Business Commons^™

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: March 15, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Adam George

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) rose by 0.16% during Feburary 2013. The slight increase in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, suggests modest economic growth in Nebraska in the summer of 2013. Looking at individual components of the LEI-N, there was strong growth in business expectations during February. Respondents to the Survey of Nebraska Business reported expectations for a solid increase in business sales and employment over the next six month. However, all other components of the LEI-N declined during February, albeit only slightly. Specifically, single-family building permits dropped modestly …

Health Care And The Cross-Section Of Us Stock Returns, Brian C. Payne, John Geppert

Department of Finance: Faculty Publications

Health care costs represent a large and growing component of business and consumer expenditures in the US. Medical inflation represents these costs, and it differs from aggregate inflation and other market factors with respect to its rate of growth, statistical properties and the extent to which it can be hedged by households and firms. Using multiple model specifications for the 25-year period from 1985 to 2009, we find medical inflation is robustly priced in the cross-section of US stock returns. It commands a risk premium of between 31 and 51 basis points per annum per unit change in beta. Medical …

Make A Pitch For Extension (Worksheet), Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Presentations and White Papers

Are you ready to make a pitch for Extension? Then, get clear about your Extension Why and use it to make a great pitch! Why focus on Why? Because people...

• Connect with Purpose (The WHY Factor)
• Are Motivated by Personal Fulfillment & Passion
• Make Most Decisions based on Emotion

A Closer Look At The Assistant (To The) Regional Manager: Personality Differences Between First And Second In Command Leaders In Organizations, Ross Benes

McNair Scholars Research Journal

Although a great deal of research has established personality differences between leaders and their followers (Lord, de Vader, & Alliger, 1986) there has been little research on how leaders at different levels of organizations may differ from one another. In particular, no research to date has examined whether or not there are personality differences between those who are first in command of their organizations and those second in command. The present study attempts to explore whether or not these differences exist in terms of both lay perceptions and in reality. The researchers in this study asked 401 individuals to contrast …

The Implementation Of New Marketing Strategies By The Salesperson: The Constraining Factor Model, Jeffrey S. Johnson

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The implementation of marketing strategies has long been espoused as a key concern of academics and practitioners due to its importance to firm performance. Despite this fact, strategic implementation remains a perennial challenge for firms. This may be in part due to the focus placed on strategic formation rather than strategic implementation. Additionally, as the preponderance of empirical explorations into the implementation phenomenon have been conducted at the firm level, significant opportunity remains to understand implementation on an individual level. Of the organization roles germane to strategic implementation, that of the salesperson is arguably one of the most important. The …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: February 15, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Adam George

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) rose by 0.36% during January 2013. The increase in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, suggests moderate economic growth in Nebraska in the summer of 2013. Looking at individual components of the LEI-N, four improved in January. There was strong growth in single-family building permits during January, reflecting significant improvement in the outlook for the housing sector over the last year. There also was modest improvement in airline passengers counts, a drop in initial claims for unemployment insurance, and a drop the value of the …

Technical Report- January 18, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Introduction

State, Federal, and private entities produce a myriad of data about the national and state economy. Much of this data, however, is released with a substantial lag of several months up to several years. Much of the data also only reports on segments of the economy, rather than providing an overall measure of economic progress. Yet, there is a clear need for comprehensive and current measures of the economy, and current updates about the economic outlook. This information is provided at the national level by the Conference Board, which produces a leading and coincident indicator for the national economy. …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: January 18, 2013, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Adam George

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) rose modestly, by 0.11%, during December 2012. The increase in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, suggests modest economic growth in Nebraska in mid-2013. Looking at individual components of the LEI-N, two components improved in December. The value of the U.S.dollar fell during December, which may increase export activity over the next six months. There also was a decline in initial unemployment claims during the month that signals an improving labor market. Among other components, there was a modest decline in manufacturing hours, airline passenger …

Funding Public Services: Opinions Of Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans, 2013 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, Eric Thompson

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans seem content with current levels of spending on many public services and activities. Over one-half propose no changes in the level of spending for most of the public services listed. Only one item, unemployment compensation, had a majority say they would like to see less spending for it. And, many rural Nebraskans would propose an increase in spending for education as well as roads and bridges.

