Digital Commons Network^™

A Phenomenological Study: Examining Organizational Change Initiatives Within The U.S. Army To Influence Racial Climate, Reginald Gerald Dash Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research study was aimed at examining organizational change initiatives influencing the racial climate among African American soldiers in the United States (U.S.) Army. African Americans comprise a significant portion of the U.S. Army. However, African Americans’ significant contributions do not readily translate into “equal treatment”, which includes proportional representation at the highest levels of leadership. African Americans in the U.S. Army face career navigation challenges rooted in systemic racial division. The goal of this qualitative phenomenological study was to add African American soldiers’ voices to the existing literature by interviewing African American soldiers with at least five years of …

Too Big To Fail Or Built To Survive? Government Intervention And Corporate Resilience In The Global Automotive Industry During The 2007–2009 Financial Crisis, Reagan A. Waurishuk

Honors Scholar Theses

The 2007-2009 financial crisis displayed how many industries lacked sustainability during times of market volatility. It revealed structural vulnerabilities, especially in the global automotive industry. This case study and analysis intend to examine why certain major automakers were able to survive the crisis without bankruptcy, such as Ford, Toyota, Honda, and BMW AG, while other competitors required company-wide restructuring and government assistance. This research investigates the extent and timing of government support. It also investigates the influence of these loans on firm rebound rates and whether the companies that were provided with aid were prioritized based on size or weakness. …

The Effects Of Ai Adoption On Digital Entrepreneurial Intention: A Meta-Analysis, Xandra Precious Okori

Theses and Dissertations

AI adoption and its widespread use have sparked debates about the future of work, job displacement, and the evolving entrepreneurial landscape. While AI is often seen as a threat to traditional employment, research shows that this emerging technology is more likely to change task structures rather than eliminate entire occupations or industries. This shows that there are new entrepreneurial opportunities, particularly digital, that potential entrepreneurs can venture into. This thesis uses a meta-analytic approach to study the relationship between AI adoption and digital entrepreneurial intention, addressing inconsistencies in current research.

Following PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive search was conducted across Web …

The Application Of Natural Language Processing Towards Auditing Of Unstructured Data: A Design Science Approach, Dennis K. Amoatey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Financial auditors must manually review large volumes of unstructured text that may include contracts, internal policies, footnotes, and journal entry descriptions. This time-intensive process introduces risk of human error and inconsistency. Despite advances in automation, no systematic approach exists for applying Natural Language Processing (NLP) to this problem at scale. Using a design science approach, this study develops a framework that demonstrates how NLP techniques can be incorporated across key phases in the audit process, including planning, internal controls evaluation, evidence gathering, and reporting. Initial evaluation through expert feedback had a mix of responses. While some argued difficulty with data …

Journal Of Roleplaying Studies And Steam (Jrpssteam) Vol. 5 [2026], Número 1 (Issue 1), Romano Ponce-Díaz Phd, Cristo Leon, Ivan Avila, Sarah Lynne Bowman, Kjell Hedgard Hugaas, Alexandra Schreiber Ma, Jaime Eduardo García Maya, Víctor Emmanuel Quintana Villarreal Vic Emma, Francisco Gonzalez Ing., Daniel Romero Benguigui, Antonio Roda-Martínez

Journal of Roleplaying Studies and STEAM

El presente número del Journal of Roleplaying Studies and STEAM examina la convergencia entre las prácticas lúdicas, el diseño narrativo y los procesos de mediación sociocultural en la investigación contemporánea. Las contribuciones reunidas en este número abordan el juego de rol como un dispositivo de producción de conocimiento, intervención psicoeducativa y reelaboración de representaciones culturales. Nos podemos atrever a señalar que la educación es la convergencia entre la ludología, las ciencias sociales, los estudios visuales y el análisis cultural; entendiendo a la educación como la actividad consciente e intencionada de transmitir información y conocimientos a las siguientes generaciones.

