Business Commons^™

The Hope Venture: Strategic Audit, Bradley Sullivan

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The Hope Venture is an international nonprofit headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. Their work is comprised of education and health projects targeted at individuals living in extreme poverty. Currently, most of their projects are located in India and Sub-Saharan Africa. A PESTEL analysis was performed to assess the external environment in which they operate, while a Porter’s 5 Forces analysis explained industry dynamics. Their competitive advantages, such as their unique 100% model, are explored, while key challenges regarding scalability are discussed. In the end, recommendations are given to overcome potential threats and to continue to sustain a competitive advantage in the …

Nelnet, Inc. Strategic Audit, Jeanette Glover

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Nelnet, Inc. is a. As of 2024, Nelnet as a United States-based conglomerate operates through five divisions including: Nelnet Diversified Solutions, Nelnet Business Services, Nelnet Financial Services, Nelnet Communications Services, and Nelnet Energy Services. Under the Nelnet Diversified Solutions umbrella are: Nelnet Consumer Services, Nelnet Technology Services, Nelnet Business Process Outsourcing, Nelnet Renewable Energy, Nelnet Government Services, ScholarNet, and Nelnet Federal Loan Services. This strategic audit report will mainly focus on Nelnet’s strategy primarily through the business segments of Nelnet Financial Services and Nelnet Diversified Solutions’ service business Nelnet Federal Loan Services within the student loan industry to analyze its …

Bidding Strategy For A Wind Power Producer In Us Energy And Reserve Markets, Anne Stratman

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wind power is one of the world's fastest-growing renewable energy resources and has expanded quickly within the US electric grid. Currently, wind power producers (WPPs) may sell energy products in US markets but are not allowed to sell reserve products, due to the uncertain and intermittent nature of wind power. However, as wind’s share of the power supply grows, it may eventually be necessary for WPPs to contribute to system-wide reserves. This paper proposes a stochastic optimization model to determine the optimal offer strategy for a WPP that participates in the day-ahead and real-time energy and spinning reserve markets. The …

Government Program Decision Analysis In Nebraska At The Farm Level, Tatum R. Brunkow

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill until September 30, 2024, has extended several government programs for the 2024 crop year including those in Title I: Commodities. This analysis looks at three different financial scenarios and analyzes five different alternatives for a case farm to select the optimal farm program decision for the operation by evaluating net farm income. Since 2021, eligible producers have been able to elect either Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) for their operation on an annual basis. Support levels for these programs are trending close together making the election decision more …

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 …

Spotify: A Strategic Analysis Of A Digital Music Streaming Industry Leader, Madison Giacomo

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Spotify (Spotify Technology S.A) is a digital music streaming platform headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Offering music, podcasts, and audiobooks, Spotify is the leading digital music streaming platform with over 30% of the market share. Spotify bases their business model on user growth and experience, content acquisition and expansion, monetization, and partnerships and collaborations. Spotify’s main focus is to differentiate themselves through a personalized user experience, offering music and podcast recommendations based on listening history. This analysis looks to understand Spotify’s growth and business strategy within a competitive industry, through the use of a PESTEL analysis, Porter’s Five Forces Analysis, evaluating …

Paying To Reduce Disparity: Financially Incentivizing Workforce Diversity And Its Effects On Managers’ Promotion Decisions And Employees’ Effort, Bret S. Sheeley

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Disparities in employee representation persist in higher-level organizational positions despite recent attention to workforce diversity and its associated benefits. In response, companies have begun integrating diversity initiatives with varying degrees of specificity (hereafter, “initiative specificity”) into their managers’ compensation packages to increase underrepresented employees’ representation in higher-level organizational positions. This study uses an experiment to examine how offering managers financial incentives to accomplish diversity initiatives (hereafter, “diversity incentives”) and initiative specificity interact to influence managers’ promotion decisions and employees’ effort choices in a promotion setting.

The results suggest that as underrepresented employees’ pre-promotion efforts increase relative to overrepresented employees’ efforts, …

A Fish Out Of Water: An Examination Of Self-Identified Introverted Business Students' Perceptions Of Their Leadership Ability, Katie J. Jolicoeur

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Current American cultural and societal ideals favor personalities that are outgoing, positive, and talkative in nature, due to the rise of the Culture of Personality (Wilmot, 2019; Kim, 2012; Cain, 2013). Beginning with the industrial revolution and expanding rapidly midcentury, parents began to view children who are quiet as less favorable than those who are more gregarious, thus children and parents began forced socialization at an earlier age (Wilmot, 2019; Cain, 2013). Very little, if any, research has been conducted to understand the impact that the cultural ideal of favoring extraversion has upon undergraduate students seeking a degree in business, …

Topgolf Callaway Brands, Corp. Strategic Analysis, Sean Smith

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Topgolf Callaway Brands, Corp. (the “Company”, “Topgolf Callaway”, “Topgolf”, or “Callaway”) is an industry-leading golf and active lifestyle company that provides golf entertainment experiences, designs and manufactures premium golf equipment, and sells golf and active lifestyle apparel and other accessories through their family of brand names. They operate under the Topgolf, Callaway, Jack Wolfskin, OGIO, TravisMathew, Odyssey and Toptracer logos for their various product and service offerings. This report seeks to understand the industries in which the firm operates, the forces present in those industries, the resources and advantages of the firm, risks associated with their operations, and recommends several …

Zara Strategic Audit, Rachel Hoffschneider

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Zara, a popular fast-fashion brand, operates under the Inditex group. Rooted in Spain, the company sought expansion and gradually worked its way into the international market. Utilizing vertical integration, the company provides swift production cycles in order to appeal to customer demands. This strategic audit analyzes Zara by comparison to rival competitors, a PESTEL test, Porter’s Five Forces, and highlights possible future challenges.

