Faculty News – New Books
Women And Entrepreneurship: Contemporary Classics (The International Library of Entrepreneurship Series)
edited by Candida G. Brush, Nancy M. Carter, Elizabeth J. Gatewood, Patricia G. Greene, Myra M. Hart. Edward F. Elgar Publishing, 2006.
“Enterprising new firms drive economic growth and women around the world are important contributors to that growth. As entrepreneurs, they seize opportunities, develop and deliver new goods and services and, in the process, create wealth for themselves their families, communities and countries. This volume explores the role women entrepreneurs play in this economic progress, highlighting the challenges they encounter in launching and growing their businesses, and providing detailed studies of how their experiences vary from country to country.”
Wild Colonial Girl Essays on Edna O'Brien
Edited by Lisa Colletta and Maureen O'Connor Irish Studies in Literature and Culture, Michael Gillespie, Series Editor
“Since the 1960 publication of her first novel, The Country Girls, award-winning Irish writer Edna O'Brien has been both celebrated and maligned. Praised for her lyrical prose and vivid female characters and attacked for her frank treatment of sexuality and alleged sensationalism, O'Brien and her work seem always to spawn controversy, including the past banning in Ireland of several of her works. O'Brien's attention to "women's" concerns such as sex, romance, marriage, and childbirth has often relegated her to critical neglect at best and, at worst, outright contempt. This essay collection promises to be a long overdue critical reevaluation and exciting rediscovery of her oeuvre.”
Proposal Deadline
October 18, 2006 Application forms are online at k\faculty\BFRF\forms...
If you have any questions, contact Susan Chern (x5339 or chern@babson.edu) or any of the BFRF members: Dhruv Grewal (Chair), Larry Moss, Dennis Mathaisel, Jennifer Bethel, and Blake Pattridge.
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Upcoming Research Chat
Thursday, October 19
Frances Nilsson, Kate Buckley, and Rachel Zyirek will provide an overview of New Library Resources: An Introduction to EndNote and New Library Services for Faculty Research and Curriculum Development.
Wednesday, November 1
Kathleen McKone-Sweet, TOIM Taxonomy of Supply Chain Management
Mary O’Donoghue, Arts & Humanities and another thing: Translating Louis de Paor’s Irish-language Poetry Collection agus rud eile de
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BFRF Final Product
The BFRF has accepted papers from faculty members who have completed their BFRF summer 2006 projects.
Lisa Colletta, Arts and Humanities
Political Satire and Postmodern Irony in the Age of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert
Postmodernity is characterized by pastiche, and, according to Frederic Jameson, pastiche is a different form of imitation than parody, which is often satiric. Pastiche is “a neutral practice of mimicry, without satirical impulse, without laughter.” This generally accepted definition of one of the primary characteristics of postmodernity might explain why the traditional, corrective function of satire is now seen as ineffectual. This article examines the role of satire, particularly television satire, in contemporary political humor. Can the social and political satire of television shows such as The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and The Simpsons really have any kind of efficacy beyond that of mere entertainment? Or does the self-referential irony that makes all of these shows so popular actually undermine social and political engagement and create a disengaged viewer who prefers outsider irreverence to thoughtful satiric critique and ironic, passive democracy to discerning, engaged politics?
Anne Roggeveen, Marketing
Changing False Beliefs from Repeated Advertising: The Role of Claim-Refutation Alignment
This research addresses refutation of false beliefs formed on the basis of repeated exposure to advertisements. Experiment 1 explores belief in the refutation as a function of the alignability between the claim and the refutation as manipulated by whether the original claim was direct or indirect. Experiment 2 then examines whether this effect will carry through to belief in the original claim after exposure to the refutation. Findings indicate that direct refutations of indirect claims are believed more than direct refutations of direct claims. However, direct refutations of direct claims are more effective in reducing belief in the original claim. We argue that recollection of the original claim facilitates automatic updating of belief in that claim. Experiment 3 demonstrates that an alternative cue (a logo) in a direct refutation that facilitates recall of the original claim enables reduction of belief in the original indirect claim; this finding helps pin down the mechanism underlying belief updating as recall of the original claim. Further, Experiment 3 finds that multiple cues to recalling the original claim may prevent the automatic updating process. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Denise Troxell, Mathematics and Science
The Minimum Span of L(2,1)-Labelings of Certain Generalized Petersen Graphs
In the classical channel assignment problem, transmitters that are sufficiently close together are assigned transmission frequencies that differ by prescribed amounts, with the goal of minimizing the span of frequencies required. This problem can be modeled through the use of an L(2,1)-labeling, which is a function f from the vertex set of a graph G to the nonnegative integers such that |f(x) – f(y)| ≥ 2 if x and y are adjacent vertices and |f(x) – f(y)| ≥ 1 if x and y are at distance 2. The goal is to determine the l-number of G, which is defined as the minimum span over all L(2,1)-labelings of G, or equivalently, the smallest number k such that G has an L(2,1)-labeling using integers from {0, 1, …, k}. Recent work has focused on determining the l-number of generalized Petersen graphs (GPGs) of order n. This paper provides exact values for the l-numbers of GPGs of orders 5, 7, and 8, closing all remaining open cases for orders at most 8. It is also shown that there are no GPGs of orders 4, 5, 8, 11 with l-number exactly equal to the known lower bound of 5, however a construction is provided to obtain examples of GPGs with l-number 5 for all other orders. This paper also provides an upper bound for the number of distinct isomorphism classes for GPGs of any given order. Finally, the exact values for the l-number of n-stars, a subclass of the GPGs inspired by the classical Petersen graph, are also determined. These generalized stars have a useful representation on Möebius strips, which is fundamental in verifying our results.
