Business Commons^™

Unpacking Assumptions: What Evaluation Capacity Building Looks Like When It’S Optional, Flexible, And Funded, Jennifer Marsack, Martena Reed, Robiel Abraha, Abby Triño, Sara Jones, Brita Blesi

The Foundation Review

Evaluation capacity building (ECB) in the philanthropic sector is often designed around a common set of assumptions: organizations need to be directed toward “correct” evaluation practices, compliance is the primary motivator for engagement, and funder-defined metrics are the most appropriate measure of success. This article challenges these assumptions by sharing insights from a multi-year ECB initiative funded by Houston Endowment called Harnessing the Power of Data.

Drawing on surveys, interviews, and program participation data, the authors explore how co-creating learning goals in a strengths-based structure shifts the evaluation culture of an organization. Key lessons include: (1) how flexibility and alignment …

Paying For Participation: Equitable Compensation Models For Community Co-Researchers, Jamie Zimmerman, Prabhneet Girn

The Foundation Review

Community-engaged research is increasingly central to philanthropic practice, yet funders rarely provide guidance for compensating community members who participate as co-researchers. This gap is especially pronounced for youth, who often face administrative, legal, and developmental constraints that complicate what “fair pay” looks like in practice.

This article presents findings from a mixed-methods comparative case study of three youth participatory action-research projects involving 44 youth ages 16–24 across varied organizational settings. Data were collected through youth surveys, focus groups, staff interviews, financial analysis, and document review.

Findings show that each model carries distinct trade-offs related to feasibility, transparency, and administrative capacity, …

How, For Whom, And Under What Conditions: Using A Causal Pathways Approach To Support The Goals Of Philanthropic Evaluation, Drew Koleros, Sophie Bright, Dana Harrison, Megan Shoji, Tina Fletcher

The Foundation Review

Causal pathways approaches are gaining traction as evaluators seek methods that move beyond descriptive analysis to rigorously explain how, for whom, and under what conditions change occurs in complex systems. Yet there remains limited practical guidance on how to operationalize these approaches in real-world philanthropic contexts or assess their quality.

This article addresses these gaps through a case study of an evaluation taking a causal pathways approach that examines students’ experiences in four virtual and hybrid K–12 learning models. Using a realist evaluation design within a broader causal pathways orientation, the authors collaboratively developed theories of change, iteratively tested and …

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Disrupting The Time Space Continuum: Time Travel As Methodological Practice For Building Evaluation Capacity, Linetta Alexander

The Foundation Review

Dominant Western ideology limits our understanding of and engagement with time, representing it as a linear two-dimensional arrow that moves forward in one direction from the past to the future. Viewing the past, present, and future as distinct and disconnected phases can hinder the growth and improvement of organizations working on building their evaluation capacity.

In contrast to Western notions of time, Indigenous cultures of the Americas and Africa understand the interconnectedness of all aspects of being, that our experiences are more cyclical, where birth leads to death and death to rebirth. The Sankofa principle, rooted in Akan philosophy, states …

Antitrust Law And Healthcare Consolidation: Case Analyses Of U.S. Hospital And Insurance Mergers, Francesca Meek

Honors Projects

Rising healthcare costs in the United States have intensified concerns about hospital consolidation and its effects on market competition. This paper examines the application of antitrust law to horizontal mergers involving hospitals and health insurers, focusing on how courts evaluate proposed mergers under Section 7 of the Clayton Act. Using a qualitative case study approach, the study analyzes eight major federal antitrust cases from the past two decades to determine how courts assess market concentration, competitive effects, and merger defenses.

