Digital Commons Network^™

Operational Energy Education: A Thematic Analysis Of Knowledge Area Needs And Educational Gaps, Nana Hene

Theses and Dissertations

Operational Energy (OE) education is vital for national security, military readiness, and fuel energy efficiency. This thesis analyzes the current landscape of OE education and identifies key gaps in awareness, energy knowledge, and curriculum structure. Through a reflexive thematic analysis of interviews with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), the study underscores the necessity of integrating OE concepts into both educational and professional training programs. A framework is proposed to enhance OE education across various levels in the Air Force, aiming to cultivate a more energy-conscious and strategically prepared force. The findings highlight the critical need for targeted training, curriculum enhancements, and …

Advancing Defense Software Cost Estimation Through Regression, Probabilistic, And Machine Learning Models, Stephen D. Chatterton

Theses and Dissertations

Accurately estimating software costs is critical for effective project management within the Department of Defense (DoD), where early decisions shape resource allocation and risk management. This work evaluates regression-based Cost Estimating Relationships (CERs), probabilistic models, and machine learning techniques to address limitations of traditional estimation methods. Using records from two DoD repositories, the analysis applied Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression, Multinomial Logistic Regression (MLR), Random Forest, and neural networks to model and classify software costs, with key predictors including Source Lines of Code (SLOC), Equivalent Source Lines of Code (ESLOC), and programming hours. The findings highlight strengths and trade-offs of …

Analyzing U.S. Army Recruiter Productivity Through Cohort Differentiation And Behavioral Tendency Composition, Mary M. Bates

Theses and Dissertations

This research analyzes differences among aggregate achievements of U.S. Army recruiting cohorts, determines which behavioral tendencies are indicative of performance level, and investigates aggregate behavioral composition with cohort achievement. Analyses require implementation of OLS regression, ANOVA, Tukey’s Test, Mann-Whitney U test, Holm-Bonferroni adjustment, XGBoost decision tree, logistic regression, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The results show insignificant achievement differences among cohorts and weak yet prevalent abilities of select measures of behavioral tendencies to indicate recruiter performance.

Creating And Analyzing Space Vehicle Seit/Pm Factors, Jordan A. Bosco

Theses and Dissertations

The Department of Defense relies on accurate cost estimation to inform budget decisions. Beyond being a critical component of the Defense Acquisition System, cost estimation is a legal requirement in the budgeting process. Cost analysts, therefore, have both a fiduciary and statutory responsibility to produce realistic estimates. Among the many elements of a space system cost estimate is Space Vehicle Systems Engineering, Integration & Test, and Program Management (SEIT/PM). While existing factors aid in estimating SEIT/PM, Space Systems Command is interested in research in alternatives to the current methods and crosschecks for those methods. This study develops a set of …

Transforming Defense: A Case Study On Digital Cots Implementation, Dara A. Armstrong

Theses and Dissertations

While research on digital transformation efforts and their challenges are widespread, the introduction and use of digital commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) tools in the Department of Defense (DOD) remains under explored. To investigate this problem, this research focuses on a fledgling digital transformation effort within a division of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center. Due to inefficiencies caused by fragmented workflows, management introduced Jira and Confluence, two digital tools known for their broad use in various industries, to the workforce.

Analysis Of An Army Recruiter Allocation Model (Ram), Erik J. Wittendorf

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Army Recruiting Command’s mission to recruit America’s best and brightest volunteers that can deploy, fight, and win requires an effective distribution of its recruiting force to serve as local community ambassadors. This research analyzes an Army recruiter allocation model (RAM) and assesses its underlying assumptions, objective function, and constraints. A detailed study of relative market potential and production rates for up to 1,319 Army recruiting stations and 18,789 ZIP codes enables RAM modification recommendations leveraging evolving recruiting concepts and identifies areas of future work to continue improving the Army’s understanding of the recruiting environment.

Job Demands And Resources: A Look At The Vha Workforce To Support Dod Goals, Anthony J. Rivera

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the relationships between job demands, job resources, burnout, turnover intention, and workplace attitudes among employees of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) through the lens of the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. The findings reveal both expected and novel insights. Consistent with prior research, the study confirms that excessive job demands, without enough resources to balance then, lead to burnout. This, in turn, increases turnover intention and negatively affects how employees view leadership and the work environment. A significant discovery, however, challenges conventional assumptions: favorable job demands were positively correlated with turnover intention, suggesting that employees in favorable roles …

Accuracy Of Time Phasing Missile And Munition Using The Continuous Distribution Function, Joseph Zobler

Theses and Dissertations

Accurate cost and schedule estimates are crucial for maintaining the U.S. military’s technological and operational superiority, ensuring efficient resource allocation and timely development of advanced defense systems. This research examines S-curve models for time-phasing non-recurring Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) expenditures in missile and munition acquisition programs. This research evaluates the commonly used 60/40 rule, which assumes 60% of expenditures occur by 50% of the schedule, for its accuracy using Cost Assessment Data Enterprise (CADE) and Earned Value Management Central Repository (EVM-CR) data from 21 missile and munition development programs.

