A Case Study in Marketing Communications: Traditional vs. E-Media ...

A Case Study in Marketing Communications: 

Traditional vs. E-Media Advertising 

Richard Muller 

University of South Dakota 

Rand Wergin 


Erin Alberts 


Michelle O'Malley 


ABSTRACT 

The focus of this research is to simultaneously compare the effects of four advertising media: (1) newspaper 

print advertising, (2) newspaper online advertising, (3) store email advertising, and (4) store website 

advertising. The target firm is a locally owned retail furniture business located in South Dakota that offers retail 

merchandise, flooring, and design services. The firm currently uses three traditional forms of advertising to 

reach its target market of females, ages 35‐64: newspaper print, radio, and television. The firm’s leadership is 

seeking to understand the benefits of advertising through other media, including the local newspaper’s online 

website and their own website and email list. 

A four week experimental investigation was set up where store coupons were offered via the four advertising 

media. Additionally, the customers who redeemed coupons were asked to complete a brief survey. The results 

of the investigation reveal three findings. First, traditional newspaper print advertising garnered a higher 

coupon redemption rate that the other three electronic media. Second, the data reveals that long‐term 

customers, those doing business with the firm for 16 years or more, were more likely to bring in a newspaper 

print; while new customers, those doing business with the firm less four years, were as likely to bring in a store 

website or email coupon as a newsprint coupon. This finding confirms the current industry paradigm that 

suggests newer customers may be more willing to attend to media other than the traditional newspaper. 

Finally, while traditional newspaper print and website advertising has a greater reach than electronic store 

advertising, the lowest cost of advertising per coupon redeemed occurred with the store email advertising and 

store website advertising.

Accounting and Reporting Convergence 

Mary Fischer 

The University of Texas at Tyler 

Treba Marsh 

Stephen F. Austin State University 

ABSTRACT 

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have 

been working to eliminate differences between US accounting rules and international financial reporting 

standards (IFRS). The FASB has undertaken initiates such as joint projects, short‐term conversion projects, 

monitoring IASB projects, convergence research projects and others as initiatives to further convergence. The 

primary problems with convergence are the lack of requirements or guidance that currently exist between IFRS 

and generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the large number of differences such as definition, 

recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure differences and the costs to eliminate these differences. 

Even with convergence, a single set of global accounting standards will continue to be subject to change as the 

IASB has an ongoing history of revising or changing their pronouncements. Given this history, multinational 

accountants must be vigilant to stay current with IFRSs.

An Analysis of How Companies in Diverse Industries 

Use Social Media in E-Commerce 

Donald R. Moscato 

Iona College 

Eric D. Moscato 

Iona College 

ABSTRACT 

This study examines the web sites of 96 e‐commerce companies and explores their use of social media tools as 

part of their marketing strategies. With the explosive growth of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, companies are 

rethinking their policies regarding how social networking can fit into their web initiatives. The results from the 

analysis showed mixed results in that certain industries are more open to the use of social media than others.

Board of Directors’ Roles and Legal Structures 

Advantageous for Entrepreneurial Organizations 

Bruce Sherony 

Northern Michigan University 

Robert Miller 


ABSTRACT 

Historically, being sole proprietorships, entrepreneurs often have had neither the benefit, nor the detriment, of 

a board of directors. Recent trends indicate that boards of directors are seen, by some at least, to be more of a 

detriment than a benefit to entrepreneurial activity. When controlling interest in firms founded by 

entrepreneurs passes to outside investment firms, diversified corporations, or hedge funds pressure for 

quarterly financial performance increases. Longer term perspectives and challenging goals which demand 

commitment are deemed expendable. Here we will address the roles of Boards of Directors (BODs), the 

characteristics and qualities of successful corporate executives, the qualities and characteristics of 

entrepreneurs, and make recommendations for desired qualities of BODs for entrepreneurial organizations and 

develop some recommendations for desirable legal relationships for such BODs to be more successful in 

supporting entrepreneurship.

Chinese Drywall Imports: 

The Commercial Legal and Economic Liability Associated with Toxic Homes 

Howard H. Cochran Jr. 

Belmont University 

Mary Rau-Foster 


Jerry D. Plummer 

Austin Peay State University 

ABSTRACT 

One of the most popular American dreams is to own a home. An American nightmare is to own a home and be 

unable to live in it because it is toxic and dangerous to the inhabitants. Many homeowners whose homes were 

constructed or remodeled using Chinese drywall, have found themselves in just such a situation and are unable 

to afford to remedy the problems or sell their toxic homes. 

A shortage of domestic drywall, following two destructive hurricane seasons, forced U.S. drywall suppliers to 

look to foreign drywall sources to meet the demands of U.S. builders. Chinese drywall was readily available and 

less expensive than other foreign markets suppliers. Since January 2006 more than 550 million pounds of 

Chinese drywall has been brought into the United States, enough to build 60,000 average‐sized homes. 

A year or so after implementation of the Chinese drywall into residential and commercial construction, 

problems began to surface in these buildings. Investigations by Environmental Health and Engineering (EH&E) 

identified a link between problem drywall in homes and increased levels of hydrogen sulfide in indoor air and 

increased rates of copper and silver corrosion. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, it 

has received about 3,845 reports from residents in 42 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, and 

Puerto Rico, who believe their health symptoms or the corrosion of certain metal components in their homes 

are related to problem drywall. State and local authorities have also received similar reports. Many of the 

residents report that their homes were built in 2006 to 2007, when an unprecedented increase in new 

construction occurred in part due to the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005. 

The price for the Chinese drywall may have been lower than that of other sources but the costs associated with 

using the product have been great. Homeowners are alleging that the drywall has made them sick and in some 

cases has allegedly caused or contributed to the death of the certain occupants of the homes. The owners are 

forced to abandon and are unable to sell the homes because of the health risks and property damages 

associated with the toxic fumes. The legal fallout from this toxic situation continues to manifest in the form of 

individual and class action lawsuits against suppliers and builders and insurance companies who are rejecting 

homeowner claims. 

This paper will review the allegations of negligence, product liability, breach of expressed and implied 

warranties and breach of contract claims arising from the use of the defective drywall and recommend 

governance guidelines for firms that import drywall products from China.

Cloud Computing: 

Differences in Public and Private Sector Concerns 

Michael Killaly 

Air Force Institute of Technology 

Bryan Hasty 


Gregory M. Schechtman 


ABSTRACT 

This paper addresses the research question: Do sector‐level cultural differences influence the importance 

placed on concerns about the potential adoption of cloud computing? To answer this question, a survey based 

on previous efforts that measured private sector IT professionals' perceptions of an emerging technology (cloud 

computing) was replicated using a public sector sample of military and civil service IT professionals. Results 

indicate that there are significant differences between how members of private and public sector organizations 

rate the concerns surrounding the potential adoption of new technologies. Specifically, the public sector 

members were more concerned with availability and performance issues, and less concerned with on‐demand 

costs or ability to bring the IT capabilities back in‐house.

Data Quality Alignment: 

Stakeholders’ Perspective 

Hongjiang Xu 

Butler University 

ABSTRACT 

Across all levels in an organization, from CEO, executives, middle management to day‐to‐day operators, 

everyone relies on high quality information for decision making. This paper proposes frameworks of data 

quality stakeholders and data quality alignments for ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of data quality 

management. The frameworks not only have contributions to the theory but also implications for top 

management and practitioners in the fields.

Deconstructing “Personal Privacy” in an 

Age of Social Media: 

Information Control and 

Reputation Management Dimensions 

Jo Ann Oravec 

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 

ABSTRACT 

As more information about the private lives of everyday citizens is recorded, processed, and disseminated, the 

very notion of “privacy” is being questioned in social and political discourse. Many individuals willingly share 

intimate details through social media (such as Facebook) and the political affiliations and economic interactions 

of many individuals are easily determined online. The strong rhetorical and moralistic angles toward privacy 

that are often adopted in political and literary treatments of these issues (such as the “Big Brother” theme) 

often mask rather than reveal potential solutions. 

This presentation begins by outlining a brief history of the notion of privacy from the perspective of the United 

States. Some comparative perspectives from Europe and the United Kingdom are then introduced. The 

presentation then reexamines privacy with an information systems approach, emphasizing aspects of 

information control and reputation management that are drawn from the business information systems 

literature. The presentation explores in depth several approaches toward reconstructing personal privacy on 

stronger and more practical underpinnings. The presentation concludes with the examination of a scenario in 

which individuals begin to tire of the constant social exposure linked with social media and form a “backlash” 

against those who wish to invade their private lives. Businesses should prepare for the possibility that the 

treasure trove of personal information delivered by Facebook, Twitter, and other social media vehicles may not 

be as readily available at some point.

Demographic Influence on 

Internet Banking Adoption in a 

Major Developing African Country 

Okey Peter Onyia 

Lindenwood University 

ABSTRACT 

This study provides an African perspective to the global research and literature on retail customer adoption of 

Internet banking. It is an empirically examination of the influence of seven demographic variables – age, gender, 

level of education, marital status, employment status, income level, and area of residence – on retail banking 

customers’ attitudes toward Internet banking (IB) adoption in a major developing African country – Nigeria. A 

sample of 500 customers was surveyed in Abuja, Lagos and Enugu cities, using web‐based, email and paper 

versions of the same questionnaire. 

ANOVA and multiple regression analyses were used in testing the association of the variables with the 

customers’ attitude and intention toward IB adoption. Although the seven variables were correlated with 

attitude and intention, only gender, level of education, and employment status showed significant ability to 

influence the Nigerian banking customer’s attitude and intention toward IB adoption. The findings therefore 

indicate that Nigerian banking customers’ overall slow rate of IB adoption is not entirely attributable to the 

influence of their demographic profiles. 

However, the study revealed that bank marketers in Nigeria need to redefine their market segmentation and 

targeting. Well‐educated individuals and professionals in high employment positions should be their primary 

target for Internet banking rather than the uneducated “money‐bags” they presently pursue.

Economic Impact of BP (British Petroleum) 

2010 Gulf Oil Spill on 

Regional Small Business 

Akash Dania 

Alcorn State University 

ABSTRACT 

Purpose of this study is to assess the economic impact of BP (British Petroleum), 2010 Gulf oil spill on regional 

small business. Significant portion of media reporting and academic research on the oil spill has focused on big 

businesses or on macro level. Very little has been done to understand how local communities, small business or 

regional tourist hubs have been impacted due to the oil spill. By means of survey analysis we hope to fill this 

gap. Rest of the paper and results are to follow.

Enhancing Consumer Trust and Loyalty 

With the Sound of Music 

Carmen Reagan 


Khandra R. Smalley 

F & M Bank 

William E. Rayburn 


ABSTRACT 

A review of research articles suggests that consumer trust and loyalty can be earned when organizations 

sponsor causes that are important to the consumer. Particularly patrons of the arts are delighted when the 

brands they buy support their passion. Business support and advocacy can benefit both the brand and an arts 

organization. Following a review of related research findings the presentation will suggest a marketing strategy 

for a local community concert association to attract sponsors who serve a similar niche market.

Exploring Virtual Machine Technology 

Jeff Willis 

Western Kentucky University 

Mark Revels 


ABSTRACT 

Virtual machine (VM) usage is increasing in all areas of computing. While originally developed for mainframes, 

VMs can now be used on personal computers so that multiple disparate operating systems can run 

simultaneously. Moreover, by virtualizing servers, enterprise organizations are saving significant expense by 

more effectively using existing hardware. 

This presentation intends to present an overview of virtual machine technology for the neophyte audience. In 

addition to covering basic concepts, a brief demonstration is included.

Fractal Vertical Polarization: 

Definition and Nomological Elaboration of a 

Complexity-Based Theory of 

Organizational Power and Dissonance 

Roger Voss 

Epicor Software Corporation 

Dennis Krumwiede 

Idaho State University 

ABSTRACT 

This paper lays out the complete model of fractal vertical polarization (FVP), as it currently exists in conceptual 

form, a theory constructed entirely within the framework of the paradigm of self‐organizing complexity. It 

includes both external and internal nomological models to facilitate scale development and empirical testing. 

The fact of FVP’s foundation in the paradigm of systems, complexity, and chaos theory presents similar 

empirical challenges to those encountered in the development of the constructs of LMX (Graen & Cashman, 

1975) and TMX (Seers, 1989), which similarly emerge from the autopoietic paradigm. Accordingly, the present 

study summarizes the contributing paradigmatic vernaculars, relevant theories and rationales, and prior 

conceptual discussion on this topic fielded by the authors before learned audiences since 2008, with the goal of 

introducing FVP as a theory of organizational dissonance in its own right.

How to do Academic Research in Business: 

Advice from Stellar Scholars in the POM Field 

Bin Jiang 

DePaul University 

ABSTRACT 

To more fully understand any strategy at all of how to be a successful researcher of business, this paper 

conducted a Delphi study to gain experts’ agreement on six general research methodological and philosophical 

questions. Experts were consulted in two ways: to obtain their personal judgments related to the six questions 

and, after summarization and classification of these judgments, rank orders of summary categories related to 

the six questions. The resulting consensus allowed for the identification of six overarching principles guiding the 

research efforts of emerging scholars in the business administration field.

Impacts of the U.S. Financial Crisis on 

Financial Markets in Asia: 

Empirical Study 

Hong Rim 

Shippensburg University 

Rosle Mohidin 

Universiti Malaysia Sabah 

Robert Setaputra 


ABSTRACT 

This study is to examine the impacts of the U.S. financial crisis (2008) on Asian equity markets in the framework 

of the GARCH model. This study uses daily returns of 10 (ASEAN, non‐ASEAN) stock market indexes during May 

2005‐April 2010. Some notable findings are: 1) the U.S. market became less dominant in Asian markets; 2) the 

U.S. market became less integrated with Asian markets during the U.S. crisis; 3) the speed of adjustment slightly 

increased in most Asian markets; 4) there were observed strong spillover effects from the U.S. to Asian markets 

for the whole period; 5) there still exist much diversification benefits to be exploited in Asian markets; and 6) 

the U.S. crisis had no significant impacts on Asian markets but strong volatility spillovers suggest some negative 

impacts (or disturbance) on Asian markets.

In Your Business: Entrepreneurship 

Marsha Jance 

Indiana University East 

Timothy W. Scales 


ABSTRACT 

In Your Business, a television show produced by the Indiana University East Center for Entrepreneurship, takes 

an in‐depth look into various businesses and interviews the entrepreneurs who have started these businesses. 

The businesses presented have ranged from chiropractic services to candle production. The show provides 

the audience with the opportunity to learn not only about these businesses; but also, of the challenges and 

accomplishments of the entrepreneurs. In Your Business has provided many educational opportunities inside 

and outside of the classroom. The show has produced over 100 episodes since its beginning five years ago. 

This paper presents how the businesses and entrepreneurs featured have changed since appearing on In Your 

Business. Several of show’s guests were surveyed regarding how their businesses have changed in recent 

years. The paper reflects upon the survey responses. The following are the survey questions: 

1) Has the business ownership changed? If yes, why? 

2) Has the business location changed? 

3) Has the number of employees changed? 

4) Have the product offerings changed? 

5) What has changed in the ways the company conducts business? 

6) Has there been an adjustment in the number of hours you work per week? 

7) What types of assistance did the business explore and receive during its startup? 

8) What types of challenges has the business encountered especially during the past few years given the 

economy? 

9) What critical advice would you give to someone starting a business?

Individuals’ Concerns about 

Quality and Security of Data and 

Individuals’ Demand for 

Organizational Transparency about 

Uses of Dat� 

Joseph S. Mollick 

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi 

ABSTRACT 

Individual customers allow organizations to collect, store and use data about them in order to participate in 

exchanges that bind individuals and organizations in relationships of mutual dependency. Individuals expect and 

demand that organizations be transparent about what they do with data about customers. Using theoretical 

literature on individuals’ concerns about organizational data management practices, the author theoretically 

builds and empirically tests two hypotheses that individuals’ concerns about quality and security of data are 

positively related to individuals’ demand for organizational transparency in customer data management.

Institutions and Momentum 

Xiuqing Susan Ji 

Governors State University 

ABSTRACT 

Momentum has been an intriguing phenomenon that has attracted much attention from both industry and 

academia. Whether institutional investors drive momentum is explored in this paper. The results show that 

institution’s holdings are not related to momentum in 21 countries around the world. This finding is robust to 

an alternative measure of institution’s holdings and sub‐period analysis.

Integration of the 

Middle East and North African Stock Markets with 

Global Stock Markets 

Akash Dania 


Benny Udemgba 


ABSTRACT 

This study determines the global integration of ten Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) equity markets 

with global markets of France, Germany, UK and the US. VAR analysis is used on monthly data between 

September 2005 and February 2011, to determine whether there is dependency of MENA equity market 

returns on the returns of the global equity markets. It is found that most MENA markets are impacted by global 

markets. This interdependence suggests financial integration of financial markets of MENA region with global 

financial markets amid increasing globalization, deregulation and advances in information technology.

Mandatory Employment Arbitration: 

Perceptions of Employees 

Patricia Borstorff 

Jacksonville State University 

E. Hill Mayfield 


ABSTRACT 

Mandatory arbitration has been a crucial part of employment law for many years. Employers utilizing 

arbitration clauses in employment documents have been upheld by the federal judicial system when the 

employees’ right to seek relief in the courts was denied. Employees are forced to sign these arbitration 

agreements without any representation of their interests. Employees view this as a binding agreement imposed 

by the stronger party on the weaker party in an economic relationship. Little, if anything, is done to ensure that 

employees fully understand what they are signing. Survey results of 204 college students indicate only eight 

percent felt their claims in a dispute would be handled equally under arbitration as compared to a judge and 

jury. Fifty‐five percent prefer to work for a company that does not require arbitration and 28% would not seek a 

long‐term employment relationship with such a company. Eighty‐two percent felt forced to give up valuable 

legal rights in arbitration while thirty‐six percent erroneously believed litigation was still an option.

Positioned for Success: 

Managing Cross Cultural Business Communication for Entrepreneurs 

Martha D. Robinson 

The University of Memphis 

ABSTRACT 

Much of the growth in the international business sector in the last decade has been largely fueled by 

entrepreneurship. Conversely, the failure rate of new start‐up entrepreneurial firms is more than twice, the 

national average for other public and private sector businesses. Current research indicates that one of the 

causal factors in the failures of entrepreneurial firms is poor cross cultural business communication. Because of 

the advances in technology, we live and work in an increasingly “borderless” society. Organizations worldwide 

are growing more similar; however, the behaviors of people within the organizations retain cultural uniqueness. 

The cultural diversity that can enrich organizations can also challenge the organizations to maintain effective 

cross‐cultural business communications. Effective business communications is critical to business acquisition, 

contract negotiation, crisis management, human resource management, as well as the perpetuation of the 

organization’s corporate culture. This article examines how the execution of business communication strategy 

for entrepreneurial firms can be a determinant of business success. This article develops a framework for 

strategic intercultural business communications for entrepreneurial firms.

Recent Developments in the 

Green's Function Method for Problems of 

Financial Mathematics 

Max Melnikov 

Cumberland University 

ABSTRACT 

A variety of finite difference method‐based numerical schemes has been developed and implemented in 

nowadays for treatment of terminal‐boundary value problems posed for the Black‐Scholes equation in financial 

mathematics. A few years ago, while looking for an alternative approach to such problems, we brought forward 

the Green's function method. To make this approach really workable, some computer‐friendly representations 

of needed Green's functions are required. A few such representations of these functions have earlier been 

constructed and reported in our recent publications. There is, unfortunately, a limited number of problem 

settings in the field, for which already available representations of Green's functions for Black‐Scholes equation 

are compact enough and suitable for immediate computer implementation. This situation motivates our further 

efforts in the area of constructing new Green's functions.

Strategies in Hiring and Development Processes in 

Small and Large Companies 

Michael Fathi 

Georgia Southwestern State University 

Elizabeth Wilson 


Gaynor G. Cheokas 


ABSTRACT 

A company’s workforce is the number one key to success regardless of the size of the organization. It’s a cliché, 

but it’s a truth: People are the one asset a company absolutely and categorically can’t do without (Goldfield, 

2009). In small businesses and large businesses alike, the process of establishing an effective workforce begins 

with the hiring process. There is no generally accepted “best” way to recruit prospective employees. However, 

research suggests that the type and nature of information used in recruiting has a direct affect on who will 

apply and accept a particular position (Bretz, Judge 1994). Although many of the tools used for the hiring and 

development of employees are utilized by both small and large businesses, there are significant differences that 

exist between the two. In addition, employee development is crucial to the success of any business (Weber, 

2009). The process of enhancing the effectiveness of an organization and the well‐being of its members 

through planned interventions; a set of systematic and planned activities designed by an organization to 

provide its members with the necessary skills to meet current and future job demands; coaching and training; 

succession planning; and other aspects of leadership and skills development (Managing Human Resources in 

Small Organizations, 2010). The critical question is how recruitment, training and development can most 

efficiently be done in order for firms to produce a profit. The purpose of this research will be to identify and 

elaborate on the following three notable differences in the hiring and development processes utilized by small 

and large businesses: 

Fewer resources available for smaller businesses in recruitment and developmental programs as opposed to 

larger businesses. 

Larger applicant pools for large businesses in contrast to that available to smaller businesses. 

Limited advancement opportunities available in smaller businesses compared to those of larger businesses. 

These three differences significantly impact the organizational structure of both small and large businesses alike 

and can make the difference between a positive or a negative bottom‐line.

Studies on the International Diversification 

Hong Rim 


Robert Setaputra 


ABSTRACT 

This study is to examine benefits of international diversification for 10 financial markets during June 2005‐April 

2010. Using the Lambda, this study measures the benefits more directly. Empirical results show that despite 

international integrations, the benefits of international diversification measured in USD persist and that the 

diversification benefit could be bigger during the crisis because financial markets became less integrated. Thus, 

it makes sense for investors to more diversify their investments in Asian markets. The result is also consistent 

with the hypothesis that developed financial markets are more integrated that the US crisis had no significant 

influence on developing markets.

The Debt Financing Choice of U.S. Firms 

Halil Kaya 

Eastern Kentucky University 

ABSTRACT 

This paper examines the determinants of U.S. firms’ debt financing choice during the period 1984 to 2004. The 

sample consists of SDC data on public debt offerings, private placements, and syndicated bank loan agreements 

for the stated period. Using binary logistic regressions, I find that the market‐to‐book ratio, the size, the 

tangibility, the pre‐issue leverage level, the profitability, and the credit rating of the borrower all play an 

important role in firms’ debt financing choice. While investment grade rating, firm size, tangibility, and 

profitability tend to favor public debt financing, market‐to‐book ratio tends to favor syndicated bank loan 

financing. Firms that do not have a credit rating also tend to favor syndicated bank loan financing.

The Finances of State Pension Plans 

Uma V. Sridharan 

Lander University 

ABSTRACT 

This paper examines the public pension crisis currently facing the United States. State agencies have made 

pension promises to employees that they are unable to keep because the pension plans were misconceived 

offering unreasonably rich pension benefits to employees, and the state agencies failure to adequately fund 

those benefits. Most state agencies offer their employees a choice between defined benefit (DB) and defined 

contribution (DC) plans. Most employees choose the defined benefit plans because they offer the employee 

richer pension benefits. Defined benefit plans are much more expensive for state agencies. The paper contains 

a detailed examination of the finances of the State of South Carolina Retirement System.

The Impact of Monetary Policy on Portfolio Returns 

Engku-Ngah Engkuchik 

Louisiana Tech University 

Halil Kaya 


ABSTRACT 

We examine the performance of the Fama‐French three‐factor model, and add a momentum factor (UMD), 

while allowing monetary conditions to influence the relationship. Employing the Fed funds rate as well as the 

Federal Reserve discount rate as our monetary policy variables, we find that HML, SMB, and UMD have 

significantly differing impacts on portfolio returns in restrictive versus expansive monetary policy periods. More 

specifically, we find that, in restrictive periods, while the SMB factor’s impact on portfolio returns gets larger, 

the impact of the HML factor gets smaller. We also find that, in restrictive periods, the UMD factor’s impact on 

portfolio returns is negative.

The Impact of Organizational Context on 

Turnover and Job Satisfaction: 

A Multi-Analysis Study of Bank Employees 

Karen McDaniel 

University of Tennessee at Martin 

Monica Parzinger 

St. Mary's University 

Mary Lemons 


ABSTRACT 

With the recent turmoil of the financial industry, banks have more challenges today than ever. Some of these 

challenges, such as government involvement and restriction, are out of the control of financial organizations. 

One problem that may be predicted and controlled by institutional leaders, however, involves the satisfaction 

and retention of their own employees. Because research indicates that organizational culture and climate 

affect employee career decisions (Van Vianen, 2000; Young & Hurlich, 2007), the purpose of this research is to 

specifically identify the cultural elements that have the strongest impact on job satisfaction and intentions to 

leave. As organizational climate is often examined in conjunction with organizational culture, we will also 

identify those characteristics of climate that influence job satisfaction and intentions to leave. Further analysis 

explores the relationships with leadership style and our dependent variables. We collected data from a 

medium‐sized regional bank located in the Southeastern section of the United States. Results of our analysis 

indicate that employee welfare was the most important variable in determining both job satisfaction and intent 

to leave.

The Long Economic Cycle of 55 Years: 

Origin, Operation, and Relationship to Climate Change and War 

Robert Reuschlein 

Lakeland College 

ABSTRACT 

Although this is commonly referred to as the Kondratiev Wave and 54 years is the cycle length in modern times 

and for the British Wheat Price Cycle from 1240‐1940 AD. But the 55 year cycle is the robust result of a La Place 

transform of (AD 553‐1973) years of Greenland ice core annual temperatures by Klyashtorin. 

The operation of the cycle is to retard economic growth when warming and enhance economic growth when 

cooling. The bottom of the economic cycle is in the fifteenth year of the twenty seven warming years. The peak 

economy is in the 12th year of twenty seven years of cooling. The last two bottoms were 1928 and 1982. The 

last three tops were 1898, 1952, and 2006. There are at least three ways to show the hot nation and wilted 

economy connection. 

How the wars are connected. There are two classes of wars, 1) the biggest of each 54 year cycle as measured 

by deaths, and 2) the second biggest. The medium war precedes the large war by 18 years in America and 15 

years in Europe. The medium war occurs the same year as the long term top of the economy. The large war 

occurs at the end of the world wide growth cycle, about three years past the average growth point on the way 

down. Since most large wars are about number one economy against number two economy, they tend to occur 

after the growth half cycle has maximized the wealth and the differences among nations. Then the enemy 

serves the purpose of distracting from the recent economic slowing down, which is at a transitional downward 

maximum in the seven years before the war. The formula seems almost inevitable, but 1862 in Europe and 

1970 in America were notable exceptions to avoid the war of sometime around 2025.

The Organizational Relationship between 

Compliance and Information Security 

Maurizio Cavallari 

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano 

ABSTRACT 

Organizations continually experience losses, financial and otherwise, due to non‐complaint behaviour (Stanton 

et al., 2005). Executing leadership in agreement with IT security policy and compliance is emerging as a 

challenge as manager must balance the task of motivating employees to compliance without mandating it 

counter‐productive punishment for non‐compliant behaviour (D’Arcy et al., 2009). Information systems security 

is an essential feature in most organizations today and compliance is one method to gain visibility to processes 

and controls that ensure digital security, and the organizational aspect of it is explicit in the Information Security 

Plan (ISP). The purpose of this paper is to investigate employees’ and managers’ perceptions and beliefs about 

compliance towards ISP. The study identifies a set of constructs based on workplace culture, personal attitudes 

and actors involved. 15 variables are used to build the constructs. The study utilise a questionnaire for an 

empirical investigation of a set of 7 hypothesis, and present as conclusions the confirmation of those hypothesis 

along with other evidences that could be appreciated.

The Path of Fair Value Accounting in U.S. GAAP 

Debra R. Hunter 

University of Southern Indiana 

Craig R. Ehlen 


Stephen B. Shanklin 


ABSTRACT 

This article centers on the change of course in U.S. GAAP from an almost exclusive use of the historical cost 

basis, to a return of the use of the fair value concept in current accounting standards. This is especially true for 

financial reporting related to leases, pension plans, investments in debt and equity securities, derivatives, and 

employee stock ownership (ESOP) plans. This path begins much further back than most current accountant 

would expect. 

Prior to the Great Depression, U.S. companies commonly revalued assets (upward) using various, and often 

arbitrary, bases. As a result of the influence of one initial SEC Commissioner, Robert E. Healy, the SEC 

consistently rejected any attempts to allow the use of fair value, replacement cost, or current cost accounting in 

the financial statements from its founding (SEC 2008). A lone exception to this rule related specifically to 

inventory assets valuation. As noted in Accounting Research Bulletin (ARB) No. 43, Chapter 4, Statement 5, a 

company must depart from the “cost basis” when the value, or utility, of the goods is less than their cost 

regardless of the cause (obsolescence, price level change, etc.) of the reduction in value. In this case, a 

company reports the inventory at its market value; this is the “lower of cost of market” rule still in use today 

(CAP 1953). 

With the retirement of SEC chief accountant Andrew Barr in 1972, it marked the end of an era; he was the last 

chief accountant that had joined the SEC in the 1930s. His replacement, John (Sandy) Burton, had no memories 

of the upward valuation of assets and the effects that ensued in the late 1920s. This personnel change, coupled 

with high domestic inflation in the 1970s led to the SEC’s issuance of Accounting Series Release (ASR) 190 in 

1976. ASR 190 called for the largest US companies to provide footnote disclosure of replacement cost 

information for COGS, inventory balances, productive capacity and depreciation (Zeff 2007). This pronounced 

change in financial reporting requirements was to be a pivotal point in U.S. GAAP reporting. 

Burton’s presence at the SEC would begin an evolutionary shift at FASB away from a past of strict adherence to 

the historical cost concept. One of FASB’s first steps involved the issuance of SFAS No. 13 which included a 

provision requiring that a capital lease be recorded at the lower of the present value of the minimum lease 

payments or the fair value of the asset as of the lease date (SFAS 1975). The path of GAAP since that time has 

been in one direction, with no foreseeable sign of reversal.

The Prospect for Azerbaijan to Strengthen Its Market Economy: 

A Case for Strengthening Azerbaijan’s Non-Oil Sectors 

Saied Sarkarat 

West Virginia University at Parkersburg 

ABSTRACT 

The Republic of Azerbaijan has a strong oil sector economy but weak agricultural and manufacturing sectors. As 

a result, Azerbaijan imports a large volume of its agricultural and manufactured goods. This country can also 

develop its agricultural and manufacturing sectors for domestic consumption and exportation, thus diversifying 

its economy. Through this development Azerbaijan can strengthen its economy, as that has long term 

implications for growth, stability, democracy and partnership beyond its neighboring countries. As a former 

United States Fulbright Scholar at Azerbaijan State Economic University at Baku, Azerbaijan, I propose to 

complete field research to assess the need and potential for growth and development of agricultural and 

manufacturing sectors for both domestic consumption and export. I realized that my goal of exploring this topic 

as a result of my experiences and Azerbaijan’s transition toward democracy and market economy completely 

coincides.

The Timing of Private Placements and Capital Structure 

Halil Kaya 


ABSTRACT 

This paper examines the impact of interest rates on the size and the maturity structure of private placements. I 

find that the recent changes in the level of interest rates have a significant impact on both the size and the 

maturity structure of the loan. Firms tend to borrow in larger amounts and at longer maturities when the rates 

are low compared to the rates in the recent period. I also find that there is a significant difference between the 

leverage ratios of firms that borrow when the rates are relatively low and the leverage ratios of other firms in 

the long‐run (i.e. 2 to 5 years).

Universally Different: 

The Uniform CPA Examination 

Richard Griffin 


Mary Geddie 


B. Wynne Griffin 

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company 

ABSTRACT 

The objective of this paper is to examine state, district and territorial boards of accountancy educational 

requirements to sit for the Uniform Certified Public Accounting (CPA) Exam and to compare these existing 

educational requirements to those presented in the “Uniform Accountancy Act Model Rules” as approved by 

NASBA Board of Directors on April 24, 2009. Educational requirements ‐ general education, accounting, and 

business related courses at both the bachelor and graduate level ‐ were obtained by the authors from state, 

district, and territorial web sites as of April 11, 2011 in order to examine requirements by the various 

accountancy boards.

Vested Interests: 

How American and Chinese Venture Capitalists View 

Essential Management Skills 

Mark T. Schenkel 


Jennie Carter-Thomas 


Richard Churchman 


Patrick Linton 


Howard H. Cochran Jr. 


ABSTRACT 

This paper used semi‐structured interviews with eleven highly successful venture capitalists from both the 

United States and China to examine perceptions of the essential nature of management skills for successful 

technology‐based small‐to‐medium sized venture exits. Findings suggest American VCs appear to maintain a 

more global management perspective, whereas Chinese VCs appear to maintain a perspective that is more 

China‐centric, or market specific, in nature. This divergence in perceptions of essential managerial skills offers 

an opportunity for the convergence of understanding of universal best practices. Implications for theory and 

research are discussed. Such an understanding may provide critical implications for successful exits from cross 

border ventures.

Virginia Center for 

Behavioral Rehabilitation (VCBR): 

A Question of Ethics 

Linda K. Lau 

Longwood University 

ABSTRACT 

The Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation (VCBR) is a treatment center for sexually violent predators 

(http://www.vcbr.dmhmrsas.virginia.gov/, 2011). The main goal of the VCBR is to treat civilly committed violent 

sexual predators, to rehabilitate their criminal thinking, and to prepare them for released back into society. In 

2003, this institute was originally built in Petersburg, Virginia, and is now relocated to Burkeville, Virginia. In this 

facility, residents are expected to follow rules and expectations, ranging from keeping good hygiene, cleaning 

their personal rooms and common areas, being civil to one another, obeying rules, and being respectful 

towards staff. Residents must attend group meetings regularly, which will help them understand their 

victimology and their triggers to prevent them from reoffending, identify any substance abuse or anger 

management problems, and to help them get ready to be integrated back into society. In addition, they can 

take optional classes such as acquiring their GED, driving license, and many other areas of study. Other extra 

activities could include a work program, gym time, library time, recreation time, and religious studies, as well as 

different sports tournaments. 

The VCBR is a mid‐size facility, with the capacity of housing 300 single‐bunked or 600 double‐bunked residents. 

It is set up with four pods. Initially, the four pods were set up based on the level of misbehaviors; however, the 

progressive housing levels were since removed to eliminate the differentiation in behavior levels. Each pod, 

with the exception of Pod 4, contains 25 resident rooms. At the current time, not all rooms are occupied, and 

residents change rooms and pods when necessary. There are a few pods that have special purposes, for 

instance, Pods 1D, 4A, and 4B. Pod 1D is used for residents who have major behavior problems, such as getting 

into fights or engaging in sexual activities and must remain there for a time period determined by their 

treatment team. Before troubled residents are being sent to Pod 1D, they usually go to Pod 4A immediately 

after they have engaged in the aforementioned activities for a couple days until they can be evaluated by their 

treatment team. Pod 4B is used as a medical wing and houses residents who are sick, have serious medical 

conditions, or under observation. Currently, VCBR is set up to house 300 residents, but it is under consideration 

to be converted into double‐bunked rooms to handle another 300 residents in the facility. 

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ethical dilemma created by this program, and to determine the 

impacts of such program on the various stakeholders involved in this situation.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation: 

Creation of a Small Beowulf Computing Cluster 

Beverly Ann Swisshelm 


ABSTRACT 

The pervasive availability of large, complex data sets has created a demand for powerful, fast computing 

systems. But the cost for such systems remains high, usually out of the reach of smaller organizations and 

institutions. At the same time, computers rapidly become outdated and are replaced with newer, faster models 

and disposal of these outdated computers has become a problem. Fortunately, the two problems present a 

unique opportunity to resolve each other's difficulties. A pseudo‐supercomputer can be developed by 

cooperative linking of multiple small computers in a computing network called a Beowulf cluster. 

Under a research grant provided by Cumberland University, this author undertook the creation of a small 

Beowulf cluster. While on the surface the project seemed straightforward, numerous challenges arose. The 

process of setting up a network and making it operational will be discussed.

What’s my Filing Status? 

John Robertson 

Arkansas State University 

ABSTRACT 

The federal tax law provides for five different filing statuses for individual taxpayers. A significant factor in 

choosing a filing status is the taxpayer’s marital status. This article examines the history of the filing status and 

current areas of concern. Areas of concern include the marriage penalty and the definition of marriage. The 

author makes an argument for simplifying the number of filing statuses available to individual taxpayers.

An Ethical Perspective of 

Internal Controls in a Technological Worl� 

Len Stokes 

Siena College 

Paul Santilli 

Siena College 

ABSTRACT 

Organizations today depend upon technology to be efficient and effective in carrying forward their mission. 

Passwords are the first form of defense. However, studies show that individuals do not attempt to have the 

strongest passwords. Hackers can gain access to a system by busting someone’s password. Through an 

organization’s system hackers can only impact the specific organization by they have unlimited access to the 

internet. Thusly there is a moral obligation to society of all password developers to have strong passwords. 

Accountants have an even stronger mandate to be leaders within organizations concerning educating all 

organizational members about the effective internal controls and assure that internal controls when 

implemented are enforced. An analysis based upon virtue ethics is presented as an aid to accountants and 

organizational leaders in establishing cultures where individuals are properly sensitive to the importance of 

privacy and the need to safeguard passwords.

INTRODUCTION 

Communication technology in a global environment expedites profitable enterprises 

accompanied by new risks. This technology provides an ease to transmit data while 

simultaneously allowing an increased opportunity for fraudulent manipulation and data 

theft. Security techniques require internal controls that make use of these advanced 

technologies will allowing organizations depend to efficiently achieve their strategic 

objectives. If the internal controls don’t function it is possible than organizations are 

ineffective, earning less then could. 

Technology is not enough to assure effective and efficient controls and operations. 

Organizations need to apply common sense concepts to encourage protection from 

unnecessarily risky behaviors. Hiring decisions are not always described within the 

internal control environment. Yet, the judgment and character of supervisors and 

employees may lead to a culture where the importance of privacy and password 

safeguards is recognized as of paramount importance. 

This paper will examine Internal Controls from an ethical perspective, specifically the 

implications of a control breakdown regarding the use of passwords. Virtue ethics, 

evaluates an individual’s characteristics, and may be seen as looking on these five 

qualities: 

� Judgment or perceptiveness 

� Respect 

� Loyalty 

� Solidarity 

� Courage 

These qualities will be used to frame a discussion of how organizational emphasis on 

internal controls might have broader societal benefits. 

VIRTUE ETHICS IN AN ORGANIZATIONAL SETTING 

In their introduction to the book Working Virtue, Walker and Ivanhoe discuss David 

Solomon’s point that for virtue ethics to fall within a normative theory, virtue ethics: 

must have a structure such that assessment of human character is, in some 

suitably strong sense, more fundamental than either the assessment of the 

rightness of he action or the assessment of the value of the consequences 

of the action. (2) 

Through this framework virtue ethics in an organizational sense can be seen as 

emphasizing the moral character of the decision maker rather than the 

consequences of the act, consequentialist, or the decision maker’s motivation, 

deontological. 

An individual’s character traits can be considered to be robust. As such, Swanton states: 

“… one cannot switch at an instant from being a decent caring, just, loyal 

individual, to being a person possessing traits designed to serve the 

distinctive purpose of business. 211 

1

These concepts allow her to argue that “being good in a business role is being a 

good human being.” She further argues that 

“..someone with the prototype virtue will ensure that pleasure is 

not gained by harming others, nor will one harm others out of 

malice, or desire for power and superiority. 215 

Organizations are thusly encouraged to view the individual’s virtues 

during the hiring process. These character traits should hopefully prove 

beneficial over the long run for the individual, organization, and society. 

The Institute of Internal Auditors promotes a culture of doing the right 

thing through hiring individual’s with integrity, as they state “either you 

have it or you don’t.” 

INTERNAL CONTROLS IN ACTION 

Internal Controls can be viewed as “a system of checks and balances designed to prevent 

and detect fraud and errors.” (Kieso 15). To most people internal controls represent the 

processes that allow them to get paid the correct amount and have it deposited directly in 

their checking account while having their health insurance premiums and union dues paid 

to the respective fiduciary. These controls may also result in a returned expense 

reimbursement for an omitted signature, or a request for an original receipt rather than a 

copy. Effective internal controls are typically an invisible part of the environment 

associated with working, shopping, and everyday life. Although, some controls are very 

visible like an identification tag, the passwords required to get our computers functioning 

properly tend to be invisible to all except the immediate user. 

Many individuals working in a business or governmental agency experiences internal 

controls as a significant part of their working existence. This is especially true with 

functions associated with receipt or expenditure of cash. Other common business 

controls include an individual responsible for selling a product or delivering a service. 

They have to complete paperwork and report how they are functioning related to a sales 

quota, visiting a specific number of clients, or operating within a budget. 

Every organization that has to expend funds has a payment or accounts payable function. 

This group is responsible for acquiring the proper paperwork to allow a disbursement to 

be approved and a check to be written, signed, and mailed. Typically the people who 

process the paperwork are within the lower organizational pay scales and report through 

one or more layers of supervision. These individuals are typically prized for their 

attention to detail and willingness to follow direction. 

Internal Control Definitions 

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) defines internal control as a (1): 

2

Process effected by an entity’s board of directors, management and other 

personnel, designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the 

achievement of objectives in the following categories: 

� Effectiveness and efficiency of operations. 

� Reliability of financial reporting. 

� Compliance with applicable laws and regulations. 

COSO continues by creating five components: 

� Control Environment 

� Risk Assessment 

� Control Activities 

� Information and Communication 

� Monitoring 

This definition and the related components imply that on a practical implementation basis 

internal control is top down. However, the report continues within the definition of 

Information and Communication as “effective communication also must occur in a 

broader sense, flowing down, across and up the organization.” (3). 

There is synergy and linkage among these components, forming an 

integrated system that reacts dynamically to changing conditions. An 

entity’s internal control system “can help ensure that the enterprise 

complies with laws and regulations, avoiding damage to its reputation and 

other consequences (3). 

All members of an organization are then considered to be responsible for effective 

internal controls either explicitly or implicitly. The implication is that an employee has 

an obligation to utilize their judgment in reporting information upwards and across an 

organization, not just accept dictates from top management. Management then must 

establish an environment where the employee’s loyalty is towards the organization and 

the employee’s courage in doing what they believe to be the right thing is encouraged and 

rewarded. 

ACCOUNTANTS AS PROFESSIONALS 

Bowie and Duska note that it is not unusual for positions within the corporate structure to 

have as an implicit or explicit part of the job description a concern with the morality of 

corporate actions. (76) Examples can include quality control concerned with product 

safety. Also, there can be an audit function that verifies the legitimacy of amounts 

claimed on an expense account. An accountant may be viewed as being responsible for 

implementing and carrying out the internal controls in an ethical manor. 

Hughes, defines a profession as containing 

The nature of knowledge, substantive or theoretical on which advice and 

action are based is not always clear; it is often a mixture of several kinds 

3

of practical and theoretical knowledge. But it is part of the professional 

complex (32) 

Barber argues that within occupational categories the behavioral differences between 

defined professionals and others is minimal. Hughes views individuals processing data 

even if it is analyzed by others as being part of the new professionals (32). May, states, 

“professional status confers duties of privilege …but not at the expense of clients in the 

inequality of their power.” (410). 

Accountants whether they are CPAs or not have a variety of different ethical codes. 

One of the author’s is a CPA and CMA. The various certifications represent the diversity 

of organizations and functions within which accounting professionals are employed. As 

pointed out by Barber and May occupational behavior, respect for the clients, and 

customers served is a strong indicator of professionalism. 

Swanton emphasizes the importance of the role in evaluating a professional’s virtue. Her 

position is argued by Walker and Ivanhoe in their Introduction as: 

…the attainment of virtue is not judged only by the standards of the ideal 

human being as such, but also by wht is excellent or good enough 

responsiveness within the various roles that we occupy. 26 

INTERNAL CONTROLS IN A TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT 

Passwords are the beginning of internal controls in a computerized environment. They 

are also the first line of defense for an organization to protect itself from hackers and 

other forms of outside invasion. Computers with integrated accounting packages and 

electronic banking opportunities have changed the world of business and accounting. 

Unfortunately, the immoral have used these innovations to commit fraud and enrich 

themselves. (Macaulay 33). The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) 

estimated that US organizations lost approximately 7% of their revenues, or 

approximately $994 Billion, to Fraud (ACFE 2008, 5). Then in 2009 the ACFE 

estimated that based upon the Gross World Product the global loss to fraud was $2.49 

trillion. 

Technology, especially the internet, has allowed business to grow especially by locating 

and taking advantage of previously uneconomical markets. However, 

One of the fastest growing threats on the Internet is the theft of sensitive 

financial data. Failure to include basic information security unwittingly 

creates significant business and professional risks. For example, without 

effective security, a hacker may be able to access user passwords, 

providing entrée to an array of system capabilities and information. 

(Beard and Wen 35) 

These new threats increasingly apply pressure on accountants to understand the 

expanding number and types of risks posed by new technology and information systems. 

It is difficult to maintain current knowledge of security threats and devise appropriate 

4

control techniques in order to protect information systems. Privacy Rights Clearing 

house claims, “more than 220 million data beaches of personal information” from 

January 10, 2005 through March 24, 2008. These breaches occurred at a variety of 

organizations including schools, financial institutions, government agencies, and the 

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. (Garrison 70) 

A hacker’s chance of gaining access to a system increases with weak passwords. 

Garrison discusses an event which occurred at a CPA continuing education technology 

conference related to computer security. Attendees were asked to write down their 

passwords to determine their vulnerability. Everyone except one participant shared their 

passwords with strangers without questioning the validity of providing the password. A 

normal basic security measure is never sharing passwords. (Garrison 70) 

Hackers gaining access to an organization’s system allows obtaining information easily 

on many individuals. In the past couple of years national retail chains such as T.J. Maxx, 

and regional organization such as Hannaford Foods, have been hacked so outsiders can 

gain access to individual information. As such according to the AICPA an individual’s 

privacy has been violated. The AICPA defines “privacy” as “the rights and obligations 

of individuals and organizations with respect to the collection, use, retention, and 

disclosure of personal information.” (Hildebrand 54). 

Ethical concerns abound about Security issues. Computer security begins with good 

password design. Garrison reports that at the CPA technology conference “only 31% of 

the passwords would take several years to crack using the brute-force method.” She 

stated that available “cracker”, breaker” or recovery” software can sometimes test 

“millions of passwords per second.” Once a hacker has entered a system by breaking 

through an individual password, the entire system’s data is exposed. 

“A strong password appears to be gibberish to everyone except its owner.” (Fordham 44). 

A strong password is unique in that it is only used for one system’s application. 

Fordham’s warning is 

Finally, here’s something to keep in mind: A strong password scheme is 

like magic – ad a good magician never reveal his trick. If you have 

developed your own scheme for developing strong password, don’t ever 

tell anyone what your scheme is, not even your closest confidant. 

(Fordham 44) 

Anecdotal stories abound of people using their children’s names as password or having a 

vanity license plate for their car which they then use as their passwords. Use of these 

passwords is just the type of thing that Fordham (43) is warning against. An external 

source obtaining a user’s ID and passwords can then become that person. Within an 

organization a culture of individual responsibility regarding actions while helping an 

individual maintain respect for themselves can work towards discouraging behavior 

aimed at taking the easy way of creating passwords. 

The internet is loaded with people trying to illegally obtain information from others. 

5

Carozza, while interviewing Betsy Broder, assistant director, U.S. Federal Trade 

Commission, stated that internet allows for identity theft “without requiring the 

consumer’s cooperation.” (39) Wildstrom claims “phishers” try to steal passwords on the 

web by fooling victims rather than “exploiting flaws in software.” In 2006, Ramaswamy 

reported that identity theft, when personal information is used without an individual’s 

permission to commit fraud, “affects 13.3 persons per minute, 799 per hour, or 19,178 

per day” (66). 

Student Responsibilities 

Professional understanding of internal controls needs to begin with Accounting students 

where the need to be provided with 

a framework for understanding the need for IT security and the importance 

of working with others to develop policies, processes and technology to 

address the threats. (Beard and Wen 41) 

The student’s need for this type of knowledge is evidenced by the Certified Management 

Accountant examination which can be taken by students. The expectations for those 

taking this exam relating to information technology include knowledge of: risk 

assessment, internal controls, system controls and security. Through the inclusion of this 

basic knowledge the organizations are holding the individual candidate responsible for 

meeting the minimum level. 

SARBANES-OXLEY AND THE IMPACT ON PUBLIC TRADED 

ORGANIZATIONS 

Verschoor, in an ethics column, stated that 

only two of the hundreds of whistleblowers who thought they were 

protected by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) have actually reached 

agreement with their employer to go back to work. (2005, 21) 

SOX was a legislative initiative in response to the large number of major frauds that 

came to light at the turn of the century, such as Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Adlephia. 

The portion of SOX dealing with protecting whistleblowers is known as the Corporate 

and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act of 2002. This act was hailed as a safety net for 

employees who step forward and reveal wrongdoing at their companies by providing a 

form of employment protection. The legislative intent was that protecting employees at 

public companies who become aware of and report financial abuses may help prevent 

future corporate collapses. As such innocent stockholders could be protected from 

securities frauds. “But under SOX, there’s no penalty motivating employers to comply.” 

(Verschoor, 21) 

As stated above COSO defines internal control to include processes designed to provide 

reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of objectives. Beard argues that it is 

imperative for employers to implement effective processes to include high standards of 

6

ethical conduct, that aid in distinguishing between right and wrong behaviors. (Beard, 

2007, 33) The top down aspect of the practical application of internal controls implies 

responsibility by each individual to uphold high standards for quality work accomplished. 

ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE 

We use the concept of internal control and security to defend the use of substantive 

password protection. Many internal controls are explained to make them seem more 

feasible as to the average person by protecting the company or organization from “bad 

people” in society. As such an argument in support of internal controls and the use of 

passwords is a “benefit to society.” Yet, supervisors, besides system administrators, 

request employees share their passwords. An employee is now placed in the position of 

arguing with or disrespecting their boss. This can be extremely hard for a new person to 

do. Also, for a new person the lack of experience may cause them to not understand the 

weakness of following this type of order. 

Leaders can obtain respect and the loyalty through ability. They can then be in a position 

to implement strong internal controls. However, many organizational supervisors demand 

obedience. If immediate respect is not shown then it is possible for people to be passed 

over for promotion or not satisfactorily completing their probationary period. These 

types of actions are basically invisible but are noticed within an organization by other 

employees. 

The lack of concern outside the formal organization reporting structure can lead to 

unforgivable frauds such as taking $500,000 from the United Way or $20,000 from the 

Adelanto, California Little League (Associated Press). While these amounts may seem 

small and not everyone is concerned or worried abut these specific organizations there is 

an impact of society. Funds donated to one non-profit organization are not available for 

another organization and easily raised again. While these particular situations don’t 

involve misuse of passwords they do involve misuse of power and trust. In the book 

edited by Joseph Wells there is a description of a fraud where trainers in a healthcare 

insurance provider manipulated their power and used their override authority to process 

checks to themselves and delete the associated records (Kronick).. 

Society may expect individuals in authority to use their power for the overall benefit. 

While in fact some individuals abuse this trust of their leadership abilities by allowing or 

worse demanding a misuse of the technology which has been entrusted to the 

organization. 

Employees are important stakeholders in the organization. They have an expectation of 

being rewarded for their actions. The ability to properly reward individuals can be 

weakened through ineffective leaders, inadequate supervision, or the lack of enforcement 

of legitimate internal controls. 

7

Economic theory supports the concept that an organization will benefit through the 

efficient use of resources. Employees, pressured to get their work done quickly, may not 

see the long term benefit to following control procedures, protecting passwords, or 

developing passwords that are difficult to hack. Leaders need to create an atmosphere of 

trust, where the employees will do what is needed. The benefits of good password 

control are not immediately obvious. 

An outsiders ability to hack into the system, steal identities or even organizational funds 

may not be noticed or established until after an extended period of time. It is even 

possible that the employees responsible for unintentional system security breach to have 

left the organization and not be around when it is discovered. 

It becomes imperative for each individual to accept her/his moral role in protecting the 

organization’s system and thusly society’s system. Any breakdown can result impacting 

many others with the global society. Accountants have an even stronger societal mandate 

to be leaders within organizations concerning educating all organizational members about 

the effective internal controls and assuring that internal controls when implemented are 

enforced. 

8

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Associated Press “Ex-California Mayor, Wife Get 6 Months for Stealing $20,000 from 

Little League”, FoxNews.com, Saturday April 19, 2008. 

Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, “The 2008 Report to the Nation”. 

Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, “The 2006 Report to the Nation”. 

Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, “The 2010 Report to the Nations,” 

acfe.com/rttn/2010-highlights.asp 

Barber, Bernard, “Professions and Emerging Professions”, Ethical Issues in Professional 

Life, Edited by Joan C. Callahan, New York, Oxford University Press, 1988, pp. 35 - 54. 

Beard, Deborah F., “Retaliation Unlawful, Unethical, or just to Be Expected?”, Strategic 

Finance, August 2007, pp. 33- 38. 

Beard, Deborah and H. Joseph Wen, “Reducing the Threat Levels for Accounting 

Information Systems,” The CPA Journal May 2007, p. 34 – 42. 

Bowie, Norman E. and Ronald F. Duska, Business Ethics, 2 nd edition, Prentice Hall, 

1990. 

Carozza, Dick, “Battling Elusive Identify Theft,” Fraud Magazine, p. 37 

Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, “Internal Control 

– Integrated Framework: Executive Summary,” September 1992. 

Fordham, David R., “How Strong are your Passwords?” Strategic Finance, May 2008, p. 

42 – 47. 

French, Peter A., “Corporate Moral Agency”, Ethical Issues in Professional Life, Edited 

by Joan C. Callahan, New York, Oxford University Press, 1988,pp. 265 -268. 

Garrison, Chlotia P., “An Evaluation of Passwords”, The CPA Journal, May 2008, p. 70 

– 71. 

Hildebrand, Mary J. and Mathew Savare, “Privacy Principles for Accountants”, The CPA 

Journal, May 2008, p. 54-59. 

Hughes, Everett C. “Professions”, Ethical Issues in Professional Life, Edited by Joan C. 

Callahan, New York, Oxford University Press, 1988, pp. 31-35. 

9

Institute of Internal Auditors, Tone at the Top, February 2009. 

Johnson, Roberta Ann, Whistle blowing: When it Works and Why, Lynne Rienner 

Publishers, 2003. 

Kieseo, Donald E., Jerry J. Weydandt, Terry Warfield, Intermediate Accounting, 12 th 

edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2008. 

Kronick, John F. “the Mojo Skim Twins,” Fraud Casebook: Lessons from the Bad side of 

Business, Edited by Joseph T. Wells, John Wiley & Sons, 2007, P. 61 – 70. 

Macaulay, Craig, “Computer forensics Pulling the Trigger on Fraud,” Fraud Magazine, p. 

33, March/April 2007. 

May, William F., “Professional Virtue and Self-regulation”, Ethical Issues in 

Professional Life, Edited by Joan C. Callahan, New York, Oxford University Press, 1988, 

pp. 408 – 410. 

Ramaswamy, Vinita M., “Identity-theft Toolkit,” The CPA Journal, October 2006, p. 66- 

70. 

Salmon, Jacqueline L., “Ex-United Way Chief Pleads Guilty”, Washingtonpost.com, 

Thursday March 4, 2004. 

Swanton, Christine, “Virtue Ethics, Role Ethics, and Business Ethics,” Working Virtues 

Virtue Ethics and Contemporary Moral Problems, Rebecca L. Walker and Philip J. 

Ivanhoe, editors, 2009, pp. 207 – 224. 

Van Es, Robert and Gerard Smit, “Whistle blowing and the Media Logic: A Case Study”, 

Business Ethics: A European Review, Vol 1 issue 2, April 2003, pp. 144-150. 

Verschoor, Curtis C., “To Blow the Whistle or not is a Tough Decision!”, Strategic 

Finance, October 2005, p. 21 -22. 

Walker, Rebecca L., Philip J. Ivanhoe, “Introduction”, Working Virtues Virtue Ethics 

and Contemporary Moral Problems, Rebecca L. Walker and Philip J. Ivanhoe, editors, 

2009, pp. 1 – 39.. 

Wildstrom, Stephen H. “New Weapons to Stop Identity Thieves,” BusinessWeek, March 

14, 2005, p. 24. 

Yamamura, Jeanne H. and Fritz H. Grupe, “Ethical Considerations for Providing 

Professional Services Online,” The CPA Journal, May 2008, pp. 62 – 64. 

10

Business Security and Continuity of Operations Planning: 

The New Strategic Imperative 

Jason G. Caudill 

Carson-Newman College 

ABSTRACT 

This paper is intended to serve as an introduction to the topic of business continuity planning and its 

importance in the modern global economy. Definitions of continuity planning, justification for including it in a 

strategic plan, and possible benefits from having a plan in place are all addressed. As the business world 

becomes increasingly vulnerable to disruptions through natural disaster or civil unrest the continuity planning 

process is increasingly important.

Introduction 

The topic for this paper was selected, and the writing started, before the tragic earthquake that hit 

Japan on Friday, March 11, 2011. While the author certainly did not create this work as a 

response to that tragedy there is really no way to ignore it. The literature discusses how the 

threat environment is changing and how things need to be different going forward. As this 

introduction is edited, just four days after the initial event and as consequences are still unfolding 

in Japan, the environment has changed. There is no way to know from this point how much 

change will be seen between today and the submission of this paper, or beyond that from the 

submission of this paper to its presentation at ABWIC 2011. What can be predicted is that the 

world is different today than it was four days ago, and it will be more different still two months 

from now. The author hopes that this work can contribute to better spreading the word of 

continuity of operations planning so that companies can be better prepared for the next major 

incident. 

The competitive environment for business is constantly evolving. In the 1980s business had to 

focus on quality enhancement, in the 1990s business was forced to enhance safety; today the 

focus is to integrate security into the firm (Van Opstal, 2007). Security for today’s businesses 

takes on many different forms. 

While homeland security issues often capture leading stories in the media and are frequently at 

the forefront of individual concerns there are many more threats to business security that must be 

considered when planning for continuity. For the modern, global business any event that 

disrupts the global supply chain at any point constitutes a security threat to operational stability. 

Extreme weather, geological events, political instability, and of course the threat of terrorism can 

all result in adverse impact for company operations. 

For companies to manage this increasingly challenging threat environment several things must 

happen. First, companies need to know what exists in the threat environment. Once potential 

threats are identified the interaction of those threats and the business environment must be 

assessed and understood. Following a definition of the possible effects of the disruptions 

companies should develop procedures and plans to address interruption mitigation. Ultimately, 

continuity of operations planning should be a key component of a firm’s overall strategic 

perspective. 

Why Continuity Matters 

Planning and preparing for business interruptions bears costs. Monetary resources must be spent 

as well as the dedication of labor hours. These resources, once spent on continuity planning, are 

lost to other potential investments for the firm. There is an undeniable opportunity cost to 

planning for continuity of operations. As with any decision in business, this cost must be 

weighed against possible returns. In continuity planning the returns primarily relate to loss 

avoidance and loss mitigation. 

Many points in business can be best made with hard numbers. In order to illustrate the potential 

value of planning for continuity of operations here are some statistics from Jeff Crenshaw,

founder and CEO of Continuum, a business continuity planning and recovery services company. 

60% of businesses fail after a significant interruption event, 75% of companies without a 

continuity plan fail within 3 years of an event, and disaster planning dropped the average 

recovery cost for an afflicted firm by 54% (Crenshaw, 2011). These should be persuasive 

figures for any organization. 

Beyond the question of survivability there are also regulatory issues that impact preparedness. 

Title IX of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 in the United States instituted the voluntary private 

sector preparedness accreditation and certification program (FEMA, 2010). This program 

adopted three standards for preparedness, which were approved in June 2010: 

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These results and regulatory issues help to illustrate why a company should be concerned about 

planning for continuity of operations the statistics are only half of the picture. To complete the 

explanation of need for continuity planning the threat environment, ways in which operations 

may be compromised, must be explored. 

The Modern Threat Environment 

Risk is an inherent factor in business and without incurring risk no reward can be gained. Part of 

risk is the threat of damage or failure. As commerce evolves so too does the threat environment. 

In today’s global commerce environment the threats are more distributed and potentially more 

damaging than they have ever been before. Recently unfavorable economic conditions around 

the world have combined with existing and evolving threats to create a very dangerous business 

climate. 

Ironically, the same advantages that have driven growth and profit through the globalization of 

business operations are often at the core of today’s operational threats to companies. Starr, 

Newfrock, and Delurey (2003) explain that “The openness and complexity of today’s extended 

enterprise increases the firm’s dependence on a global financial, operational, and trade 

infrastructure” (p. 3). At the core of the extended enterprise is the global supply chain, the 

importance of which is highlighted by Sarathy (2006) as, “Ensuring smooth supply chain 

functioning requires guarding against disruptions at all levels of the supply chain” (p. 2).

These issues strike directly at the heart of the modern lean enterprise. Sarathy (2006) further 

explains that, “…as supply chains become globally dispersed and scattered across many nations 

and cultures and encompassing greater distances, there is a greater possibility that disruptions 

can occur at distant locations, making prevention and mitigating response more complex” (p. 2). 

Manuj and Mentzer (2008) detail the potential problems as, “Many recent events (for example, 

SARS epidemic, and September 11 terrorist attacks, and more recently, hurricanes Rita and 

Katrina) demonstrate that an event affecting one supply chain entity or process may interrupt the 

operations of other supply chain members” (p. 1). 

These diverse and distributed threats make business today more vulnerable to disruption than in 

previous generations. Because the global supply chain incorporates true multinational operations 

and these operations must work in concert to produce, distribute, and consume products a 

disruption at any point can delay, disrupt, or even destroy the operation as a whole. How 

significant a risk is to the supply chain, and by extension how serious a disruption may be, 

depends in part on the type of resource that is being disrupted. 

Of particular concern is the deeply integrated nature of the global supply chain. This threat 

environment is not limited only to multinational firms or companies who choose to offshore 

activities or partner with international providers. Almost every type of business in the United 

States, regardless of size, is directly impacted by disruptions to international commerce. If a 

supplier to a business suffers a disruption somewhere in their supply chain or in the supply chain 

of one of their suppliers the end result is a product not reaching the final retailer. This results in 

stock-outs and related customer satisfaction difficulties. As such no organization is too small to 

consider the global implications of operational continuity. 

Svennson (2004) highlights the development of his model of business interruption. Svennson 

(2000) developed a model that illustrates the vulnerability of business relationships on the basis 

of three factors: 1) source of disturbance 2) category of disturbance and 3) type of logistics flow. 

In 2002 Svennson further refined the theory to include two components of a business disruption: 

1) disturbance and 2) the negative consequence of disturbance. Manuj and Mentzer (2008) adopt 

Svennson’s model to define possible sources of risk as atomistic, affecting supplies that can 

easily be obtained from other sources, or holistic, affecting supplies that are more difficult to 

obtain and can impact the supply chain as a whole. 

As threat definitions are developed the initial steps of management and mitigation begin to 

become apparent. As with any strategic effort the first step in solving a problem is to define the 

problem, in this case by categorizing the threat and its potential impact. At the core of these 

definitions are the questions of what part of the process has been impacted and how much of the 

supply chain as a whole will suffer from this disruption. The cause of such a disruption is 

ultimately inconsequential to the management process, whether civil unrest, terrorism, or natural 

disaster the disruption is still a disruption with its own unique impacts and characteristics and 

must be managed and mitigated properly to ensure the survival of the firm. 

Planning for Continuity

Recognizing the need for continuity planning is an important step towards preparedness. Starr 

et. al. (2003) reports that while the majority of Fortune 1000 executives recognize the possibility 

of business interruption due to major disruption less than 25% had taken measures to protect 

their firm. Clearly awareness alone is not enough; an organization needs to take proactive steps 

to protect and secure their interests. 

There are different models available to use in the planning process. Manuj and Mentzer (2008) 

outline the following process to plan for supply chain continuity: 

1) Risk Identification 

2) Risk Assessment and Evaluation 

3) Selection of Appropriate Risk Management Strategies 

4) Implementation of Supply Chain Risk Management Strategy(s) 

5) Mitigation of Supply Chain Risks 

Starr et. al. (2003) outline their plan for enterprise resilience planning as: 

1) Identify the greatest risks across the enterprise 

2) Diagnose enterprise-wide risk and interdependencies 

3) Adapt corporate strategy and operating model 

4) Endure increased risk and complexity 

Stucke and Straub (2005) cite Karakasidis (1997) as having a typical set of steps in the business 

continuity planning process. The Karakasidis model is more detailed, but reflects the same basic 

structure and focus as the models listed previously: 

1) Obtain top management approval and support 

2) Establish a business continuity planning (BCP) committee 

3) Perform business impact analysis 

4) Evaluate critical needs and prioritize business requirements 

5) Determine the business continuity strategy and associated recovery process 

6) Prepare business continuity strategy and its implementation plan for executive 

management approval 

7) Prepare business recovery plan templates and utilities, organize/develop the business 

recovery procedures 

8) Develop the testing criteria and procedures 

9) Test the business recovery process and evaluate test results 

10) Develop/review service level agreement(s) (SLAs) 

11) Update/revise the business recovery procedures and templates 

As is apparent from these three models the planning for business continuity takes different forms 

depending on what kind of continuity is being pursued. General business continuity, supply 

chain continuity, information systems continuity; all of these have their own unique 

requirements. There are some central themes, however, that apply to the entire enterprise.

First, risks must be identified. This stage of recognition and definition is similar to the first steps 

of many management processes. In order to plan for any type of event one must first recognize 

the need to plan and frame the parameters of what the plan is intended to do. Once risks have 

been identified the second step is to weigh the likelihood of occurrence and potential impact of 

those risks. While a hurricane is a possibility for a company in New York City the probability of 

one occurring at that location is relatively low. A blizzard, however, is both possible and much 

more probable and therefore would demand more careful consideration in the process of 

continuity planning. 

Assessing the likelihood and severity of risks leads to deciding what can be mitigated and what 

cannot be. Making the decision of what to not plan for may be one of the most difficult parts of 

continuity planning (Whittet, 2009). Unfortunately, it is simply not possible for any organization 

to protect against every possible threat; the cost-benefit analysis of such an attempt does not 

work. 

The final step in the process as a whole is to actually create, implement, and monitor the plan. 

Plans that are written but never read, or read but never updated, do little to truly prepare a firm 

for a disruptive event. As companies and environmental conditions change so too must the plan. 

Once written, a continuity plan is not a static document. Rather, it must be dynamic to serve the 

organization in a dynamic environment. 

The planning process will be unique for every organization. The central themes of continuity 

planning, however, will be the same for any scale or scope of planning activity. With different 

specialties each having unique risks and unique needs individual departments within a company 

may need to develop their own plans which are then incorporated into the overall company plan. 

However the process is approached, making the plan and keeping that plan updated is critical for 

a firm’s survival in the face of disaster. 

Benefits of Continuity Planning 

The introduction to this paper gave some good quantitative reasons for a company to have a 

continuity plan in place. The 54% reduction in recovery cost alone could make the process 

worthwhile, but there are other positive aspects to planning as well. Van Opstal (2007) identifies 

both business and competitive benefits to improving the security of a company’s operations. 

Business benefits include: cost savings and productivity gains, creation of new revenue streams, 

and improved compliance capability, while competitive benefits include: improved shareholder 

value, better bond/share ratings, positive brand image, and customer satisfaction (Van Opstal, 

2007). 

Considering such benefits, continuity planning is not just an issue of avoiding risk. Rather, the 

continuity planning process is a strategic focus that can generate positive results for the company 

as a whole. Companies can view the planning process as simply the cost of doing business, as a 

strategy itself, or as a strategic opportunity (Van Opstal, 2007). Viewed as an opportunity, 

continuity planning can be integrated into the firm’s overall competitive strategy. 

Conclusion

Continuity planning, and the security of commercial operations as a whole, is a large and 

growing topic. In the current climate, “Governments and industries are increasingly dependent 

on each other at a level of intricacy not seen – in the United States at least – since World War II” 

(Starr, et. al., 2003, p. 5). Business continuity planning goes beyond just ensuring profits for a 

particular company, it increasingly contributes to homeland security and national defense. In an 

increasingly complex and volatile world climate businesses must consider how they will recover 

from unexpected disruptions and remain a going concern in the long term.

References 

Crenshaw, J. (2011). Continuity of Operations Seminar. Knoxville, TN. 23 Feb 2011. 

FEMA (2010). Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Accreditation and Certification Program. 

Retrieved 3/21/11 from: http://www.fema.gov/media/fact_sheets/vpsp.shtm. 

Manuj, I. and Mentzer, J. (2008). Global Supply Chain Risk Management. Journal of Business 

Logistics. Retrieved 3/22/11 from: http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activitiesmanagement/management-risk-management/11580133-1.html. 

Sarathy, R. (2006). Security and the global supply chain. Transportation Journal. 45(4). 

Starr, R., Newfrock, J., and Delurey, M. (2003). Enterprise Resilience: Managing Risk in the 

Networked Economy. Strategy & Business Magazine. 30. pp 1-12. 

Stucke, C. and Straub, D. (2005). Business Continuity Planning and the Protection of 

Informational Assets. In D. Straub, S. Goodman, and R. Baskerville (Eds.) Information Security 

Management and Practices. 

Svennson, G. (2000). A conceptual framework for the analysis of vulnerability in supply 

chains. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management. 30(9). pp 731- 

750. 

Svennson, G. (2002). Dyadic vulnerability in companies’ inbound and outbound logistics flows. 

International Journal of Logistics: Research and Applications. 5(1). pp. 1-31. 

Svennson, G. (2004). Vulnerability in business relationships: the gap between dependence and 

trust. The Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing. 19(7). pp 469-483. 

Van Opstal, D. (2007). The Resilient Economy: Integrating Competitiveness and Security. 

Council of Competitiveness. 

Whittet, L. (2009). Aspects of Business Continuity Management. Leslie Whittet & Associates 

Pty Ltd.

Civilization in the Balance: 

A Comparative Validation of 

Hofstedean and GLOBE Cultural Dimensions 

Against the Toynbee-Huntington Civilization Model 

Richard S. Voss 

Troy University 

ABSTRACT 

Cultural dimensions are an efficient source of important information for preparing expatriate training, 

facilitating intercultural work teams, managing foreign workforces, planning marketing campaigns in foreign 

environments, and understanding the nuances of leadership and motivation in foreign managerial settings. 

However, published cultural dimensions have yet to include many countries and regions, while questions about 

the validity of current measures continue to hamper confident application. Among the hottest sources of 

contention is that between Hofstede’s model and the GLOBE project. Meanwhile, Toynbee’s useful civilization 

theory has yet to contribute to the debate. Accordingly, the present study seeks to make a unique contribution 

to the discussion, by conducting a comparative validation of both cultural models against the Toynbee‐ 

Huntington civilization model. The analysis finds both models valid predictors of the expected civilizational 

boundaries, but Hofstede’s model shows stronger validity and more clearly distinguishes among civilizational 

groupings. Meanwhile, a selective subset of the GLOBE model attains a high level of validity within these 

parameters, which affirms Hofstede’s contention that cultural dimensions are naturally few in number. The 

GLOBE project thus stands to offer important new information to the evolving science of cross‐cultural analysis. 

This paper concludes with recommendations for future research.

Introduction 

Since 1980, researchers have undertaken two major projects concerning the quantification of the 

dimensions of national culture (i.e., at a higher order of abstraction than either human values or 

political beliefs). The first was that of Hofstede (1980), who produced a model of national 

culture in four bipolar dimensions. This model added a fifth cultural dimension from Hofstede 

and Bond (1988), followed more recently by a sixth and seventh, from Minkov (2007) and 

Neculăesei and Tătăruşanu (2008), codified in Hofstede, Hofstede, Minkov, and Vinken (2008). 

The other project is the GLOBE study (viz., Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior 

Effectiveness) by House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta (2004), which has produced a list 

of nine practices and nine values, most of which resemble in some way the pattern of Hofstede’s 

five-dimension model. These models thus currently have seven and nine variables, respectively, 

although the GLOBE study separates cultural practices from cultural values as well. 

As explained below, other current research projects that currently seek to compare variables of 

interests across national boundaries are measuring lower-order variables, rather than cultural 

dimensions, which are of the highest order of abstraction. This means that only the Hofstede and 

GLOBE models are available for quantifying national culture per se. Nevertheless, researchers 

have yet to apply these measures to most countries and regions of the world, so valid approaches 

to extending current databases would be highly valuable for both researchers and practitioners. 

However, correlations between the analogous Hofstedean and GLOBE dimensions fall short of 

obvious duplication; therefore, if both models are equally valid measures of national culture, 

their theoretical underpinnings are nevertheless distinct and indeed mysterious. Consequently, it 

is difficult to decipher how to translate a given nation’s profile from one model to the other. As 

long as there are questions about the relative validity of the Hofstedean and GLOBE models in 

addition to this difficulty, doubts about the general utility of applying cultural dimensions to 

practical questions in business management will hamper progress in this field. 

However, comparing these contending models against a neutral model from an independent line 

of research may serve to elucidate the optimal direction to take. Specifically, Toynbee’s (1946) 

categorization of civilizations (which focuses on all historical civilizations), supplemented by 

Huntington’s (1993) adaptation (which focuses on all living civilizations and therefore fills some 

gaps left by Toynbee), presents just such an opportunity. Voss, Murphy, and Pederson (2010) 

have thus far shown that Hofstede’s cultural dimensions predict civilizational boundaries well, 

especially as the latter conforms closely to Toynbee’s original lines of demarcation. Therefore, 

this paper seeks to compare the relative strength of prediction afforded by the GLOBE model. 

Review of the Relevant Literatures 

As of the publication of Hofstede and Hofstede’s (2005) country scores, the Hofstedean cultural 

dimensions consisted of power distance (PDI), individualism-collectivism (IDV), uncertainty 

avoidance (UAI), and long-term orientation (LTO). As discussed above, Hofstede et al.’s (2008) 

latest model adds two more dimensions, namely, monumentalism versus self-effacement (MON) 

and indulgence versus restraint (IVR). To date, very few studies reflect the last two dimensions, 

so most discussions are incapable of using them. Hofstedean data follow a scale of zero to 100, 

with an occasional exception, as the particular scoring method may cause a value to exceed 100 

at times. 

1

The GLOBE study lists assertiveness, institutional collectivism, ingroup collectivism, future 

orientation, gender egalitarianism, human orientation, performance orientation, power distance, 

and uncertainty avoidance (House et al., 2004). The study reports one measure of each variable 

as relating to practices, and the other as relating to values, given the distinction that one may 

observe between espoused and practiced values. As is evident from the prior discussion, some of 

these variables may seem to constitute opposites of one another (e.g., human orientation versus 

performance orientation), and the bipolar nature of these variables is harder to detect than in the 

case of Hofstede’s model. GLOBE data follow a scale of one to seven, and the published reports 

specify out to two digits for each value. 

For the sake of completeness, it is important to make the appropriate distinctions among cultural 

dimensions, human needs, universal human values, and political attitudes, as other writers (e.g., 

Hofstede, 2006) may sometimes include such projects in the same category as those of Hofstede 

and GLOBE if they seek to compare variables across nations. The simplest distinctions among 

these models lie in their relative levels of theoretical abstraction (which imply different numbers 

of variables to constitute a comprehensive model), and in whether they are bipolar or unipolar. 

Cultural dimensions and human needs may be approximately similar in number, but the former 

are bipolar, contrary to the latter, which may limit how many are theoretically distinguishable. 

Universal human values are more numerous, numbering perhaps five dozen so far (cf. Schwartz, 

1993). Lastly, attitudes are even more numerous (Locke, 1991), but political attitudes, which are 

bipolar variants of common attitudes, have a narrower focus and are therefore less numerous, due 

to their nature as a subset of all possible attitudes. As Rokeach (1973) reported, a small subset of 

universal human values governs the major political attitudes. 

The only major project that compares universal human values across cultures is that begun by 

Schwartz and Bilsky (1987), which started as a cross-cultural extension of the Rokeach Value 

Survey (Rokeach, 1973). This work has found that universal human values differ systematically 

between countries with distinct religious traditions, linguistic affiliations, or histories. Universal 

human values therefore closely follow national culture. However, beyond their greater number, 

they also differ from dimensions of national culture in their dual purpose, as they simultaneously 

serve to define individual personalities, while cultural dimensions are incapable of that level of 

personal detail. Moreover, Schwartz and Bilsky (1987) noted that universal human values cluster 

statistically into groupings (motivational domains) that fall closely in line with human needs of 

prior research (e.g., Maslow, 1943; McClelland, 1961). 

Lastly, the World Values Survey project (WVS; cf. World Values Study Group, 1989) measures 

political attitudes (e.g., support for democracy, impact of globalization, and tolerance of ethnic 

minorities) and has developed a large database reflective of national averages on these measures. 

This work thus also stands to offer important insights for the study of national culture. Regarding 

the model’s level of abstraction, the WVS currently includes 250 items, which accommodates an 

even larger number of possible variables, depending on how the researcher chooses to construe 

them. Thus, the WVS conforms to an attitudinal measure in theory, even though the wording of 

some of the items may alternatively reflect universal human values or even cultural dimensions, 

particularly if researchers can control for differences in population types (e.g., career types) in 

the comparative data, which may enable the extraction of cultural dimensions. 

2

Toynbee’s (1946) theory of civilizations is the result of an extraordinarily deep study (published 

in 10 volumes prior to the 1946 and 1957 distillations into only two) to enumerate and identify 

the life cycle of world civilizations. Due to Toynbee’s focus on historical civilizations, he left 

some modern countries unidentified in terms of civilizational affiliation, including Latin America 

(which he only defined in its pre-Columbian form). Huntington (1993) then set out to identify the 

systematic causes of international stresses and strains in the post-Cold War era, using Toynbee’s 

(1946) theory and updating it to emphasize only the major civilizations of the present era. To be 

sure, Huntington deviated from Toynbee in his judgment on certain civilizational boundaries, 

such as by identifying Japan as a whole civilization, rather than either including it in the Sinic or 

separating it out with Korea, as Toynbee had indicated. He also emphasized religion more than 

history in some cases, wherein Toynbee would have emphasized history (e.g., by associating the 

non-Orthodox Slavic countries with the Western civilization). Nevertheless, Huntington’s work 

has provided important clarity, both on the status of Latin America as a civilization, rather than 

merely an extension of the West, and on notable cases in which more than one civilization vies 

for dominance in a single country (e.g., Yugoslavia). Huntington’s work thus advances that of 

Toynbee in ways that are important to progress in research into national culture. Overall, Voss et 

al. (2010) have shown the combined insights of Toynbee and Huntington to be very accurate, by 

reference to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as a point of reference. 

Currently, cultural-dimension data are available to provide adequate knowledge of 86 nations or 

peoples using Hofstede’s (1980, 1991) model (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005), and 62 by way of 

the GLOBE model (House et al., 2004), which would add 11 to the current Hofstedean database 

if it were possible to translate the scores from one model to the other. Although Hofstede (2006) 

scrutinized the GLOBE data for comparability, the correlations between analogous variables are 

too weak to constitute simple substitutes, despite the strong statistical significance of the matches 

thus made. Nevertheless, success in translating one data set to the other would leave researchers 

with data covering only 97 nations or peoples (or 90 nations proper), which would leave at least 

82 more nations to estimate in some way, in addition to 51 territories and possessions. 

Toynbee versus Huntington 

In his introduction, Toynbee (1946) at first summarized four civilizations in addition to “Western 

Christendom” (p. 8). These included Orthodox Christian (southeast Europe and Russia), Islam, a 

Hindu civilization in India, and a Far-Eastern civilization. Toynbee later refined his terminology 

as Western, Orthodox, which may be divisible into Orthodox-Russian and Orthodox-Byzantine, 

Islamic, Hindu, and Far Eastern, which may be divisible into Chinese and “Korean-Japanese” (p. 

34). Of import to the terminology upon which Huntington finally settled, Toynbee also described 

a “Sinic” civilization, the ancient forerunner of the “Far Eastern,” which he thought separate due 

to the important transformation that occurred with the advent of Mahāyāna (Dàshèng) Buddhism 

in the first century of the common era (p. 22). Lastly, in the Western Hemisphere, Toynbee listed 

the Andean, Yucatec, Mexic, and Mayan civilizations as defunct, without bothering to name any 

successors. This last choice would leave readers to decide whether Latin American nations might 

constitute their own civilization or merely an extension of the Western. Aside from the defunct 

Egyptiac civilization, Toynbee mentioned no African civilization either. 

Huntington (1993) observed the same civilizations as Toynbee, with similar boundaries, but with 

some significant exceptions driven by a bias for maximal inclusiveness among the modern states, 

3

as well as an evident desire to categorize some countries about which Toynbee afforded a degree 

of academic judgment. Recognition of Huntington’s reliance on Toynbee is important, because 

critics of Huntington (especially the vociferous assemblage that appeared in the issue of Foreign 

Affairs that immediately followed Huntington’s article) have seemed to imply that Huntington’s 

model lacks theoretical backing, a contention utterly contradicted by the fact of Toynbee’s very 

thorough theorizing. Huntington’s most important changes from Toynbee were to: (1) separate 

Japanese civilization from “Far Eastern,” leaving the possible Korean component in the realm of 

China; (2) add Latin America as a unique civilization in its own right; and (3) propose an African 

proto-civilization. Thus, for Huntington, a civilization comes into being as it comes to possess a 

coherent identity to motivate a consistent pattern of national decisions (e.g., a consistent pattern 

of contention), along with international importance that draws resources from other civilizations. 

A common history, and indeed some measure of a common lot, must be a part of this identity. 

Thus, one dominant nation can foment an identity of ideology, but not one of civilization, unless 

its dominance within its civilizational domain is so ancient as to be identical to the civilization’s 

common history itself. 

Neither Huntington (1993) nor Toynbee (1946) suggested that major civilizations must constitute 

culturally homogeneous entities. Nevertheless, they did imply that they share a common cultural 

identity (despite the possibility of cultural differences among the national members) by reference 

to their common religious traditions, linguistic affinities, or historical (and hence often regional) 

commonalities. To be sure, Toynbee explored cultural similarities across a civilization far more 

than did Huntington, but he emphasized that some degree of cultural heterogeneity is natural and 

indeed inevitable, in large measure due to changes in technology and resource availability from 

one nation to the next. Nevertheless, given the common, higher order identity that characterizes 

the members of a given civilization, there must indeed be more cultural similarity within it than 

across its outer boundary, and it is precisely the extent of this cultural similarity that Voss et al. 

(2010) demonstrated in their validation of Hofstede’s (1980, 1991) cultural dimensions. 

It is also important to note that commonalities in culture across civilizations are not completely 

reducible to questions of language, ethnicity, or religion, let alone ideology. Nations within a 

civilization that share the same or related languages are indeed culturally similar, but linguistic 

commonalities between nations across the civilizational divide may hide surprising differences. 

Jamaican culture is by no means English or even Western, even though Anglophone nations in 

the Western civilization are culturally very similar. Language is indeed a powerful driver and 

carrier of culture, but language likewise molds itself around cultural upheavals (e.g., wars and 

large-scale religious movements), injecting them with neologisms and semantic revisions, and 

perpetuating them thereafter through the resulting inertia. Linguistically divided nations may be 

surprisingly homogeneous culturally. Meanwhile, nations that espouse the same religion within 

the same civilization will share most higher-order cultural traits, while nominal religious kinship 

between nations across the civilizational boundary can be deceptive. The Orthodox traditions of 

Christianity are distinct from the Western mainly due to how their respective cultures use, treat, 

and understand them, rather than due to differences in theology. Ideology, for its part, can create 

greater illusions of common viewpoint than religion, as common symbols and arguments across 

civilizations accompany actual priorities and practical application that is essentially a product of 

distinct cultures. 

4

Hypotheses 

This study seeks to compare alternative models of national culture. Accordingly, the expectation 

is that both models will demonstrate validity against the two criterion measures (the Huntington 

and Toynbee civilization models). This expectation assumes that both models are valid reflectors 

of the reality of national culture, despite their disagreements. Beyond this objective, should one 

model show greater validity than the other shows, it would be inferable that it happens to capture 

a fuller range of the drivers of civilizational differences. Thus, this study proposes the following 

hypotheses, which relate to testing the 4-factor models against Huntington’s civilization model, 

without the Voss et al. (2010) Toynbee corrections (cf. Measures, below): 

H1. Hofstede’s 4-factor model will demonstrate validity vis-à-vis Huntington’s civilization 

model. 

H2. The GLOBE 4-factor model of practices will demonstrate validity vis-à-vis Huntington’s 

civilization model. 

H3. The GLOBE 4-factor model of values will demonstrate validity vis-à-vis Huntington’s 

civilization model. 

As the foregoing suggests, there is no a priori way to predict which model (Hofstede or GLOBE) 

will demonstrate stronger validity, or whether there will be any statistically significant difference 

between them. Moreover, the outcome may change when the criterion is the Toynbee civilization 

model. The outcome notwithstanding, the Voss et al. (2010) Toynbee-based corrections create a 

more accurate civilization model in terms of culture per se, even if Huntington’s (1993) model is 

a more accurate gauge of political alignments and sources of international conflict. Accordingly, 

this part of the study advances the following hypotheses: 

H4. Hofstede’s 4-factor model will demonstrate validity vis-à-vis the Voss et al. (2010) 

Toynbee-based corrections to Huntington’s civilization model. 

H5. The GLOBE 4-factor model of practices will demonstrate validity vis-à-vis the Voss et 

al. (2010) Toynbee-based corrections to Huntington’s civilization model. 

H6. The GLOBE 4-factor model of values will demonstrate validity vis-à-vis the Voss et al. 

(2010) Toynbee-based corrections to Huntington’s civilization model. 

Methodology 

Voss et al. (2010) introduced a composite scoring method to determine cultural fit between two 

nations or between a nation and the mean cultural dimensions of a given civilization. The noted 

method is a function of the simple correlation coefficient between each of the nations’ cultural 

dimensions, the Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient, and a third measure designed to 

capture the residual difference in the comparative sets of cultural dimensions, beyond what the 

two types of correlation coefficients are able to detect. This method requires an analysis of all 

possible pairs of nations, with one score calculated for each pair, so common procedures such as 

regression analysis are impractical. Instead, a comparison between predicted and theoretically 

5

determined outcomes on the matter of common or disparate civilization for each reported pair is 

the method used herein. 

Sample 

Those 50 nations or peoples that constitute the common set between those nations published in 

Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) and those of the GLOBE study (House et al., 2004) constitute the 

subject measures. The sampling frame therefore consists of all possible pairs of nations within 

this subgroup (N = 1,225). These 50 nations collectively include all eight of Huntington’s major 

civilizations, and 11 of the 12 civilizations or civilizational groupings identifying by Voss et al. 

(2010) as reflecting Toynbee’s (1946) model. For the latter, the missing civilization is the Anglo- 

Caribbean (identified by Huntington as a separate civilizational grouping), as the GLOBE data 

exclude the two countries at issue, namely, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. 

Measures 

While the first of those components of the composite score described above is self-explanatory, 

in that culturally similar countries will tend to show strong correlations between then in their 

cultural-dimension profile, the simple use of an ordinary correlation coefficient to qualify two 

cultures to be similar is misleading. This is true in part because a correlation coefficient implies 

statistical significance, which a comparison of four or five variables can never actually show. In 

addition, taken alone, a correlation coefficient only detects similarity in the trend line implied by 

each profile. 

The Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient is an important part of the composite measure, 

due to the nature of cultural dimensions as inherently comparative. In light of Schwartz’s (1993) 

explanation of that component of culture that consists of some arrangement of universal human 

values, the nature of values as implicitly demanding a rank ordering, which in turn suggests how 

a society chooses to prioritize its culturally embedded decisions, is very important. In fact, the 

Rokeach Value Survey (Rokeach, 1973) originally asked subjects to rank-order their responses, 

rather than to use a rating scale, as Rokeach sought to ensure that his survey instrument reflected 

his underlying theory closely. Given that values naturally compete with one another in this sense, 

a rank ordering of a nation’s cultural dimensions likewise reflects this sense of prioritization at 

the national level. 

Lastly, the third type of comparison introduced by Voss et al. (2010) involves gauging the total 

difference in magnitude between the two sets of scores. For example, if one country rates power 

distance as 80, while the other rates it as 60, power distance is 75% similar between them. This 

third measure requires obtaining the product of the percentages of all four or five dimensions in 

the paired lists, and then restoring them to their original metric by obtaining the fourth or fifth 

root of the product, as appropriate. Thus, if one country reports PDI = 80, IDV = 80, MAS = 80, 

and LTO = 80, while the other reports a value of 60 in each position, the product (75% taken to 

the fourth power) is 31.6%. Because the true difference is 75% throughout the comparison, it is 

clear that one must restore 31.6% mathematically to the original 75%, so the solution is naturally 

to obtain the fourth root in this case. 

6

The analysis introduced by Voss et al. (2010) then obtains a weighted average of these measures, 

by first setting them in the same metric. Because the percentage measure (the last item discussed 

above) has a minimum of zero and a maximum of one and is a percentage, which is equivalent to 

an r²-value, the analyst must likewise transform the correlation coefficients into r²-values, with a 

minimum of zero and a maximum of one. Because this transformation must preserve the value’s 

negative quality, however, zero must represent a correlation of negative one, while 0.5 represents 

a correlation of zero. After this, a simple average of the resulting r²-values correctly renders the 

mean score, which the analyst then returns to the form of the correlation coefficient by reversing 

the process just noted. 

In Voss et al. (2010) study, the fit-criterion was a final score of 0.5 or above, as this value, which 

represents similarity between cultural-dimension profiles above 70%, closely matched the actual 

association of a nation with a given civilization. This level of specificity also rendered visible the 

smaller components of the Western civilization. 

Common-civilization scores come in two forms. The first comes in the form of a strict construal 

of Huntington’s (1993) civilizational boundaries, ignoring disagreements with Toynbee (1946). 

The second corrects those civilizational boundaries according to the revised model presented by 

Voss et al. (2010), excepting inferences made in that study based solely on observed fit-statistics. 

Those exceptions include placing Israel in the Central European civilizational cluster, placing the 

Philippines in the Islamic civilization, placing Thailand in the Hindu-Buddhist civilization, and 

placing South African Whites in the Anglo-Britannic civilizational cluster. Huntington described 

Israel as most likely falling outside major civilizational boundaries, while Thailand belongs to a 

Buddhist group unaffiliated with either the Hindu or the Sinic civilizations. Huntington described 

South Africa as belonging to the African proto-civilization, so identifying South African Whites 

as belonging to the Anglo-Britannic cluster demands additional patience. The Philippines feature 

two civilizations at odds, including Mindanao Island in the south, which is Islamic and probably 

explains Voss et al.’s (2010) finding in that regard. 

Controls 

To keep extraneous methodological factors from affecting the comparison, the validity phase of 

the study will only compare Hofstede’s 4-factor (i.e., excluding LTO, for which several nations 

lack data) model against the four analogous GLOBE practices and values, in turn. Thus, the first 

phase will include PDI, IDV, MAS, and LTO in Hofstede’s model, alongside (as this study opts 

to abbreviate them) PDP (power distance practices), IGP (ingroup collectivism practices), ASP 

(assertiveness practices), and UAP (uncertainty avoidance practices), followed subsequently by 

PDV, IGV, ASV, and UAV (the associated values in the GLOBE model). The choice of ASP or 

ASV as the closest analog of MAS, given the presence of gender egalitarianism (GEP or GEV), 

is that the latter shows a poor correlation with MAS, while ASP or ASV shows the strongest (r = 

.23 and .20, respectively). 

Following the comparison between the 4-factor models, the analysis will conduct an exploratory 

analysis to optimize the selection of GLOBE variables and assess whether the outcome seems to 

be meaningful. In this final phase of the study, the selection of optimal variables will correspond 

to those that produce the strongest weighted average of four correlations: (1) GLOBE practices 

against the Huntington model; (2) GLOBE practices against the Toynbee-based improved model; 

7

(3) GLOBE values against the Huntington model; and (4) GLOBE values against the Toynbeebased 

improved model. 

Results 

Table 1 presents the results of the 4-factor validity study against the Huntington (1993) and the 

Toynbee-based improved model by Voss et al. (2010). The results support the hypotheses related 

to validity in the Hofstedean model consistently, while showing strangely inconsistent results in 

the GLOBE models. Specifically, while the Hofstedean model showed a statistically significant 

relationship with both the Huntington civilization model and the Toynbee-based improvement, 

the relationship was stronger in the latter, which is logical, given the nature of the difference in 

the civilization models. This supports Hypotheses 1 and 4. However, GLOBE practices showed 

significance against the Toynbee-based improvement, while falling short against the Huntington 

model, which supports Hypothesis 5 but suggests rejection of Hypothesis 2. Finally, the GLOBE 

values performed in precisely the opposite fashion, showing significance against the Huntington 

civilization model but none against the Toynbee-based improvement. This affirms Hypothesis 3, 

while suggesting a rejection of Hypothesis 6. 

Criterion Hofstede a GLOBE Practices b GLOBE Values c 

Huntington model r = .162 (p < .0001) r = –.014 (n.s.) r = .121 (p < .0001) 

Toynbee model r = .294 (p < .0001) r = .213 (p < .0001) r = .046 (n.s.) 

a 

PDI, IDV, MAS, UAI 

N = 1,225. 

b 

PDP, IGP, ASP, UAP 

c 

PDV, IGV, ASV, UAV 

Table 1: Four-Variable Validity Comparison against Civilization Models 

The difference between the Hofstede and GLOBE values results against the Huntington model 

are insignificant. Both the Hofstede and GLOBE values results are indeed significantly stronger 

than those of GLOBE practices (∆r² = .08, Hofstede vs. GLOBE values, p < .0001). Meanwhile, 

the results for the Hofstedean model against the Toynbee-based improvement of the civilization 

model are significantly stronger than for GLOBE practices (∆r² = .04, p < .0001), while GLOBE 

values show no significance in that case. 

The exploratory analysis to optimize the selection of GLOBE variables against the civilization 

criteria shows that it is indeed possible to achieve statistical significance between the GLOBE 

models and both Huntington and the Toynbee-based improvement. Table 2 thus gives the best-fit 

solution overall, optimizing GLOBE practices and GLOBE values simultaneously. The result is 

very interesting, in that the retained GLOBE practices and values resemble the four cultural 

dimensions from the Hofstedean model qualitatively, even though they differ from the nominal 

categories. Specifically, power distance would correspond to assertiveness, while individualism 

is construable as the opposite of institutional collectivism rather than ingroup collectivism, and 

masculinity falls in line as the opposite of gender egalitarianism. Uncertainty avoidance remains 

in all models. However, the GLOBE values seem to be a truer reflection of cultural dimensions 

than the GLOBE practices. In this case, the results for GLOBE values against both Huntington 

and Toynbee are significantly stronger than that those for the original Hofstedean model (∆r² = 

.09 [Huntington], p < .0001; ∆r² = .02 [Toynbee], p < .0001); however, the result for GLOBE 

practices fall significantly behind both. 

8

Criterion Hofstede a GLOBE Practices b GLOBE Values c 

Huntington model r = .162 (p < .0001) r = .125 (p < .0001) r = .338 (p < .0001) 

Toynbee model r = .294 (p < .0001) r = .139 (p < .0001) r = .320 (p < .0001) 

a 

PDI, IDV, MAS, UAI 

N = 1,225. 

b 

ASP, ISP, GEP, UAP 

c 

ASV, ISV, GEV, UAV 

Table 2: Validity Replication Optimizing GLOBE Variables 

Viewed only from the GLOBE values side of the table, the correlations between the final array 

of variables and their apparent Hofstedean analogs may suggest some validity, except in the case 

of MAS and GEV (r = –.07df=48, n.s.). The strongest correlations occur between the self-evident 

pairs of IDV and ISV (r = –.38df=48, p < .01) and UAI and UAV (r = .38df=48, p < .01). Lastly, the 

correlation between PDI and ASV is in the expected direction but reveals marginal significance 

(r = .19df=48, p < .10) due to the small sample size in this particular analysis. Further exploratory 

analysis demonstrates that no improvement is possible in the GLOBE model by removing further 

variables. Adding a variable (HUP/HUV) improves composite fit slightly, but the improvement 

is insignificant (∆r² = .0005, n.s.). 

Discussion 

This paper set out to compare the validity of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and the GLOBE 

project’s lists of culturally informed practices and values, respectively. The results show that 

Hofstede’s model, in the form of its first four cultural dimensions, is already a strong predictor of 

civilizational boundaries according to Huntington’s (1993) civilization model and Voss et al.’s 

(2010) improvement of Huntington’s model for purposes of cultural analysis against Toynbee’s 

(1946) theory of civilizations. However, while keeping the 4-variable structure of the analysis in 

place, careful selection of GLOBE variables results in a much better fit, particularly for GLOBE 

values, while GLOBE practices also seem to demonstrate some degree of validity as well. 

Interestingly, the optimal selection of four GLOBE values to fit the civilization models produces 

an array that qualitatively resembles the Hofstedean array. This correspondence is imperfect, but 

it seems to suggest that the optimal selection of GLOBE variables does more than capitalize on 

chance. Hofstede’s (2006) review of the GLOBE data, which found that clustering the GLOBE 

variables (both practices and values) together into five factors produces a structure that visibly 

resembled Hofstede’s 5-factor model, seems correct. Specifically, although the present study 

made no attempt to cluster variables together, the appearance of an underlying structure in the 

GLOBE data that resemble the Hofstedean model in this way lends support to his insights. In 

fact, the observation that increasing the number of variables in the GLOBE study would only 

reduce validity is particularly intriguing, as it seems to affirm Hofstede’s (2006) proposition that 

a model of cultural dimensions must have few variables, rather than too many. 

Future research should continue to work carefully with the Hofstedean and GLOBE models to 

confirm their points of intersection and produce some synergy on the matter of scoring countries. 

This paper already shows that scoring countries on their cultural similarity is feasible using either 

the Hofstedean or the GLOBE model. Given that the GLOBE model clearly contain a valid core, 

further work should attempt to determine how exactly to construe it. However, simply averaging 

the scores from the variables that Hofstede (2006) showed to cluster together in factor analysis is 

insufficient. (An attempt of that kind made as a cursory step in the present study showed worse 

9

esults on the matter of civilization fit than what was possible using the final GLOBE model after 

the selection of optimal variables.) 

Additional work should try to determine whether any data from the World Values Survey might 

be construable in some combination as one or more cultural dimensions, whether the resulting 

variable correlates more strongly with Hofstede’s data or those of the GLOBE project. Such an 

insight could be useful for extending one or the other model to a larger number of countries, and 

it would be worthwhile even if the contribution only consisted of a single observation for several 

more countries (certainly, the world is in need of supplements to compensate for missing LTO 

data in many countries). Nevertheless, one must remain careful to keep from drawing too much 

information from indirectly related data. That is always a prominent challenge in the present line 

of research. Cultural dimensions are delicate reflections of collective human thinking. It is easy 

to misconstrue them when confronted by attractive databases. 

Limitations to the present study are self-evident, as they mainly come in the form of the limited 

number of countries that exist for which both Hofstedean and GLOBE data are simultaneously 

available. This fact limited analyses of the simple correlations between Hofstedean and GLOBE 

variables to N = 50 in all cases. This fact also highlights the importance of finding reliable ways 

to estimate the categories of data presented herein. The explorations into civilizational models 

are a way to do that. 

References 

Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. 

Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. 

Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. London, England, UK: 

McGraw-Hill. 

Hofstede, G. (2006). What did GLOBE really measure? Researchers’ minds versus respondents’ 

minds. Journal of International Business Studies, 37, 882-896. 

Hofstede, G., & Bond, M. H. (1988). The Confucian connection: From cultural roots to 

economic growth. Organizational Dynamics, 16(4), 4-21. 

Hofstede, G., & Hofstede, G. J. (2005). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind (2nd 

ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 

Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., Minkov, M., & Vinken, H. (2008). Values survey module 2008: 

Manual. Velp, Gelderland, Netherlands: Geert Hofstede BV. 

House, R. J., Hanges, P. J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P., & Gupta, V. (2004). Culture, leadership, 

and organizations: The GLOBE study of 62 societies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 

Huntington, S. P. (1993). The clash of civilizations? Foreign Affairs, 72(3), 22-49. Huntington, 

S. P. (1996). The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order. New York, NY: 

Simon and Shuster. 

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Locke, E. A. (1991). The motivation sequence, the motivation hub, and the motivation core. 

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 288-299. 

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370-396. 

McClelland, D. C. (1961). The achieving society. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand. 

Minkov, M. (2007). What makes us different and similar: A new interpretation of the World 

Values Survey and other cross-cultural data. Sophia, Bulgaria: Klasika i Stil. 

Neculăesei, A., & Tătăruşanu, M. (2008). Romania: Cultural and regional differences. Ştiinţe 

Economice, 55, 198-204. 

Rokeach, M. (1973). The nature of human values. New York, NY: The Free Press. 

Schwartz, S. H. (1993). Universals in the content and structure of values. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), 

Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 25). New York, NY: Academic Press. 

Schwartz, S. H., & Bilsky, W. (1987). Toward a universal psychological structure of human 

values. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 550-562. 

Toynbee, A. J. (1946). A study of history: Abridgement of volumes I-VI by D. C. Somervell. New 

York, NY: Oxford University Press. 

Toynbee, A. J. (1957). A study of history: Abridgement of volumes VII-X by D. C. Somervell. 

New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 

Voss, R. S., Murphy, J. P., & Pederson, G. R. (2010). Culture and civilizations: Validation of the 

civilization-level structure of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Proceedings of the 

Decision Sciences Institute, 5051-5056. 

World Values Study Group. (1989). World values survey, 1981-1983. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute 

for Social Research. 

11

Culture, Leadership and Commitment and 

Their Impact on Organizational Outcomes 

Everett Roper 

Oakwood College 

ABSTRACT 

The purpose of this research was to understand the relationship between leadership, commitment and culture 

and their impact on organizational outcomes. A conceptual model was identified and used as the foundation for 

building hypotheses. In this quantitative study, a survey of leaders and employees in a high‐technology 

organization was conducted. Questionnaires were utilized to collect data to address four research questions. 

Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyze the data gathered. A path diagram was developed for this 

study using AMOS, a statistical package for performing Structural Equation Modeling. 

The results show that commitment does have an affect on culture, leadership does affect commitment, and 

commitment does affect leadership. The effects were both positive and significant implying that the leader has 

the ability to influence the commitment of the employees and that the commitment level of the employees 

affects the culture of the organization. However, leadership was found to have no significant impact on culture 

which was unexpected. It was believed that leadership styles could have a significant effect on establishing the 

culture of an organization because of their perceived interconnection. 

While these concepts have long been studied and supported in popular management literature, a key 

contribution of this study is the notion that they are inter‐related and that they may work synergistically in their 

effect upon organizational performance in high‐technology organizations. This research adds to the body of 

knowledge in practical application of the relationships between organizational culture, management leadership 

style and individual commitment in high‐technology based organizations.

INTRODUCTION 

No clear answer exists for which concepts most affect organizational outcomes and increase a 

company’s productivity. Some scholars suggest that organizational outcomes are influenced by 

leadership (Howell and Avolio 1993, Bycio et al. 1995), others say by culture (Deal and 

Kennedy 1982, Dennison 1990, Ouchi 1981, Pascale and Athos 1981, Peters and Waterman 

1982, Kotter and Heskett 1992), while even stronger claims suggest that organizational culture 

and leadership are linked to each other and the two together may be influential in determining an 

organization’s success. Additional studies show that organizations which embrace the concept 

of employee commitment note improved customer service and productivity as well as lower 

absenteeism and turnover; all of which can be translated into increased organizational outcomes 

(Fullam and Lando 1998). Heinemen (2007) further adds that it is a company’s culture that 

sustains high performance. He argues that leaders and employees meet tough economic goals 

when a company’s norms and values are widely shared and when its reputation for integrity is so 

strong that leaders and employees want to succeed. 

This research seeks to determine if applying theories about leadership, culture and commitment 

can mean the difference between a company's long-term success or eventual failure. While there 

is a large body of research that has explored commitment, leadership style and organizational 

culture independently, the interconnection between these constructs remains more of an implicit 

theory than an empirical finding (Block 2003). 

Background 

Early studies of organizational productivity generally begin with Frederick W. Taylor's (1911) 

theories of scientific management and more specifically division of labor. Taylor’s theories 

included the belief that management’s responsibility was to plan work and workers’ 

responsibility was to perform the assigned work tasks. These principles were implemented in 

many factories and often increased productivity; however, they also increased the monotony of 

work and subsequently did little to improve employee commitment or morale. While Taylor 

may have had the right idea for the time, it can be argued that he did not have the correct 

approach for today’s environment. The lack of worker input and involvement held over as an 

artifact of scientific management added to worker frustration. Taylor’s theory did not take into 

account external factors such as the leadership style exhibited by management, relationships 

among the workers, the culture of the organization, the motivation of the workers, or their input. 

Neither did he consider the differing personalities of workers and managers. 

Taylor's principles were developed in the late 1800's but are still being practiced today. Some 

managers are working to improve performance and boost productivity without realizing that they 

may be doing just the opposite. If, in an effort to boost organizational performance, increase 

revenue, improve customer service, and drive increased productivity, they constrain their 

employees, do not seek their input, and consequently stifle creative problem solving, their 

methods are misguided. Numerous external factors are overlooked by managers who see harder 

or longer working employees as the only avenue to improvements to efficiency and productivity. 

Even utilizing a reward system that promises compensation for hard work such as bonuses, 

1

promotions, higher salaries, or the reinstatement of previously suspended or revoked privileges 

can create more employee stress than commitment. Rather than motivating employees to work 

harder, high levels of stress interfere with the quality of work produced on both intellectual and 

manual tasks. As a result, employees respond in robot-like ways instead of thinking creatively or 

strategically (DeMeuse and Marks 2002, Bacal 1988). 

Belasco (1991) and Belasco and Stayer (1993) suggested that for organizations to be effective 

more is needed than just harder working employees and credible leadership. They contend that 

organizations must create environments that encourage learning and development of responsible 

employees. Schiro (1999) agreed, describing the empowered employee as one with the ability to 

lead with minimal interaction with management. This implies that a possible ingredient to an 

empowered workforce is to first foster employee commitment. Encouraging employee 

responsibility, establishing a positive work environment and creative decision-making may all 

help to establish a positive culture in an organization while helping to foster employee 

commitment thereby improving organizational performance and boosting productivity. Thus, 

organizations should find ways to improve employee commitment. 

In the past, organizations obtained commitment from their employees by guaranteeing job 

security. However, many organizations today have responded to economic pressures by 

downsizing and restructuring and have thus created a climate of reduced job security. As a 

result, some employees feel that they are victims of broken promises. Organizations should find 

new ways to create a committed workforce and managers need to understand the concept of 

commitment and which behaviors represent employee commitment to their organization 

(Coetzee 2005). In addition, as in personal relationships, commitment is a two-way street. If 

employers want committed employees, they need to act as committed employers. Bragg (2002) 

found that fewer than half of employees feel committed to their employer. Employees pointed to 

decades of downsizing, rightsizing and re-engineering as evidence that employers treat them as 

expendable commodities when times get tough. 

Bacal (1988) determined that even in situations where lack of employee effort is evident, 

management exhortation is more likely to insult employees than to motivate them to greater 

performance heights since it assumes and communicates to them that they are lazy. He says, 

“exhortation to try harder is often a lazy manager's approach to performance issues, and lays the 

honus for better performance at the feet of employees. A more intelligent and respected approach 

is to think and diagnose the real problems, and to remedy those barriers” (Bacal 1988, p.1). He 

goes further to add that employees will work harder, and exhibit more commitment when they 

feel they are part of the decision-making process, feel consulted and valued, and sense that the 

manager is on their side (1988). This suggests that organizational outcomes may be affected by 

more than just employee motivation and points to the leadership style of managers as well as the 

culture of the organization as possible contributors. 

Bacal (1988) and Chen (2004) suggest that organizational outcomes are affected by more than 

just employee dedication, culture, employee morale, or leadership. In fact, they argue that 

organizational outcomes are affected far more by a combination of things such as employee 

skills, abilities, understanding of jobs, and restrictions placed on them by the organization than 

by any one factor. Therefore, top executives need to take measures to ensure that managers at all 

2

levels are providing the leadership their staff requires. Managers and employers together can 

create an effective culture that positively influences organizational performance. 

A great deal of literature has been generated in recent decades about management leadership 

style, the culture of an organization, and the commitment of employees. Prior research has 

looked at the affect of certain combinations of these concepts on organizational outcomes within 

pharmaceutical companies (Wegner 2004) and state employment offices (Wells 2003) while yet 

another study (Silver 2000) investigated the affect of leadership on team performance in a hightechnology 

organization. While these studies shed light on the need for understanding how 

organizational outcomes are influenced by certain concepts, a gap exists in the literature that fails 

to study the affect these theories have on overall organizational outcomes in high-technology 

organizations. This research will investigate whether such a relationship exists. 

HYPOTHESES 

The conceptual model for this research is presented in Figure 1. This model shows antecedents 

of factors that have been found to affect organizational outcomes. Arrows are shown to depict 

these relationships. Relationships exist between leadership style and culture, suggesting that a 

manager’s leadership affects an organization’s culture; between culture and commitment, 

suggesting that the culture of an organization affects an employee’s level of commitment; and 

between leadership style and commitment, suggesting that a manager’s leadership style directly 

affects an employee’s level of commitment to the organization and an employee’s level of 

commitment affects a leaders style. Furthermore, the belief is that all these concepts affect 

organizational outcomes. 

Leadership 

Culture 

Individual 

Commitment 

Figure 1 Conceptual Model 

3 

Organizational 

Outcomes

Hypotheses 

There currently exists no conclusive correlation between management leadership style and 

organizational outcomes, organizational culture and organizational outcomes, or organizational 

commitment and organizational outcomes; nor has there been a study investigating the 

relationship of these three constructs to organizational outcomes or to each other. The need to 

examine these issues further remains. As a result, the following hypotheses will be studied in 

this research. 

Hypothesis 1: 

There is no significant relationship between employees’ individual commitment and 

culture 

Hypothesis 2: 

There is no significant relationship between employees’ individual commitment and 

management leadership style 

Hypothesis 3: 

There is no significant relationship between employees’ perception of management 

leadership style and culture 

Hypothesis 4: 

There is no significant relationship between employees’ perception of management 

leadership style and organizational commitment 

Hypothesis 5: 

There is no significant relationship between employees’ perception of organizational 

culture and organizational commitment 

Hypothesis 6: 

There is no significant relationship between employees’ perception of organizational 

culture and management leadership style 

The Organization 

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 

The organization is a large, high technology organization offering services to the aerospace, 

energy, and environmental industries. A subset of the company was selected for this study. 

Overall, the employee base is technical in nature with approximately 80% possessing technical 

degrees, 30% having advanced degrees, and in excess of 85% with 5 or more years of 

experience. The organization is a scientific, engineering, and technology applications company 

that used its extensive domain knowledge to solve problems of vital importance to the nation and 

4

the world in national security aerospace innovation, energy, environmental concerns, critical 

infrastructure, and health issues. 

The organization performed well in the recognized engineering management measures such as 

effective management, leadership and teams. Additionally, this organization met the definition 

of a high-technology organization as defined in earlier. Their high-technology expertise and 

progressive nature made this organization a credible candidate for assessing the impact that 

organizational culture, management leadership style and individual commitment have on 

organizational performance in a high-technology organization. 

The Population 

The population for this research included scientists and engineers in a particular business unit at 

a high-technology organization and their supervisors. The total population in the business unit 

was 725 individuals. The pilot survey sample consisted of 38 individuals and the final survey 

sample consisted of 164. Employees used in the pilot study did not participate in the final 

survey. 

Survey Instruments 

Pre-established surveys were used to obtain measures of organizational culture, management 

leadership style, and organizational commitment. An additional questionnaire was developed to 

gather organizational outcomes from managers and top executives. 

Culture 

Wallach’s (1983) Organizational Culture Index (OCI) was used to assess the culture of the 

organization. Wallach identified these culture indicators as bureaucratic, innovative, and 

supportive. In Wallach’s definition, a bureaucratic culture was hierarchical and 

compartmentalized with clear lines of responsibility and authority. Innovativeness refers to a 

creative, results-oriented, challenging work environment. A supportive culture exhibited 

teamwork and a people-oriented, friendly, encouraging, trusting work environment. 

The OCI was given to each employee and Section Manager in order to rate the culture in their 

section as well as the Division Manager or Deputy in order to rate the culture in each section 

under their control. In order to differentiate among the constituent’s three different survey links 

were provided to employees, division managers and section managers. 

Commitment 

Mowday, Porter, and Steers' (1982) Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) was used 

to assess the commitment level of the employee. The questionnaire measured motivation, intent 

to remain, acceptance of goals, and willingness to work hard. It is classified as an attitudinal 

measure of organizational commitment. Dipboye, Smith and Howell (1994) identified the 15item 

OCQ scale as the most commonly used organizational commitment scale. 

5

Leadership 

Bruce and Avolio’s Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) 5X Short Form (1994) was 

designed to be used to analyze leaders’ self-reported leadership styles—transformational, 

transactional, and laissez-faire as well as employees’ perception of leaders’ styles, and 

commitment to organizational outcomes. The instrument has been used extensively in business 

and non-business settings. In addition, the MLQ tied organizational outcomes into its 

measurement. The questionnaire consisted of a leader form and a rater form. Each form 

contained forty-five questions using a five-point Likert rating scale. The leader form indicated 

how self-leadership style was perceived. The rater form gathered employee and division 

manager feedback on a specific leader and used the same five-point rating scale as the leader 

form. The reliability of the MLQ, as reported by Bass and Avolio (1994) for each leadership 

factor, ranged from 0.74 to 0.91. 

Organizational Outcomes 

Management was asked questions used to measure organizational outcomes. These questions 

were mutually agreed upon by the researcher and the management of the organization, because 

of privacy concerns the organization was not in favor of a more extensive list of questions 

recommended by the researcher. 

Reliability and Unidimensionality 

For this research, a factor analysis was performed on each questionnaire in order to analyze 

interrelationships among the questions as well as to explain the variables in terms of their 

underlying common factors. As a result, a pilot study and subsequent factor analysis for each 

questionnaire resulted in the elimination of variables that either seemed inconsistent with related 

responses or appeared to be ambiguous to those taking the survey. 

Commitment 

The reduced factor analysis output is shown in Table 1. All of the variables loaded on separate 

factors with a clear division among them. With the exception of comm12, all of the variables 

exceeded the threshold value. However, comm12 was not eliminated since it was within a few 

thousandths of the 0.6 threshold value. In the end, as a result of the factor analysis, the number 

of variables were reduced from 15 to 8. As a result, these variables were used in the final 

statistical analysis because of their high loading and significance to the corresponding factor as 

highlighted in the table. 

Table 1 Commitment Factor Analysis – Final 

1 

Component 

2 3 

comm1 .957 .238 -.091 

comm2 -.319 .909 -.182 

comm5 .049 .620 .679 

comm6 -.319 .909 -.182 

6

comm8 .957 .238 -.091 

comm12 .454 -.183 .592 

comm13 -.312 .164 .602 

comm14 .957 .238 -.091 

In order to support the number of factors that were obtained from the final analysis the Cattell 

(1966) Scree Test was used. This is a somewhat subjective test however the results determined 

that the first three factors are worth retaining in the analysis. This is consistent with the number 

of factors in the final analysis results in Table 1. 

Culture 

Table 2 shows the culture factor analysis output. In the end, the number of questions was 

reduced from 24 to 8 for the final analysis. The factor on which each question loaded most 

predominately is highlighted. As a result, these questions were used in the final statistical 

analysis. 

Table 2 Culture Factor Analysis - Final 

1 

Component 

2 3 

cult2 .678 -.200 -.150 

cult7 .700 -.071 -.458 

cult8 .446 -.071 .706 

cult10 .431 .621 .045 

cult13 -.483 -.277 .596 

cult14 -.415 .664 .439 

cult16 .625 -.542 .046 

cult22 .509 .649 -.219 

The scree plot determined that the first four factors are worth retaining in the analysis. This was 

one factor more than the number of factors determined from the final analysis results in Table 2 

which showed only three factors being retained. 

Leadership 

After several iterations and the subsequent elimination of particular variables, the factor analysis 

was eventually narrowed down to the variables listed in Table 3. As a result, these four variables 

were used in the final statistical analysis. Reducing the variables from 45 down to 4 was 

necessary in order to generate a stable model. 

Table 3 Leadership Factor Analysis - Final 

lead5 .873 

7

lead10 .836 

lead15 .876 

lead22 .923 

In order to support the number of factors that were obtained from the final analysis, the Cattell 

(1966) Scree Test was used. In the case of the leadership scree plot, the first four factors were 

worth retaining in the analysis. This was inconsistent with the number of factors in the final 

analysis results in Table 3 which showed only one factor being retained. This caused some 

concern, but the scree test could be in error. 

Structural Equation Modeling 

This research used structural equation modeling for statistical analysis of data collected. 

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a statistical technique which integrates path and factor 

analysis. Path analysis is a subset of SEM which deals only with measured variables. It is the 

statistical technique used to examine causal relationships between two or more variables. 

SEM refers to a model with multiple indicators for each variable and paths connecting the latent 

variables. SEM may be used as a more powerful alternative to multiple regression, path analysis, 

factor analysis, time series analysis, and analysis of covariance. Advantages of SEM compared 

to multiple regression include more flexible assumptions--particularly allowing interpretation 

even if multicollinearity is present, the ability to test models with multiple dependents, the ability 

to model error terms, the ability to test coefficients across multiple between-subjects groups, and 

the ability to handle difficult data (Stoelting 2009). 

Structural Equation Models are divided into two parts: a measurement model and a structural 

model. The measurement model contains a measurement variable that can be observed directly 

and is measurable while the structural model contains a variable that cannot be observed directly 

and must be inferred from measured variables. Latent variables are implied by the covariances 

among two or more measured variables. One of the major advantages to SEM, is that latent 

variables are free of random error. This is because error has been estimated and removed, 

leaving only a common variance. 

Sample Size 

In SEM, the sample size (n) has the same role as in other statistical methods. Results derived 

within larger samples have less sampling error than smaller samples. Typically, n < 100 is 

considered small; n between 100 and 200 is considered medium; and n > 200 is considered large. 

Complex models with more parameters require larger samples than less complex models in order 

for the estimates to be comparably stable. Although there is no single criterion that dictates the 

necessary sample size, there are at least four factors that impact the sample size requirements 

(Raykou and Widaman 1995): (1) model misspecification, (2) model size, (3) departures from 

normality, and (4) estimation procedure. There are no absolute standards in the literature about 

the relation between sample size and path model complexity. However, Kline (2005) suggests 

that the ratio of the number of cases to the number of connectors be 20:1; a 10:1 ratio may be 

more realistic. Thus, a path model with 20 connectors should have a minimum sample size of 

8

200 cases. If the parameter ratio is less than 5:1, the statistical precision of the results may be 

doubtful. 

Summary 

Figure 2 shows the path model for this study. Relationships are perceived to exist between 

leadership style and culture, suggesting that a manager’s leadership affects an organization’s 

culture; between culture and commitment, suggesting that the culture of an organization affects 

an employee’s level of commitment; and between leadership style and commitment, suggesting 

that a manager’s leadership style directly affects an employee’s level of commitment to the 

organization and an employee’s level of commitment affects a leaders style. Furthermore, the 

belief is that all these concepts affect organizational outcomes. 

With six connections and using a ratio of 20:1 as a guide, at least 120 samples were needed in 

order to adequately support the statistical precision of the results. The final results for this study 

contained 164 samples. 

Leadership 

Culture 

Individual 

Commitment 

Figure 2 Structural Model Path Diagram 

After a thorough review of the literature it was determined that leadership, culture and individual 

commitment all have a direct affect on organizational outcomes. A more extensive literature 

review also revealed that leadership may affect culture and commitment while culture may only 

affect commitment. Figure 3 shows the subsequent path diagram for these relationships that 

were created using Amos. As required by SEM, the measured variables are indicated by 

rectangles, latent variables by ellipses and error terms by circles. The error terms represent 

residual variances within variables not accounted for by pathways hypothesized in the model. 

9 

Organizational 

Outcomes

le5 

lead5 

0, 1 

1 

comm1 

e2 

cult2 

1 

co1 

0, 1 

1 

le10 

e7 

cult7 

0, 1 

1 

1 

lead22 

0, 

le22 

Leadership Style 

comm2 

0, 1 

0, 1 

1 

lead10 

1 

0, 1 

co2 

ecult 

le15 

1 

0, 1 

1 

lead15 

e8 

cult8 

0, 11 

1 

0, 1 

1 

comm5 

0, 1 

1 

1 

0, 1 

co5 

e10 

0, 1 

1 

cult10 

Culture 

10 

0 

0 

Commitment 

comm6 

co6 

ecomm 

1 

0, 1 

e13 

cult13 

0, 1 

comm8 

1 

0, 1 

co8 

0, 1 

1 

e14 

comm12 

1 

0, 1 

co12 

0, 1 

1 

cult14 

e16 

cult16 

1 

co13 

Figure 3 Amos Path Diagram 

1 

0, 1 

1 

comm13 

0, 1 

e22 

cult22 

co14 

0, 1 

ORGANIZATIONAL 

OUTCOMES 

1 

1 

0, 1 

comm14 

The variance of the latent variables and the regression/path coefficients associated with them 

depend on the units with which the variables are measured, but initially this is unknown. For 

each latent variable and also for the unknown error terms, it is necessary to assign an arbitrary 

value to a regression weight. Once this is done, the remaining coefficients can be estimated for 

the remaining paths in the model. Therefore, for each latent variable, one of the paths leading 

away from it toward one of its indicator measures needs to be set to 1. This sets the measurement 

scale of each latent variable, whereas without this the scale would be indeterminate. Likewise, 

the paths from each error term to each indicator variable are set at 1. When this is complete, the 

model is considered to be identified. The estimates of the regression weights are the estimated 

path coefficients for the arrows in the model (Anonymous). 

The variables cult2, cult7, cult8, cult10, cult13, cult14, cult16 and cult22 represent the culture 

questionnaire questions that were retained from the pilot study model refinement. They map 

respectively to questions 2, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 16 and 22. The associated error terms for each 

variable are located above each variable and follow a similar naming nomenclature. These error 

terms are e2, e7, e8, e10, e13, e14, e16 and e22. 

The variables lead5, lead10, lead15, and lead22 represent the leadership questionnaire questions 

that were retained from the pilot study model refinement. They map respectively to questions 5,

10, 15, and 22. The associated error terms for each variable are located above each variable and 

follow a similar naming nomenclature. These error terms are e5, e10, e15, and e22. 

The variables comm1, comm2, comm5, comm6, comm8, comm12, comm13 and comm14 

represent the commitment questionnaire questions that were retained from the pilot study model 

refinement. They map respectively to questions 2, 5, 6, 8, 12, 13, and 14. The associated error 

terms for each variable are located above each variable and follow a similar naming 

nomenclature. These error terms are e2, e5, e6, e8, e12, e13, and e14. 

One of the limitations that should be recognized by this study is that bias estimates cannot be 

measured or controlled. Bias occurs when the survey sample does not accurately represent the 

population. The bias that results from such an unrepresentative sample is called selection bias. 

Voluntary response bias, a type of selection bias, occurs when sample members are self-selected 

volunteers. The resulting sample tends to over represent individuals who have strong opinions. 

Because employees volunteered to be a part of this study it is possible that the data may be 

overrepresented by employees with strong opinions or who may use this survey as a chance to 

negatively rate a supervisor with which they are at odds. 

Analysis 

RESULTS 

The relationship between management leadership style, organizational commitment, and 

organizational culture was analyzed to determine which theory individually influenced 

organizational outcomes in high-technology organizations. An analysis strategy was developed 

which consisted of the following seven stages. 

1. Develop a theoretically based model 

2. Construct a SEM path diagram 

3. Convert the path diagram 

4. Determine if the model fits the data by descriptive measures 

5. Determine the reliability of the measures 

6. Determine if the coefficients are significant 

7. Determine if it is possible to improve the fit 

The first three stages were detailed previously. The fourth stage determines if the model fits the 

data using descriptive measures. If it is determined that the model fits well and is theoretically 

consistent, the parameter estimates and individual tests of significance of each parameter 

estimate can be performed followed by seeking ways to further improve the fit. 

A pictorial representation of the interrelated relationships of the management theories leadership, 

culture, and commitment is depicted in the path diagram in Figure 3. AMOS 17 was used to 

generate this diagram. Straight arrows depict the impact of independent variables on the 

dependent variables. In Structural Equation Modeling, path diagrams are the basis for path 

analysis; the procedure for empirical estimation of the strength of each relationship is depicted in 

11

the diagram. Path analysis calculates the strength of the relationships with the output being a 

correlation matrix. This matrix is generated by Amos and is used in its statistical computations. 

The user need not be concerned with the generation of the correlation matrix since this process is 

internal to Amos, rather the user should be prepared to evaluate the final Amos output. 

Numerous tests exist for assessing how well a model matches the observed data. Chi-square is 

the most common goodness-of-fit measure. In a full model there is a direct path from each 

variable to each other variable. When one or more paths are missing, a reduced model is 

obtained. In this study an analysis was performed to see which model is better. 

The Chi-square value is 72.2 with 44 degrees of freedom and a p-value equal to 0.005. Since 

this p-value does not exceed the alpha value of 0.05, the null hypothesis is rejected, indicating 

that the model does not fit the data adequately. A fit model is one that can reproduce the 

original correlation matrix from the path coefficients in much the same way that a good factor 

analytic solution can reproduce the original correlation matrix with little error. 

It should be noted, however, that problems with Chi-square are known to exist. The main 

drawback with the Chi-square test is that it is sensitive to sample size, becoming more and more 

likely to reject the null hypothesis as the sample size increases. This is because as the sample 

size increases the chi-square statistic has a tendency to indicate a significant probability level 

whereas as the sample size decreases the statistic indicates nonsignificant levels (Schumacker 

and Lomax 2004). Therefore, additional testing was done before drawing conclusions on model 

fit. 

One corroborating test of model fit is provided by the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation 

(RMSEA) statistic, a measure of fit introduced by Steiger and Lind (1980). The RMSEA 

estimates lack of fit compared to the full model. RMSEA differs from the chi-square test in that 

it is sensitive to the number of parameters estimated and relatively insensitive to sample size. 

The Amos User’s Guide (Arbuckle 1999) suggests that a RMSEA value of 0.05 or less indicates 

a close fit of the model, and an adequate fit exists if RMSEA is less than or equal to 0.08. 

MacCallum et al. (1996) added that RMSEA values ranging from 0.08 to 0.10 indicate mediocre 

fit, and those greater than 0.10 indicate poor fit. LO 90 and HI 90 values indicate 90% 

confidence limits on the coefficient while PCLOSE tests the null hypothesis that RMSEA is no 

greater than 0.05. MacCallum et al. (1996) contends that when a small RMSEA exists, with a 

wide confidence interval, it can be concluded that the estimated discrepancy value is quite 

imprecise. This then negates any possibility of determining an accurate degree of fit in the 

population. In contrast, a very narrow confidence interval would argue for good precision of the 

RMSEA value in reflecting model fit in the population (MacCallum et al. 1996). 

PCLOSE is a statistical significance test of the RMSEA and measures the p value by testing the 

null that RMSEA is no greater than 0.05. The RMSEA value of this model is 0.063 indicating 

that the estimate is adequate. There is evidence that the estimate is correct since PCLOSE is 

0.204 which is greater than the 0.05 alpha value. Some experts suggest that the PCLOSE value 

should be greater than 0.5; however, the 0.209 value was accepted since it is greater than the 

alpha value. As a result, the null hypothesis was not rejected, RMSEA is greater than 0.05, and 

thus it was concluded that the model fits the data adequately. Additionally, the 90% confidence 

12

of the RMSEA is within the bounds of 0.035 and 0.088. The upper bound of the confidence 

interval was fractionally higher than the suggested cutoff of 0.08, but this was considered 

mediocre according to MacCallum et al. (1996). Overall, given that (a) the RMSEA point 

estimate is adequate, i.e., 0.063 < 0.08, (b) the RMSEA point estimate is within the 90% 

confidence interval, and (c) the probability value associated with this test of close fit is PCLOSE 

= 0.204, it was concluded that the model provides an adequate fit of the data. 

In order to establish greater confidence, an additional goodness of fit test was conducted. The 

Expected Cross-validation Index (ECVI) is an approximation of the goodness-of-fit that the 

estimated model would achieve in another sample of the same size. It takes into account the 

actual sample size and the difference that could be expected in another sample. The ECVI also 

takes into account the number of estimated parameters for both the structural and measurement 

models. Application of the ECVI assumes a comparison of models whereby an ECVI index is 

computed for each model and then all ECVI values are placed in rank order. The model having 

the smallest ECVI value exhibits the greatest potential for replication (Byrne 2001). 

In assessing the ECVI results for the model presented here (the default model), the ECVI value 

of 0.843 for the initial model is compared with the saturated model (ECVI = 0.939) and the 

independence model (ECVI = 6.313). A saturated model perfectly fits the data because it has as 

many parameters as there are values to be fit. An independence model on the other hand is one 

in which two (or more) random variables are independent of one another. Given the lower ECVI 

value for the default model, compared with both the independence and saturated models, the 

conclusion is that it represents the best fit to the data. The precision of this estimated ECVI 

value can also be taken into account by examining the confidence intervals which range from 

0.724 to 1.009. Taken together, these results suggest that the model provides a good fit and 

represents a reasonable approximation to the population. This conclusion supports the findings 

of the RMSEA. 

Stage 5 involves the examination of the reliability of the measures. Bollen (1989) suggests that 

the Squared Multiple Correlation is an adequate measure for doing so. Fornell and Larcker 

(1981) suggest that the magnitude of this coefficient should be greater than 0.5, which implies 

that more than 50% of the variance of the item is related to what is being measured. The 

coefficients that meet the 0.5 threshold recommended by Fornell and Larcker (1981) are shown 

as well as the coefficients that are below the threshold. The coefficients below the threshold 

were left in the model because removing them caused model instability in other significance 

tests. Their inclusion in the model allowed for the best fit. 

Stage 6 involves examining the regression weights in order to determine if the coefficients are 

significant. The regression coefficients represent the amount of change in the dependent variable 

for each one unit of change in the variable predicting it. Culture increases 0.013 units for each 

1.0 unit increase in leadership. The table displays the estimate, its standard error (S.E.), and the 

estimate divided by the standard error (C.R.). The p-value tests the null hypothesis that the 

covariance between two variables is zero in the population from which this sample was drawn. 

The regression coefficients in this model were found to be significant with the exception of the 

culture-leadership and commitment-culture relationships. Of greatest concern was the culture- 

13

leadership relationship p-value of 0.868, which is far beyond the 0.05 alpha level. Numerous 

model revisions were performed in an effort to reduce this value with no success. However, after 

further research and after submittal of a peer reviewed paper which resulted in several 

suggestions, a change to the model was considered. It was suggested by two reviewers that the 

link between culture and leadership be reversed, implying that the commitment level of 

employees affects the leadership style that the manager portrays rather than management 

leadership style affecting the commitment of the employees as the literature suggests. In an 

attempt to stabilize the model this change was made. The path model was changed to reflect this 

directional change in the commitment-leadership relationship, as shown in Figure 4. The revised 

model was re-run and the new regression weights were analyzed. 

le5 

1 

lead5 

0, 1 

comm1 

1 

e2 

1 

cult2 

co1 

Figure 4 Amos Path Diagram (Revised) 

0, 1 

le10 

1 

0, 1 

lead10 

e7 

1 

cult7 

0, 1 

1 

lead15 

0 

le22 

1 

lead22 

Leadership Style 

0, 1 

Culture 

14 

0 

0 

Commitment 

comm2 comm5 comm6 

1 1 1 

0, 1 0, 1 0, 1 0, 1 

co2 

ecult 

le15 

1 

1 

0, 1 

e8 

1 

cult8 

0, 11 

1 

co5 

0, 1 

e10 

1 

0, 1 

cult10 

co6 

ecomm 

e13 

1 

cult13 

1 

0, 1 

comm8 

1 

co8 

0, 1 

0, 1 

e14 

1 

cult14 

comm12 comm13 comm14 

1 1 1 

0, 1 0, 1 0, 1 

co12 

0, 1 

e16 

1 

cult16 

co13 

0, 1 

e22 

1 

cult22 

co14 

0, 1 

ORGANIZATIONAL 

OUTCOMES 

As shown in Table 5, the regression results in the revised model show a drastically reduced pvalue 

of the commitment-leadership relationship to far below the alpha level. However, the 

culture-leadership relationship increased to 0.461 which was much higher than the previous 

value of 0.085. As a result, the relationship became non significant. After several modifications 

and re-analyses, it was finally concluded that this refined model would provide the most stable

esults. The significant paths are shown in Figure 5. In order to verify this revised model, all of 

the analyses were redone using this revised model. 

Leadership 

Culture 

Individual 

Commitmen 

Figure 5 Significant Paths 

Table 5 Regression Weights 

Estimate S.E. C.R. P Label 

commitment

comm6

comm12 0.16 

lead5 0.772 

org outcomes 0.77 

comm7 0.341 

comm4 0.267 

cult11 0.351 

cult1 0.732 

lead15 0.902 

lead10 0.785 

The final step was to determine if it was possible to improve the fit of the model. To do this, 

modification indices were examined, which seek to reduce the chi-square value in order to make 

the chi-square fit index smaller and less likely to be found significant, which corresponds to 

accepting the model as a good fit. The modification index reflects the predicted decrease in chisquare 

if a single parameter is removed from the model by eliminating its path and reestimating 

the model. In the output the "Par Change" column, which stands for parameter change, gives the 

actual estimate of how much the coefficient would change. 

Table 8 Modification Indices (Covariances) (Revised Model) 

M.I. Par Change 

errcomm7 resd_lead 4.4 0.133 

errcomm4 errle5 4.821 ‐0.084 

errle15 errcult9 4.13 ‐0.045 

Table 9 Modification Indices (Regression Weights) (Revised Model) 

M.I. Par Change 

comm7

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 

The purpose of this research was to determine if the organizational variables leadership, culture 

and commitment affect organizational outcomes. The literature review presented several studies 

that found correlations between these variables, yet no study looked at the interplay between 

them and the affect that their interaction may have on organizational outcomes in a high 

technology organization. The primary emphasis, therefore, is unique in that it helped to fill the 

gap in the understanding of the role these concepts have on organizational performance in high 

technology organizations. 

The first significant relationship among the data collected for this research demonstrated that 

leadership does in fact affect commitment (see Table 5). It was also determined that 

commitment affects culture. Both of these conclusions are not surprising since they support the 

findings in the research literature which demonstrated that there is a link between these concepts. 

The effects were both positive and significant implying that the leader has the ability to influence 

the commitment of the employees and that the commitment level of the employees affects the 

culture of the organization. The use of regression analysis supported these findings. 

Significance was tested at the 0.05 level. 

Leadership, however, was found to have no significant impact on culture (see Table 5). This was 

unexpected. Based on the literature, it was believed that leadership styles could have a 

significant effect on establishing the culture of an organization because of their perceived 

interconnection. Schein (1985 pg. 327) states that “leadership and culture are so central to 

understanding organizations and making them effective that we cannot afford to be complacent 

about either one.” Block (2003 pg. 318) seems to agree when he says that, “the leadershipculture 

connection does impact the performance of the organization.” Additionally, Ogbonna and 

Harris (2000) point out that the impact of leadership on firm performance is mediated by 

organizational culture. As a result, further study is needed in order to determine the accuracy of 

this conclusion necessitating the need to checking to see if these results are consistent for broader 

ranges of conditions. 

Managerial Implications 

The implications for managers are many. It is often assumed that the culture within the 

organization is directly linked to the performance of an organization and that changes to culture 

traits will impact effectiveness. However, this study provided some preliminary evidence that 

this presumption alone may not be true. Evidence suggests that different cultures that are 

sensitive to either external conditions or internal conditions may have a different impact on 

organizational performance. An externally focused culture type impacts revenue, sales growth 

and market share. It is a culture that brings together the elements of mission and adaptability. It 

is goal sensitive, but it is also ready to quickly react to market or consumer fluctuations 

(Hastings and Potter 2004). In an internally focused culture performance is significantly 

influenced by the extent to which a leader is supportive of followers and includes followers in 

decision-making processes. Managers must be aware of this and manage both environments 

effectively in order to see performance improvements. 

18

Associations between leadership styles and organizational performance are mediated by some 

form of organizational culture. Potential solutions to the difficulties associated with changing 

organizational culture may involve focusing on leadership style. While managing culture is at 

best difficult, changes to leadership styles may be more easily achieved. An effective manager 

can influence and manage culture. The impact of poor leadership skills demonstrated by leaders 

will have an effect on organizational outcomes. Thus, training in organizational leadership is 

needed. There are many benefits to leadership training for both managers and employees. 

According to the Rauenhorst Recruiting Company (2006 pg. 1), “analysis of the effects of a 

leadership training program demonstrates that an employee participating in such leadership skill 

training ends up becoming more committed and dedicated to the business enterprise where he 

works. Leadership training, like any kind of training, engages employees by showing them how 

the business works.” 

The use of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), developed by Bass (1985), can be 

an effective first step to such training. According to Lawrence (2000), the process of developing 

effective leaders of tomorrow can be augmented through the use of the MLQ. Using the MLQ as 

an assessment tool will help managers get the big picture of where they are in terms of leadership 

and help direct them toward a more effective style. They are able to take MLQ profile results, 

interpret them, and develop a set of priorities, plans and goals to become more effective if 

needed. 

Additionally, organizations have to find new ways to create a committed workforce. Managers 

need to understand the concept of commitment and which behaviors are displayed by employees 

committed to the organization (Coetzee 2005). Jow Love (2005 pg. 1) says, “managers today in 

most corporations lack the listening, feedback, and delegation skills needed to enhance employee 

commitment and improve productivity. Successful organizations today must have managers who 

motivate and inspire their employees, not beat them down. Successful managers must see 

themselves not just as bosses, but as performance coaches. A manager must be able to provide 

employee training, help employees enhance their careers, and mentor them to become the best 

they can be.” 

Theoretical Implications 

The primary emphasis of this research was to determine if organizational commitment, 

management leadership style and organizational culture have an effect on organizational 

outcomes. Once the relationship between management leadership style, organizational 

commitment, and organizational culture was analyzed and the model was determined to be stable 

and all significant relationships determined, the organizational outcome data was analyzed in 

order to determine which theories individually influenced organizational outcomes. Overall the 

results supported most of the literature findings of the interrelationships between the engineering 

concepts; however, conclusive evidence could not be obtained on the affect that these 

relationships had on organizational outcomes due to the lack of organizational outcome data. 

Only ten percent of the responses were returned. This data proved to be inadequate in drawing 

conclusions on organizational performance. This low response was mainly attributed to 

19

management’s concern for privacy. While the study did receive support from top management, 

it appears that mid-level managers were not comfortable providing such confidential data. 

