José G. Clavel

An empirical study on the impact of standardization of materials and purchasing procedures on purchasing and business performance

Purpose – Standardization of materials (i.e. replacement of several materials/components by a single component that has all the functionalities of the materials/components it replaces) is one important purchasing department decision. The primary objective of this study is to examine empirically the impact of standardization of materials and purchasing procedures (standardization in purchasing) on purchasing and business performance.Design/methodology/approach – To address our research problem, a survey instrument was developed and a structural model was hypothesized and tested using structural equation modeling. Data were collected from a field research on a sample of 306 manufacturing companies in Spain.Findings – The results of this research indicate that standardization in purchasing has a significant positive effect on both purchasing and business performance. Thus, standardizing materials and purchasing procedures is important and may help firms to meet their materials expenditure targets, and increa...

Cortisol, adrenocorticotropic hormone, serotonin, adrenaline and noradrenaline serum concentrations in relation to disease and stress in the horse

No detailed comparative data are available on the hormonal parameters of horses suffering from a number of diseases. The aim of our study was to measure concentrations of cortisol, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), serotonin, adrenaline and noradrenaline in horses with various diseases and following surgery, to assess the response of the HPA axis and adrenal medulla. Blood samples were obtained from six groups of horses comprising a total of 119 animals as follows: laminitis, acute abdominal syndrome (AAS), castration surgery, acute diseases, chronic diseases and healthy controls. Serum hormonal concentrations were determined for each group for comparison. Statistically significant differences between all groups and controls were found for cortisol, ACTH (except for castration), serotonin and adrenaline concentrations but only in horses with laminitis and AAS for noradrenaline. No statistically significant differences were found between males and females. The largest changes in the pituitary-adrenal axis activity occurred mainly in acute diseases, laminitis and in the AAS group.

Benchmarking in the purchasing function and its impact on purchasing and business performance

The importance of benchmarking in the achievement of better results in the purchasing function and in overall business performance has been widely asserted in literature. However, few studies have addressed the implementation of benchmarking in the supply function and its impact on purchasing and business performance. Data was collected from 306 companies and structural equations modeling was used to develop valid and reliable instruments for benchmarking, purchasing performance and business performance. The results showed a significant positive impact of benchmarking on purchasing performance and an indirect positive effect on business performance. Implications of the findings for purchasing managers are also discussed.

Índices de revelación de información: Una propuesta de mejora de la metodología. Aplicación a la información sobre recursos humanos incluida en los Informes 20F

RESUMEN El análisis de la información revelada al mercado por empresas cotizadas y su relación con otras variables mediante la construcción de índices de revelación de información es una práctica muy extendida. Sin embargo, la técnicas estadísticas empleadas para tratar esos resultados pasan por alto, en algunos casos, información relevante. En este trabajo proponemos una metodología, el Análisis de Correspondencias, que puede ser aplicada como complemento al procedimiento habitual, y que aplicamos a la información sobre recursos humanos contenida en más de ciento setenta Informes 20F de multinacionales europeas que cotizan en la Bolsa de Nueva York.

Ranking of handicaps in international financial analysing

The objective of this study is to rank some factors as handicaps that create diversity and incertitude in international financial analysis. It is an important subject when discussing the adoption of International Accounting Standards as one unique set of standards in capital markets around the world. Although it is necessary to reach homogeneity in the field of accounting standards because of the costs, barriers and lack of comparability that they create, the handicap imposed by accounting diversity is not the most important. This assertion has been proved through statistical methodology: Dual Scaling. The most important factors creating differences between net income and shareholders’ funds prepared according to domestic (Spanish, German, and British) and US‐GAAPS are the industry in which the company operates, the country from where the company comes and finally differences due to different accounting standards used in the calculation of net income and shareholders’ funds.

The influence of family involvement on tax aggressiveness of family firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the tax aggressiveness among family firms considering their different levels of family involvement. Based on the family influence on power, experience, and culture approach proposed by Astrachan et al. (2002), this study examines to what extent the heterogeneity among family firms generates distinctive (and unique resource) combinations of family involvement that explain different levels of tax aggressiveness. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 282 small and medium-sized family enterprises and a structural equation modeling approach have been used to study simultaneously the effects of family influence through the power, experience, and culture dimensions of tax aggressiveness in family firms. Findings – The family influences the business’ tax aggressiveness in different ways. As such, the greater the family experience, by the incorporation of second and subsequent generations, the greater the tax aggressiveness; in contrast, greater family power in...

Harmonic Regression Models: A Comparative Review with Applications

Strongly periodic series occur frequently in many disciplines. This paper reviews one specific approach to analyzing such series viz. the harmonic regression approach. In this paper the five major methods suggested under this approach are critically reviewed and compared, and their empirical potential highlighted via two applications. The out-of-sample forecast comparisons are made using the Superior Predictive Ability test, which specifically guards against the perils of data snooping. Certain tentative conclusions are drawn regarding the relative forecasting ability of the different methods.

Forecasting interest rates: a comparative assessment of some second-generation nonlinear models

Modeling and forecasting of interest rates has traditionally proceeded in the framework of linear stationary methods such as ARMA and VAR, but only with moderate success. We examine here three methods, which account for several specific features of the real world asset prices such as nonstationarity and nonlinearity. Our three candidate methods are based, respectively, on a combined wavelet artificial neural network (WANN) analysis, a mixed spectrum (MS) analysis and nonlinear ARMA models with Fourier coefficients (FNLARMA). These models are applied to weekly data on interest rates in India and their forecasting performance is evaluated vis-à-vis three GARCH models [GARCH (1,1), GARCH-M (1,1) and EGARCH (1,1)] as well as the random walk model. Both the WANN and MS methods show marked improvement over other benchmark models, and may thus hold out several potentials for real world modeling and forecasting of financial data.

Reduced Versus Complete Space Configurations in Total Information Analysis

In most multidimensional analyses, the dimension reduction is a key concept and reduced space analysis is routinely used. Contrary to this traditional approach, total information analysis (TIA) (Nishisato and Clavel, Behaviormetrika 37:15–32, 2010) places its focal point on tapping every piece of information in data. The present paper is to demonstrate that the time-honored practice of reduced space analysis may have to be reconsidered as its grasp of data structure may be compromised by ignoring intricate details of data. The paper will present numerical examples to make our point.

Non-Cognitive Abilities and Spanish Regional Differences in Student Performance in PISA 2009

The goal of this paper is to analyze the role that non-cognitive skills and, in particular, regional differences in those skills, play on the observed differences in 15-year-old student’s academic performance, across Spanish regions, on PISA 2009. Previous research has shown the relevance of differences in student’s personal, family and school characteristics in accounting for academic differences across Spanish regions but it has also found that a sizeable part of the observed differences remained unexplained. We have found that differences in the distribution of certain non-cognitive skills associated to academic performance like focus, perseverance and resilience play a prominent role in accounting for differences in student performance in PISA 2009. We observe these skills by developing new measures of student effort on standardized tests. In particular, our estimates suggest that a standard deviation reduction in the dispersion of non-cognitive skills across Spanish regions would lead to a 25% reduction in the magnitude of the observed differences in student performance across regions. This is a relevant effect as, for example, a one standard deviation reduction in the regional dispersion of parent’s educational levels or occupational status would only lead to at most a 2% reduction in the magnitude of observed differences in performance on PISA across Spanish regions. Put plainly, a substantial portion of the regional variation in test scores appears attributable to effort on the PISA test, and not necessarily just differences in actual knowledge.