Business Commons^™

An Examination Of U.S. Restaurant Firms' Internationalization In A Risk Context, Soyeon Jung

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this dissertation is to advance the theoretical and practical understanding

of the relationship between publicly traded U.S. restaurant firms’ internationalization as a

corporate strategy and risks using a comprehensive set of risk measures: 1) market-based risk (i.e., systematic and unsystematic risk) and 2) accounting-based risk (i.e., standard deviation of return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and earnings per share (EPS) during the period of 2000-2013. This dissertation further investigates linear, nonlinear, and lagged effects of internationalization on restaurant firms’ risks. In summary, the findings of this dissertation reveal that internationalization tends to mitigate systematic risk, …

Servant Leadership And Related Issues In Chinese Hotel Industry, Yiqing Wang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Because of the economy growth and the Open Door Policy, Chinese hotel industry was under a huge expansion. Since more and more western customers are visiting and Chinese customers are having more hotel experience abroad, the service Chinese hotels used to provide dose not meet the standard anymore. So the managers and leaders need to find an appropriate approach to encourage their employees to improve the service to their customers. This research went through over 40 articles about Chinese hotel industry and Chinese culture and found out that servant leadership style should be the best approach to engage the employees.

Understanding Employee Work Attitudes: An Integration Of Psychological Contract Theory And Organizational Support Theory, Wen Chang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Employee motivation and retention are critical concerns for the hospitality industry. The purpose of this study was to understand employees’ work attitudes and emotional affect through a social exchange perspective by integrating employee psychological contract theory and organizational support theory. Affective event theory provided the theoretical foundation for this study. Data was analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and path analysis. The results showed that employees’ psychological contract fulfillment was a strong predictor of their perceived organizational support. In addition, psychological contract fulfillment and perceived organizational support together explained employee affect at work as well as other work attitudes. Affect at …

Assessment Of Orthodontic Patients' Preferences Regarding Treatment From General Dentists Or Orthodontists, Brian Robert Wilde

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study evaluated how parents of prospective orthodontic patients choose between taking their child to a general dentist or an orthodontist for orthodontic treatment. It also looked at which factors influence patients’ satisfaction with the progress of treatment and likelihood to refer other patients to the practice. This study included two phases. The first phase was a qualitative assessment of the decision making process through conducting and analyzing focus groups. The second phase was the development and administration of a nationwide online survey regarding the topics covered in the focus groups. Influential factors in the decision making process fell into …

Transformational Leadership Increases Self-Determination And Positively Impacts Hospitality Frontline Employees, Xiao Zhang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This professional paper presents literature by exploring the role of self-determination theory between the relationship of transformational leadership and hospitality employees’ well-being. It integrates the present research on leadership style, needs theory and well-being and provides useful and meaningful information for executives and organizations who are dedicated to improve employees’ well-being.

Six Feet From Fame: Exploring Dark Tourism Motivation At Marilyn Monroe's Grave, Surjeet Baidwan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation presents an empirical phenomenological study of celebrity grave tourists at the site of Marilyn Monroe's grave in Los Angeles, CA. The purpose of this study was to fill a gap in the literature regarding the lived experience of celebrity grave tourists and their underlying motivations. This project was significant because it better explained an under-represented aspect of dark tourism by addressing the behaviors and motivations behind celebrity grave tourism. A qualitative empirical phenomenological method was employed. This approach relied upon the use of multiple in depth e-mail interviews and theme analysis. The results of the study suggested that …

The Effect Of Florida’S Timeshare Resale Accountability Act And Securitization Announcements On Vacation Ownership Shareholder Wealth, James R. Drake, Iii

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The focus of this study deals with the vacation ownership, or timeshare, industry, and is two-fold. First, it examines the passage of a criminal law in Florida that deals with the resale of timeshare properties and measures the law’s effects on the timeshare industry in terms of shareholder wealth. Second, the study examines the effect of the announcement of the sale of asset-backed securities in the timeshare industry, also in terms of shareholder wealth. The cumulative abnormal returns of publicly traded lodging corporations that operate in the timeshare industry are calculated and analyzed for both studies.

The passage of Florida’s …

Developing A Parasocial Relationship With Hotel Brands On Facebook: Will Millennials Differ From Genxers?, Yun Ying Zhong

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Facebook, particularly its brand page, is becoming one of the most powerful tool for relationship building and customer engagement for hospitality companies. As the social media marketing practices evolve in the hospitality industry, the industry starts to realize the importance of customer participation behaviors based on relationship quality rather than quantity of interactions and the rising significance of the Millennials generation.

