2011-2012 College Highlights - Tennessee Tech University

I. Faculty research
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ANNUAL REPORT
College of Business
AY 2011-2012
� Dr. Ismet Anitsal currently serves in the editorial review boards of 13 scholarly
journals in marketing, entrepreneurship and business. He is the editor of Academy
of Marketing Studies Journal and the retailing section editor for Journal of
Applied Marketing Theory. He also serves as special issue co-editor for Journal of
Applied Marketing Theory and Academy of Marketing Studies Journal. Dr. Ismet
Anitsal had seven refereed journal articles published/in press in the following
journals: Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, Academy of Entrepreneurship
Journal, Journal of International Business Research, Academy of Strategic
Management Journal, Journal of Legal, Ethical, and Regulatory Issues, Journal
of Economics and Economics Education Research and Business Studies Journal.
He also had two scholarly research grants as well as a QEP Grant for Teaching/
Learning Enhancement in 2011.
� Dr. M. Meral Anitsal had seven refereed journal articles published or in press in
the following journals: Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, Academy of
Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal, Journal of
International Business Research, Journal of Legal, Ethical, and Regulatory
Issues, Journal of Economics and Economics Education Research, and Business
Studies Journal. She had QEP Grant for teaching and learning enhancement as
well as two scholarly research grants. Dr. Meral Anitsal serves in the editorial
review boards of multiple journals and is special issue co-editor of Journal of
Applied Marketing Theory and Academy of Marketing Studies Journal. She was
the President of Atlantic Marketing Association in the last academic year.
� Drs. Debbie Ballou and Brian Huguenard presented a paper on “Gender
differences in IS professionals’ job responsibility descriptions” at the 2011
Tennessee Women in Computing Conference.
� Drs. Bonita Barger and Rodley Pineda published in the Proceedings of the
Institute for Business and Finance Research Winter Global Conference on
Business and Finance. The research was recognized with the Distinguished
Research Award.
� Ferdinand DiFurio has a forthcoming publication in the International Journal of
Business and Social Science entitled “A Regional Analysis of Divorce Rates.”
� Robert C. Elmore, "Integrating Corporate Governance and Business Ethics
Education into the Business Curriculum," Advances in Accounting Education
Teaching and Curriculum Innovations (Volume 13) with Z. Razaee and J. Szendi.
� Robert C. Elmore, "Active v. Passive Academic Dishonesty: Comparative
Perceptions of Accounting Versus Non-Accounting majors (with Meral and Ismet

Initsal), Journal of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues, Volume 14, 2011,
November 2011.
� Robert C. Elmore, "Meeting the Challenges of Accounting Ethics," Conference
Proceedings: The International Academy of Business and Public Administrative
Disciplines Conference, Orlando, FL (January 2012).
� R. Dan Fesler, "The Ledger" Newsletter of the TTU Accounting Department,
Summer 2011, pp. 1-12. A report sent to TTU's 2600+ accounting alumni.
� R. Dan Fesler ,"AACSB 5th Year Maintenance Report for 2007-2011" submitted
to AACSB officials (pp. 1-40). R. Dan Fesler, Five (5) Newspaper columns
during academic 2011-2012.
� Dr. Tor Guimaraes published “Assessing the Impact of Recommender Agents on
On-line Consumer Unplanned Purchase Behavior” in Information & Management.
� Dr. Tor Guimaraes published “Recommendation Agent Impact on Consumer Online
Shopping: The Movie Magic Case Study” in Expert Systems with Applications.
� Dr. Tor Guimaraes published “Industry Clockspeed's Impact on Business Innovation
Success Factors" in the European Journal of Innovation Management.
� Dr. Tor Guimaraes presented and published in Proceedings at the International
Academy of Business and Public Administration Disciplines (IABPAD) Conference
on “Important Factors for IS Strategic Plan Assimilation.”
� Dr. Mary Elizabeth (Beth) Howard "Tax Planning 'On the Margins': The Impact
of Step-Based Phase-outs of Certain Tax Credits on Taxpayers' Marginal Tax
Rates", forthcoming in the June/ July 2012 issue of Practical Tax Strategies.
� Dr. Brian Huguenard presented “Introduction to Structural Equation Modeling” at
the 1st Annual TBR Research Development Conference.
