Business Commons^™

Manipulation In The Agricultural Commodities Futures Market: Application Of Benford's Law, Frank Tenkorang, Greg Nies

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

This paper proposes that Benford’s Law is an effective tool for determining futures market irregularities and therefore should be adopted and used in efforts to detect and prevent manipulation in the agriculture commodities futures market. Market manipulation, while hard to define and even harder to detect and prevent, has long been a concern for traders and regulators alike. Market power manipulation – the intentional use of monopolistic power to cause market prices to diverge from their competitive level – harms the market by eroding its efficiency and impairing market integrity thereby driving away potential traders and ultimately undermining financial markets, …

Learning In Context: Exploring Student Cognitive Maps, Kevin Davis, Eric J. Tucker

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

This study examines how concept-by-concept learning can provide students with a robust conceptual cognitive map for the area under study. In-context learning indicates that students understand how individual concepts are related and apply to real-world situations. Our results show that insights can be gained from understanding the degree of in-context learning in a course. Faculty can use this information to guide instruction in real time and make curriculum adjustments. This approach is also helpful because it can be replicated in any course to develop knowledge about students’ conceptual understanding.

Cognitive, Ideological, And Goal-Pursuit Barriers To Ethical Decision Making, Jeffrey J. Bailey

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

This paper brings together diverse research findings to suggest that there are several cognitive, ideological, and goal-pursuit barriers that often get in the way of ethical decision-making. The barriers lead managers to give little or no conscious attention to the ethical implications of their actions. The barriers that I categorize and describe are overconfidence, cognitively “filling-in” of missing information, social norm beliefs, ethical fixed mindsets, metaphors in-use, fairness and justice ideology, behavioral scripts, goal-fever (teleopathy), and goal framing. I describe the processes and mechanisms that underlie these barriers to increase awareness of them so that the willing manager may be …

Value Co-Creation In Buy Online Pickup In-Store (Bopis), Elizabeth H. Manser Payne, Addison G. Smith

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

The purpose of this study is to identify consumer attitudes toward buy online pickup in-store (BOPIS). This study examines how value perceptions change as consumers progress in the online ordering and physical pickup processes within the BOPIS channel. We use a multivariate regression and two separate multiple regression analyses to examine the differential effects of multiple constructs on BOPIS customer satisfaction. As consumers start the process by engaging with the retailer online, perceived usefulness and hedonic value online play a critical role in customer satisfaction. Consumer attitudes change as they pick up their order at the store where the degree …

Pandemic, Retail Sales And Local Economies: Evidence From Northeast Oklahoma, Sanchari Ghosh, Brian Jackson, Ray Murphy

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Early post-COVID pandemic studies focused on the macroeconomic impacts of that event on employment, income, healthcare costs, food security, etc. Yet there has been little emphasis on how changes in consumption spending patterns resulting from the pandemic affected retail sales and revenues, each of which are major contributors of growth for local economies. This study investigates these relationships by implementing retail pull and sales gap analyses to determine how non-metropolitan rural regions responded to consumption expenditures and retail sales before and after the pandemic. Using three cities of northeastern Oklahoma as a case study, retail pull factors at the city …

Editors And Reviewers, Srivatsa Seshadri

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Volume 23 editors and reviewers

Green Advertising: The Progress Of Three Decades (1991-2020), Abhishek Abhishek, Birud Sindhav, Jonna Holland, Phani Tej Adidam

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

This paper presents an integrated review of 144 articles published on green advertising (GA) between 1991-2020. The extant literature is reviewed to aid taxonomical analysis of definitions, methodologies, and theoretical frameworks. The review suggests that the GA literature tracks the stimuli-moderators-outcome template of the general advertising literature. Consequently, advertising claims and appeals, consumer related factors, and product related factors are the organizing themes of the review. Emerging trends and possible research gaps for each of these three categories are identified. Based on a thorough discussion of current knowledge in the domain, detailed recommendations are presented to advance research in the …

Letter From The Editor, Srivatsa Seshadri

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

December 2022 Letter from the Editor

R. Edward Freeman, Kirsten E. Martin, And Bishan L. Parmar, The Power Of And: Responsible Business Without Trade-Offs, Andrew B. Gustafson

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

This book tells a story about business which runs counter to the simple notions that the purpose of business is simply to make as much money as possible. While it is not a business-ethics book per se, it is a book which certainly makes an argument that socially responsible businesses often do well, and it provides a wide range of practical contemporary examples of businesses who do just that.

