Business Commons^™

Is There A Housing Bubble In China?, Grant West

Senior Honors Projects

I chose to study the housing market in China because of the dual-degree program in which I am enrolled at the University of Rhode Island. The Chinese Flagship Program is dedicated to making sure that American students are prepared to work in China once they graduate. Each student is required to have a dual degree, Chinese and a second major of their choice. I chose International Business given my interests in economics and China. I began this research project while I was enrolled in third level Chinese, a course in which students are given an honors research project that must …

Crackin' Open A Cold Barefoot Moscato With The Gals: A Market Campaign Proposal, Emily Miller

Senior Honors Projects

Barefoot Wine is one of the most well-recognized wine brands and is especially known for its sweet taste and affordable price. It is not marketed to a specific audience -- only to be a casual, fun wine. Millennials drank 42 percent of all wine consumed in the US in 2015, and census information suggests that the number of people aged 21+ is growing. As this population grows, so does the opportunity for Barefoot Wine to target this group with marketing and advertising campaigns.

The purpose of this project was to develop a marketing campaign craft ed toward college-aged females -- …

Computer Science Minor Marketing Plan, Shannon Oryniak

Senior Honors Projects

Computer Science is one of the fastest growing industries with the highest job demand. It has allowed us to do things we’d never dream capable, and bring to life creations and projects in every field.

While it may not seem like it, computer science involves a great deal of creativity. There are thousands of different ways to code a program and billions of different uses for them. While not everyone may want to code programs for a living, I do believe having an understanding of computer science can be beneficial for any major or any career. Entrepreneurs can learn to …

"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. …

Uri Theatre Presents: Rob Neill And The Neo-Futurists, Caitlyn Sloan

Senior Honors Projects

The University of Rhode Island has given me the opportunity to explore and recognize many different interests that I never knew I previously had. While at the university I discovered my love for Theatre and the talent I have as a manager, as well as a love for event planning through my employment with University Events. These passions drove my desire to create an Honors Project that would help me learn more about management and planning on a scale that could have a large impact. When the theatre department won the Distinguished Visiting Artist Grant for 2017, I seized the …

Service Based Learning Of Income Taxes, Britny Andersen

Senior Honors Projects

Income tax preparation is best learned through application. Reading the tax law and codification is important, however it is crucial to apply this information to real world situations. By volunteering at the South County Rhode Island Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, I had the opportunity to take my knowledge of income tax law and apply it to income tax returns for people in the local community. While an understanding of income tax laws was important, since I was providing a service to clients, communication skills were also crucial to the entire process.

Interestingly, I was surprised to discover that effective …

The Beauty Of Business, Steve Leone, Kate Marcellino

Senior Honors Projects

I co-founded Humans of URI my freshman year with the intention of highlighting the diverse population at URI through their stories. We still maintain the page today and authenticity has always been an integral pillar. This experience has given me a profound appreciation for the students I pass by every single day and the understanding that everyone has a unique story. What if the College of Business could fuse storytelling with marketing? I aim to showcase the authentically beautiful community at the College of Business.

Deciding on a University and then an academic college are very difficult and impactful decisions …

An Investment Guide For Millennials, Joshua Perkins

Senior Honors Projects

While almost a majority of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers invest in the stock market, only a mere one-third of Millennials invest. In today’s economy, Millennials experience a range of financial challenges, including student debt, rising rents, and lower starting salaries. A recent study has found that the average retirement age for Millennials will be 75 years old, 10 years older than the average retirement age today. Most young adults do not realize the importance of saving, investing early, and the power of compounding returns in order to be more financially stable in the future.

Over the course of my …

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 …

Transgender Identity And Dress Behavior, Lauryn Devine

Senior Honors Projects

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine how transgender individuals experience their bodies (e.g. body dissatisfaction) and how their body experience affects their shopping and clothing experiences. Clothing is often used as a way to define and express oneself. Therefore, if transgender individuals have a negative shopping experience and a negative outlook on clothing, it could make it more difficult to express their true identity. Society places extremely high expectations on individuals regarding appearance, which can be psychologically and emotionally difficult for cisgender individuals, but even more egregious for those individuals who do not fit society’s conventional gender …