Business Commons^™

Corporate Strategies During The Global Downturn: Initiating A Forward-Looking Debate, Klaus E. Meyer

Business Publications

The global financial crisis has created a structural break in the global economy. Businesses thus need to reassess the strategies they have developed to operate in a highly integrated global economy. Initial reactions have often been defensive as companies downsize and call for government support. However, times of crisis are also times of opportunity. In the short-term, opportunities arise for instance in 'value for money' segments. Long term opportunities require managers to develop foresight to use the crisis to position themselves for the next upswing. Business leaders thus need to develop scenarios of the new economy, and envisage their role …

Reaching For The Moon: Expanding Transactive Memory's Reach With Wikis And Tagging, Terri L. Griffith, Mark B. Allan, Anthony A. Korolis

Management & Entrepreneurship

Transactive memory systems (TMS) support knowledge sharing and coordination in groups. TMS are enabled by the encoding, storage, retrieval, and communication of knowledge by domain experts-knowing who knows what. The NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group provides an example of how TMS theoretical boundaries are stretched in actual use. This group is characterized as being highly innovative as they routinely engage in field studies that are inherently difficult due to time and technology resource constraints. We provide an expanded view of TMS that includes the technology support system available to this group, and possible further extensions to NASA's or other such …

Indian Business Through Film, Collaborative Project

Dyson College- Seidenberg School of CSIS : Collaborative Projects and Presentations

This entry adheres to the use of the quad chart template to provide a succint description only of the current research project undertaken by the participants. It provides for the following information

1. Participants and Affiliations 2. Overall Project Goals 3. Illustrative picture 4. Specific research/artistic/pedagogic foci

Imsa360: Spring 2009, Imsa Fund

IMSA Fund Reports

As a teaching and learning laboratory for imagination and inquiry, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy enables students to pursue their own compelling questions and identify and solve real-world problems. In these pursuits, they learn to collaborate with each other and the best minds around the globe. This process fosters integrative learning and enhances critical thinking, creativity, problem solving and teamwork.

Our feature stories in this issue of IMSA360 take you on an amazing journey that demonstrates how IMSA students turn their passions, talents and knowledge into action. Under the guidance of inspiring faculty, staff and world experts, students have …

Producer Services: An Engine For Job Growth, Steve Carlson, Hanna Hartman, Eric Thompson

Business in Nebraska

Introduction

Producer services providers are firms that sell services primarily to the business community rather than to individuals and households. Accounting firms, consultants, and computer design services are prominent examples of producer services businesses. Given their importance as suppliers to the broader business community, producer services are a critical segment of the economy. Many producer services industries also are a rapidly growing and pay high wages. The producer services sectors in fact are the principal source of high wage job growth in our evolving service economy.

For all of these reasons, this article highlights the performance of the producer services …

Learning 2.0: A Tool For Staff Training At The University Of Alaska Fairbanks Rasmuson Library, Ilana Kingsley, Karen Jensen

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

This paper describes a Learning 2.0 library staff training project completed in September 2007 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Rasmuson Library. The project planning process, curriculum creation, implementation, incentives, and outcomes are included, along with a summary of survey results from program participants. Recommendations for implementing this free and useful staff training tool by other academic libraries are included, as well as a link to the Library’s Learning 2.0 blog.

Mine, Yours Or Ours?: The Role Of Local Identity In United Way System Redesign, Elizabeth Claire Monaco

MPA Capstone Projects 2006 - 2015

For-profit and non-profit entities alike are facing the challenges of recruiting and retaining effective leadership, gathering sufficient and competitive capital and achieving long-term credibility as they struggle to assert their legitimacy and ensure sustainability in an ever changing world. These challenges have forced many organizations to consider different business models of operations, including opportunities to partner with others in their sector. There exists a growing list of non-profit federations that are considering and pursuing complete system redesign through the strategic restructuring of their affiliates in response to factors such as competition for resources, environmental and institutional pressures and the effects …

