Abstract

Outsourcing ICT activities in the bank sector are subject to particular regulation and require even more prudence when it comes to topics of liability, privacy, auditing and compliance. The article wants to give an overview of the principles and law applicable to the outsourcing activities as well from the point of the consumer, of the financial institution as from a point of view of the service provider offering and executing the outsourcing.

Abstract

Post 1991 after the Indian government threw open the economy to Privaatization, Liberalization and Globalization, India has experienced a sea change in its economic and business front. A large number of investment opportunities have opened up for private and multinational players fostering a scenario of perfect competition never before witnessed on the Indian economic front. In order to realize the full potential of this changing investment scenario the policy makers of the country have time and again retuned and updated the foreign investment policy of the country especially the one to do with foreign direct investment. This article attempts to explore the various dimensions of the foreign policy initiatives adopted by the Government of India. Attempt has been understand the Foreign Direct Investment policy in its holistic sense and present its contribution to the growth of the country’s economy.

Abstract

The concept of assessing the return on investment of training and performance improvement programs is rapidly growing in prominence.  This is due in large part to competition for scarce organizational resources combined with pressure on managers to demonstrate positive returns on their organization’s invested capital.  This paper takes a descriptive approach to exploring the rationale for assessing return on investment of training and performance improvement programs, and summarizes various methods and considerations associated with such assessments.  Assessing the return on investment of training and performance improvement programs can help managers to identify the most cost effective options when selecting from a variety training and performance improvement alternatives, and can help organizations to justify and defend their training and performance improvement budgets.

Abstract

A tracking stock, also known as targeted stock or letter stock, is issued as a new class of common stock that represents the financial performance of a specific division or subsidiary of the parent company. General Motors pioneered the use of tracking stock with its acquisition of Electronic Data Systems in 1984 and Hughes Electronics in 1985. Between 1984 and 1998, over forty tracking stocks have been issued or have been under consideration. Since 1998 not only many companies have not issued tracking stocks but many parent companies have also withdrawn most of what they issued in prior years.  However, there is a renewed interest in using this tool.  EMC announced an IPO plan in February, 2007 for one of its division, VMware.

Prior studies have shown that public announcements of issuing tracking-stocks or spin-offs tend to increase the price of the parent company's stock by 2% to 3%. The study reported in this paper shows that there is an upward trend in excess returns starting 45 days before the announcement date and spiking on the announcement date. Over the period of 45 days preceding the announcement, the value of the portfolio goes up on average roughly by 5% over the market. There is almost a jump of 6% on the day of the announcement. Then, in the next 45 days after the announcement, most of the value is gone even though not all is lost - the portfolio still maintains approximately 2% gain over the market. However, as indicated by the hypothesis testing, the value is not statistically significant. This phenomenon - sustaining some value gain (2% for our portfolio) can be seen as an evidence of a value creation.

Abstract

This study examines the intention to use online banking among bank customers in the state of Penang, Malaysia. A research framework based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was used to explain the intention to do online banking. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit responses from 239 bank\ customers using a purposive sampling technique. The results reveal a good fit model with an R2 value of 0.454 which indicates that 45.4% of the variation of intention to use online banking can be explained by the three independent variables. Also it was found that attitude towards behavior; subjective norm and perceived behavioral control were all positively related to intention to use Internet banking. It was also observed that attitude was the most  important predictor of intention to use followed by subjective norms. This is not surprising as the positive attitude of a person towards the behavior will result in him/her actually carrying out the behavior. In an eastern culture like Malaysia, subjective norm, the opinion of those who are close or important also plays a big role in supporting behavior. Facilitating conditions also play a role although it is not the most important one; it facilitates the process of adoption of any particular behavior. Implications are provided to facilitate the increase in the uptake of this service.

Abstract

In this study, the importance of the board of directors is shown as internal mechanism of banks governance from its different roles and especially from specificities of governance of these institutes. This importance is also demonstrated in the case of Tunisian banks and the impact of board on their performance is estimated. Empirical validation concerning a panel constructed from 10 Tunisian commercial banks observed over 15 years from 1990 to 2004 watch that size of board, presence of outside and institutional directors and of representatives of the State as well as duality of direction influence positively the performance of these banks that it is market or accounting performance. On the other hand, presence of foreign directors and representatives of public establishments influences negatively this performance.