Business Commons^™

The Unexpected Rhetoric Of Professional & Technical Writing, Catherine Boone

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

Professional Writing & Rhetoric: A compilation of work on research about website usability, ethics, and an editing portfolio and new teacher manual

Requirement Elicitation, Cameron Myers

Honors Theses

Requirement Elicitation is a flexible and malleable process that can be changed based upon the requirements of the analyst, stakeholders, and/or the application. In recent years analysts have given more distinction to the effectiveness and the types of result yielded based on the unique attributes of each elicitation technique. These distinctions arose because of advancing technology and use cases used when developing an application. Naturally, the elicitation techniques are advancing as well. They are advancing into different categories to better focus on yielding the right information to identify the right requirements. Such as behavioral techniques, cognitive techniques, contrived techniques, etc. …

An Exploratory Study Of How Millennials Approach And Communicate Mental Health In The Workplace, Johanna I. Seitenbach

Student Theses and Dissertations

Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting more than 300 million people. As more millennials take on leadership positions, it is important to understand how companies are currently addressing mental health in the workplace and compare this to how millennials approach the subject. The quantitative analysis completed through this study helped to determine what a mentally healthy workplace looks and feels like for millennials. Companies are increasingly investing in mental health initiatives for several reasons: to increase brand recognition, to improve company culture, to mitigate potential lawsuits, and to increase employee engagement and retention. This survey assessed how …

Welcome Guide: Onboarding Guidebook For Hannah Michelle Photography, Hannah Lozano

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

Hannah Michelle Photography is a small photography brand owned by Hannah Lozano. This document serves as a capstone project for Hannah Lozano. She has created a comprehensive onboarding document for future employees of Hannah Michelle Photography.

Contextualizing Filipina/O Experiences Through The Life And Lens Of Virgil Duyungan, Benjamin Huff

History Undergraduate Theses

This paper serves a dual purpose: to examine the world of Filipina/o immigrants and Filipina/o Americans during the 1930s in the Puget Sound region, as well as look at the life and death of Filipina/o labor leader Virgil S. Duyungan. Incorporating these two different aspects into one paper reveals how Duyungan’s experiences contextualize and highlight key issues of the greater Filipina/o community in the region at the time, such as racial identity and tensions, labor rights, corruption and exploitation, and socio-economic conditions. By utilizing a body of primary and secondary sources, such as books, journal articles, government documents, images and …

A Desire Fulfillment Theory Of Digital Game Enjoyment, Owen M. Schaffer

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

Empirical research on what makes digital games enjoyable is critical for practitioners who want to design for enjoyment, including for Game Design, Gamification, and Serious Games. But existing theories of what leads to digital game enjoyment have been incomplete or lacking in empirical support showing their impact on enjoyment.

Desire Fulfillment Theory is proposed as a new theory of what leads to digital game enjoyment and tested through research with people who have recently played a digital game. This theory builds on three established theories: Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory, Theory of Basic Human Desires, and Flow Theory. These three theories are …

Exploring How Philippine American Nonprofit Leaders Build Trust With Their Staff And Volunteers, Dominic Fernando Laureano

Dissertations

Purpose: Although a considerable amount of literature exists regarding leadership and trust, little research focuses on Philippine American nonprofit organizations and their leadership. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how Philippine American nonprofit leaders build trust with staff and volunteers using the five domains of competency, consistency, concern, candor, and connection.

Methodology: This phenomenological qualitative study collected data via semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and review of artifacts. The study sample was comprised of 10 Philippine American nonprofit leaders from Southern California. Weisman’s Trust Model served at the theoretical framework of the study and guided data collection and …

College Of Business, Business Career Accelerator, Qualitative Research Study On Student Involvement In Professional Development Activities, Madison Vincent

Honors Projects

The creation and execution of this project began by analyzing the honors project specifications, to design a project that met the Honors College criteria. To meet these criteria, a market research study was conducted to assist the College of Business’s Business Career Accelerator management in understanding the student market of the College of Business. In addition, the study’s goal is to make recommendations utilizing marketing and education frameworks to maintain and increase student usage of the center. The project was executed using traditional market research frameworks, which required conducting in-depth interviews of College of Business students to determine student attitudes …

Analyzing The Necessity And Feasibility Of The Freedom Dividend, Patrick Hodson

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Job displacement stemming from automation has already taken away millions of jobs in the United States. Andrew Yang fears that future advancements could replace further jobs and exacerbate the wealth inequality already prevalent in our country. This has motivated his plan for change, the Freedom Dividend. This paper was designed to begin with an analysis of the motives for Yang’s plan. It then goes on to cover the details of his plan and assess the economic and administrative feasibility. The paper is concluded by looking at the potential outcomes of the plan and identifying major problem areas that need to …

