Business Commons^™

The Experience Of Former Women Officials And The Impact On The Sporting Community, Jacob K. Tingle, Stacy Warner, Melanie L. Sartore-Baldwin

School of Business Faculty Research

In an effort to explore the shortage of female sport officials, the authors examined the experience of eight former female basketball officials from five geographically diverse states in the U.S. who voluntarily left the role. Specifically, the authors asked former female basketball officials to describe their workplace experiences. Utilizing a phenomenological approach and workplace incivility framework, the results indicated that the felt social inequity for female officials detracted from the participants experiencing a sense of community in the workplace, which ultimately led to their discontinuation in the role. Results indicate four key factors that created this uncivil work environment. An …

Performance Implications Of Stage-Wise Lead User Participation In Software Development Problem Solving, Jorge A. Colazo

School of Business Faculty Research

The problem-solving view of new product development sees the innovation process as a series of problem-solving loops broken down into three stages: problem detection, analysis and removal. We link this framework with lead user-driven innovation regarding software and show that effort by lead users (LUs) in each stage of the innovation problem solving process is, in varying degrees, associated with the source code’s quality, the productivity of the development process and the software’s popularity. We also test whether front loading the problem solving process is associated with development performance and we find that front loading is associated with increased code …

Integration And Divergence Of Patent Systems Across National And International Institutions, Deli Yang, M. Sönmez

School of Business Faculty Research

Based on a framework grounded in the institution-based view, this paper addresses the extent of global patent system integration and development. Our findings suggest that nations’ patent systems have yet ‘met’ the ‘international standards’, despite national and international endeavor toward this goal. The impact of international institutions on national institutions is reflected in the process rather than the outcome. Among the three components of patent systems across 88 nations, conformity is the strongest for ‘patent mechanism', operations is the most diverse for ‘patent administration’ and ‘patent enforcement’ does not form a cross-nation divide due to most nations being moderate enforcers.

Does A Lack Of Choice Lead To Lower Quality?: Evidence From Auditor Competition And Client Restatements, Nathan J. Newton, Dechun Wang, Michael S. Wilkins

School of Business Faculty Research

We examine the relationship between auditor competition and the likelihood of financial restatements that occur as a result of failures in the application of GAAP. Policy makers and audit market participants have expressed concern that the current level of auditor competition is low, resulting in a negative impact on audit quality. However, we find that restatements are more likely to occur in metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) that have higher auditor competition. The association between audit market competition and restatements is statistically and economically significant. Our finding that audit quality is higher when auditor competition is lower suggests that at least …

Bringing Darkness To Light: The Influence Of Auditor Quality And Audit Committee Expertise On The Timeliness Of Financial Statement Restatement Disclosures, Jaime Schmidt, Michael S. Wilkins

School of Business Faculty Research

This study investigates whether auditor quality and audit committee expertise are associated with improved financial reporting timeliness as measured by the duration of a financial statement restatement’s ‘‘dark period.’’ The restatement dark period represents the length of time between a company’s discovery that it will need to restate financial data and the subsequent disclosure of the restatement’s effect on earnings. For a sample of dark restatements disclosed between 2004 and 2009, we find that companies that engage Big 4 auditors have shorter dark periods than companies that do not engage Big 4 auditors. We also find that companies with more …

Lifting The Iron Curtain: Paul Anderson And The Cold War's First Sport Exchange, Dominic G. Morais, Jan Todd

School of Business Faculty Research

On 15 June 1955, Paul Anderson, the 340-pound American heavyweight, lay on a couch waiting for his first attempt at a weightlifting competition in Moscow between the Soviet Union and the United States.¹ The event, held at the large, outdoor Zelyony Theater in Gorky Park, was the first of two contests being held as part of a goodwill trip authorized by the U.S. State Department.² During the contest, lifter after lifter warmed up backstage, pacing nervously between sets as they awaited their tum on the enormous stage festooned with Soviet and American flags. Anderson and his teammates—Tommy Kono, …

Transformational Learning In Business Education: The Pivotal Role Of Experiential Learning Projects, Rita D. Kosnik, Jacob K. Tingle, Edwin L. Blanton Iii

School of Business Faculty Research

In this paper, we posit experiential learning projects in business as a valuable alternative to internships to meet the new AACSB standards for accreditation. While internships have traditionally been used as the main method to provide hands-on learning experiences for students in business schools, their effective implementation imposes stringent demands on faculty, curriculum, and program resources. The pedagogical and administrative benefits of experiential learning projects (ELP) are analyzed using the Kolb model and the literature on learning. We illustrate the versatility of the ELP learning tool by describing two very different applications currently in use at a small private university …

