Business Commons^™

Two Essays On The Evolution And Role Of Short Selling Activity In Financial Markets, Wanxi Zhao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

My dissertation studies the evolution and role of short selling activity in financial markets. My first essay examines the cross-sectional and time-series variations in the characteristics of equity lending market in the setting of IPO, where, as suggested by Duffie et al. (2002), search frictions are likely to be high. I find that the initial supply of lendable shares and short interest levels increase with offer size, while initial lending fees decrease with offer size. The initial lending fees are also positively related to the bargaining power of lenders and negatively related to the bargaining power of borrowers. The supply …

Artificial Empathy In Marketing Interactions: Bridging The Human-Ai Gap In Affective And Social Customer Experience, Yuping Liu-Thompkins, Shintaro Okazaki, Hairong Li

Marketing Faculty Publications

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform firm-customer interactions. However, current AI marketing agents are often perceived as cold and uncaring and can be poor substitutes for human-based interactions. Addressing this issue, this article argues that artificial empathy needs to become an important design consideration in the next generation of AI marketing applications. Drawing from research in diverse disciplines, we develop a systematic framework for integrating artificial empathy into AI-enabled marketing interactions. We elaborate on the key components of artificial empathy and how each component can be implemented in AI marketing agents. We further explicate and test how artificial empathy generates …

Creating And Managing Eu Funded Research Networks: An Exploratory Case, Zeta Dooly, Aidan Duane, Aidan O'Driscoll

Articles

The collaborative European funded research and development landscape drives competitiveness among innovative organisations. Recently it has seen the rise of public private partnerships significantly impacting the dynamics of these networks. Thus, the complexity of managing research networks has intensified with the increased diversity of research network members. Additionally, the emergence of the academic entrepreneur has augmented the focus of educational institutions to include innovation and building start-up organisations. The impact of research is scalable if an optimum research network is created and managed effectively. This paper investigates network embeddedness; the nature of relationships, links and nodes within a research network, …

Learning To Manipulate A Financial Benchmark, Megan Shearer, Gabriel V. Rauterberg, Michael P. Wellman

Law & Economics Working Papers

Financial benchmarks estimate market values or reference rates used in a wide variety of contexts, but are often calculated from data generated by parties who have incentives to manipulate these benchmarks. Since the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) scandal in 2011, market participants, scholars, and regulators have scrutinized financial benchmarks and the ability of traders to manipulate them.

We study the impact on market welfare of manipulating transaction-based benchmarks in a simulated market environment. Our market consists of a single benchmark manipulator with external holdings dependent on the benchmark, and numerous background traders unaffected by the benchmark. We explore two …

Augmented Reality In Retail And Its Impact On Sales, Yong Chin Tan, Sandeep R. Chandukala, Srinivas K. Reddy

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The rise of Augmented Reality (AR) technology presents marketers with promising opportunities to engage customers and transform their brand experience. While firms are keen to invest in AR, research documenting its tangible impact in real-world contexts is sparse. In this article, the authors outline four broad uses of the technology in retail settings. Next, they focus specifically on the use of AR to facilitate product evaluation prior to purchase, and empirically investigate its impact on sales in online retail. Using data obtained from an international cosmetics retailer, they find that AR usage on the retailer’s mobile app is associated with …

What Does Homophily Do? A Review Of The Consequences Of Homophily, Gokhan Ertug, Julia Brennecke, Balaza Kovacs, Tengjian Zou

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Understanding the consequences of homophily, which is among the most widely observed social phenomena, is important, with implications for management theory and practice. Therefore, we review management research on the consequences of homophily. As the consequences of homophily have been studied at the individual, dyad, team, organizational, and macro levels, we structure our review accordingly. We highlight findings that are consistent and contradictory, as well as those that point to boundary conditions or moderators. In conducting our review, we also derive implications for management research from insights gained by research in other disciplines on this topic. We raise specific issues …

Are Socially Responsible Exchange-Traded Funds Paying Off In Performance?, Ya Dai, Liang Guo, Steve Liu, Hongxian Zhang

