Business Commons^™

Retirement Reboot: A Website Redesign, Christina Gillen

Honors Projects

A website could be created with the latest technology, but after a few years it will still need to be updated. This is what happened to Swanton Health Care and Retirement Center’s website. This project is designed to remedy the problem by creating an entirely new website with updated content, images, and interactive features to bring Swanton Health Care’s online presence back to life.

A Qualitative Exploration Of The Workplace Culture Of Women In Information Technology Careers, Andrea Hemphill-Merrills

Dissertations

The information technology (IT) industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States. According to the U.S, Department of Labor and Statistics (2015), employment opportunities are it is projected to grow by 12 percent from 2014 to 2024. While the number of employed women have increased, this has not been the case in the IT industry where the number of women has been in consistent decline since 1991. In order for the U.S. to be able to fill the demand for IT professionals, it must have access to a talent pool that includes women. There are many …

Blended Learning: Institutional Frameworks For Adoption And Implementation, Anida Duarte

Theses & Dissertations

Blended Learning in education is the future for higher education. The rapid changes in technology combined with a demand for a more agile environment is transforming the traditional classroom and challenging learning models. Higher education has been adapting by moving classroom time into purely online environments. However, the literature suggests the new wave of learning is extracting the best practices from traditional and online models and infusing them into a blended environment. The agility and use of technology allows the non-traditional student to balance a professional career and life demands while still gaining the benefits of face-to-face time in the …

Big Data And Organizational Impacts: A Study Of Big Data Ventures, Taha Havakhor

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

New information technology (IT) ventures are at the forefront of developing IT innovations. In spite of their importance in the advancement of IT and the unique risks of survival that distinguishes them from established firms, the organizational literature on IT has mostly overlooked new IT ventures. Specifically, Big Data industry is a context where new IT ventures actively change the landscape of IT innovations. However, less is known about the factors influencing the economic success of Big Data ventures (BDVs), as well as the established firms that invest in them. To shed light on these factors, three essays are designed …

The Eco-Smart Can, Darack B. Nanto

Undergraduate Honors Theses

I noticed that maintenance workers had the same itinerary when emptying trashcans, meanwhile some trashcans needed to be emptied urgently. Traditionally, ETSU maintenance operate on daily routes to pick trash on designated time, regardless the level of the containers. The time, resources and labor invested in collecting the trash could be saved. Therefore, I decided to use the Internet of Things (IoT) to create a device that will optimize trash collection, to reduce costs and pollution.

Design, Implementation, And Evaluation Of A User Training Program For Integrating Health Information Technology Into Clinical Processes, Ze He

Doctoral Dissertations

Health information technology (IT) implementation can be costly, and remains a challenging problem with mixed outcomes on patient safety and quality of care. Systems engineering and IT management experts have advocated the use of sociotechnical models to understand the impact of health IT on user and organizational factors. Sociotechnical models suggest the need for user-centered implementation approaches, such as user training and support, and focus on processes to mitigate the negative impact and facilitate optimal IT use during training. The training design and development should also follow systematic processes guided by instructional development models. It should take into account of …

A Study Of Information Security Awareness Program Effectiveness In Predicting End-User Security Behavior, James Michael Banfield

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

As accessibility to data increases, so does the need to increase security. For organizations of all sizes, information security (IS) has become paramount due to the increased use of the Internet. Corporate data are transmitted ubiquitously over wireless networks and have increased exponentially with cloud computing and growing end-user demand. Both technological and human strategies must be employed in the development of an information security awareness (ISA) program. By creating a positive culture that promotes desired security behavior through appropriate technology, security policies, and an understanding of human motivations, ISA programs have been the norm for organizational end-user risk mitigation …

An Analysis Of Faculty And Staff's Identification Of Malware Threats, Malora Quesinberry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This document presents findings related to faculty and staff member’s ability to identify malware threats. This study involved discovering the most common incidents of malware threats to higher education systems. From this research, eight categories of malware were identified to be the most common threats to higher education systems. This document also describes the impact of malware intrusions on higher education systems to emphasis the importance of recognizing malware threats. Faculty and staff members at a midsize southeastern university were presented with realistic scenarios to determine the ability to identify malware threats. The results indicate malware categories such as virus, …

