Business Commons^™

Solutions To Fermi Questions, Feb. 2021, Larry Weinstein

Physics Faculty Publications

Solutions for Fermi Questions, Feb. 2021. How many visible photons per second does a light bulb emit? How much does the U.S. spend on residential lightbulbs (both the bulbs and the electricity) every year?

Engaging Hotel Managers Through Managerial Support, Susan Gordon, Xiaolin Shi

ICHRIE Research Reports

The influence of varying levels of organizational support and managerial support on hotel managers’ psychological contract and work engagement was examined through a scenario-based experiment. Findings showed that lower managerial support is more detrimental and thus, recommendations are presented to help organizations foster managerial support of managers.

Goodyear: Pivot, Expand, Or Downsize, Anastasia Vonortas, Arianna Francisco, Alicen Fimple, Jasem Jwayyed

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In light of everything going on in the world today, Goodyear has started to question the next steps of their company. One of their biggest concerns is that since people are not driving as much, they will not be putting as much wear on their tires, meaning the tires they currently have on their vehicles will last longer and will not have the need to purchase new tires as frequently. Goodyear has asked us to look into what their company should do with all of the factors affecting their company. Should they pivot their focus to a different industry to …

Honors Research Project Goodyear Business Suggestion, Drew Hodgson, Seth Gwirtz, Isabel Hartzler, Heather Kriston, Savannah Novak

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Our project takes on the task of evaluating the current market of the tire industry in todays pandemic. We are taking our findings to the local company Goodyear, and supplying suggestions to their firm in order to help their bottom line going forward. At the end of this, we will propose to Goodyear a solution within their firm on whether to pivot, expand, or downsize their current operations.

Feasibility Of Podcasts And City By City Analysis For Upside.Fm, Nicholas Mcfadden, Adam Sacks, Logan Dusseau, Angela Rizzo, Sarah Wieser

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of the project is to conduct a feasibility study for Upside, with regard to their underlying business model. We then hope to make recommendations for other cities and complementary products that can fit under the Upside umbrella.

An Analysis Of How The Goodyear Rubber And Tire Company Should Navigate The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nicholas Zubek, Alexander Morgan, Alyson Pekkola, Kayla Jancewicz, Thomas Rovnak Iii

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world in an unprecedented way with many countries being forced to shut down all non-essential businesses. A majority of people were laid-off or forced to work from home while the state mandated quarantine regulations. Due to fewer people and employees commuting on the roads, tire usage has decreased drastically. Companies, like The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, depend on high transportation and automobile usage and thus have been heavily impacted. In the nine months since 2020 began, Goodyear has reported sales of $2.367 billion dollars lower than their sales in 2019, which mostly came …

Analysis Of The Podcast Industry And Business Growth Of Upside.Fm, Alyson Stoll, Katelyn Stanoch, John Skakun, Samantha Heim, Maanasa Humchad

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper explores the podcast industry with a focus on business related podcasts about entrepreneurship and startup businesses. The paper works to analyze the podcast industry and midwestern startup cities in order to assist podcast company, Upside.fm, in expanding their business model. The two main ideas researched throughout the paper are consumer behaviors in the podcast industry and the entrepreneurial ecosystems of multiple midwestern cities in the U.S including, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kansas City, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Indianapolis, Indiana. For the consumer behavior aspect of the research, a survey was conducted and analyzed to discover what podcast listeners enjoy and …

Three Essays Exploring Diversification Strategies In Family Firms: Evidence From The S&P 1500 On Acquisitions And Exits., Chelsea Sherlock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Family firms are not only the most prevalent form of business organization in the world, accounting for roughly 75% of all organizations (La Porta, Lopez-de-Silanes, & Shleifer, 1999; Miller, Steier, & Le Breton-Miller, 2003), they also represent “heterogeneous and complex enterprises” that offer a “challenging array of issues to study” (Sharma, Chrisman, & Gersick, 2012, p. 5). Accordingly, this series of essays explores diversification strategies in family firms by investigating the family specific factors which may influence strategic decision-making. I begin with a review of the diversification literature over the last 20 years. Next, using data from S&P 1500 firms, …

