Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

Integrating A New Business Into The Financial Planning Process, Barbara M. Tarasovich

WCBT Faculty Publications

A new Controller in this case was recently hired by Unilever, a global 200 consumer products organization, to integrate a newly acquired business into Unilever’s financial planning process. The newly acquired organization was a publically held company and had its own existing financial processes and procedures. Financial planning and reporting are major company activities and finance and accounting professionals are expected to “get it right.” The purpose of this case study is to get students to think about the difficulties and challenges of revamping existing financial processes and procedures and alert them to areas where other financial professionals have encountered …

What The Person Brings To The Table: Personality, Coping, And Work–Family Conflict, Jeanine K. Andreassi

WCBT Faculty Publications

Employees (N = 291) of various industries and companies were surveyed to study how individual factors (coping and personality) affect work–family conflict: strain-based work-to-family conflict (S-WFC), time-based work-to-family conflict (T-WFC), strain-based family-to-work conflict (S-FWC), and time-based family-to-work conflict (T-FWC). As expected, passive coping was related to significantly higher levels of S-WFC, S-FWC, and T-FWC. Unexpectedly, active coping was related to higher levels of S-WFC. As hypothesized, social support coping was negatively related to work–family conflict, but only for T-WFC. Venting was positively related to S-WFC. As predicted, neuroticism was positively related to S-WFC, T-WFC, and S-FWC. Passive coping mediated …

A Transformational Change Program In It - The Case Of A Global Consumer Products Company, Barbara M. Tarasovich, Bridget Lyons

WCBT Faculty Publications

This paper presents a framework for development of a transformational change management program (Flamholtz and Randle, 2008) in an information technology (IT) organization of a global Fortune 200 consumer products company. The goal of the transformation was to build leading edge global IT service offerings, to internal and ultimately external customers. the program played a pivotal role in the company's "Path to Growth" Strategy. This strategy included very specific targets for sales, margins and earnings growth over a five year period. The case illustrates how a well conceived change program, integrated with an organization's overall strategic plan, is a competitive …

Kabloom!: Revolution In The Flower Industry, Gina Vega, Collette Dumas, Beverly Kahn, Jafar Mana

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

David Hartstein started KaBloom in 1998 with the goal of creating “the Starbucks of Flowers.” He successfully built brand recognition for the gardenlike shops, but problems plagued the young organization. Nearly three years and one recession later, KaBloom failed to live up to Hartstein’s forecast of exponential growth. This case has been designed for a graduate-level course in entrepreneurship/innovation. Students can compare franchising with other business models, examine the impact of organizational structure and leadership styles on business effectiveness, relate issues of supply chain management and logistics to environmental changes, and recognize the impact of innovation on business sustainability.

Corporate Parents, Initial Legitimacy, And Resource Acquisition In Small And Medium Firms: An Empirical Examination, Gregory Murphy, Neil M. Tocher

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) commonly struggle to acquire needed financial, human, and technological resources. The above being stated, recent scholarly research argues that SMEs that are able to successfully navigate the legitimacy threshold are better able to gather the resources they need to survive and grow. This article provides an empirical test of that claim by examining whether the presence of a corporate parent positively influences SME resource acquisition. Results of the study show that SMEs with corporate parents, when compared to like-sized independent SMEs, have higher credit scores, have more complete management teams, use more computers, and are …

Abandoning Ship At Scandia, Inc.: Parts B And C, Herbert Sherman, Barry Armandi, Adva Dinur

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Scandia, Inc., is a commercial vessel management company located in the New York Metropolitan area and is part of a family of firms including Scandia Technical; International Tankers, Ltd.; Global Tankers, Ltd.; Sun Maritime S.A.;Adger Tankers AS; Leeward Tankers, Inc.; Manhattan Tankers, Ltd.; and Liu’s Tankers, S.A. The company’s current market niche is the commercial management of chemical tankers serving the transatlantic market with a focus on the east and gulf coast of the United States and Northern Europe. This three-part case describes the commercial shipping industry as well as several mishaps that the company and its President, Chris Haas, …

Trumbull Library System, Business Program: Patents & Business Intelligence, Amy Jansen, Robert Berry

Librarian Publications

A November 10, 2011 presentation by Amy Jansen, Business Librarian at Sacred Heart University and Robert Berry, Research Librarian and Patent and Trademark Resource Center representative for the Sacred Heart University Library.

“Choice Of Service, Choice Of Cost”- A Transformational Change Program In It - The Case Of A Global Consumer Products Company: Case Study, Barbara M. Tarasovich, Bridget Lyons

WCBT Faculty Publications

This paper presents a framework for development of a transformational change management program (Flamholtz and Randle, 2008) in an information technology (IT) organization of a global Fortune 200 consumer products company. The goal of the transformation was to build leading edge global IT service offerings, to internal and ultimately external customers. The program played a pivotal role in the company’s "Path to Growth" Strategy. This strategy included very specific targets for sales, margins and earnings growth over a five-year period. The case illustrates how a well conceived change program, integrated with an organization’s overall strategic plan, is a competitive advantage.

