Business Commons^™

Paying It Forward: Who Does This?, Elizabeth C. Alexander, Charles Braun

Faculty Research Day

Paying it forward experiences sometimes make the news when an exceptionally long line of drive through customers decide to utilize upstream reciprocity, aka Pay It Forward (PIF), as in an example from December of 2012 at the Tim Horton’s in Winnipeg when 226 customers each individually paid for the order of the customer behind them in line (Tsvetkova and Macy 2014). But in most cases, the experience involves far fewer customers and is much less newsworthy. Nevertheless, paying it forward is a phenomenon that warrants investigating to understand the moti vations and attributes that contribute to the activity, possibly to …

Sustainability & Entrepreneurship Manufacturing In Distressed West Virginia Counties, Margie J. Phillips

Faculty Research Day

This project will identify and define the economic challenges faced by distressed counties in West Virginia regarding sustainable and entrepreneurship manufacturing. In addition, one historic model will be examined as to their successes and past challenges.Large scale manufacturing, once a mainstay in the state’s economy has been and is on a steady decline in West Virginia. Even when manufacturing was a viable component of the state’s economy, it was concentrated, for the most part in populated areas. Rural areas, lacking the necessary infrastructure for robust manufacturing, was stuck in a perpetual distressed condition with only the production of coal as …

Real-Time Nowcasting Of Short-Run Of The Euro-Dollar Exchange Rate With Economic Fundamentals: Does The Measure Of Money Supply Matter?, Boniface Yemba, Michael Otunuga

Faculty Research Day

This paper proposes a fundamental-monetary-based econometric model with mixed frequency data to now caste the Euro-Dollar short run exchange rate. We use the exact amount of information that are available to researchers or police makers at the time of prediction of exchange rate. The spot exchange rate information are available at week basis while other macroeconomic data like money supply, in action, industrial production, and interest rate are available at monthly basis. Since the monetary model consists of stable money demand functions (Bianco, 2012), not all the measure of money supply guaranties a stable money demand. Barnett (1978, 1980) has …

An Analysis Of The Sale Of Contracts By The Athletics After The 1914 Season, Jeffrey Archambault, Marie E. Archambault

Faculty Research Day

The Philadelphia Athletics lost the 1914 World Series to the Boston Braves, being swept in four games. The Athletics had been favored to win the Series over the Braves, who had been in last place as late as the Fourth of July. After the season, Connie Mack, the owner/manager, sold many of the best players for the Athletics. The sale of athletes is often attributed to financial pressures caused by the Federal League, which hired several star players at relatively high salaries and began play in 1914. Perhaps the sales were part of an effort to rebuild the team after …

Conditional Cash Transfer And Girl Child Survival In India, Nabaneeta Biswas

Faculty Research Day

This paper examines the impact of a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program on girls’ early childhood survival in India. With a view to improve sex ratios and alleviate the status of girls, the Government of India launched the Dhan Lakshmi financial incentive scheme in 2008 in select districts of seven states. The program offers financial benefits to parents for raising daughters. Using district-level data from a large household survey, we analyze the program’s effect on sex ratios in the state of Punjab, which reports one of the most skewed sex ratios in the country. Results indicate a positive impact of …

Gis Application In Economic Analyses: Using Aid Effectiveness In Sub-Saharan Africa As An Example, Yi Duan

Faculty Research Day

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques provide invaluable tools in analyzing spatial patterns in economics. Different selections of spatial data layers enable spatial analyses for specific projects or tasks. Using a project on foreign aid effectiveness in sub-Saharan Africa as an example, this presentation shows that detailed aid effectiveness patterns at local level can be revealed using the cutting-edge GIS techniques and spatial analytic skills, which were largely neglected by the previous literature of aid effectiveness at country level. Overcoming the “aggregation bias”, this project finds that aid targeted at local level tends to promote local economic growth, while aid targeted …

Using Omnichannel Sales Data Analytics To Decide Between Store And Distribution Center Fulfillment Options, Jingran Zhang, Sanchoy Das

Faculty Research Day

A brick-and-mortar retailer can fulfill online customer orders in two ways (i) Buy Online Fulfill from Store (BOFS) - Picked from store inventory, and (ii) Fulfill from Distribution Center (FDC) - Picked from DC or warehouse inventory. The fulfillment decision is made in real time for each order, with the primary goal of maximizing the revenue value of the store inventory. Analysis of sales data in both online and store channels is used to forecast the value of the dispersed inventory, and then develop a prescriptive model for making a fulfillment decision.

