Dakota Conference Proceedings 2014 Final PDF

Twenty-First Annual
Conference on International Business

and
Contemporary Issues in Business
October 8th-October 11th, 2014
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
1
Twenty-First Annual
Conference on International Business and
Rapid City, South Dakota

October 8th- October 11th, 2014
Conference Program
Hosted by:
Northern State University
Center of Excellence in International Business
Willard Broucek, Ph.D.

Conference Chair
Liz Hannum
Hannah Walters
Ben Leidholt
Lauren Marshall
Conference Coordinators
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A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO OUR
SESSIONCHAIRS
Willard Broucek, Northern State University, USA
Hannah Walters, Northern State University, USA
Scott Peterson, Northern State University, USA
James Kennedy, Northern State University, USA
Allen Barclay, Northern State University, USA
Juan González, Northern State University, USA
Tim Becker, Brandman University, USA
Thomas Head, Roosevelt University, USA
Michael Pülz, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Switzerland
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WEDNESDAY, October 8th, 2014
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. REGISTRATION
Hotel Alex Johnson Lobby
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. WELCOME RECEPTION
Vortex Lounge
THURSDAY, October 9th, 2014

Events on Thursday, October 9th, take place at Hotel Alex Johnson, Rapid City, SD.
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. BUFFET BREAKFAST
Ballroom
9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Opening Remarks– Conference Chair: Willard Broucek, Northern State
University, USA
Ballroom
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. SESSION 01
Each presentation will be half an hour in length
Lincoln Room Session Chair: Ms. Hannah Walters- Northern State University
9:30 a.m. An Innovative New Venture in the Dakota Badlands
Leo Dana
Montpellier Business School
10:00 a.m. Work Experiences of Native Americans: A Qualitative Study
Ahmed Al-Asfour and Mwata Chisha
Oglala Lakota College and College of Menominee Nation
Washington/ Session Chair: Dr. Thomas Head- Roosevelt University
Rushmore Room Mindfulness at the Workplace - A Lifeline for All of Us?
Michael Pülz
9:30 a.m. University of Applied Sciences and ArtsNorthwestern Switzerland FHNW
10:00 a.m. An analysis of Small Town Retail Pull Factors in a Rural State
Rand Wergin, Daniel L. Tracy, and Richard Muller
University of South Dakota
10:30 a.m. – BREAK

10:45a.m. Beveragesand a light snack will be provided in hallway
10:45 a.m. – 11:45a.m.
SESSION 02
Lincoln Room Session Chair: Dr. Willard Broucek - Northern State University
10:45 a.m.
Fly-On-The-Wall Ethics: Can Students Learn from Watching Real-World Ethical
Dilemmas?
Jack Walters
Dakota State University
11:15 a.m. The Reaction of Lebanese Banks’ Stock Prices to the 2008 Financial Crises
Nehale Farid Mostapha
Beirut Arab University
Washington/ Session Chair: Dr. Michael Pülz – University of Applied Sciences
and Arts, Switzerland
Rushmore Room
10:45 a.m. CBE…Competency-Based Education – the What, How and Why
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Tim Becker
Brandman University
11:15 a.m. Ensuring Food Security in the 21st Century - Pressures on Natural Resources,
Agricultural Commodities and the Environment
Andrew Buks
11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. BUFFET LUNCH

Ballroom
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
SESSION 03
Lincoln Room Session Chair: Dr. Willard Broucek – Northern State University
1:00 p.m. LeBron James: The Image Roller-Coaster
Joshua Shuart
Sacred Heart University
1:30 p.m. Concussions: The Marketing Nighmare that Faces the NFL and Youth Sports
Thomas Orr
Washington/ Session Chair: Dr. Tim A. Becker – Brandman University
Rushmore Room
1:00 p.m. JOBS Act: Has it Brought Back the IPO?
Marlin Jensen, Beverly B. Marshall, and John S. Jahera, Jr.
Auburn University
An Overview of the “How Do I Keep My Employees Motivated?
George Langelett
1:30 p.m.
South Dakota State University
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. SESSION 04
Lincoln Room Session Chair: Dr. Keun Lee–Northern State University

2:00 p.m. Prediction of market sales with search behavior across different countries
Shaoqiong Zhao
2:30 p.m. Work Experiences of Native Americans: A Qualitative Study
Washington/ Session Chair: Ms. Hannah Walters- Northern State University
Rushmore Room Course and Program Design to Support Measurable Intercultural Competency
2:00 p.m. Development
Naomi Ludeman-Smith
2:30 p.m. Options, Strategies, and Trade-Offs in Resource Mobilization
Arbab Naseebullah Kasi
Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences
(BUITEMS)
3:00p.m. - 3:15p.m. BREAK
Beverages and snacks will be provided in hallway
3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. SESSION 05
Lincoln Room Session Chair: Dr. Allen Barclay – Northern State University
3:15 p.m. Environmentalizing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
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Tim Becker
Brandman University
3:45 p.m. The Role of Regional Economic Communities in Poverty Eradication in Africa:
Perspectives from Different Stakeholders in Urban Zambia
Washington/ Session Chair: Dr. Willard Broucek–Northern State University
Rushmore Room When Congress Fails to Act: State/U.S. Territory Legislated Minimum Wage
3:15 p.m. Laws and Their Implications
James Kennedy and Keun Lee
3:45 p.m. John Kotter, Adolf Hitler, and Change
Robert Vodnoy
6:00p.m. BUFFET DINNER AND KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Paul Horsted – Photographer and Author
Ballroom
FRIDAY, October 10th, 2014

Events on Friday, October 10th take place at Hotel Alex Johnson, Rapid City, SD.
Ballroom
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. SESSION 06
Lincoln Room Session Chair: Dr. Tim A. Becker – Brandman University

9:30 a.m.
Why Trash don’t Pass? Pharmaceutical Licensing and Safety Performance of
Drugs
Tanista Banerjee and Arnab Nayak
Auburn University and Deloitte and Touche
10:00 a.m. An Evolution of Fertilizer Marketing Vision
Numair Ahmad Sulehri and Asif Khurshid
COMSATS Islamabad
Washington/ Session Chair: Dr. James Kennedy- Northern State University
Rushmore Room No Where to Run. No Where to Hide. The Roots of the Escalating Violence in
9:30 a.m. Latin America that Keeps Investorsfrom Fully Embracing a Burgeoning Market.
Juan Gonzalez
10:00 a.m. Assessment of HR development and utilization: In the public sector
Mussie Tessema
Winona State University
10:30 a.m. - 10:45a.m. BREAK
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. SESSION 07
Lincoln Room Session Chair: Dr. Willard Broucek- Northern State University
10:45 a.m. The Decision to Centralize or Decentralize Decision Making in Foreign
Operations: Should Versus Does
Thomas Head
Roosevelt University
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11:15 a.m. A Cross Cultural Study on Sense of Brand SNS Community
Cheol Park and Xiaowu Wang
Korea University and University of Jinan
Washington/ Session Chair: Dr. Juan Gonzalez - Northern State University

Rushmore Room Do Credit Rating Agencies Favor Their Big Clients
10:45 a.m. Timmy Yin-Che Weng and Pu Liu
Harbin Institute of Technology and University of Arkansas
11:15 a.m. Historical Origins of China’s Post-1978 Economic “Miracle”
Stephen Thomas and Ji Chen
University of Colorado Denver
BUFFET LUNCH AND SPEAKER
11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Ballroom
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m SESSION 08 – THE AFTERNOON WILL CONSIST OF STUDENT
PRESENTATIONS
Each presentation will be TWENTY minutes in length and hosted in the
Ballroom
Ballroom Session Chair: Mr. Scott Peterson - Northern State University

1:00 p.m.
The Performance Impact of Project Managers as External Leaders: The
Influence of Followership Style and Team Disbursement
Billy Whisnant
Eastern Michigan University
1:20 p.m. More Ethnic Diversity within an Urban Setting could Result in Greater
Economic Stability
Lauren Marshall with Allen Barclay
Northern StateUniversity
1:40 p.m. Styles of Learning for Autism Spectrum Disorders: Informing Performance
Management
Sara Colorosa
Colorado State University
2:00p.m. - 2:20p.m. BREAK
Beverages will be provided in hallway
2:20 p.m. – 3:40 p.m. SESSION 09 – Student Presentations
Each presentation will be TWENTY minutes in length
Ballroom Session Chair: Ms. Hannah Walters - Northern State University

2:20 p.m.
Cloud Security101: A Primer
Nigel Van Der Burg with Scott Peterson
2:40 p.m. Secured Chiropractic Database
Liza Strate, Mariah Ahlert, Brahn Olson, Brandon Ding, and Brittany Paulson with Mark
B. Schmidt
St. Cloud State University
3:00 p.m. Can Servant Leaders Encourage Trust and Communication of Tacit Knowledge
at any level of Leader-Member Exchange Quality?
Billy Whisnant and Odai Khasawneh
3:20 p.m. Testbed implementation of Cassandra distributed database solutions
Karl Konz, Bill Bruggenthies, and Erika Koes with Mark B. Schmidt
3:40p.m. - 4:00p.m. BREAK
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4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. SESSION 10 – Student Presentations
Each presentation will be TWENTY minutes in length
Ballroom Session Chair: Dr. Willard Broucek - Northern State University

4:00 p.m.
Let it Grow: The Issue of Sustainablility and How Gardening can help us Evolve
Taylor Melius with Kristi Bockorny
4:20 p.m. Configuring a MYSQL database for efficiency and security within a cloud
environment
Natalie Shofner, James Niehaus and Barrett Holien with Mark B. Schmidt
4:40 p.m. Lead the parade: a case study depicting the use of traditional and online
marketing strategies to expand into the hyper-growth market in the Bakken
region of North Dakota
Dan Nelson with Deb Tech
Dakota State University
5:00 p.m. End of Conference
Dinner on your own
SATURDAY, October 11th,2014

Events on Saturday, October 11th, 2014 take place at Hotel Alex Johnson, Rapid City, SD, Reptile
Gardens, Mount Rushmore, Crow Peak Brewery in Spearfish, SD.
Ballroom
9:00 a.m. Load bus and depart Hotel Alex Johnson
9:30 a.m. Visit Reptile Gardens
11:30 a.m. Depart Reptile Gardens
12:00 p.m. Visit the beautiful Mt. Rushmore National Memorial and enjoy lunch
1:30 p.m. Depart Mount Rushmore
2:30 p.m. Arrive at Crow Peak Brewery in Spearfish, SD
4:30 p.m. Depart Spearfish for the Hotel Alex Johnson
Have a safe trip to your return destination!
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Conference Paper Abstracts
Ahmed Al-Asfour and Mwata Chisha 13

Work Experiences of Native Americans: A Qualitative Study
Ahmed Al-Asfour and Mwata Chisha 14

The Role of Regional Economic Communities in Poverty Eradication
in Africa: Perspectives from Different Stakeholders in Urban Zambia
Tanista Banerjee and Arnab Nayak 15

Why Trash don‘t Pass? Pharmaceutical Licensing and Safety
Performance of Drugs
Tim Becker 16
CBE…Competency-Based Education – the What, How and Why
Tim Becker 17
Environmentalizing Maslow‘s Hierarchy of Needs
Andrew Buks 18
Ensuring Food Security in the 21st Century - Pressures on Natural
Resources, Agricultural Commodities and the Environment
Sara Colorosa 19
Styles of Learning for Autism Spectrum Disorders: Informing
Performance Management
Leo Dana 27
An Innovative New Venture in the Dakota Badlands
Juan Gonzalez 28
No Where to Run. No Where to Hide. The Roots of the Escalating Violence
in Latin America that Keeps Investors from Fully Embracing a
Burgeoning Market
ThomasC. Head, Therese Yaeger, and Peter F. Sorensen, Jr. 29

The Decision to Centralize or Decentralize Decision Making in Foreign
Marlin R.H. Jensen, Beverly B. Marshall, and John S. Jahera, Jr. 30

JOBS Act: Has it Brought Back the IPO?
James K. Kennedy and Keun Lee 42

When Congress Fails to Act: State/U.S. Territory Legislated Minimum
Wage Laws and Their Implications
10
Karl Konz, Bill Bruggenthies, and Erika Koes with Mark B. Schmidt 43
Testbed implementation of Cassandra distributed database solutions
George Langelett 44
An Overview of the ―How Do I Keep My Employees Motivated?
Naomi Ludeman-Smith 47
Course and Program Design to Support Measurable Intercultural
Competency Development
Lauren Marshallwith Allen Barclay48

More Ethnic Diversity within an Urban Setting could Result in Greater
Economic Stability
Taylor Meliuswith Kristi Bockorny 63

Let it Grow: The Issue of Sustainablility and How Gardening
can help us Evolve
Nehale Farid Mostapha 70

The Reaction to Lebanese Banks‘ Stock Prices to the 2008 Financial Crises
Arbab Naseebullah Kasi 71

Options, Strategies, and Trade-Offs in Resource Mobilization
Dan Nelson and Deb Tech 72

Lead the parade: a case study depicting the use of traditional and
online marketing strategies to expand into the hyper-growth market in
the Bakken region of North Dakota.
Thomas Orr 73
Concussions: The Marketing Nighmare that Faces the NFL and
Youth Sports
Cheol Park 78
A Cross Cultural Study on Sense of Brand SNS Community
Michael Pülz 79
Mindfulness at the Workplace - A Lifeline for All of Us?
Natalie Shofner, James Niehaus and Barrett Holien with Mark B.

Schmidt 91
Configuring a MYSQL database for efficiency and security within
a cloud environment
Joshua Shuart 92
LeBron James: The Image Roller-Coaster
11
Liza Strate, Mariah Ahlert, Brahn Olson, Brandon Ding, and
Brittany Paulson with Mark B. Schmidt 93
Secured Chiropractic Database
Numair Ahmad Sulehri, Asif Khurshid, Abid Saeed 94

An Evolution of Fertilizer Marketing Vision:
Mussie Tessema 102

Assessment of HR development and utilization: In the public sector
Stephen Thomas and Ji Chen 116

Historical Origins of China‘s Post-1978 Economic ―Miracle‖
Nigel van der Burg with Scott Peterson 118

Cloud Security101: A Primer
Robert Vodnoy 124

John Kotter, Adolf Hitler, and Change
Jack Walters 125

Fly-On-The-Wall Ethics: Can Students Learn from Watching
Real-World Ethical Dilemmas?
Timmy Yin-Che Weng and Pu Liu 127

Do Credit Rating Agencies Favor Their Big Clients
Rand Wergin 128

An analysis of Small Town Retail Pull Factors in a Rural State
Billy Whisnant 129

The Performance Impact of Project Managers as External Leaders:
The Influence of Followership Style and Team Disbursement
Billy Whisnant and Odai Khasawneh 130

Can Servant Leaders Encourage Trust and Communication of Tacit
Knowledge at any level of Leader-Member Exchange Quality?
Shaoqiong Zhao 131

Prediction of market sales with search behavior across different countries
12
Work Experiences of Native Americans: A Qualitative Study
Ahmed Al-Asfour
Mwata Chisha
After almost a century of attempting to eradicate unemployment for Native Americans

and many federal government acts to boost economic empowerment on the reservations,
unemployment remains high among Native Americans on the reservations. Subsequent to
many interviews with Native Americans from various tribes on and off reservations, this
study has identified themes of work experiences and challenges facing Native Americans. The
themes are cultural tensions, family obligations/expectations, pregnancy, excessive workload,
and inadequate education for career advancement. The responses from this qualitative study
of the Native American workers in this study clearly indicated that they experience some
difficulties that are manageable, but stressful. Due to the lack of opportunities on the
reservations, the majority of the participants sought employment off the reservations, although
some interviews were conducted with individuals working on different reservations. It is
hoped that the findings from this study will raise awareness of the struggles of Native
Americans in the workplace and spurs further discussion in this area among researchers,
politicians, and stakeholders.
Key words: Native Americans, workforce development, unemployment, lack of employment

opportunities.
13
The Role of Regional Economic Communities in Poverty Eradication in Africa:
Perspectives from Different Stakeholders in Urban Zambia
Mwata Chisha
Ahmed Al-Asfour
Regional economic communities (RECs) have a role to play in addressing social

problems such as chronic poverty in Africa. Economies of member countries are small and
fragmented. Various individual country economic development programs have
underperformed or failed due, in part, to inadequacy of resources. The regional economic
integration initiatives, have suffered major setback despite the enormous amounts of scarce
resources that are channeled to them annually. Examined in this paper are the community
perspectives on the role of RECs in eradicating poverty in Africa. Quantitative and qualitative
data were gathered by interviewing members of the general public, college students, and
employees Southern African Development Community (SADC) representatives in Zambia. A
country with 42 percent of its population living in abject poverty – defined as depending not
only on income but also on access to services – presents a plausible platform for research to
find the SADC‘s initiatives elasticity of poverty, from the perspective of the regional citizens.
The research findings from this study seem to suggest a variance between current SADC
development initiatives in Southern Africa and what the communities perceive as their needs.
Key words: Chronic poverty, Southern Africa, Zambia, stakeholder perspective, communities
14
Why Trash don‟t Pass? Pharmaceutical Licensing and Safety Performance of Drugs
Tannista Banerjee
Arnab Nayak
This paper examines how asymmetric information in pharmaceutical licensing affects

the quality of licensed drugs. Pharmaceutical companies often in license potential drug
molecules at different stages of the drug development from other pharmaceutical or
biotechnology companies and complete the remaining of the research stages before submitting
the new drug application (NDA) to the Food and Drug Administration. The asymmetric
information associated with the quality of the licensed molecules can result in a lesser number
of good potential molecules being licensed out while those with greater potential, being
developed internally. We identify the NDAs submitted between 1993 and 2004 where the new
molecular entities (NMEs) were acquired through licensing. Controlling for other drug area
specific and applicant firm specific factors, we investigate whether the drugs developed with
licensed molecules face higher probability of safety based recall and ultimate withdrawal from
the market than drugs developed internally. Results suggest the opposite of Akerlof‘s (1970)
lemons problem. Licensed molecules rather have less probability of facing safety based recalls
and ultimate withdrawal from the market comparing to internally developed drug molecules.
This suggests that biotechnology and small pharmaceutical firms specializing in
pharmaceutical research are more efficient in developing good potential molecules because of
their concentrated research. These firms license out good potential molecules because it
increases their market value and reputation. In addition, results suggest that number of
previous approved drugs in the disease area and the applicant firms‘ previous approved drugs
reduce the probability that an additional approved drug in the same drug area will
potentially be harmful.
15
Environmentalizing Maslow‟s Hierarchy of Needs
Dr. Tim A. Becker
Most businesses, managers, and marketers are familiar with Abraham Maslow‘s
Hierarchy of Needs. This theory is one of the preferred that describes the behavior of
individuals and groups while labeling what people are looking for and trying to achieve. The
five levels of the theory are highly agreed upon, physiological, safety and security, social and
interactive, esteem, and self-actualization. The use and understanding of the theory are
widespread.
The presentation at the conference will detail a more modern, targeted, and effective
model and understanding of the original theory. The 5 Levels of the original theory are
divided each into three different ―environments‖ where the needs exist. The environments
cover where someone lives and works 24/7. As a result, an individual operates in the
environments and ultimately has 15 different needs.
Through ―environmentalizing‖ Maslow, managers can better serve their workers and
provide what they really need and seek. Marketers will better target their prospects and
customers in a way that will increase sales and profits. Teachers and instructors could also
adapt their curricula, delivery, and assessments based on this innovative implementation of
this well-worn theory.
Attendees will fully understand the ―new‖ Maslow and will be engaged in a mini-case study to
practice ―environmentalizing.‖
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CBE…Competency-Based Education – the What, How and Why
Dr. Tim A. Becker
Is CBE for your university? In this presentation attendees will be taken through a
briefing on ―what‖ it is, ―why‖ it‘s being done (and not done by some), and finally direction on
―how‖ to do it if you choose to explore this innovative and adaptable curriculum. Ultimately,
CBE is a series of updating tactics and strategies of ―learning, knowing, and doing.‖
This presentation will explore the many options, pros and cons of CBE implementation
along with tactics of what to beware of and what to make sure to include. CBE is not just a
fad, the DOE (Department of Education) is watching its development and progress closely and
is a sideline supporter, the content of the support will be shared. In a mini-case study format,
you will see the results of Brandman University‘s foray into CBE as it converted its 4 year
BBA program to CBE in less than 2 years. Attendees will understand CBE and be able to
decide whether CBE is something to explore for their institution.
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Ensuring Food Security in the 21st Century - Pressures on Natural Resources,
Agricultural Commodities and the Environment
Andrew Buks
Despite many innovative solutions to ensure food security in the 21st century, the global
population is facing a large number of complex challenges. The world‘s population is expected
to reach over 9 billion by 2050 and rural-urban migration is increasing considerably, with
growth concentrated in today‘s developing countries including China, India, Southeast Asian
and several African nations accounting for 70% of the global population in 2050 against 49%
today.
Undoubtedly, one of the main factors, globalization, is affecting the agriculture sector
and, together with economic expansion and urbanization, it is contributing to changing
patterns in food consumption. The types of food products consumed in developing and
developed nations are the direct result from globalization, economic growth and rapidly
growing urbanization.
The availability of land and water resources is of utmost importance for food security.
Natural resources are being subject to unprecedented pressure from human activities, and
marked climate and environmental changes are occurring, resulting in higher agricultural
commodity prices and frequent climate change-related disasters.
This paper discusses the current knowledge of these complex challenges and discusses
likely implications for the food and agriculture sectors as well as for hunger and poverty
reduction.
18
Styles of Learning for Autism Spectrum Disorders: Informing Performance
Management
Sara Colorosa
Background
Even though the Autism Spectrum (AS) have been studied since 1943, there is still more
information needed about the implications for AS in the workplace (DSM, 2011; Frith, 1991;
1993) to improve opportunities for those on the spectrum. The Center for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC, 2014) estimates that one in 68 children are on the Autism Spectrum. With
such a high frequency of children being identified with the disorder, there are implications as
they advance through education and into the workforce. Given the changes in the workplace,
managers and co-workers need to be aware of the styles of learning in the workplace and know
how to use this information to inform and improve the performance of all employees.
The purpose of this article is to make the case as why it is important for managers and
co-workers to be aware of the styles of learning in the workplace, learn about the AS styles of
learning, and inform how this information can be used in the workplace. This knowledge can
inform managers in how they implement performance management for the various styles of
learning. Managers should be familiar with this material, as they may supervise people in a
diverse workplace, with diverse skill sets.
Individuals on the Autism Spectrum in the Workplace
Managers and co-workers should recognize the changing work environment and create
supportive environments by minimizing employment issues. Highly capable of doing their
work, some of the challenges for those on the AS are anxiety, not understanding personal
space, talking too much or not enough, lack of independence from supervisors and co-workers,
being too rigid, and poor personal habits (Mawhood & Howlin, 1999). These challenges are
not solely characteristic of those on the spectrum. Communication is one skill that may be
difficult for individuals on the spectrum. Dew and Alan (2007) state that with different skills
and abilities of individuals on the spectrum, employment needs and opportunities vary.
Supportive work environments can help employees be successful and maintain employment
(Barnhill, 2007; Grandin & Duffy, 2004; Hendricks & Wehman, 2009; Hurlbutt & Chalmers,
2004; Mawhood & Howlin, 1999; Robinson & Smith, 2010).
Research has indicated that better understanding from managers about the AS and
how to support the needs of their employees, reported successful employees, who stayed
employed and reported being satisfied with their work (Mawhood & Howlin, 1999). Employers
and those who manage employees on the AS should be able to support the behaviors and
environments for these individuals (Van Wieren, Reid, & McMahon, 2008, p. 306).
Similarly, Grandin and Duffy (2004) discuss the transition into the workforce ―in order
for many on the autism spectrum to join the workforce, their sensory sensitivities must be
‗smoothed,‘ communication skills built, and anxiety reduced through treatment and,
sometimes, medication‖ (p. 11). There has been a call to action put forth for adults on the
Autism Spectrum to know more about their strengths, career interests, and how they need to
navigate the cultural world within a company. It is just as important for managers and co-
workers to understand how to support whatever the needs of employees are.
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Adults on the Autism Spectrum experienced high unemployment and
underemployment, changed jobs and made less money than their counterparts, and had issues
adjusting to the workplace (Hendricks & Wehman, 2009, p. 81). They found that recent
research was focused on design strategies to reduce poor behaviors, match communication
needs with a job, and increase retention. Hurlbutt and Chalmers (2004) concluded that if a
person is allowed to discuss their needs and disability, it would be helpful. However, this is
not always the situation, as some employees are not comfortable discussing their needs in the
workplace. Barnhill (2007) stated that there are employment issues for people on the AS, as
they are not always able to find work that fit with their abilities. Additionally, they tend to
have trouble maintaining work and social relationships (2007, p. 118). Robinson and Smith
(2010) developed an intervention to create a supportive work environments for a young man on
the AS. He was able to complete his work tasks successfully given that the participant lacked
cogitative skills before the intervention to complete all of his work. By implementing a
supportive environment, the research participant was able to learn the tasks needing to be
completed. Barnhill (2007) studied employment issues that people on the spectrum may
encounter and found that fitting work within their abilities, maintaining work, and social
relationships leads to positive outcomes (2007, p. 118). These studies demonstrate some of
issues employees on the Autism Spectrum can face along with possible solutions to create
supportive environments by becoming familiar with styles of learning.
Definition of Styles of Learning
A definition of style of learning was developed from a variety of sources. Learning style
is how an individual processes information, behaves in situations, and feels while learning
(Conti, 2009). An individual‘s learning style is based on preferences when engaging in the
learning cycle (Kolb & Kolb, 2004). Each person‘s learning style can be influenced by
personality, jobs, education, and experiences (Kolb, 1984).
Autism Spectrum Styles of Learning
The literature has indicated three models of learning relevant for individuals on the
Autism Spectrum. These styles are Specialized Brains, Learning and Communication Styles,
and Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic Learning Styles. There are two behavioral theories
influencing learning; these theories are Theory of Mind Thinking and Positive Support
Behaviors.
Specialized Brains Model
Three types of specialized brains have been defined by Grandin for individuals on the
Autism Spectrum (2006). Grandin has met and talked with hundreds of families and
individuals with Autism or Asperger‘s syndrome. Over the years, she has observed and
identified different types of specialized brains, as people on the spectrum think in details.
Grandin‘s categories provide detail about how a person thinks and processes information.
Some individuals may combine these categories (2006, p. 28) as the categories are not distinct.
Table 1 summarizes the specialized brains and their characteristics as suggested by Grandin.
Table 1
Specialized Brain Characteristics as Observed by Grandin

Specialized Brain Characteristics of Thinking in Source
Detail
Visual Think in photographically specific Grandin, 2006, pp. 28-
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images. 29.
Duties should not have a lot of Grandin & Duffy, 2004,

math or short-term memory recall; pp. 88-89.
long-term memory recall is better.
Music and math Excel in math, chess, and computer Grandin, 2006, pp. 28-
thinkers programming. Notice patterns and 29.
relationships.
Often play music by ear, are good

with numbers, facts, and music.
Written language is not required
for pattern thinking. Grandin & Duffy, 2004,
pp. 88-89.
Verbal logic thinkers Love history, foreign languages, Grandin, 2006, pp. 28-
weather statistics, and stock 29.
market reports.
Strong long-term memory is better

than short-term memory recall. Grandin & Duffy, 2004,
Good with words, lists, and pp. 88-89.
numbers.
Learning and Communication Styles Model

Categories of learning styles have been identified by Wolf, Brown, and Bork (2009) and
suggest learners should identify their style(s) to facilitate the appropriate way to navigate
education and the workforce. Wolf et al. (2009) state that the learning styles ―should not be
goals in and of themselves, but should provide a baseline, with the ultimate goal of enabling
the student to independently apply the steps and procedures identified in each setting he may
encounter‖ (p. 178). These same goals can be applied to the workplace. Table 2 summarizes
these two learning style categories.
Table 2
Learning and Communication Styles Identified
Learning Styles Communication Style Source
Verbal Explanation and written Wolf, Brown, & Bork,
2009, p. 11.
Visual Demonstrations, flow chart and guides Wolf, Brown, & Bork,
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2009, p. 11.
Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic Learning Styles

Lisle (2007) assessed the various styles of learning for adults with intellectual
difficulties and suggested ―the use of learning style assessments and consequential synchrony
with learning opportunity can help remove obstacles to learning generally and can be
beneficial to and supportive for adult learners with intellectual difficulties‖ (p. 24). In this
study, an assessment was created and used to identify various modalities of learning styles.
The VAK looks at visual, auditory, and kinesthetic styles of learning and assesses and
enhances multiple modalities of the learner (Lisle, 2007); these modalities are summarized in
Table 3.
Table 3
Summary of VAK Modalities
Modalities Characteristics Source

Visual learners Prefers images, diagrams, charts and Lisle, 2007, p. 30.
other visual information
Auditory Uses aural communication, sounds, Lisle, 2007, p. 30.

