Business Commons^™

Preferences, Risk Neutrality And Risk-Sensitive Mdps, James Alexander, Matthew J. Sobel

Faculty Scholarship

A binary preference relation on a real vector space satisfying four (natural) axioms is shown to induce a utility function composed of a linear function to the reals and a weakly monotonic function. The key axiom is decomposition, and the utility function can be taken to be linear if and only if this axiom’s converse is also satisfied. Important consequences follow for risk-sensitive discounted Markov decision processes, decision trees, and the discounted utility model in economics. Since the four axioms imply that preferences correspond to discounting, the four axioms without the converse imply that preferences are consistent with discounting without …

Navigating Towards Sustainability: Tackling Eu Transportation Carbon Emissions, Michael Andre Barajas

Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Mobility plays an essential role in our daily lives, yet the consequences of transportation are often overlooked or misunderstood. Most people take transportation for granted, not considering the opportunity cost of our easy accessibility, namely carbon emissions. These emissions cause significant environmental damage, threatening the ability of future generations to enjoy what we have now unless we reduce and stop them.

The European Union has been a leader in sustainability over the past decade, expressing concerns about carbon emissions and exploring various ways to address the issue. To understand the EU's future plans, it is crucial to grasp the scale …

Cloud Server's Impact: The Environment And Supply Chain, Jeremy Silvis

Sustainable Supply Chain Management

In our data-driven society, the exponential growth of data generation presents both opportunities and challenges. Each day, 328.77 million terabytes of data are produced, necessitating vast storage solutions. Traditional data storage methods, such as HDDs and SSDs, have given way to the revolutionary Cloud, which offers scalable and accessible storage options. However, the environmental impact of Cloud servers, characterized by significant energy and water consumption, raises concerns. This chapter examines the evolution of data storage, the environmental ramifications of Cloud servers, and the sustainability efforts of Cloud companies. The chapter also explores the transformative effects of the Cloud on global …

Identifying High-Value Tactical Livestock Decisions On A Mixed Enterprise Farm In A Variable Environment, Michael Young, John Young, Ross S. Kingwell, Philip E. Vercoe

Animal production and livestock research articles

Context

Australia is renowned for its climate variation, featuring years with drought and years with floods, which result in significant production and profit variability. Accordingly, to maximise profitability, dryland farming systems need to be dynamically managed in response to unfolding weather conditions.

Aims

The aim of this study is to identify and quantify optimal tactical livestock management for different weather-years.

Methods

This study employed a whole-farm optimisation model to analyse a representative mixed enterprise farm located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. Using this model, we investigated the economic significance of five key livestock management tactics. These included …

Effects Of Climate Change On The Agricultural Supply Chain In The American Northeast, Brian Villanueva

Honors Projects in Global Supply Chain Management

The purpose of this project is to investigate the effects that climate change will have on the agricultural supply chain in the Northeast United States. The goal is to provide risk mitigation methods to farmers and supply chain professionals for how to combat the rapidly changing environmental status quo. This was investigated by surveying 21 farmers about their opinions about the current state of farming and their optimism or pessimism on the future of farming. The findings reflected a great concern for the future of farming despite many alarming signals about the increasing intensity of storms. The conclusion was that …

Supply Chain Management Internship – J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., Garrett Locknar

Supply Chain Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

The transportation industry touches every facet of business: research and development, final mile services, raw material procurement, even technology innovation and application design. Without transportation of goods, people, and services, each business as we know would fall apart. The greater supply chain itself relies heavily on the presence and precision of transportation to create value for each specific company’s operations. Beginning in the summer of 2022, I have had the privilege of interning at J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc., one of the world’s largest logistics and transportation companies, which has opened my eyes to the sheer impact of transportation on each …

Supply Chain Management Internship Thesis – The Mercery, Katherine Chamberlin

Supply Chain Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

The main purpose of this thesis is to evaluate my internship with The Mercery, enabled by the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation’s VIP Internship program. This provides background information on both the company and the program, along with the different projects and skills I worked on throughout this semester-long internship. This is accompanied by a self-assessment and learning objectives, implications for the company, and the main project results. Finally, this concludes with the summation of all my learnings and growth, and an assessment of the experience.

