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Full-Text Articles in Business

Legitimate Business As Mission Ventures And Effective Witness, Summer Rogers Apr 2023

Legitimate Business As Mission Ventures And Effective Witness, Summer Rogers

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis discusses the practice of missionaries creating cover businesses solely for visa purposes, which brings a dishonest presence and harms the ministry. In contrast, Business as Mission (BAM) is a strategic business model to bring the gospel overseas through social, economic, and spiritual impact. Through a literature review, best practices for legitimate BAM ventures are explored based on studies done by BAM professionals and experts. Research shows that Christian businesspeople can establish an authentic image and credible witness through BAM businesses that are integrated into the local community, generate a profit, and incorporate biblical principles into business operations. BAM …


Sacred Business: Outlining Business As Mission For The Fulfillment Of The Great Commission, Eli Jackson Apr 2022

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 …


The “America First” Trade Policy Of The Trump Administration And Its Economic And Military Repercussions, Emily Jeffers May 2021

The “America First” Trade Policy Of The Trump Administration And Its Economic And Military Repercussions, Emily Jeffers

Senior Honors Theses

This paper looks at the “America first” trade policy of the Trump administration and the perception that it was used to accomplish his goals of economic and military independence from the rest of the world’s interdependent web. It looks at the history of trade policy and tariffs in the United States; this is then linked to the evolution of President Trump’s trade policy through the implementation of tariffs, renegotiation of trade deals, and revision of military policy in order to “decouple” from the rest of the world. It examines the US-China trade war and the desire for increased global trade …


The Power Of Investing To Alleviate Poverty, Zachary Sicher Apr 2020

The Power Of Investing To Alleviate Poverty, Zachary Sicher

Senior Honors Theses

Hundreds of millions of people across the world are affected by extreme poverty each day. At the same time, investing has generated more wealth than anything in the history of the world. Because of the great success of investing in generating wealth, there must be a way for investing to be used to assist in the alleviation of poverty. To examine this possibility, one must consider the root causes of poverty, the reasons for the success of investing, and how poverty is currently being alleviated, to effectively develop a way for investing to be used to help alleviate poverty.


The Future Smart-City: An Analysis Of The Effects Of Global And Technological Innovation On The Evolution Of Economic Systems, Shannon L. Wade May 2019

The Future Smart-City: An Analysis Of The Effects Of Global And Technological Innovation On The Evolution Of Economic Systems, Shannon L. Wade

Senior Honors Theses

In 21st century, the current economy is rapidly utilizing globalization to create a vastly different future. With the advent of new technology merging with entrepreneurs who effectively utilize that technology, the economic model is changing. Faster, sleeker, more effective forms of communication and information transfer drive the process of globalization. Production for a single product can happen in multiple countries, companies can operate virtually 24/7 through call centers halfway around the globe, and preliminary smart cities are beginning to emerge to give us a glimpse of the future world. A new category of businesspersons called “prosumers” is emerging and has …


Venezuela's Collapsed Economy And The Resulting Effect On International Business With The United States, Sarah Caldwell Apr 2019

Venezuela's Collapsed Economy And The Resulting Effect On International Business With The United States, Sarah Caldwell

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis explores the current economic and political state of Venezuela, as well as the factors that contributed to the nation’s present challenges. By evaluating current information regarding international relations and international business affiliations, this study investigates and summarizes how Venezuela’s current instability has affected the country’s trade relations with the United States. The research found in this thesis demonstrates that the actions of Venezuela’s government have severely injured international business relations with multi-national firms operating out of the United States.


Wirtschaftswunder: A Study Into The Causes And Catalysts Of The German Economic Miracle, Nate R. Hodder Mar 2019

Wirtschaftswunder: A Study Into The Causes And Catalysts Of The German Economic Miracle, Nate R. Hodder

Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the West German economy to find the reason for “Wirtschaftswunder,” the German economic miracle, and contrast the decisions made after WWII to those made after WWI. The approaches of foreign powers in these periods are also analyzed. After WWI, the subsequent hyperinflation and economic collapse is mainly found to be a result of poor economic decisions within German institutions, although the collapse was almost certainly supplemented by poor foreign policy decisions by the Allied Powers. Wirtschaftswunder was made possible by Ludwig Erhard’s reforms, which are found to have been much more important …


Microfinance: Combating World Poverty One Small Business At A Time, Alison Basney Jan 2018

Microfinance: Combating World Poverty One Small Business At A Time, Alison Basney

Senior Honors Theses

Poverty is a major problem that reaches millions of people around the world. Although many organizations and individuals work daily to combat this, much of the work done to reduce poverty lacks sustainability and serves only to remedy to the effects of poverty, rather than create a solution to the causes of poverty. Microfinance can be very basically defined as the provision of banking to the impoverished who would not otherwise have access to these services. This purpose of this thesis is to show that microfinance is the ideal solution to the poverty problem by using research and evidence from …


Corporate Outsourcing To Take Advantage Of Cheap Labor In Developing Countries, Cecily Schenimann Jan 2018

