Earticle

Based on a two-stage analysis of a panel of data for 12 outlets of a high-end retailer for 24 months, this paper investigates how the level of supervision affects the productivity of retail outlets in a high-end department store. In the first stage, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is used to compute the relative productivity of retail outlets in using their labor and capital resources to generate store sales. In the second stage, the logarithm of DEA scores is regressed on contextual variables to obtain consistent estimators of the impact of contextual variables on productivity. Contrary to agency theoretic prediction that the higher level of supervision leads to an increase in the productivity of retail outlets, empirical results of this paper indicate that the higher the level of supervision, the lower is the productivity for high-end retail outlets.

The study has following objectives: First, an objective of this studies proves relations between a Intellectual Capital and an innovative Behavior. Second, studies proves a moderating effects of a psychological capital through theory study, an empirical analysis. In accordance with results of a hypothesis verification, first, a Intellectual capital affects positively a innovative Behavior. this results present that keeping an organic trust relation among members of the community and keeping active communications between a personal and organizations through shared mean systems affect positively organizational innovations. Second, in accordance with analysis results of a psychological capital, verified a moderating effects of a psychological. This results mean that the more a psychological capital an organization has among members, the higher an innovative Behavior becomes.

This study aims to test the relation between accounting change and earnings management. If the purpose of accounting change is to escape reporting the loss, the firms will turn a profit after using accounting change. Test period is from 2002 to 2004 and the samples are selected from KOSDAQ firms. The empirical results show that there is significant relation between accounting change and earnings management. The firms used accounting change in order to escape reporting the loss. Especially, they preferred accounting estimation change to accounting method change, and discretionary accounting change to accounting change by regulation. Firm size was related to accounting change among firm characteristics.

For most today's companies the productivity of IT human resources has increasingly had impact on their business success. In order to improve the productivity the companies are required to identify and strengthen the competencies of IT human resources in a systematic and effective way. For helping this requirement, this paper proposes a competency analysis methodology incorporated with career paths. The methodology consists of six steps: setting up goals of IT competency, analyzing current IT competency, developing IT competency model, developing career paths, and integrating the IT competency with each career path. The approach employing the career path is expected to help improve IT competency more effectively, providing IT personnel with more clear sense of purpose and motivation for developing their own competency. To demonstrate the practical usefulness of the methodology, a real-life case is illustrated.

Distance function introduced by Shephard (1953) can be used to describe multi-inputs multi-outputs production technologies without price information. Estimated distance functions have been used for analyzing the economies of scale, the substitutability of inputs and outputs, the shadow prices of inputs and outputs, the tehcnical and allocative efficiencies of production organizations. Distance functions can be estimated using several techniques which include corrected ordinary least squares (COLS), stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), linear programming model (LPM), and quadratic programming model (QPM). In this paper we compared the merits and demerits of the four distance function estimation methods from a theoretical standpoint. Also we applied the estimation methods to the real data set used in some previous studies and we observed a guideline which allow researchers to select an appropriate distance function estimation method.

This paper empirically investigates the effects of the employee stock ownership on labor productivity. This paper uses a panel data set on employee ownership over the 2000-2005 period for Korean listed and unlisted manufacturing companies. The paper controls for simultaneity between employee ownership and firm performance using a two-stage least squares method and lagged variables of production factors and employee ownership. The empirical results show that an increase in employee ownership is associated with an increase in value-added per worker under Korea's new employee stock ownership plans newly established in 2002.