Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons^™

Selected Adventures In Policy Modeling, Edward Kaplan

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Masked Instability: Within-Sector Financial Risk In The Presence Of Wealth Inequality, Youngna Choi

Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We investigate masked financial instability caused by wealth inequality. When an economic sector is decomposed into two subsectors that possess a severe wealth inequality, the sector in entirety can look financially stable while the two subsectors possess extreme financially instabilities of opposite nature, one from excessive equity, the other from lack thereof. The unstable subsector can result in further financial distress and even trigger a financial crisis. The market instability indicator, an early warning system derived from dynamical systems applied to agent-based models, is used to analyze the subsectoral financial instabilities. Detailed mathematical analysis is provided to explain what financial …

Comparative Study: Reducing Cost To Manage Accessibility With Existing Data, Claire Chu, Bill Kerneckel, Eric C. Larson, Nathan Mowat, Christopher Woodard

SMU Data Science Review

“Project Sidewalk” is an existing research effort that focuses on mapping accessibility issues for handicapped persons to efficiently plan wheelchair and mobile scooter friendly routes around Washington D.C. As supporters of this project, we utilized the data “Project Sidewalk” collected and used it to confirm predictions about where problem sidewalks exist based on real estate and crime data. We present a study that identifies correlations found between accessibility data and crime and housing statistics in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. We identify the key reasons for increased accessibility and the issues with the current infrastructure management system. After a thorough …

Simplicity And Sustainability: Pointers From Ethics And Science, Mehrdad Massoudi, Ashwin Vaidya

Department of Mathematics Facuty Scholarship and Creative Works

In this paper, we explore the notion of simplicity. We use definitions of simplicity proposed by philosophers, scientists, and economists. In an age when the rapidly growing human population faces an equally rapidly declining energy/material resources, there is an urgent need to consider various notions of simplicity, collective and individual, which we believe to be a sensible path to restore our planet to a reasonable state of health. Following the logic of mathematicians and physicists, we suggest that simplicity can be related to sustainability. Our efforts must therefore not be spent so much in pursuit of growth but in achieving …

Some Applications Of Higher-Order Hidden Markov Models In The Exotic Commodity Markets, Heng Xiong

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The liberalisation of regional and global commodity markets over the last several decades resulted in certain commodity price behaviours that require new modelling and estimation approaches. Such new approaches have important implications to the valuation and utilisation of commodity derivatives. Derivatives are becoming increasingly crucial for market participants in hedging their exposure to volatile price swings and in managing risks associated with derivative trading. The modelling of commodity-based variables is an integral part of risk management and optimal-investment strategies for commodity-linked portfolios. The characteristics of commodity price evolution cannot be captured sufficiently by one-state driven models even with the inclusion …

Models For Decision-Making, Steven Cosares

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Black Business Owners Overcoming Barriers In Texas, Henry Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Black entrepreneurs in the state of Texas reported that they did not achieve the same level of success as nonminority enterprises. Many Black entrepreneurs have obtained education from top tier institutions and have the managerial experiences, skills, and working knowledge that facilitate business success, but they are not able to sustain business growth. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Black Texan entrepreneurs. This research was established using the conceptual framework of human capital. The overarching research question concerned the lived experiences of Black Texas entrepreneurs who were not as successful in business as …

Corporate Social Responsibility Implementation Framework, Samuel Bonsu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As social problems, such as environmental pollution persist, the need to implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) to enhance societal well-being becomes important. However, little is known about how corporate leaders implement CSR. The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to identify and report the lived experiences of corporate managers relevant to CSR implementation. This study was guided by ecological systems theory, the Porter hypothesis, the Maslow hierarchy of needs theory, and the Harrod-Domar growth model, which justify the importance of societal well-being to business profitability and growth. The research question regarding the lived experiences of corporate managers of …

Estimating The Optimal Cutoff Point For Logistic Regression, Zheng Zhang

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Binary classification is one of the main themes of supervised learning. This research is concerned about determining the optimal cutoff point for the continuous-scaled outcomes (e.g., predicted probabilities) resulting from a classifier such as logistic regression. We make note of the fact that the cutoff point obtained from various methods is a statistic, which can be unstable with substantial variation. Nevertheless, due partly to complexity involved in estimating the cutpoint, there has been no formal study on the variance or standard error of the estimated cutoff point.