Corporate Outsourcing To Take Advantage Of Cheap Labor In Developing Countries, Cecily Schenimann

Senior Honors Theses

Corporate outsourcing is a common practice for many large corporations, and a primary reason that corporations outsource is financial: production in other countries, especially those that are developing is significantly less expensive. There are various reasons corporations use outsourcing and this choice often results in subpar and unhealthy labor conditions for those individuals working in developing countries. Reviews of China, Bangladesh, and El Salvador reveal that operations in developing countries often result in harmful working atmospheres. A call for increased corporate responsibility and accountability for corporations who choose to take their manufacturing and production elsewhere, but specifically to developing nations, …


Cash Versus In-Kind Transfers: Comparative Differences And Individual Best Practices To Benefit Recipient Communities, Sarah Wicker Oct 2017

Cash Versus In-Kind Transfers: Comparative Differences And Individual Best Practices To Benefit Recipient Communities, Sarah Wicker

Senior Honors Theses

This research paper seeks to compare cash and in-kind transfers in the context of foreign poverty aid to determine which transfer style is most beneficial and to evaluate long-term best practices of each kind to more positively benefit the recipient communities. It does this by comparing arguments for and against each transfer model. The first argument discusses the differences in distribution costs between the two models. The second compares the cash transfer’s strong concept of choice with in-kind transfer’s typical style of controlled consumption of goods. The second argument discusses the timing and impact of targeting communities in connection to …


The Identification And Exploitation Of Terrorist Financing, Jacob S. Gordon May 2016

The Identification And Exploitation Of Terrorist Financing, Jacob S. Gordon

Senior Honors Theses

Terrorism and the threat of terrorist attacks have forced the United States to place a high priority on developing a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy. A crucial component of this overarching strategy focuses on targeting the finances of a terrorist organization, hoping to eliminate or stifle their sources of funding in an effort to render the organization incapable of launching successful operations due to an absence of funding. By analyzing the most common financing options that terrorist groups use, the United States can hone its ability to disrupt the funding operations for terrorist groups. Likewise, developing a method for tracking the laundering …


Revisiting Japan’S Gross National Cool: Exporting Japanese Animation In The International Marketplace, Joseph P. Wentz Apr 2016

Revisiting Japan’S Gross National Cool: Exporting Japanese Animation In The International Marketplace, Joseph P. Wentz

Senior Honors Theses

In 2002, writer Douglas McCray coined the term “Japan’s Gross National Cool,” which was used to describe Japan’s distinct cultural exports. More specifically, though a recent phenomenon, the current academic consensus indicates that Japanese animation, or anime, is a unique Japanese cultural export based on McCray’s concept. However, from McCray’s article in 2002 to 2015, the anime industry globally has changed in several key ways: popular consumption has grown, Internet and streaming use has increased, and Internet piracy has increased. This leads to necessitating a change in business concepts for marketing the medium worldwide by analyzing specific marketing mechanisms, but …


Business As Ministry Impacts Poverty, Ashley E. Tilghman Apr 2016

Business As Ministry Impacts Poverty, Ashley E. Tilghman

Senior Honors Theses

Businesses that are operated by Christian workers can make a difference in ministering to poverty-stricken communities around the world. Poverty is a major social problem that has existed for all of history and will continue to affect the lives of millions in the future. A number of business initiatives such as social business, macro-government initiatives, and transformational development have experienced success in helping reduce the problem. It is imperative to approach the issue of poverty recognizing the spiritual component along with the physical. The ministry of Jesus Christ serves as an example for meeting the needs of the impoverished, and …


Microlending In The Third World: Does It Work?, Caleb J. Childers Oct 2015

Microlending In The Third World: Does It Work?, Caleb J. Childers

Senior Honors Theses

Microlending programs have recently been touted as a way to increase business development, equality, and income in impoverished nation (Yunus & Weber, 2007; Idris & Agbim, 2015); this confidence, however, may be misplaced. Research from inside these Third World nations is challenging the traditional thinking about what helps the poor succeed in other countries and how we can help; these studies call into question the efficacy of microlending and similar programs (Idris & Agbim, 2015; Banerjee et al., 2014; Yang & Stanley, 2012). In this paper, the effects of microloans in the Third World on income growth will be accessed …


The Celtic Way: Order, Creativity, And The Holy Spirit In The Celtic Monastic Movement, Fiona Leitch May 2015

The Celtic Way: Order, Creativity, And The Holy Spirit In The Celtic Monastic Movement, Fiona Leitch

Senior Honors Theses

The Celtic monastic movement lasted hundreds of years and is responsible for much of the spread of Christianity to the West. Much of the movement’s success can be attributed to the Celtic Christians’ understanding of the importance of the role of creative culture and order as well as an openness and responsiveness to the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is these three things working in tandem that influenced the success of the Celtic monastic movement. Although the movement ended a thousand years ago, it can offer guidance and wisdom for carrying out ministry today. A case study of Cuirim …


Economic Powers That Be: U.S.-Russo Political Actions And Their Affect On The Russian Economy, Sharon R. Holland Apr 2015

Economic Powers That Be: U.S.-Russo Political Actions And Their Affect On The Russian Economy, Sharon R. Holland

Senior Honors Theses

The United States and Russia currently face political problems that undermine areas of trade and economics of both respective countries despite market forces. This analysis first gives an overview of key events in history to establish a basis of understanding of the foundation of U.S.-Russo political and economic relations. Secondly, an evaluation of the current issues that have pitted Russia and America against one another will shed light on the barriers of further development. Finally, utilizing both the past and present economic impacts forecasts three possible outcomes for U.S.-Russo political relations and the economic impacts that follow as a result.


