Business Commons^™

Analysis Of Business Capstone Consulting Report: Willamette Valley Vineyards, Inc, Allison C. Beirne

Honors Theses

My capstone course consisted of a group consulting report on conceptualizing a business, analyzing the internal and external factors, and implementing potential strategies for said business. There are four milestones that my team, Palmetto Consultants, completed over the course of the semester, delegating out the tasks and tools needed to conclude our report. Our team performed very much like a high-functioning business, as we utilized a written contract and interchanged specific roles for each milestone. Before starting on each section of the report, we planned and recorded the work each team member was responsible for and adhered to these plans …

Rise Up: Understanding Youth Social Entrepreneurs And Their Ecosystems, Melissa G. Bublitz, Lan Nguyen Chaplin, Laura A. Peracchio, Ashley Deutsch Cermin, Mentor Dida, Jennifer Edson Escalas, Meike Eilert, Alexei Gloukhovtsev, Elizabeth G. Miller

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

This research focuses on youth social entrepreneurs who are leading ventures that address pressing societal problems including climate change, gun reform, and social justice. It answers Journal of Public Policy & Marketing’s call for more research in marketing on social entrepreneurship. Consistent with the mission of Transformative Consumer Research to enhance individual and societal well-being, this research explores how the dynamic ecosystem of youth social entrepreneurs empowers them to rise up to transform people, communities, and the future for the better. The authors partnered with 20 established youth social entrepreneurs who have founded social impact initiatives as well as …

Public Safety Agencies And Uav Technology: A Review Of Uses, Lacey L. Weynand

Student Publications

This study utilizes a systematic review of some of the scholarly literature available on drone usage within Southern California, specifically in Los Angeles and Chula Vista. I ask: how do public safety agencies use drone technology? The review will cover cases from existing scholarly literature, as well as policy reports and books from the Google Scholar database. A systematic review was the best methodology to begin fully investigating my research question, since the scope could have been so large that individual data points would have been difficult to find and instead requires a macro-level review. This data will provide a …

The Financial Facet To Sino-African Cooperation: Analyzing Potential Motivations Behind Chinese Investment In African Countries, Jacob T. Carnevale

Political Science Theses and Capstones

China’s reputation transitioned from political isolation throughout the twentieth century to international influence in the twenty-first century. We see this in the continent of Africa, especially, where multiple countries experience political and economic hardships. Today, China invests in African countries to alleviate these hardships and strengthen foreign relations. Some scholars contend that much of China’s approach to foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa stems from China’s domestic interests, while other scholars contend it is more about relationship-building. Taking note that China does both, I ask which aspect to Sino-African relations primarily motivates Chinese lending in Africa. To analyze this question, …

The Evolution Of Women's Opportunities In The Workplace: A Look At The Past To Interpret The Present, Emily Milich

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Presentation Skills (Management), Heidi Bertels

Open Educational Resources

This rubric was designed to assess presentation skills for student in the BS in Business at CUNY College of Staten Island.

Exposing Racism In Fashion: How Black Women Navigate Societal Beauty Standards, Re'nae Dillard '21

Honor Scholar Theses

Throughout American history, Black women have been treated as the most inferior group. Social status is dependent on race, gender, and economic status. These factors contribute to overall social hierarchies. Whiter skin tones are more desired than darker tones. The fashion industry perpetuates white desirability while also displaying Black women as undesirable and inferior. The fashion industry is dominated by white males, and white women are the representations within fashion. Fashion, therefore, is a reflection of the white male’s ideal world: desirable white women, submissive Black women, and very few Black men. Black women however are changing the narrative within …

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Mgt 3950 (Developing An Entrepreneurial Mindset), Baruch College Field Center For Entrepreneurship Faculty

Open Educational Resources

This Entrepreneurial Mindset course is for every student looking to develop a creative, ingenious attitude to succeed in any environment and is not only for students looking to start or run their own business. In this course students will develop the Cognitive, Emotional and Behavioral understanding of the entrepreneurial mindset. The entrepreneurial mindset refers to the ability to develop, recognize and pursue creative and innovative ideas in a well thought out manner, and to solve problems with an open and flexible attitude. Students will learn experientially the role and importance of empathy, human centered introspection and self-awareness along with the …

