Digital Commons Network^™

Condiciones Laborales De La Floricultura En Colombia, Alexander Thibado

University Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes the laboral conditions and the socioeconomic implications of the Colombian floriculture industry. The proportion of employment opportunities for rural Colombian peasant women is examined and how it challenges traditional gender structures in Colombia and the empowerment of the female workers. Likewise the controversy of domestic violence is addressed and how workshops given in flower farms contribute to its prevention and addressing. In addition, the usage of pesticides in flower production and its significance for the health of the workers is examined, highlighting the associated risks with long-term exposure to chemical pesticides and the importance of protection and …

Tmha Parking Lot Project, Steven Hickman, Jack Gugale

Construction Management

The Transitional Mental Health Association (TMHA) parking lot project in Edna, California, aimed to construct a 4,400 SF decomposed granite (DG) parking lot for the TMHA’s Youth Treatment Program (YTP). TMHA’s YTP involves giving children in a transitional housing state a safe and welcoming place to live while addressing the problem of unhoused children in San Luis Obispo County. This initiative involved extensive grading, forming, surveying, and installing the necessary infrastructure to ensure both functional and aesthetic improvements for the facility. The project was meticulously planned and executed during the Spring, 2024 quarter, with a budget of approximately $4,285. The …

Risk Analysis In Financial Statements, A Comparative Study Of Ai Vs Human Risk Assessment, Andre Denegri

University Honors Theses

This theses explores the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in the auditing industry, focusing on its implications for audit quality, efficiency, and the evolving role of human auditors. A comprehensive review of relevant literature highlights the integration of AI-driven tools such as machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing in audit processes, emphasizing their capabilities in enhancing risk assessment, fraud detection, and data analytics.

The experimental design features an innovative approach to compare the efficacy of AI and human auditors in conducting risk analysis for three companies--Blockbuster, Enron, and Lehman Brothers--presented anonymously with pre-bankruptcy financial information. The findings …

Stock Market Volatility In The United Kingdom: Simulating Post-Covid-19 Recovery, Bala A. Dahiru, Mohammed Shuaibu, Najibullah Hassanov

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

This paper investigates the time it would take for the FTSE-100 index to reach its post-COVID-19 peak. The paper utilises an exponential generalised autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (EGARCH) model that accounts for leverage effect and asymmetries. The preferred models amongst competing variants was the Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA)-EGARCH(2,1) specification and was used to predict daily FTSE-100 data from 5th January 2000 to 21st June 2024. The empirical exercise showed that the COVID-19-induced financial crisis negatively affected the United Kingdom’s stock market performance. The results show that the FTSE100 index could reach its post-pandemic peak around 27th August, 2024 (two months after …

Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic On Performance Of Nigerian Stock Market, Shafiu Ibrahim Abdullahi

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

This study analyzes the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of Nigerian stock market. The study uses a number of models that include autoregressive distributed lag, vector auto regression, exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity and multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity models. Findings show that reported cases of COVID-19 have causal effect on daily returns of the Nigerian stock market. The results also show that Nigerian stocks are good for portfolio diversification. The results of variance decomposition confirm the declining importance of COVID-19 cases and deaths as the pandemic slows down. Further results show that, for the duration of the …

Outgoing Mda President Knudsen: ‘I Strongly Believe In The Mda!’, Eric Knudsen Dds

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

In his outgoing address, MDA President Knudsen expressed excitement about the association’s future and highlighted key achievements and challenges. He thanked his wife, staff, and interim executive director Bill Sullivan for their support, particularly after the sudden passing of Karen Burgess. Knudsen emphasized initiatives to improve rural dental care, restructure the finance department, and address insurance reimbursement issues. He praised the MDA’s advocacy efforts, including expanding Medicaid and legislative accomplishments. Knudsen concluded by welcoming new executive director John Tramontana and expressing confidence in MDA's continued success.