Officiating Attrition: The Experiences Of Former Referees Via A Sport Development Lens, Stacy Warner, Jacob K. Tingle, Pamm Kellett

School of Business Faculty Research

Referees are key sport personnel who have important responsibilities both on- and off- the field. Organized competition would not survive without referees, yet little is known about what cause referees to discontinue in the role. This research examines the experiences of former referees so that managers may better understand strategies that might encourage more referees to be retained. Fifteen previous basketball referees were interviewed about their refereeing experience. Ten themes emerged that were related to the sport development stages of referee recruitment, referee retention, and referee advancement. The results indicate that issues experienced during the retention phase (Problematic Social Interaction, …

Homeownership As A Sign Of Immigrants' Consumer Acculturation: The Role Of Region Of Origin, Mario V. González Fuentes, C. Iglesias Fernández

School of Business Faculty Research

One of the limitations highlighted by the consumer acculturation literature is the lack of empirical research to identify better constructs or indicators of consumer acculturation. In this article, the use of homeownership by immigrants in the host society is proposed as an indicator of advanced consumer acculturation. The decision to own a home by a minority group, such as immigrants, represents a key landmark in the process of adaptation to the new culture and a commitment with the host country's values and culture. The empirical case used is the immigrant population of Spain. The sharp rise in its foreign-born population …

The Contribution Of Social Simulation In The Advancement Of Marketing Issues And Challenges, Mario V. González Fuentes

School of Business Faculty Research

For some years now, marketers have been praising for a more holistic approach of a company’s marketing efforts across all areas. However, traditional models show serious limitations to address the complexities of managing all of a company’s touch points with a customer. Agent-based modeling (ABM) has opened the door to explore the unfolding behaviors and outputs of an increasingly connected and interactive marketplace. The contribution of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, it provides researchers with a state-of-the-art repository for this strand of research. This facilitates the identification of relevant gaps in the literature and future research avenues. …

Developing A Student Employee Leadership Program: The Importance Of Evaluating Effectiveness, Jacob K. Tingle, Christina Cooney, Seth E. Asbury, Sheldon Tate

School of Business Faculty Research

Outstanding student employees are essential for campus recreation programs to achieve organizational goals. To that end, this study examined the effectiveness of a leadership development program in which three groups of campus recreation (rec sports) student employees participated at various levels in the following: oncampus training, an off-site retreat, a scavenger hunt, and biweekly meetings. Using a quasi-experimental design, data were collected in two phases from 51 students and measured the growth of each student’s leadership capabilities as reported using the Student Leadership Practices Inventory. Statistical analyses revealed that group membership did significantly affect growth in the student’s leadership capacity, …

Refinancing Pressure And Earnings Management: Evidence From Changes In Short-Term Debt And Discretionary Accruals, L. Paige Fields, Manu Gupta, Michael S. Wilkins, Shage Zhang

School of Business Faculty Research

Refinancing pressure may entice a very specific form of managerial misbehavior on the part of borrowers. Borrowers utilizing a greater amount of short term debt in one period may feel pressure to make their firms look as attractive as possible leading into the next period when refinancing may take place. In other words, potential refinancing pressure may lead managers to manipulate earnings. We examine the relation between changes in debt in current liabilities (short-term debt) and discretionary accruals as an indicator of the propensity to manage earnings. Our results show that (i) firms have higher discretionary accruals during periods of …

Patent Trolls: Legit Enforcers Or Harrassers?, Deli Yang

School of Business Faculty Research

Since the turn of the century, 'patent trolls' have emerged as one of the most topical debates among patent holders. However, nearly ten years later, stakeholders are still unable to reach consensus as to the 'right' or 'wrong' of 'trolls'. Against this backdrop, our debates open with the landmark case of Blackberry between RIM and NTP to provide thoughts as to whether NTP is considered a troll. Then there is a focus on some conceptual issues surrounding 'patent trolls', and its origin citing relevant mini-cases. This column also lays out the fierce arguments for or against patent trolling among scholars …

Marks And Brands: Conceptual, Operational And Methodological Comparisons, Deli Yang, M. Sönmez, Q. Li

School of Business Faculty Research

People tend to use brands and marks interchangeably due to their similarities. However, they are often nonsubstitutable to each other. This paper systematically examines the similarities and differences of these two terms in conceptual, operational and methodological manners taking account of history and international dimensions. Such clarification is important given the increasing significance of marks and brands for all stakeholders (rather than consumers only). The paper starts with the definitional understanding about the two terms. It then focuses on the history of these two terms to reveal how their evolvement has been. Next, it discusses their similarities and differences, including …

Colour Markability: Registrable In A Few Nations, But Debatable Among Many!, Deli Yang

