Business Commons^™

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.

Great Expectations: Consumer-Brand Relationships And Their Influence On The Organizational Outcomes Of Brand Transgressions, Sabrina Viscomi

Atlantic Marketing Journal

The business landscape has shifted from simply delivering quality products and services to creating shared value. It does this by fulfilling consumers’ deeper needs and meeting their increasingly high expectations. Brand transgressions inhibit organizations’ ability to meet consumers’ demands, complicating the consumer-brand relationship. As a result, brands are often unprepared to deal with the consequences of transgressions, which can be costly. The purpose of this research is to explore the influence of prior consumer-brand relationships on the organizational outcomes of brand transgressions through the lens of social contract theory. This systematic review synthesizes 39 articles to derive five analytical themes: …

The Role That Exercise Play On Your Hormones, Leadership Effectiveness & Job Engagement, Julia Shaw

Honors Projects in Management

This research project aimed to find a connection between exercise, hormone levels, and job outcomes. It is largely known that many successful people workout, but there is limited research that connects working out to leadership effectiveness and job engagement. Therefore, a survey was distributed to Bryant University students asking them to self-report using hormone dimensions, and job outcome Likert scales. The OLS regression did not result in significant p-values however, using a means comparison there were interesting revelations in the data. Those who exercised with others had increased levels of serotonin and leadership effectiveness. Those that exercised before work had …

“Mira Cómo Tejemos”: La Construcción De Una Red Comunitaria Y La Educación Ambiental En La Organización Frente Insular De La Reserva Marina De Galápagos, Katie Draeger

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El Frente Insular de la Reserva Marina de Galápagos (FIRMAG o Frente Insular) es una organización para la conservación comunitaria, ubicada en la isla de Santa Cruz. Para explorar el significado del trabajo comunitario de esta organización, este estudio examina dos elementos de la estructura organizativa: los valores y las fortalezas. Al analizar tanto las perspectivas de los líderes y miembros de FIRMAG como las observaciones sobre el trabajo mismo, los valores que buscan construir y servir la comunidad se revelan como 1) un rechazo a la institucionalidad/burocracia y 2) a los fondos extranjeros, 3) la educación ambiental comunitaria sin …

Ben And Jerry's: When Subsidiaries Fight Back, Ciara Baumert, Alexis Delos Reyes, Charles Floeder, Benjamin Lohrman, Praveen Rao

B-Corp Case Studies by UNL Raikes Seniors

Ben and Jerry’s is a world-leader in the premium ice cream market, having a very well-established brand known for high quality ice cream and unique flavors. Additionally, they are known for a large emphasis on economic and social equity, standing fast in their values and being very outspoken about their stances on prominent current events. After being acquired by Unilever, a global consumer goods company, Ben and Jerry’s came face to face with the reality that their company values will sometimes clash with their parent company’s after putting out a statement regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that Unilever quickly denounced. While …

Warby Parker: A Blurred Vision Of Profitability, Emily Dalton, Nathan Gentry, Emily Kraai, Anna Kreuger, Zachary Streich

B-Corp Case Studies by UNL Raikes Seniors

Warby Parker is a rising competitor in the heavily consolidated eyewear industry. When it launched in 2008, the company took on a blue ocean strategy, which incorporates both cost leadership and product differentiation, in hopes of defeating powerful incumbents. Rather than selling its frames in existing eyewear retailers, many of which are owned by competitors, Warby Parker launched online, selling high-quality frames at an affordable price. More than a decade later, the company is reevaluating its strategy as it has yet to become profitable.

Dealing With “Humanewashing” Claims: Vital Farms’ Crucial Next Step, Bryce Janke, Cole Johnson, Kieran Mcwilliams, Justin Morrow, Isabelle Schmidt

B-Corp Case Studies by UNL Raikes Seniors

Vital Farms prides itself in their ethical and environmentally-friendly production of pasture-raised eggs, butter, and ghee. A popular tagline for the company is “keeping it bullsh*t-free.” This is core to their company mission and values. However, they are currently facing a PETA class action lawsuit for potential humanewashing and greenwashing, essentially false advertising. So, what happens when the Certified B-Corporation is under attack for the very thing that sets it apart from its competition? Is it possible to rebuild trust with the public and regain ethical standing after bad PR? What are humanewashing and greenwashing, and is Vital Farms guilty?