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Mgt 3960 (An Entrepreneurial Pre-Launch Journey), Baruch College Field Center For Entrepreneurship Faculty

Open Educational Resources

The purpose of this course is to take students through the process of initiating a business venture from the conceptualization phase to just before launch. The course will provide an overview of issues such as ideation, business modeling, and customer discovery. Each student will be required to produce a detailed idea for a business and learn how to build a venture in the marketplace for that idea. Students will present work throughout the semester to the class for feedback and improvement.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Mgt 3962 (Family Enterprise Dynamics), Baruch College Field Center For Entrepreneurship Faculty

Open Educational Resources

The majority of businesses throughout the world are family owned. This course offers students an opportunity to explore and understand all aspects of a family firm, including family and business dynamics, emotions, conflict management, and communication strategies. Best practices will be discussed, as well as ways to establish governance structures for business continuity and growth. Students will understand the family, ownership, and business systems; have an opportunity to assess a family firm; and provide recommendations for the family and the firm. Students who are involved in their own family firm, or work for one, or wish to become a consultant …

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Mgt 4952 (Designing For Innovation), Baruch College Field Center For Entrepreneurship Faculty

Open Educational Resources

In this design-focused course, creative theories will be translated into practical applications as students find and design solutions to real world problems. In doing so, this course will expose students to a variety of prototyping technologies; however, no prior technical knowledge is required. By emphasizing human-centric design practices and a “maker mindset,” students will learn how to validate an idea by creating, testing, refining, and presenting a physical prototype that has value to their target audience. The course utilizes an “active learning,” interdisciplinary approach in which students will engage in a combination of instructor-led and self-guided work both inside and …

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Mgt 4960 (New Venture Management), Baruch College Field Center For Entrepreneurship Faculty

Open Educational Resources

This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the ways in which individuals manage new ventures. Each student will build on their learning from MGT 3950 and apply the theoretical and practical knowledge of new venture management to a venture idea of their choosing. Concepts covered in this class include, but are not limited to, setting up the venture, communicating the opportunity, establishing and managing a company culture, managing people, financing and resources, hiring, training and leading in a changing environment.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Mgt 4967 (Technology And Innovation In Entrepreneurship), Baruch College Field Center For Entrepreneurship Faculty

Open Educational Resources

This course provides students with a foundation to understand the role, contribution, and potential implications of technology and innovation in any organizational context. The course is relevant for students starting and managing a technology business as well as for students with an interest in taking a strategic approach to the development of technology and innovation in general. The course will provide a mix of theoretical and practical knowledge about the role of technology in entrepreneurship or any form of venture more generally. With a focus on current technologies, the course emphasizes experiential learning, develops students’ understanding of emerging issues, challenges, …

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Mgt 4969 (Social Entrepreneurship), Baruch College Field Center For Entrepreneurship Faculty

Open Educational Resources

This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the ways in which individuals pursue opportunities to catalyze social change and/or address pressing, unmet social and/or environmental needs. To achieve this end, students will develop their own “Theories of Change,” that will articulate how they intend to transform patterns of thought, behavior, social relationships, institutions, and/or social structures to generate beneficial outcomes for communities, organizations, and/or the environment.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Mgt 5985 (Entrepreneurship In The Wild), Baruch College Field Center For Entrepreneurship Faculty

Open Educational Resources

This capstone course takes an experiential approach to entrepreneurship by challenging students to engage in research-based problem-solving in order to create a solution to a real-world problem. Students will chronicle their experience from idea development to execution and then present the results of their entrepreneurial journey at the end of the course.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Mgt 3951 (Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities), Baruch College Field Center For Entrepreneurship Faculty

