Business Commons^™

The Application Of Viral Marketing To The Irish Film Industry, Stephen O'Mahony

Theses

The research examines the concept of viral marketing and in particular, its application to the Irish film industry. It explores the merits of viral marketing as a promotional technique for Irish film and the associated online social media channels through which viral messages are disseminated. Further to this, the study identifies the extent to which viral marketing and online social media have been adopted by Irish consumers and enterprise. Given that viral marketing is still in its relative infancy, the research also takes a conceptual approach so that it contributes to the continued understanding of the practice in general.

A …

Electronic Tendering: Recognising A More Effective Use Of Information Communications Technology In The Irish Construction Industry, Larry O'Connell

Masters

When undertaking a traditional tender in Ireland, computer applications are heavily relied upon. Documents, from drawings to Bills of Quantities, are created with an array of computer applications. These documents are subsequently exchanged from surveying firms to a number of main contractors and, additionally, from the main contractors to subcontractors. However, even though the documents have originated in an electronic
form, the majority of the documents are communicated in a paper format. Therefore, with each new communication between the parties more paperwork is created. This system of communication is inefficient and process gains can be made through the utilization of …

Against Strong Copyright In E-Business, Dylan E. Wittkower

Philosophy Faculty Publications

As digital media give increasing power to users—power to reproduce, share, remix, and otherwise make use of content—businesses based on content provision are forced to either turn to technological and legal means of disempowering users, or to change their business models. By looking at Lockean and Kantian theories as applied to intellectual property rights, we see that business is not justified in disempowering users in this way, and that these theories obligate e-business to find new business models. Utilitarian considerations support disempowering users in this way in some circumstances and for the time being, but also show that there is …

Eliciting User Requirements Using Appreciative Inquiry, Carol Kernitzki Gonzales

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Many software development projects fail because they do not meet the needs of users, are over-budget, and abandoned. To address this problem, the user requirements elicitation process was modified based on principles of Appreciative Inquiry. Appreciative Inquiry, commonly used in organizational development, aims to build organizations, processes, or systems based on success stories using a hopeful vision for an ideal future. Spanning five studies, Appreciative Inquiry was evaluated for its effectiveness with eliciting user requirements. In the first two cases, it was compared with traditional approaches with end-users and proxy-users. The third study was a quasi-experiment comparing the use of …

It Governance In Small And Medium Enterprise Post Sarbanes Oxley, Carlos Anthony Thomas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The history of IT governance research has been dichotomous in that research either focused on the IT governance structural arrangements or the contingencies that affect IT organizational decisions. Weill and Ross’s (2004) seminal text on IT governance represents a synthesis of these two streams of research and thus establishes a new trajectory in the discourse related to IT governance. Their study included analysis from both survey data and case studies. However, the case study sites included were of large capitalized companies. Moreover, the cases were conducted prior to the mandated implementation of Section 404 of Sarbanes Oxley (SOX), which oversees …

The Achievement Of Business Education Students On High School Core Subjects, Mohd Khata Bin Jabor

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The importance of academic courses taken during high school has been well documented. It could determine the students’ achievement in high school, affect the students’ ability to transition to postsecondary education and expand the students’ choice of postsecondary majors and degree options (Laird, Chen, & Levesque, 2006). This study examined whether enrollment in business education is related to achievements in high school core subjects. The rationale for the study is to determine if business education contributes to the academic achievement of high school students. This study used the data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) High School Transcript …

Essays On Three Price Judgments: Price Fairness, Price Magnitude, And Price Expectation, Sandeep Bhowmick

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation addresses three important price judgments: price fairness, price magnitude, and price expectation. Developed over three chapters, the main objective of this research is to determine underlying differences in these three price judgments. These differences are based on conceptualizing price fairness as a combination of affective and cognitive components, whereas price magnitude and price expectation reflect different cognitive aspects of price judgment. Chapter 1 provides a literature review and identifies several research questions related to these three price judgments; Chapters 2 and 3 provide testable hypotheses and conduct three pretests and two experiments to test the hypotheses. Using structural …

Conceptualizing The Consumer-Brand Relationship As A Truly Dyadic Process, Jamye Foster

