Business Commons^™

An Investigation Of Peer Accountability In Healthcare, Angela Demichele

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Peer accountability is the practice of providing feedback to, and receiving feedback from, one’s colleagues (Lockett et al., 2015)—both for the purposes of recognizing good work when it happens, and correcting risky behaviors in the moment. The concept of peer accountability has been overshadowed by research focusing on teamwork, which tends to focus on reducing the power distance among team members and increasing an individual’s ability to speak up the hierarchy. Our next opportunity for achieving safety and reliability in healthcare will come from peers monitoring one another’s actions. This study analyzes the untapped links between peer accountability behaviors, psychological …

Integrating Coaching And Self-Determination Theory: The Development And Validation Of The Managerial Coaching Questionnaire, Hunter Thomas Black

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Despite increasing practitioner application and decades of research on the topic of managerial coaching, the topic continues to lack conceptual clarity, foundational theory, and sound measures. As a result, there is little understanding of the underlying psychological mechanisms connecting coaching behaviors to employee outcomes. This dissertation develops a new theory-based framework and survey measure of managerial coaching behaviors (the managerial coaching questionnaire; MCQ) grounded in self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000). Time-lagged results support the theoretical propositions of the framework with results showing a positive relationship between the MCQ and employee wellbeing mediated by employee need …

What Drives Merger Waves? A Study Of The Seven Historical Merger Waves In The U.S., Katherine Ching

Scripps Senior Theses

Historically, merger and acquisition (or M&A) activity has occurred in cyclical patterns, forming what are known as “merger waves.” To date, there have been a total of seven waves. Though it is widely acknowledged that merger waves exist, there is no consensus on what drives these waves. Through both qualitative and quantitative analysis, this paper aims to determine the causes of merger waves and looks at those causes through two different lenses: the neoclassical view, which states that economic shocks cause merger waves, and the behavioral view, which states that increases in merger activity are due to managerial behavior and …

To What Extent Do Religious Institutions Provide A Societal Value? Is The Tax-Exempt Status Justified?, Annabel Hou

Scripps Senior Theses

Religious institutions have been tax-exempt from almost all taxes for more than two centuries. The two primary justifications used to protect this ‘status’ is the constitution and the concept that churches provide positive externalities that believers and non-believers all benefit from. This paper examines the relationship between religiosity and five socially important characteristics: high school graduation rate, a divorce rate, incidence of domestic violence, and levels of substance abuse and crime. I run multiple simple and full regressions across 207 counties in Texas. In four of the five analyses, religiosity has a strong statistically significant desirable impact. With the addition …

A Mixed Methods Case Study Of Evidence-Based Practice In A Knowledge Organization, Josh Villanueva

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Evidence-based practice offers a key strategy for closing the gap between research and practice in organizational and management studies. This approach calls for practitioners to apply key critical thinking competencies to gather and use the best available evidence to inform decision making and action (Rousseau, 2006). As a result, efforts to try and develop the evidence-based practice capabilities of practitioners abound, mainly in the form of workshops and university courses offered by leading proponents in the field. Yet, we know little about the impact of these training approaches and whether they transfer to actual differences in practitioners’ behaviors on the …

Knowledge Boundaries Shape The Cognitive And Structural Foundations Of Innovation: Dyad-Level Expertise Exchange In Teams Of Specialists, Daniel Jordan Slyngstad

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Innovation in academia and industry is increasingly achieved via complex problem solving in teams making use of knowledge from multiple areas of expertise. These expertise-diverse teams have proliferated in response to the demands of contemporary knowledge work, and members often possess intellectually distant skillsets that impose novel constraints on the means by which they must collaborate—in particular, they must rely more on distributed taskwork. Yet, research continues to place emphasis on the goal of enabling teams to achieve innovation by increasing knowledge shared in common, overcoming obstacles to cognitive parity, or via sustained periods of problem solving by the team …

Leveraged Buyouts: The Predictive Power Of Target Firm Characteristics, Yutao (James) Jiang

CMC Senior Theses

This paper utilizes a hazard model to predict the probability of leveraged buyout transactions for public firms. Rather than testing specific hypotheses, this paper incorporates all plausible predictors identified in existing literature to better delineate the effects of different characteristics. Largely confirming past results, I find that LBO transactions are more likely to occur for companies with more stable cash flows, less market visibility, lower market valuation, lower ownership concentration and lower costs of financial distress. By including LBO transactions from 1980 to September 2018, I find preliminary evidence that since the financial crisis of 2008 – 2009, private equity …

