Business Commons^™

The Effects Of Covid-19 On The Mobile Payment Banking System, Sydney Mason

Senior Honors Theses

This study includes an examination of the effect of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on electronic payment apps. Ever since the pandemic caused a global shutdown, the banking industry was forced to adjust their usual operations and adopt new technological advancements that would allow for contactless payment. Consumers, worried about contracting the virus through the physical exchange of currency, resorted to utilizing payment apps. This contributed to the increase in electronic payment usage. This research addresses the effect of COVID-19 on three different electronic payment apps, Venmo, PayPal, and Zelle. A comparative longitudinal analysis shows the increase in total transactions from …

Family Business Leadership Succession, Elissa Ann Rogers

Journal of Fundamental & Applied Business Research

Following a leadership succession from one generation of family leadership to the next, family businesses often fail. When family businesses do not have a comprehensive succession plan, they have low sustainability for subsequent generations of leadership. This qualitative, multiple-case study explored methods for reducing family business failure following generational succession. The researcher collected data via semi-structured interviews. The themes that emerged from the data include (a) the reason for succession, (b) necessary leadership characteristics, (c) the succession process, (d) resistance to succession, and (e) the value of external help. Key recommendations include the value of starting the succession planning process …

Impact Of Cybersecurity Investments On Smaller Organizations, Stephen Mancini

Journal of Fundamental & Applied Business Research

The challenges of securing an organization from various cyber threats are well known. However, it is particularly challenging for smaller organizations to secure themselves due to an often-perceived limitation on funding, and there exists no clear methodology for how an organization should invest the resources it does have. Furthermore, the need to secure oneself is predicated upon an understanding of the threat actors and their methods. This also presents a further challenge as to what information is needed and how to effectively share said information among organizations to understand the threats and threat actors. The following study demonstrated while there …

Why Time Management For College Students Is Essential For Goal Setting, Anthony Mihok

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Three Minute Thesis

Artificial Intelligent Enabled Supply Chains As A Competitive Advantage, Nathan Adato

Senior Honors Theses

The focus of this paper is on the topics of artificial intelligence and supply chain management and how artificial intelligence-enabled supply chains provide organizations with competitive advantages. The supply chain’s adoption of data collection technologies as part of digital transformation and movements of industry 4.0 creates a strong foundation for artificial intelligence analytics. Artificial intelligence has three branches sensing and interacting, decision-making, and learning. Each branch uses its algorithms and serves a different purpose for the business. Artificial intelligence-enabled supply chains create unique, inimitable competitive advantages that fit Michael Porter’s five forces.

Cross-Cultural Managerial Behavior – A Comparative Study Between The Republic Of Korea And The United States Of America, Colson Richter

Senior Honors Theses

Among the many trade partners the United States engages with, the Republic of Korea is the nation’s seventh largest trading partner – exchanging over $154.9 Billion in 2020 (USTR, 2021). Despite this strong economic relationship between these two nations, the cultural distance that these societies have is one of the largest within anthropological academia (Hofstede, 2017). This reality creates the need for a solid framework of a management-focused, cultural understanding between these two countries.

In this study, academic literature will be collected and reviewed to lend insight into particular areas of culture that an American and Korean perspective would be …

Tracking The Donor Dollar: A Critical Examination Of Ngo Impact, Joshua Werth

Senior Honors Theses

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) comprise the backbone of civilization. Whether intended or not, governments fail to improve social situations, financial standings, and spirituality comprehensively. NGOs attempt to cover these areas. From Angola to Zambia, countless NGOs exist around the world; however, many fail due to a misplaced focus internally on the annual donations received rather than externally on the disenfranchised. Additionally, even if NGOs manage to stay afloat, they will need help procuring funds and then distributing those resources with the most effective impact for the impoverished. The honors thesis proposed will attempt to determine more effective impact measurements for NGOs, …

“Started By A Mouse” An Examination Into The Character Of Walt Disney, And The Company That He Built., Micah P. Bellamy

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Walt Disney's legacy reaches all over the world, which is a far stretch from his humble beginning delivering newspapers in Kansas City. This study will examine Walt Disney's life, starting with his humble beginnings on the farm, his early days as a cartoonist, to the rise of the Walt Disney Corporation. The examination will look at the man, Walt Disney, focusing on his upbringing and the various challenges that he faced throughout his life that shaped the leader that he would later become, and will reveal how, despite the adversities, obstacles, and challenges that Walt faced, and how they shaped …

The Great Resignation And Its Impacts On American Workplace Traditions And Overall Future, Dena Wake

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

This paper focuses on the workplace impacts that COVID-19 has had. It also theories about what will come next should workplace environments not change.

