Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

2008-12-04, Morehead State University. Board Of Regents.

Morehead State Board of Regents Agenda Books and Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

2008-12-04 Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes for December 4, 2008.

The Perceptions Of Superintendents Regarding The Need For Graduate Business Classes In Educational Leadership, Howard Leland Smith

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the comprehensiveness of educational leadership programs regarding the extent of appropriate business knowledge attained by public school administrators. Portions of the study included a discussion of current licensing practices, academic governance, basic business requirements for leadership and management, and basic financial literacy. A further purpose was to measure the perception of how the inclusion of specific business-oriented graduate education in the certification process might increase the initial success of administrators.

The literature review supported the concept that superintendents understand change management and fiscal responsibility. Survey respondents supported these concepts by indicating the …

How Does Emotional Intelligence And Shared Vision Affect Teamwork Performance?, Ed Mahon

Student Scholarship

There is a vast literature on the emotional intelligence (EI) of individuals, but comparatively little on team EI. We report findings of a qualitative inquiry involving 36 members of twelve IT teams – half of them effective and half less so – to explore the relationship between team EI and team performance. Trust, conflict resolution skills and team communication are seen to differentiate effective and less effective teams, as is the ability to adapt shared vision to changes in project specification. The research supports that the teams possess emotional intelligence and that it powerfully influences how they function and to …

Central Bank Communication And Monetary Policy: The Case Of Central Bank Of Nigeria, Egbuna N. E.

Bullion

The importance of concise communication in monetary policy making cannot be over emphasised . A g o o d communication of policy definitely strengthens the institutional independence of central banks and enhances the effectiveness of monetary policy. However, no one single method could fit all when it comes to designing good communication strategies because central banks face different constraints as they try to fine-tune their messages. With current reforms and financial liberalization, there is added impetus for increased communication between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), market operators, stakeholders and the public in general. Monetary policy needs to be explained …

Electronic Banking In Nigeria: Problems And Prospects From The Consumer's Perspective, Agbada A.O

Bullion

This paper explores the adoption of electronic banking [e-banking] in Nigeria. It examines the problems and prospects of e-banking in Nigeria from the consumer's perspective. The research findings show that a number of problems ranging from human, operational and technical constraints hinder the maximum utilization of services provided through e-banking channels in Nigeria. However, the results from the study have also revealed that despite these problems, the rate of adoption of e-banking services in Nigeria is phenomenal as banks have recorded outstanding successes in some areas. Nigeria is a consuming nation and based on the experience from other sectors of …

The Relationship Between Reproducing Ownership And Sustaining Non-Profit Collaboration, Nonie Brennan

Student Scholarship

Semi-structured interviews with 21 partners of three long-standing, non-profit collaborations in the health and human services sector emphasize the role of constituents’ sense of “ownership”– and their continuous reproduction of it − on collaboration sustainability. The data suggests that enduring collaborations are characterized, on the one hand, by employee behaviors typically considered aberrant – including rule breaking and rule making – and on the other, “appreciative” participant behaviors. Findings imply non-profit governance and leadership can purposefully foster environments in which collaboration ownership can reproduce.

Nigerian Stock Market Reflection Of The Global Finance Crisis: An Evaluation, Sere- Ejembi A. A.

Bullion

With its roots in banking, the sub-prime mortgage crisis that commenced in the United States in 2007 soon resonated in other sectors of its financial system, and the economy, at large. It spread quickly to the developed economies in Europe, including the United Kingdom, and Asia. In the case of the Nigerian stock market, following initial relative insulation, the speed of contagion and response was comparatively slower. However, the effects began to manifest in the first quarter of 2008. The objective of this paper, therefore, is to review the global financial crisis, in the context of its recent effects on …

Investing Africa's External Reserves In Africa: Issues, Challenges And Prospects, Onwioduokit A. E.