Pipe Discounts, Premia, And Performance, Jason S. Barbarosh

CMC Senior Theses

This paper explores private investments in public equity (PIPE) deals as a means of alternative firm financing. Poorly performing companies often look towards PIPEs to quickly raise capital when traditional means of financing are limited. This study provides an analysis on both the discount and premia that PIPEs are issued at, as well as the performance of firms after the deal announcement. Overall, this study finds that successful PIPEs from the investor’s perspective are issued at a discount of close to 17%, and unsuccessful PIPEs are issued at an average of a 15% premium. I find substantial cumulative abnormal returns …

The Fall Of The 10-K Report: Measuring The Impact Of Accounting Ratios On Financial Performance, Matthew Daruty

CMC Senior Theses

The annual 10-K report has historically been the most important aspect in assessing the position of a publicly held company. However, as the flow of information has increased with the dawn of new technologies, less and less attention has been paid to these audited financial statements. In order to assess if investors are still reacting to the information contained in the annual report, this paper examines the relationship between accounting ratios and stock price in banks traded on United States stock exchanges. By examining accounting ratios instead of simply looking at Earnings Per Share, new information was revealed regarding what …

The Predictive Power Of The Vix Futures Prices On Future Realized Volatility, Siran Zhang

CMC Senior Theses

Many past literatures have examined the predictive power of implied volatility versus that of historical volatility, but they have showed divergent conclusions. One of the major differences among these studies is the methods that they used to obtain implied volatility. The VIX index, introduced in 1993, provides a model-free and directly observable source of implied volatility data. The VIX futures is an actively traded VIX derivative product, and its prices are believed to contain market’s expectation about future volatility. By analyzing the relationship between the VIX futures prices and the realized volatilities of the 30-day period that these VIX futures …

The Growth Of Socially Responsible Investing Practices In U.S. Equity Markets And Abnormal Sin Stock Returns, Jack Lori

CMC Senior Theses

In my Senior Thesis, I explore the growth of socially responsible investing (SRI) practices in U.S. equity markets and abnormal sin stocks returns. I analyze the historical performance of socially responsible ETFs and portfolios of current sin stocks—alcohol, tobacco, gaming, and aerospace & defense stocks. I propose that as socially responsible investing practices continue to grow in U.S. equity markets, more industries will eventually be deemed sinful—such as sugary beverages, fast food/sugary food, biotech & pharmaceuticals, and tech/social media. I examine two sinful industries—alcohol and tobacco—by comparing the performance of these sinful portfolios before and after their industries were widely …

Welfare Losses From First-Come-First-Serve Course Enrollment: Outcome Estimation And Non-Market Maximization, Rory Fontenot

CMC Senior Theses

College course enrollment operates as a market under supply cap. Because of the limited number of seats available for any given course some students who have a higher demand for a course are unable to enroll. The current registration system at the Claremont Colleges functions as a random draw system with added time costs. The lack of price signalling in the markets leads to a loss in overall welfare of the student body. By running data through simulated demand curves I am able to determine, on average, how much welfare is being lost by a random draw system. The percent …

The Transition Tax: Why It Was Created And How It Could Be Altered, Ryan Motter

CMC Senior Theses

In this paper, I talk about Section 965, also known as the transition tax, enacted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). First, I examine loopholes under the old tax regime that allowed for the accumulation of offshore earnings and how the TCJA closes those loopholes. After detailing the legislation of the transition tax and a comparison with Section 965 included in the American Jobs Creation Act in 2004, I compare firms’ recorded provisions of the transition tax with an estimation based on the past disclosures of firms’ permanently reinvested earnings and finds that the transition tax will generate …

The 2011 Nfl Collective Bargaining Agreement: Intentions Vs. Incentives, Andrew Friedlander

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines the impacts of four major negotiating elements in the 2011 NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement. This first entails considering the financial impacts of the Collective Bargaining Agreement through adjustments to the salary cap and changes in the rookie pay scale in conjunction with the increase of the veteran minimum salary. Veteran players sought to improve their earnings potential through the creation of the rookie pay scale and increases in the veteran minimum salary, but research has shown that these policies may not have actually accomplished the goal. Next, I inspect the changes in preseason training rules, which were …

Fostering Transformational Leadership In Asian Americans: How To Reach The C-Suite, Khadija Ganijee

CMC Senior Theses

This paper investigates what has caused a lack of Asian American leadership in the corporate space and how transformational leadership can be the solution for these people by using their culture to their advantage. This was accomplished through a comprehensive review of transformational leadership and the personality traits associated with it, as well as psychological research on Asian American issues in the workplace and the role of Asian American culture. Stereotyping and discrimination play a role in the workplace, but usually, what a person can do to combat these issues is not explicated. This thesis aims to fill in that …

The Changing Nature Of Work, Leadership, And Organizational Culture In Future Ready Organizations, Saloni Dhir

