Business Commons^™

Are Utah Consumers Interested In Using Reusable Bags?, Melyna Bencosme

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

This research will explore the intent and current need for Utah consumers to limit their plastic bag usage. Currently, many cities and state officials are attempting to pass a plastic bag ban. This ban would decrease plastic bags by 71% in just one year.

Are There Unidentified Frequent Issues Among Student Loan Providers?, Dan Ludwig

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

There are millions of students, many of whom cannot afford to pay for their schooling without a loan. Student loans are an important business for financial institutions. It's common for students to run into issues at some point when dealing with their loan providers and servicers. I'm using Natural Language Processing (NLP) Topic Modeling algorithms to analyze customer complaint narratives to identify important emerging problems beyond the ones defined prior to complaint collection.

How Can Companies "Go Green" With Their Software?, Meredith Richards

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

An increasing number of companies are setting stricter and more defined guidelines on their relationship between software and energy consumption in order to take greater responsibility for their impact on the environment. However, "going Green" can be easier said than done, and most certainly does not happen overnight. So, how can companies go Green with their software? What does that process look like, how much does it cost, and how long does it take? A three-part process articulated by a group of researchers suggest deploying the following actions is the best approach to "Going Green": 1. Review and refine the …

Analyzing The Adoption Of Corporate Social Responsibility Strategies, Lia Sorensen

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a business strategy via which a company aligns social and environmental concerns with both its business operations and its interactions with stakeholders. This paper examines how CSR creates value for companies that adopt CSR actions. It focuses on the CSR actions of six companies, five public and one private: Starbucks, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Nike, Unilever (Ben & Jerry's), and Penzeys Spices. In the 2000s, many companies began to see value in CSR and to implement CSR infrastructure and actions. With CSR increasing in popularity, more robust analyses of these initiatives started to …

Silver Screens & Canines, Lauren Christensen

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

Why do we all know a "sad movie where the dog dies?" Why do film production companies continue to make this type of movie? What is so special about dogs we'll dedicate whole movies to them?In this project, I attempt to answer two questions. 1) are there any major themes shared between well-known "dog movies", and 2) how do these themes reflect our connections with dogs and ourselves? Through my research, I found three common themes that can be traced to basic human desires, including love, loyalty, and devotion. This is the reason they are desired by audiences; they capture …

Can Buying Meatless Products Decrease Climate Change?, Nicole Christiansen

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

In this study we researched the power that consumers have to decrease climate change through the consumption of meat. Using literature and studies that have already been conducted, we compared the inputs of meat production to those of other crops. We also studied the role that raising livestock has on climate change. We found that livestock raising has a more significant impact on climate change than transportation in terms of greenhouse gasses. Livestock also uses far more land and water resources than raising crops. In this study we also analyzed the types of realistic changes that consumers can make in …

Take A Chance Or Play It Safe? The Influence Of Risk Orientation On Public Opinion Toward Immigration Policy, Emilee Matheson, Lizzy Bickmore

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

Despite well-documented potential gains from immigration, US immigration policy strictly limits immigration flows. This divergence between policy and research findings may be driven by negative individual attitudes toward immigration. Certain factors such as age, education level, political ideology, religion, and exposure to immigrants have all been shown to impact an individual's preference on immigration policy. Other theories, such as the labor market hypothesis or the fiscal burden hypothesis, point to the perceived economic threats of immigration as a leading cause of anti-immigration sentiment. Our paper focuses on risk orientation, a characteristic that determines an individual's trade-offs between risk and return, …

Cynophobia In Film, Taylor Smith

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

My research covered fear of dogs and how it's represented in film. What I found was that hostile, cinematic depictions of human-dog interactions were oftentimes a result of the dog's status as a carrier of disease (rabies), something that lead to cultural stigmas against dogs as well as symbolization of the spread of other diseases like AIDS and the flu. Films simply used this as a way to pander to the hysteria of a certain country or time period plagued by a disease outbreak.

