Business Commons^™

Reorienting The Information Systems Function To Support Increasing Levels Of Business Service, Magno Queiroz, Tim Coltman

Magno Queiroz

Business scholars and practitioners are becoming increasingly aware of the opportunities that exist when service is added to traditional product offerings. However, the literature has not previously explored the question of how the IS function is responding to greater emphasis on service. In this paper, we employ a multi-case research design to investigate the role of the IS function in supporting increasing levels of service. Our study contributes to the literature by showing that differences in IS service orientation and collaborative capabilities affect the ability of firms to support service. The implications for IS and managerial practice are discussed by …

Modeling The Evolution Of Generativity And The Emergence Of Digital Ecosystems, C. Jason Woodard, Eric K. Clemons

C. Jason Woodard

Recent literature on sociotechnical systems has employed the concept of generativity to explain the remarkable capacity for digital artifacts to support decentralized innovation and the emergence of rich business ecosystems. In this paper, we propose agent-based computational modeling as a tool for studying the evolution of generativity, and offer a set of building blocks for constructing agent-based models in which generativity evolves. We describe a series of models that we have created using these building blocks, and summarize the results of our computational experiments to date. We find in several different settings that key features of generative systems can themselves …

Cashless Society Threatens Our Freedom - Providence Journal, Gary Kayakachoian, Koray Özpolat

Koray Özpolat

It is the Christmas season again! The bell ringers of the Salvation Army can be heard everywhere and generous people throw loose change or dollar bills into the Christmas kettles. Unfortunately, the kettles are not as full recently. Last year, the Salvation Army observed a 10% drop in the donations raised by the Christmas Kettles program. According to Major Ron Busroe of the Salvation Army, a significant factor in this decline is that people have fewer coins and dollar bills in their pockets these days. It is the cards (credit or debit) and mobile payment systems causing this cash-decline in …

An Investigation Into Consumers' Repeated Attempts At Behavior Change, Courtney Droms

Courtney M. Droms

Recent research has shown that individuals make repeated attempts at behavior change prior to actually being successful. As consumer researchers, however, we do not have a clear understanding of how people interpret behavior change failures and persist post-failure. This research extends the theory of trying by assessing the impact of feedback from behavior change outcomes to future attitudes towards trying. In order to understand how individuals interpret and persist post-failure at behavior change, the conceptual model identifies three mediating factors in the feedback loop (i.e., attributions of behavior change failures, self-esteem, and hope) that are affected by a behavioral change …

The Impact Of Attitudinal Ambivalence On Weight Loss Decisions: Consequences And Mitigating Factors, Bui My, Courtney Droms, Georgiana Cracium

Courtney M. Droms

This research takes a new look at individuals' attitudes and intentions towards losing weight. Study 1 examines the relationship among those interested in losing weight and individual self-evaluative ambivalence on attitude towards trying to achieve a weight loss goal and the intentions to achieve the weight loss goal. For Study 2, a between-subjects experimental design, where attitudinal ambivalence and prior outcome feedback were manipulated and self-efficacy was measured, is conducted to examine attitude towards eating healthier and intention to change eating behaviours. Findings across the two studies show that attitudinal ambivalence about the self and the individual's abilities and motivation …

The Stakeholder Approach: A New Perspective On Developing And Marketing Clinical Trials, Courtney Droms, Michael Ferguson, Karen Giuliano

Courtney M. Droms

The use of evidence-based medical practice has become the standard for health care decision-making. Thus, it has become increasingly important for medical device manufactures to provide evidence for the efficacy of their products. As new products, services, and solutions are developed, it is important to perform a stakeholder analysis to assess clinical evidence needs. As evidenced by the variety of stakeholders in clinical trials, we expect that each has different interests in how clinical trials are developed, conducted, and promoted to the general public. This analysis of the stakeholders’ concerns provides recommendations for marketing professionals on meeting the needs of …

Does Market Orientation Facilitate Balanced Innovation Programs? An Organizational Learning Perspective., William Baker, James Sinkula

William E. Baker

There appears to be widespread agreement that optimal new product development programs require a balance between customer-led and lead-the-customer innovation practices. The former is associated with adaptive learning inspired incremental innovation, whereas the latter is associated with generative-learning-inspired radical innovation. There is debate, however, as to whether a strong market orientation can facilitate this balance. Some believe that a strong market orientation causes firms to overemphasize customer-led incremental innovations. Others believe that a strong market orientation can facilitate this balance but assert that traditional measures of market orientation only capture the types of behaviors associated with customer-led incremental innovations. This …

