Business Commons^™

Models For Storing Relationships: Relational Vs. Graph Databases, Dylan Hantula

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Relational databases have been the universal industry standard for almost as long as databases have existed. While relational databases are undoubtedly useful for storing tabular data that fits into a pre-defined schema of rows and columns, they are not very accommodating of interconnections within a data set. Forcing a highly connected data set into a relational database commonly results in severe performance issues in query return time. With the recent rise of social networks and other modern technological advancements, data is quickly becoming more connected and thus less suitable for relational databases. As a result, a new type of database, …

Globalization And Offshoring: The Effects Of A Globalized Workplace On Auditing Procedures, Mignon Farnet

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Intensifying audit competition, increasing audit quality standards, and rising demand for audit services have prompted accounting firms across the nation to adopt new methods to meet client and industry demands while not overextending audit staff or raising audit prices. The use of offshoring to utilize a global workplace has allowed firms to maintain their competitiveness and expand to new markets to creatively respond to the industry demand. While offshoring is not something new on the global scale, the auditing practice was a late arrival to this practice, especially when compared to manufacturing industries or even the tax practice within the …

Profit Shifting And Manipulation, Byron Dela Rosa

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

As of late, many U.S. firms have made their way overseas in ways many feel are unethical. U.S. multinationals have taken note of the unimaginable domestic corporate income tax rate the United States has set for these U.S. corporations. Similar to an individual paycheck you may receive, you must pay a portion to the U.S. government in taxes. And even more similarly, you wish that you did not have to pay it either. U.S. multinationals have the same mindset, as they have found ways to avoid the corporate income tax through foreign activity strategies. Using scholarly research papers and well-renown …

The Creative Entrepreneur Leading Innovation, Karina Loera Barcenas

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

The Creative Entrepreneur Leading Innovation is a course designed for undergraduate students. Students will learn the entrepreneurial mindset through the creative process triggering innovation and leading transformation to face and adapt in the current constant and fastest changing era. This course also has a skill development component through which students will be able to experience personal transformation towards positive change.

From Creativity To Team Innovation: Building The Bridge In Organizations, Jonathan Brown

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

The outcome of this project is a new model for team innovation. It was created as a result of the need for teams to be better prepared to innovate. The approach of this project was to investigate, clarify, combine, synthesize and finally propose useful ways to accelerate team innovation in organizations. It started with a diagram and evolved into an articulation of each step of the model. This prototype model is called Model for Purposeful Team Innovation. The model is divided in seven steps that include identity, mission, quality, targets for improvement, roadmap, execution, monitoring to assess the maturity and …

The Microfinance Industry In Bolivia, Jorge J. Eguino

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the international context, and particularly in Bolivia, microfinance and microcredit have been the subject of innumerable analyses. The arguments rely on the attributions of these two ways of intervention in financial services, as well as their impact with respect to poverty, their input, and their incidence on economic growth. Bolivia has contributed to the debate in these fields due to its experience with the microfinance system and its relevance to the country’s economy.

The purpose of this project is to describe the process of development and consolidation of the microfinance system in Bolivia. From a description to an analysis …

The Relation Between Social Responsibility And Exit Performance Of Vc-Backed Entrepreneurial Firms, Kaita Albanese

Business/Business Administration

This study analyzes the probability of successful exit by venture capital (VC)-backed en-trepreneurial firms that focus on “clean energy” initiatives. Such initiatives include generation from renewable sources as well as conservation. The empirical analysis, for ventures between 1990 and 2014, documents that clean energy investments have a higher probability of successful exit than do non-clean energy ventures. In addition, the results show that both solar and alternative energy VC-backed entrepreneurial firms allow their investors a shorter duration to exit.

Are Government-Sponsored Pension Privatization Efforts Leading To Better Beneficiary Outcomes?, Dylan Iadanza

Business/Business Administration

This paper seeks to inform readers on the history and the performance of tying state-sponsored retirement plans to the market. In the late 1970’s and 1980’s, many Latin American university students participated in an exchange program affiliated with the University of Chicago. After completing their studies under notable free-market economists such as Milton Friedman and Arnold Harberger, these students returned home and took prominent positions in governments- mainly in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. In Chile, the students developed a plan known as el ladrillo (“the brick”). In 1981, their retirement system was completely privatized. Mutual funds, called Administradoras de Fondos …

Integrating Roadway Dynamics Into A Systems Model Of Urban Decay, Michael Winning

Business/Business Administration

No abstract provided.