To respond to this trend, this study pursues an empirical investigation of the antecedents for consumer-hotel brand relationship on Facebook, and the potential differences between Millennials and non-Millennials, particularly the GenXers. It also examines the potential varying relational consequences …

Sexual Harassment In Las Vegas Nightclub Industry, Ksenia Kondratyuk

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Las Vegas nightclub industry creates awfully ideal conditions for workplace sexual harassment. Considering the history of sexual harassment cases against major Las Vegas nightclub operators, the industry is currently facing the problem of either continuing to follow the “good old days” model of using bottle service girls’ sexuality to attract business or develop safer and more efficient business model to protect themselves and their employees. Analyses of secondary data including academic literature, trade publications and press, showed that similarly to the city itself, Las Vegas nightclub industry expanded and evolved from a boy's town to one of the most visited …

The Financial, Social, And Environmental Impacts Of Sustainable Practices On The Las Vegas Hospitality Market, John Brady

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Sustainability is important to Las Vegas hospitality organizations because they operate in an environment with constrained resources. Water supply is one such constrained resource and Lake Mead is and has been far below its normal level. This lake provides the potable water supply for Southern Nevada. Southern Nevada, which is anchored by Las Vegas, worked to reduce their water consumption by 32 billion gallons between 2002 & 2014 (Southern Nevada Water Authority, 2015). This pattern tells me that Las Vegas is aware of the footprint they leave on the environment and look for ways to reduce said footprint. This is …

Considerations For Implementing A Hotel Revenue Management System, Akram Mahesh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

To fully understand and implement a revenue management system, hotel managers will need to research all aspects of a system, its requirements, and the hotel’s requirements to ensure that they are implementing a system that will work best for their property. This kind of research requires finding information in literature that is scattered in many locations. An owner or manager of a small to midsize hotel would need to invest a lot of time and energy into this process. Unlike giant companies like Marriott or Hilton, small to midsize independent hotels do not have the manpower to research and implement …

The Impacts Of A Smoking Ban On Gaming Volume And Customers' Satisfaction In The Casino Industry In South Korea, Sojeong Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A growing number of countries have legislated smoke-free policies in enclosed public areas and have extended the policies to hospitality facilities. However, some states and countries exempt gaming areas from the smoking law fully or partially. Anti-smoking policy is controversial for a number of reasons, such as smokers’ strong opposition, government ordinance, public health, and economic anxiety. Casino management may worry that a smoking ban policy will result in a significant decline of casino revenue because the break for smoking may interfere with continuing play.

This thesis examined a smoking ban impacts on gaming volume and customers’ satisfaction in the …

Patient Service Quality And Health Maintenance Organizations: Not An Oxymoron, Jessica Mcbeath

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Today’s quality movement in health care has driven the importance of patient satisfaction and experience across the industry. While the subject is of huge interest to researchers and health care companies, many struggle to identify a unified list of attributes that are applicable globally. Due to the industry’s uniqueness, it becomes necessary to understand the population and specific attributes for each. In review of previous service quality research, this study presents many dimensions and attributes for application. Using existing service quality framework 5Qs, this study provides unique findings correlated to existing literature and presents actionable items.

Purpose: The purpose of …

Methods Of Teaching Social Intelligence And Its Impact On Service Quality, Martee Fischman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Current literature on social intelligence was reviewed and analyzed and most was focused on the general understanding of social intelligence and methods of measurement. There is little literature that connects social intelligence to the business world and none that focuses on the hospitality industry. It is important to fill the gap in research because social intelligence could have a significant impact on service quality, which in turn affects revenues. The current literature provides a good foundation, but more research is needed in the hospitality industry to determine the impact social intelligence actually has on service quality. Experimentation utilizing several measurement …

A Study On Employee Engagement Program In Full Service Hotel, You Han

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Nurse Managers' Hiring Selection Of Newly Licensed Rns: A Grounded Theory Approach, Susan Adamek

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this research study was to construct a substantive grounded theory regarding how acute care nurse managers select the newly licensed RNs (NLRNs) they hire. This is important because a good selection process can reduce expensive employee turnover and improve teamwork on units. There has been extensive research regarding interventions that improve the retention of NLRNs after they are hired, such as residency programs, preceptors, mentors and support groups, but there is very little in the literature about the processes or preferences nurse managers use to select the right candidates to be hired. A constructivist grounded theory approach …

