Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons^™

Computer Vision Machine Learning And Future-Oriented Ethics, Abagayle Lee Blank

Honors Projects

Computer Vision Machine Learning (CVML) in the application of facial recognition is currently being researched, developed, and deployed across the world. It is of interest to governments, technology companies, and consumers. However, fundamental issues remain related to human rights, error rates, and bias. These issues have the potential to create societal backlash towards the technology which could limit its benefits as well as harm people in the process. To develop facial recognition technology that will be beneficial to society in and beyond the next decade, society must put ethics at the forefront. Drawing on AI4People’s adaption of bioethics for AI, …

Uber’S Strategy Of Disruptive Innovation: The Implications Of Negative Press, Margaret M. Taylor

Honors Projects

In the last ten years of Uber’s existence the company has become a household name. Through their journey in becoming so well-known, they have had both positive and negative press that has affected how the world has seen them. While they have spent the last ten years revitalizing the taxi and limousine service industry, they have also consistently dealt with the changing perception of the public. Their fairly large number of scandals has not forfeited their industry leading position to Lyft, nor has it negatively affected their financial benefits. Uber’s radical disruptive innovation provided them with a clear sustainable advantage, …

Recent Casino And Card Club Bsa And Aml Enforcement Actions, Leonard C. Senia

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

This section will discuss eight important FinCEN enforcement actions that occurred from 2015 through November 2017, against five casinos and three card clubs for violating BSA casino civil regulatory requirements, and in some instances federal anti-money laundering laws. Also, this section will discuss two criminal cases against a casino and a card club that occurred in 2015 and 2016. This discussion is a summary of those actions intended to provide gaming regulators, United States Attorneys, special agents, and IRS civil examiners with an understanding of these BSA and AML regulatory actions to alert them to the challenges and problems the …

Illness And The American Workplace: Issues And Implications For Employers And Employees, Victoria R. Dolan

Student Theses and Dissertations

This project aims to identify American employee experiences and existing workplace policies and cultures surrounding illness, disability, and sick leave. This approach was taken in order to closely examine what looks to be working well for companies and workers, and what could benefit from a more human centric approach in regards to workplace policy and employee support programs. The study of employee experiences in particular represents a gap in the current scholarly literature regarding illness and illness policy in the American workplace, and more accurately represents the experiences for both employees and employers. Furthermore, it assists with distinguishing the types …

Legal Accountability And Nonprofit Governance: An Exploratory Quantitative Study Of Board Member And Executive Knowledge Of Fiduciary Duties, Crystal Trull

Dissertations

United States nonprofits are governed by boards of directors who have legal responsibilities based on the fiduciary duties of care, loyalty, and obedience. Boards, along with the chief executive, are held responsible to fulfill these standards which are designed to hold nonprofits legally accountable to carry out their tax exempt purpose by using organizational resources for the intended purpose, avoid conflict of interest, and ensure compliance. However, despite this weighty responsibility and the voluntary nature of nonprofits, no standardized process exists to educate nonprofit leaders about their legal responsibilities.

While governance is a key area of nonprofit research, there is …

Examining The United Kingdom’S Soft Law Approach For Women On Boards With Regard To Gender Diversity And The Gender Pay Gap: A Regression Discontinuity Design, Silvana Chambers

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

In an effort to remove barriers that hinder women’s advancement in the workplace, legislators have adopted gender quotas and targets to increase the numbers of women on boards (WOB). In 2011, the Davies Review rolled out the guidelines of the United Kingdom’s soft law approach for increasing the proportion of WOB in the largest publicly listed organizations. Promoted by advocates and proponents of WOB initiatives, the assumption that inequality is perpetuated by men and not women, has resulted in the expectation that WOB initiatives are a top-down approach to achieve gender equality in the workforce. This study examined the effects …