Delta Air Lines Strategic Audit, Victoria Diersen, Rebecca Koppelman, Nicholas Lauver, Aaryan Naik, Drake Vorderstrasse

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This case study focuses on Delta Air Lines, a prominent company in the airline industry. We conducted a strategic audit utilizing theories and principles central to strategic management to complete the case study. Our research used publicly available information that included the company’s website, SEC filings, news articles, and industry analysis. The goal of this case study is to collect and analyze data, apply strategic management concepts to a contemporary organization, and evaluate the firm’s potential for competitive advantage.

We looked at many factors for Delta Air Lines, including firm analysis, industry analysis, external analysis, internal analysis, performance analysis, competitive …

T-Mobile Strategic Audit, Naren Narasimhan, Kathryn Kraemer, Alex Nydahl, Carlos Fuentes, Cole Swofford

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This strategic audit delves into the performance and competitive landscape of T-Mobile within the wireless communications industry. The research question driving this study was to assess T-Mobile's position and prospects across various facets of its business operations. The research methodology was gathered from T-Mobile's official sources such as its website, annual reports, press releases, and other publicly available information. The audit offers a comprehensive examination of T-Mobile's strategic landscape, encompassing industry dynamics, the company's mission, and its overarching objectives. It proceeds with an extensive external and internal analysis, culminating in insights into T-Mobile's competitive advantage and future positioning vis-à-vis other …

First Solar Strategic Audit, Sydney Pelster, Abigail Cota, Katherine Schoenfelder, Nolan Mauk, Eli Waring

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This case study explores First Solar, a global leader in the photovoltaic solar module industry. Using strategic management strategies and principles, we have curated a strategic audit to analyze the company’s competitive position. We used First Solar’s publications and website as well as general articles on the solar industry, analyst findings, and additional public findings as the basis of our analysis. Overall, our goal was to apply the learned strategic management concepts to a complex organization and identify First Solar’s potential competitive advantages.

We looked at many factors for First Solar, including firm analysis, industry analysis, external analysis, internal analysis, …

Sunsetting Tax Provisions: Is Your Estate Plan Affected?, Anastasia Meyer, Glennis Mcclure

Cornhusker Economics

It is never too early to begin thinking about estate planning, how you want to transfer your assets to the next generation, and how your decisions may be taxed to the next generation. Those decisions may need to be adjusted as some provisions are set to expire at the end of 2025.

The Future Of The Organization Of The Petroleum Exporting Countries, Mikayla Gross

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a multinational and intergovernmental organization that dictates the petroleum exportation policies of 13 countries: Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela (About Us, 2023). The mission of OPEC is to ensure a stable supply of petroleum through its shared policies for its Member Countries and consumers (Our Mission, 2023). Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela founded OPEC in 1960 under the foundations and principles that dictated the international world order. Those foundations and principles …

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 …

Jp Morgan Chase Strategic Analysis, Carson Swartzbaugh

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

JP Morgan Chase is an American financial institution that touches all sides of the financial sector, including commercial banking, consumer banking, investment banking, and asset management, to name a few. JP Morgan Chase is the largest American Bank and a global leader in the financial industry. A PESTEL analysis of JP Morgan Chase and the financial sector of the United States will give an overall view of the industry while providing critical insight into the opportunities and challenges faced by JP Morgan Chase and its competitors. Additionally, Porter’s Five Forces will focus on the competitive environment in which JP Morgan …

A Strategic Audit Of Instacart, Taylor Durbin

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Instacart is an online grocery delivery and pick-up service that allows users to order groceries and other household items from local and large stores and retailers through its website or mobile app. Apoorva Mehta founded Instacart in 2012 with the intent to help people conveniently access the food they enjoy, and the service now reaches over 14,000 cities across the United States and Canada. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the company as its rise to becoming a prominent player in the online grocery delivery industry has skyrocketed demand for the service and presented numerous operational challenges for the …

