Union's Newest Professor Publishes Cutting Edge Leadership Research

Two Business School Scholars Publish in Prestigious Journal of Business Ethics

McAfee SOBA Study Reveals the Impact of Fair Treatment in Customer Service Encounters

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• ARTICLE - "The Shaping of a Society's Economic Ethos: A Longitudinal Study of Individuals' Morality of Profit-Making Worldview" in Journal of Business Ethics by Walton Padelford and Darin W White (forthcoming) ABSTRACT
  
  This study investigates the processes involved in the shaping of a society’s economic ethos. The discussion of ethics and economics has a very long history across multiple disciplines. The founder of modern economics, Adam Smith, likewise had a keen interest in this topic. However, with the development of economic science, scholarly assessment has shifted toward positive analysis while normative analysis has been left mainly to philosophers. By utilizing the newly developed morality of profit-making scale (MPM), the authors sought to understand how respondents’ economic ethical worldview shifts over time. Specifically, we theorized that the news media’s copious negative coverage of the gasoline price crisis of 2006 would significantly impact individuals’ MPM worldview. The results show that respondents’ explicit attitudes toward MPM were significantly impacted. However, respondents’ more deeply-held, implicit economic ethical worldview was only slightly impacted. The authors argue that only patient, long-term explanation and argumentation can permanently affect a society’s economic ethos. Implications and future research directions for business researchers are outlined.
  
   
• ARTICLE - "What They Didn't Teach Us in Sales Class" in ABC's of Relationship Selling through Service by Keith Absher w/ G. Crawford & W. Stewart (forthcoming)
   
• ARTICLE - "Sexual Harassment at Work: Moving Research Forward" in Journal of Management Review by Emily Lean w/ A. O’Leary-Kelly, C. Bates & L. Bowes-Sperry (forthcoming)
   
• ARTICLE - "The Impact of Marketing Strategy Creation Style on the Formation of a Climate of Trust in a Retail Franchise Setting" in European Journal of Marketing by Darin W White (forthcoming)
   
• ARTICLE - "Service Performance and Procedural Justice: The Mediating Roles of Family Life Cycle and Culture" in Journal of Services Marketing by Bill Nance and Darin W White (forthcoming) ABSTRACT
  
  While there has long been a tacit assumption that customer perceptions of fair treatment by a service provider are related to service quality perceptions (Berry, 1996; Parasuraman et al., 1985; 1988) there has been little research that explicitly examines this relationship. Previous research has firmly established that justice is an influential antecedent of behavior or attitudes in many different settings. Justice has been found to influence both loyalty (Chang, 2002) and trust (Pearce et al., 1994). The purpose of our study was to examine how service performance and procedural justice are related and how this relationship is moderated by family life cycle and culture. From both empirical and theoretical standpoints, we attempted to bridge the gap between the two separate but related literature streams of service quality and procedural justice. Based on a sample which consisted of 717 individuals from Central and Eastern Europe and the United States, strong evidence was found to support the notion that fair treatment of customers affects service performance perceptions across both FLC position and culture.
  
   
• ARTICLE - "The Impact of Negative Celebrity and Product Information on the Endorsement Relationship: Implications" in International Journal of Retailing and Distribution Management by Darin W White w/ L. Goddard & N. Wilbur (forthcoming)
   
• ARTICLE - "Determining the Affect that the Introduction of Technology-Based Service Innovations has on New Product" in Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences by Darin W White and Joe Harrison w/ S. Turner (forthcoming)
   
• ARTICLE - "The Present State of the Business Law Education of Accounting Students: The Business Law Professor's Perspective" in Journal of Legal Studies Education by David Austill w/ M. Kocakulah & B. Long (forthcoming) ABSTRACT
  
  This paper describes the positions taken by the fifty-four state boards of accountancy, the NASBA, the AICPA, and the AACSB concerning the business law education of accounting graduates. It then compares the findings of a 1993 survey of business law professors with a 2005 survey of business law professors concerning their perceptions of business law curricula. The surveys included questions concerning the respondent’s perceptions of curricular content, importance of substantive law topics, integration of business law into accounting programs, and the quality of legal training accounting students receive. Finally, the paper compares the perceptions and actions of business law professors with those of the major accounting organizations. The study finds that the major accounting organizations treat business law as a field of general business knowledge with decreasing relative importance to accounting graduates. It finds that a large majority of business law professors feel a responsibility to prepare their accounting students for their careers in public accounting but have adopted business curricula more consistent with the goals and objectives of the AACSB. It recommends that business law professors join together with accounting professors in teaching and in scholarship to make the relevance of business law more transparent to both accounting graduates and practicing accountants.
  
   
• ARTICLE - "The Effect of IT Controls on Financial Reporting" in Managerial Auditing Journal by Karen Miller w/ G. Grant & F. Alali (forthcoming) ABSTRACT
  
  Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine information technology (IT) control deficiencies and their affect on financial reporting.

  Design/methodology/approach - This study examines 278 companies reporting IT control deficiencies in the first three years of the SOX 404 requirements (2004–2006). Using quantitative analysis, the study evaluates the impact of IT deficiencies on financial reporting and determines significant differences between companies that report IT deficiencies and companies that do not report IT deficiencies.

