The Journal of American Academy

A Firm’s Technology Demand Receptivity: The Development of the Construct and a Conceptual Model

Dr. Kim Schatzel, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI

Trevor A. Iles, Anson Consulting, Birmingham, MI

Dr, Tunga Kiyak, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

ABSTRACT

Technological innovation capabilities are increasingly viewed as strategic necessities in today’s era of product life cycle compression, speed to market, and accelerated product obsolescence. Technological and scientific problem solving is largely a communications and/or information processing activity; thus, the role of communication has been given considerable attention by researchers (Ebadi and Utterback 1984). Previous research has primarily focused on the effect of communication on two organizational activities: 1) the maintenance of technology competency; that is, the efforts of an organization to stay current or industry competitive regarding its technological know-how (Brown and Utterback 1985, Tushman 1977, Cohen and Levinthal 1990), and 2) the use of communication in managing R&D or new product development projects (Tushman 1988, Roberts and Fusfeld 1988). Past research largely overlooks the phenomena, in both consumer and business markets, that product content is increasingly technologically based; that is, the fulfillment of a buyer’s product requirements is achieved via the technological advancement of current product or changes in product technology.

Competing with IT: The UPS Case

Nabil Alghalith, Ph.D., Truman State University Kirksville, MO

ABSTRACT

UPS United Parcel Service Inc. is an express carrier, package delivery company and a global provider of specialized transportation and logistic services. Over the course of more than 90 years, the Company has expanded from a small regional parcel delivery service into a global company. UPS delivers packages each business day for 1.8 million shipping customers to six million consignees. The Company’s primary business is the time-definite delivery of packages and documents throughout the United States and in over 200 other countries and territories. UPS is a leader in adopting e-commerce enabled applications that are specialized and not available for commercial sale. With the introduction of the Internet, new services like UPS online tools integrated with IBM, and many service applications are available by its logistics group at its site www.e-logistics.ups.com & www.upslogistics.com .UPS, the world’s largest package delivery and distribution company and a leading global provider of specialized transportation and logistics services. The company was founded on August 28, 1907 at Seattle, Washington. The world headquarters was moved to Atlanta, Georgia USA. Over the past 93 years, UPS has expanded its small regional parcel delivery service into a global company. It delivers packages each business day for 1.8 million shipping customers to six million consignees.

A Perspective on the Environment’s Balance Sheet

Vernon P. Dorweiler, Ph. D., Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI

Mehenna Yakhou, Ph.D., Georgia College & State University, Milledgeville, GA

ABSTRACT

This paper considers “the environment” as a unique user of an accounting. While numerous stakeholders enunciate concern for state of the environment and its quality, each of those is bound by legitimate relationships. The environment, in an abstract, equitable sense, has a going enterprise of assets and flows with asset changes. This paper takes the view of “the environment” calling for an accounting of its assets adjusting through time. The vehicle chosen to focus this view is a Balance Sheet. The Balance Sheet is presented as the owner’s equity position, analyzed from addition and depletion to assets and liabilities. Environmental assets and liabilities are described as influenced by activities in commerce (the environmental marketplace) and in environmental regulation (environmental statutes, fees, and sanctions). Achievements of the Balance Sheet are to provide incentives to achieve actual economics. Probably the most desirable change due to regulating is management’s acceptance of the mode of compliance. The role of the Environment’s Balance Sheet is to maintain the equity on a worldwide basis. In recent years, commercial activity has expanded, particularly on a global basis as trade between countries. As trade is competitive, commercial efforts are toward minimizing product costs. Spomar (2003) identifies environmentally friendly ways in which commercial objectives can be met: materials substitution, process redesign, and improvement in process and maintenance. Also savings must be observable, through publication to shareholders and to stakeholders. “Greening” the product line, and the processes, are ways of carrying the message to the public.

Information Technology Workforce – Planning for the Future

Dr. Mustafa Kamal, Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg, MO

ABSTRACT

U. S. Department of Commerce, estimates that the United States will require more than 1.3 million new and highly skilled IT workers through 2007. Although the current economic slum has temporarily changed the IT job market, the long term projection has not changed. All estimates still suggest that eight of the top ten projected fastest growing job areas through 2010 are in the computer industry. How is the IT industry planning to address this gap between the demand and supply for years to come? The answer is not very clear. There simply aren’t enough trained technical professionals to satisfy the growing demand. Companies today demand skill sets from heads-down programmers and computer scientists to individuals who combine business savvy and technical smarts. The shortage of quality IT workforce has profound impact on the quality of product and services offered in the marketplace. The employee groups are of the viewpoint that it’s the Industry that has failed to tap the existing native labor pool. The employers are of the opinion that the colleges and universities are not producing enough qualified graduates that can come into the industry with technical skills and blend into their business goals. There has been consensus among data surveying bodies that the IT worker salaries are high and rising. Why then the smartest and the brightest are not coming to the computer related disciplines. High School seniors and college freshmen do not view computer disciplines as a lucrative or rewarding profession. Such perceptions are mostly based on lack of information and often time due to misinformation. Another major reason is the perception of teenagers towards IT jobs. Our survey of eleven hundred freshmen in an introductory software application class shows that: 1) although an overwhelming majority of freshmen own a personal computer, Computer Information Systems is not a popular major among freshmen, 2) about one third of the freshmen do not have a career path, 3) although half of the students explored a career path with their school counselors, two thirds relied on their friends, 4) and only half of the freshmen class was aware of the job opportunities in computer areas. Systematic and organized efforts are needed to enhance student interest in a computing career to maintain steady supply of IT workforce.

