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This paper describes the development and evaluation of a capstone project implemented in an MBA level Operations Management course being offered at an AACSB accredited College of Business in the Pacific Northwest. The capstone project was designed with two constructs that influence professional preparation: authentic learning and student choice. We surveyed 20 graduate business students to evaluate how the proposed artifact, The Process Improvement Capstone Project, supports student learning. Using a survey with six open-ended questions, students were asked to reflect on the project, their experience working with a real-world client, and their preparedness for the workforce. The authors mined the text of the survey responses and developed a co-occurrence network to identify potential relationships between terms that students used and the major constructs of the instructional design. The paper discusses implications for this correspondence in designing authentic projects that integrate industry partners in MBA classes.

Smart card technology remains novel for consumers and merchants, in spite of several attempts by financial institutions and other interested parties to deploy the technology on wide scale bases. After Citibank, Chase, VISA and MasterCard launched a smart card trial in New York city, the trial was deemed a failure and was subsequently cancelled. Drawing from innovation and critical mass theories, and using merchant and consumer data, we provide explanations for the trial's failure. Despite the fact that the technology's relative advantages were significantly related to consumers' and merchants' acceptance, we found consumers and merchants disposed against acceptance of this smart card technology. We found no evidence for critical mass effects as a predictor of either consumers' or merchants' acceptance.

In today’s difficult economic climate, business managers must carefully consider all aspects of business operations to minimize waste and increase efficiency. The revenue cycle continues to be the primary area of fraud and abuse requiring strong, comprehensive internal controls (AICPA 2002). Internal controls in the revenue arena are now more important than ever. The current paper provides a control review checklist for the revenue cycle that will aid managers and independent auditors in the consumer products industry. The checklist is applicable for firms at various levels of the distribution channel and can be used as a general benchmark to perform preliminary evaluations of a company’s internal control system. Auditors can compare their company’s control objectives with the objectives that are presented. During preliminary investigations of the company’s internal control system, auditors should review whether important control objectives have been omitted and whether the omission incurs or heightens risk. The control review checklist can also be used by CFOs or Controllers in the Consumer Products industry in reviewing whether their company’s internal control systems are adequate. The checklist provides CFOs or Controllers internal controls that external, independent auditors consider to be important.

A common form of collective memory is the group-authored document. Examining collaborative writing from the group memory perspective may yield important design and theoretical insights. This paper views collaborative writing as a cognitive process in which a portion of group memory is formalized. This view is the basis for expanding an existing model of individual writing to include collaborative writing and group memory. A collaborative writing tool is analyzed with the design implications from the expanded model. The analysis suggests that a group memory view of collaborative writing contributes useful insights that can guide the design of computer-based collaborative writing tools. >