Bullion

The paper underlined the challenges and opportunities for managing Africa's external reserves by Africans after identifying several pre-conditions for an African currency to emerge as international currency and noted that these conditions have not yet crystallized in Africa. Although African external reserves have grown over time the benefits of such growth in terms of facilitation of domestic financial markets and even the earning are not commensurate with the reserves growth rate. The non-convertibility of African currencies, volatile macroeconomic and sometimes volatile political environment coupled with the shallowness of the domestic markets are the main challenges that are faced by the …

The Private Sector And The Questionable Role Of Social Responsibility In Securing The Nation's Infrastructure, James K. Hayes

Student Scholarship

Society faces many common challenges that the corporate sector can play a large role to help address. Security against terrorism is one such challenge and is an important pre-condition to sustainable development. Moreover, since terrorism often operates outside of the jurisdiction of state authorities, it is becoming clear that governments cannot address this issue alone. In the United States, for example, there is a large portion of the nation's infrastructure that owned by the private sector. Using data obtained from 158 survey responses from security professionals in the public and private sector, our structural equation model determined that while prior …

The Relation Between Management's Perception Of Causal Ambiguity In Firm Competencies And Firm Performance: An Empirical Examination In Chile, Richard I. Araya

Student Scholarship

Ambiguity about firm and competitor competencies and resources challenges managerial decision making − especially in developing countries where asymmetric information is higher than in the developed ones. Although a number of scholars have addressed “causal ambiguity” and its relationship with firm resources and competencies, and theorists have suggested a positive relationship between it and organizational performance, these links remain unclear. On one hand, ambiguity may protect a firm because competitors cannot easily imitate it (Alvarez & Antolin, 2005). On the other hand, causal ambiguity may impede imitation of valuable resources within the firm, limiting management ́s ability to manage resources …

Toeing, Blurring Or Crossing The Line? How Highly Regulated Organizations View Compliance And Innovation, Marilyn A. Hosea

Student Scholarship

Highly regulated government funded programs are often more rigidly scrutinized than corporate institutions—with rules, regulations and policies filling nearly every nook of nonprofit organizational life. A concern during this era of scarce financial resources and tight regulatory oversight is that the acceptance of public funds will impede the nonprofit’s ability to implement local innovations that build upon and support the expectations of a variety of key stakeholders (governing boards, service consumers, the public-at-large, and government/private funders). This paper examines ways in which federally funded nonprofit organizations continually strive to improve their organizational performance through innovation—employing practices that conceal, screen, or …

Committing To Engagement? Chinese Protestant Churches In The United States, Cecilia C. Chan

Student Scholarship

How do leaders of non-profit (volunteer-based) faith-based organizations deal with the lack of active engagement on the part of their members? How do Chinese church attendees’ satisfaction with the church and their perception of problems within the church affect their long-term commitment and engagement in the church? This paper focuses on (a) how social influences and perceived church problems influence satisfaction with commitment to the church and (b) how the mediating influences of satisfaction\, commitment\, and affective perception influence the personal engagement of individuals. This study has given insight leading to an understanding of managerial issues relating to the nurture …

Culture Clash - How Socio-Technical Factors Contribute To Enterprise Information Systems Interoperability, Alan Fisk

Student Scholarship

Despite increasing need for interoperable enterprise-level information systems, achieving interoperability is persistently problematical. Our work highlights social factors as a major contributor to good design, development, and operating practices. The research was conducted at a technologically sophisticated Fortune 50 company where design artifacts suggested by the literature were found to be in place yet good interoperability between systems was not consistently achieved. The data suggest boundary spanners can facilitate interoperability by promoting shared meanings and mindsets that advance acculturation among cross-functional groups. Findings contrast with enterprise systems interoperability literature, which has focused mainly on technological factors to ensure good design …

Emotional Intelligence, Shared Vision, And Teamwork Performance: A Qualitative Study, Ed Mahon

Student Scholarship

There is a vast literature on the emotional intelligence (EI) of individuals, but comparatively little on team EI. We report findings of a qualitative inquiry involving 36 members of twelve IT teams--half of them effective and half less so--to explore the relationship between team EI and team performance. Trust, conflict resolution skills and team communication are seen to differentiate effective and less effective teams, as is the ability to adapt shared vision to changes in project specification. The research supports the that teams possess emotional intelligence and that it powerfully influences how they function and to what effect. Our findings …

Employee Volunteerism: Social Benefits Trump Altruism, Donna E. Teeague

Student Scholarship

With over 153 million U.S. citizens in the labor force but only about a quarter of them engaged in community volunteer work (Bureau of Labor Statistics of the US Department of Labor, 2006), the workplace is clearly an under-tapped source of volunteer labor. As the need for volunteers accelerates and supply remains stagnant, it becomes imperative to understand how to recruit volunteers from the workplace. Interviews with twenty seven employees of six US corporations were conducted to probe how beliefs about outcomes and consequences of volunteerism, the influence of important social referent groups and self perceptions of relevant skills and …

Environmentally Benign Technologies And Financial Performance: Evidence From The Pulp And Paper Industry In Nigeria, Joseph Akinkugbe Adelegan

