Business Commons^™

2026-09-08 Minutes, Morehead State University. Staff Congress.

Staff Congress Records

Staff Congress meeting minutes from September 8, 2026.

Capital Structure, Cost Of Capital, And Voluntary Disclosures, Jeremy Bertomeu, Anne Beyer, Ronald Dye

Olin Business School Faculty Research

This paper develops a model of financing that jointly determi nes a firm’s capital structure, its voluntary disclosure policy, and its cost of capital. Investors who receive securities in return for supplying capital sometimes incur losses when they trade their securities with an informed trader. The firm’s disclosure po licy and the structure of its securities determine the information advantage of the i nformed trader, and hence the size of investors’ trading losses and the firm’s cost of ca pital. We establish a hierarchy of optimal securities and disclosu re policies that varies with the volatility of the firm’s cash …

How Often Do Managers Withhold Information?, Jeremy Bertomeu, Paul Ma, Ivan Marinovic

Olin Business School Faculty Research

We estimate a dynamic model of voluntary disclosure, using annual management forecasts of earnings, that features a manager with pri ce motives and an uncertain but persistent information endowment. Our estimates imply that: (i) managers face disclosure frictions 35% of the time; (ii) conditional on being informed, managers withhold information 17% of the time; and ( iii) conditional on being silent, managers possess information 24% of the time. Managers’ strategic withholding motives increase investors’ uncertainty about earnings by 3%. We find that managers’ price motives reduce strategic withholding by one-third, in response to investors’ increased skepticism in the event of …

A Theory Of Hard And Soft Information, Jeremy Bertomeu, Ivan Marinovic

Olin Business School Faculty Research

This paper studies a model of optimal disclosure via two comp eting communi- cation channels, hard information whose value has been veri fied and soft disclo- sures (e.g., forecasts, unaudited statements, press relea ses). We show that certain soft disclosures may contain as much information as hard dis closures and establish that: (a) exclusive reliance on soft disclosures tends to co nvey bad news, (b) cred- ibility is greater when unfavorable information is reporte d and (c) misreporting is more likely when soft information is issued jointly with har d information. We also show that a soft report that is …

Ai-Supported Analysis Of Jury Deliberation Impact Factors, Jennifer Siciliani Phd

Generative AI Teaching Activities

Students conduct a controlled, two-run generative AI jury simulation to examine how a single socio-legal variable affects simulated jury deliberation. They compare and manually code the AI-generated outcomes against peer-reviewed human jury research to evaluate the model’s accuracy, limitations, and potential biases.

2026-09-03 Faculty Senate Newsletter, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

Faculty Senate newsletter from September 3, 2026.

Curiosity In Tourism: A Review And Future Directions, Sten Langmann, Pieter Jan Bezemer, Eerang Park, Sangkyun Kim

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Curiosity increasingly attracts attention in tourism research. However, the field remains conceptually fragmented around what curiosity is and how it works, often pointing to related yet different understandings of the concept. Drawing on an in-depth analysis of 61 peer-reviewed articles, we aim to build a more coherent agenda for future research by answering two core questions: how has curiosity been conceptualised and studied in tourism research, and what gaps and directions emerge from the literature? The analysis reveals that curiosity has been studied in four primary ways in tourism research: an innate motivational driver, a situational mediating state, an outcome …

Neural Symphony Of Flow Experience: Evidence For High-Dimensional Metastable Dynamics, Abdelrahman B.M. Eldaly, Kris Zhangguang Kang, Fiona Fui Hoon Nah, Leanne Lai Hang Chan, Keng Leng Siau, Xiao Fan Liu, Richard Huskey, Langtao Chen, Tejaswini Yelamanchili, René Weber

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

Flow, an optimal experience characterized by deep immersion and engagement in an activity, has been extensively studied in behavioral research. However, its neural dynamic mechanism remains poorly understood. In a within-subject video gaming experiment, we captured neural activity underlying flow, boredom, and anxiety using a 64-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) system. Compared to boredom and anxiety, flow exhibits the highest global functional connectivity, metastability, and dimensionality of dynamic functional connectivity patterns, suggesting that flow is a highly adaptable process that is supported by high-dimensional neural dynamics. Unlike previous studies that focused on identifying static or localized brain activity, we examine the neural …

