Business Commons^™

How The Leading Chinese Real Estate Brokerage Transformed Into A Digital Platform Business, Yanli Zhang, Lixia Yao

Department of Management Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Purpose

In this article, we study how a Chinese real estate broker - Lianjia successfully transformed itself into Beike - China’s leading digital platform for housing transactions and services. We explain the motivation behind this platform transformation, how it turned out, and what are the lessons learned for other companies contemplating a platform transformation. Beike’s lessons are significant as they not only can help the companies achieve growth via platform transformation but also create social value by contributing to higher service quality in traditional service industries.

Design/methodology/approach

We draw upon comprehensive archival research into Beike, and our many years of …

2021-December-13-Etsu Martin Center Sets Melissa Etheridge Show For Late April, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

JOHNSON CITY (Dec. 13, 2021) – In the late 1980s and 1990s, Melissa Etheridge was a rock ‘n’ roll rebel with confessional lyrics and raspy, smoky vocals. In the 21st century, the singer/songwriter is known as a rock queen and icon.

After months of waiting for a break in the country’s and state’s health situation, the East Tennessee State University Martin Center for the Arts has finalized plans for its first public show as a presenter – an evening with Etheridge on her One Way Out tour, set for Wednesday, April 27, in the center’s ETSU Foundation Grand Hall. 

Local …

Undersea Cables: The Ultimate Geopolitical Chokepoint, Bert Chapman

FORCES Initiative: Strategy, Security, and Social Systems

This work provides historical and contemporary overviews of this critical geopolitical problem, describes the policy actors addressing this in the U.S. and selected other countries, and provides maps and information on many undersea cable work routes. These cables are chokepoints with one dictionary defining chokepoints as “a strategic narrow route providing passage through or to another region."

Onlyfans Is Booming. But For Whom?, Allison Smith

Capstones

Although the news often reports on the windfalls content creators make on OnlyFans, especially since the start of the pandemic, the reality is that most sex workers on the site undergo hours of unpaid later — from brand building and search engine optimization to video editing and production. Since the passage of SESTA/FOSTA in 2018, a bill that was ostensibly designed to curtail online sex trafficking, it has been harder to get started in the sex industry and the divide between those who are successful versus those who are just scraping by has widened. Link to capstone: https://allisonnicolesmith.github.io/capstone/

New York Is Promising Social Equity In Its Legal Cannabis Market, But Questions Still Loom, Brian D. Evans Jr

Capstones

This capstone will explore how New York can navigate a new landscape that accepts recreational marijuana while also dealing with an illegal pot market that can better serve the state with less arrests and a more seamless rollout. The capstone will also discuss how people of color – already targeted and arrested at a disproportionate rate for misdemeanor non-violent drug related crimes – will navigate this landscape. With less access to capital to start businesses of their own or buy/rent property, will New York perhaps introduce or entertain a program to subsidize such an effort? California has said that the …

Tiktok Has Influenced The Way We Buy Beauty, Keira R. Wingate, Angela Palumbo

Capstones

The purpose of this capstone project is to show how the popular social media platform, TikTok, is influencing and changing the way consumers buy and the companies sell beauty products.

Since the start of the pandemic, a record number of people logged into TikTok, which has become one of the top social media platforms in the world. While the app grew, so did the number of users who made videos reviewing and using makeup products. Soon, TikTok went from an entertainment platform to a marketing opportunity for large companies in the beauty industry.

Now, hundreds of influencers are paid large …

2021-12-13 Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee meeting minutes for December 13, 2021.

Staying One Step Ahead Of The Growing Electric Vehicle Market, Russell Molter

Honors Projects

Electric vehicles are becoming more popular among drivers as they become more affordable and as people become more aware of the benefits of electric vehicles. Because of this, the demand for electric car chargers is quickly increasing across the country. This includes BGSU’s campus. Right now, there are seven chargers available on campus, but with the trends in how the electric vehicle market is growing, BGSU should create a plan to install many more chargers to meet the increasing demand for charging stations. This strategy will allow BGSU to keep up with the growing electric vehicle market, which will additionally …

Designing A Knowledge-Based System (Kbs) To Study Consumer Purchase Intention: The Impact Of Digital Influencers In Pakistan, Sherbaz Khan, Aamir Rashid, Rizwana Rasheed, Noor Aina Amirah

Publications and Research

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to present a complete framework that defines the link between choices and decision criteria based on existing research on digital influencers (DIs) connected to consumer purchase intentions. The primary goal of this article is to assess the effect of DIs on customer purchase intentions via the creation of an integrated knowledge-based system (KBS).

