Business Commons^™

A Challenge To Inclusive Excellence: What We Can Learn From A Jesuit Catholic University, Terri Lewis-King

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper draws attention to the ethics of the organization (institutional structure) to fulfill its mission by examining what does it mean that a Jesuit higher education institution strives for "inclusive excellence". From a staff member lens, what does the campus climate tell us about how that impact is felt. The result of this project are tools for professionals to use in their assessment and development of organizational support for staff.

A Phenomenological Case Study Of Transformative Learning In A Non-Traditional Diversity Training Program, Ame Lambert

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Rapidly changing demographics and globalization has spurred a plurality of organizations to invest millions of dollars annually in diversity training, with the primary aim of improving the experiences of underrepresented employees. However, the results of diversity training to date have not proven encouraging. Positive outcomes of diversity training have generally been confined to increased awareness and improved attitudes towards diversity, with implicit and explicit prejudice and behavior remaining unchanged. The aim of this study was to understand the transformational learning experiences of participants in a non-traditional diversity training program and the impact of their transformational learning on their behavior.

A …

General Counsel Characteristics And Financial Reporting Quality, John R. Sparger

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

The general counsel (GC) plays a key role in a firm’s financial reporting system as a participant and governance monitor. As a participant in various disclosure and filing processes and advisor in transactional activities reflected in the firm’s reported results, the GC directly influences a firm’s reported results and disclosures. As a governance monitor, the GC holds a position of public trust and duty to investors based on various laws, rulings and regulations. Accordingly, accounting literature has begun to examine the role of the GC in financial reporting quality. The results of this research have produced conflicting results which indicate …

Nursing Assignments Based On Patient Acuity: The Road To Nursing Job Satisfaction, Kristina Tomic

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Challenges in the healthcare industry, including nursing shortages and low nursing retention, have resulted in nurses’ job dissatisfaction. Improving work environment and workload can lead to improved and equitable nursing shift assignments, which may improve nursing job satisfaction. The purpose of this EBP project was to (a) implement a patient acuity tool in the hospital unit, (b) assess its effectiveness in appropriating nursing shift assignments, and (c) evaluate its effect on nursing job satisfaction. The Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) Model was used as a guide to facilitate the transition of the best evidence into practice. As suggested within the evidence, …

Assessing The Effects Of Ecotourism On The Developing World: A Galapagos Case Study, Ife Adelona

Student Theses 2015-Present

Over the past decade, ecological tourism in the Galapagos has gained popularity. The local population of people living in the Galapagos is around 30,000; this includes, permanent residents, temporary residents, and immigrants. Tourist visitation within the 5 human inhabited islands is 200,000 people annually. The romantic idea of a pristine natural environment entices humans from across the globe to visit this World Heritage site. However, the growing attraction of this natural landmark has led to resource exploitation and the commodification of natural landscapes. In recent years, the Galapagos has developed its infrastructure in order to sustain the influx of tourists …

Operations Issues In Managing Supply Chain Partnership And Sustainability, Seung Hwan Jung

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines important operations issues in dealing with supply chain partnership and sustainability, which are among the key issues firms face in nowadays business situations.In the first chapter, "Co-opetitive component supply partnerships with end-product rivals under information asymmetry: role of dual sourcing and component market efficiency'', we consider opportunities of horizontal cooperation at the component (or intermediate product) supply level between two firms that are rivals at the end-product market. One of our firms is vertically integrated (VI) and has in-house component production capabilities, and may also sell components to its rival. The competitor in the end-product market (CO) …

The Hidden Costs Of Scheduling: Temporal Structure Reduces Task Enjoyment And Contracts Time, Gabriela Nicole Tonietto

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Time is an important but limited resource, and consumers are constantly looking for ways to get more from their time. This has led to the popularity of scheduling as a strategy to help consumers manage and organize their time. Although scheduling is both highly recommended and widely adopted, surprisingly little is known about the psychological effects of scheduling. In this dissertation, I explore the potential effects of scheduling for task enjoyment, perceived time, and time consumption, finding that scheduling may have some important hidden costs. In the first chapter, I examine the effect of scheduling leisure activities. While prior research …