Limitations 

The following limitations of this research are acknowledged and recognized. First, findings from 

this study cannot be generalized to similar organizations. Due to the many factors and biases 

present in these results, organizations need to be researched independently and the findings 

compared. The fact that this organization is a high-technology organization does not necessarily 

mean that these findings would be consistent across all high-technology organizations. 

Second, surveying management for performance data did not meet the intended scope of the 

study. Their responses were few as compared to the workers. These managers may have been 

reluctant to release outcome data, which hampered efforts to draw adequate conclusions on 

organizational outcomes. 

Finally, the length of the data collection was several months. It would be ideal to gather data for 

a shorter period of time. This would help to provide responses that reflect a more current state of 

the organization as opposed to possible fluctuations in conditions and perceptions among the 

respondents over such a long period of time. 

Further Research 

Several possibilities exist for further research. First, it is recommended that future studies focus 

on the relationship between the organizational concepts discussed in this research and 

organizational outcomes in high-technology organizations. The results drawn here agree with 

conclusions drawn from the literature; however, the lack of a significant leadership-culture 

relationship sheds new light onto the outcome that their relationship may not exist in high 

technology organizations. Extending this study across multiple high-technology organizations 

would be a good way to assess this relationship. 

Second, the value of the study could also be strengthened by increasing the number of 

participants. While the sample size is within the minimum range for structural equation 

modeling, expanding the scope of the study would lend more credence to the conclusions. 

Expanding the scope would also test how applicable the findings of this study are. As a result, 

top management could use this study as a model for understanding what affects organizational 

performance. 

Third, a study of this nature would be better conducted from within an organization with the 

results and data collection managed by an employee. When enforced in this manner, the results 

will remain internal to the organization which would allow for more mid-level management 

participation and mandatory employee participation can be enforced. This should remove the 

reluctance of several managers who neglected to participate in this study for fear of 

disseminating incriminating information. 

20

Lastly, it would be beneficial to have a demographic breakdown of survey respondents in order 

to provide insight into the level of commitment as it relates to the gender, ethnic group, 

educational background group, or age group. This information would help to identify 

characteristics that may be present amongst certain groups of individuals. 

Conclusions 

The results of this study provided initial support for the presumed relationships among the 

conceptual model presented in the study and therefore do validate a number of ideas for 

organizations interested in knowing how to improve organizational performance; however, these 

findings need to be further validated with additional studies on a more diverse population. 

Organizations and managers may infer from this study that there is a linkage among several of 

the engineering management concepts presented. The results suggest that a relationship exists 

between leadership, positive individual commitment and the right culture. What remains to be 

proven is if this may indeed lead to heightened organizational performance. Thus, while these 

concepts have long been studied and supported in popular management literature, a key 

contribution of this study is the notion that they are inter-related and that they may work 

synergistically in their effect upon organizational performance in high-technology organizations. 

It is the hope of this researcher that this study sheds light on some new linkage between 

leadership, commitment and culture in high-technology organizations, and it is recommended 

that future studies increase the number of subjects from this type of organization. 

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27

Do Shareholders Benefit from Sound Corporate Citizenship? 

An Empirical Investigation of the Best Corporate Citizens 

Judson Russell 

University of North Carolina at Charlotte 

Chris Brockman 

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga 

ABSTRACT 

There has been a rather eclectic mix of articles published on the topic of socially responsible investing. Research 

has focused on screening techniques, risk‐adjusted return comparisons, and on the externalities gained by 

investing in socially‐conscious firms. In this paper, we do not get involved in the controversy of defining socially 

responsible investing. Instead, we focus on the risk and return attributes of firms that have been identified as 

model corporate citizens. We investigate firms that were categorized as the Best Corporate Citizens for five 

consecutive years by Business Ethics magazine. We compare these firms to others of similar size and industry 

and reach some interesting conclusions. We find that the Best Corporate Citizen firms have a higher total 

return, lower risk, less extreme downside risk, and lower price‐earnings multiples than the peer group over the 

five year period, January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2004. We also find that the stock price distributions of both 

sets of data do not conform to a normally distributed market. We test both the Best Corporate Citizens set and 

the peer group set for evidence of kurtosis and skewness. Some recent research has reported that individuals 

under‐diversify their portfolios and that idiosyncratic risk is becoming a larger component of total risk. Our 

tests indicate that the Best Corporate Citizens exhibit significantly less risk, less extreme downside risk, and 

greater total return than the peer group while having a lower correlation with the market than similar index 

funds. We conclude that shareholders benefit from sound corporate citizenship.

Following the corporate scandals over the past several years there has been 

renewed interest in corporate governance and ethical behavior. The performance of 

company officers is now often gauged both by what they accomplish and how this is 

accomplished. While the financial performance of a firm is still a paramount concern for 

investors we notice that shareholders are voicing expectations that firms behave 

responsibly. Nearly one out of every ten dollars under professional management in the 

United States is allocated to socially responsible investing. 1 Social investing has a long 

history in many countries in Europe and North America and either has an established 

foothold or is starting to gain more prominence in countries throughout Asia. 

Traditional portfolio theory would suggest that by excluding some firms from 

one’s investment universe, a suboptimal risk-adjusted return would be achieved. 

Therefore, there should be a “cost” associated with screening. Many studies have 

focused on these costs and have sometimes reported varying results, but mostly that 

screening does not significantly impact the overall performance of a portfolio and in 

some cases may actually produce superior results. 

In this paper we investigate the risk and market performance attributes of a select 

group of companies that have consistently met the criteria necessary to warrant inclusion 

on Business Ethics magazine’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens list. There are two key 

motivating factors behind our work. First, we determine whether there is any significant 

market reward or risk differences between the Best Corporate Citizens and a comparable 

group of firms that were not identified on this list. Our second motivating factor is the 

belief that firms which behave responsibly may have less extreme downside business risk 

than other firms. This study furthers our understanding of socially responsible investing

and in particular makes two key contributions to the existing literature. First, we provide 

a thorough analysis of several securities that have been identified as model corporate 

citizens. We perform rigorous data analysis in comparing these firms with similar 

companies that did not earn inclusion on this prestigious list. We are interested in stock 

return, total return, volatility, and market multiple comparisons. Specifically, we test for 

stock price appreciation, total holding period return, and the market’s valuation based on 

price-earning multiple. We also look at risk elements to determine both overall volatility 

as well as extreme downside risk. Our second key contribution involves the investigation 

of the distributional properties of stock price movements for these firms. While we 

recognize the importance of correlation among securities in creating diversified portfolios 

we are concerned with total security risk in this paper. 

There have been several papers focused on why individuals invest ethically. Beal, 

Goyen, and Phillips (2005) suggest that financial returns, non-wealth returns, or social 

change were not sufficient motives behind ethical investing. Instead, they suggest a new 

view on the traditional mean-variance analysis by adding a third dimension labeled 

‘ethicalness’. They argue that individuals choose to invest ethically based on their unique 

indifference plane which reflects utility as a function of expected return, risk, and 

ethicalness. Markowitz (1999), reflecting on his research classics on mean-variance 

(1952, 1959), stated that mean-variance investors are the rational investors from the 

Miller and Modigliani (1961) framework. He further stated that mean-variance investors 

do not care about aspects such as social characteristics unless those characteristics affect 

the risk and expected return of their overall portfolio. Statman (2005) reports that long 

before investors were ‘rational’ in the sense of Miller and Modigliani, these investors 

2

were ‘normal’. Normal investors are affected by cognitive biases and emotions whereas 

rational investors care only about the risk and expected return of their overall portfolios. 

It is this inherent conflict that we explore in this article. First we analyze two sets of 

securities. One set belongs to companies that have been acknowledged as sound 

corporate citizens. The other set is comprised of peer companies of similar size and 

industry, but not belonging to this elite group of corporate do-gooders. Initially we are 

interested in the topic of risk. Is there less risk involved in owning individual companies 

that behave ethically? Our second investigation is on market value. Are personal values 

relevant to the investment decision process and do investors pay a premium for 

commendable corporate behavior? 

Although modern portfolio theory argues that firm-level, idiosyncratic risk is 

eliminated in well-diversified portfolios; we note Campbell, Lettau, Malkiel, and Xu 

(2001) who show that firm-level volatility has increased dramatically compared to overall 

market volatility. The authors conclude that idiosyncratic firm-level shocks are important 

components of stock returns. During their sample period, 1962-1997, the authors show 

that the share of the total unconditional variance that is due to market volatility is 17 

percent. The share of firm-level volatility in total volatility increased from 65 percent to 

72 percent over this period, while market and industry risk declined. 

As firms have divested non-essential businesses and focused on their core 

competence, they have also become less diversified. Total risk matters. We focus on 

total risk in this study and find that firms labeled as the Best Corporate Citizens have 

significantly less risk. More importantly, from an investor’s perspective, extreme 

downside price movements are also less frequently observed with these firms. The 

3

emainder of the paper is organized as follows; the next section includes an overview of 

some of the more salient research on the topic of socially responsible investing and the 

inclusion of cognitive, ethical-based decisions in investing allocation. We follow with an 

analysis of the selection process for the Best Corporate Citizens, including a short review 

of screening techniques employed by KLD. We then describe the data and methodology 

employed in our analysis. Our results from investigating stock price performance and 

volatility from both parametric and nonparametric testing are then presented. We 

conclude with an overview of the key contributions of this paper with suggestions of how 

investors can benefit from our findings. 

Studies of Socially Responsible Investing 

A number of studies have been conducted over the last decade that attempt to 

answer the allusive question of whether a company can “do well while doing good.” 

Most of these studies compare the average risk-adjusted returns of what is considered a 

“socially responsible” investment to the average risk-adjusted returns of what is 

considered a “conventional” investment. These studies often differ in what they consider 

to be a socially responsible investment or in the types of socially responsibly investments 

that they analyze. Most socially responsible investors use a typical combination of 

positive and negative criteria in selecting appropriate investments. Positive criteria 

would predicate inclusion in the SR portfolio while negative criteria would predicate 

exclusion from the SR portfolio. Positive social attributes may include environmental 

awareness, pollution control standards, good employee relations, diversity in hiring 

practices, good product safety and product quality records, and significant participation 

in the community, just to name a few. The generally agreed upon negative criteria or 

4

screens that would exclude an investment include companies that are involved in the 

manufacturing or sale of tobacco, alcohol, or military weapons, and companies that are 

involved in the gambling or nuclear power industries. As Hamilton, Jo, and Statman 

(1993, p. 62) state, “there is no general agreement on the role of social responsibility 

criteria in investment management.” 

In a January 24, 2006 news release, the Social Investment Forum announced that 

“socially responsibly investments (SRI) assets grew faster than the entire universe of 

managed assets in the United States during the last 10 years.” Total SRI assets increased 

by 258% from $639 billion in 1995 to $2.29 trillion in 2005. This is compared to an 

increase of 249% for the entire universe of managed assets. The Social Investment 

Forum also reported that assets in Socially Responsible Mutual Funds (SRMF) and other 

pooled investments increased 18.5% from 2003 to 2005 and from $12 billion in assets in 

1995 to $179 billion in assets in 2005. 

Several studies use SRMF’s in their analysis of socially responsible investments. 

Hamilton, Jo, and Statman (1993) posit several hypotheses concerning the expected 

returns of socially responsible portfolios compared to conventional portfolios during the 

period 1981-1990. They compare monthly returns of the 32 mutual funds in the Lipper 

Analytical Services database that identified themselves as socially responsible funds to 

320 randomly selected conventional mutual funds. Dividing the funds into two groups, 

those established in 1985 and before and those established after 1985, their results, 

utilizing Jensen’s Alpha as a measure of performance, show no statistically significant 

difference in the mean excess returns of SRMF and conventional mutual funds for either 

5

group. They conclude that socially responsible characteristics of investments are not 

priced in the market. 

Reyes and Grieb (1998) extend Hamilton, Jo, and Statman (1993) by conducting 

cointegration and significance tests of SRMF performance during the 1986-1995 time 

period. Monthly price and return data of 15 SRMF’s are taken from the Wilson 

Associates Capital Asset Management System Database. These 15 SRMF’s are then 

divided by investment objective and compared to four peer group indexes of socially 

screened and unscreened funds, with similar objectives. Their results indicate that all 15 

SRMF’s in the sample were not cointegrated with their relevant peer groups, implying 

that the impact of social screening causes SRMF’s time series behavior to deviate from 

that of the peer groups. They further show that the risk-adjusted performance of the 

SRMF’s is not significantly different from that of the peers. This supports Hamilton Jo, 

and Statman’s (1993) conclusion that the market does not price socially responsible 

characteristics. 

Using a time period of 1990-1998, Statman (2000) also employs Jensen’s Alpha 

in comparing the performance of SRMF’s to a set of conventional mutual funds. He 

further compares these funds’ performance to the S&P 500 as well as to the Domini 

Social Index (DSI). The DSI was created in 1990 by the social research firm of KLD 

Research and Analytics, Inc. and consists of 400 U.S. corporations that successfully pass 

a series of social screens. The DSI consists of approximately 250 S&P 500 companies, 

100 other large companies that are not a part of the S&P 500, and 50 additional 

companies with strong social characteristics. Statman’s final sample of SRMF’s consists 

of 31 funds listed as socially conscious by Morningstar. The conventional mutual fund 

6

sample consists of 62 funds chosen by matching each SRMF with two conventional funds 

of similar asset size. 

Statman’s results indicate that the DSI performed as well as the S&P 500 but that 

the DSI was slightly riskier than the S&P 500. He also concludes that the mean 

performances of the SRMF’s were better than the conventional funds, but the difference 

is not statistically significant. Furthermore, on average, both sets of funds lagged behind 

the S&P 500. 

Shank, Manullang, and Hill (2005a) perform a unique study for the period from 

June 1993 to May 2003, in which they construct a portfolio consisting of the eleven 

socially responsible firms that are common top ten holdings of the SRMF’s listed by the 

Social Investment Forum. Using Jensen’s Alpha to measure excess returns, the authors 

compare this “most valued” portfolio to a group of large-cap SRMF’s, as identified by 

using Social Investment Forum categorizations, and to the NYSE Composite Index. 

They find that over a three, five, and 10-year period, the SRMF’s show no significant 

excess performance, as they did not perform considerably different from the NYSE 

Index. The “most valued” socially responsible portfolio did not produce excess returns 

during the three and five year periods, however it did produce excess returns during the 

longer 10-year period and outperformed the SRMF’s during this period, as well. Thus, 

they conclude that the market does indeed value the socially responsible aspects of the 

“most valued” investments in the long-term and prices in the market reflect this. 

In another study by Shank, Manullang, and Hill (2005b), they compare their 

“most valued” portfolio to a portfolio consisting of the top 10 “vice” firms included in the 

Ahern’s Vice Fund. The Ahern Vice Fund is made up of firms associated with common 

7

“vice activities” such as military, alcohol, gambling, and tobacco. The authors then 

compare the “most valued’ socially responsible portfolio and the “vice” portfolio to the 

S&P 500. The study covers the 10-year period ending December 31, 2003. Shank, 

Manullang, and Hill find that over a three, five, and 10-year period, the “vice” portfolio 

shows no significant excess performance, as it did not perform considerably different 

from the S&P 500. The “most valued” socially responsible portfolio however did 

produce excess returns as it performed significantly better than the S&P 500 during the 

longer five and 10-year periods. Thus, once again, they conclude that in the long run, the 

market does price socially responsible characteristics. 

Guerard (1997a) investigates the belief that a portfolio consisting of socially 

responsible investments may be superior to a portfolio consisting of investments chosen 

from all available stocks. For the period 1987 to 1994, he compares the returns of 

Vantage Global Advisors’ (VGA) unscreened stock universe consisting of 1,300 stocks to 

a screened universe composed of the 950 VGA’s stocks that meet KLD social screening 

criteria. Guerard finds that during this time period, the returns of the socially screened 

universe of 950 stocks are not significantly different from the returns of the unscreened 

1,300 stock universe. Using an F-test, he further concludes that there is no significant 

difference between the variability of the two return series during this period. 

In a follow-up study, for the longer period of 1987 to 1996, Guerard (1997b) 

compares the returns of Vantage Global Advisors’ (VGA) unscreened stock universe now 

consisting of 1,200 stocks to a screened universe composed of the 950 of VGA’s stocks 

that meet KLD social screening criteria. Once again, Guerard finds that during this 

extended time period, the returns of the socially screened stock universe are not 

8

significantly different from the returns of the unscreened stock universe. Several other 

studies conclude through various analyses that social screening appears to have little if 

any impact on investment returns indicating that investors can invest in socially 

responsible asset without giving up investment returns (Schueth, 2003; Waddock and 

Graves, 2000; Diltz, 1995;). 

Some researchers analyze what could be considered a subset of the socially 

responsible investment world and examine assets that have met various social criteria of 

Catholic investors. Naber (2001) looks at the 1991-1995 period using typical Catholic 

screens and finds that Catholic portfolios have significantly lower raw returns than 

unscreened portfolios, but their lower risk characteristics yield risk-adjusted returns that 

are comparable. Kurtz and diBartolomeo (2005) review the risk aspects and investment 

performance of the KLD Catholic Values 400 Index and find that the index performed 

competitively when compared to the S&P 500. Christian Brothers Investment Services, 

Inc.’s (CBIS), the leading Catholic institution investment management firm, 2005 annual 

report reveals that their Core Equity Index, International Equity, and Value Equity funds 

outperformed their respective non-socially responsible benchmarks. 

Orlitzky (2005) uses a meta-analysis method and concludes that corporate social 

performance and corporate financial performance are positively correlated. He further 

concludes that there is no trade off between Corporate Social Performance (CSP) and 

Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) and that good CSP may be a consequence of 

good CFP, as well as a determinant. Orlitzky’s study supports a previous work by 

Waddock and Graves (1997). Waddock and Graves conclude that CSP has a positive 

9

elationship to CFP and that excess available resources afforded to financially successful 

firms may allow them the opportunity to expend those resources on social good. 

Griffin and Mahon (1997, p. 6) examine previous research dealing with the issue 

of corporate social performance versus corporate financial performance. They 

concentrate on the methodological differences between studies performed over the 

preceding 25 years. The authors conclude that due to methodological differences that 

“although numerous researchers have explored the empirical relationship between 

corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CFP), no 

definitive consensus exists.” 

Best Corporate Citizen Selection Process 

We were not involved in the screening process to determine the Best Corporate 

Citizens for this paper. Business Ethics magazine employed an online social research 

database created by KLD Research & Analytics called Socrates to place a numerical 

rating on each firm based on the firm’s ability to create healthy returns for shareholders 

while emphasizing good jobs for employees, a clean environment, responsible relations 

with the community, and reliable products for consumers. Every year since 2000, the 

magazine has reported its 100 Best Corporate Citizens list based on the numerical system 

of each firm. The 100 Best Corporate Citizens were compiled from the universe of U.S. 

firms in the Russell 1000, the S&P 500, and the Domini 400 Social Index. The firms 

were ranked based on their key attributes in eight categories; performance for 

shareholders, relations with community, diverse and satisfied employees, impact on 

environment, record of human rights, and product reliability. 

10

Scoring System 

The shareholder score is determined by viewing the three-year average total 

return up to the most recent period. The score for the community category is based on 

charitable giving, innovative giving, support for housing and education, and volunteer 

programs. The environmental score focuses on pollution prevention, support for clean 

energy, recycling programs, and promoting beneficial products while minimizing 

hazardous waste, environmental violations, or contributing to climate change. The 

governance category score is determined based on transparency in political contributions 

and social reporting while minimizing excessive CEO pay and accounting controversies. 

The aggregate scores are standardized by using the standard deviation from the mean and 

a single unweighted average of each category results in the final score for the firm. The 

list began in 2000 and we start at this point in our analysis. Rather than focus on each 

year as a short-term subset, we look for firms that have been on the list consistently. Our 

data set includes firms that were on the top 100 list for five consecutive years, January 

2000 through December 2004. 

Data and Methodology 

The impetus for this paper comes from the notion that firms acting responsibly 

may be less impacted by extreme company-specific risk issues such as environmental 

remediation expenses, equal employment opportunity commission (EEOC) claims, sexual 

harassment lawsuits, corporate fraud, or product liability claims to name a few. To test 

this hypothesis we take data from the 100 Best Corporate Citizens list for the five-year 

period, 2000-2004, and use firms that were included on this top 100 list for all five years. 

We gathered daily stock returns from January 2000 through December 2004 for both the 

11

29 firms in the 100 Best Corporate Citizens group and the peer group (‘Comparables’). 

The Comparables were selected based on industry classification and firm size. Table 1 

lists the Best Corporate Citizens and Comparables firms used in our analysis. We focus 

on daily returns in this study and generate a list of 69,356 return observations from 

Bloomberg, LP 2 . Table 2 lists the descriptive statistics for our data sets as well as some 

benchmark statistics from the S&P 500 index. The Best Corporate Citizens companies 

had a lower average daily return and less daily volatility than the Comparable firms. The 

average market capitalization was approximately the same among the two sets, $39.9 

billion for the Best Corporate Citizens and $31.3 billion for the Comparable firms. We 

observe that the Best Corporate Citizens were priced at a slightly lower multiple than the 

comparables, 26.78 versus 28.4 respectively, but both sets were higher than the S&P 500 

at 18.9 at the end of 2004. 

Equivalence of Mean Daily Returns 

First, we investigate the returns of both data sets. Using a two-sample t-test of 

means we find that the Best Corporate Citizens firms have a lower average daily return. 

We test the hypothesis that the mean daily return for the Best Corporate Citizens is equal 

to that of our Comparable group. The formula for the two-sample t-test is: 

t 

Y � Y 

1 2 

� (1) 

2 

2 

s1 

/ N1 

� s2 

/ N 2 

where: Y1 and Y2 are the mean daily return to the Best Corporate Citizens and 

Comparable groups, s1 2 and s2 2 are the variances for these two groups, and N1 and N2 are 

the sample sizes of each of the groups. Our test statistic of -0.51142 (p-value .6091) 

indicates that although the Best Corporate Citizens have a lower mean daily return, the 

difference is insignificant at all conventional levels of confidence. This supports the 

12

conclusions of Hamilton, Jo, and Statman (1993) and Shank, Manullang, and Hill (2005a, 

2005b). 

Risk Analysis 

We turn our attention to the volatility of the returns. We notice that the Best 

Corporate Citizens have a 2.403% daily standard deviation (38% annual volatility using a 

250-day trading year) while the Comparable firms have a daily standard deviation of 

2.925% (46% annualized). Following Guerard (1997) we test the hypothesis of 

equivalence of variances with an F-test. Using the daily variance of returns we obtain a 

test statistic of 1.481646 that is significant at conventional levels of confidence 

(p

Pricing Multiples 

If the Best Corporate Citizens offer lower risk without any significant reduction in 

appreciation, then one would posit that the shares of these firms should trade at a 

premium to the Comparables group. We test this hypothesis using the average trailing 

P/E ratio for the two groups. The average P/E for the Best Corporate Citizens is 26.78 

while the P/E for the Comparables group is 28.4. Given the large sample size we arrive 

at a test statistic of -5.89 which suggests that investors are not willing to pay a premium 

for the Best Corporate Citizens and that these firms trade at a significant discount to the 

Comparables firms. This result suggests that the socially responsible characteristics of 

the Best Corporate Citizens firms are not priced into the market value. This supports the 

results from Hamilton, Jo, and Statman (1993); Reyes and Grieb (1998), and Shank, 

Manullag, and Hill (2005a, 2005b). Rather than noticing a market premium reward for 

sound corporate citizenship we actually notice a significant discount compared to the peer 

group. 

Total Return Analysis 

In addition to basic statistics, we performed total return analysis on the two sets as 

well as the S&P 500. Table 2 shows the holding period return from January 1, 2000 

through December 31, 2004 for each set of data. The Best Corporate Citizens reported an 

average holding period return with dividends reinvested of 60.9% (6.6% annual) while 

the Comparables increased 53.3% (6.2% annual) on average. During the same period the 

S&P 500 was down 10.98% producing an annual return of -2.3%. The holding period 

captures the technology market slowdown (dot-com collapse). Both the Best Corporate 

Citizens and the Comparables group have a fair amount of technology-related companies 

14

present, yet both groups performed significantly better than the market. The high and 

low returns were extreme. For the Best Corporate Citizens, the highest holding period 

return was 414.3% (Starbucks) while the highest Comparable return was 517.6% 

(Countrywide Financial Corporation). The lowest holding period returns were -63.9% 

(Cisco Systems) and -76.5% (Flowserve Corporation) for the Best Corporate Citizens and 

Comparable groups respectively. Although simple stock price appreciation differences 

between the two groups are negligible, the total return for the Best Corporate Citizens is 

significantly better. 

Extreme Daily Returns 

On a daily return basis, there were also extreme events. The best one-day returns 

were 24.3% and 66.7% for the Best Corporate Citizens and Comparable groups 

respectively 3 . The worst one-day returns were -30.2% and -51.95 for the Best Corporate 

Citizens and Comparable groups respectively 4 . These extreme changes in value on a 

daily basis create some interest in looking at the distributions of the return data for each 

set. Hull and White (1998) found that currency exchange rates exhibited significant 

amounts of positive kurtosis. When extreme observations happen more frequently than a 

normal distribution would suggest, we need to investigate other means for validating our 

work. Table 3 shows the Best Corporate Citizens, Comparables, and Normal value for 

distributions. Under a normal distribution, we would expect to observe 31.73% of the 

observations outside of +/- one standard deviation (68.27% of all observations are within 

one standard deviation). We see that with both groups under investigation there are more 

returns that fall within +/- one standard deviation. For the Best Corporate Citizens only 

22.14% of the observations are outside of +/- one standard deviation while only 19.1% of 

15

the Comparables group observations are outside of this range. Both data sets display a 

more peaked distribution than the normal curve would suggest. As we move down the 

table we see that there are also more extreme observations than a normal distribution 

would suggest. For instance, with the normal distribution we would expect to see only 

0.01% of the observations more extreme than four standard deviations, yet 0.54% of the 

Best Corporate Citizens and 0.62% of the Comparables group observations were beyond 

this measure. The distributional data suggests that both sets of data display positive 

kurtosis with more observations centered around the mean and fatter tails than a normal 

curve would suggest. Hull and White (1998) conducted their study to determine 

alternative methods for capturing Value-at-Risk (VaR). Yet in their analysis the authors 

measured kurtosis alone without looking at skewness. We test for the presence of both 

since downside risk is a key element in our analysis. 

Kurtosis is defined as the fourth standardized moment: 

n 

� �i�1 ( n 1) 

n 

( n �1)( 

n � 2)( 

n � 3) 

( xi 

� x) 

2 

s 

2 

16 

_ 

4 

2 

( n �1) 

� 3 

, (2) 

( n � 2)( 

n � 3) 

where n is the number of observations, xi is an observation, _ 

x is the mean of the 

data, s is the sample standard deviation. Excess kurtosis is simply: 

�( X � �) 

4 

� 

4 

� 3 

Using equation (2) we find that both the Best Corporate Citizens and the 

Comparable groups display significant positive kurtosis. Similarly, we look at the third 

standardized moment, skewness, and find evidence that both sets are positively skewed. 

(3)

The results of these tests suggest that nonparametric tests may benefit the analysis if we 

are using small data sets. Since we have an extensive set of data of more than 65,000 

observations, we rely on the added sensitivity of parametric tests to investigate our 

hypotheses. 

Extreme Downside Risk 

Standard statistical analysis suggests that kurtosis is more important than 

skewness of the distribution in terms of the effects on inferences. Although the F-test is 

little impacted by the lack of normality in the data, we are concerned about the symmetry 

and shape of the distributions. Table 4 shows the extreme upside and downside volatility 

exhibited by the Best Corporate Citizens and Comparable groups along with the expected 

percentage of observations under the assumption of normality of return distributions. We 

notice that both sets display significantly more volatility than the normal distribution and 

that volatility is not symmetric. Both sets show more upside volatility than downside, but 

the Best Corporate Citizens firms display less volatility in both directions than the 

Comparable group. While we acknowledge that employing a diversification strategy 

based solely on lower volatility would be erroneous, we suggest that minimizing 

downside risk, for some accounts, is particular useful. 

Correlation Matrices 

We calculate the correlation coefficient of the Best Corporate Citizens, the 

Comparable group, and the S&P 500 Index. Additionally, we calculated the correlation 

between the S&P 500 Index and the Domini Social Equity Fund 5 . Over the period 

January 4, 2000 through December 31, 2004 the correlation coefficient between the S&P 

500 Index and the Domini Social Equity Fund was 0.957 while we see significantly less 

17

correlation among both the Best Corporate Citizens and the Comparables group with the 

S&P 500 Index. The Best Corporate Citizens and Comparables group correlation 

coefficients were calculated based on an average weekly return of each group. That is, if 

we had a portfolio consistently of an equal-weighting of each of the 29 stocks in the Best 

Corporate Citizens we would have experienced a correlation with the S&P 500 Index of 

0.8012 over this period. Likewise, a portfolio evenly weighted in the 29 Comparable 

firms would have displayed a 0.7986 correlation with the S&P 500 Index over this 

period. We conclude that both groups would benefit investors from a diversification 

standpoint, while extreme downside risk can be better managed with the Best Corporate 

Citizens. 

Conclusion 

There has been a lot of focus on the issue of corporate responsibility in the past 

few years. In this study we find that firms which have been classified as the Best 

Corporate Citizens have a higher total return and lower risk than a Comparable group of 

peer firms. Many previous studies have found that Socially Responsible Investing does 

not negatively impact an investor’s returns. To the contrary, we find that investments 

made in firms labeled as sound corporate citizens benefit investors from both a return and 

risk perspective while provide positive cognitive externalities as well. With a heightened 

awareness of corporate responsibility and increases in idiosyncratic risk among individual 

stocks, we believe there are many practical extensions for further research particularly in 

the area of downside risk analysis. 

18

Notes 

1 Based on information in the Social Investment Forum, “2005 Report on Socially Responsible Investing 

Trends in the United States”. The report categorizes socially responsible investing strategies into three core 

areas; screening, shareholder advocacy, and community investing. 

2 The comparables group includes JetBlue Airways which had its initial public offering on April 11, 2002. 

This is the best comparable for our analysis, but results in an uneven number of observations between the 

two data sets. We observe 254 more data points with the Best Corporate Citizens than with the 

Comparables. In an overall data set of more than 69,000 observations, we feel as though our results are 

still very robust. 

3 The 66.7% one-day return for the Comparable group was the first day of trading (April 12, 2000) on 

JetBlue following its initial public offering. The best one-day return from the Best Corporate Citizens 

group was 24.39% from Cisco Systems on May 8, 2002. 

4 The worst one-day performance for the Best Corporate Citizens was on March 7, 2000 when Proctor & 

Gamble lost 30.24%. For the Comparables group the worst one-day return was September 29, 2000 with 

Apple Corporation. 

5 

The Domini Social Equity Fund is an open-end fund designed to match the long-term performance of the 

Domini 400 Social Index. 

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21

Table 1. Best Corporate Citizens and Comparable Firms 

Best Corporate Citizens 

Adolph Coors Intel Corporation 

AT&T Medtronic 

Avon Products Merck & Company 

Brady Corporation Modine Manufacturing 

Cisco Systems Motorola 

Clorox New York Times 

Cummins, Inc. Pitney Bowes 

Deere & Company Procter & Gamble 

Ecolab Inc. St. Paul Companies 

Fannie Mae Sonoco Products 

Graco Southwest Airlines 

Golden West Financial Starbucks Coffee 

Herman Miller Timberland Company 

Hewlett-Packard Whirlpool 

IBM 

Comparables 

Agco Kimberly Clark 

Anheuser-Busch Maytag Corp. 

Apple Computer McDonalds 

Boston Scientific Pfizer 

Briggs and Stratton Progressive Corp. 

Colgate Palmolive Qualcomm 

Countrywide Sealed Air Corp. 

Dell Computers Sigma-Aldrich 

Delphi Symbol Technologies 

Flowserve Inc Texas Instruments 

Gannett Company Verizon Communications 

Gillette Washington Mutual 

HNI Corporation Wolverine 

JetBlue Xerox 

Juniper Networks 

22

Table 2. Descriptive Statistics 

Best Corporate Citizens Comparables 

Data Observations 34,805 34,551 

Mean Daily Stock Return 0.0449% 0.0553% 

Daily Standard Deviation 2.403% 2.925% 

Average Market Capitalization $39.9 billion $31.3 billion 

(Average Market Capitalization for S&P 500 : $22.6 billion as of 12/31/2004) 

Average Trailing P/E Ratio 

(Trailing PE for S&P 500 : 18.9 as of 12/31/2004) 

26.78 28.4 

Total Return Analysis : Holding Period 60.9% 53.3% 

(Average Holding Period Return [01/01/2000 - 12/31/2004] with dividends reinvested) 

Highest Return : Holding Period 414.3% 517.6% 

(Best Corporate Citizens: Starbucks; Comparables: Countrywide Financial Corp.) 

Lowest Return : Holding Period -63.9% -76.5% 

(Best Corporate Citizens: Cisco Systems; Comparables: Flowserve Corp.) 

(Holding Period Return for S&P 500 with dividends reinvested : -10.98%.) 

Total Return Analysis : Annual Return 6.6% 6.2% 

(Average Annualized Return [01/01/2000 - 12/31/2004] with dividends reinvested) 

Highest Return : Annual Return 38.7% 43.9% 

(Best Corporate Citizens: Starbucks; Comparables: Countrywide Financial Corp.) 

Lowest Return : Holding Period -18.4% -25.1% 

(Best Corporate Citizens: Cisco Systems; Comparables: Flowserve Corp.) 

(Annual Return for S&P 500 with dividends reinvested : -2.297%.) 

Best One-Day Stock Return 24.3% 66.7% 

(Best Corporate Citizens: Cisco Systems, May 8, 2002; Comparables: JetBlue, April 12, 2002) 

Worst One-Day Stock Return -30.2% -51.9% 

(Best Corporate Citizens: Proctor&Gamble, March 7, 2000; Comparables: Apple, September 29, 2000) 

23

Table 3. Daily Return Volatility, Skewness, and Kurtosis 

Best Corporate Citizens Comparables Normal 

>1 standard deviation 22.14% 19.10% 31.73% 






Kurtosis 8.01 23.34 0.00 

Skewness 0.15 0.39 0.00 

24

Table 4. Extreme Upside and Downside Volatility 

Upside Risk Best Corporate Citizens Comparables Normal 

>+4 standard deviation 0.3304% 0.3763% 0.0050% 



Downside Risk Best Corporate Citizens Comparables Normal 

Table 5. Correlation Matrix Between S&P 500, Comparable Group, and Best Corporate Citizens 

S&P 500 Comparable Best Corporate Citizens 

S&P 500 1.0000 0.7986 0.8012 

Comparable 0.7986 1.0000 0.8041 

Best Corporate Citizens 0.8012 0.8041 1.0000 

*weekly return data from January 4, 2000 through December 31, 2004 

26

Examining the FASB/IASB Exposure Draft on Lease Accounting: 

The Effects of Selected Lease Capitalization Techniques on 

Key Measures of Financial Performance 

Robert T. Fahnestock 

University of West Florida 

Eric D. Bostwick 


ABSTRACT 

In their recently‐issued joint exposure draft, the FASB and the IASB (IASB 2010) have proposed substantial 

changes to lease accounting, the most significant of which is the required capitalization of virtually all lease 

agreements. This paper examines the potential effects of this mandate by constructively capitalizing operating 

leases for representative companies from each of five industries. The results of selected capitalization 

techniques (as suggested in the literature, textbooks, and practice) are used to estimate the effect of 

capitalization on each company’s key performance measures (e.g., return on assets (ROA), return on equity 

(ROE), long‐term debt‐to‐equity ratio (LTD/E ratio), and the total debt‐to‐equity ratio (D/E ratio)). The degree 

of similarity among capitalization techniques is also examined, specifically between those methods that use 

entity‐specific parameters and those methods that employ generalized assumptions within their calculations.

Background 

On August 17, 2010 the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the 

International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published a joint proposal to improve the 

accounting for and reporting of lease contracts. Accounting under existing requirements is 

dependent upon the classification of the lease as either an operating lease or capital lease. If the 

agreement is classified as a capital lease, then the lessee must report both an asset and 

corresponding liability on the balance sheet. If the agreement is classified as an operating lease 

then the lessee does not present any asset or liability for the lease. Operating lease payments are 

expensed as incurred. 

The controversy over capital and operating leases dates back to the days of the Committee on 

Accounting Procedure (CAP) in the 1930’s. Chapter 14 of the Final Edition of the Accounting 

Research and Terminology Bulletins contained two and one-half pages on the subject of longterm 

leases (AICPA, 1961). Following the CAP, the Accounting Principles Board (APB) issued 

five Opinions related to leases; and the FASB has issued more than 26 Standards, Interpretations, 

and Technical Bulletins on the subject. 

Purpose of the Study 

Although the theoretical question of the “right way” to account for leases is of great importance, 

the purpose of this paper is to examine the practical considerations raised regarding the proposed 

lease treatment in the FASB/IASB exposure draft. Along this line, one of the primary concerns 

about the proposed lease treatment is the disruption to common measures of financial 

performance. Also of concern is the potential for loan covenants to be violated when key 

measures of financial health (e.g., the debt-to-equity ratio) fall outside limits specified in loan 

agreements. To address these issues, this paper empirically determines the effect of the 

constructive capitalization of operating leases on four common measures of financial 

performance: return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), the long-term debt-to-equity ratio 

(LTD/E ratio), and the total debt-to-equity ratio (D/E ratio). Financial statement disclosures are 

also examined to determine whether or not the new accounting treatment would result in the 

violation of existing loan covenants. 

Implications of the Study 

This paper empirically examines the existence and extent of the anticipated effects of 

capitalizing operating leases on four key measures of financial performance for five major U.S. 

corporations. In addition, this paper examines various capitalization techniques to determine 

whether or not they produce similar, systematically different, or randomly divergent changes to 

ROA, ROE, LTD/E ratio, and D/E ratio. These findings provide feedback to the FASB, the 

IASB, and other interested stakeholders not only about the effects of capitalizing operating leases 

in general, but also about the results of using various techniques to capitalize those leases. 

Structure and Methodology

This paper will begin with a brief summary of both current lease accounting practice under U.S. 

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) and the relevant portions of the joint 

FASB/IASB exposure draft. Following this, selected techniques for constructively capitalizing 

operating leases (as suggested in the literature, textbooks, and practice) will be applied to the 

financial statements of five companies serving as representative examples from each of their 

respective industries (Caterpillar, Macy’s, Pfizer, ExxonMobil, and JPMorgan Chase). 

To answer the main research question, the third section of the paper will measure the change in 

key performance ratios (ROA, ROE, LTD/E ratio, and D/E ratio) before and after the 

capitalization of the operating leases. Additionally, this section of the paper will compare the 

results of each technique, specifically contrasting those methods that estimate entity-specific 

parameters with those methods that apply generalized estimates. If the different techniques 

produce a consensus result, the method of capitalization used would make little difference. 

However if certain techniques produce systematically more positive (or more negative) changes 

for each financial ratio, then the method of capitalization that should be chosen by the 

FASB/IASB would warrant more careful deliberation.

Grounded Theory: 

Its Use in Recruitment and Retention 

Jamye Long 

Delta State University 

ABSTRACT 

Understanding the methodology of grounded theory can assist researchers in expanding the knowledge and 

application of the human resource management practices of recruitment and retention beyond the bounds of 

traditional theories and methodologies. This paper encompasses research in which grounded theory, when 

applied to workforce management, provides insight into the challenges of recruiting and retaining healthcare 

professionals, specifically those in rural areas faced with obstacles not experienced in most urban settings. 

Through interviewing healthcare professionals, analyzing the collected data using grounded theory, and 

interpreting the results, organizations can gain a better understanding of the needs, wants, and demands of 

employees in the healthcare industry. Conclusions address the use and role of grounded theory in better 

understanding and managing employees.

Introduction 

Human resource professionals derive their practices from previously conducted research that has 

yielded numerous theories. Practitioners utilize those theories to implement strategies designed 

to best manage their workforces. The success of this rests on selecting the proper approach to the 

research process, thus leading to the appropriate methodology and overall framework from 

which results will be derived. This forms a basis for determining the knowledge needed by 

organizations to recruit and retain qualified talent. In order to determine new understandings of 

workforce issues, the most desirable approach allows the researcher to develop theories based on 

the data collected, a process referred to as inductive analysis, as opposed to traditional 

methodology techniques of basing data on previously existing theories (Patton, 2002). The 

methodology of grounded theory, which primarily uses inductive analysis, is qualitative, 

meaning it is an open approach to research (Bowen, 2006). The benefits of applying grounded 

theory include the freedom allotted to the interviewee in speaking freely without constraints that 

can be found in traditional data collection and analysis methods. This freedom permits the 

interviewer to follow the path provided by the interviewee (Ghezelijeh & Emami, 2009). This 

technique leads to the establishment of new theories and the combination of existing theories 

which explain the occurrences being studied and allow for appropriate changes in strategies, 

practices, and techniques in the field. 

Understanding Grounded Theory 

A product of the 1960s, grounded theory centers on the idea that existing theories do not 

completely explain the incidences occurring in a situation. Given this, grounded theory provides 

an open approach to research. Using this methodology, the theory or theories responsible for the 

occurring situations are developed through the interview process designed to allow the progress 

of the information and the interviews to be managed by the interviewer. Grounded theory allows 

the interviewer to freely follow the interview’s path by allowing participants to speak openly in 

response to questions (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). The lack of rigid structure aids in the 

development of new knowledge and comprehension of the underlying occurrences driving the 

situation being studied. This method of data collection allows one to build a more complete 

understanding of the direction of the research and foresee possible points of interest that could be 

critical to the outcome of the study (Ghezelijeh & Emami, 2009). This leads to the creation of 

new theories and the combination of existing theories. 

Grounded theory, as described by Corbin and Strauss (2008), is used to analyze research 

questions, and it aids in the collection, interpretation, and understanding of collected data for 

research. According to Strauss and Corbin (1990) and Kara (2005), there are seven primary 

characteristics of research applicable to using grounded theory. Those characteristics are: 

1. Grounded theory assumes that there is an issue which needs to be researched. 

2. The aim is to build theory that is faithful to and helps explain this issue.

3. Research question(s) have to be flexible and free enough to explore the issue in 

depth, and should gradually become narrower during the research process, but they 

should not become so narrow that they block the possibility of further discovery. 

4. Grounded theory is cumulative: analysis begins at the start of the research project, 

and data collection, analysis and theorizing run alongside each other throughout the 

research process. 

5. Grounded theory tends to be orientated towards practical action rather than towards 

abstract ideas. 

6. In order for theory to be grounded, it must have: 

� Fit: does it fit the issue being researched? 

� Understanding: does it make sense to both service users and service providers? 

� Generality: is the theory sufficiently abstract to make it applicable to the issue 

being researched in different contexts? 

� Control: does the theory provide a framework for action to achieve change in 

the issue being researched? 

7. The process of developing the grounded theory must be ‘theoretically sensitive’. 

This refers to a personal quality of the researchers, defined as “the ability to 

recognize what is important in data and to give it meaning” (Strauss and Corbin, 

1990, as cited by Kara, 2005, 3). 

Knowing the characteristics of grounded theory assists with one’s understanding of the 

application of this methodology in research. Others provide insight into the methodology as it 

relates to the choice to use grounded theory and the benefits this process provides. As stated by 

Kara (2005), “Grounded theory is a scientific discipline which is also very creative. Alternating 

between collecting and analyzing data requires both creativity and scientific rigour” ( 5). 

Barker, Jones, Britton, and Messer (n.d.) add that “grounded theory….presents a single, unified, 

systematic method of analysis” (Selection of a qualitative methodology, 2). 

Grounded theory is an established methodology that has been used by researchers in numerous 

fields. In business, it allows new points of views and understanding of the context and practices 

of working professionals. Petrini and Pozzebon (2009) discuss grounded theory’s role in 

exploring the use of technology, specifically how business intelligence systems is used as a 

strategy leading to organizational sustainability. Ardichvili, Michell, and Jondle (2009) 

researched the qualities exhibited by business cultures considered ethical in an effort to 

determine how to build sustainable ethics practices. Another example of business research 

utilizing grounded theory is that of Palka, Pousttchi, and Wiedemann (2009), in which the 

authors examined the common practice of marketing using mobile devices. 

The application of grounded theory to the field of healthcare is extensive. According to Morse, 

Stern, and Corbin (2008), it is the most frequently used qualitative research in health professions.

For example, Kennedy, Regehr, Baker, and Lingard (2009) applied grounded theory in a study of 

medical trainees’ seeking assistance from superiors as a means to gain a better overall 

understanding of the decision making process. Schreiber and MacDonald (2010) studied the role 

of the nurse anesthetists in the changing work environment using grounded theory. And Eyles, 

Leydon, Lewith, and Brien (2011) utilized grounded theory to better understand the professional 

relationship between homeopathic consultation and patient care. The general acceptance and 

practice of grounded theory in healthcare and the applications in better understanding the role of 

grounded theory in business allows the implementation of this methodology as a means to 

determine how the healthcare industry can better recruit and retain the specialized personnel 

needed to be successful. 

Rural Healthcare Workforce Management Analysis 

In understanding the recruitment and retention practices utilized by rural healthcare 

organizations, one must be aware of their current workforce management situation. These 

establishments compete with various rural as well as urban employers to attract professionals 

unique to their industry. As their settings indicate, these organizations are presented with the 

challenge of attracting qualified individuals to less populated areas that often lack popular 

amenities of their urban counterparts. In order to compete in this environment rural healthcare 

organizations promote their unique qualities, providing professionals with a better understanding 

of the benefits of living and working in rural environments. Examining the success of these 

practices and developing new insights for improving workforce management techniques allows 

rural healthcare organizations to be better positioned to compete. Speaking with healthcare 

professionals and gathering their responses in recruitment and retention practices, allows for a 

more complete understanding of what it takes to achieve the goal of successful employee 

recruitment and retention at rural healthcare facilities. Qualitative analysis provides nonrestricted 

research of these concepts, thus resulting in more successful conclusions. The 

qualitative approach of grounded theory allows for the development of new theories and 

reduction of bias possible with other approaches to research. 

A critical step in researching rural healthcare organizations’ practices in workforce management 

is designing the interviews and analyzing the data. Qualitative analysis, specifically grounded 

theory, allows a more comprehensive understanding of what is necessary to achieve the goal of 

employee recruitment and retention to these facilities. As recruiters know, recruiting and 

retaining quality professionals remains a challenging and necessary task. Healthcare 

organizations in these regions struggle to meet the needs of the residents and, therefore, require 

crucial information to aid in the maintenance of a qualified workforce. 

In rural healthcare organizations recruiters and human resource professionals strive to understand 

the reasons to why many qualified healthcare professionals choose not to work in their 

communities. Furthermore, those responsible for the retention of talent often lack the knowledge 

of what employees truly desire from their respective employers, which is critical in retaining

quality employees. Given this, grounded theory allows recruiters and human resource 

professionals to have a better understanding of the desires of healthcare professionals seeking 

employment in these areas. Furthermore, grounded theory ensures that human resource 

professionals have the necessary knowledge to retain their organizations’ talent. 

By using grounded theory, personnel of rural healthcare organizations tasked with recruiting and 

retaining talent discover information useful in their efforts. The participants guide the direction 

of the research and expose the prevailing theories. These theories provide foundations of 

understanding to healthcare organizations in recruitment and retention practices. More so, the 

data collected yields theories designed to improve the successfulness of the efforts of recruiters 

and human resource professionals of healthcare organizations. 

The most common method for collecting data when using grounded theory involves personal, 

face to face interviews. The instrument designed to gather participants’ information should 

consist of questions that collect the following information. 

� Participants’ demographic information 

� Participants’ reasons for remaining in the region 

� Participants’ opinions regarding what practices recruiters and human resource 

professionals should consider when recruiting talent 

� Participants’ opinions regarding what practices human resource professionals 

should consider when retaining talent 

� Current practices for recruiting talent 

� Current practices for retaining talent 

It is important to ensure that enough data are collected when using grounded theory. According 

to Rudestam and Newton (2001), “20 to 30 participants may constitute a reasonable sample” (p. 

93). Therefore, a minimum sample size of 20 participants is necessary for this methodology. 

Results of Using Grounded Theory in Rural Healthcare Workforce 

Management Research 

Long (2006) examined rural healthcare workforce management practices and employee 

expectations by applying a grounded theory approach. The findings of the research showed that 

healthcare professionals’ decisions for living, working, and remaining in rural communities 

ranged greatly from those which could be reasonably expected to surprising revelations. 

According to the study participants, several factors influence healthcare professionals’ decisions 

to locate in rural communities. The most common reason provided was their personal history 

(67%) to the area, which they defined as their attachment to the community in the form of 

personal experiences and their past. Participants elaborated stating that their history in the area 

provides them with a strong reason to choose to live and work in the community.

Additional factors influencing their decision to locate in these areas included changes in their 

personal situation (i.e. recent divorce, move closer to family, or better quality of life) and 

professional situation (i.e. career advancement opportunities, professional development 

opportunities, educational opportunities) (28%), the healthcare facility has a good reputation in 

the community (44%), and the healthcare facility offered competitive pay and benefits (52%). 

The reasons frequently stated as influencing healthcare professionals to locate in the community 

include less common, but nevertheless important factors. These factors consisted of financial 

reasons (22%) and the organization’s promotion of educational and career advancement 

opportunities (22%) (see Figure 1). 

Figure 1. Factors contributing to the recruitment of healthcare professionals. 

100% 

80% 

60% 

40% 

20% 

0% 

Personal History 

Amenities 

Change 

Employer 

Pay/Benefits 

Family 

Financial 

Edu/Career Program 

Note. From “Recruiting Like Your Life Depends On It: Recruiting, Retaining, and Growing 

Healthcare Providers For Small and Low-Income Communities,” by J. E. Long, 2006, Ann 

Arbor, Michigan: ProQuest Information and Learning Company. Copyright 2006 by Jamye 

Estelle Long. Reprinted with permission. 

The participants stated that recruiters and human resource professionals should consider 

increasing pay, offering additional benefits, increasing opportunities for professional 

development, increasing opportunities for career advancement, supporting local school systems’ 

improvement efforts, and adding local amenities (see Figure 2). 

Figure 2. Recommended changes to recruitment and retention practices.

100% 

80% 

60% 

40% 

20% 

0% 

Increased Pay 

Additional Benefits 

Professional 

Development 

Career Advancement 

Improved School 

System 

Additional Social 

Groups 

Additional Local 

Amenities 

Note. From “Recruiting Like Your Life Depends On It: Recruiting, Retaining, and Growing 

Healthcare Providers For Small and Low-Income Communities,” by J. E. Long, 2006, Ann 

Arbor, Michigan: ProQuest Information and Learning Company. Copyright 2006 by Jamye 

Estelle Long. Reprinted with permission. 

The participants of this study elaborated stating that for those who are beginning careers or in the 

midst of careers, pay and benefits are great motivators. They also shared during the interviews 

that those who are approaching the end of their careers are not motivated by pay and benefits. 

Participants offered suggestions likely to assist in the retention of older, established employees, 

such as more local amenities, stronger emphasis on social groups with similar interests, social 

groups who focus on older generations of workers, and career advancement opportunities that 

demonstrate to the employee the value of his or her service to the organization. Acknowledging 

the value of their contributions to the success of the organization through their wisdom and years 

of experience in the healthcare field is also important. 

The participants recommended more opportunities for professional development and career 

advancement be considered to build loyalty for healthcare establishments in these rural 

communities. They also suggested the organization’s administration take an active role in the 

community. Specifically, they stated that by the administration encouraging the community to 

improve the school systems in the area and add more local amenities, such as new movie 

theaters, more activities for children, and additional shopping centers, the administrators could 

provide a catalyst and be an example to its employees, as well as the leaders of the community. 

They continued by stating that one of the roles of the healthcare facilities in these rural 

communities is to set the standard for other businesses and leaders in the area. 

Conclusion

When conducting research in the recruitment and retention of rural healthcare workforces, one 

should consider the use of grounded theory as a means to expand the current realm of knowledge 

and theories available. Through developing new theories and combining existing theories the 

understanding of the occurrences and situations will be better explained and understood. 

Research based in grounded theory provides new insight into methods that can be used to 

improve the techniques organizations and communities use to attract and retain healthcare 

professionals. With this knowledge recruiters of these communities are better prepared to 

maintain a qualified workforce. For example, hospitals may be able to expand available services 

to the surrounding community. Improved healthcare can influence research and charitable 

foundations, government entities, and private entities to increase grant awards and provide direct 

investment in the area once there is an established trend of retention of healthcare professionals. 

Additionally, other professionals may show interest in these communities once healthcare 

professionals begin migrating to and remaining in the region. Universities and community 

colleges may be more inclined to offer programs for continued education and professional 

development, which can result in economic growth to the area. Finally, a positive cycle might be 

developed to continuously draw and keep other professionals, such as engineers, educators, and 

scientists, and allow for continued sustainability. 

The application of grounded theory allows one to follow the path provided by the research, rather 

than follow the path provided by past research. This technique encourages researchers to think 

beyond established theories and consider unknown ideas as a means to explain the occurrences. 

Through the use of grounded theory, research can be expanded to horizons unseen, answer 

questions that can assist practitioners, and build new theories that better explain situations 

currently unexplainable.

References 

Ardichvili, A., Michell, J.A., Jondle, D. (2009). Characteristics of ethical business cultures. 

Journal of Business Ethics, 85(4), 445-451. 

Barker, T., Jones, S., Britton, C., and Messer, D. (n.d.). An introduction to grounded theory. 

Retrieved January 31, 2006, from 

http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~comqtb/Grounded_Theory_intro.htm 

Bowen, A.B. (2006). Grounded theory and sensitizing concepts. International Journal of 

Qualitative Methods, 5(3), Retrieved March 16, 2011 from 

http://www.ualberta.ca/~ijqm/backissues/5_3/pdf/bowen.pdf 

Corbin, J. & Strauss, A. (2008). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for 

developing grounded theory (3 rd ed.). Thousand Oak, California: Sage Publications. 

Eyles, C., Leydon, G.M., Lewith, G.T., & Brien, S. (2011). A grounded theory study of 

homeopathic practitioners’ perceptions and experiences of the homeopathic consultation. 

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Article 957506. Retrieved 

March 17, 2011, from http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2011/957506.pdf 

Ghezeljeh, T.N. & Emami, A. (2009). Grounded theory: Methodology and philosophical 

perspective. Nurse Researcher, 17(1), 15-23. 

Kara, H. (2005). Grounded theory. Retrieved January 31, 2006, from 

http://www.weresearchit.co.uk/grounded_theory.htm 

Kennedy, T.J.T., Regehr, G., Baker, G.R., & Lingard, L. (2009, February 9). Preserving 

professional credibility: Grounded theory student of medical trainees’ requests for 

clinical support. British Medical Journal, 338, Article b128. Retrieved March 15, 2011, 

from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2640114/ 

Long, J.E. (2006). Recruiting like your life depends on it: Recruiting, retaining, and growing 

healthcare providers for small and low-income communities. Dissertation Abstracts 

International. (UMI 3268456) 

Morse, J.M., Stern, P.N., & Corbin, J.M. (2008). Developing grounded theory: The second 

generation (1 st ed.). Left Coast Press. 

Palka, W., Pousttchi, K., & Wiedemann, D.G. (2009). Mobile word-of-mouth: A grounded 

theory of mobile viral marketing. Journal of Information Technology, 24(2), 172-185. 

Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative evaluation methods (3 rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 

Publications. 

Petrini, M. & Pozzebom, M. (2009). Managing sustainability with the support of business 

intelligence: Integrating socio-environmental indicators and organisational context. The 

Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 18(4), 178-191. 

Rudestam, K.E. & Newton, R.R. (2001). Surviving your dissertation (2 nd ed.). London: Sage 

Publications. 

Schreiber R. & MacDonald M. (2010) Keeping vigil over the patient: A grounded theory of 

nurse anaesthesia practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 66(3), 552–561.

Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures 

and Techniques. London: Sage Publications.

Knowledge Management has Failed to 

Create Value in Corporate America: 

The Main Reason 

Darlene Serrato 

Houston Baptist University 

Phaedon P. Papadopoulos 

Houston Baptist University 

ABSTRACT 

Knowledge Management’s success depends on individual who are willing to share their knowledge. Knowledge 

Management initiatives in Fortune 500 companies is steadily diminishing. Organizations built elaborate 

Knowledge Management structures that get hardly used. The main reason is the chasm between employers 

and employees stemming from the lack of trust between them. When the trust is not there, employees do not 

have a sense of belonging, self actualization, self fulfillment. Under these conditions the last thing in the 

employees’ mind is to invest in knowledge sharing. 

Even when participating in Knowledge Management becomes a condition for employment, employees choose 

to make trivial contributions. After all, Knowledge Management is an oxymoron: Nobody can manage 

someone else’s knowledge in a pure deterministic way.

THE STATE OF KM IN CORPORATE AMERICA 

The number of Knowledge Management initiatives in Fortune 500 companies is steadily 

diminishing. Organizations built elaborate Knowledge Management structures that hardly get 

used. As a corporate consultant for Royal Dutch, between 1993 and 1996 I led 3 dozen 

Knowledge Management projects; between1997 and 2000 the number dropped to less than 4. 

A related stream of research has highlighted the reason for the creation of a counterproductive 

environment for knowledge sharing (Adrian Slywotzki and Mercer Consulting 

Group, 1995.) Adrian Slywotzki published his Business Design TM as a business model that 

capitalizes on value migration, and profit zone to deliver value to all stakeholders of a 

corporation. 

Business Design has 5 components: customer selection and value proposition, value 

capture and profit models, scope, strategic control point, and infrastructure. Many companies in 

order to satisfy shareholders’ demands for aggressive returns on their investments, abused the 

“scope” component of the Business Design concept—the component that was directly tied to 

capital efficiency and the component they manipulated seeking primarily short-term, tactical 

initiatives versus a balanced approach with the long-term and strategic. Laying off employees 

in order to reduce costs and increase profits became a frequent exercise that eroded the trust 

employees had toward their management. 

THE KM OXYMORON 

As stated above, the main reason that most Knowledge Management (KM) initiatives 

failed to produce expected results is the counter-productive environment that exists in many 

organizations stemming primarily from the lack of trust between employers and employees. 

When the trust is not there, employees do not have a sense of belonging, self actualization, or 

self fulfillment. Under these conditions the last thing in the employees’ mind is invest in 

knowledge sharing. Even when participating in Knowledge Management becomes a condition 

for employment, many employees choose to make trivial contributions. 

After all, Knowledge Management is an oxymoron: Nobody can manage someone else’s 

knowledge in a pure deterministic way. 

ANTECEDENTS TO EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION AND THE CORPORATION’S 

SUPERIOR FINANCIAL RESULTS 

In the mid 1980’s McKinsey Consulting group undertook a major study that lasted over 

30 months and spanned across 4 continents examining the hypothesis that employee satisfaction 

resulted in higher financial performance. Indeed, the hypothesis was accepted and there was 

statistical significance that: 

(a) employee satisfaction and capabilities resulted in excellent internal processes and visa 

versa, 

(b) employee satisfaction and capabilities resulted in satisfied and loyal customers and visa 

versa, and 

(c) employee satisfaction and capabilities resulted in higher financial performance but not 

visa versa. James L. Heskett and W. Earl Sasser, Jr.(Heskett 1987), in their book “The

Service Profit Chain”, clearly established a cause and effect relationship between 

employee satisfaction and higher financial performance for the corporation. In 

subsequent discussions the birth of the Balanced Scorecard concept was the direct 

corollary of the same thesis. 

ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE CREATION 

Nanoka and Takeuchi (1987) wrote in their book “The Knowledge Creating Company”, 

that there exist two dimensions of knowledge creation, the epistemology and the ontology. 

Epistemology is the theory of knowledge. The cornerstone is the distinction between tacit and 

explicit knowledge. 

Ontology is the other dimension of knowledge creation which is concerned with the 

levels of knowledge creating entities (individual, group, organization, inter-organization). 

In a strict sense, knowledge is created only by individuals. An organization cannot create 

knowledge without individuals. Organizational knowledge creation should be understood as a 

process that “organizationally” amplifies the knowledge created by individuals and crystallizes it 

as a part of the knowledge network of the organization. Michel Polanyi’s(1966) distinction 

between tacit and explicit knowledge: 

Tacit and explicit knowledge are not totally separate but mutually complimentary 

activities. They interact with and interchange into each other in the creative activities of human 

beings. 

The dynamic model of knowledge creation is anchored to a critical assumption that human 

knowledge is created and expanded through social interaction between tacit and explicit 

knowledge. 

The authors call this interaction “knowledge conversion.” 

According to these authors, knowledge conversion occurs when one goes from tacit to 

tacit (sympathized knowledge), from tacit to explicit (Conceptual knowledge), from explicit to 

tacit (Operational knowledge), and from explicit to explicit (Systemic knowledge.) 

Knowledge exploitation manifests itself in two distinct dimensions: Minimizing the cycle 

time of the New Product Development process and Maximizing the chance of a blockbuster 

product. That is what Learning Organizations do well. 

PETER SENGE’s DISCIPLINES OF LEARNING ORGANIZAIONS 

Peter Senge (1990) in his book “The Fifth Discipline” postulated that: 

(a) shared vision, 

(b) team learning, 

(c) personal mastery, 

(d) mental models, and 

(e) systems thinking were the 5 disciplines necessary for a corporation becoming a

learning organization. One ponders how well can one excel at these when 

there is no sense of belonging, no sense of self actualization or self 

fulfillment. 

In corporate America there is hope that change is happening. Many organizations are trying 

to repair the chasm that exists between employees and employers. These organizations 

realize that the good old fashion way of creating value starts with satisfied people. The 

following are some excerpts of companies that believe that success start with our most 

precious resource: our people. 

“People, Products, Profits,….If we take care of our people, 

products will be created, and profits will follow.” 

(Jerry Sanders, CEO, Advanced Micro Devices) 

“Take care of our people; they, in turn, will deliver the 

impeccable service demanded by our customers, who will 

reward us with the profitability necessary to secure our future 

(Credo of USAA) 

People-Service-Profit, these three words are the very 

foundation of Federal Express.” (Manager’s Guide, published 

by Federal Express) 

CONCLUSION 

We live in the era of knowledge based economy. Knowledge is the operative word. 

We are talking about the knowledge of our people, not artificial intelligence. Learning 

organizations are a collection of learning individuals. To have learning individuals one must 

be willing to share knowledge. For this to happen, organizations must create the conducive 

environment where people feel good about their sense of belonging, their contributions, their 

self fulfillment, their self actualization, in order to share their hard acquired knowledge 

without the fear of working themselves out of a job, simply because they believe in the 

importance of the role to become a mentee. 

Otherwise thousands and thousands of employees will be walking out the doors of 

corporations carrying with them years and years of tacit and explicit knowledge. And the 

organization will have little to show for those precious resources walking out the door. 

REFERENCES 

Hesett, Sasser, Schlesinger (1997). The Service Profit Chain 

Hesett, Sasser, Schlesinger (1997). Putting the Profit Chain to Work 

Nanoka and Takeuchi (1987) The Knowledge Creating Company 

Slywotzki, A. (1997) the Profit Zone

Slywotzki, A. (1997) Value Migration 

Senge, P. (1990) The Fifth Discipline

Management’s Effective and Ineffective Use of 

Consumer Reporting Websites 

Elwin R. Myers 


ABSTRACT 

In the past, unhappy customers who experienced an unsatisfactory consumer experience had a limited number 

of ways of expressing dissatisfaction and attempting to correct the problem. The options ranged from simply 

sharing the experience with family and friends to possibly filing suit in small claims court. Other options 

available included complaining to the store’s management and filing a claim with the local Better Business 

Bureau. In the Internet Age, dissatisfied consumers now have access to electronic devices and tools capable of 

instantly sharing the experience with thousands of people around the world. 

This paper reviews the operation of online consumer reporting websites. These sources are designed primarily 

for the purpose of allowing customers to spread their experiences—favorable or unfavorable‐‐quickly and easily 

with other interested consumers considering whether to use the products or services of that business. The 

paper uses examples of specific consumer complaints posted on the Yelp site. According to its website, “Yelp is 

the fun and easy way to find and talk about great (and not so great) local businesses (“yelp,” n.d.). These 

postings illustrate how online consumer reporting sources have been used effectively by consumers reporting 

unfortunate incidents and businesses concerned and perceptive enough to monitor and respond to those 

incidents. Also covered are the consequences of businesses that ignore their negative reviews or choose to 

respond in ill‐advised methods.

Introduction 

A customer at a Corpus Christi, Texas, bagel shop was understandably upset at receiving the 

wrong order. The sandwich purchased did not contain the customary horseradish sauce the 

customer had come to enjoy. The customer called the shop to voice a complaint and was 

annoyed that the store worker refuted the customer’s claim, insisting that the horseradish sauce 

had indeed been spread on the sandwich. 

The customer brought the dry sandwich back to the shop to show the argumentative employee 

and to request that the sandwich be remade correctly. The second sandwich did contain 

horseradish—two tablespoons of pure horseradish. When the customer’s mouth and mood 

cooled sufficiently, the customer complained again. This time, however, the customer 

complained to a different source: a consumer-reporting website (“My Favorite Muffin,” n.d.). 

The action taken by the customer in the bagel shop incident is highly unusual. This person 

voiced the complaint through three different channels—over the telephone, in person, and over 

the Internet (see Appendix A). Most people don’t complain multiple times. In fact, most 

dissatisfied customers do not bother to complain at all (“How to respond,” 2011). For every 

person who complains directly to the store, 26 people do not, even though six of those people’s 

complaints would be considered serious (Rand, 2005). 

The reasons individuals may provide for not reporting a problem to the company include feeling 

“it’s not worth the time or trouble, they believe no one really cares, or they do not know how to 

complain” (“Giving the customer a voice,” 1990). Other customers may choose not to complain 

because they are too busy and simply find it easier to shop elsewhere. Other customers may be 

procrastinators who simply didn’t get around to complaining while the offense was still fresh in 

mind. Finally, some people may feel that the problem is an on-going issue that likely either has 

or will be reported by someone else (Rand, 2005). 

Although most customers may not complain directly to the store, they most certainly will 

complain to others with whom they come in contact. The average customer with an unresolved 

complaint is likely to tell 9 or 10 other people; 13 percent will tell more than 20 people (Rand, 

2005). Some of those 20 people will surely pass the message along to their own acquaintances 

and before long the message has been heard by 50 people or more. 

One final statistic: most customers (up to 70 percent) will return to a store if their problem issue 

is resolved; this number jumps to over 90 percent if the issue is resolved quickly (Rand, 2005; 

Freeburn, 2009). The message is clear: customers who complain are actually performing a 

valuable service to the company. First, the complaint allows the store an opportunity to win back

an important customer. Second, it informs the company of an actual or potential problem that 

the store may correct in order to avoid losing other customers for the same reason. 

The purpose of this paper is to describe online consumer review sites and suggest steps that 

companies may use to address negative reviews of their businesses posted on the sites. The paper 

will also identify actions that should not be taken in response to negative customer reviews. 

Several actual postings from representative online sites will be used to illustrate appropriate and 

inappropriate responses. 

Online Consumer Review Sites 

Online consumer review sites are Internet webpages that allow individuals familiar with specific 

businesses to share their ratings, reviews, and experiences of those businesses with other 

interested consumers. Early versions of these sites, such as Epinions, started to appear in the late 

1990s as a tool to aid consumers in making informed buying decisions (“About Epinions,” n.d.; 

“Review site,” 2011). 

Most review sites depend on advertising revenue. A few sites charge a lifetime membership fee 

in order to access reviews. Dr. Oogle, for example, requires a $15 membership fee to reveals its 

136,902 patient reviews of dentists and dental specialists throughout the country (“Patient 

questions,” n.d.). 

Some sites, such as Yelp.com, local.yahoo.com, Google.com, judysbook.com, Citysearch.com, 

and insiderpages.com, are general-purpose sites that permit responders to review a wide variety 

of categories. According to its website, “Yelp is the fun and easy way to find and talk about 

great (and not so great) local businesses” (“yelp,” n.d.). Other sites are focused on a more 

specialized niche area. The travel industry contains many sites devoted to rating food, lodging, 

and entertainment establishments (travelpod.com, tripadvisor.com, hotels.com, 

travel.yahoo.com, urbanspoon.com, dine.com, virtualtourist.com, trekaroo.com, travelblog.com, 

igougo.com, travela.com.priceline.com, travbuddy.com, ticketmaster.com, 

undercovertourist.com, and cosmotourist.com. Specialized sites in other niche segments include 

professional occupations (ratemds.com, martindale.com, dentalcenter.com, Dr. Oogle.com, 

accountantratingz.com), higher education (cappex.com, collegeprowler.com), professional sports 

(minorleagueuniversityblogspot.com), and weddings (weddingswire.com). Larger cities have 

sites that focus specifically on businesses within that city (mysantonio.com, austinchronicle.com, 

houstonexpress.com, nbcdfw.com). 

Yelp is one of the larger and better-known review sites with more than 45 million reported visits 

within the past 30 days. It provides a glimpse into the influence and popularity of this medium. 

The site organizes its reviews of businesses and events throughout the country in 22 separate

categories. The categories range from professional to routine and include these items: 

restaurants, food, shopping, beauty and spas, nightlife, automotive, event planning and services, 

active life, health and medical, home services, arts and entertainment, local services, pets, hotels 

and travel, local flavor, education, real estate, professional services, public services and 

government, financial services, mass media, and religious organizations. It operates in a manner 

similar to many review sites: individuals write a short narrative assessment and assign a rating 

of 1-5 stars. Most consumer reviews are positive; 83 percent of the 15 million reviews rated 

businesses as 3 stars or higher (“About us,” n.d.). According to the Nielsen Global Online 

Consumer Survey, 70 percent of respondents indicated trusting consumer opinions posted online; 

the only more influential source was trusted recommendations from people they know (“Global 

advertising,” 2009). 

Responding to Every Online Consumer Review 

Some sources suggest that company management should respond to every online review written 

about its business—both positive and negative (“How to respond,” 2011). This section will 

examine the responses sent by a company that responds to all reviews. It will also describe 

possible advantages and disadvantages of responding to every consumer review. 

Responding to All Reviews 

The Omni Bayfront Hotel in Corpus Christi, Texas, is an example of a business that attempts to 

respond to all consumer reviews it receives on one online source—TripAdvisor. Although the 

hotel is generally considered by locals to be the nicest hotel in town, it received an average of 3½ 

stars (out of 5) by the 115 site reviewers—ranking it 15 th of 77 hotels in Corpus Christi (“Corpus 

Christi hotels,” n.d.). 

The Omni Bayfront has faithfully responded to all TripAdvisor postings since June 2010. 

Although the hotel has received consumer reviews in at least four other sources, such as 

Yelp.com, hotels.com, yahoo.com, and travelpost.com, no other company response messages 

were found on any of those sites. 

The Corpus Christi Omni Bayfront responds to 5 stars postings (out of 5 stars) that contained 

completely positive narrative evaluation comments with a thank you and a mention of several 

favorable features mentioned in the evaluators’ remarks (see Appendix B). Responses to 

postings that assign 5 stars with mostly complimentary but at least one uncomplimentary item 

will receive a similar response; however, this response will contain an apologize for the problem 

area mentioned in the reviewer (see Appendix B). Responses to less positive postings receive an 

apology for the problem areas, notice that the problem area will be forwarded to the appropriate 

department, and a statement encouraging the responder to return to the hotel (see Appendix B).

Benefits of Responding to All Reviews 

Responding to all reviews lets readers know that their comments have been read and taken 

seriously. In many cases, the writers’ objectives were simply to be heard and their opinions 

respected. Many writers are no doubt surprised that the comments were actually read by the 

business and then impressed when the business takes the time to thank them for bringing the item 

to their attention. It also shows that the business is willing to admit a mistake or a shortcoming 

and interested in improving. Finally, it tells readers that their continued patronage is desired. 

Disadvantages of Responding to All Reviews 

Some people may be reluctant to write an unfavorable review knowing that company 

management will respond to it. This omission may deny the business from receiving valuable 

input that no one else may happen to share. In addition, since many of the responses are 

formatted in a similar format, readers may feel that the responses are trite, insincere, and unlikely 

to effect any positive change. 

Responding Selectively to Online Consumer Reviews 

Many experts believe that not all reviews need to be addressed. Some reviews contain comments 

that management really cannot or need not respond to (see Appendix C). A reviewer from San 

Francisco gave the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, California, three stars for being “classy 

but not world class” after watching a local production of the Nutcracker with “what seemed like 

half of the kids of the town” (“Gallo,” n.d.). The local readers of that review should realize that 

the center does not claim to be world class, so an apology response is not really needed. 

There are times, however, when a response is truly needed. If an online review is outright 

wrong, the erroneous facts need to be corrected immediately. A reviewer once complained about 

a bar not seeming very Irish, containing no Irish beer or Irish food, and seeming more like a 

generic sports bar. As it turned out, the restaurant being reviewed was in fact a generic sports 

bar next door to an Irish pub. The owner of the generic sports bar contacted the reviewer 

privately and explained that obvious mistake. The reviewer agreed to visit the actual generic 

sports bar and soon after wrote a favorable review (“How to respond,” 2011). 

Another reviewer complained in an online review that the gazpacho soup received was served 

cold. The restaurant manager immediately responded to that review, telling the reviewer and 

other readers that gazpacho is supposed to be served cold. The restaurant manager was wise 

enough to realize that other diners may be similarly confused and therefore added a brief 

explanatory note on the menu (“How to respond,” 2011).

Sometimes a reviewer may express an opinion that could cause readers to form an adverse 

impression. A visitor to Sea World in San Antonio, Texas, was disappointed seeing “very few 

animals.” A Sea World representative responded delicately that perhaps the visitor had missed 

some of the animal shows (see Appendix D). He provided a link to a Sea World web page that 

listed four animal shows, eight animal exhibits, and eight animal encounters (“Sea World,” n.d.). 

If a reviewer misinterprets a situation, the business needs to correct that interpretation 

immediately. A reviewer who dined at the Mission Inn Restaurant in Riverside, California, for 

example, wrote a blistering review after noticing the credit card used to pay for the meal had 

been charged $10 more than authorized. The reviewer assumed the waiter had tampered with the 

tip section of the credit card receipt by adding a “1” in front of the “5”, changing a $5 tip into a 

$15 tip (see Appendix E). If the restaurant failed to respond to that review, other readers would 

assume that the restaurant wait staff is dishonest and the management either condones or is 

ignorant of such actions. The restaurant management responded to the reviewer’s claim by 

sharing the results of the investigation into what caused the mistake (see Appendix E). Whether 

management’s review was enough to earn back the trust of the diner is unknown; however, the 

review should be sufficient to avert an adverse impression by other readers. 

Responding Incorrectly to Online Consumer Reviews 

As has been noted earlier, there is a definite time and appropriate manner in responding 

successfully to negative online consumer reviews. On the other hand, there are totally unsuitable 

methods of responding that will only make the situation worse. Three different response 

methods practiced by three different individuals serve as excellent examples of what not to do. 

Responding Harshly and Insulting to Reviewers 

A patron posted an unfavorable review on Yelp after eating a pizza at Amy’s Baking Company 

in Arizona (see Appendix F). Rather than apologize or explain what may have happened with the 

pizza, the restaurant owner became defensive about the reviewer’s comments. In this case, 

perhaps the best thing the owner could have done would have been to ignore the review and 

simply do nothing. Instead, the owner posted her own response back to the patron on the same 

online review site (see Appendix F). 

The reviewer was chastised for having an “unsophisticated palate,” not being able to recognize 

the difference fresh and canned tomatoes. He was also called a “moron” and admonished to “do 

US a favor and keep your ugly face and your ugly opinions to yourself and go back to the 

restaurant that you really work at!!” The owner’s response made such a sensation on the site that 

it eventually made its way to a local television station, which reported about it on their local

newscast. The news report segment has made its way to YouTube, receiving 1,505 views. 

Typical YouTube comments were “that is how not to handle a bad review” and “they’re just 

continuing to dig a PR hole deeper and deeper” (“Amy,” n.d.). 

Suing Reviewers 

Several professionals have sued clients for uncomplimentary reviews posted on online consumer 

reporting sites. Santa Clara, California, dentist Yvonne Wong sued the parents of a client for 

making what she felt were libelous claims against her practice. The parents posted on Yelp that 

Dr. Wong had filled a tooth using mercury fillings. The dentist noted that the parents should 

have known that mercury was used in the son’s filling since they signed a waiver form that 

disclosed it. Also in California, a San Francisco chiropractor sued a former patient for libel for 

comments made on Yelp about the chiropractor’s billing practices (“Dentist,” 2009). 

Suing patients or former patients for comments posted on online reporting sites seems 

counterproductive. In both cases, the situations were reported in the press and generated 

considerable negative publicity. A more effective method would seem to be to contact the 

patients in private, explain their side of the situation, and request the patient to write a retraction. 

If that doesn’t work, then a politely worded counterstatement could be posted on the same online 

reporting sites. 

Physically Confronting Reviewers 

Perhaps the worst possible reaction to a negative review on an online reporting site is to 

physically confront the online reviewer. A San Francisco bookstore owner did just that. The 

bookstore owner first sent several angry replies, then actually appeared at the online reviewer’s 

home. The Yelp reviewer called police, who eventually arrested the bookstore owner and served 

him with a restraining order (Farooq, 2009; Yoo, 2009). The appropriate course of action for the 

bookstore owner would be the same as for the restaurant owner, the dentist, and the chiropractor 

mentioned earlier. If a civil response including a possible apology and/or explanation is not 

possible, then simply do nothing at all.

References 

About Epinions. (n.d.). Epinions.com. Retrieved from http://www99.epinions.com/about/ 

About us. (n.d.). Yelp. Retrieved from http://www.yelp.com/about 

Amy Bouzaglo of Amy's Baking Company on the news regarding a Yelp review. (n.d.). 

YouTube. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=nexQhKIx39Q 

Amy’s Baking Company. (n.d.). Yelp. Retrieved from http://www.yelp.com/biz/amys-bakingcompany-scottsdale#hrid:c6GfpA9j5HAVJIbK6D50Vw 

Barone, L. (2009, April 13). How companies should respond to negative reviews. Outspoken 

Media. Retrieved from http://outspokenmedia.com/reputation-management/respondnegative-reviews/ 

Carlise, T. (n.d.). How to respond to online hotel reviews. Milestone Insights. http://blog. 

milestoneinternet.com/uncategorized/responding-to-online-guest-reviews/ 

Corpus Christi hotels. (n.d.). TripAdvisor. Retrieved from http://www.tripadvisor.com/ 

HACSearch? geo=60927&q=Corpus+Christi%2C+Texas%2C+ USA&inDay=

22&inMonth=04%2F2011&checkIn=mm%2Fdd%2Fyyyy&outDay=24&outMonth=04%2 

F2011&checkOut=mm%2Fdd% 

Dentist, chiropractor sue over Yelp reviews. (2009, January 13). Business Insider. Retrieved 

from http://www.businessinsider.com/2009/1/dentist-chiropractor-suing-over-yelpreviews 

Farooq, S. (2009, November 4). San Francisco bookstore accused of violent Yelp confrontation. 

Retrieved from http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local-beat/San-Francisco-Bookstore- 

Has-an-Uneahlty-Yelp-Confrontation-68914367.html 

Freeburn, C. (2009, June 3). Dealing with customer complaints. Small Business Online 

Community. Retrieved from http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/ 

community/salesandmarketing/blog/2009/06/03/dealing-with-customer-complaints 

Gallo Center for the Arts. (n.d.). Yelp. Retrieved from http://www.yelp.com/biz/gallo-center-forthe-arts-modesto 

Giving the customer a voice. (1990, November). Quirk’s Marketing Research Review. Retrieved 

from http://www.quirks.com/articles/a1990/19901102.aspx?searchID=160350785&sort=9 

Global advertising: Consumers trust real friends and virtual strangers the most. (2009, July 7). 

Nielsenwire. Retrieved from http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/globaladvertising-consumers-trust-real-friends-and-virtual-strangers-the-most/ 

How to respond to negative review. (2011, January 29). Yelper Shout-Outs. Retrieved from 

http://www.yelp.com/topic/austin-how-to-respond-to-negative-reviews 

Kuban, A. (2011, January 13). How to respond to negative restaurant reviews. Idea Hub. 

Retrieved from http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/how-torespond-to-negative-restaurant-reviews-adam-kuban 

Luther. (2011, March 16). Tactics for responding to online critics. Yelp Web Log. Retrieved from 

http://official blog.yelp.com /2011/03/tactics-for-responding-to-online-critics-new-yorktimes-boss-blog.html 

My Favorite Muffin. (n.d.). Yahoo! Local. Retrieved from http://local.yahoo.com/info- 

19316406-my-favorite-muffin-corpus-christi

Patient questions. (n.d.). Dr. Oogle: The good dentist guide. Retrieved from http://southbay.doctoroogle.com/faqs.cfm#01 

Rand, S. (2005, July 15). Customer complaints: How to handle them and keep customers happy. 

Associated Content from Yahoo. Retrieved from http://www.associatedcontent. com/ 

article/5111/customer_complaints_how_to_handle_them.html?cat=3 

Review site. (2011, April 11). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Review 

_site#Professional_review_sites 

Sea World. (n.d.). Yelp. Retrieved from http://www.yelp.com/biz/seaworld-san-antonio-sanantonio-2 

Stephanie. (2009, August 12). And now a word from you: Who do you trust? Yelp Web Log. 

Retrieved from http://officialblog.yelp.com/2009/08/and-now-a-word-from-you-who-doyou-trust.html 

Turner, H. (2010, August 10). The art of responding to review sites for restaurants and lodging.” 

Foodservice Blog. Retrieved from http://www.foodservice.com/blogs/show 

.cfm?contentid=16825&title=The%20Art%20of%20Responding%20to%20review%20sit 

es%20for%20restaurants%20and%20lodging 

Yelp. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.yelp.com/corpus-christi-tx 

Appendix A 

Consumer Review 

User Rating: 1 out of 5 stars 

by Dragonfly 

Corpus Christi, TX 

08/12/2010 

My Favorite Muffin—Corpus Christi, Texas 

I am a loyal customer up til today! My boss and I stopped by to get lunch today and when I got 

back to the office I noticed that I didn't have the horseradish "sauce" I called to let the employee 

know, and was told that the sauce was on there, I told them I would be back to the store to show 

them, and headed that way! When I got there they remade my lunch, but when I bit into it, it had 

about 2 tablespoons of straight horseradish. I contacted the other location here in town and was 

informed the manager/owner would be in tomorrow and I also inquired as to the sauce and was

informed it was supposed to be a horseradish/mayo mixture. Now thanks to the employee at the 

Alameda store i wasted a 1/2 hour and $9.00 on something that was so hot it made my eyes 

water, face turn red and I had to throw it away! 

Source: http://local.yahoo.com/info-19316406-my-favorite-muffin-corpuschristi;_ylt=Ah2GiGNn2Cu7QVzRc8RMyOaKNcIF;_ylv=3?tab=reviews#reviews 


by Ambyr 

Corpus Christi, TX 

08/12/2010 

Not recommended I went to get a lunch bagel and upon returning back to work i notice that the 

horseradish "sauce" was not on my roast beef. I called the store and in not so many words was 

told I was lying the girl put it on the sandwich, I drove back to the store and asked them to make 

me a fresh one. I got back to the office and bit into my sandwich and there was so much fresh 

horseradish on it, it made my eyes water and I had to throw my sandwich out! I think the girls 

were being vindictive and did that to prove a point, BRING IT ON!!!! 

http://maps.google.com/maps/user?uid=204186986895788442066&hl=en&gl=US&ved=0CE0Q 

hQo&sa=X&ei=KZOrTfaWKKqEyAXl5vGUBg 


Calgary, Canada 

January 7, 2011 

Appendix B 

Omni Hotel—Corpus Christi, Texas 

Entirely Positive Review 

(Five Stars & All Positive Narrative Review) 

The additional amenities with the select guest program are excellent. Complementary room 

service for breakfast beverages and economical light breakfasts are a welcome change from 

pervasive coffee makers. It is a pleasure to enjoy morning refreshments overlooking the bay. 

Hotel staff mare very helpful and provide directions to other places. Management is

understanding with emergencies or unusual circumstances. Rooms are spacious and the beds are 

comfortable. 

Management Response 

Management response from OmniCCManagement, Executive Assistant 

(Management representative) 

Jan 10, 2011 

Thank you for the great review and wonderful comments. We appreciate you taking the time to 

write a review with positive feedback. Have a super week and please come and visit us again in 

the near future! 

Source: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g60927-d98580-Reviews- 

Omni_Corpus_Christi_Hotel_Bayfront_Tower-Corpus_Christi_Texas.html 


by Doug Doo 

Sacramento, CA 

01/27/2011 


Mostly Positive Review 

(Five Stars & Some Positive/Some Negative Narrative Review) 

This was a nice hotel with great bay views, a quiet room. The service at breakfast could have 

been better, but overall I was quite pleased.




Feb 1, 2011 

Thank you for your great review. We will certainly look into the issues you mentioned in the 

restaurant to ensure we make improvements in that area. We appreciate your business, and hope 

to serve you in the near future. 




by Simba58 

San Antonio, TX 

01/3/2011 


Totally Negative Review 

(One Stars & Totally Negative Narrative Review) 

Our family usually takes a mini vacation 3 times a year to Corpus Christi just to get away from 

San Antonio and to enjoy the water. The boys have been begging us to stay at the Omni for 

awhile now, so we thought we would give it a try. What a disappointment that was. We stayed 2 

nights at the Bayfront, but should of checked out upon arrival. The room was extremely small, 

the bathroom needs a complete remodel done on it, the linens were stained and dirty and 

everything you did cost money. Internet cost 9.95/day, parking cost 9.00/day... It took me 4

floors to find a soda machine that worked and the garbage next to the soda machine outside my 

door smelled so bad my son said he didn't want any ice because that smell was right next to the 

ice machine. We will never make that mistake again...... 




Jan 5, 2011 

Thank you for your review. We appreciate all comments and feedback. There is absolutely no 

excuse for the deficiencies in service and cleanliness you described in your review. I will see that 

each opportunity you reported is addressed internally, and cannot apologize more for failing you 

and your family as our guest. We do hope to have the opportunity to serve you again in the 

future. 





by Jeff G. 

San Francisco, CA 

12/28/2010 

Appendix C 

Gallo Center for the Arts—Modesto, California 

The Gallo Center is an interesting place. It’s new, bright and airy, especially for a smaller town 

like Modesto. I was impressed by the atrium and the sight lines (there are sight lines in theaters 

right?). But the space between the aisle to the next row of seats was nearly nil. Kind of tight if 

you are taller than 5’4. I saw the Nutcracker there. It was a community theater production. So I 

didn’t expect too much. But it was cute to see what seemed like half of the kids in the town be

so excited to perform in front of a packed house. 

The center is a solid 3 stars. Classy, but not world-class. 

Source: http://www.yelp.com/biz/gallo-center-for-the-arts-modesto 


Flagstaff, AZ 

11/6/2010 

Appendix D 

Sea World—San Antonio, Texas 

This was not what I expected from Sea World. It was more like an amusement park. Very few 

animals and disappointing shows. Sea World in San Diego is far better.


11/9/2010 

Sarah, thank you for your comment. I'm sorry that you were disappointed with your visit. Were 

you able to visit all of our exhibits during your trip? They are listed at http://www.seaworld.co.... 

I agree that SeaWorld San Diego is a great park, and I hope that you visit us in Texas again. 

Source: http://www.yelp.com/biz/seaworld-san-antonio-san-antonio-2 


Daly City, California 

11/18/2010 

Appendix E 

Mission Inn--Riverside, California 

I was in the area and decided to stop in for breakfast. This tourist spot is a popular place in 

Riverside; the architecture of the inn is quite beautiful. 

After being seated in the garden I took in the nice ambiance. I ordered the eggs benedict along 

with coffee and grapefruit juice. After I completed my meal I asked for my check ($24.79) and I 

gave the server my credit card. I wrote in $5.00 for the tip for the total of $29.79. However when 

I checked my credit card charges at the end of the week, I was charged a total of $39.79! So I 

looked at my copy of my receipt and customers are not given a "carbon copy", but a single print 

of the receipt. If you add a "1" to the $5.00 tip, you get "$15.00"-and when you total it, you get 

$39.79.

After contacting my credit card company and disputed the charge (which was sent back), I 

mailed 2 certified letters to the Mission Inn (1 to the Food & Beverage Manager and 1 to the 

General Manager) to include copies of my receipt and what I believed happened. I believe an 

employee changed the amount. Why would I give a tip of $15.00 for a $24.79 check??? To date I 

have heard nothing.....No problem- I will share this with everyone who is thinking of visiting this 

property. 

Make sure you check your bank/credit card statements after visiting the Mission Inn for a meal--you 

may be paying more than you anticipated. That's an integrity issue. I will not be back. 

Source: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g32978-d950386-Reviews- 

Mission_Inn-Riverside_California.html 


11/20/2010 

Dear Guest, 

Thank you so much for taking the time to send your feedback from your most recent experience 

at The Mission Inn Restaurant. This is not the experience we want any of our guests to have and 

we are extremely sorry about the mistake that occurred. This has been investigated and address 

internally and we have refunded you the entire tip total for the inconvenience and error made on 

our end. It was never our intention to overcharge you and I would like to assure you that the $5 

tip written on the ticket was not changed to $15 but rather an entry error was made by our server 

on the computer. We will be more than happy to share with you the original receipt you signed 

so that you may see this as well. 

I have spoken with our Vice President and General Manager J.M., Director of Food and 

Beverage, A. M. and our Mission Inn Restaurant Manager, R. S. to ensure they are all aware of 

your experience. They all extend their apologies for any inconvenience we may have caused. 

We have addressed your concerns with the appropriate staff to avoid this from occurring in the

future. 

Again, we would like to apologize for your experience. We look forward to being of service to 

you in the future. When you choose to return please call Renee Stroud personally so she may 

help insure a perfect visit. 

R. S. 

Mission Inn Restaurant Manager 

rxxxxx@missioninn.com 

(951) 341-6719 

Yours in service, 

E. C. 

The Mission Inn Hotel and Spa 

Source: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g32978-d950386-Reviews- 

Mission_Inn-Riverside_California.html 



by Joel L. 

Phoenix, AZ 

8/1/2010 

Appendix F 

Amy’s Baking Company—Phoenix, Arizona 

In retrospect, I should have known better than to step foot into Amy's Baking Company (a.k.a. 

ABC Bistro). 

-8 pm on a Saturday night, three tables are occupied 

-a sign on the door indicates they're looking for an experienced line cook, a dishwasher, 

waitresses, you name it 

-Pita Jungle, just a stone's throw away, is packed to the gills

These are all bad signs. They go ignored, however, because I'd eaten one thing all day, and I had 

drove here to try their pizza. Never, ever again. 

The waitress brings me out a water and a menu to my table for one on the patio, which I had all 

to myself. Browsing the apps, I was pleasantly surprised to see several things priced $3, which 

seemed like a bargain, given the high price of everything else. $3 tapanade sounded like a good 

deal, but I was informed that it didn't come with anything - it was $3 extra for bread. Since I was 

solo, I decided to skip it and instead pay $14 for their 12" margherita pizza. 

About three minutes later, the waitress drops off my pizza. "Your pizza", she says, leaves a plate 

and off she goes. I sat for a moment, confused as to how things happened so quickly. I try to 

grab a slice of the pizza, but it was so blazing hot that I wasn't even going to attempt to handle it. 

I waited for a few minutes to let it cool off, only to discover that not only had it cooled enough 

to handle, but was actually well-cooled and most likely reheated. After a closer inspection of the 

pie in front of me, it was evident that it had been reheated, as there were smaller tomatoes that 

had spent their time in the oven, and larger tomatoes that had barely been kissed by the heat of 

the oven. 

I took a bite, and was immediately underwhelmed. The crust had very little character, was 

slightly sweet but had that store-bought quality to it. The pesto tasted okay, but the tomatoes 

were completely tasteless and overall, it just fell flat. It's margherita - the ingredients need to 

shine to make such a simple pizza. These ingredients were sub-par. After two small pieces, I 

decided I was wasting my calories and just gave up on it. 

So I sat outside, not eating, and sat. And sat. Where the hell was the waitress? I glanced inside 

a few times, hoping to catch her eye, but she must have been occupied elsewhere. 

The owner comes out. "How'd you like your pizza?" Instead of immediately responding, I asked 

how it had come out so quickly. In short, he told me another table had ordered it, decided they 

didn't want it, and it sat in the kitchen for two minutes, who in turn decided to send it out to me 

since I didn't order anything else. 

Me: "Well, it didn't really taste fresh". 

Him: "No, no, our pizzas are the best. Ask our customers. You're the first person since we've 

opened to ever not like our pizzas". 

He got very defensive about the pizza, but I hadn't really launched a harsh criticism on the pizza, 

just said I didn't really enjoy it. So I sat some more, with an empty drink, and realized they 

wanted me gone. The owner wouldn't make eye contact with me. The server never came back 

out asking if I wanted something else. And they still hadn't refilled my drink. 

So I sat on a patio, alone, and decided to have a smoke. The waitress comes out... 

Her: "Sir, there's a no smoking sign over there, I was told to tell you to not to smoke here." 

Me: "Is this the last f*** you in this experience?" 

Her: "Yes, I think so".

She walks away. I walk inside, pay the bill, and leave. No apologies, no discounts on the bill, 

nothing. $18 for weak iced tea and shitty pizza. 

This is arrogance in its worst form. I can forgive bad food, but I cannot forgive misplaced 

arrogance and the blatant dismissal of a customer, whether you agree with them or not. 

Perhaps the sign on the door should also say, "Wanted: New owner". 

I cannot, for the life of me, recommend this restaurant to anyone. 

Source: http://www.yelp.com/biz/amys-baking-companyscottsdale#hrid:c6GfpA9j5HAVJIbK6D50Vw 


Dear Joel,L. It is blatantly obvious to me why you were ALONE on a Saturday night! 

Read any of the reviews that have been written about us and you will see that EVERYONE loves 

us!! The only people that don't is our "Competition". We knew you had been sent by another 

restaurant before you even ordered your $14.00 Pizza. 

The Pizza was fresh and amazing. The reason the tomatoes had different texture was because I 

use three different heirloom tomatoes and some of them are sundried. So of course they are 

going to have a different texture from the fresh ones!!! 

But perhaps you are only accustomed to tasting the ones that come "fresh from the can!" 

Moving on to the "Store bought Dough" Comment. PLEASE!! My dough is made fresh every 

day from 100% organic ingredients. Perhaps your palate is not sophisticated enough to tell the 

difference. 

As for you having the Patio all to yourself unless you have been living on another PLANET it is 

summertime in ARIZONA MORON!!! Only TRAMPS and LOSERS want to sit outside in 110 

temperatures!!!!

We are hiring because we are so busy that we need to hire more people. You just so happened to 

come right after a huge rush. And the people did not change their mind for the Margarita Pizza 

they ordered. They were still enjoying their amazing Caesar salad and I thought perhaps you 

would appreciate not having to wait so long for your pizza. Which was just coming out of the 

OVEN. 

I am the CHEF and the owner, and I am the one that made your Pizza. 

As for the no smoking comment everyone knows that it is against the LAW to smoke within 20 

feet of a public place. But perhaps you think you are above the LAW. Have a little respect not 

everyone wants to subject themselves to being around second hand smoke. 

And as for the overpriced menu items if you think that $12.00 is too much for an ENTRÉE sized 

ORGANIC Salad or $14.00 is too much for an AMAZING Pizza then perhaps you should go to 

the PITA JUNGLE that is just a stone's throw away. And if you get lucky maybe you can even 

dig up someone up to take with you so you can share a $5.00 Falafel. 

Do US a favor and keep your ugly face and you ugly opinions to yourself and go back to the 

restaurant that you really work at!! 

I would LOVE for anyone who reads this review to come to ABC and try our Pizza. If you don't 

like it then I guarantee you don't have to pay for it. 

Source: http://www.yelp.com/biz/amys-baking-companyscottsdale#hrid: c6GfpA9j5HAV 

JIbK6D50Vw

Managerial Turnover and Fund Performance 

Liquan Wang 

St. Ambrose University 

ABSTRACT 

This paper empirically investigates the managerial turnover of mutual fund managers by using a sample of 

growth mutual funds. Particularly, a hazard model with time‐dependent variables is proposed to investigate the 

instantaneous risk of an open‐end mutual fund manager being replaced due to poor performance (hazard rate). 

I show that a manager's hazard rate decreases with fund performance. But no evidence shows that the rate is 

associated with the market‐related risk measure, Beta. It also seems that the fund size negatively affects a 

manager's hazard rate.

In the open-end mutual fund industry, investors delegate their money to fund managers. Based 

on funds' historic performance, investors generally have an incentive to switch funds and invest 

in those funds with good performance or just replace those managers with bad performance. But 

empirically, how does fund performance affect the chance being replaced for fund managers? 

Does a manager's tenure affect his or her chance being replaced? This article investigates openend 

mutual fund managers' job duration and examine the influence of fund performance on the 

hazard of managerial turnover. 

Particularly, a hazard model with time-dependent variables is proposed. In the model, one of the 

major variables is manager job duration. We use different measures of fund performance and 

characteristics to analyze a manager's job duration. It shows that a manager’s hazard rate 

decreases with the measure of alpha. There is some evidence showing that a manager’s hazard 

rate decreases with sharpe ratio, but no evidence shows that hazard rate is associated with funds' 

market-related risk measure. It turns out that the size of mutual fund also plays a role in 

managerial turnover. 

Previous research shows that the probability of managerial replacement and fund performance 

are inversely related. For example, using the growth rate in a fund's asset base and its portfolio 

returns as two separate measures of performance, Khorana (1996) documents the presence of an 

inverse relation between the likelihood of fund manager replacement and fund performance. He 

finds that most recent performance has a significantly much larger impact on the replacement 

probability than does performance in earlier periods, which means that bad performance could 

endanger the manger's career even if he has very good performance history. In addition, 

Chevalier and Ellison (1999) obtain similar results. They identify possible incentives created by 

the termination-performance relationship. They find the probability of being terminated 

decreases steeply with performance when managers have negative excess returns. 

While these earlier studies obtain interesting results about unconditional probability of 

managerial turnover, i.e., the relationship between the unconditional probability being terminated 

and fund performance, few have examined conditional probability of managerial turnover. In 

other words, previous studies only answer the question like this: what is the expected probability 

being terminated for a manager if his recent performance is 200 basis points below the market 

index? Thus they ignore information on the timing of managerial turnover. Ignoring this 

information, however, reduces the precision of the estimates, as demonstrated in the following 

analysis. On the other hand, our interest here is not the unconditional probability of being 

replaced, but the conditional probability of being replaced at some duration point. We are 

actually interested in questions like this: what is the probability being terminated for a manager 

given that he has been in his position for 30 months and his recent performance is 200 basis 

points below the market index. Is it possible that a manager who is separated from his position 

after he has been with the fund for three years has, on average, a higher propensity to be 

1

separated than those who are not separated until 15 years, given that they had similar 

performance? These are questions we will address in this article. 

The use of a duration model (or survival analysis) with time-dependent variables to analyze 

mutual fund managerial turnover makes the current work different from previous research. First, 

in the problem of managerial turnover, the response variable of interest is a manager's tenure 

time. Economic theory requires us to focus on the rate at which a manager leaves the state at 

duration t given that he has not done so yet. We need turn to survival analysis. In his book, 

Kleinbaum (1996) says "What is unique about survival analysis is that even if a subject did not 

experience an event, the subject's survival time or length of time in the study is still taken into 

account." Therefore, using survival analysis makes it possible to study not only whether a 

manager is going to be replaced, but when he is going to be replaced. An analysis that simply 

counted events, which is employed in previous research on managerial turnover, would ignore 

valuable information about survival time. Second, it is obvious that the completion of a spell is 

affected by external conditions that change over time, for instance, a fund manager's 

performance over time. If we attempt to describe a manager's behavior over time in a changing 

environment, then it is easier to think about the rate of leaving at t given that one has not done so 

than to focus on the unconditional rate of leaving at t. The availability of fund performance data 

over time also makes it possible for us to use survival analysis. 

The paper proceeds as follows. The next section introduces the basic model, followed by data 

description. Estimation results are then provided. The final section concludes. 

The Proportional Hazard Model 

In this section, the basic proportional hazard model and its extension with time dependent 

variables will be presented. 

As the hazard function is the focal point of econometric duration models, it is necessary to 

introduce the hazard function first. Let T denote a random variable for a manager's survival time 

(job duration) and t is any specific value of interest. Then the hazard function is defined as 

P( 

t � T � t � �t 

| T � t) 

h( 

t) 

� lim 

�t 

The numerator of the hazard function is a conditional probability that gives the probability that 

the event will occur in the time interval between t and t � �t 

, given survival to time t . To adjust 

for the time interval, the denominator of the hazard function is � t ; which makes the hazard 

function a rate rather than a probability. That is, the hazard function is the instantaneous risk or 

potential that an event will occur at time t , given that the individual has survived up to time t . 

2

The proportional hazard model has been widely used in economics. The Cox proportional hazard 

model assumes that the predictor variables act multiplicatively on the hazard function, but makes 

no assumptions regarding the distribution of survival time or the nature of the hazard function. 

In particular, Cox proportional hazard assumes that the hazard for a subject at a specific time is 

the product of the baseline hazard function and an exponentiated linear function of a set of 

predictor variables. That is 

h 

i ( t) 

� h0 

( t) 

e 

3 

� �� 

1X 

i1 

�� 

where 0 h is a baseline hazard, and X i is covariates such as fund performance, and fund or fund 

manager characteristics. As an unspecified function, baseline function is also the hazard function 

for a standard subject (covariates all have a value of zero). The regression coefficient for X i in 

the Cox model represents the increase in the log hazard at any fixed point in time if X i is 

increased by one unit and all other predictor variables are held constant. The hazard ratio is the 

exponent of the regression coefficient. Partial likelihood method is used to estimate β. 

A time-dependent covariate is an explanatory variable whose value may change over time, thus it 

has value xi (t) 

for individual i at time t . The basic proportional hazard model may be extended 

to include such a covariate in the linear predictor: the hazard function shall depend on the value 

xi (t) 

at time t, and the model will become 

�1X i1 

( t) 

�� 

k X ik ( t) 

hi 

( t) 

� h0 

( t) 

e 

. 

Estimation of the corresponding regression coefficient can still be made on the basis of the 

partial likelihood function, suitably modified to account for the changing value of x (t) 

: The 

coefficient we estimate for that variable becomes a sort of average effect over the range of times 

observed in the data. 

Data 

We gather data on fund performance, and manager identities for growth mutual funds from the 

Morningstar Principia Pro for Mutual Funds. Taking October 1995 as the beginning of study 

period, and October 2000 as the end of study period, we use multiple mutual fund CDs from 

Morningstar Co. to construct a sample of funds. 

As most of fund performance measures are calculated based on most recent three years, we focus 

on those funds whose managers stay for at least three years after October 1995. Furthermore, we 

restrict our attention to those growth funds with TICKER information in each year. By matching 

TICKER of the funds in each CD and comparing manager information, we try to find if 

managerial change occurs during that time period. If a fund disappeared or manager change 

occurred during this period, we say the managerial turnover happens. We record fund 

performance and manager tenure for each fund in each possible year. The following table 

k X ik

provides the structure of survival over the whole study period. In the table, the number of events 

refers to the number of managers who experience replacement during (t1,t2). The number of new 

entries refers to the number of new managers starting at t1. The number of censored refers to the 

number of managers who survive the period (t1,t2). For example, there are 61 managers 

available in October 1995, but 14 managers were replaced from October 1995 to October 1996. 

To determine whether an observation is censored at the end of the study period, one period after 

the end of studying period, i.e., April 2001 is examined. 

Table 1. The survival description of all observations over the study period. 

(t1, t2) 10/95 – 

10/96 

10/96 – 

10/97 

4 

10/97 – 

10/98 

10/98 – 

10/99 

10/99 – 

10/00 

# of events 14 40 75 85 154 64 

# of new entries at t1 61 110 146 168 236 330 

# of censored at t1 47 117 188 271 353 619 

10/00 - 

04/01 

If an observation exists in both October 2000 and April 2001, then this observation is said to be 

censored; if an observation exists in October 2000 but disappears in April 2001, then it is 

considered as experiencing replacement. 

In principle, manager replacements could represent promotions, firings, or voluntarily 

departures. They are all reflected in managerial turnover, even though the reasons behind 

replacement are different. The lack of any information about the reasons of managerial 

replacements makes it impossible to distinguish explicitly between managerial turnover induced 

by poor performance and other reasons for replacement. 

The following table gives descriptive statistics for fund performance and manager tenure. As the 

history data are recorded for each manager during the study period, each manager has at most six 

values for each performance measure. 

In the rest of this section we introduce all variables that will be used in the following analysis. 

Net assets is the month-end net assets of the mutual fund, recorded in millions of dollars. Netasset 

figures are useful in gauging a fund's size, agility, and popularity. 

Alpha is a measure of the difference between a fund's actual returns and its expected 

performance, given its level of risk as measured by beta. A positive alpha indicates the fund has 

performed better than its beta would predict. In contrast, a negative alpha indicates the fund's 

underperformance, given the expectations established by the fund's beta. Alpha can be used to

directly measure the value added or subtracted by a fund's manager. Both Alpha and Beta are 

based on a least-squared regression of the fund's return over Treasury bills (excess return) and 

the excess returns of the fund's benchmark index. The value of using Alpha and Beta depends 

upon the strength of the linear relationship between the fund and the index over the past 36 

months. 

Sharp ratio is a risk-adjusted measure. It is calculated by using standard deviation and excess 

return to determine reward per unit of risk. The higher the Sharpe Ratio, the better the fund's 

historical risk adjusted performance. The Sharpe Ratio is calculated for the past 36 month period 

by dividing a fund's annualized excess returns by the standard deviation of a fund's annualized 

excess returns. 

Beta is a measure of a fund's sensitivity to market movements. The Beta of the market is 1 by 

definition. Morningstar calculates Beta by comparing a fund's excess return over Treasury bills 

to the market's excess return over Treasury bills, so a beta of 1.10 shows that the fund has 

performed 10% better than its benchmark index in up markets and 10% worse in down markets, 

assuming all other factors remain constant. Both Alpha and Beta are based on a least-squared 

regression of the fund's return over Treasury bills (excess return) and the excess returns of the 

fund's benchmark index. The value of using Alpha and Beta depends upon the strength of the 

linear relationship between the fund and the index over the past 36 months. 

The dependent variable is manager tenure, which is the number of years that the current manager 

has been the portfolio manager of the fund. For funds with more than one manager, the average 

tenure is shown. 

Estimation 

In this section, we estimate the above model using performance measure of Alpha, Beta, Sharpe 

ratio, and fund size as covariates. 

Table 2. Partial likelihood estimation results based on the performance measure of alpha. 

Standard errors are in parentheses. An asterisk denotes significance at the 5 percent level. 

Variables (1) (2) (3) (4) 

Alpha(t) -0.055* -0.051* -0.045* -0.041* 

(0.007) 

(0.007) 

(0.012) 

(0.012) 

Alpha(t-1) -0.023 

-0.017 

(0.015) 

(0.015) 

Logasset -0.050 

(0.027) 

5 

-0.071 

(0.043)

Table 2 shows the results when the measures of Alpha(t), Alpha(t-1) and Log(asset) are included 

in four different models. It shows that the measure of Alpha always has a significant effect 

managers' hazard rate; the hazard rate decreases with performance Alpha. Take column (2) for 

example, the value of -0.051 indicates that for every unit of increase Alpha(t), the hazard of 

replacement decreases by 5%. The coefficients of Alpha(t-1) is negative but not significant. 

Table 3. Partial likelihood estimation results based on the performance measure of sharpe and 

beta. Standard errors are in parentheses. An asterisk denotes significance at the 5 percent level. 

Variables (1) (2) (3) (4) 

Sharpe(t) -0.195 

-0.084 

(0.102) 

(0.104) 

Beta(t) -0.195 

-0.066 

(0.256) 

(0.267) 

Logasset -0.100* 

(0.027) 

6 

-0.106* 

(0.03) 

Table 3 shows the results when the measures of Sharpe ratio, Beta and Log(asset) are included in 

the model. It seems that the measure of Sharpe ratio has negative effect on job hazard, but the 

effect is not very significant. There is also no conclusive evidence that the measure of Beta 

affects managers' job hazard. In both tables, it seems that the size of mutual fund always 

decreases manager's job hazard. 

Conclusions 

This paper empirically investigates the managerial turnover of mutual fund managers by using a 

sample of growth mutual funds. Particularly, a hazard model with time-dependent variables is 

proposed to investigate the instantaneous risk of an open-end mutual fund manager being 

replaced due to poor performance (hazard rate). It shows that a manager's hazard rate decreases 

with fund performance. There is some evidence showing that a manager’s hazard rate decreases 

with the Sharpe ratio, too, but no evidence shows that the rate is associated with the market 

related risk measure, Beta. It also seems that the fund size negatively affects a manager's hazard 

rate. 

References 

Chevalier, Judith, and Glenn Ellison, 1997, Risk taken by mutual funds as a response to 

incentives, Journal of Political Economy 105, 1167-1200. 

Chevalier, Judith, and Glenn Ellison, 1999, Career concerns of mutual fund managers, Quarterly 

Journal of Economics 114, 389-432.

Collett, D., 1994, Modeling Survival Data in Medical Research (Chapman & Hall). 

Cox, D. R., 1972, Regression models and life tables, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 34, 

187-220. 

Cox, D R, 1975, Partial likelihood, Biometrika 62, 269-276. 

Horowitz, Joel L., 1999, Semi parametric estimation of a proportional hazard model with 

unobserved heterogeneity, Econometrica 67, 1001-1028. 

Khorana, Ajay, 1996, Top management turnover: An empirical investigation of mutual fund 

managers, Journal of Financial Economics 40, 403-427. 

Kleinbaum, D. G., 1996, Survival analysis: A self-learning text (New York, Springer-Verlag 

Inc.). 

Marubini, Ettore, and Maria Grazia Valsecchi, 1995, Analyzing Survival Data from Clinical 

Trials and Observational Studies (John Wiley & Sons). 

7

Managing Technology in the 21ST Century 

Darrell Bowman 

University of Indianapolis 

ABSTRACT 

American business managers of technology face challenges from technology and a globally competitive market. 

How managers utilize technology could affect the success of the organization. The factors affecting technology 

management in the twenty‐first century, are an internationally diverse workforce, a global market, rapid 

technological development and an high pressure management environment. Unique business skills, such as 

flexibility, vision and a keen sense of business, are examined as requirements for twenty‐first century 

technology managers. 

Various opinions have been published regarding the phases of new technology market acceptance, called the 

Technology Adoption Life Cycle. Scholars believe that technology management in the new century is based on 

the use of innovation to further the competitive advantage of the organization in the growing global market. It 

is essential for educators to convey the technology challenges for prospective managers to higher education 

students.

Managing Technology in the 21 ST Century 

American business managers of technology face challenges from technology and a globally 

competitive market. The end of the last century witnessed revolutionary changes in technology 

and the use of technology in business. Technology-based globalization is clearly the new 

paradigm for local economies and major businesses (Blakely, 2001). According to Blakely 

(2001), technology will determine the type and form of work, not physical resources, tax breaks, 

low wages, or location assets that local communities control. Blakley (2001) believes that 

globalization and technology are closely related and the most significant influences on the 

world’s economy in the new century. According to (Zahra, 1999) forces of globalization will 

continue to escalate, causing companies around the globe to search for innovative ways to 

capitalize on the opportunities unleashed by the global economy. 

A second priority will be acquiring information through technology (Hitt, 1998). The 

Information Age that began in 1980’s will continue into this century. According to Hitt (2000) 

there will be haves and have-nots. Organizations with access to information critical to their 

business will be on equal ground with competitors (Hitt, 2000). Hitt (2000) believes that 

businesses without information access will quickly loose ground or fail to survive in the highly 

competitive international market. 

The third priority is to transform information into knowledge. According to Hitt (1998) 

transforming information into knowledge can produce a competitive advantage for firms. Kanter 

(1999) states that organizations should use collaborative methods such as networks, boundary 

teams, supply chain partnerships, and strategic alliances, to support innovation and then spread 

knowledge. 

According to research conducted by Phan, Siegel and Wright (2009) there is a gap in educating 

technology managers. “Some countries with centralized educational systems (e.g., Japan, 

Singapore, and Ireland) are graduating ‘bilingual engineers’ with capabilities in technology and 

business.” (Phan, Siegel, & Wright, p. 1., 2009). 

Technical managers today must contend with shortened product life cycles, narrower product 

launch windows, global competition, and increasingly complex technical products (Pinto, 2002). 

Graduates entering business must understand the competitive climate created by technology and 

globalization. Tarnof, (2000) stated that the ability to manage information technology is an 

important requirement for insurance company senior executives. The ability to manage 

information technology is a requirement not left only to information technology (I.T.) managers. 

Tillinghast-Towers Perrins consulting firm conducted a 1999 survey with what population or 

what was the name of the survey? The survey was sent to 270 United States and Canada based 

insurance firm executives and a 24 percent response rate was achieved (Tarnof, 2000). Tarnof 

(2000) reported that almost one-third of the life insurance CEOs believe that managing 

information technology is one of the top three strategic issues companies face. 

“The global economy is a major irrevocable event whose existence has already had a major 

influence on today's strategic leadership practices and offers insights about practices that should 

be used in the future”, according to (Ireland, 1999). Technology and globalization will continue

21 st Century 

to influence business around the world. But the rapidity of change causes experts to believe 

that the leaders of the twenty-first century will come from a different mold (Rifkin, 2002). 

A by-product of the globalization of businesses is an increase in workforce diversity (Ireland, 

1999). As companies become more global they will have to deal with the complications and 

issues brought by a diversity of politics and culture. Business communities will comprise of 

individuals from multiple countries and cultures that may have unique and idiosyncratic value 

structures (Ireland, 1999). 

The twentieth century has become known as the information age. According to Tyson, the 

information age is being replaced with the intelligence age and success will come to those 

companies that build a knowledge base about their competitive environment and a perpetual 

strategy process to keep it continuously updated (Tyson, 1998). 

Managers of technology must continue to stay up to date with technological innovation and 

trends. According to Gates, the founder of Microsoft, the most significant trends of the new 

twenty-first century are the Internet and E-Business (Leibs, 2002). Executives must make 

decisions about how technology can best be used to the company’s advantage and what 

technology is best. The Xerox Corporation has developed a significant number of innovative, 

information-processing products for example the PC mouse, graphical user interface, laser 

printer, and local area network (Tyson, 1998). Yet Xerox is not a leader in the technology 

industry today and is on the edge of financial collapse. Xerox failed to recognize the value of 

some of their developments. Xerox did a fine job of information gathering but could not link the 

intelligence they had gathered to a strategic implementation. The ease of acquiring information 

and the amount of information has never been greater (Tyson, 1998). Both are due in great part 

to the availability of the Internet. However, managers can become overwhelmed with 

information (Tyson, 1998). 

The highly competitive markets of today have also created a cacophony of managers who are 

risk-takers working under pressures created by rapid change (Delbecq, 2000). A technology that 

clearly reflects rapid change and high risk is the Internet. 

Traditionally business has been conducted within the confines of brick and mortar. Deals were 

consummated face-to-face or over the telephone. But the Internet has added a new method for 

conducting business. Extranets are delivering what was thought impossible a short time ago: 

efficient, timely collaboration within the enterprise and between firms separated from each other 

by thousands of miles and many time zones. For the first time, a worldwide enterprise, and its 

trading partners, can act as a unified, global team, because workers can leverage a shared base of 

knowledge delivered from anywhere (Wladawsky Berger, 1999). An example of the effective 

use of an extranet is ABB, the Swiss transnational; to integrate over 60 000 users in a worldwide 

corporate network spanning more than 80 countries and to connect over 100 external companies- 

-both customers and business partners (Wladawsky Berger, 1999). 

Analyzing Technological Directions 

Technology Based Globalization 

2

21 st Century 3 

Managing business technology today requires a combination of traditional management skills 

and technology savvy. In a 2000 issue of Journal of Management Inquiry the work environments 

of two of America’s highest regions for technological production were compared; Silcon Valley 

in California and Route 128 region of Waltham, Massachusetts (Delbecq, 2000). The article 

reports that those at the heart of innovation in most high-tech companies in Silcon Valley present 

a very different image from the innovators of twenty years ago. The innovators are more 

youthful, with most being in their 20s and 30s. The work environment is casual, almost 

collegiate. Programmers and team-leaders are less likely to be wearing suits and ties than blue 

jeans, khakis and open-collar shirts (Delbecq, 2000). The groups arrive at innovation by 

questioning the solutions of their predecessors. In Silicon Valley the predominant cultural 

attribute looked for in a manager or team leader is not someone who will be technically "right" 

and control and direct subordinates, but rather someone who can excel in diagnostic questioning 

(Delbecq, 2000). Delbecq describes a Silicon Valley that continues to reinvent itself. 

The change that has occurred in the Route 128 region of Massachusetts reflects a shortage of 

software developers and engineers (Delbecq, 2000). A global workforce has descended on the 

area and the workforce is more youthful. They work in shorter time-frames and planning-cycles 

according to Delbecq. Delbecq found that In Silicon Valley and Route 128 the young high-tech 

developers work long hours, experience time pressure and are empowered to take risks. The 

environment and make-up of computer technology departments is changing as it continues to be 

affected by highly competitive global markets. 

The Internet inspired knowledge age is causing a shift in immigration according to Blakely. 

Now, workers with access to the Internet can compete with one another through the Internet with 

computerized central control systems (Blakely, 2001). Blakely (2001) believes that the world is 

entering a new age of electronic migration. No longer will a worker have to leave his or her 

home country to work in a far land. Blakely states that American companies are beginning to 

outsource technical jobs to countries such as India and Pakistan. The long-range ramifications of 

electronic worker migration and international outsourcing cannot be predicted. But the 

challenges for managing technology workers can be understood. The cultural constraints of 

electronic migration require that work hubs be established and managed by local management 

(Blakely, 2001). 

For the I.T. department in America that employs immigrant knowledge workers the challenge of 

management is complicated by greater diversity (Blakely, 2001). Regardless of the global 

business environment it is still necessary for managers to be able to manage people and 

processes. 

The Unique Business Characteristics for Technology Based 

Companies 

Managers directly involved with technology have multidimensional roles. Today they must be in 

tuned with the needs of the organization, have a working knowledge of their business and 

manage the complexities of their technology (Hitt, 2000). 

“Managers must become agile and flexible to help their firms develop and sustain an advantage 

in the competitive landscape of the new millennium. They will need to harness the powers of


information technology and human capital with nonlinear thinking in the global marketplace of 

the 21st century” (Hitt, 2000). 

The two most significant technologies inherent in the technological revolution is information and 

communications technology according to Hitt, (2000). Information technology centers on 

collecting information and producing useful knowledge for decision support. Communication 

technology enables access to global information. In the 21 st century even technology managers 

must think globally and allow strategic flexibility (Hitt, 2000). The technological environment 

has been dynamic for many years but adding a global business factor makes flexibility a required 

characteristic for I.T. managers of all disciplines. 

Perhaps the most important skill for technology managers is developing partnerships between 

technology departments and the business managers (Nelson, 2001). I.T. managers must not only 

be responsive to the business needs but must contribute to the corporate strategy. Nelson (2001) 

states, “Thriving will require tight and consistent partnerships between IT and business 

managers” (Nelson, 2001, 3). Technology managers need to become more assertive leaders who 

seek opportunities for technology to drive business (Nelson, 2001). 

Managing technology and technical innovation is important for every organization. Learning to 

apply innovation to the needs of business is not automatic. Managers must know when to adopt 

technology and how long to maintain the technology (Ireland, 1999). 

Conclusion 

Hitt (2001) found that technology, led by the Internet, created major changes to the way the 

world does business. In the last fifteen years of the twentieth century computers became smaller, 

cheaper and more powerful. The Internet helped to evolve computers from giant calculators to 

full function communication devices and information generators. Markets that were once local 

or national have become international. Globalization has enhanced competitiveness through 

innovative technology (Mruthyunjaya, 2001). Technology and innovation are the catalyst for 

global competition but can also be a tool for competitive advantage (Pinto, 2002). “In order to 

successfully manage the technology in the current global context, organizations should examine 

the technology basically from three view points. The first one is acquiring the state-of-the-arttechnology 

from wherever it is available; including technology developed in-house, and the 

second one is to guard the same from becoming obsolete. The third one is to maintain a balance 

between new technology and technology updation” (Mruthyunjaya, 2001). 

Globalization has dramatically cut the costs of international shipping, transportation, travel, 

communication, and financial interaction, as well as of computing and information exchange 

(Bosworth, 2001). The global economy crosses national borders and comes with natural issues. 

The issues are emphasized by Bosworth , “The issues raised under the heading of globalization 

are controversial in part because the term has different meanings for different people, broadly, 

most globalization is the expansion and intensification of linkages and flows--of people, goods, 

capital, ideas, and cultures--across national borders” (Bosworth, 2001). 

Globalization has forced people from diverse cultures to work together in America and abroad. 

The natural problems associated with a diverse workforce are language, culture, politics and


beliefs (Ireland, 1999). Technology has also created a strategy of outsourcing technical skills to 

foreign countries (Hagel III, 2001). However, countries with a labor knowledge pool capable of 

attracting high-tech companies are few. According to Zahra (1999) today, companies across the 

globe are struggling with the challenges of creating and exploiting new knowledge. 

The 21 st century technical manager’s primary challenges focus around global competition and 

rapidly changing technology (Delbecq, 2000). Ireland (1999) said, that the global economy will 

continue and has already had a major influence on today's strategic leadership. Strategic 

leadership may mean that managers will have to seek innovation and manage it. Hitt (1998), 

who studies 21 st century organizations, states that there are three key strategies for managers of 

technology in the new century. The first key is managing innovation; the second is managing 

information and the third key is managing knowledge. 

Hitt (1998), Dess (2000) and Byham (2000) stress the importance for managers to adapt to 

changing technology and corporate strategies. The organizations that seek to compete globally 

using technology must be flexible and quick to respond to changing markets and innovation 

(Vecchio, 2000). 

The global economy has produced business partnerships that are utilizing the Internet 

infrastructure. “For the first time, a worldwide enterprise, and its trading partners, can act as a 

unified, global team, because workers can leverage a shared base of knowledge delivered from 

anywhere” (Wladawsky Berger, 1999). The 21 st century has already seen rapid growth of E- 

Business between American business and business partners around the world. 

Technology management in the new century is based on the use of innovation to further the 

competitive advantage of the organization in the growing global market (Mruthyunjaya, 2001). 

References 

Basselier, G., Reich, B. H. & Benbasat, I (2001) Information technology competence of 

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Bellman, L. M. (May/June, 2001) Bricks and mortar: 21st century survival. Business 

Horizons. 44, 3 p21, 8p 

Bennett, J. C. (April, 1999) Achieving professional exellence for a new century. 

Information Management Journal. 33, 2 p36, 7p 

Beshears, F. M. (2000). The Technology Adoption Life-cycle, The University of 

California at Berkeley. Educational Technology Services. 2002. 

Blakely, E. J. (2001). "Competitive Advantage for the 21st-Century City." Journal of the 

American Planning Association 67(2): p133, 9p. 

Bosworth, B. G., Phillip H. (2001). "Managing a globalizing world: An overview." 

Brookings Review 19(4): p3, 4p. 

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Dess, G. G. P., Joseph C. (Winter, 2000). "Changing roles: Leadership in the 21st 

century." Organizational Dynamics 28(3): p18, 16p.

21 st Century 

Dooley, E. (2001) Information rules. University of Washington, Department of Computer 

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sw/inforules/sld025.htm on July 27th, 2002. 

Hagel III, J. B., John Seely (2001). "Your Next IT Strategy." Harvard Business Review 

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schools, and the academy." Academy of Management Review 23(2): p218, 7p. 

Hitt, M. A. (2000). "The new frontier: Transformation of management for the new 

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Ireland, R. D. H., Michael A. (1999). "Achieving and maintaining strategic 

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Management Executive 13(1): p43, 15p. 

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Management Practices on Customer Service." Journal of Management Information 

Systems 17(4): pp. 125-158. 

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Commercial Training 31(6): pp. 236-242. 

Miranda, M. (2000). The Technology Adoption Life Cycle, PGMBA.com. 2002. 

Moore, G. (1999). Inside the Tornado: Marketing Strategies from Silicon Valley's Cutting 

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Mruthyunjaya, H. C. (2001). "Managing technology in a dynamic context." Chemical 

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6

21 st Century 

Tyson, K. W. M. (1998). "Perpetual strategy: A 21st century essential." Strategy & 

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Academy of Management Executive 13(1): p36, 7p. 

7

Appendix A 

The Technology Adoption Life-cycle 

Fred M. Beshears 

The University of California at Berkeley 

Educational Technology Services 

Room 5 Dwinelle Hall 

Mail code: 2535 

Berkeley, CA 94720-2535 

21 st Century 

Converting university teaching to technology-based systems is an expensive process. Where can 

institutions look for evidence about the likely reactions of faculty to new methods and for advice 

about how to maximize the chances that faculty will adopt them? 

The adoption by business and individuals of high technology products, particularly those that 

represent a discontinuous innovation, holds obvious parallels. What can we learn from that 

experience? 

Moore has summarized and structured a wealth of experience on the introduction of new 

technology - both success and failure. His book, Crossing the Chasm (1991) looks at the 

challenge of marketing high technology. He distinguishes between successive groups of 

adoptors: 

Innovators (I) The enthusiasts who like technology for its own sake. 

Early Adopters 

(EA) 

Those who have the vision to adopt an emerging technology to an opportunity 

that is important to them. 

The Chasm (C) Time gap in technology adoption, which is between the early adoptors and the 

8

Pragmatists (P) 

Early Majority 

Pragmatists (P) 

Late Majority 

Traditionalists 

(T) 


pragmatists. 

Early majority pragmatists are the solid citizens who do not like to take the 

risks of pioneering, but are ready to see the advantages of tested technologies. 

They are the begining of a mass market. 

Late majority pragmatists, who represent about one-third of available 

customers, disklike discontinuous innovations and believe in tradition rather 

than progress. They buy high-technology products reluctantly and do not 

expect to like them. 

Traditionalists (laggards) do not engage with high technology products - 

except to block them. They perform the valuable service of pointing out 

regularly the discrepancies between the day-to-day reality of the product and 

the claims made for it. 

For Moore, the most important time gap in technology adoption, which he calls the Chasm, is 

between the early adoptors and the early majority pragmatists. Many high tech companies have 

floundered in the chasm, just after volume starts to rise at the end of the early adoption phase. All 

too often, sales suddenly dry up if the early majority does not buy. 

The analogy to technology-based teaching is clear. Some faculty will always be attracted to new 

technology for its own sake (the innovators). Others will quickly see the potential for more 

convenient and efficient learning (the early adopters). The key question is: Will the pragmatic 

solid citizens, on whom the success of the university depends, be attracted to form an early 

majority of users? 

Moore suggests that high tech companies who successfully cross the chasm first establish a niche 

in the mass market from which they can expand. Moore recommends developing scenarios by 

assessing, for example, what a particular delivery technology could give to distinct groups of 

faculty and students in the way of useful applications. The purpose is to tune a particular 

combination of the triad of function, faculty, and students into a powerful value proposition. If 

that is achieved those students and faculty will have a compelling reason to adopt the technology. 

In the context of higher education, such a 'must-have' value proposition could be based on one of 

three elements: 

1. It creates a previously unavailable capacity that makes learning dramatically easier, or 

more productive, or more enjoyable. 

2. It visibly, verifiably and significantly reduces current overall operating costs. 

3. It radically improves the productivity of the university on a critical success factor that is 

already well understood. 

(Note: For more details, see Moore, G. A. (1991) Crossing the Chasm, HarperBusiness, New 

York.)

Momentum Profitability: 

The Pre-CRSP Evidence 

Xiuqing Susan Ji 

Governors State University 

ABSTRACT 

There is tremendous interest and research on the existence and sources of momentum profitability. This paper 

is the first to examine momentum strategy in the pre‐CRSP era. The results show that momentum is profitable 

during the period of 1815‐1925. Moreover, the profits are negative in January and positive in non‐January 

months.

1. Introduction 

The work of Jegadeesh and Titman (1993) has stimulated mounting research on 

the simple strategy of buying past winners and selling past losers. There are primarily 

three explanations for the momentum phenomenon: Data mining, risk, and behavioral 

argument. 1 

This paper concerns the first proposition and provides new evidence on 

momentum using a dataset that has not yet been studied in the momentum literature. 

Existing studies on the United States use the database of the Center for Research in 

Security Prices (CRSP), which dates back to as early as 1926 (see Jegadeesh and Titman 

(1993, 2001), etc.). Researchers examining international countries mainly rely on 

Datastream International, PACAP, etc., and often start in 1970s (see Chan, Hameed, and 

Tong (2000), Griffin, Ji, Martin (2003), etc.). The current study furnishes new evidence 

for momentum profitability in the United States for the period of 1815-1925. 

The empirical results demonstrate that momentum strategies constructed over 

various formation horizons earn significant profits in the pre-CRSP era. In addition, the 

profits mainly come from February to December and are negative in January. 

The significance of the paper is that it finds the prevalence of momentum in the 

temporal dimension and helps to eliminate data mining as the driving force for 

momentum profitability. Future research can focus on distinguishing between risk-based 

explanation and behavioral argument. 

The remainder of the paper consists of three sections. Section 2 describes the 

data and methodology; Section 3 shows the empirical findings; and Section 4 

summarizes. 

2. Data and methodology 

2.1. Data 

The data used in this study is the market price index for the United States created 

by Goetzmann, Ibbotson, and Peng (2001). 2 They collect all official records for over 600 

individual stocks on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and use them to construct a 

price index for the market. The advantage of the data is that it is consistently constructed 

for the entire period of January 1815 to December 1925; in comparison, other series for 

the pre-1926 period have various problems: Some are spliced together and have 

inconsistent quality; some are not representative of the market; etc. (see Schwert (1990) 

and Seigel (1992) for detailed discussions). Returns used in subsequent analyses are 

computed from the price index and are available from February 1815 to December 1925. 

2.2. Methodology 

1 Proponents of risk-based explanation include Conrad and Kaul (1998), Chordia and 

Shivakumar (2002), etc. Leading behavioral models include Barberis, Shleifer, and Vishny 

(1998), Daniel, Hirshleifer, and Subrahmanyam (1998), and Hong and Stein (1999). 

2 While Goetzmann, Ibbotson, and Peng (2001) use the data to examine long-run return 

predictability, this paper investigates return performance at the intermediate horizon. 

1

Since the data is the market return for the United States from 1815 to 1925, 3 the 

momentum strategy is implemented in the following manner. For the typical six-month 

ranking, at the beginning of every month t, calculate compound market returns over the 

previous six-month: t-7, t-6, ... , t-2. If the compounded return is positive, the momentum 

phenomenon suggests the market will continue to go up, so buy the market index. 

Otherwise, sell short. Hold the position for one month, t, and liquidate at the end of the 

month. Momentum return is measured as the return from month t. The ranking periods 

of 3, 9, and 12 months are also examined for completeness and comparison. 

3. Empirical results 

3.1. The profitability of momentum: 1815-1925 

Table 1 presents average monthly momentum profits. It can be seen that, for 

various formation periods, momentum earns positive returns from 1815 to 1925. For the 

typical six-month ranking, momentum profit is 0.32% per month with a t-statistic of 

2.84. Figure 1 depicts the time series of momentum profits from the six-month ranking. 

Notice that, from 3-month to 9-month ranking periods, momentum profits monotonically 

increase from 0.11% and peak at 0.42% at the nine-month horizon. The profit decreases 

slightly and remains significant for the 12-month ranking. The existence of momentum 

profitability in 1815-1925 adds to previous research. 

3.2. The seasonality of momentum: 1815-1925 

Table 2 exhibits the seasonality of momentum strategy in January and non- 

January periods. As evident from the results, for all ranking periods, momentum earns 

insignificantly negative returns in January and significantly positive returns in non- 

January months. This is consistent with previous momentum studies, including 

Jegadeesh and Titman (1993, 2001), Griffin, Ji, and Martin (2003), etc. The finding 

confirms that the seasonal pattern originally uncovered in previous studies is not a 

statistical fluke and momentum also exhibits the same seasonality in the early period of 

1815-1925. 

4. Summary 

To further investigate momentum strategy, this paper uses a dataset that is 

systematically constructed but has not been touched for momentum study. The main 

results confirm the existence of momentum profitability in the pre-CRSP period of 1815- 

1925; the seasonality of momentum strategy earning negative returns in January is 

consistent with the momentum literature. Collectively, the results show that data mining 

is not the reason for momentum profitability; future research can concentrate on the 

remaining two possibilities: risk or behavioral argument. 

3 Some researchers examine momentum using market indices from different markets (see, e.g., 

Chan, Hameed, and Tong (2000), Patro and Wu (2004), Bhojraj and Swaminathan (2006)). 

2

References 

Barberis, Nicholas, Andrei Shleifer, and Robert Vishny, 1998, A model of investor 

sentiment, Journal of Financial Economics 49, 307-343. 

Bhojraj, Sanjeev, and Bhaskaran Swaminathan, 2006, Macromomentum: Returns 

predictability in international equity indices, Journal of Business 79, 429–451. 

Chordia, Tarun, and Lakshmanan Shivakumar, 2002, Momentum, business cycle, and 

time-varying expected returns, Journal of Finance 57, 985-1019. 

Chan, Kalok, Allaudeen Hameed, and Wilson Tong, 2000, Profitability of momentum 

strategies in the international equity markets, Journal of Financial and Quantitative 

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Conrad, Jennifer, and Gautam Kaul, 1998, An anatomy of trading strategies, Review of 

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Daniel, Kent, David Hirshleifer, and Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, 1998, A theory of 

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Davis, James L., 1994, The cross-section of realized stock returns: the pre- 

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Davis, James L., Eugene F. Fama, and Kenneth R. French, 2000, Characteristics, 

covariances, and average returns: 1929-1997, Journal of Finance 55, 389-406. 

Fama, Eugene F., and Kenneth R. French, 1996, Multifactor explanations of asset 

pricing anomalies, Journal of Finance 51, 55-84. 

Goetzmann, William N., Roger G. Ibbotson, and Liang Peng, 2001, A new historical 

database for the NYSE 1815 to 1925: Performance and predictability, Journal of 

Financial Markets 4, 1-32. 

Griffin, John M., Xiuqing Ji, and J. Spencer Martin, 2003, Momentum investing and 

business cycle risk: Evidence from pole to pole, Journal of Finance 58, 2515-2547. 

Hong, Harrison, and Jeremy C. Stein, 1999, A unified theory of underreaction, 

momentum trading and overreaction in asset markets, Journal of Finance, 2143-2184. 

Jegadeesh, Narasimhan, and Sheridan Titman, 1993, Returns to buying winners and 

selling losers: implications for stock market efficiency, Journal of Finance 48, 65-91. 

3

Jegadeesh, Narasimhan, and Sheridan Titman, 2001, Profitability of momentum 

strategies: An evaluation of alternative explanations, Journal of Finance 56, 699-720. 

Keim, Donals, 1983, Size-related anomalies and stock market seasonality, Journal of 

Financial Economics 32, 13-32. 

Patro, Dilio K., and Yangru Wu, 2004, Predictability of short-horizon returns in 

international equity markets, Journal of Empirical Finance 11, 553-584. 

Rowenhorst, K. Geert, 1998, International momentum strategies, Journal of Finance 53, 

267-284. 

Schwert, William, 1990, Index of U.S. stock prices from 1802 to 1897, Journal of 

Business 63, 399-426. 

Seigel, Jeremy, 1992, The equity premium: Stock and bond return since 1802, Financial 

Analysts Journal 48, 28-38. 

Starks, Laura T., Li Yong, and Lu Zheng, 2006, Tax-loss selling and the January effect: 

Evidence from Municipal Bond Closed-end Funds, Journal of Finance 61, 3049-3067. 

Tinic, Seha M., and Richard R. West, 1984, Risk and return: January vs. the rest of the 

year, Journal of Financial Economics 13, 561-574. 

4

Table 1 

Momentum Profits: 1815-1925 

At the beginning of each month t, compound market returns are computed over previous 

J months: t-J-1, … , t-2; J=3, 6, 9, and 12. If the compounded return is positive, buy the 

market index; otherwise, sell. The position is held for one month, t, and liquidated at the 

end of the month. Momentum return is measured as the return from month t. Reported 

below is the monthly momentum profits in percentage; associated t-statistics are in 

parentheses. 

JBegin End N MOM t(MOM) 

3 181506 192512 1,327 0.11 (1.00) 

6 181509 192512 1,324 0.32 (2.84) 

9 181512 192512 1,321 0.42 (3.70) 

12 181603 192512 1,318 0.25 (2.22) 

5

Table 2 

Seasonal Patterns of Momentum Profits: 1815-1925 

At the beginning of each month t, compound market returns are computed over previous 

J months: t-J-1, … , t-2; J=3, 6, 9, and 12. If the compounded return is positive, buy the 

market index; otherwise, sell. The position is held for one month, t, and liquidated at the 

end of the month. Momentum return is measured as the return from month t. Panel A 

reports the monthly momentum profits (in percentage) in January and Panel B does so 

for February to December. T-statistics are in parentheses. 

JBegin End N MOM t(MOM) 

Panel A: January 

3 181601 192501 110 -0.15 (-0.26) 

6 181601 192501 110 -0.15 (-0.25) 

9 181601 192501 110 -0.33 (-0.54) 

12 181701 192501 109 -0.18 (-0.30) 

Panel B: February--December 

3 181506 192512 1,217 0.14 (1.24) 

6 181509 192512 1,214 0.36 (3.30) 

9 181512 192512 1,211 0.48 (4.41) 

12 181603 192512 1,209 0.29 (2.63) 

6

Return(%) 

55 

50 

45 

40 

35 

30 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 

-5 

-10 

-15 

-20 

-25 

-30 

-35 

Figure 1: Momentum Profits: 1815-1925 

181509 182509 183509 184509 185509 186509 187509 188509 189509 190509 191509 192509 

7 

Time 

Momentum

Occupational Commitment: A Literature Review 

Susie S. Cox 

McNeese State University 

ABSTRACT 

Employee engagement, high performance work groups, and boundary‐less careers (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996) 

highlight the need for theory review and development of employee commitments. As corporations are no 

longer viewed as lifetime employers, individuals must consider where to place their commitments. One area of 

growing interest is occupational commitment. Occupational commitment is the commitment that an individual 

has towards his/her occupation. This paper offers a review of occupational commitment, highlighting the 

origins of occupational commitment, occupational commitment measurement development, and comparison of 

similar constructs. Future research ideas are offered for this rich field of study.

More than ever, organizations are faced with the emerging need to retain talent. Deciphering 

why individuals remain in their jobs and with their companies continues to be an area of research 

gaining much attention. There are several reasons for this growing interest. Realistically 

speaking, the cost of recruiting, selecting, hiring, and training new employees for any job is high. 