Hr Machine Learning On Social Media Data, Jake Harrison

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

Human resource departments gather data from various sources to help make effective decisions related to recruitment, selection, strategic planning, and employee management. Social media profiles (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) are one recent source that many companies are turning to in order to gather unique information about current and prospective employees. The increasing abilities of artificial intelligence and machine learning may have an impact on the ease and validity of using social media information from applicants and employees to make employment decisions. In this research, we use previously published scholarly and trade sources to explain how HR personnel could use social …

How Pop-Culture Shaped Momiji Inubashiri, Tanner Schulz

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

This presentation will talk about the effect of memes on the character Momiji Inubashiri. Momiji is a character from the video game Touhou 10: Mountain of Faith. She's the stage 4 mid boss and has minimal dialog throughout the series. The character has been mostly given life through memes. I thought that was absolutely fascinating, so I did a deep dive on the subject.

How Alternative Proteins Are Helping Consumers Reduce Their Carbon Footprint, Samantha Petersen

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

The alternative protein market is trending toward creating more animal product alternatives, not just meatless meat. Alternative protein is a growing market that creates meat alternatives for groups like vegans and vegetarians. Large meat companies are starting to invest in meatless meat research and technology. Reducing meat consumption is one of the best ways to reduce land and water usage as well as reducing carbon emissions.

Why Are We Holding Immigrants Back?, Jaslyn Stevens

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

Why are we holding immigrants back? Occupational licensing laws are most often enacted to create standards that ensure public health and safety. These standards might require additional fees, education, hours in practice, or competency tests. There are nearly two million educated immigrants that are underutilized within the United States. For some of these immigrants, they have already worked to meet licensure requirements in their native country and in many cases they have already been practicing for years. For other immigrants, they may have come to the United States, received an education, and been prevented from obtaining licensure. This research analyzes …

Flexible And Family-Friendly Policies At Utah's "Best Places To Work", Robbyn T. Scribner, Michelle Vargas, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic that reached Utah in March of 2020 has had an enormous impact on the way companies do business. Perhaps the biggest change for employees came in the widespread shift to remote work as a public health measure, but many companies adjusted work practices and policies in other ways to support their employees during a challenging time. Many changes focus on flexibility and family-friendly policies, which have traditionally been a double-edged sword for working women. Though such offerings have made it possible for some mothers to remain in the workforce, taking advantage of such programs has often placed …

Flexible And Family-Friendly Policies At Utah’S “Best Places To Work”, Robbyn Scribner, Michelle Vargas, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic that reached Utah in March of 2020 has had an enormous impact on the way companies do business. Perhaps the biggest change for employees came in the widespread shift to remote work as a public health measure, but many companies adjusted work practices and policies in other ways to support their employees during a challenging time. Many changes focus on flexibility and family-friendly policies, which have traditionally been a double-edged sword for working women. Though such offerings have made it possible for some mothers to remain in the workforce, taking advantage of such programs has often placed …

The Potential Of Ivf, Jae Anderson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

As in-vitro fertilization (IVF) has become more available and more affordable, it has become one of the top breeding technologies in the beef and dairy industry. Intermountain Embryonics of Twin Falls, Idaho has made it an available technology for producers in Idaho and parts of surrounding states. Intermountain Embryonics has struggled to show potential clients the financial potential IVF has to offer. This study shows the revenues, expenses, and risks involved in IVF. This study looks at the comparison of breeding natural service with a bull, artificial insemination, and in-vitro fertilization. The comparison shows that natural service comes with the …

Testing Investment Strategies For Superior Predictive Ability, Jack K. Baldwin

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

When different models are tested on one data sample and repeatedly altered in order to be found significant, the results are likely spurious. This is data-snooping – an ever-growing problem in the finance industry likely due to fierce competition and developments in data processing capacity. In academia, although recognized as a deplorable practice, data-snooping is likewise pervasive perhaps as a result of poor incentive structures at both the university and publisher levels. I manifest the problem of data-snooping through multiple academic and industry examples and then summarize Halbert White and Peter Hansen’s offered solutions, White’s Reality Check and Hansen’s Test …

