Business Commons^™

The Role Of Local Cluster Agents As Key Determinants In Knowledge Creation, Absorption And Retention In Regional Biotechnology Industrial Clusters, Francisco Montalvo

Student Scholarship

Industrial clusters and innovation systems have been the focus of considerable academic research. Similarly, general research on knowledge creation is abundant, but the literature on knowledge absorption, transfer and retention on a regional level is limited. A better appreciation of knowledge creation, absorption and retention as determinants of industrial cluster success may be of value to industry decision makers, policy makers, and researchers seeking mechanisms for promoting innovation and preventing the flight of locally generated knowledge. Knowledge retention is assumed to be a source of innovation and a key determinant of knowledge diffusion and exploitation, local and multinational firm performance, …

Close Encounters Of A Meaningful Intercultural Kind: Enhancing Deep-Level Diversity In Voluntary Organizations On College Campuses, Ruth Sessler Bernstein

Student Scholarship

We propose qualitative research to understand how majority and minority undergraduate college students construe meaningful intercultural experiences (MIEs)\, under what circumstances these experiences are likely to occur\, and to what extent they lead to deep-level diversity in voluntary organizations. This research will facilitate greater understanding of the enabling and constraining factors that affect MIEs. The conceptual framework for this research focuses on individuals engaging in sustained interactions of favorable contact with diverse group members who are willing to move outside of their “comfort zones” and develop cross-cultural skills. The interview sample will focus on undergraduate student members and alumni of …

Making Sense Of Surprise Outcomes: Implications For Managing The Unexpected, Ronald W. Eastburn

Student Scholarship

We propose qualitative research to understand how financial institution management makes sense of decision outcomes that do not meet expectations, under what circumstances these experiences are likely to occur, and to what extent they lead to mindful management of the unexpected. This research will facilitate greater understanding of the factors that make some organizations far more capable and function far more reliably than others in coping with the unexpected, the unknowable and the Black Swan (Taleb, 2007), with resultant positive influence on firm performance. The conceptual framework for this research focuses on individuals engaging in managing for high performance in …

An Application And Extension Of The Technology Acceptance Model To Nonprofit Certification, Lise Anne Slatten

Student Scholarship

Several federated nonprofit associations have implemented assessment and certification programs intending to produce institutional improvement for member organizations. Using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a foundation, this study develops and tests a theoretical extension of TAM to organizations that chose to participate in one such program (the Louisiana Standards for Excellence organizational assessment) and those that did not. The results largely validate TAM and indicate that usefulness, access barriers related to resources, attitudes, executive director proactivity and behavioral intent all influence the decision to pursue voluntary certification. These findings advance current theory and contribute to the foundation for future …

Board Member Behavioral And Cognitive Biases: The Impact On Board Level Strategic Decision-Making Processes, Bernard C. Bailey

Student Scholarship

Prior studies of board effectiveness have primarily focused on the relationships between board structure and composition relative to the performance of the firm. To better understand the role of board members in strategic decision-making it may be helpful to gain deeper insights into the processes and behaviors that are actually utilized during strategic decision-making both within and outside the board room. Of particular interest to scholars are the specific processes that boards use to generate quality strategic decisions. We propose research to examine the conditions under which diverse board members' individual biases, backgrounds and behaviors impact the collective strategic decision-making …

Board Member Behavioral And Cognitive Biases: The Impact On Board Level Strategic Decision-Making Processes, Bernard C. Bailey

Student Scholarship

Prior studies of board effectiveness have primarily focused on the relationships between board structure and composition relative to the performance of the firm. To better understand the role of board members in strategic decision-making it may be helpful to gain deeper insights into the processes and behaviors that are actually utilized during strategic decision-making both within and outside the board room. Of particular interest to scholars are the specific processes that boards use to generate quality strategic decisions. We propose research to examine the conditions under which diverse board members' individual biases, backgrounds and behaviors impact the collective strategic decision-making …

Taxing Under The Influence? : Corruption And U.S. State Beer Taxes, Per G. Fredriksson, Stephan Gohmann, Khawaja Mamun

WCBT Faculty Publications

This article examines the effect of state level corruption on state beer taxes in the United States. Our lobby group model predicts that corruption reduces the beer tax, but this effect is conditional on the level of alcohol-related vehicle deaths. Using a panel of state level data from 1982 to 2001, we find that increased corruption is associated with lower state beer tax rates. The magnitude of the effect, however, declines with increases in alcohol-related traffic deaths. Our findings suggest that future empirical work estimating the effect of alcohol taxes on alcohol-related traffic fatalities should treat alcohol taxes as endogenous.

