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Student engagement is regarded as a critical educational outcome. However, it has proven to be elusive to educators within technical domains, such as marketing research and analytics, which has inspired the exploration of experiential course design elements. Client-sponsored projects (CSPs) have become a popular tactic to meet this objective in such courses. The authors utilize a mixed-methods design to examine CSPs and their effectiveness in marketing research and analytics courses. In Study 1, qualitative research yields student insights regarding the desired characteristics of a CSP. Study 2 illustrates that CSPs boost student engagement through perceptions of course relevance. However, students' subjective interest in the client represented a boundary condition for this effect. That is, CSPs did not offer value to students who lacked inherent interest in the client. In Study 3, a discrete choice model analysis outlined what attributes make clients interesting for students. Finally, Study 4 utilizes a field experiment to identify project-framing tactics that increase student interest through enhanced client familiarity. A series of recommendations are provided to maximize the efficacy of CSPs to marketing research and analytics courses.

College graduates need better preparation for and experience in data analytics for higher-quality problem solving. Using the curriculum innovation framework of Borin, Metcalf, and Tietje (2007) and case study research methods, we offer rich insights about one higher education institution's work to address the marketing analytics skills gap. Specifically, we describe how a focal marketing department developed an innovative curriculum based on foundational pillars of learning styles (Bloom's Taxonomy), experiential learning theory, and marketing analytics. The effectiveness of the curriculum is reviewed in light of criteria such as established learning goals and student satisfaction.

In response to calls from both business practitioners and educators, this research explores the extent to which undergraduate marketing education is delivered with a cross-functional perspective. Given that marketing is often recognized as a boundary-spanning role within companies, marketing department chairs were asked to report on cross-functional teaching and learning activities within their departments and schools. While it appears that cross-functional teaching and learning does take place in the marketing classroom, it does not appear to be widespread among marketing departments within undergraduate business programs in the United States, and what is done tends to be accomplished within traditional pedagogical formats. These exploratory results point to several considerations for the implementation of cross-functional teaching and learning initiatives, as well as provide provocative material for stimulating marketing faculty discussions on the topic. (Contains 1 table.)

The early internationalization of business school curricula was in response to corporate needs and expectations, and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) fostered changes by instituting accreditation outcomes that focused upon international content in the curriculum. By the late 1990s, a course in international marketing was standard at most accredited college and universities, and faculty in these courses reported on various approaches to teaching the course. The main objective of the current study was to examine the course content, pedagogy, and learning outcomes of current international marketing courses. As such, a content analysis of international marketing syllabi from 89 colleges and universities was conducted. Findings from this in-depth analysis offer insights regarding knowledge content coverage, pedagogical strategy, and learning outcomes assessment and provide an update on the current status of teaching international marketing in schools of business. (Contains 4 tables.)

Benefit finding (BF) may be a coping strategy that positively influences outcomes after a stressful event, but previous studies provide an inconsistent pattern of results across several different patient populations. This study aimed to reconcile these inconsistencies by testing whether positive affect related to a cardiac event (PA) mediates the relationship between BF and healthy dietary behaviors, and whether this mediating relationship is stronger for participants high in disease severity. Participants were patients with cardiovascular disease in a cardiac rehabilitation program. Results supported partial mediation, but the interaction was not as predicted: participants low in disease severity showed a stronger relationship between BF and PA than their counterparts high in disease severity. Additionally, the PA/healthy dietary behaviors relationship was negative. Health providers may encourage patients in CR to engage in BF, but also to make thoughtful food decisions when in a positive mood, especially for patients low in disease severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A non-traditional methodology of polling in small areas, called bellwethers, improves the accuracy of forecasts drawn from a large area. Bellwether areas are small government units (such as cities or counties) which exhibit voting patterns close to actual election outcomes in the larger areas of which they are a part (such as states). The bellwether methodology of one polling organization is described in detail using data from the 2012 US Senate election in Massachusetts. An overview of the performance of the bellwether methodology is provided. In use at Suffolk University Political Research Center since 2003, bellwethers combined with state polls correctly forecast election outcomes in 97% of trials where a clear winner could be determined (i.e., no ties). The contribution of this work is to offer an open-source methodology for improving accuracy in election forecasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3. Texas Unlike the Midwest and West examples above, where states must both rely on their neighbors for energy imports, exports, and transmission and answer to the federal government on [...]

