Business Commons^™

Benjamin Family Social Media Fellows, Katie Barton, Jenna Cobb, Kayli Fagan, Myles Forgue, Ryan Hanewich, Jenny Lynch, Santiago Najarro Cano, Tess Sanchioni, Lily Zgurzynski

School of Business Student Scholarship

Katie Barton ’24, Major: Marketing, Minor: Communications

Jenna Cobb ’24, Majors: Management and Marketing

Kayli Fagan ’23, Majors: Business Management and Studio Art

Myles Forgue ’24, Majors: Marketing and Theology

Ryan Hanewich ’23, Major: Marketing, Minor: Film/Video

Jenny Lynch ’23, Major: Marketing, Minor: Finance

Santiago (Santi) Najarro Cano ’24, Major: Marketing, Minor: Theatre

Tess Sanchioni ’23, Major: Marketing, Minor: Finance

Lily Zgurzynski ’25, Major: Computer Science, Minor: Marketing

Mentor: Liz Kay, Marketing and Communications

A generous endowment gift from Class of 1991 alumni Meg and Adam Benjamin led to the creation of the annual Benjamin Family Social Media Fellowship in …

Comparing Hospital Costs & Lengths Of Stay For Cancer Patients In New York State Comprehensive Cancer Centers Vs. Non-Designated Academic Centers & Community Hospitals, Ryan Fodero

Economics Student Scholarship

This paper explores differences in costs and lengths of stay for cancer patients admitted to National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, non-designated academic medical centers, and community hospitals in New York State using patient-level data from the New York State Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System Hospital Inpatient Discharges dataset from 2017-2019. We employ ordinary least squares and Poisson regressions to compare hospital costs and length of stay for cancer patients, controlling for hospital type, patient demographics, and patient health. Inpatient costs were 27% higher, but length of stay was 12% shorter, in comprehensive cancer centers relative to community hospitals. …

Reducing Cost-Of-Care In Next-Generation Genetic Sequencing, Sarah Auletta

School of Business Student Scholarship

The cost of care in healthcare settings is rapidly rising, and it is increasingly difficult to decrease these costs without compromising quality and accessibility. This paper aims to investigate methods and potential opportunities for innovation of next-generation genetic sequencing in healthcare decisions and trajectories of care. Using various sources such as medical encyclopedias and peer-reviewed journal articles, this paper explores the ways in which genetic testing became popular in medicine and how genetic testing is currently being used. This knowledge is used to conclude the most likely trajectory of genetics within the field of medicine and its most cost-effective interventions. …

The Effect Of Social Media On Providence College Students, Kathryn Ernst, Margaret Grasberger, Allie Mcguire, Mairead Ryan

School of Business Student Scholarship

Kathryn Ernst ’24, Major: Marketing

Margaret Grasberger ’24, Major: Marketing

Allie McGuire ’24, Major: Marketing

Mairead Ryan ’24, Major: Marketing

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kevin Newman, Marketing

Recent research indicates that social media usage is addictive both physically and psychologically. Due to the prevalence of social media, our group specifically wanted to study how its usage impacted Providence College students’ mental health, physical health, and communication skills (both in-person and online communication skills). We found that social media usage negatively affects students’ mental and physical health, with females being more impacted than males. However, we did not find evidence to support …

Healthy Eating At Providence College, Katelyn Breen, Alexis Carabetta, Lilah Milton, Katharine Shaughnessy

School of Business Student Scholarship

Katelyn Breen ’24, Major: Marketing

Alexis Carabetta ’24, Major: Marketing

Lilah Milton ’24, Major: Marketing

Katharine Shaughnessy ’24, Major: Marketing

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kevin Newman, Marketing

Our marketing group surveyed 100 Providence College students about their healthy eating choices and level of satisfaction of Ray Dining Hall’s healthy eating options. From the data collected, we discovered most students are unsatisfied with Ray Dining Hall and they suggested the need for a greater variety of healthy eating options. Based on this information, our group put together three recommendations that Providence College Dining should implement: 1) provide students with healthy eating instructions; …

The Effect Of Crude Oil Prices On Personal Consumption Expenditure, Eileen Cooney

Economics Student Scholarship

Eileen Cooney ’23
Majors: Quantitative Economics and Political Science
Minor: Finance
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Fang Dong, Economics

The author used the time series models to analyze how growth of personal consumption expenditure is influenced by financial and economic determinants. Results show that both oil price and consumer sentiment play important roles in influencing consumption growth.