Martin Heidegger …

Building Collaborative Capacity For Coexistence With The Montana Beaver Working Group, Shane Randle

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

Despite beavers’ recent surge in popularity, prevailing negative attitudes and the persistence of beaver removal practices remain obstacles for those advocating living with beavers. The Montana Beaver Working Group (BWG) advances beavers’ role in ecological and community resilience through members’ collaborative efforts, including beaver-related restoration and conflict resolution projects. Bringing together people with diverse values and perspectives, the BWG builds collective understanding, develops a holistic vision for beavers in Montana, and supports members in pursuing it. As the group’s impacts and membership have grown, so too has their need to adapt. For my Civic Engagement Project, I strengthened the BWG’s …

Bitcoin Options Risk-Reversal Predictability, Meng Hwee Neo

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation examines whether Bitcoin options risk-reversal (RR) spreads predict future Bitcoin returns, using daily Deribit data from April 2021 to December 2025 (1,723 observations).

In the primary 25-delta, 90-day specification, the RR coefficient is significant at the 1% level in a thirteen-variable baseline regression with Newey–West standard errors. Robustness tests across all available delta–tenor specifications show statistically significant RR coefficients in the majority of configurations, concentrating in the 30–180-day maturity band.

The butterfly spread (BF) also predicts returns. Both remain significant after controls are added: the RR t-statistic increases from 1.91 (univariate) to 3.73 (full baseline), and the BF …

Research On The Spatial Diffusion Process And Influencing Factors Of Traditional Chinese Medicine Brands: Evidence From Beijing Tong Ren Tang, Yuehua Shen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Against the backdrop of the dual drivers of the revitalization and development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the rising demand for health-related consumption, the nationwide expansion of TCM chain brands has become a prominent issue of shared concern for both industry and policy circles. However, existing research largely treats cities as mutually independent units and overlooks the spatial externalities arising from geographic proximity. It also implicitly assumes that the driving factors remain stable over a brand's expansion life cycle. This makes it difficult to capture the dynamic evolution of the logic governing store expansion across different stages. Accordingly, this …

Technological Strategy Paths, Dynamic Capability And Innovation Performance In Complex Product Industries: A Mechanism Study Based On China’S New Energy Vehicle Industry, Fan Zhang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In recent years, the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry has developed rapidly, moving from electrification toward an intelligent phase characterized by software-defined vehicles. NEV firms pursue product and technological innovation through diverse strategic paths, including internal research and development, collaborative development, and platform-based development, yet their innovation performance varies. Most extant research focuses on the industry level, offering limited insight into how, at the firm level, different technological paths shape the innovation outcomes through firms’ dynamic capabilities. It still remains unclear whether and how these relationships among paths, capabilities, and innovation outcomes differ across technological domains.

This study adopts a …

The Seller Valuation Of Family Firm Exits: Socioemotional Wealth And Ceo Equity Ownership, Masahiro Nishii

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This study examines seller valuation in family-firm exit using the initial asking price from private M&A sales. In the sale of a family firm, it is known that seller valuation may go beyond financial value alone because owners often hold strong emotional attachments to the firm. However, it remains unclear whose judgment brings that non financial value into seller valuation and why this varies across types of family CEOs.

Drawing on socioemotional wealth theory, the study develops the mechanism at the CEO level. I argue that the anticipated SEW loss translates into seller valuation through the CEO’s judgment. When the …

From Catching Up To Surpassing—A Multi-Case Study Of Chinese Latecomer Technology Firms, Baohua Chen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In recent years, a number of Chinese latecomer technology firms have grown rapidly and, in some cases, have even moved into leading positions in global competition. As global competition is being reshaped, technologies are evolving more rapidly, and traditional catch-up paths are becoming less viable, how these Chinese latecomer technology firms catch up with leading incumbents has become an important issue in strategic management research. Drawing on the theoretical lens of asymmetrical competition, resource orchestration, and dynamic capabilities, this study adopts an Eisenhardt-style multiple-case design to conduct a longitudinal comparative analysis of six firms—Insta360, Dreame, DJI, Unitree, Transsion, and Royole—and …

