Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons^™

Development Of Modeling Tools To Determine The Effects Of Customer Diversification On Customer Lifetime Value Volatility In Higher Education, Oscar Neal

Dissertations

As societies become increasingly global the competition for customers continues to increase. In competitive markets, it is important to identify a process to acquire and retain the most profitable customers. To discriminate customers, it is important to understand the value different customers bring to an organization. Much research has been done modeling customer value using customer lifetime value, however, there is limited research on the effect current customer diversity has on future customer lifetime value of future customer portfolios.

In this dissertation, a Lifetime Value Model considering the interaction between customer diversity, revenue management, and customer lifetime value in an …

Wmu Career And Student Employment Services – Present Practices And Future Recommendations For Employer Relations, Amanda Jeppesen

Honors Theses

Career services offices currently find themselves in a rapidly changing environment. Due to economic hardship, students and employers are expecting more effective and fruitful engagement, and offices must create innovative solutions to provide such engagement on shrinking budgets. Career services staff charged with conducting employer relations activities are charged with brokering these relationships between employers, students, faculty and staff, and the offerings of their departments. The purpose of this study is to determine current practices for the career services offices at Western Michigan University, Oakland University, and Central Michigan University. Then, best practices identified by industry experts will be explored …

Building Experience Beyond Academics, Katherine M. Ragan

Honors Theses

The object of this study is to determine the perceived benefits of building experience beyond academics. This study consisted of online survey through Question Pro with questions about what co-curricular activities students participated in, whether or not the student had held a previous leadership position, perceptions of benefits of extracurricular activities, holding a job on campus, and academics, demographics, and academic status.

Western Michigan University students were invited to participate in the survey via emails from professors and through social media site invites such as Facebook. Students were able to complete the survey at their convenience from Monday, June 18, …

Development Of A New Technology Venture Balanced Scorecard Derived From Critical Factors That Impact Product Quality, Zella Jackson Hannum

Dissertations

Can a department manager who launches technologically advanced products use a performance measurement tool to improve product quality? Business environments where technologically advanced products are launched to the market for the first time, known as new technology ventures (NTV’s), have lagged behind in adoption of measures that drive product quality. NTV’s have been slow to adopt such measures due to a lack of research that would substantiate the impact of any proposed performance management systems. Thus, the development of an effective and useful tool that measures and drives product quality performance in NTV environments, which has usable visual displays—would be …

Cross-Cultural Influences On Management Practices: It's Impact On Distribution Of Power, Leadership, And Communication. A Comparative Study Between The Dominican Republic And The United States, Paol P. Badia Diaz

Honors Theses

Different nations have particular ways of conducting businesses. At the root of most problems that arise during international negotiations, is a lack of cultural understanding. In a study conducted by Hofstede it was found that over 50% of differences in manager's attitude was due to national culture; a portion that exceeded profession, race, and gender. Many intercultural misunderstandings are due to behaviors of a person from one culture being incorrectly perceived, interpreted and reacted to by a person from another culture (Schmidt, Conaway, Easton & Wardrope, 2007). If the 47 million Latin Americans living in the United States were to …

Registration Of Apprenticeship Programs And The Turnover Of Skilled Trade Employees, Dennis J. Bona

Dissertations

The primary purpose of the study is to provide empirical evidence that refutes arguments made by employers who resist registering an apprenticeship program because they believe it will increase turnover of their skilled trade employees. To do this, data were collected to test the hypothesis that companies that have a registered apprenticeship program experience less turnover of their skilled trade employees compared to companies that do not. Secondary hypotheses were also developed to compare turnover ratios with union orientation, size, and wage structure of employers to help validate the results and demonstrate alternative explanations for turnover of skilled trade employees. …

The Diffusion Of Management Practices In The United States, Fumie Murase

Masters Theses

The study of diffusion of Japanese management practices in the United States is required by growing Japanese investment in the United States and the need of United States manufacturing to become more efficient. This thesis is based on a qualitative analysis of five case studies of automobile assembly plants in the United States utilizing cultural diffusion theory.

Most of Japanese production practices and some of their labor management policies were originally transferred to Japan from the United States. After being modified in Japan some of these policies are coming back to the United States with the transplants. Other Japanese management …

The Effects Of Quality Of Work Life Processes On Job Satisfaction And Productivity, Greg Alan Dabicci

Masters Theses

This study was conducted to determine the effects of employee participation on job satisfaction and productivity. A small group of hourly employees (5-7) from a package sort and load operation worked with management to identify, analyze, and solve performance problems. Four employee participation interventions were examined: 1) group problem solving of sorting performance, 2) individualized problem solving of loading performance, 3) general participation on job satisfaction, and 4) general participation on overall productivity. The results indicated that the participation program was effective in improving job satisfaction, group performance, and individual performance. The program was not effective in improving overall productivity. …