dialogue, discussion, rhythmic patterns
and reading materials
Kinesthetic Active listeners, prefers practical tasks Lisle, 2007, p. 30.
and activities
If a learner has a primary and secondary learning style, the VAK would be able to identify the
styles and enhance the learning for both (Lisle, 2007).
Commonality among Styles of Learning for Autism Spectrum Disorders
Through this comprehensive analysis of the Autism Spectrum‘ styles of learning, it was
determined there are commonalities among the various models, summarized in table 4. There
is some overlap for the AS styles of learning. The three models, Specialized Brains, Learning
and Communication Styles, and VAK model include visual learning, which takes place when
information is given through pictures, charts, images, and color (Grandin, 2006; Grandin &
Duffy, 2004; Lisle, 2007; Wolf et al., 2009). The Specialized Brains and Learning and
Communication Styles models identify that some individuals on the spectrum learn through
verbal interactions, such as language and explanation (Grandin, 2006; Grandin & Duffy,
2004; Wolf et al. 2009). Lisle (2007) described this style of learning as auditory, where a
person learns through communication and sounds.
Table 4
Summary of Styles of Learning for Autism Spectrum Disorders
Learning Style Specialized Brains Learning and VAK Model

Communication
Styles
Visual X X X
Music/Math X
Verbal X X
Auditory X
Kinesthetic X
22
All three models concur that learning takes place through verbal or auditory methods,
even though the authors use different terminology. The VAK model has the kinesthetic as an
additional learning style, which does not be aligned with the other styles. A person with a
kinesthetic learning style learns from listening and participating in activities and tasks (Lisle,
2007). Lastly, the Specialized Brains model has music/math as a style of learning that the
other two models do not include, where learning through math related tasks (Grandin, 2006;
Grandin & Duffy, 2004).
All four of these styles are present in the diversity of people in the workplace. Managers
and co-workers should incorporate these styles into daily communications and interactions to
ensure learning with all employees. The styles have characteristics that managers and co-
workers should be familiar with for effective communication and performance management.
Autism Spectrum Disorders and Associated Behaviors
In addition to the styles of learning that emerged from the literature, two associated
behavioral theories were discovered. The two theories reviewed were Theory of Mind Thinking
and Positive Behavior Support. These theories are described in the following sections, as they
can influence learning.
Theory of Mind Thinking
Dr. Grandin (2008) discusses, in her book The Way I See It, various research studies
that analyze how people on the spectrum engage in their social worlds. She states that people
on the spectrum struggle with Theory of Mind (ToM) thinking. This is the ability to perceive
what is being said or to interpret a situation from the ―other‘s‖ perspective (Grandin, 2008, p.
133; Rotheram-Fuller & Kasari, 2011; Spek, Scholte, & Berckelaer-Onnes, 2009). These skills
are developed at such an early age, except individuals on the spectrum may not be able to
interpret the nonverbal and interpersonal communication that completes the whole message
foe most other people (Grandin, 2008, p. 133; Rotheram-Fuller & Kasari, 2011). This lack of
interpretation is part of the social skill interaction that can cause frustration and anxiety
among employees and management within the workforce. Key pieces of information may be
missing from messages, due to each person‘s communication and learning styles as missing or
not attending to non-verbal cues or facial expressions.
Each person has his/her own learning and communication styles. Individuals
on the spectrum may be more concrete thinkers than others (Grandin, 2008, p. 143). For those
who are concrete thinkers, interpreting ―logic or involve emotions and social relationships are
difficult for us to grasp, and even more difficult to incorporate into our daily lives‖ (Grandin,
2008, p.143). Grandin (2008) suggests four ―cornerstones of social awareness‖ that aid in
social thinking and functioning. Managers should know these various cornerstones as they
provide some basic tools for engaging all employees in the workplace. By knowing and
practicing these cornerstones, a manager can assist an employee with various social
interactions, while understanding when an employee uses a cornerstone to engage with others.
The cornerstones are:
 Perspective-taking – making sense of the world by understanding the differences
in people‘s emotions and thinking
 Flexible thinking – being able to accept change and being flexible to changing
situations and knowing alternatives
 Positive self-esteem – having a ―can-do‖ attitude to be successful in many
situations
23
 Motivation – moving toward goals and understanding that things happen, yet
striving to be successful.
Grandin shares the ―single most important aspect of functioning that determines the level of
social success‖ is being able to perceive what another person is thinking (2008, p.143). For an
individual who is navigating the workplace, these perceptions can be used to engage with
others in social situations. Employees can advocate for themselves based on how they perceive
a social situation by using the cornerstones as a guide for social interaction.
Positive Behavior Support
Schall (2010) presents a case study about the Positive behavior support (PBS)
intervention model for supporting positive behaviors in the workplace. Despite good job
training, attention to detail, a high degree of accuracy, and a dedication to work, people on the
spectrum are frequently underemployed and serially unemployed (Schall, 2010, p. 109).
―Symptoms most associated with the AS include impairments in verbal and non-verbal
communication, deficits in social interaction, insistences on maintaining routine, stereotyped
motor movements, and vocalizations, and unusual responses to sensory stimuli‖ (Schall, 2010,
p. 110).
The PBS model identifies what behaviors are problematic, create positive behaviors for
those situations, and identify behaviors to use in the workplace when stressful or anxiety
producing situations arise. The end goal for PBS is ―replacement [of] behavior that will
functionally replace the problem behavior‖ (Schall, 2010, p. 112). Managers can focus on work
productivity by minimizing distractions for the employee so they can focus on the tasks. If an
employee is distracted by noise in order to complete tasks, a manager may have employee work
in a closed office versus a cubical. By implementing the PBS model, Schall (2010) was able to
demonstrate that an employee had choices that were not disruptive to the work environment
and allowed the employee to make choices during stressful situations. Supporting positive
behaviors in the workplace is critical to employees and organizational success.
What can be learned about Autism Spectrum Styles of Learning
The styles of learning can be summarized in how individuals on the spectrum take in
and process information. The behavioral theories provide managers and co-workers with
information about an individual on the spectrum might interact socially within their
environment. Managers and co-workers should understand that behaviors influence how
someone may learn. If an employee is under stress or in an anxiety laden environment,
learning may not take place.
The behavioral theories described here-- Theory of Mind Thinking and Positive Support
Behaviors--are ways individuals on the AS may interact with their social situation and with
what is learned. Employees on the Autism Spectrum need to be supported, yet people
interacting with these employees, should have an understanding of their social deficits
(Mawhood & Howlin, 2009). The ToM and PSB theories can aid managers and practitioners
in understanding day-to-day interactions with those who are on the spectrum through
training and coaching. Perception of the situation of the ―other‖ in the workplace or social
situation is the main theme of the ToM theory. Additionally, the PSB identifies behaviors that
will help in stressful situations and assist with positive work situations.
Managers and co-workers need to learn and develop a common understanding in how
individuals learn and behave. Mangers should incorporate the basic characteristics of the
styles in communication materials and exchanges. As managers may not know the preferred
style of learning for their employees, they can observe how someone receives information. The
24
styles of learning can be used to communicate expectations and check for understanding; is
the message sent the message received?
Summary
These styles of learning do not only apply to employees with an Autism Spectrum
Disorder. As employees on the spectrum may have a preferred styles of learning, managers
and co-workers should know that all the styles are present in the workplace. Each employee,
whether or not they are on the spectrum, have a preferred style of learning. Managers and co-
workers may not know if an employee is on the spectrum, so by recognizing and utilizing how
the styles influence people‘s learning and behaviors in the workplace an environment for
employee success can be more readily created and maintained. The styles do not define people
nor should they label people rather the styles can be used to help communicate expectations
and help manage employee performance.
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Grandin, T. (2006). Thinking in pictures: My life with autism. New York, NY: Random House.
Grandin, T. (2008). The way I see it: A personal look at autism and
Asperger‘s. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons.
25
Grandin, T., & Duffy, K (2004). Developing talents: Careers for individuals with Asperger
syndrome and high-functioning autism. Shawnee Mission, KS: Autism Asperger
Publishing Co.
Hendricks, D. R. & Wehman, P. (2009). Transition from school to adulthood for youth with
autism spectrum disorders: Review and recommendations. Focus on Autism and Other
Developmental Disabilities, 24(2), 77-88. doi: 10.1177/1088357608329827.
Hurlbutt, K. & Chalmers, L. (2004). Employment and adults with Aspergers syndrome. Focus
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Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Kolb, A. & Kolb, D. (2005). Learning styles and learning spaces: Enhancing experiential
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Lisle, A.M. (2007). Assessing learning styles of adults with intellectual difficulties. Journal of
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functioning adults with autism or Asperger‘s syndrome. Autism, 3: 229-254.
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with autism. Developmental Disabilities Bulletin. 38(1-2), 93-109
Rotheram-Fuller, E. & Kasari, C. (2011). In Hollander, E., Kolevzon, A., & Coyle, J .(Ed.),
Textbook of Autism Spectrum Disorders (555-564). Arlington, VA: American
Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
Schall, C.M. (2010). Positive behavior support: Supporting adults with autism spectrum
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guide for college personnel. Shawnee Mission, KS: Autism Asperger Publishing Co.
26
An Innovative New Venture in the Dakota Badlands
Leo Dana
During World War II, members of the Oglala Lakota Nation (a subdivision of the Sioux
Nation) were forcefully removed from their historic homeland, to create a bombing range for
the United States military. Thereafter, relations were very tense between the United States
government and this indigenous people whose land was left littered with unexploded
ordnance. In 2012, the Oglala Lakota Nation signed an agreement with the National Park
Service that agreed to give back land from which people were evicted. Included is at least 50%
of the Badlands National Park, which it was agreed would be transformed into the first ever,
tribal national park meeting federal regulations – but operated by the Oglala Lakota Nation.
For many years people have been learning American history as interpreted and told by
the mainstream majority. Gerard Baker, a Mandan-Hidatsa Indian from North Dakota,
innovated social change that may have very positive outcomes for not only the Sioux tribe
discussed above but also others tribes of American Indians who have lost their lands. As
concluded by Anderson, Dana and Dana, ―the just settlement of indigenous land claim might
be a effective way for states to address the socioeconomic circumstances of its indigenous
people (2006, p. 54).‖
If the new concept of tribal national park is successful, that in South Dakota may serve
as an example for others. Increasingly, American Indians may explain history from their
perspective, teaching mainstream society alternate explanations. That would make Gerard
Baker an entrepreneur in the Barthian (1963; 1967) sense, i.e., an agent of social change.
27
No Where to Run. No Where to Hide. The Roots of the Escalating Violence in Latin
America that Keeps Investors from Fully Embracing a Burgeoning Market.
Juan Gonzalez
Latin America as a potential business market is on the rise. Lawrence W. Tuller writes
in his text, An American‘s Guide to Doing Business in Latin America, ―With some exceptions, I
think that it‘s safe to call Latin America a maturing region, no longer destined to be treated as
a backwater frontier, but rather very close to taking its place with the more economically
developed regions of the world‖ (18). Yet, Tuller also avers, ―Latin American Business
Associations rank crime as the number–one issue holding back increased trade and
infrastructure investment‖ (35). Regular news headlines reconfirm the perception that crime is
running rampant in many regions of Latin America from Mexico southward, and in many
sectors it is escalating. Drug cartels regularly conduct gang warfare on the streets of some
metropolitan cities in which many innocents suffer as collateral casualties. Kidnappings of
prominent and even less prominent individuals is a thriving trade.
What are the roots of the present violence and lawlessness in Latin America? North
America is by no means free from violence. However, the differences of approach to
colonization between North and South America are revealing with regard to the present
situation and what it portends for future business development and investment in Latin
America. Historical, cultural and political precedents have certainly set the stage for the
dynamic of violence afoot in our neighbors to the South. Although Columbus first set foot in
the Caribbean, why the differences in present levels of social violence?
Beyond differences in the outward approach to colonization, which this presentation
will delineate, there is what I call the interiorization of post-colonial fallout that has
embedded itself in the national psyche and contrasts the way in which Latin Americans
perceive themselves and their fellow compatriots when compared to their northern
counterparts. I assert that the origin and present manifestation of this inward post-colonial
residue is the systematic violence that profoundly influences the social interaction that Latin
Americans have with one another and sustains a type of cainismo, i.e., a disdain of one‘s
countryman or woman.
This presentation will explore the roots of social violence in Latin America with the
intent of shedding light upon the dynamic of present Latin American violence as a step toward
understanding. The conference address will also offer a forecast of what the future holds for
the region with regard to business and investment.
28
The Decision To Centralize Or Decentralize Decision Making In Foreign
Thomas C. Head
Therese Yaeger and Peter F. Sorensen, Jr.
One of the primary strategic decisions a multinational organization must make with
regards to its international holdings is the degree to which it either centralizes or
decentralizes significant decisions. The literature surrounding this focuses upon how
strategic and structural variables require one method or the other. These approaches are
steeped in the rational econologic traditions of their paradigms. These models present an
excellent set of guidelines as to how organizations, if they were to operate rationally, should
approach the centralization/decentralization decision. However in recent years organization
behavior researchers have suggest that organizational decision making involves more
political, and less rational, processes. Assuming that the organization behaviorists are correct
the authors have developed a decision tree model, very similar to that of Vroom, Yetton, and
Jago, that suggests the executives' thought processes with regards to centralizing or
decentralizing decision making in foreign operations. Acknowledging that this approach
assumes conscious thought (and therefore again suggests how should decisions be made) the
authors also explore likely consequences of when the "wrong" decision making style is adopted
(by individuals who either made the decision subconsciously or never saw it as a decision to be
made).
29
JOBS Act: Has it Brought Back the IPO?
Marlin R.H. Jensen

Beverly B. Marshall
John S. Jahera, Jr.
Abstract
On April 5, 2012, President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act.
The purpose was to increase job creation and stimulate economic growth. Title I of the JOBS
Act was to improve access to public capital markets by alleviating or eliminating restrictions
on emerging growth companies going public through an IPO offering. Previous research has
shown IPO offerings have plummeted in the U.S. from historic norms and global firms have
stopped coming to the U.S. as well. This study examines whether the CFOs have started
taking their firms public in the U.S. again and whether CFOs of global firms have reentered
the U.S. market since the passage of the JOBS Act. This study will also address whether
global firms have reentered the U.S. market using dual class shares at the IPO to maintain
control of the firms they have created.
Introduction
It has been two years since President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business
Startups (JOBS) Act into law, April 5, 2012. Title I of the JOBS Act was intended to reopen
the American capital markets to emerging growth companies (EGCs) by allowing firms
considering an IPO to make less onerous disclosures. Rapoport (2012 July) reports that 55
percent of investment bank executives thought the JOBS Act would increase the number of
IPOs on U.S. exchanges. Walsh (2013) points to a study done by BDO USA, LLP (U.S.
professional services firm providing assurance, tax, financial advisory and consulting
services) showing the majority of capital markets executives at investment banks believe the
JOBS Act is not having a positive impact on increasing the number of IPOs on U.S.
exchanges. However, 28 per cent believed it was too early to evaluate the impact of the JOBS
Act. At the beginning of 2014, Walsh (2014) quotes Wendy Hambleton, a Partner in the
Capital Markets Practice of BDO USA, ―Investor optimism has finally rebounded from the
financial crisis and the investment banking community is predicting even more deals and
higher proceeds in 2014.‖ However, the catalyst for the increase in IPO offerings in 2013 was
not viewed as the JOBS Act by all capital markets executives at investment banks. There were
three other possible catalysts mentioned for the recent increase in IPOs: low interest rates
increasing investor demand for higher yielding assets, increased confidence in the U.S
economy, and positive IPO performance encouraging more businesses to make offerings. In a
later survey, Kvitko (2014) reports, from BDO USA, that following a strong year for IPOs
overall in 2013, the majority of capital market executives (73 per cent) at investment banks
predict an increase in IPOs in 2014 especially from the technology industry. In addition,
technology CFOs believe the technology sector will continue to accelerate in 2014 and overall
30
93 per cent of CFOs anticipate IPO activity will remain the same or increase in 2014. The
question is whether the JOBS Act is bringing about the IPO increase through the more lenient
disclosure regulation on EGCs or whether it is simply other positive factors in the marketplace
leading to the increased IPO activity.
Bushner (2012) points out foreign IPO issuers should be interested in the U.S. market
after the passage of the JOBS Act. He states foreign issuers will benefit from Title I of the
JOBS Act through liberalized communications, accommodations in the IPO process and relief
from certain disclosure obligations as a reporting company post IPO. If the foreign company
qualifies as an EGC, the liberalized rules on research reports apply to foreign firms the same
as U.S. domestic firms. Besides these changes, the U.S. market has other features that appeal
to foreign issuers. Demos (2014) points out the U.S. market is a deep retail market which
basically guarantees that about 20 per cent of an IPO offering can be committed prior to the
road show. In addition, investors in the U.S. are more willing to buy an IPO offering for
growth potential and don‘t seem as worried about the leverage the firm has accumulated.
U.S. market investors are not also as concerned about the issuing firm listing without having
turned a profit and the U.S. market offers far more liquidity than most other capital markets.
In addition, some foreign companies are interested in maintaining control of their firm. A
number of foreign countries do not allow an IPO with a dual class structure but the U.S.
market does allow foreign issuers to have a dual classification of shares.
IPO activity fell off dramatically in 2012 and the hope was that the passage of the
JOBS Act will help bring back the IPO market for both U.S. and foreign firms. Bunge (2012)
quoted NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer saying the early results of the JOBS Act are
very positive. However, Chasan (2013) reports a BDO USA study showing only 14% of capital
market executives at investment banks believe the JOBS Act is boosting the number of IPOs.
Case (2014) states the JOBS Act self-executing IPO on-ramp is making a real difference on the
number of firms going public. He bases his view on reports from Renaissance Capital that 103
companies have filed to go public in the first few months of 2014. In addition, he reports on a
more recent survey by BDO USA securities attorneys showing 74% gave significant credit to
the JOBS Act for the increase in IPO offerings. The main reason given for the JOBS Act
being effective at increasing IPO offerings was the provision allowing simple pre-filing
disclosures.
Previous surveys done by BDO USA and Renaissance Capital have stated either the
JOBS Act has helped or has not helped in the process of bring back IPOs to the marketplace.
The objective of this research is to look back to see whether the JOBS Act changes has indeed
led to more companies going public both domestic and foreign, or whether U.S. market
conditions brought back the resurgence of IPOs in the U.S.
IPO Task Force
In response to the declining number of companies going public, the U.S. Treasury
Department in March of 2011 formed the Access to Capital Conference to research and make
recommendations of how to make capital markets more accessible to EGCs. EGCs were
defined as any non-reporting issuer with total annual gross revenue of less than one billion
dollars. From this conference, the IPO Task Force (2011) was created to examine what caused
the IPO decline and to make recommendations to bring the EGCs back to the public markets
through IPOs. ―The mandate of the IPO Task Force was to examine the root causes of the
current U.S. IPO crisis and quickly develop reasonable and actionable steps that can restore
access for emerging growth companies to the capital they need to create jobs and expand their
businesses globally,‖ (Kate Mitchell, chairman of the IPO Task Force).
31
The IPO Task Force concluded that there were likely a number of regulatory actions
rather than just one event that caused the IPO market to decline. One event mentioned by the
Task Force was the End of the Four Horsemen (the merger of the investment banks Alex
Brown, Montgomery Securities, Robertson Stephens, and Hambrecht & Quist into banks) by
1999. These investment banks were instrumental in helping smaller companies go public.
Also listed was Regulation Fair Disclosure in 2000, decimalization in 2001, Sarbanes-Oxley
in 2002, the Global Settlement in 2003, Regulation NMS in 2005, Regulation NMS in 2007,
and Frank-Dodd in 2010. All these actions were intended to help the individual investor.
However, many feel that these events actually increased the burden for firms trying to go
public.
The final recommendations of the IPO Task Force were designed to alleviate these
burdens. The main recommendations were to reduce regulatory costs for EGCs trying to go
public and to increase the visibility of EGCs while maintaining transparency for investors.
The IPO Task Force argued this could be done without compromising investor protection or
disclosure.
JOBS Act 2012
Based on the recommendations of the IPO Task Force and the perceived need to reduce
barriers to growth and investment, the JOBS Act was enacted in April of 2012. The task force
showed that when EGCs go public, research shows that more than 90 percent of their job
creation happens subsequent to the IPO.
Under the JOBS Act, an EGC is a company issuing stock that has total annual gross
revenues of less than $1 billion during its most recent completed fiscal year and that has
issued less than $1 billion in debt securities. The effective date for firms meeting the definition
was the first sale of registered common stock after December 8, 2011 (Verschoor 2012).
Rapport (2012) reports that 74 per cent of investment-bank executives believe the EGC
exemption will help CFOs decide whether to take their firm public. Confidential submissions
of draft IPO registration statements and amendments was not permitted for domestic issuers
and only on a limited number of foreign issuers prior to the JOBS Act. The JOBS Act now
allows issuers to submit documents for review prior to a public filing. Before the JOBS Act,
there was limited ability to communicate with investors about a securities offering and now
EGCs can engage in communications with investors. This provision will allow companies to
avoid disclosing potentially sensitive information to competitors. The companies will still
have to release the financial documents 21 days before they try to persuade institutional
investors to buy into the IPO during the road show.
Prior to the JOBS Act, underwriters of an IPO could not publish research on the issuer
until 40 days after the completion of the IPO and now research on an EGC can be made
anytime. Communications by analysts with firms issuing securities were restricted while
investment banking representatives were present. Under the JOBS Act, analysts may meet
with EGC management with other representatives present. Title I of the JOBS Act went on to
relax auditor attestation of effectiveness of internal controls. In addition, EGCs are not
required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards, EGCs are not
required to rotate audit partners every 5 years, financial statements are only needed for two
years prior to issuing securities rather than 3, executive compensation disclosure requirements
are reduced, and EGCs do not need to hold non-binding advisory shareholder votes on
executive compensation. These EGCs will be given five years before being subjected to the full
weight of federal regulation such as section 404 of SOX regarding the redundant external
audit of internal audit of their business processes. However, after the five year period, all
32
companies will have to comply with all regulations in place and regulators will still have
antifraud enforcement authority when the firms go public. The bottom line of the JOBS Act
was to scale back prior regulation and to hopefully bring back IPO offerings to the
marketplace.
State of the IPO Market
Jensen, Marshall and Jahera (2012) and Luchetti (2011) both report a decline in IPO
activity in the U.S. as well as a decline in global IPOs choosing to go public in the U.S.
through 2011 supporting a need for the JOBS Act. Both studies argue IPOs in the U.S. were
declining due to U.S. exchanges not being as competitive due to relatively high listing costs
and the high compliance costs of listing in the U.S. Stephens (2011) also points out the lack of
IPOs in the U.S. is due to the excessive regulation and compliance and subsequent costs that
are required of public companies. Scott (2011) discusses how these high costs explain why
U.S. companies prefer to remain private and why foreign firms look at other ways to raise
funds in the U.S. Scott noted that in 2010, 79.3 per cent of the funds raised in the U.S. by
foreign companies in foreign IPOs were raised through the private Rule 144A market.
Since the passage of the JOBS Act, the U.S. IPO market has made a strong rebound.
Bispham, Braukman and Pierre (2014) indicated that 2013 was the best year since 2000 for
companies going public. They report 128 companies going public in 2012 and 222 companies
going public in 2013. Demos (2014) reports from Dealogic that the U.S. had a good year
luring foreign companies to go public in the U.S. in 2013, with 2014 shaping up to be even
better. Through March of 2014, the U.S. has accounted for 28 per cent of IPOs globally, with
60 out of 211 deals, which is the best since 2000. Hoffman and Demos (2014) report that 2014
is on track to be the busiest year since 1996 for foreign firm filings for IPOs.
Data
The data for this study is taken from several sources. The IPO data taken two years
before and after the JOBS Act is from the SEC‘s EDGAR website and the Securities Data
Corporation (SDC) database. The IPO data excludes offers with share prices below $1,
financial firms with a 6000 SIC code, offerings less than one million dollars, and if the
market exchange for the IPO is unknown. Revenue, industry, employees, and dual
classification information is taken from Morningstar, Yahoo Finance and FactSet Mergerstat.
Findings
Exhibit 1 provides a distribution of the number of U.S. IPOs from two years prior
through 2 years after the JOBS Act, April of 2010 through April of 2014. The number of IPOs
after the JOBs Act have increased as shown in Exhibit 1. As Exhibit 1 indicates, the
percentage of global IPOs to the total U.S. IPOs remains somewhat constant going from prior
to the JOBS Act to after the JOBS Act. At first glance it would appear the U.S. is not losing
any more of its competitive edge attracting foreign IPOs. Chinese based IPOs were the
predominant foreign based offering prior to the JOBS Act but declined rapidly because of
Chinese firm accounting issues that flared up in 2011. If you exclude the China based firms,
the percentage of foreign based offerings to the total U.S. IPOs actually increased from 14.4%
from before the JOBS Act to 16.3% after the JOBS Act. Jensen, Marshall, and Jahera (2012)
report foreign based offerings to total U.S. IPOs in 2011 to be only 5.5% for offerings less than
$75 million.
(See Exhibit 1, IPOs Before and After the JOBS Act)
Exhibit 2 separates IPO offerings into whether they met the criteria to be an EGC before
and after the JOBS Act passage to show whether EGCs have increased or changed due to the
JOBS Act. Murphy (2014) reports that approximately 80 per cent of companies that have filed
33
for an IPO since the JOBS Act meet the requirement for EGC status. Kathleen Smith, a
principal at IPO research firm Renaissance Capital says it is likely all of them have taken
advantage of the confidentiality provision in the JOBS Act. Approximately 83% of the IPO
offers after the JOBS Act in Exhibit 2 fit the EGC status. Exhibit 2 further compares EGCs
versus all other IPOs based on, revenue, offer size, number of employees and the percentage of
shares offered during the IPO to the total number of firm shares. As would be expected, EGCs
have less revenue, smaller offer size, and have fewer employees than firms not meeting EGC
status. Examining the number of EGC IPO offers before and after the JOBS Act, shows that
the number of offers increased in the second year after the JOBS Act. Exhibit 2 also shows
EGCs are offering a greater percentage of shares to total shares outstanding after the JOBS
Act.
(See Exhibit 2, IPOs Before and After the JOBS Act based on Emerging Growth
Company)
Another concern regarding the JOBS Act is whether the relaxed rules will lure more
foreign firms to list in the U.S. Hoffman and Demos (2014) contend overseas companies will
want to list in the U.S. because they can maintain control of their companies by not issuing
enough shares for control or by using a dual share classification. In addition, they argue
many foreign firms are exempted from some disclosure requirements and they are not required
to be profitable at listing as is the case with most other foreign markets. Exhibit 3 compares
the characteristics of foreign IPOs to U.S. IPOs. One can see the decline in foreign IPOs two
years prior to the JOBS Act but with a recovery in foreign IPOs two years after the JOBS Act.
The offer size of the foreign IPOs appears to be smaller than the offer size of the U.S. IPOs
after the JOBS Act. Interestingly, the foreign IPOs after the JOBS Act are selling a larger
percentage of total shares outstanding which is opposite of what Hoffman and Demos state.
(See Exhibit 3, IPOs Before and After the JOBS Act Comparing Foreign and U.S.
Offerings)
Exhibit 4 compares characteristics of firms using a dual class share offering to those
using single share offerings. In general, the major advantage of dual offerings is the ability
for one group of shareholders to maintain a strong control position. There have been more
dual offerings after the passage of the JOBS Act. However, of the 29 dual IPO offers after the
JOBS Act, only 7 are by foreign firms. Although they are not using the dual structure,
Hoffman and Demos (2014) report the giant Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group
Holding Ltd. is interested in going public in the U.S. because the U.S. will allow a small
group of company insiders to retain the right to nominate a majority of board members once
the firm does goes public. As one would expect, a distinct difference between dual and single
class shares is the majority of noncontrolling shares are sold by dual class IPOs. The
companies doing dual class IPOs also appear to larger companies (not EGCs) as shown by the
larger revenue, larger offer size and more employees.
(See Exhibit 4, IPOs Before and After the JOBS Comparing Dual and NonDual
Offerings)
Conclusion
Part of the mystery behind whether the JOBS Act is working the way it was intended, is
that due to the confidential filing for an EGC, then number of firms thinking of going public
is not known. Dorchardt (2013) reports the SEC stating that more than 100 companies filed
under the confidentially process in 2012. The confidentiality provision has caused the IPO
pipeline to be understated. According to the JOBS Act, companies do not have to disclose
anything about their financials until 21 days before the start of the road show. This provision
34
helps companies feel more confident that even if they don‘t go public after they filed, their
financials would not have been publicized for competitors to view. Now a firm files
confidentially and if a crisis occurs or the firm can‘t get ready in time, the market doesn‘t
know about it. Before the JOBS Act, the firm would face the scrutiny of the market and
possibly take a hit to the firm‘s reputation. Chasan (2013) reports some CFOs have embraced
the confidentiality feature of the JOBS Act to avoid letting competitors access to their
financials for months or until there is a decision to issue.
Some argue the confidentiality feature allows CFOs taking their firm public the time to
straighten out issues such as what happened to Groupon after stating their intention to go
public. Chasan (2012) reports Audit Analytics data indicating that from 2004 to 2011, 1,827
firm went public in the U.S. and 563 of those firms have had a financial restatement. The
question is whether these firms with financial restatements could have avoided the issue by
filing confidentially under the JOBS Act. Rapoport (2012 April) reports Groupon went public
in 2011 but had well-publicized disagreements with the SEC over its accounting. If Groupon
could have filed under the JOBS Act, Groupon could have possibly fixed the disagreements
with the SEC behind closed doors before going public. Clearly, the confidentially that the
JOBS Act brings could have possibly avoided the very public situation. On the other hand,
the JOBS Act confidentially may simply mask problems till after the company went public.
Maybe EGCs should not be exempt from the array of accounting and corporate governance
requirements contained in the JOBS Act.
In summary, the more recent IPO resurgence can indeed be attributed in part to the
provisions of the JOBS Act that provided for more relaxed regulations and disclosure
requirements. Of course, from the corporate point of view, the increase in IPOs in 2013 and
2014 means greater competition for investment dollars. That is, a consideration for firms
considering an IPO may include that competitive environment and how a specific firm is
positioned to undertake an IPO. Nonetheless, the IPO process has been made less burdensome
under the JOBS Act. That, combined with somewhat of a recovery in the economy, is leading
a larger number of firms to raise capital via the IPO process.
35
References
Bispham, B. H., Braukman, L. D., and Pierre, Y. J. (2014 February). The JOBS Act – Where
Are We Now – 2014? ReedSmith Corporate & Securities, February 27. Retrieved from
http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-jobs-act-where-are-we-now-2014-93278/.
Borchardt, D. (2013 January). The JOBS Act Epic Fail. The Street, January 1. Retrieved
from http://www.thestreet.com/story/11825960/1/the-jobs-act-epic-fail.html.
Bunge, J. (2012 June). NYSE‘s Niederauer Gives Some Praise for JOBS Act. The Wall Street
Journal, June 20. Retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2012/06/20/nyses-
niederauer-gives-some-praise-for-jobs-act/.
Bushner, D. (2012 May). The JOBS Act for Foreigners: Are Foreigners Interested? Business
Law Today, May 25. Retrieved from
http://apps.americanbar.org/buslaw/blt/content/2012/05/article-07-bushner.shtml.
Case, S. (2014 April). Case: Hey, Washington, the JOBS Act You Passed is Working. The Wall
Street Journal, April 2. Retrieved from
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556.
Chasan, E. (2012 March). Newly Public Companies Fumble Financials. The Wall Street
Journal, March 27. Retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/cfo/2012/03/27/newly-
public-companies-fumble-financials/.
Chasan, E. (2013 July). Bankers: The JOBS Act Isn‘t Doing its Job. The Wall Street Journal,
July 9. Retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/cfo/2013/07/09/bankers-the-jobs-act-
isnt-doing-its-job/.
Darrough, M., Huang, R. & Zhao, S. (2013) The Spillover Effect of Fraud Allegations against
Chinese Reverse Mergers. SSRN Working paper. Retrieved from
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2144483.
Demos, T. (2014 March). U.S. Taking Biggest Share In IPO Race Since 2000. The Wall Street
Journal, March 25. Retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/03/25/u-s-
taking-biggest-share-in-ipo-race-since-2000/.
Hoffman L & Demos, T. (2014 March). Easier Rules Lure Foreign Firms to List in the U.S.
The Wall Street Journal, March 21. Retrieved from
802.
IPO Task Force. (2011). Rebuilding the IPO On-Ramp, Putting Emerging Companies and the
Job Market Back on the Road to Growth, Issued by the IPO Task Force and presented
to The U.S. Department of the Treasury.
36
Jensen, M. R. H., Marshall B. B. & Jahera, J. S. (2012). Global Trends: U.S. IPO Market
Declines. The Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance, 23(6), 17-28.
Kvitko M. (2014 February). Tech CFOs Optimistic About Future of IPO Market, According to
BDO USA Survey. Press Release Wednesday, February, 19. Retrieved from
http://www.bdo.com/news/pr/3070.
Murphy, M. (2014 February). Confidential Discussions of IPO Plans Kept Brief. The Wall
Street Journal, February 18. Retrieved from
http://blogs.wsj.com/cfo/2014/02/18/confidential-discussions-of-ipo-plans-kept-
brief/.
Rapoport, M. (2012 April). In Wake of Groupon Issues, Critics Wary of JOBS Act. The Wall
Street Journal, April 2. Retrieved from
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Rapoport, M. (2012 July). Investment Bankers See JOBS Act Helping, and Hurting, IPOs.
The Wall Street Journal, July 10. Retrieved from
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2012/07/10/investment-bankers-see-jobs-act-helping-
and-hurting-ipos/.
Scott, H. S. (2011 April). Capital Market Regulation Needs an Overhaul. The Wall Street
Journal, April 20. Retrieved from
534.
Stephens, W. (2011 August). Business Regulation vs. Growth: The View from Middle
America. The Wall Street Journal, August 25. Retrieved from
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Verschoor, C. C. (2012). Will JOBS Act Enable More Securities Fraud? Strategic Finance,
June, 13-15.
Walsh, J. (2013 July). Popularity of JOBS Act continues to Fall Among Capital Markets
Community According to BDO USA, LLP. Press Release Tuesday, July 9. Retrieved
from http://www.bdo.com/news/pr/2713.
Walsh, J. (2014 January). Capital Markets Executives at Leading Investment Banks Forecast
a Continued Increase in U.S. IPOs in 2014 According to BDO USA, LLP. Press Release
Tuesday, January 7. Retrieved from http://www.bdo.com/news/pr/3006.
37
Exhibit 1
IPOs Before and After the JOBS Act
The following table represents the total number of U.S. IPOs each year prior to the JOBS Act
passage and after the JOBS Act passage separated by whether IPO is from a foreign based
firm or US based firm, whether they used a dual stock classification and the size of the
issuance.
Before JOBS Act After JOBS Act
Year -2 Year -1 Year +1 Year +2

