Business Commons^™

How Organizational Structure And Power Dynamics Impact Decision Making—An Empirical Investigation Of General Manager Turnover In The National Basketball Association, Xiaoan Huang

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the factors affecting GM dismissals in the NBA. Although there is limited consideration of executives in sport, scholars argue that GMs play a critical role within professional sport organizations, as they are generally involved in both business and on-field operations of the team. While there is some understanding of the impact that GMs have on organizational performance in sports, there is a lack of consideration of the tenure of executives and the factors that lead to turnover in these positions. As such, there is a critical need for further examination of GMs in sport. Following power theory …

Trust In Governance System (Tgs) In The Hotel Context: Scale Development And Validation, Swechchha Subedi

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to conceptualize trust in governance systems (TGS) within the hotel context, develop a scale to measure it, and validate its effects on hotel investment decisions. The study focused on the perspectives of hotel leadership which includes the owners, operators, and investors in the United States. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, exploratory sequential research design. Initially, the governance system within the hotel industry was conceptualized, and trust in governance was defined. The scale development phase involved generating items and dimensions through literature review, expert review, and pilot testing. The final scale included multiple dimensions …

Three Essays On Environmental, Social, And Governance (Esg), Zhengwei Fu

Theses and Dissertations

This abstract synthesizes findings from three studies examining the impact of environmental, social, and governance (ESG). In essay one, using environmental regulatory enforcement data from EPA, I find that facility-level political connections are positively related to the likelihood of experiencing environmental regulatory enforcement. The effect is mainly driven by political connections related to Democratic senators. Consequently, politically connected facilities reduce their air pollution. The effect of political connection is diminished when the authority of senators over environmental regulatory enforcement becomes weaker after the 2017 presidential election. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that the impact of political connection is stronger in states with …

Work-Life Balance Fantasy Logics Of Mothers Working In Community Colleges: A Glitch Methodology Using Intimate Inquiry And Aesthetic Mediation, Emily Hanson Moore

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This post-qualitative study explores work-life balance as a sustaining fantasy produced by neoliberal, patriarchal, productivity-driven systems and how this fantasy manifests affectively for mothers who work in community colleges. The study began by contextualizing the work-life balance fantasy within higher education as a gendered workscape. Using intimate inquiry (Laura, 2013) and aesthetic meditation as the primary approaches, the researcher engaged in conversations with participants about their experiences mothering and working in community colleges. The primary data sources were these conversations, participant artifacts, researcher self-reflection and artifacts, and a range of contemporary cultural texts including podcasts, poetry, television, social media posts …

Integrating Location Data Into Analytics: Methods, Applications, And Fairness In Public Healthcare, Arindam Ray

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the application of location data in healthcare management, focusing on epidemic spread forecasts and fairness in healthcare access. It demonstrates the power of location data in understanding and forecasting epidemic spread with two examples, using mobility metrics derived from the location data. The second example also considers the effect of social vulnerability along with population mobility and extends a popular deep-learning algorithm to accept static anddynamic data. The dissertation also proposes health equity measures by evaluating the alignment between healthcare facility locations and people’s mobility patterns, considering demographic factors. This research highlights the valuable insight location data …

Bayesian Analysis Of Hospital Service Quality: Pre- And Post-Covid, Ling Hu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The hospital sector is the largest revenue-generating industry in the United States, with a revenue of $1.4 trillion in 2022, accounting for 5.8% of the U.S. GDP. Its service quality profoundly impacts societal welfare, especially given the aging population reached 55.8 million in 2020 and is expected to reach 82 million by 2050. Therefore, multiple policies aim to incentivize sustained healthcare service quality improvements. As an integral component of the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) Program, the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, administrated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), serves as a cornerstone …

The New China Model: Combating Economic And Political Order, Jack R. Swords

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

Contemporary world politics centers around the actions of the two largest powers on Earth, the United States and China. They are both each other’s greatest adversary yet at the same time are each other’s largest trading partners. This thesis explores the nature of China’s economic climate that has seen it grow to one of the world’s foremost powers. However, the East Asian Nation faces economic challenges centered around the three D’s: Debt, Deflation, and Demographics. This thesis analyses what the nature of these challenges are and how China is responding to them within the ever-advancing world of economic and political …

Assessing If Culture Contributes To African American Absence In The Accounting, Angelette Jones Mercier

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African-Americans currently represent less than 3% of all US accountants. Grounded in Social Cognitive Career Theory the purpose of this study is to explore if African American culture leads to the accounting career being a less attractive business career option. In analyzing various research studies, one researcher suggested employing various tactics, including mentorship and recruitment in lower income areas to counteract this unevenness. Debates on whether the lack of exposure to accounting as a career option or the overall reputation of accounting in light of highly publicized scandals may have exacerbated the problem. The research question addressed if cultural mores …

