Business Commons^™

Internship At Metalwest As A Market Researcher, Jolynn Marie Carr

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

I was accepted and worked as an intern for the company Metalwest. (They have since merged with another company and are now called O'Neal Industries.) My internship title was Market Researcher. As a market researcher, I was in charge of discovering vital information for future growth of the company. I participated in research in order to expand Metalwest's business into government agencies as well as discover possible customers outside of the government. I researched using the internet, books, and phone calls.

Ogden Valley Development Analysis And Plan, Alex Daines, Cooper Larsen, Nate Naegle, Chris Ransom

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

A team of four Huntsman Scholars undertook an intensive, semester-long project, analyzing how the Ogden Valley Planning Commission could best ensure sustainable, wise development in its pristine Valley, preventing unwise overdevelopment down the road. The final presentation, with analysis and recommendations, was made on May 6, 2014, in Ogden before the Ogden Valley Planning Commission and members of the public. The results were praised highly by Planning Commissioner Pen Hollist.

Crony Chronicles Website Redesign, Lindsey Marie Mcbride

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The policy team at the Charles Koch Institute is broken into different areas of research. During my summer internship, I was assigned to research crony capitalism with four other members of the policy team. Along with their research on crony capitalism, these team members maintained a website called cronychronicles.org. For a definition of crony capitalism, or cronyism, see Appendix C. The goal of the website was to be "the leading online resource for everything related to cronyism" (About Us). I was very interested in the research I was conducting on crony capitalism, and enjoyed contributing information to the Crony Chronicles …

An Exercise In Bayesian Econometric Analysis Probit And Linear Probability Models, Brooke Jeneane Siler

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

The aim of this paper is to carry out a Bayesian econometric application. Using a dataset obtained from Wooldridge's Introductory Econometrics textbook, each step in conducting a Bayesian econometric analysis is performed and explained. For illus- trative and comparative purposes, two limited dependent variable regression forms were used: a linear probability model and a probit model. This paper covers the ben- ets of Bayesian methodology, including selection of distributions for the prior and the likelihood. Additionally, a series of diagnostic checks are done after the models are computed.

Bayesian Inference: Probit And Linear Probability Models, Nate Rex Reasch

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

The following paper analyzes the benets of Bayes' theorem in applied econo- metrics. This is accomplished by demonstrating each step in conducting Bayesian inference. This includes the prior selection, the likelihood function, posterior simula- tion, and model diagnostics. To provide a concrete example I replicate, by Bayesian inference, the main model of Blau, Brough, and Thomas.(2013) This model is found in their research paper titled, Corporate lobbying, Political Connections, and the Bailout of Banks. The analysis focuses on two dierent forms of limited dependent variable regressions, the probit and linear probability model. The benets of Bayesian econo- metrics were extensive …

Risk Perception In Online Communities, Jason R. Couraud

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Online communities have become a part of everyday life for many people. The members of the communities use them to keep in touch with family and friends, do business, look for jobs, play games, and more, both savory and unsavory. The ease of sharing personal information comes with the subsequent risk of having that information exposed publically or even stolen. The purpose of this study was to explore how much awareness of the risks affects a person’s decision to post personal information to an online community.

Chapter I introduces the concepts and issues that will be investigated by this paper. …

Contributing Factors To The Success Of Small-Scale Diversified Farms In The Mountain West, Mary Shepherd

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study uses ordered logistic regression models with data collected from eighty-six online surveys completed by small-scale producers in Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, and Wyoming to assess factors which most contribute to the overall success and profitability of small-scale diversified farms. Results indicate success and profitability may be partially explained by the number of acres owned/leased, use of wholesale outlets, farming as a primary occupation, years of experience, and use of outside business related services. Results may be useful as they indicate producer and operation characteristics that are lead to more profitable and successful operations and thus indicate areas in …

Multinational Firms In India: Conducting Ethical Business, Ashley Foster

Supply Chain Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper seeks to understand the current business environment in India as it relates to multinational companies completing their goals in an ethical manner. The purpose of the paper is to provide these firms with an insight into the cultural mindset behind a corruption riddled economy, how this mindset pervades the current business environment in India, and a framework through which they can create effective anti-corruption measures.