The findings show that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) were successful in six of the …

Educational Content Creation For Non-Textbook Learning Resources, Dorina Tila

Open Educational Resources

These are materials that will be supporting faculty teaching and students enrolled in ECO 1200: Macroeconomics. Some items are also helpful in other economics, finance, and business classes. The set includes:

• Customized Summaries of Modules,
• Up-to-date Case Examples and Assignments
• Economic Experiments and Game Designs and Instructions,
• Instructions that Ethically and Effective Use Generative AI

The Dialectics Of Governance – Navigating Institutional Complexity, Trust, And Innovation In Indonesia, Muhammad Ramaditya, Rijal Ramdhani

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

No abstract provided.

Supporting Three-Sector Relationships For Enhancing Agility And Market (Stream): A Comparative Study Of Small And Medium Enterprises (Smes) In China And Indonesia, Marizal Fanani, Muhammad Akmal Daffari, Ikhtiar Anugrah Hidayat, Adinda Qornelica

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

In a rapidly evolving borderless economy, the success of Chinese Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in penetrating global markets demonstrates the critical role of structured collaboration among government, industry, and academia. This study examines how intersectoral collaboration, analyzed through the Triple Helix Framework, impacts the innovation agility and market readiness of SMEs in China and Indonesia. This research adopts a qualitative comparative policy analysis, drawing on relevant journals, policy documents, and SME reports to explore how interactions between these sectors influence SME growth and innovation. The findings show that China’s SME is supported by: (1) strong institutional coordination, (2) well-developed …

Determinants Of Public Trust In E-Government: A Comprehensive Review And Conceptual Framework Over The Past Decade, Andrean Nathaniel, Sumartono Sumartono, Abd. Qadir Muslim

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

The evolution of digital governance has heightened the strategic significance of public trust in the implementation of e-government. Despite numerous empirical investigations, the results concerning the factors influencing trust remain fragmented and largely centered on technological aspects. This study seeks to systematically identify, categorize, and synthesize the determinants of trust in e-government through a structured literature review of 21 Scopus-indexed articles published between 2015 and 2025. Utilizing an evidence-based synthesis methodology, the study organizes determinants of trust into four main categories: citizen-related, technological, institutional, and risk-related factors. The findings indicate that technological and citizen-related factors are the most significant predictors …

Developing An Effective And Sustainable Institutional Model For Water Resource Management In ‘Nusantara’ (The New Capital City Of Indonesia), Witra Apdhi Yohanitas, Arif Ramadhan, Tania Andari, Nicco Plamonia, Muhammad Akbar Pribadi, Riardi Pratista Dewa, Hery Wibowo, M. Hasnan Atlandi

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

The development of 'Nusantara', the new capital city of Indonesia (IKN), is a strategic effort by the government of Indonesia to advance infrastructure development and management. However, ensuring effective and sustainable water resource management remains a major challenge, particularly amid climate change, population growth, and increasing industrial demand. This study aims to develop a sustainable water resource management model to support IKN effectively. It applies a qualitative descriptive and comparative approach through interviews and policy analysis to identify the needs and challenges in water resource management, while also assessing the potential and risks of the proposed model. The findings indicate …

Indonesian Tax Reform: A Never-Ending Dialectic, Charoline Cheisviyanny, Niki Lukviarman, Verni Juita, Suhanda Suhanda

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

Indonesian tax reform has evolved through recurring cycles of institutional change, yet it continues to face persistent tensions among fiscal demands, administrative capacity, and taxpayer compliance. While existing tax reform studies predominantly examine reform outcomes in terms of revenue performance and compliance rates, limited attention has been given to the structural contradictions that shape reform trajectories over time. This study re-conceptualizes Indonesian tax reform as a dialectical process by applying a thesis–antithesis–synthesis framework to three major reform cycles since 1983. Using an interpretive qualitative design based on documentary reconstruction and illustrative interview evidence, the analysis demonstrates that each reform phase …

Empowering Lifelong Choice: Supporting Older Individuals With Idd To Thrive At Work, Transition To Retirement With Dignity, And Maintain Community Connections, Leslie Quarles

