Purpose This paper aims to examine how Chief Executive Officer (CEO) power affects firm-level labor productivity. Design/methodology/approach The authors rely on regression analysis to examine the relation between CEO power and labor productivity. Findings Following prior research (i.e. the sequential rank order tournament theory), the authors predict that powerful CEOs lead to high labor productivity. They find a significant and positive relationship between CEO power and labor productivity. They further decompose labor productivity into labor efficiency and labor cost components and find a positive (negative) relationship between CEO power and labor efficiency (cost) component, suggesting that more powerful CEOs better manage labor efficiency and control labor cost. The results are also robust to various additional tests. Originality/value This study contributes to two streams of research: the CEO power literature in finance and the labor productivity and cost literature in accounting. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first study that performs a direct empirical test on the relation between CEO power and labor productivity.

This study provides an overview of a unique and innovative assessment approach: a one-day series of events to capture assurance of learning data across multiple program learning goals/objectives. The MBA Assessment Day discussed here included a group presentation (assessment of oral communication), a case twist analysis assessment of analytical/critical thinking and problem solving, global awareness, and written communication, a quiz show assessment of general business competence, and a teamwork questionnaire. The MBA Assessment Day provided faculty with a training experience to efficiently focus preparations for both undergraduate and MBA program assessment as the college of business progresses toward AACSB accreditation. Additionally, intensive involvement gave faculty members ownership of the process. The assurance of learning process and its relationship to AACSB learning standards are outlined in detail, along with the development of the MBA Assessment Day. A discussion and analysis of results leads to specific guidance and recommendations for future MBA Assessment Days.

This study uses new measures of distance education to assess the impact on retention rates at 4-year public and private non-profit universities in the U.S. We present evidence that the percent of undergraduates enrolled exclusively in distance education courses reduces a university’s freshmen retention rate, particularly for institutions with a relatively low median SAT score.  We find no clear evidence of lower retention rates when undergraduates are enrolled in a combination of on-campus and distance education courses.  These findings suggest increased enrollment through distance education can come at the expense of lower retention.