Business Commons^™

Disclosure Overload? A Professional User Perspective On The Usefulness Of General Purpose Financial Statements*, Michael S. Drake, Jeffrey Hales, Lynn Rees

Faculty Publications

We survey a broad group of professionals who use financial statements as part of their job to assess the extent to which they believe financial reports suffer from disclosure overload. Consistent with the claims made by regulators, auditors, and preparers, we find that a significant portion of professional financial statement users believe disclosure overload is a problem. However, this group is in the minority, with about twice as many professional users believing that overload is not a problem and that more information should be disclosed in financial statements. This dichotomy presents a difficult challenge to standard setters aiming to improve …

The Value Relevance Of Taxes: International Evidence On The Proxy For Profitability Role Of Tax Surprise, Jon Kerr

Faculty Publications

Despite evidence that tax surprise is incrementally value relevant, the literature has done little to broaden the investigation beyond the United States or examine circumstances that affect informativeness. After extending to the international setting, I examine the impact of tax enforcement. I report strong results of greater value relevance when tax enforcement is high and that the value relevance of tax surprise is mostly contained within its interaction with tax enforcement. These findings highlight the importance of tax enforcement in determining the information content of tax surprise and suggest that extant and future discussions should be broadened to include it.

The School-Based Family: Teachers As Parental Figures For Orphans And Vulnerable Children In Ugandan Schools, Stacy Taniguchi, Angela Warren, Steve Hite, Mark Widmer, Ramon B. Zabriskie, Yusef Nsubuga, Christopher Mugimu

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine the possible formation of surrogate families within Ugandan schools, especially among orphans who lack positive development opportunities typically provided by parents. This qualitative study sample of 66 Ugandan secondary school students were selected from eight schools in the Mukono district of Uganda. Findings suggest a potentially widespread family formation pattern between students and their teachers. More than 75% of students interviewed self-identified their teacher as family. Some teachers were able to offer orphans and vulnerable children positive developmental assets and were, therefore, identified as family.

Theory Of Experiential Career Exploration Technology (Tecet): Increasing Cybersecurity Career Interest Through Playable Case Studies, Justin Scott Giboney, Derek L. Hansen, Tanner Johnson, Desiree Winters, Jason K. Mcdonald, Jonathan Balzotti, Elizabeth Bonsignore

Faculty Publications

There is a large demand to fill cybersecurity jobs. To alleviate this need, it is important to generate interest in cybersecurity as a career. One way to do this is through job shadowing and internships. Using design science principles, we have built and tested a playable case study (PCS) where participants can act out a virtual internship and learn relevant cybersecurity skills. We ran a study with students in introductory university courses where they played through a simulated internship at a penetration testing company called CyberMatics. In the study we showed that a PCS format helps students 1) better understand …

Evaluating Theory Of Structured Experience Propositions: Effects Of Service Quality And Experience Industry Techniques On Quality Of Immediate Leisure Experiences, Gary D. Ellis, Andrew Lacanienta, Patti A. Freeman, Brian J. Hill

Faculty Publications

We tested two propositions of the Theory of Structured Experience: first, strategies used to structure experiences in the leisure industries elevate experience quality only when a threshold of service performance is met or exceeded; and second, positive relations exist among indicators of experience quality. Two teams of higher education tourists visited 23 attractions on three Hawaiian Islands. Immediately after each visit, team one (n = 4) judged the attractions based on service quality and experience structuring performance. Members of team two (n = 14) also reported the quality of their individual experiences after each visit by measuring the prevalence of …

Asset Allocation In Bankruptcy, Shai Bernstein, Emanuele Colonnelli, Benjamin Iverson

Faculty Publications

This paper investigates the consequences of liquidation and reorganization on the allocation and subsequent utilization of assets in bankruptcy. Using the random assignment of judges to bankruptcy cases as a natural experiment that forces some firms into liquidation, we find that the long-run utilization of assets of liquidated firms is lower relative to assets of reorganized firms. These effects are concentrated in thin markets with few potential users and in areas with low access to finance. These findings suggest that when search frictions are large, liquidation can lead to inefficient allocation of assets in bankruptcy.