Total IPOs 157 128 118 250
Foreign Based 59 27 21 50
China Based Only 35 10 2 9
US Based 98 101 97 200
Foreign/Total 34.2% 21.5% 17.8% 20.0%
Total Dual
Offerings 5 0 7 22
Dual Foreign
Based 1 0 1 6
Dual US Based 4 0 6 16
Size < $75 Million 64 37 39 81

Size > $75 Million 93 91 79 169
< $75 Million/
Total 40.8% 28.9% 33.1% 32.4%
38
Exhibit 2
IPOs Before and After the JOBS Act based on Emerging Growth Company
The following table represents firm characteristics based on whether the firm doing an IPO
would have fit into the emerging growth company (EGC) category as defined by the JOBS Act.

Total IPOs by
EGCs N = 133 N = 104 N = 88 N = 205
Total of other IPOs N = 20 N = 20 N = 22 N = 38
Revenue by EGCs
Mean (millions) N = 133 N = 104 N = 88 N = 205
Median $185 $178 $181 $134
(millions) $111 $101 $89 $53
Revenue other IPOs
Median $12,513 $4,687 $5,076 $8,103
(millions) $2,606 $2,097 $3,350 $2,750
Offer Size EGCs

Median $112 $154 $129 $137
(millions) $83 $110 $81 $87
Offer Size other
IPOs
Median $1,440 $399 $1,129 $584
(millions $312 $318 $378 $409
Employees EGCs N = 126 N = 94 N = 78 N = 192

Mean 1,250 574 638 745
Median 373 313 204 143
Employees other
IPOs N = 20 N = 18 N = 20 N = 35
Mean 28,391 20,206 15,944 18,520
Median 5,175 3,150 3,345 4,500
EGCs % of total
shares offered N = 132 N = 104 N = 87 N = 205
Mean 30% 30% 39% 40%
Median 26% 23% 33% 30%
Other IPOs % of
total shares offered N = 20 N = 20 N = 22 N = 37
Mean 34% 39% 38% 31%
Median 25% 31% 24% 21%
39
Exhibit 3
IPOs Before and After the JOBS Act Comparing Foreign and U.S. Offerings
The following table represents firm characteristics based on whether the firm doing an IPO is
a foreign company or a U.S. based company before and after the JOBS Act.

Total IPOs Foreign N = 59 N = 27 N = 21 N = 50
Total IPOs U.S. N = 98 N = 101 N = 97 N = 200
Revenue Foreign
Median $582 $879 $2,314 $1,231
(millions) $168 $227 $386 $209
Revenue U.S.
Median $2,479 $733 $1029 $1,446
(millions) $151 $118 $164 $75
Offer Size Foreign

Mean (millions) N = 59 N =27 N = 21 N = 50
Median $136 $287 $105 $180
(millions) $85 $92 $50 $126
Offer Size U.S.
Median $367 $162 $357 $212
(millions) $90 $120 $100 $100
Employees Foreign
Median 2,881 5,112 8,970 2,813
(millions) 806 582 339 746
Employees U.S. N = 94 N = 90 N = 83 N = 186
Mean 6,076 3,225 2,926 3,943
Median 375 356 368 187
Foreign % of total
shares offered N = 59 N = 27 N = 21 N =48
Mean 25% 23% 52% 50%
Median 20% 18% 42% 30%
U.S. % of total
Mean 36% 33% 39% 36%
Median 30% 25% 29% 28%
40
Exhibit 4
IPOs Before and After the JOBS Act Comparing Dual and NonDual Offerings
The following table represents firm characteristics based on whether the firm doing an IPO
does a Dual offering or not.

Total IPOs Dual N=6 N=0 N=7 N = 22
Total IPOs
NonDual N = 150 N = 128 N = 110 N = 226
Revenue Dual
Mean (millions) N=5 N=0 N=7 N = 22
Median $700 n/a $4,904 $3,327
(millions) $574 n/a $640 $378
Revenue NonDual
Median $1,834 $949 $914 $1,208
(millions) $150 $227 $162 $75
Offer Size Dual

Mean (millions) N=6 N =0 N=7 N = 22
Median $350 n/a $2,536 $402
(millions) $203 n/a $233 $253
Offer Size NonDual
Median $279 $214 $172 $186
(millions) $85 $140 $90 $96
Employees Dual
Mean (millions) N=6 N=0 N=7 N = 22
Median 1,230 n/a 1,546 4,475
(millions) 918 n/a 1,550 1,061
Employees
NonDual N = 143 N = 115 N = 96 N = 213
Mean 5,044 4,554 4,186 3,640
Median 447 479 337 188
Dual % of total
shares offered N=6 N=0 N=7 N = 22
Mean 60% n/a 57% 77%
Median 100% n/a 53% 99%
NonDual % of total
Mean 30% 33% 40% 35%
Median 25% 24% 32% 27%
41
When Congress Fails to Act: State/U.S. Territory Legislated Minimum Wage Laws
and Their Implications
James K. Kennedy
Keun Lee
The advent of the internet has reshaped the world of business, information retrieval
and reception continues to evolve both in an enterprise environment and for the Internet itself.
The amount of information and data that a company needs to store and analyze is ever
increasing and new techniques are constantly being developed to better handle these changes.
Increases in optimization have been observed through distributed database implementation.
There are many distributed database solutions, this paper will focus on one of the most
commonly used called Cassandra. It can be run off of cheap hardware, it is easy to implement
and is highly scalable. The software is open source and can be downloaded through Apache.
42
Testbed implementation of Cassandra distributed database solutions
Karl Konz
Bill Bruggenthies
Erika Koes
Mark B. Schmidt
Given the failure of the U.S. Congress to enact any changes in the Federal minimum
wage from its current paltry $7.25 per hour level, various states/U.S. territories have taken it
upon themselves to enact higher current minimum wage levels that further incorporate
indexing and other automatic increase adjustments into the future. Using data from the
National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), our paper examines state-by-state and U.S.
territory-by-territory minimum wage laws, recent law changes, and other trends to discern
patterns across the nation. Specifically, the paper examines general directions of current
minimum wage level, future scheduled increases, and the indexing of automatic adjustments
to the states‘/U.S. territories‘ minimum wage levels into the future. One conclusion is that
legislation enacted by certain states/U.S. territories should provide blueprints as well as
incentives to the U.S. Congress to take meaningful action on the Federal minimum wage issue
now and in the future.
43
How Do I Keep My Employees Motivated?
George Langelett
Section I: anexplanation/overview of empathy-based management.

People often associate empathy with ―walking in another‘s shoes‖. This definition of
empathy is incomplete. Empathy becomes possible, not by identifying with another person, but
rather when we understand what the other person is feeling, thinking, and experiencing; what
the underlying problem is; and why the person is behaving a certain way. Often people confuse
empathy with sympathy. In the simplest terms, the goal of sympathy is to comfort; the goal of
empathy is to understand. Thus, empathy or understanding of another‘s perspective is
required for effective management of employees.
Empathy-based management is a protocol in which a manager‘s ability to empathize is
a prerequisite to effectively performing the duties of management, including planning,
organizing, leading, and controlling. This managerial protocol is built on the manager‘s
practice of understanding and honoring the thoughts, perceptions, ideas, experiences, and
concerns of all stakeholders in the organization, including customers, employees, suppliers,
and investors. From the manager‘s ability to effectively communicate understanding, comes
the ability to validate each person‘s experiences. Through validating each person‘s perspective,
empathy-based management creates an emotionally secure organization in which all
stakeholders can use their cognitive and creative energies to problem solve and contribute to
the success and well-being of their own careers and the organization as a whole.
Section II -Why empathy is critical for effective management

Empathy is the key to bridging all boundaries between any two individuals or groups.
Only through empathy can a person understand another person‘s perspective. Likewise,
empathy is also critical to creating ethical behavior between individuals and groups. If we
view ethics as how we treat other people with our behavior, the key to ethical behavior is an
understanding of how our behavior affects the lives of other people. The better a person
understands how his or her actions affect other people, especially if it creates hardship in
others‘ lives, the more likely the person will behave ethically towards fellow human beings.
The purpose of empathy based management is to understand another person‘s
perspective and then respond in a way that honors the other person‘s perceptions.
Conversation is approximately 1/3 verbal and 2/3‘s nonverbal. With the ability to empathize,
all humans not only focus on the words used but also the nonverbal language including tone
of voice and body language. Cranial nerves play an important role in how body language
reveals the true intentions of the human brain during any conversation and their role will be
explained in detail during this workshop. Therefore this workshop will cover in depth how
both verbal and non-verbal language affects the perceptions and reactions of everyone
involved in a conversation, and how a manager can use verbal and non-verbal behavior to
strengthen one‘s relationship with each stakeholder.
Section III – Three different parts I could present at the conference (or I could shorten and
present all three aspects)
44
Part 1 – The importance of incorporating empathy into one‘s management practices.
The underlying assumption of empathy-based management is that connection to other
people—rather than correction—is required for professional growth and long-term motivation
to occur. Therefore, during every interaction with each employee throughout each day, build
on your relationships and provide the emotional support required for each person to be
engaged and succeed at their jobs. The goal is to have each employee: 1. Be productive and
enjoy their accomplishments; 2. Grow both personally and professionally; 3. Be successful on
the job and in life; 4. Be ethical; and 5. Become motivated to achieve self-actualization or
reach one‘s potential in life. Having employees grow, mature, and reach their potential is in
the best interest of the company. Competent, capable, ethical, and committed employees will
make any organization successful. And these goals become possible through incorporating
empathy into your organization‘s management practices.
Part II. The neuroscience behind empathy-based management
If a manager speaks in a harsh or critical tone of voice, displays threatening body language,
or attempts to use mind games in order to motivate an employee, the brain of the subordinate
is designed to immediately focus on the supervisor‘s nonverbal behavior, rather than the
intended message. This will cause a chemical reaction in the brain of the employee. As the
employee perceives the manager‘s behavior to be threatening, within the brain, the amygdala
will be triggered, and cause the adrenal glands to release the stress hormones adrenaline and
cortisol. This is also known as the ―fight- or- flight‖ response. These stress hormones will
inhibit thinking from occurring in the cortex of the brain, and an emotional response will
consume the brain. The stress hormones concentrates the human brain‘s attention on the
threating behavior and any thinking that occurs will focus on possible ways to avoid or escape
the perceived threat.
After the emotional confrontation with the manager, the employee‘s brain will remain in
―fight- or- flight‖ mode. With elevated levels of stress hormones in the bloodstream, s/he will
spend the rest of the work day mentally dwelling on the event and the damaged relationship
with the manager. If the employee feels misunderstood, or the manager‘s behavior is perceived
to be unfair, s/he will invest large amounts of emotional energy being angry with one‘s
supervisor. As the human brain is consumed by negative emotions, the employee is unable to
focus on the work at hand.
From a neurobiological perspective, a manager displaying empathetic behavior will
trigger a different chemical reaction when the manager understands and honors the
employee‘s perspective, and the worker feels unconditionally accepted and understood. The
pituitary gland within the worker‘s brain releases oxytocin, and oxytocin calms down the
amygdala, and in turn calms any negative emotions occurring within the limbic region of the
human brain. Oxytocin has the opposite effect of the ―fight- or- flight response.‖ It calms down
the limbic region, and allows the employee to use the cortex of the brain for thinking and
problem solving. From this chemical reaction, the employee can spend his/her day focused on
work and problem solving. Equally important, over time, in an emotionally-secure work
environment, the prefrontal cortex of the human brain is able to regulate the limbic system, so
that workers can remain calm and focused. But the opposite is true for the human brain of
employees who work in an emotionally unstable environment. The human brain is wired first
and foremost for survival. The amygdala is easily triggered, and stress hormones released by
the limbic system will shut down thinking and problem solving in order to survive the
perceived threatening behavior(s) by the manager.
Part III Learning how to practice empathy-based management
45
There are two steps involved in the basic model of empathy-based management. The first step
is to ask appropriate questions, and then listen in order to understand the emotional state of
each employee. The second step involves the manager‘s verbal and nonverbal response to each
employee‘s emotional state. If everything is going well for your employee, give your employee a
simple empathetic statement to communicate that you understand and support the employee.
Most days, for the majority of your employees this will be the case.
On the other hand, if something happened to an employee, s/he will tell an empathetic
manager what happened. If the employee becomes emotional as she explains what happened,
turn the worker‘s reaction into an intersubjective experience with the employee; go through the
five steps of the intersubjective experience with your employee. If your employee is not
emotional while explaining a difficulty that has occurred, use the empathetic choices model in
order to guide your employee to make the correct decision or display appropriate behavior.
Beyond the two-step model, I can also explain two issues that are integral parts of
empathy-based management. The first issue is when a problem arises between the manager
and an employee, and requires the empathetic manager to repair any breaks in the
relationship with the employee. The second issue is when the manager must handle employee
misconduct in an empathetic manner.
Thus, in summary, this presentation on empathy will teach managers the theory and
practice of empathy-based management, and how to use empathy to create an environment
that is foundational for employee growth and motivation.
Notes: let me know if any part of empathy based management would be most useful for
conference participants. Also, I could present this material in 1,2, or 3 sessions. If the
conference is full of submissions, I can shorten this material and present it in one session.
46
Course and Program Design to Support Measurable Intercultural Competency
Development
Naomi Ludeman-Smith
Within our programs and course in this collection of disciplines represented at this
conference, we likely all include leadership preparation. And within these units and course, I
trust that many of us include a strong component on intercultural leadership. What do we
know from empirical research, though, about course and program design that supports and
demonstrates measurable student growth in intercultural competencies as a result of taking
our courses and graduating from our programs?
Allow me to ask another question that may seem even more nebulous? What exactly are
the intercultural competencies that we as educators can realistically aim for to prepare our
future business leaders for their global work?
In this presentation, we will address these two questions based on empirical research
with a focused discussion on an approach that employs the Intercultural Development Model,
one of the leading international theories and tools developed and tested to support
intercultural competency development.
47
More Ethnic Diversity within an Urban Setting could Result in Greater Economic
Stability
Lauren Marshall
Allen C. Barclay
Abstract
Based on past research by Putnam (1993), less trust exists when diversity is high in
an urban setting. This miss-trust leads to less economic activity among people living in the
area. However, less economic activity is not valid reason to state that these settings see less
economic stability. Some research has shown that in densely populated areas with more
ethnic diversity show that there is less fluctuation in economic factors. This paper intends to
compare urban areas with high rates of ethnic diversity, as defined here as multicultural
urban centers, tend to have greater economic stability as other less ethnically diverse areas.
This will include the factors such as the quality of government support, economic policies,
crime, and population size.
Also looked at in this paper are ethic fragmentation, socioeconomic distribution and
geographic location of distinct cultural group to compare the relative dynamics of economic
stability. The authors have completed a meta-analysis of the research to provide an
explanation of how ethnic diversity impacts economic stability in urban areas and analyzes
the theories of Putnam. This paper looks at the history of economic stability and discusses
possible ideas for future research and study.
Keywords: Ethnic Diversity, Economic Stability, Urban Socioeconomics
Introduction
We know that many factors affect the economy, but how each factor affects it varies.
Culture has a huge impact on not only the economy of its own country, but also on a larger
and smaller scale. Ethnicity is the state of belonging to a set of cultural traditions. From this
we can assume that ethnicity affects the economy as well. The question is, does it affect the
economy positively or negatively? When we say ―positive‖ we mean that it makes the economy
more stable and efficient. That is that question we hope to answer in this paper.
First we should establish parameters. We have researched various theories and case
studies, each having evidence for both sides of the argument. Many of these theories we have
researched have data for countries as well as individual cities. For the purpose of this paper
we will be focusing on the data for cities.
Next we must define ethnic fragmentation and fractionalization in the way they will be
used throughout this paper. When we say ―ethnic fragmentation‖ we mean the absence or the
underdevelopment of connections between the society and the groupings of some members of
that society on the lines of a common ethnicity. When we say ―fractionalization‖ we mean the
division of ethnicities.
We want to focus on the direct effects that ethnic diversity has on the economy; which is
through individual preferences and by influencing the strategies of these individuals (Ferrara,
2004). After analyzing this we must then decide if diversity benefits society in an economic
sense or not.
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We will be discussing Putnam‘s ―hunkering down‖ theory and a counter argument for
it. We will also be discussing ethnic fragmentation and its effect on the economy. Then we will
state our decision on whether ethnic diversity benefits the economy or hinders it. Lastly, we
will describe what future research could be done to further validate our decision.
Analyzing Putnam‟s Theory
According to Putnam, diversity has different effects on the economy depending on how
far out in time you are looking. He says that in the short and medium run diversity will have
a negative effect due to its impact on social capital but in the long run it can stabilize the
economy by helping to create new identities within communities. Putnam states that while
most immigrants do not alter their ethnic mix after migration, we must express the fact that
immigration and diversity are not the same. He then goes on to make the argument that
creativity is enhanced by diversity and this leads to new ideas and new industries which
create new jobs, thus positively affecting the economy.
He then contradicts this argument by saying that diversity encourages social isolation.
He begins to do so by explaining the ―contact hypothesis‖. The ―contact hypothesis‖ is the idea
that if we spend more time with someone who is different from us ethnically or racially, we
will begin to trust them. This will remove our ethnocentric way of thinking and create out-
group trust.
He makes another contradiction by explaining the ―conflict theory‖. In which the
contact with a person of a different ethnicity or race is distrusted because they are in the out-
group and the in-group becomes stronger. He claims that the in-group and out-group trust is
negatively correlated; as your trust in one goes up, your trust in the other goes down.
In terms of social capital, Putnam describes bridging versus bonding. Bridging is the
ties to people who are unlike you in an important way, such as ethnicity. While bonding is the
ties to people who are like you in an important way. He then explains how we tend to think
that since the contact and conflict theory are negatively correlated then bridging and bonding
are as well. This is not the case. High levels of bonding can be present when there are high
levels of bridging.
Now we can tie all of this together. According to Putnam, the contact theory explains
that diversity breaks down in-group and out-group distinctions while enhancing the strength
of the out-group or bridging social capital. While the conflict theory suggests that ethnic
diversity strengthens the distinction between the in-group and out-group while enhancing the
in-group solidarity or bonding social capital. This will heighten ethnocentrism while the
pervious act will lower it (Putnam, 2007). After stating this Putnam reveals that no actual
data has been collected on in-group attitudes, only on out-group attitudes. People have just
assumed that in-group data is inversely correlated to it. If there is no empirical data to show
this correlation, we are not convinced that in-group and out-group attitudes are inversely
correlated. Thus, diversity could possibly reduce the solidarity of in-group (bonding) and out-
group (bridging) solidarity (Putnam, 2007). Putnam calls this the ―constrict theory‖. In our
opinion, this puts a bit of a hole in Putnam‘s argument. If diversity can negatively affect both
groups/types of social capital couldn‘t it affect them both positively as well?
Putnam explains the sampling method for his experiment on how diversity affects social
capital. He sampled large cities around the country including LA, Chicago, Huston, and
Boston. He also collected data for more rural areas such as Yakima, Washington and rural
South Dakota.
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Insert Figure 1 and Table 1
Figure 2 is a map of the cities used in the sample and Table 2 is the list of cities with
the number of people sampled from that city (N). His reasoning for including metropolitan
areas as well as rural areas is the fact that they differ greatly in diversity (LA and San
Francisco at 30-40 % white and rural South Dakota at 95% white). To determine a person‘s
ethnicity, Putnam adopted the basic categorization used by the U.S. census.
Insert Figure 2
Figure 3 shows the cities sampled according to their diversity and average level of inter-
racial trust. Each person sampled was asked how much they trusted whites, blacks, Asian-
Americans, and Hispanics (Putnam, 2007). According to figure 3, inter-racial trust is high in
rural South Dakota and low in San Francisco and LA. Since rural South Dakota is
homogenous and San Francisco and LA are heterogeneous in terms of diversity, this would
mean that the more ethnically diverse a city or community is the less trust there is among its
residents. This also supports the conflict theory discussed previously.
Insert Figure 3
Figure 4 is similar to figure 3 but it measures the trust in people who live in your
neighborhood instead of the general trust in other races. It is interesting that the two figures
display the same pattern considering that most Americans have neighbors of the same
race/ethnicity as them. According to figure 4, about 30 percent of people who live in LA or San
Francisco (more diverse areas) say they trust their neighbors. While 70-80 percent of people
who live in North and South Dakota (less diverse areas) say that they trust their neighbors
(Putnam, 2007). This data shows that people who live in more diverse communities tend to
trust their neighbors less.
Insert Figure 4
Figure 5 does not follow what the conflict theory states. The figure shows that in more
diverse settings, people tend to distrust people of the same race/ethnicity as well as those who
are different from them (Putnam, 2007).
Insert Figure 5
Figure 6 shows how ethnocentric trust related to ethnic diversity. Meaning that is
shows that there is no correlation between them (Putnam, 2007).
According to Putnam, after analyzing figures 3-6, we can come to the conclusion that
neither contact theory nor conflict theory can be used to explain the social reality in America.
Putnam introduces his idea of the ―constrict theory‖, meaning that people who live in more
diverse communities trust other things less; not only their neighbors but the local government
and local news media as well. This could lead to less people registering to vote, less people
volunteering and giving back to the community, etc. (Putnam, 2007). The idea of ―hunkering
down‖ is that there is less social activity and this lack of activity within the community is
what causes the economy to become less stable. Let me repeat this statement, it is the lack of
activity, not the diversity itself. The question we have is that if there is an argument for this
―constrict theory‖ or ―hunkering down‖ is there an equally plausible argument for the
opposite?
Counter Argument for Putnam‟s Theory
While analyzing the literature for a counter argument, we came across a piece that
explains how diversity may benefit communities by replacing the negative stereotypes with
positive thoughts through experiences with other races (Patrick Sturgis, 2011). Sturgis pulls
direct quotes from Putnam‘s paper (the same one we have used) and uses them against him.
Like this one for example, ―contact theory suggests that diversity erodes the in-/out-group
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distinction and enhances out-group solidarity or bridging social capital, thus lowering
ethnocentrism.‖ (Putnam, 2007).
There is a similar argument made against the conflict theory. Sturgis says that if
the conflict theory is true then there would be more negative effects than Putnam stated. These
effects would be especially prominent in areas with less stable economies (Patrick Sturgis,
2011).
The point that Sturgis makes which really contradicts Putnam‘s argument is the
heterogeneity of the approaches. He explains how there have been many approaches taken to
try and decipher if there is a correlation between diversity and economic well-being. Some
have focused specifically on cities as we are doing and others have used national numbers.
There has also been some debate over what type of trust is being measured. There has also
been debate over how trust can be measured considering that there are different types of trust
(Patrick Sturgis, 2011).
These all seem like valid reasons to rethink our opinion about Putnam‘s theory. He uses
evidence from studies that were done on a national level to explain his theories and we are
trying to focus in on just the cities. He also doesn‘t seem to take into account the opposing
argument of his ―hunkering down‖ theory. If there is a possibility that people could completely
pull away from society and not partake in any activities in the community, then is it not
possible that people could dive into their community and do more things within it?
We see this as the Achilles heel to Putnam‘s argument. What if people are more active in
their community when it is diverse? What if diversity is essential to the formation of
communities themselves? What if ethnic diversity makes an economy stronger and more
stable?
Ethnic Fragmentation and Productivity and Income Level

