Business Commons^™

Graduate School Blog - June 2025, Cynthia Haynes

UofM Grad School Blog

The June 2025 edition of the UofM Graduate School Blog helps prospective and current students make informed financial decisions with Part 1 of the Graduate School Cost Guide, breaking down tuition structures such as per-credit hour versus flat-rate models, highlighting UofM’s tuition cap for in-state students, and explaining key university fees and cost differences between online and on-campus formats. The blog also features Brianna Reilly, a Doctor of Musical Arts graduate from New York, who shares how a graduate assistantship and her passion for music education led her to continue at UofM through the pandemic. Additional resources include an …

Growing Through Grit And Grace, Roshni Mahtani Cheung

Asian Management Insights

An interview with Roshni Mahtani Cheung on how she scaled up theAsianparent and The Parentinc with resilience and a ‘community-first’ approach. How Roshni Mahtani Cheung scaled up theAsianparent and The Parentinc with resilience and a ‘community-first’ approach.

Alibaba: Building Advanced Intellectual Property Governance For E-Commerce Marketplaces, Liang Chen, Sin Mei Cheah, Can Huang, Guoqiao Liu

Asian Management Insights

How the global e-commerce powerhouse harnessed artificial intelligence (AI) to balance innovation and intellectual property (IP) rights protection.

Steering The Future, Shai Ganu

Asian Management Insights

Embracing the emergence of corporate stewardship.

Beyond The Binary: Rethinking Work-From-Home Policies, Vineeta Dwivedi, Snehal Shah

Asian Management Insights

The right approach depends on your organisation’s readiness.

Leveraging Industry 4.0 And Circular Open Innovation For Digital Sustainability: The Role Of Circular Ambidexterity, Noor Ul Hadi, Balqees Almessabi, Muhammad Imran Khan

All Works

The transition to a circular economy requires a fundamental shift from traditional linear production models to resource efficiency and closed-loop systems. Industry 4.0, with its cutting-edge technologies, has the potential to accelerate digital transformation. However, its impact on digital sustainability is neither automatic nor guaranteed. Many organizations continue to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies to boost their operational efficiency and reduce costs, often failing to align them with circular economy strategies. This study, therefore, delves into the conditional role of circular open innovation in ensuring that digital transformation not only contributes to productivity but also actively fosters circular innovation and digital …

Pension Participation Among Different Migrant Groups In China: Job Type, Regional Disparities, And Cross-Provincial Mobility, Boxia Xu

Dissertations

As China undergoes rapid economic transformation and urbanization, the migrant population has grown significantly. Although migrants play essential roles in the labor market, they face persistent structural barriers to pension access. Regional disparities, occupational segmentation, and cross-provincial mobility constraints affect the probability of their pension participation. While policy efforts aim to expand coverage, the fragmented nature of China’s pension system continues to hinder equitable access for migrants. As a result, ensuring pension participation among migrant groups remains a pressing challenge.

Using data from the 2014 China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS), this dissertation employs logistic regression models to investigate how job …

Regulating The Metaverse: Reducing Diffusion Of Trader Responsibility, Hadar Y. Jabotinsky, Michal Lavi

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

With the emergence of the metaverse, some problems relating to trader responsibility, which had previously long been addressed, have now resurfaced and come back to life. One of these problems is the question of who should be held accountable for harm inflicted by defective or counterfeit products sold by third-party vendors in metaverse marketplaces. Under the common law, liability for defective or counterfeit products rests with the immediate seller of the product. But, unique aspects of the metaverse may make holding sellers liable unwise, difficult, or even impossible.

The law confronted a similar question after online platforms emerged. Currently, common …

The Battle Is Not Ours!: The Impact Of Racial Battle Fatigue On The Career Trajectory Of Black Women Administrators At Predominantly White Institutions, Tonishea M. Jackson

Dissertations

This qualitative narrative inquiry examines the impact of Racial Battle Fatigue (RBF) on the career progression of Black women administrators at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). While RBF has been studied extensively among students and faculty, there has been little research exploring its influence on Black women leaders who navigate both racial and gendered power structures in organizations where they are often underrepresented and unsupported. Grounded in the theoretical framework of Intersectionality, this study explores one primary research question: What is the relationship between RBF and the career paths of Black women administrators at PWIs, including the stages in their careers …

Applied Optical Character Recognition And Large Language Models In Augmenting Manual Business Processes For Data Analytics In Traditional Small Businesses With Minimal Digital Adoption, Jose Ramon S. Ilagan, Joseph Benjamin R. Ilagan, Zachary Matthew Alabastro

