Business Commons^™

Managing Risk In A Failing It Project: A Social Constructionist View, Wee-Kiat Lim, Siew Kien Sia, Adrian Yeow

CCX Research

Why do IT projects continue to stumble, despite the proliferation of risk management methodologies and a growing body of knowledge on project risk assessment and mitigation? In this paper, we propose an alternative theoretical perspective that views project risk as a social construction process shaped by the risk accounts of social groups and actors within an implementation context. Risk management is embedded in the social processes where risks are negotiated and contested, with some risk accounts amplified and some attenuated. Through the analysis of a large IT implementation in an Asian logistics firm and its trajectory of successive crises, we …

Managing Uncertainty: Lessons From Xenophon's Retreat, David R. King

Management Faculty Research and Publications

Propositions on dynamic capabilities and organizational politics are developed from management literature and are then evaluated using case analysis. The goal is to identify complementary aspects of these perspectives to change from an ancient example that can offer insights for management thought and practice today. Initially chronicled by Xenophon, roughly 10,000 Greek mercenaries spent over two years confronting demanding circumstances as they fought their way into and out of ancient Persia. The mercenaries' response to changing circumstances offers a unique case for integrating literature on responses to uncertainty that range between rational and haphazard explanations. The analysis suggests uncertainty management …

Fruit And Vegetable Resource Maps: Mapping Fruit And Vegetable Waste Through The Wholesale Supply Chain, Leon A. Terry, Carlos Mena, Adrian Williams, Nigel Jenney, Peter Whitehead

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research by WRAP has shown that households waste around three million tonnes of fruit and vegetables per year, raising concerns about the economic and environmental impacts of food waste. This study has been conducted to quantify the level of loss and waste of fruit and vegetables before they reach consumers, through the retail and wholesale supply chain. Furthermore, the study determined how, where and why the product was wasted.

Eleven fresh produce types were selected based on their consumption, post-harvest physiology and management. The 11 products chosen were strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes, lettuce, apples, onions, potatoes, brassicas, citrus, avocados and bananas; …

Co-Creation Of Value: Creating New Products Through Social Media, Birud Sindhav

Marketing and Management Faculty Publications

Co-creation of value with consumers is an emerging marketing paradigm for the firms. One way to understand co-creation of value is to examine co-creation of value at the new product development (NPD) stage, when consumer has yet to interact with the fully formed product. We first describe the emergence of social media as an evolution of the social nature of the web. Then we describe social validation, social information, and social inspiration as three processes that help explain why consumers like to be part of co-creation at the NPD stage. Finally, we describe two stages of NPD in the context …

Aicpa Assurance Services Executive Committee. Xbrl Assurance Task Force. Proposed Principles And Criteria For Xbrl-Formatted Information, June 1, 2011, Comments Requested By July 15, 2011; ; Exposure Draft (American Institute Of Certified Public Accountants), 2011, June 1, American Institute Of Certified Public Accountants. Ssurance Service Executive Committee. Xbrl Assurance Task Force

Exposure Drafts, Comment Letters, and Statements of Position

No abstract provided.

On Fractionally Integrated Logistic Smooth Transitions In Time Series, Olanrewaju I. Shittu, Yaya S. Olaolua

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

Long memory and nonlinearity are two key features of some macroeconomic time series which are characterized by persistent shocks that seem to rise faster during recession than it falls during expansion. A variant of nonlinear time series model together with long memory are used to examine these features in inflation series for three economies. The results which compares favourably with that of van Dijk et al. (2002) elicit some interesting attributes of inflation in the developed and developing economies.

Best Linear Unbiased Estimate Using Buys-Ballot Procedure When Trend-Cycle Component Is Linear, Ifeanyi S. Wueze, Nwogu C. Eleazar, Jude C. Ajaraogu

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

The Best linear unbiased estimate (BLUE) of Buys-Ballot estimates when trend-cycle component is linear are discussed in this paper. The estimates are those proposed by Iwueze and Nwogu (2004). Discussed are the Chain Based Estimation (CBE) method and the Fixed Based Estimation (FBE) method. The variates for the CBE method were found to have constant mean and variance but are correlated with only one significant autocorrelation coefficient at lag one. The variates for the FBE method were found to have constant mean, non-constant variance but with constant autocorrelation coefficient at all lags . Because the CBE variates exhibit stationarity, Best …

