Amarjit Gill

Barriers to small business growth in Canada

Purpose – The paper seeks to extend the findings of Okpara and Wynn and Robson and Obeng related to “barriers to small business growth” by using Canadian data.Design/methodology/approach – The study utilized survey research (a non‐experimental field study design). Small business owners from Western Canada were surveyed to gather information. Subjects were asked about their beliefs and feelings regarding barriers to growth of their small businesses. To test the hypotheses, p < 0.05 significance level was used to accept or reject a null hypothesis.Findings – The findings of this paper indicate that lack of financing, market challenges, and regulatory issues are perceived as barriers to small business growth in Canada. The results also show that sales level of small firms (“past success”) has positive impact on small business growth in Canada.Research limitations/implications – This is an exploratory study to determine perceived barriers to small business growth in Canada, so the findings do not necessarily ...

The impact of corporate governance on working capital management efficiency of American manufacturing firms

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of corporate governance on working capital management efficiency. This study also seeks to extend the findings of Gill and Shah. Design/methodology/approach - This study applied a co-relational research design. A sample was selected of 180 American manufacturing firms listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for a period of 3 years (from 2009-2011). Findings - The findings of this study indicate that corporate governance plays some role in improving the efficiency of working capital management. Research limitations/implications - This is a co-relational study that investigated the association between corporate governance and working capital management efficiency. There is not necessarily a causal relationship between the two, although the paper provides some conjectures to the findings. The findings of this study may only be generalized to firms similar to those that were included in this research. Originality/value - This study contributes to the literature on the factors that improve the efficiency of working capital management, and in particular on the association between several features of corporate governance and the efficiency of working capital management. The findings may be useful for financial managers, investors, financial management consultants, and other stakeholders.

The Impact of Transformational Leadership and Empowerment on Employee Job Stress

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of transformational leadership (TL) and employee empowerment (EE) on employee job stress (JS). This study also extends the findings of Gill et al. [1] related to the factors that mitigate job stress in the service industry. A survey research (a non-experimental field study design) was utilized. The current study consists of a population of Indian hospitality industry employees. A convenience sampling method was applied to select and recruit the research participants. Data were collected using questionnaires. The p < .05 significance level was used to accept or reject the null hypotheses. The results suggest that the improvement in the level of perceived TL used by managers and EE mitigate the job stress of customer contact service employees (CCSEs) in the Indian hospitality industry. The results also show that TL and EE mitigate the job stress of CCSEs in the Indian hotel industry.

Corporate Performance and the Chief Executive Officer's Compensation in the Service Industry

This study examines the relationship between corporate performance and the CEO compensation. Data were collected from www.sedar.com (the official site that provides access to most public securities documents and information filed by public companies and investment funds with the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) in the SEDAR filing system), www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml, and www.hoovers.com to examine the relationship between corporate performance and the CEO compensation. Results suggest that CEO compensation is the function of net profit margin. This paper offers useful insights for the service industry owner/operators based on empirical evidence.

Determinants of Dividend Payout Ratios: Evidence from United States~!2010-01-07~!2010-04-06~!2010-05-12~!

The paper seeks to extend Amidu and Abor (1) and Anil and Kapoor (2) findings regarding the determinants of dividend payout ratios by examining the same for the American service and manufacturing firms. We find that for the entire sample the dividend payout ratio is the function of profit margin, sales growth, debt-to-equity ratio, and tax. For firms in the Services industry the dividend payout ratio is the function of profit margin, sales growth, and debt-to-equity ratio. For manufacturing firms we find that dividend payout ratio is the function of profit margin, tax, and market-to-book ratio. We also found that the results are different when the dividend payout ratio is defined as the ratio between the cash dividend that the after-tax cash flow, not the after tax earnings of the companies.

Effects of Transformational Leadership on Student Educational Satisfaction and Student Stress~!2009-09-08~!2010-01-01~!2010-03-02~!

This paper examines the effects of transformational leadership (TL) on student educational satisfaction (SES) and student stress (SS). Asian students enrolled in business management program at colleges and universities in British Columbia, Canada were surveyed to find out their perceptions as to whether TL used by faculty members improves SES and reduces SS. Results suggest that SES is positively related to the improvement in the level of perceived TL used by instructors/professors. The empirical findings of this paper also suggest that the reduction in the level of SS is related to the improvement in the level of perceived TL used by instructors/professors. However, TL does not mitigate the stress of graduate level students. This paper offers useful insights for instructors based on empirical evidence.

Factors that mitigate employee job stress in the service industry

The study examines the impact of empowerment and transformational leadership on employee job stress. In addition, the study seeks to extend Gill et al.s findings related to mitigating stress and burnout. Results show that the improvement in the level of perceived empowerment and transformational leadership used by managers mitigate employee job stress in the hospitality services industry. This paper offers useful insights for service managers based on empirical evidence.

Influence of meditation on insurance purchasing decision: evidence from Indian survey data

This study examines the relationship between meditation practices of Indian business owners and their decisions regarding purchasing insurance to manage financial risk. We asked business owners (the owners of micro-, small- and medium-sized firms) about their beliefs, perceptions and feelings regarding the relationship between their meditation practices and insurance purchasing decisions to manage financial risk. Findings show that the insurance purchasing decisions of Indian business owners to manage financial risk are positively associated with their meditation practices. The results also show that Indian business owners with meditation practices are more receptive to purchase insurance compared with the business owners without meditation practices. This study contributes to the literature on the relationship between meditation practices of business owners and their insurance purchasing decisions to manage financial risk. The findings may be useful for business owners, insurance companies, financial planners and financial management consultants.

Gender differences and the factors that affect family business growth in Canada

What affects the growth of family business in Canada? What hinders the growth of family business? This study examines the factors that affect the growth of family business in Western Canada. Family business owners were surveyed to gather information. Subjects were asked about their beliefs, perceptions, and feelings regarding corporate governance, management skills, experience, family size, firm size, and the growth of their family businesses. We found that family business growth is positively associated with CEO duality, board size, firm size, management skills of the board members, experience, family size, gender, and industry. We found that male respondents stated that family business growth is positively associated with board size, firm size, management skills, and experience. Female respondents indicated that family business growth is positively associated with CEO duality, management skills, and family size. This study contributes to the literature on the factors that affect the growth of family businesses. The findings may be useful for financial managers, family business owners, stakeholders, investors, and small business management consultants.

Financial institutions and the taxi-cab industry: an exploratory study in Canada

A current challenge taxi-cab owner/operators face in Canada is the lack of financing for taxi-cabs. This article examines business opportunities and lending risk; it also provides risk management strategies for financial institutions to manage the risk of lending to the taxi-cab industry. Members of the boards of directors and shareholders from the Canadian taxi-cab industry, and lenders from financial institutions that do not provide financing to taxi-cab owner/operators, were interviewed. Board members and shareholders were asked about their perceptions regarding business opportunity, risk, and their willingness to provide collateral for taxi-cab loans. Lenders of financial institutions were asked about their reasons for not providing taxi-cab loans. The findings of this study show that there is a reasonably attractive opportunity for financial institutions to offer financing for taxi-cab owner/operators. However, the findings also show that there are both systematic and unsystematic risks in lending to the taxi-cab industry. This offers recommendations on risk management strategies for Canadian lenders to mitigate the risk in lending to the Canadian taxi-cab industry. Our findings may be useful for new and existing financial/lending institutions, lenders, investors, and taxi-cab owner/operators.