Business Commons^™

2+2=Cake: A Book Of Conversations About Possibilities In Business And Art, Elizabeth Ann Alspach

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

2+2=CAKE is a toolkit for people interested in creating their own economic container to support their livelihood. Calling upon the entrepreneurial experience of artists and creatives who founded or run organizations, the book and accompanying workbook and motivational posters serve as an incubator, buoy, and affirming resource for those looking to build the economic container in which they make their livelihood.

Understanding The Importance Of Ambition In The Workplace, Jeff Bean

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Though a common term, ambition is a multifaceted concept that is vastly under researched despite it being labeled necessary for success in the workplace. Of even greater irony is that several sources indicate a significant majority of the reason that employees leave organizations is due to a perceived lack of career development or opportunity, a problem that speaks directly to talent management practices. In light the costly nature of this problem and the presence of sophisticated talent management professionals in large and medium-sized organizations which comprise half or more of the workforce, it causes one to question the assumptions that …

Unintended Consequences Of Public Policy And Government Regulation On Supply Chain Structure, Conduct, And Performance, Jonathan Phares

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Supply chains, and the firms within them, change their behaviors in response to industry conditions so they can provide efficiency, effectiveness, strategic enablement, and customer utility. Social and economic policies enacted to promote social welfare by correcting market failures can alter these conditions. While these policies may serve their intended purposes, they may also create unintended consequences that may make managing logistics, operations, and supply chains more challenging. This dissertation contributes to the nascent body of knowledge concerning the intended and unintended consequences of policy on supply chain management by examining three unique contextual settings using different methodologies and levels …

The Value Of Assurance Over Internal Controls: Evidence From Mergers And Acquisitions, Ryan Courtlin Cating

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examine the value of assurance over internal controls in the mergers and acquisitions setting. Specifically, I examine the how the existence of an internal control audit mandated under Section 404(b) of SOX affects information asymmetry as proxied for by the likelihood of a company becoming the target of an acquisition. I find that companies with internal control audits are significantly more likely to receive bids than their counterparts that do not have an internal control audit. Upon further investigation, I find that the mechanism by which companies are more likely to become the target of an …

Audit Firms’ Response To Audit Failures: Evidence From Partner Resource Reallocation, Elizabeth Cowle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I investigate whether audit firms reallocate partner resources following restatement announcements and, consequently, whether a supply-side response is beneficial in mitigating the previously documented implications of realized audit failures. I find a positive association between prior period restatement announcements and the year-over-year percentage change in the number of engagement partners allocated to a local audit office. Further analysis suggests that a supply-side response is beneficial in mitigating the persistence of low-quality audits and lost market share. However, I also find some evidence suggesting that the reallocation of partner resources can be detrimental to audit quality at offices from which partners …

Leveraging The Supply Chain: An Assessment Of Supply Chain Partners' Influence On Organizational Performance, Jordan M. Barker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The supply chain is recognized as an integral part of the value creation process and a critical driver of performance. Indeed, a supply chain relationship grants buyers and suppliers the opportunity to share in the value generated by their partners, access partner capabilities and resources to enact their own strategic initiatives, and jointly generate value above what each firm could produce in isolation. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate how firms can leverage the supply chain to attain superior organizational performance. Specifically, three essays, each focused on a distinct organizational process, explore how supply chain partners influence a …

Essays On Managerial Attributes And Corporate Finance, Juntai Lu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In my dissertation, I explore how managerial attributes affect corporate policies.

In my first essay, I examine the effects of public firm CEOs’ prior private equity (PE) target experiences on corporate policies. Based on difference-in-differences and propensity score matching analyses, public firm CEOs previously serving as CEOs in PE targets reduce investment by about 15 percent while enhancing patent values by over 7 percent after taking office compared to CEOs without such experiences. The effects are stronger if these CEOs (1) worked in targets invested by more reputable PE firms, (2) worked in targets invested by PE firms known for …

Immersive Systems And User Engagement Through Neurois Lens, Ali Balapour

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Immersive systems (e.g., Virtual Reality) are at the forefront of the next generation of innovative technologies. Recent technological advancements have made them viable for businesses and individuals to adopt. For example, some realtors now offer virtual house tours in the absence of walk-ins. The concept of “immersion” is at the heart of these technologies. However, despite the fact that this concept has been studied for almost three decades, our understanding remains weak and inconsistent. Specifically, there remains a lack of consensus on what it is, its antecedents, and how it should be measured.

This dissertation includes two essays. In Essay …

Integrating Systems, Processes, And Human Judgment: Three Essays On Value Creation With Supply Chain Analytics, Rebekah Inez Brau

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Big-data, analytics, automation, and machine learning are changing the role of managers in supply chain and operations functions. Extant research indicates that effective value creation by analytics is achieved through careful attention to three components: technology, people, and processes. As such, the purpose of my dissertation is to improve the integration of people in current supply chain and operations management systems with ever-changing technologies and processes. I focus on one critical function—demand planning—since it is increasingly influenced by predictive analytics yet can still require human judgment. My dissertation is comprised of three essays as follow.

In Essay 1, I implement …

Three Essays On The Performance Evaluation Of Actively Managed Investment Funds, Qing Yan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the performance of hedge funds and actively managed U.S. equity mutual funds.

The first chapter examines the relation between hedge funds and the low beta anomaly. Different conditions in the mutual fund and hedge fund industries should lead to different approaches with respect to the low beta anomaly. I find that, unlike most mutual funds, the average hedge fund tends to benefit considerably from the anomaly. About 2.3% per year of apparent alpha for the average hedge fund can be attributed to the low beta anomaly rather than manager skill. Low skill managers are the most reliant …