Software warranty cost optimization under imperfect debugging

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 1233-1257
Author(s):  
Vibha Verma ◽  
Sameer Anand ◽  
Anu Gupta Aggarwal
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Optimization Problem ◽  
Failure Process ◽  
Release Time ◽  
Development Cost ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Imperfect Debugging ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Software Release ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and quantify the key components of the overall cost of software development when warranty coverage is given by a developer. Also, the authors have studied the impact of imperfect debugging on the optimal release time, warranty policy and development cost which signifies that it is important for the developers to control the parameters that cause a sharp increase in cost. Design/methodology/approach An optimization problem is formulated to minimize software development cost by considering imperfect fault removal process, faults generation at a constant rate and an environmental factor to differentiate the operational phase from the testing phase. Another optimization problem under perfect debugging conditions, i.e. without error generation is constructed for comparison. These optimization models are solved in MATLAB, and their solutions provide insights to the degree of impact of imperfect debugging on the optimal policies with respect to software release time and warranty time. Findings A real-life fault data set of Radar System is used to study the impact of various cost factors via sensitivity analysis on release and warranty policy. If firms tend to provide warranty for a longer period of time, then they may have to bear losses due to increased debugging cost with more number of failures occurring during the warrantied time but if the warranty is not provided for sufficient time it may not act as sufficient hedge during field failures. Originality/value Every firm is fighting to remain in the competition and expand market share by offering the latest technology-based products, using innovative marketing strategies. Warranty is one such strategic tool to promote the product among masses and develop a sense of quality in the user’s mind. In this paper, the failures encountered during development and after software release are considered to model the failure process.

Increasing revenue and attendance in Canadian Baptist churches

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (12) ◽  
pp. 1071-1089
Author(s):  
Alan Chan ◽  
Bruce G. Fawcett ◽  
Shu-Kam Lee
Keyword(s):  
Church Health ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Baptist Churches ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Simulation Exercises

Purpose – Church giving and attendance are two important indicators of church health and performance. In the literature, they are usually understood to be simultaneously determined. The purpose of this paper is to estimate if there a sustainable church congregation size using Wintrobe’s (1998) dictatorship model. The authors want to examine the impact of youth and adult ministry as well. Design/methodology/approach – Using the data collected from among Canadian Baptist churches in Eastern Canada, this study investigates the factors affecting the level of the two indicators by the panel-instrumental variable technique. Applying Wintrobe’s (1998) political economy model on dictatorship, the equilibrium level of worship attendance and giving is predicted. Findings – Through various simulation exercises, the actual church congregation sizes is approximately 50 percent of the predicted value, implying inefficiency and misallocation of church resources. The paper concludes with insights on effective ways church leaders can allocate scarce resources to promote growth within churches. Originality/value – The authors are the only researchers getting the permission from the Atlantic Canada Baptist Convention to use their mega data set on church giving and congregation sizes as per the authors’ knowledge. The authors are also applying a theoretical model on dictatorship to religious/not for profits organizations.

The impact of organizational position level and cultural flow direction on the relationship between cultural intelligence and expatriate cross-border adaptation

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Zhang ◽  
Yuran Li ◽  
Mark Frost ◽  
Shiyu Rong ◽  
Rong Jiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Intelligence ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Power Distance ◽  
Cultural Adjustment ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Organizational Position ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the critical role played by cultural flow in fostering successful expatriate cross-border transitions.Design/methodology/approachThe authors develop and test a model on the interplay among cultural intelligence, organizational position level, cultural flow direction and expatriate adaptation, using a data set of 387 expatriate on cross-border transitions along the Belt & Road area.FindingsThe authors find that both organizational position level and cultural flow moderate the relationship between cultural intelligence and expatriate adaptation, whereby the relationship is contingent on the interaction of organizational position status and assignment directions between high power distance and low power distance host environments.Originality/valuePrevious research has shown that higher levels of cultural intelligence are positively related to better expatriate adaptation. However, there is a lack of research on the effect of position difference and cultural flow on such relationship. Our study is among the first to examine how the interaction between cultural flow and organizational position level influences the cultural intelligence (CI) and cultural adjustment relationship in cross-cultural transitions.

