Digital Commons Network^™

Evolving Paradigms Of Sustainability In Luxury Fashion: Evidence From An Emerging Market, Sandipan Sen, Sphurti Sewak, Swati Singh, Moutusy Maity, Aniruddha Pangarkar

Faculty Publications – Marketing

The global fashion industry is both an economic driver and a major contributor of environmental and social challenges. This research examines how sustainable luxury fashion is constructed and adopted within an emerging market context by integrating perspectives from entrepreneurs, industry managers, and consumers. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach and drawing upon Self-Identity Theory and need for uniqueness, this research explores how identity-based motivations shape sustainable luxury consumption. Study 1 employs in-depth interviews with luxury fashion entrepreneurs and practitioners to uncover how sustainability is embedded within luxury value propositions. Building on these insights, Study 2 quantitatively tests a conceptual model examining the …

Fluid Agency In Ai Systems: A Case For Functional Equivalence In Copyright, Patent, And Tort, Anirban Mukherjee, Hannah H. Chang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Modern Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems exhibit fluid agency in multi-step workflows: lacking human-like consciousness or culpability, yet they display behavior that is (i) stochastic (probabilistic and path‑dependent), (ii) dynamic (co‑evolving with user interaction), and (iii) adaptive (able to reorient across contexts). These properties generate valuable outputs but collapse attribution, irreducibly entangling human and machine inputs. Doctrines that assume traceable provenance—authorship, inventorship, and liability—fracture under this unmappability, yielding ownership gaps and moral “crumple zones.”This Article argues that only functional equivalence stabilizes doctrine under unmappability: Where provenance is indeterminate, legal frameworks should treat human and AI contributions as equivalent for allocating rights …

Large Owner Expropriation Threat And Stock Option Pay's Effect On Firm Risk-­Taking Behaviors In Weak Institutions, Cuili Qian, Lipeng (Gary) Ge, Xuesong Geng, Jiatao Li, Maria Hasenhuttl

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Research Question/Issue: This study investigates the impact of managerial stock option pay on firm risk-­ taking behaviors in aweak institutional context, a critical question that has been overlooked by the literature. Specifically, we build on the comparative corporate governance perspective that emphasizes the implications of large shareholders' expropriation threat in weak institutions to develop predictions about their impact on the stock option's incentive alignment effect. We further explore the boundary conditions of such a relationship.Research Findings/Insights: Based on a sample of Chinese listed firms between 2006 and 2016, we find that a high level of large shareholders' expropriation threat weakens …

The Charity Capacity Curse, Shirley (Lijun) Zhang, Thomas Allard, David Hardisty, Shane Wang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Can displays of charity capacity cues paradoxically harm charities' fundraising efforts? Six pre-registered studies provide evidence of a charity capacity curse whereby donors penalize charities for displaying capacity cues, such as human resources capacity, organizational capacity, and financial capacity cues. This curse occurs because donors perceive higher-capacity charities as needing less help. As donors typically donate based on need, they donate less to charities with superior capacity signals. This effect is attenuated when: (1) higher-capacity charities' needs are made salient, and (2) donors reflect on how their decision impacts end-beneficiaries. This research contributes to the literature on effective altruism and …

Politics As Usual: Racial Pay Inequity And The Illusion Of Inclusion In The Rise And Fall Of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, And Accessibility Executive Orders, Francois C. Melville

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

This research examines pressing moral policy questions of our time: who determines when the United States of America has fulfilled its broken promise of equality for all, and what constitutes an appropriate measure of reparative justice. It interrogates why the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Executive Orders (EOs) implemented across presidential administrations, intended to advance social equity, were grounded in conflict and symbolic gestures rather than scientifically evidenced issues such as wage inequality directly linked to upward career mobility. Race conscious policy generates cultural clashes centered on the perception that gains made by Black and Brown Americans come at the …

External Impacts On Internal Accounting, Maggie E. Boswell

Honors Theses

This thesis examines how external economic, legal, political, and consumer pressures can affect internal operations, accounting, and audit risk, using PepsiCo, Inc. as a case study. The analysis draws on PepsiCo’s annual reports and Form 10-K, company disclosures, government materials, and business and news sources. Attention is given to the Make America Healthy Again initiative, changing health expectations, food regulation, tariffs, and sustainability concerns. The analysis finds that these pressures could increase research and development, production, inventory, legal, and supply-chain costs while also creating opportunities for PepsiCo to expand healthier products and sustainable practices. These operational changes may also increase …

