Business Commons^™

Professional Skepticism: Practitioners’ Perceptions And Training Practices, Jodi L. Gissel

Accounting Faculty Research and Publications

While regulators criticize auditors for lacking appropriate professional skepticism (SEC, 2010, 2013; PCAOB, 2012), auditing standards lack a clear, consistent definition (Nelson, 2009; Hurtt, Brown-Liburd, Earley, & Krishnamoorthy, 2013), leaving application of professional skepticism “open to interpretation” (Glover & Prawitt, 2013, p. 2). If individual auditors view professional skepticism as open to interpretation (i.e., subjective), auditors may believe they are appropriately applying standards on professional skepticism based on their individual interpretations. However, if regulators apply a different definition of professional skepticism when reviewing auditors’ work, this may help explain ongoing criticisms from regulators stating auditors lack appropriate professional skepticism. The …

Using Case Work As A Pretest To Measure Crisis Leadership Preparedness, Jay L. Caulfield

Management Faculty Research and Publications

Today’s leaders must thrive in a world of turbulence and constant change. Unstable conditions frequently generate crises, emphasizing the need for crisis leadership preparedness, which is missing from many business curricula. Thus, the purpose of this work was to develop a learning module in crisis leadership preparedness. As a baseline measure or pretest, 217 graduate students were asked to analyze two crisis leadership cases during the first week of an entry leadership class. Content analysis provided the method to identify where student analyses fell short. These gaps in learning then informed the creation of student learning objectives. Applying inquiry-based learning, …

Tell It Like It Is: The Effects Of Differing Responses To Negative Online Reviews, Carol L. Esmark Jones, Jennifer L. Stevens, Michael Breazeale, Brian I. Spaid

Management Faculty Research and Publications

Negative electronic word‐of‐mouth (eWOM) has a notable impact on a consumer's online purchase decisions and attitude toward a company or product. Despite substantial research examining this phenomenon, little attention has been given to the impact of responses to negative eWOM. The authors examine negative eWOM in the form of online reviews to understand how responses may impact a consumer’s product satisfaction and attitude toward the company. Three studies examine specific aspects of responses, including responder type, attribution, and severity of negative review. Consistent findings across the studies reveal while any response is better than no response, a fellow consumer responding …

A Global Analysis Of Corporate Litigation Risk And Costs, Matteo P. Arena, Stephen P. Ferris

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

We analyze a unique hand-collected international sample of 475 corporate lawsuits involving 361 publicly-traded defendant firms headquartered in 16 developed countries to explore how country factors influence litigation risk, equity market value, lawsuit outcomes, and settlement costs. Unlike U.S.-focused studies, we do not find a significant relation between stock turnover, equity performance, and the probability of litigation. Defendant firms headquartered in civil law countries or countries with less efficient judiciary systems face lower litigation risk and costs as well as less share price decline at filing. Countries whose courts are less independent demonstrate a significant bias against foreign defendant firms.

Social Media Technology Use And Salesperson Performance: A Two Study Examination Of The Role Of Salesperson Behaviors, Characteristics, And Training, Jessica Ogilvie, Raj Agnihotri, Adam Rapp, Kevin Trainor

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

Extending the literature on sales technology, we use two studies to develop and test a model involving salesperson-customer shared technology tools, referred to as Social Media Technology (SMT). Specifically, we demonstrate the impacts of SMT in B2B sales contexts on customer relationship performance and objective sales performance through key mediating behaviors and characteristics. Empirical findings from two studies, cross-company and within-company data, demonstrate the effects of SMT on salesperson product information communication, diligence, product knowledge, and adaptability. Moderating effects suggest that the integration of SMT in the absence of training on the technology may not yield the best results. Findings …

The Future Of Employee Collective Action Waivers, Douglas O. Smith

Accounting Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Sources Of Design Innovations: Insights From The Computer, Communications And Audio Equipment Industries, Sujan M. Dan, Brian I. Spaid, Charles H. Noble

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

Whereas business research has focused on the impact of design innovations on market response and financial performance, the sources of design innovations, as opposed to those of technological innovations, have largely escaped investigation. In this research, we examine the organizational, financial, and environmental drivers of design innovations and how they contrast to technological innovations. Our study utilizes a unique dataset encompassing a 10-year window of innovation output drawn from the computer, communications, and audio and video equipment manufacturing industries. Our results suggest that design innovations are driven primarily by investments in research and development and slack organizational resources. Interestingly, we …

Review Of Making March Madness: The Early Years Of The Ncaa, Nit, And College Basketball Championships, 1922–1951, By Chad Carlson, Paul Michael Mcinerny

Management Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Employee Stock Ownership And Financial Performance In European Countries: The Moderating Effects Of Uncertainty Avoidance And Social Trust, Saehee Kang, Andrea Kim

