Business Commons^™

Better Work And Global Governance, Paul Alois

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a case study of Better Work, a program run by the International Labor Organization and the International Finance Corporation. It aims to improve working conditions and productivity in the apparel industry. The purpose of this case study is to examine the role that international organizations can play in global governance. The research presented here comes from interviews, document analysis, and an examination of quantitative data on factories’ working conditions. In-person interviews were conducted in the United States, Switzerland, Vietnam, and Indonesia; many phone interviews took place with individuals in other countries. Both publicly available documents and internal …

Essays On Institutional Investor Trading, Karolina Krystyniak

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of three chapters that examine the role of institutional investors in stock market efficiency. Institutions are important and influential market participants. This study aims to analyze whether institutional investor trading is consistent with higher attention and better skill, what is the impact of institutional trading on future asset prices and how does institutional trading relate to the liquidity in the market.

The first chapter of the dissertation analyzes institutional investors’ response to stock level liquidity shocks. I find that institutions, especially the transient ones, buy stocks that experience positive liquidity shocks and sell those that experience negative …

Essays On Investor Attention, Hongqi Liu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of three chapters that examine investor attention and its impact on corporate events and asset prices using a Google search-based measure of investor attention.

Chapter 1 This chapter investigates investor attention patterns and its determinants. I document that investor attention displays strong seasonality. It is significantly lower on Fridays and in summer months. I find that investor attention increases significantly following earnings announcements and macro news releases, and the effect is stronger for large firms. When faced with both firm-specific and market-wide information shocks, investors’ attention response to firm-specific information attenuates and their trading behavior is also …

The Impact Of Modality Expectancy On Memory Accuracy For Brand Names, Daniel Rubin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

It is proposed that an individual’s expectations regarding the modality by which to-be-remembered brand names will be communicated in the future can impact memory accuracy for those brand names. Specifically, we hypothesize that the likelihood of malapropistic errors (i.e., false recognition of phonetically similar brand names) increases with greater attention to phonemic codes relative to orthographic codes. Attention to these memorial representations is driven by expectations as to whether retrieval will be written or spoken. When visually presented with brand names, those expecting text-based retrieval pay relatively greater attention to the visual forms or orthographies of brand names, as this …

Earnings Management And Bargain Purchase Gains, Yan Yan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of two chapters that investigate earnings management through the recognition of bargain purchase gains in the banking industry and in other industries.

Chapter 1 In business acquisitions where the fair value of net assets acquired exceeds the consideration paid, acquiring firms recognize bargain purchase gains under ASC 805. The determination of the fair value of net assets at date of acquisition gives acquiring management considerable flexibility in judgments. In this chapter, I focus on bargain purchase acquisitions in the banking industry, and find that acquirer utilizes bargain purchase gains to avoid negative earnings and earnings decline. The …

Fashioning Desire At B. Altman & Co.: Ethics And Consumer Culture In Early Department Stores, Tessa Maffucci

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

We live in an age of fast fashion. Clothing is produced in greater volumes than ever before and the lifecycle of each garment keeps getting shorter and shorter. Many items are manufactured to be worn only one time and then thrown away—as disposable as a cup of coffee. There is much to be learned about our current fashion ecosystem by looking into the past. Beyond the garments themselves we must understand the larger historical and sociological context in which these articles of clothing were produced. How does the shopping environment shape the buying habits and fashion trends of an era? …

Examining Best Practice For A Post-Graduate Module In Food Entrepreneurship, Kathleen Farrell

Articles

As a lecturer in entrepreneurship education, the challenge of embedding an entrepreneurship mindset in my students is of great interest. A traditional lecturing approach is inadequate and there is a call for more creative teaching and a more experiential learning approach. In the words of Plutarch

“Minds are not vessels to be filled, but fires to be ignited”

The author decided to evaluate an existing Masters module on food entrepreneurship in the light of best practice. The approach involved a review of the literature and both EU and national policy documents. The syllabus, teaching methods and assessments on the Masters …

Combating Infant Mortality In Rural India: Evidence From A Field Study Of Ehealth Kiosk Imlementations, Viswanath Venkatesh, Arun Rai, Tracy Ann Sykes, Ruba Aljafari

Computer Information Systems Faculty Publications

The United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals listed high infant mortality rates as a major problem in developing countries, especially in rural areas. Given the powerful information dissemination capabilities, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been suggested as interventions to build infant care awareness and to modify healthcare behaviors. We examine how the use of one ICT intervention—specifically, eHealth kiosks disseminating authenticated and accessible medical information—can alleviate the problem of high infant mortality in rural India. We investigate how mothers’ social networks affect their use of eHealth kiosks, seeking professional medical care for their infants and, ultimately, infant mortality. Drawing on …

Transparency In The Fast-Food Industry: Utilizing Mobile To Capture New Audiences, Mary Dundon

Journalism

No abstract provided.

Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Mitchell Comstock, Michael Maggipinto, Brendan Mcintosh, Lukas Oswald

Case Studies in Agribusiness

The history of Grocery Outlet Bargain Market is presented, from its start selling government surplus canned goods in San Francisco, to its present 299 stores concentrated mostly on the west coast, but with 18 stores in Pennsylvania. The case discusses two of Grocery Outlet’s distinguishing traits: opportunistic buying and independent operators. Challenges, competition and future opportunities are presented.

