Business Commons^™

Integration Of Blockchain Technology Into Automobiles To Prevent And Study The Causes Of Accidents, John Kim

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Automobile collisions occur daily. We now live in an information-driven world, one where technology is quickly evolving. Blockchain technology can change the automotive industry, the safety of the motoring public and its surrounding environment by incorporating this vast array of information. It can place safety and efficiency at the forefront to pedestrians, public establishments, and provide public agencies with pertinent information securely and efficiently. Other industries where Blockchain technology has been effective in are as follows: supply chain management, logistics, and banking. This paper reviews some statistical information regarding automobile collisions, Blockchain technology, Smart Contracts, Smart Cities; assesses the feasibility …

How Couples Youtube Channels Forge "Friendships" With Their Viewers: A Thematic Textual Analysis, Marisol Botello

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

A “couples YouTube channel” is a YouTube channel where a real-life romantic couple posts videos about their relationship. On YouTube there are hundreds of such channels, and some are so popular that those couples actually make a living creating and sharing their stories. How do they do this? More specifically: what marketing techniques, specifically storytelling practices, do these YouTube couples use to resonate with audiences?

This exploratory, qualitative study seeks to answer this question through a thematic textual analysis of three couples YouTube channels. Using narrative theory and parasocial interaction as theoretical frameworks, the study interpretively analyzes a total of …

Exploring Latinx Alumni Donor Motivations At Hispanic Serving Institutions, Monica Alejandre

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Higher education is a funding priority every state should invest in. However, the great recession of 2008 left a catastrophic impact on how public universities in the United States are funded thus mobilizing higher education institutions to seek external support. This focus has led to public universities developing advancement programs to cultivate and solicit alumni support. With the average alumni giving rate at 10% across the nation and 2.8% more specifically for HSIs, and more Latinx students graduating with their bachelor’s degrees, it is important for universities to understand philanthropic motivations among their Latinx alumni population.

This study explored Latinx …

Communication Competence Training Within Minority-Owned Small Businesses, Shirleena Racine Baggett

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Business ownership is imperative in correcting economic issues for demographic groups subjugated to discrimination, inequality, poverty, and other harmful disadvantages. This project supports the idea that building communication competence within minority-owned small businesses and nonprofit organizations, will significantly increase achievement of long-term sustainability and success. The solution is not only creating communication training tailored for minority entrepreneurs, but to allow access in feasible and tangible ways. This study begins by defining communication and explaining its function to assist in moving past the narrative of communication interaction as “talking and listening,” but instead a concept rooted in logic, theoretical analysis, and …

Meeting “The One” At Midnight Is Your Destiny: The Role Of Yuan In Use Of The Taiwanese Social Network, Dcard, Wen-Yueh Shu

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study examines how Taiwanese college students understand the traditional, culturally Chinese concept of Yuan and its role in their use of a new and distinctive Taiwanese social networking site—Dcard. Particular attention is paid to the Dcard’s unique friending mechanism, which provides users the opportunity to connect (or not) with one, seemingly random new friend each day at midnight. Through thematic analysis of 15 semi-structured long interviews, the study finds that Dcard users understand Yuan as a multi-faceted concept pertaining primarily to interpersonal relationships (relationalism). Users perceive Yuan to influence relationships in a predetermined, causal fashion (fatalism), but they still …

Authentically Disney, Distinctly Chinese: A Case Study Of Glocalization Through Shanghai Disneyland’S Brand Narrative, Chelsea Michelle Galvez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In 2016, the Walt Disney Company launched Shanghai Disneyland--the company’s first theme park in mainland China. Entering mainland China poses significant political and cultural challenges for American companies. To address these challenges, Disney pursued a “glocalization” strategy -- it accounted for local norms and values in launching Shanghai Disneyland. This paper examines how Shanghai Disneyland constructed its brand narrative to negotiate tensions in this glocalization process. A semiotic analysis of two Shanghai Disneyland commercials illustrates the ways in which Disney tapped into culturally meaningful themes of harmonic balance and collective identity to produce the park’s brand narrative--“China’s Disneyland.” A thematic …

Backpedaling Nugget Smugglers: A Facebook And News Article Thematic Analysis Of Chick-Fil-A Vs. Gay Marriage, Stacy M. Wiedmaier

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study utilizes William Benoit’s Image Repair Theory to frame the dominant crisis communication strategies that fast food chain Chick-fil-A (CFA) employed before, during and after their CEO mixed his personal opinion on social issues with corporate policy in June 2012. The thematic analysis draws from three distinct data sets that include 3,900 Facebook comments posted by the general public on CFA’s social media page, 32 individual Atlanta Journal-Constitution news articles that address the debate and CFA’s public response to the crisis titled “Who We Are.” This thesis aims to identify both the dominant themes in Facebook posts and the …