K. Michael Casey

Does supply chain management strategy mediate the association between market orientation and organizational performance

Purpose – The purpose of this research was to examine the link between supply chain management (SCM), market orientation, and organizational success, and to develop a model that describes the relationship among the three.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of sales managers within large US manufacturers was used to collect data about market orientation, SCM strategy, and organizational performance. Five hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.Findings – The resulting model suggests that a manufacturing firms SCM strategy mediates the relationship between its market orientation and organizational success.Research limitations/implications – Perhaps the most serious limitation of this study was its narrow focus on US manufacturing companies, thus precluding the generalization of findings to other sectors such as service and government sectors that may benefit from a market orientation and sound SCM strategy.Practical implications – The study findings reinforce the importance of a market...

REIT capital structure: is it market imposed?

Purpose - This study sets out to focus on the identification of determinants of real estate limited partnership (REIT) capital structure from a market perspective. Design/methodology/approach - This study uses ordinary least squares regression to test whether REIT capital structure is impacted by various market variables. Findings - The findings indicate that investors do appear to be attracted to specific debt characteristics of REITs or, simply put, REIT capital structure is influenced by market factors. REIT debt levels appear to be directly influenced by the price-to-book ratio and are inversely related to the percentage of institutional ownership and price-to-cash flow. Forecast growth rates do not appear to significantly influence debt while the type of REIT (mortgage, retail, etc.) does appear to influence the level of debt. Research limitations/implications - Small sample size limits applicability of results, so further research with larger datasets is appropriate. Practical implications - Investors do appear to consider capital structure when purchasing REITs. REIT managers should consider this when determining whether to incur additional debt. Originality/value - The determination of various market factors linked to REIT capital structure.

Employee benefits of multi‐owner accounting firms: groundwork for benchmarking

Purpose – The purpose of this research paper is to provide practitioners and researchers with guidance and ideas for benchmarking employee benefits in companies providing professional services. The research addressed employee benefits in multi‐owner accounting firms.Design/methodology/approach – Data from a survey of a large number of multi‐owner accounting firms (CPA firms) were analyzed to examine professional employee benefits and to look at the relationship between firm size and benefits offered.Findings – An analysis of survey results suggested that larger firms offer better benefits than smaller firms. Larger firms tend also to be more profitable. Various employee benefit metrics were examined.Research limitations/implications – The survey was limited to accounting firms in the United States, so the findings may have limited value for researchers and practitioners in other countries.Practical implications – The better benefits offered by larger accounting firms may allow them to attract better perso...

Prediction of variability in mortgage rates: interval computing solutions

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to forecast variability in mortgage rates by using interval measured data and interval computing method. Design/methodology/approach - Variability (interval) forecasts generated by the interval computing are compared with lower- and upper-bound forecasts based on the ordinary least squares (OLS) rolling regressions. Findings - On average, 56 per cent of annual changes in mortgage rates may be predicted by OLS lower- and upper-bound forecasts while the interval method improves forecasting accuracy to 72 per cent. Research limitations/implications - This paper uses the interval computing method to forecast variability in mortgage rates. Future studies may expand variability forecasting into more risk-managing areas. Practical implications - Results of this study may be interesting to executive officers of banks, mortgage companies, and insurance companies, builders, investors, and other financial decision makers with an interest in mortgage rates. Originality/value - Although it is well-known that

Insurance company dividend policy decisions: Evidence on the role of corporate governance and regulation

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between good corporate governance and dividend payment in the regulated insurance industry. Design/methodology/approach - A modification of Rozeffs transaction cost/agency cost trade-off model was estimated on a sample of 55 firms in the insurance industry. Data cover a five-year period ending in 2006. Findings - Consistent with an agency view of dividends functioning to reduce the need for firm monitoring, it was found that there is no relationship between good corporate governance and dividend policy in a regulated industry. In other words, regulation appears to supplant the need for most corporate governance mechanisms and dividend distribution to provide information. Research limitations/implications - One data point used in this study, the corporate governance quotient (CGQ), is a relatively new metric created in 2001. Therefore limited use of this variable has appeared in previous research. Additional work is needed to fully evaluate the effectiveness of CGQ as a true measure of corporate governance. Practical implications - Regulated firms in the insurance industry do not need to be subjected to the external monitoring forced by high dividend payments. Regulators perform that function instead. Originality/value - This study is the first to evaluate the impact of good corporate governance on regulated firms’ dividend policy.

Post‐loan credit risk: an analysis of small business in southern Arkansas

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify pre‐loan factors that ultimately impact post‐loan risk ratings of small business in southern Arkansas.Design/methodology/approach – Ordinary least squares linear regression analysis is conducted on small business data to determine which factors contribute to higher post‐loan credit risk ratings.Findings – Businesses with records of loan repayment and personal financial assets at stake are more likely to be assigned better credit risk ratings. Additional analysis indicates that businesses with no past due collections or judgments, having good trade references, a profitable business, and not operating in a volatile industry are much more likely to result in loans ultimately receiving good post‐loan performance marks and lower risk ratings.Research limitations/implications – This paper has a small sample of firms in a historically economically depressed region. While the relevant factors seem intuitive they may not apply to other regions and/or larger busine...

Politics in banking: does political party control impact bank risk and return?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential impact of political party control on bank profitability and risk. This study extends previous work by looking at overall political power with respect to party control of the House, Senate, and the Presidency. Design/methodology/approach This paper employs regression analysis using several different dependent measures of risk and return. The independent variables include dummies to represent political power and control. Findings The results indicate that political control does impact both bank returns and risk. More specifically, concentration of power in either party results in higher profits. However, risk and returns typically increase during periods of democratic control. Originality/value To date, no research addresses the impact of political control and party affiliation on bank risk and return. Given the importance of banks to the overall economy and financial system, this research should provide policymakers and regulators with a different perspective on bank risk and return.

Cash-out vs. cash-in refinancings: their dynamic relationships with stock market and real estate factors

This study addresses the relationship between cash-out and cash-in mortgage refinancings and the stock market. Liquefying home equity is the major reason for the cash-out refinancings, whereas the cash-in refinancings are primarily for an earlier mortgage payoff. This study analyses responses of each type of refinancing to innovations in the stock market, mortgage rates, effective maturity and home appreciation rates and the relative importance of these innovations to refinancing activities using orthogonalised impulse response and variance decomposition matrixes from vector autoregression. We find that changes in stock prices do appear to impact mortgage refinancing decisions.