Assessing If Culture Contributes To African American Absence In The Accounting, Angelette Jones Mercier

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African-Americans currently represent less than 3% of all US accountants. Grounded in Social Cognitive Career Theory the purpose of this study is to explore if African American culture leads to the accounting career being a less attractive business career option. In analyzing various research studies, one researcher suggested employing various tactics, including mentorship and recruitment in lower income areas to counteract this unevenness. Debates on whether the lack of exposure to accounting as a career option or the overall reputation of accounting in light of highly publicized scandals may have exacerbated the problem. The research question addressed if cultural mores …

Catching The Unlikely Gambler : How And Why Gacha Games Appeal To Conscientious Consumers, Jingyi Zhang

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

Gacha games, often featuring Japanese anime-style characters and designs, are characterized by their eponymous gacha mechanics, wherein players obtain random virtual items using in game currency purchasable with real-world money. While scoring significant market success, gacha games are frequently likened to gambling by critics due to their chance-based purchase system. Despite this gambling-like feature, here we identify a paradoxical attraction of gacha games for individuals high in conscientiousness, a trait typically linked to self-discipline and gambling aversion. Through five behavioral experiments involving actual gacha game players, we consistently found that higher conscientiousness correlates with increased gacha game engagement, as captured …

Protecting Your Tail From Correlation Risk, Mark Shore

College of Business Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the concept that hedge funds generally offer diversification. The results from 26 years of monthly data on equity and hedge fund indices find that hedge fund strategies are heterogeneous as they offer varying benefits to investors. Some hedge fund strategies are highly correlated to equities and may offer an extension of a portfolio’s equity exposure during typical market environments; however, they may increase correlation risk and concentration risk during stressed market environments. Other strategies may provide portfolio diversification to reduce a portfolio’s correlation risk. This research suggests a framework to assist investors in developing asset allocation decisions …

Political Ideology And Consumer Behavior Of Independent Voters, Steve Glover

College of Business Theses and Dissertations

Prior research has established the effectiveness of market segmentation strategy, and specifically the use of political ideology. Existing literature divides political ideology into two groups: liberal and conservative, despite over 40% of consumers self-identifying as independent. Researchers have indicated the need for consumer behavior studies about independents, but none yet appear to exist. This exploratory study attempted to address this by examining financial product consumer behavior of political independents, as measured by financial risk tolerance (FRT), for two products: mutual funds and bitcoin. Researchers have shown that over 80% of independents are leaners, that is they resemble conservative or liberal …

A New Look At Consumer Responses To Certain And Uncertain Rewards, Aihui Ding

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Both certain rewards, which refer to incentives associated with a 100% probability of receipt, and uncertain rewards, which refer to incentives associated with probabilities of receipt that are less than 100%, are widely employed in marketing. Expected utility theory and prospect theory support the superiority of certain rewards over uncertain rewards. This research aims to investigate whether consumer aversion to uncertain rewards depends on the presence of consumer inference about firm immorality, which refers to the consumers’ belief that the firm could be engaging in unethical practices in promotions. Study 1 identifies two psychological mechanisms that explain why uncertain rewards …

Collective Case Study Career Critique Of Social Entrepreneurs Who Are Gifted Adults, Joi Lin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation describes a qualitative research study that grows our understanding of the career development experiences, supports, and barriers of social entrepreneurs who are gifted adults (SEGA) so that we may nurture the career development of future SEGA. Research questions for this study probed the career development experiences, supports, and barriers of SEGA and the shared social value they create. The conceptual frameworks for this study are the ecological model for human development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979); the theory of positive disintegration (Dąbrowski, 1964/2016); social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent et al., 1994); the perceived instructional arc (Uhrmacher et al., 2017); and …

Balancing Act: Navigating Employee Autonomy And Neglect, Lekshmy Sankar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The fine line between granting employee autonomy and inadvertently falling into patterns of neglect presents a complex challenge within organizational leadership. This study explores the question: What do leaders perceive as effective strategies for providing autonomy to remote employees without being perceived as neglecting them? Employee autonomy empowers employees to make decisions, while leader neglect towards subordinates (LNS) is defined through this research as a gradual decrease in a leader's interest or effort in sustaining positive relationships with employees. Navigating this balance is crucial to maintaining employee engagement.