Exploring the impact of intellectual capital on company reputation and performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 915-934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianluca Ginesti ◽  
Adele Caldarelli ◽  
Annamaria Zampella
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Corporate Reputation ◽  
Intangible Asset ◽  
Competition Authority ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Capital Efficiency ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on the reputation and performance of Italian companies. Design/methodology/approach The paper exploits a unique data set of 452 non-listed companies that obtained a reputational assessment from the Italian Competition Authority (ICA). To test the hypotheses, this study implemented several regression analyses. Findings Results support the argument that human capital efficiency is a key driver of corporate reputation. Findings also reveal that companies, which obtained reputational rating under ICA scrutiny, show a positive relationship between IC elements and various measures of financial performance. Research limitations/implications The study focuses on a single country; it is not free from the imprecisions of Pulic’s VAIC model. Practical implications This paper recommends companies that are interested to achieve a robust reputation should consider the human capital as a strategic intangible asset. Second, the results suggest that companies with an ICA reputational rating are able to leverage their intangibles to potentiate performance and competitiveness. Originality/value This is the first empirical investigation on the contribution of IC in generating value for corporate reputation. Additionally, the study contributes to the literature on the link between IC and performance by examining a sample of firms not yet explored in prior research.

Capital and credit constraints in the engagement of youth in Ghanaian agriculture

2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martinson Ankrah Twumasi ◽  
Yuansheng Jiang ◽  
Monica Owusu Acheampong
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Credit Constraints ◽  
Rural Youth ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Switching Regression ◽  
Credit Constraint ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Application Procedure ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors influencing rural youth farmers’ credit constraints status and the effect of credit constraint on the intensity of participation of these farmers in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach The econometric estimation is based on cross-sectional data collected in 2018 from the Brong Ahafo region in Ghana. The sample data set consists of 450 rural youth farmers. The collected data were analyzed through different econometric techniques, using the endogenous switching regression model (ERSM). Findings The direct elicitation approach employed in this study revealed that out of the 450 farmers, 211 (47 percent) of the respondents were credit constrained compared to 239 (53 percent) of their counterparts who were unconstrained. The ERSM indicated that youth farmers education, age, savings, parents occupation reduced the probability of the rural youth farmer to be credit constrained but cumbersome loan application procedure and loan disbursement time positively affect credit constraint. Moreover, farmers that are credit constrained have lower intensity of participation in agriculture activities than a random farmer from the sample. This suggests that access to credit has a positive impact on the intensity of participation in agriculture activities. Research limitations/implications In this study, only rural youth farmers in a particular region were considered. However, there are youths all over the nation. Therefore, future researchers could consider other youth’s farmers elsewhere in the country. Originality/value Although existing studies have examined rural youth farmers’ participation in agriculture and credit constraint separately, the unique contribution of this paper is the analysis of credit constraint of rural youth farmers as well as the impact of credit constraint on the intensity of participation in agriculture activities.

scholarly journals Credit composition and income inequality in Vietnam: an empirical analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Le Quoc Hoi ◽  
Hương Lan Trần
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Institutional Quality ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Private Credit ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the credit composition and income inequality reduction in Vietnam. In particular, the authors focus on the distinction between policy and commercial credits and investigate whether these two types of credit had adverse effects on income inequality. The authors also examine whether the impact of policy credit on income inequality is conditioned by the educational level and institutional quality.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use the primary data set, which contains a panel of 60 provinces collected from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam from 2002 to 2016. The authors employ the generalized method of moments to solve the endogenous problem.FindingsThe authors show that while commercial credit increases income inequality, policy credit contributes to reducing income inequality in Vietnam. In addition, we provide evidence that the institutional quality and educational level condition the impact of policy credit on income inequality. Based on the findings, the paper implies that it was not the size of the private credit but its composition that mattered in reducing income inequality, due to the asymmetric effects of different types of credit.Originality/valueThis is the first study that examines the links between the two components of credit and income inequality as well as constraints of the links. The authors argue that analyzing the separate effects of commercial and policy credits is more important for explaining the role of credit in income inequality than the size of total credit.