Can Applying A Gender Lens To Social Innovation Promote Women's Rights And Gender Equality?, Sarah Saska-Crozier

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Social innovation is not new, but it is increasingly being called on to provide solutions to some of the world’s most pressing social and economic problems. Despite awareness about its importance, research in the field of social innovation is often vague, and there are competing definitions and understandings of the concept. There is also very little research that attempts to connect the field of social innovation with the fields of gender studies, women’s studies, feminist research, or men and masculinity studies. This dissertation applies a gender lens to the concept of social innovation. In doing so, it aims to develop …

Is Success Model For Evaluating Cloud Computing For Small Business Benefit: A Quantitative Study, Charles Kenneth Flack

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

Information system (IS) success has been extensively researched to frame key attributes of an information system or technology to understand its benefit to business. One definition of IS success is the adoption and extensive use of an information system (Robey & Zeller, 1978). In the present era of cloud computing, as in former IS eras, successful implementation is critical for achieving business success in all enterprise types. IS success is also described as a lagging multifaceted measure of technology effectiveness for a business. Early adopters of a new technology are a rich resource to determine benefits for later adopters, and …

An Internet Of Things (Iot) Robotic Light Switch, Arsal Habib

Honors Theses

The purpose of this project was to design and build an Internet of Things (IoT) Robotic Light Switch. This light switch would act as a complementary device to existing toggle switches and equip them with typical smart device features such as remote control (via Wi-Fi), digital voice assistant control, motion-sensing and integration with other smart home solutions (such as IFTTT). All these features would be supported by a dedicated web page that would also be able to view the usage statistics of the device. This device is aimed at offering users an extremely easy-to-install home automation solution that needs no …

Detection And Depletion Of Digital Cameras: An Exploration Into Protecting Personal Privacy In The Modern World, Jessica Sanford

Honors Theses

As all forms of technology become more integrated into our daily lives, personal privacy has become a major concern. Everyday devices, such as mobile phones, have surveillance capabilities simply by having a digital camera as part of the device. And while privacy and secrecy seem to go hand in hand, it is not always the case that one does not care about privacy because they have nothing to hide. For example, everything from unflattering photographs to being unknowingly and perhaps criminally surveilled, are ample reasons to desire some means of combatting the not so candid presence of digital cameras in …

Examination Of Personality And Game Preference, John Pollock

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Event-Based Biotechnology Stock Price Movement: Valuing Success And Failure In Biotechnology Product Development, Faris Sumadi

Honors College Theses

Biotechnology investment, in the second quarter of 2015, hauled in a record $2.3 billion worth of venture capital. The 126 deals struck marked the biggest quarterly investment (up 32% from the prior quarter) since reporting started in 1995. With $3.8 billion invested in these pre-IPO ventures by mid-2015, the biotech industry soared past the $6 billion of venture capital cash invested in 2014. These numbers illustrate how early-stage research, with unproven science, has been revived after a decade of VCs shying away. Out of the $2.3 billion raised in Q2, $1.5 billion went to early-stage companies while $733 million went …

Changing The Industry, Spotify, Seth A. Carver

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

High Frequency Trading: Perceptions Regarding Volatility And Regulation, Daniel A. Beck

Honors Theses

Although high frequency trading (HFT) makes up a large portion of day to day trading activity in US and global markets, Khashanah and colleagues (2014) found that nearly half of academic and business industry professionals feel that HFT provides an unfair advantage relative to other market participants, and that a majority of industry professionals share concerns that HFT increases volatility in markets. This creates an environment wherein there are increasing calls by various groups for increased regulation of HFT, and the same study by Khashanah et al (2014) finds that 59% of academics and 46% of industry professionals are of …

The Impact Of Uber Technologies On The New York City Transportation Industry, Jonathan K. Alley

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

Uber Technologies (Uber) is a mobile ride request company founded in 2009 by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp. Initially named “UberCab”, the company began offering black car services in San Francisco via an iPhone app. Beginning in May 2011, Uber expanded to a new city each month, moving into New York City, Chicago, and Washington D.C that year. The company also expanded internationally in December 2011, moving into Paris. After only its first six months of operation, Uber had already gained nearly 6,000 users and done close to 20,000 rides. The company expanded to its first international city, Paris, in …