Exploring The Relationship Between Revenue Management And Hotel Loyalty Programs, Melissa Elizabeth Buckley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Loyalty programs are a staple of the hospitality industry. As time progressed, there has been a shift among the structure of loyalty programs to not only reward the large spend of casino players, but also to compensate other frequent travelers of the hotel. As hotels continue to offer increasing benefits and compensation while reevaluating the tier structure of loyalty programs, research was necessary to discover if these loyalty programs are extracting the maximum revenue per guest and creating overall revenue for the hotel.

The purpose of the study was to uncover the relationship between revenue management and hotel loyalty programs. …

The Influence Of Tier Level Of Hotel Loyalty Programs On Guest Perceptions And Tolerance For Service Quality, Eunjin Choi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examined the impact of hotel loyalty program membership and tier levels on guest perceptions and tolerance for service quality in major U. S. hotel chains. A sample of 315 hotel loyalty program members and non-members were surveyed via an online self-administered survey sent by Qualtrics. The survey used a three-column format asking the adequate level of expectations, desired level of expectations, and perceptions to test survey respondents’ zone of tolerance and perceived service quality using SERVQUAL dimensions. Guest satisfaction was measured by American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). A nine-point Likert scale was applied for the measurement of service …

Risk Misperception And Selection In Insurance Markets: An Application To Demand For Cancer Insurance, David S. Hales

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Spinnewijn (2013) posits that optimism about risk and the efficacy of risk-reducing effort could cause selection in insurance markets. We test for this using a survey of 474 subjects’ demand for hypothetical cancer insurance. We elicit perceptions of baseline cancer risk and control efficacy and combine these with subject-specific cancer risks predicted by the Harvard Cancer Risk Index to develop measures of baseline and control optimism. We find that only 23 percent of our subjects would purchase a fair insurance contract aligned to their true risk type. Of these subjects, 94 percent also overinvest in prevention, leading to advantageous selection.

Evaluating Event Effectiveness Across Alternate Platforms, Kristin Marie Malek

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As technology continues to influence younger generations and demand a commanding presence in the workplace, more industries are trying to incorporate these advances. Organizations are rapidly adopting new technologies and have justified their return on investment by examining new attendee rates, ‘click-throughs’ on links, and company specific metrics. Despite advances in technology and growing consumer dependence on electronics, the meeting and events industry has been slow to adopt IT advances for fear of cannibalization (Fenich, et al., 2011; Pearlman & Gates, 2010). The goal of this research was to gain a better understanding of how alternate platforms can affect event …

A Process For Optimal Resource Allocation For Integrated Resorts, Benjamin Mammina

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

For anyone involved in the development of casinos or Integrated Resorts the process of planning a successful project can be rather cumbersome, arbitrary and lacking of business data to make sound financial decisions. This study will organize that process to reduce those difficulties and identify those Resources needed to provide optimal results for return on investment (ROI), total investment (TI) and overall size of the project (SF).

To determine the size of an Integrated Resort (IR) owners and developers tend to look at the building characteristics of competing or admired projects and then set their Resource parameters such as: 2000 …

What Happens In Las Vegas? How Exhibitors Use The Tradeshow Floor And Social Venues To Facilitate Business, Chrissy L. Nanton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study illuminates how place characteristics shape the way in which tradeshow exhibitors “do” business on and off the tradeshow floor. A surge in framing tradeshows as temporary clusters has occurred in the recent decades. Temporary clusters are defined as “hotspots of intensive and dedicated exchange of knowledge, network building and generation of new ideas” (Maskell, Bathelt and Malmberg 2004). The idea that temporarily sharing geographic space can advantage firms is particularly noteworthy in a post-industrial globalized economy. In the literature, social scientists have paid specific attention to the connections between geography and spatial proximity, and information diffusion and knowledge …

The Political Economy Of Going Global: Understanding The Determinants Of Chinese Foreign Direct Investment In The Middle East And Africa, Majid Shirali

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study seeks to explain the motivating factors behind Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) patterns to the Middle East and Africa through a quantitative framework that utilizes a pooled cross-sectional time-series data set that covers 57 countries from 2003-2010. Prior research on the issue has hypothesized that China attempts to use external FDI to developing areas to promote national interests and help sustain economic growth. However, there has been an almost exclusive focus on economic determinants while generally ignoring political variables. The approach in this project attempts to fill this scholarly void by employing a broad array of independent variables …

The Role Of The Integration-Responsiveness Framework In An International Branch Campus: A Case Study, Tammy Joy Silver

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Similar to multinational corporations, international branch campuses have the challenge of maintaining legitimacy in different cultural and regulatory environments across national borders. It is common for organizations to modify business practices when expanding operations abroad to respond to local demands and preferences based upon cultural expectations and regulatory requirements.