Design/methodology/approach – The suggested KBS is based on the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP), which creates a link between DI elements and their overall effect on consumer purchase intentions.

Findings – With the help of a KBS, the performance …

The Effectiveness Of Planning The Training Loads Of Discus Throwers In The Annual Training Process, Zebo Khusanovna Yusupova

Eurasian Journal of Sport Science

Purpose: to develop a methodology aimed at improving the biomechanical mobility of discus throwers in special strength training and to determine the effectiveness in pedagogical practice.

Methods: The methods of analysis of scientific and methodological literature, pedagogical observation, anthropometric method, determination of the angle of flight of the disk, pedagogical experiment, pedagogical testing, mathematical statistics were used. (On FREMGE, G-VOLK equipment).

Results: The parameters of the movement of a student athlete in discus throwing were studied and methods of biomechanical analysis were developed.

Conclusion: In our study, it was found that the relative increase in the duration of the experiment …

2021-December-11-Congratulations Class Of 2021, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

JOHNSON CITY – (Dec. 11, 2021) East Tennessee State University conferred more than 1,300 degrees during two Commencement Exercises earlier today in the Ballad Health Athletic Center.

Gayle Conelly Manchin, federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), delivered the keynote address at 10 a.m., and ETSU faculty member Dr. Sean Fox, who won the Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching, addressed graduates during the 2 p.m. ceremony.

The Class of 2021 included 1,054 undergraduate students and over 230 master’s candidates.   ETSU also conferred 96 doctoral degrees today.  Of the undergraduate students, 108 graduated summa cum laude, 142 earned magna …

2021-December-11-Congratulations Class Of 2021, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

JOHNSON CITY – (Dec. 11, 2021) East Tennessee State University conferred more than 1,300 degrees during two Commencement Exercises earlier today in the Ballad Health Athletic Center.

Gayle Conelly Manchin, federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), delivered the keynote address at 10 a.m., and ETSU faculty member Dr. Sean Fox, who won the Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching, addressed graduates during the 2 p.m. ceremony.

The Class of 2021 included 1,054 undergraduate students and over 230 master’s candidates.   ETSU also conferred 96 doctoral degrees today.  Of the undergraduate students, 108 graduated summa cum laude, 142 earned magna …

Islamic Banking Risk Assessment Process: A Case Study From Indonesia, Ita Sitasari

Journal Of Middle East and Islamic Studies

Indonesian Islamic banks are required have minimum capital in relation to bank’s risk profile rating that comes from the comprehensive risk assessment process. This is a qualitative study to observe how Islamic banks in Indonesia respond to the regulation, with the focus observation on the material risk identification process, risk indicators and determination of risk level. Based on discussion with some risk officers of Islamic banks indicates that the banks do not have specific process to identify material risks. They make assessment on risk types that have been defined by regulator. They also do not develop additional Islamic risk indicators …

Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis Of Movie Reviews, Samuel Onalaja, Eric Romero, Bosang Yun

SMU Data Science Review

This study investigates a comparison of classification models used to determine aspect based separated text sentiment and predict binary sentiments of movie reviews with genre and aspect specific driving factors. To gain a broader classification analysis, five machine and deep learning algorithms were compared: Logistic Regression (LR), Naive Bayes (NB), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Recurrent Neural Network Long-Short-Term Memory (RNN LSTM). The various movie aspects that are utilized to separate the sentences are determined through aggregating aspect words from lexicon-base, supervised and unsupervised learning. The driving factors are randomly assigned to various movie aspects and their impact tied to …

Spotify: You Have A Hit!, Christopher E. Dawson Jr., Steve Mann, Edward Roske, Gauthier Vasseur