Supply Chain Management Internship – Tyson Foods Inc., Burke Hoover

Supply Chain Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

In my thesis I reflect upon my internship at Tyson Foods Inc., where I served as a Transportation Strategy Intern in the Supply Chain department. My role centered on logistics strategy, transportation management, and third-party logistics provider relationships. Through projects like the Request for Proposal (RFP) implementation and the development of carrier and lane scorecards, I learned about the complexities of supply chain management. This experience also highlighted the critical role of communication, soft skills, and technical competence in the industry. This internship provided me with hands-on experience, allowed me to apply academic knowledge, and helped me realize my strengths …

Spatiotemporal Negative Inventory Outlier Decomposition For Supply Chain Applications In Consumer-Packaged Goods (Cpg), Hayden Mcdonald

Data Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Coca-Cola is a popular soft drink brand with sales occurring in every Walmart store across the world, which generates large quantities of data and requires a robust supply chain system. However, the company does not currently have a sophisticated, automated, and/or prescriptive system for detecting where, when, and why inventory outages occur and applying preventative measures to avoid loss of revenue from the absence of inventory on store shelves. This thesis proposes and applies a novel, prescriptive system for this purpose. An inventory outage can be seen as a ‘negative’ statistical outlier in a time series of inventory for an …

The Importance Of Data Preparation In A Data Science Problem, Sophia Beard

Data Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study is going to be based on an inventory outlier automation data science problem that is being solved to identify and prescribe inventory level outliers to help keep shelves stocked in terms of beverages. The objective of this paper will address why it is so important to understand the data that is involved in a particular data science problem and how planning ahead ensures a successful outcome in the data science world. In this data science project, Spatiotemporal Outlier Analysis for Inventory Intervention Automation, it was crucial for the team to understand, research, and visualize the data we were …

Innovative Rate Design As A Free Market Solution To Climate, Resiliency, And Economic Challenges, Brendan J. Moore

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

A century-old problem of electricity rate design is cost-shifting between ratepayers (Wellinghoff, J. & Tong, J., 2015). A much newer cost-shifting example of great and increasing importance happens whenever ratepayer generated “renewable energy” is sold to the grid—all too often, this is accused of being unfairly rewarded (Ritchie, 2016). ProRate resolves both these concerns and ProRate can actually be derived simply from the premise of avoiding “all” cost shifts between ratepayers (Katz, CLEPm Rewards to Arrest Demand Cost-Shifting, 2019; Katz, CLEP5 Rewards to Arrest Energy Cost-Shifting, 2019). Another major problem with the Old Utility Model is the lack of price …

Examining The Impact Of Customer Rfp Characteristics On Award Compliance, Laasya Ravipati

Data Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the context of intermodal transportation, understanding the dynamics of award compliance holds significant importance for operational efficiency and strategic decision-making. Award compliance refers to the percentage of awarded freight volume that is realized, indicating the extent to which contractual agreements are fulfilled. This analysis delves into the intricate relationship between customer characteristics and award compliance, aiming to provide valuable insights into the variability and predictability of compliance rates. By analyzing Request for Pricing (RFP) data and primary awarded freight volumes, the study seeks to address the need for more accurate volume estimations, crucial for sales planning, revenue projections, and …

Examining Award Compliance To Inform Resource Allocation, Jacob Haarala

Data Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This project focuses on JB Hunt Transport Inc's intermodal business unit (JBI) by focusing on the challenges associated with Published Pricing and Contractual Pricing. The primary issue revolves around the variance between the awarded freight volumes in Requests for Pricing (RFPs) and the actual volumes realized when the freight is shipped. This discrepancy poses challenges for effective sales planning, revenue goals, and optimal freight network management within JBI. Reporting tools, such as PowerBI, are currently used by JBI to provide insights into award compliance on a weekly basis. However, our goal with this project was to provide a deeper understanding …