In addition to the actual fiscal costs, many organizations suffer from the loss of knowledge and 

network affiliations that also leave when an employee leaves the organization. Organizations 

invest large sums of time and money into selecting, training, and developing talent that help to 

deliver the organization’s competitive advantage. Managers of personnel desire insight into the 

processes that may promote functional turnover and reduce dysfunctional turnover. 

Occupational commitment is one contributor to this model. Additionally, the changing nature of 

work (i.e., mergers, acquisitions, layoffs, telecommuting, etc.) leads researchers and practitioners 

to investigate how these developments will affect employees and employee behavior. These 

changes in the workplace can influence the nature of commitment that can influence employee 

motivation, performance, and ultimately organizational success (Meyer, Allen, & Topolnytsky, 

1998). 

The purpose of this literature review is to examine the occupational commitment construct. This 

paper begins by examining the origins of the occupational commitment in the literature. The 

various definitions of the construct and related constructs are reviewed, as well as previously 

considered mediators and moderators. Next, the evolution of the measurement of occupational 

commitment is presented. Finally, areas for future research are discussed. 

Origins of Occupational Commitment 

Occupational commitment is a construct of growing interest. As employees find that there is no 

longer lifetime employment with one organization, they may be more like to redirect their 

loyalties or commitments to their profession or occupation. Occupational commitment can have 

a positive indirect influence on organizational performance through improved work performance 

by employees for being more active in their respective professional associations and desiring to 

improve their skills, knowledge, and abilities related to their occupation (Meyer et al., 1998). 

Thus, not only should employers consider the level of organizational commitment that their 

employees have, but also the level of occupational commitment (Meyer, Allen, & Smith, 1993). 

The origin of occupational commitment began with its use as an application of the side-bet 

theory (Becker, 1960). When making a side-bet, the individual considers what is important and 

what would be the costs if it were lost. If it is determined to be of value, the individual will act 

according to keep the valued relationship. The more committed the individual is the more sidebets 

he/she will make. Side-bets can also be thought of as personal investments. Becker first 

defines commitment simply as “consistent behavior.” He further attempts to clarify the 

definition of commitment by stating that it is determined by an individual’s actions or beliefs that 

may be external to the source in which the individual becomes committed. For example, one

may decide to be committed to his/her job because he/she has a family to support and loss of 

that job would be detrimental to his/her goal to support the family. 

Ritzer and Trice (1969) tested Becker’s side-bet theory of commitment (organizational and 

occupational) using a series of questions based on having incentives to change organization or 

occupations. Little support was found for Becker’s side-bet theory when examining variables 

considered being indicators of side-bets: including age, marital status, education, and salary. In 

response to these weak findings, Ritzer and Trice’s (1969) offered an alternative theory based on 

the idea that most individuals want to make their work-life meaningful. They posit that 

individuals who are profession oriented are more likely to be committed to their occupation 

rather than their organization and those individuals who chose to not commit to their profession 

(i.e., low status janitor) are more likely to be committed to their organization. For some 

individuals, their jobs allow them to be somewhat committed to both their occupation and their 

organization (i.e., personnel managers). This led to the conclusion that organizational and 

occupational commitments are psychological phenomenon rather than structural phenomenon, 

although structural factors may influence the level of commitment to either the organization or 

occupation. 

Aranya and Jacobson (1975) tested both Becker (1960) and Ritzer and Trice’s (1969) theories of 

organizational and occupational commitment and found support for Ritzer & Trice (1969); 

however, little support was found for Becker’s (1960) side-bet theory. This study used Israeli 

system analysts, which the authors noted as part bureaucratic and part professional (similar to 

Ritzer and Trice’s (1969) participants, personnel managers). Two incentives were used in 

questioning; pay increases and self-development. The results supported the idea that 

organizational and occupational commitment may coexist; therefore, replicating Ritzer and 

Trice’s (1969) findings. 

It is possible to be committed to more than one aspect of one’s life, especially if both aspects 

exhibit values and goals that the individual holds. Additionally, support for the coexistence of 

these two forms of commitment were reported by Lachman and Aranya (1986), whereby they 

found that organizational commitment partially depended on occupational commitment in the 

group of accountants studied. They also tested the model for independence of the two forms of 

commitment although it was not supported. Therefore, research supports the idea that 

occupational and organizational commitment can coexist and the relationship may not be inverse 

as previously thought (Blau & Scott, 1962; Gouldner, 1957). Moreover, it was suggested that 

occupational commitment might be an antecedent to organizational commitment (Blau, 1989; 

Lachman & Aranya, 1986; Vandenberg & Scarpello, 1994). 

From the earliest studies, it can be noted that occupational commitment was viewed as an 

economic exchange relationship whereby the employee was willing to provide consistent 

2

3 

behaviors because of the value of the exchange. Later work on the study of commitment 

acknowledged that commitment was a psychological state and it examined the affect recognized 

in the commitment relationship. Further research led to additional dimensions being 

conceptualized with regard to commitments including occupational commitment. Meyers et al. 

(1993) examined additional components when developing a three-dimensional measure (i.e., 

affective, normative, and continuance) for occupational commitment based on their 

organizational commitment measure (Meyer & Allen, 1991). 

Defining Occupational Commitment and Similar Constructs 

Researchers have not questioned whether occupational commitment exists, but rather what is the 

scope of the construct being studied. Morrow (1983) attempted to address the issue and asked 

that a moratorium be placed on the development of any new work commitment constructs until 

the existing perspectives were fully evaluated. Although this may be perceived as a strong 

statement, it was made because of the proliferation of work commitment related constructs and 

what was perceived by some as conceptual redundancy. Indeed this does appear to be the case 

and thus raises the question are these ‘new constructs’ or “old wine in a new bottle”. By 

presenting various forms of commitment, researchers must ask themselves if they are truly 

treading on new ground or just tiling the same soil. 

The definition of occupational commitment has evolved as the conceptualization of various 

dimensions of the construct has developed. Beginning with Becker’s (1960) simplistic definition 

of commitment as, ‘consistent behavior,’ the evolution of the construct can be witnessed. 

Meyers et al. (1993) offered a definition that parallels their organizational commitment 

definition. They defined organizational commitment as “a psychological state that (a) 

characterizes the employee’s relationship with the organization and (b) has implications for the 

decision to continue or discontinue membership in the organization” (p. 539). They further state 

that the nature of this psychological state is comprised of affective commitment, continuance 

commitment, and normative commitment. Vandenberg and Scarpello (1994) defined 

occupational commitment as referring to “a person’s belief in and acceptance of the values of his 

or her chosen occupation or line of work, and a willingness to maintain membership in that 

occupation” (p. 535). This definition is broad and encompasses more than solely affective 

occupational commitment and even prescribes behaviors. 

Occupational commitment was defined by Lee, Carswell, and Allen (2000) as “a psychological 

link between a person and his or her occupation that is based on an affective reaction to that 

occupation.” An individual might demonstrate this commitment by identifying with the 

occupation (i.e., I am a doctor.) and express positive feelings about the occupation. This 

definition is consistent with others (Blau, 1985; Meyer et al., 1993). However, it only includes 

the affective dimension of commitment and does not include the other dimensions of

occupational commitment mentioned by Meyer et al. (1993). Lee et al. (2000) selected this 

definition based on the greater amount of research that has been developed with respect to the 

affective dimension; therefore making it more applicable to their meta-analysis. 

Review of these definitions demonstrates the common thread of occupational commitment 

research. However, research in this field has produced a proliferation of similar constructs. 

Several of the constructs that have emerged included career commitment, professional 

commitment, career entrenchment, organizational entrenchment, job involvement, and 

organizational commitment. 

Career commitment is defined as an individual’s attitude towards his/her profession or vocation. 

However, the term career can be ambiguous and is defined as “a planned pattern of work from 

entry into the work force to retirement or as involvement in a particular job, organization, 

occupation, or profession” (Meyer et al., 1993). For example, an individual may speak of his/her 

career in the Army and this does not necessarily mean that he/she performed the same type of 

work for twenty years or more. Furthermore, Carson and Bedeian (1994) conceptualized career 

commitment differently into three components; career identity, career planning, and career 

resilience. Kidd and Green (2006) examined researcher scientists’ intentions using this 

multidimensional construct. Among their findings were that researchers with high career 

resilience were more likely to remain in science and those individuals with temporary 

employment contracts were not less committed to their career than tOhose with permanent 

employment. 

Professional commitment, as used by Lachman and Aranya (1986), highlights the dedication or 

identification with the respective values system and acceptance of ethics and goals of one’s 

chosen profession. However, because it only considers individuals who are part of a profession, 

the use of this term may limit the scope of studies because there are both professional and 

nonprofessional who may become committed to the work they perform. Career entrenchment 

and organizational entrenchment are similar to one dimension of occupational commitment in 

that they both consider the costs of remaining in the career or organization. Carson, Carson, and 

Bedeian (1995) introduced the three-dimension measurement of occupational entrenchment, 

including occupational investment, emotional costs, and limitedness of occupational alternatives. 

This construct greatly overlaps the dimension of continuance in the occupational commitment 

construct. Therefore, career entrenchment can be thought of as an integral part of occupational 

commitment. Blau (2001) tested Carson, Carson, and Bedeian’s model, renaming it occupational 

entrenchment, and found that a two-dimension model was a better fit than the three dimensions. 

He argued for two-dimensions and how overall they may be related to occupational continuance 

commitment. However, Bedeian (2002) reputed this finding and noted that the methodology was 

weak because Blau used only half of the original scale items and reworded the selected items. 

4

5 

Reanalyzing the Carson et al., (1995) data, Bedeian (2002) found that the two-dimension model 

did not fit better than the three-dimension model. 

A Closer Look at Occupational and Organizational Commitment 

Commitment may take many different forms (for a review, see Meyer & Hoerscovitch, 2001). 

For example, an individual may be committed to his/her supervisor, organization, work group or 

even the union (T.E. Becker, 1992; Meyer et al., 1998). Thus, several constructs may appear to 

be highly related yet remain as distinctive measures of the commitment relationship. Such is the 

case with organizational and occupational commitment. Research in the commitment literature 

has supported the theory that different levels of organizational commitment and occupational 

commitment might coexist. However, there remains room for clarification of these differences. 

Originally, occupational and organizational commitment had been theorized as having an inverse 

relationship (Becker, 1960; Gouldner, 1957; Ritzer & Trice, 1969; P.M. Blau & Scott, 1962), 

implicating that if an employee had a high level of organizational commitment then he/she would 

have a low level of occupational commitment. This premise is based on the belief that an 

individual can be loyal to only one entity. Although in a more recent meta-analytic research this 

implication has not been upheld (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990; Wallace, 1988). 

The multidimensionality of commitment has long acknowledged by researchers, although the 

suspected relationship between the dimensions has differed. Researchers such as Becker (1960) 

and Ritzer and Trice (1969) studied commitment level to both occupational and organizational 

commitment. Meyer et al., (1993) demonstrate the importance of considering both forms of 

commitment and the effects that organizational and occupational commitment can have on 

outcome variables of interest to the organization (e.g., turnover). Vandenberg and Scarpello 

(1994) posit that occupational commitment is different from organizational commitment and that 

the research literature suggests occupational commitment is developed prior to employment and 

is therefore an antecedent to organizational commitment. Often individuals are socialized and 

trained for their occupation through formal and informal education. Organizational commitment 

can only be developed after the employment relationship has begun. For these reasons, 

Vandenberg and Scarpello tested the causal relationship of occupational commitment as an 

antecedent of organizational commitment (1994). Their findings suggested that although 

occupational commitment overlaps with many other constructs, it nevertheless, should remain an 

independent component of the turnover models. 

Lee et al., (2000) provided a meta-analysis of occupational literature in which they attempt to 

summarize the research in this area. Occupational commitment is often linked with other workrelated 

variables such as organizational commitment. The results of Lee et al. (2000) metaanalysis 

suggested that there is a distinguishable difference; however, the constructs are strongly 

correlated.

6 

Occupational commitment and organizational commitment have demonstrated 

repeatedly to be highly correlated to one another. Vandenberg and Scarpello (1994) pointed out 

that this may be because many of the measurements used in previous studies of occupational 

commitment and organizational commitment are likely confounded due to the wording of the 

questions. They posited that questions of these measurements might mention attitudes or 

behaviors that are directed at both organizational and occupational commitment. However, 

Vandenberg and Scarpello (1994) reported that many researchers have taken steps to correct this 

problem. Nevertheless, this concern may affect other studies such as meta-analysis that fail to 

recognize this weakness. Overall, research has supported the distinction between organizational 

commitment and occupational commitment. The benefit of using two distinct constructs is that it 

allows for greater understanding of employees’ feelings, thoughts, and behaviors related to 

workplace commitment. 

Measurement Development 

Early research on commitment viewed it as a one-dimensional construct that only considered the 

costs of commitment or failure to commitment (Becker, 1960). As commitment gained 

recognition as a psychological state, researchers began to consider affective commitment but 

often disregarded the costs and other elements of commitment. Later, it was suggested that 

commitment might also include continuance and normative influences as well as affective 

commitment (Allen & Meyer, 1990; Meyer & Allen, 1984). Meyers et al., (1993) tested the 

generalizability of Meyer and Allen’s (1991) three-component model of organizational 

commitment modified to address occupational commitment. Support was found for use of this 

instrument to measure occupational commitment. 

Debate over the dimensionality of occupational commitment continues. It appears that the 

development of occupational commitment dimensions has followed in the footsteps of 

organizational commitment and how the various dimensions of organizational commitment have 

transpired. Over time, conceptualization as well as the measurement instrument used to measure 

occupational commitment has changed. It began with one dimension and has increased to four 

dimensions (Blau, 2003). 

Carrying their organizational commitment model to other domains, Meyer et al., (1993) 

generalized their model to occupational commitment, thus creating measures for affective, 

normative, and continuance occupational commitment which paralleled their organizational 

commitment measures. This three-dimensional measure appears to be the most often used 

measure in recent studies (Snape & Redman, 2003). The importance of having a threedimensional 

model is that not only can it predict more of the variance attributable to 

occupational commitment, but also each dimension may relate to its own unique set of 

antecedents and consequences (Irving, Coleman, & Cooper, 1997).

The three dimensions of the occupational commitment instrument are affective commitment, 

normative commitment, and continuance commitment. Affective commitment refers to a 

psychological attachment to the occupation (i.e., individual remains in the occupation because 

he/she wants to remain). Normative commitment refers to the obligation to the occupation (i.e., 

individual remains in the occupation because he/she feels that he/she should remain) and 

continuance commitment refers to the perceived costs of leaving the occupation (i.e., individual 

remains with an occupation because he/she needs to remain) (Lee et al., 2000). Several studies 

(Irving et al., 1997; Meyer et al., 1993) in various contexts have tested the three-dimensional 

model and found that it does offer more explanatory power than previous models. 

Building on the Meyer et al. (1993) model, a fourth dimension was added by operationalizing 

continuance commitment as two separate dimensions; accumulate cost and limited alternatives 

(Blau, 2003). Using Carson et al.’s (1995) three-dimension measure of career entrenchment, 

Blau (2001) refined it into two dimensions and used these in place of continuance commitment 

in this four-dimension measure of occupational commitment. Blau (2006) tested the 

discriminant validity of a four-dimensional measure and found some support for the four 

dimensions; however, he suggested the additional research was needed to further substantiate the 

claim. 

Moderators, Mediators and Outcomes 

The workplace commitment literature has tested many constructs’ relationships with 

occupational commitment. Lee et al. (2000) conducted a meta-analysis of occupational 

commitment and similar constructs. A meta-analysis allows a glimpse of the many constructs 

related to the construct under study. This meta-analysis evaluated many antecedents of 

occupational commitment and similar constructs such as work commitment, professional 

commitment, and career commitment. Significant findings of this meta-analysis are presented. 

Professional and non-professional - As a moderator, professional versus non-professional 

was not found to have a significant relationship with the outcome variables of job satisfaction or 

job involvement. However, there was a significant difference in the correlation of occupational 

and organizational commitment when professionals working in corresponding versus noncorresponding 

organizations were taken into account. An example of a corresponding 

organization and occupation would be a nurse working in a hospital, whereas an example of a 

non-corresponding organization and occupation would be a nurse working in manufacturing 

plant rather than a hospital. Professionals working in corresponding organizations and 

occupations show a much higher correlations of organizational and occupational commitment (r 

= .48) than professional working in non-corresponding organizations and occupations (r = .23). 

7

8 

Demographic - Several demographic variables were considered including age, gender, 

number of dependents, martial status, and income. Nevertheless, no strong correlations were 

found except for one significant correlation between occupational commitment and income. Lee 

et al. (2000) noted that this might be due to the association of income and self-esteem. 

Work experience variables - Lee et al. (2000) tested eight variables, including stress, role 

ambiguity, role conflict, supervisor support, coworker support, participation, autonomy, and 

occupational/organizational conflict. They found all of the work related variables to be 

moderately related to occupational commitment. Thus, it appears that occupational commitment 

can be affected by a diverse collection of situational variables. This may be a promising find 

with implications for managers. Organizations that aspire to increase occupational commitment 

may be able to influence its development through addressing deficiencies in these situational 

variables. 

Dispositional variables - The only dispositional variable examined in this meta-analysis, 

locus of control, demonstrated a moderate negative relationship with occupational commitment 

(e.g., those with more external locus of control express lower occupational commitment). This 

finding would lead to the expectation that those individuals that feel that the external 

environment controls their destiny are less committed to their occupation. However, those high 

in internal locus of control may expect to be more committed to their occupation because they 

know that it was their own decision to be part of the occupation. 

Dependent variables - Several dependent variables have been related to occupational 

commitment. Most often tested is the relationship with turnover or intent to leave. In addition, 

performance, both objective and subjective, have been related to affective occupational 

commitment (Turner & Chelladurai, 2005). Blau and Holladay (2006) tested the discriminate 

validity of the four-dimension measure of occupational commitment and found attendance 

attitudes to be related to normative occupational commitment, accumulated costs commitment, 

and limited alternative commitment. They also noted that professional withdrawal intentions 

were negatively correlated with all four-dimensions of occupational commitment. In addition, 

professional development activities were positively correlated to affective commitment and 

negatively correlated to limited alternative commitment. 

Future Research 

Lee et al., (2000) found significant correlations for occupational turnover intentions and 

actual turnover. “Occupational attitudes might play an important role in the organizational 

turnover process,” (Lee et al., 2000: 807). In fact, it was found that occupational turnover 

intention contributed to actual turnover over and above organizational turnover intentions (G. 

Blau, 1989). Vandenberg and Scarpello (1994) further provided support for the causal link of 

occupational commitment to organizational commitment and its significant positive influence. 

Practitioners concerned about retaining their knowledge workers may find that incorporating

9 

occupational commitment and occupational turnover intentions into the turnover models may 

provide additional insight. This also highlights the need for occupational change intentions to be 

incorporated into organizational turnover models. 

Occupational commitment has revealed strong correlations with other work-related variables. 

Future research is needed to understand the overlap and distinctness of these constructs, 

including the newer construct of job embeddedness (Mitchell, Holtom, Lee, Sablynski & Erez, 

2001). Interestingly, most research in occupational commitment has examined the construct only 

in terms of affective occupational commitment (Lee et al., 2000). Meyer et al., (1993) suggests 

that occupational commitment dimensions may parallel the dimensions of organization 

commitment; therefore, future research should examine the effects of normative and continuance 

occupational commitment with related constructs and work-related outcome variables in a 

variety of context. Additionally, moderating variables such as professional and nonprofessional 

status would provide insight into the effects of occupational commitment on various work 

behaviors. Closer examination of these relationships may reveal that there are differences in the 

mechanisms that contribute to organizational and occupational commitment with respect to 

where or not the individual is in a professional or non-professional occupation. Further study of 

the processes of developing work-related commitments should be studied with an emphasis on 

the process of commitment development in different types of occupations. 

Furthermore, there appears to be a lack of dispositional variables studied in relation to 

occupational commitment. Lee et al. (2000) were only able to consider locus of control in their 

meta-analysis. Need for self-esteem, need for power, need for achievement and other variables 

might provide insight into the distinction of occupational and organizational commitment. 

Many variables that might be related to occupational commitment remain to be examined. With 

the growing number of dual-career couples, consideration to the significant other’s career is 

likely to play a moderating role in the decision to remain and to develop within the one’s 

occupation. External factors such as market conditions, salary expectations, perceived prestige 

of occupation, and cultural expectations should also be examined. These are factors that may 

directly or indirectly affect one’s level of occupational commitment. In addition, the perceived 

value of the occupation by the organization may influence an individual’s desires to increase 

commitment to the occupation. 

In general, a weakness of the occupational commitment literature and possible the overall 

commitment literature is that the research has branched out in many directions, whereby there 

appears to be an overlap of constructs. It would be prudent for future researchers to develop a 

commitment measure that encompassed the various aspects (i.e., foci and bases (Becker, 1992)) 

of commitment. Furthermore, commitment of an employee can be directed at many levels in the 

workplace. An employee may be committed to his/her occupation, workgroup, supervisor,

10 

organization, or union. Becker (1992) embraces the commitment literature and develops 

theory that exposes the various foci and bases for commitment. Using this approach in the 

development of a measurement set could allow for an instrument that considers the many areas 

of commitment without having items that heavily cross load on different dimensions. 

Although occupational commitment was conceptualized almost fifty years age, there remains 

much to be learned about its nomological network. Occupational commitment is likely to 

continue to grow in importance as workers attempt to establish meaning in what they do rather 

than for whom they do it. As workers desire to be marketable rather than rely on lifetime 

employers to provide security, the motivation to remain in an occupation may change. In 

addition, the increasing ability and growing use of communication technology offers unique 

working arrangements, which have only witnessed a paucity of study. This dynamic 

environment also present challenges for organizations attempting to develop a committed 

knowledgeable workforce. This changing work environment offers a rich area of research for 

the future.

11 

References 

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12

Mitchell, T.R., Holtom, B.C., Lee, T.W., Sablynski, C.J., & Erez, M. (2001). Why people stay: 

Using job embeddedness to predict voluntary turnover. Academy of Management 

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13

Patterns of Cognitive and Emotional Maturity Relevant to Management 

Bruce Sherony 


Robert Miller 


ABSTRACT 

The importance of maturity to competent decision making has been emphasized by writers and researchers 

from a wide variety and range of perspectives. These perspectives have been limited or constrained by the area 

of expertise or emphasis of researchers and the ways they conceive of and measure maturity. In an effort to 

overcome some of these limitations, views from psychology, psychotherapy, social psychology, sociology, 

political science, philosophy, anthropology, medicine, religion, economics and writings on organizations were 

explored. Attempting to develop a more coherent and integrated perspective on the concept of maturity these 

literatures were compared for logical consistency and from there a unified view was developed. During this 

process, C. G. Jung’s work emerged as a central and coherent thread from which the other perspectives have 

been derived or have benefited. Strains between the structural patterns found within individuals, groups, 

cultures and organizations and their impacts upon the functional maturity of individuals making decisions are 

touched upon briefly and left for more complete examination in future writings.

Introduction 

Drawing upon a variety of research and theoretical literatures the authors have attempted to 

systematically correlate, compare and relate concepts from different perspectives, vernaculars, 

and disciplines in an effort to develop a more comprehensive and coherent understanding of the 

concept of maturity. For this purpose we have attempted to typify various literatures on a single 

dimension of maturity. Observers, researchers, and theoreticians from outside of a field of 

knowledge often take as known what is most puzzling and problematic to those most familiar 

with that field. In other words, our cognitive maps of fields about which we have little or no 

knowledge tend to be rather simple. It is only with sufficient exposure to a field that we come to 

see it as richer and more problematic. This is as it should be if we are developing more mature 

cognitive maps. 

The Importance of Cognitive and Emotional Maturities in Managerial Decision Making 

As professional decision makers managers are called upon to make decisions under conditions of 

uncertainty of information and of conflicting tradeoffs of values (Simon, 1945). Despite 

continued technological developments intended to facilitate the gathering and analysis of 

information, the work of managers continues to require them to deal with more rather than less 

uncertainty if they are to be effective. Thus, to improve their decision making managers must 

work at maintaining and benefitting from ongoing conflicts on all dimensions relevant to their 

organization’s products, technological processes, personalities, cultural diversity, etc. (see 

Lawrence and Lorsch.1969, for one of the best developments of this perspective). If they are to 

facilitate ongoing adaptation and survival of their organization managers must also resist 

surrounding themselves with those (such as well meaning followers desirous of clarity of 

direction as described by Hofer, 1951) who would tell them what they want to hear or who 

would do whatever they are told to do (see Arendt’s, 1965, description of Eichmann an example 

of this type). Managers must also be able to rely upon others to argue with them so they are not 

blindsided, willingly in the case of high authoritarians (described by Adorno et al., 1950, and by 

Rubinoff, 1968,) or unwittingly as described more recently by Miller (1990), by Christensen 

(1997) and by Finkelstein (2003). 

Relationships between Cognitive and Emotional and Maturity 

Most definitions of emotional maturity found in the literature are consistent with Jung's 

observations about the dominance of thinking over feeling in western philosophies. Emotional 

maturity is generally defined as "having control over one's emotions.” Other descriptions of 

emotional maturity emphasize the accuracy of an individual’s sensing of another’s emotional 

state. 

In these definitions we can see the impact of our cultural view that knowledge is, and should be, 

dominant over emotions and feelings. This makes sense when emotions have been devalued, 

repressed, and have escaped cognitive control in our typical (left brain) male pattern of western 

thought. This has left emotions, often, undervalued, untrusted, and uncontrolled. 

Cognitive and Emotional Maturities Seen through Jung’s Analytical Perspective

Jung argued that mankind and each individual have a purpose and that purpose is self 

actualization. Each individual is seen as having an innate predisposition or predilection toward 

their environment which comprises their dominant conscious orientation (sensing, thinking 

feeling or intuiting) and a complimentary subconscious awareness. These two awarenesses are 

seen as being in continuous dynamic tension (see the diagram of Jung’s Conceptualization). 

Relationships of Jung’s Conceptualization 

Functions* Dominant Orientation^ Awarenesses+ 

Sensing 

Outer Directed Conscious 

Thinking Subconscious 

Feeling Subconscious 

Intuiting 

Inner Directed Conscious 

1 

Transcendence 

Transcendence 

*These are placed in what seems to me to be consistent with their generally accepted “normal” 

relationship with the dominant orientations. 

^These sources of direction are seen as mediating an individual’s awareness of the functions. 

+An individual’s preferred cognitive modality for a given domain or area of knowledge. 

Derived from Campbell (1971). 

Each is conceived of as contributing to an ongoing process in which the tension results, if not 

blocked, in a higher order synthesis. After each synthesis the conscious conceptualization is, 

then, counterbalanced by another unconscious awareness. Thus, a never ending process of 

development is sustained. 

Jung’s argument that accepting one's deepest, darkest, and least appreciated emotions and 

knowledge, as revealed in dreams and other more effective methods of accessing the 

subconscious (e.g. story telling), can lead to a more creative synthesis in which our least 

appreciated qualities can be integrated with our most appreciated and cherished knowledge and 

emotions. Denial and repression of these "dark" qualities is seen as leading to acting out of, or 

reacting against, these qualities as they gain energy from our efforts at denial and repression. 

The better an individual integrates these two awarenesses into a dynamic emotional and 

intellectual process of functioning, the better that individual will do in working with the complex 

reality to which they are exposed as they continually enhance the richness of their 

comprehension and capability to learn, adapt, and creatively modify that reality through what 

Jung called the transcendent function. The challenges facing each individual should not be 

underestimated (Jung, 1971; Hall and Lindsey, 1957). 

The "right brain" (emotional and creative)/"left brain" (intellective and rationalistic) dichotomy 

offered by many and generally viewed as female and male patterns is an effort to recognize and

deal with these very different patterns of functioning. Jung's view can be summarized as 

encouraging intellectual and emotional growth resulting in an ongoing integration of these two 

facets of intellect, the nature of the resulting integration is described by Jung as healthiest when 

it is congruent with the individual's basic personality type. These types are described using the 

primary orientations: introversion-extraversion and their manifestations in processes of thinking, 

sensing and intuiting. In explaining how the primary orientation of an individual can be 

determined, Jung emphasized: 1) the internal or external orientation of an individual is 

determined by studying his or her "most differentiated" conscious function; 2) every individual 

has some degree of both internal and external orientations in all modes of their functioning; 3) 

their subconscious functioning will have balancing or offsetting modalities; 4) the more an 

individual has integrated sensing, thinking, feeling, and intuiting functions into their awareness 

the healthier they will be and their subconscious will exert less power over their thoughts and 

behaviors. 

Any characterization of these aspects of personality which explicitly or implicitly presents either 

pattern as in some way better than the other does an injustice to the roles Jung sees each playing 

in the healthy personality. Neither is better, more right, more valuable, more necessary, etc. 

Both, as Jung observed, are required and will have their impacts upon how an individual 

behaves. Two fundamentally different approaches are described by Jung as inner directed and 

outer directed personalities. One personality type seems to start from an internal locus of control 

and looks outward seeking validation of their intuition and feelings whereas the other relies upon 

an external locus of control and seeks to conform their internal world view to what they see as an 

independent external reality. Each personality type validates their experiences from their 

dominant locus of control. 

Inner Directed: 

Intuition�validation by feelings�Conceptualization�Conceptual Variables� Inferences about 

Observations 

Outer Directed: 

Observations� Inferred Constructs�Conceptual Variables �Theoretical Inferences�Theoretical Models 

While a dispassionate description of these types leaves us with a sense that they are not 

very different, Jung warned that attempting to force on an individual a resolution of 

psychological tensions which is incongruent with their basic personality may result in 

psychosis as the functions incongruent with the resolution being forced into the 

subconscious through repression and denial strengthens it relative to the conscious. The 

conscious mind is then vulnerable to being overthrown or subverted by the subconscious 

resulting in a loss of rational control. In other words, as Jung observed, a forced 

integration of conflicting awarenesses incompatible with an individual's basic personality 

can result in a loss of conscious control (ie. a psychotic break). 

Cognitive Processes as Patterns Information Processing Maturity 

2

The perspective on cognitive structures offered by Harvey, Hunt and Schroder (1961) in their 

work Human Information Processing is one in which individual patterns are compared. Some 

individuals’ information processing is characterized as complex and others’ as simple. They 

found supportive evidence that increased cognitive complexity facilitated information processing 

under conditions moderate to moderately heavy information load. They also found some 

support for their hypothesis that negative emotions adversely affect information processing as if 

these were additional information load to be processed and, thus, reduced the information an 

individual was capable of processing. From the perspective presented here the different styles 

of information processing they described are viewed as differences in maturity (see Table 1— 

Idealized Patterns Associated with Maturity). 

In addition to providing distinctions between individual patterns of information processing they 

introduced the concept of cognitive domains to explain the differences, sometimes vast, in modes 

of processing observed in different areas of knowledge by the same individual. This concept of 

domains has been adopted in this paper as applying to a wide range of areas of theory and 

research. 

Cognitive Maturity as a Preferred Mode of Adaptation 

In general, an individual who has more experience in an area develops a richer and more 

tentative map of cognitions in that area. They can be described as having a more mature 

perspective in that domain of knowledge. Thus, development of cognitive maturity is considered 

to be primarily a result of an individual's exposure and adaptation to varied and conflicting 

experiences. This same individual may tend to assume that areas with which they are unfamiliar 

are simpler, characterized by less ambiguity and, even to those knowledgeable in that area, yield 

more certain answers. While domains are relatively distinct, both conceptually and practically, 

an individual who has been exposed to significant depth in a sufficient variety of fields of 

knowledge can be expected, at some point, to start to generalize their tentativeness in areas of 

3

Table 1 

Patterns of Maturity Relevant to Management* 

Jung’s Analytical Perspective 

Immature Mature 

Dominant response bias Subconscious--Reactive Conscious Awareness--Rationality Transcendent integration (ongoing) 

Self/Inner Awareness Unreflective Conflicted Dynamic Introspection 

Cognitive Processes 

Structural Pattern Simple Complex 

Time Orientation Short Term Long Term 

"Reality" Preference Concrete Abstract 

Organizing Principle Compartmentalization Integration--Creativity 

Mode of Change Labile (flip/flop) Stable--Integrative 

Perceptions Considered to be reality Personal and Problematic 

Dimensions derived from Piaget’s Stages of Moral Development 

Basis of Orientation Rigid Rules Normative Principled Integrity 

Focus Interest Self Family Community Nation Humanity Biosphere 

Focus of concern Self Interest Acceptance/Pretense Self-sacrificing 

Motivational Orientations and Maturity 

Maslow’s Hierarchy Basic Emotional Social Actualization 

McClelland’s Need Orientations 

Social Needs Nurturance Social Acceptance Recognition Selfless Sharing 

Power Needs Safety Controlling Cooperating Mutual Respect 

Reward Focus Extrinsic--Tangible Intrinsic—Self Actualization 

Preferred Modes of Functioning Implied by Maturity 

Tolerance for Ambiguity Low--Certainty oriented Structured Conditional High—Seeks divergent perspectives 

Conflict Resolution Avoidance Smoothing Forcing Compromise Problem solving (integrative) 

Leadership Style Laissez Faire Autocratic Situational Inspirational 

Response to Change Inflexibility Reactive Proactive--Adaptive Flexibility 

Faced with Confrontation Defensive-- Fearful Open and Constructive 

Relationship to Authority Dependent Reactive Independent Negotiated Bargaining Interdependent 

Strategic Emphasis Self Interest Shareholder Gain Multiple Stakeholder Orientation 

Planning Time Frame Quarterly Results Annual Five-Ten Years 50 Yeats Multigenerational Sustainability 

*Many of these dimensions are somewhat independent of each other and may not be directly correlated with an individual’s age or duration of experience despite 

our common association of maturity with age and experience. 

4

greatest expertise to areas with which they have little experience. When this has occurred the 

person has developed a generalized cognitive maturity (see Allard and Carlson, 1963). 

Emotional Maturity as a Process of Self Awareness 

Though emotional maturity has gained popularity as an explanation of managerial success, there 

is a variety of definitions with differing dimensions. What is agreed upon by researchers and 

writers is that emotional immaturity focuses upon narrow (e.g. personal, tangible, and 

immediate) consequences while maturity supports broader consequences (see, again, Table 1: 

Idealized Patterns Associated with Maturity). 

The challenges in attempting to determine whether there is, or is not, validity underlying these 

constructs include: 1) establishing credibility for the concept of emotions as legitimate internal 

states; 2) reconciling conflicting definitions of maturity on a general level; and, 3) accurately 

categorizing behaviors or activities as representing a particular level of maturity. Jung presented 

some of the challenges we face in attempting to broaden scientific endeavors beyond the 

boundaries established by the dominant extroverted sensing orientation built into our (Western) 

definition of science and our accepted validation processes. A brief look at the literature in 

psychology and social psychology demonstrates an emphasis upon the view that expressed 

emotions are likely learned inferences associated with physical and physiological states. 

Thus, from the perspective of many researchers in psychology and social psychology any 

expressions of emotions or preferences are dismissed as lacking validity beyond being learned 

patterns of response which have been "internalized" and mistaken by an individual as having an 

internal basis of existence or reality. Much research on emotional intelligence, for this reason, 

focuses upon “the accuracy of an individual's predictions of others' emotional (expressed 

feelings) responses.” While the accuracy of a person’s predictions of others’ emotional 

responses can be expected to improve with a higher level of emotional maturity, we consider it a 

mistake for this measurement to be substituted for the level of maturity itself. This replaces the 

construct with that measurement of one of the constructs predicted consequences. Likewise, 

while control of the expression of emotions can be predicted as one of the likely consequences of 

emotional maturity, this behavior, or lack thereof, is inadequate as a clear indicator of maturity 

and ignores its interplay with other factors which may influence an individual’s behavior. In 

fact, it can be argued from Jung’s perspective that a better indicator of emotional maturity would 

be the appropriateness of expressions of an individual’s emotions. 

Observations about Variations in Maturity in Different Cognitive and Emotional Domains 

Both cognitive and emotional functioning of an individual can be characterized by varying 

degrees of maturity from one area of personal knowledge and experience to another. An 

individual may offer very rich descriptions with very fine distinctions when observing and 

describing situations or events in their primary field of knowledge, while making very simplistic 

and over generalized observations of situations or events outside of their primary field of 

knowledge. Likewise, an individual may function in a very emotionally mature fashion in some 

areas or when dealing with some issues in their lives while responding with few indications of 

emotional maturity in other areas or on other issues. This is consistent with Jung’s observation

that the process of “transcendence” can, and in his opinion should, continue throughout an 

individual’s (including a therapist’s) life. 

For managers this means they and those they work with as subordinates, peers, and superiors are 

going to vary in their cognitive and emotional maturity depending upon their personal experience 

with and development pattern in the various areas or dimensions with which they are working 

and the inferences they make about those with whom they are working. The interactions 

between individuals and groups in the work place are also going to be affected by the level of felt 

stress experienced by each individual. Felt stress has been shown to impair cognitive 

information processing (McGinnies, 1949 and Harvey, Hunt, and Schroder, 1961) and to reduce 

the production of growth hormones which are necessary for the growth of neural connections 

which are necessary for developing new patterns required for both cognitive and emotional 

growth (Lipton, 2009). 

Lipton’s Biological 

Hormone Activation ACTH(fight or flight) Growth Hormones—Exploring/Learning 

Summary and Conclusions 

Each of us would like to think we understand what maturity is even when we may personally fall 

short of functioning in a manner consistent with our understanding of that concept. While the 

concepts of cognitive and emotional maturity are widely supported as important to managerial 

decision making, there is support for the conclusion that anyone desiring to function in a more 

mature fashion will find it a continual challenge. We have presented a perspective in which an 

understanding of Jung’s perspective is seen to be relevant to an ongoing process of maturity 

which integrates cognitive and emotional development with a wide range of other literature (eg. 

human information processing, social learning theory, psychoanalysis, psychopharmacology, 

etc.). 

Organizational decision makers can benefit from an understanding of this perspective as it offers 

both support and guidance to those desiring to improve their maturity as a source of improved 

accuracy and innovation in their organizational relationships. 

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8

Proliferation of Social Responsibility Definitions: 

An Analysis of Academic and Corporate Terminology and a 

Model for Convergence 

Larry White 

Eastern Illinois University 

Udaysinha S. Shinde 

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College 

Jaysinha S. Shinde 


ABSTRACT 

The recognition of the concept of social responsibility in both academia and industry makes it a pertinent topic 

area for research by accounting and business scholars. This paper analyzes the usage of the term “social 

responsibility” in both academia and industry. The analysis is current and timely, as the paper reports on the 

usage of the term in academic journals in 2009 and by Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2009. 

Using the definitions used in academia and synonymous concepts in industry, an initial item pool of 124 items is 

generated. Using an expert panel, these 124 items are reduced to 24 items. The 24 items are put in a 

rudimentary scale to check the understanding and usage of the concept of social responsibility in practicing 

CPAs. Based on the responses of the CPAs, the psychometric properties of the scale are tested (Cronbach’s 

Alpha, scale analysis, item analysis). Finally, a conceptual model of the underlying dimensions of social 

responsibility is presented.

INTRODUCTION 

The idea of having responsibility towards society has gained a lot of traction in the last 

three decades. In academia, the number of articles vouches for this increased popularity of social 

responsibility. In industry, claims to social responsibility have become irreversibly entrenched 

in the ways companies do business (Zu and Song, 2008). The popular press too seems to have 

embraced the ideas of social responsibility. A Google search in April, 2011 listed 17,800,000 

results for “Social Responsibility.” 

With the increasing recognition of the concept of social responsibility (Dunfee, 2006; 

Reich, 2007), there also has been a corresponding increase in the diversity of definitions and 

understanding of the underlying dimensions of the construct. There is a proliferation of 

academic studies on social responsibility; yet it is not an easy task to succinctly define and 

understand the construct of social responsibility (Campbell, 2007). Thus, in a sense - there is a 

gap in the literature in terms of understanding what social responsibility means as a concept to 

the academician and to the practitioner. 

Thus, the primary objective of this paper is to address the above gap in social 

responsibility research. As a part of this effort, the first aim of this paper is to list a variety of 

definitions used in the academic literature for a recent year. Using academic research from 2009 

enables us to comprehend the current “understanding” of the meaning of the construct of social 

responsibility. 

The second aim of this paper is to understand and list what social responsibility means to 

practitioners in corporations across America. Business people use a variety of terminology to 

signify a firm’s responsibility towards its stakeholders. 

Lack of Definitional Agreement 

The lack of clear understanding in terms of what constitutes the construct of social 

responsibility has lead to multiple definitions (Basu and Palazzo, 2008; Matten and Moon, 2008). 

Votaw (1972) asserted that social responsibility has a different meaning for everyone. Table 1 

lists 21 such definitions in the past one year. Many of these definitions are tautological, 

unbounded, or partially bounded at the best. “Although the expanding literature on this issue has 

provided a clearer understanding, it is still problematic to find a commonly accepted definition of 

CSR…Despite the existence of various measurement methods in the literature, almost all of them 

have some limitations” (Turker, 2009). 

Table 1 

Synopsis of Understanding and Usage of Social Responsibility (SR) in Academic Research 

Authors Social Responsibility is… 

1 Bhattacharya et al., 2009 A commitment to improve community well-being. 

2 Canto-Mila & Lozano, 2009 Contributing to society and environment. 

3 Castaldo et al., 2009 A response to needs defined outside the company. 

4 Hu and Wang, 2009 Actions that further social good. 

5 Lindgreen et al., 2009a Continuing commitment by a firm to behave ethically.

6 Lindgreen et al., 2009b Respect for people, communities, and environment. 

7 Maon et at., 2009 A stakeholder oriented concept. 

8 Prior & Argandona, 2009 A firm’s obligation to stakeholders. 

9 Runhaar and Lafferty, 2009 Actions that address society and environment. 

10 Salam, 2009 Ethical responsibilities expected by society. 

11 Shen and Chang, 2009 Taking care of employees, community, ecology, etc. 

12 Turker, 2009 A behavior that affects stakeholders positively. 

13 Weyzig, 2009 Responsible behavior of a company. 

14 Wagner et al., 2009 Exerting positive impact on society. 

15 Bradish and Cronin, 2009 Accountability to society and stakeholders. 

16 Godfrey, 2009 Is a set of actions that further some social good. 

17 Lindgreen, et al., 2009c A stakeholder-oriented concept. 

18 Indira and Siddaraju, 2009 Increasing the welfare of the society. 

19 Vintilă and Moscalu, 2009 Responsible social and environmental ventures. 

20 Peloza and Falkenberg, 2009 Improving society and relationship with stakeholders 

21 Jackson and Parsa, 2009 Improving social and environmental conditions. 

What are the main streams of inquiry in the literature on social responsibility? 

Basu & Palazzo (2008) indicate that there are three main streams of inquiry in the 

literature on social responsibility. These three streams of inquiry can be categorized as – one, 

social responsibility inquiry which is stakeholder driven; two, social responsibility inquiry which 

is performance driven; and three, social responsibility inquiry which is motivation driven. To 

these inquiry streams, we add a fourth social responsibility inquiry which is laws and regulations 

driven (Doh and Guay, 2006; McWilliams and Siegel, 2001; Rose, 2007; Runhaar and Lafferty, 

2009; Van Marrewijk, 2003), and a fifth inquiry stream that is, disclosure driven (Alnajjar, 2000; 

Cowen et al., 1987; Dickson and Eckman, 2008; Holder-Webb et al., 2009; Lohmann, 2009; 

Maignan and Ralston, 2002; Patten, 2002; Roberts, 1992). 

Other terms that academicians use interchangeably with social responsibility 

The academic literature suggests that social responsibility has been used synonymously 

with other terms like corporate citizenship, corporate social performance, ethical and social 

reporting, triple-bottom line (TBL) reporting, and stakeholder management. The term corporate 

citizenship has been used synonymously with social responsibility by scholars like Carroll 

(1979). Corporate Social Performance (CSP) has been regarded by some scholars as the 

practical application of CSR (Maron, 2006). CSP has been used by scholars like Beurden and 

Gossling (2008). 

Another term that has been often used synonymously with social responsibility is social 

and environmental reporting. Much of the work on CSR in the accounting literature is 

concentrated on examining the content of social responsibility disclosures such as 10-Ks, 

mandatory filings, company websites, CSR reports, press releases, etc. (Gray et al., 1995). In the

accounting literature, the term CSR is frequently used synonymously with social and 

environmental responsibility (Gray, 2009; Holder-Webb et al., 2009). Social and ethical 

accounting, auditing, and reporting (SEAAR) has also been used oftentimes to mean CSR 

(Rasche, 2008). 

Academicians have also used the concept of TBL synonymously with the concept of 

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Loosely defined, both of these concepts have come to 

mean responsibility of a corporation that exceeds just meeting shareholder needs. “Indeed many 

uses of ‘Triple Bottom Line’ are simply synonymous with “Corporate Social Responsibility” 

(CSR)” (Norman and McDonald 2004: 247). Triple Bottom Line (TBL) reporting emphasizes 

economic, social, and environmental reporting. TBL implies that a firm’s performance should 

not only be measured by financial standards, but also by less transparent standards of 

environmental and social standards (Norman and McDonald, 2004). 

Stakeholder management is another term that is sometimes used to imply CSR. 

Stakeholder management is a broad concept that includes specific decisions and actions of the 

firm that affect stakeholders (Bartkus and Glassman, 2008). Apart from these terms, 

academicians in the past have used other terms like corporate social responsiveness (Ackerman 

and Bauer, 1976) and organizational accountability (Gobbels and Jonker, 2003) in a similar vein 

as CSR. It is clear from the above discussion that there is a great deal of ambiguity and 

redundancy in the terminology and definitions surrounding social responsibility. 

Terms used by practitioners to signify social responsibility 

Similar to the plethora of terms used synonymously with social responsibility in 

academia, practitioners too have a wide variety of terms which are taken to mean social 

responsibility. We found that in 2009, 91 of Fortune’s ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ 

(Levering and Moskowitz, 2009) had standalone social responsibility reports. Also, 100% of 

these 91 companies had a social responsibility document on their website (Appendix 1). A 

content analysis of these documents revealed that practitioners used other terms like corporate 

responsibility, community involvement, philanthropy, sustainability, community benefit, 

community outreach, community giving, charity, community services, global responsibility, etc. 

(Table 2). 

Table 2 

Social Responsibility (SR) Reporting by Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For 

Terms Describing SR Frequency of Use Percentage of Use 

1 Corporate Responsibility 15 16.48 

2 Corporate Responsibility 13 14.29 

3 Community Involvement 9 9.89 

4 Social Responsibility/CSR 9 9.89 

5 Community Benefit 6 6.59 

6 Philanthropy 5 5.49 

7 Sustainability 5 5.49

8 Community Outreach 4 4.40 

9 Community Responsibility 4 4.40 

10 Community Giving 3 3.30 

11 Community Service 3 3.30 

12 Charities 1 1.10 

13 Commitment to Community 1 1.10 

14 Community Efforts 1 1.10 

15 Community Partnership 1 1.10 

16 Community Relations 1 1.10 

17 Corporate Contributions 1 1.10 

18 Corporate Values 1 1.10 

19 Environmental Responsibility 1 1.10 

20 Giving Back to Community 1 1.10 

21 Global Responsibility 1 1.10 

22 Making a Difference 1 1.10 

23 Serving Community 1 1.10 

24 Stewardship 1 1.10 

25 Support to the Community 1 1.10 

26 Volunteering 1 1.10 

Total 91 100% 

* 9 firms did not have Social Responsibility Reports 

Are there any variables that affect social responsibility of a firm? 

In terms of variables affecting social responsibility, there are three groups of variables 

that scholarly research has shown closely affect social responsibility (Shen and Chang, 2009). 

These are the scale of the company (as measured by the total assets and the net sales of a 

company), the income factor of the company (as measured by earnings before interest and tax 

and operation income), and the management factor (as measured the current ratio and the asset 

turnover ratio). 

Thus, authors like Trotman and Bradley (1981), suggest that the larger the scale of the 

firm, the more the attention gained from the public by the firm. Thus, the affect of the scale of 

the firm on the construct of social responsibility is positive. It follows that corporations, which 

are typically larger than private partnerships and sole proprietorships will gain a lot more 

attention from public. This also in some ways explains the overwhelming focus of academic 

literature and popular press on corporate social responsibility as opposed to business owner 

social responsibility. 

Other authors like McGuire et al. (1988) and Moore (2001) have argued that firms with 

higher incomes (that is, more money at their disposal) will have a larger opportunity than firms 

with less disposable income to practice social responsibility initiatives. Following this stream of 

research, it does seem that CPAs at a business owner level (having lot less disposable income)

than huge corporations, will have a smaller opportunity (in exposure and magnitude) to practice 

social responsibility initiatives. 

Finally, authors like Pava and Krausz (1996), Preston and O’Bannon(1997), have 

suggested that firms with good management practices (including good leadership) will have a 

positive impact on the construct of social responsibility. It is reasoned that the firms with good 

management will think in the “long run” and thus, take care of their stakeholders by consistently 

engaging in socially responsible activities. This stream of research implies that there should be 

no significant differences in the social responsibility engagements of corporations vs. sole 

proprietorships and partnerships from a good management standpoint. 

Relationship between Social Responsibility and Firm Performance 

Research indicates mixed results as to the usefulness of social responsibility to firms. 

The lack of conceptual clarity on what constitutes the construct of social responsibility has led to 

unclear causal relationships. “Debates continue to rage about whether or not firms should engage 

in socially responsible behavior” (Mackay et al., 2007). There are three distinct academic 

perspectives on this issue: firstly, those who subscribe to the theory that social responsibility is 

contributive to firm performance; secondly, those who subscribe to the theory that the benefits of 

social responsibility to the firm are as yet unclear; and thirdly, those who subscribe to the theory 

that social responsibility negatively impacts firm performance. These three approaches are 

described below: 

1. Many scholars have indicated that social responsibility is useful for the organization in 

terms of achieving its financial and non-financial goals (Fombrun et al., 2000; Orlitzky et al., 

2003; Salam, 2009; Shen and Chang, 2009; Turban and Greening, 1997; Tsoutzourz, 2004; and 

Waddock and Graves, 1997). 

2. Other authors have argued that the relationship between social responsibility and firm 

performance (both financial and non-financial performance measures) remains unclear (McGuire 

et al., 1988; McWilliams and Sieger, 2001). 

3. There is yet another stream of thought which suggests that social responsibility 

initiatives can actually be detrimental to the financial picture of the firm by taking away scarce 

resources of the firm. Studies by authors like Vance (1975) argue that a socially responsible 

organization is an organization that is at a competitive disadvantage with other organizations. 

Thus, social responsibility initiatives under certain conditions can actually decrease customers’ 

intentions to buy the organizations products and services (Sen and Bhattacharya, 2001). 

Neo-Classical Economist Perspective on Social Responsibility 

Some economists have long raised the question about the need of conducting any social 

responsibility activities at the level of a corporation. These scholars suggest that any voluntary 

contributions to social causes are misappropriations of shareholders’ wealth. For example, 

Friedman (1970: 126) indicates: “There is one and only one social responsibility of business—to

use its resources and engage in activities to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules 

of the game.” Friedman’s viewpoint is shared by other scholars like Henderson (2001). 

According to this approach, the objective of a business is to maximize shareholder 

wealth. Thus, if a corporation spends its resources to indulge in socially responsible activities, 

then it creates an agency problem. In other words, an organization that engages in socially 

responsible activity necessarily does so at the cost of its true owners, the shareholders. 

Corporate managers too have questioned the rationale behind performing socially 

responsible activities. Managers at many corporations interpret social responsibility as 

shareholder wealth maximization (O’Dwyer, 2003). Rose (2007) found that directors often give 

up social responsibility in favor of increasing shareholder wealth. 

METHODOLOGY 

Initial Item Pool 

Based on the usage of the term social responsibility in academia and industry, an 

exhaustive literature reviewing spanning the last three decades, and an expert panel survey an 

initial pool of 124 items were delineated. These 124 items indicate the actions that represent the 

construct of social responsibility. 

After getting two different rounds of feedback, these 124 items were reduced to 24 items. 

These 24 items were selected as being representative of the practice of social responsibility. 

These 24 items were used to construct a rudimentary scale of social responsibility. The 24 items 

are given in Table 3. 

Table 3 

Reduced Initial Item Pool (24 Items - CPA Social Responsibility Survey) 

Social Responsibility Focus Social Responsibility Item 

1 Employee Employee work-life balance programs 

2 Generous vacation package to employees 

3 Supporting diversity 

4 Giving employees paid time off to volunteer 

5 Encouraging employees to obtain higher education 

6 Environment Practicing recycling 

7 Practicing energy saving 

8 Practicing waste reduction 

9 Contributing to environmental causes 

10 Purchasing environmentally friendly products

11 Local Participation in local fundraising 

12 Serving on local non-profit boards 

13 Hiring local graduates 

14 Client/Customer Ethical conduct with clients 

15 Providing customer satisfaction 

16 Global Participation in global causes 

17 Making financial contributions for global causes 

18 Educational Providing scholarships to educational institutes 

19 Providing mentorship opportunities for students 

20 Serving on boards of educational institutes 

21 Providing internship opportunities to students 

22 Civic Giving employees paid time off to vote 

23 Displaying the national flag at the workplace 

24 Philanthropy Contributing financially to charitable causes 

Preliminary Scale Construction 

The preliminary scale of 24 items was mailed to a group of randomly selected CPAs 

throughout the United States as described below. This survey was also presented to a group of 

academicians and practitioners (community members with strong experience in social 

responsibility activities). The academicians were selected on the basis of convenience and 

having an advanced degree in Business Management. The community members were selected 

based on their recognized service to society. All respondents were asked open ended questions 

to solicit more initial items if possible and to reduce unclear or inapplicable items. 

The CPAs were selected by hand collecting data from the Yellow Pages for each of the 

50 states of the United States. Only those CPAs who were business owners (either a sole 

proprietor or a partner) were selected. This was a selected and convenience sample. The aim 

was to gather input from CPAs in as many states as possible across the United States. The aim 

was also to add rigor and richness to the study by soliciting input from these CPAs. A total of 

500 letters were mailed out—ten to each state. Responses were received from most of the states. 

The goal was to try to get at least one CPA business owner from each state. Two weeks later, 

another mailing of 120 letters was sent out—ten to each of twelve states for which no responses 

had yet been received. 

The response rate for the first mailing to CPAs was just under 10% (n=49). The response 

rate for the second mailing was 6.67% (n = 8). The low response rates for both the mailings 

should not be a cause for concern because we are not generalizing the findings of the study to the

whole United States. There were no responses from four states and mailings were discontinued 

after sending out 20 letters to a given state (Table 4). 

Table 4 

Demographics of the CPA Survey 

State Responses First Mailing Second Mailing 

1 Alabama 1 10 10 

2 Alaska 1 10 

3 Arizona 1 10 

4 Arkansas 1 10 

5 California 1 10 

6 Colorado 1 10 

7 Connecticut 1 10 

8 Delaware 1 10 

9 Florida 1 10 10 

10 Georgia 0 10 10 

11 Hawaii 1 10 

12 Idaho 1 10 

13 Illinois 2 10 

14 Indiana 1 10 

15 Iowa 0 10 10 

16 Kansas 1 10 

17 Kentucky 1 10 

18 Louisiana 1 10 10 

19 Maine 1 10 

20 Maryland 1 10 

21 Massachusetts 1 10 

22 Michigan 1 10 

23 Minnesota 1 10 

24 Mississippi 0 10 10 

25 Missouri 2 10 

26 Montana 1 10 10 

27 Nebraska 1 10 

28 Nevada 1 10 

29 New Hampshire 1 10 

30 New Jersey 0 10 10 

31 New Mexico 1 10 

32 New York 1 10 10 

33 North Carolina 1 10 

34 North Dakota 1 10

35 Ohio 2 10 

36 Oklahoma 1 10 

37 Oregon 1 10 

38 Pennsylvania 1 10 

39 Rhode Island 1 10 

40 South Carolina 1 10 

41 South Dakota 1 10 

42 Tennessee 1 10 

43 Texas 1 10 10 

44 Utah 1 10 

45 Vermont 1 10 

46 Virginia 1 10 

47 Washington 1 10 

48 West Virginia 1 10 10 

49 Wisconsin 1 10 

50 Wyoming 1 10 10 

Responses 49 500 120 

RESULTS 

Reliability 

This 24 item scale was checked for reliability using the well accepted measure of 

Cronbach’s Alpha. Cronbach’s Alpha for the first administration of the CPA Social 

Responsibility Instrument was .694. As per Spector (1975) this is an acceptable indicator of 

reliability for the instrument. The item total statistics are given in Table 5. The scale statistics 

for the 24 item scale are given in Table 6. 

Table 5 

Reliability Statistics for the 24 Item Scale 

A. Scale Cronbach’s Alpha 

Cronbach's Alpha N of Items 

B. Item Total Statistics 

.694 24

Item 

Scale Mean if 

Item Deleted 

Scale VAR if Item-Total 

Item Deleted Correlation 

Cronbach's Alpha 

if Item Deleted 

1 WasteRed 120.94 162.667 .561 .662 

2 WorkLifeBal 120.83 163.511 .570 .663 

3 FinEnv 121.25 159.294 .557 .658 

4 Global 122.22 160.069 .422 .667 

5 Mentorship 121.13 163.430 .506 .665 

6 CustSat 121.13 163.062 .471 .666 

7 Volunteer 121.94 160.140 .434 .666 

8 Diversity 121.31 173.033 .229 .686 

9 EduBoards 121.65 176.625 .182 .689 

10 Fintocharities 121.56 170.697 .294 .681 

11 ClientEth 121.44 176.039 .181 .689 

12 Scholarships 121.43 168.432 .357 .676 

13 HigherEd 121.08 166.520 .426 .671 

14 GenVac 122.08 178.625 .097 .694 

15 Recycling 122.04 161.406 .382 .671 

16 LocalFund 121.64 171.392 .161 .693 

17 EnergySaving 121.31 173.112 .169 .691 

18 LocalGrad 123.43 167.274 .155 .699 

19 LocalBoards 123.92 165.468 .315 .678 

20 EnvFriendly 122.19 180.922 -.021 .710 

21 Internship 121.29 179.075 .066 .697 

22 Flag 123.35 182.889 -.068 .717 

23 Voting 123.03 184.026 -.084 .716 

24 FinGlobal 121.52 184.332 -.079 .706 

DISCUSSION 

Table 6 

Scale Statistics for the 24 Item Scale 

Mean Variance Std. Deviation N of Items 

127.12 183.210 13.536 24

The results of the item analysis on the 24 item scale indicate that the scale has acceptable 

reliability. Past researchers like Spector (1975) have indicated that if the Cronbach’s Alpha is 

over 0.70, then the reliability of the scale is acceptable. With a Cronbach’s Alpha score of 0.694, 

our initial attempt at scale building can be deemed acceptable from a psychometric (reliability) 

standpoint. 

The attempts at scale development can be further improved by dropping items on the 

scale to increase the overall reliability of the scale. For example: Just dropping two items: #22 

“Displaying the national flag at the workplace is social responsibility” and #23 “Participating in 

voting activities is social responsibility” can increase the overall scale reliability to 0.75. 

Regardless, this paper makes an initial attempt at developing a scale to understand and 

measure the concept of social responsibility. Further fine tuning of the scale and validating its 

psychometric properties of the scale are beyond the scope of this paper. Yet, based on the 

synthesis of the social responsibility literature for the past three decades, analysis of social 

responsibility terminology usage in a recent year in academia and industry - this paper 

establishes some preliminary grounds to remove some of the murkiness surrounding the usage 

and understanding of the construct of social responsibility. 

Based on the development process enumerated in the last few sections, the authors 

theorize that social responsibility has six underlying dimensions. These underlying dimensions 

are environmental focus, community focus, employee focus, philanthropy focus, education 

focus, and civic focus (Figure 1). The global and local aspects of social responsibility seem to be 

a subset of these six factors. 

Figure 1 

Conceptualization of the Underlying Dimensions of CPA Social Responsibility 

Dimension 6 

Civic 

Focus 

Dimension 5 

Education 

Focus 

Dimension 1 

Environment 

al 

F 

Social 

Responsibility 

Dimension 4 

Philanthropy 

Focus 

Dimension 2 

Community 

Focus 

Dimension 3 

Employee 

Focus

CONCLUSIONS 

Social responsibility is a construct that has various meanings for academicians and 

practitioners. It seems like every stakeholder in the social responsibility debate has a different 

understanding of what the concept means. Prior to this study, we have not found any research - 

either academic, or practitioner oriented that looks at the definitional development, theoretical 

development, and underlying dimensions of social responsibility. 

This study is a small start towards better defining and understanding the construct of 

social responsibility. The main drawback of this study is that it does not fully complete the task 

of theoretical definition of the construct of social responsibility. It also does not test the 

conceptual model of the underlying dimensions of social responsibility. Hence, future directions 

for research include testing of this hypothetical model using tools like factor analysis, 

multidimensional scaling, and perceptual mapping. The initial attempts at scale building should 

be pursued further by dropping items and raising scale reliability. Also, the scale needs to be 

validated. 

Even with its drawbacks, it is hoped that this study has synthesized social responsibility 

literature for the past three decades. Using this literature, expert panels, and practitioner input - 

the study presents some key aspects of how social responsibility is commonly perceived by 

academicians and practitioners. 

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Appendix 1 

Social Responsibility Reports of 100 Best Companies to Work For in the U.S. 

Company Terms used for Social 

Responsibility 

Web Address 

1 Net App Corporate Citizenship http://www.netapp.com/us/company/ 

2 Edward Jones Community Involvement http://www.edwardjones.com/en_US/ 

3 BCG CSR http://www.bcg.com/about_bcg/vision/ 

4 Google Philanthropy www.Google.org 

5 Wegmans Food Markets Community Giving http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/ 

6 Cisco Systems Citizenship http://www.cisco.com/web/about/citizenship 

7 Genentech Corporate Citizenship http://www.gene.com/gene/about/ 

8 Methodist Hospital Community Benefits http://www.methodisthealth.com/tmhs/ 

9 Goldman Sachs Citizenship http://www2.goldmansachs.com/citizenship/ 

10 Nugget Market Community Giving http://www.nuggetmarket.com/ 

11 Adobe Systems Corporate Responsibility http://www.adobe.com/ 

12 Recreational Equipment Stewardship http://www.rei.com/stewardship 

13 Devon Energy Corporate Responsibility http://www.devonenergy.com/CorpResp/ 

14 Robert W. Baird Community Involvement http://www.rwbaird.com/about-baird 

15 W. L. Gore N/A N/A 

16 Qualcomm Social Responsibility http://www.qualcomm.com/citizenship/ 

17 Principal Fin. Group Corporate Responsibility http://www.principal.com/about/social/ 

18 Shared Technologies N/A N/A 

19 Ohio Health Community Partnership http://www.ohiohealth.com/ 

20 SAS Community Relations http://www.sas.com/corporate/community/ 

21 Arnold & Porter Community Involvement http://www.arnoldporter.com/ 

22 Whole Foods Market Community Giving http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/ 

23 Zappos.com Community Involvement http://about.zappos.com/ 

24 Starbucks Global Responsibility http://www.starbucks.com/ 

25 Johnson Financial Group N/A No Social Responsibility report on website 

26 Aflac Corporate Philanthropy http://www.aflac.com/us/en/aboutaflac/ 

27 Quick Trip Community Efforts http://www.quiktrip.com/community 

28 PCL Construction , Inc. N/A No Social Responsibility report on website 

29 Quicken Loans N/A No Social Responsibility report on website 

30 Bingham McCutchen Community Service http://www.bingham.com/ 

31 CarMax Volunteering http://www.carmax.com/assets/ 

Container Store Commitment to 

http://standfor.containerstore.com/ 

32 

Community 

33 JM Family Enterprises Corporate philanthropy http://www.jmfamily.com/Community/ 

34 Umpqua Bank Community responsibility http://www.umpquabank.com/ 

35 Kimley-Horn N/A No Social Responsibility report on website 

36 Alston & Bird Community Involvement http://www.alston.com/firm/community/ 

37 TDIndustries Giving to community http://www.tdindustries.com/ 

38 Microsoft Corporate Citizenship http://www.microsoft.com/about/ 

39 Paychex Corporate Contributions https://www.paychex.com/company/ 

40 EOG Resources Corporate Responsibility http://www.eogresources.com/responsibility 

41 Camden Property Trust N/A No Social Responsibility report on website 

42 Plante & Moran N/A No Social Responsibility report on website

43 Rackspace Hosting Support to Community http://www.rackspace.com/information/ 

44 NuStar Energy Community Service http://www.nustarenergy.com/company/ 

King’s Daughters Community Benefit http://www.kdmc.com/community/ 

45 Medical 

46 American Fidelity Serving Community http://www.afadvantage.com/annualreport 

47 DreamWorks Corporate Responsibility http://www.dreamworksanimation.com/ 

48 Mattel Corporate Responsibility http://corporate.mattel.com/about-us/ 

49 Intuit Social Responsibility http://about.intuit.com/about_intuit/ 

50 Burns & McDonnell Community Involvement http://www.burnsmcd.com/ 

51 Ernst & Young Corporate Responsibility http://www.ey.com/US/ 

52 Booz Allen & Hamilton Community Outreach http://www.boozallen.com/about/ 

53 Stew Leonard’s Charities http://www.stewietheduck.com/home.cfm 

54 Erickson Retirement Corporate Citizenship http://www.ericksonliving.com/citizenship/ 

55 Salesforce.com Philanthropy http://www.salesforce.com/company/ 

56 KPMG Corporate Citizenship http://www.kpmg.com/Global/en/ 

57 Novo Nordisk Sustainability http://www.novonordisk.com/sustainability/ 

58 PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Responsibility http://www.pwc.com/us/en/about-us 

59 Scripps Health Community Benefit http://www.scripps.org/ 

60 Scottrade Community Involvement http://www.scottrade.com/ 

61 Deloitte Corporate Responsibility http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/ 

62 Griffin Hospital Community Services http://www.griffinhealth.org/AboutGriffin/ 

63 Mayo Clinic Community Benefit http://www.mayoclinic.org/community/ 

64 Milliken Corporate Citizenship http://www.milliken.com/hr/wwwmlkn.nsf/ 

65 Texas Instruments Corporate Citizenship http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/csr/ 

66 MITRE N/A N/A 

67 Children’s Health Care Philanthropy http://www.choa.org/default.aspx?id=2175 

68 S. Ohio Medical Center Community Benefit http://www.somc.org/assets/ 

69 National Instruments Corporate Citizenship http://www.ni.com/company/citizenship.htm 

70 Stanley Corporate Citizenship http://www.stanleyworks.com/ 

71 Men’s Wearhouse Citizenship https://www.menswearhouse.com/ 

72 Nordstrom Social Responsibility http://phx.corporate-ir.net/ 

73 Chesapeake Energy Corporate Citizenship http://www.chk.com/Community/ 

74 Alcon Laboratories Corporate Responsibility http://www.alcon.com/en/ 

75 Atlantic Health Env. Responsibility http://www.atlantichealth.org/ 

76 Lehigh Valley Hospital Community Outreach http://www.lvhn.org/lvhn/ 

North West Community Community Outreach http://www.nch.org/community/index.php 

77 Hospital 

78 Marriott International Social Responsibility http://www.marriott.com/corporateinfo/ 

79 Baptist Health S. Florida Community Benefit http://www.baptisthealth.net/en/ 

80 Bright Horizons Making a Difference http://www.brighthorizonsfoundation.org/ 

81 S. C. Johnson & Son Sustainability http://www.scjohnson.com/en/commitment/ 

82 Perkins Cole Community Involvement http://www.perkinscoie.com/Firm/ 

83 eBay Sustainability http://www.ebayinc.com/sustainability 

84 Juniper Networks Corporate Citizenship http://www.juniper.net/au/en/company/ 

Arkansas Children’s Community Outreach http://www.archildrens.org/community_outr 

85 Hospital 

each 

86 CH2M Hill Corporate responsibility http://www.ch2m.com/corporate/about_us/ 

87 Orrick Herrington Community responsibility http://www.orrick.com/about/community/ 

88 Publix Supermarkets Corporate sustainability http://sustainability.publix.com/

89 Herman Miller Community responsibility http://www.hermanmiller.com/About-Us/ 

90 FedEx Corporate responsibility http://about.fedex.designcdt.com/ 

91 Gilbane Sustainability http://www.gilbanebuilding.com/green/ 

92 Four Seasons Hotels Corporate values http://www.fourseasons.com/about_us/ 

93 Valero Energy Community responsibility http://www.valero.com/Community/Pages/ 

94 Build-A-Bear Workshop Community involvement http://www.buildabear.com/aboutUs/ 

95 Kimpton Hotels Social responsibility http://www.kimptonhotels.com/hr/ 

96 T-Mobile Corporate responsibility http://www.telekom.com/ 

97 Accenture Corporate citizenship http://www.accenture.com/Global/ 

98 Vanderbilt University Social responsibility http://www.vanderbiltchildrens.org/ 

99 General Mills CSR http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/ 

100 SRA International Social responsibility http://www.sra.com/about-us/community/

Roles of Community Satisfaction and 

Community Attachment in the 

Out-migration of Rural Residents 

Jamye Long 


Cooper Johnson 


Sam Faught 


ABSTRACT 

This paper proposes a study to determine the impact residents’ emotional feelings towards their communities 

have on their decisions to move from rural areas. Past research is discussed as it relates to the factors of 

careers, education, and earnings in the decision making process. Also presented are the dependent, 

independent, and moderating variables, research question, theory for explaining the occurrence, design of the 

study, suggestions for evaluation methods to analyze the data once collected, and projected applications of the 

findings. It is expected that with the implementation of this research, a better understanding of the decisions of 

rural residents to relocate out of these areas will be developed. This improved understanding can aid in the 

effort to maintain the populations in these areas and provide hope for building sustainable and effective 

recruiting strategies.

Introduction 

Practitioners have theorized that employment opportunities, occupation, income, and available 

education in rural regions are the primary deciding factors in residents’ decisions to consider the 

option of migration. For example, Henry (1999) wrote, “To succeed in sustaining regional 

economic development, policy should be designed to do two things: provide high quality 

education and [provide] training for human resources… [in order to] prevent a ‘brain drain’ to 

competing regions” (p. 39). Previous studies, such as Henry’s, assume that there is a simple, 

direct relationship between the employment opportunities, occupation, income, and available 

education in these areas and the plans of the regions’ inhabitants to relocate. This research 

explores this assumption to determine accuracy since previous research does not take into 

account the degree of community satisfaction and community attachment the inhabitants feel 

towards the areas in which they currently reside. The intersubjective variables of community 

satisfaction and community attachment act as a filter between the employment opportunities, 

occupation, income, and available education of the regions and residents’ propensity to move. 

This incidence of local residents considering out-migration into urban areas is a common 

occurrence in rural regions. 

Before inhabitants abandon rural communities, they consider the effects of their decision, an act 

known as planning. According to Shaffer (1992), employment improvement is a major factor in 

why citizens move from their communities. Although this is informative, the research fails to 

consider the possibility that the residents include their satisfaction and attachment to the 

community in making decisions to relocate. Shaffer only studied the initial thoughts of the 

population rather than expanding his study to include the inhabitants’ happiness with the local 

environment. 

The variables of community satisfaction and community attachment are vital points in the 

decision making process of individuals considering relocation. For example, individuals may 

become frustrated with their employment opportunities at their current employer and consider 

their options. The decision whether they want to leave the region may not be immediately 

decided based on their unhappiness at work. Rather, they might decide to find a more satisfying 

job in the same area given that they appreciate their current community. 

The planning process of residents in rural regions to relocate appears to be more complex than 

researchers have previously theorized. The satisfaction of the people in the region contributes 

significantly to their final decision. Studies have not included this important variable, therefore 

the results of those studies are incomplete. The results of past studies should be applied with 

caution in the prediction of the inhabitants’ planning to migrate from a rural region due to the 

fact that the variables of community satisfaction and community attachment were not evaluated. 

With the additional knowledge from this research, rural communities should have a clearer 

understanding of the factors involved with out-migration and be better equipped to fulfill the 

critical needs that could lead to a significant change in the development and sustainability of 

these regions. 

Proposed Research 

1

Research Question 

What are the roles of community satisfaction and community attachment in determining the 

plans of rural residents to migrate to more urban regions? 

Proposed Theory 

Residents living in rural regions make the decision to begin planning to relocate based on their 

overall feelings of community satisfaction and their level of community attachment. The factors 

that lead up to the consideration of changing their situation are employment opportunities, 

occupation, income, and available education. 

Theory Explained 

Previous theories have warranted the premise that employment opportunities, occupation, 

income, and available education to residents in rural regions initiate plans for relocation and 

represent these theories as simple, direct relationships without considering the residents’ feelings 

of satisfaction and attachment to their communities. While experts have studied out-migration in 

rural regions as well as investigated the amount of community satisfaction and attachment by 

residents in those regions, these studies failed to consider the impact these factors have on 

residents’ plans to move. 

Community satisfaction is comprised of the factors that residents consider important to their own 

happiness and impact their decisions of where they reside. Part of community satisfaction is the 

feeling the people of the community have with the local organizations. Griffin (2011) describes 

job satisfaction as the degree to which individuals are pleased with their jobs. Byars and Rue 

(2011) explains that employees’ overall perceptions of their employment is defined as job 

satisfaction. Community satisfaction includes job satisfaction since organizations are a part of 

communities. Applebaum, Fowler, Fiedler, Osinubi, and Robson (2010) investigated the 

relationship between job satisfaction and organizational environmental factors and found a 

strong correlation between these factors and job satisfaction. They further found that 

dissatisfaction on the job will ultimately lead to turnover. Organizational turnover in rural 

communities can lead to an out-migration of the population. However, job satisfaction alone 

does not determine the reasons why residents show an interest in making plans to relocate. 

Mississippi is a state that is comprised of primarily rural communities and research conducted in 

this state can provide insight into rural populations. Shaffer (1992) states, “Job satisfaction…is 

extremely important to Mississippians; the primary reason given for considering relocation is to 

find a better job” (p. 65). “Another reason for relocating is greater opportunities, a motivation for 

both the socially advantaged and disadvantaged” (p. 66). Theories, such as Shaffer’s, argue that 

when individuals have a desire to seek a higher satisfaction for their employment opportunities, 

occupation, and income they are more likely to want change. The initial reaction to this desire for 

change could be extreme, for example, a feeling of need to relocate in a drastically different 

environment, or it could be less drastic, such as a desire to work at another company within the 

same area. The initial reaction does not lead to a concrete solution for the situation. Instead, 

employees consider their options. One of the choices that individuals must consider is the overall 

satisfaction they have as being a part of the surrounding community. 

Furthermore, “[an] indicator of community attachment is personal reaction to departure from the 

community” (Shaffer, 1992, p. 65). Residents within rural communities consider the attachment 

they have to the area. This could be especially evident in those residents who have children. 

2

While the caretaker(s) of the dependents may have the desire to move, when they consider the 

attachments they have to the community through their children, their decision to relocate may be 

altered. Another example of community attachment is the bond parents have to grown children 

residing in the area. These important variables should be considered in studies that theorize the 

movement patterns of individuals residing in rural regions. As Shaffer (1992) comments, 

“[Mississippi] Delta citizens reflect this regional pride, being relatively satisfied with the overall 

quality of life in their communities and fairly attached to their communities” (p. 64). 

Filkins, Allen, and Cordes (2000) report that “community satisfaction has often been linked to 

the level of satisfaction with a community’s infrastructure, job opportunities, and social support 

network” (p. 72). While the authors allude to the idea that community satisfaction and 

community attachment have an impact beyond what has previously been studied, they do not 

make the connection that residents of rural regions consider relocation based on community 

satisfaction, but rather focus on discovering another method that can be used to determine if 

“…social ties may have a greater role in predicting community satisfaction than had been 

thought previously” (p. 72). 

Although rural residents may desire to improve their current position and income, the choice to 

move is likely deterred based on the satisfaction and connection residents have with the 

community. Therefore, as the employment opportunities, occupation, and income, increases, the 

residents’ desires to make plans to move outside the rural region in which they currently reside, 

is expected to decrease with the intervention of community satisfaction and community 

attachment. These inverse relationships might be used to assist communities in trying to decrease 

the out-migration of residents and to create a stronger bond between the current residents and the 

community, which could effectively improve the current economic conditions of the region. 

Another well theorized explanation for rural regions’ residents to consider relocation is the 

available education. Jones, Thornell, and Hamon (1992) comment on the education found in the 

rural region of the Mississippi Delta stating, “Mississippi has a long tradition of low educational 

attainment, and the problem is most severe within the Delta” (p. 90). Many residents fear that 

they cannot continue their education in the region and consider their options in order to reach 

their goals. While they may deliberate on these relocation options, they know that other factors 

play a role in helping them to decide. If another community within the region offers the 

education they desire, then that option demonstrates that community satisfaction and community 

attachment impact in the choice to remain within the region. However, satisfaction of the 

environment within the community in which they currently reside could overrule the decision to 

relocate for education level purposes and, therefore, discourage the out-migration from the local 

community. 

The argument is that there is an inverse relationship between employment opportunities, 

occupation, income, and available education and residents’ plans to move as well as their 

decision where they will move, be it inside the rural region or into a urban area. Specifically, as 

the available education increases, the outcome is “filtered” through the residents’ community 

satisfaction and community attachment and the resulting resident’s plan to move is decreased. 

3

For example, a group of residents has reached a point in their careers when they decide a change 

is needed. In order to make their decision each of them considers their options. All of them want 

to increase their employment opportunities, occupation, and income; some want to improve their 

education. In considering their choices, they know local resources that are available to help them 

achieve their goals, but there are also resources outside the region that can as well. Ultimately, 

each of them considers their overall satisfaction with their surrounding environment within their 

community and their attachments with the area. Their final decisions include factors such as an 

appreciation for their way of life, the amenities available to them, and the atmosphere in which 

they reside. 

The unevaluated variables of community satisfaction and community attachment in the decision 

making process of rural residents to change their status, leads to assumptions that have the 

possibility of causing confusion and misunderstanding. With the inclusion of these factors, 

communities may have a better chance of improving their economic standing by discovering and 

implementing methods to make their environment more appealing to residents and therefore 

deter them from making decisions to consider relocating to another region. 

Figure 1. Hypothesized causal model.. 

Independent Variables 

Employment 

opportunities, 

Occupation, 

Income 

Available 

education 

- = As IV increase, 

DV/MV decrease 

+ = As IV increase, 

DV/MV increase 

Table 1. Research variables defined. 

Community 

Satisfaction, 

Community 

Attachment 

Variables Constructive Definition Operations Definition 

+ 

+ 

Moderating Variables 

(Also Independent Variables) 

+ 

- 

- 

+ 

Dependent Variables 

Planning to 

relocate 

Destination 

of move 

(i.e. out of 

region or not) 

4

Independent 

Employment 


occupation, 

income 

Independent 

Available 

education 

Independent/ 

Moderating 

Community 

satisfaction, 

Community 

attachment 

Dependent 


relocate 

Dependent 

Destination of 

move 

The decision to plan to move is 

originated by the resident’s perceived 

occupation opportunities and the 

income received. 

The decision to plan to move is 

originated by the resident’s available 

educational opportunities. 

The satisfaction of the resident of the 

surrounding environment within the 

community in which s/he lives. The 

attachment of the resident to the region 

and community. These variables 

contributes to the outcome of the 

dependent variables. 

The consideration of the resident to 

relocate in order to attempt to improve 

his/her living condition. This is 

contingent upon the employment 

opportunities and occupation income of 

the resident and the overall satisfaction 

the individual has with the community. 

The resident’s plans to relocate within 

the same region or outside of the region 

are dependent upon his/her occupational 

opportunities, income, and happiness 

within the community. 

Table 2. Research variables and related sample questionnaire items. 

Variables Sample Questionnaire Items 

Independent 

Employment 


occupation, 

income 

Independent 

Available 

education 

In order to measure this variable, questions 

will focus on the current satisfaction level 

of the residents in the community. 

Specifically questions will ask about their 

employment and income and their opinion 

of the community’s employment 

opportunities 


will focus on residents’ available 

educational and their desire to further their 

education. Questions will also cover if they 

believe they can reach their educational goal 

while remaining in the community. 

In order to measure these variables, 

questions will focus on length of residency 

in the community, their perception of the 

past vs. the current vs. the future of the 

community, and factors that draw them to 

be a part of the community. 


will focus on residents’ plans to move from 

the community within a specified period of 

time. Questions will inquire as to reasons 

for plans to move and factors that contribute 

to their plans. 


will focus on where residents will relocate if 

they follow through with their plans to 

move. 

- What is your current occupation? ___________ 

- Are you satisfied with your current employment? � Yes � No 

- Does the community in which you live provide acceptable employment 

opportunities? � Yes � No 

- What is your annual income? 

� Below $20,000 � $20,001-$30,000 � $30,001-$40,000 �Above $40,000 

- Are you satisfied with your current income? � Yes � No 

- What is your educational level? � Some High School � High School 

Graduate/GED � Some College �College Graduate � Advanced/Professional 

degree � Technical School Graduate � Other _____________ 

- Do you intend to further your education in the near future? � Yes � No 

5

Independent/ 

Moderating 

Community 

satisfaction, 

Community 

attachment 

Dependent 


relocate 

Dependent 

Destination of 

move 

- Does the community in which you live provide the educational opportunity you 

wish to obtain? � Yes � No 

- Were you raised in the community in which you currently reside?�Yes � No 

- How many years have you lived in this community? _________________ 

- Do you have children under the age of 18 living in this community?�Yes � No 

- Do you have children over the age of 18 living in this community? � Yes � No 

- Do you have siblings, parents, or grandparents living in this community? 

� Yes � No 

- If Yes, � Sibling(s) � Parent(s) � Grandparent(s) 

- Do you believe you are better off now than you were five years ago? �Yes�No 

- Do you believe you will be better off ten years from now? � Yes � No 

- Please rate your satisfaction to the following services offered in your 

community: (1 = very satisfied, 5 = very dissatisfied) 

� Educational Services 1 2 3 4 5 

� Leisure Activities 1 2 3 4 5 

� Training and Professional Development Opportunities 1 2 3 4 5 

- Are you planning to move from this community within the next year? 

� Yes � No If yes, why are you considering moving? __________________ 

- What factors play a part in your plans to move from this community? ________ 

- How likely is it that you will be living in your current community five years 

from now? _________________________ 

- Do you plan to remain in this region when you move? � Yes � No 

- If no, why are you planning to move outside of this region? ________________ 

- Where do you plan to move? ______________ 

- What distance (in miles) are you likely to relocate from your current residence? 

___________________________________ 

Study Design 

As presented earlier, the independent variables of employment opportunities, occupation, and 

income as well as available education will be studied in order to determine the impact the 

moderating variables of community satisfaction and community attachment have in the resulting 

dependent variables of planning to move and destination of move. In order to study these factors, 

the survey instrument will be designed to include relevant questions. The questions will cover 

topics such as: social demographics, work/occupation/career, education, quality of life, 

community satisfaction, and community attachment. The participants in the study will consist of 

a sample of individuals residing in counties located in a rural area. 

Methodology 

Procedure 

The process of analyzing collected data is one that has to be as flawless and exact as possible. 

Multiple regression and path analysis are two procedures that will be employed in evaluating the 

data. Regression allows the researcher to determine the direct relationship between each 

independent and dependent variable being examined. “Multiple regression is typically used when 

one attempts to predict a single continuous variable (often called a dependent variable) using two 

or more continuous or nominal variables (often called independent variables)” (Grimm & 

Yarnold, 1995, p.10). Furthermore, regression “is used to establish a pattern of relations among 

variables and to evaluate the degree to which the obtained data conform to the hypothesized 

relations among variables” (p. 11). This technique will control for other factors in its 

determination of the relationship for each variable. Regression will supply the researcher with 

6

positive or negative coefficients, which will indicate the strength of the relationship between 

corresponding variables. Regression does not account for indirect paths included in the study. 

Because of this, the researcher will employ an additional statistical technique to further the study. 

The data will be further evaluated using path analysis. Path analysis allows the researcher to take 

the results obtained through regression analysis a step further. “Path analysis begins with a 

hypothesized causal model in which the investigator clearly states the predicted relations among 

a set of variables. The hypothesized manners, in which the variables are related, are often 

illustrated in a schematic diagram” (Grimm & Yarnold, 1995, p.11). This technique is used to 

account for all paths being considered in the study. Unlike regression, path analysis allows for 

indirect relationships within the study to be considered and computed. “The model ‘X causes Y’ 

is a regression model, whereas ‘X causes Y and Y causes Z’ is a path analysis model” (Grimm & 

Yarnold, p.65). The results from path analysis allow the researcher to present a more detailed 

analysis of the data. 

Path analysis provides two primary results. First, it provides estimates of the magnitude of the 

hypothesized effects. The estimates are based on the assumption that the model is correct. 

Second, path analysis allows one to test that the model is consistent with the observed data. If the 

model is not consistent with the observed data, one can reject the model as being highly unlikely. 

On the other hand, if the model and data are consistent, one can say that the model is realistic 

(Grimm & Yarnold, 1995). 

Sample Size 

As with many statistical procedures, there is no concrete sample size (Ss) that is required to 

ensure proper analysis of the gathered information. However, since this research involves one of 

the first data collections using the proposed instrument, there is no good way to estimate the 

number of Ss that will be needed for the study. Mason and Lind (1993) point out that once the 

number of Ss is greater than 30 binomial probability predicts a nearly normal distribution of 

responses. Some statistical procedures dictate a minimum of 50 cases for each variable. Unless 

specifically indicated, the number 30, then, would appear to be an absolute minimum. To 

accommodate and ensure that both minimum criteria are adequate, a sample size of 300 subjects 

will be surveyed. The increase in the sample size should be more than adequate to accommodate 

some degree of mortality which is not uncommon in many studies. 

Reliability and Validity Concerns 

Reliability and validity of instruments are crucial to any research and conclusions resulting from 

said research. Reliability and validity are major issues in research, as well as in sampling, and 

they should always be considered in questionnaire development. Ensuring the reliability and 

validity of the process throughout the entire project is vital to the success of the study. 

Unfortunately, this importance is often ignored (Schoell & Guiltinan, 1992). These issues will be 

addressed in this study through the use of appropriate statistical procedures that will be used to 

evaluate the reliability and validity of the instrument. 

There is no single technique to determine the reliability of every measurement scale in every 

situation or application. The numerous methods, which possess varying strengths and 

weaknesses, determine the reliability of a measurement scale. Though different in their 

7

approaches, each of these methods shares the commonality in their attempt to calculate the true 

variance of the measurement scale (Davis & Cosenza, 1993). The approaches that will be used to 

address validity and reliability concerns in this study address the concept of internal consistency. 

The basic rational for internal consistency assessments rests on the fact that items in a scale 

should behave similarly. 

Reliability is the degree to which survey results are free from random error (Bowling, 2009). A 

measurement scale that provides consistent results over time is reliable. A key question regarding 

reliability is if some phenomenon is measured over and over again with the same measurement 

device, will the same or highly similar results be achieved. Validity is the ability of an 

instrument to actually measure the quality or characteristic it was originally intended to measure. 

In the most common of terms, the validity of a measuring instrument is determined by how well 

it does what it is intended to do (Alreck & Settle, 1985). An instrument is valid only to the 

degree that it assesses what and only what it is supposed to measure. Davis and Cosenza (1993) 

refer to the term reliability as the consistency and stability of a score from a measurement scale. 

While validity indicates that a measurement tool actually measured what was intended to be 

measured, reliability indicates that the same answers appear time and again with the same or 

similar group. To demonstrate validity, it is also necessary to demonstrate reliability. 

Split-Half Procedure 

The Split-Half procedure is one technique that will be used to measure the validity and reliability 

of the proposed instrument for this study. The Split-Half reliability formula requires splitting a 

test into halves, usually by dividing the total test score into scores on the odd items and scores on 

the even items. Then, a formula is used to emphasize differences between items rather than 

between respondents. To achieve the split-half technique is not complicated. A multi-item scale 

is split into two halves. The results of the score of the first half are then correlated with the 

results of the second half to produce a coefficient similar to the correlation between two forms 

(Cohen & Swerdlik, 2010). Another observation is that this method evaluates the likeness of a 

grouping of items meaning that items in a scale should demonstrate analogous behavior (Davis & 

Consenza, 1993). 


Cronbach's Alpha (Cronbach, 1951) will also be used to evaluate the reliability and validity of 

the instrument. This particular procedure is used to evaluate the interitem consistency of a 

particular instrument. Cronbach proposed his coefficient Alpha (�) to address criticism of the 

split-half approach. Instead of giving a single coefficient for the test, the procedure gives 

different coefficients depending on which items are grouped when the test is split in two parts. 

Projected Applications of Findings 

The results of this study have the possibility of providing rural communities with valuable 

information that can be used to retain residents. Through maintaining the population, these areas 

will be better equipped to provide a higher quality of life. It is expected that a relationship exists 

between the decision to live in a rural community and the residents’ satisfaction and attachment, 

as that will provide local leaders with the needed knowledge to improve the lives of the residents 

in areas through factors such as employment, entertainment, politics, education, and 

socialization. The addition and improvement of these factors can lead to the attraction of future 

residents, thus providing a possibility for an increase in the local population. Furthermore, with 

8

the residents choosing to remain in the area, an overall atmosphere of happiness can be 

established as the main attraction for residents and visitors to the communities. 

9

References 

Alreck, P. L., & Settle, R. B. (1985). The Survey Research Handbook. Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, 

Inc. 

Applebaum, D., Fowler, S., Fiedler, N., Osinubi, O., & Robson, M. (2010). The impact of 

environmental factors on nursing stress, job satisfaction, and turnover intention. The 

Journal of Nursing Administration, 40(7/8), 323-328. 

Bowling, A. (2009). Research Methods in Health: Investigation and Health Services (3 rd ed.). 

Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin. 

Byars, L., & Rue, L. (2011). Human Resource Management (10 th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill 

Irwin. 

Cohen, R. J., & Swerdlik, M. (2010). Psychological Testing and Assessment (7 th ed.). Boston: 

McGraw-Hill Irwin. 

Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of test. Psychometrika, 16, 

297-334. 

Davis, D., & Cosenza, R. M. (1993). Business Research for Decision Making (3rd ed.). Belmont: 

Wadsworth. 

Filkins, R., Allen, J., & Cordes, S. (2000). Predicting community satisfaction among rural 

residents: An integrative model. Rural Sociology, 65(1), 72-86. 

Griffin, R.W. (2011). Management (10 th ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. 

Grimm, L. & Yarnold, P. (1995). Reading and Understanding Multivariate Statistics. Easton, 

Maryland: Easton Publishing Services, Inc. 

Henry, M. S. (1999) Spatial labor markets, new economic geography, and urban-rural linkages: 

Implications for the rural south. Southern Rural Sociology, 15, 38-58. 

Jones, R., Thornell, J., & Hamon, G. (1992) Educational attainment in the delta. A Social and 

Economic Portrait of the Mississippi Delta, 90-108. 

Mason, R. D., & Lind, D. A. (1993). Statistical Techniques in Business and Economics (8th. ed.). 

Boston: Richard D. Irwin, Inc. 

Schoell, W. F., & Guiltinan, J. P. (1992). Marketing: Contemporary Concepts and Practices (5th 

ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 

Shaffer, S. D. (1992). Perceptions and attitudes of Mississippi Delta residents. A Social and 

Economic Portrait of the Mississippi Delta, 64-77. 

10

Socio-economic determinants of E-marketing adoption 

Ahmed Y. Elkassabgi 

Texas A&M International University 

Collins E. Okafor 


Nacasius Ujah 


ABSTRACT 

The research guides international marketers by identifying the variables involved that greatly increase the 

success of an international E‐marketing entry. This research contributes to the existing literature by linking 

socio‐economic variables including culture, human development, and corruption to E‐marketing adoption 

through non‐linear structural equation modeling. In addition, the research identifies the number of computer 

users as a moderating variable that influences the relationship between corruption and E‐Marketing Adoption.

Introduction 

Firms have always tried to find ways to promote their products or services in order to 

gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. One of the tools they use to do this is 

marketing. Throughout history, marketing has taken on different forms of methods, and has 

generally evolved to utilize the most up-to-date technologies in order to capture the greatest 

amount of attention. By far, the latest tool marketers have used up to now is E-Marketing. With 

the onset of the ‘internet age,’ marketers are scrambling to get a greater and larger piece of the Emarketing 

pie by trying to pinpoint where and how users access and communicate through the 

internet. 

Traditional advertising tools such as television, print ads, and billboards have taken a 

backseat to the growth of E-Marketing. E-commerce has grown significantly in the past 20 years 

as a tool for Business-to-Business (B2B) trading exchanges. The growth of secure online 

payments systems, as well as the opportunity to screen potential trading partners, has opened 

new doors of opportunity for companies by dramatically reducing overhead costs and providing 

the opportunity to expand business globally. B2B trading exchanges have also given developing 

countries the opportunity to conduct and enhance overseas trading (Moodley, 2001). Nations 

with similar commercial environments and cultures tend to also show similar web uses and 

attitudes towards the web (Bellman, Lohse, & Johnson, 1999). 

The foundations of E-marketing rely on the ability for marketers to reach their target 

audience through the use of electronic communications, namely the internet. However, the 

internet is not accessible to certain individuals because of several reasons; including the 

prevention by corrupt governments, the general development of different countries in terms of 

human development, and cultural barriers (Goldsmith & Wu, 2006). Hence, this research tries to 

find the socio-economic and cultural aspects that lead to adoption of an E-marketing approach. 

The research looks at several variables including corruption, human development, and cultural 

dimensions. The research finds that corruption, human development, uncertainty avoidance, and 

individualism are significant factors in E-marketing adoption by means of online advertisements. 

The research uses a non-linear SEM approach in order to account for the nuances not picked up 

by traditional linear approaches. 

Literature Review 

The obvious drawback to E-marketing is its ability to reach its target audience. 

Developed nations differ dramatically from developing nations in the information and 

communication technology infrastructures that they have to offer their citizens. This set back 

curtails the ability for marketers to use E-marketing as a tool to reach their target audience. A 

study by the Wharton Forum on Electronic Commerce, found that the more one is accessible to 

the internet throughout the day, from work and from home, the greater the likelihood that they 

are to purchase items online or items mentioned online (Bellman, et al., 1999). Adam (2002) 

finds that even through developed countries, there are inter-country differences in the use of Emarketing 

as a marketing tool. The research also finds a direct link between percentage of 

households with PC’s, the percentage of households with internet connections, and with the 

percentage of households that have shopped online.

According to Dwivedi (2007), there are certain socio-economic determinants of a society 

which have the ability to impact broadband adoption. The socio-economic determinants of which 

are age, education, and income and occupation, but not gender, have a direct relationship 

between the adoption and non-adoption of broadband technology. The author further finds that 

“those with access to technology have the ability to influence changes in social structures that 

will in turn disadvantage those who are offline.” 

However, E-marketing has also changed the role of women in developing countries. 

Traditionally, the role of women in developing countries takes a backseat from men in terms of 

family income. In developing countries, women are often considered as homemakers or “house 

maintainers” (Summers, 1994). However, e-commerce has allowed women, who are 

homemakers, the opportunity to work from home by using the internet to conduct a business 

from home, while fulfilling the social requirements of taking care of children and performing 

daily chores (Payne, 2002). This has also borne a social transition. For example, in some 

locations in India, farmers have the opportunity to access free information about current 

commodity prices and trends, via an e-ready initiative by USAID and the World Bank at specific 

telecenters. This allows farmers to choose the best crops to grow at a certain time, monitor the 

prices in order to harvest their crops at the most optimum time, and enter the market place. The 

initiative was so successful that the husbands that were tending to the farm lands all day would 

allow their wives to go to these telecenters during the day to access information about 

commodity prices. According to Payne (2002) “At first, the women’s husbands did not want to 

allow them to go to the telecenters, thinking it a waste of time. Only the success shown by some 

women convinced other husbands to allow their wives to go.” Allowing women to help in 

advancing the source of income for the family has broader social impacts on these countries and 

their development (Summers, 1994). 

It is known that e-commerce can reduce transaction costs by improving institutional 

arrangements, dodging repressive regulatory environments (especially in developing countries), 

and by circumventing indigenous constraints (Pare, 2002). Looking at the case of South Africa’s 

wooden furniture producing companies (SAWFP), Moodley (2001) finds that although these 

firms have the infrastructure, capacity to utilize B2B e-commerce, and the knowledge that 

utilizing such methods will increase revenue, they are still reluctant to adopt such models. The 

research sites two reasons; “(1) their inability to develop an apposite e-commerce model which is 

tightly integrated into their respective value chains; and (2) the formidable, unanticipated barriers 

impeding their progress to a functional e-commerce system.”(Moodley, 2001). The researchers 

suggest that there are other issues that prevent adaptation of an e-commerce model including “the 

firm’s needs, it’s organizational capabilities and resources, and its environment”. 

Given certain socio-economic differences, the performance of E-marketing can have 

some noticeable differences. Al-Shaikh (2010) surveyed 102 managers of firms in Jordan on 

their perspective on internet commerce. The study found that retail firms reported that internet 

commerce benefited their firm in terms of “effectiveness,” “lower managerial costs,” “paperless 

work,” “wide selection,” and “e-security.” The study also found that “effectiveness,” “lower 

managerial costs,” and “effort” were the primary reasons for firms to choose advertising online. 

Looking specifically at the percentage of internet advertising to advertising, using traditional 

marketing media, the study finds that 77.5% of firms spent 20% or less of their advertising 

expenditure online. The research also found that firms that dedicated between 5% and 10% of

their total advertising expenditure towards internet advertising, benefited from lower marginal 

costs, which was generally more efficient and effective than traditional advertising tools. The 

research further finds that the longer the firm had a website up, the greater the benefit over 

traditional advertising tools. 

Internationally, the adoption of E-marketing as a tool for marketers is seen as the next 

bandwagon. It is important for marketers to find and pinpoint the qualities, characteristics, as 

well as diverse cultures associated with different countries. By doing so, they will be able to 

effectively infiltrate these markets using this new emerging marketing tool. Therefore, we will 

analyze and link the socio-economic variables that effect the adoption of E-marketing as a 

marketing tool. 

Hypothesis, Data, and Methodology 

Given previous studies, we find that the three main influences on e-marketing adoption is 

culture, human development, and corruption. Therefore, we intend to utilize these variables in 

order to be able to capture the dynamics involved in understand the nuances and interplay these 

variables pose with respect to E-marketing adoption. 

Our research uses the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), which is a gauge of the 

perceived corruption of public office holders and politicians in a given country. The CPI is 

published by Transparency International, and is available on their website. The CPI calculates 

corruption based on 13 different assessments and surveys from 10 independent organizations, 

and ranks 178 (as of 2010) different countries on a scale of 1 to 10; a higher score means lower 

perceived corruption. 

Our research also uses the Human Development Index (HDI) to gage the economic and 

human development of the citizens in their respective countries. This index is a statistic 

published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and it is used to rank different 

countries based on comparative economic and human development or wellbeing. The HDI score 

is based on three different measures; life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, expected 

years of schooling, and Gross National Product (GNI) per capita. Higher HDI scores (above 0.8) 

are associated with higher human developed countries, while scores lower than 0.5 are 

considered lower developed countries. 

Culture nonetheless has an impact on how businesses are run and how people 

communicate between each other. In some cultures, risk taking is looked down upon as 

rebellious and inept. Whereas, in other cultures, risk is seen as the foundations of their being and 

a symbol of their identity and inspiration. Therefore, it is important to account for these cultural 

differences in order to be able to adhere to and utilize culturally acceptable marketing tools. We 

believe that the adoption of new types of advertisements, such as E-Marketing, tend to differ 

based on certain cultural aspects of different countries. To account for culture as an influence on 

the adoption of E-marketing, we use Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions as influencing factors. 

The first of the four original cultural dimensions of outlined by Hofstede is power 

distance. Power distance is defined as the degree and magnitude of the structure of power within 

a society. Hofstede (1994) describes power distance as “the extent to which less powerful 

members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is

distributed unequally”. Husted (1999) acknowledges that there is considerably more dependence 

of subordinates on their superiors in the form of paternalism (a system in which superiors 

provide favors to subordinates) in higher power distance countries. 

The second cultural dimension is the individualism vs collectivism dimension. Hofstede 

(1994) describes individualism as “the opposite of collectivism; together they form one of the 

dimensions of national cultures. Individualism stands for a society in which the ties between 

individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her 

immediate family only”. La Palombara (1994) finds that in high collectivist cultural structures 

public and private sector entities often do not hesitate to violate written laws. Because of this 

highly collectivist cultural structure, there is difficulty in transformation. 

The third cultural dimension is masculinity vs. femininity. Hofstede (1994) describes 

“masculinity [as] the opposite of femininity; together, they form one of the dimensions of 

national cultures.” “The women in feminine countries have the same modest, caring values as the 

men; in the masculine countries they are somewhat assertive and competitive, but not as much as 

the men, so that these countries show a gap between men's values and women's values.” Vitell 

(1993) finds that high masculine countries more likely do not recognize ethical issues in business 

practices. 

The fourth of the original cultural dimension is uncertainty avoidance. Hofstede (1994) 

explains the degree of control of outcomes and the perception of risk taking. Hofstede (1997) 

describes uncertainty accepting cultures, as cultures that “are more tolerant of opinions different 

from what they are used to; they try to have as few rules as possible, and on the philosophical 

and religious level they are relativist and allow many currents to flow side by side.” 

We propose the model in Figure 1. We believe that in highly corrupt governments, such 

as the Indonesian government mentioned above, state owned business, and state aligned business 

(that is businesses that have ties with government officials), have an edge with respect to 

advertising on state controlled resources such as television and print media. We also believe that 

corruption may play a role in advancing certain special interest group businesses, while at same 

time, preventing legitimate businesses from advertising on these controlled media. In order to 

offset this imbalance, legitimate businesses would use other sources of advertising media, 

sources that are not controlled by the state or have free flows of information and opinions, such 

as the internet. Therefore, we believe that the more corrupt the government, the more business 

would rely on E-marketing to advertise their businesses or products. 

We believe that given the luxury of the information age, those countries that have higher 

human development in turn have individuals that can afford to spend disposable income on 

computers and an internet connection. An increase in internet users would, therefore attract 

marketers to increase their use of E-marketing as an advertising tool. We also consider that the 

cultural dimension of uncertainty avoidance will have a negative impact on E-marketing. This 

reflects intolerance for ambiguity within a given culture. Therefore, lower the uncertainty 

avoidance will result in higher adoption of E-Marketing. Masculinity explains the degree to 

which nurturing of the society and its citizens are upheld. So, the more masculine a society is, the 

less nurturing they are. Therefore we believe that societies that are less nurturing will adopt E- 

marketing. Individuals and businesses would take it on themselves to compete through any portal 

they can. Therefore higher the masculinity will result in greater E-marketing adoption. The more

the individualistic the society is, the greater the adoption of E-marketing. The less the power 

distance is in a country, the more competitiveness it is, and therefore the less the E-marketing 

adoption. 

The data collected was from the 33 Organization for Economic Cooperation and 

Development (OECD) countries listed in table 1 below, between 2001 and 2009. The 

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an organization of 33 

countries (as of 2009) that cooperate with each other on several economic, enviornmental, and 

social issues. The OECD consists of countries that reflect different economic, cultrual, and 

regulatory policies and norms. Several stuies have found that the differences in the conomic, 

cultural, and regulatory policies of OECD countries, do influence the adoption of technological 

advancement, along with internet connectivity (Barnett, Chon, & Rosen, 2001; Hargittai, 1999). 

Therefore, it is meaningfull to use OECD countries for our analysis. Also, data constraints also 

play a role in using OECD countries for our analysis. Country data was assembled from 

Euromonitor International’s Passport Global Management Information Database (GMID). 

Figure 1 (CPI = Corruption Perception Index, HDI = Human Development Index, E-Marketing = 

Expenditure on E-Marketing per capita, PDI = Power Distance, IDV = Individualistic, MAS = 

Masculinity, UAI = Uncertainty Avoidance) 

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech 

Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israël, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lu

xembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak 

Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, 

France, Germany, 

Table 1, 33 OECD Countries as of 2009. 

The correlation matrix and descriptive statistics are listed in Table 2. 

Descriptive Statistics 

Correlations, means and standard deviations 

CPI HDI IntUser PDI IDV MAS UAI Emkt 

CPI 1 0.638 0.002 -0.762 0.57 -0.394 -0.621 0.569 

PersCom 0.05 0.221 0.985 -0.056 0.277 0.136 -0.144 0.265 

IntUser 0.002 0.183 1 -0.019 0.206 0.173 -0.08 0.217 

PDI -0.762 -0.468 -0.019 1 -0.517 0.333 0.574 -0.473 

IDV 0.57 0.507 0.206 -0.517 1 -0.024 -0.637 0.442 

MAS -0.394 -0.237 0.173 0.333 -0.024 1 0.218 -0.118 

UAI -0.621 -0.381 -0.08 0.574 -0.637 0.218 1 -0.433 

Emkt 0.569 0.645 0.217 -0.473 0.442 -0.118 -0.433 1 

Mean 7.079 0.941 20487.38 47.241 62.828 53.966 66.966 0.277 

SD 1.996 0.061 37681.45 19.594 18.77 24.219 22.458 0.165 

P values for correlations 

CPI HDI IntUser PDI IDV MAS UAI Emkt 

CPI 1

The methodology used to analyze the data is through the use of a nonlinear structural 

equation modeling. Specifically, we used a Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach. This approach 

represents an advantage with respect to our model since the PLS simultaneously estimates the 

structural equation model parameters by using a variance based approach. The other advantage 

of this approach is that it can robustly handle description variables at the same time lower the 

multi co-linearity risks between variables. The software package WarpPLS 1.0 was used in the 

analysis; the analysis algorithm used was the Warp3 PLS regression and resampling using 

Jackknifing. 

The regressed variable in this research is E-marketing Adoption; this variable is 

expressed as the annual increase in online advertising expenditure in each given country. The 

basis of choosing annual increase in online advertising expenditure as E-marketing adoption 

originates from an analysis of the increase/decrease differential between traditional advertising 

expenditure (TV, radio, print, cinema, and outdoor adspend) and online advertising expenditure. 

Analyzing graph 1, we found that there was very little increase in traditional advertisement 

expenditure between 2001 and 2007, and a decrease from 2007 to 2009; at the same time, 

increases in online advertisement expenditure was quite dramatic between 2001 and 2009 

signaling a shift to online advertisement expenditure, or a cannibalization of traditional 

advertisement expenditure from online advertisement. 

Standardized Log of Adspend 

0.8 

0.7 

0.6 

0.5 

0.4 

0.3 

0.2 

0.1 

0 

Year 

Graph 1. Standardized Log Adspend Differentials for OECD countries. 

Findings/Discussion: 

Log Traditional 

Adspend 

Log Online Adspend 

The results are shown in Figure 2. Graph relationships are shown in Figures 3 - 6

Figure 2, PLS SEM results, using Jackknifing. (CPI = Corruption Perception Index, HDI = 

Human Development Index, E-Marketing = Expenditure on E-Marketing per capita, PDI = 

Power Distance, IDV = Individualistic, MAS = Masculinity, UAI = Uncertainty Avoidance)

Figure 3. E-Marketing VS Corruption Perception. 

The results of our model is shown in Figure 2; the model has an explanatory power, or rsquared, 

of 0.51. According to figure 3, corruption in this case has a positive significant 

relationship to E-Marketing. Countries with high corruption have lower e-marketing adoption, 

but gradually as the countries become less corrupt E-marketing adoption increases to a point. 

Countries that have average or higher amounts of corruption only see marginal benefits in the 

adoption of E-marketing. This result somewhat rejects our hypothesis of the opposite which was 

the higher the corruption then the higher the adoption of E-Marketing.

Figure 4. E-Marketing VS Human Development 

According to figure 4, human development has a positive effect on the adoption of Emarketing. 

Countries with relatively low human development adopt less E-marketing, while 

countries that are high in human development adopt more E-marketing. This relationship was 

predicted by our hypothesis.

Figure 5. E-Marketing VS Individualism/Collectivism 

According to Figure 5, the correlation between individualism/collectivism and Emarketing 

expenditure is positive. An increase in the individualism of a country, results in 

greater adoption of E-marketing. This relationship was also predicted by our hypothesis.

Figure 6. E-Marketing VS Uncertainty Avoidance 

According to the figure 6, uncertainty avoidance has a negative relationship to Emarketing; 

however, this relationship is counter to our hypothesis. However, the figure reveals 

that extremely low, average, and extremely high uncertainty avoidance, is associated with 

average E-marketing expenditure. It is only with slightly lower than average and slightly higher 

than average uncertainty avoidance is when we find that we have higher E-marketing adoption 

and lower E-marketing adoption respectively. The power distance cultural dimension did not 

follow our hypothesis, but the masculinity/femininity dimension did; however, both were not 

significant. 

Taking a closer look at our initial hypothesis, more specifically the relationship between 

corruption and E-Marketing adoption, the results suggest that the higher the corruption the lower 

the E-Marketing adoption. One explanation for this could be that corrupt governments prevent 

their citizens from accessing the internet in the first place. Therefore, we include an interacting 

term between corruption and E-Marketing adoption, as seen in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Model with moderating term of Internet Users between corruption and E-Marketing. 

(CPI = Corruption Perception Index, HDI = Human Development Index, E-Marketing = 

Expenditure on E-Marketing per capita, PDI = Power Distance, IDV = Individualistic, MAS = 

Masculinity, UAI = Uncertainty Avoidance)

Figure 8. Moderating effect of Internet Users on CPI and E-Marketing 

The addition of the moderating effect of internet users on CPI and E-Marketing reveals a 

negative significant relationship; meaning that the increase in internet users will decrease the 

effect of corruption’s positive relationship to E-Marketing. Therefore we can see that 

governments do initially try to limit the amount of internet users in a country in the first place. 

This interpretation somewhat supports our first hypothesis of the effects of corruption on E- 

Marketing. We also find that marginally lower than average internet users with marginally higher 

than average corruption do contribute to a greater adoption of E-marketing. 

Taking a look at Figure 8, the relationship between the moderating effects of internet 

users on and the relation between CPI and E-Marketing, we can see that governments that have 

some sort of corruption adopt E-Marketing at a greater rate than extremely corrupt and noncorrupt 

governments. 

Conclusion 

In order for marketers to successfully infiltrate a market through E-marketing, it is 

essential for the marketer to know and have a sense of the socio-economic conditions in a given 

country or culture. By exploring and weighing the economic and cultural dimensions of a target 

country, marketers can greatly increase the success of their entry. Specifically, by considering

corruption, the number of internet users, human development, the individualism vs. collectivism 

cultural dimension, and the uncertainty avoidance cultural dimension in a country, marketers can 

make an informed decision on whether a country is likely or not to adopt E-marketing as a 

successful form of marketing. 

Given the findings of this paper, though higher than average corruption and lower than 

average number of internet users is generally associated with higher adoption of E-marketing, it 

is important to note the point where the polar extremes present diminishing returns. Marginally 

lower uncertainty avoidance than average does play a role in increasing adoption of E-marketing. 

However, like corruption, there does exist a point where extremely low uncertainty avoidance 

dampers adoption of E-marketing. 

The findings of this paper also suggests that firm marketers and policy makers should 

also consider the degree to which a country has developed in terms of educating it’s citizens, 

providing adequate health care, and stable income to it’s citizens. Marketers and policy makers 

should also consider alternative marketing approaches, other than online advertisement, in 

countries where the socio-economic environment do not support such a tool.

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760.

Survival Tips for Southeast Asian 

Emerging Market Field Researchers 

Dana Cosby-Simmons 


Scott B. Droege 


ABSTRACT 

While multiple studies have identified how to protect informants, this paper addresses survival tips for field 

researchers themselves. We focus on simple but effective tips to protect the well‐being of the researcher. 

Clearly, various geographic areas have different cultural nuances; this paper discusses survival tips in the 

context Southeast Asian emerging markets given that (1) the authors have extensive experience in these 

locations lending credibility to their suggestions and (2) there is at least some similarity among neighboring 

Southeast Asian nations (although we remain recognizant of the differences). Particular countries are 

mentioned when the discussion applies to only one or a few countries. Specifically, our “survival tips” deal with 

conceptualizations of time, avoiding sickness, dealing with corruption, mistakes in gift giving and recognition of 

an informant’s status, proper seating to avoid interpretations of arrogance, and working with translators.

Introduction 

The motivation for this paper came about through many years of collecting field data in Southeast 

Asian emerging markets. It does not follow the traditional research paper format, but rather provides 

useful guidelines we wish we had known when we began working in the area. It would have saved 

countless mistakes and, more importantly, it would have helped collect a higher quantity and quality of 

data while also reducing the time required for field data collection, especially in our early years of field 

work. Thus, our hope is that this brief paper on survival tips is helpful to others and that, ultimately, 

researchers collect higher quality emerging markets field data simply. By avoiding simple mistakes and 

time stealers that may slow down the novice and even many experienced field researchers, we hope to 

provide suggestions field researchers will find useful. 

Anthropologists and others using qualitative data collection techniques have helped those of us in the 

social sciences by developing rigorous (Rogers & Goodrick, 2010), scalable research techniques (i.e., 

Barnard & Ryan, 2009; Marshall & Rossman, 2010). They have also detailed specific methods for 

protecting research respondents from adverse effects that may result from cooperation with researchers 

(i.e., Broom, Cheshire & Emmison, 2009; Weiss, 1995). However, rarely has previous work addressed 

a practical set of tips that may be helpful to novice researchers in the social sciences who may be 

encountering a qualitative research setting for the first time and might benefit simply by becoming 

aware of some of the practical issues they will likely encounter. This is especially important for those 

working in or aspiring to work in emerging markets. 

Each field study setting is unique, making qualitative work that much more challenging. This paper can 

certainly not address every problem new researchers might face, but it does point out some of the 

common areas that researchers will likely encounter in a variety of settings. These include various 

conceptualizations of time, avoiding sickness, dealing with corruption, mistakes in gift giving and 

recognition of an informant’s status, proper seating to avoid interpretations of arrogance, and working 

with translators. Clearly, there are many other important areas; however, we hope this provides a 

starting point for researchers consider field work, especially those who have an interest in the emerging 

markets of Southeast Asia. 

Time the Asian Way 

Time helps us differentiate among the past, present, and future and its perception has been measured in 

a multitude of ways. Wohlford’s (1966) Thematic Apperception Test was among the first psychological 

tests to tap into the past and future but suffered from its Freudian projections. Nuttin’s (1985) 

motivational induction method, Rappaport’s (1990) time lines, and Zimbardo and Boyd’s (1999) time 

perspective have all tried with varying degrees of success to find a way for informants to accurately 

explain time. While helpful theoretically, these various theories do not help considerably when we are 

waiting for an informant who promised to meet with us two hours ago and has not yet arrived. 

Think of this in practical terms as it applies to researchers in East Asian emerging markets. Imagine 

making a dinner appointment for 6 p.m. with an executive who happens to be a key informant relative 

to your research question. You reserve a nice room at an upscale restaurant that charges for the room by 

the hour, the wait staff is dressed impeccably, everything is arranged perfectly, and your informant does 

not show up. As the food gets cold and the bill increases every 60 minutes, your informant finally 

shows up at 8 p.m. As dinner is wrapping up around 11 p.m., a colleague of your informant shows up. 

The meal begins again—to do otherwise would show disrespect—and you are finally back to your 

lodging by 3 a.m. giving you enough time sleep until 5:30 a.m., shower, then begin the process again at

7 a.m. 

What should you do? In the West, we would exchange courtesies on our way out the door at 11 p.m., 

but this is not the West. Our best advice is to enjoy both dinners pretend this is an everyday occurrence, 

and act as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. Regardless of how pressed for time you are, it is 

important to realize that in your informant's mind, he or she operates in time the Asian way. According 

to your informant frame of reference, two hours late is right on time. 

Eating, Drinking, and, Making Merry (But only if you're lucky) 

Eating, drinking and just enjoying the company of your informants is one of the many pleasures of 

qualitative research that those with a more quantitative slant often miss out on. In addition, qualitative 

researchers can gain valuable insight with merely passing conversations. One casual remark by a key 

informant can radically change the direction of your research. 

There are, however, some situations where the only thing you pick up from the conversation during a 

meal is food poisoning. There are a number of food and water-borne pathogens that will, at the very 

least, sideline your research for a day or two. There is no way that we are aware of to avoid this 

completely given that you will be invited to multiple meals with your informants as part of the culture. 

However, we have three tips that we hope will limit the extent to which you are exposed to these 

pathogens. First, drink only bottled water from well-known brands. For those who like the occasional 

or even frequent beer, order it without ice. The ice is made from contaminated water. Second, do not eat 

street food. Yes, it looks and smells delicious, but just do not do it. You may get lucky but it is not 

worth taking the chance. Third, be very leery of raw vegetables. Although the vegetables are good for 

you, they may have been washed in contaminated water. 

Providing Incentives 

A caveat is required as we address this section. Most situations involving police and other authorities 

truly involves helping you stay safe and protecting your rights (limited as they may be given you are on 

foreign soil). The intention of the vast majority of authorities is good and honorable. Even those who 

ultimately receive an “incentive” do so within the cultural-cognitive institutional context of the local 

area (Scott, 2008). Your protest against these unwritten rules will likely be seen as rude and 

uncooperative. Just realize that incentives are common and expected. It does not reflect badly on the 

authority who is just going about his or her duties as they are done each day. Be patient and pleasant 

and have a few bills you are willing to part with in the local currency. 

Although the following section deals with gift giving, think of this section more as “providing 

incentives” as one of our sources termed it. A mild example occurred to one of us while traveling with a 

local companion within an urban area in a particular Southeast Asian region. The police pulled us over, 

there was an exchange of pleasantries, a short period of what appeared to be negotiation in the local 

language followed, and the conversation ended courteously and respectfully by the driver giving the 

police officer the equivalent of approximately $3 U.S. dollars. Simply put, in many emerging markets, 

you may be stopped by the police anytime for anything. Just be polite, negotiate the cost of the 

allegation (but not too strenuously), and finally provide sufficient “incentive” for the officer to discard 

the ticket. If you are not at least somewhat fluent in the local language and do not have a translator with 

you (discussed in a later section), your best sign language will work just fine. Remember that small 

amounts of cash go a long way in emerging markets.

Certainly, some will see this as bribery. They will see it that way because that is exactly what it is. Two 

points should be made here. First, local residents are equally disconcerted by such abuses of power. 

Second, there can be a temptation for the researcher to take a stand. Our advice is that certainly ending 

such abuses is welcome both by the researcher and by local residents, but trying to do so while getting 

a ticket is neither the time nor the place to begin your efforts toward equality. Donate to NGOs that are 

working with governments to improve human and civil rights, become active in such organizations if 

you wish, but do not try to change the world by stubbornly refusing to pay an incentive/bribe. 

Consider the rationale for this approach. You are the foreigner and thus typically lack equivalent social 

standing as a local resident in the eyes of police. Stubbornness toward a police officer will ultimately 

provide the not-so-wonderful experience of corruption at higher judicial levels. Taking a stand by 

fighting back one researcher at a time will do little to change system-wide corruption. Instead, it will 

increase your costs in terms of time and money. Focus your mind on why you are there, always be 

polite and pleasant, and do not try to change the world while you are getting a ticket. 

More extreme examples involve police officers planting evidence of drug sales on you while searching 

you. Take this very seriously. At this point, you are in a very tenuous situation. This is certainly not the 

time to save the world by fighting back. If you encounter a similar situation, try to think rationally of 

why a police officer would do this. It is likely not because he or she dislikes foreigners, but because 

you appear to have the means to pay an incentive. 

If you do find yourself in such a predicament, it is very helpful to have a translator. One of us was 

working in an urban area where, without realizing it, there was a requirement to have a residence 

permit separate from the visa. I was taken to the police station and questioned for about two hours. This 

would normally be a terse situation, but having a translator with me was tremendously helpful. As the 

police asked question after question (often in a loud and somewhat intimidating way), I had time me to 

formulate a calm, consistent answer given the time lag between the questions, my translator's 

interpretation, and my response. If you are not completely fluent, you may find it useful to request a 

translator at your expense. The reason for requesting a translator at your expense is to try to avoid an 

in-house translator who may be working in concert with the questioners. 

Emerging Southeast Asian nations vary considerably in rates of such corruption. We recommend that in 

site selection for field research in this area, researchers consult Transparency.org to get a relative 

standing of the perceived corruption in a country the research may be considering. Also, the Central 

Intelligence Fact Book provides updated travel and particular “hot spots” to avoid (unless, of course, 

that is the researcher’s focus). 

Gift Giving and Recognizing Status 

Gift giving is common in many Eastern cultures, most notably China and Thailand. However, there is 

somewhat of an art to the practice. It is considered polite to give gifts to hosts, friends you have made 

while researching (typically given on departure), and others who have been especially helpful. 

However, be recognizant of the relative status when dealing with anyone holding a formal position 

such as executives, politicians, and others with social, business, or political status. Culturally, your 

recognition of others’ status reinforces to subordinates the importance of the position holder (Javidan 

and House, 2001). Gifts should recognize this as well.

One of us have made the mistake of “taking face” away from a local political official by giving him 

and his subordinates the same gift. The mistake was that, even though the gifts were valuable, they did 

not differentiate the official's status from that of his subordinates. The lesson learned was to have 

several gifts on hand of varying value and uniqueness and give the most valuable and unique gift to the 

person holding the highest position. 

An executive one of us is acquainted with keeps several gifts with him at all times. However, he has the 

convenience of traveling often by car. If you are traveling to an Asian emerging market without such a 

convenience, packing becomes an issue. One way to handle this is to by quantities of small but nice 

gifts and keep a few close at hand. 

This may sound close to the previous discussion of bribes or incentives. It is, but in a more social 

context. Still, gifts are an excellent way to “break the ice” with local officials or high-level executives. 

Gifts will never be asked for but they will always expected. 

The Head of the Table 

Avoid the head of the table unless it is unavoidable. Taking that seat presumes you are the most 

important and most intelligent person in the group; it will also imply that you are the most arrogant. Do 

all you can to coerce the chief informant with the highest status to take the head position at the table. 

Doing so brings “face.” There will typically be animated disagreements regarding who will sit there. 

End the disagreement and impress your key informant by politely, firmly, and consistently suggesting 

that he or she occupy the head of the table. 

Beware also that the “head of the table” position varies from one country to the next even within the 

Southeast Asian region. It is helpful to learn these positions of honor prior to your data collection visit. 

The Language Problem 

As with the need for translation mentioned previously due to police intervention, dealing with your 

translator is not as straightforward as it would appear. Although professional translators have been 

trained to avoid problems, there are inherent benefits to hiring non-professionals. In many emerging 

Southeastern nations, multiple dialects are scattered throughout. Clearly, a local person would be able 

to more accurately translate discussions with informants better than professional translators. However, 

hiring a local non-professional may inadvertantly contaminate your data by increasing the social 

desirability bias. Because a local translator typically is acquainted with many people in the area in 

which you are working, informants may avoid saying anything that would be considered negative by 

the local community. A professional translator from outside the area of interest lessens the potential for 

social response bias. The researcher should think through the issue prior to arrival and decide which 

trade-off—more accurate verbatim interpretation with potential social desirability bias or less accurate 

verbatim interpretation with less risk for social desirability bias. One way to handle this is to use both 

professional and local translators then compare responses in an effort to detect social desirability bias. 

However, few researchers have unlimited funding. One area to save on costs is in translation services. 

Hiring a local non-professional often allows the researcher to pay considerably less in translation fees if 

the nature of the research investigation is not socially sensitive. 

While hiring a professional has the advantage of more accurate literal translation, such professionalism 

comes at a hidden price. The professional can only rarely help uncovering the social network needed 

for much field work, but a local non-professional is often a part of such a network. Connections

provided by non-professional translators can be invaluable. A downside to local non-professionals, 

however, may be his or her lack of expertise in translation. One of our translators would sometimes get 

so caught up in the conversation that she forgot to translate—she would just carry on the conversation 

with the informant leaving the researcher out of the conversation (and thus out of the data for much 

qualitative research designs). At other times, she would answer for the informant when I was trying to 

break the ice with a new contact. I would then privately ask her to remember that she is my ears and 

mouth. She would answer that it's ridiculous for her to ask a question to a new informant when she 

already know the answer. She could, in her mind, save all of us time by simply telling me the answer 

thus skipping over the need to involve the informant in the conversation at all. Clearly, at least a few 

hours and a set of ground rules at the outset are advantageous. 

Weighing the advantages and disadvantages of professional versus non-professional translators is a task 

that might save the researcher both time and money. Short of learning the language fluently, making the 

decision to go with a professional or non-professional can be one of the more important steps when 

starting a new field study. 

Summary and Conclusions 

Time, eating and drinking, corruption, gift giving, status recognition, social concerns such as where to 

sit, and translator considerations are all important; this will be quickly recognized by first-time 

qualitative researchers once entering the field. 

While previous studies have clearly shown the importance of qualitative field work, the emphasis has 

overwhelmingly been slanted toward more methodological (as opposed to “survival”) tips. Methods are 

crucial for high-quality field work, but few papers have aimed squarely at tips for the researcher's wellbeing. 

This brief paper takes a step in that direction. 

No single right way works for all researchers or for all samples in Eastern emerging markets. 

Researchers certainly will modify the meager survivor tips offered by this brief paper. Still, simply 

bringing up the topics highlighted in this paper should help researchers avoid simple mistakes, making 

field work much more enjoyable.

References 

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and the implications for data archiving and sharing. Sociology, 43(6): 1163-1180. 

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GLOBE. Organizational Dynamics, Spring: 289-305. 

Marshall, C. & Rossman, G.B. 2010. Designing Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. 

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60-83. 

Rappaport, H. 1990. Marking Time. Simon and Schuster: New York. 

Rogers, P. & Goodrick, D. 2010. Qualitative Data Analysis in Joseph S. Wholey, Harry P. Hatry and 

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Sustainability and Triple Bottom Line Reporting: 

What is it all about? 

Aimee Jackson 

University of Louisiana at Monroe 

Katherine Boswell 


Dorothy A. Davis 


ABSTRACT 

Growing demands from stakeholders for more extensive information about the operations and financial 

standing of businesses is encouraging some companies to including information on sustainability. The 

recognition that there are finite resources to be utilized by today’s businesses, as well as future generations, is a 

driving force behind incorporating additional reporting by companies on sustainability factors. This paper 

attempts to summarize the primary advantages and drawbacks of shifting from a strictly financial reporting 

philosophy to a sustainability philosophy.

Introduction 

With the shift in societal focus toward environmental longevity, businesses are encouraged to 

look at the big picture and see their impact on the world around them. A fundamental 

philosophy propagated today is how imperative it is that businesses address all values in 

reporting in order to lessen the chance that their activities will cause harm to global resources, 

not only for today’s population but for future generations. This conscious awareness and 

modification of policies and procedures has been dubbed Sustainable Development. (WCED, 

1987). 

The growth of this broader “world sustainability” viewpoint can be seen in the number of 

companies that have begun reporting on more than just financial operations. Large corporations 

such as Weyerhaeuser Company, The Boeing Company, PricewaterhouseCoopers, The Procter 

& Gamble Company, Sony Corporation, and Toyota Motor Corporation, have joined with many 

others to create the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), which 

focuses on creating a pathway to a world that will “require fundamental changes in governance 

structures, economic frameworks, [and] business and human behavior.” This council states that 

“the changes are necessary, feasible and offer tremendous business opportunities for companies 

that turn sustainability into strategy” (WBCSD, 2010). 

A move toward additional sustainability reporting can be seen in companies and governmental 

entities in a variety of countries. Table 1 lists a few of the different countries that are either 

adopting this new philosophy for their governmental entities or encouraging companies to adjust 

their business philosophies. 

TABLE 1: COUNTRIES PROMOTING TBL REPORTING 

Australia 

Britain 

France 

Japan 

New Zealand 

South Africa 

Switzerland 

United States 

Sustainable Development 

As mentioned earlier, sustainable development focuses on incorporating a forward-thinking 

approach by businesses toward shearing up world sustainability. A company whose mission is to 

be sustainable does not merely make the statement; it takes appropriate actions needed to move 

toward this goal and preserves those actions to continue on this path. It is vital to seek input 

from different internal and external persons to gather ideas on how the company can make use of 

nature’s resources without exploiting those resources. The need for well-being and the 

opportunity for innovation are key attributes to re-building the corporate environment. These 

changes, which are necessary for sustainable survival, may not encourage enthusiasm in the 

short-run; nevertheless, in the long-run, they will become essential ‘building blocks’ by which 

the company thrives.

In order to create a company whose mission is true sustainability, all engaged individuals need to 

have a better understanding of what ‘sustainability’ entails. The spotlight needs to move from 

the financial bottom line to a more encompassing viewpoint of the company’s impact on the 

world. Once this information is shared, it is then necessary to begin looking at the community to 

realize what environmental concerns are being voiced by the public. To align with these 

socialistic movements and to move away from individualism is preparing for long-term 

sustainable success (Rogers, 2001). An approach to measurement of sustainability is by using 

triple bottom-line accounting (Elkington, 1997). 

Triple Bottom Line 

Triple Bottom Line (TBL) reporting is a method used in business accounting to further expand 

stakeholders’ knowledge of the company. It goes beyond the traditional, financial aspects and 

reveals the company’s impact on the world around it. There are three main focuses of TBL: 

“people, planet, and profit ("Global Reporting Initiative," 2006).” It is a “concerted effort to 

incorporate economic, environmental and social considerations into a company’s evaluation and 

decision making processes” (Wang & Lin, 2007). This type of reporting establishes principles 

by which a company should operate to concentrate on the total effect of their actions (both 

positive and negative.) 

Sustainability has been a buzzword for well over a decade. In the late 1990’s, John Elkington 

coined the phrase triple bottom line as a method for measuring sustainability. The most 

frequently seen factors used in performance measurement are: economic, environmental, and 

social ("Global Reporting Initiative," 2006; Wang & Lin, 2007). In the literature, there is no real 

consensus as to the exact dimensions used for the performance measures. Some other 

dimensions used are community improvement, environment, entrepreneurship and education 

(Sher & Sher, 1994) and stakeholder engagement, organizational integrity, and stakeholder 

activism (Painter-Morland, 2006). In all instances, performance is being measured based on the 

impact of companies on society as a whole, both now and into the future. 

Since TBL involves additional reporting, businesses will need to incorporate additional 

information in the reports provided to better communicate with stakeholders. The particular 

information reported should be re-evaluated periodically to ensure the expectations outlined in 

the reports are being met. When a constraint is reported and is causing less than satisfactory 

results, it is important for the company to discover the processes or procedures that are giving 

unsustainable results and correct them. This way they continue to operate towards meeting their 

sustainable goals. 

Advantages 

TBL is a societal and ecological agreement between the community and businesses. In 

presenting information about the company’s involvement with issues impacting sustainability, 

there will be both positive and negative items that emerge. TBL reporting incorporates 

presenting what the business is doing well, along with areas that need improvement. Reporting 

in this way demonstrates a drive towards increased transparency, which can mitigate concerns by 

stakeholders on hidden information. Also, including TBL reporting demonstrates to stakeholders 

2

that the business is taking accountability to a higher level. This reporting maintains and raises 

expectations of companies and improves “global ‘clout’” (Ho & Taylor, 2007). 

“An undeniable case for action has been mounted effectively by senior scientists around the 

world, with growing acceptance by governments and the wider community” (Rogers, 2001). 

Evidences of diminishing natural resources have made consumers more aware of the impact 

businesses are having on the world; however, the corporate world’s lack of desire to change has 

led to minimizing the world's capital stocks. Without change, the state of the world’s economy, 

society, and natural resources will be insufficient for ‘not-so-distant’ generations. Larger 

companies are beginning to adjust business processes to utilize more responsibly the finite 

resources that are available, as well as to report on the impact of these changing policies and 

procedures. 

Everyone involved in the process of TBL, including employees and external stakeholders, can 

increase their knowledge of the company and expand their relationships with other stakeholders 

in the company. Participating in a learning environment is beneficial and necessary for a 

business to meet the goals of sustainability. The process of building a sustainable environment 

can lead to other revelations on how the business world can lend a helping hand in protecting the 

natural resources that are quickly evaporating. 

Uniting the employees of a business toward a common set of goals, especially ones that have a 

broader impact than just efficiency and profit, could outweigh the risks of additional public 

scrutiny and substantial policy adjustment. Being united creates a more resilient front. The 

possible initial negative exposure could be weathered because the stakeholders have learned to 

forge a strong sense of business purpose and identity. 

Finally, one can argue that companies have a social responsibility to be accountable for the 

resources that they use and waste. Reporting on a company’s sustainability gives a benchmark 

for the future. 

Disadvantages 

Several arguments are currently being made against Triple Bottom Line Reporting. With any 

new regulation or procedure, there is always resistance. This can be explained with ‘fear of the 

unknown’ or ethnocentrism. The feeling in some companies is that ultimately nothing will 

change; whereas other companies are more concerned with nothing staying the same. They also 

tend to be uneasy about the control that will have to be relinquished. Other arguments are the 

amount of additional time that will be involved, differing expectations, and risks that may be 

entailed from implementation of this approach. 

According to studies, one worry is the possibility that a company’s actions might not support 

their intentions. The companies declare that they intend to take on the challenges of becoming 

more socially and ecologically accountable, but the only proof of that is “mere pieces of paper or 

pretty plaques on the organization’s wall” (Mitchell, Curtis, & Davidson, 2008; Painter-Morland, 

2006). In many cases, companies have allowed appropriate reporting to be influenced by 

corporate supremacy. This indicates that, to some extent, abiding by the guidelines of TBL can 

be difficult to maintain. 

3

For Triple Bottom Line Reporting to be completely effective, the corporate environment has to 

be eradicated and rebuilt. Firms tend to be hesitant toward substantial change. With traditional 

financial regulations driving reporting, companies have structured their policies and operations 

around these requirements. To change the very infrastructure that the company is built on will 

require stepping out into unknown territory, and for a prosperous company, that may be too 

much of a risk. One thing is certain; implementing new policies to this degree will require an 

extensive readjustment of a company’s operations. (Rogers, 2001). 

If TBL is added to a company’s report process, the additional time could initially negatively 

affect their bottom line, increasing the task complexity of their operations. (Skouloudis, 

Evangelinos, & Kourmousis, 2009). Determining whether the operations match the goals of the 

company is a time consuming process. Another concern is the expense involved when adding 

new procedures and training to prepare employees for the new tasks. Companies, which already 

have overloaded employees, will need to add additional responsibilities in order to incorporate 

and measure these new procedures. Additional work is additional stress on their labor resources. 

An individual’s stress associated with work creates multiple problems not only for that person 

but also for the company in poor health, absenteeism, decreased job satisfaction, and an unstable 

emotional state. 

As a company strives to meet the goals of sustainability, opponents may focus on the ethical 

problems uncovered through the process. Accusations by critics could lead to poor company 

perception while the company undertakes a shift to a new more socially sound environmental 

focus. Critics are typically “slow to praise and quick to criticize” (Mish & Scammon, 2010). 

With this potential initial backlash, companies might be hesitant to embrace a sustainability 

agenda, or become extremely introverted during the shift toward TBL reporting. 

Incorporation of TBL 

Businesses have full control over what is put into their reports, but a considerable amount of the 

authority comes from external stakeholders, whose input is vital. The Sustainability Committee 

considers input from internal and external stakeholders and determines the significant topics to 

report (Mitchell, et al., 2008). 

The TBL report itself should be led by the mission and vision statement of the company. These 

statements should outline the businesses goals for short and long-term. Information determined 

to be important must be included. A company should not withhold information on the basis of 

its undesirable results. Once the reporting standards have been set, information based on those 

guidelines should be continuously reported so that the report is dependable and relays the 

information consistently. 

One of the purposes of sustainability for any business is to reduce or eliminate its cost of poor 

quality. Measuring the cost of poor quality is an integral part in TBL reporting (Isaksson, 2005). 

In order to avoid any self-serving bias when undertaking this task, the company needs to have an 

evaluation done by a committee. One of the ways this can be handled is to use a section of the 

Board of Directors to preside as a “Sustainability Committee of the Board” (Painter-Morland, 

4

2006). This will broaden the perspective for changes that need to be made to create a higher 

level of sustainability. 

After reporting topics have been decided, a review should be performed by individuals who were 

not involved in the gathering process. All collected information needs to be checked for 

accuracy and the data organized into the TBL report. Details that are not vital to the report 

should be excluded and any jargon avoided. The report should be straightforward and 

understandable by the stakeholders, both employees and stockholders. 

Conclusion 

As the popularity for Triple Bottom Line Reporting grows and more competitors from different 

markets choose to address the social and ecological issues at hand, the standards by which the 

companies operate should be raised to meet higher needs. The struggle to retain all resources 

possible for future generations while still utilizing enough to survive today must be part of the 

evolutionary process into sustainability. With new technologies that are being developed and 

different issues that will be discovered, these standards of operating businesses should never be 

stagnant. 

As stated previously, TBL reporting has three dimensions: people, planet, and profit. The social 

dimension includes the company’s effect on its employees and the social system within its 

community. When looking at the environmental dimension, companies need to look at the 

qualitative and quantitative impact they are having on their local, national, and international 

resources. The third dimension is economic and includes the company’s financial performance, 

the flow of capital, and their economic involvement with society. 

By adopting TBL reporting, businesses understand that they are held to specific principles that 

are developed by internal and external forces. For this reason, they will need to focus on the 

impact that their operations have on the community. This change of mindset will, typically, be 

followed by changes in ordinary, everyday operations to increase transparency. Today, 

accountability in the corporate world is a necessity. This requires companies to extend their 

information beyond financial data; TBL connects the financial reporting with the business’s 

everyday activities in a way that provides a broader awareness of the influence of the business 

upon society. Information should be constantly and accurately recorded to confirm the 

advantages of taking the steps to become a sustainable company. 

5

Citations 

Elkington, J. (1997). Cannibals with Forks: the TBL of the 21st century business.: Oxford, 

Capstone. 

Global Reporting Initiative. (2006). 

Ho, L.-C. J., & Taylor, M. E. (2007). An Empirical Analysis of Priple Bottom-line Reporting and 

its Determinants: Evidence from the United States and Japan. Journal of International 

Financial Management and Accounting 18(2), 123-150. 

Isaksson, R. (2005). Economic Sustainability and the Cost of Poor Quality. Corporate Social 

Responsibility and Evnironmental Management, 12, 197-209. 

Mish, J., & Scammon, D. L. (2010). Principle-Based Stakeholder Marketing: Insights from 

Private Triple-Bottom-Line Firms. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 29(1), 12-26. 

Mitchell, M., Curtis, A., & Davidson, P. (2008). Evaluating the Process of Triple Bottom Line 

Reporting; Increasing the Potential For Change. Local Environment, 13(2), 67-80. 

Painter-Morland, M. (2006). Triple Bottom-Line Reporting as Social Grammar: Integrating 

Corporate Social responsibility and Corporate Codes of Conduct. Business Ethics: A 

European Review, 15(4), 352-364. 

Rogers, M. a. R., Roberta. (2001). The Triple Bottom Line for Sustainable Community 

Development. Local Environment, 6(3), 279-289. 

Sher, J., & Sher, K. R. (1994). Beyond the Conventional Wisdom: Rural Development as if 

Australia's Rural People Really Mattered. Journal of research in Rural Education, 10(1), 

2-43. 

