first part, the study conducted an exploratory analysis in the second part using different portfolios and screened them based on interest income and interest expense and compared with existing practices. It is recommended that Shari'a screening methodologies incorporate these screening filters in addition to the existing filters to ensure that the portfolio remains Shari'a compliant. Further, the study in the second part developed an IBF index using exploratory factor analysis to quantify the development in IBF industry in 41 countries. These countries were placed in five groups (leaders, developed countries, developing countries, emerging markets and least developed countries) and it was concluded that Shari’a screening thresholds for countries based in groups “leaders” and “developed countries” can be lowered to 20% and 25% respectively as the IBF industry in the underlying countries have developed significantly and there are sufficient Shari’a compliant stocks to provide the investor a diversified portfolio, while for other countries the existing thresholds should continue as the IBF industry in the country is still in early growth period and Islamic financing availability in the country is not adequate. In this way, the Shari’a compliant equity investments can go forward in a more effective manner and thus a move towards more dynamic and progressive screening methodologies, rather than the existing static ones.

<p> In Madagascar, the barriers to persons with disabilities&rsquo; employability are multifaceted and relate to accessibility, funding, attitudes, and policies. Managers lack knowledge on disability and still perceive disabled persons as incompetent and associate them with costly accommodation needs. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the management strategies and leadership styles that managers could use to enhance the employability chances of persons with disabilities. The conceptual framework featured the concepts of empowerment, employability, disability identity, and relevant transformational leadership theories. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 28 managers in private companies, institutions, cooperatives, and organizations in 3 regions of Madagascar. Data analysis was done with open hand coding and using NVivo 12 software. Key findings related to enabling management strategies that included promoting fair recruitment, tailoring jobs to disabled workers&rsquo; competences and health conditions, ensuring communication and reasonable accommodation. The study revealed the merit of an inclusive transformational leadership in fostering the employability of persons with disabilities, through coaching, in-training supports, compassion and kinship, motivation, and trust building. The study benefits managers who could better attend to disabled workers&rsquo; vocational needs. The study contributes to positive changes by influencing attitude change within the workplace and the community that could pave the way to an inclusive society in which disabled people could enjoy their rights to work.</p><p>

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This study examines whether the disclosure of private target firms' financial statements disciplines acquiring firms' managers to make better acquisition-investment decisions. The SEC requires public acquiring firms to disclose audited financial statements of targets that meet certain disclosure thresholds. Using hand-collected data, I first document that private targets' financial statements provide value relevant information to market participants. Next, consistent with my predictions, I find that the disclosure of private targets' financial statements is associated with higher acquirer announcement returns, better post-acquisition performance, and lower likelihood of post-acquisition divestitures. Finally, I find the disciplining effect of this disclosure requirement is more pronounced when monitoring by outside capital providers is more costly. In sum, the evidence suggests that the disclosure of private targets' accounting information is informative to market participants, disciplines managers' acquisition decisions, and improves acquisition efficiency.

The development of technology has made the world a smaller place where communicating instantaneously irrespective of the geographical location is a way of life. Electronic Forms (E-FORMS) are an easy way to communicate efficiently with students. At present, universities are still using old systems for communication where efforts to improve the system is a lethargic process. As most of these universities are still using student forms manually, the introduction of E-FORMS will speed up the whole process and positively impact in communicating efficiency. In addition, the inconvenience of making numerous visits to the university is sometimes seen as a hassle but due to lack of Information Technology (IT) development in universities, this is the usual pattern still seen at most universities. In this study, the use of E-FORMS at universities is proposed to help students and university staff to communicate effectively and efficiently. As it is still a fairly new concept, the study proposes the many features involved in E-FORMS communication. The Researcher has chosen California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB) to do this study. This study consists of the detailed design of the proposed E-FORMS Application System at CSUSB. The design provides a more efficient and supportive system that is easy to use while maintaining student privacy and flexibility. The solution is designed taking into consideration the use of PeopleSoft Enterprise. This proposed system upgrades the existing CSUSB form management system. It is a step forward to a more efficient and the operative system.

