FEMIB 2022 Abstracts

Area 1 - Accounting and Finance
Short Papers
Area 2 - Economics
Full Papers Short Papers
Area 3 - Emerging Areas in FEMIB
Short Papers
Area 4 - IT Business
Short Papers
Area 5 - Management
Full Papers Short Papers

Area 1 - Accounting and Finance

Short Papers
Paper Nr: 14
Title:

De facto or de jure Harmonisation: How Much Dis(harmonised) Are the Entities in an IFRS Environment?
Authors:

Fábio Albuquerque and Paula D. Santos
Abstract: This paper uses exploratory analysis to seek evidence of accounting practices in a harmonized environment that mitigates the comparability of financial reporting by selecting an exemplary topic from different cases. The topics include the treatment given by entities to those cases not prescribed in the standards, but traditionally used by entities, cases prescribed by standards, but in a way that is not specific or clear enough, and, finally, cases where standards allow alternative accounting treatments. The consolidated reports and accounts of the entities included in the main Euronext Lisbon index for the years 2019 and 2020 were assessed. It was found that the accounting practices adopted by the entities are diverse, with different implications within the options that are reflected in the recognition and presentation of expenses and incomes. This type of research allows broadening the discussion around the implementation of effective measures to reduce the subjectivity associated with the adoption and application of standards to reach higher levels of de facto harmonisation or convergence. It is expected that the proposed analysis can contribute to drawing the attention of standard-setters and regulators of financial reporting to the potential constraints associated with the high flexibility of, or gaps in, International Financial Reporting Standards.
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Area 2 - Economics

Full Papers
Paper Nr: 8
Title:

Determinants of International Remittances in Mexico: Economic vs. Financial Variables
Authors:

Miguel C. Vasquez and Fernando V. Sánchez
Abstract: This work seeks to analyze whether economic or financial variables are more important in determining the remittances sent by Mexican migrants in the United States to their communities of origin. For this, we estimate three models: a linear regression model with all the variables transformed to first differences, to eliminate the possibility of spurious regression; an autoregressive vector (VAR) model that approximates the relationships between variables in the absence of consolidated theories; and Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) model, which is the most appropriate for estimating causal relationships between variables. The results show that the most important variables in determining the remittances of Mexican migrants in the United States are the economic ones, specifically, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United States and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Mexico.
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Short Papers
Paper Nr: 25
Title:

Financial Feasibility of Opaque Envelopes in ECBC Complaint Energy Efficient Indian Commercial Buildings: An Approach for Maximising the Internal Rate of Return
Authors:

Pranav Kishore, Stuthi Shetty, Bysani Sathwik, Nandhini Selvam, Vaibhav Jain and Pradeep Kini
Abstract: Buildings are one of the major contributors to energy consumption and Green House Gas emissions. To regulate harmful emissions the government is trying its best to overcome these problems by enforcing energy conservation codes and rating systems for buildings in India. The developers and the investors of project are more interested in the profit. The Internal Rate of Return of a project supports the selection of the project, which is widely used worldwide. This study has been conducted to optimize the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) to find out the best opaque wall section in the warm and humid climate of India with Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) compliance, using wall thermal transmittance values as the constraints to control the energy consumption within buildings. This will lead to the reduction electricity demand contributing towards a mitigating the climate change and also to gain profit for the investors by annual energy savings from sustainable commercial buildings. This study estimates an 18% to 40% IRR from the commercial building by conforming with ECBC benchmarks.
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Area 3 - Emerging Areas in FEMIB

Short Papers
Paper Nr: 9
Title:

Scientific Data Analysis using Neo4j
Authors:

Victor Chang, Yeshwanth K. Songala, Qianwen A. Xu and Ben S. Liu
Abstract: There is new material regarding Neo4j algorithm questions posed in this report as well as where we did our due diligence research to resolve them. These results often provide details, including inquiries recorded after each monitoring period. Initially, a literature review supported the development of an initial data modeling, which was further provided as experimental analysis. By using Neo4j Graph Database, graph analytics can provide useful analysis.
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Paper Nr: 18
Title:

Effect of Covid-19 on the Tourism Industry: Opportunities and Threats in Covid-19 Era
Authors:

Angelos Ntalakos, Dimitrios Belias, Athanasios Koustelios and Nikolaos Tsigilis
Abstract: Covid-19 pandemic has been spread rapidly world-wide during the last two years. Apart from the negative results in the health department – 290.959.019 confirmed cases and 5.446.753 deaths as at 4 January 2022 (WHO, 2022) – coronavirus pandemic creates a global negative impact on trade and economic world, causing problems, including unemployment and poverty. Unfortunately, one of the major economical markets that was heavily “injured” is the Tourism Industry. More than 100.8 million of people, working in the hospitality industry, have lost their jobs in the last two years (Statista, 2021), whereas a lot of businesses (such as hotels, restaurants, café-bars and airlines) are close to bankrupt. The aim of the current paper is to study the relationship between Covid-19 and its effect on the tourism sector. The methodology which will be used is literature selection of papers, studies, articles, journals retrieved from online bibliographic databases (such as Science Direct and Google Scholar). Finally, although there is a serious number of threats due to the decrease on the tourist industry, there are a lot of opportunities which could come up (for the tourism sector) after Covid-19 era. Both of them will be investigated in the current paper.
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Area 4 - IT Business