This qualitative study uncovered nuanced perceptions on this issue using a grounded …

Leadership In Extreme Contexts: An Emerging Typology, Ashley Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the relationship between leadership and extreme contexts through the lens of rural hospitals facing environmental jolts. Rural hospitals offer a unique setting for this research, given their inherent geographic isolation, lack of resources, and the critical role these facilities play in their communities. Through a qualitative analysis of interviews with Chief Executive Officers of rural hospitals, this research takes a grounded approach to build theory surrounding how leadership not only shapes but is shaped by extreme contexts and environmental jolts. The research results in four primary contributions. Namely, this study extends existing typologies on leadership in extreme …

The Entrepreneur’S Burden: Investigating The Interplay Between Impostorism And Entrepreneurial Identity, Megan Laura Weber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Entrepreneurship is often portrayed as a glamorous pursuit of success but conceals a darker side, exacerbated by impostorism, characterized by challenges, identity conflicts, and diminished well-being. This "dark side" of entrepreneurship is seldom explored due to our collective fascination with the central figure of the entrepreneur. Impostorism is a prevalent phenomenon among individuals who perceive that their role is beyond their capabilities and fear being exposed as a "fake." Impostorism can have negative consequences, including self-sabotage, missed opportunities, and difficulty in seeking help or support, which can impact the ability of entrepreneurs to take entrepreneurial action and experience well-being.

This …

Evaluating The Effect Of Domain-Specific Large Language Models On Question And Response, Phillip D. Crippen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Large Language Models have emerged to great fanfare in the Information Technology market. Business and Information Technology leaders are currently exploring ways to apply these models to assist their organizations in executing business processes and generating innovation. Software vendors, consultants, and academics promote various approaches to making Large Language Models work effectively for business. However, little academic literature is available today that quantifies the degree of improvement possible with these domain-specific approaches over the standard capabilities of generalized Large Language Models.

The study seeks to quantify the benefits of one approach, Retrieval Augmented Generation. The study uses a collection of …

Business Capstone Review: Analysis Of Startups In Technology And Artificial Intelligence, Grayson Hoffman

University Honors Theses

This is a review of the Portland State University's business capstone course. The team was engaged by the client to reach certain goals and deliverables. Key to this project was immense research on startups within the Technology and Artificial Intelligence industry. Information was communicated with the client throughout the project to ensure client relevancy. The research was then used to perform an analysis to measure the potential of startups being a good fit with the client's goals. Upon completion of the project, the team will have presented a full report summarizing the research as well as the final recommendation list …

If I Cannot Hear Us, How Do I Know We Are Here? A Journey Into Assyrian Storytelling, Nadine Koochou

Canterbury Scholars

In this collection of poetry and prose, Nadine Koochou explores her Assyrian-American identity, retracing family history and merging it with her own reflections. Through creative essays, she communicates the things she knows, to some degree of certainty. Through poetry, she communicates things she thinks she knows, or feelings she understands intrinsically, or things she does not know at all but wishes to know. Combining Assyrian history with intimate stories, she explores themes of generational trauma, language, love, war, and home.

Project Management Hurdles In Public Health Interventions In Developing Countries, Irene Ogbuefi

Harrisburg University Dissertations and Theses

Wealth disparity between developing countries and developing countries has created a gap yearning to be filled in certain sectors of the economy. The health sector in resource-poor settings struggle to provide human, capital and financial resources needed to combat some of the diseases plaguing them. To improve global healthcare goals, Development Assistance for Health (DAH) has been the saving grace. DAH provides technical and financial resources required to combat diseases like HIV/AIDs, Malaria and TB. However, the wind of change is blowing in the direction of in-country ownership for public health projects. DAH funding is dwindling but sustainability efforts from …

Importance Of Communication And Emotional Intelligence In People And Project Management In The Banking Industry – A Quantitative Study Of Its Impacts, Monica Kanchan

Harrisburg University Dissertations and Theses

The regulated banking industry is ever-evolving and growing every year. Researchers indicated a close association between strong communication channels, high levels of emotional intelligence, and successful projects and people management. This thesis explores the significance of communication and emotional intelligence in enhancing project management practices in the banking industry. Emotional intelligence has been seen as an important skillset for leadership roles in creating a positive organizational culture, enhancing employee performance, and managing the various intricacies that come with working in a banking firm. Understanding the interplay and impact of these elements can help foster collaboration, motivation, and self-awareness, mitigate challenges, …

Policy Frameworks And Citizens’ Use Of Fintech Solutions: The Pros And Cons In Egypt, Salma Al-Mohamady

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of the significant influence of financial technology (FinTech) on the banking industry, consumer finance, and economic growth. It specifically concentrates on the swiftly changing FinTech environment in Egypt. The study investigates the impact of incorporating advanced technologies on worldwide financial practices, which has significantly transformed traditional banking models and facilitated the emergence of inventive financial services. The transition is clearly apparent in Egypt, where the expansion of FinTech has been driven by advances in regulations, adaptation to technology, and a population that is becoming more comfortable with digital solutions.

