Business Commons^™

Business Model Innovation In Marine Engine Maintanance, Dofilia Sinangui Kaloia

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Study Of Stochastic Market Clearing Problems In Power Systems With High Renewable Integration, Saumya Sakitha Sashrika Ariyarathne

Operations Research and Engineering Management Theses and Dissertations

Integrating large-scale renewable energy resources into the power grid poses several operational and economic problems due to their inherently stochastic nature. The lack of predictability of renewable outputs deteriorates the power grid’s reliability. The power system operators have recognized this need to account for uncertainty in making operational decisions and forming electricity pricing. In this regard, this dissertation studies three aspects that aid large-scale renewable integration into power systems. 1. We develop a nonparametric change point-based statistical model to generate scenarios that accurately capture the renewable generation stochastic processes; 2. We design new pricing mechanisms derived from alternative stochastic programming …

Nudging Social Online Referrals: Evidence From A Randomized Field Experiment, Qian Zeng

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

With the rise of social commerce platforms and customer engagement in online products and services, firms are focusing their attention on effective social online referral program to encourage customers’ online referral behaviors to grow their customer base. Hence, how to influence customers to participate in online referral is a matter of the utmost importance to firms. However, little empirical research has examined the impact of online referral program on customers’ online referral on social commerce platform. To close this research gap, this dissertation investigates the effectiveness of digital nudging for consumers’ social online referral on social commerce platforms.

Working with …

Cost-Benefit Analysis Of The Saudi Land Bridge Project, Faris J. Alotaibi

Theses and Dissertations

Projects are the backbone of economic thrive of nations, especially infrastructure projects. It’s counted as the base layer of allowing economic trade between beneficiaries. Railway projects have always been a huge element in increasing trade operations between Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world, by providing an efficient and environmentally friendly way that is capable of hauling large loads of exports all the way to the seaports and from there to the rest of the world. The Saudi land bridge project will cost about $11 billion and will provide a new link between the existent railway in the eastern …

Evaluating Performance Competencies In The Royal Saudi Air Force Engineering Directorate And Squadrons, Faisal A. Al Dawood

Theses and Dissertations

The effectiveness of tasks performed by the directorate of aeronautical engineering and squadrons in RSAF directly impacts flight safety, which in turn influences the organization either positively or negatively. Therefore, improving engineers' competencies will improve the overall performance of the organization. The study refined and reconstructed a model, namely a T-shape competency model, to assess the engineers' competencies which revealed some management and competency-related deficiencies and concluded with managerial recommendations.

Retention Prediction And Policy Optimization For United States Air Force Personnel Management, Joseph C. Hoecherl

Theses and Dissertations

Effective personnel management policies in the United States Air Force (USAF) require methods to predict the number of personnel who will remain in the USAF as well as to replenish personnel with different skillsets over time as they depart. To improve retention predictions, we develop and test traditional random forest models and feedforward neural networks as well as partially autoregressive forms of both, outperforming the benchmark on a test dataset by 62.8% and 34.8% for the neural network and the partially autoregressive neural network, respectively. We formulate the workforce replenishment problem as a Markov decision process for active duty enlisted …

A Case Study Of The Efficacy Of Model-Based Requests For Information, Kyle J. Arruda

Theses and Dissertations

The Department of Defense (DoD) has encouraged the transition to digital engineering, yet there are limited guides for how to transition and there is limited data to show where an organization like a program office can reap the most benefit from the transition. To identify areas where potential benefits may be realized, this thesis compares two Requests for Information (RFIs), one document-based and one model-based, from generation to response. A survey was developed and administered to 7 members of a single program office to grade the RFI responses. The survey was based on the 43 benefit categories identified in the …

Optimizing Incentives For Systems With Heterogeneous Agents, Chen Chen

Dissertations

This dissertation explores new models and applications based on the game theory of incentives. This exploration starts with controlling an invasive insect problem to address one of the most significant challenges facing our forests, the invasion of the Emerald ash borer (EAB), a non-native, wood-boring insect that threatens to kill most ash trees in North America, through designing two new cost-sharing programs between the landowners and local governments. Ash trees are one of North America’s most widely distributed tree genera and a vital part of the green infrastructure of cities, where they provide residents with numerous social, economic, and ecological …