Navigating An Uncharted Path: Chief Diversity Officer Challenges In Creating And Implementing A Dei Strategy Plan Within Major Hospital Systems, Diane Shines Mcdaniel

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative phenomenological study investigated the major challenges Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs) face when creating and implementing DEI strategy plans within major hospital systems in the United States. The study was guided by one research question: What are the major challenges that Chief Diversity Officers face in creating and implementing a DEI strategy plan within major U.S. hospital systems? A phenomenological design was used to examine the challenges of six Chief Diversity Officers serving in major U.S. hospitals as they led DEI strategy planning and implementation. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews consisting of eight open-ended questions designed to elicit …

Understanding The Workplace Belonging Puzzle: An Ecosystem Approach To A Better Future Of Work, Surabhi Lal

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The need to belong is deeply human. Today’s workplaces advertise “cultures of belonging,” but what is workplace belonging? Could remote and hybrid workplaces provide an opportunity for connection and belonging? How are employees experiencing belonging at work, and what are the people around them doing to contribute to their experience of workplace belonging? Weaving together concepts from humanistic management, positive organizational scholarship, and critical theory, this phenomenological study examines how middle managers at B Corp organizations who are working in hybrid and remote arrangements experience belonging, and the actions and behaviors that contribute to workplace belonging. Belonging has been studied …

2026 January, Morehead State University. Office Of Communications & Marketing.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for January of 2026.

Freedom Of Expression Protection And Corporate Concealment Of Bad News: Evidence From State Anti-Slapp Laws, Jimmy Lee, Shaphan Ng, Il Sun Yoo, Liandong Zhang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The protection of free speech enhances the ability of various public stakeholders to disseminate privately observed adverse information about public firms, making it difficult for corporate managers to conceal negative information about their companies. Using the staggered enactment of anti strategic lawsuit against public participation (anti-SLAPP) laws across U.S. states as a shock that strengthens free speech protection, we show that stronger protection is associated with less concealment of bad news. This is evidenced by a lower likelihood of stock price crashes, a decreased probability of accounting fraud, and an increased frequency of firm-initiated negative press releases. These results are …

The Effect Of Cybersecurity Breaches On Analysts’ Earnings Forecasts, Chih-Ying Chen, Beng Wee Goh, Kiat Bee Jimmy Lee, Na Li

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We investigate the implications of cybersecurity breaches for financial analysts because they play an important role as information intermediaries in capital markets, and it is unknown whether analysts’ earnings forecasts are affected by cybersecurity breaches. Based on a sample of cybersecurity breaches from 2005 to 2018, we find that analysts’ earnings forecasts for firms with cybersecurity breaches are less accurate and more dispersed after a breach than for firms without such breaches. In cross-sectional analyses, we find that the adverse effects of cybersecurity breaches on analysts’ earnings forecasts are more pronounced for firms operating in more volatile business environments, for …

Eagle Accountant - 2026, Georgia Southern University

Eagle Accountant

• Accounting Advisory Council
• Accreditation & Rankings
• Eagles on Pennsylvania Avenue
• Accounting Quiz Bowl
• Discover Accounting Day
• Cover Story: Tammie Williams
• Advisory Council Spotlight: Mike Lamberth
• Georgia Society of CPAs
• Janice Brown
• Accounting Day 
• High School STEM Event 
• VITA 
• New Faculty
• Faculty Research Spotlight: Colin Tipton
• Fraud Story: Ghost Runner 
• GS4 Research Symposium 
• Graduate Spotlight: Matthew Mitchell
• Undergraduate Spotlight: Gabriela Mendoza
• 2026 Southern Regional Honors Council
• Recent Changes to the MAcc Program
• Student Organizations & Activities
• Faculty Retirements
• Faculty Awards, Service, & Publications
• Alumni Notes 
• In Memoriam 

Challenging The Monopoly Giant: Market Challenger Premium As Competitive Advantages, Cheuk Hang Au, Chih Yuan Chou