Lockheed Martin Strategic Audit, Trevor Deboer, Gunnar Lombard, Sam Nelson, Tj Taylor, Paul Wynegar

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Abstract

This case study explores Lockheed Martin, a global leader in defense contracting. Our team performed a strategic audit using the theories of strategic management. Our research was pulled from various sources, including Lockheed Martin’s website, SEC filings, related news articles, and relevant industry analysis. The goals of this case study revolved around collecting data and performing analysis to evaluate Lockheed Martin’s potential for competitive advantage in the airplane and parts manufacturing industry.

Some of the various analyses performed on Lockheed Martin include firm analysis, industry analysis, internal analysis, external analysis, competitive dynamics, business-level strategy, corporate-level strategy, and exploring their …

Impact Of Seasonality On Demand Forecasting Techniques For Small-Scale Food Retailers, Indu Sree Guturu

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study explores the impact of seasonality on SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) demand forecasting in small-scale food retailers through the analysis of historical sales data, focusing on four key products, labelled: Product A, Product B, Product C & Product D. The research aims to assess the accuracy of different forecasting models in capturing seasonal fluctuations. The research questions are: (Q1) What is the impact of seasonality on SKU demand forecasting in case of small-scale food retailers. (Q2) How does the efficacy of Traditional model compare to alternative technologically driven forecasting techniques? (Q3) To what extent can the impact of seasonality …

Resilience To Supply Chain Disruptions: An Investigation Of The Roles Of Innovativeness And Green Supply Chain Management Practices During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lindsay Givens

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

The number of global supply chain disruptions is increasing at an alarming rate. These disruptions vary in terms of source, duration, and scope, but all pose major threats to the continuity of firms worldwide. Because of this increase in turbulence, there has been heightened interest in recent years surrounding the development of firm-level resilience to such disruptions. The supply chain sustainability research stream is relatively well-developed; less is known, however, about specific strategies for strengthening resilience. This study aims to contribute to the resilience literature by examining the viability of innovativeness and the adoption of green supply chain management practices …

Lululemon Strategic Audit, Tessa Mozingo, Olivia Eno, Molly Mitchell, Connor Morrissey, James Eshleman

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This case study focuses on lululemon, a prominent athleisure apparel company. Our team conducted an audit of the company revolving around strategic business management principles. Our research used publicly available information that included the company’s website, SEC filings, news articles, lululemon’s annual reports, financial statements, IBIS industry reports, and online sources. The goal of this strategic audit is to develop an understanding of lululemon’s business activities and strategies, collect and analyze both internal and external data, and evaluate lululemon based on strategic management concepts.

In this strategic audit, we conduct internal, external, performance, and competitive analyses and an examination of …

Design Of Off-Grid Lighting Business Models To Serve The Poor: Field Experiments And Structural Analysis, Bhavani Shanker Uppari, Serguei Netessine, Ioana Popescu, Rowan P. Clarke

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

A significant proportion of the world’s population has no access to grid-based electricity and so relies on off-grid lighting solutions. Rechargeable lamp technology is gaining popularity as an alternative off-grid lighting model in developing countries. In this paper, we explore consumer behavior and the operational inefficiencies that result under this model. Specifically, we are interested in (i) measuring the impact of inconvenience (of travelling to recharge the lamp) along with the impact of liquidity constraints (due to poverty) on lamp usage, and (ii) evaluating the efficacy of strategies that address these factors. We build a structural model of consumers’ recharge …

Integrity And Legitimacy Of Halal Products: The Urgency Of Halal Supply Chain Management Technology Adoption In Halal Product Authentication Traceability Evidence From Indonesia, Ari Agung Nugroho, Sumiyati Sumiyati, Hamsani Hamsani

The South East Asian Journal of Management

Research Aims: This research aims to determine how technology, integrity, and the environment affect traceability of halal product certification and its relationship with Halal Value Chain (HVSC) Management in micro, small and medium processing industries.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The quantitative research utilised survey data from 285 respondents who are processing industry players throughout Indonesia. Structural Equation Modelling-Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS) is applied for data analysis.

