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2016

Liberty University

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Full-Text Articles in Business

An Analysis Of The Application Of Project Management In Different Ministry Models, Ryan L. Flora Dec 2016

An Analysis Of The Application Of Project Management In Different Ministry Models, Ryan L. Flora

Senior Honors Theses

Project management provides guidelines for the implementation of systems to make processes more effective and efficient. One emerging field in which project management application benefits are being discovered is ministry and nonprofits, specifically Christian ministry. Although there are many different denominations in Christianity, they can all essentially be separated into two categories: Seeker Oriented Ministries, and Traditional Ministries. This thesis will attempt to provide a synopsis of the applications of project management in both ministry types, as well as a comparative analysis of the similarities and differences between the two styles.


Flat Tax Reform: Implications For The United States, Reid Schmideler Dec 2016

Flat Tax Reform: Implications For The United States, Reid Schmideler

Senior Honors Theses

Flat tax reform is a policy ideal that has garnered significant attention and criticism since Hall and Rabushka (1985) published their first treatise on the matter. Over the course of the following decades, an abundance of flat tax proposals have emerged that pay homage to their seminal work. Topics examined will include the politics of tax reform, modern principles of taxation, tax reform lessons from other countries, an overview of American tax policy, including critiques of the current system, introduction of the flat tax, and contemporary flat tax proposals.


Mid-Level Procurement Manager Leader Development: A Collective Case Study, Douglas Veatch Dec 2016

Mid-Level Procurement Manager Leader Development: A Collective Case Study, Douglas Veatch

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The development of high-performing employees with the potential to assume leadership roles remains a vital exercise for organizations. Public and private sector organizations of all sizes have implemented programs focused on developing the next generation of leaders. The researcher explored the issue of how a national service industry organization is experiencing varied levels of success of leader development in the case of geographically dispersed mid-level procurement managers in the trucking logistics group. Guided by elements of successful leader development programs, the purpose of this collective qualitative case study was to discover the common issues and factors that lead to success …


Qualitative Collective Case Study Of Targeted Violence Preparedness At Institutions Of Higher Education, Tim Gunter Dec 2016

Qualitative Collective Case Study Of Targeted Violence Preparedness At Institutions Of Higher Education, Tim Gunter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

An increase in targeted violence incidents (TVIs), primarily active shooter events, at institutions of higher education (IHEs) has exposed gaps in campus security plan preparation and exercises. The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to discover barriers to and best practices of universities and colleges conducting security preparedness activities for TVIs. The theory that guided this study was vested interest theory which predicts how attitudes will influence behavior in a commitment to preparedness fundamentals. The setting for this study was two institutions of higher education along the East Coast of the United States. Data collection techniques included site …


Warrior Health: A Study Of Female Veterans With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Who Engage In Outdoor Adventure Recreation, Julia Smith Nov 2016

Warrior Health: A Study Of Female Veterans With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Who Engage In Outdoor Adventure Recreation, Julia Smith

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to show the impact of outdoor adventure recreation on female veterans who have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study followed a phenomenological approach in order to gain an overall view of what the veterans experienced, using observation and interviews in order to gather information. Conclusions showed female veterans desire female-veteran-only activities; desire relationships with fellow female veterans; and enjoy outdoor adventure recreation that includes teamwork, planned activities, and relaxation. In order to ensure the best possible avenue for PTSD health in female veterans, future research may include a focus on the impact of …


Managing With Purpose: Integrating Assessment, Planning, And Budgeting, Gregory A. Smith Oct 2016

Managing With Purpose: Integrating Assessment, Planning, And Budgeting, Gregory A. Smith

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Assessment, planning, and budgeting are interrelated disciplines that play an important role in accomplishing a library's mission. This conference session introduces tools and concepts that will equip attendees to manage library services strategically in response to evolving customer needs and environmental conditions. Four tools—the logic model, six dimensions of assessment, the balanced scorecard, and the business model canvas—will enable managers to evaluate, plan, and communicate progress in the pursuit of mission and vision. Additionally, two concepts—opportunity cost and the principal-agent problem—will provide context for planning and budgeting decisions.


The Importance Of Starting A For-Profit Business As Mission To Advance God’S Kingdom, Hannah M. Mitchell Oct 2016

The Importance Of Starting A For-Profit Business As Mission To Advance God’S Kingdom, Hannah M. Mitchell

Senior Honors Theses

All Christians have a duty to advance the Kingdom of God according to Matthew 28:16-20, which tells Christians to, “go and make disciples of all nations” (New International Version). The gospel has not yet reached many areas of the world that Christians could influence if they started a Business as Mission (BAM). A BAM start-up would provide jobs to the surrounding communities and aid in improving the economy. Assisting others by providing jobs and meeting their physical, spiritual, social, and economic needs will empower individuals and allow communities to flourish. Even non-Christians find helping others important, which is seen through …