Database Available for Faculty Research Finance Division Upgrades Data Server
Using grant monies from BFRF, the Finance Division purchased and installed a new high capacity disk server, replacing an older server of lower capacity. This disk server, maintained by ITSD, was then loaded with the TAQ stock trading research database. These data consist of all trades and quotes on the NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, and the regional exchanges, from 1993 to the present. The data files currently take up about 1.8 terrabytes. The server can grow to hold about 3.4 terrabytes of data.
Faculty and students are now able to access stock trading data in a database that is suitable for research. Questions regarding data access should be addressed to the Finance Division.
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BoR Final Products Accepted
The BFRF accepted papers from the following BoR award recipients.
Mary Godwyn, History and Society
Women’s Business Centers: Strategies to Educate Low-Income Women Entrepreneurs
Despite serving women who are socially and economically disadvantaged, and despite being chronically under-funded and short-staffed, Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) have been extraordinarily successful in helping women to start businesses (Godwyn, Langowitz and Sharpe 2006). This research explores some of the social mechanisms that might explain the success of WBCs. Two theories are applied: the macro level theory of middle-group minorities (Butler 1994, Bonacich 1980), and the micro level framework of stereotype threat (Steele 1997). Using the methodology of grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin 1998), the two sociological theories being tested were not arbitrarily selected, but were suggested by data gathered in a previous study of WBCs (Godwyn, Langowitz & Sharpe 2006). This research suggests that techniques used by WBCs provide the intra-group solidarity emblematic of middle-group minorities and successfully help neutralize the stereotype threat experienced by many female entrepreneurs.
Steven Gordon, TIOM
The Role of Information Technology in Managing the Innovation Process.
The management of innovation is widely acknowledged to be difficult and complex. We know that it requires the support of top management, committed champions, the appropriate setting of expectations, and the ability to deal with uncertainties. We also know that various organizational structures, processes and systems have been deployed to try to improve management of innovation -- including stage gate systems, innovation hubs, and internal venture capital funds. However, we know much less about how a firm’s information technology (IT) capabilities can help or hinder the innovation process. The foci of this study are how IT can help manage the innovation process and, as a result, what generic IT capabilities a firm must have to succeed in being innovative.
Gang Hu, Finance
Institutional Trading, Allocation Sales, and Private Information in IPOs
We analyze the profitability and informativeness of institutional trading in IPOs, using a large sample of proprietary transaction-level trading data. We analyze the pattern and profitability of institutional IPO allocation sales, the profitability of post-IPO institutional trading, and the predictive power of institutional trading for subsequent long-run IPO performance. The results can be summarized as follows. First, institutions continue to sell significant portions of their IPO allocations beyond the immediate post-IPO period. Larger institutions sell their allocations faster than smaller institutions, suggesting that they have greater bargaining power with respect to the investment banking syndicate. Second, institutions realize most (96 percent) of the “money left on the table” for IPO allocations sold within the first year. Third, post-IPO institutional trading outperforms a buy-and-hold investment strategy in IPOs, suggesting that institutions do possess some private information about IPOs. Institutions outperform more when trading shares in IPOs about which there is higher information asymmetry; further, larger institutions outperform by a higher margin than smaller institutions, suggesting that they have a comparative advantage in information production. Fourth, institutional trading has predictive power for subsequent long-run IPO performance, even after controlling for publicly available information, though this predictive power decays over time, becoming insignificant after the initial three to four months. Overall, the results indicate that institutional investors possess a significant informational advantage over retail investors about IPOs and receive considerable compensation for participating in these IPOs.
