Topic Review
Over-the-Counter
Over-the-counter (OTC) or off-exchange trading or pink sheet trading is done directly between two parties, without the supervision of an exchange. It is contrasted with exchange trading, which occurs via exchanges. A stock exchange has the benefit of facilitating liquidity, providing transparency, and maintaining the current market price. In an OTC trade, the price is not necessarily publicly disclosed. OTC trading, as well as exchange trading, occurs with commodities, financial instruments (including stocks), and derivatives of such products. Products traded on the exchange must be well standardized. This means that exchanged deliverables match a narrow range of quantity, quality, and identity which is defined by the exchange and identical to all transactions of that product. This is necessary for there to be transparency in trading. The OTC market does not have this limitation. They may agree on an unusual quantity, for example. In OTC, market contracts are bilateral (i.e. the contract is only between two parties), and each party could have credit risk concerns with respect to the other party. The OTC derivative market is significant in some asset classes: interest rate, foreign exchange, stocks, and commodities. In 2008 approximately 16 percent of all U.S. stock trades were "off-exchange trading"; by April 2014 that number increased to about 40 percent. Although the notional amount outstanding of OTC derivatives in late 2012 had declined 3.3% over the previous year, the volume of cleared transactions at the end of 2012 totalled US$346.4 trillion. "The Bank for International Settlements statistics on OTC derivatives markets showed that notional amounts outstanding totalled $693 trillion at the end of June 2013... The gross market value of OTC derivatives – that is, the cost of replacing all outstanding contracts at current market prices – declined between end-2012 and end-June 2013, from $25 trillion to $20 trillion."
  • 674
  • 08 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Outward Foreign Direct Investment on Green Innovation Heterogeneity
In the current era of increasingly frequent international exchanges and countries’ increasing emphasis on green development, exploring the complex relationship between outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) and green innovation has become an important research topic. Taking the binary innovation perspective as an entry point, this research is devoted to exploring the heterogeneous impact and dynamic evolution of OFDI on green innovation since China’s accession to the WTO.
  • 234
  • 25 May 2023
Topic Review
Outsourcing of human resources
The outsourcing of human resources has increased in recent years. As in other fields of management research, limited knowledge is available on outsourcing in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The aim of this paper is to present a study on the outsourcing of human resources in Icelandic service SMEs in the period 2009–2018. Surveys were used to gather information on outsourcing, with the participation of 802 firms. The results show that three out of four firms have outsourced some activities, while only 21% have formulated a formal strategy for outsourcing. The main motives for outsourcing are accessing expertise and simplifying operations. Cost reduction comes in third place. SMEs tend to outsource human resources on a very limited scale, while 50% of firms outsource information technology and 39% outsource security services. Larger firms outsource human resources on a larger scale than smaller firms. Managers in companies that outsource human resources are more satisfied with many aspects of outsourcing compared to those managers who do not outsource those resources. Firms that outsource human resources also realise more actual cost reduction. Outsourcing in SMEs has little impact on employment, as 3% of firms lay off staff and 6% transfer staff to vendors. Larger firms and firms that outsource human resources are more likely to change their staff’s employment status after outsourcing.
  • 409
  • 26 May 2021
Topic Review
Outcome-Based Education
Outcome-based education or outcomes-based education (OBE) is an educational theory that bases each part of an educational system around goals (outcomes). By the end of the educational experience, each student should have achieved the goal. There is no single specified style of teaching or assessment in OBE; instead, classes, opportunities, and assessments should all help students achieve the specified outcomes. The role of the faculty adapts into instructor, trainer, facilitator, and/or mentor based on the outcomes targeted. Outcome-based methods have been adopted in education systems around the world, at multiple levels. Australia and South Africa adopted OBE policies from the 1990s to the mid 2000s, but were abandoned in the face of substantial community opposition. The United States has had an OBE program in place since 1994 that has been adapted over the years. In 2005, Hong Kong adopted an outcome-based approach for its universities. Malaysia implemented OBE in all of their public schools systems in 2008. The European Union has proposed an education shift to focus on outcomes, across the EU. In an international effort to accept OBE, The Washington Accord was created in 1989; it is an agreement to accept undergraduate engineering degrees that were obtained using OBE methods. As of 2017, the full signatories are Australia, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, China and the United States.