The Application Of Machine Learning And Deep Learning On Demand Forecasting Across Time-Critical Industries: A Systematic Review, Asmaa Seyam, Sujith Samuel Mathew, May El Barachi, Cheng Zhang, Jun Shen

All Works

The applications of machine learning and deep learning in demand forecasting have attracted increasing attention, as they offer remarkable predictive capabilities that help automate forecasting processes and achieve higher accuracy. While numerous review studies have examined solutions within specific industries, there is a lack of comprehensive literature review investigating these solutions across different sectors. Therefore, this study overviews machine learning and deep learning applications in demand forecasting across time-critical industries, including power, tourism, water, transportation, and food. A two-tier classification framework is proposed to categorize demand forecasting studies by both application industry and methodological architecture. In addition, the most popular …

Uncovering Customer Sentiment And Brand Perception By Leveraging Large Language Models: A Case Study In The Automotive Industry, Sujith Samuel Mathew, Kadhim Hayawi, Faseela Abdullakutty, Neethu Venugopal, May El Barachi

All Works

Analyzing customer perceptions has become increasingly important in the automotive industry as it provides actionable insights into consumer satisfaction, preferences, and areas requiring improvement. This study proposes a novel perception analysis framework for automotive reviews using advanced Large Language Models (LLMs), including BERT, FLAN-XXL, and Mistral 7B, leveraging zero-shot learning to categorize reviews without task-specific training data. The framework follows a two-stage evaluation process, beginning with zero-shot perception classification and followed by a detailed topic-wise perception analysis. Model performance was evaluated using accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score across reviews from five major automotive brands—Toyota, Kia, Honda, Nissan, and Hyundai. While …

Human Capital Disclosure And Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence From Regulation S-K, Jung Ho Choi, Dan Li, Daniele Macciocchi

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine the labor market consequences of the 2020 Regulation S-K requiring human capital disclosure in 10K filings. Using large-sample job-level data and a Generative Large Language Model (GLLM), we observe that public firms subject to the regulation increase their disclosure of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) information in job postings relative to a matched sample of large private firms. The increase in job-posting disclosure is more pronounced among firms facing greater external pressure to increase their workforce diversity. These findings suggest a shift in demand for diverse candidates by public firms following the regulation. Yet, consistent with short-term inelastic …

Reappraisal Of Adverse Weather As A Catalyst For Special Tourism Experiences, Valério Souza-Neto, Brent Moyle, Yawei Jiang, Gui Lohmann

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

On any given day millions of travellers find themselves contending with weather that deviates dramatically from prior expectations. Traditionally regarded as an unwelcome disruption, adverse weather has rarely been examined for its potential to enrich, rather than diminish, the value of tourist experiences. Consequently, this research critically explores how tourists positively reappraise adverse weather disruptions in tourism experiences. Based on eight focus groups (n = 42), transcript data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis within a social-constructivist paradigm, combining iterative coding with abductive reasoning. Findings demonstrate that adverse weather can function as a situational catalyst that enables tourists to reinterpret …

Heroclix®: A Multiplayer Chess Game For Teaching The Fundamentals Of Human Capital Management, Chin Heng Low, Jiunwen Wang, Paul Lim, Bernie Koh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This article describes the adaptation and use of the HeroClix® board game to teach critical real-world principles for effective human capital management within teams. In a HeroClix® game, players pit their team of miniature figurines against other players’ miniatures in combat. This is akin to organizations striving in the business environment today, with well-structured human capital within their teams as a key competitive advantage. In this article, we suggest how the game can be applied in the classroom for undergraduate students to experience, reflect on, and learn more about the prerequisite considerations in proficient people management, the dynamic nature of …

2026-09-01 Rivisal To Uar 906.02, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

Proposed revisal to UAR 906.02 submitted to the Faculty Senate for review on September 1, 2026.