Student Scholarship

Addressing a paucity of research about industrial adoption of environmentally benign technologies in Africa and, more generally, in tropical developing countries, we examined the Nigerian pulp and paper industry as a case study. Qualitative interviews with twenty upper echelon executives representing five Nigerian firms challenge conventional expectations that energy intensive industries in developing markets operate amid highly pollution-intensive conditions, within weak or non-existent formal environmental regulatory frameworks, and with limited institutional capacity. Our findings suggest a strong positive relationship between cleaner technology use and corporate financial performance of African industrial firms. Our study also suggests the adoption of classical 'win-win' …

Ingos & Ngos: Work And Workarounds In Rwanda, Cheryl A. Baldwin

Student Scholarship

As the number of International Non-governmental Organizations (INGOs) operating in developing countries have burgeoned in recent decades, tension between these mainly Western agencies and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has accelerated. This paper examines, from the perspectives of nonprofit executives in Rwanda, how underlying tensions affect the ability of INGOs and NGOs to advance critical social goals. Qualitative research reveals how and to what extent the work is influenced top down by INGO and/or bottom up by local NGO management mindsets and practices and how inventive "workaround" strategies help both organizations manage tensions that challenge individual goals and collective work.

Ostensive And Performative Routines And Strategies For Institutional Adaptation And Innovation, Jaime Chua

Student Scholarship

Using critical realist research, we sought to understand how nonprofit organizations blend deliberate and emergent strategizing to cope with neoinstitutional dilemmas posed by donors’ competing logics. To gain organizational legitimacy and access to resources, international nonprofits must conform to donors’ normative processes and practices which tend to be ineffectual. An international nonprofit operating in the highly complex international development field provided an ideal setting for investigating how routines blend and moderate deliberate and emergent strategies. Consistent with the view that strategic insights come from different organizational levels, we examined key patterns of interactions and routines between middle and top-level managers. …

Outsider To Insider: Contrasting Routes And Transition Experiences Of New Nonprofit Leaders, Anotinette E. La Belle

Student Scholarship

A leadership crisis in the nonprofit sector is portended by sector growth, turnover at the top and a smaller cohort of leaders coming up from behind. Crossovers from the corporate sector present an alternative source of CEO talent, but a dearth of empirical research about top executives who cross the boundaries of sector, organization, and, at times role, stymies our understanding of the transition process of for-profit to non-profit leaders. In depth interviews with U.S. nonprofit leaders – both crossover CEOs and CEOs hired from within the nonprofit sector − compared and contrasted transition experiences. Rather than significant differences between …

Promises To Keep: Exploring Organizational Trust Repair From A Stakeholder Perspective, Rachel Y. Daniel

Student Scholarship

Organizational trust repair is a burgeoning field of inquiry, due in large part to the ethical and financial failures in U.S. corporations, churches, governments, media outlets, and nonprofit organizations. The subsequent financial, professional, and emotional damage to stakeholders has resulted in a crisis of trust in organizations and their leaders. We explore the trust repair process from a stakeholder's perspective in a qualitative study of executives, employees, and customers of three U.S. institutions: a Fortune 500 corporation, a nonprofit organization, and a government entity. Findings suggest trust repair is not a process-driven phenomenon. The provision of credible reparative information, evidence …

Reluctant Gatekeepers: Influencing Factors In A Small Business Owner's Decision To Not Sponsor A Retirement Plan For Employees, Jill Mccullough

Student Scholarship

In a nation with the lowest savings rate in the industrialized world, nearly 60% of U.S. small business owners do not provide retirement plans for their more than 40 million workers. There is a dearth of formal inquiry about small business owners' perspectives of and attitudes toward retirement and the factors that motivate behavior related to it. Interviews with small business owners revealed that most are not concerned about their own retirements and are ambivalent about the retirement security of their employees. Those who have attempted to implement a plan find the process complex, intimidating and require the assistance of …

Strategizing Routines On The Cusp Of Multiple And Competing Institutional Logics Of Foreign Aid, Jaime Chua

Student Scholarship

Using critical realist research, we sought to understand how nonprofit organizations blend deliberate and emergent strategizing to cope with neoinstitutional dilemmas posed by donors' competing logics. To gain organizational legitimacy and access to resources, international nonprofits must conform to donors' normative processes and practices which tend to be ineffectual. An international nonprofit operating in the highly complex international development field provided an ideal setting for investigating how routines blend and moderate deliberate and emergent strategies. Consistent with the view that strategic insights come from different organizational levels, we examined key patterns of interactions and routines between middle and top-level managers. …