Management Faculty Research and Publications

This study investigates how the effect of employee stock ownership on financial performance may hinge on the diverse cultural and societal contexts of European countries. Based on agency and national culture theories, we hypothesize that the positive relationship between employee stock ownership and return on assets (ROA) is stronger in those nations with lower uncertainty avoidance and higher social trust. Using a multisource, time‐lagged, large‐scale dataset of 1,741 firms from 21 countries in Europe, our multilevel, random coefficient modeling analysis found evidence for these hypotheses, suggesting that uncertainty avoidance and social trust serve as important contextual cues in predicting the …

Exploring Consumer Collecting Behavior: A Conceptual Model And Research Agenda, Brian I. Spaid

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the behaviors that revolve around collecting, the motivations behind these behaviors and the psychological benefits collectors receive from engaging in these collecting behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

A thorough literature review and integration of prominent psychological and social psychology theories are used to propose a conceptual model, several research propositions and potential research questions for future scholarship.

Findings

This paper proposes that a collector salient identity and collecting motives drive tension-inducing social and solitary collecting behaviors and that these behaviors in turn reinforce the collector salient identity. Relevant aspects of the collecting phenomenon are …

“Dirty” Workplace Politics And Well-Being: The Role Of Gender, Jennica R. Webster, Gary A. Adams, Cheryl Maranto, Terry A. Beehr

Management Faculty Research and Publications

We build and empirically test an integrative model of gender, workplace politics, and stress by integrating social role theory and prescriptive gender stereotypes with the transactional theory of stress. To examine the effect of gender on the relation between exposure to non-sanctioned political influence tactics (NPITs; e.g., self-serving and socially undesirable behaviors such as manipulation and intimidation) and stress outcomes, we employed a daily diary design with 64 employed adults over the course of 12 working days. In support of our hypotheses, exposure to NPITs––that is, “dirty politics”––elicited a threat appraisal that, in turn, related to the activation of negative …

Labor Law And Innovation Revisited, Bill B. Francis, Incheol Kim, Bin Wang, Zhengyi Zhang

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

This paper examines the impact of changes in job security on corporate innovation in 20 non-U.S. OECD countries. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we provide firm-level evidence that the enhancement of labor protection has a negative impact on innovation. We then discuss possible channels and find that employee-friendly labor reforms induce inventor shirking and a distortion in labor flow. Further investigation reveals that the negative relation is more pronounced in (1) firms that heavily rely on external financing, (2) firms that have high R&D intensity, (3) manufacturing industries, and (4) civil-law countries. Our micro-level evidence indicates that enhanced employment protection impedes …

Gross National Happiness (Gnh): Linkages To And Implications For Macromarketing, Gene R. Laczniak, Nicholas J. C. Santos

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

This theoretical commentary explores the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) and connects it with several central macromarketing concepts such as QoL, ethics, the common good, the purpose of market activity as well as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The paper portrays GNH as a normative concept that captures collective well-being; it categorizes GNH, at least from the standpoint of Western moral philosophy, as most closely aligned with classical utilitarianism, and it distinguishes GNH from QoL on the basis of its predominantly aspirational and subjective orientation. It asserts that GNH can be seen as one manifestation of the common …

When Firms Learn From Prior Acquisition Experience, Kalin Kolev, Jerayr (John) Haleblian

Management Faculty Research and Publications

Acquisition experience is commonly viewed as an important determinant of subsequent acquisition success. Yet, empirical evidence suggests that acquisition experience may not be positively associated with acquisition performance and could even hurt performance. In this article, we highlight specific practices that facilitate and impede learning from acquisitions and draw implications for managers. In particular, we suggest that managers (1) expand time between acquisitions, (2) implement strong governance mechanisms and top management team diversity, (3) use similar-context experience, (4) avoid herding behavior in acquisitions, and (5) minimize blind reliance on financial advisors to effectively transfer prior acquisition experience into acquisition success.

Boards Of Directors And Firm Leverage: Evidence From Real Estate Investment Trusts, Trang Doan, Nga Nguyen

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

We re-examine the negative association between leverage and returns while also focusing on the role of boards of directors. To do so, we utilize the unique setting of real estate investment trusts (REITs), their high leverage, and the volatility that the industry experienced during the recent financial crisis. We find that during the financial crisis REIT board activity increased, especially among firms with high leverage. We also find that board activity helps mitigate the previously reported negative effect of leverage on returns during this time period. Post-crisis, we find evidence suggesting that firms with more active boards reduce …

Multi-Principal Collaboration And Supplier’S Compliance With Codes-Of-Conduct, Emanuela Delbufalo, Marko Bastl

Management Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to articulate propositions on how collaborating multi-national corporations (MNCs) can manage their supplier base in order to reduce the risk of suppliers’ non-compliance with shared codes-of-conduct.