Leadership Prototypes And Cultural Variations Amongst Hmong Men And Women Working Professionals In Minnesota, Ying K. Yang

PhD in Organizational Leadership

Since arriving in the United States in 1975 as immigrants, the Hmong have faced many cultural challenges and were forced to adapt quickly. In 2011, the Hmong lost their last officially recognized leader, General Vang Pao. With the Hmong assimilating to the American culture, it is unclear whether their leadership prototype has changed due to cultural variation. This qualitative phenomenological study aimed to examine leadership prototypes and cultural variation amongst working professional Hmong men and women in Minnesota. Minnesota was chosen because it is home to the largest Hmong population in the United States. This study targeted understanding the lived …

Dimensions Of Transformational Leadership As Predictors Of Employee Creativity: The Moderating Role Of Job Satisfaction, Sarita R. Guillory

PhD in Organizational Leadership

The aim of this research was to determine whether the dimensions of transformational leadership predicted employee creativity, as well as whether job satisfaction strengthened this association through moderation. Findings in the existing literature exhibited mixed outcomes concerning TL’s impact on EC, requiring more empirical research. Many studies have employed moderating variables in search of potentializing a stronger relationship between TL and EC; however, no previous scholars have explored JS’s moderating capabilities between the variables. JS as a suitable strengthening variable between TL dimensions and EC is evidenced through unrelated research concerning TL’s impact on JS and JS’s impact on EC. …

Perceptions Of Creative Leadership In Multigenerational Nonprofit Private Education Teams, Rashad L. Burden

PhD in Organizational Leadership

The challenges that are encountered in private schools are in constant flux. Teachers and administrators are tasked with leading and guiding future generations in tumultuous times. A leader’s creativity has a significant influence on the diverse teams that are engaging school-age children. Creative leadership is lacking in academic research in comparison to more established leadership theories. The lack of research is excessively apparent in the multigenerational nonprofit private education sector. In this qualitative study, two Seventh-Day Adventist private school educational teams in southeastern California were engaged in focus group interviews. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence …

Supply Chain Collaboration Under A Christian Business Ethics Lens, Daniel Oldak

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Supply chain management is a source of competitive advantages for firms and is becoming an increasingly important part of the business. Firms, on a strategic level, have it in their best interest to operate in a way that leverages their partnership with their suppliers to form sustainable strategic advantages which include but are not limited to product innovation & design, operational efficiency, shared cost savings, and collaborative planning, forecasting, & inventory. A collaborative supply chain that yields these benefits is only possible through the exercise of the justice dimensions of procedural, distributive, and interactional justice which are related to fair …

Impacts Of Information Channels On Consumer Decision Journey: Evidence From An Experience Durable Goods Industry, Chih-Wei Tsai

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

With the emergence of various information technologies, how to reasonably layout in different touch points has become a crucial issue for the company in practice, especially for those experienced durable goods with greater uncertainty and decision complexity. The company seeks to leverage the limited budget to achieve the most efficient marketing strategies, and thus the most effective combination of information channels. On the other hand, consumers could be easily influenced by different information resources in the process of purchase decision-making, and their information search behavior will gradually change with their accumulation of knowledge, experience and distinctive search objectives. Therefore, this …

Title Matters: Impacts Of Titles On User Engagement In Short Video Platforms, Hao Chen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

With the increasing popularity of short video marketing in business world, understanding how to engage short video viewers has attracted the attention from both academics and practitioners. Prior studies on short videos mainly focus on how characteristics of users or the attributes of video content affect marketing effectiveness. As a heuristic cue of short video content, the video title is expected to grab viewers’ attention thereby playing an important role in influencing viewers’ attitudes towards the short video consumption. Drawing on signaling theory, I propose that the characteristics of short video titles, such as the length, the sentiment strength, and …

Women In Sustainable Leadership: A Case Study On The Perspectives, Opportunities, And Challenges Of Biologist And Conservationist Estrela Matilde, Ella Lyons

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Despite the relatively small population of 8,000 occupants and the minimal international recognition of the Island of Príncipe, located off of the Gulf of Guinea on the Western Coast of Central Africa, the region has increasingly become a leading example of sustainable practices to be taken on a global scale in the near future to combat our current climate crisis. This case study explores the sustainable practices that Príncipe has learned to embrace under the leadership of Portuguese conservation biologist and project manager for the NGO Fundação Príncipe, Estrela Matilde. Estrela integrates social, cultural, and environmental conservation to align with …

