Business Commons^™

Patents As Business Intelligence Tools, Amy Jansen

Librarian Publications

As most entrepreneurs and business owners can tell you, one of the most significant considerations that companies face is how to protect their work. Managing intellectual property is now integrated with overall business models and corporate strategy. For this reason, patents have become crucial strategic pieces in business and competitive intelligence in the twenty-first century. Having the right patents, and even more importantly, knowing how to use them can either bolster or harm a company. As technology and rapid advancements in innovation become the cornerstone of corporate success, companies’ research and development (R & D) and patent spending have become …

Credit Risk Dynamics In Response To Changes In The Federal Funds Target: The Implication For Firm Short-Term Debt, Kwamie Dunbar, Abu S. Amin

WCBT Faculty Publications

The recent credit crisis has raised a number of interesting questions regarding the role of the Federal Reserve Bank and the effectiveness of its expected and unexpected interventions in financial markets, especiallyduring the crisis, given its mandate. This paper reviews and evaluates the impact of expected and unexpected changes in the federal funds rate target on credit risk premia. The paper's main innovation is the use of an ACH-VAR (autoregressive conditional hazard VAR) model to generate the Fed's expected and unexpected monetary policy shocks which are then used to determine the effects of a Federal Reserve policy change on counterparty …

A Theory Of Vertical Political Interaction In Cigarette Taxation, Khawaja Mamun

WCBT Faculty Publications

This paper examines the political interdependence of federal and state cigarette tax rates. We develop a lobby group model where a state’s endogenous reaction to a federal cigarette tax hike depends crucially on the political responses of the cigarette producer and anti-smoking lobby groups.

The Sarbanes Oxley Act's Contribution To Curtailing Corporate Bribery, Karen Cascini, Alan Delfavero, Mario Mililli

WCBT Faculty Publications

In the wake of corporate scandals occurring in the early 2000s, a need for stricter regulation was deemed necessary by the investors of U.S. public companies. In 2002, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SoX) was created. Accordingly, under the rules of SoX, U.S. corporations were faced with increased oversight and also needed to substantially improve their internal controls. As companies began to scrutinize their internal affairs more closely, some businesses detected other forms of criminal activity occurring internally, such as bribery. Those companies and individuals found to have committed bribery have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA). Throughout this …

Business Roundtable: Patents & Trademarks, Robert Berry

Librarian Publications

An October 2011 presentation by Robert Berry, Research Librarian and Patent and Trademark Resource Center representative for the Sacred Heart University Library.

Small Business Strategies Series: Patents & Trademarks, Robert Berry

Librarian Publications

A November 14 2011 presentation by Robert Berry, Research Librarian and Patent and Trademark Resource Center representative for the Sacred Heart University Library.

Trumbull Library System, Business Program: Patents & Business Intelligence, Amy Jansen, Robert Berry

Librarian Publications

A November 10, 2011 presentation by Amy Jansen, Business Librarian at Sacred Heart University and Robert Berry, Research Librarian and Patent and Trademark Resource Center representative for the Sacred Heart University Library.

Reemployment Under Userra Sections 4312 & 4313: At Will Employment Vs. Temporary Employment, Richard L. Pate

WCBT Faculty Publications

As thousands of service members return to the U.S., severe economic conditions render acclimation to civilian life especially difficult. In 2010, as the combat mission in Iraq approached an end, the unemployment rate of Iraq and Afghanistan era veterans had reached 13.1 percent. The Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, 38 U.S.C. §§ 4301-4333 (1994) ("USERRA"), was enacted, in great part, to mitigate harms such as those caused by the aforementioned perfect storm. Among other things, USERRA protects service members by entitling them to reemployment after military service. More specifically, USERRA Sections 4312 & 4313 entitle returning service members …

A New Regulatory Framework Of Financial Institutions In The Aftermath Of The Global Financial Crisis, Ingrid Zantis

WCBT Undergraduate Publications

Three years since the outbreak of the global financial and economic crisis and two years since the global markets’ turmoil following the Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy and the US government’s bail-out of AIG, reforming the regulatory structure for financial institutions and platforms has achieved some visible progress. Though the new architecture is far from being finished, the main challenge is to implement what has been agreed upon in commitments and framework legislation, without losing track of the target to soundly improve global financial stability and effectively resolve future global crises on its way.

Against this background, this paper examines the emerging …

Branding America: Patriotic Products And Consumerism After September 11th, Lori Bindig, M. Bosau

Communication, Media & The Arts Faculty Publications

Post-9/11 culture provided an opportunity for companies to rebrand themselves and their products as American. In doing so, they supported the president’s directive to consume, gave Americans a concrete way to express their support for their country, and made a tidy profit in the process.

