Business Commons^™

Comparing The Professionalization Of Pro Gamblers And Pro Video Game Players, Mark R. Johnson

Occasional Papers

This paper explores the lives and practices of professional gamblers and professional video game players. Although both sets of individuals earn their incomes through games and other broadly “playful” practices, the work identifies four significant differences in their careers and what the “everyday” of these individuals looks like. Firstly, in terms of the nature of “skill” required to progress in these careers, and how these players reflect on and understand their own skill; secondly, the role of money and “money management” in their lives, and the different rhythms of financial gain, and potentially loss; thirdly, the observation that whereas almost …

Sustainability Standards And Stakeholder Engagement: Lessons From Carbon Markets, Hans Rawhouser, Michael E. Cummings, Alfred Marcus

Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology Faculty Research

Stakeholders play an increasingly active role in private governance, including development of standards for measuring sustainability. Building on prior studies focused on standards and stakeholder engagement, we use an innovation management theoretical lens to compare stakeholder engagement and standards developed in two carbon markets: the Climate Action Reserve and the U.N.’s Clean Development Mechanism. We develop and test hypotheses regarding how different processes of stakeholder engagement in standard development affect the number, identity, and age of stakeholders involved, as well as the variation and quality of the resulting standards. In doing so, we contribute to the growing literature on stakeholder …

The Pr Of Csr For The Casino Industry: A Review Of Challenging Corporate Social Responsibility: Lessons For Public Relations From The Casino Industry, Andrew B. Gustafson

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

This is a review of Jessalynn Strauss' recent book, Challenging Corporate Social Responsibility: Lessons for Public Relations from the Casino Industry. Through an analysis of Casino’s CSR practices, Strauss raises some serious concerns about this alignment between CSR and PR, and provides reasons to doubt whether SCR done for strategic bottom line interests rather than purely ethical reasons will consistently accomplish what the casinos set out to achieve.

Price Prediction: Determining Changes In Stock Pricing Through Sentiment Analysis Of Online Consumer Reviews, Daryl F. Boykin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The rapid growth of technology has changed the dynamics in which consumers socialize and make their purchasing decisions. The volume of online reviews has grown rapidly over the past decade, leading the peer groups of consumer to carry a disproportionate weight in the purchasing decision process. The sheer volume of reviews can be a daunting task for an operator to attempt to incorporate the reviews in their analysis. Sentiment analysis allows for large volumes of consumer reviews to be processed in a relatively easy, and time sensitive manner. The information contained in these reviews, the sentiment score, is the same …

Examining The Decoy And The Phantom Decoy Effects On The Menu Item Choice, Yang-Su Chen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the modern foodservice industry, restaurant potential customers encounter a vast quantity of information that influences their dining choices. Using theoretical foundations of traditional asymmetrical-dominating decoy and phantom decoy effects, this dissertation empirically tested a variety of decoy and phantom decoy items applied to a menu and investigated whether these effects increase the attractiveness of the target item and further increase customers’ likelihood of choosing the target item, as well as their post-choice assessments. Two separate experimental designs that manipulated different decoy and phantom decoy conditions and customers’ familiarity with the food items were conducted.

The results of study 1 …

Influence Of Sustainability Reward Program On Meeting Planners’ Site Selection Decision And Perceived Value-For-Money, Shinyong (Shawn) Jung

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many types of voluntary sustainable programs have been integrated into the hospitality industry standards and been examined to measure their effectiveness by research firms and institutions (Giebelhausen & Chun, 2016). However, there is a lack of research examining how the benefits received by participating in green meetings influence perceptions and behavioral intentions on environmentally sustainable meetings. Consequently, this research investigates how incentivizing tools such as incorporating sustainability reward points for choosing sustainable venues and participating in environmental programs can affect planners’ perceived value for money and site-selection intention. The results of the three-way repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) did …

Impacts Of Human Computer Interaction (Hci) On Translation In The Hospitality Industry, Ethan Fishbane

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

More than ever, globalization affects the hospitality industry with tremendous growth of international travelers—in the United States, inbound international visitation rose from around 25 million in 1985, to almost 67 million in 2012 (Mowforth & Munt, 2016). The concept of globalization, according to Robertson (1992), associates the integration and connectivity of culture and communities, while minimizing preformed boundaries. Half of all United States visitation comes from overseas travelers, with the largest share of foreign visitors coming from Japan, China, Brazil and South Korea (U.S. Travel Association, 2016). The United States predicts visitation from Brazil to increase by 70% from the …

A Case Study On The Emergence Of Boutique And Lifestyle Hotels, Tiffany M. Braun

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lifestyle and boutique hotels entered hospitality landscape twenty years ago. When they arrived, they were competing with the larger brands and chains and at first struggled to stay competitive (Sears, 2016). However, these hotels were eventually able to survive, and then compete, and then excel in the hospitality industry. Over the last five years, the supply of lifestyle hotel rooms has now increased at a double-digit annual rate (Skinner, 2016). And in 2015, both segments of hotels generated room revenues of over $13.7 billion (Skinner, 2016).