Do Bears Prefer The Weak And The Downtrodden? The Effects Of The 52-Week Low And Financial Strength On Short-Seller Behavior, Christopher Alan Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the effects of a company’s financial strength on short-seller behavior around a non-information-producing event. The distance of a stock price to its 52-week high or low does not provide fundamental information, but the price extremes serve as salient price points upon which investors anchor their expectations of future stock performance. Using a large sample of daily short sales data, I investigated the effects of both the proximity to the 52-week low and the financial strength of the underlying company on short-seller behavior. I found that short-selling volume increases as the price nears its 52-week low and that …

Analysis Of Modern Barn Design, Gunther Soehnlen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The agriculture industry is always changing. Barn structures are one of the most important aspects of the agriculture industry. As the agriculture industry changes, so does the design and construction of barns. There are many types of barns, but over the last 300 years four of the most prevalent types have been the Bank Barn, Open Span Truss Barn, Hoop Barn, and Transverse Frame Barn. The Bank Barn and Transverse Frame Barn have been popularly built for over 200 years. The Hoop Barn and the Open Span Truss Barn have been recently introduced to the industry, becoming popular within the …

Less Commute Miles. Decreased Tire Wear. What Would You Do?, Dylan Schwarz, Brendon M. Ford, Brandon D. Hadinger, Abbie N. Pearce, Jacinta M. Pikunas

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

With the flagrant recognition of the coronavirus as one of those most impactful viruses in the history of the world, it is important to study how the effects of such a disease can create troublesome ripple effects in the world. Covid-19 has caused the death of hundreds of thousands of individuals and has negatively impacted the lives of American’s all across the country during the nationwide lockdown. Decreased work commuters, minimal road travel, and little need for car repairs hit the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company hard. The University of Akron has teamed up with Goodyear to explore such effects …

Covid-19 Impact On Produce Perks, Taylor Swindall, Anna Muntin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Despite the benefits of diets containing fresh fruits and vegetables such as a lower risk of heart disease, very few Americans, especially low-income individuals, consume enough to meet the recommended amounts. For our Honor’s Project our team focused on the Ohio based SNAP-EBT food share program Produce Perks. To do so we studied two sets of data to our answer our research questions; ‘Has COVID-19 further impacted low-income individuals’ fruit and vegetable consumption’, How is the Produce Perks program impacted low-income consumers’, and “How can this program be better marketed to include more low-income individuals. Through our research we were …

Organizational And Financial Considerations Of Inter-District School Of Choice On One Small District In The Detroit Metropolitan Area, Lori Lucas

Wayne State University Dissertations

The research study investigated the organizational and financial structure of a school district that participated in inter-district school of choice. The goal was to see if choice, resident and non-resident, had any influence on these structures. The literature that I reviewed highlighted the various organizational and funding mechanisms that school districts need to account for when considering options such as school of choice. This research study was conducted on a smaller scale compared to studies that have been completed on a grander scale. The goal of this study was to review the organizational and financial changes that districts make to …

Understanding The New Wealthy: Ideologies, Consumption Patterns, And Organizational Strategies For A New Generation Of High-Net Worth Individuals, Ana Brant

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the fact that the Ultra High-Net Worth (UHNWI) belong to the wealthiest, most powerful, and influential group of consumers in the society, and nearly 70% created wealth on their own, current marketing approaches fail to consider what drives consumption behavior of this group of consumers and how can brands maximize their socio-economic impact. Across two studies, I develop a model that guides theory and practice regarding this consumer group. The first part of the first study deployed netnography and grounded theory to understand the ideologies of 30 self-made UHNWI derived from self-presentation on 3,393 Instagram posts. To ensure self-made …

Organizational Dissonance In The Context Of Organizational Decline And Turnaround Of A Security Printer: A Quantitative Case Study, Tina Marie Ramirez-Dominguez

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative study was to examine organizational identity dissonance experienced by an organization's social actors in the context of organizational decline and turnaround utilizing factor structures from five years of pre-existing, employee surveys to determine whether differences in factor scores occurred over the 5-year time frame. Organizational identity dissonance is the psychological stress or discomfort experienced by an organization's social actors from holding two or more contradictory attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors (McLead, 2008) in relation to the organization's identity. A social actor is an individual participating in a communal environment (Whetten & Mackey, 2002). A communal …