SMU Data Science Review

Abstract. Over 87% of the streaming music is owned by four major record labels (Jones, 2018). Yet, the songs owned by those labels account for <1% of the total amount of music created each year. These labels are historically better at identifying talent (though this talent identification is becoming more difficult). Even though Spotify has 36% of the streaming marketing share (T4, 2021), Spotify has not been profitable because of the large licensing costs paid to the large music labels. If Spotify could identify hit songs & artists before the large labels, they would sign those artists and dramatically reduce their licensing costs. Using the Spotify API, this paper will use Spotify data on over 400K songs over the last three years for exploratory data analysis, provide descriptive statistics, perform feature selection, and develop models using LASSO and XGBOOST Classification. The research determined multiple key features and predicted with over 60% accuracy songs which were going to be a hit (defined as >90% popularity).

Librarians Don’T Use Google!: Breaking Stereotypes And Myths About Smart Searching, Nora B. Wood, Dhy Edwardsberry

Urban Library Journal

Students often assume that librarians sit with their noses stuck in dusty volumes all day. These same students are typically surprised to learn that many librarians actually work extensively with online resources and are adept at navigating websites and databases to uncover the best information. What comes as even more of a surprise? Learning that librarians rely heavily on Google to conduct thorough and credible research.

In this article, the authors will discuss how they helped break this librarian stereotype and turned the tables on preconceived notions of how to conduct smart research using Google for a group of undergraduate …

The Application Of Design Thinking On Evaluating A User Self-Service Data Analytics/Science Platform, Aheeka Pattnaik

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis is aimed at utilising design thinking and the first half of the double diamond framework to i) set-up a research and select the appropriate participants, ii) gather requirements and define user personas from those eligible participants, and then iii) define the framework for evaluating a user self-service data analytics/science platform. Derived from the author’s own experiences, both as a Business Analyst (BA) and Citizen Data Scientist, with no-, low-, and code-based data analytics and science platforms are being implemented for enabling user self-service analytics – for users who are completely new to the space of data analysis and …

Navigating The Impact Of Covid-19 On Small Commercial Businesses And Insurance Companies, And A Call To Action For Future Communicable Disease Outbreaks, Natalie Peña

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

The short-term and long-term effects of Covid-19 have caused many small commercial businesses to face financial hardships, loss of employees, and even closures for entities that were already experiencing low profit margins. Distraught with their businesses suffering, owners turned to their primary insurance companies to receive compensation through their business interruption policies. However, most insureds were upset when they discovered that their insurance plans did not include communicable diseases and pandemics as a covered peril. This led to many small businesses battling these issues in the courts and fighting for insurance companies to provide financial assistance to them during this …

2021-December-10-Winter Transformations A Reece Museum Update, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Dec. 10, 2021) – Upgrades to the Reece Museum’s main entrance, galleries, foyer and multipurpose room aimed at creating better experiences for the East Tennessee State University community and public are happening this winter. 

The main entrance is being renovated to repair infrastructure and make the museum more accessible to visitors. The galleries, foyer and multipurpose room will also see major changes as new displays and three new exhibitions are set to open in January 2022.

“This renovation to our main entrance is a welcomed upgrade for the museum that will help us better serve the campus …

2021-December-10-Winter Transformations A Reece Museum Update, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Dec. 10, 2021) – Upgrades to the Reece Museum’s main entrance, galleries, foyer and multipurpose room aimed at creating better experiences for the East Tennessee State University community and public are happening this winter. 

The main entrance is being renovated to repair infrastructure and make the museum more accessible to visitors. The galleries, foyer and multipurpose room will also see major changes as new displays and three new exhibitions are set to open in January 2022.

“This renovation to our main entrance is a welcomed upgrade for the museum that will help us better serve the campus …

Board Of Trustees Minutes, Dec. 10 2021, Indiana State University Board Of Trustees

Board of Trustees

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Commodity Prices On Stock Returns In The Firearm Industry, Lance Siler

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

A modified version of the CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) is used to evaluate the potential relationship between commodity inputs and the stock returns of public firearm companies. The data analysis involved using the model to develop expected returns for each of the companies’ stock and then a regression was run between the returns provided by the model and historical returns. The p-values for each regression are statistically significant. This indicates that there is some sort of connection between metal commodity returns and stock returns.

