The impact of information technology investment on enterprise financial performance in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-542
Author(s):  
Peinan Ji ◽  
Xiangbin Yan ◽  
Guang Yu

Purpose This paper aims to examine the influence of information technology (IT) investment, including innovative IT investment and non-innovative IT investment, on comprehensive enterprise financial performance in a developing country, China. Design/methodology/approach This paper applies the method proposed by Barber and Lyon to construct the control group to study the impact of IT investment on financial performance of enterprises, using a sample of 229 IT investment announcement data of Chinese listed companies between 2011 and 2015. Findings The analysis of the financial benefits of these IT implementations yields mixed results. The results show that companies investing in IT can significantly improve profitability both the implementation and post-implementation periods for the full sample, improve the solvency only during the implementation phase, improve the growth ability after implementation time and cannot reduce business costs in all periods. At the same time, the authors find that, compared with non-innovative IT investment, the innovative samples do not achieve better financial performance, except the profitability financial indicator. Research limitations/implications There are several limitations in this research. First, there is no large sample about the IT investment information data set in China, so this study was compelled to use limited sample data from China; hence, this could lead to errors of too early generalization. Second, the firms in the sample are all in China’s listed companies, so this may either not accurately or possibly could reflect the entire environment of developing countries. Originality/value First, it extends the scope of the established literature by examining the influence of IT investment with China’s public firms data and IT investment to see if such spending has had an influence on corporate financial performance. Second, there is a lack of research on the impact of IT investment on comprehensive financial performance of an enterprise, compared with the previous one-sided financial performance, such as profitability or financial cost. Third, as far as the authors are aware, there are no studies on the impact of IT investment on firm financial performance based on innovative and non-innovative classification.

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Dery Nyeadi ◽  
Muazu Ibrahim ◽  
Yakubu Awudu Sare

Purpose The paper aims to investigate empirically the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on financial performance in South African listed firms. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses panel corrected standard errors to estimate the effect of CSR on firm financial performance and thus addresses contemporaneous cross-correlations across the panel cross sections. The study uses a broad base measure of CSR created by the Public Investment Corporation data set and the combination of accounting and economic means of measuring firm financial performance. Findings CSR is found to have a strong positive impact on firm financial performance in South Africa. When CSR is decomposed further into its major components, governance performance positively impacts a firm’s financial performance with no evidence of any relationship between social components and firm performance and between environmental components and firm performance. The positive impact of CSR on firm performance is greater in big firms. At the industry level, CSR is noticed to impact positively on financial performance in the extractive industry via good governance and responsible environmental behaviors. It however has no impact on firm performance in the financial sector. Research limitations/implications The results should be interpreted with caution and some limitations. Due to the limiting nature of the Public Investment Corporation data set (the survey was carried out on selected firms on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange for three years spanning from 2011 to 2013). This resulted in a sample of 56 firms. It is therefore very problematic to generalize the findings to a larger population over a long period of time. This is more limiting especially on individual sector studies where the sample has further shrunk to a smaller sample. As a result of the smaller sample size, the authors were unable to explore some other sectors which could have given more revealing findings. The authors recommend that future research should explore other data sets or use primary data approach that can allow for more sample size and elongated time period for a more holistic view and for easy generalization of the findings. The authors also identify an important lacuna necessitating further research effort. It would be interesting to empirically examine the threshold point of firms’ size beyond which CSR damages firms’ performance. Knowledge of this will guide managers of firms in their strategic CSR decision. Practical implications This study does not only serve as a reference work for subsequent investigations into the impact of CSR on firm performance in sub-Saharan Africa but also serves as a guide to policymakers on the financial impact of CSR adoption. Originality/value This study is one of the pioneering works that comprehensively examines the effect of CSR on financial performance amongst South African firms via size and sector and also controls for contemporaneous cross-correlation effects from the firms in the panel set.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anupam Kumar ◽  
David E. Cantor ◽  
Curtis M. Grimm ◽  
Christian Hofer

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to build and test theory regarding how rivalry in environmental management (EM) affects a focal firm’s environmental image and financial performance. Design/methodology/approach The theory is tested with an original panel data set of 2,776 focal-rival dyad pairs. Measures of environmental signals are developed from content analysis of corporate sustainability reports. Environmental performance data are drawn from the Newsweek US 500 Green Rankings database. Financial performance data are drawn from COMPUSTAT. Findings The main findings are that focal firm signals have a positive and significant impact on both focal firm environmental image and financial performance. Rival firm signals have a negative effect on focal firm environmental image. Surprisingly, rival firm signals have a positive impact on focal firm financial performance. Practical implications This paper can serve as a testament to the value of monitoring rival firm strategies and signaling to counter the impact of rival signals in the environmental domain. Environmental practices can be a source of competitive advantage for firms, and failure to compete in this space can place the firm at a competitive disadvantage. Originality/value This study makes several contributions to the EM literature. Leveraging competitive dynamics and the institutional viewpoints, this study builds theory with regard to how signals of competitive EM activity among a focal firm and its rivals affect environmental image and financial performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 254-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xun Li ◽  
Qun Wu ◽  
Clyde W. Holsapple ◽  
Thomas Goldsby