The Impact Of A Management Company’S Scale On Hotel Market Value, Gil Keinan

Theses and Dissertations

The choice of management structure is growing in importance for hotel owners. Most owners’ investment theses are based on an attractive acquisition basis, focusing on net cash flow and the sales exit. Depending on the market, transaction price may be influenced by asset level performance which is highly influenced by daily revenue and expense decisions. Hotel brands quantify their value via measures that include market share and loyalty of a customer base. While much research has been conducted on the impact of brands on market value, the influence of hotel management on resale value has not been well investigated. This …

From Truth To Trust: The Impact Of Blockchain Traceability On Trust In Product Authenticity, Frank Betz

Theses and Dissertations

In the global marketplace, customers are increasingly unaware of the source, provenance, and authenticity of products. Early research has shown that the introduction of blockchain technology into the supply chain area can make it more transparent and trustworthy. As a platform that supports distributed, cryptographically secure, auditable transactions, blockchain has expanded from the domain of digital cryptocurrency into the domain of physical asset provenance and ownership tracking and tracing. This research examines blockchain support of trust in product authenticity adopting a two-paper dissertation format. In the first conceptual paper, I develop a conceptual framework on blockchain technology's unique features and …

A Contemporary Study On The Impact Of Regulations On Business Performance, Brian C. Mulligan

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines Nobel Prize Laureate Hayek's ominous warning that economic liberty in the U.S. is at risk, due to regulations, of becoming an unplanned administrative state. The research seeks to understand the effects of regulations on business performance and how to right-size them for a healthy business environment. These objectives are accomplished with two papers: (1) a macro cross-discipline literature review and call for research on the impact of regulations on business performance, and (2) a qualitative grounded theory study from interviews from elite business executives on their perspectives on the impact of regulations on business performance. The findings …

Adoption Of Ai-Enabled Technology: Taking The Bad With The Good, George Dagliyan

Theses and Dissertations

From autonomous vehicles to smart home assistants and telemedicine, artificial intelligence enabled (AI-enabled) technologies are increasingly available in the market. Consumers are saddled between the benefits and the risks of these new technologies, yet prior research has not accounted for the coexistence of inhibitory and faciliatory factors and how they affect intentions to use AI-enabled technology. The current research introduces a conceptual model to address these relationships and integrates the role of subjective ambivalence and brand trust. The model was tested using structural equation modeling with a cross sectional survey of U.S. consumers across three distinct categories of AI: autonomous …

Corporate Venturing In The Media & Entertainment Industry: Contextual Factors That Influence Corporate Venture Decision Making, Graylind R. Wherry

Theses and Dissertations

This research study focuses on Corporate Venturing (CV) within the Media and Entertainment(M&E) industry and investigates factors that influence CV decision-making. CV provides a viable strategy to facilitate innovation and organizational change within companies; however, this area is understudied within the M&E industry. Companies that make up the entertainment industry may not have specific insight into how best to exploit this opportunity. Specifically, this study looks at the influence of firm characteristics, industry characteristics, and other outside factors using the PESTLE strategy model characteristics impacting the parent or venture unit's CV decision-making within the M&E industry. In terms of this …

Job Demands And Job Resources Among Western Airline Cabin Crews: A Comparative Study Of Canadian, German, And French Flight Attendants, Sarah Nogues, Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay, Sari Mansour

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Flight attendants are frontline workers in charge of onboard security, safety and customer service. They are required to perform a number of tasks requiring physical and psychological efforts associated with numerous health costs for this group of workers. In the aftermath of Covid-19, flight attendants employed at major airlines will likely be faced with increased job demands. However, little is known about how widespread job resources are among Western cabin crews. Based on recent findings in flight attendant job-demands literature along with the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) framework in strategic HRM, this paper questions airline leeway and choices in resource allocation to …

What Factors Predict A Consumer's Willingness To Purchase A Subscription-Based Airline Program?, Sean R. Crouse

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Introduction: Many services offer subscription-based sales models. The aviation industry has not widely attempted to market a subscription-based service through their airline for ticketing purposes. This study developed a regression equation to determine predictive factors for the type of individual who would purchase a subscription-based airline ticket.