Learning Orientation, Market Orientation, And Innovation: Integrating And Extending Models Of Organizational Performance, William Baker, James Sinkula

William E. Baker

Recent studies have demonstrated effects of learning orientation or market orientation on innovation-driven organizational performance. While these studies have enhanced our understanding of innovation processes in the firm, they have been unable to determine the relative contribution of learning orientation and market orientation to innovation. The integration of these two fundamental strategic orientations in this research enables such an assessment. The model in this research also measures the degree to which market orientation and learning orientation influence organizational performance, independent of their effect on product innovation. The most notable finding is the potential preeminence of learning orientation over market orientation. …

Branding Of Post‐Purchase Ancillary Products And Services: An Application In The Mobile Communications Industry, William Baker, Donald Sciglimpaglia, Massaud Saghafi

William E. Baker

Purpose – After the sale of a primary product, firms often have the opportunity to sell ancillary products or services in support of the primary brand. These add-ons or services may be offered in a generic or in a branded form. The aim of the this paper is to study the demand for add-on services in the mobile communications industry and to detail a methodology that can be employed to make this assessment. Design/methodology/approach – A field experimental design approach using two-brand manipulations, four-price points and six content applications was employed. The study was fielded at a mall intercept facility …

The Synergistic Effect Of Market Orientation And Learning Orientation On Organizational Performance., William Baker, James Sinkula

William E. Baker

Although a large body of research theoretically asserts a positive relationship between market orientation and organizational performance, fewer empirical studies demonstrate it using multiple and varied organizational performance measures. Additionally, a series of recent studies have theoretically proposed, but not empirically demonstrated, that a firm’s learning orientation is likely to indirectly affect organizational performance by improving the quality of its market-oriented behaviors and directly influence organizational performance by facilitating the type of generative learning that leads to innovations in products, procedures, and systems. This empirical study supports all of these specific contentions and the more global notion that higher order …

Equity Analyst Recommendations: A Case For Affirmative Disclosure, William Baker, Gregory Dumont

William E. Baker

The financial well-being of retail investors is impacted by the quality of their investment decisions. Inaccurate or misleading financial information that is misconstrued by investors to be reliable can compromise decision making. This research reports on the results of three studies that show despite the fact that equities with “buy” ratings significantly underperform equities with “hold” ratings, retail investors rely on them when making investment decisions. It also shows analysts' guidance remains inaccurate in the aggregate despite the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley and related legislation/regulation. This article begins a conversation on the implications of this dilemma, specifically the value of affirmative …

Training And Personal Development, Thomas M. Cavanagh, Kurt Kraiger

Thomas M. Cavanagh

The Effect Of Chronic Pain On Life Satisfaction: Evidence From Australian Data, Paul Mcnamee, Silvia Mendolia

Silvia Mendolia

Chronic pain is associated with significant costs to individuals directly affected by this condition, their families, the healthcare system, and the society as a whole. This paper investigates the relationship between chronic pain and life satisfaction using a sample of around 90,000 observations from the first ten waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics of Australia Survey (HILDA), which is a representative survey of the Australian population that started in 2000. We estimate the negative impact on life satisfaction and examine the persistence of the effect over multiple years. Chronic pain is associated with poor health conditions, disability, decreased …

Satisfaction With Airline Service Quality: Familiarity Breeds Contempt, Tamilla Curtis, Dawna Rhoades, Blaise Waguespack

Dr. Tamilla Curtis

The objective of this study is to investigate frequency-of-flight issues and the differences between frequent and non-frequent flyers’ levels of satisfaction and the importance attributed to overall airline service quality and select attributes. The results indicate that the level of satisfaction with overall airline quality and select attributes decrease the more passengers fly. Conversely, the level of importance attributed to airline amenities increased with flight frequency. Perceptions of airline quality may vary between different nationalities and different socioeconomic groups. Differences between the short- and long-haul flights, as well as domestic and international services could also exist. Airline managers need to …

Regional Jet Aircraft Competitiveness: Challenges And Opportunities, Tamilla Curtis, Dawna Rhoades, Blaise Waguespack

Dr. Tamilla Curtis

The regional jet aircraft is a unique market niche. Particularly suitable for providing capacity in the 30 to 90 seat range, these jets are often used to connect smaller airports to network carrier hubs, as well as to fill in during slow periods. The market is currently dominated by two manufacturers: Brazil's Embraer and Canada's Bombardier. Due to the nature of the global aircraft industry, Embraer and Bombardier are largely dependent on the international sale of their aircraft for steady revenue streams. Orders and deliveries of aircraft with fewer than 100 seats have grown rapidly over the past ten years. …

