Digital Commons Network^™

A Bass Diffusion Model Analysis: Understanding Alternative Fuel Vehicle Sales, Michael H. Shoemaker

CMC Senior Theses

Frank M. Bass developed the Bass Diffusion Model to predict how innovative consumer durable products diffuse through consumer markets. This thesis will use data from 1999-2011 to examine the applicability of the Bass Diffusion Model to the introduction of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) in the automobile market. The findings in this thesis indicate the Bass Diffusion Model fit the diffusion pattern exhibited by AFVs well, but failed to accurately forecast diffusion patterns outside a given range of data. This thesis investigates potential reasons for the inaccurate 'Out of Sample Forecast', and gives recommendations for directions of future research on AFV …

The High Cost And Value Of Patents: Finding The Appropriate Balance Between The Rights Of The Inventor And The Advancement Of Society, Andy Segal

CMC Senior Theses

Property rights are the backbone of Western Civilization. Capitalism can only be successful if individuals feel secure about the ownership of their assets. Patents are the property rights granted to the inventor by the government. Without these rights, inventors will find it extremely difficult monetizing their contributions to society. Thus, in an effort to incentivize innovation and commit society to human progress, our Founding Fathers built our country on a strong set of intellectual property rights.

At the same time, nothing impedes innovation like a monopoly and, in essence, all a patent amounts to is a monopoly, the right to …

Weiser Carrots And Sticks: Motivation Beyond Money At The Shakedown Café, Julian A. Martinez

CMC Senior Theses

It is generally assumed that monetary incentivization is the most effective means of motivating organizationally-beneficial behaviors. Individuals, under this line of thought, pursue their own objective self-interest above all else. However, evidence is being uncovered that indicates that human motivation may be a much more complicated facet of the human psyche. The purpose of this study is to examine the deeper underpinnings that drive people work that might lie beyond financial rewards. In order to do this, the Shakedown Café, a student-run restaurant on Pitzer College’s campus, will be examined. This specific organization is of particular interest because it does …

Measuring The Impact Of A Comprehensive Health And Wellness Initiative, Patrick R. Rooney

CMC Senior Theses

As healthcare costs continue to rise across the country more companies are beginning to look for new strategies to cut costs. The evolving health and wellness industry has been shown to reduce expenditures from costly medical services by improving long term healthy behaviors in the work force, aiming to impact the demand and supply sides of healthcare. This paper looks at the history behind the health and wellness movement and specifically evaluates Healthy Incentives, King County's own health and wellness initiative and the impact such a program has on direct medical expenditures as well as key health risk factors that …

Cobra Subsidies: A Compelling Narrative Of Policy Impact On The Unemployed, Uninsured, Hannah N. Gregg

CMC Senior Theses

This paper analyzes a 2009 U.S. policy which provided short term federal subsidies for COBRA health insurance premiums. COBRA allows the recently unemployed to continue purchasing health insurance through their employment-based insurance plan for a short time period after they become unemployed. Early analysis found low take-up rates for COBRA insurance due to the exceedingly high cost of full health insurance premiums, especially for those who have just lost a steady employment income. A short term 65 percent federal subsidy for COBRA insurance was implemented as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009. Subsidy policy proposed …

Does The Reit Tale Wag The Dog? The Relationship Between Tenant Ownership And The Volatility Of Retail Reit Stock Returns, Dana G. Staley

CMC Senior Theses

This paper will assess the relationship between tenant characteristics and public REIT volatility. Specifically, we focus on the retail REIT subset of the industry. Given that retail REITs are one the most transparent asset classes, they provide an interesting landscape for evaluating the relationship between the firm and the customers, or in this case, the tenants. Specifically, we assess how major tenant ownership, public or private equity owned, impacts the volatility of the REIT’s stock price using 2010 data on 30 retail REITs. Controlling for tenant credit quality, leverage, ROE, book-to-market, size, age, region and property focus, we find that …

Carbon Affect On European Oil And Steel Companies: An Empirical Analysis On The Second Phase Eu Ets, Joseph Anderson

CMC Senior Theses

This paper uses timer series panel data from Bloomberg to ascertain the affects that carbon prices and other factors have on European oil and steel companies. This paper finds inconclusive evidence of carbon price return correlation with oil and steel company equity return. However it does find a strong positive correlation between the market portfolio excess return, which is the return on the DJS 600 EUR index minus the German three-month T-bill rate, and oil and steel excess equity return.

