Business Commons^™

The Creation Of Organizational Learning Solutions In The Call Center At Direct Checks Through Action Research, Joel Lamoreaux

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Maximizing potential revenue and profitability performance continues to be a key objective for Direct Checks as the company's core product - personal checks - moves through the decline stage of the product life cycle; and, the department with the most potential to positively impact the financial performance will be the Call Center, as a majority of the company's orders are captured through this channel. This department, however, continues to struggle with the establishment of a culture where the learning and sharing of information is embedded into the operating norms and values of employees, specifically around how to best sell to …

Leadership Training Develops University Presidents, Susan R. Madsen, Ovilla Turnbull

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Although developing leadership is often acknowledged as an important topic in higher education today, the percentage of women found in high leadership positions still remains quite low. Since the 1970s significant efforts have been made to increase women's participation in higher education administration, with some progress, according to Glazer-Raymo (1999). Today more women are interested in leadership. Yet the leadership gap continues and opportunities for in-depth development are still not widely available for many women. Little has been published about how high-level women leaders actually developed the leadership knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to successfully lead. In addition, according to …

The Determinants Of Executive Compensation In The Commercial Banking Industry, David A. Romer

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the viability of two basic theories of compensation to explain executive compensation in the banking industry. The two executive compensation motivation theories are sales/sales growth maximization and profit/shareholder wealth maximization. Overall, strong support is found for both theories. This research also seeks to significantly expand, compared to previous research, the number of banks investigated. This study succeeds, with over a four-fold increase in the number of banks analyzed, including over 330 banks not previously used in the literature. This investigation is further motivated by the paucity of banking studies on compensation …

Business Strategy Types And Innovative Practices, Tim Blumentritt, Wade M. Danis

Faculty Articles

This study empirically examines how a firm's strategic orientation imparts its management of innovative activities. Drawing on the strategic management and innovation literatures, we develop and empirically test hypotheses arguing that a firm's strategic orientation will impact its perception of barriers to innovation, its sources of ideas for innovation, and its targets for innovation. The data, from over 244 firms, generally support the hypotheses. The study's findings suggest that a firm's strategic management and its management of innovation are highly integrated.

Strategic Exercise Of Options On Non-Traded Assets And Stochastic Volatility In An Incomplete Market: Indifference Pricing And Entropy Methods, Singru Hoe

Finance and Real Estate Dissertations - Archive

The first study explores optimal investment policies for strategic option exercise when the underlying project is not traded. A duopoly model captures strategic interactions, while a partial spanning asset models market incompleteness. The option value to invest is obtained through indifference pricing, i.e., certainty equivalent value. I find that incompleteness narrows the gap between leader and follower entry dates. The follower enters much sooner, and the leader delays slightly compared to classic real options models. Modeling investment income stream as an Arithmetic Brownian motion is a better fit than Geometric Brownian motion, while reducing the necessary numerical approximations for obtaining …

Part-List Cuing Effects In Advertising: When Exposure To Some Advertisements Impairs Recall Of Same-Valenced Ads, Hieu Phuc Nguyen

Marketing Dissertations - Archive

This study represents the first empirical examination of the inhibitory effect of part-list cuing in emotional print advertisements. It was hypothesized that exposure to a subset of print advertisements as cues impairs recall of the uncued ads. Additionally, exposure to positive cues would only inhibit memory for positive uncued ads, and exposure to negative ads as cues would only impair memory for negative uncued ads. Exposure to neutral ads was expected to inhibit memory for positive, negative, and neutral uncued ads. The effects of emotional versus neutral ads were also tested in both an uncued recall task and a cued …

Production And Inventory Management Under Multiple Resource Constraints, Kurt M. Bretthauer, Bala Shetty, Siddhartha Syam, Robert J. Vokurka

Management Faculty Research and Publications

In this paper we present a model and solution methodology for production and inventory management problems that involve multiple resource constraints. The model formulation is quite general, allowing organizations to handle a variety of multi-item decisions such as determining order quantities, production batch sizes, number of production runs, or cycle times. Resource constraints become necessary to handle interaction among the multiple items. Common types of resource constraints include limits on raw materials, machine capacity, workforce capacity, inventory investment, storage space, or the total number of orders placed. For example, in a production environment, there may be limited workforce capacity and …

Exploring The Discourses Of Small Enterprise Proprietors, Brendan O'Rourke, Martyn Pitt

Conference papers

Over the last three decades the discourses of strategy and enterprise have developed significantly in the context of large corporate organizations and increasingly within and for the public sector. The discourses of strategy and enterprise have developed in relationship with each other and are generative of various attributes and dilemmas for the identity of the strategist/entrepreneur. This study looks at how these important discourses are deployed by small enterprise proprietors in periodical publishing in Ireland as they construct their business identities with one of the authors. Interview data from one proprietor is subjected to a discourse analysis drawing particularly on …

Market Orientation And Order Of Entry Strategies: An Empirical Analysis, Anshu Saran

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

While the relationship between market orientation and business performance has been extensively investigated, the mechanisms by which market orientation contributes to performance are still not well understood. To fill this gap in knowledge of how order of entry would affect the relationship between market orientation and performance, this research provides a conceptual framework to link two disparate concepts, or research streams in the marketing/business strategy literature, market orientation and order of entry.