Authentic Csr In Professional Sport Organizations: Application Of A Theoretical Framework, Yoseph Mamo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Within the present dissertation, determinants for authentic CSR, process and outcomes are explored. A three-paper multiple method examination has been conducted, including a conceptual paper framework (Chapter 2), a structural equation model (Chapter 3), and MANOVA analysis (Chapter 4). Chapter 2 extends literature on when, why, and how professional sport organizations (PSO) can develop authentic CSR activities that can have a long-term positive impact on stakeholders. Chapter 3 advances literature on identifying the relevant dimensions of CSR that are supported by the fans rather than using a more holistic approach will advance our understanding of the relationships between different types …

Where Reality Meets Fantasy, Kendall Rankin

Senior Honors Projects

“Fantasy and reality often overlap,” was once said by Walt Disney. In my story, Where Reality Meets Fantasy, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and Gelatoni, from DisneySea, dive into the world of employment law and how it affects the Walt Disney Company.

Walt Disney loved storytelling and it is demonstrated in his movies and parks. With his company’s emphasis on safety, courtesy, show and efficiency, Disney wanted not only his guests but also his cast members to enjoy being at the Happiest Place on Earth. With laws like the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and the Civil Rights …

The Performance Of Military Defense Contracted Companies After September 11th, 2001: The Case Of Politically Connected Companies, Derek J. Larsen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This paper examines the effect that the terrorist attacks on September 11^th, 2001 had on the stock prices of companies within the military defense industry. In addition, this paper studies the effect of the defense firms’ political engagement (through lobbying activities) and how this affected the stock price response to the terrorist attacks. Our study finds that the cumulative abnormal returns of these companies are positively significant and that companies who lobbied experienced higher returns relative to those who did not lobby.

Benchmarking Oecd Countries’ Sustainable Development Performance: A Goal-Specific Pca Approach, Shyam Lamichhane

Master's Theses

In this thesis, the current status of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries’ sustainable development performance towards reaching the recently announced 2030 Agenda (17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)) was investigated. Over 90 social, economic and environmental sustainability indicators were considered for the performance assessment of OECD countries towards reaching the targeted SDGs. The current weighted averaging approach used in the recent SDG Index and Dashboards Report was used as the benchmark and its limitations were discussed. To overcome the limitations, a novel Goal Specific Principal Component Analysis (GS-PCA) approach was proposed to create composite sustainability index …

Shades Of Beige: Tarte Cosmetics And Racial Inclusivity, Dominika J. Jedinak

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The release of Shape Tape foundation, a facial cosmetics line by Tarte Cosmetics, sparked disappointment and outrage in consumers for the lack of racial inclusivity in the range of shades offered. This came as a surprise to Tarte who, from their beginning has been a very socially aware and ecologically thoughtful company. Was this outrage justified? Did Tarte owe their customers an apology? And, if so, how should they go about making amends?

When Tarte released an apology, they further angered consumers who took to social media to express their dissatisfaction. The Shape Tape foundation release sparked a debate on …

Social Class And Perceptions Of Unethical Behavior In An Organizational Setting, Jake Grawe

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore whether social class of third-party adjudicators or perpetrators affected punitive decision-making in unethical workplace scenarios. It was hypothesized that third-party adjudicators would grant leniency towards lower-class perpetrators as well as towards perpetrators who shared their own social class. Results showed that there was no significant difference in the perception and assignment of punishment for different social class perpetrators, nor did the results show that leniency was granted to perpetrators who shared adjudicators’ social class. Although the study did not confirm the initial hypotheses, unexpected trends did arise within the study and are …

Beyond The Buzzword, Ryal Wun

Asian Management Insights

According to Jen Boynton, vice president of member engagement at 3BL Media, “Corporate responsibility is simply a way for companies to take responsibility for the social and environmental impacts of their business operations.”1Looked at this way, corporate social responsibility (CSR) can, in effect, include a whole gamut of business practices and policies that make a business socially accountable—to itself, its stakeholders, and the public. These activities can range from philanthropy and environmental consciousness to ethical labour practices.