An Economic Analysis Of Foreign Ownership In Professional Sports: Motivation, Success, And Implications For United States Market, Alex F. Wheatley

CMC Senior Theses

An economic analysis of foreign ownership in sports. Focusing on the English Premier League, National Basketball Association, and Major League Baseball.

The Effect Of Corporate Sustainability Reporting On Firm Valuation, Brian D. Bartlett

CMC Senior Theses

The topic of corporate sustainability reporting has seen rapid growth in the past couple of years as more firms are placing a greater emphasis on becoming sustainable. However, the true impact of sustainability reporting on firm value has been widely debated, often due to the nature of the qualitative data in sustainability reports. This thesis uses a normalized sustainability scoring system to examine the effects of sustainability reporting on firm value. In particular, this paper analyzes these effects during the Great Recession to note if there was any change in the effects on a year-by-year basis due to macroeconomic differences. …

International Worker Cultural Adaptation: A Qualitative Study, Luis Romero Valenzuela

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

International workers are a vulnerable population within the hospitality industry. Their challenges, and needs have an impact on productivity, loyalty and satisfaction of international workers towards the organizations that employ them. The social and cultural impacts of labor migration are felt in their new environment by both domestic and immigrant populations. It is important to understand international workers’ acculturation process in order to provide them with tools necessary to succeed; it is also important to create responsible practices that translate into positive migration outcomes for both domestic and foreign populations. This study collected data on the motivations, processes, challenges, and …

More Than Money: Corporate Social Performance And Reporting And The Effect On Economic Performance, Kimberly A. Zahller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The three studies in this dissertation explore the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Financial Performance (CFP). CSR consists of social, ethical, and environmental performance dimensions that have not traditionally appeared in mandated financial reports and largely reflect societal expectations for corporate behavior beyond legal and regulatory constraints. CSR is reflected in both corporate actions (performance outcomes) and voluntary reporting (disclosure), and the two are not necessarily equivalent due to managerial discretion in disclosure. Although the mechanisms remain unclear, the general consensus is that there is a positive relationship between CSR and CFP. In considering the drivers and …

Strange Fruit: Images Of African Americans In Advertising Cards And Postcards, 1860-1930, Meghan Brooke Holder

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Measuring Entrepreneurship In The Academic Heartland, Jonathan Gagliardi

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

ABSTRACT

Essays On The Strategic Implications Of Marketing Capabilities: Marketing Exploration And Exploitation, Joseph Mitchell Price

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation examines how exploitation and exploration capabilities impact organizational performance for competitive advantage. The first essay reviews previous empirical, simulation, and theoretical studies to provide a synopsis and quantitative assessment of previous empirical research. The organizational performance implications of both exploration, exploitation, and their interaction (i.e., an ambidexterity) are evaluated through the substantiation of previous findings. Exploration and exploitation focus are discrete options that require a cognitive choice and are constrained by firm resources. The results show exploitation as having the greater relative impact on performance folloby exploration and ambidexterity. Essay two conceptualizes marketing capabilities as exploitation and exploration. …

Reinventing The Wheel: Examining The Antecedents, Moderators, And Outcomes Of The Innovation Process, John Eli Smothers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study extends research on the innovation process at the individual-level by examining antecedents, moderators, and outcomes associated with the generation, promotion, and implementation of innovative ideas in the workplace. In a sample of 667 working adults, this study found that high leader-member exchange was positively related to cognitive and behavioral learning strategies focused towards generating innovative ideas. Employees with proactive personalities were more likely to engage in the innovation process, and a sense of psychological safety in regard to the climate for innovation facilitated the implementation of innovative ideas. This study indicates that the successful implementation of an innovative …

An Empirical Examination Of Self-Development Activities : Integrating Social Exchange And Motivational Lens, Kanchan Vasant Deosthali