The Smallholder’S Dilemma In Agroecological Transitions: The Diseconomy Of Agroecology For Small Farmers In Industrial Agriculture, Qian Forrest Zhang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A scalar contradiction exists between agroecology's three goals: while ecological sustainability is best pursued at the landscape scale, social equity and livelihood goals often require organizing production at the small scale of family farms. In China's ‘industrial agriculture of small farmers’, ecological farming practices became economically unviable at small farmers' minuscule scales. Agroecological transitions almost always first go through a scale expansion, a process fraught with tension. The empirical analysis focuses on three ‘ecological farms’ that enjoyed favorable conditions unattainable to smallholders. Yet, lock-ins across five dimensions have either made their operations economically unsustainable or forced compromises in agroecological principles.

Fighting Against Recruitment Scams: Theory-Driven Supervised Learning And Empirical Analysis For Digital Fraudulent Recruitment Posting Behavior, Tom (Tianteng) Wang, David (Jingjun) Xu, Keng Siau, Zhongju (John) Zhang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The number of recruitment postings on digital recruitment hiring platforms has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the weak surveillance and operations of these platforms, combined with the fact that most job seekers have relatively low vigilance and a strong desire for recruitment offers, enable scammers to easily deceive job seekers for their money and confidential information. In this work, we combine prevailing text mining techniques (i.e., ChatGPT with prompting engineering and supervised machine learning) with interpersonal deception theory (IDT) from social science to design an interpretable IT system to predict fraudulent recruitment postings on digital recruitment-hiring platforms. We compare …

The Challenges And Strategies Of Leading A Diverse Team As A Project Manager, Karissa Naomi Smith

Senior Honors Theses

Diversity comes in many forms, including age, race, ethnicity, and gender, and each one presents a separate set of challenges to the team. With a trained and adaptive manager, unity can be created even among the most diverse members of their team. Equipping with strategic options helps build a productive, unified, diverse team. Case studies are incorporated to show the use of strategies and the benefit of trust to better performance, decision-making, and team unity. Trust among the members can bring performance and efficiency to a diverse team. Ultimately, research demonstrates that a diverse team will lead to challenges, but …

An Empirical Study On The Impact Of Eco-Friendly Selling Points On The Purchase Intention Of Young Chinese Consumers, Yang Liu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Industry consumer research widely portrays Generation Z as an identity-driven cohort that enacts sustainability values through consumption. This narrative is often generalized across cultural contexts, assuming that Western-developed green consumption frameworks can be directly transferred without structural modification. Yet Chinese Gen Z’s e-commerce purchase patterns depart notably from this depiction, raising core questions: Can Western green consumption frameworks be applied to Chinese Gen Z? If so, what theoretical and structural adaptations are necessary?

This dissertation develops and tests an integrated three-pathway model to explain green purchase intention among Chinese Gen Z consumers. The model places utilitarian benefits, self-expression benefits, and …

Using Large Language Models To Assess Entrepreneurial Personality In Generation Z College Students, Xianyong Wang

All Dissertations

As entrepreneurial personality (EP) plays a critical role in Generation Z’s (Gen Z) long-term success, it is crucial to understand the EP of Gen Z college students. To date, little is known about what EP is and how it can be assessed in Gen Z. Therefore, this dissertation presented two sequential studies to address two closely related research foci. The first study examined the scope and dimensionality of EP in Gen Z college students using topic modeling. In the second study, pre-trained LLMs were fine-tuned to predict self-reported EP levels from personal narrative responses. To collect data, college students (N …

Academic And Demographic Predictors Of Retention And Persistence In Business Programs: Post-Covid Cohorts Of Traditional And Ncccs Transfer Students, Matthew K. Crump

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study examined academic and demographic predictors of first-year retention and major persistence among traditional first-year and North Carolina community college transfer students enrolled in undergraduate business programs. Guided by Tinto’s 1993 Model of Student Retention and Astin’s 1984 Theory of Student Involvement, the research focused on students who entered two AACSB-accredited institutions within the UNC System during Fall 2021, Fall 2022, and Fall 2023 as traditional first-year students or as transfer students from North Carolina community colleges.