In this Thesis, a bootstrap aggregation method is put forward to estimate the …

Travel To Extraterrestrial Bodies Over Time: Some Exploratory Analyses Of Mission Data, Venkat Kodali, Rohith Kumar Reddy Duggirala, Richard S. Segall, Hyacinthe Aboudja, Daniel Berleant

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

This paper discusses data pertaining to space missions to astronomical bodies beyond earth. The analyses provide summarizing facts and graphs obtained by mining data about (1) missions launched by all countries that go to the moon and planets, and (2) Earth satellites obtained from a Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) dataset and lists of publically available satellite data.

Patient Satisfaction Management In Office Visits And Telehealth In Health Care Technology, Todd Price

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Telehealth and remote medical treatments have begun to be more commonly used in healthcare systems. Researchers have theorized that providers' abilities to treat patients are not directly tied to the proximity of the patient to the doctor, but by the identification and treatment of the patient's symptoms. Although the treatment and cure rates are being established within individual health systems and professional medical associations, empirical research is lacking regarding patient satisfaction with this remote treatment situation. The purpose of this quantitative study was to address this gap by examining satisfaction ratings of patients between virtual provider visits and face-to-face provider …

Analytic Extensions To The Data Model For Management Analytics And Decision Support In The Big Data Environment, Nsikak Etim Akpakpan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

From 2006 to 2016, an estimated average of 50% of big data analytics and decision support projects failed to deliver acceptable and actionable outputs to business users. The resulting management inefficiency came with high cost, and wasted investments estimated at $2.7 trillion in 2016 for companies in the United States. The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study was to examine the data model of a typical data analytics project in a big data environment for opportunities to improve the information created for management problem-solving. The research questions focused on finding artifacts within enterprise data to model key business scenarios for …

Medical Identity Theft And Palm Vein Authentication: The Healthcare Manager's Perspective, Cruz Cerda Iii

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that cyber actors will likely increase cyber intrusions against healthcare systems and their concomitant medical devices because of the mandatory transition from paper to electronic health records, lax cyber security standards, and a higher financial payout for medical records in the deep web. The problem addressed in this quantitative correlational study was uncertainty surrounding the benefits of palm vein authentication adoption relative to the growing crime of medical identity theft. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to understand healthcare managers' and doctors' perceptions of the effectiveness of palm vein authentication technology. The …

Reducing Internal Theft And Loss In Small Businesses, Eric L. Luster

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Every year, several documented data breaches happen in the United States, resulting in the exposure of millions of electronic records. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore strategies some information technology managers used to monitor employees and reduce internal theft and loss. The population for this study consisted of 5 information technology managers who work within the field of technology in the southwestern region of the United States. Participants were selected using purposeful sampling. The conceptual framework for this study included elements from information and communication boundary theories. Data were collected from semistructured interviews, company standard operating procedures, …

Strategies Certified Project Management Professionals Use To Prevent Counterproductive Behavior, Lisa Annika Christin Hansson-Vazquez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Project managers who fail to apply strategies to prevent counterproductive work behavior in information technology projects could negatively affect users, budget costs, timelines, or projects. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that project managers used to prevent counterproductive work behavior that put project success at risk. Social learning theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected through document review of published Project Management Institute (PMI) material as well as semistructured interviews with 10 project managers who were members of a PMI chapter in the southeastern United States, and who held a project …

Leadership Skills To Sustain High-Tech Entrepreneurial Ventures, Zoaib Z. Rangwala

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High-tech (HT) innovation-oriented entrepreneurs start 35% more ventures and create 10% more jobs in the first 5 years of operation than the rest of the private sector and drive significant economic growth across all industries; however, more than 50% of the entrepreneurial HT ventures fail during the first 5 years of operations. Guided by the conceptual framework of transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this multicase study was to explore skills used by successful entrepreneurial leaders to sustain their HT ventures in Silicon Valley, California. Data collection was from 8 participants in semistructured 1-on-1 interviews and 3 participants in a …