Your Emerging Career Assignment Focused On Procter & Gamble, Madeline Hoffman

School of Business Student Scholarship

Major: Marketing
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mark DeFanti, Marketing

Ama Pods Case Competition, Caroline Hoffer, Ethan Foley, Erika Markiv, Lukas Grover, Tyler Duff, Kaitlyn Novarro, Jacob Lemanowicz

School of Business Student Scholarship

Caroline Hoffer ’22
Major: Marketing

Ethan Foley ’22
Major: Marketing

Erika Markiv ’22
Major: Marketing and Economics

Lukas Grover ’22
Major: Marketing

Tyler Duff ’22
Major: Marketing

Kaitlyn Novarro ’22
Major: Marketing

Jacob Lemanowicz ’22
Major: Marketing

Faculty Mentor: Professor Rae Caloura, Marketing

The goal of this project was to create an integrated marketing communications plan for the company PODS. PODS wanted to target those looking to relocate for jobs as well as college students. Our team created the “Moving Off the Streets” campaign. During this campaign, a certain percentage of the sales of PODS storage containers would be donated …

Proposed Acquisition Of Paytronix By Hubspot, Madeleine Scotti

School of Business Student Scholarship

Madeleine Scotti ’21
Major: Marketing
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mark DeFanti, Marketing

For this case study, I was tasked with determining which parent company would be best to acquire Paytronix, a customer loyalty SaaS company, along with one that the parent company should delete in its place. Throughout my research, I concluded that HubSpot, the SaaS company that produces marketing, customer service, and sales software, would be the best fit to acquire Paytronix. In order to make this decision, I utilized the strong brand association, HubSpot’s trend of acquiring firms, and Paytronix’s specialization to justify this acquisition. Likewise, I utilized these …

The Decline In Brick-And-Mortar Shopping, Patrick Stephens, Crosby Colyer, Caroline Mohan, Lucas Pinter, Kyle Meyer

School of Business Student Scholarship

Patrick Stephens ’23, Marketing major
Crosby Colyer ’23
Caroline Mohan ’23, Marketing major
Lucas Pinter ’23
Kyle Meyer ’23, Marketing major, Spanish minor
Faculty mentors: Dr. Kevin Newman and Dr. Mark DeFanti

There has been a decline in the number of consumers that were partaking in in-person retail shopping especially during the holiday season. We wanted to understand the causes that existed behind this change in brick-and-mortar retail. The two problems that we discovered were Covid 19 and the inability for stores to enforce their guidelines, along with this is the movement towards convenience within the commerce world. With a …

Your Emerging Career: The Dallas Cowboys, Gregory W. Assad

School of Business Student Scholarship

Major: Marketing
Faculty Mentor: Professor Rae Caloura, Marketing

Your Emerging Career: Nike, Meghan Reynolds

School of Business Student Scholarship

Meghan Reynolds ’24
Major: Finance
Faculty Mentor: Professor Rae Caloura

Your Emerging Career Assignment Focused On Samuels And Associates, Katelyn Breen

School of Business Student Scholarship

Katelyn Breen ’24
Major: Marketing
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mark DeFanti, Marketing The Your Emerging Career Report of Samuels and Associates’ Commercial Real Estate Company highlights the marketing strategies and global trends that S and A use. This report also takes into account my own strengths and weaknesses as well as what I learned from the journey of completing this assignment. Highlighted Global trends that provide both opportunities and threats for Samuels and Associates include divorce rates, polarization and the 2020-year interest rates. As the person who completed this assignment, the highlights include aptitude tests, job interviews and a pathway for …

Peckapp, Patrick Callahan

School of Business Student Scholarship

Major: Marketing, Finance Minor

I built a mobile contact building application with the help of two partners. PeckApp allows companies and individuals share their contact information in just seconds using a custom QR code generated based on the information they wish to share. At the Providence College Career Expo in February PeckApp was used by all 125 companies to share their information with all of the students. PeckApp seeks to continue to innovate to make contact sharing as easy at possible so that people can focus on connecting with one another rather than exchanging information.