Quantifying Spatial Heterogeneity Of Wild Blueberries And Crop Water Stress Monitoring Using Remote Sensing Technologies, Kallol Barai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The wild blueberry is one of the major crops of Maine, with significant economic value and potential health benefits. Due to global climate change, drought impacts have been increasing significantly in recent years in the northeast region of the USA, causing significant economic losses in the agricultural sectors. It has been predicted to increase further in the future. Changing patterns of the elevated atmospheric temperatures, increased rainfall variabilities, and more frequent drought events have made the wild blueberry industry of Maine vulnerable, suggesting the adoption of novel approaches to mitigate the negative impacts of global climate changes. Also, wild blueberry …

Full Disclosure: Model Uncertainty In Adjusting For Confounders, Dieudonne Dusenge

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the role of knowledge about underlying causal relationships in classifying controls in order to mitigate omitted- and included-variable biases. Using simulations and accounting examples, the study shows that the researcher may not distinguish good and bad controls because the underlying causal relationships are unobservable, and remedying strategies (such as the relative timing of measurement) may not remove the uncertainty in the classification. Because of the uncertainty about which controls to use, two or more models will be credible as will the distinct estimates derived from them. Next, the study shows that the current standard practice of singling …

Female Motivation In Engineering, Manufacturing, And Stem-Related Trades, Leaann Nichole Manz, Leaann Nichole Manz-Young, Leaann Nichole Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, female representation in engineering and manufacturing trades has been underrepresented compared to their male counterparts. Given this trend, the scope of this paper is to analyze the motivational factors among females who are currently working in Engineering and Manufacturing related trades in the surrounding lower East Appalachian area. Literature research will support an analysis of the following focus: Females in Engineering and Manufacturing Trades. The study focuses on analyzing questionaries from thirty-two females based on the Social Cognitive Career Theory and its three components: “outcome expectations, career interest, and career self-efficacy”. The major findings of this study …

Predictors Of Email Response: Determinants Of The Intention Of Not Following Security Recommendations, Miguel Angel Toro-Jarrin

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Organizations and government leaders are concerned about cyber incidents. For some time, researchers have studied what motivates people to act in ways that put the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information in organizations at risk. Still, several areas remained unexplored, including the role of employees’ evaluation of the organizational systems and the role of value orientation at work as precursors of secure and insecure actions in relation to information technologies (information security [IS] action). The objective of this research project was to examine how the evaluations of formal and informal security norms are associated with the intention to follow them …

Commercial Short-Haul Flight Or Autonomous Mobility-On-Demand: Modeling Air Passengers’ Modal Choice, Agatha Kessler Fentress

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Commercial short-haul flights (SF) are vital to airports and airlines because they account for one-third of hub traffic and have higher profit margins than the long-haul market. While U.S. commercial air passenger travel has increased steadily over the past decades, SF has been declining and was doing so before the unprecedented decrease in air travel caused by restrictions related to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Once autonomous mobility-on-demand (aMoD) is more viable than the human-driven car, demand for SF could be negatively impacted. Although there is published research on SF and aMoD, studies on factors influencing the choice between SF and …

Use Of Industrialized Construction Within Mechanical Contractors Association Of America, Nathan M. Yi

Construction Management

It is a constant battle in the construction industry to improve productivity and efficiency while keeping the cost and schedule as low as possible. This can be made possible through the use of industrialized construction strategies such as, prefabrication, building information modeling (BIM), and automation. In this study, the main purpose of this survey was to collect information about MCAA firms’ knowledge of industrialized construction strategies, their use of them in the past, and their willingness to use them in the future. It also aims to explore the use of industrialized construction and its viability as a path for mechanical …

The Effect Of Inflation And The Pandemic On A Southern California Solar Company: A Case Study, Adrian Avila

Construction Management

Supply chain issues are causing panic in certain sectors of the economy particularly the solar sector. Solar energy already has problems that can affect its growth in the long term such as lack of government incentives, high cost, and energy curtailment. These problems are becoming more pronounced as the pandemic is prolonged. California is a state that has been encouraging the use of solar energy and has introduced incentives for its citizens to install solar. Because of this, solar companies in California may be able to more adequately circumvent issues and better excel economically than companies in other states. In …

Shabang Music Festival Seating, Carter L. Norton

Construction Management

This outlines the process of the building and installation of four shaded seating areas at the SHABANG Music Festival located at Laguna Lake Park in San Luis Obispo. This paper places an emphasis on the pre-construction elements of the building stage. SHABANG Music Group rented out a section of Laguna Lake Park to host a music festival designed to bring the San Luis Obispo community together. The goal of the project discussed was to build a raised VIP seating area facing the main stage on which music lovers could relax while still being able to enjoy an unobstructed view of …