This book promotes the idea that businesses can frequently find win-win choices which both make profit and achieve other worthwhile ends at the same time. The authors argue that a focus …

An Analysis Of The Microsoft 365 Cloud Migration Process, Its Alternatives, And Results, Curtis Barnes, Robert Houghton

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

This study follows the decision making process of comparing a traditional business software stack to cloud alternatives, comparing different cloud platforms, and planning a migration. It addresses specific workloads of an example company in the financial services industry and how the tools in a Microsoft 365 subscription support that work. The process of transferring an existing Exchange server and its users to Azure is thoroughly detailed, as is the logic behind certain crucial decisions that are part of that procedure. A calculation of real-world savings is also provided. The resulting paper is usable as both a reference and guide for …

Pulte Homes – Reimagining The Homebuilding Industry, Daniel Chaffin, Susan Jensen

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

In 2016, William J. (Bill) Pulte, founder, and Pulte Homes’ largest shareholder called for the resignation of CEO Richard Dugas. In his letter to the board of directors, Bill stated the value creation strategy first proposed by Dugas in 2005 had been a major failure. Dugas had a bold vision and intriguing rationale for radically reshaping what he termed the “sleepy” homebuilding industry. Drawing from Toyota and Walmart’s strategies, Dugas argued that Pulte Homes could create greater value by scaling purchasing, improving construction processes, and collaborating with suppliers to lower overall costs while simultaneously refashioning and updating Pulte Home’s product …

Who Is ‘Slapping’ Whom?, Juan Chavarria, Javier Flores, Salman Mostafa, Marian Riedy

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

A majority of the states and the District of Columbia have enacted “anti-SLAPP” statutes, which set forth a procedure for obtaining an early dismissal of a “strategic lawsuit against public participation,” or a “SLAPP,” as labeled by George W. Pring and Penelope Canan. These types of cases, often alleging defamation or a similar tort, should be discouraged, according to the anti-SLAPP advocates, because the true intent of the plaintiff is to “chill” speech rather than obtain compensation. The paradigm of a SLAPP is a lawsuit filed by a large, well-funded corporation against an “ordinary citizen” who has spoken out in …

Call For Papers

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

No abstract provided.

Better Together: The Effect Of Learning Communities On Business Student Retention And Performance, Lynn Murray, Alexander Binder, Gail Yarick, Mary K. Wachter

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

College student performance and retention have been areas of concern for higher education for decades, and increasingly so over the last quarter century. This study explores how creating a learning community comprised of a first-year seminar and two disciplinary gateway courses across two semesters affected student performance in the gateway classes and in student retention. The study found three things of interest: 1) participation in a learning community and in a residential learning community each slightly improve the likelihood that a student will enroll in the second semester; 2) performance in Introduction to Business, a disciplinary gateway course, is highly …

Key Factors Influencing Students' Post-Triability Intention To Adopt E-Textbooks In A Medium-Size University, Halbana Tarmizi, Hamdan Alabsi, Mahmoud Al-Odeh

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

In recent years, E-textbooks have become a real alternative to the traditional textbooks in higher education. Many institutions have been encouraging their usage with mixed success. This study investigates students’ perceptions of E-textbooks in a medium-sized university in the Midwestern United States and measures students’ intention to adopt E-textbooks where they had an option to choose between traditional textbooks and E-textbooks for their classes. Literature reviews indicated some inconsistencies related to E-textbook adoptions. We used the Technology Acceptance model to investigate these inconsistencies. We considered three factors in this study: Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Values, and Technology-Savvy. An E-textbook …

