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Access Anytime Anyplace: An Empircal Investigation Of Patterns Of Technology Use In Nomadic Computing Environments, Karlene C. Cousins

Computer Information Systems Dissertations

With the increasing pervasiveness of mobile technologies such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants and hand held computers, mobile technologies promise the next major technological and cultural shift. Like the Internet, it is predicted that the greatest impact will not come from hardware devices or software programs, but from emerging social practices, which were not possible before. To capitalize on the benefits of mobile technologies, organizations have begun to implement nomadic computing environments. Nomadic computing environments make available the systems support needed to provide computing and communication capabilities and services to the mobile work force as they move from place …

New Product Launch Decisions Under Competition And Uncertainty: A Real Options And Game-Theoretic Approach To New Product Development, James O. Ostler

Theses and Dissertations

New product development is central to many firms' future success. Not only as a means to continue to maintain their piece of the market, but product development can also be a strategic means for a company to diversify, and/or alter focus to adapt to changing market conditions.

Most of the research in new product development has been on how to do it cheaper and faster than the next guy. However, early commercialization does not guarantee a position of strength in the market. Failures of EMI in CT scanners and Xerox in personal computers illustrate that being first to market does …

The Potential Effects Of The Trans-Atlantic Common Aviation Area On Shannon Airport, Ireland, Daniel James Centilli

Honors Theses

The Trans-Atlantic Aviation Area is a proposed liberalization of the air services agreements known as bilateral agreements between the United States of America and the member states of the European Union. The new agreement would replace the restrictive bilateral and Open Skies bilateral agreements between the United States and the EU with a single comprehensive agreement. The emergence of true open skies between the US and EU creates many economic opportunities and some economic threats. One such threat is the situation faced by the Shannon Airport, Ireland. Under the current US/Ireland bilateral, Shannon's existence is protected by requiring US carriers …

Ebxml: Global Standard For Electronic Business, Sujatha Babu

Student Work

Business-to-business integration is transforming the market and has already begun to increase the efficiency of those companies involved. EDI (Electronic Document Interchange) became very popular during 1970’s; Today EDI transactions total about $750 billion year. EDI is being used by 90% of Fortune 1000 companies. It has indeed become a dominant technology for the largest companies, on the other hand it has been adopted by less than 5% of small and medium sized companies in general and, of these, many use EDI only because their larger customers require it. The reason behind is that EDI is a difficult, complex technology …

Have We Resolved The Issues Related To International Capital Structure? Empirical Evidence From The Oecd Countries, Joon-Young Song

Doctoral Dissertations

I report that most cross-sectional deviations in international capital structure are caused by the heterogeneities of firm-, industry, and country-specific determinants rather than the influence of legal-institutional differences such as legal environment. In particular, most variations in international capital structure originate in the heterogeneity of firm-specific characteristics. Although the legal environment representing creditor protection could explain some differences in international capital structure, this evidence is at best only suggestive. However, the legal system, in general, seems to have a rather indirect effect on firm leverage through a conduit of firm characteristics. I do not find clear evidence to support that …

A Taxonomy Of Customer Dissatisfaction-Related Coping Tactics Based On Dissatisfaction-Related Goals, Andrew B. Artis

Doctoral Dissertations

Practitioners who want to strengthen their market position and avoid greater government regulation would benefit from research that helps them to effectively resolve the problems experienced by their customers. Unfortunately, research efforts to explore, understand, and ultimately predict the responses of dissatisfied customers have been sporadic and have failed to lead to a sustained program of research. This problem is due in part because classification and taxonomical issues have not been sufficiently resolved. Without a theoretically-supported method to categorize and differentiate the various ways that customers respond to dissatisfaction, research into this phenomenon will continue to be slow and erratic. …

An Examination Of The Logistics Leverage Process: Implications For Marketing Strategy And Competitive Advantage, Lisa Michelle Bobbitt

Doctoral Dissertations

Based on preliminary research on logistics leverage and the lack of research on linking specific logistics capabilities and competitive advantage, it was the primary purpose of this dissertation to develop and test a theoretical model of the logistics leverage process. The model was developed based on the extant literature in logistics, marketing, and strategic management and the data from in-depth interviews with logistics professionals. The nomological network consisted of eight constructs: resource commitment, process capabilities, value-added service capabilities, relational capabilities, logistics performance, competitive advantage, firm performance, and marketing signals of value. Resource commitment and logistics performance were tested as second-order …

