Other Business Commons^™

Disclosure Procedure, Andrew K. Jennings

Faculty Articles

Securities disclosure is a human process. Each year, public companies collectively spend over fifteen million hours producing disclosures that undergird an equities market with tens of trillions in market capitalization. The procedures they follow in doing so affect whether their disclosures contain misstatements or omissions—errors that can cause trading losses for investors, and litigation for issuers. Yet despite the importance of the disclosures that firms produce, the literature says little about how they do it, including whether they are spending too much, too little, or just enough on their disclosure procedures. To fill that gap, this Article uses original surveys …

Stealth Governance: Shareholder Agreements And Private Ordering, Jill E. Fisch

All Faculty Scholarship

Corporate law has embraced private ordering -- tailoring a firm’s corporate governance to meet its individual needs. Firms are increasingly adopting firm-specific governance through dual-class voting structures, forum selection provisions and tailored limitations on the duty of loyalty. Courts have accepted these provisions as consistent with the contractual theory of the firm, and statutes, in many cases, explicitly endorse their use. Commentators too support private ordering for its capacity to facilitate innovation and enhance efficiency.

Private ordering typically occurs through firm-specific charter and bylaw provisions. VC-funded startups, however, frequently use an alternative tool – shareholder agreements. These agreements, which have …

The Efficiency Of U.S. Public Space Utilization During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Seth G. Benzell, Avinash Collis, Christos Nicolaides

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

The COVID-19 pandemic has called for and generated massive novel government regulations to increase social distancing for the purpose of reducing disease transmission. A number of studies have attempted to guide and measure the effectiveness of these policies, but there has been less focus on the overall efficiency of these policies. Efficient social distancing requires implementing stricter restrictions during periods of high viral prevalence and rationing social contact to disproportionately preserve gatherings that produce a good ratio of benefits to transmission risk. To evaluate whether U.S. social distancing policy actually produced an efficient social distancing regime, we tracked consumer preferences …

B Corps’ Social Media Communications During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Through The Lens Of The Triple Bottom Line, Manveer Mann, Sang-Eun Byun, Whitney Ginder

Department of Marketing Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The COVID-19 pandemic and rising demand for transparency has heightened the importance of sustainability communications on social media to generate deeper stakeholder engagement. Although B Corporations (B Corps), businesses committed to the triple bottom line (TBL), could serve as a catalyst for sustainable development, little is known about how they communicate on social media during a crisis. Therefore, we examined social media communications of B Corps to (1) identify salient topics and themes, (2) analyze how these themes align with the TBL, and (3) evaluate social media performance against industry benchmarks. We focused on the apparel, footwear, and accessories (AFA) …

The Effects Of Population Diversity On The Economic And Household Welfare Of Metropolitan Areas In The U.S., Liria M. Litano

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this paper was to understand the impact of population diversity on household and economic welfare in all the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in the United States of America (U.S.). We focused on positive views concerning the relationships between population diversity and factors such as human capital, knowledge, and innovation. We established economic growth factors using the Endogenous Growth Theory, which stated that human capital, innovation, and knowledge were significant contributors to economic growth (Romer, 1994). We argued that population diversity affected these contributors; therefore, it helped to create economic growth.

From a human capital perspective, population diversity …

Fiduciary Law And The Preservation Of Trust In Business Relationships, Brian J. Broughman, Elizabeth Pollman, D. Gordon Smith

All Faculty Scholarship

This chapter explores the role of mandatory fiduciary obligations in preserving trust between business parties. Because contracts are inevitably incomplete, after investment there is always a risk of opportunism. While the parties could try to draft a more detailed agreement prohibiting various forms of opportunism, the very act of haggling over such protections may signal distrust, eliciting costly reactions (defensive measures/hedging/lack of intrinsic motivation) in the counterparty. In the absence of fiduciary protections, a vulnerable party may decide to forgo important protections against opportunism, not because such protections are suboptimal or hard to specify ex ante but because bargaining for …

Business Powers Of Attorney For Nebraska Farm And Ranch Business Owners, J. David Aiken

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

This publication introduces the POA concept and discusses the Nebraska statutory form POA and its limitations. The purpose is to familiarize the reader with POAs, including their use and misuse, so that they can interact more effectively with their attorney in developing a POA, should they need one.