National culture is comprised of the underlying values, beliefs, and attitudes of a society that drives behavior and expectations (Hofstede, 1980). Differences in national culture determine the amount of local adaptation necessary to conduct business in a foreign country (Kostova & Roth, 2002). International branch campuses must also maintain quality assurance …

Impact Of Menu Designs And Personal Dietary Behaviors On Young Millennials' Restaurant Menu Choices, Yuan Tian

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The global prevalence of obesity has more than doubled since 1980. In response to this health crisis, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finalized the Menu Calorie Labeling Rule in 2014. It requires that food service chains post Calorie information next to all food items on menus. Young Millennials aged 18-24 reportedly have poor dietary habits, which contributes to obesity rates. This on-line study surveyed 505 young Millennials to evaluate the relationship between young Millennials’ Calorie choices on restaurant menus and various factors, including menu design, personal dietary behaviors, and demographic characteristics. The survey data was analyzed using logistic regression. …

Examining Factors Influencing Ncaa Division-I Conference Realignment, Ginikachi O. Nwosu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The landscape of intercollegiate athletics continues to evolve and become

more dynamic. One of the most visible aspects of these changes is athletic conference realignment. During the period from 2010 to 2014 alone, over 30 institutions across the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) changed or announced imminent plans to change athletic conference affiliation (Mandel, 2012). Conference realignment is described as institutional changes in athletic conference affiliation (Covell & Barr, 2010; Groza, 2010; Sweitzer, 2009). Various literature has identified variables which influence NCAA Division-I institutions’ decisions in regard to conference realignment, yet no comprehensive study has examined …

The Impact Of Hotel Website Quality On Customer Reservation, Chen Tan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study focuses on the discussion of the relationship between the website design and customer reservations in Las Vegas, specifically, how important the website quality is to hotels and how the features affect the Internet bookings. Since the online market is growing and becoming more and more competitive, hotels are investigating an effective way to keep customers making reservation directly through the hotel’s own website, such as providing lowest guarantee rates, promoting loyalty points and cooperating with online travel agents. Consumers expect websites that are informative, attractive and engaging. Usability, security, personalization, usefulness, responsiveness and information content are the dimensions …

An Analysis Of Empirical Research Of Social Media And User-Generated Content In The Hospitality Industry, Didi Fan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Hospitality remains highly competitive industry where establishments are always pushing new efforts to positively attract and retain consumers more so than the others. In recent years, the most significant trend in reaching to consumers is through social media. The research dives into great detail in the interactions and cause and effect between consumers and hospitality in social media such as the effect of user generated content. The research produces more details and ideas than simply engaging in social media helps hospitality establishments. The information was attained from a large content analysis of previous research, studies, surveys, experiments, statistical and quantitative …

The Economic And Social Effects Of Casino Development In Macau, Christopher Benton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This paper explores the economic impacts that took place in Macau after the gaming monopoly ended in 2002, as well as the resulting social effects to the local region. The broader research on casino gaming was analyzed, and was then compared to the social and economic impacts that took place in Macau. Specifically, economic indicators such as employment and GDP were evaluated, along with social issues such as problem gambling, crime, and educational attainment. Many countries, specifically Asian countries, are now entertaining the idea of introducing casinos to their local communities in an effort to try and replicate the type …

Too Drunk To Gamble? Dram Shop Liability For Gaming Debts., Jeffery Benson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The service of alcohol to high-end gamblers may hinder your ability to collect unpaid debt. Gamblers have opted to use the legal theory of Dram Shop, to reduce, if not eliminate unpaid debt. Their position is that they were too drunk to gamble and therefore not responsible for their debts. Gamblers have been largely unsuccessfully using Dram Shop laws; however the casino executives should make themselves familiar with the legal precedent to ensure total liability protection.