Business Commons^™

The Sixty-Six Percent, Natalie Abruzzo

Capstones

The Sixty-Six Percent represent the percentage of women in the U.S. who are overweight. They are regarded as full-figured or “plus” size in the world of women’s apparel. Even though more than half of American women wear a “plus” size - size 14 and up - designs for these women account for a fraction of women’s apparel - Only 37% of women's wear is plus-size.

The Sixty-Six Percent is coming at an important time in a broader conversation about de-stigmatizing what it means to be a plus-size woman in America. Fat shaming has become taboo and mainstream media as well …

Drones In Logistics: A Feasible Future Or A Waste Of Effort, Andrew Lotz

Honors Projects

On December 1^st, 2013 news around the world was filled with headlines about E- Commerce website Amazon.com. CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos announced to the world that Amazon was designing a drone delivery program called Amazon Air that could deliver packages to customers in just 30 minutes. Consumers were all too excited for the program to launch while many business and air traffic savvy people were highly skeptical. Now two years later research to look back at the feasibility of drone flight and whether investment into the technology is worth it for small deliveries straight to customers is …

A Comparison Of Water Conservation Methods Within The Supply Chain, Spencer Bryant

Honors Projects

In a world where resources are becoming more and scarcer, water is one resource that companies need in order to stay functional. This purpose of this paper is to look at a variety of business sectors and see how they use water conservational methods within their supply chain in order to save on water. From the sectors observed, there were three main areas of focus in terms of water sustainability: reduce, reuse, and replenish. While the companies looked at were in two of the three areas stated, no company had water sustainability initiatives in place in all three areas. This …

The Impact Of Sales And Operations Planning Implementation On Supply Chain And Financial Metrics, Matthew Nolte

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Clothing Company Differentiation Through Social Media, Joshua Birnbaum

Graphic Communication

The purpose of this study was to analyze social media techniques utilized by some of the dominant clothing companies in the industry. This will provide a base of information to strategize a social media approach to increase followers for the Birds Apparel clothing company across multiple social media platforms.

This study investigated the impact social media marketing techniques had on consumer response, and their effectiveness in translating this into a paying customer. Collaborations with photographers, a revamped website, and giveaways were all used as methods to draw new followers. Results from data collected from surveys and on the Birds Apparel …

Jmu Dining To Go, Austin R. Ford

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

JMU Dining to Go is a business plan that led to the development of two applications, both of which allow JMU students to order food from on-campus dining halls and have it delivered at their specified time and to their specified location.

Inland Vet Supply Employee Training Manual, Jessica Crawford

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this senior project was to create an informative manual that would aid new employees in learning proper store protocols at Inland Vet Supply. The project included the creation of the manual based on the wants of the employer, Tammy Horal, as well as the needs of the store itself. The manual was written in a way that could be easily understood, and quickly referred to. The intended goal for the manual was to improve the ease of learning, and to reduce the amount of confusion when teaching new employees store procedures. It is with hope that once …

Labor Force Commute Mode Preferences And The Natural Environment, Brandon Killen

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

In commuting to work, commuters select from a limited variety of transportation modes, including alternative modes like cycling and walking, based on needs and preferences. Understanding these needs and preferences, and how the conditions of the immediate environment can influence them can benefit both businesses and local governments in their efforts to accommodate the commute needs of their workers and better serve their communities. Though the body of commute preference research has grown significantly over recent decades, the study of the effects of the natural environment has remained mostly overlooked. In my research, I examined the relationships between selected weather …

Transformational Leadership Principles Within Small Businesses, Tiffany Suzanne Mckinnon-Russell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses in the United States experience a high rate of failure. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and explore consistent strategies small business owners in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania used to lead successful companies. Transformational leadership theory formed the conceptual framework for this study. A mixed purposive sample of 20 small business owners participated in semistructured face- to-face and telephone interviews. Each of the participants possessed a minimum of 3 years of successful business operation and employed fewer than 500 individuals. Using Moustakas' modified van Kaam analyses, 6 main themes emerged: characteristics and experiences, leadership behaviors, managing operations, …

Propuesta De Retención Estudiantil Con El Fin De Disminuir La Deserción Académica En El Programa De Administración De Empresas En La Universidad De La Salle Bogotá, Nicolás David Tunjo Arboleda

Administración de Empresas

La deserción estudiantil en la Universidad de la Salle es un tema de importancia debido al incremento de estudiantes que por múltiples causas no han terminado sus estudios de pregrado en el programa de administración de empresas en los últimos años. En este contexto la deserción implica consecuencias socio-económicas para el país, ya que es un problema generalizado que atraviesa todo el sistema de educación nacional a nivel de pregrado donde uno de los factores significativos es el económico. Existen estudios que demuestran las altas tasas de deserción nacional, afirmando que de cada dos estudiantes que ingresan a cursar su …

Gobierno Corporativo En Colombia Necesidad U Obligación, Erika Marcela Acosta Sánchez, Mónica Lizeth Vargas Espitia

Contaduría Pública

El propósito de este documento es establecer cuáles son los determinantes que influyen para que una empresa colombiana genere buenos estándares de Gobierno Corporativo. Los recientes acontecimientos ocurridos en mercados nacionales e internacionales evidencian las consecuencias de no implementar adecuadamente un sistema de gobierno que evite llevar a la liquidación a una empresa. Mediante el uso de un modelo de regresión lineal y Poisson que relaciona variables a nivel de empresas, se muestra cuáles son los determinantes que influyen en el buen desempeño del Gobierno Corporativo. Partiendo de los resultados econométricos, se puede afirmar desde el punto de vista financiero, …