HR’s Crucial Role in the Establishment of Spirituality in the Workplace

Dr. Joan Marques, Woodbury University, CA

ABSTRACT

Perspectives about what appropriate work-life balance should entail have been changing in the past decade. There is an increasing call for reformulation of values at work, in order to establish greater satisfaction for all stakeholders. And we all know that there is no part of the organization more involved in providing a meaningful workplace, which is increasingly perceived as the most widely accepted view of spirituality at work, than the Human Resource department. This article presents some perspectives on spirituality and spirituality in the workplace, as well as a variety of ways in which HR management can establish and maintain a spiritual work environment, thus ensuring successful organizational performance on a lasting basis. Perspectives about what appropriate work-life balance should entail have been changing in the past decade. There is an increasing call for reformulation of values at work, in order to establish greater satisfaction for all stakeholders. It is, for instance, the opinion of Judi Neal, founder and president of the Association for Spirit at Work, that “people are hungering for human connection...a deeper sense of meaning that their work is something that contributes in a good way” (Stewart, 2002, p. 92). Chalofsky (2003) concurs with Neal by asserting, “What we keep hearing over and over is that people want more control over their work, they want more work-life balance, and they want more personal growth and meaning in their work” (p. 52). Through the two above, as well as numerous other statements posted about the evolution of work-life, it becomes apparent that something needs to be done, not as a provisional response, but of a fundamental nature. That being concluded: What part of the organization is more involved in the human factor and, hence, in human connection, work-life balance, personal growth, and meaning at work, than the Human Resource department?

Analyzing the Role of Customer-Base Differences in Developing Customer Relationship Management Strategies

Dr. Suphan Nasir, Istanbul University, Istanbul

Dr. V. Aslihan Nasir, Bogazici University, Istanbul

ABSTRACT

The Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications market is entering a new age with increased competition, mature players, and advanced technology. Hence, firms try to create a loyal customer base by focusing on retaining current customers in order to benefit from the economics of customer retention and loyalty. This manuscript contributes to the literature in two ways: firstly, this research depends on the study of Nasir (2003), that identifies and categorizes the satisfaction determinants of the GSM customers through satisfaction measurement. Since satisfaction is one of the determinants of customer switching, this study also foresees and categorizes the potential switching factors of the GSM customers. Secondly, this research takes a further step and examines whether there are differences between satisfaction level of stayers and switchers with regard to categorized satisfaction determinants. The technological advances in the telecommunication sector accompany to a perpetual expansion of the mobile segment. The customer market of Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) has been increasing day by day in all over the world. According to a white paper prepared by Deutsche Bank, “Brilliant Past, Bright Future”, as of February 16 2004 there are approximately one billion GSM customers in the world. In the same report, it has been predicted that the global subscribers will exceed 1.5 billion in 2004 and reach 2.3 billion by 2010. After its establishment in 1982 as European telecommunication standards, GSM has been immediately adopted by nations all around the world since 1992; it now incorporates over 616 operators and 200 countries (Deutsche Bank GSM White Paper, 2004). Which is more opportunistic is that the total global revenues from GSM was $277 billion in 2003, and the Deutsche Bank white paper estimated that this will increase to $500 billion by 2005.

AGOA: America’s “Goodwill” to Africa

Stephenson K. Arinaitwe, Breyer State University, London Centre

Musiime Andrew, Breyer State University, London Centre

Mugume David Kamusaul, Breyer State University, London Centre

ABSTRACT

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is unilateral trade legislation between the United States of America (US) and few eligible countries of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) that was enacted in May 2000 by then President Bill Clinton. The act was later extended to include other countries and more products in October 29th 2001 and approved by President G.W. Bush at the first US-Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Forum, known as AGOA I with a very important statement that; “No nation in our times has entered the first track of development without opening its economy to world markets. The AGOA act is a road map for how the US and Africa can tap the power of markets to improve the lives of our citizens”. Such words of encouragement from the US president gave AGOA not only a new dimension but also a defined line of hope. It is from the above initiative that in August 6th 2002 AGOAI was modified to include other provisions that extended more preferential access of exports from Sub-Saharan eligible countries to the US market. Under the new changes the programme was renamed AGOA II which comprised of 37 countries and was extended up to 2008. The AGOA III came into force on July 12th 2004 through a series of accelerated modifications of AGOA II and extended the programme to 2015.

Service Quality: A Study of the Luxury Hotels in Malaysia

Pei Mey Lau, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Malaysia

Dr. Abdolali Khatibi Akbar, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Malaysia

David Yong Gun Fie, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Given the increasing competitive phenomenon of the hospitality industry, this research assessed the expectations and perceptions of service quality in Malaysia’s four- and five-stars hotels by applying a modified version of the SERVQUAL model. It also examined the relationship between overall satisfaction levels and the five service quality dimensions, namely reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibility. The findings indicated, as a whole that the hotel customers’ perceptions of service quality provided by the hotel industry were lower than their expectations, and the gaps between customers’ expectations and perceptions were significant. During 1997 until 2002, the Malaysian economy experienced slower growth as compared to previous years. This was due to global events such as the September 11 attacks, global economies slowdown, the Bali bombings, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and bird flu. All this had caused a significant impact on the travel and tourism industry in Malaysia. The numbers of inbound and outbound tourists have been decreasing due to an avoidance of travel. Tourism arrivals to Malaysia dropped from 13.29 million in 2002 to 10.58 million in 2003 (fell by 20.4%). However this decrease was not as serious as those that were experienced by some of Malaysia’s neighboring countries like Singapore and Indonesia. This was perhaps due to the aggressive promotional activities by the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (Tourism Malaysia). Tourism Malaysia’s aggressive promotions and the economic relief package extended by the government to the players in the travel industry enabled the industry to recover quite well. The promotional efforts of Tourism Malaysia as well as Malaysia’s increasingly strong reputation as a center for international events, for example the OIC Conference, the F1 Grand Prix, etc., boosted the slow economy and ensure that the balance of tourism payments still remain positive. Furthermore, due to Bank Negara Malaysia’s policy on keeping the US$ peg for the past few years, the relatively weaker Malaysian currency has become a positive factor for inbound tourism, while making outbound tourism more expensive. At the same time, domestic tourism has been steadily increasing over the period, rising 11% in 2002 to 22.2 million trips.

