Business Commons^™

Caffeine Consumption Habits And Perceptions Among University Of New Hampshire Students, Nicole L. Olsen

Honors Theses and Capstones

College students in today’s society have become dependent on caffeine in order to perform at their best in multiple facets of their hectic lives, including classes, clubs, and internships. This study focuses on the specific reasons why college students at the University of New Hampshire are consuming caffeine, where they purchase it, what types of caffeinated beverages they are consuming, and how much they are consuming on a daily basis. The results from the study indicate that coffee is the most popular caffeinated product on campus, and that Dunkin’ Donuts at the MUB is the most popular place to buy …

Reactions Of Generation Y To Luxury Hotel Twitter Promotions, Katherine M. Woods

Honors Theses and Capstones

Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks (Merriam-Webster, 2013). Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites (Evans, 2008). In today’s society, social media refers mainly to websites including (but not limited to) Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+. The most popular and fastest growing of these social media venues is Twitter. Twitter was founded in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone. Since 2006, almost 200 million users across the globe …

Farm To Table: A Look Into Who Supports It And Its Significance In America Today, Marissa Iacono

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Female Authority In A Globalizing Market, Megan R. Mccann

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

American Consumer Confidence & Income: Relationship With The Stock Market, Caitlin C. Tappan

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Next Generation Of Entrepreneurs, Christopher Schwab

Honors Theses and Capstones

A.R. (Venky) Venkatachalam, Ph.D. (Associate Dean of Academic Programs & Professor of Information Systems) and I believe that the steps to insure future entrepreneurial success have not been taken; therefore my intention is to provide quality insight regarding the importance of embracing our next generation of entrepreneurs.

The Progression Of Financial Restatements: Causes And Market Reaction, Kimberly M. Jarry

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Pba Format Change: Aligning With Fan Motivations?, Jeremy Armison

Sport Management Undergraduate

According to the 2007 US Census, bowling has one of the highest participation rates in sports. With 43.5 million participants it ranked 5th in sports/activities behind walking, exercising with equipment, swimming, and camping, yet it struggles at the professional level (US Census, 2007). Changes to the format of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) have been made in the past with little success. The PBA is hoping to change that with this new format change which includes team competition. Team sport spectators are motivated by different factors than individual sport spectators but there has not been research done on PBA fans. …

Formal And Informal Institutional Influences On Multinational Enterprise Social Responsibility: Two Empirical Studies, Dawn L. Keig

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

How do environmental institutional influences in a multinational enterprise’s (MNE’s) portfolio of locations affect social responsibility (and irresponsibility)? To explore this question, I engaged in two complementary empirical research studies, each exploring a particular subset of the MNE portfolio environment-social responsibility dynamic.

The first study applies the concept of institutional distance from the international business literature to examine how the differences in formal and informal institutional environments across a firm’s full portfolio of operating locations can affect its social performance. I hypothesize and find that firms with greater informal institutional distance within their locations will have lower overall levels of …

A Contemporary Examination Of The Miles And Snow Strategic Typology Through The Lenses Of Dynamic Capabilities And Ambidexterity, Marc D. Sollosy

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

This study’s focuses on the examination of the Miles and Snow typology through the lenses of dynamic capabilities with a particular emphasis on ambidexterity. While each element of the typology has received varying degrees of study in both the management and marketing literature, to date, no study has examined the typology, as first proposed by Miles and Snow under the influence of either dynamic capabilities or ambidexterity. This study proposes to examine the alignment of the three elements of the typology with each other and the four strategic archetypes identified by Miles and Snow. It was Hambrick’s observation in his …

Two Essays On The Knowledge-Based View Of The Firm: The Impact Of Local Market Knowledge On Domestic Firm Performance In Both Transitional And Developed Economies, Ted B. Randall

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Are there strategies that domestic transitional economy firms (TEFs) can use in order to be successful given the increasing numbers of multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in their home country markets? How do domestically focused, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developed economies maintain satisfactory levels of performance when faced with the superior resources of MNEs and the resulting increased competitiveness in domestic industrial markets?

I attempt to answer these two questions in two separate papers. In the first paper, I examine TEFs by using research on the knowledge-based view of the firm (KBV) to create and test a new theory …

Two Essays On The Unintended Consequences Of Sarbanes-Oxley On Small Banks And Small Businesses, Earl C. Howell

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

These essays examine the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on small banks (Essay #1) and small businesses (Essay #2). Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), passed in 2002 by the Congress of the United States, was intended to enhance the security of the public shareholder through extensive reporting and compliance programs. As some compliance costs are fixed, the costs of SOX would logically fall disproportionately upon smaller banks, possibly producing unintended consequences. These costs if significant may impact the bank’s choice of strategy. How then can the bank respond? The expectation of a negative impact on small banks is well documented, and consistent with …

The Impact Of Social Influence Pressure On Cfo Judgments, Carol C. Bishop

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Through an experiment, this study examines the influence of social influence pressure on the Chief Financial Officer’s (CFO’s) financial reporting decisions. Specifically, I evaluate the impact of inappropriate obedience and compliance pressure from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on the CFO’s propensity to make revisions to financial results in order to meet an earnings target. This study also examines how followership propensities and core self-evaluations (CSE) influence the pressure effects. This study complements and expands archival research examining why CFOs appear to participate in material accounting manipulations (Feng, Ge, Luo, & Shevlin, 2011; Ge, Matsumoto, & Zhang, 2011).

