.

Sourcing Strategies of Manufacturing Firms: Transaction Cost Implications

Hong Y. Park, Saginaw Valley State University
C. Surender Reddy, Saginaw Valley State University
Iksu Jurn, Saginaw Valley State University

Developing the right sourcing strategy in managing the firm’s supplies is critical for today’s managers. They realize the long-term impact of their sourcing strategies (make or buy, supply-base structure, and nature of customer-supplier relationship) on the profits and the efficient functioning of the organization. The study examines and evaluates changes in these strategic choices. The study revealed the following: small and lower labor […]

Cross-Functional Business Programs: Critical Design and Development Considerations

Timothy W. Aurand, Northern Illinois University
Carol DeMoranville, Northern Illinois University
Geoffrey L. Gordon, Northern Illinois University

Well-documented corporate demands for crossfunctionally competent employees have instigated a wide variety of efforts by the educational community to integrate business curricula. Many colleges and universities struggle to functionally integrate business programs that historically have been delivered by well-defined, and often well-siloed, disciplines. Drawing from the numerous published and unpublished case studies of cross-functional integration attempts, this study develops a framework of critical issues to […]

An Investigation of Auditor and Client Tenure

David H. Sinason, Northern Illinois University
Jefferson P. Jones, Auburn University
Sandra Waller Shelton, DePaul University

The purpose of this study is to examine the duration of the auditor’s relationship with a client and factors that affect audit firm tenure. The duration of the auditor and client relationship has been cited as possibly affecting the risk of a loss of auditor independence. Also, audit firm tenure has been used as an independent variable in several studies with […]

Listening to Customers

Michael S. Garver, Central Michigan University

While most practitioners are familiar with traditional customer satisfaction surveys, research findings suggest that best practice companies use multiple tools to bring the voice of the customer inside the organization. The purpose of this study is to examine how best practice companies use various tools to listen to customers. The primary contribution of this article is in discussing a variety of different […]

Value Relevance of Unrealized Foreign Currency Translation: Gains and Losses

Mohammad S. Bazaz, Oakland University
David L. Senteney, Ohio University

This study uses an equity valuation model to investigate the extent to which SFAS No. 52 unrealized foreign currency translation gains and losses are reflected in levels of equity security prices. Equity security price is used as the dependent variable in our selected model. Book value of equity (adjusted for the cumulative translation gain or loss), earnings, and cumulative translation gains and […]