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This synthesis addresses the need to support older individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in their engagement in continued work. The project traces the journey from an initial focus on supporting older individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to work as long as they wish to an eventual shift toward a phased retirement approach. It considers issues such as a reimagined visualization of the support team structure, integration of tailored job supports and Community Life Engagement (CLE). The author's familial history sparked a sense of injustice that would not stay buried, shaping a career path in disability services and access. …

Investment Decision Making, Muhammad Yaseen, Di Wu

Open Educational Resources

A newly established commercial bank, founded in 2021, has accumulated excess capital reserves. The bank is evaluating long-term investment options to deploy this capital in a way that balances growth and risk. The investment committee is considering two primary strategies: investing in a diversified technology-focused ETF, QQQ, or investing directly in selected individual technology stocks.

The bank's senior management wants capital growth, but it also needs to manage risk exposure. A bank cannot treat an investment decision only as a search for the highest return. It must also consider volatility, concentration risk, liquidity, downside periods, and whether the strategy fits …

German Energy Crisis, Liomar Jimenez, Malachy Mclaughlin, Muhdee Nawab, Mouhamed Sarr, Di Wu

Open Educational Resources

For most of the twentieth century, nuclear energy was the quiet backbone of Germany's electricity system. At its peak in 1997, nuclear power supplied over 31 percent of all electricity generated in the country. It was a reliable, low-cost source that kept German industries competitive across Europe. The country's industrial base, including automakers, chemical producers, and heavy manufacturers, depended on affordable, stable power. Nuclear delivered exactly that.

The political climate changed in the late 1990s. After years of advocacy based on concerns about nuclear waste and reactor safety, the Green Party joined the Social Democrats to form the Red-Green Coalition …

Ai-Augmented Financial Advisors: Comparing Ai And Human Analyst Investment Recommendations In Agreement, Performance, And Firm Size Effects, Crystal Chen

Honors College Theses

This study examines the level of agreement and performance between artificial intelligence (AI) generated investment recommendations and human analyst recommendations across U.S. publicly traded firms. Using a sample of twelve companies categorized by firm size (large, mid, and small), the study collects buy, hold, or sell recommendations from generative AI systems and human analysts. Agreement between AI-to-AI and AI-to-human recommendations is measured using Cohen’s Kappa agreement. Portfolio performance is evaluated by constructing equal-weighted portfolios for each recommendation source and size category. Risk-adjusted returns are measured using the Sharpe ratio over 1-, 2-, and 3-month periods. Furthermore, the study tests whether …

Pipelines And Power: Governance, Conflict, And Hybrid Political Orders In Nigeria's Niger Delta, Nkasiobu Wodu

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Many conflict-affected states in the Global South can be described as Hybrid Political Orders—governance arrangements where informal authority and formal state institutions coexist, overlap, and contest for power. In Nigeria's Niger Delta, this phenomenon is clearly evident. In this context, the exercise of governmental authority extends beyond the Weberian State. Local and non-state actors such as ethnic-based organizations, former combatants, and traditional authorities routinely perform government-like functions within their spheres of influence.

This study analyzes how extractive corporations, informal authorities, and the Nigerian state co-produce governance and shape patterns of conflict and cooperation in the Niger Delta. Its central …

Credit Card Analysis, Di Wu

Open Educational Resources

A credit card business unit at a bank is facing a retention problem. More customers are leaving the bank's credit card services, and the retention manager wants to identify which customers are most likely to churn so the bank can intervene before the account is lost.

The bank has customer demographic, relationship, and transaction data for more than 10,000 credit card customers. The data includes age, gender, education, income category, card category, months on book, customer inactivity, contact frequency, credit limit, revolving balance, transaction amount, transaction count, and whether the customer attrited.

You are a business analyst on the bank's …

Smartphone Usage, Charles Howard, Josiah Nkele, Berner Hernandez, Di Wu

Open Educational Resources

A major smartphone company is studying how smartphone usage affects users' stress, productivity, and sleep habits. As part of the product development team, you have been assigned to analyze user behavior data to help create digital wellness features that improve the overall user experience.

