Choices and values in Catholic high school education : a study of parent decision making in the San Francisco Bay Area

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Analyzing Educational Testing Service Graduate Major Field Test Results

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) created the Graduate Major Field Test in Business (GMFT-B) for MBA students. This test is administered to all MBA classes at Jacksonville University for the purpose of measuring student academic achievement and growth, as well as to assess educational outcomes. The test is given in the capstone course, Business Strategy and Policy, typically taken by students at the end of their MBA program. It provides valuable feedback to each student as to their standing with regard to students across the nation. A total of six years of data (2006 to 2011) was collected for analysis of these test scores. For the first half of this time period, Jacksonville University was in candidacy for accreditation by the Association for the Advancement of Colleges and Schools of Business (AACSB), and for the time period 2009-2011 it was an AACSB accredited institution. Executive MBA, evening MBA (also known as flex MBA) and day-time (accelerated) MBA classes took the exam over that time period. It was determined that the executive MBA student grades were significantly better than their counterparts in the evening (flex) and day-time (accelerated) MBA students at Jacksonville University. It was also found that there was no significant difference in student performance during the first half (AACSB candidacy) and second half (AACSB accreditation) of the time period under investigation

Factors Affecting School Quality In Florida

This paper examines the factors that are theorized to be determinants of school quality in the 67 counties of Florida from 2000 to 2011. The model constructed for this purpose is comprised of a mix of independent variables that include county educational attainment (number of high school graduates and State University System enrollees) and economic factors (median household income, unemployment rate, number of housing starts, and property tax revenue per student). Furthermore, the model also considers 4 demographic/social variables (percent of population from 5 to 17 years old, percent white, percent female, and crime rate), as well as a variable for trend. The trend variable allows inferences to be made about the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. It is hypothesized that these 11 variables will explain the variation in school quality by county over the observed time period

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator As A Tool To Facilitate Learning Outcomes For Team Building In The Classroom

Globalization and domestic competition are forcing businesses to rethink the human resources utilization process, and one method for considering again this challenge is creating a team culture.  One key to this process for human resources development is the understanding of how to create the most successful teams.  The use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a tool often used by business to achieve the goals of building work teams. College business majors must be introduced to the MBTI and to the dynamics of team building as a measurable skill necessary for their work environment.  This research focuses on college classes in business communications, the directed study of the MBTI, and the heterogeneous mix of type in teams necessary for high learning outcomes.  Specific pedagogical directions are provided for two team-building projects in writing, research, and oral presentation to small groups, thus meeting multiple course objectives

Maximizing The Value Of Your Small Business

This paper offers business owners a step-by-step valuation process for establishing the fair market value of their firms and stresses the importance of preparing for the due diligence process

The Role Of Due Diligence In The Business Valuation Process

The due diligence process enables investors to do a better job of determining the appropriate price to pay for a privately held firm.  This article delineates some factors that a prospective buyer should investigate thoroughly to determine the value of a small, privately held business under consideration for purchase

IPO Pricing Phenomena: Empirical Evidence Of Behavioral Biases

Does IPO stand for Instant Profit Opportunity or It’s Probably Over-priced?  The conundrum is that both answers are generally correct.  The answer appears to depend on the investor’s investment horizon.  This realization provides an enigma for the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) proponents. It is widely known that initial public offering (IPO) stocks in the past have typically been underpriced, thereby allowing the fortunate purchaser to buy the shares in the primary market and systematically beat the stock market averages. This phenomenon is evidenced by the average one-day returns on IPOs of 15% and presents a puzzle to efficient market advocates. Behavioral finance posits that the same underpriced IPO stocks will under-perform the market and deliver substandard performance during the ensuing one to three years. At a minimum, the “new-issues puzzle” presents a challenge to the EMH and has given rise to many class-action stockholder lawsuits alleging illegal price manipulation.   Why under-pricing systematically happens and why issuing firms/major shareholders choose to leave copious amounts of money on the table is not well explained by traditional financial theory.  Behavioral finance melds together investor psychology and normative financial theory in an attempt to explain this market enigma

Pedagogical Strategies For Incorporating Behavioral Finance Concepts In Investment Courses

The traditional approach to teaching a course in investments is predicated upon the efficient market hypothesis, modern portfolio theory, and the assumption that decision-makers are rational, wealth optimizing entities.  Recent developments in the arena of behavioral finance (BF) have raised questions about this approach. Although the idea of efficient markets is widely accepted in academic circles, financial markets often fail to behave as predicted by the theory. For the teacher of undergraduate investments, these divergent views create significant pedagogical challenges and opportunities. BF has particular implications for investing in financial markets, where the faith in rational behavior is perhaps the greatest.  This paper identifies alternative strategies for dealing with these issues in the classroom

The Impact Of Students Expectations Of Grades And Perceptions Of Course Difficulty, Workload, And Pace On Faculty Evaluations

Decisions concerning tenure, promotion, and merit raises are of crucial importance to college and university faculty.  These decisions are greatly affected by the evaluation of faculty by their students.  It is often argued that student evaluations of faculty are influenced by a number of factors that do not reflect the important elements of university level instruction, such as subject knowledge and clarity of exposition.  Rather, some faculty believe that if a professor is an easy grader, has a low workload, or if the class itself is considered easy, he or she is more likely to receive a favorable student evaluation.  This paper utilizes a sample of faculty evaluations from the College of Business of a small southeastern university to investigate these hypotheses

Dutch Auction Or Dutch Uncle? A Case Study Of The NetSuite IPO

“Dutch uncle is a term for a person who issues frank, harsh, and severe comments and criticism to educate, encourage, or admonish someone. Thus, a Dutch uncle is a person who is rather the reverse of what is normally thought of as avuncular or uncle-like (which would be indulgent and permissive).” Wikipedi