2012
Business, Society and Government Consortium Midwest Business Administration Association
[JOURNAL OF BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND GOVERNMENT]
Volume 4, Issue 1 July 2012
JOURNAL OF BUSINESS, SOCIETY, AND GOVERNMENT
Executive Editor:
Dr. Steven C. Palmer
Associate Professor of Business Chair –
Division of Business Northwestern
Oklahoma State University
709 Oklahoma Boulevard
Alva, OK 73717
Editor:
Dr. Don Yates
Associate Professor of Management
Information Systems
Louisiana State University Alexandria
8100 Hwy 71 S
Alexandria, LA 71302
Reviewers: Dr. James Bowen
Dean, School of Professional Studies
Northwestern Oklahoma State University
Dr. James Breyley
Associate Professor of Business
Northwestern Oklahoma State University
Dr. Michael Daily
Associate Professor of Economics
University of New England
Dr. Adena Lejeune
Associate Professor of Accounting
Louisiana State University – Alexandria
Dr. Tomas Lopez-Pumarejo,
Associate Professor
Brooklyn College
Dr. George McNary
Assistant Professor of Business Law
Creighton University
Dr. Donald Morris
Associate Professor, Accountancy
University of Illinois at Springfield
Dr. Lawrence Price
Assistant Professor
Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota
Dr. Michael Snipes
Assistant Professor of Economics
Eastern New Mexico University
Dr. Kimberly Soulek
Assistant Professor of Business
Northwestern Oklahoma State University
Dr. John Stockmyer
Associate Professor of Marketing
Eastern New Mexico University
Dr. Lee Weyant
Associate Professor of Management
Kutztown University Dr. Donald Yates
Associate Professor of Business
Louisiana State University at Alexandria
3
CONTENTS
Christ and Business: A Survey of How
Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture Typology Has Been Applied to Business ........................................ 4
Thomas Kratzer
The Mortgage Interest Deduction: The Regressive Tax Benefit .................................................. 16
Andrea Ridenour, Leonard Weld, Raymond J Elson
The MOWST Matrix for Nonprofit Strategic Decision Making .................................................. 29
Michael E. Dobbs, Tristan Pisarczyk
Should BUS 101 be Included in the General Education Curriculum? .......................................... 46
Don Yates, Steven C. Palmer
Telecommuting: Alternative work schedule for faculty in the digital age .................................. 57
Lee E. Weyant, Steve Palmer
4
Christ And Business:
A Survey Of How Niebuhr’s Christ And Culture Typology Has Been Applied To Business
Thomas Kratzer, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Business
Malone University
2600 Cleveland Ave. NW
Canton, OH 44709
Phone: 330-471-8368
Fax: 330-471-8563
email: [email protected]
H. Richard Niebuhr's classic book in Christian social ethics, Christ and Culture, was
published in 1951. Almost 60 years later, it is still being read by those interested in Christian
social ethics. In the book Niebuhr developed a typology of five different ways that Christians
may view interaction with Culture. Niebuhr’s typology consisted of two extremes, “Christ
against Culture” and “Christ of Culture”. In between these two, Niebuhr placed “Christ above
Culture," “Christ and Culture in Paradox”, and “Christ the Transformer of Culture”. While there
have been many critiques1 of his typology and the way he defined both culture and Christ, others
have found his typology useful and have adapted it to apply to a subset of culture. Business,
while not all of culture, is a major cultural activity in society. This paper will survey how
Niebuhr’s typology has been modified to apply to Christ and Business.
Siker, in her adaptation of Niebuhr’s typology to business ethics, simply replaced culture
with the word business in each of the five categories. That is, her typology is Christ against
Business, Christ of Business, Christ above Business, Christ and Business in Paradox, and Christ
1 For an example of one such insightful critique, see (Yoder 1996)
5
the Transformer of Business. In each case, she is assuming that business means a capitalistic
business culture. For Siker, those Christians that espouse a Christ against Business view believe
that business is evil and cannot be reformed. For her those in this category cannot do business
ethics because they deny the legitimacy of capitalistic business culture. The Christ of Business
type assumes that business aims and God’s aims are compatible or even the same. Most people
want to do good and so business ethics in this view is primarily for management and tends to use
the language of business and not the language of theology. Those Christians who hold the Christ
above Business or synthesis view, according to Siker, believe that business “needs to be elevated
by means of authoritative, external guidelines.” (Siker 1989, 885) The view of Christ and
Business in Paradox I or dualist view is well described by Bachelder, a congregational pastor.
He states:
Executives should expect that their general and personal callings will exist in tension.
But this tension need not create defeatism and cynicism. It can give rise to alertness and moral
imagination. What executives must do is accept the moral ambiguities of their companies and
yet fully participate in them, trusting all the while in God to open the way to new moral
possibilities. (Siker 1989, 885)
The person following the Christ and Business in Paradox view recognizes that some
decisions in business may require a choice between the lesser of two evils, but the person does
not just ignore injustice or fail to work for the common good. The final view is Christ the
Transformer of Business. For Siker, unlike for some others who have adapted Neibuhr's
typology to business, this transformation includes not only a transformation of individuals but
also “ends in action and social change.” (Siker 1989, 886) Siker does not indicate a preference
for one type or another, but offers her typology as a way that Christian business ethicists can talk
about different approaches to ethics. Since Sikers’ typology is basically the same as Niebuhr’s
with the exception of replacing Niebuhr’s overly broad definition of culture with capitalistic
business culture, the critiques of Niebuhr would also apply. By defining business as the
prevailing capitalistic system, Siker rules out dialogue with other potential alternative systems
such as cooperatives or self contained economic communities.
6
Siker suggest towards the end of her paper, that her adaptation of Niebuhr’s typology to
Christ and Business could be further modified to be useful in typing philosophical business
ethics. This could be done by replacing Christ with “‘Highest Authority’ (which could include
such notions as ‘the greatest good for the greatest number.’)” (Siker 1989, 887) It is not clear
how one would come to a consensus in philosophical ethics as to what should constitute the
“highest authority” or how certain aspects of the typology would be adapted.
Another weakness of Siker’s presentation that she shares with Niebuhr is the lack of
current concrete examples. Lee, McCann, and Ching provide concrete applications of the
different typologies based on interviews with executives in Hong Kong. Lee, McCann, and
Ching interviewed 119 Christian executives in Hong Kong using the Critical Incident Technique
research method. They combined Siker’s adaptation of Niebuhr’s typology with the negotiation
framework of Lewicki, Saunders, and Minton. The negotiation styles of Lewicki, Saunders, and
Minton are dominating, yielding, avoiding, integrating, and compromising. These are combined
as shown graphically in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1. Typographical framework from Lee et al. (Lee, McCann and Ching 2003, 106)
By combining Siker’s adaptation with a negotiation framework, Lee, McCann, and Ching
state that it is now “possible to understand explicitly the interrelationships among these five
types.” (Lee, McCann and Ching 2003, 106) Because the researchers used the Critical Incident
Technique, the examples for each type are based on a single incident of one executive. This
makes it very explicit that they are not assuming that an executive would always use the same
7
type in every situation. One executive owned a large firm that was located in China. The firm,
while operating legally, regularly had trouble with corruption in the Chinese customs service and
was expected to give bribes. The owner decided to close the firm and take a monetary loss rather
than participate in the culture of bribery. Lee, McCann, and Ching classify this as an example of
Christ against Business Culture or avoidance. Unlike Siker, Lee, McCann, and Ching do not
assume that business refers strictly to a capitalistic system. Rather it refers to whatever business
practices prevail in the surrounding culture. Another executive relayed the story of a public
sector organization not rendering quality service to the customer. For this executive the
prevailing business culture is that the customer is the master and the Bible tells us “to serve our
master as if we were serving Christ.” (Lee, McCann and Ching 2003, 107) Thus he sees no
conflict in meeting and exceeding the customer’s expectations and in that way serving Christ.
This is used as an example of Christ of Business or yielding. Christ above Business Culture is
exemplified by an executive who works for a company whose motto is “Glorify God and Benefit
People.” (Lee, McCann and Ching 2003, 108) This executive, through prayer, experienced an
illumination from God on how to run his business. The executive believes his business grew
because he made God the master. Another executive relayed an incident in which a penalty was
imposed on them by the Chinese Customs office for no reason. The customs office knew there
was no violation and so while assessing a penalty still differentiated in their treatment of this
firm compared to a firm that did actually have violation. While the firm filed a complaint, it
ended up paying the penalty. The researchers classify this incident as Christ and Business
Culture in Paradox because the Christian suffered for “no reason, because there is injustice in the
prevalent business culture.” Finally, Lee, McCann, and Ching give an example of Christ the
Transformer of Business Culture or dominating type. Under the table rebates are common in
Hong Kong, but this firm refused to give any rebates to subcontractors. Once the policy was
known, subcontractors accepted it and no longer asked for rebates. Lee et al. contribute to the
use of Niebuhr’s typology as applied to business in two ways. The first is by giving concrete
examples to illustrate the five different types. The second is by making it explicitly clear that no
one person will consistently fall into any one of the types. A person may decide which type to
use based on the situation.
8
Van Duzer et al. reflect on Siker’s adaptation of Niebuhr’s typology by putting it into a
theological framework of creation, fall, and redemption. In creation, God’s purpose for business
“is to enable humankind to glorify God and participate in God’s creative and redemptive
activity.” (Van Duzer, et al. 2003, 4) The fall corrupted not only people, but also institutions.
Business may use unjust structures or practices to achieve its goals. For Van Duzer et al.
redemption includes “the impact of the cross, the resurrection, the outpouring of the Spirit and
the eschaton.” (Van Duzer, et al. 2003, 6) Based on their understanding of redemption, they
pose several questions: “What happened at the Fall?” (Van Duzer, et al. 2003, 6) “What
happened at the cross? How do we address the ‘already-not yet’ paradox of Scripture?” (Van
Duzer, et al. 2003, 7) And finally, “What will happen at the end of human history?” (Van Duzer,
et al. 2003, 7) Based on the answers to these questions and the use of Siker’s adaptation of
Niebuhr, Van Duzer, et al. created the classification in Figure 2 shown below.
9
Figure 2: Classification based on Fall and Redemption (Van Duzer, et al. 2003, 8-9)
Siker’s purpose was to present a typology for use in business ethics. Van Duzer et al’s
purpose is to give a theological framework for business ethics that provides a rationale for
Christian participation in business. They conclude that “Redemption calls us to participate with
What happened at the
Fall?
Already/not-yet
tension
What happens at the
end of time?