� Dr. Jon Jonakin presented a paper at the Latin American Studies Association in
San Francisco, CA.
� Dr. Brian Jones published “Distance Education at the Graduate Level: A Viable
Alternative” in Contemporary Issues in Education Research (CIER).
� Dr. Brian Jones presented two papers to the HCI International Conference.
� Dr. Deryl Martin has published “Early Retirement Decisions and the Returns on
Social Security for the Average U.S. Wage Earner,” Deryl W. Martin, Clarence
Rose, and Steven Beach, Journal of Financial Service Professionals,
forthcoming.
� Dr. Christine Miller “A Five-Factor Model for the Success of Internal Consultants”
in the Society for Advancement of Management International Business Conference
Proceedings.
� Dr. Christine Miller presented on “Hidden Agendas that Lead to Suboptimal Hiring
Decisions” to the 18 th Annual South Dakota International Business Conference.
� Dr. Nat Natarajan serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Quality
Management.
� Dr. Nat Natarajan published “Factors influencing the outsourcing decisions: a study
of the banking sector in India” in Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal.
� Dr. Nat Natarajan published “Emerging Economies: Are They Centers of
Innovation?” published in the 2011 Special Issue of Focus.
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� Dr. Nat Natarajan published “Modeling Strategic Decisions: Case of Airlines in
India,” Published in the Proceedings of 42 nd National Annual Meeting of the
Decision Sciences Institute (DSI).
� Dr. Nat Natarajan published “Innovations in Developing Economies: Challenges and
Opportunities for Developed Economies” in the Proceedings of 2 nd Annual
European Decision Sciences Institute (EDSI) at Wiesbaden, Germany.
� Dr. Julie Pharr received a Best Paper award for her work entitled "From User-
Generated Content to User-Generated Branding: A Research Typology For
Investigating the Power of Social Media in 'Open-Source Branding'" from the
Association of Marketing Theory and Practice at its March 2012 annual meeting
in Charleston, SC. The paper was awarded the Best Paper in the Internet
Marketing Track. Dr. Pharr presented four papers at professional meetings.
� Drs. Rodley Pineda and Bonita Barger published an article titled "Profiling and
the Student Team Project Peer Appraisal Process" in Business Education and
Accreditation.
� Dr. Richard S. Rand "AACSB 5th Year Maintenance Report for 2007-2011"
submitted to AACSB officials (pp. 41-48).
� Dr. Richard S. Rand One (1) Newspaper column during academic 2011-2012.
� Dr. Curt Reimann was a speaker in the 6th Cycle MRM Business Award Closing
Conference, on April 24, 2012. His presentation was titled: Business Excellence:
How It All Began: Learning From Role Models and Framing Future Challenges"
� Dr. Curt Reimann was the Keynote Speaker in a session: "Special Talks for Chief
Executives", at the Thailand Productivity Institute, in Bangkok, on April 27,
2012. His presentation was titled: Building on Business and Organizational
Excellence: Progress, Needs, Opportunities, and Challenges"
� Dr. Robert A. Seay "Enhance Your College Experience Through Student
Organizations," New Accountant (with W. Tervo) March 2011.
� Dr. Robert A. Seay "Small Business Financing and the Relevance of CPA
involvement" accepted for June 2012 publication in Business Journal for
Entrepreneurs.
� Dr. Tom Timmerman published “Temper, temperature, and temptation: Heat-related
retaliation in baseball” in Psychological Science.
� Dr. Tom Timmerman published “The relationship between leader experience and
team performance in cross-sectional and longitudinal designs” in Journal of
Quantitative Analysis in Sports.
II. Books Published
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Nothing to report
III. Innovation resulting in savings, efficiency, and/or improved outcomes
� Drs. Meral Anitsal, Ismet Anitsal, Bonita Barger, and Ismail Fidan, from the
College of Engineering, designed a cross-disciplinary international service
learning course in new product development that brought Marketing,
Management, IBAC, and Engineering students together for the first time at

Tennessee Tech. Students worked on developing new products for US food
markets in cooperation with students and faculty of the Food Engineering
Department of Celal Bayar University-Turkey. Students completed the last three
weeks of the course in Turkey.
