Business Commons^™

Marketing Model Of Freight Forwarding Basing On Information Technology, Yang Li

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Study On Ship Investment Risk : Uo Company As An Example, Yichen Chen

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Strategy Of Yingkou Port Development Under The Competition And Cooperation Among Three Major Ports In Liaoning Province, Yangzi Dong

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Research On Competitiveness Of The Shipping Sectors In Pudong Shipping Cluster Of Shanghai International Shipping Center, Yuan Feng

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Strategy Research On Competition And Co-Operation Of Shanghai Port And Ningbo Port, Zhouqi Yu

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Complex Adaptive Systems Theory Applied To Virtual Scientific Collaborations: The Case Of Dataone, Arsev Umur Aydinoglu

Doctoral Dissertations

This study is the exploration of the emergence of DataONE, a multidisciplinary, multinational, and multi-institutional virtual scientific collaboration to develop a cyberinfrastructure for earth sciences data, from the complex adaptive systems perspective. Data is generated through conducting 15 semi-structured interviews, observing three 3-day meetings, and 51 online surveys. The main contribution of this study is the development of a complexity framework and its application to a project such as DataONE. The findings reveal that DataONE behaves like a complex adaptive system: various individuals and institutions interacting, adapting, and coevolving to achieve their own and common goals; during the process new …

An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Conscientiousness, Self-Awareness, And Occupational Stress Outcomes In Culinary Chefs, Tanja M. Hinterstoisser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether, and to what extent, Conscientiousness, as part of the personality construct, and Self-Awareness, as part of the emotional intelligence construct, influence the occupational stress outcomes of absenteeism and burnout in culinary chefs. The research method and design selected for this study was a quantitative correlation and regression. The researcher selected the Self-Awareness factors from the ECI - 2.0, and the Conscientiousness factors from the NEO-FFI to measure the individual and interactive effect on absenteeism and burnout. The experience of burnout itself was measured the Maslach Burnout Inventory - GS, and absenteeism …

Evaluation Of Capital Investment And Cash Flows For Alternative Switchgrass Feedstock Supply Chain Configurations, Jie Chen

Masters Theses

Biofuels have been widely recognized as a potential renewable energy source, and the United States’ government has been interested in producing ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass such as switchgrass. To evaluate whether lignocellulosic biomass based biofuels production is economically feasible, this paper estimated the capital investment outlays, operation costs, and net present value for investment in alternative switchgrass feedstock supply chain configurations in East Tennessee a 25 million gallon per year ethanol biorefinery. Two scenarios are analyzed in the study. The conventional hay harvest scenario includes the production, harvest, storage and transportation of biomass feedstocks from the fields to the biorefinery. …

Three Essays On Opacity, Corporate Governance, And Credit Ratings, Yiwen Gu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the first essay, utilizing a more recent and expanded 20-year sample 1991-2010 of dual-rated bonds issued, I confirm Morgan's (2002) finding that banks are relatively more opaque than nonbanks. The likelihood of a rating split is higher, and the magnitude of the rating gap is larger, for banks than nonnbanks. Moreover, rating agency disagreements are more significant for banks with relatively higher loan and trading securities holdings and maintain lower capital, and for banks engaged in mortgage securitization. Importantly, I find that rating agency disagreements reflect market proxies of information uncertainty. Further, opacity makes external financing more costly. Equity …

Exploring The Effectiveness Of Environmentally Sustainable Practices In Municipal Government: A Case Study Of The City Of Knoxville’S Department Of Parks And Recreation, Anthony Michael Brown

Masters Theses

Sustainability practices produce programs and services that meet current needs while preserving the environment and natural resources for the future. City parks and recreation departments are facing budget shortfalls and increasing expectations from customers. Governments are now embracing sustainability practices to create financial savings while also fostering relations with customers.

The purpose of this single case study was twofold: (1) to examine the effectiveness of one city department’s strategies in outsourcing its environmental sustainability program through a performance contract with Ameresco; and (2) to examine the perceptions of key department employees about the effectiveness of the sustainability initiative. A …

Effective Change Communication In The Workplace, Amy Lynn Harp

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate effective change communication in the workplace by utilizing goal setting theory. Due to potential validity issues with previous organizational communication audit research, a multi-methods study was devised to investigate and construct a new measure for effective change communication in the workplace. Preliminary interviews along with previous research were utilized to construct a survey questionnaire gauging effective change communication in the workplace. Over 1,000 employees at a large, health-services companies participated in the study. The results from the study yield a framework for evaluating effective change communication on individual (i.e. behavior, trait, and …

"Motorbike Guide For Westerners": Entrepreneurial Development And The Creation Of A Cultural Tourism Product In Transitional Vietnam, Karl Russell Kirby

Masters Theses

Vietnam is undergoing economic transition from a command economy to an economy with greater market characteristics. Transition is fundamentally reshaping the country through economic liberalization and increased exposure to foreign markets. The Vietnamese are developing institutions necessary for market growth and international tourists are arriving in ever-larger numbers. This research project is a case study of businesses that provide guided motorbike tours and evaluates the businesses based on two criteria: as a study of institutional growth during economic transition and as an examination of tourism production through guide interpretation. The author interviewed and observed sixteen guides in Vietnam—from Dalat in …