Exploring The Puzzle Of Functional Homophily In New Venture Founding Teams, Steven Michael Gray

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Despite the long-term benefits of establishing a founding team with diverse functional knowledge, many entrepreneurs assemble a team of cofounders who are homogenous with respect to functional background. I examine this phenomenon in two empirical settings. First, in a university incubator program that brings together faculty, students, and outside community members, I use survey and audio data to examine the team formation process. I found that entrepreneurs initiate contact with a range of potential cofounders: some of whom possess functional knowledge that is different from the entrepreneur and others who share the same functional background as the entrepreneur. However, conditional …

Essays In Corporate Finance, Lea H. Stern

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation consists of three chapters in corporate finance and private equity. Chapter 1, “Incentives of Private Equity General Partners from Future Fundraising”, co-authored with Ji-Woong Chung, Berk Sensoy and Michael Weisbach, studies the incentives of private equity general partners (GPs). Lifetime incomes of GPs are affected by their current funds’ performance not only directly, through carried interest profit-sharing provisions, but also indirectly by the effect of the current fund’s performance on GP’s abilities to raise capital for future funds. In the context of a rational learning model, which we show better matches the empirical relations between future fundraising and …

Trading Dynamics In A Fragmented Market, Krzysztof Herman

Dissertations - ALL

In this dissertation, we study the effect of recent regulatory and technological changes on trading

dynamics. Advances in communication and computing technologies have made millisecond

latencies as the new trading standard and have resulted in a new era of automated trading. The

introduction of Reg-NMS (Regulation National Market System, implemented in 2007) has set

strict rules for the access and removal of liquidity from the fragmented US equity market, de

facto linking the trading activities across trading venues. These transformations have not only

changed how equity markets function but also how market participants interact with the market

and among themselves. …

Heterogeneity In Institutional Context And Its Impact On Initial Public Offerings And Corporate Social Responsibility, Gokce Serdar

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation investigates the impact of institutional heterogeneity, which arises due to variations in institutional context, on a market and a non-market transaction. It draws from institutional theory and organizational institutionalism, and contributes to organization theory, corporate social responsibility, gender, and initial public offering literatures. In the two chapters that make up this dissertation, I theorize and empirically show that the institutional context varies not only between countries or groups of countries, but also domestically; and this variation has a statistically significant and economically meaningful impact on organizations. In the first chapter of this dissertation I focus on a market …

A Systems Approach To Revenue Fluctuation In Nonprofit Human Service Organizations, Joshua James Hunter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nonprofit Human Services Organizations (NPO) are normally considered to do all they can to work toward providing clients with optimal services (Bowman, 2011). What has not been considered is the possibility that NPOs sometimes allocate more revenue toward accumulating profit than toward generating services. This study used IRS 990 Forms of 150 private nonprofits from 2009 to 2010 to investigate whether NPOs did this at the peak of the recent recession, a time when there was a strong need for NPOs to increase their level of services. Results showed revenue increased 56%, services increased 1.4%, profit increased 43%, operating margin …

Business Plan: Peacock Financial Advising, Kevin Peacock

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

This business plan presents a service-based business, Peacock Financial Advising, which provides fee-only financial advice. Targeting the deaf and signing community, Peacock Financial Advising will provide investment, budgetary, and tax planning advice to educate and provide tools for clients so that they can build a solid financial foundation.

Combating Workplace Violence: An Evidence Based Initiative, Diana L. Giordano

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Patient/visitor violence against healthcare (HC) employees is a type of workplace violence (WPV) and considered a dangerous hazard within HC occupations (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). Lack of recognition of the true incidence and underreporting of WPV may contribute to a false sense of security within a HC facility (HCF). Therefore, fully addressing the problem may be met with administrative resistance, resulting in poor employee perceptions of support and commitment for a zero-violence environment. A retrospective analysis was conducted on the HCF’s online incident reports, security request calls, and data from a previously deployed WPV employee survey. The emergency department …

Operational Challenges In Servicizing The Transportation Industry, Kelly Cavanagh