Not surprising, many groups favor an increase in spending on items important to them. Younger persons are more likely than older persons to favor an increase in spending for education. Persons …

Community And Individual Well-Being In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2013 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben

Nebraska Rural Poll

By many different measures, rural Nebraskans are positive about their community. Many rural Nebraskans rate their community as friendly, trusting and supportive. Most rural Nebraskans also say it would be difficult to leave their community. In addition, most rural Nebraskans disagree that their community is powerless to control its future.

Differences of opinion exist by the size of their community. Residents of smaller communities are more likely than residents of larger communities to rate their community favorably on its social dimensions. However, residents of larger communities are more likely than residents of smaller communities to say their community has changed …

Quarterly Business Indicators 2nd Quarter 2013, Unl Bureau Of Business Research

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Quarterly Business Indicators for the 2nd quarter of 2013 show steady growth in the Lincoln, Nebraska economy. Growth rates in the Lincoln area are similar to growth rates nationwide.

The Lincoln MSA unemployment rate remains at year ago levels (Figure 1) but is still half of the U.S. rate (Figure 2). Lincoln is experiencing solid job growth and rapid growth in hours-worked and building permits. Non-farm employment grew by 1.4% in the Lincoln MSA between the 2nd quarter of 2012 and 2013, which is slightly below the 1.6% growth rate nationwide (Figure 4). Building permits were up 21.2% in …

Quarterly Business Indicators 3rd Quarter 2013, Unl Bureau Of Business Research

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Quarterly Business Indicators for the 3rd quarter of 2013 show solid progress in the Lincoln, Nebraska economy. Improvements in the economy are broad-based.

The Lincoln MSA unemployment rate remains at year ago levels (Figure 1) but is still half of the U.S. rate (Figure 2). Lincoln is experiencing solid labor market growth. Non-farm employment grew by 1.5% in the Lincoln MSA between the 3rd quarter of 2012 and 2013, which is slightly below the 1.7% growth rate nationwide (Figure 4). However, average hours worked rose by 0.4% in the Lincoln MSA over the last year (Figure 8) versus a …

Supportive Supervision And Resiliency Ohio - Accwic Training Curriculum, Atlantic Coast Child Welfare Implementation Center

Other QIC-WD Products

Purpose The International Federation of Coaches (ICF) defines coaching as: “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” “Coaching is highly focused on individuals designing their future – and that of their organization – and achieving excellence through setting personally and professionally challenging goals and committing to taking the actions necessary to achieve them” (Byrne, 2007). In the field of child welfare, coaching is being utilized in work situations, at all levels of the system, to focus on specific skills and abilities to reach specific outcomes, enhance performance and …

Connecting With Volunteers: Memorable Messages And Volunteer Identification, Sarah Steimel

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Many of the 1.8 million registered nonprofit organizations in the United States rely on the services of volunteers to be able to connect with and meaningfully serve their communities. However, volunteers are less likely to receive formal socialization and training than paid employees. Thus, this study employs the concept of memorable messages as a way for exploring the ways in which messages received by volunteers from a variety of organizational sources may affect their volunteer identification with the nonprofit organization they serve. Three results emerged from the data, including: (a) sources of memorable messages in volunteer organizations; (b) types of …

Health Care Reform: Perceptions Of Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans, 2013 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans currently have health insurance. Only nine percent of rural Nebraskans do not have health insurance while the majority of residents have health insurance through job benefits. These responses are nearly identical to 2004 when this question was last asked.

Persons living in the North Central region, persons with lower household incomes, persons who have never married, persons with lower education levels and persons with food service or personal care occupations are the groups most likely to be uninsured.