Testing The Test: Expanding The Dialogue On Technical Writing Assessment In The Academy And Workplace, Lindsay Tanner, Jonathan Balzotti

Faculty Publications

The small amount of work on workplace writing assessment has focused almost entirely on student readiness for professional writing or included case studies of employer expectations for new writers. While these studies provide insight into current pedagogies for technical writing and writing instruction in general, the main conclusion to be drawn from them is the unsatisfactory number of recent graduates who display workplace readiness. In this article, we explore writing assessment research in both the academy and the workplace and attempt to identify ways in which the academy’s assessment practices lead, lag behind, or simply differ from writing assessment in …

Playable Case Studies: A New Educational Genre For Technical Writing Instruction, Jonathan Balzotti, Derek Hansen

Faculty Publications

A Playable Case Study (PCS) is a hybrid learning experience where students (1) participate in a fictional narrative that unfolds through an immersive, simulated environment and (2) engage in classroom activities and lessons that provide educational scaffolding and promote metacognition through in-game and out-of-game experiences. We present the Microcore PCS to illustrate the potential of this new type of experiential simulation that incorporates aspects of Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) to increase immersion and teach workplace literacies in the technical communication classroom. We explore results from a pilot test of Microcore with an undergraduate technical communication course, identifying design strategies that …

An Empirical Study Of Service Recovery Quality And Customer Retention, Kristen Bell Detienne, Joan Westwood

Faculty Publications

This article proposes and empirically tests an original model of service recovery. Customer loyalty significantly impacts a company’s profitability. Customer satisfaction influences customer loyalty, and perceived recovery quality affects satisfaction. Surveys were mailed to 1,476 customers of a large financial services firm. This study examined how customers’ perceptions of the quality of service recovery efforts differs among customer groups. Customer groups were formed according to differing levels of post-recovery customer loyalty in order to study the impact of perceived service recovery quality on customer loyalty. The results of the study indicate that high- and low-loyalty customer groups differ in their …

Using Fmri To Measure Stimulus Generalization Of Software Notification To Security Warnings, Brock Kirwan, Bonnie Anderson, David Eargle, Jeffrey Jenkins, Anthony Vance

Faculty Publications

This paper examines how habituation to frequent software notifications may carry over to infrequent security warnings. This general process— known as stimulus generalization or simply generalization—is a well-established phenomenon in neurobiology that has clear implications for information security. Because software user interface guidelines call for visual consistency, software notifications and security warnings have a similar look and feel. Consequently, through frequent exposure to notifications, people may become habituated to security warnings they have never seen before. The objective of this paper to propose an fMRI experimental design to measure the extent to which this occurs. We also propose testing security …

The Relationship Between Academic Stress And Adolescents’ Problematic Smartphone Usage, Ting-Ting Xu, Hai-Zhen Wang, Winny Fonseca, Marc A. Zimmerman, Detlef H. Rost, James Gaskin, Jin-Liang Wang

Faculty Publications

Background: Problematic smartphone usage among adolescents and young adults is a growing concern.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether depressive symptoms mediate the relationship between academic stress and problematic smartphone usage, and, more importantly, whether problem-focused coping moderates the association between academic stress and depressive symptoms.

Method: The sample comprised of 316 middle school students (46.8% males, M¼13.74 years old, SD¼0.87) in Southwest China. The results showed that depressive symptoms mediated the association between academic stress and problematic smartphone usage.

Results: This indirect relationship was conditioned by the degree of problem-focused coping. Specifically, those with lower …

“Thank You, Siri”: Politeness And Intelligent Digital Assistants, Nathan Burton, James Gaskin

Faculty Publications

Interactions with intelligent digital assistants like Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Google’s Google Assistant can often be direct and terse, which is leading many to worry that users’ uncivility towards digital assistants is causing users to become ruder in their human interactions. Although digital assistants are nearing ubiquity, not much is known about how interactions with this form of artificial intelligence may negatively impact human social behaviors. Practice-oriented researchers have started initial explorations into the effects of interaction with digital assistants from a social psychology perspective, and academics have pursued similar questions within the paradigm of current human-computer interaction research. …

Diversity In Peer-Advice Networks And The Emergence Of Collective Post-Adoptive Attitudes: A Multilevel Perspective, Tanner Skousen, Elena Karahanna