Skouloudis, A., Evangelinos, K., & Kourmousis, F. (2009). Development of an Evaluation 

Methodology for Triple Bottom Line Reports Using International Standards on 

Reporting. Environmental Management, 44, 298-311. 

Wang, L., & Lin, L. (2007). A Methodology Framework for the Triple Bottome Line Accounting 

and Management of Industry Enterprises. Internaltional Journal of Production Research, 

45(5), 1063-1088. 

WBCSD. (2010). Vision 2050: The new agenda for business: World Business Council for 

Sustainable Development. 

WCED. (1987). Our Common Future: the Brundtland Report. 

6

Tax Deductions for Education Expenses 

Steve L. Kroleski 

Iona College 

William A. Bottiglieri 

Iona College 

ABSTRACT 

Trade or business expenses are deductible if they are ordinary and necessary with respect to the business in 

which they were incurred. Treasury Regulations bring education expenses into this purview but only if they 

maintain or improve skills already acquired or allow a taxpayer to maintain his current position. Expenses which 

qualify a taxpayer for a new trade or business or which enable one to meet the minimum standards of a trade 

or business are considered personal and thus not deductible.

A deduction for education expenses is permitted under Sec. 162 of the Internal Revenue 

Code of 1986, as amended (IRC). Under the proper circumstances such expenses are 

considered trade or business expenses which are allowable as deductions under 

Subsection A of IRC 162. Although this subsection only specifies the deductibility of 

salaries, expenses for travel and rental property use in a business, its applicability has 

been expanded by Treasury Regulation 1.162-5 which provides the authority and 

guidance for such deductions. In general, a deduction for education expenses is allowable 

if the education either (a) maintains or improves existing skills required by the individual 

in his employment or other trade or business or (b) meets the express requirements of the 

individual’s employer to retain the individual’s position status or rate of compensation. 

Education expenses incurred by an employee are not deductible if the expenses are 

required in order to meet the minimum requirements for qualification of his intended 

employment or if the expenses qualify him for a new trade or business. In these cases, the 

expenses will be treated as personal in nature because they have not been incurred in a 

trade or business but rather as a means of entering a new trade or business. In other 

words, once an individual is engaged in a trade or business any education which allows 

him to either remain there or make vertical movements is deductible. However, education 

which allows him to gain entry into a new trade or business, by a lateral move or 

otherwise, is not deductible. 

The broad support for the deduction of education expenses relating to a trade or business 

is contained in IRC Sec. 162. Such expenses are deductible as are other trade or business 

expenses which are deemed to be “ordinary and necessary expenses” in connection with a 

trade or business. 

Treasury Regulation Sec. 1.162-5 provides the conceptual framework for deducting 

education expenses with examples of its application. This section allows a deduction for 

education expenses if they maintain or improve skills already acquired in a present 

position or if they enable the taxpayer to meet the express requirements of the 

individual’s employer or applicable law as a condition to retaining the employment or 

position. _____cite________ These provisions apply even though the education may lead 

to a degree. However, even if education expenses meet the above requirements they will 

be considered personal and therefore not deductible if they allow the taxpayer to meet the 

minimum educational requirements of a trade or business or they qualify the taxpayer for 

a new trade or business. The minimum educational requirement with respect to a position 

in an educational institution is the minimum level of education in terms of degree 

normally required at the time the individual is hired. An individual will ordinarily be 

considered to have met the requirements if, for example, if he has tenure or his present 

service is being counted towards tenure. Someone in a provisional or temporary position

pending completion of an anticipated degree would not have met the minimum 

educational requirements and thus could not deduct any educational expenses. 

The other category of educational expenses which are not deductible are those which 

qualify the taxpayer for a position in a new trade or business. Cases in this area indicate 

that there is a wide range of interpretation determining what exactly constitutes a new 

trade or business. Merely changing duties does not constitute a new position if the new 

duties involve the same general type of work as the individual was involved in before 

engaging in the education program. The regulations state that “all teaching and related 

duties shall be considered to involve the same type of general work” (Reg. 1.162-5B3). 

Examples provided in this section of changes in duties which do not constitute a new 

trade or business are (i) classroom teacher in one subject to classroom teacher in another 

subject; (ii) classroom teacher to guidance counselor and (iii) classroom teacher to 

principal. Examples provided by the regulations in areas other than teaching indicate that 

(i) an employee or one self-employed practicing a profession who attends law school at 

night and obtains a law degree may not deduct the cost of attending law school because 

this course of study qualifies him for a new trade or business. This is so notwithstanding 

the taxpayer’s intent to continue practicing his non-legal profession even after obtaining 

his law degree. 

Courts consider a taxpayer’s ability to perform significantly different tasks and functions 

after obtaining the additional education in evaluating the allowance of deduction. Any 

specialized skills acquired in continuing education must be in the same general type of 

work albeit in an advanced position. The costs of legal education have been routinely 

denied as deductions in all cases in which the taxpayer had not already been awarded a 

legal degree. This is so regardless of whether the employer required the legal degree and 

even where the taxpayer did not use the legal degree in his position. In the tax court 

memorandum decision in Gallegon, taxpayer was a law library manager and obtained a 

law degree to enhance her skills which were required in her daily functions. She did not 

practice law and her employer did not require the degree. Nonetheless, the court denied 

the deduction because the degree did qualify her for a new position. ARTHUR 

ANDERSEN 

The cost of obtaining an advanced degree such as an MBA are generally considered 

deductible if the taxpayer broadens his expertise within his present field rather than 

obtains qualifications to enter a new field. The present employment status of the taxpayer 

is a crucial factor in determining the deductibility of the MBA educational expenses. In 

the tax court memorandum decision in McEwen, the taxpayer had been employed by two 

financial analyst firms after receiving her BBA degree. It was well known that these 

firms required an MBA for promotion. Had taxpayer continued her employment with

either of these firms and sought and received an MBA in an effort to obtain a promotion 

the costs of the education might clearly had been deductible. However, the taxpayer 

resigned her position and completed her MBA program at a time when she was 

unemployed. After receiving her degree she obtained a position with a firm that required 

the MBA for employment. The court rightfully denied the deduction ruling that she had 

obtained education which qualified her for a new position which was different from the 

one previously held. Had the taxpayer returned to her previous employment after 

receiving her degree, even in an advanced position, the deduction would have been 

allowed. 

In most cases MBA candidates are presently working and incur the education expenses at 

that time. The issue in determining deductibility is whether the education expenses 

qualify these individuals for a new position or simply improve their current skills. The 

regulations cite as examples of qualifying courses those which would be considered 

refresher courses or courses dealing with current developments in taxpayer’s field. Courts 

have held that education need only “enhance the taxpayer’s existing skills” and have a 

direct relationship to the individual’s responsibilities. In the case of an MBA degree this 

generally requires that the taxpayer presently have some administrative, financial or 

managerial position prior to or at the time engaging in the educational activity. In the tax 

court case of Allemeir v. Comm’r (TC memo 2005-207) the court liberally construed the 

requirements of the regulation for deductibility. In that case taxpayer had been employed 

as a salesman for a company making removable orthodontic devices. He had a Bachelor’s 

degree in sports medicine and performed very well in his position so that his 

responsibilities increased over the years. In addition to sales duties his additional 

responsibilities included designing marketing strategies, organizing seminars and 

promoting various products. All of this occurred prior to his obtaining an MBA degree. 

Taxpayer completed his degree in 2001 and during the two years he was attending the 

university he received several promotions causing his duties to expand even further to 

include such functions as analyzing financial statements. The principal issue here was 

whether the MBA degree qualified the taxpayer for a new trade or business. The IRS 

argued that his duties which had increased over the years after he enrolled in the MBA 

program indicated that he had stepped into a new trade or business. The court did not 

agree and stated its position that the MBA degree enhanced taxpayer’s skills which were 

already being used in his position and did not qualify him for a new trade or business. 

Taxpayer continued to perform the same tasks after receiving his degree as he had done 

prior, involving marketing, finance and management duties. The court also distinguished 

an MBA degree from educational programs qualifying taxpayer for professional 

certification or licensing such as law school expenses.

Where the education expenses are deductible local transportation expenses incurred in 

connection with the education may be included as deductible expenses. These expenses 

include bus, subway, taxi or other fares as well as the cost of using taxpayers own car. 

However, these expenses may not be the equivalent of commuting expenses for those 

going to work which are not deductible. Only the cost of going for example from one job 

to another would be deductible. In the case of education local transportation would 

include the expenses incurred in going directly from ones place of work to school. There 

is however an exception for those attending school on a temporary basis such as for 

several months. In these cases the taxpayer may deduct the cost of getting to school from 

home and the return trip. 

Travel expenses, meals and lodging incurred while away from home may also be 

deductible if they are undertaken primarily to attend tax deductible educational functions. 

An allocation between deductible and nondeductible expenses would have to be made if 

any of these expenses are attributable to personal activities such as sightseeing or social 

events. With respect to this allocation, if the primary purpose of the trip was educational, 

such as to attend a three-day seminar, then the entire cost of travel would be deductible 

even though taxpayer spent time on personal activities during the trip. Only meals and 

lodging relating to the educational portion of the trip would be deductible. If however the 

primary purpose of the trip was for personal purposes and taxpayer happened to have 

attended an educational event such as a seminar while away on this personal trip then the 

travel cost would not be deductible but again any direct costs of the education including 

meals and local transportation would be deductible. In either case the local transportation 

expenses, the meals and lodging are deductible only if they can be attributed to the time 

spent on educational activities (Reg. 1.162-5E1). 

In a frequently cited tax court case, taxpayer was an English teacher who traveled to 

Greece and Southeast Asia for university extension courses which she took primarily to 

enhance her skills in her teaching position. Needless to say there were significant 

elements of personal activities during the trip. However, taxpayer spent at least five hours 

a day on course work during seventeen of the eighteen days of the trip. Despite 

taxpayer’s ancillary personal activities all of her travel expenses were deductible except 

for minimal personal costs (Jorgensen, 2000, TC Memo 2000-138). IRC Section 274H1 

address the issue of seminar cruises and similar trips as education expenses. This section 

will not allow any education expense deduction for these expenses which are incurred 

outside of North America unless the taxpayer establishes that the meeting is directly 

related to the act of conduct of taxpayer’s trade or business. Further, it must be as 

reasonable for the meeting to be held outside of North America as within North America. 

In one case the tax court limited a deduction for a post-graduate medical seminar and

cruise to 12% of the total cost since only 12% of the trip was allocable to lectures and 

coursework (Reuben (1961) 35TC566). 

IRC Section 274M denies a deduction for the expenses of travel as a form of education 

even though the travel may be directly related to the taxpayer’s duties. This rule prevents 

a deduction which is sought when the travel itself is to serve as educational rather than 

traveling to a place for an educational event. For example, IRS Publication 970 contains 

the example of a language teacher who travels through France while on sabbatical to 

improve her knowledge of the French language and French culture. Her itinerary is 

carefully selected to attend activities which will improve her language skills and although 

she spends most of the time visiting French schools and families and attending cultural 

events these travel expenses are not deductible as educational expenses.

The Generalizability of Biographical Data as 

Predictors Across Selected Criteria 

Louis Jourdan 

Clayton College and State University 

ABSTRACT 

The purpose of this study was to determine if a statistical model developed to predict personal financial 

behavior (creditworthiness) could also predict employee behavior regularly studied in the fields of human 

resources and organizational behavior. Previous research on biodata has used a variety of criteria such as 

performance ratings, turnover, absenteeism, and creativity. Only two studies were identified which utilized a 

similar criterion, turnover, instead of tenure, with personal financial history as predictors. This research found 

that weighted biographical information measuring personal financial history was significantly correlated with 

employee tenure (p

INTRODUCTION 

Background checks and credit history information, typically obtained from credit bureau reports 

have been frequently used in the hiring process, particularly for those positions which require 

financial transactions. Over one-third of firms use applicants’ credit histories as part of their 

hiring process (SHRM, 2004), and almost half of retail employers use credit checks to screen 

applicants. There are typically at least three justifications for use of credit-related instruments, 

e.g. credit checks, credit history, background checks, and credit scores. One, they measure one’s 

conscientiousness, dependability, and reliability, and ability to accept responsibility. Two, they 

are appropriate for positions which involve financial transactions and those experiencing the 

stress of financial pressures may be more likely to steal. Third, past behavior is a good predictor 

of future behavior. (Palmer & Koppes, 2004; Nielsen & Kuhn, 2009). 

Lawsuits associated with negative reference checks have been publicized (SHRM, 2001). The 

legal requirements for using credit bureau reports to screen job applicants have increased in 

recent years. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law regarding the acquisition 

and use of “consumer reports” for employment purposes. There is a four (4) step process for 

employer use of consumer reports in making employment decisions. These include a written 

notice to the applicant and obtain the applicant’s authorization to obtain the report, the employer 

must certify to the reporting agency that it is complying with the FCRA, the employer must 

provide a “pre-adverse action notice” to the applicant or employee, and fourth, the “employer 

may take final adverse action by furnishing the applicant with an adverse action notice” (Butler 

and Tyson, 1999). Despite the fact that these data have been and are currently being used as part 

of the application process, there have been few, if any, research efforts which have attempted to 

develop objective means of evaluating credit history information to make employment decisions. 

Specifically, only three published studies could be identified which examined this issue (Palmer 

& Koppes, 2003; Palmer & Koppes, 2004; Oppler, Lyons, Ricks, & Oppler, 2008). These 

studies’ criteria were performance, turnover, and counterproductive work behavior. 

The decisions based on past financial behavior have largely been judgmental in nature, in terms 

of both credit and employment decisions. Credit history information, however, has been 

objectively scored for the purpose of evaluating one’s credit worthiness, to assess the risk of 

approving a person for credit, for almost sixty years. This technique is typically termed “credit 

scoring”. 

In a similar manner, non-financial biographical and personal history information, typically 

collected from job applications and biographical inventories, have been used to objectively 

predict a variety of organizational behaviors such as theft (Rosenbaum, 1976), productivity, 

creativity, earnings, performance appraisal ratings, honesty, managerial effectiveness, accident 

rates (Laurence and Waters, 1993), adjustment, satisfaction, team performance, and safety 

(Hough and Paullin, 1994; Hunter and Hunter, 1984; Mumford and Owens, 1982; Stokes and 

Cooper, 1994). However, the most popular criteria have been turnover, tenure, and absenteeism 

(Barge, Hough, & Dunnette, 1984). The viability of biographical information has been 

recognized by researchers. Biographical inventories, in particular, have been predictive of job 

performance (Rothstein, Schmidt, Erwin, Owens, and Sparks, 1990).

PURPOSE 

The purpose of this study was to determine if a statistical model using past credit history to 

predict future credit behavior can predict non-financial organizational behavior. Specifically, the 

objective of the study was to determine the efficacy of using a credit scoring model to predict 

time on the job (tenure). 

Sample 

METHOD 

A sample of 801 loan applications over a two year period was randomly selected in a financial 

institution having geographically dispersed locations in the eastern part of the United States. 

Data from both the loan applications and credit bureau reports were utilized. 

Dependent Variables 

The dependent variable was a measure of non-financial behavior, tenure, which has been 

frequently studied in OB and HR. Tenure, defined as the number of years at current job, was 

collected from the application. The average tenure for this sample was 10.1 years. 

Independent Variables 

The independent variables were collected from credit bureau reports and included data on 

satisfactory payment, short-term delinquencies (30, 60, 90 days), and long-term delinquencies 

(over 90 days), derogatory information (collections, liens, bankruptcies, repossessions), as well 

as number of accounts, and number of inquiries). 

Analysis 

Pearson product moment correlation was used to determine the relationship between the credit 

scoring model (MODEL) and tenure (TENURE). Cross-validation was not performed because 

the credit scoring model was developed and cross-validated using a separate criterion of 

creditworthiness (CREDITW). This study was validating the financial behavior scoring model 

against a criterion, different from the original criterion against which it was validated.

RESULTS 

The results of the analysis determined that personal credit history is statistically and 

significantly related to years at current job (TENURE). For the sample of 801, the Pearson 

product-moment correlation, as reported in Table 1, was .48 (p

model, to successfully predict a behavior that is relevant to and of interest to those professionals 

in organizational behavior, human resources, and industrial/organizational psychology. It is a 

step toward establishing the job-relatedness of objective measures of credit behavior through 

criterion-related validity. Second, this information is not self-report, as is most other biodata 

studies. With self-report data, the applicant has the opportunity to provide socially desirable 

responses rather than accurate responses. Prior research has demonstrated that biodata can be 

faked when participants are instructed to do so (Hough, Eaton, Dunnette, Kamp, and McLoy, 

1990; Becker and Colquitt, 1992). One study confirmed that non-verifiable item validity was 

lower than for verifiable applicant information (Harold & McFarland, 2006). The data were 

obtained from a source independent of the applicant. The predictors in this study were objective, 

verifiable, and controllable. Historically, research using biodata, either from biographical 

inventories or from job applications, has been largely obtained from self-report sources which 

can be influence either by conscious or unconscious efforts to enhance one’s answers (Goldstein, 

1971). Despite the fact that some researchers have developed various techniques to detect faking 

and lying, the success of these techniques has been debatable (Edwards, McBride, Waters, and 

Laurence, 1993). Credit history, as reported on credit bureau reports, was obtained from 

independent sources, the organizations from which the individual has applied for credit. Third, 

the data are objective and quantitative. Most of the data were reported in terms of number of 

loans obtained, number of applications made, number of inquiries made to the credit bureau and 

numerous dollar amounts. The data on credit history is obtained from a source other than the 

applicant, and is an independent report of behavior. Fourth, the collection of this data is nonintrusive 

and response rate is not a significant issue for personal credit history data. With the 

collection of biographical data, particularly in the form of biographical inventories, the response 

rate may be of a concern. Credit history information is generally reported monthly electronically 

by merchants who use the credit history information themselves. Fifth, this study utilizes tenure, 

a frequently investigated criterion in human resources, organizational behavior, and 

industrial/organizational psychology in conjunction with a unique set of predictors. 

Relevance of Study 

While some studies may exist, through an electronic search of the literature, no other studies 

could be identified which successfully used objective, personal credit history data to predict nonfinancial 

behavior, specifically behavior which, historically, has been of interest to human 

resource professionals and those in the areas of organizational behavior and industrial/ 

organizational psychology. There have been no published studies on the validity of credit checks 

for hiring employees (Kuhn & Nielsen, 2008; Nielsen & Kuhn, 2009). Because of the quantity 

and objective nature of these data, they offer great potential to predict organizational behavior. 

The choice of dependent variables was made for two (2) reasons: their applicability to behavior 

relevant to organizational behavior and interest in these behaviors as reflected by past research. 

Tenure as predicted by biographical data has been a popular topic of research ( Barge et al, 1984; 

Guion, 1965). Second, economic stability (Childs and Klimoski, 1986) and employment 

experience (McDaniel, 1989) have been constructs investigated in research and development of 

biographical inventories. Mael and Connerly (1996) included “credit risk information” in their 

investigation of the perceived invasiveness of selected biodata items.

The validity coefficient for predicting tenure from personal credit history was quite favorable 

compared to earlier research findings. In this study, the validity coefficient was .48. In 

comparison, one study which reviewed 58 studies using biographical information to predict a 

variety of criteria found an average validity of .35. (Reilly and Chao, 1982) Furthermore, Hunter 

& Hunter’s (1984) meta-analysis of biographical information blanks, identified an average 

validity coefficient of .37. 

Financial behavior is manifested in such traits as conscientiousness, dependability, impulse 

control, and decision-making. It is one area of behavior that has the potential to be linked to 

behavior in other arenas. Such areas of interest could be the prediction of employee theft and 

integrity, including drug use, and the prediction of performance. Use of credit history 

information in employee selection is readily justifiable for those positions where money is 

exchanged, in financial transactions. Personal credit behavior holds the potential for being 

linked to Hogan and Hogan’s organizational delinquency construct. (Hogan and Hogan, 1989). 

Oppler et al ( 2008), found that two self-report measures of significant adverse financial history 

were related to financially related counterproductive work behaviors. Research evidence linking 

credit behavior (delinquency) to other forms of organizational delinquency such as drug use or 

theft could justify its use. Particularly, since both drug use and theft have financial 

consequences. Furthermore, biographical data has demonstrated promise in predicting 

personality and temperament such as employee suitability (McDaniel, 1989) conscientiousness, 

dependability, emotional stability and adaptability (Trent & Laurence, 1993). 

Recent research has confirmed that biodata is generalizable across organizations. (Carlson and 

Scullen, 1999; Rothstein, Schmidt, Erwin, Owens, and Sparks, 1990; Wilkinson, 1997). 

Therefore, the validity generalization of biodata to predict the same behavior, the same criterion, 

across situations has been confirmed. However, few, if any studies, have successfully examined 

biodata’s generalizability across criteria. In this study, it was determined that selected 

biographical data validated using one criterion, credit worthiness, could successfully predict 

another criterion, tenure. 

Future Research 

The use of personal credit history data to predict organizational behavior has great potential. In 

particular, there are several directions for future research. First, given the research on the “five 

factor personality model (FFM) (e.g. Barrick and Mount, 1991; Organ, 1994; Judge, 

Martocchio, and Thoresen, 1997), a logical direction would be to study the relationship between 

personal credit history and personality. It intuitively appealing that these behaviors reflect those 

predicted by the factors of conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience. 

Mount and Barrick (2000) discovered that “biodata predictors accounted for a substantial 

incremental variance beyond that accounted for by the FFM and general mental ability for three 

of four criteria examined. 

Second, this research suggests that credit history may predict integrity, honesty, given the 

identification of one of two (2) types of integrity tests, overt integrity tests which include the 

assessment of prior behavior. This could readily be a form of integrity test which does not rely 

or applicants’ self responses. (Sackett, Burris, and Callahan, 1989) . These efforts have shown a

elationship between personalities, organizational delinquency, including drug use. Delinquent 

credit history is one form of delinquency which may have the potential of being related to certain 

forms of organizational delinquency. Therefore, a third direction is the examination of 

organizational delinquency and how one manages his/her finances. In some situations, where 

employers have established credit unions for their employees, their satisfactory repayment of 

loans to the credit union may be considered a form of organizational citizenship or another form 

of behavior relevant to the organization. A fourth direction is to perform additional research 

with the same criterion, tenure, as well as other organizationally relevant and available criteria. 

A fifth direction is to identify possible moderators for the different criteria using individual 

financial behavior. Some researchers have encouraged the examination of age, experience, 

education, gender, and race as potential moderators ( Asher, 1972; Laurent, 1962; Thayer, 1977). 

In summary, because of the dearth of research linking employee behavior and prior financial 

behavior, there are many directions available for future research. 

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The Unemployment Problem: 

Analysis of Determinants 

Adil Mouhammed 

University of Illinois at Springfield 

ABSTRACT 

This paper intends to critically analyze the most important determinants or causes generating the 

unemployment problem. These causes are scientifically developed and confirmed by economists representing 

various schools of economic thought such as the Keynesian and the Chicago schools of political economy. The 

paper concludes that it is extremely difficult to single out a one cause determining the unemployment problem. 

The paper provides some important factors that policy makers have to employ in order to reduce the 

unemployment rate.


Many advanced capitalist and developing countries have experienced very high 

rates of unemploym ent since the Great Recession of December 2007. The 

American economy faces a rate of unemploy ment of 8.9 percent in March 2011 

and Egypt has a rate of unemployment of 19 percent. The Saudi economy 

experiences a rate of unemployment of 10 percent. This problem is very costly 

economically and politically . Economically, unemployment represents a loss in 

the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Polit ically, the world witnesses the Arab 

revolt in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Iraq, and Bahrain, to mention a few. Economic 

literature provides many explanations for this problem. Some explanations blame 

the economic system, and others put a he avy burden on the un employed. Still, 

other theories shift the problem to exter nal sources and shocks, or unpredictable 

events, and others ar gue that technology a nd labor m arket institutions are the 

main causes of the unempl oyment problem. Other th eories contend that the 

deficiency in aggregate spending and innova tions are the essential factors for 

explaining the unemployment problem. 

This paper intends to analyze these impo rtant determinants in nine sections. 

The last section provides a summa ry and conclusions along with s ome 

suggested public policies for handling the unemployment problem. 

2. Wicksell and Hayek On Unemployment 

In line with the classical theory of unemployment Wicksell thinks that if wages are 

sufficiently flexible downward, then the de cline in money wages can maintain full 

employment (Jonung 1989, 28). Cheaper credit to businessmen is also the most 

effective measure to f ight unemployment. Wicksell thought that the governm ent 

should support private invest ments in housing, soils, and inventions. And 

government supports should be financed by taxation. 

Wicksell analyzes technical unemployment due to tec hnological change as well. 

The introduction of machinery would cause unemployment and the unemployed 

will search for new jobs, a sear ch that will push wages dow nward. Hence, full 

employment is restored aga in (Jnung, 1989, 30). F or the normal (frictional) 

unemployment, Wicksell thinks that advertisements and employment agencies 

can reduce the normal rate of unemployme nt. The cyclical unemployment is due 

to lack of effective demand. He though it would be a good idea to raise wages in 

order for workers to buy more. But this action may cause workers to lose their 

jobs as a result of higher wages. Essentially, for Wicksell the cyclical 

unemployment was due to the wrong allocation of capital investment. Capital was 

invested in areas where the ra tes of return were low. He concluded that public 

works, as in Keynes and Malthus, is the best measure to fight cy clical 

unemployment. 

After World War I, Wicksell thought that t he boom and the rise in prices induced 

by the war would come to an end. T hus, unemployment would rise. Workers 

would have to accept lower wages. He also thought that government should

provide financial support to the unemployed who c ould not find j obs. After 1921, 

Wicksell turned to Malthus. He thought t hat the causes of th e unemployment 

were the surplus of people and t he shortage of capital brought about by the war, 

and the disorganized state of the monetar y system. After the war prices were 

falling and consequently producers could not produce, knowing th at they would 

receive lower prices for their products. T hus, they let their money set idle in 

banks, and workers became unemployed. 

Wage reduction is not a competent policy to increase employment. The increase 

in wages is most likely due to increased labor productivity, and wage reduction 

will reduce work intensity and productivi ty. Wage reduction will not force some 

capital-intensive firms to switch to labor intensive tec hniques in the short run. 

Higher wages should stimulate the subs titution effect by employing more 

machines for labor. And this s ubstitution will increase labor productivity and 

employment in the long-run (Morgenstern, 1941). 

Hayek (Nishhiyama and Leube, 1984, 7) contends that unemployment is due “to 

a discrepancy between the dist ribution of labor…between industries…and the 

distribution of demand among their producers. This discrepancy is caused by a 

distortion of the system of relative prices and wages.” In other words, the 

unemployment is caused by “a deviation f rom the equilibrium pr ices and wages 

which would establish themselves with a free market and stable money.” This is 

actually a mismatch between demand an d supply of labor, which is us ually 

caused by expansionary monetary and fiscal policies and powerful trade unions, 

because these policies create economic dislocation and structural changes in an 

economy which misdirect labor and other economic resources. Unions for Hayek 

are able t o set higher wages compar ed to market wages, which generate 

unemployment in industries that become less profitable. 

In short, for Hayek the unemployment probl em is caused by resources being in 

the wrong places at the wrong time and can be corrected if wages and prices are 

determined by the equilibrium of supply and demand. 

In line with Hayek theory of unemploym ent, Trehan (2001) provides an important 

explanation of the search theory of unemployment. Fi rms search for productive 

workers, and workers search for high-pay ing jobs. So, both agents will continue 

searching until matches are reached. At that point the unemployed worker will 

leave the unemploy ment pool. But if this worker realiz es later on that her 

productivity is worth higher wages and fir ms are paying higher wages on the 

average, then the worker’s reservati on wage will increase. Consequently, the 

unemployment rate will start rising gradually, indicating a mismatch has occ urred 

again. 

3. Unemployment and Theory of Innovations 

Originally, the theory of innovations was developed by the German economist 

Von Mangoldt who wrote a book about entrepreneurial profits in 1855 and 

connected profits to risk (see Ekelund an d Hebert 2007). He provided seve ral

ways by which the entrepreneur can make profits. These ways are (1) finding 

particular markets, (2) acquisition of productive agents, (3) skillful combination of 

factors of production, (4) successful sales po licy, and (5) innovations. And it is a 

well understood proposition that entrepreneurial profits will increase employment. 

Schumpeter (1912 or 1934) did not provide explicitly a theory of unemploy ment 

but his theory of the business cycle does demonstrate clearly how unemployment 

can be decline. Innovations which create more jobs relative to job destruction are 

the basic force beyond the inc reases in employment and the decreases in 

unemployment. When entrepreneurs find something new s uch as the production 

of a new product, a new market, a ne w method of produc tion, and a new 

organization and country, they will increa se investments to materialize t hose 

innovations and technologies. Investment expenditures will increase demand on 

economic resources and wi ll increase their prices . Other entrepreneurs will 

imitate the leaders by adopting the new innovative ways. Labor and materials will 

be employed to produce the new items. It follows that wages will be increasing 

and unemployment will be declining, assuming employment creation will 

outweigh employment destr uction due to these new innovations (see also 

Mortensen and Pissarides 1994 and Manuelli 2000). 

4. Veblen On Unemployment 

Veblen points out that the volume of output is set to attain satisfactory profit and 

is a manifestation of the predatory instinct of the ve sted interests which a im at 

domestic and international dominance. But how is this volume of production 

determined to achieve reas onable profits? Veblen gives a lucid answer. He 

accurately realizes, and before Lord Keynes (1936) reaches a similar conclusion, 

that the vested interests determine the volume of output after taking into 

consideration the aggregate demand. As Veblen (1904, 195) explains: 

In part by actual incr ease of demand and in part through a liv ely 

anticipation of an advanced demand, aggressive bus iness 

enterprise extends its venture". 

And the 'venture', of course, means extending production and operations, 

assuming the existence of reasonable le vel of prof its, which increase 

employment. 

The level of aggregate dem and which c an be inc reased by consumption, 

investment, government spending, and fore ign trade, will provide the necessary 

increases in total revenue. If rev enue rises and cost declines, then the 

reasonable level of profit s can be determined. There are various forces in 

Veblen’s work that reduce the cost of production. Technology incr eases 

production and reduces the cost of i nputs used in the production pr ocess. 

Enterprises can cut wages and increase produc tivity in order to cut cost per unit 

of output. Better technology c an also r educe the pric es of capit al goods, and

government can cut taxes. Banks can reduce interest rates as well. 

Administrative and insurance cost can be reduced in order to stimulate business 

enterprises. These costs can be cut, and gi ven rising revenues, the profit leve l 

can be increased. Consequently, higher profits will force the business enterprises 

to expand and emplo y more workers. Th us, employment will increase an d the 

rate of unemployment will decline. 

5. Unemployment in the Real Business Cycle Theory 

It is argued in this theory that the growth of productivity of input is the main 

source of employment and unemployment. If the growth of output increases more 

than the growth of inputs, then total fa ctor productivity, or the residual, has 

increased. If total factor productivity is not growing, then firms and the economy 

become inefficient. It follows that rea llocation of labor and capital cannot be 

achieved efficiently and will be employed in less profitable opportunities. 

There are various causes for the sl owdown in total factor productivity. 

Technology is not improving in the production of goods and services, and 

workers’ skills are not being enhanced. New products are not inven ted when the 

prices of imported materials ar e increasing. Once total factor productivity is 

stagnating, the co-movements in other im portant variables will slowdown. For 

example, consumption expenditures will not increase above the trend, nor will 

investment spending. GDP and total hour s worked will not be above the trend 

either. When consumption, investment, GD P, and hours of work decline, the 

Solow’s residual, which r epresents the growth in la bor productivity and is 

measured by the difference between actual and predicted productivity growth (or 

shocks), will decline. That is, there is no improvement in technology and 

productivity under t his condition. T herefore, unemployment will incr ease 

(Chaterjee 1995 and 1999). 

Technology shocks are brought about by scientific and engineering development, 

R&D, management techniques, and by indust rial organizations that make inputs 

more productive. In Schumpeter’s terminol ogy innovations are being introduced 

and are very effective in making the economy grow. It is also true that 

innovations and favorable technological shocks will r educe inputs and incr ease 

total factor productivity. In short, if positive shocks to productivity which are 

brought about by technological surprises do not exit, the unemployment rate will 

rise. 

Gali and Rabanal (20 04) contend that dem and and m onetary shocks affect the 

variables of the business cycle, includ ing employment, by about 75 percent, 

where the technological shocks affect those variables by about 25 percent. Gali 

(1999) also found that positive shocks in technology generate a decline in hours 

of labor and negative co-movement between technology shocks and productivity. 

For him, n on technology shocks do gener ate positive co-movement between 

hours of work and productivity. His result s were not consistent with the real 

business cycle theory.

6. Unemployment and the Labor Market Institutions 

There are various institutions affecti ng the rate of unemploy ment, which are 

analyzed as follows. 

6.1 Unions and Unemployment 

Unions do affect wage inflexibility and pr event the labor market from operating 

freely. Under this condition of wage inflexibility, a decline in demand for labor will 

increase unemployment significantly without a decline in the wage rate. But facts 

should not be overlooked that there are other factors preventing the flexibility of 

the wage rate such as the laws of minimum wage. Corporations do not cut wages 

either, because wage cut will affect l abor productivity negativ ely. Moreover, 

unions do affect productivity positively, and the increase in productivity will 

increase demand for labor and employmen t. Increased productivity also reduces 

labor cost per unit of output, and this reduction will increase profitability. In 

addition, higher union wages will force corp orations in the long run to substitute 

capita for labor, resulting in a significant decline in union jobs. 

Lindbeck and Snower (1986 and 1988) develop the insider-outsider approach to 

explain wage norms, involunt ary unemployment, and the ro le of unions. In t heir 

analysis the ins iders generate higher wages. They poin t out that firms do not 

replace their high-wage workers, the insiders or the incumbent workers, by lower- 

wage outsiders, due to productivity loss, hostility and harassment of the insiders, 

and the high costs of hiring and f iring. These justifications provide higher wages 

to the incumbent workers and prevent the employment of the outsiders. 

Similarly, Solow (1985) argues that the unemployed workers, the outsiders, may 

choose to stay unemployed rather than working for lower money wages, because 

the outsiders may be punished by their co-w orkers, the insiders, or the seasoned 

workers. In fact, the seasoned workers have also the ability to convert the higher 

demand on their firm’s products into highe r wages for themselves rather than 

allowing their firms to employ the outsiders. T hus, the unemployment will 

continue. 

Basically, this analysis is not convincing because the seasoned workers are not 

all powerful to determine their high wages and benefits. In addition, this 

explanation creates a divi sion between the working pe ople. However, it may be 

true that some incum bent crony workers receive higher wages and benefits, but 

this does not mean that all incumbent workers are the recipient of such benefits. 

6.2. Unemployment Benefits and Unemployment 

Some economists believe that labor market institutions played a significant role in 

generating unemployment. For example, st rong unions, high pay roll taxes, laws 

of minimum wage, and unem ployment insurance do affect unemploy ment.

Specifically, for the unemployment benefits in the Un ited Kingdom, Andrews and 

Nickell (1982) argued that t he introduction of employ ment protection legislations 

such as the increase in unemployment benefits had contributed for increasing the 

unemployment rate in UK. But Junankar (1981) demonstrated econometrically 

earlier that unemploy ment benefits did not increase the unemployment rate in 

UK. And the aggregate demand was a very important variable to study the 

unemployment problem, concluding that fiscal and monetary polic ies were the 

best tools for reducing unemployment. 

Fujit (2010) provides an exc ellent review of the literature on the role of 

unemployment benefits on unemployment. He argues that in the search model of 

unemployment it was suggested that hi gher unemployment benefits increase the 

duration of job search and that t hese benefits reduce the cost of being 

unemployed. The reduction in job search generated by these benefits represents 

actually the moral hazard effect. Ot her effects are als o found through the 

availability of unemployment benefits. Liquidity effect indicates that higher 

unemployment benefits increas e the duration of unemployment, because the 

unemployed workers have some cash avai lable, which is provided by these 

benefits. This cash does not force the unemployed worker to accept any offer. 

Another effect of the unemployment benefits is the job creation effect, suggesting 

that these benefits wil l provide higher incentives for firms to create high 

productivity jobs which provide higher wages and create higher GDP. 

6.3 Taxes and Minimum Wage Laws and Unemployment 

For the personal income tax, workers will receive wag es after the tax is p aid. For 

them, the demand for labor is lower t han the demand of labo r without the 

personal income tax. If the labor supply is assumed to be elastic, the employ er 

will hire less number of worker s compared to the m arket condition before the 

imposition of the tax. That is, employment will decline due to the personal income 

tax, and the employer will pay p art of the tax in order to attract workers the firm 

needs. 

Employers also pay social sec urity tax and unemploy ment compensation tax, 

both are called the payroll tax. If there is a surplus of labor such as the one 

analyzed by Lewis (1954), wher e the supply of labor is horizontal, then these 

taxes will make the demand for labor lower than the demand for labor without 

these taxes. Consequently, the employment level will be determined at a lower 

level, and there will be some unemploy ed workers. Under this condit ion, 

employers will pay these payroll taxes. Bu t if the supply of labor is perfectly 

inelastic, then the demand for l abor with the payroll tax will dete rmine the same 

level of employment as the one determined without the payroll tax. 

Minimum wage laws aim at providing liv ing wages for many workers. These 

wages may be able to provide workers with the necessities of reasonab le

standard of living, although the current reality of higher prices makes these living 

wages unable to provide for the basic el ements of life. If one assumes that the 

demand and supply of labor are elasti c, then the minimum wage rate will 

increase unemployment. But it is also correct that the new minimum wage law 

may represent a shock for a firm, and this new shock will increase productivity of 

labor. Once labor productivity increases, the demand for labor will rise, which will 

increase employment. 

Under a condition of monopsony, where there is a sin gle buyer of labor service, 

the law of minimum wage will reduce the monopsonist power, forcing the 

employer to operate competitively and to employ more workers. Thus, workers 

will receive benefits of higher current wages and a higher employment level. 

7. Market Structure and Unemployment 

Microeconomic theory contends that market structure does affect the level of 

unemployment. Under perfect competitive market the demand for labor and the 

supply of labor intersects to determine the wage rate and the level of 

employment. Under this market the deman d for labor reflects labor productivity. 

Employers will hire workers up to the point where the va lue of marginal product 

(VMPL = MPL X P) is equal to the wage rate. Let us call this employment level Ec. 

Under imperfect market conditions the outcomes are different. The demand for 

labor reflects the marginal revenue product (MRP L = MPL X MRX), where MRX is 

the marginal revenue of commodity X. Under this condition, MRX is lower that the 

market price Px. It follows that the MRP L is lower than VMPL. That is, there is 

exploitation of the labor force by the employers. The second important outcome 

under this imperfect market condition is that the marginal labor cost will be above 

the labor supply. W hen the MRP L intersects the marginal factor cost, the 

employment of labor (Em) is determined. Bu t this employment level is lower than 

the level of employment (Ec) determined under the perfect market condition. 

It follows that an economy which is dominated by large corporations will generate 

a lower level of employment and a higher rate of unemployment. In some cases 

such as the NFL and NBA, among others, collective bargaining is used to settle 

wages. Even John B Clark (1894, 8) points out, that monopoly “wants a high 

price for its own special product and it c an get this only by reducing the amount 

created. This means fewer me n in its own shops.” In ot her words, a restricted 

output will increase the rate of unemploy ment (see also Clar k 1904). Veble n 

(1921) calls this intentional restriction of output by large corporations sabotage. 

For him, sabotage increases unemployment of plants and workers. 

8. Globalization and Unemployment 

Recently, the unemployment problem has been attri buted to the globaliz ation 

process. For example, shifting producti on and outs ourcing to other countries 

have generated a high rate of structural unemployment in the U.S. economy, 

which has contributed for the increase in the rate of unemployment. The

appreciated dollar during the 1980s made American exports expensiv e in the 

world market, which reduced the export level, causing unemployment to increase 

in the exporting industries. But the appreciated dollar increased the imports from 

foreign countries, which raised the Amer ican rate of unemploy ment. Currently, 

the opposite has happened. The dollar has been depreciating against the m ajor 

currencies, which have made the Amer ican exports cheaper globally. Hence, 

exports have increas ed and im ports have become very expens ive, which hav e 

contributed for increasing the level of employment. 

Over the last two decades one can contend that the transportation cost has been 

declining (before the increases in o il prices) and wages and taxes had been 

increasing before the Great Recession of December 2007. These factors 

provided incentives for cor porations to outsource their production tasks to other 

producers located in foreign countries. These forces pushed corporations to 

relocate to other countries where wages and taxes are lower relative to the 

United States of Amer ica. It follows that many American workers lost their jobs 

due to these corporate decisions. For example, due to outsourcing and relocation 

of firms a large number of workers lost t heir jobs from the states of Michigan and 

Ohio. 

Large corporations tried to increase thei r efficiencies in order to make more 

profits in the long run by reducing the cost of producti on. Thus, they have been 

involved in downsizing their production operations. This process of downsizing is 

actually aiming at cutting employment of labor. Consequently, structural 

unemployment rose. 

Globalization has als o played a significant role in the development process of 

important countries such as India, Chi na, and Brazil, to mention a few. Thes e 

countries can compete with the United St ates of America and will be able to 

control a larger share of the glob al market. This will aff ect the American exports 

and employment negatively. But the process of globa lization raises nationa l 

incomes in many countries, a prosperity that will increase import from the United 

States of America. Gl obalization also creates a competitive environment, forcing 

many corporations to be innovative. Hence, productivity and demand for labor 

will increase in the United States of America, whic h will reduce the rate of 

unemployment. 

9. Summary and Conclusions 

This analysis of the various theories of unemployment suggests that there are 

very important variables for increasing th e level of employment and reducing the 

rate of unemployment. These variabl es are expect ations of high sales and 

growth, the increases in domestic real private and public inve stments, the skills 

of workers needed, the reducti on in economic and financial uncertainty such as 

regulations and higher health and labor co st, the improvement of technological 

progress and innov ations, the transition toward a more competitive market

economy, the reduction in taxes, the availability of competitive entrepreneurs, the 

continuous increases in productivity, and the provision of job information. 

These important determinants of unemploy ment provide an excellent pictur e for 

the trend of public polic ies. Government at all levels should provide acc urate 

information about the job market in order for workers to be able to seize this 

opportunity for finding employment. Gove rnments should spend for education in 

order to develop very productive workers and entrepreneurs. Training centers are 

extremely useful f or training and re training the unem ployed workers. 

Governments can directly employ wo rkers, and the federal government can 

provide financial assistanc e to state governments to achiev e this task. Stat e 

governments can attract foreign direct inve stments, which will be able to cr eate 

many jobs for the unemployed work ers. The feder al government needs to 

reallocate a sign ificant part of its spend ing from the militar y to the civilian 

economy, because the military sector is highly capital-intensive requiring a lower 

employment level. T his reallocation is able to reduce uncertainty and foreign 

tension which have increased t he prices of imported mate rials such as the p rice 

of oil. Tax cuts and less cost ly regulations will increas e employment and profits, 

reducing uncertainty which will increas e domestic investments. Spending for 

Research and development and the infrastructure are crucially important tools for 

better innovations (such as finding new methods of production, new products, 

new, and new markets for increasing sales) and productivity, which will increase 

domestic real investments. 

The federal gov ernment has to use some regulations according to wh ich large 

corporations can become more competitive. That is, the reduction in monopolistic 

and oligopolistic power will increase employment. This is beca use these large 

firms, given they employ less number of workers than competitive firms, cut 

production and employment rather than prices of products when there is a 

reduction in demand for products. This structure worsens the unemploy ment 

problem. If these firms become more com petitive, then the decline in demand for 

products will reduce prices rather than output and employment. And these firms, 

once they are conv erted to competitiv e firms, will be a ble to employ more 

workers. 

The federal government can provide more credits to foreign buyers to purchas e 

American products. This will incr ease employment in many manufacturing firms. 

In line with this factor, the fed eral government can encourage other foreign 

governments to reduce or to eliminate ta riffs in order to make American exports 

cheaper in the global market. Hence, the rate of unemployment will decline. 

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London, Harcourt. 

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Outsider Relations,” The American Economic Review, 76, 2, 235-239.

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Mouhammed, A. (2003). An Introduction to Thorstein Veblen’s Economic Theory, 

New York, The Mellen Press. 

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Stanford, CA., The Hoover Institution. 

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Harvard University Press. [Originally published in 1912]. 

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Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 87, 2, pp. 411-428. 

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Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Number 28, October 12, pp.1-3. 

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Veblen, T. (1921). The Engineers and the Price System. New York, B.W. 

Huebsch.

Twenty-Four Hour Suspension: 

Failure to Act Appropriately in 

The Performance of Duties 

Charles Roberts 


Susan D. Herring 

Athens State University 

Linda Shonesy 


Laura Lynn Kerner 


Mark J. Anderson 


R. Bryan Kennedy 


ABSTRACT 

This case study examines whether or not management violated the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) 

when they issued a twenty‐four hour suspension to a Paramedic Fire Fighter for failure to act appropriately in 

the performance of duties. The case study confronts and examines the nebulous issue of what type or amount 

of evidence is required to convince an arbitrator that an employee’s decision to resort to self‐determination 

and disobey a management order is justified and in the best interest of the organization.

This case involves the issuance of a twenty-four suspension to long-term Paramedic Fire 

Fighter Susie Wong, hereinafter referred to as the Grievant. The letter of suspension, 

dated June 29, 2010, stated: “You were assigned an emergency call on June 20, 2010, but 

the assignment was rescinded because of the earlier arrival of another emergency team. 

You failed to honor the rescind instructions and without permission remained at the site 

and proceeded to assist the other unit on duty, failed to notify the command center of 

your location and apprise superiors you were assisting another unit. Your actions further 

hindered the orderly operation of emergency services in that you turned your radio down 

and did not respond to 8 requests for your exact location in a 5 minute period. You failed 

to properly document your actions in attending to a seriously injured person at the site 

which hindered treatment for another injured person and was in violation of department 

regulations and state law. As a result of your actions and inactions you are suspended 

without pay for twenty four hours.” A grievance was filed and subsequently appealed to 

arbitration. The hearing was held on September 28, 2010. Both parties were provided full 

opportunity to present evidence and examine witnesses who testified under oath. The 

parties did not file post hearing briefs and the hearing was officially closed on September 

28, 2010. 

In opening remarks, management’s advocate stated the Grievant (a Paramedic Fire 

Fighter) and an Emergency Management Technician (EMT) were assigned to the 

emergency call. The call was rescinded just as they arrived on site because of the earlier 

arrival of another emergency team. The rescind order was not honored and the Grievant 

entered the building and proceeded to assist the other unit. The communications center 

was not advised of the crew’s location or that the crew was in fact providing hands-on 

assistance to another unit. The communications radio was turned down and the 

communications center’s eight requests for location over a five-minute period went 

without a response. These actions and inactions, and the fact that proper written 

documentation was not submitted, hindered the orderly operation of the district as well as 

violating state law. The violations were to such a degree that they rose to the level of 

insubordination and management’s actions were in conformance with the CBA. The 

advocate requested the grievance be denied in its entirety. 

The District Fire Chief was management’s first witness and stated the Grievant did not 

have authority to remain on the scene without first obtaining permission from the 

communications center. The Chief testified that the communications center possesses 

complete knowledge of areas requesting response from emergency teams. All employees 

are aware of the requirements to remain in touch and report their locations. Written and 

verbal instructions required teams to maintain radio contact at all times and to file proper 

documentation for all of their actions. The Grievant had administered an EKG strip and 

checked the vital signs of one of the injured and failed to file a written report of her 

actions. The decision to discipline the Grievant and not the EMT was based on the fact 

that the Grievant possessed a higher medical certification and was in overall charge of the 

unit; as such, she was the responsible person. 

During cross examination by the union, the Chief agreed that team members shared joint 

responsibility for maintaining radio contact with the communications center and for 

1

properly responding to the rescind order. He also stated that both were responsible for 

filling out proper written documentation. 

A battalion chief from another area within the district was called as management’s 

second witness. He provided “expert testimony” concerning on-site procedural 

responsibility. He stated that application of the EKG strip and any other actions should 

have appeared on the Grievant’s incident report since she was the person who had contact 

with the injured person. Proper reporting is necessary for both legal and billing purposes. 

He further stated that the general rule is that if an action or procedure is not documented, 

it didn’t happen. 

Responding to questions from the union during cross-examination, the witness stated that 

since the Grievant had been officially removed from the case through the rescind order, 

the team in charge should have listed her actions on its incident report. The witness stated 

that in non-medical portions of the assignment such as responding to the radio or advising 

the communications center of location, Paramedics and EMTs share equal responsibility. 

The union’s spokesperson opened by explaining that, because of the chaotic conditions 

observed upon arrival at the site, coupled with the fact that they heard another call for 

help on the radio, the paramedic and EMT made the decision to remain on-site and offer 

help to the crew in charge. The spokesperson stated that it was the belief of the Grievant 

and her partner that this action would best serve the interests and responsibilities of the 

district and the needs of the injured, and would also provide needed stability and support 

to the other team. She stated it was the opinion of both members of the emergency team 

that without their help, badly injured people would expire. It was requested the grievance 

be sustained. 

The Grievant was called as the first witness and stated she was a member of the second 

emergency team to arrive on site. The team did receive a rescind command which was 

ignored because of the gravity of the situation and the number of seriously injured 

victims. (Two were already dead on the scene or died shortly after their arrival.) She 

stated she was fully aware of district operations policy and the requirements to maintain 

radio contact, obtain permission to remain on-site after receipt of a rescind call, and 

properly document activities such as applying an EKG strip. She stated she always 

obeyed her superiors and had never conducted herself in an insubordinate manner. She 

stated she did not request permission to remain on site because time did not permit and 

the radio was turned down because of the high noise level caused by victims and 

onlookers. She stated that all of the actions she performed were requested by the leader of 

the team in charge, and that all of the actions taken were reported verbally and in writing 

to the team in charge so the actions could be documented on that team’s incident report. 

The union’s second witness was the EMT who comprised the other half of the emergency 

team. He testified the decision to remain on site was a joint decision and cited the same 

reasons for the decision previously provided by the Grievant. He stated he turned the 

radio down because of the noise level in the building and assisted the other team in any 

way they requested. He did not perform any independent tasks such as applying an EKG 

2

strip and as a result had nothing to report on his incident report. He stated all members of 

emergency response teams were periodically scheduled for assertive training to allow 

them to make appropriate decisions whenever the need should arise. He stated he and the 

other team member were putting their training to work when they made the decision to 

disregard the rescind order and to remain on site and lend assistance to the other team. 

The union’s third and last witness was the Paramedic in charge of the team that first 

arrived on site and was officially in charge. He stated he was not aware that the other 

team had received a rescind order when he made assignments for them to help. He further 

stated he received verbal and written reports of the other team’s activities and listed these 

on his incident report as was required by district policy. He stated he was not aware the 

other team had turned down their radio and said that the high noise level caused by 

victims and bystanders made it difficult to communicate with other team members. He 

stated he would have requested the other radio be turned down as a way to increase 

efficiency if it had occurred to him. 

Consider all of the facts. Make your decision and tell why you decided in the manner 

that you did. Keep in mind that the selection of an arbitrator must be approved by both 

management and the union, and that each side pays one half of the cost. Arbitration is 

hard work but pays well. Arbitrators attempt to write decisions in a manner that is 

understood by both parties and anyone who may read them in the future. An arbitrator 

hopes that even if the loser doesn’t agree with the decision, the reasoning utilized in the 

decision making process will be understood and will result in a favorable opinion of the 

arbitrator’s fairness and consideration of all of the evidence. 

Supplementary Notes 

Collective bargaining agreements almost always contain a Management Rights section. 

The following is somewhat typical. 

The right to hire and discharge employees and the management of all equipment, 

buildings, vehicles, offices, and all other departments, and all properties is reserved by 

the Company and shall be vested exclusively in the Company. The Company shall have 

the right to determine how many employees it will employ or retain, together with the 

right to exercise full control and discipline in the interest of proper service and 

production and the conduct of its business except as expressly restricted in this contract. 

Collective bargaining agreements in many cases contain an article devoted to handling 

employee discipline. The following is somewhat typical. 

A basic principle is that discipline shall be corrective in nature rather than punitive. No 

employee shall be disciplined or discharged except for just cause such as, but not limited 

to, insubordination, pilferage, intoxication (drugs or alcohol), incompetence, failure to 

perform work as requested, violation of the terms of the agreement, or failure to observe 

safety rules or regulations. Any such discipline or discharge shall be subject to 

grievance-arbitration procedures provided for in the agreement, which could result in 

3

einstatement and restitution including back pay. Many times progressive steps that must 

be followed during discipline are negotiated and enumerated. The following is an 

example: counseling, oral reprimand, written warning, letter of reprimand, suspension, 

termination. 

Discussion Questions 

It was an undisputed fact that the Grievant’s team disregarded a direct order from 

management and remained on-site, lending assistance to the emergency team that first 

arrived at the site. 

1. Did management provide consistent testimony in making their case that the Grievant’s 

failure to honor the rescind order was insubordination? 

2. Was management’s decision to discipline the Grievant and not the EMT supported by 

testimony from management or the union witnesses? 

3. Did management’s witnesses provide consistent, accurate testimony concerning 

reasons for the twenty-four hour suspension? 

4. Did the union witnesses provide viable, believable testimony that the team was 

justified in disregarding the rescind order? 

5. The EMT testified management had enrolled the team (along with other teams) in 

assertive training, which they had completed. He stated their actions to remain on-site 

and assist the other team demonstrated the training had been effective. Should credibility 

be given to this claim/assertion? 

6. Did the union witnesses establish that the team prepared and filed proper written 

documentation for their activities at the site? 

7. Was testimony from the emergency team in charge supportive of and consistent with 

testimony from the team that received the rescind order? 

Teaching Notes 

General Discussion of the Case Elements 

This case study provides supplementary material for text books and lectures on how 

management officials in both the public and private sectors can better manage and 

approach the difficult task of disciplining employees who are perceived to be errant in 

following directions. The case also has application for administering discipline in areas 

other than following directions. The case study is appropriate for both college and 

university undergraduate and graduate classes in the areas of management, industrial 

psychology, labor-management relations, organizational behavior, etc. The case study 

could be utilized in any type of decision making training regardless of whether the 

4

organization is union or non-union. The training is also valuable for management and 

union officials in the discharge of their everyday duties and is especially appropriate for 

officials who are charged with the interpretation and applications of the terms of the 

CBA. 

When reviewing the following suggested answers, keep in mind that different arbitrators 

will sometimes come up with widely differing opinions concerning interpretation and the 

application of arbitral principles to the same issue. Both parties spend a lot of time, 

expense and effort in training their officials to properly interpret and apply the CBA, 

hoping to avoid the expense of arbitration. The parties spend hundreds and sometimes 

thousands of hours in negotiation of the CBA. In discussions and conversations, both 

sides often emphasize that the only thing they are concerned about when selecting an 

arbitrator is that he/she render an unbiased, honest and clear decision on a timely basis. 

Some Suggested/Possible Answers to Discussion Questions 

Management failed to provide consistent testimony to the first three questions. As an 

example, while responding to union cross examination, the District Chief stated that the 

team shared joint responsibility for maintaining radio contact with the communications 

center and for properly responding to the rescind order. He also stated that both members 

were responsible for filling out proper written documentation. Management’s second 

witness, the expert from another area, first stated that application of the EKG strip should 

have appeared on the documentation list of the Grievant. However, responding during 

cross examination, he stated that since the Grievant had been officially removed from the 

case the team in charge should have listed her actions on their incident report. The 

witness stated that in non-medical portions of the assignment such as responding to the 

radio, advising the communications center of location, etc. that Paramedics and EMTs 

share equal responsibility. A significant portion of management’s testimony agreed with 

the union’s position that both team members share equal authority and responsibility for 

many of the activities that the Grievant was being disciplined for failing to properly 

conduct. The inconsistencies and changes in management’s testimony would cause an 

arbitrator to wonder which part of the testimony she or he could or should believe. “It 

seems clear, however, that material inconsistencies in the testimony of any witness will 

ordinarily detract much from the witness’s credibility” (Elkouri & Elkouri, 2003, p. 415). 

One of the most important arbitral principles/questions that all arbitrators consider is “has 

the employer applied its rules and penalties even-handedly and without discrimination to 

all employees.” It was clear that Management treated the two employees in a disparate 

manner even though their testimony proved they shared many of the responsibilities the 

Grievant was charged with failing to discharge. As stated by Koven and Smith (1992), 

“Since the passage of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the term discrimination in 

common usage has taken on the more specific and more provocative connotation of 

difference in treatment because of certain factors, most often race and sex but also union 

activity, age, national origin, religion and disability” (p. 303). It is interesting to note that 

the Union did not raise the issue of sex or national origin although the Grievant is a 

female and her last name may suggest that national origin might be an issue. It is 

5

important to keep in mind that sometimes an employee who loses under terms of the 

CBA may be allowed a second attempt if race or some other issue is raised in court. 

Usually courts will not accept an arbitration case where a decision has been rendered 

unless some other issue is raised. Arbitrators and the court system very often consider 

disparate treatment as a fatal mistake or error on the part of management. 

Questions 4 and 5 both would be answered yes, which further strengthens the union’s 

position. Arbitration procedures and principles that were once uncertain are now second 

nature and are widely accepted. “If an order affects the employee’s safety there may be, 

and usually will, be a right to refuse, although sometime special procedures exist to 

establish that right” (Barreca, Miller, & Zinny, 1983, p. 10). According to St. Antoine 

(1998), “Employees need not immediately obey an order or rule if they (a) reasonably 

believe it to be illegal, unethical, or immoral; (b) reasonably believe that obedience 

would place the employee or others in immediate danger or harm; or (c) would suffer 

immediate and substantial harm, and would lack any satisfactory remedy after the fact. 

Even in these cases, however, disobedience will be excused only if the employee has no 

other feasible way to resolve the dispute” (p. 175). The union and their witnesses 

provided unrefuted testimony that two people died at the scene and others were injured, 

some requiring emergency treatment. Management failed to produce any testimony or 

evidence that the second team acted in a reckless or insubordinate manner or that a 

satisfactory remedy existed that could have been applied after the fact. 

Questions 6 and 7 also would be answered yes and would further mitigate the case in 

favor of the union. Members of both emergency teams provided consistent testimony that 

the paper work was handled correctly. During cross examination by the union, 

management’s second witness changed his testimony and stated that, since the second 

team’s assignment had been rescinded, they acted correctly by turning over information 

to the team in charge to be listed on that team’s incident report. The complete testimony 

of the emergency team in charge was consistent with the testimony provided by the 

second team. 

6

References 

Barreca, C. A., Miller, A. H., & Zinny, M. (1983). Labor arbitrator development. 

Washington, DC: BNA Inc. 

Elkouri, F., & Elkouri, E. A. (2003). How arbitration works (6 th ed.). Washington, DC: 

BNA Inc. 

Koven, A. M., & Smith, S. L. (1992). Just cause: The seven tests (2 nd ed.). Washington, 

DC: BNA Inc. 

St. Antoine, T. J. (1998). The common law of the workplace. Washington, DC: BNA Inc. 

7

Use and Effectiveness of Business Plans 

Louis Jourdan 

Clayton College and State University 

ABSTRACT 

There is an increasing interest in the oral presentations and elevator pitches of entrepreneurs in order to obtain 

a meeting with investors or to obtain funding for ventures. Recent research has brought into question the 

necessity and validity of requiring entrepreneurs to write a detailed business plan. Therefore, a search of 

literature was made to identify research which examined the impact and influence of oral presentations on the 

investors’ decisions. Eleven papers and articles were found which addressed some aspect of these 

presentations. A variety of subjective criteria such passion, enthusiasm, credibility, and honesty were collected 

by a variety of methods such as live presentations, videos, and electronic devices were identified. 

Recommendations for future research were made. One recommendation was to develop a research framework 

which would be used to perform research on the investors’ assessments of entrepreneurs’ oral presentations, a 

framework which could be expanded to include more objective criteria and investor characteristics. As part of 

this framework, one would include type of investor and stage of screening process. Other recommendations 

included the development of reliable instruments to measure the subjective criteria and to design a taxonomy 

of these criteria.

OVERVIEW 

Use and effectiveness of business plans 

There has been quite a bit of research examining the decision-making processes and criteria of 

investors, specifically venture capitalists and angel investors. Many entrepreneurship professors 

have emphasized the importance of having a business plan prior to starting up a business. 

According to Lange, Mollov, Pearlmutter, Singh, and Bygrave (2007), business plans are likely 

the most prevalently used teaching tool in entrepreneurship education. Many familiar with 

entrepreneurial ventures and startups would probably suggest that a formal business plan is 

important for obtaining capital from formal sources such as angel investors, venture capitalists, 

strategic partners and most banks. However, the research relating to business plan efficacy is 

mixed. Some researchers have confirmed a positive relationship between firm performance and 

their use of a formal business plan. (Bracker, Keats, & Pearson, 1998; Ford, Matthews, & 

Baucas, 2003; Delmar & Shane, 2003; Gartner & Liao, 2005). Other researchers have arrived 

at the opposite conclusion that that there was no performance differences in new business 

startups with and without written business plans. (Lange, Mollov, Pearlmutter, Singh, & 

Bygrave, 2007; Lumpkin, Shrader, & Hills, 1998; Miller & Cardinal, 1994; ). Further, Keely 

and Kaapp (1994) concluded that high performing companies were involved more in taking 

action than planning. Gumpert (2003) believes that entrepreneurs need to spend more time with 

implementing their plans and much less time on writing and refining it. Others have confirmed 

that entrepreneurs who had a formal business plan at startup were in the minority. (Bartlett, 

2002; Bhide, 2002). Lange et al (2007) concluded that evidence that business planning prior to 

startup improves firm performance is lacking. 

Despite the fact that business plan emphasis in entrepreneurship education, their use is not 

supported by research. In 2004, 10 of the top 12 universities in conducted business plan 

competitions (Honig, 2004). While major universities have sponsored business plan 

competitions, which can include only a written business plan, or they can include an orally 

presented business plan or elevator pitch to a team of judges. Some recent research on business 

plans is discouraging. Kirsch, Goldfarb, and Gera (2009) discovered that venture capitalists 

rely more on instinct and expertise in identifying and assessing relevant information and spend 

little time on evaluating the content of business plans. According to Goldfarb, “business plans 

don’t matter.” Venture capitalist (VC), Jeff Fagnan, indicated that he had never invested in an 

entrepreneur who brought a business plan when they met. Paradoxically, this VC is a judge at a 

major university’s business plan competition (Bowers, 2009). Guy Kawasaki (2006) has 

suggested that an entrepreneur “give the pitch a few times, see what works and what doesn’t, 

change the pitch, and then write the plan. 

1

Oral Presentations 

More and more universities are encouraging oral presentations and elevator pitches. While oral 

presentations can range from 10 to 30 minutes in length, elevator pitches are typically anywhere 

from 1 minute to 5 minutes. However, Kroker (2003) is offering suggestions for a 10 second 

elevator pitch. The term “elevator pitch” was developed to describe a short presentation, usually 

1 to 3 minutes, the amount of time that it took to ride an elevator to the top floor of a building 

with a potential investor. Non-academic interest in elevator pitches has exploded. A search of 

the term “elevator pitch” on Google, resulted in “about 800,000 thousand hits”. There are 

hundreds of articles by venture capitalists and angel investors describing what are the important 

criteria for an effective elevator pitch. There are televisions programs such as “The Dragon’s 

Den” in the United Kingdom and Canada (on BBC America), and “American Inventor” and 

“Shark Tank” on American television. Such higher institutions of learning as Wake Forest 

University, Duke University, Babson College, and the University of Georgia, and Georgia 

Institute of Technology have competitions for oral presentations and elevator pitches. In 

summary, the absence of strong and consistent support for written business plans and the 

increasing investor interest in oral presentations has spurred interest in entrepreneurs’ oral 

presentations and pitches. 

Despite this increasing interest in entrepreneurs’ oral presentations and elevator pitches to 

investors, there is a lack of research (Clark, 2008). The purposes of this paper are to review the 

research on entrepreneurs ‘oral presentations and pitches and to make recommendations for 

future research 

METHOD 

The EbscoHost and Proquest databases were searched using the following search terms and 

phrases: “elevator pitch”, “pitch”, “entrepreneur and oral presentation”, “investor decisionmaking”, 

“investor criteria”, “angel investor decision-making”, and “venture capitalist decisionmaking”. 

In the process of this research, several articles which assessed certain behaviors in oral 

presentations as part of the whole screening process, even though their focus was not on oral 

presentations and pitches. The literature identified 11 articles and papers which related 

presentation evaluations and performance to investor decisions or interest in the investment 

opportunity. 

2

RESULTS 

Through the literature search in two major databases, EbscoHost and Proquest, eleven articles 

which examined the relationship between subjective factors observed during oral presentations 

and investor, both VC and angel investors, were located. This confirms Clark’s assertion that 

there is a dearth of research on the factors which influence and the criteria of effective elevator 

pitch and oral presentations, and investors’ evaluations of those factors. (Clark, 2008). 

Likewise, Gregoire, Konig, and Oviatt (2008) confirmed that there is much research on the 

decision-making criteria of VCs and angels, but little is known about how investors evaluate 

verbal presentations. Some of these articles evaluated the oral presentation, along with a formal 

business plan, while others designed their studies to specifically examine the influence of skills 

observed during the oral presentations and pitches. There were a variety of criteria used in these 

studies, with most being investors’ interest in the investment opportunity and their willingness to 

fund the opportunity. 

Baron and his colleagues have examined entrepreneurs’ oral presentations in several studies. 

Baron and Brush (1999), using extracts from practice presentations, found that entrepreneurs’ 

adaptability, their ability to alter their behavior in different social situations was significantly 

related to a consulting firm’s decision to assist entrepreneurs in obtaining financing; 

Mason and Harriman (2003) had angel investors evaluate video recordings of actual pitches 

presented at an investor forum. The authors found that entrepreneurs’ presentation skills had a 

strong impact on the angels’ assessments. Angels indicated that weaknesses in presentations 

which were related to clarity, content and structure were major reasons for rejecting investment 

opportunity. The presentations’ content and quality was correlated with investors’ interest, the 

higher the presentation score, the higher the greater the investors’ interest. Paradoxically, 

however, when asked, investors reported that their decisions were more substantively, factually 

based information. 

Elsbach and Kramer’s research (2003) found that Hollywood producers listening to pitches 

categorized presenters (pitchers) into one of three categories early in the presentation. One of the 

categories, creatives, was identified by their passion. Therefore, perceived passion of the 

presenter seems to be a significant variable in investor decisions, particularly those that involve 

creativity. 

Clark (2008) specifically designed his study to examine the impact of oral presentation skills on 

angels’ initial screening investment decisions. Angels evaluated 15 minute presentations on 32 

presentational (delivery style) and non-presentational factors. Like Mason and Harriman’sEven 

though the presentational factors had the highest relationship to the angels’ level of interest, 

angels’ post-presentation reasons for decisions given were such non-presentational factors as 

company, market, product, funding and finance issues. Angels’ assessment of presentational 

3

factors included comments related to such variables as ability to sell themselves, clarity and 

understandability, structure, level of information provided, and personal characteristics, as well 

as the investment opportunity. Clark (2008). The results from the angels self-reporting of 

criteria used confirms Mason and Harriman’s results. (2003). 

Cardon, Sudek, and Mitteness (2009) investigated the influence of perceived passion on angel 

investing having angels watch videotaped presentations 15 minutes in duration, followed by a 15 

minute question and answer period. Measuring three types of displayed passion, enthusiasm, 

preparedness, and commitment, they found that the importance of the type was a function of the 

stage of the funding process. They found that these traits were associated with screening stage 

interest or investment potential. 

To pinpoint what aspects of the entrepreneurs’ behavior, the VCs were evaluating, Gregoire, 

Koning, and Oviatt (2008) collected VCs’ second-by-second ratings of live presentations at a 

financing event. They linked the ratings with the presentations’ audio-visual records and used a 

panel analysis to examine the impact of entrepreneurs’ different arguments. Their findings 

suggest that perceptions of credibility may influence the persuasiveness of arguments about 

management team quality; casual dress and nonchalance have a negative influence on investors’ 

evaluations. Contrary to popular wisdom, they found that first impressions are unimportant; one 

can salvage a poor beginning. 

In another recent research effort, Chen, Xiao Ping, Yao, Xin, and Kotha, (2009) examined the 

impact of perceptions of passion on VCs decisions. To do this, they developed a perceived 

passion scale composed of two factors, passion and preparedness. They concluded that 

perceived passion was not significantly related to VCs’ funding decisions, but that preparedness 

was related to the decision. 

Pentland (2010) has studied nonverbal communication cues and designed a study where 

midcareer executives participated in business plan competition and rated one another. The 

participants wore devices which recorded such things as tone of voice and body and hand 

movements. He found that how the plan was delivered was related to their ratings and concluded 

that they were not listening to facts, but they were listening to the presenter’s enthusiasm, 

passion, “how excited the presenter was about the plan.” (The power of nonverbal 

communication,). In another study, Pentland and Olguin (2010) collected data on their “social 

signals” at a party. Almost a week later, without reading or hearing their pitches, the same 

participants presented business plans to contest judges. Pentland, without reading or hearing the 

pitches, was 87% accurate in predicting who would win the competition. 

In their research, Wiltbank, Sudek, and Read (2009) studied the influence that entrepreneurs’ 

choices based on the data they evaluated at various stages of the screening and selection process. 

The non-predictive control approach included some more subjective items which could be 

4

influenced by the entrepreneurs’ oral presentations. These items included passion, honesty, 

enthusiasm, and trustworthiness. 

Carney, Cuddy, and Yap (2010) performed a study which is not related to entrepreneurs’ oral 

presentations, but is related to oral presentations in general. The authors, in their research on 

body language when communicating with others, concluded that people are less influenced by 

what one is saying, the words, and more influenced by the way they feel about you. It is the 

way in which you communicate the message and not about the message’s content. 

5

Table 1 

Research related to oral presentation criteria and impact on investor decisions 

Author(s) Criteria Results 

Baron & Brush , 1999 adaptability, ability to alter related to consulting 

behavior in different social firm’s decision to 

Social situations assist entrepreneurs 

in obtaining 

financing 

Cardon et al, 2009 displayed and perceived passion related to investor 

evaluations of funding 

potential 

Chen et al, 2009 passion, preparedness preparedness 

outweighed passion in 

VC decisions 

Cuddy et al 2010 body language, postures Listeners (non- 

investors) were more 

influenced by the way 

they feel about you 

less about the words 

6

Table 1. Research related to oral presentation criteria and impact on investor decisions 


Clark, 2008 quality, content, delivery style business angels 

Clarity, rapport with audience, investment interest 

ability to hold audience attention more related to 

presentational factors 

than non- 

presentational 

Elsbach & Kramer, 2003 passion Hollywood producers 

Categorized pitchers 

By type based on their 

passion 

Gregoire et al, 2008 perceptions of credibility, moderated impact of 

presentations’ organization, assessments of 

and structure management team 

quality 

Mason & Harriman, 2003 presentation skills clarity, content, 

and structure 

influenced angel 

investor decisions 

and interest 

Pentland 2010 enthusiasm, passion by ratings of orally 

Tone of voice presented business 

plans related to non- 

verbal communication 

7

Table 1. Research related to oral presentation criteria and impact on investor decisions 


Olguin & Pentland, sociometric data teams winning 

elevator pitch 

competition were 

more energetic, spoke 

more, were more 

consistent in their 

physical activity 

level, exhibited lower 

speech energy, and 

spent more of their 

time close to others a 

few days prior 

to actual competition 

Wiltbank et al, 2009 non-predictive control approach these subjective items 

including passion, honesty, in oral presentations 

enthusiasm, and trustworthiness influenced investor 

choices 

8

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

The literature review confirms earlier researchers’ conclusions that entrepreneurs’ oral 

presentations and pitches bring a different dimension to investors evaluations of investment 

opportunities. Investors themselves are sometimes unaware that they are being influenced by 

more subjective factors, even though they report making their decisions on more objective 

factors such as market size and competition. Furthermore, the limited research on entrepreneurs’ 

oral presentation effectiveness has examined a broad range of subjective criteria. 

The following are some recommendations for future research on investor decision-making, 

and in particular, the impact of oral presentations: 

1. Identify the key components of an effective pitch or presentation to investors. Current 

research examines a variety. 

2. Develop reliable measures of these components since reliability establishes the upper 

limits of validity. 

3. Examine the relationships of these reliable measures to measures of success such as being 

able to obtain additional meetings with investors, the investors’ interest in the 

opportunity, the investor’s decision to invest or not invest, and ultimately the 

performance and success of the venture. 

4. Separate the investor’s evaluation of the written formal business plan and an oral 

presentation. 

5. Re-assess what we are teaching in entrepreneurship courses. 

6. Develop a framework of investor decision-making that involves oral presentations. For 

example, it would be useful to examine differences in criteria between VCs and angel 

investors, differences in criteria at each stage of screening, 

7. Develop a taxonomy of the subjective criteria that investors used and that have been 

researched. 

8. Determine what impact presentation time limits have on investor decisions. 

By addressing some of these issues, we will be better able to understand investors’ use of 

subjective criteria in their screening and opportunity selection process. 

9

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12

21st Century Global Perspective for 

Culturally Relevant Curriculum 

Joyce Parks 

Indiana Institute of Technology 

Glenda Riley 

Indiana Institute of Technology 

ABSTRACT 

The United States higher education system ranked as one of the most influential academic institutions in the 

world as it pertains to students accessing a quality education (Morse, 2008). As global societies continue to 

develop and emerge in various countries, corporations are requiring diverse talents in the workforce, higher 

education institutions are being challenged to re‐evaluate their curriculum. The study will investigate 

implementing a skilled‐based curriculum, educators’ awareness of skills needed for the 21st century job market, 

educator’s cultural intelligence, and educational leaders’ responses to the challenges faced in implementing a 

curriculum that is culturally relevant. Researchers have posited that skills‐based curriculum that are culturally 

relevant meet the needs of a culturally diverse student body that will populate a global economy (Schwieger, 

Gros, & Barberan, 2010). Study results from Peter D. Hart Research Associates Incorporated will illustrate to 

higher learning institutions that focusing on a skills‐based curriculum will permit students to use those skills 

learned to function in a global society. Additionally, students will discern the importance of applying these 

skills to real‐world applications. This research describes a culturally relevant curriculum as a platform for 

students to build on their acquired knowledge to compete globally and have the talents necessary to be 

successful in the corporate world.

A Comparative Study of 

International and American 

Study Abroad Students’ 

Expectations and Experiences with Host Countries in 

Selected Institutions of Higher Education 

Jasmine Renner 

East Tennessee State University 

Evelyn Domville Roach 


ABSTRACT 

This was a comparative study of international and American study abroad students’ experiences and 

expectations with the host countries. The rationale for this study was to acquire a deeper understanding of 

different experiences of students who study abroad and to understand whether their expectations of the host 

country have an impact on their experiences. An opportunity sample of American study abroad and 

international students was selected from the United States student population and their expectations and 

experiences of the host country compared. 

The study addressed 6 research questions, using a mixed‐method approach. The principal instrument for the 

investigation was the Cross‐Cultural Participant Questionnaire conducted online. Associated hypotheses with 

the research questions were analyzed using Independent sample t‐tests and Paired samples t‐tests at an alpha 

level of .05 and the results were described using descriptive statistics. The open‐ended questions were analyzed 

according to established qualitative techniques. The survey was completed by 421 respondents comprised of 

155 international students, 252 American study abroad students, and 14 unknown labeled as others. 

The results of this study identified language fluency, building relationships with the host nationals, learning 

about a new culture, and personal change as significant expectations of the students. Overall, the students 

reported being satisfied with the services provided. International students were slightly more satisfied with 

access to support services than the American study abroad students. American study abroad students had 

experiences that closer matched their expectations of study abroad than was the case for international 

students.

A New Management Core Curriculum that 

Meets Student and Employer Needs 

Robert Desman 

Kennesaw State University 

Dorothy Brawley 


Thomas Kolenko 


Douglas R. Moodie 


ABSTRACT 

The management faculty considered that the core curriculum for Management majors at Kennesaw State 

University, was not meeting the needs of our students and their future employers. Previous research had 

delivered what the new core curriculum should deliver. The new core curriculum framework will move the 

department from unconnected courses to a new set on courses that are linked to each other and build on each 

other. The new core has four new courses that are in sequence and offers the students a choice of one from 

four existing international courses for the global aspect.

Academic Stress in Accounting Students: 

Development & Validation of an Instrument 

Zhenghong J. Hou 




ABSTRACT 

The proposed study will develop and validate an instrument to measure academic stress in accounting students. 

Academic stressors will be categorized, and under each category, items related to the category will be listed and 

used for constructing questionnaire. All the categories will be examined to investigate the relationship between 

the stressors and the stress level. The sample will consist of 400+ accounting students. 

Statistical analysis techniques like factor analysis and scree plots will be used to look at the dimensionality of 

the concept of academic stress. A scale will be developed and psychometrically tested. Validity and reliability 

will be tested. Expert panel input and pilot studies of our instrument show strong scale psychometric 

properties. The scale will be administered to accounting students in three different Midwestern universities. 

On administrating the scale, we expect the results to indicate that there are significant differences in terms of 

gender, age, and country of origin.

An Adventure in Active Learning: 

Understanding Organizational Change through the 

Lens of Individual Change 

Ellen West 

Portland State University 

ABSTRACT 

This article describes the management class, “Organizational Design and Change,” which examines change from 

the perspective of the individual, group, and organization. The author highlights the role that active learning 

plays in this class in helping students to understand the relationship between personal and organizational 

change. A variety of active approaches are used including improvisation, music, reflective writing, role playing, 

and small group‐based problem solving among others. They are wrapped around a major individual personal 

change project that involves students completing a behaviorally‐based change activity that reflects a fitness 

project, e.g., running, walking, lifting, etc. Strategies for learning are discussed as well as the results and 

evaluation of the success of the project.

An Applied Assessment of the Critical Value of 

Developing Publishing Strategies 

Darrell Norman Burrell 

Virginia International University 

Emad Rahim 

Morrisville State College 

Maurice Dawson 

Alabama A&M University 

ABSTRACT 

The successful ascension to faculty jobs, leadership jobs, and longevity in those roles often requires a strategic 

approach to publishing and career development. The reality is that publishing activity needs to occur for 

academic success. The challenge is that graduate students and faculty members often lack the role models and 

colleagues to help them develop an understanding on how to publish, how to develop career goals, and how to 

develop an academic career strategy that is prosperous and notable. 

For academics on the tenure track and many graduate students being too passive about publishing and 

developing their academic experiences could be fatal. The focus is on empowering faculty and graduate 

students to take the destiny of their future and academic careers in their own hands. 

Publishing is critical to academic opportunities. Publications also create a competitive advantage on a resume 

for future job opportunities, post doctoral fellowships, and administrative academic jobs. This 

paper/presentation used interviews to explore some progressive approaches that doctoral students and faculty 

are using to publish consistently.

An Econometrics Analysis on the 

Effect of Satisfaction for 

Foreign Graduate Students’ 

Academic Performance in Taiwan 

Cheng Ping Shih 

National Taiwan Normal University 

Denroy Tillett 


Nadine Lawrence 


ABSTRACT 

Taiwan has proven and continues to prove its economic prowess as a fast and well developed nation. One 

theory to account for this accomplishment is its continued success in developing its best natural resource ‐ its 

people ‐ through education. A continuum of this practice is the implementation of Higher Education and then 

International Higher Education. Since early 1990s, foreign students have been studying in Taiwan obtaining 

degrees in various academic disciplines at both undergraduate and graduate levels. However, a foreign student, 

like any other expatriate, may have problems adjusting to a new country. Therefore, this study examines the 

factors that cause foreign students’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction in adapting and adjusting to life in Taiwan and 

how those factors may further affect their academic performance. The research method used for data 

collection is a quantitative case study using the Student Satisfaction Questionnaire that was developed and 

piloted by the researchers. The population is ICDF higher education students who have been studying for at 

least one year in Taiwan and are doing courses in English. The response rate was 73.1%. The results indicate 

that a majority of the international students are satisfied (M = 3.63, SD = .66) where 60.5% could be described 

satisfied to very satisfied and only 7% as dissatisfied. Students’ nationalities, age and gender have no statistical 

significance to their performance. The main findings of this research should assist ICDF, the education 

institutions, and the Ministry of Education in making the transition and life of foreign students smoother. It may 

also assist future foreign students in preparation for adjusting and adapting to Taiwan. Finally, the study offers 

recommendations for all the parties involved and the researchers provide suggestions for future research that 

could aid in learning about the lives of foreign students in Taiwan.

An Empirical Investigation of 

Clicker Technology in 

Financial Accounting Principles 

�� 

�� State University 

�� 

Southeast Missouri State University 

ABSTRACT 

The effects of clicker‐use and active learning activities in the classroom on performance in financial accounting 

principles were examined. In addition, students’ perceptions of clicker‐use were evaluated against the 

literature. A repeated measure design was used to compare performance on four exams between a clicker 

group and a non‐clicker group, after controlling for GPA, SAT, gender, and age. A matched‐pair t‐test was used 

to compare the effects of clickers and peer‐instruction. 

The results indicate that the use of clickers, in and of themselves, do not produce significantly higher 

performance results for students. However, the integration of clickers with structured peer instruction, 

significantly affects students’ performance.

An Examination of Mid-term Grades as an 

Indicator of Final semester Grades 

Terry Joe Durham 


ABSTRACT 

Cumberland University post Mid‐term grades so students may know how they stand at mid‐semester in their 

courses. Certain students utilize this information and improve their overall performance in their courses while 

others do not. This presentation examines Mid‐term grades as an indicator of Final grade outcomes.

An Examination of Social Media Policy Usage of 

South Central United States’ Universities 

Donna Luse 


Thomas Hodge 


Virginia J. Eaton 


ABSTRACT 

Since the use of social media tools by universities has expanded exponentially, a university can easily find itself 

in a precarious situation in a moment’s notice because social media tools have been used inadvertently. This 

study investigated the social media policies of AACSB‐International accredited schools in the SREB South Central 

Region of the United States as posted on university web sites. Results from this study showed that although the 

majority of these universities have links to social media tools on their university web sites, a minimal number of 

universities have social media policies posted. Given the popularity of social media tools and the results of this 

study, it is evident that more universities need to develop and/or publish their policies on their web sites.

An Examination of the Influence of Sampling Frame and 

Sample Size on Variation in Empirical Findings 

Valerie McCay 

University of Montevallo 

Tom J. Sanders 

University of Montevallo 

ABSTRACT 

This study examined the influence of differences in the homogeneity of Sampling Frame and Sample Size 

individually and jointly on statistical significance of empirical findings. In essence, this study evaluated whether 

the number of statistically significant findings in an empirical study varied as the Sampling Frame became more 

homogeneous and the Sample Size increased and any joint effects. Sampling theory suggests that as the 

homogeneity of a Sampling Frame increases with regard to the phenomena of interest, thereby reducing 

extraneous confounding sources of variance, then it should be easier to identify statistically significant 

relationships if they exist. Sampling theory also suggests that as Sample Size becomes larger then there is a 

greater likelihood of finding statistically significant relationships if they are present. A large dataset from a prior 

study was reexamined by constructing new regression equations for three different Sampling Frames and four 

different Sample Sizes for each Sampling Frame. Findings indicated that there was no evidence to support 

variation in empirical finding related to homogeneity of Sampling Frame. There was limited evidence to support 

variation in empirical findings related to sample size, but it was not substantial. There was no evidence to 

support variation in empirical findings based on Sampling Frame and Sample Size jointly. Thus, this study did 

not support theoretical expectations of variation in empirical findings based on Sampling Frame and Sample 

size, individually or jointly.

An Exploration of Creative Teaching Approaches 

Required to Energize Working Adult 

Undergraduate and All Graduate Students 



Aikyna Finch 

Strayer University 

Emad Rahim 




ABSTRACT 

Assortment is not only the spice of life, it’s an essential ingredient for teaching students and engaging them 

effectively in a manner that will help them retain with they learn in their courses. The challenge is that many 

teachers teach in one style. They often do not balance their classroom instruction with an engaging 

combination of approaches that stimulates all of your learners’ senses the visual, auditory, reading‐writing and 

kinesthetic dimensions of learning. Teaching approaches that allow students to apply what they learn are most 

effective by giving assignments that help students see the larger implications of the course content. This paper 

provides contextual examples about how to use real world stories as a means of to engage graduate students, 

connect with them, and provide opportunities for the practical application of course content.

An Exploratory Study of College Professors’ Teaching Styles: 

China and USA 

Bailing Wang 

Dalian Maritime University 

Ginny Q. Zhan 


Douglas R. Moodie 


ABSTRACT 

This study examined college professors’ self‐reported teaching styles. Throughout history, Chinese professors 

have mainly used a top‐down teaching method that is consistent with a hierarchical social system dating from 

Confucian ideology (Rao, 2001). In the United States, there are more varied teaching methods that are 

considered more creative and less traditional (Dineen, 2008). However, recent research suggests that as the 

Chinese society is influenced by western educational practices, Chinese teaching styles may also have go 

through changes that the professors no longer use top‐down, teacher‐centered methods exclusively. In this 

study, we used an integrated teaching styles model developed by Grasha (2006) and compared teaching styles 

of Chinese and American professors. Ninety‐four Chinese college instructors from a comprehensive university in 

Northeastern part of China filled out a questionnaire on teaching styles. Their responses were compared to 

those reported by Grasha from American participants. Results indicate that overall, Chinese professors were 

more likely than American professors to use student‐centered methods, and less likely than Americans to use a 

top‐down approach. These results will be discussed in the context of changing social norms and educational 

systems. We believe more research needs to be conducted on the evolving educational methods in both China 

and USA.

Applying Learner-Centered Principles and Strategies: 

From Face to Face Instruction to a Hybrid Course Learning Format 

Darlene McDonough 

St. Bonaventure University 

ABSTRACT 

This paper discusses the transition from traditional face to face instruction to a hybrid format using the newly 

drafted 8 Standards of the Educational Leadership Constituents Council (2010) as guidelines for the curriculum, 

the 14 Learner Centered Principles (1997) from the American Psychological Association as elements for 

instructional delivery. Best practices for the development of comprehension in content areas from transitional 

face to face instruction in the areas of pre, during, and post reading in hybrid format instruction are used as 

examples including ways to provide differentiation of instruction (Tomlinson, 1999) These include strategies to 

increase prior knowledge needed to comprehend the concepts and various assessment methods to 

demonstrate knowledge gained through student choice of not only the method of presentation by also the 

topic based on prior knowledge, learning gained during the course, demographics of the school/district, current 

position, diversity, and interest.

Beyond the GMAT/GRE for 

Non-Traditional Applicants to 

Graduate Schools 

Bryan Hasty 


Gregory M. Schechtman 


ABSTRACT 

Increasing numbers of graduate school applicants have completed their bachelor's degrees through non‐ 

traditional methods. Demographically diverse, these often older students typically possess substantially more 

work experience than their traditional counterparts, frequently completing their undergraduate degree whilst 

fully employed. Indeed, according to the U.S. Department of Education (2002) 39 percent of postsecondary 

students were 25 years or older in 1999, up from 28 percent in 1970. Nontraditional students must overcome 

educational problems including: a limited number of classes they could take; diminished choice of classes; 

and/or limited library access, which has the potential to negatively affect their grades. This situation is further 

complicated by the greater likelihood of additional stressors such as working spouses, children, and their 

attendant demands on time. These influences, combined with a decreased exposure to traditional full‐time 

credit loads taken via traditional classroom sessions, hamper their transition into accelerated graduate school 

environments. Thus, the standard selection criteria of undergraduate GPA and GMAT/GRE scores do not seem 

to be as predictive of student success. This effort presents additional criteria, such as educational persistence, 

for use when evaluating such applicants. It advocates for changes to the GMAT/GRE score reporting formats to 

include subscores.

Blending Typologies to Enhance Student Learning: 

An Example from Business 

John V. Mullane 

Middle Tennessee State University 

ABSTRACT 

Many social science disciplines use typologies to make sense of and explain core concepts of their fields. While 

these typologies are valuable for student learning, this paper proposes that if instructors will make the effort to 

blend related typologies then classroom instruction, discussion, and student learning will be enhanced. 

Company examples are used to explore a blended typology from the business literature.

Budgeting and Organizational Trust in 

Canadian Universities 

Cynthia Simmons 

University of Calgary 

ABSTRACT 

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between budget processes and levels of organizational trust in 

universities. 

Design/methodology/approach: A series of semi‐structured interviews were conducted with senior 

administrative personnel in universities across Canada. 

Findings: A relationship exists between university administrators’ level of organizational trust and their views 

regarding the approach and value of the budgeting process at their institution. The trust levels are influenced by 

the correspondence between the stated goals and directions of the university with actual resource allocations, 

the level of influence the individual felt they had on the budget process, and the degree that the budget could 

be used to predict financial impacts under various scenarios. 

Research Limitations: The number of individuals interviewed limits the generalizability of the findings of this 

preliminary research to a broader environment. 

Practical Implications: The usefulness of budgets as a management tool is increased when users recognize that 

it functions as a broad communications medium. A university budget is more that a rational statement of 

resource allocations, both the manner in which it is developed and the financial information it presents can 

affect organizational trust. 

Originality/value: This study provides new information on the way budgets can affect the workings and 

organizational culture of the university. It shows that there is a relationship between budgets and 

organizational trust and presents evidence that individuals’ attitudes toward cost information differ from that 

of the budget itself.

Bullying and Mobbing in Academe: 

Challenges for Distance Education and Social Media Applications 

Jo Ann Oravec 

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 

ABSTRACT 

Bullying and mobbing have long and tangled societal roots. As these phenomena migrate to online realms, 

however, the complexities of these issues increase even further. Academic environments also introduce 

intricate dimensions to these concerns, especially involving privacy and freedom of expression. Academic 

institutions are legally and morally constrained in terms of student and employee privacy and free speech, 

which can make it difficult to protect victims and control the dissemination of often‐damaging information. 

However, bullying and mobbing incidents often provide “teachable moments” in academic life that can 

illuminate a variety of critical concerns if addressed quickly and with adequate resources. 

This presentation explores how bullying and mobbing are changing in character in virtual realms (including 

distance education platforms and “social media” such as Facebook). It provides solutions for faculty and 

administrative staff gained from recent research in online interaction. Bullying and mobbing are often directed 

toward those who express innovative ideas and perspectives, which makes their effects upon academic 

interaction particularly damaging. Online bullying and mobbing are especially detrimental in their effects on 

young people, who may not have available psychological mechanisms with which to cope. Images of bullying 

and mobbing in academic life presented in popular culture often provide mixed messages to students about the 

social and moral roles of bullies and victims.

Business Course Design: 

Do Business Students Have a Personality? 

Daniel L. Tracy 


De Vee E. Dykstra 


Rand Wergin 


ABSTRACT 

As an important stakeholder group in the academic process, students and their preferences should be 

considered when the instructor selects the various course design features. Although students are not the only 

stakeholders in the academic process, their receptiveness to classroom instruction is clearly a central focus of 

that process. This paper examines a large sample of business student data on their preferences with respect to 

fourteen controllable course design features. The preferences are examined in light of their relative ranked 

importance and relative intensity. Additionally, this paper uses the 3M Model of Motivation and Personality 

(Mowen 2000) to compare the personality traits of the sample student population to their course design 

preferences. This phase of the research reveals that personality traits partially describe variation in course 

design preferences. These findings should assist instructors in designing course parameters to meet student 

considerations without compromising an instructor’s personal choice and academic freedom.

Course Design Feature Selection by Key Stakeholders: 

Building a Better Supply Chain between 

Business and Academia 

Mark Rieman 

Fayetteville State University 

Daniel L. Tracy 


John Ed Knight 


ABSTRACT 

Many organizations consider their people to be their greatest resources. Consequently, companies and the 

suppliers that provide them with these human resources should be very closely linked through a carefully 

designed supply chain. For many companies, their sources of managerial, accounting, marketing, and financial 

talent flow directly from colleges and universities. Since those colleges and businesses are directly linked 

together in this human resource educational/ business supply chain, it is logical that they should aggressively 

work together in improving curriculum design and content that will result in students developing the skill sets 

necessary for success in the business world. 

This study demonstrates a method of creating a better supply chain between business and academia via 

improvement of the course design process. To do this, a large sample of students, professors, and business 

managers, the key stakeholders in a business student’s education, were asked their preferences with regard to 

certain controllable course design features. These preferences were then examined based on their relative 

ranked importance and relative intensity by each of these stakeholders. A decision tree was subsequently 

created with those stakeholders’ preferences in mind to aid in the selection of each course design feature, 

resulting in an improved business/academe supply chain.

Creating a Curriculum for Peace Economics 

Robert Reuschlein 

Lakeland College 

ABSTRACT 

Peace Economics creates a wonderful interdisciplinary new paradigm. It reflects the diversity of my own 

academic and political background. I needs coursework in math, physics, control theory, industrial engineering, 

finance, accounting, meteorology and global warming in the technical areas and psychology, sociology, political 

science, political economy, and economics in the social sciences, and lots of history and communications arts in 

the humanities. 

In my dissertation, "Peace Economics and Program Change in Undergraduate Peace Studies Programs" I clearly 

showed that relationships with people and departments matter more than finances and resources in developing 

a Peace Studies program. So I would make the program emphasize the ability to work in groups and 

communicate ideas through presentations, like an MBA program does. 

The relatively unexplored worlds of 1) military spending, the economy, and the end of empires and 2) global 

warming and the long cycle can then be taught in depth. The models that go the farthest in accuracy will have 

more meaning in the context of the teachings mentioned in the first paragraph. So an introductory class will 

proceed into two basic threads in the military and warming respectively and end with a capstone course.

Creating the Management Information System Degree of the Future 

Barcus Jackson 

University School District 





ABSTRACT 

The Management Information Systems (MIS) degree has evolved over the years however it has yet another 

evolution to occur in its curriculum. Institutions need to create programs that address global issues such as 

Open Source Software (OSS), globalization, emerging media, virtualization, entrepreneurship, and sustainability. 

The MIS degree has been thought of as a managerial degree within technology. For the MIS degree to be 

successful a better blend on management and technical skill competency needs to occur. Currently the view 

within various communities is that the MIS does not provide enough technical capabilities to go beyond that of 

an analyst. Thus the goal is to create a curriculum that allows a graduate to become a manager or grow into a 

technical Subject Matter Expert (SME) in their chosen specialization. The core courses shall be in specific 

advance areas of science, technology, and management science courses rather than a blend of everything. The 

specialization courses shall represent current trends for industry needs and those not yet present which allow 

the university to quickly adapt needed changes into degree curriculum.

Critical Issues Facing America’s Community Colleges: 

A Summary of the Community College Futures Assembly 2011 

Mixed Methods/Appreciative Inquiry Research Projec� 

Kenyatta Martin 


Hajara Mahmood 


Dale F. Campbell 

University of Florida 

Matthew J. Basham 


ABSTRACT 

For almost 20 years the Community College Futures Assembly (CCFA) has met annually in Orlando, Florida to 

serve as a showcase of best practices in community college administration and to serve as a think‐tank for 

research and policy. Through the years the research methodology has evolved. The 2011 CCFA used a mixed‐ 

methods approach: qualitative research was collected in several focus groups to produce quantitative 

categories for voting in the beginning and end of the conference on those critical issues facing community 

colleges. Between voting sessions the participants attended the showcases of the best practices as well as a 

presentation demonstrating the sustainability of the winning programs from the past year. Final voting was 

intended to determine if a relationship exists between the voting sessions based upon the presentations. The 

descriptive statistics reveal the participants feel very strongly about some sort of redefinition of “education 

completion” needing to be developed. Moreover, the findings also show a statistically significant difference on 

opinions of the critical issues facing community colleges based upon the generation of the subject. The findings, 

including opportunities and challenges, potential implications for community college administrators, and future 

research topics are also discussed.

Emerging Entrepreneurial Options Doctoral Degree Graduates: 

An Applied Research Exploration of 

Six Figure Incomes made from Teaching On-Line 



Emad Rahim 


Aikyna Finch 

Strayer University 



Zara Sette 

ZCS Design, LLC 

ABSTRACT 

Many professors are facing financial challenges at their campuses. These challenges have limited opportunities 

for pay raises and salary increases. These situations have created an environment that has forced faculty 

members to be more entrepreneurial about the value of their doctorate degree in the marketplace. Newly 

minted doctoral degree professionals in fields with very limited tenure track openings, are also realizing the 

need to think outside of the box to get teaching experience. 

Many doctoral faculties may not consider teaching on line as lucrative or may be elitist against teaching on‐line. 

Many doctoral‐degreed professionals at traditional universities are teaching making 4k to 7k a month teaching 

on the side of their other jobs or making full time career teaching on‐line with multiple universities. 

Online universities are sprouting up around the country and revolutionizing the way we teach and learn, and 

enterprising academics are cashing in. Traditional universities are offering more courses online and they need 

growing numbers of adjunct faculty to teach them. 

Today, more than eighty percent of learners have taken at least one online course, and those numbers continue 

to rise with about 4.6 million students taking at least one class online (Greer 2010). But rather than hire tenure‐ 

track professors, institutions are increasingly looking for part‐time, remote educators to teach online courses. 

By teaching multiple classes, you can make much more money than most full‐time tenured professors. 

This presentation focuses on the research results gained from on‐line faculty interviews to help those with a 

doctorate to really see opportunities out there to be an entrepreneur with their doctorates, knowledge, and 

teaching experience with the only business expense being their time and internet usage.

Empirical Investigation of Select 

Personality, Attitudinal, and Experience-Based Antecedents of 

Cultural Intelligence in 

Undergraduate Business Students 

Lada Kurpis 

Gonzaga University 

ABSTRACT 

Fostering cultural intelligence development in undergraduate business students should be one of the goals of 

diversity education in undergraduate business programs due to the demands of the increasingly global 

workplace of today. A number of personality‐based (e.g., self‐monitoring personality trait), attitudinal (e.g., 

preference for jobs involving a lot of intercultural interaction), or experience‐based (e.g., the experience of 

studying/living abroad) individual characteristics have been hypothesized to be potential antecedents of 

cultural intelligence. This study contributes to cultural intelligence research by proposing a few new potential 

antecedents and performing an empirical investigation of these and a few previously proposed but not yet 

empirically tested antecedents of cultural intelligence. Consistently with the hypotheses of the study, self‐ 

monitoring personality trait, belief in importance of global‐content business courses for future careers, prior 

experience of living/studying abroad, and preference for jobs involving intercultural interaction were positively 

related to cultural intelligence. Most of the hypothesized relationships between the antecedents and the 

specific components of cultural intelligence were supported by the data. Contrary to the expectations, however, 

preference for consistency personality trait was not related to cultural intelligence and its components. The 

implications of the study findings for developing students’ cultural intelligence are discussed.

Ethical Inclinations of Accounting and Marketing Students: 

Revisiting the Differences Decades and Scandals Later 

Mohan Menon 

University of South Alabama 

Alex Sharland 

University of South Alabama 

ABSTRACT 

In response to real world scandals and based on AACSB recommendations, many business schools have 

included ethics as part of their core curriculums. Yet their effectiveness seems mixed at best. The study 

compares two groups of business students whose professions seem to be at the forefront of many ethical 

lapses. The study, a replication of a similar study from 1992, provides hope for the future of business in that 

both accounting and marketing are not only similar in their perceptions but also have a heightened awareness 

of ethics.

Faculty Led 

New Zealand and Australia 

Sustainable Business Course Opportunities 

Jerry Furniss 

ABSTRACT 

The opportunity to lead students on study abroad trips involving business topics is broad and varied. Although 

most faculty and students think in terms of semester long exchanges or internships, there is increased student 

demand to engage in experiential, international field‐based education in shorter time frames than the 

traditional semester long process. Three to five week student study abroad programs are becoming more 

popular. Study abroad topics run the gamut from language and cultural education to international trade. One 

topic that is receiving increased attention is sustainable business practices. This paper provides insight into U.S. 

business faculty opportunities to lead students on an intensive three and one‐half week student abroad 

program exploring sustainable business practices and international trade in New Zealand and Australia. Topics 

explored include course design, content, in‐country logistics, collaborative arrangements with other U.S. 

universities, and present and future opportunities for business faculty and students.

Freshman Student Success Factors: 

An Empirical Study 

Paul C. Stumb 


Josh Hayden 


This paper presents an analysis of the fundamental parameters that impact freshman student success on the 

college campus. Included in this study are the following ten (10) independent variables – all of which are based 

on the LASSI instrument that has been adopted by many colleges and universities across the country: 

A. Skill component variables: 

1. information processing; 

2. selecting main ideas; 

3. test strategies 

B. Will component variables: 

4. anxiety; 

5. attitude; 

6. motivation 

C. Self‐regulation component variables: 

7. concentration; 

8. self testing; 

9. study aids; and 

10. time management 

ABSTRACT 

The LASSI framework is based largely on the work of Zimmerman, 1990; and Weinstein and Palmer, 2002. The 

data for these input variables was self‐reported by approx 165 freshmen students (n=165) at two distinct 

chronological points during the fall semester 2010. 

For purposes of this study, freshman success is defined by two dependent variables. These are: 

Grade Point Average (GPA); and 

Student Satisfaction–a 12‐item composite measure from a Cumberland‐developed survey taken by a majority of 

the same students in fall 2010 (n=120) 

Controlling for individual characteristics such as gender and parents level of education, the authors have 

identified that several of the input variables are closely correlated (p < 0.05) with the dependent success 

variables in either a direct linear or inverse manner. These include: low anxiety, time management, motivation 

and concentration. While these findings are not particularly surprising, it is noteworthy that the authors found 

no statistically significant relationship for several of the other input variables. Specifically, and somewhat 

surprisingly, the following variables were not correlated with student success as measured by either GPA and/or 

student satisfaction: information processing, selecting main ideas, test strategies, study aids, self testing and 

attitude. The authors consider the implications of these results on pedagogy for teaching freshman courses and 

administering first‐year programs that enhance the student learning experience. Details of the data collection, 

analytical methods employed, conclusions drawn, and recommendations for additional research are fully 

explored in this paper.

From Online Student to Online Instructor: 

Assistive Strategies 

Jodi McKnight 

Mid-Continent Universsity 

ABSTRACT 

With the influx of online learning opportunities, online students and instructors are faced with a variety of 

challenges. Online learners face the same challenges as due face‐to‐face learners, but by facing them in an 

online context, the interpretations of those challenges can lead to the success or failure of their overall 

educational experience. Similarly, online instructors must use the experience they accumulate and transform 

that into an online environment. Challenges for online learners are described, as well as virtual implementation 

strategies for online instructors.

Guns on Campus: 

The Developing Trend in State Legislation 

Donna Cunningham 

Valdosta State University 

ABSTRACT 

Following the shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech in 2007, many universities proposed to ban weapons 

from their campuses. However, all but one of those efforts failed. Two recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme 

Court apply the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms to private citizens for protection or other legal uses. 

But one of those decisions noted that schools and government buildings are “sensitive places,” where a ban on 

weapons might be constitutional. Guns rights advocates have consistently opposed any effort to ban weapons 

from campuses. Now, a number of pending legislative proposals in states around the country seek to 

proactively prevent campuses from banning guns on campus. A review of these proposals, a report on their 

status, and the likelihood of passage of each bill is discussed. Other steps which might be taken by universities 

to prevent injuries and deaths because of guns are also discussed.

Identifying Facets of Technology Satisfaction: 

Measure Development and Application 

Joyce Njoroge 

Drake University 

Andrew Norman 


Inchul Suh 


Diana Reed 


ABSTRACT 

As institutions of higher learning, universities must devote significant resources in developing intellectual capital 

in the use of educational technology to sustain their viability. To better understand satisfaction in technology 

used in classrooms, a psychometric instrument was developed to identify and measure the specific factors of 

satisfaction with the technology in a business school setting. Additionally, this instrument is employed on a 

sample of business students as a means of reporting satisfaction levels with educational technology. We show 

that students’ satisfaction with educational technology is related to four main factors: Proficiency, assessment, 

performance, and preference toward Web‐courses.

Improving Financial Reporting with 

Required Financial Ratio Disclosure 

Charles E. Frasier 

Lipscomb University 

Jeff Mankin 


Jeff Jewell 


ABSTRACT 

The FASB Conceptual Framework states that a primary objective of financial reporting is "to provide 

information that is useful in credit and investment decision‐making." In addition, a fundamental qualitative 

characteristic is "relevance." And it is implied, if not stated, that financial reporting should provide information 

that is "understandable, timely, and comparable." Over the past several years, financial statements have been 

significantly modified to reflect additional complex disclosures in areas such as fair value reporting, FIN 48 

income tax positions, and other significant areas. Even a cursory examination of a public company's financial 

statements and related notes conveys the presence of a highly complicated document that is generally not user 

friendly. Many aspects of financial reporting have remained reasonably constant over many years providing a 

level of consistency that is expected by most financial statement users. Included in this "consistent" reporting 

approach are the two ratios required to be reported by public companies: 1) earnings per share (EPS) and 2) 

ratio of earnings to fixed charges, with only EPS actually appearing in the financial statements and not in the 

footnotes. This paper seeks to present a case for including several common ratios in financial reports. 

Textbooks and analysts have used many common ratios for many years to provide more relevance, 

understandability, and usefulness in the interpretation of financial information. We believe serious 

consideration should be given to the incorporation of other common ratios into required financial reporting. 

Financial reports may not be serving financial statement objectives without disclosing certain financial ratios. 

Recent research indicates that there is a lack of uniformity and agreement among textbooks, financial services, 

and analysts about which ratios are critical in decision‐making and that significant confusion exists in the 

uniform calculation of ratios. However, notwithstanding that issues persist in the identification and calculation 

of ratios, we strongly believe that current financial reporting practice should reflect additional ratio analysis.

Institutionalizing Service Learning: 

A Comparison of the President’s Higher Education 

Community Service Honor Roll Institution 

Raul Leon 

University of Southern Mississippi 

Thelma J. Roberson 


Kimberly Murphy 


ABSTRACT 

Too often, colleges and universities undertake initiatives without first investigating the work of peer 

institutions. Generally, these institutions, are dealing with similar issues and too, are searching for solutions that 

will allow them to effectively manage emerging challenges such as a changing student population, scarce 

resources, promoting student learning, issues of retention, and other important concerns. Adding to this list, is 

a growing emphasis on the importance of preparing students to deal with local and global issues. In response, 

service learning has emerged as an ideal vehicle linking the classroom experience to the local environment 

(Bringle & Hatcher, 2000). This paper provides higher education professionals a look at how some nationally 

recognized institutions are institutionalizing service learning on their campuses. Specifically, this paper presents 

the findings of a review of institutions recognized for their service‐learning initiatives through the President’s 

Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. This award is given each year to only a handful of colleges and 

universities for their commitment to volunteering, service learning, and civic engagement. This session will 

focus on the service‐learning aspects among this select group and can provide valuable insights to those 

considering implementing or improving service‐learning programs at their institutions. 

The study began with a review of the literature (e.g., Bringle & Hatcher, 2002; Furco 2001, 2002, & Zlotkowski, 

1996) and included a definition of service learning and its theoretical base. The researchers created a matrix of 

service‐learning standards and best practices, and used this information to modify Furco’s (2002) rubric for 

institutionalized service learning. Participant institutions (n= 21) were identified from The Corporation for 

National and Community Service’s webpage and included President’s Honor Roll recipients for 2006‐2009. 

Information about service‐learning initiatives was gathered from each institution’s websites. Similarities and 

differences that emerged across institutions were noted in this study.

Is there a Negative Correlation between 

Students’ Extraversion and Intuitive Personality Traits and their Performance 

in Business Statistics? 

Robert Cutshall 


Joseph S. Mollick 


ABSTRACT 

We use the literature on personality and temperament to hypothesize that students’ performance in a business 

statistics course is lower for students who are highly extravert. A second hypothesis we develop and test is that 

students’ high level of intuitiveness is negatively related to students’ performance in a business statistics 

course. Data from a sample of 89 students support the two hypotheses that extraversion and intuitive 

personality traits are negatively related to students’ performance in a business statistics course. Implications for 

educators and learners of business statistics are discussed.

Leader Derailment in Academe: 

Does the Training Match the Problems? 

Feruzan Irani Williams 

Georgia Southern University 

Constance R. Campbell 


Carl Gooding 


William McCartney 


ABSTRACT 

Leader derailment of middle managers in higher education is most often attributable to self‐defeating 

behaviors (SDBs) and problems with interpersonal relationships (PIRs). This study attempted to determine 

whether training provided for middle managers in Academe sufficiently addresses these issues. Our findings 

suggest that while little more than half the responding institutions provided some sort of training to first‐time 

administrators; it was focused mostly on administrative issues. Less than half of the surveyed institutions 

offered any kind of training relating to PIRs or SDBs. We end the paper with recommendations and suggestions 

for improvements in training programs aimed at decreasing the incidence of leader derailment in Academe.

Learning Across Disciplines through International Documentaries 

Leticia E. Peña 

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 

ABSTRACT 

With increasing demand, university‐wide committees are being formed to develop on‐going campus programs 

to promote cultural competence and international awareness. The Select Committee on Internationalization 

(SCI) at the University of Wisconsin‐La Crosse (UWL) was assigned such a task as part of the university’s 

strategic plan. My presentation aims to discuss how SCI spearheaded an international film festival covering the 

four contemporary themes of Sustainability, Human Rights, Health Issues and Globalization successfully enough 

to garner the prestigious university award for the most valuable international partnership of 2011. My 

presentation will focus on the following two questions: What can other interested universities learn from our 

experience facilitated by United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF) in order to internationalize their 

curriculums across disciplines? Might the pace of internationalization in higher education be accelerated by 

bringing the world to the university instead of only to limited internationally oriented classes? An example of 

learning outcomes from an Organizational Behavior and Theory (OB/OT) class will be given.

Learning Style Preference of 

Nigerian University Undergraduates: 

Implications for New Faculty Development Model 

Grace C. Offorma 

University of Nigeria 

Chidi Onyia 

Orglearning, USA 

ABSTRACT 

Learners’ preference for particular learning style continues to interest scholars. Every learning community 

attempts to provide the structure and process that will lead to the emergence of successful students and quality 

faculty. Learners preferentiality take in and process information in diverse ways whilst faculty instructional 

methods also vary presenting the possibility for mismatching instructional methods with learners’ preferences 

leading to ineffective learning and overall achievement underperformance. New faculty professional 

development will become more effective if it presents strategies that meet the learning needs and style of 

students in the teacher education faculties in Nigerian universities. The purpose of this study is to identify the 

learning style preference of Nigerian undergraduates which will be used for new faculty professional 

development models in faculties of education in Nigerian universities. A modified version of Honey and 

Mumford Learning Styles Questionnaire containing 80 items was administered to to five hundred Nigerian 

university undergraduates of the Faculty of Education, to identify their learning style preferences. Data 

collected were analyzed through mean scores. The variables studied are the students’ entry mode, gender and 

area of specialization. Honey and Mumford Learning Style Questionnaire have been used in the past to assess 

student learning styles in different disciplines. The Honey and Mumford Learning Style Questionnaire was 

chosen for the student empirical survey while another instrument was used for faculty interview. The results 

will be discussed and recommendations made regarding the application of learning instruments and the lessons 

that can be learnt regarding meeting students’ learning needs and its implication for developing effective 

professional development models for new faculty, pointing to areas for further research.

Lilly Ledbetter: 

Implications for Discrimination in Higher Education 

Phyllis A. King 

Southeastern Louisiana University 

Dawn Wallace 


ABSTRACT 

The purpose of this paper is to present the implications that the Lilly Ledbetter Act of 2009 can have on 

institutions of higher education that have engaged in past wage discrimination, whether knowingly or not. 

While Title IX, the Equal Pay Act, and other laws have provided those who have been discriminated against a 

means for remedying the discriminatory action, they imposed time limits for individuals to seek remedy. The 

Lilly Ledbetter Act provides clarification that, with each new paycheck that reflects the discriminatory act, the 

time limit resets. Along with an explanation of the Lilly Ledbetter Act, this paper provides summaries of key 

cases in higher education that have paved the way toward equality, as wells as answered questions about 

practices in higher education that have worked to perpetuate the existence of discriminatory acts.

Manipulative and Reflection Techniques Combine to 

Develop Deeper Understanding of Abstract Concepts 

Lisa Bussom 

Widener University 

ABSTRACT 

The use of manipulative techniques to teach a variety of topics is fairly well documented. Whether Legos© are 

used to develop an understanding of linear programming or M&Ms© are used to explain the basics of 

probability theory, each of the techniques have a similar characteristic in common–engaging the student on a 

kinesthetic level. The instructors who use these techniques have reported significant positive student outcomes 

from their use including: higher attendance rates, improved retention of basic concepts and increased 

enthusiasm for the subject. In most cases, a significant majority of students will indicate that the ‘hands‐on’ 

exercise was worthwhile and should be used in future classes. 

Another well‐documented technique, the directed reflective essay, has also shown to be effective in engaging 

the student. This technique requires that the student, upon completion of a project, consider his/her reactions 

to the different aspects of the assignment. By enhancing the manipulative technique with the use of a reflective 

essay, it is possible to keep the student engaged beyond the specific tasks needed to complete the ‘hands‐on’ 

project. By directing the student to think about the underlying concepts that are tied to those tasks, the 

concepts are reinforced, resulting in a fuller understanding of the material. 

This paper demonstrates the use of the combined techniques of a manipulative project along with a short, 

directed, reflective essay within a junior level business course.

Memorable Messages as Vehicles for 

Same-Gendered Leadership Mentoring in 

Postsecondary Education 

Stacy Edds-Ellis 

Owens Community College 

Ric Keaster 


ABSTRACT 

This qualitative study provides insight into the perspective of female leaders in higher education who have 

participated as protégés in same‐gendered dyads in a nationally recognized formal mentoring program. Data 

collected through interviews reveals the memorable messages received and gender‐related advice offered by 

mentors. Examining the types of mentoring messages and advice exchanged in a same‐gendered formal 

mentoring program in higher education provided insight into educational leadership and illuminated 

perceptions about achieving success and balance as female leaders.

Open Source Software to 

Assist Lower Socioeconomic K-12 Schools 

Larry Mcdaniel 




Barcus Jackson 

University School District 

Laura Russell-Richerzhagen 

Faulkner University 

ABSTRACT 

As many areas in America are rapidly losing funding for technological advances in education, we as educators 

have to be innovative. The Republic of Macedonia is utilizing Edubuntu in all primary and secondary schools for 

a program titled Computer for Every Child which started in 2008. Open Source Software (OSS) could be the 

answer in providing lower socio economic schools a competitive edge to continue to compete for a 

technological standpoint. OSS is software developed in a collaborative and public environment. OSS is freely 

available software that is generally under the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL). With this license there is 

never a charge however any modifications must follow the associated license with the software. This research 

is to provide an alternative solution to resource limited schools and ensure the competitiveness of American 

children as our society becomes more global.

OpenCourseWare and Open Educational Resources: 

The Next Big Thing in Technology-Enhanced Education 

Jason G. Caudill 

Carson-Newman College 

ABSTRACT 

OpenCourseWare (OCW) and Open Educational Resources (OER) are two new and closely related educational 

technologies. Both provide open access to learning materials for students and instructors via the Internet. 

These are for the moment still very young technologies. While they have grown dramatically in just ten years 

there is still relatively little literature about their application in higher education. This paper will introduce the 

technologies, discus their potential, and offer some concepts for where researchers may take the topic in the 

future.

Problem-Based Learning, Scaffolding, and Coaching: 

Improving Student Outcomes through Structured Group Tim� 

Lynn M. Murray 

Pittsburg State University 

ABSTRACT 

Live‐client projects are increasingly used in marketing coursework. However, students, instructors, and clients 

are often disappointed by the results. This paper reports an approach drawn from the problem‐based learning, 

scaffolding, and team formation and coaching literatures that uses favor of a series of workshops designed to 

guide students in developing marketing plans for their non‐profit client. The workshops produced marketing 

plans that were more actionable than those developed in an experiential learning environment without 

scaffolding or those completed outside of class. An example of the scaffolding technique is provided.

Service Learning Positively Impacts 

Student Involvement, Retention, and Recruitment 

Tink Lucy-Bouler 

Auburn University 

Thomas Lucy-Bouler 

Auburn University Montgomery 

ABSTRACT 

Universities struggle with how to get students more involved and active in the university and community. 

Providing projects that just collect cans or raise money for a cause, while admirable, are not teaching the 

students how to be active, how to conduct projects, and give them connections to the community. This paper 

will describe service learning projects that actually are planned, managed and executed by the students. As 

students get involved in these projects a sense of community on campus develops which helps with retention, 

recruitment and future involvement in other projects.

Should Boards of Accountancy 

Be More Concerned with the 

Quality of Accounting Education 

Obtained By Candidates for 

The Uniform CPA Exam? 

Ernie Moser 


B. Wynne Griffin 

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company 

Mary Geddie 


Richard Griffin 


ABSTRACT 

The purpose of this paper is to examine the quality in the first “of the ‘Three Es’ – Education, Examination, and 

Experience – that constitute the requirement for CPA licensure. (AICPA 2011) Each board of accountancy 

establishes the requirements for licensure within its jurisdiction. The requirements address which institutions’ 

accounting, business, and general education course credits may be obtained to meet the educational 

requirements to sit for the Uniform CPA Exam. In all but five of the 55 boards of accounting, the educational 

institutions must be accredited by at least one of several accrediting agencies. This study examines the type of 

accreditation institutions must possess in order for their students to qualify for both sitting for the CPA exam 

and licensure as a CPA. In addition, the study examines the suggested educational accreditation levels proposed 

by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy.

Should Personality Play a Role in Academic Admissions? 

Shawn Keough 

University of New England 

Carl Maertz 

Saint Louis University 

ABSTRACT 

Increasing numbers of applicants are causing university administrators to consider other evaluation tools than 

those traditionally used for admission. This study uses hierarchical regression to evaluate personality dimension 

contributions on academic performance in a business school. Results indicate strong support for 

conscientiousness and openness to experience impacting academic performance. Additionally, personality is 

shown to have incremental validity over traditional measures in predicting academic performance. Finally, 

personality dimension differences between African‐Americans and Caucasians are examined to verify 

personality dimensions are unbiased according to race. Only extroversion was found to be different. 

Implications for personality assessment in academic admissions are discussed.

Student Rudeness & Technology: 

Going Beyond the Business Classroom 

Barbara Schuldt 


Susie S. Cox 


Jeffrey Totten 


C. Mitchell Adrian 

Longwood University 

ABSTRACT 

This exploratory study examines how society is adapting to an invasion of personal technology. Specifically, the 

paper reports a pretest study about incivility and the use of personal technology. Findings from this study are 

useful in providing initial views on demographic differences concerning perceptions about incivility and 

rudeness in the workplace, religious settings and classroom settings.

Success in a Minor Key: 

Using Minors to Enhance Your Academic Program 

David W. Denton 


William E. Rayburn 


ABSTRACT 

The purposeful use of academic minors can enhance your overall program. In particular, using minors without 

corresponding majors or concentrations has been overlooked as a means to strengthen a program and promote 

collaboration. The authors have worked with three such minors – two new and one redesigned – that are 

unique within their university. Rather than look at minors as having limited benefit or as an after‐thought to a 

more dominant program of study, the authors suggest that these minors can enhance your program and 

institution in ways that include building enrollment in current courses, promoting interdisciplinary study, and 

helping to recruit new students. Further, a unique minor can serve as a test case for content that you later 

develop into a major or concentration. Also, minors may offer fewer barriers to approval than majors or 

concentrations. The authors offer a checklist to evaluate the potential of minors and to assess the 

opportunities and challenges.

Survival in the Academic Jungle: 

A Behavioral Perspective 



William B. Carper 


William W. Whitaker 

University of Cincinnati 

ABSTRACT 

This paper provides the perspective of three senior business professors regarding the opportunities and 

obstacles a young professor faces as he or she embarks on a career as a faculty member in a business school. 

The paper addresses the “life cycle of a faculty member”; the impact of accrediting agencies, specifically AACSB 

International; the impact of the performance appraisal process; and the occasional necessity of “moving on”.

Teaching Global Financial Scandals in History: 

Generating Interest across Disciplines 

Carolyn Reichert 

The University of Texas at Dallas 

Allen Reichert 

Otterbein University 

ABSTRACT 

How do you design an upper level undergraduate course which appeals to both history and finance majors, 

allowing them to learn from each other? Could such a class be delivered on‐line? Our proposed course would 

use financial scandals to: 

Tie historical and recent events. How are these events similar? How are they different? Are there common 

economic patterns in history? What can the collapse of the railroad boom and subsequent panic of 1893 tell 

students about current financial structures? 

Give business students exposure to historical events and how they shaped the business environment. How do 

current events shape the current economic climate? 

Look beyond the U.S. borders to include international examples. What can the collapse of the Icelandic banks, 

the 1995 failure of Barings Bank, or India’s Satyam accounting scandals tell students about finance at a global 

level? 

Give history students exposure to financial markets and how economics can shape historical events. This 

provides an additional perspective on viewing historical information. For example, how did Barings bank 

policies tie into the political instability of 1880s Argentina? 

The authors want to generate discussion on the scope and focus of this course. How broadly do you define 

scandal? What types of scandals/crises to include? What major historical events and markets should be 

included in the course? How much background needs to be provided to help students understand the context – 

definitions, setting, etc.? In particular, what would make this course attractive across disciplines? While we 

have ideas on these areas, we would like additional input in narrowing the focus to make the course appealing 

across both groups of students.

Teaching Philosophies and Learning Styles: 

Important Reflections 

Jean Price 

Marshall University 

ABSTRACT 

Research has shown the importance of students’ different learning styles. VARK is a short survey instrument 

designed by Fleming and Mills (1992) to determine sensory modality preferences when processing information 

(i.e., instructional preferences). Results indicate an individual’s dominant learning style: Visual, Aural, 

Read/Write, or Kinesthetic. Another survey instrument (Axelrod, 1973) evaluates one’s teaching philosophy, 

identifying four approaches to teaching: person‐centered, intellect‐centered, content‐centered, and instructor‐ 

centered. Not only is it important for educators to be aware of their students’ learning styles, but they should 

also be cognizant of their own teaching styles. However, being aware of our approach to teaching is only the 

first step. Reflecting on how our teaching styles relate to our students’ learning styles should enhance our 

effectiveness in the classroom.

Testing Social Constructivism in an 

Experiential Business Curriculum: 

Working with Mentors in an Academic Classroom to 

Improve Student Engagement and Learning 

Richard Halstead 


Mark F. Uchida 


Rita J. Uchida 


ABSTRACT 

Curriculum change for Butler University’s College of Business (COB) was guided by the mantra “Real life, Real 

business.” A research based approach was used to develop a sophomore level course “Real Business 

Experience” (RBE), a required part of the COB curriculum. Assessment is based upon indicators of student 

engagement, attitude change and content mastery. Information gathered to date is reported for 187 student 

business‐team mentoring experiences. Results suggest that utilizing this social constructivist approach is 

successful for positively impacting student engagement and learning. 

A key strategy for implementing social constructivism is to develop a learning community for each and every 

class. An important part of RBE’s continuing success in creating a learning community is that each mentor 

works with an assigned student business team. An effective learning community requires input and 

engagement of all involved: students, mentors and lead‐instructors alike. Social constructivism allows for no 

passengers. All should be learners. 

For the 2010‐2011 academic year attention focused on empowering mentors for their role in encouraging and 

guiding engagement of all students in their business team, from the most dominating to the most passive of 

students. Specific techniques for fostering opportunities for mentors to engage in the ongoing day‐to‐day 

classroom interactions with students were developed and helped to create mentor‐team communities that 

could navigate the storms of developing a viable, fundable business. 

Challenges for working with mentors in the classroom include: 1) how to proactively incorporate mentor 

energy and input in every class meeting, 2) how to train new and experienced mentors, 3) how to recruit 

mentors, 4) how to work with and supervise mentors as part of the instructional/learning process, 5) dealing 

with team conflict, and 6) evaluation and feedback in response to students’ written and oral work. 

The effort of proactively engaging mentors has proven to be challenging and rewarding because of the overall 

positive impact on student engagement and learning.

The Relationship between Music and Programming 

Elizabeth Riley 

Macon State College 

Julie Santiago 

Macon State College 

ABSTRACT 

Over the course of nearly ten years of teaching introductory programming classes, the authors of this study 

noticed that many programming students were also musicians. A review of literature finds previous research 

indicating an association between the study of music and success in math. Additionally, math has long been 

associated with programming, both in the research literature and in technology curriculums worldwide. The 

authors of this paper will, therefore, investigate whether a relationship exists between the study of music and 

ability in programming. This research is a work‐in‐progress; the current paper will present a review of literature 

and a proposed methodology for data collection and analysis.

The Role of the iPad in 

Graduate Management Education 

Owen P. Hall 

Pepperdine University 

ABSTRACT 

Providing world‐class graduate management education in today’s global environment is an ongoing challenge. 

One approach for meeting these challenges is through the increased use of learning support technologies. 

Mobile learning (M‐learning) embraces many options for presenting content and interacting with students in 

both individual and collaborative contexts. M‐learning systems are well‐suited to meet the challenges 

associated with graduate management education since they provide instructional content at a time, location 

and pace convenient to the student. Today, the use of m‐learning throughout graduate management education 

is growing rapidly. 

The primary purpose of this presentation is to outline the future role of iPad and similar mobile learning 

systems in a graduate management education environment. This presentation is designed based on the 

following three learning paradigms. 

A Theory of Mobile Learning (Sharples, 2005). This theory offers a framework about mobile learning as a 

complement to, classroom, workplace and informal learning. A related aim is to identify new environments and 

technologies to support mobile learning. 

Instructional Management System (IMS) cooperative initiative (Graves, 1999). This initiative is designed to 

promote systematic thinking regarding the delivery of higher education, to improve learning outcomes, and to 

increase return on instructional investments. The IMS initiative calls for the increased use of mobile 

technologies to promote integrated learning and to provide customized content. 

E‐Learning Success Model (Delone, 2003). This model suggests that the overall effectiveness of mobile learning 

depends on the attainment of success at each of three stages: system design, system delivery, and system 

outcomes. The effective use of mobile learning will require the integration of all three stages. 

Mobile learning systems like the iPad offer students engaged in graduate management education both a 

customized and an integrated learning experience. Recent data suggests that students using m‐learning 

technologies perform as well compared to the traditional classroom environment M‐learning also supports both 

energy and environmental sustainability. The inefficient use of fossil fuel energy in commuting to campus 

coupled with the high energy content associated with the production and distribution of printed materials 

suggests an expanded role for m‐earning. Increasing the use of m‐learning throughout higher education can 

contribute to the goal of achieving sustainable growth in a globalized economy as well as improve learning 

outcomes. This session is design for those individuals that are interesting in embracing the m‐learning model for 

graduate management education. Recent empirical evidence from the use of iPads in a graduate management 

course will highlight the presentation.

The Role of the Private Universities in 

Globalization Process: 

Case Study of Azerbaijan 

Birol Topuz 

Qafqaz University 

ABSTRACT 

Globalization is a universal process that involves standardization across cultures that happens as technology, 

migration, and education become dispersed around the globe. This development recommends that finally the 

world will evolve into greater levels of likeness or homogenization (McCabe, 2001). As it is known that 

globalization influences every part of higher education throughout increased demand, diversified student 

bodies, and a growing private part. Globalization has used a major impact on many aspects of universities. 

Private universities of higher learning are as vital as the public ones in setting up Azerbaijan as an educational 

center in the Caucasia

The Value of Significant Learning Strategies in 

Undergraduate Education 

Charles M. Coco 

Tuskegee University 

ABSTRACT 

Learning taxonomies can assist faculty in developing course structures that promote enhanced student learning 

in the cognitive and affective domains. Significant Learning is one approach to course design that allows for 

development in six key areas: Foundational Knowledge, Application, Integration, Human Dimension, Caring, and 

Learning How to Learn. These six dimensions can be explored in a non‐hierarchical manner, which enables 

faculty to choose a particular area of concentration without a strict progression of learning. This paper will 

highlight the value of developing Significant Learning strategies in undergraduate education.

Undergraduate College Student’s Spreadsheet Project Performance: 

A Comparison Between Business and Non-business Majors 

Phillip D. Coleman 


Evelyn Thrasher 


Kirk Atkinson 


ABSTRACT 

The purpose of this study is to explore the potential impact of support materials on student spreadsheet skill 

acquisition. Specifically, this study examines whether there are any significant differences between mean scores 

of two groups of undergraduate students defined by whether their major is business‐related or not. This study 

hypothesizes that the business major will perform significantly better that the non‐business discipline student. 

Student performance was measured using scores on 10 individual spreadsheet projects. Significant differences 

were observed between the groups for only two of the ten projects, but further research is needed to identify 

additional factors that may influence these findings. Additionally, business majors were examined based upon 

their actual discipline and there was no significant difference between the disciplines.

Understanding Graduate Student Retention: 

Issues and Challenges for the Academic Units 

Lisa Bussom 


Roberta D. Nolan 


ABSTRACT 

Graduate retention is the purview of the individual academic units. Research into student retention has typically 

been the domain of the undergraduate programs. While it is possible to apply undergraduate retention 

research to graduate students, there are key differences in the populations. Undergraduate schools have a 

central admissions office with admissions counselors and offices that provide programs that create a ‘freshman 

experience’ for incoming students. For graduate programs, it is the academic unit that is responsible for the 

admissions decisions as well as orientation, advising, and student activities. 

This presentation demonstrates how one institution is developing techniques that can be used by academic 

units to understand retention challenges that can lead to creating appropriate retention strategies for its 

graduate programs.

Using Accounting Reform to Stimulate 

Sustainability Practices in Higher Education: 

A Sociological Analysis of Financial Storytelling 

Elizabeth A. Lange 

St. Francis Xavier University 

Stephen G. Kerr 

Bradley University 

ABSTRACT 

There is a lot of interest within university communities to adopt sustainable practices. Sustainable values often 

come into conflict with or are shown to be inefficient in financial reports. The paper explores financial reports 

as an economic language that is based upon the agency relationship that exists between investors and 

organizational managers. We give specific examples that illustrate how sustainable values fall outside of the 

historic boundaries of that relationship. The efforts to create more sustainable institutions of higher learning 

are held back because of this. Several suggestions are given as to how sustainable values can be integrated into 

the process of financial processes and reporting. A goal of a sustainable community can be more easily 

achieved if it works with, rather than against, the underlying relationship that forms the basis of the current 

systems that are used to tell our financial story.

Using Beliefs and Values to Enhance Academic Leadership: 

How Spiritual Leadership Increases Professional Effectiveness 

Sherwood Thompson 

ABSTRACT 

The spiritual leader is not generally a man or woman of the clergy; the spiritual leader is not necessarily a 

person associated with a faith‐based organization; instead, the spiritual leader is a person who has higher 

expectations and higher anticipation of things to come than a leader who only relies on the mechanics of 

management techniques to move people into action. The spiritual leader can be characterized as a caring 

individual who does not want to deliberately hurt another person. He or she would never want to be mean, 

cruel, or insensitive. The spiritual leader always treats people with kindness and generosity and promotes the 

greater good for those whom he or she directs. This characteristic—leading by showing concern for others and 

being responsive to the needs of others— is exemplary leadership competence. 

The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate how academic leaders can motivate and excite 

administrative excellence on college campuses by using spiritual leadership techniques. The presentation will 

demonstrate how academic leaders can exude passion in their administrative methods using emphatic 

leadership strategies to increase professional effectiveness. I will discuss examples from best practices in the 

research literature and from my own experiences and personal perceptions of the phenomenon of spiritual 

leadership. This presentation will spark a discussion about the relevance of spiritual leadership in the twenty‐ 

first century.

What do Higher Education Administrators Consider Useful 

Regarding Student Ratings, Limitations, and Recommendations 

Azadeh Safavi 

Universiti Putra Malaysia 

Kamariah Hj Abu Bakar 


Rohani Ahmad Tarmizi 


ABSTRACT 

In addition to instructors, administrators are typically recognized as other major users of student ratings. 

Although issues on the subject of student ratings from instructors’ perspectives have been extensively 

researched, studies dealt with student ratings from administrators’ perspectives have been largely ignored. In 

this study, the types of ratings information that administrators considered useful, their opinion about student 

ratings, and their concerns regarding the limitations of the information provided by the current instrument 

were investigated. The total population was 141 Deans, Deputy Deans, and Department Heads at 15 faculties of 

a major Malaysian research university and 110 of them were surveyed, with a response rate of 80%. Responses 

were subjected to the principal component analysis followed by the Varimax rotation and five types of feedback 

were considered useful by administrators for the administrative purposes regarding teaching. Although 

administrators were in agreement with the current ratings’ form on providing useful feedback for their 

administrative purposes (78.4%), their recognition of the rating’s limitations obtained professional suggestions 

for the use of student ratings more effectively.

Who’s Reading Your Wall? 

The Relationships among User Characteristics, Usage and Attitudes 

Regarding Official Academic Facebook Sites 

Tom Moore 


Robert Wixel Barnwell 


Kelly Price 


ABSTRACT 

As social networking websites continue to rise in popularity, their role as a communications tool for academic 

institutions raises intriguing questions. This is especially true of Facebook, which was originally begun as an 

exclusively college‐based social network. Facebook potentially represents an opportunity to cost‐effectively 

communicate with students, faculty and other members of the college community. The goals of this study were 

to provide descriptive statistics that might aid in better understanding if students currently do or do not visit 

academic Facebook pages and why they visit those pages, what is most likely to cause them to visit academic 

Facebook pages, and how universities might best utilize this tool as a means of communication. The 

implications of that data could be extremely useful, especially in regards to resource allocation and future 

university communications.

A “Going Concern” and the 

Need to Fully Integrate Economics in the 

Business School Curriculum 

Samuel E. Enajero 

The University of Michigan-Dearborn 

ABSTRACT 

In response to the recommendation by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB, 2002) 

which urged business schools to embark on interdisciplinary programs to facilitate boundary‐spanning teaching 

and learning, many colleges have carried out one form of curriculum integration or the other. Many of these 

team‐taught course integrations, however, concentrate on core business courses without reaching out to 

related courses in other disciplines. This paper, using a “going concern” concept, demonstrates how the 

addition of economics in business school curriculum integration could equip stakeholders with better criteria to 

assess an entity.

I – INTRODUCTION 

Businesses use teamwork and integrative models to solve problems, develop new 

products and for strategic management. As such, the American Assembly of Collegiate 

Schools of Business (AACSB) through its Management Education Task Force 

recommended for colleges to implement curriculum that “blur boundaries” (AACSB 

2002, p. 2) between disciplines. 

Instead of functional curriculum comprised of courses taught in silos (Berry 

2009), there have been calls for a more interdisciplinary and integrative curriculum in 

undergraduate business degrees and the MBA programs. Moreover, the current 

functionally taught curriculum is constructed around the 18 th century division of labor 

theory which does not support today’s fast changing technological business environment. 

In the process colleges have responded by experimenting with different forms of 

integrative curriculum. Team teaching, multidisciplinary cases and projects, student 

group projects, capstone courses, etc. are some of the many integrative tools implemented 

by institutions designed to assist in interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary understanding 

of materials. 

Mckinney and Yoos (1998) illustrate ‘learning to learn’ curriculum integration 

where students take responsibility for their own learning. Marketing, strategy, and 

management information system (MIS) are combined to form an undergraduate capstone 

management course. Cannon, Klein, Koste and Magal (2004) describe five steps 

implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)/Systems, Applications and 

Product (SAP), simultaneously integrating a business curriculum using a fictitious 

company. 

Ducoffe, Tromley and Tucker (2006) examine student and alumni perceptions of 

the value of interdisciplinary team-taught undergraduate business courses and combine 

three freshman courses (finance, marketing and organizational behavior) into a 

sophomore-level two-semester course sequence. Pointer (2007) discusses ten important 

lessons in curriculum revision. The aim of the curriculum revision is to schedule courses 

in sequence so that students build their skills from one course to another and material 

learned in one course could be applied in subsequent courses. 

While these and many other curriculum integrative programs affect business 

courses such as finance, marketing, accounting, strategic management, organizational 

behavior, statistics and quantitative analysis, none seem to consider economics as one of 

the courses to be included in interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary integrative 

curriculum. This paper argues that any meaningful curriculum integration in business 

schools must include economics since economics form the theoretical framework for all 

business courses. Economic theories would be the visible link among integrated business 

courses. 

1

Using a “going concern” concept of the business enterprise as an illustration, the 

importance of economic theories in many aspects of the business practices becomes 

visible. First I will discuss a “going concern” as examined in a business course such as 

accounting. Next, I will present the production range of the neo-classical firm 

(equivalent “going concern” in economics) and lastly I will integrate the accounting and 

economics concepts. Factors which could cast doubt on the “going concern” assumption 

of an entity in an accounting course are subjective as compared to the discrete average 

variable cost benchmark as analyzed in economics. Perhaps, including the economics 

threshold would give stakeholders a concrete number with which to assess the “going 

concern” assumption on a particular entity. 

II – THE “GOING CONCERN” ASSESSMENT 

The “going concern” concept in accounting is the assumption that a business 

entity will continue to exist and produce for the foreseeable future. It supports the 

assumption that when a business buys assets such as equipment, buildings and land, it is 

with the intentions that these assets will generate income over a number of years. The 

“going concern” assumption helps accountants/management allocate revenues and costs 

that cover multiple periods. 

The International Accounting Standard (IAS 1, IAASB 2009) describes some 

conditions that may cast significant doubt on the going concern assumption of an entity. 

These conditions are financial events, operating conditions and other factors. Financial 

events include: the withdrawal of financial support and negative cash flows; the inability 

to comply with the terms of loan agreements; fixed-term borrowings approaching 

maturity without realistic prospects of renewal or repayment; substantial operating losses; 

and a significant decrease in the value of assets. 

Operating signals are mainly “loss of key management staff without replacement; 

loss of a major market franchise, license or principal supplier; and labor difficulties.” 

(IAASB 2009, p. 5). Other signs that could question the “going concern” assumption of 

an entity are “non-compliance with capital or other statutory requirement; and a pending 

legal or regulatory proceeding against the entity that may, if successful, result in claims 

that could not be satisfied,” (IAASB 2009, p. 5). 

The assessment of a company’s ability to continue as a going concern is the 

responsibility of the company’s management. The IAS 1 requires that “management take 

into account all available information about the future, which is at least, but not limited to 

twelve months from the balance sheet date,” (IAASB 2009, p.5). This period falls within 

the economic analysis of short run-long run production decisions of the firm. 

III – ECONOMIC OPERATING INCOME AND SHUTDOWN 

Business students would find it thought provoking to incorporate the processes 

leading to a firm’s shutdown as analyzed in economics into the accounting assessment of 

a “going concern.” Economic analysis, which generally surrounds the opportunity cost of 

production, sets a threshold based on an entity’s production function, where it is 

2

considered unworthy for an enterprise to remain in business. Any point below such 

threshold, an entity is considered economically insolvent. 

