Business Commons^™

Alumni Unscripted: Lessons Learned From Wmu, Derondal Bevly

Haworth College of Business News

Blog Post by Alumni Unscripted

A Framework Towards Technology Creation In Africa: Focusing On Ghana, Martin Yao Donani, Hannatu Abue Kugblenu, Azindow Bawa Fuseini

International Journal of African Development

Underdevelopment in Africa has been historical and a global concern coupled with the quest for good governance. Several efforts have been made in academia, national governments, the international community, and other institutional arrangements to reverse the trend. These efforts however are yet to produce a lasting result as Africa is still characterized by low productivity output, poverty and a widening technology gap when compared to other developing regions of the world. Conventional approaches used to address the African problem have consistently been devoid of indigenous technology development. Technology is here seen as paramount to every form of production on which …

The Stigma Against Tattoos In The Workplace: San Francisco Versus Kalamazoo Area, Sarah Wroblewski

Honors Theses

Tattooing is becoming a popular way for individuals, especially young adults, to express themselves. This causes a problem with the hiring process for many companies that have policies against tattoos. The following thesis is a creative representation of the stigma against tattoos in the workplace. This thesis looks at how tattoos change perceptions of employability in the Kalamazoo and San Francisco areas. This topic is portrayed by a 30-inch by 20-inch collage of photographs displaying a variety of different tattoos. There is a total of 55 photographs of tattoos in total, 25 taken in San Francisco and 30 taken in …

Cultivating Cultural Exchange: Improving University Study Abroad Programs, Katherine Crawford

Honors Theses

My affinity for culture, both foreign and domestic, has greatly shaped my life and future career path. As I have been frequently reminded, I did not take the “typical” exchange route. However, I accredit this atypical experience to my passion towards the subject. My first immersive cultural experience occurred during a yearlong, high school, Rotary led exchange to Bourges, France. Simply put, it changed my life. I encountered the culture first hand, accepting a new normal: bisous greetings, daily baguettes, and a well-structured hierarchy. Within six months, I considered myself fluent in the language. I lived with French families, was …

Studying The Effects Of High School Athletics Social Media, Justin Scott

Honors Theses

This research project focuses on high school athletics social media pages and their relevance to high school communication audiences and institutional communication goals.

I conducted two in-depth interviews with school officials from a large Michigan high school, a survey of the high school sports social media followers, and an analysis of data from that high school’s Facebook page.

I was able to determine that seeing social media content from high school athletics pages had a positive relationship with how the school’s quality of social media communication was perceived, intentions to attend athletic events, and an increased awareness of the school’s …

The Effects Of Repealing The Estate Tax And Reducing The Corporate Tax Rate Coupled With A Repatriation Act, Trenton Vanderlende

Honors Theses

Given that significant U.S. federal tax reform is taking place for the first time in over 30 years, this paper examines how changing specific tax provisions may affect the average individual taxpayer as well as the wealthiest 1% of Americans. Three potential federal tax law changes are addressed: repealing the estate tax, reducing the corporate statutory income tax rate, and offering a repatriation holiday for remitting the foreign profits earned by U.S. businesses. These changes are analyzed using publicly available data from U.S. Congressional hearings, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Based on this …

Alumni Unscripted: Tips For First Time Business Travelers, Mckenzie Decker

Haworth College of Business News

Blog Post by Alumni Unscripted

Haworth College Of Business News (11/2017), Haworth College Of Business

Haworth College of Business News

Meet the Craft Beer Shopper

Second Place Team

Award Winning Video

Staying Ahead in Cyber Security

Veterans Day Service

Work-Life Balance

Structural Factors Affecting Marketing At Wmu, Joe Vanderbos

Academic Leadership Academy

This capstone project started with a goal of answering two questions: 1) What structural barriers do WMU staff perceive to prevent the university from creating a more unified, responsive approach to marketing? 2) What organizational structure would lead to a more unified, responsive approach to marketing at WMU?