Design/methodology/approach

The study utilises a conceptual theory development approach. In doing so, it utilises key tenets of agency theory that are applied in a multi-principal–supplier relationship context and synthesised in a series of propositions.

Findings

The study shows that MNCs have a variety of mechanisms for reducing the risk of suppliers’ non-compliance by decreasing information asymmetry, increasing their bargaining power and simultaneously use of both rewards/sanctions, and …

Marketers’ Use Of Alternative Front-Of-Package Nutrition Symbols: An Examination Of Effects On Product Evaluations, Christopher L. Newman, Scot Burton, J. Craig Andrews, Richard G. Netemeyer, Jeremy Kees

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

How front-of-package (FOP) nutrition icon systems affect product evaluations for more and less healthful objective nutrition profiles is a critical question facing food marketers, consumers, and the public health community. We propose a conceptually-based hierarchical continuum to guide predictions regarding the effectiveness of several FOP systems currently used in the marketplace. In Studies 1a and 1b, we compare the effects of a broad set of FOP icons on nutrition evaluations linked to health, accuracy of evaluations, and purchase intentions for a single product. Based on these findings, Studies 2 and 3 test the effects of two conceptually-different FOP icon systems …

It Takes Two: Developing A Successful Partnership Between Clients And Students In Client-Based Projects, Rebecca Dingus, Alexander Milovic

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

Both faculty and employers are motivated to advance learning beyond the classroom in order to teach skills required by graduates to succeed in business careers. The authors use a client-based project to build a bridge between marketing theory and practice, allowing students to develop their skills within a course while working with a real company. The authors demonstrate how a client-based project can succeed in the classroom with motivating incentives, positive client engagement, and earning real-world experience-all of which positively enhanced students 'participation, project deliverables, and enjoyment in the class project.

Shareholder Coordination And Stock Price Informativeness, Incheol Kim, Christos Pantzalis, Bin Wang

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

We show that firm‐specific information is more likely to be incorporated into stock prices when firms have stronger shareholder coordination. The premise of our work is that geographic proximity reduces communication costs among shareholders, thereby leading to better coordination. The positive coordination‐informativeness relation is driven mainly by shareholder coordination among dedicated and independent institutions. We further show that the positive effect is more pronounced for firms with weaker governance mechanisms, suggesting that shareholder coordination could serve as a substitute conduit of price discovery. Lastly, we propose that shareholder coordination improves stock price informativeness through the channel of enhanced voluntary disclosure …

A Meta-Analytic Review Of Competitive Aggressiveness Research, Margaret Hughes-Morgan, Kalin Kolev, Gerry Mcnamara

Management Faculty Research and Publications

Competitive aggressiveness has been at the center of competitive dynamics literature for decades, however there is no consensus as to its primary drivers and performance consequences. Thus, we present the results of a meta-analysis of the antecedents to and consequences of competitive aggressiveness using three aggressiveness components—competitive volume, complexity, and heterogeneity. Leveraging the awareness, motivation, capability framework as a guide of the drivers of competitive aggressiveness, we find that greater organizational size and age, lower slack resources and prior performance, greater market growth, lower market concentration, and more heterogeneous top management teams lead to more aggressive actions. In addition, we …

A Simple Procedure To Correct For Attenuation Of Anova Statistics In Decision Sciences Research, Srinivas Durvasula, Manoj K. Malhotra, Subhash C. Sharma

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

Studies in the field of Decision Sciences that employ multi-item rating scales to measure latent constructs have predominantly used ANOVA rather than Means and Covariance Structure Analysis (MACS) in order to investigate group mean differences. However, traditional statistics in ANOVA (e.g., t and F) attenuate when dealing with imperfect measures, which in turn potentially leads to incorrect interpretation of results in the form of accepting the false null hypothesis and/or underestimating the true effect size. To address this issue, we describe in this paper a new but simple procedure to disattenuate the ANOVA-based statistics for measurement error. Using previously published …

Quitting The Boss? The Role Of Manager Influence Tactics And Employee Emotional Engagement In Voluntary Turnover, Christopher S. Reina, Kristie M. Rogers, Suzanne J. Peterson, Jrus Byron, Peter W. Hom

Management Faculty Research and Publications

Employees commonly cite their managers’ behavior as the primary reason for quitting their jobs. We sought to extend turnover research by investigating whether two commonly used influence tactics by managers affect their employees’ voluntary turnover and whether employees’ emotional engagement and job satisfaction mediate this relationship. We tested our hypotheses using survey data collected at two time points from a sample of financial services directors and objective lagged turnover data. Using multilevel path modeling, we found that managers’ use of pressure and inspirational appeals had opposite effects on employee voluntary turnover and that employees’ emotional engagement was a significant and …