To measure productivity and income level we will look at population growth.
Population growth will more accurately measure this because within the US people move to
where the jobs are, hence the more economically stable places (Ferrara, 2004). According to
Ferrara (2004), the more racially fragmented a city is, the smaller the population growth. This
would mean that places with high population growth like New York and LA should have
better economies than a place like Aberdeen, South Dakota where there is not much growth in
the population. (find population growth stats for Aberdeen and New York)
Insert Tables 2 and 3
These tables show that fractionalization has a negative effect on population growth in
poor countries and a less negative, possibly positive, effect on richer countries when population
growth is used as the dependent variable (Ferrara, 2004).
It has also been shown that people who live in larger cities with a more diverse
population play higher rent and earn higher wages. This shows that diversity has amenity
effects on consumption and production (Ferrara, 2004). This would mean that people consider
it an amenity to live in a city with diversity. This helps to disprove Putnam‘s theory. If people
don‘t like being around others who are unlike them why would they consider diversity an
amenity? If you consider diversity as an amenity for a moment, it makes sense. A city with a
large and diverse population, such as New York, has more activities to attend. This would
include things like plays, music concerts, art shows, and nightlife. These types of activities
would have a huge positive effect on the local economy. So, it would seem that the larger and
more diverse the population of a city, the better of it would be economically.
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Ethnic Fragmentation and Public Policies
According to Ferrara (2004), public employment, in terms of population, is higher in
cities that are more racially fragmented. Also, they present the idea that racial divisions have
stronger effects on economic policy than ethnic ones do. Ferrara claims that one reason public
policies are worse in racially fragmented areas is because of the lack of social capital. The two
key parts of social capital are members of the community participating in social activities and
groups and trust within and between groups (Ferrara, 2004). Their paper goes on to explain
how people of different ethnic background are less likely to take part in social activities in a
diverse community. They then claim that there are two explanations to this; individuals have
different preferences about what the group should do which can be based on their race or
ethnicity or that they believe there is a cost of sharing the group with others of a different race.
This argument seems to support Putnam‘s ―hunkering down‖ theory that we have
discussed earlier in the paper. The idea that social capital is affected by the idea of an in
group and an out group seemed a bit odd to me at first but after some consideration it fits
together better. If a white person is more comfortable around other white people than it would
make sense that they would be less likely to do well in a diverse situation. Take a university
classroom as an example. There are 20 or so students in the room. Say this is a discussion
based class and there are many foreign exchange students who have all sat on one side of the
room and the students from the host country have sat on the other (ethnic fragmentation). The
students have created an in group and an out group, which is which depends on the group you
are a part of. For the exchange students, they are the in group and the same for the students
from the host country. Since the class is discussion based, the productiveness of the class is
dependent on the students‘ discussion of the topics. If the in group and out group theory is
correct, then there would be no discussion among the students due to their not wanting to
associate with individuals of different races, thus making the class unproductive. So this
should hold true for a city as well, correct?
Ethnic Fragmentation and Community Formation
Seemingly contradictory to other arguments like the one in the previous section, Ferrara
(2004) explains that sociological literature emphasized the fact that the division of ethnicities
is vital to the formation and organization of American cities. This is very interesting
considering that there is sufficient evidence for the argument that diversity is bad for a local
economy. This seems to throw that whole argument in the trash. How can diversity be bad for
an economy and yet still be essential for community formation?
Think for a moment about the Great Migration. African Americans migrated from the
southern United States to the north because that‘s where the jobs were. They moved into the
cities such as Chicago and created their own neighborhoods. They worked in the factories and
some even stared their own businesses. This boosted the economies of the cities these migrants
moved to and helped to create better stronger communities.
Take into account ethnic neighborhoods. All cities have them even though some are
larger and more prominent than others. In smaller towns, like Aberdeen, South Dakota, there
are not many ethnic neighborhoods but there are a few and they are small. If Aberdeen did not
have these ethnic neighborhoods, though small and few they are, the town would not have the
ethnic restaurants and stores that they do. These ethnic stores and restaurants help to fuel the
local economy.
These examples are evidence for the argument that diversity strengthens the economy.
Without the diversity the cities in these examples would not have grown the way they did and
52
still continue to do. They would have remained stagnant. So according to these facts, we can
say that diversity is good for the economy, right?
Future Research
We are finding ourselves with as many, if not more, questions than we started with. We
plan to continue reading theories and case studies in order to come to a more definitive
conclusion. We want to dive deeper into the research specifically on cities and how larger cities
compare to smaller ones.
We would like to see if we can find more theories that focus more on the local level vs.
the national level. That would help us narrow our parameters as well. We would also like to
find more recent case studies to compare to older ones and analyze the trends.
Conclusion
After reading over various papers and analyzing many theories, we are leaning towards
the side which argues that diversity has a positive effect on the economy at the local level.
However, there is compelling evidence to suggest otherwise so we cannot come to ta definitive
conclusion. We plan to further our research through the pathways outlined above.
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Appendix
Figures
Figure 1: Social Capital Benchmark Survey Locations
54
Figure 2: Racial Homogeneity and Inter-Racial Trust
55
Figure 3: Racial Homogeneity and Trust of Neighbors
56
Figure 4: Racial Homogeneity and Intra-Racial Trust
57
Figure 5: Racial Homogeneity and Ethnocentric Trust
58
Tables
Table 1: Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey Sites
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Table 2: Fractionalization and Population Growth in U.S. Counties
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Table 3: Fractionalization, Income and Population Growth in Counties
61
Works Cited
Ferrara, A. A. (2004). Ethnic Diversity and Economic Performance. 1-44.
Patrick Sturgis, I. B.-S. (2011). Does Ethnic Diveristy Erode Trust? Putnam's "hunkering
down" Thesis Recondsidered. 1-46.
Philip Nyden, M. M. (1997). The Emergance of Stable Racially and Ethnically Diverse Urban
Communities: A Case Study of Nine U.S. Cities. Housing Policy Debate, 491-534.
Putnam, R. D. (2007). E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first
Century The 2006 Johan Prize Lecture. Nordic Political Science Association, 137-174.
62
Let It Grow:
The Issue of Sustainability and How Gardening can help us Evolve
Taylor Melius
Kristi Bockorny
―Odd as I am sure it will appear to some, I can think of no better form of

personal involvement in the cure of the environment than that of gardening. A
person who is growing a garden, if he is growing it organically, is improving a
piece of the world. He is producing something to eat, which makes him somewhat
independent of the grocery business, but he is also enlarging, for himself, the
meaning of food and the pleasure of eating.‖
-Wendell Berry
With an environment at its possible breaking point, the World is searching for a
solution and fast. One solution has been around longer than the technology that has
distracted us into the problems of sustainability issues. This solution is gardening.
The line between the definitions of gardening and farming is increasingly blurred as
small urban farms spring up across the country. Some people now refer to small farms as
―garden farms‖ and others refer to gardens as ―hobby farms‖, which further complicates the
definition of gardening. Experts have begun questioning the terms to better fit the new
movements in urban settings, asking is it a matter of size, profit, or diversity of plants.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to set an exact definition because the difference between
gardening and farming is immeasurable. This is because the main purpose of gardening is
just as much as enjoyment as profit while farming is profit driven. Gardening offers some
cushion in this way because without a focus on money, a gardener can instead focus on the
enjoyment, environmental, and health benefits of the hobby. Reducing the pressure reduces the
stress and that is one main difference between farming and gardening: gardening involves
less financial stress because its main purpose is to be a hobby (Crawford, What's the
Difference Between a Garden and a Farm?, 2014).
Gardening leads to many economic, health, and environmental benefits that can reduce
the impact of the main sustainability issues the world faces today in significant ways and
through several different problem areas.The main issues of sustainability that will be covered
in this paper will be rapid urbanization, poor waste management, pollution, climate change,
and starvation.
The Problem: Issues of Sustainability
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, ―Sustainability is
based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends,
either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment‖ (US EPA, n.d.). Sustainability is
looking into current common practices and questioning what do these practices mean for
future generations and even for the nearby future. The issues of rapid urbanization,
overflowing landfills, pollution, climate change, starvation and poverty are insidious
problems that must be met with solutions.
Rapid Urbanization
The world population is growing exponentially in ways that are unsustainable. In fact,
population growth mixed with rapid urbanization means the need to create the equivalent of
one new city with a population of one million every five days between now and 2050. More
63
than half of the world‘s population lives in cities; and by the end of the century, it is predicted
the number of people living in cities will increase by another 3 billion (International
Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, 2012).
While urbanization in itself doesn‘t present a problem, it does create one. The problem
lies within how these people are getting food. A quick study of food miles that will be discussed
later in this paper will show one way this inefficiency is negatively affecting the environment.
The world, in its landform, isn‘t getting any larger. This means individuals need to find
innovative ways within the city to feed all of these people more efficiently.
Poor Waste Management
When it comes to waste management, perhaps, it is appropriate to start close to home.
The United States produces more than its fair share of waste. Although Americans make up
only 5% of the world‘s population, they produce 30% of the world‘s waste and use 25% of the
world‘s resources (Wehr, 2011). Americans generated around 251 million tons of trash in 2012
while recycling and composting almost 87 million tons or about 34.5% of their total waste
(USEPA, 2014).
One way to make these numbers more relatable is in studying them on an individual
level. The average American generates 4.38 pounds of trash every single day (USEPA, 2014).
The average United States citizen has a life expectancy of 78.7 years and this number is
increasing with medicine and technology (CDC, 2014). According to this calculation, the
average person‘s trash generation in their lifetime is about 126,000 pounds. Several factors
will increase the impact of our waste including increased life expectancy, household sizes,
lifestyles and the population of the future.
Pollution
Pollution comes in many different forms including water, air, soil, noise, and many
others, each with different consequences. In India, where water pollution is salient, about
1000 children die daily due to diseases from polluted water (The Economist, 2008). A 2010
study in the United States showed that children who lived near freeways were two times as
likely to have autism as kids further from freeways. Scientists believe this is due to exposure to
pollutants associated with freeway traffic (Saltzman, 2010).
Humans aren‘t the only species affected; annually one million seabirds and 100,000
marine mammals die due to plastic pollution (Leahy, 2004). These are only a few examples of
the terrible consequences of inconsiderate actions that could easily be avoided. Throughout
this paper it will become apparent that pollution is closely tied to other main sustainability
issues including; waste management, urbanization, and climate change.
Climate Change
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Climate change is a change in the
weather patterns of the world that lasts for an extended period of time (USEPA, 2014).
Climate change is caused from both natural processes and human activity. The current
anthropogenic climate change has been called global warming. The Earth is warming by 1.4
degrees Fahrenheit over the past century and is projected to rise exponentially more over the
next one hundred years. While the temperature changes may seem unsubstantial the changes
in temperature lead to changes in weather and climate patterns (USEPA, 2014).
The reason the world is warming is greenhouse gasses, which are increasing due to the
burning of fossil fuels, changes in land use and deforestation. Climate change and the
greenhouse effect are depleting the glaciers at a fast rate. Our glaciers have thinned on
average by over 10 meters since 1980 (Climate Change Conference: advocacy toolkit, 2010).
This causes animals, including the orange-spotted filefish, polar bear, adelie penguin, North
64
Atlantic cod, and the golden toad, to change their natural routines and behaviors in ways that
are harmful and could lead to the loss of species (Dell'Amore, 2014). The world population
needs to cut back on pollution in order to slow the effects of climate change.
Starvation and Poverty
Starvation is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as ―suffering or death caused
by having nothing to eat or not enough to eat‖ and poverty as ―the state of one who lacks a
usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions.‖ These two terms are
often related to each other because starvation is a result of poverty (Shah, 2010) Worldwide
870 million people are undernourished and 1.2 billion people live in extreme poverty of less
than 1.25 U.S. dollars per day (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
2012).
Tying the above statistics to a country that wastes much more than necessary, makes
them all the more astounding. Approximately 50 million Americans do not have access to
enough food and 45.3 million live in poverty (USEPA, 2014). This number is shocking
especially when tied with the waste issue that is also in the US. The United States population
needs to work toward more thoughtful ways of using and recycling resources with other
fellow Americans in mind.
The Solution: Gardening and Its Benefits
While all of these issues seem to be unmanageable, they can indeed be remedied by just
using our resources more wisely. As stated in the thesis, all of these issues can be tied to one
solution: creating more gardens. The overall benefits of gardening can be categorized as
follows: environmental, health, and economical.
Environmental
While the economic and health benefits of gardening may be more important to any one
person, the environmental benefits of gardening are probably the most important globally.
This is truly the most significant part of this research. World-wide results are what the world
needs to see in order to address the sustainability issues that daunt the populous today.
While gardening cannot remedy rapid urbanization, it can help to remedy the problems
that are associated with urbanization. Urban gardening creates a more efficient and self-
sufficient urban populous. One obvious way to study this is found when researching food
miles. The amount of food miles, the distance food travels from where it is grown to our plates,
are increasing and becoming ridiculously inefficient. ―Today, the typical American prepared
meal contains, on average, ingredients from at least five countries outside the United States‖
(Food miles: How far your food travels has serious consequences for your health and the
climate, 2007). Consumers aren‘t the only ones paying the price of our food‘s plane ticket. As a
result of all of this unnecessary travel, fossil fuels are being burned and our environment is
paying a price. Gardening and at the very least buying food from local sources and making
food mile conscious decisions will help to change the patterns of our food economy.
One way gardening can change the poor waste management, pollution and climate
change issues is in composting instead of sending those resources to the landfill. In 2009, the
EPA concluded that as much as 42 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions could be avoided
through strategies like recycling and composting (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives:
Global Anti-Incinerater Alliance, 2009). Compost is organic matter that has been decomposed
and recycled as a fertilizer. This is a main part of organic gardening.
One way to compost food scraps is to mix it with dry leaves, wood chips, twigs, sawdust,
dead plants, or shredded paper. Then top it off with a layer of wood chips and dirt. The
mixture should heat naturally which is a sign that it is decomposing. After stirring the
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compost to keep oxygen in the pile and adding some water your compost should be good to go.
The main ingredients are oxygen, water, nitrogen (from the green materials like green grass
clippings), and carbon (from the dry and brown material like dry leaves and hay). Before long,
the food scraps have turned into plant food. Starting a no-fertilizer-needed garden all starts
with something as simple as food scraps (California Department of Resources Recycing and
Recovery, 2012). This can combat pollution by reducing waste and using it in compost. This
compost can fertilize plants that create food for those who are starving and by growing
without fertilizer we will be cutting the use of fossil fuels once again. With the common
gardening techniques and composting, all of the environmental sustainability issues are
covered.
Economic
While the environmental and health benefits of garden are motivational enough for
some, perhaps one of the most motivational benefits of gardening would be economic return
from such a resourceful hobby. On average an investment on a 600 square foot garden is only
$70 and it yields a return of about $600 (Rooney & McLendon, 2011). Imagine a $530 return
on investment, the peace of mind that comes with knowing where the food is being produced,
and the taste of garden fresh vegetables. At this point most people would ask, ―What‘s the
catch?‖ or ―Why aren‘t more people gardening?‖ Common excuses include lack of time, space,
and money.
To all of these concerns a wise response would be to ask if these non-gardeners have a
lawn. Chances are they do indeed keep a lawn along with most Americans. The average
homeowner spends about $220 and 150 hours every year on their lawn, which is more than it
costs per acre to grow corn, rice, or sugarcane (Wood, 2006). Although these economic figures
are indeed high, the most concerning cost would be due to injury. According to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics from 2004, you are more likely to be fatally injured mowing your lawn than
working as a police officer (U.S. Departemnt of Labor, 2004).
The cost in time, money, injuries and sometimes even fatalities are only for grass
clippings that most people merely dispose of and a lawn that‘s purpose is only for aesthetics.
Instead, the focus of energy should be on something productive. The truth is that instead of
growing a lawn, America could be feeding families, planting a row of vegetables for the
starving, and saving the planet by cutting down on fuel emissions and packaging. Yet,
consumers consistently spend more money on grass lawns than on a financial priority higher
than vegetable gardening. Good advice would not be to till a whole lawn and start a garden
from scratch. However, small changes can lead to a change of perspective.
Health
In this paper, health is divided into three categories; social, physical, and cognitive.
The biggest social aspect of gardening is the feeling of self-satisfaction. Gardening and
landscaping is truly becoming an art form. Planning, planting and watching your own
garden grow can fill a person with pride. It is amazing how gardeners, especially introverts,
interact with other people more fluently and thoughtfully after working and caring for their
garden. That alone time in the garden definitely is a benefit to the people in a gardener‘s life.
Many social benefits of gardening come with community gardening.
Community gardens can be gardens were once vacant lots that a community of
neighbors decided to take care of and share in the benefits and produce that the lot will
provide. They can also be formed in someone‘s backyard, who decided to turn to their
neighbors for help, involvement, a learning experience, or even just for a reason to socialize.
Either way the community garden helps people to problem solve and negotiate with others,
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create a sense of belonging and purpose, and also create connections with people that would
otherwise be strangers. Because of this connection with strangers, community gardens have
actually been known to prevent crime (Krauser, 2012). People are less likely to steal or commit
other crimes when they know and connect with the people that are on their block. A published
study by the University of Pennsylvania‘s Perelman School of Medicine backs up the new
assumption that gardening can actually be a crime fighter. The study compared thousands of
greened vs. non-greened vacant lots over 9 years and the results suggest that vacant lot
gardening was associated with less gun assaults and vandalism and an increase in safety
(Krauser, 2012).
Weeding, planting, watering and the overall care of flowers and plants are all a form of
exercise. It gets people outside and moving. The benefits of fresh air and exercise are apparent.
Another physical benefit is in the diet that a gardener can consume. The more varieties of
vegetables and fresh fruit available will lead to healthier choices. The result is taste buds
evolve to enjoy the foods that are the very best for the consumer‘s well-being.
Finally the cognitive health benefits of gardening will be discussed. Gardening creates
a learning experience. There is so much to learn about gardening and it is a nearly constant
learning experience so much so that once you start, it is difficult to stop researching and
finding out better ways to grow produce. It offers a chance to teach children a valuable lesson
about having sustainable and reliable food systems. Adding a new hobby always adds some
expertise and knowledge, a skill that a person didn‘t have before and this is no different when
it comes to gardening. You can teach and learn about better waste management techniques
when it comes to composting table scraps and other waste. When it comes down to it the
benefits of gardening cannot be fully measured and they may be different for each and every
person but it will always be a learning experience for those who try.
There is exciting and encouraging news. According to the National Gardening
Association, 1 in 3 US households are now growing food (National Gardening Association,
2014). This is the highest participation and spending levels that the US has seen in a decade.
There has been an increased interest in gardening by the youth. Eight million Millennials (18-
24 year olds) were food gardeners in 2008 and that number increased to 13 million by 2013.
Urban gardening participation also rose from 7 million in 2008 to 9 million in 2013 (National
Gardening Association, 2014). Joining the movement is easy, but starting small is
recommended. A good start would be in research techniques and starting a small windowsill
garden or an herb garden. The chance that a one-time gardener, who lacks a green thumb, is
unsuccessful at producing a product will still be noticed by friends and neighbors as trying to
make a difference in his or her life, as well as in society. This garden could spark the interest
and curiosity of even just ten of that person‘s closest friends and family. This process could
spark the interest of their closest friends and continue exponentially. Posting to social media
would speed the entire process.
Hopefully the environmental, health and economic benefits researched here have at
least sparked an interest. Overall gardening has benefits that the world cannot wait for. The
Earth‘s breaking point may be right around the corner and the future should be on upmost
importance. What planet do we want to leave for future generations? Even though climate
change, urbanization, overfilling landfills, starvation and pollution are impending upon the
environment, individuals can be the change they want to see in the world simply by starting
more gardens.
67
References
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Composting Households. Retrieved from
http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/homecompost/
CDC. (2014, February 13). Life Expectancy. Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lifexpec.htm
Climate Change Conference: advocacy toolkit. (2010, November 29). Retrieved from
http://www.climatecentre.org/
Crawford, Andrea. (2014, February 12). What‘s the Difference Between a Garden and a Farm?
Retrieved from
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2014/02/farm_vs_garden_the_definition_de
pends_on_whether_you_ask_the_usda_or_the.html
Dell'Amore, C. (2014, March 31). 7 Species Hit Hard by Climate Change—Including One
That's Already Extinct. Retrieved from
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140331-global-warming-climate-
change-ipcc-animals-science-environment/
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2012, October 9). New Hunger
Report. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/161819/icode/
Food miles: How far your food travels has serious consequences for your health and the
climate. (2007, November). Retrieved from nrdc.org/policy
Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives: Global Anti-Incinerater Alliance. (2009).
Incinerator: Myths vs. Facts. Retrieved from http://www.no-
burn.org/downloads/GAIA%20Incinerator%20Myths%20vs%20Facts.pdf
International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme. (2012, April 10). The Rise and Rise of Urban
Expansion. Retrieved from
http://www.igbp.net/news/features/features/theriseandriseofurbanexpansion.5.705e0
80613685f74edb800014.html
Krauser, M. (2012, August 22). Infrastructure: The Urban garden as Crime Fighter. Retrieved
from http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/the-urban-garden-as-crime-fighter
National Gardening Association. (2011, June 06). Infographic: Home gardening in the U.S.
Retrieved from http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-
gardening/stories/infographic-home-gardening-in-the-us
Rooney, C., & McLendon, R. (2011). Home Gardening: Don't just go local, grow local.
Retrieved from http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/news/newsreleases/2011/june-20-2011/try-
gardening-for-health-and-
food/plonearticle_image_popup?image_id=4b84ddcbfeec01cf5f847d827bc49b5c
Saltzman, S. R. (2010, December 17). Autism: Air Pollution May Be to Blame, Studies
Suggest. Retrieved from https://www.sciencenews.org/article/nonstick-pollutants-
may-cut-efficiency-vaccines-kids
Shah, A. (2010, October 03). Causes of Hunger are related to Poverty. Retrieved from
http://www.globalissues.org/article/7/causes-of-hunger-are-related-to-poverty
The Economist. (2008, December 11). Creaking, Groaning: Infrastructure Is India's Biggest
Handicap. The Economist.
U.S. Departemnt of Labor. (2004, September 9). Fatal Occupational Injuries. Retrieved from
http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0196.pdf
68
Urban Agriculture: Community Gardening. (2014, March). Retrieved from
http://www.mrsc.org/subjects/parks/comgarden.aspx
US EPA. (n.d.). What is sustainability? Retrieved from
http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm#sustainability
USEPA. (2014, February 28). Municipal Solid Waste. Retrieved from
http://www.epa.gov/waste/nonhaz/municipal/
USEPA. (2014, March 10). Reducing Food Waste for Businesses. Retrieved from
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/foodwaste/
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Wood, D. (2006). Green Green Grass. En Route.
69
The Reaction of Lebanese Banks‟ Stock Prices to the 2008 Financial Crisis
Nehale Farid Mostapha
By the end of 2008 the stock market collapsed after several months of tension and
struggle. The financial crisis due to a downturn in housing prices, wrong uses of monetary
and fiscal policies, and irresponsible behavior of private lenders and borrowers was one more
episode in the financial turmoil that affected emerging market economies.
The term financial crisis is applied broadly to a variety of situations in which some
financial institutions suddenly lose a large part of their value. Many economists have offered
theories about how financial crises develop and how they could be prevented. There is little
consensus, however, and financial crises are still a regular occurrence around the world.
The spreading crisis in emerging markets raised concerns about the financial stability
of the banking system as a whole. Some analysts pointed out the risk of a contagion among
international banks and, also, the systemic repercussions that the failure of a large creditor
bank might have on the domestic banking sector.
A historical view of financial crisis