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the impact of three critical dimensions of supply chain resilience, supply chain preparedness, supply chain alertness and supply chain agility, all aimed at increasing a firm’s financial outcomes. In a turbulent environment, firms require resilience in their supply chains to prepare for potential changes, detect changes and respond to actual changes, thus providing superior value. Design/methodology/approach Using survey data from 77 firms, this study develops scales for preparedness, alertness and agility. It then tests their hypothesized relationships with a firm’s financial performance. Findings The results reveal that the three dimensions of supply chain resilience (i.e. preparedness, alertness and agility) significantly impact a firm’s financial performance. It is also found that supply chain preparedness, as a proactive resilience capability, has a greater influence on a firm’s financial performance than the reactive capabilities including alertness and agility, suggesting that firms should pay more attention to proactive approaches for building supply chain resilience. Originality/value First, this study develops a comparatively comprehensive definition for supply chain resilience and explores its dimensionality. Second, this study provides empirically validated instruments for the dimensions of supply chain resilience. Third, this study is one of the first to provide empirical evidence for direct impact of supply chain resilience dimensions on a firm’s financial performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peinan Ji ◽  
Xiangbin Yan ◽  
Yan Shi

Purpose The purpose of this study is to deepen the understanding of the effects of information technology (IT) investment on firm innovation performance and examining the investment paradox effect in China. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of China’ public firms IT investment data between 2010 and 2016, the authors establish a test model of IT investment and innovation performance. Findings The result indicates that IT investment in firms have no effect on innovation performance in the investment period. However, in the full sample and manufacturing sample, the IT investment has a significant positive effect on innovation performance in the post-investment years. In addition, this study finds that large companies and low-age companies may contribute more to innovation when firm investment in IT. Research limitations/implications There are several limitations in this research. First, the authors are failed to obtain a larger sample about the IT investment information data set in China, so this study was compelled to use limited sample data from China, hence, this could lead to errors of too early generalization. Second, the authors use the number of invention patent applications to represent the performance of enterprise innovation, which may not show enterprise innovation effectively. Third, the firms in the sample are all in China Listed Companies, so this may not accurately reflect the entire environment of firm innovation performance, and could possibly. Practical implications The research confirms that there is a paradox and time lag effect in IT investment, which enterprises should pay attention to. Originality/value Existing research confirms that corporate IT investments can bring new products or services. However, the authors still do not know whether IT investment has improved the company’s ability of innovation. This study will fill this gap and the industry effect and time lag effect of the influence of IT investment on innovative performance are also examined.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmytro Osiichuk ◽  
Paweł Mielcarz ◽  
Julia Kavalenka

Purpose Relying on an international panel data set, the purpose of this paper is to quantify the economic impact of labor unionization on corporate financial performance. Design/methodology/approach Static panel regression analysis is performed for a firm-level multinational data set to elucidate the postulated empirical relationships between employee unionization and corporate performance. The transmission mechanisms intermediating the studied effects are discussed and operationalized. Findings The empirical evidence demonstrates that firms with a higher level of employee unionization spend more on wages and labor-related expenses. The concomitant downside of higher resource extraction by unions is a lower rate of net employment creation and a higher possibility of redundancy layoffs. Originality/value Overall, the authors demonstrate that by creating a credible threat of employee disobedience manifested through strikes and internal wage disputes, labor unions remain an effective mechanism of increasing employees’ bargaining power. Despite the discovered weak negative associative link between the degree of unionization and corporate financial performance, the authors perceive the overall evidence to be inconclusive on this matter.


Author(s):  
Nguyen Thanh Dat Nguyen

The paper aims to investigate the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices on the financial performance of oil and gas firms in Asian countries by using a panel data set that includes 23 firms from 7 Asian countries from 2004 to 2017. The empirical results support the research hypothesis that CSR practices have a negative impact on the financial performance of oil and gas companies. This means CSR practices may impose a substantial burden on firms in the oil and gas industry. In addition, we find that different CSR practices have different sizes of impact on firm financial performance. In particular, environment practice has the biggest impact, social practice ranks second, and governance practice has the weakest impact. The main results are also confirmed by several robustness tests.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mithun Nandy