Lifestyle and boutique hotels have brought back the elements of architecture, design, and authenticity …

Is There A Link Between Fantasy Sports Players And Sports Bettors?, Wayman Wittman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This paper will explore the consumer base playing fantasy sports and comparing it with the consumer base that is currently betting on sports. According to the Fantasy Sport Trade Association, (FSTA), there are an estimated 41 million people that actively participate in fantasy sports in the United States of America and Canada (Dwyer, Achen & Lupninek, 2016). The FSTA also estimated that $1 billion was spend directly on fantasy products with an additional $4 billion spent on related services such as media (Dwyer, et al., 2016). If there is a link between playing fantasy sports and sports betting, then being …

Impacts Of Wechat On Millennials’ Perceptions And Consumption Behaviors In The Hotel Industry, Mengqi Cai

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Social media, known as interactive Web 2.0 Internet-based applications, has deeply changed and reformed interpersonal communication and business operation with the wide spread of Internet and the development of technology. In the past few years, since mobile apps are becoming more and more popular, the access of social media is not limited to tablet computers only, but is also available for almost all kinds of smart phone devices, such as iPhone, Android, Symbian and so on. The function of social media is not confined to real- time message transmission or information sharing any more. It has expanded to a widely …

Volunteer Management In Faith-Based Organizations, Cheryl Regina Coleman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) rely heavily on volunteers to carry out their mission, making volunteer labor fundamental to an organization’s business operations and outcomes. A review of the literature revealed a significant gap in managing volunteers effectively in a nonprofit, faith- based setting. The standard business management practices typically employed when managing volunteers lack effectiveness in nonprofit FBO environments. Employing for-profit management practices to managing volunteer labor in nonprofit settings is especially challenging given the uniqueness of nonprofit organizations that rely on volunteer over paid labor. Challenges include the organization’s values, mission, identity, social goals, outcomes, and ideological characteristics. The purpose …

The Effects Of Availability Heuristic Cues On Restaurant Purchase Decisions, Nadia Hanin Nazlan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation applied the theory of judgment heuristics to investigate the influence of availability cues on restaurant purchase decisions. Two studies were conducted in which respondents made food choice decisions. In the first study, respondents evaluated menu items in a 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 experimental design that manipulated scarcity cues, bundling, and price. In the second study, respondents evaluated restaurant appeal and menu choice in a 3 × 2 × 2 experiment that manipulated information vividness, message frequency, and price. The results of Study 1 suggest that respondents’ evaluations and purchase intentions can be influenced by scarcity …

Proposing A Manager Profile That Is Predictive Of Employee Job-Embeddedness, Satisfaction, And Engagement, Lauren Stephens

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Numerous studies have been conducted on leader-member exchange (LMX) theory and its application to organizational growth and development with a focus on the quality of relationships between leaders and their employees. There is an opportunity to expand upon the theory and its application to the hospitality industry. Understanding that this industry focuses on service delivery, which is influenced by relationships between leaders and employees, hospitality organizations can benefit from understanding what attributes of leaders contribute to high quality LMX relationships with employees.

A Systematic Literature Review: Existing Hospitality & Tourism Research On Big Data, Jiaojiao Song

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Big Data has been in the eye of storm in all walks of live. Since the tourism industry is able to generate tons of data each day, Big Data has caught the attention of scholars and professionals of the industry. People might hear of Big Data here and there, yet are they clear about what Big Data means? Does Big Data refer to a certain amount data or a technology to acquire information to support evidenced decision?

