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This article evaluates the use of biweekly deadlines called “Sprints” to scaffold the development of conference papers in graduate-level courses in econometric modeling and electrical engineering through analysis of faculty assessment reports, observation notes, and transcripts of two audio-recorded class sessions. Data were analyzed to identify Tardy’s (2009) four dimensions of genre knowledge: subject-matter, rhetorical, process, and formal knowledge. We found that Sprints provide consistent opportunities for students to provide and receive helpful formative feedback that builds disciplinary genre knowledge in each of the four dimensions. We conclude by recommending strategies for maximizing Sprints’ benefits while minimizing potential drawbacks in graduate courses across disciplines.

Technology is a critical component of a firm’s operations. Technology failures can cause widespread problems in airlines. These failures cause disruptions in flight schedules, cause passengers to be stranded at airports and also increase airline operating costs. The objective of this study is to measure an effect of information technology failures on the firm value of passenger airline companies during the year 2016. In that year, there were cases involving delays and cancellations associated with JetBlue, Southwest, Delta, American, and Virgin America that received significant media coverage. Using the event study methodology, this study finds that the intensity of failures does not seem to affect the firm value as much as the time taken to address it and the presence of other compounding effects. The system failure case provides us with an insight into the effect on market value of airlines especially when they address their issues quickly and efficiently.

Recent work by Gokhale et al. (2013) proposes a method for detecting misvalued stocks. This paper applies the method to look for profitable investment opportunities by identifying undervalued stocks. Using data on companies in the S&P 100 over a period of 22 years, we test several specifications of our investment strategy for robustness. We find that investing in undervalued stocks significantly outperforms benchmark indices over time, and that this strategy can lead to risk-adjusted excess returns that are positive and statistically significant.

We analyze the effect of Toyota’s faulty accelerator pedal on stockholder wealth. Using the event study methodology, we show that a major recall in January of 2010 caused the company’s cumulative abnormal returns to fall by 19%. Continued concerns that Toyota was unable to identify and adequately fix the problem induced the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to conduct its own investigation in March, 2010. The results of this government investigation exonerated the company and caused Toyota’s cumulative abnormal returns to rise by almost 9%. The Toyota case provides an opportunity to study a product recall with both company error and a government action that addressed concerns about the safety of the product.

In this paper we analyze the effect of Boeing Dreamliner 787’s battery problems on stockholder wealth. Using the event study methodology, we show that the recall in January of 2013 initially caused the company’s cumulative abnormal returns to fall by almost 4% in four trading days after the recall. This was followed by an announcement by two major airlines to ground all of the 787 Dreamliner jets. The FAA also ordered all US airlines to ground their 787s and announced an investigation to review all critical systems of 787s. However within four months of the investigation, FAA approved Boeing’s revisions to its 787 design. This caused Boeing’s abnormal returns to rise by almost 2%. On April 24th Boeing reported it’s greater than expected quarterly results which caused its abnormal returns to rise by an additional 3%. The Boeing case provides us an opportunity to study how critical mistakes can change the value of a manufacturer. It also shows how critical it is for the company to redeem itself by quickly addressing a crisis situation.

The behavior of the macro or mass-production segment of the U.S. brewing industry appears to be paradoxical. Since the end of Prohibition in 1934, the number of independent brewer has continuously declined while the major national brewers, such as Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors, have gained market share. In spite of this decline in the number of competitors, profits and market power have remained low in brewing. Iwasaki et al. (2008) explain this result by providing evidence that changes in marketing and production technologies favored larger brewers and forced the industry into a war of attrition, in which only a handful of firms could survive. This led to fierce competition, especially from the 1960s through the mid 1980s. Since the late 1990s, the war appears to have subsided. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine whether price competition diminished after the mid-1990s. We find evidence that competition has diminished but not enough to substantially increase market power.