There were lots of financial crisis during the twentieth century :
-The DOT-COM crash 2000:
On Friday 14th April, Wall Street experienced its biggest one-day fall in history, ending a
week in which US markets lost $2 trillion in value — the equivalent to Germany's entire
economy. Worst hit was NASDAQ, the stock exchange favored by hi-tech companies such as
Microsoft.
70
Options, Strategies and Trade-Offs in Resource Mobilization
Arbab Naseebullah Kasi
Using a resource dependency perspective, this paper covers strategic options, choices
and trade-offs associated with resource mobilization towards sustainability. Generally
speaking, the goal in changing the resource profile is to reduce dependency on foreign aid by
diversifying towards domestic sources.
There are major shifts in resource supply and demand that shape the NGDO operating
environment. The overall picture is of an uneven change in availability of aid resources for
NGDOs that is often not being made good by domestic sources, especially from government.
Hence, there is the fear that some NGDOs will not survive.
Environmental changes are to the disadvantage of some types of NGDOs and to the
gain of others that are already better resourced and more capable. There is a squeeze on
weaker, middle-sized NGDOs and those that do not have a clear ‗niche‘, to the benefit of
large, often northern, organizations. Increasing humanitarian demands are reinforcing this
differential impact of changes in resource levels and conditions for NGDO access.
Six concepts assist in understanding the factors NGDOs take into account when
assessing options. They are:
•Vulnerability: an NGDO‘s ability to suffer costs imposed by external events affecting the
resource;
•Sensitivity: the degree and speed at which changes in a resource will impact on the NGDO;
•Criticality: the probability that an existing resource can be replaced by another for the same
function;
•Consistency: an ability to alter a resource profile without compromising mission and
identity;
•Autonomy: the degree to which the resource affects free decision-making and ability to
negotiate terms and say ‗no‘ when necessary;
•Compatibility: the degree of similarity in organizational demands between new and existing
resources.
NGDOs face a primary division in the types of resources they can mobilize. They can
choose between non-financial and financial sources and, within the latter, between
generating funds themselves or tapping into finance generated by others. A comparative
table suggests that the first two options are most likely to bring positive change in the above
six factors. The latter option is more prone to cheating contrary effects and to introduce
organizational stress. However, the extent to which this occurs depends on which sub-source
is accessed.
An important trade-off for NGDOs is one which links the profile of resources to its
position in society in terms of its role and ‗civicness‘, or distance from government. The
external environment is tending to push NGDOs to more welfare roles and closer proximity to
government and business. Countering or accommodating this trend is an important feature
of strategic decision-making.
71
Lead the parade: a case study depicting the use of traditional and online
marketing strategies to expand into the hyper-growth market in the Bakken region
of North Dakota.
Dan Nelson
Deb Tech
This case study analyzes the use of traditional and online marketing strategies by a
Real Estate Investment Company (REIT) to develop a hyper-growth market of the Bakken
region in North Dakota. The strategic objectives of the REIT is discussed as related to this
initiative. An environmental analysis of the Bakken region is provided. Marketing strategies
including traditional sales, event marketing, and the use of traditional and social media are
depicted. The case study concludes with a reporting of initial results and questions for
further exploration.
72
Concussions: The Marketing Nightmare that Faces the NFL and Youth Sports
Thomas Orr
For many years the National Football League (NFL) held a position that did not
recognize the serious issues surrounding concussions. Financial pressure was applied to the
league by a group of players who had gained a greater understanding of concussions and
their horrific consequences. On August 22, 2013, the National Football League and the NFL
players association settled on their concussion lawsuit for $765 million dollars. On January
14th US District Judge Anita Brody, denied the settlement on grounds that the agreement
didn‘t do enough to address players not named in the original lawsuit which included 20,000
retired players. (Rovell, 2014). The judge eventually cleared a revised settlement which
eliminates a cap on claims and raises the payout to 870 million. This settlement is not being
supported by the family of Dave Duerson and many other key stakeholders and does not
appear to be conclusive or the end of the judicial process.
Researchers uncovered a myriad of serious health issues related to head trauma and
concussions. According to recent research done on the brains of deceased NFL players the
long term effects of concussion is more serious that thought. ―Concussions that were once
thought of as part of the game and a minor injury are only now being understood in terms of
their long term issues as many ex-athletes are having severe problems with brain
functioning.‖ (Jamieson & Orr, 2009) Suicides and abuse issues associated with current and
former athletes has triggered speculation from many sources that these consequences have
deadly consequences.
The mentality of playing through injuries and the push to make young athletes bigger,
faster and stronger in hopes of a future pay day has led to a trickle-down effect of concussions
at the youth level. Parents saw their children as an investment, as big pay days were thought
to be the reward for the many hours of supporting children playing sports. Parents were
willing to pay for special instructors, camps, all-star leagues, trips for extra tournaments and
top sport gear and equipment. Sport retailers and production companies were able to bask in
profits and many companies such as Nike, Adidas, and Under Armor have enjoyed a
prominent position amongst non-sport related peers for their business successes on aggregate
and individual levels. Parents found room in their budgets, or found credit to make sure that
their children were able to keep up with the competition.
Parents basked in reflective glory and hoped to achieve fame and fortune as their
children could potentially reach all of the goals they had not reached in their own lives.
BIRG Theory (Basking In Reflective Glory) explains this concept and many examples are
found in the sport milieu. ―If the child has the same passions and drive this situation may
work out very well. Unfortunately, when looking at cases of burnout, or worse, parents living
vicariously through kids‘ experience, can often be found as a reason that too much pressure
was placed on the athlete. The child that is already on a path of systematic pursuit of
becoming a professional through serious sport and leisure should be a concern to those who
care about that person‘s long term moral, personal and even athletic development.
Participation in sport should not be viewed as a career for young athletes.‖ (Jamieson & Orr,
2009, p. 165)
The pursuit of team success, accolades, statistics and big plays to showcase to coaches
and potential scouts create an incredible need for players and parents to want their kids to
play as much as possible. Personal pride and general fitness could also be seen as a reason to
insist in more playing time. Learning how to fight through injuries and accomplishing your
73
goals with resiliency can be seen as a very strong benefit of playing youth sports. Scenes of
Olympic athletes fighting through injuries or MLB stars like Kirk Gibson limping around the
bases or Curt Schilling and his bloody sock resonate in culture and contribute to the sport
ethic to play through pain and injury in order to be the hero. Concussions have made even
the most hardened coaches re-consider this attitude as second impact syndrome and skull
fracture issues become prevalent. Concussion research has shown that young athletes have an
increased risk for long-term side effects of concussions which is even more problematic for
youth sports(Valovich, Schwartz, Bay. 2007; Field, Collins, Lovell, & Maroon, 2003).
The culture of football is especially interesting in the context of concussions, as noted
in a research article in The Sport Psychologist, ―The sport of American football is believed to
perpetuate ideologies of masculine superiority by valuing, encouraging, and sanctioning
instrumental aggression (Gage, 2008; Messner, 1990, 1992; Pringle & Markula, 2005).
According to Kreager (2007), ―Masculinized sports then become socially sanctioned stepping
stones toward privilege and power—sites where coaches, peers, parents, and the media
encourage masculine identities founded on physical aggression and domination‖ (p. 706). As
a result, football provides myriad opportunities to explore on-field aggressive sport behaviors
among the young men who participate in this influential institution of masculinity
socialization (e.g., Foley, 2001; Steinfeldt, Steinfeldt, England & Speight, 2009; Wong,
Steinfeldt, LaFollette, & Tsao, 2011).‖ (Steinfeldt, Rutkowski, Orr & Steinfeldt, 2012)
The future of the NFL as an economic juggernaut amongst its peers will have a major
impact from how it handles this problem. The court of public perception does not want to see
the NFL abandon its players and they also want to know about the safety of children and
non-professionals who play sport. The NFL, High School Coaches, and youth league directors
do not want to read headlines like, ―Parents Weigh Risks of Youth Football Amid Concussion
Debate‖, as the USA Today proclaimed in a pointed article (Mihoces, 2012). The Wall Street
Journal stated that, Football faces another hurdle: growing concern that concussions and
other contact injuries can cause lasting physical damage‖ when they ran an article entitled,
―Youth Participation Weakens in Basketball, Football, Baseball and Soccer.‖(Wallerson,
2014)
This meta-analysis focused on the impact concussions may have on NFL and Youth
Sport Marketing efforts. Brand equity of the NFL has been under review by their fans and
many stakeholders. Brand equity is; ―The added value, or equity, that a certain product has
by the virtue of its brand name.‖ (Mullin, Hardy & Sutton, 2014, p.155) With the suicide
murder of Javon Belcher preceding the violence and abuse issues of Adrian Peterson, Ray
Rice and Greg Hardy, the NFL has some serious issues to deal with when it considers
sponsors and the impacts of poor behavior off the field coupled with the problems of
concussion and their potential role in influencing the behavior of the athletes.
Seventeen million fans attended NFL games in 2010 and paid 54 to 117 dollars per
ticket (Burke, Hendrickson, & Roberts, 2011). ―The total ―gross football product‖ from
everything from naming rights and broadcasting rights to sponsorship and ticket sales was
estimated at $9.3 billion, which was almost as much as the combined financial impact of the
other three major professional leagues (MLB $6.7 billion, NBA 3-4 billion, and the NHL 1
billion).‖(Fried, DeSchriver, Mondello, 2014, p. 34) Sponsors like Budweiser and Papa Johns
generate big pay days on game day and also contribute back to the NFL by purchasing
sponsorship in exchange for visibility and access to customers. Budweiser was very vocal
about their desire to have the NFL keep their image up when they faced multiple scandals
including the concussion issues and lawsuit. The threat of losing sponsors and fans did
74
appear to impact the way that players were punished for transgressions and several rule
changes have been geared at protecting players from concussions. Many other rules remain
debatable such as eliminating kickoffs and other dangerous plays.
The number of football participants not in the NFL far outweighs the number of
participants in the NFL and further magnifies the risks and opportunities for individual law
suits. There was an estimated 3.1 million touch football players and 3.8 million tackle
football ages 6 and above in the United States during the 2012 year. (Pederson & Thibault,
2014) These numbers demonstrate the need for safe training and equipment for athletes who
are at risk for head injuries and concussion. Flag football is looked at as a potential
alternative at the youth levels but the entertainment of the big hit would be a tough loss at
the collegiate and professional levels of play. When we allow our youth to learn how to hit is a
debatable topic with pros and cons of each side being present. We do not want athletes to
suffer concussions at an early age and start their concussion clocks early and deal with long
term health consequences.
New concussion helmets and protective equipment should be of high quality and
leagues will have to find a way to pay for it so that their core product is safe. Training
programs that allow athletes to build neck strength and build physical traits to avoid
concussions are helpful. Learning how to avoid taking a big hit at a young age is helpful.
Testing procedures to make sure athletes are safe before returning to the field should be used
and all care needs to be taken so the athlete or coach cannot manipulate the test in order to
return to the field. It is important that a medical trainer can decide to pull a concussed
player and not face retribution from a coach. Each of these safeguards need to be
implemented so that the marketing campaign of these organizations can be honest and
ethically align with a marketing message that conveys football as a safe and reasonable sport
to play and watch.
Potential financial implications and marketing strategies to mitigate the damage
along with other solutions to the core issue are important for the NFL and youth sport
providers to understand and enact. We have also considered other youth sports that have
concussion injuries and how the atmosphere of a team and the hubris of the athletes relate to
incident rates. Football is on an economic perch and represents the deepest pockets of the
major sports and has been the first target of concussion lawsuits and medical review. Paying
nearly a billion dollars for a lawsuit may only be the start of the problems for the NFL as
highlighted in this paper. Other professional sports will eventually face scrutiny, as will the
NCAA and their member organizations, high schools, youth sport clubs, and the myriad of
related sport organizations. Any weaknesses and exploited areas of the NFL and sport of
football will be used against other organizations who do not take head of the precedent being
set and each will be at risk of equal or greater condemnation if appropriate.
75
REFERENCES
Burke, D., Hendrickson, B., & Roberts, D. (2011). The Gross Football Product. Sports
Illustrated, 114, 11.
Field, M., Collins, M., Lovell, M., & Maroon, J. (2003). Does Age Play a Role in Recovery
from Sports-related Concussion? A Comparison of High School and Collegiate Athletes.
Journal of Pediatrics, 142(5):546-533.
Fried, G., DeSchriver, T., & Mondello, M. (2013). Sport Finance. Champaign: Human
Kinetics.
Foley, D. (2001). The great American Football Ritual: Reproducing Race, Class, and Gender
Inequality. In A. Yiannakis & M.J. Melnick (Eds.), Contemporary Issues in Sociology of
Sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Gage, E. (2008). Gender Attitudes and Sexual Behavior. Violence Against Women, 14, 1014-
1032.
Jamieson, L. & Orr, T. (2009). Sport Violence; A Critical Examination of Sport. London:
Elsevier.
Kreager, D. (2007). Unnecessary Roughness: School, Sports, Peer Networks, and Male
Adolescent Violence. American Sociological Review, 72, 705-724.
Messner, M. (1990). When Bodies are Weapons: Masculinity and Violence in Sport.
International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 25, 203-220.
Messner, M. (1992). Power at play: Sports and the Problem of Masculinity. Boston: Beacon
Press.
Mihoces, G. (2012). Parents Weigh Risks of Youth Football Amid Concussion Debate.
USA Today, Retrieved from
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/football/story/2012-05-16/Parents-weigh-
youth-football-risks/55150850/1
Mullin, B., Hardy, S., & Sutton, W. (2014). Sport Marketing. Champaign: Human Kinetics.
Pederson, P., & Thibault, L. (2014). Contemporary Sport Management. Champaign: Human
Kinetics.
Pringle, R., & Markula, P. (2005). No Pain is Sane After All: A Foucauldian Analysis of
Masculinities and Men‘s Experiences in Rugby. Sociology of Sport Journal, 22, 4
72-497.
Rovell, D. (2014). Judge Fears $765 Million not Enough. ESPN Website. Retrieved
September 7, 2014 from http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10292549/judge-rejects-

preliminary-approval-765-million-nfl-settlement-concussion-case
Steinfeldt, J., Steinfeldt, M., England, B., & Speight, Q. (2009).Gender Role Conflict and
Help-seeking Stigma Among College Football Players. Psychology of Men and
Masculinity, 12, 312-323.
Steinfeldt, J, Rutkowski, L., Orr, T, Steinfeldt, M. (2012). Masculine Norms and Moral
Atmosphere in College Football. The Sport Psychologist, 26, 320-333.
Valovich-McLeod T., Schwartz, C., Bay R. (2007). Sport-related Concussion
Misunderstandings Among Youth Coaches. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine,
17:140-142
Wallerson, R. (2014). Youth Participation Weakens in Basketball, Football, Baseball and
Soccer. Wall Street Journal Online, Jan 31, 2014, Retrieved from
76
9918
Wong, G. (2012). SN Concussion Report: NFL Could Lose Billions in Player
Lawsuits. Retrieved from http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2012-08-22/nfl-

concussion-lawsuits-money-bankrupt-players-sue-head-injuries
Wong, Y, Steinfeldt, J., LaFollette, J., & Tsao, S. (2011). Men‘s Tears: Football and Player‘s
Evaluations of Crying Behavior. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 11, 170-182.
77
A Cross-Cultural Study on Sense of Brand SNS Community
Cheol Park
Xiaowu Wang
Social networking service (SNS) as a new marketing activity tool is being used all over
the world. This research as an initial study about SNS marketing analyzes the antecedents
and consequences of sense of brand SNS community using Uses and gratifications theory
and brand community theory in China and South Korea. The results suggest that
informativeness, playfulness, cohesiveness, homophily, relationship base have a positive
impact on the sense of brand SNS community which has a positive impact on brand SNS
attitude, brand attitude and purchase intention. Culture comparison suggests that Chinese
and South Korean have a lot of differences between each other. This research firstly uses the
variable of relationship base to reflect characteristic of brand SNS community. Implications
are discussed for social factors and hedonic factor are very important for brand SNS
community, and there are differences between Chinese and South Korean.
Key words:SNS Marketing, Sense of Community, Facebook, Renren, Brand Attitude, China,
Korea, Social Media,
78
Mindfulness at the workplace - a lifeline for all of us?
Michael Pülz
Abstract
This paper describes training of mindfulness as a technique to increase stress resilience at
the work place. Stress is an increasingly common companion in our modern life - and the
usage of modern technologies does not relief the pressure on our shoulders.
Ancient eastern methods are recently being rediscovered in modern societies. Some of the
most progressive companies (such as Google, Salesforce.com, eBay, Twitter, and Facebook)
invite Buddhist monks to train their employees in mindfulness or set up internal training
programs to train their employees in mindfulness. Doctors and teachers discover trainings in
mindfulness in their daily work, both to help patients or pupils to handle their difficulties as
well as to strengthen their own mental well-being in their stressful jobs.
The positive effect of meditation on people's ability to cope with demanding situations is
subject of current research. Prolonged meditation practice leads to changes in the wiring of
the brain (neuroplasticity), thus resulting in increased control of one's thoughts, emotions,
and reactions. Results show positive effects on decision making, attention, memory, and
sleep. Meditation can even replace blood pressure medication and it can play a role in pain
management.
The paper will briefly discuss what mindfulness is, what the effects of trainings in
mindfulness are, and how to apply mindfulness training in our modern work environment.
79
Table of contents
1. What is mindfulness? ............................................................................................. 81

2. Neuroplasticity ....................................................................................................... 83
3. What are the effects of mindfulness training? ....................................................... 84
4. How to apply mindfulness at the workplace? ........................................................ 85
5. So what? ................................................................................................................. 86
References ...................................................................................................................... 89
80
What is mindfulness?
"The mindful revolution" was the title of the Time magazine on February 3, 2014. Articles
about mindfulness can be found in the press every other week. Bookshops at airports provide
titles on mindfulness. What is behind this topic?
Mindfulness has its root in Buddhism and other Asian traditions which go back more than
2'500 years. The idea of mindfulness is to learn to be in the present moment, in the "here and
now". It is about training our mind through meditation practice to not constantly being
dragged away. It is about taming the mind.
In order to do so, one should learn to detach from thoughts and emotions. This is referred to
as "de-attachment". Most of the time our mind runs on auto-pilot, being dragged away by
thoughts about the past (often regrets) or the future (often worries, hopes, etc.). Regular
mindfulness training helps to disengage from such automatic thoughts, habits, and
unhealthy behaviour (Brown & Ryan, 2003).
The effects of mindfulness training through meditation are claimed to be
 deep freedom (in the sense of freeing ourselves from attachments to "toxic" thoughts),
 profound happiness (in the sense of the happiness that is within our calm mind),
 serenity, wisdom, and
 peace within one's mind.
Eventually this will lead to more well-being.
In order to develop mindfulness, one needs to practice mindfulness meditation. Meditation
practice is at the heart of the old Asian traditions and religions. The practice of mindfulness
means to learn and apply analytical skills. It means to study the nature and attributes of an
object with the highest precision possible. This object can be our breath, which is often the
basis for meditation practice. The breath is always with us (if not, we are dead), it has its
own rhythm, it changes when our state of mind or body changes. This approach is quite
analytical. Similar self-studies have been performed by philosophers in the west, such as
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (e.g. in "Les rêveries du promeneur solitaire", 1782). Without
Rousseau calling it "meditation", he describes astonishingly similar experiences as those
described by experienced eastern meditators.
There are different ways of how to practice mindfulness, but meditation is at its centre.
Depending on the origin of the meditation practice, methods differ slightly. A profound
misunderstanding in the west is that meditation is in some way mystical or esoteric, which it
is not. It is not about giving up all thoughts, about reaching some super-natural state of
mind. Rather, it is simply a practice to focus our mind.
The ultimate goal is to tame our mind, not to be the slave to our wandering thoughts,
feelings, emotions - but rather to study them, to accept them as they are, to observe how they
arise seemingly out of nowhere and just by themselves, to realize that they also go away by
themselves. Through meditation, we can learn not to hang onto them, not to attach ourselves
to them, not to identify us with them.
Meditation is not about eliminating our thoughts and feelings. It is rather about
understanding their true nature - which is impermanence. They come - and they go. They
come seemingly spontaneously, and they go spontaneously. By just recognizing them, without
judging them, they lose their power over us. Through this practice, we can learn that we are
not identical with these thoughts. Rather they are phenomena in our mind. They are not us,
they are not our self. By learning this through practicing meditation, our mind can become
free. This kind of freedom has nothing to do with the conventional concept of freedom in the
81
sense of having the ability to do whatever we want. Inner freedom reached by meditation
practice and mindfulness is more profound and stable.
One traditional way of practicing meditation is Zazen, which is sitting meditation. One sits
(usually on a cushion), legs crossed in one of several ways (the lotus, half-lotus or the
Burmese way), knees on the ground, so that the lower body is forming a stable triangle on the
ground. The upper body is straight, with the head somewhat pointing towards the ceiling.
The eyes should be half closed and looking without focus in a 45 degree angle to the ground
or wall in front of us. The hands form an oval, with one hand resting in the other, thumbs
slightly touching.
Through this posture, one can be firm and relaxed at the same time. It is supposed to be a
natural way of sitting. One can describe it as resembling a mountain, which is stable rested
in the ground, despite the clouds and winds that might appear around its top.
One then focuses on the breath, without influencing it. Simply recognizing the natural flow of
breathing in and breathing out will have the effect of calming our mind. When our mind
wanders off, we simply bring it back to our breath once we realize that it went off.
There are some basic ideas in Buddhism which underpin mindfulness training. These are:
 "life is not fair",
 impermanence,
 de-attachment,
 non-judgement, and
 non-self.
When analysing our lives we have to arrive at the conclusion that life is not fair. Not everyone
has the same conditions, health, wealth, etc. It does not mean that we simply have to accept
the conditions we face, but there will be differences in the way life treats different people.
Everything is impermanent, including ourselves, our thoughts and worries, our materialistic
wealth, even the entire universe. Everything is in constant flux. Holding on to impermanent
"things" creates unhappiness and is in fact the main source of our anxieties.
De-attachment from our thoughts, feelings, and emotions are at the heart of meditation
practice. It does not mean to stop them, not to feel anything anymore - that would be
impossible. But we should learn that these occurrences in our mind are not "us". They simply
appear, like clouds in the sky, and they disappear again. In meditation we learn to recognize
them (such as "I am feeling angry"), but not to identify ourselves with them (such as "I am
angry").
By recognizing these objects in our mind in a de-attached way, we should also be non-
judgemental. This means we recognize the nature of a thought or a feeling, but we do not
judge it. We can realize that we are having an angry feeling right now, but should refrain
from thinking "I should not be angry". We cannot help to feel a certain feeling in a certain
moment. But by practicing de-attachment and non-judgement, we can learn to recognize the
feeling and then to decide freely how to react, instead of automatically being dragged to some
spontaneous reaction.
In Buddhism one even says that the notion of a separate, in itself existing "self" is an illusion
and a cause for suffering ("non-self"). This is because since everything is changing, our "self"
is non-permanent as well. Another concept is interconnectedness. It refers to the observation
that everything is connected to something else, nothing exists in itself.
Meditation practice thus helps to develop a non-judgemental awareness and to balance our
thinking with awareness. At least we should become aware of how judgemental we are
(Kabat-Zinn, 2010).
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Neuroplasticity
When I went to school (in the 1970s and early 1980s), during the biology class I learned that
nerve cells do not grow or change their connectivity once a person is grown up. It was
common knowledge at that time that human beings cannot profoundly change anymore once
they became adults. The belief was: "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."
This has changed. Researchers know now that the brain is flexible, and that it never stops
developing. Even new brain cells can grow through prolonged training, however this seems to
be restricted to certain areas of the brain (Singer and Ricard, 2008, p.31). In the prefrontal
cortex, the adult brains adopts through changes in the synaptic connections of the neurons
(ibid., 2008, p.65). This is the area of the brain which seems to play an important role when
practicing meditation and mindfulness training.
Buddhism beliefs that change is possible, and that it is the most important task for us as
human beings to develop further, and that this is our own responsibility. The method to do
this is through meditation practice.
Studies have shown that meditation practice has an effect on the wiring of our brains (e.g.
Davidson, 2008). Researchers now talk about neuroplasticity. The notion of neuroplasticity
frees us from the slavery of a constant, permanent self. We no longer have to defend this ego,
but we can rather start a journey of development towards mindfulness.
On the course of this journey, we also have to change our notion of happiness. Our
conventional idea of happiness is that it is something deriving from materialistic
satisfaction, such as a nice vacation, a bigger car, etc. However, by studying the true nature
of these things, it becomes apparent that they carry the seed for unhappiness within them.
The nice vacation will be over, the bigger car will decay and rust - and one of the neighbours
eventually will have an even bigger car. This is true for everything we seem to derive our
happiness from. It will not last, it is impermanent. Our conventional idea of happiness is
superficial.
Happiness as defined by eastern philosophy and Buddhism can only be found in the here and
now. It will appear naturally when we focus on the present. This is mindfulness. Meditation
practice teaches us how to bring our mind back to the here and now, and by doing so, we
realize that happiness is just here, naturally, without any effort. It has always been here. In
fact - if we take our analysis a step further - we will realize that there is only the here and
now. We only live in the present moment, which is followed by the next present moment. The
past is gone; the future does not exist yet. All phenomena which we experience are happening
in this very moment.
Yet, most of the time our mind wanders off into the past and into the future. Thinking about
the past, we get caught in regrets and remorse. But the past does not exist anymore. It is just
a memory in our mind. Or we worry about the future. Or we hope for future events that
provide us with the happiness we crave for. But the future does not exist either. It is just an
idea in our mind. The only moment that exists is the present moment. And we usually miss it
while being caught up in thoughts about the past or about the future.
Practicing mindfulness teaches us to value the present moment. To stay with the present
moment as much as possible - not in a tense and cramped way, but in a natural and open
way. Being in a mindful state of mind does not mean that there will not be unpleasant and
disturbing feelings, thoughts, and emotions. But it means that we recognize them as what
they really are, and that we see them coming and going. Meditation does not mean to
oppressively influencing these phenomena in our mind. They come and they go, without
leaving traces in our mind - like clouds in the sky.
83
Our mind has the ability to study itself. Practicing mindfulness is exactly this. We have
emotions, but we can learn not to become slaves of our emotions. Through practice we can
learn to become emotionally more stable, not to overreact in situations that - without training
- would trigger reactions which might be offending or which we might regret later. This does
not mean that we get rid of our emotions. It means to stabilize ourselves and to provide an
anchor in the present moment.
What are the effects of mindfulness training?
Research has been conducted on long-term practitioners of meditation, such as Matthieu

Ricard, son of the French philosopher Jean-François Ricard alias Revel. Matthieu Ricard
was a molecular biologist with a Ph.D. from Pasteur Institute in Paris and became a
Buddhist monk in the late 1960s. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and EEG
(electroencephalography) have been used, among other measurement tools.
The results show that meditation has profound effects on the brain. Left-sided anterior
activation - which is supposed to be linked to positive emotions and control over ones
thoughts - is increased with long-term practitioners (Davidson et al., 2003). Self-induced
gamma-band oscillations is seen in long-term practitioners (Lutz et al., 2004), which is
supposed to indicate increased cognitive activities like attention and memory. These
activation asymmetries are plastic and can be shaped through training.
Another effect is an increase of gray-matter density in the lower brainstem of long-term
practitioners compared to age-matched non-meditators (Verstergaard-Poulsen et al., 2009).
This seems to indicate higher resistance to stressful stimuli, increased attentional skills, etc.
A whole range of positive effects on the parasympathetic nervous system are detectable. The
parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for the unconscious control of our organs,
blood stream, heart rate, metabolism, etc. and plays a vital role in stress relaxation.
Thus, research detected strong evidence for positive effects on our nervous system in long-
term practitioners. But positive effects are detectable even after a short and less intense
period of meditation practice. Studies suggest that structural brain changes are detectable
after only 3 months of meditation (Draganski et al., 2004).
In the late 1970s, Jon Kabat-Zinn has developed a training program called Mindfulness-
Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at the University of Massachusetts (later founding the
Center of Mindfulness). MBSR integrates mindfulness meditation into clinical and
psychological medicine. It is a clinical, 8 to 10 weeks structured group program on
mindfulness meditation for patients with chronical diseases. The conditions that these
patients suffer from include AIDS, cancer, heart disease, chronic pain, hypertension, sleep
disorders, and depression.
Results of studies on the effects of MBSR show that it is helpful for stress relaxation to a wide
range of patients (e.g. Grossman et al., 2003). MBSR has been successfully applied ever since
its introduction and it has found its way into other non-clinical settings.
Some of the positive effects of mindfulness meditation that have been detected in a variety of
studies are:
 an improved immune system (Davidson et al., 2003),
 reduction of anxiety (Miller, 1995),
 increased attention (Verstergaard-Poulsen et al., 2009),
 positive effects on the stress-related cortisol level (Tang et al, 2007), and
 reduction of cognitive decline (Pagnoni/Cekic, 2007).
Brown and Ryan (2003) constructed the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and
applied in five different studies. The results support the role of mindfulness in fostering well-
84
being and in self-regulatory behaviour. Correlation of MAAS measures with other scales is
detectable especially regarding well-being.
One of their studies with Zen practitioners showed that in order to achieve the desired
results, the duration of practice (years) is more important than the actual amount of time
spent meditating.
Another of their studies was conducted in a clinical environment with cancer patients. As a
side-effect, the results showed that the baseline MAAS scores (without meditation practice)
among these patients were higher than in the average population. The authors speculate that
this indicates that the experience of a life-threatening disease might induce personal growth
and mindful living in itself.
So there are positive effects of mindfulness practice, measurable even after a relatively short
period of training. The effects on the nervous system seem to be scientifically proven. And: it
is not so much the intensity and the amount of time spent practising, but the regularity.
These findings suggest that it should be possible to integrate mindfulness training into our
normal everyday life.
How to apply mindfulness at the workplace?
We do live in a stressful world. According to the American Psychological Association, 2007

(cited in Fries, 2009):
 33% of Americans reported extreme levels of stress
 48% believed that their stress had increased over the past five years
 77% experienced physical symptoms, such as fatigue, headache, upset stomach, muscle
tension, etc.
 73% experienced psychological symptoms, such as irritability, anger, nervousness, lack
of energy, tearfulness, etc.
 48% did lie awake losing on average 21 hours of sleep per month
 43% overate or ate unhealthy food; 36% skipped meals during the last month because
of stress for 74% work contributed to their level of stress
 50% reported negative impact of stress on their personal and professional lives
 52% considered or made a decision about leaving their job because of workplace stress
 55% felt less productive at work as a result of stress
 40% did not use vacation time
According to this study, the leading causes of work stress are low salaries, heavy work load,
lack of opportunities, uncertain job expectations, and long hours.
Traditional employee assistance programs focus on employee's behavior, assuming that if the
employees change their attitudes and behaviors, they will be better able to cope with the
stress at work and thus become more productive. Courses on time management add to the
pressure in the sense that it seems to be the obligation of the employee to function even more
effective and efficient.
However, some companies are starting to become aware of the ceaselessness of this
"traditional" approach. They start to realize the positive effects of mindfulness training on
the stress level of their employees. These companies include Internet technology firms such as
Google, Salesforce, eBay, Twitter, Facebook - but also more conventional companies such as
Target.
85
Google has introduced a coaching course called "Search Inside Yourself" in which employees
can learn meditation practice to eventually better cope with stress. The author of this course
has also published a book describing the motivation and the course content (Tan, 2012).
A number of studies have shown the positive effects of mindfulness practice in workplace
settings:
 Klatt et al. (2008) studied the effects of a "low-dose" MBSR program on working adults
with full-time employees at Ohio State University, which included reductions in
perceived stress and improved quality of sleep.
 Walach et al (2007) tested MBSR for personnel development in a service center in
Germany, which is a high-stress professional setting indeed: payments depend on the
number of calls made or are proportional to the number of contracts following these
calls. The employees appreciated MBSR and rated it as being positive for themselves.
 Poulin et al. (2008) found similar effects of a brief MBSR program for nurses
compared to a conventional relaxation program.
Studies have been performed on the effects of mindfulness training in education, for example:
 Shapiro et al. (1998) investigated the effects of an MBSR-intervention on stress in
premedical and medical students during exam periods. The results show that anxiety
was reduced and overall psychological distress (including depression) was decreased.
 Chang et al. (2004) performed research on participants in a continuing education
course. The effects they have discovered included: reduced perceived stress, enhanced
positive states of mind, and improvement in non-judgmental awareness.
 Poulin et al. (2008) investigated into a mindfulness-based wellness education elective
course in a Bachelor of Education (for teachers in training), focusing on stress and
burn-out. The latter is a well-known problem in the teaching profession (Montgomery
and Rupp, 2005). The results were somewhat inconclusive. Students displayed
problems with keeping up with the practice and thus the results were somewhat
compromised. They also tended not to keep up with their practice after the course.
So what?
When successfully practicing mindfulness, there seems to be a fair chance that the above
described effects would surface in an individual. Acting in a group of people - such as a
family or a group of colleagues at work - such an individual will have an impact on the
interactions with the other group members. Mindfulness should result in higher-quality
interactions between the trained person and his or her counterparts. Thus even a single
person will influence the group he or she is in.
Likewise, a person trained in mindfulness will have higher resilience. He or she will be able
to better deal with emotional stress, with negative feelings, etc., which are quite common
when acting with others. Being able to better cope with the negative effects of stressful
situations should be beneficial for the individual as well as for the group. Thus, even if only a
limited number of employees are trained in mindfulness, this should have an impact on those
around them and thus eventually on the whole organization.
Stressful situations are quite common for most of our contemporaries. They stem from factors
such as time pressure, 7 x 24 availability, information overload, decision making under
conditions of uncertainty, constant communication over different channels - many of them
synchronous, thus awaiting immediate response -, job insecurity, a constant need to learn
86
and develop, increased competition, and so forth. Most of us have to face these challenges. A
basic training in mindfulness can thus help to prepare us for our modern lives. It can equip
us with a backpack of useful tools that we can apply right away, every day. Especially
challenging situations - such as meetings with your boss, with a difficult customer or
employee - are the ones in which the tools of mindfulness are most useful. So there are
endless opportunities to practice mindfulness in our normal daily life, but it needs some
training.
One can distinguish between two steps in mindfulness training:
 The first step is the foundation of practicing meditation and to integrating this
practice in our daily routine.
 The second step is to apply the ability to act mindful in all aspects of our life, be it
during our leisure time, during work, or during travels - whether we are alone or with
other people.
The second step does not come by itself. It is based on step 1. Without constant and prolonged
daily practice of mindfulness training, our mind will not start to change. It will not learn to
become detached from our constant chatter of thoughts. It will not learn to recognize these
thoughts without attaching to them. It will not learn that they will disappear by themselves.
It will not learn that these thoughts are not identical with us - that they are impermanent.
Only by practicing meditation as a daily routing will we lay the foundation for step 2, which
is applying mindfulness in our life, ideally in everything we do.
Since most people have little free time, step 1 seems to be almost impossible to implement.
However, it is not necessary to leave our life behind and to become a monk or a hermit. In
sports, it is not necessary to become a professional athlete in order to improve our physical
condition. What is necessary is to change our daily routine a little. Taking the bicycle to work
instead of the car has, when done regularly, a profound impact on our body. It is the same
with the practice of meditation. 10 to 15 minutes a day - every day - will have an impact on
our mind. If we practice for example in the morning just after getting up, and in the evening
just before going to bed, meditation can provide a framework to our day. This can be put into
practice by everyone.
Continuity is key. It is better to practice a short amount of time every day, than to not do
anything for a long time, and then go on a meditation retreat for a few days, doing nothing
again afterwards. One might compare it to learning vocabulary of a foreign language. It is no
use to study 50 words for a whole day and a night - it might be enough to get you through a
vocabulary test the next day, but it will not be enough to store the words in long-term
memory. You might even develop an aversion towards that language. Coming back to the
sports example: better to move your body half an hour daily, than to do nothing, running a
half marathon on a Sunday, and then doing nothing again while recovering from pain and
loathing running for the rest of your life.
Maybe we should therefore all start training our minds, in the same way as we should all go
to the gym to exercise our bodies. We have seen above that continuity is key - and not so much
the length of the individual practice sessions.
We should probably also think about integrating mindfulness training into our schools and
college curriculums in order to prepare the students for the stress they are going to be facing -
during and after school.
At our workplaces, we should think about integrating mindfulness training - as a line of
defense against burn-out.
And finally: mindfulness training is not about getting anywhere – it is about the potential,
the freshness, and the recreation of simply being in the present moment. Let us not misuse it
87
as yet another optimization tool to further increase the pressure on ourselves and those
around us. That would be the complete opposite of the basic idea of practicing mindfulness.
88
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90
Configuring a MYSQL database for efficiency and security within a cloud
environment
Natalie Shofner
James Niehaus
Barrett Holien
Mark B. Schmidt
There are numerous benefits a cloud environment a cloud computing environment can
provide. Specifically, a cloud is an excellent architecture to support large scale applications
and ensure both high reliability as well as excellent performance. However, clouds are a still
emerging architecture and there are significant risks from a security perspective [1]. Data
encryption is the main focus of any data security strategy. However, because of the
segmentation, isolation and inheritance strategies used in a cloud, it is important to
supplement with other strategies such as layering to ensure the data is not compromised [13].
Some of the difficulty in understanding the vulnerabilities in cloud computing stems from
the fact that a cloud is a multi-dimensional computing environment that is broken into zones
and virtual machines (VM) and a data base could be segmented or replicated in several
places logically.
91
LeBron James: The Image Roller-Coaster
Joshua Shuart
LeBron James has in recent years twice been the most coveted free agent in the
National Basketball Association. On both occasions, multiple teams chose to spend several
seasons clearing salary cap space in anticipation of making him a contract offer. And both
times, coverage leading up to his signing has dominated all forms of media.
However, the two scenarios could not have been any different. In 2010, James was
vilified for his choice. In 2014, he was celebrated and adored. Somewhere in between he
played the role of villain, as well as hero. In a July 2014 Harris Poll, he was named for the
first time as the most popular athlete in America (Rovell, 2014).
This multiphasic study encompassed several important facets of celebrity endorsement,
and culminated in the development, testing, validation and analysis of an original 67-item
survey instrument. A 7-point Likert scale was employed. A sample has been drawn yearly
for the past decade from adults aged 17-42. Most agreed that LeBron James has achieved
―celebrity‖ status in U.S. society, but his status as a ―hero‖ wavered depending upon his
team‘s performance and the way in which he dealt with the media. This study encompasses
his entire career, with a year-by-year look at his popularity and marketability, and accounts
for the 2 free agency periods mentioned above. Further analysis will be discussed in the
presentation, as well as the impact that winning has had on the endorsement successes and
future potential.
92
Secured Chiropractic Database
Liza Strate, Mariah Ahlert, Brahn Olson, Brandon Ding, and Brittany Paulson
Secured Chiropractic Database Cobra Consulting is working with a chiropractic clinic

