Research
More than outstanding teachers, the College of Business faculty include internationally recognized researchers and thought leaders in their fields. Our faculty engage in relevant, impactful research that yields important insights into the complex problems facing businesses today. Their research advances both the science and practice of their business disciplines.
Through their research, our faculty members model intellectual curiosity and problem-solving. Known for their dedication to teaching, our faculty leverage their research insights in the classroom to provide an enriched learning experience.
Department Spotlight: Accounting
Here are two recent research highlights from the Management Department.
- Dr. Jennifer Sustersic Stevens, Assistant Professor in the School of Accountancy, researches financial reporting and disclosure, auditing, regulation, and corporate governance. Dr. Sustersic Stevens’ recent article, published in the Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, focuses on the topic of public companies that change auditors. These changes can be either auditor initiated (an auditor resignation) or company initiated (an auditor dismissal). When an auditor resigns, this is clearly a bad signal. However, the more frequent type of auditor change, an auditor dismissal, presents an ambiguous signal as a company could release its auditor and seek a new one for a variety of reasons. Her research explores these auditor dismissals and suggests that the timing of an auditor dismissal could help market participants discern the potential implications of the switch. A dismissal that occurs later in the fiscal year is associated with a higher likelihood of underlying accounting problems, revealed subsequently in the form of future restatements, internal control weaknesses and delistings. While her research suggests these problems likely existed at the time of the dismissal, they are not frequently disclosed under the current SEC requirements, thus indicating current disclosures are inadequate and heightened risks are not being disclosed to investors.
- Dr. Megan Seymore, Assistant Professor in the School of Accountancy, researches auditing, internal controls, and data analytics for accounting. Dr. Seymore’s recent article, published in the Journal of Information Systems, is on the topic data security, which is a critical focus for organizations. The article emphasizes that an important first step to securing data is properly classifying organizational data into categories. Data classification provides visibility to sensitive data and enables managers to apply data security practices and controls to data categories with the highest risk. However, data classification is often not prioritized, and the process of data classification is not well understood. To better understand organizational processes around data classification, Dr. Seymore conducted interviews with information security professionals, such as Chief Information Security Offices (CISOs). Her study found that challenges to data classification include the increasing complexity of the IT landscape, maintaining an accurate data inventory, and ensuring user compliance. She also found that collaboration among various functional areas is essential to the data classification process. One benefit of data classification is greater employee awareness of the need for controls over sensitive data.
Special Merits and Accomplishments
- Dr. Nick Panagopoulos, O’Bleness Associate Professor of Marketing, researches selling, sales, and marketing strategy. His article, "Introducing a New, Machine Learning Process, and Online Tools for Conducting Sales Literature Reviews: An Application to the Forty Years of JPSSM” was recently recognized as one of two highly contented runner-up papers in the competition for the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management's 2021 James M. Comer Award for Best Contribution to Selling and Sales Management Theory.
- Dr. Tammy Rapp, Robert H. Freeman Associate Professor of Management, was recently accepted as a Fellow of the Faculty Fellowship Program in Israel; a competitive program that focuses on academic exchange, networking, and collaboration. In Spring 2023, she will travel to Israel to meet with scholars at five different Israeli universities who also research work teams, leadership, and identification within organizations.
- Dr. Adam Rapp, Ralph and Luci Schey Professor of Sales, received the 2022 Ohio University Presidential Research Scholar award, which recognizes faculty members who have garnered national and international prominence in research, scholarship and creative activity and who demonstrate clear promise for continued, significant productivity in their research/creative activity. Dr. Rapp, who is recognized as a top scholar in his field, has published 70 peer-reviewed articles and three books on topics relating to sales management, the sales/service interface, and the application of sales technologies, and has received multiple international awards recognizing his research contributions to these areas.
- Dr. Ehsan Ardjmand, Associate Professor of Business Analytics, received a patent for his technology for optimizing automated inventory management, entitled, “Decision Support for Optimizing the Unit Identified Stocking Decision [PDF].”
- Dr. Liz Wanless, Assistant Professor of Sport Administration, was featured in a panel at Sport Analytics Japan in association with the Japan Sports Analyst Association, for her research on the diffusion of natural language processing in professional sport.
- Dr. Jacob Hiler, Fox Associate Professor of Marketing, was named as the 45th Miura Visiting Professor. In Spring 2023, he will be traveling to Japan to work alongside Chubu’s Business Administration and Management Synthesis department to conduct research, engage with Chubu students, and explore new academic programming opportunities.