Research Findings: The study's findings indicate that technology adoption and environmental factors have a significant effect on HVSC traceability. The authentication and legitimacy of halal products are positively impacted by technology adoption, among others, which contributes to …

Generational Shift: Millennials And Gen Z Driving Ethical Supply Chains In Corporate America, Parker Brown

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

This paper explores how millennials and Generation Z are driving a shift towards ethical supply chains in corporate America. Drawing on examples like Nike and Boohoo, it investigates the influence of these younger generations on consumer trends, emphasizing their preference for products aligned with values such as sustainability and ethically produced products. The paper outlines challenges faced by companies in adopting ethical practices, offers a step-by-step guide for implementing ethical supply chains, and highlights the significance of certifications like Fair Trade and B-Corp in fostering consumer trust and brand reputation. The paper asserts that millennials and Generation Z have reshaped …

From Field To Fashion: A Journey In Sustainable Design And Regional Understanding, Lily Turner

Individually Designed Interdepartmental Major Honors Project

As the fashion industry became globalized over the past century, it has become a major environment polluter and exposed laborers to hazardous conditions. This honors project considers sustainability in the textile industry at large and at the regional scale of the Upper Midwest. Its scholarly component offers an overview of the current textile production, details how the industry may become sustainable, and suggests practices of environmentally-conscious and ethical design. The creative component is a soil-to-soil seasonless capsule collection titled From Field View that incorporates biomimicry and interrogates the concept of place by referencing the Midwest’s flora, wool, and linen fibers.

Impact Of Emotional Intelligence On Client Satisfaction In Project Management, Mousami Berawala

Harrisburg University Dissertations and Theses

This study investigates the correlation between emotional intelligence (EI) and client satisfaction in project management. It is guided by the central research question: Is emotional intelligence linked to client satisfaction? To explore this, the research is structured around Practice of EI on Leadership and Junior level and impact on client satisfaction, the impact of varying work environments, including remote, hybrid, office-based, and site-based settings, on project outcomes post-pandemic; differences in EI practices across countries and the effect of diverse work cultures; the comparison of EI application across different fields, with a focus on work-life balance and industry-specific practices in banking, …

Green Solutions: A Smart Strategy For Recycling Electronics In Ghana, Yodit Fitsum

Honors Theses

Electronic waste (e-waste) presents a significant environmental challenge, particularly in developing nations like Ghana. This study examines the opportunities and challenges associated with e-waste recycling in Ghana, focusing on the Agbogbloshie dumpsite. In Ghana, the informal e-waste sector plays a crucial role, providing employment to marginalized individuals who dismantle and process e-waste using basic methods. However, these practices raise concerns due to hazardous working conditions and environmental pollution. Conversely, certified recycling companies adhere to strict safety and environmental standards. Key challenges include recycling contaminated e-plastics and declining precious metal content in modern electronics, highlighting the need for improved recycling infrastructure. …

The Social And Economic Dimensions Of One Of The World’S Longest-Operating Shark Fisheries, Matias Braccini, Maddison Watt, Clinton Syers, Nick Blay, Matthew Navarro, Michael Burton

Fisheries Research Articles

Context

Social and economic information is limited for coastal commercial and recreational fisheries, particularly shark fisheries, which are perceived as unsustainable and as targeting sharks for fins.

Aims

To characterise the social and economic dimensions of one of the world’s few long-standing sustainable shark fisheries.

Methods

We reviewed historic data and surveyed stakeholders to understand the economic and social dimensions of the shark fishery currently operating in Western Australia.