to bring an IT based patient database system as well as a website shell. We are working to
help them not only convert their paper filling system to a space-saving database; we are also
designing a website so he can begin advertising on the web. We hope by doing so we can
create a more efficient way of patient check-in, storing the patient information, and promote
business by expanding his current word-of-mouth system to include a web-based advertising
solution with a website. Due to the database containing HIPA protected private information
we are also going to great lengths to secure the database we create. We plan to use Access
Database to create the database. To protect the sensitive information we plan to set strict
permissions and log-in screens to enter the database with frequent password updates. We
also plan to restrict the access through the permissions with only certain tables being
available based upon your clearance level. We plan to implement other security constraints
through the implementation process as we debug.
93
An Evolution of Fertilizer Marketing Vision
Numair Ahmad Sulehri

Asif Khurshid
Abid Saeed
Abstract:
This study explains the marketing to the agriculture base of Pakistan and its dependence
upon fertilizer. The fertilizer had remained the main concern of farmers in developing
countries, being the main input for the grand crop, but the market was not familiar with the
customer focus and was not having any strategy to address customer. The fertilizer
companies were not using marketing as the tool to gain grounds in the competition.
Developing the marketing vision and access to better product for the customer which had
made the company as the leader of fertilizer industry in the country.
Key Words: Fertilizer, Urea, Agricultural services, product distribution.
1.0 The Fertilizer industry in Developing Countries:
Due to increased food demand and population growth the food consumption is triggered and
the steepest increase was in 1950 to 1990. Agriculture had remained the major sector in all of
the developing world. Even with the advances in the globalization most of the developing
countries are unable to embrace the mechanization and industrialization in the agriculture
industry fully. The farmers are facing the dilemma of limited choice of farm chemicals 1 for
their crops and thus ultimately lose the yield (Din & Jafry, 2007) due to unawareness and
capital requirements.
Food availability is decreasing due to conditions and lack of knowledge of farmers, most of
the crops are required in the developing world but is grown in the developed world. Because
of their technological superiority these countries are been able to learn increased productivity
of the crops but are not been able to resolve the world food requirement. For this the
collaboration, between the farm chemical companies, around the world is required. The
companies had remained gradual and slow in sharing the knowledge with developing world
and very few licensing agreements were signed. This situation had made limited use of
modern agriculture in most parts of the world.
Governments in developing countries try to overcome problems but due to imperfect market
conditions, the results are not encouraging most of the time. Thus the yield of small farmers
fail to match the competitive market price, which in turn discourage the cultivation. These
farmers pay more price in terms of physical labor and get less output.
Farmers were the customers of the farm chemical manufacturing companies (Saeed, 2014)
and these customers were ignored due to sale oriented approach of the companies. Although
these companieswere getting a lot of profit but never focused on consumers for (Mangi &
Anthony, 2014) for customer life time value.
1
Farm chemicals includes artificial fertilizer, Pesticides and micro-nutrients for the crops. The Urea fertilizer is the main focus
of this study.
94
With few manufacture companies the farm chemical industry had remained oligopolistic in
across the world, including US. These companies had manipulated the choices of farmers
which lead to less food than population. This trend is worst in underdeveloped countries
which had very limited access to these farm chemicals. The technological adoption in
developing countries had remained slow and the population growth remained more than the
resource growth.
Few agriculture oriented ventures in developing countries had joined hands with the
governments to cover the requirements of these farmers, but due to market gap companies
had adopted selling approach with short term focus (Din & Jafary, 2007). That selling
approach had been dealing with produce and sale thought, forgetting the availability to every
farmer at the right price. The farmers were compelled to use available materials with little
promise of the grand output.
Fertilizer industry backs the agricultural outputs with increased per acre yield (Farooq,
2012). In early 70‘s it was the start of a new era of urea fertilizer in Pakistan ( Qureshi &
Jamil 1970). Fertilizer manufacturers were strong and running in capital intensive
industries with a lot of demand and the flow of product through the third party in the market
with no intention of controlling the product because of whatever was produced was sold in
the market.
Under the mentioned circumstances there were few companies, like Fauji Fertilizer Company
(FFC), in the developing world who had remained customer focused and used strategic
marketing focus while taking the strategic decisions. These companies had become more
favorable for increasingthe yield and reinforcing the farmer by training and development.
Thus they had become the choice of the farmers for premium brand.
The global outlook of fertilizer is expanding with the consumption of 163mntpa2 in 2011 (Din
& Jafary, 2007). This had increased the role of farm chemical industry even in the
agricultural countries which rely on traditional methods of farming. The agriculture output
remained dependent upon the in time production and distribution of farm chemicals.
1.1 The Scenario:

It was the start of the Rabi3 season with the unusual spirit of the farmers smoking (huqa)
and planning for their new crops. They discussed about getting every support for the crops.
They planned fields, water, seeds, during the midday lunch break. While they were relaxing
after the preparation of their fields in the Rural Punjab (Pakistan), they were been
approached by a young smart agricultural Graduate (who had been employed by FFC to help
farmers in getting the grand crop). This was something new for the farmers who always were
in pursuit of help for their crops. The reason of his arrival was customer oriented approach of
his company. FFC was also busy with the final phase of plant initiation in rural Sindh 4.
Pakistan is an agriculture based country since its founding, with most of the cultivated area
in the province of Punjab and Sindh. Over the years the farmers were not educated and in
most cases financially weak (Akbar,Ahmad, & Muhammad, 1990). This scenario gives them
no bargaining power against the third party market forces 5. In absence of perfect market
situation the sellers are manipulating the crop yield through the supply of vital inputs, like
fertilizer, at the time of need.
2
Million tons per annum.
3
Crops of winter months, from September to April in Pakistan.
4
Agriculture south province of Pakistan.
5
The dealers and distributors.
95
1.2 The History:
Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited (FFC) is a strategic business unit of Fauji Group (SBU
details in Annexure III), which was formed under British Empire for welfare of war veterans
after World War II in 1945 (Anthony, 2014). FFC manufacturers Sona brand of urea. It was
a technical and a capital joint venture between Fauji Pakistan and their European
counterparts6. FFC was established to fill the gap demand and supply through indigenous
production (Figure 1). Although Kisan Urea (by National Fertilizer Corporation), Engro
Urea (by Exxon Chemicals) and Buber Sher (by Dawood group) were already in the market
and were selling all of their production. FFC had started by the brand name of Sona and
had actually made the shiny image into the minds of farmers.
The capital structure FFC shares are distributed among Fauji (the Parent Holding) 53% and
different investment companies, financial institutions and individuals (Group Shareholding
Pattern in Annexure III). Under an agreement FFC is marketing the entire production of
others strategic business units under its own brand name Sona.
Figure: 1
Source: State Bank of Pakistan (unit = 000 Ton).
1.3 The Problem:

This particular Fauji was the third in the industry in Pakistan and the competitors had
already established as Engro in the market and were well established in the minds and
Areas of the farmer community7. The survival in the competitive space was difficult because
of surplus of Urea8. Having this scenario the group had focused into a strategic vision of
marketing with the best human resource in the market to gain the competitive edge in the
market.
6
The fertilizer industry needed the technical and financial collaboration of being high in both the aspect at the same time Engro
Urea (by Exxon Chemicals) was also running on technical collaboration.
7
Being old they had the first mover advantage and for then the market was wide open that had given them the choice of just sell and forget but not perpetually.
8
FFC had to face very tough competition from the beginning in early 80 s. This competition coupled with the huge surplus of urea in the domestic market posed
a great challenge to the company in the initial years.
96
The company had sufficient of raw material 9 to produce the allocated limit of urea. The
manufacturing plant is run by the best experts in the country and they had plenty of funds to
run and distribute fertilizer across the country.
Historically most difficult task was to put the product in the market and establish the future
of the company in the local market which doesn‘t recognize the Sona vision. It was even more
difficult in the absence of national distribution network. The local distributors were
domination the sales of other companies and used to sell the product on personnel preference.
The large land owners used to get the bulk share of the fertilizer and the small farmers were
deprived from the fertilizer.
FFC had under stood its customer before everyone and develop the marketing strategy to
become the market leader (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012). This had increased the brand equity
even when others were focused on selling concept. Engro had followed them in this ideology
and is another successful company out of the footsteps in fertilizer industry in Pakistan.
1.4 Strategic Vision of the company.

They had studied the market and from the past and developed their marketing strategy. First
they had changed the area selling approach (urea manufacturers were selling in the adjacent
areas of their plants). FFC had developed the country wide distribution and warehouses
which made their product available across the country. Secondly the sale oriented market
approach was changed by FFC. They had approached the customer directly and instead of
selling only the product they had coordinated and developed the farms of their customers
through constant support. Thirdly the farmer feedback was blocked by intermediary dealer.
These independent dealers were strong enough to manipulate farmers and the companies
together. FFC had interacted directly and used its own dealerships to better handle the needs
of all the farmers. Wider dealership and distribution network had ensured two things. First
the availability of the product at the time of need secondly the right price across every
dealership. This had eased the purchase of urea bags for every farmer.
FFC marketing strategy had made them the market leader over the period of time and other
companies had started following them by adopting the same approach. FFC long term vision
had increased the brand loyalty among the farmers and the field services had further
increased the confidence of the end users (Riaz , 2010) thus they have gradually penetrated
the market and had captured most of the market share.
In the marketing strategy FFC had made a farmer friendly image in the rural areas of the
country which are known as main agriculture hubs. They not only had introduced the
product, but also had strengthen the brand loyalty by displaying the Model farms of crops at
the lands owned by local farmers.
FFC brand awareness and positioning
strategy had evolved gradually over the
years and adjustment of the strategy with
the market signals had made more
customer focused plans.
Fig 2: Valuation of FFC
9
Natural gas, the main raw material and fuel for the production of urea. Due to the shortage of natural gas the government gradually decreased the quota of
natural gas to all fertilizer manufacturing companies which had ultimately decreased the domestic production from 2007 to 2014.Proven reserves of natural gas
are estimated at 32 trillion cubic feet (TCF) and the fertilizer sector is the second largest consumer of natural gas.
97
stock at Karachi Stock Exchange, Source: BMA Capital.
FFC planned Agriculture based services by the name of Farm Advisory Services. This was
the strategic collaboration of FFC with of MIS Enj Chem Agricoltura S.P.A of Italy for
―Mobile Farm Extension Services (M.F.E.S)‖ for improving productivity of the land, in
central and Sothern Punjab (Akbar, Ahmad, Malik & Muhammad, 1990). They collectively
had expanded the technical facilitation mobile laboratories to farmers. Currently FFC is
single handedly running the farmers education and support to far flung areas. Under the
program the agriculture laboratories are made mainly for soil testing.
The experts guide the farmers on their fields and display the plants on the fields of farmers
so the product is displayed in the fields for the impact in the minds and the right choice for
the grand crop.
The model farms on the farmer own lands and guiding them for increased productivity by
modern methods, had worked for FFC for high yield image. The farm advisors, which were
mostly fresh agricultural graduates and were having deep knowledge of agricultural
productivity, were dealing directly with the farmers on the farms for advising and training
farmers with modern methods and use of fertilizer.
Secondly, in response to defensive marketing strategy by the competitors10 FFC had expanded
its network all across the country. The decision was financially tough because of limited
resources and extended area, but had served as a pivotal point in the long term strategic
implication by providing consistent product at consistent rate across the country.
1.5 The Success:

FFC is the market leader of urea manufacturing in the Pakistan. It fulfills the required needs
of approximately 60% of locally produced urea (FFC, 2014), at present, fertilizer market sales
and production, within the boundaries of the Country. FFC had the considerable share in
Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited (Annexure) which produces DAP11 for Pakistan. Thus
strategically aliening with sister concern, the company is the market leader in urea
manufacturer of the country. Since agriculture dynamics of Asia is very different from Africa,
which is mainly based on collaboration with competition (Peter & Hazell, 2010) , the
company had adopted the customer centric approach and providing consistent product (Riaz,
2010) at the right price and time.
FFC is the only nationally integrated company with more than three thousand dealer
network and warehouses (Riaz, 2010). The focus strategy on farmers had gained competitive
edge for the company, making it the highest taxpayer and socially responsible one in the
country, with a lot of investment in Customer Relationship Management (FFC, 2013).
The company had always believed in marketing a program to the farmer rather than just
selling the product. The farm Advisory services12, one of the most appreciated program in the
farming community, was designed keeping in view the same concept.
FFC had started with the Slogan of ―Feeding the people through the plant‖ and had traveled
a long way with the customer focus and product improvement. Their success can be seen from
the fact that previous expansion of the plant was denied to FFC, by Competition commission
10
Competitors had reduces the product to the adjacent areas of the factory to concentrate their efforts in to selected geographical areas.
11
Di Ammonium Phosphate another artificial fertilizer.
12
Fauji Fertilizer Company Ltd. has been providing Agricultural Advisory Services to the farming community throughout Pakistan since 1982, for increasing
the Agriculture production in particular. Our organization in pursuit of its national commitment and moral obligation maintains regular contact with the farmers
and various Research institutes to ensure a constant and efficient transfer of latest technology.
98
of Pakistan for the creation of Monopoly in Pakistan Urea market 13 . One of the most
successful companies in all the stock exchanges in Pakistan, with market capitalization of $
60bn (FFC, 2013). FFC is also providing the stock ownership to its own employees and are
allowing the capital base into a number of other successful projects.
The companies have not only gained success in the Sona Urea brand only, but it is successful
in marketing Sona DAP14 .Another venture of Fauji Fertilizer is the overseas plant for the
manufacturing of micronutrient which is added in the urea in small quantities to enhance
the ability of the fertilizer. The company is also in the process of helping African farmers by
setting their operations there (Anthony, 2014).
1.6 Methodology:
Because of lack of past literature on the subject the qualitative method with exploratory
research was adopted and the interviewing technique was adopted. Due to the concern from
the company the identity of the interviewee are kept hidden in the research. Notes were taken
during the interviews to keep track of content of the interviews.
17 Interviews were carried out with 40 to 65 minutes duration with top level and middle level
management. It include GM, Managers, deputy managers and assistant managers. 7
interviews were from marketing department. 3 were field managers, 2 were fertilizer depot in
charge and 2 were from head office. 6 interviews were with the research and development.
Remaining four managers were each from corporate relationship department, HR
department and administration department.
The age of the respondents were between 36 to 62 years with the average of 52 years. The
employment period was between 2 to 28years with the company. The education of the
respondents were between 18 – 24 years with two PhD‘s in the chosen sample. These
respondents
Keeping in view the diverse nature of work and experience of the interview subjects, open
ended semi-structured interviews were carried out.
After the completion of interviews a set of four questions were emailed to the company with
anonymous feedback to control the researcher biasness in the process. These questions were
again open ended. The questions for interviews are mentioned in Annexure.
The answers were analyzed and matched with the prior responses and were incorporated in
the conclusion section. The sentence based analysis of concept mapping technique was
adopted for this research (Jackson & Trochim, 2002). This technique explains the patterns
based on common sentence content in the interview responses.
1.7 Discussion
The interview responses were based on the individual experiences of the employees and their
interaction with the society, mostly the farmers.
In response to the first question regarding the superiority of the company marketing strategy
and the gain in the competitive position in the market the respondents were in agreement to
the superior performance of the company over the years. They also were contributing to the
society by consistent focus on the total farmer community, not just in specific areas near the
production plant. According to the respondent from marketing in the middle management.
13
FFC was refused to expansion by Competition Commission OF Pakistan despite Having the finances and expertise, where by allowing the expansion of
Engro, Fatima Fertilizer and Pak Arab Fertilizer to fill the gap of fertilizer deficiency in the country because of the Monopoly situation even then FFC had
remained the strong contender for the expansion of its plantt.
14
DAP is Di Ammonia Phosphate.
99
―….. When our competitors had consolidated their positions near the factory by
targeting the farmers in the adjacent villages. We (FFC) had invested a lot in sending urea to
every region of Pakistan‖.
This response points out the expansion strategy of FFC exactly to the response of
consolidation by other market player. Although the market conditions during the time of high
distribution and production cost were same. This highlights the long term focus on the
consumer by making the product available.
The availability had remained the major problem for the farmers and the distributors had
played the role of monopolist in the different regions. The farmers were unable to get the urea
and the small farmers were ignored totally. The distributors used to favor the large land
lords. But FFC strategy had gradually enabled the small and medium farmers to get the
urea from their distribution point and cultivate a healthy crop. This response from the
company had improved the image of the company in the minds of the farmers.
The distribution and marketing had remained prominent in the overall business vision.
According to respondent from sales.
―…… our distribution network is the strongest and is spread all across the country.
The distribution system is monitored by the company for timely and evenly availability of our
fertilizer‖.
The company ensures the product distribution by road and train to all of its distributors.
This is done with efficient product distribution at the time of need that even the small farmer
will get the fertilizer. Other competitors had followed the distribution example of FFC as the
leader in distribution strategy. With this the market imperfection for the availability got
better after the Year 2000 in the country.
Due to the rising shortages of raw material for the fertilizer sector the companies are
searching for new areas of investment. FFC had invested in the wind energy project in the
province of Sind (FFC, 2013).
The fertilizer industry had always played the central role for the agricultural needs of the
countries. This need had enabled the companies to accumulate the managerial knowledge
and market power to develop themselves. This status had enabled the horizontal growth of
the companies. After the raw material shortage these companies had had continued the
fertilizer business along with the new ventures.
It is the norm of fertilizer industry to accumulate management and technical expertise due to
capital intensive industry. Which had enabled it to expand business in energy sector. They
had taken over Askari Bank Limited and are utilizing the capital base more efficiently to
increase return on investment.
In response to question regarding management the following was said.

―The company had always taken care of their employees and this is the reason that
the life styles of company employees are attractive for the experts needed in the company. The
company not only employs the best workforce but also train and empower them to serve their
customers‖.
The worker welfare fund of the company looks after the employees need even after the
retirement. The education, health needs are funded from Sona Welfare Fund which enables
basic workers children to get the best education available. Secondly the employee‘s residential
colony is also available near the factory.
Respondent factory area had also appreciated the company as
―Company provides to its employees for the better image in the society, the FFC
employees are considered as more respectable in the society because of their living conditions‖
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During the last two year period with the start of corporate communication the company is
actively advertising and improving the image of the Fauji group. It now educating its
customers better than before similarly Engro and Fatima fertilizer are using the External
focus on the customers. This trend indicates the recognition of marketing strategy as effective
tool by the businesses in Pakistan.
1.8 Conclusion
The prompt thinking of setting up a Marketing division of the company right from the start
of the company, unlike its rivals in the market, had added to its goal of achieving the right
marketing approach for the farmers and they had perceived the company who had taken care
of their needs.
FFC success has also contributed positively gearing of agricultural techniques like
introduction of laser land leveling, drip Irrigation systems and soil analysis. These had not
only made the soil better productive, but also had enhanced the brand loyalty. The consumer
focus had enabled the company to build the customer loyalty among the farmer community in
the agricultural concentration areas across the country.
The success of the company is contributed to the subsidized and abundant supply of the feed
stock gas, which is the major raw material for the production of urea fertilizer (Aliani, 2013).
Fertilizer sector is facing declining profit, due to shortage of feed stock gas, in current
financial year 2013-2014. But the brand image that the fertilizer marketing companies had
gained in the minds of the public, had enabled these companies to expand their business in
other sectors, mainly in the food sector.
Secondly these companies are expanding their footprint in other parts of the world including
Midwest Fertilizer Corporation, Indiana with $ 300 mil(Mangi & Anthony, 2014).The
marketing initially was based on the promotion and uniform availability until recently,
when the companies had started the mass advertising all across the country(Saeed, 2014).
The Fatima Fertilizer will produce CAN fertilizer and will reduce the imported fertilizer in
US, by creating more jobs for the economy (correspondent, 2014).
On other hand FFC still is the leading market shareholder and is optimistic for its future
vision and has the highest Asian return on equity in farm chemical category (Anthony, 2014).
The new customers in the energy and food sector rely upon the company‘s brand equity in the
fertilizer sector.
For the collective success and food provisions in the developing countries the farm chemical
companies had to collaborate and adopt technology constantly from industrially advanced
countries (Peter & Hazell, 2010). Since the developing countries have more farm land the
food can be grown in abundance by helping the farm chemical companies in Asia and Africa.
The top level management is appointed for 3 to 5 years and board of director‘s also looks after
the long term strategic decisions but most of the decision making power remains with
managing director. With the change of managing director considerable portion of top level
management changes and the strategic goals also experience degree of change. The company‘s
most of the top and middle level management are retired officers of Pakistan Army, who are
not trained according to the corporate environment and are running the company under the
strict centralized control of the top level management. This is however managed with on and
off job training. With the presence of industry experts the minor and major strategic decisions
are taken according to the vision of the company.
101
The commitment of the company had worked and the company had started moving into the
leading position. The farm advisory service is also educating and guiding the farmers in
increasing the productivity with the use of modern methods.
1.9 Refrences.
Aliani, F. (2013). Fauji Fertilizer Company Defensive play with astounding yield ! (pp. 1–2).
Karachi.
Anthony, F. M. (2014, July 9). Pakistan‘s Fauji Fertilizer Plans Africa Plant. Retrieved from
www.bloomberg.com.
Aliani, F. (2013). Fauji Fertilizer Company Defensive play with astounding yield (pp. 1–2).
Karachi.
Barkat Ali Qureshi, M. J. (1970). Economics of Fertilizer Application to Wheat Crop : The
Results of a Survey in Lyallpur District. The Pakistan Development Review, 10(1), 88–99.
Farooq, O. (2012). Economic Survey of Pakistan (pp. 17–33). Islamabad.
Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited. (2013). FFC Annual Report. Rawalpindi. Retrieved from
http://www.ffc.com.pk/uploads/docs/ar_2013.pdf
Jackson, K. M., & Trochim, W. M. K. (2002). Concept Mapping as an Alternative Approach

for the Analysis of Open-Ended Survey Responses. Organizational Research Methods,
5(4), 307–336.
Jamil Akbar, Jamil Ahmad, Niaz Malik, Muhammad, Y. K. & S. M. (1990). Education
Triggers Up The Use Of Recommended Plant Protection Measures Among The Farmers.
Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 27(4), 354–357.
Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2012). Principles of Marketing (14th ed., p. 740). Pearson
Prentice Hall.
Peter, S. H. and, & Hazell. (2010). Successes in African Agriculture: Lessons for the Future
(p. 436). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University.
Riaz Muhammad. (2010). The role of the private sector in agricultural extension in Pakistan.
Rural Development News, 1, 15–20.
Sobia Muhammad Din, & Jafary, S. H. (2007). Pakistan Fertilizer Sector Review (pp. 1–52).
Retrieved from www.igisecurities.com.pk
Annexures.
The survey Questions.