Surgeon Acceptance Of Computer Assisted Surgery, Jonathan B. Brewster

Student Scholarship

The advancement of modern medicine would not be possible without the development, diffusion, and adoption of medical technologies. Few studies have measured technology adoption at the level of the individual physician and fewer of surgeons per se. Computer assisted surgery (CAS), an example of clinically oriented technology, has experienced slow adoption by orthopedic surgeons. Our inquiry, based on semi-structured interviews with practitioners trained to use CAS in knee replacement surgeries, sheds light on how surgeons make decisions to adopt or reject clinical technologies. Findings suggest that classic technology acceptance models, TAM, TAM2 and TAM3, insufficiently explain clinical technology choice. Our …

Quality Control Defects Revealed In Smaller Firms' Pcaob Inspection Reports, Dana R. Hermanson, Richard W. Houston

Faculty Articles

The article reports the study of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) on the quality control (QC) defects of small audit firms. Topics including the accounting lapses of small auditing firms, tips on complying QC standards and importance of inspection on the auditing industry are discussed. Study reveals that smaller firms have deficient processes in conducting audit quality. The article notes that PCAOB is expected to increase campaign in assisting audit firms while small audit firms are encouraged to address their QC deficiencies.

Bridging The Great Divide - Moving From Outsider To Insider: How For Profit Executives Become Effective Nonprofit Ceos, Antoinette E. La Belle

Student Scholarship

A leadership crisis in the nonprofit sector is portended by sector growth, turnover at the top and a smaller cohort of leaders coming up from behind. Crossovers from the corporate sector present an alternative source of CEO talent, but a dearth of empirical research about top executives who cross the boundaries of sector, organization, and, at times role, stymies our understanding of the transition process of for-profit to non-profit leaders. In depth interviews with U.S. nonprofit leaders--both crossover CEOs and CEOs hired from within the nonprofit sector--compared and contrasted transition experiences. Rather than significant differences between the two groups, our …

Bridging The Great Divide - Moving From Outsider To Insider: How For Profit Executives Become Effective Nonprofit Ceos, Antoinette E. La Belle

Student Scholarship

A leadership crisis in the nonprofit sector is portended by sector growth, turnover at the top and a smaller cohort of leaders coming up from behind. Crossovers from the corporate sector present an alternative source of CEO talent, but a dearth of empirical research about top executives who cross the boundaries of sector, organization, and, at times role, stymies our understanding of the transition process of for-profit to non-profit leaders. In depth interviews with U.S. nonprofit leaders--both crossover CEOs and CEOs hired from within the nonprofit sector--compared and contrasted transition experiences. Rather than significant differences between the two groups, our …

Constructing A Definition Of And Portfolio Model Of Family Business Success, John E. Neff

Student Scholarship

Our qualitative study sought to understand the meaning of success within the context of the family owned firm. The study, designed to identify success factors that distinguished more successful firms from less successful firms, revealed four significant and three moderate differentiators. Significant among the findings was the role of trust not only within the owning family but also between the family and non-family members of the firm. Implications of the study suggest it may be possible to construct a multi-attribute model of family firm success.

Growing Through Copying: The Negative Consequences Of Innovation On Franchise Network Growth, Robert J. Jensen, Gabriel Szulanski

Faculty Publications

We explore how copying more exactly a blueprint for establishing a franchise network in a new country influences franchising network growth. We test opposing hypotheses using panel data involving the transfer of franchising knowledge to 23 different countries, measuring the degree to which master licensees "copy exactly" knowledge concerning how to grow a network in their country and the effect that their approach has on subsequent network growth. We conclude that a strategy of copying more exactly seems to enhance growth and that the benefits of more exactly replicating knowledge in the first year of a local network's existence persist …

Conversational Learning And Performance: Interpreting Great Strategic Conversations, Ann Kowal Smith

Student Scholarship

We interviewed seventeen successful leaders to explore their experience of effective strategic conversations yielding innovative outcomes. Although these organizational leaders uniformly espoused emergent conversation, whereby they prefer to collaborate with their teams in an experiential learning process, their conversations were primarily leader-driven directed discussions with specific outcomes in mind. Moreover, they described not single events, but multiple strategic conversations distributed over time, with varied participants and purposes. Successful strategic conversations appear to develop, over time, in a dialectic space formed by the leader's desire for authentic contributions by participants and the experience of organizational and cultural forces that inhibit emergent …