An Examination of Learning Preferences of U.S. and International Students

Learning styles and preferences are often discussed topics in educational psychology, but are less prevalent in business education. International students are another understudied segment of business education. This article reviews literature regarding learning styles and preferences and examines whether U.S. and international students have different learning preferences using the visual-aural-read/write-kinesthetic (VARK) model. The findings indicate a large percentage of both populations have multimodal learning preferences. For the students who have one preferred learning mode, differences do exist between international and U.S. students.     

Dwelling Age Heteroskedasticity in Repeat Sales House Price Equations

Several authors have attributed the heteroskedasticity observed in repeat sales house price equations to the length of time between sales. Recently, Goodman and Thibodeau (1995) developed a theoretical model that relates heteroskedasticity in hedonic house price equations to dwelling age. Using data for nearly 2,000 repeat sales in Dallas, Texas, this research examines whether repeat sales heteroskedasticity is related to dwelling age, to the length of time between sales, or to both. An iterative generalized least squares procedure that explicitly models the residual variance is used to obtain robust parameter estimates and to increase the efficiency of the usual repeat sales price indices.     

The influence of age and gender on food choice: a focus group exploration

With 25% of the UK population predicted to be obese by 2010, the costs to individuals and society are set to rise. Due to the extra economic and social pressures obesity causes, there is an increasing need to understand what motivates and prevents consumers from eating a healthy diet so as to be able to tailor policy interventions to specific groups in society. In so doing, it is important to explore potential variations in attitudes, motivation and behaviour as a function of age and gender. Both demographic factors are easily distinguished within society and a future intervention study which targets either, or both, of these would likely be both feasible and cost‐effective for policy makers. As part of a preliminary study, six focus groups (total n = 43) were conducted at the University of Reading in November 2006, with groups segmented on the basis of age and gender. In order to gather more sensitive information, participants were also asked to fill out a short anonymous questionnaire before each focus group began, relating to healthy eating, alcohol consumption and body dissatisfaction. Making use of thematic content analysis, results suggested that most participants were aware of the type of foods that contribute to a healthy diet and the importance of achieving a healthy balance within a diet. However, they believed that healthy eating messages were often conflicting, and were uncertain about where to find information on the topic. Participants believed that the family has an important role in educating children about eating habits. Despite these similarities, there were a number of key differences among the groups in terms of their reasons for making food choices. Older participants (60+ years old) were more likely to make food choices based on health considerations. Participants between the ages of 18–30 were less concerned with this link, and instead focused on issues of food preparation and knowledge, prices and time. Younger female participants said they had more energy when they ate healthier diets; however, very often their food choices related to concern with their appearance. Older female participants also expressed this concern within the questionnaire, rather than in the group discussions. Overall, these results suggest that consumer motivations for healthy eating are diverse and that this must be considered by government, retailers and food producers.     

A Simple Matter of Control? NHS Hospital Nurses and New Management*

ABSTRACT Over the past two decades the National Health Hospital Service has been subjected to considerable changes in is organization. ‘New’ public sector management (NPM) has been given the task of changing hospital culture and making service provision more efficient. Nurses, as the largest occupational group within the National Health Service (NHS), have attracted considerable management attention and there are two distinct accounts concerning how NPM has supposedly gained control of the nursing labour process. Firstly, it is proposed that the physical division of labour of health care professionals is now firmly in the hands of hospital management through the use of Tayloristic techniques. Secondly, alternative accounts suggest that public sector organization cultures have been successfully orientated toward a customer service ethos, and that the convincing discourse of ‘quality’ is achieving some success as a normative control device. This paper investigates the responses of nurses to NPM, whichever form this may take, and presents data collected as part of a longitudinal study carried out in an NHS Trust hospital. It charts the changes which have occurred in the nursing labour process over a six year period, but especially draws upon more recent data to show how nurses, over a period of time, develop their own ways of reinterpreting management's desires. It argues that management is more likely to continue to rely on nurses’ traditional autonomy in the delivery of health care in recognition that nurses may resist some but accommodate many of the demands made of them.     

Predicting air travelers’ no-show and standby behavior using passenger and directional itinerary information

This is the first study of airline travelers’ no-show and standby behavior based on passenger and directional outbound/inbound itinerary data. The paper describes passengers’ behavior based on estimation of a multinomial logit model for domestic US itineraries departing in March 2001 or March 2002. This enables us to explore behavioral differences based on passenger and itinerary characteristics as well as identify differences in rescheduling behavior occurring after September 11, 2001. Benefits of using passenger data to improve forecasting accuracy and support a broad range of managerial decisions are described.     

Knowledge management practice in Scottish law firms

Law firms, as part of the professional services sector, are increasingly engaged in strategic thinking about business growth and development. The management of partners, staff and their knowledge is critical to this strategic development. This study of a sample of Scottish law firms engaged in commercial and corporate law finds that organisations are at different stages of progress, and that change has focused more on technical solutions than on organisational and HR issues. Based on evidence from partners and management, and on attitude data from salaried staff, the article suggests that, although the traditional professional firm's interest in building and leveraging its human capital is still present, the underlying social and cultural processes involving motivation, sharing of experiences, coaching and mentoring are relatively underdeveloped. The implications for HR strategy and practice, and for the role of the HR manager, are considered.     

Modeling and Computing Transactions Costs for Purchasers of Housing Services

This paper models, as equilibrium behavior, buyers' behaviors under transactions costs and market failure constraints. It derives equilibrium conditions and it shows how they differ from unconstrained models. Standard utility and cost parameters are then used to estimate the economic costs of the constraints, which may be interpreted, at the margin, as the transactions costs of moving. If transactions costs are greater than the economic costs of the constraints, the household remains in a residence, even in response to changed price and income expectations. Changes in expected prices and incomes lead to changed housing demand even when the household cannot adjust housing consumption between periods. These findings have implications for empirical work with both cross-section and panel data sets.     

Evidence of Racial Discrimination in Different Dimensions of Owner-Occupied Housing Search

This paper examines the incidence and extent of racial discrimination in various dimensions of owner-occupied housing search. Audit data for sales units (1980-90) from the Fair Housing Center of metropolitan Detroit is used in an ordered probit framework. Agents' own prejudices and the prejudices of their customers are shown to be significant in explaining discrimination. Results also indicate that white home seekers are steered toward more white and affluent neighborhoods.