Business Commons^™

Teaching Public Relations To Students With A Confucian Cultural Background, Jurrien Gregor Halff

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper explores how the Confucian cultural background of students influences their perceptions of and reaction to the dominant public relations curriculum from the ‘West’. Using focus groups of Asian students, three heuristics that affect the students’ affinity to learn public relations are identified. Instructors working with students from a Confucian cultural background are advised to incorporate these heuristics when planning their curriculum.

Frog In The Pan: Continuous Information And Momentum, Zhi Da, G. Gurun, Mitchell Craig Warachka

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We develop and test a frog-in-the-pan hypothesis that predicts investors are less attentive to information arriving continuously in small amounts than to information with the same cumulative stock price implications arriving in large amounts at discrete timepoints. Intuitively, we hypothesize that a series of gradual frequent changes attracts less attention than infrequent dramatic changes. Consistent with our frog-in-the-pan hypothesis, we find strong evidence that continuous information induces stronger and more persistent return continuation. Over a six-month holding period, momentum decreases monotonically from 8.86% for stocks with continuous information during their formation period to 2.91% for stocks with discrete information. Higher …

Role Of Foundations In The Changing World Of Philanthropy: A Houston Perspective, Ronnie Hagerty

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

From the earliest days of the American nation, philanthropy has had a defining role in leading change. Philanthropy has provided vision and voice for nascent social movements ranging from civil rights and the women’s movement to AIDS research and environmentalism. As the 21st century has moved into its second decade, philanthropy finds itself facing significant pressures that threaten to compromise its ability to innovate and advocate for issues and individuals whose voices cannot be heard over the public rhetoric of the day. Once perceived as the purview of the rich and well connected, modern philanthropy cuts across social, economic, and …

Downsized Survivors: Areas Of Loss And Work Behaviors, Cyndi J. Schaeffer

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This research design used factor analysis to develop subscales related to areas of loss, and subscales related to work behaviors of survivors following a downsizing. Five loss subscales were revealed as a result of factor analysis. They were loss of sense of justice and supervisory support; loss of security and support; loss of positive outlook; loss of territory; and loss of control and identity. There were two work behavior components identified through factor analysis. They were lack of productivity and sabotage; and intention for flight. The loss components, sense of justice and supervisory support; security and competence; and territory, were …

Rtbs: Your Audio Companion, 3am, Cori Schwabe, Casey Mattison, Kathryn Kawa, Allea Grummert, Nick Holle, Gabbi Silke, Derrick Sloan, Brittany Guindon, Amanda Hinrichs

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

Radio Talking Book Service, a non-profit organization that assists the visually impaired by providing a free radio reading service, came to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a challenge: increase brand and service awareness throughout Nebraska.

We began by conducting both secondary and primary research, developing key insights and examining all possible target audiences. We investigated the day-to-day life of the visually impaired, learning that many who have experienced vision loss suffer from decreasing independence and increasing feelings of loneliness. Our primary research revealed that these individuals turn first to eye care professionals, resource organizations for the visually impaired and residential …

The Impact Of The Anti-Predatory Lending Laws On Mortgage Volume, Hyun Soo Choi

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In this paper, I test the hypothesis that anti-predatory lending laws inhibited the volume of mortgage lending during the housing-bubble period. I use cross-state variation in the strictness of these laws and their application only to mortgage refinancing as opposed to home purchases to develop a difference-in-difference estimate of the impact of these laws on mortgage volume. Consistent with my hypothesis, I find that states with stricter laws had lower mortgage refinancing volume but exhibited no difference in home purchase mortgage volume. I also test whether by restricting mortgage refinancing, these laws impacted household expenditures and find that the laws …

How Do Institutional Environments Affect Directors' Behaviors And Their Effectiveness?, Toru Yoshikawa, Hongjin Zhu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We examine how institutional environments affect outside directors’ behaviors and their effectiveness. Extant research on the board of directors has indicated that outside directors play a significant role in exercising independent control over management and providing resources. However, we know little about whether and how the relative importance of the two functions varies across different institutional environments characterized by distinct dominant exchange modes (contractual vs. relational). By differentiating between relationship-based and contract-based exchange regimes, we develop a conceptual model to show how the differences in transaction structures influence the relative importance of outside directors as monitors and resource providers, and …

Pushing The Learning Curve Of Public Relations In Asia, Jurrien Gregor Halff

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

No abstract provided.