Open Educational Resources

This course explores how opportunities for creating new value in new ways are identified. The different pathways to opportunity (i.e., recognition, discovery, and creation) are examined as a function of the interaction between the individual and the environment. Students will develop an inventory of potential opportunities and then identify the one most worth pursuing based on a combination of characteristics of the individual and the opportunity. With the chosen opportunity in mind, students will develop a user-driven value proposition that articulates how they intend to create value, which they will present at the end of the course.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Mgt 3968 (The Art Of Persuasion), Baruch College Field Center For Entrepreneurship Faculty

Open Educational Resources

The lifeblood of any business activity is communication. This is magnified in an entrepreneurial setting. Entrepreneurs need a higher command of communication in general and of selling and negotiation in particular. Entrepreneurs need to not only sell products and services but must be able to illustrate the value of their dreams, their ventures, their company culture and more. Great ideas are of little value if you can’t persuade someone else of their worth and get their support.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Mgt 3971 (Multicultural Entrepreneurial Experiences), Baruch College Field Center For Entrepreneurship Faculty

Open Educational Resources

This course will explore the reasons individuals become entrepreneurs; how their gender and/or gender identification and expression, ethnicity, family culture, place of birth, and geographic location influence their entrepreneurial journey; the aspects that hinder and/or thrive an entrepreneurial mindset; and the overall reasons for pursuing an entrepreneurial life. Students will develop a sensitivity to the diverse entrepreneurial population worldwide, and learn the necessary skills to succeed in multicultural environments.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Mgt 4954 (New Venture Funding), Baruch College Field Center For Entrepreneurship Faculty

Open Educational Resources

This course will explore the various ways a business can raise funds for an entrepreneurial venture. The funding sources discussed will be diverse ranging from angel investors to venture capitalists to non-profits to debt financing. The course will identify how these funding sources differ, what the risks and rewards are, and how the nature of the venture affects the funding source. Though quantitative concepts such as forecasting and valuations will be discussed, the class will mainly emphasize the qualitative issues to consider when raising funds.

Mathematical Modeling In Finance, Owen Sweeney

Honors Projects

Financial tools play an integral role in the day-to-day lives of individuals and businesses. Many of these tools use predefined formulas to calculate items such as loan payments, interest and capital structure components. These tools do not usually provide the flexibility needed when new parameters are introduced. By utilizing mathematical modeling, these standard formulas can be derived and even improved to provide the needed flexibility.

The Impact Of Culture On Business Negotiations, Nadia L. Gonzalez

Honors Projects

Understanding the impact of culture and cultural differences is essential in negotiations. Using both Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory and the GLOBE Project’s nine cultural dimensions, this paper highlights the impact of culture in international business negotiations. After discussing the dimensions and various national attributes attributed to these dimensions, this paper highlights several important cultural strategies for firms to keep in mind when negotiating. It concludes with propositions and a discussion about how negotiators can improve their skills through an understanding and respect of cultural differences.

Preventing Needle Stick Injuries: A Quality Improvement Project, Adrianna Kerns, Emilea Pitts, Grace Richman, Katie Rawlings, Megan Riley, Mary Suzanne White

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

"Needlestick injuries (NSI) affect approximately 1,000 people per day across U.S. hospitals. Needlestick injuries cost an estimated $3,042 per victim annually, according to the report. The costs go toward laboratory fees for testing exposed employees, associated labor and counseling and post-exposure follow-ups." (Beckner's Clinical Leadership & Infection Control, 2020). It was noted at an urban teaching hospital that needlestick injuries are an issue. Researchers believe this number is an underestimate of the actual amount of needle stick injuries. The purpose is to increase the education of staff nurses on the topic of needle stick injuries. We thoroughly reviewed 56 studies …

Cultivating Gratitude And Learning: Virtual Agriculture Education For Elementary School Students, Heather Smith, Joy Gritton

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Oral Presentations

In a time when the majority of young children know more about a computer than agriculture, this project brings agriculture to them in a unique way. This presentation introduces a program that aims to connect elementary students with the vast agriculture industry in the digital age using appropriate technology. The project consists of teaching children in Eastern Kentucky and beyond about agriculture and land use through the virtual dissemination of relevant stories, facts, and activities. In this way children can learn how agriculture is vital to their everyday life. Featured topics include horticulture crops, agronomic crops, livestock, and the history …

“Merry Christmas!” & “Happy Holidays!” Consumer Reactions To Holiday Advertising Messaging, Gaelle Moal – Ulvoas, Valerie A. Taylor, Elizabeth A. Minton

AMTP Proceedings 2021

No abstract provided.

