Delta Dental Of Arkansas Taking The Next Step

Delta Dental of Arkansas, an affiliate of the Delta Dental Plans Association, had been a profitable provider of dental insurance since its inception in 1982 as a one - product company selling group dental policies to companies in Arkansas.  With the retirement of its founding CEO in 2000 after 18 years of service, its board of directors crafted a new organizational structure, hired a new CEO from the outside, restructured the board, and redirected the focus of the organization.  An external marketing firm employed by the company, following extensive research, encouraged the management of Delta Dental of Arkansas’ to develop a broader and more comprehensive approach to doing business. Following the consultant’s recommendations, Delta Dentals’ new business plan focused on ideas to generate repeat business, attract new business, diversify, and introduce additions to the company’s line of services to influence company growth.

The Down Home Caf

The Down Home Caf, a profitable 23-unit chain of family-oriented restaurants in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Oklahoma, have had slowly declining same-store revenue growth during the past three years. Although research suggests that patrons give the Down Home Cafhigh marks on food quality and value, growth may have been hurt by the lack of ambiance and brand image. Research indicates they are in target consumers consideration sets, although perhaps not a first choice. In order to generate growth, the executive team is focusing on ideas to generate repeat business and increase the underperforming dinner and weekend meal occasions. Down Homes advertising agency has encouraged management to step back from a short-term strategy and consider developing a more comprehensive approach. The agency presented analysis that has broken down the Down Home customer base into ten decision-making segments according to dining occasion, and is pushing management to adopt an overall branding strategy

Delta Dental Of Arkansas Taking The Next Step

Delta Dental of Arkansas, an affiliate of the Delta Dental Plans Association, had been a profitable provider of dental insurance since its inception in 1982 as a one - product company selling group dental policies to companies in Arkansas. With the retirement of its founding CEO in 2000 after 18 years of service, its board of directors crafted a new organizational structure, hired a new CEO from the outside, restructured the board, and redirected the focus of the organization. An external marketing firm employed by the company, following extensive research, encouraged the management of Delta Dental of Arkansas’ to develop a broader and more comprehensive approach to doing business. Following the consultant’s recommendations, Delta Dentals’ new business plan focused on ideas to generate repeat business, attract new business, diversify, and introduce additions to the company’s line of services to influence company growth

New constraints on the major neutron source in low-mass AGB stars

We compare updated Torino postprocessing asymptotic giant branch (AGB) nucleosynthesis model calculations with isotopic compositions of mainstream SiC dust grains from low-mass AGB stars. Based on the data-model comparison, we provide new constraints on the major neutron source, 13C({\alpha},n)16O in the He-intershell, for the s-process. We show that the literature Ni, Sr, and Ba grain data can only be consistently explained by the Torino model calculations that adopt the recently proposed magnetic-buoyancy-induced 13C-pocket. This observation provides strong support to the suggestion of deep mixing of H into the He-intershell at low 13C concentrations as a result of efficient transport of H through magnetic tubes.Comment: ApJ, accepte

Texar Federal Credit Union: Where Your Friends Are

TEXAR Federal Credit Union (formerly Bowie County Teachers Credit Union, Bowie-Cass Teachers Credit Union, and the Teachers Federal Credit Union) has been, from inception in 1951, a provider of a broad range of financial services to its members, primarily in Texarkana, Texas, and Arkansas and the surrounding areas. The credit union experienced normal growth over the years as it progressed through major name changes, especially to TEXAR in 2001. Another significant milestone was the decision to launch a major building program that concluded with moving into a new, large, and modern building in 2003. As the national economy went into a recession in 2008, the states of Texas and Arkansas experienced economic slowdowns that were not as significant as the changes that were reflected in the economic indicators at the national level or those experienced by other states that were much more severely affected. The Texarkana area economy was moderately affected by slowdowns in lending, especially for housing, automobiles, and other durable products.There was additional impact by an elevation in member loan defaults. Another significant occurrence, not related to the local economy, was the failure of U.S. Central Federal Credit Union and Western Corporate (WesCorp) Federal Credit Union and the financial losses of Southwest Corporate Federal Credit Union.Similar to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that insures losses in the banking industry, the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) insures losses among credit unions. To help cover the losses of U.S. Central and WesCorp, TEXAR was assessed approximately $750,000 and because of the losses at Southwest Corporate, it was assessed approximately$700,000.That is the essence of this case

A Longitudinal Investigation of the Effects of Computer Anxiety on Performance in a Computing-Intensive Environment

Computers are pervasive in business and education, and it would be easy to asswne that all individuals embrace technology. However, evidence shows that roughly 30 to 40 percent of individuals experience some level of computer anxiety. Many academic programs involve computing-intensive courses, but the actual effects of this exposure on computer anxiety are unknown. This study contributes to the literature as follows. First, direct evidence of a relationship between longitudinal changes in individuals\u27 computer anxiety and performance are reported. Second, the effects of changes in computer anxiety are shown to be dependent on individuals\u27 initial level of anxiety. Third, some evidence is provided that changes in computer anxiety from exposure to a computing-intensive environment are not uniform across individuals. Lastly, the subjects in this study appear to be more representative of contemporary students and workers than those used in prior studies. Implications for research and practice are presented

Does Technology Acceptance Affect E-learning in a Non-Technology-Intensive Course?

Prior research suggests that individuals’ technology acceptance levels may affect their work and learning performance outcomes when activities are conducted through information technology usage. Most previous research investigating the relationship between individual attitudes towards technology and learning has been conducted in technology-intensive settings. In this study we investigate the relationship between individuals’ technology acceptance factors and their performance in a non-technology intensive course – an introductory accounting course where technology is used as a learning tool but where knowledge of technology is not a primary learning objective. Results show that individuals with lower levels of academic proficiency are likely to perform worse if they are also less accepting of technology, compared to their relative peers with higher levels of technology acceptance