Business Commons^™

Spreadsheets Grow Up: Three Spreadsheet Engineering Methodologies For Large Financial Planning Models, Thomas A. Grossman Jr., O Ozluk

Business Analytics and Information Systems

Many large financial planning models are written in a spreadsheet programming language (usually Microsoft Excel) and deployed as a spreadsheet application. Three groups, FAST Alliance, Operis Group, and BPM Analytics (under the name “Spreadsheet Standards Review Board”) have independently promulgated standardized processes for efficiently building such models. These spreadsheet engineering methodologies provide detailed guidance on design, construction process, and quality control. We summarize and compare these methodologies. They share many design practices, and standardized, mechanistic procedures to construct spreadsheets. We learned that a written book or standards document is by itself insufficient to understand a methodology. These methodologies represent a …

Travelers’ Most Preferred Green Attributes For A Hotel Room, Michelle Millar

Hospitality Management

The purpose of this study, based on bundles of select environmentally friendly hotel room attributes, is to identify what kind of green hotel room business and leisure travelers would most prefer. Another purpose of the study is to assess whether customers are willing to pay more, and if so, how much more, to stay in an environmentally friendly hotel room. The hotel room most preferred incorporated a refillable shampoo dispenser, energy efficient light bulbs, and towel and linen policies, as well as key cards, and green hotel certification. Green hotel certification was the most influential attribute on preference. These results …

Exploring The Use Of Social Bookmarking Technology In Education: An Analysis Of Students’ Experiences Using A Course-Specific Delicious.Com Account, Tricia M. Farwell, Richard D. Waters

Public and Nonprofit Administration

With more than 4.6 million people, mostly undergraduates, enrolling in at least one online course in fall of 2008, students are showing that they are comfortable with the concept of technology in education. Many students in online classes, however still have to deal with the high cost of textbooks and supplemental materials. Online technologies, however, can provide other alternatives to costly coursepacks and textbooks. Faculty and students may be able to replace or supplement coursepacks and textbooks with social bookmarking sites. This study shows how social bookmarking, specifically Delicious.com, can be used in a course to provide an inexpensive answer …

The Value Of Relationship And Communication Management In Fundraising: Comparing Donors' And Practitioners' Views Of Stewardship, Richard D. Waters

Public and Nonprofit Administration

The organisation-public relationship paradigm has frequently referenced Kelly’s (2001) stewardship strategies as possible methods for strengthening relationships with stakeholders; however, there have been no attempts to measure stewardship. A mailed survey of individual donors (n = 1,706) and fundraising team members (n = 124) at three non-profit hospitals asked participants to evaluate their views toward the four stewardship strategies as well as estimate how the other side would evaluate them. By using the coorientation methodology, this study found that although both sides valued the four stewardship strategies, their attitudes differed in magnitude. These findings provide growing support for future examination …

Ensuring Sound Financial Management, Elizabeth Norton-Schaffer

Public and Nonprofit Administration

No abstract provided.

Black Swans And Retirement Strategies: Is “Buy And Hold Best”?, Barry Doyle, Robert Mefford, Nicholas Tay

Finance

The recent market crash which has led to as much as a 47% drop in the value of the S&P500 index has made some of us wonder if there is a cost effective way for us to hedge our retirement portfolios against such a drastic loss. Our objective is to investigate empirically the tradeoffs that will arise from using a protective put strategy for hedging retirement portfolios over an investment horizon that is long enough to be comparable to the average holding period for retirement portfolios

Specialty Food And Beverage: A Case Study Of Small Business Management, Barry Doyle, Arthur H. Bell, Dayle Smith

Finance

Specialty Food and Beverage is facing growing pains from its rapid expansion over the last decade and more. The case provides a summary of the challenges faced by the company in the areas of supply chain management, marketing plans, the creation of economic value, and the development of a long term strategy for profitable growth.

Managing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Risks Of Gift, Travel And Entertainment Expenditures, Karl Boedecker

Economics, Law, and International Business

Significant increases in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement activities have heightened the legal risks associated with giving gifts or paying travel and entertainment expenses for U.S. firms when promoting their goods or services in foreign markets. This change in the external environment necessitates appropriate strategic adjustments and managerial actions. The lack of specific standards of conduct under the FCPA’s general prohibitions requires that U.S. firms closely monitor the increasing number of investigations and legal actions initiated by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Foreign Produced Content And Japanese Price Disinflation: An Empirical Study, Peggy Takahashi, Daniel Blakley, Joel Oberstone, Yasuhiro Akiyama

Economics, Law, and International Business

This research investigates the role non-macroeconomic factors have played in subduing inflationary pressures in Japan. We investigate the hypothesis that the under-recognized presence of goods with high foreign produced content (FPC) in the consumer market basket has coincided with reduced price-level increases over the time period 1991-2004. An empirical examination and descriptive comparison of CPI market basket items and import data categories suggest the negative relationship between FPC and the CPI inflation rate over this time period is significant. Our conclusions suggest the extent to which measures of inflation are considered to be an accurate gauge of macroeconomic conditions or …