School of Business Faculty Research

Colour marks have been equally debatable before and after they became registrable in few countries. Before some landmark cases set the broad legal framework for colour mark protection, debates centred on the registrability. Nowadays, registrability remains an issue, but heightened debates have been surrounding the conditions and interpretations of this non-traditional mark. With the increasing importance of marks for businesses and organizations, colour mark issues have become internationally controversial. This Global IP debate thus, opens with two landmark cases: Qualitex v Jacobson and BP v Woolworths. It then focuses on some conceptual issues relevant to the colour mark itself, its …

Software Protection: Copyrightability Vs Patentability?, Deli Yang

School of Business Faculty Research

The moment software was created was also the starting point of heated debates over software protection. During the early stages of protection, the debate was around the copyrightability of software protection. Nowadays, the focal point is the argument on whether software should be solely protected under copyright or dually guarded by both copyright and patent. With the development of the software industry across the world, this issue has become more and more contentious internationally. This column of Global IP Debate opens with a software patent case and an open source case, and then traces the history of software protection to …

Organizational Trust And Mindfulness In Ncaa Division Iii Athletic Departments, Jacob K. Tingle

School of Business Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

An Administrative Mess: A Case Study From The Officiating Community, Stacy Warner, Jacob K. Tingle, Pamm Kellett

School of Business Faculty Research

This case is written for instructors of classes focused on strategic management, organisational behaviour, human resource management, and/or an officiating course. The case highlights the numerous administrative processes a new employee in a sport organization would face. Although the case is fictional it is based on the authors’ personal and professional experiences in athletics administration and officiating, and further draws upon the authors’ research in the area of officiating. Consequently, this case study was constructed based on first-hand observation, interviews and conversation with numerous officials and administrators, and through the examination of documents frequently used to manage officials. As a …

Patent System Measurements: Review, Critique And Proposal, Deli Yang

School of Business Faculty Research

This paper reviews and critiques existing literature on means of patent system measurement across countries and accordingly proposes an integrated framework to advance this under-studied area by considering the impact of international organizations. The literature review reveals that studies have been conducted to measure patent systems across the world in diversely conceptual, empirical and methodological manners. The paper discusses all these differences and reveals their strengths and weaknesses. The proposed conceptual framework consists of three components: patent mechanism (e.g. patent laws), patent administration (e.g. patent filing and grant) and patent enforcement (e.g. judicial dispute resolution). The initial testing of this …

Compulsory Licensing: For Better Or For Worse, The Done Deal Lies In The Balance, Deli Yang

School of Business Faculty Research

Ever since compulsory licensing has emerged as a statutory obligation, it has been debated around the balance of interests between the general public and IP right holders. After opening two cases relevant and typical to the debate, this column clarifies compulsory licensing within the licensing contexts, and gives a brief account of its history. The focal point then centers on the main issues of compulsory licensing grants for national emergency, non-working, anti-competitive practice, non-commercial use and relevant international issues. In the end, some potential solutions are proposed.

Internal Control Disclosures, Monitoring, And The Cost Of Debt, Dan Dhaliwal, Chris E. Hogan, Robert Trezevant, Michael S. Wilkins

School of Business Faculty Research

We test the relationship between the change in a firm's cost of debt and the disclosure of a material weakness in an initial Section 404 report. We find that, on average, a firm's credit spread on its publicly traded debt marginally increases if it discloses a material weakness. We also examine the impact of monitoring by credit rating agencies and/or banks on this result and find that the result is more pronounced for firms that are not monitored. Additional analysis indicates that the effect of bank monitoring appears to be the primary driver of these monitoring results. This finding is …

Winning At All Costs: A Case Study, Jacob K. Tingle, Stacy Warner

School of Business Faculty Research

This case addresses the challenges of sport managers to make fair and ethical decisions while considering the many potential organizational outcomes of their decisions. The case is based on a real situation that occurred within a NCAA Division III athletics setting. It highlights the decision making process of a director of athletics who must respond to the untimely arrests of the university’s star quarterback and an assistant coach. The case provides an opportunity for students to critically examine the following: 1) how a sport organization’s policies and philosophical position impact decision making, and 2) the relationship between sport and education. …

The Relationship Between Organizational Trust And Mindfulness: An Exploration Of Ncaa Division Iii Athletic Departments, Jacob K. Tingle

School of Business Faculty Research

The drive to have a successful college athletic program is an acknowledgement of marketplace realities; universities are competing for ever scarcer resources. As a result, the desire to be better than has led some department personnel and student-athletes to commit unethical, even illegal acts. Recent examples call into question the credibility of college sports. Therefore, understanding organizational dynamics associated with trust and decision-making in athletic departments is important. This study explored the relationship between organizational trust and mindfulness operating in NCAA D-III (non-scholarship) athletic departments.

