Needs assessment of university leadership programs

Although research indicates that university leadership programs can offer students many extremely valuable outcomes, the overall effectiveness of these programs is highly dependent on their abilty to attract student participants. This study addresses this issue by employing maximum difference scaling (MDS) analysis to determine the needs and preferences of university students with regard to participating in university leadership activities. From this data, four distinct need‐based segments of students are identified and discussed: socializers, leaders, self‐improvers, and job seekers. Suggested strategies are presented to increase particpation within each segment by focusing leadership programs on delivery of those outcomes most desired by each segment.     

Race-Conscious Policy Analysis and the Healthcare Reform Debate

There is an inherent tension between cost containment and expansion of coverage for the uninsured. African Americans disproportionately benefit from expanded health care options but they also bear a disproportionate burden in attempts to control costs. This recognition justifies a race-conscious analysis of health policy changes that appear race-neutral on their face.     

Abandonment value and capital budgeting under uncertainty

The objective of this article is to provide a solution to the capital deepening (optimal economic life) problem encountered in capital budgeting under conditions of uncertainty. Specifically, we address the capital deepening problem where project cash flows, the terminal value of the asset, and the opportunity cost of funds are all random variables. In addition, we consider the impact of risk averse behavior on the solution to the problem, much as Sandmo has done with respect to the capital widening decision.     

Fundamental obstacles to the use of scientific information in public policy making

In contrast to the prevailing view that more effective use can be made of scientific information in public policy formation, several fundamental obstacles to the effective use of science are identified and described. It is argued that any effort to bring scientific information to bear on public policy must show how these obstacles have been removed.     

Extranet Use and Building Relationship Capital in Interfirm Distribution Networks: The Role of Extranet Capability

Firms are turning toward e-business technologies to increase efficiency and effectiveness and, thereby, acquire competitive advantage. We focus on interfirm distribution networks (IDNs) connected by extranets. Our thesis is that IDNs behave like alliances. As such, the network leader in the IDN may have an organizational capability related to developing and managing IDNs. This extranet capability is posited to positively influence three relationship capital resources (trust, information exchange, and communication quality), which, in turn, influence positively five network performance outputs (responsiveness, financial performance, efficiency, effectiveness, and innovativeness). Based on data from 175 new car sales managers, empirical tests of the hypotheses provide support for the posited explanation of IDN performance.