Toward an Understanding Communication Channel Preferences for the

Receipt of Management Information

Suzanne Salmon, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia

Dr. Therese A. Joiner, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on managers’ communication channel preferences for the receipt of varying degrees of equivocal management information. We draw on three communication theories (media richness theory, media features theory and situational determinants) to explain manager’s preferences for face-to-face, telephone, email and written communication. Using a sample of 125 managers working in Australian manufacturing organisations, the findings suggest that all three theories contribute to our understanding of managers’ communication channel choices. Implications for the studies findings are addressed. Information gathering and processing for decision making is considered by managers and management theorists to be fundamental to organizational activity. The communication channel that managers choose to access and process such information has been the focus of current debate across a number of disciplines. Fundamentally, the debate is fuelled by alternative theoretical perspectives in explaining managers’ channel choice. This study examines three different theoretical perspectives, media richness theory (Daft and Lengel, 1986), media features theory (El-Shinnawy and Markus, 1998) and situational determinants (Conrath, 1973; Jarvenpaa, Rao and Huber, 1988), and considers their contribution to understanding manager’s choice of communication channel in the receipt of management information. This study is unique in a number of ways. First, most previous studies have focussed on situational vignettes that vary in the extent of equivocality; whereas this study focuses on specific management information, such as the market share, future changes to government economic policies or output rates. Second, previous studies focus on the choice of transmission mode, however, our study focuses on preferences for the receipt of management information. Third, we studied managers in the field and not employees.

Human Capital Accumulation and Labor Force Participation in Korean Women

Dr. Namchul Lee, Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education & Training and Dankook University, Korea

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the trends in labor force participation and educational attainment of Korean women during the period 1985-2003. The past 19 years have seen dramatic changes in women’s labor force participation and educational attainment and in women’s progress relative to men. This study analyzes extremely rich nation-wide aggregate statistics primarily using comparable and detailed data. A broad range of indicators are considered to capture changes in women's labor force participation and educational attainment. In Korea, fertility rates and female labor force participation have been inversely related. Both the secular decline in fertility rate and the secular increase in the labor force participation of women in Korea are seen as consequences of increased real wages and market work opportunities available to women. For all age and education groups, we obtained substantial evidence of rising gender equality in labor force participation and educational attainment. This article analyzes the characteristics of the current pattern of working women in Korea. Women's role in the formal economy has changed dramatically in recent years not only as a period in which women's labor market outcomes and family structure changed substantially, but also as a time of equally significant changes in the labor market as a whole. The major goal of this paper is to analyze the trends in female labor force participation and educational attainment.

Towards Assurance of Learning in Business Programs: Components and Measurements

Dr. Faye X. Zhu, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ

Dr. Daniel McFarland, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ

ABSTRACT

This paper proposes a conceptual framework of assurance of learning and discusses the main components involved in the process. It further surveys tools and methods being used to assess learning outcomes. The attention is directed to the two key issues: (1) what learning needs to be assessed and to what degree; and (2) how to measure and demonstrate achievement of learning goals. The study will be of value to those who desire to better understand and implement assurance of learning. The structural capacity and intent to teach used to be the theme of the mission oriented accreditation process used by the AACSB International -- The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Recently, the AACSB International has adopted and revised its new accreditation standards with a main focus on “assurance of learning” (AACSB, 2004). This new set of standards requires a business program to demonstrate its students' accomplishment levels in terms of the program's learning goals. It asks for evidence, rather than intent. This shift of accreditation focus represents one of the most significant trends in current higher education, which emphasizes that learning is the ultimate goal of education experience and it is the responsibilities of the degree programs to ensure this goal is met. This paper proposes a conceptual framework of assurance of learning and discusses the main components involved in the process. The attention is directed to the two key issues: (1) what learning needs to be assessed and to what degree; and (2) how to measure and demonstrate achievement of learning goals. The paper further surveys analytical tools and methods being used to assess learning outcomes. The study will be of value to those who desire to better understand and implement assurance of learning.

Knowledge Strategies in Taiwan’s IC Design Firms

Da Chang Pai, Chungchou Institute of Technology, Yuanlin Changhwa, Taiwan

ABSTRACT

The knowledge-based view suggests that the capabilities of knowledge creation, integration, absorption, replication and protection may be the sources of superior performance. The results of cluster analysis classify Taiwan’s IC design firms into five knowledge strategy groups (KSGs): discoverer, discretionist, external learner, internal exploiter, and overall creationist in which KSG1 (discoverer) is the worst performer and KSG4 (internal exploiter) is the best performer. However, KSG4 and 3 are transient groups. KSG2 (discretionist) is the largest and the stable group and KSG5 (overall creationist) has the potential to become major KS in the future in Taiwan’s IC design industry. The knowledge-based view suggests that the capabilities of knowledge creation, integration, absorption, replication and protection may be the sources of superior performance[1]. Although many organizations recognize the importance of knowledge creation, management and transfer, however, they do not turn these into their strategies. Tissen et al. (1998) classified knowledge management into two levels – operational and strategic – most of the researchers in knowledge management put their emphases on the former, leading to the scarcity of the latter’s empirical analysis. Moreover, the scale of Taiwan’s IC design industry is second in the world next only to the United States; however, there is little research on the knowledge strategy about this knowledge-intensive industry. This study attempts to fill this gap by classifying the configurations of knowledge strategy in Taiwan’s IC design industry with four knowledge capabilities -- creation, integration, replication and protection by patent citation analysis.

The MIS Expectation Gap in the UAE: Industry Expectations Versus Academic Preparation

Dr. Samer Al-Imamy, University of Sharjah, UAE

Nadia Farhat, University of Sharjah, UAE

ABSTRACT

Recent changes in information systems technologies, applications, personnel and the invasion of IT in the UAE require us to reconsider the skills, whether it is interpersonal, managerial and, most important of all, IT skills for tomorrow’s IS professionals. This study uses data from four groups – IS managers, functional area managers, IS consultants, and IS educators- to identify the key skills and knowledge that will be required for future IS professionals in the UAE. These requirements were then compared with the current MIS academic programs in Sharjah university- UAE. The results reveal that despite a shared vision of the IS professional and preparation phase incorporated in the program of the BSc. Degree in MIS (that include required capstone and elective courses), there still is a “gap” between industry needs and academic preparation. Industry and universities must work together to try to close the gap. This requires preparing better equipped IS professionals in the mould that are needed by the advanced and expanding IT industry in the UAE. Universities need to place more emphasis on the integration of technologies, applications, and business functions and less on traditional and formal in-house system development. Firms need to liaise with universities about their expectations while not forgetting that the mission of an MIS degree program is career education, not job training.