A Conceptual Assessment Of The Uncertain Future Of The Personal Computer, Patrick J. Mccann

Business/Business Administration

In this thesis, I investigate the chances that the personal computer (PC) becomes a thing of the past in the near future. PC sales have seen quite the downturn, while smartphones have thrived in the technology space. I also consider how affects not only firms in the technology sector, but in almost all fields. Since the world today revolves around technology, specifically computers, it goes without saying that a change in the way we depend on PCs would change how we do almost everything. After diligently analyzing various sources on the matter, as well as consulting my own experiences, I …

Increasing User Engagement On Social Media, Emily Grasso

Business/Business Administration

For my thesis, I explored the question of what type of content will increase user engagement on social media. I’ve had the opportunity to work on a live project, for a New York-based recruiting agency, Careers on the Move, founded by University at Albany graduate, Richelle Konian.

The goal of the project was to establish, through research, what engages users on social media and then test my findings.

I established, through baseline analytics reports using LinkedIn Analytics, Facebook Insights, and Hootsuite reports that the most appropriate dependent variables will be on LinkedIn, Engagement and Reach; on Facebook, Page Likes and …

Then And Now: Ten Years Of Arkansas Women In Agriculture, Paige Morgan Acklie

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Undergraduate Honors Theses

The United States Agricultural Census show that between 2002 and 2012, the number of farm women operators in Arkansas grew 14 percent (from 19,856 to 22,637). These women operators have made up an increasingly larger percent of all farm operators in the state (from almost 29% to nearly 33%). There is little published information regarding how women’s roles, challenges and factors important to their success may have changed over time. While some surveys of farm women have been conducted, these surveys are generally insufficient because data exist only for one point in time.

This research uses the first, middle and …

The Agricultural Growth And Malting Production Of Barley Grains In Northeast Tennessee And Southwest Virginia, Mark Evans Patton Mr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore the history and production processes of beer and examines the components that contribute to its brewing. The narrative will provide a timeline of the processes that are required to create the product of beer beginning with the agricultural products and following the brewing processes that result in beer as the finished product. I will also examine the business of agriculture and grain processing and will provide some historical perspectives of grain, beer, and malting. I will also consider whether the growing, processing, and malting of grains in the East Tennessee and Southwest …

The Indulgence And Restraint Cultural Dimension: A Cross-Cultural Study Of Mongolia And The United States, Rentsenkhand Enkh-Amgalan

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research focuses on one of the least studied cultural dimension, “indulgence versus restraint” (IVR) and how it affects consumer behavior, international marketing, and global business operations in the U.S. and Mongolia. This project is the first research on IVR in Mongolia since the country is rarely studied and there is no available data for this cultural dimension. Samples of undergraduate business students (as consumers) from both countries were studied through surveys. The findings support that Mongolians and Americans are different regarding the “indulgence” cultural dimension. This paper has a significant contribution to the cross-cultural literature regarding the indulgence cultural …

The Threat Of Innovation: Tactics To Improve Small Team Creative Outcomes In Risk-Averse Organizations, Paul Gaylo

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project explores the paradox that creativity is generally viewed as a positive force and is a desired trait or characteristic, yet when faced with the true cost of creativity, individuals and organizations may purposefully or inadvertently suppress creativity. Real world examples are used to frame the applicability of this project to the typical large and complex technical product organization. The project includes a review of creativity scholarship in the context of organizations and a discussion to establish the foundational science behind this paradox. The project introduces the new creativity readiness level index, and a survey strategy to gauge organizational …

Modeling Mobile Website Usability, J Matt Hamil

Honors Theses

Smartphones have become a prevalent part of today’s society. Smartphone users have begun using their phones to make purchases on the mobile web. This study focused on usability characteristics of mobile websites of large retail companies. The aim of this study was to conduct quantitative analyses building upon previous usability research both in the e-commerce and m-commerce realm. A sample population was obtained from a convenience sample recruited from a social media and email campaign. Respondents were asked to visit an assigned website and find three products for a friend, family member, or significant other. The data were analyzed quantitatively …