Envy As Pain: Rethinking The Nature Of Envy And Its Implications For Employees And Organizations, Kenneth Tai, Jayanth Narayanan, Daniel J. Mcallister

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Although envy has been characterized by resentment, hostility, and ill will, researchers have begun to investigate envy's benign manifestations. We contend that the substance of envy has been confounded with its consequences. We conceptualize envy as pain at another's good fortune. This reconceptualization allows envy to result in both positive and negative consequences. We then examine how envy affects interpersonal behaviors and job performance, contingent on core self-evaluation, referent cognitions, and perceived organizational support.

Are You My Mentor? Informal Mentoring Mutual Identification, Elizabeth T. Welsh, Devasheesh P. Bhave, Kyoung Yong Kim

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The purpose of this study is to understand the extent to which potential mentors and protégés agree that an informal mentoring relationship exists. Because these relationships are generally tacitly understood, either the mentor or protégé could perceive that there is a mentoring relationship when the other person does not agree. Whether gender affects this is also to be examined. Individuals were asked to identify their mentoring partners. Each report of a partner was then compared to the partner's list to determine whether there was a match (i.e. both reported the relationship as an informal mentoring relationship) or a mismatch (i.e. …

The Legitimacy Of The Business Of Business Schools: What's The Future?, David C. Wilson, Howard Thomas

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The purpose of this paper is to examine some challenges facing business schools and their continued legitimacy. Particular attention is paid to the problems of accreditation, regulation and rankings and how these constrain strategic choice. The paper builds on existing literature to provide an analytical overview of the challenges currently facing business schools. The paper assesses the current context of business schools and assesses to what extent they are becoming less relevant both in terms of practice and theories. It suggests changes business schools might make in order to increase relevance. The paper suggests that business schools should change their …

Business Schools In Transition? Issues Of Impact, Legitimacy, Capabilities And Re-Invention, Howard Thomas, Eric Cornuel

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The purpose of this editorial is to introduce the set of papers which comprise this issue of the journal, and to provide an interpretation of the current strategic debates about the future evolution of business school paradigms and, hence, identify possible strategic options. The papers can be categorized into three broad themes: first, the impacts and environmental influences on management education including issues of globalization, global sustainability and advances in digital and social media. Second, challenges and criticisms of management education covering issues of legitimacy, business model sustainability and the need for change in business models. Third, the re-invention of …

A Sustainable Model For Business Schools, Howard Thomas, Kai Peters

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the financial models used by business schools, with a specific focus on the cost side of the model. The paper systematically looks at sources of revenue and areas of expenditure under different business school models. The paper finds that the faculty model used by many business schools, with the need to devote significant effort to generate academic publications, is very cost intensive and not efficient. The paper suggests that alternative models can be developed which would make business schools more financially sustainable. While there has been a lot of societal …

What Is The European Management School Model?, Howard Thomas

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The article discusses the important role of the European Foundation of Management Development (EFMD) in positioning and influencing business schools in Europe. It highlights the effort of the organization in ensuring internationalization and corporate link to high quality management education in business schools. It also mentions the success of the European management schools in emphasizing international character and being agents in the transformation of management education.

The Role Of Accounting Conservatism In Firms' Financial Decisions, Jimmy Kiat Bee Lee

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper investigates whether financial reporting conservatism is related to firms’ financial flexibility and their access to capital. If conservatism facilitates monitoring and governance by capital providers, they should be more willing to extend financing and increase firms’ access to capital. However, because conservatism leads to systematic understatement of net worth and weakens the appearance of firms’ balance sheet strength, it could also reduce firms’ access to capital. This study tests these two opposing views of the relationship between conservatism and firms’ financial flexibility. Results indicate that firms with greater reporting conservatism exhibit less flexibility in their corporate liquidity management, …

Online Consumer Complaint Behaviors: The Dynamics Of Service Failures, Consumers' Word Of Mouth, And Organization-Consumer Relationships, Seung B. Bach, Soojin Kim

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study aims to provide an understanding of the relationships between consumer's negative word of mouth (WOM) and organizations' rectification behaviors. We see consumers' negative WOM as a process of problem solving when consumers encounter an organization's service failure that dissatisfies them. This study suggests a strategic management of public relations as a principle for consumer complaint management. Based on case studies, this study finds that negative WOM is formed by the dynamics of experience sharing, advice giving, agreement, and disagreement. In particular, we discovered that information sharing is predominant among negative WOM behaviors. Finally, the case study reveals that …