Corporate Brand Management In Higher Education: The Case Of Erau, Tamilla Curtis, Russell Abratt, William Minor

Dr. Tamilla Curtis

There is evidence in the literature that organizations struggle to formulate and implement their corporate branding strategies. This paper aims to provide an overview of the corporate brand building process in higher education. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative methodology was used in this study. A single case study of a private American university was used to gather information about their corporate brand building process. University administrators and documents were used to gain insights into their brand building process. Findings – The corporate brand building process addressed three key areas; web administration, program marketing and corporate brand positioning. The corporate brand building …

Time Orientation, Task Characteristics, And Customer Performance, Nina Reynolds, Salvador Ruiz De Maya

Nina Reynolds

The present study illustrates that consumer time use preference moderates the effect of satisfaction with the task solution, but has no impact on level of performance. Results show that more complex tasks produce higher (lower) levels of satisfaction for polychronic (monochronic) consumers than simpler tasks. In contrast, prioritizing complex activities increases (decreases) satisfaction for monochronic (polychronic) consumers. Unlike task solution satisfaction, time orientation does not impact on task performance. These findings suggest that online retailers should emphasize site factors related to consumers' tasks that best suit the time use preference of their primary users in order to maximize customer satisfaction.

Product Deletion: A Critical Overview And Empirical Insight Into This Process, Jonathan Muir, Nina Reynolds

Nina Reynolds

With organisations as diverse as Heinz, Kraft, Polygram and Sony reducing the scope of their product portfolios, it appears that the issue of product deletion is currently exercising managerial minds. Those keen to pursue their interest in this area will find a concise body of work spanning nearly six decades. However, missing from this work is an understanding of the recurring tactical, strategic and cultural variables involved in deletion decision-making. This research sought to alleviate this shortcoming through conducting an in-depth literature review and considering the deletion experiences of three world-renowned organisations. The results of this exploratory study provide an …

Individualised Rating-Scale Procedure: A Means Of Reducing Response Style Contamination In Survey Data?, Elisa Chami-Castaldi, Nina Reynolds, James Wallace

Nina Reynolds

Response style bias has been shown to seriously contaminate the substantive results drawn from survey data; particularly those conducted using cross-cultural samples. As a consequence. identification of response formats that suffer least from responst style bias has been called for. Previous studies show that respondents' personal characteristics, such as age, education level and culture, are connected with response style manifestation. Differences in the way respondents interpret and utilise researcher-defined fixed rating-scales (e.g. Likert formats), poses a problem for survey researchers. Techniques that are currently used to remove response bias from survey data are inadequate as they cannot accurately determine the …

Coordination Practices In Federal Government: The Case Of Integration Policy In Austria, Natalie Wojtarowicz, David Herold

David M Herold

Integration policy can be defined as a “wicked problem”. This is particularly true in Austria, where integration policy is a politically cross-sectoral issue that concerns the responsibilities of various actors (e.g. different ministries) on various levels (e.g. federal, provincial, local). Based on a single-case study this paper examines the process that led to the development of the integration governance model in Austria between 2008 and 2013 and the associated implications. The most significant results were that vertical and horizontal coordination have been the main focus from the very beginning; that the creation of two new integration bodies and their interaction …

Mix It Up! The Art Of Remixing Content., Conny Liegl

Conny Liegl

You are wearing multiple hats. You have little time. You have a tiny budget. Revise your workflow, and practice the art of remixing: it will save your valuable time, money and allow you to focus on the really important tasks. To cultivate a remix mindset means realizing it is okay not to start from scratch every time. Making use of existing resources and materials, and producing a new product by combining or editing them is a creative way to save resources. We will explore areas of improvement, and boost your daily productivity by identifying duplicated efforts in your organization. Implementing …

Do Firms Substitute For Low Earnings Quality? Australian Evidence, Elisabeth Sinnewe, Jennifer Harrison

Dr Elisabeth Sinnewe

This paper uses alternative earnings measures reported in earnings announcements issued by Australian firms to investigate whether companies subject to lower levels of earnings quality are more likely to voluntarily disclose an adjusted earnings figure. After controlling for other determinants of alternative earnings disclosure, we find that earnings quality is significantly negatively related to alternative earnings disclosure. This finding supports the view that firms use alternative ways to communicate underlying financial performance when confronted with low earnings quality.

