Business Commons^™

Introduction To International Business, Rajaram Veliyath

KSU Distinguished Course Repository

An introduction to the global business environment, this course examines the discrete and interactive effects of the geographic, historical, sociocultural, political/legal, economic and technological forces that shape business activities across borders and their consequences.

Factors Influencing The Retention Of Millennial Software Developers In South African Companies, Kim Fouche, Maureen Tanner

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

South Africa has an Information Technology skills shortage leading to high turnover of Information Technology professionals. Not only do companies face significant costs in replacing software developers, but high mobility also affects staff morale. Millennials are known to be more loyal to their own needs and do not tend to stay at companies for long, increasing the complexities of retention. This study explores the factors that influence the retention of millennial software developers in South African companies. The qualitative study was carried out using online semi-structured interviews. The study found that work environment, lifestyle, and management style, play a key …

Emotional Intelligence Training And Professional Salespeople, Tracey Honeycutt Sigler, Charles D. Shepherd Ph.D

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Emotional intelligence (EI) has long been considered a significant success factor, especcially in careers like personal selling that involve considerable social. contact (Goldman, 1995). As a result, a series of studies have investigated the link between EI and sales performance. The results of these studies indicates that EI can positively impact sales performanace. As a result, researchers (Deeter-Schmelz & Sojka, 2003) have called for its integration into sales training programs. However, to this point, no research has established an effective approach to EI training in sales. This study begins to rectify that shortcoming by indentifying best practices in general EI …

The Need For Police Reform, Desiree Bevineau

Emerging Writers

Law enforcement agencies are in desperate need for reform to prevent further damage to the land of the free and home of the brave. The media, newspapers and articles portray the merciless treatment of civilians by police officers. Numerous innocent individuals, specifically the ethnic community, fall prey to police violence. This article examines the history of the lack of police training and proposes solutions for how police can be trained to better serve the community.

"Should Employees Come Back To The Office?": The Effectiveness Of Eliminating Remote Working Policies For Diverse Virtual Teams, Yeju Choi

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

Recently, some corporations, such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Yahoo!, decided to end their remote working policies. While this policy change caused major tension and disruption within, organizations still trumpeted this change, arguing that it would improve collaboration and communication. In order to resolve the potential conflict, this study assessed the effectiveness of their recently changed practice, the elimination of remote working policies. The review of literature, however, determined that this decision did not have enough scholarly-based support due to limitations of the current literature, such as a lack of agreement in conceptualizing virtuality, lack of studies that perceived virtuality in …

Can Algorithms Reduce Unconscious Bias In The It Hiring Process?, Lynette Kvasny Yarger, Fay Cobb Payton

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Turnover Intentions Among South African It Professionals: Gender, Ethnicity And The Influence Of Pay Satisfaction, Rennie Naidoo

The African Journal of Information Systems

The South African ICT industry is struggling with high turnover despite the relatively high remuneration packages it offers to its gender and racially diverse IT professionals. This study explored pay satisfaction levels and its relationship with job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions. Survey responses from 158 IT professionals were subjected to descriptive, correlation and regression analysis. The results show that, irrespective of gender or race, employees generally have low pay satisfaction, low organizational commitment, and only moderate job satisfaction levels. However, black ethnic groups did show a difference in their appraisals of pay satisfaction, expressing slightly lower pay satisfaction …

Reflecting On Performance Feedback: The Effect Of Counterfactual Thinking On Subsequent Leader Performance, Kelly R. Hall

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

Performance feedback is an integral aspect of facilitating employee learning. Despite its importance, research suggests that when that feedback conveys a performance discrepancy, subsequent performance does not improve. Researchers have advanced reflection as a strategy for increasing feedback effectiveness and have established its value for learning and performance improvement. However, these studies have not accounted for the effects of specific types of reflection on performance. To this point, the current research examines the role of one form of reflection, counterfactual thinking, for learning after performance discrepancies. I explored boundary conditions that might influence self-focused upward counterfactual thinking—a form of reflection …

Who Is Making Lifestyle Changes Due To Preventive Health Care Information? A 10 Year Comparison Study, Joseph D. Cangelosi Jr., David Kim, Edward Ranelli

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

This paper sought to describe from a set of 6 demographic and 13 lifestyle change variables the person who is significantly and positively impacted by preventive health care information (PHCI). Based on past research, six hypotheses were developed. Three of the six hypotheses were accepted. In addition, there were significant relationships for each of the six demographic variables with at least one of the lifestyle change variables. Those who are seeking and are positively impacted by PHCI are better educated, female, and (depending upon the lifestyle change variable in question) fall into a definite age category. There is partial support …

A Game Theory Analysis Of Team Based Incentivization In Retailing, Don Shemwell

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

The connection between incentives and outcomes has long found consistent support in management literature generally (Bartol and Hagmann 1992; Miller & Schuster 1993; Swinehart 1986) and retailing in particular (Banker et al. 1996; Team Pay Case Studies 1997). Later meta-studies strongly support this view. (Condly, Noe and Jackson 2002; Garbers and Konradt 2014). Yet, providing performance-based incentives, at least for rank and file retail employees, still is not common in U.S. retailing and team-based incentives are even rarer.