The company has collected behavior data from over 50,000 users to better understand how smartphone habits may influence focus, stress, and performance. By exploring this data, the team hopes to discover patterns that can guide healthier digital usage and create a better balance between daily life and technology use.

Senior product managers are considering several possible …

Airbnb Studies, Fatoumata Diabate, Maria Estevez, Jaliah Fabre, Di Wu

Open Educational Resources

In the high-stakes world of short-term rentals, Homeland Sellers serves as an advisory firm for property buyers navigating the global Airbnb market. Historically, investors in the sector have often been led by intuition and gut feeling. That is a dangerous strategy in an increasingly regulated environment. To protect capital, Homeland Sellers is transitioning to a more rigorous, data-driven investment model.

Aspiring hosts face a minefield of financial and legal hurdles. Ignoring local HOA restrictions, fluctuating property tax structures, or strict licensing requirements can create serious risk for net operating income. Beyond regulatory compliance, investors must also account for guest appeal …

Staffing Decisions At Gabriana Cup, Ana Jimenez, Edith Oblitas, Gabriela Pena Guzman, Adriana Valdivia, Di Wu

Open Educational Resources

Labor costs are one of the largest operational costs in the service industry. Overstaffing increases expenses unnecessarily, and understaffing reduces service quality and customer satisfaction. You are a business operations analyst working for Gabriana Cup, a local coffee shop. The owner has observed that certain hours appear significantly busier than others, creating operational pressure during peak times. The owner would like to reduce unnecessary labor costs and optimize Gabriana Cup's staffing practices.

Staffing schedules are currently based on assumptions rather than historical sales patterns, costing the coffee shop owner through wasted inventory, overstaffing, understaffing, and unnecessary labor costs. The coffee …

Netflix Content Strategy, Di Wu

Open Educational Resources

Netflix operates in a highly competitive streaming market where content strategy directly affects subscriber acquisition, retention, brand positioning, and international growth. A streaming platform cannot simply add more titles indefinitely. Content licensing, production budgets, regional demand, maturity ratings, and genre balance all shape which titles should be prioritized.

You are a content strategy analyst on Netflix's global catalog planning team. Senior management is preparing the next annual content review and wants a data-supported recommendation about how the catalog should be positioned. The team is especially interested in whether Netflix should continue emphasizing movies, expand TV shows more aggressively, prioritize specific …

Developing A Framework For Mooc Dropout: The Role Of Utilitarian And Hedonic Values In Student Retention, Bipllab Roy, Mave D'Souza, Madhura Laghane

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have expanded access to higher education but continue to face persistently high dropout rates, raising concerns about their long‑term effectiveness and sustainability. This study develops and empirically tests a structural framework that links utilitarian values (perceived usefulness, certificate value, time flexibility), hedonic values (enjoyment, variety and novelty, personal interest alignment), and individual characteristics (goal orientation, self‑efficacy, motivation type) to MOOC student retention. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to 200 MOOC learners from Christ University, Lavasa Campus, and analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) in AMOS. The results show that goal orientation, self‑efficacy …

When God Lifts The Veil: Transformational Leadership And Political Skills Model As Counters To Machiavellianism And Organizational Politics In The Los Angeles City Council, John Sandy Campbell

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

This paper examines how Machiavellianism and Organizational Political Behavior contribute to destructive organizational politics and applies Transformational Leadership Theory and the Political Skill Model as countervailing frameworks to the Dark Triad. Grounded in leadership and organizational behavior research, this theory-based conceptual paper provides a theory-driven analysis that synthesizes established models to explore how power and unethical governance erode public trust. This paper examines the relationship between leadership behavior and power dynamics in a contemporary political context. Rather than relying on empirical data collection, it draws on Transformational Leadership Theory, the Political Skills Model, the Dark Triad, Organizational Politics, and Organizational …