Deloitte Audit Innovation Campus Challenge: Enhancing Assurance Of Reviews Service, Claudia Capozzo, Jack Elliott, Deavionne Ferguson, Elizabeth Glidden, Brendan Riccardi, Niall Mcstay

School of Business Student Scholarship

Niall McStay ’22
Major: Finance and Accounting

Claudia Capozzo ’21
Major: Accounting

Elizabeth Glidden ’21
Major: Accounting

Brendan Riccardi ’22
Major: Finance and Accounting

DeAvionne Ferguson ’22
Major: Finance and Accounting

Jack Elliott ’22
Major: Finance and Accounting

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Christine Earley, Accountancy and Dr. Matthew Keane, Accountancy

This assurance service addresses the issue of fake online reviews. For instance, online reviews have become less credible due to comments by the company or its competitors. Our solution was to design a software through which Deloitte can provide a service to non-audit retail clients. This software will verify whether or …

Brexit Report - Impact On Business Models Of Scottish Companies, Francine Newth Phd, David Hansen, Bill Kalinowski, Peter Kokias, Rebecca Maceachin, Roy Marshall, Kelsey Napolione, Brendan Smith-Wilks, Connor Williams

School of Business Faculty Publications

The Brexit Business Model Report is a preliminary assessment of research, interviews and survey results regarding the impact of Brexit on the business models of Scottish companies as they prepare for post-Brexit scenarios. The survey was used to compile data to support research questions gathered during the research and interview process for this graduate class project. Questions were designed to assess how Brexit is impacting the ability of Scottish companies in the areas of business model, contingency planning, supply chain, staffing, innovation, global reach, risk assessment, and opportunities. The questions reflected areas of the business model that may have present …

Being While Doing: An Inductive Model Of Mindfulness At Work, Christopher Lyddy, Darren J. Good

School of Business Faculty Publications

Mindfulness at work has drawn growing interest as empirical evidence increasingly supports its positive workplace impacts. Yet theory also suggests that mindfulness is a cognitive mode of “Being” that may be incompatible with the cognitive mode of “Doing” that undergirds workplace functioning. Therefore, mindfulness at work has been theorized as “being while doing,” but little is known regarding how people experience these two modes in combination, nor the influences or outcomes of this interaction. Drawing on a sample of 39 semi-structured interviews, this study explores how professionals experience being mindful at work. The relationship between Being and Doing modes demonstrated …

Contemplating Mindfulness At Work: An Integrative Review, Christopher Lyddy, Darren J. Good, Theresa M. Glomb, Joyce E. Bono, Kirk W. Brown, Michelle K. Duffy, Ruth A. Baer, Judson A. Brewer, Sara W. Lazar

School of Business Faculty Publications

Mindfulness research activity is surging within organizational science. Emerging evidence across multiple fields suggests that mindfulness is fundamentally connected to many aspects of workplace functioning, but this knowledge base has not been systematically integrated to date. This review coalesces the burgeoning body of mindfulness scholarship into a framework to guide mainstream management research investigating a broad range of constructs. The framework identifies how mindfulness influences attention, with downstream effects on functional domains of cognition, emotion, behavior, and physiology. Ultimately, these domains impact key workplace outcomes, including performance, relationships, and well-being. Consideration of the evidence on mindfulness at work stimulates important …

Price Gouging: A Gray Area, Mathis Mateus

Common Reading Essay Contest Winners

Second Place

Essay Prompt: In Justice, Sandel discusses a number of contemporary political issues (e.g. price gouging during the 2004 Hurricane, the 2008-9 financial meltdown, the volunteer army, pregnancy surrogates, executive pay, slavery reparations, immigration, and gay marriage). Take a position on one of the issues discussed in the book and make the best case that you can for why this position is the most just. You may include evidence from the book, your prior studies, your own experience, and/or outside research. (Outside research is not required.)

Shoes, Sabrina Morelli

Common Reading Essay Contest Winners

First Place

Essay Prompt: In Justice, Sandel discusses a number of contemporary political issues (e.g. price gouging during the 2004 Hurricane, the 2008-9 financial meltdown, the volunteer army, pregnancy surrogates, executive pay, slavery reparations, immigration, and gay marriage). Take a position on one of the issues discussed in the book and make the best case that you can for why this position is the most just. You may include evidence from the book, your prior studies, your own experience, and/or outside research. (Outside research is not required.)

Common Grounds Café, Michaela Bolotin, Kristina Campano, Samantha Wagner, Amjad Talib

Public & Community Service Student Scholarship

Students participating in an Alternative Spring Break trip to Nicaragua in 2012 focused their exploration on coffee growing and production; they visited a Fair Trade grower, and became interested in developing a longer-term project. Simultaneously, the College’s School of Business began sponsoring an Entrepreneurship Society, while the Feinstein Institute for Public Service and the Smith Hill Community Development Corporation began convening an economic development incubator group as a project of the newly opened Providence College/Smith Hill Annex. These multiple interests coalesced as students, faculty and community came together to open Common Grounds Café.