Crowdfunding In Museums, Melanie R. Bump

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The successes of websites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo have propelled the popularity of crowdfunding and have made it a viable mode of fundraising in museums. Museums have used crowdfunding to raise funds for a wide variety of purposes including purchasing property, construction, disaster recovery, exhibition production, educational programs, and artifact conservation. An increasing number of museums have launched campaigns through various crowdfunding websites, experiencing varying degrees of success. In order to use crowdfunding as an effective fundraising tool, it is important to understand all the factors that contribute to the overall achievement of a crowdfunding campaign.

This thesis describes …

Does Optimism Pass On To The Employees? The Impact Of Supervisor Optimism On Employees In Small And Medium Sized Businesses, Roger S. Brown

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The focus of this dissertation primarily examines the optimism contagion from the supervisor to his/her employees. Though the literature has discussed different types of optimism such as dispositional optimism (Scheier & Carver, 2006; Chang, 1998; Segerstrom, 2006) and unrealistic optimism (Weinstein, 1980; McKenna, 1993; Radcliffe & Klein, 2002), this paper will focus on trait and state optimism. State optimism (which relates to particular situation) is theorized as being easily transferrable when compared to trait optimism. The level of the transfer will depend on the emotional expressivity of the supervisor. The facets of emotional expressivity are impulse strength, positive expressivity and …

Consumer Evaluation Of Corporate Social Responsibility: New Insights From The Expectancy Confirmation/Disconfirmation Paradigm, Roberto Saldivar

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Consumer-centric corporate social responsibility studies have focused on consumer evaluation of CSR perceptions (Stanaland, Lwin, and Murphy 2011) without addressing the consumer’s CSR expectations (e.g. Russell and Russell 2010, Schuhwerk and Lefkoff-Hagius 1995, Sen and Bhattacharya 2001). This discovery motivates this study that utilizes the expectancy confirmation/disconfirmation paradigm (Erevelles and Leavitt 1992; Oliver 1985; Tse and Wilton 1988) to offer novel insights of consumers’ evaluations of CSR information and subsequent consequences in terms of customer satisfaction, referral, purchase intention and willingness to pay premium. Two studies, each with a unique design and sample, were developed to test 13 hypotheses. In …

An Inventory Management Readiness Assessment Model, Joseph J. Castrodale

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Within the realm of today's business world, cutting costs is extremely important. One of the largest contributors to the total cost of a business is related to inventory. Even though it is known by business persons that inventory is a major component to cost, not every company realizes how well they are managing their inventory. While inventory management is a valued part of any business, it is not always evident how well an organization is performing in this area. This research has resulted in the development of an Inventory Management Readiness Assessment Tool for use by supply chain professionals. The …

Detailed Inventory Record Inaccuracy Analysis, Hayrettin Kaan Okyay

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation performs a methodical analysis to understand the behavior of inventory record inaccuracy (IRI) when it is influenced by demand, supply and lead time uncertainty in both online and offline retail environment separately. Additionally, this study identifies the susceptibility of the inventory systems towards IRI due to conventional perfect data visibility assumptions. Two different alternatives for such methods are presented and analyzed; the IRI resistance and the error control methods. The discussed methods effectively countered various aspects of IRI; the IRI resistance method performs better on stock-out and lost sales, whereas error control method keeps lower inventory. Furthermore, this …

The Greehey Scholars Program As An Innovative Solution To The Student Debt And Employment Crisis Of Recent Graduates, Matthew White

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

The cost of attending a public university rose 42% from 2000 to 2011 (National). This alarming rate, paired with the increasingly competitive employment landscape, forces universities to find unique differentiators when recruiting prospective students. Institutions, which students pay large sums of money to attend, have an obligation to prepare graduates for successful careers. Universities have no choice but to innovate, creating new programs and opportunities for students to attend college and gain the skills necessary to obtain a job upon graduation.