Using total cost (TC), total fixed cost (TFC), variable cost (VC), average total 

costs (ATC), average variable cost (AVC), and marginal cost (MC), table 1 shows a cost 

function for a hypothetical firm 

Table 1 – Cost Functions 

Output/hr TC TFC VC AVC ATC MC 

0 200 200 0 - - - 

1 260 200 60 60 260 60 

2 300 200 100 50 150 40 

3 320 200 120 40 106.67 20 

4 344 200 144 36 86 24 

5 370 200 170 34 74 26 

6 420 200 220 36.67 70 50 

7 480 200 280 40 68.57 60 

8 560 200 360 45 70 80 

9 660 200 460 51.1 73.33 100 

10 780 200 580 58 78 120 

Figure 1 below plots AVC, ATC and MC. This entity would remain in business 

if the price and output of this product at a minimum are $34 and 5, respectively. Below 

those points, the firm cannot cover its variable costs and it is not economically beneficial 

to remain in business. By economic analysis, the firm maximizes profits where marginal 

revenue (MR) is at least equal to MC. At the price of $50 and $60 it would be making 

operating profits if the entity is producing 6 and 7 outputs, respectively. It is making 

enough to cover all variable and some fixed costs but not breaking even. 

3

Figure 1 – ATC, AVC and MC 

COSTS 

300 

250 

200 

150 

100 

50 

0 

FIGURE 1 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 

OUTPUT 

Output 

At the price of $80 and above, this enterprise is making a positive economic profit. 

Positive economic profit is a huge accounting profit that is partly distributed to 

shareholders and partly kept as retained earnings. 

This analysis is based on an increasing and decreasing returns production 

function. Business analysis assumes a relevant range. Within the relevant range, cost 

functions are assumed to be linear. Assuming the AVC is constant after producing the 

fifth output, this hypothetical entity would be making operating profit and thus can 

remain in operation. 

IV – INTEGRATING ECONOMICS AND ACCOUNTING COSTS 

Materials in sections II and III are taught, respectively, in undergraduate 

accounting and principles of microeconomics courses in silos and during freshman or 

sophomore years. It would take a keen or mastery style learner (Barron & Harachiewicz 

2001) to connect both after graduation. A proper integration of these economics and 

business concepts would give business students a concrete output threshold that is 

associated with the minimum AVC as the starting point of a “going concern.” 

Since the economics consideration of this concept is based on costs incurred and 

revenue generated, it is also necessary to integrate the accounting and economics costs in 

a class discussion. Economics total costs are categorized into fixed and variable costs as 

illustrated above and often at times fixed costs are conceptualized as capital and variable 

costs as labor. Accounting fixed and variable costs are further decomposed into direct 

and indirect costs. 

Direct costs are costs of machine, labor and materials that can specifically be 

identified with an object. In this case, the object is the output. Indirect costs are shared 

AVC 

ATC 

MC 

4

and also called overhead costs. Direct and indirect costs can be fixed or variable. 

Supervisory employees’ salaries, for instance, are direct fixed costs; labor wages are 

direct and variable costs since they change as the volume of activity changes. Electricity 

used to operate a plant is an indirect variable cost, while machine depreciation is an 

indirect fixed cost. See table 2 below. 

Table 2 – Economics and Accounting Costs 

Economics Classification 

A - Fixed Costs (K) B - Variable Costs (L) 

Accounting Assignment Accounting Assignment 

1.Machine (dep)* Indirect 1.Material Direct 

2.Buildings (dep) Indirect 2.Labor Direct 

3.Cost of capital Indirect 3.Utilities Indirect** 

4.Plant Supervisor* Direct/indirect^ 4.Factory Supplies Indirect** 

5.Plant Maintenance* Indirect 5.Sales Commission Indirect 

6.Insurance Indirect 6.Delivery Charges Indirect 

7.Property Taxes Indirect 7.Labor Fringe 2 Indirect** 

8.Advertising Indirect 

9.Mngment Salaries Indirect 

^Plant supervisor’s pay could be indirect if (s)he supervises more than one plant. 

*Fixed manufacturing overhead. **Variable manufacturing overhead. 

A loose “going concern” assessment would inquire whether an entity is capable, 

within its current and immediate future operations, of generating enough revenue to cover 

total variable costs (column B items). A more stringent “going concern” requirement 

would include some fixed costs items in column A of table 2. 

Some of the assessment factors stipulated by IAS 1 as conditions that cast some 

doubts on the “going concern” assumption of an entity could be misleading conditions to 

management or auditors. For instance, “the withdrawal of financial support and negative 

cash flows; inability to comply with the terms of loan agreements; and fixed-term 

borrowings approaching maturity without realistic prospects of renewal or repayment,” 

(IAASB 2009) could be accounts receivable problems and not the inability to produce 

and sell. 

On the other hand, an entity could pass such cash flow tests and at the same time 

may be unable to generate enough revenue to cover variable costs (column B, table 2); 

thus, conveying misleading signals to the stakeholders. A “substantial operating losses” 

is another financial event given by the accounting literature that could make a going 

concern assumption of an entity questionable but it does not say how substantial. 

Therefore, incorporating the economic threshold completely into the discussion would 

make the “going concern” assumption less subjective. 

V - CONCLUSION 

5

In the wake of AACSB (2002) suggestion to better integrate the business school 

curriculum in order to stimulate comprehensive learning, many colleges have carried out 

several forms of integrative curriculum. These include team-taught programs, 

multidisciplinary case project, students’ group projects, capstones, etc. Most of these 

integrative attempts, however, are courses within the business school which fall short of 

the cross-disciplinary purpose. 

This paper uses basic production theory and a “going concern” concept to show 

how it would be rewarding for students and business managers if economics were fully 

integrated into business curriculum. Inability for total revenue generated to cover 

average variable costs as analyzed in economics would be the lowest benchmark to cast 

doubt on the “going concern” assumption. 

6

REFERENCES 

American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. (2002). Management Education 

at risk: A report from the Management Education Task Force. 

www.aacsb.edu/publications/metf/METFReport - Executive Summary.pdf. 

“Audit Considerations in Respect of Going Concern in the Current Economic 

Environment.” Staff Audit Practice Alert, IAASB, January, 2009. 

Barron, K.E. & Harackiewicz J.M. (2001). “Achievement Goals and Optimal 

Motivation: Testing Muliple Goal Models.” Journal Personality and Social 

Psychology, 80(5), 706-722. 

Berry, P. (2009). “Redesign of the Undergraduate Business Curriculum: The Way 

Forward, A Paradigm Shift.” American Journal of Business Education, 2(8), 55- 

63. 

Cannon, D.M. et, al. (2004). “Curriculum Integration Using Enterprise Resource 

Planning: An Integrative Case Approach.” Journal of Education for Business, 

80(2) 93-100. 

Ducoffe, S.J., Tromley, C.L. and Tucker, M. (2006) “Interdisciplinary, Team-Taught, 

Undergraduate Business Courses: The impact of Integration. Journal of 

Management Education, 30(2) 276-294. 

Mckinney, E.H. & Yoos II, C.J. (1998). “The One School Roomhouse: An Information 

and Learning Approach to Curriculum Integration.” Journal of Management 

Education, 22(5), 618-628. 

Pointer, M.M. (2007). “Curriculum Revision Considerations: The Voice of 

Experience.” The Journal of Learning in Higher Education, (3)2, 39-43. 

7

A “Spreadsheet Approach” for Monitoring 

Faculty Intellectual Contributions for 

Maintaining AQ or PQ Status 



Richard Cobb 


Bill Scroggins 


ABSTRACT 

In an earlier paper the authors suggested criteria to be used by an AACSB accredited business school to 

determine faculty Academically Qualified/Professionally Qualified (AQ/PQ) status in accordance with AASCB 

International Standards. Also, in a subsequent paper, the authors provided a suggested format for documenting 

faculty qualifications for a Peer Review Team (PRT). This paper provides a “spreadsheet approach” for 

monitoring faculty intellectual contributions. The result is a systematic process with three components to help 

achieve and maintain faculty AQ or PQ status with regard to intellectual contributions.

Introduction 

A critical aspect in preparing for the initial AACSB International accreditation or reaffirmation 

of a business program is sufficiency of intellectual contributions (IC’s). During the five year 

review period prior to the PRT visit, school administrators are confronted with the task of 

making sure that faculty members achieve adequate intellectual contributions. To have a 

successful PRT visit, it is critical that individual faculty members be monitored and tracked to 

ensure they achieve sufficient IC’s for AQ or PQ status. In addition, all business faculty 

members collectively must be monitored to make sure the college’s entire portfolio of IC’s are 

continuous and spread evenly throughout the five year review period. The following sections 

provide a brief review of suggested criteria for determining AQ/PQ status along with a possible 

format for documenting faculty qualifications for a PRT, both of which were presented in earlier 

papers. The final section presents a “spreadsheet approach” for monitoring faculty intellectual 

contributions. 

Determining AQ and PQ Status of Business Faculty 

According to AACSB Standard #10 [FACULTY QUALIFICATIONS]: The faculty of the school 

has and maintains expertise to accomplish the mission and to ensure this occurs, the school has 

clearly defined processes to evaluate individual faculty member’s contributions to the school’s 

mission. The school specifies for both academically qualified and professionally qualified 

faculty, the required initial qualifications of faculty (original academic preparation and/or 

professional experience) as well as requirements for maintaining faculty competence 

(intellectual contributions, professional development, or practice) (2, p. 43). 

The “basis for judgment” narrative that accompanies Standard #10, stipulates that “at least 90 

percent of faculty resources are either academically or professionally qualified”. Also, “at least 

50 percent of faculty resources are academically qualified”. Furthermore, the “basis for 

judgment” section states, “a school 

should develop appropriate criteria consistent with its mission for the classification of faculty as 

academically or professionally qualified. The interpretive material in the standard provides 

guidance only and each school should adapt this guidance to its particular situation and mission 

by developing and implementing criteria that indicate how the school is meeting the spirit and 

intent of the standard. Specific policies should be developed to provide criteria by which 

academically and professionally qualified status is granted and maintained.” The “basis for 

judgment” taken from pages 43 and 44 of the current Standards indicates the criteria should 

address the following: 

� Consistent with the stated mission, the types of development activities that are required to 

maintain academic or professional qualifications on an ongoing, sustained basis. 

� The priority and value of different development activities reflecting the mission and 

strategic management processes. 

� The quantity and frequency of development activities and outcomes expected within the 

typical five-year AACSB review cycle to maintain each status. (1, p. 44). 

In a paper published in The Journal of Academic Administration in Higher Education, the 

authors presented an approach for categorizing IC’s and establishing criteria by which AQ and 

PQ status is granted and maintained. From this previous paper, the authors provide a listing in

Appendix I of various opportunities to produce intellectual contributions and development 

experiences which are considered “validating” for purposes of maintaining AQ or PQ status. 

Appendix I lists the intellectual contributions (validating experiences) in groups A, B, and C (3, 

p. 3-4). Each year all faculty are expected to cite their accomplishments within each of the 

groups and provide documentation, as requested, for each citation. 

The listings in Appendix I are not intended to be all inclusive. Appendix II presents our 

measures (specific combinations of “validating” experiences) for maintaining AQ or PQ status 

(3, p. 2-3). 

Documentation for Standard 10 

The first item (bullet) in the “Guidance for Documentation” section that follows Standard #10 

reads: “The school should provide information on academic and professional qualifications of 

each faculty member.” This section also indicates “the information may be provided in the form 

of academic vitae, but must include sufficient detail as to actions, impacts and timing to support 

an understanding of faculty development activities” (1, p. 44). 

One of the authors has substantial experience as an AACSB PRT member and has experienced 

numerous situations where the necessary information was provided by the school in the form of 

faculty prepared academic vitae. Unfortunately, the vitae often did not follow a uniform format 

and PRT members had to waste valuable time sorting out whether or not they agreed with the 

AQ or PQ claims cited in the schools Fifth Year Maintenance Report (2, p.2 ). 

In February 2008 an AACSB Peer Review Team (PRT) visited the College of Commerce and 

Business Administration at Jacksonville State University (JSU) and subsequently submitted a 

positive recommendation to AACSB which, in turn, led to maintenance of accreditation for the 

College. The authors received feedback from the PRT which indicated satisfaction with the 

approach described earlier and shown in Appendix I and II. In addition, the PRT expressed 

appreciation for the documentation provided in advance of the visit to support claims, based on 

the metrics, as to who was and who was not “academically” or “professionally” qualified (2, p. 

2). 

Format of Documentation 

This section provides a brief description of a three-ring binder developed to provide the PRT 

with supporting details of faculty qualification in an orderly, uniform format and with tables 

regarding journal 

articles to assist the team in evaluating the portfolio of aggregate faculty research productivity as 

specified in AACSB Standard #2 (1, p. 19). 

The Table of Contents for the binder of supporting documentation is shown in Table 1: 

TABLE 1: 

Faculty Qualifications, Supporting Information

Table of Contents 

Tab A: CCBA Policy re. Academic and Professional Qualifications 

Tab B: List of Journal Articles with Acceptance Rates: 2003-2007 

Tab C: Titles of Journal Articles: 2003-2007 

Tab D: Accounting Faculty Five Year Profiles 

Tab E: Economics Faculty Five Year Profiles 

Tab F: Finance Faculty Five Year Profiles 

Tab G: Legal Studies Faculty Five Year Profiles 

Tab H: Management Faculty Five Year Profiles 

Tab I: Marketing Faculty Five Year Profiles 

Tab J: Statistics/Quantitative Methods Faculty Five Year Profiles 

Tab K: Narrative Justifications Regarding AQ or PQ Status of Selected Faculty 

Members 

Using vitae and annual reports already in the files, the department heads and their administrative 

secretaries prepared a draft of a five year profile for every person who held faculty rank, both 

full-time and part-time. The individual faculty members were then asked to carefully review 

their profiles and additions, and corrections were made as needed. This approach, as opposed to 

requesting self-prepared profiles, relieved the faculty members of this time consuming task and 

ensured the school’s administration that every profile was prepared following the same precise 

format. The purpose of this approach was to make the PRT’s task of assessing these documents 

less onerous. Table 2 provides the standard content outline for the five year faculty profile (2, p. 

3). 

As indicated in Table 2, each faculty member’s “validating experiences” are sorted into four 

categories. These experiences are delineated in Appendix I. All of the entries in Categories A 

and B and a few of those in C are counted for inclusion in AACSB Table 10.1. These 

intellectual contributions are distributed in this table across the three areas: “learning and 

pedagogical scholarship” (L), “discipline-based scholarship” (D) and “contributions to practice” 

(P) and they are further distributed within these three categories as “peer reviewed journals” 

(PRJ) and “other intellectual contributions” (OIC). To facilitate the review process for PRT 

members, every intellectual contribution which is included in the cells of Table 10.1 is coded at 

the right margin of its listing on a faculty member’s five year profile (2, p. 3). 

TABLE 2: 

Outline of Five Year Faculty Profiles

Name: Primary Teaching Discipline: 

Date of hire: Participating or supporting: 

Tenure status: Full-time or part-time: 

(TT, NTT or date of tenure) AQ, PQ or Other: 

Courses Taught (most recent 5 years only) 

Education (all degrees and certifications with dates) 

Employment History (current and prior employment – include dates of promotion 

for academic ranks) 

Validating Experiences: 

Category A (peer reviewed journals and comparable contributions) 

Category B (other journals, proceedings, grant reports, etc.) 

Category C (presentations w/o proceedings, boards, faculty internships, etc.) 

Category D (professional activities not factored into the AQ or PQ decision) 

Works in Progress (which will lead to intellectual contributions) 

“Spreadsheet Approach” for Tracking/Monitoring Faculty 

Intellectual Contributions (Validating Experiences) 

In the case of our faculty, most faculty members worked diligently during the prior five year 

review period to achieve adequate IC’s in order to be classified AQ or PQ. However, after the 

successful PRT visit, some faculty significantly reduced their research activities. We believe 

these that faculty had the mindset that “all was well” and they would simply wait several years to 

resume their research activities. This presents two problems: (1) they may wait too long to 

become productive and end up classified as “other” and (2) AACSB standards stipulate that IC 

output is expected to be continuous, evenly distributed over the entire five year review period for 

the college. And, very importantly, 90% of faculty members are to be AQ or PQ at all times. 

These issues led to the development of a spreadsheet that could be used as a tool by the 

Department Heads and Dean to track and monitor the status of each faculty member’s IC’s. The 

spreadsheet also enabled us to observe the college’s entire portfolio of IC’s as a whole at any 

given point during the five year review period. 

Table III shows actual spreadsheet data used to monitor intellectual contributions (validating 

experiences) for selected faculty at JSU (faculty member names are fictitious). The spreadsheet 

reflects IC’s in Groups A, B, and C from May 2005-April 2016. Every year the spreadsheet is 

“rolled forward” by adding a year (column) on the right side and eliminating the earliest year on 

the left. Very importantly, note the wide heavy vertical lines. These lines can be shifted from 

side to side to print out the status of faculty members for any five year period. As shown here, 

the heavy lines delineate the critical five year review period that precedes our anticipated PRT 

visit in early 2013. 

As an illustration of an entry from the spreadsheet, faculty member Professor T. Brown 

published a peer-reviewed journal article in 2007 (our annual faculty evaluations cover the

period May 1-April 30). This is designated by (+A1) in the column for 2007. Note in Appendix 

I that Group A validating experience item #1 is an “article in a peer-reviewed journal”. Also 

note that five years hence, in 2012, this article drops out and is eliminated, as shown by (-A1). 

For each of the three consecutive years, 2008, 2009, and 2010, Professor Brown achieved two 

articles in peer-reviewed journals. This is reflected by the entry (+A1)2 for years 2008-2010. 

Again, note these articles drop out beginning 2013, as shown by (-A1)2 for years 2013-2015. 

Group B accomplishments are reported in the same row with Group A items. Professor Brown 

achieved a peer-reviewed proceedings in each of the three consecutive years of 2008-2010, as 

indicated by (+B5) for 2008 and 2009 and (+B5)2 for 2010, since a total of two proceedings 

were published in 2010. In the case of Group C validating experiences, which are reported on 

the second row, Professor Brown’s 2007 cell reflects a (+C3) and his 2008 cell shows a (+C14). 

His 2009 cell reflects three items: (+C1), (+C3), and (+C17). Appendix I indicates these entries 

correspond to: an “in-house publication widely distributed beyond the university community” in 

2007 (+C3); “attendance at a seminar/workshop in the area of one’s teaching discipline” in 2008 

(+C14); “presentation of a paper at a meeting of an academic professional association” in 2009 

(+C1); an “in-house publication widely distributed beyond the university community” in 2009 

(+C3); and “program chair for a professional association” in 2009 (+C17). Again, five years 

hence, these items drop out as shown by (-C14) in 2013 and (-C1), (-C3), and (-C17) in 2014. 

Professor Brown is clearly “academically qualified’ based on “Measures for Maintaining AQ or 

PQ Status” shown in Appendix II. He maintains AQ status by readily meeting the first measure 

in Appendix II, which requires: “at least three validating experiences from Group A” during the 

five year review period. 

To illustrate further, unlike Professor T. Brown, who has worked steadily throughout the current 

five year review period to generate IC’s, some faculty members have not. Refer to the last three 

faculty members listed in Table 3: R. Maddox, K. Lynch and M. Reid. In the last five year 

review period (2003-2007) these three faculty generated sufficient IC’s during 2006-2007 to be 

AQ, the year immediately prior to the 2008 PRT visit. Unfortunately, after the successful PRT 

visit, the three faculty virtually ceased research activities. They are currently classified as AQ. 

However, most of their IC’s are now four years old and will “drop off” in 2011-2012, the year 

immediately prior to our next PRT visit in 2013. These faculty will become “Other” at the end 

of 2011-2012 unless they produce sufficient IC’s very soon. Their department has had serious 

discussions with these faculty members to “cajole” them into a research mode to generate IC’s, 

hopefully in sufficient time to maintain their AQ status. The spreadsheet served as a valuable 

tool to communicate the gravity of the issue and urgency for generating sufficient IC’s to 

maintain AACSB accreditation. 

This “spreadsheet approach” simplifies the process of monitoring and tracking faculty progress 

with respect to IC’s thru the critical five year review period. When shared with faculty, the 

spreadsheet may serve as a possible motivation tool and also signal a “red flag” with the need for 

intervention (Department Head, Associate Dean, Dean, etc.) when IC’s are insufficient. Overall, 

the “spreadsheet approach” provides a quick, detailed, up-to-date picture of individual faculty, 

departments, and very importantly, the college as a whole regarding sufficiency of IC’s. Without 

the spreadsheet, the college may not be as certain of the faculty’s status with IC’s at a given 

point in time. 

TABLE 3: 

Spreadsheet – Status of Faculty Validating Experiences (Group A,B, & C) 

for Maintaining Academic or Professional Qualifications

J. 

Jones 

A's & 

B's 

C's 

R.Robe 

rts 

A's & 

B's 

May 

2005- 

April 

2006 

May200 

6- April 

2007 

May 

2007- 

April 

2008 

VALIDATING EXPERIENCES (GROUP A, B, & C) 

May 

2008- 

April 

2009 

Review 

Period 

May 

2009- 

April 

2010 

(+A1) (+A1) (+A1) 

(+C1) 

(+C6) 

C's (+C8)2 (+C8) 

D. 

Davis 

A's & 

B's 

(+C4) 

(+C17) 

(+C6) 

(+C6) 

(+C4) 

(+C9) 

(+C17) 

(+C6) 

May 

2010- 

April 

2011 

(+A1) 

(-A1) 

(+C6) 

May201 

1- April 

2012 

(-C1) 

(-C6) 

May 

2012 - 

April 

2013 

May 

2013- 

April 

2014 

May 

2014 - 

April 

2015 

May 

2015- 

April 

2016 

(-A1) (-A1) (-A1) 

(-C17) 

(-C6) 

(-C6) 

(-C4) 

(-C9) 

(-C17) 

(-C6) 

(-C6) 

(+A1) (+A1) (+A1) (-A1) (-A1) (-A1) 

(-C8)2 

(+C8) 

(-C8) 

(+A1) (+A1) (+B5) (-A1) (-A1) (-A1) (-B5) 

C's 

S. 

(+C1) (-C1) 

Smith 

A's & 

B's 

(+A1) (+A1)2 (+A1) (+A1) (-A1) (-A1)2 (-A1) (-A1) 

C's 

T. 

Brown 

A's & 

B's 

(+C1) 

(+C8) 

(+C12) 

(+A1) 

(+C8)(+C 

12) 

(+A1)2 

(+B5) 

C's (+C3) (+C14) 

R. 

Maddox 

A's & 

B's 

C's 

K. 

Lynch 

A's & 

B's 

(+C17) 

(+C12) 

(+C8) 

(+A1)2 

(+B5) 

(+C1) 

(+C3) 

(+C17) 

(+C1) 

(+C8) 

(+C12) 

(+A1)2 

(+B5)2 

(+C8) 

(+C12) 

(+C8) 

(-C1) 

(+C12) 

(-A1) 

(+A1) (+A1)3 (-A1) (-A1)3 

(+C1)2 

(+C4) 

(+C4) (+B6) (-C1)2 

(-A1)2 

(-B5) 

(-C3) (-C14) 

(- 

C17) 

(-A1)2 

(-B5) 

(-C1) 

(-C3) 

(-C17) 

(+A1) (+A1) (+B10) (-A1) (-A1) (-B10) 

C's (+C1) (-C1) 

M. Reid 

A's & 

B's 

(+A1) (+A1)3 (-A1) (-A1)3 

C's (+C1) (-C1) 

Conclusion 

(-C1) 

(-A1)2 

(-B5)2

Guiding faculty so they maintain AQ/PQ status coupled with preparing for a successful PRT 

team visit is often an arduous task. This paper has offered a systematic process for: (1) schools 

going up for initial AACSB accreditation; and (2) schools preparing for reaffirmation, that is 

broken down into three components. The three components include: (1) categorizing IC’s into 

“A, B, C groups” to be used in determining AQ/PQ status, (2) the use of “faculty profiles” for 

documenting faculty IC’s and, (3) providing a “spreadsheet approach” for monitoring IC’s. The 

result is a systematic approach with three tools to help achieve and maintain faculty AQ or PQ 

status with respect to IC’s. In addition, this approach provides documentation of faculty 

information in a concise, uniform format for the PRT. Overall, this entire process may be easily 

modified and tailored to individual schools. 

Appendix I 

Validating Experiences 

Group A 

1. Article in a peer-reviewed journal 

2. Article in an editorially reviewed journal listed in a Cabell’s Directory 

3. Book (scholarly, applied scholarship, first-edition textbook) 

4. Chapter in a peer-reviewed scholarly book 

5. Peer-reviewed case published in a journal or a textbook 

Group B 

1. Publication in an editorially reviewed journal not listed in a Cabell’s Directory 

2. Chapter in an editorially reviewed book 

3. Revision of a textbook 

4. Research monograph such as a final report to a grand funding agency 

5. Peer-reviewed proceedings from a meeting of an academic association 

6. Significant technical report to a discipline-based association 

7. Editor of a book of readings 

8. Publication of a discipline-based software product 

9. Presentation or posting (e.g. on MERLOT) of an innovative teaching module for external 

review 

10. A book review published in a journal 

Group C 

1. Presentation of a paper at a meeting of an academic professional association (without 

proceedings) 

2. Invited speaker or panelist at a meeting of an academic professional organization 

3. An in-house publication which is widely distributed beyond the University community 

(e.g. an academic treatise in a publication of the JSU Center for Economic Development) 

4. Business consulting report (non-proprietary) 

5. A discipline-based academic report for a business, governmental, or quasi-governmental 

organization in the University’s service region (such as an economic impact study) 

6. Editor of a journal 

7. Editor of a conference proceedings 

8. Manuscript reviewer for a journal or proceedings (with substantial participation)

9. Creating and/or delivering an executive education seminar for a business organization or 

a discipline-based professional association (e.g. an accounting professor teachers a CEU 

course for the Alabama Society of CPA’s; a management professor delivers a seminar on 

ethical leadership practices for a regional bank) 

10. A faculty internship (where a faculty member works full-time for a business for at least 

four weeks and completes a project or a significant assignment) 

11. Obtaining a new professional certification 

12. Elected officer, board member or major task-force/committee member of an academic or 

discipline-based professional organization (with significant responsibilities). 

13. Member of the board of a business organization 

14. Attendance at a seminar/workshop in the area of one’s teaching discipline (e.g., a 

business statistics professor attends a two-day workshop on how to use a software 

package in the classroom). Note: Attending a session at a professional meeting would 

not pass a “litmus test” regarding the scope of the activity. 

15. Attendance at an AACSB seminar on assurance of learning, curriculum issues, etc. 

16. Successfully performing the annual activities expected of an externally funded research 

grant. 

17. Program chair or track chair for a professional association (including the responsibility 

for reviewing paper submissions). 

Note: For continuing activities, such as being a member of the board of a business, each 

year may be considered a separate validating experience. 

Group D 

Some examples of research products and activities which would not be counted in areas A, B, or 

C are: 

1. Service to a meeting of a professional association as a session chair, discussant, paper 

reviewer, local arrangements coordinator, etc. 

2. Completion of annual requirements to maintain a professional certification 

3. Working papers 

4. In-house presentations at faculty research seminars 

5. Newspaper editorials/letters 

6. Attendance at in-house seminars (e.g. Using Blackboard) 

7. Activities for local community service or religious organizations 

8. On-campus service (Faculty Senate, committees, etc.) 

Appendix II 

Measures for Maintaining AQ or PQ Status 

A faculty member may maintain AQ status by meeting one of the following four measures 

during the most recent five-year period. (Note: Tenured/tenure track faculty members should 

strive to meet the expectations of one of the first two measures. Exceptions should be rare). 

1. At least three validating experiences from Group A. 

2. At least five (5) validating experiences including at least two (2) from Group A. 

3. At least ten (10) validating experiences including one (1) from Group A and at least 

three (3) from Group B.

4. At least fifteen (15) validating experiences including at least six (6) from Group B. 

A full-time faculty member may maintain PQ status by meeting one of the following three 

measures during the most recent five year period. 

1. At least three validating experiences from Group A. 

2. At least five (5) validating experiences including at least two (2) from the 

combination of Group A and B. 

3. At least 10 validating experiences. 

Notes: 

1. A faculty member’s experiences to meet these minimum specifications for maintenance 

of AQ or PQ status should be approximately uniformly distributed across the five year 

period to demonstrate a continuing commitment to maintaining currency in his/her 

teaching discipline. 

2. A faculty member who has held a terminal degree for less than five years or who has 

been on the faculty as PQ for less than five years will be considered AQ or PQ, 

respectively. However, to contribute to the aggregate faculty portfolio, these faculty 

members should be completing validating experiences in approximate proportion to the 

number of years since completion of the degree (AQ) or initial employment (PQ). 

3. The faculty’s portfolio of intellectual contributions must include: contributions to 

learning and pedagogical research (L); contributions to practice (P); and disciplinedbased 

research (D). Given the missions of JSU and CCBA, the relative emphasis should 

be on the first two of these areas. Each faculty member will be expected to indicate the 

appropriate area (L, P, or D) for each contribution. 

References 

Eligibility Procedures and Accreditation Standards for Business Accreditation, AACSB 

International, adopted: April 2003, latest revision: July 1, 2009. 

Gooding, Carl; Cobb, Richard; Scroggins, William. “Demonstrating Faculty Qualifications to an 

AACSB International Peer Review Team,” Vol. V, Issue I, pp. 1- 4, Spring 2009, The 

Journal of Academic Administration in Higher Education, Academic Business World, 

Martin, TN. 

Gooding, Carl; Cobb, Richard; Scroggins, William. “The AACSB Faculty Qualifications 

Standard: A Regional University’s Metrics for Assessing AQ and PQ,” Vol. III, Issue 1 & 2, 

pp. 1-6, Spring/Fall 2007, The Journal of Academic Administration in Higher Education, 

Academic Business World, Martin, TN. 

Manual of Policies and Procedures, College of Commerce and Business Administration, 

Jacksonville State University, Policy Number: 1:06, adopted: June 2007, latest revision: 

January 2011.

A Fraud Hidden by the Passage of Time 

Greg Poznic 




ABSTRACT 

This paper reports on the results of a study conducted with undergraduate accounting students. The study 

focused on measuring student awareness of the McKesson & Robbins Fraud. Within this paper a detailed 

history of the fraud is provided to illustrate the fraud’s impact on the modern accounting profession. Results 

from the study suggest that current undergraduate accounting students have little or no knowledge of the 

fraud. The level of awareness students possess was determined by two underlying factors.

Introduction 

In the current century, corporate scandals have made headlines in nearly every 

form of news media. From the likes of Bernie Madoff to the bankruptcies of Enron and 

WorldCom, these scandals created a large public outcry for action. Those with money 

invested wanted assurance that they would be protected from corporate fraud. The 

aftermath of Enron saw the creation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) and the 

establishment of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) (Baker, 

2006). Many people blamed the string of corporate transgressions on audit failures, such 

as Arthur Andersen’s failures with Enron. However, this was not the first time a lapse in 

auditing standards and procedures allowed a major corporation to commit fraud. 

Before there was Enron and WorldCom, there was McKesson & Robbins Inc. 

This was the first time the accounting profession had come under public scrutiny and 

government criticism (Barr, 1987). It seems as though the elaborate and detailed fraud at 

McKesson & Robbins Inc. has been lost through the passage of time. Inside and outside 

of the classroom more emphasis is being placed on the more recent scandals because the 

effects they have had are still being felt today. The fraud at McKesson lasted for 13 years 

before its discovery in 1937 resulting in a profound impact on the accounting profession 

at the time (Baxter, 1999). The lack of knowledge of the fraud at McKesson & Robbins 

Inc. prevents a full understanding of how the accounting profession has evolved through 

the years. 

This paper examines how much knowledge current accounting students have 

about an event that forever changed their future profession. Accounting students are held 

responsible for knowing the rules, concepts, and proper methods of their chosen 

profession, but there is a whole other side to accounting. The reasons for why certain 

standards and procedures are in place are lost on many students. To address these issues, 

this study employed a survey of accounting students at various points in their accounting 

curriculum to determine their current level of knowledge. The questions were delivered 

in a special format to gauge whether or not survey respondents really knew about the 

fraud at McKesson & Robbins Inc. 

Background: Literature Review 

Fraud Mastermind 

Serial fraudster Philip Musica was already an experienced fraud architect before 

he organized one of the most impactful frauds to date. Musica was convicted of fraud 

twice by the time he was thirty years old (Clikeman, 2003). His first conviction came in 

1909 when he was caught altering shipping invoices and bills of lading to avoid paying 

the full duty tax on the imported goods sold by A. Musica & Son. Musica was arrested a

second time when he used forged invoices from his human hair business to steal over 

$600,000 from 22 banks (Thompson, 1953). After the fraud convictions it became time 

for Musica to reinvent himself and leave his criminal record in the past. 

In 1919, Philip Musica took the alias Frank D. Costa and founded Adelphi 

Pharmaceutical (Clikeman, 2003). Prohibition had just been ratified as the 18 th 

amendment, but some companies were granted alcohol permits by the U.S. government 

so they could produce certain goods such as hair tonics and medicines. Costa (Musica) 

was able to obtain a federal permit for 5,000 gallons of alcohol per month. He used the 

alcohol to produce products, which he then sold to bootleggers. The bootleggers were 

easily able to separate the alcohol from the product using a still and then cutting the 

mixture with water. The prosperous business lasted only a few years to due conflicts 

between Costa and his various business partners, which forced Costa to inform the U.S. 

Treasury Department’s Alcohol Tax Unit of Adelphi’s underground business (Thompson, 

1953). The conclusion of yet another failed business only led Musica to create an even 

bigger scheme. 

In 1923, Philip Musica became F. Donald Coster MD, PhD and founded Girard & 

Co (Thompson, 1953). In an effort to add legitimacy and build a reputation to exploit in 

the future, Coster (Musica) hired Price Waterhouse & Co as auditors. At the time Price 

Waterhouse & Co was widely regarded as the best accounting firm in the U.S. Top 

management once referred to them as “the blue ribbon firm in America” (Baker, 2006). 

Musica was a smart and observant man who probably had the talent to make money in 

legitimate businesses if he was willing to be patient. However, he was looking to make 

money fast. Coster observed the Price Waterhouse auditors and noticed that they did not 

confirm accounts receivable or physically inspect inventory (Thompson 102). In fact, 

auditors did little more than accept the numbers handed to them by the company’s 

managers. 

Between 1924 and 1926 Coster completed the purchase of McKesson & Robbins 

Inc, a well known 90 year-old pharmaceutical company, for $1 million cash (Baxter, 

1999). The hiring of the best accountants in the country and the acquisition of a highly 

reputable name is clear indicator that Coster wanted to be viewed as a bona fide 

businessman. Operating a legitimate business was something Musica and his three 

brothers knew little about. Coster (Musica) employed his three brothers who assumed 

various aliases to help him create and maintain his elaborate fraud. George Vernard 

operated W.W. Smith & Co where he used seven different typewriters and may different 

types of stationary to write purchase orders from fictitious companies. Robert Dietrich 

forged shipping documents to give the appearance that inventory was delivered to those 

companies. George Dietrich was the McKesson & Robbins treasurer and he transferred 

money among several banks to simulate cash payments and receipts. The four brothers 

split a .75 percent commission McKesson & Robbins Inc paid to W.W. Smith & Co 

(Clikeman, 2003). To an outsider everything appeared to be legal. All of the paperwork

equired to perpetrate the fraud was equivalent to the amount used by 85 companies 

(Lodge, 1987). 

Discovery 

In 1937, McKesson & Robbins Inc along many other businesses experienced a 

business recession. The board of directors wanted to halt the growing debt problem by 

converting $4 million ($49.1 million today) into cash (Baxter, 1999). This posed quite a 

problem to Coster (Musica) because the crude drugs inventory only existed on paper. 

Coster’s only option was to pump in the cash himself and decrease inventory. This was 

the option of last resort for Coster. Instead he tried to convince Julian Thompson, the 

company’s comptroller, to take out a $3 million loan, but before this could occur, 

Thompson had to attest to the financial statements of McKesson & Robbins Inc 

(Thompson, 1953). Thompson discovered that $21 million ($258 million today) of crude 

drugs reportedly held in Canada was completely uninsured (Thompson, 1953). The 

discovery only raised Thompson’s suspicions even further and eventually led to him 

finding the fraud. 

Julian Thompson went to the New York Stock Exchange in 1938 to inform them 

of the fraud. The NYSE suspended all trading of McKesson & Robbins shares. Within 

the crude drug division which was where the fraud was confined to, there was a total of 

$19 million ($233 million today) in fake assets (Lodge, 1987). There was $10 million 

($123 million today) in nonexistent inventory and another $9 million ($110 million 

today) in phony accounts receivable (Baker, 2006). In total, 20% of McKesson & 

Robbins $86,556, 270 ($1.06 billion today) total assets were a lie (“Business: New 

Accounting, 1939). For over a decade Coster was able to conjure up an entire division of 

the company while keeping his true intentions hidden from everyone. 

McKesson & Robbins Inc was successful when other companies were not. A fact 

that led prominent republicans to ask Coster (Musica) to consider running for them in the 

1940 Presidential election (Baxter, 1999). Musica committed suicide in 1938 before he 

could be arrested. The lie had gone on for so long that he was even buried with F. 

Donald Coster engraved on his headstone. In total he stole $2.9 million ($35.6 million 

today), but very little was ever recovered since most of the money was used to pay off 

former associates who knew him as Philip Musica (Thompson, 1953). There were many 

factors that allowed a fraud of this size, which had never been seen before, occur for such 

a long time. 

External Causes 

A fraud of this magnitude would be hard to execute if others did not step out of 

the way. Price Waterhouse’s yearly audits never interfered with the fraud while giving 

outsiders the impression McKesson & Robbins was an upstanding organization. 

However, the audit was full of so many holes that the fraud slipped right through one of 

them. Price Waterhouse did not conduct detailed checks of cash transactions and spent

most of their time reviewing the balance sheet while never physically inspecting 

inventory amounts reported by management. In addition, McKesson & Robbins 

management forced Price Waterhouse to cut down on the amount of work done (Baxter, 

1999). The auditors failed to question management about certain records and why their 

work was being constricted. 

Failure to ask questions occurred again when the auditors never wondered why 

there seemed to always be large year-end purchases of inventory nor did they notice that 

shipping dates for goods traveling from Canada to New York did not allow for enough 

shipping time (Baxter, 1999). Had the goods actually been shipped it would have taken 

longer than what the records showed. Coster based his fraud on his experience with 

auditors, which is why the auditors just accepted the fact that $9 million of accounts 

receivable, the same amount that was discovered as phony, was always in order and 

always collected in full. Furthermore, there were never any sales returns for damaged 

goods or bad debts due to uncollectible accounts (Baxter, 1999.) As stated previously, the 

fraud was confined to only the crude drugs division of McKesson & Robbins Inc. It 

apparently never seemed odd to the auditors that while other divisions struggled, crude 

drugs always reported a profit (Thompson, 1953). To the casual observer everything was 

in order all the time, which would lead some to suspect that operations were too good to 

be true. 

Price Waterhouse’s auditors made little effort to understand the crude drug 

business (Baxter, 1999). It will be hard for any auditor in any era to conduct an audit if 

they do not learn about the client’s business operations. Probably the most important fact 

with regards to the fraud is about the audit procedures. The fraud occurred while Price 

Waterhouse’s auditors followed the generally accepted audit procedures (Baker, 2006). 

One would think that audit procedures were instituted to prevent and catch fraud, but at 

that point in time the profession was still evolving and this was not the case. From 1923 

to 1937 Price Waterhouse accepted fraudulent records for accounts receivable and 

inventory in the crude drugs division (Doron, 2009). 

Fraud Aftermath 

An editorial written in the Journal of Accountancy in 1939 stated, 

“Like a torrent of cold water the wave of publicity raised by the McKesson & 

Robbins case has shocked the accountancy profession into breathlessness. 

Accustomed to relative obscurity in the public prints, accountants have been 

startled to find their procedures, their principles, and their professional standards 

the subject of sensational and generally unsympathetic headlines.” 

The fraud placed the entire accounting profession right in the general public’s crosshairs. 

As with Enron, the public lumped all accountants in with those who they believed let the 

fraud at McKesson & Robbins occur. Further investigation did reveal there was more to 

the case than originally thought.

It is important to note that prior to the fraud’s discovery the outgoing American 

Institute of Accountants (AIA) President, Robert Montgomery, had a few choice words 

for the accounting profession in 1936. In his final speech, Montgomery stated, “…I ask 

the profession to stand still. I do not want to it change” (Doron, 2009). Accountants felt 

their profession was in good shape and right where it needed to be. A fact supported by 

the AIA’s response after the fraud was discovered. The AIA believed the fraud was 

“highly unusual and very unlikely to occur again” (Rodgers, 2005). 

The SEC began its formal investigation on February 20, 1939. It interviewed 

twelve expert witnesses from public accounting to determine what exactly generally 

accepted auditing procedures were when the fraud occurred. Based on the testimony of 

the accounting professionals the SEC determined that auditors were not required to 

confirm accounts receivable or physically inspect inventory (Edwards, 1956). The ruling 

directed some of the blame away from the auditors since they did not fail to follow 

procedure. After gathering 4,587 pages of testimony and 3,000 pages of exhibits, the 

SEC agreed and officially stated that Price Waterhouse did follow the accepted 

procedures mandatory for auditors at the time the audits were conducted (Lodge, 1987). 

However, the SEC also believed that the overstatement of assets would have been 

discovered through independent confirmation (Edwards, 1956). Even though the auditors 

were cleared of wrongdoing on a technicality, they still could have done more. In their 

report, the SEC said Price Waterhouse “failed to employ a degree of vigilance, 

inquisitiveness, and analysis of the evidence available that is necessary” (Baxter, 1999). 

Of course the aforementioned failure needed to be dealt with and measures 

needed to be put in place ensure there was never a sequel. The new audit procedures 

included: 

1. Confirmation of receivables 

2. Physical inventory inspection 

3. Greater review of internal controls 

4. More responsibility for auditors and management 

(“Events That Shaped A Century,” 2005). 

Each of the changes forced auditors to ask management more questions and be more 

vigilant when conducting audits. The changes were introduced in May 1939, which was 

just six months after the SEC had concluded its investigation (Doron, 2009). Then in the 

summer of 1939 the AIA selected a Committee on Auditing Procedures (CAP) and their 

first Statement on Auditing Procedure (SAP), Extensions of Auditing Procedure, made it 

mandatory to observe inventory and confirm accounts receivable (Clikeman, 2003). 

The committee issued more statements, but it became apparent that a set of 

standards was needed to create a framework for future statements on auditing procedure. 

After the SEC started to require auditors to mention compliance with generally accepted 

audit standards in their reports, the AICPA issued a brochure in 1947 entitled, “Tentative 

Statement of Auditing Standards—Their Generally Accepted Significance and Scope”

(AICPA, 2010). The brochure led to the creation of Generally Accepted Auditing Standards 

(GAAS). GAAS was the end result of a chain of events that were set in motion by the 

discovery of the fraud at McKesson & Robbins Inc. 

Price Waterhouse had a different opinion about the new statements on auditing 

procedure. They had taken a defensive posture since the fraud was disclosed because 

many people still felt they were the ones to be blamed. Price Waterhouse thought the 

new procedures were a clear result of hindsight. Furthermore, they continued to believe 

that they could not be found at fault for choosing to only follow the mandatory 

accounting procedures while disregarding additional, recommended procedures 

(Niemeier, 2007). 

During the course of the investigation, Price Waterhouse supported their actions 

with the argument that they followed the required procedures and the management at 

McKesson & Robbins Inc gave instructions that limited the scope of the audit. 

Throughout the entire ordeal this was the auditors’ main defense to its critics. Although 

the main victims of the fraud were stakeholders and stockholders, the auditors even 

claimed to be victims of the fraud (Edwards, 1956). There may be some basis to this 

argument since Coster (Musica) was able to fool everyone. In the end, Price Waterhouse 

did not accept any liability for the fraud nor did they accept guilt by negligence 

(Edwards, 1956). Some may argue that their actions speak to the contrary. 

Price Waterhouse returned $522, 402.29 ($6.41 million today) in audit fees to 

McKesson & Robbins Inc (Edwards, 1956). Although the refund was never intended to 

be a sign of guilt, the refund does seem logical since Price Waterhouse did fail to 

recognize some noticeable inconsistencies and thus never pursued management for 

further questioning. It is possible the fraud may have been uncovered sooner than later if 

the auditors employed more vigilance. Whether this is the case no one will ever know for 

certain and it will be left to speculation. It should be pointed out that while Price 

Waterhouse never confirmed accounts receivable or inventory, smaller accounting firms 

were when conducting their audits (Doron, 2009). As in many of life’s events, the 

accounting profession had to learn its lesson first before it decided to implement any real 

changes. 

The New McKesson & Robbins Inc 

As one might suspect Price Waterhouse & Co were let go as auditors of 

McKesson & Robbins Inc. William J. Wardall, the McKesson & Robbins estate trustee, 

hired S.D. Liesdorf & Co to be the new auditors (“Business: New Accounting”, 1939). 

Wardall was clearly trying to create distance between the new look McKesson & Robbins 

and its recent past. The reorganization of McKesson & Robbins Inc was completed in 

1942. It was once again a privately owned company (Baxter, 1999). The guidance by 

Wardall and the fact that the fraud was limited to only one division of the company 

allowed McKesson & Robbins Inc to continue as a viable pharmaceutical company. 

Today McKesson & Robbins Inc is known simply as McKesson and is traded on 

the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol (MCK). Their current auditors are

Deloitte & Touche LLP. According to their corporate website they are currently growing 

after posting their highest profit in the last five years in 2010 with an income of $1.263 

billion and an earnings per share of $4.70 per share (mckesson.com, 2011). McKesson 

specializes in selling drugs, healthcare products, surgical supplies, medical equipment, 

and pharmacy management software to hospitals and physician offices. McKesson’s 

corporate history fails to mention the fraud along with the time period during which F. 

Donald Coster (Philip Musica) was at the helm. The fraud may be a dark chapter in the 

company’s history, but its ramifications are having long lasting effects. 

Theoretical Grounding in the Fraud Triangle 

Overview of the Fraud Triangle 

The Fraud Triangle was created by Donald Cressey, a sociologist and 

criminologist, after conducting interviews with nearly 200 convicted embezzlers during 

the 1940s (Wells, 2001). After an analyzing the responses the embezzlers provided with 

regards to why they took money in the first place, Cressey was able to pinpoint what he 

saw as the main reason for committing fraud. Pressure to satisfy financial obligations led 

individuals to commit fraud in order to obtain the necessary funds (Wells, 2001). Two 

additional elements classified as opportunity and rationalization came later to form the 

triangle. Opportunity is defined as the chance to commit fraud and then conceal the 

crime. Rationalization is defined as the chance to pass the crime off as something else 

(Wells). In others words, it is when the perpetrator is able to provide justification for 

committing the fraud. 

Figure 1 

The Fraud Triangle 

(Cressey) 

Opportunity 

Fraud 

Triangle 

Pressure Rationalization

McKesson & Robbins Fraud 

It was not until nearly 40 years after the discovery of the fraud that auditors were 

required to formulate a plan for detecting fraud. In 1976, Statement on Auditing 

Standards (SAS) 16 was issued and stated that auditors need a plan for searching for 

items that might affect the financial statements (Kranacher and Stern, 2009). It became 

imperative for auditors to understand each element of the fraud triangle and thus be able 

to recognize their potential existence within the organization they are auditing. 

Consideration of fraud in a company’s financial statements was an afterthought until the 

scandal at Enron occurred and Auditing Standards Board (ASB) was forced to react. In 

2002, SAS 99: Consideration of Fraud in Financial Statements was issued (Kranacher 

and Stern, 2009). Not only must auditors create a plan for detecting fraud, but they must 

also assess the risk that fraud is occurring or will occur in the future by applying the fraud 

triangle and other training initiatives. 

The McKesson & Robbins fraud occurred prior to the inception of both the Fraud 

Triangle and the pronouncements issued by the Auditing Standards Board mentioned 

above. After applying the Fraud Triangle it was discovered that all three elements were 

present throughout the fraud. Philip Musica put pressure upon himself to find a way to 

live a life better than that of his parents who were Italian immigrants. His parents made 

their way to the slums of New York City, but Musica, after spending time at the docks, 

saw how the other half lived (Thompson, 1953). Within Musica there was a strong desire 

to achieve wealth quickly and making money the honest way took to long for him 

(Thompson, 1953). He developed a taste for high living early on in life (Baxter, 1999). 

Musica felt pressure to achieve his preferred status in life and chose to choose the fast, 

but illegal path to achieving status in New York society. 

As mentioned earlier, Musica made several attempts at utilizing fraud in get rich 

quick schemes, but each time he was apprehended before too long. The opportunity to 

commit another fraud was created by lack of proper accounting procedures. Posing now 

as F. Donald Coster, Musica noticed that his auditors, Price Waterhouse & Co, did not 

confirm accounts receivable or physically inspect inventory (Thompson, 1953). The 

absence of certain procedures created an opportunity upon which Musica seized. What 

helped the fraud sustain itself was the willing help he received from his brothers to 

conceal the crime and the few questions investors ever asked about how his company was 

always successful when others were not. 

Philip Musica is the only person who truly knows why he defrauded so many for 

so long and his exact justification is subject to speculation. Based on research presented 

in the fraud background, a possible of list of reasons can be inferred. Musica was a 

novice accountant at best so it is possible he though that since his auditors did not check 

inventory and accounts receivable his actions were unimportant. A more plausible 

explanation would be that the fraud was committed to attain what Musica felt life owed 

him. He had it rough as a child and thus felt he was due some compensation for his

hardship. The fraud was then maintained for so long to protect his new image, the 

company, and more importantly to ensure that Musica had enough funds to payoff former 

criminal associates who were blackmailing him. All of these presumptions can only 

explain so much. The exact rationalization used during this fraud disappeared with its 

mastermind when he took his own life. 

Methodology 

The objective of this study was to construct a detailed history of the McKesson & 

Robbins fraud. This was completed through a literature review and application of the 

Fraud Triangle. The second objective of this study was to develop and validate an 

instrument that measures awareness of the fraud among university level accounting 

students. For this study awareness can be defined as knowledge of facts that distinguish 

the McKesson & Robbins fraud from others. There are specific facts that quickly 

separate this fraud case from others and that if known would indicate some level of 

knowledge. 

The process of constructing the proper instrument followed a flow chart approach 

adapted from Benson and Clark (1982), Shinde (2009), and Spector (1979). In figures 2 

and 3, the flowchart presented was used to create and validate the Student Awareness of 

the McKesson & Robbins Fraud survey instrument. 

Figure 2: 

Phases I and II - Flowchart of Qualitative Evaluation 

(Adapted from Benson & Clark, 1982, Shinde, 2009, and Spector, 1979) 

1. State Purpose of Study: 

Determine level of knowledge 

accounting students have about the 

landmark fraud at McKesson & 

Robbins Inc 

2. Theoretical Underpinnings: 

Literature Review and theoretical 

grounding in the Fraud Triangle

4. Reduction of Item Pool: 

Based on evaluation from 

Expert Panel 1 consisting of 

PhDs 

7. Proceed to Phase 

III of the flowchart 

Figure 3: 

3. Generate Initial Item Pool: 


5. Content validation and 

qualitative evaluation of items: 

Use of expert panels 1 and 2 

NO 

Satisfied? 

YES 

6. Design the instrument: 

Based on the final item pool

Phases III and IV - Flowchart for Developing the AAFS 

(Quantitative Evaluation - Adapted from Spector, 1979, Shinde, 2009 and 

Benson & Clark, 1982) 

8. First Pilot Study 

and Debriefing. 

19. Item Analysis 

10. Reliability 

11. Second Pilot 

Study and 

Debriefing (if 

needed). 

12. Item Analysis 

and Reliability 

13. Validation & 

Norm & Final 

Administration 

Phase 3 

Quantitative 

Evaluation 

Phase 4 

Validating 

Scale

Phase I 

1. Formulation of a statement of purpose for the study: The purpose of this study 

is to determine the level of knowledge accounting students have about the landmark fraud 

at McKesson & Robbins Inc. This accomplished in the introduction. 

2. Theoretical Grounding: An exhaustive literature review was conducted, which 

led to the retroactive application of the Fraud Triangle. The fraud was analyzed using a 

concept created nearly a decade after its discovery. 

Phase II-Qualitative Evaluation 

Actual construction of the survey instrument occurs during phase II. Initial drafts 

of the instrument were based on information gathered from the literature review. Key 

facts of the fraud that were considered as the most important were included in the 

instrument. Initial items that were included but later determined to be unnecessary by 

expert panel one were removed. 

Certain questions were characterized as being overly complex for the nature of 

this study. The wording of questions were simplified to an eighth grade reading level and 

the length reduced to just a single line. A question that referred the audit topic of scope 

limitation was removed completely after consulting with expert panel 1. Scope limitation 

of an audit is a technical question that all survey respondents may not be familiar with 

due to their level of accounting education. General knowledge of the fraud was still 

measureable without the inclusion of this question. 

Further refining consisted of transforming some questions into positive or 

negative questions. A negative question is one where the statement is false and 

disagreeing with it would indicate knowledge. A positive question is one where the 

statement is true and agreeing with it would indicate knowledge. A mix of negative and 

positive questions was included with the clear intent of detecting true knowledge while 

reducing the effect guessing would have on the results. Question nine was changed to 

include the term “indirectly” after further research revealed the inclusion of this term 

would increase the validity of the content. The last content adjustment dealt with the 

anchors of the last question which measures overall knowledge. Anchors with adjectives 

that reflected no knowledge and complete knowledge were not decided upon until after 

several revisions. 

Expert Panel two was consulted to determine grammar and sentence structure 

validity for each question. The panel comprised of fifteen 15 undergraduates who are not 

majoring in accounting. In addition, none of the panel members have ever taken an 

auditing course. A survey was administered to the panel and asked them to indicate the 

level of clarity each statement possessed. The statements listed were the exact ones from

the survey instrument. In total, fourteen responses were used to gauge clarity. One 

response was thrown out because it was evident the panel member was trying to solve the 

question rather than indicate his or her level of perceived clarity. The clarity survey is 

presented in Appendix two. 

Table 1 

Demographics Expert Panel 2 

Class Status Field of Study Average Age 

Freshman 1 Business-Non Accounting 3 20.57 

Sophomore 4 Corporate Communications 3 

Junior 7 Health 3 

Senior 2 Family Consumer Science 2 

Total 14 Hospitality Management 2 

Athletic Training 1 

Total 14 

Based on the results several additional modifications were made to the survey 

instrument. Question five was simplified further after five of the fourteen respondents 

indicated the question was only somewhat understandable. Six respondents found 

question nine to be not understandable or somewhat understandable. However, no 

changes were made as it appeared panel members were trying to answer the question 

rather than indicate its level of clarity to them. 

Of all the questions, question six was the most scrutinized as hours were spent 

trying to rephrase and simplify it. The question could not be removed due to its level of 

importance for the study. It is a critical part of the survey because it refers the key 

distinguishing fact of the entire fraud. Inadequate audit procedures were used by Price 

Waterhouse & Co, which allowed the fraud to continue and indirectly led to the creation 

of GAAS. It was this component of the fraud that had most profound impact on the 

accounting profession. After the final revision, 57% of expert panel two members felt the 

question was completely understandable. 

Phase III-Quantitative Evaluation 

The final survey instrument was presented to one undergraduate accounting class 

at Eastern Illinois University. Financial Accounting Theory II is a required course for the 

accounting major the university. This sample used was a selected and convenience 

sample. The purpose was to gather input from a sample of students that in general 

reflected the target respondents of the survey. In total 28 responses were gathered with a 

response rate of 100%. 

Phase IV-Validating the Instrument

This step involved final administration of the survey instrument to accounting 

students. According to Spector (1979) and Nunally (1978), ten responses per item are 

needed in order to develop a valid instrument. This was achieved through the final 

administration. 

Initial Pool of Items 

A through literature review of academic journals, mainstream literature, academic 

speeches, and papers written by university professors, was conducted to generate the 

initial pool of items. In total twelve items were included in the initial pool. After a 

review performed by expert panel one, which is comprised as individuals from academia, 

the item pool was reduced to just nine. These nine items were used for the pilot study 

and later for the final administration. The review by expert panel two merely determined 

how to structure each item question so that is would be easy for each study participant to 

provide a response without requiring significant amounts of time. 

Content Validity 

Content coverage and content relevance combine to create content validity 

(Messick, 1980). The literature review provided enough items to give strength to the 

study. Reducing the total number of items from twelve to nine after consulting with the 

first expert panel provided content relevance. Theses steps ensured that content coverage 

and relevance were achieved. 

Common Method Biases 

A potential problem with any research is common method biases, which can 

create variances. Variance that is created by the measurement method employed is 

problematic for research (Podaskoff, MacKenzie, Lee, and Podaskoff, 2003). Based on 

the context of this study, two steps were taken to reduce common method biases. 

1. The final order of the items on the validated instrument was randomized to 

reduce bias towards the questions. After the removal of three items from the initial 

instrument, the nine remaining were merely renumbered to reflect that there is only nine 

items. The initial twelve items were randomized and thus the final nine were left as such. 

When respondents attach importance to a question based on its position in the order of 

questions it is called a context effect (Podaskoff, MacKenzie, Lee, and Podaskoff, 2003). 

As mentioned earlier, item six is the critical point in the survey instrument, but it has 

been presented as having no more importance than any other item. Item nine’s position is 

logical, but it is based mainly on the fact that it was last one added since it was not 

formed from information retrieved from the literature review. Question order does not 

weigh as heavily on this instrument as it may on others since every question is measuring 

as single construct, student awareness. 

2. The second potential source of common method bias is called social 

desirability bias. This type of bias occurs when respondents want portray themselves 

positively, or in the case of this study appear to possess more knowledge about the fraud 

than they actually do. Anonymous responses can reduce the effect this bias can have on

the research (Nunally, 1978). If the respondents understand that their name will not be 

paired with their responses, then there is less incentive to exaggerate their knowledge. At 

its inception the study was planned around acquiring anonymous responses. There is no 

written documentation of consent required and thus the identities of the respondents are 

unknown. Anonymity mitigates the effect social desirability bias can have on this 

research. 

Methodology Summary 

Utilizing a literature review, feedback from academicians, and feedback from 

students, the initial twelve item survey instrument was reduced to nine. Any removal was 

based on the overall goal of producing a simplified and effective survey. Steps were 

taken to ensure that it was suitable for the type of individuals that are the target of this 

study and that the effects of any potential biases from these individuals are reduced. The 

instrument is presented in Appendix one. 

Results 

The survey instrument was presented to 61 accounting students at Eastern Illinois 

University with a response rate of 100%. All students were enrolled in upper level, 

undergraduate accounting courses, which are a requirement of the accounting major. 

This was a selected, convenience sample. 

Reliability 

Reliability was measured using Cronbach’s Alpha. Cronbach’s Alpha for the 

final administration totaled .916 (Table 2A). 

Table 2 


A. Reliability Statistics 


Based on 

Standardized 

Items N of Items 

.916 .908 9 

B. Item Statistics 

Mean Std. Deviation N 

Pharma 3.0000 1.57056 61 

Auditor 3.2787 1.77136 61 

CEO 3.0000 1.48324 61 

Year 2.8689 1.39613 61 

Assets 3.4262 1.57543 61 

Procedures 3.4262 1.56481 61 

Exist 3.2459 1.19242 61 

GAAS 2.9344 1.38887 61 

Knowledge 1.2951 .71518 61

C. Summary Item Statistics 

Mean Minimum Maximum Range 

Maximum / 

Minimum Variance N of Items 

Item Means 2.942 1.295 3.426 2.131 2.646 .425 9 

Item Variances 2.061 .511 3.138 2.626 6.135 .564 9 

Scale Mean if 

Item Deleted 

E. Scale Statistics 

Mean D. Variance Item-Total Std. Deviation Statistics N of Items 

26.4754 99.654 9.98266 Corrected Item- 9 

Scale Variance 

if Item Deleted 

Total 

Correlation 

Cronbach’s Alpha 

F. Reliability Statistics 

Part 1 Value .900 

N of Items 5 a 

Part 2 Value .755 

N of Items 4 b 

Total N of Items 9 

Correlation Between Forms .821 

Spearman-Brown Coefficient Equal Length .902 

Unequal Length .903 

Guttman Split-Half Coefficient .831 

a. The items are: Pharma, Auditor, CEO, Year, Assets 

Squared 

Multiple 

Correlation 

Pharma 23.4754 75.820 .781 .782 .900 

Auditor 23.1967 77.361 .615 .592 .915 

CEO 23.4754 74.887 .879 .848 .893 

Year 23.6066 78.209 .789 .798 .900 

Assets 23.0492 75.448 .794 .788 .900 

Procedures 23.0492 75.248 .809 .856 .898 

Exist 23.2295 81.780 .763 .846 .904 

GAAS 23.5410 80.186 .705 .642 .906 

Knowledge 25.1803 97.184 .139 .384 .931 

Cronbach's 

Alpha if It em 

Deleted

. The items are: Procedures, Exist, GASS, Knowledge 

Item Removal 

The acceptable procedure is to remove any item that would increase the 

Cronbach’s Alpha (Spector, 1979). Table 2D indicates that if item nine, Knowledge, is 

removed then the reliability would increase from .916 to .931. However, the instrument 

is already very reliable at .916. Most importantly, the removal of item nine would result 

in the elimination of the second key component of the study. Item nine provides a 

specific measure that is valued within the study. 

Reliability of the administration was confirmed by the Guttman Split-Half 

Coefficient (Table 2F). The nine items were divided into two groups with one containing 

five items and the other four items. Group A had a reliability of .900 and Group B had a 

reliability of .755. Both of these numbers indicate a good level of reliability with Group 

A being the best. The level reliability provided by Cronbach’s Alpha is supported by the 

Split-Half Coefficient. 

Factor Analysis 

The nine item survey instrument was subject to additional validation through the 

use of factor analysis. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with a Varimax rotation 

(Kaiser Normalization) was used to determine the number of factors. The results 

revealed that there are two determining factors present. Total variance explained was 

61.45% (Table 3B). 

Table 3 

A. Communalities 

Initial Extraction 

Pharma 1.000 .735 

Auditor 1.000 .490 

CEO 1.000 .830 

Year 1.000 .811 

Assets 1.000 .835 

Procedures 1.000 .788 

Exist 1.000 .750 

GAAS 1.000 .625 

Knowledge 1.000 .908 

Extraction Method: Principal 

Component Analysis. 

B. Total Variance Explained

Comp 

onent 

Initial Eigenvalues 

Total 

% of 

Variance 

Cumulative 

% Total 

Extraction Sums of Squared 

Loadings 

% of 

Variance 

Cumulative 

% Total 

Rotation Sums of Squared 

Loadings 

% of 

Variance 

Cumulative 

% 

1 5.530 61.447 61.447 5.530 61.447 61.447 5.321 59.124 59.124 

2 1.241 13.788 75.235 1.241 13.788 75.235 1.450 16.111 75.235 

3 .786 8.739 83.974 

4 .544 6.039 90.013 

5 .304 3.378 93.391 

6 .246 2.737 96.128 

7 .158 1.757 97.885 

8 .125 1.394 99.279 

9 .065 .721 100.000 

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. 

C. Rotated Component Matrix a 

Component 

1 2 

Year .898 -.071 

Exist .865 -.039 

CEO .864 .289 

Pharma .857 -.004 

Procedures .791 .403 

GAAS .784 .100 

Assets .745 .529 

Auditor .698 .047 

Knowledge -.051 .951 

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. 

Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser 

Normalization. 

a. Rotation converged in 3 iterations. 

Scree Plot 

The Scree Plot (Figure 4) suggests that there are two underlying factors for 

student awareness. Factor Analysis confirms these findings in the rotated component 

matrix where the items that comprise each factor have been highlighted in their

espective columns (Table 3C). The eigenvalues indicate that only two components have 

a value greater than one. Components are only considered a factor if their eigenvalues 

are greater than one. 

Figure 4 

Perceptual Map 

A two-dimensional perceptual map (Figure 5) is employed since only two factors 

were found. Responses recorded from the survey instrument allow the perceptual map to 

plot the dimensionality of the construct. Although two dimensions are easy to interpret, 

additional dimensions were not required according to the results from the factor analysis. 

The perceptual map displays two distinct clusters/factors, which confirms the 

interpretation rendered from both the scree plot and factor analysis. There were no 

outliers displayed on the map. 

Figure 5 

Two-Dimensional Perceptual Map

There are two underlying factors of student awareness of the McKesson & 

Robbins fraud. This was verified by factor analysis, scree plot, and perceptual mapping. 

The first factor is micro-knowledge or specific facts about the fraud that distinguish it 

from other frauds. Micro-knowledge includes: Year, Exist, CEO, Pharma, Procedures, 

GAAS, Assets, and Auditor. The second factor is macro-knowledge or an overall 

awareness that the fraud occurred. Macro-knowledge only includes: Knowledge. These 

two factors are diagrammed in figure six. 

Factor 1 

Micro-Knowledge 

Figure 6 

Factor 2 

Macro-Knowledge 

Discussion 

Upon final administration of Student the survey Awareness 

instrument 61 responses were recorded at 

a response rate of 100%. The final instrument was validated with the nine original items 

leftover from the qualitative evaluation. Review of both the scree plot and perceptual 

map revealed that further removal of items was unnecessary. Statistical testing of the 

instruments reliability revealed item nine should be removed. Through factor analysis it

was discovered that if item nine was removed, then an entire underlying factor would 

have been eliminated. It was illogical to drop a factor that explains student awareness. 

The results indicate that accounting students posses little or no 

awareness/knowledge of the McKesson & Robbins fraud. Item nine had an average of 

just 1.29, which indicates the level of overall knowledge of the fraud is almost 

nonexistent. Choosing number one for that specific item is an indicator of no knowledge. 

Items one through eight dealt with facts exclusive to this fraud. An average near three or 

just above three for the remaining eight items is an indicator that most respondents were 

neutral. Neutral signifies the respondent did not know enough to pick a definite answer. 

Conclusion 

The goal of this study was to determine student awareness about a landmark fraud 

case that led to eventual changes to the accounting profession. Those changes still affect 

the modern accounting profession. The study was limited to accounting students who are 

enrolled in classes required for completion of their accounting major. 

Contributions 

1. A potential new area of study is measuring student awareness of events that 

affect their projected future profession. The focus of this specific study is a narrow one 

since it is occupied with a single fraud case. 

2. This study followed a systematic sequential model to generate and validate the 

final survey instrument. Benefits of the process included the development of a highly 

reliable and understandable survey instrument. 

3. The analysis incorporates the Fraud Triangle, which was developed after the 

discovery of the fraud. It became clear after the extensive literature review that the Fraud 

Triangle was applicable within the context of this specific fraud. 

4. Multiple statistical techniques were employed to develop and validate the 

survey instrument. Initially, the instrument was found to be very reliable and then 

confirmed to be as such. The findings were confirmed by factor analysis, scree plot, and 

perceptual mapping. 

Limitations 

The study had a narrow focus and a small sample size that was derived from 

selected and convenience sampling. It is unclear how much or how little the sample 

taken represents the large population. The results would be more representative if the 

sample size was expanded to include more accounting students from other universities in 

Illinois and possibly even other states. Time and resource constraints also limited the 

scope of the study. 

Final Conclusion 

Student awareness of the McKesson & Robbins fraud was measured by a reliable 

and validated survey instrument. The sample was confined to students who attend 

Eastern Illinois University and the focus was confined to a single fraud case from 1937.

Results of the study indicate an overall lack of knowledge about the fraud. The 

experiences and expertise of each respondent was not measured beyond their class status. 

Lack of knowledge could be a result of the age of the fraud case and more emphasis on 

recent frauds, such as the one at Enron. Past experiences revealed just how unimportant 

the McKesson & Robbins fraud is when compared to Enron fraud in current accounting 

curriculum. 

Further research needs to be conducted to attain a large sample that is 

representative of university level accounting students in the United States. Additional 

studies are needed to determine if some form of accounting history education is a 

potential solution for teaching future accounting professionals the reasoning behind 

certain accounting standards. At the moment, it is unclear if the modification of existing 

curriculums will produce more competent accounting professionals. 

References: 

AICPA. “Auditing, Attestation, and Quality Control Standards Setting Activities: 

Operating Policies.” aicpa.org 2010: 1-19. Web. 21 February 2011. 

“ACCOUNTING: After McKesson's.” Time 22 May 1939. Print.

Baker, Richard L. and William E. Bealing Jr. “The Sarbanes Oxley Act: Have We Seen 

It All Before?” Journal of Business & Economic Studies 12.2 (2006): 1-10. Print. 

Barr, Andrew and Irving J. Galpeer. “McKesson & Robbins.’ Journal of Accountancy 

163.5 (1987): 159-161. Print. 

Baxter, W.T. “McKesson & Robbins: a milestone in auditing.” Accounting, Business, & 

Financial History 9.2 (1999): 157-174. Print. 

“Business: New Accounting.” Time 24 July 1939. Print. 

Clikeman, Paul M. “The Greatest Frauds of the (Last) Century.” University of 

Richmond. (2003): 1-7. Print. 

Doron, Michael E. “I Ask the Profession to Stand Still: The Evolution of American 

Public Accountancy, 1927-62.”Eastern Washington University. 20 Aug 2009: 1- 

48. Print. 

Edwards, James Don. “Public Accounting in the United States from 1928 to 1951.” The 

Business History Review 30.4 (1956): 444-471. Print. 

"Events That Shaped a Century." Journal of Accountancy. 200.4 (October 2005): 89-90. 

Kranacher, Mary-Jo and Lorraine Stern. “Enhancing Fraud Detection Through 

Education.” The CPA Journal Online 2009. Web. 22 March 11. 

Lodge, Arthur. “Thanks, I Needed That I Think.” Journal of Accountancy 164.3 (1987): 


McKesson.com. McKesson Corporation. Web. 26 January 2011. 

Niemeier, Charles D. “Independent Oversight of the Auditing Profession: Lessons from 

U.S. History.” German Public Auditors Congress. Berlin, Germany. 8 November 

2007. 

Nunnally, J. Psychometric Theory, 2nd Edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1978. 

Podsakoff, P., MacKenzie, S., Lee, J., & Podsakoff, N. (2003). “Common method biases 

in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended 

remedies”. The Journal of Applied Psychology (2003): 88, 879-903

Rodgers, Rodney K., Jesse Dillar, and Kristi Yuthas. “The Accounting Profession: 

Substantive Change and/or Image Management.” Journal of Business Ethics 58.3 

(2005): 159-176. Print. 

Securities and Exchange Commission (1940). In the matter of McKesson and Robbins 

Inc., Washington D.C; reprinted New York: Garland, 1982. 

“The McKesson & Robbins Case.” Editorial. The Journal of Accountancy 67.2 (1939). 

Print. 

Thompson, Craig. “America’s Boldest Swindler.” Saturday Evening Post 28 February 


Wells, Joseph T. “Why Employees Commit Fraud, It’s Either Greed or Need.” 

Association of Certified Fraud Examiners 2001. Web. 22 March 2011.

Can We Apply TAM in 

Computer-Based Classes? 

David Williams 


Denise Williams 


ABSTRACT 

While students may struggle in any classroom and require help outside of class, computer‐based courses 

present the additional challenge of requiring the presence of hardware and software that may be unavailable or 

inconvenient for students when the class ends. This paper explores the concept of applying TAM to computer‐ 

related classes in order to encourage students to seek needed help. Increasing Ease of Use with respect to 

getting and receiving needed help may increase the likelihood that students will ask for and receive needed 

help in their computer‐based classes. Two simple examples are provided demonstrating how this may be 

possible.

INTRODUCTION 

The purpose of this paper is to explore the following question of whether we can apply TAM to 

encourage students to seek needed help in a heavily computer-based course TAM (or 

Technology Acceptance Model, credited to Davis) uses two major variables: Perceived Ease of 

Use and Perceived Usefulness (Hasan and Ahmed, 2010; Lin and Yang, 2009; Park, 2009; Saadé 

and Kira, 2009; Shen and Eder, 2009; Tung et al., 2009). 

Davis (1989) defines Perceived Usefulness with the following as 

“ ... the degree to which a person believes that using a particular 

system would enhance his or her job performance.” 

Davis (1989) distinguishes Perceived Ease of Use as 

“ ... the degree to which a person believes that using a particular 

system would be free of effort.” 

These constructs lie at the heart of TAM. Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use then 

influence intended and actual usage of information systems (Davis, 1989; Hasan and Ahmed, 

2010; Lin and Yang, 2009; Park, 2009; Shen and Eder, 2009; Tung et al., 2009). The goal for 

this paper is to consider the question of whether we can apply lessons from TAM to encourage 

students who need help in heavily computer-based courses to actually seek help. Influencing the 

two major variables, Usefulness and Ease of Use, may consequently, influence whether or not a 

student will ask for help or ask questions when that student needs help or does not fully 

understand aspects of course materials. It is hoped that the usefulness of asking for help when 

help is needed or when a student has a question can be clearly understood. The focus of this 

paper is on seeking ways to improve the Ease of Use variable. Are there small things that we, as 

teachers, can do to increase student perceptions that getting help will involve not only the benefit 

of getting help, but also the ease of getting needed help? 

THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS 

TAM has been used by prior researchers to study information system acceptance and use for a 

variety of systems. Davis (1989) considered an email system and a file editor system. Mahmood 

et al. (2001) used the variables Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness in a metaanalysis 

study of literature regarding information technology usage, presenting a table of papers 

relating to Ease of Use ranging from 1989 to 1998 (Mahmood et al., 2001). Lin and Yang (2009) 

considered TAM in an effort to better understand patient behavior for asthma care and a mobile 

phone application. Tung et al. (2009) explored CRM (Customer Relationship Management) 

information system use. Additional subject areas that TAM has been used for investigating 

acceptance include microcomputer use and workstation use, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) 

use, and Internet-related usage of technologies and systems (Hasan and Ahmed, 2010). The 

research described above considered the use of TAM and TAM extensions to better understand 

acceptance and use of various technologies and systems, suggesting TAM’s versatility in 

application.

Some researchers have used TAM and TAM extensions to better understand student acceptance, 

willingness to use, and actual use of information technologies and information systems to 

support learning. Shen and Eder (2009) used TAM to explore student willingness to use Second 

Life. Park (2009), Raven et al. (2010), and Saadé and Kira (2009) used TAM constructs to learn 

more about student adoption of various uses of technology to support learning. These diverse 

uses for TAM and TAM constructs to explore intended usage of information systems support the 

idea that the constructs from TAM might also contribute to helping instructors encourage 

students to be more likely to ask for needed assistance. 

DISCUSSION 

The idea for this paper comes from one of the author’s efforts to encourage students who have 

questions or who need help to actually meet with the instructor in order to get that help. This can 

be particularly challenging in computer-based classes or with computer-based work given the 

need for computing resources. There are times when at the end of class, a student may mention 

that they are not confident about a particular spreadsheet or database skill. The student may then 

state that they will meet with the instructor at some time the next day or afternoon to review that 

particular skill. At other times, a student may suggest their need for help with a step in a 

homework assignment. The student may follow that statement up with a statement of intent to 

meet with the instructor later to get needed help. In both of the previous cases, it sometimes 

happens that the student does not meet with the instructor for help. While this may happen in any 

class, in a computer-based class, there is the additional challenge that the question (or skill or 

item) with which that student needs help requires the use of a computer and appropriate software. 

Another challenge is that students may vary in their comfort level with computer-based skills. 

Some students who need help may be reluctant to ask for help with computer-based assignments 

or skills if they do not have much experience with the relevant software or are just not very 

confident with their spreadsheet or database skills. 

Experiencing situations where students in need of help have not met with us to get needed help 

has led to the question of whether there are things that we, as instructors, can do to encourage 

students who need help to be more likely to meet with us and actually get that help. Obviously, 

we can encourage students to meet with us if they need help. We can solicit questions in the 

classroom. However, sometimes that does not seem to always be enough. So this leads back to 

the original question: are there things we can do to increase the likelihood that students who need 

or want help will meet with us and actually get the help? 

One of the authors of this paper has been scheduling a small portion of weekly time in a campus 

computer lab with the hope that the computer lab location will be more convenient for students. 

This is one example of a small attempt to be more accessible to students and to attempt to make 

it easier for students to get help with spreadsheet or database assignments if help is needed. This 

does not require much effort on the part of the instructor, but it does attempt to increase Ease of 

Use with the hope that the increase in Ease of Use will translate to a corresponding increase in 

actual meetings with students who need help with homework assignments, knowledge or 

relevant material, or skills related to course mastery.

One of the authors discovered that a class taught in a computer classroom was followed by an 

empty time-slot for that computer classroom. While coincidental, this reality meant that there 

was no urgent need to leave the classroom immediately when class was over. This awareness led 

to the finding that when students expressed uncertainty about understanding a concept or posed a 

question about class material, it was easy to ask the students if they could spare a few minutes to 

discuss the concept or question immediately following the class. By not having to leave the 

classroom, it meant that students did not have to meet with the instructor at a later, perhaps 

having to make a special visit to campus to do so. This avoided problems with having to ask for 

help later. This small thing, being able to ask students if they could stay for a few minutes before 

lunch or after completing a class towards the end of the day, seems to increase the likelihood that 

students ask their question or ask about a particular concept or skill. It seems to create an 

increase in the students’ Ease of Use. The authors realize that it is not always possible for a class 

to be scheduled in such a way or at a time that allows this, but analogous efforts may prove 

similarly fruitful. 

CONCLUSION 

These two examples (scheduling regular time in a computer lab, convenient to needed hardware 

and software, and taking advantage of unalloted time in a computer lab after class) are ways in 

which the authors have sought to increase instances of students who need or want help with a 

class to actually meet with the instructor and receive that help. While there are surely many ways 

this can be done, awareness of the concern and desired outcomes is first necessary. The authors 

hope to continue to have ideas that may encourage students wanting help to ask for that help and 

to consequently increase learning. The goal of this paper was simply to ask the question of 

whether we can use what has been learned from TAM and the TAM extensions to support the 

actual instances of students meeting with instructors for assistance with course concepts and 

skills? How can we make those meetings more likely, and what are the factors that we can 

identify to assist us in our efforts to encourage and support student learning?

REFERENCES 

Davis, F. D. 1989 “Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of 

Information Technology.” MIS Quarterly (13:3), pp. 319-340. 

Hassan, B. and Ahmed, M. U. 2010 “A Path Analysis of the Impact of Application-Specific 

Perceptions of Computer Self-Efficacy and Anxiety on Technology Acceptance.” Journal 

of Organizational and End-User Computing (22:3), pp. 82-95. 

Lin, S. P. and Yang, H. Y. 2009 “Exploring Key Factors in the Choice of e-Health Using an 

Asthma Care Mobile Service Model.” Telemedicine and e-Health (15:9), pp. 884-890. 

Mahmood, M. A., Hall, L., and Swanberg, D. L. 2001 “Factors Affecting Information 

Technology Usage: A Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Literature.” Journal of 

Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce (11:2), pp. 107-130. 

Park, S. Y. 2009 “An Analysis of the Technology Acceptance Model in Understanding 

University Students’ Behavioral Intention to Use e-Learning.” Educational Technology & 

Society (12:3), pp. 150-162. 

Raven, A., Le, E., and Park, C.W. 2010 “Digital Video Presentation and Student Performance: A 

Task Technology Fit Perspective.” International Journal of Information and 

Communication Technology Education (6:1), pp. 17-29. 

Saadé, R. G. and Kira, D. 2009 “Computer Anxiety in E-Learning: The Effect of Computer Self- 

Efficacy.” Journal of Information Technology Education (), pp. 177-191. 

Shen, J. and Eder, L. B. 2009 “Intentions to Use Virtual Worlds for Education.” Journal of 

Informations Systems Education (20:2), pp. 225 - 233. 

Tung, F.C., Lee, M. S., Chen, C.C., and Hsu, Y.S. 2009 “An Extension of Financial Cost and 

TAM Model with IDT for Exploring Users’ Behavioral Intentions to Use the CRM 

Information System.” Social Behavior and Personality (37:5), pp. 621-626.

Career Counseling: 

Holland’s Personality Types 

Mark Revels 


ABSTRACT 

John L. Holland is a researcher, educator, author, and social scientist whose work in the area of career choices is 

fundamental to any career counselor’s training. His voluminous writings include Manual for the Vocational 

Preference Inventory (Holland, 1967), Self‐Directed Search for Career Planning (Holland, 1970), the Vocational 

Exploration and Insight Kit (Holland et al., 1980), Dictionary of Holland Occupational Codes (Gottfredson, 

Holland, & Ogawa, 1982), My Vocational Situation‐‐An Experimental Diagnostic Form (Holland, 1980), and 

Making Vocational Choices (Holland, 1997). The purpose of this paper is to summarize Holland’s initial work and 

selected extensions to his theories, specifically in terms of personality types and career counseling.

Initial Ideas 

Holland’s initial ideas were derived from his experience in the Army where he was a 

classification interviewer. In this position he began to notice that people exhibited common 

personality types. This interest propelled him into the development of his theories of personality 

and career choices (Holland, 1997). 

While his theory is fundamental, it does not stand alone, as others have suggested similar 

models. However, Holland’s tool is arguably one of the most influential. According to Feller et 

al.: 

“No counselor completes training without understanding the Holland model of Realistic, 

Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional (RIASEC) and Holland's 

theoretical assumptions about vocational choice and adjustment” (Feller et al ., 2001, p. 

1) 

Primary Assumptions 

Assumption One 

According to Holland (1997), his theory provides the answers to three fundamental career 

management questions: 

1. What personal and environmental characteristics lead to satisfying career decisions, 

involvement, and achievement; and what characteristics lead to indecision, 

dissatisfying decisions, or lack of accomplishment? 

2. What personal and environmental characteristics lead to stability or change in the kind 

and level of work a person performs over a lifetime? 

3. What are the most effective methods for providing assistance to people with career 

problems? 

To answer these questions, Holland’s first assumption postulates that the combination of needs, 

traits, competencies, and interests, all of which coalesce from heredity and environment, develop 

into personality orientations that directly influence career performance and job choices 

(Latack,1981). These personality orientations are then categorized into six personality types: 

Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional (RIASEC). Each 

personality type exhibits different behaviors. According to Latack (1981), typical examples are: 

1. Realistic people - prefer concrete, explicit activities and tend to select physical or 

mechanically oriented occupations like farming and carpentry. 

2. Investigative people - prefer symbolic and scientific activities and choose occupations 

such as research in the physical and biological sciences. 

3. Artistic people - like ambiguous, creative activities and are found in careers such as 

writing, music, and other aspects of the arts. 

4. Social individuals - enjoy people-oriented activities such as informing or helping , 

and choose such occupations as psychology or teaching.

5. Enterprising individuals – seek activities that involve influencing individuals, for 

organizational or economic goals and tend to choose careers as managers and 

lawyers. 

6. Conventional people – prefer systematic manipulation of words or data systems, and 

frequently are statisticians, accountants, or clerks. 

It is acknowledged that no one person exhibits a pure personality type, but the closer one comes 

to a particular type, the more likely they are to exhibit similar traits in career choices. 

Assumption Two 

Holland’s second assumption states that, just as with people, occupational settings can be 

classified into the same six orientations: 

“Each environment is dominated by a given type of personality, and each environment is 

typified by physical settings posing special problems and opportunities. For example, 

Realistic environments are "dominated" by Realistic types of people-that is, the largest 

percentage of the population in the Realistic environment resembles the Realistic type. A 

Conventional environment is dominated by Conventional types (Holland, 1997, p. 3). 

Assumption Three 

The third assumption made by Holland’s theory is that people actively seek to match their work 

environments with their personality traits. That is, Conventional types will seek Conventional 

environments so as to best exercise their skills, demonstrate their ability, pursue their interests, 

and reward their competencies. 

Assumption Four 

The final assumption in Holland’s theory is that the degree to which people find congruence 

between their personalities and their environments will directly impact their behavior. This 

behavior can be characterized by choice of vocation, number of job changes, personal 

competencies, etc. 

Secondary Assumptions 

Holland extends the four primary assumptions that are applicable to people and environments 

with secondary assumptions. The purpose is to “…moderate or qualify predictions or 

explanations that are derived from the main concepts” (Holland, 1997, p. 4). 

These secondary assumptions include consistency, differentiation, identity, congruence, and 

calculus: 

1. Consistency refers to the ideas that certain personality types are more similar than 

others. For example, Conventional and Realistic types are more alike than 

Conventional and Artistic types.

2. Differentiation describes how closely a person or environment aligns with a single 

type. The more closely the person or environment aligns, the greater the 

differentiation. 

3. Identity defines the degree to which a person or environment has a clear goal and 

definition of existence. 

4. Congruence relates how well people and environments align. The better the 

alignment, the higher the congruence. 

5. Calculus refers to the relationships found between personality types or environments, 

and their intercorrelations. This calculus creates a hexagonal model (Figure 1) that 

defines personality type resemblances. 

Figure 1. Hexagonal model for defining personality resemblances. 

Note. From Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational personalities and work 

environments (p. 6), by Holland, J. L., 1997, Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, 

Inc.. Copyright 1997 by Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.. 

By weaving these assumptions into a coherent whole, “…Holland's theory stands as the most 

influential of the extant theories” ( Feller, Honaker, & Zagzebski, 2001). 

Assessment Tools 

Since its introduction, Holland’s personality theory has been extended by Holland and others. To 

make it a practical tool, a fundamental requirement was the ability to assess both personalities 

and environments in order to achieve congruence between the person and the workplace or

environment. The former is achieved with either the Self-Directed Search (SDS)or the 

Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) tools. The Position Classification Inventory (PCI) tool 

accomplishes the latter. 

While there are various qualitative methods for determining the personality types of individuals, 

VPI is a quantitative method. It is accomplished by having the individual choose occupational 

titles from a list of 84 choices, representing 14 occupations for each of the six personality types. 

The six scales are then scored and profiled, yielding an identified personality type and 

personality pattern. 

It is interesting to note that while the VPI technique has proved valuable in classifying 

personality traits, it does not monopolize the market as a predictor of successful career choices. 

For example, Holland et al. (1990) determined that a person’s simple vocational aspirations are 

nearly as successful a predictor of vocational success as VPI. Specifically, they determined that 

“…the predictive validity of a single vocational aspiration-categorized according to an 

occupational classification-either equals or exceeds the efficiency of an interest inventory” 

Holland, Gottfredson, and Baker (1990, p. 4). 

A derivative of VPI, SDS is another quantitative technique for determining personality types. In 

this approach, the content includes activities, self-ratings, competency reviews, and other 

techniques that help elucidate the person’s type. Over time, studies have extended SDS results by 

showing, “…that high total scores on the SDS are positively related to Extraversion and 

Openness and that low scores are related to Depressive personality traits” ( Fuller, Holland, & 

Johnson, 1999). 

PCI is the technique developed by Holland to assess the occupational environment based on the 

personality type theory. While PCI parallels the assessment tools used for people (VPI and SDS), 

its main purpose is to develop job classifications as an adjunct to career management. 

The PCI tool contains 13 items for each of the six Holland personality dimensions. Respondents 

answer various questions with responses indicating degree of agreement (often, never, etc.). 

PCI results can be interpreted in various ways—while high an low values are not necessarily 

indicative of any specific personality type differences, they may have an impact in application. 

For example, a high differentiation may mean that there is a need for high congruence between 

people and their environment ( Gottfredson, Jones, & Holland, 1993). 

Limitations 

Holland admits that the theory, like most other things, has limitations. For example, if variables 

such as a person’s concept of influence and status are held constant, the theory can be applied 

successfully. Other variables that can negatively impact the theory are gender, prestige, and the 

effort to required to perform a given job. Holland admits that these variables are an impact, but

notes that they are most observed at “…the extremes of age, sex-role socialization, social class, 

intelligence, and physical disability” (Holland, 1997, p. 13). 

Another limitation is that the theory is developed primarily for determination of kind of work, 

not level of work. Thus, its benefit is in helping choose job types, not one’s position within a 

certain job. 

Finally, many sages are predicting that in the future, the way work is viewed in our society will 

fundamentally change. The collapse of a stable work environment and the elimination of 

employment as a source of fulfillment may negatively impact the current career management 

theories. Or as Holland puts it, “Any job will become more important than a compatible one” 

(Holland, 1996, p. 9). As a result, theories may need to be changed. 

Summary 

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the literature surrounding the theory of personality 

types as developed by John Holland. The result of the investigation provided a clear overview of 

the theory: 

1. It is at the foundation of most career counseling; 

2. it attempts to provide answers to the three major career management questions; 

3. it is has been extended since its first introduction; 

4. it is being extended and challenged on a frequent basis; 

5. it does not answer all types of job-placement questions; 

6. it, like most theories, are subject to paradigm shifts in social thought. 

Holland’s theory is similar to other theories based on personality factors. For example, Myers- 

Briggs also categorizes people into personality classifications. But Holland’s method tends to be 

more distinct in its classifications, thereby providing the potential for more accurate application 

(it is easier to accurately place an artistic type than an introvert) (Nordvik, 1996). However, it 

also does not seem to fit all situations. As a result, the career counselor or manager is best served 

by having several models from which to choose, based on the application. 

References 

Austin, J. T. (1993). Gary D. Gottfredson's and John L. Holland's position classification 

inventory. Measurement & Evaluation in Counseling & Development, 26(3), 206-209. 

Feller, R. W., Honaker, S. L., & Zagzebski, L. M. (2001). Theoretical voices directing the aareer 

development journey: Holland, Harris-Bowlsbey, and Krumboltz. Career Development 

Quarterly, 49(3), 212. 

Fuller, B. E., Holland, J. L., & Johnson, J. A. (1999). The relation of profile elevation in the selfdirected 

search to personality. Journal of Career Assessment, 7(2), 111.

Gottfredson , G. D., & Holland, J. L. (1990). A longitudinal test of the influence of congruence: 

Job satisfaction, competency utilization, and counterproductive behavior. Journal of 

Counseling Psychology, 37(4), 389-398. 

Gottfredson, G. D., Jones, E. M., & Holland, J. L. (1993). Personality and vocational interests: 

The relation of Holland's six interest dimensions to five robust dimensions of personality. 

Journal of Counseling Psychology, 40(4), 518-524. 

Holland, J. L. (1967). Manual for the Vocational Preference Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: 

Consulting Psychologists Press. 

Holland, J. L. (1970). Self-directed search for career planning, Palo Alto, CA: Consulting 

Psychologists Press. 

Holland, J. L. (1980). My vocational situation--An experimental diagnostic form. Palo Alto, CA: 

Consulting Psychologists Press. 

Holland, J. L. (1996). Exploring careers with a typology: What we have learned and some new 

directions. American Psychologist, 51(4), 397-406. 

Holland, J. L. (1997). Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational personalities and work 

environments. (3rd ed.). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.. 

Holland, J. L. (1998). New and old perspectives. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 

26(4), 555-558. 

Holland, J. L., Gottfredson, G. D., & Baker, H. G. (1990). Validity of vocational aspirations and 

interest inventories: Extended, replicated, and reinterpreted. Journal of Counseling 

Psychology, 37(3), 337-342. 

Latack, J. C. (1981). Person/role conflict: Holland's model extended to role-stress research, stress 

management, and career development. Academy of Management Review, 6(1), 89-103. 

Nordvik, H. (1996). Relationships between Holland's vocational typology, Schein's career 

anchors and Myers-Briggs' types. Journal of Occupational and Organizational 

Psychology, 69, 263-275.

Critical Skills for Project Management of 

Team Projects in Academia 

Shahriar Movafaghi 

Southern New Hampshire University 

Hassan Pournaghshband 

Southern Polytechnic State University 

ABSTRACT 

The fact that most software engineering professionals work in teams for the development of their projects 

make it necessary for a software engineering student to experience the team work and become familiar with 

related issues and potential problems. Problems of different nature regarding team projects have been 

extensively studied by researchers providing guidelines for best practice in handling team projects in an 

academic environment. In this paper, we address a very specific aspect of this issue which we believe needs 

more serious attention. We investigate the critical skills that we deem crucial for the project manager of the 

team for the project to succeed without major obstacles. Critical skills for software project management for 

industry have been discussed in [1] and others. While all of these skills could be valuable for successful 

completion of software projects in an academic setting, not all are practical due to nature of these projects. In 

this study, we elaborate on these issues and discuss those critical skills that are desirable and attainable in an 

academic environment, and propose a process for selecting desirable team leaders for academic projects. 

Although this study is based on our experience in our software engineering courses, the proposed approach can 

be with employed by instructors of other courses with team projects.

1. INTRODUCTION 

Problems of different nature regarding team projects have been extensively studied by 

researchers providing guidelines for best practice in handling team projects in an academic 

environment. In this paper, we examine the vital role of the project manager of the software 

development team in the classroom setting. While this study is based on our experience in our 

software engineering courses, our approach may be utilized in other courses with team projects. 

We discuss the critical skills that the project manager must possess in order for the project to be 

completed successfully by the end of the semester. The project manager of any software project 

in real world plays a major role in the success or otherwise failure of the project. Organizations 

are well aware of this reality and are readily making considerable investments to “produce” 

project managers that they hope, are capable of successfully leading their software projects. 

Researchers have come up with a number of key knowledge areas that they believe are essential 

for project managers to be considered competent for the job. The Project Management Institute 

(PMI), in its Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), has established knowledge 

standards and offers a variety of professional certifications based on these standards [2.] The 

PMI, based on its knowledge standards in the PMBOK, has outlined competencies for project 

management comprising of declarative, procedural and behavioral competencies [3.] In this 

paper we base our discussion on the nineteen behavioral competencies listed in the competency 

dictionary developed by authors in [4] and are thought-out in [1.] These behavioral competencies 

are Self control, Team leadership, Directiveness/Assertivness, Achievement orientation, 

Analytical thinking, Flexibility, Teamwork & cooperation, Initiative, Information seeking, 

Conceptual thinking, Impact and influence, Customer service orientation, Interpersonal 

understanding, Relationship building, Developing others, Organizational awareness, Self 

confidence, Concern for order, quality and accuracy, and Organizational commitment. 

Definitions for these behavioral competencies are given in [4.] Authors in [1] have discussed 

critical skills for project management and also how they are learned in detail. Their findings are 

based on interviewing thirteen experienced IT project managers from five organizations. Their 

concentration has been on what those managers recognize as their most critical management 

skills as well as how they had matured in those skills. While authors in [1], [5] and other 

researchers have been mainly concerned with project management issues for industry, here our 

effort is toward these issues for academia. First, we discuss similarities and differences between 

real projects being developed in industry by real project managers and hypothetical projects 

developed by students. We then review critical skills for real-world project management 

discussed by others, and finally, we investigate skills that are critical and at the same time 

applicable for academic project management. In Section 2, we take a look at how a team is 

usually formed and structured for development of a software project in an academic semester and 

discuss its project manager’s role and responsibilities. In Section 3, we examine the skills that 

are vital for the project manager to posses in order to successfully lead their team for completion 

of the project. Conclusions are given in Section 4.

2. TEAM PROJECT FORMATION AND STRUCTURE 

Instructors may choose different approaches for selecting teams. Among common approaches are 

random selection of members and selection of members based on individual’s background. In 

any case, each team must have a team leader/project manager to lead the team throughout the 

semester. The project manager can have a significant role regarding success or failure of the 

project. In fact, as discussed in [6], poor leadership can be a big cause of failing the project. In 

academic environment, the project manager not only is responsible to lead the team and manage 

the project, he/she is also the primary point of contact for the instructor. In some cases, they are 

also required to prepare performance report of team members for the instructor. Therefore, 

selection of a “good” project manager with right skills and characteristics for the project 

development team is one of the most crucial tasks for the instructor. To help instructors with this 

very important decision, we investigate, in the next section, skills and characteristics that are 

essential for a project manager in academic environment. 

3. PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT 

We begin our study with behavioral competencies stated in previous section and examine those 

that we, based on our experience in our software engineering courses with team projects, believe 

that are critical for project managers of those teams. We also deal with the practicality of these 

critical skills in an academic environment. For each of behavioral competencies, we use 

definition derived from [4] and used in [1] in their study. Among skills listed above, eleven of 

them that we believe should be considered critical for educational purposes are: self control, 

team leadership, directiveness/assertiveness, analytical thinking, flexibility, teamwork & 

cooperation, initiative, impact & influence, interpersonal understanding, self confidence and 

concern for order, quality and accuracy. Other eight skills such as organizational commitment 

are merely industry-oriented issues and are not applicable to a classroom setting, and thus we do 

not elaborate on them. At the beginning of the semester we distribute a questionnaire (given 

below) to our students asking them to answer eleven questions. Questions in our questionnaire 

correspond to those eleven skills we pointed out earlier using definition derived from [4] and 

used in [1] in their study. Questions in our questionnaire are ordered according to their 

significance for the manager’s role in an academic setting. Once questionnaire is completed by 

our students, we compile and carefully examine their responses, and prepare a list of n project 

managers, n being the number of teams in the course. Occasionally, we also decide to include a 

buffer of m and prepare a list of (m + n ) managers. This buffer idea could become 

accommodating if a student selected as a manager has to withdraw from the course for personal 

or other reasons. Instructors should decide about the value of m based on their circumstances. 

We then compile the responses and prepare a list of “candidates” based on the top (m + n) total 

scores. Next, we create a set of “sub” questionnaires, containing open-ended questions, only for 

those (m + n) candidates. Finally, we review these responses to decide about the project 

managers.

Project Manager Selection Process 

i) Decide about n, the number of managers needed. This should be equal to the number 

of teams in the class. 

ii) Decide about m, the number of additional managers as buffer. 

iii) Tally the students’ responses and prepare a list of (m + n) candidates. This should 

include those students with the total score of top (m + n). 

iv) Decide about skills requiring more information, and put up sub-questionnaires for 

them to distribute to candidates. 

v) Compile and examine responses, and make the final list of n managers and m 

alternate managers. 

Questionnaire for selecting candidates for the project manager 

Using the Weighted-Skill Table below, for each of the following questions, please rank yourself 

from 1 to 10 (1 = completely disagree and 10 = completely agree with the statement.) 

1. Team leadership – You are able to lead others in a team, able to develop the sense of 

team purpose to achieve team goals. 

2. Initiative – You are proactive in taking action to avoid problems or create opportunities. 

3. Impact & influence – You are able to influence others to support your agenda. 

4. Analytical thinking – You systematically understand situations by breaking them into 

smaller parts in a step-by-step casual way. 

5. Self confidence – You are confident that you are able to deal with challenging situations 

and in handling failures constructively. 

6. Directiveness/assertiveness – You are able to make others comply with your wishes 

through direction, setting of performance standards, and confrontation of nonperformance. 

7. Teamwork & cooperation – You can work cooperatively as part of a team and foster 

teamwork. 

8. Interpersonal understanding – You are sensitive to, and want to understand other people. 

9. Concern for order, quality and accuracy – You strive to maintain or increase order in the 

work situation. 

10. Self control – You maintain control over emotions and avoid negative actions under 

stress. 

11. Flexibility – You are able to adapt to and work effectively with a variety of situations, 

individuals, or groups. 

Weighted Skill Criteria Respondent’s Name:_______________ 

Skill Weight (1 to 10) 

1. Team leadership 

2. Initiative

3. Impact & influence 

4. Analytical thinking 

5. Self confidence 

6. Directiveness/assertiveness 

7. Teamwork & cooperation 

8. Interpersonal understanding 

9. Concern for order, quality and accuracy 

10. Self control 

11. Flexibility 

Total Score 

Sub-questionnaires for selecting the project managers 

The need for a sub-questionnaire for each skill mainly depends on responses we get from the 

above questionnaire. For example, we may find a sub-questionnaire for “self control” absolutely 

necessary, but for “initiative” not necessary at all. Below are several different “samples” of 

common sub-questionnaires that we usually use in our courses. Instructors can make questions as 

they wish, based on their needs and circumstances of the course 

Team leadership – We distribute this sub-questionnaire to those students whose response to this 

question in the original questionnaire is eight or better. 

According to your response to previous questionnaire, you are able to lead others in a team, able 

to develop the sense of team purpose to achieve team goals. To help with project management 

selection, please answer the following questions. 

i) Why do you consider yourself a “good” leader? 

ii) What can you do for your team for the successful completion of the project? 

Directiveness/assertiveness – While we believe in criticality of assertiveness for software project 

management, in most cases it is not easy to accurately find out how assertive a student is. 

Therefore, we simply ask the “candidates” the following question. 

Which of the following categories you believe you belong to: 

i) Extravert and Rational 

ii) Extravert and Intuitive 

iii) Introvert and Rational 

iv) Introvert and Intuitive 

Self control – The same approach as used for Directiveness/assertiveness can be used for this 

skill.

Analytical thinking – We give a short “test” of one or two questions to those candidates for the 

job (i.e., those willing to assume the responsibility and also qualified based on other skills) and 

evaluate their responses in regard to analytical thinking before we decide who goes to the final 

list of candidates. 

Flexibility – For this characteristic, we mainly rely on what the candidates say to the question of 

if they are able to adapt themselves to work in different situations. 

4. Conclusions 

In this paper, we discussed a very specific aspect of team projects in academia which we believe 

needs serious attention. The team’s project manager plays a significant role in successful 

completion of the project. We investigated the critical skills that we deem crucial for the project 

manager of the team for the project to succeed without major obstacles. We elaborated on these 

issues discussed those critical skills that are desirable and attainable in an academic environment, 

and proposed a process for selecting desirable leaders for project development teams. Although 

this study is based on our experience in our software engineering courses, the proposed approach 

can be with no trouble employed by instructors of other courses with team projects. 

References 

1. Taylor, H. and Woelfer, J. P., “Critical Skills for IT Project Management and How They 

are Learned,” ACM SIGMIS-CPR, 2009. 

2. Project Management Institute “A Guide to the Project Management Body of 

Knowledge,” 3 rd edition, Project Management Institute, 2004. 

3. Project Management Institute , “Project Manager Competency Development 

Framework,” Project Management Institute, 2002. 

4. Spencer, S. M. and Spencer, L. M., “Competence at Work: Models for Superior 

Performance,” John Wiley, 1993. 

5. Maqsood, M. E., and Javed, T., “Practicum in Software Project Management – An 

Endeavor to Effective and Pragmatic Software Project Management Education,” ACM 

ESEC/FSE, 2007. 

6. Pournaghshband, H., “Students’ Problems in Courses With team projects,” ACM 

SIGCSE, 1991.

Do Business Students Have an Ethical Blind Spot? 

Greg Lowhorn 

Pensacola Christian College 

Eric D. Bostwick 


Lonnie D. Smith 

Pensacola Christian College 

ABSTRACT 

Ethical decision making is a critical skill of business leaders. Since business students are the business leaders of 

tomorrow, most business programs have designed curriculum components to teach ethical decision‐making; 

but are these efforts effective at promoting decisions that are actually ethical? To be effective, ethical training 

must be not only expounded but also internalized. This pilot study examines whether or not business students 

have an ethical blind spot: a disparity between identifying an unethical action and choosing whether or not to 

commit the action and/or a favorable self‐perception of their own ethical decision making versus that of their 

peers. Responding to three independent scenarios, 129 undergraduate and graduate business students 

demonstrated an ethical blind spot: indicating that they were not as certain that they would refrain from 

committing acts that they deemed unethical, and also indicating that they were fairly certain that their peers 

would commit the unethical actions.

Abstract 

Ethical decision making is a critical skill of business leaders. Since business students are the 

business leaders of tomorrow, most business programs have designed curriculum components to 

teach ethical decision-making; but are these efforts effective at promoting decisions that are 

actually ethical? To be effective, ethical training must be not only expounded but also 

internalized. This pilot study examines whether or not business students have an ethical blind 

spot: a disparity between identifying an unethical action and choosing whether or not to commit 

the action and/or a favorable self-perception of their own ethical decision making versus that of 

their peers. Responding to three independent scenarios, 129 undergraduate and graduate 

business students demonstrated an ethical blind spot: indicating that they were not as certain 

that they would refrain from committing acts that they deemed unethical, and also indicating that 

they were fairly certain that their peers would commit the unethical actions. 

Background 

Ethical decision making is essential for managerial success (White & Taft, 2004). However, 

there seems to be a difference between what one perceives to be ethical and what one would 

actually do when presented with a potentially unethical situation. In addition, there seems to be a 

difference between what one would personally do and what one thinks his colleagues would do 

when facing the same potentially unethical situation. Disparities such as these characterize an 

"ethical blind spot." (Morgan, Dana, Loewenstein, Zinberg, & Schulkin, 2006; Zweig, 2011) As 

future business leaders, it is important for business students to be able to identify ethical lapses in 

both themselves and others. 


The purpose of the study was to determine whether business students are able to discern whether 

or not an action is unethical, to determine whether or not they would participate in an action that 

they had identified as unethical, and to assess their ethical perception of the actions that their 

peers would take when facing the same ethical decision. 

Methodology 

This study presented three potentially unethical scenarios to 129 business students. All three 

scenarios related to receiving intellectual property without paying for it. The students were asked 

to rate the ethical appropriateness of each scenario. Scenario one involved accepting a disc and 

key code for a computer program purchased by another student. Scenario two related to 

accepting a homemade music CD comprised of songs copied from a friend’s CDs. Scenario 

three concerned accepting an e-book from a friend who had purchased it for a college class. 

Question one was, “Is it ethical for the student to accept the item?” Using a modified Likert-style 

scale, students indicated that each scenario was Totally Ethical, Ethical, Neither Ethical nor 

Unethical, Unethical, and Totally Unethical (Totally Ethical scored as 1, and Totally Unethical 

scored as 5). . The second question was, “If you were the student, would you accept the item?”

The third question was, “Do you think the average student would accept the item?” Again using 

a modified Likert-style scale, students indicated their responses as: Surely, Probably, Not Sure, 

Probably Not, and Surely Not (Surely scored as 1, and Surely Not scored as 5). 

Findings and Conclusion 

In all three scenarios, the students’ mean response indicated that accepting the intellectual 

property was between surely and probably unethical (scenario one: mean = 3.55; scenario two: 

mean = 3.40; scenario three: mean = 3.55). Further, when asked if they would personally accept 

the item, students’ mean responses ranged between Probably and Not Sure (scenario one: mean 

= 2.55; scenario two: mean = 2.28; scenario three: mean = 2.69). When asked whether they 

thought that others would accept the item, students’ mean responses ranged between Surely and 

Probably (scenario one: mean = 1.82; scenario two: mean = 1.62; scenario three: mean = 1.73). 

There was approximately a one category difference between the mean ethical determination and 

the mean anticipated personal behavior, and there was another one category gap between the 

mean self-performance measure and the mean peer performance expectation. 

Based upon these results it is concluded that college business students have an ethical blind spot. 

Their decisions do not follow their ethical determinations, and they further perceive themselves 

as more ethically acting than their peers. 

Implications of the Study 

The implication of the study is that business programs should go beyond exercises in which 

students only concentrate on identifying the ethical fault in others (e.g. illustrations, case studies, 

etc.) and should incorporate more reflective exercises that require students to think about what 

they would personally do in unethical situations (e.g., simulations, role playing, projects, and 

experiential learning opportunities). These reflective exercises should include both vicarious 

learning and experiential learning during which the student is asked, “What would you do in this 

situation?” instead of “What should the anonymous person involved do in this situation?” 

Disparities between ethical determination, judgment of others, and personal choices should be 

highlighted to help students recognize and remediate their ethical blind spots. 

Selected Bibliography 

Morgan, M. A., Dana, J., Loewenstein, G., Zinberg, S., & Schulkin, J. (2006). Interactions of 

doctors with the pharmaceutical industry. Journal of Medical Ethics. 32. 559-563. 

White, J., & Taft, S. (2004). Frameworks for teaching and learning business ethics within the 

global context: Background of ethical theories. Journal of Management Education. 28(4). 

463-477. 

Zweig, J. (April 2, 2011). Insider trading: Why can't we help ourselves? Wall Street Journal: 

Intelligent Investor. Available at www.wsj.com.

Do Students Achieve Higher Grades when 

Working Together in Learning Teams than when 

Working Through Individualized Study Efforts? 

Eric A. Landis 


Mary Lewis Haley 


ABSTRACT 

According to Barki and Pinsonneault (2001), research existed concerning the effects of teamwork in the 

business world. Little data was found concerning the effects of teamwork at the postsecondary level. This study 

used a descriptive, quantitative, correlation methodology to examine whether any difference existed in final 

course grades between students working in teams and students working individually. Participants were 

students in public speaking courses at a small private southeastern liberal arts university. This study failed to 

show any significant difference at the .05 level, t (78) = .36, p = .73.). Students assigned to groups at the 

beginning of speech classes (M = 87.43, SD = 6.37) showed no variance from peers working individually (M = 

86.96, SD = 5.24).

Introduction 

Teamwork is an emerging concept throughout communities and organizations in 

the 21st century (Davis & Blanchard, 2004), and interdependence is the basis for all 

ecological systems (von Bertalanffy, 1969). The success of communities depends on the 

success of individual members while the success of each member depends on the success 

of the community as a whole (Godard, 2001). This concept applies to business 

organizations where the success of each employee contributes to the total success of the 

organization, and the success of the organization depends on the success of its individual 

employees. Leaders who plan and think carefully when they select their management 

style can make a significant contribution to the success of the entire team (Davis & 

Blanchard). 

Much of the research about teams indicated that factors such as self-esteem, 

personal interest in the tasks assigned, and interpersonal skills are important variables in 

the success of teamwork. In the educational arena, more research is needed on the subject 

of teaming versus individual learning. Such research might be helpful to university 

planners who wish to provide postsecondary students with the most effective learning 

environments (Davis & Blanchard, 2004). 

Background of the Problem 

Postmodern organizations of the 21st century are placing emphasis upon team 

interaction among employees by assigning them to work on projects in groups (Davis & 

Blanchard, 2004). In the educational arena, many postsecondary school graduates feel 

that not enough emphasis is placed on the teaming process during their postsecondary 

experience (Davis & Blanchard). According to Davis and Blanchard, students believed 

they would be better employees if they had more opportunities to learn to work in groups 

throughout their college experience. 

This study was concerned with two types of outcomes from teamwork: (a) 

learning outcomes in terms of grades, and (b) affective outcomes in terms of improved 

interpersonal skills, speaking skills, and communication skills. According to a study by 

Ravenscroft, Buckless, McCombs, and Zuckerman (as cited in Kunkel & Shafer, 1997), 

very little research is available on the effects of team learning and the affective outcomes 

of working in groups. 

The need for this study arose from the fact that, in business settings, teamlearning 

techniques prevail. Wells and Grabert (2004) argued that it is important to 

transfer business situations to classroom settings so students feel prepared when they 

enter the world of work. Industrial and business leaders have been placing greater 

emphasis on team interaction in the 21st century. By contrast, most university professors 

employ the traditional lecture format in which the professor verbally disseminates 

knowledge, and the students have little or no interaction with others during the 

presentation (Wells & Grabert).

Like employees in organizations, students can learn to interrelate and become 

interdependent by working in team learning environments, but group learning in the 

classroom has been documented mainly in the fields of psychology and education (Wells 

& Grabert, 2004). According to Wells and Grabert, educational institutions need to (a) 

increase student activities inside and outside the classroom, (b) promote knowledge 

acquisition and educational performance, (c) increase group-based and cooperative 

learning, and (d) assist students in developing solutions to real world complex problems. 

The disadvantages of working in groups must be considered in depth before 

making drastic changes in curriculum or teaching methods. According to Wells and 

Grabert (2004), problems can occur within groups because teaming might not be the most 

appropriate strategy for achieving a particular goal. Wells also explained that some group 

members might not fully reach their potential while others fail to contribute their fair 

share of the work, sometimes from not understanding exactly what is expected of them. 

In addition, communication problems can hinder the success of group interaction (Wells 

& Grabert). 

Baron (2003) postulated that some team members might have received inadequate 

preparation in the area of group membership and communication. This lack of experience 

creates feelings of inadequacy, tension, and even hostility when employees are required 

to work with other team members in the workplace. Similarly, many students have voiced 

dissatisfaction with the teaming process (Baron). Miller (2003) coined the term group 

hate referring to the problems encountered when people are required to work in teams 

without prior study and preparation for the challenges of the team environment. 

Time and energy, group conflict, and people problems have been documented as 

major disadvantages to working in groups. Time and energy must be expanded when 

planning and supervising group activities. An effective leader spends hours in planning 

before the actual team meetings begin.Thinking of possible problem areas before the 

actual group meetings begin can greatly minimize the number of conflicts that typically 

arise during teamwork (Engleberg & Wynn, 2003). Engleberg and Wynn proposed that, 

before assigning people to a collaboration effort on a project or problem, the planner 

should decide whether a group setting is the optimal path to successful goal 

accomplishment. The leader should also consider the personalities, strengths, and 

weaknesses of participants before asking employees to work together (Engleberg & 

Wynn). 

Wells and Grabert (2004) stated that conflict within teams could become a major 

obstacle to the success of team activities. No matter how hard group members try to work 

together, there is a strong possibility that personal differences might arise among two or 

more members. Conflict among a few of the group members reduces communication and 

undermines trust thereby slowing the progress of the entire team (Wells & Grabert). 

Statement of the Problem

This descriptive, quantitative, correlational study was an examination of whether 

differences existed between the grades of students who worked in teams and the grades of 

students who did individual work. The researcher examined the grades of 80 freshmen 

students in speech classes at a liberal arts university located in the southeastern United 

States. Half of the students in the study worked in teams, and the other half completed 

their studies individually. The instructor assigned students to teams randomly. The data 

from this study might add new knowledge to the existing body of research on the value of 

team versus individual academic achievements. 


The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of two learning methods, 

teamwork and individual study, as determined by the final grades of freshmen students 

enrolled in one semester of introductory speech at a southeastern United States liberal 

arts university. The independent variable was assignment to team learning membership. 

The dependent variable was the final grade of students working in teams relative to the 

final grade of students working individually. Four sections of students enrolled in 

introductory speech courses were surveyed. The data obtained provided the statistical 

information needed to support or reject the hypothesis that students who work in teams 

achieve higher grades than students who work individually. The quantitative research 

approach was appropriate for this study because it provided a method to test for a 

statistically significant difference between grades from two samples. 

Significance of the Problem 

This study was important because group learning in the classroom has been 

documented mostly in the fields of psychology and education, and most existing research 

has taken place in the area of co-operative learning (Leon, 2004). Team learning is a 

more complex phenomenon than researchers once thought (Holloway, 2003). Postmodern 

organizations are placing more emphasis on team interaction among their employees by 

assigning them to complete projects in a group setting (Davis & Blanchard, 2004). 

Significance of the Problem to Leadership 

Postmodern organizations are aware of the areas in which team learning can 

create a competitive advantage. Top management teams (Wallis & Becerra, 2001), 

product development teams (Brown, 2002), and self-management teams (Carroll, 2000) 

are examples of leadership teams that have taken advantage of teaming procedures to 

achieve organizational success. Since successful leaders are promoting the use of teaming 

and grouping in business organizations, it is important to question whether college 

students are receiving enough team experience in their postsecondary education in 

preparation for the business world. It is critical for students to be adequately prepared to 

work in team situations after college graduation (Gillies, 2002), so business and 

educational leaders could benefit from understanding how to deal with the problems 

inherent in teaming.

Team learning in the classroom can have a positive effect for graduates when they 

move into a workplace environment. Students who have the ability to be productive team 

members and become future workplace leaders will have a better understanding of how 

teaming efforts can help others prepare for success in the 21st century (Brown & 

Brudney, 2003). According to Holloway (2003), 21st century employers consider the 

ability to work in teams one of the most important qualities students can display in order 

to be prepared for success in the modern workplace. This study provided data to help 

managers decide whether team learning is better than individual learning, and the 

findings might help administrators determine whether group work leads to more efficient 

problem-solving, process improvements, and financial savings in their particular 

environment. 

Nature of the Study 

This study was descriptive, quantitative, and correlational. This approach was 

selected because it accomplished the goals of the study more efficiently than other 

methods. 

The size of the groups in this study was relatively large since the researcher 

compared the grades of 38 college freshman speech students who worked in teams with 

the grades of 42 college freshman speech students who worked on their assignments 

independently. For the experimental group, students in two randomly selected sections of 

introductory freshman speech courses were placed in study teams for the entire semester. 

For the control group, students in the other two class sections worked to accomplish 

assignments individually. 

This study took place during one semester and included four groups of students. 

For the purpose of this study, a group was defined as one section of students enrolled in 

the Introduction to Public Speaking course. Each section used the same syllabus. 

Groupings were not based on age or grade point average, and participants were evaluated 

using a common grading system. At the end of the semester, the grades of students in the 

four introductory speech classes were examined to see which group of students achieved 

higher academic success. Grades from groups of students who participated in the 

individualized learning approach and grades from groups of students who participated in 

the team learning approach were compared. 

Research Questions 

This research was based on the assumption that institutions of higher education 

need to include more team learning in their curricula in order to prepare students for 

success in 21st century organizations. This study was guided by the following research 

question: Do students achieve higher grades when working together in learning teams 

than when working through individualized study efforts? 

Hypotheses 

The following hypotheses were tested in this study:

Null Hypothesis Ho1: There is no statistically significant difference between the 

final test grades in students who work in teams and grades of students who work 

individually. 

Alternative Hypothesis Ha1: There is a statistically significant difference in final 

test grades between students who work in teams and grades of students who work 


Assumptions 

An assumption of this study was that the sample of participants was large enough 

to produce valid data. Four sections of students with 20 to 30 students in each of the four 

groups provided a sample group composed of 80 students in all. Another assumption was 

that the groups were similar. The rationale for random selection was that ability, 

background, or experience should not be factored in the results. Two sections of students 

worked individually, and two sections of students worked in groups over one semester. 

Another assumption was that the study would produce sufficient data to be 

reliable. All students took three tests and presented four speeches. Written tests were 

standardized, and the researcher used a common grading rubric to evaluate all speeches in 

order to control subjectivity and bias. At the end of the semester, the grades of students in 

the teamed groups were compared to the grades of students who worked individually in 

order to ascertain which students achieved better academic success. All participants in the 

study were 18 years of age or older, and they understood that they were participating in a 

research study. The rationale for the age requirement was that, since they were adults, 

they could agree to become participants in a research study without parental consent. 


The review of the literature contains a synopsis of relevant sources and research 

findings on the subject of teamwork and includes a historical overview of early research. 

Current findings and studies conducted since 2000 were emphasized because teaming is a 

concept that has gained much interest in recent years. Many researchers have introduced 

the subject of teamwork, but findings have been inconclusive (Davis & Blanchard, 2004). 

It is important to study groups in their natural environment. By emphasizing 

empirical data, researchers have resisted looking at groups as complex, adaptive, and 

dynamic systems. Leaders need to find ways of applying empirical and theoretical 

research data to the strategy of teaming employees (McGrath et al. 2000). Another 

important consideration is that, at times, researchers place undue emphasis upon theory 

and subjectivity rather than on actual evaluations of the group effort (McGrath et al.). 

Some research has shown that students benefit academically from working in 

teams (Gillies, 2002). Students in Gillies’ research group attained higher achievement in 

the areas of reading comprehension and math. The students also displayed a more 

advanced conceptual understanding in the area of science (Gillies). Other growth 

qualities evidenced by the students in Gillies’ study are related to performance at a higher 

social level. Participants demonstrated a greater ability to remain on task, more

willingness to help others in a friendly manner, better involvement in classroom 

activities, and improved attitudes towards learning. Gillies explained that, when his group 

members worked interactively with other team members, they created or increased their 

self-esteem. 

Team members face certain issues that include free riders and ganging up on the 

task (Hakkinen, 2004). Free riders are group members who allow the other members to 

do most of the work or preferably all the work while they sit back, relax, and enjoy the 

ride and the benefits of the group’s successes. Ganging up on the task means that the 

group members collaborate with each other to find ways to finish the project in as little 

time as possible with the least amount of effort. Both issues are detrimental to group 

dynamics and prevent the feeling of pride in completing the assigned project in an 

effective manner (Hakkinen). 

Organizations have entered the technological age, so it is important to consider 

ways in which technology affects teams. Current literature documents problems with the 

teaming approach specifically occurring when working in virtual teams. Organizations in 

the 21st century are changing the way in which employees communicate with each other 

(Chowdhurry et al., 2002). Due to significant advancements in computers and technology 

in general, virtual communication has become more prevalent in the world of work. 

Many organizations operate on the assumption that the use of computers for 

communication automatically enhances a sense of community. Some organizational 

leaders have further assumed that the use of technology alone creates successful teams. 

These assumptions are not necessarily correct because of problems connected with virtual 

communication. 

According to Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), teams are an efficient way to create 

new knowledge. There are three ways in which knowledge can be gained. First, each 

member’s tacit knowledge must be understood, and each team member must become 

aware of other team members’ expertise in certain areas. Team members might learn 

about the expertise of peers either through formal study or through informal interaction. 

Secondly, as team members explore the tacit knowledge of their peers, understanding is 

reinterpreted until new ideas emerge. Third, team members test the new knowledge that 

has been created. For example, a team might make a prototype of the new concept. If the 

prototype proves to be successful, it might lead to the development of a more formal final 

product (Anand et al., 2003). 

Recent research has shown that students benefit from collaborative learning. 

Students have shown a high degree of improvement especially in the areas of 

mathematics, reading comprehension, and science. Many social benefits exist as well. 

Studies provided evidence that students who work collaboratively show more 

involvement in the classroom, have higher self-esteem, and have better interactions with 

others (Gillies, 2002). Collaborative efforts have shown that students with disabilities 

show improvement within target skills. Working in groups provides disabled students

with the necessary resources to build confidence that they might not acquire with 

individual work. Team learning also helps alleviate feelings of alienation and social 

isolation (Gillies). New research is attempting to provide information that will quantify 

the positive effects of collaborative learning, so it is important for researchers to 

understand what factors influence collaborative achievement. 

Research centered on teams and teamwork will continue to be an important area 

of study in the 21st century. Researchers of the last century provided information through 

a positivistic approach, creating a body of theory based on the implicit premise that teams 

are simple, separate, static entities. The field appears to have reached the limit of what 

can be learned without developing a unifying conception of teams as ever changing. It 

will be important for future researchers to see teams as a complex adaptive individual and 

interpersonal process (McGrath et al., 2000). 

Research Design 

Student progress was measured by teachers’ evaluations of speeches and test 

results. The university offers four sections of introductory speech courses each semester. 

Two sections were randomly assigned, and the students in these sections were divided 

into teams that remained together and worked on course assignments in a team situation 

during the entire semester. Students in the other two sections completed their assignments 

individually. All four sections used the same syllabus. 

The researcher used a common grading system based on university grading 

requirements for all four sections. This study took place during one semester, and the 

final courses grades of four groups of college freshmen were examined to discover 

whether a difference existed between grades earned by students who worked in teams and 

those who worked individually. This research was conducted using quantitative analysis 

in order to further the understanding of using teams in the collegiate environment as 

preparation for business careers. 

Data Collection 

Since the tests were built from a test bank (see Appendix A) that coincided with 

the university’s textbook adoption, the test questions were considered objective and free 

of bias. The tests were distributed in each class with the instructor and a graduate 

assistant present to proctor the examinations. The tests were graded by a mechanized 

Scantron machine, which ensured that the grades were not skewed. The researcher 

developed the rubric that was used to evaluate the speeches (see Appendix B), and all 

four sections participating in the study were graded using this rubric. The intent of the 

rubric was to minimize any subjectivity and bias on the part of the instructor in the 

grading process. A letter of approval to conduct the study was obtained from the 

academic dean of the institution. 

A two-tailed independent samples t-test was conducted to evaluate the hypothesis 

that students assigned to groups during speech classes score higher than students who

worked independently. The test failed to show significance at the .05 level, t (78) = .36, p 

= .73. Students assigned to groups at the beginning of speech classes (M = 87.43, SD = 

6.37) on average showed no variance from their peers assigned to individual study (M = 

86.96, SD = 5.24). Post-hoc analysis was irrelevant due to lack of significance. Figure 1 

illustrates the distribution of the two groups. For the given effect size, means and 

standard deviations, power = .067. Based on this finding, it is expected that 7 % of 

studies would have a significant result supporting the null hypothesis that states the two 

population means are equal. All students included in the study completed all assignments. 

Students dropping the class were not included in the study. The tables included below 

illustrate the data in detail. 

Descriptive Analysis of Independent t-test Data 

Table 1 includes the mean of each student’s grades. The first section explains the 

individual and team grades for the first required assignment entitled Self-introduction 

Speech. The table includes the mean average for the rest of the semester assignments 

entitled: Speech 1, Test 1, Speech 2, Test 2, Speech 3, and Exam. 

Class Variance Between Group and Individual Differences 

The mean score of students working individually was 86.9. The mean score of 

students working in teams was 87.4. The test failed to show significance at the .05 level, t 

(78) = .36, p = .73. Students assigned to groups at the beginning of speech classes (M = 

87.43, SD = 6.37) on average showed no variance from their peers assigned to individual 

process (M = 86.96, SD = 5.24). 

Table 1 

Student Mean Grades 

Std. Error 

Classvar N Mean SD Mean 

group 38 85.26 3.06 .50 

self 

individual 42 85.95 4.56 .70 

sp1 

test1 

sp2 

test2 

group 38 86.737 9.19 1.49 

individual 42 87.24 5.04 .78 

group 38 87.45 11.83 1.92 

individual 42 88.21 10.25 1.58 

group 38 87.05 8.98 1.46 


group 38 86.89 12.18 1.98 


sp3 group 38 90.00 7.48 1.21

Exam 

Total 


group 38 88.61 9.680 1.57 


group 38 87.43 6.37 1.03 

individual 42 86.96 5.24 .81

Table 2 

Independent Samples t-test 

Mean Total 

t df p 

Mean 

difference 

Std. Error 

of 

difference 

Self -.79 78 .44 -.69 .88 

Sp1 -.30 56.10 .77 -.50 1.68 

Test 1 -.31 78 .76 -.77 2.50 

Sp2 1.02 78 .31 2.58 2.52 

Test 2 .38 78 .71 .90 2.36 

Sp3 .33 78 .74 .52 1.59 

Exam .59 78 .56 1.27 2.15 

Total .36 71.83 .72 .47 1.31 

100.00 

80.00 

60.00 

40.00 

20.00 

0.00 

group indvidual 

Classvar 

Figure 1. Distribution by group. 

Descriptive Statistics Between Groups (Individual and Team) 

The descriptive statistics show that, if there were a statistical difference between 

group performance and individual performance, the test would have revealed it. 

Box and Whisker Plot for Variance of Group Versus Individual

This box and whisker plot illustrates the study’s findings. Based on these findings, 

it is expected that 7% of studies would have a significant result supporting the null 

hypothesis that states the two population means are equal. 

Total 

100.00 

90.00 

80.00 

70.00 

50 

70 

71 

group indvidual 

Classvar 

Figure 2. Class variance by group and individual. 

Summary 

A two-tailed independent samples t-test was conducted to evaluate the hypothesis 

that students assigned to groups during speech classes score higher than students who 

worked independently. The test failed to show significance at the .05 level, t (78) = .36, p 

= .73. Students assigned to groups at the beginning of speech classes (M = 87.43, SD = 

6.37) on average showed no variance from their peers assigned to individual study (M = 

86.96, SD = 5.24). Post-hoc analysis was irrelevant due to lack of significance. Based on 

these findings, it is expected that 7% of studies would have a significant result rejecting 

the null hypothesis that states the two population means are equal. Chapter 5 includes a 

discussion of the research problem, the purpose of the research, the research methods, 

and the limitations of the study.

The results of this study do not suggest support for the existing theories 

about team study at the postsecondary level; instead, they suggest a need for more data 

comparing the success of team study to individual learning at the postsecondary level. 

The excitement about the value of teamwork in all situations might be premature, and the 

theory that teaming in the workplace is the best way to progress might need to be 

modified. This study shows team learning is not significantly more effective than 

individual learning and benefits can be derived from individual learning. Although past 

researchers have conducted a variety of studies that support team learning, this study fails 

to support that grouping students or workers into teams is the best method in every case. 

Previous researchers viewed groups as bounded structures that developed from purposive 

interdependent actions of individuals (Allen & Hecht, 2004). Each member who joins a 

group has a unique background of past experiences and a personal history. Teams are 

guided and influenced by the group members’ past experiences and the members’ sense 

of future as they operate in time to accomplish the goals of the team (Allen & Hecht). 

The following hypothesis were tested in this study: 

Null Hypothesis Ho1: There is no statistically significant difference between the 

final test grades in students who work in teams and grades of students who work 


Alternative Hypothesis Ha1: There is a statistically significant difference in final 

test grades between students who work in teams and grades of students who work 


The results of this study support the Null Hypothesis Ho1: There is no statistically 

significant difference between the final test grades in students who work in teams and 

grades of students who work individually. 

Conclusion 

This study was focused on the learning outcomes in terms of grades. According to 

a study by Ravenscroft et al. (as cited in Kunkel & Shafer, 1997), more research is 

necessary on the effects of team learning and affective outcomes. The need for this study 

arose because of the popular trend toward the use of teaming techniques in business 

settings. At the university level, most professors still employ a traditional lecture format 

in which they verbally disseminate knowledge, and the students have little or no 

interaction with others during the presentation (Wells & Grabert, 2004). A teaming 

approach to learning has become more common during the 21st century. Organizations 

and universities have been placing a greater emphasis on teaming. Based on the findings 

of this study, the teaming method is not significantly more beneficial than the traditional 

lecture format. 

Recommendations and Future Research 

This study comparing team learning versus individual learning failed to show 

significance at the .05 level, t (78) = .36, p = .73. Students assigned to work in groups at 

in speech classes at the beginning of a semester showed no significant grade variance at

the end of the semester from peers who were assigned to the individual process. This 

researcher recommends that further comparison studies be conducted in the area of team 

learning versus individual learning to determine which method is more effective in 

accomplishing learning goals at the postsecondary level and in the workplace. This 

researcher recommends that postsecondary institutions continue to use a combination of 

the two methods in preparing their students to succeed as future employees until more 

research is available. It is recommended that future studies be conducted using a variety 

of participants to see whether outcomes differ in a significant manner. 

Future related research on team effectiveness in the classroom environmment may 

entail the use of different evaluation or assessment instruments or alternative teaching 

and learning techniques. In addition, the addition of team orientation sessions and 

supplemental information provided to teams for team processes, dynamics, and outcomes 

may affect team effectiveness results. Other recommendations may entail using teams in 

different subjects or sequential courses in the same subject. 

The data from this study show there is still a need for researchers to add new 

knowledge to the existing body of research on the value of team versus individual 

academic achievements. There is a need for new studies in a variety of settings targeting 

different types of participants. This research might be followed by a study involving the 

success of team assignments in a workplace environment in real time using adult 

employees as participants. Another future study might compare the grades of a group of 

female participants with the grades of a group of male students to determine whether 

there is a significant difference in their academic success when they work in teams. The 

results might show that females earn higher grades when they work alone with males 

having better success when they work as a team, or the reverse could occur. A survey 

study could be designed for a group of postsecondary senior students in order to discover 

what they have learned about teaming strategies in their undergraduate programs. 

Another possible study could examine the success of teamwork combined with individual 

efforts in accomplishing a project. 

These additional studies would add useful information to the existing body of 

knowledge in the area of teamwork as a method of accomplishing learning goals in 

schools and in the workplace. Researchers and educators may continue to consider team 

learning strategies in the coming years because of the importance of designing 

outstanding, relevant curricula and learning strategies for the students who will be 

instrumental in shaping the nation’s future economic success.

REFERENCES 

Allen, N., & Hecht, T. (2004, December). Further thoughts on the romance of teams: A 

reaction to the commentaries. Journal of Occupational & Organizational 

Psychology, 77, 485. Retrieved April 11, 2005, from 

http://searchepnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=15477252 

Anand, V., Clark, M., & Zellmer-Bruhn, M. (2003, Spring). Team knowledge structures: 

Matching task to information environment. Journal of Managerial Issues, 15, 15. 

Retrieved October 4, 2005, from EBSCOhost database. 

Barki, H., & Pinsonneault, A. (2001, March/April). A model of organization integration, 

implementation effort, and performance. Organizational Science: A Journal of the 

Institute of Management Sciences, 16(2), 165-179. 

Baron, B. (2003). When smart groups fail. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 12(3), 307. 

Brown, V. (2002). Making group brainstorming more effective: Recommendations from 

an associative memory perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 

11, 208-212. 

Brown, M. M., & Brudney, J. L. (2003). Learning organizations in the public sector? A 

study of police agencies employing information and technology to advance 

knowledge. Public Administration Review, 63, 30-43. Retrieved July 3, 2004, 

from EBSCOhost database. 

Carroll, B. (2000, Summer). Creating high performance design teams. National 

Productivity Review, 19, 47-52. Retrieved June 4, 2004, from EBSCOHost 

database. 

Chowdhurry, S., Endres, M., & Lanis, T. (2002, Fall). Preparing students for success in 

teamwork environments: The importance of building confidence. Journal of 

Managerial Issues, 14, 346. Retrieved September 5, 2004, from EBSCOHost 

database. 

Davis, N., & Blanchard, M. (2004, October). Collaborative teams in a university statistics 

course: A case study of how differing value structures inhibit change. School 

Science and Mathematics, 104. Retrieved October 15, 2005, 

Engleberg, I. N., & Wynn, D. R. (2003).Working in groups: Communication principles 

and strategies (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin. 

Gillies, R. M. (2002, October). The residual effects of cooperative learning experiences: 

A two-year follow up. Journal of Educational Research, 96, 15. Retrieved 

February 20, 2005, from http://search.epnet.com 

Godard, J. (2001). High performance and the transformation of work: The implications of 

alternative work practices for the experience and outcomes of work. Industrial 

and Labour Relations Review, 54, 776–805. 

Hakkinen, P. (2004, April). What makes learning and understanding in virtual teams so 

difficult? CyberPsychology & Behavior, 7(2), 201.

Holloway, J. H. (2003, December). Student teamwork. Educational Leadership, 61, 91. 

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Kunkel, G. J., & Shafer, W. E. (1997, March/April). Effects of student team learning in 

undergraduate auditing courses. Journal of Education for Business, 72, 197. 

Retrieved February 5, 2004, from http://web9.eptnet.com 

Leon, L. & Tai, L. (2004, June). Implementing cooperative learning in a team teaching 

environment. Journal of Education for Business, 79, 287. Retrieved February 20, 

2005, from 

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Marks, M. A., Mathieu, J. E., & Zaccaro, S. J. (2001). A temporally based framework 

and taxonomy of team processes. Academy of Management Review, 26, 355-376. 

McGrath, J. E., Arrow, H., & Berdahl, J. L. (2000). The study of groups: Past, present, 

and future. Personality and social Psychology Review, 4, 95-105. Retrieved April 

11, 2005, from 

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ATH.SGPPF 

Miller, D. L. (2003, June). The stages of group development: A retrospective study of 

dynamic team processes. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 20(2), 

121. 

Moreland, R. L. (1996). Lewin's legacy for small groups research. Systems Practice, 9, 7- 

26. (Special issue of the journal, edited by S. Wheelan, devoted to Kurt Lewin). 

Nonaka, I., & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The knowledge-creating company: How Japanese 

companies create the dynamics of Innovation (1st ed.). New York: Oxford 

University Press. 

von Bertalanffy, L. V. (1969). General systems theory: Foundations, development, 

applications. (Revised ed.). New York: George Braziller Publishing. 

Wallis & Becerra, Group & Organization Management, 2001 - ingentaconnect.com 

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Wells, C. V., Grabert C. (2004, December). Service-learning and mentoring: Effective 

pedagogical strategies. College Student Journal, 38, 573. Retrieved March 02, 

2005, from http://search.epnet.com

Effective Use of Adjuncts in 

Conjunction with University Professors for 

Administrative Internship Supervision 

Greg Gibbs 


ABSTRACT 

The author describes the model of internship supervision that is used at his University. The model has changed 

and is different than the norm. The combination of adjunct instructors/supervisors, site supervisors, and 

university professors makes for a dynamic partnership that adds significant quality to the program and for the 

intern/students. The standards that the program is based upon are further strengthened through such a model. 

Constant integration occurs within this model and a reiteration of the standards through each aspect of the 

internship is obvious with this partnership. Consistency has been increased through such a model as well. 

Student interns are regularly exposed to the elements of the ELCC (Educational Leadership Consortium Council) 

standards through all aspects. Supervising adjuncts remain under the training and oversight of the university 

professors in a much tighter way than in previous supervision models. Regular forums are set‐up several times a 

semester where student interns, supervisors, and university professors meet and discuss topics as well as the 

usual individualized meetings on‐site that the interns have with their site supervisors and the adjunct 

supervisors from the university. Overall, the nuances of this model have shown that the use of adjuncts under a 

structured format such as this is actually more beneficial than either just university professors doing the 

supervisio0n or just adjuncts hired to meet in the field.

Typically we assign internship candidates to a University faculty member as a supervisor. 

Recently our numbers have risen to the point that the few university faculty we have in the 

department could not adequately cover the increased numbers of student interns in the field. The 

University hired several adjuncts to cover in-the-field administrative internships, not different 

than many other institutions. 

However, we connected the adjuncts with a university supervisor who oversees them tighter than 

usual. The adjuncts are all working administrators in the field: a superintendent, a middle school 

principal, and an elementary principal. The interesting dimension to this is the fact that each of 

these adjuncts has their own circle or network that obviously serves their own assigned students. 

This provides a much richer experience than either – if they were supervised by the university 

faculty alone or if they we just assigned any adjunct, not a working adjunct. The students now 

have the university supervisor as a classroom instructor during this same time frame, the 

connection with a working-in-the-field adjunct as a supervisor, and their regular site-supervisor 

of the internship in the field. Each student intern has three professionals connecting with them 

and coordinating their activities, their progress on our program standards, etc. The power of 

such a relationship became evident after the first semester working within this model. Our 

internal evaluation data shows that there is a strong and positive connection between student 

interns and the supervision staff. 

The depth of the interns’ experience and the active connection to working administrators in the 

field has increased several-fold through this process. Although this came about through 

necessity of sheer incoming student numbers it has proven to be a strong model for the 

strengthening of the intern’s learning and skill development. 

The interns were assigned to their adjunct supervisor on the basis of geographics originally, just 

out of ease for them. Our University cohort group of interns covers hundreds of square miles 

across the western section of our state. However, we meet officially three times per semester 

with all interns and all supervisors together, this has caused the supervisors to connect with the 

interns outside their geographic area but now based upon their own level of interest in a 

particular position. Having a working superintendent, a middle school principal, and an 

elementary principal all as supervisors has led student interns to seek out those within their field 

of interest during our three meetings. This past year, these eventually have evolved into more of 

an open forum because of this fact. Students have found tremendous connections through this 

model and claim they have felt closer to administration and more confident in what they are 

doing and how it relates to the real world of administration. 

We had hoped the use of adjuncts would not take away from the continuity of our program. 

Through the use of connecting the University supervisor with the adjuncts, meeting three times 

with all interns each semester as a total group; the continuity has actually been strengthened

more than we could have planned. The expertise of the adjuncts is smoothly integrated into 

these meetings and the depth of professionalism has increased throughout as well. Student 

interns now have a cadre of administrators they are beginning to know in a professional manner 

with a closeness that had not happened before in our traditional one-on-one, intern-supervisor 

assignments as in the past. 