Corporate Litigation And Debt, Matteo P. Arena

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

This study examines the effect of litigation risk and litigation costs on firms’ credit ratings and debt financing. The results show that litigation affects a firm's creditworthiness and debt costs in two stages. Before a lawsuit filing, firms at higher risk of litigation have lower credit ratings, are more likely to be rated speculative grade, pay higher yields on loans and bonds, and are less likely to rely on debt financing. At the time of the lawsuit resolution, settlement costs have an additional effect on firm credit quality. Companies facing larger settlement disbursements in relation to their available cash experience …

Diversity Issues For An Aging Workforce: A Lifespan Intersectionality Approach, Jennica R. Webster, Christian N. Thoroughgood, Katina B. Sawyer

Management Faculty Research and Publications

In this chapter we will take up the topic of age and diversity in the workplace. Our emphasis is on examining diversity in terms of what are generally considered stigmatized minority identities. We will review the literature surrounding both visible (gender, race, social class) and concealable (LGBTQ) stigmatized minority identities and the issues that arise at the intersection of these and age. That is, we will address how age and other stigmatized identities can combine to jointly shape the experiences of employees across their work lives. The chapter will open with an introduction to our topic and then provide an …

Cryptocurrencies Are Taxable And Not Free From Fraud, Joseph Wall, D. Larry Crumbley, Lewis B. Kilbourne, Caleb Blair

Accounting Faculty Research and Publications

In this report, the authors discuss cryptocurrencies — especially bitcoin — and argue that because the IRS lists them as property, they are taxable, and because they are not as anonymous as once thought, they are not free from fraud.

Cryptocurrencies are digital assets used as a medium of exchange, but they are not really coins. They can be sent electronically from one entity to another almost anywhere in the world with an internet connection. There are many cryptocurrencies in the market, including bitcoin, ethereum, ethereum classic, litecoin, nem, dash, iota, bitshares, monero, neo, and ripple. Many of the cryptocurrency …

The Impact Of E-Mentoring On Information Technology Professionals, John L. Cotton, Monica Adya

Management Faculty Research and Publications

Our research examines the impact of virtual mentoring, or E-mentoring. We surveyed 133 IT professionals as to their experiences as protégés. We asked them about their mentoring relationships, as well as job and career outcomes, and the extent to which they interacted with the mentor virtually. We predicted that E-mentoring would lead to less effective mentoring relationships, less mentoring satisfaction, and lower career outcomes, and that these effects would be moderated by age (millennial protégés versus older protégés). We found few effects, other than lower satisfaction with E-mentoring relationships. The results suggest that E-mentoring can be as effective as face-to-face …

Workplace Contextual Supports For Lgbt Employees: A Review, Meta‐Analysis, And Agenda For Future Research, Jennica R. Webster, Gary A. Adams, Cheryl Maranto, Katina Sawyer, Christian Thoroughgood

Management Faculty Research and Publications

The past decade has witnessed a rise in the visibility of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. This has resulted in some organizational researchers focusing their attention on workplace issues facing LGBT employees. While empirical research has been appropriately focused on examining the impact of workplace factors on the work lives of LGBT individuals, no research has examined these empirical relationships cumulatively. The purpose of this study was to conduct a comprehensive review and meta‐analysis of the outcomes associated with three workplace contextual supports (formal LGBT policies and practices, LGBT‐supportive climate, and supportive workplace relationships) and to compare …

Does “Evaluating Journal Quality And The Association For Information Systems Senior Scholars Journal Basket…” Support The Basket With Bibliometric Measures?, Alex Stewart, John L. Cotton

Management Faculty Research and Publications

We re-examine “Evaluating Journal Quality and the Association for Information Systems Senior Scholars Journal Basket…” by Lowry et al. (2013). They sought to use bibliometric methods to validate the Basket as the eight top quality journals that are “strictly speaking, IS journals” (Lowry et al., 2013, pp. 995, 997). They examined 21 journals out of 140 journals considered as possible IS journals. We also expand the sample to 73 of the 140 journals. Our sample includes a wider range of approaches to IS, although all were suggested by IS scholars in a survey by Lowry and colleagues. We also …

Product Recalls: The Effects Of Industry, Recall Strategy And Hazard, On Shareholder Wealth, Michael Bernon, Marko Bastl, Wenqian Zhang, Mark Johnson

Management Faculty Research and Publications

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the effects of product recalls on shareholder wealth of manufacturing firms in different supply chains. Previous research examining this phenomenon is largely uni-sectorial and/or does not consider the interplay of hazard, recall strategy and sector. By utilizing the event study method, this study examines investors' reactions to key product recall characteristics: industry, recall strategy and hazard level, on a cross-industry sample of 296 product recall announcements. The results show a significant negative reaction of share values to product recalls and significant differences between industry type and hazard levels. More regulated …

Leadership As An Art Within The Context Of Wicked Social Problems, Johnette (Jay) Caulfield

Management Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.