This thesis consists of three chapters. The first chapter is sole-authored and is titled `Cross-border merger waves.' The second chapter is coauthored work with Professor David Mauer and Kyeong Hun Lee and is titled `Human capital relatedness and corporate mergers and acquisitions.' The third chapter is coauthored work with Professor Amrita Nain and Kyeong Hun Lee and is titled `Repetitive cross-border mergers and acquisitions.' First chapter examines the valuation effects of cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) waves that occurred during 1990 and 2010. I document that, like domestic mergers, cross-border mergers cluster by industry and time. Cross-border M&A waves create value overall: acquirer announcement returns as well as combined acquirer and target announcement returns within waves are positive and significantly higher than those outside of waves. Post-merger operating performance is also better for within-wave cross-border deals. In stark contrast to domestic merger waves, deals undertaken later in cross-border merger waves tend to outperform those earlier in waves within a given industry. The late entrant's outperformance is stronger if the target country is different from the acquirer country in terms of culture, financial development, and legal system. Firms' acquisition decisions in cross-border merger waves depend on the stock market reaction to recent deals undertaken by industry peers in the same country. Overall, my results suggest that cross-border acquisitions promote efficient redeployment of corporate assets. Further, information asymmetry stemming from differences between acquirer and target countries plays an important role in the timing and performance of reallocation of corporate assets across national borders. Second chapter studies the effects of human capital relatedness on the likelihood of a merger pairing and on the valuation consequences of deals. Using comprehensive and unique occupation data, we propose a novel measure to quantify the relatedness of firms' human capital. We find that a firm is more likely to acquire a target with related human capital. Mergers between firms closely related in terms of human capital achieve greater synergies. The results are robust to other pairwise relatedness measures that may affect merger likelihood and synergy, such as product market synergies. Overall, the evidence suggests that human capital relatedness is an important factor in mergers and acquisitions. Third chapter examines repetitive deals in the same target country. We find that as acquirers repeat cross-border deals in the same country, (i) the time between successive deals declines, (ii) the percentage of ownership stake acquired increases, and (iii) the percentage of consideration paid in cash increases. To further distinguish whether such patterns are consistent with learning or hubris, we examine repetitive cross-border deals at two different stages of learning: experience-building versus memory-loss periods (as in Hayward (2002)). We find that as the acquirer makes more deals in the country, the time between deals decreases and the abnormal announcement return increases in experience-building periods, whereas such patterns do not exist or are reversed in memory-loss periods. Our results suggest that firms gain by learning as they repeat acquisitions in the same country.

Applications of computer and telecommunications technology have been increasingly being employed within organizations to perform an expanding variety of business functions. Yet, while this information technology has been shown to affect work environments, resulting in changes to both formal and informal organizational relationships, few systematic impacts have been identified. This dissertation attempted to uncover systematic impacts of information technology on organizations by combining prior theory concerning the organizational impacts of information technology with that of how organizations are thought to be shaped and changed. Specifically, the information technology examined was electronic data interchange (EDI) although data concerning related information technology applications was also obtained. A theoretical model relating resources, technology, EDI usage, interaction patterns, efficiency, power relationships and organizational structure was examined using a comparative case analysis. The study involved collecting interview and archival data from 24 value transfer process functions from 7 divisions in 4 organizations. / Using Social Interactionist Theory as theoretical foundation, the following relationships were indicated by the findings. Generally, the organizational environment (strategy, culture, management intention, and stakeholder aims), determined the resources allotted (time, technology, information, labor) and the subgroup intentions (users, designers) for an application. These subgroup intentions and resources then determine the level of EDI usage (depth, diversity, volume) within an organization. EDI usage directly reconfigures organizational structure (e.g. departmentalization, specialization, integration, autonomy, and professionalism) such that efficiency (time, cost), effectiveness (quality, service) and work role (skill, ability, knowledge) changes occur. Role changes further serve to alter levels of influence for value transfer process functions involved in EDI. Feedback relationships were also noted between several of the constructs. In addition, the dissertation helped resolve prior conflict within the literature concerning competing theoretical arguments while providing managers a means to examine the technology applications within their organizations to better control their impacts. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-11, Section: A, page: 3999. / Major Professor: Robert Zmud. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