Lying, Cheating, & Stealing: Strategies For Mitigating Technology-Driven Academic Dishonesty In Collegiate Schools Of Business, Travis Hollman, Noel F. Palmer, Daniel Chaffin, Kyle Luthans

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

We summarize contemporary issues related to academic dishonesty and draw from relevant organizational ethics program research to present a dual framework that business educators can use to mitigate technology-driven cheating among their students. Based on a review of the relevant literature, we develop a rationale which identifies three key observations: 1) technology-driven academic dishonesty is pervasive among college business students, 2) there are proactive steps that can be taken to address this problem, and 3) faculty, staff, and administrators in collegiate schools of business can and should do more to mitigate cheating among their students. We first provide an overview …

The Effect Of Peer And Lab Reviews On Business Student Writing, Xanthe Farnworth, Eugene Seeley, Laura Ricaldi, Xiaoli Ortega, Ron Miller

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

This study was conducted to statistically assess the impact peer reviews and writing lab reviews have on student writing. The subjects of this research were business students taking an international business class that requires a writing assignment from all students. Four different sections of this class were used in the study. With one section as a control group, another section required students to participate in a student peer review of papers before submitting the final draft for grading. A third class was required to have its papers reviewed at a writing lab before submission. The fourth class did both. The …

What Makes For A Career In Higher Education?, Charles Bicak

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Reflections on a career in higher education, offered by UNK Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic & Student Affairs Charlie Bicak.

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.

Looking Towards The Sky: Cloud Computing From A Conceptual To An It Industry Game Changer, Jordan Bani

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Cloud computing is highly embraced and identified as one of the major innovations in the computing field in recent years. The main goals of this article, which is based on literature reviews and personal work experience, are to present an overview of the conceptual idea of cloud computing, the cloud computing delivery paradigms, common roles in cloud computing, the most mentioned advantages of adopting cloud computing in enterprise environments, the main criticisms facing cloud computing, and recommendations for ensuring the success of cloud computing implementation and adoption, in order to inform and educate business managers, IT managers, and higher education …

Ransomware - A Strategic Threat To Organizations, James Frost, Alan R. Hamlin

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Ransomware is a strategic threat to government, business, and academic organizations. It has both short term and long term consequences, requiring strategic planning to create defenses, assess options, and create policies.

The purpose of the study is to answer three questions: What is the strategic risk of cyberattack to organizations? What are the current attitudes and practices of executives who are vulnerable to such threats? What are specific options that organizations should consider to prevent and deal with possible incidents in the future? The article is thus comprised of the following components: A) a history of the development and complexity …

Walmart Impact On The Finance And Insurance Industry, Steven C. Hall, Suzanne K. Hayes, Laurie Swinney

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Purpose

This paper investigates the effect of Walmart presence on professional service firms within the finance and insurance sector. This paper also discusses the finance and insurance industry’s place within the Walmart ripple effect—changed retail sector leads to changed professional support services resulting in altered levels of social capital within the community.

Design/Methodology

The study uses county-level data from the state of Nebraska to examine the relationship between cumulative Walmart exposure and the number of firms, number of employees, and payroll levels within the finance and insurance (F&I) sector. These same variables are also investigated within two specific F&I industries—insurance …

Monetary Impact Of National Exchange Carrier Association Tariffs On Internet Access Cost In Rural Areas, Tim Obermier, Angela K. Hollman

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

This study examines the monetary impact of tariffs on consumer internet access via a digital subscriber line (DSL). Historically, the Communications Act of 1934 mandated that telephony services be provided to everyone, without exclusion. With the rapid emergence of the internet, the Connect America Fund was recently implemented to ensure equal access to both voice and broadband services. Since many telephony companies have emerged as internet service providers, DSL internet service is often bundled together with a landline telephone, especially in rural areas. This study examines the total cost of such bundled DSL internet service across the classes of cities …

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.