Most rural Nebraskans expect to have health insurance next year. Only two percent of residents do not plan on …

Water And Climate: Perceptions Of Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans: 2013 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben

Nebraska Rural Poll

Many rural Nebraskans have experienced loss of wildlife and wildlife habitat, voluntary decrease in water usage, decreased farm production and wildfires to some extent as a result of last year’s drought. The majority of persons with occupations in agriculture have experienced decreased farm production and loss of business income as a result of last year’s drought.

Most rural Nebraskans rate indoor use in existing homes and agricultural uses (irrigation and livestock) as high priority uses of water. Uses of water that were not ranked very high include swimming pools for individual homes, watering golf courses and transferring water to other …

Supportive Supervision And Resiliency Ohio - Accwic Coaching Curriculum, Atlantic Coast Child Welfare Implementation Center

Other QIC-WD Products

Purpose The International Federation of Coaches (ICF) defines coaching as: “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” “Coaching is highly focused on individuals designing their future – and that of their organization – and achieving excellence through setting personally and professionally challenging goals and committing to taking the actions necessary to achieve them” (Byrne, 2007). In the field of child welfare, coaching is being utilized in work situations, at all levels of the system, to focus on specific skills and abilities to reach specific outcomes, enhance performance and …

Knowledge-Sharing Behavior In Dairy Sector Of Pakistan, Syed Rahmatullah Shah, Khalid Mahmood Dr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study is about knowledge sharing behavior in dairy sector. Two-hundred middle managers (with professional qualifications) from five industrial units in Pakistan were selected for study. Fifty-seven managers participated in the study (29 percent of the sample). Research model and hypotheses were based on behavioral theories, i.e., TRA, TPB, and TAM. Data were collected through a questionnaire using Likert scale. Spearman’s and Pearson’s correlation coefficients and structural equation model among different variables tested hypotheses of the research modal. The study proved that attitude, intention, and behavior had accepted mutual positive direct effects for knowledge sharing in dairy sector. Conversely, subjective …

State Antitakeover Laws And Voluntary Disclosure, Yijiang Zhao, Arthur Allen, Iftekhar Hasan

School of Accountancy: Faculty and Staff Publications

We test the relationship between takeover protection and voluntary disclosure in a setting of antitakeover laws in a firm’s state of incorporation. After correcting for the endogeneity of firms’ incorporation choices, we find that firms incorporated in states with more antitakeover laws have higher levels of voluntary disclosure and stock market liquidity. Further tests do not support shareholder demands being the driving force for this association. Our findings are consistent with takeover protection and poor disclosure serving as substitute mechanisms for deterring takeovers. Therefore, as antitakeover statutes mitigate takeover threats, they enhance managers’ incentives to disclose more in order to …

Learning About The Local Labor Market, R. Vogt, Cheryl Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph Cantrell

Rural Futures Institute: Publications

Several communities in took part in a community process called Marketing Hometown America. They learned how to capitalize on their strengths and tell the story of their communities.

Adpr 357: Account Planning—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Sriyani Tidball

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

A course portfolio investigating student learning in ADPR 357, complete with case studies of student work.

Participation In Decision Making As A Property Of Complex Adaptive Systems: Developing And Testing A Measure, Ruth A. Anderson, Donde Plowman, Kirsten Corazzini, Pi-Ching Hsieh, Hui Fang Su, Lawrence R. Landerman, Reuben R. Mcdaniel

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Objectives. To (1) describe participation in decision-making as a systems-level property of complex adaptive systems and (2) present empirical evidence of reliability and validity of a corresponding measure. Method. Study 1 was a mail survey of a single respondent (administrators or directors of nursing) in each of 197 nursing homes. Study 2 was a field study using random, proportionally stratified sampling procedure that included 195 organizations with 3,968 respondents. Analysis. In Study 1, we analyzed the data to reduce the number of scale items and establish initial reliability and validity. In Study 2, we strengthened the psychometric test using a …

Reclaiming “Anthropology: The Forgotten Behavioral Science In Management History” – Commentaries, Fred Luthans, Ivana Milosevic, Beth A. Bechky, Edgar H. Schein, Susan Wright, Davydd J. Greenwood

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Purpose – This collection of commentaries on the reprinted 1987 article by Nancy C. Morey and Fred Luthans, “Anthropology: the forgotten behavioral science in management history”, aims to reflect on the treatment of the history of anthropological work in organizational studies presented in the original article.