Unfortunately there is no general consensus in academic area according to the book, Big Data: Principals and Paradigms (Buyya, Calheiros, & Dastjerdi, 2016) …

Examining The High-End Gaming Segment: Toward A Shift In Market Focus, Jiaqi Wu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Las Vegas gaming and hospitality industry has seen many changes over the last two decades. For the longest time, casinos were illegal everywhere except in Nevada, and gambling was viewed as a vice. It was not until the 1970s when attitudes started to shift. The Nevada Gaming Control Board was established to oversee and govern many aspects of the business, in order to promote the industry and reduce the perceived negative social impacts. LVCVA (Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority) also strategically promotes the city as the ideal tourist destination. Las Vegas has now become a highly competitive tourist …

Practical Applications Of Revenue Management In Full Service Restaurants, Sean Aten

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Revenue management is the act of skillfully, carefully, and tactfully managing, controlling and directing capacity and sources of income, given the constraints of supply and demand (Forgacs, 2010). This field grew out of the yield management strategies developed for use in the airline industry beginning in the 1960s. They used data driven decision making to maximize revenues gained from every seat on every flight. The hospitality industry now views this field as one of the core competencies for successful profitability (Hayes & Miller, 2011). It is a multidisciplinary approach that blends elements of marketing, operations, and financial management to effectively …

The Free-Play Tax Deduction Debate: How Academic Research Can Help, Anthony F. Lucas, Katherine Spilde

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Free-play is the primary play incentive for slot players in many jurisdictions, with some campaigns eclipsing $50 million in annual redemptions. The efficacy of these incentives remains questionable at best, creating some contentious tax policy issues. Operators want to deduct the face value of these offers from taxable gaming win, based in part on the assumption that they expand the tax base; however, many regulators and taxing authorities question this claim. Any failure to fully recover redeemed free-play creates a deduction that is partially funded by tax payers. Arguments on both sides of this complex tax policy issue are thoroughly …

Interest-Based Bargaining: Changing Employer-Employee Relations At Youngstown State University, Patrick W. Carlton

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

This study is based upon interviews conducted with over two dozen individuals centrally involved with the collective bargaining movement at Youngstown State University of Ohio. (YSU) The experiences and memories of several participants extend back to the 1960’s, at which time they were newly appointed faculty members. Within the group are several retired persons who spoke from the comfortable position of relative political invulnerability. Others were at the time of their interviews actively engaged in university teaching and administration. Initial interviews concerning the newly-established Interest-based bargaining process took place within eight months of the negotiatory events, well before the “ravages …

2018 Chinese New Year Special Events Planning For Casino Resorts In Las Vegas, Qidan Guo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the most important holiday in the Chinese culture and is celebrated at the beginning of the Lunar Calendar each year. Not only does the festival have significant impact in China, it is also widely celebrated in Asia as a whole. Due to the fact that about 80 percent of Las Vegas’ biggest whales are from Asia, most of them baccarat players from China and Hong Kong (Rivlin, 2007), the Chinese New Year is also one of the most influential events on the Strip. Although the games and promotions offered by …

The Moderating Roles Of Follower Conscientiousness And Agreeableness On The Relationship Between Peer Transparency And Follower Transparency, Cass Shum, Anthony R. Gatling, Laura A. Book, Billy Bai

Hospitality Faculty Research

Transparency is an underpinning of workplace ethics. However, most of the existing research has focused on the relationship between leader transparency and its consequences. Drawing on social and self-regulation theory research, we examine the antecedents of followers’ transparency. Specifically, we propose that followers have higher levels of transparency when they are working with peers who have a high level of transparency. We further suggest that followers’ conscientiousness and agreeableness moderate the relationship between peer transparency and followers’ transparency. Using a time-lagged design, we provide support for the proposed theoretical model. We found that follower conscientiousness substitutes the social regulation effect …

Foreign Exchange Rate Effect On International Gaming Demand: An Examination From An Upscale Las Vegas Casino, Myongjee Yoo, Ashok K. Singh, Kasra Ghaharian

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Las Vegas has developed into one of the world’s top tourist destinations, and the international market has become a vital stream of the city’s revenue. The objective of this study was to understand the foreign exchange rate as a determinant for international gaming demand in the Las Vegas gaming industry. This study applied the econometric modeling method of panel data analysis to secondary data originated from a Las Vegas Strip casino property. This study attempted to validate the foreign exchange effect through empirical investigation. Results of this study showed that foreign exchange rate has an impact on international gaming demand.

Of The Rat Pack, Ashtrays, Cocktail Napkins, And Grateful Losers: The Making Of The Las Vegas Experience As A Historical Process In The 20th Century, Paul Franke

Occasional Papers

This paper explores how Las Vegas casino executives have successfully produced a unique gaming experience. From the 1950s onwards they were able to use architecture, entertainment and business practices to link games of chance with a specific consumption experience for players. It will examine what sets the Las Vegas consumption experience apart from other gaming locations, what it consisted of, and how it was produced by the casinos. It also investigates how people between the 1950s and 1980s perceived and consumed the Las Vegas experience. Drawing from these observations the paper argues that the special of Las Vegas in gaming …