CMC Senior Theses

Abstract

The relationship between individual and organizational performance is a key challenge for leaders in modern organizations, especially with the current disruption in technology and innovation. This thesis is a literature review and compilation of the relevant empirical evidence on various processes of industrial groups and organizational characteristics such as the changing nature of work, leadership, and company culture in detail. I investigate the complex challenges that millennials and organizations are facing in the current VUCA work environment as well as their potential responses to these changes. I map out the evolution of the concept of work and compare changes …

Liquidity Risk And Mutual Fund Manager’S Stock Choice, Hannah Berg

CMC Senior Theses

Liquidity risk is a large issue faced by mutual funds. Large funds typically trade in size, and these large sizes often have a significant impact on prices. My hypothesis is that large funds will not invest in illiquid assets as much as smaller funds due to the price sensitivity of illiquid assets. While this seems obvious, the results from this study are not in agreement with this hypothesis. My paper finds that as the illiquidity of a stock increases, so does the probability that a large fund invests in the stock.

Does Managerial Risk-Taking Incentive For R&D Investments Translate To Future Earnings?, Ha Yun Cho

CMC Senior Theses

The convex pay-off structure of executive stock options (ESO) incentivizes CEOs to increase their firm stock-return volatility, thereby increasing their wealth in option portfolio. In this paper, I address two research questions. I first test if this managerial incentive induces executives to take on more risky projects in R&D that increases stock- return volatility, hence, boosting their personal wealth. I derive vega to measure managerial incentive, and vega is a dollar change in ESO for a 0.01 change in stock- return volatility. I find that there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between vega and R&D investment, which suggests …

Financing Method And Abnormal Returns In Corporate Mergers And Acquisitions, Patrick Thomas

CMC Senior Theses

This study analyzes the impact of merger and acquisition financing method on buyer cumulative abnormal returns. The model builds on findings in previous literature by including deal structure variables, company variables, industry variables, time variables, and post-acquisition announcement return data from 2000 to 2018. The analysis does not find a statistically significant relationship between cash plus debt/stock financing and cumulative abnormal returns. However, significant coefficients for buyer and target industry suggest that deal structure varies and ultimately effects cumulative abnormal returns within specific industries. Additionally, significant results for buyer profitability and time variables provide insight on how the financial market …

The Impacts Of Supra-Regional Multi-Resort Season Passes: A Hedonic Pricing Model Of Single-Day Lift Tickets For Us Ski Areas, Sijia Lai

CMC Senior Theses

Numerous media analyses claim that supra-regional multi-resort season passes (mega passes) are negatively impacting skiing, snowboarding, and winter-sport communities. In particular, media claims that ski areas on these season passes are charging higher single-day lift ticket prices to nudge people to buy their season pass products. To test this claim, I use a hedonic pricing model to estimate the impact of season passes on adult single-day lift ticket prices. By applying OLS regressions to a dataset of 302 US ski areas for the winter of 2018-19, I find that the ski areas on the leading season passes (Ikon and Epic …

The Outdoor Apparel Industry:Measuring The Premium For Sustainability With A Hedonic Pricing Model, Elyse Lindahl

Scripps Senior Theses

Evaluating the existing practices of sustainability within the outdoor apparel industry, this research questions the relationship that certain sustainability aspects have with the price of goods in this specific market. Through a hedonic pricing model, this research provides an estimate of the value placed on certain aspects surrounding environmental and social sustainability. In a growing industry, the application of sustainable practices throughout the supply chain has the potential to influence customer purchasing patterns and pricing models for outdoor apparel brands. This research found the type of material used to have a statistically significant impact on the price of an item; …

The Role Of Upward Influence In Organizational Politics: A Discussion On The Effectiveness Of Single And Combined Influence Tactics In An Upward Direction, Sophia Russell

Scripps Senior Theses

As part of organizational politics, influence allows employees to impact the attitudes and behaviors of peers, supervisors, and subordinates. Even though there are a variety of influence tactics, this thesis examines the few tactics used individually and in combination in an upward direction. This thesis adds to upward influence literature by discussing not only effective upward tactics, but also strategies found in unsuccessful attempts, providing insights for employees. The individual influence tactics discussed to be most successful are rational persuasion, consultation, and ingratiation, while exchange tactics are likely to lead to a failed influence attempt. The combined influence tactics found …

Are Women Executives Hurting Firm Performance? An Examination Of Gender Diversity On Firm Risk, Performance, And Executive Compensation, Krystal Diane Sung