High Frequency Trading: Perceptions Regarding Volatility And Regulation, Daniel A. Beck

Honors Theses

Although high frequency trading (HFT) makes up a large portion of day to day trading activity in US and global markets, Khashanah and colleagues (2014) found that nearly half of academic and business industry professionals feel that HFT provides an unfair advantage relative to other market participants, and that a majority of industry professionals share concerns that HFT increases volatility in markets. This creates an environment wherein there are increasing calls by various groups for increased regulation of HFT, and the same study by Khashanah et al (2014) finds that 59% of academics and 46% of industry professionals are of …

Faux/Real Festival Of Arts, Zoe Cuneo

Arts Administration Master's Reports (1984-2016)

The purpose of this internship report is to analyze the Faux/Real Festival of Arts in regards to my Arts Administration learning experiences. In addition, I will describe my internship involvement with Faux/Real and examine the success of its first year. This report also contains my S.W.O.T. analysis of the festival, highlighting its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Finally, I assert best practices for festival management and programming, and offer recommendations to Faux/Real on how they could incorporate those practices that they have not already implemented to strengthen the festival.

The John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts: Production Department, Jamie Doyle

Arts Administration Master's Reports (1984-2016)

This academic report is the written analysis of my experience as a production intern at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. My internship specifically involved production and this report discusses production management across the performing arts disciplines, as experienced during my 480 hour internship experience. I describe the organizational history of the Kennedy Center and the internship process. I create a SWOT analysis pertaining to factors affecting the Production Department, discuss production management best practices, and make recommendations for the Center’s improvement.

Contemporary Arts Center: A Time Of Transition, Samantha Naring

Arts Administration Master's Reports (1984-2016)

The following report documents my 480-hour internship from August 17th, 2015 to January 29th, 2016 in the Education and Public Programs Department at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC). I worked closely with the Marketing and Visual Art Departments. I chose the organization to experience an environment that commits itself to presenting high quality performing and visual arts. This paper assesses the CAC’s history, present day status, and future outlook. It also offers suggestions on how certain aspects can be improved in order to extend the organization’s longevity. Over the course of five months I observed strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats …

Jamalar Agency: Building Awareness For New Music Through Radio Promotions, Lawanda J. Smith

Arts Administration Master's Reports (1984-2016)

This report documents the internship of LaWanda J. Smith with Jamalar Agency. Jamalar is a booking agency which specializes in selling the music and culture of New Orleans to the world. LaWanda’s main task was radio promotion for the 2015 spring release of We’ve Got a River to Cross, a CD by the gospel group Joyful. LaWanda was also exposed to record label management by working with Jamalar’s sister company, Rampart Street Music. This report provides an overview of Jamalar Agency, analysis of the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, an examination of best practices in music promotions performed …

New Orleans Auction Galleries: Sustaining Vitality In Shifting Auction Markets, Natalie Domingue

Arts Administration Master's Reports (1984-2016)

This report examines an internship experience as the Auction and Fine Art Department Assistant at New Orleans Auction Galleries with discussion of the Company’s history, operating structure, and role in the auction market. In addition, an evaluation of the Company’s strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats and a discussion of the auction industry’s best practices used by international auction houses as they related to New Orleans Auction Galleries is also found. The report concludes with recommendations made by the intern, for the Company’s future sustainability in the auction market.

Essays On The Role Of Institutional Ownership In Bank Governance, Mohammad Jafarinejad

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three chapters, focusing on U.S. bank holding companies from 2007 to 2013 to explore the role of institutional ownership in bank governance. In addition to the impact of ownership proportion, I explore the impact of ownership dispersion among institutional investors on bank safety, profitability and performance.