Christ against
Business Image of God erased Not-yet emphasis
Radical
discontinuity—all
works burned up
Christ of Business Image of God slightly
distorted Already emphasis
No radical
discontinuity—works
building future
kingdom
Christ above Business Image of God
distorted In balance
No radical
discontinuity—works
building future
kingdom
Christ and Business in
Paradox
Image of God
seriously marred Not-yet emphasis
Radical
discontinuity—all
works burn up
Christ the
Transformer of
Business
Image of God
seriously marred In balance
No radical
discontinuity—works
building future
kingdom
10
God in transforming business.” (Van Duzer, et al. 2003, 13) They believe that the Fall has
damaged the image of God, but redemption makes it possible to still see business as a “form of
service to our neighbor and ultimately to the Kingdom of God.” (Van Duzer, et al. 2003, 13)
Smith and Steen are primarily concerned with quality guru W. Edwards Deming’s
philosophy of transformation and how it compares to a Biblical idea of transformation. At the
end of their article, they devote a page to discussing Niebuhr’s typology. Even though they are
writing seven years after Siker, they do not reference her adaptation of Niebuhr to business.
Also, they mention only four of Niebuhr’s types and do not mention that he had five types. The
type they do not comment on is Christ and Culture in Paradox. Their description of what the
type Christ above Culture implies is different from that of Siker, Van Duzer et al, Lee, McCann,
and Ching, and Neihbur. Instead of interpreting Christ above (business) Culture as implying that
business needs to be elevated to a higher level, Smith and Steen interpret Christ above Culture to
mean that Christians should be concerned with saving the souls of others. “A Christian with this
view will …use his or her job as vehicle to witness to others on a personal level.” (Smith and
Steen 1996, 37) They give no indication how a Christian who holds the Christ above Culture
position should view business as an institution or how that person should participate in the
prevailing business practices. Their brief description of the other three types does not add to
what has already been discussed in Siker. They do not explicitly state which type they would
place themselves, but their discussion of Deming’s concept of transformation indicates that they
are skeptical of transforming systems or institutions and view transformation through Christ as
something that is for the individual, at least until there is a new creation at the eschaton.
Nonetheless, they seem to favor the Christ the Transformer of Culture type, but with a view that
much of the transformation will be of individuals rather than institutions. Smith and Steen seem
to fall into a category of conservative evangelical Christianity that is concerned only about
individual salvation and not about society as a whole.
Addington and Graves write for non-academics. Like Smith and Steen, they only use
four of Niebuhr’s types but, unlike Smith and Steen, they mention that Niebuhr had five types.
They also leave out the Christ and Culture in Paradox type. Addington and Graves write in the
context of evangelism in the workplace by which they mean the conversion of individuals to
11
salvation in Christ. Their purpose is to tell Christians how they can be “salt and light” in their
place of work. They ascribe action words to the four types that they comment on. Withdraw,
acquiesce, mandate, and influence are ascribed to Christ against Culture, Christ of Culture,
Christ above Culture, and Christ the Transformer of Culture respectively. Those who withdraw
only work in Christian companies and do not associate with non-believers. Therefore they have
no audience to evangelize. This is the Christ against Culture type. In the Christ of Culture type,
workers acquiesce to the surrounding business culture and hope that they remain untainted.
Since they are indistinguishable in the workplace, they are not able to give an evangelistic
message. The Christ above Culture followers, in Addington and Graves understanding, are
arrogant and mandate that others should have their beliefs. Thus they are ineffective in their
evangelism. Addington and Graves indicate clearly that Christians should have the Christ the
Transformer of Culture view or what they describe as the influence view. For them the way to
influence is to be salt and light. They state that this “fourth option, of course, is the path Jesus
took.” (Addington and Graves 2000, 26) This contradicts Niebuhr who indicates that Jesus
would fit in the Christ against Culture type and not in the Christ as Transformer of Culture type.
If the path of influence is the one that Jesus took, it seems unlikely that the authorities would
have seen the need to put him to death. Addington and Graves do not actually address business
culture in any way. They are addressing a conservative evangelical audience. Their only
concern is how Christians in the workplace can evangelize to bring others to Christ.
Tomal did a longitudinal study to determine the views of college students at Wheaton
College, a conservative evangelical college where all students must profess their faith in Christ
to gain admittance. Her survey was to determine student attitudes about the relationship of
Christ and culture and in particular their attitudes about Christ and business culture. She
surveyed students in their first year and in their senior year. She developed four statements that
were to represent four of Niebuhr’s five types. She left out Christ of Culture, perhaps assuming
that an evangelical Christian would feel some tension between business culture and Christianity
and so would not hold that view.
12
Her four statements are:
Statement A (Christ against Culture)
Christians should try to avoid working in a non-Christian business. (Christian
values are not explicitly incorporated into company decisions).
Statement B (Christ and Culture in Paradox)
Christians who work in a non-Christian business should view the organization as
a place to succeed and grow professionally, as long as their faith is not compromised or
weakened.
Statement C (Christ above Culture)
Christians who work in a non-Christian business should view the organization as
a “mission field” in which they can share their faith with co-workers, etc. when opportunities
arise.
Statement C (Christ the Transformer of Culture)
Christians who work in a non-Christian business should view the organization as
a place in which they can try to influence company decisions so that they reflect Christian
principles
(Tomal 2002, 3)
Students used a Likert scale to indicate their level of agreement with each statement and
also ranked the statements in order of preference. The results of her survey are well detailed in
her paper and will not be discussed here. Instead I will focus on how her statements represent
Niebuhr’s types.
Tomal’s statement A, representing Christ against Culture, has similarities to the
description of Addington and Graves of avoidance. But it is not clear how a company whose
decisions explicitly take into account Christian values would operate. Presumably, they are still
13
operating in the predominant capitalistic business culture. Further, who defines what is meant be
a Christian company? About ten years ago, Don Soderquist, the retired vice-chairman and chief
operations officer of Wal-Mart gave a presentation at a conference. Soderquist indicated that
decisions made at Wal-Mart were based on Biblical principles. It does not require much research
into the practices of Wal-Mart to find that a large number of Christians would disagree with his
statement and perception.
Tomal’s statement B, representing Christ and Culture in Paradox, may actually be closer
to Christ of Culture. Tomal, herself, points this out in her discussion. It clearly fits into the
acquiesce category of Addington and Graves. The Christ and Culture in Paradox does not mean
that one does nothing to try to bring about justice. Rather, it means that one is very aware that
there may be times when the decision to be made may be the lesser of two evils.
Tomal’s statement C, representing Christ above Culture, like Smith and Steen’s
understanding of this type focuses on the individual evangelizing to fellow workers to bring them
to Christ. It does not address the issue of elevating business practices to be more in line with
Christian values.
Finally, Tormal’s statement D, reflecting Christ the Transformer of Culture, does not
focus solely on the individual, but does address changing the institution. It is not clear which
statement Tomal agrees with the most, but based on her discussion of the results, it seems to be
statement D.
Since business is a major component of human culture, it is natural that Niebuhr’s
typology would be applied to business culture. Despite the fact that Siker’s article is reprinted in
the textbook, Beyond Integrity: Judeo-Christian Approach to Business Ethics by Scott B. Rae
and Kenman L. Wong, the scarcity of other papers that use this classification scheme implies that
it has not been found to be universally useful to Christian business ethicists. Siker assumes a
capitalistic business environment which limits ethical dialogue with other possibilities or
alternative economic systems that may come out of Christian ethical thought. For example, a
discussion of worker-owned cooperatives does not seem to fit into her adaptation of Niebuhr’s
typology. It does not seem appropriate to a priori rule out ethical discussion of business
14
practices that may fall under the Christ against Culture heading. Smith and Steen and Addington
and Graves have adapted Niebuhr’s typology in a way that would be foreign to him. They focus
on solely on the individual and not on the business culture. Van Duzer et al. give a useful
theological framework for understanding why a person might be placed in each of the five types.
Even if one disagrees with their conclusion, one may find the overlay of their theological
construct with Niebuhr’s typology useful for understanding why those from certain
denominational backgrounds may be more likely to fall into one type. Lee, McCann, and Ching
may have inadvertently helped explain why Niebuhr’s typology has not been found useful in
Christian business ethics. By using the Critical Incident Technique, they focused on a single
decision in the life of the decision maker rather than the overall inclination of Christian
executive. Many people when thinking of a typology for ethical decision making want
something that will give them guiding principles on how to make the decision. The adaptation of
Niebuhr’s typology to business is imposed from the top. That is, the typology is there and then
one must look to see what how it applies. A more useful typology may be formed if one would
look at how ethical decisions are made in business and then, on the basis of similarities, develop
a typology.
15
Bibliography
Addington, Thomas, and Stephen Graves. "Intentional Influence." Life@Work 3, no. 4
(2000): 32-39.
Lee, Kam-hon, Dennis P. McCann, and MaryAnn Ching. "Christ and Business Culture: A
Study of Christian Executives in Hong Kong." Journal of Business Ethics 43 (2003): 103-110.
Niebuhr, H. Richard. Christ and Culture. New York: Harper & Row, 1951.
Siker, Louke van Wensveen. "Christ and Business: A Typology for Christian Business
Ethics." Jounal of Business Ethics 8 (1989): 883-888.
Smith, Thomas M., and and Todd P. Steen. "Deming's Philosophy of Transformation: A
Christian Critique." Journal of Biblical Integration in Business, Fall 1996: 25-38.
Tomal, Annette. "How College Students View the Christian's Role in the Business
World: A Longitudinal Study." Christian Business Faculty Association Proceedings. Boise,
Idaho, 2002.
Van Duzer, Jeff, Randal S. Franz, Gary L. Karns, Tim Dearborn, Denise Daniels, and
Kenman L. Wong. "Toward a Statement on the Biblical Purposes of Business." Presented at
"Business as a Calling/The Calling of Business": The Fifth International Symposium on Catholic
Social and Management Education. Bilbao, Spain, 2003.
Yoder, John Howard. "How H. Richard Niebuhr Reasoned: A Critique of Christ and
Culture." In Authentic Transformation: A New Vision of Christ and Culture, by Stassen, Glen H.,
D.M. Yeager, John Howard Yoder, 31-90. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996.
16
The Mortgage Interest Deduction: The Regressive Tax Benefit
Andrea Ridenour
Graduate Student
Master of Accountancy Program
Langdale College of Business
1500 N. Patterson St.
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA 31698-0070
Voice: 229-219-5967
Fax: 229-249-2706
Leonard Weld, PhD
Professor of Accounting and
Department Head, Accounting and Finance
Langdale College of Business
1500 N. Patterson St.
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA 31698-0070
Voice: 229-219-5967
Fax: 229-249-2706
(corresponding author)
Raymond J Elson, DBA, CPA
Associate Professor of Accounting
Langdale College of Business
1500 N. Patterson St.
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA 31698-0070
Voice: 229-219-1214
Fax: 229-249-2706
The home mortgage interest deduction is one of the most popular itemized deductions for
taxpayers. An overwhelming majority of taxpayers support it. Taxpayers who can’t take
advantage of the deduction support it. Does the mortgage interest deduction still make sense
given the need for government revenue to help cut the national debt? Does it promote it’s
purported goal of home ownership? Should the American Dream still be home ownership? Is
the deduction worth the enormous cost? This paper (in our opinion) answers those questions.
