One Possible Frame for Thinking about Experiential Learning

I argue that teaching statistical thinking is harder than teaching mathematics, that experimental design is particularly well suited to teaching statistical thinking and that in teaching statistics, variation is good. We need a mix of archival data, simulations and activities, of varying degrees of complexity. Within this context, I applaud the important contributions to our profession represented by Darius et al. (2007) , and Nolan & Temple Lang (2007) , the first for showing us how to make simulation‐based learning simultaneously more flexible and more realistic than ever before, and the second for showing us a path‐breaking technology that can make archival data the basis for active learning at an impressively high level of sophistication, embedding statistical thinking within real scientific and practical investigations.     

Organizations undertaking complex projects in uncertain environments

Recent evidence suggests that firms’ environments are becoming more complex and uncertain. This paper investigates the relationship between the complexity of a firm’s activities, environmental uncertainty and organizational structure. We assume agents are arranged hierarchically, but decisions can be made at different levels. We model a firm’s activity set as a modified NK landscape. Via simulations, we find that centralized decision making generates a higher payoff in more complex and uncertain environments, and that a flatter structure is better for the organization with centralized decision making, provided the cost of information processing is low enough. Financial Support from Zengin Foundation for Studies on Economics and Finance is gratefully acknowledged.     

Multiplicity of mixed equilibria in mechanisms: A unified approach to exact and approximate implementation

We characterize full implementation of social choice sets in mixed-strategy Bayesian equilibrium. Our results concern both exact and virtual mixed implementation. For exact implementation, we identify a strengthening of Bayesian monotonicity, which we refer to as mixed Bayesian monotonicity. It is shown that, in economic environments with at least three agents, mixed Bayesian implementation is equivalent to mixed Bayesian monotonicity, incentive compatibility and closure. For implementing a social choice function, the case of two-agents is also covered by these conditions and mixed Bayesian monotonicity reduces to Bayesian monotonicity. Following parallel steps, mixed virtual implementation is shown to be equivalent to mixed virtual monotonicity, incentive compatibility and closure. The key condition, mixed virtual monotonicity, is argued to be very weak. In particular, it is weaker than Abreu–Matsushima’s measurability, thereby implying that: (1) virtual implementation in mixed Bayesian equilibrium is more permissive than virtual implementation in iteratively undominated strategies, and (2) non-regular mechanisms are essential for the implementation of rules in that gap.     

Virtual communication,transformational leadership,and implicit leadership

This research was designed to test the theoretical relationship among personality, implicit leadership, and transformational leadership in a setting devoid of face‐to‐face communication, which we entitled virtual communication. Specifically, the study was designed to link, by using the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), traits from the 5‐factor model of personality (the Big 5) to followers' perception of the leadership style of a virtual leader on the basis of Bass and Avolio's MLQ‐5X (1994). A voluntary sample consisted of undergraduate and graduate students from two universities in the south Texas area (N = 306). Respondents to the virtual communication rated Leader 1's communication, which used previously identified transformational language (Salter, Carmody‐Bubb, Duncan, & Green, 2007), as significantly more transformational than Leader 2's communication, using words not associated with transformational leaders. Participants who scored high in the Big 5 personality traits of agreeableness, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and extraversion rated the leader as more transformational while those high in neuroticism rated the leader as less transformational.     

Virtual worlds

Games, role‐playing, and simulations as developmental tools have been used in education since the 1800s. An emerging form of collaborative game play is virtual worlds; however, the use of virtual worlds in leadership education has not been fully investigated. The purpose of this article is to (a) demonstrate how virtual worlds are a viable venue for leadership education, and (b) present a hierarchy of skills sets that can be developed in virtual world settings. In doing so, this article provides evidence that virtual worlds can be used as a new instructional delivery environment for leadership education as the appeal and intrinsic nature of virtual environments aligns well with the experiential framework of leadership education.     

When Necessity Becomes a Virtue: The Effect of Product Market Competition on Corporate Social Responsibility

We test whether Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is driven by strategic considerations by empirically studying the link between competition and firms' social performance. We find that firms in more competitive industries have better social ratings. In particular, we show that (i) different market concentration proxies are negatively related to widely used CSR measures; (ii) that an increase in competition due to higher import penetration leads to superior CSR performance; (iii) that firms in more competitive environments have a superior environmental performance, measured by firm pollution levels; and (iv) that more product competition is associated to a larger within‐industry CSR variance. We interpret these results as evidence that CSR is strategically chosen.     

