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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the accounting curriculum fits business demand. More specifically, it determines competencies that Greek companies demand from higher education[1] graduates and addresses any mismatches between the market's needs and the academic accounting/business curriculum through a survey in Greece. Design/methodology/approach -Using a survey to reveal their perceptions' differences, the sample included 166 students, 25 lecturers/professors from a department of Accounting and Finance (Higher Education) and 155 companies. Findings -The results provide evidence that all these groups have different perceptions of the curriculum. Practical implications -The study suggests ways to improve the academic accounting curriculum. Originality/value -To the best of the authors knowledge, there is not any previous study that examines these parameters in Greece.

Purpose-The purpose of the paper is to examine and analyze the alignment between (information technology) IT, strategic orientation (SO) and organizational structure (OS) and their impact on firm performance (FP). Design/methodology/approach-A theoretical framework is proposed regarding the constructs of IT, SO and OS. A model incorporating these three constructs is examined and their impact on FP is assessed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The sample data from 295 firms were obtained through structured questionnaires. Findings-The results of the SEM support the hypothesis that the alignment between IT, SO and OS significantly affects FP. Research limitations/implications-Non-financial and intangible performance measurements are not included and the sample is not homogeneous. Practical implications-This study suggests that managers should choose the appropriate level and type of IT, depending on a firm's structure and SO, in order to benefit from the advantages of IT usage and achieve higher performance levels. Originality/value-This study presents an overview of the impact of SO, OS and IT on FP, and that shows that there is scope for further research into the inter-organizational relationships that exist between them.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether, and to what extent, specific personality traits drive investors’ trading behaviour. Design/methodology/approach This study investigates these assumptions in an innovative way by employing an integrated model and using structural equation modelling analysis to examine them simultaneously as they would occur in the complex real world environment. Findings The results provide strong evidence that these personality traits influence investors’ trading behaviour and stock trading performance. The most powerful relationships are found to be those between over-confidence and stock trading volume, frequency and performance. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge there is no any similar study. This paper is the authors’ original unpublished work and it has not been submitted to any other journal for reviews.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of investors’ emotional state (mood) on their trading behaviour and performance. Design/methodology/approach – A sample from a representative survey of 328 Greek individual investors has been used to empirically test the validity of the proposed associations. An iterative data collection process was followed, where individual investors had to complete a questionnaire every time they were trading in the Athens Stock Exchange, for a period of ten months. Exploratory factor analysis was first used to analyse the data set, followed by cluster analysis (to identify investor profiles based on differences in their mood). Findings – Two clusters have been identified. The first cluster profile includes investors with high score of positive mood (thus, high energetic arousal and hedonic tone, low tense arousal and anger frustration), while the second profile consists of investors with negative mood (low energetic arousal and hedonic tone, high tense arousal and anger frustration). The comparison between the two profiles has shown that investors with positive mood achieve higher stock returns than investors with negative mood. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge there is no other similar study.

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This study attempts to group investors (individuals and professionals) into different segments based on their level of overconfidence (as a psychological bias) and, then, to examine whether, and to what extent, specific personality trait drive investors' trading behaviour. This study performing a cluster analysis, and using a representative survey of 345 investors in Greece, identified two main segments of investors: Overconfident investors and Underconfident investors. A comparative analysis between these two segments identified some differences in the trading behaviour of investors, depending on the segment they belong to. Moreover, a statistical association between investors' clusters and various demographic, socioeconomic characteristics and trading behaviour is also found.