Are Music Streaming Services Healthy For The Recorded Music Industry?, Elizabeth W. Pittman

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

To listen to music just a few hundred years ago would require hundreds of miles of travel, tons of wood and metal and ivory and copper strings, construction of a stage and audience platforms, human capital to perform the music of course, and lots of money. All of these variables would combine to produce an auditory experience of approximately 45 minutes total. Today, a single musician can produce the sound of dozens with just a laptop, and it can be consumed relatively cheaply with the click of a button. Digital services such as iTunes or Spotify give listeners access to …

An Analysis Of The Factors Associated With Adoption Of Electronic Supply Chain Management (E-Scm) Procurement Systems Within The U.S. Automotive Industry, Joseph James Joyce

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The U.S. automotive industry is a vitally important industry to our nation; over 7,000,000 individuals directly rely on this industry for their livelihood (Hill, K. (2014). Just How High‐Tech is the Automotive Industry? Ann Arbor, MI: Center for Automotive Research (CAR)). This study investigated the use of electronic supply chain management (e-SCM) system usage within this industry and its influence on work-related procurement outcomes. An electronic questionnaire was used to gather perceptions consistent with the constructs of the technology acceptance model, or “TAM” (Davis, F. D. (1985). A technology acceptance model for empirically testing new end-user information systems: theory and …

Connecting The Dots: How Iot Is Going To Revolutionize The Digital Marketing Landscape For Millennials, Chloe E. Spilotro

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The growing phenomenon of the Internet of Things (IoT), which is that any item capable of being connected to the Internet will be, presents an unprecedented opportunity for businesses. Using an extensive literature review, the current research examines the significant shift in marketing strategies that need to take place to target the millennial generation of as they adopt IoT. Most research defines the Millennial generation as those born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. As individuals in this generation grow older, there are two behavioral implications: 1) their acceptance of technology suggests they will be quick to adopt …

Global Reach, Local Markets: The Challenges Of Leading Global Innovation, Sarah Higgins

Honors Theses

This Global Studies honors thesis addresses how managers and leaders of global firms manage innovation across multiple markets. Current research on multinational corporations provides an understanding of different kinds of innovation and the ways to attend to multiple markets. However, there is less documentation of how these innovation strategies are actually implemented on the ground and the tensions that these efforts might produce. Therefore, my research focuses in particular on the challenges and tensions faced by leaders of global firms as they implement transnational innovation strategies. This study is based upon in-depth interviews with 20 participants who held positions in …

A Study Of The Success Of Group Formation In Virtual Teams Using Computer-Mediated Communications, Eliel Melón-Ramos

CCE Theses and Dissertations

In the digital domain, virtual teams within organizations and corporations are becoming common. Restructuring an organization or corporation is vital because competition and globalization are increasing. In this era of globalization, distributed working groups need to develop a competitive advantage in these ever-changing environments. Historically, teams had experienced problems stemming from geographical and temporal limitations. With the increase of technology in telecommunications, organizations are increasingly forming virtual teams, which have become critical to the survival of nearly any corporate entity.

Virtual teams have some of the same problems that regular teams have. One of the key challenges is the method …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Security Information Technology Enhancements And Computer Security Breaches And Incidents, Linda Betz

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Financial services institutions maintain large amounts of data that include both intellectual property and personally identifiable information for employees and customers. Due to the potential damage to individuals, government regulators hold institutions accountable for ensuring that personal data are protected and require reporting of data security breaches. No company wants a data breach, but finding a security incident or breach early in the attack cycle may decrease the damage or data loss a company experiences. In multiple high profile data breaches reported in major news stories over the past few years, there is a pattern of the adversary being inside …

An Investigation Of Socio-Technical Components Of Knowledge Management System (Kms) Usage, Noel Wint Jr.

