Business Commons^™

Self-Perceptions Of Black Entrepreneurship In A Black Majority Rural Context - The Mississippi Delta, Timla G Washington

Dissertations

This studyexplored questions regarding the perceived influences (agency and structural) to successful Black entrepreneurship according to Black entrepreneurs living in the counties in the Mississippi Delta where Black people are the majority of the population. The examination questioned Black entrepreneurs in 13 counties in the Mississippi Delta on the perceived impact of agency and structural factors (i.e., human capital, social capital, industry type, financial capital, intergenerational link, discrimination, state government, Black elected officials, access to resources, opportunity, location) in relation to their success. One finding was that agency factors are the leading perceived influence on the success of Black entrepreneurs …

The Development Of A Wayfinding Smart Phone Application As A Large Healthcare Facility Investment Opportunity, Jessie Fortson Marshall

Doctoral Projects

Health care is a continually growing field. New hospitals are constantly being built, while older facilities are experiencing renovation and expansion. With this growth comes a set of difficulties for patients as they try to navigate through large, multi-building facilities. Most large facilities have multiple parking garages, numerous buildings, and medical towers with an unending number of floors. Patients are forced to rely on directional signage to find their destination that is often insufficient. Attempting to navigate through large facilities is often overwhelming for visitors leading to frustration and stress.

New technology has allowed a convenient solution to this problem …

Emotions Involved In Shopping At The Airport, Alexis D. Tymkiw

The Catalyst

This paper examines the emotional motivations that drive consumers to shop at airport retailers. Airport retailing is a rapidly growing segment as airports continue to expand retail areas and the number of passengers increase each year. With larger retail areas, airports are beginning to resemble shopping areas. However, with higher prices and consumers experiencing time and space constraints, the airport is a very unique shopping environment. This paper explored two unique emotional motivations for shopping at airports: (1) to escape the stress of travel and (2) to eliminate boredom. Analysis of the in-depth interviews led to the development of four …

Opportunity Recognition: A Comparative Analysis Of Nascent Student Entrepreneurs And Non-Nascent Students, Daniel C. Glover

Honors Theses

This study investigates differences between undergraduate nascent student entrepreneurs and non-nascent students’ opportunity recognition and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Four hypotheses were presented and after collecting and analyzing 150 student responses two of the four hypotheses were partially or fully supported. Results showed that nascent student entrepreneurs exhibited higher levels of entrepreneurial self-efficacy than non-nascent students, and that nascent student entrepreneurs exhibited higher levels of entrepreneurial alertness than non-nascent students, and the difference was significant. However, non-nascent students had higher levels of opportunity recognition. This study supports previous research and adds an important demographic, undergraduate students, to the existing research.

Strategies For Increasing Female Navy Officer Retention: Deploying Mothers’ Perspectives, Angela Holcombe Walker

Dissertations

The complexity of the global environment, driven by rapid and profound change, requires a globally dominant fighting force. To adequately protect and defend the security of the United States, the Department of Defense must maintain warfighting superiority through innovation and diversity of thought (SECNAV, 2016; Scoppio, 2012). More than five years have passed since the 2011 Military Leadership Diversity Commission reported to President Obama and members of Congress that “top military leaders are representative neither of the population they serve nor of the forces they lead” (p. xvi). Females are underrepresented among senior military leadership. Increasing the number of female …

Perceived Influence Of The Ferguson Effect On Law Enforcement Officer Turnover Intentions, William P. Markopoulos Jr

Dissertations

Law enforcement officer turnover lacks the support of empirical research (Monk-Turner, O’Leary, & Sumter, 2010; Wareham, Smith, & Lambert, 2013), despite being costly in terms of both human and monetary capital (Peña, 2013; Reaves, 2012; Wilson & Sheer, 2013). What literature is available describes factors such as job dissatisfaction and monetary issues as reasons to leave an agency (Cyprian, 2009; Hubbard, 2008; McIntyre, 1990). A new phenomenon, known as the “Ferguson Effect” has been examined in terms of community involvement (Nix & Wolfe, 2016; Wolfe & Nix, 2016) and violent crime rates (Rosenfeld, 2015), but there is no research that …

How Visual Communication Strategies, Brand Familiarity, And Personal Relevance Influence Instagram Users’ Responses To Brand Content, Lijie Zhou