Changes In Business Core & Accounting Course Requirements: Aacsb Influences, Marie Archambault, Jeffrey Archambault, Jean Price

Faculty Research Day

This study explores the business core requirements and accounting program requirements of universities accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) and those without such accreditation during both 1996/97 and 2012/13 academic years. The sample of 50 universities consists of 25 with AACSB accreditation and 25 without AACSB accreditation during the 1996/97 academic year. Differences are examined in the courses and credit hours required in various courses between the two types of universities as well as changes in these programs between the two time periods. The changes that have occurred between 1996/97 and 2012/13 are compared …

Does An Information Technology Investment Contribute To Company Performance: A Further Examination Of The Productivity Paradox, Marc Sollosy, Rick Weible

Faculty Research Day

This article continues the discussion examining IT’s contribution on firm performance. Byrnjolfsson (1993) identified what is known as the “productivity paradox” and posited a number of reasons for it. Carr (2003) added fuel by suggesting IT is ubiquitous and provides no significant firm advantage. This study does identify that industry type and size matters. Utilizing the position of CIO, or similar, as a proxy for IT emphasis, the study finds that non-IT intensive organizations, with annual sales less than $101 million do achieve performance advantages over firms without an IT emphasis. The implication being that the debate is far from …

Implications Of Upcoding On Medicare Fraud, Alberto Coustasse, Katrina Cremeans, Carli Followay, Jessica Oldaker

Faculty Research Day

The complexity of and quantity of funds involved in Medicare reimbursements have led to a significant increase in the number of Medicare fraud. A particular kind of Medicare fraud, upcoding, has contributed to excessive and avoidable health care spending. Upcoding has been an illegal tactic that some providers have used to increase their Medicare reimbursement for specific medical conditions. This is accomplished by coding a provided service as a more expensive service than what was performed. With the proliferation of upcoding, there has been an unprecedented $12.5 billion in fraudulent Medicare charges. While solving the problem of upcoding will not …

Is Upcoding Anesthesia Time The Tip Of The Iceberg In Insurance Fraud?, Alberto Coustasse, Mike Frame, Avinandan Mukherjee

Management Faculty Research

The question of whether there is anomalous billing in anesthesia care is beginning to be asked by operating room managers, health care administrators, policy makers, and regulators. This question may arise when an anesthesia case seems to take more time to complete than it should. Audits, when conducted, have found that an unusual number of claims end with the digits 0 or 5 as if large numbers of cases start or end on the 5-minute mark. Such a finding serves as a red flag for that practice to undergo an audit. Questions may also be raised because the percentage of …

Telepsychiatry: Access In Rural Areas, David P. Paul Iii, Brianna Washington, Annie Robinson, Mike Tonnie, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

Rural areas have experienced higher than average healthcare workforce problems, especially concerning limited access to mental health services. Telepsychiatry may provide at least a partial solution, as it has improved access and quality of care available in rural environments despite implementation problems. As technology continues to advance access, telepsychiatry will also need to strengthen making access more readily available. Additional research is required to identify modalities and diverse methods that can be used to increase access to mental health services further and improve outcomes in rural and underserved areas.

The Continuing Epidemic Of Hepatitis C In The United States: The Case Of West Virginia, David P. Paul Iii, Neha Botre, Maggie Phillips, Jumana Abboud, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the most significant public health problems currently facing the U.S. If it is left untreated, the likelihood of sustaining a treatment response decreases. While early identification has been identified as a critical focus in trying to obtain better health outcomes, new drug treatments appear quite promising.

The 340b Program, Contract Pharmacies And Hospitals: An Examination Of The First 25 Years Of Their Increasingly Complex Relationship, David P. Paul Iii, Morgan Cathlene Ludado, Morgan Ruley, Hannah Sayre, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

The 340B Drug Pricing Program, created by Congress in 1992 through the Veterans Health Care Act, has provided discounted drug prices to hospitals and other health care organizations serving a wide population of low-income patients. Some 340B programs use contract pharmacies, an arrangement whereby the hospital or health care organization signs a contract directly with a pharmacy to provide covered pharmacy services at discounted prices.

The federal 340B Drug Pricing Program has provided access to reduced price prescription drugs to over 35,000 individual healthcare facilities and sites certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and clinics …

The Nationwide Health Information Network: The Case Of The Expansion Of Health Information Exchanges In The United States, Morgan Ruley, Victoria Walker, Jana Studeny, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

The Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) implemented secure exchange of health records through utilization of the Internet. NHIN has greatly assisted in achieving the goals of the HITECH Act by promoting the adoption of Meaningful Use. Epic introduced a Health Information Exchange (HIE) platform, Care Everywhere (CE), which has facilitated HIE availability. The purpose of this research was to determine the impact of NHIN and Epic Care’s CE on healthcare to determine whether their use in the ED has increased. The methodology for this study utilized a literature review. Twenty-nine sources were referenced for this study. With the NHIN implementation, …

Telepharmacy And Access To Pharmaceutical Services In Rural Areas, Raghav Sarkar, Brandon J. Metzger, Hannah M. Sayre, Chelsea M. Slater, Sruthi Katamneni, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

Access to pharmaceutical services in rural areas has been affected by a national shortage of pharmacists. Telepharmacy, a subspecialty of telemedicine, has involved the utilization of telecommunications to deliver pharmaceutical services to consumers located at a distance. The number of telepharmacy programs in the United States and worldwide has been progressively increasing. The purpose of this research project was to examine the effect of the utilization of telepharmacy on rural hospitals’ access to pharmaceutical services. The methodology of this qualitative study was a literature review. Four electronic databases were employed to retrieve peer-reviewed journal articles, and three websites were accessed …