  Findings - Four accounting errors, (1) revenue recognition issues, (2) receivables, investments and cash issues, (3) inventory, vendor and cost of sales issues, and (4) financial statement, footnote, US GAAP, and segment disclosures issues stand out as common financial reporting problems in companies reporting weak IT controls. This study also suggests that companies with IT control deficiencies report more internal control (IC) deficiencies, are smaller, pay higher audit fees, and are typically audited by smaller accounting firms.

  Research limitations/implications – This research is limited in scope since only SOX accelerated filers are included in the analysis. As of this study, smaller, non-accelerated filers are not required to report IC control weaknesses under SOX.

  Originality/value - As of this research, no analysis exists to support or refute the relationship of IT controls and accounting errors. This study re-affirms the widespread impact that deficient IT controls can have on the overall IC structure of the business. Our study reveals some of the important issues associated with IT in the financial reporting process. The role of IT in financial reporting systems is destined to escalate. Studies, like ours, can help managers and auditors identify IT problems that affect financial reporting and take remedial steps to correct these weaknesses.

  Article Type: Research Paper

  Keywords: Information Technology; Internal Control Deficiencies; Material Weaknesses; Accounting Errors; Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

  
   
• ARTICLE - "The Impact of Perceived Leader Integrity on Subordinate Ethical Intentions in a Work Team Environment" in Journal of Business Ethics by Darin W White and Emily Lean (forthcoming) ABSTRACT
  
  Over the last decade the increased use of work teams within organizations has been one of the most influential and far-reaching trends to shape the business world. At the same time corporations have continued to struggle with increased, unethical employee behavior. Very little research has been conducted which specifically examines the developmental aspects of employee ethical decision making in a team environment. This study examines the impact of a team leader’s perceived integrity on their subordinates’ behavior. The results, which came from a survey of 245 MBA students functioning for two years in a work team environment, indicated an interaction between leader integrity and team member ethical intentions. KEY WORDS: work teams, leader integrity, ethical decision making, teammates
  
   
• ARTICLE - "Once More from the Top: A Review of the Empirical Justifications for Data Aggregation" in Journal of Global Intelligence & Policy by Kevin Barksdale (Jul 2008)
   
• ARTICLE - "Submission to a Higher Authority: Toward a model of Trust Within the Evangelical Church" in Journal of Global Intelligence & Policy by Kevin Barksdale and Bill Nance (Jul 2008)
   
• ARTICLE - "Submission to a Higher Authority: Toward a Model of Trust within the Evangelical Church" in International Handbook of Academic Research and Teaching by Kevin Barksdale and Bill Nance (Jul 2008)
   
• ARTICLE - "Once More from the Top: A Review of the Empirical Justifications for Data Aggregation" in International Handbook of Academic Research and Teaching by Kevin Barksdale (Jul 2008)
   
• ARTICLE - "Bonus Depreciation Incentives: The Impact on General Aviation Aircraft" in Advances in Taxation by Karen Miller w/ J. Shaw & T. Flesher (Jun 2008) ABSTRACT
  
  The use of corporate aircraft has increased as businesses place more value on ease of mobility. The bonus depreciation incentives of 2002 and 2003 provided growth opportunities for the general aviation market by allowing accelerated depreciation deductions for the purchase of new corporate aircraft. These incentives allowed more than twice the traditional MACRS allowance for depreciation for the first year of operation of an asset, but the present value of the tax savings after the full depreciable life of the corporate aircraft only generated a 3.25 percent reduction in the after-tax-cost. This study documents that the bonus depreciation incentives did not generate significant growth in the general aviation aircraft market via increased production of aircraft. These incentives may have simply slowed the recession that might have taken place in this industry otherwise. However, the incentives in this study did play a significant role in determining which type of aircraft to purchase, piston or turbine.
  
   
• PRESENTATION - "Once More from the Top: A Review of the Empirical Justifications for Data Aggregation" at Intellectbase International Consortium peer-reviewed conference proceedings in Nashville , United States by Kevin Barksdale (May 2008)
   
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Faculty Profiles

• Keith Absher, Dean, McAfee School of Business Administration
• Steve Arendall, Director, MBA Program (Germantown)& Professor of Management
• David Austill, Professor of Management
• Kevin Barksdale, Associate Professor of Management
• Don Christensen, Professor of Finance
• Joe Harrison, Associate Professor of Management
• Kenneth Holt, Associate Professor of Economics and Management
• Kyle Huggins, Assistant Professor of Marketing
• Emily Lean, Instructor of Management
• Karen Miller, Assistant Professor of Accounting
• Bill Nance, Associate Professor of Management & Department Chair
• Howard Newell, University Professor of Business Administration
• Deborah Newell, Assistant Professor of Accounting
• Walton Padelford, University Professor of Economics
• Thomas Proctor, AACSB Coordinator, Coordinator of Accounting & Professor of Accounting
• Darin W White, Director of Research & Professor of Marketing