Monitoring risk in a ruin model perturbed by diffusion

We construct a nonparametric sequential test for the ruin probability and a corresponding change-point test in a risk model perturbed by diffusion. Some limiting properties are derived, which extend and improve on recent results of Conti (Stat Prob Lett 72:333–343, 2005) and Jahnke (Diploma thesis, University of Cologne, 2007). It is shown that the monitoring procedures can be designed such that the tests have an asymptotic prescribed false alarm rate (size) α and power 1. Some results from a small simulation study are also presented.     

Institutions and Foreign Subsidiary Growth in Transition Economies: The Role of Intangible Assets and Capabilities

Although transition economies experience significant institutional transformations that vary in their degree and pace, scholarly knowledge of what distinguishes more successful foreign subsidiaries from less successful ones in such environments is limited and inconsistent. We enhance the understanding of this subject by examining how variations in the institutional development of transition economies influence the usefulness of a subsidiary's intangible assets and capabilities and, in turn, their effectiveness in enhancing its growth. Prior research assumes that foreign subsidiaries that operate in any given environment are always better off when they possess strong intangible assets and capabilities. Our analysis of more than 33,000 observations in 14 transition economies challenges this view and enables us to explain why some subsidiaries grow more quickly in less‐developed institutional environments, whereas others more quickly in countries with institutions that are more developed. More specifically, we show that although a subsidiary's intangible assets enhance its growth in transition economies with stronger institutions, these effects are particularly weak or insignificant in transition countries with less developed institutional environments. Conversely, a completely different pattern emerges for subsidiary capabilities, with their marginal effects on subsidiary growth being significantly higher in countries that are institutionally less developed than in transition countries with more developed institutions.     

A model of Russia's “virtual economy”

The Russian Economy has evolved into a hybrid form, a partially monetized quasi-market system that has been called the virtual economy. In the virtual economy, barter and non-monetary transactions play a key role in transferring value from productive activities to the loss-making sectors of the economy. We show how this transfer takes place, and how it can be consistent with the incentives of economic agents. We analyze a simple partial-equilibrium model of the virtual economy, and show how it might prove an obstacle to industrial restructuring and hence marketizing transition.     

Impact of CO2 Emission Variation on Firm Performance

The quantifying and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most important tools for monitoring and auditing proposed to mitigate climate change, and it also directly affects business. It is thus vital that at this time we learn in detail whether firms actually report on greenhouse gas emissions and make the account entries that must be included within it. This research is twofold: first to analyse the reports on greenhouse gas emissions of international firms in the 2007 and 2008 period and to see what kind of variation occurs in CO₂ emissions between 2006–2007 and 2007–2008, and second to determine the impact that this variation (2006–2007) can have on firm performance in four time periods (t, t + 1, t + 2 and t + 3) that correspond to 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, taking two variables as a measure of firm performance, ROE and ROA, and considering a time period affected by a financial crisis. The results obtained show that there was a reduction in CO₂ emissions in the 2006–2007 period, and also in the 2007–2008 period. As regards the impact that the variation in CO₂ emissions has on ROE and ROA, CO₂ emission variation is a significant but negative variable only for ROA_2007 and for the rest of the years it is not statistically significant either for ROE or ROA. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

The cyclicality of R&D investment revisited

In Fabrizio and Tsolmon (Review of Economics and Statistics, 2014, 96(4), 662–675) and Barlevy (American Economic Review, 2007, 97(4), 1131–1164) it was concluded that R&D investments are procyclical. Fabrizio and Tsolmon utilized a model based on Barlevy, but it differed in some respects and allowed for more heterogeneity. However, we doubt whether their implied trends are intended. Fabrizio and Tsolmon also set missing values for R&D equal to zero, leading to unrealistic jumps in investment and its first differences. We reconcile and replicate both the Fabrizio and Tsolmon and Barlevy papers by considering extensions that encompass both models. Furthermore, we treat missing values more appropriately and consider some alternative specifications to check the robustness of the results. Procyclicality is confirmed, but we find much less heterogeneity than Fabrizio and Tsolmon did. In particular, obsolescence and patent effectiveness are no longer important but external financing is.     

Taking the “Q” Out of Research: Teaching Research Methodology Courses Without the Divide Between Quantitative and Qualitative Paradigms

The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence that the debate between quantitative and qualitative is divisive and, hence, counterproductive for advancing the social and behavioral science field. We advocate that all graduate students learn to utilize and to appreciate both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. As such, students will develop into pragmatist researchers who are able to utilize both quantitative and qualitative techniques when conducting research. We contend that the best way to accomplish this is by eliminating quantitative research methodology and qualitative research methodology courses from curricula and replacing these with research methodology courses at different levels that simultaneously teach both quantitative and qualitative techniques within a mixed methodological framework.An earlier version of this article received the 2003 Southwest Educational Research Association (SERA) Outstanding Paper Award.     