Disclaimer

This information is intended for educational purposes only; it must not be taken as legal advice or as a substitute for legal advice. If you have legal questions about developing and implementing a power of attorney for operating your business should you be unable to do so yourself, contact an …

Rationing Social Contact During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Transmission Risk And Social Benefits Of Us Locations, Seth G. Benzell, Avinash Collis, Christos Nicolaides

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

To prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), some types of public spaces have been shut down while others remain open. These decisions constitute a judgment about the relative danger and benefits of those locations. Using mobility data from a large sample of smartphones, nationally representative consumer preference surveys, and economic statistics, we measure the relative transmission reduction benefit and social cost of closing 26 categories of US locations. Our categories include types of shops, entertainments, and service providers. We rank categories by their trade-off of social benefits and transmission risk via dominance across 13 dimensions of risk and …

Healthcare Systems In Ethiopia, Hawarit Mohammed

Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics Essay Contest

No abstract provided.

Contextual Influences On Human Resources Development: Considerations And Evaluations On The Various External And Internal Factors That Shape And Influence Hrd In Organisations, Charles Alves De Castro

Articles

This article aims to briefly understand and evaluate the main external and internal factors that impact directly on human resources development area within the organisations, mainly related to multinational companies. Also, it discusses the various aspects and influences on HRD-(Human Resources Development) such as societal, organisational/local, global, that impacts on costs, environment, regulations, policies, culture, beliefs, technology and values. This research was carried out by way of a literature review. This is important to demonstrate, explain and evaluate the current existent literature about this specific theme covered in this article. Furthermore, through this review we compared previous research on HRD. …

How Social Media Communications Can Mitigate Negative Impacts Of Corporate Social Irresponsibility On Corporate Financial Performance?, Saad A. Alhoqail, Hyun Young Cho, Kristopher Floyd

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Previous research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) has focused on corporate reputation (CR) and corporate financial performance (CFP), showing a high correlation between both. While most researchers primarily focus on CSR, our research examines the other side of the coin; corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) and provides findings that counter previous thought. We contribute to the existing literature by showing that CSI has a non-significant impact on corporate financial performance, as measured by market value, while concurrently being negatively correlated to corporate reputation. Further, we show social media, as measured by the Social Media Sustainability Index (SMSI), a measure studied infrequently …

Where Reality Meets Fantasy, Kendall Rankin

Senior Honors Projects

“Fantasy and reality often overlap,” was once said by Walt Disney. In my story, Where Reality Meets Fantasy, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and Gelatoni, from DisneySea, dive into the world of employment law and how it affects the Walt Disney Company.

Walt Disney loved storytelling and it is demonstrated in his movies and parks. With his company’s emphasis on safety, courtesy, show and efficiency, Disney wanted not only his guests but also his cast members to enjoy being at the Happiest Place on Earth. With laws like the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and the Civil Rights …

Abuses And Penalties Of A Corporate Tax Inversion, James G.S. Yang, Leonard J. Lauricella Professor, Frank J. Aquilino

Department of Accounting and Finance Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

There is a serious problem in international taxation today. Many United States (U.S.) multinational corporations have moved abroad to take advantage of a lower tax rate in a foreign country. As a consequence, the tax base in the U.S. has been seriously eroded. This practice is known as “corporate tax inversion”. This paper discusses the abuses and penalties of this phenomenon. It is rooted in some deficiencies in the U.S. tax law. This paper points out that the U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the world. It imposes tax on worldwide income. It permits deferral of tax on …

Ideological Diversity In Standard Setting, Jivas Chakravarthy

Accounting Faculty Articles and Research

I explore whether the level of ideological diversity among Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) members has declined since the emergence of their conceptual framework. I analyze votes made by FASB members on Statements of Financial Accounting Standards and compare them to comment letters submitted by constituent sponsoring organizations. I demonstrate that, relative to the Pre-CF regime (1973–1986), FASB members’ voting positions in the CF regime (1987–2007) are (i) less like their constituent sponsors and (ii) more like one another. The former result is primarily attributable to differences between FASB members with auditor and preparer backgrounds and those groups’ sponsors. Both …

Reflective Practice Series: Selected Instructional Models Using Synchronous Video Conferencing Software, Martin W. Sivula

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

With the vast array of resources available to instructors, one would think that instruction and teaching would yield success for all learners. Now, well into the 21^st century has much changed in the classroom? Certainly, movable desks and chairs, advanced audio and visual equipment, and a plethora of all types of technologies which might be able to enhance training and education. Over the last several decades research on individualized instruction, cognitive science, educational psychology, and multimedia instruction (to name a few) have permeated the literature on instruction. With all the research and the vast array of studies on improving …

