Business Commons^™

Enhancing Long-Term Retention In The Basic Managerial Finance Course, D. Stuart Bancroft, Larry P. Hegstad

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Students typically perceive the basic finance course to consist of a series of complex and disparate topics, each with its own conceptual framework, equations, and graphs. In the absence of a meaningful cognitive structure, they may fall back on rote memorization and find it difficult to internalize financial decision making fundamentals. Some tenets of learning theory offer useful insights into ways to organize classroom instruction for the purpose of enhancing long-term retention of critical concepts and procedures.

A Two-Country Comparison Of Online Shopping Behavior, Werner Schmidt, Margaret A. Young, James E. Weber

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

The rapidly expanding use of the Internet for e-commerce has left academics and practitioners with many questions about consumer use of this new marketing channel. This study was intended to explore the Internet use, online purchasing and payment habits, and comfort level with e-commerce of certain long-term future consumers. 203 US and German college students participated in an online survey intended to explore the previously mentioned concerns. Similarities and differences between US and German students’ online e-commerce practices are discussed and compared with results of prior research. Results show differences in usage patterns and purchase habits as well as comfort …

Helping Accounting Graduates Kill Two Birds With One Stone: An Education Designed For Success, Neal R. Vanzante

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Accounting educators have long debated the role that accounting programs should play in preparing students for professional examinations. Much of this debate has focused on preparation for the CPA Examination compared to preparation for a successful accounting career. The increased length of accounting education programs and recent revisions of both the CPA andCMA Examination provide accounting educators with the unique opportunity to offer accounting education programs that help graduates achieve successful accounting careers while focusing their efforts on successful completion of these examinations.

The article’s theme is that preparation for the CPA and CMA examinations is consistent with the goal …

E- International Hospital Website Strategy Comparisons, Jana R. Minifie, Judy Dietert, Bill Middlebrook

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

This manuscript evaluates 20 American and 20 non-American hospital websites using a Hospital E-Marketing Strategy Life-Cycle model. These hospital websites were initially evaluated and categorized using the model in 1999. These same hospital websites were revisited in 2004 to determine if their initial stage had changed over the years and if hospital websites did indeed follow the Life-Cycle model. Any changes in a hospital’s website marketing strategy between years are also evaluated.

The Effects Of Government Reimbursement On Hospital Costs:Some Empirical Evidence From Washington State, Dan Friesner, Robert Rosenman, Matthew Mcpherson

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

We use a panel of hospitals from Washington state to examine the impact of government reimbursement on a provider’s costs. We find that providers change their relative patient mix when Medicare and Medicaid lower reimbursement rates. On a percentage change basis, the magnitudes of these changes are small; however, the overall economic impacts are quite large. Additionally, our findings indicate that a number of other factors significantly influence a provider’s costs, including patient demographics, initial illness severity and input market conditions facing the firm.

We thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. We also thank William Greene for valuable …

On The Need For Green Accounting, Joseph S. Merrill, Richard V. Calvasina

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

It is time to argue that it is imperative for green accounting to be the norm for financial reporting. Green accounting requires the disclosure of environmental impacts of corporations’ activities as a component of financial reports. Green accounting disclosure is a vital part of information needed for investment decisions that can help create a sustainable economy. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) efforts to require such disclosure will be examined and recommendations for more adequate disclosure will be discussed.

Mba Expenses Can Be Deductible: Revisiting The Aged Sherman Case, Katherine D. Black, Jeffrey N. Barnes

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

For years, the deductibility of educational expenses was a contentious area of tax law. However, over the past decade Congress has passed numerous provisions designed to allow taxpayers to deduct the cost of education. Thus, the emphasis has changed from “is the expense deductible” to “what kind of expense is it”, “who wants to take it” and “in what form do they want to take the deduction”?

It has always been more difficult to deduct the expenses of getting a graduate education, and was impossible if it lead to a professional degree (e.g. law, medicine, CPA). Deducting the expenses of …

Improving Critical Thinking And Inference Skills With The Monty Hall Problem, Robert J. Dosch

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Students’ critical thinking skills have been linked to success in undergraduate auditing classes (Jenkins, 1998), and to their perceived success in public accounting (Baril et al., 1998). This paper presents an assignment used in an undergraduate auditing class that serves as a stepping stone in the development of critical thinking, technology, and communication skills. The assignment requires students to solve a problem whose answer is not intuitive to many people, and requires the use of spreadsheets and written communication. It should be noted that this exercise has general applicability across multiple business disciplines.

Student Involvement And Perceived Learning: An Anecdotal Comparison Of Traditional Versus Grounded Cases, Alan Hamlin, Wayne A. Roberts Jr, Derek Snow

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

In a marketing capstone course students convinced their instructor to replace several traditional case studies with a grounded case. Specifically, students asked to work on marketing plans for the School of Business and the university. The enthusiasm with which they tackled their work was remarkable. In addition to event details, student perceptions regarding the grounded case as compared to traditional cases, and hypotheses regarding the unusual levels of involvement, are provided. Students believed that the grounded case work, while much harder, was much more worthwhile than traditional cases. High involvement levels might be attributed to the fact that students initiated …

Individual And Team Behaviors: Exploring The Role Of Esprit De Corps, Drue K. Schuler, Paula S. Weber

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

As the traditional forms of organization migrate to increasing use of team structures, the antecedents, consequences, and interaction between individual and team behaviors becomes more important. This research explores the concept of esprit de corps, attempts to provide a definition grounded in several diverse research streams, and suggests that esprit de corps serves as a bridge between individual and team behaviors. A conceptual model is provided and propositions for future research related to the model are discussed.