Capital Expansion And Organizational Growth: A Cost-Effective Analysis For Huntington Family Centers, Sean P. Burke

MPA Capstone Projects 2006 - 2015

Huntington Family Centers Inc., is a nonprofit social service agency located in the near-Westside of the City of Syracuse, N.Y. The agency currently employs 75 people and offers 25 programs, ranging in focus from preschool to services for senior citizens. It has developed a business plan with the goal of increasing program services by 35% over the next two years. However, as new programs are considered, it will be forced to rent space due to the lack of functional space at its primary are considered, it will be forced to rent space due to the lack of functional space at …

Working Toward Recovery: Exploring The Development Of An Employment Services Program At The Mental Health Association Of The Southern Tier, John J. Pelowski

MPA Capstone Projects 2006 - 2015

The almost complete exclusion of individuals with severe mental illness from the workforce can be implicated in lost recovery opportunities and high societal healthcare costs. This study initially looks at how the motivational theories of Herzberg, Maslow, and McGregor offer a possible explanation for the problems that individuals with mental illness have in obtaining and maintaining employment. The analysis of result of a survey conducted in conjunction with the Mental Health Association of the Southern Tier led to the following findings: 1) the theories of Herzberg, Maslow, and McGregor explain the employment attitudes of these individuals without amendment; 2) employment …

Project Management, Valon Fetahu

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Red Devils-Inspired Parallel In The Re-Branding Of Aig?, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

AIG’s sponsorship of Manchester United has given the insurance giant a big boost in brand visibility. However, before more value can be extracted from the $107 million deal, the financial crisis hit. Coupled with the on-going outrage over AIG’s legal obligations to pay bonuses to the Financial Products division -- the same business unit that caused most of its financial issues, the company is suffering from unprecedented damage to its credibility and branding. Steps are being taken to re-brand the company. How can this be more effective?

When Corporate Policies And Consumer Values Collide: Examining The Relationship Between Religion And Controversial Business Decisions, Krist R. G. Swimberghe

Doctoral Dissertations

Religion appears to play a very important role in people's lives in the United States. Some companies, however, continue to make business decisions which appear to be contrary to the value systems of a majority of consumers in the United States. Although past descriptive research has confirmed that religiousness influences consumers' and marketing managers' ethical judgments of their own behavior, this research has not explored the influence of religion in the buyer-seller dyad. To fill this gap in the consumer behavior literature, this study uses the Hunt-Vitell theory of ethics to help explain how consumers' religiosity influences their ethical judgments …

Product Market Competition And Corporate Mergers And Acquisitions, Yen-Chih Liu

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Conventional models assume competition improves corporate efficiency as firms strive to outperform competitors. In the context of agency models, the link between competition and managerial behavior becomes fuzzy. Hart (1983) and Schmidt (1997) posit that competition reduces managerial slack. Scharfstein (1988) argues that competition might increase managerial shirking. Recent studies on the relation between managerial compensation and competition further document conflicting evidence. In this study, I examine the effect of product market competition on corporate mergers and acquisitions. My initial results suggest that the definition of competition is critical in evaluating corporate mergers and acquisitions. Using three new dimensions (product …

Regional Emergency Response Teams: Case Studies In Hampton Roads, Virginia, Thomas E. Poulin

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

The majority of local governments lack sufficient resources to respond effectively in an independent manner to a disaster or large-scale emergency. To achieve success, they must work closely with other organizations. The research problem is that regional emergency response relationships are not well understood, which could lead to ineffective or inefficient practices. The research purpose was to describe and analyze regional emergency response in Hampton Roads, Virginia. The research methodology involved a qualitative approach, utilizing interviews and archival research. Organizational leaders of the Hampton Roads Marine Incident Response Team and the Southside Tidewater Regional Hazardous Materials Response Team were interviewed …

An Investigation Of The Temperaments Of Nonprofit Organization Managers, Angélique Joy Marcantel

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

The American Health Insurance System: What Went Wrong And How We May Fix It, Joseph Maxfield Vincent

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Undergraduate Course On Business Intelligence At The Wright State University Raj Soin College Of Business, Anand Jeyaraj

Management Information Systems Faculty Publications

Business intelligence (BI) tools enable senior, middle, and line managers to better understand their current operations and determine future strategies. There is a growing recognition among business professionals that the practices relating to BI are crucial for evaluating organizational performance, charting new directions, and everyday decision-making. According to Ziff Davis Enterprise, BI experts are ranked as the #1 job in the information technology sector for 2009.