Business Insights Laboratory for Development (BUILD)

The local business landscape in the Philippines presents a slow adoption to digitization. There are fears of inaccurate results and limited technical proficiency. Data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) are crucial for business growth. By understanding the performance of stock-keeping-units (SKU) with technology, businesses can find better ways to handle products to increase profitability. In exploring optical character recognition (OCR) and large language models (LLM), a software pipeline can help businesses analyze handwritten sales data for business intelligence. The research aims to develop a system for translating logbooks into metrics by augmenting manual business processes performed by staff. The application …

Unlocking Private Equity Investing: A Primer, Yin Wang, Steve Balaban

Asian Management Insights

Private equity might provide higher returns, but investors should be aware of the associated risks.

Discovering Sri Lanka: Examining The Marketing Strategies Behind Successful Tourist Destinations, Victoria Powell

University Honors Theses

Building on the observation that Sri Lanka is emerging as a tourist destination, this thesis compares the national destination marketing campaigns of Thailand, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka to identify how their strengths have contributed to their success. Using a comparative analysis, the research examines each destination’s brand positioning, distribution channels, campaign messaging, visual identity, and brand consistency. A deeper analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) is conducted on Sri Lanka's destination marketing campaign to present the study's findings and communicate recommendations. Ultimately, the analysis is used to recommend strategies for Sri Lanka's destination marketing efforts to …

Exploring How The High Or Low Of Firm Transparency And Speed Of Adjustment In Its Capital Structure Relates To The Implied Cost Of Capital Of A Firm, Yung Chee Leong

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation tackles a core challenge in corporate finance — how firms can optimise both their capital structure decisions and the way those decisions are communicated to investors. It shows that while financial responsiveness (SOA) and transparency each help lower a firm’s implied cost of capital (ICC), the most meaningful reduction occurs when both are present and working together. For CFOs, the research offers a practical way to connect capital structure planning with communication strategy to improve market understanding and reduce financing costs. For investors and analysts, it introduces the idea of a transparency–SOA alignment measure to better assess firm …

The Association Between Different Succession Methods And Innovation Investments In Family Businesses In China, Lei Wu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Amidst the deepening of economic globalization, countries around the world are being progressively steered toward paths of innovative development, laying a solid foundation for enhancing national comprehensive strength and elevating international standing. Especially after the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy in our country, technological innovation has become the main direction of our transformation. According to the requirements of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, innovation-driven development will be fully applied to the country's development, creating favorable conditions for the realization of strategic development goals. National development and social progress are directly linked to corporate …

Essays On Empirical Asset Pricing, Ruxue Gong

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The dissertation consists of three chapters on behavioral finance, arbitrage activities, cryptocurrencies and ETFs. The first chapter examines the existence and trading behavior of triangular arbitrageurs in cryptocurrency markets. Using a novel account-level orderbook dataset from an Indian cryptocurrency exchange, we document persistent price deviations between USD- and INRquoted token pairs, and use the triangular arbitrage opportunities to identify arbitrageurs and noise traders. Our results show that arbitrageurs significantly outperform noise traders on their holding-based returns, after adjusting for market returns and trading fees. However, arbitrageurs are not immune to behavioral biases when making trading decisions. Using a composite behavioral …

Using Multiculturalism To Combat The Negative Creativity Effect Of Cultural Tightness: How It Is Done Matters, Jung Kiu Choi

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This study investigates the multifaceted influence of cultural tightness and multiculturalism on the global commercial success of pop music. Addressing an under-explored moderating effect of multicultural factors on creative output under tight culture, this research analyzes Billboard Global 200 and Spotify Top 50 chart data from 2013-2021. The empirical analysis reveals that cultural tightness negatively impacts pop song’s success. Conversely, multiculturalism, specifically through diverse languages and performance teams, generally enhances global success. A key finding is that while multicultural production teams do not directly correlate with success, they critically moderate the detrimental effects of cultural tightness, a buffering effect unique …

The Third Annual Hasslein Caed Collaborative, Marianne Nicole Bishai

Construction Management

This paper details the planning, development, and impact of the third annual Hasslein CAED Collaborative Student Competition. The intention of the Hasslein Cup is to engage the students of the five College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) majors in an industry-like scenario. The five majors, Architecture, Architectural Engineering, City and Regional Planning, Construction Management, and Landscape Architecture, make up the workforce of the construction industry, yet there has been very little opportunity for the students to work together and replicate a professional scenario. The competition began from research conducted by Greta Stout, class of 2022, which explored the benefits …

