Business Commons^™

The Impact Of Status Consumption On Luxury Consumption Behaviors: The Influence Of Culture, Don L. Faulk

Honors College Theses

Status consumption refers to why people consume luxury products. Over the years a great deal of research has been done as to what factors are linked to status consumption. However there has been little research done on millennial’s status consumption trends. This study examined why millennials consume for status from a cultural angle (individualism and collectivism, power distance, and ethnicity). The survey findings suggest that while the motivation to consume for status and the cultural variable of power distance significantly impacted status purchase intention, individualism/collectivism and ethnicity did not. This study also delves into managerial implications of our results.

The Evolution Of The Annual Report To Shareholders, Laura Elizabeth Willimon

Honors College Theses

This exploratory study examines the evolution of the annual report to shareholders between 2005 and 2014. Several typical yet elective elements of annual reports are examined, specifically looking at the elements of sustainability, interactive interface, and length as it changed year to year. Additionally, I examined changes in independent auditor and classified companies according to Global Industry Classification Standards sectors.

Web Scraping The Easy Way, Yolande Neil

Honors College Theses

Web scraping refers to a software program that mimics human web surfing behavior by pointing to a website and collecting large amounts of data that would otherwise be difficult for a human to extract. A typical program will extract both unstructured and semi-structured data, as well as images, and convert the data into a structured format. Web scraping is commonly used to facilitate online price comparisons, aggregate contact information, extract online product catalog data, extract economic/demographic/statistical data, and create web mashups, among other uses. Additionally, in the era of big data, semantic analysis, and business intelligence, web scraping is the …

Southern Steam Prints: Large Scale, Relief Printmaking, Allison Mueller

Honors College Theses

Southern Steam Prints, a steamroller printmaking festival for Georgia Southern University I directed and organized. The project helped create community involvement in printmaking as an art form, gained notoriety for the Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art and especially the Print, Paper, and Book Arts Program. The project taught valuable skill mastery in relief print techniques, commercialism, and leadership for the kinds of event that artists plan, jury, and participate in, in the professional world. The Southern Steam Prints festival took place on April 23, 2016. Artworks created at the event were exhibited at the Center of Art and Theater …

Gretsch 2016 New Product Guide, Gretsch Company

Gretsch Company Catalogs & Price Lists

This is a Gretsch drum catalog from 2016, containing advertisements for the Gretsch Renown series of drum sets, as well as snare drums.

Assessing The Effect Of Personality Characteristics Of Minnesota Golfers On The Brand Equity Of Golf Drivers, Eric Schinella

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Although many researchers have focused on the attributes of a product that affect brand equity, this study focuses on the attributes of the consumer that affect brand equity. More specifically, the current study examines how a variety of golfer personality characteristics affect the equity they assign to various brands of golf equipment. The results of the survey showed that as golfers are more skilled, they are willing to pay a higher premium for their preferred driver. This may be because golfers who are more skilled tend to take the sport more seriously and will probably have no problem spending more …

Letter From The Dean, Lona Robertson

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Then And Now: Across Ten Years Of Arkansas Women In Agriculture, Paige Acklie, Jennie Popp, Donald Johnson, Tamara Walkingstick

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The United States Agricultural Census show that between 2002 and 2012, the number of women farm operators in Arkansas grew 14% (from 19,856 to 22,637). These women operators have made up an increasingly larger percentage of all farm operators in the state (from almost 29% to nearly 33%). There is little published information regarding changes over time in the role of women in agriculture, their challenges, and factors important to their success. While some surveys of farm women have been conducted, these surveys are generally insufficient because data exist only for one point in time. This research uses the first, …

On Becoming Analytic: The Effect Of Data Interactions On Decision Making, Brian G. Williams

Student Scholarship

This study explores data interaction as an antecedent for decision-making quality in visual analytic (VA) environments. Literature contends that the presence of accurate, high quality data and good system tools will have a positive impact at the individual and organizational decision-making. But in visual analytic environments, the decision maker's ability and intent to interact with data may be more valuable than the quality of data or tools used. Decision makers in this context are not just acting upon the findings of analysts and interpreting static representations of data. To understand this new phenomenon, we conduct an online survey among nearly …

The Impact Of Food Recall On Third-Party Certification Adoption, Hongyi Zhang

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Food safety problems have gained national attention, and food recall is one of the most important indications of this concern. Third-party certifications have become a popular way to improve the safety and quality of products for consumers. Publications related to third-party certification usually focus on the motives and benefits of a particular certification. However, to date, no existing research investigates the effects of food recalls on certification adoption.