Alumni Unscripted: The Wmu Opportunity, Brett Mcgovern

Haworth College of Business News

Alumni Unscripted blog post by Brett McGovern.

Alumni Unscripted: Homecoming 2017, Western Michigan University

Haworth College of Business News

Alumni Unscripted blog post about Homecoming 2017.

Alumni Unscripted: Post-Architectural Leadership, Ryan Blanck

Haworth College of Business News

Alumni Unscripted blog post by Ryan Blanck.

Haworth College Of Business News (08/2017), Haworth College Of Business

Haworth College of Business News

• Breakaway to an Emmy Win
• By the Numbers
• Entrepreneurs Making Progress
• Speaker Series
• Industry Workshops
• Building IT Talent
• Ransomware

Alumni Unscripted: Running An Effective Meeting, Greta Lorr

Haworth College of Business News

Alumni Unscripted blog post by Greta Lorr

Alumni Unscripted: Personal Branding, Christine Walsh

Haworth College of Business News

Alumni Unscripted blog post by Christine Walsh.

Western Michigan University Bronco Marching Band: Proposed Fundraising Plan, Elizabeth Mena

Honors Theses

The Bronco Marching Band first began in 1915 as a men's only music ensemble, which played mainly seated concerts. After a brief hiatus due to a drop in membership because of the First World War, the band was listed as a student organization again in 1920. Since then it has consistently performed at community and University events. The band, now open to all students, has seen two world wars and multiple school name changes, soon approaches its 100th consecutive year. The band is known for its excellent and entertaining performances and unwavering support for the University and its athletic teams. …

Haworth College Of Business News (06/2017), Haworth College Of Business

Haworth College of Business News

• Brian Patrick Thomas Award
• Entrepreneur, Ph.D., Musician
• Unique Success
• Be A Team Player

Alumni Unscripted: Being The Ideal Team Player, Shane Rodgers

Haworth College of Business News

Blog Post by Alumni Unscripted

Haworth College Of Business News (05/2017), Haworth College Of Business

Haworth College of Business News

• Creating Industry Standards
• MYTURN
• #Broncos4Broncos
• Sustainability Champion
• Trailblazers

Permissions Between Creators And Users: An Investigation Of Particulars In Privacy Policies For Mobile Apps, Abbigail Griffith

Honors Theses

Mobile apps create a space for users to share information with other users and, in doing so, the creators of the applications. Generally, the greater amount of sharing information that occurs between users and creators enhances the experience of the apps for both parties. However, the extent to which mobile apps use this information can cause concerns with users about privacy due to the unknown practices of mobile apps relevant to data collection, data sharing, and data storage.

Documents, such as privacy policies, exist in attempts to moderate these concerns. Additionally, mobile apps offer in-app features for the same reasons. …

Millennial Attraction To Southwest Michigan – Retaining And Attracting Millennial Talent To Our Region’S Companies, Robert Nyhuis

Honors Theses

Businesses in our region and in our country today have a unique opportunity being presented to them. Four generations of employees are walking through the doors of our companies each day. To expect that each generation can be catered to the same would be ignorant for a CEO or manager to believe. It’s common knowledge that this new generation entering the workforce, the millennials, are unlike any other generation to come before in regards to their workplace necessities and demands. Technology, diversity, and flexibility just scratch the surface when it comes to what the millennial generation is looking for when …

How To Plan, Budget, Write, And Implement A Student Sustainability Grant, Annalisa Wilder

Honors Theses

The Student Sustainability Grant program was created to give students valuable grant writing experience and to promote a culture of sustainability on Western Michigan University’s campus. Despite the enormous opportunity that this program provides, few students apply for the grants with their sustainable ideas. Even fewer students are able to fully complete the projects, research, and initiatives that receive funding. In order to help increase the number of grants that are fully implemented and to provide students interested in writing a grant with a useful resource, this guide was created. This ‘how-to manual’ provides an undergraduate student’s perspective on the …

Shopping With Strangers: Grocery Shopping Behaviors Of Generation Z, Madelyn Olsen

Honors Theses

Marketers frequently segment different populations by generation to target their products more efficiently. Each generation has its own characteristics and behaviors. Marketers use these characteristics and behaviors to improve ways to get consumers’ attention, increase interactions with brands, and increase purchase of products and services.