Tourism, Trade, Energy, And Economic Development: Drivers Of Ecological Footprint In The World's Top Tourist Destinations, Abdul Waaje, Md Mustaqim Roshid, Sohidul Islam, Reday Chandra Bhowmik, Muhammad Abdur Rahaman, Md Mahedi Hassan

Michigan Tech Publications

Ecological sustainability, energy consumption, tourism, and economic growth interact in complex ways, a pressing concern for modern policy and study. Using data from 1999 to 2023, this study looks at the top 10 tourist destinations to see how these variables relate to their environmental impact. The primary regression analysis employs the Driscoll-Kraay Standard Errors (DKSE) approach, while Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) and Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) are used for robustness checks. The DKSE results show that a 1 % increase in economic development reduces the ecological footprint by 0.775 %. Similarly, renewable energy minimizes the EFP by 0.140 %, …

Lessons Learned From Sandboxing, Piloting And Policy Experimentation With Ai And Other Digital Initiatives: Part 1, Summary Report, Steven M. Miller

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This report, "Lessons Learned from Sandboxing, Piloting and Policy Experimentation with AI and Other Digital Initiatives," captures insights and experiences from project experts involved in recent digital innovation initiatives with the governments of Bangladesh, Maldives, and Kazakhstan, and from project experts actively involved with the use of AI for delivering government digital services in the EU, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, United States, and Uzbekistan. The ten in-depth interview write-ups produced from these nine different country settings provide a small but highly informative sample of rich descriptions of some of the important realities, approaches, nuances, issues and challenges related to testing …

Why Does My Transaction Fail? A First Look At Failed Transactions On The Solana Blockchain, Xiaoye Zheng, Zhiyuan Wan, David Lo, Difan Xie, Xiaohu Yang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Solana is an emerging blockchain platform, recognized for its high throughput and low transaction costs, positioning it as a preferred infrastructure for Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and other Web 3.0 applications. In the Solana ecosystem, transaction initiators submit various instructions to interact with a diverse range of Solana smart contracts, among which are decentralized exchanges (DEXs) that utilize automated market makers (AMMs), allowing users to trade cryptocurrencies directly on the blockchain without the need for intermediaries. Despite the high throughput and low transaction costs of Solana, the advantages have exposed Solana to bot spamming for financial exploitation, resulting …

Tread: A Digital Solution For Sustainable Travel, Audrey Claire Talmi, Amy Besford

Graphic Communication

This senior project aims to create an eco-tourism website that promotes sustainable and ethical travel by connecting users with local businesses, communities, and culturally respectful experiences. As mainstream tourism increasingly contributes to environmental degradation and social displacement, this platform will provide responsible alternatives by avoiding over-touristed destinations and favoring underrepresented areas. It will allow users to book flights, lodging, and activities while educating them on the consequences of over-tourism. Through a combination of intuitive user interface, thoughtful user experience, engaging visual design, and curated educational content, the website will serve not only as a booking platform but as a digital …

Seattle's New Edition, Kyle Gray

Graphic Communication

My project is to create and develop the branding of the NBA's newest franchise: The Seattle Grunge. Grunge is a genre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1980s particularly in the city of Seattle. With my team, I am looking for seamless cohesion with other logos in the Association while establishing an emotional connection between the fanbase and its city. The project will consist of a complete creation of the team’s logo/branding, court, 3 jersey designs (home/away/city connect), merchandise, season ticket packaging, and a full marketing report (team logo exposure/connection to the city).

Conducting Background Checks In The Corporate Security Environment, Alan Saquella

Publications

In the current threat landscape, the background check has become a critical frontline defense in protecting corporate assets, brand integrity and personnel safety. But as any security leader will tell you, the traditional background check — focused on criminal history, employment verification and references — has limitations, especially in today’s regulatory environment.

Federal and state restrictions continue to erode the depth and scope of what can be legally reviewed, and meanwhile, insider threats and deceptive candidates are becoming more sophisticated. In this context, it's no longer about whether to conduct background checks — it's about how to conduct them effectively, …

Mentoring: An Evidence-Based Approach To Leader Development, Robert J. Chico, Sophia R. Thoma, Tejal Wagadia, S. R. Aurora

Management Faculty Publications

Mentoring is vital for fostering the qualities and abilities necessary to expand employees’ capacity to lead. We highlight the aspects of mentoring and key considerations for implementing a mentoring program in organizations and educational institutions. We demonstrate the effectiveness of mentoring in developing emerging leaders and offer resources for readers to learn more about mentoring and implementing mentorship programs. We trust readers will understand mentoring’s benefits and acquire useful insights for establishing a mentorship program.

