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Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 62 Number 1, Spring 2021 [Print Issue V.61:1], Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

14 - VALUE PROPOSITION With more people going to college than ever before, how do we calculate the worth of a college degree? Lauren Loftus.

22 - HUMANITY IN THE HUMOR Santa Clara Magazine sat down with Assistance Professor Danielle Morgan to explore how laughter can be lifesaving—and life affirming. Leslie Griffy.

26 - TOMORROWLAND So really, what happens next? We chat with experts about how the pandemic could change our world as we know it. Leslie Griffy and Tracy Seipel.

32 - A BREAK Explore what you see when you step away from it all—and discover some flighty friends …

Competitive Strategy And Firm Performance In Multinational Manufacturing Organizations: A Focus On Strategic Alignment, Kianoosh Ebrahimi

Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to study to examine the impact of strategic alignment and the concept of fit on manufacturing firm performance in order to achieve its strategic objectives. This study also examines the impact of market concentrate, manufacturing competitive dimensions, and corporate link strategies on firm performance. The design for this research is correlational research following a quantitative, deductive approach. Data collected through a survey based on completed questionnaires to measure perspectives of leadership teams about strategic directions discussed in this research. The survey was designed based on the drawn framework from the literature review. A quantitative …

To Prove Or Improve, That Is The Question: The Resurgence Of Comparative, Confounded Research Between 2010 And 2019, Peter C. Honebein, Charles M. Reigeluth

Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Between 2010 and 2019, ETR&D experienced increased publication of a specific type of research that does not provide useful knowledge to the instructional design field. This type of research is research to prove, which entails pitting an incumbent, “traditional” learning experience against a new, innovative learning experience that lacks maturity. Additionally, under closer inspection, these new, innovative learning experiences show significant gaps of good design judgment, in terms of their alignment with the instructional theory framework. This type of research robs the instructional design field of important and useful data associated with effectiveness, efficiency, and appeal outcomes. To provide evidence …

An Examination Of Sustainable Marketing And Fan Engagment Within The Sports Industry, Caroline Meizen

Honors Projects in Marketing

The goal of this research-based thesis was to uncover the prominent methods of connecting with fans and recognizing preferences of marketing messages to see if sustainable marketing will increase engagement on game-day or have a neutral impact. Research was conducted through an analysis of case studies from the perspective of teams, athletes, and venues. A survey was distributed to analyze fan behaviors related to the importance of sustainability, engagement preferences with marketing messages and overall impact of the sports space as a platform for sustainable messages. Survey results of sports fans showed that the connection with their favorite teams and …

The True Cost Of College: The Impact Of Student Loan Debt On Academic Performance, Marykate Marshall

Honors Projects in Finance

The cost of college has increased disproportionately compared to wages over the last several decades and as a result, student debt has become more prominent. This study aims to identify and examine the relationship between student loan debt and academic performance. Using an online survey, Bryant Alumni and current juniors and seniors were asked questions pertaining to cumulative GPA at graduation, their financial stress level, demographics, student information, personal finances (including family background), and further education. GPA serves as the dependent variable and factors such as gender, race/ethnicity, the amount of debt, and siblings served as independent variables. The results …

Impact Of Fashion Advertisements On Consumers, Kathryn Sweeney, Kacy Kim, Sharmin Attaran

Honors Projects in Marketing

This paper sets out to investigate the expectations, satisfaction, and retention of fashion advertising. The purpose of this paper is to determine if ad type (traditional models vs. plus-size models) and brand type (luxury vs. non-luxury) have impacts on consumers’ perceptions, attitudes, purchase intention, and overall expectations of the advertisements and brands. Two-hundred fifty-six participants (62.5% males, 37.5% females) (mean age = 19.9) were recruited from Bryant University and received extra credit in their MKT201 course for completing the survey. Each participant was randomly assigned one stimulus advertisement and was then asked to answer a questionnaire that featured measures of …

Ua19/16/2 Women's Basketball Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases, photos and game statistics for WKU women's basketball team in 2021.