This study uses Probit models with a binary endogenous explanatory variable to examine the relationship between food recalls and third-party certification, based on recalls occurring between January 1, 2015 and February 18, …

Price Analysis Under Production Differentiation In Green Coffee Markets, Xi-Le Li

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

To better understand the world green coffee market especially from the perspective of the coffee producing countries, I study three topics to overview and identify a puzzle: why growing differentiation of the coffee industry in final product markets has not been reflected in a similar pattern of differentiation to coffee farmers.

My first essay is a descriptive overview of the world coffee market, based on the framework and definition of competitiveness to understand both the demand and supply side of the coffee market. This paper then focuses on product differentiation as the source of competitiveness in the industry. Coffee as …

The Changing Face Of Corporate Compliance And Corporate Governance, Sean J. Griffith, Steve Thel, Miriam Baer, Geoffrey P. Miller, Gerald Manwah, Stuart Breslow, Alan Cohen, Martin Grant, Henry Klehm Iii, Allen Meyer, Thomas C. Baxter Jr.

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

We are pleased to present this Symposium on the revolution in corporate compliance and its evolution in the financial services industry. This is the annual symposium hosted by the Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law on significant topics in the realm of business law.

The format of the symposium is as follows. It begins with an introduction by Professor Sean Griffith, followed by edited transcripts of the two panel discussions and the keynote address.

The first panel is “Revolution: Challenging Corporate Norms?” and addresses the question of whether the revolution in corporate compliance challenges the established norms of corporate …

Corporations And The 99%: Team Production Revisited, Shlomitt Azgad-Tromer

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

This Article explores the legal manifestation of the interaction between the general public and the public corporation. Revisiting team production analysis, this Article redefines the corporate team and argues that while several constituencies indeed form part of the corporate team, others are exogenous to the corporate enterprise. Employees, suppliers and financiers contribute together to the common corporate enterprise, enjoying a long-term relational contract with the corporation, while retail consumers contract with the corporation at arm’s length, and other people living alongside the corporation do not contract with it at all. Under this organizational model, the general public may participate in …

What We Talk About When We Talk About Voting: Efficiency And The Error In Empty Voting, Patricia Beck

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

Under the shareholder primacy model, shareholders exercise voting power because their votes are wealth maximizing and efficient. The practice of decoupling, or the strategic separation of the right to vote on a share from the economic ownership of that share, undermines this efficiency. The decoupled investor’s interests are not aligned with maximizing the value of the corporation and decoupled investors have, to the detriment of all other shareholders, used their voting power to dictate inefficient corporate decisions. This Note advocates for proxy card disclosure of decoupled shares and subsequent voiding of the decoupled votes. In this way, only those shares …

Are We Ready For The Next Financial Crisis?, Matthew Diller, Eic F. Grossman, Richard K. Kim, Richard Squire, David M. Gallagher Jr.

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

The Symposium was held at Fordham University School of Law on October 30, 2015. It has been edited to remove minor cadences of speech that appear awkward in writing and to provide sources and references to other explanatory material with respect to certain statements made by the speakers.

