Business Commons^™

Leadership Styles Of Entrepreneurs In Small Land Surveying Businesses., Jerry Wayne Nave

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to analyze the leadership styles of owners of small land surveying businesses in the states of Tennessee and Virginia to determine what leadership style was currently being employed by the majority of those owners. The participants in this study were chosen from members of the Virginia Association of Surveyors and the Tennessee Association of Professional Surveyors. The respondents to the questionnaire were licensed land surveyors who owned small firms of fewer than 101 employees. In addition, a corollary purpose was to flesh out the skeletal literature available on small business leadership styles and …

Using Prospect Theory To Investigate Decision-Making Bias Within An Information Security Context, Neil J. Schroeder

Theses and Dissertations

Information security is an issue that has increased in importance over the past decade. In this time both practitioner and academic circles have researched and developed practices and process to more effectively handle information security. Even with growth in these areas there has been little research conducted into how decision makers actually behave. This is problematic because decision makers in the Department of Defense have been observed exhibiting risk seeking behavior when making information security decisions that seemingly violate accepted norms. There are presently no models in the literature that provide sufficient insight into this phenomenon. This study used Prospect …

Improving Community College Board Governance Using A Technology Based Board Management System, Teresa Walsh

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Higher education boards are turning to accountable board leadership and macroengagement discussions in lieu of traditional micromanagement of operations. The Policy Governance© model integrates unique principles designed to enable accountable board leadership. This paper describes an Action Research project that was conducted with the Board of Yavapai College. The Board adopted Policy Governance© but failed to practice its tenets. This research seeks to demonstrate whether a technology based board management system, OurBoardroom, that fully implements Policy Governance©, can assist the Board in the practice of the model. Findings indicate that the technology application that provides a template for all aspects …

Taiwanese Consumers' Perceptions Of Luxury Handbags: The Country-Of-Origin Effect, Hsin-Tien Han

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The research on the effect of "country-of-origin" (COO) or "Made in.. ." label has attracted extensive attention from academic researchers and marketers for the past three decades. Moreover, the country-of-origin effect will be more progressively salient in the era of the global marketplace due to multinational companies who are seeking production in lower cost countries. Thus, considering the country-of-origin effect on consumers' perceptions of products becomes more important. This study is the first to examine the country-of-origin effect, and how it may possibly influence Taiwanese consumers' perception and purchase intentions when evaluating a luxury handbag.

The specific purpose of this …

Understanding And Improving The Inefficiencies Of An Engineering Change Management System Using The Action Research Model, Allen L. Samson

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The change management system at a manufacturing company is a bottleneck to the new product release cycle, causing numerous product releases to be delayed resulting in lost revenue and financial impact to the business. The change management system was developed when the company was small. As the company grew, the change management system could no longer meet the demand placed on it. The action research model establishes the issues that have created the symptoms. Data collection and analyzes using value-stream mapping and questionnaires determines that the process is inefficient and does not have the capacity required to sustain new product …

Two Essays On Momentum, Seung-Chan Park

Doctoral Dissertations

One of the most controversial topics in recent investment literature has been stock return momentum. If an investor buys past winners and sells past losers, he will earn positive profits in the intermediate-term horizon (3 to 12 months). While behavioral theories seem to dominate as an explanation for the momentum phenomenon since momentum has been regarded as direct counter evidence for the efficient market hypothesis, Chordia and Shivakumar (2002) find that momentum can be explained by a set of macroeconomic variables. Chordia and Shivakumar argue that momentum is caused by time-varying expected returns that can be predicted by a set …

New Approaches To Risk Management And Scenario Approximation In Financial Optimization, Maksym Bychkov

Doctoral Dissertations

The first part of the thesis addresses the problem of risk management in financial optimization modeling. Motivation for constructing a new concept of risk measurement is given through the history of development: utility theory, risk/return tradeoff, and coherent risk measures. The process of describing investor's preferences is presented through the proposed collection of Rational Level Sets (RLS). Based on RLS, a new concept termed Rational Risk Measures (RRM) for nancial optimization models is defined. The advantages of RRM over coherent risk measures are discussed. Approximation of a given set of scenarios using tail information is addressed in the second part …