An Analysis Of Fraud Prevention And Detection In Not-For-Profit Organizations In The State Of South Carolina, Mary Gibson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study analyzed fraud detection and prevention techniques and analyzed if there was a relationship between the techniques and the detection of fraud. The combined techniques were fraud risk assessment, fraud risk register, code of conduct, fraud assessment training, whistle-blower policy, fraud control plan, fraud control policy, and internal control review. Nonprofits are vulnerable to fraud and costly for the organizations that rely heavily on donations to provide needed services or goods to a community. Through analyzing 109 nonprofits surveyed in South Carolina, the researcher found 59 reported fraud occurrences and 86 percent were using fraud detection and prevention techniques. …

Corporate Governance Roles Of Information Quality And Corporate Takeovers, Jing Li, Lin Nan, Ran Zhao

Accounting Faculty Articles and Research

We examine the corporate governance roles of information quality and the takeover market with asymmetric information regarding the value of the target firm. Increasing information quality improves the takeover efficiency however, a highly efficient takeover market also discourages the manager from exerting effort. We find that perfect information quality is not optimal for either current shareholders’ expected payoff maximization or expected firm value maximization. Furthermore, current shareholders prefer a lower level of information quality than the level that maximizes expected firm value, because of a misalignment between current shareholders’ value and total firm value. We also analyze the impact of …

Glossary Of Business Evidence, Paul C. Boyd

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Financial Literacy And Accountability Within Black Baptist Churches, Joanne Suttington

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study explored the lack of financial literacy and accountability of church leaders within black Baptist Church in fulfilling their financial stewardship responsibilities in overseeing the church’s resources. In order for churches to grow both spiritually and financially, the church leaders are critical to the overall success and sustainability of the organization. The conceptual framework for this study was based on the stewardship theory, which implied that church leaders would perform as responsible stewards in managing the church’s resources. In this study, the researcher used a qualitative method with a case study design to explore the education and experiences of …

The Shifting Tides Of Merger Litigation, Matthew D. Cain, Jill E. Fisch, Steven Davidoff Solomon, Randall S. Thomas

All Faculty Scholarship

In 2015, Delaware made several important changes to its laws concerning merger litigation. These changes, which were made in response to a perception that levels of merger litigation were too high and that a substantial proportion of merger cases were not providing value, raised the bar, making it more difficult for plaintiffs to win a lawsuit challenging a merger and more difficult for plaintiffs’ counsel to collect a fee award.

We study what has happened in the courts in response to these changes. We find that the initial effect of the changes has been to decrease the volume of merger …

Bankruptcy’S Uneasy Shift To A Contract Paradigm, David A. Skeel Jr., George Triantis

All Faculty Scholarship

The most dramatic development in twenty-first century bankruptcy practice has been the increasing use of contracts to shape the bankruptcy process. To explain the new contract paradigm—our principal objective in this Article-- we begin by examining the structure of current bankruptcy law. Although the Bankruptcy Code of 1978 has long been viewed as mandatory, its voting and cramdown rules, among others, invite considerable contracting. The emerging paradigm is asymmetric, however. While the Code and bankruptcy practice allow for ex post contracting, ex ante contracts are viewed with suspicion.

We next use contract theory to assess the two modes of contracting. …

Governance By Contract: The Implications For Corporate Bylaws, Jill E. Fisch

All Faculty Scholarship

Boards and shareholders are increasing using charter and bylaw provisions to customize their corporate governance. Recent examples include forum selection bylaws, majority voting bylaws and advance notice bylaws. Relying on the contractual conception of the corporation, Delaware courts have accorded substantial deference to board-adopted bylaw provisions, even those that limit shareholder rights.

This Article challenges the rationale for deference under the contractual approach. With respect to corporate bylaws, the Article demonstrates that shareholder power to adopt and amend the bylaws is, under Delaware law, more limited than the board’s power to do so. As a result, shareholders cannot effectively constrain …

Corporate Outsourcing To Take Advantage Of Cheap Labor In Developing Countries, Cecily Schenimann

Senior Honors Theses

Corporate outsourcing is a common practice for many large corporations, and a primary reason that corporations outsource is financial: production in other countries, especially those that are developing is significantly less expensive. There are various reasons corporations use outsourcing and this choice often results in subpar and unhealthy labor conditions for those individuals working in developing countries. Reviews of China, Bangladesh, and El Salvador reveal that operations in developing countries often result in harmful working atmospheres. A call for increased corporate responsibility and accountability for corporations who choose to take their manufacturing and production elsewhere, but specifically to developing nations, …