Requisitely Holistic Standardization of Business Decision-Making

Dr. Vojko Potocan, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia

Dr. Sonja Treven, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia

ABSTRACT

Both the existence and development of an enterprise (as a business system – BS) depend increasingly on its capability to create an “appropriate” decision-making (DM) solution. The present paper discusses two theses. The first thesis presents our idea of standardization, e.g. possibilities for the creation and implementation of a dialectical system of standard DM processes, which provides a high quality of business DM and its requisite methodological uniformity in different BSs. The second thesis foresees that control over the functioning of a business DM (BDM) can become deeper, once humans understand the complex and complicated reality of business operation and BDM. With our research we wish to help create methodological support for the definition and creation of requisitely holistic BDM of, e.g., production management. The existence and development of the production-oriented BSs (business systems) depend on the excellent running of the production process. When production factors are restrictedly available and operating conditions are given, business operation can mainly be positively influenced by the improvement of the autonomous part of management, e.g. business decision-making (Harrison, 1999; Schermerhorn, 1999; Potocan, Mulej, Kajzer, 2000; Daft, 2003). BDM (business decision-making) presents the central phase of the management process - taking place in all phases of the business operation process. Important impacts of the BDM on business operation result from its (Potocan, 1998; Potocan, 2000; Potocan, 2002): 1) Integration role (BDM is a component of all business functions linking business operation processes into a synergetic entity), 2)

A Fitness Test of the Cost of Carry Model for Stock Index Futures

Dr. Janchung Wang, National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology, Taiwan

Dr. Hsinan Hsu, Southern Taiwan University of Technology, Taiwan

ABSTRACT

The cost of carry model was developed under the assumption of perfect markets and no-arbitrage arguments. However, capital markets are not perfect and arbitrage mechanism cannot be complete, particularly for index arbitrage. To examine how well the cost of carry model works in different imperfect markets, this study proposes a fitness test of the cost of carry model and investigates pricing performance of the cost of carry model for the developed markets (such as the S&P 500 index futures market) and the emerging markets (such as the Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) Taiwan stock index futures market). Empirical results indicate that the fitness of the cost of carry model for the S&P 500 index futures contract is superior to that of the TAIFEX Taiwan stock index futures contract. Moreover, the pricing performance of the cost of carry model for the S&P 500 index futures contract is better than that of the TAIFEX Taiwan stock index futures contract. These results show that the cost of carry model is more suitably applied to the developed markets, such as the S&P 500 index futures market, than to the emerging markets, such as the TAIFEX Taiwan stock index futures market. Thus, when using this model to estimate the theoretical values of stock index futures, investors should note the market imperfection for the market they participated.

Direct-To-Customer Advertising of Pharmaceutical Products: Issue Analysis and Direct-To-Consumer Promotion

Dr. Lee Richardson and Dr. Vince Luchsinger, University of Baltimore, MD

ABSTRACT

This study will look into the emergence and growth of the Direct-To-Customer (DTC) advertising phenomenon, as well as the impact this has had on economic, political, public health, and health care forces. As a major force in the pharmaceutical world, DTC represents a considerable amount at stake for the stakeholders- for the drug companies and the physicians down to the citizen (as patient and consumer) who seeks help from allergies, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or arthritis. We will review the issues involved in DTC advertising, as well as arguments for and against the practice. The issues and management methodologies are also changing: it is a new era of Direct-to-Consumer Promotion Direct-To-Customer Advertising (DTCA) involves $3.8 billion in spending for advertising pharmaceutical products directly to customers through television, radio, print, the Internet, and other media (Elliott, 2004). This activity was stimulated in 1997 by liberalization of regulations of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), particularly related to broadcast media. On a global scale, it should be pointed out that only the U.S. and New Zealand permit DTC. The total sum spent is more than Pepsi-Cola, Coca-Cola, and Cadbury Schwepes together spend each year to promote their soft drink beverages. The total sum also surpasses what Unilever spends each year on global advertising for all it’s brands, to include Dove, Knorr, Lipton, Lux, Pond’s, Slim-Fast, and Wish-Bone. The stakes are high. Since 1997, DTCA spending has grown rapidly. There has been mounting evidence that the advertising is effective. Millions of viewers and readers of ads who had presumed health conditions visited their physicians requesting information and possible prescriptions to alleviate their conditions.

An Empirical Study on the Association between China Investment Location and Financial and Operating

Performance of Taiwanese Listing Electronics Corporations

Dr. Fu-Jiing Shiue, National Taipei University, Taipei

Kaie-Chin Chung, Nanya Institute of Technology, Tao Yuan

Yi-Yin Yen, Chung Yuan Christian University, Tao Yuan

ABSTRACT

The research is to aim at exploring an association between China investment location and financial and operating performance of Taiwanese listing electronics corporations . With the continuous economic reform and market open, China has become the largest market in the world. To keep competitive, Taiwanese electronics companies have either directly or indirectly made substantial investments in China. Their investment location and related operating performance have been considered as the key benchmark for the industry’s development. In research method, the research is to establish a multivariate regression analysis model, by adopting four attributes as independent variables, including the degree of internationalization, investment location, density of marketing and research, and company characters, while applying respective financial performance and operating performance as dependent variables. The empirical result shows that the increase of breadth degree of internationalization would produce a positive influence on the operating performance. The rise of depth degree of internationalization leads to a positive influence on financial performance and operating performance. The surge of the research density would generate a positive impact on financial and operating performance, with the rise of advertising density resulting in a positive impact on operating performance. In addition, the long-term debt ratio would generate a negative impact on financial performance. The growth opportunity produces a negative influence on operating performance, leaving a room for future research.

