Kent State University College of Business Administration Professor's Research Featured in Journal

KENT, Ohio - April 21, 2016 - PRLog -- Research by Chris Groening, Kent State University's College of Business Administration assistant professor of marketing and entrepreneurship, was featured on Phys.org.

His research titled, "Cross-Validation of Customer and Employee Signals and Firm Valuation," finds how important consistency is between a company's treatment of its customers and employees and how it can affect the long-term value of a company. Groening and his co-authors discuss achievements, lapses and how cross validation is more fundamental for companies with a narrow business scope.

"Without consistency there is confusion. Consistency helps present a profile of a company that confirms a balance between its stakeholders," said Groening. "Furthermore, a company may get some benefit from treating only one group well, but a greater effect from treating both groups well."

The research conducted shows improvement in firm value. The more narrow the goals and objectives are for a company, the more successful it has chance of being. Employees and customers are the primary stakeholders making them imperative in this research.

"Companies should make sure they are going the extra mile and participate in activities that have the end result of benefitting employees and customers," said Groening.  "Primary stakeholders have a more direct effect on a firm's value chain."

Businesses look for integrity and loyalty from the people it hires; additionally, college students should look for the same qualities when searching for an employer. Recognizing if a company's financials are performing well and being observant of how they treat its stakeholders are vital.

Groening obtained his doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh and has been widely published in many top journals including the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research and Journal of Service Research, among others. He spent nine years working in the multimedia field in several start-up businesses in the San Francisco area. Groening now teaches Marketing Strategy to undergraduates and MBA students at Kent State's College of Business Administration.

For more information on Groening's research, visit http://journals.ama.org/doi/10.1509/jmr.12.0272

For more information on the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the College of Business Administration, visit http://business.kent.edu/departments/marketing-and-entrepreneurship

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Kent State University's College of Business Administration is fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) and one of the largest colleges of business in Ohio.  The College has more than 4,300 students representing 50 countries with over 106 full-time faculty from16 countries.

The college grants undergraduate through graduate degrees, and is one of only three public colleges in Ohio with a comprehensive Ph.D. program.  The MBA program is offered with nine concentrations and five dual degree options. The Executive MBA program offer two tracks: one targeting corporate professionals and the other healthcare executives.  The M.S. in Accounting and M.A. in Economics are specialized master's degrees for those seeking advanced study in these disciplines.  The college boasts nine undergraduate majors, 12 minors and a Professional Sales Certificate program.

The college is listed as a Best Business School by Princeton Review, ranked as a Best Business College by U.S. News and World Report, one of only 23 accounting programs worldwide to be endorsed by the IMA (Institute of Management Accountants), ranked Top-Tier for Executive Education in North America by CEO Magazine and ranked fourth by the SEF (Sales Education Foundation) in Ohio for Professional Sales Education.

The college boasts an onsite Career Services Center and International Programs Office dedicated to business students, and operates the Global Management Center, the Center for Information Systems and the Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation all propelling scholarly research, establishing innovative industry partnerships and providing outreach to Northeast Ohio and beyond.

Media Contacts:

Michelle Parrish Manning, Director of Marketing Communications, (330) 672-2717, mparris3@kent.edu

Alyssa Ronyak, Marketing Communications Specialist aronyak2@kent.edu, 330-672-1279