Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

Strategic Alignment Of Future Goals - Mutual Of Omaha, Sara Pinkelman

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Mutual of Omaha is a health insurance company that has potential to reach economies of scale within its industry. It can cover more market share if it makes a few changes to its corporate strategy. Conclusions were drawn from news articles in addition to financial postings from the company. Mutual needs to move forward in their industry if they want to stay competitive, and by implementing a differentiated strategy, they can become more competitive. With these findings, Mutual of Omaha has the potential to grow and develop and gain a better standing within their industry. This can help them better …

The Effects Of Developed Country Equity Markets On Developing Country Trading Partner Growth, Jorge S. Maldonado

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three chapters, focusing on the effects that developed countries have on their developing country trading partners with the consideration of macroeconomic variables. In Chapter I, I explore the differences in the drivers and the corresponding magnitude effects on domestic real stock returns during fixed and floating exchange rate regimes. In Chapter II, the equity developed market effects on domestic real stock returns is determined during the pre- and post-great recession periods under floating exchange rate regimes. Chapter III summarizes the findings and provides concluding remarks regarding the benefits and disadvantages in adopting a floating exchange rate …

Ethereum And The Sec: Why Most Distributed Autonomous Organizations Are Subject To The Registration Requirements Of The Securities Act Of 1933 And A Proposal For New Regulation, Tiffany L. Minks

Texas A&M Law Review

In a world full of new technology, the risk of fraud is constantly increasing. In the securities industry, this risk existed long before the use of technology. Congress enacted the Securities Act of 1933 to combat the risk of fraud and misrepresentation in the sale of securities. By requiring full disclosure, investors have the opportunity to make informed decisions prior to investing. However, Distributed Autonomous Organizations (“DAOs”), through the use of blockchains and smart-contracts, engage in the sale of securities without fully disclosing the risks or complying with the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933. Compliance with the …

Spirituality As A Human Resource Attribute To Facilitate Employee Engagement And Retention, Wesley Dale Sumner

Theses and Dissertations

Spirituality as an important component of American workplace success is a phenomenon only better understood during the past two decades. Until now, little research has been done to understand workplace spirituality in the human resource context of employee retention and engagement. The pioneering study with a focus on workplace spirituality led by Mitroff and Denton (1999a) signaled a theoretical and empirical convergence highlighting spiritual practice influence on organizational outcomes (Benefiel, Fry, & Geigle, 2014). The inclusion of spirituality in the workplace is an avenue to more fully engage workers who wish to express themselves at work, resulting in their deeper …

Business Plan For Face To Face Els, Llc, Ellen Lucy Simon

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Do Emotionally Intelligent People Express Their Faith At Work? An Empirical Investigation, Catherine G. Shearer

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The question posed is: “Do Emotionally Intelligent People Express Their Faith at Work?” This study will use self-reported measures of emotional intelligence (EQ), Faith at Work, and Religious Commitment to determine the degrees to which individuals who are members of the Johnson City Chamber of Commerce express a level of EQ as well as faith in the workplace. The current study will test each hypothesis to determine if there is a significant relationship between the four factors of EQ and faith in the Workplace. The four factors of EQ are: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management.

Business Plan: The Coffee Project, Lauren Porter

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

Executive Summary

The Coffee Project will be a specialty coffee shop in downtown Bartlesville, OK offering direct-trade coffee, tea, simple meals, and TCP merchandise. The shop will offer the standard specialty coffee drinks like cappuccinos, lattes, macchiatos and cortados, as well as shots of flavors and a selection of milk alternatives. In achieving its mission to provide great specialty coffee with a cause to Bartlesville, a portion of the profits from every food or drink purchase at The Coffee Project will be donated to local and regional charity organizations of the customers’ choosing. All net profits from TCP merchandise will …

The Impact Of Music On Task Performance At Work, Courtney Wilson

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

Music plays a big role in the daily life of an average person. Humans are almost constantly exposed to music in some form whether it is through commercials, movies, telephone music, or a variety of other sources. The centrality of music to life can be observed across cultures because music appeals to people’s “emotions and contributes to [an individual’s] ability to learn and remember information” (Brown and Brown, 1997, p. 349).

Music’s centrality to everyday life has inspired researchers to study the influence and impact that music has on individuals. Research that has been conducted over the past century has …

The Value Of The Global Supply Chain & Operations Management Capstone Consulting Course On Graduates Careers, Ashley Kathleen Hannon

Senior Theses

The University of South Carolina’s Global Supply Chain & Operations Management [GSCOM] program in the Management Science Department has witnessed incredible growth and success throughout its first ten years as a major in the Darla Moore School of Business. The crown jewel of the GSCOM program is the Capstone project, a consulting course offered for program seniors. This thesis paper examines the value of the Capstone program through analysis of results from a graduate survey. The survey was administered to graduates from the 2013-2017 classes, and aims to capture the value that Capstone had on the first year of each …

The Legend Of Wara And Benchmarking Purchase Price Allocation Data, Matthew Crane

Doctoral Dissertations (DBA)

This paper examines the relationship of the relative weightings of intangible assets recorded in purchase price allocations by industry based upon a weighted average rate of return (“WARA”) framework to determine if there is a statistical relationship between the value weightings and discount rates and if benchmarking the value weightings to industry data can be used as a reliable indicator of reasonableness. Both the WARA process and benchmarking assume that the relative values of intangibles impact the discount rate selected or that there is commonality in the industry ratios. Intuitively, the use of WARA and Benchmarking for financial reporting both …

Hedging With Volatility, Mário Alagoa

Doctoral Dissertations (DBA)

A risk-averse investor with a long equity position is presumably interested in identifying a hedging strategy that protects the value of that investment. The common approach encompasses using either financial derivatives or holding assets (such as gold or Swiss francs) as portfolio hedges as they show negative correlation with equities. This paper proposes using volatility indexes as portfolio hedges instead; it shows that a volatility-based dynamic hedging strategy is the most effective at protecting the value of an equity investment.

