Business Commons^™

Effects Of Negative Online Word-Of-Mouth On Consumer Evaluations Of An Underdog Brand, Anja P. Luethi

Senior Honors Theses

Research on underdogs has suggested that consumers feel sympathy for and a desire to support the underdog. However, it is unclear how their evaluations of the underdog will change if they receive negative information about it. The current research aims to explore the role of negative word-of-mouth of the underdog, compared to the top dog, in consumers’ brand attitude, brand value, and purchase intention. Specifically, drawing on two streams of research, two competing hypotheses are proposed and tested. An experiment was conducted with online consumer panel members. Consistent with confirmation bias and familiarity principle, the results supported a hypothesis that …

Two Essays In Corporate Finance, Youngha Ki

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

For more than a decade, to reduce the agency problem, various ways have been examined on how to align the interest of manager with shareholders. Evidence and empirical findings are conflicting on the agency problem. Recently, deferred compensation as one incentive compensation draws the attention as a means to incentivize CEOs to make them work for the firm. However, it is still not evident if deferred compensation has effect on aligning CEOs with the firm’s goal possibly due to the issue on data. Therefore, the first essay investigates if deferred compensation has the effect on the agency problem and on …

Feats And Failures Of Corporate Credit Risk, Stock Returns, And The Interdependencies Of Sovereign Credit Risk, Uche C. Isiugo

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation comprises two essays; the first of which investigates sovereign credit risk interdependencies, while the second examines the reaction of corporate credit risk to sovereign credit risk events. The first essay titled, Characterizing Sovereign Credit Risk Interdependencies: Evidence from the Credit Default Swap Market, investigates the relationships that exist among disparate sovereign credit default swaps (CDS) and the implications on sovereign creditworthiness. We exploit emerging market sovereign CDS spreads to examine the reaction of sovereign credit risk to changes in country-specific and global financial factors. Utilizing aVAR model fitted with DCC GARCH, we find that comovements of spreads …

The 30th Anniversary Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival: An Internship Academic Report, Maria Plotkina

Arts Administration Master's Reports

This report presents a reflection and analysis of my internship with the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, where I completed 480 hours of work in pursuit of the M.A. in Arts Administration. I worked primarily with Tracy Ferrington Cunningham, Director of Communications & Special Events, in preparing and organizing the 2016 Festival, which represented the organization’s 30th anniversary. In this report, I will deliver an organizational overview of the Festival, describe my internship duties and responsibilities, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, and provide best practices and recommendations in festival management.

Greater New Orleans Educational Television Foundation (Wyes-Tv): An Internship Academic Report, Courtney Rowan

Arts Administration Master's Reports

This report provides a detailed account of an internship with the Greater New Orleans Educational Television Foundation’s development department. For the purposes of this paper, I will be referring to the non-profit as WYES-TV. The internship began in January of 2016 and continued through April of 2016. Throughout this paper, I will provide an overview of the organization’s history, mission, budget, special events and program services, as well as a description of my internship and experience. This report will also include an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the organization. It will discuss best practices for addressing …

Two Essays In Corporate Finance: The Effects Of Ownership And Governance On A Firm's Innovation And Capital Structure Decisions, Zhengyi Zhang

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In the first chapter, we assess the effect of changes of government ownership on corporate innovation activities. Across 58 non-US countries, treatment firms’ innovation, both in quantity and quality, decrease after a governmental acquisition by using a difference-in-difference regressions and propensity score matching. We show that there is conflict of interest between major shareholders and minor shareholders. The corporate innovation efficiency also decline after the government acquisition. We find that this negative relationship is more severe for the group with higher government ownership of banks, better creditor rights and worse stock market development.

For second chapter, if the optimal capital …

Faux/Real Festival Of Arts, Zoe Cuneo

Arts Administration Master's Reports

The purpose of this internship report is to analyze the Faux/Real Festival of Arts in regards to my Arts Administration learning experiences. In addition, I will describe my internship involvement with Faux/Real and examine the success of its first year. This report also contains my S.W.O.T. analysis of the festival, highlighting its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Finally, I assert best practices for festival management and programming, and offer recommendations to Faux/Real on how they could incorporate those practices that they have not already implemented to strengthen the festival.

Jamalar Agency: Building Awareness For New Music Through Radio Promotions, Lawanda J. Smith

Arts Administration Master's Reports

This report documents the internship of LaWanda J. Smith with Jamalar Agency. Jamalar is a booking agency which specializes in selling the music and culture of New Orleans to the world. LaWanda’s main task was radio promotion for the 2015 spring release of We’ve Got a River to Cross, a CD by the gospel group Joyful. LaWanda was also exposed to record label management by working with Jamalar’s sister company, Rampart Street Music. This report provides an overview of Jamalar Agency, analysis of the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, an examination of best practices in music promotions performed …

The John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts: Production Department, Jamie Doyle

Arts Administration Master's Reports

This academic report is the written analysis of my experience as a production intern at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. My internship specifically involved production and this report discusses production management across the performing arts disciplines, as experienced during my 480 hour internship experience. I describe the organizational history of the Kennedy Center and the internship process. I create a SWOT analysis pertaining to factors affecting the Production Department, discuss production management best practices, and make recommendations for the Center’s improvement.

New Orleans Auction Galleries: Sustaining Vitality In Shifting Auction Markets, Natalie Domingue

Arts Administration Master's Reports

This report examines an internship experience as the Auction and Fine Art Department Assistant at New Orleans Auction Galleries with discussion of the Company’s history, operating structure, and role in the auction market. In addition, an evaluation of the Company’s strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats and a discussion of the auction industry’s best practices used by international auction houses as they related to New Orleans Auction Galleries is also found. The report concludes with recommendations made by the intern, for the Company’s future sustainability in the auction market.

Contemporary Arts Center: A Time Of Transition, Samantha Naring

Arts Administration Master's Reports

The following report documents my 480-hour internship from August 17th, 2015 to January 29th, 2016 in the Education and Public Programs Department at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC). I worked closely with the Marketing and Visual Art Departments. I chose the organization to experience an environment that commits itself to presenting high quality performing and visual arts. This paper assesses the CAC’s history, present day status, and future outlook. It also offers suggestions on how certain aspects can be improved in order to extend the organization’s longevity. Over the course of five months I observed strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats …

Kid Smart & Any Given Child – New Orleans, Némesis K. Zambrano

Arts Administration Master's Reports

This internship report is an overview of KID smART and the fiduciary responsibility it provides to the citywide arts education initiative Any Given Child - New Orleans (AGCNO). I began my 480-hour internship with KID smART in February 2015 to work on getting AGCNO off the ground. The following report combines on-site observational research, expertise I developed from my educational training, and independent research to provide an analysis of KID smART and AGCNO’s current position, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Additionally, this report provides recommendations on how to address specific issues with operational management in order for AGCNO to establish …