A Discrepancy Evaluation Of Workforce Capacity And Emerging Skills: A Utah Case Study, Lendel K. Narine, Paul A. Hill, Andreé Walker-Bravo

Extension Research

This study examined employer-perceived competency discrepancies, anticipated competency requirements, hiring barriers, and valued educational experiences in Utah. Survey data were collected between September and October 2025 from 226 individuals with hiring responsibility in Utah-based organizations. The Ranked Discrepancy Model (RDM) quantified discrepancies between respondents’ ratings of competency importance and their satisfaction with demonstrated employee proficiency. Respondents reported the largest discrepancies for time management, critical thinking, conflict resolution, ethical judgment, and verbal communication of ideas. Respondents rated communication, collaboration, analytical thinking, and lifelong learning highest among competencies anticipated to matter most over the next five to ten years. Most employers identified …

Moral Issues In Business, Andre Dobronic Parola

Open Educational Resources

In this course students will initially be introduced to different ethical theories as well as two different theories of justice. Subsequently—following an introduction to basic economical ideas concerning the place of businesses and corporations in modern capitalistic society—various questions specific to business ethics will be taken up. Topics will include: arguments for and against the stakeholder theory of business ethics; corporate social responsibility; the problem of sex-based discrimination in the workplace-setting; business and the environment; globalisation; and lying in business negotiations.

Islamic Business Ethics, Muslim Feminism, And The Rhetorical Construction Of Entrepreneurial Legitimacy: Evidence From Emirati Women, Hayfaa A. Tlaiss, Valerie Priscilla Goby

All Works

Despite the United Arab Emirates’ state-led promotion of women’s entrepreneurship as central to national transformation, Emirati women entrepreneurs continue to face patriarchal norms that frame entrepreneurship as a masculine domain, rendering their entrepreneurial legitimacy both precarious and contested. Based on in-depth interviews, this study examines how women entrepreneurs construct entrepreneurial legitimacy within a patriarchal Muslim context, marked by a tension between empowerment rhetoric and gendered constraints. Drawing on Suddaby and Greenwood’s (2005) framework of rhetorical legitimation together with Islamic business ethics and Muslim feminism, we demonstrate how Emirati women entrepreneurs mobilise state-led empowerment and national transformation discourses to construct entrepreneurial …

Business Educational Skills For Successful Aviation Fire Officers, Leo Sedlmeyer

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Purpose: This paper explored the business educational skills aviation fire officers use to manage airport fire departments.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The methodology was a qualitative phenomenological study design. The participants began with 10 aviation fire officers from airports throughout the USA who were at least 28 years old, in a leadership role, and had at least 10 years of experience as aviation fire officers (Buttenschon, 2016). Saturation was reached at seven during the interview phase. The limitations of this study were gaining participants' trust and obtaining comprehensive information from them.

Findings: Six themes emerged from this study, with the top three identified: …

"The Man Who Stopped Henry Ford", George Baker

Documents

Although American industrialist and business magnate Henry Ford planned a potential "super-city" in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the actions of Senator George Norris of Nebraska were a contributing factor to its end.

Does Our Economy Cultivate Beauty?, Joshua Hollinger

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Wherever we’re failing to build and preserve beautiful places, the answer lies in fostering a society of people who have a taste for beauty and a loving desire to share it with others, and in finding mechanisms for cooperating and negotiating with each other amid our sin and finitude."

Posting about true beauty in an advertising-focused world ­­­­­­­­from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Does Our Economy Cultivate Beauty?

