Business Commons^™

Are Publishers Immune From The Marketing Concept: An Empirical Investigation Of Student Textbook Retention, Judith D. Powell, Donny Layne Rich

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

Textbooks have been ignored in the application of the marketing concept to higher education, despite the fact that they are an important component of the product offering. This study suggests that students feel that their textbooks are meeting their needs, but that need satisfaction does not affect textbook retention. The decision to keep or sell textbooks appears to be largely a function of the perceived value and relevance of the book and the manner in which presents material.

Recommended Content Of A Business Ethics Course, Richard C. Chewning

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

Those invited to participate in this conference on "Integrating Ethics Into Business Education" were offered opportunities to address any of six important topics. The last three of these were posed as questions: (4) Does ethics offer any "practical" decision rules for real-world business decision making?; (5) What should be the ethics content of the business ethics course and/or program?; and (6) Is business ethics a "Discipline"?

Consumer Information Sources: The Provider Perspective, Thomas D. Giese, Terry M. Weisenberger

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

The Federal Office of Consumers' Education (OCE) released, in 1982, an updated definition of consumer education which states that consumer education develops skills, knowledge, and understandings that will help consumers make better purchase decisions.

Who is today's consumer? The consumer is a part-time amateur buyer facing, in the marketplace, a whole series of full-time professional sellers. This definition describes the consumer's situation in today's dynamic and complex market. Since the early 1970's, a growing awareness of consumer rights and needs has occurred in the marketplace. This awareness involves the resources necessary for the consumer to cope within the environment.

The Importance Of Physical Versus Service Attributes In The Vendor Selection Process, Harold W. Babb, D. Neil Ashworth

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

Recent literature on the topic of vendor selection has focused on a broad, macro view of the relationship between the selection and buying processes. However, most of the studies have not examined such processes in the context of the small business enterprise nor have they discriminated between the importance of physical versus service attributes. There appears to be a paucity of research involving the relative importance of physical versus service attributes by small businesses in their vendor selection. The purpose of this research was to examine the printing needs of small businesses in terms of both physical and service attributes …

Long Run Targets And Fomc Policy Decisions, Susan B. Peterson

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

Monetarists have long been advising policy makers to conform policy decisions to a rule which would set the long-run monetary growth at a rate consistent with real economic growth. The contention is that variability in the rate of growth of the money supply, combined with excessive rates of growth, result in economic havoc accompanied by high rates of inflation and that attempts to employ discretionary counter-cyclical monetary policy are destabilizing.

This paper analyzes monetary policy decisions in the years 1980-83 in an attempt to determine the weight given to meeting the announced long-run targets recognizing that departures from that goal …

Virginia—Major Force In World Trade, R. Clifton Poole

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

The importance of world trade has long been recognized in the Commonwealth of Virginia (VA). Indeed, one of the major reasons for establishing the original colony at Jamestown was to provide a base from which the New World "treasures" could be shipped to the mother country—England. As a result, since colonial days VA has been one of the world's major exporters of tobacco. Even today the volume of VA's tobacco exports is second only to her exports of bituminous coal.

This world trade orientation so deeply imprinted in the thinking of the early leaders of the infant colony still prevails …

Corporate Diseases Of Excellence, J. Kenneth Matejka, D. Neil Ashworth

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

Corporations, like people, develop various afflictions during their evolution. Sometimes these ailments are from outdated habits; sometimes they are caused by frailties; sometimes they are just the product of youth or age; and occasionally they result from tremendous exertions of energy in the pursuit of being the best, which are followed by eventual breakdowns.

This article will examine what we consider to be the top 5 corporate diseases of excellence—those management maladies which prevent the majority of U.S. corporations from being great and stop the successful corporations from being even better. The common thread running through all 5 afflictions is …

A Study Of Juvenile Shoplifting Behavior, Judith D. Powell, George P. Moschis

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

With shoplifting being the largest monetary crime in the nation, attempts have been made in earlier studies to profile shoplifters but little attention has been given to conditions leading to such behavior. The present study provides a framework for studying such behavior; it seeks explanation for this type of deviant consumer behavior from theories of developmental psychology and sociological models of human behavior. The focus is on juvenile shoplifters who. are believed to account for the largest percentage of all shoplifters. A survey of 7,379 juveniles demonstrated the usefulness of using interdisciplinary perspectives in understanding and explaining shoplifting behavior.

Participative Management: Selective Means Effective, J. Kenneth Matejka, D. Neil Ashworth

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

Participative management has been a hot topic of debate for decades. intuitively, if workers are allowed to take part in decision that affect their work lives they should be happier and, therefore, more productive. While this hypothesis is attractive, especially to caring managers and writers, the effective use of PM has proven to be much more complicated than originally anticipated. What is PM? What costs are associated with PM? What benefits does PM produce? When can PM be used most effectively?

To date, management experts and practitioners have agreed to disagree regarding PM. Conflicting and ambiguous studies and experiences abound. …

The Perception And Use Of Consumer Information Sources, Thomas D. Giese, Terry M. Weisenberger

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

The Federal Office of Consumers' Education (OCE) released, in 1982, an updated definition of consumer education which states that consumer education develops skills, knowledge, and understandings that will help consumers make better purchase decisions.

