Business Commons^™

Results Of The May Survey Of Nebraska Business: June 13, 2014, Eric Thompson, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Respondents to the May 2014 Survey of Nebraska Business remained positive in their outlook for sales and employment at their business. More respondents expect sales to rise (29%) than decline (17%) in the next six months. Slightly more respondents expect to add (7%) than to reduce (4%) employment. Respondents also are more focused on the market challenges facing their businesses. When asked about the most important issue facing their business, 6.5 in 10 focused on core business operations issues such as customer demand, the cost of supplies, labor quality, competition, improved business practices, and credit availability. 3.5 in 10 focused …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: June 20, 2014, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Shannon Mcclure

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) rose by 0.13% during May 2014. The rise in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, is the fourth consecutive monthly increase and provides further reason to expect solid growth in the Nebraska economy in the second half of 2014. Among the growing components of the leading economic indicator, there was growth in manufacturing hours and airline passenger counts. There also was solid improvement in business expectations. Specifically, respondents to the Survey of Nebraska Business predicted an increase in sales at their business over the next …

Startran To Add Route To Innovation Campus, Chris Dunker

Nebraska Innovation Campus Materials

StarTran will add a bus route to shuttle University of Nebraska-Lincoln students to and from Nebraska Innovation Campus beginning in August2015. The NU Board of Regents approved a five-year, $4.1 million agreement for bus service with the city of Lincoln on Friday, including the new route connecting UNL’s City and East campuses with Innovation Campus. The agreement comes on the heels of the board acquiring $4.5 million in additional lease space at Innovation Campus in February, furthering plans to move the Food Sciences and Technology Department from its home in the Food Industry Complex on East Campus. Under the terms …

Follower Perceptions Deserve A Closer Look, Peter D. Harms, Seth M. Spain

P. D. Harms Publications

On the whole, we embrace the wisdom of Lord and Dinh’s suggestion that leadership researchers need to refocus our attention on the distinction between leadership perception and effectiveness. That said, we hope that the field can move one step further by recognizing the need to treat perceptual biases as more than systematic errors to be controlled for. As encoded in Lord and Dinh’s first two principles, followers are active participants in the construction of leadership phenomena, so the perceptual “baggage” that they bring into the leader–follower system is an important building block in that construction. We believe that by accounting …

Managing Metadata Interoperability Within Audio Preservation Framework: Integrating The Metadata Encoding & Transmission Standard (Mets) And Multichannel Source Material Into Digital Library Audio Collections, Darnelle O. Melvin

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study investigates the management and interoperability of metadata within audio preservation frameworks. With the intention to harvest all descriptors contained in multichannel audio material semantically linked to bibliographic records, authority files, and other associated digital objects; the researcher attempt to incorporate XML, Dublin Core syntax, and the Metadata Encoding & Transmission Standard as a digital carrier to express stereophonic, multichannel source material, and related objects into a digital library audio collection.

Determining Forage Intake Of Nursing Calves Grazing Native Sandhills Rangeland, Jennifer A. Walker

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Effective management of grazing lands is important for longevity and productivity. Accurate calculations of stocking rates per animal unit will aid in long term sustainability. Calculating stocking rates for cattle can prove challenging for cows and nursing calves. Limited research has been conducted to determine forage intake of the nursing calf pre-weaning. The objective of Trial 1 was to determine nursing calf forage intake over time until weaning. Trial 1 used 8 crossbred cow-calf pairs in experiment 1 and 12 pairs in experiment 2. Pairs were separated into two groups rotating between grazing upland range or housed in individual pens …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: May 16, 2014, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) rose by 1.89% during April 2014. The rise in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, suggests solid growth in the Nebraska economy in the second half of 2014. Among the growing components of the leading economic indicator, there was a sharp drop in initial unemployent claims, suggesting solid improvement in labor market conditions. There also was solid improvement in business expectations. Specifically, respondents to the Survey of Nebraska Business predicted an increase in sales and employment at their business over the next six month. At …

Results Of The April Survey Of Nebraska Business: May 9, 2014, Eric Thompson, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Respondents to the April 2014 Survey of Nebraska Business remained positive in their outlook for sales and employment at their business. More respondents expected sales to rise (31%) than decline (18%) in the next six months. Further, more respondents expected to add (10%) than to reduce (4%) employment. Respondents also were more focused on the market challenges facing their businesses. When asked about the most important issue facing their business, 6.5 in 10 focused on core business operations issues such as customer demand, the cost of supplies, labor quality, competition, improved business practices, and credit availability. 3.5 in 10 focused …

Case Study On The First-Time Use Of A Webinar By A Small Marketing Firm, Lauren M. Harrison

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professional Projects

The term webinar has become part of the English language, but use of this technology is not yet widespread. Can a webinar help a small marketing firm reach its broad audience efficiently and effectively? That was the question asked by Harvest Retail Marketing before it decided to launch its webinar series. This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages as well as best practices of webinars when used by a small marketing firm. The research also presents “next” practices that can be used in the planning and presentation of a first-time webinar by other small marketing firms.