Sacred Business: Outlining Business As Mission For The Fulfillment Of The Great Commission, Eli Jackson

Senior Honors Theses

Business as Mission (BAM) is the operation of a for-profit business located in a cross-cultural setting and aimed toward the fulfillment of the great commission. This definition reveals four key success factors for BAM: support, financial and otherwise, for both the business and the missionaries; the ability to gain access to cross-cultural settings; the opportunity to advance the gospel; and the requirement of managing both missional and business goals. Examining each of these areas, along with the historical effectiveness of BAM, reveals that BAM is an efficient and effective missional strategy, which should be used to see the Great Commission …

Priming In Leadership: Applying Communication Theory To The Speeches Of Ronald Reagan, Katherine Sakai

Senior Honors Theses

The study of priming gained traction in the 1990s when researchers such as John Bargh demonstrated the nonconscious activation of ideas, often through repeated related words or activated schema. Since then, researchers have studied the effects of priming on self-view, achievement, and teamwork. While the concept of priming has just recently begun to be applied to leadership in the workplace, no research has yet been done in finding examples of priming theory in the speeches of well-known leaders. In this study, Ronald Reagan’s persuasive tactics were analyzed and found to use similar methods of repetition and schema used in priming …

The Importance Of Business Ethics As A Project Management Professional (Pmp®), James Burrows

Senior Honors Theses

The Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification is the most industry-recognized certification due to the rigorous requirements and credibility of the Project Management Institute (PMI), (Alexander, 2020). PMI requires members and certification holders to abide by the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, which prioritizes four main value areas: responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty (Project Management Institute, 2006). The following research and analysis aim to define each value area by connecting project management methodologies and ethical business dilemmas through each value area’s accompanying subsections.

The Effects Of Lean Management In Nonprofit Operations, Brandon Diaz

Senior Honors Theses

Many nonprofits desire to serve the segment of society that is helpless or in distress, and this paper seeks to demonstrate that the implementation of Lean management into nonprofit operations aids a nonprofit in accomplishing its vision of service. The goal of this essay is to combine Lean management with nonprofit operations to develop a more sustainable method of managing nonprofit operations. This essay will be written from a Christian point of view, so partnership with the Church will be considered when discussing Lean operations. Lean management is effective in reducing waste and increasing efficiency in nonprofit operations; however, only …

The Importance Of Business Plan Proficiency To Business School Graduates, Madeline Colclasure

Senior Honors Theses

Small businesses are one of the largest groups of employers in the United States. Success of these businesses is, therefore, very important to the economy at large. Entrepreneurs who write business plans, in general, receive more funding from third parties such as banks and venture capital firms and are more likely to be successful. Entrepreneurs who receive a business education and have the support of a mentor are also more likely to be successful in the long term. Incorporating business planning, and activities such as business plan competitions and building incubators on campus, enhance classroom learning.

Non-Monetary Motivation In The Nonprofit Sector, Brianna Gulchuk

Senior Honors Theses

The nonprofit industry is currently in a state of flux. With the shifting dynamics of generations entering and leaving the workforce and the high turnover rates of volunteers, there is an increasing need for organizations to adjust current practices to hold on to skilled workers. This cannot be accomplished unless organizations make an effort toward sustainable motivational practices that train and retain their workers. This paper examines motivation strategies and how they can presently be seen in the nonprofit sector. There are also several practical applications of these motivational theories, referred to as motivational strategies, which will be presented. Special …

Study Of The Correlation Between Emotional Intelligence (Ei) And Project Success In Nonprofits, Celene M. Kalivoda

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Project managers use both hard and soft skills to manage projects and people. When a project manager lacks the necessary competencies, there is a risk of project failure. The purpose of projects in nonprofit organizations is to increase the efficiencies of the organization or gain additional funding through fundraising, friendraising, and image enhancement efforts. The soft skill of emotional intelligence is linked to enhanced leadership in project management. This quantitative correlation study examined the relationship between the project managers’ emotional intelligence and their nonprofit project success. The analysis determined there is not a significant correlation between project managers’ emotional intelligence …