Insanely Popular
In July 2011, The New York Times and CBS News polled Americans regarding the
mortgage interest deduction. The poll found that “almost no one favors discontinuing the
17
mortgage tax deduction.” 2 The results of the poll showed that more than 90% of Americans
support the mortgage interest deduction. 1
Another survey performed by Public Opinion Strategies produced similar results. Two
thousand people who are likely to vote in the 2012 elections were surveyed in May, 2011.
Approximately 71% opposed a proposal to eliminate the mortgage interest deduction and 63%
opposed any effort to reduce it.3
A proposal to eliminate the mortgage interest deduction is not a new idea. In 2005, the
Advisory Panel on Tax Reform under President Bush recommended completely eliminating the
mortgage interest deduction and replacing it with a significantly smaller mortgage interest tax
credit. In addition, there was also a recommendation to eliminate the mortgage interest deduction
for second homes.
2 McCabe, B. (2011). Despite benefit disparities, middle class supports mortgage deduction. The
New York Times - Five Thirty Eight.
3 Voters strongly support politicians who embrace pro-housing policies, mortgage interest
deduction, poll finds. (2011, June 15). Retrieved from
www.buildingonline.com/news/viewnews.pl?id=10622&subcategory=139.
18
In 2007, Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich) proposed elimination of the mortgage interest
deduction for homes larger than 3,000 square feet. That would affect approximately 15% of the
homes in the U.S. The proposal was defeated.4
In 2010, President Obama considered eliminating the mortgage interest deduction for
those making more than $250,000 per year.5 The cut would have affected fewer than 2 percent of
taxpayers. Under the “Zero Plan” option, the government would eliminate most tax loopholes
and deductions to raise an estimated additional $1.1 trillion in taxes, while simplifying the tax
code. A second option would limit the mortgage deduction by excluding second residences,
home equity loans and mortgages over $500,000. These proposals are currently tabled.
What Is The Deduction?
Home mortgage interest is any interest a taxpayer pays on a loan secured by their
principal residence. A residence includes a house, condominium, cooperative, mobile home,
house trailer, or boat. The “home” must have sleeping, cooking, and bathroom faciltities.
Mortgage interest on a second home also qualifies for deduction. The Internal Revenue Code6
allows a deduction for interest paid or accrued on debt to acquire a residence, or interest on home
equity debt. Mortgage interest may be deducted if two conditions are met. First, the taxpayer
must file Form 1040 and itemize deductions on Schedule A. Second, the mortgage must be a
4 Erb, K. (2010). Mortgage interest tax deduction: Does it make sense? Retrieved from
www.dailyfinance.com/2010/04/08.
5 Phillips, K. (2010, April 8). Mortgage interest tax deduction: Does it make sense? Retrieved June 27, 2011, from
http://www.walletpop.com/2010/04/08/mortgage-interest-tax-deduction-does-it-make-sense/ 6 IRC Section 163(h)(3).
19
secured debt on a qualified home in which the individual has an ownership interest. In some
cases, mortgage interest can be fully deducted. There are three categories that determine whether
an individual can fully deduct their mortgage interest. These categories include (1) mortgages
that were taken out on or before October 13, 1987, (2) mortgages taken out after October 13,
1987, to buy, build, or improve an individual’s home, but only if throughout 2010 these
mortgages plus any grandfathered debt totaled $1 million or less ($500,000 or less if married
filing separately), (3) mortgages taken out after October 13, 1987, other than to buy, build, or
improve your home (home equity debt), but only if throughout 2010 these mortgages totaled
$100,000 or less ($50,000 or less if married filing separately) and totaled no more than the fair
market value of your home reduced by (1) and (2).5 This second category is important, because
even though it is a home equity loan (i.e., secured by a residence) there is no restriction on the
use of the funds. For instance, rather than paying 6% non-deductible interest on a loan for that
new $110,000 Porsche, use a home equity loan and all the interest is deductible.
Who benefits from the mortgage interest deduction? Not many taxpayers even itemize.
According to the IRS,7 for the tax year 2008 (the most recent year available), only 34% of
taxpayers itemized their deductions instead of taking the standard deduction.
Tax research publishers RIA provides this illustration:8
7 SOI Tax Stats at a Glance 2011.
8 Federal Taxes Weekly Alert Newsletter, Proposals to reform or eliminate the mortgage interest deduction
(July 18, 2011).
20
A married couple who takes out a $150,000 mortgage on Jan. 1, 2011,
payable over 30 years with 7% interest pays $9,584.85 in interest in the first year.
Unless the couple has other itemized deductions, they may simply opt for the
$11,400 standard deduction. If the same couple were to double their mortgage to
$300,000, same interest and term, their interest payment in the first year is
$19,169.71.
Even among taxpayers who itemize, not all take the mortgage interest deduction. In
preliminary 2009 tax data,9 only 26% of all taxpayers claim the mortgage interest deduction.
Who are these taxpayers? Approximately 66% of them are in the income group10
from
$50,000 to less than $200,000.
Home Ownership
One of the main arguments for retaining the mortgage interest deduction is to promote
home ownership. However, the origin of the deduction was the 1913 general deduction for
personal interest.11
Most of the personal interest deduction was eliminated with the Tax Reform
Act of 1986. The only interest that remains deductible is mortgage interest and investment
interest.
9 Individual Income Tax Returns, Preliminary Data, 2009 Statistics of Income Bulletin, Winter 2011.
10 All IRS income groups are based on adjusted gross income. Loosely defined, that is all income less
capital losses.
11 Ventry, Dennis J., The Accidental Deduction: A History and Critique of the Tax Subsidy for Mortgage
Interest (January 05, 2010). Law & Contempary Problems, Vol. 73, p. 233, Winter 2010; UC Davis Legal Studies
Research Paper No. 196.
21
There are several countries without a mortgage interest deduction and so we can compare
home ownership between the U.S. and other countries. Canada is one such country.
The closest Canada has ever come to having the mortgage interest deduction was in
1979.12
According to the International Monetary Fund, “home ownership rates in Australia,
Britain and Canada are higher than in the United States without mortgage interest deduction. The
IMF called U.S. housing policies ‘very complex, expensive and regressive.’”13
A March 2011
report by the Congressional Budget Office14
reported a similar finding. The report states “…the
rate of home ownership here is similar to that in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and
none of the countries currently offers a tax deduction for mortgage interest.” A senior fellow at
the Tax Policy Center, Robert Williams, offers the same analysis: “…comparable home
ownership rates [exist] in other countries with similar housing markets and demographics to the
U.S., such as Australia and Canada that lack a mortgage interest incentive.”15
If the mortgage interest deduction doesn’t affect home ownership rates, what does? In an
effort to spur housing sales in the U.S., the government offered an $8,000 tax credit to taxpayers
12 Carmichael, K. (2010, November 30). Politicians target U.S. mortgage interest deduction. Retrieved July
16, 2011, from The Globe and Mail:
http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewFreeUse.act?fuid=MTM1MTE5ODQ%3D.
13 Id.
14 Congressional Budget Office (March 2011) Reducing the Deficit: Spending and Revenue Options.
15 Hirsch (2011, June 3) The Fiscal Times, The Hidden Costs of Cutting the Mortgage Deduction.
22
buying a home.16
That is the equivalent to a 5% down payment on a $160,000 home. According
to a Morgan Stanley report,17
“we see a clear run-up in sales just prior to both the previous
expiration in November 2009, as well as the recent expiration in April 2010.” However, the
authors believe that the main effect of the tax credit was “…to pull forward demand, as opposed
in [sic] creating new demand, at an estimated cost of $22B.”
A Co-Director of Economic Studies at the Brookings Institute18
made a similar
evaluation: “The tax credit is very poorly targeted. Approximately 1.9 million buyers are
expected to receive the credit, but more than 85 percent of these would have bought a home
without the credit. It’s even worse in that most of the new home sales just result in moving
renters to owners, which does not absorb the excess supply of houses.”
As reported in The Fiscal Times,14
the Director of Research at the Real Estate Center at
Texas A&M University stated that most people have strong emotional incentives for buying a
home. “People typically buy a home because they started a family, had a baby and need a bigger
place; just got a promotion and want a nicer place; or just got a divorce and need a smaller place.
All those things create standard demand for houses year-in and year-out – tax credits don’t have
anything to do with them, and people will buy homes whether the credit is there or not.”
16 Christie, L. (2009, February 17) CNN Money, Final Score: $8,000 for Homebuyers.
17 Chang, O., Tirupattur, V., Egan, J. Morgan Stanley Research (2010, September 30) Housing Market
Insights.
18 Gayer, T. (2009, September 24) Should Congress Extend the First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit?
23
Home Mortgage Interest Effects
Since the mortgage interest deduction doesn’t appear to affect home ownership rates, and
tax credits have a short-term effect of “pulling forward demand” what is the effect of the
mortgage interest deduction?
As stated earlier, only 32% of U.S. taxpayers itemize their deductions and are even
eligible to claim the mortgage interest deduction. Only 26% of all taxpayers deduct mortgage
interest. Of the filers who itemize and deduct mortgage interest, 36% have adjusted gross
incomes of $100,000 or above. Filers in the lower income brackets do take the deduction, but
their benefit is much less. A $7,000 mortgage interest deduction is only worth $1,050 ($7,000 X
15%) in tax savings to a taxpayer in the 15% tax bracket. In 2009, the 15% tax bracket applied
to taxable income (not adjusted gross income) up to $67,900 for a couple filing a joint return.
However, for a taxpayer who has taxable income of $140,000 and is in the 28% tax bracket, the
benefit for the same $7,000 mortgage interest deduction is $1,960.
All things being equal, the taxpayers with taxable income of $140,000 will probably live
in a larger home with a larger mortgage and larger mortgage interest deduction. So the incentive
is to buy a larger home, incur more debt, and take a larger mortgage interest deduction.
RIA Tax Publishers provide this assessment:7
“If the deduction was repealed flat out, the Urban-Brookings Tax
Policy Center estimates that the average tax bill of those who claim the
mortgage interest deduction would increase by $710. However this
24
increase would vary widely among taxpayers – those with $30,000 to
$40,000 incomes would face an average increase of $70, whereas
taxpayers making over $1 million would face an average increase of
$4,000.”
The graph below helps illustrate the regressive nature of the deduction.
Source: McCabe, 2011.1
The increased benefit to higher income taxpayers is why many economists label the
mortgage interest deduction a regressive tax benefit. Harvard economist Edward Glaeser called
the mortgage interest deduction “a regressive one that artificially distorts behavior, including
pushing people toward single-family detached houses, while at the same time being poorly
designed to actually promote home ownership.”19
He explains that wealthy families are most
19 Swanson, J. (2011, June 22) Mortgage News Daily, Economists Argue Over Mortgage Interest
Deductibility.