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The consumer-brand relationship (CBR) has gained interest in recent years, but as currently conceptualized, it is limited to a parasocial relationship where the role of the brand is not acknowledged. In order to better understand the CBR, we have to ask several key questions: (1) What is the CBR? (2) What are consumer-brand interactions (CBIs)? And (3) How can we measure CBIs? The objective in Essay 1 is to develop a better understanding of the conceptual foundation of the CBR. This was accomplished through extensive review of relevant literature, which highlighted the need to consider the CBR as a truly …

The Influence Of A State Law Enforcement Training Academy On Future Performance Of Law Enforcement Officers In A Southeastern State Of The United States, Cary Allen Caro

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the influence of the state police law enforcement academy on the performance of commissioned officers in the field training officer (FTO) program in a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The law enforcement training academy is paramount in preparing cadets for the roles, responsibilities, and activities that graduates assume independently in the field. As such, it is important to understand the value added to future performance in the field through adequate preparation in the training academy. This dissertation analyzes a sample of officers in the Southeastern region of the United States and explores the …

The Influence Of Program Participation In Business Education Courses On Standardized Test Performance Among Secondary Students In Louisiana, Debra A. Wilkerson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to compare the academic achievement, as measured by scores on the English and math portions of the Graduate Exit Examination (GEE), of public high school students in Louisiana by whether or not they were identified as business education students. The GEE is a high-stakes test that is administered to high school students in Louisiana. Students must pass specific portions of the test to obtain a diploma. Academic achievement data on the GEE was obtained from the Louisiana Department of Education. The sample for the study was all 10th and 11th grade students enrolled …

The Influence Of Self-Esteem And Selected Demographic Characteristics On The Academic Achievement Of Freshman Students In The College Of Agriculture At A Research-Extensive University, Mae Blanchard Gaspard

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between self-esteem and academic achievement among students at the freshman level in the College of Agriculture at a Research-Extensive University in the Southern Region of the United States. The sample of the study was all students at one selected Research-Extensive University enrolled in the Introduction to Agriculture course which was a requirement for agriculture students at the freshman level. Three instruments were used for data collection. The Adult Form of the Coopersmith Inventory was administered at two data collection points at the beginning and end of the …

Two Essays On Analyst Bias And Management Entrenchment, Bahar Ulupinar

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the interactions of corporate governance on analyst behavior. Analyst bias is well documented in the previous literature. However, the relationship between managerial entrenchment and analyst bias has not been explored. In my first essay, I hypothesize that while analysts strike a balance between personal reputation and revenue generation for their employers, entrenched managers of covered firms are more likely to induce analysts’ collaboration using management access and underwriting businesses. My hypothesis suggests that managerial entrenchment is a potential source of analyst bias. Consistent with my hypothesis, using the G-Index as a proxy for managerial entrenchment, I show …

Project And Risk Management: A Systematic Approach, Baqer Alali, C. Ariel Pinto, Andreas Tolk, Rafael Landaeta

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The main purpose of this paper is to discuss three related topics of project management, systems management, and risk management. The issue that would be addressed in this paper is how risks are addressed in project and systems management, and how risks are propagated between projects and systems. A framework is proposed to overcome the problem of risk propagation from project to the systems. It was shown that the proposed framework can be deployed to existing risk management process with reasonable interventions (e.g. process prescribed by PMI). Finally a proof-of-concept application shows potential of the framework for various types of …

Hong Kong’S New Creative Industries: The Example Of The Video Games Sector, F. Ted Tschang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Hong Kong has considerable creative and entrepreneurial resources, and the opportunity to build a vibrant set of creative industries, including in the new sectors such as video games, animation, and computer graphics. However, as it stands, some of these industries, especially that of the games industry, are fledgling in nature. Strong supporting institutions already exist, but it is essential to discover how industry can be better supported with existing and new resources — financial and otherwise. The opportunities are immense, but so is the competition. The new entertainment media sectors are growing at a faster pace than most economic sectors …

Keeping One Step Ahead, Fernando Fragueiro, Howard Thomas

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The article explores how business school deans can lead their organizations forward in an era of persistent challenges and global tension. It suggests business schools to rise to the challenge of seeking solutions for the shortcomings that have been revealed. It recommends deans to bolster their own leadership skills to provide their institutions with clear governance. It outlines several key responsibilities of deans including environmental scanning, issue diagnosis, and power mobilization.