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study examines the Socially Responsible (SR) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by comparing their risk-adjusted performance with a matched group of conventional ETFs in the U.S. equity market. In contrast to prior studies that focus on actively managed mutual funds, we find that the risk-adjusted returns of SR ETFs are significantly lower than those of conventional ETFs during the 2005–2020 period. Such underperformance is only observed in non-crisis periods but not in economic crisis periods (i.e., the 2020 pandemic recession and 2008 financial turmoil). We attribute the observed underperformance of SR ETFs during the non-crisis periods to their limited diversification of …

The Impact Of Perceived Manipulation, Motives, And Ethicality In Cause-Related Marketing: A Crm+ Model, Nathan W. Twyman, Sarah M. Stanley, Cassandra C. Elrod, Tamara M. Masters

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

We Developed a CRM+ Model using Experimentation and Structural Equation Modeling Analysis. CRM+ Demonstrates Previously Unexplored Interrelationships among Consumer-Perceived Manipulation, Brand Motives, Perceived Ethicality of the Cause-Related Marketing, and Brand Attitude. CRM+ Reveals that Perceived Ethicality of the CRM Has a Significant Positive Effect on Brand Attitude, Though It is Not as Pronounced as the Effect of Perceived Altruistic Motives. Egoistic Motives Decrease Ethicality Perceptions But Has No Direct Effect on Brand Attitude. Altruistic Motive Perceptions Diminish Egoistic Motive Perceptions. CRM+ Suggests Marketing Managers Should Prioritize Emphasizing Altruistic Motives and Ethicality of the Partnership over Downplaying Egoistic Motives.

Factors Affecting Web-Based Social Service Referral Technology Adoption In The Nonprofit Sector, Elizabeth A. Hutton

Master's Projects

Nonprofits play a significant role in providing social services that increase communities' overall well-being (Ressler et al., 2021; Reckhow et al., 2019; Smith & Phillips, 2016), and adopting new technologies helps promote these positive outcomes (Hackler & Saxton, 2007). However, with new technologies emerging at a pace few nonprofit organizations can keep up with, how do nonprofit leaders decide which technologies to adopt given their limited resources? This study seeks to understand what factors affect nonprofit leaders' technology adoption decision-making. Online referral platforms are not new in health or homeless organizations. Web-based coordinated social service referral tools are more recently …

Impact Of Covid-19 On Aviation-Wildlife Strikes Across Europe, Isabel C. Metz, Marta Giordano, Dionysios Ntampakis, Marianna Moira, Anneke Hamann, Rosanne Blijleven, Jürgen J. Ebert, Alessandro Montemaggiori

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Collisions between aircraft and wildlife (i.e., wildlife strikes) pose a serious threat toward the safety of aircraft, its crew, and passengers. The effects of COVID-19 related travel restrictions on wildlife strikes are unknown. With this study, we aim to address this information gap by assessing the changes of wildlife hazard management performance across European airports during the lockdown period (e.g., period of reduced operations and borders closure in spring 2020). We also sought to raise awareness of the importance of wildlife strike prevention in times of reduced operations. The objective of our study was to compare wildlife strike data before …

Goodwill Going Green: How Green Branding Can Generate $1m In Revenue, Elia Meltzer, Esha S. Vartak, William M. Crone, Ryan T. Richards

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Goodwill Industries is a nonprofit organization. Not only do they specialize in charity work, but they also have a chain of stores that focus on thrift shopping. Additionally, Goodwill provides other services, such as recycling clothing, electronics, and other goods. Recently, Goodwill of Akron, Ohio received a grant of five million dollars, where the money for the grant would have to be utilized in five years. The main objective of this project was to find a way for Goodwill to use grant money efficiently, to generate revenue for a new transportation initiative.