Method: A two-stage approach was used where the participants (N = 521) answered demographic information, flight habits, and the same scenario with a perceived value scale and willingness to purchase scale.

Results: Stage 1 found perceived value, employment status, and early boarding preference all to be significant factors, accounting for …

The Value Relevance Of Retail Strategy, Kexin Xiang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

All three essays of this dissertation are under the umbrella of retail management and study the phenomenon of retail management from the following perspectives: retailers’ multichannel strategy, retailers’ store operation management, and retailers’ securities lawsuits likelihood. Specifically, the first essay studies the effect of a channel integration strategy called buy-online-and-pick-up-in-store on retailers’ stock value. The second essay studies the relationship between a retailer’s top management team (TMT) confidence and the store overexpansion. The third essay studies how TMT confidence is associated with securities class action (SCA) litigation. Essays 1 and 2 focus on retailers’ channel decision whereas Essays 2 and …

The Role Of Year-Round Fan Engagement: A New Approach To Sport Fan Behavior, Han Soo Kim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fan engagement, the substantial psychological connectedness to a specific club, team, or sport itself, is in a state of rapid transformation due to the growth of digital media. For sport organizations, managing fan engagement throughout the year is important to maximizing team revenues and sponsors’ interests. While fans consume sports differently depending on the season, the focus has been primarily on fan behavior during the in-season in the sport management literature. Thus, the purposes of this study were to (1) provide a conceptual framework of year-round fan engagement by applying the season distinction approach, (2) establish the scale of off-season …

Spotify: Strategic Plan And Analysis, Riley T. Sletten

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Spotify is a worldwide music and podcast streaming company. Spotify has the most active users of any audio streaming company in the world and is a key competitor in a growing industry. It is important to evaluate the external environment and internal forces that impact Spotify’s strategic decision-making to identify opportunities and threats that could change the audio streaming landscape. Drawing on industry research, company financial statements, and media reports, this paper analyzes the external and internal environment of Spotify to identify a strategic recommendation for the company going forward. I analyze different business frameworks to evaluate the competitive landscape …

Young Disciples In The Marketplace : A Marketplace-Based Discipleship Program For The United Methodist Young Adults Of The Zambales District, Cristine Carnate Atrero

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Continuance Of Marginal Cost Methodology In Project Change Management, Jose Rincón, Daryl Ono

Librarian Publications & Presentations

Change management is an inevitable part in the engineering management of engineering projects so effective change management is critical to determine if the proposed changes add economic value to the project. The marginal cost methodology is proposed to effectively manage change and to parse the changes only to those which add economic value. The marginal cost methodology is valuable in engineering decision making and also facilitates statistical analysis in trade studies for applications to future projects.

Uncertainty And Risk Are Multidimensional: Lessons From The Covid-19 Pandemic, David Stewart

Marketing & Business Law Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Future Proof And Real-World Ready: The Role Of Live Project-Based Learning In Students’ Skill Development, Andrew J. Rohm, Matthew Stefl, Noriko Ward

Marketing & Business Law Faculty Works

The rapid pace of technological change taking place today makes it even more important for marketing educators to incorporate relevant technical and higher level meta-skills in their digital marketing courses. We review the pedagogical literature on skill development and project-based learning and detail two live course projects designed to help students develop technical skills related to digital marketing in addition to important meta-skills involving creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. We evaluate the impact of the projects through a direct and indirect assessment process. Findings suggest that live project–based learning can support the development of the technical and meta-skills necessary …

The Effect Of Low Skill Job Opportunities On Postsecondary Enrollment, Mallory Radesic

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research examines the effect that low skill job opportunities have on the probability of enrollment in postsecondary institutions between men and women, namely the construction and manufacturing industries. The research is based on the human capital investment theory, which states that individuals will enroll in postsecondary institutions when the perceived benefits outweigh the costs. More job opportunity heightens the opportunity cost of enrollment, hence lowering the probability of enrollment. After running a probit model, there is evidence that enrollment is countercyclical and that enrollment decisions do not vary significantly between men and women. I find that a 1 percent …