Problem-Based Learning Leadership Development Program In A Multi-National Company, Stephen M. Brown, Petra Garnjost, Stefan Heilmann

WCBT Faculty Publications

This paper reports on the development and implementation of a team leadership training program in a multi-national company. The European Engineering Company (EEC Group) had grown and expanded into many countries in a relatively short time frame as a result of increased demand for the company's products and services in newly developing countries. The EEC Group and the training program had additional issues of culture and basic institutional knowledge. The paper reports on the program, the conceptual framework of the International Leadership Development Program (ILDP), results, and lessons learned. The authors advocate use of a Problem-based Learning (PBL) methodology to …

Narrative Approach To Corporate Strategy: Empirical Foundations, Michael S. Carriger

WCBT Faculty Publications

Purpose - This paper aims to present theoretical and empirical foundations for the use of a particular type of narrative skillfully deployed by senior leaders in an organization as an effective tool for creating, disseminating and executing corporate strategy. Design/methodology/approach - The paper presents original research on the effectiveness of the use of a "springboard story" as a leadership tool. Findings - Data are presented to substantiate that a "springboard story" presentation of corporate strategy and competitive advantage is more effective at producing a consistent and confident choice of competitive advantage among an audience than a presentation of corporate strategy …

Why Work When You Can Shirk?: Worker Productivity In An Experimental Setting, Russell P. Engel

WCBT Faculty Publications

Employee shirking has the potential to be extremely costly to firms. To counter the productivity loss caused by shirking, firms may institute various incentive schemes. Previous experimental research has shown that while monitoring does decrease shirking, some subjects work without explicit financial incentives. This paper presents the experimental results of an economic experiment designed to investigate the effect of various incentive schemes on subject behavior. Subjects are allowed to engage two tasks; one task mimics work for an employer, the other task allows for gains due to shirking. We find that subjects who are given incentives to shirk do in …

Abandoning Ship At Scandia, Inc.: Part A, Barry Armandi, Adva Dinur, Herbert Sherman

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Scandia, Inc., is a commercial vessel management company located in the New York Metropolitan area and is part of a family of firms including Scandia Technical; International Tankers, Ltd.; Global Tankers, Ltd.; Sun Maritime S.A.;Adger Tankers AS; Leeward Tankers, Inc.; Manhattan Tankers, Ltd.; and Liu’s Tankers, S.A. The company’s current market niche is the commercial management of chemical tankers serving the transatlantic market with a focus on the east and gulf coast of the United States and Northern Europe. This three-part case describes the commercial shipping industry as well as several mishaps that the company and its President, Chris Haas, …

Intra-Industry Effects Of Takeovers: A Study Of The Operating Performance Of Rival Firms, Rupendra Paliwal

WCBT Faculty Publications

This paper investigates whether the managers of industry rivals act to mitigate their agency exposure and improve operating performance when one of the firms in the industry is subject to a takeover attempt. The results indicate that rival firms in general decrease free cashflows, improve operating performance, reduce capital expenditures, and increase leverage in response to a control threat within the industry. In particular, rival firms with potentially higher agency costs i.e., fewer investment opportunities and high cash or high free cashflows exhibit a higher reduction in cash levels and free cashflows subsequent to a control threat in their industry. …

Globalization Of Entrepreneurship: Policy Considerations For Sme Development In Indonesia, Balbir B. Bhasin, Sivakumar Venkataramany

WCBT Faculty Publications

SMEs are of overwhelming importance to the young and growing economies of most Southeast Asian nations, including Indonesia. The country is a vast polyglot archipelago, struggling with poverty and unemployment, poor and inadequate infrastructure, rampant corruption, insufficient capital, and unequal distribution of resources. It has recently experienced fundamental changes in political governance, regional empowerment, and economic structures as a result of the Asian Financial Crisis, coupled with widespread social unrest which resulted in the ouster of the authoritarian regime of President Suharto. This paper evaluates the existing private sector development policy in Indonesia, which has been found to be both …

Single And Multiple Interruptions Increase Task Performance Time, But Don't Affect Stress, Pressure Or Flow, Maureen A. Conard, Robert F. Marsh

WCBT Working Papers

We compared task performance time and psychological reactions for uninterrupted, single interrupted, and multiple interrupted conditions. For 110 undergraduates, those who were uninterrupted while completing a jigsaw puzzle were 26% faster than the single interruption, and 30% faster than the multiple interruption conditions. Single and multiple interruption conditions were not significantly different. Participants in the multiple interruption condition felt more stress than those in the uninterrupted condition, although stress levels were low in both conditions. Perceptions of time pressure and flow were not different across conditions. Performance on the interrupting task (a word search puzzle) was not significantly different across …

Narrative Vs. Powerpoint: For Leaders, It May Not Be A Matter Of Fact, Michael S. Carriger

WCBT Faculty Publications

This paper aims to argue that narratives, skillfully deployed by senior leaders in an organization, can be a very effective tool for creating, disseminating and executing corporate strategy. The paper presents a model for narrative use by leaders and a practical guide to implementing the model. Preliminary and anecdotal data are presented to substantiation a case for leaders' use of narrative as an alternative means for conveying corporate strategy. Implications for the practical use of narratives by leaders are explored by this paper.

