Business Commons^™

Redesigned Wine Labels And Consumer Preferences, Alison (Ali) Maddox

Agribusiness

When purchasing a bottle of wine, the first impression the consumer gets is from the wine label. In today’s competitive market, it is important that wineries understand consumer preferences and purchasing decisions when evaluating a wine bottle. This study was undertaken to determine the relationship between redesigned wine labels and consumer preferences. A survey was distributed to residents of San Luis Obispo and 194 people responded. It was found that consumers preferred the original label to the redesigned label. Respondents listed quality, good value, and varietal and the most important wine feature and unique, eye-catching, and colorful as the most …

Paired Price Comparisons Of Farmers’ Market And Supermarket Produce In San Luis Obispo County, Paulina Janda Swenson

Agribusiness

This study was undertaken to determine whether farmers’ markets or supermarkets in San Luis Obispo County are a better outlet for purchasing fresh produce based on paired price comparisons. Prices of fifteen produce items were chosen but later reduced to six because of seasonality, were observed and recorded at three farmers’ markets and three paired supermarkets over a period of five weeks.

Once all price data was collected, each farmers’ market was matched against their paired supermarket to find which market offered a lower average price. ANOVA tests were then performed to test the mean prices of the two market …

Google+: Are Wineries Willing To Adopt?, Michelle Witherwax

Agribusiness

This study was performed in order to assess wineries’ willingness to adopt the social media platform Google+ as a way to market to consumers. More specifically, the study examined current social media use along with different types of brand personality to determine if these factors had an influence on a winery’s willingness to adopt this platform.

A survey was given to 50 wineries located in San Luis Obispo County, and this survey data was taken and analyzed using statistical tests. Frequency tests were used in order to determine which responses were most frequently answered and to determine the percentage each …

Internship With Mission Produce, Inc., Joshua Elias Krueger

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

Partial Budgeting Analysis Of On-Site Calf Raising Versus Off-Site Calf Raising, Ashley Diana Oostdam

Agribusiness

This study examined whether it is more cost effective for a dairyman who operates two dairies (A and B) in west Texas to own-raise or custom raise his dairy calves. The two dairies currently raise calves differently: calves are own raised on Dairy A and custom raised on Dairy B. Existing resources would allow a switch to own raising on Dairy B or custom raising by Dairy A, so an analysis of the comparative costs was appropriate.

This study analyzed information on key costs associated with own raising calves on Dairy A during a 135-day period in 2011. Because differences …

Swot Analysis For The Installation Of The Teleflora Direct Marketing System For April Flowers, Rae Marie Boghossian

Agribusiness

This project aims to determine the benefits of installing a direct marketing system for April Flowers, a small flower shop in San Luis Obispo. Through the increased use of wire-in, meaning through the use of internet communication, floral design, where individual shops can send orders that are out of area to a local florist instead, there is a broader sense of community amongst florists of all styles. In the shop, there is already an existing wire-in system established through Teleflora, one of the newer aspects of the floral industry, leading the way in the advancement of florists around the country. …

Imf: Predatory Lender Or Latin America’S Best Chance?, Paul Thomas Smith

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Recently, there has been heated debate as to whether or not assistance from the International Monetary Fund has proven to be a great humanitarian effort or a scheme by Western governments to keep emerging Latin American countries in debt. The IMF partners with numerous governments in order to create a collective monetary community from which all may benefit in times of need. These partnered countries are also able to apply for assistance if they find themselves in monetary hardships. Some studies have shown that the IMF has been too heavy handed, while other studies have shown that recipient governments may …

Comparative Models Of Cooperative Journalism, Mercedes N. Rodriguez

Journalism

No abstract provided.

The Sustainability Movement And Its Effects On The Trends Of Beauty Product Packaging, Sarah Danley

Graphic Communication

The purpose of this study is to examine industry professionals’ standpoints along with consumer demands and expectations pertaining to sustainable packaging, materials currently used in beauty product packaging, and advances in emerging trends within this sector. Using the information derived from these examinations, this study will predict the industry’s future direction and identify how the industry leaders should change in order to adapt their business practices to remain competitive and profitable within the industry.