Exploring The Neighborhood Preferences Of A Segment Of Millennials In Omaha, Nebraska, Aaron Kloke

Community and Regional Planning Program: Professional Projects

In 2010, Millennials, or those between 18 and 34, surpassed the Baby Boomers in population size. Today, Millennials, also known as Generation Y, make up over 25 percent of the United States’ population. In Omaha, they make up 26.9 percent of the population. The next largest generation in Omaha, the Baby Boomers, make for 19.2 percent of the population. Clearly, this emerging demographic has the ability to change the way we create and design our built environment if it so chooses.

To review how this generation may choose to change the way we design our future neighborhoods, national trends were …

Structures And Relationships Between The Business Executive And Information Technology Executive At The University: A Mixed Methods Study, Angela K. Hollman

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study uses an explanatory mixed methods methodology to attempt to determine the reporting relationships between business and IT executives within the university. The study also explores IT and business executives thoughts on these relationships. Supporting research from organizational studies and business-IT alignmfent is combined in order to enhance the study. In the first quantitative phase, an exploratory factor analysis is used to determine organizational dimension factors while simple response and frequency analysis are used to model the top occurring organizational structures between IT and business executives. The second qualitative phase used semi-structured interviews with 12 random CIOs and CFOs …

The Relationship Between Fashion Blogs And Intention To Purchase And Word Of Mouth Behavior, Cassidy L. Vineyard

Department of Textiles, Merchandising, and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Blogs are an influential social media platform and a powerful marketing tool (Hsu & Tsou, 2011). A corporate fashion blog is an online product community. Online product communities established by retailers enable customers to interact with the company as well as amongst themselves (Nambisan & Watt, 2011). Online communities are a social space wherein relationships and ties are formed among the members and a common set of values and norms are established and shared (Nambisan & Watt, 2011).

The objective of this study was threefold. First it explored what factors shape readers’ intention to browse products on blogs. Based on …

Psycap And The Impact On The Development Of Intercultural Sensitivity Of Healthcare Educators: A Mixed Methods Study, Helen A. S. Fagan

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

This purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study was to examine the intercultural sensitivity development process of faculty and staff at a health sciences college in the Midwest. In the quantitative phase, this study investigated changes in intercultural sensitivity over a three year period, along with the relationship between developmental level of intercultural sensitivity (as measured by Intercultural Development Inventory [IDI] [Hammer, Bennett, & Wiseman, 2003]) of participants and Psychological Capital (PsyCap, a multidimensional construct consisting of hope, efficacy, resiliency, and optimism [Luthans, Youssef, & Avolio, 2007]). In the qualitative phase (Case Study) data collection and analysis further explored …

An Integrated Marketing Communications Campaign For The Lincoln Saltdogs, Silver Lining Advertising Agency, Nicole Bormann, Annie Pigaga, Michaela Ostronic, Shelby Hinze, Miranda Milovich, Kayla Van Wie

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

Campaign Challenge To develop a campaign focused on increasing attendance at Saltdogs games while promoting an affordable and engaging form of entertainment for the Lincoln community.

Target Audiences The campaign's primary target markets are adults living in Lincoln with at least one child, possibly more, living at home.

Budget The campaign's budget is $50,000.

Objectives The objectives of the campaign are to increase attendance at home Saltdogs games and to promote the Saltdogs in the Lincoln community.

Creative Strategy The creative strategy for the campaign revolves around the theme, "Join the pack. Pack the park. Creative elements include print, outdoor, …

An Integrated Marketing Communications Plan For The Lincoln Saltdogs, Jayus Advertising And Public Relations, Jessica Robertson, Lindsey Lehms, Mel Mitchell, Becca Rose, Laura Dennis, Nate Gran

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

Research: Our research upheld that the Lincoln Salt dog's baseball game is a well-known and popular summer activity for adults and their young children. Saltdogs games are generally well attended, but certain aspects of the experience are disliked such as the cost of concessions.