Our team has recommended utilizing the most popular …

Adjust-A-Ramp, Taylor Sharrits, Courtney Banks, Emily Beck, Jazmin Buenrostro

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Adjust-A-Ramp is a portable ramp designed to ensure the safety of consumers and prevention of damage to cars, specifically towards low profile cars. A low-profile vehicle includes any vehicle that has a clearance off the ground of 6.5 inches or less. Advantages of low-profile vehicles include improved handling, better braking, increased fuel efficiency, increased stability, and an overall luxury aesthetic. The reduced tire size increases grip on smooth surfaces with better wheel response, creating a fast, more efficient ride. The simple tire tread patterns and the stiff sidewalls allow for lower rolling resistance which increases fuel economy. The Adjust-A-Ramp can …

All For One And One For All: One Market-Oriented Culture, Four Ceo Leadership Styles, Chris Linden Brown

Theses and Dissertations

The value of a market-oriented culture as one that sustainably satisfies customers, engages employees, and provides profitable growth is well-established. Market-oriented firms are more profitable, more innovative, and deliver higher customer and employee satisfaction than their competitors. However, we still know little of how leaders of such operations create and sustain their organizations’ market orientation. This research, positioned at the intersection of leadership and marketing strategy, draws on interviews with 66 CEOs and senior executives across a variety of firms and industries to generate insights into how these leaders developed their market-oriented approach and to identify the behaviors they engage …

To Leed Or Not To Leed; A Data Comparison Of Energy Consumption And Greenhouse Gas Production In Multi-Family Housing Operations, Michael Cusumano

Theses and Dissertations

Sustainably designed buildings, such as those built under LEED, CAL-Green, BREAM, Energy Star and Green Star, purport to reduce scarce resource consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This research addresses whether such sustainably designed buildings produce reductions in greenhouse gas emissions compared to similar but non-sustainably designed projects in the multi-family area of built environments. I compare two datasets to determine the energy consumption levels between sustainably designed (LEED-certified and CAL-Green) multi-family projects and similar developments which are not designed to be sustainable to determine the effectiveness of current sustainability design strategies in creating reductions of the overall production of …

The Power Of Purpose On Performance: Its Measurement And Influence On Innovation, Mark R. Hatch

Theses and Dissertations

This research explored two questions: “How does one measure a strong organizational purpose?” and “What are the sources of success caused by a strong organizational purpose?” These questions were answered by developing a new measure of purpose that incorporated enacting and aspirational dimensions. Further, the level of analysis of prior research was shifted from the individual to the organizational level. The research then empirically tested the influence of the new purpose construct, Enacting Aspirational Purpose, on two important sources of organizational performance, specifically radical innovation and innovation success. The analysis supported a statistically significant positive influence of Enacting Aspirational Purpose …

About Her Business: The Making Of The Black Female Entrepreneur, Selina Steward

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research explored the lived experiences of Black women in the United States who have managed to establish and sustain successful businesses. This research seeks to explore the vicissitudes and challenges of Black female entrepreneurship, as well as the strategies employed by Black women to achieve successful business ownership. The researcher interviewed 15 Black businesswomen with intimate knowledge of the phenomenon of interest using a purposive sample technique. Employing a phenomenological approach and semi-structured interview questions, this study uncovered connections between previously identified challenges in the literature and recommendations for the next generation of Black female entrepreneurs. Learning from …

Participant Reactions To A Leadership Development Program In A High Growth Firm: A Preliminary Study, Malika Begin

Theses and Dissertations

High growth firms (HGF), which report more than 20% annual growth for at least 3 consecutive years, have limited time and resources to support their success. Transformative leadership development interventions, which strive to create marked changes through shifting leaders’ ways of perceiving and operating, may be highly effective for rapidly expanding the firms’ leadership capacities. This study examined the perceived nature and impacts of a leadership development program that was intended to be transformative in one HGF.

All 10 leadership development trainees were interviewed about the effects of the program and the program features that contributed to those effects. Participants …

The Impact Of A Mindfulness Practice On The Effects Of Emotional Labor, Lauren Dainko

Theses and Dissertations

Mindfulness meditation has become a staple practice for those looking to improve the self and become connected to the present moment. With the growing number of tools available, mindfulness base practices have stretched beyond the areas of self-improvement and have entered into the workplace. Companies are leveraging the benefits that come from a mindfulness- based practice, having their leadership teams take part to help improve the lives of their employees and their businesses.