Dissertations

This study comprehensively investigated the effects of visual themes, visual perspective, personal relevance, and brand familiarity on brand constructions (attitude-toward-brand, brand love, brand respect, and three dimensions of brand image) on Instagram. The study consists of two parts. In Study 1, the main and interaction effects of visual design elements on individuals’ visual attentions, brand recognition, and attitude toward brands were examined by using a 4 (visual theme: customer-centric, employee-centric, product-centric, and non-branded) × 2 (view perspective: first-person view vs. third-person view) between-subject eye-tracking test. In Study 2, a 4 (visual theme: customer-centric, employee-centric, non-brand, and product-centric) ×2 (brand familiarity: …

Local Workforce Development Boards: Alignment With Operational Indicators And Behavioral Characteristics, Sharon Humphreys Johnson

Dissertations

The ability of a region to remain competitively viable is dependent upon attracting new business and retaining existing businesses (Good & Strong, 2015). In many instances, regional growth depends on the workforce and the region’s ability to develop a talent pipeline of existing or accessible workers (Blakely & Leigh, 2010). The passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) increases the expectations of local workforce board leadership. The WIOA vision for Local Workforce Development Boards (LWDB) is to serve as strategic leaders and act as conveners of regional workforce system partners, stakeholders, and businesses to develop new structures for …

Religious Commitment, Job Satisfaction, And Social Acceptability Among Religious Groups, Kathryn E. Dozier

Honors Theses

This study seeks to develop a better understanding of the relationships between religious commitment, social support, and job satisfaction. This research specifically investigated the correlations between religious commitment and social support, religious commitment and job satisfaction, and social support and job satisfaction. After surveying undergraduate students from a southern university, there was no statistical evidence supporting the idea that the indicated combinations contributed to job satisfaction. The research did demonstrate, however, a correlation between religious commitment and social support. In addition, groups were tested for significant differences in levels of religious commitment, social support, and job satisfaction; the groups based …

The Implications Of Rising Turnover And Voluntary Turnover Within The Federal Government, Laura E. Kirkman

Honors Theses

Human Resources (HR) is a dynamic, changing, and vital part of every business whether commercial or governmental. HR is also often left to deal with voluntary turnover and the difficulties it brings. This study focuses on the implications of rising turnover/voluntary turnover within the federal government. The aim of this study was to analyze the data collected by the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to determine the connections between turnover/voluntary turnover and demographic factors, workplace satisfaction factors, and organizational/relational factors within the federal government. This analysis examined the Fed Scope data from 2011 through 2016, and employee surveys …

Sustainability Of Direct Sellers In Marketing, Ashten N. Holloway

Honors Theses

This paper examines the characteristics of people who are a good fit for a career in direct selling marketing as well as the characteristics of those who are not. It is also an examination of the motivations to join direct selling and the different levels of “success” that some may find in their careers as direct sellers. Some of the motivators for success came from emotional drives while some were situational. Analysis of the questionnaires given to each participant led to the discovery of three common determinants of what does make a successful direct seller and four determinants of characteristics …

I Love My Team! Factors Leading To Relationship Formation With A Sports Team, Carly L. Odom

Honors Theses

The sports industry is highly profitable, with a large and diverse fan base. Many people claim to be loyal to different teams, but what moves a more ‘casual fan’ to the team ‘fanatic’ status? Prior research in sports marketing focuses on elements such as geography and family history, while general marketing research considers the impact of behavioral and emotional loyalty (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001). This focus on strict loyalty can, however, be limiting. Examining the factors within the larger relationship context gives us more insight into extreme fans (Pimentel & Reynolds, 2004), as well as the more casual fan. Prior …

Green Marketing Effects On The Consumer, Alice O. Townsend

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to gauge the influence of green marketing efforts directed at the consumer. Green marketing is a marketing strategy used by businesses that emphasizes the environmental improvements a company has implemented. Green marketing is not a new concept but it is one that is still relevant to consumers and companies alike as concern for the environment continues to grow. This particular study looks at a relatively new frontier for green marketing in how it appears on social media by testing brand perception and purchase intent of an environmentally conscientious social media post by a consumer …