Using a combination of quantitative …

Financial Inclusion And Human Development: A Comparative Analysis Of Mena And Brics, Mohammad Eid

Theses and Dissertations

Various efforts to enhance human development in several countries has been underway for years now, but the level of human development attained by countries in BRICS and MENA regions vary. This study empirically examines the role of financial inclusion and its impacts on human development; it investigates whether financial inclusion can be used to drive human development by examining and comparing its results in MENA and BRICS countries. The dependent variable is the score of Human Development index HDI. This study provides a unique comparative analysis of the role of financial inclusion and its effects on human development in MENA …

How Do The Entrepreneurial Motivations And Struggles Of Egyptian Women Entrepreneurs Challenge Existing Perspectives?, Salma Sherif

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines ten profiles of Egyptian women entrepreneurs and compares their perspectives to the widespread and main arguments in the existing literature reviewed on the topic; mainly their entrepreneurial motivation and challenges. The paper reveals similarities and contradictions, and introduces different angles to perceiving both aspects. The researcher concludes that contextualizing entrepreneurial motivations can, therefore, disclose deeper dimensions to the subject matter, and as for the challenges, it can change their relative importance. For the primary data collection, the paper follows a non-probability sampling approach by applying a purposive sampling technique. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted accordingly. The women …

Project Selection And Prioritization In Portfolio Management, Sohail Masood

Harrisburg University Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines to what extent project prioritization frameworks used in IT portfolio management contribute to strategic decision-making and overall success at the organizational level. The discussed issue is researched through the lens of the existing frameworks and models, including the Resource-Based View , Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis, Real Options Theory, and Agile Project Management. The gap between the existing theoretical presuppositions and the reality of their use is defined and analyzed in the context of the increased need for corresponding research. Considering the fact that the given research is currently in progress, and aims to provide the corresponding organizations with …

Enhancing Stakeholder Engagement In Project Management Through Ai-Driven Predictive Modeling, Raza Hasan

Harrisburg University Dissertations and Theses

The ongoing difficulty in project management in achieving desired outcomes is frequently linked to the "value gap" that appears between program installation and execution, where stakeholders find it difficult to adjust actions to achieve desired outcomes. Adaptable tactics are required to overcome the challenges posed by a various of interests, decision-making procedures, and resource limitations in traditional stakeholder engagement approaches. This study aims to know the key factors that influence the acceptance of AI-driven forecasting in project management processes for stakeholder management, and how these characteristics help to overcome the drawbacks of conventional stakeholder engagement approaches. The paper investigates the …

Essays On Machine Learning And Corporate Disclosure, Zicheng (Leo) Xiao

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contains two essays that shed new light on the dynamic of information disclosure on the capital market. For both two essays I leverage computational linguistics and 20 million turns of dialogues from earnings conference calls from 2006-2022. In the first essay, I introduce a novel measure that quantifies the disparity in narrative focus between managers’ disclosures and analysts’ questions during these calls, denoted as Topic Attention Divergence (TAD). A higher level of TAD indicates a higher level of firm-investor asymmetry and lower information quality. My results confirm that higher TAD in earnings conference calls inversely (positively) predict firms’ …

Comedy Tonight? Maximizing Theatre Audiences Using A Game Theory Model, Emma Lavaune Johnson

Quantitative Social Science Undergraduate Senior Theses

Existing theatre industry literature is comprised of several arguments regarding the amount of literature on the theatre industry. Several scholars argue that the theatre industry is not extensively studied in economics due to misconceptions about the profitability of theatre, the misalignment between artists’ actions and economic “rationality,” and the contributions of the arts industries to the broader U.S. economy. Beyond this academic debate, economic research on the theatre industry explores the nuances of theatre demand and the influence of audience preferences and demographics on theatre ticket demand.

This paper presents a game-theoretic model to study the strategic season selection decisions …

Starbucks Workers United And The Future Of American Labor Activism, Sophia Drake Braymen

Honors Projects

This essay explores the goals, motivations, and methods of Starbucks Workers United (the campaign of the labor union Workers United that is aimed at organizing Starbucks employees), as well as the Starbucks Company’s response to it. The analysis is informed by the author’s interviews with both a Workers United organizer and a Starbucks corporate employee. This essay explores the position of Starbucks Workers United within the broader history of American labor activism and our current epoch of union decline, as well as what the recent breakthrough in cooperation between Workers United and Starbucks means for American workers going into the …