A Study on the Linear Programming in Time Cost Analysis of Product Improve Design:

A Focus on Computer Mouse Products

Shinn-Jong Lin, Chung-Hua University, Taiwan, R.O.C

Dr. Chiu-Chi Wei, Chung-Hua University, Taiwan, R.O.C

ABSTRACT

In the issue of product design improvement, the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method is a technique often used in both the academic and business worlds. Faced with growing trend of globalization, companies are forced to come up with new products constantly. Consequently, in terms of product improve design, how a company enhances its competitiveness and creates higher profits are closely related to the concept of time-cost factors. The study integrates the product preference levels of consumers and designers, while taking into account time and cost budget constraints to build a linear programming model to facilitate optimization as a reference for product improve design in the business world. Contents of the research include (1) review of related literature;（2）building of model and integer programming; (3) actual application of product improve design; and (4) conclusion. With the growing trend of globalization, the business community is seeing shortened product life cycles and intense competition. These have created greater demand for the development, improvement, and commercialization products. The main issue company face is how to develop new products effectively and how to make improve designs on existing products to meet customer needs and enhance their competitiveness (Nussbaum, 1993).

How to Improve Efficiency in Transfer of Scientific Knowledge from University to Firms:

The Case of Universities in Taiwan

Dr. Der-Juinn Horng, National Central University, Taiwan

Chao-Chih Hsueh, Doctoral Student, National Central University, Taiwan

ABSTRACT

After the S&T Law of 1999, a new organization has emerged at universities in Taiwan, the office of technology transfer (OTL). OTLs were established to facilitate commercial knowledge transfers from universities to firms or university/industry technology transfer(UITT). Despite the potential importance of technology transfer as a source of revenue to the university and as an engine of economic growth, there has been little systematic analysis of organizational practices in the management of OTLs in Taiwan. Given that the stakeholders in this UITT process have different motives and behaviors, and in different cultural context, there is room for considerable disagreement and misunderstanding. Thus, we rely on case study, interviews, and qualitative approach to identify the key organizational issues in promoting successful knowledge transfers. Based on 24 structured interviews with UITT stakeholders in 4 universities in Taiwan, we conclude that there are numerous impediments to effectiveness in UITT: OTLs marketing and negotiating skill, reward system for faculty involvement in UITT , university flexibility. We conclude some proposition to support next research. The Taiwan government laid down a general “Basic Law on Science and Technology” in 1999, which reorganized the management of Intellectual Property Rights in public institutions in approximately the same manner as the Bayh-Dole Act in the US. The S&T Law of 1999 in Taiwan allowed universities to own intellectual property rights arising from achievements of science and technology research and development that are funded and subsidized by the government,.The whole or a part of them will be given or authorized to research institutes or enterprises as not being constrained by the National Property Law. After the S&T Law, there has been a rapid rise in commercial knowledge transfers from universities to firms or university-industry technology transfer (UITT), through licensing agreements , research joint ventures, and start-ups.

User Information Needs Against Information Technology Services: Expectations and Delivery

Dr. Rimvydas Skyrius, University of Vilnius, Vilnius, Lithuania

ABSTRACT

A certain controversy remains in the definition of IT role in supporting management information needs. The critical and sometimes sceptical atttudes following IT developments have prompted a research on business management information needs and their satisfaction by IT solutions. In the spectrum of simple/complex, and common/special information needs, this research has been aimed more at the complex and special end of this spectrum. The performed survey shows that IT use for simple everyday monitoring functions is essential, but for more complex needs, such as detecting important changes or supporting important decisions, the potential of automated IT solutions and their reuse is limited. Users appear to prefer simple support tools and techniques, such as efficient information retrieval, classification, browsing and presenting, while leaving more space to human initiative and creativity. The rapid developments in information technologies (IT) have always created a certain amount of controversy: enthusiasm and optimism regarding the new possibilities have been accompanied by sceptical voices denouncing the promises (Kling 1996). The numerous relevant discussions have been around the IT productivity paradox (Brynjolfsson 1993, Strassman 1997), IT-based strategic changes and related risks, viability of e-business phenomenum, value of ERP systems and many other topics. An interesting trend can be observed in these discussions: although often a source of disillusionment, IT has become a necessity vital to any activity, and there are dangers to stay behind if one fails to keep up with the rest. Interesting evidence emerges regarding reasonable IT investment levels (Malhotra 2004) or having too much IT (McAfee 2004). The usual discussion revolves around the controversy between benefits of IT (essential necessity, driving force - especially for heavily IT-dependent companies; source of competitive advantage) and risks (significant and risky investments; costly to keep up; failed promises; poor flexibility).

Exploring Store Image, Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty Relationship:

Evidence from Taiwanese Hypermarket Industry

Chih-Hon Chang, Tamkang University & Chinese Petroleum Corporation, Taiwan

Chia-Yu Tu, Doctoral Student, National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan

ABSTRACT

In the past several years, the Taiwan marketing channel environment has replaced product supplier dominance situation by the marketing channel terminal of the retailer industry. The hypermarket industry acts the strong character in the market channel. It not only has rapidly revenue growth, but many enterprises stride in this industry. These changes have caused the high homogeneous hypermarket industry competition more shapely. Therefore, the traditional marketing tactic has not suitable to current situation, and provide the commodity and the service which satisfy customer that can ensure enhance the customer loyalty and guarantee the market superiority status. This paper attempted to explore the store image, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty relationship, and examined whether have significant influence among them in the Taiwan hypermarket industry. We also developed a conceptual framework for discuss the customer satisfaction whether play intermediate role between store image and customer loyalty by examining four null hypothesis and using path analysis establish the whole structure. We will implement above analysis result provide the hypermarket industry in further marketing strategy directions and suggestions.

Exploring Employed-learners' Choice Profiles for VMBA Programs

Dr. Chun-Hung Huang, Ming Chuan University, Taiwan

ABSTRACT

The MBA degree is generally regarded as a competitive advantage for enhancing one's business career. This has resulted in an ever increasing demand for management education by employed-learners. In recent years, virtual education, which is Internet-based, has broken through the space and time limitations. This research incorporates the concept of new product development used extensively by business and industry to investigate the decision making patterns employed-learners use when choosing a VMBA program. We first applied factor analysis to identify eight VMBA attributes. Then, we employed conjoint analysis to analyze the VMBA preference structure of employed-learners. Our findings revealed that the most decisive factor for choosing a VMBA program is the degree accredited and seen as legitimate by Taiwan's Ministry of Education. Then, years of working experience separated the other program attributes into two differing attribute bundles of preference structures. Implications for VMBA program design, infrastructure development and promotional strategies are offered. In the future, workers will have to possess in-depth professional knowledge and expertise to continually advance in their careers. It means that enhancing knowledge and education will become the required core capability of an organization. Learning is now a lifelong endeavor that cannot be separated from work. That is, learners who used to passively accept school education are now becoming active participants and investors in their own intellectual capital appreciation.