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Existing literature indicates that although both academics and practitioners recognize knowledge management (KM) as a source of competitive advantage, users are not always willing to use a knowledge management system (KMS). Because of the social nature of knowledge transfer, a KMS can be considered a socio-technical system. Many explanations have been presented for this failure to utilize the KMS. These explanations include a number of the socio-technical factors relating to people, processes, and technologies. While these factors may have significant explanatory power when examined independently, existing studies have not sufficiently addressed the interactions among all three socio-technical factors or their …

Women's Professional Sports: A Case Study On Practices That Could Increase Their Profitability, Danielle H. Mcardle

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Women’s professional sports leagues have often been considered a risky business endeavor. Critics cite low attendance, lack of sponsorships, lack of media rights deals, and numerous other reasons for why women’s professional sports leagues are not profitable. In analyzing the current landscape of women’s professional sport leagues, this paper uses a case study approach to develop a strategy that will highlight lessons learned from past women’s professional sports leagues, current professional sports leagues, sponsorship agreements, fans, social, digital, and mobile marketing strategies, and management practices to show how the business of women’s sports could be made into a more profitable …

Battle Of The Beds: The Economic Impact Of Airbnb On The Hotel Industry In Chicago And San Francisco, Katherine Goree

Scripps Senior Theses

The sharing economy is the private redistribution of goods via peer-to-peer sharing. Since internet use has saturated the U.S., the sharing economy has become widely internet-based. Airbnb, a website and app that facilitates the short-term rental of space to stay in another person’s home, has become a major component of the sharing economy.

This study includes an empirical analysis of the hotel occupancy rates in two major markets, San Francisco and Chicago, and how they have or have not changed, from the 2008 launch of Airbnb through the end of 2014. The study hypothesizes that Airbnb has had a statistically …

Using Eye-Tracking To Understand User Behavior In Deception Detection System Interaction, Prashanth Kumar Lakkapragada

Masters Theses

"This research presents the analysis of data collected using eye-tracking devices on user interaction with a deception detection system. The differences between two groups of subjects, namely Innocent and Guilty, were compared, where Innocent subjects did not carry any explosive and hence, had nothing to hide in declaring objects that they were carrying whereas Guilty subjects had to lie to deceive the system. The results indicate that there is no significant difference in pupil dilation between the Innocent and Guilty subjects. However, the amount of fixations on the empty spaces of slides containing an explosive image can be used to …

Responses To Change In The Global Political Economy Of Innovation – The Role Of Sub-National States In Industrial Transition, Dan Herman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation seeks to explore how sub-national levels of the state promote the development of new industrial sectors. To do so this dissertation builds on a series of theoretical perspectives on the role of the state in the economy and develops a unique view of how sub-national states coalesce and contrast within these perspectives. It does so through a series of empirical case studies focused on sub-national jurisdictions in North America that highlight diverse varieties of state actions that contribute, if not lead, industrial transitions and the development of new innovation-oriented industrial sectors. In so doing, the dissertation presents a …

Student Intent To Persist Relative To Perceptions Of Service Quality And Satisfaction With Selected Onboarding Services In Community Colleges, Matthew Robert Fall

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Background: Low persistence rates have continued to plague community colleges. A framework linking perceived service quality, satisfaction, and behavioral intent has been identified in the existing literature and found to be useful in various service sectors outside of higher education. Purpose: To explore the relationship between community college students’ perceptions of service quality, satisfaction, and behavioral intent (intent to persist) regarding first interactions with their colleges. Setting: Three community colleges representing large, medium, and small enrollment headcount from a Midwestern state were selected to represent that state’s community college student population. Subjects: A proportional number of students were selected randomly …

The Effect Of Electronic Devices Self-Efficacy, Electronic Devices Usage And Information Security Awareness On Identity-Theft Anxiety Level, Sushma Sanga

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Identity-theft means stealing someone’s personal information and using it without his or her permission. Each year, millions of Americans are becoming the victims of identitytheft, and this is one of the seriously growing and widespread issues in the U.S. This study examines the effect of electronic devices self-efficacy, electronic devices usage, and information security awareness on anxiety levels of southeastern Michigan students in becoming victims of identity-theft and whether there is any significant relationship between these variables. This research study used the effect of electronic devices self-efficacy, electronic devices usage and information security awareness on identity-theft anxiety level among southeastern …