Designs For Stated Preference Experiments, Jennifer Lynn Golek

Doctoral Dissertations

We explore the use of different strategies for the construction of optimal choice experiments and their impact on the overall efficiency of the resulting design. We then evaluate how these choice designs meet the desired characteristics of optimal choice designs (orthogonality, level balance, utility balance and minimum level overlap). We further explore the feasibility of using entropy as a secondary measure of design optimality. We find that current algorithms afford little flexibility for using this secondary measure. We further study the impact of misspecification of the assumed parameter values used in creation of optimal choice designs. We find that the …

Sas 99 & Fraud Detection, Shunlan Lu

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Relationship Between Guest Perceptions Of Service Quality And Customer Loyalty In The Hotel Industry In South Florida, Chen-Hsien Lin

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The chief goal hotels strive to accomplish is to satisfy and retain their customers. Previous research showed that contented hotel guests are more likely to revisit a hotel than guests who were somehow dissatisfied (Schall, 2003). South Florida is one of the most attractive destinations in the U.S. for tourists. The hotel industry in South Florida has grown rapidly in recent years to serve the increasing number of tourists. However, studies regarding the hotel industry in South Florida are limited. This study attempted to scrutinize and investigate the relationship between service quality and customer loyalty in the hotel industry in …

Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Training Academy: Achieving Business Results, Vida W. Chow

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to identify the essential elements, both tangible and intangible, of establishing a training academy at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong in order to achieve business objectives in a rapidly changing and competitive global environment in the hospitality industry. With the phenomenal growth of the tourism industry in Hong Kong, Macau, and the neighboring area in China, there is a growing competition in acquiring, retaining, and developing talents in the labor market. Having a well-established training academy is not only critical in consistently delivering the brand promises to the external customers, it is also fundamental …

Performance Evaluation Models For Strategic Decision-Making: Towards A Hybrid Model, Geraldina Villalobos Quezada

Dissertations

Performance management systems serve strategic, administrative, and developmental purposes; therefore, their role in an organization cannot be overestimated. As a function of this strategic role, different evaluation models have been developed and implemented by organizations: BSC, CIPP, TQM, Six Sigma, and AOP.

Following a review of current evaluation theory and practice models that focus on improving strategic decision-making in organizations, four research questions were developed that sought to identify the interrelationships, evaluation components, evaluation indicators, data collected to support the evaluation,evaluation implementation protocols, quantitative and qualitative analyses, outcomes, and critical factors of the BSC and CIPP models.

A multiple case …

An Exploratory Study On The Impact Of Applied Ancestry On At-Risk Youth In A Wilderness Therapy Program Setting, Elisa M. Rancie

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the Applied Ancestry program meets its objectives of assisting at-risk youth with regard to character development. The sample consisted of 40 youth (12-17 yrs) enrolled in the Anasazi Foundation Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare program. These teens were randomly assigned to either the control (n = 22) or treatment (n = 18) group. To measure the impact of Applied Ancestry on character development the VIA Signature Strengths Survey, developed by the VIA Institute, was used. A pre-post test comparison found no difference between the two groups, however the overall negative changes in survey …

Ethics In Organizations And Measuring The Effectiveness Of Ethics Programs, Deidre K. Rodriguez

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

ABC Corporation (ABC) like many corporations, implemented ethics as a major core value and initiative after the highly publicized corporate scandals of the 1990s. ABC currently does not have a consistent way of measuring the effectiveness of the ethics portion of their Ethics and Compliance program. This paper examines the need for a measurement plan and the benefits related to consistently using the plan to measure the effectiveness of the ethics program. Action research is the proposed research method for this project. The Method section of this proposal discusses several data collection techniques including interviews, secondary data source analysis and …

A Day In The Life Of A Casino Host, Chu-Huan Liu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Casinos usually hire junket representatives and casino hosts to act as a liaison between casino marketing departments and proven high-end guests. Junket representatives are usually independent agents who bring players into a particular casino; in return, they are compensated with commission by that casino. If these players do not spend enough time and money in playing, the casino simply loses interest in that representative. Casino hosts are in-house marketing employees who are fully responsible for retaining the existing good patrons and to bring in potential new guests (Makens & Bowen, 1994).