Robust Linear Classifier For Unequal Cost Ratios Of Misclassification, Oludare S. Ariyo, A O. Adebanji

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

This paper focuses on the robust classification procedures when the assumption of equal cost of misclassification is violated. A normal distribution based data set is generated using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) version 9.1. Using Barlett’s approximation to chi-square, the data set was found to be homogenous and was subjected to three linear classifiers namely: Maximum Likelihood Discriminant Function (MLDF), Fisher’s linear Discriminant Function and Distance Based Discriminant Function. To Judge the performances of these procedures, the Apparent Error Rates for each procedure is obtained for different cost ratios 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4 and 1:5 and sample sizes 5:5, 10:10, …

Global Financial Meltdown And The Reforms In The Nigerian Banking Sector, Sanusi L. Sanusi

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

The paper examined the global financial meltdown and the reforms in the Nigerian banking sector. It was a public speech by the formal Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria that observed the extent and severity of the crisis that began with the bursting of the housing bubble in the United States in August 2007 reflects the confluence of myriad of factors some of which are familiar from previous crises, while others are new. As in previous times of financial turmoil, the pre-crisis period was characterized by (i) surging asset prices that proved unsustainable; (ii) a prolonged credit expansion leading …

Internationalizing Through Franchising - Singapore's Gambits In The Gcc: Mining The Silver Around The Gold, Caroline Yeoh, Joses Wong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

No abstract provided.

Leverage Change, Debt Overhang, And Stock Prices, Jie Cai, Zhe Zhang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We document a significant and negative effect of the change in a firm's leverage ratio on its stock prices. We find that the negative effect is stronger for firms that have higher leverage ratios, higher likelihood of default, and face more severe financial constraints. Moreover, firms with an increase in leverage ratio tend to have less future investment. These findings are consistent with Myers' (1977) debt overhang theory that an increase in leverage may lead to future underinvestment, thus reducing a firm's value.

Relation-Specific Creative Performance In Voluntary Collaborations: A Micro-Foundation For Competitive Advantage?, Terence Ping Ching Fan, Duncan Robertson

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

A fundamental question in the strategy literature is how sustainable competitive advantage can be generated within one firm and yet difficult to copy by another. We offer one solution to this conundrum by way of relation-specific performance that is developed in creative projects – where the individuals involved have significant latitude on the intended objectives as well as their collaborators on these projects. Because higher-level cognition is involved in navigating such projects from conception to implementation, there is heightened relation-specificity in their performance – as measured by how widely they are adopted by third-party users. This relationspecificity means that any …

Does That Pay Practice Really Have Any Impact?, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

Few organizations take the time to credibly study whether some pay, benefits, work-life balance or other total rewards practices have any impact on the organizations' bottom line or employee outcomes like productivity or turnover. It's too difficult to do well, organizations don't actually want to know the answer, and/or organizations don't have the know-how or time. One successfully executed, evidence-based study of a new compensation practice is Safelite AutoGlass. Edward Lazear compared the productivity change worker by worker, for only those employees present under both pay arrangements. Lazear found that not only did productivity increase after the change from hourly …

Public Relations: The Importance Of Community Relationships Between Small-Businesses And The Community, Jayne Elizabeth Crabtree

Journalism

With the downturn of the economy public relations has been one of the first departments to be discontinued in many businesses as an effort to save more money. This paper addresses the importance of community relationships, particularly in the small town of Cambria, California. The importance of the building relationships will be addressed from the prospective of successful Cambrian businesses currently involved in the community, as well as the perspective of one business not yet getting involved, The Tea Cozy.

Crisis Communication Plan: In Response To The Corporation For Public Broadcasting Loss Of Government Funding, Tavia Meredith

Journalism

This project explores the need for crisis communication planning to be implemented for individual public broadcasting stations. This project will provide insight on what national public broadcasting can do to restore their image during times of crisis. Through literature, research, case studies, it is proven that having an effective crisis communication plan can help provide training, pre-determined best practices, and save time, so an organization can respond as soon as possible. This project will also discuss the publics of public broadcasting, as well as those who are more likely to donate. It will also take into account previous defunding cases …

Feasibility Study For Building A Tasting Room In Napa Valley, Trevor Mitchell

Agribusiness

This study was undertaken to determine if it would be financially feasible for Altamura Winery to build and operate a wine tasting room in Napa Valley over the course of a 30 year period.