The results …

Influences On Supply Manager Behavior Toward Environmental Responsibility, James Anthony Swaim

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

As firms invest a substantial amount of time, effort, and funds to purchase goods and services, it is questionable if organizations will reach environmental sustainability objectives without supply manager active involvement. Although existing research has identified low supply manager support for environmental buying, there is little theoretical understanding and explanation relating corporate environmental policies and objectives to individual behaviors. Consequently, this dissertation seeks to provide insight into understanding and overcoming a lack of supply manager support for environmental sustainability. A research model based on the Theory of Planned Behavior used survey data from practicing supply managers to study the behavioral …

Online Social Presence (Osp) In E-Tailing: Construct Development And Testing, Russell Reams

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

This research proposes and validates the Online Social Presence (OSP) scale and framework as an effective means of addressing the struggle e-tailers have encountered in attempting to create persuasive and effective online retailing experiences, which persuade customers to purchase their products and services. Online Social Presence (OSP) reexamines and extends the original social presence theory to the complex and dynamic e-tailing environment to address research that indicates that the typical online shopping experience lacks warmth and sociability.

A robust mixture of qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed to validate the Online Social Presence (OSP) as containing three reflectively measured …

Investing In Sustainability: Making Portsmouth, New Hampshire A Sustainable City, David Freeman

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Twitter By Luxury And Midscale Hotels, Yolanda M. Tselepidakis

Honors Theses and Capstones

Twitter has demanded a presence in company brands since its start up in 2008, including the hotel industry. As an up and coming marketing tool, the social media website is still new to both hotels and their guests. Observing the different strategies incorporated by luxury and midscale hotels, the paper provides explanations on how these two segments differ in utilizing Twitter. Through direct interviews with US luxury and midscale hotels and analyzing individual Twitter feeds, it was found that luxury hotels and their target market are much more active on Twitter than the midscale hotel segment. Implications suggest that although …

Trade Evolution And Exchange Market Pressures, Bradley Rotter

Honors Theses

This paper looks at the relationship between trade openness and an exchange rate volatility index called exchange market pressure. The theory behind the paper is that increasing trade flows between nations should reduce economic volatility, as it allows for the correct allocation of goods and services across borders. The results show a negative relationship between an increase in trade openness and volatility as measured by exchange market pressures. The empirical estimate is based on 20 OECD nations from 1992 to 2007. Although, trade shows some impact on volatility, most instability arises from systematic risks that are felt globally.

Organizational Change: Models For Successfully Implementing Change, Ashley May Calder

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Does it matter what change model is used to make a change in an organization? If so, why? Are certain models more effective than others based on the kind of change that is made (i.e. technology-based verses people-based)? What overlaps exist between these models? What is the strongest point of each model? What is the weakest point? Are any of the change models currently used in companies? This article defines three change models: ADIKAR, Lewin's Change Model and John Kotter's Eight Steps for Leading Organizational Change. Using 16 personal interviews with individuals from large and small companies, I will explain …

Fashion Adoption Behaviors Of Women In Manhattan Related To Spring 2012 Apparel Fashion Trends, Nicole Powell

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to look at the spring trends for 2012 and then compare them that to what the women of Manhattan are actually wearing, during the same season. I wanted to understand how women were adopting the fashion trends from Spring 2012 and turning them into part of their own self-identified style. I went on a research trip to New York City from May 6th to May 12th and spent a great deal of time, on the streets, observing and taking pictures of what real Manhattan women are wearing. For this project, I focused on four …

Allowing For Low-Cost Labor In Underdeveloped And Developing Countries As A Method For Initiating Economic Industrialization, Jordon A. Wolfram

Selected Honors Theses

The topic presented here closely examines the link between low-cost labor and the affect that it has on initiating industrialization in underdeveloped and developed countries. It can ultimately create a better standard of living for a country’s general population in the future, but the initial conditions for the laborers can be harsh. The low wage labor force achieves this goal by creating a competitive labor market which has the ability to stimulate economic growth. Once the initial steps of creating manufacturing and industry are achieved, then the general standard of living has robust potential to increase in the country as …

Competitive Versus Collaborative: Exploring The Negotiation Strategy Impact On Relational Outcomes In Ongoing Buyer-Supplier Relationships, Stephanie Powell Thomas

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Negotiations are important interactions in ongoing buyer-supplier relationships. Previous research has identified two commonly utilized types of negotiation strategies that are incorporated into buyer-supplier negotiation encounters. The collaborative strategy seeks to achieve an outcome that is mutually beneficial, while a competitive strategy is focused on individual outcomes. The purpose of this dissertation is to utilize a multi-method research approach to examine the relational impact of negotiation strategies choices. Study One utilized a scenario based experiment methodology. A priori hypotheses were developed based on Social Exchange Theory and its reciprocity tenet. The experimental results indicate that the use of a competitive …

Employability Advantages Of Marketing Education Industry Certification Examinations, Devon Ashley Elmore

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Industry certification of workplace skills is emerging as a key educational movement for career and technical education programs. Many states are now integrating credentialing into their programs with the goal of preparing students with labor market advantages. However, there is little empirical evidence to support the notion that obtaining an industry certification provides students with employability advantages. As a result, the purpose of this study is to collect and analyze empirical data to determine whether obtaining an industry credential can assist a prospective student with job obtainment.