Q1: Why the company‘s marketing is better than other agriculture chemicals companies in
Pakistan and what does it had achieved for the company?
102
Q2: How can company use management competencies in achieving the market leadership in
other businesses than fertilizer?
Q3: How company had sustained the image of a socially responsible company?
Q4: How company is building the perception of Sona Urea and corporate image in the minds
of the customers (Farmers)?
Assessment of HR development and utilization: In the public sector
Mussie Tessema
103
Abstract
This study discusses HRD and utilization practices and challenges in the public sector in
general and that of the developing countries (DCs) in particular. This paper argues that
HRD programs may be able to produce competent individuals but it may be difficult to
produce committed, motivated, and productive individuals as the latter seems to be a
challenge to organizations. These challenges, therefore, call for a strong linkage of HRD to
other HR programs. This suggests that HR utilization is an important aspect of HR
management (HRM). Implications of these findings and future research directions are
discussed.
Keywords: HR, HRM, HRD, Training, utilization, public sector, developing countries.
Introduction
The quality of a nation‘s workforce is a crucial determinant of its ability to compete and win
in world market. Competent workforce is the most important asset of an organization or an
institution or a nation (Den Hartog & Verburg, 2004; Mello, 2005; Pfeffer, 1994). Hence, the
role of employees who have the knowledge base, skills, experience, and expertise, and who
have the capabilities to use them for the betterment of their organizations and nations cannot
be overemphasized (Acquaah & Tukamushaba, 2009: 359).Human Resource Management
(HRM) underscores a belief that people really make the difference; only people among other
resources have the capacity to generate value. Human resources can be sources of sustained
competitive. According to Stone (1998: 4), ―HRM is either part of the problem or part of the
solution in gaining the productive contribution of people‖. In the words of Pfeffer (1994: 33),
―having good HRM is likely to generate much loyalty, commitment, or willingness to expend
extra effort for the organization‘s objectives‖.
Because personnel costs represent the lion‘s share of government budgets, effective
HRM could make a real difference(Pynes, 2009). Ingraham and Kneedler (2000: 245) further
highlight that ―government activities are typically highly personnel intensive and thus, HRM
practices are central to improving the quality of services offered by the governments.‖ HRM is
of central significance to every nation as they strive to govern well and deliver services
effectively. Organizations thus need to effectively manage their human resources if they are to
maximize individual and organizational performance (Hays, Kearney, & Coggburn, 2009)
and important aspects of managing human resource are HRD and utilization (Tessema &
Astani, 2012).
Many studies reveal that effective HRD and utilization now more than ever before are
a crucial ingredients in the provision of effective public service and the development process
of a nation (Hilderbrand & Grindle, 1997). However, HRD and utilization have come under
strong criticism in many DCswith their effectiveness thrown in doubt (e.g., Budhwar &
Debrah, 2004; Grindle, 1997; Kiggundu, 1989; Tessema et al., 2014).
This study will focus on the public sector, which comprises different types of
organizations each with their own distinctive management regimes. These range from the
core central government ministries, local government and a variety of parastatal public
enterprises enjoying varying degrees of organizational autonomy from central government
control. While this study tries to consider HRD and utilization in the public sector as a
whole, the focus will be mainly at the civil service organizations (central government
departments and/or ministries). This is because it is usually among these organizations that
104
the administrative crisis is most serious, where privatisation measures are least likely in the
future, and where, to date, most attention both by national governments and donor agencies
has been devoted to improving service delivery (World Bank, 1997). This study therefore
attempts to answer the following research questions:
1. How are employees developed (trained and developed) and utilized in the civil
service organization of DCs?
2. What are the challenges facing civil service organizations of DCs in HRD and
utilization?
Literature review
The increasing complexity in the role of the state in the context of rising aspirations of people
and scarcity of resources pose tremendous challenges to the management capacity of the state.
In a rapidly changing environment where the needs are great, resources are scarce and
pressure to achieve objectives is high, effectiveness of a civil service is crucial. This in turn
signals that countries have to make efforts in order to maximise the benefit derived from
resources invested in HRD. HRD has become a widely used term and its conceptions vary
widely (Werner & DeSimone, 2011). In this study, however, it refers to an organizational
effort to upgrade and improve the skills, knowledge, ability, and behavior of the
organizational workforce (Pynes, 2009: 310). According to Werner & DeSimone (2011),
training and development has been defined as a planned effort by an organization to
facilitate the learning of job-related behavior on the part of its employees. According to
Nalbandian and Nalbandian (2003), skills necessary for public servants include
administrative skills, political and policy skills, skills related to public service values, and
emotional and personal attributes. The aforementioned skills may lead to high performance of
public servants and public sector organizations (Ferris et al., 2007; Hays, et al., 2009).
HRD/training programs are necessary but not sufficient conditions for an effective
HRM and thus, HR utilization is an important aspect of HRM. Thus, no discussion of HRD
would be complete without considering the role of HR utilization (Hilderbrand & Grindle,
1997; Mello, 2015; Tessema, Soeters, & Abraham, 2005). HR utilization is the extent to which
available human resources are deployed effectively for the maximum achievement of
individual, collective, organizational or national goals and objectives. Effective HR
utilization may involve human resource allocation, maintenance, and further development
(Kiggundu, 1989: 151). Human resources need, like all other resources in organizations,
constant replenishment both qualitatively and quantitatively (Berman et al., 2012: 234;
Thomas & Theresa, 1995: 7). Effective HRD programs play an important role in making the
workforce well equipped with the necessary skills, knowledge and behaviour that they need to
successfully accomplish their duties and responsibilities (Werner & DeSimone, 2011).
After reviewing the relevant literature, we developed a conceptual framework
presented in Figure-1. To facilitate our understanding, different parts of the framework
(Figure 1) are presented in such a way that environmental factors (A1) affect HRM sub-
systems/practices (B1), which in turn affect HRM outcomes (C1), which subsequently affect
employee performance (D). The conceptual framework was based on the following
assumptions:
* External or environmental factors (economic, political, and socio-cultural) affect both
HRD and utilization practices, which in turn affect HR outcomes (e.g., HR competence,
motivation, and retention), which subsequently affect employee and organizational
performance.
105
* The HRM system has several functions. In this study, however, they are grouped under
three categories or sub-systems, namely HR procurement/staffing, training/development
and, utilization. This study, however, focuses on HRD and utilization of public/civil
servants. HRM-sub systems (HR staffing, HRD, and utilization) are affected by some factors,
which we coined ‗critical factors‘.
* The effectiveness of HRM in civil service organizations is influenced at three levels:
macro (environmental factors), organizational (organizational factors) and individual
(employee characteristics). However, this study puts much emphasis on the organizational
factors. Of course, organizational issues cannot be seen ignoring different HRD and
utilization issues at individual and macro levels.
Figure 1: A framework for assessing the effectiveness of HRD and utilization

practices
Level of analysis
Macro Organizational Individual
External HRM sub- HR outcomes

factors systems (C) Employee
(A) (B) ∙Competence performanc
∙ Economic ∙ HR procurement ∙ Motivation e
∙ Political ∙ HR development ∙Retention (D)
∙ Socio-cultural ∙ HR utilization
Critical factors for HR develop’t

∙Presence of clearly written &operational HRD policies
∙Continuity of ‘Training Needs Assessment’ (TNA)
∙Presence of written trainee-selection procedures
∙Linkage of HRD programs to organ’l objectives & strategy
∙Linkages of HRD programs to other HR programs
∙Capacity of the government to finance HRD programs
∙Commitment of policy makers & senior civil servants to
HRD
∙Conduciveness of the working condition (transfer of
training)
∙Continuity of monitoring & evaluation of HRD programs
Critical factors for HR utilization
∙Availability of well-developed HR programs & policies
∙Ability of the gov’t to effectively implement HR programs
∙Continuity of monitoring and evaluation of HR programs
Critical factors affecting the effectiveness of HRD/training

From an extensive literature review, the following critical factors affecting HRD/training,
have been identified:
Presence of clearly written and operational HRD/training policies: Training policy is
a policy that outlines the scope of all training activities, approaches to training needs,
assessment of the priority and financing arrangements, the roles and functions of different
categories of training institutions and mechanisms for co-ordinating their work, linkage of
training to career planning and development and guidelines for the monitoring and evaluation
of training (Paul, 1983). One of the pre-conditions for the success of civil service training is,
106
therefore, the presence of effective and operational training policies (Kerrigan & Luke, 1987;
Paul, 1983; Stephen, 2004; Tessema et al., 2007). Kiggundu (1989) and Paul (1983)
underscore that when training programs are developed in isolation from comprehensive
development planning or from general administrative policies and practices, many of the
factors that are crucial to successful training may be overlooked. Civil service training policy
must become an integral part of the national development planning and civil service HRM
system. With the existence of such policy, training becomes part of the administrative process of
civil service organizations. Without a need assessment, it is possible to design and implement
a training program as the solution to a problem that is not related to a training deficiency
(Pynes, 2009: 311).
Continuity of „Training Needs Assessment‟ (TNA): Training needs assessment is the first
step in the training cycle. It is critical as it provides the information on which training is
based and the latter can be no better than the quality of the analysis permits. If HRD is to be
responsive to real needs of organizations through improving the relevance of the training
programs, conducting proper and continuous training needs assessment is a vital issue.
According to Berman et al. (2012), the effectiveness and relevance of training are increased
when it addresses specific and relevant work problems. The identification of training needs
should start with an assessment of the organization or national goals, objectives and priorities
(e.g., Alam, 1990; Kirkpatrick&Kirkpatrick, 2006; Stephen, 2004).Following national
planning and goal setting, and after organizational and individual training needs
assessments, the appropriate training programs can be chosen to support national programs,
organizational improvement, and individual development.
Linkage of HRD programs to organizational objectives and strategy: When there is a

proper linkage of HRD programs to organizational objectives and strategy, HRD becomes
relevant to the achievement of organizational objectives (Kerrigan & Luke, 1987; ILO, 1998).
The quality of training in the public sector can be improved only if HRD efforts are integrated
with manpower planning of the public sector, which, in turn, has to be integrated with the
changing development objectives and strategies of a country (Kiggundu, 1989).
Presence of written and acceptable trainee-selection procedures: If HRD is to have an

impact, organizations should select trainees who are suitably qualified and
motivated/willing to undertake a particular training program (Guerrero & Sire, 2001;
Tessema et al., 2005). There must be some criteria for the same or similar basis of which
candidates should be selected such as age, educational level, position level, type of career and
responsibilities, past experiences, performance records, etc. so that the entire group will
consist of suitably qualified candidates to participate in the same training program (Paul,
1983; Tessema et al., 2005). Hence, careful selection of trainees contributes a lot to the
success of training programs. It is also believed that the trainability of the individual
participant may influence her/his learning, attitude as well as behavioural change and
performance.
Linkages of HRD programs to other HR programs and policies: Linkage of HRD to

other HR programs (placement, promotions, salary, other incentives, etc.) is one of the key
ingredients for an effective HRD (e.g., Berman et al., 2012;ILO, 1998; Tessema, et al., 2014).
This is because the above linkages significantly affect the motivation of trainees, which
subsequently influences the impact of the HRD programs. Employees are more likely to
107
pursue training opportunities when they believe that doing so is linked to future promotion
opportunities or at least favourable consideration for merit increases and positive performance
reviews (Naffet al. 2014). The ILO (1998: 9) also underscores that before any investment in
HRD can be made, there must be an assumption that career structures have been designed
on the basis of reliable, objective and established criteria. This is mainly because career
development linked to the training encourages the trainees to search for more skills, and it also
raises the productivity of the organization.
Capacity of a government to finance HRD programs: The adequacy and reliability of

financial resources is one of the key factors for the success of HRD (Pfeffer, 1994; Tessema et
al., 2005). An important factor influencing HRD is its financing and funding. There are
varying practices and the proportion of funds allocated by government for training purposes
differs widely. Some DCs earmark a particular percentage of total budget for training while
others create a special training fund. Most of the time, HRD funds in the case of DCs, come
from two major sources: budgetary allocation by the government and funding by sponsoring
organizations or countries (e.g., ILO, 1998; Paul, 1983). Allocating (specific) HRD budget
reveals the commitment of a government to HRD.
Conduciveness of the working condition (transfer of training to work place): A

conducive working condition where trainees are able to apply what they have learned greatly
affects the impact of HRD (e.g. Berman et al., 2012; Grindle, 1997; Werner & DeSimone,
2011). Senior managers have to encourage trainees to practise what they have learned by
creating a conducive working environment. This is because if senior managers do not provide
opportunities to the trainees to apply their new skills and knowledge, the benefits from HRD
will be quickly lost. Sharma (1994: 125) argues that one of the important shortcomings in the
training program is the lack of incorporation of the training results in actual work operation.
This is an important deficiency. Training motivation is also correlated with post-training and
with transfer of knowledge acquired to the work situation (Kirkpatrick&Kirkpatrick, 2006).
Commitment of policy makers and senior civil servants to HRD: There is no doubt
that, like all national development programs and projects, the success of HRD initiatives is
contingent on the active support of both policy makers and senior civil servants (e.g., ILO,
1998; Stephen, 2004). A commitment on the part of both political and bureaucratic
leadership is an important requirement of successful implementation of HRD programs.
Policy makers and senior civil servants should themselves be convinced of the utility of HRD.
Top management bodies should believe that the time and money spent in HRD by them is not
a loss but a gain and a fruitful investment (Grindle, 1997).
Continuity of monitoring and evaluation of HRD programs: It is believed that if there is

no effort to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of a training program, the function may in
reality mean wastage of time and money. HRD may, then, do greater harm to an organization.
The supposed panacea may turn out to be a scapegoat (Kirkpatrick&Kirkpatrick, 2006). It is,
therefore, essential to see that HRD ensures its continuity by providing the returns that are
greater than the costs incurred in its operation. Unless responsibility is allocated to monitoring
and it is clear what is to be monitored, problems may go undetected and the effectiveness of the
activities and programs will be diminished. If time and other resources are made available for
implementation of HRD programs but not for follow-up and evaluation, this important stage of
the HRD process will be neglected.
108
Critical factors affecting the effectiveness of HR Utilization
From an extensive literature survey, the following three critical factors for HR utilization in a
civil service are identified:
Availability of well-developed HR programs and policies
A government has to formulate HR programs and policies and ensure that they are correctly
interpreted and consistently applied throughout the civil service so that all employees are
treated fairly and equitably. This suggests that a number of benefits could be obtained from
the availability of well-developed HR programs and policies (e.g., Berman et al., 2012; Mello,
2015; Naff et al., 2014). HR programs that affect HR utilization include pay, employee
benefits, placement, employee performance evaluation, promotion and transfer, and
disciplinary program.
Ability of a civil service to effectively implement HR programs

The capacity of civil service organizations to properly implement HR programs is a crucial
factor for effectively utilizing the existing HRs (e.g., Grindle, 1997; Hays et al., 2009;
Stephen, 2004). This suggests that developing attractive HR programs is necessary but not
sufficient in effectively utilizing civil servants. Thus, the issue of ability to put the program
into action comes into being. Berman et al. (2012) also underline that top officials must
publicly commit to the HR programs by devoting sufficient resources to them. The ability of
the government to implement HR programs should also be supplemented by government‘s
willingness and commitment to take seriously the issues of merit. This is because the civil
service especially in many DCs have been politicized, which in turn adversely affected the
objectivity of HR decisions to be taken (e.g., Das, 1998; Heady, 1996). Thus, given the
complexity of HRM, developing and implementing successfully different HRM programs is a
critical factor for effective HR utilization.
Continuity of monitoring and evaluation of HR programs

Developing and implementing attractive HR programs alone may be necessary, but not
sufficient. This is because unless HR programs and policies are monitored and evaluated,
they may not always be able to attract, motivate and retain qualified and experienced staff
as the perceptions and demands of employees change with fast changing world (Hays, et al.
2009; ). Effective HRM, therefore, demands that HRM systems be monitored and evaluated
comprehensively to assess whether the elements are all pointing in the same direction and to
see whether the organization is implementing HRM programs and policies as they should be.
Once the problems have been identified, preventive or corrective actions can be initiated as
required by the situation (Kirkpatrick &Kirkpatrick, 2006; Naff et al. 2014). Thus,
monitoring and evaluation mechanisms could help organizations to take all necessary
measures, which benefit the organization.
External factors affecting HRD and utilization

The effectiveness of HRD and utilization in a civil service is not only influenced by internal
factors but also by external factors (e.g., political, economic, socio-cultural) (Pynes, 2009;
Hays et al., 2009). The environment in which public organizations conduct their operations
critically influences the development of internal relationships. Pynes (2009: 1) further
remarks that public organizations are finding themselves having to confront a variety of
economic, social, and cultural changes with which they must cope effectively if they are to
remain viable.
109
Economic factors: They have significant effect upon the ability of a government to commit
resources, which in turn influence the effectiveness of HRD and utilization practices (Hays et
al., 2009). Many public organizations especially in DCs find themselves in the position of
being unable to compete with the NGOs and the private sector for personnel (Tessema &
Astani, 2012). As a result, the ability to pay becomes an unarticulated policy limitation on
compensation. HRD in the public sector is complicated by a declining budget combined with
heightened citizen complaints and pressures for higher productivity (Naff et al. 2014).
Political factors: Unlike in the private sector, political factors have great impact on HRD
and utilization in the public sector (Naff et al., 2014; Colling, 1997). In addition, the political
climate of DCs is different from that of the industrial countries in that organizations in DCs
often face a highly volatile and unstable political environment (Tessema et al., 2014; Beugre
& Offodile, 2001).
Socio-cultural factors: The organization‘s culture refers to norms of conduct, work

attitudes, and the values and assumptions about relationships that govern behaviour at the
organization (Hays et al., 2009). According to Pynes (2009: 106), organizational culture is
defined as ―the values, beliefs, assumptions, expectations, attitudes, and norms shared by a
majority of the organization‘s members‖. HRM in any country has not developed in a social
and economic vacuum. As a managerial function, HRM is as much a product of complex
cultural and historical forces. These cultural and historical contexts have helped shape HRM
function within organizations (Pfeffer, 1994). An organization‘s HRD strategy has to be
tailored around these underlying values, behavioural, norms, and social groupings (Mello,
2015). Civil service organizations, therefore, should make efforts to develop HRM policies and
programs compatible with tradition and culture, if they are to get the required benefit from
their employees.
Research Methodology
The main objective of this study is to discuss HRD and utilization practices in civil service
organizations in DCs. Taking into account the above objective as well as the context of DCs,
we developed a conceptual framework (Figure 1). A conceptual framework covers the main
features (aspects, dimensions, factors, variables) of a study and their presumed relationship
(Robson, 1995: 150). Robson (1995) argues that developing a conceptual framework enables a
researcher to be explicit about what s/he thinks is doing. Conceptual framework also helps to
be selective, to decide which are the most important features, which relationship are to be of
importance and therefore, what data are going to be collected and analyzed.
Discussion
One of the main objectives of this study is to assess HRD and utilization in the public (civil)
sector of DCs. To that objective, first we developed a conceptual framework taking into
account the context of both public sector and DCs. Training/HRD effort emerged as an
absolute necessity for all countries in general and those countries owing to the shortage of
qualified public/civil servants in particular (Kerrigan & Luke, 1987; McCourt & Sola, 1999).
HRD has become, therefore, increasingly important for ensuring that DCs have an adequate
and continuous supply of competent civil servants. As argued by the ILO (1998), effective
HRD programs (training and education) are increasingly important in the development
process of countries in general and DCs in particular. Hilderbrand and Grindle (1997: 53)
110
indicate that ―while training and recruitment are important aspects of developing capacity,
effective utilization of human resources within organizations is the most important factor in
determining whether public officials are productive or not.‖ Ineffective HRD and utilization
practices are a major limiting factor in the development process of many DCs (Hilderbrand
& Grindle, 1997;Kiggundu, 1989; Tessema & Astani, 2012). Thus, it could be argued that one
of the main reasons for the failure of development programs and projects as well as of
government routine operations is either a lack of competent public servants or an inability to
effectively utilize the existing expertise of the human resource (Tessema et al., 2005).
Over the past four decades, governments in DCs have been attempting to improve the
skills and knowledge of their civil servants through HRD programs funded by themselves as
well as donor countries and agencies. However, despite all the efforts made so far, HRD
programs have had limited impact on the effectiveness of the civil service organizations in
many DCs (Cohen & Wheeler, 1997; ILO, 1998; Hilderbrand & Grindle, 1997; Clemens &
Pettersson, 2007). It is mainly due to ineffectiveness of the HRD program as well as their
inability to effectively utilize the expertise of the well-trained civil servants.
HRD and utilization practices in the public sector of DCs are significantly affected by
external factors such as political, economic, and socio-cultural. The civil service
organizations are increasingly being influenced by external factors that impact their internal
operations, particularly, HRD. Colling (1997: 655) notes that the environment in which
public organizations conduct their operations critically influences the development of
internal relationships. Due to the above reasons, Berman et al. (2012) remark that managing
people in government requires knowledge of the above-mentioned external factors within
which HR policies and activities take place. Perry and Mesch (1997: 220) note that powerful
economic, demographic, and technological forces have arisen that are radically reshaping
longstanding assumptions about organizations and management. Thus, this paper contends
that knowing the environmental context plays an important role in improving our standing
how HRD and utilization related decisions are made and implemented in civil organizations.
The economy of most DCs have not been doing well over the past four decades, which
in turn has affected their ability to allocate adequate resources for HRD and utilization
programs and practices. ―Adequate pay is a key component in improving and sustaining the
motivation, performance and integrity of public servants‖ (UN, 2005: x). However, there has
been a decline in civil service salaries in DCs. The ILO (1998: 45) states that ―real wages in
Africa declined by 2 percent annually during the period 1990-1996‖. The salaries of senior
civil servants in sub-Saharan Africa are compressed relative to the minimum pay in the
salaries (Das, 1998: 17). For instance in Ghana, the compression ratio was 2.2, which
means that the salary of the top-most civil servant was only 2.2 times that of the lowest-paid
employee in the government (Numberg, 1994). For example, in Eritrea, civil service salaries
have not been adjusted since 1996/7 (Tessema et al., 2014). Severe wage compression and
low-level of remuneration for senior as well as highly educated civil servants made it
difficult for the civil service in many DCs to retain and utilize the best and brightest. Besides,
experiences of most DCs indicate that in spite of the importance of allocating adequate budget
for HRD purposes, many DCs, in recent years, have been seen to decrease HRD investment
(e.g., ILO, 1998; Tessema et al., 2014). In the words of Berman et al. (2012: 233), ―training is
often the forgotten budget item‖. Under short-term budget pressure, HRD is often the first
thing to be cut.
The political conditions has also affected HRD and utilization practices in that there
has been political instability in many DCs (Heady, 1996; Tessema et al., 2014) as well as
political interference (Das, 1998). For example, Das (1998: 19) argues that ―politicization has
111
resulted in the total erosion of traditional civil service values such as political neutrality,
probity, rectitude, and objectivity‖. Furthermore, Heady (1996) notes that recruitment to the
civil service in many countries is mostly based on considerations other than merit. As a
consequence, some systems are ‗civil service‘ in name only and function as ‗spoils systems.‘ In
other words, the government‘s personnel system may be nominally merit but practically
political. Hence, civil servants who are well qualified, motivated and productive is a goal
common to many countries; yet, this simply stated goal is usually not achieved. Despite the
prominent doctrine of HRM or merit system in a public sector, a comparison between merit
principles and the actual practice of public HRM in many DCs had been a disillusioning
experience. This implies that public HRM would not be complete without mentioning the
influences of political factors. As a result, it has been argued that managing a public
organization is a more difficult task than managing a private sector (Pollitt & Bouckaert,
2000; Pynes, 2009). The objectives governing the management of public organizations and
their workforces were subject to various forms of political control and scrutiny (Colling,
1997: 655).
The socio-cultural factors also influence both HRD and utilization. The indigenous
social arrangements, which lead to the patronizing attitude as well as the nepotism and
favouritism seen in the management of civil service in many DCs have an adverse effect on
both HRD and utilization (Beugre & Offodile, 2001). For example, in a study of managers‘
motivation in Africa, Beugre (1998, quoted in Beugre & Offodile, 2001: 537) states that
African managers are required to satisfy the social needs of their relatives. Behind every
African worker, there is a family requesting attention, time and, mostly, money. Obligation to
relatives often leads to nepotism and/or favouritism. For example, helping one‘s relative for a
job, placement, promotion, and HRD opportunity could be considered normal.
The aforementioned external factors or the context within which civil servants are
trained/developed and utilized adversely affected the effectiveness of HRD and utilization.
Many civil servants trained at the expense of civil service organizations defect to private
sector, NGOs, and abroad where salaries and other privileges are often higher (Marfouk,
2008; Tessema et al., 2014). For example, Marfouk‘s study (2008: 6) shows that ―10 out of the
53 African countries have lost more than 35 per cent of the their tertiary educated labor force
and countries such as Cape Verde (68 percent), Gambia (63 percent), Seychelles (56 percent),
Mauritania (56 percent) and Sierra Leone (53 percent) suffered from a massive brain drain.
In some DCs, the brain drain is acute. Haddow (quoted in Cohen & Wheeler, 1997: 125)
indicated that ―[the] government must train four officers to retain one for a long period of
time… [this] serious retention problem… is reaching alarming proportions… [it] must be
addressed squarely‖.
It must be noted that wide variations exist as to how countries manage HRD and
utilization programs. That is, variations in contextual factors act as constraints on or
enhancement in the HRD and utilization. Nevertheless, the presence (or absence) of the
critical factors identified in the framework (Figure 1) greatly affects the effectiveness of HRD
and utilization, which subsequently influences the performance of a civil service. Those
critical factors for both HRD and utilization are greatly affected by external factors.
Especially, factors such as economic and political are found to be instrumental in either
facilitating or hindering the presence of the critical factors, which influence the effectiveness
of HRD and utilization. Thus, an important question to ask is that ‗it is not how many
employees are trained, but how they are trained/developed, utilized, and retained that
matters‘. The answer to the above question is multifaceted involving economic, political, and
managerial factors. Put it differently, many DCs have been experiencing serious HRD and
112
HR utilization problems. As a result, continuous warnings have recently been sounded that if
development goals are to be achieved, the significance of effectively training/developing and
utilizing existing civil servants throughout the total administrative system cannot be
overemphasized.
Conclusions and direction for future research

This study argues that, the critical factors identified in the conceptual framework
significantly influence the effectiveness of both HRD and utilization. However, it concludes
that many of the critical factors for an effective HRD and utilization practices in the civil
service of DCs have either been inadequate or missing. Likewise, an analysis of the
environmental factors, (mainly economic and political) reveals that these factors are not very
conducive. On this basis, this study concludes that the unfavourable environmental factors
(economic, political, and socio-cultural) obtaining in many DCs are the ones that have
hindered effective HRD and utilization. The cumulative effects of the prevailing HRD and
utilization challenges have adversely affected civil servants‘ competence (ability to do),
motivation (willingness to work) and retention (willingness to stay). The existing situation in
many DCs contributes to the under-utilization of the limited number of highly skilled
workforce. These problems are compounded by the fact that DCs are increasingly unable to
retain the trained personnel employed in the civil service. They also are unable to effectively
utilize the expertise of those who do not leave the civil service. Thus, it is intuitively
appealing to support the argument that civil service organizations in many DCs are not
prestigious places which can attract, motivate, and retain qualified and experienced workers.
Hence, this study argues that more than anything else, it is the personnel crisis in the civil
service organizations in DCs that has to be addressed if meaningful improvements in service
delivery are to be realized. This study further argues that, for better understanding of HRD
and utilization in civil service organizations, there is a need to take into account the wider
contexts within which HRD and utilization operate.
This paper concludes that HRD programs may be able to produce competent
individuals, but it may be difficult to produce committed and motivated. This study contends
that instead of the HRD to have a positive impact on the morale and performance of the
trained workforce, it could have a negative impact, if it is not supplemented with other
motivational factors such as proper placement, supervision, pay and benefits, promotion,
opportunities to practice skills and knowledge learned, etc. Finding new ways to motivate
and retain competent and experienced employees is a major priority. Berman et al. (2012)
state that keeping good people once a government finds them is equally important. Grindle
also argues that ―training and skill building investments tend to be more easily accomplished
than utilizing professional and technical personnel appropriately‖ (1997:13). One way of
effectively utilizing existing employees is, therefore, to have attractive and implementable HR
programs. Therefore, the HR problem for organizations is often not so much the availability
of well-trained/developed employees, but how they were utilized once they were recruited and
trained into the organization. This study argues that HRD investments tend to be more easily
accomplished than retaining and utilizing trained personnel appropriately. As suggested by
Mello (2015), HR-practices either work together as a package or they fight each other. One
may argue that training is necessary, but not sufficient in improving the performance of civil
servants. This suggests that HR-utilization, which is greatly affected by motivation, is also
very crucial.
The present study extends previous research in HRD and utilization practices and
challenges in the public sector organizations in general and civil service organizations in
113
particular. It is an important step forward in understanding the HRD and utilization
practices and challenges facing DCs and thus, it has a good contribution to the existing
literature.
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Historical Origins of China‟s Post-1978 Economic “Miracle”
Stephen Thomas
Ji Chen
117
Since 1978, China has achieved one of the most remarkable economic growth records
in world history. China‘s economic development success is especially impressive in light of
its huge population and the many obstacles, both domestic and foreign, that China has faced.
Since 1978, China‘s GDP has grown an average of about 9 percent annually. Per capita
income has risen from USD 220 in 1978, to USD 400 by 1989, to over USD 6,000 by 2014.
As of 2014, China‘s economy has become the world‘s largest in purchasing power parity
(PPP), according to a 2014 World Bank estimate.
What are the economic development lessons that post-1978 Chinese economic leaders
have drawn from China‘s 1842 to 1943 ―Century of Humiliation,‖ from China‘s economic
development experiences from 1949 to 1978, and from the examples of the four East Asian
Tiger economies in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore? How have these
historical lessons influenced and guided the economic development policies that China has so
successfully designed and pursued since 1978?
To answer, we will first identify the lessons drawn from China‘s 1842 to 1943
―Century of Humiliation‖ during which China lost significant areas of economic and political
sovereignty. Qing China lost many areas of sovereignty in the 1842 ―unequal treaty‖ resulting
from China‘s defeat by the British in the first ―Opium War‖ of 1839 to 1842. China thereafter
lost still more areas of sovereignty in unequal treaties resulting from additional military
defeats in 1860, 1895, and 1900. Together these losses of sovereignty reduced China from its
1800 position as a world economic superpower, to one of near colonial status during its 1842
to 1943 ―Century of Humiliation,‖ so that by 1949 China had become one of the world‘s
poorest and weakest countries. We will then describe how the negative consequences of
China‘s pe-1949 lack of sovereignty have influenced China‘s 1949 to 1978 and post-1978
economic development polices.
Second, we will describe how from 1949 to 1978, Chinese communist leaders used
China‘s newly gained full sovereign powers to design and implement successful economic
development policies. From 1949 to 1960, Chinese economic leaders drew partly on China‘s
pre-1949 experiences and partly on a Soviet-style communist state-planned economic
development model that including Soviet technological and financial support. From 1960,
after the Sino-Soviet split, to 1978, Chinese economic planners pursued a more ―self-reliant‖
development policy. The economic development outcome for these two periods was an annual
economic growth rate from 1949 to 1978 of from 3 to 5 percent, China‘s first successful
economic development record since 1842. China‘s post-1949 economic development occurred
despite the disasters of the GLF and the Cultural Revolution and the economic damage that
resulted from the US-led Western economic embargo of China from 1949 to 1969. China‘s
economic development record was successful compared with other large poor developing
countries during the same period (see World Bank report on China, 1978).
Third, we will describe China‘s successful post-1978 market reform policies, and show
how they have drawn partly on China‘s pre-1949 lessons, partly on China‘s 1949 to 1978
policies, and partly on the successful economic development policies of the market-oriented
economies of the four East Asian countries of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and
Singapore, the most successful Newly Industrialized Economies (NIEs) since World War II.
Many analysts doubted that market reforms would work in a communist country like
China, given the relatively less successful economic development records (compared to the
Western market economies) of the Soviet Union, Eastern European communist countries,
North Vietnam, and Cuba, and the economic disasters of North Korea and Kampuchea. But
China‘s mix of economic development policies has succeeded. In our paper, we will show how
lessons from China‘s pre-1949 ―Century of Humiliation,‖ from China‘s relatively successful
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economic development policies from 1949 to 1978, and from the example of the four East
Asian Newly Industrialized Economies (the NIEs), have been mixed together to help create
the successful economic development policies that have led to China‘s post-1978 ―economic
miracle.‖
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Cloud Security 101: A Primer
Nigel van der Burg