The Scarcity Of Women As Certified Public Accountants (Cpas), Precious Williams

McCabe Thesis Collection

By researching different sources regarding the accounting profession, the research will give readers an in depth understanding of the shortage of women as Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). Some examples of jobs in the accounting profession are accounting professors, Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), Certified Managerial Accountants (CMA's) and business accountants. It takes plenty of time and determination to become a CPA and a CMA. Many women are apprehensive of the challenges involved in becoming an accountant. Women who have persevered can obtain a career in the accounting profession. This thesis is based on materials that show women as CPAs. It also …

Modeling Usage Of An Online Research Community, Yi Zhang

Dissertations

Although online communities have been thought of as a new way for collaboration across geographic boundaries in the scientific world, they have a problem attracting people to keep visiting. The main purpose of this study is to understand how people behave in such communities, and to build and evaluate tools to stimulate engagement in a research community. These tools were designed based on a research framework of factors that influence online participation and relationship development.

There are two main objectives for people to join an online community, information sharing and interpersonal relationship development, such as friends or colleagues. The tools …

The Benefits And Costs Of Concentrated Ownership Of Firms In East Asia And Western European Economies: A Simultaneous Equations Approach, Rongrong Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

This study uses a simultaneous equations model to examine the impact of ownership structure on corporate policies and performance for listed firms in East Asia and Western Europe. The policy areas examined include dividend, diversification, leverage, and earnings management. Both accounting performance and market valuation are used as performance measures. The empirical analysis reveals that the policy choices are interrelated and have joint impact on firm performance. There exist some regional differences with respect to how ownership structure affects the largest shareholder’s policy decisions. These differences are related to the difference in capital market developments and possibly reflect the nonlinear …

Three Essays In Market Microstructure, Kenneth Wayne Small, Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays. The first essay examines the liquidity impact of NASDAQ security cross-listings on the American Stock Exchange (Amex). Using a comprehensive sample of cross-listing equities, transactions data obtained from the NYSE Trade and Quote (TAQ) database, and market data obtained from the Center for Research in Securities Pricing (CRSP) database, I find positive abnormal returns on days when positive news is released regarding security cross-listings. This indicates that cross-listing creates value for cross-listing firms. I also document significant decreases in trading costs of the cross-listed securities around the cross-listing date. In general, market participants perceive …

Differences In Scores On Measures Of Work Satsifaction, Parenting Satisfaction, Family/Work Roles Conflict And Marital Conflict Between Dual-Earner Husbands And Wives, Michelle Ann Parrott

Masters Theses

Dual-earned husband and wives, the most common family style in the United States, attempt to maintain healthy relationships as they juggle work and family roles. This study examined dual-career husbands and wives on the measures of work satisfaction, parenting satisfaction, family/work roles conflict and marital conflict to determine if differences existed between the husbands and wives. The findings indicated that dual-earner husbands and wives in this sample reported remarkably similar scores on the measures of work satisfaction, parenting satisfaction, family/work roles conflict, and marital conflict. These husbands and wives were very satisfied with their jobs and their parenting skills and …

Hybrid Stochastic Models For Remaining Lifetime Prognosis, Steven M. Cox

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force is developing its next generation aircraft and is seeking to reduce the risk of catastrophic failures, maintenance activities, and the logistics footprint while improving its sortie generation rate through a process called autonomic logistics. Vital to the successful implementation of this process is remaining lifetime prognosis of critical aircraft components. Complicating this problem is the absence of failure time information; however, sensors located on the aircraft are providing degradation measures. This research has provided a method to address at least a portion of this problem by uniting analytical lifetime distribution models with environment and/or degradation …

The Organizational Analysis Of Non-Governmental Development Organizations (Ngdos), Urelmaa Tsolmon

Theses and Dissertations

This paper uses the current organizational ecology theory to clearly define organizational population ecology constructs of non-governmental development organizations, and offers specific terminology and understanding of main organizational forms and relational dynamics that define the population ecology of these organizations. The paper examines closely the significance of such interaction and interdependence through transactional relationship of obtaining and distributing of resources and forces of competition. Original organizational theory frameworks are offered for future NGDO organizational research.

Family Differentiation, Family Recreation, And Symptoms Of Eating Disorders, Birgitta Lynne Baker

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between family differentiation, family recreation and symptoms of eating disorders. The Family Intrusiveness Scales, the Perceived Social Support from Family, the Family Leisure Activity Profile and the Eating Attitudes Test were used. Participants were students at two large universities, one in the East and one in the West. Data were analyzed using correlation and ANCOVA. Findings supported the hypothesis that a positive relationship exists between family leisure involvement and family differentiation. In addition, a negative relationship between family differentiation and symptoms of eating disorders for individuals whose parents are not …

A Local Market Analysis Of Various Exempt And Non-Exempt Positions At A Community Mental Health Provider, Stephanie Wallace

Honors Theses

Market analysis of pay structure for employees of Summit Pointe using data from two surveys, CompData (Compensation Data Michigan) and ASE (American Society of Employers-Southwest Michigan Region).