Staff Matters: How Will The New Federal Earnings Threshold Impact Our Practice?, Jodi Schafer Sphr, Shrm-Scp

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This article addresses impending changes to overtime rules under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and their implications for dental practices. The Department of Labor's recent updates on the minimum earning threshold for exempt employees necessitate adjustments in employment classifications. Starting July 1, 2024, the threshold will increase to $844 per week and subsequently rise every three years. Dental practices, including salaried employees like dental hygienists and management staff, must reassess classifications to ensure compliance. For affected employees, reclassification as non-exempt may be necessary, entailing eligibility for overtime pay. However, a hybrid approach—paying non-exempt employees a weekly salary while …

Mda Foundation: $110,000 Raised At Sparkling Smiles Event; Mini-Grant Awarded, Anne Berquist

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

The 2024 MDA Foundation’s Sparkling Smiles event raised a record-breaking $110,000, surpassing last year's total by $30,000. The Holland Free Dental Clinic received a $2,500 mini-grant. Keynote speaker Todd J. Duckett's address inspired generosity. The Foundation awarded $110,000 in grants this past year, including 12 scholarships totaling $31,000. The event featured a successful Wine Lotto and was supported by numerous sponsors.

Building A Unified Dental Team, Michelle C. Dziurgot Dds

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Unity is essential for dental teams to function cohesively, especially post-COVID-19. Effective unity involves clear communication, shared goals, and trust among team members. Embracing diversity and respecting all cultures are crucial. Regular team meetings and activities, both on-site and off-site, help foster unity. Utilizing resources like DiSC® training can also enhance team cohesion.

Mda Insurance: Weave A Financial Safety Net To Protect Your Income Stream, Future, And Family, Craig Start

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

It's crucial to have a financial safety net, especially for small-business owners and parents, to protect against career-ending injury or illness. Key insurance policies include life insurance, disability income insurance, and business overhead expense insurance. Life insurance ensures financial support for your family, while disability insurance provides income if you cannot work. Business overhead insurance covers business expenses during your disability. Contact MDA Insurance for a consultation on these essential protections.

Ai Competency Acquisition Online? Engaging Undergraduate Students In An Ai 101 Course Through A Chatbot Workshop, Thomas Menkhoff, Lydia Teo

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In recent years, digital transformation has dominated industries at an unprecedented rate. Alongside the proliferation of Artificial ntelligence (AI) technologies in the workplace, institutions of higher learning are experiencing an unprecedented push to integrate AI into the education ecosystem (Popenici & Kerr, 2017; Renz & Hilbig, 2020). AI in education (AIED) has the propensity to enrich teaching and learning in higher education by personalising students’ learning courses, automating assessment tasks, or providing24/7 access to learning resources (Karandish, 2021). According to estimates by the AI Market in the US Education Report, the AIEDmarket will grow at a CAGR of 47.77% during …

Implicit Commitments To Workplace Environment And Corporate Information Production: Evidence From Indoor Environment Quality, Summer Rui Huang, Leonard Leye Li, Louise Yi Lu, Rencheng Wang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study investigates the effect of a firm’s indoor environment quality (IEQ) on its information production. Leveraging a third-party sustainability building rating system that provides IEQ scores for office buildings, we first show that employees in a firm’s headquarters with better IEQ scores are more likely to leave positive building-related feedback on Glassdoor, indicating employees’ recognition and appreciation of a workplace with superior IEQ. Next, we find robust evidence that firms headquartered in buildings with better IEQ issue more frequent and more accurate management forecasts. Furthermore, we show that a firm’s commitment to better IEQ (1) enhances occupational wellbeing of …

Job Insecurity And Well-Being: Integrating Life History And Transactional Stress Theories, Nina Sirola

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The current research proposes and tests a novel model explaining how job insecurity shapes well-being and has consequences for stratification and inequality. I draw on evolutionary life history theory, which proposes that growing up in a poorer versus wealthier environment impacts the sense of control people feel when exposed to threat in adulthood. I integrate this perspective with transactional stress theory to propose that job insecurity has a disproportionately negative effect on employees from poorer backgrounds, leading to lower engagement and higher emotional exhaustion among such employees, while those from wealthier backgrounds are buffered against these effects. These responses to …