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Market challengers frequently disrupt established incumbents with innovative ideas or novel business models. Yet, they frequently face high entry barriers and the entrenched power of incumbents. Even when challengers provide products or services better aligned with the market, competing effectively can remain difficult, particularly in monopoly-dominated sectors. This paper presents a case study of ViuTV entering Hong Kong’s monopoly-led free-to-air TV market. We identify IFH (innovation, freshness, hope) strategies for challengers to gain competitive advantage, leading to the emergence of a “market challenger premium” as a unique competitive edge. We also examine the role of customer cognitive biases and the …

Service Failures Under The Influence Of Ideological Polarization, Cheuk Hang Au

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In an era of heightened ideological polarization, characterized by intense divisions in political and social beliefs, both political and business environments face unprecedented challenges. Socio-political risks, historically explored in strategic management, have gained renewed significance as polarization amplifies their impact on business operations and consumer behavior. This paper examines Cathay Pacific as a case study to investigate how ideological polarization influences consumer reactions to service failures and controversies. Using the Belief-Action-Outcomes (BAO) framework, we analyze the interplay between polarization-driven beliefs and anti-brand actions during periods of heightened political tension in Hong Kong. Our findings offer critical insights into the role …

Sales Prediction In Omnichannel Distribution Systems Based On Consumer Behavior Using Process Mining And Arimax, Ferra Arik Tridalestari, Mustafid Mustafid, Ferry Jie, Hanung Nindito Prasetyo

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Omnichannel distribution integrates multiple sales channels into a single management platform to enhance customer experience. However, the complexity of consumer behavior data across channels often prevents business owners from effectively analyzing and predicting sales. This study proposes a sales prediction model in omnichannel distribution systems based on consumer behavior using a collaborative approach that integrates process mining and autoregressive integrated moving average with exogenous variables (ARIMAX). Event log data from an omnichannel service provider were used to extract consumer activity patterns, which were then analyzed through process discovery algorithms to identify dominant behavioral processes. The resulting behavioral indicators served as …

Metaverse And Artificial Intelligence As Web 4.0: The Next Generation Of The Internet, Anton Klarin, Elena Gorenskaia, Qijie Xiao, Pi-Shen Seet

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study utilizes systems thinking to explore and entwine an evolving metaverse scholarship to a relatively underexplored phenomenon of Web 4.0. We adopt a soft systems thinking framework to guide the interpretation of complex and evolving metaverse scholarship, using bibliometric mapping of 5587 publications sourced from Scopus. Using systems thinking, we synthesize these clusters into the following four thematic areas: (i) business and society implications, (ii) optimization, (iii) integration with other technologies and (iv) metaverse education. Drawing on the largest-to-date review of the metaverse as well as a systematic review of Web 4.0 literature, we propose a novel conceptualization of …

Extending Social Penetration Theory To Online Brand Communities: The Impact Of Perceived Identifiability On Relational Development And Perceived Enjoyment, Stephanie Meek, Claire Lambert, Laureane Du Plessis

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Online brand communities (OBCs) rely on members forming relationships, yet many platforms normalise anonymity. Drawing on Social Penetration Theory (SPT), this study examines whether feeling recognisable to other members (perceived identifiability) shapes relational outcomes and enjoyment in consumer-initiated OBCs. Survey data from 307 members were analysed using structural equation modelling and multi-group analysis. Perceived identifiability significantly increased members’ network ties and sense of belonging but did not directly enhance perceived enjoyment. Instead, belonging mediated the link from identifiability to enjoyment, and network ties strengthened belonging, yielding a serial indirect pathway from identifiability to enjoyment. Comparing lurkers and posters showed that …

Modern Day Saints And The Production Of A Contemporary Pilgrimage Site: Comparative Analysis Of St. Pio Of San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy And Sai Baba Of Shirdi, India, Kiran Shinde, Anna Trono Prof

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Places valorised by saints have attracted pilgrimage for a long time as devotion to saints is a way to achieve both material wellbeing and spiritual growth. Yet, the cult following of modern-day saints in contemporary societies has become a topic for exploration only in recent years (Di Giovine, 2010; Shinde & Pinkney; 2013, Srinivas, 2008). A few excellent hagiographies discuss the material and non-material world created around charismatic modern-day saints with global followership (Waghorne, 2004; Weiss, 2005; Shepherd, 1986). Given the immense popularity of modern-day saints many questions arise- what kind of pilgrimage landscape is created around them? Are they …