Donna Kelley, Entrepreneurship
Adaptation and Organizational Risk in Innovation-Based Corporate Entrepreneurship Programs.
This research examines the evolution of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) programs in twelve industry-leading corporations over a three-year period. The analysis suggests that organizational risk and flexibility are important consideration in designing and managing a CE program. Management considerations include: (1) developing processes that are understandable beyond the innovation context and adaptable, (2) clarifying how CE activity fits within the company’s overall strategic portfolio of growth initiatives and provides a path, rather than a jolt, into the future, and (3) creating a fluid structure that meets the evolving objectives for CE while maintaining a link to the organization.
Dennis Mathaisel, Mathematics and Science
An Architecture for Transforming the Military Industrial Enterprise
The U.S. Department of Defense, Business Initiatives Council, issued an urgent directive to military depots to “rewrite organizational business practices using private sector inspired ideas and methods in transforming the DoD into a more efficient MRO [Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul] organization for the 21st century.” In addition, an increased military operational tempo in Iraq, aging weapon systems, and new technologies are motivating the depots to implement aggressive transformation plans. This project develops the defining architecture for these transformations. Three disciplines will guide the design: Lean and Agile Manufacturing principles; Generalized Enterprise Reference Architectures (GERA) used in Information Processing; and Systems Engineering concepts.
Mary O’Donoghue, Arts and Humanities
and another thing: a Translation of Louis de Paor’s Irish-language Poetry Collection agus rud eile de.
This translation project produced a book-length bilingual poetry manuscript, entitled agus rud eile de/ and another thing. It involved the translation into English of the post-1999 poems of Irish-language poet Louis de Paor, specifically his untranslated collection agus rud eile de (Coiscéim, 2002). The final manuscript results from making numerous working translations of individual poems until arriving at finished translations with which both poet and translator are satisfied.
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Fulbright Notes
"Notes from the Field"
Lisa DiCarlo, Fulbright Fellow in Turkey
"It would have been difficult to foresee the political events that have colored my experience here in Turkey as I examine the decision-making process and social consequences for people who convert from Islam to Christianity. Shortly after the Pope's culturally insensitive remarks during his Regensburg address caused people here to question the appropriateness of his upcoming visit to Turkey, a Turkish convert to Christianity hijacked a Turkish Airlines flight in an attempt to gain sympathy from the Vatican regarding his religious persecution. Finally, we learned yesterday that France had passed a law making it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide, and issues relating to France always seem to provoke descriptions of the EU as a Christian club. (This news was somewhat muted by Orhan Pamuk's Nobel Prize, of course!) Events such as these continue to make it an interesting time to be examining this particular issue of Christians in Turkey."
Last spring, DiCarlo, Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the History and Society Division, was selected to be a Fulbright scholar grantee to Turkey. As a Fulbrighter, she joins the ranks of some 273,000 alumni of the world-wide program. While in Turkey, DiCarlo's research topic is "Losing Our Religion: Turkey's New Christians." Through archival research and interviews, she focuses on the decision-making process and the transformations of social networks on Muslims who convert to Christianity in contemporary Turkey.
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Call for Papers
Oxford Business & Economics Conference
June 24-26, 2007
Oxford University, UK
Submission Deadline: November 30, 2006
Competitive papers (or abstracts) are invited in all areas of business, including: Management Information Systems; Global Business; Marketing Theory and Applications; Accounting; Economics; Finance & Investment; General Management; General Business Research; Business & Economics Education; Production/Operations Management; Organizational Behavior & Theory; Strategic Management Policy; Labor Relations & Human Resource Management; Business Law; Public Responsibility and Ethics; Technology & Innovation; Public Administration and Small Business Entrepreneurship. Papers are also invited on teaching issues.
Proposals for cases, workshops, symposia, colloquia, panels, tutorials on current topics of interest, and other special sessions are also invited. Manuscript for Submission: Papers must be written in English. Either Electronic or Hard Copy submissions are acceptable. The URL for conference is http://www.facultyforum.com/obec.
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External Funding Information
Corporate, Foundation, and Government Relations Office (CFGR)
If you would like to explore the possibility of external funding please contact Wendy Silverman, Director, CFGR at x5993 or silverman@babson.edu . Back to Top