Fluid Futures: The Revitalization Of Yangzhou Through Its Historical Waterways, Feiyang Wu

Masters Theses

In China, cities such as Yangzhou, which in pre-modern times played central roles in the political, cultural, and economic functioning of the country based on their geographic location, proximity to water-based trade routes, and connections to the imperial court, are today facing uncertain futures due to waterways no longer being critical to trade, and government-driven development being focused on first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. With this, the working-age population migrates from smaller cities toward these urban giants, leaving behind aging relatives, a less robust and diversified economic base, and few attributes other than cultural tourism that …

Raising The Bar — Integrating Cultural Competence And Equity: Equitable Evaluation – With 2024 Prologue, Jara Dean-Coffey, Jill Casey, Leon D. Caldwell

The Foundation Review

Editor’s Note: This article, first published in print and online in 2014, has been republished by The Foundation Review with minor updates.

Whether implicit or explicit, social justice and human rights are part of the mission of many philanthropies. Evaluation produced, sponsored, or consumed by these philanthropies that doesn’t pay attention to the imperatives of cultural competency may be inconsistent with their missions.

The American Evaluation Association’s Statement on Cultural Competence provides those who produce, sponsor, and use evaluation an opportunity to examine and align their practices and policies within a context of racial and cultural equity and inclusion. The …

Internal Culture, External Impact: How A Changemaking Culture Positions Foundations To Achieve Transformational Change – With 2024 Prologue, Amy Celep, Sara Brenner, Rachel Mosher-Williams

The Foundation Review

Editor’s Note: This article, first published in print and online in 2016, has been republished by The Foundation Review with minor updates.

This article argues that a foundation’s internal culture is critical to achieving large-scale social change, but that efforts to build a changemaking culture too often are left out of strategy conversations.

While there is no one culture that suits every foundation, a particular set of characteristics must be present in those that seek largescale social change: a focus on outcomes, transparency, authenticity, collaboration, racial equity and inclusion, continuous learning, and openness to risk.

This article offers insights into …

Donor-Advised Funds And Impact Investing: A Practitioner’S View – With 2024 Prologue, Sam Marks

The Foundation Review

Editor’s Note: This article, first published in print and online in 2022, has been republished by The Foundation Review with minor updates.

Any discussion of foundations embracing impact investing must include some discussion of one of the largest — and growing — sources of philanthropic capital: donor-advised funds. These philanthropic accounts allow donors of all sizes to access many of the functions of a private foundation, including the potential to invest for impact. Sponsors of these funds, however, face unique challenges in catalyzing impact investments.

Like the larger institutional foundations that have led the way as mission investors, sponsors must …

Emergent Learning: A Framework For Whole-System Strategy, Learning, And Adaptation – With 2024 Prologue, Marilyn J. Darling, Jillaine S. Smith, James E. M. Stiles, Heidi Sparkes Guber

The Foundation Review

Editor’s Note: This article, first published in print and online in 2016, has been republished by The Foundation Review with minor updates.

The field of philanthropy is exploring what it takes to achieve impact in complex environments. The terms “adaptive” and “emergent” are beginning to be used, often interchangeably, to describe strategies by which funders can tackle complexity. This article proposes distinguishing between the two and explores more deeply how the research into complexity can inform philanthropic practice.

While approaches like systems mapping, scenario planning, and appreciative inquiry have been put forward as useful approaches to expanding perspectives and seeing …

Goal-Free Evaluation: An Orientation For Foundations’ Evaluations – Updated 2024, Brandon W. Youker, Allyssa Ballard

The Foundation Review

Editor’s Note: This article, first published in print and online in 2014, has been revised for The Foundation Review with substantive additions, new examples, and minor updates.