Two Essays On Managerial Incentives, Hui Liang

Doctoral Dissertations

Jensen and Meckling (1976) and Jensen (1986) argue that the separation of ownership and control may generate agency problems between managers and shareholders. The equity-based compensation, by tying managerial wealth to firm long-run stock performance, can incentivize managers to be more receptive to undertaking value-increasing financial policies and to improving firm performance therefore can be used as an effective tool to achieve consonance between managers actions and shareholders interest. Over the last two decades, the increased prevalence of equity-based compensation in the form of stock and options, is partially due to an increased acceptance of the alignment effect of equity-based …

E-Mail Management Of Japanese Hotels In Comparison With South Korean Hotels, Kyoko Morikoshi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There has been little study done concerning the service quality of Japanese hotels toward foreign guests; especially e-mail management in English has not been analyzed in Japan before. Since e-mail inquiries in English from foreign guests could be the first step for Japanese hotels to provide good service to prospective guests, managing English e-mails efficiently is a key to attracting more foreign guests. Therefore this study examined the actual condition of e-mail management at Japanese hotels by sending an English inquiry to them. Korean hotels were also included because South Korea and Japan have similar linguistic and economic backgrounds. A …

Two Essays On The Effect Of Macroeconomic News On The Stock Market, Ajay Kongera

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation uses macroeconomic variables. In the first essay I use macroeconomic variables to determine if these variables affect the market's returns and volatilities, and in the second essay I examine whether the 11-month returns can be explained by these variables.

Using macroeconomic variables and forecasts of these variables on a quarterly basis from the Survey of Professional Forecasters, I first develop macroeconomic surprise variables. The macroeconomic surprise variables are then modified by dispersion of forecasts to adjust for surprises from uncertainty. Dispersion adjusted forecast surprises have not been used extensively in the literature. I also use a monetary shock …

Cultural Acceptance And Its Effect On Tourism, I-Hsuan Shih

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This professional paper examines the relationship between cultural acceptance in conjunction with social perception and cultural tourism promotion strategies. It provides a matrix to evaluate the likely success of promoting a specific cultural aspect of a destination and suggestions for ways of dealing with a lack of cultural acceptance or negative perceptions. It underscores the need for tourism strategic planners to take into account the cultural acceptance of a proposed project by the host community before proceeding.

The Behavior And Choices Of Serial Bidders In M&A Transactions: A Prospect Theory Approach, Ahmed Essam El-Din El-Bakry

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This paper investigates the impact of previous losses incurred by U.S serial bidders on their M&A strategic choices and premiums paid to acquire targets. The Hubris and Overconfidence theories suggest that managers tend to overpay as a result of exaggerating their ability to extract value and manage post-acquisition integration process between the acquiring firm and its target. Managerial overconfidence, which is signaled by conducting several acquisitions within a short time period or by other manager-specific investment attributes, has been shown to contribute to increasing premiums in M&A transactions and subsequent poor post-acquisition performance.

Experimental findings in the area of psychology …

A Cultural Perspective On Motivation Factors Affecting Exhibition Participation, Young Ki Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With increasing global competitions, more opportunities transcending national boundaries may exist for the exhibition organizers and participants. This study offered an integrated approach to understanding how various motivation factors affect the participation in exhibition. The literature review included an introduction of push/pull motivation theories as one of the most representative motivation theories. The factor analysis of survey results supported the categorization of push/pull factors in exhibition industry. The paper concluded that the factor analysis procedures yielded the motivation factor dimensions with similar natures and four underlined motivation dimensions of exhibition participation were labeled. Furthermore, the cultural difference between Western and …

Bartenders Know Best: An In-Depth Analysis Of The Impact Of Tourism On Local Barbadian Culture, Pearl E. Jurist-Schoen

Honors Theses

The purpose of my thesis is, through my own field research, to analyze the impact of tourism on local Barbadian culture. Caribbean tourism draws strong criticisms from anthropologists due to the region’s geographical location and environmental landscape, its history of colonialism, and the economic vulnerabilities that result from the wealth discrepancy between the local people and the tourists that vacation there. On the very small and densely populated island of Barbados, nearly every person is impacted by tourism. The focus of my ethnography is the cultural exchanges between guests and hosts, most specifically bartenders. A bar harbors many important elements …

Following The Herd: An Economic Analysis Of The Effects Of Herd Mentality On The U.S. Housing Bubble, Michael P. Spicer

Honors Theses

One focus of economics in the recent years has been the integration of human behavior, including that of herd behavior, into economic thought. Herd behavior can be defined as the way that individuals, who have private information, end up acting together as a group inadvertently, without planned action. It is thought to be caused by incomplete information and subsequently information cascades. Does this behavior exist, and if it does, did it have any effect on the recent housing market? The last twelve years provide a good opportunity to test whether or not herd behavior exists in the housing market, and …