Audience: This campaign targets adults 35+, primarily those with young families who are homeowners and live/work in the Lincoln area.

Objective: The primary goal of this campaign is to increase game attendance by 10% and to make the community more aware of new and existing promotions.

Budget: The budget constraints we operated under were $50,000 plus …

An Integrated Marketing Communications Plan For The Lincoln Saltdogs, Bullpen Team, Andrew Schori, Madi Maclean, Jeremy Shipe, Alex Wickenkamp, Aron Wehr

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

For the Spring of 2014 UNL CoJMC ADPR capstone course, Advertising and Public Relations Campaigns, the Lincoln Saltdogs approached our Campaigns class in developing a strategic campaign for Lincoln’s only professional baseball team. Brett Beer, the Director of Marketing for the Saltdogs, along with his associates, provided us with one objective in developing a full campaign strategy. Mr. Beer wanted us to “get butts in seats.” Our team, Bullpen, conducted both secondary and primary research, developed a core media mix and strategies, and incorporated strategic creative tactics that would get more “butts in seats” in portraying Saltdog baseball games as …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: April 18, 2014, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) declined by 0.07% during March 2014. The slight decline in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, followed a solid increase in February. Together, results for the two months are consistent with moderate growth in the Nebraska economy during the summer of 2014. Among the components of the leading economic indicator, there was an increase in initial unemployent claims, suggesting a weakening of labor market conditions. At the same time, there was solid improvement in business expectations. Specifically, respondents to the Survey of Nebraska Business predicted …

Future-Focused Leadership: Three Mega-Trends Influencing Distance Learning, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Faculty and Staff Publications

While many continue to question the skyrocketing costs and value of a college education, future-focused leaders are recreating learning experiences by blending technology with the human experience. What does the future of distance learning look like, taste like and feel like? It can be difficult to predict the future of education as the world continues to evolve at an increasingly rapid pace; however, distance learning administrators can use a future-focused leadership approach, which includes examining megatrends, to plan for the future. Megatrends are global shifts that influence society, the economy and the environment. The purpose of this paper is to …

Two Essays On Stock Repurchases And Insider Trading, Noel Pavel Nangatie Jeutang

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The first essay examines how the outcome of prior repurchasing activity influences future repurchasing decisions. We find strong evidence that future decisions to repurchase equity are negatively influenced by poorly timed past repurchases. Specifically, we show that the past losses on stock repurchases reduce the propensity to engage in additional repurchases in the future. We find almost no evidence that past gains on repurchases positively or negatively influence future repurchasing activity. These results are robust to various firm characteristics, estimation and sampling methods. Further analyses show that losses on past repurchases influence dividend policy. We show that the dividend-repurchase substitution …

Results Of The February Survey Of Nebraska Business: March 10, 2014, Eric Thompson, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Summary: Respondents to the February 2014 Survey of Nebraska Business turned positive in their outlook for sales and employment at their business. More respondents expected sales to rise (28%) than decline (24%) in the next six months. Further, many more respondents expected to add employees (13%) than to reduce employees (5%). Respondents also were more focused on the market challenges facing their businesses. When asked about the most important issue facing their business, nearly 6 in 10 focused on core business issues such as customer demand, the cost of supplies, labor quality and competition while out only 4 in 10 …

Reciprocal Relationship Between Proactive Personality And Work Characteristics: A Latent Change Score Approach, Wen-Dong Li, Doris Fay, Michael Frese, Peter D. Harms, Xiang Yu Gao

P. D. Harms Publications

Previous proactivity research has predominantly assumed that proactive personality generates positive environmental changes in the workplace. Grounded in recent research on personality development from a broad interactionist theoretical approach, the present article investigates whether work characteristics, including job demands, job control, social support from supervisors and coworkers, and organizational constraints, change proactive personality over time and, more important, reciprocal relationships between proactive personality and work characteristics. Latent change score analyses based on longitudinal data collected in 3 waves across 3 years show that job demands and job control have positive lagged effects on increases in proactive personality. In addition, proactive …

Food Sciences Moving To Innovation Campus, Chris Dunker

Nebraska Innovation Campus Materials

The University of Nebraska added $4.5 million in leased space at Nebraska Innovation Campus Friday, bringing its total lease commitment at the research and technology park to $7.8 million. The NU Board of Regents approved a plan adding 117,000 additional square feet of space tothe campus and moving the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Food Science and Technology Department to the campus in 2015. NU committed in 2012 to more than 31,000 square feet of office space in the Innovation Commons -- the former 4-H Building at the old State Fair Park -- expected to open later this year. Last year, NU …