Goal-free evaluation is a model in which official or stated program goals and objectives are unknown by the evaluator, serving as a counter to assessing impact solely according to goal achievement. Foundation-supported program evaluation, however, has historically focused on goal attainment as intuitively and inextricably linked to evaluation.

This focus has persisted despite the fact that goal-free product evaluations have been a norm for more than 75 years. Yet persuading funders to consider …

Passing In The Dark: Making Visible Philanthropy’S Hidden And Conflicting Mental Models For Systems Change, Jewlya Lynn, Julia Coffman

The Foundation Review

While the need for philanthropy to focus on systems change as a way to scale and sustain impact is now widely accepted, we see the sector largely failing to recognize that there are different mental models for how to change systems. Sometimes the approaches foundations use are based on competing mental models or models that are not a good fit for the systems, problems, strategies, or practices they are using.

We see two mental models for systems change being used in philanthropy: systems dynamics and systems emergence. Strategies that use the systems-dynamics mental model aim at points of high leverage …

The Soft Stuff Doesn’T Have To Be Hard: Foundation Investments In Grantee Workers Are Necessary, Valuable, And Measurable – With 2024 Prologue, Rusty M. Stahl

The Foundation Review

Editor’s Note: This article, first published in print and online in 2022, has been republished by The Foundation Review with minor updates.

There is an urgent need for funder investments in the ability of grantee nonprofit organizations to support their staff. Such investments, when done well, can yield significant value for individuals, organizations, and fields of work or movements. Furthermore, the value of these investments can be evaluated and communicated.

This article explores the reasons for and implications of the inadequate response by funders, offers a path forward for designing investments in grantee staff, and documents how funders can capture …

A Foundation’S Theory Of Philanthropy: What It Is, What It Provides, How To Do It – With 2024 Prologue, Michael Quinn Patton, Nathaniel Foote, James Radner

The Foundation Review

Editor’s Note: This article, first published in print and online in 2015, has been republished by The Foundation Review with minor updates.

This article argues that philanthropic endeavors should be undergirded by a theory of philanthropy. Articulating a theory of philanthropy is a way for a foundation to make explicit what is often only implicit, thereby enabling internal and external actors to pose and resolve significant questions, understand and play important roles more fully and effectively, and improve performance by enhancing alignment across complex systems.

A theory of philanthropy articulates how and why a foundation will use its resources to …

Prosocial Ceos, Corporate Policies, And Firm Value, Mei Feng, Weili Ge, Zhejia Ling, Wei Ting Loh

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper examines how chief executive officers' (CEOs') prosocial tendency influences corporate policies and firm value. We use individuals' involvement with charitable organizations as a proxy for prosocial tendency. We find that, compared to firms with non-prosocial CEOs, firms with prosocial CEOs have lower executive subordinate turnover, implement more employee-friendly policies, experience higher customer satisfaction, and engage in more socially responsible activities. We also find that firms with prosocial CEOs have higher value and lower risk, partly due to the corporate policies adopted by prosocial CEOs. These results are corroborated when we compare changes in corporate policies and firm value …

Ecological Momentary Assessment Of Digital Food And Beverage Marketing Exposure And Impact In Young Adults: A Feasibility Study, Clare Whitton, Yvonne H. M. Wong, Jerrald Lau, Xin H. Chua, Andre M. Müller, Chuen S. Tan, Rob M. Van Dam, Falk Müller-Riemenschneider, Salome A. Rebello

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Unhealthy food marketing is contributing to the obesity epidemic, but real-time insights into the mechanisms of this relationship are under-studied. Digital marketing is growing and following food and beverage (F&B) brands on social media is common, but measurement of exposure and impact of such marketing presents novel challenges. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of collecting data on exposure and impact of digital F&B marketing (DFM) using a smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methodology. We hypothesized that DFM-induced food cravings would vary based on whether (or not) participants engaged with F&B brands online. Participants were Singapore residents (n …