Chatgpt On Chatgpt: An Exploratory Analysis Of Its Performance In The Public Sector Workplace, Jieshu Wang, Elif Kiran, S. R. Aurora, Michael Simeone, Jose Lobo

Management Faculty Publications

This study explores the impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), in particular, ChatGPT, on the public sector workforce in the United States, focusing on task replacement, assistance potential, and the evolving landscape of skills. Utilizing GPT-4 to evaluate 1,022 core tasks across 51 public sector occupations, we provide an exploratory analysis of the roles susceptible to ChatGPT automation and those in which ChatGPT can augment human efforts. Our findings reveal that while 63% of tasks are resistant to ChatGPT replacement, primarily due to their requirement for physical presence, emotional intelligence, and complex decision-making, tasks that are routine, rule-based, and involving …

On Sgx’S Voyage To Corporate Sustainability: Exploring Emerging Topics In Multi-Industry Corpora, Xinwen Ni, Min Bin Lin, Simon J.D. Schillebeeckx, Wolfgang Karl Hardle

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Topic modeling and LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) have proven valuable in various fields as an innovative approach to studying areas of interest and identifying topics in a dynamic content. The underlying assumption is that techniques like LDA can swiftly capture emerging topics in textual documents compared to other categorization tools. These unsupervised approaches have been used to identify new industries and technological domains. However, our study on the nascent topic of “sustainability” within the corpora of SGX-listed companies highlights clear limitations in employing techniques like LDA on sparse data. The dynamic LDA approach, also called DTM (Dynamic Topic Modelling),based on …

Transmission Effect Of Contributory Pension Scheme To Economic Growth In Nigeria: Structural Vector Autoregressive (Svar) Approach, Iortyom Udaah, Sunday E. Akiri

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

This study examines the transmission effect of contributory pension scheme on Nige ria’s economic growth using quarterly data from 2010 to 2023. Thestudyis grounded in the Solow growth and Harrod–Domar models as its theoretical framework and employs a Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) approach for data analysis. The results show that economic growth responds positively to changes in pension fund assets and contributions. It also reveal that pension fund assets respond positively to changes in pension fund contribution in Nigeria. The study recommends that gov ernment should intensify efforts to encourage employers and employees in the in formal sector, as well …

Adaptive Expectation, News Impact And Lending Rate Behaviour In Nigeria: Evidence From Garch Models, Innocent Chile Nzeh

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

This study investigates how adaptive expectations and news impact shape lending rate behavior in Nigeria within the framework of both symmetric and asymmetric GARCH models. Using monthly data spanning 2006M1 to 2024M5, the paper analyzes the persistence, volatility, and responsiveness of the prime lending rate to positive and negative news shocks. Three error distributions (Normal, Student’s t, and Generalized Error Distribution (GED)) were employed to ensure robust estimation. The findings reveal that, in all models, the recent past value of the prime lending rate has a positive and sig nificant impact on the current value, indicating the presence of adaptive …

Relative Price Changes And Monetary Policy Stance In Nigeria, Elijah A. Udoh, Ibrahim D. Mohammed, Yakubu M. Sanusi, Philom Ena Y. Oksakei

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

This study estimates a baseline Taylor Rule and an augmented Taylor Rule incorporating relative price movements (RELP) using Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) on Nigerian data. The baseline model shows weak and statistically insignificant responses of the MPR to inflation, the output gap, and crisis conditions, confirming earlier findings that inflation and output in Nigeria do not have contemporaneous effects on the MPR. By contrast, the augmented model reveals that the relative price level positively and significantly influences the policy rate, indicating that the CBN raises interest rates when domestic prices rise relative to external or bench mark prices. Across …

The Dead Internet Theory: A Survey On Artificial Interactions And The Future Of Social Media, Prathamesh Muzumdar, Sumanth Cheemalapati, Srikanth Reddy Ramireddy, Kuldeep Singh, George Kurian, Apoorva Muley

Faculty Publications - The LeMoyne Smith School of Business

The Dead Internet Theory (DIT) suggests that much of today’s internet, particularly social media, is dominated by non-human activity, AI-generated content, and corporate agendas, leading to a decline in authentic human interaction. This study explores the origins, core claims, and implications of DIT, emphasizing its relevance in the context of social media platforms. The theory emerged as a response to the perceived homogenization of online spaces, highlighting issues like the proliferation of bots, algorithmically generated content, and the prioritization of engagement metrics over genuine user interaction. AI technologies play a central role in this phenomenon, as social media platforms increasingly …