The Influence Of Hospitality Leaders’ Relational Transparency On Followers’ Trust And Deviance Behaviors: Mediating Role Of Behavioral Integrity, Anthony Gatling, Cass Shum, L Book, Billy Bai

Hospitality Faculty Research

This paper investigates the effect of leader's relational transparency on follower organizational deviance through followers’ perception of leader's behavioral integrity and their trust in leader. Multi-level modeling results from a multisource survey-based field-study with 24 hospitality student project teams (N = 149) show that behavioral integrity mediates the relationship between leader's relational transparency and follower's trust in leader. Furthermore, multi-level path analysis suggests that leader's relational transparency, a team-level construct, exerts a cross-level effect on follower's organizational deviance through the mediating roles of behavioral integrity and follower's trust in leader. The study has yielded theoretical and practical implications that are …

Emotional Labor: Surface Acting A Better Emotional Regulation Strategy For Dealers?, James Luverne Cox

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The performing of emotional regulation in the workplace, or emotional labor, has long been researched by scholars. The conclusion that most reached was that individuals performing this regulation were typically better off by changing their emotions felt to their emotions displayed, or what is termed as “deep acting”, rather than “surface acting”, or faking the emotion. This paper will further explore the thoughts behind this argument and propose that dealers that use deep acting are, in fact, more likely to experience emotional burnout due to the inability to constantly change inner emotional states. Additionally, the paper will also seek to …

Self-Efficacy In Situation Background Assessment And Recommendation Communication Using Information Technology In Baccalaureate Nursing, Kelly Etcheberry Espinoza

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Strong communication skills are essential in establishing a foundation for safe delivery of care. A report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) titled: To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System estimated 44,000 to 98,000 deaths occur due to medical errors annually. Communication failure was found to be the root cause in 70% of these cases of medical error. Several studies also indicate communication issues still represent up to 80% of errors and sentinel events in hospitals accredited by the Joint Commission. The IOM's report indicate improving communication in the healthcare setting is essential in reducing medical errors.

In …

Evaluating The Impact Of A Smoking Ban In Las Vegas Casino Resorts, Emi K. Sakevich

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Worldwide, the smoking population decreases, leaving hospitality venues to decide how a change in policy affects their revenues. In spite of the ban, bars, pubs, and restaurants in countries with a smoking ban report a consistent level of revenue. Within the United States, there are varying degrees of a smoking ban, with minimal effect on revenue. In Nevada, the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act’s commencement coincided with the Great Recession, skewing hospitality revenue numbers as tourism dwindled. Behaviorally, nonsmokers are more likely to avoid areas with smoke, whereas smokers are not as affected by nonsmoking areas. Casinos in Las Vegas …

Forgotten Femmes, Forgotten War: The Kim Sisters’ Disappearance From American Screen And Scene, Danielle Seid

Occasional Papers

This paper explores the performance history of the Korean girl group The Kim Sisters, once highly visible racial icons, within the social and cultural context of 1960s Cold War America and popular entertainment culture. The Kim Sisters’ disappearance from American screen and scene raises questions about public memory of the Korean War, the status of Asian American performers in popular entertainment industries, and shifting attitudes about race, gender, and sexuality in the 1960s. Focusing in particular on the production and reception of their feminine beauty on stage and television, this paper highlights the Kims’ early years in the newly-formed Republic …

Considerations For A Hotel Investment, Stephen Blake Marriott

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This writing will provide novice hotel investors, new owners, and hotel associates new insight on hotel investments. This writing discusses industry topics such as: the definition of a hotel asset, an overview of occupancy and transaction levels, different kinds of risk related to hotel investments, location, franchising, the hotel investment cycle, incremental and base impact, and hotel construction related issues. At the conclusion, the reader will be familiar with a few uncommon concepts that affect a hotel investment.

Avoiding Discrimination And Filtering Of Qualified Candidates By Ats Software, Katarina Drucker

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this research paper will be to demonstrate the flaws in present-day hiring systems that may digitally eliminate or discriminate against qualified candidates.

Budd Revisited - Gambling In Great Britain 15 Years On, Daniel Waugh Mr

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

In 2000, Sir Alan Budd, the noted economist was asked by the British Government to chair a review of the nation’s gambling laws. The resulting ‘The Report of the Gambling Review Body’ (referred to here as ‘The Budd Report’ or ‘Budd’) was published a year later and provided a blueprint for how gaming and betting would subsequently be regulated under a major new piece of legislation - the Gambling Act 2005 (the ‘2005 Act’ or the ‘Gambling Act’).

The work of the Gambling Review Body (the ‘Review Body’) was undertaken at considerable expense and effort – more than 200 submissions …