Business Commons^™

Strategic Opportunities In Rental Companies And Ridesharing, Julia Baumann, Danay Kmatz, Noaa Lanotte, Zachary Murray, Jonathan Weaver

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Given the future of mobility, the increase in online shopping, and the ease of ridesharing, companies need to adapt their network to one that uniquely utilizes their resources to cater to these dramatic changes. The task in this case was to re-image Goodyear’s dealer network and find possible ways to use their excess space to help establish themselves in the future of mobility. The team conducted secondary research on three main topics: retail versus online shopping, Goodyear’s services compared to services needed by Uber and Lyft drivers, and information regarding the current and future status of ridesharing.

Factors That Influence Recruitment And Retention, Colton West, Jessica Ricks, Caroline Strachan, John Iacono, Carly Shay

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The project is to test and research the main factors that influence recruitment and retention with a focus on the company Sherwin-Williams. Specifically, this paper explores peer-reviewed articles that report on recruitment and retention findings from experts and everyday practitioners within human resources management and the retail industry. Major influences on turnover highlighted in this report include methods of pursuing talent, brand awareness and its effects on recruiting millennials and generation Z, compensation and benefits and their ability to attract and retain talent, and the integral component of job satisfaction and its role in employee and management retention. In addition, …

An Examination Of The Stock Market's Effect On Economic Inequality, Nicholas Golina

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The economic literature on economic inequality has shown that it can negatively impact aggregate demand because it indicates a higher concentration of wealth in the hands of the top 10% as opposed to the poor and middle class, who are more likely to consume. The literature has identified many factors that can lead to increasing inequality. The stock market could be one of those factors since it can either create an upward redistributive effect towards the top 10% or redistributive effect towards the middle class. This paper tested the effect of the stock market on inequality. This study contributes to …

Brain Drain And Emigration: How Do They Affect Source Countries?, Nicholas Chura

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper examines the effect of different skill levels of emigration on a country’s labor market, from high skill brain drain to low skill emigration. By utilizing an IADB Brain Drain data set to measure emigration rates among those with low, medium, and high educational attainment in a country, the effect of brain drain vs. low skill emigration on productivity and unemployment is examined. These data span from 1980 to 2010 with measurements every five years for 195 World Bank countries. By utilizing two two-way fixed effects models with GDP per capita and unemployment rate as the dependent variables, the …

Business Strategy For Potential Sustainability Organizations Of The Future, Randall Duffield

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The exponential acceleration of globalization in the modern economy has resulted in the creation of new, unexpected job positions. This article explores the possibility of merging strategic business practices with a potential sustainability effort in plastic removal from the world's oceans. Though the current paradigm of political involvement relegated research to focus on a governmental position, the research and organizational methods could, and should, be applied to future private market endeavors in the same field.

Music Streaming Application Using Php, Html, Css, And Javascript, Kelsie Miller

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project is focused on displaying the skills and computer programming languages I have learned throughout my years at Akron. In this design, the backend of my application will be PHP. The frontend of the site will be composed of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This site will also have a database that I will build through phpMyAdmin. The project will also be mobile responsive, so if the website would ever be deployed, it will be available on mobile devices. I chose a music streaming site because I have always loved music and it posed as a challenge. My goal in …

Top 10 Nafta Non-Tire Rubber Company Mapping, Lucas Ingalls

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

I will be completing thorough research on the top 10 rubber companies in NAFTA that are non-tire manufacturers. I will format this data to show all their locations, what the location does, if they buy rubber and how much, if they buy from HEXPOL Compounding, and who their purchasing manager is. This will be completed for HEXPOL Compounding, an international custom rubber mixer with 16 locations in North America and growing. I will use internal software systems through HEXPOL Compounding to collect already known data, find information on the companies' websites, speak with HEXPOL Compounding's customer service representatives and business …

Emotional Exhaustion And Company Culture, Rosemarie Amore, Anthony Auth, Rebecca Mefford, Taylor Maiher, Jaret Brown

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Everyone loves a growing economy and low unemployment rate. Well, that is everyone except hiring managers. One of the hardest things for a hiring manager to do is retain talent when unemployment is low. The workers can move from job to job without worrying that they will have trouble finding employment. This is especially true in the retail industry. The retail industry is mostly made up of part-time employees who can choose to leave a company very quickly and with very little cost to themselves. The hiring manager, however, knows that it is very expensive for a company to continually …