The Dimensions Of Source Credibility And Salesperson Persuasion, Eric Jaso

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

The Family And Medical Leave Act: Effects On Women's Wages And Employment, Andrea E. Miller

Honors Theses

For many years, women's labor force participation and issues of parental leave have been of great importance not only to families and individuals, but also to policy makers, researchers, and employers alike. The Family and Medical Leave Act was the first federal policy enacted in an effort to accommodate medical leave for employees. The Family and Medical Leave Act allowed both men and women to take extended, unpaid leaves due to personal or family medical and health issues. The FMLA establishes a federal, minimum leave threshold in order for employees to take such an extended leave to include the following …

Knots Of Knowledge: How Community-Based Organizations Advance Social Change, Jennifer Cohen

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Building on existing literature and research that identify nonprofits as agents of democracy, this research explores how community-based organizations (CBOs) advance social change. Strategically placed to improve social and economic security for individuals, families, and communities, CBOs have unique characteristics, successes, and challenges. The study seeks to understand, document, and apply these in building theories for use by practitioners, academics, public officials, and people living the experiences that public policies address. The research articulates a new model of social change, wherein individual transformation, organizational growth, community strengthening, and public policy work together in dynamic and complementary spheres.

The methodology is …

Recommendations For Economic Development In Guadalupe, Ca, Larissa Requa Heeren

Master's Theses

It is recommended that the City of Guadalupe prepare and implement a small-scale business expansion and retention program using existing service providers in the area. This type of program model seems to hold the most potential for Guadalupe. A mixed-methods approach including in-depth cases studies of existing economic development programs and an analysis of opportunities and constraints in Guadalupe informs a set recommendations for future economic development in the City. Data was collected in three phases: short interviews with a variety of economic development program staff, short interviews with Guadalupe business owners and City officials and in-depth interviews with staff …

The Organizational Creativity Actualization Model: A Book Proposal, Russell Schneck

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project consists of a book proposal, including two sample chapters, that provides a vision for how organizations can effectively use creativity and creative thinking to address the rapid escalation of complexity. The working title for the book is: The Creativity Organization: Responding to the Challenges and Opportunities of Complexity. The book will explore the organizational development requirements and programs necessary to transform an organizational culture so that it will consistently and sustainably develop and support creativity. At the foundation of this discussion is the Organizational Creativity Actualization Model (OCAM). This model considers organizational creativity as a system of …

An Examination Of Unwritten Rule Development In Men’S Ice Hockey, Joshua M. Lupinek

Master's Theses

This research study sought to better understand at what point in the player development process did aspiring professional hockey players learn of, as well as consent to, ice hockey’s unwritten rules. How this process occurred was also under examination. While some research had been conducted relative to the development of unwritten rules within sport, little research to date had focused on ice hockey’s unwritten rules and none had focused on the factors associated with their development. Research in other sport areas has indicated that knowledge and consent of unwritten rules is expected in the development of a professional athlete. As …

It's A Small World After All... At The Top: The View From Davos, Katherine S. Fawcett

Senior Theses and Projects

This paper provides an intersectional portrait of the most powerful and influential group in the world: the global power elite, symbolized by the Davos man. An examination of this emerging class and its national and denationalized components includes analyses of the global economic and political system, concepts of the American power elite, hierarchal institutions of power, and the potential for elite gender parity.

The Role Of Financial Services Advertising On Investors' Decision-Making, Tae Jun Lee

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study assesses the effect of financial services advertising on investors’ decision-making by adopting a two-sided approach: a stimulus-side analysis to document the nature and prevalence of advertising strategies and advertising disclosures being used and a response-side investigation to examine the investors’ processing of and receptiveness to financial services advertising. By performing a content analysis of recently published financial services magazine advertisements, this study provides a contemporary look at whether and how financial services companies inform, persuade, and communicate with average investors. Results from this content analysis method is also used as a foundation to help design realistic test …

Essays On Gross Receipts Taxes, Zhou Yang

Doctoral Dissertations

The dissertation focuses on the incentives and economic effects of gross receipts taxes (GRTs) versus corporate income taxes (CITs). Conventional wisdom holds that GRTs are very poor tax instruments; however, several states have shown renewed interest in GRTs since 2002. An interesting question to ask is why states are reconsidering GRTs in spite of all criticisms. Are GRTs really as bad as what conventional wisdom says? There is little rigorous theoretical or empirical work on GRTs. My dissertation aims to help fill this gap by providing both theoretical and empirical analysis on the comparative advantages and disadvantages of GRTs versus …

Professional Preparation Of The Ncaa Division I Athletic Director: An Occupational Framework, Jeffrey Charles Spenard

Masters Theses

The study collected occupational data from the 99 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I membership institutions head athletic directors. The purpose of this study was to identify common professional preparation and occupational characteristics among NCAA Division I athletic directors. Through issuing an electronic survey, the current study identified common characteristics and themes among Division I athletic directors specifically within the socio-demographical background, educational background, professional experience and career progression, and career and job satisfaction. The study also provided demographic information about the participant’s institutional athletic department. The necessity of this study is not due directly to the current lack …