How The Madoff Fraud Could Affect Your Cpa Practice, Stephen Scarpati

WCBT Faculty Publications

With an estimated $65 billion lost from trust funds, retirement plans, pensions, investment funds, inheritance monies, and nonprofit organizations, many people have been adversely affected by the Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernard L. Madoff. When you combine a lot of lost money with a lot of angry people, the result is a lot of lawsuits. The breadth of those lawsuits will encompass all associated with the affected organizations--including CPAs. Those messages were loud and clear at the May 27, 2009, breakfast symposium "Are CPAs the Next Madoff Victims? The Accountant's Liability," sponsored by The CPA Journal.

Ceo Compensation And Us High-Tech And Low-Tech Firms' Corporate Performance, Eunsup Daniel Shim, Jooh Lee, In Ki Joo

WCBT Faculty Publications

Many factors contribute to the determination of top executive compensation. This paper explores and examines the systematic difference of high-tech and low-tech CEO pays. It examines the relationship between top executive compensation and an Organizational factor, a Market factor and an Accounting factor. It tests CEO’s salary, bonus, and long-term compensation with respect to corporate reputation, ROE, Tobin’s Q, CEO shareholding and firm size.

The results show that CEOs’ Salaries at high-tech firms shows a significantly positive relationship with ROE, Tobin’s Q, and corporate reputation, while only corporate reputation shows a significant relationship with CEOs’ salaries at low-tech firms. In …

Tobacco Politics And Electoral Accountability In The United States, Per G. Fredriksson, Khawaja Mamun

WCBT Working Papers

This paper investigates whether reputation-building strategies guide U.S. governors’ state cigarette tax choices, and whether the federal cigarette tax influences such behavior. Using 1975-2000 data, we find evidence that governors in states with relatively important agricultural tobacco production and tobacco manufacturing, and which are densely populated by smokers, appear prone to reputation-building. Moreover, lame ducks are more prone to raise the state cigarette tax the lower the federal tax.

Gubernatorial Reputation And Vertical Tax Externalities: All Smoke, No Fire?, Per G. Fredriksson, Khawaja Mamun

WCBT Working Papers

This paper investigates whether reputation-building strategies guide U.S. governors’ responses to changes in federal cigarette taxes (i.e. vertical tax interactions). Using 1975-2000 state cigarette tax data, we find that reputation-building strategies affect the nature of vertical tax externalities. Lame duck governors exhibit a more negative response to changes in the federal cigarette tax. Thus, by reducing the state tax base and by causing a decline in the state tax, an increase in the federal tax rate reduces state tax revenues in states headed by lame ducks.

The Eu Has Accepted Ias For Listed Companies: Will The U. S. Follow?, Karen Cascini, Anne Rich

WCBT Faculty Publications

International financial reporting standards (IFRS) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), have become respected by many countries and regulatory agencies. The European Union (EU) has determined for most publicly held companies that IFRS promulgated by IASB meet the standards for cross-boarder listing. This paper will present a brief history of the development of international accounting standards and discuss the factors that led to the EU’s acceptance of them. The paper will then consider the case of the U.S. By examining the changes in the accounting environment in the U.S. and specifically looking at the role of the Securities …

An Assessment Of The Impact Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act On The Investigation Violations Of The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Karen Cascini, Alan L. Delfavero

WCBT Faculty Publications

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, a plethora of corporate scandals occurred. Due to these corporate debacles, corporate executives have been placed under fire. In response to such unethical conduct with regard to internal practices and financial reporting, legislation has been passed in order to ensure that corporations conduct their business in an ethical manner. The purpose of this paper is to assess the connection between the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOx), to determine whether SOx has influenced the FCPA’s investigative violation activities by examining the number of such investigations …

Information Systems (Is) Connectivity As A Moderator Of The Effects Of Is Support For Information Interpretation On Firm Performance: An Empirical Study, Michael J. Zhang

WCBT Faculty Publications

This study examined and tested the roles of information systems (IS) connectivity in influencing the performance impacts of IS support for information sharing and IS support for information interpretation. Using data collected from a survey of large U.S. firms and the Research Insight (Compustat) database, the results showed that when IS connectivity was high, IS support for information sharing was positively related to profitability whereas IS support for information interpretation was negatively associated with profitability. These findings suggest that a high level of IS connectivity is a two-end sword for firms which rely on both IS support for information sharing …

The Tale Of Iranian Entrepreneurs In The United States, Keramat Poorsoltan

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

In practice and in theory, as the findings of this research reveal, the Iranian business community is a new and different, nonconforming immigrant group in the United States. This study explores certain aspects of the Iranian business community in light of a survey done by the author.The article compares and contrasts findings of the survey with those of existing literature that has been written about the business communities of various ethnic groups. The results of this study disagree with the literature in most areas. One difference is that the Iranian business community in the United States does not fit into …

Is Support For Top Managers' Dynamic Capabilities, Environmental Dynamism, And Firm Performance: An Empirical Investigation, Michael J. Zhang

WCBT Faculty Publications

Despite a continual interest in developing information systems (IS) to support the work of top managers, assessing the impact of IS support for top managers and their capabilities on the bottom-line performance of firms has received little attention in existing literature. Drawing upon the resource based view of competitive advantage, this paper argues that firms that provide IS support for their top managers’ dynamic capabilities may enjoy competitive advantage and superior firm performance. The performance impact of IS support for two key dynamic capabilities of top managers (fast response and mental model building) under different (dynamic vs. stable) external environments …