25
likely to own homes and would own them without a mortgage interest deduction. The mortgage
interest deduction only encourages them to take on more debt and own larger homes. He doesn’t
believe government tax policy should encourage people to leave multi-family homes in the urban
areas where they are most likely to work.
Morgan Stanley economists take a broader view of the housing market.15
They cite the
two year recovery in the rental housing market. As single-family delinquencies and foreclosures
rise, and mortgage credit standards tighten, multi-family vacancies are falling. When they
examine the “total market for shelter” they see macroeconomic factors that drive household
formation beginning to increase. These factors include payroll growth and immigration. During
a recession, household formation falls and then as the recession begins to end the pent up
demand pushes household formation above the long-term average. The low construction rates
over the last two years are leading to a shrinking supply of “shelter” as families move into multi-
family dwellings.
The Morgan Stanley economists arrive at the conclusion that “The belief that home
ownership is a right, not a privilege, for Americans led to the ever more aggressive public and
private policies to promote such ownership.”12
Risky mortgages became available to families
without the income to make the payments with the belief that housing prices would always go up
and you could sell in a couple of years and make money. The mortgage interest deduction was
part of the “right” that Americans enjoyed.
A CBO13
report stated that:
26
“The current deduction encourages home buyers who can itemize
deductions to buy houses when they might otherwise rent or, especially, to
buy bigger houses than they would buy if all investments were taxed
equally. Reducing the maximum amount of mortgage debt on which
interest could be deducted … should make many people more willing to
invest in stocks, bonds, savings accounts, or their own businesses rather
than in housing.”
Cost of the Mortgage Interest Deduction
What is the cost to the federal government (U.S. taxpayers) of the mortgage interest
deduction? Naturally, since single-family homes have gotten larger over the last few decades,
mortgages and the mortgage interest deduction has also gotten larger.
Table 1 Deduction for Mortgage Interest on Owner-occupied homes
As Table 1 shows, the size of the mortgage interest deduction is not only increasing
annually, it has increased about 61% just since 2000.
27
The Congressional Budget Office12
reported the cumulative effect of major tax
expenditures for 2010 – 2014. 20
The exclusion/exemption causing the largest deficit increase is
the exclusion from income of employers’ contributions for employees’ health insurance and
long-term care policies with a cost of approximately $675 billion. The second largest is the
exclusion of pension contributions and earnings. These two provisions help almost all taxpayers
who work. The third largest tax expenditure is the mortgage interest deduction, which costs the
government about $484 billion. The major difference between the first two expenditures and the
mortgage interest deduction is that as a percentage of all taxpayers, relatively few taxpayers are
able to enjoy any real tax savings.
Conclusion
Contrary to popular opinion, the mortgage interest deduction was not written into the tax
code as a home ownership incentive. The mortgage interest deduction is one of the few
remaining interest deductions from the income tax law of 1913. Congress originally allowed a
deduction for all personal interest paid. Interest on other debt (car loans, credit cards, etc.) was
eliminated by the Tax Reform Act of 1986. The mortgage interest deduction was restricted, but
not eliminated because of its popularity.
20 Tax expenditures are defined under the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 as
"revenue losses attributable to provisions of the Federal tax laws which allow a special exclusion, exemption, or
deduction from gross income or which provide a special credit, a preferential rate of tax, or a deferral of tax
liability."
28
Most economists agree that the mortgage interest deduction causes a distortion in the
allocation of family resources. The American dream of owning your own home, the myth that
housing prices always go up, and that real estate is the best investment has in too many cases
encouraged families to incur more debt than is reasonable. Several economists doubt that the
mortgage interest deduction encourages home ownership. They do believe that the mortgage
interest deduction encourages the purchase of larger homes than necessary. Even the effect of
the homebuyers’ tax credit appears to be pulling existing demand from future periods into the
current period. Home purchases spiked before the expiration of the credit and then plunged.
Only about 26% of all taxpayers itemized deductions and claim the mortgage interest
deduction. In 2009, about 9.4% of all taxpayers accounted for 48% of the total mortgage interest
deduction deducted. An estimate by the Joint Committee on Taxation is that from 2010 – 2014
taxpayers will deduction approximately $484 billion of mortgage interest. With an increasing
federal debt, the government simply cannot afford this largess and we think the mortgage interest
deduction should be eliminated
29
THE MOWST MATRIX FOR NONPROFIT STRATEGIC
DECISION MAKING
Michael E. Dobbs, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Management
Eastern Illinois University
600 Lincoln Ave.
Charleston, IL 61920
(217) 581-6925
(217) 581- 6247 (facsimile)
Tristan Pisarczyk, M.B.A.
Director of Operations
St. John's Catholic Newman Center at the University of Illinois
604 East Armory Ave.
Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 344-1266
(217) 344-6606 (facsimile)
Abstract
Nonprofit managers facing lower revenue, higher demand, and calls for increased
managerial expertise are understandably in need of tools to help them navigate their challenging
environments. However, the SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, threat) framework used
by many nonprofit organizations in strategic decision making has significant limitations. The
relative importance of factors is not specified; how strategic options rate in relation to those
factors are often not assessed; and most importantly for nonprofit organizations, an
organization’s mission or purpose can be underemphasized or not even recognized when a
30
traditional SWOT analysis is utilized. When working with nonprofit consulting clients, we
created the MOWST matrix to address these limitations by adding a mission component, factor
weightings, and rating systems to a standard SWOT framework. We explain this tool, provide
examples of its use, and briefly explore other applications and possible customizations.
Key words: SWOT analysis, nonprofit management, strategy
31
Nonprofit organizations face many of the same strategic dilemmas as for-profit
organizations and have, therefore, incorporated strategic management concepts, ideas, principles,
and techniques into their management and governance. SWOT analysis (i.e., the analysis of an
organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) is perhaps one of the best
known of these activities. However, a SWOT analysis is frequently detached from an
organization’s mission or purpose leading a nonprofit organization to select strategies that may
not be in line with the overarching goals of the organization. In addition, applications of SWOT
analyses are sometimes rather unsophisticated and amount to little more than lists of descriptions
of organizations and their environments with scant thought to priorities. Again, this is especially
true in nonprofit organizations in which managers frequently do not have more formal business
education or training. In an effort to simultaneously address both of these issues, we present a
simple, yet more robust method of adding a mission emphasis to a traditional SWOT analysis
using a weighted matrix format. The mission of a nonprofit organization is emphasized in a
fuller, richer analysis of the internal and external environment of the organization. We call this
tool a MOWST (pronounced “most”) matrix.
SWOT Analysis
Traditional SWOT analysis dates back to at least the 1960’s at the Harvard Business
School (Mintzberg, 1994) where students were taught to identify companies’ internal strengths
and weaknesses along with the opportunities and threats that exist in their external environments.
The technique struck a balance between internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external
(opportunities and threats) perspectives (Barney, 1995), and became diffused throughout
management and other business disciplines. SWOT analysis is, to this day, a staple in many
32
strategic management courses, cases, and textbooks (see Wheelen & Hunger, 2012;
Longenecker, et.al., 2012; Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble, 2008). It is a rather simple concept
and is straightforward for students and practitioners alike to understand and utilize; which, in
addition to its perceived utility, may account for its widespread adoption and use.
However, significant limitations exist when using a SWOT framework. Barney (2002),
points out that a simple SWOT analysis provides no guidance for the organization in identifying
particular strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It is a useful framework for asking
questions, but fails to provide verifiable components of competitive advantage and certainly does
not provide solutions to strategic dilemmas. Saloner, Shepard, and Podolny (2001) point out that
a traditional SWOT analysis fails to direct decision makers to which individual factors should be
addressed. Of the opportunities listed, for example, which are the most important to capitalize
on? Grant (1998) underscores the arbitrary nature of the factors included in many applications of
SWOT analysis. While others (Dess, Lumpkin, & Eisner, 2010; Pearce & Robinson, 2009)
argue that strategic decision makers may overemphasize one factor using a SWOT analysis or
underemphasize other factors.
In an effort to address some of these issues, extensions and alterations have been made by
various authors and academics over the years. Perhaps the most well known adaptation is that of
Weihrich (1982) with the TOWS matrix. In a such a matrix, evaluation of strategic options in
light of individual strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats are made with “+” and “-“
indicators. In addition, weighting of different list items is mentioned, but no method for carrying
this out is provided.
33
A more fundamental problem with SWOT analysis has not been addressed, however.
That is how an organization’s mission or purpose can be underemphasized or not even
recognized. Perhaps this is due to the implied purpose of profit maximization for many for-profit
firms. But this issue is especially relevant for nonprofits. Mission accomplishment is of
paramount importance for nonprofit organizations. The failure of management to link strategic
choices to mission is a critical failure and one that can happen very easily using a traditional
SWOT analysis.
Nonprofit Management
While a for-profit organization is organized to make a profit and the financial bottom line
is a clear goal and measure (Sheehan, R. M., 2010); for nonprofit organizations, the bottom line
is mission accomplishment (Dees, 2004). Managers of nonprofit organizations face significant
challenges arising from economic events dating to 2008. On the revenue side, investment losses
have negatively impacted potential donors; investments (and income streams derived from these
investments) of many nonprofit organizations have declined (Carlson & Donohoe, 2010); and
state and federal funding levels of some nonprofits are decreasing and/or government agencies
are slow to pay. On the demand side, sustained high unemployment levels, shrinking real
incomes, mortgage foreclosures, shifting social and cultural demographics, and other trends are
leading more and more people to look for assistance from government agencies and nonprofit
organizations (Roy, 2011). In addition, ethical questions surrounding some aspects of recent
financial events (e.g., mortgage crisis, Madoff ponzi scheme, aggressive use of derivatives, etc.)
have led to increased calls for scrutiny, accountability, and transparency in the business world
that have spilled over into the nonprofit sphere (Carlson & Donohoe, 2010). And prior to recent
34
negative financial developments, nonprofit organizations faced increased pressure to adopt best
practices from the for-profit world (Andreasen, Goodstein, & Wilson, 2005), and these pressures
have only increased in the last few years (Thomson, 2011).
Nonprofit managers are increasingly called on to do “more with less” and what they are
able to accomplish is more closely scrutinized (Thomson, 2011). Evaluations of effectiveness
and outcome assessments are becoming expected activities of nonprofits. Some evaluators look
at effectiveness through a business lens: costs going down, market position increasing, client and
funding pools improving, and streamlined operations (Gottfredson, Schaubert, & Babcock, 2008;
Neuhoff & Searle, 2008). Another growing trend is to evaluate nonprofits in regard to their
mission (Crutchfield & Grant, 2007; Foster & Bradach, 2005). The mission is critical to setting
out what impact the organization is trying to achieve (Foster & Bradach, 2005) and central to
examining success and effectiveness (Rangan, March, 2004). The ability to define measures of
success and effectiveness related to mission is a key driver and attraction for both donors and
employees (Bradach, Tierney, & Stone, 2008).