Ceo Compensation And Us High-Tech And Low-Tech Firms' Corporate Performance, Eunsup Daniel Shim, Jooh Lee, In Ki Joo

WCBT Faculty Publications

Many factors contribute to the determination of top executive compensation. This paper explores and examines the systematic difference of high-tech and low-tech CEO pays. It examines the relationship between top executive compensation and an Organizational factor, a Market factor and an Accounting factor. It tests CEO’s salary, bonus, and long-term compensation with respect to corporate reputation, ROE, Tobin’s Q, CEO shareholding and firm size.

The results show that CEOs’ Salaries at high-tech firms shows a significantly positive relationship with ROE, Tobin’s Q, and corporate reputation, while only corporate reputation shows a significant relationship with CEOs’ salaries at low-tech firms. In …

Mason Biodiesel: A Family’S New Venture In A New Industry, Matthew Eriksen, George H. Tompson

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

This case describes a real family that has been running a labor-intensive business since 1992. The father, Phil Mason, runs the business with the help of his wife and two of his sons in southwestern Rhode Island. The business is a franchisee of ServiceMaster Clean. In 2006, the franchise employed 20 full-time employees and was the 50th largest ServiceMaster Clean franchise among the approximately 1,200 franchises located in the United States. Annual revenue is approximately $2.5 million. In late 2005, one of Phil’s sons began researching the biodiesel industry. As he was growing weary of the labor-intensive nature of his …

After The Acquisition: Here Are Seven Steps To Successfully Integrating Finance And Accounting Functions After A Merger Or Acquisition, Barbara M. Tarasovich, Bridget Lyons, John Gerlach

WCBT Faculty Publications

Although much has been written regarding the factors critical to successful integration after a merger or acquisition, very little research has focused on the particulars of integrating the finance and accounting functions of the companies involved. As with overall business integration, detailed planning, effective communication, and speed of execution are critical. The authors recommend a seven-step process that will help balance the needs of the business during an acquisition as well as ensure financial controls are established. The overall steps provide the key activities to be accomplished and provide specific and explicit guidance. This seven-step process includes: 1. Begin planning, …

Pre-Acquisition Characteristics Of The Acquirers, Rupendra Paliwal

WCBT Faculty Publications

Existing empirical literature has extensively analyzed post-acquisition performance of the acquirers to evaluate success of the takeover. The academic literature tends to agree that target shareholders benefit from takeovers; however takeovers benefits for acquiring firm’s shareholders have been questioned. A majority of empirical literature indicate acquisition announcements are associated with a decrease in acquiring shareholder’s wealth. While pre-acquisition characteristics of takeover targets have been extensively analyzed, empirical literature has not directly and comprehensively analyzed pre-acquisition financial and operating characteristics of the acquiring firms. In this paper, I examine pre-acquisition operating performance and governance characteristics of acquirers. Results suggest that bidders …

The Influence Of Family Business Size On Management Activities, Styles And Characteristics, Matthew C. Sonfield, Robert N. Lussier

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

This is an empirical study of family firm size, as measured by the number of employees, and the relationship of a firm’s size to a variety of management activities, styles, and characteristics. A statistical analysis of data drawn from 159 American family businesses indicates significant differences by size with regard to the number of nonfamily members in top management, use of outside advisors, time spent engaged in strategic management, use of sophisticated methods of financial management, proportion of women family members involved in firm management, and level of conflict between family members. Implications are offered for family firm owner-managers, for …

From Workout To Winning, Bridget Lyons, Robert Hardy

WCBT Faculty Publications

Over the past three years, executives at General Electric (GE) have taught administrators at Sacred Heart University, located in Fairfield, CT, how to use the workout technique to identify and improve inefficient institutional processes and practices. This article will explain how Sacred Heart implemented the workout process, with a particular emphasis on factors contributing to successful workouts and the issues nonprofits encounter. GE has credited the workout with both improving processes and empowering the workforce. The workout, which has led to accelerated change and enhanced Six Sigma efforts, begins with identifying a problem. Many at GE note that the workout …

What Leaders Can Learn From Athletics: Inconsistencies Between Leadership In Sports And Leadership In Corporations, Peter A. Maresco