E-Leadership and Virtual Teams

In this paper we have identified some key challenges for E-leaders of virtual teams. Among the most salient of these are the following:

• The difficulty of keeping tight and loose controls on intermediate progress toward goals

• Promoting close cooperation among teams and team members in order to integrate deliverables

• Encouraging and recognizing emergent leaders in virtual teams

• Establishing explicit processes for archiving important written documentation

• Establishing and maintaining norms and procedures early in a team’s formation and development

• Establishing proper boundaries between home and work

Virtual team environments magnify the differences between good and bad projects, organizations, teams, and leaders. The nature of such projects is that there is little tolerance for ineffective leadership. There are some specific issues and techniques for mitigating the negative effects of more dispersed employees, but these are merely extensions of good leadership—they cannot make up for the lack of it.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

An excellent reference for research on teams is M. E. Shaw, R. M. McIntyre, and E. Salas, “Measuring and Managing for Team Performance: Emerging Principles from Complex Environments,” in R. A. Guzzo and E. Salas, eds., Team Effectiveness and Decision Making in Organizations (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995). For a fuller discussion of teleworking and performance-management issues in virtual teams, see W. F. Cascio, “Managing a Virtual Workplace,” Academy of Management Executive, 2000, 14(3), 81–90, and also C. Joinson, “Managing Virtual Teams,” HRMagazine, June 2002, 69–73. Several sources discuss the issue of trust in virtual teams: D. Coutu, “Trust in Virtual Teams,” Harvard Business Review, May–June 1998, 20–21; S. L. Jarvenpaa, K. Knoll, and D. E. Leidner, “Is Anybody Out There? Antecedents of Trust in Global Virtual Teams,” Journal of Management Information Systems, 1998, 14(4), 29–64. See also Knoll and Jarvenpaa, “Working Together in Global Virtual Teams,” in M. Igbaria and M. Tan, eds., The Virtual Workplace (Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing, 1998).Estimates of the number of teleworkers vary. For examples, see Gartner Group, Report R-06-6639, November 18, 1998, and also Telework America survey, news release, October 23, 2001. We learned about CPP’s approach to managing virtual work arrangements through David Krantz, personal communication, August 20, 2002, Palo Alto, CA.There are several excellent references on emergent leaders. For example, see G. Lumsden and D. Lumsden, Communicating in Groups and Teams: Sharing Leadership (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1993); Lumsden and Lumsden, Groups: Theory and Experience, 4th ed. (Boston: Houghton, 1993); R. W. Napier and M. K. Gershenfeld, Groups: Theory and Experience, 4th ed. (Boston: Houghton, 1989); and M. E. Shaw, Group Dynamics: The Psychology of Small Group Behavior, 3rd ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981).An excellent source for e-mail style is D. Angell and B. Heslop, The Elements of E-mail Style: Communicate Effectively via Electronic Mail (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1994). To read more on the growing demand for flexible work arrangements, see “The New World of Work: Flexibility is the Watchword,” Business Week, 10 January 2000, 36.For more on individualism and collectivism, see H. C. Triandis, “Cross-cultural Industrial and Organizational Psychology,” in H. C. Triandis, M. D. Dunnette, and L. M. Hough, eds., Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2nd ed., vol. 4 (Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1994, 103–172).Executive SummaryAs the wired world brings us all closer together, at the same time as we are separated by time and distance, leadership in virtual teams becomes ever more important. Information technology makes it possible to build far-flung networks of organizational contributors, although unique leadership challenges accompany their formation and operation. This paper describes the growth of virtual teams, the various forms they assume, the kinds of information and support they need to function effectively, and the leadership challenges inherent in each form. We then provide workable, practical solutions to each of the leadership challenges identified.     

Corruption and economic resilience: recovery from the financial crisis in western economies

We consider the resilience of a group of 20 Western economies after the financial crisis of the late 2000s. We measure resilience by the growth of real GDP between 2007, the previous peak level, and 2015. The countries exhibit a broad range of experience, from a rise in GDP of 18 per cent in Australia to a fall of 26 per cent in Greece. A substantial proportion of the differences in growth rates can be accounted for by just two variables: the perceived level of corruption and membership of the Eurozone. The euro did have a negative impact on the recovery paths of the Mediterranean economies (Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain), but their perceived corruption scores in 2007 had a bigger impact, especially on the first three of these economies.     