Target Strategic Audit, Ashley Mcrae

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Target is a prominent American retail chain known for its wide array of affordable yet stylish products. The company has built a strong reputation over several decades for its commitment to offering exclusive brands and unique shopping experiences to its diverse customer base. This strategic audit specifically focuses on the dynamic mass-market retail industry and analyzes Target’s ability to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in an evolving industry. This report will specifically focus on an overview of the company and its operations, analysis of the competitive advantage Target possesses, and an examination of the strategy Target utilizes. Tools, like Porter’s …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: April 24, 2024, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator-Nebraska fell by 1.31% in March 2024. The increase in the leading indicator, which is designed to predict economic growth six months into the future, followed a very rapid 3.97% increase in February. Taken together, the February and March values continue to imply strong growth in the Nebraska economy in mid-2024. A decline in building permits for single-family homes contributed to the drop in the LEI-N during March. There also was a decline in manufacturing hours worked after a sharp February increase. On the positive side, business expectations remained strong in March. Respondents to the March Survey …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: April 24, 2024

Bureau of Business Research Publications

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators, April 24, 2024, from the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: March 27, 2024, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator-Nebraska rose by a very rapid 3.48% in February 2024. The increase in the leading indicator, which is designed to predict economic growth six months into the future, implies that there will be strong growth in the Nebraska economy during the summer of 2024. Three components of the leading indicator improved significantly during February. There was a sharp increase in manufacturing hours worked, given the continued strong demand for food products. Business expectations also were strong. Respondents to the February Survey of Nebraska Business reported plans to increase sales and employment over the next six months. The …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: March 27, 2024

Bureau of Business Research Publications

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators, March 27, 2024, from the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Can Machine Learning Models Provide Accurate Fertilizer Recommendations?, Takashi S. T. Tanaka, Gerard B. M. Heuvelink, Taro Mieno, David S. Bullock

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

Accurate modeling of site-specific crop yield response is key to providing farmers with accurate site-specific economically optimal input rates (EOIRs) recommendations. Many studies have demonstrated that machine learning models can accurately predict yield. These models have also been used to analyze the effect of fertilizer application rates on yield and derive EOIRs. But models with accurate yield prediction can still provide highly inaccurate input application recommendations. This study quantified the uncertainty generated when using machine learning methods to model the effect of fertilizer application on site-specific crop yield response. The study uses real on-farm precision experimental data to evaluate the …

Will Saf Turbocharge The Corn Ethanol Market?, Richard K. Perrin, Lilyan E. Fulginiti, Felipe Miranda De Souza Almeida

Cornhusker Economics

The long-run outlook for the corn ethanol industry is questionable, due to a transition to electric and hybrid vehicles. One source of hope for the long run is the potential demand for producing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). SAF is a key component in the United States Aviation Climate Action Plan, a path to net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the aviation industry by 2050. Demand for ethanol for SAF offers hope to the ethanol industry, but it depends a great deal on policy decisions that are being made now. Here we sketch out this story.

Based on the information available …

2024 Nebraska Farmland Values And Cash Rental Rates, Jim Jansen, Jeffrey Stokes

Cornhusker Economics

The market value of agricultural land in Nebraska increased by 5% over the prior year to an average of $4,015 per acre, according to the 2024 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Survey. This marks the third consecutive year of increases in the market value of agricultural land in Nebraska, setting another high in the non-inflation-adjusted statewide land value in the survey's 46-year history.

Synthesis Of Current Evidence On Factors Influencing The Suitability Of Synthetic Biodegradable Mulches For Agricultural Applications: A Systematic Review, Michael Madin, Katherine Nelson, Kanji Fatema, Karina Schoengold, Abhilekha Dalal, Ikenna Onyekwelu, Rushrukh Rayan, Sanaz Saki Norouzi

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

Mulching practice offers farmers an opportunity to minimize the effects of drought, water loss, and soil erosion on crop production. Plastic film is widely used as a mulching material; however, contamination of arable lands by residual plastic has become a serious concern. Synthetic biodegradable mulch films and sprays may offer a more sustainable alternative to plastic films, however current evidence on the factors that influence the suitability of these products for agricultural applications is fragmented, making it unclear under what conditions these products meet agronomic, environmental, and societal needs. We address this gap by conducting a systematic review of studies …

Value Of Gain In The Lamb Feeding Industry, Jay Parsons

Cornhusker Economics

Value of gain (VOG) is a term in the livestock feeding industry that refers to the average value of a pound of gain. It is the most appropriate revenue value to use in comparison to the cost of gain to determine profit margin.

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: March 1, 2024, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator-Nebraska rose by 0.58% in January 2024. The increase in the leading indicator, which is designed to predict economic growth six months into the future, suggests that the Nebraska economy will grow through mid-2024. Two components of the leading indicator improved during January. To begin with, respondents to the January Survey of Nebraska Business reported plans to increase sales and employment over the next six months. Further, the Nebraska labor market improved. Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell during January, suggesting that employers see sufficient demand to support their current workforce.

2022 Census Of Agriculture: Nebraska Highlights, Kathleen Brooks, Bradley D. Lubben

Cornhusker Economics

In February 2024, the United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service published data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture. This data is collected every five years. The current article highlights a few of the Nebraska numbers. Two significant highlights from the data are the total number of farms and the total value of production. U.S. farm numbers declined modestly in the U.S. from 2.04 million in 2017 to 1.90 million in 2022. The total value of production for U.S. farms and ranches increased substantially from $388.5 billion in 2017 to $543.1 billion in 2022. Crop production accounted for …