Selling For The Social Good: A Commentary And Extension To Pedagogy Place, Shannon Cummins

Marketing & Entrepreneurship Faculty Publications

This paper describes an adaptation of “Social Marketing, Consumer Behavior, and the SDGs” available from the Pedagogy Place website to an introductory sales class. The extension provides an example of how the structure of a macromarketing project can be adapted to every part of the marketing curriculum—even personal selling. The project details how sales skills can be developed using experiential learning while simultaneously providing an opportunity to discuss macromarketing principles and use sales techniques toward sustainability goals and societal good.

Small Farmers’ Use Of Social Media And Other Channels For Marketing Their Agricultural Products, Carlos Alberto Moreno-Ortiz, Donna J. Peterson Dr., Alba J. Collart, Laura Downey, Susan Seal, Roberto Gallardo

Journal of Extension

We examined small farmers’ use of and preference for different channels for marketing agricultural products and explored differences by gender, age group, and education level. Farmers markets and social media were preferred channels, with participants under age 55 being more likely than those 55 and over to prefer and use social media and agree that social media would be useful for promoting products and increasing sales. While selling via social media could provide a larger market, one challenge is that the average age of Mississippi farm operators is 59. Therefore, Extension must consider multiple approaches for delivering training on marketing.

A Case Of Shifting Focus Friction: Extension Directors And State 4-H Program Leaders’ Perspectives On 4-H Lgbtq+ Inclusion, Jeremy Elliott-Engel, Donna Westfall-Rudd, Eric Kaufman, Megan Seibel, Rama Radhakrishna

Journal of Extension

Contemporary Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ+) youth are identifying and communicating their identities earlier in childhood than generations before as a result of more awareness and more acceptance of gender identity and sexual minorities by society. A qualitative study of U.S. 4-H program leaders and Extension directors generated an emergent theme around the importance of serving LGBT youth and the resulting implementation challenges. The administrators of 4-H, the largest youth serving organization in the country, recognize the presence of LGBTQ+ youth in 4-H and believe the organization must be inclusive. But challenges remain in ensuring youth experience inclusion at …

Sport Venue Quality: Measurement, And Its Impact On Spectator’S Sustained Consumption Intentions, Dae Eun Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of the current study was to reconstruct the sport venue quality dimensionsas an autonomous quality with a utilitarian perspective and examine the impact on spectators’ perceived risk, price perception, and sustained consumption intentions. Venues for National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB) games that mostly represent indoor and outdoor sporting facilities were chosen, and subjects were spectators who have experience of attending professional team sport events in sport venues. The study employed an online survey for data collection, and a total of 595 samples were utilized for data analyses. The data set was randomly split into …

A Dual Perspective Towards Building Resilience In Manufacturing Organizations, Steven A. Fazio

Theses and Dissertations

Modern manufacturing organizations exist in the most complex and competitive environment the world has ever known. This environment consists of demanding customers, enabling, but resource intensive Industry 4.0 technology, dynamic regulations, geopolitical perturbations, and innovative, ever-expanding global competition. Successful manufacturing organizations must excel in this environment while facing emergent disruptions generated as biproducts of complex man-made and natural systems. The research presented in this thesis provides a novel two-sided approach to the creation of resilience in the modern manufacturing organization. First, the systems engineering method is demonstrated as the qualitative framework for building literature-derived organizational resilience factors into organizational structures …

How Information Technology Investment Influences Firm Financial Vulnerability, Andrew S. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Information technology (IT) investments have increased over the last half-century without clear justification in academic or practice-based literatures. One area that has not been adequately addressed in the past literature is the role of IT investments in mitigating firm financial vulnerability. This dissertation specifically attempts to understand the marginal effects of IT investments on financial vulnerability as defined by firm risk and R&D depreciation. Two research questions are pursued to help explain the role IT investments play in firm financial vulnerability: 1) What is the relationship between IT investments and R&D depreciation? and 2) What is the relationship between IT …

An Application Of The Financial Instability Hypothesis, Rf Abu-Ismail

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Speculative Bubbles And Financial Crises, Ashraf Mohamed Abdel Samea Ahmed

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.