Who is today's consumer? The consumer is a part-time amateur buyer facing, in the marketplace, a whole series of full-time professional sellers. This definition describes the consumer's situation in today's dynamic and complex market. Since the early 1970's, a growing awareness of consumer rights and needs has occurred in the marketplace. This awareness involves the resources necessary for the consumer to cope within the environment.

On The Selection Of Computer Models To Analyze Support Requirements For Weapon Systems, Lewis A. Litteral

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

The purpose of this paper is to present guidelines for integrating computer models to perform logistic support analysis. The nature of logistics support analysis is outlined and the need for combining models to perform certain analyses is detailed. The actual construction of such a model set is reported and the features of this set are used as a basis for discussion. Included in the set are the Network Repair Level Analysis, MOD-METRIC and Logistics Support Cost Models.

Conduct, Performance, And Public Policy Implications Of Baseball's Reentry Draft, Robert C. Dolan, Robert M. Schmidt

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

This paper examines issues of theory and evidence regarding the link between baseball's reentry draft and league balance. The character of this relationship is important in at least two broad respects. First, from the standpoint of public policy, events which potentially affect competitiveness in professional baseball are especially significant in light of the sport's rather curious antitrust immunity. Second, though the redistributive implications of baseball's labor market have been set forth quite clearly in the economic literature, the conventional prediction that team balance will be unaffected by the reentry draft has not been tested.

Evaluating Educational Inputs In Undergraduate Education, Robert C. Dolan, Clarence R. Jung Jr., Robert M. Schmidt

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

This paper examines the input-output relationship for private undergraduate education. The motivation for such a study stems from a long-standing concern within academe for a better understanding of the relationships between student quality, faculty effort, campus environment, and the end result of an "educated" person. Though precise and objective measures of educational output are difficult to formulate, we would argue that alumni achievement is an important and measurable output. Specifically, we focus on the number of baccalaureate alumni who went on to earn a Ph.D. But even with an acceptable output measure, research assessments of the educational process are not …

Research Issues In The Economics Of Education And Growth, Robert C. Dolan, Clarence R. Jung Jr., Robert M. Schmidt

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

Economic growth and public education are two areas which in recent years have been the objects of increasing interest and concern. From the standpoint of economic growth, the decade of the 70s brought some alarming developments. Adverse supply shocks, declining productivity, and intense international competition combined to foster a new awareness and advocacy with respect to strategies for economic growth. Over roughly the same period, observers of our educational process cited mounting evidence of the gradual deterioration in the quality of public schools. In 1983 the President's own blue-ribbon committee lent its official determination that, from an educational standpoint, we …

Common Market Competition Policy As A Strategic Planning Issue For Transnational Firms, J. Patrick Raines

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

Managers in charge of international business decisions must recognize competitive conditions to make production, distribution, and marketing decisions. They must be cognizant of competitors' strategies as well as institutional arrangements which affect competition. As the international business environment has expanded, government regulations designed to control unfair or restrictive business practices have proliferated. Today, nearly all major developed countries with market economies prohibit the abuses of monopoly power and proscribe certain enterprise activities which restrain competition. Furthermore, governments have become less reluctant to apply their antitrust law extraterritorially. The ability of multinational firms to compete in international markets will increasingly depend …

Common Market Competition Policy As A Strategic Planning Issue For Transnational Firms, J. Patrick Raines

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

Managers in charge of international business decisions must recognize competitive conditions to make production, distribution, and marketing decisions. They must be cognizant of competitors' strategies as well as institutional arrangements which affect competition. As the international business environment has expanded, government regulations designed to control unfair or restrictive business practices have proliferated. Today, nearly all major developed countries with market economies prohibit the abuses of monopoly power and proscribe certain enterprise activities which restrain competition. Furthermore, governments have become less reluctant to apply their antitrust law extraterritorially. The ability of multinational firms to compete in international markets will increasingly depend …

The Fasb Approach To Income Determination: Is It Viable?, Gail B. Wright, Francis A. Bird

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

A question which has been debated by the accounting profession for decades is whether there exists a single set of correct rules for use in reporting 'true income' which would enable comparability in reporting for all firms to be achieved. Those who believe a 'true income' figure does exist, advance their position by attempting to reduce choices among alternatives.

Not infrequently the debate centers around the matching principle, i.e., the timing of recognition of an expense. Accounting has its basis in the accrual system. It does not necessarily convey cash inflows and outflows of the current period so much as …

The Theoretical Rationale For A Common European Currency Revisited, J. Patrick Raines

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

At the outset of a discussion of monetary integration, the characteristics that are essential for a monetary union as well as those necessary for the continued and successful existence of the monetary union must be considered.

These three requirements—effectively a single currency, a single union monetary policy, union control of international reserves and the external exchange rate—are regarded here as essential for an arrangement to qualify as a monetary union. It is necessary to realize from the beginning that the political commitment to achieve the goals of a European monetary system must be present. In other words, the national sovereignty …