A Proposed Theoretical Foundation For The Information Systems Discipline (Version 1. 1), Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

“Rethink the theoretical foundations of the IS discipline” is one of the grand challenges for IS research identified in a Delphi study in Business Information Systems Engineering (Becker et al., 2015). This draft addresses that challenge directly through an integrated approach to the operation and evolution of systems. Almost any attempt to articulate a theoretical foundation for IS (a TFIS) would need to cover that topic although other attempts might emphasize other topics and other viewpoints.

The proposed Theoretical Foundation for IS (TFIS) has three main goals:

1) Integration. Build outward from an integrated core. Do not accept the excuse …

Ua19/16/2 Basketball Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases, photos and game statistics for WKU basketball team from January to July 2021.

An Empirical Analysis Of The Macroeconomic Determinants Of Food Waste In High- And Middle-Income Countries, Abigail Kiggen

Honors Projects in Economics

Food waste is a complex issue that impacts people all over the world. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, approximately 30% of the global food supply is wasted each year. The United States is believed to be the highest waster of food in the world, with 40% of the United States food supply wasted each year (USDA, 2021). There are a multitude of studies on household and consumer food waste, however, this is only the final stage in the supply chain. To understand how to mitigate the food waste problem in countries …

Non-Traditional Alternative Investments, Michael Alfieri

Honors Projects in Finance

This paper investigates the feasibility of non-traditional alternative investments in portfolios. Non-traditional alternative investments are defined by this paper as collectibles, such as classic cars, art, and wine. Some of these assets have been around for decades and are increasingly becoming more available to investors. This asset class is grouped with assets that are not easily tradable like traditional equities and bonds and do not generate cash flows. This makes valuing the intrinsic value of collectibles difficult. However, academic research has shown that non-traditional alternative investments do have a track record worth investing in. Parts of the market are becoming …

Student Loans And Their Effects On Postgraduate Life, Joseph Bartucca

Honors Projects in Finance

College tuition has been steadily increasing in America throughout the past two decades as demand for a higher education has continued to rise. A college education is invaluable and is inevitably essential in obtaining a successful career. As a result, more and more students have been depending on student loans to finance their way through college. The average college student loan debt has reached about $30,000 per student upon graduation nowadays. Because of these skyrocketing debt amounts, several life goals and aspirations have been impacted, including future employment, further enrollment, family formation, homeownership, and net worth. The objective of this …

A Study Of The Technology Acceptance Model For Social Media Adoption In Small & Medium Enterprises, Lily Iacurci

Honors Projects in Marketing

While some small businesses adopt social media into their business practices, others do not. This study utilizes the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to discover what factors or elements influence the adoption of social media within small and medium enterprises (SMEs). An extended version of the TAM was created to examine several factors that may influence SMEs’ adoption of social media. Through an empirical analysis, several findings were uncovered. It was found that compatibility, perceived ease of use and cost all had a significant effect on SME’s owner or marketers’ attitudes toward adopting social media. The implications of these findings for …

Millennials' Retirement Struggle: The Interaction Between Student Loans, Financial Decisions, And Financial Literacy., Rebecca Michaud

Honors Projects in Finance

As millennials grow older and begin their careers in the workforce, saving for retirement begins to become an important part of spending. This paper analyzes a variety of factors and challenges that impact an individual’s retirement savings. This thesis ultimately looks to determine whether the driving force for the general inadequacy of retirement savings is student loan debt, financial decision making, or both. Through both research and survey responses, this thesis will also look at whether a public policy that removes a certain percentage of student loan repayment obligations will have any impact on the amount that young workers are …

Administrative Trust As A Contributor To Forensic Coach Burnout And Exit, Benjamin Schultz Pyle

Dissertations

This study sought to determine whether a relationship exists and its extent between intercollegiate forensic coach trust in university administrators and burnout and exit in intercollegiate forensic coaches. Specifically, this study examined the relationship between intercollegiate forensic coach trust in their university administrators with both intercollegiate forensic coach satisfaction and intercollegiate forensic coach burnout in predicting intercollegiate forensic coach exit from forensics.