Purpose This paper aims to study the impact of research and development (R&D) activities on the financial performance of Indian pharmaceutical companies listed with the national stock exchange (NSE) of India by conceptualizing R&D’s impact and financial performance framework (RDiFPF). Design/methodology/approach Strongly balanced panel data set was used for the period of 1999–2020 on the basis of secondary data subscribed from a reputable Capitalline, a corporate database as well as individual company-wise annual report extract for cross-validation. Findings The paper presents a novel conceptualized framework called RDiFPF with the help of financial performance related variables: sales turnover, return on assets, return on equity and market capitalization, where R&D impacts in a significant manner on the financial performance of the NSE-listed Indian pharmaceutical companies. The paper finally establishes a link between R&D activities and financial performance with respect to the Indian pharmaceutical companies listed with the NSE. Research limitations/implications The suggested framework opens new dimension of research with respect to R&D, innovative practices in the pharmaceutical business and financial performance. The research can also be used in teaching and may be beneficial for framing public policy. Though the study has been carried out in Indian context, it might have implications in the emerging economies. Practical implications To achieve financial returns, pharmaceutical companies need to adopt appropriate endeavour to invest substantial amount on R&D to bring innovation in the pharmaceutical business. Social implications A better allocation of R&D expenditure has the potential for bringing new medicine, which can cure unknown diseases and impact on the lives of the patient fraternities. Originality/value The contributions of the paper are twofold: on the one hand, the author proposes a framework where emphasis has been provided on the R&D investment in the pharmaceutical business and, on the other hand, significant financial performance has been shown which motivates every R&D-centric pharmaceutical companies. Notably, the novel RDiFPF framework, which has been proposed in this study, may ignite and inspire the pharmaceutical business leaders as well as entrepreneurs to take R&D and innovation in pharmaceutical business for impacting human lives as well as to enjoy significant financial returns by providing health-care solution for treating novel diseases and disorders.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Taha Almarayeh

Purpose This study aims to analyze the relationship between board gender diversity, board compensation and firm financial performance in the developing country, Jordan, whose cultural, economic and institutional context is very different from most previously analyzed countries’ context. Design/methodology/approach Ordinary least squares regression was used to examine the association between board gender diversity, board compensation and firm financial performance in a sample of 510 firm-year observations during the years 2009–2018. Generalized least squares estimation method was used to confirm that the results are robust. Findings The author provides new evidence that board gender diversity does not contribute to firm financial performance. The author also detects that there is a positive relationship between board compensation on firm financial performance. Originality/value This paper examines the under-researched relationship between board gender diversity, board compensation and firm financial performance. In so doing, the author tries to provide new insights into this relationship within the developing context, the case of Jordan that has a different environment from that of advanced markets. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, this is almost certainly the first research to investigate the impact of board gender diversity and board compensation on firm financial performance in the Jordanian market. This manuscript is expected to be used as a reference by the regulators and policymakers – both in Jordan and other countries with a similar institutional, cultural setting – to provide a deep understanding of the impact of board gender diversity and board compensation on the firm performance.


Author(s):  
Imran Khan ◽  
Syeda Nitasha Zahid

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of Shari’ah and corporate governance on Islamic banks performance in Asia. Design/methodology/approach The study uses hand collected data set on Shari’ah and corporate governance variables of 79 Islamic banks of 19 countries of Asia, for the period of 2011-2016. Augmented Mollah et al. (2017) composite corporate governance index into Islamic corporate governance (ICG) index by incorporate Shari’ah board’s (SBs) attributes. Two types of statistical analysis were performed; descriptive statistics, sample t-test and panel random effects regression. The analysis was further sub-sampled by considering the supervisory vs advisory, GCC vs non-GCC and large vs small effects of Shari’ah and corporate boards on Islamic banks performance. Findings The results of the baseline model reveal that Shari’ah governance-related variables are more influential in determining the financial performance of the Islamic banks. The sub-sampled data findings illustrated some interesting facts. Shari’ah supervisory vs advisory boards regression results show that the ICG index was found significant in both the models. However, when SBs are weak the general board dominates in determining the performance. GCC vs non-GCC results show a relatively good governance in non-GCC countries. While, in case of large vs small Islamic banks, banks having high total assets demonstrates sound governance characteristics. Research limitations/implications Independent, large and educated SB can play a significant role in removing the hurdles facing the Islamic banking industry and can also enhance stakeholders’ value. Originality/value This study enriches the understanding on Shari’ah governance, corporate governance and financial performance of Islamic banks in Asia.


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albi Alikaj ◽  
Cau Ngoc Nguyen ◽  
Efrain Medina

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the Kinder, Lydenberg, Domini & Co. (KLD) dimensions by distinguishing between corporate social responsibility (CSR) strengths and concerns and examine their individual effects on firm financial performance. Additionally, the study distinguishes between US domestic firms and multinational enterprises (MNEs) to provide additional insights and explore if any differences exist. Design/methodology/approach Data from the KLD and Compustat databases are analyzed for a sample of 562 US firms, of which 359 are multinational corporations, and 203 operate solely in the USA. A path analysis was used to examine the effect of CSR strengths and concerns on firm financial performance. Findings The findings show that increases in CSR strengths as well reductions in CSR concerns are positively linked to firm financial performance. The results also suggest that addressing concerns would be more beneficial to MNEs as opposed to US domestic firms. Research limitations/implications First, it should be noted that this study is cross-sectional, thus limiting confirmation of causality. Future studies can confirm causality by conducting longitudinal analysis. Also, some country-specific regulations require firms to make certain CSR-related information publicly available. Future studies can focus on countries that have such regulations and make comparisons with countries that allow firms to decide for themselves whether or not to make CSR-related activities publicly available. Originality/value When measuring CSR, previous studies have combined the CSR strengths and concerns latent variables of the KLD database. This can potentially be a problem because CSR strengths and concerns are not meant to measure the same issues. By separating them into two distinct latent variables, the authors can better understand their individual effects on firm performance.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document