Business Commons^™

Audio-Technica Strategic Audit, Caleb Druckemiller

Honors Theses

Audio-Technica is a multinational audio equipment design and manufacturing company specializing in the production of headphones, microphones, and turntables. The company has been a gold standard for professional use since its inception and has recently ventured into consumer markets. Using both internal and external analysis tools, this audit aims to evaluate how Audio-Technica has established itself in the highly competitive audio equipment industry. Specific techniques include Porter’s Five Forces and PESTEL analyses. After conducting this examination of Audio-Techinca and its industry environment, strategic recommendations will be made to best position the company moving forward.

Combatting Consolidation In The United States Banking Industry: An Analysis Of Performance And Strategy Of First National Bank Of Clarksdale, Lydia Johnsey

Honors Theses

This thesis is based on a submission with group members in the 2023 Case Study Competition for the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. This thesis includes additional background information not included in the original competition paper in order to clarify the competition standards and goal of the paper. This thesis evaluates First National Bank of Clarksdale with respect to two areas: financial analysis, which evaluates earnings performance, loan portfolio composition, asset growth, capital levels, and liquidity of the bank; and strategy, which includes staffing, succession, training, and technology strategies instituted by bank management. Data from the bank’s Uniform Bank Performance …

How To Grow My Business On Social Media, Thomas Vehige

Honors Theses

This thesis discussed goals, strategies and tactics to expand an existing freelance sports videography business into a more robust business through the use of targeted social media campaigns. Author discusses demographic choices, social media platform selection and goals for thoughtful evaluation of opportunities and core competencies.

A Strategic Audit Of Tesla Inc., Jayden Boesch

Honors Theses

This research paper examines Tesla's competitive advantages and challenges, as well as its strategy and objectives in the electric vehicle industry. The paper begins by providing an overview of the electric vehicle market and Tesla's position within it. It then discusses Tesla's business model, strategy, and objectives, as well as its competitive advantages over other firms in the industry. The paper also highlights key resources that Tesla needs to maintain its sustainable competitive advantage in the future, such as research and development, charging infrastructure, and top engineering talent. Finally, the paper identifies challenges that Tesla may face in the future, …

Nintendo Strategic Audit, Stephanie Herridge

Honors Theses

Nintendo is a Japanese-based multinational company that is one of the primary competitors in the video game industry. It has smaller headquarters located in North America and Europe and continues to pursue new markets and customers. Having remained successful for over a century, Nintendo pursues unique forms of strategy to maintain relevance for current generations of consumers. This strategic audit seeks to dissect Nintendo’s long-term profitability by analyzing the company’s history, competitive resources and advantages, and the current challenges and trends in the video game industry as a whole. The tools used to explore the industry include Porter’s Five Forces …

Union Pacific Strategic Audit, Maureen O'Hara

Honors Theses

Union Pacific is the largest domestic railroad in the United States, responsible for nearly all of the rail-based shipping in the 23 states making up the Western two-thirds of the country. The company provides a crucial link in the global supply chain. By utilizing internal and external analysis tools, this report seeks to understand how Union Pacific’s business model and strategies have led them to create and sustain competitive advantages against other big competitors in the transportation industry. The analysis utilizes tools such as PESTLE, Porter’s Five Forces, and SWOT analyses. Following the application of the analysis, strategic recommendations are …

Workiva Strategic Audit, Rose Pilakowski

Honors Theses

Workiva is a software development company that simplifies complex reports for companies in over 180 countries around the world. Within a controlled, secure, audit-ready platform, Workiva customers connect critical business data directly with their source systems. This paper will analyze Workiva to help understand how it utilizes its platform to gain and sustain competitive advantages in the software and accounting environments. After completing an analysis of Workiva and its industry, I found that Workiva currently sits at an advantageous position in relation to its competitors, but still has room to grow in holding the lead above them.

How Presidential Disapproval Affects Bitcoin Returns: A Product Of The President, Joseph Libretti

Honors Theses

There has been a growing fascination for decentralized electronic assets, and Bitcoin has emerged as the face and leader of the movement. There have been three different presidents coinciding with the growth of Bitcoin. Since the creation of Bitcoin, each president has faced periods of net disapproval, and these periods have been the norm throughout Obama’s, Trump’s, and Biden’s presidencies. There is currently no existing literature on Presidential ratings as a predictor of Bitcoin, however, there has been research on the predictors of Bitcoin and Presidential ratings as a predictor of financial markets. I hypothesized that increases in net disapproval …

Pancake Programming: An Interactive Stack-Based Coding Experience In Virtual Reality, William Adams