This report used a feasibility study to examine the investment of the tasting room.  The study used the cost approach of valuation to value the construction costs.  Then capital budgeting was used as a method to determine if the tasting room should be constructed.  The capital budgeting methods of this study include the use of a cash flow budget, break-even analysis, and a net present value …

Mountain Monitor-1st Quarter 2011, Mark Muro, Kenan Fikri, Jonathan Rothwell

Mountain Monitor Quarterly

The pace of economic recovery slowed in the large metros of the Intermountain West in the first quarter of 2011. Widespread but slowing output growth was coupled with much slower improvement in the labor market, where for the first time the region’s unemployment rate edged above the nation’s. The weight of a still-depressed housing market slowed recovery further. Overall, the differing courses of the region’s 10 major metro economies since the beginning of the recession can be characterized by relatively strong bouncebacks to the north and east of the region and more sluggish and protracted slogs to the south and …

Can The Use Of Clickers Or Continous Assessment Motivate Critical Thinking?: A Case Study Based On Corporate Finance Students, Lucia Morales

Articles

This study explores the use of clickers as a tool to support, encourage and motivate critical thinking in higher education students. A case study was carried out with a cohort of undergraduate students undertaking the BSc. in Accounting and Finance during the academic year 2009/10, were corporate finance was a major component. Since the students in this sample had previously demonstrated passivity during their corporate finance classes, it was proposed that clickers would help motivate them to participate during face to face sessions. Previous research on the use of clickers shows evidence that this tool has a positive effect on …

Embeddedness And New Idea Discussion In Professional Networks: The Mediating Role Of Affect-Based Trust, Roy Y. J. Chua, Michael W. Morris, Paul Ingram

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This article examines how managers' tendency to discuss new ideas with others in their professional networks depends on the density of shared ties surrounding a given relationship. Consistent with prior research which found that embeddedness enhances information flow, an egocentric network survey of mid-level executives shows that managers tend to discuss new ideas with those who are densely embedded in their professional networks. More specifically, embeddedness increases the likelihood to discuss new ideas by engendering affect-based trust, as opposed to cognition-based trust. Implications for network and creativity research are discussed.

The Implications Of Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment On Capital Markets: A Bottom-Up View, David Fernandez

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The buzz around sovereign wealth funds has been turned down a notch, but they remain a hot topic. The accusations of sovereign wealth funds having hidden agendas remain, but with the very public losses suffered by some during the recent financial turmoil, such talk has even less credibility. And given that most of those losses were from investments in US, UK, and European financial institutions, hope that sovereign wealth funds would be the saviors of Wall Street has also faded. At its base, four trends continue to keep sovereign wealth funds in focus. First, there is the phenomenal rise of …

Using Monte Carlo Simulations To Establish A New House Price Stress Test, James R. Follain, Seth H. Giertz

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

The focus of this paper is on the house price stress test (termed ALMO) that was designed to assess the fiscal strength of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and, if necessary, to trigger remedial action in order to avert a crisis. We assess whether the ALMO stress test was an adequate representation of an extremely weak housing market, given the best available information leading up to the Great Recession. A Monte Carlo simulation model is developed to estimate the severity of low probability events (i.e., severe house price declines). We illustrate the complexity and subjective nature of the process used …

Firm Structure And Corporate Cash Holdings, Venkat Subramaniam, Tony Tang, Heng Yue, Xin Zhou

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We analyze whether the organizational structure of firms (i.e., whether a firm is diversified or focused) affects their cash holdings. Using Compustat firm level and segment-level data, we find that diversified firms hold significantly less cash than their focused counterparts. Our results are robust to industry adjustments at the segment level and to different factors previously found to be important determinants of cash holdings. Using time-series, cross-sectional, and additional robustness tests we are able to attribute the lower cash holdings among diversified firms to complementary growth opportunities across the different segments of these firms and the availability of active internal …

Audit Committees Oversight Of Information Technology Risk, Linda M. Hadden, Dana Hermanson, F. Todd Dezoort