Investor Sentiment, Disagreement, And The Breadth Return Relationship, Hai Lu, Ling Cen, Liyan Yang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We extend the theory and empirics in Chen, Hong, and Stein (2002) by assuming that investors subject to market sentiment hold a biased belief in the aggregate. With a dynamic multi-asset model, we predict that the breadth-return relationship can be either positive or negative depending on the relative strength of two offsetting forces — disagreement and sentiment. Using the sentiment index developed in Baker and Wurgler (2006, 2007), we find evidence consistent with our predictions. The breadth-return relationship is positive when the sentiment effect is small. However, the relationship becomes negative when (i) the time-series variation of market-wide sentiment is …

Mutual Fund Size, Fund Family Size And Mutual Fund Performance: The Role Of Regulatory Changes, Sanjeev Bhojra, Young Jun Cho, Nir Yehuda

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine whether the previously documented positive association between fund family size and fund performance is affected by significant regulatory changes (i.e., Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD), the Global Settlement (GS), and increased scrutiny as a result of trading scandals) that have occurred in the last decade. Using Reg FD as a beginning point for these structural changes, we find that, while fund family size was positively associated with fund performance in the period prior to the regulatory changes, this advantage is significantly weaker in the period subsequent to the regulatory changes. Consistent with the weakened advantage of fund family …

Investor Competition Over Information And The Pricing Of Information Asymmetry, Brian K. Atkins, Jeffrey Ng, Rodrigo Verdi

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Whether the information environment affects the cost of capital is a fundamental question in accounting and finance research. Relying on theories about competition between informed investors as well as the pricing of information asymmetry, we hypothesize a cross-sectional variation in the pricing of information asymmetry that is conditional on competition. We develop and validate empirical proxies for competition using the number and concentration of institutional investor ownership. Using these proxies, we find a lower pricing of information asymmetry when there is more competition. Overall, our results suggest that competition between informed investors has an important effect on how the information …

Direct And Mediated Associations Among Earnings Quality, Information Asymmetry And The Cost Of Equity, Nilabhra Bhattacharya, Frank Ecker, Per Olsson, Katherine Schipper

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Using path analysis, we investigate the direct and indirect links between three measures of earnings quality and the cost of equity. Our investigation is motivated by analytical models that specify both a direct link and an indirect link that is mediated by information asymmetry, but do not suggest which link would be more important empirically. We measure information asymmetry as both the adverse selection component of the bid-ask spread and the probability of informed trading (PIN). For a large sample of Value Line firms during 1993–2005, we find statistically reliable evidence of both a direct path from earnings quality to …

Core Debates In Assessment Center Research: Dimensions ‘Versus’ Tasks, Neil D. Christiansen, Filip Lievens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Although personality constructs are now widely accepted as being important for understanding work behavior, self-report personality tests as a method of assessment are not without their critics (e.g., Morgeson et al., 2007). Whether misguided or not, concerns persist regarding the validity of these measures and the issue of applicant faking has yet to be fully resolved (Tett & Christiansen, 2007). Moreover, applicant reactions tend to be less favorable for personality inventories than many other assessments commonly used in employment settings (Hausknecht, Day, & Thomas, 2004). To some, self-report inventories may be a poor way to assess personality traits, and yet …

Discerning The Effects Of Timing Of Different Alliances: Similarities And Differences On New-Venture Survival, David Gomulya

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

New-venture survival has greatly interested many scholars. While different alliances have beenshown to increase survival, the literature remains virtually silent regarding the effect of timing ofdifferent alliances. Yet, such timing can significantly affect survival. Should a new venture formtechnology alliances, or marketing and distribution alliances, earlier and reap any potential benefitsearlier, or should they form them later? How would similarities and differences between differentalliances influence the effect of their timings? In this study, I examine these questions.