An Empirical Investigation Of A Model Of Environmentally Concerned Consumer Behavior And Its Determinants: The Moderating Role Of Market Mavenship And Product Involvement, Kishwar A. Joonas

Doctoral Dissertations

Extant literature offers incomplete explanations of environmentally concerned consumer behavior (ECCB), based on subsets of determinants. In this study, I have presented an integrated model of ECCB, and examined the main effects of three key psychological determinants (environmentally concerned beliefs and attitudes, personal norm, and perceived consumer effectiveness) and two key socio-cultural determinants (injunctive norm and collectivist orientation), on four dimensions of ECCB, namely purchase behavior, search for information, conserving behavior, and supporting intent. The study also examined the interactional effects of market mavenship and involvement on these direct linkages.

I conducted a national online survey among members of environmental …

An Experimental Examination Of Equivalence Failures In Multi-Cultural Comparative Research, F. Mark Case

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

As the global economy integrates, there is an increased need to understand international business phenomena. This forces a reliance upon multi-cultural marketing research, which is evidenced by a marked increase in international studies, particularly multi-cultural comparative research (Sin, Cheung & Lee 1999). Central to the usefulness of this research is the question of the validity and comparability of results, which is greatly affected by a property known as equivalence of test instruments; or the degree to which the scales and the items in them are seen to be the same across cultures.

To date, no research exists that approaches the …

Business Crime: The Perception And Experience Of Victimization And Corresponding Use Of Crime Prevention Measures, John A. Casten

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study uses the concepts of routine activities theory and social disorganization theory to examine some of the factors that influence a business owner's use of crime prevention measures. I predicted that neighborhood conditions as well as personal experience with crime would influence a business owner's decision to use crime prevention measures. In addition, I controlled for sex, race, age, education level, and police presence.

The results of the study were fairly consistent with the hypothesis except for two of the variables. In this particular study, age was not a significant factor in predicting the use of crime prevention measures, …

An Examination Of Perceptions For Family Acculturation, Family Leisure Involvement, And Family Functioning Among Mexican-Americans, Owen D. Christenson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between acculturation and aspects of family functioning (cohesion and adaptability) and family leisure involvement from Mexican-American parent, youth, and family perspectives. Acculturation of parents, youth, and families was measured using the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (BAS). Family leisure involvement was measured using the Family Leisure Activity Profile (FLAP). Aspects of family functioning were measured using the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES II). Sociodemographic variables such as age, gender, generation, family size, income, and education were also used to help predict levels of acculturation for family perspectives. The …

An Examination Of The Meaning Of Family Recreational Storytelling Among Parents And Their Adult Children, Kelly Gagalis-Hoffman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the role and function of family recreational storytelling across the lifespan from the perspective of parents and their adult children. Twelve adults, (six pairs of adult children and their parents) were interviewed. Questions focused on ascertaining the meaning of storytelling (including the role, purpose, and function) from the perspectives of the parents and children from the same family unit. Interviews were transcribed and themes were identified and reported. Participants reported that stories generated feelings of safety, comfort, and security, and often helped create a sense of importance and belonging for individual family …

International Transfer Pricing In A Developing Economy Context : Perspectives From The Taxpayers And The Tax Authorities, Wai Yee, Agnes Lo

Theses & Dissertations

Since the 1979 economic reforms, China has been characterized by a rapid increase in international trade and an inflow of foreign direct investment. Foreign investment enterprises (FIEs) play an increasing important role in the Chinese economy and are substantially engaged in transactions with affiliates outside China. Therefore, international transfer pricing in China has become a significant issue.

Empirical research on international transfer pricing has focused on multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in developed countries. However, it is difficult to generalize their findings to MNCs operating in developing countries as the business environment of developing countries is quite different from that of …

Small Business Participation In Air Force Procurement: Participation Trends And The Effect Of Acquisition Reform Initiatives On Air Force Procurement Via Selected Contract Types In Selected Product Categories, Douglas E. Leedy

Theses and Dissertations

Small Businesses (SB) have been of recognized important to the Federal Government for many years. This thesis explores the role of SB contractors in Air Force (AF) procurement and the effects of recent acquisition reform (AR) initiatives on their involvement, including their method of involvement (contract type), product areas in which they participate, and possible new areas of measurement. This thesis answers the research and investigative questions in three ways. First, it explores the correlation of AR initiatives to SB participation as a whole, via selected contract types, and in selected product categories via causal regression models. Next, it identifies …