The Explanation Effects on Consumer Perceived Justice, Satisfaction and

Loyalty Improvement: An Exploratory Study

Jen-Hung Huang and Chia-Yen Lin, National Chiao-Tung University, Hsin-Chu, Taiwan, R.O.C.

ABSTRACT

Explanation effect has been widely discussed in organization behavior (Gilliland, 1994; Greenberg, Bies, & Eskew, 1991). Scholars have discussed the positive explanation effect in regard to employees' perceived justice and organization citizen behavior. However, there are few studies which apply this idea in the field of marketing. Some studies refer to the fact that providing an explanation to customers will improve customer satisfaction when complaints happened after purchase. Although empirical results are still lacking in this research, we can try to build a conceptual model for managers to use as a guide when they decide to change price policy. In addition, suggestions are made for further possible future research. Previous research has shown that an explanation for an event can affect reactions to that event. But those research has been focused on organizational justice. The method of enhancing fairness perceptions that has been researched in social justice literature is the explanation provided for a decision (a promotion, a layoff, a hiring, a pay cut, etc.). Several studies have shown that the presence of an explanation reduces perceptions of unfairness in certain situations (Baron, 1990; Bies, Shapiro, & Cummings, 1988; Gilliland, 1994; Greenberg, Bies, & Eskew, 1991). Few studies apply the concept of explanation in other fields, such as consumer affairs or marketing related fields. But research on the effects of explanations on perceptions of systems in these fields is needed for two reasons. First, is that explanations are a potentially low cost method of enhancing fairness perceptions (Greenberg, 1990).

Measuring the Relative Efficiency of Commercial Banks: A Comparative Study on Different Ownership Modes in China

Dr. Wei-Kang Wang and Hao-Chen Huang, Yuan-Ze University, Taiwan

Mei-Chi Lai, National Taiwan University, Taiwan

ABSTRACT

This paper uses DEA models to evaluate the relative efficiency of banks in China. The analysis models of DEA include CCR, BCC, Bilateral, Slack-Based Measure, and the FDH model. We analyze overall efficiency, pure technique efficiency and scale efficiency of the commercial banks. We also use bilateral model to measure and compare efficiency between the state-owned banks and private banks. And we investigate the most productive scale size for the commercial banks. Finally, we provide some management suggestions for the commercial banks. In recent years, the banking business in China has become more and more competitive. Under the present liberalization of the economy, commercial banks now play important roles as savings institutions and as providers of credit and capital. In the current phase of globalization and market economic liberalization, competition between state-owned banks and private banks is getting serious. Thus, It is an important issue for banks to be operated efficiently.

Public Policy in a Dynamic Growth Model Without Scale Effects

Dr. Ioannis N. Kallianiotis and Dr. Iordanis Petsas, University of Scranton, Scranton, PA

ABSTRACT

This paper constructs a growth model to analyze how public policy can affect unemployment and inflation. The present model allows for a loss to society measured by lower per capita income growth and higher unemployment. The empirical results support the predictions of the theoretical model developed in this paper. For example, as the growth rate of labor productivity at aggregate level increases, prices are declining to foster economic growth. Monetary policy can affect growth as changes in the federal funds rate and changes in the aggregate investment reduce unemployment and lead to higher economic growth. Positive changes in private fixed investment in equipment and software have a significant positive impact on the growth of the real per capita income. The upward trend in unemployment is related to the slowdown in economic growth. In this paper we argue that unemployment is caused due to lower economic growth. We analyze the relationship between unemployment and economic growth within a growth model of Schumpeterian growth without scale effects. Schumpeterian (R&D-based) growth is a type of growth that is generated through the endogenous introduction of new goods or processes based on Schumpeter’s (1934) process of creative destruction, as opposed to physical or human-capital accumulation. As population growth causes the size of the economy (scale) to increase exponentially over time, R&D resources also grow exponentially, and so does the long-run growth rate of per-capita real output. In other words, long-run Schumpeterian growth in these models exhibits scale effects. Two influential papers by Jones (1995a, 1995b) provided time series evidence for the absence of these scale effects.

A Longitudinal Study of the Depiction of Women in a United States Business Publication

Dr. Jeff Strieter, Suny College at Brockport, Brockport, NY

Dr. Jerald Weaver, SUNY College at Brockport, Brockport, NY

ABSTRACT

The contemporary, professionally employed woman believes in her needs for economic growth and expanded lifestyle options. As professional women have moved into the workforce and increased their influence in business organizations, advertisers should simultaneously change the portrayal of women in advertising. This study, using advertisements in Fortune magazine, examines the relationship between women and men in advertising in the United States over a ten-year period by total number of advertisements with women and men, figure/ground relationships by gender, advertising tone and type of product or service in the advertisement. The use of women in advertisements increased dramatically. Women were portrayed more in figure roles, and were featured more in industrial and organizational advertisements. There was a significant increase in the number of advertisements utilizing an informational/rational appeal. The results indicate that, for the most part, the changes in advertising were reflective of the changing role of women in the United States from 1990 to 2000.