Senior Theses

As a result of declining consumer spending, more companies have been “servicizing” their business models, moving away from the typical product-centric model and offering their goods as services. This trend has been especially popular in the transportation industry, with cars and scooters now being rented by the minute, with no transfer of ownership. Apps like Uber and Lyft have disrupted the taxi service industry, effectively side-stepping expensive regulations due to their “car-sharing” business model. While this money-saving distinction has led to their success, it can also lead to their downfall, as they face many legal battles specific to ride-sharing services. …

Preparing For The Merit-Based Incentive Payment Structure: A Value-Based Business Plan, Ali R. Saheb

Doctoral Projects

The notion of delivering value-based care while maintaining corporate vitality in health care is a multifaceted process. Shaping a business model to reflect this process requires the alignment of quality implications, reimbursement initiatives, a framework that takes into account stipulations on reimbursement for different types of clinicians, and an understanding and preparedness for emerging guidelines and nationally recognized structures for quality indicators. When organizations recognize the need for change, but are not yet prepared to implement it, a comprehensive business plan can help the organization visualize a path to success. In this project, the foundation of requirements for a value-based …

An Analysis Of Original And Emerging Integrated Marketing Communication Touchpoints Among Recent Effie Award Winners, Amanda Zwerin

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This study presents a brief overview of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) research, including effectiveness, and a discussion of the advertising competition landscape with a focus on the Effie Awards. We extend findings from the Quesenberry et al. (2012) study by investigating IMC touchpoint data within award-winning Effie campaigns from 2011-2016. Data was collected from the Effie database and then analyzed to explore how touchpoints have evolved. Results indicate that there are several new categories of touchpoints used in recent campaigns. We refer to these categories as Emerging Touchpoint Categories as a comparison against Quesenberry et al.’s category findings, hereafter referred …

Zeppy Low Calorie Alcoholic Beverages Business Plan, Allison Zeppuhar

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The documentation of a college-level student starting her first company in the alcoholic beverage industry. Allison Zeppuhar created a low calorie alcoholic beverage brand called Zeppy during her junior and senior year of college at James Madison University. This documentation includes an executive summary, a reflection of her findings, her timeline, an entity-relationship diagram, To Be Manufacturing and Customer Order process maps, and a progress journal.

The Expanded Auditor's Report: A Case Study From The United Kingdom, Maria Jones

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This paper examines whether or not the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board should adopt new standards similar to those recently adopted in the United Kingdom by performing a qualitative analysis of the information provided in the expanded auditor’s reports of four major UK grocery store chains both prior to and after the adoption of the new standard. In my analysis I find that the external auditor is frequently reporting on key audit matters and risks that are already being reported by management, and therefore already known to investors, suggesting little to no added value in the expanded auditor’s report.

A Taste Of Tuscany, Brigid M. Greaney, Taylor N. Palma, Jacqueline C. Herrick

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The purpose of this Honor’s Paper is to demonstrate the comprehensive scholastic work and practical experience that we—Taylor Palma, Jackie Herrick, and Brigid Greaney—have completed in the Hart School of Hospitality, Sport & Recreation Management at James Madison University. In this paper we will discuss our Themed Event project, A Taste of Tuscany, with its rationale rooted in Italian food and wine culture. Authenticity and faithfulness to the Italian ways were of chief importance throughout the planning and execution of our project. In outlining the details of our event, we have included the logistics, from menus to floor diagrams, …

Using Sport As A Global Change Agent: The United Nations Model Of Sport For Development, Meghan Burke

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Since 2001, the United Nations (UN) has used sport as a development tool through the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP). This paper examines the issues in the Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) movement that warranted the UN’s involvement and looks at how and why the UN uses sport. It will also offer recommendations on how it can continue to do so in a more sustainable way. Academics have struggled to find a way to measure the success of the SDP movement and the only evidence that exists that shows that sport is creating long-term …

Potable To Poisonous: An Analysis Of The Flint, Michigan Water Crisis, Christina M. Reilly

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Flint, Michigan, switched its drinking water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River in April 2014 to cut costs after a projected deficit. When an accumulation of lead and bacteria contamination was discovered over a year after the switch, Michigan was declared to be in a Federal State of Emergency. This case study investigates the events and actions leading to both the water contamination and public exposure of the crisis, as well as explores how the constituents responded and continue to be impacted by the events.

