Future Commitments Research Articles

A multi-step mathematical model-based predictive strategy for software release timing during testing stage

Mathematically precise modeling is important to be established to accurately examine the quantitative relationship between software testing and software reliability. Software testing process is complex since it is concerned with various factors such as test case execution, defect debugging, tester expertise, test case selection, and so forth. For this reason, it is required to be meticulous in formulating the software testing process in a manner which is mathematically concise. The software release life cycle or sequential release timeline, referring to the process related to the development, testing and distribution of a software product comprises several critical stages, and the length of this particular life cycle reveals variations depending on different factors like the type of product, the intended use of it, industry security, general standards and compliance. One consideration software engineers have is related to the release date of the software so that future commitments about the software’s release time can be formulated beforehand. In view of these aspects, a multi-step strategy for predicting software release dates is proposed in the current study along with the following stages: firstly, the proposed technique selects the utmost reliability growth model that very well fits the observed test data halfway through the testing period, and then employs it to forecast the probable date of release. This technique entails approximating the unknown parameters of suitable Software Reliability Growth Models (SRGMs). Finally, the chosen SRGM is used to forecast the release date of the software under test by fitting it to available fault data. The proposed method is straightforward and applied to test on a total of ten actual datasets collected from the literature. The results of the proposed technique reveal that in the majority of the situations, nearly exact approximation of date of release can be made halfway through the testing period. Moreover, the proposed method’s performance is also compared to that of a number of previous strategies present in the literature. The outcomes obtained by our study demonstrate that the proposed strategy may be used to forecast the release date of software in practical situations.

Pandemic burden in low-income settings and impact of limited and delayed interventions: A granular modelling analysis of COVID-19 in Kabwe, Zambia

ObjectivesPandemic response in low-income countries (LICs) or settings often suffers from scarce epidemic surveillance and constrained mitigation capacity. The drivers of pandemic burden in such settings, and the impact of limited and delayed interventions remain poorly understood. MethodsWe analysed COVID-19 seroprevalence and all-cause excess deaths data from the peri-urban district of Kabwe, Zambia between March 2020 and September 2021 with a novel mathematical model. Data encompassed three consecutive waves caused by the wild-type, Beta and Delta variants. ResultsAcross all three waves, we estimated a high cumulative attack rate, with 78% (95% credible interval [CrI] 71-85) of the population infected, and a high all-cause excess mortality, at 402 (95% CrI 277-473) deaths per 100,000 people. Ambitiously improving health care to a capacity similar to that in high-income settings could have averted up to 46% (95% CrI 41-53) of accrued excess deaths, if implemented from June 2020 onward. An early and accelerated vaccination rollout could have achieved the highest reductions in deaths. Had vaccination started as in some high-income settings in December 2020 and with the same daily capacity (doses per 100 population), up to 68% (95% CrI 64-71) of accrued excess deaths could have been averted. Slower rollouts would have still averted 62% (95% CrI 58-68), 54% (95% CrI 49-61) or 26% (95% CrI 20-38) of excess deaths if matching the average vaccination capacity of upper-middle-, lower-middle- or LICs, respectively. ConclusionsRobust quantitative analyses of pandemic data are of pressing need to inform future global pandemic preparedness commitments.

Academic Benchmarking and the Provision of Quality Secondary Education in Tanzania

The study explored the use of academic benchmarking in the provision of quality education in Tanzania secondary schools. The study found that the ABM process plays a significant role in ensuring the provision of quality education through internal assessment, comparisons, and adoption of best practices from benchmarked schools. The findings disclosed that the secondary education system in Tanzania uses academic benchmarking to inform decision-making. Further, the findings disclose that six types of academic benchmarking are utilised in Tanzanian secondary schools. The study concludes that the academic benchmarking process enhances the provision of quality education since it affects future performance and commitments to work on the goals, vision and mission of secondary schools. Furthermore, academic benchmarking helps to make comparisons and sustain school performance.