Neutrosophic Linear Programming Problems, Florentin Smarandache, Abdel-Nasser Hussian, Mai Mohamed, Mohamed Abdel-Baset

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

Smarandache presented neutrosophic theory as a tool for handling undetermined information. Wang et al. introduced a single valued neutrosophic set that is a special neutrosophic sets and can be used expediently to deal with real-world problems, especially in decision support. In this paper, we propose linear programming problems based on neutrosophic environment. Neutrosophic sets are characterized by three independent parameters, namely truth-membership degree (T), indeterminacy-membership degree (I) and falsity-membership degree (F), which are more capable to handle imprecise parameters. We also transform the neutrosophic linear programming problem into a crisp programming model by using neutrosophic set parameters. To measure the …

Sustainability Strategies For Successful Small Businesses, Barbara Stovall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses struggle to survive for longer than 5 years because owners lack knowledge of strategies to sustain financial capital. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies small business owners used to maintain financial capital to ensure survivability for longer than 5 years. The sample included 3 successful service- related small business owners located in the southeastern United States. Systems theory and the theory of entrepreneurship provided the conceptual framework for the study. Data collection involved face-to-face, semistructured interviews and a review of company websites and organizational documents. Member checking enhanced the credibility of the findings. …

Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility, Environmental Management, And Profitability, Dr. Daisy Valentin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The U.S. hospitality industry's profitability has been shifting to environmental management and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Hospitality industries accounted for 5% of the global market in 2015 and are expected to increase by 130% in 2035. Grounded in stakeholder theory, this correlation study examined the relationship between corporate sustainability officer (CSO) CSR, CSO environmental management, and hospitality business profitability. Secondary data were collected from 97 hotel websites of the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota area from 2014 to 2016. The multiple linear regression combinations of CSR and environmental management (EM) measured significantly related to the profitability index, F(3, 93) = 4.67, …

Educational Manager Perceptions Towards Integrated Management Information System Implementation In Yemen, Mahfood Hussain Alkaabi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The government of Yemen has been developing government offered services designed to improve the quality of education management. Yemen's managers of education and managers of higher education in the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) have sought to improve quality of education, reduce costs, and provide timely information for decision-making processes by implementing an integrated management information system (IMIS). The problem was the lack of understanding the barriers that hinder successful IMIS implementation by the MOE and MOHE, and the role that lack of collaboration has played in prior unsuccessful attempts. The purpose of this …

Success Factors Of Entrepreneurship In Emerging Rural Economies, Sultan Tahir Mehmood

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

One factor of the leadership stratagem is to account for the core values, operations, and growth of the organization. The purpose of this case study was to ascertain the financial strategies small business leaders incorporate to help ensure growth of small businesses. The conceptual framework of Schumpeter's innovation and entrepreneurship theory and the Grameen model were included to drive the scope and analysis of this study. A purposive sample of 8 leaders from successful small businesses in Islamabad contributed to a focus group session; 4 out of these participants originated from the finance and management department and 4 represented sales …

Effective Strategies For Managing The Outsourcing Of Information Technology, Marsha N. Hopwood

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

More than half of information technology (IT) outsourced projects fail, primarily due to a lack of effective management practices surrounding the outsourcing end-to-end process. Ineffective management of the IT outsourcing (ITO) process affects organizations in the form of higher than expected project costs, including greater vendor switching or reintegration costs, poor quality, and loss of profits. These effects indicate that some business leaders lack the strategies to effectively manage the ITO process. The purpose of this single-case study was to apply the transaction cost economics (TCE) theory to explore strategies 5 business professionals use to manage an ITO project in …

Strategies For Achieving Profitability In The Music Streaming Service Business Model, James Bennett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although the rapid growth of the music streaming industry has led to record levels of global music consumption, many leaders in the music streaming industry have not developed a financially sustainable business model for music streaming. This descriptive single case study focused on strategies that some global music streaming service leaders used to generate sustainable profits through their business models. Christensen's theory of disruptive innovation served as the conceptual framework for this study. Semistructured interviews with the chief executive officer and 4 senior managers of a leading music streaming service in southeastern Asia were analyzed to identify themes. Secondary data …