This study made use of several research methods to gain insight on the impacts that the sustainability movement has had on the beauty and health packaging …

Transparency In The Fashion Industry: Social Media Use In Public Relations Strategies, Teri Akahoshi

Journalism

No abstract provided.

Modern Political Marketing: An Analysis Of Tactics, And The Changing Role Of The Media, Jill Donovan

Journalism

Political marketing is evolving. Campaigns now rely on political marketing for success in elections, without the marketing tactics they employ; their messaging would not be distributed to the voting public. In many of the political marketing models and theories, however, there is a massive omission; the role of traditional media as an overwhelmingly influential factor over the voting public, which can misconstrue and negatively impact the message of the candidate. This study analyses classical marketing tactics a political marketer uses, and examines the changing environment of traditional media with the rise of social networking.

Internal Audit And Key Stakeholders: Addressing Expectations While Maintaining Independence And Objectivity, Emily Lutz

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Agent Based Modeling And Simulation Framework For Supply Chain Risk Management, Tiffany J. Harper

Theses and Dissertations

This research develops a flexible agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) framework for supply chain risk management with significant enhancements to standard ABMS methods and supply chain risk modeling. Our framework starts with the use of software agents to gather and process input data for use in our simulation model. For our simulation model, we extend an existing mathematical framework for discrete event simulation (DES) to ABMS and then implement the concepts of variable resolution modeling from the DES domain to ABMS and provide further guidelines for aggregation and disaggregation of supply chain models. Existing supply chain risk management research focuses …

Trajnimi Dhe Zhvillimi I Burimeve Njerëzore, Dila Hasanaj

Theses and Dissertations

Qëllimi i këtij studimi është të kuptojmë rolin e trajnimit dhe zhvillimit të burimeve njerëzore në Kosovë.

Që një organizatë apo institucion të realizojë qëllimet e veta, ajo duhet jo vetëm të disponoj burimet e nevojshme, por edhe t’i përdorë ato me efektivitet.

Sot, gjithnjë e më tepër, në vend të termit “menaxhimi i personelit” po përdoret termi “menaxhimi i burimeve njerëzore”. A është kjo tendencë për një ndryshim, apo ka vërtetë një dallim midis këtyre dy koncepteve? Në literaturë ka mjaft debate lidhur me këtë çështje.[1]

Kështu, Torringon dhe Hall, në librin e tyre “Menaxhimi i Personelit” komentojnë …

How Do Corporate Philosophies Of Japanese Companies Influence Their Practice Of The Base Of The Economic Pyramid (Bop) Business And The Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr)?, Akane Matsumoto

Capstone Collection

The Base of the Economic Pyramid (BOP) business aims to alleviate social issues of developing countries, particularly these with low-income population, through business means by including the BOP population in the value chain as customers, producers, sellers, and business partners while private enterprises assure their profit.

How do corporate philosophies of Japanese private enterprises influence its practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and base of economic pyramid (BOP) business? A Japanese scholar that Japanese companies intrinsically possess traits potentially may be strengths upon BOP business implementation. With an emphasis on influence of corporate philosophy on the practice of CSR and …

An Examination Of Coordination Among Friends And Strangers From A Coordination Theory Perspective, Christopher D. Wamble

Theses

Within mobile social coordination, there is a field of study known as outeraction, the communicative processes used by people to manage future interactions. It is an important area of research because it identifies how informal interactions support complex collaboration between individuals and groups. Outeraction is primarily conducted through the interpersonal communication channels of texting, instant messaging (IM), face-to-face, and mobile phone or Skype conversations. Currently this area of research in mobile outeraction support systems is weak. It lacks a firm foundation in system building, has very few if any conceptual frameworks, and little empirical knowledge of user requirements and attitudes …