� Dr. Richard Rand led the spring 2012 International Experiences in Accounting
course. Twelve TTU students left Nashville on March 2, 2012 and returned on
Saturday March 10, 2012. The trip included visits to the offices of two
International Accounting Firms (KPMG and Deloitte Touche) as well as a visit to
the International Accounting Standards Board.
� The Accounting Department was reaccredited by AACSB-I. In the USA, only 25
percent of AACSB accredited Colleges of Business achieve separate accounting
accreditation. Separate accounting accreditation entails meeting stringent
requirement beyond those required for College of Business accreditation. College
of Business accreditation indicates a very high level of quality, but a College that
has an accounting department that achieves separate AACSB accounting
accreditation has achieved a significantly higher standard of excellence.
� College of Business Board of Trustees Etiquette Dinner: This event began four
years ago to educate our students about proper dinning etiquette. The first dinner
was just that – an opportunity for our students to learn proper dining and enjoy a
nice meal. While useful, the College of Business staff determined the event could
serve a broader purpose and after talking with our Board of Trustee members a
new format for the dinner developed. The current format allows the students to
practice their interview and social skills directly with alumni and business leaders
over a meal. At the conclusion of the meal, the alumni and business leaders
provide written feedback for the students on their social skills and readiness for
job interviewing. The dinner also provides an opportunity for networking between
our students and business professionals looking for entry level employees. After
the 2012 event, many students were offered jobs/internships for the coming year.
� Professional Development Week: This innovative program exposes our students
to business and community leaders from all levels of business and industry. The
program is open to all business students at every level, but is required for
sophomore/junior level students. The goal of the program is to assist students in
setting a professional vision by providing seminars led by business leaders. The
2011 Fall series was headlined “Entrepreneur Spotlight” and featured men and
women who turned their interests and passions into profitable business ventures.
In Spring 2012, speakers addressed topics in the areas of international business,
the entertainment industry, successful networking, and interview skills for today’s
markets.
� The Mayberry Advisory Board met on Tuesday, November 1, 2011. The board
members also participated in a panel discussion organized by the MBA students.
Earlier they interacted with COB students during a reception and dinner on
October 31.
� Ticket 2 Ride: One of TTU’s greatest assets also presents one of our greatest
challenges-our rural location. The remote setting is a challenge when it comes to
exposing our students to opportunities in the business and professional world. In
order to assist our students in overcoming this barrier and to provide them with a
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platform for practicing their newly found professional skills, the College of
Business sponsors a program designed to ready our students for the annual
Nashville Job/Career Fair. This innovative program assists students with resume
writing and provides business cards and a complete package of information they
need to prepare for and succeed at the daylong event with Nashville area
employers. In order to participate and to qualify for a reservation on the College
of Business sponsored bus a student must produce a quality resume, participate in
job fair readiness seminars, and pay a small registration fee.
� The college continues to renovate Johnson Hall through the “Keeping the
Promise” Campaign. The Michael Burry Classroom was completed in January.
The funds to renovate a class in honor of Dr. Robert and Mrs. Gloria Bell were
raised with construction scheduled to begin this summer. A campaign to raise
funds to establish the Dr. Whewon Cho classroom was officially started.
� TTU’s College of Business is now home to the Tennessee Labor-Management
Center. The center is headed by Mark Travis.
� BusinessMedia Center highlights include successful implementation of over 50
MBA marketing activities for the college.
� The 2011 Distinguished Lecture Series concluded in the Fall Semester with Paul
DePodesta, Vice President of Player Development and Scouting for the New York
Mets, and Kent Eastman, State President for Capital One Bank in Texas. The
2012 Series began with David Kirkpatrick, author of the Facebook Effect, in
April.
IV. Faculty, Staff, and Student Awards
� Hervie Clemons was one of 14 students nation-wide selected to participate in a
four-day leadership retreat sponsored by Alpha Kappa Psi, the business fraternity.
� In April of 2012, Sunshyne Morack received a scholarship award of $750 from
the Nashville chapter of the Financial Executives Institute.
� Josh Simer, the Mayberry Graduate Assistant 2010-11, served on the 2011 Board
of Examiners of the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence (TNCPE). In
April 2011, he attended the Quest for Excellence conference in Washington D.C.