Enhancing Reliability Of A 3d Cargo Scanning System, Gabriel F. Bartolomei

Theses and Dissertations

Recent advancements in 3D cargo scanning and machine learning offer solutions to improve cargo processing reliability. This study enhances a 3D cargo scanning system by addressing software crashes, connectivity failures, and image accuracy issues limiting its operational effectiveness. A systematic approach identified the primary causes of system failures. System updates were implemented, followed by 30 pre- and post-update trials to evaluate reliability improvements. Statistical t-tests showed a significant reduction in failures, although processing time slightly increased. Results indicated that targeted hardware and software updates enhanced cargo scanning efficiency and dependability. Future work will focus on refining sensor calibration, optimizing network …

Understanding The Acceptance Of Digital Tools Within An Air Force Environment Using The Utaut2 Model, Britton J. Edwards

Theses and Dissertations

This research paper explores factors influencing digital tool adoption in a military context, using a modified UTAUT2 model with the inclusion of Military Status as a moderating factor. The study examines the moderating effects of Military Status on Social Influence towards Behavioral Intention and Behavioral Intention on Use Behavior. Data was collected through a Likert-scale survey from respondents across multiple Department of the Air Force (DAF) organizations. Findings revealed Social Influence had the potential to positively influence Behavioral Intention to use digital tools, but military experience did not significantly moderate this relationship. However, past experience with the legacy tool and …

Mediating And Moderating Effects Of Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, Perceptions Of External Markets, And Work-Life Balance On Employee Retention, Naya J. Gillespie

Theses and Dissertations

Employee retention remains a critical challenge for organizations across industries, particularly in environments with high turnover rates and competitive external job markets. This thesis examines the correlations between organizational commitment, job satisfaction, work-life balance, and perceptions of external job markets to uncover their collective and individual impacts on employee retention. Using quantitative research design, data was collected through an online survey of 240 participants across various hierarchical levels. Key findings indicate that organizational commitment and job satisfaction significantly influence retention, with job satisfaction also serving as a mediator between organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Work-life balance plays a direct role …

Developing Core Competencies For The Air Force Civil Engineer Asset Management Career Field, David A. Rochester

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force (USAF) relies on a highly trained and capable workforce to maintain and manage its infrastructure, ensuring mission readiness and operational effectiveness. However, the increasing complexity of asset management, aging infrastructure, and evolving global threats necessitate a structured approach to developing the competencies required for Air Force Civil Engineer Asset Managers. This research aims to identify, develop, and validate core competencies specific to this career field, utilizing a structured methodology that combines an Education Working Group (EWG) with a Delphi study. The study begins with an expert-led EWG to generate an initial list of competencies based …

An Analysis Of Supervisor Job Satisfaction During Telework In The Covid-19 Pandemic, Corey L. Rucker

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly reshaped workplace practices, accelerating the adoption of telework. This study examines the job satisfaction of supervisors in telework environments, focusing on qualitative analysis of survey responses from 41 supervisors in the Department of Defense (DoD). Through thematic analysis, the research identifies key factors influencing supervisor satisfaction. These themes include flexibility, communication challenges, resource gaps, and the unique stressors of managing remote teams. Findings reveal that while telework offers benefits such as improved work-life balance and productivity, it also presents challenges like reduced team cohesion, blurred work-home boundaries, and difficulties in performance management. Grounded in Herzberg’s Two-Factor …

Manage External And Internal Threats To Commercial Spaces, Alan Saquella

Publications

Securing commercial buildings is a multifaceted challenge that demands a comprehensive and proactive approach. From office complexes and retail hubs to industrial facilities and healthcare institutions, these spaces serve as critical pillars of commerce, administration, and service delivery. Protecting them requires a blend of physical safeguards, advanced technologies and well-defined operational protocols.

2025 March, Morehead State University. Office Of Communications & Marketing.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for March of 2025.

