Business Commons^™

Letter From The Editors

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

No abstract provided.

Editors And Reviewers

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

No abstract provided.

Call For Papers

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

No abstract provided.

Mike Ettore, Trust-Based Leadership: Marine Corps Leadership Concepts For Today's Business Leaders, Noel F. Palmer

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Mike Ettore, Trust-Based Leadership: Marine Corps Leadership Concepts for Today's Business Leaders (Fidelis Press, 2019), 576 pages, $30 paperback.

An opportunity to read about trust and its importance in leadership piqued my interest in this book. I expected content in the manner of Dirks & Ferrin’s (2002) seminal work on trust in leadership, or follow-on work by Colquitt, Scott, & LePine (2007) who examine trust and the influence of leaders as trust referents. Yet, the book is less about trust-based leadership and more about “Marine Corps leadership concepts.”

Carson Sublett, Bosses Are Hired…Leadership Is Earned, Susan Jensen

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Carson Sublett, Bosses are Hired…Leadership is Earned (Silver Tree Publishing, 2019), 223 pages, $19.95 paperback.

This compilation of instructive stories offers helpful lessons about everything from how to handle a crisis, navigate office politics, and diagnose organizational culture.

With extensive leadership experience in the textile and pharmaceutical industries to draw from, Carson Sublett uses the storytelling method to share what he has found to be the foundation for effective leadership. Those beliefs are centered around the need for a leader to “walk the talk” and consistently demonstrate integrity, view feedback as a gift, and create an environment that fosters creativity. …

Daphne Scott, Waking Up A Leader: Five Relationships Of Success, Susan Jensen

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Daphne Scott, Waking Up a Leader: Five Relationships of Success (Lioncrest, 2019), 280 pages, $15 paperback.

Daphne Scott’s engaging self-help book argues that effective leaders operate from a position of trust rather than fear and offers practical exercises to enhance mindfulness.

Scott describes her own ‘awakening’ that radically shifted her perspective, enhanced her quality of life, and strengthened her ability to connect with and inspire others. Drawing largely from her personal experiences, Scott asserts the key to effective leadership is mindfully addressing key relationships with time, money, ourselves, friends, and the unknown. She argues that mindfulness is a core leadership …

Leadership After A Tornado Strike: Supply Chain Management Triage, Gregory Benson, Susan Jensen

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

An F2 tornado had tracked less than 100 feet from the Caldwin manufacturing plant, the largest producer of an essential engine value train component in the United States. Bob, Materials Manager at the plant and a member of the senior management team, was at home when the evening storm hit. Bob immediately headed to the plant when he received word of the emergency situation. On his way to the factory a rush of questions nearly overwhelmed him. How bad was the situation? How prepared was his team of employees to handle the situation? What should customers and suppliers be told …

Halliburton Whistleblower Tony Menendez - An Accountant With Moral Courage, David S. Christensen, Gerald Calvasina

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

This case describes the experience of accounting whistleblower Tony Menendez. It is both inspiring and cautionary. This case is most appropriate for use in graduate and undergraduate courses in ethics and management accounting. Students apply the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice (SEPP) and advice from ethics gurus Gentile and Badaracco to analyze Tony’s experience to learn how to blow the whistle. They also identify character traits that helped Tony report the suspected fraud and fight retaliation from Halliburton. This case empowers students with a roadmap that illustrates how to blow the whistle and identifies potential roadblocks. Teaching notes are …

Managing Millennial Turnover In The It Industry: Leading With An “Inside-Outfluence” Approach, Travis J. Hollman, Kyle W. Luthans

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

This paper proposes a new perspective and approach for leaders to strategically manage millennial turnover problems in the Information Technology (IT) industry. Using a combination of interviews from experienced IT managers and existing literature, our goal was to identify and synthesize the problems and best practices for managing and retaining millennial IT talent. Based upon qualitative data, emergent themes were identified and then reviewed against the existing body of literature covering millennial employees’ retention and turnover in the IT industry. Areas of common ground were integrated to develop a new hybrid approach that we call the “Inside-Outfluence” model. In particular, …

Leadership On The Plains: Vignettes From Nebraska, Douglas A. Kristensen

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Leadership is a popular topic. It is often viewed as a mechanism with which to blame someone when matters don’t go their way. Others see it as just positions of power and self-promotion. Leadership to me is an essential skill that is developed by experience. Leadership is not a mathematical calculation with a correct answer nor a science with a data-driven set of principles. Leadership is a responsibility taken on to achieve an agreed-upon mission of a group. The membership and description of a mission varies with each group. Thus, leadership is not monolithic; some groups are very quiet while …

Letter From The Editors, Srivatsa Seshadri, Larry Carstenson

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Dean, Tim Jares

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

No abstract provided.