- Several College of Business faculty members accepted new editorial roles. Luke Pittway, O’Blenness Professor of Entrepreneurship, is joining the editorial boards of the Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development as well as the Entrepreneurship and Regional Development. Additionally, David Brown was appointed to the Editorial Board for the Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition.
- Rob Foehl, Executive-in-Residence for Business Law and Ethics, was quoted on “Employers Face a High-Stakes Gamble on the Return to the Office. Is it Worth the Risk?” and “How Employers Can Handle Worker Who Don’t Want to Return to the Office” in The Business Journals.
Research Grant Recipients
The following members of the College of Business faculty received research seed grants from the Intellectual Contributions Continuous Improvement Team (ICCIT) for 2021-2022. Each recipient will make at least one presentation as part of the College of Business’ Research Colloquia series:
- Shea Burden (Assistant Professor of Accounting) and Aaron Wilson (Associate Professor of Accounting) received a College of Business research grant: “Are MBA Students a Good Proxy for Creditors?”
- Grigorios Livanis (Associate Professor of Management) and Mike Geringer (Professor of Management) received a College of Business research grant: “Multinationality-Leverage Puzzle for Innovative Firms”
- Adam Rapp (Professor of Marketing) received a College of Business research grant: “Understanding the Implications of the Multidimensional Aspects of Stretch Goals: Difficulty and Work Novelty”
- Tammy Rapp (Associate Professor of Management) received a College of Business research grant: “Multiple Team Memberships: A Contextualized Examination of Work-Related Strains and Turnover Intentions”
Research-Focused Faculty Awards
2022
- Sinan Gokkaya: Excellence in Intellectual Contributions
- This award recognizes outstanding intellectual contributions in both qualitative and quantitative publications.
- Luke Pittaway: Research Mentor Award
- The Research Mentor Award is given to faculty members who have demonstrated a willingness to serve as a mentor to colleagues seeking to launch or improve scholarship and intellectual contributions or to support undergraduate and graduate research theses, projects, and related activities.
2021
- Liz Wanless: Excellence in Intellectual Contributions
- This award recognizes outstanding intellectual contributions in both qualitative and quantitative publications.
- Ehsan Ardjmand and Grigorios Livanis: Research Mentor Award
- The Research Mentor Award is given to faculty members who have demonstrated a willingness to serve as a mentor to colleagues seeking to launch or improve scholarship and intellectual contributions or to support undergraduate and graduate research theses, projects, and related activities.
- Tammy Rapp: Research Impact Award
- The College of Business Research Impact Award recognizes faculty members who have distinguished themselves as thought leaders in their discipline or profession on a national or global level. Recipients of this award are able to clearly demonstrate that their body of research and leadership has had an impact on one or more of the following: academic research, student learning, executive education, consulting, and the positive role of business on society and the economy.
2020
- Tammy Rapp: Excellence in Intellectual Contributions
- This award recognizes outstanding intellectual contributions in both qualitative and quantitative publications.
- Aaron Wilson: Research Mentor Award
- The Research Mentor Award is given to faculty members who have demonstrated a willingness to serve as a mentor to colleagues seeking to launch or improve scholarship and intellectual contributions or to support undergraduate and graduate research theses, projects, and related activities.
- Nick Panagopolous: College of Business Research Impact Award
- The College of Business Research Impact Award recognizes faculty members who have distinguished themselves as thought leaders in their discipline or profession on a national or global level. Recipients of this award are able to clearly demonstrate that their body of research and leadership has had an impact on one or more of the following: academic research, student learning, executive education, consulting, and the positive role of business on society and the economy.
2019
- Dr. Adam Rapp: Excellence in Intellectual Contributions
- This award recognizes outstanding intellectual contributions in both qualitative and quantitative publications.
- Dr. J. Michael (Mike) Geringer: Research Mentor Award
- The Research Mentor Award is given to faculty members who have demonstrated a willingness to serve as a mentor to colleagues seeking to launch or improve scholarship and intellectual contributions or to support undergraduate and graduate research theses, projects, and related activities.
- Dr. Jacob Lee Hiler: Research Mentor Award
- The Research Mentor Award is given to faculty members who have demonstrated a willingness to serve as a mentor to colleagues seeking to launch or improve scholarship and intellectual contributions or to support undergraduate and graduate research theses, projects, and related activities.
- Dr. Luke Pittaway: College of Business Research Impact Award
- The College of Business Research Impact Award recognizes faculty members who have distinguished themselves as thought leaders in their discipline or profession on a national or global level. Recipients of this award are able to clearly demonstrate that their body of research and leadership has had an impact on one or more of the following: academic research, student learning, executive education, consulting, and the positive role of business on society and the economy.