Social Media Transformation Of Human Resource Management, Lavita A. Williams

Honors Theses

Social media is rapidly transforming the way individuals interact in the real world day by day in the workforce. This research focuses on how social media effects human resource management (HRM) in areas of recruitment, selection, retention, and termination. Through a SurveyMonkey information was gathered from human resource professionals primarily in the southeastern region and throughout the United States. Human resource managers where asked about the advantages and disadvantages of using social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter in areas of recruitment, selection, and termination. The results, illustrated that there were many advantages when using social media sites in …

Ifrs In Higher Education: An Exploratory Study, Joshua A. Kalifeh

Honors Theses

Globalization of capital markets and technological advances enhancing global communications has led to the need for a set of international accounting standards. Comparability among financial statements prepared by numerous accounting standards depending upon the regulations of the country in which these statements are prepared is seriously impaired. Accordingly, serious convergence efforts have been made for the last few decades. Accordingly, higher education in the United States must reflect these changes in accounting curriculum available to students entering this environment. This exploratory study presents evidence that progress is being made in institutions. The progress, however, is not spread equally among the …

The Design Of An Instrument To Assess Clinical Laboratories Efficacy Post Implementation Of The Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, Harry Mcdonald Jr.

Dissertations

The healthcare system in the United States has undergone substantial changes in support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). On March 23, 2010, the implementation of the new healthcare law brought universal healthcare access to all Americans, while attempting to increase quality and decrease medical costs. The new law promotes more of a quality-focused, outcome-based model rather than a pay-for-fee service model; thus, moving the paradigm from infrequent to preemptive healthcare. The PPACA postulates as the only way to achieve cost savings while increasing quality and access. Never before has there been such an extensive change to …

The Relationship Between The Human And Social Capital Characteristics Of Nascent Entrepreneurs And Expected Job Growth In The United States, William Dwight Burge

Dissertations

The global financial crisis (GFC) that began in 2007 negatively impacted new business creation (Davidsson & Gordon, 2015). Entrepreneurship has been identified as a viable way to generate jobs in the United States since the 1970s (U.S. Small Business Administration, 2014). However, the literature suggests that there has been a decline in entrepreneurship in the United States (Clifton, 2015; Singh & Ogbolu, 2015). Capital is important to those individuals involved in entrepreneurship (Cetindamar, Gupta, Karadeniz, & Egrican, 2012), specifically, human capital and the social network connections or social capital resources of the entrepreneur (Becker, 1993; Schutjens & Völker, 2010).

This …

Is Human Capital Development The Missing Element Of The Aerotropolis Model?, John Roosevelt Hubbard

Dissertations

Until the early 20th century, transportation by land or water served as the primary methods of trade. As competition in the global marketplace increased in the 21st century air transportation emerged as a new and faster method of trade. Convinced of the economic benefits of air transportation, many policymakers of airport communities were quick to make plans for growth such as building infrastructure around the airport. This aerotropolis model often ignored the human capital development required for success.

Central to this study is this question: Is human capital development the missing component of the aerotropolis model economic development strategy? The …

An Investment Analysis For China's Sustainable Development Based On Inverse Data Envelopment Analysis, Lei Chen, Ying-Ming Wang, Fujun J. Lai, Feng Feng

Faculty Publications

In the face of environmental degradation, sustainable development has become a common goal across the globe. Making a scientifically based investment scheme is of great significance to promote the sustainable development of China's economy. However, there is scarce research related to such an investment scheme of sustainable development. This paper proposes a new inverse data envelopment analysis method with undesirable outputs to make several scientifically based investment schemes from different perspectives, namely, the natural, regulation, and optimal perspectives. By this method, decision makers can scientifically forecast the specific amount of investment based on their actual sustainable development objectives, which …

Eco-Label Certification: A Case Study Of The Campeche Shrimp Fishery, Mexico, Antonio Di Cintio, Luis Bourillón Moreno

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) eco—label certifies that seafood comes from a sustainable source. The use of this eco—label lags behind in the developing world, where ecosystem approaches to fishery management have not yet been widely implemented. However, the Food and Agriculture Organization under its REBYC—II LAC project is addressing ecosystem concerns within the shrimp trawl fisheries of a number of developing countries in Latin America and the Caribbean by helping them to improve management of the negative ecosystem impacts by modifying their gear to reduce by—catch and habitat damage. This study investigates how the potential improvements identified by the …