Contemporary Issues In Economics And Finance: The View From China, Kenneth S. Bigel

Open Touro Created

2026

This collection of essays showcases original research crafted by exceptional young scholars—primarily high school students from China and North America—guided step-by-step from topic selection to final publication. Across diverse subjects in business and the social sciences, these emerging researchers demonstrate curiosity, discipline, and global awareness. Their work provides a rare window into the questions today’s youth are asking on both sides of the Pacific, offering fresh perspectives and a meaningful bridge between two world powers. Designed not only to inspire but also to instruct, this compendium fills a long-recognized gap in early research education: it presents accessible, real student …

The Soft Target Curriculum: Using Nigeria's 2026 Cascading Breaches To Teach Foundational Cybersecurity Failures, Chinedum Amaechi, Doris Asogwa, Samuel Alade

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

SourceURL:file:///home/amaechi/Documents/ *Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice (JCERP)*. **Title:** The Soft Target Curriculum: Using Nigeria's 2026 Cascading Breaches to Teach Foundational Cybersecurity Failures.docx

Background: Between March and April 2026, a single threat actor allegedly compromised four Nigerian institutions across banking, payment infrastructure, government registry, and power distribution sectors. The breaches exposed millions of records and disrupted critical services, yet all four exploited elementary vulnerabilities taught in introductory cybersecurity courses. Objective: This pedagogical case study analyzes the four breaches as a unified phenomenon of "normalized negligence" and provides ready-to-use teaching materials for cybersecurity educators. Methods: Using open-source intelligence analysis of …

Moral Outrage To Market Impact: A Multi-Level Analysis Of Corporate Cancel Culture, Sayan Gupta, T. Andrew Poehlman

AMTP Proceedings 2026

Corporate cancel culture is often dismissed as “just social media noise,” but for managers the real stakes show up in markets. This paper develops and tests a three-level framework linking moralized social-media discourse, online brand reputation, and firm-level financial outcomes. Using three canonical cancellations—Dolce & Gabbana’s China controversy, Tesla’s politicization via Elon Musk, and Bud Light’s backlash after its transgender influencer partnership—we first show that these events are organized around spikes in moral-emotional language and structural virality, not generic negativity. We then document how this moral outrage predicts shifts in brand sentiment, associations, and engagement across platforms, before examining corresponding …

Borrowed But Mine: Time-Based Asymmetries In Psychological Ownership, Elizabeth Ann Brauer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

People often borrow everyday items, such as a friend’s jacket or pair of sunglasses, and after a period of use, may begin to feel as if the item is their own. Psychological ownership captures this felt sense of “mine,” even in the absence of legal ownership, and reflects the extent to which a target becomes incorporated into the self (Pierce et al., 2003). Despite decades of work on psychological ownership, little is known about how psychological ownership develops and changes within interpersonal lending and borrowing contexts. This dissertation examines how possession duration influences psychological ownership in interpersonal borrowing relationships and …

The Differential Impacts Of Internal And External Corporate Social Responsibility Activities On Consumer Trust After Covid-19, Kennadi C. Mccoy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation explores the strategic role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in helping small businesses recover from crises, with a specific focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. Different from many traditional studies that highlight the ethical or reputational aspects of CSR, this research will examine its practical effects: how CSR initiatives during crises influence business success by enhancing consumer trust, particularly by examining the differential impact of Internal CSR versus External CSR. The study suggests that, compared with internally focused CSR, external CSR activities will have a greater impact on consumer trust. In addition, the dissertation suggests that this effect is …

Exploring Shared Experiences As Citizen Sport Diplomats: A Collaborative Self-Ethnography, Randall J. Griffiths, Jacob K. Tingle, Angela Breidenstein

School of Business Faculty Research

Research purpose: This study was a critical analysis of the lived experiences of three American university professors who served as volunteer citizen diplomats in a bi-lateral U.S. State Department sport exchange program with North Macedonian volleyball coaches.