Relation Between Financial Liberalization and Foreign Currency Crises in Turkey:

An Applications in terms of Foreign Currency Crises (1990 - 2004)

Dr. Erişah Arıcan, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey

ABSTRACT

With the stability decisions of 24 January 1980, Turkey gave the start to a financial liberalization process. These decisions also initiated the legal and structural reforms for ensuring transition to a completely open exchange regime that would bring the convertibility of the Turkish Lira as well as liberalization of capital movements; and these steps came to an end with the Resolution No. 32 on Protection of Value of Turkish Currency in 1989. Following the liberalization of international capital movements since 1990, and lacking sufficient savings and capital accumulation, Turkish economy has become more fragile in the face of currency crises. The purpose of this study is to examine, using the VAR model, the reasons for currency crises that accompany financial liberalization in developing countries in general as well as those seen in Turkish economy in the period 1990-2004 in particular, and to find out the factors that play decisive roles in the formation of these crises following liberalization. As is known, financial liberalization is defined as a set of measures taken, policies implemented, and legal regulations enacted for removing or mitigating controls on demand and supply in financial markets. To this end, in the financial liberalization process that started with the Stability Decisions of 24 January 1980 in Turkey, first, interest rates in the financial sector were released, and then, steps were taken for institutional and structural measures.

The Impact of the Internet on Health Care Services

Dr. Chinna N. Natesan, Texas State University – San Marcos

ABSTRACT

This paper examines six areas of health care services that are impacted by the Internet: web enabling of medical records, web enabling of clinical computing systems, web enabling of medical information for health care providers, web enabling of medical information for the public, evaluation and accreditation of public health care websites and privacy issues on the web. These six issues have to be addressed by the health care industry to insure better medicine. This paper addresses concerns regarding these issues, charts the progress, and suggests solutions. Life expectancy in developed countries has risen to about 80 years while infant mortality has dropped to about 5 per 1000 (Harvey, 2001). It is forecast that we will have a cure for the common cold as well as cancer. A complete map of the human DNA system thought impossible till a few years ago has been drafted and portions of it are ported on to the web for all to use. Researchers will be able to use the data to understand and develop new treatments for disease revolutionizing biology and medicine as we know it. Experts also predict that the Internet will revolutionize the delivery of medicine and health care. According to Harvey (2001) “Since science took over from witchcraft, technology has been inseparable from medicine. Now the net and modern communications are accelerating progress in healthcare, helping to reduce costs and improve patient care” While it is a promising possibility, the challenges are many.

Stereotypes of Professional Training Institutions (Schools) in Taiwan

Shing-Jing Lu, Ling Tung Technology College, Taiwan

ABSTRACT

The results of the union’s entrance test allow professional training institutions in Taiwan to select those students they would wish to enroll. This selective action of the schools leads to the existence of an unbreakable rank called ‘school stereotype”. Students regard the past rank as a guiding rule for deciding which school to choose. Though some schools have in the past attempted to change this stereotype, these efforts were futile. How they can alter the stereotype is an important issue. This study adopts the Wilcoxon Rank Test to first analyze the rank of private technical institutions in Taiwan. After that the T-test is performed. A Multiple Regression Analysis of student satisfaction is next applied to each school, probing into possible factors and reasons causing the differences. By applying multiple regression analysis, a constant is found that can be used for representing the stereotype value of every school. Finally, when comparing student satisfaction and school rank these reveal a positive relationship. As the educational market has become increasingly competitive a primary consideration of higher education is to become more customer oriented. Many institutions are required to implement new marketing techniques to recruit students. However, the marketing concept is typically based on precisely satisfying customer agendas. Thus, consumer satisfaction surveys have become the primary tools applied to identify the needs of students.

The Study of Subculture and Consumer Behavior: An Example of Taiwanese

University Students’ Consumption Culture

Dr. Lieh-Ching Chang, Hsuan Chuang University, Taiwan

ABSTRACT

The culture represents living style, which came into being after adjustments to the environment, people, and things through generations. The effect of culture on people’s life is so great that it will even affect the motives and choices when consuming or shopping. Therefore, when a new product is introduced from overseas, it will usually make small adjustments after considering the local culture. Therefore, it will become harmonious to the existing society, and easier to be accepted and self-identified by local consumers. However, as people are living in an international and multicultural society, the forming of various subcultures is inevitable. In Taiwan, with an affluent economy and popularized education, young people have more chance and capability to come into contact with different products. Especially in Taiwan, university students are mostly unusually lucky persons and have independent consumption capability. It cannot be neglected that the effects of high-potential subculture groups on consumption activities are more valuable research subjects. Issues such as which factors of social culture and subculture have affected the consumption behavior of university students, as well as the consumption pattern and trend, will be explored and discussed in this essay. We hope it will inspire the industry, which focuses on selling products to young consumer groups.

Role and Impact of Product-Country Image on Rice Marketing: A Developing Country Perspective

Dr. Fred A. Yamoah, International University, London Centre & City of London Business College London, UK

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the role and impact of product-country image on rice marketing in Ghana-a developing country. A survey of 300 consumers is conducted to analyse consumer preferences for foreign versus domestic brands of rice. In addition, consumer attitudes towards other key marketing factors such as quality, value for money, retailer/distributor reputation, packaging design and sizes, product availability, brand popularity and advertising image are investigated. Analysis of variance, correlations and multiple regression results indicate product-country image influences consumer purchase preference and impacts on rice marketing in Ghana. Consumers prefer foreign sources of rice to domestic brands; and this finding cut across gender, age group, level of education, marital status, family size, religious affiliation, ethnic group and income level. International trade patterns have continuously changed in terms of composition and direction. Many product categories are now traded in both the developed countries and the emerging markets of the Far East, the former Eastern Block, Latin America and Africa. This trend has been accompanied with an increased interest in the nature of international competitiveness.