Each adjunct is assigned no more than 6 student interns in their immediate geographic area. 

Their duty is to monitor the intern’s plan of activity and their reflection process as it relates to 

our program standards. The supervisors typically meet with the students prior to beginning their 

internship, initially meeting with the site supervisor at the school site, meet after a month or so, 

then meeting periodically throughout the process as each individual intern’s need dictate, and 

meeting with all parties to wrap up the internship as the recommended number of contact hours 

move towards completion. 

Figure 1: The Forums are large sessions that deal with all students, all adjunct supervisors, and are hosted by the 

university professor(s). Each circle represents the student intern group(s) that are headed by a single adjunct 

supervisor-working administrator. The small circles within each larger circle represent the student interns. 

Our latest scenario now requires the interns and the adjunct supervisors to meet with the 

University supervisor as a whole group officially three times a semester in addition to any on-site 

meetings they have. This meeting typically has 18+ students with three supervisors. This is a 

structured, prescheduled meeting denoted at the beginning of the semester. We have a general 

discussion and sharing time regarding internship issues and then break into groups first by 

geographical area and then we get together by interest group, sometimes also as a whole group 

depending upon student intern needs. This methodology was new to us. We had not done as 

much group activity in the past; the internships were very much individualized in previous years. 

We now offer the best of both elements. It still is individualized for the intern in their site setting

ut they can benefit from the group more readily and easily through our group sessions. We also 

maintain a much stronger connection with the university standards because of these forums. 

These unintended outcomes have all been for the benefit of our program and our students. We 

intend to continue using this type of model and refine the elements that help to align our 

standards in the most effective way for student learning and resource deployment at the 

University level. 

The demands we have on the student interns by way of program standards and the built in 

University assessments are tempered and supported by the real life experiences of our working 

adjunct supervisors and the student placements themselves. It is easy at the University level to 

get caught up in our own internal standards and curricular issues while not giving the real-world 

job requirements as much focus or simply not keeping pace with the evolving needs of today’s 

administrator. This model helps us all balance the elements for student interns. They get the 

best of both practice and theory in such a model with many experienced supervisors working 

together as a single cohesive team. 

References: 

Arbaugh, F., Abell, S., Lannin, J., Volkmann, M. and Boone, W. (2007). “Field-based internship 

models for alternative certification of science and mathematics teachers: views of 

interns, mentors, and university educators”. Eurasia Journal of Math, Science, and 

Technology Education. April 2007. 3(3). Pgs. 191-201. 

Bain, Ken. (2004). What the Best College Teachers Do. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University 

Press. 

Balch, B., Frampton, M., and Hirth, M. (2006). Preparing a Professional Portfolio: A School 

Administrator’s Guide. Pearson. 

Daniels, C. (2007). Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching. (2 nd . Ed.). 

Alexandria, VA, ASCD. 

Green, Reginald. (2009). Practicing the Art of Leadership: A Problem-Based Approach 

to Implementing the ISLLC Standards (3 rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Pearson. 

Henson, K.T. (2010). Supervision: A Collaborative Approach to Instructional Improvement. 

Long Grove, Ill. Waveland Press.

Jasinska, Magdalena. (2007). A paper: “Traditional internships: models and practices”. Marie 

Curie Sklodowska University. Lublin, Poland. 

Kowalski, Theodore J. (2012). Case Studies on Educational Administration (6 th ed.). Boston: 

Pearson. 

Perry, William G. Jr. (1970). Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College 

Years: A Scheme. New York. Holt-Rinehart and Winston. 

Perry, William G. Jr. (1990). “Cognitive and ethical growth: the making of meaning,” in A. W. 

Chickering, ed., The Modern American College. San Francisco. Jossey-Bass, p. 76-116. 

Stefkovich, Jacqueline A. (2006). Best Interests of the Student: Applying Ethical Constructs to 

Legal Cases in Education. Manawah, NJ: Erlbaum Assocs.

Evaluating Qur’anic Teacher Program in 

Teachers College, King Saud University in the 

Light of Quality Standards 

Fahad A. Abanmy 

King Saud University 

ABSTRACT 

The research Aims to Evaluating The Qur’anic Teacher program at Teachers college, King Saud University in the 

light of Quality standards, a Questioner was used to collect the Data, the sample was (30) of Faculty member 

and Students Teacher in the college. Result shows that the program met the quality standards in Domains and 

Standards, but in the indicators the program met the indicators of Teaching strategy, learning Environment and 

management, not professionalism and Evaluation domains. More details of the results are discussed in the 

study. moreover; the recommendations of the research will present the results of the research.

Introduction 

There was agreement on the importance of Teachers role and the importance of 

its impact on the success of the educational process and the extent of the impact when 

his disciples, no matter how the educational goals of the ambitious, regardless of the 

educational policies of the provisions, the direct responsible and Working Party in the 

implementation of these policies and the success of such schemes is a teacher In the 

introduction to ways to care for the profession; process of its preparation, rehabilitation 

and in-service training. 

The UNESCO Initiative 2000 "Education for All" has several targets, the sixth 

goal of UNESCO is to improve all aspects of education for a situation everyone can be 

improve and meet all the students results are recognized and can be measured, 

especially in the capacity of literacy and numeracy and essential life skills for life. This 

means that education and learning must provide learners with the knowledge and tools 

and the ability to use the acquired knowledge and skills with confidence, as well as the 

development of behavior, which depends on drawing on the ethics and ideals and 

positive values and respect and the ability to communicate with others and know their 

rights. This is the high-quality education that will lead to social benefits and economic 

benefits (UNESCO, 1990). 

Then, the role of the teacher, tendencies appeared, a strong need for attention to 

the preparation of the teacher setting a strong fit the lofty mission entrusted to him after 

his graduation, and this focused on colleges and institutes of teacher preparation to 

quality in the stages of the initial setup of the teacher, and access to academic 

accreditation of preparation programs. 

King Saud University has hurry up to ensure the quality of all educational 

programs offered it, and obtain a certificate of accreditation for these programs, then 

Teachers College as one of the colleges of King Saud University; consistently sought to 

achieve the quality of educational programs offered by academic departments the 

faculty's position to get accreditation program and institutional levels. 

And the Program of Qur’anic teacher as one of the programs offered by Teachers 

College, is an important program, because the teacher whose graduate from will play an 

active role in building the Saudi society and play an important role in providing the 

students with the skills to save and read the Quran and teach them the principles of 

tolerance of this religion in the light of Quran and the Sunnah. 

This research focuses on Qur’anic teacher preparation program, and evaluation of this 

program in the light of quality standards, thus contributing to the quality of the 

educational process at Teachers College and outputs and the continuity of development. 

Research problem: 

The research problem in evaluating the Qur’anic Teacher program in the light of 

quality standards, and that through the assessment of the academic program, 

educational, and then conceived proposal for a Qur’anic Teacher program in the light of 

quality standards, to serve the program and those who support it, and easy for college 

and university adoption of one of its academic programs , as well as serve the class is

one of the most important categories of teachers are class teachers of Qur'anic, as the 

preparation of Qur’anic Teacher derives its importance from the privacy of the scientific 

material with which it deals; “a book of God : The Holy Quran”, if care was to be the 

preparation of the student teacher through a program achieves quality standards and 

accreditation, it will contribute to the growth of professional after graduation, so as to 

improve the quality of the education process in schools. 

Research questions: 

1. What are the quality standards of the educational preparation of Qur’anic 

teacher? 

2. What is the extent of the availability of quality standards in the program of 

educational preparation for Qur’anic teacher at Teachers College, King Saud 

University? 

3. What is the proposed vision to developing the program of educational 

preparation for the Qur’anic teacher at Teachers College, King Saud University 

in the light of quality standards? 

The importance of research: 

1. Help faculty members and those in the preparation of teachers of Qur'anic 

Studies to identify the quality standards, and work to link the performance. 

2. Provide the students with terms of raising their level of academic and 

educational components are affected as a result of the program. 

3. Help those involved in the preparation of teachers of Qur'anic Studies faculties 

of teacher preparation through the work that is available on the standards of 

quality teacher preparation programs in these colleges. 

4. This research represents a response to the modern educational trends, which 

calls attention to the achievement of quality standards and accreditation. 

Research Objectives: 

Current research seeks to achieve the following objectives: 

1. Determine the list of quality standards for Qur’anic teacher preparation program. 

2. Determine the availability of quality standards in Qur’anic teacher preparation 

program, at Teachers College, King Saud University. 

3. Conceived proposal to work on the development of teacher preparation program 

Qur'anic Studies, Teachers College, King Saud University 

Methodology: 

The methodology used is descriptive analytical method which is based on the 

analysis of the current status of Qur’anic teacher preparation program to identify 

strengths and weaknesses through its integrated Evaluation and then make 

recommendations and proposals for the development of the program to achieve the 

quality of the program. 

Research limitations: 

Confined to the limits of research on the following: 

1. The Educational part which produced by Department of Curriculum and teaching 

methods in Qur’anic teacher preparation program at Teachers College at King Saud 

University.

2. A set of quality standards for teacher preparation programs in the (United States of 

America - United Kingdom - United Arab Emirates - Arab Republic of Egypt). 

Research procedures: 

To answer the questions of this research will follow the following procedures: 

1. Surveying the literature related to the assessment of education teacher 

preparation programs at global level. 

2. Surveying the literature related to the assessment of the educational programs of 

teacher preparation at the local and regional levels. 

3. Determination of the list of quality standards to be met by the Qur’anic teacher 

preparation program. 

4. Analysis of these Standards in the light of the nature of the teaching of Qur’anic 

studies in Saudi society and to identify the right ones for the application, 

Teachers College, King Saud University. 

5. Build and adjust the research tools in the identification of quality standards for 

Qur’anic teacher preparation program. 

6. application search tool. 

7. Analysis of the results of applying the search tool to find out the availability of 

quality standards in the Qur’anic teacher preparation program. 

8. Access to the results of research and comment on them. 

9. Conceived proposal to develop a teacher preparation program Qur'anic Studies, 

Teachers College, King Saud University, without testing. 

Results: 

Research find a list of Domains, Standards and indicators of Qur’anic teacher, 

and evaluation of teacher preparation program of Qur’anic studies at Teachers College 

at King Saud University in the light of these Standards. Result shows that the program 

met the quality standards in Domains and Standards, but in the indicators the program 

met the indicators of Teaching strategy, learning Environment and management, not 

professionalism and Evaluation domains. 

Recommendations: 

In the light of the findings of the current research results of the research including the 

following: 

1. Focus on Standards and indicators for the evaluation field and the field of 

professional development courses at the vocational preparation for the teacher of 

Qur’anic studies, through decisions: Methods of general teaching methods, 

teaching the Koran, the field of education. 

2. Attention to teacher training to include the culture of standards in teaching, 

especially during field application, and during the service. 

3. Give more attention to disseminating the culture of standards and performance 

appraisal in the light of the standards among the members of the teaching 

faculty, students to train him later. 

Brief biography of the authors : 

Fahad A Abanmy 

is an Assistant Professor of Curricula and Instructional (specialized in Islamic 

Education) and the Head of The department at Teachers College – King Saud

University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Member of Many Associations of Curricula and 

Instructional, His research areas cover the Teaching and Learning , e-learning 

environments, and Assessment of Curricula and Instructional 

Abanmy, Fahad A, PhD. 


Referance 

1. Alex Narrison, storage and Control for stock for industry and public tabling, 

third edition, the English long uag eboob society and pitman, 1981. 

2. Eric Sand elands Strategies for Quality Achievement "Customer Service, 

Management Decision, Vol. 32, No.5, 1994 .. 

3. Evans, J.: Applied production and operations management. West Publication Co. 

USA, 1993. 

4. Hixon, J.and K.lovelace. "Total Quality Management.Challenge to Urban 

School" Education Leadership, 50 (3) P.6-24 1992. 

5. Karl Albrecht: The only thing that Matters, Harper Business, 1992. 

6. Kothleen Marrie, M; The Effects of Mathematics Curriculum Materials and 

instruction on Achievement and conceptual understanding of six Grade student: 

comparing Traditional and standards - Based search degree of Doctor of 

Education George Mason University, 2002. 

7. Lankard, Bettina A.: Total Quality Management: Application in Vocational 

Education ERIC Digest No .125,2000 

8. Lycke, Kirsten Hofgaard: perspectives on Quality Assurance in Higher 

Education in Norway, (Eric Document Reproduction Service No: EJ 681223) 

2004 

9. Mirta, A.: Fundamentals of quality control and improvements. McMillan 

Publishing Co. USA, 1993. 

10. Sherr, A.: Et. Al TQM in higher education on line, 2000.: Www.umr.edu / 

assess / tqm / html 

11. William J. Thompson. / Introducing Computation to physics students / 

Computer in physics education July / Aug, 1988.

Experiential Learning in Cost Accounting 

Terry Dancer 

Arkansas State University 

ABSTRACT 

Experiential learning is a fancy term for something we all learned as children. As children, we quickly learned 

not to touch a hot stove. This was learning from experience. Experiential learning is learning from experience. 

A Chinese proverb, listed as quotation #12,274 in the Columbia World of Quotations also describes experiential 

learning. Confucius, the Chinese philosopher and reformer, is credited with the proverb, which states: I hear 

and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand. Experiential learning is learning by doing. Thus, the 

essence of experiential learning is that experiential learning emphasizes active rather than passive participation 

on the part of the learner.

INTRODUCTION 

Experiential learning is a fancy term for something we all learned as children. As 

children, we quickly learned not to touch a hot stove. This was learning from experience. 

Experiential learning is learning from experience. A Chinese proverb, listed as quotation 

#12,274 in the Columbia World of Quotations also describes experiential learning. Confucius, 

the Chinese philosopher and reformer, is credited with the proverb, which states: I hear and I 

forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand. Experiential learning is learning by doing. 

Thus, the essence of experiential learning is that experiential learning emphasizes active rather 

than passive participation on the part of the learner. 

RELATED LITERATURE 

The question, “What causes learning?” is as old as teaching. The Accounting Education 

Change Commission “is convinced that an increased emphasis on teaching and curriculum and 

course development is vital to the future of Accounting Education” and “the importance of 

effective teaching and innovative curriculum cannot be overemphasized (AECC, 1990, p. 330). 

Williams (1991, p. 128) wrote, “A major step for reforming accounting curricula is to encourage 

experimentation and innovation. Experiential learning revolves around experimentation and 

innovation. 

The AECC Objective of Education for Accountants Position Statement number One 

states that, “The overriding objective of accounting programs should be to teach students to learn 

on their own. Students must be active participants in the learning process, not passive recipients 

of information. Learning by doing should be emphasized. Working in groups should be 

encouraged. Faculty who are effective teachers are those who develop and implement new and 

innovative approaches to teaching and curriculum design should be recognized and rewarded for 

such scholarly activities (Sept, 19909, p4). In addition, the Commission notes, “The content of 

the program must create a base upon which continued learning can be built. A focus on 

memorization of rules and regulations is contrary to the goal of learning to learn (Sept, 1990, 

p6). 

Many different methods are used to provide learning experiences for students. Baker, et 

al, (1987) identified six major teaching methods that have been presented in a wide body of 

education research literature. These are Lecture/discussion, programmed instruction, mastery 

learning, problem-centered seminars, lab, workshop, experiential learning, and system analysis. 

Baker et.al conclude that the optimal teaching method for most accounting courses is the 

experiential method developed by David Kolb. 

David Kolb (1984) developed a model for experiential learning theory that emphasizes, 

“Experience is translated into concepts, which, in turn, are used as guides in the choice of new 

experience” (kolb, 1984, p31). According to Kolb, the learner goes through four stages for 

maximum learning. The phases are: Concrete Experience (CE), Reflective Observation (RO), 

Abstract Construction (AC), and lastly Active Experimentation (AE). Kolb believed that the 

learners performance is determined as p=f(ce,ro,ac,ae). The core of his model, noted above, is

that experience nets concepts, which nets experimentation and that learning should go through all 

four phases for maximum learning efficiency. 

Though much has been written about experiential learning, little empirical evidence has 

been gathered and tested in order to determine the statistical significance of experiential learning 

versus other modes of learning. James E. Stice (1987) used Kolb’s learning cycle with 

engineering students. Stice states that his experience “has confirmed the assertions that students 

will learn effectively through the application of Kolb’s theory (p. 226). 

McMullen and Cahoon (1979) encouraged students to identify and conceptualize their 

experiences through what was called a Personal Application menu (PAM). The PAM’s required 

students to answer questions based on the four learning stages presented by Kolb. Hutchings and 

Wutzdorff (1988) wrote about the integration and effect of experiential learning at Alverno 

College. Alverno has adopted the works of Argyris and Schon (1974) and Kolb (1984) to a 

learning environment that integrates what is termed “knowing and doing”. 

Agrawal and Siegel (1991) conducted a study to gather empirical evidence to test Kolb’s 

learning theory. The study was small in scope and conducted in a principles of accounting 

course. The results of their study indicated some statistical evidence that student performance 

improved through the integration of Kolb’s learning cycle. Until recently, this was the only 

study available providing statistical evidence of the usefulness of Kolb’s theory. 

Jensen and Agrawal (2003) conducted a study where the primary research questions was 

whether applying Kolb’s experiential learning model in introductory accounting would improve 

learning of the treatment group. They tested the hypothesis: The mean score of the control 

group will be equal to or greater than the mean score earned by the treatment group for each 

exam. Statistical tests revealed a significant difference in the exam scores of the treatment and 

control groups on all exams. 

Jensen and Agrawal state “the motivation for this study was to fill a gap in the literature 

by providing empirical evidence on the validity of learning theory applications in 

Accounting…The classes receiving the teaching strategies designed to integrate the theory did 

significantly better than the classes taught by the traditional lecture format….evidence not 

previously published in the literature” (p.. 38) 

THE ASSIGNMEENT 

The assignment requires the student to purchase raw materials, make something out of 

the materials, keep a journal of cost and experiences, and make a presentation to the class of the 

results. Thus, the assignment combines elements of experiential learning, oral communications, 

and written communications. I tell the students I don’t want projects such as puzzles or 

snap/glue together kits. Rather, I want them to start with an idea for a project, buy the raw 

materials, manufacture the item, and keep a journal of what they did. 

Over the years I have made a few modifications to the assignment. For instance, the first 

semester I made the assignment, many students made cookies and cakes. Since the first 

semester, students are told the must make something non-perishable. Some students made large

items and brought only pictures to class. One of my current requirements is the project must be 

something small enough to bring to class for presentation. 

Students are graded on their oral and written report. This comes as a great relief to many 

students who at first feared a part of their grade would be on their finished product. I ease their 

mind by telling them the finished product has nothing to do with their grade on the assignment. 

The two main questions are the same each semester: How long does the journal need to 

be and how long should the presentation be. I tell them the journal should be long enough to 

detail all their experiences while making the project and tracking the cost. I do not specify a 

particular length. I tell them the presentation needs to be about 2-3 minutes beginning with the 

name of their product and the amount of its cost. 

Grading the assignment requires a great deal of judgment. I am never 100% sure a 

student actually made the item. However, by listening to their presentation, reading their journal, 

and looking at the product, I am able to at least record a grade with some informed judgment. 

The project is usually worth 25 points and most students, who make something, give the oral 

presentation, and turn in their journal will get 25 points. 

The least expensive project on record is the one where a student took three pipe cleaners 

and made a stick man. One was for the torso, one for the legs, and one for the arms. His 

presentation was good and his report was good so he received the max score on his project. 

The most expensive was a 12x24 shop building. (This was before I made the requirement 

for the project to be small enough to demonstrate in class.) The student brought a series of 

pictures showing from the bare ground, to the foundation, to the walls, to the ceiling, to the roof. 

He was very knowledgeable of the construction process and based on his presentation and 

journal he received max credit on his project. 

Perhaps the most interesting item was the time a student began his presentation by saying 

“I made a candle and it cost $235”. After the laughter subsided, he explained his wife’s 

microwave blew up during the heating process and he had to buy her a new one. This particular 

project generated a great deal of discussion about adding the cost of the microwave to the cost of 

his one candle. 

Perhaps my favorite project to date is the one where the student made “Dancer the 

Reindeer”. This is the project I hand out to students once all the presentations are made. I use it 

as a good example of the detail that goes into a cost report, both the financial aspect and the 

written aspect. The project enables us to discuss many concepts dealing with direct and indirect 

materials, direct and indirect labor, variable and fixed factory overhead and reporting procedures. 

Complete detail about “Dancer the Reindeer” is included in the appendix. 

SUMMARY 

The vast majority of the students seem to enjoy this project. Some students I talk with 

years later tell me the one college project they remember most was the one in cost accounting 

where they had to make something. I particularly like the project because it has some many

learning elements. It has the experiential learning aspect, the oral communications aspect, and 

the written communications aspect. 

One student comment about the project is typical of what many students write. They 

wrote “I enjoyed the experiential learning assignment. It was very interesting to think about all 

the different costs that can go into even a simple item. The costs and hands on experience almost 

made me understand why some people do this stuff for a living as Cost Accountants. (Notice I 

said almost).

REFERENCES 

Accounting Education Change Commission, 1990. Objectives of education for accountants: 

position statement number one. Issues in Accounting Education. September 1990: 1-8. 

Accounting Education Change Commission, 1990. AECC urges priority for teaching in higher 

education: Issues statement No. 1. Issues in Accounting Education. Fall 1990: 330-331. 

Agrawal, Surendra P. and Philip H. Siegel, 1991. Introduction to Accounting: An experiment in 

Experiential Learning Theory. Southwest Business Review. Vol 1, No. 2, fall 1991: 99- 

118. 

Argyus, Chris and Donald Schon, 1974. Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action 

Perspective. Addison Wesley, Reading, Mass. 

Baker, R. E., J. R. Simon, and F. P. Bazeli, 1987. Selecting Instrument Design for Introductory 

Accounting based on the Experiential Learning Model. Journal of Accounting 

Education. Fall, 1987: 207-226. 

Hutchings, Pat and Allen Wutzdorff, 1988. Experiential learning across the curriculum: 

Assumptions and Principles. Ned Directions for Teaching and Learning. 1988, No. 35: 

5-19. 

Jensen, Paul and Surendra Agrawal, 2003. The application of Experiential learning in 

Accounting: An experiment. The National Accounting Journal. Vol. 4, No. 1, Fall 

2003: 33-39. 

Kolb, David A, 1984. Experiential Learning: Experience s the source of learning and 

development. Prentice-Hall. New Jersey. 

McMullan W. Ed and A. Cahoon, 1979. Integrating Abstract conceptualization with 

Experiential learning. Academy of Management Review. Volume 4, No. 4: 453-458. 

Stice, James E. 1987. Using Kolb’s Learning Cycle to improve student learning. Engineering 

Education. February, 1987: 291-296. 

Williams, Doyle Z, 1991. The Challenge of Change in Accounting Education. Issues in 

Accounting Education. Spring 1991: 126-133.

APPENDIX 

DANCER THE REINDEER 

DIRECT MATERIALS LABOR 

COST SUMMARY 

$1.36 BEIGE FELT HOURS RATE TOTAL 

$0.79 BROWN FELT 8.75 $6.00 $52.50 

$0.10 RED FELT 

$0.27 GREEN FELT 

$0.56 BLACK BEADS OVERHEAD 

$0.83 RIBBON CHRISTMAS TREE 

$2.50 FIBERFILL ?? ELECTRICITY 

$1.67 AQUARIUM GRAVEL $0.59 BLACK EMBROIDERY THREAD 

$1.00 BLUE JEANS 

RED GLITTER 

$0.59 RED EMBROIDERY THREAD 

$1.49 GLUE $0.99 HOT GLUE STICKS 

$0.33 POINSETTIA TRIM $0.59 BEIGE THREAD 

$0.27 CANDY CANE $0.59 BROWN THREAD 

$11.17 TOTAL DIRECT MATERIALS $0.59 NAVY THREAD 

$1.00 BLUSH 

$6.98 PATTERN 

$11.92 TOTAL OVERHEAD 

DIRECT 

MATERIALS $11.17 

DIRECT LABOR $52.50 

OVERHEAD $11.92 

TOTAL COST $75.59 

TOOLS USED INCLUDED: 

SEWING MACHINE 

MINI GLUE GUN 

SCISSORS 

PINS 

NEEDLES 

IRON 

RULER 

11/10/2005 

I WENT TO WAL-ART. It took me about 1 hour to plan my project and purchase the 

materials. I immediately came home and got started. 

The first step is beginning my project was to trim the pattern with my scissors and to read the 

instructions. This took 30 minutes.

11/11/2005 

I ironed the pattern, pinned it to the materials and began the cutting process. There were 4 

pieces each for the arms and legs and 2 pieces for the 4 head of which the ears were a part 

of (in case you were wondering) that were cut from the beige price of plush felt. The antlers 

included 4 pieces cut from regular brown felt. The nose consisted of 1 round price of red felt. 

The two pieces for the body and the pocket were cut from an old pair of jeans. The scarf 

consisted of 2 long pieces cut from green sparkle felt. The cutting process took 1 hour and 

30 minutes. 

11/15/2005 

Sewing Process 

I first sewed the body pieces together and the filled the bottom with a cup of aquarium grave 

to help it stand upright. I then proceeded to fill the body with fiberfill, stuffing it to the brim. 

I turned under the top edge of the body and slipstitched it together. This step took about 35 

minutes. I then sewed the head sections together to form the ears. I wrapped thread several 

times close to the head and tied it off. I then stuffed the head with fiberfill. Next I used the 

black embroidery thread to hand attach the beads to the head for the eyes, and then 

hand-stitched the eyebrows and mouth. I hand gathered the red felt circle, stuffed it and tied it off 

to make the nose. I then glued the nose to the head with the hot glue gun. Next, I glued the head 

to the body and added a few stitches here and there to secure it. This process took me 2 hours. 

11/16/2005 

Antlers: I stitched the fabric, stuffed the antlers and glued them to the top of the reindeer's head. 

I applied blush to the inner ears and cheeks. I glued the poinsettia decoration between the 

antlers. This process took 55 minutes. 

I then prepared the decorations on the pocket. I first traced the letters on the pocket and then 

used red glitter glue to go over the tacking. I set the pocket to the see to let the glue dry 

overnight. This took 1 hour 15 minutes. 

11/22/2005 

Arms and legs: I stitched each set of two pieces together and stuffed them with the fiberfill. 

I then glued the arms and legs to the body in their appropriate positions. This took 1 hour 

and 15 minutes. 

11/23/2005 

I stitched the two green scarf pieces together, punched 4 holes in each end with my scissors. 

I then inserted and tied off red embroidery thread to make fringe and tied the scarf around the 

reindeer's neck. This process took about 30 minutes. I then hand stitched the Christmas 

decoration on the pocket and glued the pocket to the body of the reindeer with the hot glue gun. 

this took 10 

minutes. 

Last I placed a candy cane in Dancer's pocket. This took 2 seconds. 

Merry Christmas.

Failure to Meet Attendance Requirements: 

A Case Study 

Michael Essary 




James Kerner 


Teresa Wanbaugh 

Louisiana College 







ABSTRACT 

This case study examines the termination of a long term employee for failure to meet no‐fault work place 

attendance requirements. The employee was terminated after taking leave to plan and attend the funeral of a 

person who was living in the employee’s home at the time of death. By taking three days of leave, the 

employee exceeded the number of days permitted by the attendance policy. Issues include whether 

management followed the procedures set forth in the policy, and whether the decedent met the definition of 

“immediate family member.”

This case involves the termination of a long-term employee for failure to meet no fault work 

place attendance requirements. Attendance has been a long time problem at the plant and the 

present policy is the third attendance policy that has been put into effect in the last five years. 

Under the present policy an employee is charged one-half point for each day tardy and for each 

day he or she leaves early. One point is charged for each day the employee is absent without 

prior approval. The policy requires progressive discipline steps as follows: 

5 points verbal warning 

7 points written warning 

9 points final written warning 

10.5 points termination 

The Company production manager testified that the Grievant had exceeded the number of points 

required for termination under the previous policy but the Company had been lenient and did not 

terminate him. The present policy had been implemented on September 1, 1998, and all 

employees (including the Grievant) started with 0 points at that time. The Grievant received his 

eleventh point on May 5, 1999, after taking three days leave related to the funeral of a deceased 

employee, and was terminated effective May 9, 1999. 

The attendance policy states that three consecutive days of funeral leave will be granted for 

attending the funeral of an immediate family member. One of the days must be the day of the 

funeral. Management presented records which established the Grievant’s address as Box 5, 

Union Street, Anytown, AL. Management presented four official records which established the 

address of the deceased former female employee as Box 996, Lincoln Road, Anytown, AL. 

(Official records included Company official mailing address, death certificate, etc.) The 

Company testified the deceased employee did not meet the definition of an immediate family 

member. 

The Company sales manager presented Management Exhibit 4, a written record of nine phone 

calls made to the Company by the Grievant on the day of termination (May 9, 1999). The calls 

were characterized as being argumentative and disrespectful. A subpoena dated May, 9, 1999 

(State of Alabama vs. Grievant) directing the Grievant to appear in court on June 20, 1999, was 

entered as Management Exhibit 5. The sales manager stated he had taken this action because of 

the nature and tone of the Grievant’s phone calls. 

The Union representative stated that the Collective Bargaining Agreement required the mailing 

address of all employees be furnished and not the resident address and in the case of the 

deceased the two addresses were different. The deceased had utilized her son’s address as her 

mailing address but in fact had lived in the same house as the Grievant for the eighteen-month 

period prior to her death, including the day of the death. The Union called attention to Article 

11.00 of the Master Labor Agreement, Funeral Leave and Jury Duty, which defines any person 

living in the household of an employee as a family member. If such a person dies while living in 

the household of an employee, the employee is provided with funeral leave of up to three 

consecutive days off without pay, with such time to be considered an excused absence. The 

Union stated the Grievant should not have been charged leave for the three days taken in 

connection with the death and funeral. 

1

Union Exhibit 1, dated May 25, 1999, and Union Exhibit 2, dated June 14, 1999, were entered 

into the record. Both of the exhibits requested absentee records on nine Company employees 

including the Grievant. Management had not responded to either request. 

The Grievant was called as the first Union witness and stated he had been an employee of the 

Company since it had opened in September, 1985. The Grievant stated he had served as shop 

steward and president of the local Union and was serving as shop steward at the time of 

termination. The Grievant stated he had not received a written termination notice on the day of 

termination and that the first time he had seen a written notice was on the day he filed an official 

grievance. 

The Union presented two official company leave records on the Grievant (Union Exhibit 3). The 

first record was annotated for the period of May 5-7, 1999, death and funeral of the deceased 

employee. The second copy was annotated personal leave for May 5-7, 1999. A letter from 

County Emergency Medical Service, to the Grievant, stating the County EMS was dispatched to 

his house on May 5, 1999, at 5:10 a. m., was entered as Union Exhibit 4. The Grievant testified 

that EMS was responding to his call concerning the deceased who passed away at his residence 

on May 5, 1999. Union Exhibit 5 was a death certificate which listed the date of death as May, 

5, 1999. The obituary notice from Anytown Funeral Home listed funeral services as May 7, 

1999 (Union Exhibit 6). 

The grievant presented copies of five sworn affidavits from five knowledgeable people, dated 

May 15, 1999, attesting to the fact the deceased resided at the Grievant’s residence (Union 

Exhibit 7). The Grievant stated the originals were presented to the Company on May 16, 1999. 

The Union and the Grievant maintained the deceased lived with the Grievant for 18 months prior 

to and including the day of her death and had continued to use her son’s address as her mailing 

address in accordance with requirements of the Master Labor Agreement. Grievant’s seventeen 

year old daughter testified that the deceased had lived in the house with her and her father for the 

past 18 months and was living there at the time of her death. A neighbor who lived about one 

mile away testified he had been in the home of the Grievant on many occasions and the deceased 

had lived there for the past several months prior to her death. 

The last witness stated he lived next door to the Grievant and was aware the deceased lived with 

the Grievant for the past 18 months. He testified that early on the morning of May 5, 1998, the 

County EMS vehicle arrived at the Grievant’s residence and he came to the house and was told 

the Grievant’s friend had passed away. 

The Union pointed out that the attendance policy required a verbal warning to be given after 

accumulation of the fifth point but that the Grievant had not received a verbal warning until after 

he received a written warning for the accumulation of his seventh point. The attendance policy 

requires a final written warning after nine points but the attendance record showed that he did not 

receive a final written warning prior to the termination notice. 

Consider all of the facts. Make your decision and tell why you decided in the manner that you 

did. Keep in mind that the selection of an arbitrator must be approved by both Management and 

the Union and each side pays one half of the cost. Arbitration is hard work but pays well. You 

2

are a relatively new arbitrator and want to write your decision in a manner that is understood. 

Even if the loser doesn’t agree with the decision they will understood the reasoning you utilized 

in the decision making process and hopefully will have a favorable impression of your ability 

and fairness. 

Supplementary Notes 

Collective bargaining agreements contain a Management Rights section. The following is 

somewhat typical. 

The right to hire and discharge employees and the management of all equipment, 

buildings, vehicles, offices, and all other departments, and all properties is 

reserved by the Company and shall be vested exclusively in the Company. The 

Company shall have the right to determine how many employees it will employ or 

retain, together with the right to exercise full control and discipline in the interest 

of proper service and production and the conduct of its business except as 

expressly restricted in this contract. 

An item of special interest and discussion in this particular case is the role that Union officials 

must assume in insuring that the provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) are 

adhered to and in maintaining the personal reputation and relationships that Union Officials 

develop with Management in the discharge of these duties. The local Union President may be a 

craftsman with little formal education and may receive only a fraction of the salary of the CEO. 

In spite of the disparity in wages and, frequently, the difference in formal education and training, 

the President of the local union is viewed as being on the same level with the CEO when 

discharging his duties and responsibilities during the labor/management process. Labor relations 

issues don’t always get settled with polite conversations or hand shakes. In some cases each side 

take smoldering resentments away from the settlements and a third party may be required (as in 

this case) to come in and issue a written decision regarding the proper interpretation of the CBA. 

Termination or separation of an employee is sometimes viewed the same as capital punishment is 

viewed in the judicial system. The person terminated no longer exists in the organization and in 

many cases it is difficult for her or him to find other meaningful employment. As a result, 

termination actions are given careful and long consideration in most organizations (except in 

cases where employees commit or threaten workplace violence with a weapon, etc.). Arbitrators 

also give careful and in-depth attention to termination decisions. 


1. Collective Bargaining Agreements come into existence and gain approval after hundreds 

and sometimes thousands of hours of negotiation. The Negotiators attempted to 

communicate attendance requirements in clear and simple language. As evidenced by the 

need for an unbiased third party to hear their presentations to provide a decision, they 

were not successful. Could the attendance policy have been stated in a more precise, 

simple, or clearer manner that would have reduced or eliminated the need for an 

arbitrator to settle the issue? 

3

2. Discuss/address the issue that the deceased and the Grievant did not have the same 

address. A human resource management employee provided sworn testimony that the 

addresses were different and provided written copies of the addresses of the two 

employees as evidence. In your opinion, did the deceased meet the definition of a family 

member as defined in the CBA? 

3. What is the importance (if any) of the phone calls made by the Grievant to Management 

officials on the day of the termination? Would the evidence of subpoena/subpoenas 

requiring the Grievant to appear in a civil court have any significance for your 

consideration of the facts in the arbitration case? If so, what is the significance? 

4. Management provided un-refuted testimony that Management could have terminated the 

Grievant for exceeding the number of points on the previous attendance policy but had 

been lenient with him. Would this be a factor to consider in arriving at a decision in the 

present arbitration hearing? 

5. The Company Sales Manager stated the Grievant had personally filed more than two 

hundred grievances in the past two years. How should this statement be addressed or 

treated during your deliberations? 

6. What is the significance, if any, of Management’s failure to respond to the two Union 

requests for attendance records on nine employees (including the Grievant)? 

7. How much importance should be placed on the testimony of the Grievant’s daughter and 

the other two witnesses who testified for the Grievant? 

8. Unrefuted testimony from the Union and the written record established that a verbal 

warning was required after accumulation of the fifth point. The Grievant was not 

provided a verbal warning until after he received a written warning for accumulating his 

ninth point. The attendance policy also required a final written warning after the 

accumulation of the ninth point but the written record does not show he received a final 

written warning prior to the termination letter. Both the Grievant and the Union 

spokesperson provided un-refuted statements that the Grievant was not provided a written 

termination letter until he actually filed a grievance protesting the termination. What is 

the significance, if any, of these facts? 



This case study provides supplementary material for text books and lectures on how management 

officials in both the public and private sectors can better manage and approach the difficult task 

of disciplining employees who are perceived to be errant in attendance. The case has application 

for administering discipline in areas other than attendance. The case study is appropriate for both 

college and university undergraduate and graduate classes in the areas of management, industrial 

psychology, labor-management relations, organizational behavior, etc. The training would also 

4

e valuable for Management and Union officials in the discharge of their everyday duties and is 

especially appropriate for officials who are charged with the interpretation and applications of 

the terms of the CBA. 

Some Suggested/Possible Answers to Discussion Questions 

1. We need to always make attempts to re-write and provide clarification to written 

agreements/contracts while keeping in mind that even the most experienced negotiators 

cannot anticipate all of the conditions which can/may arise during the life of the CBA. 

2. While agreeing that clarity can always be an issue, a lack of clarity does not appear to be 

a problem in this case. 

3. Management failed to refute the Union’s testimony that the mailing address, not the home 

address was required by the CBA. The Union official made the statement that it would 

not be possible for an employee to live in a mail box. A review of the CBA revealed that 

the mailing and not the home address is required by the CBA. The role of the arbitrator is 

not to write or re-write the CBA but to interpret the terms the Parties agreed to. If it is 

established during the hearing that the deceased lived at the same address as the Grievant, 

she clearly met the definition of a family member. 

4. The phone calls would have no effect on the consideration of the case. The arbitrator’s 

task is to interpret the CBA and determine whether a violation has occurred. If a violation 

has occurred, she/he is to decide on a remedy for the violation. The other actions on the 

day of termination are not the issue in the case. 

5. This would definitely be a factor for the arbitrator to consider. It was a serious blunder on 

the part of Management to mention this as an issue. The failure further mitigates the case 

in favor of the Union. Failure to promptly, consistently and uniformly enforce a written 

policy is viewed by many arbitrators as a form of negative notice, in that Management 

talks a certain type of talk but doesn’t walk the same type of walk. This type of inaction 

will lead employees to believe they don’t have to follow other written work place policies 

6. The Sales Manager’s statement either shows poor preparation for his role at the hearing 

or was a Freudian slip of the tongue in that it suggests the action taken against the 

Grievant may have been retaliatory in nature because of his Union work. When a 

disciplinary action is being taken against a Union Official or a former Official, a 

competent arbitrator will always pay close attention not only to the action being taken but 

to any statements that might suggest retaliation. Union Officials serve in an adverse role 

when they represent union members, which sometimes results in the growth and 

continuation of grudges toward the official. Grievances often arise because 

discussions/meetings have not solved workplace issues. Oftentimes individual employees 

will bring complaints that a certain provision of the CBA is being violated and it falls on 

the Union shop steward to file a grievance to obtain a resolution. Processes of the mind 

(retaliation, motivation, cleverness, etc.) cannot be observed directly, which makes it 

difficult to determine what is happening and why. However, these types of statements 

suggest a possible hidden agenda and further mitigate the case in favor of the Union. 

5

7. One of the cardinal principles of the CBA is that the Parties will cooperate with each 

other in all areas including the exchange of documents, etc. The failure by either Party to 

provide needed information can be a fatal error. 

8. The Grievant’s daughter and neighbors would be considered friendly witnesses but their 

testimony would be admitted, weighed for significance, and considered along with all 

other input. 

9. The Parties negotiated progressive discipline and Management did not follow the policy 

in the termination action. This failure is another example of a possible fatal error by 

Management in the administration of the CBA. 

6

Gender and Anxiety: 

A Comparison of Student Anxiety Levels in 

Face-to-Face and Video Conferencing Courses 

Mark A. McKnight 


Jodi McKnight 

Mid-Continent Universsity 

ABSTRACT 

This research focuses on the role of gender in face‐to‐face instruction and video conferencing instruction on 

students’ levels of anxiety. This is in part due to the fact that one area that has not received much attention in 

either psychological or educational research concerns gender and levels of anxiety in students who are enrolled 

in a remote video conferencing learning environment. A difference in gender as it relates to education is an 

important focus of research. This is due to the increasing learning opportunities for female students (online in 

particular). However, upon reviewing gender related studies, the effects of this variable are questionable on 

student experience in alternative learning environments, such as video conferenced education.

Introduction 

Current research has shown that affective responses in alternative learning environments are 

lacking (McKnight, 2010). Hove and Corcoran (2008) found that there is a limit to the 

investigation of students’ affective responses in virtual learning environments, one of which is 

video conferencing. Video conferencing in educational settings is a method of instruction in 

which instructors and students interact, both visually and with audio in “real time”, with the 

instructor and students at the originating campus and other remote campuses, allowing 

simulation of the face-to-face interaction of traditional education (Fillion, et al., 1999). 

Yukselturk and Bulut (2009) report that within the literature, gender based differences in 

education are an important focus for research, and have been for a while. Research was 

conducted to explore the comparative impact of a students’ form of instruction (either face-toface 

or video conferenced) on their levels of anxiety as it relates to their gender, one reason being 

that gender, as a demographic variable, has great practical importance (Schleicher, Van 

Iddenkinge, Morgeson, & Campion, 2010). 

Review of the Literature 

Recent studies have found that attending a college or university can be anxiety-producing during 

the first year (Bouteyre, Maurel and Bernand, 2007 and Mundia, 2010). This can be the result of 

numerous factors including poor time management, repeated failure, or public speaking (Head 

and Lindsey, 1983). Yukselturk and Bulut (2009) report that distance education has been a good 

option for female students, primarily because they can balance more of the familial and 

educational, as well as vocational, areas of their lives. Since distance education is one of the 

more popular forums for educational advancement, Yukselturk and Bulut (2009) found that the 

male and female may be different in several ways due to the variety of life responsibilities they 

have. 

Bekker and van Mens-Verhulst (2007) define gender as consisting of “the socio-cultural aspects 

of defining people’s identity in relation to sex” (p. S179). These characteristics can be very 

different between same sex members, but can also be similar between those individuals of 

opposite sexes (Bekker and van Mens-Verhulst, 2007). Judge and Livingston (2008) state that 

gender is fundamental and has been explored within a plethora of disciplinary perspectives. In 

fact, gender is often one of the first variables considered when conducting a meta-analysis of a 

topic. Gender and anxiety research have been explored in a variety of areas, one being distance 

learning (Yukselturk, and Bulut, 2009). Martin (2010) recommends that to gain better 

representation on gender and discipline, study one specific discipline and explore gender within 

it. 

Abdel-Khalek and Alansari (2004) state that “anxiety is one of the most fundamental of all 

constructs in psychology” (p. 649). Disorders within the anxiety-spectrum are the most 

pervasive class of mental disorders (Stein & Stein, 2008), with over 29% of the United States 

population having one or more diagnosable anxiety disorder at some point in their lives (Mineka 

& Zinbarg, 2006.)

Both physiological and psychological manifestations have also been explored, but it is limited in 

a video conferenced environment (McKnight, 2010). Anxiety research in education has been 

limited to computer-assisted teaching methods (DeBord, Arugente and Muhlig, 2004), learning 

and computer anxiety (Barbeite and Weiss, 2003), emotions and achievement (Pekrun, et al., 

2006), academic anxiety (Levine, 2008) and the comparisons between online learning and faceto-face 

learning (Solimeno et al., 2007). 

As for gender prevalence, Bekker and van Mens-Verhulst (2007) report that anxiety is 

substantially higher in women than in men. Mundia (2010) indicates that there is an increase in 

the prevalence of anxiety in college students. In addition, anxiety was more prevalent in female 

students than male students. 

Procedures 

The sample was drawn from a large population of students enrolled in a community college. 

Upon registration, students had the opportunity to enroll in a variety of courses, one being called 

“Interactive Video Course”. As more face-to-face courses were available than distance learning 

courses, there was unequal groups. This, however, is neither uncommon nor atypical, according 

to Halsne and Gotta’s (2002) study of traditional versus online instruction. Their sample 

consisted of twice as many traditional students than online students. 

The educational institution’s distance education option was called an “interactive video course.” 

The courses offered in this format and the traditional face-to-face format included Introduction to 

Psychology, Speech, English, History and Sociology. This ‘class subject’ was included in the 

analyses as an independent variable to see if it had any impact on anxiety experienced. The 

demographics of the participants were as follows: ages 18-50, men and women, of all 

socioeconomic backgrounds. The exclusion criteria included those not enrolled in the video 

conferencing course for the above courses during a single 15-week term. Additional exclusion 

criteria included students who did not speak the English language fluently. There were no 

disability exclusion criteria for this research. 

Distance education courses at this college had a maximum of 20 enrollees per 15-week term in 

each class, but had to have at least 10 students enrolled in order for the course to be held. 

Students could have enrolled at the main campus or at the remote campus. Using five courses 

provided the researcher with approximately 100 students to which the instruments were 

administered. Students who choose to enroll in Introduction to Psychology, Speech, English, 

History and Sociology video conferencing courses decided upon registration which campus they 

preferred to receive instruction from, the main campus (face-to-face) or the remote campus. 

Factors that influenced the students’ choices of location in the past included convenience, the 

length of travel time it took to and from the college locations, financial issues due to travel, 

residential addresses of students. Therefore, the researcher did not assign participants to groups; 

the students themselves (along with assistance from their academic advisor) decided the location 

from which to take the class.

Method 

A quasi-experimental design was used due the fact that students were not randomly assigned and 

there were unequal groups. Data was collected through two quantitative measures, at one time. 

The first measure was through the state scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, created by 

Spielberger (1983). The STAI measures the psychological manifestations of anxiety. Andor et 

al. (2008) reports that one psychological manifestation of anxiety is a difficulty in controlling 

worry, while Spielberger (1983) believes manifestations can also include a feelings of fear, 

tension and apprehension. The second measure was the Beck Anxiety Inventory, created by 

Beck et al. (1988). The BAI measures the physical manifestations of anxiety. These can include 

an increase in heart rate, sweating, shortness of breath and trembling (Larson et al., 2007). The 

class subject being taught, age and gender was also be recorded, to be analyzed as an 

independent variable, as it may have had some impact on anxiety levels. Students were 

administered the BAI and the STAI during a class period toward the end of the 15-week term. 

Data 

The data that was analyzed included the numerical components provided by the STAI and the 

BAI, as well as the class subject being taught. For the scores on the STAI-S (or state scale), 

there is an increase in response to physical danger and psychological stress and decrease as a 

result of some relaxation techniques (Spielberger, 1983). The STAI consists of separate selfreport 

scales that measure state and trait anxiety. The STAI items contain twenty statements of 

how people generally feel. Spielberger (1983) reports that the state anxiety scale can vary from a 

minimum of 20 to a maximum of 80, with those reporting higher scores exhibiting more selfreported 

symptoms of anxiety. Participants are asked to read the statements, and then circle the 

number to the right of the statement to indicate how they feel at the current moment. The 

numbers for which they can choose from include 1 = not at all; 2 = somewhat; 3 = moderately 

so; and 4 = very much so. This instrument consists of twenty statements that evaluate those 

feelings. 

The BAI, according to Beck et al. (1988) reports that the items are summed to obtain the total 

score ranging from 0-63. Wetherell and Arean (1997) report that scores of 16 or higher suggest 

moderate to severe levels of anxiety, which means that the higher the score on the BAI, the 

greater number of symptoms of anxiety experienced by the person. This is a self-report measure 

that examines the physical sensations associated with anxiety, such as abdominal discomfort, 

numbness, difficulty breathing, and sweating. The BAI consists of 21 anxiety symptoms, with 

participants being asked to indicate the extent to which they were bothered by each item during 

the past week, and including the current day (Creamer, et al., 1995). Participants rate their 

severity of anxious symptoms over the past week on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 

3 (severely-I could barely stand it). Beck et al. (1988) reports that the items are summed to 

obtain the total score ranging from 0-63. 

The researcher in the main campus classroom collected data while the proctor collected the data 

in the remote campus location. Participants were assigned a number before the administration of 

the instruments and the participant number was the only identifying information on the 

instruments. Once instruments were collected, the researcher and the proctor placed the

instruments in a large manila envelope and sealed it. The researcher then drove to the remote 

campus and collected the video conferencing participants’ data after the completion of the BAI 

and STAI. 

Results 

The demographics of the participants included 41% (n = 54) males and 51% (n = 78) females, 

for a total of 132 participants. Participants ranged in ages from 18 years old to 66 years old. 

There were 10 participants who did not report their age. Twenty-seven percent (27%) of those 

reporting age were 18 years old, while 20% were 19 years old. The average age of respondents 

was 23 (M = 23.36, SD = 8.53). The ages represented in the sample ranged from 18 to 66. The 

largest percentage of student participants was 18 years old, or 27%, with 19 year olds ranking 

20%. There were ten student participants, or 8%, who did not wish to report their age. 

The overall mean STAI score for participants was 40.25, while the mean BAI score for those 

same participants was 10.22. More specifically, the STAI and BAI scores by gender are 

presented as Table 1. 

Table 1: Anxiety Scores by Gender 

Gender N Mean 

STAI Score Male 

Female 

BAI Score Male 

Female 

54 

78 

54 

78 

39.48 

40.78 

8.35 

11.51 

One-hundred and thirty-two participants reported their class subject, gender, STAI-S and BAI 

scores, as well as the type of instruction. There were ten students who did not report their age. 

The sample was analyzed by gender. Of the total 132 participants, there were 54 males and 78 

females. There were a greater number of female students enrolled, or 59%. 

Participants were categorized by class subject, which included Psychology, Speech 

Communication, English, History, and Sociology. Class subject was reported in numerical 

order: 1-Psychology; 2-Speech Communication; 3-English; 4-History; 5-Sociology. There were 

a total of 132 students that participated in the research. The largest numbers of participants were 

enrolled in the Speech Communication course, or 32, which is 24%. The smallest numbers of 

participants enrolled were in the History course, or 17, which is 13%. Of the 132 students that 

participated in the research, 72 were enrolled in the face-to-face instruction course or 54.5%, and 

60 or 45.5%, were enrolled in the videoconferenced instruction course. Table 2 presents the 

participants by class subject and the type of instruction.

Psychology 

Speech Communication 

English 

History 

Sociology 

Table 2: 

Participant Profile by Class Subject 

and Type of Instruction 

Face to 

Face 

Interaction 

19 

17 

12 

10 

14 

Video 

Conference 

Interaction 

8 

15 

19 

7 

11 

Total 

27 

32 

31 

17 

25 

ANOVA was used analyze variety of anxiety scores (STAI-Y and BAI) according to gender. In 

the ANOVA, STAI-Y and BAI (psychological and physiological anxiety scores) were used as 

dependent variables, with gender serving as the control variable. More specifically, Table 3 

presents the ANOVA results. 

STAIY Score 

Between Groups 

Within Groups 

Total 

BAI Score 

Between Groups 

Within Groups 

Total 

Table 3: ANOVA 

Sum of 

Squares 

53.974 

18958.776 

19012.75 

318.827 

12911.802 

13230.629 

df 

1 

130 

131 

1 

130 

131 

Mean 

Square 

53.974 

145.837 

318.827 

99.322 

F 

Sig. 

.370 .544 

3.210 .076 

For both psychological and physiological anxiety, there were nonsignificant effects for gender. 

It should be noted, however, that the STAI (.544) was clearly nonsignificant, the BAI score 

(.076) did approach significance. 

Discussion 

Distance learning education has paved the way for today’s alternative educational instruction 

formats. However, gender could be considered a variable for which there are score differences 

(Saad & Sacket, 2002). Yukeselturk and Bulut’s (2009) found many variables that did not differ 

between genders, such as motivational beliefs and self-regulated learning variables. They did, 

pointedly, find that females test higher than males in anxiety-producing situations, as did Bekker 

and van Mens-Verhulst (2007). 

The present research indicates no gender-based differences related to psychological measures of 

anxiety for video-based courses. Additionally, present data does not support gender-based 

differences related to physiological anxiety as it pertains to video-based instruction. However,

there is sufficient evidence present in the current data to support further research in the realm of 

physiological manifestations of anxiety as they relate to gender and video-based learning. 

Recommendations 

Future research should explore anxiety in several other areas, including physiological and 

psychological anxiety and issues such as class size, class subject, type of instruction, and types of 

learning environments, i.e. online and traditional. 

Yukeselturk and Bulut (2009) do not recommended treating genders differently in instruction. 

Some recommendations may have to be explored about the different behaviors contributed by 

the genders in order to further expansion of anxiety and gender research in alternative learning 

environments. The previous findings (Bekker and van Mens-Verhulst, 2007; Yukeselturk and 

Bulut, 2009) related to females performing higher in testing in anxiety-producing situations 

warrants further study as to which of the impacts of specific elements of anxiety that impact 

testing outcomes. 

Additionally, further research should address the uneven sample characteristics in the present 

research. Ideally, true random selection and/or assignment of groups based on gender, class type 

and other relevant factors would present a true experimental approach to the issue of genderbased 

manifestations of anxiety in video-based learning scenarios.

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Graduate Teaching Assistant Self-Efficacy: 

Preparing Future Professors 

Shawn Keough 

University of New England 

ABSTRACT 

Graduate teaching assistants require appropriate training and guidance throughout their experience as a GTA. 

This paper proposes that specific types of training provided at appropriate times (before, during, and after 

teaching a class) increase GTA self‐efficacy and, ultimately, performance in the classroom. The paper concludes 

with a brief discussion of an outstanding GTA training program currently in place, the value of addressing self‐ 

efficacy in training programs, and avenues for future research.

Introduction 

As a small boy, my first swimming excursion was an unexpected event. A simple day of 

wading in the river turned into a full-blown near death experience as my father bodily 

picked me up and threw me into the deepest part of the river. As the cold waters 

threatened to pull me under, panic swept over me and my feet could not find purchase on 

the river bottom. However, the sound of my father’s voice shouting “kick your legs and 

paddle your arms” galvanized me to action and instead of sinking into the cold, dark 

waters, I swam to the shore. 

This story can be compared to what many graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) 

experience during their first day in the classroom as an instructor. Often, universities 

throw their GTAs into the classroom with little to no training or guidance on how to 

effectively teach (Hendrix, 1995). Luckily, due to the selective nature of university 

departments in choosing GTAs, the GTA is adequately qualified to perform the basic 

tasks of instructing a class (Allen & Rueter, 1990). However, despite the confidence 

tenured faculty might possess concerning a GTA’s ability to effectively teach, this does 

little to assuage the GTA’s fears and doubts about their own ability. 

Fortunately, universities can implement various training tools (e.g., workshops, mentors, 

classroom observation) to increase a GTA’s self-efficacy, or perception of their ability, to 

instruct. This paper proposes that certain types of training, given at different stages of a 

GTA’s professional development, will increase the self-efficacy of GTAs resulting in 

higher levels teaching productivity. 

Self-Efficacy 

Self-efficacy originated from Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory of self-regulation 

and describes “a person’s estimate of his or her capacity to orchestrate performance on a 

specific task” (Gist & Mitchell, 1992). Empirical studies have provided evidence of selfefficacy’s 

relationship with improving performance in multiple environments including 

life insurance sales (Barling & Beattie, 1983), faculty research productivity (Taylor, 

Locke, Lee, & Gist, 1984), customer service quality (Hartline & Ferrell, 1996), 

adaptability to new technology (Hill, Smith, & Mann, 1987; McDonald & Siegall, 1996), 

and various training environments (Eden & Ravid, 1982; Gist, Schwoerer, & Rosen, 

1989; Gist, Stevens, & Bavetta, 1991). Additional studies have found that an individual’s 

level of self-efficacy can be positively affected by training. Training has been found to 

increase self-efficacy and improve subsequent performance in self-management (Frayne 

& Latham, 1987), managerial idea generation (Gist, 1989), and computer software usage 

(Compeau & Higgins, 1995; Gist, Schwoerer, & Rosen, 1989). 

As noted earlier, self-efficacy is “a person’s estimate,” or perception, of their ability to 

accomplish a task. An individual develops perceptions concerning the completion of 

tasks through the consideration of information from four basic sources: enactive 

attainment, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological states (Bandura, 

1982). Enactive attainment involves the actual personal attainment of a task (Gist &

Mitchell, 1992), or “learning-by-doing” (Karsten & Loomba, 2002) and is considered the 

most influential on self-efficacy (Bandura, 1982). Vicarious experience is the 

observation of similar others successfully performing a task (Bandura, 1982), or 

“learning-by-watching” (Karsten & Loomba, 2002). Verbal persuasion consists of 

convincing an individual they are capable of performing a specific task (Bandura, 1982), 

or “learning-by-listening” (Karsten & Loomba, 2002). Physiological states are often 

reflected by emotional arousal (e.g., increased heart rate, sweaty palms, shaking hands), 

or lack thereof (Karsten & Loomba, 2002; Schunk, 1982). 

The combination of these four sources of information are considered and evaluated 

internally by the individual and ultimately determines their level of self-efficacy (Karsten 

& Loomba, 2002; Gist & Mitchell, 1992). However, all individuals do not evaluate or 

weigh the four information sources in the same manner. This produces varying levels of 

self-efficacy in individuals with basically the same information available concerning task 

completion. Other mitigating factors, such as individual knowledge, skills and abilities 

(Bandura, 1991), personality factors (Gist & Mitchell, 1992), and even personality needs 

(i.e., achievement motivation) (Bandura, 1989) also serve to affect efficacy perceptions. 

Self-Efficacy and GTA Training 

Few people dispute the importance of GTA training and many studies have focused on 

identifying what specific types of training GTAs need in order to perform their jobs 

(Carleton & Strand, 1991; Goodlad, 1997; Hendrix, 1995; Lueddeke, 1997; Savage & 

Sharpe, 1998; Worthen, 1992). Levels of training provided to GTAs vary significantly 

between universities and even between departments within the same university. Research 

indicates specific types of training at certain time frames (before, during, and after a GTA 

teaches a course) result in better overall performance by GTAs in the classroom (Davis & 

Kring, 2001; Savage & Sharpe, 1998; Worthen, 1992). Additionally, increased selfefficacy 

levels of GTAs as a result of training and prior experience have been found 

(Bray & Howard, 1980; Prieto & Altmaier, 1994; Prieto & Meyers, 1999). However, 

examination of what types of GTA training and the appropriate time frame to provide that 

training to ensure maximum increases in GTA self-efficacy is lacking. 

Proper training in the time frame before a GTA begins teaching is vital to ensure quality 

classroom instruction. Many universities require GTAs to attend orientation seminars 

and workshops. These seminars and workshops are typically two or three days in length 

and are geared to prepare GTAs for the rigors of the teaching environment (Goodlad, 

1997; Hendrix, 1995; Worthen, 1992). Topics of value include in-class skills: how to 

communicate more effectively, increasing student motivation and participation, 

facilitating discussions, and classroom management (Goodlad, 1997; Lueddeke, 1997). 

Out-of-class skills, such as lecture and presentation preparation, tutorial methods, 

assessment, grading (Lueddeke, 1997), and syllabus development (Davis & Kring, 2001) 

are also addressed. Finally, a general presentation on university policies (Hendrix, 1995) 

1

and what to expect as a GTA can help alleviate some of the fear and anxiety felt by new 

GTAs (Worthen, 1992). 

While some of the topics previously mentioned are best presented in a lecture format, the 

use of an interactive presentation format appears to promote higher understanding and 

learning among participants (Goodlad, 1997; Hendrix, 1995). Using interactive 

presentations provides “hands-on”, or enactive attainment, opportunities for GTAs to 

build a base of confidence in performing required teaching tasks in an open, non-hostile 

environment. As many new GTAs have little or no prior teaching experience (Lueddeke, 

1997; Worthen, 1992), it is logical to employ what has been considered the most effective 

method of building self-efficacy, enactive attainment (Bandura, 1982), at the beginning 

stages of a GTAs teaching experience. 

Proposition 1: GTAs participating in training utilizing interactive, or enactive 

attainment, elements will experience higher levels of self-efficacy 

than GTAs participating in other forms of training prior to 

teaching a class. 

After a GTA has completed the required orientation seminars and workshops, they are 

often given a class of their own. The transition from preparing to teach to actually 

teaching does not diminish the importance of continued training. However, once a GTA 

begins teaching, training often does not continue in a structured manner, and in many 

cases, stops completely (Darling & Dewey, 1990). Because GTAs have already 

developed a base of self-efficacy from prior training, the focus should shift from 

providing the basics for teaching to supporting and guiding the GTA to excel as an 

instructor. One productive way to support and guide the GTA is through mentoring. A 

mentor could be a faculty member or an experienced GTA within the department. 

Mentors can share personal insights and guidance on an individual level and provide an 

outlet for GTAs to discuss fears, concerns, and problems (Hendrix, 1995; Lueddeke, 

1997; Worthen, 1992). 

The mentoring process should not be limited to observations and interactions outside the 

classroom. Mentors need to take time and sit in on classes the GTA is teaching. This 

approach allows the faculty member or fellow GTA to constructively critique the 

teaching style of the GTA and provide direction and verbal feedback (Carleton & Strand, 

1991; Savage & Sharpe, 1998). This verbal feedback allows the mentor and fellow 

GTAs to accentuate the areas the GTA is doing well and provides insights on key 

weaknesses that may need improving (Prieto & Meyers, 1999). 

However, observing a GTA teaching once a semester is not adequate for GTA 

development. Periodic observation is necessary. While a certain amount of academic 

2

freedom can and should be given to GTAs, department heads or coordinators should be 

aware of what is going on within the GTA’s classroom. Periodic monitoring not only 

ensures the GTA is performing as necessary, but allows the GTA know they are 

conducting an important function within the university, and more importantly allows a 

means to provide continuous feedback concerning the GTA’s teaching ability (Lueddeke, 

1997). Continuous feedback allows the GTA to build off their base of self-efficacy, 

established before starting the class, and continuously improve their teaching style with 

the knowledge that they are performing their function as an instructor in a manner 

acceptable to those around them, thus increasing their level of self-efficacy. 

Another suggestion to increase GTA self-efficacy involves the GTA observing classes 

similar to the one they are teaching. In this way, vicarious experience, “learning by 

observing,” can take place (Prieto & Meyers, 1999). Exposure to other teaching styles 

and activities may also help generate ideas about things a GTA could implement in their 

own teaching (Davis & Kring, 2001). 

Proposition 2a: GTAs participating in training utilizing verbal persuasion while 

teaching a course will have significantly higher self-efficacy 

levels than GTAs who do not receive verbal persuasion training. 

Proposition 2b: GTAs participating in training utilizing vicarious experience 

while teaching a course will have significantly higher self- 

efficacy levels than GTAs who do not receive vicarious 

experience training. 

After completing the teaching of a class, feedback, or verbal persuasion, concerning the 

performance of the GTA is typically given. However, unlike the feedback provided 

during the actual teaching of a course, feedback received after the course is completed is 

not incremental. Feedback at this stage is usually presented in the form of evaluation 

reports from students, supervisors, faculty, and other GTAs concerning the performance 

of the GTA throughout the semester. 

The sheer volume of potential feedback available to GTAs after completion of a course 

can be daunting and may require some time to fully absorb. This feedback is important 

because it provides insightful information of others’ perceptions concerning the 

performance of the GTA. The availability of this feedback allows the GTA to make 

appropriate changes or improvements in their teaching style (Hendrix, 1995). This 

feedback also allows the GTA to compare their own perceptions with that of an interested 

3

outside party. While it can be easily inferred that positive feedback will increase selfefficacy, 

negative feedback, constructively presented, can also serve to improve selfefficacy. 

GTAs may be unaware they are under-performing until someone provides the 

appropriate feedback and outlines a more efficient way of accomplishing the task. Once 

notified, the GTA can make appropriate changes with the assurance they are completing 

the task in the correct manner (Davis & Kring, 2001). 

Proposition 3: GTAs participating in training utilizing verbal persuasion after 

completion of teaching a course will have significantly higher self- 

efficacy levels than GTAs who do not receive verbal persuasion. 

While high levels of self-efficacy create confidence in an individual concerning their 

ability to accomplish a task (Bandura, 1982), organizations are typically not interested in 

the self-efficacy effects of training. Organizations want to see tangible results, not 

intangible feelings of confidence. Therefore, most research dealing with training 

addresses the issue of performance. However, many organizations do not realize that 

self-efficacy has an impact on performance (Compeau & Higgins, 1995; Gist, 1989; Gist, 

Schwoerer, & Rosen, 1989). 

Universities are no different in their analysis of the usefulness of training. Most training 

is conducted without considering self-efficacy. By providing training designed to 

increase levels of self-efficacy, universities can achieve the dual outcomes of increased 

self-efficacy of GTAs and improved performance by those GTAs. However, to 

maximize this dual outcome, training should be offered at appropriate times. 

Proposition 4: GTAs participating in training designed to increase self-efficacy 

will perform at higher levels than GTAs who do not. 

The propositions outlined above focus on those types of training, or information sources, 

which should significantly impact self-efficacy levels in GTAs at specific time frames; 

before, during, and after a course is taught. 

Although not previously discussed, self-evaluative methods can also be employed to 

gauge a GTAs level of self-efficacy. One specific self-evaluative method, reflective 

practice, requires the GTA to actively examine their teaching skills and can often reveal 

weaknesses that other evaluation methods may have missed (Calderhead, 1989; Davis & 

Kring, 2001; Volkman, Scheffler, & Dana, 1992; Wellington, 1991). As this method 

requires no action from anyone other than the individual GTA and can be performed at 

any time, it was not included among the prior propositions. However, reflection has been 

found to impact self-efficacy (Volkman et al., 1992) and should probably be considered 

when measuring the impact of training methods on self-efficacy. 

4

Discussion 

Every year, universities across the United States and the rest of the world hire GTAs to 

teach classes. Attempting to provide the best education possible for their students, these 

universities extensively train GTAs in hopes of optimizing their level of competency. 

Davis and Kring (2001) describe the GTA training program at Emporia State University 

(ESU) within the psychology department as a model for other universities to emulate. 

This program has incorporated standard requirements for all psychology GTAs including 

required attendance at a teaching conference (funding provided), preparation of a 

teaching philosophy and a teaching portfolio (both updated yearly), readings from 

McKeachie’s (1999) Teaching Tips, and a minimum of three, day-long orientation 

sessions every year. 

As suggested by Karsten & Loomba (2002), consistency in the presentation of 

training/information can enable GTAs to digest the information available and assess their 

level of self-efficacy more easily. From the personal evaluations of the GTAs 

themselves, which indicate the GTAs consider themselves to be effective in the 

classroom (indicating high levels of self-efficacy), to student evaluations, which were not 

significantly different than those received by full-time faculty members (indicating 

acceptable levels of performance) (Davis & Kring, 2001), the ESU GTA training 

program has proven to be successful. 

However, mitigating circumstances, such as a lack of funds, may not allow other 

universities to emulate such a successful program. Even on the ESU campus, if one 

walked into the School of Business after seeing the success of the training program in the 

psychology department, they might be surprised to find that a similar program for School 

of Business GTAs did not exist. This reiterates the statement earlier in this paper 

concerning the different levels of training provided to GTAs even across departments 

within the same university. 

From the previous research conducted concerning self-efficacy, higher levels of selfefficacy 

can lead to higher levels of performance by individuals (Barling & Beattie, 1983; 

Taylor et al., 1984; Harline & Ferrell, 1996). Further, training has been shown to 

improve levels of self-efficacy and performance (Compeau & Higgins, 1995; Frayne & 

Latham, 1987; Gist, 1989). If researchers can target which types of training and at what 

times those training types provide the greatest return in terms of increasing self-efficacy 

and performance of GTAs, universities can work to allocate funds and schedule training 

to provide those maximal returns. 

In order to identify the types of training and the timing of that training which contribute 

the most to increasing self-efficacy, researchers must conduct empirical research focusing 

on training types and their effect on self-efficacy. The first step requires the collection of 

training types provided by universities and the times at which the training is conducted. 

A simple survey can be designed and distributed to GTAs at universities throughout the 

5

United States or even around the world. The second step requires a measure of selfefficacy 

to be obtained. 

Several self-efficacy measures developed specifically for teachers are available. Until 

recently, the Teacher Efficacy Scale (TES) (Gibson & Dembo, 1984) was considered the 

most prominently used instrument for measuring teacher self-efficacy (Ross, 1994). 

However, some studies questioned the reliability and validity of some of the TES scales 

(Tschannen-Moran, Woolfolk-Hoy, & Hoy, 1998; Henson, Kogan, & Vacha-Haase; 

2001). Two newer instruments, the Teachers’ Sense of Self-Efficacy (TSES) 

(Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk-Hoy, 2001), originally called the Ohio State Teacher 

Efficacy Scale (OSTES), and the Sources of Self-Efficacy Inventory (SOSI) (Kieffer & 

Henson, 2000), have been developed and show promise in measuring the self-efficacy 

construct. However, as pointed out by Henson (2001), considerable empirical scrutiny 

must be performed on new instruments before they are accepted. 

Empirical scrutiny has revealed some weaknesses in the original OSTES (Roberts & 

Henson, 2001) and the SOSI (Kieffer & Henson, 2000; Mohamadi, Asadzadeh, Ahadi, & 

Jomehri, 2011). The TSES, on the other hand, has been found to meet general standards 

of reliability and validity (Martin & Sass, 2010; Mohamadi, Asadzadeh, Ahadi & 

Jomehri, 2011; Tsigilis, Koustelios, & Grammatikopoulos, 2010). 

Once the information concerning the training types and the measure of teacher selfefficacy 

has been chosen, researchers can begin to investigate the impact of timing of 

certain training types has on GTA self-efficacy. This data can then be used to further 

investigate the propositions presented in this paper. 

Training for GTAs, regardless of the university or department, should be given. GTAs 

should not be left to figure things out through “trial and error,” which causes considerable 

stress on the part of the GTA and can result in possible problems for the university. By 

providing GTAs proper training at the right times, the necessary skills can be developed 

for proficiency in the classroom. In the end, all constituents involved will benefit; the 

university, the GTA, and their students. 

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9

Improving Women’s Access to a Globalized Higher Education: 

The Promise of Distance Learning Programs 

Jodine M. Burchell 

Walden University 

ABSTRACT 

As a result of implementing distance learning environments and the subsequent increase in global 

competitiveness, academic institutions have enhanced their ability to reach groups of disadvantaged people 

unable to attend locally distributed colleges or universities. One of these affected groups is women who may be 

restricted from furthering their education for geographic, cultural, religious, or safety reasons. Research 

indicates that the economic and societal advantages realized by the support of continuing education of women 

are numerous including promoting self‐sufficiency, increasing earning potential, and the chance to adapt in an 

increasingly more globalized world. On a societal level, the education of women and their subsequent increased 

self‐sufficiency allows for strengthening of the family unit, increased economic contribution to sustain local 

communities, and reduced dependency on governmental resources (Hill & King, 1993). The benefits of 

encouraging and providing diverse education methods to disadvantaged women not only affect them 

personally, but their families, their communities, the academic institution, and society in general as well. 

Consequently, in the interest of realizing these benefits and promoting continual positive social change, 

academic institutions should actively promote an ongoing policy that includes the consistent review of 

institutional staff, faculty, and programs to ensure that they continue to meet the educational needs and goals 

of disadvantaged women.

In today’s more globalized world, many institutions of higher learning are expanding 

their traditional offerings to include distance education in the form of online classes. Some 

institutions offer the choice of taking an online class in addition to on-ground classes, while 

others, such as Capella or Walden University, offer complete online degree programs. The 

benefits of offering online learning programs include the increase of the institution’s ability to be 

more globally competitive, to reach a broader demographic of students, and to open doors to 

those who might wish to achieve higher education but face barriers to achieving their educational 

goals. This phenomenon is especially true of disadvantaged groups such as women. “Women’s 

groups form the poorest group of people in the world, the most marginalized and disadvantaged 

of all groups in education; and yet women, in general, are the first teachers of all children for all 

generations of the people of the world” (Mhehe, 2008). For disadvantaged groups, especially 

women, online learning programs may offer a solution to overcoming the barriers that hinder 

their chances to achieve a higher level of self-sustenance and a better quality of life for 

themselves and their families (Hill & King, 1993). 

Much of the literature on this topic concerns young girls and their educational access. In 

many cultures, children are treated unequally with decidedly different expectations for girls and 

boys, both in youth and into adulthood (Aguilar, 1996; Alur, 2007; Hill & King, 1993; Mirza, 

2008; Ove, 2007). Boys and girls may have different household jobs and family roles. Many 

times, girls are controlled first by their mothers and their need for household help and then, by 

males who decide whether or not they can go to school. Girls may even face harassment when 

they are able to go to school (Mhehe, 2008). So, in many cases, the parents will choose to send 

the boys to school rather than the girls (Adepoju & Osuji, 2009; Alur, 2007). Part of the decision 

may be based on the idea that education destroys a girl’s marriagability or that educating a girl 

child means transferring wealth from their family to someone else’s family (Mhehe, 2008). 

These issues are certainly a formidable problem and a factor in access to higher education for 

women. A woman who is not educated at the primary or secondary level will likely never have 

access to higher education. Even though the issue of girls’ education is important, the scope of 

this paper is women who have had access to primary and secondary education, but face barriers 

to higher education for many other reasons. These barriers include personal, family and cultural, 

distance and scheduling, and religious issues. 

Personal barriers 

In some countries, not only are the females treated differently than males, but there is a 

low status given to women as well as an overall institutionalized lack of support (Aguilar, 1996; 

Alur, 2007). This poor treatment can cause self-esteem issues, fear, self-doubt, and a lack of 

knowledge about how to formulate goals and achieve them; which can hinder a woman’s efforts 

to enter into higher education (Aguilar, 1996). Even where there is not a considerably lower 

status given to women, when faced with the need to continue her childcare responsibilities and 

work to support her family, many times negative attitudes or cautionary advice from wellintentioned 

family, friends, and co-workers will cause self-doubt and fears around a woman’s 

ability to successfully achieve her educational desires.

Family and cultural issues 

In many cultures, the expectation for women is that they will marry at a young age, 

usually 16 to 20, and have children right away. Her primary role in life will be to take care of her 

children, husband, and family (Aguilar, 1996; Mhehe, 2008). This caretaking role is considered 

important above all else in the eyes of her family and her community. Childcare and household 

chores may be viewed as women-only work and husbands may refuse to help. In some cultures, 

women have to ask permission from their husbands or fathers to attend school, but even if that is 

not entirely the case, women still need the support of their family in order to be successful 

(Aguilar, 1996; Mhehe, 2008). The chances of a woman obtaining a higher education may 

depend on whether her husband and family understand the benefits of education to the financial 

wellbeing and future of her family. In addition, there may be fears that the woman’s educational 

endeavors will change her or keep her from her caretaking duties, which is an unacceptable 

prospect (Pym, 1992). Under these circumstances, women will likely have to convince their 

husband and family of their desire for higher education, its potential benefits to the family, and 

her ability to handle all her household, childcare, and educational duties collectively. 

Additionally, single mothers face the added responsibility of working and caring for her 

children alone. In 2000, 17% to 20% of the families in the USA were headed by single mothers 

or mothers with no father present (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2000). According to Pandey and 

Zhan (2004), 25% of families headed by single mothers live in poverty. The working single 

mother may fear that going to school will reduce the already diminished time that she is able to 

spend with her children or that she does not have the needed skills to be successful in a collegelevel 

educational setting (Humberstone and McClendon, 2008). The single mother may or may 

not have full or even partial support from her family. In some cases, when seeking the advice of 

family, friends, and coworkers regarding whether to further her education, the single mother may 

face negative or cautionary reactions. Facing these types of issues, especially lack of emotional 

support, can be a formidable barrier to achieving higher education goals (Nieman, Nelson, and 

Van Stone, 1994). However, recent studies have shown that “the educational level of a single 

mother is a powerful human capital trait that significantly impacts her economic self-reliance” 

(Humberstone and McClendon, 2008, p. 39). Single mothers, especially those with at least a 

bachelor’s degree, have significantly higher incomes and are less likely to live in poverty than 

those without higher education (Pandey and Zhan, 2004). In fact, earning a bachelor’s degree 

can increase a woman’s yearly salary by an average of 76 percent (Humberstone and 

McClendon, 2008). 

Distance and scheduling issues 

There are also issues with women and the distance to educational institutions. In many 

countries, women have to walk where they need to go or take public transportation. This may 

present a safety issue when women have to walk alone or travel after dark. This concern is also 

related to scheduling issues. Most educational institution’s class offerings are “designed around 

male life and work patterns” (Pym, 1992). These class schedules are not necessarily matched to 

women’s schedules and certainly not to mother’s schedules where children may need to be

picked up from school in the afternoon hours. Uncooperative scheduling coupled with 

expectations from families and their potential lack of support may cause women to doubt her 

ability to successfully attend a university. 

Religious issues 

In looking at religious beliefs as a barrier, in some countries such as Saudi Arabia, some 

Latino cultures, and some African cultures, it is part of the family’s job to protect women’s 

virtue, modesty, or even her virginity (Aguilar, 1996; Mhehe, 2008; Mirza, 2008). There may be 

specific rules for the interaction between men and women. In some cases, men are not allowed to 

interact or even look at women and women are not allowed to move freely without related males 

accompanying them. In these countries, there may be separate male and female universities. 

Where that degree of segregation is not possible, women may be in rooms within classrooms 

where there is one way glass separating the men and women or in separate rooms where lectures 

are viewed by women on a television screen and a microphone is available for asking questions 

of the instructor (Mirza, 2008). 

How Higher Education Benefits Women 

The general consensus is that obtaining higher education allows graduates the chance to 

get better jobs, which usually means higher wages, an improved financial standing, and a better 

quality of life. But the question remains, how does obtaining a higher education specifically 

benefit disadvantaged women? 

In short, education is a major means of “freeing women from poverty and oppression and 

raising socio-economic standards” (Ove, 2007, p. 44). Women who are educated tend to learn 

better decision-making and communication skills (www.results.org, n.d.). Educated women tend 

to take more responsibility for making their own personal decisions such as contraception and 

how many children they will have as well as making better health decisions for their entire 

family (Hill & King, 1993; Nussbaum, 2000; www.results.org, n.d.). Educated women are more 

likely to support their children’s education and more likely to encourage their children to achieve 

higher education as well. Thus, the impact of higher education is perpetuated throughout the 

generations. “By expanding women’s opportunities to earn an income and participate in solving 

family and community problems, women gain a greater sense of their own agency” (Bernasek & 

Gallaway, 2004, p. 521). Educated women are more likely to be active and informed democratic 

citizens, more likely to organize, to participate in politics, and to form networks with other 

women to fight inequality (Nussbaum, 2000). Educated women are better able to compete for 

desirable jobs, are better prepared to run their own businesses, and are better able to compete and 

maneuver successfully in a more globalized world (Nussbaum, 2000). Educated women tend to 

have better jobs which mean they are less likely to live in poverty as they have more income to 

support their families and to cycle back into their communities and nations (Aguilar, 1996; 

Nussbaum, 2000; www.results.org, n.d.). This added income means that women and their 

families will be better equipped to be self-sustaining and less likely to be dependent on 

governmental resources. Clearly, education increases the quality of life for women and their 

families, but attending an on ground university may still be problematic. The introduction of

online education programs is instrumental for many disadvantaged women who want to achieve 

higher education. 

Advantages of online education for disadvantaged women 

Educational institutions introduction of online education programs has potentially many 

different benefits for disadvantaged women. In answer to family issues, online education allows 

women the flexibility they need to spend more time at home and be caretakers. Women can do 

their studying and assignments after work or while children are at school or while younger 

children are napping. Assignments can be done at night after children are asleep or on the 

weekends when more familial childcare is available. This flexibility means that family’s fears of 

education distracting women from their caretaker and household duties are more likely to be 

alleviated. Online education offers a solution for women who cannot leave their homes freely or 

regularly or those who cannot give up their jobs (Adepoju & Osuji, 2009). Online education for 

women also means that distance and safety problems are no longer an issue. Potential religious 

and cultural issues around protecting women and men and women interacting in person are also 

alleviated with the introduction of online education. 

What can institutions do? 

The benefits of online educational programs are clear for disadvantaged women and her 

family, but there are also benefits for her community, society in general, and to the educational 

institution as well. If an educational institution has an online program; desires to be competitive 

in an increasingly globalized educational world; has the desire to reach broader demographics; 

has the desire to reach disadvantaged groups, especially women; and promotes social change 

within its mission or objectives; then there are practices that can help ensure its success in 

improving access. 

1. The institution should be cognizant of the fact that disadvantaged women may have 

different needs and therefore, be committed to understanding and meeting those needs 

as much as possible (Adepoju & Osuji, 2009; Aguilar, 1996). 

2. Flexibility is instrumental for anyone in an online educational program, but this is 

especially true for women. If a class has assignments due on Tuesday, Thursday and 

Friday, then there is seemingly little room for flexibility. Thus, institutions should 

evaluate and adjust their policies regarding assignment due dates as well as the 

lateness of assignments wherever possible. 

3. If an online program is asynchronous, then it should be completely asynchronous. 

Scheduling a mandatory chat at 7:00 PM EST may be problematic. For many families 

in the United States, 7:00 PM EST is the dinner hour. More importantly, scheduling 

evening time chats will likely be very problematic for people who live outside of the 

United States. 

4. When committees are formed to examine, review, and set policy, institutions should 

be sure that there is adequate cultural diversity in its membership to ensure that the 

needs of disadvantaged women are being considered (Aguilar, 1996).

5. Institutions should realize that disadvantaged women may need additional support 

and take steps to make sure student support systems are in place as needed (Aguilar, 

1996; Pym, 1992). This may include extended hours for library and tutoring services 

or the creation of student-centered discussion groups. 

6. Institutions should take measures to ensure that there are adequate numbers of female 

instructors available which, as a consequence, also serve as positive role models for 

women (Aguilar, 1996). 

7. Institutions should consider the creation of mentor and peer mentor programs in order 

to better support women. 

8. Where advisors are needed at the Masters and PhD level, institutions should make 

sure that there are adequate numbers of females available to fill these roles (Cullen & 

Luna, 1993). 

9. Finally, educational institutions should consider diversity training throughout the staff 

and faculty to ensure sensitivity to cultural differences (Aguilar, 1996). 

Conclusion 

The implementation of online learning programs allows educational institutions the 

ability to extend their reach outside of their localized community. While the goal may be to 

increase enrollment and reach a broader demographic or to enhance global competitiveness, a 

fortunate byproduct is found in the institution’s ability to reach disadvantaged groups, especially 

women and single mothers, who face seemingly insurmountable barriers to higher education. 

The benefits of education for women and her children are numerous including the ability to be 

self-sustaining, to increase their quality of life, and to be able to maneuver in a more globalized 

world. According to Nussbaum (2000), “once women are empowered everywhere in the world, 

nothing will be the same again; and education is a major source of that empowerment” (p. B16) 

While the prospect of adopting an online learning program to reach broader 

demographics including disadvantaged women may be appealing, sufficient attention must be 

paid by the educational institution to make sure they are able to meet the needs of women. 

Existing support systems may need to be broadened. Policies may need to reevaluated and 

adjusted. At the very least, the institution will need to ensure that there are adequate numbers of 

female instructors and role models and that staff and instructors are adequately trained in cultural 

diversity. If educational institutions with online learning programs are willing to review their 

current policies and make needed adjustments, then they will likely be instrumental in providing 

women with the means to achieve their higher education goals, become empowered, and change 

their lives in a profound way.

References 

Adepoju, T., & Osuji, S. (2009). An evaluation of the study patterns and predictors of women 

distant learners in Oyo and Osun states, Nigeria. The International Journal of Learning, 

16(8), 495-508. 

Aguilar, M. (1996). Promoting the educational achievement of mexican american young women. 

Social Work in Education, 18(3), 145-156. 

Alur, M. (2007). Forgotten millions: A case of cultural and systemic bias. Support for Learning, 

22(4), 174-180. 

Bernasek, A., & Gallaway, J. (2004). Literacy and women's empowerment in Indonesia: 

Implications for policy. Journal of Economic issues, 38(2), 519-525. 

Cullen, D., & Luna, G. (1993). Women mentoring in academe: Addressing the gender gap in 

higher education. Gender & Education, 5(2), 125-137. 

Hill, M., & King, E. (Eds.). (1993). Women's education in developing countries. Baltimore, MD: 

Johns Hopkins University Press. 

Humberstone, J. & McClendon, R. (2008). Education: A powerful asset for single mothers. ESR 

Review, 10(1), 34-39. 

Mhehe, E. (2008). Distance education and gender: Women's experiences at the open university 

of Tanzania. In T. Evans, M. Haughey & D. Murphy (Eds.), International handbook of 

distance education. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group publishing Limited. 

Mirza, A. (2008). Students' perceived barriers to in-class participation in a distributed and gender 

segregated educational environment. The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in 

Developing Countries, 35(7), 1-17. 

Niemann, J., Nelson, J., & Van Stone, N. (1994). Poor single-mother college students' views on 

the effect of some primary sociological beliefe factors on their academic success. The 

Journal of Higher Education, 65(5), 571-584. 

Nussbaum, M. (2000). Globalization debate ignores the education of women. Chronicle of 

Higher Education, 47(2), B16-B17.

Ove, C. (2007). Educational opportunities for women and girls in rural Papua New Guinea: A 

case study of Waramo Village, Sandaun Province. Contemporary PNG Studies: DWU 

Research Journal, 7, 43-58. 

Pandey, S. & Zhan, M. (2004). Economic well-being of single mothers: Work first or 

postsecondary education? Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 31(3), 87-112. 

Pym, F. (1992). Women and distance education: a nursing perspective. Journal of Advanced 

Nursing, 17, 383-389. 

U. S. Bureau of the Census (2000). Statistical abstract of the U.S. Washington, D.C.: U.S. 

Government Printing Office. 

www.results.org (n.d.). Why is education for all so important, from 

http://www.results.org/images/uploads/files/why_education_matters_11_04_09.pdf

Involving Students in the Community: 

Mentoring as a Way of leading 

Timothy W. Scales 


ABSTRACT 

One should give back to society, whenever possible, A great way to give back to society is through mentoring. 

It is possible that when someone believes in something, it becomes believable. We are trying to prepare the 

youth for the future. We are trying to mentor in our community. Mentoring our youth, mentoring our 

community while creating the greatest exchange of all, knowledge and leadership. Mentors can make all the 

difference between who one is and who one could become.

Introduction 

One should give back to society, whenever possible, A great way to give back to society 

is through mentoring. 

It is possible that when someone believes in something, it becomes believable. We are 

trying to prepare the youth for the future. We are trying to mentor in our community. 

Mentoring our youth, mentoring our community while creating the greatest exchange of all, 

knowledge and leadership. Mentors can make all the difference between who one is and who 

one could become. 


Many studies have been done and a great amount of time has been placed in research to 

understand the relationship between those individuals mentoring and those being mentored. 

The mentoring process helps both the mentor and the mentee develop stronger confidence 

and relationships. The mentor is able to grow through sharing while the mentee grows 

through the understanding. Many times we find meaning to our knowledge when we are able 

to share it. Sharing knowledge has become a very important process to career development. 

Mike Dougherty stated: 

“ Throughout my career, the mentors that I have had are very different. What was the 

same across all of them is that in each relationship there was a mutual respect. I’ve 

had numerous mentors, and I’ve been a mentor. It seems that there are people out 

there with sharp, strategic minds who can take what they learn and apply it. It’s 

intangible, but these people have a knowledge base, they carry themselves with selfconfidence, 

and they know lots of people. These are the people who can make sure 

that the mentees will continue to evolve and grow“(De Janasz, Sullivan & Whiting, 

2003, p. 87). 

“Ideally, mentor relationships provide rich learning experiences. Over the course of a 

healthy mentoring relationship, shared experiences, insights, and sacred knowledge are 

exchanged” (De Janasz, Sullivan & Whiting, 2003, p. 87). 

According to the Youth Business International Handbook (2001), “Business mentors are 

probably the single most important contributors to the success of a youth business initiative.” 

(p. 30) Mentoring can develop through the mentor sharing creative ideas, by sharing their 

knowledge, experience and expertise. The mentor should become a role model and help the 

person being mentored plan for their future. The mentor should be able to help spot problem 

areas and help develop opportunities for future successes. 

The relationship of the mentoring process can gain success by maintaining constant 

communication, scheduling time together, offering information and advise and creating an 

environment to share and develop together. Respect is very important in the mentoring 

process, and listing to others is vital to maintain the mutual respect. 

Mentored students formed friendships. They gained self satisfaction as they were making 

a difference youth, and they were demonstrating community involvement.

Mentoring 

Research has found that mentoring programs can improve students’ peer and family 

relationships, school attendance, performance, and attitude. What’s more, students with 

mentors are less likely to use illegal drugs, skip school, or engage in school violence 

(Banicky & Noble, 2000). 

Mentoring affords the community an opportunity to get involved and make a difference 

in the life of youth. Some members of the community are able to give of their time while 

others give of their efforts or money. Whatever a person has to give, it is in the process of 

the giving that one can receive satisfaction of accomplishment. 

The backbone of mentoring programs is community involvement: local residents, willing 

to make a connection with young people, gain their trust, foster mutual respect, and make a 

sustained, intensive, personal commitment (Prince, 2004). 

Children need to have at least one adult who accepts them unconditionally. This 

adult could be a concerned volunteer, a competent professional, a health-care 

provider, a retiree, a foster grandparent, or a civic or religious leader. Some 

combination of these individuals is needed to create a continuum of care (Laursen & 

Birmingham, 2003). 

Caring relationships, high expectations, and opportunities for participation serve as 

protective factors. Trust, attention, empathy, availability, affirmation, respect, and 

virtue are seven characteristics of caring adults. Each suggests a pattern of behavior 

and beliefs that appear to make an adult worthy of the trust of a young person 

(Laursen & Birmingham, 2003). 

Definitions of Behaviors: 

Trust – Doing what you say you are going to do. 

Example – I’m accountable to the young persons I serve. 

Attention – Putting the young person at the center of concern. 

Example – Children and youth are valuable and worthy. 

Empathy – See the world through the young persons’ eyes. 

Example – There are many versions of the same story. 

Availability – Making time for children and youth a top priority. 

Example – Young people are important and worth an investment of my time and energy. 

Affirmation – Saying positive things to and about a young person and meaning them. 

Example – Even troubled youth have positive qualities and constructive behaviors, which 

can be acknowledged. 

Respect – Giving young people a say in decisions that affect them. 

Example – Feelings are valid, and young persons are the best experts on themselves. 

Virtue – Holding young persons accountable for their behavior without blaming and 

being a role model. 

Example – Children must learn self-discipline, and those who teach them must practice 

what they teach (Laursen, E. & Birmingham, S., 2003). 

2


In every community, boys and girls are left to find their own recreation and 

companionship in the streets. An increasing number of children are at home with no adult 

care or supervision. Young people need to know they are cared about and mentoring can 

offer caring and more. 

Only a very small number of individuals become famous in areas like entertainment, 

business, politics and sports; however, many individuals are successful in many ways. The 

Boys and Girls Club, through their efforts of developing after school programs and providing 

a market for mentoring, is able to allow local community people to be seen as famous people. 

Mentors are leaders all making a difference in the life of the children. Many of the 

community people involved at the Boys and Girls Club have become successful by getting an 

education, raising a family, and serving the community. It is very powerful when the adults 

share their experience with the children. It does make a difference. The children can 

associate and identify with adults, and it can add creditable support to the development of the 

children. 

For most individuals starting a day with meaning of a job, a project or purpose goes 

without thought. Many people get into a routine and do not realize that little things can be 

done to help less fortunate individuals who may need some care. Taking the time to look 

around and meet a need makes a huge difference for a number of people. 

For many households, just the daily rituals and routines create tremendous stress. 

Often the areas of conflict appear to be around chores, homework, meals, sibling 

relationships, and bedtime. A good starting point is to decide which behaviors are 

most difficult for you and then develop a list of rules and appropriate consequences to 

address them. Make the rules clear and enforce them consistently (Frey, 2004, p.1). 

Elementary school children, in the developmental stage of accomplishing and feeling 

competent, may not progress well in school. Research indicates that the stage of identity 

development (usually in adolescent and teen years) can be hampered if fear is pronounced 

(Recognizing stress in children, 2004). 

When stress builds up, it can result in anger, headaches, discouragement, depression, 

stomach-aches, feelings of helplessness, self-hate, and other "terrible, horrible, no good, very 

bad" feelings (Goddard, 2004). 

Spending time with children is important, but understanding the development and 

behavior of child is very important. As children respond to communication they could be 

sending signals that stress is developing. 

Learning that someone cares can make a significant difference in a life. Stress can 

become overturned if we understand and practice how to deal with it. Failure to understand, 

recognize or deal with stress can become a dangerous area of a child’s development. 

When an individual recognizes that stress exists and then can understand how to work 

with the stress, one can learn to control the stress instead of the stress controlling the person. 

Goddard, (2004) suggested many ways to deal with stress, things like trying to recognize the 

things that cause stress. Once the stressors have been recognized, one can find ways to 

3


overcome or lesson the stressors. Literature suggests to alleviate stress that one individual 

cannot fix everything at once so don’t try. Do only as much as one can at the time available. 

Only do what one is capable of doing and try to forgo the things one cannot control. Always 

try to be thinking happy thoughts. Try to be happy. Daydream often, when the mind 

becomes a burden, release it with a pleasant thought. Plan time for oneself, get away alone 

even for short periods of time. Find things that create laughter and practice those things. Plan 

time to laugh. Understand the body and the needs the body may have. Plan a healthy diet 

and plenty of sleep and exercise. Build relationships with people, and find people to trust 

and share feelings with. Share love and find ways to receive love. Focus on fun and try to 

stay positive. Face difficult situations and move on. Don’t let difficult situations build; they 

only become stressors. Find ways to stay active. Visit friends, relatives or make new friends. 

Know who one is and don’t let others bring them down. Do good things and feel good about 

it. Become creative. Think about things that can be done, and think about what if this 

happened or what if that happened, keep it positive. Realize that others can help and let them 

help. Don’t push time. Give things time to develop. Control life and discover independency. 

Be yourself and don’t worry about what others have or think. (Goddard, 2004). 

Conclusion 

Many of the youth come from low or no income families and their situations are not very 

attractive. The ability to overcome the stressors through mentoring could and would make a 

difference in the lives of the children. We may not change their situation or lifestyle, but we 

could give them something new, a chance to make changes going forward and a social 

environment that can have a positive effect on their future. 

Proper leadership requires setting clear directions and expectations. It requires mutual 

respect and understanding and the willingness to explore new avenues. To be an effective 

leader, one needs to be flexible and responsive to the mentee’s needs, concerns and 

sensitivity. By engaging mentors into the community, and through mentoring, one can help 

to reduce stress by developing outlets for engagement of socialization. Mentors can give an 

individual an outlet to turn to, a source for release or a person to relate to. 

References 

Banicky, L, & Noble, A. J. (2000). Mentoring students. Education Policy Brief 5, 86-90. 

De Janasz, S. , Sullivan, S., & Whiting, V. (2003). The mentor networks and 

4


career success: Lessons for turbulent times. Academy of Management Executives, 17 

(4), 78-91. 

Frey, G. (2004). Stress relief & anger prevention [electronic version]. The Daily 

Parent 4. Retrieved December 12, 2004, from http://www.childcareaware.org 

/en/dailyparent/vol4 

Gardner J. (1995, spring). Coping with stress and burnout in youth ministry 

[electronic version]. Youth Worker Journal, Retrieved December 12, 2004, from 

http://www.youthspecialties.com 

Goddard, H. W. (2004) Taking care of parents: Replacing stress with peace. 

[electronic version]. Principles of Parenting Retrieved December 12, 2004, from 

http://wwwhumsci.auburn.edu/parents/stress/ 

Laursen, E. & Birmingham, S. (2003). Caring relationship as a protective factor for 

at-risk youth: An ethnographic study. Families in Society: The Journal of 

Contemporary Human Services 84 (2), 240-246 

Prince, S. (2004). The magic of mentoring. Educational Leadership, 61 (8), 84-86 

Recognizing stress in children (2004). [electronic version]. North Carolina University, 

A&T State University Cooperative Extension. Retrieved December 12, 2004, from 

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/fcs/human/disa/1.html 

Youth Business International Handbook. [electronic version] 

Retrieved October 16, 2004 from www.youth-business.org 

5

Issues and Opportunities Associated with Operating an 

Entrepreneurship Internship Program: 


Robert J. Lahm Jr. 

Western Carolina University 

Kirk Heriot 

Columbus State University 

ABSTRACT 

Internships have become a well established type of active learning that are particularly useful in preparing 

students who will work in a wide variety of applied fields of endeavor. This research addresses a unique 

situation in which an internship program was modified with the intent to have an impact beyond its original 

scope. An added consideration is that the objective was to exclusively assign students to work directly with 

entrepreneurs (or in circumstances that would be readily transferrable to entrepreneurial pursuits). Using a 

case research methodology, authors address the issues associated with advancing the market presence of and 

operating an Entrepreneurship Internship Program. We chronicle the efforts of one of the authors to develop 

and grow an existing internship program at a regional university in the Southeast. We also discuss insights 

gained through implementing the undergraduate Entrepreneurship Internship Program, including a need for 

adequate time and a commitment of resources; planning, administering and reporting must be incorporated 

into the design of a viable program. We conclude with observations on the practical implications of this study 

as well as a brief commentary on future research.

Introduction 

An internship is “controlled experiential learning where a student receives academic credit while 

employed by an organization in a chosen area of interest” (Stretch & Harp, 1991, p. 67). 

“Experience continues to be one of the key attributes any entry-level professional can offer a 

prospective employer, and internships provide one of the best ways for the ambitious to obtain 

it” (Gault, Redington, & Schlager, 2000, p. 45). In short, internships often lead to jobs (Cannon, 

& Arnold, 1998). Internships offer employers a low risk, try-before-you-buy proposition. 

Employers can find talent fairly cheaply or even for free (Clark, 2003). Internships also create 

linkages and dialogue between faculty and members of the business community that have been 

increasingly identified as highly desirable (Pearce, 1992). Many employers have embraced 

internships as a valuable recruitment tool (Schmutte, 1985; Cannon, & Arnold, 1998). 

While internships have gained some attention in business education literature, they have focused 

almost entirely on student internships with large or medium-sized businesses. This situation is 

rather surprising considering the sheer magnitude of small businesses in the United States. 

According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), over 99% of all businesses in the 

country may be classified as small firms, according to the Small Business Act (SBA, 2009). 1 

It is most likely that many of the student interns that were the subject of previous research on the 

subject were assigned to work for entrepreneurs. However, the extant literature is devoid of any 

research on working as an intern with an entrepreneur versus working as an intern for a more 

established firm. This research will attempt to fill this apparent gap in the research on 

entrepreneurship internships. 

Using a case methodology, we describe the efforts of one of the authors to develop and grow an 

existing internship program. In the second section, we briefly describe the extant literature with 

an emphasis on literature about student internships. This review briefly covers literature on 

entrepreneurship education in the U.S. in order to provide the proper context for the internship. 

The third section presents our research method, followed by our case study of the 

Entrepreneurship Internship Program. The fifth section discusses the results of the case study 

which includes a list of insights gained by the process of renewing this program. In the final 

section we offer observations on the implications of this study as well as a brief commentary on 

future research on entrepreneurial internships. 


The literature on entrepreneurship education is still in a developmental stage (Fiet, 2001). This 

conclusion is startling when one considers just how far entrepreneurial phenomena have come in 

the last thirty years. Katz recently demonstrated that interest in entrepreneurship in colleges and 

universities has been nothing short of incredible. The growth rate has been phenomenal with 

more than 1,600 colleges and universities offering at least one course in entrepreneurship in the 

U.S. today. 

1 The Office of Advocacy of the SBA is charged with conducting scholarly research on a variety of issues related to 

small businesses. The reader may want to refer to their website (http://www.sba.gov/advo).

Entrepreneurship education has been evaluated from a variety of perspectives including what is 

taught, why it is taught, how it is taught, and how well it works (see Gorman and Hanlon, 1997; 

Vesper and Gartner, 1997; Solomon, Winslow, and Tarabishy, 1998). The problem with 

assessing entrepreneurship education is that no generally accepted pedagogical model has been 

adopted in the U.S. or Europe (Solomon, et. al. 1998). Given that some researchers suggest that 

the “concept of entrepreneurship is inadequately defined [, and] this lack of a clear 

entrepreneurship paradigm poses problems for both policy makers and for academics” (Carton, 

Hofer, and Meeks, 1998, p.1 of 11), the state of entrepreneurial education cannot be too 

surprising. If we cannot agree on the phenomena we are discussing, it becomes very difficult to 

develop a curriculum or build an academic program based upon those phenomena. 

Solomon, et al. (2002), discussed the results of a twenty-year investigation of teaching 

entrepreneurial education and small business management in the U.S. Their data is based upon 

six national surveys. They believe a trend exists toward greater integration of practical 

applications and technology in entrepreneurial education. They note that new venture creation, 

small business management, and small business consulting remain the most popular courses in 

the field. However, they do not spend significant time discussing student internships. 

Internships. Most of the research on pedagogical issues in entrepreneurship education has 

focused on small business consulting and business plan writing (Solomon, et al, 2002). Rather 

than attempt an exhaustive review of past research, this section will emphasize research relevant 

to internships, a form of active learning that has not been well investigated by researchers. 

The literature on student internships in business has evaluated several perspectives, such as, but 

not limited to legal issues (Swift and Russell, 1999), extent of internships among colleges (Coco, 

2000), academic content (Cannon and Arnold, 1998; Clark, 2003), and student perceptions 

(Cook, et al, 2004). Perhaps not surprisingly, many of the articles on internships and internship 

programs are written by faculty based upon their observations (Rothman, 2007). Their research 

emphasizes suggestions to host companies about supervision (Coco, 2000), work assignments 

(Tacket, Wolf and Law, 2001), as well as other issues, such as legal considerations (Swift and 

Russell, 1999). 

Most of the literature agrees that student internships have many benefits. Cook et al (2004) 

completed a study of students that participated in student internships and found that most of them 

found the experience to be a positive learning experience. In a study of 242 schools, Coco 

(2000) found 92% of the participating schools had internships. Gault, Redington and Schlager 

(2000) found a link between internships and the recruiting efforts of business. They also found 

that students who had internships were able to find employment faster and at higher starting 

salaries than students that had not had internships. While the pragmatic benefits are fairly 

obvious, the educational value of internships is less obvious to some observers (Clark, 2003). In 

response to this cynicism, Clark (2003) discussed the attempt at the University of Idaho to 

provide students a menu of academic assignments to enhance the internship experience. 

Interestingly, Cannon and Arnold (1998) believe the opposite is true. They found that students 

use internships to enhance their job searches. They go on to suggest that business schools should

equire less writing, fewer exams, and less outside reading and add funding to increase the 

quantity and quality of internships. 

While most of the literature emphasizes the benefits of internships, some authors have noted 

some drawbacks to internships. For example, Hite and Bellizzi (1986) said that some students 

may become disappointed in their internships if the programs are not well thought out. Scott 

(1992) pointed out that internships can be costly to employers that are seeking a return on their 

investment, while Swift and Russell (1999) noted that legal issues must be addressed to reduce 

the legal liability of the university. 

Perhaps one of the surprising findings about the extant literature is the failure to address firm size 

when discussing business internships. While the literature does not explicitly state that business 

students in more traditional management programs are only assigned to large or medium-sized 

companies, neither does it explicitly address the issues associated with assigning a student to a 

small or entrepreneurial firm. Clearly, the size of the business has a bearing on the work climate 

and the expectations that the supervisor may have of the student. More importantly, given the 

evidence that exists about the growth of programs in entrepreneurship and small business in the 

U.S. (Solomon, et al, 2002; Katz, 2003), it seems important for researchers to address this gap in 

the literature on internships by discussing issues related to creating an internship program 

dedicated to entrepreneurial internships. Indeed, even when seasoned professionals transition 

from large organizations and start, or attempt to start (sometimes reluctantly, as a result of 

downsizing) a small entrepreneurial firm, they may flounder; at best, they report vast differences 

in the nature of big corporate life, as compared to entrepreneurial life. 

Research Method 

The challenge of conducting research about entrepreneurship education is that no generally 

accepted pedagogical model has been adopted in the U.S. or Europe (Solomon et al., 2002). This 

assertion suggests that entrepreneurship education is still in the exploratory stage (Gorman and 

Hanlon, 1997). Thus, our choice of a research design was influenced by the limited theoretical 

knowledge researchers have of entrepreneurial education (Fiet, 2001). In such a situation, it is 

appropriate to use a qualitative research method in order to gather the necessary information 

(Eisenhardt, 1989; Yin, 1994). The current research necessitated that we observe the process of 

assigning students to work with an entrepreneur. Thus, we adopted a qualitative research method 

described by Audet and d’Amboise (1998) which was broad-minded and flexible. Like their 

study, our aim was “to combine rigor, flexibility and structure without unduly restricting our 

research endeavor” (Audet and d’Amboise, 1998, p. 11). This research design has also been 

used in other research about entrepreneurship education (e.g., Heriot and Campbell, 2004). In 

our case we provide background information about a regional university in the southeast U.S. 

Then, we discuss the steps or phases that were taken to supervise the students and direct the

program. In this study, we describe the steps that were used as phases 2 , which began in 2004 and 

continued through Spring 2008. 

Each of the eight phases is highlighted in Table 2. Phase I was simple program 

evaluation. Phase II involved a process of getting started by establishing the initial priorities. In 

Phase III the program coordinator established local contacts. Phase IV involved deciding how to 

promote the program. Phases V and VI were, respectively, supervising the first internships, and 

establishing procedures. Phase VII saw the program expand to full-scale operation. Phase VIII 

involves strategic planning to meet the challenges of continuous change (change that impacts 

entrepreneurial businesses, and thus the circumstances in which the Program operates in working 

with interns and those businesses). 

The Case Study 

Background. One of the authors was hired as a faculty member in the Entrepreneurial Studies 

program at a public university in the Southeast. The entrepreneurship internship program was 

established prior to the arrival of the author. Service as the Program Coordinator of the 

Entrepreneurship Intern Program was an additional duty. 

Program. The Entrepreneurship Internship Program was organized under the university’s 

Entrepreneurial Studies Program, which offers both a major and a minor in entrepreneurship. 

Approximately eight core entrepreneurship course sections are offered during a typical fall or 

spring semester, taught by four entrepreneurship faculty members (in addition to others who 

teach related courses, such as advanced business planning and small business management). 

The University and Region. This regional university with a student body of approximately 

23,000 students. The university has programs of study in Arts, Business Administration, Fine 

Arts, Music, Science, Nursing, Social Work, and University Studies. The university has a broad 

array of academic majors and academic minors. In addition, it offers several masters degrees 

including the Master of Business Administration. Table 1 shows a profile of the university and 

the region in which it is located. 

Internships. Between Spring Semester 2005 and Spring Semester 2007, eighty students were 

enrolled in student internships. Table 3 summarizes the enrollments by semester in the 

Entrepreneurship Internship Program. Table 4 provides a profile of a representative selection of 

internships in which students participated. These internships are not intended to demonstrate the 

most predominant forms of internships, but rather to let the reader gain an appreciation of the 

variety of businesses to which students were assigned as well as to gain insights from comments 

submitted by students. 

2 The term phases are used as a convenience to organize this research. It does not reflect a plan that was actually 

followed.

Instructor. The instructor was one of the authors. He had recently completed a Ph.D. His skills 

included both corporate managerial experience as well as entrepreneurial experience (including 

the prior ownership of a marketing firm). 

Phase I. 

This phase can best be described as Program Evaluation. The duties of the Program Coordinator 

of the Entrepreneurship Intern Program were begun in the fall semester 2004. 

The entrepreneurship internship was a formal program of study that was required for 

entrepreneurship majors. The Program Coordinator was given a one course release (from a 4/4 

normal teaching load) in the first semester of employment, during which the coordinator 

completed Phase I and began Phase II. Course requirements, student and employer enrollment 

forms, internship performance evaluations (completed by employers), and additional guidelines 

were already firmly established and approved by the University’s administration. 

As part of this phase, academic records were reviewed which showed that students had sought to 

circumvent the internship course requirement by requesting a course substitution. In addition to 

this operating issue, the college expressed a need to initiate and maintain relationships within the 

business community to ensure the growth of the Entrepreneurship Internship Program. As it 

turns out, these two issues were interdependent. One of the reasons that students had attempted 

to substitute courses was that the process of determining a possible internship site depended on 

individual contacts with various faculty who had cultivated contacts with members in the 

business community; however, a list had not been formally developed and housed in a 

centralized location. Thus, it was clear that developing a relationship with the entrepreneurial 

community would not only identify prospective internships, but also facilitate the process of 

ensuring students had a company with whom to work before the semester began. Failing to do 

so would limit the potential of the program. 

Phase II 

This phase involved Prioritizing what to do first. While the Entrepreneurial Studies Program 

maintained a Web presence, the Entrepreneurship Internship Program had no such presence, and 

it was determined that a Web site should be developed. The creation of Website was not deemed 

to be just about technology “bells and whistles” (although it was held implicit that the program 

should look like it belonged in the modern world). It was agreed that in order to leverage public 

relations and press relations opportunities, a “place” needed to be created such that any interest 

on the part of constituencies could be appropriately directed. In other words, it would require 

more than a phone number and sign-up forms to begin creating a public image among 

entrepreneurial firms and the business community at large. 

Although the creation of a dynamic (database driven) site was an objective of the program, a 

static site (otherwise known as a “brochure or catalog site”) was developed to serve immediate 

needs. In the former case, employers could eventually register online and indicate an interest in

program participation. Discussions about the possibility of reciprocity were also held, but given 

a state-owned and operated computer system, this notion was recognized as problematic. In 

particular, a more sophisticated Web site without the constraints of state ownership would have 

been geared to feature business community sponsors and program participants. To translate the 

implications of this line of reasoning into a graphical presentation perspective, the site would be 

designed to acknowledge supporters and participants by incorporating logos and other art, to be 

supplied by the sponsors themselves. Unfortunately, this could be interpreted to constitute 

private advertising on a taxpayer supported system, so it was not pursued. 

It did not seem like a good use of time to wade through the legal and administrative process of 

answering these questions in light of more immediate goals at hand. While other solutions may 

have been identified, it was decided at a departmental level to table the idea, for the time being. 

to focus on identifying internships. One practical advantage of the static design was that the 

Program Coordinator was able to immediately begin work and implement the creation of the site 

using personally owned software and existing skills. Database sites typically require the skills of 

advanced programming specialists. Reliance on external university resources or those of 

commercial vendors who may have submitted bids would have in all likelihood, slowed Web site 

development and deployment time considerably. Hence, the Web site was deployed relatively 

quickly, during the fall semester of 2004. A departmental level review of the site deemed the 

work product acceptable for the stated purpose of establishing a “respectable presence.” 

Another purpose of the Web site was to service basic needs for information on the part of 

employers (both those with a possible interest and active participants) as well as students. The 

site incorporated all necessary forms (see Appendix) and stated guidelines for participation. 

Links for “Student” and “Employer” sections were provided to provide explanations and 

guidelines to those two separate audiences. Advisors and entrepreneurship faculty are now able 

to point to the site as a point of reference for questions about background information, 

participation guidelines, and administrative forms.

Phase III 

In this phase the program coordinator Established Local Contacts. Many entrepreneurial 

businesses are operated by extremely busy founders. Thus, it was important to establish contacts 

in an indirect manner rather than through cold call attempts to meet them individually. The local 

County had a very proactive Chamber of Commerce, which in turn sponsored a strong economic 

development platform. Chamber and Small Business Development Center Directors, and other 

business community leaders were contacted directly (e.g., for discussions over lunch and through 

established Advisory Board meetings). These initial contacts yielded a very supportive climate 

for the promotion of the program via referrals to entrepreneurial businesses. However, cold calls 

might be necessary, meeting directly with employers, in the event that working through existing 

organizations is not feasible or productive in another community. The one caveat to this would 

be that it is very time consuming to call on individual businesses. 

With the Website in place, it became a much easier matter to refer members of the business 

community and community leaders to it to provide additional information about of the program. 

Thus, the Website was essential as a means for distributing information, and forms, which would 

otherwise have to be done in a manner that entailed time and effort on the part of employees. It 

had been anticipated all along that the Website would be an important part of the overall effort, 

and used to support this phase (establishing ties to the local business community, and having the 

capacity to be responsive). 

Phase IV 

Almost any new program would benefit from Publicity, especially one that replaces a previous 

process whereby internships are fulfilled by matching students and employers on an ad hoc basis 

(as was the case here). While the Website was regarded to be an essential part of the steps taken 

to promote the program, it was at first not visible to search engines (which do take some time to 

index sites—but even then any given site may compete with many others). Accordingly, at least 

in the beginning, it required that a person know about the Website to be of any use. 

Clearly, establishing local contacts in Phase III supported the promotional efforts which created 

awareness about the Website, and at the same time, the Website was capable of answering most 

questions that passersby on the Internet might typically have (either students or businesses). The 

local contacts were a means of using word-of-mouth to promote the program. 

However, press releases were not used to promote this particular internship program. The 

primary reason for this is that community response was strong. Therefore, it was possible in this 

case that demand may have exceeded supply relative to resources: the ability of the coordinator 

to respond to inquiries, the number of available students, and so forth. Nonetheless, this phase 

should be incorporated in a planned approach as it may be necessary (or it may not—yet it is 

important to be prepared either way).

Phase V 

The emphasis in this phase was on Supervising the first group of interns assigned to their 

entrepreneur. The first group began their internships in the Spring 2005. This step was critical 

because it was very time-consuming. Supervising the interns was done concurrently to the other 

duties of the program coordinator, such as promotion and planning, as well as his duties as a 

teacher and scholar in an AACSB-accredited college. 

Phase VI 

Operating Policies were emphasized in this phase. The program was in poor shape when the 

new coordinator took over. Thus, there were few if any reliable procedures in place. This phase 

emphasized administrative issues, such as, but not limited to, monitoring the relationship 

between the student and the entrepreneur, the forms that needed to be done, the academic 

component of the internship, establishing milestones for the students’ performance, obtaining 

feedback from the entrepreneur about the student and their experience with the program, and 

dealing with problems, such as poor student performance. The goal was to develop consistency 

within the program. 

Phase VII. 

The Internship program expanded into Full-scale Operation during the fall semester 2005. Table 

3 shows the number of internships that were supervised from Fall 2004 through Spring 2007. 

Phase VII can be distinguished from Phase VI in that it was far more intense as the number of 

internships were greater than they had been in previous years. Collectively and individually, 

student internships required considerable oversight. 

While the students worked for the entrepreneur, it was not simply a job. It was part of an 

accredited academic program in business. Thus, each student had to be supervised and evaluated 

to ensure they were doing their job and that the entrepreneur was pleased with their work. As 

such, students were required to produce reflective papers and otherwise document their insights 

and experiences through daily journals. Employers were invited to provide feedback on an 

ongoing basis, and summative employer evaluations were required at the end (employers were 

informed in writing of this requirement of them, and agreed to do this at the point in time when a 

given internship relationship was established). 

In addition, students were encouraged to collect and use any artifacts that would be permissible 

(from the point of view of the employer) in a portfolio. It was made clear that internal 

documents and proprietary information was not permissible, but items such as brochures and 

other collaterals that were already publicly distributed would be in keeping with the general idea. 

Phase VIII. 

This phase is best described as Strategic Planning. This phase is on-going. The university will 

need to ensure they actively plan and evaluate this program to ensure continuity as the program

coordinator accepted a faculty position elsewhere. This issue is not unique to entrepreneurship 

internships, Heriot and Campbell (2004) identified program continuity as an issue when a faculty 

member left one university after having created a student consulting program. With the 

departure of the program’s coordinator, the university was back to phase I to some extent. A 

new program coordinator must be selected quickly. 

Lessons Learned 

As with the creation of any new program, there were lessons learned that are worthy of 

consideration, especially by anyone that is considering starting their own new Entrepreneurship 

Internship Program. 

Geographic Location. Some of the original documentation and guidelines have required 

alterations in order to respond to situations that have arisen in the course of administering the 

Program. As an example, the previously published guidelines dictated that students would 

complete their internships locally, in a specific county. Generally, it is the case that students will 

do just that as most who attend are locals. 

However, in a few instances (early into the period during which the Program Coordinator 

position was held) students proposed internships that made excellent sense in the context of their 

entrepreneurial goals, but did not meet the specified geographical criteria. In one particular case, 

an Asian student was interested in an import/export business, and by leveraging family and 

personal connections in Singapore, the student had found an outstanding opportunity. Hence, the 

notion of a geographic restriction was challenged, and subsequent internships have were 

designed to reflect the possibility that a viable internship might arise anywhere, globally. 

Recruiting. Finding firms that were willing to participate or that had existing internship hiring 

processes was one part of the process. However, many firms needed guidance (as did students) 

to articulate that there were significant differences in expectations that the program had of them. 

In other words, it was not only necessary to find firms, it was also necessary to find firms that 

were run by entrepreneurs who were willing to provide an experience in which the intern 

shadowed and participated in the entrepreneur’s day-to-day experience. From the point of view 

of the coordinator, this was very time consuming (but not necessarily well recognized as such by 

colleagues). 

Physical Environment. In another instance which challenged existing assumptions and practices, 

a quadriplegic student was allowed to work across multiple placements, often conducting 

research and fulfilling obligations via the Internet. One of these assignments allowed him to 

conduct a feasibility analysis on behalf of a venture capital firm. Another assignment paired the 

student with a physics professor who had developed a new type of sensor with possible 

commercial applications; the professor and university collaborated with the student to develop a 

business and marketing plan to exploit the intellectual property opportunities associated with the 

sensor. In both cases, the student’s performance was highly praised, and the both internship 

clients were very satisfied.

Supervision. An occasional (usually mature, non-traditional) student with an already established 

entrepreneurial business would (logically, we think) inquire about working within his or her own 

business, as they had already found their own calling. Initially, this appeared to be an intractable 

problem associated with conflict of interest, in that no student could be allowed to evaluate his or 

her own performance in a manner that would significantly influence the determination of a final 

grade (reflecting on one’s own performance, on the other hand, is probably a very good idea for 

professional development in any field of endeavor, and was expected in written assignments that 

were part of the internship course requirements). 

Eventually, after considerable angst and thought, workarounds were developed that may be 

helpful to share here. One such workaround, in an instance where the business model was such 

that it serviced a client base, involved allowing multiple members of that clientele to serve as the 

evaluators; the use of multiple raters was deemed appropriate (as compared to typically just 

one—a single entrepreneur-mentor). In another case, a student had purchased an established 

business. Part of the buyout arrangement included the retention of the former owner on a 

consulting basis during a transition period; we concluded that the former owner was as qualified 

as anyone (in a typical scenario) to provide the evaluative feedback. 

Alternative Experiences. In some instances, where no workaround such as discussed above 

seemed attainable, students were guided to pursue a “view from the other side of the table” 

approach. A good illustrative example of this would be, for a graphic designer to work on the 

client-side of the business or for a media concern (e.g., one that ran print advertisements). Other 

examples might include working with a primary supplier of an existing business, again, to gain 

insights as to what the view is like from that perspective. 

At this point, one might suggest that the entrepreneurship internship would not really be the same 

as working for someone else’s entrepreneurial firm. On the other hand, the inherent nature of 

most entrepreneurship internships, at their best, is such that they can be likened to a simulation, 

whereas these special cases involved students who were already engaged in running “the real 

thing.” Thus, the objective became to advance their professional development and the growth of 

their existing entrepreneurial businesses (and perspectives) from a starting point that was already 

further along than that of students who were seeking a first-time experience in the 

entrepreneurial world. 

Students Learned From Experiences, Both Good and Not So Good. In our observances of 

students’ summative reports and journals we found that they overwhelmingly suggested 

satisfaction with their internship experiences through the particular Entrepreneurship Intern 

Program portrayed herein. This should not be interpreted to suggest that students there were not 

students who were candid in their critiques of the entrepreneurs with whom they worked. 

Indeed, many reports related instances where the student reflected that to the effect that “if this 

was my business, I would not do this” (or I would do that, and so forth).

Implications for Research and Practice 

Institutions that are considering an entrepreneurially oriented internship program should be 

encouraged by the range of benefits that they might enjoy, but should also be advised that 

operating an effective program is a significant undertaking, not to be taken lightly on the part of 

community leaders, program participants (i.e., employers), or administrators. Small businesses 

may benefit directly by gaining fresh insights and access to assistance that they would otherwise 

not be able to afford or would not have considered. Whole communities benefit by creating 

entrepreneurial cultures, through which personal and small business growth contributes to 

economic growth and development. Students benefit by gaining hands on experience and 

accelerating their personal learning curves whether they find themselves in a traditional 

employment relationship, or starting a business of their own. 

In offering the above, we also feel we should contrast an entrepreneurship internship course, 

versus a fully implemented Entrepreneurship Intern Program. In the former case, it is typical for 

qualified faculty members to service a small number of students and employers (whether “in 

load,” or for additional modest compensation) on an ad hoc basis. 

In the case of a Program, its attributes include, but are not limited to the following 

characteristics: it becomes a campus entity unto itself, with a defined market image; it can play 

an advocacy role in terms of encouraging an entrepreneurial culture community-wide, e.g., 

formal presentations can be delivered to address members of business, community, civic and 

professional organizations (or one-on-one, with individual entrepreneurs); the entity can 

participate in recruitment fairs, and develop formal relationships between community leaders and 

their organizations (e.g., Chamber of Commerce executives, et cetera); as an entity, the Program 

may even have its own Advisory Board. Importantly, eventually all of the above generate the 

ability to garner PR in association with specific “success stories” (used only with permission of 

the parties thereto, of course), the Program’s achievements as a whole, or events in which the 

entity participates or initiates on its own. 

Opportunities to engage in organized research efforts are also facilitated by virtue of the probable 

increased volume of internships through such an entity (with its outreach capability and efforts) 

as well as the centralization of data collection processes within an office specifically charged 

with administering such practices. As introduced earlier, leveraging the benefits of such a 

Program requires a “point person” who will assure that operations are executed and opportunities 

are realized and become a reality. 

Conclusion 

Using a case research methodology, we address the issues associated with operating an 

Entrepreneurship Internship Program. This research addressed a unique situation in which a 

program was renewed to exclusively assign students to work with entrepreneurs. Between 2004 

and 2008, 127 students participated as interns with local entrepreneurs. This process was very 

dynamic. Several issues had to be addressed to renew this program and build it.

As needs in the business community are in a constant state of flux, it is necessary for the 

university and similarly involved institutions to adapt. Administered properly, there are 

numerous opportunities to support a strong business community-university partnership 

(Neumann, and Banghart, 2001) through an Entrepreneurship Intern Program. However, 

adequate time and a commitment of resources, planning, administering and reporting must be 

incorporated into the design of a viable program in order to ensure its growth and development.

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Table 1: Profile of University and Region 

Item Comment Profile 

Region Southeast United States Serves large regional area. 

City Small town The city has a population of 75,000. The 

city has developed into a retail destination 

attracting shoppers from a 10-county 

region. Part of the reason for this 

phenomenal growth is that it is close to a 

city with 2 major Interstates as well as a 

“loop” highway that is designed to become 

University Large Regional State 

University 

an Interstate in the future. 

Founded in 1911 as a state normal school 

for teacher education. The university has 

23,000 students and offers degrees in Arts, 

Business Administration, Fine Arts, Music, 

Science, Nursing, Social Work, and 

University Studies. The College of 

Business is accredited by AACSB. 

Instructor New to the university Terminally degreed at the Ph.D. level, with 

corporate managerial experience as well as 

entrepreneurial experience (including the 

Program Entrepreneurship Intern 

Program 

prior ownership of a marketing firm). 

The faculty member was assigned as the 

Entrepreneurship Intern Program 

Coordinator; the course has prerequisites as 

well as specific requirements for the 

successful completion of the internship.

Table 2 

Phases 

Entrepreneurship Internship Program 

Phase Name Comments 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

Program Evaluation 

Getting Started 

Establish Contacts 

Promotion 

Supervising Interns 

Operating Policies 

Evaluation 

Full-Scale Operation 

Strategic Planning 

Evaluate the current situation. 

Prioritize what to do first and execute; 

create Website (including downloadable 

forms and information for students AND 

employers). 

Networking is crucial with campus 

contacts (e.g., career services) and 

community leaders (e.g., chamber of 

commerce executives). 

Attend campus and external career events; 

meetings with individual employers. 

(Press releases would have been beneficial 

but they were not used in this case.) 

The first internships were assigned during 

the spring semester 2005. 

For instance, “can the internship be 

fulfilled internationally?” (Originally, the 

verbiage for the Program stated that 

internships were to take place in the local 

community.) 

Supervised 127 internships between 

January 2005 and May 2008. 

This phase is on-going. The university will 

need to ensure they actively plan and 

evaluate this program to ensure continuity 

as the program coordinator accepted a 

faculty position elsewhere, and to adapt to 

other changes.

Table 3. Summary of Internships between January 2005 and May 2008 

Semester Enrollment Comment 

Fall 2004 0 Start-up semester; Website 

designed, promotional efforts 

and coordination completed. 

Spring 2005 9 All ENTR majors 

Summer 2005 7 6 ENTR majors 

Fall 2005 12 All ENTR majors 


Summer 2006 8 All ENTR majors 

Fall 2006 12 11 ENTR majors 


Summer 2007 14 All ENTR majors 

Fall 2007 11 All ENTR majors 


Total 

127 

127 ENTR majors

Table 4: Examples of entrepreneurship internships in the Entrepreneurship Internship 

Program; comments are drawn from reflective papers submitted by students. 

Industry Company Duties Comments 

Martial Arts Company with Responsible for “With over 36 years in the 

three karate teaching and other business it was not a hard 

school aspects of business, decision to look to…[the 

locations. servicing 80 students in owner] as a mentor for my 

one location. 

future in the martial arts 

industry.” 

Sports 

Single unit Customer service and “Working at…[the company] 

Equipment retail store. sales, exposure to gave me a good idea of [what] 

(Skateboarding 

ordering, inventory running a small retail business 

Industry) 

control, and suppliers; 

paying bills, tax forms, 

finances. 

would be like.” 

Insurance Local agent for Studied for banking “[The owner] taught me what 

Industry national full- industry spec. exam goes into being an 

service (did not pass); assisted entrepreneur. He majored in 

insurance with sales prospecting, Finance and has opened my 

company. customer service, some eyes to what goes into running 

general office duties. a business for yourself.” 

Recording Recording Sound reinforcement “From day one I was saturated 

Industry studio. and recording of live in it, I learned pre-production, 

public performances microphone placements…the 

and studio work. patch bay, compression, preamp 

stages, player 

performance techniques from a 

studio great, mix-down 

applications, phase 

cancellation, and mixing 

effects….This internship 

experience has solidified even 

more why I am majoring in 

entrepreneurship and studying 

recording on the side. 

Fashion New York Runway show “I really get tickled when I see 

Industry headquarters of productions. 

the show “Project Runway” or 

major clothing 

the movie “The Devil Wears 

designer label. 

Prada” because I went through 

most of what happened on that 

show and in that movie.

Additional Program Requirements 

Appendix 

Content for this section is taken from the Entrepreneurship Intern Program Web site. 

Internship Objectives 

The purpose of the entrepreneurship intern program is to provide student interns with an 

opportunity to: develop professionally, acquire real-world entrepreneurial experiences, and apply 

classroom learning to the workplace. 

Intern Qualifications 

• Entrepreneurship Major 

• Senior Standing (80+ semester hours) 

• Completion of Required Courses: 

• Entrepreneurship 

• Introduction to Business 

Academic Requirements 

The student intern agrees to: 

• Complete an internship application 

• Meet with Internship Coordinator as requested 

• Work a minimum of 225 hours for 3 hours of college credit 

• Work in a company approved by the Internship Coordinator 

• Perform in a professional manner and comply with employing company’s regulations and 

policies 

• Maintain employing company’s confidentialities 

• Ask employer to complete the employer evaluation form provided by the Internship 

Coordinator 

• Submit an Internship Portfolio by designated due date 

• Entrepreneur Interview—A typewritten summary of an interview with the employer. Interview 

questions will be provided by the Internship Coordinator. 

• Reflective Paper—A final paper, minimum of two typewritten, double-spaced pages, written as 

a retrospective of the internship experience. 

• Company Literature—Promotional/information brochures, etc. from the employing company. 

• Daily Journal—Daily journal entries of internship activities and hours worked. Journal entries 

should be approximately five to ten sentences and can be used to compose the reflective paper.

Leadership: 

Building a Team Using Structured Activities 

Irma S. Jones 

The University of Texas at Brownsville 

Olivia Rivas 

The University of Texas at Brownsville 

ABSTRACT 

As educators, we strive to anticipate reactions or outcomes of our instruction so that the learning or acquiring 

of information is as pain‐free as possible. As leaders we also strive to build cohesiveness and trust in our groups 

or teams of employees so that the end goal or task is produced in a timely manner. However, setting the stage 

or mood for that to happen is one step that needs to be considered for either of those goals to occur. The 

following paper will review successful structured activities and ice breakers used by the authors in a mid‐size 

southern university.

“All icebreakers are not the same.” (The Encyclopedia of Icebreakers, 2006) 

As educators, we strive to anticipate reactions or outcomes of our instruction so that the learning 

or acquiring of information is as pain-free as possible. As leaders we also strive to build 

cohesiveness and trust in our groups or teams of employees so that the end goal or task is 

produced in a timely manner. However, setting the stage or mood for that to happen is one step 

that needs to be considered for either of those goals to occur. The following paper will review 

successful structured activities and ice breakers used by the authors in a mid-size southern 

university. 

Background 

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ice breaker as “something that breaks the ice on a 

project or occasion;” and team as “a number of persons associated together in work or activity” 

(Merriam-Webster, 2011). “An opening remark, action, etc., designed to ease tension or relieve 

formality” is a second definition for an ice breaker (Dictionary.com, 2011). No matter which 

definition is used, the idea is the same, to perform some type of action that will assist in changing 

the mood of a situation into one that is more trusting and casual where individuals begin to 

interact and acknowledge each other. When discussing the use of structured activities, a thread 

that runs through their use is the association of people, usually a group of people and how to get 

these people comfortable enough with each other to complete an action or job. Therefore, team 

building is another set of words that might be used interchangeably or together with ice breakers 

and structured activities. No matter which names are used for this activity: warm-ups, deinhibiters, 

tension reducers, brainteasers, getting acquainted activities, feedback/disclosure loops, 

energizers and games, the end result is most important (Forbess-Green, 1980). 

In our working lives, individuals are brought together in order to accomplish an important goal 

or project usually with input from employees at various levels and departments throughout the 

organization. When this group first meets, there is typically a level of self-consciousness as 

individuals may not have worked with each other prior to this activity and are still thinking as an 

employee within whatever department to which they belong. In order to reduce the feeling of 

self-consciousness and get the employees to work as a group, team building activities or ice 

breakers can be used. Many group leaders use a variety of activities during the period of time 

they are addressing a group in order to get a task completed. The functions of these activities and 

icebreakers serve important objectives in team building. 

According to Chris Gill, there are five reasons to use icebreakers: First, to build social 

introductions among a group. Also, these activities are used to generate a new “team persona” 

for this set of individuals in order to accomplish a specific objective. Secondly, icebreakers are 

used to build energy within a group. What was your first thought when you read the last memo 

assigning you to a team or task force? “Another meeting?” That is the normal reaction for 

individuals that have much going on at work and feel that another commitment is imposing on 

their ability to get everything done. For that reason, active commitment and level of engagement 

are required by a group to be able to start a new project. Physical and fun activities that build 

energy are needed for this group to get them out of the normal working mode and into a higher 

cohesive level of activity. Creating a positive atmosphere within a group makes for the task they

have to complete much more enthusiastic and challenging is the third function for teambuilding 

activities. Overcoming objections and transitioning to work mode are the last two functions of 

teambuilding activities and such attitude affects the quality of the outcome. Many times, there 

will be individuals that believe the process of icebreakers or teambuilding activities are a waste 

of time. The momentum of the activity will serve to engage these individuals before they have 

time to develop or voice a negative response. Once the group is altered by these exercises, they 

are then ready to begin the task assigned (Gill, 2009). 

Continuing with reasons for using structured activities, the article, Twelve Tips for Team 

Building: How to Build Successful Work Teams, provides insight by listing clear expectations, 

context, commitment, coordination, cultural change, competency, charter, control, collaboration, 

communication, consequences and creative innovation as items necessary to building successful 

teams. In order to be able to maximize their contribution to the group, individuals should have 

a clear understanding of performance expectations as well as the context for their participation 

within the group. Answers to the following questions should be clear in the minds of all group 

members: Do the members feel the appropriate people are represented in the group? Do the 

group members feel free enough to invite others to join their group? Do they want to be on this 

team? The group must then develop a process by which to communicate within the group and 

steps by which to complete the objectives. New methods for accomplishing the objective need 

exploring and communication for its completion can occur (Heathfield, 2008). 

Creating a foundation for the tone or culture to be engendered with the group is the first 

objective for team building. Engaging participants actively in the type of group activity needed, 

whether to listen or interact with each other, is essential to creating trust and respect. This 

activity allows a new group to get acquainted with each other, to become comfortable discussing 

the subject of the group work or to be able to express opposing opinions as a step toward team 

building (KSTMT, 2011). 

In a publication by the University of Vermont for student leaders, icebreakers are a method to 

develop an environment that is non-threatening and allows individuals to get acquainted by 

having fun. These activities also can serve to form random groupings and break up cliques or 

factions in order to set the tone for working together (University of Vermont, 2011). No matter 

the reason for bringing together individuals to work on a project, choosing structured activities 

with a purpose is important. Remember to select activities that are inclusive of your members’ 

diverse needs; that are appropriate for your group’s state of development; that tie in to the topic 

needing discussion; that fits the session or meeting design; and that fits the location where the 

activity is held (Balon, 1999). Whether your activities are to be used socially, educationally or 

topically, perfect the art of leading an icebreaker, plan ahead and practice patience. “One of the 

most important keys to the successful use of icebreakers is the group leader’s ability to bridge the 

gap between the activity and the material that follows” (The Encyclopedia of Icebreakers, 2006).

Experiences 

Functioning as a department chair and a university vice president at a mid-size southern 

university, the authors will walk through a description of one set of activities they have used to 

get acquainted, form subgroups while all along creating opportunities to affect the dynamics of 

the group through team building opportunities. The authors remind the reader that no one group 

of activities is the answer to all team building and training development; but rather, leaders and 

managers are encouraged to build a toolbox of strategies. 

Structured Activities for Getting Acquainted 

As referred to earlier, the initial gathering of the group is often filled with some anxiety, selfconsciousness, 

or perhaps resistance to engaging in a new task. It is incumbent on the leader of 

the group to set the tone and culture for the group during the first meeting or series of initial 

meetings. Get acquainted activities allow the leader to have a sense of where the strength of the 

group is going to be and which individuals will need to be carried initially. The following are 

some tried activities for the initial meetings. These activities require very little preparation time 

yet the debriefing of the activity can be very powerful and beneficial in team building. 

� In-Animate Objects. One simple activity that works and begins to create a bond among 

the group is to have them introduce themselves by selecting an in-animate object that best 

describes symbolically some aspect of their personality/identity. The object they choose 

and the significance they give to the object as they relate themselves to the object opens 

up a unique method for the group to get to know each other in a very special way. It 

creates a special connection among the group known only to themselves and not anyone 

else in the organization. The creativeness of the self-comparison to the object gives the 

leader an enormous wealth of understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each 

individual not to mention the capacity for creative thinking. Another variation of this 

activity is to have them draw the object and show it to the group as they describe the 

significance it represents. 

� Chinese Zodiac. Another introduction activity is to pass out to each individual a copy of 

a Chinese Zodiac. These are often found in Chinese restaurants as placements and most 

individuals are familiar with them. In your group, have each member find their 

respective animal and introduce themselves by sharing with the group how the 

description of the qualities and characteristics of the animal matches or does not match 

who they are. By elaborating on how the description is applicable or not to them, the 

group and its leader gain insight into the membership and again form a unique 

understanding of each other thus leading to a sense of cohesiveness. 

� Chinese Fortune Cookies. Pass out a fortune cookie to each group member. Have 

them read and reflect on their fortune. Ask them to introduce themselves to the group by 

sharing the contents of their fortune cookie and the meaning they attach to the narrative. 

How does the narrative describe some aspect of who they are and the significance they

draw from the narrative? This activity requires them to reflect and express abstract 

material in a creative yet personal manner. 

� Grab Bag Activity. Fill a bag with a variety of objects that you may have in your 

office or at home. Objects such as small toys, a glove, soap, pencil sharpener, band aids, 

stapler, etc. can be very useful. Each group member is asked to reach into the bag and 

draw an object without looking. They are to reflect on the object and introduce 

themselves by describing how that object represents some aspect of their personality or 

strength they possess. This activity allows you to measure the creativity of the individual 

members. What we have found is that for those members who seem to draw a blank on 

how to use the object in their description, other group members will jump in and help 

give meaning to the object in order to help the individual. When this happens, the leader 

of the group can begin to have a sense of the bonding that is occurring in the group. 

Structured Method for Forming Groups Using Get Acquainted Activities 

Depending on the size of the group or team that is involved, subgroups for a variety of tasks or 

projects may need to be created or the seating arrangements may simply need to be varied. Often 

members tend to gravitate to persons they know in the group but in many instances the leader 

may want to mix the membership of the subgroups. One creative way to do this is to place them 

with individuals in the group who have similar interests as identified during the various getacquainted 

activities. During the above mentioned activities, the leader should be taking note 

of the various clusters of themes that were mentioned, for example in the in-animate objects 

activity, try grouping all those who described themselves using a water type of object i.e. beach, 

rivers, waterfall. Another cluster can be accessories i.e. shoes, jewelry, handbags, etc. or still 

another cluster can be electronics/technology i.e. cell phones, computers, etc. Each of these 

clusters can be subgroups and can change the seating arrangements. Using the Chinese Zodiac, 

members could be placed with their similar counterparts falling in the same animal group or with 

those animal groups more compatible to them as described in the Zodiac. 

Structured Activity for Team Building 

Once the subgroups have been created using one of the above methods, it is time to begin 

introducing team building activities. One activity that works is one that will require the use of 

plastic water cups. Styrofoam does not work as well as plastic. Each group is given a package 

of plastic cups containing from eighty to one hundred cups. The larger the subgroup, the more 

cups they should be given. They are asked to use the cups to build the tallest structure within the 

time allowed, usually fifteen to twenty minutes. They are to use all the cups, involve everyone in 

the group, build one structure, and there is to be no verbal communication. They are allowed 

only one failed attempt. Observation of the group reveals many interesting dynamics on how 

members are engaged with each other, the leadership that emerges, and how consensus is built. 

Debriefing the activity provides rich information to the entire group and provides the opportunity 

to relate their experience to actual tasks before them. 