An Examination Of The Efficacy Of Christian-Based Socially Responsible Investment Funds, Richard Stultz Sep 2016

An Examination Of The Efficacy Of Christian-Based Socially Responsible Investment Funds, Richard Stultz

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This applied doctoral research project examined the efficacy of Christian-based socially responsible investment funds. The researcher performed quantitative analysis of the risk-adjusted yields of the funds as compared to the S&P 500 Index as well as other types of socially responsible investment funds to accomplish this task. The timeframe for the study was 1995 to 2015. An examination of the differences in the performance of funds within the Christian-based category was also completed. Overall, the Christian-based funds underperformed the S&P 500 Index. The difference was statistically significant at the α = .10 level for each time period (i.e., 1-, 3-, …


Sustainable Architecture Design: Environmental And Economic Benefits, Michael Babcock Jun 2016

Sustainable Architecture Design: Environmental And Economic Benefits, Michael Babcock

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis examines the movement of environmentalism, and its impact on architecture and construction. During an interview with a professional architect, a basis for research of sustainable design was devised, when he explained that “good” architecture attempts to holistically integrate the external and built environment. Presently, the main measurement for sustainability is energy efficiency. Therefore, architects constantly implement new technology in an attempt to unify both the external and built environment in an energy efficient manner. Furthermore, this thesis provides an environmental and financial cost analysis of implementing sustainable design and build. Research shows that the life cycle and up-front …


The Identification And Exploitation Of Terrorist Financing, Jacob S. Gordon May 2016

The Identification And Exploitation Of Terrorist Financing, Jacob S. Gordon

Senior Honors Theses

Terrorism and the threat of terrorist attacks have forced the United States to place a high priority on developing a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy. A crucial component of this overarching strategy focuses on targeting the finances of a terrorist organization, hoping to eliminate or stifle their sources of funding in an effort to render the organization incapable of launching successful operations due to an absence of funding. By analyzing the most common financing options that terrorist groups use, the United States can hone its ability to disrupt the funding operations for terrorist groups. Likewise, developing a method for tracking the laundering …


Muscular Christianity: A Comparison And Analysis Of The Historic And Modern Muscular Christian Movements, Chase H. Stevens Apr 2016

Muscular Christianity: A Comparison And Analysis Of The Historic And Modern Muscular Christian Movements, Chase H. Stevens

Senior Honors Theses

“Muscular Christianity” is a scholarly term that is used to define the general view of Christians in Europe and the United States that arose in the 1800s toward sport involvement. Muscular Christian beliefs have progressed throughout the past century and are still influential in the modern world. This thesis seeks to outline the historic progression of muscular Christian beliefs and practices and then explores similarities and differences of modern muscular Christian beliefs with its historic positions. It concludes with a future perspective on the globalization of muscular Christianity and provides suggestions for proper Christian attitudes toward sport.


Increasing Job Satisfaction And Organizational Commitment In The Millennial Workforce, Courtney A. Tschantz Apr 2016

Increasing Job Satisfaction And Organizational Commitment In The Millennial Workforce, Courtney A. Tschantz

Senior Honors Theses

Members of the Millennial Generation have higher rates of turnover compared to other generations. This can represent significant costs to organizations, and therefore is important to minimize. Job satisfaction has been shown to increase motivation and productivity as well as decrease turnover, and can be maximized by adjusting economic factors, fostering interpersonal relationships, and adjusting activities, tasks, and work conditions to the personality of the worker. All three types of organizational commitment (affective, normative, and continuance) also decrease turnover rates. Both job satisfaction and organizational commitment depend on a worker’s personality, needs, and expectations, which are influenced by the generation …


Accounting For The Government Funding Of Non-Profits And The Planned Parenthood Federation Of America, Rachel E. Brown Apr 2016

Accounting For The Government Funding Of Non-Profits And The Planned Parenthood Federation Of America, Rachel E. Brown

Senior Honors Theses

Accounting creates a framework for providing transparency in an organization. This foundation is especially important in not-for-profit entities because government grants and contributions often compose significant portions of overall revenues and receipts. An overview of non-profit standards and the government system of distributing funds provides insight into non-profits as a whole and enables the study of specific organizations. As the nation’s largest provider of abortion and family planning services, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America is an especially important organization to study and understand. It receives significant funds from federal and state governments and should receive equally significant evaluation by …


Disrupt, Deny, Dismantle: A Special Operations Forces (Sof) Model For Combatting New Terrorism, Will Gunzelman Apr 2016

Disrupt, Deny, Dismantle: A Special Operations Forces (Sof) Model For Combatting New Terrorism, Will Gunzelman