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Can Beps Project Mitigate Double Non-Taxation Of Multinational Corporations?, Sajana Tamang

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the BEPS project can mitigate double nontaxation of multinational corporations. This study performs case studies on two multinational corporations: Apple and Starbucks to figure out how they behave in order to avoid taxes and see if there are behavioral differences in response to claims by the European authorities that they did not pay their fair share. It explains and compares their tax-paying strategies to figure out how they may behave with respect to new rules implemented by the BEPS project in the future. Through case studies from Apple and Starbucks, the …

Mindstate: A Capstone Project, Kyle Petronio

Honors Theses

Objectives For four years, I have been trying to release music under the moniker of Rookie Plenty. Aside from a few songs on Bandcamp, my releases have been few and far between. In addition to releasing music on streaming platforms, MindState: A Capstone Project is an experiment in exploring genre fluidity. Many mainstream musical projects released in the twenty-first century are often genre constrained and demonstrate minimal sonic deviation between songs. This extended-play album is an attempt to exemplify a mastery of genre conventions while branching outward into new musical territory.

Methods To demonstrate an understanding of genres, I focused …

An Analysis Of The Skill Sets Needed To Be Successful In Nonprofit Public Relations, Hannah Williamson

Honors Theses

The public relations industry is ever-changing, as it evolves to adapt to societal changes. Technological advancements and social media have largely contributed to changes in the way public relations professionals attempt to reach their target publics. In fact, research shows many public relations professionals do not think the term “public relations” will accurately define the work they will be doing in the near future. As the industry changes, the job duties of public relations professionals adapt as well.

This study researched the public relations industry to understand what skill sets professionals should possess in order to be successful. The study’s …

Strategic Audit Of Microsoft Office, Dylan Dmitri Gray

Honors Theses

Microsoft Office is some of the most iconic software ever made. It empowers people and organizations across the planet to achieve more.

The scope of this audit is limited to Office for business. The consumer market, which is less profitable and dominated by free products, is not considered.

This audit attempts to explain the strategies currently being pursued by the Office leadership team, and the relation of these strategies to the broader industry. Ultimately, this paper attempts to identify threats to Office and offer suggestions on how best to mitigate those threats.

A Strategic Audit Of Garmin Ltd, Jared Frenzel

Honors Theses

Garmin is a consumer electronics company that has been designing, manufacturing, and selling GPS products since 1989. Recently, however, Garmin has experienced growth well below the market average. This report examines Garmin past and present business situation using analysis techniques such as SWOT, PEST, and Porter’s Five Forces. The information obtained from these analyses will then be used to propose a business strategy that would bring Garmin’s growth back into line with the market average.

Microsoft: A Strategic Audit, Jacob Paul Warner

Honors Theses

This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the University Honors Program Requirements. It discusses Microsoft Corporation and its placement within the tech industry using different analyses such as PEST, Porter’s, and SWOT. In addition to its placement, the thesis explores what strategies Microsoft could pursue next. The industry is highly competitive, so Microsoft needs to stay on its toes and continue to build upon its strengths to remain at its current competitive level. The cloud industry is rapidly growing, so it would be best if Microsoft used its global presence and existing infrastructure to build upon its existing cloud …

Treatment Of Plastic Wastes Using Plasma Gasification Technology, Zachary Homolka

Honors Theses

Plasma gasification (PG) complements traditional recycling when applied to contaminated or mixed plastics. Without PG these plastics cost recyclers more to process than they are worth on the market, and sometimes they are landfilled or incinerated instead of being recycled. Plasma gasification can take plastic not suitable for traditional recycling and break it down into high-quality syngas for use in electricity generation, chemical manufacturing, or hydrogen production. The technology can be implemented without changing the behavior of consumers, which is a major advantage over attempting to decrease contamination or reduce use of low-value plastic. Due to high capital requirements and …

Applications Of Varying Leadership Structures For Software Engineering Teams, Elliot Sandfort

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the similarities and differences between applications of managing software engineering teams in Design Studio and the state of the practice. Information about the leadership structure of Design Studio teams was gathered over 3 semesters of Design Studio experiences with two companies: Hudl and TD Ameritrade. Information about leadership concepts in the state of the practice was gathered from experiences and observations with three different companies: Hudl, Garmin, and TD Ameritrade. From these experiences and observations, it can be concluded that the leadership structure of Design Studio is valuable as a student learning experience, and with proper consideration …