Fernjo Farms Case Study, Michelle Cheda, Luis Trujillo, Lauren Ott, Andrew Lucchesi

Case Studies in Agribusiness

The history of Fernjo Farms is similar by many California dairy farms. It was started by a Portuguese immigrant from the Azores in the 1920s, who milked someone else’s cows for decades before he had saved enough to start his own farm. Today, Fernjo Farms milks 3,500 cows on three operations, and is expanding into permanent crops such as almonds and pistachios. The case explores the California dairy industry and challenges such as labor and regulations. Given current dairy costs and returns, Fernjo Dairy is considering other enterprises or moving.

Dewey Farms, Jeff Brown, Nick Vandendriesse, Joey Thomas, Lucas Zender

Case Studies in Agribusiness

Dewey Farms is a 150 year old family farming operation, located 12 miles east of Sacramento, CA. Their primary crop is pistachios, 90% of which they sell though Paramount Farms, one of the largest farm operations in the world. The case discusses the pros and cons of contracting with Paramount, and the options Dewey Farms has for the future.

Grocery Outlet Bargain Market I, Mitchell Comstock, Michael Maggipinto, Brendan Mcintosh, Lukas Oswald

Case Studies in Agribusiness

Grocery Outlet Bargain Markets has grown from a single store in San Francisco, offering low cost government surplus canned goods to 100 stores and over $1 billion in sales. The chain focuses on opportunistic buying of over runs and discontinued stock, which allows it charge low prices.

Dohi Farms, Christopher Callahan, Bryan Jimenez, Greg Moxley

Case Studies in Agribusiness

Dohi Farms is a two-generation family farm in the Central Coast of California, a major vegetable and specialty crop producing region for the US market. Major issues Dohi Farms contends with include water availability and quality, labor and changing markets.

Family Asset Building Coalition's Case For Support, Nada Bakir, Kailyn Wells

Fundraising and Marketing

The Family Asset Building Coalition (FABC) is a partnership of nonprofit and community organizations united by the common goal of assisting low-income families achieve economic mobility.

This is their case for support.

Central Minnesota Economic And Business Conditions Report - First Quarter 2016, King Banaian, Richard A. Macdonald

Central Minnesota Economic and Business Conditions Report

Economic conditions in the Central Minnesota planning area are expected to improve over the next several months according to predictions of the Central Minnesota Index of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI). The leading index surged in the most recent period, with four components producing positive readings. Weakness in national new orders for durable goods was the only index component that registered a negative number. Improvements in a general measure of statewide business conditions and a decrease in initial jobless claims in Central Minnesota helped drive the LEI higher in the first quarter. Also contributing to the improved outlook was a rise …

Northeast Minnesota Economic And Business Conditions Report - First Quarter 2016, King Banaian, Richard A. Macdonald

Northeast Minnesota Economic and Business Conditions Report

Northeast Minnesota economic performance is expected to improve over the next several months according to the predictions of the Northeast Minnesota Index of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI). Four of the five components of the LEI increased in the first quarter as the overall index followed up a negative reading in the fourth quarter with a positive move in the first three months of 2016. A decline in initial jobless claims in the region and a recent increase in filings for new business incorporation contributed favorably to the first quarter LEI. In addition, an improvement in a general measure of state …

Northwest Minnesota Economic And Business Conditions Report - First Quarter 2016, King Banaian, Richard A. Macdonald

Northwest Minnesota Economic and Business Conditions Report

An increased pace of economic activity is expected in Northwest Minnesota over the next several months according to the predictions of the St. Cloud State University (SCSU) Northwest Minnesota Index of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI). While two of the five components of the leading index were lower in the first quarter, the LEI still increased by 5.49 points. A rise in the Rural Mainstreet Index (which signals a less challenging macroeconomic environment for rural America), lower initial jobless claims in the region, and a slight increase in Fargo/Moorhead and Grand Forks/East Grand Forks residential building permits helped drive the index …

Southeast Minnesota Economic And Business Conditions Report - First Quarter 2016, King Banaian, Richard A. Macdonald

Southeast Minnesota Economic and Business Conditions Report

Southeast Minnesota economic performance is expected to remain steady over the next several months according to the most recent prediction of the Southeast Minnesota Index of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI). After a quarter in which the LEI experienced a small gain, the Southeast Minnesota leading index once again tallied a small increase by rising 0.6 points in the first quarter of 2016. Three of the five index components were positive in the most recent quarter. Improvement in the Minnesota Business Conditions Index (which serves as a general measure of state business conditions), falling quarterly claims for unemployment benefits, and an …

How Micro Small And Medium Enterprises (Msmes) Can Leverage On Central Bank Of Nigeria's Real Sector Initiatives, Paul Nduka Eluhaiwe

Bullion

This paper seeks to explore how MSMES can leverage on financing interventions of the CBN with a view to enabling them grow their businesses, employ more Nigerians and contribute to GDP.