Flexible energy carriers are a crucial element of our energy portfolio. In a future in which a significant fraction of our energy comes from renewable sources, renewably produced fuels will be vital. The zinc/zinc-oxide thermochemical redox cycle is one approach for producing hydrogen using solar energy. This paper explores the level of carbon taxation necessary to make the cycle competitive with hydrogen production via methane reforming. In addition, the time frame for economic viability is assessed through the use of experience curves under minimal input, midrange, and aggressive incentive policy scenarios. Prior work projects that hydrogen produced by the zinc/zinc-oxide cycle will cost between $5.02/kg and $14.75/kg, compared with $2.40-3.60/kg for steam methane reforming. Overcoming this cost difference would require a carbon tax of ($119-987)/tC[O.sub.2], which is significantly higher than is likely to be implemented in most countries. For the technology to become cost competitive, incentive policies that lead to early implementation of solar hydrogen plants will be necessary to allow the experience effect to draw down the price. Under such policies, a learning curve analysis suggests that hydrogen produced via the Zn/ZnO cycle could become economically viable between 2032 and 2069, depending on how aggressively the policies encourage the emerging technology. Thus, the Zn/ZnO cycle has the potential to be economically viable by mid-century, if incentive policies--such as direct financial support, purchase guarantees, low interest rate loans, and tax breaks--are used to support initial projects. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4002511]

Everyone is accustomed to sniffing out new product opportunities to offer a constant-stream of new items that provide value to the target market at Yankee Candle Company, a small concern selling premium-priced scented candles and accessories operating in the hypercompetitive, forever-fickle consumer giftware industry. Besides from effective marketing, new product stream and cross-functional activity are imperative among the Yankee Candle employees in order to stay competitive.

Student engagement is regarded as a critical educational outcome. However, it has proven to be elusive to educators within technical domains, such as marketing research and analytics, which has inspired the exploration of experiential course design elements. Client-sponsored projects (CSPs) have become a popular tactic to meet this objective in such courses. The authors utilize a mixed-methods design to examine CSPs and their effectiveness in marketing research and analytics courses. In Study 1, qualitative research yields student insights regarding the desired characteristics of a CSP. Study 2 illustrates that CSPs boost student engagement through perceptions of course relevance. However, students' subjective interest in the client represented a boundary condition for this effect. That is, CSPs did not offer value to students who lacked inherent interest in the client. In Study 3, a discrete choice model analysis outlined what attributes make clients interesting for students. Finally, Study 4 utilizes a field experiment to identify project-framing tactics that increase student interest through enhanced client familiarity. A series of recommendations are provided to maximize the efficacy of CSPs to marketing research and analytics courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of an inductive theory model from case studies on partnering relationship activities involved different steps. The process includes developing research questions, selecting cases, developing protocols, doing field research, analyzing the data, shaping new research promotions, evaluating previously published research, and reaching a closure. The findings reflected more of the relationships in the wood products industry, and analysts are encouraging future research in other business-to-business aspects, as well as research on skills to effectively manage partnering relationships.

Four models of relational marketing were contrasted and compared in order to arrive at a common area, which can provide insights for managers when entering into an intensive relational exchange. The study showed that trust, communication, and functional conflicts were the common variables among the four models. The study also showed that it is possible not one model can capture all the elements in relationship marketing, and future research will require a thorough exploration of the constructs of relationship marketing relative to strategic alliances and network organizations.