In Chapter I, I show that the proportion of institutional ownership in banks has increased significantly after the recent financial crisis. Moreover, I examine the impact of institutional ownership proportion and dispersion on bank safety using capital ratios (i.e., Tier 1 and Tier 2 capital ratios) and credit risk (i.e. …

The Economic Impact Of The 2015 Conference Usa Baseball Tournament In Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Kyle A. Stoner

Honors Theses

This study aims to measure the economic impact of the 2015 Conference USA Baseball Tournament hosted by The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Attendees of the event were selected at random to participate in an intercept survey to gauge financial data spent within the Forrest and Lamar County, Mississippi area. An Economic Modeling Systems International Input-Output analysis was used to process the data. This processed data was analyzed and results were determined based on the estimated multiplier and tax effect at the local and state level. These multiplier figures yielded a change in earnings in the local area …

Financial Literacy In High School Education, Chelsea N. Simmons

Honors Theses

Personal finance has become increasingly complicated in the past thirty years due to globalization and financial engineering. Americans are faced with new financial products and decisions, and many do not have the knowledge or expertise to successfully manage their finances. Financial literacy is especially low among young adults. Individual states have responded by introducing a personal finance course into the high school curriculum. This course may be an elective or a requirement for graduation. This study begins to examine personal finance curriculum in high schools and the effect such coursework has on overall financial literacy when students reach college.

The Question Of Financial Career Paths: Which Graduate Program And/Or Professional Certification Leads To The Greatest Income And Level Of Satisfaction Based On A Survey Of Professionals Working Within The Accounting/Finance Fields?, Tanner M. Shaw

Honors Theses

Thousands of men and women across the United States graduate from accounting and finance undergraduate programs and find themselves uncertain about what the future holds and what steps should be taken in order to maximize their odds of meeting their personal goals related to job satisfaction and level of income. This study aims to evaluate graduate degree and non-graduate-degree alternatives, as well as the CPA and CFA professional designations in terms of the likelihood of each route leading to high job satisfaction and a high level of income. To that end, a survey of successful accounting and finance professionals was …

An Analysis Of Gender Effects And Career Choices In Public Accounting, Amanda M. Odom

Honors Theses

Public accountants and students evaluated career success before and after career actions by public accountants, represented by resumes that were randomly assigned traditionally male or feminine names. Bias in favor of the resumes with a traditionally male name was initially detected, but after implementing recommendations from subjects, subject assessments favored resumes with a traditionally female name. This suggests that career choices matter and that choices can mitigate or even overcome gender bias in public accounting.

A Study Of Perceptions Of Pay Systems, Kayla S. Alford

Honors Theses

This is a study which is interested in perceptions people have toward the varying forms of labor compensation. It specifically compares perceptions of hourly pay with those of performance-based pay(PBP). A survey instrument was used to gather individual perceptions of pay systems by sampling the students in the College of Business at a southern university. This study tested and confirmed that PBP is rated significantly more positive than hourly pay by its respondents. This study also tests whether workplace experience or classroom experience has a significant impact on respondents’ ratings of PBP or hourly pay. Respondents rated PBP attributes more …

Reanalyzing The Political Stability Of Britain's Democratization, Nathan R. Burton

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

A recent article in Journal of Economic History by Dasgupta and Ziblatt uses bond yields to analyze the political risk of the 19th century democratization legislation of Britain known as the Reform Acts. Dasgupta and Ziblatt find that the volatility of yields is relatively high during periods of legislation, and model the yields via GAM method, concluding that the political risk associated with the Reform Acts was high. I reproduce the study and comparing those times of 'high' volatility to all periods and find nothing to compare high-volatility periods to, suggesting that it is inconclusive whether the Reform Acts were …

Effectiveness Of Engineering, Procurement And Construction (Epc) Major Projects In Abu Dhabi’S Oil And Gas Industry: End-User’S Perspective, Mohamed Salem Obaid Aldhaheri

Business Administration Dissertations

Even though project management discipline is gearing towards the improvement of project effectiveness, traditional project management is responding slowly due to either false preconceptions or ineffective communication among project parties. A research study is needed to contribute to knowledge and practice on the effectiveness of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracting strategy and consequently increase the chance of achieving product success at the site level. The objective of the research presented herein is to assess the effectiveness of EPC contracting strategy in meeting product objectives, from the end user’s perspective. Required data are collected using an online survey questionnaire targeting …