Evaluating The Impact Of Training Employees To Identify Victims Of Human Trafficking, Emily Roman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human trafficking is a global epidemic that steals the freedoms away from those who have been oppressed by it. Providing victims with resources begins with identifying them. Unfortunately, identifying victims is not an easy task. Trafficked victims are controlled and protected by their traffickers, and recipients may not even realize that they are victims of human trafficking. Also, the vague nature of trafficking makes it difficult for service providers, such as those in law enforcement, healthcare, and social services, to identify victims readily. Furthermore, research efforts imply a general lack of training provided for employees to know how to identify …

Consumers’ Reactions To Multiple Instances Of Negative Publicity: The Role Of Publicity Domain Similarity, Berna Basar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Although it is very typical for consumers to be exposed to multiple instances of negative publicity about a brand, existing research has focused on consumers’ reactions to one-time negative publicity instances. Given the important role of self-brand connection in consumers’ reactions to negative brand-related information, the current study investigates how consumers with different self-brand connection levels react to multiple instances of negative publicity in a single domain versus across different domains. Specifically, I suggest that consumers with high self-brand connection might be defense motivated, which in return, might result in justification of one-time instances unless consistency in behavior is signaled. …

A Study Of The Effectiveness Of Ethics Instruction To Accounting Students At East Tennessee State University, Elizabeth Brackins

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Strong ethics are critical to the success of each member of the business world, especially accountants. Because the work of accountants is utilized by both internal and external users and can have such widespread effect on the business community, it is imperative that this work is performed with the utmost accuracy, integrity and morality. The foundation for strong ethics begins before the accountant enters the workforce, and many colleges require dedicated ethics courses for accounting majors. The purpose of this project is to analyze the effectiveness of the ethics instruction, specifically in the absence of a required dedicated ethics course, …

Retention, Matthew Molinaro

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

Employee retention in the 21th century reflects how companies keep their employees motivated and well prepared for the challenges in the workplace. In this paper, I apply the concepts of motivation and how employers keep their employees. I also emphasize the costly effects of a employee leaving the organization, both as a dollar and emotional standpoint.

Loyalty Loses Ground To Market Freedom In The U.S. Supreme Court, Daniel Harris

William & Mary Business Law Review

In the last decade, the U.S. Supreme Court has taken a much less moralistic and much more market-oriented approach to questions of fiduciary loyalty. In cases involving fiduciaries with conflicts of interest, the Court has shifted the burden of proof to the party claiming unfair treatment, thereby protecting deals and making loyalty harder to enforce. The Court has also struck down or narrowly construed laws designed to prevent disloyalty by fiduciaries on the theory that broad prohibitions on business conduct encroach on constitutionally protected freedoms.

This Article discusses how the Supreme Court’s new approach represents a departure from the Court’s …

Criminal Trade Secret Theft Cases Against Judgment Proof Defendants In Texas And California, Michelle Evans, Kurt M. Saunders

William & Mary Business Law Review

Trade secret theft is a costly and ongoing risk to many businesses. As the two most populous states, California and Texas are home to numerous businesses that own trade secrets. Although civil remedies afford one source of relief when a trade secret has been stolen or disclosed, collecting on a judgment may be impossible due to the Homestead laws in both states, which effectively render the defendants judgment proof. In such cases, another alternative is to consider a criminal prosecution under the Federal Economic Espionage Act or state law. The same misconduct that results in civil liability can also violate …

Government Ownership Of Banks: A Curse Or A Blessing For The United States?, Yueh-Ping (Alex) Yang

William & Mary Business Law Review

During the Financial Crisis of 2007–2008, the Treasury injected an enormous amount of capital and held equity in 707 financial institutions to stabilize the U.S. financial system. The government’s large-scale ownership of banks alarmed the U.S. banking sector. The mainstream opinion in the United States strongly opposed this practice, mostly due to the distrust of the government and the fear that government intervention would jeopardize private shareholders’ interests. Later developments, including the Treasury’s quick exit from its holdings and the Dodd-Frank Act’s declaration of the end of bailouts, suggest that the U.S. government eventually succumbed to the mainstream opinion.

Such …