Fifty-seven intercollegiate forensic educators participated in the research, including 37 directors of forensics. Data analysis revealed significant relationships between intercollegiate forensic coach trust in university administrators, intercollegiate forensic coach satisfaction, intercollegiate forensic coach burnout, and intercollegiate forensic coach …

Trends In Commute Patterns Across North San Joaquin Valley (Nsjv), Center For Business And Policy Research

Center for Business and Policy Research Reports

This Research Brief presents data and discusses commuting patterns in the North San Joaquin Valley (NSJV) prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the pandemic has disrupted these patterns, we believe that this information provides useful context as we look towards future development of the NSJV region.

Black Women Entrepreneurs: Understanding The Challenges And Proposing Policy For Equitable Change, Nana Younge

Community Engagement Student Work

Black Women Entrepreneurs: Understanding the Challenges and Proposing Policy for Equitable Change examines the obstacles that Black women entrepreneurs face that make building successful businesses challenging. When it comes to businesses in the United States, Black women fall behind compared to their white counterparts and the impact of this transcends their communities. The most paramount consequence of the absence of successful Black women entrepreneurs is advocacy in decision making that ultimately impacts Black communities and the country at large. Black women endure systematic oppression that is directly linked to a long history of racial and gender inequality that affects their …

Bus4402w Honors Capstone, Jake Doherty

Honors Senior Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Eli Lilly And Company, Alyssa Ardai

Honors Senior Capstone Projects

Eli Lilly and Company is a pharmaceutical company that has the goal of creating new products. Eli Lilly’s products are seen in hospitals and pharmacies around the US, with the hopes of growing internationally. By having a large number of drugs in their pipeline, they can be a key player in improving multiple types of illnesses as well as help aid the aging population. The healthcare sector is always one that is high-performing.

Burlington Stores Inc., Amanda Carey

Honors Senior Capstone Projects

Throughout this piece, various aspects of Burlington Stores Incorporated are analyzed, giving greater meaning to their impact on the market and their success and failures as a company independently. Within this exposure, it became clear that they have come a long way from their initial creation, but with our fast-paced world they will need to continue to push past many boundaries. Generally, they are a very well-known name, but this does not necessarily mean that they are greatly successful in each part of their business. They thrive within the brick-and-mortar industry, as they direct competitors with other household names (TJX, …

Signaling Towards The Cultural Lanes That Inform The Map Of Corporate Culture:Surveying Employer Perceptions Of Study Abroad Impacts, Maia Correll

Honors Projects in Modern Languages

While thorough research has been conducted to assess the short-term and long-term personal and professional impacts of a study abroad experience (SAE) on an individual, there lacks no further research on how and if such effects carry forward in a student's later career. This paper identifies whether employers of employees with SAE are more satisfied with their performance as compared to the performance of employees without prior SAE. Following this line of inquiry, I investigate the most frequently recognized attributes of employees with SAE as compared to their colleagues without such experience, identifying the researched benefits of study abroad which …

Vf Corporation, Kerin Coleman

Honors Senior Capstone Projects

Throughout this research paper, VF Corporation's (VFC) financials will be analyzed and compared among its competitors through its strategic group and industry benchmark. A deep understanding of VFC's history will be seen through its failures and success independently and in comparison, to its competitors. VFC has grown significantly from its initial creation and has pushed through hardships including the recent Covid-19 pandemic. They continue to grow and advance in the modern world of business adapting to the fast-paced environment. VFC adapted quickly with the start of Covid-19 and created a great online presence for themselves. They are one of the …

Psychosocial Work Influences On Adaptive Performance, Eli Alvin Dickinson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The present study sought to understand why some employees may be more or less able to adapt to the changing work environment. Adaptive performance can help employees to be resilient to technological advances, economic factors, and/or cultural shifts, making it an important form of extra-role performance. According to conservation of resources (COR) theory, one reason employees may fail to adapt is because they lack resources that are required in order to be adaptive. I proposed that the resources needed for adaptive performance aggregate in a resource caravan. Job embeddedness is a proposed resource caravan that may facilitate more adaptive performance …

