Business Commons^™

2018-05-03 Faculty Senate Newsletter, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

Faculty Senate newsletter for May 3, 2018.

2018-05-03 Faculty Senate Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

Faculty Senate meeting minutes for May 3, 2018.

2018-05-03 Msu Comparisons, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

Morehead State University comparisons with other state universities from President Jay Morgan's presentation on May 3, 2018.

2018-05-02 Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate., Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Faculty Senate Records

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee meeting minutes for May 2, 2018.

Manufacturing For Success And Change, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Capturing value upstream via IP, or downstream via application is key for manufacturers looking to survive when low-cost labour dries up

According to a 2017 McKinsey & Co. report, 10,000 Chinese firms operate in Africa, with one-third of them manufacturing companies. Many are midsize manufacturers without the critical mass to take on the big boys, and so decide to capitalise on Africa’s lower labour costs as those in China creep ever higher.

"Good Vibrations", Shannon Kolasinski, Lucy Moyes

Senior Honors Projects

Through the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) process, our goal was to show VIBCO, a local manufacturing company, that its business could be improved with the help of various six sigma tools. Currently, its daily production includes a large variety of products, such as industrial vibrators, vibratory equipment, and mounting brackets and hardware. The particular production area that we chose to focus on, however, was the large turbine cell.

More specifically, the purpose of our project was to create a process improvement, through the use of a kanban system, to better manage the company’s production of large turbines. …

Exploring Churn And Alignment Between Retention And Occupational Culture As Perceived By Professional Truck Drivers, Catherine M. Cole

Dissertations

Despite advances in logistics software and increased driver pay, the trucking industry continues a historic wave of human capital risks in the form of driver turnover and driver shortages. Previous efforts to understand the phenomenon of driver turnover rely heavily on supply chain, transportation, and logistics based disciplines. The current study provides a human capital ontology towards understanding professional truck driver perceptions. Within the interpretive framework of pragmatism, the study applied a simultaneous ethnographic and phenomenological research design to explore the phenomenon of churn and professional truck driver perceptions of environmental alignment between trucking industry retention strategies and the occupational …

The Future Of Radio, Samuel Murray

Senior Honors Projects

Since its inception and rise to popularity among major forms of mass media communication, radio has been thought to be the next technology to become obsolete. When television came out people thought radio was going to die out, but alas radio and television coexist to this day. When music videos, and eventually channels like MTV came out, radio was put into jeopardy as music would become more and more visual and the need for the radio would cease. This was not the case. When satellite channels came into being and started getting big name celebrities like Howard Stern to broadcast …

The Rise, Fall, And Revival Of The Moviegoing Experience: The Viability Of Independent Theatres In A Multiplex World, Isabel S. Cruz

Sustainability and Social Justice

Moviegoing has been a leisure activity since the early twentieth century. From their origination, movie theatres have served as a community gathering place for people from different socioeconomic backgrounds to come together for a shared experience. Even as substitutes for movie viewing options threaten the movie theatre industry, independent cinemas are surviving and thriving. This paper includes results from interviews with independent cinema owners and managers on steps they are taking to preserve moviegoing as an immersive and personal experience. Findings are used to explore how lessons can be applied to create a credible business proposal to locate an independent …

Firm Structure And Environment As Contingencies To The Corporate Venture Capital–Parent Firm Value Relationship, Varkey K. Titus Jr., Brian Anderson

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Corporate venture capital (CVC) is a valuable strategic tool associated with numerous innovative outcomes. However, less is known about whether CVC investing creates value for the investing (or parent) firm. Drawing from the attention-based view and contingency theory, we suggest that an increase in firm value from CVC investing is contingent on attentional mechanisms that discipline the selection of new investment opportunities. We posit that increases in firm value associated with CVC investing accrues to firms adopting specific operational structures and operating in particular environmental contexts. We find support for our research model in a sample of 95 companies between …

Overt And Covert Retaliation Of Service Employees Against Customers Who Mistreat Them, Agnieszka Shepard

Wayne State University Dissertations

Mistreatment of service employees by customers who are demanding and aggressive has become a problem for service organizations. However, it has been the subject of very little research in the organizational behavior literature (Bedi & Schat, 2007). The few studies that have examined service employees’ reactions to such mistreatment (e.g., Doorman & Zapf, 2004, Grandey et al., 2004; Skarlicki, van Jaarsveld, & Walker, 2008; Yagil, 2008, Wang et al., 2014) found that that when service employees believe they have been mistreated, they become angry and upset, and reciprocate the unfair treatment in order to punish unpleasant customers. However, these researchers …

Surprisingly Open Or Openly Surprised? That Is The Question; Using Surprise Experiences To Increase Openness To Experience And Tolerance Of Ambiguity, Anneke Veenendaal-De Kort

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Using Surprise Experiences to Increase Openness to Experience and Tolerance of Ambiguity