Faculty Articles

This exploratory study examines the role of the audit committee in overseeing information technology (IT) risk. We address the degree of audit committee oversight of specific IT risks, as well as factors associated with variations in audit committee IT oversight. Based on responses from 39 audit committee members, we found (1) little audit committee emphasis on oversight of IT risks, (2) audit committees involved with IT oversight focus on more traditional risks (e.g., monitoring), while very little attention is devoted to IT acquisition and implementation, and (3) the amount of IT oversight is positively associated with the responding members auditing …

Trends In Multisensory And Interactive Magazine Inserts, Jennifer Titcomb

Graphic Communication

The purpose of this study was to identify trends in multisensory and interactive magazine inserts. The study looked at the different features to see what is used most frequently and identified any major trends with the technologies. These implementations would ensure the presence of printed magazines. Additional knowledge was gained by being more observant of the different ways audio/ video chips and variable data are being used within magazine advertising. Ideas of new applications were formed from gathering of this information.

The study was conducted using historical research, elite and specialized interviews and content analysis to identify trends. Tables were …

Situational Judgment Tests As A New Tool For Dental Student Selection, Tine Buyse, Filip Lievens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Cognitive tests are used to select students into dental school, yet cognitive predictors explain only part of the variance in academic performance. Therefore, interviews and personality tests are often used to measure noncognitive (e.g., interpersonal) characteristics. Recently, situational judgment tests (SJTs) have drawn attention since there is evidence that SJTs can be valid predictors in medical admission contexts. This study examines the validity of an SJT measuring interpersonal skills for predicting academic performance of dental students. Incremental validity over cognitive tests is also examined. In this study, 796 dental students who passed the admission exam for medical and dental students …

Mixed 0-1 Linear Programs Under Objective Uncertainty: A Completely Positive Representation, Karthik Natarajan, Chung-Piaw Teo, Zhichao Zheng

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In this paper, we analyze mixed 0-1 linear programs under objective uncertainty. The mean vector and the second moment matrix of the nonnegative objective coefficients is assumed to be known, but the exact form of the distribution is unknown. Our main result shows that computing a tight upper bound on the expected value of a mixed 0-1 linear program in maximization form with random objective is a completely positive program. This naturally leads to semidefinite programming relaxations that are solvable in polynomial time but provide weaker bounds. The result can be extended to deal with uncertainty in the moments and …

Digitisation's Impacts On Publics: Public Knowledge And Civic Conversation, Alessandro Lovari, Soojin Kim, Kelly Vibber, Jeong-Nam Kim

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper proposes a new way of classifying publics in terms of their adoption and use of digitalised communication technologies. A CATI (computer aided telephone interview) survey of 1,014 citizens revealed that people in Siena, Italy, show different patterns and gaps in adopting new media and technologies as well as in using them in their civic participation and engagement. Based on the survey results, four types of publics are suggested (inactive, analogical, hybrid, and digital publics) and a demographic profile of each public including age, gender, and education is provided. The relationships among public types, level of education, and gender …

Smarter Teamwork: System For Management, Assessment, Research, Training, Education, And Remediation For Teamwork, Matthew W. Ohland, Richard A. Layton, Daniel Michael Ferguson, Misty L. Loughry, David Jonathan Woehr, Hal R. Pomeranz

Management: Faculty Publications

The rapid adoption of Team-Maker and the Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness (CATME), tools for team formation and peer evaluation, make it possible to extend their success to have a significant impact on the development of team skills in higher education. The web-based systems are used by over 700 faculty at over 200 institutions internationally.

This paper and its accompanying poster will describe strategies for broadening the scope of those tools into a complete system for the management of teamwork in undergraduate education. The System for the Management, Assessment, Research, Training, Education, and Remediation of Teamwork (SMARTER Teamwork) has …

Cio Reporting Structure, Strategic Positioning, And Firm Performance, Rajiv D Banker, Nan Hu, Paul A Pavlou, Jerry Luftman

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Almost 30 years after the introduction of the CIO position, the ideal CIO reporting structure (whether the CIO should report to the CEO or the CFO) is yet to be identified. There is an intuitive assumption among some proponents of IT that the CIO should always report to the CEO to promote the importance of IT and the CIO's clout in the firm, while some adversaries of IT call for a CIO—CFO reporting structure to keep a tab on IT spending. However, we challenge these two ad hoc prescriptions by arguing that neither CIO reporting structure is necessarily optimal, and …

2011 June, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for June 2011.