Retaining Ownership Of Calves- Obendorf Farms, Gabrielle Bishop

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Retaining Ownership is when a producer chooses to obtain ownership of their calves until they have reached a finished weight and are ready to be sent to slaughter. Cow-calf producers generally sell their calves at weaning time or within a few months of weaning. Every operation as their own way of doing things and sometimes change is hard to come by. Obendorf Farms wanted to evaluate, at what point in time would it be best to sell their 2020 calf crop? Four different scenarios were analyzed. The first scenario involved no change from previous years which, is selling their calves …

Economic Analysis Of Backgrounding Calves, Jayden Gunnell

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The purpose of this thesis is to allow beef producers a better insight into the costs and benefits associated with carrying over fall calves to yearling weight and selling them the following spring. Producers are usually seen as risk-averse when it comes to selling their livestock. (Feuz, Fausti 1995) Cattle producers face several decisions during the year when it comes to calf input costs and the premium to be received for fall calves, with the final decision coming at the last minute, when making the decision to keep or sell calves. Said calves might be sold in the fall or …

Nato And The Ifrc: A Comparative Case Study, Abigail Kosiak

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This research analyzes the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Multinational Telemedicine System (MnTS) Project and works to answer five main questions:

1) What challenges did the NATO MnTS Project face that are directly related to the fact that the project included members from different countries and worked to create a system that operates across national borders?

2) How do these challenges compare to those faced by a non-governmental organization (NGO) like the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)?

3) What successes has the IFRC had with its current operational model?

4) In what ways could …

Women Leaders In Utah Government–Their Paths To Power, April Townsend, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

When both men and women work together in leadership roles, organizations thrive. This holds true for government—and democratic governance processes in general—and it supports the call to reflect gender diversity at all levels. Yet, typical conversations about women in government often focus on the need for women to run for elected office. While this is certainly important, little if no attention has been given to the lack of women leaders within the halls of government. In response to this, Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) researchers recently conducted pioneering research resulting in three research briefs that, for the first time, …

Women Leaders In Utah Government – Their Paths To Power, April Townsend, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

When both men and women work together in leadership roles, organizations thrive. This holds true for government— and democratic governance processes in general—and it supports the call to reflect gender diversity at all levels. Yet, typical conversations about women in government often focus on the need for women to run for elected office. While this is certainly important, little if no attention has been given to the lack of women leaders within the halls of government. In response to this, Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) researchers recently conducted pioneering research resulting in three research briefs that, for the first …

Kalsun Inc: Sourcing In Asia, Vijay R. Kannan

Management Faculty Publications

Karen Young, Purchasing Manager at Kalsun Inc., a producer and retailer of home office accessories, has to make a sourcing decision for one of the company’s best-selling items, an adjustable laptop stand. The coronavirus pandemic has led to more people working from home and thus significant demand growth, but also supply challenges. While Kalsun has a reliable Chinese supplier, potential changes in the supplier’s product strategy, increasing costs, and U.S. - Sino political tensions are motivating Karen to evaluate supply alternatives.

The Status Of Women Leaders In Government–Utah Cities And Towns, April Townsend, Susan R. Madsen, D. Candice Backus Pierucci, Brooke Smith

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Research shows that communities and organizations increasingly thrive when men and women work together in leadership roles. Gender inclusivity benefits not only businesses, churches, schools, and state legislatures, but also state and local governments. American democracy is grounded in the idea of representation. “Representative bureaucracy” is the term for government entities employing a workforce that shares the demographic characteristics of the communities they serve, and the combined experiences and perspectives of that workforce represent and benefit all residents within its purview. This includes the thousands of government professionals who run the daily functions of municipalities within the State of Utah.

Bear River Health Department: Covid-19 Contact Tracing, Mike Dixon, Zach Rusk

Huntsman School of Business Teaching Scholarship Series

This case introduces students to a highly variable process that has uncertain demand and processing times. It describes the contact tracing efforts as a response to positive Covid-19 cases in a rural health district in the state of Utah during the first 9 months of the pandemic of 2020. The case puts students in the shoes of the managing director of a health department trying to decide how to best manage a team of contact tracers who are increasingly unable to timely complete their work that is vital to stopping the spread of the disease.