World Tours And The Summer Olympics: Recent Pitfalls Under The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act In The Areas Of Gifts, Entertainment, And Travel, Jon Jordan

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

In the spring of 2015, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission brought two significant Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases involving gifts, entertainment, and travel. The SEC brought the case of In the Matter of FLIR Systems involving FCPA violations concerning the financing of a “world tour” of personal travel for government officials. The SEC then filed the case of In the Matter of BHP Billiton involving FCPA violations concerning the sponsored attendance of foreign officials at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. These landmark cases affirm previous guidance by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Department …

Defining "Material, Nonpublic": What Should Constitute Illegal Insider Information?, Cindy A. Schipani, H. Nejat Seyhun

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

It has been over fifty years since the United States Securities and Exchange Commission held that insider trading on material, nonpublic information is illegal, and despite the passage of the Insider Trading Sanctions Act in 1984, Insider Trading and Securities Fraud Enforcement Act in 1988, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, there is still no clear definition of “material, nonpublic information.” This Article argues that the ambiguity of what constitutes illegal insider information enables corporate insiders to engage in profitable transactions without legal consequences. Furthermore, we argue and provide evidence that the necessity of showing a tipper’s personal benefit creates …

Can't Live With Them, Can't Live Without Them: How Mini-Cfpas And Surety Bonds Could Make A World With Debt Settlement Companies More Bearable, Jasmine S. Chean

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

Debt settlement companies can offer a simple and valuable means of resolving consumer debt. However, many debt settlement companies choose to engage in unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices at the expense of desperate debt-ridden consumers, making it an unrealistic option of debt relief. Due to the unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts and practices by some debt settlement companies, the regulatory regime has been trending towards increased regulation. However, the lack of enforcement and severity of existing regulations causes persistent problems in the debt settlement industry, resulting in increased consumer debt instead of consumer debt relief. This Note advocates …

The Fifteenth Annual Albert A. Destefano Lecture On Corporate, Securities, & Financial Law At The Fordham Corporate Law Center, Frederick H. Alexander, Chris Cernich, Mark Lebovitch, Norman M. Monhait, Andrew J. Pincus

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.

Sunlight Bylaws And Reciprocal Disclosures, Grace Lee Mead

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

Publicly-traded companies have the power to pass sunlight bylaws to address hedge fund activism. Sunlight bylaws would require activist hedge funds to publicly disclose any strategic proposals and their financial interests in companies earlier and at thresholds lower than current securities laws. Sunlight bylaws would also require disclosure of additional information, including: (1) the percentage of the fund’s portfolio invested in the company; (2) the fund manager’s compensation; (3) the fund manager’s investment in the fund; (4) the fund’s portfolio turnover; and (5) the fund’s prior holding periods after any announcements of an ownership interest and a strategic proposal. Academic …

The Overstated Absolute Priority Rule, Stephen J. Lubben

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.

Private Equity's Overleveraging Of Portfolio Companies, Sophia Agathis

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

With record-low interest rates, private equity has seen unparalleled activity in recent years. Though thriving, private equity firms have proved to be guilty of overleveraging their portfolio companies as general partners. The results of overleveraging have been varied. At one end, firms seem dedicated to a portfolio company’s restructuring, investing further and pledging more capital in hopes of future growth. At the other end, firms wishing to exit their investment, redeem debt previously given to a portfolio company at a premium and engage in a quick sale thereafter, leaving that company unable to satisfy its future obligations. Firms that engage …

A Single Call: The Need To Amend The Parent-Subsidiary Relationship Under The Ftaia In View Of Motorola Mobility, Catherine E. Cognetti

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

In Motorola Mobility, LLC v. AU Optronics Corporation, the Seventh Circuit dismissed Motorola’s Sherman Act claims under the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvement Act. In doing so, they held that Motorola’s American parent corporation was a separate entity from their foreign subsidiaries, and thus barred from bringing suit under the indirect purchaser doctrine. The effect of the Seventh Circuit’s decision precluded injured purchasers from recovering damages under the Sherman Act—Motorola’s subsidiaries could not sue because their injuries occurred abroad, while Motorola could not sue because it did not make direct purchases from the antitrust violators.