This research addresses the factors which contribute to the ease of use of decision support systems and the impact of ease of use on decision effectiveness. Using a stochastic, multi-product inventory environment, complexity, and interface modes were manipulated, and an array of individual differences were taken into account in the development of a predictive model of ease of use of Decision Support Systems. Ease of use was developed as a canonical variate comprised of elements of creativity, dependence, and user perception. Multi-variate analysis of covariance was employed to determine which combinations of individual user, problem, and system traits impacted on ease of use. Subsequently, regression analysis was employed to determine if easy to use systems yield more effective decisions. / Previous computer coursework and typing speed were found to be positively related to ease of use, while age was a detriment to ease of use. Menu and choice systems were found to be easier to use than command based interfaces, and interaction was detected between cognitive congruence and problem complexity as they impact on ease of use. / Regression analysis showed that systems which are easier to use also yielded more effective decisions. Various ease of use constructs were tested with strikingly similar results. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0884. / Major Professor: Thomas D. Clark. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

This dissertation examines labor scheduling in a tour environment. The impetus for this research lies in the lack of improvement in service sector productivity compared to manufacturing productivity since 1960. A contributing factor in this lack of productivity improvement is the inability of service delivery systems to stockpile product during periods of low demand for use in periods of high demand. This inability means that service delivery systems must often have large amounts of overcapacity during periods of low demand in order to meet requirements during periods of high demand. Thus, any increase in the efficiency with which labor is scheduled will lead to an increase in labor utilization and subsequently productivity. / This dissertation examines four scheduling flexibility factors, shift length, meal-break window, start-time interval, and tour length, which were found in previous research to have an effect on labor utilization. These factors were examined in an environment that is typical of service systems such as department stores, restaurants, amusement parks, etc. / The results of the analysis indicated that shift length and meal-break window are the important factors in determining labor utilization for the environment used in this dissertation. The analysis also indicated that ILP solutions to labor scheduling problems may have undesirable characteristics. The implications of these findings are that (1) efforts to improve labor utilization should concentrate on labor policies affecting shift length and meal-break window and (2) labor scheduling approaches which rely on optimal solutions should examine the surplus labor that is scheduled. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: B, page: 1588. / Major Professor: William A. Shrode. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

Three research questions were studied across three distinct societies--The United States of America, The People's Republic of China, and Venezuela. First, do cultural values and work beliefs differ across the three countries? Second, what is the relationship between cultural values and work beliefs across the three countries? And third, is there a relationship between cultural values and work beliefs on the one hand, and attitudes towards relevant business issues on the other? / A 250 item questionnaire was used to measure: cultural values of individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, paternalism; work beliefs including the work ethic, humanism, Marxist beliefs, organizational beliefs, and the leisure ethic; and attitudes toward selected national and international business issues. The questionnaire was administered to approximately 1,000 students and managers/professionals in each of the three countries in their native languages (English, Chinese, and Spanish). These two groups were targeted because they represent current and future decision makers and persons of authority in their respective countries. / Significant differences in cultural values and work beliefs were revealed through Multiple Analyses of Variance (MANOVAs). Multiple Regressions revealed several cultural values to be significant predictors of work beliefs. Finally, and most importantly, regression analyses revealed that different combinations of cultural values and work beliefs combined to explain a great deal of variance in attitudes towards socioeconomic issues of importance to international business. Implications for current theory and practice were discussed and directions for future research were given. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-05, Section: A, page: 1816. / Major Professor: Lee P. Stepina. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.