Results Of The January Survey Of Nebraska Business: February 12, 2014, Eric Thompson, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Summary: Respondents to the January Survey of Nebraska Business were cautious in their outlook for sales and employment at their own business. More respondents expected sales to decline (29%) than rise (21%) in the next six months while slighly more expected to add employees (7%) than to reduce employees (6%). When asked about the most important issue facing their business, half of businesses named ongoing business concerns such as customer demand, competition, the costs of goods and services and labor availability and quality. But, nearly as many businesses named public policy concerns including taxes, the Affordable Care Act and other …

First Nic Facilities Roll Toward Summer Finish, Troy Fedderson

Nebraska Innovation Campus Materials

Nebraska Innovation Campus will open for business this summer as the first two buildings and a four-season greenhouse go online. Construction on the former State Fair Park continues as the two buildings — the former 4-H Building and new Companion Building — are scheduled to open for a June move-in. Work on the state-of-the-art greenhouse will begin soon. “This will again be a key year for Nebraska Innovation Campus,” said Dan Duncan, executive director of the private/public research campus. “Last year was key because we started construction. Next year will be key as we continue to develop and build. This …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: March 21, 2014, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) increased by 0.99% during February 2014. The increase in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, suggests moderate growth in the Nebraska economy during the summer of 2014. Four of six components of the leading economic indicator grew during February. Manufacturing hours and airline passenger counts both rose modestly. Initial unemployment claims dropped significantly in February, a positive sign for the labor market. There was also a solid improvement in business expectations. Respondents to the Survey of Nebraska Business predicted an increase in sales and employment …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: February 21, 2014, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) decreased by 0.95% during January 2014. The decrease in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, follows a strong increase in December 2013. Taken together, LEI-N results for the last two months suggest continued improvement in the Nebraska economy, specifically moderate growth in mid-2014. Five of six components of the leading economic indicator declined during January. There was a decline in building permits and airline passengers. Initial unemployment claims increased slightly in January, a negative sign for the labor market. There was a modest decline in …

[Shane] Farritor, Student Group Help Propel Maker Space Concept, Troy Fedderson

Nebraska Innovation Studio

Shane Farritor, student group help propel Maker Space concept.

A quiet staging area for ongoing NIC construction, the space is reservedfor a proposed Maker Space and the private/public research campus’ new business accelerator. NIC planners and UNL administrators hope the mix bubbles forth into a cauldron of hands-on creativity and innovation.

“That is an area of Nebraska Innovation Campus that is generating a lot of excitement,” said Dan Duncan, NIC’s executive director. “The general idea is to create the Maker Space where individuals can come to work on projects and interact with others, including people who are in a business …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: January 17, 2014, Eric Thompson, William Walstad, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) increased by 0.78% during December 2013. The increase in the LEI-N, which predicts economic growth in the state six months in the future, follows a decline in November. Taken together, recent results for the LEI-N suggest that the Nebraska economy will grow only modestly in the second quarter of 2014, but that the rate of growth may begin to improve in June, as summer begins. During December, four components of the leading economic indicator expanded and two declined. Among expanding components, there was a solid increse in single-family building permits, consistent with the …

Alternative Funding Mechanisms For State Transportation Systems In Predominantly Rural States, John E. Anderson, Eric Thompson

Bureau of Business Research Publications

The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies has identified a number of research needs related to alternative transportation finance systems. Alternatives are needed because motor fuels taxes are proving to be insufficient to fund operation and maintenance costs of the transportation system. The long-term trend is likely to be continuing use of motor fuel taxes, supplemented by, or transitioning to, use-based fees. Current research in progress in this area is focused on designing variable fees that will internalize congestion externalities in urban areas. These approaches are particularly well suited to highly urbanized areas, but other approaches may be required …

Requiring Pollutant Discharge Permits For Pesticide Applications That Deposit Residues In Surface Waters, Terence J. Centner, Nicholas Eberhart

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

Agricultural producers and public health authorities apply pesticides to control pests that damage crops and carry diseases. Due to the toxic nature of most pesticides, they are regulated by governments. Regulatory provisions require pesticides to be registered and restrictions operate to safeguard human health and the environment. Yet pesticides used near surface waters pose dangers to non-target species and drinking water supplies leading some governments to regulate discharges of pesticides under pollution discharge permits. The dual registration and discharge permitting provisions are burdensome. In the United States, agricultural interest groups are advancing new legislation that would exempt pesticide residues from …