Hospital Nurse Burnout: A Continuing Problem, David P. Paul Iii, Lama Bakhamis, Harlan M. Smith Ii, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

RNs are a critically important component of the U.S. healthcare system. RN burnout – the feeling of exhaustion from working long hours without rest – is a real concern, having been reported in many hospitals. We examine the background, causes and consequences of burnout among RNs in U.S. hospitals, in order to identify solutions to this problem. Findings indicate that Burnout Syndrome in RNs can be analyzed in terms of four clusters of characteristics: individual, management, organizational, and work. The consequences of burnout include increased RN turnover rates, poor job performance, and threats to patient safety. RN burnout in hospitals …

Macra And Rural Hospitals, Erica Kelley, Rhea Lipscomb, Jennifer Valdez, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

The purpose of this research was to study MACRA (Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act) and to determine how its implementation would financially impact rural hospitals. Although the long-term effects of MACRA have not been able to be studied, MACRA has the prospective to negatively impact rural hospitals financially. MACRA has potential risks and benefits for physicians associated with its two reimbursement payment methods. The estimated negative reimbursements and set reductions to hospital reimbursement have supported the idea that physicians and all healthcare organizations need to be aware and prepared for MACRA.

The Opioid Epidemic In West Virginia, Nicholas Bowden, Rachel Merino, Sruthi Katamneni, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

The rate of overdose-related to the use of licit and illicit opioids has drastically increased over the last decade in the U.S. The epicenter being West Virginia the highest rates of overdoses accounting for 41.5 deaths for 100,000 people among the 33,091 deaths in 2015. The number of people injecting drugs has increased from 36% in 2005 to 54% in 2015. The total U.S cost of prescription opioid abuse in 2011 has been estimated at $25 billion, and criminal-justice-system costs to $5.1 billion. The reasons for this opioid epidemic incidence in WV have been a combination of sociocultural factors, a …

The Effect Of Athlete Celebrity Endorsement On Attitude Toward Brand And Purchase Intention, Yunheui Jeon

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In today’s intense marketing environment, the use of celebrity endorsers in advertising is a popular strategy to promote products over the competitors. Prior research has studied that the endorser-product congruence (Kamins & Gupta, 1994; Till & Busler, 2000), endorser-consumer congruence (Choi & Rifon, 2012; Hosany & Martin, 2012; Sirgy, 1982; 1985), and endorser credibility (Lee & Koo, 2015; McCracken, 1989; Ohanian, 1990; 1991) can influence consumers’ responses, such as attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand, and purchase intention. The high degree of congruence between celebrity image and product leads more positive consumers’ attitude toward ad, brand, and purchase …

Prenatal Opioid Maintenance In The U.S. And Its Effect On Neonatal Abstinence Sysndrome: The Case Of West Virginia's Opioid Epidemic, Morgan Ruley

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Introduction: West Virginia’s opioid epidemic has been the cause of about 1,000 deaths each year. Opioid abuse has become an issue among pregnant mothers and has increased the effects of NAS in infants. The purpose of this research study was to evaluate the participation of prenatal opioid maintenance to determine if it has decreased the amount of treatment needed for NAS in infants in WV.

Methodology: The methodology for this study utilized a literature review and a semi-structured interview. It consisted of academic sources, five electronic databases, academic journals, and government websites. Thirty-seven sources were referenced for this literature …

Harm Reduction Programs: West Virginia Vs. United States, Morgan L. Belcher, Hannah Sayre

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Introduction: Harm reduction has been a movement for social justice built on a belief in, and respect for, the rights of people who use drugs. It has been defined as a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use. The U.S. has been experiencing an opioid/heroin epidemic, with significant increases in overdose death among drug users with more than 72,000 Americans having died from drug overdoses in 2017.

Methodology: The methodology for this study was a literature review with a semi structured interview with Tina Rameriz of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department …

0852: James E. Casto Papers, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection contains information of early Huntington, Charleston, Guyandotte, and surrounding area West Virginia businesses in the forms of advertisements, business letterhead, ink blotters, photographs, and publications. Items span from the mid-1880s to the mid-1980s.

To view materials from this collection that are digitized and available online, search the James E. Casto Papers here.

The Impact Of Big Data On Chronic Disease Management, Niharika Bhardwaj, Bezawit Wadajo, Anthony Spano, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

Introduction: Population health management – and specifically chronic disease management – depend on the ability of providers to identify patients at high risk of developing costly and harmful conditions such as diabetes, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease (CKD). The advent of big data analytics could help identify high-risk patients which is really beneficial to healthcare practitioners and patients to make informed decisions in a timelier manner with much more evidence in hand. It would allow doctors to extend effective treatment but also reduces the costs of extending improved care to patients.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to …