How Ecommerce Is On The Rise, Kayla Smith

Honor’s College Freeman Research Journal

In this paper I will observe how the development of new technologies (that have seen extreme changes) has led to a lot of changes in the way products are manufactured, services are offered, and money is transacted and the products delivered. Due to changes in consumer demands in the market, technology has been manipulated over the years, giving rise to multinational billion dollar organizations that keep adapting overtime to keep up with the rapidly changing consumer needs. In particular, with communication, the rise of the mobile phone network and the Internet have particularly revolutionized the way business is done entirely. …

Automation Of Data Analysis In Formula 1, Adam Joseph Mourad, Prescott Jeanne Delzell, Patrick Conner Mccabe

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This paper explores economic solutions for Formula 1 racing companies who are interested in data visualization tools. The research was conducted on the current development of data gathering, data visualization, and data interpretation in Formula 1 racing. It was found that a large chunk of racing companies within the league needs an affordable, effective, and automated visualization tool for data interpretation. As data collection in Formula 1 arises, the need for faster and more powerful software increases. Racing companies profit off-brand exposure and the more a racing team wins, the more exposure they receive. The goal of the paper focuses …

Understanding Employee Engagement: A Mixed-Methods Study, Joren M. Scharn

Theses & Dissertations

For over 4 decades businesses around the world have been conducting employee satisfaction surveys at regular intervals and this surfaced a strong positive relationship between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and overall company performance. In recent years however, academics and researchers have reopened the debate on whether employee or job satisfaction metrics are in fact reliable indicators of productivity, suggesting that employee engagement has a far stronger correlation to productivity. This study addresses two interrelated problems that are associated with a practice that is common in working environments all over the world. According to literature, it is generally accepted that (a) …

Menaxhimi I Riskut Në Institucionet Financiare – Bankat Në Kosovë, Breta Berisha

Theses and Dissertations

“Çdo e vërtetë shkencore, është një ide e gabuar në pritje...” Karl R. Popper (The Logic Scientific Discovery, 1934) Në kuadër të këtij studimi në fillim është analizuar menaxhimi i riskut në institucionet financiare, duke i përmbledhur të gjitha risqet që i kanosen një sistemi bankar. Ky studim i shqyrton menaxhimin e riskut të kredisë, riskut operacional, riskut të likuiditetit dhe reputacional. Qëllimi i studimit është se si menaxhohen këto risqe në institucionet bankare, si dhe vështrimi i rregullativës së Komitetit të Bazelit për Mbikëqyrje Bankare (BCBS). Gjatë studimeve kemi hasur një qasje të bazuar në vlerësimet e brendshme me …

Menaxhimi I Relacionit Me Klientin (Crm) Në Epokën E Digjitalizimit: Rasti I Institucioneve Bankare, Dafina Hasani Ibrahimi

Theses and Dissertations

Ekonomia globale është duke u transformuar me një ritëm të shpejtë, derisa teknologjia është instrumenti kryesor për këtë ndryshim. Ndikimi i revolucionit teknologjik po përjetohet në të gjitha sferat e jetës gjithashtu edhe në sektorin bankar në Kosovë. Banka nuk është më e kufizuar vetëm në sistemin tradicional të relacioneve me klientin, por është transformuar në një sistem modern të afarizmit bankar virtual. Sot, në tregun global të gjitha bizneset, të të gjitha industrive dhe madhësive, nga kompanitë e mëdha deri tek kompanitë e vogla dhe private, po i kushtojnë rëndësi relacioneve me klientë, për të fituar klientë besnik. Filozofia …

Strategjite E Marketingut Në Kompanitë Prodhuese, Mehmet Islami

Theses and Dissertations

Ky studim u realizua për të hulumtuar ndërlidhjen e strategjive të marketingut me kompanitë prodhuese, se si strategjia e marketingut në internet rritë nivelin e kënaqshmërisë në kompanitë prodhuese si dhe strategjia e marketingut në internet rritë nivelin e kënaqshmërisë të konsumatorëve online. Këto ishin edhe hipotezat e punimit. Hulumtimi u realizua me dy pyetësorë dhe me intervistë të strukturuar. Mostra për konsumatorë ishte (N=200), mostra për kompanitë për përdorimin e strategjisë të internetit ishte (N=12) si dhe dy intervista të strukturuara me dy Kompani prodhuese në Kosovë. Sipas hulumtimit të tri hipotezat u aprovuan doli se strategjitë kanë ndërlidhje …