Design/methodology/approach – The essays are invited and peer-reviewed contributions from scholars in organizational studies and anthropology.

Findings – The scholars invited to comment on the original article have seen its value, and their contributions ground its content in contemporary issues and debates.

Originality/value – The original article was deemed “original” for its time (1987), …

Gendered Narratives Of Innovation Through Competition: Lessons From Science And Technology Studies, Scout Calvert

UNL Libraries: Faculty Publications

Library and information science is a technologically intensive profession with a high percentage of women, unlike computer science and other male-dominated fields. On the occasion of the 2011 Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) conference, this essay analyzes the theme “Competitiveness and Innovation” through a review of social psychology and science and technology studies literature. Both theme concepts have ramifications for library and information science (LIS) education. Librarianship and teaching are both professions that resist commodification because they rely on embodied labor and personal interaction. Competition, as a management or learning style, may not promote meaningful innovation in …

Food Webs And Food Sovereignty: Research Agenda For Sustainability, Charles A. Francis, Michelle Miller, Molly Anderson, Nancy Creamer, Michelle Wander, Jacob Park, Thomas Green, Brent Mccown

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Future food production will be constrained by the scarcity of fossil fuel and fresh water as well as increasing intensity and unpredictability of weather events and climate changes. The assurance of food security and equity for many consumers is complicated by concentration of ownership of land and other production resources, as well as a global corporate food systems model that is driven by profit at the expense of people and the environment. To assess potential alternatives to the contemporary global food chain, well focused research is needed on local food production and food webs where small- and midscale family farms …

Accounting For Product Substitution In The Analysis Of Food Taxes Targeting Obesity, Zhen Miao, John C. Beghin, Helen H. Jensen

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

We extend the existing literature on food taxes targeting obesity. We systematically incorporate the implicit substitution between added sugars and solid fats into a comprehensive food demand system and evaluate the effect of taxes on sugars and fats. The approach conditions how food and obesity taxes affect total calorie intake. The proposed methodology accounts for the ability of consumers to substitute leaner low-fat and low-sugar items for rich food items within the same food group. This substitution is integrated into a calibrated demand system in addition to the substitution among food groups, using recent food intake data and existing demand …

Coordinating A Supply Chain With A Manufacturer-Owned Online Channel: A Dual Channel Model Under Price Competition, Jennifer K. Ryan, Daewon Sun, Xuying Zhao

Department of Supply Chain Management and Analytics: Faculty and Staff Publications

We consider a dual channel supply chain in which a manufacturer sells a single product to end-users through both a traditional retail channel and a manufacturer-owned direct online channel. We adopt a commonly used linear demand substitution model in which the mean demand in each channel is a function of the prices in each channel.We model each channel as a news vendor problem, with price and order quantity as decision variables. In addition, the manufacturer must choose the wholesale price to charge to the independent retailer. We analyze the optimal decisions for each channel and prove the existence of a …

Modeling Social Transmission Dynamics Of Unhealthy Behaviors For Evaluating Prevention And Treatment Interventions On Childhood Obesity, Leah M. Frerichs, Ozgur M. Araz, Terry T.-K. Huang

Department of Supply Chain Management and Analytics: Faculty and Staff Publications

Research evidence indicates that obesity has spread through social networks, but lever points for interventions based on overlapping networks are not well studied. The objective of our research was to construct and parameterize a system dynamics model of the social transmission of behaviors through adult and youth influence in order to explore hypotheses and identify plausible lever points for future childhood obesity intervention research. Our objectives were: (1) to assess the sensitivity of childhood overweight and obesity prevalence to peer and adult social transmission rates, and (2) to test the effect of combinations of prevention and treatment interventions on the …