Encouraging Snap Shopper Participation At Utah Farmers Markets, A Best Practices Guide, Kelsey Hall, Alicia Meiners

All Current Publications

This guide’s steps were compiled during background research for advertising acceptance of SNAP benefits using Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards and the Double Up Food Bucks (Double Up) program offered at farmers markets throughout Utah. Information in this guide will expand marketing campaigns across Utah to promote farmers markets already accepting SNAP benefits, especially to minority and low-income populations. The information, however, may be generalized to other health/food programs and to populations with low incomes in other states.

Connections Impact On Student Persistence: Impact Report Spring 2015 To Fall 2018, Amanda M. Hagman, Heidi Kesler, Matt Sanders, Mitchell Colver

Publications

Connections is Utah State University's (USU) first-year seminary. A primary objective of Connections is student persistence. It is designed to help students become learners. While being a learner is not synonymous with being a college student, it aligns students’ expectations with what is required to succeed in college and at USU. This impact report explores the influence of Connections participation on student persistence to the next term. Participation in Connections is associated with a 1.4% increase in persistence to the next term. The positive impact of Connections is increasing with strategic programmatic changes.

Passport Experience: Impact Analytics Fall 2014 To Fall 2018, Amanda M. Hagman, Nate Jensen, Lisa Simmons, Janet Anderson, Erik Dickamore

Publications

Utah State University (USU) dedicates substantial resources to support student transition to higher education. The Passport Experience cuts across all university domains to support early student participation in curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities. Students are invited to attend a variety of events, when milestones are reached, students are rewarded. Persistence is a primary objective of the Passport Experience. The Passport Experience helps students develop an increased awareness of campus events, broad their engagement in the university experience, and become more involved in the University community. This report explores the association between the Passport Experience and students’ persistence toward graduation. METHODS: …

How Do Usu Students Use University Support Services?, Amanda M. Hagman, Meghan Lewis, Kristi Swainston, Mitchell Colver

Publications

The central mission of USU is to be one of the nation’s premier student-centered universities. This is accomplished by fostering academics and offering opportunities to expand students’ vision of the world around them through co- and extra-curricular activities. These auxiliary activities are designed to support academic achievement and to engage students in meaningful opportunities to practice and enhance their personal and professional well-being. This analysis describes how students are using co- and extra-curricular services. It investigates the most salient student-facing programming in supporting student retention.

Writing Fellows: Impact Analysis Fall 2015 To Spring 2019, Amanda M. Hagman, Julie Foust, Erik Dickamore, Hayden Hoopes

Publications

The Writing Fellows program strategically places high performing writing mentors in courses with rigorous writing requirements. Writing Fellows work with each student in a course by reviewing their writing and offering mentoring to improve their written communication skills. Persistence is a secondary objective of the Writing Fellow program. As such, an impact evaluation on persistence should only be used as part of an evaluation of the influence of the Writing Fellows program on student wellbeing. This impact evaluation on student persistence found that students in courses with a Writing Fellow experienced a significant increase in persistence to the next term …

Writing Center: Impact Analysis Fall 2014 To Fall 2018, Amanda M. Hagman, Kendall Becker, Susan B. Andersen, Star Coulbrooke, Erik Dickamore, Jasilyn Heaps

Publications

The Utah State University (USU) Writing Center is dedicated to empowering students to express their knowledge and ideas in writing. Their approach promotes academic inquiry, critical thinking, and expressions of diversity. While research and evaluation suggest that the Writing Center significantly impacts student academic performance, the impact on student persistence is not yet clear. This report explores the association between USU’s Writing Center and students’ persistence toward graduation. METHODS: Students’ Writing Center use was captured through student log-ins at writing appointments. Students who had a record of using the Writing Center were compared to similar students who did not have …