In a rapidly changing world, these generations are becoming increasingly visible and identifiable due to the integration of technology and social media into daily life. The generation that this study focuses on is called Generation Z. Generation Z has not been fully identified yet because their group is still emerging. Researchers have found it difficult …

Alumni Unscripted: Finding A Fulfilling Job At A Company You Will Love, Josh Reeves

Haworth College of Business News

Blog Post by Alumni Unscripted

Treat Transparency, Amanda Van Giesen

Honors Theses

Snacking is Growing at an Alarming Rate

As modern lifestyles change, and consumers grow ever busier, snacking is becoming a more important part of the traditional consumer’s schedule. According to Nielsen, global consumers spent roughly $374 billion dollars on snack foods between the years of 2014 and 2015 (Nielsen, 2014).

Why Students?

With college students potentially becoming customers as they begin to make their own purchase decisions, an analysis of this group and their relationships with snacks is key for manufacturers. According to my study, 73.5% of survey respondents indicated that they have consumed seven or more snacks during the …

Women Leaders In Marketing: Breaking Through The Glass Ceiling, Hallie Green

Honors Theses

Introduction: During my internships I was able to work with and meet women leaders in marketing. Through our discussions I learned that gender roles are still prevalent in large companies today. Many of the women I worked with talked about struggles women face in their career that men do not. There were strong emotions that women did not get equal treatment for their contributions to the company. I was surprised by these statements, especially from seemingly successful women. This thesis will be an exploration of the difficulties professional female marketers face, and the ways women that are starting their career …

Kalamazoo Wings Student Participation Campaign, Kelly Hughes

Honors Theses

This public relations campaign is to increase participation of Western Michigan University students at Kalamazoo Wings hockey games. The *millennial audience represents 25-30% of many professional sports teams’ overall revenue base (Fisher 2015). Western Michigan University students have low participation at Kalamazoo Wings hockey games since they do not even make up 1% of the fans that attend Kalamazoo Wings games. The campaign goal is to increase participation of Western Michigan University students at Kalamazoo Wings hockey games by 25% by May 2018. *Millennial: A person reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century.

My research has indicated that the …

Trends In U.S. Tea Imports: 1991-2015, Evan Kennedy

Honors Theses

Tea is the second most popular beverage in the world, and over the past two decades it has experienced a newfound popularity in the United States. Over this time period, ready-to-drink and loose-leaf tea has increased in popularity, whereas tea bags and instant tea declined in popularity. Since the United States produces almost no tea itself, an increase in consumption requires increased imports. Therefore, this paper examines U.S. import trends as a means to begin an examination of consumption. Ten countries (Argentina, Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam) provide approximately 80% of the …

Western Michigan University’S Department Of Dance Marketing Plan, Cassandra Hartline

Honors Theses

The following report constitutes the formal marketing plan for the department of dance at Western Michigan University. This plan is intended to synthesize all of the marketing related information pertinent to Western’s dance department and provide easy one step access to this material at any time. The other purpose of this plan is to dictate the primary objectives the department is looking to accomplish through implementation of marketing tactics.

The first primary objective includes increasing visibility of the department of dance as a whole to both our primary and secondary target audiences; the second objective is to create innovative marketing …

Encore Dance Costume Rental: A Business Plan, Aubrey Utting

Honors Theses

Dance can be very expensive to participate in. One of the things making dance expensive is the high prices of dance costumes. Encore Dance Costume Rental helps solve the problem of expensive dance costumes by using a rental business model instead of traditional dance costume sales. This business plan details how this business will operate and create value for its customers.