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This chapter focuses on exploring challenges encountered by the neglected group of employees who live alone and do not have children, particularly in relation to work-life balance (WLB). We first question the conventional WLB discourse – predominately surrounded by addressing work-family conflicts. We next discuss how this formulates debates about the equality and fairness of HR policies affecting various groups of employees, with solo-living individuals being excluded. In addition to previously documented work-life issues, we articulate difficulties related to the pursuit of independence, freedom, balancing, and healthy work-life experiences for and specific to solo-living women academics. We conclude that our insights on “vulnerability” may lead to feminist approach being incorporated into work-life policy development in order to better engage underrepresented groups of employees, accommodate the needs of “others” and promote collective flourishing.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of the filing of Form 20-F to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on short-term trading volume and return by those foreign firms which list their securities in the US Stock Exchanges.

The authors collected 402 American depository receipt (ADR) firms from 38 different countries that listed their securities in the US Stock Exchanges over a 10-year period of 2000-2009. A regression model was used to examine such impact, including the post year 2007 SEC elimination of reconciliation.

This paper found significant abnormal trading volumes and abnormal returns one day, two days and three days following the 20-F report for the sample firms whose financial statements were prepared under both home-country accounting principles and US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Firms originally using international financial reporting standards (IFRS) do not present abnormal return and abnormal trading volume. This indicates that US investors view IFRS to be as high-quality as US GAAP.

The findings might be limited to this period and might not draw statistical inference for the future period. This evidence offers support for the SEC’s elimination of the reconciliation requirement to US GAAP.

This study was carried out with the aim to investigate whether the release of Form 20-F by ADR firms offers any additional information useful to investors incorporating both abnormal return and trading volume, which is thought to be more sensitive.

This paper investigates the short-term return and volume reactions caused by the earnings and equity reconciliation from home-country accounting standards or IFRS to US GAAP for foreign cross-listed firms in the USA.

The aim of this article is to promote the use of free government information for undergraduate research, focusing on the online materials provided by the Government Accountability Office.

This article provides an overview of the Government Accountability website, highlighting publications that would be particularly useful for undergraduate researchers who are new to government information.Findings – The Government Accountability Office provides concise and up to date information on controversial and high‐risk government issues. GAO Reports are excellent research materials for undergraduate students writing documented arguments.

The information in this review presents an overview of the GAO website and suggestions for how librarians can add this free reference resource to their repertoire. The short bibliography gives concrete examples of GAO materials that meet the needs of undergraduates who are creating documented arguments for hot topic research.

There seems to be no literature that specifically addresses the use of Government Accountability Office materials by undergraduate students. This article addresses this.

This research explores perceptions of knowledge management processes held by managers and employees in a service industry. To date, empirical research on knowledge management in the service industry is sparse. This research seeks to examine absorptive capacity and its four capabilities of acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation and their impact on effective knowledge management. All of these capabilities are strategies that enable external knowledge to be recognized, imported and integrated into, and further developed within the organization effectively. The research tests the relationships between absorptive capacity and effective knowledge management through analysis of quantitative data (n = 549) drawn from managers and employees in 35 residential aged care organizations in Western Australia. Responses were analysed using Partial Least Square-based Structural Equation Modelling. Additional analysis was conducted to assess if the job role (of manager or employee) and three industry context variables of profit motive, size of business and length of time the organization has been in business, impacted on the hypothesized relationships.

Structural model analysis examines the relationships between variables as hypothesized in the research framework. Analysis found that absorptive capacity and the four capabilities correlated significantly with effective knowledge management, with absorptive capacity explaining 56% of the total variability for effective knowledge management. Findings from this research also show that absorptive capacity and the four capabilities provide a useful framework for examining knowledge management in the service industry. Additionally, there were no significant differences in the perceptions held between managers and employees, nor between respondents in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Furthermore, the size of the organization and length of time the organization has been in business did not impact on absorptive capacity, the four capabilities and effective knowledge management.

The research considers implications for business in light of these findings. The role of managers in providing leadership across the knowledge management process was confirmed, as well as the importance of guiding routines and knowledge sharing throughout the organization. Further, the results indicate that within the participating organizations there are discernible differences in the way that some organizations manage their knowledge, compared to others. To achieve effective knowledge management, managers need to provide a supportive workplace culture, facilitate strong employee relationships, encourage employees to seek out new knowledge, continually engage in two-way communication with employees and provide up-to-date policies and procedures that guide employees in doing their work. The implementation of knowledge management strategies has also been shown in this research to enhance the delivery and quality of residential aged care.