Modeling The Stock Market Through Game Theory, Kylie Hannafey

Honors College Theses

Game Theory is used on many occasions to help us understand interactions between decision-makers. The famous Nash equilibrium is a steady state in a model that shows the interaction of different players, in which no player can do better by choosing a different action if the actions of the other players do not change. These two concepts can be applied to numerous situations that vary in types of players, but for our research, we are focusing on businesses in the stock market. The main objective is to use Game Theory to analyze data collected from the stock market, model our …

Cross-Border Acquisitions: A Country-Level Analysis, Jenny M. Heller

Honors College Theses

Country-level factors play an important role in the success or failure of cross-border acquisitions (i.e., acquisitions where the acquiring and target firms are in two different countries). If we are to understand and improve the success rates of these acquisitions, we must explore this issue in more depth. As globalization continues to emerge around the world, cross-border acquisitions have become a common way to enter a new foreign market. There is limited research available so far for these acquisitions on the country-level. Currently, cross-border acquisitions have failure rates of up to 70%. We analyze acquisition premium and use three dimensions …

Estimating The Economic Contribution Of The Hispanic Community In Tyler, Manuel Reyes-Loya

Hibbs Brief

In this issue of the Hibbs Brief, we discuss the economic contribution of the Hispanic community in Tyler during National Hispanic Heritage Month. Hispanic is considered an ethnicity, not a race, and has been included in the census surveys since the mid-2000s. Today, this group is the second largest category in the nation, outpacing Black Americans, with more than 62 million people.

Elements Of Effective, Engaging, And Enjoyable Education Environments, Ivan Harjehausen

Senior Theses

I explore three elements of effective education that promote student development. First, a classroom culture that encourages students to be responsible for managing their own learning rather than relying on the teacher can boost student learning. Two ways of accomplishing this are teachers communicating high expectations for students and teachers normalizing the concept of failure by acknowledging that making mistakes is an essential part of learning.

Second, teachers can model the skills and attitudes they hope to cultivate in students. Children learn by observing behavior of parents then imitating; these same learning mechanisms do not stop in childhood but rather …

The Budding Disruption Of Blockchain Technology Upon The Current Structure Of The Music Industry, Bradley Rauman

Senior Theses

One of the most pertinent opportunities within the music industry, and many other industries as well, stems from the use of blockchain technology. Blockchain’s core technology, which enables smart contracts and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), could be used to restructure and decentralize the music industry to be in alignment with the best interests of artists - the individuals responsible for driving the success of this industry.

The current system is outmoded. It evinces a disparity in the level of information held by artists and intermediaries (i.e. labels, publishers, and streaming services) and this disparity enables intermediaries to deduct egregious fees that …

The Role Of Female Directors In The Boardroom: Examining Their Impact On Competitive Dynamics, Kalin Kolev, Margaret Hughes-Morgan, Kathleen Rehbein

Management Faculty Research and Publications

This study contributes simultaneously to research on women board members and competitive dynamics by investigating two unresolved research questions: What is the effect of female directors on the firm’s competitive repertoire? Under what conditions is this effect more pronounced? Leveraging the “Awareness-Motivation-Capability” (AMC) framework, we predict that having women on the board of directors should impact the complexity, heterogeneity, and volume of the firm’s competitive moves. Relying upon a sample of U.S. pharmaceutical firms for the years 2000 to 2017, we find that adding female directors on the board positively affects the complexity and volume of a firm’s competitive moves, …