Business Commons^™

Factors Influencing Customer Decisions To Use Online Food Delivery Service During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kyungyul Jun, Borham Yoon, Seung Suk Lee, Dong Soo Lee

Faculty Publications - Tourism

Despite the popularity of online food delivery systems in the foodservice industry, there have been few studies into customers’ decision-making process to use online food delivery services during the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This study applied the technology acceptance model (TAM) to examine the factors affecting customers’ intention to use online food delivery services. Results showed (a) the perceived usefulness affects customer’s online food delivery usage directly and indirectly through customer attitude; (b) enjoyment and trust are also key factors determining behavior intention toward customer attitude using online food delivery services; (c) positive relationship between social influence and customer attitude; …

Millennials' Strategic Decision Making Through The Lens Of Corporate Social Responsibility And Financial Management, Mark Reavis, Kuldeep Singh, Jack Tucci

Faculty Publications -School of Business

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the touchstone for millennials when looking at the means for making their world a better place. Higher education’s focus on CSR has allowed millennials to focus their decision-making using a CSR/stakeholder approach to financial management decisions. Millennials’ support for a CSR/stakeholder approach has grown as they have been completing college. The CSR/stakeholder approach has increased partly due to social awareness created by curricula that highlights areas of social and environmental inequality. This CSR/stakeholder approach has recently emerged as a bona fide strategic management option globally. This paper extends CSR research by evaluating millennial financial decisions …

State Minimum Wage And Mental Health In The United States: 2011-2019, Masanori Kuroki

Faculty Publications -School of Business

Consistent with a rise in “deaths of despair” (drug overdose, alcoholism, and suicide), the percentage of Amer- icans reporting major mental and emotional problems in all 30 of the last 30 days has been increasing. Based on the hypothesis that this rise in extreme levels of distress is driven partly by financial hardships, this study in- vestigates whether higher state minimum wages reduce the likelihood of extreme levels of distress among low- income, prime-age Americans with no postsecondary education. By matching state minimum wages with individual-level data from the 2011–2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, this study finds that a …

The Economic Impact Of Paradise Cove Aquatic Center In Richmond, Kentucky, Laruen Kilburn, Michael J. Bradley, James N. Maples

Faculty Publications - Tourism

One of the most effective ways for rural communities to improve the local economy is by exploring opportunities related to tourism. When communities focus their resources on expanding and improving the tourism industry, it leads to additional opportunities for these communities to increase their revenue, provide jobs and revitalize the local economy. Like many other agencies, the Richmond Parks and Recreation Department has gradually expanded the tourism industry within the City of Richmond in Madison County, Kentucky. To help continue the expansion of this industry, Paradise Cove Aquatic Center opened in 2008. This decision was made because waterparks were becoming …

To Fee Or Not To Fee? Satisfaction, Service Quality, And Support Of An Entrance Fee Of A State Park System, Hund-Ling Stella Liu, I-Chun Nicky Wu, Michael J. Bradley

Faculty Publications - Tourism

In the past decade, state government appropriation reductions have forced park agencies to seek other sources of revenue to support park operations. To overcome shrinking budgets, many public park agencies embrace private-sector business models and investigate customer satisfaction, service quality, and user fee structures. The purpose of this study was to obtain public input regarding service quality, general satisfaction, and experience use history of state park visitation. A total of 382 Oklahoma state park users completed an online survey and were sorted into Pro-Fee (n = 200,52%) and No-Fee (n = 182,48%) groups for one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) …

The Effects Of Conventional And Unconventional Monetary Policy On Exchange Rate Volatility, Wan Wei, Susan Pozo

Faculty Publications -School of Business

This paper examines the impacts of U.S. conventional and unconventional monetary policy announcements on the volatility of six exchange rates, namely Australian dollar, British pound, Canadian dollar, Euro, Japanese yen, and Swiss franc against the U.S. dollar. Narrow windows around policy announcements and high frequency second-by-second intraday data are used in the analysis. Results show that the exchange rate volatility increases significantly in the narrow window before and after the announcements under conventional monetary policy regime. The increase in the volatility is even greater during the contemporaneous period under the unconventional regime. Dividing monetary policy announcements into expansionary and non-expansionary …

Pandemic Effects On Social Media Marketing Behaviors In India, Andrew N. Mason, Matt Brown, Kevin Mason, John Narcum

Faculty Publications -School of Business

This research examined the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on social media marketing in India. There is little research on the impact of a pandemic on consumer behaviors. To address this gap, this exploratory study surveyed Indian consumers’ social media behaviors. Observations from 313 Indian consumers were collected to compare how their social media behaviors for consumer decision-making have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic started. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to test mean differences in social media behaviors prior to and after the COVID-19 pandemic began. The findings demonstrated increased usage of social media as a tool for consumer …

Social Media Gains Importance After The Covid-19, Andrew N. Mason, John Narcum, Kevin Mason