Two Essays On Small Capitilization Public Family And Nonfamily Firms, Philip Louis Fazio

HCBE Theses and Dissertations

This research links together disparate literature on family and nonfamily firms, large and small firms, and risk for small firms. The literature is not coherent in one theme: whether family firms operate with greater risk relative to nonfamily firms. Yet the literature finds performance advantage to family firms without an explanation of why family firms on average generate better accounting returns and values relative to nonfamily firms other than for reduced agency costs translated into value. The first essay examines two measures of risk--debt ratio and idiosyncratic risk--of small publicly held family firms relative to nonfamily firms to investigate differences …

Sales Promotions Effects On Brand Loyalty, Marife Mendez

HCBE Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation the field of promotion marketing was examined by studying the impact of sale promotions on brand royalty. More specifically, for products with different levels of involvement, the study assessed how effective different nonmonetary and monetary promotions are at retaining brand loyalty.

Two research questions were posed: (a) Will the effect of nonmonetary and monetary promotions on brand loyalty vary according to the extent of hedonism or utilitarian benefits for low and high involvement products? (b) Will the preference for nonmonetary or monetary promotions on brand loyalty have a greater or lesser effect for low and high involvement …

Three Essays On Financing And Investment Decisions In Small U.S. Firms, F. Blaise Roncagli

ETD Archive

This dissertation consists of three essays related to the financing and investment decisions of small U.S. firms. Each of the essays presents interesting and original empirical research questions, with hypotheses well-grounded in finance and economic theories. The empirical methodology, data and models that are used to test the hypotheses are presented for each essay. The three empirical questions addressed are (1) Why don't small firms take every trade credit discount offered to them? (2) What determines the cash holdings of small firms? and (3) Why do small firms make investments unrelated to their core business? This dissertation answers these questions …

The Impact Of Social Networking Sites On College Students' Consumption Patterns, Whitney Sue Thoene

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This research study examines the effect of social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter, on the purchasing habits of college students by testing for correlations between recommendations on social media and consumption patterns. Moreover, the research also examines the role of gender and social media usage frequency on consumption patterns. Findings revealed that both Facebook and Twitter are being used to obtain sales information and promotions. Furthermore, gender has an impact on both social networking sites. Additionally, this study found the higher the frequency of social media usage the more likely customers are to shop at the businesses they have befriended.

King's Daughters Medical Center: Taking Medicine Further: How A Local Health System Strives To Bring World Class Care To A Rural Community, Nga Thi Chu, Anthony Dotson, Xiaofei Wang

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

King’s Daughters Health System is a network of companies located in Ashland, Kentucky. The leadership of King’s Daughters employs a corporate level strategy successfully by deciding to diversify their services into similar industries. They entered the retail industry by opening King’s Daughters Home Health and selling home health furnishings and equipment. By creating King’s Daughters Medial Transport, they entered the transportation industry. Insurance sale with King’s Daughters Integrated Health Insurance is another way they diversified. Externally the environment influences King’s Daughters Health System in many ways. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are the one factor that has the …

An Examination Of Star Players' Effects On The Branding Process Of Professional Sports Teams, Nathan David Pifer

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Although various models and real-life examples seem to convey its presence, the relationship between star players and the branding process of professional sports teams is one that remains rather vague and unquantified. Though numerous examples seem to suggest that star players are capable of exerting an effect on a team’s brand, more thorough analysis is required in order to decipher which areas of a brand’s development are more or less affected by these marquee athletes. Taking responses from survey questionnaires containing 40 items pertinent to the topic, this study deployed Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to uncover six underlying factors that …

Hermes International, Phuong Tran

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Hermes International Company is the second strongest brand in luxury industry. They have spent more than 100 years to make Hermes name as famous as today. With 3,000 million euro in average revenue, Hermes has a very strong financial position and potential growth compare to other competitors. Their products are always well-designed, high quality, and fashionable. They do not make good products but extremely good ones. Hermes’ target customers are wealthy people who have high level of income and are interested in luxury items. With more than 300 stores all over the world, Hermes is working on their ways to …