Faculty Publications

Implementing new enterprise information systems (EIS) has been an important, expensive, and constant problem that research has tried to solve for years. Previous implementation research offers conflicting viewpoints on the role that social influence dynamics play in implementation success. We study one social influence mechanism, namely peer-advice networks, and examine how the diversity characteristics (separation, disparity, and variety) of these networks lead to the emergence of a collective post-adoptive attitude (either resistance or support) toward a new information system. We propose a multilevel, longitudinal study using electronic medical record systems as a context to analyze the effect of diversity on …

Is There Information Content In Information Acquisition?, Michael S. Drake, Darren T. Roulstone, Bret A. Johnson, Jacob Thornock

Faculty Publications

In this study, we examine whether investors’ actions to acquire accounting information are predictive of future firm performance because these actions partially reveal investors’ private expectations of this performance. Using a database of EDGAR downloads, we find some evidence that information acquisition of accounting reports by EDGAR users is, on average, predictive of future firm performance. We then determine the identity of the EDGAR user and examine whether different users’ private expectations will be relatively more predictive of subsequent performance. We find that the information acquisition activities of more sophisticated institutional users (e.g., hedge funds, investment banks) are more strongly …

The Role Of The Business Press In The Pricing Of Analysts’ Recommendation Revisions, Minkwan Ahn, Michael S. Drake, Hangsoo Kyung, Han Stice

Faculty Publications

We investigate the information-dissemination role of the business press by examining the coverage of analyst recommendation revisions. Consistent with the press providing wider dissemination of analyst reports, we find evidence that coverage of analyst recommendation revisions significantly increases the initial market reaction to these revisions and decreases the subsequent price drift. Furthermore, we find that news flash coverage, rather than in-depth coverage, of a recommendation revision drives both the initial market reaction results and drift results. Finally, we show that broader press coverage influences the activities of large-trade institutional investors but not highfrequency traders. Overall, our findings suggest a complementary …

Rank And File Equity Compensation And Earnings Management: Evidence From Stock Options, D. Kip Holderness Jr., Adrienna Huffman, Melissa F. Lewis-Western

Faculty Publications

The wide-spread use of rank and file equity-based compensation suggests that executives believe that rank and file employees can affect firm outcomes, and some research supports this view. If equity-based incentives influence rank and file employees’ productive efforts, they might also influence their earnings management decisions. We find that increases in rank and file employees’ option-based compensation—our proxy for equity-based compensation—are associated with increases in earnings management and that this relation is attributable to real activities (as opposed to accrual) earnings management. Cross-sectional tests indicate that the relation is stronger when rank and file option compensation is likely to generate …

Income Smoothing And The Usefulness Of Earnings For Monitoring In Debt Contracting, Peter Demerjian, John Donovan, Melissa F. Lewis-Western

Faculty Publications

We investigate whether income smoothing affects the usefulness of earnings for contracting through the monitoring role of earnings-based debt covenants. First, we examine initial contract design and predict that income smoothing will increase (decrease) the use of earnings-based covenants if income smoothing improves (reduces) the usefulness of earnings to monitor borrowers. We find that private debt contracts to borrowers with greater income smoothing are more likely to include earnings-based covenants. A structural model that explores the cause of this relationship provides evidence that smoothing improves the ability of earnings to reflect credit risk. Second, we examine technical default following contract …

The Contribution Of Family Leisure To Family Functioning And Family Satisfaction Among Urban Russian Families, Mikale Williamson, Ramon Zabriskie, Jasmine Townsend, Peter Ward, Gilbert Fellingham, Irina Kuznetsova

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine how both family leisure involvement and family leisure satisfaction contributed to the explanation of variance in family functioning and satisfaction with family life among urban Russian families (n = 597). As an initial examination of family leisure functioning in the Russian culture, mixed model analysis accounted for family-level and individual level variance, and indicated core family leisure satisfaction was the strongest predictor of all aspects of family functioning and satisfaction with family life, a pattern similar across other cultures. There were also positive relationships between balance family leisure and various aspects of …

Urban Land: Price Indices, Performance, And Leading Indicators, Mark Fitzgerald, David J. Hansen, Will Mcintosh, Barrett A. Slade