Caed Hasslein Student Competition, Greta R. Stout

Construction Management

This paper outlines the development of the first CAED Hasslein Student Competition at Cal Poly, SLO. The College of Architecture and Environmental Design at Cal Poly, SLO has not yet been successful in creating a platform to engage students of all five majors to collaborate in an educational atmosphere. This project aims to challenge students to work in teams made up of all five disciplines in a Request for Proposal-style competition. This paper focuses on how the idea of this competition came to be and the steps that were taken to successfully write the competition problem statement. These steps included …

A Circular Economy Approach To Improve E-Waste Recycling In California: Economic Potential And Policy Options, Kripa Shah

Master's Projects and Capstones

The higher consumption rates of electronic devices along with their short life cycles and few repair options poses a huge challenge for E-waste industries to manage them effectively. E-waste comprises of hazardous materials and toxic constituents that can affect the environment and public health through improper disposal. However, they also contain few valuable materials that, if recovered, can reduce the dependence on virgin raw materials. Circular economy has the potential to utilize these valuable materials and gain environment and socio-economic benefits. The research explains how the adoption of a circular economy approach can help improve the E-waste recycling in California …

Optimization And Information Problems In Operations, Puping Jiang

Olin Business School Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this dissertation is to study the optimization problems and the value of information in various commercial settings, especially in the emerging platform economy.

Chapter 1, “Data-Driven Asset Selling”. Motivated by online asset selling marketplace business (e.g., used cars and real estate), we formulate a data-driven asset selling dynamic pricing framework which utilizes platforms’ access to customers’ online behavioral data. With mild assumptions on the demand model, careful characterization of the problem structure shows that the model admits some ideal properties that facilitate our regret analysis under our dynamic programming setting. Instead of studying the policy performance …

Supplier Performance Scorecard Utilization In The Medical Device Manufacturing Healthcare Supply Chain, Justin Cardisco

Theses and Dissertations

The medical device manufacturing industry has a deficiency in determining how to improve supplier performance for the components and systems they purchase. Many complex medical devices require components from superb suppliers. But how does a medical device manufacturer (MDM) impartially assess supplier performance to know which suppliers to continuing with (or even boost purchase volumes) and which suppliers they should exit? This study describes which supplier-specific metrics are most important to medical device manufacturers (MDMs) so they can utilize this supplier performance scorecard backed by real-world inputs. This research will focus on five categories to measure MDM supplier performance (Quality, …

Coronavirus Disability Survey: Assessing The Impact Of Covid-19 On Young Adults With Disabilities, Hena Rashid

Student Research Submissions

This paper seeks to inform individuals of the importance of digital inclusivity, diminish the digital divide, and accessibility to technological services of college students who experience a form of disability. The United States has conducted minimal research on the digital disability rhetoric, promoted minimal disability-inclusive measures to protect the rights and well-being of college students, and minimal assistance to mitigate Coronavirus (COVID-19) impacts to this population subgroup. This subject can have a big impact on individuals who suffer from disability stigma, low accessibility issues, and who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Furthermore, this subject will benefit college students …

Effective Green Marketing Strategies On Social Media: Selling Companies And Their Consumers On Investing In Carbon Offsetting And Solar Energy In 2021, Melvin Richard Springer Iv

Honors Theses

In a digital world where consumers and businesses alike care significantly about sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR), the success of startup companies hinges on constant, clear, and thoughtful communication. Through my research into successfully marketing such concerns on social media as well as my internship at Clearloop, I discovered some of the best ways to convince both companies and consumers that preserving the planet should be a primary concern for every environmentally conscious company. Companies that ignore their impacts on the environment are synonymous with companies doomed to fail in the 21^st century. Clearloop’s model of partnering with …

Customized Sidearm Case: Leading A Cme Capstone Team From Concept To Production, Robert B. Sharp

Honors Theses

The goal behind this thesis is to document and analyze my performance as the project manager for the Customized Sidearm Case capstone team during the Center for Manufacturing Excellence’s senior capstone experience. The capstone experience begins the fall of students senior year where a select number of product ideas submitted by the students are chosen, and teams are built around these projects. The objective of the project is to walk a product from the concept phase through the entire design process resulting in a full-scale production run during the spring semester. My product pitch of a wooden sidearm case, customized …