Creative Advertising Portfolio, Hayley E. Sunderman

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Since I was a young child, all I wanted was to draw and write. I would compose entire binders of my artwork, as well as Microsoft Word documents of the beginnings of mystery novels. As I grew older, I let my self-doubt take over and I convinced myself that I was not talented enough to pursue any type of creative career path. I came into college as a Marketing major knowing that my future career options would be fairly vast. During my junior year, I realized my strong desire to work in creative advertising. Graphic design, copywriting, photography, videography, and …

Factors That Influence Sporting Equipment Purchases, Anthony G. Lee

Sport Management Undergraduate

No abstract provided.

Non-Statistical Factors Present In Successful Nba Rookies, Colin R. Salisbury

Sport Management Undergraduate

Becoming a successful NBA rookie is a desire of many. Athletes want to be them and coaches and GM’s want to know how to predict them. What non-statistical factors are present in successful NBA rookies? This research used secondary data to show non-statistical factors that were present in successful rookies and what kind of similarities they had. They included, conference, institution, coaching, and draft position, etc... It is important to know what a successful rookie is and if there is a correlation between draft position and rookie success. The point of this research is to show the journeys that the …

Design, Financial Trends And On-Field Success, Daniel T. Baylard

Sport Management Undergraduate

Since college athletic departments are considered non-profit organizations and it’s expected they spend revenue in support of their overall mission which can be considered as achieving on-field success. Previous literature has uncovered multiple relationships between expenditures and revenue in comparison to on-field success. The common theory is that athletic programs must increase spending to increase wins, and increase wins to increase revenue. The purpose of our research is to explore financial trends within the rank based competition structure of NCAA Division I college football’s top 25 football teams in the 2012-2015 seasons. We will also acknowledge the effects of the …

Social Media Use At Work, Kriti Chauhan

Information Systems & Operations Management Dissertations - Archive

Social media use permeates everyday life, including work lives of employees. Banning social media use at work may is not entirely possible, therefore it is pertinent to question whether all social media use is detrimental for employees and their employing organization. Social media research to date has found conflicting results. This research provides unique insight into within-person social media use and its outcomes, and opens an avenue for investigating social media using a new technology-independent measure. The study is anchored in the concepts of role theory from social psychology. The theory of role accumulation suggests that social media can be …

International Business Guide To Peru, Mark Kingsmore

Senior Theses

Every study abroad adventure is unique, exciting, and scary in its own way. When I chose to study abroad in Peru, I was selecting a university that had a brand new partnership with USC and no older students to give me advice. I embraced the opportunity to be a trailblazer to a new school instead of walking a path that had been walked hundreds of times before, but I still felt nervous at times that I didn’t have the same information as my peers going to universities with more established partnerships. As a junior at the International Business student meet …

Developing A Sustainable Nonprofit: The Case Of Syndio Health Foundation, Alexis Krcelic

Senior Theses

The intention of this senior thesis is to research what constitutes a sustainable nonprofit that cannot only be sustained for the short term but also for the long term. The purpose is to create Syndio Health Foundation as a successful and impactful nonprofit and all necessary structures to ensure the continuation of the organization for the foreseeable future. It is also to research and test out the model of the foundation for stability.

The Impact Of Coffee Production On The Economy Of Colombia, Luke Alexander Ferguson

Senior Theses

This senior thesis seeks to determine the impact that the level of coffee production in Colombia has on economic wellbeing in the country. As a proxy for economic wellbeing in different arenas, I look at the income, health, and education variables of GDP, infant mortality rate, and secondary education enrollment. I use a Two-Stage Least Squares regression model to estimate this impact, with lagged international coffee prices and the occurrence of the fungal plant disease coffee leaf rust as instruments to account for endogeneity. The data which I use in this project include country-level indicators from the World Bank and …