In the fast-changing world in which we are currently living, we constantly come across situations and problems that we have not encountered before. An open mind and the ability to tolerate ambiguity are important skills in uncertain times. People who embrace the unpredictable can develop their resilience and flexibility. Surprisologists Luna and Renninger (2015) have discovered that a great way of dipping into unpredictability is through surprise. For my Master’s Project, I designed experiences that transform people’s openness and tolerance for ambiguity through surprise. This paper begins with …

Strategic Analysis Of Lifeloop, Llc: Current Positioning And Recommendations For Future Growth, Erin Dabbs

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

LifeLoop is a senior living software company that has the potential to gain market share in a new and growing industry. By making changes to current processes, business level strategy, and corporate level strategy, the company can grow organically, faster. LifeLoop must make these strategic changes to areas of marketing and sales processes now as the industry is changing life cycle stages; the company’s movement in this window of opportunity is critical to their future success. These findings outline where LifeLoop is currently positioned and the first steps needed to grow and develop into a reputation of excellence that will …

The Role Of Time Horizons In Shaping The Antecedents And Consequences Of Hedge Fund Activism, Anna Obedkova

Management Dissertations - Archive

While the general stream of shareholder activism literature examines the antecedents and consequences of hedge fund activism, this dissertation investigates this phenomenon from a different angle. I examine the impact of time-related antecedents on the choice of campaigns initiated by hedge fund activists and the consequences of such interventions. To be specific, I study the impact of the shareholder mix, i.e. long-term (dedicated) vs. short-term (transient) ownership, and firm investment horizon on the choice of two most common hedge fund demands: governance changes and business strategy-related changes. Building on prior research, I argue that governance changes are associated with long-term …

The Effects Of Food Security On Socioeconomic Mobility In The United States: A Case Study In Allendale County, South Carolina, Taylor St Clarke

Senior Theses

This thesis examines the relationship between food security – defined as accessibility to an affordable, nutritious, and sustainable source of food – and socioeconomic mobility in the continental United States. This thesis is primarily focused on the effects of food insecurity on both individuals and communities, examining the chronic long-term effects of such insecurity on areas known as “food deserts,” which are often given status as areas of persistent poverty. This research further examines the effects of a sustained poor diet, brought about by food insecurity, on the individual and overarching community in a food desert and how such a …

Corporate Social Responsibility: Examining The Effects Of A Lean And Green Supply Chain On Bottom Line Costs And Market Valuation, Sharon Maskin

Senior Theses

This paper examines the link between a firm’s adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and the resulting monetary benefits. Specifically, it addresses four major areas of business operations that present great opportunities for supply chain cost reduction and a simultaneous decrease in environmental impact. These four areas include traditional/open-loop supply chains, product packaging waste, pollution at the manufacturing site, and logistics inefficiencies. The paper then identifies several business cases in which companies have addressed several environmental issues and driven down bottom-line costs in each of the four areas through innovation and increased resource productivity. Along with cost benefits, it …

Assessing Nonprofit Ceo Compensation: Does The Media Provide A Fair Perspective?, Amanda Atchison

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

The media plays an active role in forming external stakeholders’ perception of business matters. When it comes to nonprofit business, the media is a source of information that, in theory, works to bridge the gap between external stakeholders’ unfamiliarity with nonprofit regulation and what is actually required of the nonprofit sector. This concept is especially present regarding the topic of nonprofit CEO compensation. The goal of this paper is to discuss how media addresses nonprofit CEO compensation and to determine whether or not the media fairly portrays the entire story by assessing current data along with trends in historical data, …

Feasibility Of Warehouse Drone Adoption And Implementation, Edward Companik, Michael J. Gravier, M. Theodore Farris Ii

Marketing Department Faculty Journal Articles

While aerial delivery drones capture headlines, the pace of adoption of drones in warehouses has shown the greatest acceleration. Warehousing constitutes 30% of the cost of logistics in the US. The rise of e-commerce, greater customer service demands of retail stores, and a shortage of skilled labor have intensified competition for efficient warehouse operations. This takes place during an era of shortening technology life cycles. This paper integrates several theoretical perspectives on technology diffusion and adoption to propose a framework to inform supply chain decision-makers on when to invest in new robotics technology.

Acquisitions: Walmart Vs Amazon, Scott Sims

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

The retail industry is in the process of undergoing major change. Historically big box brick and mortar strategies have dominated, but this is changing in the age of impatience and instant gratification. As consumers want items more conveniently, online retail has taken hold with no semblance of anticipated decline. At the forefront of this transformation are two industry giants: Walmart and Amazon. Walmart finds itself on the side of brick and mortar with 11,718 physical retail locations worldwide. Amazon is dominating the online retail space with control of a staggering 44% of all US e-commerce sales in 2017. These equally …

An Examination Of The Unanticipated Outcomes Of Having A Fun Organizational Culture, Victoria Baltz

Honors Theses

Fun organizational cultures break the social constructs of the traditional work environment. Fun organizational cultures have been gaining popularity over the past couple decades. Since fun cultures are gaining attractiveness due to reports focused primarily on the positive aspects of fun cultures, this study examined if there were any unanticipated negative outcomes of a having a fun organizational culture. Qualitative data was pulled from interviews conducted with various members of fun organizational cultures. This study focused on negative outcomes primarily in three areas: productivity, work-life balance, and relationships among members in the organization. The findings in this study did not …