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Terrorism in the new millennium has morphed drastically since the 1970s. The terrorist organizations of today are a hybrid between the insurgent group models of the 1960s and modern terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda. This hybrid model has created what has become a transnational insurgency recruited, trained, and led by major terrorist networks such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Even smaller regional groups such as Boko Haram have surpassed merely conducting terrorist attacks. These smaller groups are also focused on controlling territory. Tan (2008) refers to this change as “New Terrorism”. To combat New …


Redefining The Rico Statute: Potential Avenues For Improvement, David Scouten Apr 2016

Redefining The Rico Statute: Potential Avenues For Improvement, David Scouten

Senior Honors Theses

The civil application of the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) has been misapplied by the lower courts, but the statute can be improved by incorporating elements that will make the statute a better tool for justice. It is evident from examining the procedural limitations of the statute and important case law that the securities fraud gap, terrorism financing, and difficulties for indirect victims are three critical subjects that need to be addressed by enhancing RICO. Flaws and shortcomings of the RICO statute have led to inconsistencies in court rulings. The expansive language of RICO can be limited to …


Business As Ministry Impacts Poverty, Ashley E. Tilghman Apr 2016

Business As Ministry Impacts Poverty, Ashley E. Tilghman

Senior Honors Theses

Businesses that are operated by Christian workers can make a difference in ministering to poverty-stricken communities around the world. Poverty is a major social problem that has existed for all of history and will continue to affect the lives of millions in the future. A number of business initiatives such as social business, macro-government initiatives, and transformational development have experienced success in helping reduce the problem. It is imperative to approach the issue of poverty recognizing the spiritual component along with the physical. The ministry of Jesus Christ serves as an example for meeting the needs of the impoverished, and …


A Critical Perspective On Short-Term Missions, Sarah M. Bunyea Apr 2016

A Critical Perspective On Short-Term Missions, Sarah M. Bunyea

Senior Honors Theses

There is a growing number of participants going of short-term mission trips from the North American church. There are many criticisms of short-term mission trips, including that they are planned around tourism and completing projects, rather than learning from the people in the communities being visited and sharing in their own Christian ministry. One reason for this is that false promotional messages from churches and mission organizations give participants wrong perceptions of the purpose of these trips, creating market demand for tourists who want to help the poor. Mission organizations and churches not only need to change the structure of …


Sustainable Architecture Design: Environmental And Economic Benefits, Michael Babcock Apr 2016

Sustainable Architecture Design: Environmental And Economic Benefits, Michael Babcock

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis examines the movement of environmentalism, and its impact on architecture and construction. During an interview with a professional architect, a basis for research of sustainable design was devised, when he explained that “good” architecture attempts to holistically integrate the external and built environment. Presently, the main measurement for sustainability is energy efficiency. Therefore, architects constantly implement new technology in an attempt to unify both the external and built environment in an energy efficient manner. Furthermore, this thesis provides an environmental and financial cost analysis of implementing sustainable design and build. Research shows that the life cycle and up-front …


Revisiting Japan’S Gross National Cool: Exporting Japanese Animation In The International Marketplace, Joseph P. Wentz Apr 2016

Revisiting Japan’S Gross National Cool: Exporting Japanese Animation In The International Marketplace, Joseph P. Wentz

Senior Honors Theses

In 2002, writer Douglas McCray coined the term “Japan’s Gross National Cool,” which was used to describe Japan’s distinct cultural exports. More specifically, though a recent phenomenon, the current academic consensus indicates that Japanese animation, or anime, is a unique Japanese cultural export based on McCray’s concept. However, from McCray’s article in 2002 to 2015, the anime industry globally has changed in several key ways: popular consumption has grown, Internet and streaming use has increased, and Internet piracy has increased. This leads to necessitating a change in business concepts for marketing the medium worldwide by analyzing specific marketing mechanisms, but …


America's Tax System And How To Fix It, Brendan O. Smith Apr 2016

America's Tax System And How To Fix It, Brendan O. Smith

Senior Honors Theses

Abraham Lincoln signed into law the first national income tax on August 5, 1861. Since 1913, the content of the Internal Revenue Code has increased from the 27-page tax law of that year to over 5000 pages today. As time has passed and the length of this document has increased, so has the expense and complexity of abiding by its statutes. The inefficiencies of the current system indicate that something must be done about the United States tax system, but no one has agreed on what to do. Many proposals to correct the problem have been brought forward over the …


Micro-Loans: A Socially Responsible Corporate Investment, Olivia D. Marshall Jan 2016

Micro-Loans: A Socially Responsible Corporate Investment, Olivia D. Marshall

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to examine the socially responsible actions of corporations across America in the funding of micro-financing endeavors both of foreign and domestic intent as a means to alleviate poverty. Micro-loans are examined in light of the history of corporate social responsibility and the magnitude of impoverishment across the globe. The overarching purpose of this paper stands to prove that funding micro-loans is a sufficient means of acting socially responsible for corporations nationwide as a sustainable solution to poverty.