The Impact Of Virtual Learning Modalities On The Academic Success Of Students In One Arkansas School District, Diane F. Richards

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way Arkansas public schools’ offered students an education. While moving through this pandemic, many Arkansas schools implemented optional methods of delivery for their students. Some schools tried to maintain face-to-face classes, while others offered completely online classes. Still, others offered a hybrid format where students attended some face-to-face classes and online classes. One Arkansas school district offered all three options. School districts need guidance as to which teaching methods worked well. The long-term effects of the educational impact of COVID-19 are not known at this time. Schools could benefit from a guide with useful strategies …

Teacher Preference In Professional Development, Cheri L. Keyes

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

Teacher Preference in Professional Development

Teacher professional development (PD) is seen as best ways to ensure teacher quality and guarantee positive student achievement outcomes; however, there is a lack of appropriate and effective PD. This quantitative study examined teachers’ preferences in PD content and delivery. Teachers from a K-12 public school district in Northwest Arkansas were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey, and 292 teachers responded. The measured variables were the professional development preferences of the teachers, the teachers' years of experience, the grade level at which teachers teach, gender, the content of preferred PD, and the delivery or …

Dialysis Patient Education On The Prevention Of Kidney Disease Prior To Patients Receiving Dialysis: A Retrospective Descriptive Study, Jamie D. Jones

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

Fifty-two adult patients at an outpatient dialysis center in central Arkansas were surveyed regarding the education that was provided by medical professionals related to kidney disease and dialysis during treatment of hypertension and diabetes. The twenty-question survey inquired about demographic information, medical history, and the timing and perceived comprehension of education received. The researcher discovered that the majority of patients did not receive education that identified hypertension and diabetes as contributing factors of kidney disease until after diagnosis of kidney disease. The vast majority of participants reported that education regarding the life implications of dialysis, including fluid and dietary restrictions, …

Sustainability In Construction Practices As Emphasis On Environmental Investing In Esg Model Grows, Maddie Heal

Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to emphasize the importance of growing investment on environmental initiatives in business ESG models in regard to sustainable practices in construction. The ESG acronym is known as the environmental, social, and governance efforts that businesses strive to incorporate in their models to increase the responsibility of operations.

Investors continue to seek out responsible businesses when choosing which ventures to pursue. The analysis of the current construction crisis, current investments in the right direction of Eco-friendly design regarding construction, and the threats and benefits incentivizing those investments elucidates the need to emphasize socially responsible investment …

How Blockchain Solutions Enable Better Decision Making Through Blockchain Analytics, Sammy Ter Haar

Information Systems Undergraduate Honors Theses

Since the founding of computers, data scientists have been able to engineer devices that increase individuals’ opportunities to communicate with each other. In the 1990s, the internet took over with many people not understanding its utility. Flash forward 30 years, and we cannot live without our connection to the internet. The internet of information is what we called early adopters with individuals posting blogs for others to read, this was known as Web 1.0. As we progress, platforms became social allowing individuals in different areas to communicate and engage with each other, this was known as Web 2.0. As Dr. …

Developing A Model-Based Approach To Forecast A Competitor's System, Christopher A. Del Vecchio

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to develop a model-based approach to intelligence forecasting of a competitor’s system. This analysis currently uses a document-based practice to capture all knowledge of the forecast and its development. A framework of antithesis processes, or Anti-Processes, were derived from the systems engineering technical processes. This was then combined with analytical tradecraft from the field of competitive technical intelligence to build a SysML reference model, which was then applied to a small case study to enhance and refine the model. The Anti-Process framework and SysML reference model provide a rigorous, model-based approach to intelligence forecasts …

Comparing Actively Managed Mutual Fund Categories To Index Funds Using Linear Regression Forecasting And Portfolio Optimization, Luke Weiner

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The global investment industry offers a wide variety of investment products especially for individual investors. One such product, index funds, which are younger than actively managed mutual funds, have typically outperformed managed funds. Despite this phenomenon, investors have displayed a tendency to continue investing in actively managed funds. Although only a small percentage of actively managed funds outperform index funds, the costs of actively managed funds are significantly higher. Also, managed fund performances are most often determined by their fund category such as growth or real estate. I wanted to answer the following question for individual investors: can we …