Content Contribution In Social Media: The Case Of Youtube, Qian Tang, Bin Gu, Andrew B. Whinston

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Social media allows individuals and businesses to contribute contents for public viewing. However, little is known about the underlying incentives that why content providers derive utilities from such activities. In this study, we build a dynamic structural model to recover the utility function for content providers. Our model distinguishes short-term payoffs based on ad revenue sharing from long-term payoffs driven by content providers' reputation. The model was estimated using a panel data of 914 top 1000 video providers on You Tube from Jun 7th, 2010, to Aug 7th, 2011 since top providers are more likely to be encouraged by these …

Preface, Nirmalya Kumar

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

As late as 2001, Indian outward investment was less than US $1 billion. Instead, India, like all developing countries, was actively courting foreign investment into the country. By 2006, India had reached the tipping point. For the first time, Indian outward investment of US $10 billion had outstripped foreign investment into India. The spending spree continued unabated in 2007. Indian companies arranged or concluded US $21 billion in 40 foreign investment deals in January and February of 2007 alone. Moreover, Indian foreign investment in the financial year closing 31 March 2007 exceeded the cumulative total foreign investment by Indian companies …

The Competitive Dynamics Of New Dvd Releases, Anirban Mukherjee, Vrinda Kadiyali

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In the U.S. motion picture industry, DVDs are increasingly a major source of revenue for moviestudios. Two important strategic decisions for DVDs are the release date and price. Industry evidencesuggests studios consider various release options as evidenced by their pre-release announcements. Whendeciding DVD release dates and prices, studios must consider the following. First, weeks of high demandpotential, increase sales. Second, intense competition in weeks of peak demand might reduce marketshare, lower margins and lead to higher costs of release. Third, deferring a DVD release (e.g. to a nonpeakdemand week) after the movie’s theatrical run reduces the potential sales of the …

What Are Analysts Really Good At?, Ohad Kadan, Leonardo Madureira, Rong Wang, Tzachi. Zach

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Sell-side analysts employ different benchmarks when defining their stock recommendations. Forexample, a ‘buy’ for some brokers means the stock is expected to outperform its peers in the same sector(“industry benchmarkers”), while for other brokers it means the stock is expected to outperform themarket (“market benchmarkers”), or just some absolute return (“total benchmarkers”). We use thesebenchmarks to analyze the role of stock picking, industry picking and market timing in contributing to theperformance of stock recommendations. We are able to do so given that different benchmarks suggest theuse of different sets of abilities. Analysis of the relation between analysts’ recommendations and theirlong-term …

The Effects Of Political Connections On The Level And Value Of Cash Holdings: International Evidence, Yuanto Kusnadi, K.C. John Wei

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

In this paper, we examine the role of political connections on corporate liquidity policies and their consequences in an international setting. We find that managers of politically connected firms have a tendency to hoard more cash than their non-connected counterparts. Moreover, presence of political connections reduces the value of cash holdings. Further analysis reveals that our main findings are more pronounced for firms in emerging markets as well as for firms in countries with weak legal protection of investors and high levels of corruption. Overall, our empirical results corroborate previous findings on the agency cost explanation for corporate cash holdings.

Front Matter Of Volume 7 Number 1, Tufail A. Qureshi

Business Review

IBA Business Review Front Matter

Financial Reforms And Corporate Finance In Emerging Markets: An Analysis Of Dividend Policy Among Public Listed Firms In Pakistan, Mohammed Nishat, Wali Ullah

Business Review

This paper analyzes the dividend behavior of 535 Pakistani listed companies during 1988 to 2005 using the Probit regression model. The findings validate the theoretical prediction for positive and significant impact of last year dividend on the current year dividend decision. More profitable and liquid firms have a higher probability to declare the dividends. Furthermore, firm size, ownership, equity and tax are positively related to the dividend declaration decision. The firms' dividend behavior differs significantly across Industries. The secondary market development has a significant effect on dividend decision and financial liberalization has been associated with shift of firms from debt …

A Comparative Study Of Leading Business Schools Of Pakistan: The Market Acceptability Of Iba Business Graduates In The Corporate Sector, Yaseen Ahmed Meenai, Rizwan Raheem Ahmed

Business Review

In Pakistan, establishing and running business schools in private sector flourished because of the increasing propensity of students for business studies to commence their career as executives in corporate and other sectors. But, this has become a commercial activity. There are only few public and private institutes which are the role model for others. The mushroom growth of private and public business schools all over Pakistan has opened the possibilities for businesses/industries to have an access to qualified business graduates, at the same time students also have a wide range of choice of business institutes both from private and public …