Nvidia Corporation: A Strategic Audit, Daric Teske

Honors Theses

NVIDIA is company that has been involved with the production of computer hardware known as a graphics processor units (GPUs) since the turn of the century. Over the past decade, NVIDIA has begun to explore other applications of its proprietary technology, including the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and accelerated computing. Looking from a business perspective, this strategic audit analyzes the history of the company and its current state, as well as industry outlooks to provide a strategic recommendation. Annual reports, market reports, and press releases were all utilized to provide the best perspective of the industry possible. Though NVIDIA …

An Internet Of Things (Iot) Robotic Light Switch, Arsal Habib

Honors Theses

The purpose of this project was to design and build an Internet of Things (IoT) Robotic Light Switch. This light switch would act as a complementary device to existing toggle switches and equip them with typical smart device features such as remote control (via Wi-Fi), digital voice assistant control, motion-sensing and integration with other smart home solutions (such as IFTTT). All these features would be supported by a dedicated web page that would also be able to view the usage statistics of the device. This device is aimed at offering users an extremely easy-to-install home automation solution that needs no …

Detection And Depletion Of Digital Cameras: An Exploration Into Protecting Personal Privacy In The Modern World, Jessica Sanford

Honors Theses

As all forms of technology become more integrated into our daily lives, personal privacy has become a major concern. Everyday devices, such as mobile phones, have surveillance capabilities simply by having a digital camera as part of the device. And while privacy and secrecy seem to go hand in hand, it is not always the case that one does not care about privacy because they have nothing to hide. For example, everything from unflattering photographs to being unknowingly and perhaps criminally surveilled, are ample reasons to desire some means of combatting the not so candid presence of digital cameras in …

Examination Of Personality And Game Preference, John Pollock

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

High Frequency Trading: Perceptions Regarding Volatility And Regulation, Daniel A. Beck

Honors Theses

Although high frequency trading (HFT) makes up a large portion of day to day trading activity in US and global markets, Khashanah and colleagues (2014) found that nearly half of academic and business industry professionals feel that HFT provides an unfair advantage relative to other market participants, and that a majority of industry professionals share concerns that HFT increases volatility in markets. This creates an environment wherein there are increasing calls by various groups for increased regulation of HFT, and the same study by Khashanah et al (2014) finds that 59% of academics and 46% of industry professionals are of …

Global Reach, Local Markets: The Challenges Of Leading Global Innovation, Sarah Higgins

Honors Theses

This Global Studies honors thesis addresses how managers and leaders of global firms manage innovation across multiple markets. Current research on multinational corporations provides an understanding of different kinds of innovation and the ways to attend to multiple markets. However, there is less documentation of how these innovation strategies are actually implemented on the ground and the tensions that these efforts might produce. Therefore, my research focuses in particular on the challenges and tensions faced by leaders of global firms as they implement transnational innovation strategies. This study is based upon in-depth interviews with 20 participants who held positions in …

Incentive To Innovate: Dynamic Optimization Strategy In The Case Of A Symmetric Duopoly, Jigme Norbu

Honors Theses

Technological dominance and spillovers play important roles in a firm’s decision to investment in innovated products. It is intuitive to think that a firm which is technologically ahead will dominate the market for innovated products. However, the question of the spillover advantage a firm gets when they are technologically behind makes the decision to invest in new technology more complex. Therefore, in this paper, I consider the investment in new product and cost of doing research, along with capital and level of technology, to be primary factors affecting a firm’s profit. I ask, when is it a good time to …

Mobile Device Security: Current Challenges And Existing Solutions, Hugo J. Martinez

Honors Theses

The mobile device industry has increased exponentially over the past couple decades. This has created a great demand for the devices along with great dependence on their capabilities. There is an assortment of mobile devices among which can be found laptops, tablets, smartphones, and personal music players. All these provide a way of making personal productivity and business capabilities greater. While businesses and the public benefit from the capabilities of these devices, not everyone notices how valuable the information that they handle is. Today’s mobile devices handle information such as contacts, banking details, GPS location, and personal and corporate e-mail …

Consumer Opinions And Rfid Implementation, Anna K. Brown

Honors Theses

Radio frequency identification (RFID) has been in use for a number of decades tracking various products and materials in a wide range of industries. The objective of this study was to find simple factors and relationships explaining the usage of Internet shopping and online banking, and the attitudes toward RFID in hospitals. The question being addressed is whether the general population is accepting of the technology application in the tracking of patients and their medical histories in a hospital environment. A randomly selected survey of the population in the Midwest was taken to examine relationships between privacy attitudes and behaviors …

Compensation And Benefits In The E-World: Paying For It Talent, Alice Mondello

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.