This study takes an in-depth look at how a daily mindfulness practice influences customer service professionals. Specifically narrowing in on the ways a mindfulness practice impacts the …

Creating Attractive Organizations For First-Generation Americans, Joshua C. Carson

Theses and Dissertations

First-generation Americans (FGAs) entering the work force can help American organizations improve their performance in the marketplace and achieve their business objectives. However, the demographic faces unique challenges that make it necessary for employers to develop specific strategies that can attract them. This research study examines how American employers can attract and empower FGAs into their organizations. The study uses a qualitative research design to examine the study issue. The experiences, opinions, and views of FGAs entering the work force will be collected to determine how American employers can meet their needs and expectations and attract them to their organizations. …

Impact Of Internal Corporate Social Responsibility Factors On The Employee’S Innovation Climate In The Medical Diagnostics Industry, Sofia M. Beglari

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between employee-driven corporate social responsibility (CSR) factors and employee innovation in U.S. medical diagnostic companies during the respiratory syndrome coronavirus (COVID) pandemic. This study examined what employee-driven CSR factors affect such motivation of employees toward innovation. The research population was employees who have worked in operation, quality control, research, technical, and management departments of medical diagnostics companies in the United States of America. The investigator used a survey questionnaire for this correlation design study. Employees’ responses were analyzed based on education level, gender, and job function using descriptive analysis, t-test, and ANOVA-test. The theoretical framework …

Board Governance In Crisis: Director Influence In Executive Crisis Leadership, Kevin Schaller

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 global pandemic is the most far-reaching crisis of the modern era and the cascading impacts on organizations is tantamount to a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment for decision-making by board directors and top management team (TMT) leaders. The pandemic provided an unprecedented opportunity to expand upon the disparate research associated with decision-making by board directors and TMT leaders during crises. This phenomenological study explored how the pandemic influenced decision-making distinctly from previous crisis events and how executive decisions on firm policies and strategies transpired throughout the crisis. A sample of 32 board directors and senior executives …

Data Envelopment Analysis As A Benchmarking Application For Humanitarian Organizations, Dan Rodman

Theses and Dissertations

Humanitarian aid organizations are under tremendous pressure and competition for donor funds to sustain their operations. However, donor contribution levels have remained relatively stagnant over the past five years and are unlikely to grow in the foreseeable future. Additionally, donor policies and mandates have added pressure on humanitarian aid organizations to comply with new and more complex requirements.

Many humanitarian aid organizations work in some of the most challenging areas of the world, where conflict, famine, environmental, economic, and cultural challenges are prevalent. Given all these factors, a novel form of performance and efficiency measurement is needed to evaluate the …

Impact Of Leadership Skills On Entrepreneurs’ Business Success In Saudi Arabia, Omar Alaqeel

Theses and Dissertations

Most entrepreneurial businesses fail within the first 5 years of establishment. One of the major causes is the lack of leadership skills by the entrepreneurs. The aim of this quantitative study was to define the leadership skills that were required by entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia in creating and sustaining entrepreneurial business successfully beyond 5 years and to identify the environmental factors affecting entrepreneurship ecosystem in Saudi Arabia. The population of interest in this study was entrepreneurs from Tasamy in Saudi Arabia. Tasamy is a non-profit organization that focuses on supporting entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia. To answer the research questions for …

Scandinavian Work-Life Balance Experience: Its Implementation In The United Arab Emirates (Uae) Happiness Context, Maktoom Al Mazrouei

Theses and Dissertations

Employee happiness and satisfaction are unanimously correlated to enhanced levels of productivity and efficiency, making them important for employees and employers. Scandinavian countries consistently rank highly on the world happiness index and correspondingly possess comparatively happier employees in their workplaces. Aside from the structural setting, internal components, and atmosphere of the workplace, it is primarily understood that the initiatives undertaken by Scandinavian countries in relation to the concept of work life balance are significantly important. The concept of work-life balance is cognizant of an employee’s struggle in maintaining equilibrium between work and personal life. This study could aid the United …