"Just" Markets From The Perspective Of Catholic Social Teaching, Nicholas J. C. Santos, Gene R. Laczniak

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

The "justice of markets" is intricately connected to the treatment of the poor and the disadvantaged in market economies. The increased interest of multinational corporations in low-income market segments affords, on one hand, the opportunity for a more inclusive capitalism, and on the other, the threat of greater exploitation of poor and disadvantaged consumers. This article traces the contributions of Catholic Social Teaching and its basic principles toward providing insight into what constitutes "justice" in such "marketing to the impoverished" situations.

Financial Planning For High School Students, Evan Weissman

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The global financial crisis of the early 21^st century has taught us many things about human nature, our societal goals and the finance industry overall. Perhaps the most surprising finding, however, has been the observance of financial illiteracy among the general public. The combination of greed and ignorance towards financial responsibility has played an important role in the collapse of our financial system.

The financial illiteracy of our society has been an epidemic in our country for some time. Financial planning is a topic that has been rarely taught in high schools. This has lead to an influx of …

Safe & Cheap, Moon Li, Brian Burrow

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Summary

Our project bundles investment research reports spanning the authors’ time in the Orange Value Fund (OVF), a student run hedge fund in the Whitman School of Management. Each report exemplifies the fund’s unique, bottoms-up investment style. In contrast to traditional valuation methods that focus exclusively on projecting company earnings, the OVF adopts a micro-level approach to analyzing investment opportunities. Analysts study company documents such as annual reports, credit agreements, and proxy statements to identify safe and cheap opportunities.

Safe

A safe company has access to capital markets, a super-strong financial position, honest and competent management, and an understandable business. …

Rationale And Proposal For The Establishment Of A Consumer-Behavior Curriculum And Research Institute At Syracuse University, Carolyn Meitzner

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This thesis project was inspired by a course formerly offered by the Department of Psychology at Syracuse University, which has not been offered since at least 2006 – PSY 377: Consumer Behavior. Circumstances – including that the professor who taught the course left the university and that the Department of Psychology is uncertain about the volume of student interest in the course – led to PSY 377 being taken off the time schedule indefinitely, though it remains in the course catalog. The timing of the course’s cancellation is especially unfortunate, given that revolutionary changes in consumer behavior have occurred over …

Paul M. Klekner (B), Roger R. Schnorbus

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

This is a fictitious case study, including the name of the restaurant and the people involved.

Paul Klekner graduated first in his class from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in 1998; his fellow students named him the chef most likely to succeed in the future. After graduation, he and his wife, Sarah, moved back to his home in Richmond, Virginia where he was employed as a chef at several restaurants including Bottega and Old Original Bookbinders. In 2003, he decided to open his own restaurant, Rogerios, in the Tobacco Row section of Richmond. With an inheritance of $300,000 he …

2009-America's Best Award - 2009, University School, East Tennessee State University, University Marketing And Communications, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

No abstract provided.

Whole Foods: Renewable Energy Credits, Green Business, And Capitalist Approaches To Climate Change, Samantha Kanofsky

Pomona Senior Theses

Dedication. Acknowledgements. Preface. Chapter 1: Introduction. Chapter 2: Green Business and Carbon Offsetting. Chapter 3A: Case Study. Chapter 3B: Interview. Chapter 4: Case Study. Chapter 5: Conclusion. Bibliography.