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In today's competitive global environment, organizations are continuously seeking out ways to motivate employees to learn new skills and update existing skills. One way that employees are updating their skills are through voluntary self-development activities. The current research focuses on these behaviors, and extends prior research by developing and empirically examining a model of self-development behaviors that integrates two theoretical lenses: social exchange and motivation. The social exchange component of the model included distributive justice, procedural justice, trust, and organizational identity and the motivational component of the model focused on subjective norms, self-efficacy, need for achievement, conscientiousness, resources, and attitudes …

Creating A Fog: Can Plain English Be Used To Mislead Investors?, Scott Collins

CGU Theses & Dissertations

A recent growth in textual analysis research in the accounting and finance literature relies heavily on context to draw conclusions about the readability or sentiment of the text under study. Yet the complexity of the text used in the financial disclosure is also relevant in evaluating readability and sentiment. Experimental results in this dissertation thesis show that a change in annual report complexity is associated with a change in the probability that a subject will comprehend the information being communicated in the disclosure. Specifically, increasing the complexity of an annual report disclosure dampens the probability that a subject will understand …

Developing Teachers' Capacities To Create Caring Relationships With Students: A Case Study Of A Gandhi-Inspired Private School In India, Victoria S. Zakrzewski

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Research indicates that many factors may impede teachers' ability to develop caring relationships with students such as the school environment (Schaps, 2009), lack of cultural understanding (Thompson, 1998), the teacher's beliefs and attitudes about care (Goldstein, 2002), and personal experience of being cared for (Noddings, 1984). Yet, little research exists on how schools can address these and other potential limiting factors in order to help teachers cultivate caring relationships with students. The purpose of this study was to examine how one school in India, which claims to emphasize the importance of the teacher-student relationship, develops and supports teachers' capacities to …

Examining Customer Felt Gratitude And Indebtedness In Exchanges: Their Conceptualizations, Causes And Consequences, Dora Elizabeth Schmit

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Although gratitude has been termed the second most frequently experienced positive emotion (Fredrickson 2009), marketing research has only recently started to explore the role of gratitude in customer relationships. As a result, many deficiencies exist in the literature, including the distinction between this emotion and indebtedness. Further and related to this issue, little is known about gratitude’s conceptualization, antecedents and consequences. This dissertation was conducted to address these deficiencies and extend knowledge concerning customer felt gratitude and indebtedness. Essay one was conducted to offer in-depth insight to the conceptualizations of customer felt gratitude and indebtedness. A hermeneutical interpretive approach was …

The Psychological Wellbeing Of Women Operating Mining Machinery In A Fly-In Fly-Out Capacity, Anne Bailey-Kruger

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The present study aimed to address the gap in the current mining research by investigating women’s experiences of working in the mining industry in a “bluecollar” work role and the impact of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) mining on their wellbeing. An Interpretative Phenomenological Approach (IPA) was used as a framework to explore the experiences of 19 female machine operators through in-depth interviewing at one mineral mine site in Queensland, Australia. IPA analysis revealed three themes as identified by the participants. The first theme described how workplace barriers to job progression were salient issues for the women, particularly in respect to discrimination …

Two Essays On Behavioral Finance, Quang Viet Vu

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

The first essay is entitled: "CEO Overconfidence, Corporate Governance Practices and Firm Innovation". In this study, I examine if overconfident CEOs overinvest or underinvest in innovative projects. I also investigate if overconfident CEOs pursue innovative projects to benefit personal interests or the interest of shareholders. By focusing on the effect of corporate governance in monitoring the behavior of overconfident CEOs, my results show that there is a negative relation between CEO overconfidence and firm innovation among firms with poor governance. In these cases, the finding is consistent with the implication that overconfident CEO are entrenched and invest inadequately …

Case Study: Evaluating Performance Outcomes Of A Technology Change Management Initiative In A Health Care Organization, Dion Nathanial Johnson

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to examine a case study by evaluating performance outcomes of a technology change management initiative in a health care organization. This study was developed with an array of issues surrounding change management programs with technology platforms, the management of complex change and the amount of criticism that became the impetus behind the implementation of the Electronic Health Records Management Systems (EHRMS) across the healthcare industry and its long-term transformative effects. Despite recognition that user response largely determined the success of a technology implementation or change management program and the fact significant resources are spent …