Exploring The Development Of An Agribusiness Ecosystem For Singapore: Lessons From Taiwan, Kuo-Chang Fu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The COVID-19 pandemic and complex global circumstances have prompted a heightened level of apprehension about food security in Singapore. With a land area of slightly over 700 square kilometers, of which a mere 1% is dedicated to agricultural purposes, Singapore's overall level of food self-sufficiency is less than 10%. Historically, Singapore has relied on imports to address its food deficits. However, due to the pandemic's impact and geopolitical tensions, which have resulted in instability within the global supply chain, Singapore is now compelled to re-evaluate its approach to food security. Consequently, there has been a substantial focus on exploring strategies …

Ceo Humility And Firm Resilience, Yuehua Shen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In today’s fast-changing world, firm resilience becomes an important force for firms to survive and develop. This dissertation aims to investigate the relationship between CEO humility and firm resilience, and further tackle the underlying mechanism behind the relationship. Based on upper echelons theory, this dissertation proposes that CEO humility promotes firm resilience, and the positive influence is mediated by stakeholder relationship capability. Moreover, competitive uncertainty and CEO work experience variety positively moderate the connection between CEO humility and stakeholder relationship capability. Using survey data from 119 CEOs in China, this dissertation tests the theoretical hypotheses and offers several implications for …

Mediation Of Inventory Management In The Relationship Between Knowledge And Firm Performance, Aamir Rashid, Rizwana Rasheed

Publications and Research

The role of inventory management is pivotal to improving the overall firm performance, but when it comes to the healthcare sector, then it becomes more crucial. This sector often countenances stocks-outs for life-saving drugs and equipment and competent staff that ascent the mortality rate. Thus, the current research aimed to analyze the effect of knowledge on firm performance through inventory management. For this research, a survey questionnaire with a deductive approach was utilized by collecting data from 200 respondents through multistage cluster sampling. IBM SPSS AMOS version 22.0 as a statistical tool was utilized to analyze the measurement model. Results …

Marketing Orientation: A Longitudinal Study Of Community Banks, Stephen C. Carlson, Gerald Sullivan, Susanna Warnock, Margaret Ryder

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Marketing orientation has long been touted as a means of improved business performance and a key to success in marketing management (Kotler, Keller & Chernev, 2021). This is a longitudinal study of community banks examining marketing orientation and business performance using a survey instrument based on the work of Narver and Slater (1990) and Kohli and Jaworski (1990).

Four survey datasets cover the period preceding the Great Recession (2003-2005), the Great Recession and its fallout (2008-2010), a Post–Great Recession period (2014-2016), and the COVID-19 period (2020). Survey responses were gathered from a selected set of community bank CEOs in the …

Junior Analyst Burnout, Mccain P. Wnek

Student Publications

This paper explores the issue of burnout among junior analysts in the finance industry, specifically focusing on the role of workplace motivation in contributing to this issue. The review draws on a range of studies and literature related to burnout, motivation, and management practices in the finance industry, analyzing the factors that contribute to junior analyst burnout and identifying effective management practices that can help reduce burnout and promote a positive work culture. The review highlights the importance of adopting a Theory Y management approach that prioritizes employee empowerment, autonomy, and self-direction in addressing burnout among junior analysts. The findings …

How To Succeed In Business: An Analysis Of Entrepreneurship And Small Business Ownership, Alexandria Henderson

Undergraduate Theses

A recent rise in small business ownership, along with the subsequent advent and universality of social media usage, presents unique opportunities for these businesses to grow and thrive. This thesis project will analyze the success of various marketing tactics on sales in a small business selling handmade products. It will identify challenges and benefits of venturing into entrepreneurship for a full-time college student. Different business models will be described and compared through a survey of business owners. Ultimately, a detailed business plan will be outlined. At the completion of this thesis, a creative project in collaboration with the Bellarmine University …

Insights Into The Accuracy Of Social Scientists’ Forecasts Of Societal Change, Sangsuk Yoon

Management and Marketing Faculty Publications

How well can social scientists predict societal change, and what processes underlie their predictions? To answer these questions, we ran two forecasting tournaments testing the accuracy of predictions of societal change in domains commonly studied in the social sciences: ideological preferences, political polarization, life satisfaction, sentiment on social media, and gender-career and racial bias. After we provided them with historical trend data on the relevant domain, social scientists submitted pre-registered monthly forecasts for a year (Tournament 1; N = 86 teams and 359 forecasts), with an opportunity to update forecasts on the basis of new data six months later (Tournament …

J Mich Dent Assoc April 2023

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

In this issue, the reader will find the following original content:

• A profile of two dentist legislators, Representative Steven Bradley, DDS of Iowa and Representative Jane Gillette, DDS, MPH. who represents Montana, to help readers best understand what that commitment means if they plan to seek elected office.
• An article discussing essential communication strategies to win elections.
• An update on ADA efforts to promote Oral Health Equity
• Profiles of MDA leadership candidates
• A 10Minute EBD contrasting closing diastemas with or without frenectomy with orthodontic treatment.
• Editorial, Advocacy update, News Briefs, News from the MDA Foundation, News from the ADA and …

The Elevator Speech, Christopher J. Smiley

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This editorial discusses the effectiveness of crafting an "elevator speech" for concise and impactful communication in various scenarios. Leaders at a previous MDA Board of Trustees orientation were trained to construct brief, efficient presentations of two to five minutes. The process involves targeting the audience's needs, focusing on critical points, and concluding with a call to action. Examples are given for addressing questions on MDA membership benefits, emphasizing volunteer contributions, services, resources, and the value of the MDA Journal. The editorial encourages readers to adopt these strategies for efficient communication in professional and public settings.

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 …

Werner Enterprises Strategic Audit, Leavitt K. Reno

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Werner Enterprises is a large trucking company based in Omaha, Nebraska, operating out of 15 terminals around the country. It is among the top five trucking companies in the United States. This report examines the trucking industry and where Werner Enterprises stands within it, as well as Werner Enterprises’ competitive advantages, and how future challenges of the trucking industry may affect the company. The report utilizes a PESTEL and Porter’s Five Forces analysis to closer examine the external environment and industry Werner Enterprises operates in. Following this evaluation, recommendations are provided based on Werner Enterprises’ current positioning and future challenges …

The Impact Of Subordinates’ Proactive Personality On Empowering Leadership, Xin Zhan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Research has documented numerous benefits of proactive personality for employees’ job outcomes. However, the success of proactive employees largely depends on their leaders’ empowerment. Extant research has focused on the bright side of proactive personality for inducing empowerment, without considering its risks. We thus have an incomplete understanding of the effects of employees’ proactive personality on empowering leadership. I take a balanced perspective on proactive personality and propose that proactive personality has an inverted U-shaped relationship with empowering leadership, such that empowering leadership is highest when proactive personality is at a moderate level. I argue that leader-member exchange (LMX) mediates …

A Study On The Business Models Of Chinese Video Websites And Its Evolution, Xiaohui Wang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation delves into the 20-year developmental history of Chinese video websites, with specific emphasis on major players currently in operation such as iQIYI, Tencent Video, Youku, Bilibili, and Mango TV. It critically analyzes the business model of Chinese video websites from five key dimensions—developmental evolution, market operation, content production, user relationships, and policy relations—providing a comprehensive understanding of the industry’s landscape. Research has shown that the business models of Chinese video websites present not a simple chain relationship but a complex network of relationships. Elements such as capital, market, content, technology, users, and policies dynamically interact and balance each …

The Impact Of Ipo Pricing Model On The Issuing Price: Evidence From China, Shancheng Chen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

IPO pricing effectiveness refers to the deviation between the IPO price in the primary market and the actual trading price in the secondary market at the initial stage of listing. IPO underpricing ratio is the main research index used to investigate the effectiveness of IPO pricing in capital market. The phenomenon of excessive IPO underpricing brings many problems to the development of Chinese capital market. The GEM from the establishment of the initial audit system to the registration system, to the inquiry of the implementation of the new rules, IPO underpricing rate has been gradually controlled. This paper mainly studies …

Customer Value, Product Repositioning And Supply Chain Strategy: A Case Of Supply Chain Design For Lansea Corporation, Lei Zhang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

With continuous development of Chinese economy, the incomes of Chinese citizens are constantly increasing, leading to dramatical changes of consumer demand patterns, especially in household electric appliances. The analysis of income and household wealth shows that the proportion of the middle-class population is about 20%-30% of the total population, and this proportion is still increasing. Consequently, it seems that consumption is constantly upgrading. This means, on one hand, part of the consumers still focuses on quality and cost, while on the other hand, part of consumers pays more attention on performance and styles. Therefore, it is critical for the manufacturers …

The Effect Of Psychological Distance On Online Advertising: A Case Study Of Video Enrollment Advertisement Of Colleges, Xian He

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Advertising for enrolment through the Internet has become an important means of enrolment promotion in Chinese universities. However, there is currently no clear research conclusion on how to conduct effective advertising, especially on the selection of factors such as promotion time, promotion platform, and promotion targets. Based on the construal level theory, this study investigated the effects of different types of college enrolment advertising on different new media platforms, using different dimensions of psychological distance corresponding to factors such as promotional time and promotional area. The empirical results show that different advertising types do have significant effect differences on different …