One such example of a program that meets both of these challenges is the Greehey Scholars Program (GSP). The …

Essays On Consumer's Psychological And Behavioral Responses Toward Social Coupons, Chinintorn Nakhata

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traditional economic theory suggests that consumers are likely to prepay for a product/ service that appears to be heavily discounted. However, in reality, many consumers do not think and act to achieve that goal. This is evident in consumer's psychological and behavioral responses toward a new type of price promotion, namely social coupons (SCs) (i.e., online coupons that offer consumers a substantial discount with a long redemption period when they prepay for a retailer's products/services). Such responses generate vital impacts not only on consumers themselves in terms of saving maximization but also on service retailers (e.g., sit-down dining restaurants) and …

The Effectiveness Of Viral Advertising Messaging Techniques On Social Media, David Teeples

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

Is Geographic Diversification Associated With Increased Risk? Evidence From The Spanish Banking Crisis, Briana Anderson

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This paper examines the association between geographic diversification and Spanish savings bank (caja) failure. The paper focuses on the geographic expansion of cajas between 2002 and 2012 and failure of several cajas between 2008 and 2011 during the Spanish banking crisis. Employing financial statement and branch location data collected from the CECA, logit models were used to test the association between failure and geographic and cultural diversification. This paper finds that, depending on the model estimated, geographic and cultural diversification of cajas either reduced or had no effect on the odds ratio of failure, suggesting that the benefits …

Autopsy Of The Banking Crisis: Examining The Impact Of Director Characteristics On Bank Failures, Gregory L. Prescott

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

The catastrophic impact of the recent financial crisis on the banking industry reverberated throughout the United States and had contagion effects worldwide. Congressional inquiries, media scrutiny, and the public alleged failure of the boards of directors to effectively discharge their governance responsibilities. The objective of this study was to investigate how certain characteristics of directors on a bank‘s board are related to bank failure—specifically whether the presence of directors with banking industry–specific experience and accounting expertise is related to a bank‘s likelihood of failure. The study also examined how board director tenure is related to bank failure.

I employed a …

Wmu Career And Student Employment Services – Present Practices And Future Recommendations For Employer Relations, Amanda Jeppesen

Honors Theses

Career services offices currently find themselves in a rapidly changing environment. Due to economic hardship, students and employers are expecting more effective and fruitful engagement, and offices must create innovative solutions to provide such engagement on shrinking budgets. Career services staff charged with conducting employer relations activities are charged with brokering these relationships between employers, students, faculty and staff, and the offerings of their departments. The purpose of this study is to determine current practices for the career services offices at Western Michigan University, Oakland University, and Central Michigan University. Then, best practices identified by industry experts will be explored …

The Relationship Between Fashion Blogs And Intention To Purchase And Word Of Mouth Behavior, Cassidy L. Vineyard

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Blogs are an influential social media platform and a powerful marketing tool (Hsu & Tsou, 2011). A corporate fashion blog is an online product community. Online product communities established by retailers enable customers to interact with the company as well as amongst themselves (Nambisan & Watt, 2011). Online communities are a social space wherein relationships and ties are formed among the members and a common set of values and norms are established and shared (Nambisan & Watt, 2011).

The objective of this study was threefold. First it explored what factors shape readers’ intention to browse products on blogs. Based on …

Segmenting Segmentation: A Taxonomy Bridging Theory And Practice Of Strategic Consumer Segmentation, Andrew Thomas Thoeni

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Beginning with Chamberlin’s explanations of market variation in 1933, segmentation has been formally studied for eighty years. While more than 2,700 studies have been published (most as studies on statistical methods of segmentation), scant evidence has been gathered on the role market segmentation plays in strategy formulation and what has been presented has not been adequately classified to provide a basis for further comparative study. Based on Resource-Advantage theory, this dissertation defines a taxonomy of strategic segmentation that depicts how a firm’s view of a market relates to its assumed heterogeneity of the market and how a firm approaches a …

Vendor Firm Characteristics And Buyers' Perceptions Of Transaction Costs And Relationship Governance, Imran M. Khan

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

The utilization of outsourced business services continues to grow as organizations focus on core competencies. Outsourced services span the gamut from financial services to information processing to engagement of third party logistic services by enterprise customers. When outsourcing business services, organizational buyers often have to select from a plethora of small, mid-sized, and large vendors that offer competing services at comparable prices. Given this choice conundrum, what factors influence buyers’ perceptions of vendors and their capacity to deliver expected value?