Timing of entry has generated great attention (Green, Barclay, and Ryans 1995). Pioneering new markets is expensive and risky, but also potentially very rewarding. If pioneers have advantages …

The Impact Of Tax Policy On Economic Growth, Income Distribution, And Allocation Of Taxes, Robert Lawson, James Gwartney

Business Law Research

Using a sample of seventy-seven countries, this paper focuses on marginal tax rates and the income thresholds at which they apply to examine how the tax changes of the 1980s and 1990s have influenced economic growth, the distribution of income, and the share of taxes paid by various income groups. Many countries substantially reduced their highest marginal rates during the 1985-1995 period. The findings indicate that countries that reduced their highest marginal rates grew more rapidly than those that maintained high marginal rates. At the same time, the income distribution in several of the tax cutting countries became more unequal …

A Test Of The Loan Prohibition Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Are Firms That Grant Loans To Executives More Likely To Misstate Their Financial Results?, Charles Cullinan, Hui Du, Gail B. Wright

Accounting Department Faculty Journal Articles

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was designed to improve the accuracy and reliability of financial reporting and prohibits public companies from granting loans to executives. Without considering the effects of executive loans on financial reporting, some researchers have questioned the appropriateness of the Act’s loan prohibition [Kahle, K., Shastri, K., 2004. Executive loans. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 39 (4), 791–811; Henderson, M., Spindler, J., 2005. Corporate Heroin: A defense of perks, executive loans, and conspicuous consumption. The Georgetown Law Journal 93 (6)]. We examine whether executive loans are associated with financial misstatements. We find a significant association between …

Teamwork In Chinese Organizations: A New Concept And Framework, Ying Liu

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Teamwork has always been a challenge in China, and the importance of teamwork has not been well recognized. This study was designed to explore the underlying definition of teamwork that Chinese people use to describe their teams, to identify variables related to teamwork, to develop a new framework and measure of teamwork in Chinese organizations, and to test the psychometric properties of the measure as well as the structural relationships of the new framework of teamwork in Chinese teams. This study also examines the influence of guanxi---an important Chinese cultural value that emphasizes exchange and reciprocity in relationships---on teamwork in …

Professional Product Review Vol. 1 No. 1, American Dental Association, Council On Scientific Affairs

Professional Product Review

A user-friendly newsletter from the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs offering scientifically sound, unbiased, and clinically relevant information to member dentists about professional dental products tested by the ADA. This collection is historical and may not reflect current standards. For up-to-date information contact the ADA.

Sox Goes To College, Craig Piotrowki, Robert Yahr

Accounting Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

A Survey Of Demographics And Performance In The Hedge Fund Industry, Arindam Bandopadhyaya, James L. Grant

Financial Services Forum Publications

We investigate hedge fund demographics using data from the Alternative Asset Center (AAC) and then hedge fund performance over the twelve years since inception of the Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Indices (HFI, 1994-2005). We find that hedge funds are largely domiciled “offshore” while hedge-fund managers are located primarily in the United States, particularly New York, California, Illinois, Connecticut and Florida. We find that the annualized performance of hedge funds as an “asset class” is about the same as that of U.S. equities (S&P 500). That being said, the real benefit of hedge funds lies in risk management as the volatility …

Tampa Bay Economy 06/01 (Summer 2006), University Of South Florida. Center For Economic Development Research

College of Business Publications

Update on CEDR's Data Center -- From the Editor -- Inflation in Tampa Bay -- USF's Basic Economic Development Course -- Middle Market Firms -- Investment Capital in Florida.

Adding Depth To The Discussion Of Capital Budgeting Techniques, Tom Arnold, Terry D. Nixon

Finance Faculty Publications

The subject of capital budgeting generally encompasses a significant percentage of any beginning finance course with net present value (NPV) often receiving the most attention. Even after this substantial time allotment, critical assumptions and comparisons of the different techniques (such as payback period, discounted payback period, NPV and IRR) are frequently glossed over due to time constraints. Consequently, the goal of this paper is to present these non-NPV techniques in a manner that allows the beginning finance student to expeditiously see the intuition, inherent assumptions, and any connection with the more popular NPV calculation. A small portion of this paper …

Applying Altman's Z-Score In The Classroom, Tom Arnold, John H. Earl Jr.

Finance Faculty Publications

Altman's Z-score is introduced in an Excel framework to produce a quick calculation of the Z-score with actual financial data available through the Internet. The lesson plan developed is easily introduced with topics covering ratio analysis, financial risk, bond rating changes, and bankruptcy. Given the wide use of the Z-score in practice to evaluate credit risk (or bankruptcy risk), the lesson plan produces a skill set that is very marketable.