Tatimet Në Të Ardhura Personale Dhe Në Të Ardhura Të Korporatës Në Republikëne Kosovës, Vjosa Cena

Theses and Dissertations

Pako fiskale ka filluar që të aplikohet në Kosovë në vitin 2015 me pakon fiskale 1, me qëllim të përkrahjes së bizneseve. Prandaj është e rëndësishme që të identifikohet se si ka ndikuar kjo pako në zhvillimin e biznesit. Gjithashtu në këtë punim është shtjelluar qështja se çfarë lehtësirash ka sjellur pako fiskale tek bizneset Kosovare, veçanërisht lehtësirat në Tatimin në të Ardhura Personale (TAP) dhe Tatimin në të Ardhura të Korporatës (TAK).

Në këtë punim do të shtjellojmë barrën tatimore të Tatimeve në të Ardhura Personale dhe Tatimeve në të Ardhura të Korporatës në Republikën e Kosovës.Është e rëndësishme …

Brand Linguistics: Study Of Sound Symbolism And Consumer Language Fluency On Brand Name Attitudes And Perceptions, Evita Subkowski

University Honors Program Senior Projects

Brand names can subtly evoke the practical qualities of a product as well as the positive emotions a company hopes that consumers will feel regarding its product. Because a brand name serves as an identifier for consumers to the product itself, effective branding has the potential to increase sales and customer loyalty. Brand names are essential because they are often the consumer’s first exposure to the product and for this reason they must be configured effectively. There is considerable research in this area that can guide companies toward more effective brand-naming strategies. Unfortunately, a key gap exists in this literature: …

Business-School Partnerships In Career And Technical Education, Michael E. Trimberger

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

BUSINESS-SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS IN CAREER AND

TECHNICAL EDUCATION

by

Michael E. Trimberger Jr.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2019

Under the Supervision of Professor Dr. Elise Frattura

Public education in Wisconsin has come under harsh political scrutiny in recent years. Schools have been asked to reduce budgets and use the tools provided through legislative changes. The reduction of budgets has not come with a reduction of expectations for our schools. Since 2011, high school principals have been forced to implement Academic Career Plans and ensure that every student graduate college and career ready along with their already comprehensive list of requirements. …

Essays In Financial Economics, Kamilla Kasymova

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays concerning financial economics.

In the first essay, I focus on the role of the life insurance in the financial markets and the factors that drive the development of life insurance industry. The essay examines the causality of the banking sector development on the development of the life insurance market measured by the total premiums received by life insurers using panel estimation for about 90 countries over the period 1996-2010. I employ the dynamic System Generalized Method of Moments estimation technique to resolve the endogeneity problem between the development of the life insurance and the …

The Relationship Between Employee Engagement And Work Performance For Individuals Working In Active Asset Management: Examining The Moderate Effect Of Age, Gender, And Job Function., Elizabeth Aubrey Brenner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The construct of employee engagement and its relationship to desirable organizational outcomes has received a great deal of attention within Human Resource Development (HRD) literature. However, little research has examined the influence of employee engagement on work performance in the active asset management industry, and no academic study has explored employee engagement in the active asset management industry using the lens of HRD. This study examined the relationship between employee engagement and work performance, and the moderating effect of age, gender, and job function on the relationship between employee engagement and work performance, for individuals employed within active asset management. …

The Impact Of Income On Nutrition. A Case Study Of Northern Mozambique, Hunter Swanigan

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Undergraduate Honors Theses

In 2017, Mozambique ranked as one of the least-developed countries in the world by measures of health, education, and income, and had one of the lowest GDP per capita at $1,300. With a minimal income, purchasing adequate food to meet recommended levels of nutrients for a healthy diet is difficult, leaving almost half of the country’s population undernourished. This study researched what foods are available during the dry months (hungry season) of May through October in the Nampula province of Mozambique to analyze if it is possible to meet the National Institutes of Health’s recommended levels of nutrients from purchasing …

As The Hourly Minimum Wage Moves Toward $15 Across New York State, Some Say The Fight For A Decent Living Is Far From Over., Barbara Prempeh

Capstones

This capstone projects examines the coming of the fight for a $15 minimum wage across New York State and beyond its borders. In 2012, the Fight for $15 organization took the streets of NYC to begin their fight only raising the wages for low income earners who work in different industries such fast- fast, hospitality, and even retail. For years now, the government has yet raise the minimum wage for all Americans which has caused several families to feel a crunch in affording a normal lifestyle. Since the start of this fueled fight, New York City is one of the …