2008 Virginia Beach Tourism Economic Impact Study, Gilbert R. Yochum, Vinod Agarwal

Economics Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to estimate the total economic impact and the direct taxes and fees generated by the 2008 in-flow of visitors to the City of Virginia Beach's tourist industry. Total tourism economic impact is defined as the sum of direct, indirect and induced output, employment and earnings that result from visitor spending in Virginia Beach.

Introduction: Can We Bridge The Rigour-Relevance Gap?, Robin Fincham, Timothy Adrian Robert Clark

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The following series of articles emanate from a session held at the first Journal of Management Studies Conference on the theme of ‘Beyond knowledge management: advancing the organizational knowledge research agenda’. The conference was concerned to advance academic understanding of this broad topic and in addition to reflect on the role of management scholars as creators, commodifiers and disseminators of management and organizational knowledge. The latter theme arose from debates in relation to the apparent marginality of business school academics in the production of management knowledge (Barley et al., 1988; Gibson and Tesone, 2001; Spell, 2001) and their consequent (in)ability …

Whatever Happened To Old Mac Donald's Farm… Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation, Factory Farming And The Safety Of The Nation's Food Supply, Julie Follmer, Roseann B. Termini

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Today, livestock farming is a far stretch from the nostalgic notion of animals grazing in green pastures, roaming free in the fresh country air and returning at the end of the day to a cozy barn. Simply stated, livestock farming is a large scale business, where tens of thousands of animals are swiftly raised industrial-style for maximum profit. Under the "factory farm" model, large corporate owned operations grow quantities of animals for slaughter for human consumption as food. In fact, livestock farms now raise 40% of all animals in the United States.

A Qualitative Study Of The Hispanic Gender Role And Social-Cultural Factors Influencing The Attraction Process: The Recruitment Of The Latina To Meet 21st Century Labor Shortage Challenges In America, Olga Chapa

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Approximately one-fourth of the 303,824,640 individuals representing the labor workforce in the United States (U.S.) are part of the baby boom cohort (Toossi, 2004). Seventy eight million individuals are credited for the shifting demographics in the U.S. The largest gap in the labor force will be seen in the professional arena (Hilton, 2008). In order to proactively meet the challenge of a future labor shortage, organizations will need to focus their recruitment effort on the remaining replacement pool of qualified individuals. For a variety of reasons, the recruitment of the Hispanic as a sustainable and growing replacement pool offers many …

Disclosure Of Management Guidance In Conference Calls: Materiality, Determinants And Consequences, Benjamin Lansford, Jimmy Kiat Bee Lee, Jennifer W. Tucker

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The SEC advises firms to release all material information in their earnings announcement press release before their corresponding conference call. Until May 2009, the NYSE went further by explicitly prohibiting the disclosure of new material information in a conference call. However, we document that the S&P 500 firms, including those that are NYSE-listed, disclose a non-trivial amount of management guidance exclusively in their conference calls. Firms in challenging forecasting environments rely more on the conference call, probably because the call enables managers to “flesh out” the guidance. In contrast, firms with relatively low investor visibility and high litigation risk rely …

Aicpa Responds To New York Mobility Column, Ernest Almonte

Exposure Drafts, Comment Letters, and Statements of Position

No abstract provided.

Dividend Policy, Creditor Rights, And The Agency Costs Of Debt, Paul Brockman, Emre Unlu

Department of Finance: Faculty Publications

We show that country-level creditor rights influence dividend policies around the world by establishing the balance of power between debt and equity claimants. Creditors demand and managers consent to a more restrictive payout policy as a substitute for weak creditor rights in an effort to minimize the firm’s agency costs of debt. Using a sample of 120,507 firm-years from 52 countries, we find that both the probability and amount of dividend payouts are significantly lower in countries with poor creditor rights. A reduction in the creditor rights index from its highest value to its lowest value implies a 41% reduction …

The U.S. Economic Crisis: Another "Lost Decade"?, Paula Chungsathaporn

Honors College Theses

America is experiencing the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression originating with problems from mortgage backed securities and seeping into every major sector in the economy. We have witnessed the downfall or government takeover of some of the most powerful companies in the country, contributing to the highest unemployment rate America has seen in decades. During the 1990s, Japan experienced what is commonly referred to as “the lost decade,” a period of prolonged stagnant growth. Many similarities can be drawn between the current U.S. crisis and the Japanese crisis of the late 90s. The macroeconomic conditions that caused the …