Faculty Publications

This study had two objectives: first, to evaluate the historical performance of urban land prices across 20 prominent U.S. metro markets; and second, to determine if urban land prices are a leading indicator for prices in the built environment. Using a time-varying econometric model with spatial controls, we constructed constant-quality metropolitanlevel land price indices. We found that 1) from 2000 to 2017 (18 years) national residential and commercial-industrial urban land prices appreciated by 2.08% and 1.87% annually, respectively; 2) urban land prices exhibited greater volatility compared with improved property prices; 3) in many metro markets land prices began to decline …

Déjà Vu: The Effect Of Executives And Directors With Prior Banking Crisis Experience On Bank Outcomes Around The Global Financial Crisis*, Anwer S. Ahmed, Brant E. Christensen, Adam J. Olson, Christopher G. Yust

Faculty Publications

We investigate the effect of executives and directors with prior banking crisis experience on bank outcomes around the global financial crisis (GFC). Executives and directors with previous experience leading banks through a bank crisis may have been uniquely able to understand the risks, recognize the warnings signs early, and thus respond more effectively to the GFC. Controlling for other executive, director, and bank-level characteristics, we examine whether bank performance, risk taking, and accounting quality in the period immediately before and during the GFC are affected by having executives or directors who previously served as bank executives or directors during the …

The Loss Of Information Associated With Binary Audit Reports: Evidence From Auditors’ Internal Control And Going Concern Opinions*, Brant E. Christensen, Stevanie S. Neuman, Sarah C. Rice

Faculty Publications

This study provides evidence that binary signals in audit reports are unable to fully communicate underlying risks that are inherently continuous in nature. Specifically, we find that companies whose audit reports signal an improvement in internal control effectiveness relative to the prior year are still more likely to subsequently restate the current year’s financial statements than companies with no material weaknesses in either year. Similarly, companies deemed to no longer have substantial doubt of continuing as a going concern are still more likely to declare bankruptcy than companies with no going concern opinion in either year. Results in both settings …

Ranking Accounting Journals By Topical Area And Methodology, John A. Barrick, Nathan W. Mecham, Scott L. Summers, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

This paper presents rankings of accounting journals disaggregated by topical area (AIS, audit, financial, managerial, tax, and other) and methodology (analytical, archival, experimental, and other). We find that only for the financial topical area and archival methodology does the traditional top-3 characterization of the best journals accurately describe which journals publish the most-cited work. For all other areas, including AIS, audit, managerial, tax, and other topics, and all other methodologies, including experimental, analytical, and other methodologies the top- 3 characterization does not describe which journals publish the most cited work. For only analytical research does the traditional top-6 journal characterization …

Optimizing Software Team Performance With Cultural Differences, Greg S. Anderson, Mark J. Keith, Conan C. Albrecht, Alex N. Spruill, Clayton Pettit

Faculty Publications

Software development is primarily a team task that requires a high degree of coordination among team members [1]. Prior research has indicated that the composition of team member traits such as personality and culture can influence the performance of software teams [2]. However, this line of research does not give practical guidance on how to build teams with personnel constraints. Some research has built teams by starting with personality [2]. However, cultural traits—which are also known to influence team performance—have not been examined in the same manner. This research, therefore, builds upon this stream by: 1) examining the effects of …

Characterizing Conceptual Modeling Research, Lois M. L. Delcambre, Stephen W. Liddle, Oscar Pastor, Veda C. Storey

Faculty Publications

The field of conceptual modeling continues to evolve and be applied to important modeling problems in many domains. With a goal of articulating the breadth and depth of the field, our initial work focused on the many implicit and explicit definitions of conceptual modeling, resulting in the Characterizing Conceptual Modeling (CCM) framework. In this paper, we focus on conceptual modeling research, presenting a Characterizing Conceptual Model Research (CCMR) framework and a series of evaluations to assess the coverage and usability of CCMR, the utility and independence of the individual fields in the framework, and likelihood of consistent use.