Cross redundancy and sensitivity in DEA models

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) measures the efficiency of each decision making unit (DMU) by maximizing the ratio of virtual output to virtual input with the constraint that the ratio does not exceed one for each DMU. In the case that one output variable has a linear dependence (conic dependence, to be precise) with the other output variables, it can be hypothesized that the addition or deletion of such an output variable would not change the efficiency estimates. This is also the case for input variables. However, in the case that a certain set of input and output variables is linearly dependent, the effect of such a dependency on DEA is not clear. In this paper, we call such a dependency a cross redundancy and examine the effect of a cross redundancy on DEA. We prove that the addition or deletion of a cross-redundant variable does not affect the efficiency estimates yielded by the CCR or BCC models. Furthermore, we present a sensitivity analysis to examine the effect of an imperfect cross redundancy on DEA by using accounting data obtained from United States exchange-listed companies.     

How Corporate Social Responsibility Engagement Strategy Moderates the CSR–Financial Performance Relationship

We propose that firm profits are shaped by how firms engage in corporate social responsibility. Recent research on the corporate social responsibility (CSR)–corporate financial performance (CFP) relationship proposes a variety of contextual and organizational factors to create a more robust link. However, few of these studies explore the role of the CSR engagement strategy. Drawing on absorptive capacity theory and related perspectives such as time compression diseconomies, asset mass efficiencies, and path dependence theory, we argue that when a firm engages in CSR slowly and consistently, focuses on related CSR dimensions, and starts with internal dimensions of CSR, CFP will be enhanced. With longitudinal data collected from 130 firms from 1995 to 2007, we find that firms benefit more when they adopt a CSR engagement strategy that is consistent, involves related dimensions of CSR, and begins with aspects of CSR that are more internal to the firm. The pace of the CSR engagement strategy, however, does not moderate the CSR–CFP relationship. This study helps fill the gap in CSR research by showing that, regardless of contextual factors, a firm can choose the proper strategy to enhance the financial benefits of the CSR engagement.     

Horizontal vs. Vertical Interdependence in Multinational Activity*

This paper sheds light on interdependencies in multinational activity that are brought about by (horizontal) trade in final goods and (vertical) trade in intermediate goods (within and between host countries). We use a panel data set of US foreign affiliate sales to 16 developed countries in seven industries over the period 1983–2000, distinguish between horizontal and vertical interdependence in multinational enterprise activity and allow for both market size (demand)‐related as well as remainder linkage effects. Evidence suggests that vertical interdependence is somewhat more important than horizontal interdependence and, hence, vertical motives of multinational activity tend to dominate horizontal ones.

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Participation and communication in virtual teams using representational avatars

The study examined how quantitative formative assessment tools may be applied to virtual team communication and provide quality and progress metrics to virtual team leaders. Representational avatars benefit virtual team communication and productivity. Organizational leaders need measurement tools to assess avatar innovation and monitor progress in virtual teams. A goal of this research was to supply a suite of tools to evaluate the potential for avatars to improve as well as monitor and measure virtual team participation and communication. The virtual teams were composed of students (N= 97) at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) in New Zealand and Uppsala University in Sweden. Students enrolled in the Intelligent Business Systems (IBS) course formed teams by country and were randomly assigned to a text‐only or avatar‐enriched communication format. Survey results indicated that text‐based teams were perceived as efficient but lacking in inspired participation. Avatar‐enriched teams noted frustration with software but rated their experience as enjoyable. No significant difference in communication quality between teams was indicated, but avatar‐enriched teams posted significantly more words on weekly logbooks than text‐based teams. Recommendations include a model for data disaggregation that may be of value to improve assessment, productivity, and administrative costs of technology‐enhanced virtual teams.     

Accuracy of proportion estimators: a simple rule

We consider the sample survey type problem of estimating the proportionp of a finite population of sizeN having a given attribute by the proportion of successes in a random sample (with or without replacement) of sizer from the population. Our main result indicates that is always at least a 91.0% confidence interval (C.I.) for the parameterp. We show that is at least as large under the hypergeometric model of simple random sampling without replacement as it is under the corresponding binomial model of random sampling with replacement. The significance of our main result is that it is a good, easily stated accuracy rule, holding for allr, N, andp, which can easily be understood by the layman when assessing accuracy of the estimator and discussing the relationship between accuracy and sample size.