This dissertation examines the use of the National Retail Foundation (NRF) Customer Service …

An Epistemological Inquiry Into The Incorporation Of Emergency Management Concept In The Homeland Security With A Post-Disaster Security Centric Focus, Mehmet Secilmis

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The historical roots of the Emergency Management concept in the U.S. date back to 19th century. As disasters occurred, policies relating to disaster response have been developed, and many statuary provisions, including several Federal Disaster Relief Acts, conceptually established the framework of Emergency Management. In 1979, with the foundation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), disaster relief efforts were finally institutionalized, and the federal government acknowledged that Emergency Management included mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery activities as abbreviated 'MPRR.'

However, after 2000, the U.S. experienced two milestone events - the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and Hurricane Katrina …

Three Essays On Corporate Liquidity, Financial Crisis, And Real Estate, Kimberly Fowler Luchtenberg

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

The first essay examines why firms with access to lines of credit (LOC) have different drawdowns and their implications for asset pricing, investment and profitability. Utilizing a hand-collected LOC dataset that extends the sample of Sufi (2009) to 2010, our principal finding is that firms with greater LOC usage are more financially constrained than firms with lower LOC usage. We also document that high users of credit lines have higher risk-adjusted returns, less investment in capital expenditures and employment, and lower profitability than low LOC users. An interesting implication of our evidence is that high LOC drawdowns could serve as …

Project Management Professional Training Needs For Defense Industry Projects, Cole Jerome Kupec Ii

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the Project Management Professional credential requirements encompass the knowledge for project managers required to effectively manage defense industry projects. This study used a four-round Delphi methodology to solicit opinions of defense industry project management professionals about current project management credential curriculum and if that curriculum reflects the realities of the current project management environment.

Two research questions guided this study: 1) Do government contractors working on defense projects use project management knowledge and abilities that are different from what the Project Management Professional credential requires? and 2) Are there additional skill …

Identifying, Tracking, And Prioritizing Parts Unavailability, Troy T. Huber

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force is pursuing several efficiency initiatives designed to reduce support function costs. One such initiative is an effort to reduce the flow days of items being repaired in the Air Force's organic depots. Many end items are affected by awaiting parts (AWP) delays, which increase total flow days. The first step in reducing AWP delays is to identify which piece parts are causing the delays. A gap analysis was conducted to identify a process for creating a list of piece parts that are causing AWP delays. In addition, a clinimetric method was used to develop an aggregate measure …

Continuous Process Improvement At Tinker Air Logistics Complex, Robert S. Rabon

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Logistics Centers (ALC) represent the Air Force's largest Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) Operations. The ALCs strive to become leaner by reducing Work In Progress (WIP) inventory, reducing flow times, and increasing product quality to meet aircraft and engine demand levels. The Toyota Production System (TPS) is considered the best example of lean manufacturing by many. TPS utilizes the ingenuity of Toyota employees to generate Continuous Process Improvement (CPI). Achieving CPI can aid the ALCs in reducing operating capital while providing increased levels of service. The Air Force as a whole has made several attempts to get lean. …

An Empirical Investigation Of Usaf Logistics Readiness Officer Mission Sets, Matthew D. Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

USAF Logistics Readiness Officers (LRO) operate in an evolving environment which necessitates growing multi-faceted LROs capable of succeeding across all mission sets. Because of this evolving nature, the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) needed in these mission sets may have changed. This study sought to validate the mission sets an LRO operates in, identify critical KSAs needed within each, discover overlap, and to determine if the KSAs are being adequately taught. The problem was addressed through qualitative content analysis of interviews and focus groups comprised of logistics practitioners in the Air Force. Analysis led to validating Deployment, Distribution, Materiel Management, …

Strategic Consolidation Of Medical War Reserve Material (Wrm) Equipment Unit Type Codes (Utc) Assemblages, Chad W. Whitson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the strategic consolidation of medical WRM equipment UTC assemblages located within the contiguous United States. Following a 2003 consolidation assessment, the Air Force Medical Logistics Office (AFMLO) consolidated some of the medical UTCs at three Consolidated WRM Storage and Deployment Centers (CSDC) located at Kelly Field Annex, Travis AFB, and Charleston AFB. While many UTCs were consolidated at that time, currently only 17 of the possible 142 equipment UTC assemblages are entirely consolidated at one of those three locations. After adding three additional bases as possible consolidation locations, this study attempts to minimize the cost of full …