Strategic planning, budget monitoring and growth optimism: evidence from Australian SMEs

PurposeGrowth optimism, which describes the expected future growth of a firm, is an important but underexplored construct in strategy. This paper aims to assess the planning antecedents of such growth optimism by using a large Australian sample of small enterprises.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a secondary data set, gathered among Australian small to medium enterprises (SMEs), by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The analysis adopts a regression approach including a mediated and a non-mediated path to explore the direct and indirect effects of strategic planning and budgetary planning and management on expected future revenues.FindingsThis paper assesses the implications of concurrent strategic planning and financial management dynamic capabilities on anticipated future revenue growth, an important predisposition dynamic capability. The authors note that this configuration of actions and predisposition aligns closely with the necessary requirements for growth. The findings suggest that firms that use strategic planning and robust budget planning and monitoring processes exhibit higher optimism about future sales growth and firms that effectively configure these planning activities with market development tend to exhibit higher growth and more growth optimism.Research limitations/implicationsIn terms of theoretical contributions, the paper strongly supports the formality view in the formal/informal debates associated with effectuation strategies. The authors suggest that appropriate strategic and budgetary planning and control systems act as a counterbalance to organisational confusion and managerial capriciousness, leading to improved confidence among managers and their employees regarding future resource commitments and plans.Practical implicationsThe findings of the paper are potentially important for both managers and policy makers. For managers seeking to grow their future sales, planning is shown to be an important antecedent activity. The presence of financial and strategic planning may predispose firms to make important investment decisions that drive future growth. Also, a better understanding of the firm’s current and future strategic and financial position may be evidence of effective firm management, a situation that, in turn, drives growth.Social implicationsIn terms of social and policy implications, the data gathered for the survey by the ABS forms a valuable collection of information in relation to business practices. Australian firms are required by law to regularly report budget plans and outcomes. The research suggests that this data can inform policy initiatives, particularly in relation to programmes that may assist small and young firms to undertake prospective strategic and budgetary planning.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to investigate the particular configuration of strategic and financial planning and anticipated sales growth in the SME context.

ФІНАНСОВЕ ПЛАНУВАННЯ ЯК ЕЛЕМЕНТ ОБГРУНТУВАННЯ ГОСПОДАРСЬКИХ РІШЕНЬ ЗА УМОВ НАЯВНОГО РИЗИКУ ТА ЗАСТОСУВАННЯ СТРАХУВАННЯ ЯК МЕТОДУ ЗНИЖЕННЯ СТУПЕНЯ РИЗИКУ

Financial planning is a key element in justifying business decisions in the face of risk. It is a systematic process of developing future financial commitments and goals based on an assessment of the current financial position and capabilities. The main goal of financial planning is to ensure optimal use of resources, maximize profitability and ensure financial stability. In times of crisis, financial planning becomes even more important as it allows businesses to adapt to changing conditions and make informed decisions to maintain financial stability.
 By analyzing the current state and forecasting financial flows, an enterprise can effectively respond to possible risks and influence its future. The use of insurance as a method of reducing the degree of risk is becoming an integral part of financial planning. By identifying potential threats and choosing appropriate insurance policies, a company ensures financial security against negative events. This helps to reduce financial losses in the event of unforeseen events, such as natural disasters or material damage.
 Research shows that financial planning plays a key role in making sound business decisions, especially in high-risk environments. They highlight the methods and tools of financial planning that allow businesses to adapt to changing conditions and effectively manage risks. They also emphasize the importance of insurance measures in mitigating various types of risk, from property loss to financial risks. These studies and publications provide a valuable contribution to the understanding of the relationship between financial planning and insurance, which helps enterprises to rationally address financial challenges and effectively manage risks.
 Thus, financial planning and the use of insurance together help enterprises to effectively manage risks and make sound business decisions.

Climate change and human rights: a review of international commitments and progress derived from the Paris Agreement in Central America 2015-2022

The article provides a general look at the thematic priorities, language, and concrete actions in the area of human rights that Central American countries have incorporated into public policies on climate change since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. For this, the article identifies and systematizes advances in the seven Central American countries between 2015 and 2022, favoring policies and commitments on climate action that respond to this international agreement, among these, nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). It is observed that, in a period of six years, the countries of the area expanded the contents and scopes of their first NDCs, resulting in concrete ambitious actions, goals and commitments for the protection of the human rights of populations in particular conditions of vulnerability. The multiple actions and future commitments in relation to the links between gender and climate change stand out, which occupy a preponderant place within the strategies and transversal axes of the NDCs, plans and other policies on climate change.