Many nonprofit managers facing lower revenue, higher demand, and calls for increased
managerial expertise are understandably in need of tools to help them navigate this new, more
challenging terrain. Unfortunately, tools frequently used by nonprofit managers may have
significant costs associated with them (e.g., time required to plan, implement, measure, and
evaluate) and these costs impede further organizational use (Snibbe, 2006). Lack of staffing is
related to the cost issue, and depending on the complexity of the measurement, it may require
one or more people to collect and analyze the data. It also requires a certain skill set that many
35
organizations find lacking. Many nonprofit organizations, understandably then, are reticent to
utilize robust strategic decision making tools (Mulgan, 2010).
MOWST Matrix
We propose that nonprofit managers consider using a modification of the traditional
SWOT analysis – the MOWST matrix (see Figure 1). The modifications made to this matrix are
designed to address some of the inherent weaknesses of traditional SWOT analysis and the
reluctance of nonprofit managers to use more robust decision making tools. There are two
primary modifications: 1) it adds a mission component to the analysis, and 2) it adds weighting
to the individual items in the SWOT lists and asks analysts to rate how well strategic options
leverage strengths and opportunities, address weaknesses and threats, and accomplish mission.
By modifying a very familiar decision making tool, we provide nonprofit managers a more
robust tool they are more likely to actually use due to their familiarity with a traditional SWOT
analysis.
36
Figure 1. The MOWST matrix
Adding a mission component to the traditional list of strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats seems to be a necessary addition for nonprofit analysis. As already
discussed, keeping mission accomplishment at the forefront of strategic objectives is crucial to
the success of nonprofit organizations. The MOWST matrix provides nonprofit strategic
decision makers and analysts the opportunity to evaluate strategic options in light of the
37
organization’s mission, purpose, and/or values on the same level with strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats. If two strategic actions both look appealing using a traditional SWOT
matrix, but one is more aligned with the organization’s mission, that more appealing strategic
action will now be much more easily identified.
Other criticisms of traditional SWOT analysis have validity in our experience with
students and consulting clients. There is often little thought given as to which items on SWOT
lists are more important than others. Weihrich (1982) suggested that weights could be added to
list items but did not incorporate that into the TOWS matrix. For the MOWST matrix, however,
for each item in each list, a weight is assigned such that the total weight for all items in a
particular list is one. For example, if there are five items listed as strengths, and all are weighted
equally (not recommended, but possible), each item has a weighted value of .2.
Weihrich also outlined using plus and minus signs to indicate whether or not a strategic
option did or did not address list items, but did not provide detailed guidelines for their use. In
the MOWST matrix, strategic options are evaluated on a -3 to +3 scale (+1 and -1 representing
low levels, +2 and -2 representing moderate levels, +3 and -3 representing high levels, and 0
representing no impact or a factor that is not applicable). Positive numbers are indicative of
mission accomplishment, opportunity exploitation, weakness resolution, strength utilization, and
threat neutralization. Negative ratings are used to indicate the degree to which negative
consequences will accompany the implementation of a selected strategy (not simply that there
will be an absence of positive results, e.g., mission accomplishment will actually be hindered to
some degree rather than only not being accomplished).
38
For each strategic option being considered, the rating of how that strategy relates to each
factor item is multiplied times the factor weight to generate a score. The scores are totaled for
each category and then a grand total is derived by summing each of the category subtotals. At
the bottom of the matrix, each strategic option has a score – the higher the score the more
favorable is that strategic option given the internal and external factors facing the organization.
In Figure 2 we provide an example of a MOWST matrix created for a fictional mental
health service provider (based on an actual consulting client, but masked for confidentiality).
The three strategic options considered are: 1) absorb smaller, struggling mental health service
providers in surrounding counties and through economies of scale and use of videoconferencing
achieve further cost savings, 2) use vacant, property owned by the organization and next to an
entertainment district to build a miniature golf course (funded with donations), to generate an
alternative revenue source and create name recognition and goodwill in the community, or 3)
cease serving indigent clients and only serve those with full or partial insurance.
39
Figure 2. MOWST matrix example using fictional mental health nonprofit.
Factor weights vary within each category for each factor item but always sum to a value
of one. Ratings range from -3 to +3. Option 1, for example, would mean that staff would be
used to serve clients from other counties and this may limit the organization’s ability to achieve
the first listed mission component, hence a rating of -1. That rating multiplied times the factor
weight of .30 assigned to the first mission item yields a score of -.30. This is summed with the
40
other mission scores for Option 1 resulting in a Mission Score Subtotal of .45. On mission
criteria alone, Option 1 is inferior to both Option 2 (with a subtotal of 1.40) and Option 3 (with a
subtotal of .90). However, the Grand Total Score of 6.30 for Option 1 is the highest overall. If
this was an actual analysis, the decision makers for this organization would have to weigh the
relatively low level of mission accomplishment for Option 1 versus the high scores in the other
areas. Without the addition of the mission component to the MOWST matrix, this type of
analysis would be more difficult to identify.
Variations and customizations of the MOWST matrix are certainly possible. Factor
weights do not necessarily have to be the same across categories. An organization could have
double the total weight for all mission factors, for example. Also, the rating system could be
simplified (perhaps just plusses and minuses) or made more detailed (positive and negative
scales of 1-10). And of course, the number of items listed under each category could vary from
three to ten or more, and would not have to be the same for each category. The MOWST matrix
is flexible in its structure and allows for easy customization.
Conclusions
The MOWST matrix is an improvement on traditional SWOT analysis in a number of
ways. First, it incorporates mission into the analytical framework which is of critical importance
to nonprofit managers. Second, it allows for more robust analysis due to factor weighting and
ratings for strategic options for each mission, opportunity, weakness, strength, and threat listed.
Third, this more robust tool is somewhat more likely to be used by nonprofit managers since so
many are already familiar with a traditional SWOT matrix. The MOWST matrix can assist
41
nonprofit managers and decision makers in their efforts to accomplish their evermore demanding
missions in a ever-shrinking resource environment.
In addition to its applications with nonprofit organizations, the MOWST Matrix can be
useful for any type of organization for which mission is emphasized greatly. For example, one
of the authors has used the matrix with a small business consulting client whose mission
included spending time doing things he enjoyed and spending more time with his family at the
expense of profit maximization. The matrix was useful in helping the client analyze and weigh
various strategic options and select for implementation actions that were consistent with his
personal goals and values.
There are still issues with SWOT analysis that are not specifically addressed by the
MOWST matrix. The matrix does not provide guidelines as to how the lists are to be developed.
Surface-level lists that are sometimes developed when engaging in traditional SWOT analysis
will still generally lead to poor strategic decisions. Also, a traditional SWOT analysis and the
use of a MOWST matrix are both snapshots in time. They must both be used dynamically to
provide deeper insight into shifting internal and external trends. The matrix can also be used in
ways not intended. For example, the matrix is designed to assist decision makers in processing
information rather than drawing definitive and unalterable conclusions. Although it appears to
involve quantitative measures, the matrix is much more a qualitative tool for decision processing
and its use as a formulaic decision making tool risks its misuse.
However, the MOWST matrix does provide significant refinement of the traditional
SWOT framework in a way that can benefit nonprofit and other types of organizations. Our
42
early use of the MOWST matrix with consulting clients and students has met with very positive
results and further refinements are certainly possible as use continues. This is still merely a tool
and is not definitive by any means. Our hope is that the matrix can assist decision makers make
better decisions, but perfect ones will unfortunately remain elusive. We look forward to
witnessing the evolution of this tool designed to help managers navigate their organizations’ ever
challenging environments.
43
References
Andreasen, A. R., Goodstein, R. C., & Wilson, J. W. (2005). Transferring "marketing
knowledge" to the nonprofit sector. California Management Review, 47 (4), 46-67.
Barney, J. B. (1995). Looking inside for competitive advantage. Academy of
Management Executive, 9 (4), 49-61.
Barney, J. B. (2002). Gaining and sustaining competitive advantage (2nd
ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Bradach, J. L., Tierney, T. J., & Stone, N. (2008). Delivering on the promise of
nonprofits. Harvard Business Review, (December), 88-97.
Carlson, M., & Donohoe, M. (2010). The executive director's guide to thriving as a
nonprofit leader. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Crutchfield, L., & Grant, H. M. (2007). Forces for good: Six practices of high impact
non-profits. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Dees, J. G. (2004). Putting nonprofit business ventures in perspective. In Oster, S. M.,
Massarsky, C. W. & Beinhacker, S. L. Generating and sustaining nonprofit earned income: A
guide to successful enterprise strategies. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass.
Dess, G. G., Lumpkin, G. T., & Eisner, A. B. (2010). Strategic management: Creating
competitive advantages (5th
ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Foster, W., & Bradach, J. (2005). Should nonprofits seek profits? Harvard Business
Review, (February), 92-100.
Gottfredson, M., Schaubert, S., & Babcock, E. (2008). Achieving breakthrough
performance. Stanford Social Innovation Review, (Summer), 32-39.
44
Grant, R. M. (1998). Contemporary strategy analysis: Concepts, techniques,
applications (3rd
ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Business.
Longenecker, J. G., Palich, L. E., Petty, J. W., & Hoy, F. (2012). Small business
management: Launching & growing entrepreneurial ventures. Mason, OH: South-Western
Cengage Learning.
Mintzberg, H. (1994). The rise and fall of strategic planning: Reconceiving roles for
planning, plans, planners. New York: The Free Press.
Mulgan, G. (2010). Measuring social value. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 38-43.
Neuhoff, A., & Searle, R. (2008). More bang for the buck. Stanford Social Innovation
Review, (Spring), 33-37.
Pearce, J. A., & Robinson, Jr., R. B. (2009). Formulation, implementation, and control
of competitive strategy, (11th
ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Rangan, V. K. (2004). Lofty missions, down-to-earth plans. Harvard Business Review,
(March), 112-119.
Roy, K. M. (2011, October 10). Nonprofits show optimism despite serious concerns,
United Way survey finds. Hartford Business Journal [On-line]. Available: http://www.
hartfordbusiness.com/news20825.html.
Saloner, G., Shepard, A., & Podolny, J. (2001). Strategic management. New York:
John Wiley & Sons.
Sheehan, R. (2010). Mission impact: Breakthrough strategies for nonprofits. Hoboken,
NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Snibbe, A. C. (2006). Drowning in data. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 39-45.
45
Thompson, Jr., A. A., Strickland III, A. J., & Gamble, J. E. (2008) Crafting and
executing strategy: The quest for competitive advantage: Concepts and cases. New York:
McGraw Hill/Irwin.
Thomson, D. E. (2011). The role of funders in driving nonprofit performance
measurement and use in strategic management. Public Performance & Management Review, 35,
(1), 54-78.