Bank Of America: Is Bigger Always Better?, Marty Gillenwater

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Bank of America is the largest bank in the world for now. The case is an attempt to see how the bank got to the point where it is today. It was interesting to follow the flow from two small banks through their histories and how they became one large institution. Now, acting as the one entity, Bank of America, there are many pressing issues facing it. The firm has many internal problems before even addressing the external environment. This is not only the competitors in the market but also the environment itself. The case addresses some of them and …

The Innovative Success That Is Apple, Inc., Katherine Johnson, Yang Li, Hang Phan, Jason Singer, Hoang Trinh

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Apple, Inc. has been a successful company for years now. However, the company faces issues just like any other company. How Apple responds to these issues is in conjunction to the strengths and weaknesses of the firm. The business-level strategy of Apple also has much to do with how the company approaches various situations. The diversity and organization of the firm itself helps to address any issues that may arise. Competing in high level competitive industries also requires Apple Inc. changing day by day in order to overcome its competitors.

Debt And Dividend Decisions: Stock Vs. Non-Stock Firms, William R. Nixon Iii

Theses & Honors Papers

This study tests the trade-off and pecking order theories about the debt and dividend decisions for stock and non-stock firms. The decision to finance investments with debt or equity determines the firm's capital structure. The trade-off theory posits an optimal balance of debt and equity, motivating the form to use debt until its cost exceeds issuing equity thus deriving the firm's optimal capital structure. Meanwhile, the pecking order theorem contends the firm should use internal funds first, then debt, and equity as a last resort. Both theories have the same fundamentals for the payout of dividends. More profitable firms with …

The Relationship Between Attitudes Toward Women As Managers And Sex-Typing Of Toxic Leader Behaviors, Lacee Marie Vega-Cartwright

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to add to the existing body of research on harmful leadership with a specific focus on the construct of toxic leadership. If toxic leader behavior is indeed sex-typed as masculine, as is leader behavior in general, there is a potential that women may also be devalued more harshly than men when behaving in a toxic manner. Although the behaviors and characteristics of toxic leaders are not desirable for either sex, if they are more attributable to one sex over the other, there is a potential that the other sex may be treated differently for …

Measuring Faculty Satisfaction And Motivation To Use Podcasts: A Pilot Study, Thomas Augustine Mitchell

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Modern society is constantly evolving, affecting the creation and use of technology. Concurrently, technology is relentlessly developing and expanding, influencing the very society to which it is introduced. In a rapid-paced, globally influenced educational community, podcasts are among the latest and promising innovations being introduced into the educational arena to reach technology-savvy students. Information in various technological formats is not new, nor is their application to the educational process unique. Many past technologies such as the record player, tape player, radio, television, and computers were all believed to exhibit enormous potential to transform education. However, in almost every instance, they …

Online Privacy Policy Of The Thirty Dow Jones Corporations: Compliance With Ftc Fair Information Practice Principles And Readability Assessment, Yuanxiang Li

Theses Digitization Project

This project conducted a statistical study of online privacy to examine how well corporations comply with FIPs and assess how easy their privacy was to read.

The Impact Of Regulation And Governance On The Risk Profile Of Banks, Giovanna M. Carrillo

ETD Archive

The impact of regulation and corporate governance on banks' risk profiles has gained greater importance with the passage of new legislations starting late 1990s and the recent global turmoil in the financial services industry. The extant literature indicates that the effects of corporate governance mechanisms differ between financial and non-financial firms. Yet, the effects on risk-taking have been less conclusive for financial firms primarily because of changing regulations impacting incentives and risk-taking patterns of banks. While the objective of regulation in the banking industry is to preserve the stability of the financial sector and the economic system, corporate governance mechanisms …