Examining Consumer Adoption Of Social Commerce: An Extended Meta-Utaut Model, Prianka Sarker, Laurie Hughes, Tegwen Malik, Yogesh K. Dwivedi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Social commerce has evolved into a mainstream channel for marketers and businesses for selling products online. However, consumers in many developing economies have yet to fully adopt social commerce technology. This research, therefore, aims to develop and empirically validate a conceptual model for understanding the factors influencing consumer adoption of social commerce in Bangladesh using an adapted and extended version of the Meta-UTAUT model. Analysis was undertaken to determine the appropriateness of external constructs such as trust, social support, anxiety, grievance redressal, innovativeness, and continuous participation intention. This research collected data from 402 social commerce users from Bangladesh to test …

From Low Power To Action: Reappraising Powerlessness As An Opportunity Restores Agency, Tianyu He, Michael Schaerer, Trevor A. Foulk, Elizabeth B. Wolf, Winnie Y. Jiang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Agentic behaviors are a critical pathway to power in contemporary organizations. Paradoxically, employees who lack power are the least likely to think and act agentically—creating a self-perpetuating cycle of disadvantage. Existing research on facilitating employee agentic behaviors relies on structural solutions that are often out of reach for individual employees. Yet, anecdotal evidence suggests that this view may be incomplete, as some individuals seem to be able to overcome the challenges powerlessness poses without relying on external resources, control, or organizational change. Integrating research on powerlessness and cognitive reappraisal, the present research proposes that cognitively reappraising powerless situations as opportunities …

Disaster Relief, Inc.: When Is Corporate Philanthropy Good Or Bad For Shareholders?, Hao Liang, Cara Vansteenkiste

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

A long-standing question in finance is why companies donate to charity, often attributing it to either managerial agency problems or strategic behavior. Based on a global sample of donation announcements by firms providing relief to disaster-affected communities, we test the relative importance of these two motives and the conditions under which each dominates. We exploit disaster-specific factors in an event study setting around corporate donation announcement dates to show that, on average, relief donations decrease returns. However, the strategic benefits of donating around salient events can mitigate these negative effects. To account for firms’ donation decisions, we rely on exogenous …

Attention To Market Expansion: Aspirational Antecedent And Risk-Taking Consequence, Renfei Gao, Man Zhang, Xiaogang He, Zhengyu Li

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The behavioral theory of the firm (BTOF) emphasizes the goal-directed logic in explaining firms’ risk-taking.Scholars in this tradition typically conceptualize how performance feedback indicates problems and triggers risk-taking behaviors. Yet, the theory remains underdeveloped in understanding decision-makers’ attention to forward-looking goals, such as market expansion, and its impact on firm risk-taking. In this study, we theorize performance feedback as an antecedent to decision-makers’ attention to forward-looking goals, and firm risktaking as a consequence of such attention. Focusing on market expansion as a critical forward-looking goal, we first theorize how performance feedback influences decision-makers’ attention to market expansion. Then, we examine …

The Regenerative Future Of Loyalty: A Guide For Green Loyalty Programs To Engage Eco-Consumers, Simon J.D. Schillebeeckx, Ryan Merrill

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Loyalty programs are challenged to attract and retain consumers who increasingly value purpose-driven engagement and environmental impact alongside traditional rewards. With growing awareness of climate issues, many customers expect brands to integrate sustainability and eco-conscious actions into their loyalty offerings.
 71% of consumers believe loyalty programs should support sustainable practices, and this expectation is particularly strong among younger demographics like Gen Z and Millennials. As companies respond by integrating eco-conscious actions — like recycling incentives, carbon offsets, and donations to green causes — these efforts foster emotional loyalty, drive repeat purchases, and ensure long-term retention. Loyalty programs that align with …

The Relationship Between Industry Regulation And The Quality Of Micro-Dramas, Shuoyu Yao

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This paper is a study on the micro-drama industry, exploring the reasons for a large number of low-quality micro-dramas. Specifically, there are two potential problems: (1) the industry value allocation model is unreasonable, so producing high-quality micro-dramas does not receive sufficient returns; (2) regulatory oversight of the industry is insufficient. To investigate this recent phenomenon and the underlying problems, we collected a dataset of 165 micro-dramas and use the newly introduced regulation on the micro-drama industry in June 2024 as a policy shock. The findings show that, before the new regulations were introduced, micro-dramas with higher quality in expression received …

Study On Sustainable Development Of Energy Innovation, Maoli Guo

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Energy innovation and sustainable development play significant roles in the economic development and technological progress of a country. This paper first reviews the measurement methods of energy efficiency in existing literature, selects evaluation indicators based on the influencing factors of energy system performance, and proposes an energy efficiency evaluation method combining the Malmquist index and the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model to evaluate and test the performance of energy sustainable development in each province of China from 2005 to 2021.