Faculty Publications -School of Business

This exploratory research examines how the COVID-19 pandemic led to increases in consumers’ social media marketing behaviors in the United States (U.S.). Previous research on the impact of a pandemic has focused on behavior for preventive health, however, little attention has been given to the impact of a pandemic on consumer behaviors. To bridge this gap, the Consumer Decision-Making Model was used as a framework to investigate changes in consumers’ social media behaviors as they perform various consumer decision-making processes. More specifically, a questionnaire was used to collect survey data from 327 U.S. consumers. Analysis of Variance tests were performed …

An Empirical Analysis Of Survey Data About Comprehension Of Collaboration, Ralph Ferguson, Efosa C. Idemudia

Faculty Publications -School of Business

Statement of Problem: Collaboration a Means to Chaos Likert Type Survey Instrument: Collaborating with other students on academic assignments without having permission from your professor. A large Southwest university examines five years of data about the distinction that may contribute to ethical misconduct in the classroom and misguided actions as a future professional. The classroom models the evolution of technological shifts, which requires broader interaction across disciplines to manage projects. The encouragement to build teamwork skills through class assignments benefits preparation to enter the market economy to lead in e-commerce, social media, information Systems, and Business Analytics. The survey data …

Pharmacy Internal Controls: A Call For Greater Vigilance During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Andrew N. Mason

Faculty Publications -School of Business

For businesses that store physical goods, managing product inventories and financial cost accounting controls are critical. Pharmacies are under considerable scrutiny, due to the nature of their merchandise, making internal controls even more vital. Due to the emergence of COVID-19 and government mitigation strategies, the US economy has seen significant macro- and microeconomic effects. COVID-19 has changed the pharmacy working environment, which could theoretically increase rates of employee drug diversion. Therefore, better inventory management could reduce the misuse of pharmaceutical drugs from fraudulent and drug diversion activities. The author explored secondary findings to create a multidisciplinary conceptual analysis of the …

Life Satisfaction, Overweight And Obesity, Masanori Kuroki

Faculty Publications -School of Business

Many economists share the view that the rise in obesity is largely the result of rational decision-making by individuals who compare risks and benefits. A dominant view among economists is that there is no economic justification for government intervention unless there is a market failure. However, recent developments in behavioral economics suggests that people often fail to make optimal decisions, and that public welfare may be improved by government interventions even when there is no externality. This paper examines the association between one’s body weight and life satisfaction by utilizing data on self-reported life satisfaction, which approximates individual utility, after …

An Epistemological And Pattern Analysis Of Empirical Data That Influences Emergency Loan Need Among Graduate Students, Efosa C. Idemudia, R. Ferguson

Faculty Publications -School of Business

This analysis studies closely education affordability through the epistemology of emergency loan need that signals economic challenges on the horizon for domestic and international students seeking a post graduate credential at any cost. Prior studies have been very helpful; however, to the best of our knowledge there is not a comprehensive study that has investigated the comparison of small vs. large emergency student loans taken out by graduate students. Also, to the best of our knowledge and to date there are no studies that have investigated the patterns and relationships among ethnicity, gender, marital status, degree type, and college awarded …

Logistics Sustainability?: Long Term Technology Investments And Integration, Jack E. Tucci, Seungjae Shin, Mike Benefield

Faculty Publications -School of Business

This study examines the investment in technology over time in an effort to achieve sustainability and secondarily to support green initiatives by minimizing environmental impacts. The literature suggests integrated supply chain contractors emphasize efficiency and flexibility which leads to organizational performance improvements. This study compares productivity changes in the logistics industry measures after significant RFID investments over time. Productivity ratios collected for the fiscal years of 2000-2013 from financial statements are used to investigate technology investments effects.Since 2003, many end users (Wal-Mart specifically) mandated the implementation of RFID technology as one part of a larger system in reaching long term …

Volatility Of The Utilities Industry: Its Causal Relationship To Other Nine Industries, Kuo-Hao Lee, Ahmed Y. Elkassabgi, Wei-Jen Hseih

Faculty Publications -School of Business

The goal of this study is to investigate the causality relationship between the Utilities industry and the nine other industries. Previous literatures show that volatility of stock prices is informative; Granger causality is applied in this research by using of a leveraged bootstrap test developed by Hacker and Hatemi-J (2006) to examine the behavior of the volatility. The results indicate that causality of the volatility of the Utilities industry on the volatility of seven other industries, except the Information Technology and Telecommunication Services industries. The data also suggest that Financials industry has impact on the Utilities industry.