Institutional data from the Banner Student Information System provided the basis for logistic regression analyses that examined predictors including high school …

The Digital Divide And Participation In Financial Services: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective, Melissa A. Cunningham-Sereque

Dissertations

The global financial technology (FinTech) market reached nearly $395 billion in 2025 and is projected to surpass $1 trillion within the next decade (Fortune Business Insights, 2025). As digital technologies become increasingly embedded in banking and financial services, this dissertation responds to calls within the Information Systems (IS) discipline to better understand digital access, inclusion, and participation in financial systems (PFS). Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory, this study used prominent dimensions from extant digital divide literature to build a digital resource domain consisting of connectability, affordability, usability, mentality, and skill. These dimensions are proposed to influence intrinsic motivation, …

Non-Profit Foundation Boards: An Investigation Into Best Practices Using Fayetteville Public Library Foundation Board As A Test Case, Esther S. Beller

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

Effective governance is critical for the success of non-profit organizations, with foundation boards playing a central role in ensuring accountability, strategic direction, and resource allocation for the organization. This thesis investigates best practices for non-profit foundation boards, using the Fayetteville Public Library Foundation Board as a case study to evaluate the efficiency of its governance practices. The research aims to identify whether the foundation board operates efficiently and adheres to established best practices for non-profit governance boards.

To address this, a two-phase methodology was employed. The first phase involved an extensive review of scholarly journals, industry guidelines, and other resources …

From Bean To Cup: Sustainability Practices In A Small Specialty Coffee Roaster, Reese Weathersby

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

Sustainability has become an increasingly important issue in the coffee industry as businesses

face growing pressure to balance profitability with environmental and social responsibility.

While much of the existing research focuses on large corporations and global supply chains, less

attention has been given to how small independent businesses approach sustainability with fewer

resources and different operational constraints. This study examines Doomsday Coffee Roasters,

a small specialty coffee business in Northwest Arkansas, to better understand how sustainability

is practiced at the local level.

Using a qualitative case study approach, the research focuses on four areas of operation: ethical

sourcing, roasting practices, …

Analyzing The Effects Of Message Testing On The Public's Opinion About Gene Editing In Agriculture And Medicine, Luke Sanford Wimpy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper will present results from the final survey of a multi-stage project examining factors that influence opinions about gene editing in agriculture and medicine. In this final survey, 3,200 U.S. respondents were recruited and randomized to view one of eight videos that communicated the safety of gene editing to determine which factors are most influential in changing opinions. The eight videos were designed based on data collected from focus groups and three previous surveys in this multi-stage project. The eight videos varied by three attributes: messenger, message, and application. The messenger in the videos was either a researcher or …

Three Essays On Consumers' Financial Decision-Making, Zakieh Kaveh

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines how emerging financial and service technologies shape consumer decision-making and consumption behavior. Across three essays, this research investigates how technological features embedded in payment methods, self-service systems, and artificial intelligence influence consumers' psychological processes and behavioral outcomes in financial and marketplace contexts.

Public Art And The Future Of Remembrance In Contested Spaces, Rebecca Ann Munoz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the memorial landscape of El Paso, Texas as a contested site of public memory, cultural identity, and community representation. Situated at the U.S.-Mexico border, El Paso functions as a palimpsest of layered histories shaped by colonization, militarization, and ongoing negotiations of belonging. Drawing on memory rhetoric and composition studies, and art history, the paper raises critical questions about community engagement, representational equity, and the politics of visibility in public art processes. The paper ultimately calls for a deeper examination of the rhetorical strategies and institutional frameworks that shape memorial meaning-making at the local level, with broader implications …

Three Essays On Workplace Ethics And Ai: Conceptualizing, Scale Development, And Validation Of Self-Value Actualization, And Ai-Enabled High-Performance Work Systems, Mansura Nusrat

