Fixing Advising: A Model for Faculty Advising

This paper addresses mandates to fix the advising process with a focus on faculty advising systems. Measures of student success and satisfaction, administrative issues, and faculty concerns are among the many factors discussed. Regression analysis is used to explore long-voiced faculty complaints that students do not follow advice. A case study is used to illustrate changes in one department’s advising process and measures of student satisfaction are reported. A model of advising components is offered to illustrate practices suggested to realize the full potential of the advising process

Green Leaf Grocery - Executive Compensation Case Study

The primary purpose of this teaching case is to aid students in understanding how executive compensation plans are utilized to achieve organizational goals and to then construct their own executive compensation plan for the CEO of Greenleaf Grocery, a fictional retail business based on an actual company. Students have the opportunity to create a comprehensive executive compensation plan using salary, bonuses, stock options, benefits, and other compensation tools. Additionally, the case provides the opportunity to discuss the use of both short-term and long-term incentive compensation. The company in this case is poised to undertake an initial public offering of stock and retaining the current CEO is viewed as critical for this next phase. The case affords the class the opportunity to explore ethical issues in executive compensation as well as other aspects of the organization’s overall compensation structure

Introductory Information Systems Course Redesign: Better Preparing Business Students

Aim/Purpose The dynamic nature of the information systems (IS) field presents educators with the perpetual challenge of keeping course offerings current and relevant. This paper describes the process at a College of Business (COB) to redesign the introductory IS course to better prepare students for advanced business classes and equip them with interdisciplinary knowledge and skills demanded in today’s workplace. Background The course was previously in the Computer Science (CSC) Department, itself within the COB. However, an administrative restructuring resulted in the CSC department’s removal from the COB and left the core course in limbo. Methodology This paper presents a case study using focus groups with students, faculty, and advisory council members to assess the value of the traditional introductory course. A survey was distributed to students after implementation of the newly developed course to assess the reception of the course. Contribution This paper provides an outline of the decision-making process leading to the course redesign of the introductory IS course, including the context and the process of a new course development. Practical suggestions for implementing and teaching an introductory IS course in a business school are given. Findings Focus group assessment revealed that stakeholders rated the existing introductory IS course of minimal value as students progressed through the COB program, and even less upon entering the workforce. The findings indicated a complete overhaul of the course was required

Determinants of Hotel Property Prices

Pricing commercial real estate has its foundations in present value theory. Recent improvements for accessing transaction data have stimulated interest in commercial property hedonic pricing models, the structures of which follow traditions in single-family real estate in that the implicit prices of property characteristics and site-specific variables represent city and national market conditions. Adding present value variables has become increasingly common to account for general market conditions. We test two hedonic pricing models; one that follows the residential tradition and another that departs by incorporating city-specific net operating incomes and the discount rates. Modeling prices in these alternative ways allows for recognition of the relative contributions of property, city, and capital market determinants. Empirical testing relies on a sample of hotel transactions from 2005–2010. The responsiveness of hotel cash flows to market changes is an important consideration. We find that models with property characteristics perform about the same as models that also include present value variables. A plausible explanation for this phenomenon is that implicit prices corresponding to property characteristics and site-specific variables appear to reflect income streams associated with city and nationwide economic conditions

An Exploratory Study Of Student Satisfaction With University Web Page Design

This exploratory study evaluates the satisfaction of students with a web-based information system at a medium-sized regional university. The analysis provides a process for simplifying data interpretation in captured student user feedback. Findings indicate that student classifications, as measured by demographic and other factors, determine satisfaction levels towards various web sources of information. Differences in satisfaction levels across student groups based on gender, age, minority status, employment, and current course load were found. Implications for university web designers and university administrators are considered and discussed

First Quarter 2017: Status Quo Maintained

Our Standardized Unexpected Price (SUP) metric indicates that the price momentum of large and small hotels continues to revert to the mean, with the cost of debt financing for hotels declining slightly. However, we expect higher hotel financing costs going forward. Our early warning indicators suggest that prices of large hotels and small hotels should rise during the second quarter of 2017. This is report number 22 of the index series. Supplemental File: Hotel Valuation Model (HOTVAL) We provide this user friendly hotel valuation model in an excel spreadsheet entitled HOTVAL Toolkit as a complement to this report which is available for download from http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/creftools/1

Third Quarter 2019: Is Bad News Fake News?