Motivations For Us Foreign Direct Investment, Christina Buoninfante

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to determine US firms’ motivations for foreign direct investment and to explore to what extent US firms continue to invest into China and India. I first correlate the agricultural, industrial, and service sectors in the United States with those of China and India. I find that there is a positive relationship between the correlation of US sectors and the host country’s sectors and foreign direct investment into each sector. This supports the theory of Vernon’s product life cycle hypothesis, which explains that firms expand into lesser developed countries when their product becomes more sensitive …

Pfizer, Inc., Nadezhda Smirnova

Honors College Theses

This paper addresses a few major problems that the pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. has recently been facing. The paper also provides promising solutions to these major problems, which without action can lead to the demise of the pharmaceutical giant. The implementation of the proposed solutions would allow Pfizer Inc. to improve its position and inevitably save it from possible demise.

High Tech Vs. High Touch In Resort Operations: How Do Customers Adopt Self-Service Technology?, Haemoon Oh, Miyoung Jeong

Caesars Hospitality Research Center Grant

Lodging and resort companies are motivated to adopt SST primarily to enhance customer service, achieve operational efficiency by cutting costs, differentiate from competitors by early adoption, and generate additional revenue. In the center of managerial concerns about SST-based customer service is the unproven widespread belief that SST will satisfy customers by shortening service lines, promoting customers’ independence, enhancing order accuracies, and allowing control over the service process. In balance, however, we must consider, from the customer’s perspective, potential threats of blindly adopting SST such as the customer’s indifference, skepticism, and discomfort, especially in favor of human-based customer service. The goal …

The Role Of The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention And Consumer Protection Act In The Real Estate Crisis, Sarah Maheu

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Is Pay For Time Not Worked Due To A Hurricane A Best Practice?, Laura Dugan Bowie

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Using High-Frequency Transaction Data To Estimate The Probability Of Informed Trading, Anthony S. Tay, Christopher Ting, Yiu Kuen Tse, Mitchell Warachka

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper applies the asymmetric autoregressive conditional duration (AACD) model of Bauwens and Giot (2003) to estimate the probability of informed trading (PIN) using irregularly spaced transaction data. We model trade direction (buy versus sell orders) and the duration between trades jointly. Unlike the Easley, Hvidkjaer, and O'Hara (2002) approach, which uses the aggregate numbers of daily buy and sell orders to estimate PIN, our methodology allows for interactions between consecutive buy-sell orders and accounts for the duration between trades and the volume of trade. We extend the Easley–Hvidkjaer–O'Hara framework by allowing the probabilities of good news and bad news …

How Emerging Giants Are Rewriting The Rules Of M&A, Nirmalya Kumar

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

While Western companies struggle with mergers and acquisitions, emerging giants like Indian aluminum producer Hindalco are using M&A as their main globalization strategy. That's partly because developing economies grew at near double-digit rates in the past 15 years, enabling many enterprises to make acquisitions. It's also because, according to the author's research, those corporations create more value from takeovers. To compete, Western multinationals should change their mind-set and shift the locus of their M&A efforts to regional headquarters in developing countries.U.S. and European companies, inhibited by slow-growing home markets, acquire rivals primarily to become bigger and thus create economies of …

Hype My Stock: Do Firms Really Want Biased Research?, Roger Loh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Analyst research is alleged to be biased because of conflicts of interest when analysts’ employers underwrite securities for the firms covered. I posit that affiliated analyst optimism should be the strongest for offering firms with a desire to over-inflate stock prices. I hypothesize that a firm’s corporate governance and its CEO incentives are related to the affiliation bias. Using stock recommendations data, I find evidence that the affiliation bias is indeed more pervasive for firms with high CEO wealth sensitivity to stock price (i.e., high CEO delta). The larger affiliation bias for high delta firms remains even after the introduction …