Weihrich, H. (1982). The TOWS Matrix – A tool for situational analysis. Long Range
Planning, 15 (2), 54-66.
Wheelen, T. L., & Hunger, J. D. (2012). Strategic management and business policy:
Toward global sustainability. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
46
SHOULD BUS 101 BE INCLUDED IN THE GENERAL
EDUCATION CURRICULUM?
Dr. Don Yates
Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems
Louisiana State University Alexandria
8100 Hwy 71 S
Alexandria, LA 71302
Dr. Steven C. Palmer
Associate Professor of Business
Chair - Division of Business
Northwestern Oklahoma State University
709 Oklahoma Boulevard
Alva, OK 73717
Abstract
This paper discusses the merits of including a freshman level introductory business
course (generically referred to here as BUS 101) within the General Education Curriculum
(GEC) of a college or university. The paper looks at the background, goals and definitions of the
General Education curriculum and discusses some of the conflicts and tensions found in the
current ongoing debates. It also describes several common models used within the GEC.
The paper then looks at BUS 101 within the above context. It discusses if BUS 101 meets
generally accepted general education objectives and if BUS 101 meets the generally accepted
requirements for a general education social science. It reports on a survey of 50 randomly
selected schools. The paper also will examine the experience at one university which added
Introduction to Business as a general education class.
The paper concludes that although BUS 101 meets the General Education criteria “on
paper”, it is not widely accepted by higher education. The conclusion contains speculation about
why.
47
Introduction
The inclusion of BUS 101 in the General Education curriculum hinges upon two key
questions, which are: “Is Business 101 a Social Science?” and “Does BUS 101 belong in the
General Education Curriculum.”
Key Question 1: Is BUS 101 a Social Science?
Merriam Webster defines Social Science as, “a branch of science that deals with the
institutions and functioning of human society and with the interpersonal relationships of
individuals as members of society.” Many BUS 101 textbooks have definitions, which, generally
define business as the organization of a society that controls the flow of goods and services from
producer to consumer. Given these two definitions, the definition of business fits nicely into the
broader definition of social science.
The Social Science Encyclopedia (Kuper, 1985) lists Business Studies as a subject under
two disciplines, Industrial Relations and Management and under Economics. Several other
disciplines list subjects which are found in most business programs. For example, Mass Media,
Material Culture and Media Effects are found under the Cultural Studies discipline. Similarly,
the discipline Political Theory contains subjects such as Capitalism, Communism, and
Globalization. As shown in Figure 1, a “back of the envelope” study of subtopics indicates that
some of the Business disciplines are more aligned to the Social Sciences than others. In
particular, Economics is often housed in Social Sciences at many universities. However,
Marketing and Management contain substantial social science content.
48
Figure 1 Relationships of the Business Disciplines to Social Science
Key Question 2: Does BUS 101 Belong in the General Education Curriculum.
The short answer to this question is that inclusion of Business 101 within the General
Education Curriculum depends on which General Education model is being used by the school.
There are three dominant models in use today, the Core Model, the Distribution Model and the
Hybrid Model. Business 101 fits the Distribution Model well, the Hybrid Model to some degree
and the Core Model poorly.
General Education Background
49
Definition and Standards of General Education
There are perhaps as many definitions of General Education as there are educators. All
these definitions lie within the overarching concept of curriculum, which can be defined as a
prescriptive set of activities designed to accomplish a set of goals, objectives, or ends. This paper
will use this definition. As seen in Figure 2, the literature references to “general education
curriculum” is undergoing an exponential growth implying that interest in the general education
curriculum is also increasing. This data is based on the Google nGram viewer. (Michel, 2010)
Percentage of all
three word ngrams
in scanned
literterature
Date of publication
Figure 2. Data from the Google Books N-gram Viewer for the nGram “General Education Curriculum”
However, the term curriculum is used to indicate many other concepts such as (1) a list of
all courses taught at an institution, (2) a list of courses needed for a specific degree and the very
broad (3) a compilation all experiences that a learner has within a program of education. See
Tanner, (1990), Schubert (1986), Pratt, (1980), Beyer, (1988) for a full discussion of curriculum.
The GEC then becomes the component of the curriculum which all students must
complete. This working definition of the GEC fits most school curricula. Accrediting bodies also
tend towards this definition. For example, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
50
(Principles of Accreditation: Foundations of Quality Enhancemen, 2004) requires that general
education be “a substantial component of each undergraduate degree.” (Section 2.7.3)
The controversy, at least for higher education, arises when the goals, objectives and ends
of the GEC are defined.
Progression of General Education K-12 and Higher Education
It is generally accepted that curricular flexibility increases as students progress from Pre-
school to Higher Education. Curricula at early levels offer virtually no elective courses while
curricula at advanced levels are predominately elective in nature. The uniformity philosophy
described by educators such as Hirsch (1987) produces an advocacy for inflexible curricula
while the Open Curriculum at Brown University provides the antipode. Most higher education
institutions lie somewhere in the middle.
The progression of General Education also had a time varying component. Figure 3
indicates that in the late 1950’s, interest in general education began to decline as educational
institutions tighten the curricula. Reports such as the Grinter report in engineering and A Nation
at Risk are examples of forces calling for such tightening.
Percentage of all
two-word ngrams
in scanned
literterature
Date of publication
Figure 3 Google N-Gram results for the 2-gram “general education”.
51
Models of General Education
BUS 101 and the Core Model
A school which uses a pure Core Model will specify every course within the General
Education Curriculum. There is very little flexibility. Within this model, students have no
elective courses in the GEC. A pure Core Model is rare but degree plans which implement a de
facto Core Model are sometimes found. It is not uncommon for departments to restrict general
education courses within a degree to specific courses. Examples exist in which 10 out of 13
general education courses were restricted to specific courses. Such restrictions are caused by
advocacy or politics, accreditation issues or lack of faculty council oversight.
Given this, BUS 101 is not a very good fit within a de facto core in that only the business
department would adopt it. Given the minor position of business studies within the social
science context and the limited number of credit hours available, it would be difficult to justify
requiring all undergraduate students take BUS 101 at the exclusion of the more traditional social
science subjects.
BUS 101 and the Distribution Model
A pure Distribution Model places no restrictions on which general education courses can
be used to satisfy the General Education Curriculum requirements. More commonly seen are
Distribution Models which specify broad areas such as Humanities, Sciences, Fine Arts, Social
Sciences, etc. but then allow free choice within those areas. BUS 101 fits well within this model.
BUS 101 and the Hybrid Model
The Hybrid Model is by far the most commonly used model. In this model certain core
courses (typically English(s) and Algebra) are required of all students and the remaining courses
distributed among several areas. Variations of this model range from Columbia College’s
52
interdisciplinary core courses (Columbia College Bulletin, 2012) in Humanities, Mathematics,
Science, etc. to more chaotic curricula which evolved through advocacy and academic politics.
This is the model used by the four schools known to have adopted BUS 101 within the GEC.
Current State of BUS 101 as a General Education Course
In a survey of the webpages of 51 schools randomly selected for all higher education
institutions with business degrees, only two could be identified as including a business course
within its general education curriculum. We were able to find 38 schools which did not include a
business course within the general education course list. The remain 11 did not list their general
education courses.
Further research is needed to determine if (1) this data is valid and (2) if there is an
alignment between the General Education Model adopted and the inclusion of BUS 101 within
the GEC.
NWOSU Experience
Effective with the 2010-2011 Undergraduate Catalog, Northwestern Oklahoma State
University (NWOSU) added Introduction to Business, as well as Legal Environment of Business,
to the General Education Curriculum. NWOSU uses a hybrid general education model (See
Figure 4).
Figure 4
Northwestern Oklahoma State University
General Education Requirements
GENERAL EDUCATION
Ranger Connection
Communication & Symbols
ENGL 1113 Composition I
ENGL 1213 Composition II
SCOM 1113 Intro to Speech Communication
53
MATH 1403 or
1513
Contemporary Mathematics or
College Algebra
Social, Political & Economic Systems
FIN 1113 Personal Finance
HIST 1483 or
1493
US History to 1877 or
US History Since 1877
Leadership
POLS 1113 American Federal Govt. & Politics
Natural Science
BIOL 1114 or
1124 or
1224
General Biology or
General Botany or
General Zoology
4-5 hours physical science, chemistry or physics
HED 2303 Wellness Concepts
Human Heritage & Culture
Foreign Language
Humanities (other than Philosophy or Ethics) &
Culture Elective
Values & Beliefs
Humanities (Philosophy or Ethics), REL or SOC
General Education Electives
Gen Ed Elective
Gen Ed Elective
Gen Ed Elective
Total General Education Hours
The university identifies five categories of General Education classes: “Communication
and Symbols,” “Social, Political and Economic Systems,” “Natural Sciences,” “Human Heritage
and Culture,” and “Values and Beliefs.” Classes to satisfy the nine hours of General Education
electives must be taken from three of the five categories.
As the Division of Business faculty redesigned the curriculum in the 2009-2010 academic
year, it was decided to submit a request to add Introduction to Business and Legal Environment
of Business to the General Education curriculum. The Business faculty’s purpose for this action
was to attract more students into the classes. The thought was that both classes could be used to
54
recruit undecided or questioning students to a Business major. Because most majors at NWOSU
do not have many free elective hours built into the curriculum, the General Education
designation would allow students to take the classes while fulfilling graduation requirements.
The university’s General Education Committee had developed a set of learning outcomes
for General Education classes. Courses meeting these outcomes could be considered for General
Education designation. In looking at the identified competencies, three of them appeared to be
applicable to Introduction to Business:
1. Understand international social, political, and economic systems
2. Understand social, political, and economic systems
3. Understand domestic issues and events
Without objection, the General Education Committee agreed with the Division of
Business proposal that the course was of general interest and met three identified General
Education outcomes. The interesting aspect was the committee assigned Introduction to
Business to the Communication and Symbols category, rather than “Social, Political and
Economic Systems.” NWOSU students can take Introduction to Business as one of their three
General Education electives.
Conclusion
It is easily established that BUS 101 has limited but authoritative acceptance as a social
science. This is established both by definition and by inclusion by social science authorities.
Further argument can be made that a topical analysis of business studies finds many overlaps
between business and widely accepted social sciences such as Sociology, Psychology and others.
55
This overlap is further demonstrated by the fact that Economics is included as a social
science in many schools and as a business discipline in about equally as many. An interesting
question for further research is that there seems to be a geographic component to this distribution
with northern schools using Economic as a social science and southern schools treating it as a
business area.
Philosophically, it would appear that the General Education Model used by a university
would determine if BUS 101 is a suitable general education course. It would seem that it would
be excluded in Core Model schools and adopted in Distribution Model schools. However there
was not enough data to support this perception in this study.
In practice, data would indicate the BUS 101 is not commonly accepted into the General
Education Curriculum in the majority of higher education institutions.