The Influence Of Cognitive Trust And Familiarity On Adoption And Continued Use Of Smartphones: An Empirical Analysis, Efosa C. Idemudia, Mahesh S. Raisinghani

Faculty Publications -School of Business

In the information-driven and application rich environment of smartphones, power is closer to the user than ever before and it has the potential of helping them become more effective and efficient. Smartphones have become increasingly important for companies to create strategic opportunities and competitive advantage by adding value for its stakeholders and improving efficiency. Technological advances in smartphones have led to increased mobile applications and implications for theory and practice since they create strategic opportunities and competitive advantage by adding value for customers and improving efficiency through the use of mobile technologies. Understanding the factors that influence the continuance in …

Emergency Loan Need Among Graduate Students Signals Debt Trends In Higher Education May Influence The Expansion Of The U.S. Economy Long-Term, Efosa C. Idemudia, Ralph Ferguson

Faculty Publications -School of Business

This article proposes that the rising cost of graduate education and debt may suppress interest of domestic and international students in advanced education and impact the market economy. There are three challenges indicated through emergency loan need increases that deter students from graduate education. First, intellectual and skills growth has been a path to wealth building with the cost of education modest and not a potential lifetime debt. Second, Responsibility Centered Management (RCM), galvanized due to reduction of state and federal funds to support education, may have the detrimental effect of exponentially increasing tuition and fees to maintain programs, staff, …

An Empirical Analysis That Forecast A High Likelihood Of Emergency Loan Need Between Ages 27 To 41 Among Graduate Students For Policy Decisions, Efosa C. Idemudia, Ralph Ferguson

Faculty Publications -School of Business

The increase in graduate schools’ enrollments due to the global recession poses a complex challenge for graduate school deans and policy decisions. The data indicate that between the ages 27 to 41 emergency loan need is high among graduate students. As more non-traditional students seek admission into graduate school, there may be a prescribed role for the emergency loan in order to reduce the level of borrowing necessary among traditional as well as non-traditional graduate students for effective policy decision making. Analysis of emergency loan recipients provides insight for future researchers to investigate other critical factors that influence emergency loan …

Delta Dental Of Arkansas Taking The Next Step, Larry R. Davis, Joan Brumm, R. Edward Bashaw

Faculty Publications -School of Business

Delta Dental of Arkansas, an affiliate of the Delta Dental Plans Association, had been a profitable provider of dental insurance since its inception in 1982 as a one - product company selling group dental policies to companies in Arkansas. With the retirement of its founding CEO in 2000 after 18 years of service, its board of directors crafted a new organizational structure, hired a new CEO from the outside, restructured the board, and redirected the focus of the organization. An external marketing firm employed by the company, following extensive research, encouraged the management of Delta Dental of Arkansas’ to develop …

Using Information Processing To Build A Private Label Brand In Big Emerging Markets, Rachel K. Smith, R. Edward Bashaw

Faculty Publications -School of Business

One of the most visible retailing phenomena of the past two decades has been the increase in sales of private labels (PL), or retail brands. Driven by retail consolidation, attractive margins, consumer sophistication, supply chain efficiencies, merchandising strategies, and pricing, PL offer a wider assortment of price and merchandise options for both retailer and consumer. An important part of the overall merchandising mix in the U.S. and Europe for decades, PL have only recently begun to make inroads in other parts of the world. Using the information processing theory, this paper outlines how retailers in three big emerging markets should …

The Down Home Café, R. Edward Bashaw, Joan Brumm, Larry R. Davis

Faculty Publications -School of Business

The Down Home Cafés, a profitable 23-unit chain of family-oriented restaurants in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Oklahoma, have had slowly declining same-store revenue growth during the past three years. Although research suggests that patrons give the Down Home Café high marks on food quality and value, growth may have been hurt by the lack of ambiance and brand image. Research indicates they are in target consumers consideration sets, although perhaps not a first choice. In order to generate growth, the executive team is focusing on ideas to generate repeat business and increase the underperforming dinner and weekend meal occasions. Down Home's …

Integrating Team Skills Into Program Content, Loretta F. Cochran

Faculty Publications -School of Business

Group projects are common fodder in business programs, both for undergraduate and graduate students. They serve many objectives, from the instructor’s reduction in the number of graded assignments to the students’ manifestation of communications skills in a group setting. A quick poll of students in any business classroom will find that most students have multiple group assignments in any given term. A follow-up question about how much training on team based skills will yield significantly fewer responses. This teaching note attempts to illustrate one approach (in its infancy) that attempts to enhance the team skills of undergraduate students at a …

Linking Corporate Goals And Shop Floor Performance, Loretta F. Cochran

Faculty Publications -School of Business

Several different types of programs have been introduced to translate organizational goals into performance measurement and feedback systems that can be transferred to the shop floor level for employees. An overreaching assumption has been made that there must be subsets of objectives in order to motivate shop floor employees. In the field of human resources, performance management systems have been designed as vehicles for goal translation from top management to lower levels. The total quality management literature introduces hoshin planning as another formula for disseminating goals between layers within the organization.

An aggregate perspective on this linkage of performance and …