Passing The Baton: A Comparative Analysis Of The Ceo Succession Of Walmart And Exxon Mobil, Anna K. Seale

Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare the CEO succession of Walmart and Exxon Mobile with the commonly accepted best practices within the CEO’s distinguishable attributes and roles. The succession of executive leadership within any organization is inevitable. Research speaks to the importance of both strong executive leadership and CEO succession plans to allow for sustainable success within an organization. The researcher examined the literature on commonly accepted best practices of CEO succession as well as the importance of them. The executive successions of Walmart and Exxon Mobil were examined in light of the history of executive succession planning. …

The Correlation Between Employee Job Satisfaction And Leadership Style By Leadership Personnel In Massage Businesses, Veronica Henry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Job satisfaction plays a significant role in employee retention outcomes. Therefore, examining factors that contribute to employee job satisfaction is vital to formulating and implementing effective organizational protocols that increase job satisfaction, employee retention, and overall business performance. This study was designed to examine the relationship between leadership style and job satisfaction in massage-based businesses. The research question was as follows: Is there a relationship between job satisfaction and leadership style in massage businesses in Columbia, SC? This study utilized three primary leadership styles: transformational, transactional, and passive/ avoidant. The research question was answered through a quantitative correlational analysis of …

Effects Of Mismanaged Condensed Project Life Cycles In The U.S. Consumer Ready Meat Industry, John E. Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Projects have been undertaken by the United States (U.S.) consumer ready meat industry to advance strategic objectives and provide consumers with desired food products. The management of the projects’ industry life cycles was impacted by diverse consumer groups’ continual demands for new and varied products. The problem addressed was the inefficient management of projects’ costs, scopes, and deliverables because of the shortened projects’ life cycles for consumer ready processing lines in the U.S. meat industry. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects inefficient management of condensed project life cycles had on stakeholders and deliverables. This study used …

Community Bank Leaders' Perception On Maintaining Values In Decision Making, Jennifer H. Matheny

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative study explored community bank leaders’ perception of conflicts between their personal values and core corporate values when negotiating critical decisions. At this stage in the research, the negotiating of decisions were generally defined as resolving conflicts between personal and organizational values. Results provide an understanding of how values-based leadership affects executive level decisions in community banks. A purposeful sample of community bank leaders participated in qualitative interviews. These leaders were selected based on their responsibility to make decisions that influenced their corporate culture and/or had a significant impact on their company. Based on the study, there was a …

State Appropriations And Allocation Ratios To Predict Financial Condition At Public Higher Education Institutions, Cassandra Bennett

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The higher education industry has faced increased competition in recent years from new institutions and learning platforms entering the marketplace. Public higher education institutions, in particular, have been forced to develop strategic plans due to limited state funding in recent years. These colleges and universities face the challenge of allocating their limited financial resources in a manner that will optimize financial strength and ensure long-term sustainability. Institutions classify their operating expenses into several different functional expense categories, including instruction, academic support, student services and operations and maintenance of plant. This paper analyzed the relationship between changes in state appropriations, allocation …

Donor Stewardship And Repeat Giving, Faith Hoelscher

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative correlational study evaluated the strength and direction of relationships between the dependent variables: major giving since September 1, 2009 and average elapsed time between major gifts in relation to the independent variables: number of stewardship activities, stewardship activities occurring within one-month of a major gift, and duration of major giving relationship. Using a multiple regression, a relationship was found between the independent and dependent variables. These results were then affirmed by Pearson r evaluations in an effort to reinforce the importance and significance of the independent variables in spite of the multicollinearity shown for the subset of stewardship …

How Might Servant Leadership Principles Impact Employee Turnover At A Solid Waste Management Firm?, Clifton Thacker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study analyzed the impact servant leadership had on employee turnover at an SWM firm. Many authors were reviewed with literature pertaining to leadership, servant leadership, and SWM. Multiple interviews were conducted with current personnel at an SWM firm that utilizes servant leadership in order to gain a better understanding of the experiences of these employees. The results of the study indicate that servant leadership has a profoundly positive impact on employee satisfaction and, consequently, decreased turnover. The researcher developed many themes based on data analysis, which included culture, accountability, support, and commitment.