Lagu And Belu: The Semiotics Of Bottled Water Packaging, Daniel Fusch

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

There has been considerable recent criticism of the bottled water industry from professional and popular as well as scholarly sources. This criticism disputes the veracity of a brand's claim to a pure and natural source, as well as the standards for regulation. This paper adds another factor to the criticism of bottled "natural springs" water, emphasizing the magical operation implicit in the rhetoric for the packaging of bottled water. The paper examines the natural and supernatural semiotics of the commercial packaging for bottled "natural springs" water, and identifies a correlation between the semiotic function of the ancient Germanic rune lagu …

Marketing, Consumers And Technology: Perspectives For Enhancing Ethical Transactions, Gene R. Laczniak, Patrick Murphy

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

The advance of technology has influenced marketing in a number of ways that have ethical implications. Growth in use of the Internet and e-commerce has placed electronic "cookies," spyware, spam, RFIDs, and data mining at the forefront of the ethical debate. Some marketers have minimized the significance of these trends. This overview paper examines these issues and introduces the two articles that follow. It is hoped that these entries will further the important "marketing and technology" ethical debate.

Report: Summer, 2006 Grant Summaries, The Blue Foundation For A Healthy Florida

Florida Blue Archives Printed Materials

No abstract provided.

Financial Education And Asset Allocation, Steven D. Dolvin, William K. Templeton

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

We conduct a clinical study on a firm that restructures its 401(k) plan and simultaneously offers financial education seminars to its employees. The restructuring requires each employee to restate allocation percentages, thus we are able to analyze the specific benefits of retirement planning seminars on the asset allocation decision. We find that seminar attendance is associated with increased portfolio diversification and improved risk management. When combined with changes in return, the overall result is that seminar attendees create more efficient portfolios, which implies a better understanding of the retirement planning process.

An Exploration Of Enterprise Level Partnership And The Influences Informing Private Sector Organisations' Choice Of This Model In The Republic Of Ireland, Kevin O'Leary

Masters

The research follows the strategic choice of Partnership and seeks to gain an understanding of the processes and practices which define this concept and the political, economic and historical influences which have shaped it's evolution. The primary focus of this study is to explore the factors which have shaped the decision of private sector einployers to engage with or to reject Partnership as an appropriate model. The literature and the surveys consulted suggest that Partnership has not become an established or mainstream activity and reflects singularly low levels of uptake despite being actively promoted by Government and it's social partners. …

Empowerment Through Choice?: A Critical Analysis Of The Effects Of Choice In Organizations, Roy Y. J. Chua, Sheena S. Iyengar

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The provision of choice is one of the most common vehicles through which managers empower employees in organizations. Although past psychological and organizational research persuasively suggests that choice confers personal agency, and is thus intrinsically motivating, emerging research indicates that there could be potential pitfalls. In this chapter, we examine the various factors that could influence the effects of choice. Specifically, we examine individual-level factors such as the chooser’s socioeconomic status and cultural background. We also examine situational factors such as the content of choice and the number of choices offered. We then expand our discussion on the effect of …

Bridging The Divide? The European Court Of First Instance Judgment In Ge/Honeywell, George S. Georgiev

Articles

No abstract provided.

Becoming The Harvard Man: Person-Environment Fit, Personality Development, And Academic Success, Peter D. Harms, Brent W. Roberts, David Winter

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

The continuity and change of the needs and evaluations of the college environment and person-environment fit (PE fit) with the college environment were studied in a 4-year longitudinal study of students (N = 191). Perceptions of the environment changed more dramatically than corresponding self-perceived needs. PE fit demonstrated moderate levels of consistency over the 4-year span, but no significant increases in mean levels were found over time. Antecedents to PE fit in the college environment included both intelligence and openness to experience. Outcomes associated with PE fit included changes in personality traits linked to openness to experience and higher academic …

Winter Wine Tourists In Canada's Niagara Region, Carmen W. Cullen, Eugene Kaciak, Linda Bramble, Barry Wright, Alfred E. Seaman, John Joseph Williams

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper represents the first stage in a multi-seasonal investigation of peak, off-peak and shoulder season winery tourists in Canada’s Niagara region. The goal of the study reported here is to better understand the off-peak winery tourist – that strange creature who chooses to visit a winery in the dead of Canadian winter. Who are these people?

Influence Of Foreign Media On Fashion In Young Adults In Pakistan, Arif Hasan, Shaza Bari

Business Review

The extent of the influence of Indian media on fashion choices is studied by finding the underlying feelings and motives behind fashion product purchase decisions for young female adults. The results showed that the influence of Indian media on fashion choices is minimal and does not lead to an active search for a particular product. Rather, the exposure is used to make a decision when they are faced with a choice between a product seen on the media versus another product. Accessories are more easily adapted than clothes, which are too glamorized. The soap dramas are more popular among the …

The Influence Of Children On Family Purchase Decisions: A Phenomenological Approach, Usman Majeed, Nadia S. Banoori

Business Review

This study was conducted to understand the influence of school-going children between seven to ten years of age on family’s buying decision-making in the area of North Nazimabad. A sample of three children was chosen to be interviewed and were asked a number of questions related to their influence on purchase. Later, their parents were interviewed to counter-check their perceptions about their children’s influence. The results showed that children did exert some influence on decisions, especially in cases where the product was for their own use. Another result was that the level of understanding of the children was high enough …

Why Is A New Index Needed?, Shama Ahmed

Business Review

Stock Market, Indices, Finance