The study finds that, firstly, the energy efficiency in China has generally shown an upward trend, but there are significant …

Family Succession And Corporate Investment Policy, Weiting Lin

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Family firms play a significant role in economic and social development, making substantial contributions to wealth creation, employment generation, and the enhancement of social welfare. However, the development of family firms faces numerous challenges, among which intergenerational succession stands out as one of the most critical. The intergenerational succession of family firms is crucial for their long-term sustainable development. In China, since the reform and opening up, private enterprises have experienced rapid growth, with most family firms still under the control of their first-generation founders. These firms are now entering a critical period of succession. The unique political, business, and …

A Study On Paths And Effectiveness Of Internationalization Of Chinese Apparel Enterprises, Xiaohong Gao

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

As globalization advances, international expansion has become a key strategy for firms to enhance their competitive edge. Nevertheless, current literature predominantly centers on developed countries, often overlooking the distinct obstacles and prospects encountered by companies from emerging markets. This gap is particularly evident in the apparel sector, where the impact of branding strategies on internationalization outcomes remains underexplored. This paper constructs an analytical framework of “internationalization context - internationalization pathway selection - internationalization performance”, combines case studies and empirical analysis to explore this research issue in depth, and applies the results of the research to enterprise practice.

This paper analyzes …

Entrepreneurial Spirit And Firm Performance: An Empirical Study Based On Data From The Star Market​, Zhige Zhang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Entrepreneurial spirit, as a vital production factor in contemporary society, plays a leading and guiding role throughout the entire life cycle of a business. In particular, entrepreneurial innovation spirit, a key element of entrepreneurial spirit, is a pivotal engine of economic and societal progress. This paper adopts an empirical research approach to analyze the correlation between entrepreneurial innovation spirit and firm outcome, delving into the impact of entrepreneurial innovation spirit on a firm's operational efficiency, profitability, solvency, and development capabilities. The findings provide theoretical support and practical guidance for enterprise management, ultimately contributing to the creation of greater corporate value …

Digital Twin Dynamics: Employee’S Willingness To Adopt Ai Digital-Twin In A Craftsmanship Environment, Seow Hoon Tee

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Singapore’s manufacturing sector, contributing 22% to the nation’s GDP, is undergoing a strategic transformation under the Manufacturing 2030 vision, which aims to increase sector value by 50%. However, a critical challenge emerges in the widening age gap among craftsmen, particularly between 30 and 50 years old, misaligning with succession planning efforts. As senior craftsmen approach retirement, the urgency to transfer specialized expertise significantly increases. In response, initiatives such as the National AI Strategy (NAIS) 2.0 and Industry 5.0 efforts by the Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) and Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC) emphasize AI-driven solutions to enhance knowledge retention and …

An Empirical Analysis Of Pricing And Payments In The Pharmaceutical Industry, Rahul Narnindi

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

High prescription drug prices in the US are a major hurdle on the road to improved public health. On a per-capita basis, US prescription drug spending is more than twice that of comparable OECD peer nations and yet the health outcomes achieved are worse. Policymakers try to implement countermeasures, such as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, to reduce the burden on the public but these countermeasures may result in unintended consequences. In this thesis, I study the effectiveness of two of these countermeasures and their unintended consequences. My first essay investigates prescription (Rx) to over the counter (OTC) drug …

Exploring Business' And Consumers' Engagement On E-Commerce Platforms, Yichen Wang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The rapid growth of e-commerce platforms has changed how consumers make decisions and how sellers advertise their products. This dissertation examines two key aspects: consumer choice modeling in dynamic online shopping environments and sellers' strategic advertising decisions in competitive markets.

The first essay introduces a Hierarchical Bayesian model to improve the understanding of Individual-Variant Choice Sets (IVCS), where consumers' choice sets change over time and include multiple selections. Traditional models struggle to account for these complexities due to restrictive assumptions. The proposed model introduces a flexible covariance structure that captures perceived similarities between alternatives, leading to better predictive accuracy. Validation …

A Study Of The Impact Of Brand Management Strategies On Brand Rejuvenation - Evidence Based On Chinese Baijiu Brands, Hao Chen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In recent years, China Baijiu industry has faced the challenges of a shrinking consumer market, aging and the rise of young consumers, prompting Baijiu brands to seek new growth points, especially to attract younger groups. As a result, brand rejuvenation has become a key strategic objective for spirits companies. Given that brand extension and brand alliance are effective strategies for traditional brands to expand into new markets, this study develops a model to explore the impact of these two brand management strategies on Baijiu brand rejuvenation and analyses the mediating roles of brand image and brand awareness as well as …

Research On The Technology And Economy Of Intelligent Transformation Of Textile Enterprises, Hongxia Zhang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The Chinese government has proposed to promote the high-end, intelligent and green development of manufacturing in the next step. The China Textile Industry Federation issued the “14th Five-Year Development Outline for the Textile Industry”, emphasizing accelerating the development of intelligent manufacturing system integrators in the textile field to achieve the transformation and upgrading of the industry. At present, the outstanding problems restricting the rapid development of intelligent manufacturing in China’s textile industry include: Imperfect evaluation indicators; The management system does not match; The reconstruction path is not clear.
This topic (1) constructs a big data policy co-word network through quantitative …