The Expiration Of Tax Deductions For Teacher Expenses, Erin O'Grady

School of Business Student Scholarship

As a part of ACC 406, Taxes and Business Decisions, I was able to conduct research regarding the expiration of a tax deduction for teachers’ expenses, and send my findings to the Committee on Ways and Means as well as an argument against its expiration.

Diffusion Of Mobile Payment Systems Among Microentrepreneurs In Kenya And Tanzania, Dionne Nickerson

Annual Celebration of Student Scholarship and Creativity

The rapid rise of Kenya's mobile payment system, M-PESA , has grasped the attention of policy makers and private enterprise alike. In just six years M-PESA has transformed how money flows throughout Kenya, and similar systems are gaining traction elsewhere in Africa. This project examines the impact of mobile payment system adoption on the economic advancement of Kenyan and Tanzanian microentrepreneurs. This work will further the understanding of mobile payment systems’ contribution to the economic growth of microenterprises, which may have implications for poverty reduction in these two nations.

Diffusion Of Mobile Payment Systems Among Microentrepreneurs In Kenya And Tanzania, Dionne A. Nickerson

School of Business Student Scholarship

The rapid rise of Kenya's mobile payment system, M-PESA , has grasped the attention of policy makers and private enterprise alike. In just six years M-PESA has transformed how money flows throughout Kenya, and similar systems are gaining traction elsewhere in Africa. This project examines the impact of mobile payment system adoption on the economic advancement of Kenyan and Tanzanian microentrepreneurs. This work will further the understanding of mobile payment systems’ contribution to the economic growth of microenterprises, which may have implications for poverty reduction in these two nations.

It’S My Body: The Biomedical Ethics Of Cell And Organ Harvest, Christina Perri

Common Reading Essay Contest Winners

First Place

Nike Considered: Getting Traction On Sustainability, Christopher Lyddy, Rebecca Henderson, Richard M. Locke, Cate Reavis

School of Business Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of The Form Of Tax Incentives On Individuals' Savings Decisions, Julia M. Camp, David S. Hulse, Cynthia Vines

School of Business Faculty Publications

Congress and the media have both expressed concerns about Americans’ low savings rates. We address these concerns by investigating the extent to which the form of an investment’s tax preference affects individuals’ willingness to choose a tax-preferred vehicle over a less restrictive, but non-tax-preferred, investment. Specifically, we tested the extent to which subjects chose a traditional savings plan versus an investment resembling either a traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or government matching program. We find that subjects are not as sensitive to the form of the tax preference as they are to restrictions on their ability to withdraw funds. This suggests …

Evidence Of The Lack Of Effectiveness Of Low-Income Savings Incentives, Julia Camp, Teresa Stephenson, Stacy R. Wade

School of Business Faculty Publications

In view of the government’s propensity to develop programs to encourage savings, we examine a group of individuals to whom these programs are targeted: low- to moderate-income taxpayers. We show that saving for retirement is not a priority in the lives of these taxpayers. The low priority given to saving is often due to immediate necessary costs such as housing, food, and transportation. However, our study shows that even nonessential items and activities such as cable and internet services or travel are often considered more important than saving. We also show that most of the participants were not even aware …

The Cultural Evolution Of Commercial Fishing Communities, Anthony Baker

School of Business Faculty Publications

This paper uses a Case Study method to examine the phenomena of cultural change within Commercial Fishing Communities (CFCs). Points of discussion include some of the basic principles of entrepreneurship such as risk, succession, and benefit to communities. Included is a focal discussion that reflects on past business models in comparison to newer possible models that detail the potential for extending the participation of family fishing business through innovation and diversity. A primary objective of this paper is to determine if alternate methods to govern a natural recourse are viable. This includes research of the effect of past, present, and …

Quantitative Statistical Analysis For Problem Solving And Decision Making Project, Anthony Baker

School of Business Faculty Publications

A quantitative statistical analysis written as a Masters Thesis in Problem Solving for the Johnson and Wales University MBA Program.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) contends that increased regulation is required to save dwindling American Lobster stocks (Homarus Americanus) in the North Atlantic Region. Members of various trade organizations contend that the stocks are at the very least stable and probably growing. That cyclical rises and falls in the total biomass is a natural function and is altered more by pollution and habitat degradation than commercial fishing. This paper gives an alternate theory through the use of research and …