The Relationship Between Science And Policy, Michaela Warren

Senior Honors Projects

Increased human development and its adverse effects on nature require that our society establish new environmental policies to address these. The implementation and/or modification of environmental policies and regulations comes with its challenges. Evidence-based scientific discoveries play a key part in making effective environmental policy. Without access to and transmission of scientific information, environmental mangers and politicians have no basis to support regulatory changes. Similarly, scientists that do not engage with environmental managers and politicians are restricted developing their scholarly findings into active reform. Growth of environmental protection relies on managers, policy makers, and scientists being aware of each other …

A Tale Of Two Airlines: A Comparative Case Study Of High-Road Versus Low-Road Strategies In Customer Service And Reputation Management, Donna L. Roberts, John C. Griffith

Publications

Customer surveys from Ryanair and Southwest Airline passengers were examined to determine their perceptions on customer service for the period of 2012-2013. Southwest Airlines (n=149) was rated significantly higher than Ryanair (n=165) in overall rating (p=.0228), seat comfort (p<.0001), cabin/staff service (p<.0001), and value (p=.0004). Additionally, passengers would recommend Southwest Airlines at a higher rate than Ryanair (p=.0006). Open area comments emphasized that customer service and policies had a large impact on the ratings. Specifically, 53% of Ryanair customers complained about inefficient or unwelcome processes and discourteous or unfriendly service compared to 29% for Southwest Airlines. Ryanair customers complained about check-in procedures, open seating policy, and fees ranging from oversized carry-on bags to fees for printing out boarding passes. The largest area of complaint for Southwest customers concerned how customers were treated for flight delays.

The Complexity In The Discrepancy: A Holistic View Of The Electricity Supply And Demand Discrepancy In Nigeria, Olufunso O. Olulafe

Student Scholarship

The gap between electricity supply and demand, in Nigeria, is not decreasing. To gain more insight into the phenomenon, we sought to take a holistic approach at analysis and learn about the relationship between dimensions of investment, policy, entrepreneurial orientation innovation, and the electricity situation in Nigeria. In this qualitative study, we interviewed 30 individuals, who have experience in Nigeria. The interviewees also have sound perspectives on key stakeholders in the electricity ecosystem. Building on this foundation, we make the case that the dimension of national character, and its second order constructs has a relationship with the previous dimensions, in …

Improvisation And Leadership Development: Understanding Improvisational Theater Arts As Leadership Skills, Jack Skalican

Doctoral Dissertations

Leadership development is immersed in a philosophical struggle. Past efforts at developing leaders have missed a set of skills important to the role of today’s leaders. Since Frederick Taylor invented the practice of scientific management, the study of management and leadership has largely focused on traits, practices, and behaviors that conform to this model such as planning, analysis, control, and monitoring. Missing in this focus, however, are less transactional leadership skills like intuition, improvisation, and creativity. As a result, organizations have begun drawing on improvisational theater skills as one answer to fill this leadership development gap.

This case study focuses …

Covered International: A Proposal For Growth, Sarah Shumaker

Honors Projects

The following proposal examines the operation of Covered International, a nonprofit organization committed to helping women who have been victims of domestic violence, sexual exploitation, and trafficking, Contemporary ideas and suggested changes are detailed that will foster the growth of the organization through education and awareness, funding, and expansion.

Asarco Llc V. Atlantic Richfield Company, Ryan L. Hickey

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liabiltiy Act, commonly known as CERCLA, facilitates cleanup of hazardous waste sites and those contaminated by other harmful substances by empowering the Environmental Protection Agency to identify responsible parties and require them to undertake or fund remediation. Because pollution sometimes occurrs over long periods of time by multiple parties, CERCLA also enables polluters to seek financial contribution from other contaminators of a particular site. The Ninth Circuit clarified the particuar circumstances under which contribution actions may arise in Asarco LLC v. Atlantic Richfield Co., holding non-CERCLA settlements may give rise to CERCLA contribution …

Excel Technique Workshop, Kendall Newcomer

Honors Projects

This research paper identifies key Microsoft Excel skills for users at the beginner and intermediate stage. The document consists of 3 consecutive workshops based off the Microsoft Excel skills identified.

Project Management Online Course – An Instructional Design Project, Fred R Hyatt

Student Works

Project management is a subject that is in demand at today’s institutions of higher learning. It is a valuable skill for employees in sectors from instructional design to information technology, and in many other fields. This report summarizes a project to create an online course with content similar to the IS 405 Project Management course in the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University. A brief literature search is described along with a design model based on the combination of Merrill’s First Principles and Gibbon’s Layer Theory of Instructional Design. The scope of the project was adjusted to be …

Exploration Of The Impact Of Lean System On Profitability In U. S. Pharmaceutical Industry, Linya Shu

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Business and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Science by Linya Shu on April 27, 2018.