The next section of this manuscript describes some of the issues with individualized commissions, which though not prevalent in a many product …

Using Incentive To Motivate Students During A Professional Selling Class Project, Ramon A. Avila, Scott. A. Inks

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

Experiential learning methods are an important part of a robust sales curriculum. Sales call role-play, an experiential learning tool, is common in introductory and advanced sales call courses. While role-plays have several advantages, they are by definition, not “real-world.” Addressing this issue, some sales courses include sales projects/exercises in which students sell real products to real customers. This paper discusses how sales incentives were incorporated into a real-world sales exercise and the impact of those incentives on sales volume.

Market Oriented Organizations And Talent Workers: Composition Of The Workforce And Its Influence On Market Orientation, Dawn Mueller, Pradeep Gopalakrishna

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

Many organizations employ marketing initiatives to “assist” in launching new efforts to both internal and external audiences and weave marketing throughout as part of being “market oriented.” The primary motivation behind a market orientation is improvement of market performance, according to the literature (Narver and Slater, 1990; Kohli and Jaworski 1990).

There is literature on workforce composition and different types of workers and this includes concepts of talent workers and knowledge workers (Chowdhury 2003) and HEROes (Bernoff and Schadler 2010) but there is little to nothing on the type of workers employed by highly market-oriented organizations. …

Do Our Graduates Know What Companies Are Seeking In An Employee, And, Perhaps More Importantly, Do We?, Michael A. Jones, George Stone, April Kemp

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

University marketing faculty teach and embrace a concept referred to as the Marketing Concept, which places an emphasis on customer needs as a central focus in managing the marketing effort. Understanding customer needs through marketing research is thus essential to the process. If college marketing programs are to prepare students for their customers, the companies that hiring these students, the question then follows: do college marketing faculty and college marketing graduates know what qualities employers are seeking? This exploratory study reports the results of a survey of employers who were attending a Career Fair at a Southeastern US state …

The Dos And Don'ts Of Teaching Online: Practical Advice And Suggestions For Teaching Online, Anita Whiting

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

Many colleges and universities are focusing heavily on online learning (Holzweiss, Joyner, Fuller, Henderson, & Young 2014). Over sixty-six percent of higher education institutions report that online learning is an important part of their long term strategy (Allen & Seaman, 2014). Over seven million students took online courses at higher education institutions in 2012 (Baran & Correia 2014).

Demand for online classes is growing. Students are expecting more online teaching and universities are requesting that more classes be taught online. According to Hart (2014), online teaching has become almost expected at most universities.

Greening An Integrated Marketing Communication's Course: An Assessment Of Sustainability Literacy, Pia A. Albinsson, G. David Shows

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

This article showcases efforts of incorporating Sustainability Issues in an Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) class during three semesters during the academic years of 2013/2014 and 2014/2015. The course was re-designed using Fink’s (2013) course recommendations of designing significant learning goals. In addition to the way the course was delivered (both face-to-face and online), the instructor worked with a Higher Ed publisher to customize a textbook to include sustainability issues related to the course content (i.e., reflecting IMC topics). The course re-design included sustainability assignments such as Virtual Field Trips (visiting corporate websites and other organizations to study their CSR statements …

The Staff Is More Important Than The Price: A Study Of The Consumer Loyalty Model In A Coffee Shop In Korea, Mikyoung Ha, Ji Young Jung, Hyo Jin Eom

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

The market of a coffee shop has matured and competition among coffee shops has gotten fierce in Asia. In Korea, the number of take-out coffee shops has increased by 21.6% per year since Starbucks launched in 1999. Sustaining customer loyalty has been regarded as an effective strategy for the profitability enhancement of companies in the maturity stage. Since loyalty has been defined in both behavioral and attitudinal perspective, attitudinal loyalty was measured by repurchase intention of each brand and behavior loyalty was measured by repurchase behaviors (Olsen, 2002; Yi & La, 2004). This study aims to analyze both attitudinal and …