A Qualitative Case Study On The Negative Impact The Global Pandemic Had On The Oil And Gas Industry, Sarah Denise Hagans

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this flexible-design single-case study was to expand the understanding of the reasons behind the negative impact the global pandemic had on international trade in the oil and gas industry. The research was critical to understanding the turbulent period for the oil and gas industry during the global pandemic. The study was essential because the possible negative effects of the global pandemic on the oil and gas industry were not fully determined or understood because of the volatility in upstream, midstream, and downstream production. The research aimed to determine the driving factors and explanations for how the negative …

Locker Room To The Classroom, Bert Wicks

Masters Theses

This thesis sought to explore the feasibility of using graduated collegiate athletes to supplement teaching populations to mitigate the teaching shortage in America. The researcher interviewed five professionals in education and five current college athletes to assist in answering two research questions. What are the perceptions of school administrators regarding the employment of former collegiate athletes as public-school teachers, in comparison to educators with formal academic training in education, and what are the attitudes of current and former collegiate athletes on the prospects of pursuing careers in public school teaching relative to employment opportunities aligned with their academic major were …

Calling And Capacity: A Study Of Turnover, Performance, And The Moderating Role Of Leadership Support In U.S. Faith-Based Nonprofit Smes, Robert M. Frazier

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The U.S. nonprofit sector is a vital part of the national workforce and social service infrastructure. Within this sector, faith-based nonprofit SMEs must sustain mission impact while often operating under limited staffing, informal role structures, emotional labor, and significant leadership demands. The purpose of this fixed-design quantitative correlational study was to examine the problem of high turnover and reduced performance in U.S. faith-based nonprofit small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The study measured emotional exhaustion, role ambiguity, turnover intention, perceived organizational performance, and perceived leadership support and tested whether perceived leadership support moderated the relationship between emotional exhaustion and turnover intention. …

Leadership Changes And Employee Performance Impact In Higher Education Institutions, Timothy Mimbs

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study addressed the limited understanding of how leadership transitions disrupt the people and systems that sustain a public higher education institution's ongoing operation. The purpose was to generate a grounded, comparative account of how a change in senior leadership transmits downward through an institution and of the conditions under which institutions mitigate or worsen its effects. A flexible multiple case study design within the post-positivist paradigm examined three pseudonymized Florida College System institutions that experienced structurally different transitions: an unplanned presidential departure filled externally, a planned provost retirement filled externally, and a planned presidential retirement filled through internal promotion. …

Leadership And Emotional Well-Being: A Qualitative Case Study In Higher Education, Qasem Varzideh

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The emotional well-being of tenured faculty members, which can include stress levels, job satisfaction, morale, and mental health, has been shown to directly influence faculty retention, student outcomes, and institutional performance. Despite the considerable body of research on leadership and faculty well-being, few studies focus specifically on how leadership practices and administrative policies influence the emotional well-being of tenured faculty members at public colleges. This qualitative single-case study examined the impact of institutional leadership practices and administrative policies on the emotional well-being of tenured faculty members at a large, multi-campus, publicly funded college in the Southeastern United States. The study …

2026-08-20 Pac-26 Revision Draft, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

A revision draft of PAc-26 submitted for review by the Faculty Senate on August 20, 2026.

2026-08-20 Faculty Senate Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

Faculty Senate meeting minutes from April 26, 2026.

2026-08-20 Faculty Regent's Report, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

A report submitted by the Faculty Senate Regent to the Faculty Senate on August 20, 2026.

Mindful End-Of-Unit Reflection Assignments, Brett Whysel

Open Educational Resources

This is an open educational resource: a set of 14 end-of-module mindfulness reflection prompts, designed to help students turn course content into applied, embodied learning. Each prompt asks students to briefly ground themselves (breathe), then either engage in a short, guided mindfulness exercise tied to that module's content, or answer a more traditional alternate reflection question, before responding in whatever format suits them.

Excelling In An Entry-Level Job, Paul Hill, Osei Vega-Sandoval

All Current Publications

Experience in an entry-level job becomes more valuable over time, especially when performance is exceptional. Managers conduct periodic performance reviews to provide feedback that entry-level employees can use to improve. Performance reviews are an opportunity for employees to learn, share career goals, and seek tailored guidance for their career development. This fact sheet provides insights into the character and qualities an employee should demonstrate to become a high performer, and what organizations can do to retain such employees.