Conclusion

Icebreakers and structured activities are essentially short activities for purposes of establishing a 

climate of trust and connectedness. These activities are experiential in nature thus engaging the 

entire group. Leaders and managers find that such activities allow them to better understand 

their employees or group members, begin to see where individual strengths lie, and begin to 

expect from whom leadership potential can emerge among the employees. Ice breakers energize 

the group, help define the group and provide a sense of unity. A plethora of structured activities 

exist in the literature and leaders are encourage to adapt variations that best fit their style, 

purpose and uniqueness of the group as well as the task at hand. It is at this point that the 

expertise and experience of the leader is essential. Processing the dialog that comes from the 

experiential activities is crucial and so is providing the relationship of the experience to the goals 

of the group. The leader of the group needs to be committed to the growth of the group, 

recognize the value of team building and acknowledge the importance of the uniqueness of each 

individual in the context of a collective approach to problem solving. 

Bibliography 

Balon, D. (1999). Training briefs: choosing icebreakers with a purpose. MOSAICA: The Center 

for Nonprofit Development and Pluralism, Newsletter Number 14. 

Chlup, D. and Colins, T. E. (2010). Breaking the ice: using ice-breakers and re-energizers with 

adult learners. Adult Learning. Retrieved April 1, 2011 from 

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-239645093/breaking-ice-using-ice.html 

Dictionary.com. (2011). Definition of ice breaker. Retrieved on April 10, 2011 from 

http://dictionary.reference.com/ 

Eggleston, T. and Smith, G. (2004). Building community in the classroom through ice-breakers 

and parting ways. Office of Teaching Resources in Psychology. Retrieved on April 1, 

2011 from http:// www.teachpsych.org/otrp/resources/eggleston04.pdf 

Forbess-Green, S. (1980). The encyclopedia of ice breakers. MO: Applied Skills Press. 

Gill, C. (2009). Icebreakers: five reasons why they are an essential team building activity. 

Retrieved on April 1, 2011 from http://www.articlesbase.com/managementarticles/icebreakers-five-reasons-why-they-are-an-essential-team-building-activity- 

1502768.html 

Heathfield, S. (2008). Twelve tips for team building: how to build successful work teams. 

Retrieved on April 1, 2011 from 

http://humanresources.about.com/od/involvementteams/a/twelve_tip_team_3.htm 

Knowledge Sharing Tools and Methods Toolkit (KSTMT). (2011). Icebreakers. Retrieved on 

April 1, 2011 from http://www.kstoolkit.org/icebreakers 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2008). Definition of ice breaker. Collegiate 11 th edition. USA.

The Art of Icebreakers: The opportunity to learn, laugh and lead. Retrieved on April 1, 2011 

from 

http://www.awsp.org/Content/awsp/StudentLeadership/Resources/monographicebreakers 

.pdf 

The University of Vermont. (2006). Student leaders. Retrieved on April 1, 2011 from 

http://www.uvm.edu/studentleaders/?Page=icebreakers.html 

Wheatley, W. J. (1999). Enhancing the effectiveness and excitement of management education: 

A collection of experiential exercises derived from children’s games. Simulation & 

Gaming. Vol. 30, No. 2, pages 181-198.

My Challenge: 

Transitioning from 

Transitional Face-to Face Course Instruction to a 

Hybrid Format 

Darlene McDonough 


ABSTRACT 

This case study briefly describes the journey that one professor took in transitioning from face‐to‐face course 

instruction to a hybrid model. The purpose for moving into the hybrid model was to solve several problems 

including a decline in enrollment in the Educational Leadership courses and the university’s need to move into 

the 21st century in the use of technology to deliver high quality, equitable instruction to students. The hybrid 

lesson format was based on the 14 Learner‐Centered Psychological Principles developed by the American 

Psychological Association Task Force on Education (1993) and revised by the American Psychological 

Association Work Group of the Board of Educational Affairs (1997). Hybrid courses were developed and taught 

over the course of two semesters. After the first semester, data from the professor’s course evaluation was 

used to improve the hybrid course design and implementation for the second semester. The professor 

comments on the challenges and the advantages of the hybrid format for both the professor and students 

including the impact on student achievement.

My challenge, as a new faculty member, was to combine what I know about best practices in a 

standards-based learner-centered curriculum, my knowledge of educational administration, and 

using the hybrid approach which combines face to face and online distance learning as the 

method of instructional delivery. Staring the third week in August, this was a pretty tall order 

that had to be completed in time for the first class, in three courses, by the last Saturday in 

August. I had a certain level of technological skills and the belief that the new wave of the future 

for teaching and learning for all students, Pre-Kindergarten through higher education including 

doctorial coursework needed to include the use of technology. However, I only had three weeks 

to read the texts for the courses, develop the syllabus for each course, learn how use Moodle for 

interaction with the students, and get all the information for the courses into a technological 

format. 

The Task 

The Educational Leadership Program had piloted the hybrid format the year before for some of 

the courses in the School Building Leadership Program. One reason for piloting the hybrid 

format was to reach a larger group of students who would be interested in this format because of 

the distance they lived and worked from the University. It was hoped that knowing that they 

would only need to physically attend class three times a semester would be more attractive. A 

second reason was to attract another group of students who because of their busy schedules 

would be willing to take courses that would allow them to participate asynchronously, at times 

and places convenient to them. The courses in the pilot proved to be successful in several ways. 

The use of the hybrid course format increased enrollment, decreased the dropout rate, increased 

student active engagement in participation of the weekly threaded discussions, and students 

achieved better grades than in when the courses were offered face to face. As a result, my 

challenge was to redesign the rest of the courses that I would be teaching in the School Building 

Leadership and District Leadership Programs. 

The Research 

The instructional process in the Educational Leadership Program is composed of three steps: 

instructional planning, instructional delivery, and assessment of learning. There is research 

history on which we have based our method of instruction and the assessment of our students 

learning. Our belief is that there is a direct alignment between the written, taught, and 

assessment curriculum. This is based on the research of Glatthorn (2000). It is also our belief 

that preparation for instruction should begin with the end in mind; the standard that the student is 

expected to learn and how that learning will be assessed. The following steps modeled after 

Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding By Design Model (2005) included: stage 1: identify 

desired outcomes and results, stage 2: determine what constitutes acceptable evidence of 

competency in the outcomes and results (assessment), and Stage 3: plan instructional strategies

and learning experiences that bring students to these competency levels. Working from the end 

in mind, students are provided clear expectations through rubrics as to how to demonstrate their 

learning as well as a number of authentic, project based assessments from which to choose based 

on their prior knowledge and current educational and professional experiences. 

The American Psychological Association Task Force on Psychology of Education along with the 

Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory developed 12 Learner-Centered Psychological 

Principals. This document included guidelines for school redesign and reform (1993). The 

principles were divided into four categories: 1) Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors; 2) 

Motivational and Affective Factors; 3) Developmental and Social Factors; and 4) Individual 

Differences Factors. The table below lists the factors in each of the categories. 

Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors Nature of the learning process-intentional 

Goals of the learning process-create meaning 

Construction of knowledge: connect new to 

known 

Strategic thinking: higher order skills 

Context of learning: environmental factors 

Motivational and Affective Factors Motivational and emotional influences: 

emotional state, beliefs, interests, goals 

Intrinsic motivation: creativity, higher order 

skills, curiosity, interest, choice, control 

Effects of motivation on effort, external effort, 

guided practice 

Developmental and Social Factors Developmental influence on learning, differential 

development in physical, intellectual, emotional, 

and social domains 

Social influences: social interactions, 

interpersonal relations, communication 

Individual Differences Factors Individual differences: different strategies, 

approaches, capacities based on prior experiences 

and heredity 

The 

Am 

eric 

an 

Psy 

chol 

ogical Association Work Group of the Board of Educational Affairs (1997) revised the 1993 

principals to the Learner-Centered Psychological Principals: A framework for school reform and 

redesign and included two additional principles. The two additional factors were added in the 

category of Individual Differences Factors: 

- Diversity: differences in linguistics, culture, social background

- Standards and assessment: high standards, diagnostic, process and outcome 

assessments of learner and process. 

Laird (2003.) indicates that hybrid courses transform the when, where, how, and what learning 

occurs in the 21 st century. The courses are characterized by interactions between the learner and 

peer as well as learner and instructor that can occur with any learner at a convenient time and 

place, with compatible equipment (Govindasamy, 2002.). According to Lindsay, (2004.), hybrid 

courses improve communication and interactions between students and the professor and 

between students and students. Active engagement with the content material is also increased 

because all students are required to respond to the discussion question in some way (Sand, 

2002.). Research from the University of Illinois (2011.), indicates threaded discussion used in 

the hybrid format increases adult learning because discussion is interactive and the way most 

adults learn best. It is interactive and participatory as well as providing opportunity for the 

learner to analyze alternative ways of thinking and acting while assisting learners in exploring 

their own experiences so they can become better critical thinkers. Since the hybrid courses only 

meet one, two, or three times a semester, this method of instructional delivery learners who have 

difficulty attending the traditional classroom instruction can have their needs met. 

Traditional instruction is transformed into on-line learning experiences that are based on the 14 

Learner-Centered Psychological Principles which includes three face to face meeting during the 

semester. The hybrid format contains multimedia presentations, simulations, videos, audio 

sequences, text commentaries, small group activities, and student contributions to the threaded 

weekly discussions. Based on research, hands-on, actively engaging learning experiences impact 

the amount of knowledge gained when compared to lecture and chalk talk of the traditional 

classroom. This provides the instructor the opportunity to be very creative and opens up the 

world of virtual field trips to be used in the delivery of instruction. In this way, the learner has 

the ability to collect and organize digital content material and resources as well as electronic 

textbooks on laptops in place of physical textbooks. This decreases the cost of textbooks and 

eliminates the transporting the large textbooks for the learners and the instructor. According to 

the University of Illinois, (2011), hybrid courses support self-directed learning by providing 

individualized, self-paced activities. The learner is proactive and takes the initiative in the 

learning. The learner has greater motivation which makes it more purposeful. As a result, there 

is a greater retention of new knowledge which increases the ability to apply the learning to new 

situations. Research indicates that the greater the expertise of the student in the area the 

technology usage, the higher the student attainment of knowledge and the more motivated the 

student is to participate in a hybrid course (Black, 2002.) Black asserts that students learn more 

in hybrid formats, write better papers, produce higher quality projects, and are able to participate 

in more meaningful conversation on the subject being taught. 

There are some disadvantages or pitfalls to avoid when designing and implementing a hybrid 

course, according to the research. Katela, Garnham, and Aycock (2005.) state one challenge for

professors is to insure they have a working knowledge of the technology that will be used to 

provide instruction. Since this may be a learning curve that is different for each professor. The 

development of the course should be conducted slowly to insure it is done accurately. The more 

accurate the online materials are, including the syllabus and resources, the less frustration there 

will be for the students. Since this is a change from the traditional way of providing instruction, 

professors need to have the commitment to spend the time to redesign and transform their 

traditional lessons to the technological format. It is also important for the instructor to set aside 

time to read and provide feedback to students on a regular basis. There will be students who do 

not participate as directed in the threaded weekly discussions and will attempt to complete the 

entire course the last week of the semester. Carefully established due dates for assignments need 

to be determined and adhered to. The situation will then be avoided. The connection between the 

online assignments and the face to face class activities is crucial to avoid the ‘course and a half 

syndrome’ that can develop if the two parts of the course are not carefully aligned when 

designing the course. Course creation needs to focus on instructional design and delivery using 

technology. It is not just a matter of transferring the traditional lecture mode of delivery of 

content into the online tool. What is required is a rethinking the design of the course as well as 

adopting a new approach to teaching that will make the hybrid format a success. Course goals, 

and objectives while including online learning activities make the learning more learner-centered 

with greater active engagement. Learning to facilitate online discussions and providing more 

project-based assessments of student learning are challenges that professors face in the creation 

and implementation of hybrid courses (Learning Technology Center, Hybrid Courses, 2011.). 

It is important for students who are thinking about participating in the hybrid format, be 

interviewed to determine that they are independent learners, with the level of technology skills to 

be successful including well developed study habits and time management skills. All these are 

needed for student success in a hybrid course. (Katela, Garnham, and Aycock 2005.) 

The Process 

The first steps I took were to review the traditional course syllabus for each course that I would 

be teaching in a hybrid format. Also reviewed, were hybrid courses that had been changed from 

the traditional format the previous year. I conducted research to determine what the most 

important characteristics needed to be part of a hybrid course. Based on the data gathered, I 

determined the following elements were crucial: 1) making connections to the 14 Learner- 

Centered Principles as determined by the American Psychological Association Work Group 

Board (1997), 2) using the lesson plan format model of understanding by design created by 

Wiggins and McTighe (2005), 3) integrating the online course content with the face to face 

components of the hybrid course (Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, 

2005), 4) keeping the course plans and the technology simple (Board of Regents of the 

University of Wisconsin System, 2005), 5) developing a way to effectively and efficiently 

monitoring the design and online communications to ensure they are productive and effective

(Lindsay, 2004), and 6) using the format of threaded discussion to provide timely feedback from 

the instructor while allowing students to provide feedback to each other through required online 

responses (Lindsay, 2004). 

I had several individual tutoring sessions on how the use Moodle, the University’s online 

teaching tool. After developing the syllabus for each course, which included the sequence of 

assignments for each week, the information was put on Moodle. The students were divided into 

three groups-Group A, Group B, and Group C, according to the student’s home location. The 

purpose was to assign a group each week to answer the discussion question and the other two 

groups to respond to the first group’s answers. The first group’s answers were due by midnight 

of the Saturday that the discussion question was assigned. The second and third groups’ 

responses were due by midnight the following Wednesday. The group assignments and due 

dates were included with each discussion question to eliminate any confusion. The dates of the 

face to face meeting were included in the syllabus-the first day of class, a class half way through 

the semester, and the last class of the semester. Three project assignments were also included 

with due dates and the grading rubric for each. Some courses included small group projects. 

The small group project members were the same as the groups assigned for the discussion 

questions but they had the opportunity to choose their group project based on interest, 

experience, and prior knowledge. Any additional resources were placed on Moodle either as 

websites, multimedia presentations, simulations, videos, audio sequences, or text commentaries. 

During the first class, the syllabus was reviewed as well as the course requirements. The use of 

the online teaching tool, Moodle was demonstrated and the students were given an opportunity to 

practice how to use it. Any small group assignment was determined and submitted for approval 

during this class. An introduction to the course content was conducted using an activation of 

prior knowledge strategy (i.e. KWL chart, free writing on the topic, surveying the text, listgroup-label, 

etc.) The second class was used to obtain feedback regarding the threaded 

conversations and address any issues or concerns regarding the hybrid format. An expert in the 

area of the content of the course was brought in to address the students during the second half of 

the class. Due to the nature of the class, presentations by the students were conducted during the 

last session. 

The Results 

In the Educational Leadership program, students were immersed in the new information where 

the new information is connected to known to make meaning from experience and information. 

Demonstrations were conducted using explicit action, giving a visual or auditory representation 

of the new learning while being clear about what students are expected to know, be able to do, or 

value using various skills and strategies. Every lesson started and ended with a focus on the 

expected learning. Students were encouraged to reach for the highest level of performance, 

rubrics were provided when large tasks were assigned and anchor charts were used to define high

quality work. Students were given the responsibility for their own learning as well as 

opportunities to use the new knowledge when choices of how to demonstrate their understanding 

were provided through various means of authentic activities and projects related to real life 

experiences based on interests and intrinsic motivation. Learners need time and opportunity to 

use, employ, and practice their developing control in functional, realistic, non-artificial ways. It 

is important to keep contexts authentic and provide many practice opportunities to use the new 

information. Students began with near transfer practice and moved to far transfer practice as 

students gained confidence with the new skill or knowledge. Opportunities that involved whole 

group, small group, and individual practice were included. 

Differentiation of instruction occurred when students were given the opportunity to choose from 

a variety of assessments which was a way to demonstrate their understanding the knowledge they 

gained. The hybrid format of the courses encouraged interaction of all students on a weekly 

basis as they responded to discussion questions based on their prior knowledge and 

understanding of the new information. Learners received “feedback” from exchanges with more 

knowledgeable “others.” Given realistic feedback continuously that is specific about the 

strengths and weaknesses included next steps for learning. 

Additional assessments were used to determined student acquisition of knowledge which 

included three research papers for each hybrid course with a presentation to the class of the final 

paper. The assessments were graded using a rubric which was given to the students at the 

beginning of the semester. The papers and the presentations of the students participating in the 

hybrid courses were of higher quality than the students participating in the traditional face to face 

courses. 

Data was collected from my evaluation at the end of the Fall semester that helped me to reflect 

on the design and implementation of the hybrid courses from a total of 16 students. The 

following was information helped to guide my development of the hybrid courses for the Spring 

semester. Students stated that the readings were always read and that the assignments conducted 

to the readings were helpful. The syllabus was viewed as always useful. The feedback from the 

instructor was viewed as useful. When receiving a grade, the students understood why they 

received the grade. The discussion board was very useful. Some direct comments included: 

“The professor always took the time to respond to our online discussion and highlighted the 

positives. This was helpful to me in knowing that my responses were appropriate and on point. 

She always presented us with additional thought provoking questions (no need to respond to 

them) related to the content of the readings.” 

“Each of the assignment was beneficial in helping me to understand the depth of school law and 

its impact on what I do on a daily basis as an educator.” 

“The online discussion format facilitated thoughtful and critical analysis of the concepts 

presented in the readings.”

“The professor insured that class discussions and presentations were relevant and applicable to 

our daily responsibilities as educators.” 

The Conclusions 

I have been able to make several conclusions based on the review of the results from this case 

study. It takes time and out of the box thinking to transfer a traditionally taught class to a hybrid 

format. I learned to conduct the redesign process in small steps which included specific learning 

goals that were easy to manage and assess. Keeping the technology simple helped the students 

be more successful and provided a greater opportunity to focus on the content instead of focusing 

on the learning of technology. Careful attention was paid to aligning the hybrid part of the 

course to the three face-to-face meetings to avoid developing a ‘course and a half’. 

Understanding that online course activities take longer than I thought they would, I tried not to 

overload the course. Placing the students in groups and assigning specific groups tasks with due 

dates, helped to maintain continuous, consistent, and valuable participation of all students in the 

threaded weekly discussions. Even those students in a traditional format who would have not 

participated in a class discussion, did so in the weekly threaded discussion because of the safe, 

secure, non-threatening environment. Students were given a rubric that indicated how the 

weekly threaded responses would be graded. Strong weekly responses included a discussion of 

the major concepts, citations from the text and outside sources for support of the thinking, 

personal experiences that showed application of the concepts, questions regarding the concepts, 

validation of the thinking of peers, and multiple responses throughout the week. Weekly 

feedback from peers and from me that was specific and meaningful to each student helped 

sustain threaded weekly discussions that were high quality, were purposeful, expanded the 

concepts, included citations from resources for support of ideas, and contained personal 

experiences as examples. Weekly discussion questions included the application of the concepts 

to new situations through case studies, to personal experiences within the students’ school or 

district, and to situations where the students were in an administrative position making leadership 

decisions. To help students interact more directly with the text, the second semester they were 

asked to code the text using post-its or in the margin. The following codes were used: “I” for 

Interesting, “C” for Concern, “Q” for question, “A” for Agree, and “D” for Disagree. Students 

used the coded information to write a summary of the reading as the discussion question for the 

week as well as responding to their colleagues’ summaries. Due to the weekly active 

engagement by all students, the papers and presentations required of the students in the hybrid 

courses were of higher quality with deeper understanding of the concepts than students 

participating in the traditional face to face courses. 

There are several challenges that I needed to meet to make the hybrid courses successful. They 

included: 1) rethinking the course design, 2) adopting a new approach to teaching, 3) managing

two learning environments, 4) integrating online and face to face instruction, 5) keeping the 

technology and course design simple, 6) spending additional time in planning, designing, and 

implementing the hybrid course including providing timely, specific, meaningful feedback, and 

7) preparing the students to understand their role in the hybrid course and how it is different from 

the traditional face to face course. The advantages to the hybrid course format are: 1) new 

teaching opportunities, 2) more actively engaged students in the learning, 3) increased student 

learning due to more active engagement, 4) new pedagogical approaches (i.e. learner-centered 

practices), 5) differentiation of learning, 6) saves students time and money because the learning 

can take place at any time or any place there is computer access, 7) interaction takes place not 

only between the student and the instructor but also between the student and colleagues, 8) 

students gain insights from multiple perspectives, 9) students drill down deeper into concepts, 

and 10) documentation and assessment of the process of learning as well as the knowledge 

gained. 

The advantages far surpass the challenges. The hybrid model is a way for this university to 

move into the 21 st century in the use of technology to provide high quality, equitable educational 

opportunities for adult learners. The structure of the model is meeting face to face three times a 

semester; assessed asynchronous, threaded weekly discussions; and three research papers with 

one presentation during the last class. Based on the successes this year, the next steps in my 

journey of continuous improvement in the development of my hybrid teaching and course design 

is to include more instructional strategies that I have used during my traditional face to face 

teaching. 

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technology conference in Jackson, Tennessee, May 28-30 th . 

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Martyn, M. The hybrid online model: Good practice. Education Quarterly No. 1 2003 

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education. (1998). Lambert, N. and Combs, B. APA. Washington, DC. 

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Educational Leadership Program Standards ELCC Building-Level Standards For Advanced 

Programs at the Master, Specialist, or Doctoral Level that Prepare Assistant Principals, 

Principals, Teacher Leaders, Curriculum Directors, And/Or other programs that 

prepareeducational leaders for a school building environment 

Pohl, (2000), Learning to think, thinking to learn: Models and strategies to develop a classroom 

culture and thinking. Cheltenham, Vic: Hawker Brownlow. 

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socially shared cognition. APA. Washington, DC. 

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York, NY: Oxford Univ. Press. 

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VA: ASCD.

Peer Assessment of Group Project Work: 

Enabling Students to Provide Concrete Evidence of Fairness in 

Assessing Peer Contributions 

Okey Peter Onyia 

Lindenwood University 

Stephanie Allen 

Bournemouth University 

ABSTRACT 

This paper contains results of an empirical study that tested the efficacy and acceptability of two templates 

designed to fully involve students in proper and fair peer assessments of their group coursework assignments 

by providing concrete evidence of independent progressive documentation of their peers’ contributions to the 

work‐process and end‐product(s). 

Two innovative compatible templates – the Progressive Evaluation Template (PET) and the Peer Assessment 

Criteria Template (PACT) – were developed to enable students provide progressive documentation of their 

peers’ contributions to the student‐led group project process in order to support the marks they award their 

peers and, at the same time, show concrete evidence of their fairness in the entire peer‐assessment process. 

The templates were trialed through experimental usage by the faculty and students of three undergraduate 

classes in The Media School of Bournemouth University in Bournemouth, United Kingdom, and three 

undergraduate classes in the School of Business & Entrepreneurship of Lindenwood University in Saint Charles 

MO, United States. The trials were conducted in the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 academic years respectively. 

The efficacy and acceptability of the templates were then tested through a cross‐national opinion survey of all 

the students in the six classes. 

The study results generally indicate positive acceptance of the templates and a significant relationship between 

the students’ viability‐perception of the tools and the levels of usefulness, comprehension, ease of use, and 

fairness they attributed to them. In discussing the aggregate findings, the paper also recommends ways of using 

the templates in digital peer‐assessment contexts.

1. Introduction: 

Existing research on peer assessments of group project work (GPW) in higher education 

indicates that students learn more from each other in collaborative contexts by studying 

educational materials, critically analyzing theories, writing up projects, and assessing each 

other’s contribution to the group work (van den Berg et al., 2006; Almond, 2009). The curricula 

implication of peer assessment is that while it is ideal for a teacher to evaluate and award marks 

for the end-product(s) of a GPW, the students are in a much better position to evaluate the work 

process, much of which takes place outside the classroom and in the absence of the teacher. 

The advantages of involving students in peer assessments have been articulated by several 

scholars. For instance, Race (2001) is of the view that including self and peer assessments in 

curricula assessments legitimizes what students already do instinctively on their own, and helps 

them to do it a lot more efficiently. Freeman (1995:p289) asserts that peer assessment of GPW 

promotes “independent, reflective and critical learning” among students. Ellis (2001) also adds 

that peer assessment improves critical thinking and group assertiveness, while Pope (2005) 

confirms that peer assessment ensures greater student participation in the learning process in 

general. 

However, many issues have been raised about students’ anxieties and doubts concerning the 

fairness and effectiveness of peer assessment (Fry et al., 2009). These issues range from 

unfairness, favoritism, collusion, to outright vendetta in the evaluation and grading of peers’ 

contributions to the group project work. We have observed some of these issues in the course of 

respective teaching experiences in the UK and the US. In 2009, we traced the origin of the 

problem to lack of a concise peer-assessment tool with the right set of evaluative criteria that 

could infuse fairness into the peer-assessment process. We then designed and trialed two 

templates containing an element of progressive evaluation and documentation of peer 

contributions throughout the GPW period. Our aim was to help students to provide concrete 

evidence of fairness in their peer evaluations. This paper documents the results of our post-trial 

survey that examined the students’ appraisal and acceptance of the templates as effective tools 

for fairer peer assessments in student-led group coursework assignments. 

2. Literature Review: 

2.1. The Role of Group Project Work in Business Education Curriculum: 

Business education curriculum at Higher Education (HE) level is not only designed to impart the 

knowledge of Business theories and principles in students, but also to prepare them for 

employability in the industry. As employers expect in most business-related professions, 

business education curricula must include programs that inculcate the skills of working 

collaboratively in small groups. Hence, as a fundamental pedagogical necessity in business 

1

education, student-focused group learning and student-led group projects are employed 

extensively in most areas of the business discipline (see Freeman, 1995). 

Acquisition of the requisite knowledge and skills for business management requires the 

development of creative-thinking and problem-solving abilities, as well as the skills of written 

and oral communications, report writing, and business presentations. These skills are essential 

because professional industrial practice of business requires the generation of reliable 

information and creative ideas that are aimed at solving internal and external organizational 

problems that will enhance the market potentials and competitiveness of the business. The pieces 

of information, often garnered through extensive market research, are vital for sound business 

decision-making; while the creative ideas, often generated through extensive brain-storming 

sessions, are used in solving huge customer-related problems in the market place. 

The ideas and decisions thus generated must be produced, documented, and properly presented 

to the management (and sometimes the board) of the company before they are transformed into 

products and services worth millions of dollars in the market. Not only does the production and 

marketing of such products and services cost huge sums of money; even the generation of market 

information and creative ideas to support the product’s market performance also costs a lot of 

money. No one individual can therefore undertake any such activities alone. They are usually 

undertaken as group tasks and often achieved through interdepartmental collaborative efforts. 

Acquiring the relevant academic knowledge and skills necessary for such collaborative industrial 

practice therefore requires an infusion of student-centered learning and student-led group project 

work in the educational curricula of most business-related disciplines. 

While several business schools around the world still have large lecture sessions, most have also 

introduced weekly seminars in small groups of 15 to 35 students alongside the lecture sessions. 

In line with Bean (1996), the use of small learning groups, either in the form of classical 

classroom-teaching methods (25 to 35 students) or in small-group seminars (15 – 20 students) 

alongside large group lectures, is aimed at engaging business students more actively in studentcentered 

collaborative learning. In affirming the efficacy of small-group student-centered 

learning, Light and Cox (2004) observe that “the opportunity to come together in small groups to 

change conceptions and explore theories and insights provides students with one of the most 

important learning experiences higher education has to offer”. 

To enable a closer discussion and understanding of the subject matter among students, 

contemporary pedagogy scholars also advocate the assignment of group projects to even smaller 

groups of about 4 to 6 students each within the original group. Atherton (2005) argues that 

dividing the class into such smaller groups aids the students in “undertaking substantial project 

work”. A number of other scholars have also upheld the efficacy of assigning course works in 

2

very small groups. Li (2001) believes that working on a specific project in such small groups 

through the academic term, semester, or year enables students to engage in collaborative learning 

and know each other better. 

Other benefits of assigning group project work (GPW) in very small groups include enabling 

students to “work co-operatively within a team” (Light and Cox, 2004:p117); to acquire and 

develop interpersonal and teamwork skills which will help them in their future professional 

careers (Johnston and Miles, 2004; Almond, 2009); to foster their feelings of ownership of their 

own learning process (Kwan and Leung, 1996); to test their skills against the reactions and 

feedback from their peers (Jacques and Salmon, 2007); to articulate their thoughts and connect 

their prior knowledge to the subject of the group’s discussions in order to accomplish the 

required task (Schelfhout et al., 2004); to develop higher-level cognitive skills alongside valuable 

transferable skills which will enhance their employability (Michaelsen, 1992; Lekj and Wyvill, 

2002); and to generally let them create an independent (teacher-free) learning environment of 

their own, controlled and organized by them, and which allows free uninhibited expression by all 

peers (Light and Cox, 2004). 

2.2. Issues Arising from Peer Assessments of Group Project Work: 

There are many ways to incorporate peer assessment into the curriculum of a business or social 

science program, include allowing the students to evaluate their peers and share a group mark 

previously assigned by the teacher or to generate their own peer-assigned scores. In many cases, 

the students’ peer-assigned scores are merely for formative assessment purposes and do not 

count toward the final summative assessment grade of the course. In other cases, the students’ 

scores are weighted, usually between 10% and 30%; and the teacher’s scores are also weighted, 

usually between 70% and 90% of the overall assignment grade. This is a much better way to 

involve students in the assessment of their own learning experiences. Race et al. (2005) support 

this notion by observing that students have shown greater interest in peer assessments when the 

scores they give each other count towards the final cumulative grade of the coursework 

assessment. According to the scholars, “if students are to take peer assessment seriously, it 

should count for something, even if only a small proportion” (Ibid: p.135). 

However, the idea of peer assessment has not always received unanimous acceptance among HE 

academics. On the contrary, there are several critics of this assessment method who see nothing 

but problems in its adoption. For example, Zhang et al. (2008) question the reliability and 

inclusiveness of peer assessment and argue that it is susceptible to unfair rating and vendetta by 

some students. According to Fry et al. (2009:p141), “peer assessment is often seen as unfair 

because students do not trust each other’s judgments, worry about favoritism and friendshipinfluencing 

marks, feel it is the responsibility of the lecturer, and so on”. Pope (2005) also notes 

3

that peer assessment is prejudice-prone because even a teacher’s attempt to correct an unfair peer 

assessment will automatically introduce bias into the evaluation process. 

Other disadvantages noted in the literature include over-generosity with marks due to familiarity, 

friendship, or fear of peers’ admonition and retribution (Roberts, 2006). There is often 

inconsistency of evidence provided to support the marks awarded and inability to ascertain the 

accuracy of peer assessment in measuring overall learning outcomes (Boud et al., 2001). There is 

also inconsistency of mark-awarding criteria among different groups where more than one group 

is involved in the same assignment (Jaques and Salmon, 2007; Zhang et al., 2008). Altogether, 

collusion is the single most-outstanding issue among students when peer assessment is involved. 

This usually occurs in the form of a collaborative manipulation of marks by team members, 

whereby they give each other exactly the same scores in order to appear fair to all members of 

the team. However in seeking to be fair, they actually become unfair and make nonsense of the 

entire peer-evaluation exercise, especially where there are no specific peer-assessment criteria 

laid out for the students and no tool given to them for providing evidence of their progressive 

evaluation of their peers’ contributions during the group work process. 

2.3. The Need for better Peer-Assessment Enhancement Tools for Business and Social 

Science Curricula: 

Various curriculum scholars have advocated that peer assessment should be an integral part of 

curriculum development, and that it should not be taken for granted because it cannot be 

effectively achieved on a holistic basis at the discretion of students. Gatfield (1999), Li (2001), 

and Bushell (2006) advise that just as teachers specify their own assessment criteria in 

curriculum development, they should also specify some evaluation categories that will guide 

students’ assessments of their peers. The scholars note that a lot of the anxieties and issues 

usually raised against peer assessment could be solved by specifying a clear list of categories as 

peer-assessment criteria to guide the students in their judgment. Osmond (2004) also advises that 

the peer-assessment criteria should be clarified and negotiated between the tutor and the students, 

with the students allowed the opportunity to clearly articulate their own understanding of the 

evaluation categories. 

However, many HE educators either fail to adequately take care of this aspect of their curriculum 

design or leave out group work peer-assessment altogether. The result is that no set of evaluation 

categories has been put forward as a generally adaptable peer-assessment criteria template for 

evaluating group project work (GPW) in HE business education curriculum. Bhalerao and Ward 

(2001) observe that computerized course assessment tools have been traditionally focused on the 

grading of multiple-choice quizzes, including CASTLE (Leicester, 1997), TRIADS (Derby, 

1999), MERLIN (Hull, 1999), and COSE (Staffs, 1999). Very few online assessment tools 

provide evaluative criteria for peer-assessing group written coursework, projects and 

4

presentations, including SPARK (Self and Peer Assessment Resource Kit) developed by 

Freeman and McKenzie (2002) at the University of Sidney, Australia; OPAS (Online Peer 

Assessment System) developed by Trahasch (2004) at the University of Freiburg, Germany; 

“Aropa” (“peer-review”) developed by Hamer et al. (2007) at the University of Auckland, New 

Zealand; and OASYS designed in 1999 by Bhalerao and Ward (2001) at the University of 

Warwick in the UK. 

However, even these online templates contain complex and inflexible evaluation rubrics difficult 

to adapt to social science and business courses. This is because, except SPARK, they were all 

initially designed for computer science and engineering courses. Even the peer-assessment 

platform designed by Prins et al. (2005) and embedded within the Computer Supported 

Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environment at the Open University of the Netherlands also 

provides only an interface for distant-learning students to give formative feedback to their peers 

who remotely work on individual assignments on the university’s virtual learning environment. 

Hence, it is not amenable to the evaluation of face-to-face group projects. 

As a result of this gap that we discovered, it became imperative for us to develop a set of simple, 

easy-to-use, and adaptable peer-assessment templates with a set of generic evaluative categories 

for reliable peer-evaluation of student-led GPWs in business and social science pedagogy. That, 

plus our motivation to negate the peer-assessment shortcomings mentioned in the preceding 

section by providing instructors and students a simple evidential tool for progressive 

documentation of fair and unbiased evaluation of their peers’ contributions to GPW, led us to 

design the two complementary peer-assessment templates (PACT and PET) presented in 

appendices 1A&B and 2 respectively and also explained below. 

3. Introducing PACT and PET: 

3.1. The Peer-Assessment Criteria Template (PACT): 

PACT is a simple and flexible template that business and social science students can use for an 

independent and objective assessment of their peers’ contributions in group project work (GPW), 

group research, and/or group coursework assignments that culminate in written reports and/or 

group presentations. While the tutor assesses the end-products (i.e., the written report and/or 

presentations), each of the students in each small group can use this form to evaluate the input of 

other individual members of the group to the group’s work process. It contains a set of marking 

scales that can be customized to fit any institution’s grading system. For instance, the PACT was 

initially designed in Bournemouth University in 2009 to suit the institution’s 7-point grading 

scale from “very poor contribution” to “exceptional contribution” (see Appendix 1A), and was 

later adapted in 2010 to suit Lindenwood University’s 5-point grading system from “weak 

contribution” to “excellent contribution” (see Appendix 1B). 

5

The template also contains six generic evaluation categories as the assessment criteria on which 

the assessed student’s contributions to various aspects of the GPW are judged by the peerassessor. 

These include group meeting attendance, ideas generation, quality of ideas/material 

contributed, effectiveness in executing assigned tasks, team attitude/cooperation, and share of 

responsibility for team’s overall situation. These criteria are generic enough to suit the 

evaluation of students’ contributions to the preparation and production process of any kind of 

GPW in business and social science education. Students award peer-marks for each of these six 

categories using the marking scales as a judgment tool to decide what percentage range the peer 

deserves for each category. 

In the end, the percentages for the six categories are added up (minimum of 0% and maximum of 

600%) and then divided by 6 to arrive at the assessed student’s overall score from the peerassessor 

(100% maximum). Apart from being flexible in allowing the adaptation of the marking 

scale to each institution’s grading system, PACT also provides students the opportunity to award 

marks in percentage for each of the six categories, thereby making the evaluation and grading of 

the contribution categories quite easy for all levels of HE students. Moreover, having the final 

score from each peer assessor in percentage also makes it easy to add up all the scores received 

by each student from his/her group peers, to determine his/her final peer-assessment score as an 

average of the total from the group, and also to modulate this final score by the weighting 

assigned to peer assessment by the instructor. 

3.2. The Progressive Evaluation Template (PET): 

The PET (appendix 2) is a continuous documentation template to be used by students in 

recording their evaluations of their peers’ contributions to group project assignments throughout 

the duration of the work process. One separate copy should be used confidentially by the peer 

assessor for each assessed member of the team, and all entries for that person should be made on 

the same form throughout the work period. At the end of the work process, the completed PET is 

attached to the completed PACT as the assessor’s evidence of progressive evaluation of the 

assessed peer during the GPW process. The PET therefore needs to be completed before the 

assessor fills up the PACT at the end of the GPW. This is necessary because it serves the 

assessor as the evaluative rubric upon which to base (and with which to justify) the marks given 

to the assessed peer on the PACT form. The PET is quite easy to use as each column is a simple 

six-scale questionnaire representing the same evaluative categories in the PACT. All that the 

assessor needs to do is tick the appropriate box for each category that represents his/her fair 

evaluation of the peer’s contribution to that aspect of the work process at each stage during the 

work duration. 

6

To make more effective use of the PET, once the small group is formed and the project is 

assigned by the instructor, the number of meetings the group intends to hold through the duration 

of the work should be agreed upon. The number of “group meeting” columns on the PET can 

then be reduced or increased in line with the number of meetings agreed upon by the group. If 

possible, the initial tasks required to be performed by each member should also be determined 

and assigned in advance, so that their evaluations can start right from the first formal meeting. 

Tasks can, of course, be reviewed in phases depending on the nature of the GPW. Both PACT 

and PET are not meant for self-assessment, but instructors may adapt them for simultaneous 

peer- and self-assessment if they choose to combine both types of assessment. 

4. Methodology: 

4.1. The Template Trials: 

Paper versions of the PACT and PET were trialed in three undergraduate Marketing 

Communications courses that had group project assignments as part of their full-year coursework 

in The Media School of Bournemouth University in Bournemouth, United Kingdom, during the 

2009/10 academic year. These included: Advertising, Marketing Communications & Branding, 

and Media Planning. Each of them had about 100 students, separated into 5 seminar classes of 

about 20 students each; and each class was further split into 4 small teams of about 5 students 

each for their group project assignments. Since peer assessment was a required component of the 

coursework assessment, about 98% of the students completed and turned in their PACT forms, 

while about 70% completed and attached their PET to the PACT. 

Paper versions of the templates were also introduced in the peer-assessment components of three 

undergraduate business classes that also had GPW in the School of Business & Entrepreneurship 

of Lindenwood University in Saint Charles Missouri, United States, during the 2010/2011 

academic year. The classes were Principles of Marketing (Spring 2010), Consumer Behavior 

(Spring 2010), and Introduction to Research Methods in Business (J-term 2011). There was an 

average of 30 students in each class and they were also split into 5 small teams of about 6 

students each for the purpose of their group project work. All the students turned in their 

completed PACT forms, while only 52% returned their completed PET form with the PACT. 

4.2. Data Collection: 

Two parallel surveys were conducted on the students who used the peer-assessment templates in 

the UK and US respectively. The same questionnaire was used in the two surveys. Its main focus 

was to find out the levels of comprehension, ease-of-use, usefulness, and fairness the students 

associated with the PACT and PET templates, as well as their levels of acceptance of the 

templates. The study also sought to determine the effects of the first four variables on the fifth. 

Comprehension indicates how understandable the templates were to the students. Ease-of-use 

7

indicates how simple or difficult they were to use. Usefulness indicates how valuable and 

necessary the students found them. Fairness indicates the templates’ ability to infuse openmindedness 

and transparency into the peer-assessment process. 

The study hypothesized that the first four indicator-variables (comprehension, ease-of-use, 

usefulness, and fairness) would lead to the fifth and dependent variable (acceptance), which 

would therefore confirm students’ willingness and intention to continue using the templates as 

suitable instruments for generating and presenting fair assessments of their peers’ contributions 

to group project assignments. Based on this conjecture, our study model was designed to 

examine the relationships between the four independent predictor-variables and the dependent 

variable shown in figure 1.1. The relationships between the variables would confirm the overall 

efficacy of the twin templates. 

Usefulness 

Ease-of-use 

Comprehension 

Fairness 

Acceptance 

(i.e., Intention to 

continue using) 

Figure 1.1: Conceptual model of the study 

In addition, being cross-national, the study was also designed to enable a comparison between 

the perceptions of the UK and US students on the fairness infused by the templates into their 

peer-assessment process, given that the US students used them to peer-assess short-term GPWs 

in semester-long courses, while the UK students used them for long-term GPWs in year-long 

courses. The UK students were surveyed via a web-based questionnaire on Surveymonkey 

between December 2009 and January 2010. The US students were surveyed via an emailattached 

questionnaire between March and April 2011. 

8

Demographic UK Students US Students Total Respondents 

N % N % N % 

Gender: Female 

Male 

29 

19 

Table 1.1: Demographic profile of the student-respondents 

5. Data analysis, results presentation, and discussion: 

5.1 Descriptive Analysis: 

In the UK survey, only 48 usable responses (about 16% of the students who tested the templates) 

were received by the deadline given. These comprised the UK dataset. Only 27 useable 

responses (30%) were received in the US survey, constituting the US dataset. The respondents’ 

demographic profiles are shown in table 1.1, while the following is a summary of their response 

statistics: 

(i) Majority of the student-respondents in both countries had used both the PACT 

and PET templates together during the peer assessment trial (72% in the US and 

83% in the UK). 

(ii) 100% of the US respondents had used the PACT, while 23% did not use the PET. 

(iii) 96% of the UK respondents had used the PACT, while 29% did not use the PET. 

(iv) The 4% who did not use the PACT in the UK dataset said they would have used it 

if it were online. Most of those who did not use the PET said they either found it 

cumbersome or would prefer using it online. 

(v) Majority the respondents who did not use the PET in the US dataset said they did 

not see it or could not find it anymore after the first day (80%), while the rest said 

they would only have used it if it were online. 

5.2 Scale Reliability: 

The internal-consistency and construct-validity reliabilities of our measurement model were 

tested by means of Cronbach’s alpha and the factor-loading scores of the four indicator 

variables. According to Hair et al. (2006), a reliable scale should have a Cronbach’s alpha of at 

least 0.6, while values above 0.7 are considerably more desirable. 

60 

40 

Total (N) 48 100 27 100 75 100 

11 

16 

41 

59 

40 

35 

53 

47 

9

Construct 

Recommended value 

Template Acceptance 

(TemA) 

Usefulness (Q5) 

Ease of use (Q6) 

Comprehension (Q7) 

fairness (Q8) 

Item reliability 

Composite reliability 

(Cronbach’s Alpha) 

UK US UK US 

>0.5 >0.5 >0.6 >0.6 

0.5 

0.4 

0.4 

0.9 

0.9 

0.9 

0.9 

0.9 

0.8 

Table 1.2: Scale reliability of the study’s analytical model 

Our reliability results, shown on table 1.2, indicate that our acceptance measurement model has 

high Cronbach’s alphas for both the UK and US datasets. The factor-loading scores for the four 

items are also significant, although much better in the US dataset than in the UK one. These 

results therefore confirm the model’s internal-consistency and construct-validity reliabilities to 

be good. 

5.2 Hypothesis Test: 

Our hypothesis, which asserted that the four indicator-variables (comprehension, ease-of-use, 

usefulness, and fairness) would lead to the dependent variable, acceptance (i.e., the students’ 

willingness and intention to continue using the templates), was tested by computing the standard 

multiple regression analysis in SPSS. Pallant (2007:p146) explains that multiple regression is “a 

family of techniques”, based on correlations, “that can be used to explore the relationship 

between one continuous dependent variable and a number of independent variables or 

predictors”. Two of the “techniques” were used in our analysis of the relationship between our 

independent and dependent variables, including the chi-square test of model fit and the Pearson 

correlation coefficients in standard multiple regression. According to Cheng et al. (2006), the 

significance or otherwise of the standardized regression coefficients determine the veracity or 

falsity of research hypotheses. 

0.9 

10

Construct 

Template Acceptance 

(TemA) 

Usefulness (Q5) 

Ease of use (Q6) 

Comprehension (Q7) 

fairness (Q8) 

Sum of squares Standardized coefficients 

UK US UK US 

X 2 df Sig. X 2 df Sig. Coef. Sig. Coef. Sig. 

5.144 

4 

.000 a 

4.667 

4 

.000 a 

0.5 

0.4 

0.4 

0.8 

.000 b 

.004 b 

.003 b 

.000 b 

Table 1.3: Hypothesis test results: Chi-square and standardized correlation coefficients. 

Note: a = Sig (2-tailed), b = Sig (1-tailed). 

Our multiple regression coefficients, as shown in table 1.3, indicate a very significant 

positive relationship between the students’ acceptance of the templates and the level of 

comprehension, ease-of-use, usefulness, and fairness they attributed to them. In addition, the 

regression chi-square results also indicate a good model fit, significant at 0.000 level. The 

results confirm not only the willingness of the two student-groups to continue using the peerassessment 

templates in future, but also our hypothesis that their acceptance of the templates was 

dependent upon the fact that they generally found them easy to understand, easy to use, useful, 

and fair in implementing peer-assessments in group project assignments. 

5.3 Comparison of the US and UK students’ perceptions of the templates’ fairness: 

To determine the differences between the US and UK students’ perceptions of the fairness 

infused by the PACT and PET templates into the peer-assessment processes of short-term and 

long-term GPWs, we computed the independent samples t-test analysis in SPSS and compared 

the means of their responses on the fairness variable. According to Pallant (2007:p232), the t-test 

analysis compares two groups on the significance of both their equality of variance (F-value) and 

equality of means (t-value). Sig-values of less than or equal to 0.05 indicate a significant 

difference between the means or variances of the two groups, while values above 0.05 indicate 

that the difference between the means or variances of the two groups is not significant. 

0.8 

0.7 

0.8 

0.8 

11 

.000 b 

.000 b 

.000 b 

.000 b

Statistics 

Fairness (Q8) 

UK 

US 

N = 48 

N = 27 

Mean Mean 

1.21 1.22 

F-value 0.076 (sig. = 0.8) 

t-value -0.139 

df 73 

Sig. (2-tailed) 0.9 

Mean difference -0.014 

Table 1.4: Independent samples t-test results 

In our results (table 1.4), the sig-values for both equality of variance (F) and equality of means 

(t) are 0.8 and 0.9 respectively. Since the two values are more than 0.05, they show that there is 

hardly any difference between the variances and means of the two groups. In other words, this 

indicates that there is significant equality of means and equality of variances between the UK 

and US students’ responses on the fairness of the PACT and PET templates. The practical 

implication is, therefore, that both the UK and US students equally perceive the templates to be 

good instruments for infusing fairness in the peer-assessments of group project assignments, 

whether or not they are semester-long or year-long assignments. 

6. Conclusion: 

6.1 Summary of our work and findings: 

In this paper, we have presented our Peer Assessment Criteria Templates (PACT) and 

Progressive Evaluation Template (PET), which we designed in 2009 and tested in the UK and 

US between 2009 and 2011. We have also presented the results of a cross-national study we 

conducted in the two countries among the students who made the initial trial-use of the 

templates. Our main aim was to gauge their overall acceptability of the templates. The following 

is a summary of the insights and opinions we gained from the respondents about the 

complementary peer-assessment tools: 

(vi) Majority of the student-respondents in the US and UK found the two templates 

useful, easy to use, easy to understand, and able to infuse fairness into a peer 

assessment process in group assignments (average of 78% in the US and 80% in 

the UK). 

(vii) Both the US and UK respondent-groups perceived equally (mean = 1.22 and 1.21 

respectively) that the templates possess the ability to infuse fairness into the peer 

assessment process of any group project work (GPW), be they short-term or longterm 

group projects. 

12

(viii) 78% of the US respondents said they would continue to use the PACT and PET 

for peer-assessing GPWs if given the choice. 

(ix) 83% of the UK respondents said they would continue to use the PACT and PET 

for peer-assessing GPWs if given the choice. 

(x) Most of the respondents who did not use the PET in both countries said they 

would have used it if it were online as that would have made it less cumbersome. 

(xi) On changes they desired about the templates, 71% of the UK respondents said 

that both templates should be used either offline or online just as they are; 13% 

said that only the PACT should be adopted; while 16% said they did not find both 

of them relevant. 

(xii) 74% of the US respondents said that both templates should be used either offline 

or online just as they are; 4% said that only the PACT should be adopted; while 

22% said they did not find both of them relevant. 

By presenting the two templates we also have tried to offer a solution to the curricular problems 

often associated with peer-assessment in business and social science disciplines, including the 

lack of assessment criteria to guide the students, the lack of proper documentation of progressive 

peer-evaluation through the GPW duration, and the lack of fairness that students often complain 

about in the whole peer-assessment process. Generally, the results of our post-trial survey have 

shown that the PACT and PET are reliable innovative tools for involving students in an active 

and fair peer assessment of their group project assignments, a vital strategy for enhancing 

student-focused learning experience. Based on our findings and analyses, we have come to the 

conclusion that the two peer-assessment templates are viable interdependent tools for 

implementing peer assessment in any student-led GPW in any business or social science 

program and at any level of higher education. 

6.2 Recommendations: 

We recognize the prime suggestions of our student-respondents. They made it clear that using 

the PACT and PET online would be the best way of using them. It would make them less 

cumbersome and also environment-friendly by being as paperless as possible. We therefore 

recommend that the PACT and PET should be used either online or offline. For the online 

versions, we are presently working on the software that will enable interactive versions of the 

two templates to be available to HE institutions. These will be infused as interactive tools into 

the institution’s virtual learning environment (VLE) such as Blackboard or WebCT. 

13

All the students in each project team will sign up to one designated account that hosts their own 

group work on the course site of the VLE. Each member will have access to only his/her own 

folder that contains one dated interactive PET column at a time for each member of the team. It 

will also have an interactive PACT template, but which can only be enabled by the teacher after 

all the progressive evaluations are completed at the end of the project. In each active PET 

column, the VLE will display the six evaluation categories for only one evaluation process after 

each group meeting. The team members will update their progressive evaluation records online 

and save their files after each meeting. At the end of the entire work period, the teacher will 

activate the PACT template and permit each member to provide final assessment marks for each 

person he/she has been evaluating during the work period. 

The software will also synchronize the two templates and ensure that the marks and final grades 

assigned with the PACT are in consonance with the evaluations made throughout the work 

period and recorded in the PET. Any mark entered in the PACT that does not conform to the 

PET assessment will be flagged up and rejected by the system. The system will equally prevent 

peers from seeing each other’s folders and from changing any entries previously saved during the 

progressive evaluation. When completed, both templates for each assessed person will then be 

uploaded onto a central submission box for the teacher’s preview and integration with his/her 

own group marks. According to Albon (2006:p.129), this kind of online involvement will not 

only empower students, but also strengthen their goals as they will clearly know what they are 

expected to contribute to the group work. 

Meanwhile, until our interactive digital versions are available, the two templates could be used as 

confidential MS-Word documents filled up by each student-assessor and emailed directly to the 

teacher or uploaded onto the university’s VLE. In universities and colleges where online 

submission, online feedback, and online marking of students’ assignments have been fully 

implemented, the templates could be used alongside the other submission tools, enabling 

students to download them, fill them up, and upload them onto a drop-box that only the teacher 

has access to. Finally, we believe that interactive online versions of the templates will ultimately 

enable students to confidentially judge the contributions of their peers independently, fairly, and 

on a consistent platform. 

14

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16

Performance Funding of Public Universities: 


Stephen G. Kerr 

Bradley University 

ABSTRACT 

Key Performance Indicators are often used to give feedback concerning a post‐secondary institutions progress 

toward policy goals. In this sense they are used to create a sense of accountability. The Government of Alberta 

(Canada) implemented an accountability policy initiative in the early 1990’s. One aspect of the policy was the 

creation of key performance indicators for post‐secondary institutions. They planned to use the measures to 

start funding universities and colleges on the basis of their relative performance. After a number of years the 

Alberta Government abandoned performance funding and the KPI initiative. They could not resolve the many 

political and managerial problems arising from the quantification process. The public documents relating to the 

life of this initiative provide the basis for a case study. The case study approach preserves the policy initiative so 

that post‐secondary education stakeholders can reflect more deeply on the impact of KPIs. Alberta’s case 

demonstrates that KPIs are a powerful policy tool. It was evident that the use of KPIs accelerated institutional 

responses to governmental policy. Caution is needed because incentives for unintended damaging managerial 

behaviour were also increased. The relevance of the case is increasing due to the current increased interest by 

State Government in performance funding of State Universities.


This study was designed to increase understanding about the impact of key performance 

indicators (KPIs) on higher education policy processes. The Province of Alberta is located in 

Western Canada. It borders on British Columbia to the west and the State of Montana to the 

south. The Government of Alberta was highly influenced by ideas from the new public 

management movement of the early 1990s. In part, this led to a great interest in performance 

funding models for its public universities and colleges. One of the many ways to deepen our 

understanding of KPIs in higher education is to document cases where they have been 

deployed. 

Accountability is a hot topic at the political, policy, and administrative levels of post 

secondary administration. A deceptively simple reaction to the pressure for more 

accountability has been to create “objective” quantitative measurement systems. The Alberta 

experience reveals a shift in what it means to be accountable when these measurements are 

used. Reflecting on the Alberta experience, may provide fresh perspective, in light of the 

renewed national and international interest in performance funding. The visceral, negative 

and positive, responses to Alberta’s KPI initiative indicate that a consensus about the 

administrative value of KPIs does not exist. Policy decisions have a pervasive effect as they 

pass though the levels of an institution. Every time we can improve our conceptual 

understanding of this process the entire cycle of policy development and implementation can 

be refined. 

This study is set in a policy context. The institutional framework (government, department of 

higher education, universities, colleges, faculties) of the higher education system have an 

influence on how the policy process operates. Brook (1989) points out there are political 

advantages to society by delegating education delivery to university administrations. The 

government has only indirect control mechanisms, such as board appointments to those 

universities. Epstein (1983) and others have identified measuring as an important two-way 

communication tool in such circumstances. Requiring measurement symbolically shifts 

responsibility to the university. The measures also give the university a legitimate way to 

structure their activities for public reward. 

The current process and cycle of measuring university activities in Canada can, according to 

Aucion and Bakvis (1988), be traced to the formation of the 1960 Glasso Commission. That 

Commission foresaw a need for a performance emphasis in public policy and suggested 

Canadian governments can be more responsive and responsible by moving management of 

programmes out to agencies (Canada, 1962). Similar perspectives, known as New Public 

Management, were adopted in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. This trend was 

renewed by the recommendations of Canada’s Smith Commission (1991). At the time the 

national news magazine in Canada (Maclean’s) started an annual ranking of universities. The 

secular interest in the then new Maclean’s survey only further demonstrated the broad appeal 

of the approach. The accountability policy adopted by the Government of Alberta in 1993 

was consistent with the developments in policy analysis. 

Policy formulation and implementation are processes through which the subjective 

construction of the social world occurs in the context of organisations. There are well 

established theories to guide investigations into these processes. Lerner, Goldberg, and 

Tetlock (1998) have documented cases where accountability systems failed. Accountability 

systems do not guarantee that accountability will be achieved. They theorised that KPIs will 

only be successful in special cases. Very little research has been done concerning what 

conditions would constitute appropriate conditions for KPI deployment. It is therefore 

1

important to deepen our understanding about the use of KPIs as a policy implementation tool 

given that KPIs are such a powerful and popular administrative tool. 

The purpose of this study was then to explore the deployment of KPIs by the Alberta 

Department of Advanced Education and Career Development (AECD) as they worked to 

implement the Government of Alberta’s accountability policy. The specific focus of this 

study was the KPI project within AECD. The AECD KPI project provided an excellent casestudy 

opportunity to explore the relative advantages and dangers of the new use of KPIs. 

This paper explores the background of the policy and provides a brief history of the project. 

The resulting case study is used to suggest a conceptual role for KPIs and how that case may 

be used to improve administrative practice around the use of KPIs. 

2. Background 

Quantifying all aspects of a policy or a strategy can trigger two significant types of problems. 

First, it is difficult to fully reflect a strategy accurately and adequately in quantitative terms. 

The second consideration is the administrative impacts that result. KPIs as a quantification of 

strategy have become more than feedback mechanisms–they are feed-forward mechanisms. 

This change elevates the symbolic significance or capital attached to KPIs because they are 

now definitions of expected performance. Consequently, university administrators have an 

increased incentive to focus all their attention exclusively on KPIs. In the short term it may 

be easier to increase KPI performance by engaging in opportunistic behaviour–only actions 

that have an immediate effect on the KPI will be taken. Measuring retention at a college may 

reflect a policy desire for quality recruitment and attention to struggling students. A college 

could respond with programs to help these students which would eventually result in a 

reward. However the administration could respond by applying covert pressure on deans and 

faculty to stop issuing failing grades. The long-term goal is displaced but a successful 

accountability report is achieved. 

Policy formulation and implementation are at once intertwined and separate processes. Pal 

(1997) described the complex relationship between policy formulation and design as shown 

in Figure 1. 

Policy Formulation 

Good Bad 

Policy Good I II 

Implementation Bad III IV 

Figure 1: Policy Design and Implementation. (Pal, 1997, p.146) 

Discussions about policy formulation must consider how the policy will be implemented. 

Implementation experiences are used to modify and refine policy. These can also be 

regarded as separate processes. A sound formulation process includes a thorough 

consideration of the external environment and available organisational resources. A sound 

implementation process occurs when administrators take steps to focus the complex web of 

systems and organisational behaviours towards a new policy direction. Every administration 

wants to arrive in the situation represented by cell I in Figure 1 because the combination of 

good policy formulation and implementation represents the best possible conditions for 

organisational success. The best conditions do not however guarantee organisational success. 

Policy discussions that take into account ongoing implementation experiences will increase 

an organisation’s chances of experiencing cell I. Cell III represents a weaker potential for 

2

organisational success because poor implementation processes offset good policy 

formulation. Given the complexities involved, cell IV, which represents the weakest chances 

for organisational success, cannot be dismissed as an unlikely event. The implementation of 

KPIs by the Government of Alberta represents an attempt to increase the probability of 

experiencing cell I by increasing the linkage between policy formulation and implementation. 

AECD adopted the new application of KPIs in 1993. The chain of policy-implementing 

agencies involved in higher education, as in many types of corporate structures, is long. It 

starts with the governments (political) policy setting body, then the government department 

(AECD), then the individual universities, then to specific colleges or faculties within those 

institutions, then finally to specific academic departments or programs. Each additional 

“link” in the implementation chain introduces more agency cost. Fortunately, it has also 

resulted in an extensive set of public documents used to communicate policy and 

implementation actions between the agencies. Such complete documentation of the policy as 

it passes through the implementation chain is almost never available when implementation 

occurs within a single entity. Documentation and analysis of AECD implementation of KPIs 

as part of the Government of Alberta’s accountability policy adds to the scarce stock of 

implementation cases that can be used to evaluate new developments in policy 

implementation theory. 

The case study is commonly used to investigate implementation in complex situations. This 

pattern began with the Pressman and Wildavsky (1979) investigation into the failure of a new 

federal housing policy to improve conditions at the end of the implementation chain. Federal 

policy and money was passed down, eventually reaching the local Oakland California 

housing authority, but conditions did not improve. Since Pressman and Wildavsky, the case 

method has dominated policy implementation studies (O’Toole, 1986). The modern use of 

cases studies follow the classical pattern of case methodology found in philosophy and other 

social science research. It is also commonly employed by professional schools because it is a 

highly effective method of capturing important human experiences. Although knowledge 

may be separated from experience the case study increases understanding by promoting the 

linkage between knowledge and experience. 

Several alternative models of policy implementation exist. Mazmanian and Sabatier (1981) 

developed a conceptual model around independent variables such as policy, structure, and 

tractability, and dependant variables that represented the situation within the implementing 

agency. Jenkins’ (1978) model emphasises circumstances in implementing agencies. 

Mitnick and Backoff (1984) based their model on agency and communication theory. 

Goggin (1990) bases his model on communications theory. Pal (1997) echoes management 

practice in the Federal Treasury Board (1995) and Alberta Treasury Departments (1994a) by 

modelling implementation around the selection of a series of management techniques used to 

hasten progress toward a stated goal or policy direction. Much research remains to be done 

to incorporate our expanding understanding of accountability processes. An ongoing concern 

is how to limit the agency costs associated with reducing the incentive for administrative 

gamesmanship (Meier and O’Toole, 2006). 

There are also several alternative assumptions about decision making in the context policy 

analysis. In the context of policy analysis there are 3 classifications of theory about this: low 

level, mid level, or high level. Low-level theories emphasize the role of interpersonal 

interaction. An example this type of theory is found in Dye’s (1978) work. Mid-level 

theories emphasize the role of organizations and other social groups. The work of Bolman 

and Deal (1991) and Morgan (1995) are examples of this type of theory. High level theory 

emphasizes larger issues about the meaning of life and integrates a theological perspective. 

3

Applying established social theories can widen and enrich the considerations that go into case 

development, analysis and conclusions. Mid-level theory most closely aligned with the 

purpose of this study. As a consequence the Bolman and Deal model was utilized. Their 

model includes looking at a case from four frames: structural, political, human resource, and 

symbolic. Each of these four frames become “lenses” that provide insight into the decision 

making. 

The case method preserves a situation so that the researcher and subsequently others can test 

multiple theories and interpretations. Yin (1994) built on that argument to justify the case 

method: 

The distinctive need for case studies arises out of the desire to understand complex 

social phenomena. In brief, the case study allows an investigation to retain the 

holistic and meaningful characteristics of real life events—such as individual life 

cycles, organisational and managerial processes, neighbourhood change, 

international relations and the maturation of industries (Yin, 1994, p. 14). 

To best do this the case was developed with reference to theoretical models. The initial case 

was developed using the Mazmanian and Sabatier (1981) model. This approach produced 

evidence of the predictable conflicts arising through the implementation process. If we had 

stopped and summarised the case findings solely in terms of this model important 

organisational dynamics would have been missed. The case was considered through the four 

frames developed by Bolman and Deal (1991). This approach did facilitate the discovery of 

additional organisational dynamics and a deeper understanding of the case. 

The primary sources of data for this study were public documents. In addition, four 

interviews were conducted with AECD and university officials that were involved with the 

KPI project. A preliminary version of the case report was completed after observation of the 

AECD KPI project team. After receiving feedback on the case, a second round of data 

collection was conducted. Mazmanian and Sabatier’s model was used to predict expected 

outcomes and this served to draw attention to unexpected actual outcomes. Additional 

interviews were also conducted at this stage to confirm our interpretation of the documents 

and that the document list was appropriate. The final copy of the case went through several 

redrafts to ensure that the chronological and organisational factors were dependably 

presented. The full case grew into a lengthy document and is available for research purposes 

from the author. What follows is a summary of the resulting case study. 

3. Story line 

The size of the accumulated debt of the Government of Alberta was not widely understood in 

1992, perhaps because the debt developed quickly and during a time when the economy 

looked fairly prosperous. Alberta had enjoyed low taxation and balanced budgets for most of 

the 80’s. A large unexpected drop in oil prices led to deficits, which rapidly increased to 

$2,120 billion in 1991/92 and $3,855 billion in 1992/93 (Perry, 1997). Ralph Klein started 

his term as premier in 1993. Alberta’s 1992/93 deficit was 25% larger than Ontario’s deficit 

in relation to gross domestic product and 40% higher than the national average (Perry, 1997). 

This deficit situation was far worse than in any of the Maritime Provinces, generally regarded 

as the poorest provinces in Canada. All this led to an intense public interest in Alberta’s 

fiscal situation (Taft, 1997). 

Ralph Klein’s predecessor Don Getty started building the backbone of an accountability 

policy in 1992. The government gathered together groups of Albertans to solicit their ideas. 

The discussions helped increase public awareness of accountability issues, even though the 

4

participating groups were carefully engineered (Lisac, 1995). A summary of the discussions 

was published as the Simpson Report in 1992. Ralph Klein built on this initial work. 

The Simpson Report established an important initial tenet regarding government 

accountability by reporting that Albertans wanted government to manage the policy process. 

Rather than deliver services directly, government would establish clear expectations for 

service agencies and then closely and publicly monitor their operations. This process 

contrasts sharply with the expectation of direct management by government. The influences 

of books such as Reinventing Government (Osborne & Gaebler, 1993) were evident in the 

Simpson Report. Government was becoming more entrepreneurial through the separation of 

service delivery from legislative responsibility (Brook, 1989). This philosophy which is 

referred to as new public management was quickly adopted by the Alberta Cabinet (Evans, 

1997) along with mechanisms to show that the government was holding its agencies 

accountable. 

Don Getty retired late in 1992 and leadership of the Province transferred to Ralph Klein. 

Klein called an election in 1993 to establish his own mandate. Before calling the election he 

announced two separate initiatives to define the accountability policy which formed the basis 

for subsequent policy implementation by his adminstration. The Premier’s Office developed 

and released a new economic strategy, called Seizing Opportunity (Alberta Premier’s Office, 

1993). The plan reinforced the new role of government and established measurement 

standards. The Provincial Treasurer reinforced this approach with a series of consultations 

that he referred to as budget roundtables, beginning in March of 1993. Out of these 

discussions, the Treasurer developed the report A Better Way: A Plan for Securing Alberta’s 

Future, which was released just after the election (Alberta Treasurer, 1994a). The report was 

hailed as the first business plan for the government and it included specific goals and 

measures for each Department, including AECD. However, many of the plans were vague 

and came with a promise to develop more detail during 1994/95. They did however show 

responsiveness to the intense public dialogue about Alberta’s deficit situation. 

Following the 1993 election, four separate initiatives established the accountability policy at 

the government level. First, Treasury took an active role in shaping Departmental plans by 

requiring three-year business plans from each Department, and also by tightly establishing 

the criteria for those business plans. Second, Alberta’s Auditor General (AG) added his 

support through new audit initiatives (Auditor General, 1994). The AG announced an 

emphasis on comprehensive auditing, which included a careful assessment of the goal-setting 

process and progress toward goals (CCAF, 1993). The third step was establishment of an 

annual report card to provide specific information about progress toward the stated goals of 

each Department (Alberta Provincial Treasurer, 1994a). The fourth and final step was to 

develop an Accountability Act to elevate responsibility for measurable goals and to report 

progress into a legal requirement (Alberta Legislature, 1996). The Act also extended the 

reporting requirements to every institution receiving public funds, including universities. 

AECD anticipated the Government’s policy direction and published its own policy 

interpretation, Accountability Expectations of the Public Post-Secondary Institution Sector in 

October 1993. This document indicated AECD would pursue accountability by creating a 

framework for adult learning and increasing responsiveness, access, and affordability. These 

goals are reflected in the Department’s first business plan. Following the issuance of the 

1994 to 1996 business plan as part of A Better Way, AECD went about developing its vision 

for adult learning. Following a limited set of consultations because of the bounds set by the 

business planning process, a policy document was released in 1994, New Directions for Adult 

5

Learning. This work clarified the broad accountability goals of AECD: accessibility, 

responsiveness, affordability, and research excellence. 

According to AECD, accountability is achieved when the government and post-secondary 

institutions take responsibility “for the way in which resources are allocated and for 

demonstrating to the public what results are being achieved” (AECD, 1993, p. 2). For each 

of the accountability goals set out for AECD in the 1994 to1996 business plan, specific 

measures were proposed to justify the resource allocations. It was also clear that these 

measures would be used to demonstrate the Department’s accountability to the public: This 

meant demonstrating to Albertans that the post-secondary system was prepared to examine 

the way in which it is organised and operates, had the capacity to innovate and respond to 

those it serves, and delivered quality services in an efficient manner (AECD, 1993, p. 1). 

Within the Department, new initiatives arose to ensure that every post-secondary institution 

helped AECD to achieve the accountability goals. First, an Access Fund was established to 

support competitive proposals to deal with problem areas. Second, a project was set up to 

develop a system-wide set of KPIs to monitor systems and institutional performance. A third 

group was established to implement performance funding. Each of these initiatives was to be 

developed in conjunction with the affected stakeholders. However, the consultative process 

was bounded by deadlines imposed by Treasury. It was not clear whether this indicated the 

value placed on consultation with post-secondary institutions, or whether the deadlines were 

to ensure the process was completed in a timely manner. 

The origins of the KPI project within AECD can be traced to 1992 when the Department 

issued a discussion paper to a Universities Co-ordinating Council (UCC) entitled 

Performance Indicators and Accountability Measures. This pre-dates its 1993 accountability 

policy paper. While the paper was discussed, very little progress was made until after the 

publication of the Department’s policy paper, New Directions for Adult Learning, in Alberta 

in October 1994. A four-stage development process was set up, starting with discussions that 

resulted in a set of measurement goals. An important aspect of the goal-setting stage was the 

agreement to focus on system outcomes. Stage two involved evaluating KPIs for each of the 

measurement goals. This process started in 1994. The Internet facilitated an intense 

discussion between everyone involved. Development was largely directed by committees 

established by the Universities Co-ordinating Council and that allowed Department officials 

to act as facilitators rather than leaders. General agreement was reached by February 1995 

and was announced in Institutional Accountability in Alberta’s Post-Secondary system: A 

Progress Report. Stage two ended with the publication of the first KPI reporting manuals in 

the fall of 1995. 

Stage three and four did not go as smoothly as the first two stages. Stage three was to be a 

pilot study to work out any problems in the data and the process. Many calculation problems 

emerged pointing to inconsistent or incomplete data definitions. Institutions also had trouble 

coping with reporting requests from separate branches within AECD. As a result, the 

information reporting and exchange project, the benchmarking project, and the KPI project 

were all co-ordinated to reduce the overlap. The reporting manuals were redone in May 1996 

and a second pilot was conducted on the 1994/95 data. Stage four was to include sharing of 

the KPI information and design of a KPI report to be used for the 1996/97 data. The UCC 

asked for more time to study the measures. Such a delay was not possible because of the 

commitments the Department had made to the Treasury Board to institute a degree of 

performance funding. There was some conflict over this and so AECD assumed leadership 

from the UCC with direct institutional negotiations. 

6

The end result of negotiation was the development of the key performance data sets. There 

were 19 data sets that addressed topics such as: access, completion rates, student persistence, 

cost per graduate, employment rates, graduate satisfaction, and fiscal management. In 

addition to these general indicators there were 6 indicators that addressed the research 

mandate of the universities. The major criticism directed at the data sets is that they 

attempted to reduce the higher education system to a set of quantitative indicators. In 

response to this criticism AECD officials decided to use only seven indicators from the data 

sets as a basis for developing a performance envelope. The seven indicators were: learner 

satisfaction index, employability indicator, adult literacy indicator, research excellence 

indicator, accessibility indicator, cost per graduate indicator, and the cost per student 

indicator. 

During stage four, the focus moved to applications of the KPI data and away from the direct 

development of the KPI project. Emphasis shifted to designing a mechanism for the 

performance envelope. Considerable discussion was had about establishing benchmarks for 

the 7 selected indicators and how much money would be allotted to the performance 

envelope. 

According to the 2000-01 Annual Report only $25 million was made available for the 26 

participating institutions which represented about 3% of their total base grants from AECD. 

There were also a number of measurement issues that had been set aside in early stages so 

that timely agreement could be reached. This marked a shift away from the early thrust of 

government to focus specifically on performance and to reward performance that supported 

system-wide goals. As a result of the MLA funding review (Alberta Learning, 2000) in 

February 2001 one-time funding awards were made to several institutions in recognition of 

historic issues related to equity. College presidents increasingly observed that the amount of 

the performance award as relatively minor and barely sufficient to cover the cost associated 

with data collection and submission (Corbett-Lorenco, 2001). The KPI project ended in 2003 

with a return to historic resource allocation methods. At the end of the study a new KPI 

advisory board was being set up to guide the ongoing development of the project with no 

meaningful evidence that the role of KPI driven performance funding will increase. While 

the KPI project expired it may yet provide conceptual insights that will have lasting benefit. 

4. Conceptual considerations 

The policy context of this study is important because of the interrelationship between policy 

formulation and policy implementation (Pal, 1997). Prominent policy writers consistently 

suggest that policy systems arise out of three elements: policy stakeholders, policy 

environment, and public policy (Dunn, 1981; Dye, 1978; Pal, 1997). Changes in the political 

environment are modifying the way policy analysis is approached (Osborne & Gaebler, 

1993). According to Pal (1997), three important changes are occurring. First, government is 

expected to provide the governance mechanism, but not to actually run things. Linked to this 

movement is a second trend toward smaller government. Finally, there is a post-modern 

attack on the rational tradition of policy analysis. However, the changes in the political 

environment have not changed the basic need for policy analysis. All three of the 

aforementioned changes are resulting in an increased use of independent agencies to carry out 

policy. As the number of organisations in the policy implementation chain increases, so does 

the importance of communication to link the organisations together. 

Policy establishes a contract, which links together the organisational communities that will 

interpret and the implement the intended policy. The broad purpose of each organisation in 

the policy chain arises from the established patterns of interaction and policy development. 

Bourdieu (1993) discusses the deep-rooted symbolic capital that develops around the way we 

7

organise social activity. He describes the intense reactions that follow when someone tries to 

betray the symbolism underlying established relationships. Schein (1985) identified this 

same phenomenon as a psychological contract. Even modern scholars who support the 

scientific management approach, such as Perrow (1986), recognise the importance of 

consistent human relations and political contexts in management processes. These 

mechanisms act like “glue” to help protect an organisation from fleeting fads and give 

managers a way to thwart any policy that is perceived to be ill-conceived. The same glue 

makes it difficult to bring an organisation’s behaviour into line with a new policy direction. 

As a consequence, the popular management literature is full of techniques on how to 

implement transformational change. Implementation cannot therefore be taken for granted. 

Accountability is more than a policy adopted by the Government of Alberta. Consideration 

of the broader social context of accountability places Alberta’s policy and related initiatives 

in a more meaningful perspective. Accountability arises from the roll of agency in our 

interdependent society. Individuals, groups, companies, and governments are “accountable” 

to each other. The inherent dependences tend to fluctuate with circumstance. An important 

reason then for the lack of precision is the controversy that erupts when stakeholders are 

asked to agree on specific responsibilities (Dennison, 1998). Given the variety of 

stakeholders in the post-secondary system, consideration of relevant post-secondary 

accountability literature was important. 

Accountability is the process through which two parties communicate about how they have 

carried out their responsibilities toward each other (Lerner, Goldberg, & Tetlock, 1998). 

Annual reports and financial statements are vehicles through which management is held 

accountable for the stewardship of shareholder capital. The Government Accounting 

Standards Board (GASB) has asserted the public sector will demonstrate accountability by: 

“being obliged to explain one’s actions, to justify what has been done… 

accountability requires governments to answer to the citizenry—to justify the 

raising of public resources and the purposes for which they are used (GASB, 

1987, p. 21).” 

The Government of Alberta was more specific in its definition of accountability following the 

1993 election. According to the Auditor General: 

“Accountability is an obligation to answer for the execution of one’s assigned 

responsibilities.…The basic ingredients of successful accountability relationships 

are as follows: set measurable goals and responsibilities, plan what needs to be 

done to achieve goals, do the work and monitor progress, report the results, 

evaluate results and provide feedback (Alberta Auditor General, 1994, p. 1).” 

These definitions illustrate the general components of the communication that is needed to 

demonstrate accountability. 

Lerner and Tetlock (1999) investigated accountability systems in terms of the characteristics 

of the principal audience. They learned that if the audience’s views—in our case the 

Government—are known, creativity will be stifled. The agent has no choice but to match or 

restructure tasks to demonstrate compliance through whatever measures are used. All the 

power in this relationship shifts to the principal. If the principal’s views are not known, then 

the accountability interest shifts to the agent. In this case, accountability reports are used as 

defensive weapon against criticism by clearly defining the goals. The agent feels free to try 

creative approaches because the actions are justified by the accountability criteria the agent 

has presented. Lerner and Tetlock concluded that the use of specific performance 

measures—which by their nature serve to clarify the audience’s views—will have a strong 

8

impact on the way the agent approaches the accountability process. This is consistent with 

the work of Laughlin (1990). He was able to develop a diagrammatic model showing how 

specific accountability mechanisms. They will grow out of the relationship as demands and 

responses accumulate through the flow of information regarding the transferred 

responsibilities. 

A conceptual framework regarding the use of KPIs as a policy implementation technique was 

developed from the findings and conclusions arising from this study. This conceptual 

framework shows that KPIs have a significant influence on the implementation of an 

accountability policy. Even though there were a number of organisations in the 

implementation chain, the KPIs had a direct and therefore faster impact on all levels of the 

implementation chain. This made the whole system more responsive to government policy. 

KPIs behaved much like Adam’s invisible hand that guides economic decision making. As a 

result, feedback mechanisms are less important sources of management information. Bolman 

and Deal’s (1991) model pointed to the effect that KPIs have on organisational dynamics. 

How KPIs are regarded will depend on the organisational paradigm the affected managers are 

using. This case demonstrated that KPIs had both positive and negative impacts on the 

implementation of the accountability process. 

KEY 

PERFORMANCE 

INDICATORS 

POLICY 

FORMULATION 

PROCESS 

POLICY ENVIRONMENT 

POLICY 

STATEMENT 

IMPLEMENTATION 

PROCESS 

Figure 2. Policy implementation with KPIs 

Impact on 

Institutional 

Outcomes 

Feedback 

The conceptual framework shows that the use of KPIs is a significant and effective 

implementation tool. KPIs have accelerated the implementation cycle. Increased speed 

poses some dangers, however. The slow passage of policy down the implementation chain 

made it possible to detect and adjust policies in response to negative outcomes before they 

passed to every agent. If KPIs are used in the implementation process, greater care must be 

taken in the policy formulation stage. When KPIs are used, policy makers can expect policy 

formulation and implementation to become more of a simultaneous process. Showing the 

direct impact of KPIs on each stage of the implementation process has done this. As a result 

of this, it is also necessary to show the reduced significance of feedback regarding 

institutional outcomes in the policy cycle. To show these changes, the lines representing the 

feedback process have been made smaller relative to the other processes. 

9

A key feature of the conceptual diagram is the non-linear functions of the policy 

implementation process. The conceptual diagram shows the dominant impact of KPIs on all 

aspect of the implementation process. KPIs simultaneously impact all aspects of the policy 

implementation process. The existing non-linear aspects of policy implementation are 

increased by the use of KPIs. For example, the feedback from institutions affected the 

number and type of KPIs that were ultimately used by AECD. This is reflected in the double 

feedback loops shown framework and highlights the dominant impact of KPIs on all aspects 

of the policy implementation process. While the dominant impact of KPIs is a strength that 

can be utilised by administrators the un-mediated speed also accelerates the damage done by 

poorly conceived KPIs. 

5. Findings and Considerations 

Measurement has become a symbol of good management. This study explored the use of 

KPIs by AECD as they worked to implement a Government of Alberta’s accountability 

policy. More specifically, this study focused on the KPI project within AECD. The AECD- 

KPI project provided an excellent opportunity capture a case study that would facilitate 

exploration of KPI usage. The political pressure for accountability is unlikely to diminish. 

As a result, we can expect the calls on policy makers and administrators to quantify their 

performance will continue. 

Examples of satisfying measurement are hard to find and the KPI project of the Alberta 

Government has also ended without fulfilling initial expectations. The attraction and appeal 

of quantification was not diminished by such failures. Charles Miller is the Chair of the 

U.S.A. Federal commission on Higher Education (Field, 2006). He is best remembered so far 

for the No Child Left Behind program. The Commission will soon report on the need to 

make universities in the U.S.A. more accountable through performance measurement. 

Already our collective memory of the many performance funding initiatives undertaken in the 

early 90s, which largely failed to meet expectations, have faded. 

Now, more than 10 years after the initial KPI driven performance funding initiatives faded 

the process is starting over. Inside Higher Education has featured stories about political 

interest in “performance funding 2.0.” These groups advocating for this simplify the failure 

of earlier attempt at performance funding to a strong university lobby that wanted the safety 

of guaranteed income. As Minister of Education, Julia Gillard, now Australia’s Prime 

Minister is championing a performance funding scheme that is similar to Alberta’s (Australia, 

2009). Tennessee provides a good example in the U.S.A. of a State facing financial pressure 

similar to that experienced by Alberta in 1992. They are emphasizing in performance 

funding to accelerate policy adjustments in their public universities and colleges (Tennessee, 

2010). These are a few of many examples of a new interest in performance funding. 

Accountability models establish how administrators can justify and explain their actions or 

decisions. Accountability is a recurring administrative theme. Well before the advent of 

modern social science, administrators devoted considerable attention to the problem of 

implementation; for example, Machiavelli (1983) saw this problem as a key to his 

governmental successes and failures. Therefore the underlying the purpose of this study was 

to consider what is gained and lost by using KPIs to increase accountability. They accelerate 

policy implementation which is good. They can also coerce administrators into actions that 

are contrary to the broad policy intentions. 

KPIs expand everyone’s understanding and awareness of policy because they are so specific. 

Administrators can respond to KPIs with specific forward-thinking initiatives to creatively 

address the policy focus communicated through the KPIs. My conceptual diagram shows 

10

how this characteristic accelerates the implementation of policy. The danger lies in how 

vulnerable KPIs are to data manipulation. Desirable changes in the measured performance 

are achieved without the intended behaviour changes. In such a world KPIs might make it 

easier to pervert the goals of accountability systems! Policy makers and administrators must 

specifically consider ways mediate this possibility. So KPIs must be used with caution since 

they can be a source of coercion and leadership. 

Defining measures that captured the intended long term policy objectives was difficult in 

Alberta. Many dedicated and skilled administrators struggled throughout time covered by 

this study with this problem. Designing measures that would capture the agreed upon aspects 

of quality education was extremely difficult. The actions that were desirable to achieve long 

term results were almost impossible to assess over the short term. The real caution is 

grounded in the response of the post secondary institutions. For only $25 million dollars the 

entire post secondary system in Alberta became far more responsive to the direct political 

agendas of the Government. There is a paradox in this—very few funds were at stake but a 

lot of attention was given to the KPIs as visible performance measurements. 

There is every reason believe that quantifying performance will remain an attractive 

management concept. This case contributes to our understanding concerning how KPIs 

accelerate policy implementation. KPIs will also tempt and quite possibly encourage 

administrators to engage in behaviours that should make policy makers uncomfortable. 

Using KPIs has become more than an additional source of information that administrators 

could provide to support the work of decision makers. The performance data from the KPI 

project is available for further research. We are still early in the process of understanding the 

social processes around KPI usage. In the meantime politicians and administrators should 

proceed with great care whenever this powerful policy tool is deployed. It is still a “folly to 

hope for A while rewarding B (Kerr, 1975).” Reflecting on cases covering the entire cycle of 

policy implementation with KPIs will hopefully lead to better policy decision-making. 

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13

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14

Residential Broadband Access for Students at a 

Tennessee Community College 

James Lampley 


Don Good 


ABSTRACT 

The purpose of this study was to determine the availability of internet access for students attending a 

community college in east Tennessee during the spring semester 2010. In particular, it is unknown to what 

degree broadband internet access is available in the counties that the college considers its service area. 

The research was conducted during the spring semester 2010 including the months February, March, and April 

of 2010. Data were gathered by surveying currently enrolled students of the college. Twelve percent of the 

population responded to the study. The survey instrument covered the areas of demographics, internet 

connection type from home, and usage of that internet service for coursework. 

The results of the data analysis gave insight into what degree‐seeking students of the college had access to high‐ 

speed internet from their homes. For example, over 20% of the respondents did not have an internet 

connection at all or have only dial‐up available at their home. Thirty percent were dissatisfied with their current 

high‐speed internet service. Approximately 64% thought high‐speed internet was very important in completing 

coursework. The study provided an increase in the body of knowledge on internet access for students and 

increased the body of knowledge for internet availability in the surrounding counties of the institution.

INTRODUCTION & STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM 

A community college must be at the forefront of technology in order to achieve its mission of 

educating the people in the service area. In order for a college to function efficiently this 

pioneering mentality must also apply in the classroom as well as to the various operating systems 

used by the college. Those operating systems include web-based technology that allows students 

to register, pay fees, review the college catalog, order books, and view grades. In the classroom 

web-based systems allow students to submit assignments, chat with other students, view grades 

for assignments, and discuss topics presented by the instructor. These technologies, 

Desire2Learn (D2L, 2009) and Banner Self-Service, are readily available on the community 

college campus of this study and are considered conveniences for that student population. These 

systems, which are open nearly 24 hours a day, allow students to access important information 

without having to waste time standing in long lines. The D2L and Banner Self-Service systems 

are accessible from any campus location, from the convenience of a student’s home, or any 

location that provides an internet connection. Some might contend that anyone who has a phone 

line has access to the internet and that assertion is true for dial-up connections. However, the 

complexities of today’s learning environment require a constant internet connection with the 

capacity to accommodate faster download speeds, and those two necessities are found only 

through the technology of a broadband internet connection. 

Considering the creation of self-service applications for the internet, programs are more complex 

and require greater speed to download. At the time of the proposed study to assume that a dial-up 

connection constitutes access to the internet is as absurd as suggesting that one 12 volt circuit is 

enough to provide electricity for an entire household. For universities, which are generally

located in relatively populous areas and offer on-campus housing, broadband or high-speed 

internet is normally furnished. However, for a community college with a service area including 

several rural or remote counties access to broadband or high-speed internet is of concern. 

Additionally, community colleges in the state of Tennessee that receive state appropriations are 

not permitted to offer on-campus housing for students; therefore, it is crucial for community 

college students to have access to broadband at home or they will be forced to rely heavily on 

computer labs on campus. This may be impractical for many students because of the distance 

those students commute to attend class. 

The problem this study addressed was to determine the availability of broadband access for 

students attending during spring semester 2010 at a community college in east Tennessee during 

the spring semester of 2010. The findings from this research determined the percentage of the 

student body with high-speed access that can take full advantage of the online services offered 

and determine what areas are lacking in broadband service. 

RELATED LITERATURE 

The Government Accountability Office stated, “There’s not only a lack of broadband access in 

rural areas of the U.S., there’s a lack of information about broadband access in rural areas” (as 

cited in Bosworth, 2006, para. 1). At the end of 2008 bills were introduced in both houses of 

Congress to address the problem of lack of broadband access. Each bill, including the U.S. 

House of Representatives (H.R. 3919 The Broadband Census of America Act) and the U.S. 

Senate (S. 1492 The Broadband Data Improvement Act), was intended to enable the Federal 

Communications Commission to provide better broadband service areas and to improve 

2

oadband access in rural areas. After President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed on February 13, 2009, allocated 7.4 billion 

dollars to expand broadband services (U.S. Congress, 2009). Before the money was allocated 

FCC acting- Chair Copps (2009) admitted in his report Bringing Broadband to Rural America 

that the federal government did not know how much of America was hardwired for broadband. 

The report gave the current status of broadband in America and identified several critical areas of 

need. However, the FCC had no information concerning where broadband was available, where 

there was a demand for broadband, what transfer speeds were available, or what monthly price 

was asked by providers. 

Advanced telecommunications systems capable of providing high-speed transmission of services 

such as data, voice, and video over the internet and other networks are considered broadband 

(Federal Communications Commission, 2008a). Technologies used for such transmission include 

digital subscriber lines and fiber optic cables, coaxial cables, wireless technology, and satellite. 

Because of the speed of broadband, convergence of voice, video, and data services onto a single 

network becomes possible. The FCC (2008b) stated that 99% of the United States had at least 

one available service provider. However, a key criticism of the FCC’s broadband report was its 

reliance on zip codes to determine access and the prices related to broadband services provided 

(Bosworth, 2008). By 2009 the FCC noted the need for better data. 

The Future of Music Coalition Blog (2009) remarked that many public interest groups had 

offered that information to the FCC for years. The FCC presented a National Broadband Plan to 

3

Congress on February 17, 2010, (Wigfield, 2009) that addressed concerns such as speed, pricing, 

access, and an availability map based on data more specific than zip codes. 

Research Questions 

METHODOLOGY 

The following questions related to residential broadband access for the targeted 

community college students for the spring semester 2010 controlled the direction of the study. 

1) Are there relationships between the type of internet service students have at home and (a) 

whether students use college computer labs due to faster connection speeds; (b) whether 

they have taken a web-based course; (c) how often students use or plan to use college 

computer labs; and (d) how often students use the internet for coursework at home. 

2) Are there relationships between age and how students connect to the internet from home 

and between age and student perceptions of the importance of high-speed internet access 

as it relates to their coursework? 

3) Is there a relationship between student financial need (regarding Pell grant funding) and 

the type of internet access at home? 

Population 

The survey was administered to a sample of students enrolled in classes for the spring semester 

2010 at all campus locations, including four off-campus sites, and to all students in other 

locations who enrolled in a web-based course. The target group consists of all students enrolled 

in a course that uses the Desire2Learn web-based system as part of the course requirements. All 

6,165 students enrolled for spring semester 2010 were requested to participate in the study, but 

4

only those students who chose to log on to the Desire2Learn system had the opportunity to 

complete the survey. All students have access to D2L; however, not all courses require students 

to use the Desire2Learn system. 

Instrumentation, Data Collection, and Analysis 

A survey, collecting minimal demographic information and using primarily Likert-type items, 

was developed and used for data collection. The instrument was administered electronically 

during the Spring 2010 semester through the Desire2Learn system, which is used by the majority 

of courses offered at the college. A series of chi square tests were used to analyze the data and 

address the research questions 

Research Question 1 

FINDINGS 

Are there relationships between the type of internet service students have at home and (a) 

whether students use college computer labs due to faster connection speeds; (b) whether they 

have taken a web-based course; (c) how often students use or plan to use the college’s computer 

labs; and (d) how often students use the internet for coursework at home. 

A chi-square for independent samples was used to determine if there were significant differences 

among the types of internet access students have at home and whether or not they have used 

college computer labs because the internet access is faster on campus. The chi-square test was 

significant, χ 2 (3, N=679) = 106.887, p < .001. The strength of the relationship between the type 

of internet access students had at home and their use of college computer labs as measured by 

Cramer’s V was moderate (.40). The percentages of students using a campus computer lab 

5

ecause internet access was faster increased as the speed of their internet access at home 

decreased. Over 77% of students with dial-up access (the slowest type of internet access) at 

home used a campus computer lab because internet access was faster; while 55.1% of students 

with satellite access (second slowest type of access) used a campus lab. Twenty-nine percent of 

students with DSL access (second fastest type) and 22.3% of students with cable internet access 

(the fastest internet access) used a campus computer lab because access was faster. 

A chi-square for independent samples was used to determine whether or not there were 

significant differences among the types of internet access students have at home and whether 

students have taken a web-based course at the college. The chi-square test was significant, χ2 (4, 

N=740) = 17.335, p = .002. The strength of the relationship as measured by Cramer’s V (.15) 

showed a weak relationship between the type of internet service students have at home and 

whether or not they have taken a web-based course at the college. Thus, students with faster 

internet connections at home were significantly more likely to have taken a web-based course. 

Slightly over 36% of students with no internet access at home had taken a web-based course at 

the time each student completed the survey. Among students who had internet access at home, 

the percentages of those who had taken a web-based course were 56.8% of those with dial-up 

access, 62.2% of those with cable access, 57.6% of those with DSL and 67.9% of those with 

satellite access. 

A chi-square for independent samples was used to determine if the type of internet access 

students have at home affected the frequency with which students used or planned to use college 

computer labs for coursework. The chi-square test was significant, χ2 (12, N=740) = 60.105, p < 

.001. The strength of the relationship as measured by Cramer’s V (.29) showed a definite 

relationship between the type of internet service students have at home and how often they use 

the computer labs for coursework. Thus, students with no internet access from home or with 

slower internet access from home were significantly more likely to use or plan to use the college 

6

computer labs. The slower students’ internet access at home, the higher the percentage of 

students who used or planned to use a computer lab more than once a week. Sixty-seven percent 

of students with no internet access at home and 45.5% of those with dial-up access at home used 

college computer labs for coursework more than once a week. Almost 40% of students with 

satellite access (the slowest of the high-speed internet types) and 32.3% of students with DSL 

(the second slowest high-speed type) used a computer lab more than once a week, while 23% of 

students with cable access at home (fastest access) used a college computer lab more than once a 

week. 

A chi-square for independent samples was used to evaluate the type of internet access students 

have at home and how often they use the internet at home for coursework. The difference 

between the type of internet access students have at home and how often students used the 

internet for coursework at home was not significant, χ 2 (6, N=679) = 11.099, p = .085. The 

strength of the relationship as measured by Cramer’s V was weak (.09). Thus, there was no 

difference in the frequency of internet use for coursework at home based on the type of internet 

connection from their home. Regardless of the type of internet access students have at home, the 

majority used the internet for coursework at home at least once a week. Also noteworthy is that 

55.7% of cable modem connections, 52.5% DSL connections, and 52.6% of satellite connections 

use the internet daily for coursework compared to 37.5% of students with a dial-up connection, 

which is the slowest internet connection from home. 


Are there relationships between age and how students connect to the internet from home and 

between age and student perceptions of the importance of high-speed internet access as it relates 

to their coursework? 

7

A chi-square for independent samples was used to determine if there was a relationship between 

the age of students and the way they connect to the internet from home. The chi-square was not 

significant, χ 2 (12, N=740) = 14.138, p = .292. The strength of the relationship as measured by 

Cramer’s V (.08) was weak. Thus, there was no relationship between age and the type of internet 

connection students had at home. In other words, for each type of internet service at home, the 

percentages of students across the four age categories were very similar. The three most 

frequently given reasons for not having high-speed internet at home regardless of their age are 

that the service is poor (23.7%), the speed is too slow (29.0%), and high-speed internet costs too 

much (33.1%). 

A chi-square for independent samples was used to evaluate the relationship between the age of 

the survey respondents and the importance of high-speed internet for completing coursework. 

The difference between the age of a student and the importance of high-speed internet for 

coursework was significant, χ 2 (6, N=61) = 26.075, p < .001. The strength of the relationship as 

measured by Cramer’s V (.19) showed a somewhat weak but definite relationship between the 

age of a student and the importance of high-speed internet as it relates to coursework. Thus, the 

age of students was an indicator of students’ perceptions of the importance of internet service to 

their coursework. Each age group had the highest percentage of students respond that high-speed 

internet was very important for coursework. Also noteworthy was that as age increases the 

percentages of students who indicated high-speed internet was not at all important to only 

moderately important increased. Less than 8.2% of students aged 19 or younger and 10.4% of 

those aged 20 to 29 indicated high-speed internet was not at all important to only moderately 

important, while 18.6% of students aged 30 to 39 and 23.9% of students aged 40 or older thought 

the importance of high-speed internet service for the completion of coursework was not at all or 

only moderately important. 

8


Is there a relationship between student financial need (regarding Pell Grant funding) and the type 

of internet access at home? 

A chi-square test for independent samples was used to evaluate the relationship between student 

financial need and the type of internet connection a student has at home. The relationship 

between a student’s financial need, measured as whether or not students received a Pell Grant 

and the type of internet access students have at home was not significant, χ 2 (4, N=740) = 3.684, 

p = .451. Thus, whether or not a student received a Pell Grant as a measure of financial need 

was not an indicator of the type of internet service a student had at home. The strength of the 

relationship, as measured by Cramer’s V, was weak (.07). For each type of internet access there 

was very little difference between the percentages of students who did not receive a Pell Grant 

and those who did. 

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

The following conclusions and recommendations were developed from the data analysis and the 

review of related literature: 

1. Over 20% of survey respondents indicated that they did not have internet service at 

home or had only dial-up service at home. The specific community college should 

continue to follow the Federal broadband initiative included in the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to try to and identify opportunities 

for broadband expansion for their service area such as grants or vendors planning 

broadband expansion projects in the area. 

9

2. The federal government’s ARRA program has funding available that encourages 

investment and innovation in broadband technologies. 

3. Two particular counties in the service area were selected most by survey respondents 

indicating no internet connection or a dial-up connection from home. The college 

should continue to work with www.connectedtn.org (Ramage, 2007, 2009; Tennessee 

Technology Trends, 2009) and their Tennessee’s Technology Trends assessment and 

the development of BroadbandStat which is a broadband inventory map that provides 

a visual aide for broadband coverage in Tennessee. 

4. According to the survey respondents, high-speed internet is primarily provided by 

two companies. Additionally, over 30% of respondents were dissatisfied with their 

high-speed internet service. The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) should work 

with additional vendors providing broadband internet service in Tennessee on ways to 

reduce the cost of high-speed internet service for students enrolled in community 

colleges in Tennessee. 

5. Nearly 65% of survey respondents indicated access to high-speed internet was very 

important to coursework completion. An on-line suggestion box should be setup for 

students to submit suggestions, questions, and recommendations concerning computer 

labs. 

6. The data showed that 52% of survey respondents used their internet connection from 

home on a daily basis. Students from all campuses should be involved to ensure 

technology made available to the entire student population is beneficial for students in 

most of the service area. 

10

7. Over 33% of respondents said the internet costs too much as a reason for not having 

access at home. Students are currently allowed to check-out laptops from the library. 

The college could develop a plan to include a wireless card on some of the laptops 

available for checkout. This would allow some internet access at home for those 

students currently without internet service at home. 

8. Currently 6 of the 10 counties in the college’s service area do not have a campus site 

in their county. Over 67% of respondents without an internet connection from home 

use college computer labs multiple times each week. Therefore, the college should 

explore partnerships with local libraries or governments to provide computer lab 

space to make access easier to those labs for students. 

9. Computer lab availability should continue to be monitored and reassessed on a 

semester basis for operating hours and locations to ensure students receive maximum 

benefit from labs. 

10. The college should continue to monitor type of internet access for currently enrolled 

students from their home to determine if broadband growth is benefiting the service 

area. 

11

REFERENCES 

Bosworth, M. (2006). GAO: Broadband access difficult to measure. Retrieved October 13, 2008, 

from http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/05/gao_broadband.html 

Bosworth, M. (2008). FCC releases broadband report, admits data is faulty. Retrieved 

September 12, 2009, from 

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/03/fcc_broadband.html 

Copps, M. (2009). Bringing broadband to rural America. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from 

http://www.broadbandpolicysummit.com/referencemanual/ 

Desire2Learn. (2009, October 1). Retrieved June 2, 2009, from 

http://www.desire2learn.com/LearningEnvironment/ 

Federal Communication Commission, (2008a). Retrieved June 28, 2009, from 

http://www.fcc.gov/broadband/ 

Federal Communication Commission, (2008b). Retrieved June 28, 2009, from 

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-280904A1.pdf 

Future of Music Coalition Blog. (2009, April 8). FCC gets its data on [Web log message]. 

Retrieved July 5, 2009, from 

http://futureofmusiccoalition.blogspot.com/2009/04/fcc-gets-its-data-on.html 

Ramage, M. (2007). 2007 connected Tennessee consumer technology assessment for Carroll 

County, Tennessee. Retrieved August 23, 2009, from 

http://www.connectedtn.org/_documents/Carroll.pdf 

Ramage, M. (2009). Connected Tennessee technology assessment of Tennessee consumers. 

Retrieved May, 24, 2009, from 

http://www.connectedtn.org/_documents/TNTechTrends2009ExecutiveSummary.pdf 

Tennessee Technology Trends. (2009). Retrieved August 18, 2009, from 

http://www.connectedtennessee.org/research/tennessee_technology_trends_2009.php 

U.S. Congress. (2009). American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Retrieved July 2, 

2009, from http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgibin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h1enr.pdf 

Wigfield, M. (2009, September 29). Broadband task force delivers status report on Feb. 17 

national broadband plan [Press Release]. Retrieved October 6, 2009, from 

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-293719A1.pdf 

12

Should Junior Faculty Teach in Management Development Programs? 

An Analysis of the Potential Pros and Cons from 

Junior Faculty Members’ Perspectives 

Ranida Boonthanom Harris 

Indiana University Southeast 

Kenneth J. Harris 


David M. Eplion 


ABSTRACT 

Business school faculty members face a number of (sometimes conflicting) demands. In many schools, the 

primary expectation is for them to research at a high level. Even in more “balanced” schools, strong research is 

typically a prerequisite for attaining tenure and promotion. It was not surprising then that Porter and McKibbin 

(1988) found that while 50% of all business school faculty members felt their primary focus should be on 

research, only 10% thought the same about teaching. 

The pressure to research at a high level is perhaps even more pronounced for Junior Faculty members many of 

whom have not had enough time in their positions to fully develop productive research streams or to establish 

themselves as experts in their fields. Perhaps because of this, many new faculty report being advised to focus 

exclusively on their research until they are tenured. 

The potential limitations of this advice are evident when considering the fact that in addition to being expected 

to develop a productive research track record, many junior faculty are also required to perform well in the 

classroom, and to provide service to the school and community (Austin, 2003; Walker, 2008). Five years or so is 

not much time for them to master all these skills, especially since many graduates report that they believe their 

Doctoral Programs left them ill prepared to excel as college professors (i.e., Golde and Dore, 2001).

In this current economic environment, budgetary issues are of a concern to many 

institutions and threaten aspects of classroom instruction and potentially even student outcomes 

(learning, motivation, tuition rates, etc.). We are recently tenured faculty members at a public 

school in the Midwest, who were presented the opportunity to engage in a management 

development program through our School of Business. As the preceding discussion suggests, 

the decision on whether or not to participate was not an easy one. On the one hand, some 

advised us not to touch it, but to stay focused exclusively on research (and quality teaching). 

They reasoned that some would look at our participation as nothing more than “wasted time”. 

On the other hand, we had others point out that while we still needed to maintain research 

productivity, there were potential benefits beyond monetary compensation for us if we did 

decided to take part. 

Ultimately, we decided to take part in the program. This paper outlines our thought 

processes as we weighed the advantages against the disadvantages of participating in the 

program, and we will also chronicle some of our individual experiences from the program as 

well. 

Weighing the Pros and Cons of Participation 

For the University, the program is financially attractive. With the tightening of budgets, 

the increased revenue allows for a number of benefits including greater funding of programming 

needs and faculty travel. Being participants in the program would help give us strong visibility 

in the school, and if we did well, the fact that we were helping bring additional revenues in to the 

school would not go unnoticed. 

Additionally, in the process of delivering the programs, we would be able to learn firsthand 

about all the different aspects of a particular organization. This in depth level of 

knowledge (in this case about a huge organization, with multiple plants in different states, that 

has some elements of governmental regulations, and has some locations unionized and others 

not) could aid us in the classroom by providing us with better examples and enabling us to better 

understand different workplaces and situations that our students may work in. 

Another benefit relates to the reputational benefits for our school and for us as 

instructors. As we are serving the community, this helps the University’s standing in the 

business world in terms of instructional excellence, helping those close to us (the community), 

and educating not only students, but working individuals. 

In terms of instructional benefits, one complaint that students often have relates to 

professors being out of touch and teaching theoretical, but not practical material. As a result of 

working in these programs, we are better able to position ourselves as being “in touch” with the 

business world and “practicing what we preach”. In the end, this could help students to gain 

greater respect for us in the classroom, could help us become more effective educators, and could 

lead to better course evaluations. 

Again, the obvious disadvantage is that engaging in this program would mean we would 

not have as much time for some other activities (such as research) because there are a finite 

number of hours in a day. This was a very real concern for us, but it too was tempered by the

fact that we thought our research could potentially be helped by participating in the program. 

One possible benefit could have been for us to have made contacts with leaders of the business 

that we could later mine as a source for data collection. While this has not yet occurred, the 

potential is definitely there, and should the need arise, we feel confident we would be likely to be 

granted access to the firm’s employees for research purposes. Furthermore, we again felt that 

having access to working professional on a regular basis would help make sure we stayed abreast 

of business trends and developments and could conceivably help us identify interesting research 

questions. 

Ultimately, for all the aforementioned reasons, we felt that our participation in these 

Management Development programs was something that (although not without risk) would be 

more likely to help advance our careers and would not harm our attempts to receive tenure at our 

institution. Based on our receiving tenure and the feedback we have received from our 

colleagues and administration, we believe that this is the case.

References 

Austin, A. E. (2003). Creating a bridge to the future: Preparing new faculty to face changing 

expectations in a shifting context. The Review of Higher Education, 26(2), 119-144. 

Golde, C.M., & Dore, T.M. (2001). At Cross Purposes: What the experiences of doctoral 

students reveal about doctoral education (www.phd-survey.org). Philadelphia, PA: A 

report prepared for The Pew Charitable Trusts. 

Porter, L.W. and McKibbin, L.E. (1998). Management education and development: Drift or 

thrust into the 21st century. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company. 

Walker, G.E., Golde, C.M., Jones, L., Bueschel, A.C., & Hutchings, P. (2008). The formation of 

scholars: Rethinking doctoral education for the twenty-first century. Hoboken, New 

Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Six Challenges for the Future of Online Instruction 

Gregory A. Moore 


ABSTRACT 

The proliferation of online courses to address the dilemma of limited physical space and rising student 

enrollment in universities may be creating unintended consequences for administrators, faculty, and students. 

This paper examines six of those consequences, which while serious, are not yet crises. They are at least 

challenges and may be unique to online instruction. Included in the discussion of challenges are faculty hiring 

practices, student dishonesty, who will improve the effectiveness of online teaching, “burnout” for online 

faculty, faculty teaching loads and office hours, and student demand for more interaction with faculty.

The proliferation of online course development and enrollment has been well 

documented. Lei and Govra (2010) quantify the proliferation, citing Harasim’s (2000) 

study that found student enrollment has increased from 754,000 in 1995 to over 1.6 

million in 1998. Doyle (2009) reported 3.9 million students taking at least one online 

course in 2007. 

The reasons for this proliferation are not the focus of our problem. However, 

citing some of the reasons demonstrate the proliferation is not just a passing fad, but a 

trend. The reasons for proliferation may also generate some understanding of the 

consequences of the proliferation that have led to the identified challenges. 

Administrators are still faced with declining funding from legislators and simultaneous 

demands for higher graduation rates. Administrators have found online instruction a 

partial solution to the dilemma. Online courses, or distance education, where no 

classroom is needed takes the pressure off the competition for limited physical space. Lei 

and Govra (2010) cite Gould (2003) in suggesting more classes can be offered at peak 

demand times, increasing flexibility in class scheduling. As enrollment grows, online 

courses remove the limits on the opportunity to earn additional revenue from tuition 

generated from the increased enrollment. Furthermore Lei and Govra (2010) in 

evaluating the benefits and costs from perspectives of the university, faculty and students, 

found some faculty appreciate the convenience in online instruction without having to 

sacrifice their need to educate. 

Proliferation of online courses has occurred probably less because online has 

proven to be superior in effective teaching, and more because it has not been universally 

found to be any less effective. However, that is an issue needing more research and 

discussion. Our question is focused on whether this proliferation for reasons other than 

proven academic superiority or other factors not be related to best learning practices have 

the potential of creating serious challenges for administrators, faculty, and students. 

Problem Statement and Purpose 

The purpose of this paper is to address the question whether the proliferation of 

online instruction has the potential to create unintended consequences for administrators, 

faculty, and students. The proliferation of online courses to address the dilemma of 

limited physical space and rising student enrollment in universities may be creating 

unintended consequences for administrators, faculty, and students. 

This paper examines six of those consequences, which while serious, are not yet 

crises. They are at least challenges, however, and may be unique to online instruction. 

Included in the discussion of challenges are faculty hiring practices, student dishonesty, 

who will improve the effectiveness of online teaching, “burnout” for online faculty, 

faculty teaching loads and office hours, and student demand for more interaction with 

faculty. 

Definitions 

For purposes of this paper traditional or face to face instruction is operationally 

defined as a face to face meeting of students and instructor. While a course management 

system like WebCT/Blackboard may be used in part, physical meetings occur regularly. 

An online course is electronically accomplished primarily through a course management

system like WebCT/Blackboard or Desire to Learn (D2L), but no physical face to face 

meetings are required or typically occur. (Moore, 2008) 

Discussion and Method 

A set of six challenges have been derived from a review of the literature and based upon 

almost six years of teaching online courses in the areas of health care administration. 

Challenges will be examined and discussed in terms of how they have come about, what 

they mean, and to whom the issue represents a challenge. 

The Move to Improve Will Be From Within 

The debate as to whether online instruction is as good as traditional instruction 

continues. Many positions about online quality can be taken. One position that can be 

taken is that there is no overwhelming agreement that online instruction is not as good as 

traditional face to face instruction. So long as that position is not eroded by research, and 

if all other factors stay the same, growth in online course development will continue. 

While the quality of online instruction has had its critics, the challenge that is 

likely to result is that those closest to online instruction, the faculty of online instruction, 

will most likely become their own best monitors and critics. This challenge in our future 

is not just speculation without some research support. Orr, Williams, and Pennington 

(2009) reached several conclusions from their interviews with online faculty. Orr, et al 

(2009) found that while faculty was generally pleased with stipends and course release 

time, these were not motivators for faculty to teach online. Faculty also acknowledged 

time related issues as a major barrier to engaging in online teaching and had concerns 

with workload. However, faculty shared an intrinsic motivation for teaching. Most 

faculty were driven by a student centered attitude of concern for their students’ needs. 

(Orr, et al, 2009) 

It is this intrinsic motivation and concern that will result in online faculty to 

monitor their results and seek more and better research and evaluation on the quality of 

their online teaching. This will become a challenge for both faculty and administrators to 

ensure best practices and technology. Where we should not be surprised is the move to 

improve will be from within, not external to online instruction. 

Risks to Faculty Who Teach Only Online 

Bolinger and Wasilik (2009) in a warning about faculty burnout, cite Hogan and 

McKnight’s (2007) study that found university professors teaching online to have 

experienced high degrees of impersonalization and low levels of personal 

accomplishment. Bolinger and Wasilik (2009) suggest administrators should be 

concerned because of the close relationship of online success and faculty satisfaction. 

This research suggests that faculty who have little interaction with students in a 

formal face to face classroom setting may question their results. Like the factory worker 

who applies parts to an assembly line, the final completed product is never seen. To 

counter this Saturn and Volvo auto manufacturers organized their workers in teams who 

then could assemble a total vehicle, seeing the result and feeling the pride of

achievement. Online only faculty may have unrealistic perceptions about what is really 

happening in the face to face classroom. They may have forgotten how difficult it was to 

get students to engage in the topics. These faculty may be overlooking the successful 

participation from online students in an online discussion board. That perception may not 

be reality, but it may contribute to burnout. Both faculty and administrators have the 

challenge of determining if faculty should have both some traditional and online teaching 

to reduce the threats that may stem from only online teaching, like impersonalization and 

lack of personal accomplishment. A mix of online and traditional face to face teaching 

may be a more healthy balance for faculty to reduce “burnout.” 

More Diverse Students Will Demand More Instructor Interaction 

This heading might suggest students will demand more Socratic interaction, but 

that is not a realistic challenge. Rather, the demand for more instructor involvement will 

stem from the increased diversity of students as enrollment increases. Students might 

have avoided an online course citing a number of reasons. That reason might be the 

student’s self assessed lack of discipline, organization, or initiative. It might be the 

student’s belief in a need for face to face explanations on complex concepts. Faced with 

some courses only offered online, or the need to get a requirement completed that is not 

offered at a feasible time, more students will, and probably are, enrolling in online 

courses (Doyle, 2009). 

This increased number will bring greater diversity and a greater demand for 

instructor involvement. Explanations for difficult and hard to understand concepts and 

problems will need to be verbal, or in writing, or in other media that promotes learning. 

Just as the face to face class has students who learn differently, this will now become 

even more true for the online courses. This will represent a challenge for faculty who 

have found online instruction thus far to be mostly routine planning, designing, and 

maintaining the virtual environment. The challenge will be to learn and implement the 

necessary technology, to improve interaction, and find the time to do it. 

Require Online Background from All New Faculty Hired? 

Faculty searches will include the need for faculty who can or have done online 

teaching, or have a willingness to teach online. That may not seem to be much of a 

challenge. Aspiring faculty know of the need, and the search committees expect it to be a 

part of the qualifications sought. Some faculty have come to appreciate the online 

experience. Those who have come to see the value and positive outcomes for students in 

online instruction may be more successful in convincing a search committee of their 

commitment and, therefore, be more likely hired than those who have simply accepted 

online teaching as a necessary evil alternative to face to face teaching. The danger is that 

all faculty may be asked routinely without question by search committees to be online 

savvy or committed to online teaching. 

Does diversity mean all faculty must be flexible, or can some faculty prefer 

online, and others hold out for only teaching in the more traditional classroom? Would 

Socrates be denied an opportunity to practice if his vita lacked online credentials or he 

was unwilling to accommodate online teaching? The challenge may be to not ask all to be

the same, willing to be flexible, but to seek a balance of the flexible or versatile and those 

who have preferences and expertise in one or the other, online or traditional. Amidst this 

proliferation of online course development, care should be taken by search committees to 

be as tolerant and open with those who do not embrace online instruction as those who 

do. 

Dishonesty Needs to Be Prevented and Monitored 

As new hires occur to keep up with the proliferation of online course instruction, 

another potential challenge will emerge. Faculty new to or in adjunct status may be less 

likely to build in the safeguards that reveal or prevent dishonesty. Experienced instructors 

know that open text and materials exams are not an invitation for students to rely too 

much on looking up the answers during the exam, as experienced faculty typically limit 

student time to take the open text exam. Limiting the “window” of time to sit for the 

exam is also a deterrent to minimize students getting together to help one another. 

Reading submitted assignments in detail to discover similar answers, rather than 

just spot checking, can reveal pockets of students working too closely together. As the 

number of online courses increase, hiring adjunct, temporary faculty to meet pressing 

needs can prevent faculty from gaining that expertise and experience needed to deter 

threats of dishonesty. 

Re-examine Workloads and Office Hours 

Online instruction will be a basis for faculty to challenge traditional office hours 

and work loads. Some research suggests online instruction demands much more time for 

course planning and maintenance (Bender, Wood, and Vredevoogd, 2004) while other 

research suggests there is less difference in overall time commitments between online and 

face to face instruction (Moore, 2008; Tomei, 2006). Online instructors will also be quick 

to point out that to turnaround an email from a student in 24 hours requires attention and 

time. This is usually expected of online instructors, who may also have traditional hours 

and teaching loads. 

What needs examining is the need for physical office hours when the proliferation 

in online course instruction has resulted in some faculty with little face to face 

instruction. Should office hours be as needed, not at all, or similar to the face to face 

instructor’s hours? If one is committed to responding to emails within 24 hours and 

timely feedback from assignments, what is the purpose of office hours for the online 

faculty? There may be requirements for tenure and promotion that calls for university and 

departmental service on committees. Similarly, faculty may have an advisee assignment 

which includes advisees who are not in the courses taught online. 

The variations and circumstances in this challenge are sufficiently wide and 

numerous that no standard regulation is going to be the best fit for all. The challenge for 

administrators and faculty is to be as flexible and diverse in finding a course of action to 

address this challenge as the flexibility and commitment to diversity they had when the 

proliferation began. 

Summary and Recommendations

The proliferation of online course development has resulted in at least six 

unintended consequences. Today these represent challenges, not crises. Left unchecked 

these challenges may become crises. This can restrict growth and damage the positive 

results online courses are having. Administrators and faculty need to address office hours 

and teaching loads given increased online course instruction in those loads and promoting 

standards like responding to student email within 24 hours. Administrators and faculty 

should evaluate the “burnout” potential of online faculty and take corrective measures to 

promote healthy balances in instruction. 

Faculty need to recognize the need to be diligent to prevent and discover student 

dishonesty in the online area. Faculty need to examine their new hire needs and 

consciously examine the need for every hire to be skilled in online instruction, or if 

accommodation can be made to allow a different mix of skills. Faculty will need to 

accommodate the wider variation in learning styles of students and their need for more 

interaction. Faculty should find themselves naturally motivated to monitor and seek ways 

to improve online instruction. All six of these areas need additional study and research. 

Some areas have little research base, like faculty hiring practices, but are just as 

important as the others. If online course development is to prosper, not just proliferate, 

these, and other areas, need further examination, research, and discussion.

References 

Bender, D.M., Wood, B.J., & Vredevoodg, J.D. (2004). Teaching time: Distance 

education versus classroom instruction. American Journal of Distance Education, 

18, 103-114. 

Bolinger, D.U., & Wasilik, O. (2009). Factors influencing faculty satisfaction with online 

teaching and learning in higher education. Distance Education, 30(1), 103-116. 

Doyle,W.R. (2009). Online education: The revolution that wasn’t. Change, 41(3), 56-58. 

Gould, T. (2003) Hybrid classes: Maximizing institutional resources and student learning. 

Proceedings of the 2003 ASCUE Conference, June 8-12, 2003, Myrtle Beach, 

South Carolina. 

Harasim, L. (2000) Shift happens: Online education as a new paradigm in learning. 

Internet and Higher Education, 3, 41-61. 

Hogan, R.L., & McKnight, M.A. (2007). Exploring burnout among university online 

instructors: An initial investigation. The Internet and Higher Education, 10(2) 

117-124. 

Lei, S.A., & Govra, R.K. (2010). College distance education courses: Evaluating 

benefits and costs from institutional, faculty, and students’ perspectives. 

Education, 130(4), 616-631. 

Moore, G.A. (2008). Is online instruction more efficient than traditional instruction? The 

Journal of learning in Higher Education, 4(2), 25-30. 

Orr, R., Williams, M.R., & Pennington, K. (2009). Institutional efforts to support faculty 

in online teaching. Innovative Higher Education, 34(4), 257-268. 

Tomei, L.A. (2006). The impact of online teaching on faculty load. Computing the ideal 

class size for online courses. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education. 14. 

531-541.

Strategic Planning in e-Learning: 

The example of King Saud University 

Mansour Alzahrani 


Sultan Almutairy 


This paper aims to demonstrate the experience of King Saud University (KSU) in crafting its strategic plan for the 

e‐Learning. This Strategic plan has won the best strategic plan at KSU level among 29 other competing plans . 

The paper discusses all the processes and phases involved in writing a prize‐winning strategic plan including: 

identifying and engaging stake holders, SWOT analysis, benchmarking, and gap analysis. 

As a result of the above mentioned effort to a plan for the Deanship of e‐learning and Distance Learning, the 

mission, message, and strategic objectives have been set as follows: 

Vision: A distinguished E‐learning environment. 

ABSTRACT 

Mission: Offering distinct learning and innovative researches to serve the society and contribute in the 

knowledge building through stimulus environment, and the ideal usage of the technology, and national and 

international partnership. 

Strategic Goals: 

Disseminating the Culture of E‐Learning. 

Assuring the Quality for E‐learning in University's Colleges 

Developing Employees’ Abilities & Skills in E‐learning. 

Creating a Motivational Environment for E‐learning. 

Enhancing the Community Partnership in E‐learning. 

Participating with Colleges in Providing Distance Learning Programs 

providing Qualified Manpower To Increase the Efficiency of E‐learning Services. 

Participating in Building Knowledge‐based Economy. 

In order to achieve the stated objectives the strategic plan has proposed a number of initiatives and projects for 

the E‐learning deanship. The plan also included an action plan, a communication plan, and a tracking and 

reporting plan to ensure the success of its projects and initiatives.

Introduction: 

Strategic planning is a futuristic step that takes into account influences and external changes 

that surround the institution and integration between the institution and factors and internal 

potentials which in turn will help discover new opportunities in the future. The philosophy of 

strategic planning underscores the participation of parents, business leaders, community 

leaders, and members of the intelligentsia in a society to reshape and reorganize what is 

already established in order to usher in a better future. Strategic planning is founded on 

calculating changes of the institution's surrounding conditions, and observing market needs, 

while considering the type of society and foreseeing future changes. (Ghanaim, 2010) 

Peterson defined strategic planning as “ a recognized process through which an institution or 

an establishment can assess its current and possible future position, and then develops 

strategies, plans, policies and procedures so as to choose from them and implement one or 

some of them.” 

Alswedan and Aladlouni (2005) define strategic planning as “decisions that have future 

effects, and a changing on-going process with a managerial philosophy, and a complete 

system (Frameworks, Budgets, Systems, Implemented Programs, and Procedures).” 

According to Alswedan and Aladlouni strategic planning is important because it provides 

administrators with the following: 

1- Clear Vision and Defined Goals. 

2- Optimal Use of Resources and Potentials. 

3- Achieving Integration and Coordination. 

4- Prioritizing Needs. 

5- Controlling Implementation Problems. 

6- Risk Reduction. 

Strategic Planning Activities 

Teima (2008) pinpointed the activities that are involved in strategic planning as follows:

1. Measuring strong and weak aspects in the educational institution through periodical 

assessment and evaluations. 

2. Examining the outside environment and its influence on the institution. 

3. Setting clear goals as this is an important step that faces the educational institutions, 

and then developing these goals to keep up with the institution needs. 

4. Develop several scenarios as emergency alternatives in the future. 

5. Collecting data and information, and using them in analyzing and making decisions 

including economic, political, and social trends. 

6. Planning which involves all sectors of the institution, not just the top executive. 

7. Facilitating strategic thinking in all sectors of the educational institution through 

meetings, conferences, counseling and advising and making all internal and external 

data available to all. 

8. Making a leeway for change and correction. 

9. There should be intrinsic conviction in the institution’s leader of the implementation 

and benefits of the strategic plan. 

10. Assessing goals and results. 

11. Getting feedback and implement as needed. 

Processes and Procedures of a Strategic Plan 

According to (Ahagar, 2008) strategic planning processes and procedures take the following 

steps: 

1-Preparing for the plan: this begins by realizing and being aware of the needs of the 

university administration and realizing the importance of such planning, then naming the 

planning team. 

2- Estimating and defining the issues, goals, and needs: that is identifying what needs to be 

done by analyzing current status and current policies, and identifying negative and positive 

aspects. 

3- Environment check: this involves finding all potential negative and positive future 

influences. 

4- Figuring out possible alternatives and scenarios for the future (plan B).

5- Setting plans to implement those scenarios. 

Bashioat (2008) in his study recommended the development of strategic planning in the areas 

of education in the Arab world through certain areas, namely: strategic planning goals, vision 

and mission setting, reinforcing the role of the environment in learning, adopting best 

practices, strengthening institutional and social partnership, effective education 

administration, developing effective legal and organizational frameworks, excellent 

infrastructure, and finally, connecting the educational network horizontally and vertically. 

Out of its conviction of the importance of strategic planning in higher education, King Saud 

University has prepared a strategic plan till 2050. After ratifying the general plan of the 

university, the Deanship of Development and Quality has sent copies of the plan to all 

colleges and deanships at the university, so every deanship would design its strategic plan 

according to the general university plan. Hence, the Deanship of e-learning and Distance 

Learning has prepared its strategic plan to implement e-learning in all colleges of the 

university, so benefits will be distributed to all. 

The following are the main parts of the strategic plan of the Deanship of E-Learning in and 

Distance Learning at KSU: 

SWOT Analysis 

First: Internal Environment Analysis: 

Strength Points 

1. Qualified and well trained human resources. 

2. Adopting the best learning management system. 

3. Strong infrastructure and robust environment to support e-learning. 

4. Aware and supportive leaders. 

5. e-learning units available in some KSU colleges. 

Weakness points 

1. KSU's employees are not aware of the importance of e-learning.

2. Responsibilities of the deanship's units and departments are not well defined. 

3. Lack of quality standards for e-learning system. 

4. Low number of e-courses. 

5. Few training programs provided by the deanship. 

6. A weak role for the deanship in building knowledge society. 

7. Low number of attendees in training sessions. 

8. Inconvenient deanship building. 

9. Rarity of digital learning sources. 

10. Lack of international partnerships. 

11. Low level of faculty members' skills in designing, managing, and producing e-content. 

12. Low level of faculty members' skills in using the smart classrooms. 

13. Weak community participation. 

14. Lack of distance learning programs. 

15. Lack of advertisement of programs and services provided by the deanship 

Second: External Environment Analysis: 

Opportunities: 

1. Aware and supportive leadership. 

2. Possibility of national and international partnerships. 

3. Existence of distinguished T.V production center. 

4. Possibility of establishing endowment-supported projects for the Deanship. 

5. Effective staff recruitment program. 

6. Big budget to support the Deanship. 

Challenges: 

1. Increasing demand on e-learning. 

2. Increasing external competition. 

3. Outstanding experts leaving the Deanship. 

4. Large number of targeted customers putting a strain Deanship resources.

5. Rapid changes of approved learning management systems and e-learning software. 

A distinguished E-learning environment. 

Vision: 

Mission: 

Offering distinct learning and innovative researches to serve the society and contribute in the 

knowledge building through stimulus environment, and the ideal usage of the technology, and 

national and international partnership. 

Strategic Goals: 

1. Disseminating the Culture of E-Learning. 

2. Assuring the Quality for E-learning in University's Colleges. 

3. Developing Employees’ Abilities & Skills in E-learning. 

4. Creating a Motivational Environment for E-learning. 

5. Enhancing the Community Partnership in E-learning. 

6. Participating with Colleges in Providing Distance Learning Programs. 

7. Providing Qualified Manpower to Increase the Efficiency of E-learning Services. 

8. Participating in Building Knowledge-based Economy. 

Initiatives: 

1. Disseminating the Culture of E-Learning. 

� Initiative 1.1: Advertising E-Learning Concepts and Terminology. 

� Initiative 1.2: Organizing E-Learning Conferences, Forums, and Workshops. 

� Initiative 1.3: Supporting Research in The Field of E-Learning. 

2. Assuring the Quality for E-learning in University's College. 

� Initiative 2.1: Adoption the List of Quality Standards in E-learning. 

� Initiative 2.2: Developing E-courses according to Quality Standards. 

� Initiative 2.3: Providing Supporting Services to the academic staff. 

� Initiative 2.4: Adoption of Effective Maintenance & Sustainment Systems.

� Initiative 2.5: Evaluating the Execution of the Strategic Plan. 

3. Developing Employees’ Abilities & Skills in E-learning. 

� Initiative 3.1: Training Users on the use of E-learning Applications. 

� Initiative 3.2: Motivating Faculty Members to utilize the E-learning 

Applications. 

4. Creating a Motivational Environment for E-learning. 

� Initiative 4.1: Providing an Effective Learning Management System. 

� Initiative 4.2: Supplying up to date Learning Technologies. 

� Initiative 4.3: Providing High-Quality Digital Sources. 

� Initiative 4.4: Building a Digital Repository. 

� Initiative 4.5: Enhancing Communication between the Deanship and Customers 

through Social sites on the Internet. 

5. Enhancing the Community Partnership in E-learning. 

� Initiative 5.1: Cooperating with Local E-learning Organizations. 

� Initiative 5.2: Effective Technological Contribution in Broadcasting Lectures 

and Forums provided by KSU Colleges to Serve the Community. 

� Initiative 5.3: Make the Deanship's Products Available to the Local Community 

Usage. 

6. Participating with Colleges in Providing Distance Learning Programs. 

� Initiative 6.1: Supporting Colleges in Determining Distance Learning Programs 

That Suitable to the Job Market Needs. 

� Initiative 6.2: Providing Technical Support Services for Distance Learning 

Programs. 

� Initiative 6.3: Providing Broadcasting Services for the Distance Learning 

Programs.

7. Providing Qualified Manpower To Increase the Efficiency of E-learning Services. 

� Initiative 7.1: Retaining Qualified E-learning Personnel. 

� Initiative 7.2: Continuous Development & Training to Employees to Improve the 

Provided Services. 

� Initiative 7.3: Developing the Trainers Skills. 

8. Participating in Building Knowledge-based Economy. 

� Initiative 8.1: Signing Scientific and Economic exchange Agreements with Local 

& International Institutions. 

� Initiative 8.2: Marketing the Products of the Deanship and its Scientific 

Contributions. 

In order to achieve the stated objectives the strategic plan has proposed a one or more project 

for each initiative. The plan also included an action plan, a communication plan, and a 

tracking and reporting plan to ensure the success of its initiatives and projects.

References 

Alhagar, Raed, A Proposed Vision To Improve University Strategic Planning. Second 

Conference for the Planning and Development of Education and Scientific Research in the 

Arab World. Vol. 1, February 24-27, 2008. King Fahd University for Petroleum and 

Minerals. Dhahran, KSA. 

Alswedan, T. and M. Aladlouni. How to Write a Strategic Plan. Gordoba Pub., 2005. 

Bashioat, 2008. Strategic Planning and Solution Trends for Certain Models and Their 

Predictions, Case Study. Second Conference for the Planning and Development of Education 

and Scientific Research in the Arab World. Vol. 1, February 24-27, 2008. King Fahd 

University for Petroleum and Minerals. Dhahran, KSA. 

Ghanaim, M. Integrated Introduction to Arab Higher Education Planning within 

Strategic Planning. College of Education, Mansura University. 2010. 

Teima, R., Strategic Planning and Comprehensive Quality. Second Conference for the 

Planning and Development of Education and Scientific Research in the Arab World. Vol. 1, 

P. 81. February 24-27, 2008. King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals. Dhahran, 

KSA. 

R.G. Dyson, Strategic development and SWOT analysis at the University of Warwick, 

European Journal Of Operational Research 152 (2004), 631–640 

Bryson, J. (1995). Strategic planning in public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to 

strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey- 

Bass.

Teaching the Functions of Interest: 

An Alternative Pedagogy 

Michael Crean 

University of Denver 

ABSTRACT 

Seven Violations of Occam’s Razor in Teaching The Six Functions of Interest 

1. Teaching only 4 of the 6 functions; 

the two missing functions are the Sinking Fund Factor (SFF) and the Mortgage Constant (RM); 

Colorado law requires using IF4 and IF5!?!) 

2. Using reciprocals for the two missing functions; 

yet there are three sets of reciprocals among the six functions of interest; 

(“give me 6, or give me 3, but please never give me 4”) 

3. Using different names and symbols for the various Interest Factors; 

4. Using different numbering and ordering by different textbooks and professors; 

5. Interest Factor tables differ between disciplines (Finance and Real Estate). 

(one interest factor per table with many rates vs. one table per interest factor with one rate); 

6. Using short‐form equations, rather than the long‐form equations; 

(The Jonathan B. Hills Story); and 

7. Stating that cash outflows are negative numbers; 

(because spreadsheet and financial calculator directions say so).

I have been teaching Real Estate Finance to undergraduate and graduate students since January 

1971. A key concept taught in any Finance class is the Functions of Interest, aka the time-value 

of money and/or present-value-future-value. In a recent Real Estate Finance course evaluation, 

two students said: 

1. “The professor should consider using Xcel for teaching the multi-period financial 

analysis. This is how financial analysis is done in the real world.” 

2. “I appreciate that he forces us to really know the math behind these equations, 

such that we are doing more than mindlessly entering equations into Xcel." 

Naturally, I prefer hearing what the second student had said. Hence, as John 

Houseman 1 might have said, I say: 

“I teach it the old-fashioned way; and they learn it!” 

The first student comment prompts me to discuss Occam’s Razor, stated in Latin as: 

“entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitate”. 

Occam’s Razor, also known as the Principle of Parsimony, is the meta-theoretical 

principle that may be translated as: 

1. “entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity”; or 

2. “a plurality (of reasons) should not be posited without necessity.” or more simply; 

3. “Keep It Simple, Stupid!” The so-called “KISS Principle”. 

Occam 2 suggested that the most simple solution is usually the best and/or the most correct. This 

paper (article) discusses the “seven deadly” violations (like the seven deadly sins) of Occam’s 

Razor in the teaching of the Functions of Interest. To overcome the seven violations, an 

alternative pedagogy is offered herein. Said pedagogy connects the six (yes, six) functions of 

interest math with six conceptual concatenation statements that link the six functions one to the 

next. 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

1 John Houseman (September 22, 1902 - October 31, 1988) was a British-American 

actor and film producer. In 1973 he won an Oscar for his supporting performance as 

Professor Charles Kingsfield in The Paper Chase (film). However, he is perhaps best 

known for his role as Professor Kingsfield in the TV series The Paper Chase and the 

TV commercials for the stock brokerage firm Smith Barney wherein he said: 

“We do it the old fashioned way; we earn it!” 

2 William of Occam, England, b. c.1285, d. c.1349, ranks among the most important 

philosopher-theologians and the greatest logicians of the Middle Ages.

The pedagogy starts with (1+i) n , the basic “building block” for all six functions of interest and all 

discounted cash flow models, such as Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return. Exhibit A 

is a one page summary preview of the alternative pedagogy. 

ALTERNATIVE PEDAGOGY FOR THE SIX FUNCTIONS OF INTEREST 

Terminology is almost never common across all fields of study. Hence, an attempt is 

made here to minimize the number of terms employed in the explanation of the Six 

Functions of Interest. One could argue that to use terms commonly not used elsewhere 

only adds to the terminology problem. However, it is hoped the terms used here may very 

easily apply across all disciplines. Furthermore, by using only two basic terms (Cash 

Flow and Reversion), it is hoped that the relationships that exist among the Six Functions 

of Interest will allow the Six Functions to be viewed as a complete system of math and 

logic. Cash flow is a periodic amount of money; Reversion is a single amount of money. 

Elsewhere a Cash Flow is commonly called an "Annuity" and a Reversion is commonly 

called "One" or "$1." Since the Six Functions of Interest is a part of Discounted Cash 

Flow (DCF) analysis, Cash Flow is more generic and is, therefore, preferred here to 

"Annuity." The term Reversion is a property law term that refers to an interest in property 

that reverts back to the fee estate holder at some point in time. The Property Reversion is 

a property valuation term that refers to the single amount of money obtained upon sale of 

the property. 

Each of the two amounts of money may be stated in terms of the future or the present. Also, given 

either a future value or a present value of a series of cash flows, one might seek the amount of the 

Cash Flow itself that is associated with either the future value amount or the present value amount. 

One might make a Payment of or take receipt of a Cash Flow. In either case, the Cash Flow is 

periodic. The only difference between the two possibilities is the direction (not the sign) of the 

Cash Flow, or the point of reference for evaluation of the Cash Flow. For example, a borrower's 

Payment of interest and principal due on the present value of a loan is also the lender's Cash Flow 

receipt. A sinking fund Payment made to accumulate to a future value is also a Cash Flow 

received by the savings depository. Hence, Cash Flows and Payments are the same thing viewed

from either the receiving perspective, or the disbursing perspective. Furthermore, most hand-held 

calculators use either and/or both labels, Cash Flow (CFj) and Payment (PMT) on their buttons to 

be pushed to input or output Cash Flows and/or Payments. 

If Reversion and Cash Flow are combined with Present Value and Future Value, 

the result is a set of six acronyms that may be numbered and labeled as follows. 

1. Future Value of a Reversion, FVR; aka, Interest Factor 1 (IF1); 

2. Future Value of a Cash Flow, FVCF; aka, Interest Factor 2 (IF2); 

3. Cash Flow of Future Value, CFFV; aka, Interest Factor 3 (IF3); 

4. Present Value of a Reversion, PVR; aka, Interest Factor 4 (IF4); 

5. Present Value of a Cash Flow, PVCF; aka, Interest Factor 5 (IF5); and 

6. Cash Flow of Future Value, CFPV; aka, Interest Factor 6 (IF6). 

The order notation supra is justified via the concatenation statements in Exhibit A. 

Each acronym consists of two letters, each with a one or two letter (R; CF) subscript. 

The first two letters are the “unknown”; and the subscripts are the “known”. Few (if any) 

textbooks present the long-form mathematics for each of the six functions. Instead, these texts 

typically present only the short-form math for the functions of interest equations. An example of 

“the long and the short of it” (the math) is as follows: 

1. [(1+ i) n-1 + (1+ i) n-2 + (1+ i) n-3 +…..+(1+ i) n-n ] is the long-form math, while 

2. [(1+i) -1/i] is the short-form math. 

The long-form math of the same Function of Interest allows the presentation of Exhibit A that 

contains the Long-Form Equation Mathematics of the Six Functions of Interest and their 

corresponding Six Critical Conceptual Concatenations Statements. A concatenation is a 

successive series of concepts regarded as casually or dependently related, or a comprehensive 

combination of casually connected concepts, or a list of logical linkages! Note that the specific 

order of the six functions equations fits the flow of logic that links each function to the next. The 

ordering starts with the three Future Value (compounding) Functions, followed by the three 

Present Value (discounting) Functions. Think of the movie “Back to the Future” with Michael J. 

Fox, as an aid to remember that the six functions begin with the three future value functions!

EXHIBIT A 

SIX FUNCTIONS OF INTEREST MATH AND CONCATENATION STATEMENTS 

1. FVR = PVR times (1+ i) n Short-Form Math 

2. FVCF = CFFV times (1+ i) n-1 + (1+ i) n-2 + (1+ i) n-3 +.…+ (1+ i) n-n versus (1+i) n -1 

i 

______________1___________________ versus ___i____ 

3. CFFV = FVCF times (1+ i) n-1 + (1+ i) n-2 + (1+ i) n-3 +.…+ (1+ i) n-n (1+i) n -1 

__1__ 

4. PVR = FVR times (1+ i) n or times 1/(1+i) n 

__1__ __1__ __1__ __1__ versus 1- {1/(1+i) n } 

5. PVCF = CFPV times (1+ i) 1 + (1+ i) 2 + (1+ i) 3 +..…+ (1+ i) n i 

______________1_______________ 

6. CFPV = PVCF times __1__ __1__ __1__ __1__ versus ____i_____ 

(1+ i) 1 + (1+ i) 2 + (1+ i) 3 +..…+ (1+ i) n 1- {1/(1+i) n } 

THE SIX CONCEPTUAL CONCATENATION STATEMENTS 

IF1: the 1 = “of”, the i = “on”, and the n handles the compounding to the 

��FUTURE�� 

IF2 is a bunch of IF1’s with goofy exponents, to handle the missing first period caused by 

the Cash Flows at End of Period (EOP) convention 

IF3 is the reciprocal of IF2, because the known and unknown are reversed 

IF4 is the reciprocal of IF1, because the known and unknown are reversed, and the n’s 

handle the discounting to the ��PRESENT�� 

IF5 is a bunch of IF4’s without goofy exponents, since arrows go the other way �� 

IF6 is the reciprocal of IF5, because the known and unknown are reversed 

______________________________________________________________________ 

Terminology Acronyms 

R = reversion; a single amount; lump sum; $1, et al. 

CF = cash flow; a series of equal amounts (payments); annuity 

IF = Interest Factor 

(1+i) n = IF1 is both the long-form math and the short-form math 

1/(1+i) n = IF4 is both the long-form math and the short-form math

Business/Corporate Finance versus Real Estate Finance 

The traditional business/corporate finance method of teaching the functions of interest may be 

viewed as having at least Seven Violations of Occam’s Razor as displayed in Exhibit B. 