Readiness For Youth Engagement Of The United Way Of Roanoke Valley, Abigail C. Verdillo

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

This study assesses the readiness of United Way of Roanoke Valley (UWRV) for youth engagement in decision-making and other critical activities in the organization as part of the new Community Impact United Way. An online survey was circulated among the board and staff to surface perceptions regarding youth and their abilities, and gauge interest and support for youth volunteers as well as nonprofits within and outside the Roanoke Valley that have successfully integrated youth into their agencies.The benefits and pre-conditions to move an agenda towards youth engagement at UWRV were identified through best practices from the field and feedback from …

A Diagnosis And Intervention Strategy For Improving Morale In A Food Safety Program, Jeffrey J. Zayach

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Staff in Boulder County Public Health's Environmental Health Division Consumer Protection Program are experiencing low morale. With the collaborative involvement of the Consumer Protection Team, the purpose of this action research project is to determine the causes of low employee morale through the use of several data collection tools, and to develop an intervention plan to improve employee morale. This paper documents the background of the organization, the morale problem, methods used to assess the problem, results of data collection and a discussion of the findings and recommendations to address morale.

The Hiring Of Wynn Las Vegas, Robert E. Murray Iii

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to examine the various human resource processes and systems that were established by Wynn Las Vegas. With a hiring of this magnitude the human resource team at Wynn faced many unique challenges. This study records these difficulties and also the decisions that were made that allowed Wynn to overcome these obstacles. Through the examination of the Wynn Las Vegas process this study will also give other employers who are considering doing a large scale mass hiring some ideas on what they should expect regarding on line hiring. It will also show how other executives …

Determinants Of Repeat Visitation For Las Vegas “Locals” Casinos, David D. Ross

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The proliferation of gaming is unprecedented. As many states look to gaming as a source of revenue for a poor fiscal policy, this research becomes more valuable. Many people fail to make the correlation between these new jurisdictions, Tribal or Indian gaming opportunities, and the “locals” market. The argument is, not many people are traveling to Barona or Harrah’s Rincon outside of San Diego, California for their vacation from New York City. Therefore, these primary markets are considered to be more localized. Localized markets could be referred to as geographic segmentation as opposed to other segmentation strategies. The strengths of …

Transformational Leadership Of Sales Managers And Job Satisfaction Of Sales Associates In The Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry In Taiwan, Yu-Jia Hu

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Literature review in sales content supported the theory that sales manager's transformational leadership has a vital influence on the job satisfaction of sales associates, while job satisfaction has significant influence on the sales associates' work behaviors. Very limited studies have extensively examined the relationship between sales managers' transformational leadership and sales associates' job satisfaction, while recent research has focused on how transformational leadership applies to sales management situations.

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between transformational leadership of sales managers and job satisfaction of sales associates in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry in Taiwan. …

The Internship Program At Manhattan Christian College: The Problem Of Continued Improvement, Jeffrey G. Davis

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Manhattan Christian College (MCC) has been educating, equipping, and enriching Christian leaders for over 75 years. An important part of that training process has been the academic internship program, now titled the "Directed Field Experience" (DFE). The program has encountered a period of complacency, which has some participants questioning the effectiveness of the current internship program. This action research project used questionnaires, both online and in personal interviews and focus groups, with students and DFE supervisors to identify areas of potential improvement. Potential interventions include refined definitions, communicating earlier in the process with supervisors, and developing a DFE website.

Supporting Individual Time Management Through The Capture And Display Of Temporal Structures, Dezhi Wu

Dissertations

This thesis work examines the time management strategies of individuals in an academic institution and gathers information on the complex temporal structures they experience and manage. Its focus is on understanding the relationship between the quality of individual time management and an individual's understanding and use of temporal structures. This work consists of an exploratory field study to gather data on how people use temporal structures with electronic tools. It is followed by a survey that is given to a larger group of respondents in the same subject population examined with the field study. The survey examines the hypotheses developed …

Electronic Capture And Analysis Of Fraudulent Behavioral Patterns : An Application To Identity Fraud, Benjamin Ngugi

Dissertations

The objective of this research was to find a transparent and secure solution for mitigating identity fraud and to find the critical factors that determine the solution's acceptance. Identity fraud is identified as a key problem with total losses exceeding fifty two billion dollars (Javelin Strategy and Research 2005). A common denominator in most identity-fraud-prone transactions is the use of a keypad; hence this research focuses on keypad data entry and proposes a biometric solution. Three studies develop, evaluate and investigate the feasibility of this solution.