Illuminating Pay Secrecy: Construct Clarification And An Exploration Of Effects Via The Incentive And Sorting Tracks, Sarah Holtzen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pay secrecy is a burgeoning debate in compensation research. On one side of the debate, it is argued that pay secrecy is a useful and beneficial practice because it can prevent potential dissatisfaction and destructive competition possible when people make unfavorable pay comparisons. On the other side, it is argued that pay secrecy is undesirable because it obscures the motivational properties of pay and does not prevent people from making pay comparisons, nor safeguard them from the resulting dissatisfaction. Despite the popularity of pay secrecy in organizations today, extant research has failed to provide any definitive answers as to whether …

Deep Reinforcement Learning Pairs Trading, Andrew Brim

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This research applies a deep reinforcement learning technique, Deep Q-network, to a stock market pairs trading strategy for profit. Artificial intelligent methods have long since been applied to optimize trading strategies. This work trains and tests a DQN to trade co-integrated stock market prices, in a pairs trading strategy. The results demonstrate the DQN is able to consistently produce positive returns when executing a pairs trading strategy.

The Effect Of Organizational Tenure, Bargaining Unit Status, And Union Membership On Local Government Employee Public Service Motivation, Ty Ryburn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Two of the largest challenges public organizations face in motivating their workforces are the aging workforce and the strong union influence (Lavigna, 2014). On June 27, 2018, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Janus vs. AFSCME to abolish agency fees, and gave public service employees in bargaining units the right to choose whether they want to pay union dues or pay no fees at all.

In examining the unique motivational factors of employees in the public sector, Perry and Wise (1990) developed a theory called Public Service Motivation (PSM). Later, Perry (1996) developed a survey instrument which despite criticism, …

Tax Indemnification And The Association Between Unrecognized Tax Benefit Reserves And Future Tax Cash Outflows, Patrick Lee Hopkins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tax indemnification transfers from a firm to an outside party the risk of potential cash settlements associated with uncertain tax positions taken in prior years. The current accounting treatment of tax indemnification under Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 805 and the required disclosures for uncertain tax positions under ASC 740 provide little or no information regarding this risk transfer in the financial statements or notes. I examine merger and acquisition (M&A) contracts from 2008 through 2013 and find that tax indemnification is commonly present in M&A transactions. I then provide evidence that the association between current uncertain tax benefit reserves and …

Hvac System Energy Audit For Leverett Elementary School, Connor Smalling

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Leverett Elementary School is located in Fayetteville, AR. The school needs significant upgrades to its infrastructure. The Fayetteville Public School District has voted to pursue an Energy Services Performance Contract (ESPC) in order to finance the desired upgrades to Leverett Elementary, among other schools in the district.

The scope of this thesis was to perform an energy audit on the existing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. By using an energy modeling software, eQuest, the building and the existing base system were modeled to determine utility consumption. Three different HVAC system alternatives were analyzed against the base system by …

Organizational Conditions That Promote And Impede Research Engagement: The Principal’S Perspective, Renee Treat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The researcher explored perceptions of the research-practice gap in education, the process through which central actors make decisions related to teacher retention and development, and the organizational conditions that promote and impede research-engagement in this qualitative study. The researcher limited the study to the role of the campus principal and used purposive sampling to select participants from 3 diverse districts in the state of Texas. Because there may be discrepancies between leaders’ perceptions and behaviors, the researcher conducted interview sessions with principals and principal supervisors and conducted observation sessions in principals’ natural work environments. The study results showed that good …

Using Behavior Economic Nudges To Facilitate Client Follow-Through In Financial Coaching, Charlene Hurst

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While benevolence-based programs have been a large part of meeting immediate financial needs of the poor, they lack the relational aspect needed to facilitate long-term behavior change. Recently many social service organizations have adopted financial coaching as a promising replacement for benevolence programming. The field of coaching has dealt with its own challenges. Most coaching practitioners surveyed in 2016 and 2019 acknowledged lack of client follow-through as their number one challenge. Behavior economics offered nudges as a solution. Nudges are cues placed within the physical environment to prod clients toward behavior change. A quantitative field study was conducted to evaluate …

Getting Serious About Games: A Study Of Work And Play Through Information Systems, Jeffrey K. Mullins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Play and games shape, and are shaped by, culture. They represent an integral and ubiquitous component of humanity. Technological advances are blurring the lines between work and play, and their increasing convergence requires deeper understanding. Organizations seek to harness the motivational power of games to improve instrumental outcomes but face numerous challenges in doing so. Extant theory struggles to inform practice on the use of gameful experiences to achieve practical goals. This dissertation presents three essays that explore the domain of gameful information systems (IS), defined as IS that are designed or perceived to afford or support user experiences similar …