The building sector is one of the main contributors to carbon dioxide emissions in Singapore. Over 90 per cent of life-cycle carbon emissions are due to the operations phase of buildings, and 90 to 98 per cent of the building cost is associated with operation, maintenance and personnel costs. Hence, occupants have a major role in achieving environmental sustainability objectives. This study aims to understand the awareness level of potential homeowners and real estate agents concerning environmental sustainability issues in the built environment, to identify the types of green features required by potential homeowners and to understand real estate agents’ perceptions of the types of green features required by the homeowners in a green condominium.

The features of the Green Mark (GM)-awarded buildings, as well as the benefits derived by homeowners were identified from the literature. A survey of a group of potential homeowners and real estate agents was carried out in Singapore to analyse the gap, if any, between the potential homeowners’ needs and expectations and real estate agents’ perceptions of these needs and expectations with respect to the green features in the homes.

The results indicate that potential homeowners are more aware of environmental sustainability issues in the built environment than are real estate agents; potential homeowners seem to be more supportive of environmentally sustainable development than the real estate agents are aware of, despite the fact that the price of the apartment remains an important deciding factor; and potential homeowners are more concerned about the ease of maintaining green homes and paying greater attention to green features in the areas most heavily promoted by the government. However, green features do not constitute the main considerations of potential homeowners when making the decision to buy a green home.

To close the gaps identified in the analysis, recommendations are suggested, including having public education and awareness campaigns to emphasize the long-term energy savings of green homes, conducting GM courses for real estate agents and involving real estate agents in the developers’ project consultancy team.

As there has been no prior research in this area, this study serves to provide fresh perspectives on how developers can better select the types of green features to be included in the green homes, so as to meet the potential homeowners’ needs and expectations and, at the same time, balance mandatory GM requirements with such demands. Choosing the right type of green features to incorporate in a residential development for homeowners to utilize increases the owners’ satisfaction level and allows them to reap the intended benefits of green features.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical historical analysis of the business (mis)behaviors and influencing factors that discourage enduring cooperation between principals and agents, to introduce strategies that embrace the social values, economic motivation and institutional designs historically adopted to curtail dishonest acts in international business and to inform an improved principal–agent theory that reflects principal–agent reciprocity as shaped by social, political, cultural, economic, strategic and ideological forces

The critical historical research method is used to analyze Chinese compradors and the foreign companies they served in pre-1949 China.

Business practitioners can extend orthodox principal–agent theory by scrutinizing the complex interactions between local agents and foreign companies. Instead of agents pursuing their economic interests exclusively, as posited by principal–agent theory, they also may pursue principal-shared interests (as suggested by stewardship theory) because of social norms and cultural values that can affect business-related choices and the social bonds built between principals and agents.

The behaviors of compradors and foreign companies in pre-1949 China suggest international business practices for shaping social bonds between principals and agents and foreign principals’ creative efforts to enhance shared interests with local agents.

Understanding principal–agent theory’s limitations can help international management scholars and practitioners mitigate transaction partners’ dishonest acts.

A critical historical analysis of intermediary businesspeople’s (mis)behavior in pre-1949 (1840–1949) China can inform the generalizability of principal–agent theory and contemporary business strategies for minimizing agents’ dishonest acts.

Mandatory auditor firm rotation (mandatory rotation) has been a controversial issue in the United States for many decades. Mandatory rotation has been considered at various times as a means of improving auditor independence. For example, in the United States, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has considered mandatory rotation as a solution to the independence problem (PCAOB, 2011) and the European Parliament approved legislation that will require mandatory rotation in the near future (Council of European Union, 2014). The concept of implementing a mandatory rotation policy has been encouraged by some constituents of audited financial statements and rejected by other constituents of audited financial statements. Although there are apparent pros and cons of such a policy, the developmental process of such a policy in this country has not necessarily been an open-democratic, objective process. Universal mandatory rotation may or may not be the ideal solution; however, an open-democratic, objective process is needed to facilitate the development of a solution that considers the needs of all major stakeholders of audited financial statements – not simply accounting firms and public companies, but also investors. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine key issues relating to mandatory rotation and to encourage and stimulate future research and ongoing dialogue regarding this issue, in spite of efforts by certain constituents to silence the issue. This paper provides an overview of the various reasons, including practical, theoretical, political, and self-motivated reasons, why a mandatory rotation policy has not been implemented in the United States in order to address the potential conflict of interest between the auditor and client. This paper will also discuss how some deliberations of mandatory rotation have been flawed. The paper concludes with a summary of key issues along with two approaches for regulators, policy makers, and academics to consider as ways to improve the process and address auditor independence. The authors are not advocating for any specific solution; however, we are advocating for a more objective, unified approach and for the dialogue regarding auditor rotation to continue.