Scott Peterson
Abstract: Cloud computing is a convenient and innovative approach to providing

applications and storage for consumers and firms alike. However, unlike organizations with
IT management and in-house resources, consumers and individuals who rely on these cloud
services often do not have the expertise (nor do they take the time) to consider the security
implications. Recent headlines bear this out. This paper seeks to outline basic steps for
implementing security over cloud services.
What is meant by the term ―cloud‖ means different things to different people. In the
context of modern computing, the cloud is simply a place to do computing, store data and
share network resources. Many are familiar with local area networks where files, printers
and other computing resources can be shared and accessed. The cloud is just a different
place. In many cases, that place is a data center located in some nondescript part of the
world. Cloud computing, by extension, is simply accessing resources and doing computing in
a different place.
According to NIST, cloud computing ―is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient,
on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g.,
networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and
released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.‖ (Mell, P., &
Grance, T. 2011).
Consumers, students, faculty, staff and others rely on cloud resources in daily life. We
access music, videos, documents, and the like. We also share and collaborate in a wide
variety of ways. Music stored in Apple‘s iTunes accounts are based on cloud technology.
Email accessed via Google‘s gmail, Google Apps for Education and even Facebook are all
examples of cloud computing.
Before proceeding, it should be noted that historically, there are many forms of
security, some of which are applicable to the cloud and others of which are not. Generally
speaking, security in a network or computer sense refers to physical security, logical security,
and tangentially, social / people security. Often the weak link in the security chain is the
people part. We call attacks against this part ―social engineering.‖ It is critical to defend
against this form of attack.
As consumers and firms move their systems, storage, and even networks to the cloud, it
is crucial to understand that the means to protect and defend these assets requires a different
mindset and approach compared with defending and protecting locals networks, for example.
The primary reason is that we no longer have physical control of those cloud resources.
Physical Security
As the value of data on computing networks increases and become more secure,
physical attacks on computing systems to steal or modify assets become more likely. This
technology requires constant review and improvement. The term ‗physical security‘ is often
used to describe the protection of assets from fire, water, theft or natural disasters. But now,
while the security measures to protect data and computing systems rises, physical security is
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also used to protect these assets from unauthorized access. Indeed, as systems are migrated to
cloud platforms, the physical layer of protection is suddenly changes substantially. Neither
the end-users nor the systems administrators have the same degree of physical control of
assets. For example, as application servers, such as database servers, are moved from data
closets housed on premise to distant datacenters, there is no longer a need to physically lock
those data room doors. So, how does one secure access?
Physical security can be seen as a barrier placed around a computing system to deter
unwanted and unauthorized access. Physical security is complementary to logical security.
According to Weingart (2008) ―there is one main difference; physical security concentrates on
the physical access of the computing system itself, logical security is the mechanism by which
operating systems and other software prevent unauthorized access to data.‖ Both methods are
complementary to environmental security; the protection of the system by virtue of location
such as guards, cameras, badge readers, access policies, etc. For example; it may be that a
person has access to the building (physical security) but may not have access to some (or all)
of the data stored on a computing system in that location (logical security).
In the past few years physical security for consumers and end users has become more
important, as Weingart says; ―computing systems are moving out of environmentally secure
computer rooms and into less environmentally secure offices and homes‖ (Weingart 2008).
The rise of mobile devices such as laptops, tablets and smartphones which connect from home
environments to corporate networks are an example of this phenomena. Another reason that
physical security is becoming popular; cloud computing. Cloud computing takes time and
place away from information and data. When a company makes use of cloud computing, it no
longer has control over the physical security of its assets; this is in control of the cloud
provider.
Technical Security
Technical security includes a vast array of controls and procedures. At the macro level,
system administrators enforce user authentication, limit login attempts (more on this later),
require ―complex‖ passwords, require periodic password changes, create access controls and
monitor logging information.
With respect to cloud-based computing systems (not unlike any computing system), the
most vulnerable aspect regards malicious use (either intended or unintended) by its own
users. This has always been true and is more true with technically savvy users. These users
interact with the outside world and can be a great threat to the system. For example, a
corporate executive can access company email and resources with a laptop in a coffee shop
half-way around the world. And when attackers cannot access the computing systems in a
direct fashion, they use employees as proxies by means of phishing tactics or malware.
Therefore it is very important that all activity on a computing system and its network are
carefully monitored. Unfortunately, in a cloud environment, this is very difficult to
accomplish. In cloud platforms firms do not own nor do they have direct control over
infrastructure. And hence it cannot be secured in the same sense. By definition, a public
cloud is accessible by anyone.
Since the data stored on computing systems becomes more valuable and personal, it
also has become more valuable to attackers. A self-respecting network administrator knows
about everything that happens on its network and computing systems. Technical devices and
tools like Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) detect
and prevent unwanted behavior on a network. Firewalls check every ingress and egress
traffic. -extra here-
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A big part of technical security is about who can access the data, and by what method.
This is also called authentication. When a legitimate user wants access the network to get to
the preferred resource, the user has to provide authentication credentials; e.g. a userid and
password. Recent information security breaches show that simple single-factor
authentication schemes are not enough. The iCloud breach was so effective because there was
only one factor for authentication and the attackers could try as many username and
password combinations as possible. The attacker used a brute force program to simply guess
the combinations. The most common authentication method is a combination of a username
and password and is called single-factor authentication. A more secure authentication
method is two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication implies there are two
elements required prior to being given access to assets; 1. something one knows (a userid and
password) and 2. something one has (a hard token or PIN). Another example of something
you have, often glamorized in the movies, is your fingerprint, palm scan, or retina scan.
While these means may be used, they are not commonly in use for commercial applications.
For example, most large banks and many regional banks now use RSA hard tokens as a
second factor.
The recent, highly public, ―breach‖ of Apple‘s iCloud service exemplifies how a combination
of username and password authentication are not enough. After this was made public, and
after iCloud photo‘s and video‘s of several celebrities were exposed, Apple implemented two-
factor-authentication. [1]
Social Engineering
Many companies spend enormous resources to ensure corporate computer security. The
security protects company secrets, assists in compliance with federal US laws, and enforces
privacy of company clients. However, even the best physical and technical security
mechanisms can be bypassed through social engineering techniques. According to Anderson
(2008) , deception of various kinds, is now the greatest threat to online security. It is used to
compromise confidential information directly. These attacks are collectively known as social
engineering.
A driver for the rising surge in social engineering attacks is that more people have
better understandings of technology. The proper technical security measures can effectively
combat any technical threat posed by an outsider. Anderson (2008) says that security
designers learn how to prevent the easier technological attacks, so psychological
manipulation of system users or operators become more attractive. It is a logical response
that the security engineers must understand basic psychology aspects of social engineering,
and adjust the organizations policies to prevent social engineering. ―A company can spend
hundreds of thousands of dollars on firewalls, intrusion detection systems and encryption
and other security technologies, but if an attacker can call one trusted person within the
company, and that person complies, and if the attacker gets in, then all that money spent on
technology is essentially wasted.‖ - Kevin Mitnick
Social Engineering is the term the hacker community associates with the process of
using social interactions to obtain information about a ‗victim‘s‘ computer system – (Dealy,
1995). This statement was made by Dealy in 1995, but don‘t get fooled by the age of the
statement. Nowadays in the 21th century, it is still true. The key in this statement is the use
of social interactions. When attempting a social engineering attack, no or little technical help
is used against the victim.
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Different attacks
There are several different ways of performing social engineering. The most common is
the attacker who pretends to be someone else (impersonation). The vector?? This type of social
engineering attack is performed by calling or phishing. describe a phishing scheme. The
attacker can pretend as a system administrator over the phone, who has to reset your account
and needs your password. Or he sends an email with a bogus hyperlink to ‗update your
information‘ or ‗reset your password‘. This is also known as phishing.
Sometimes it can be as easy as going through the garbage of the victim or company to
gain information. This is called dumpster diving. A article in the magazine 2600: The
Hacker‘s Quarterly described a man who applied for a job as a janitor at a company, with
the intentions of dumpster diving.
Although most social engineering methods seem obvious or even comical, they are
extremely effective. Dealy (1995) gives an example of hackers who gained shortcuts through
applying social engineering; the Master of Deception, who significantly penetrated the United
States‘ telecommunications system, were only able to do so after obtaining information found
in the garbage of the New York Telephone Company (Slatalla & Quittner, 1995). They would
not be able to pull off the attack without the information gathered through the social
engineering technique dumpster diving.
The social engineering aspect has not only impact on organizations and businesses,
but also on the individual. With the growing social media communities it is fairly easy for an
attacker to find information about the victim on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram. People tend to share their whole public life on social media, which in turn is a
rich source of information for the attacker. According to Huber, the advantages of the
provided services are obvious, drawbacks on a users‘ privacy and arising implications are
often neglected.
Given the preceding introduction, it should be noted that cloud security really is a
unique challenge. For example, in more traditional client-server environments (such as local
area networks), security requires a focus on the physical, the technical, and of course the
social engineering aspects. Here, the physical computing infrastructure is literally under the
roof of the firm which owns it. Hence, security and system admins lock data rooms, use heavy
doors, surveillance systems, and so on. However, with cloud-based storage and applications,
the physical piece is all but gone entirely. The roles of computing and storage are passed off
to the cloud host. This might be Amazon, Google or some other third-party.
Examples
As mentioned in the technical security section, Apple inc. had a major breach of
its cloud computing data. This breach was one of the main motivations to write this paper.
Furthermore; with data moving freely between corporate networks, mobile devices, and the
cloud, data breach statistics show this disturbing trend is rapidly accelerating.
Already called the biggest celebrity scandal of the century according to Dave Lewis
from Forbes magazine, the iCloud breach is the biggest wake-up call for every cloud user. A
hacker found out that there was no limit on the number of username and password guesses.
The hacker wrote a script that brute-forces an iCloud account. This is another great example
why two-factor authentication should be used. Numerous celebrities were exposed to this
breach, and it is unknown how many will be exposed in the future. As a response to this
breach, Apple introduces two-factor authentication for its iCloud service.
Home depot was a victim of a malware attack implemented through their payment
system. Over 56 million credit card numbers were stolen and the breach was exposed when
someone put a batch of credit cards for sale on a criminal internet site.
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The most recent breach (up to October 2014) is the JP Morgan data breach. More than
76 million households were affected by this breach containing cloud stored information such
as name, address, contact information, e-mail address, phone number as well as internal JP
Morgan Chase information about users. Attackers managed to get ―the highest level of
administrative privilege‖ on more than 90 of the bank‘s servers. Based on this information,
Jeff Williams said they ―could transfer funds, disclose information, close accounts en do
whatever they want with the data.‖
Another good example of the importance of two-factor authentication is the Dropbox
data breach. Accounts stolen from other websites made it possible for attackers to use the
same credentials as the stolen accounts to access Dropbox. After this misabuse came to light,
Dropbox responded by making two-factor authentication available to its users.
Conclusion and New Developments

Different analysts are predicting trends on cloud security in the near future. The
request for data will grow, as will the amount of data each user produces increase. CSC
predicts ―data growth of 650% over the next five years. In 2020 more than ⅓ of the data
produced will live in or pass through the cloud.‖ Another trend that comes with the
increasing production of cloud data is that data gathering increases and traceability of the
cloud data increases. According to Kantola (2011); ―Combination of different data types and
sources will be an increasing trend in the following 5–10 years.‖ A logical response to the
increasing growth of cloud data are malicious actions against cloud information systems. As
Kantola writes, ―Interconnectivity and dependencies between information systems and
networks creates vulnerabilities which are the target of malicious action.‖ On the other hand,
the continued development information security technologies work as a counterforce.
This growth of data can be clarified to the rising number of cloud users, both
industrial as consumer users. A lot of the future security depends on the social user behavior
itself. Easy to guess passwords, or even using the same password for different accounts (both
for cloud and non-cloud appliances) is dangerous. Especially when the user does not use a
second authentication factor. A lot of cloud solutions have the option to user-enable the two-
factor authentication. Because a social behaviour is difficult to change, the cloud solution
providers will step up and require users to use two-factor authentication. So, two-factor
authentication is becoming a standard in the future.
This does not mean that there won't be any cloud data breaches. As long as there is
valuable data in the cloud, it is interesting to attackers. The only thing users can do is
change their social unwillingness not to take care of their part of security.
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References
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computing, 13(18), 1587-1611.
Huber, M., Kowalski, S., Nohlberg, M., & Tjoa, S. (2009). Towards automating social
engineering using social networking sites. Paper presented at the Computational Science and
Engineering, 2009. CSE'09. International Conference on.
Lampe, U., Wenge, O., Müller, A., & Schaarschmidt, R. (2012). Cloud Computing in
the Financial Industry–A Road Paved with Security Pitfalls?
Mell, P., & Grance, T. (2011). The NIST definition of cloud computing.
Pitkänen, O., Sarvas, R., Lehmuskallio, A., Simanainen, M., Kantola, V., Rautila, M.,
. . . Kuittinen, O. (2011). Future Information Security Trends. Kasi Research Project, The
Ministry of Transport and Communications/Arjen tietoyhteiskunta.
Site, E., Cuts, R., & In, S. (2008). Security Engineering: A Guide to Building
Dependable Distributed Systems. 2ed Editio, 239-274.
Weingart, S. H. (2000). Physical security devices for computer subsystems: A survey of
attacks and defenses. Paper presented at the Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded
Systems—CHES 2000.
Winkler, I. S., & Dealy, B. (1995). Information Security Technology? Don't Rely on It.
A Case Study in Social Engineering. Paper presented at the USENIX Security.
Younis, M. Y. A., & Kifayat, K. (2013). Secure cloud computing for critical
infrastructure: A survey. Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom, Tech. Rep.
Zissis, D., & Lekkas, D. (2012). Addressing cloud computing security issues. Future
Generation Computer Systems, 28(3), 583-592.
125
John Kotter‟s Eight-Step Change Model and the Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler
Robert Vodnoy
John Kotter‘s international best seller Leading Change (1996) is considered to be ―the
seminal work in the field of change management.‖ Yet, according to a McKinsey & Company
survey, only one in three transformations succeed. In this paper, the author evaluates the
Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich in terms of Kotter‘s widely accepted Eight
Steps. He evaluates whether the seeds of failure are built into Kotter‘s change model and how
to determine when to embrace and when to oppose change. The author proposes that
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross‘s On Death and Dying and Peter Drucker‘s The Age of Discontinuity,
both published in 1969, lay the foundation for Kotter‘s work, and the important lessons were
missed from the earlier works.
126
Fly-On-The-Wall Ethics: Can Students Learn from Watching Real-World Ethical
Dilemmas?
Jack Walters
A significant concern about the teaching of ethics to undergraduate college students is

that they have little or no frame of reference to assess the nature and impact of unethical
conduct in the organizations where they will work after graduation. A fallback has been to
relate the ethical dilemma being presented to the current lives of students, but this approach
ignores or denies that graduates will face specific ethical challenges when working as
managers or professionals.
In an attempt to deal with the disconnect between students‘ experiences and post-
college work situations, I've begun developing what I call ―Fly On The Wall‖ videos. These
videos purport to show private conversations at crucial moments in ethical dilemmas. The
characters presented behave as if their conversation is entirely private and attempts are
made to present two sides of the dilemma as they likely took place in the actual situations on
which the videos are based. For example, a five-minute video based on the Enron case shows
a crucial moment when a whistleblower presented evidence of unethical and illegal behavior
to Enron‘s senior management. No attempt is made to pick the person who is ―in the right‖.
Rather, student viewers are left with that question and must sort it out for themselves.
A video about plagiarism among college students shows a student who is copying
others‘ work without attribution defending his actions to another student who is skeptical. A
third video, now at the script-writing stage, will show a Catholic priest and bishop
discussing how to handle the case of another priest who has been revealed to have molested a
child. As has been revealed in news stories and lawsuits, an argument is made that turning
the priest over to the police will damage the reputation of the church and hamper its ability
to carry out its mission.
The key to this approach is the lack of instruction that takes place before the video is
presented. Students watch it ―cold‖ and must form their own opinions based solely on the
content of the video and their own knowledge, experience, and creativity.
For use after the video has been shown, I'm developing simple explanations of four
models of ethics: utilitarian, Kantian, rights, and justice. Instructors will be able to present
these materials and interact with students around the topic of which model best fits the
situation presented in the video.
I am asking to present as work in progress because a number of significant questions
remain about the ultimate results of this project:
• Can students increase their knowledge of ethics, ethics problems, and solutions to
ethics problems via the videos, instructors‘ explanation of relevant ethics models, and
discussion of their personal views? If so, how could one test for that learning?
• Do some ethical models teach students about avoiding unethical conduct more
effectively than others?
• Can this approach be used in languages other than English? If so, are subtitles
effective? Dubbing? Translation of the script into another language and reshooting the video
in that language? Each of these presents logistical and cost questions in addition to
effectiveness questions.
• Can this approach work across disciplines and professions? We hear a lot in the media
about ethical problems in business organizations but I have collected news reports of
127
unethical behavior in virtually every segment of society from the military to art collecting to
teaching.
My plan is to show several videos to attendees, explain both the conceptual and
operational frameworks by which I will deliver the videos and teaching materials and collect
information about students, classes, etc., then open up the discussion for suggestions and
critiques.
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Do Credit Rating Agencies Favor Their Big Clients?
Evidence from Rating Maintenance
Yin-Che Weng
Pu Liu
We study the effect of conflicts of interest on credit ratings and analyze the rating
maintenance of credit rating agencies for various clienteles. By examining the rating-
transition path, we found that rating agencies favor their valued clients by stepwise
downgrades and full and timely upgrades. Favored clients could, therefore, save capital cost
and possibly gain a larger investor base for their new issues. However, such rating behavior
would undermine the rating quality and reputation of rating agencies in the long term. Our
results provide evidence for the meager literature on rating-agency conflicts from the rating-
maintenance perspective. Our findings also lend support to the growing literature that rating
agencies do not provide quality services to investors when the regulation is indulgent or the
competition within the rating industry is severe.
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An analysis of Small Town Retail Pull Factors in a Rural State
Rand Wergin
Daniel L. Tracy
Richard Muller
This paper investigates the features of South Dakota‘s small towns with strong retail
pull. The 2008 recession created an interesting phenomena in that many of the small towns
in South Dakota saw an increase in retail sales, and consequently an improvement to their
retail pull. A closer examination to the phenomena indicates that many small towns are
rural communities have a robust and consistent retail economy, thus countering the
prevailing wisdom that rural communities are dying. This paper investigates the unique
factors that support the rural and small town retail economy. Those factors include the
―prairie island‖ phenomena where the town is the retail hub in a sparsely populated area.
Also, tourism, traffic and location on a highway or interstate are also noted. However, there
are several communities with strong retail economies that do not have the traditional
antecedents of location, tourism and traffic. This paper includes a discussion of those
additional facets of retail pull.
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The Performance Impact of Project Managers as External Leaders: The Influence
of Followership Style and Team Disbursement
Billy Whisnant
Billy Whisnant has presented findings on the impact of multiple leadership theories in
sociotechnical contexts, having his work published in the proceedings of conferences such as
the Midwest Academy of Management Annual Conference, the Eastern Academy of
Management Annual Conference and the Scientific Papers International Conference on
Knowledge Society Annual Conference winning the award for best paper.
The role of the project manager in the distributed work environment is investigated to
understand how it is that their role as an external leader impacts performance and
satisfaction. This role is investigated through the scope of SuperLeadership behaviors of a
project manager moderated by the three dimensions of virtualness. Workers in project teams
are found to be influenced greatly by SuperLeadership to be efficient and effective, however
the timeliness of their performance is not significantly affected. The dimensions of
virtualness all have differing influences. The overall proposition that emerges is that for the
project manager to have the greatest level of impact in a distributed team as a SuperLeader
they should use synchronous communication tools and have a low level of proximal distance.
131
Can Servant Leaders Encourage Trust and Communication of Tacit Knowledge at
any level of Leader-Member Exchange Quality?
Billy Whisnant
Odai Khasawneh
Billy and Odai have presented findings on the influence of leadership on encouraging tacit
knowledge sharing at the Eastern Academy of Management Annual Conference and the
Scientific Papers International Conference on Knowledge Society Annual Conference, where
their paper won the award for best paper.
The impact of low and high levels of leader-member exchange are investigated to
determine the influence that servant leadership has on trust and tacit knowledge sharing of
workers in the information technology industry. It is found that there is slight moderation at
low levels and complete moderation of the relationship between servant leadership and tacit
knowledge sharing at high levels. Additionally, it is reported that trust partially mediates the
relationship between servant leadership and tacit knowledge sharing, however when
moderated at high levels of leader-member exchange this mediation becomes impossible. At
low levels of leader-member exchange trust completely mediates the relationship.
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Prediction of market sales with search behavior across different countries
Shaoqiong Zhao
Marketers are always interested in predicting market sales so they can arrange the
firm activities accordingly. In the meantime, this market sales information can also help the
consumers to make right buying decisions. However the high cost and long period of
collecting the available data with a lag makes it very inconvenient and out of date. With the
rise of multi-social media sharing websites such as YouTube, Flickr, and various blogs,
consumers can search and learn various types of information from these websites. With the
huge amount of data from Internet we can solve large scale computing data mining problem.
The users‘ online searching activity can be captured for predicting the market sales. We focus
on the differential impacts of search behavior and how this might be related to marketing
outcomes like market sales in different countries. We combined the three major online search
areas including web, image, and video from search engines like Google to help us accurately
and easily predict the auto sales. We believe that our work here opens a brand new arena for
using multimedia search activities and have a big impact on marketing sciences.
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PRESENTER NAME UNIVERSITY/ORGANIZATION CONTACT INFORMATION
Oglala Lakota College aalasfour@olc.edu
Ahmed Al-Alsfour.
Kyle, SD (605) 455-6081
Auburn University
Tanista Banerjee TZB0018@auburn.edu
Auburn, AL
Brandman University
tbecker@brandman.edu
Tim A. Becker 7460 Mission Valley Road
(858) 349-2040
San Diego, CA 92108
Andrew Buks Andrew.Buks@northern.edu
Rapid City, SD
Sara.Colorosa@ColoState.EDU
Sara Colorosa Colorado State Forest Service
(970) 491-8726
Leo Dana Montpellier Business School lp.dana@supco-montpellier.fr

Juan.gonzalez@northern.edu
Juan Gonzalez 1200 S Jay St
(605) 626-3352
Aberdeen, SD 57401
Roosevelt University
Thomas Head 425 S. Wabash Ave Chicago, IL thead@roosevelt.edu
60605-1315 USA
Auburn University 303 Lowder
jenserm@auburn.edu
Marlin R.H. Jensen Business Building, Auburn, AL
(334) 844-3011
36849
James.Kennedy@northern.edu
James Kennedy 1200 S Jay St
(605) 626-7728
Aberdeen, SD 57401
South Dakota State University
George.Langelett@SDSTATE.EDU
George Langelett 110 Scobey Hall, Box 504
(605) 688-4865
Brookings, SD 57007
Naomi Ludeman-Smith 1200 S Jay St Naomi.LudemanSmith@northern.edu
Aberdeen, SD 57401
nehalefm@yahoo.com
Nehale Farid Mostapha Beirut Arab University
+961 1 300170 ext 2215
Institute of Rural Management
arbab.naseeb@gmail.com
55-A, Jinnah Town,
Arbab Naseebullah Kasi 0092-302-5553828
Samungli Road,
0092-333-7898889
Balochistan, Pakistan.
Thomas.Orr@northern.edu
Thomas Orr 1200 S Jay St
(605) 626-2614
Aberdeen, SD 57401
Korea University
cpark@korea.ac.kr
Cheol Park 2511, SeJong-Ro, Sejong City,
+82-41-860-1566
339-700, South Korea
University of Applied Sciences
and Arts Northwestern
michael.puelz@fhnw.ch
Michael Pülz Switzerland School of Business
+41 61 279 18 42
P.O. Box CH-4002 Basel
Switzerland
Sacred Heart University mshuartj@sacredheart.edu
Joshua Shuart
Fairfield, CT USA (203) 416-3601
COMSATS Institute of
numair_ahmad@yahoo.com
Numair Ahmad Sulehri Information Technology
0092-3149614646
Islamabad Pakistan
Winona State University mtessema@winona.edu
Mussie Tessema
MN, USA (507) 457 2571
134
University of Colorado Denver
Stephen Thomas Stephen.Thomas@ucdenver.edu
Denver, CO, USA

Robert.vodnoy@northern.edu
Robert Vodnoy 1200 South Jay Street, Aberdeen,
(605) 626-2519
SD 57401 USA
Dakota State University jack.walters@dsu.edu
Jack Walters
Madison, SD USA (605) 270-9580
Harbin Institute of Technology,
China
ycw@hit.edu.cn
Timmy Yin-Che Weng National Chengchi University,
+8615145102237
Taiwan
University of Arkansas, USA
University of South Dakota
Rand.Wergin@usd.edu
Rand Wergin 414 E Clark St.
(877) 269-6837
Vermillion SD 57069
bwhisnan@emich.edu
Billy Whisnant 112 Sill Hall
(734) 883-5548
Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197
Shaoqiong Zhao 1200 South Jay Street, Aberdeen, Shaoqiong.Zhao@northern.edu
SD 57401 USA
Twenty-FirstAnnual
Conference on International Business and
135

Dakota Conference Proceedings 2014 Final PDF

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Twenty-First Annual

Conference on International Business

Rapid City, South Dakota

Willard Broucek, Ph.D.

Willard Broucek, Northern State University, USA

Hannah Walters, Northern State University, USA

Scott Peterson, Northern State University, USA

James Kennedy, Northern State University, USA

Allen Barclay, Northern State University, USA

Juan González, Northern State University, USA

Tim Becker, Brandman University, USA

Thomas Head, Roosevelt University, USA

Michael Pülz, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Switzerland

THURSDAY, October 9th, 2014

10:30 a.m. – BREAK

11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. BUFFET LUNCH

Lincoln Room Session Chair: Dr. Keun Lee–Northern State University

FRIDAY, October 10th, 2014

Lincoln Room Session Chair: Dr. Tim A. Becker – Brandman University

Washington/ Session Chair: Dr. Juan Gonzalez - Northern State University

Ballroom Session Chair: Mr. Scott Peterson - Northern State University

Ballroom Session Chair: Ms. Hannah Walters - Northern State University

Ballroom Session Chair: Dr. Willard Broucek - Northern State University

SATURDAY, October 11th,2014

Have a safe trip to your return destination!

Ahmed Al-Asfour and Mwata Chisha 13

Ahmed Al-Asfour and Mwata Chisha 14

Tanista Banerjee and Arnab Nayak 15

ThomasC. Head, Therese Yaeger, and Peter F. Sorensen, Jr. 29

Marlin R.H. Jensen, Beverly B. Marshall, and John S. Jahera, Jr. 30

James K. Kennedy and Keun Lee 42

Lauren Marshallwith Allen Barclay48

Taylor Meliuswith Kristi Bockorny 63

Nehale Farid Mostapha 70

Arbab Naseebullah Kasi 71

Dan Nelson and Deb Tech 72

Natalie Shofner, James Niehaus and Barrett Holien with Mark B.

Numair Ahmad Sulehri, Asif Khurshid, Abid Saeed 94

Mussie Tessema 102

Stephen Thomas and Ji Chen 116

Nigel van der Burg with Scott Peterson 118

Robert Vodnoy 124

Jack Walters 125

Timmy Yin-Che Weng and Pu Liu 127

Rand Wergin 128

Billy Whisnant 129

Billy Whisnant and Odai Khasawneh 130

Shaoqiong Zhao 131

After almost a century of attempting to eradicate unemployment for Native Americans

Key words: Native Americans, workforce development, unemployment, lack of employment

Regional economic communities (RECs) have a role to play in addressing social

This paper examines how asymmetric information in pharmaceutical licensing affects

Dr. Tim A. Becker

Dr. Tim A. Becker

Specialized Brain Characteristics as Observed by Grandin

Duties should not have a lot of Grandin & Duffy, 2004,

Often play music by ear, are good

Strong long-term memory is better

Learning and Communication Styles Model

Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic Learning Styles

Modalities Characteristics Source

Auditory Uses aural communication, sounds, Lisle, 2007, p. 30.

Summary of Styles of Learning for Autism Spectrum Disorders