Time Is Not Money! Temporal Preferences for Time Investments and Entry into Entrepreneurship

Starting a business requires investing both money and time in the hope of future financial benefits. Because investments and potential gains happen over time, the way in which individuals value the future relative to the present—that is, their temporal preferences—may be an important driver behind the decision to become an entrepreneur. Whereas existing research examines temporal preferences for financial gains, we advance this research by theorizing about temporal preferences not only for money, but also for the future time commitments that entrepreneurship entails. Results from a laboratory-in-the-field study show that individuals who heavily discount future time investments are more likely to become entrepreneurs. In two follow-up studies, we confirm that recent start-up founders discount future time investments more than salaried workers. We also provide suggestive evidence of the mechanisms at play: recent start-up founders perceive the future differently than salaried workers, both viewing themselves as more agentic vis-à-vis the future and perceiving the future as more distant. We discuss the implications of temporal preferences—not only for money, but also for time—for understanding the behavioral drivers of entrepreneurship. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2023.1681 .

JOB CREATION LAW: HEALTHY INVESTMENT CLIMATE OR INJURED CLIMATE COMMITMENT?

To overcome the problem of overlapping regulations and complexities of investment in Indonesia, on 5th October 2020, the Jokowi government passed Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation (“Job Creation Law”), which is still a controversy to this day. This law has drawn broad criticism, particularly regarding the formal law-making and its problematic substances. Critics argue the legal drafting process is not in accordance with the characteristic of good law making aspired by the 1945 Constitution and Law Number 12 Year 2011 concerning the Establishment of Legislation (“Establishment of Legislation Law”). Noting that the academic text of this law does not address the importance of protecting forests and the environment, but only focuses on increasing economic development and investment. The public is faced with a dilemma of trust whether there is a trade between economic growth and environmental sustainability that is hidden by the government. The pro-deforestation articles in this law generate fundamental changes in the framework of protecting Indonesia's environment which it is feared could open the door to massive deforestation and have a global impact on violating Indonesia's climate commitment under Paris Agreement. Through this writing, the author questions the consistency of the Indonesian government in carrying out its climate commitments to prevent future deforestation. The authors will identify weakening instruments for environmental protection and forest management under the Job Creation Law as well as their impact to environmental protection efforts and Indonesia's future climate commitments. At the end of this study, the author found that due to weakening of forest and environmental protection instruments, Indonesia risks failing to meet its climate commitments targeted in the first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to reduce deforestation to below 3.25 million hectares by 2030 or a maximum of 325,000 hectares / year during 2020 to 2030 either on their own or with international assistance.

Civic mindedness and pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their future selves

This study examined the relationship among pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) values, certification area of choice and perceptions of future career commitments and aspirations. Values were measured through the personal utility value items on the FIT-Choice scale and what we are calling ‘civic mindedness’, a construct we validated as part of this study. Results from a structural equation model allowed us to confirm our three hypotheses: (1) the civic mindedness variable is a valid construct; (2) civic mindedness positively predicts future career commitments and aspirations; and (3) civic mindedness mediated the relationship among certain PSTs’ certification choices and their future career commitments and aspirations, except their perceptions of how long they plan to persist in the field. Findings from this study suggest that teacher education programmes should consider assessing PSTs’ level of civic mindedness, emphasizing PSTs’ future commitments and aspirations in the field.

Understanding the Use of Carbon Credits by Companies: A Review of the Defining Elements of Corporate Climate Claims.

Worldwide, companies are increasingly making claims about their current climate efforts and their future mitigation commitments. These claims tend to be underpinned by carbon credits issued in voluntary carbon markets to offset emissions. Corporate climate claims are largely unregulated which means that they are often (perceived to be) misleading and deceptive. As such, corporate climate claims risk undermining, rather than contributing to, global climate mitigation. This paper takes as its point of departure the proposition that a better understanding of corporate climate claims is needed to govern such claims in a manner that adequately addresses potential greenwashing risks. To that end, the paper reviews the nascent literature on corporate climate claims relying on the use of voluntary carbon credits. Drawing on the reviewed literature, three key dimensions of corporate climate claims as related to carbon credits are discussed: 1) the intended use of carbon credits: offsetting versus non-offsetting claims; 2) the framing and meaning of headline terms: net-zero versus carbon neutral claims; and 3) the status of the claim: future aspirational commitments versus stated achievements. The paper thereby offers a preliminary categorization of corporate climate claims and discusses risks associated with and governance implications for each of these categories.