Cash Versus In-Kind Transfers: Comparative Differences And Individual Best Practices To Benefit Recipient Communities, Sarah Wicker

Senior Honors Theses

This research paper seeks to compare cash and in-kind transfers in the context of foreign poverty aid to determine which transfer style is most beneficial and to evaluate long-term best practices of each kind to more positively benefit the recipient communities. It does this by comparing arguments for and against each transfer model. The first argument discusses the differences in distribution costs between the two models. The second compares the cash transfer’s strong concept of choice with in-kind transfer’s typical style of controlled consumption of goods. The second argument discusses the timing and impact of targeting communities in connection to …

The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership Style And Employees’ Perception Of Leadership Success In Higher Education, Tatrabian Jackson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The problem addressed examined whether two merged academic institutions was successful in implementing a transformational leadership style within the united organization. Successful leadership cannot be limited to the perception of only the leader, but must include the perceptions of the follower as well. The focus of this study was to investigate the relationship between transformational leadership style and the employee’s perception of leadership success. This research study provides the opportunity to advance the fields of organizational change, management, and academics by examining the success of transformational leadership through the perception of the employees in higher education as it related to …

Corporate Power Is Corporate Purpose Ii: An Encouragement For Future Consideration From Professors Johnson And Millon, Leo E. Strine Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

This paper is the second in a series considering the argument that corporate laws that give only rights to stockholders somehow implicitly empower directors to regard other constituencies as equal ends in governance. This piece was written as part of a symposium honoring the outstanding work of Professors Lyman Johnson and David Millon, and it seeks to encourage Professors Johnson and Millon, as proponents of the view that corporations have no duty to make stockholder welfare the end of corporate law, to focus on the reality that corporate power translates into corporate purpose.

Drawing on examples of controlled companies that …

Corporate Power Is Corporate Purpose I: Evidence From My Hometown, Leo E. Strine Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

This paper is the first in a series considering a rather tired argument in corporate governance circles, that corporate laws that give only rights to stockholders somehow implicitly empower directors to regard other constituencies as equal ends in governance. By continuing to suggest that corporate boards themselves are empowered to treat the best interests of other corporate constituencies as ends in themselves, no less important than stockholders, scholars and commentators obscure the need for legal protections for other constituencies and for other legal reforms that give these constituencies the means to more effectively protect themselves.

Using recent events in the …

The Financial Services Industry And Society: The Role Of Incentives/Punishments, Moral Hazard, And Conflicts Of Interests In The 2008 Financial Crisis, Noel Murray, Ajay K. Manrai, Lalita Ajay Manrai

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

This paper aims to present an analysis of the role of financial incentives, moral hazard and conflicts of interests leading up to the 2008 financial crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

The study’s analysis has identified common structural flaws throughout the securitization food chain. These structural flaws include inappropriate incentives, the absence of punishment, moral hazard and conflicts of interest. This research sees the full impact of these structural flaws when considering their co-occurrence throughout the financial system. The authors address systemic defects in the securitization food chain and examine the inter-relationships among homeowners, mortgage originators, investment banks and investors. The authors also …

The Challenge Of Regulatory Excellence, Cary Coglianese

All Faculty Scholarship

Regulation is a high-stakes enterprise marked by tremendous challenges and relentless public pressure. Regulators are expected to protect the public from harms associated with economic activity and technological change without unduly impeding economic growth or efficiency. Regulators today also face new demands, such as adapting to rapidly changing and complex financial instruments, the emergence of the sharing economy, and the potential hazards of synthetic biology and other innovations. Faced with these challenges, regulators need a lodestar for what constitutes high-quality regulation and guidance on how to improve their organizations’ performance. In the book Achieving Regulatory Excellence, leading regulatory experts …

Apologetics Without Apology: Arguments For The Existence Of God From Business & Economics, Michael E. Cafferky

Faculty Works

This paper offers the reader ways for the business practitioner to participate in Christian apologetics. Apologetics is defined. The purpose and tasks of apologetics is described. A case is made for the importance of Christian apologetics. Several tactics are introduced that offer potential for the Christian apologist. A matrix describes the potential opportunities to develop Christian apologetics for the context of business and economics. A discussion follows regarding the implications for business scholars and Christian business school curriculum at all levels.