An Empirical Investigation Of Voluntary Non-Ifrs Earnings Reporting During The Recent Financial Crisis : Australian Evidence, Elisabeth Sinnewe

Dr Elisabeth Sinnewe

This study examines how the financial crisis affected the reporting choice of and market reaction to earnings that are different from the profit firms report on their income statement under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). These non-IFRS earnings reflect management’s subjective of view of earnings. By observing management’s reporting choices and investors’ reaction in Australia prior to, during, and after the financial crisis, this study shows a distinctive effect of the economic condition on reporting non-IFRS earnings. As such, this study contributes to the limited attention hypothesis suggesting that information-equivalent disclosure is perceived as value relevant by management and investors …

Religion And Life Satisfaction: Evidence From Germany, Elisabeth Sinnewe, Michael Kortt, Brian Dollery

Dr Elisabeth Sinnewe

We examined the association between religious involvement and life satisfaction using data drawn from the 2003, 2007, and 2011 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel. Our study provides evidence of an association between attendance at religious services and life satisfaction for respondents residing in West Germany. While social networks partially mediate this relationship for West Germany, there appears to be a remaining direct impact of attendance on life satisfaction. On the contrary, we find no evidence of an association between attendance at religious services and life satisfaction for respondents residing in East Germany.

High Efficiency Devices, Cfl Light Bulbs, Caveat Emptor, Robert Mccormick

Robert E McCormick

Starting in January, the common incandescent light bulb becomes illegal, well maybe, in most of the United States. (Some recalcitrant states, SC and TX to name two, seem hell bent on reminding the federal government of the long forgotten 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but wasn’t that fight settled a long time ago?) Advocates of this law say that it encourages the use of more energy efficient lighting sources such as CFL and LED lights. It has been noted that a large fraction of the energy consumed by an incandescent light bulb goes to create heat and not light, …

Wolves, Mosques, And Other Environmental Problems, Robert Mccormick

Robert E McCormick

Most environmental issues involve resource conflicts. One person wants to use a river to carry away her waste products, while another one wants to swim and fish in the same stream. Often these uses conflict and collide. A modern example of how “enviropreneurs,” or environmental entrepreneurs, come to see these conflicts involves wolf restoration to Yellowstone National Park. Since wolves were exterminated from the park by rangers in 1922, some people have worked like crazy to get them back against all odds. Ranchers of cattle and sheep despise the wolf for what it does to their herds. In the late …

Some Taxes Are Good, But The Good Die Young, Robert Mccormick

Robert E McCormick

There is a budding bipartisan proposal to increase the federal highway gas tax. A Republican senator from Tennessee, Bob Corker, and a Democratic senator from Connecticut, Chris Murphy, are co-sponsoring a bill to raise the highway gas tax 6 cents per gallon twice over the next two years, a 12-cent total increase.

The Premium And Other Sensible Nonsense, Robert Mccormick

Robert E McCormick

As this working paper by Steven and Alison Sexton explains, there is a substantial, and important, price premium that Toyota Prius buyers are willing to pay to drive a Prius. They are clearly buying something other than mere transportation. To some—indeed many—this waste of resources seems silly. To others it seems wonderful. The comparable gasoline-powered Toyota costs several thousand dollars less. Why would anybody do this? After all, the Prius buyer could purchase the equivalent gas Toyota and use the savings to donate to an environmental organization, or to pay the local boy or girl scouts to pick up litter? …

10 Years Of Enviropreneurs, Robert Mccormick

Robert E McCormick

The lives of many and the face of PERC were indelibly impacted some 11 years ago when Bruce Yandle, PERC senior fellow and Dean Emeritus of the Business School at Clemson University, met with members of the Searle Family and their Kinship Foundation. The meeting was to discuss the idea of creating a leadership institute that would focus on environmental managers and issues. What became of that meeting was an idea whose time had come: to bring management principles, economics, property rights, markets, and business ideas to the environmental movement. Soon after, the idea of a leadership institute was born …

"To Call A Situation Hopeless Is To Call It Ideal", Robert Mccormick

Robert E McCormick

The political and rhetorical battle lines have been drawn, and people are deciding which side they will take in the climate change crisis. On the one hand, we have most traditional environmental activists, a consensus of physical scientists, and a host of politicians who insist that we must do something about carbon emissions. This group wants to subsidize electric cars and solar power production, tax or ban coal-fired power plants, ban incandescent light bulbs, among other planned, top-down approaches. This group seems to believe that doing something is better than nothing. To do nothing, even if it won’t matter much, …