Corporate Governance, Public Accounting Firm And Multinational Corporation: The Us Sox Act Perspective, Marc Massoud, Eunsup Daniel Shim

WCBT Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to review US corporate governance systems and to highlight the mandated roles of audit committee and external auditor within the SOX Act. In addition, it discusses requirements and implications of the SOX Act for the foreign accounting firms and multinational corporations. Finally this paper provides a perspective on improvement of corporate governance and financial integrity. In order to regain trust from the financial market, the SOX Act mandates (1) to improve auditor’s independence by reducing conflicts of interest; (2) to increase corporate financial reporting responsibility by requiring a CEO or a CFO certify accuracy …

Creating A New Program In Entrepreneurship Education: A Case Study In Colombia, Kirk C. Heriot, Noel D. Campbell

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship has been widely recognized as having greatly influenced the United States. Its influence has especially been documented over the past 20 years. Paralleling our societal interest in entrepreneurship has been increasing interest in entrepreneurship education. While our interest in entrepreneurship education has grown considerably over the past two decades, this field of study continues to have critics both within and outside of schools and colleges of business (Kuratko 2004). In spite of these criticisms, some researchers suggest that the United States is still far ahead of other regions of the world in terms of entrepreneurial education (Solomon et al. …

An Empirical Review Of Us Corporate Default Swap Valuation: The Implications Of Functional Forms, Kwamie Dunbar

WCBT Faculty Publications

This paper first develops a reduced form three-factor model for valuing credit default premia that is used to provide implicit prices which are then compared with market prices of credit default swaps to determine if swap rates adequately reflects market risks. This model extends Jarrow (2001) two-factor model by adding three new features to enhance the effectiveness of the model and add to the growing debate on the empirical pricing of credit default swap and the effectiveness of reduce form models. Firstly, the extended model retains Jarrow's mean reverting properties but will be extended to be arbitrage free because of …

Sfas 143 On Asset Retirement Obligations, Cheri Mazza, Robert H. Colson

WCBT Faculty Publications

Discusses an accounting legislation provision in the U.S. which concerns accounting for asset retirement obligations that requires the recognition of a liability for certain obligation associated with retirement of long-lived assets. Asset retirement obligations; Recognition of a liability for an asset retirement obligation in a certain period; Discussion on a subsequent-period accounting.

The Drama Of Dysfunction: Value Conflict In Us Managed Care, Diana D. Mrotek

WCBT Faculty Publications

The transformation of the American health care environment from retrospective fee-for-service to managed care has been both rapid and chaotic. This period of change has been infected by value conflict, evoking unconscious processes in system participants as they have attempted to cope with personally threatening situations. This article attempts to elucidate this process by presenting an account of events and accompanying value conflict as it occurred over time. It also includes a systems analysis of the rapidly changing mosaic of unconscious processes that resulted from the divergent values held by the public and health care professionals, using various organization behavior …

Issues Raised In Cross-Border Mergers, Karen Cascini, Abdel M. Agami

WCBT Faculty Publications

There has been a significant increase in the number and value of cross-border mergers among multinational businesses in recent years. Some of the reasons for this increase are due to an increase in competition, the growth in global markets, and the rapid changes in technology. In order to justify a merger, management usually claims that the merger will produce synergy. It claims that the merger will increase revenues, earnings, cash flows, the value of stockholders' equity, and will benefit society. The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the issues involved in cross-border mergers among multinational businesses, suggest …

A Case Study Of Bioengineering In America: Profits, Risks And Standards Of Value In The Commercialization Of Monsanto Company's Newleaf Potato, Bridget Lyons, Teresa Ralabate, Nadhim Frangul

WCBT Faculty Publications

Last year, approximately 45 million acres of American farmland were planted with crops that had been genetically engineered to either produce their own pesticides, or withstand herbicides. The long and short-term effects of this biotechnology on humans and the environment, are being studied, but remain unknown. Leading the way in the field of bioengineered crops is the Missouri-based Monsanto Company. Monsanto believes that current agricultural practices are inconsistent with sustainable development. The NewLeaf potato is one of three products Monsanto has created to feed the growing world population. The genetically engineered crop produces, in every cell of the plant, a …

Effective Communication In The Intranational Workplace: Models For Public Sector Managers And Theorists, John F. Kikoski

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

This article discusses theoretical models for effective interpersonal communication in the intranational workplace for public sector managers in the U.S. Effective communication is complete when the message has been understood. A message has been understood when it has been both clearly sent and received. Effective communication is a requisite to every step in the organizational process--from the mutual recognition and understanding of a topic or problem that triggered the communication in the first place to its final resolution. The second classical model of interpersonal communication was published by David Berlo. Berlo elaborated upon the Shannon-Weaver model. He recognized that interpersonal …