Goodyear As-A-Service Project Report, Julie Mullet

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of the Project Report is to explain our secondary and primary research findings, our analyses of these, and our solutions and recommendations as well as next steps for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in the “as-a-service” industry. The report begins with our secondary research finding, then moves into our primary research methods, statistical testing and data results, findings, and limitations of our primary research. We will then suggest our solutions and recommendations for the company based on our research. Last, we will detail our expected financial results for the company, as well as the action steps and future …

Silicon Valley Immersion Program, Austin Phillips

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper explores how learning immersion experiences can improve the cache of the student experience at The University of Akron. Then the planning and coordination of northeast Ohio's first university-led silicon valley learning immersion trip, Zips in the Valley, are detailed.

Accounting For The Environment, Jonathan Konopka

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research will explore the topic of environmental accounting, which is becoming increasingly important in today's climate. Many topics will be covered, including the history of environmental accounting, environmental accounting standards and practices, tax credits relating to the environment, green business practices, and local applications of environmental accounting. It is important to see how businesses are adapting in this era, in which climate and the environment has become a focal point.

Sherwin-Williams Research Report, Chase Edwards, Krista Mathis, Savannah Frase, Madeline Connolly, Charles Howe

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The overall purpose of this research is to gather information from a variety of different sources regarding recruitment and retention strategies. After gathering this information, the findings will be applied to The Sherwin-Williams Company in order to provide them with strategies on how to increase both retention and recruitment efforts in their organization. While there is no universal secret to better recruitment, the findings may transfer to a variety of different solutions.

The study was designed to cover a variety of different generations that companies can pull from. Primarily, baby boomer, generation X, and generation Y were taken into account. …

An Analysis Of Millennial Attitudes Towards Car Servicing, Colwell S. Shupe, Jill M. Synek, Erin M. Chips, Eric A. Van Meter

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

When our team originally began our project, we initially held the assumption that millennials do not care about car ownership or driving. As our secondary research progressed, we found that millennials do indeed care about automobiles, but limited research existed as to any underlying issues regarding car maintenance and service. We addressed this issue in our primary research and found that millennials experience anxiety as they do not know much about car maintenance. Our recommendations were targeted towards easing both the surface anxiety and addressing the underlying issues as well as helping prepare Goodyear for future trends that may arise.

Strategic Recommendations For Sherwin Williams, Alysha Blanchard, Cara Crookston, Jacob Kaut, Lucas Colantoni, Lillyanne Sweitzer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Our project objective was to provide Sherwin Williams with a comprehensive and well researched recommendation to aid recruitment efforts for their Management Trainee Program, as well as increase employee retention. Our team’s primary research was centered around benchmarking Sherwin Williams’ business related practices with those of similar retail companies and employees. Specifically, the research was focused on company culture, training and support, employee referrals, and treatment of part-time employees of the different organizations. To complete the benchmarking effectively, our team created two variations of a survey design to capture the necessary feedback and data. After analyzing our primary research and …

Goodyear "As A Service" Project Plan, Nicholas Nutial, Tara Myatt, James Genetin, Brenna Paananen, Julian Moore

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper summarizes the research conducted on how the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company can utilize the "as-a-service" business model. The research consisted of a survey, focus group, and a secondary research report. The primary research was focused around the consumers' opinions of tire-buying, car maintenance, and current subscription services that the participants used. Thus data led to the recommendation for Goodyear to implement a subscription service that includes text reminders for car maintenance, a meet your technician feature, and tire credits.

The Effect Of Behavioral Traits And Background On Engineering Students’ Decision-Making Process Compared To Business Students, Joe Scott

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper looks to narrow down the reasons that students undertake new credentials, specifically in sales fields. With a focus on character traits and upbringing, the goal is to ensure that there is a better understanding of the reasons that people undertake these credentials. The different benefits of credentials will be analyzed to determine the most influential reason that people would be willing to move forward. The combination of these factors will be used to provide recommendations of the best way to reach and influence the decision of the engineering students.