� In November 2011, Chris Simons and Courtney Dyer received a $1000
scholarship each from the Nashville chapter of the Construction Financial
Management Association.
� In recent years, TTU Accounting has consistently placed as one of the top three
schools in the Tennessee Society of CPA's (TSCPA) annual statewide scholarship
competition for Tennessee accounting students. In the 2011 competition, TTU
students received 43 awards totally more than $42,750.
� The College of Business’ Excellence in Research Award was presented to Dr.
Ismet Anitsal.
� Dr. Ismet Anitsal has been named as Faye Halfacre Moore Professor of
Entrepreneurship on Nov 2, 2011.
� The College of Business’ Assurance of Learning (AoL) Fall 2011 Award was
presented to Dr. Alice Camuti.
� The College of Business’ Outstanding Staff Award was presented to Emma “Sue”
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Earls.
� Lelia Gibson was selected to participate in a month long vocational and cultural
exchange in Thailand. The Group Study Exchange program, sponsored by the
Rotary Club, sends young professionals non-Rotarians to another country to
promote harmony and peace between the two countries. While in Thailand, Lelia
gave over 10 presentations about Tennessee, visited over 15 Rotary Clubs, and
toured numerous cultural, historical, religious, and business sites.
� Dr. Beth Howard passed all four parts of the CPA exam on her first attempt and
achieved an overall average score above 95.5, which placed her among the top 37
individuals nationwide. She is the only person in Tennessee to achieve this level
of performance.
� The College of Business’ Curtis Kinslow Award for Excellence in Teaching was
presented to Dr. Mary Elizabeth “Beth” Howard.
� Dr. Jon Jonakin was the recipient of the College of Business Lifetime
Achievement Award.
� The College of Business’ Excellence in Service Award was presented to Sarah
Khleif.
� The College of Business’ Special Recognition Awards were presented to Tammy
Martin and Lelia Gibson.
� Dr. Deryl Martin was named the Heidtke Professor of Finance.
� The College of Business’ Excellence in Overall Performance Award was
presented to Dr. Rodley Pineda.
� Dr. Richard Rand was appointed to the McDonald Chair of Business position in
February 2012.
� The College of Business’ Assurance of Learning (AoL) Spring 2012 Award was
presented to Donna Smith.
� Dr. Kenneth Wiant was the recipient of the Leighton E. Sissom Innovation and
Creativity Award for his contributions to the MoLE-SI project with Chemical
Engineering.
� The MBA Program was recognized by MBAonline.com as one of the best online
MBA programs in the country.
� The Beta Gamma Sigma chapter at Tennessee Tech University was named an
Exemplary Chapter for 2010-11. The honor was announced this year.
� Beta Alpha Psi was named a superior chapter.
� U.S. News & World Report has included the online MBA its first-ever Top
Online Education Programs lists. TTU’s online graduate business program
garnered a top-100 spot for Student Engagement and Accreditation indicators
among the 2012 Top Online Graduate Business Programs nationwide. The TTU
program also ranked in the top two-thirds among Student Services and
Technology indicators.
� The College will award over $170,000 in undergraduate and graduate students for
the 2012-2013 academic year.
� Ms. Bonnie McIntyre was one of six alumni named a 2012 Outstanding Alumni
by the university.
� Mr. Dick Murphy, a 1959 Industrial Management graduate, was named this year’s
College of Business Louis Johnson Outstanding Alumni Award recipient.
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� Dr. Robert Bell was named this year’s College of Business Outstanding Business
Leadership Award Recipient.
V. Community Service Activities
� TTU Accounting continues to partner with the TSCPA, IRS, the Tennessee Farm
Bureau, UT Extension Services, the Tennessee Department of Revenue, the
Upper Cumberland Chapter of the TSCPA, and others to provide high-quality
professional continuing education events on campus. While most of these events
are aimed at accounting practitioners, business people as well as other sections of
the community benefit from these events. Six (6) continuing education sessions
were offered during academic 2011-2012:
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8/23/2011 Tennessee Taxes Seminar 8 hrs. 20
10/18/2011 Annual Ethics update 4 hrs. 33
11/21/2011 TTU/UT Extension Fed. Tax
Update
8 hrs. 155
11/28-29/2011 Annual Acct & Auditing
Workshop
16 hrs. 15
12/19/2011 Advanced Compilation, Review,
and Acct Services
8 hrs. 13
1/ 9/2012 Annual Church Clergy Seminar 2 hrs. 110
� Dr. Curtis Armstrong worked on a web-based application for the Tennessee Board of
Regents.