Clusters And Upgrading: A Purposeful Approach, Gerald A. Mcdermott, Héctor O. Rocha

Faculty Publications

We develop a theoretical model to investigate how backward societies can improve their upgrading capabilities by transforming existing industrial agglomerations into dynamic clusters. Our main assumptions are two: first, emerging market economies are not uniform but characterized by variety of subnational regional and sectoral organizational and institutional configurations; second, the basic building block and unit of explanation in social sciences is personal action guided by some intention, which is heterogeneous across different actors. Based on these assumptions and the literature on human motives and social networks, we develop a purposeful approach to clusters and upgrading. We argue that governments can …

Contents, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Instructions For Authors, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

T&L Career Day Fall 2010 Poster, University Of North Florida

Transportation & Logistics Program General Materials

This poster was created for the Transportation and Logistics Flagship Program at the University of North Florida.

T&L Career Day 2010 Powerpoint, University Of North Florida

Transportation & Logistics Program General Materials

Powerpoint created for the Transportation and Logistics Program at the University of North Florida.

I Was Banging My Head Against A Brick Wall: Exclusionary Power And The Gendering Of Sport Organizations, Ruth Sibson

Research outputs pre 2011

The under-representation of women in sport management has increasingly been recognized by government and nongovernment organizations, and there has been some attempt to redress the imbalance. Research has indicated, however, that the gendering of sport organizations is not simply a numbers' game. The purpose of this study was to analyze the exercise of exclusionary power as an aspect of gender relations within a six member volunteer Board of Directors of an Australian local, grass-roots sport organization. Data were gathered using semistructured interviews, participant observation and documentary evidence over a 15-month period. This study identified that, although numerical under-representation of men …

Women's Knowledge And Attitudes Regarding Alcohol Consumption In Pregnancy: A National Survey, Elizabeth Peadon, Jan Payne, Nadine Henley, Heather D'Antoine, Anne Bartu, Colleen O'Leary, Carol Bower, Elizabeth Elliott

Research outputs pre 2011

Background: Alcohol exposure in pregnancy is a common and modifiable risk factor for poor pregnancy and child outcomes. Alcohol exposure in pregnancy can cause a range of physical and neurodevelopmental problems in the child including the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). In order to improve prevention strategies, we sought to describe the knowledge and attitudes of women of childbearing age regarding alcohol consumption during pregnancy and its effects on the fetus. Methods: We conducted a national cross-sectional survey via computer assisted telephone interview of 1103 Australian women aged 18 to 45 years. Participants were randomly selected from the Electronic White …

An Ambience Of Power? Challenges Inherent In The Role Of The Public Transport Transit Officer, Christine Teague, Lelia Green, David Leith

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Dysfunctional Audit Behaviour: An Exploratory Study In Malaysia, Halil Paino, Zubaidah Ismail, Malcolm Smith

Research outputs pre 2011

The quality of the opinion provided by audit firms is an important determinant of their long-term survival, but audit quality is difficult to gauge, which makes it particularly sensitive to the behaviour of the individuals who carry on audit work. This paper seeks to identify the incidence of dysfunctional audit behaviours and audit quality reduction behaviours, actions taken by an auditor during engagement that reduce evidence-gathering effectiveness. The paper is based on a survey of 244 auditors working in small/medium and big audit firms in Malaysia. The paper identifies key variables leading to dysfunctional audit behaviour. The paper is subject …

Reducing Dependence On Big Brother: Higher Education Looks For Innovative Funding Opportunities, Ralph E. Mckinney Jr., Lawrence P. Shao, Patrick A. Tissington

Management Faculty Research

This paper presents innovative programs that business schools can utilize to reduce dependence on public funds. A review of the literature shows the theoretical and empirical foundation of higher education funding dilemmas. While higher education is moving towards a global ambition, scarcity hinders governments to fully support programs long-term; thus, cost-sharing and cost-shifting measures must occur for higher education to support current programs. In this study, we examine two universities (one U.S. and one UK.) and provide practical summaries of programs that have provided additional funds. We show that diversity of funding sources is essential for survival of higher education …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 52 Number 1, Summer 2010, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

16 - COURAGE IN THE FACE A photoessay from Haiti by Michael Lattimore. A journey to document humanitarian work by doctors in the wake of the January quake.

20 - PILGRIMAGE By Martha Stortz. Walking the Camino to Santiago de Compostela, and learning a few things along the way: about big questions, saints, direction, and feet.

28 - THE HISTORIANS An interview by Ron Hansen M.A '95. Between them, historians George Giacomini '56 and Tim O'Keefe can claim nearly a century of educating Santa Clara students. This year, both close the books on teaching in the classroom. But first they …