Nvidia Corporation: A Strategic Audit, Daric Teske

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

NVIDIA is company that has been involved with the production of computer hardware known as a graphics processor units (GPUs) since the turn of the century. Over the past decade, NVIDIA has begun to explore other applications of its proprietary technology, including the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and accelerated computing. Looking from a business perspective, this strategic audit analyzes the history of the company and its current state, as well as industry outlooks to provide a strategic recommendation. Annual reports, market reports, and press releases were all utilized to provide the best perspective of the industry possible. Though NVIDIA …

Alzheimer’S: The Right To Nothing?, Heather Marie Forster

Business/Business Administration

The purpose of this thesis is to shine light on the inequalities in the types of options Alzheimer’s patients are afforded and the different decisions they can or cannot make in comparison to other terminal patients. The main argument of this thesis is to include Alzheimer’s patients in current Right-to-Die laws by allowing them to consent to this choice of action before they are diagnosed, or in the early stages while they still have the competence to do so. Another aspect of this thesis is to increase the general public’s knowledge about Alzheimer’s and other dementias in order to generate …

Cultural Disparity And The Impact On Work Life Balance, Bryan Campbell

Senior Theses

This research examines the differences in work life balances between varying countries around the world. In order to do so, a proxy index was created by investigating a portion of questions from respondents of the World Values Survey. Comparing this to Hofstede's Insights on National Culture allowed for a unique perspective as to whether the country individualism ratings could then be used to assert a relationship between these metrics.

Micron: Changes For Continued Success, Rachel Rice

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Strategy is important for every industry, and to succeed in such a competitive industry as the technology industry, it becomes imperative. Micron Technology, Inc. (“Micron”) is one of the companies in the technology industry that must have a strategic plan such as this. The best strategy for Micron was analyzed through a detailed background on the history of the company, the main problem that is currently found in the industry, the current internal position of the company in relation to the strengths and weaknesses of the company, an external analysis of the operating industry, and finally a recommendation and implementation …

Individual Case Study: An In Depth Look Into La Fitness, Jennifer Grisso

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

LA Fitness is a health and fitness club chain that has locations throughout the United States and Canada. LA Fitness is a health and fitness club that has locations throughout the United States and Canada. This company has been seen as a strong competitor in the industry since its introduction, especially because of its differentiation strategy. While LA Fitness has done well for themselves during their last thirty years in business, there are some changes that could be made in order to develop a sustainable competitive advantage. The recommendations I have for LA Fitness are: 1) have longer hours of …

The Economic Impact Of A Us Tech Talent Shortage On Midwest Companies, Raul Aguilera Ramirez

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This thesis examines the economic impact that a pervasive shortage of tech talent nationwide is having on various companies in the Midwest. Per the Mid-America Regional Council, four computer-related job openings existed for every unemployed person in the Midwest in 2015. In Nebraska alone, there were 2,318 open computing jobs, with only 438 computer science graduates in the state that year. By examining this contemporary issue, I explore both the extent to which companies in the Midwest are affected by the shortage and the common practices currently in place by Midwest companies to deal with the shortage. For the scope …

Exploring Hospitals' Use Of Facebook: Thematic Analysis, N. Kordzadeh, Diana K. Young

School of Business Faculty Research

Background: Although health care organizations such as hospitals and clinics have widely embraced social media as a means to educate the community on health topics and increase patient loyalty and satisfaction, little is known about the content these organizations actually share when using social media channels.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the types of content US hospitals post on their Facebook pages and how hospitals’ Facebook activities differ with regard to content types.

Methods: We collected and thematically analyzed more than 1700 Facebook posts made over a 3-month period by 17 US hospitals. During the first phase, the 2 …

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 …

Divestment Of Strategic Resources In A Hypercompetitive, Capital Intensive, Knowledge Based Industry, Steven Robert Rivet

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation creates a model explaining the factors that drive the decision by a semiconductor firm to divest a specific strategic resource. The dissertation is based on a case study of a medium size semiconductor firm that divested a competitively performing manufacturing facility in a low labor cost Asian country, and replaced the services it performed with contracted services. The study draws on competitive advantage, resource based view, transaction cost, divestment, international business, and asset-light model literature. The existing literature either fails to explain (or to explain completely) the reasons driving these type of divestiture decisions (resource based view, transaction …

Strategic Alignment Of Future Goals - Mutual Of Omaha, Sara Pinkelman

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Mutual of Omaha is a health insurance company that has potential to reach economies of scale within its industry. It can cover more market share if it makes a few changes to its corporate strategy. Conclusions were drawn from news articles in addition to financial postings from the company. Mutual needs to move forward in their industry if they want to stay competitive, and by implementing a differentiated strategy, they can become more competitive. With these findings, Mutual of Omaha has the potential to grow and develop and gain a better standing within their industry. This can help them better …