Trust Differences Across National-Societal Cultures: Much To Do, Or Much Ado About Nothing?, Don Ferrin, Nicole Gillespie

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Does trust and its development, functions and meaning, differ between people from different national–societal cultures? There is considerable anecdotal evidence and some theoretical argumentation to suggest it does, but are these supported by empirical research? This chapter reviews the available empirical evidence on the effects of national–societal culture on interpersonal trust. It focuses largely on quantitative empirical evidence to consider the extent to which, and the ways in which, interpersonal trust differs across national–societal cultures. In every category of our review we found evidence of cross-cultural differences, particularly on generalized trust, and also evidence of trust universals across cultures. In …

The Role Of Ceo Statements Of Aggressiveness And The Competitive Aggressiveness Of Firms: What Is The Impact On Performance?, Benjamin Blackford

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This research examines the impact of a CEO’s statements of aggressiveness on his or her organization’s competitive moves and subsequent performance. Hypotheses were developed based on previous work in Upper Echelon Theory and competitive dynamics. Based on this prior literature, it was hypothesized aggressive statements by CEOs will be associated with more aggressive organizations. It was also hypothesized these more aggressive organizations would display better performance than less aggressive organizations. A content analysis of letters to shareholders and trade publications was performed. This data was analyzed using multiple regression in SPSS 17 to test the hypotheses that aggressive statements by …

An Experimental Study Of The Impact Of Psychological Capital On Performance, Engagement, And The Contagion Effect, Timothy Daniel Hodges

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Psychological Capital, or PsyCap, is a core construct consisting of the positive psychological resources of efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience. Previous research has consistently linked PsyCap to workplace outcomes including employee attitudes, behaviors, and performance. Further research has explored the ways in which PsyCap can be developed through relatively brief workplace interventions. The present study focuses on PsyCap development and the relationship to employee engagement and performance. In an experimental design with random assignment of subjects to control group (n = 52 managers and 152 associates) and treatment group (n = 58 managers and 239 employees), a field sample of …

Reflecting On Experience For Leadership Development, Adrian Chan

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study proposes that being reflective or ruminative about one's leadership experience can have differential effects on one's leadership efficacy, implicit leadership theories and psychological capital. Specifically, through the aid of an event history calendar, conscript military trainees of high and low military experience from a SE Asian military organization were randomly assigned to recall and reflect or ruminate on his past leadership experience. Results show that type of reflection interacts with level of military leadership experience to differentially affect one's leadership efficacy, implicit leadership theories and leadership self-awareness. Reflection triggers produced significantly higher levels of implicit leadership theories under …

The Employment Relationship, John W. Budd, Devasheesh P. Bhave

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The employment relationship is the connection between employees and employers through which individuals sell their labor. This might consist of an immigrant day laborer paid by the bushel to pick fruit in the hot sun, a salaried manager who has been working in an air-conditioned office for the same company for 40 years, or innumerable other situations. Irrespective of situation, all employees and employers have fundamental interests they pursue through the employment relationship, all forms of this relationship are mediated by labor markets and states, and each instance of this relationship is governed by some form of a contract, ranging …

Effective Project Planning: Making The Most Of Project Planning Tools, Bert De Reyck

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Although project planning tools such as Microsoft Project and Primavera have become indispensable tools for supporting the project planning process in a wide variety of industries and organizations, many companies do not use these tools in the best possible way, resulting in disappointment and frustration as well as a lack of effective project management support. In this article, we propose several guidelines on what to do,

Knowledge Clusters And Knowledge Hubs: Designing Epistemic Landscapes For Development, Hans-Dieter Evers, Solvay Gerke, Thomas Menkhoff

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Purpose – With globalization and knowledge-based production, firms may cooperate on a global scale, outsource parts of their administrative or productive units and negate location altogether. The extremely low transaction costs of data, information and knowledge seem to invalidate the theory of agglomeration and the spatial clustering of firms, going back to the classical work by Alfred Weber and Alfred Marshall, who emphasized the microeconomic benefits of industrial collocation. This paper aims to argue against this view and show why the growth of knowledge societies will rather increase than decrease the relevance of location by creating knowledge clusters and knowledge …