Starting An Adoption Agency And The Major Benefits Of Adoption, Dylan D. Lingerfelt Apr 2014

Starting An Adoption Agency And The Major Benefits Of Adoption, Dylan D. Lingerfelt

Senior Honors Theses

Adoption impacts families’ lives. There are many benefits of adoption. Some key concepts of adoption are what the process of adoption entails and the different decisions potential adoptive parents need to make when starting the process, a philosophy and mission in terms of a business entity and their importance to an adoption firm, how to start a law firm as a business within the United States, and how to adapt that business to expand to areas like South Asia. South Asian etiquette issues need to be considered and understood from a business perspective. Another area to consider when doing international …


Culture & Conflict: Intertwined With International Business, Chloe W. Friederichsen Apr 2014

Culture & Conflict: Intertwined With International Business, Chloe W. Friederichsen

Senior Honors Theses

International business has grown day by day as a powerful part of the world economy since the development of separate nations in ancient times. Today international transactions have become a very common entity in the business world. With this newfound trend comes the need to understand the complexities of culture and conflict management in order for an international business to succeed with a competitive edge. Both factors hold the potential to either mercilessly crumble an unprepared organization or richly reward a company for prodigious forethought and management skills. As a result, the link between the fragility of culture adaptation and …


Inclusive Business: Using For-Profit Business Models To Address Global Poverty, Samuel James Conner Apr 2013

Inclusive Business: Using For-Profit Business Models To Address Global Poverty, Samuel James Conner

Senior Honors Theses

Due to the rise of globalization, modernization, and the Internet revolution, awareness of global poverty has expanded, making its eradication a chief goal of the global development community for the twenty-first century. Though corporations are often expected to participate in social and community development initiatives without regard for profits, this paper presents inclusive business as a way for businesses to profitably engage impoverished segments of society. Inclusive businesses seek to expand their consumer bases or strengthen their supply chains by moving into new markets among the poor that have limited access to global markets and remain largely untapped. The research …


Corporate Social Responsibility, Daniel H. Brown Apr 2013

Corporate Social Responsibility, Daniel H. Brown

Senior Honors Theses

This paper will address Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its far-reaching implications. Initially, the term CSR will be introduced and defined to provide the backbone for the following discussions. The paper will address the theoretical constructs of CSR, managerial strategies for implementing CSR and the application of stakeholder theory. The thesis is built upon Dr. Archie Carroll’s four-part CSR construct. In addition, international standards of CSR, with a focus on Nike, Inc.’s actions, will be evaluated.


Korean And American Leadership Styles In Business, Diana Estes Apr 2012

Korean And American Leadership Styles In Business, Diana Estes

Senior Honors Theses

Korea and the USA have recently proceeded in efforts to become closer trading partners through the passing of the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) and FTAs. More economic integration calls for a stronger understanding of the influences of each other’s cultures. Whether culture influences leadership style or not will be explored. Major influences include history, philosophy, and religion. The meaning of leadership and the characteristics of both of the cultures will succeed after the discussion of the major facets of culture. The application of the cultures and leadership in a business setting will be evaluated and explored. Sources will …


An Analysis Of Starbucks As A Company And An International Business, Lauren R. Roby Apr 2011

An Analysis Of Starbucks As A Company And An International Business, Lauren R. Roby

Senior Honors Theses

The researcher examines a detailed synopsis of the specialty coffee industry and the role that Starbucks plays in it. Starbucks is in a growth market, and it has a good relative overall position. The researcher will examine the business structure of Starbucks and the future implications of its current business strategies. By examining the strategic imperatives such as how to expand abroad and understanding the international context, the researcher will determine strong and weak business strategies of the company. Starbucks has overcome organizational and managerial implications that will serve as a strong model for international businesses. The researcher will then …


China And The New Asia: Policy Recommendations, Tasha N. Haug Apr 2011

China And The New Asia: Policy Recommendations, Tasha N. Haug

Senior Honors Theses

The People’s Republic of China is an indispensable political and economic force in Asia. With the majority of the United States’ foreign economic interests invested in the Asia-Pacific region, the leading role that China is taking is a major concern. The Asia-Pacific region is strategically important to the US. How US policy makers craft foreign policy toward Asia has a direct impact on US involvement in the region. Unless the US becomes more invested in Asia, develops a comprehensive understanding of China’s role in the region, and proactively pursue strategic relationships, US influence in Asian affairs will become a thing …