Editors And Reviewers

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

No abstract provided.

Students’ Expectations Within A Nontraditional College Of Business Classroom, Angela Patrick, Rick Simmons, Russell Calk

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Students in a college of business classroom have various expectations regarding the faculty member and the course. If the faculty member fails to meet those expectations, the resulting misalignment can cause misunderstandings and other issues. This study attempts to understand the expectations of nontraditional students to assist faculty in identifying the potential areas of misalignment. Using a series of modified questions from Schmitt, Larsen, Miller, Badawy, Dougherty, Sharma & Benson (2013), this study reports the results of a survey of 152 upper-division undergraduate and graduate students from the college of business at a regional university with a teaching mission. The …

Small Business Management: Using Assessment To Help Millennials Bridge The Gap Between The Classroom And Reality, Thomas W. Gainey, Jonathan R. Anderson

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

The purpose of this paper is to explore students’ perceptions of entrepreneurship as a career path and match those perceptions with academic program assessment in an effort to help academic departments better prepare students for careers in small business management. As this is exploratory research, this paper employs methods that capture a broad perspective, collecting data from multiple sources over the last decade. Data obtained from multiple sources allows for a meaningful and thought-provoking discussion on methods academic departments can use to help prepare students for success. Additionally, the data, analysis, and discussion help inform academic professionals charged with making …

Nautilus, Inc.: Dealing With A Lone Wolf In The Sales Team, Ronald W. Pimentel, Rachael A. Pickett, Claire Thackeray

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, Nautilus Inc. is a global fitness products company providing innovative, quality solutions to help people achieve a healthy lifestyle. With a brand portfolio including Nautilus®, Bowflex®, Schwinn®, and Universal®, Nautilus markets innovative fitness products through direct and retail channels (Bean 2013).”

Nautilus, Inc. has a strong sales organization with remarkably low turnover of salespeople. They take a consultative approach to sales. Among the group, however, is a “lone wolf” who generally makes transactional sales rather than being consultative and focuses on her individual results rather than the objectives of the company. At the same time, she …

James F. Alderson: White-Hat Accountant With Moral Courage, David Christensen, Robin Boneck

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

The objective of this case study is to increase resolve to have moral courage by studying the whistleblowing experience of James Alderson. After a brief introduction about Alderson, whistleblowing, and moral courage, accounting students read a detailed description of Alderson’s experience in “HeBlewtheWhistleand HealthGiants Quaked” (Eichenwald 1998). They then identify essential elements of moral courage, explore how to blow the whistle, and identify character traits that may have contributed to Alderson’s success. Accounting students are inspired by Alderson’s experience, and report an increased resolve to have moral courage. Instructor notes about the case objective, suggestions for implementation and assessment, and …

The Value Of Shareholder Litigation Evaluated Through The Lens Of Real Options, Ansley Chua, Bruce Haslem

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Studies looking at the impact of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act have found a mixed market reaction to the law at key events during its passage. We suggest that this is due to focusing on firms within a few industries and their quality of governance, rather than incorporating the real option aspect of securities litigation.When using a framework that is based on potential option payoffs instead, there was a very negative response to the passage of the law across all industries for firms with the highest potential payoffs, even after controlling for other factors such as governance and industry.Governance …

Thoughts On Teaching The Senior Research Seminar In A Four-Year College: Suggested Protocols, Neal E. Duffy

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

This is an experiential and philosophical account of teaching the senior research seminar to economics and finance students. This article covers issues involving grading, resources, project selection, accountability, assessment, and class structure as well as the culture shock felt by both students and teacher in an independent study environment. One major point is that greater communication and minimal structure are more effective in creating the atmosphere of a true seminar. Instead of wasting time on research methods and over-assessment, the active exchange of ideas and learning-by-doing should be the focus of the senior seminar.