WCBT Faculty Publications

The article discusses how the individual performance affect the performance of the rest of the members of the team. The author cites from the perspective of a baseball player or any other team sport where the actions of one affect the actions of the other members. Each player is familiar with the rules, knows exactly what to do when it come to playing their position, and each person on the team is fully aware of the impact their performance will have on the other members of the team. Therefore, business leaders should hire individuals who are already familiar with their …

Information Systems (Is) Connectivity As A Moderator Of The Effects Of Is Support For Information Interpretation On Firm Performance: An Empirical Study, Michael J. Zhang

WCBT Faculty Publications

This study examined and tested the roles of information systems (IS) connectivity in influencing the performance impacts of IS support for information sharing and IS support for information interpretation. Using data collected from a survey of large U.S. firms and the Research Insight (Compustat) database, the results showed that when IS connectivity was high, IS support for information sharing was positively related to profitability whereas IS support for information interpretation was negatively associated with profitability. These findings suggest that a high level of IS connectivity is a two-end sword for firms which rely on both IS support for information sharing …

“Go Live In ’05”—From Hierarchy To Shared Governance In Higher Education, Peter A. Maresco

WCBT Faculty Publications

Higher education is in the midst of a major transformation evidenced by several factors: greater demands from stakeholders; pressure to increase student enrollment, financial uncertainty, limited resources, and a responsibility to contribute to the community’s civic and economic development. Faculty and staff in higher education are challenged to deliver education in innovative ways. This innovation requires an expedient method of governance and necessitates careful examination of the organization’s structural, cultural, and decision-making processes. To meet these demands, leaders in higher education must examine decision-making processes and design governance models that respond quickly and efficiently to their myriad of constituents.

Is Support For Top Managers' Dynamic Capabilities, Environmental Dynamism, And Firm Performance: An Empirical Investigation, Michael J. Zhang

WCBT Faculty Publications

Despite a continual interest in developing information systems (IS) to support the work of top managers, assessing the impact of IS support for top managers and their capabilities on the bottom-line performance of firms has received little attention in existing literature. Drawing upon the resource based view of competitive advantage, this paper argues that firms that provide IS support for their top managers’ dynamic capabilities may enjoy competitive advantage and superior firm performance. The performance impact of IS support for two key dynamic capabilities of top managers (fast response and mental model building) under different (dynamic vs. stable) external environments …

Assessing The Performance Impacts Of Information Systems From The Resource-Based Perspective: An Empirical Test Of The Indirect Effect Of The Is, Michael J. Zhang

WCBT Faculty Publications

Research into the strategic impacts of information systems (IS) from the resource-based view of competitive advantage has increasingly embraced the indirect effect of IS on firm performance; that is, IS interact with other complementary organizational resources in influencing firm performance. Using both survey and archival data, this study set out to test the indirect effect of IS and determine the complementary organizational resources contributing to IS impacts on firm performance. The results provide additional evidence in support of the indirect performance effect of IS. Specifically, the study found that the performance impacts of IS arose from their interactions with firm-specific …

Leading With The Heart: Coach K’S Successful Strategies For Basketball, Business And Life, Peter A. Maresco

WCBT Faculty Publications

If you are a student of leadership, whether in business or in sports, you have no doubt noticed the proliferation of leadership books that continue to make their way onto the shelves of bookstores. After a while one starts to wonder if there can be possibly anything left to write on the subject that hasn’t already been written. Well, perhaps there is; the relationship between leadership in sports and leadership in business, perhaps even leadership in our everyday lives.

“The Management Of Creativity”, Managing The Creative Mind: A Business Elective, Peter A. Maresco, John Gerlach

WCBT Faculty Publications

The immediate problem facing the authors was replacing someone with the background and stature of Joseph Abboud with an individual or, as it eventually worked out, four individuals with differing creative backgrounds and levels of success that would be of benefit to the students (in the spring 2006 semester the course was offered to undergraduate business students) enrolled in the course. Replacing Abboud proved to be not as difficult as the authors originally imagined. Within a period of three weeks, four individuals with diverse backgrounds in film, music, sports entertainment, and entrepreneurship were identified and agreed to take part in …

Corporate Governance, Public Accounting Firm And Multinational Corporation: The Us Sox Act Perspective, Marc Massoud, Eunsup Daniel Shim

WCBT Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to review US corporate governance systems and to highlight the mandated roles of audit committee and external auditor within the SOX Act. In addition, it discusses requirements and implications of the SOX Act for the foreign accounting firms and multinational corporations. Finally this paper provides a perspective on improvement of corporate governance and financial integrity. In order to regain trust from the financial market, the SOX Act mandates (1) to improve auditor’s independence by reducing conflicts of interest; (2) to increase corporate financial reporting responsibility by requiring a CEO or a CFO certify accuracy …