scholarly journals Revenue diversification and financial sustainability of microfinance institutions

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Nderitu Githaiga
Keyword(s):  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Financial Sustainability ◽  
Microfinance Institutions ◽  
Revenue Diversification ◽  
Estimation Model ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Method Of Moments Estimation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate whether revenue diversification affects the financial sustainability of microfinance institutions (MFIs).Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a worldwide panel data set of 443 MFIs in 108 countries for the period 2013–2018 and two-step system Generalized Method of Moments estimation model.FindingsThe study finds that revenue diversification has a significant and positive effect on the financial sustainability of MFIs.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study actually offer important managerial and policy lessons on MFIs’ financial sustainability. Microfinance managers and policymakers should consider revenue diversification as a strategy through which MFIs can attain financial sustainability instead of overreliance on donations and government subsidiesOriginality/valueUnlike previous studies that examined revenue diversification in the context of banking firms, this study contributes to literature by examining the impact of revenue diversification of the financial sustainability of MFIs.

scholarly journals Board structure and institutional ownership at the time of IPO

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (9) ◽  
pp. 950-965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suman Neupane ◽  
Biwesh Neupane
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Investors ◽  
Critical Time ◽  
Institutional Ownership ◽  
Board Independence ◽  
Board Structure ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Institutional Holdings ◽  
Foreign Institutional Investors ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of mandatory regulatory provisions on board structure and the influence of such board structure on institutional holdings. Design/methodology/approach The study uses unique hand-collected data set of Indian IPOs during the 2004-2012 period after the corporate governance reforms with the introduction of clause 49 in the listing agreements in 2001. Using OLS regression, the paper empirically analyses the determinants of board size and board independence at the time of the IPOs and the influence of such a board structure on shareholdings by domestic and foreign institutional investors. Findings The authors find that complying with mandatory regulatory provisions does not impede firms from structuring their boards to reflect the firms’ advising and monitoring needs. The authors also find that complying with provisions have positive implication for the firm, as firms with greater board independence appear to attract more foreign institutional investors. Originality/value To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first study to examine the issue in a regime where regulation mandates the composition of the board of directors. The paper also extends the literature on institutional holdings by providing evidence on the impact of board structure on institutional ownership at a critical time in a firm’s life cycle when concerns for endogeneity for empirical investigations are weaker.

scholarly journals Child health and schooling achievement in Bangladesh

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasheda Khanam
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Instrumental Variables ◽  
Food Policy ◽  
School Attendance ◽  
School Achievement ◽  
School Enrolment ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Instrumental Variables Approach

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the impact of child health (measured by nutritional status) on schooling performance of Bangladeshi children. Design/methodology/approach – The data set used in this study comes from a survey titled “Micronutrient and Gender Study (MNGS) in Bangladesh”. The survey was administered by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The author controls for the potential endogeneity of child health by an instrumental variables approach. The results indicate that the impact of child health on school achievement will be overestimated if endogeneity of child health is ignored. Findings – The results reveal that child health has significant effects on school enrolment and grade attainment, although it does not affect the current school attendance. The impact of child health is stronger for school enrolment compared to grade attainment. Originality/value – This study improves the understanding on the relationship between child health and schooling in several ways. First, the author controls for the potential endogeneity of child health by an instrumental variables approach. The chosen instrumental variables (i.e. heights of father and mother) are strong predictors of child health and satisfy the validity test. Second, this study examines the effects of child health on wide ranges of schooling measures: enrolment, attendance and attainment.

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