An Update On Analyzing Differences Between Public And Private Sector Information Resource Management: Strategic Information Challenges And Critical Technologies, James R. Orlovsky

Theses and Dissertations

Change is a constant within our contemporary IRM environment. The rapid development of information and communication technologies has been the most predominant among the many agents of change that are forcing a reevaluation of the role of the IRM professional. Few studies to date have compared public and private sector CIO perceptions concerning the IRM challenges and critical technologies faced by their organization. An earlier study concluded that the sectors CIOs do perceive to be faced with many of the same challenges and also view many of the same technologies as critical to the organization's operations. A limiting factor identified …

Relationship Analysis : Improving The Systems Analysis Process, Joseph Thomas Catanio

Dissertations

A significant aspect of systems analysis involves discovering and representing entities and their inter-relationships. Guidelines exist to identify entities but do not provide a rigorous and comprehensive process to explicitly capture the relationship structure of the problem domain. Whereas, other analysis techniques lightly address the relationship discovery process, Relationship Analysis is the only systematic, domain-independent analysis technique focusing exclusively on a domain's relationship structure.

The quality of design artifacts, such as class diagrams, and development time necessary to generate these artifacts can be improved by first representing the complete relationship structure of the problem domain. The Relationship Analysis Model is …

A Discovery And Analysis Of Influencing Factors Of Pair Programming, Kyungsub Steve Choi

Dissertations

The exploration into the underlying psychosocial links of pair programming. a new and unorthodox programming paradigm in which two programmers share one keyboard and monitor during real-time programming sessions, is undertaken. These complex psychosocial relationships, along with cognitive process exchanges, ultimately mold the programming output as well as determine the level of communication, satisfaction. confidence and compatibility. Laying the framework for this research, a through review of traditional and contemporary paradigms with a special focus on their limitations and a list of current software development problems are presented. Next, a detailed summary of pair programming and related agile software paradigms, …

Participatory Learning Environment : Requirements And Design Analysis, Vikas Manohar Achhpiliya

Theses

The primary purpose of this thesis is to develop the requirements and model preliminary database and class designs for the Participatory Learning Approach Environment (PLAE). The requirements and the designs will be presented for version 1.0 and 2.0 with version 2.0 supporting an enhanced requirements set.

Participatory Learning Approach Environment (PLAE) is an exercise management tool for the Participatory Learning Approach (PLA) - a pedagogy approach based on the theory of constructivism. The PLAE facilitates and enhances learning among students while easing the administrative burden of the instructor and cognitive overload of the students. The theory and concepts on which …

Electronic Marketplaces And Their Roles In The Staffing Industry : An Explorative Analysis, Vishal Khubani

Theses

This thesis will explore and analyze the role of electronic marketplaces in the staffing industry from the viewpoint of hiring executives, human resources personnel, staffing organizations, and candidates. Using analyses of popular electronic job marketplaces, this paper will establish the efficiency and effectiveness of electronic marketplaces as compared to traditional staffing methods. It will also provide a detailed view of various electronic marketplaces, their financial structure and analysis of their performance. This information will also result in a return on investment estimate for the average hiring organization using electronic marketplaces.

An Examination Of How Playfulness Can Be Used To Enhance Corporate Culture And Increase Organizational Effectiveness, Freemon Wade Nixon

MALS Final Projects, 1995-2019

This inquiry considers the social psychology dimension of organizational behavior by examining how play influences corporate culture. It asserts that by thoughtfully introducing playfulness into the work setting, any entity can experience a transformation that improves overall organizational effectiveness. With a current business climate characterized by economic globalization, sociopolitical upheaval, and intense competition, enterprises must rely on internal human capital to remain viable. Thus, the origins, forms, and functions of play provide a broad and diverse framework that ultimately leads to the description of such organizational play behaviors as celebrations, rituals, and ceremonies. To establish a business context for the …

The More The Better? Consumer Preference On Multifunctional Cosmetics, Kit Ting, Candy Chan

Bachelor Degree - Marketing - Final Year Project

Multifunctional cosmetics have become more common in the market. They perform more than their basic features. As more features are added to the products, the question is that: Is the more the better? It does not always be. The purpose of this research is to locate the consumer preference on multifunctional cosmetics. It accesses consumers’ evaluation on cosmetics products in two different perspectives, brand value and confidence level. In terms of brand value, consumers prefer cosmetics with more existing features or those have new feature. In terms of confidence level, consumers prefer cosmetics with fewer existing feature with detailed information …