Best Practices For Hiring Academic Librarians With Faculty Status And Rank, Christopher Shaffer

The Southeastern Librarian

When library school students graduate, their primary goal frequently is to find a job; they may have a preference for a position as a public librarian, academic librarian, or school media specialist, but most important is finding gainful employment in order to put food on the table. The person responsible for hiring academic librarians must attempt to discern, based on a résumé and a relatively brief personal interview whether a candidate is capable of performing the basic tasks of being a librarian, interacting with faculty, guiding students, and performing their duties as a member of the academy. To make the …

Speaking Up: A Conceptual Model Of Voice Responses Following The Unfair Treatment Of Others In Non-Union Settings, Caren B. Goldberg, Mark A. Clark, Amy B. Henley

Faculty and Research Publications

Bridging the literature of procedural justice, social identification, and voice, we present a conceptual model of observers' voice responses to injustices perpetrated on coworkers. Based on social identity theory, we contend that similarity to the target of injustice influences observer identification with the target, as moderated by the observer's scope of justice, which then influences the observer's perceptions of injustice and decision to express voice. Additionally, we posit that the link between observers' perceptions of injustice and expressed voice is moderated by the observer's perceived opportunity to express voice. Finally, we propose that the decision to express voice individually or …

Teaching The Art And Craft Of Giving And Receiving Feedback, Patricia L. Harms, Deborah Britt Roebuck

Faculty and Research Publications

The article examines the teaching of business communication related to feedback, or the performance evaluation of employees and executives. The importance of feedback in both management and among teams in the workplace is considered. Models of performance evaluations are discussed. Teaching methods for discussing feedback in business communication courses are considered, with specific class assignments related to performance evaluation and evaluation among teams in the workplace are described. Reactions of students to these teaching methods are discussed.

Job Seeking In An Academic Environment: A Dual Perspective, Claudene Sproles, Robert Detmering

The Southeastern Librarian

Libraries, unfortunately, are not immune to the current economic climate, which translates not only into budget cuts, but also into fewer vacant positions being posted and filled. Library school graduates entering the profession not only are forced to compete for fewer jobs, but face stiff competition from other applicants with previous professional experience. In the current economy, many applicants in various stages of their careers are competing for the few entry-level positions available. Furthermore, applicants seeking tenure-track positions in college and university libraries often confront challenges that are unique to the academic environment.

In this essay, the Chair of the …

Who Are We Hiring? Characteristics Of Entrants To The Profession, Heather M. Hermanson, Mary C. Hill, Susan H. Ivancevich

Faculty and Research Publications

Presents the results of a survey among auditors hired by a large international accounting firm in the U.S. as of 2002. Demographic characteristics of new hires; Factors important to new hires in selecting their employer; Initial job expectations of new hires.

Differences Between Stayers And Leavers Among Part-Time Workers, Kevin W. Sightler, Janet S. Adams

Faculty and Research Publications

Some 23 million US workers are employed part-time, presenting significant challenges to the practicing manager. Successfully managing turnover has both operational and strategic consequences for an organization. However, very little is known about the turnover of part-time employees. In this exploratory study, a discriminant analysis is presented of biographic characteristics of stayers and leavers among 1,053 part-time hospital employees. Pay, length of employment, management status, race and gender significantly discriminate stayers from leavers. Managerial and research implications are discussed.

Better Environment, Better Staff, Roger H. Hermanson, Joseph V. Carcello, Dana R. Hermanson, Bernard J. Milano, Gerald A. Polansky, Doyle Z. Williams

Faculty and Research Publications

The article discusses result of a survey addressing the quality of work life among audit personnel in the U.S. The result shows that dissatisfaction in the work environment affects staff's performance. Creating customer value is one of the issues in business establishment. As stated, clients are demanding the expertise that comes with experiences. The quality of work environment may persuade outstanding staff members to pursue other career options. Financial rewards of public accounting are not the basis for changes in the rating of staff.

A Neglected Factor Explaining Family Business Success: Human Resource Practices, Joseph H. Astrachan, Thomas A. Kolenko

Faculty and Research Publications

Over 600 family firms were involved in this examination of the impact of human resource management (HRM) and professional governance practices on family business success and survival. Our findings identified some of the most prevalent family firm HRM practices and found significant positive correlations among HRM practices, gross firm revenues, and CEO personal income levels. The results support prior arguments for competitive advantage in the marketplace gained through effective use of HRM practices. An interesting additional finding was that while boards of directors, strategic planning, and frequent family meetings were correlated with business longevity over multiple generations, succession planning was …