Works Cited
Principles of Accreditation: Foundations of Quality Enhancemen. (2004). Retrieved from SACS:
http://www.sacscoc.org/pdf/PrinciplesOfAccreditation.PDF
Columbia College Bulletin. (2012). Retrieved from Columbia College Website:
http://www.college.columbia.edu/bulletin/core/lh.php
Beyer, L. &. (1988). The Curriculum: Problems, Politics, and Possibilities. Albany, NY.
Eisner, E. W. (1985). The Educational Imagination, (2nd ed.). New York: Macmillan & Co.
Grinter. (n.d.). Summary of the Report on Evaluation of Engineering Education. Journal of
Engineering Education, September, 1955 pp. 25-60.
Hirsch, E. D. (1987). Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
56
Kuper, A. &. (1985). The Social science encyclopedia. Boston: Routledge & Kegan.
Pratt, D. (1980). Curriculum: Design and Development. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Schubert, W. H. (1986). Curriculum: Perspective, Paradigm, and Possibility. New York:
Macmillan Publish. Co.
Tanner, D. &. (1990). History of the school curriculum. New York: Macmillan Publish. Co.
57
TELECOMMUTING: ALTERNATIVE WORK SCHEDULE
FOR FACULTY IN THE DIGITAL AGE
Lee E. Weyant, Kutztown University
Steve Palmer, Northwestern Oklahoma State University
Abstract
Increased delivery of online courses and programs are creating a virtual university (VU)
experience which challenges traditional human resource management concepts. Traditional
university staffing involves full-time faculty physically located on campus. This approach may
limit faculty recruitment to those individuals that are willing and able to move to another
university. Corporate America has experimented with telecommuting as an alternative work
scheduling arrangement for employees. This same technique may be adopted by universities but
will challenge the traditional faculty evaluation system based on teaching, scholarly activity, and
service.
(KEYWORDS: Telecommuting, Faculty Evaluation, Human Resources)
Introduction
Higher education, like most organizations, faces multiple forces of change - changing
demographics, fiscal constraints, and emerging information and communication technologies
(ICT). College enrollments are expected to increase by 13% to 23 million students during the
next decade (Hussar & Bailey, 2011). Non-traditional students (i.e., students age 25 and over),
women, and Hispanic students are expected to increase their enrollment at college by 20%, 16%,
58
and 46% respectively by 2020 (Hussar & Bailey, 2011). Not only is the mix of traditional and
non-traditional students changing, some predict more students will seek part-time study over the
traditional full-time study (Dew, 2010). States facing major fiscal problems are reducing their
financial support to state owned colleges and universities as one way to achieve budgetary
equilibrium. In Pennsylvania, for example, Governor Tom Corbett’s 2011-2012 higher
education budget for the state’s 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE)
universities was reduced by over 50%, or $644 million, compared to the previous year (Jackson,
2011). While the approved budget restored over half of the reduction, PASSHE universities such
as Kutztown University absorbed an 18% reduction in state funding for the 2011-2012 fiscal year
(“Kutztown University”, 2011). Pennsylvania is not unique in this situation as universities in
Wisconsin and California haven taken similar approaches to their budgetary crises (Hemmila,
2011; White, 2011). Finally, ICT allow for the collegiate experience (i.e., admissions, course
registration, course delivery) to be digitized and accessed anytime, anywhere from a laptop
computer, smartphone (i.e., iPhone, Blackberry, Android), or tablet computer (i.e., iPad). Over
the last twenty years the evolution of ICT has spawned an entire generation of “digital” students.
These individuals have only lived in a digitized world of the Internet, computers, smartphones,
and iPods (Oblinger, 2003; Palfrey & Gasser, 2008; Pleka, 2007; Robinson & Ritzko, 2009;
Tapscott, 2009; Tapscott & Williams, 2008). These “digital”, or Net Gen, students expect
customization, collaboration, and speed (Oblinger, 2003; Tapscott, 2009; Tapscott & Williams,
2008). They expect flexible learning environments that takes “place where and when they want
it” (Tapscott, 2009, p. 77).
These dynamics of change challenge higher education to redefine their operational
model. Currently the predominant model is based on a fixed-facility model with faculty and
students sharing the same space and time for professors to share the results of their research
(Twigg, 1994). Today this paradigm is shifting toward a new model, a "virtual university,"
where students can “pursue their higher education from anywhere and at any time” (Dew, 2010,
p. 47). Many colleges have incorporated online learning (OLL) and blended learning (i.e., a
mixture of face-to-face (F2F) instruction and OLL) as a step toward the virtual university. For
example, from 2002 to 2009, the number of individuals enrolled in at least one online course
59
increased by nearly 20% (Allen & Seaman, 2010). Colleges of business accredited by The
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) reported that the percentage of
schools offering at least one online program rose from 9% in 2001-2002 to 24% in 2008-2009
(“AACSB members”, 2010). This increase in OLL may be a conscious strategic decision as
business schools view “technology-mediated educational programs as a means of differentiation
and of gaining a competitive advantage” (Alavi & Gallupe, 2003, p. 139).
The virtual university (VU) embraces technology for delivery of the higher education
experience. Browning (2008), citing Porter, Hedegaard, and Straat (1997), describes the virtual
university as a place “where students, faculty and staff learn, instruct and administer in a virtual
space rather then in brick and mortar buildings” (p. 13). This approach to higher education
challenges traditional human resource (HR) management concepts of centralized faculty and
staff in one physical location. Some institutions describe their VU on the basis of OLL delivered
to non-residential campus students (e.g., Penn State World Campus, Western Governor’s
University) (Epper & Garn, 2004). Other colleges apply the concept of a VU to any OLL
experience on campus. Both generic types of VUs provide HR management challenges for
higher education administrators. For example, does the faculty have be centralized in one
physical location or can they be dispersed to work from any location? What are the faculty
evaluation implications for a dispersed workforce? This paper focuses on the use of an
alternative work schedule, telecommuting, for full-time business faculty involved in OLL.
Specifically, this paper provides a general framework for faculty performance evaluations as
they exist today and considers how a telecommuting faculty member can demonstrate
comparable performance with their on-campus counterparts.
Faculty Evaluations
Faculty evaluation systems are based on a triad of criteria - teaching, scholarship, and
service. This system is used for annual renewal, tenure, and promotion decisions in both union
and non-union academic environments. For example, Article 12 of the 2007-2011 Collective
Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
(PASSHE) and the Association of Pennsylvania College and University Faculties (APSCUF)
outlines the three main criteria for faculty evaluations - effective teaching, continued scholarly
60
growth, and service to the community, department, college, and university (“Agreement”, 2007).
The CBA further states that these evaluation criteria applies to “temporary faculty, regular part-
time faculty, probationary non-tenured faculty, tenured faculty, and all applicants for promotion”
(“Agreement”, 2007, pg. 23). Per the CBA, behavioral samples for each of the three criteria
include (“Agreement”, 2007)
• Effective teaching may be demonstrated through an assessment of student evaluations,
peer evaluations, syllabi, and quality of academic advisement.
• Continued scholarly growth is demonstrated through such items as a research publication
record, development of experimental programs (i.e., distance education), and
participation in professional organizations.
• Service involves participation in community, department, college, and university
committee assignments, APSCUF activities, and membership in professional and
community organizations related to the faculty members discipline.
Northwestern Oklahoma State University (NWOSU), a non-unionized regional
comprehensive university, uses five criteria for faculty evaluations according to their Faculty
Handbook (2011). NWOSU faculty are evaluated on teaching, professional development,
scholarly activity, institutional involvement, and community service (“Faculty Handbook”,
2011). Faculty demonstrate their performance in each area through such behaviors as (“Faculty
Handbook”, 2001):
• effective and stimulating course delivery and instructional design for teaching proficiency
• participation in discipline related professional organizations and continuing education for
professional development
• published research demonstrates scholarly activity
• participation in university committee assignments demonstrate institutional involvement
• participation in discipline related community and civic organizations demonstrates
community service
Professional accrediting agencies such as the Accreditation Council for Business Schools
and Programs (ACBSP) and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
(AACSB) incorporate the faculty evaluation triad within their accrediting standards. For
example, ACBSP Standard 4 addresses the effectiveness of teaching through a systemic
evaluation of student learning measured through outcomes assessment (“ACBSP”, 2011).
61
AACSB includes a similar assurance of learning assessment through several accreditation
standards (“Eligibility procedures”, 2011). ACBSP Standard 5 includes an outline of faculty
responsibilities including student advising, scholarly activities, community service, and business
and industry interaction (“ACBSP”, 2011, p.34). AACSB includes similar faculty
responsibilities through standards 2, 9, and 10 (“Eligibility procedures”, 2011). Both ACBSP
and AACSB accreditation includes an evaluation of the institution’s faculty evaluation system in
terms of tenure and promotion (“ACBSP”, 2011; “Eligibility procedures”, 2011).
This limited sampling demonstrates a perceived consensus of the faculty evaluation
system used in the traditional collegiate setting. As the VU emerges there is no reason to believe
that HR management will not continue this method for faculty evaluation. HR knows this
evaluation system works in a fixed facility with on-campus faculty members. The question
becomes how such a system could be implemented in a VU approach where the faculty may be
geographically dispersed using alternate work scheduling techniques.
Telecommuting
Telecommuting in General. Telecommuting is an alternative work schedule where
employees work from home or other off-site locations connected to the office by ICT (Apgar,
1998; Bailey & Kurland, 2002; Browning, 2008; Gibson, Blackwell, Dominics, & Demerath,
2002; Ng, 2006). Nearly 26 million individuals telecommuted in 2010 according to a
WorldatWork study (Ozias, 2011). Some HR professionals believe telecommuting options help
to “attract and retain the best and brightest employees” (Meinert, 2011, p. 34). According to
Meinert (2011), 82 of the Fortune 2011 “100 Best Companies to Work For” offer
telecommuting. This quest for alternative work scheduling provides employers and employees
with possible advantages. These include:
• Higher productivity (Bailey & Kurland, 2002; Gibson et al., 2002; Martinez-Sanchez,
Perez-Perez, de-Luis-Carnicer, & Vela-Jimenez, 2007; Ng, 2006; “Planning”, 2008
“What are some”, 2011)
• Retain key workers (Gibson et al., 2002; “Planning”, 2008)
• Reduce commute time and costs for employee (Bailey & Kurland, 2002; “Planning”,
2008)
• Decreased overhead costs in terms of office space, utilities (Bailey & Kurland, 2002;
“What are some”, 2011)
62
• Work-Family balance (Ng, 2006)
On the other hand, telecommuting poses some disadvantages such as:
• Loss of face-time and interaction with co-workers (Bailey & Kurland, 2002; Gibson et
al., 2002; “Planning”, 2008)
• Feeling isolated (Ng, 2006; “Planning”, 2008)
• Security of information (Gibson et al., 2002)
Telecommuting in Higher Education. Operationally, union and non-union academic
environments combined with professional accrediting agencies have equivalent criteria for
faculty evaluations. It is the contention of this paper that evaluation triad does not change in the
digital age. What changes are the tools used by faculty and administration to evaluate the
performance of telecommuting faculty. Teaching, for instance, will remain a fundamental
criteria of faculty in the digital age. The difference will be in the instructional design and
delivery of the learning experience. Telecommuting faculty will require pedagogical skills
necessary to develop and deliver asynchronous online and synchronous web-conferencing
learning experiences. Course management systems like Blackboard, Desire2Learn, and Moodle
provide the infrastructure for many institutions to deliver online courses. Telecommuting faculty
may need to teach in both asynchronous and synchronous modes. This will be required to meet
the course scheduling needs of the institution and the students. Synchronous learning will be by
the telecommuting faculty using web and video conferencing systems such as MegaMeeting,
GoToMeeting, and Polycom. Through these systems faculty recruitment is no longer limited to
the individual who is willing and able to move. Now, a college can recruit full-time faculty
nationwide to teach synchronous courses. From a teaching perspective, physical location of the
faculty member is not important, the focus remains clearly on the faculty member designing an
educational experience that meets the learning objectives of the course.