Evaluating Climate Sentiment In Sec 10-K Filings: S&P 50 Companies, Ruby Chu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Evaluating Climate Sentiment in SEC 10-K Filings: S&P 50 Companies investigates how climate sentiment is portrayed in corporate financial reporting, focusing on SEC 10-K filings from leading S&P 50 companies. These filings offer detailed insights into financial performance, risks, and management discussions, providing a rich dataset for analyzing corporate behaviors with sustainability and environmental concerns. This study aims to shed light on the extent to which companies address environmental issues and the implications for environmental stewardship by analyzing how these topics are portrayed in their SEC 10-K filings. Drawing inspiration from established greenwashing indicator frameworks, the study develops a climate …

Financial Time Series Fusion, Completion, And Prediction With Deep Neural Networks, Dan Zhou

Dissertations

Time-series analysis is essential for a wide range of financial applications, including but not limited to bond valuation, firm earnings forecasts, firm fundamentals predictions, and firm characteristics imputations. Given its considerable value, the financial community has shown a strong interest in refining and advancing time-series analysis techniques. The study in this dissertation contributes to this field by employing advanced machine learning approaches, specifically graph neural networks, deep neural networks, and matrix/tensor methods. The primary objectives are twofold: first, to reveal complex correlations within financial time series to improve prediction accuracy, and second, to enhance the process of integrating and imputing …

Sensing With Integrity: Responsible Sensor Systems In An Era Of Ai, David Eisenberg

Dissertations

Deep and machine learning now offer immense benefits for consumer choice, decision-making, medicine, mental health and education, smart cities, and intelligent transportation and driver safety. However, as communication and Internet technology further advances, these benefits have the potential to be outweighed by compromises to privacy, personal freedom, consumer trust, and discrimination. While ethical consequences for personal freedom and equity rise from these technological advances, the issue may not be the technology itself but a lack of regulation and policy that allow abuses to occur. A first study examines how emerging sensor-based technologies, limited to only accelerometer and gyroscope data from …

Abortion, Citizenship, And The Right To Travel, Rebecca E. Zietlow

Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal

This article considers the changed landscape for abortion rights since the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. Before Dobbs, the right to choose an abortion was a fundamental right under federal law, enforceable against all state governments. After Dobbs, the scope of one’s right to choose an abortion depends on the state in which one lives, and if abortion is illegal in their home state, their right to travel to another state where abortion is legal. The right to travel is particularly important for workers who must live in an anti-abortion state because their …

Labor Law's Impact On The Post-Dobbs Workplace, Jeffrey M. Hirsch

Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal

The Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision has left many workers, especially in states with restrictive abortion-related laws, in a precarious position. Labor laws and unions, however, provide one avenue for providing these workers with more protections. Unions can demand bargaining to protect or expand health care, leave, and other terms of employment that give workers with means to obtain abortion-related care. Unions can also provide members legal defense and other support if they face prosecutions. Additionally, both union and non-union workers who make up the vast majority of workers in states with restrictive laws may have labor law protection for discussing …

An Inaugural Forum On Epidemiological Modeling For Public Health Stakeholders In Arizona, Joseph R. Mihalijevic, Carmenlita Chief, Mehreen Malik, Kayode Oshinubi, Eck Doerry, Esma Gel, Crystal Hepp, Tim Lant, Sanjay Mehrotra, Samantha Sabo

Department of Supply Chain Management and Analytics: Faculty Publications

Epidemiological models—which help us understand and forecast the spread of infectious disease—can be valuable tools for public health. However, barriers exist that can make it difficult to employ epidemiological models routinely within the repertoire of public health planning. These barriers include technical challenges associated with constructing the models, challenges in obtaining appropriate data for model parameterization, and problems with clear communication of modeling outputs and uncertainty. To learn about the unique barriers and opportunities within the state of Arizona, we gathered a diverse set of 48 public health stakeholders for a day-and-a-half forum. Our research group was motivated specifically by …