Professional Product Review Vol. 4 No. 2, 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.

The Relationships Among Gender, Work Experience, And Leadership Experience In Transformational Leadership, Jennifer Y. Mak, Chong W. Kim

Management Faculty Research

Transformational leadership is an organizational leadership theory centered around "the ability to inspire and motivate followers to achieve results greater than originally planned and for internal reward" The investigation into transformational leadership began in the mid-1980s with a number of influential publications by Bass (1985), Bennis and Nanus (1985), Kouzes and Posner (1987) and Tichy and Devanna (1986). In the 1980s, the study of transformational leadership was focused on case-based research (Conger, 1999). By late 1990s, a substantial body of empirical investigations on transformational leadership had been conducted.

Moving Far From Far-From-Equilibrium: Opportunity Tension As The Driver Of Emergence, Benyamin B. Lichtenstein

College of Management Working Papers and Reports

Complexity scholars have identified two distinct drivers of emergence: (1) Far-from-equilibrium dynamics that trigger order creation, and (2) adaptive tension (McKelvey, 2004) which can push a system toward instability, leading to the emergence of new order. In this paper I suggest that both are true but incomplete. For example, when drawn out to the extreme, a far-fromequilibrium framework generates a contradiction by suggesting that the most dynamic organizations are the ones farthest-from-thermodynamic equilibrium – like Exxon or GE for example. Adaptive tension portrays the effect of a dynamic push without identifying the cause. I suggest “Opportunity Tension” as an alternative, …

Interest Rate Convergence In The Euro-Candidate Countries: Volatility Dynamics Of Sovereign Bond Yields, Hubert Gabrisch, Lucjan Orlowski

WCBT Working Papers

We advocate a dynamic approach to monetary convergence to a common currency that is based on the analysis of financial system stability. Accordingly, we test empirically volatility dynamics of the ten-year sovereign bond yields of the 2004 EU accession countries in relation to the eurozone yields during the January 2, 2001- January 22, 2009 sample period. Our results show a varied degree of bond yield co-movements, the most pronounced for the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Poland, and weaker for Hungary and Slovakia. However, since the EU accession, we find some divergence of relative bond yields. We argue that a ‘static’ …

The Impact Of Terrorism On Business, Michael D. Larobina, Richard L. Pate

WCBT Faculty Publications

Terrorism has in one form or another been a part of society throughout history. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York, the world community has been more focused on terrorism than ever before in most recent modern history. Terrorism has impacted multiple levels of society across the world community. One of those levels is the business environment. A specific aim of terrorism is to disrupt and destroy ongoing businesses. Therefore, the ability of governments to disrupt and destroy terrorism is essential to the continued growth and expansion of the world economy. Terrorism will directly impact a country's ability …

When Practice And Theory Conflict: Do Financial Incentives Influence Championing Behaviors In Mergers And Acquisitions?, Byron C. Clayton

Student Scholarship

Successful mergers and acquisitions require its managers to achieve substantial performance improvements in order to sufficiently cover acquisition premiums, the expected return of debt and equity investors, and the additional resources needed to capture synergies and accelerate growth. Acquirers understand that achieving the performance improvements necessary to cover these costs and create value for investors will most likely require an incredible effort from M&A management teams. This understanding drives the common and longstanding practice of offering hefty performance incentive packages to key managers, assuming that incentives will induce behaviors that champion organizational change and growth. This practice is in direct …

Deconstructing Discovery: Diversity And Knowledge Sharing In Research Teams, Rebecca Minnillo

Student Scholarship

The purpose of this research is to shed light on aspects of knowledge sharing that are productive in advancing innovation in scientific research. We report on a quantitative study of scientific research teams who presented their work at an international conference. We explore how internal and external knowledge sharing practices and structural diversity are associated with the production of innovative medical research. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a model for use by knowledge generating organizations that will help accelerate the process of innovative discoveries.