Sucker Rumination: How Aversive Self-Directed Cognitions Affect Purchase Intentions, Tyler F. Stillman, Gregory S. Pruess

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

If there is a silver lining to having been tricked in an economic context, perhaps it is that one can be wiser for the experience. Presumably, people are able to learn from such transactions and avoid them in the future. The current study employed an experimental design in which some participants were assigned to a control condition and others were told that they had recently been duped. Results indicated that among those who felt duped, people high in sucker rumination were subsequently less likely to avoid the source of deception. That is, people with a tendency to blame themselves harshly …

The Essay Industry, Stephanie Owings, Jennifer Nelson

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

This paper considers the essay industry. The essay industry is an Internet-based collection of firms that provide students with papers, written by others, which satisfy their coursework assignments. We find that the industry is thriving. The firm failure rate is low, profits are high and revenues are, at a minimum, $100 million. Although there are laws in many states prohibiting the sale of essays, we find that these laws are not generally enforced. We review the pricing structure of the industry and the typical compensation rates of their employees. We consider anti-plagiarism software and conclude that it has limited effectiveness …

Perceptions Of Fully Asynchronous Web-Based Courses: Marketing Implications, Srivatsa Seshadri, Greg Broekemier, Joshua Tolin

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

While there is a considerable body of literature addressing fully asynchronous online web-based teaching in institutions of higher education, none have delved into perceptions and expectations of online classes among those who have never experienced them first hand, either as students or as full-time faculty. As online courses have become ubiquitous, it has become imperative that academic institutions understand what faculty and students think about them. This study attempts to address this gap in extant literature. The similarities and differences in the perceptions about asynchronous online courses (1) among students and (2) between students and full-time faculty are addressed. Marketing …

Conducting A Fraud Examination On Your Fraud Examination Students, Robert J. Dosch

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a fraud examination that occurred during a fraud examination course. The examination was not what one would first imagine. It was not an examination conducted by the students as part of the course requirements. Instead, it was an examination performed by the instructor on his students.

This paper will note how the investigation of the students relates to common components of frauds, attributes of the perpetrators, investigation methods utilized, the final resolution of this investigation, and what I might do different in future investigations.

Simplified Method For Teaching Cash Flow Statement Construction To Entrepreneurship And Non-Accounting Majors, Dale T. Eesley

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

It is a common mantra of entrepreneurs that cash is king, and educators in entrepreneurship have stressed the need to make the understanding of cash flows a central theme early in a student’s education (Leauby and Wentzel, 2012; Pearl, 1986; Wouters, 2008). However, the ability to teach entrepreneurship students how to develop a statement of cash flows is viewed by many as a difficult task for educators. Many students struggle to understand the indirect method of modeling cash flows (Vent and Cocco, 1996) because the method of constructing the cash flow statement is not intuitive (Hodder, Hopkins, and Wood, 2008). …

Creating A Pipeline For Business Student Recruitment: Using A Collegiate Deca Chapter For Recruiting High School Students, Ronald W. Pimentel

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

The College Choice Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior are used to examine recruitment of students to university business programs. These concepts are applied in the context of a Collegiate DECA chapter on campus, which is presented as a method of facilitating progress of high school students through the stages of predisposition to attend college, search for information, and choice of institution of higher education. A survey of 84 high school students who attended events hosted by a Collegiate DECA chapter on a university campus suggests that the collegiate chapter can favorably affect predisposition about higher education, assist with …

Analysis Of Bank Performance In California And The Rest Of The Twelfth Federal Reserve District, Stoyu I. Ivanov

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

"In this study I examine the performance and sensitivity of performance to macro factors of banks headquartered in California and banks headquartered in the rest of the states in the Twelfth Federal Reserve District. I find that prior to the financial crisis which started in the fourth quarter of 2007 the non-California banks outperformed California banks; however, towards the end of the financial crisis California banks outperformed non-California banks. I also find higher macro factor sensitivities of nonCalifornia banks indicating more macro risk carried by these institutions. The higher risk explains the superior performance in expansions and underperformance in recessions …

Small Things And First Things – A Pedagogical Tool For Accounting Students, David S. Christensen, Greg Powell, David Rees

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Experiences early in life or career can shape character and set patterns of behavior. Just as making poor choices in “small things and first things” can adversely affect one’s character and lead to more egregious behavior, making correct choices can positively build the character of a person (Cheffers and Pakaluk 2007). This pedagogical tool provides two examples, one negative and one positive, to help students remember their own character-building experiences. WorldCom accountant Betty Vinson initially resisted an order to make a relatively minor inappropriate journal entry, but caved to management pressure. This set her on a slippery path of accounting …

Interest Rate Elasticity Of Capitalization Rates, Dan W. Hess, Drew Macha

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

"The investment real estate market in the United States experienced tremendous growth and robust returns in the first half of this decade followed by a severe decline in the second half as evidenced by declining property values and sub-par returns. There were many causes for the decline in the real estate investment market. This paper explores one and asks the question: How susceptible are real estate returns to changes in interest rates in the broader economy? Or, put another way, what is the interest rate elasticity of capitalization rates? Utilizing methods from the valuation of fixed-income securities, this paper demonstrates …