A Study on Debt Maturity Structure

Dr. Junesuh Yi, Information and Communications University (ICU), Daejeon, Korea

ABSTRACT

Firms need to choose not only debt to equity ratio but also maturities of the various debts to substantially achieve the optimal capital structure. As it is observed that financial crises took place on emerging markets in the late of 90’s were caused by the mismatch of debt maturities with asset maturities, a interest with respect to debt maturity structure in practice and academy has been remarkably increased. The objective of this paper is to review the various theoretical and empirical studies related to the debt maturity structure. This paper classifies theoretical models of debt maturity structure into four groups: agency costs model (contracting costs), signaling model (strict signaling, liquidity risk, and seniority model), tax-based explanation model, and debt valuation model. This paper also examines the empirical studies to ascertain the relationship between debt maturity structure and other features such as size, debt IPOs, variation of the amount of debt issues, leverage, and managerial stock ownership. Through the review of the debt maturity structure, financial managers can employ the substantially applicable model for their firms and ensure the amount of adequate working capital. Researches on capital structures typically had focused on finding out the optimal capital structure to minimize the cost of capital or to maximize the firm value by using mixture of debt and equity financing. Various theories related to optimal capital structure have been explored the ratio of debt to equity, however, debt maturity structure has been recently recognized one of the most important issues in this area. Firms should choose the maturities of the various securities that make up its debt even if they decide the total amount of debt in its capital structure. In other words, to substantially achieve the optimal capital structure, we need to know how much and when a firm’s future cash flows should be paid to bondholders.

Mean Reversion Behavior across Frequencies: Empirical Evidences from Taiwan Equity Market

Dr. Chih-Hsiang Chang, National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan

ABSTRACT

The aim of this research is to investigate the mean reversion behavior of stock index across different frequencies (daily, weekly, monthly) and the influence of three non-economic related great events (Taiwan 921 earthquake, Taiwan Presidential election in 2000, 911 terrorist attack in USA) on the stock price behavior. The empirical evidences show the daily, weekly, and monthly return rate of the stock index all have positive autocorrelation over short horizons and negative autocorrelation over longer horizons. The empirical results of these three different frequencies all show that the transitory components have high ability to explain the variation of stock return. Besides, as far as the impact of great events on the stock price behavior is concerned, the great events indeed cause the investors to over-react to the information impact, and also resulted in a bigger mean reversion after the events happened. The analysis relating to stock price behavior always plays an important role in the field of efficiency of stock market research. It has discussion about if the long-term stock return shows the mean reversion. As it is of great significance to the investment theory and practice, it has become the central study of documents relating to the stock price behavior in these years, during which researches about the long-term stock price behavior have found that the stock price behavior does not follow the random walk. In other words, it supports the point that the stock return has long-term mean reversion (Balvers, Wu, and Gilliland, 2000; Gallagher and Taylor, 2002; Chaudhuri and Wu, 2003).

One Application for Using PERT Methodology in Strategic Decisions

Dr. Halim Kazan, Gebze Institue of Technology, Çayırova –Gebze\Kocaeli

ABSTRACT

Strategic decisions have high visibility within a corporation and general industry, are complex, and usually present many significant factors affecting the ultimate business activity. Strategic decisions also have multiple objectives and alternatives, long term impacts, multiple constituencies within the company, involve multiple disciplines and multiple decision makers, and always include various degrees of risk and uncertainty. It is too risky for managers to make a strategich decision on any subject in today’s dynamic environment. Managers use many techniques and their experience to reduce or eliminate short term, mid term and long term risk. Strategic decision always frighten the managers due to explained reasons such as long term impacts, various degrees of risk and uncertainty regarding strategic decision making. This study showed how the project evaluation and review technique (PERT) is used for strategic decision making and assisting managers dealing with complex problems. In the period of the project, alternative strategic product decisions were evaluated by making strategic decisions. Decisions were also evaluated according to tolerance limits. The best decision result such as cost rising, accelerated cost, normal cost, and normal time, accelerated time, standardized standard deviation (R), programmed finishing time, expected finishing time, standard deviation, constraints was provided using the PERT methodology.

Conceptual Model of Post-Formation Governance in Cross-border Partnership

Hsiu-Yun Hsieh, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

Arthur Lin, National Taipei University, Taiwan

ABSTRACT

If a joint venture continues unstable, then the prospect of realizing the potential benefits for being a partner will be hampered. The breakdown of the JV relationship between Taiwanese Mosel Vitelic and German Infineon is an example. Nevertheless, the existing IJV research remains inadequate to provide a comprehensive knowledge base concerning effective management of cross-culture collaborations. Motivated by this gap in research, this paper reviews three sets of variables (contextual risk factors, cultural difference, interpartner relationship) that may lead to partners’ risk perceptions regarding performance and agency problems, and consequently urge partners to adjust their original governance decisions made at the ex ante stage. This paper contributes towards a better understanding of how to sustain the partnership over time until partners achieve their strategic objectives. In the first section, we discuss the rationale for conducting this research. We then continue by proposing a more integrative conceptual model (i.e. risk analysis) and discussing its relevance to understanding the issue of risk in cross-border management. In the third section, we discuss the association of perceived risk and post-formation governance. In the fourth section, various antecedents to risk perception are presented, along with research propositions. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of this study for IJV practitioners.

Violence in the Canadian Workplace

Dr. Joanne D. Leck, University of Ottawa, Canada

ABSTRACT

Violence in the workplace is increasing at an alarming rate. Despite the growing prevalence of workplace violence, little is known about the perpetrators of these violent acts. This exploratory study attempts to assess how many potential perpetrators work in the Canadian workforce, and what organizational characteristics, such as human resources practices and procedures, foster the creation of the violent offender. Future research directions and practical implications are also discussed. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Long Island Coalition for Workplace Violence (1996, p.1), workplace violence includes: “the commission of proscribed criminal acts of coercive behaviour which occurs in the work setting. It includes, but is not limited to homicides, forcible sex offences, kidnapping, assault, robbery, menacing, reckless endangerment, harassment, and disorderly conduct”. There are many other terms used to describe worker mistreatment, such as bullying (Leck, 2003), aggression (Neuman & Baron, 1998), abuse (Keashly, Trott & Maclean, 1994), tyranny (Ashforth, 1994), incivility (Cortina, Magley, Williams & Langhout), deviance (Robinson & Bennett, 1995), antisocial behavior (Giacolone & Greenberg, 1997), harassment (Einarsen &Raknes, 1997, Einersan, 1999) and dysfunctional behavior (Griffin, O’Leary-Kelly & Collins, 1998). Violence differs from these other forms of mistreatment in two important ways. First, an employee usually commits a violent act only once (e.g., shoots the boss). Second, the act is physical in nature. Because of the severity of violence, it is important that ‘loose cannons’ be identified (and managed) before the act occurs.

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