Only hotels in the South Atlantic region experienced a positive price momentum during this period.* The performance of hotels in non-gateway cities declined at a faster rate relative to those in gateway cities. Hotel financial operating performance has finally returned to positive profitability with operating profit exceeding both a hotel property’s operating costs as well as financial (borrowing) cost, based on economic value analysis (EVA). The price of larger hotels has spiraled downward at a faster rate than that of smaller hotels and repeat sale hotels. The cost of hotel debt financing, as well as equity financing, has declined, with virtually no change in the relative risk premium for hotels. However, the spread between the 10-year Treasury and the 3-month Treasury has fallen even further into negative territory, which continues to raise concerns over its impact on market liquidity as well as its contribution to slower price growth in hotels (since this is a recession indicator). A reading of our tea leaves suggests prices are expected to decline for both large and small hotels. This is report number 32 of the index series

First Quarter 2018: Introducing Our Gateway Cities Index

Hotels in gateway cities have outperformed hotels in non-gateway cities, with hotels in gateway locations rising 10 percent in the past year, compared to 6 percent for those in non-gateway cities. Hotel operating performance scaled by price is still in the black based on economic value analysis (EVA), with returns continuing to exceed borrowing costs (for debt). Transaction volume strengthened both on a quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year basis. While our various pricing metrics point to continued positive price momentum for larger hotels at the expense of smaller hotels, we are concerned whether rising interest rates will put a damper on this momentum. A reading of our tea leaves suggests prices will continue to increase, but at a decelerating rate. This is report number 26 of the index series. Supplemental File: Hotel Valuation Model (HOTVAL) We provide this user friendly hotel valuation model in an excel spreadsheet entitled HOTVAL Toolkit as a complement to this report which is available for download from http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/creftools/1

Fourth Quarter 2019: 2019 Ends on a Whimper

Onlyhotels in the New England region, and to a lesser extent the Midwest region, experienced a positive price momentum this quarter, although both regions suffered poor performance from a year-over-year perspective. Hotels located in gateway cities outperformed hotels in non-gateway cities. Hotel financial operating performance continued to post positive profit with operating profit exceeding both a hotel property’s operating costs and its financial (borrowing) cost based on economic value analysis (EVA). Although the price of large hotels increased in the fourth quarter (as compared to quarter three), the price of small hotels declined quarter to quarter, and the price of both large and small hotels fell on a year-over-year basis. It appears that the price of both types of hotels is reverting to their moving average. The cost of hotel debt financing remained flat this quarter, while the cost of equity financing declined. In terms of risk premiums, there was no change in the risk premium for hotels compared to the risk-free rate. Besides this, the relative risk premium that lenders require for hotels over and above other commercial real estate has narrowed, indicating that lenders aren’t demanding a higher compensation for originating hotel loans. However, the spread between the 10-year Treasury and the 3-month Treasury was flat in the current period, which continues to raise concerns over its impact on market liquidity as well as its contribution to slower price growth in hotels. A reading of our tea leaves suggests that large hotels should be expected to decline in price. In contrast, the price of smaller hotels is anticipated to rise. This is report number 33 of the index series

Second Quarter 2016: Slowdown for Large Hotels Continues; Small Hotels Have Now Slowed as Well

Our Standardized Unexpected Price (SUP) metric continues to show a decline in the price of large hotels, and now also the price of small hotels has eased—even though hotel transaction volume has increased. Although debt and equity financing for hotels remain relatively inexpensive, we are concerned that the total volatility of hotel returns is greater relative to the return volatility for other commercial real estate. If this trend continues, lenders will eventually start to tighten hotel lending standards. Our early warning indicators all continue to suggest that the downward trend in hotel prices should continue into the next quarter. This is report number 19 of the index series