Motivating The Solicited And Unsolicited Sharing Of Tacit Knowledge Through The Process Of Externalization, Sheila Yvonne Sorensen

CCE Theses and Dissertations

While several U. S. firms have invested in Knowledge Management (KM) tools and software, it has become apparent that investments must be made in additional facets of KM, such as knowledge sharing (KS), thought by many researchers to be the most important component of KM. Of the two types of KS, explicit and tacit, the sharing of tacit knowledge has been shown to contribute the most to an organization’s performance. However, since tacit knowledge is difficult to both convey and acquire, this unshared tacit knowledge may ultimately harm an organization when, without the appropriate knowledge, individuals cannot effectively perform their …

Organizational Innovation's Moderation Of Culture Effects On Company Financial Performance, Christopher Lee Slaughter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite 40 years of research, little is known about what moderates the relationship between organizational culture and company financial performance. This quantitative study examined if innovation moderates the relationship between an organization's culture, as measured by the Denison Organizational Culture Survey, and a company's financial performance, as indicated by return on assets (ROA). Understanding if innovation moderates the relationship between organizational culture and ROA could help business leaders foster a culture that maximizes financial performance. Lewin's field theory was the theoretical foundation explaining organizational culture. Denison Consulting provided the archival dataset, which included organizational culture scores and ROA data for …

Success Factors For Women Of Color Information Technology Leaders In Corporate America, Annette Skervin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The 2013 United States Census data documents the significant underrepresentation of women of color in the information technology (IT) field. Women of color (Black, Hispanic, Asian or self-classified as non-White) represent an untapped resource in an industry with a low unemployment rate, high starting salaries, and a projected 18% growth rate by the year 2022. Prior researchers have studied White women in IT and have not provided a voice to women of color leaders. The specific problem addressed was the under-representation of women of color IT leaders in corporate America. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate the …

When Does Six Sigma Reduce Defects And Increase Efficiencies?, Richard Jay Sands

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A field research-based statistical study was used to investigate successes and failures of Six Sigma methodologies based projects. Six Sigma methodologies require that projects be designed, planned, and implemented using techniques specifically designed to achieve desired benefits that are based on the method's key drivers for project success. This study addressed an identified gap in the literature that Six Sigma projects do not fail because of Six Sigma methodologies, but that the projects can fail because of deficient support processes. Six Sigma projects that do not achieve the desired benefits are often labeled as "fads". Research questions related to management …

Managing Negative Comments Posted On Social Media, Darci Wagner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Consumers use social media to share their service experiences, positive and negative. Some organizations lack strategies to respond to the negative comments, which can inhibit service recovery and harm the success of the organization. The purpose of this case study was to explore strategies used by social media managers to manage negative comments posted on social media sites. The study's conceptual framework was social exchange theory. Participants in Central Ohio were recruited through e-mail. Data were gathered by observing 2 social media marketers manage social media and by interviewing social media managers. Secondary data from the organization displayed the engagement …

Technological Factors For The Sustainability Of The Small Business Entrepreneur, Noghor Pessu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Technical innovation creates challenges for the small business entrepreneur who uses global activities in the marketplace. Information technology and the technological innovations of the World Wide Web are driving competitiveness in the marketplace with a loss of market share for the individual business owner. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences and perceptions of a purposive sample of 20 small business owners in the metropolitan Atlanta area regarding the effect of technology, technological insertion, and application for long-term sustainability. Rogers's diffusion of innovations theory served as the conceptual framework of this study. Data were gathered …

Social Disorder And Level Of Engagement Of Small Business Owners In The Virgin Islands, Saul Santiago

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The U.S. Virgin Islands is experiencing an economic recession, manifested through social disorders such as abandoned and vandalized houses. Research points to social disorders and lack of community engagement as key factors inhibiting community development efforts. In order to strengthen these struggling communities, research has highlighted the need for public-private partnerships. Guided by Ajzen's theory of planned behavior, which posits that attitudes can predict behaviors, this study examined the relationship between social disorder and engagement of small business owners in community development. Small business owners in the U.S. Virgin Islands received an Internet or paper survey; a total of 79 …

Bringing The Best Of Business To School Administration, Michael Antony De Filippis

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The disciplines of business and school administration are recognized as distinct and separate in purpose, product, and operation. While fundamental differences do exist between the two, school administrators have a need for application of business principles in order to manage an educational institution. Schools are, at their foundation, organizations relying on effective management, budgeting, public relations, value creation, etc. Despite this need, school administrators often come from backgrounds in teaching rather than management.

Research was conducted from secondary sources and personal interviews with teachers, university professors, and school administrators to examine the similarities between administration in business and schools. The …

Advantages And Challenges Of Incorporating Virtual Currency Into Small Businesses, Spencer Sheehan

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This research paper discusses my findings in assisting Lake Missoula Tea Company become one of the first businesses in Missoula, Montana to accept Bitcoin, a virtual currency, as payment. First, I will offer a background of how Bitcoin technology works, and draw on notable historical issues to better understand its evolution, leading up to how it is currently used. I will explore possible economic benefits realized through utilizing Bitcoin in a business environment, such as transaction fee savings through substitution of traditional credit card processors, alleviating security and privacy issues, as well as publicity and marketing benefits. Serious roadblocks of …