21st Century Desirable Leadership Characteristics For Professional Services Firms In North American Metropolises, Ralph Baeza

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Professional services firms (PSFs) in North American metropolises are facing challenges in doing business in a fast pace global society with environments which require them to cope with increasing size, complexity and conflict management, to shape and coordinate the right culture that meets their strategic goals, and creates sustainability with legacy. This requires to address retaining and developing leaders and emerging leaders, and pursue their commitment to a long and productive career, in their organizations. Thus, this case study is an exercise of depth that reflects the uniqueness in the lives of leaders in PSFs similar to the organization where …

Sustainable Leadership And The Relationship To Profitability In U.S. Banking Institutions, Kendra Harvey

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined if sustainable leadership in U.S. banking institutions had a statistical correlation to profitability between the period of 2008 and 2017. The problem addressed was the impact of sustainable leadership on the profitability of banking institutions in the U.S. was not known. The study was significant because of the increased amount of pressure within the financial sector to increase long-term stability while maintaining profitability. The research applied a quantitative correlational study to conduct the research. The study found there was no statistically significant correlation between net income or market value but did find a positive correlation for return …

An Analysis Of Fraud Prevention And Detection In Not-For-Profit Organizations In The State Of South Carolina, Mary Gibson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study analyzed fraud detection and prevention techniques and analyzed if there was a relationship between the techniques and the detection of fraud. The combined techniques were fraud risk assessment, fraud risk register, code of conduct, fraud assessment training, whistle-blower policy, fraud control plan, fraud control policy, and internal control review. Nonprofits are vulnerable to fraud and costly for the organizations that rely heavily on donations to provide needed services or goods to a community. Through analyzing 109 nonprofits surveyed in South Carolina, the researcher found 59 reported fraud occurrences and 86 percent were using fraud detection and prevention techniques. …

Project Management And The Temporary Relocation Of The Decoupling Point: Hermeneutical Phenomenological Study, Christopher Hicks

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study investigates, understands, and describes the value of engaging a project manager to support a customer-driven project that creates a random supply chain demand event. Specifically such an event would require the temporary re-positioning of the decoupling point between the supply push and demand pull within the supply chain. In response to the challenges of this type of event, this study will focus on two specific project manager roles. First, the project manager would act as an extension of a customer-driven project and serve as a conduit for the voice of the customer (VOC) into the supply chain. Secondly, …

An Exploration Of Internal Controls And Their Impact On Employee Fraud In Small Businesses, Kent Lachney

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain greater understanding of the current practices of the internal control systems of small businesses and to explore the effectiveness of their systems in comparison with anti-fraud activities recommended by forensic accountants. The researcher selected five small businesses that were members of the Central Louisiana Regional Chamber of Commerce and had fewer than 100 employees. The researcher interviewed the owners and/or managers of the businesses, reviewed and analyzed company documentation, interpreted data, made observations, and offered recommendations. The researcher asked each participant to respond to questions related to the five elements of …

Employee Perceptions Of Succession Planning Within Higher Education: A Qualitative Case Study, Matthew Swanson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Higher education institutions provide programs and services in support of personal, professional, and community development. The positive impact of higher education is threatened by the imminent departures of experienced employees responsible for implementing institutional programs and services. Research suggests succession planning assists organizations in responding to the potential departures of experienced employees while successfully serving stakeholders, yet a majority of higher education institutions do not possess adequate succession planning programs. Employee perceptions are essential to developing and evaluating programs, however, there is currently a lack of available insight into employee perceptions pertaining to succession planning within the field of higher …

The Internal Effects Of Corporate Social Responsibility On Firm Performance, Lindsay Harris

Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to identify the internal effects of corporate social responsibility on firm performance. It also examines the definition of corporate social responsibility and two varying theories about the topic. This thesis explores the human resource, quality and financial aspects of firm performance and how those aspects of a company are affected by adopting significant corporate social responsibility programs. This research seeks to answer the claim that corporate social responsibility programs do not have a positive effect on the actual performance of an organization. It will examine the effect of CSR on employee attitudes, moral and …