Key results

Since the fishery’s historic peak, there has been a substantial reduction in the number of operating vessels and ports due to management intervention. For the vessels that have remained, …

Newgen Surgical: Reimagining Health For People And Planet [Case], Sarah Lee, Vafa Saboorideilami, Xiaotian Zhang, Yung-Jae Lee

Barowsky School of Business | Faculty Scholarship

The case study draws on structured interviews with Rob Chase, Founder and CEO of NewGen Surgical, as well as secondary data sources to analyze the effectiveness of these solutions in mitigating the risks and enhancing the company’s competitive advantage.

This case study examines how NewGen Surgical, a small- to medium-sized medical equipment manufacturer based in the USA, navigates a supply chain crisis caused by post-pandemic (COVID-19) supply and demand distress, trade restrictions, and the US–China trade war in 2022. It outlines the journey of CEO and Founder, Robert Chase, as he started, grew and is maintaining the company and its …

The Economic And Enviromental Benefits Of Railroad Electrification In The United States, Jeremiah Bishop

Sustainable Supply Chain Management

The United States, despite being a global leader in various sectors, lags in railroad electrification compared to other major countries. This paper explores the history, benefits, and obstacles associated with transitioning from diesel-electric to electrified railroads for Class I freight services. Historically, electrification in the U.S. was limited due to high capital costs and the economic advantages of diesel-electric locomotives. However, rising environmental concerns and stringent EPA emission regulations are pushing for a reevaluation of this stance. Electrified railroads offer significant economic benefits, including lower operating and maintenance costs, job creation, and long-term sustainability. Environmentally, electrification could drastically reduce greenhouse …

The Impact Of De-Globalization On Global Supply Chains – An Exploratory Study, Mee-Shew Cheung

AMTP Proceedings 2024

The globalization of supply chains has been a critical driver of economic growth and development over the past few decades. However, the recent trend of de-globalization threatens to disrupt these supply chains and potentially undermine their benefits. This research anticipates uncovering significant insights into the impact of de-globalization on global supply chains, including changes in efficiency, supplier networks, and risk management strategies. Additionally, the study aims to provide practical recommendations for businesses and policymakers to navigate this evolving landscape.

Reverse Flow Logistics In Manufacturing Operations, Jeffrey Wendt, Gary Holmes

AMTP Proceedings 2024

The purpose of this research is to examine the suggestion that reverse flow can play a positive role in sustainable impacts and in reducing forward logistics cost structures. The coupling of both forward and reverse product and component flow can be a challenging task because, depending on the returned products’ disposition, the forward flow inventory management can be affected. The need for an integrated reverse supply chain that mirrors the forward supply chain is essential and failure in having forward visibility negates the reverse flow. If successful, it will result in reduced manufacturing costs and increased profits throughout the chain.

Dentistry’S Cdt Code: Its Origins, Use And Future, Frank J. Pokorny Ii, Mba, Facd(Hon)

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Today’s version of the Code on Dental Procedures and Nomenclature – commonly referred to as CDT 2024 -- is the latest iteration of the code set first published in 1969. The CDT Code is ADA intellectual property that serves dentists and the dental community at large as the HIPAA standard for documenting and reporting services delivered to patients. CDT supports multiple needs: e.g., documentation; billing and reimbursement; revenue; data analytics. The code set’s maintenance is an open process overseen by the ADA Council on Dental Benefit Programs’ Code Maintenance Committee. Any dentist or interested party may submit a maintenance request. …

Nonprofits Should Adopt A User-Centric Change Model To Scale Corporate Environmental Action Faster, Doug Miller

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Pollution levels and ecosystem degradation continue to worsen, suggesting the insufficiency of current approaches to reverse these problematic trends. For environmental nonprofits, the current theory of change revolves around developing techno-economic analysis about environmental problems and available solutions, building public awareness around this analysis, and motivating decision makers to set goals. Given present environmental realities and the limited success of their current theory of change, environmental nonprofits should transform how they execute their work, what they produce, and how they coordinate with each other. Instead, nonprofits should begin putting the user—business decision makers as well as policymakers—front and center as …