Reporting Quantitative Methods And Findings: Best Practices Fidelity In The Leisure Science Literature, Mat D. Duerden, Eric Keith Layland, Andrew Lacanienta, Camilla Hodge, Michael Goates, Michael B. Edwards

Faculty Publications

This article identified best practices for quantitative methods and results reporting and then evaluated leisure science articles’ adherence to them. A two-stage stratified sampling method identified 112 articles. A codebook was developed, and 26 universal codes addressing abstract, methods, and results were applied to each article to generate best practices scores (BPS). BPS ranged from 6 to 21 (M¼14.89, SD¼2.95). Articles were more likely to use best practices for abstract, sample selection, recruitment, statistics, and data analysis, and less likely for participant characteristics, instrumentation, and data collection procedures. Comparisons of BPS across journals identified significant differences.

Over-Design Versus Redesign As A Response To Future Requirements, Jeffrey D. Allen, Phillip D. Stevenson, Christopher A. Mattson, Nile W. Hatch

Faculty Publications

Though little research has been done in the field of over-design as a product development strategy, an over-design approach can help products avoid the issue of premature obsolescence. This paper compares over-design to redesign as approaches to address the emergence of future requirements. Net present value (NPV) analyses of several real world applications are examined from the perspective of manufacturers (i.e., defense contractors, automobile, pharmaceutical, and microprocessor manufactures) and customers (i.e., purchases of vehicles, televisions, cell phones, washing machines, and buildings). This analysis is used to determine the conditions under which an over-design approach provides a greater benefit than a …

Threading Competencies In Writing Courses For More Effective Transfer, Amy D. Williams, Jonathan Balzotti

Faculty Publications

This article contributes to current conversations about transfer, specifically how WAC courses can encourage vertical transfer (Melzer). The authors draw on research in learner development that demonstrates how a threaded curriculum approach helps students learn concepts and skills and apply that knowledge in multiple contexts. Additionally, a threaded curriculum can incorporate pedagogical elements that have been linked to effective transfer, such as abstract conceptualization and metacognition. The authors present an instructional model for sequenced writing courses that leverages this research and moves away from disconnected writing courses. The threaded curriculum explored here promotes vertical transfer between an introductory professional writing …

Designing Authentic Cybersecurity Learning Experiences: Lessons From The Cybermatics Playable Case Study, Jason K. Mcdonald, Derek L. Hansen, Jonathan Balzotti, Tanner Johnson, Desiree Winters, Justin Giboney, Elizabeth Bonsignore

Faculty Publications

This paper reports our work on an educational simulation that we call the Playable Case Study (PCS). A PCS is characterized by a fictitious narrative integrated with real-world learning activities, helping students learn skills, knowledge, and dispositions relevant to a professional career. We describe a recent pilot test of a PCS focused on the discipline of cybersecurity, emphasizing the kinds of tensions and difficulties that can arise during the development of immersive, experiential learning experiences: a) challenges accompanying the work of interdisciplinary PCS teams, particularly maintaining technical accuracy while still developing an authentic and engaging narrative; b) reconciling the opportunities …

The Fog Of Warnings: How Non-Essential Notifications Blur With Security Warnings, Anthony Vance, David Eargle, Jeffrey Jenkins, C. Brock Kirwan, Bonnie Brinton Anderson

Faculty Publications

Adherence to security warnings continues to be an important problem in information security. Although users may fail to heed a security warning for a variety of reasons, a major contributor is habituation, which is decreased response to repeated stimulation. However, the scope of this problem may actually be much broader than previously thought because of the neurobiological phenomenon of generalization. Whereas habituation describes a diminished response with repetitions of the same stimulus, generalization occurs when habituation to one stimulus carries over to other novel stimuli that are similar in appearance.

Generalization has important implications for the domains of usable security …

Visual Storytelling For Improving The Comprehension And Utility In Disseminating Information Systems Research: Evidence From A Quasi-Experiment, Kristijan Mirkovski, James Gaskin, David Hull, Paul Benjamin Lowry

Faculty Publications

Since the start of human civilisation, storytelling has served as an effective medium for disseminating important knowledge within families, communities and organisations. We make a case for the use of visual storytelling, namely video stories, to supplement traditional scholarly articles in the Information Systems (IS) discipline, thereby exploring its potential to improve actual and perceived comprehension, perceived utility, satisfaction as well as intentions to cite, share and accept research. Drawing on cognitive learning theory, the cognitive theory of multimedia learning and the literature on deep processing, we develop our research model, which is based on the model by Jiang & …