  • 1.4K
  • 01 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Originating Sources of Complexity
Complexity is born under the wing of the social sciences, promoting the transposition of some contents of biology and natural sciences to the social sciences and behavior of humans. The sources of complexity are diverse and often divergent some coming from immaterial and subjective sources, such as those of the human mind, which implies appreciating behaviors and individual behaviors, for example, of men and women, and of groups that affect the global system, to which other sources that derive from the rise and fall of technologies that are expected to generate progress and social development.
  • 344
  • 09 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Organizational Self-Management
Organizational Self-management, also referred to as Workers' Self-management, Labor Management and Autogestión (see also workers' control, industrial democracy, democratic management and worker cooperative), is a form of organizational management based on self-directed work processes on the part of an organization's workforce. Self-management is a characteristic of many forms of socialism, with proposals for Self-management having appeared many times throughout the history of the socialist movement, advocated variously by libertarian and market socialists, communists and anarchists. There are many variations of Self-management. In some variants, all the worker-members manage the enterprise directly through assemblies while in other forms workers exercise management functions indirectly through the election of specialist managers. Self-management may include worker supervision and oversight of an organization by elected bodies, the election of specialized managers, or self-directed management without any specialized managers as such. The goals of self-management are to improve performance by granting workers greater autonomy in their day-to-day operations, boosting morale, reducing alienation and eliminating exploitation when paired with employee ownership. An enterprise that is self-managed is referred to as a labour-managed firm. Self-management refers to control rights within a productive organization, being distinct from the questions of ownership and what economic system the organization operates under. Self-management of an organization may coincide with employee ownership of that organization, but Self-management can also exist in the context of organizations under public ownership and to a limited extent within private companies in the form of co-determination and worker representation on the board of directors.
  • 637
  • 09 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Organizational Resilience in Prisons and Police Forces
The concept of organizational resilience (OR) is based on a common perception of the meaning of resilience, illustrated by its Latin etymology resiliere, ‘to bounce back’.
  • 111
  • 27 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Organizational Orientations
Organizational orientation is defined as an individual's predisposition toward work, motivation to work, job satisfaction, and ways of dealing with peers, subordinates, and supervisors on the job (Papa 2008). It can also be referred to the different ways people approach their roles in an organization and the different approaches people have toward work and the place of work in their lives (organizational orientations). Three organizational orientations have been identified as: upward mobile, indifferent, and ambivalent (Goodboy 2007). These three types of orientations are associated with organizational communication behavior and organizational outcomes such as employee job satisfaction and motivation. Presthus believed that these orientations results in employees having different orientations toward work itself, motivation to work, and job satisfaction (McCroskey 1998). These orientations are also believed to be traits, people will have these orientations regardless of the organization they are working for.
  • 610
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Organizational Environment
The organizational environment is the set of forces surrounding an organization. These forces may hamper or facilitate the organization’s access to resources, which means they can both offer opportunities and pose threats. Moreover, while these resources are valuable for the organization, they are also scarce (Riggio, 2018). The forces encompassed by the concept of the organizational environment include, among others, competition between rivals to retain customers, fast-paced changed in technology, and an increase in the price of raw materials. All these factors may somehow erode an organization’s competitive advantage. Consequently, the forces at play in the environment can influence the organization’s behavior (Truxillo, Bauer & Erdogan, 2016). 
  • 47.3K
  • 02 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Organizational Culture and Educational Institutions' Well-Being in Jordan
Organizational culture refers to shared values, beliefs, behaviors, and practices within an organization, while well-being refers to the overall health, happiness, and satisfaction of employees and the organization’s ability to achieve its goals.
  • 250
  • 18 Dec 2023
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