� Dr. Debbie Ballou taught a new course in Healthcare Information Systems.
� Dr. Debbie Ballou led a significant revision to the content of DS 2810 to focus on
organizational decision-making, data access, and communications by
comprehensively covering Excel and Access skills.
� Dr. Ferdinand DiFurio is managing several economic impact projects, some of which
include: 1) the economic impact of Tennessee Tech University on the Upper
Cumberland Region, 2) the economic impact of the TSSAA tournament, and 3) the
economic impact of a proposed port construction. His recent university and
community service activities include acting as moderator for the WOW Symposium
and as a judge for the Cummins Filtration (Fleetguard) “Eyes of Diversity Contest.”
� Ms. Lelia Gibson continues to be an ambassador for the college and university
through her numerous community service activities. Lelia holds numbers positions in
the Lions Club and also worked with Habitat for Humanity and the Gift of Life Walk.
� Dr. Jack Matson served as Treasurer for the Upper Cumberland Broadcast Council
(WCTE Public Television) and the Vice Chair of Leadership Putnam.
� Dr. Christine Miller was Vice President for the Southwest Academy of Management.
� Dr. Stuart Wells continued his work in the Computer Forensics Initiative.
� Dr. Tom Timmerman continued his responsibilities as the Director of the TTU
Quality Enhancement Plan.
� Dr. Curtis Armstrong was the director of the Governor’s School for IT Leadership. 36
high school students were selected out of 140 applicants to participate in the program.
The participants received 6 hours of college credit and lived on campus for 5 weeks.
Each group of six students develops a complete business plan for a proposed
business. At the end of the program, the groups present their plan to the other
students and judges. Awards are given to students for the first, second and third place
best business plan.
� BusinessMedia Center highlights include excelling on the implementation of a
competitive RFP awarding total responsibility for marketing the Tennessee Board of
Regents – Regents Online Campus Collaborative (ROCC) campaign. The 5 year
project includes designing, developing and implementing 18 innovative marketing
tactics for use with all 56 institutions. Activities include statewide television
advertising, CD-ROMs, DVD’s, print, billboards, Internet, training, marketing
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analysis, marketing research, public relations and more. Responsibilities include
100% design, copy, graphics, implementation, and maintenance of a major systemwide
marketing web site that won a Horizon Interactive Bronze award. See:
http://www.rodp.org/
� With support from the Governors Highways Safety Office, Ollie Otter’s Seatbelt and
Booster Seat Safety Program has now impacted over 404,086 children from 21,634
classrooms in schools representing all 95 counties. Strong Internet infrastructure at
www.seatbeltvolunteer.org allowed the project logistics to run smoothly and
effectively.
� TBR's Teacher Quality Initiative project was initiated which involved designing and
developing the statewide marketing web site for TBR's new Teacher Quality Project.
This project results in significant exposure with TBR's new "Ready-2-Teach"
campaign. See: http://www.ready2teach.org/
� In a special effort to reach out to students the BusinessMedia Center promoted and
offered over 20 internships.
� Building on success at the elementary school level with Ollie Otter, the
BusinessMedia Center developed and is in the process of launching a new statewide
seatbelt/lifejacket program at the middle school level. Sammy Sturgeon has been
endorsed by Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency and Tennessee Coordinated
School Heath. See: http://www.sammysturgeon.com/
� The BusinessMedia Center has launched a comprehensive Internet marketing
campaign for the new Cumberland Business Incubator. See:
http://www.cumberlandincubator.com/.
� Marketing and Internet work has been completed for TTU's Tech-REDI
BusinessMedia Center. See: http://www.tech-redi.org/
� The BusinessMedia Center completed TBR's Transfer Pathway project marketing
resulting in a grant funded by the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation.
� 2012's highlight includes the implementation of a very innovative approach to
Entrepreneurial Training and its adoption by New Mexico and New Jersey. The
"Business Survival" project is aimed at meeting the needs of Tennessee's many
entrepreneurs seeking small business training.
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