CMC Senior Theses

In order to assess the continuing imbalance of top executives between genders, I examine the effects of gender diversity within top management teams on firm risk, performance, and executive compensation. Capitalizing on previous analysis, I apply three unique differentiators. First, I utilize current data from 2012 to 2017 from Compustat, CRSP, and ExecuComp. Second, I provide a unique subset view on a firm and individual performance of female CEOs to examine executive compensation. Third, my scope of analysis expands to S&P Composite 1500 companies. I use separate models to estimate the effect of gender diversity on firm risk by examining …

M&A Performance: Market’S Initial Reaction As An Unbiased Indicator Of Post-Acquisition Performance, Nikolaos Papageorgiou

CMC Senior Theses

This paper investigates the reliability of the stock market’s initial reaction to M&A announcements as a predictor of actual post-acquisition performance. The two prevailing methods for evaluating M&A performance are event studies (stock market-based measures) and accounting-based measures. The present study combines these two performance evaluation approaches in a single empirical examination. Both the post-merger buy-and-hold abnormal returns and changes in ROA are used as actual post-acquisition performance variables. The acquirer’s cumulative abnormal return (CAR) around the announcement is used as the market predictor variable. An econometric model is employed to test the predictive power of the announcement-period CAR on …

Are Cds Auctions The Tail Wagging The Dog? An Empirical Study Of Corporate Bond Return Volatility At The Time Of Default, Jennifer Mace

CMC Senior Theses

Over the past decade, numerous engineered credit events and cases of market participants manipulating bond prices to influence Credit Default Swap (CDS) auction payouts have occurred. These cases have become increasingly common, and the CFTC has stated they may constitute market manipulation and undermine not only the CDS market but also the credit derivative and default markets. Although there is a plethora of news and media coverage on publicized cases, there is no previous empirical research on evidence of these practices. This paper is motivated by the desire to determine if there is indirect evidence of bond price manipulation around …

Are Nudges For Alternative Transit Persistent?, Mitchell J. Allan

CMC Senior Theses

The benefits of converting single-person drivers to alternative transit options are well-established. One option to accomplish this is for employers to provide alternative commute incentive programs. However, the research on the implementation of such programs is lacking. To provide a test, this research analyzes data obtained from a field experiment on daily alternative transit commute choices for a seven-month period. Participants are divided into four treatment groups in a two-by-two design for the first three-month period: incentives with either loss or gain framing, and messaging nudges with either the private or public benefits of alternative transit commute choices. The participants …

How Organizations And Their Brands Leverage Marketing Partnerships To Enhance Their Success: The Guidelines To Navigating Both Reaffirming And Repositioning Strategic Partnerships, Remi A. Edwards

CMC Senior Theses

Understanding the different factors, influencers, and outcomes that form a successful brand partnership allow for marketers to make informed decisions that benefit their company. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the literature regarding partnership marketing and issues a set of guidelines for marketers to strategically market their brand by way of collaboration. With two distinct strategic frameworks, reaffirming partnerships and repositioning partnerships, this paper seeks illustrate the efficacy of brand collaboration and how to achieve success based on varying brand goals.

The Nature Of Latin American Markets In The Presence Of Credit Events, Patricio Aguilar

CMC Senior Theses

In the past two decades the Latin American region has experienced a number of credit crises stemming from large sovereign debt levels and sharp currency devaluations. This study aims to discover whether or not the sovereign credit default swaps (CDS) in the Latin American region lead equity markets prior to these sovereign credit events. Through a sample of the seven largest Latin American economies and daily return data from 2001 to 2018, I try to empirically test this question through a Generalized Least Squared model. The paper finds little significant evidence of CDS leading equity markets in price discovery prior …

The Sea Turtle As A Marketing Symbol For The Anti-Plastics Movement, Hannah Chiu

Pitzer Senior Theses

The anti-plastic straw movement uses the sea turtle to bring an empathetic symbol to broaden the scope of the plastics problem in the ocean, giving the public a powerful visual image for the first time in the history of the anti-plastics movement. In this thesis, I build on existing conversations on charismatic megafauna and flagship species, to explore the emerging anti-plastic straw movement and its use of the sea turtle as a symbol. I also provide an analysis of the imagery and comments on social media sites of green marketing companies and non-governmental organizations. These social media sites, such as …

Farm To Label: A Critique Of Consumer Activism In The Sustainable Food Movement, Olivia Whitener

Pomona Senior Theses

“Local,” “organic,” “natural,” and “Fairtrade” are just several of the many claims adorning the food products that line grocery store shelves. These promises of environmental sustainability and social responsibility are pillars of the “good food revolution” sweeping the nation as consumers demand alternatives to the products of the industrial food system. Green consumerism, the premise that consumer demand for environmentally sustainable goods will bring about ecologically beneficial outcomes, is at the heart of the sustainable food movement. This thesis takes a critical look at the operation of green consumerism in the food system. It explores the ideology and shortcomings of …