EXHIBIT B 

Seven Violations of Occam’s Razor in Teaching The Six Functions of Interest 

1. Teaching only 4 of the 6 functions; 

2. Using reciprocals for the two missing functions; 

3. Using different names/symbols for the various Interest Factors; 

4. Using different numbering/ordering by different textbooks; 

5. Interest Factor tables differ between disciplines; 

6. Using short-form equations, rather than the long-form equations; and 

7. Stating that cash outflows are negative numbers; 

Violation #1 - Teaching only 4 of the 6 Functions. Over nearly 40 years, many students have 

asked why their business finance professors and textbooks present the math and interest factor 

tables for only four of the six functions of interest. The Functions of Interest typically taught in 

Business Finance are: 

1. Future Value of One (FV$1, or FVIF, and IF1 in Exhibit A)); 

2. Future Value of an Annuity (FVAnn, or FVIFA, and IF2 in Exhibit A)); 

3. Present Value of One (PV$1, or PVIF, and IF4 in Exhibit A) 

4. Present Value of an Annuity (PVAnn, or PVIFA, and IF5 in Exhibit A) 

Typically a table of pre-calculated interest factors for various interest rates and years is provided 

for each of these four functions of interest. However, there are six (6) functions of interest. The 

other two functions of interest are the Sinking Fund Factor (SFF) and the Loan Amortization 

Factor, which is called the Mortgage Constant (RM) in Real Estate Finance. In Business Finance 

it is common to present these two interest factors as the reciprocals of the FVAnn Factor (FVIFA)

and the PVAnn Factor (PVIFA), respectively. Given these two reciprocal relationships, one might 

well wonder why a table of interest factors is provided for the PV$1 Factor, given that it is the 

reciprocal of the FV$1 Factor!?! As shown in Exhibit C, there are six (6) functions and three (3) 

reciprocal relationships!?! 

The Sinking Fund Factor (SFF = IF3), and the Loan Amortization Factor (RM = IF6), aka the 

Mortgage Constant, are very important in Real Estate Finance. The SFF is integral to the 

calculation of the Capital Recovery (Recapture) Rate as part of a Capitalization Rate (Cap Rate) 

in Real Estate Appraisal. Cap Rates are a combination of the Discount Rate (return “on” 

investment) and the Capital Recovery Rate (return “of” investment). Business Finance always 

covers the Discount Rate, but seldom if ever, covers the Capital Recovery Rate. In Real Estate 

Appraisal, one must master the knowledge and application of both the return “on” investment 

and the return “of” investment. 

The Mortgage Constant is an integral part of Real Estate Appraisal, Real Estate Finance and Real 

Estate Investment whenever a mortgage loan is part of the analysis. Furthermore, it is important 

to remember that the “building block” of the math of the Six Functions of Interest is (1+i) n . The 

“1” of this math handles the return “of” investment. The “i” handles the return “on” investment. 

Both the return “on” and the return “of” are displayed in Exhibit D. 

Violation #2 - Using reciprocals. A business finance professor once asked me why 

our real estate students were not capable of understanding the reciprocals of the 

interest factors required to solve two of the six time-value of money problems. I replied 

with the “battle cry”: 

“Give me 6, or give me 3; but never give me 4.” 

If one uses reciprocals, one only needs the math for three of the six functions of 

interest. That professor never got tenure, so I do not know where s/he is today! See 

Exhibit D.

EXHIBIT C 

GIVE ME 3 OR GIVE ME 6, BUT NEVER GIVE ME 4 

THREE SETS OF RECIPROCALS (1 & 4; 2 & 3; 5 & 6) 

Business/Corporate Finance versus Real Estate 

IF1 = FV$1 reciprocal of IF4 1. FVR 

IF2 = FVAnn reciprocal of IF3 2. FVCF 

IF3 = Sinking Fund Factor (SFF) 3. CFFV 

Finance uses reciprocal of IF2 

IF4 = PV$1 reciprocal of IF1 4. PVR 

Why not use the reciprocal of IF4? 

IF5 = PVAnn reciprocal of IF6 5. PVCF 

IF6 = Mortgage Constant (RM) 6. CFPV 

Finance uses reciprocal of IF5 

EXHIBIT D 

Return “on” Investment and Return “of” Investment 

Compounding to a FV 

Assume $100 PV @ 10% for One Year Assume $100 PV @ 10% for Two Years 

1 = handles return “of” investment 1 = handles return “of” investment 

i (.10) = handles return “on” investment i (.10) = handles return “on” investment 

FV = PV (1+i) 1 

FV = PV (1+i) 2 

FV = 100 (1+.10) 1 FV = PV (1+i) (1+i) 

FV = 100 + 10 FV = 100 (1+.10) (1+.10) 

FV = 110 FV = 121 

100 = return “of” investment 100 = return “of” investment 

+10 = Year 1 return “on” 100 10 = Year 1 return “on” 100 

110 FV 10 = Year 2 return “on” 100 

+ 1 = Year 2 return “on” Year’s 1’s return “on” 

121 = FV

Violation #3 - Different Numbering or Ordering. Many students over the years have 

asked why it is common for their Corporate Finance professors and textbooks to 

present the functions in different orders. They have stated that this is very confusing 

as to which function was which, as they have moved from one professor or text to 

another. See Exhibit E infra. In Colorado, there is a state statute that requires 

all income producing real estate to be valued for property tax purposes using “Interest 

Factor Four (4) and Interest Factor Five (5)”! How does one comply with the law, if 

one has only 4 interest factors numbered and ordered differently!? 

Violation #4 - Different Names & Symbols. Different disciplines use different names 

and/or different symbols for the Six Functions. Please see Exhibits F. 

Violation #5 – Interest Factor Tables Differ between Finance and Real Estate. 

Each of the 4 (not 6) Business Finance Interest Factor Tables contains factors for only 

one function of interest and many interest rates. Each page of the Real Estate Interest Factor 

Tables contains factors for all six functions of interest for only one interest rate. One can argue 

that the real estate format is better because: (1) usually one uses one interest/discount rate at a 

time; (2) with all six functions, one never has to use reciprocals; (3) the answers to all six 

possible time value of money problems may be solved via multiplication of the proper factor 

times the given amount, thereby eliminating having to remember (in Finance) which two 

problems may be solved by either: (1) multiplication of a reciprocal; or (2) division of a factor 

that has nothing to do with the problem to be solved. 

Violation #6 - Short-Form Math. Perhaps the most serious violation of Occam’s Razor 

is the use of the so-called Short-Form Math. The attempt to simplify the math actually makes it 

more complicated and very obtuse! In short, the short-form equations do NOT make it 

simple. It is demonstrated herein that the short-form math cannot be explained on a conceptual 

level as easily as can the Long-Form Math! The set of Six Concatenation Statements in 

Exhibit A is employed to gain an excellent understanding of the Six Functions of Interest on all 

levels. This dilemma can be demonstrated by telling the “Jonathan B. Hills Story” outlined in 

Exhibit G infra. Jonathan had been taught to memorize the following:

1. (1+ i ) n Future Value of $1 

2. __1___ Present Value of $1 

(1+ i ) n 

3. (1+i) n – 1 Short-Form Math - Future Value Annuity; its reciprocal is the 

i Sinking Fund Factor 

4. 1 – {1/(1+i) n } Short-Form Math - Present Value Annuity; its reciprocal is the 

i Loan Amortization Factor, aka the Mortgage Constant 

Jonathan said: (1) he never understood the math; (2) he knew he had to use two 

Interest Factor reciprocals for some exam problems; and (3) he would forget which two 

required reciprocals. Jonathan was a victim of Violations of Occam’s Razor! 

Violation #7 – Stating that cash outflows are negative numbers. 

A simple study of the equations in Exhibit A clearly shows that none of the numbers in the six 

equations are necessarily negative. Both sides of the six equations (right-side- known and leftside-unknown) 

must be positive in order for the two sides to be equal. 

Some numbers on the right-side of the equations could be negative. However, the sum must be 

positive in order to equal a positive number on the left-side. From a pure math perspective, both 

sides could be negative, but it can never be the case that one side is positive while the side is 

negative. It is very unfortunate that various sets of the directions for using financial calculators 

and spreadsheets state that “cash outflows are negative”. The math-minded students are the 

most likely of all students to be aware that such instructions are obvious misstatements!

EXHIBIT E 

TEXTBOOK CHOICE CAUSES CONFUSION 

Textbooks vary both the number and the teaching order of the six functions of interest. 

THREE DIFFERENT TEXTBOOK’S ORDERING OF FUNCTIONS 

Table # Text 1 Table # Text 2 Table # Text 3 

A FV$1 A-1 PV$1 I FV$1 

B FVAnn A-2 PVAnn II PV$1 

C PV$1 A-3 FV$1 III FVAnn 

D PVAnn A-4 FVAnn IV PVAnn 

Note: A Colorado statute says IF5 and IF4 must be used in calculating the Assessed 

Value of investment real estate for property tax purposes!?! Which is IF5 supra? 

EXHIBIT F 

THE FUNCTIONS OF INTEREST SYMBOLS & NAMES ACROSS DISCIPLINES 

Most textbooks give only 4 functions of interest 

There are actually 6 functions of interest! 

#’s Business Real Estate Real Estate Crean #’s 

1-6 Finance Appraisal Finance Acronyms 1-6 

1 FVIF S n FV$1 FVR 1 

2 FVIFA Sn┐ FVAnn FVCF 2 

3 1/FVIFA 1/Sn┐ SFF CFFV 3 

(No Table) 

4 PVIF 1/S n PV$1 PVR 4 

5 PVIFA an┐ PVAnn PVCF 5 

6 1/FVIFA 1/an┐ RM CFPV 6 

(No Table) Mortgage Constant; or 

Installment to Amortize $1

EXHIBIT G 

THE JONATHAN B. HILLS STORY 

Short-Form Math: Six Functions of Interest 

(1+i) n is not complicated, easy to explain as the FV$; and 

the 1 handles return “of”; 

the i handles return “on”; and 

the n’s handles the �compounding� to the Future. 

This is the math of the FV$1; FVIF; FVR; IF1 

1__ is not complicated, since the known and unknown of the FV$ 

(1+i) n have been reversed which leads to the reciprocal; 

and the n’s handle the �discounting� to the Present. 

This is the math for the PV$1; PVIF; PVR; IF4 

HOWEVER: 

(1+i) n -1 Which Interest Factor is the FV$ minus 1 divided by the discount rate? 

i And how do you explain it so the math makes sense? 

This is the math for the FVAnn; FVIFA; FVCF; IF2 

___i___ Which Interest Factor is the Discount Rate divided by the FV$ minus 1? 

(1+i) n -1 And how do you explain it so the math makes sense? 

This is the math for the Sinking Fund Factor; CFFV; IF3 

1- {1/(1+i) n } Which Interest Factor is 1 minus the PV$ divided by the discount rate? 

i And how do you explain it so the math makes sense? 

This is the math for the PVAnn; PVIFA; PVCF; IF5 

____i_____ Which Interest Factor is the discount rate divided by 1 minus the PV$? 

1- {1/(1+i) n } And how do you explain it so the math makes sense? 

This is the math for the Loan Amortization Factor; Mortgage Constant; 

CFPV; IF6 

These Short-form Equations are not as easily explained and understood as are the 

Long-form Equations displayed in Exhibit A supra.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 

In Child Psychology it is a well known fact that for a child’s brain to properly mature, the child 

must crawl-walk-run, in that specific order. An analogy for a finance student’s knowledge of 

the Functions of Interest to properly mature might well be that the student should learn via the 

sequence of math-tables-calculator (or computer spreadsheet, eg., Xcel ), in that specific order! 

If one understands the math, then one can graduate to using the tables as a short-cut, and then 

graduate to using the calculator which is, not only an even faster short-cut, but also a set of 

Interest Factors for a virtually infinite set of rates and time periods! 

The electronic devices minded students of today may question the need for the Interest Factors 

per se, given that the directions to their little machines show them how to skip the Interest Factor 

and go directly to “the answer”. Said directions typically do not show the student that each 

Interest Factor is “the answer” per amount given! If one enters the number 1 for the amount 

given, the answer displayed is the Interest Factor! Please note that the Real Estate Analyst 

commonly must employ at least five of the six Interest Factors per se, as inputs to a variety of 

algorithms, as displayed in the following examples: 

1. The Sinking Fund Factor (SFF; IF3; CFFV) is an input to deriving a cap rate (RO) via the 

Inwood Model, stated as RO = YO - ∆ CFFV@Yo, wherein YO is the Discount Rate, Delta 

(∆) is the anticipated change in value over the entire investment holding period, and - ∆ 

CFFV@Yo is the Capital Recovery (Recapture) Rate. The Business Finance trained reader 

should note that the Inwood Model is in the same genre as the Gordon Model for income 

and value growth. 

2. The Mortgage Constant (IF6; CFPV; RM) is an input to deriving a cap rate via the 

Mortgage Equity Model, stated as RO = RM (LTVR) + RE (1-LTVR), wherein the cash 

flow rates RO, RM, RE, are the cash flow rates to the overall property, the mortgage 

investor and the equity investor, respectively; and LTVR is the Loan To Value Ratio. 

3. The Present Value of an Annuity Factor (IF5; PVCF) and the Present Value of One 

Factor (IF4; PVR) are inputs to the Simple Algebraic Model for Value (VO), stated as: 

VO = PVCF(NOI) + PVR [(1+ Δ) VO)] or VO = PVCF (NOI) + PVR [(1+CR] n )VO] 

Inwood Gordon

4. The Future Value of One Factor (IF2; FVR), and the Mortgage Constant (IF6; RM; CFPV), 

in addition to the Present Value of an Annuity Factor (IF5; PVCF) and the Present Value 

of One Factor (IF4; PVR), is are inputs to the General Algebraic Model for Value (VO), 

stated as: 

VO= MVO + [PVCF@Ye(NOI)] – [PVCF@Ye(RMMVO)] + [PVR@Ye(FVR@Ye)VO)] – [PVR@Ye(B%MVO)] 

Hopefully, if teachers follow the math-tables-calculator learning sequence, perhaps their students 

might paraphrase the two students whose course evaluations read as follows: 

1. "I liked learning what’s behind the numbers rather than just plugging numbers 

into the calculator, and not understanding what the calculator is doing."; or 

2. "After this one course, I now have a better understanding of the time value of 

money than I had after completing an undergraduate degree in Finance from 

another university”. 

One still might wonder why s/he cannot simply “plug in numbers”. That may allow the student 

to know the “how”, but not the “why”. A client or boss may ask: “I see how you did that; but I 

also want to know why you did that!” The student, who can answer both the how and the why, 

should be more successful “in the real world”. Finally, in a “perfect world” my headstone would 

say: 

“He taught it the old-fashioned way; and they learned it!”

The Conceptual Change Model (CCM) Today and Beyond 

Tanzeem Iqbal Ali 

University of Wyoming 

ABSTRACT 

Conceptual change has been a much researched area for teaching and learning in the last thirty years. Many 

variations have developed as a result of application in different fields of study and content areas. This paper 

looks at the development of the Conceptual Change Model (CCM) by Dr. Joseph Stepans (beginning in the 

1980s) as a teaching model and Schmidt, Saigo and Stepans (2006) as a teaching model and philosophy 

comparing it with traditional instruction. The paper’s aim is to make the teaching and learning community 

aware of the CCM, while reflecting on some questions raised by other researchers on its effectiveness in 

classroom practice.

Brief history: 

The CCM was developed by Dr. Joseph I. Stepans during the 1980s and early 1990s. It is a 

formalization of the theoretical models arising from the research of Posner, Strike, Hewson and 

Gertzog (1982), Strike and Posner (1985), and others. The Conceptual Change Model (CCM), is 

based on the cumulative research on learning and teaching over the last three and half decades. 

In the CCM Handbook (2006), Schmidt, Saigo and Stepans explain the theory, research and 

constructivist philosophy on which the six-phase CCM is based. Many references are cited in 

their work, which must be looked upon as only a sample of the relevant literature. A cursory 

review of the literature will reveal thousands of studies, articles, books, and commentaries about 

constructivist based learning theory, teaching and assessment strategies and classroom dynamics. 

It is consistent with the best practices in teaching and learning highlighted in the National 

Science Teachers Association Exemplary Science Program monographs (NSTA, 2005a, 2005b, 

2005c and 2006), The National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996), and national 

standards in other curricular areas. The books by Stepans with illustrative lessons have proved 

successful for thousands of teachers who have used them and created their own CCM lessons. It 

has been widely used in K-12 and college classrooms, including teaching methods courses. 

What is the Conceptual Change Model (CCM)? 

The CCM is a six-phase process designed to bring about conceptual change in the learner. It was 

first designed as a method for teaching science and later applied to mathematics; however, 

teachers and professors have reported its applicability to all content areas. CCM being a learnercentered 

model, all its phases are titled and describe the cognitive activity of the learner during 

that phase. The roles of the teacher and students in this model are quite different from those in 

traditional instructional models. In a CCM lesson the teacher facilitates learning experiences 

rather than presenting and explaining information and procedures. 

One of the highlights of using CCM becomes apparent through its effective use as it involves 

assessment of meaningful learning. A pre assessment of learners’ ideas about targeted concepts 

and skills provides information necessary for setting meaningful expectations. It allows teachers 

to design instruction that meets the needs of their own students while aligning with curricular 

standards. The teacher uses ongoing and final assessments to determine how well the students 

meet the expectations. 

How and when CCM came about? 

The CCM is grounded in the constructivist paradigm of learning, which holds that knowledge is 

personally constructed as a result of an individual’s experiences. This philosophy is supported by 

many renowned educational theorists, including Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky. According to 

constructivist theorists, learning occurs as the brain attempts to make sense of what it perceives, 

integrating new information into a matrix of existing knowledge and understanding. Even

information that is presented directly, as through a lecture or textbook, passes through the filter 

of prior experiences and understanding. 

The traditional learning environment may or may not assist learners and their teachers in 

recognizing and altering their conceptions. They may enter an educational setting without 

preconceptions about a topic or concept, with naïve or flawed conceptions or misconceptions. 

Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial 

understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information, or they 

may learn them for purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside the classroom. 

How People learn (NRC, 2000) 

The works of many theorists, cognitive psychologists, and researchers have contributed to our 

current constructivist-based theory of learning and philosophy of teaching. The influence of 

several of them is apparent in the CCM. Many researchers have been describing and debating 

various points of constructivist philosophy and the nature of mental frameworks as Glynn and 

Duit, 1995; Duit and Treagust, 1998 in Schmidt, Saigo and Stepans, 2006 note. The role of 

instruction that allows students to experience cognitive dissonance has been researched (Bell, 

1993, in Schmidt, Saigo and Stepans, 2006). She emphasizes that learning involves both 

constructing new conceptions and restructuring old ones. 

A visual representation of the CCM lesson profile provides a description of the six phases of the 

model highlighting the students’ cognition and metacognition in each phase in figure 1. Teaching 

for conceptual change requires acknowledging that preexisting conceptions must be identified by 

both the learner and the teacher. Ausubel (1963, 1968 in Schmidt et al, 2006) noted that prior 

knowledge can be extremely tenacious and difficult for learner to give up. Thus, instructional 

experiences should be deliberately designed to challenge these preconceptions.

Phase 1 

Phase 2 

Phase 3 

Phase 4 

Phase 5 

Phase 6 

• Commit to a Position or an Outcome 

• Students become aware of their own thinking by responding to a question or by attempting 

to solve a problem or challenge 

•Expose Beliefs 

• Students share and discuss their ideas, predictions, and reasoning with their classmates 

before they begin to test their ideas 

•Cofront Beliefs 

• Students confront their existing ideas through collaborative experiences that challenge their 

preconceptions ‐ working with materials, collecting data, consulting resources 

• Accommodate the Concept 

• Students accommodate a new view, concept, or skill by summarizing, discussing, debating 

and incorporating new information 

•Extend the Concept 

• Students apply and make connections between the new concept or skill and other situations 

and ideas 

•Go Beyond 

• Students pose and pursue new questions, ideas, and problems of their own. 

Figure1. The Conceptual Change Model (CCM). (Adapted from Schmidt, Saigo and Stepans, 

2006 with publisher permission) 

A profile of a CCM lesson’s six phases in terms of learner experiences is briefly discussed while 

comparing with traditional instructional models later. The first phase allows students to 

independently and privately acknowledge their current understanding through a thinking activity 

in which they write or illustrate their ideas in response to a question or challenge posed by the 

teacher. An important component of this phase is that students identify and record reasons for 

their ideas. 

In the second phase the student shares ideas with other group members. These small group 

discussions provide a safe venue for discussing ideas. As students listen to one another, they 

frequently find that others share beliefs similar to their own. Ideas from the small groups are 

shared anonymously with the class as a whole. Ideas from small groups provide the opportunity 

for all students and the teacher to get a picture of the diverse perspectives represented in the 

class. 

In phase three, after exposing beliefs, students are typically quite curious to find out if their 

thinking is correct. During the Confront Beliefs phase, the students engage in collaborative

activities that enable them to test their ideas and confront their current belief structures. These 

experiences require interpretation and may challenge existing views. 

The fourth phase of he CCM has the teacher facilitate through sharing and discussion of what the 

groups have learned, each learner comes to a new understanding presented by their peers and 

teacher. Each student must find a way to accommodate this new information by reconciling it 

with existing ideas or restructuring current thinking. It is not expected that all learners will totally 

abandon their preconceptions and become convinced about new ideas. 

Unique features of the CCM are in its fifth and sixth phases. The lesson does not stop after the 

fourth phase. Students are encouraged to make connections between their new understanding and 

other real-life or academic experiences at home, at school, or elsewhere. They are given 

opportunities to share their ideas on where this concept is applied and to test out their new ideas 

or theories in a new context. 

In the final phase, students are allowed to come up with new questions of their own that help 

them to think beyond the confines of the lesson. These new questions might be used for further 

class exploration; they often lead to independent research and reading by the students. In this 

phase students have opportunity to be creative as they consider completely new intriguing ways 

to think about what they have learnt. 

Posner, Strike, Hewson and Gertzog (1982 in Schmidt et al, 2006) and Strike and Posner (1985 

in Schmidt et al., 2006) suggest that genuine learning, or conceptual change, requires the 

following conditions: 

� Students must be dissatisfied with their existing views. 

� The new conception must appear somewhat plausible. 

� The new conceptions must be more attractive. 

� The new conception must have explanatory and predictive power. 

If these four conditions are met, learners are likely to successfully modify existing beliefs about 

a concept. The process emphasizes on what happens inside the learner. Simple exposure to new 

information or a new view is not enough to invoke conceptual change. Students may memorize 

facts and definitions and be able to reproduce them, but may not be able to make appropriate 

and useful connections among ideas that will allow for applications to real world situations or 

problems that are more advanced (i.e. linkages between learning and transfer of knowledge) 

The CCM addresses all of the above conditions, beginning with students becoming aware of 

their own thinking. Through a series of developmental phases, it helps them confront their views, 

refine them if necessary and then immediately explain and use their new understandings. The 

research based rationale for each phase of the CCM is reflected in How People Learn (Bransford, 

Brown, and Cocking, 2000 in Schmidt et al., 2006).

To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must (a) have a deep foundation 

of factual knowledge, (b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, 

and (c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application. 

A metacognitive approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their 

own learning by defining learning gals and monitoring their progress in achieving them. 

How People Learn (NRC, 2000) 

What lessons have we learnt so far in CCM? 

Over the years, a couple of common misconceptions about CCM have been expressed by 

educators. 

“It is just the traditional scientific method. 

It is the well known KWL. 

It is the same as the 1960’s Learning Cycle.” 

Some teachers resist using the CCM with statements revealing trepidations about moving on 

from traditional instruction. 

“It will take too much time. 

I will not be able to cover everything that my students are expected to learn. 

This will never work with my students. 

My students will not participate. 

My students will get too wild. 

Students would get bored if we did this every day. It will not work with large classes. 

I cannot get through all the phases of a CCM lesson in a single period. 

The CCM is not appropriate for all curricular areas.” 

Research from studies reveal that most teachers experienced in the use of the CCM have 

countered all the concerns expressed above. Surprisingly, the use of the CCM does not require 

more time than traditional models. Rather, the in-depth understanding developed by learners 

usually reduces the time typically needed for review and continuous re-teaching of the content. 

Another thing to note here, is students love interacting. By making use of this, providing them an 

opportunity to interact designed to suit the lesson benefits the students learning process. This is a

total opposite of what most teachers may think. The level of interaction flourishes in classrooms 

where CCM is employed. He quiet and apparently weak students tend to thrive in this new 

situation. The opportunity to draw upon their own personal experiences enables all students to 

safely contribute to class discussions. 

Although the CCM class lessons may appear to be to stiff and repetitious, yet the variety of 

strategies employed in CCM lessons is infinite. Due to the interactions, both teachers and 

students are intrigued rather than feeling bored with the model. Evidence shows, teachers 

frequently are absorbed in listening to the ways students express their understanding and the 

connections they make to other experiences and phenomena. 

Teachers have also discovered to their surprise, students who do not typically perform well in 

traditional classrooms adapt to the CCM format fast. Students as such, with the CCM are given 

the opportunity to recognize they understand many things that are valuable to the learning 

process and get to share with others. 

Ultimately, having students demonstrate strong learning and gaining stature and respect from 

their peers is probably the highest reward a teacher can hope for. In an era of teacher 

accountability and teacher performance directly being linked to student achievement the CCM 

can play a vital role to help teachers and students meet their respective goals and schools 

maintain their support from state funding. 

Often teachers’ share they are forced to teach students to the test due to accountability issues. 

However, this may not be the case if consensus is met with what we want students to learn? 

Instructional goals for teachers should be to ensure (a) conceptual understandings of knowledge 

and skills not memorization, (b) applications and connections, (c) ability and willingness to 

experience a conceptual change, and (d) dispositions and habits of mind. 

It must be noted that teaching the CCM way is a dynamic process of continuous change and 

development. Students change in what they know, understand and are able to do. It may sound 

paradoxical, yet only by taking risks to expose and confront one’s own thinking and familiar 

habits the comfort grows in both students and teachers. Some critics view the CCM as not 

acknowledging the students’ affective domain and how being aware of misconceptions may 

instead of empowering students make them feel inferior. This can be easily avoided by providing 

a variety of ways to acknowledge the misconceptions during the first two phases of the model. 

The CCM lessons provide the teachers ample opportunity to collect data, reflect on their 

observations and use first hand information to make sense and evaluate what happens to students 

in response to a lesson. It provides a basis to improve upon instruction. With the help of other 

constructive strategies teachers and administrators can create a deliberate and naturalistic 

environment of continuous development and improvement not only for students but also to 

enriching their own teaching and research repertoire through action research projects within 

schools and institutions.

“We take immense joy in seeing students who may be considered as under-performing or poorly 

performing in traditional classrooms emerge as stars during CCM lessons.” (Schmidt, Saigo and 

Stepans, 2006) 

Most of us may have been taught lessons developed by the traditional models of instruction such 

as the Medeline Hunter model (Hunter, 2004). However there is a basic distinction between 

CCM and traditional models specifically on the roles of teachers and students. Traditional 

models emphasizes on what the teacher does while the CCM focuses on the learner. A typical 

lesson following the traditional model may have seven steps; (a) set the focus for the lesson, (b) 

present learning objectives, (c) Review previous material, (d) present new information and model 

skills, (e) provide guided practice, (f) provide independent practice and (g) review or summarize 

learning. 

In a CCM lesson students first privately think about a problem or challenge drawing on their own 

understanding ad personal, social, cultural and academic experiences. Then they share what they 

think with classmates and listen o what others have to say. These two first phases of a CCM 

lesson engages learners and activates their prior knowledge. In contrast think of the traditional 

model where, the first step is the attention-getter activity. The KWL is a common strategy used 

for this purpose, where groups of students brainstorm what they know and want to know about a 

topic before beginning a lesson. To some it may mean reminding students of what was taught in 

previous lessons, while others imply asking students what they know. 

Teachers using CCM often realize their assumptions about what students understand are quite 

different from what students actually bring to the classroom. A CCM lesson reveals the gap in 

students’ conceptual development. Lack of identifying the gaps and addressing them, widens and 

eventually inhibits meaningful learning and contributes to negative attitudes and low self esteem. 

Thus, the CCM initial phases do more than getting attention of the students but may also help to 

identify whether students already have a developed understanding of the concept. 

Constructivist educators begin lessons by challenging learners with interesting problems or 

dilemmas. The students quickly engage in figuring out what they need to learn in order to meet 

the challenge. Teacher often find what students need to learn is different from what they 

(teachers) think they (students) need to learn. In contrast, the traditional instruction is based on 

the belief teachers should tell the students what they want them to learn at the start of the lesson 

and what steps will be taken in the process. 

The fourth step in traditional instruction involves the teacher in the process of carefully 

presenting and explaining new information to students. This is the most difficult habit to break 

for teachers learning to use the CCM. The author experienced another perspective while using 

CCM at UW where college freshmen were so used to the traditional instruction that they would 

suggest having the steps explained or provided in a handout separately with the lessons. On the 

opposite side of the spectrum a CCM lesson requires the teacher to act as a facilitator, posing

questions and providing resources for student making sense of things. During this process, they 

may borrow or incorporate ideas from their observations, classmates and resources. 

The traditional instructional approaches allow time for carefully taught and monitored skill 

practice. On the other hand, the CCM and other inquiry models provide time for the learners to 

make, discover and correct errors. Learners in a CCM lesson are asked t find their errors and 

correct them. Traditional practice involves the teacher in catching student errors and explaining 

those errors to the students. The traditional independent practice is simply graded, or 

painstakingly has the teacher write comments and make corrections that go unread or unnoticed, 

or are given a superficial attention by the learner. The CCM recognizes the importance of the 

learner in learning. The beauty of the CCM is that both the students and teachers are very aware 

of the depth of understanding gained through the lesson. 

In the CCM lessons students are asked to use their own words to explain their learning to one 

another and to the teacher. As one notices this process goes further by having students to make 

connections to other personal experiences and knowledge. They are given an opportunity to ask 

their own questions and pose their own problems. These last three phases of the CCM provide 

valuable insight for the teacher in planning future learning experiences for students. In the case 

of a traditional lesson, at the end the teacher summarizes what was presented and frequently 

reviews the common errors that were recognized during practice periods. 

In some ways the limited understanding and proficiency in a content area that results from 

instruction that does not acknowledge, respect, and adequately challenge prior conceptions of a 

learner is similar to what happens to a large moth that emerges from its cocoon confined in a 

small jar. The wings are there, but cannot expand and become functional. They are permanently 

deformed. 

(Schmidt, Saigo, Stepans, 2006) 

Where else can it be applied and why? 

The CCM has been successfully used in most Science subjects, mathematics, languages, 

history, and art and in business. Before specifically delineating briefly in those examples, few 

quotations from a teacher are shared: 

“The beauty of the CCM is that it provides the purest structure for meeting the needs of diverse 

learners. 

The development of the intended concepts is not limited by age or ability. All students have the 

opportunity to grow from wherever they are when they begin the lesson.

The model recognizes values and accepts everyone’s experiences and perspectives. No matter 

what the students’ level of understanding at the beginning of the lesson, they all grow and 

explain their understanding throughout.” 

Some examples 

In the second part of International Handbook of Research on Conceptual Change (2008), 

Voisneadou brings examples of conceptual change in content areas such as Physics, Astronomy, 

Biology, Medicine and Health as well as History. In Conceptual Change Model: The CCM 

Handbook, Schmidt et al., share some complete sample CCM lessons environment and society, 

physics, language and mathematics. The conceptual change approach has also been applied to 

improving teaching and learning for staff development programmes in study by Ho, Watkins and 

Kelly (2001) in Hongkong. Application of the conceptual change teaching model is also evident 

from a study in Taiwan where the researchers used it in an Information Technology and Society 

course Lin et al., (2010). Not only has the CCM been applied to sciences and social science 

content areas it has also been applied in a study for business subjects by Wresch, (2008). 

One shall notice a wide range of application of the conceptual change model in the studies 

mentioned. What appears to be of crucial importance here is both teachers and students need to 

re-orient themselves to understand and apply the CCM in their daily classroom. White and 

Gunstone and Duit, Treagust and Widodo in Voisneadou, (2008) notice how sometimes the 

developments on the research on conceptual change and teaching and learning do not match with 

teacher’s actual views and what they practice in class. This makes for a fertile ground to make 

use of the recent developments in conceptual change as a powerful framework for understanding 

the conceptual change process that are essential for teacher professional development. 

In some ways the limited understanding and proficiency in a content area that results from 

instruction that does not acknowledge, respect, and adequately challenge prior conceptions of a 

learner is similar to what happens to a large moth that emerges from its cocoon confined in a 

small jar. The wings are there, but cannot expand and become functional. They are permanently 

deformed. 

(Schmidt, Saigo, Stepans, 2006) 

Rising questions? 

In their paper Pintrich, Ronald and Boyle (1993) critique the conceptual change model as being 

cold or overly rational focusing on student cognition without considering ways in which 

students’ motivational beliefs about themselves as learners and the roles of individuals in a 

classroom learning community can hinder or facilitate conceptual change. Their argument seems

legitimate based on the facts if classroom, school and communities do not re-orient themselves it 

may be unlikely that individual conceptual change will be occurring among learners. 

Cobern, (1996) in his article worldview theory and conceptual change in science education 

points out that conceptual change instruction is intended to foster a scientific view of the world. 

To him it is a “wrong-headed goal”. His suggestion is to join science with other school 

disciplines in the common goal of developing student worldviews of which science is one 

component. Some instructors may at this point be thinking CCM is not so good after all. 

However, this article’s aim is to grow awareness of the wonderful teaching philosophy but is 

aware of not trying to indoctrinate its audience. 

In the end, whether one chooses to work with the CCM remains not only a decision to be made at 

an individual level but more of charting the progress of students in their quest for knowledge 

which is a team effort from teachers, students, parents, school administrators and the learning 

community as a whole. The goal of CCM then evolves to be more of a technique to equip 

students to deal with their preconceptions and see the (dis) connections with science and 

everyday applications. Thus, if done right one cannot promise this will wipe out all 

misconceptions, but it will teach the students to identify and develop their own deeper 

understanding of how the world functions. This may have far reaching impact for those who 

cross borders to deal with or create their own worldview. 

References 

Cobern, W., (1996). Worldview theory and conceptual change in science education. Science 

Education, 80 (5), pp. 579-610. 

Ho, A., Watkins, D. & Kelly, M. (2001). The conceptual change approach to improving teaching 

and learning: An evaluation of a Hong Kong staff development programme. Higher 

Education, 42 (2), pp.143-169. 

Lin, C., Wu, P., Wu, W., Chen, C., Chiang, H., & Huang, Y., (2010). Utilizing concept map as 

teaching strategy based on conceptual change theory for information technology and 

society course. Paper presented at Joint International IGIP_SEFI Annual conference 

2010, 19 th -22 nd September 2010, Trnava, Slovakia. 

Pintrich, P.R., Marx, R.W., & Boyle, R.A. (1993). Beyond cold conceptual change: The role of 

motivational beliefs and classroom contextual factors in the process of conceptual 

change. Review of Educational Research, 63(2), pp. 167-199. 

Schmidt, D.L., Saigo, B.W., & Stepans, J.I.,(2006). Conceptual Change Model: The CCM 

Handbook. Saiwood Publications, St. Cloud, MN, USA. 

Stepans, J.I. (2008). Targeting students’ physical science misconceptions using the conceptual 

change model, 3 rd edition. Saiwood publications, St. Cloud, MN, USA.

Stepans, J.I., Schmidt, D.L., Welsh, K.M., Reins, K.J., Saigo, B.W., (2005). Teaching for K-12 

Mathematical Understanding using the conceptual change model. Saiwood publications, 

St. Cloud, MN, USA 

Voisneadou, S. (2008). International handbook of research on conceptual change. 

Voisneadou,(ed). Routledge, New York, USA. 

Watson, B.,& Konicek, R. (1990). Teaching for Conceptual Change: Confronting Children’s 

Experience. Phi Delta Kappan. May, pp. 680-685. 

Wresch, W. (2008). First-year business students initial business concepts and attitudes. Teaching 

Forum: A journal of the scholarship of teaching and learning. University of Wisconsin 

System, Oshkosh.

The Higher Education Technology Leader: 

A 40-Year Perspective 

Ronald Black 

University of Phoenix 

ABSTRACT 

Higher Education exists as a community of scholars dedicated to the creation and dissemination of knowledge 

and the preparation of future leaders in a global society. For many students there are significant barriers to full 

participation in this teaching and learning experience. Technology is intended to break down the barriers of 

time and space and enable more of our students to participate and collaborate with faculty and other students. 

Certain critical thresholds must be met in order to use technology to communicate, collaborate, and transform 

teaching and learning. Technology can help the learner to get connected to information and learning 

communities; expand participation in the teaching and learning process; improve access to learning materials, 

experts, and peers; and provide new channels for active learning. These new teaching and learning options will 

require substantial leadership.

Introduction 

Higher Education exists as a community of scholars dedicated to the creation and 

dissemination of knowledge and the preparation of future leaders in a global society. For many 

students there are significant barriers to full participation in this teaching and learning 

experience. Technology is intended to break down the barriers of time and space and enable 

more of our students to participate and collaborate with faculty and other students. Certain 

critical thresholds must be met in order to use technology to communicate, collaborate, and 

transform teaching and learning. Technology can help the learner to get connected to 

information and learning communities; expand participation in the teaching and learning process; 

improve access to learning materials, experts, and peers; and provide new channels for active 

learning. These new teaching and learning options will require substantial leadership. 

Technology by itself does not improve or cause changes in learning. Today online 

learning environments have many capabilities and the potential to widen options and 

opportunities available to teachers and learners. The key to changing conditions for improving 

learning is how these options and opportunities are implemented. The value of technology for 

higher education is proportional to the need for that technology to impact on educational 

objectives. The current use of technology involves the restructuring and the re-development of 

new teaching and learning models that match the unique capabilities and features of the 

technology media. To carry out this complex paradigm shift and address higher education’s 

challenges the technology leadership must develop effective partnerships and collaborative 

efforts internally and externally. 

There is a major need for most colleges and universities to confront the intense local and 

national competition, to enhance academic programs to meet the challenges of this competition, 

and to develop new teaching and learning strategies to meet the demands of a global 

marketplace. Leading information technology in higher education has changed significantly 

since the 1970’s. In fact the title of Chief Information Officer did not exist 30 years ago and 

today there is no standard career path to the position. CIO’s today have come from the campus 

technology staff, academic administration, and yes, even from the faculty. The qualifications for 

a CIO in higher education today vary but are mostly the same as the qualifications for any senior 

administrative position: 

� proven leadership skills 

� strong management skills 

� expert technical skills 

� and a solid grasp of all three. 

1

Having these very different but very critical skill sets is imperative to lead information 

technology in higher education today. In an EduCause article on Leadership, Carol A. 

Cartwright, President of Kent State University explains that the Chief Information Officer in 

higher education must be a “Leader, Manager, and Member of the Executive Orchestra”. She 

goes on to say “As technologies and IT issues become increasingly more complex, the CIO’s 

roles as educator and communicator will be even more vital…the CIO must not only be able to 

perform as an effective soloist, providing the technology perspective, but also must be able to 

perform in concert with others in the “executive orchestra” placing technology within the big 

picture of the institutional mission and goals. 

The Chief Information Officer is a fairly new position in higher education. In fact, it was not 

until 1980 that the title CIO emerged as a new senior level position. William R. Synott, speaking 

at the 1980 Infor’80 conference and quoted in a Computerworld article (October 20, 1980 

identified the need a new high level corporate officer as the Chief Information Officer or CIO. 

He further documented the role of the CIO in a book with William H. Gruber, Information 

Resource Management: Opportunities and Strategies for the 1980s. The CIO concept grew out 

of the information resource management concept of the late 1970s. 

Over the past forty years, the title for those in charge of college and university technology 

has varied. Some were called directors of data processing or computer center manager and 

others, director of management information systems. In the 80’s and 90’s titles included 

assistant or associate vice president or assistant or associate vice provost, or assistant or associate 

vice chancellor of information technology, indicating reporting to a vice president level position. 

It wasn’t until the late 1990s that technology leaders were given the title of Vice President and 

served on the President’s Cabinet. Until then, It was rare that they reported to the President or 

was a member of the President’s Cabinet. 

The Decades 

The past four decades have seen the role of the CIO emerge beyond the data centers 

cutting across all areas of the institution expanding into senior leadership roles throughout higher 

education. In the past, the chief information officer mostly took care of the mainframe 

computers and the software that was installed for business and administrative processes. The IT 

staff made sure that terminals and printers were wired but rarely left their “glass walled office” to 

help users. The advent of the personal computer and the World Wide Web has changed all of 

that. The technical doors opened for staff and faculty at an outstanding pace. Hardware and 

software was distributed throughout the campus and user support became a key factor. The role 

of the IT Director quickly began to change. There was a growing realization on campuses of the 

strategic value of information technology for teaching and learning as well as the management of 

the institution. 

2

The 1970’s 

The 1970s were dominated by large mainframe computers pioneered by IBM’s System 

360/370 product line and an extensive array of sophisticated peripherals. These computers 

required expansive facilities with raised floors, air conditioning and extensive power 

requirements. These facilities were called data centers or data processing centers and usually 

were located in the basements of administrative buildings. As noted earlier, the 70s CIO was 

often called the Data Center Manager, or DP Manager with primarily responsibility as a 

technician or computer programmer. The operation of these data centers were dominated by the 

manager, centralizing all decisions, funding, management, operation, and use through the 

manager. 

The CIO of the 70s was charged with maintaining the machine-based records of their 

institutions with a specific focus on administrative computing. Academic computing was nearly 

non-existent. In this decade CIOs were primarily concerned about how best to organize staffs, 

programs and data to accommodate the needs of administrative functions. Most administrative 

systems were custom designed and programmed by the CIO and the staff of computer operators 

and programmers. 

The CIO and staff members were often selected from administrative ranks within the 

institution or hired from local industry. The need for special skills that differed from skills found 

among traditional administrators set the stage for salary challenges in higher education. These 

new positions required special salary scales that deviated from the standard salaries of higher 

education administrators. Most often these salaries were 20 to 30 % higher than the standards 

because of the skill requirements and the fact that computing was new to higher education. This 

was an especially difficult problem with public institutions with fixed salary scales set at the 

state level. Private institutions had much more flexibility in setting salaries. The key to these 

new positions was the fact that a new data processing CIO or staff member’s key characteristic 

was technical knowledge not institutional knowledge. 

The mission of the 70s data processing centers within higher education was that of 

service, accepting priorities for system modifications, updating and creation from the functional 

department manager. These systems ranged from accounting, personnel/payroll, or student 

records based on a silo of data files unique to the system. Little or no integration of data took 

place. Given that all data and information was processed on a single computer most data centers 

operated 24 hours per day which led to large staffs of keypunch operators, computer operators 

and computer programmers. 

3

As the 70s came to an end a significant transition began to take place in the data centers. 

Higher education administrators recognized that computers could be useful no only to automate 

functional administrative areas but also to serve as “management information” systems. The 

CIO was challenged to move from a data processing methodology to an information systems 

methodology. Talks began to take place concerning “integration” of data and information 

moving toward a common institutional database replacing the silos of files. Computer system 

vendors providing database management technologies and methodologies for implementing 

integrated management information systems prompted this perspective. 

With this transition, the CIO was faced with a new set of challenges that changed the 

service role of the institutional technology organization. These challenges including the 

conversion of file systems to database systems, the determination of “ownership” of data and 

responsibility for entry and updating, the authorization to view, change and delete data, and the 

establishment of priorities for using an integrated, common database within the institution. 

Meeting these challenges demanded that decisions be made with implications for the entire 

institution. The CIO of the 70s was not prepared for this new role. 

The 1980’s 

As the 1980s approached the evolution from a data and service approach to an 

information and decision making approach has sparked lively debates between the CIO and 

technology users. To implement this transition the CIO was faced on replacing the main-frame 

computer with the new minicomputers. In an effort to focus on information, smart terminals or 

personal computers operating in terminal emulation mode began to become the user preferred 

computing tool but this brought further challenges for the CIO. Academic departments found 

value in the personal computer and its use in the classroom. Suddenly higher education found a 

new technology tool to not only support and enhance administrative computing but found that 

the use of this new technology will assist in increasing enrollment. As the capabilities of the 

personal computer become known administrative and academic users began to assume 

responsibilities that were once held by centralized data centers, changing the 

managerial/organizational equation. This new generation of computer users forced the 

decentralization of technology decision-making, acquisitions, and application development. In 

other words the CIO lost control, and the end users relished in their glory of taking over 

technology direction. 

This transition for the CIO and the technology organization was significant. 

Minicomputers and personal computers were finding their niches throughout the institution as 

the CIO was seeking solutions to the problems of increased staff requirements for decentralized 

system development and maintenance. The rationale for a single computing vendor concept was 

changed as multiple vendors initiated strategies to infiltrate higher education. The home grown 

4

administrative systems were being replaced by vendor-designed software and support, once 

again changing the role of the CIO to one of decision maker and implementer from one of 

operations manager and programmer. The CIO’s role shifted from “data processing manager’ to 

the new role of “information manager”. Madeline Weiss points out in the September/October 

issue of CIO Magazine “It is the CIOs job to lead the development of information policy that 

will enable the assimilation of information and supporting technologies …” 

This new orientation for information technology and support systems created new niches, 

new challenges, and new visions for the CIO. The CIO was challenged to develop new 

information systems to serve all administrative and academic departments to realize the visions 

as we enter the 90s. 

The 1990’s 

The creation of the Management Information Systems department where technologies 

were decentralized throughout the institution focused on user involvement and use of the 

technology with limited interaction with the CIO or technology staff. The transition from a 

period of acquiring and installing technology to one of expanding its uses and integration 

throughout the entire institution began to take hold in the 1990s. The CIO began to be an active 

player in assisting the institution’s leadership team to use technology in the ways that best suits 

the campus culture and meet the institutions systematic needs. Moving into the 1990s the 

technology organization made some movement back toward centralization, without much 

success. The computer user still retained control of their technology control and independence 

but the CIO reestablished technology leadership. 

According to a study released by KPMG, LLP (1999), one of the leading professional 

advisory firms in the world, titled “Transforming Higher Education: At the Gateway of the 

Knowledge Economy,” higher education must transform to meet the needs of the emerging 

knowledge economy. The study analyzes trends and provides a perspective on how the CIO can 

operate in the new century. According to the study, the changes facing higher education are, (a) 

an increasing diverse student body, in terms of age, race, gender, work, background, needs and 

interests; (b) students who are no longer mastering bodies of knowledge for a single career are 

acquiring the skills needed to access information, solve problems, and communicate; (c) students 

who are less likely to be learning at the workplace, home, or on the road; and (d) students, 

parents, employers, and policymakers are increasingly evaluating education in terms of a return 

on investment. As we began the 21 st century the CIO was faced with revolutionary change, 

requiring institutions to reassess market position, and embark in new technology directions. 

Universities are often at the leading edge in the use of technology for research but the CIO has 

been slower to apply leading technology in the classroom, and slower still to apply it to the 

5

administrative side of the institution. The challenge of the future is to explore and use the power 

of technology in teaching students and running the operation. 

The introduction of the Internet fundamentally changed relationships, blurring the lines 

between teachers and students. It is a new economic order, based on a new currency called 

knowledge, which fundamentally changes the playing field. The result is new rules of 

competition, with new requirements for the faculty, new challenges for the CIO, and new 

demands for higher education. 

The debates are growing more intense about higher education's ability to respond to the 

needs of the knowledge economy. Consultants Michael G. Dolence and Donald M. Norris 

estimate that a new campus would have to be opened every eight days in order to meet the 

demands of the full-time equivalent enrollment of one-seventh of the workforce at any point in 

time. The solution they see will not be more college campuses but a variety of providers and 

new types of facilitators, learning agents, and intermediaries with far greater competition and 

choice. They continue to stress the transformation from teacher-centered strategies to learnercentered 

strategies. Learner-centered strategies are built around learner objectives, accommodate 

learner restraints, are self-paced and self-motivated, and provide for individual learning styles. 

Massey and Zemsky cite a similar challenge for higher education technology. They 

observe that the demand for technology-based teaching and learning programs will grow over the 

next decade, and that information technology will change the teaching enterprise. Jane Marcus 

of Stanford University discusses the development of conceptual models based upon factors 

affecting faculty adoption of technology as part of an article by Steven Gilbert in Change 

Magazine (1995). In her model, technology adoption is considered a function of available 

resources, the perceived value of the innovation, and communication with other early adopters. 

Her research provides evidence in support of the model, indicating that social/contextual 

variables are as important as resources in encouraging adoption of technology. 

A significant technology transformation in higher education is the methodology used to 

help students get the education they need to remain competitive in a rapidly changing world. 

The transformation of teaching and learning and the creation of learning communities will be 

driven by the rapid change of skill sets required, the cost of education and training, and the 

explosion of adult learners. The CIO must recognize the blurring of the lines between the 18-21 

year old student to an adult population that will be pursuing degrees in non-traditional ways, 

seeking professional certification or getting training to improve job skills. These students need 

greater flexibility if they are to be able to handle their course work while working. 

Net-based virtual learning centers have created new ways of teaching in which exchanges 

among students are as important as the exchange with the teacher. The best way to teach adults 

6

online is to form learning communities, to get students working together in collaborative groups. 

This capitalizes on the strength of technology (Martin, 1998). Using technology for teaching and 

learning is an adventure with unpredictable outcomes. 

The 21 st Century 

The information technology leader of the 20 th century was faced with a ticking time 

bomb known as Y2K… During 1960s to late 80s there was a widespread practice in all 

computer software to use two digits for representing a year rather than using 4 digits to 

save computer disk and memory space. As the 90's approached experts began to 

realize this major shortcoming in the computer application software. In year 2000, the 

computer systems could interpret 00 as 1900. Technology leaders scrambled to correct 

programs expanding date sequences to 4 digits. When the clock ticked Jan 1, 2000, no 

major problems were reported. 

At the same time, technology leaders were faced with a changing agenda for 

leading the technology conversion while integrating Internet strategies in both 

administrative and academic applications. This change of focus added to the technology 

demands by users forcing the CIO to maintain and improve credibility by delivering as 

promised. This change prompted a careful look at the Information Technology 

organizational structure based on the need to lead the IT organization that is 

dramatically different. 

The Changing Role of the CIO 

As noted earlier, the early 1970s presented large mainframe computers that everyone 

visited to get his or her information. This was very similar to the people structure in many 

organizations; the knowledge was stored and protected at the top. As technology progressed, 

access to the mainframe computer and the data stored became easier to obtain. Soon, smaller 

midrange computers were connected to the mainframe and the smaller personal computers (PCs) 

could communicate with the mainframe and with each other. Some portability of information 

was now available. This transference of control of the information was mirrored in 

organizational structures as technology networks began to link the people and the technology. 

Computers on each person’s desk allowed a vast improvement in the relationship between the 

administrators, faculty, staff and the CIO. 

In Us, A Theory,Stamps & Lipnak begin their discussion of technology networks with the 

statement. “ For 25 years, we have been giving voice to the idea that ‘the network is a form of 

organization,’ the evolutionary successor to hierarchy-bureaucracy” (2004, p.1). Identifying an 

organization as a network is viewed as a method to derive better ways of working together. 

While hierarchical organizations are limited by their structure, a networked organization is 

7

eleased from this constraint. Many higher education institutions are in some degree of flux 

between traditional hierarchical structures and the enabling technology network structure. 

Using the analogy of computer networks to describe higher education organizations as 

networks brings to light some interesting insights. Many different computer network topologies 

are in existence today, but most topologies depend on some centralization of authority and 

responsibility. Personal computers frequently have only one connection to the network. Other 

nodes have multiple connections to the network and provide alternate paths for accessing or 

sharing information. 

Technological systems have created the possibility of greater connectivity and the 

expanded ability to involve more people in the learning process. For this to be a value-added 

component in adding to the body of existing knowledge, higher education systems for teaching 

and learning as well as administrative management must become aligned with the technology. If 

these two elements are properly aligned, the CIO has the advantage of better knowledge and 

collaborative thinking at his disposal. 

Information and Knowledge 

What is the difference between information and knowledge? Bollinger and Smith (2001) 

stated, “Information is processed data and can reside within computers. Because of the farreaching 

effects of globalization, it is increasingly available to everyone”. Furthermore, 

Bollinger and Smith define knowledge as “the understanding, awareness, or familiarity acquired 

through study, investigation, observation, or experience over the course of time. It is an 

individual’s interpretation of information based on personal experiences, skills, and 

competencies” ( 14). 

Knowledge management has characteristics of a strategic asset to an organization and this 

information contributes to the competitive advantage of a company (Bollinger & Smith, 2001). 

Explicit and tacit knowledge allows knowledge sharing to expand within an organization through 

various channels such as networking, teaching, leadership, and mentor roles. Cai (2006) stated, 

“The knowledge management systems built upon these approaches included three types of 

functions: the coding and sharing of best practices, the creation of corporate knowledge 

directories, and the creation of knowledge networks”. 

Technology demands, leadership changes, and bureaucratic regulations create dramatic 

shifts within the institution including facilitations and control to decentralization information 

technology. The paradigm shift away from routine academic and administrative systems to 

knowledge sharing management supports technology networking through as a new emerging 

form of technology leadership. The emergent leadership model requires strategy, measurement 

8

of real time, a focus on decisions, and adoption processes and procedures (Mankins, 2004). 

Furthermore, the CIO and technology teams in the global academic world depend on 

collaboration and networking to accomplish knowledge sharing. Decentralized leadership occurs 

over global networks through virtual reality. Hales (2002) stated, “New managers engage in team 

leadership, negotiating integrated effort across boundaries, inspiring and promoting 

organizational learning, and conceiving, instigating and facilitating change” (p. 55). The new 

CIO role allows more freedom from hierarchical analysis, which allows more room for creativity 

and innovation. Knowledge management allows the CIO to share their skills and knowledge with 

others and simultaneously, this dynamic learning allows employees to add to their knowledge 

base. Additionally, the faculty and staff working in networked teams use their social skills to 

acquire new knowledge, and share acquired knowledge with each other. The cyclical process 

allows the CIO to stay on the competitive edge of innovation in the higher education 

environment. 

Technology Transformation 

The transformation of information technology in higher education has gone from a period 

of acquiring and installing technology to one of expanding its uses and integration throughout the 

entire fabric of the institution. Brian Hawkins in “A Framework for the CIO Position” reports, 

“The need for the CIO position in academia really began with the need to manage and coordinate 

computing and information technology services with the dramatic influx of microcomputers and 

networks in the early-to-mid 1980s.” In “The Chief Information Officer in Higher Education” a 

report authored by James Penrod, Michael Dolence, and Judith Douglas highlights the result of a 

survey conducted in 1989. The report identifies that the new position of CIO has the line 

responsibility for the units of academic and administrative computing, and voice and data 

communications. The report highlights the fact that in higher education the CIO must focus on 

the institution’s educational mission, which translates to supporting teaching and learning, 

research and scholarship, as well as improving administrative systems. Today as it was in 1990, 

the primary mission and culture of the institution significantly shapes the CIO position. 

Mark Cain points out in “The Rise of the CIO in Higher Education”, “No longer merely 

a purveyor of hardware and software, the CIO could also be called the CCA, Chief Change 

Agent, of the institution.” Processes are being re-engineered, Web forms are replacing paper 

forms, and manual procedures are being eliminated. Staff time can be reclaimed; the occasional 

position can even be eliminated. Higher education institutions are actually collecting money 

with technology: tuition and fees, spirit wear sales receipts, alumni donations, etc. 

The CIO is increasingly being recognized as a key senior administrator in colleges and 

universities. This will continue to be driven by institutions realizing that academic and 

administrative technology is critical to support the institution’s strategic development. The CIO 

9

in the 21st century is expected to advance the use of technology by faculty and students, 

providing increased value to the academic programs. Through collaboration with administrators, 

faculty and students, the CIO’s role will extend far beyond the traditional boundaries of 

information technology requiring leadership across the institution. 

Conclusion 

Organizational stewardship in the 21 st century will continue to require effective decisions 

at all levels of the organization. The distinction between leadership and management has become 

less distinct and the need to capitalize on the abilities of administrators, faculty, and staff is a 

requirement to survive and thrive in the global higher education marketplace. Peter Drucker 

notes that “economic growth can come only from a very sharp and continuing increase in the 

productivity of the one resource in which the developed countries still have an edge (and which 

they are likely to maintain for a few more decades): the productivity of knowledge work and of 

knowledge workers (Drucker, 1998).” 

Today’s colleges and universitiies are becoming increasingly complex. The internal 

forces are pushing for change in academic programs and further use of technology from 

anywhere at anytime, as well as, the external forces pushing for new ways of measuring the 

institution’s performance, demanding that intuitions strategically use technology in all phases of 

administration and academics. Technology is a major factor in whether or not the institution can 

survive these demands. Students today expect advanced computers in classrooms and 

laboratories, enhanced and high speed Internet tools, laptop computer programs, wireless and 

integrated networks, and effective online tools so that they may effectively collaborate with other 

students, the faculty and the administration. As a result of these demands, the higher education 

technology leader reporting structure continues to change with more CIOs reporting directly to 

the President and serve as a voting member of the President’s cabinet. 

Mark Polansky, managing director and member of the advanced technology practice of 

Korn/Ferry International in New York City, noted in CIO Magazine in his article, “The CIO Top 

10” that: 

� “The number one requirement for the position of chief information officer is leadership. 

This is the quality that is not only in every search specification but most frequently comes 

up first an most emphatically as in “What we really need is a leader.” 

The CIO in higher education has evolved, from the mainframe era to the Internet era. 

The successful CIO in the 21 st century College and University has advanced from a technical 

manager to a strategic leader as information technology is recognized as the core component of 

intuitional strategic planning. The CIO’s role will continue to be challenging and stimulating as 

all higher education stakeholders acknowledge the CIO’s contributions. 

10

References 

1. Bollinger, A. S., & Smith, R. D. (2001). Managing organizational knowledge as a 

strategic asset. Journal of Knowledge, 5(1), 8. Retrieved December 9, 2005, from 

University of Phoenix ProQuest database. 

2. Cai, J. (2006, Jan-Mar). Knowledge management within collaboration processes: A 

perspective modeling and analyzing methodology. Journal of Database Management, 

17(1), 33-49. Retrieved December 9, 2005, from University of Phoenix ProQuest 

database. 

3. Cain, M. (2002). The rise of the CIO in higher education. The Edutech Report 17, 

February, pp. 4-5. 

4. Cartwright, C. A. (2002). Today’s CIO: Leader, Manager, and Member of the Executive 

Orchestra. Educause Review, January/February, 2002, pp6-7. 

5. Dolence, M. G., & Norris, D. M. (1995). Transforming higher education: A vision for 

learning in the 21 st century. Washington, DC: Society for College and University 

Planning. 

6. Drucker, P. (1998, November). The future that has already happened. The Futurist, 32 

(8). p.16-19. Retrieved December 9, 2005, from Questia database, 

http://www.questia.com. 

7. Earl, M.J. & Vivian, P.D. (1998). The new CIO: A study of the changing role of the IT 

Director. London: Centurion Press. 

8. Gilbert, S. J. (1995, March/April). An online experience: Discussion group debates why 

faculty use or resist technology. Change Magazine. 42-45. 

9. Hales, C. (2002, Mar). ‘Bureaucracy-lite’ and continuities in managerial work. British 

Journal of Management, 13(1), 51-67. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from University of 

Phoenix EBSCOhost database. 

10. Hawkins, B. L. (2004). A framework for the CIO position. Educause Review, 

November/December 2004. 

11. KPMG, LLP. (1999). Transforming higher education: At the gateway of the knowledge 

economy. New York, NY:KPMG, LLP. 

12. Mankins, M. C. (2004, September). Stop wasting valuable time. Harvard Business 

Review OnPoint Article, 37-45 (2005). Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing 

Corporation. 

13. Martin, C. (1998). Net future. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, Inc. 

14. Massey, W. F. & Zemsky, R. (1995). Using Information Technology to Enhance 

Academic Productivity. Washington, DC: EduCause 

11

15. Penrod, J.I., Dolence, M.G., & Douglas, J.V. (1990). The Chief Information Officer in 

Higher Education. Professional Paper Series No.4, CAUSE. Boulder, CO: Cause. 

16. Polansky, M. (2001). The CIO top 10. CIO Magazine, September 15, 2001. New York: 

CIO Magazine. 

17. Stamps, J & Lipnack, J. (2004). Us A theory. Retrieved December 9, 2005, from 

www.netage.com. 

12

University Outreach Programs: 

Service to the Surrounding Communities while 

Developing Faculty 

James Thomas 


Mark Hearn 


Richard Cobb 


ABSTRACT 

University Outreach programs have evolved from their agricultural roots to virtually all areas of higher 

education. Outreach programs are a key element in endearing institutions of higher education to their 

surrounding communities and constituents. This paper discusses the evolution of university outreach. Benefits 

of outreach for the institution, faculty, and community are discussed. A outreach program is reviewed. 

Recommendations for fostering future outreach programs are presented.

Introduction 

University involvement in economic and community development can be traced back to the 

Morrill Act (1862), the Agricultural College Act (1890), and the Smith–Lever Act (1914). From 

this government supported financial base, colleges and universities have evolved their supporting 

role in technical training and economic growth. 

Activity outside the Ivory Towers or off campus is often viewed as “unscholarly” in certain 

academic circles. In comparison, the perception by the business community of the typical 

faculty member is a wizened and stooped professor, cloaked in a black robe. This fountain of 

intellectual purity lives on the school grounds, eats at the school cafeteria, and rarely leaves 

campus. Informational intake is limited to scholarly works and refereed journals. Current events 

are generally viewed as passing fads or annoying distractions. Basically, the academic purist is 

personified by J. K. Rowling’s Cuthbert Binns at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 

Professor Binns teaches History of Magic and has the distinction of being the only teacher at 

Hogwarts who is a ghost. Professor Binns died while napping in the teacher’s lounge. However, 

he didn’t notice his own death. He left his body behind and returned to his classroom to continue 

teaching. Supposedly, his students could detect only a minimal alteration in his classroom 

demeanor (Rowling, J. K., 1999). To continue the analogy, the outreach initiates would be 

represented by Rowling’s Gilderoy Lockhart. Professor Lockhart’s primary pursuit would seem 

to be public accolades and newspaper headlines. He knows nothing of the body of knowledge in 

his field, makes outrageous claims on a regular basis, and pursues the limelight as an end in and 

of itself. Hopefully, faculty can evolve beyond either of these archetypes. Outreach programs 

may be able to help faculty development, university missions, and community development. 

University outreach activities should be based in a healthy two way communication between 

practitioners and professors. The practitioners could provide feedback to the professors 

concerning “best practices and success stories”. This material could then be incorporated into 

classroom lectures. In return, the professors could advise practitioners in job related problems, 

new concepts, and changing technologies as discovered through academic research activities. 

Textbooks regularly incorporate mini-testimonials from business leaders to assist in the 

connection between theory and practice. Faculty outreach activities can accomplish a far more 

advantageous and identifiable result through local interactions. 

Evolution of Higher Education Outreach 

A review of research literature finds an expanding trend of higher education’s roll in economic 

outreach activities. For example, Anders (1992) found growing evidence of universities

integrating their traditional classroom subjects with the needs of outside organizations. This shift 

to a more interactive approach contrasts with the historic and albeit isolationist world of 

academic purity. Traditionally, academic institutions followed the European approach where 

faculty were devoted to teaching, research, and service (Luria and Luria, 1970: 76). Service, in 

this sense, largely means the involvement of faculty in university governance, their individual 

disciplines and professional associations, and to a lesser extent the outside community. 

The Smith-Lever Act in 1914, which established agricultural extension programs in the U.S., 

formalized an off-campus service orientation and encouraged faculty to engage in translating 

scientific research into actual practice. The NASA space program expanded government funding 

for research and development through specialized research centers at universities. The resulting 

technologies helped create new industries in computer hardware, software, biotechnology, and 

robotics (Anders, 1992). Gibson (1988) identifies several factors which account for changes in 

university orientations toward a new emphasis on cash flow and constituency building. Two of 

the key elements include competition for fund raising and a growing recognition of the 

importance of university-industry linkages. 

Unlike the traditional university where classical education and basic research are the principal 

forms of academic endeavor, the modern university trains specialists, encourages applied 

research, and is involved in the development of new technologies and theoretical analysis for 

commercial application. This technical orientation necessitates improved lines of communication 

between academia and practitioners in both business and political circles. A major result of this 

involvement is the growing integration of proven business techniques with theoretical 

approaches. Kuhlman (1986: 18) sees these charges as engendering substantial tensions between 

those faculties in the "quality-oriented" classical disciplines, and those in the "utility-oriented" 

fields of science, engineering, and business. Larson (1989) points out that the degree of 

difference between these two is a function of the university's interactions with the marketplace. 

"Economically, is the university 'market' or 'product' oriented? A 'market' orientation implies 

tailoring products to 'sell' in the competitive marketplace. 'Product' focus, on the other hand, 

entails offering products on a take-it or-leave-it basis." (Larson, 1989: 63) 

Within the university community, progressive administrators encourage professors to operate 

outside the institution through membership in business organizations, and as consultants. The 

effect of this new type of relationship is to reduce the lag between the development of new 

technologies and their commercial applications. On the negative side, faculty research may 

become dependent upon the availability of outside funding. This implies a loss of academic 

freedom by scholars, and autonomy by academic departments. Despite a growing 

interdependence, there are substantial differences between the nature of academic and business 

needs. 

In predicting future growth, Thompson (2000) concluded that the twenty-first century would see 

an expansion of university off-campus activities aimed at serving the needs of economic

outreach. More recent research reported that effective university-community partnerships were 

associated with increased emphasis on community issues (McNall et al., 2009). 

Outreach through Center for Economic Development 

Outreach programs come in all shapes and sizes. Some involve students assisting local 

organizations. Others incorporate faculty and staff programs targeting community development. 

A search of the web sites of the AACSB institutions in the same state as the authors by the term 

“outreach” found numerous links for all the AACSB institutions. Activities varied from 

individual student programs and internships to dedicated outreach departments with dozens of 

programs. 

The outreach activity emphasized in this paper, are supported by Jacksonville State University 

(JSU), through the College of Commerce and Business Administration (CCBA) and the Center 

for Economic Development and Business Research (CED). Through CCBA efforts, JSU has 

played an expanding role in economic development and economic education for over 30 years. 

The CCBA mission statement today includes a commitment to the support of economic 

education and development in Alabama, with most of the work concentrated in northeast 

Alabama. 

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) most recent maintenance 

of accreditation letter commended the Center for Economic Development and Business Research 

(CED), the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and the Jacksonville State University 

Center for Business and Free Enterprise Education and Entrepreneurship (JSU Center) for its 

significant community outreach and economic development activities. Recognition of outreach 

activities as supportive of the institution’s mission by accreditation programs certainly lends 

credibility to such activities. 

Center for Economic Development 

The CED provides services and assistance to local, regional and state organizations. These 

services are designed to meet the unique needs of each client. In many of these cases, JSU 

faculty and staff use their knowledge and skills to facilitate a successful outcome. The CED also 

publishes a bi-monthly economic update that provides economic data and includes a featured 

economic article and promotion of CED programs. CED programs include: government 

services, business services, small business development, and government procurement services 

for small business. 

In addition, the CED organizes three regional forums in the area of Alabama in which the school 

is located. They include the Cheaha Economic Activity Zone Forum (CEAZ), the Northeast 

Economic Activity Zone Forum (NEAZ), and the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce 

Forum (CCCC)

Workforce Development and Supervisor Training 

The CED has played a key role in providing logistical support for a leadership and management 

training program designed for the largest employer in the region, a U.S. Army maintenance and 

repair facility. The program provides participants with an overview of the strategic, analytical, 

functional, and managerial elements needed to be a more effective leader. Over five years, this 

program has trained over 100 mid-level depot employees. 

Local Chamber of Commerce Economic Outlook Project 

By far the longest running continuous outreach program involves the CED’s relationship with 

the local chamber of commerce. The CED conducts an annual online survey of business 

executives on behalf of the chamber of commerce. The purpose of the survey is to assess 

business leaders’ views and perceptions regarding the present and future strength of the local 

economy. Results of the study are presented each year at the Chamber’s Economic Forum in 

conjunction with the organization’s annual meeting. 

The survey is an electronic instrument hosted on the Department’s web server. Once the 

instrument has been created and tested, an email is composed that is to be distributed to all 

Chamber members that have provided an email address. The email explains the purpose of the 

study, as well as including hyperlinks to the survey instrument and the College’s Privacy Policy. 

After all the hyperlinks have been verified, the email is sent to the Chamber for distribution. 

The invitation-to-participate email is distributed to all Chamber members using the Chamber’s 

email account. Originally, the study administrators used a University email account for 

distribution purposes. However, many Chamber members either failed to recognize the account 

name, or their spam filters would not allow the email. Thus, initial response rates were very low, 

in the 1 to 3 percentile range. Having the invitation distributed by the Chamber allowed 

members to recognize the email address and most had already reset their spam filters to accept 

Chamber emails. Once the change in distribution strategy was implemented, response rates have 

averaged roughly 11 to 12 percent. 

Another issue arose, albeit briefly, after 3 years of conducting the study. The Chamber changed 

its policy regarding distribution and preferred that a link to the study be loaded on the Chamber’s 

website, rather than using email distribution. Obviously, the study administrators had no control 

over this decision. The result was that the time for the data collection effort was significantly 

extended and the quantity of data was drastically reduced. Thankfully, the Chamber re-evaluated 

and returned to email distribution for all studies since then. 

In regard to the time for data collection, once the study has been launched, the usual pattern has 

been that roughly 50 percent of all responses are received within the first 24 hours. The 

remainder is normally received within 2 weeks. One week after the initial email blast, a 

reminder email is distributed that typically results in an increase in response rates of 2 to 3

percentage points. The time involved from questionnaire development until the data has been 

collected and analyzed normally is 3 weeks. 

The questionnaire assesses various items. This includes the respondents’ general economic 

outlook perceptions, whether they expect to expand their workforces, keep the same or cut them 

back, as well as whether they expect an increase in their customers’ demand. Additional 

questions measure product mix changes, distribution and promotion changes, employee 

compensation adjustments, and how supportive of business the Chamber members view their 

local government. Basic demographics are also collected and an assessment is made of whether 

the Chamber members are purchasing their products locally, as well as the geographic location 

of their primary target markets. Since the survey has been conducted annually since 2003, 

comparisons to previous years are possible (see Figure 1). 

Figure 1 

Your Comparison of this Years Economic Outlook to Last 2003-2011 

Source: 2003-2011 Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce Membership Survey 

Presentation to Chamber Membership 

Information is compiled from the membership survey in combination with customized secondary 

information on the county, region, state and nation. Elements of the resulting report include

demographic profiles, governmental developments, company updates and economic statistics 

(labor force related information, housing activity, unemployment claims, and tax revenues). 

County level information is compared to both historical information and state information. State 

information is compared to both historical information and national information. In addition to 

the local business leader confidence survey, results from other regional, state and national 

surveys are included. 

The final compilation of information is professionally packaged and presented to the Chamber of 

Commerce Membership in conjunction with its annual meeting. The meeting typically takes 

place in either late January or early February. Holding the meeting early in the year enables a 

calendar year timeline for the information. The presentation session is divided into several 

elements. The economic forum generally starts the session. The economic forum is often 

followed by updates from economic developers in the region. The final segment culminates with 

a keynote speaker. The 2011 keynote speaker was Dennis P. Lockhart. Mr. Lockhart is the 14th 

president and chief executive officer of the Sixth District Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta, GA. 

Recommendations for Reaching Out to Practitioners 

Presenting to practitioners can be dynamically different from what might be described as 

marginally vested undergraduates. An engaged, often hostile, and certainly skeptical 

businessperson is a fundamentally different audience profile from a passive and accepting 

undergraduate student. Some professors are not accustomed to being challenged on the validity 

of their sources, methodology, or even control of their presentations. Such an environment while 

interesting may feel more like a dissertation defense than a typical lecture. With that in mind, 

presenters need to be prepared to produce detailed copies of source material and methodology, 

and be willing to interact-with versus lecture-to the audience. 

CED outreach presentations normally include both secondary and primary information. Post 

event feedback is regularly collected. Based upon this information, certain following 

recommendations are offered. 

Primary Information 

Post event feedback from CED and chamber of commerce events reports favorably on the 

primary information elements of the presentations. Primary information can offer numerous 

challenges including substantial time and costs. However, the audience seems to appreciate 

information that has been collected for their local organizational needs. The accuracy of the 

predictions is reviewed annually. The predictions have consistently tracked with local market 

performance. 

Customized Secondary Information

Secondary economic information is readily available and routinely reported by local media 

outlets. In spite of this routine exposure, feedback from forum attendees has shown appreciation 

for having the same material repackaged and formatted to highlight local significance. By 

customizing the focus on changes-over-time and adding comparison figures, the information 

takes on added utility. Local audiences routinely request clarification on economic numbers in 

ways that do not routinely come up in the classroom (i.e. Why are you using not seasonally 

adjusted numbers? How is unemployment measured?). See Figure 2. 

Figure 2 

Unemployment Rate for Calhoun County vs Alabama 1992-2010 

Not Seasonally Adjusted 

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Documentation and Hard Copy Source Material 

Unlike the typical classroom environment, outreach to practitioners should not assume that even 

the most mundane professorial proclamation will go unchallenged (i.e. I think those 

unemployment numbers are wrong. I think the real unemployment is higher). Copies of all 

source material and methodologies should either be included in appendices or readily available 

for distribution. Knowing the number may prove insufficient. Understanding the process 

involved in its calculation may prove useful. 

Limited Interpretation

While some students may be interested in your opinion, most practitioners are more interested in 

conclusions that you can prove and document. When presenting opinions, such speculation 

needs to be identified (i.e. Here are the numbers. This is how that moved last time. I predict 

they will move this way next time.). Personal note. Practitioners seem quite adept at note taking 

concerning predictions. This can be problematic if repeat performances are anticipated. They 

remember. They like to remind. 

Forum versus Lecture 

When Hermione Granger interrupts Professor Binn’s lecture with a question concerning the 

mythical “Chamber of Secrets” (Rowling, J.K., 1999). Professor Binns is taken aback. He can’t 

remember the last time a student interrupted his lecture. In fact, he seems startled as if noticing 

the students for the first time. He moves to dismiss the subject as inappropriate since it lacks 

verification as to its existence. However, after numerous requests, he does explain what the 

myth says, which is instrumental in the later discovery of the actual chamber and finally to the 

resolution of the primary storyline. Practitioner concerns may seem equally “off subject”; 

however, they could hold significant value to the questioner. Practitioners seem to have lost 

their tolerance for one way communication especially on subjects fundamental to their 

professions. Imagine discussing municipal tax revenue figures with the finance director for the 

city in question sitting in the front row. The comparable analogy in the academic setting might 

involve discussing Expectancy Theory with Ed Lawler in attendance. Academic outreach 

programs should include both time and mechanism for audience participation. When 

appropriate, presenters may find utility in yielding the podium to subject matter experts that are 

in attendance. 

Summary 

Several benefits are generated by outreach activities. The most obvious is the opportunity to 

provide service to the local business community. The activities detailed in this paper provide 

information regarding the economic wellbeing of the local community. In doing so, the 

University and the College can foster positive relations with the community and local businesses. 

In the longer term, these positive perceptions can lead to increased donations to the University. 

Outreach activities can also encourage enrollment especially from students interested in pursuing 

advanced degrees or continuing their education in specialized areas. In addition to fostering 

economic development and enrollment, outreach programs can promote faculty development. 

Faculty interaction with practitioners can improve lines of communication and encourage faculty 

to consider the practical aspects of their profession. 

References

Anders, Gary C. (1992). The Changing Role of the Public University in Local Economic 

Development. Economic Development Review, 10(4), 76-80. 

McNall, M., C. Reed, R. Brown, & A. Angela (2009). Brokering Community-University 

Engagement. Innovative Higher Education, 33(5), 317-331. 

Thompson, Ann E. (2000). University Outreach in the Twenty-First Century. Journal of 

Agricultural & Food Information, 2(3), 51-55. 

Rowling, J. K. (1999). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York: Arthur A. Levine 

Books. 

Luria, S.E. and Zella. (1970). The Role of the University: Ivory Tower, Service Station, or 

Frontier Post? Daedalus. Volume 99, pp. 75-83. 

Gibson, Lay J. (1988). Economic Development: The University and Commercialization of 

Research." Economic Development Review. Spring, pp. 7-11. 

Kuhlman, James A. (1986). Industry, Universities, and the Technological Imperative. Business 

& Economic Review. Vol. 32 No. 4, Jul/Aug/Sept.. pp.15-19. 

Larson Thomas D. (1989). New Uses for the University. Educational Record. Summer/Fall, pp. 

61-65.

Victims of The Wireless Game: 

A Case Study on Wartime Decision Making 

Kimberly Bell 

Stautzenberger College 

James Kerner 










ABSTRACT 

This case study addresses a very difficult decision faced by Great Britain’s military leadership during World War 

II in their continuing intelligence efforts to confuse the German high command concerning the D‐Day attack. 

The “wireless game” was utilized by both sides and depended upon the discovery and capture of undercover 

wireless agents. Agents working undercover gathered and transmitted all types of secret information 

concerning troop movements, battle plans, etc. The British relied on certain checks to determine if a post had 

been captured. With the capture of an agent and the wireless equipment, the transmission of deceptive 

information could begin. If the decision were made to send relief agents to a captured post, it meant the new 

agents eventually would be arrested and perhaps executed. The British dilemma can be summed up as follow: Is 

it ethical to sacrifice the lives of a few undercover agents to help save the lives of hundreds, potentially 

thousands, of Allied soldiers on the beaches of Normandy?

When Winston Churchill assumed the office of British Prime Minister in 1940, he found the state 

of British defense systems in disarray. Churchill and his advisors immediately realized that in 

order to survive and buy time to prepare for war it would be necessary to deceive the enemy and 

hide the British lack of preparedness through a continuous campaign of bluff and stratagem. The 

London Controlling Section (LCS) was established within Churchill’s personal headquarters to 

plan stratagems to deceive Hitler and the German General Staff. “Stratagem” is defined in the 

Oxford English Dictionary as “An operation or act of generalship, usually an artifice or trick 

designed to outwit or surprise the enemy; … a device or scheme for obtaining an advantage; … 

cunning; used loosely for: a deed of blood or violence.” The weapons used were called in British 

military/security language “special means,” a vaguely sinister term that included a wide variety 

of surreptitious, sometimes murderous, and always intricate operations of covert warfare 

designed to cloak overt military operations in secrecy and to mystify Hitler about the real 

intentions of the Allies (Brown, 1975, p. 2). 

Special means had been successfully utilized in the early part of the war. Their continued use 

was viewed as essential for the success of the planned Allied invasion of the Norman coast of 

France in the spring of 1944. By early1944, preparations for the invasion, which had been given 

the code name “Neptune,” had been in progress for three and a half years. The channel crossing 

would require the better part of two days. The general belief was that if the invasion failed, all 

else would fail and that the chance of success rested on the element of surprise in regards to 

place and time (p. 4). Invasion planners in the Allied High Command were aware that the heavily 

fortified cliffs and the highly mechanized German army would make it difficult and perhaps 

impossible for a landing force to establish a beachhead anywhere along the Normandy coast. The 

best hope was to utilize deception and force the Germans to continue to spread their defenses 

widely in hope of reducing the withering firepower that would greet the first wave of invaders. 

LCS shouldered the primary responsibility of insuring the success of the operation through the 

deployment of special means. The British secret intelligence service (MI-6) and its American 

counterpart, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), had achieved considerable success in 

discovering German secrets through conventional intelligence and espionage channels. One 

intelligence advantage that had been developed prior to the actual fighting was given the code 

name “Ultra” and referred to intelligence information gained by interception and decryption of 

secret German wireless communications. Another intelligence breakthrough was referred to as 

the “Schwarze Kapelle.” This was comprised of a small group of German officers and men (the 

most important member being Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, Chief of the Abwehr, the German 

secret intelligence service) who were involved in conspiring to overthrow Hitler and the Third 

Reich (Brown, 1975, pp.5-6). 

The “Wireless Game”: Background 

The wireless game is as old as wireless itself. In the simplest form, it consists of preempting one 

of the enemy’s trusted channels of communication and using it to transmit false and misleading 

information. Both sides utilized the wireless game in an attempt to gain reliable information or to 

transmit misleading information. The British agents operating in German territory were provided 

with certain checks that would provide an alert to London that they had been captured. The 

Germans utilized torture to gain information on the checks, which permitted the enemy to 

continue operation of the equipment without detection. If the British learned that one of the 

1

operations had been captured, they would continue to send in false information to further confuse 

the Germans on Neptune and other military operations. If the British quit sending in money, 

supplies, ammunition, and agents, the Germans would realize that the British knew the post had 

been captured. If agents were sent in to a captured post they would likely be executed. Operators 

were also involved in another refinement to the game known as the cipher trick. The object was 

to send operators into the field with ciphers that the British knew the Germans would be able to 

decrypt. By establishing this type of wireless leak, deceptive instructions and information could 

be passed to the agent and thus to the enemy. 

The key to the success of this double game was normality; the British could in no way reveal that 

they knew when a post was in enemy hands. To sustain the deception, information traffic 

involved had to appear to be normal. This required the British to continue sending in money, 

supplies, and ammunition, as well as other agents. If the British stopped sending in supplies and 

agents, the Germans would realize that the British knew the post had been captured and the game 

would collapse (Brown, 1975, p. 552). After the war, the British were accused by both the 

French and the Dutch of deliberately ignoring the security checks and other warnings that would 

indicate a wireless post was under control and continuing to send in agents, knowing that there 

was a good chance that the agents would be detected, arrested and almost certainly killed (p. 

553). 

Most of the wireless operators were male, but a few females had been admitted into the service. 

The British were accused of deliberately using women agents to play cipher tricks because they 

believed the Germans would be less suspicious if they were able to read an exchange of ciphered 

signals between London and female wireless operators (Brown, 1975, p. 553). It was thought that 

the Germans believed that no Englishman would be so ungallant as to involve a woman in such a 

maneuver (p. 553). 

The Case 

As part of the “Neptune invasion planning team,” one of your duties is to help review all 

decisions to insure that the highest ethical standards are utilized and adhered to. It is your team’s 

responsibility to weigh the advisability of continuing the use of “cipher tricks.” 

Before your team is able to pull together and review the voluminous information, your group 

receives a briefing from the highest-ranking member of MI assigned to Neptune. During the 

briefing, the group is informed that the Allied high command is convinced the invasion must go 

forward very quickly. New intelligence findings reveal the enemy will soon possess atomic 

weapons and, and the Allied leaders view the Germans as being desperate enough to utilize the 

weapons immediately. The high command is convinced there will be horrendous losses during 

the invasion and it may fail in spite of the best preparations. During the briefing, your team is 

informed that the continued use of the wireless game is viewed as being absolutely necessary in 

helping confuse the German defenders concerning the area where the invasion will commence. 

The continued use of “cipher tricks” is viewed as being essential in contributing to the enemy’s 

confusion and lowering their morale. Excellent French underground support in the Paris area has 

enabled wireless operators to continue to operate and transmit a variety of confusing information 

about Allied intentions and movements. This effectiveness has been validated by data intercepted 

2

y “Ultra,” data furnished by the “Schwarze Kapelle” and information sent through the French 

Catholic church to the Vatican. 

During the conclusion of the meeting, American industrial psychologists working with the Office 

of Strategic Services (OSS) state they concur with British industrial psychologists conclusions 

that it is a widespread belief among the German high command that the English would not be so 

ungallant as to endanger a woman by placing her in a position where she might be captured and 

executed. Your group is told that three female wireless operators who were accepted into and 

trained as Special Operations Executives have passed all of the intelligence screening. Although 

other female operatives have been trained and are qualified, these three will be the first women 

sent as relief operators to the Paris area. They will be deployed soon, while three of the current 

operators will be rotated to London. One of the replacement agents (code name Madeleine) is 

from a royal Indian family and the direct descendant of an Indian Sultan. Her family moved from 

India before her birth and she was educated in the French school system. She is a graduate of the 

Ecole Normale de Musique, and shortly before the outbreak of the war was earning her living as 

a writer of children’s stories for Paris radio (Brown, 1975, p. 554). Her family left Paris before 

the German army invaded the city, and moved to London. Madeleine enlisted in the British 

Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and volunteered for special duties when she saw an advertisement 

for personnel who could speak French and were trained in wireless (p. 554). 

Your team’s charge is to review the ethical implications of special operations decisions, even 

though none of the members of the group has technical intelligence knowledge. The files of the 

qualified Special Operations Executives are passed around for a quick cursory review. All three 

of the females have been certified as wireless operators, all speak French, understand the culture 

and have been qualified as Special Operations Executives (SOE). However, a comment 

concerning Madeline recorded by one of her training officers continues to disturb your 

deliberations. The trainer had noted “a splendid, vague, dreamy creature, far too conspicuous— 

twice seen, never forgotten” (Brown, 1975, p. 554). Information is provided to your group that 

because of swiftly changing conditions in Paris the three female operators are receiving 

deployment briefings and will arrive in the next 48 to 96 hours to continue cipher games. Your 

group is to determine whether the decision to deploy is in accord with expected English ethical 

standards. 


1. Group members reviewing the decision have no training in the area of special means and 

very minimal understanding of the problems faced by the intelligence community. Is it 

proper or advisable for this group to be involved in this type of decision making? 

2. Should civilized nations (even in wartime) knowingly place intelligence agents in 

situations that have a high probability of resulting in their capture and execution? 

3. The three female agents, along with many other women, volunteered to serve their 

country in the intelligence field. They were provided intensive and very expensive 

training. Should the assignment of female officers be handled differently than assignment 

of male officers? 

3

4. After World War II the victorious Allies arrested and placed many Nazis on trial at 

Nuremburg and charged them with crimes against humanity. Some of the defendants 

committed suicide, some were executed, and some spent the remainder of their lives in 

prison. Based on their use of “Special Means Techniques” including “Cipher Tricks,” 

were the British and their Allies guilty of crimes against humanity? 

5. Would it be ethical to sacrifice a few intelligence agents to possibly save the lives of 

hundreds or thousands of Allied soldiers on D-Day? 

6. Madeline was an adult who had volunteered and been certified as qualified and suitable 

to serve as a wireless operator in France. Having been raised and educated in France, it 

would appear that she had an understanding of the French people and their culture. She 

had undergone training and was certified as a SOE officer. Should the written comments 

by one of her training officers deny her an opportunity to serve her adopted country? 

7. When Allied wireless operators involved in the “Cipher Tricks” game were discovered, 

captured by the Germans, and executed, were the British officers who made the 

assignments or the German SS men who actually pulled the trigger responsible for their 

deaths? 

8. Considering the current relationships between countries and the overall conditions in the 

world today, does this case study have any relevance for today’s world? 



This case study provides supplementary material for textbooks and lectures on making difficult, 

complex ethical decisions under extreme time constraints and without all of the necessary 

information. The case study is appropriate for both college and university undergraduate and 

graduate classes in the areas of ethics, national foreign policy, management, industrial relations, 

industrial psychology, organizational behavior, military science, religion, teacher education, etc. 

It would also be appropriate for training military officers, intelligence officers, and others at the 

National War College, Central Intelligence Agency, West Point, Air Force and Naval 

Academies, the U. S. Office of Personnel Management, or other large organizational training 

programs. 

Some Suggested/Possible Answers to the Questions. 

1. It is painfully obvious that these types of “special decision committees” are often 

composed of individuals who possess little or no everyday working knowledge of the 

issues they are required to consider and decide. Members are often drawn from the 

academic community; they may be brilliant individuals in their areas of expertise and 

possess theoretical answers, yet lack practical experience and understanding. Many times 

members’ personal or academic careers will not suffer if a decision is off-target and 

4

esults in or causes other serious issues. A major reason for the involvement of this type 

of group is to help control “Groupthink.” Unfortunately, this lack of practical experience 

on the part of decision makers in the Kennedy Administration helped lead to the Bay of 

Pigs Fiasco, while many of the decision makers in the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster 

certainly possessed the technical knowledge, but had not had recent hands on experience. 

There is no easy or universal answer to this question. The question itself points out the 

“clash and smash” that often happens when the theoretical and real worlds collide. 

2. This question places a heavy, sometimes unanswerable ethical problem in the lap of 

civilized civilian and military leaders. Since World War II, there has been continuous 

finger pointing toward Germany, Italy and Japan (the Axis powers) based on their 

behavior toward captured nations, prisoners, etc. In order to protect their countries and 

bring the war to a successful conclusion, leaders of the Allied forces were required to 

make difficult decisions to protect the largest number of citizens and military. Most likely 

some of their decisions haunted and tortured them for the rest of their lives. It is 

interesting to note that most of the material quoted in this case study was not de-classified 

until thirty years after the end of World War II. 

3. At this particular period in history very little attention was given to equal employment 

opportunities. The general practice was to segregate individuals’ career opportunities 

based on sex. Much debate and discussion continues regarding mandatory military 

service for females and what type of service can or should be required. Regardless of our 

personal opinions, men and women are socialized in different ways. Intelligence work 

requires a very different type of life style from the ordinary career path. Common sense 

and a desire to insure (as far as possible) that the mission will be successful with minimal 

loss of life would dictate that all issues, including the gender and background of the 

agents, be thoroughly and carefully assessed. The assignment of any individual, male or 

female, into this type of murky, underground situation is questionable. 

4. The issues in this case are different than the issues of the Nuremburg trials and would not 

fall under “crimes against humanity.” 

5. After the war, both the French and the Dutch accused the British of deliberately ignoring 

the security checks and other warnings that would indicate a post was under enemy 

control. The British sent approximately seventy agents into situations which they knew 

were in German hands, all for the purpose of maintaining channels of communication that 

might be used to pass misleading information (Brown, 1975, p. 553). These charges were, 

of course, denied at the time. These are the type of decisions that leaders must make in 

order to bring about successful conclusions during war and hopefully protect the largest 

number of people. 

6. The training officer was most likely undercutting his own career by putting an honest 

opinion in writing. Someone at a higher level most likely made a mental or physical note 

that he was not a team player, and acted on this when time for his promotion came. 

Individuals who were knowledgeable in intelligence work had to be aware that the 

assignment was a death sentence for Madeleine and the other female agents. Any lady, 

5

especially one this beautiful and unusual looking, would attract attention from the 

opposite sex. Perhaps the most important requirement for this type of assignment is to 

immediately blend into the background and not draw attention. This would not have been 

possible for Madeleine. 

7. After the war, the allegations that SOE had betrayed some of its agents for the purposes 

of wireless and military deception, particularly this party of three women, received wide 

circulation in Europe. However, the evidence would never have been sufficient or even 

admissible in a court of law (Brown, 1975, p. 561). Had the SS guard who pulled the 

trigger been brought to trial his answer would have been that he was only following 

orders. 

Results of the Wireless Assignment 

Madeleine’s real name was Noor Inayat Khan. Her mother was Ora Meena Ray Baker, an 

American, and her father was Inayat Khan, a musician and Sufi teacher (BBC, 2010, para. 2). 

The family was directly descended from the Sultan of Mysore, who was the last Muslim ruler of 

southern India (Brown, 1975, p. 554). Noor and two other women were sent to France in June of 

1943. They were observed by German intelligence when they arrived, but were not immediately 

arrested. Noor was captured in October of 1943 and sent to Pforzheim prison in Germany, where 

she spent months in chains and in solitary confinement (BBC, para. 3). In September of 1944, 

Noor and three other women agents of SOE were transferred to Dachau (BBC). On the morning 

of September 13, the three women were taken into the sandy yard and told to kneel down by the 

wall. An SS soldier shot each of them neatly through the back of the neck. Their corpses were 

burned. For her acts of bravery, Noor was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre in 

January, 1946, and the George Cross in April, 1949 (Lahiri, 2007). A plaque commemorating her 

service was placed in the wall of a church at the back of Harrods in Knightsbridge. Every year 

someone has left a little bunch of spring flowers at the foot of the plaque (Brown, 1975, p. 564). 

6

References 

BBC. (2010). Historic figures: Noor Inayat Khan (1914-1944). Retrieved from 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/inayat_khan_noor.shtml 

Brown, A. C. (1975). Bodyguard of lies. NY: Bantam Books. 

Lahiri, S. (2007). Clandestine mobilities and shifting embodiments: Noor-un-nisa Inayat Khan 

and the Special Operations Executive, 1940-44. Gender & History, 19(2), 305-323. 

7

Virtual Lab Use and Evaluation for 

Information Assurance Education 

Azene Zenebe 

Bowie State University 

Joshua Grotte 

Bowie State University 

ABSTRACT 

Information assurance students need to be challenged and have the best possible environment to practice the 

material they learn in lecture and during discussion in a class. In this paper, we describe the use and evaluation 

of a virtual lab developed to support the information assurance program. The Lab gives students an opportunity 

to do hands‐on security related exercises and assignments. Since the lab usefulness and impact to students’ 

learning are critical, an evaluation has been done and results are presented. The evaluation results give us 

direction on what needs to be added or changed with the lab for future.

I. INTRODUCTION 

Hands-on experience is vital for a student’s learning because learning is enhanced with experience. The knowledge and 

information provided in courses is only good if one knows how to apply it and use it in a real situation or in real world 

application. Virtual Lab provides students with an environment to access tools, storage, and to be able to manipulate 

different network components without harming an actual network from any where and any time. 

The objective of the virtual lab is to enhance students’ ability in the subject matter of the courses and create and develop 

skills. Some of the skills will be manipulating a database, managing security privileges/roles, network traffic analysis, 

scanning for open ports, sniffing the network, auditing an operating system, and the ability to carry intrusion detection using 

an Intrusion Detection System. 

The effectiveness and usefulness of the virtual lab are what needs to be assessed. The virtual lab should be user friendly and 

easy to use by the student. Feedback directly from the students is needed to see if the virtual lab is really being used to its 

full potential as well as identify problems encountered by students to make improvement. Furthermore, staying abreast on the 

best methods and configurations of a virtual lab is vital to the learning of the skills necessary to develop experts in 

information systems security and database security. Technology is ever changing so how it impacts a students learning will 

ever change so being conscious of that is important to having the best possible virtual lab environment to produce fully 

capable and skillful students that are ready for the global marketplace. 

II. RELATED WORKS 

A virtual lab (VLab) is defined as a facility that provides a remotely accessible environment to conduct hands-on 

experimental work and research in information systems security [1]. The emphasis is on the fact that students learn better 

when they have hands-on experience and are able to apply what they learn in the classroom. It is unreasonable to expect 

students to learn programming only by reading about it just as it is unreasonable to expect student’s to learn about 

information security strictly by lectures in the class room [2]. 

Liu, Amagai, & Cordon [3] did a study and received feedback from hundreds of users, which indicated that their VLabs 

provided an experience to an individual learner that was satisfactory and showed that students did learn from the lab. The 

results also revealed that some students found the lab to be boring with repetition that supports our conclusion that additional 

scenarios should be added to Virtual lab [3]. The authors also stated that VLabs are used in a more formal educational setting 

as supplemental material to prepare for or reinforce a wet lab, or even provide a lab-like experience when a wet lab is not 

possible [3]. They go on to say that VLabs are useful for revealing science as a process and for carrying a learner through 

that process while treating concepts and methods/technology hand in hand. Vlabs can be made complex like real 

experimentation [3]. The VLab impacted students’ education in the area of study in which this case was Biology, a Bacterial 

ID lab. 

Huang [4] states how user feedback is the most valuable information that can be used to measure the effectiveness of the 

Virtual lab. The importance comes from ensuring that the goals set forth meet the needs of the target audience. Student 

feedback is essential to guiding future directions of the project [4]. The study also showed that the virtual lab was an 

enormous asset to the courses offered to the students. Some of the feedback regarding the improvements in using the Virtual 

Lab in the class was to incorporate it more into the lecture. One of the student's response was “I would like it to cover all the 

topics in lecture. If it did, I would use it more often. May be if lecture used the virtual labs more, it would make the concepts 

easier to understand during the lecture” [4]. 

Another study that focuses on the study of a Virtual Lab is the Security and Assurance of Information Lab (SAIL). It was 

equipped with a collection of computers accessible by any student who has Internet access whether they are on-campus, outof-state, 

or even out of country. Students were authenticated into the lab using Virtual Private Network concentrator and 

once they were in they could do anything without having fear that their actions will affect computer systems outside the lab 

[5]. Student's feedback consisted of liking the labs because it gave them first hand experience with security tools and the best 

part of the class was connecting to the SAIL lab to complete assignments. 

Virtual machines provide a secure environment within which students may install, configure, and experiment with operating 

system, network, and database software [6]. They stated that students in the courses must have administrative privileges

when on the virtual machines, which when in a shared student computing environment could cause integrity and availability 

losses potentially. The software used to create the environment is VMware, which concurrently executes multiple operating 

systems in separate VMs and isolating each VM from bugs and malicious code in other VMs as well as being able to 

configure virtual networks. The conclusions to using the virtual machines for those courses were a success. Students 

practiced administrative privileges within VMs at the same time as being logged into the host operating system as an ordinary 

user. The machines in the lab were never compromised and were always available for use. The biggest aspect of the Virtual 

Machines was that the instructors of the courses were able to increase the content and use a great number of complex 

exercises, which enhanced the learning experience for the student [6]. 

The literature provides an overview of what a virtual lab is and the use of it in teaching courses. A few studies showed how a 

virtual lab is a requirement for an Information assurance program because of how it will reinforce concepts taught in class 

with hands-on experiences. Another key element with a virtual lab is the importance of having it isolated and not part of the 

actual campus network because of the potential threats that could arise in a virtual lab with testing and exercises. Some of 

the papers went in depth of breaking down the software used to create virtual machines and the usefulness of what the virtual 

machines play in the teaching of different courses. The papers also showed the evaluation methods used to measure the 

effectiveness of the Virtual lab and the results of those evaluations. The most related study to our work is the SAIL by 

Summers, Bhagyavati, & Martin [5] and the SEED: A Suite of Instructional Laboratories for Computer Security Education 

by Du and Wang [7]. These studies displayed the impact of the Virtual Lab in the student’s education with getting direct 

feedback from the students. The virtual lab was deemed to have positive impact on the learning of a student. 

III. VIRTUAL LAB USE AND EVALUATION 

The lab is implemented using , a single host is implemented using the following resources: Hardware: An IBM Server with 8 

Intel Xeon CPUs, each 2.8GHz, 25 GB of RAM, 950.50 GB of hard disk; and Software: ESX 4.0.0, vCenter Server and 

vSphere 4 Enterprise licensed for 2 physical CPU, and vSphere Client from VMWare. The detailed description and processes 

of the implementation of the lab was presented [8]. 

The vSphere Client is used to create and manage virtual machines as shown in Figure 4. There are twelve Windows XP 

virtual machines, one Windows 7 virtual machine, one Windows Server 2003 virtual machine, one Windows Server 2008 

virtual machine, and one Linux virtual machine. These virtual machines are on a standard switch network with 1 Gbps LAN 

and are connected to the Internet. 

Students have access these virtual machines and their resources using the remote desktop connection (RDC). Some of the 

security tools that are available are Systems Auditing tools such as MS Baseline Security Analyzer and Nessus, network 

traffic analyzer such as Wireshark, IDS such as Snort, forensics tools such as Autopsy Forensic Browser and Sleuth Kit, and 

other tools such as Nmap and S-Tool. Whenever necessary, students have administrative access to these virtual machines to 

install, configure and manage security tools and systems. Oracle 10g DBMS is also available on the Windows Server 2003. 

The virtual lab has been in use since spring 2010. It has been used in the Information Systems Security (INSS 735), Auditing, 

Monitoring and Detection Intrusion (INSS 770), Advanced Network Security (INSS 777) and Database and Decision 

Systems (INSS 650) graduate classes and principles of IS security (BUIS 367) undergraduate class. 

Students have accounts to utilize the VLAB. At the end of each Lab, we assess how the added hands-on lab activities affect 

student learning using survey instrument. The usefulness of the virtual lab is evaluated in the INSS 650 and INSS 770 classes 

in spring 2010 and Fall 2010, and in BUIS 367 class in Fall 2011 using the lab assignments describe below. 

In INSS 770, students have access to Windows XP machine in a switched LAN and are expected to complete the following 

major activities using the VLAB: 

● Lab #1: Auditing a client OS using MS Scanner 

● Lab #2: Packet sniffing and Network Monitoring using Wireshark 

● Lab#3: Remotely controlling a machine using NetBus 

● Lab#4: Intrusion detection with SNORT – a semester project where students have completed the following tasks: 

○ Part I: Install, configure and use a Snort IDS. 

○ Part II: Analyze default Snort rules and write two to four new rules. 

○ Part III: Students launch intrusion attempts or attacks on other students. 

○ Part IV: Prepare a report to a manager on detected intrusions for a system monitored by Snort.

In the INSS 650, students have access to the multi-users Oracle 10g DBMS running on Windows 2003 server VM and are 

expected to complete four individual SQL assignments and to implement databases for their group semester database 

projects. They are: 

● Lab#1: Simple SQL queries using Oracle 

● Lab#2: Intermediate SQL Queries using Oracle 

● Lab#3: DDL with SQL using Oracle 

● Lab#4: Implementation of Database Project 

In BUIS 360 students have access to Windows XP machine in a switched LAN. The assignment used for the evaluation was 

the Hands-on Lab on stenography using the S-Tool. 

A. Survey Instrument 

The focus of the evaluation is to measure the effectiveness of the labs used during the course. The goal is enhancing a 

students learning in database and information systems security using the labs. To evaluate the effectiveness of our labs, we 

conducted a survey after the student’s finished their labs. The survey questionnaire’s were made of questions that required 

the student to rate if they strongly agreed, agreed, were neutral, disagreed, or strongly disagreed with the statements. The 

instrument was used in similar study by Du & Wang [7]. The statements we used are as follow: (1) I have sufficient level of 

familiarity with the software tools, stated under each column, used for each lab. (2) My previous preparation and ability were 

sufficient for me to successfully understand the lab. (3) The lab instructions were clear. (4) The level of difficulty of this lab 

was very high. (5) My level of interest in the lab was very high. (6) The time I spent on the lab was worthwhile. (7) The lab 

was a valuable part of the course. (8). As a result of the lab, I am more interested in information systems security. (9). 

Overall, the lab helped me attain the learning objectives of the course. 

The participants in this evaluation were students enrolled in INSS 650 in spring and Fall 2010 terms, students enrolled in 

INSS 770 in spring 2010 term, and students enrolled in BUIS 367 in fall 2011 term. They were those that filled out the 

surveys. 

B. Results and Discussion 

The evaluation helps us to understand how effective our labs are in enhancing students’ learning of database systems and 

information system security. The survey provides the insight and perspective of the students regarding the labs. The results 

are presented in Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3. 

Across the different courses, it was very evident with the results that majority of the student’s responses were positive – agree 

or strongly agree for most of the questions. “My level of interest in the hands-on lab was very high” received very good 

feedback from the students with one hundred percent of them agreeing or strongly agreeing. The last three statements, “The 

time I spent on the hands-on lab was worthwhile”, “The hands-on lab was a valuable part of this course”, and “Overall, the 

hands-on lab helped me to attain the learning objectives of the course” all received very positive feedback with one hundred 

percent of the students agreeing or strongly agreeing. 

The one area that received a low positive response is the level of difficulty of the hands-on lab assignments. In 770 class, the 

level of the difficulty of this lab was very high had students responding with sixty percent that agreed or strongly agreed. In 

650 class, the level of the difficulty of this lab was very high had students responding with thirty seven percent that agreed or 

strongly agreed. In 367 class, the level of the difficulty of this lab was very high had students responding with fifty percent 

that agreed or strongly agreed. Therefore, the lab assignments need to be enhanced and made more challenging for students 

with prior background skill in the area in the future. 

Students also indicated that they do not have any problem connecting and working remotely to the lab: “I do not have any 

problem working on my hands-on lab assignment once I get connected to the virtual lab” and “I do not have any problem 

connecting to the virtual lab” showed to have really high responses from students with ninety six and one hundred percents 

agreed or strongly agreed, respectively.

Questions 

Table 1. INSS 650 - SQL 

SD 

(1) 

D 

(2) 

N 

(3) 

A 

(4) 

SA 

(5) 

% of A 

and SA 

I have sufficient level of familiarity with the software tools, stated under the 

Lab 1 12 52 36 87% 

My previous preparation and ability were sufficient for me to successfully 

understand the hands-on lab. 5 13 51 32 82% 

The hands-on lab instructions were clear. 3 19 42 37 78% 

The level of difficulty of this hands-on lab was very high. 5 27 31 33 5 37% 

My level of interest in the hands-on lab was very high. 4 7 9 42 39 80% 

The time I spent on the hands-on lab was worthwhile. 4 3 41 53 93% 

The hands-on lab was a valuable part of this course. 

Overall, the hands-on Lab helped me to attain the learning objectives of the 

3 34 64 97% 

course. 1 3 53 44 96% 

I do not have any problem working on my hands-on lab assignment once I 

get connected to the virtual lab (added in Fall 2010). 1 13 15 96% 

I do not have any problem connecting to the virtual lab (added in Fall 2010). 15 14 100% 

Strong Disagree=SD, Disagree=D, Neutral=N, Agree=A, and Strongly Agree=SA 

Questions 

Table 2. INSS 770 - Auditing and Intrusion Detection 

SD 

(1) 

D 

(2) 

N 

(3) 

A 

(4) 

SA 

(5) 

% of A and 

SA 

I have sufficient level of familiarity with the software tools, stated 

under each column, used for each Lab. 0 0 0 12 8 100% 

My previous preparation and ability were sufficient for me to 

successfully understand the lab. 0 0 2 14 4 90% 

The lab instructions were clear. 0 0 1 11 8 95% 

The level of difficulty of this lab was very high. 0 4 2 12 2 70% 

My level of interest in the lab was very high. 0 0 0 12 8 100% 

The time I spent on the lab was worthwhile. 0 0 0 12 8 100% 

The lab was a valuable part of this course. 0 0 0 12 8 100% 

As a result of the lab, I am more interested in information systems 

security 0 0 0 12 8 100% 

Overall, the Lab helped me to attain the learning objectives of the 

course. 0 0 0 11 9 100% 

Strong Disagree=SD, Disagree=D, Neutral=N, Agree=A, and Strongly Agree=SA

Questions 

Table 3. BUIS 367 – Principles of Information Systems Security 

I do not have any problem connecting to the virtual lab. 4 2 100% 

I have sufficient level of familiarity with the software tools, stated under the 

Hands-on Lab 5 1 100% 

I do not have any problem working on my hands-on lab assignment once I get 

connected to the virtual lab. 3 3 100% 

My previous preparation and ability were sufficient for me to successfully 

understand the hands-on lab. 1 3 2 83% 

The hands-on lab instructions were clear. 3 3 100% 

The level of difficulty of this hands-on lab was very high. 1 2 3 50% 

My level of interest in the hands-on lab was very high. 2 4 100% 

The time I spent on the hands-on lab was worthwhile. 1 5 100% 

The hands-on lab was a valuable part of this course. 2 4 100% 

Overall, the hands-on Lab helped me to attain the learning objectives of the 

course. 3 3 100% 

Strong Disagree=SD, Disagree=D, Neutral=N, Agree=A, and Strongly Agree=SA 

IV. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK 

The virtual lab according to the results of this study is easy to access, use and support the student’s learning. It provided 

students with a sufficient level of familiarity with software tools that are necessary in performing different actions within 

databases and information systems security. For the most part students have a positive outlook on the labs and how they are 

impacting there learning of the subject and achieving objectives of the courses. There is always room for improvement and 

according to the results students did show concern that the lab assignments were not challenging. Some also showed the lab 

instructions for database assignments were not clear. Thus in the future we will revise the lab assignments to make them 

challenging and sufficient for the student’s as well as prepare detailed instructions for the database hands-on exercises. 

V. REFERENCES 

[1] Padman, V., & Memon, N. (2002). Design of A Virtual Laboratory for Information Assurance Education and Research. 

Workshop on Information Assurance and Security , 1-7. 

[2] Irvine, C. E. (1999). Amplifying Security Education in the Laboratory. Proceedings IFIP TC11 WC 11.8 First World 

Conference on Information Security Education, (pp. 139-146). Kista, Sweden. 

[3] Liu, D., Amagai, S., & Cordon, A. (2010). Development and Evaluation of Virtual Labs and otehr interactive learning 

tools. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education , 163-164. 

[4] Huang, C. (2003). Changing Learning with New Interactive and Media-Rich Instruction Environments: virtual labs case 

study report. Computerized Medical Imaging and Graphics , 157-164. 

[5] Summers, W., Bhagyavati, & Martin, C. (2005). Using a Virtual Lab to Teach an Online Information Assurance 

Program. Information Security Curriculum Development (InfoSecCD) Conference, (pp. 84-87). Kennesaw, GA. 

SD 

(1) 

D 

(2) 

N 

(3) 

A 

(4) 

SA 

(5) 

% of 

A 

and 

SA

[6] Bullers, W. I., Burd, S., & Seazzu, A. (2006). Virtual Machines-An Idea Whose Time Has Returned: Application to 

Network, Security, and Database Courses. Proceedings of the 37th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer Science 

Education (pp. 102-106). Houston : ACM. 

[7] Du, W., & Wang, R. (2008). SEED: A Suite of Instructional Laboratories for Computer Security Education. The ACM 

Journal on Educational Resources in Computing (JERIC), Volume 8, Issue 1 , 1-24. 

[8] Zenebe, A., & Anyiwo, D. (2010). Virtual Lab for Information Assurance Education. The 14th Colloquium for 

Information Systems Security Education (pp. 124-129). Baltimore, MD: CISSE.

What is a Course Manager? 

The Need for a Student-Faculty Liaison in Executive Education 

Carolyn Reichert 

The University of Texas at Dallas 

ABSTRACT 

The Global Leadership Executive MBA (GLEMBA) program at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) is a hybrid 

cohort program. GLEMBA started using course managers in 1999 as a liaison between students and faculty. This 

enhanced student satisfaction and reduced some of the administrative issues for faculty. This paper discusses 

the decision to use a course manager, the role of a course manager, benefits and limitations, and future 

developments in the course manager function.

Decision to Use a Course Manager 

The GLEMBA program is a hybrid executive education program whose students are returning 

adult learners. Many completed their undergraduate education many years ago, and they come 

from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines. In 1999, the GLEMBA program director 

noticed that these students had difficulty completing the first year of courses, particularly the 

quantitative core courses of statistics, accounting, economics, operations management and 

finance. He decided to use a course manager to serve as a liaison between faculty and students, 

particularly for the quantitative courses. The course manager would work with faculty and 

students, providing benefits for both groups. 

Role of the Course Manager 

The course manager provides a single point of contact throughout the GLEMBA program. This 

provides clarity and consistency to the program. It also opens up the lines of communication 

between students, faculty, and the GLEMBA administration. As a liaison, the course manager 

provides “seamless” support for the students from course to course. 

The instructor and the course manager determine the specifics of their relationship before the 

course starts. The course manager’s interaction can range from passive to very active, depending 

on the preferences of the instructor. The most common activities include providing a syllabus 

template, monitoring the delivery of course materials, forming teams, and notifying the instructor 

and teams of any changes in the course roster. The course manager also tracks student 

participation on web conferences, discussion forums and with their teams. Students are

contacted if their participation is weak or non-existent. If a student arranges for an extension on 

an assignment, the course manager monitors the situation until the assignment is completed. 

The course manager also gathers information to streamline the course rollout process. This 

includes providing a list of textbooks and pre-retreat assignments one semester before the course 

starts. It also involves notifying students and faculty of content and procedural changes, 

clarifying staff questions on course materials and tracking incompletes. 

As the primary point of contact for students, the course manager answers questions on a wide 

range of issues, including the textbook, location of assignment materials, team issues, 

incompletes and any other questions posed by the student. Students are encouraged to copy the 

course manager in their communications with the instructor. This allows the course manager to 

monitor the types of questions and the instructor’s response time. If the instructor is traveling, 

the course manager can inform students of any delays in the response time, reducing student 

frustration. The course manager also watches the quality and speed of instructor feedback to the 

students. 

Benefits and Limitations of the Course Manager 

Faculty, staff and students all benefit from the existence of the course manager. The faculty gains 

an assistant during the course preparation and roll out. This allows them to focus on content and 

delivery by streamlining some administrative tasks and eliminating or reducing procedural 

questions from students. Having an additional person to monitor web conference participation is

also helpful. The instructor can focus on the content and quality of the discussion or 

presentations while the course manager keeps an eye on participation levels and attendance. 

The staff benefits because they receive a consolidated list of the course materials for the 

semester. By gathering the information from the faculty, there is a single book list and case list. 

This makes it easier to gather and order materials. It also makes it easier to prepare for the on- 

campus retreats. 

The main benefit is for the students. Students can ask the course manager any question about the 

course or the program. If the course manager cannot answer the question, he (or she) can make 

sure the question is sent to the correct person. Student questions range from the mundane (using 

an old edition of the text) to the intense (dropping the program for medical reasons or team 

issues). This single point of contact across classes provides consistency to the program. 

This arrangement is particularly beneficial in the first year of the program. Returning adult 

students often struggle with quantitative classes, even when they have a mathematics refresher 

course. The first quantitative class they encounter tends to be the most stressful, as they learn to 

find the right balance between home, work and school and reawaken their learning skills. They 

may need additional technical assistance or just a friendly voice to listen to their needs and 

frustrations. Having a course manager with mathematical skill and a business background has 

enabled GLEMBA to cover both of those needs. Is this a necessity? As long as the course 

manager can access faculty or a tutor with the technical expertise, then mathematical and 

business skills are not a requirement. However, a course manager with some level of technical

expertise can provide additional benefits to the faculty by answering more basic questions and to 

the student as an additional source of information. 

Through the first year, the students develop a rapport with the course manager. Based on student 

exit interviews, anecdotal evidence indicates that students find the course manager helpful in 

guiding them through the program. They cite the encouragement, technical assistance and 

general support they received as important in earning their MBA. Numerous students said they 

would not have completed the program without the assistance of a course manager. This 

anecdotal evidence suggests that the course manager has improved student satisfaction and 

retention. 

There are limitations. When an instructor or student stops responding to calls and emails, there 

are not many options available to the course manager. The course manager cannot force 

someone to respond and too much persistence can be irritating. This can be frustrating for 

students, faculty and the course manager. At this point, the program director must get involved 

in resolving the situation. Judging material quality can also be difficult. Does an older case 

provide insights that are still valuable or has the instructor failed to update the material? Without 

thorough knowledge of the subject matter, it is very difficult for a course manager to answer this 

question. 

Because GLEMBA is a hybrid cohort program for executives, the course manager is particularly 

useful, providing a consistent presence throughout the program. Can other types of programs 

benefit from a course manager? Cohort programs in general benefit from consistency of staff

across courses. The course manager adds to that consistency. This is particularly the case for 

on-line and hybrid programs, where students can feel disconnected during the early stages of the 

program. For non-cohort programs, it would be more difficult. Students take a variety of 

required and elective courses with less structure to the sequence. This makes it difficult to keep 

the same level of contact and rapport with the students. Finally, program size can play a role. 

As a program grows larger, it could require multiple course managers in order to meet the needs 

of the students and faculty. 

Future Developments for the Course Manager 

Because the course manager is connected to both the students and the faculty, the role can be 

expanded to include a wide range of additional features. Faculty selection, course design, 

curriculum, accreditation and alumni development are all potential areas for expansion. At a 

minimum, the course manager’s input on current faculty and students provides a starting point 

for discussing retention. By interacting over a range of classes, the course manager can gather 

information on changing student needs in technology¸ course materials and design. One example 

of this was the addition of a global supply chain course in the second year of the GLEMBA 

program. The students discussed the need for this course, and the curriculum evolved to meet 

this need. As for accreditation, the course manager can work with the faculty to optimize the 

process of gathering the necessary information. This is an area GLEMBA is currently exploring 

in order to bring additional value to the faculty and students. The link to alumni is a natural fit 

given the extended relationship with the students during the program.

Conclusion 

GLEMBA faculty, staff and students benefit from having a course manager in a hybrid cohort 

program. By facilitating communications, gathering materials, providing information and 

listening, the course manager makes the educational process easier. This enhances student and 

faculty satisfaction and retention. The role can encompass a wide range of duties and areas, and 

it is easy to expand or redefine the role as the needs of the program change.

Who Owns Social Media? 

A Look Inside University Facebook Pages 

Randi Iaco 

Quinnipiac University 

ABSTRACT 

Social media is quickly becoming a valuable tool used to attract students to universities. This study will 

investigate which department manages the social media efforts at various universities. Social media facilitates a 

constant dialogue between the organization and its publics, thus public relations professionals are best suited 

to manage social media. To study the social media tactics of universities, the researcher proposes using Kent 

and Taylor’s (2002) dialogic communication theory measurements to see if the university Facebook pages 

managed by public relations professionals are better at maintaining relationships than other departments such 

as admissions or marketing.

Social media is quickly becoming a valuable tool used to attract students to universities. Ninetyone 

percent of admissions departments feel that social media is important to their future 

recruitment strategies (Barnes & Mattson, 2010). This study will investigate which department 

manages the social media efforts at various universities. Social media facilitates a constant 

dialogue between the organization and its publics, thus public relations professionals are best 

suited to manage social media. The research has shown that social media have had a huge 

impact moving public relations into the direction of facilitating more two-way communication by 

opening up direct channels of communications between organizations and their publics (Wright 

& Hinson, 2008). 

However, public relations has fallen prey to the encroachment of other disciplines, such as 

marketing. There is a blurring line between public relations and marketing, but the two 

disciplines are fundamentally rooted in different theories. Grunig and Grunig (1991) found that 

marketing is more concerned with one-way communication than two-way communication with 

publics, so a communication program based on marketing theory will not achieve the same 

results as those grounded in public relations theory. 

The purpose of this paper is to explore which department manages the Facebook page at 

universities. University Facebook pages could be managed by admissions offices, public 

relations offices, marketing offices, as well as countless others. This paper is based on a 

literature review of a history of social media, previous research on social media, and the impact 

of social media on university admissions, public relations, and marketing. This paper proposes 

using the five principles of dialogic communication outlined by Kent and Taylor (2002) as a 

basis for measurement. 

This study will be a significant endeavor in exploring the use of social media. It will also be 

beneficial to public relations professionals in enlightening them in the area of social media. 

Social media is a growing tool used in many fields, including public relations. Eyrch, Padman, 

and Sweetser (2008) write, “The majority of public relations professionals state that the use of 

communication technology has made their job easier by expediting the circulation of information 

to reach broader audiences. Social media not only allows public relations practitioners to reach

out to and engage their publics in conversation, but also provides an avenue to strengthen media 

relations” (p. 412). 

A Background on Social Media 


Boyd & Ellison (2007) define social media sites as “web-based services that allow individuals to 

(1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other 

users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and 

those made by others within the system” (p. 211). Social media sites are unique because they 

allow individuals to make their social networks visible to others, and are primarily used to 

communicate with people who are already in their extended network. 

Social media sites are virtual platforms for interactivity and information exchange where users 

can collaborate in content creation (Perlmutter, 2008). Smith (2010) explains, “Social media…is 

a two-way form of media through which users construct personal identities through selfpresentation 

and dialogue” (p. 329). Seventy-five percent of Internet surfers used social media in 

the second quarter of 2008 by joining social networks, reading blogs, or contributing reviews to 

shopping sites (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2009). 

The Internet made it possible to reach people around the globe with just a click of a button and 

social media sites were made possible because of the Internet. Social media can be traced back 

to 1971, when the first e-mail was transmitted in the United States (Lang, 2008). E-mail is a byproduct 

of the United States Military Defense System and was created to transfer data from one 

computer to another in a local network. Lang writes, “even though the first message was sent in 

1971, it was not until 20 years later that e-mail could be publicly used” (p. 39). 

In 1978, Ward Christensen and Randy Suess launched the first public dialup bulletin board 

system (BBS). The first BBS had only one common “board” for posting public messages and 

allowed one user to be connected at a time (Harasim, Hiltz, Teles, & Turoff, 1997). BBS used 

traditional phone lines to log into remote computers to exchange messages. By the mid-1990s, 

public acceptance of bulletin board systems led to the existence of 30,000 boards in the United

States. Also in 1978, the first copies of early web browsers were distributed through USENET, 

an early online bulletin board, to serve university and commercial communities (Harasim, Hiltz, 

Teles, & Turoff, 1997). 

Fellow (2010) writes, “The first social networking sites began appearing in the late 1990s with 

SixDegrees.com and Classmates.com” (p. 381). SixDegrees.com, the first recognizable social 

network site, launched in 1997 (Boyd, 2004). The site was intended to be a combination of 

Classmates.com and AOL Instant Messenger. SixDegrees.com focused on networking friends 

and friends of friends together, while Classmates.com helped people reconnect with former 

classmates. 

From 1997 to 2001, numerous community tools such as Friendster, AsianAvenue, and 

BlackPlanet began to grow. LiveJournal launched in 1999 and was the first community tool to 

list one-directional connections (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). Friendster was launched in 2002 and 

was designed to compete with the dating site Match.com. Friendster was wildly successful when 

it first launched. The site was different from its competitors because users could list their friends 

and interests, as well as manage their own personal pages. However, users were frustrated with 

the technical and social difficulties of the site as its popularity grew (Boyd, 2004). 

MySpace was founded in 2003 in Santa Clara, California to attract estranged Friendster 

members, and “grew rapidly by capitalizing on Friendster’s alienation of early adopters (Boyd & 

Ellison, 2007, p. 217). MySpace caught the attention of social networking users because anyone 

could create a profile and look up other members’ profiles. MySpace offered an “interactive, 

user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photo, music, and videos” 

(Fellow, 2010, p. 381). In 2004, MySpace allowed teenagers to join the site, which caused the 

social media site to grow phenomenally. The three major groups on MySpace were 

musicians/artists, teenagers, and the post-college urban crowd (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). 

Twitter was created in March 2006 and launched in June 2006 by Jack Dorsey (Weinberg, 2009). 

Twitter is a “micro blogging application that allows sending out short, text-based posts of 140 

characters or less” (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2009, p. 67). Twitter is unique because a user creates an

account, follows friends, and sets alert types. A person then “tweets” on the go by sending in 

text messages or using mobile applications, which are disseminated to everyone on the user’s 

list. Twitter is “essentially a hybridization of traditional social networking sites, blogs, and text 

messaging” (Fellow, 2010, p. 382). 

While there are dozens of social media sites, participation tends to follow cultural and linguistic 

lines (Boyd, 2007). Fellow (2010) writes, “During the past ten years, online social network sites 

have evolved from friendship sites…to more specific hobby-related and career-focused sites” (p. 

381). Countless social media sites were launched for specific demographics. Professional sites 

such as LinkedIn and VisiblePath focused on business people; others helped strangers connect by 

interest such as Dogster. As social media and user-generated content exploded, websites began 

to focus on media sharing such as Flickr for photo sharing, Last.FM for music sharing, and 

YouTube for video sharing (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). 

In 2004, Facebook was launched, originally as a way of connecting college students in the 

United States. At the age of nineteen, Mark Zuckerberg, an ambitious and talented computer 

science major, would create Facebook, one of the most successful social networking sites. Mark 

Zuckerberg created Facebook when he was just a sophomore at Harvard University (Kirkpatrick, 

2010). Before Facebook, Zuckerberg had created several successful Harvard-based websites 

such as Course Match, where students could pick classes based on who else was taking them, 

and Facemash, the infamous website where students judged their peers by looks (Kirkpatrick, 

2010). 

Zuckerberg’s inventions weren’t always well-received by the University. Facemash was shut 

down after being live for only half a day, as many campus groups complained that the site 

promoted sexism and racism (Kirkpatrick, 2010). Zuckerberg and his partners were called 

before Harvard’s Disciplinary Administrative Board due to violations of the University’s codes 

of conduct regarding security, copyright, and privacy (Kirkpatrick, 2010). Zuckerberg was given 

academic probation, and went on to create many little web programs and worked on other 

people’s projects.

In the winter of 2004, Zuckerberg paid $35 to register the domain Thefacebook.com, which was 

a combination of Course Match and Facemash, and inspired by the social networking site 

Friendster (Kirkpatrick, 2010). Friendster was mainly a dating service site that helped its users 

connect to their friends’ friends. At the same time, MySpace had been released for about a year, 

but hadn’t made much of an impression at Harvard University (Kirkpatrick, 2010). The idea 

behind Facebook was to have an electronic version of Harvard’s paper student directory be 

available online for all students to see. 

Zuckerberg released Facebook and within days, it went viral around the Harvard campus. By the 

end of the first week, half the student population had signed up (Kirkpatrick, 2010). Users were 

required to have a Harvard e-mail address and use their real name, which made Facebook 

exclusive. Kirkpatrick (2010) writes, “Validating people’s identity in this way made Facebook 

fundamentally different from just about everything else that had come before on the Internet, 

including Friendster and MySpace” (p. 31). Kirkpatrick (2010) goes on to say that “Facebook 

was a tool for self-expression, and even at this primordial stage of its development, people were 

starting to recognize that there were many facets of the self that could be projected on its screen” 

(p.32). 

Zuckerberg always envisioned his creation expanding to other universities and networks. As 

Facebook began supporting other schools, those users were also required to have university 

email addresses associated with those institutions, a requirement that “kept the site relatively 

closed and contributed to users’ perceptions of the site as an intimate, private community” (Boyd 

& Ellison, 2007, p. 218). In September 2005, Facebook expanded to high school students and 

employees inside corporate networks with corporate e-mail addresses. In September 2006, 

Facebook opened registration to all non-college based users. Joinson (2008) explains, “This 

change led to rapid growth in the number of users, as well as almost viral growth within noneducational 

organizations” (p. 1). Despite these changes, Facebook users were unable to make 

their full profiles public to all users, unlike other social networking sites (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). 

As of 2011, there are over 500,000,000 active Facebook users. Approximately 1 in 13 people on 

earth are registered. Close to 72 percent of all American Internet users are on now Facebook,

while 70 percent of the entire user base is located outside of the United States. According to a 

recent study, “Forty-eight percent of 18-34 year olds check Facebook when they wake up, with 

28 percent doing so before even getting out of bed. The 35+ demographic is growing rapidly, 

now with over 30 percent of the entire Facebook user base. The core 18-24 year old segment is 

now growing the fastest at 74 percent per year” (“Facebook Statistics,” 2011). 

Previous Research on Social Media 

Boyd & Ellison (2007) write, “The bulk of [social networking site] research has focused on 

impression management and friendship performance, networks and network structure, 

online/offline connections, and privacy issues” (p. 219). The major social media sites have been 

the targets of substantial academic research. For example, Boyd (2004) examined Friendster as a 

“locus of publicly articulated social networks that allowed users to negotiate presentations of self 

and connect with others” (Boyd & Ellison, 2007, p. 220). 

Network structure and social media research include the Kumar, Novak, and Tomkin (2006) 

study on the roles of people using Flickr and Yahoo! 360. The study reveals that there are 

passive members, inviters, and linkers on social networking sites (p. 340). The study also 

explains how Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter have changed the way people interact 

both online and offline (p. 338). 

Another example is Smith’s (2010) study on how Twitter users interacted after the 2010 Haitian 

earthquake. Smith completed a content analysis of Twitter posts responding to relief efforts in 

Haiti. Smith found that Twitter users partake in “distributed public relations” which is when 

non-public relations professionals distribute public relations strategies (p. 330). He also found 

that “individuals use Twitter to connect with a community of supporters, promote involvement, 

and personalize issues” and “interactivity is a driving force of Twitter use” (pp. 331-332). 

MySpace has been heavily researched, as it was once one of the largest social media sites. Boyd 

(2007) set out to discover why teenagers flocked to MySpace and how they used the social media 

site. Using ethnographic data in the form of intensive interviews and participant observation, 

Boyd discovered that “the popularity of MySpace is deeply rooted in how the site supports

sociality amongst pre-existing friend groups. Teens join MySpace to maintain connections with 

their friends” (p. 10). This study is unique because Boyd found that learning through impression 

management on social networking sites helps teenagers develop a social identity, which is why 

these sites are so popular among this age group (p. 21). 

Golder, Wilkinson, and Huberman (2007) completed a large-scale Facebook endeavor to 

investigate how Facebook users connect with each other. The study had a 4.2 million user data 

set. The study found that Facebook users have an average of 144 friends and users mostly 

associated with friends in a particular university network (pp. 48-52). The study was significant 

because it showed how the use of Facebook is weaved into the college student experience (p. 

61). 

Joinson (2008) explored the motivations and gratifications of Facebook users using survey 

research. Joinson found that most people use Facebook to (1) keep in touch with friends, (2) 

virtual people-watch, and (3) reconnect with lost contacts (p. 3). The article also touches upon 

the controversial privacy controls of Facebook, as well as the development of “perpetual contact” 

by social media sites (p. 9). 

The Impact of Social Media on University Recruitment 

Colleges and universities are using social media to recruit and research prospective students. 

Barnes and Mattson (2009) conducted a longitudinal study on the use of social media for 

recruitment at universities. The study shows that there is a significant increase in usage of social 

media technologies from 2007 to 2008. The study uncovered that over 60 percent of admission 

offices are using social networking. Barnes and Mattson found that universities continue to 

embrace social media as their adoption of blogging outpaces the Fortune 500 (22 percent have a 

corporate blog). The latest research shows 51 percent of colleges and universities have an 

admissions blog for their school (Barnes & Mattson, 2009). 

Social media is quickly becoming a valuable tool used to attract students to universities. Social 

networking sites have had a usage rate of 87 percent among the colleges and universities 

surveyed and 59 percent of schools also have a Twitter account. Ninety-one percent of

admissions departments feel that social media is important to their future recruitment strategies 

(Barnes & Mattson, 2009). 

Gruber (2009) explored the impact of social media (social networking, blogs, and the like) on 

university enrollment. Gruber found that “social media have a significantly positive influence on 

applications and enrollment, and Facebook is the most influential among all social media 

technologies” (p. 2). Integrating social media is vital in today’s recruitment because 70 percent 

of students expect colleges to have some presence in social networking and 50 percent of 

students do not mind being contacted directly through a social network (Gruber, 2009). 

The key goal of using social media is to connect prospective students through an ongoing 

conversation with the school. Public relations offices, marketing and recruitment offices, and 

admissions offices around the country are using Facebook to aid in recruitment. Universities are 

creating official Facebook pages to post orientation information and important deadlines. 

Universities are also directly contacting students through Facebook with friend requests and wall 

posts (Gruber, 2009). 

The Impact of Social Media on Public Relations and Marketing 

Social media facilitates a constant dialogue between the organization and its publics, thus public 

relations professionals are best suited to manage social media. Public relations professionals are 

encouraged to take ownership of social media budgets because the public relations industry “is 

best-placed to take ownership of social media…[public relations] professionals are well versed in 

communication, engagement and conversation, the very attributes required for a successful social 

media strategy” (“Who Owns,” 2011). 

The impact of social media on public relations is extraordinary. In a study by Diga and Kelleher 

(2009), the researchers found that public relations professionals who were “more frequent users 

of social network sites and social media tools reported greater perceptions of their own 

structural, expert, and prestige power” (p. 442). Having decision-making power is an advantage 

to public relations professionals because “researchers have maintained that to be effective, the

public relations function must maintain membership in the dominant coalition of organizations” 

(p. 440). 

Another study conducted by Eyrich, Padman, and Sweetser (2008) measured the adoption of 

social media tools by public relations practitioners. The researchers found that an average of six 

social media tools were being utilized. However, public relations professionals were more 

inclined to use more traditional tools as opposed to more technologically complicated channels. 

Briones, Kuch, Liu, and Jin (2011) studied how the Red Cross uses social media to develop a 

two-way dialogue with younger constituents, the media, and the community. The researchers 

found that “practicing public relations through social media is effective and necessary in the 

emerging digital age” (p. 37). Using social media to build relationships is necessary to the public 

relations industry. Social media can be used to facilitate a dialogue to find out what publics 

think about the organization. 

In another study, Wright and Hinson (2008) set out to discover if social media has enhanced the 

practice of public relations using the survey method. The research indicated that the effect of 

blogs on public relations and corporate communications is phenomenal. Employee blogs open 

up two-way communication and has the potential to empower employees (p. 5). The research 

also indicated that social media have had a huge impact moving public relations into the 

direction of facilitating more two-way communication by opening up direct channels of 

communications between organizations and their publics (p. 19). 

The success of social media has changed the structures of various organizations. There has been 

considerable growth using social media and organizations are now setting money aside for 

digital and Internet marketing. In a recent article in PRWeek, advertising and marketing have a 

high stake in social media and both fields are better at delivering creative campaigns partly 

because they have access to bigger budgets. The article explains, “if public relations is to truly 

own the social media arena, it needs to learn from what these other disciplines do well” (Who 

Owns, 2011).

According to past research, it seems fitting for public relations professionals to manage social 

media. However, with the overlap of marketing, advertising, and public relations, who really 

owns social media? Hutton (1999) writes, “A major consequence of the semantic confusion 

surrounding public relations is that…the field is generally disintegrating. Particularly the higherend 

functions…are being lost to other functional areas within organizations” (p. 203). 

Since public relations and marketing efforts are often combined or blurred, Spicer (1991) set out 

to discover how frequently marketing professionals perform public relations activities. Spicer 

writes, “Researchers and practitioners have long debated the appropriate ‘mix’ between the 

public relations and marketing functions, attempting to divide equitably both organizational 

responsibilities and resources” (p. 293). Spicer explains that public relations and marketing 

differ in how they interpret the corporate mission and identify target audiences: “Marketing is 

customer or client oriented and engages in proactive communication behaviors; public relations 

is oriented to stakeholders and is interactive in its communications” (p. 294). 

Kotler and Mindak (1978) point out the differences between public relations and marketing, and 

recognize the trend that marketers are taking over the public relations function (p. 16). “The 

‘broadening of marketing’ movement views public relations as a subset of marketing” (p. 18). In 

contrast, the researchers also recognize the increasing numbers of public affairs departments, 

which indicate that public relations directors are providing counseling and communication 

functions to top management (p. 20). 

Kotler and Mindak (1978) propose several different models for viewing the relationship between 

marketing and public relations. One view is the traditional “separate but equal model,” where an 

organization recognizes the different educational backgrounds and separate cultures of each 

function. Another model places public relations as the dominant function in an organization. 

Kotler and Mindak explain, “Marketing should be put under public relations control to make sure 

that the goodwill of all key publics is maintained” (p. 18). The researchers conclude that no one 

model will work for all organizations. Strengthening the marketing or the public relations 

function depends on the organization’s environmental pressures and history (p. 20).

Concerned with the blurring line between public relations and marketing, Grunig and Grunig 

(1991) studied the differences between the two functions: “The major purpose of marketing is to 

make money for an organization…the major purpose of public relations is to save money for the 

organization by managing threats to its mission or mobilizing support for it” (p. 263). The 

researchers found that when organizations want to manage public relations strategically, they 

would turn to marketing managers. This is because strategic management has been part of 

marketing theory for decades. “However, when marketing practitioners manage public relations, 

public relations is usually reduced to technique rather than strategy. Public relations 

practitioners become mere technicians working in support of marketing—rather than public 

relations—objectives” (p. 263). 

With the increasing number of media outlets such as the Internet and social media, public 

relations is shifting to interpersonal channels of communication. Using social media to create 

dialogue between the organization and its publics is necessary to the public relations industry. 

Kent and Taylor (2002) write, “In public relations, dialogue sometimes is described as 

communicating about issues with publics” (p. 22). Dialogue changes the nature of the 

organization-public relationship by placing an emphasis on the relationship. Many organizations 

are using social media to start discussions with their publics, and public relations professionals 

are best suited to manage these outlets. 

Kent and Taylor (2002) outlined the five features of dialogic communication as mutuality, 

propinquity, empathy, risk, and commitment. Since this study will focus on the departments that 

manage university Facebook pages, the dialogue of each Facebook page will be measured by 

these five tenets of dialogism. The first feature, mutuality, refers to “an acknowledgement that 

organizations and publics are inextricably tied together” (p. 25). Dialogue is not about winning 

or losing, but seeks to understand the positions of others. Participants should feel comfortable 

discussing any topic without being attacked. 

The next feature, propinquity, means, “publics are consulted in matters that influence them and 

are willing and able to articulate their demands to organizations” (Kent & Taylor, 2002, p. 26). 

University Facebook pages are a great place for current students, prospective students, parents,

alumni, and the like to give feedback to the university, as well as express their demands. Kent 

and Taylor point out that all parties involved must communicate in the present about these issues, 

instead of after a decision has been made. Engagement is an important part of propinquity 

because organizations must consider the needs of publics and can use “open, two-way 

relationships with publics to improve organizational effectiveness” (p. 27). 

Another feature of dialogic communication is empathy, meaning “the atmosphere of support and 

trust that must exist if dialogue is to succeed” (Kent & Taylor, 2002, p. 27). Kent and Taylor 

write, “Dialogue involves creating a climate in which others are not only encouraged to 

participate, but their participation is facilitated” (p. 27). Facebook pages are monitored by at 

least one administrator, who is responsible for facilitating comments, wall posts, and the like. 

Empathy also includes the practice of confirmation, which refers to the acknowledgement of 

others in spite of one’s ability to ignore it. This means that posts made by the publics on 

university Facebook pages must have confirmation and acknowledgement from the 

administrator. 

The fourth feature of dialogue is risk, which means that parties take relational risks in 

communicating with each other. An important part of risk is unanticipated consequences. 

Dialogic communication is unrehearsed and spontaneous, and is neither scripted nor predictable. 

Information is quickly transmitted through the Internet and social media, which pose a threat to 

universities with Facebook pages. However, universities must take this risk because all 

participants are entitled to speak their mind about their positions on issues. Kent and Taylor 

(2002) believe that dialogic risk can “create understanding to minimize uncertainty and 

misunderstanding…where uncertainty exists, dialogue offers a means to share information” (p. 

29). 

The final principle of dialogic communication is commitment. Dialogue is honest and 

transparent and there is a commitment to conversation. University Facebook pages will be 

assessed for organization-public conversations. Efforts must be made to grasp the positions, 

beliefs, and values of others. Kent and Taylor (2002) write, “Indeed, for organizations to build 

community relations, requires a commitment to conversation and relationships, genuineness and 

authenticity, which are all strengths in ethical public relations” (p. 30).

Kent and Taylor (2002) also outline three ways in which dialogue can be incorporated into the 

daily tasks of public relations: building interpersonal relationships, building mediated dialogic 

relationships, and a procedural approach to dialogue. Building interpersonal relationships refers 

to being comfortable engaging in dialogue and having the necessary skills to communicate with 

publics. This principle will be used to measure how well a university Facebook is engaging in 

dialogue with its publics. 

Conclusion 

This paper reviewed a history of social media, previous research on social media, and the 

influence of social media on university admissions and public relations. This paper presented 

previous research on social media that includes impression management, network structure, user 

roles, and privacy issues. This paper is lacking research on university use of social media 

because research on this topic is very limited. Also, this paper is lacking research on the 

measurement of social media because this area has not been explored enough academically. 

This paper proposes using Kent and Taylor’s (2002) dialogic communication theory as a basis 

for measurement. It is essential to test different theories to evaluate which theories have better 

explanatory powers and can help advance the understanding of the practice of public relations. 

Further empirical research can be based on Hon and Grunig’s (1999) relationship theory 

measurements. To measure public relations outputs and outcomes, Hon and Grunig’s research 

revealed six precise elements of relationships that exist and three stages of public relations 

relationships. 

The researcher believes that much could be learned that is of value to public relations practice by 

examining how specific types of organizations (non-profits, small businesses, and the like) are 

using Facebook to build relationships with publics. Such research would examine which 

departments (public relations, advertising, marketing) are managing the Facebook pages for that 

particular type of organization, as well as measure which discipline is best suited to manage the 

social media for the organization. Conducting this study empirically will answer the question of 

who truly owns social media?

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