Courts have often considered a parent …

A Systems Approach To Evaluation Metrics: A Case Study Of Salvation Farms, Julia D. Scheier

Capstone Collection

This paper examines how integrating systems thinking into nonprofit work and evaluation metrics can help to advance an organization’s mission and clarify that mission to the public. The researcher will utilize her practicum site at Salvation Farms, a small nonprofit in northern Vermont, as a case study to observe the extent to which this organization utilizes systems thinking and how current evaluation metrics can be improved to more effectively inform and involve the community. Salvation Farms’ mission, after all, is to build greater resilience into Vermont’s food system through agricultural surplus management.

The researcher offers a literature review on systems …

Effective General Entrepreneurial Learning Programs For Sme Development, Paul Kenneth Steele

Capstone Collection

The principle objective of this paper is to reexamine the potential for impactful, general programs in education for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) owners by assessing the success of a program called SME PRIME; conducted by AMIDEAST, Oman for six Omani entrepreneurs over a seven-month period.

General programs for entrepreneur education are produced and implemented the world over despite consistent assertions throughout academic literature that such programs are ineffective. Typical approaches to training program development and evaluation emphasize the critical role of training needs analysis. Training needs analysis is often an ignored step in the process of SME training program …

The Effects Of Corporate Social Responsibility On Financial Performance, Marly Mentor

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Companies have taken the initiative to be socially responsible over the years. In the past, the focus for companies has been on maximizing wealth. With the growth of corporate social responsibility (CSR), there has been many debates regarding its benefits. More companies are beginning to realize the value of being socially responsible and how critical it is to business function. This paper researches past studies on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance. This relationship is then tested using a reliable source of data on corporate social responsibility performance. This study uniquely looks at the accounting and market-based …

Women's Professional Sports: A Case Study On Practices That Could Increase Their Profitability, Danielle H. Mcardle

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Women’s professional sports leagues have often been considered a risky business endeavor. Critics cite low attendance, lack of sponsorships, lack of media rights deals, and numerous other reasons for why women’s professional sports leagues are not profitable. In analyzing the current landscape of women’s professional sport leagues, this paper uses a case study approach to develop a strategy that will highlight lessons learned from past women’s professional sports leagues, current professional sports leagues, sponsorship agreements, fans, social, digital, and mobile marketing strategies, and management practices to show how the business of women’s sports could be made into a more profitable …

We Want To Do It Our Way: The Neutralisation Approach To Managing Information Systems Security By Small Businesses, Kennedy Njenga, Pierre Jordaan

The African Journal of Information Systems

Small businesses thrive in the developing economy of South Africa and address the important issue of unemployment and poverty that exists in the country. A large number of these businesses can be found in the province of Gauteng due to the large and diverse economic contribution the province delivers to the economy of South Africa. With the increased use of Information Systems (IS) by small businesses across the Gauteng province and in South Africa generally, there is increasingly constant exposure to information security risks. Interestingly, standards such as NISTIR 7621 specifically tailored to small businesses and which could offer great …

Antecedents Of Emotional Labor And Job Satisfaction In The Hospitality Industry, Valeriya Shapoval

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is a general policy in the hotel industry that all the service should be provided in the friendly and a professional manner. The first smile of a front desk clerk or a wait staff can make a difference in customer satisfaction and loyalty. A service quality is becoming more important with increase of competitiveness among hotels and hotel brands. A process of regulating positive emotions for an organization is called Emotional Labor (EL) (Grandey, 2000). While essential for the hospitality industry, empirical research on EL is very limited, and research on EL during stressful situations is almost nonexistent. To …

The Effect Of Brand Diversification And Systematic Risk On Firm Shareholder Wealth: The Case Of Brinker International, Inc., Abdullah Makki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Divestiture activity within the restaurant industry has increased in the last twenty years, however there is a dearth of research investigating the subsequent effects of the phenomenon. In particular none of the studies in the literature, have specifically examined the effects of restaurant firms' brand diversification strategies and systematic risk on shareholder wealth when controlling for divestiture completions. This research extends the knowledge from previous work on corporate unbundling and brand diversification strategies to the unique restaurant industry. Drawing on agency theory, the long- and short-term effects of the resulting brand diversification levels on firm shareholder wealth following a divestiture …