Changes In Consumer Market Preference And Purchase Frequency In Response To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sean Thomas Dial

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Research literature throughout 2020 indicate consumer behavioral changes in response to the systemic effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, but these studies investigate transient adaptations in consumer behaviors during the early quarantine period of the pandemic. This study intends to investigate lasting or permanent changes in consumer market preference and purchase frequency between BAM and online retail due to the effects of the pandemic. The principal investigator designed a survey for participants to estimate purchase frequencies and market preferences for apparel, electronics, groceries, and general purchases before and after the pervasive effects of the pandemic (N = 1195; n = …

Visual Management In Engineering Can Improve Resource Utilization And Reduce Administrative Non-Value Added Time, Brian Kirby Trent

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This research has demonstrated how Visual Management (VM) can be used in an engineering environment to improve engineering resource utilization. Furthermore, it reduces the administrative time associated with unclear project scope, schedule, budget, and task alignment amongst engineers and project leadership. The research references a case study in which low engineering utilization was directly impacting overall project success. Inconsistent visibility of scheduled engineering activities, changes in tasking, and project metrics created uncertainty and resulted in greater than appropriate administrative time. The methodology used was to implement visual project management tools and track engineer utilization over two years. Quarterly utilization results …

Analyst Talent, Information, And Investment Strategies, Zhichuan Li, Stephen R. Foerster, Zhenyang Tang, Chongyu Dang

Business Publications

Analyst talent, rather than the number of analysts following a firm, matters most to investors. We find: 1) Analysts with greater “natural” forecasting talent—controlling for experience, brokerage affiliation, and task complexity—contribute relatively more firm-specific rather than industry or market information; 2) Earnings forecasts by low-talent analysts may lead to substantial mispricing; 3) When earnings surprises are large, post-earnings-announcement drift is more prominent among firms covered by low-talent analysts; 4) Firms with low-talent analysts have significantly more insider trading prior to positive earnings news; and 5) Investing following insider trading is more profitable in stocks followed by low-talent analysts.

1st International Conference On Economics And Sustainable Development Conference Proceedings, Iba School Of Economics And Social Sciences (Sess), Center For Business And Economic Research (Cber)

Conference Proceedings

The IBA School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS) and the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) organized the 1st International Conference themed "Economics and Sustainable Development", in the month of April, 2021. The conference brought together academics, practitioners and advocates to have a dialogue on creative ideas, local and global best practices, and evidence-based solutions for sustainable development.

The Integral Of Education Technology In The Society, Prof. Iwasan D. Kejawa Ed.D

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Abstract

Are there ways people can better utilize technology to suit their needs in the society of ours? It has been inferred that without technology, our lives would be miserable. The societal factors of using technology are an important area of the technical education system in the world. Are we really learning and using technologies to our advantage? Does technology provide the necessary ingredients or proper ways for the education of all in the society? A look into what constitutes the means and how technology education can be improved and be implemented is explored and emphasized in this work. The …

Macra And Accountable Care Organizations: Is It Working?, Bukola Abodunde, Chelsea Slater, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

The purpose of this study was to examine how the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) has improved health care delivery and to determine its impact on Accountable Care Organization (ACO) goals. ACOs have provided quality care through the reduction in readmission rates, coordinated care, and cost savings. With the passage of the MACRA, it has been estimated that it would further decrease Medicare spending on physician and hospital services. Also, ACOs have had a positive impact on improving health care delivery and have played a significant role in providing exceptional quality of care while also managing to increase …

Technical Career Institutes, Inc., (Tci College) Strategic Analysis, Wilfredo Moran

Publications and Research

This paper provides a framework for the in-depth analysis of TCI College strategy and corporate management. The analysis will culminate with a recommendation to the CEO and the board of directors on how to improve strategy for TCI. The analysis will include mission, vision, values, strategic plans, five forces model, SWOT, competitive strategy, strengthening the competitive position, the global market, business diversification, ethics, social responsibility, building capabilities to executing strategy, managing internal operations, among others.