Barton Research Connection - Summer 2017

Migration of African Citizens Key to Economic Development
By Professor Masud Chand

African countries need to engage their diasporas in industrialized countries to provide much needed human, social, and financial capital to help with their economic development. For Africa's economies to successfully transition from their current state of commodity-dominated production to high value-added production, governments in the continent must design and implement strategies to harness their grossly underutilized diaspora in developed countries. For the most part, the diaspora's contribution to development has been viewed only in terms of remittances that go primarily to support families. In this paper, we provide a broad overview of some of the diaspora friendly policies that can help engage the African diaspora in the economic development of their respective countries of origin (COOs). Governments in the COOs need to move beyond seeing the diaspora as simply a source for remittances, and engage them in a meaningful way to provide them with a sustainable competitive advantage in the global battle for talent. There needs to be a move beyond simple calls to patriotism, and into engagement that leads to a mutually beneficial relationship between the diaspora and its COO. We conclude by pointing out some of the steps that can be taken in this regard to engage with the diaspora in a mutually beneficial relationship.

The implementation of the diaspora engagement strategies described in this article can help businesses in multiple ways. Access to information about the diaspora can help them better target products to specific niches. Working with the COR (Country of Residence) governments can help businesses improve their trade and investment opportunities in both countries, while diaspora-friendly movement policies can help businesses tap the diaspora's skills and help fill skill shortages in critical areas. Dual citizenship and property rights can help expand the market in the COO to diasporas who have access to greater capital, and greater engagement overall can help in knowledge transfer and in building institutional
infrastructure.

This is a preliminary perspectives study that is out of necessity taking a broad look at the overall diaspora engagement environment in Africa. It is hoped that this will act as a springboard for more detailed research on this increasingly important topic.

The article “Leveraging the Diaspora for Africa's Economic Development “ appeared in the Journal of African Business.

Facebook Users Gain Career Development Skills
By Professor David Xu

Facebook is known as a venue to show the world your activities, values, and your family photos. But can it actually contribute to a more successful career? Research by Dr. David Xu and a colleague from Michigan State, Anna Argyris, examined how Facebook can contribute to self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is a person's feelings of self-worth. Those who experience a higher level of self-efficacy are likely to show more confidence in their abilities. This self-confidence can lead to greater professional success.

Dr. Xu's findings are based on a survey of 260 college students who were Facebook members. He discovered that Facebook affords members the ability to observe others frequently, thereby providing members with opportunities to learn from others.

This study has important implications for practice and society. The results suggest that social network sites have the potential to improve college students' career development self-efficacy (CDSE) if developers design social network site interventions aimed at increasing the beneficial effects observed in the research, such as observational learning and social persuasion.

In addition, it was discovered that Facebook has affordances that help college students develop their CDSE. CDSE can significantly influence college students' career options. Well established self-efficacy has the potential to help current college students persist when dealing with adversity. Therefore this finding may mitigate concerns about the negative impact of social network sites, such as those on academic performance, office productivity, and depression.

The article “Enhancing self-efficacy for career development in Facebook” appeared a recent edition of Computers in Human Behavior.

Barton School Center for Real Estate is Kansas' Premier Source of Real Estate Data and Analysis

The Barton School Center for Real Estate (CFRE), led by Dr. Stan Longhofer, is an invaluable resource for the Kansas business community. The video below illustrates the type of data collected and analyzed by the Center.

WSU Faculty is now being recruited by the CFRE to engage in research related to the real estate industry starting in the Fall 2017. Up to four $2,500 fellowships may be awarded to faculty who are engaged in research related to real estate.

• Preference will be given to individuals who already have an active research agenda related to real estate, but research proposals requiring start-up funding will be considered as well.
• Recipients will be named Center for Real Estate Research Fellows for a minimum two-year affiliation.
  Applications for the Center for Real Estate Research Fellows will be reviewed and awarded on an ongoing basis by the Center Director in consultation with existing Center for Real Estate Research Fellows and on approval of the Barton School Dean.

To apply, send a current curriculum vitae and brief (one page or less) description of the applicant's current or proposed real-estate related research to:

Stan Longhofer, Director
WSU Center for Real Estate
stan.longhofer@wichita.edu 
Campus Box 77

Barton International Group Conducts Research for Global Businesses

The Barton International Group (B.I.G.) is an undergraduate student-led consulting firm. The group conducts research and provides recommendations to companies such as Spirit AeroSystems and Qdoba. 

» Read B.I.G.'s annual report  (PDF)

 

Barton School Faculty Members Explore iPad Usefulness and Enjoyment Levels
By Professors David Xu and Sue Abdinnour

Barton School Faculty members Dr. David Xu and Dr. Sue Abdinnour along with Wichita State Psychology professor Barbara Chaparro recently developed a new model for explaining changes in users' beliefs and attitudes toward IT usage.

The model has been named the integrated temporal model (ITM). Through an empirical study of iPad usage in a classroom setting at three different stages, we found that:

1. The effect of perceived enjoyment (PE) on perceived usefulness (PU) was stronger at the pre-usage (vs. post-usage) stage and that its effect was stronger at the initial-usage (vs. later-usage) stage; 
2. While PE has a stronger effect than PU on attitude at both pre-usage and initial-usage stages, that was not the case at the later-usage stage; instead, the effect of PU on attitude was stronger at the later-usage (vs. initial-usage) stage; 
3. The effect of disconfirmation on modified PU and PE was stronger at the initial (vs. later) stage, while the effect of PU and PE expectation on modified PU and PE was weaker at the initial (vs. later) stage. The study is the first of its kind to empirically examine the combined and relative impact of PU and PE on the temporal usage of IT with hedonic elements in the classroom setting.

The proposed ITM can help iPad marketers in managing users' initial expectations and delivering products that fulfill users' expectations. ITM also provides a mechanism for understanding and assessing how initial PU and PE beliefs influence subsequent beliefs and what relative influence PU and PE have on attitude at different usage stages. This mechanism can provide important guidance to designers and marketers of the iPad, tablet computers, and IT with both utilitarian and hedonic elements. The results from this study also have implications for using the iPad in the education domain.

The article, "An Integrated Temporal Model of Belief and Attitude Change: An Empirical Test With the iPad” recently appeared in the Journal of the Association for Information Systems.

iPad © By fancycrave1, CC0, https://pixabay.com/en/ipad-tablet-technology-touch-820272/