After a pilot study confirmed reliability and validity of instruments designed for this study, data …

Following The Sun: Temporal Dispersion And Performance In Open Source Software Project Teams, Jorge A. Colazo, Y. Fang

School of Business Faculty Research

Dispersion in working teams has been addressed by extant research mostly in terms of the physical distance that separates team members. Recently, the focus has shifted toward an examination of a newer construct –temporal dispersion (TD). The study of TD so far has been constrained mostly to conceptual work. This study furthers the understanding of TD through an empirical investigation of its relationship with open source software (OSS) team performance. In this paper, hypotheses are developed based on coordination theory, and analyses are performed using data collected from multiple archival sources comprising 100 OSS development teams. Results indicate that TD …

Evidence On The Audit Risk Model: Do Auditors Increase Audit Fees In The Presence Of Internal Control Deficiencies?, Chris E. Hogan, Michael S. Wilkins

School of Business Faculty Research

The article discusses the study of determining whether audit risk model is descriptive of what occurs in the auditing practice or if the relationship between fees and internal control deficiencies (ICDs) suggest that audit enterprises exert more effort in auditing firms that impart ICDs. The study examines the internal controls over financial reporting (ICOFR), generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), audit risk model, audit fees and sections of Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The study found out that audit fees are significantly higher for firms disclosing material weakness.

Can We Talk About Race? And Other Conversations In An Era Of School Resegregation [Book Review], Jacob K. Tingle

School of Business Faculty Research

Ten years after Beverly Daniel Tatum wrote, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? she again closely examines the world of American education. In her latest work, Dr. Tatum gives the reader a seat in the auditorium at 4 lectures delivered at Simmons College during 2006. These lectures, the first of the Race, Education, and Democracy series, challenge educational leaders to look for better ways to serve our student populations. Coupling the texts’ historical underpinnings and practical advice, Dr. Tatum has written a book that should be required for those who work closely with college students.

Competition For Andersen's Clients, Mark Kohlbeck, Brain W. Mayhew, Pamela Murphy, Michael S. Wilkins

School of Business Faculty Research

We examine competition for Andersen’s public clients during and after its failure in 2002. This setting provides a natural experiment to examine audit market dynamics at the local level. We construct a database documenting Big4 purchases of local Andersen offices. After exploring the factors associated with office purchases, we examine the impact of office purchases on public client market share gains and changes in audit fees. We find that three Big4 firms – Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and KPMG – purchased approximately 60% of Andersen’s offices while PricewaterhouseCoopers did not purchase any. The probability that a firm purchased a specific …

The Interaction Among Multiple Governance Mechanisms At Young, Newly Public Firms, Tammy K. Berry, L. Paige Fields, Michael S. Wilkins

School of Business Faculty Research

We focus on the relations among inside ownership, board composition, unaffiliated block ownership, and compensation structure for a sample of firms following their IPOs. Specifically, we follow firms for up to eleven years after their IPOs and examine the full sample and subsamples of firms that survive, are acquired, or that file for bankruptcy during the sample period. We find that as CEO ownership declines, board independence, board seats held by venture capitalists, and unaffiliated block ownership increase. Our findings suggest that as inside ownership decreases alternative governance mechanisms evolve to help mitigate the resulting increase in agency costs. Interestingly, …

The Reputational Penalty For Aggressive Accounting: Earnings Restatements And Management Turnover, Hemang Desai, Chris E. Hogan, Michael S. Wilkins

School of Business Faculty Research

In this paper we investigate the reputational penalties to managers of firms announcing earnings restatements. More specifically, we examine management turnover and the subsequent re-hiring of displaced managers at firms announcing earnings restatements during 1997 or 1998. In contrast to prior research (Beneish 1999 and Agrawal, Jaffe and Karpoff, 1999), which does not find increased turnover following GAAP violations or revelation of corporate fraud, we find that 60% of restating firms experience a turnover in at least one top manager within 24 months of the restatement compared to only 35% among age-, size- and industry-matched firms. Moreover, 85% of the …

Conceptual Issues Of Global Counterfeiting On Products And Services, D. Bosworth, Deli Yang

School of Business Faculty Research

Counterfeiting is a global problem of enormous magnitude. Despite its obvious importance, relatively little attention has been paid to the management of counterfeiting. This paper considers the difficulties of measuring counterfeiting and provides evidence of the magnitude of the problem worldwide. The focus is on counterfeiting of privately produced goods and services, rather than the issue of the counterfeiting of currency per se, which is a somewhat different though related issue. A conceptual framework of the private and social costs and benefits of anti-counterfeiting measures is also provided. The framework highlights a number of key driving forces of counterfeiting, including …