The current research integrates three distinct, yet related, theoretical streams including transaction cost, vendor selection, and buyer-seller relational exchange in …

Crisis Management: A Qualitative Study Of Extreme Event Leadership, Charles A. Casto

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Several extreme events are examined in this dissertation to better understand the implications of such events for expanding the existing knowledge of crisis leadership. Through interviews with leaders that had direct leadership roles in extreme events such as the Fukushima nuclear reactor explosions, Deepwater Horizon oilrig explosion, and Super Storm Sandy, in addition to national leadership, e.g. White House Situation Room, an in-depth, cross-case analysis of leadership in extreme crises is presented. Previous literature concludes that the abilities of leaders are second only to the cause of the event itself in determining the outcome of a disaster but due to …

Stuck In The Middle: The Impact Of Implementing Corporate Decisions On Middle Managers' Justice Perceptions, Lee A. Macenczak

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Prior research in the field of organizational justice has primarily focused on the specific justice dimensions and their impact on individual workers. This study takes a new direction by examining justice perceptions in a previously unexamined group, middle managers. Recent studies have argued that specific dimensions of justice influence the development of an individual’s overall justice perceptions and that a focus on overall justice may provide a more complete understanding of the justice construct and more accurately capture the individual’s experience. Missing from the literature is an examination of how the justice perceptions of middle managers are impacted when implementing …

Great Expectations: Does Receipt Of Student Loans Cause Students To Choose Stem Majors?, Lavar Clemarcus Edmonds

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Framing Identity & Change In The Experience Of Interns, Bryleigh Loughlin

Honors Theses

The definition and framing of identity in scholarly work often focuses how an individual conducts identity work in response to identity regulation in order to construct a coherent self. This study expands upon this framework by illuminating the ways that undergraduate interns frame what identity is and the consequences of their framing for their resulting identity construction (identity work). Based on in-depth qualitative interviews, this study demonstrates how participants either framed identity as a stable entity or fluid construct. This study encourages the exploration and discovery of the colloquial ways workers define and discuss identity, so that scholars can understand …

Technology Acceptance In A Mandatory Environment: A Test Of An Integrative Pre-Implementation Model., Mohanned Al-Arabiat

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

Technology acceptance has been studied extensively within the IS discipline. The introduction of the technology acceptance model (TAM) has given researchers the opportunity to produce a vast body of knowledge; however, existing gaps within the technology acceptance literature warrant further investigation of these understudied areas. Namely, few if any have studied end users’ acceptance of newly implemented technologies within organizational contexts before end-users start using the technology. Additionally, leadership is one of the areas that has not yet been sufficiently integrated with the technology acceptance literature. The Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory with its roots in the social exchange theory offers …

Adoption Of Social Media Marketing Among Professionals, Liana Moran

Honors College Theses

Social media marketing is the professional use of social media websites such as Facebook for marketing purposes. This thesis project examines the adoption patterns and factors behind the decision to use social media marketing among professionals. The researcher conducted in-depth interviews with business professionals from the real estate rental industry in Statesboro, Georgia, and analyzed the results and implications using thematic analysis. Everett Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory provides the theoretical framework for the research with social media marketing being the innovation. The participants identified that observability, relative advantage and complexity/simplicity were major factors for adopting social media marketing. The …

The Effectiveness Internal Auditing Has To Help Improving Companies, Kelsey Miller

Honors Theses

Internal auditing is an independent consulting activity done within the company to insure and improve a company’s operation. The thesis is going to look at, if internal auditing has good effectiveness and efficiency in helping improve companies. Can internal auditing help a company stay on the right track? In the past, there has been much fraud, lies, scandals made by big companies, like Enron and Worldcom. These upsets have cost investors billions of dollars when the share prices of affected companies collapsed. Internal auditing should be able to know what is going on in the company and create ways to …

Essays On Mergers And Acquisitions, Marcin Krolikowski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation includes two essays that examine mergers and acquisitions. In the first essay we examine how pay-for-performance influences the quality of merger decisions before and after Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). Pay-for performance has a significant positive effect on acquirer returns of 0.9% pre-SOX and 1.1% post-SOX around the three day event window. Bidders with high pay-for-performance pay a 23.3% lower merger premium in listed target acquisitions. The positive effect of pay-for-performance is more important for public target acquisitions overall, for small acquirers pre-SOX, and for large acquirers post-SOX. In the long-run, bidders with high pre-merger pay-for-performance experience 27.6% higher returns after …