The first study was done in three stages. Stage one investigated the technical feasibility …

The Impact Of Motivation And Conflict Escalation On The Five Zone Model For Preferred Conflict Handling And Managerial Decision Making, Dewey Wilson Todd

Managerial Sciences Dissertations

ABSTRACT THE IMPACT OF MOTIVATION AND CONFLICT ESCALATION ON THE FIVE ZONE MODEL FOR PREFERRED CONFLICT HANDLING AND MANAGERIAL DECISION MAKING BY DEWEY WILSON TODD JULY 2005 Committee Chairmen: Dr. Peter Zhang and Dr. Craig Hill Major Department: Managerial Sciences (Decision Sciences) The Todd-Cambridge Preferred Conflict-Handling Mode (PCHM) Instrument is an example of a two-dimensional, five zone model, similar to the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, used to explain how individuals deal with situations in which their desires are in conflict with another individual or group. The instrument, developed for this research, was based on the Managerial Grid (Van de Vliert …

New Perspectives On The System Usage Construct, Andrew Burton-Jones

Computer Information Systems Dissertations

Information systems are designed to support human and organizational purposes. To achieve their ends, information systems must be used. Although this may seem to be self-evident, there are many aspects of systems usage that are not so, and yet, in spite of this, there has been little intense conceptual scrutiny of this construct in past research. The objective of this thesis, therefore, is to develop new in-depth perspectives for studying system usage. Drawing on critical realist assumptions and studies of research diversity, I explain how epistemological factors enable while ontological factors constrain the diversity of meanings of system usage, and …

Inter-Firm Knowledge Sharing And Its Effect On Relationship Value: A Global Supply Chain Perspective, Mee-Shew Cheung

Doctoral Dissertations

Learning theories playa prominent role in new theories of competitive advantage. Despite the recent progress in understanding interorganizationallearning (inter-firm knowledge sharing), gaps and shortcomings remain. Inter-firm knowledge sharing involves risks and dilemma. Little is known about the charactetistics of global supply chain design that would encourage inter-firm knowledge sharing, and how these collaborative activities could lead to improving the long-term performance ofthe individual companies and the supply chain as a whole. Furthermore, previous studies on inter-firm collaboration mainly looked at operational efficiency as the key performance measurement. Relationship value should be taken as a more critical criterion variable when firms …

The Comparative Ordered Influence Of Brand Equity’S Experiential And Functional Antecedents And Dimensions, And Its Consequences On U.S. And Mainland Chinese Consumers, Samuel Allen Broyles

Doctoral Dissertations

Drawing from various social science literatures, this dissertation put forth and examined a theoretical model addressing the question of whether brand equity’s functional and experiential elements (antecedents, dimensions, consequences) have differential influence on Americans and Chinese. The significance of this study is reflected in the fact that variousU.S.firms have attempted, often unsuccessfully, to market their brands inChinaand other countries. This effort at internationalization reflects mounting pressure from ever-increasing competition, and thus the need to find new markets for their brands. A number of researchers have suggested this lack of success is the result ofU.S.firms not understanding the cultural differences that …

Supplier Contracts With Profit Sharing, Open-Book Costing And Associated Audit Rights, Hui Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

Due to the growing trends in outsourcing and supply chain initiatives, inter-organizational control has become an increasingly important issue in today’s business world. Many businesses set up the so-called "partnering" relationship with their key suppliers. The biggest challenge for this relationship is to find the best mechanisms that align the supplier’s incentive with that of the buyer’s and still maximize each individual firm’s payoff. The purpose of this paper is to present a stylized profit-sharing contract, which is a type of contract commonly adopted to mitigate buyer-supplier incentive problems, and contrast several different types of supplier audit associated with it. …

Design, Analysis, And Applications Of Failure Amplification Experiments, Oksoun Yee

Doctoral Dissertations

The main focus of this study is related to the Failure Amplification Method (FAMe) proposed by Joseph and Wu (2004). They suggested the use of an “amplification factor” to increase the information from experiments with a binary response variable. In addition to the amplification factor having a known effect, Joseph and Wu recommended that, for convenience of experimentation, this factor be taken as an easy to change, split unit factor. In such cases, the analysis ought to take into account the possibility of both whole unit and split unit error variation. I present such an analysis here, where the Bayesian …

Analysis Of Town Center Mixed-Use Developments To Determine Key Retailer Success Factors, Kelly G. Atkins

Masters Theses

The socio-economic changes and the population growth concentrated in cities in the U.S. have resulted in increasing interest in urban life that combines living, shopping and work in one centralized location. This type of area, called a mixed-use development, meets the needs of changing American lifestyles. To build successful retail businesses in the mixed-use developments, more information must be identified concerning key retail success factors. Based upon this need, this study examined the town center mixed-use development through case studies. The scope ofthe study included identifying successful town center mixed-use developments in the U.S., identifying locations for each case study …