Risk Management Strategies To Prevent And Mitigate Emerging Operational Security Threats, Nancy Page Larrimore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Dependence on technology brings security compromises that have become a global threat that costs businesses millions of dollars. More than 7.6 million South Carolinians incurred effects from the 162 security breaches reported in 2011-2015. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the risk management strategies small business leaders use to prevent and mitigate operational security threats that produce financial losses. The population for this study consisted of 6 business leaders in South Carolina who have demonstrated successful experience in preventing and mitigating operational security threats. Transformational leadership theory provided the conceptual framework for exploring the overreaching research …

Initiating Factors Affecting Information Systems Project Success, Jonathan Olubunmi Afolabi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Information systems (IS) projects are complex and costly, but only a 3rd of IS projects are successful; the Standish Group reported that 32% of IS projects were successful in 2012. Although investments in research have led to improvements in practice, there is a general perception that management failures are responsible for the low rate of IS project success. The effects of initiating factors on project outcome had not been sufficiently explored; few IS researchers have explored the initiation phase. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore project initiation factors, including relational, as well as decision-making aspects, and …

Exploring Management Practices Of The Health Care System For Contractors, Gary L. Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have found that military members serving in war experienced changes in physical and mental health. Military members' healthcare is managed by the Department of Defense. The problem was that management practices of the system for providing long-term healthcare for employees of a contracting company working in foreign combat zones is either minimal or nonexistent. The purpose of this case study was to explore ways that contractor managers and government managers can work together to provide healthcare for those contract employees who will be deployed with the U.S. military. The primary research question was to determine what managers of contractors …

Effect Of Early Exposure To Technology On Student Satisfaction With Online Education, Mohamed Boudalia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

U.S. student enrollment in online classes in the higher education sector has grown rapidly since 2001. Researchers have found that student satisfaction often leads to higher student retention, yet more research was needed to understand reasons for student satisfaction with online education. The purpose of this nonexperimental study was to examine the relationship between students' early exposure to technology (i.e., before college) and their satisfaction with online education in college. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology were the theoretical framework. A convenience sample of 103 participants from the population of online students at colleges and universities in …

Stakeholder Collaboration Strategies In The Hawaii Tourism Industry, Catherine Kaehu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Travel and tourism are concepts that date back to 3000 B.C. with globalization extending possibilities of travel to people across the world. Addressing stakeholder concerns is especially important in promoting the development of sustainable tourism contributing to the protection of Earth's natural resources and long-term sustainability of tourism businesses through collaboration and participation. This qualitative case study incorporated a strategic stakeholder management framework, focusing on exploring strategies that Hawaii tourism industry leaders use for increasing stakeholder participation in sustainable tourism development. The population consisted of individuals across 6 categories of Hawaii tourism industry stakeholders identified as visitors, residents, government or …

A Study Of Groupthink In Project Teams, John Reaves

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Project teams advance a common goal by working together on projects that require a diverse set of skills and are difficult for 1 person to complete. In this study, there was an exploration of the antecedents to groupthink in project teams from the perspectives of project managers. Many companies use project managers to complete critical objectives; avoiding groupthink is crucial to their success. The purpose of this research was to understand why project teams are susceptible to groupthink and what precautions managers can take to avoid it. The conceptual framework utilized in this study was Janis' concept of groupthink, which …

Cash-Flow Management Strategies In Small And Medium-Sized Occupational Health Enterprises, Sibongiseni Selby Myeni

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses are critical to the success of a country's economy. The leaders of the South African government focus on the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to boost the economy and eradicate inequality, poverty, and unemployment. However, the sustainability track record of South African SMEs remains one of the worst records in the world. Therefore, it is essential that stakeholders improve the sustainability of SMEs. Using the resource-based view conceptual framework, the aim of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies that occupational health SME leaders use to manage cash flow to achieve sustainability for longer …