The Legacy of Paul Farmer for Theological Ethics

Reflecting on the legacy of Paul Farmer one notices, first, how who he was and what he did with others to promote health, locally and globally, manifest the importance of a committed theological approach and, at the same time, how such an approach contributed to promote the agenda of global public health. Second, looking at the past (at him and his work) inspires and informs our present and future commitments to foster global public health with the contributions of a theological ethics shaped by a strong social agenda.

I'll Tell You Tomorrow: Committing to Future Commitments

I'll Tell You Tomorrow: Committing to Future Commitments

External Stakeholders and Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Disclosure: Review and Conceptual Model

ESG is widely used by both the investment community and non-investor corporate stakeholders as a shorthand for environmental, social, and governance issues that affect corporate behaviour and the ability of a company to create long-term value for their stakeholders. By early 2020, over 80 countries have introduced sustainability reporting instruments that either mandate or encourage corporate organisations to disclose their current and future ESG commitments (Lugt & Wijs, 2020). However, recent literature revealed that mandatory disclosure affects an organisation's propensity to file an ESG report but does not increase the average quality of filed reports (Krueger et al., 2021). This implies that new approaches are needed to encourage quality reporting, specifically among those companies that have yet to publish any quantitative data. Against this backdrop, policy makers are urged to leverage on the distinctive contextual pressure exerted by external stakeholders to induce corporate organisations to commit towards greater sustainability practices, However, there is a dearth of empirical studies that examine the influence of external stakeholders on corporate ESG disclosure over time. Despite consensus were established in the extant literature as to which stakeholders are influential on ESG disclosure, their influences are ambiguous, context-dependent and vary over time depending on the issues considered (Yunus et al., 2019). Keywords: ESG, Sustainability Reporting, Stakeholders

“Sustaining Real Estate Sector through Technological Interventions: Purchase Intention of Residential Apartment Buyers”

Abstract Technology is being widely adopted in Construction and Real Estate sector these days. Pandemic has made technology exigent in every walk of life and Real Estate sector is no exception to this paradigm. However, it must also be noted that technology is becoming a ubiquitous savior and an important tool for sustainability of enterprises. Real Estate has been a barometer for measuring progress of economy and its central theme of debate. If economy has to improve, much depends on revival of Real Estate Sector in general and retail purchase such as residential apartments in specific. Retails purchases have literally come to a halt due to various reasons such as frequent lock downs, non-movements, lack of confidence and absence of trust in future commitments. In this context, sustainability of this sector has been made possible by adoption of cutting edge technologies. In this paper the technologies are reviewed and how each brand is able to use technologies to better their marketing and sales efforts. The paper will also be able to convincingly illustrate technologies that could be used by companies that are smaller and medium scale in size, so that sustainability does not restrict itself to Tier I cities, but also revisits Tier II cities which are emerging markets.

A Global Strategy for Eliminating Cervical Cancer: Challenges and Opportunities

Striving to be focused and concrete, Silvia de Sanjosé offers a specific example to inform present and future commitments in the ongoing cancer pandemic by articulating a global strategy for eliminating cervical cancer. Cervical cancer, which is preventable, is a global public health problem. It is the fourth most common cancer, with over 600.000 new cases diagnosed every year and it is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide. Most of these cancer cases occur in low-resource settings where women are not screened regularly. While highlighting these ongoing challenges, the author stresses the existing opportunities for prevention, screening, and vaccination.

Oh, We Got Beef?!