Faculty scholarly activities involves the production of intellectual contributions for
publication. ACBSP and AACSB classify these contributions for business faculty as scholarship
of discovery, integration, application, or teaching (“ACBSP”, 2011; “Eligibility procedures”,
2011). Creation of intellectual contribution by today’s faculty, individually or collaboratively,
involves the use of online databases (i.e., EBSCO, ProQuest) maintained by the campus library.
63
Production of collaborative research by on-campus or telecommuting faculty involves the use of
email or collaborative software such as Google Docs. The metric of scholarly activity remains
the same for telecommuting faculty - conference proceedings and peer reviewed journals.
The service component typically implies faculty self-governance activities, professional
membership, and community outreach. ICT provides the means for telecommuting faculty to
meet the general standards of faculty service. Schools like NWOSU with geographically
dispersed campuses currently use ICT (i.e., Polycom, MegaMeeting) to conduct committee
meetings. Recently, a NWOSU faculty search committee conducted an interview with a
candidate using MegaMeeting. One NWOSU faculty member was located at the Enid,
Oklahoma campus, another NWOSU faculty member was located at the Alva, Oklahoma
campus, and the candidate was located in Pennsylvania. This video conferencing interview
demonstrates that faculty members can be geographically dispersed to conduct committee work
such as recruitment. While the concept has been demonstrated, a university would need to
consider some additional logistical support for a telecommuting faculty member to serve on a
faculty search committee. For example, due to the personal information contained in the
collection of vitas, transcripts, and letters of recommendation, faculty search committees would
probably not want physical hard copies of these documents to be shipped around the country for
geographically dispersed faculty members to participate in the search committee. However, by
requiring applicants to submit electronic copies of documentation combined with administrative
support to the search committee to scan non-electronic documents, a digital portfolio of each
candidate can be developed and then placed on a secure university server for only the search
committee to access. Other departmental, college, and university committee work can be
achieved in similar fashion using ICT.
Service in support of professional organizations does not require a faculty member to be
physically located on the university campus. A management faculty member may have
membership in the Academy of Management (AoM), Society for Human Resource Management
(SHRM), and the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). Each of these
professional associations have local chapters and convene a national conference.
Telecommuting faculty can participate in these professional organizations by attending the local
64
chapter meetings, holding office at the local or national level, and attending the various
conferences. This is the same level of participation as their campus counterparts.
Community service can also be achieved by a telecommuting faculty member. What
constitutes the institution’s community? If institutions adopt a narrow definition, then
community refers to the geographical area in which they draw their student population. Under
this definition, a telecommuting faculty member using ICT could work solely, or collaboratively
with campus faculty, on a project for a “local” community organization. If institutions adopt a
broader, global perspective of community, then any work by telecommuting faculty in their
hometown area would satisfy the community service standard.
Summary
The digital age, leveraged by ICT, is creating new organizational models. For corporate
America, a new organization structure will be a virtual corporation producing products or
services based on customer demand (Davidow & Malone, 1992). Similarly, higher education
will create a virtual university in response to the shift from faculty-centered instruction to on-
demand educational services. The increase in online educational delivery of programs and
courses represents a portion of this paradigm shift. Today’s digital age allows for organizations
to challenge the underlying assumption about an employee’s physical presence at the work site
as a metric for employee performance. Corporate America has experimented with
telecommuting as an alternative work schedule to address this presumption about the nature of
work. This same approach may have application in higher education where the faculty
evaluation system focuses on teaching, scholarship, and service. By using ICT telecommuting
faculty have similar opportunities to meet this triad of faculty performance.
Telecommuting is not a panacea for higher education. Higher education administration
needs to consider this alternative work schedule as part of their overall strategic analysis.
Telecommuting may provide universities with human resource (HR) opportunities to attract
65
individuals that may otherwise be overlooked in a traditional faculty search. As a HR strategy
universities need to consider the mix of telecommuting faculty versus on-campus faculty in the
same vain as administrators balance the number of tenure, tenure-track, and non-tenure faculty
positions to meet the institution’s mission. The faculty mix will only be one element in the HR
analysis for the use of telecommuting faculty. This paper only addressed the conceptual element
of telecommuting as an alternative work schedule for faculty. Other issues involving
compensation and benefits are just as important to a comprehensive adoption of this alternative
work schedule.
References
AACSB member schools are increasing online program offerings. (2010, April/May).
Retrieved from http://www.aacsb.edu/publications/enewsline/archives/2010/vol9-issue3-
datadirect.pdf December 22, 2011.
ACBSP Standards and Criteria for demonstrating excellence in baccalaureate/graduate
degree schools and programs (Revision B). (2011, November). Overland Park, KS:
Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).
Agreement between Association of College and University Faculties (APSCUF) and the
Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (State System) July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2011.
(2007). Retrieved December 14, 2011
http://www.apscuf.com/PDFs/Contracts/members.faculty.contract.0711.pdf
Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2010). Learning on demand: Online education in the United
States, 2009. Babson Study Group. Retrieved from The Sloan Consortium at
http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/freedownloads Dec 22, 2011.
66
Alavi, M. & Gallupe, R. B. (2003). Using information technology in learning: Case
studies in business and management education programs. Academy of Management
Learning and Education 2(2), 139-153
Apgar, M. (1998, May-June). The alternative workplace: Changing where and how
people work. Harvard Business Review, 121-136.
Bailey, D. E., & Kurland, N. B. (2002). A review of telework research: Findings, new
directions, and lessons for the study of modern work. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23,
383-400. DOI: 10.1002/job.144
Browning, M. C. (2008). The virtual office: Challenges and opportunity for faculty.
ABBS eJournal, 4(1), 12-19.
Davidow, W. H. & Malone, M. S. (1992). The Virtual Corporation. New York:
HarperCollins
Dew, J. (2010, March-April). Global, mobile, virtual, and social: The college campus of
tomorrow. The Futurist, 46-50.
Eligibility procedures and accreditation standards for business accreditation (Revised),
(2011, January 31). Tampa, FL: AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business. Retrieved December 14, 2011 from
http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/standards-2011-revisions-jan2011.pdf
Epper, R. M., & Garn, M. (2004). Virtual universities real possibilities. EDUCAUSE
Review, 28-39.
Faculty Handbook (2011). Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Retrieved
December 14, 2011,
http://nwosu.publishpath.com/Websites/NWOSU/images/2011%20faculty%20handbook.pdf
67
Gibson, J. W., Blackwell, C. W., Dominicis, P., & Demerath, N. (2002). Telecommuting
in the 21st century: Benefits, issues, and a leadership model which will work. Journal of
Leadership & Organizational Studies, 8(4), 75-86.
Hemmila, D. (2011, January 10). Proposed budget cuts $1.4B from higher education. UC
Newsroom. Retrieved September 23, 2011 from
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/24764
Hussar, W. J., & Bailey, T. M. (2011). Projections of education statistics to 2020 (39th
ed.). US Department of Education, IES National College for Education Statistics, NCES 2011-
026. Retrieved October 18, 2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2011.2011026.pdf
Jackson, P. (2011, March 10). Tom Corbett’s proposed higher-education cuts draw
protests. The Huffington Post [Politics]. Retrieved September 23, 2011 from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/10/tom-corbetts-proposed-hg_n_834342.html
Kutztown University announces 2011-2012 budget reductions (2011, July 28). Budget
information for the KU campus community [Press Releases]. Retrieved September 23, 2011
from http://www.kutztown.edu/budget/releases.aspx
Martinez-Sanchez, A., Perez-Perez, M., de-Luis-Carnicer, R., & Vela-Jimenez, M. J.
(2007). Telework, human resource flexibility and firm performance. New Technology, Work and
Employment 22(3), 208-223.
Meinert, D. (2011, June). Make telecommuting payoff. HRMagazine, 56(6), 33-37.
Ng, C. F. (2006, September). Academic telecommuting in open and distance education
universities: Issues, challenges, and opportunities. International Review of Research in Open and
Distance Learning, 7(2), 1-16. ISSN: 1492-3831.
Oblinger, D. (2003, July-August). Boomers, Gen-Xers, & Millenials: Understanding the
new students. Educause Review, 38(4), 37-40, 42-47.
68
Ozias, A. (2011, June). Telework 2011: A WorldatWork special report. Retrieved from
http://www.worldatwork.org/waw/adimLink?id=53034 December 15, 2011.
Planning enhances the potential of telecommuting success. (2008, April). HRfocus
[Special Report on Telecommuting].
Palfrey, J., & Gasser, U. (2008). Born Digital: Understanding the first generation of
digital natives. New York: Basic Books.
Pleka, B. (2007). Educating the Net Generation: How to engage students in the 21st
century (2nd
ed.). Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica Press
Robinson, S., & Ritzko, J. (2009). Podcasts in education: What, why, and how?
Proceedings of the Academy of Educational Leadership, 14(1), 38-43. New Orleans, Allied
Academies. Retrieved July 19, 2009 from
http://www.alliedacademies.org/Public/Procedings/Proceddings24/AEL
Tapscott, D. (2009). Grown up digital. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Tapscott, D., & Williams A. D. (2008). Wikinomics: How mass collaboration changes
everything (Expanded ed.). New York: Portfolio.
Twigg, C. A. (1994, July-August). The Changing Definition of Learning. Educom Review
29(4). Available http://net.educause.edu/apps/er/review/reviewArticles/29422.html
What are some of the current best practices in telecommuting? (2011, July). HRfocus
[Special Report: Telecommuting].
White, J. (2011, March 3). Wisconsin budget will make higher education less accessible.
Retrieved September 23, 2011 from http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/mar2011/wise-
m03.shtml