Abstract Privacy has long been defined as the right of a person to be left alone and to be able to have control over the flow and disclosure of information about him- or herself (Warren and Brandeis, 1890). Worries about privacy are not new, although businesses have gathered information about their customers for years. However, privacy issues often come about because of new information technologies that have improved the collection, storage, use, and sharing of personal information.
This research empirically tests the rationale of corporate downsizing of employees as a cost reduction strategy on the long‐run profitability of a corporation. The sample for this study consisted of 185 large publicly‐held US‐based corporations which announced their intentions to downsize during the period 1990‐1992. Over the subsequent ten‐year period (1992‐2001) their returns on investment were obtained and the empirical relationship between downsizing and long‐run profitability was determined. Whether organizations that undergo this type of change appear to be better off than they were before they implemented the process was the focus of this study. The study ascertained that downsizing does not appear to be in the best long‐term interest of the corporation, its employees, or its shareholders, and that the massive job cuts did not lead to strong sustained gains in the price of the stock. Many organizational benefits fail to develop as expected and the benefits are elusive. The findings of this study suggest downsizing does not engender a long‐run productivity gain and it fails as a method to boost shareholder value.
The authors of this unique volume provide a timely and valuable perspective on how technology and the Internet revolution are changing business and spurring development across the world, especially in emerging countries. Utilizing a framework grounded in rigorous theory, they provide a fine-grained understanding of electronic commerce adoption processes by public and private sector entities in developing countries. In so doing, they consider how each exchange encounter is shaped by, and in turn shapes, relational characteristics that form the basis for growth and development.
Purpose The lack of trust in online transactions is one of the main reasons for the relatively low electronic commerce adoption, especially in developing and emerging economies such as those of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Design/methodology/approach The author conducts a content analysis of the privacy policies and security mechanisms of a sample of companies from the six countries of the GCC which are engaged in electronic commerce transactions. Findings It is found that a large percentage of sites with privacy statements address the issue of notice and awareness, while none of the sites has a provision to inform users in case of any complaint, as to whom they should address their complaint, what is the arbitration and settlement methods, who is the enforcement body and finally what are the penalties and sanctions applicable. Originality/value The paper has a number of value adding characteristics; first, it attacks a subject that has been close to being ignored in the literature, that is the issue of electronic commerce in developing economies; second, the paper is unique in that it addresses the use of electronic commerce in the six countries of the GCC (the author knows of no other study done on the region); and, third, the paper concludes with a set of recommendations to policy makers in the GCC, to help them increase consumer trust in online transactions and increase the rat of electronic commerce diffusion in their economies.
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