There is a bevy of scholarship that suggests that research can be strengthened through community–academic partnerships and that such partnerships are inherently mutually beneficial. However, there are competing cultures of community-based organizations and academic institutions, oftentimes with different stakes, timelines, constituents, and sites of knowledge making and knowledge production. The COVID-19 pandemic and its “afterlives” made hyper-visible the miscommunications, misunderstandings, and misalignment of a grant-funded community partnership in which we were engaged. In this article, we employ collaborative autoethnographic and poetic inquiry approaches to theorize “beef”—a Black cultural understanding of mis/understandings, problems, arguments, fights, and so on. While we will work toward offering our reflections in this piece for our future commitments to the field as “community-accountable scholars,” we also center a transparency and vulnerability about our dis/comfort and about the actual ruptures that did and can happen in partnerships.

Cash for Calls: A Quantitative Approach to Managing Liquidity for Capital Calls

1. Jerome Schneider 1. is head of short-term portfolio management and funding at PIMCO in Newport Beach, CA. (jerome.schneider{at}pimco.com) 2. Sean Klein 1. is an executive vice president on the client solutions and analytics team at PIMCO in Newport Beach, CA. (sean.klein{at}pimco.com) 3. Wade Sias 1. is a vice president and strategist at PIMCO in Newport Beach, CA. (wade.sias{at}pimco.com) 4. Simon Fan 1. is a vice president and data scientist at PIMCO in Newport Beach, CA. (simon.fan{at}pimco.com) Investors in private assets typically must commit their funds to an asset manager. It is only after those funds are called at some unknown later date that investors receive exposure to the desired assets. We review data on calls and distributions for private equity and private debt funds over the past 30 years. We characterize the speed of calls and distributions for each asset, the impact the call speed (or lack thereof) has on investors’ realized return on their committed capital, and the extent to which this call risk can be diversified across managers. Finally, we use the historical call data to illustrate “liquidity tiering,” an asset allocation strategy that helps investors manage against their future commitments.

Host States’ Counterclaims on Human Rights in Practical Investment Arbitration

This paper analyzes the potential hindrance to the positive results of counterclaims on human rights protection in the practical investment arbitration, then evaluates whether ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement and other treaties with investment provisions would be acceptable legal grounds to enable such counterclaims. This paper argues that to ensure more sustainable investment, future investment treaties should directly provide explicit states’ rights to make counterclaims on human rights protection. As such, these explicit provisions will create better legal grounds for host state to defend their legitimate rights on protecting human right, guarantee the predictability, and avoid the inconsistent interpretation or the reluctance of tribunals. This paper will delve in four substantial issues, including: (i) overview on counterclaims in international investment disputes; (ii) international and municipal regulations on human right protection in investment activities; (iii) host states’ counterclaims on protection of human rights in practical investment arbitration; (iv) control future commitments on states’ counterclaims on human rights.

The Implications of Strategic Inventory for Short-Term vs. Long-Term Supply Contracts in Nonexclusive Reselling Environments

Problem definition: Although it is well known that a reseller’s ability to hold strategic inventory under a short-term supply contract can potentially benefit both the reseller and a supplier, existing research on strategic inventory focuses almost exclusively on exclusive reselling environments. However, in practice, multiple suppliers often sell to the same nonexclusive reseller, and it is not uncommon for suppliers to ask for future commitments to order quantities from resellers in return for their own commitment to wholesale prices. We investigate how the possibility of strategic inventory influences competing suppliers’ choices between short-term transactional and long-term commitment contracts to a nonexclusive reseller. Methodology/results: Using a game-theoretic model, we consider the interactions between two partially substitutable suppliers and a single, nonexclusive reseller over a two-period horizon in which demand is deterministic. We demonstrate that in nonexclusive reselling environments, where more than one supplier sells its product through the same reseller, the use of strategic inventory under short-term contracts intensifies the price competition between suppliers. We show how this effect can be mitigated when one or both suppliers offer a long-term contract. Moreover, we show that long-term contracts can arise as an equilibrium outcome, particularly when products are more substitutable or holding costs are large. Managerial implications: By considering the interactions between two partially substitutable suppliers and a nonexclusive reseller in a multiperiod setting, we contribute to the literature on strategic contracting and long versus short-term contracts. Our research provides managers with a new explanation, beyond the need to encourage idiosyncratic investments or eliminate the possibility of hold-up, for why long-term contracts may benefit suppliers in practice, who face competition while selling through a nonexclusive reseller.

Global warming in the minds of Mexican higher education students: an exploratory study

Global warming in the minds of Mexican higher education students: an exploratory study