Short Papers
Paper Nr: 11
Title:

Using Big Data Analytics to Combat Retail Fraud
Authors:

Danni Zhang, Steffen Bayer, Gary Willis, Gina Frei, Enrico Gerding and Pk Senyo
Abstract: Fraudulent returns are seen as a misfortune for most retailers because it reduces sales and induce greater costs and challenges in returns management. While extant research suggests one of the causes is retailers’ liberal return policies and that retailers should restrict their policies, there is no study systematically exploring the impacts of various return policies and fraud interventions on reducing different types of fraudulent behaviour and the costs and benefits of associated interventions. In this paper, we first undertook semi-structured interviews with retailers in the UK and North America to gain insights into their fraud intervention strategies, as well as conducted literature review on fraudulent returns to identify the influential factors that lead customers to return products fraudulently. On this basis, we developed a simulation model to help retailers forecast fraudulent returns and explore how different combinations of interventions might affect the cases of fraudulent returns and associated financial impacts on profitability. The background literature on fraudulent returns, the findings of interviews, and the demonstration and implications of the model on reducing fraudulent returns and related financial impacts are discussed. Our model allows retailers to make cost- effective evaluations and adopt their fraud prevention strategies effectively based on their business models.
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Area 5 - Management

Full Papers
Paper Nr: 4
Title:

Organizational Toughness in Clothing Industry during Covid-19 Pandemic
Authors:

João S. Carvalho and Sílvia Faria
Abstract: Today, the existence of natural (earthquakes, pandemics, etc.) and human (large strikes, revolutions, etc.) events that can lead to economic paralysis are more and more frequent. Thus, it is not surprising that researchers try to develop new concepts and theories to explain the phenomena' reality. It is the case of a new conceptual approach – organisational toughness – that can give us insights into an organisation's capacity to survive in turbulent environmental contexts, like this of the Covid-19 pandemic. This study aimed at analysing the survival capability of the Portuguese clothing sector, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, through a new tool to measure organisational toughness. A sample of 106 organisations was studied using a questionnaire, leading to the conclusion that the measurement tool is effective, reliable and valid for that purpose, contributing to helping entrepreneurs to be able to assess crucial management variables to face this type of crisis. Theoretical and practical implications were taken, highlighting the importance of other concepts like organisational plasticity and organisational strength as the main factors to face new market threats and opportunities, impacting companies' economic and social sustainability.
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Paper Nr: 6
Title:

Facilitating the Decentralisation of Software Development Projects from a Project Management Perspective: A Literature Review
Authors:

Sven Timmermann, Daniel Staegemann, Matthias Volk, Matthias Pohl, Christian Haertel, Johannes Hintsch and Klaus Turowski
Abstract: With the increasing relevance of decentralisation for the software development process, being aware of the possible challenges and corresponding solutions has become more relevant than ever. The scientific body of knowledge is currently containing many publications about specific aspects of decentralisation, but is lacking in collections that cover more than one area. In this work, the challenges of different forms of decentralisation are examined by means of a literature review. Subsequently, the findings are evaluated and summarised into guidelines that can be applied by project managers and development teams to increase the success of decentralisation of the software development process.
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Paper Nr: 13
Title:

The Impacts of the CEO’s Network Effect on Digitalization and Agile Leadership in China
Authors:

Xihui H. Chen, Victor Chang, Patricia Baudier and Kienpin Tee
Abstract: Digitalization as a business enabler has speeded and scaled innovation in many firms. As the corporate leader, the CEO is there to set the stage for a learning process that facilitates strategic agility and enhances network effects to create value. This study uses innovation efficiency as the proxy of digitalization to examine the contribution of the CEO networks to firm-level innovation efficiency in Chinese listed firms. We apply a frontier analysis approach (e.g., DEA and SFA) and measure innovation efficiency based on the scale ratio of innovation output (i.e., patent counts) and input (R&D investment and R&D personnel). First, we find that innovation is more efficient when CEO has more outside directorships by considering 13,516 firm-year observations in Chinese listed high-tech firms between 2007 and 2017. Second, a significant and positive relationship exists between a well-connected CEO and innovation efficiency when the newly appointed CEO has larger networks than the predecessor. Third, it is found out that the positive correlation between a well-connected CEO and innovation efficiency will become non-significant when the number of outside directorships is above the yearly median level. This empirical study provides evidence for the network effects of a CEO for improving innovation efficiency. The findings emphasize the contingent value of the CEO's external social capital on agility, especially the multiple directorships in a transitional economy.
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Short Papers
Paper Nr: 3
Title:

The Influence of Studying from Home, Stress Level, and Ability to Use Technology toward Learning Achievement during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study in Indonesia
Authors:

Dewi Nusraningrum, Tri M. Mekar and Fauziah S. Ahmad
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused drastic changes to all aspects of life, including studying from home, the ability to use technology, and learning achievement in Indonesia. This study aims to analyse the effects of studying from home, the ability to use technology, and the level of stress on student learning achievement in Indonesia during the pandemic, where all students must learn from home. Data collection was conducted by issuing an online survey to 107 college students aged 18 to 55 in Indonesia. The data processing found that studying from home had a significant influence on stress levels and the ability to use technology. However, studying from home does not directly influence learning achievement, while stress and the ability to use technology do not directly correlate with each other. Interestingly, the indirect effects of studying from home on learning achievement are significant when stress and the ability to use technology mediate the relationships. This indicates that, although the pandemic is stressful for students as it forces them to isolate themselves at home and to miss out on face-to-face learning on campus, it has enhanced their ability to use technology and thus positively reinforced learning achievement. The result indicates that, in terms of learning achievement, students work “better under pressure” with their enhanced ability to use technology resulting in improved learning achievements. Consequently, the increasing ability to use technology when learning from home, the obstacles in knowledge transfer can run smoothly, and this hopefully reduces students’ stress levels in the long term.
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Paper Nr: 7
Title:

An Ethical Framework for Big Data and Smart Healthcare
Authors:

Victor Chang, Rahman O. Eniola, Ben S. Liu and Mitra Arami
Abstract: There has been significant growth in big data technology in healthcare in recent years. However, the potential of big data analytics is affected by various ethical and security concerns, which have hampered the application of big data analytics in healthcare. Recently, numerous studies have been conducted on the emerging big data ethical issues in healthcare. While most of the journal reflects on privacy and security questions, it did not examine; objectively the possible discriminatory impact of big data analytics has no. This mixed-method project aims to highlight various ethical problems in big data analytics while also providing an in-depth insight into the biased results derivable from big data analytics and the effects of such outcomes.
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Paper Nr: 19
Title:

Factors Favoring the International Positioning of Companies with a Registered Trademark in Colombia
Authors:

Campo E. López-Rodríguez, Gerson J. Cristancho-Triana, Rony A. Moscoso-Aldana and Greicy K. Martínez-Cruz
Abstract: The international positioning of brands is a relevant competitive advantage for organizations with a high market orientation. Therefore, this study used bivariate correlations through Spearman's Rho coefficient to identify the factors that favor international positioning in organizations that have a registered trademark in the city of Bogota, Colombia. According to the size of the companies, the factors are: the capacity to generate income through licenses of use, the cultural perceptions of the market around the brand and the existence of trademark registrations; with respect to the time in the market that these organizations have, the factors visualized are: the capacity to turn the brand into one of the most valuable assets of the organization, the power to increase market share and finally to obtain trust and support from the market towards the brand.
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Paper Nr: 22
Title:

Project Management Fractals: Position Paper for Curriculum Integration
Authors:

Ernest L. Owens Jr., Ameeta Jaiswal-Dale and Abby Bensen
Abstract: This position piece, based on 30 years of teaching, argues for incorporating the notion of fractals into project management education to create business-ready graduates who can tailor a project process method to the project. By looking at the project in smaller pieces (fractals) and the relationship between those pieces, practitioners can achieve a deeper understanding of the project without being overwhelmed by its complexity. Project management pairs well with fractals because of its interdisciplinary nature—the idea of fractals in project management incorporates application of numerous business disciplines, creating graduates who are comfortable with both theory and practice.
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Paper Nr: 17
Title:

Human Resource Training of Front Office Employees and Change Management in Hospitality Sector during Crisis
Authors:

Dimitrios Belias and Nikolaos Trihas
Abstract: Τhis paper examines the impact of human resources training of front office employees on their readiness to deal with the changes made from a crisis (Belias et al., 2021b), in this case of the Covid-19 crisis. Ιndeed, the literature review has indicated that the Covid-19 measures have resulted in a number of changes on the operation of hotels which brings the need to train the personnel so to learn and apply those changes. In addition to this, this research has proposed a research instrument. This is a combination of RCS (Readiness to Change Scale) with Mapelu & Jumah (2013)’s instrument of assessing the impact of training on hotels. Hence, it is proposed to use this instrument in a future research.
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