Ethical Ideologies And Decision Making Among College Athletes, Mary-Beth A. Cooper

Student Scholarship

Ethical decision making is a complex, yet timely topic for managers and consumers alike. In a collegiate setting, student athletes are scrutinized on and off the field not only for their athletic success but also for the ethical decisions they make that could change the course of their lives and the reputation of their institution. This research includes a survey covering over one thousand collegiate student athlete from the northeast who participated in a study determining the impact of ethical ideologies and social norms on their decision making. Specific constructs in the analysis include locus of control, ethical ideologies (idealism/relativism) …

Reconceptualizing Social Influence Mechanisms For Buyer-Seller Relationships, Stuart Strolin

Student Scholarship

Selling is a social activity in which bilateral influence is exchanged but ultimately where the seller seeks to influence the buyer. Previous work has investigated social influence in many forms and settings but has been of limited, practical use in B2B sales. This paper introduces new measures, derived from French and Ravens bases of power, which integrate ideas from social psychology and ideas grounded in business practice. These measures are tested in a theoretical model linking B2B social influence to trust and sales performance. This paper contributes to the existing understanding of B2B buyer-seller relationships in two ways. First, it …

Need For International Business Concepts In The Curriculum, David Seeley Jr.

International Journal for Business Education

With the continued increase in international business, business education has an obligation to reflect this trend. There are two methods for incorporating international business concepts into the curriculum: infusion and creation. Ideally, this obligation would be completed with a standalone course in international business. However, it can also be accomplished through incorporating international business concepts into current curriculum. Business programs need to include international aspects into the curriculum to help the students understand the economy in which they live.

The Nutrition Elite: Do Only The Highest Levels Of Caloric Knowledge, Obesity Knowledge, And Motivation Matter In Processing Nutrition Ad Claims And Disclosures?, J. Craig Andrews, Richard G. Netemeyer, Scot Burton

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

This study examines the role of the highest levels of caloric knowledge, obesity consequences knowledge, and motivation to search for nutrition information in the processing of relative nutrient content claims in advertisements, such as “half the calories” or “half the fat,” for products relatively high in total calorie levels. After controlling for the impact of demographics, dietary habits, body mass index, relative ad claims and disclosures, perceived weight gain risk, and other variables, the authors find curvilinear (quadratic) effects for caloric knowledge, obesity consequences knowledge, and motivation to search for nutrition information on intent to buy an advertised, high-calorie snack …

Marketing To The Poor: An Integrative Justice Model For Engaging Impoverished Marketing Segments, Nicholas J. C. Santos, Gene R. Laczniak

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

The relatively recent entry of multinational corporations (MNCs) into low-income markets, particularly in developing countries, affords the opportunity for the more inclusive capitalism envisioned by globalists. Alternatively, an expansion of MNC marketing in less developed economies might foreshadow the greater exploitation of disadvantaged consumers predicted by many critics of expanded free trade. To diffuse the charge of “exploitative” marketing, it is imperative that corporate marketing efforts seeking to engage impoverished segments be grounded in a strong ethical framework. This article unveils one such framework—the “integrative justice model” (IJM). The IJM is an aspirational model that outlines how to market ethically …

Remediation Of Material Weaknesses Related To Employee Compensation, Dana R. Hermanson, Daniel M. Ivancevich, Susan H. Ivancevich

Faculty Articles

The article presents an analysis of the remedial efforts of U.S. companies with material weaknesses in internal control related to employee compensation. Despite the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), public companies have continued to experience accounting and control issues related to employee compensation. The results indicate the role of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and its committees in preventing and remediating material weaknesses concerning compensation.