Developing Psychological Safety In Technical Teams, Susan Ellen Clayton Nakashima

Theses and Dissertations

Being promoted from an individual contributor to a supervisor brings new challenges and opportunities. One challenge new supervisors face is creating and fostering a psychologically safe environment to encourage teams’ interpersonal risk taking. This research introduces the antecedent of first level technical leaders perceived transformational leadership training on team members psychological safety. A study of 92 technical teams (400 participants across nine companies, three industries, and four US regions) measured the impact of four hypotheses related to psychological safety. A positive relationship between leaders training and team psychological safety was discovered. The highly correlated variables, training and emotional intelligence, led …

New Product Development System Fit For Innovative Performance, Tad V. Machrowicz

Theses and Dissertations

Innovation is an imperative for long-term health and shareholder returns in firms dependent on product development. Yet, most companies struggle with the tension between creative ideation and implementation. Effectively finding new sources of revenue and improving and profiting from existing products and services reflects a product development ambidexterity challenge. Surveys were collected from 212 development team members representing 31 teams from the transportation, aerospace, and chemical sectors to understand if a new product development (NPD) system’s ambidexterity supported team level innovation performance. When NPD systems are perceived by development team users as ambidextrous structures, their combined ideation and implementation strength …

An Analysis Of Air Traffic Controllers’ Job Satisfaction, Sohel M. Imroz, Farhan Sadique, Nidhi Trambadia

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

The air traffic controllers' job is one of the most hectic in today’s world, predominantly due to its safety-critical operations and altering expectations. The primary purpose of this paper is to provide a holistic directory of determinants and synthesized reinforcements for air traffic controllers' job satisfaction. Researchers in the past have put the spotlight on individual air traffic controller’s technical job satisfaction factors, such as impacts from remote tower operation, airplane trajectory changes, and dynamic air traffic situations. However, none described the connection among those factors and how adjusting those factors can enhance the cognitive components related to their job …

School Choice Factors Influencing U.S. Domestic And International Student Pilots’ Selections Of Vocational Flight Schools, Jingmin Jin

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

As international civil aviation activities resume from the COVID-19 pandemic, along with fleet growth and high retirement rates for senior pilots, there is a concern about the industry’s capability in supplying sufficient numbers of competent professional pilots. In order to advance the industry’s recruitment, it is necessary to determine effective approaches that may attract prospective student pilots to flight schools. This study investigated how school choice factors influenced U.S. domestic student pilots’ selections of vocational, non-collegiate flight schools in comparison to international student pilots. The study data were adopted from a 2019 survey research, which included 157 domestic and 44 …

Pray And Play: The Impact Of Fellowship Of Christian Athletes Among Di African American Collegiate Football Players In Kentucky, Rasheed Flowers

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Participation in athletics provides student-athletes with opportunities to further themselves outside of athletics through academic assistance, educational opportunities and experiences, physical wellness, and personal/professional development. One often overlooked portion of this holistic development is spiritual development. As demonstrated in the name student-athlete, it implies a dual identity. Few student-athletes navigate multiple identities and a myriad of additional challenges in their collegiate journey than African American football student-athletes (AAFSAs). Spiritual development is vital for student-athletes; the literature validates that student-athletes growing in their faith may be better equipped to navigate the tension of multiple identity roles and cope with various circumstances. …

City Of Missoula Partnership Project: Supporting The Affordable Housing Trust Fund, Petra Leah Slater

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

As housing prices continue to increase rapidly in Missoula, it is more important than ever for community members to be aware of the resources available to them that support access to affordable housing. I have partnered with the City of Missoula to research and design a new webpage for the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund was adopted in July of 2020 and aims to provide housing developers and nonprofit organizations funding with the goal of creating new, affordable housing options for Missoulians. The new webpage for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund will expand community knowledge …