Essays On Corporate Governance, Tih Koon Tan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is composed by two essays that explore corporate governance issues in S&P firms. The first essay examines changes in corporate governance after a firm gets added to the S&P 500 index? Using firms added from 1994 to 2007, this paper examines how governance mechanisms change for these firms. Specifically, I look at both the overall governance and details on how each mechanism changes. I find that governance improves after being added to the index. Controlling for firm size, leverage, prior firm performance, and growth opportunities, the market reacts positively to governance improvements as a whole. In addition, changes …

Two Essays On Bidding In Multi-Unit Common Value Auctions, Minjie Shao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two essays on the topic of bidding in multi-unit common value auction. Essay one examines the role of capacity constraint on the auction results and bidding behavior. We consider a general case where bidders are unconstrained, and a second setting where bidders are capacity constrained. We document downward sloping demand curves for individual bidders. Bidders shade their bids by submitting quantity-price pairs and spreading their bids. The winner's curse is strong in the unconstrained treatment, but we find no evidence of the winner's curse when bidding constraints are imposed. Unconstrained bidders shade bids significantly more and …

Two Essays On Product Design And Consumer Evaluations, Sangwon Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper is about the central role of product design on consumer evaluations. While the design literature has articulated two different types of design, i.e. form-based design and function-based design (Khalid 2004), most extant marketing literature has mostly focused on the impact of functional design on performance (see Chitturi, Raghunathan, and Mahajan (2007) for a notable exception). In this paper, I examine the individual and joint effects of the two design dimensions: form design and functional design on consumer evaluations of new products. In the first essay, employing theoretical underpinnings from processing fluency theory, I investigate four major research questions. …

The Role Of Trust In Today’S Extended Enterprise, Ken Saban, Michaela Ann Noakes

AMTP Proceedings 2010

This paper explores the role that trust plays in improving the overall collaboration and business performance of firms that constitute an extended enterprise. Case studies of Eli Lilly, Airbus and Toyota Motor Company illustrate the significant economic advantages of creating and maintaining a collaborative and trusting network.

Prisoner Recidivism: A Question For Social Marketing, Joseph R. Stasio Jr.

AMTP Proceedings 2010

Our society is today grappling with a myriad of social, political and economic problems in a time of greatly reduced and very costly resources. All of these problems are connected, in some way, with each other. It is the very nature of societies and this interconnectedness must be understood and appreciated, because, if left unheeded, the consequences can be quite dramatic.

With the advent of social marketing, society now has proven methods of effectively attacking these problems to create many types of desired social changes. Prisoner recidivism is just such a problem. It has intense social, political and economic ties …

Foothills Academy: A Program Ranking And Comparative Analysis Of Residential Treatment Programs, William Aaron

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Foothills Academy is an all male adolescent residential treatment facility in Albany, Kentucky. As more states turn toward alternative treatment options to address the growing needs of youth suffering from mental and emotional disorders and substance abuse issues, demand for more efficient treatment programs is on the rise. To remain competitive and to administer the best treatment services for their clients, residential treatment programs must utilize industry best practices that allow efficient use of public funds. By identifying high performing programs, those programs may then be studied to identify factors key to individual program success.

My findings were consistently …

A Study Of The Effect Of Economic Policies On The Domestic Film Market, Gyeoreh Lee

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

These days, the U.S. films’ market share in the world is almost 70 percent and many countries have devised various means, including import quota, screen quota, subsidy, and tax concessions to protect the domestic film industry by preserving local film’s market share against U.S. film domination. Retaining these policies has important symbolic reasons because market share of the domestic film is related to preserving each country’s cultural sovereignty. However, the effectiveness of the economic policies is murky. If the policies do not bring any advantageous effect to the domestic film industry, there is no rational justification for sticking with them. …

Comparative Analysis Of The Financial Performance Of Nonprofit Organizations: Focusing On The Franklin County Senior Activity Center, Shinwoo Lee

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Franklin County Senior Activity Center is a nonprofit organization founded in 1966 to provide services to help older residents lead independent lives. Cooperating with twelve board members, a staff of 24 people operates the Center and makes huge efforts to accomplish its mission. The mission of the Center is to contribute to and empower the quality of life of the aging citizens in Frankfort and Franklin County, Kentucky. The Center delivers various public services to them including opportunities for socialization, health promotion, benefit counseling, transportation service, home care service, recreation and exercise programs, adult day care, caregiver support, and …