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation advances understanding of workplace ethics and responsible AI integration across three interconnected essays unified by social cognitive theory. My first essay introduces self-value actualization (SVA), a novel construct defined as the dynamic, integrated psychological process through which individuals continually strive to align and fulfill their core moral values through observable professional behavior. Drawing on social cognitive theory and emotional intelligence theory, I conceptualize SVA as a higher-order self-regulatory orientation comprising three mutually reinforcing processes: value congruence, moral reflection, and adaptive morality. I developed and validated a 9-item SVA scale across four studies using expert panels, exploratory factor analysis, …

A Systems Engineering-Based Method For Enabling Digital Transformation In A Binational Small Healthcare Enterprise, Manuel Adrian Alvarez Ramirez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The year 2020, often described as "the great accelerator" for emerging technologies, marked a period of significant transformation in lifestyles, work patterns, and business strategies. For instance, online meetings have become more convenient than in-person interactions, even with colleagues in neighboring offices. For small businesses, rapid regulatory and technological changes required swift adaptation, including the acquisition of new technologies, tools, and software to ensure survival. This transition also necessitated adopting indirect engagement, revising communication protocols, and digitally transforming information. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in essential service sectors face also a fundamental paradox: their dependence on the skills, relationships, and …

"Forward Together, Not One Step Back": Southern Women, Joy, And The Revitalization Of A Movement, Katelyn Holly Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to illuminate the ways that working women across the Southern United States organize labor within their communities both in and outside of the traditional union space. Due to the repressive nature of labor policy across the Southern US, this study focuses on how both unions and non-union organizations in the South generate feelings of collective identity and sustain solidarity. This study explores one central question: How do women in unions and worker-organizations in the South build solidarity and sustain collective action under restrictive labor conditions. Early findings reveal that working women in the South navigate multiple barriers …

Editorial: Grateful And Thankful, Michelle C. Dziurgot

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Dr. Michelle Dziurgot reflects on her concluding three-year term as the Editor-in-Chief of the Michigan Dental Association Journal. She describes her personal growth through volunteerism, starting as a local component editor and advancing to the MDA Board of Trustees. The author emphasizes that the most value from membership comes through immersion and service, encouraging others to volunteer their time and talent to the association. She credits the MDA’s mentorship with shaping her professional career and practice.

Dentistry And The Law: The Importance Of Termination Rights, Daniel Schulte Jd

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This column explores the legal importance of termination rights in contracts with dental product suppliers. It explains that termination provisions—including notice periods and termination fees—must be carefully negotiated upfront, as they are generally enforceable once signed. The author clarifies that large termination fees may be deemed unenforceable penalties if they do not reasonably approximate actual losses. The article advises dentists to shop around for favorable contract terms and seek explanations for restrictive clauses.

The Effects Of Vocational Self-Concept Crystallization And Career Choice On Crop Farming Apprenticeship Completers: An Exploratory Qualitative Analysis, Stormy Zane Speaks

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Across the United States, a farmer shortage threatens the future of food production as the population continues to grow. However, farming apprenticeship programs may be a solution to this crisis. This study addressed a gap in research regarding the career decision-making processes of farm apprenticeship completers. Specifically, this study sought to identify whether farm apprenticeship completion resulted in greater vocational self-concept crystallization as well as farming as a career choice. Due to the lack of research, an exploratory qualitative research design was most suitable for this study. Donald Super’s self-concept development theory was the theoretical framework. Self-concept development theory was …

Integrating People And Technology: Exploring The Validation Of The King And Hughes Hrd, Technology Ethics, And Leadership Scale, Hannah King

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

People and technologies have coexisted within organizations for centuries. In the wave of the fourth and fifth industrial revolutions, however, organizations must place an emphasis on ethically integrating new technologies, like artificial intelligence, alongside people in order to sustain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. A review of the literature identified a need for more research examining ethics in the use of technology by HRD professionals. The purpose of this descriptive research study was to assess the relationship between HRD activities, ethics, and technology and examine the influence that an organization’s code of ethics has on their integration. This study …