Research methods: With the aim of capturing the experience of serving as citizen sport diplomats and making sense of it to inform future practice, this research utilized a collaborative self-ethnography approach. This reflexive approach brings together: (a) analytic autoethnography as individuals themselves are engaged in the ethnography and study, and (b) collective ethnography as a team collects and makes sense of shared data …

The Evolving Beijing Consensus: Chinese Communist Party Political Control And Economic Trade Offs, Ian Murphy

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

China’s rapid economic rise and unique development trajectory have long been the subject of scholarly debate, often framed through the concept of the “Beijing Consensus” as an alternative to the Washington Consensus. While initial conceptualizations highlight innovation, sustainability, and national sovereignty, later analyses highlighted elements like state capitalism and authoritarianism, particularly in the wake of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. This paper argues that the Beijing Consensus is undergoing a significant evolution under Chairman Xi Jinping, increasingly prioritizing the Chinese Communist Party’s political security, regime stability, and ideological control at the expense of economic growth. This marks a notable departure …

The Impact Of Value Homophily, Rational And Emotional Persuasion On Information Passing Of Social Media Advertisements: A Model Comparison Approach, Gloria Hui Wen Liu, Cecil Eng Huang Chua, Neil Chueh An Lee, Jenny Hua Jen Wu

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

Increasingly, businesses collaborate with influencers and content creators (the source) to advertise on social media, with social media users being exposed to an environment saturated with unsolicited advertisements. With social contacts remaining the most trusted advertisement sources, users' passing of such advertisements helps their dissemination and creates a specific kind of electronic word of mouth called information passing. Information passing involves users forwarding advertisements about products/services to someone else. Prior studies have found at least three factors influence information passing, including value homophily (similarity with the source as perceived by users), rational appeal (information about how a product can meet …

Gubernatorial Re-Election Incentives, Local Investment Bias, And Pension Fund Performance, Hongxian Zhang, Liang Guo, Jun Hao, Yu Liu

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

We investigate the impact of gubernatorial re-election incentive and political factors on US public pension funds from 1990 to 2022. Our empirical analysis finds no significant overall relationship between gubernatorial re-election incentives and local bias in the full sample. However, the effect of gubernatorial re-election incentives on local bias is influenced by a state's level of corruption. Specifically, in states within the lowest corruption quantile, governors eligible for re-election tend to prioritize local investments to gain consistent support. In contrast, in states within the highest corruption quantile, heightened scrutiny may encourage re-election-eligible governors to adopt conservative investment policies that do …

The Hidden Costs Of Consumption: A Multi-Context Investigation On Stigma And Social Judgment, Siti Nuraisyah Suwanda

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Consumption is not always as simple as an exchange of value between a buyer and a seller. In many contexts, what individuals choose to consume or not consume can carry social meaning, leading to judgment and devaluation. While prior research has explored stigma broadly in marketing and consumer behavior, less attention has been given to stigma that caused specifically by consumption choices. This dissertation addresses this gap by examining how consumption becomes socially evaluated and judged across different contexts, with the goal of advancing both theoretical understanding and practical insights into socially sensitive consumption.

Essay One develops the foundation by …

Greed, Guilt, And Generative Ai: Emotional Dynamics In Digital Consumer Interactions, Danielle Lynn Hass

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Digital consumer interactions are increasingly shaped by complex emotional dynamics. As digital platforms and Generative AI (GenAI) technologies proliferate in our everyday lives, it is critical to understand the emotional undercurrents and how they impact consumer behavior. This dissertation investigates these dynamics through three essays that explore how emotions impact consumer experiences in digital spaces, with an overall goal to offer theoretical and practical insights into the interaction of human psychology and technological advancement in the consumer behavior field.

Essay One examines the paradox of pleasure and pain in online brand communities, where collectors grapple with the opposing forces of …

Self-Leadership And Perceptions Of Artificial Intelligence: A Single-Case Study, Patrik Garren

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this single-case qualitative project is to uncover how self-leadership’s behavioral and cognitive strategies influence perceptions of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI adoption. While existing literature acknowledges that there is an association between self-leadership, technology’s perceived usefulness and ease of use, as well as comfort with AI preparedness and its professional impact, there is limited research on how self-leadership shapes perceptions of AI and AI adoption in real-life contexts. To fill this gap in contemporary literature, this project analyzes qualitative semi-structured interviews with 25 healthcare professionals involved in the implementation of ‘AI Model 1’ at their mid-sized United …