Online Shopping Non-Adoption In South Africa: A Distrust-Centric Framework Integrating Social Exchange, Trust Transfer, And Social Presence Theories, Cleopatra Moipone Matli, Jeevarathnam P. Govender

Journal of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour in Emerging Markets

Online shopping non-adoption remains critically underexplored, especially in emerging markets. Addressing this gap, the authors develop and test a distrust-centric framework that applies the inhibitory logic of social exchange, trust transfer, and social presence theories to explain pre-emptive avoidance. Focusing on South Africa, where only 18.16% of the population engage in e-commerce, data was collected from 414 consumers who have never shopped online. Structural equation modelling reveals that perceived lack of reciprocity directly increases the intention of non-adoption. Moreover, distrust in online payment systems transfers to broader channel scepticism, which in turn drives avoidance. Perceived lack of social presence further …

Unveiling The Power Of Credibility: How Virtual Influencers Shape Consumer Attitudes And Purchase Intentions In Fashion, Danita Van Heerden, Jade L. Verbeek

Journal of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour in Emerging Markets

Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the forefront of influencer marketing, particularly in the fashion industry. Consequently, brands are using virtual influencers (VIs) to engage consumers in this space. Yet little is known about VIs’ credibility and their influence on purchase intentions, especially in an emerging market where they are less prevalent. This study examines the influence of VIs’ credibility (i.e., trustworthiness, attractiveness, and expertise) on consumers’ attitudes towards VIs and the subsequent impact on purchase intention for fashion products in South Africa, grounded in the Source Credibility Theory. Data were collected from active social media users using non-probability convenience and …

Generating A Bond Option Binomial Tree Model In Excel, Tom Arnold, C. Mitchell Conover, Joseph Farizo, Nancy Tran

Finance Faculty Publications

We demonstrate how to adjust the Katolay, Williams, and Fabozzi (1993) binomial tree model for pricing option-embedded bonds to have separate binomial trees for the forward rate process and for the component bond prices (actual bond prices or derived from a yield curve).  This reduces computational complexity at a given node within a single binomial tree.  Further, the calibration method is performed on “spine” values for the forward rate binomial tree, which is more consistent with the actual forward rates that are utilized as initial values in the calibration process.  The entire model is produced in Excel and uses new …

The Statistical Distribution Of U.S. Corn And Soybean Futures Prices, Chiamaka D. Osigwe

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis investigates the best-fit empirical distribution for daily U.S. corn and soybean futures price changes and examines how distributional choices affect Value-at-Risk (VaR) and Expected Shortfall (ES) estimates. The dataset comprises daily nearby futures prices for corn (11/16/1994–04/23/2025) and soybeans (10/16/1979–02/15/2023), yielding 7,626 and 10,853 observations, respectively. An ARCH-LM test confirms the presence of Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (ARCH). Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) models were estimated, and to account for potential asymmetric effects, an EGARCH model was used. EGARCH (1,1) estimation reveals an inverse leverage effect, where positive price shocks generate higher volatility. Six heavy-tailed distributions were evaluated, and …

Ceo Succession Planning Challenges In Hospitality Industry Smes: A Conceptual Framework And Literature Review, Denise Mazzei

Journal of Fundamental & Applied Business Research

In small to medium enterprise (SME) hospitality organizations, some CEOs overlook succession planning as a strategic imperative. This article presents a conceptual framework and literature review of a study that identified issues and potential contributors to the problem of challenges some leaders face with CEO succession planning in hospitality organizations. Currently, in the leadership literature, there is not a study that examines the problem especially as it relates to the hospitality industry. The literature was examined in alignment with three concepts that cascaded from the problem: a) succession planning leads to organization sustainability, b) SME CEOs manage organization strategic vision, …

Exploring The Role Of Emotional Intelligence Within Effective Leadership And Employee Empowerment, Angelique Limongelli

Journal of Fundamental & Applied Business Research

The following research concept was selected to examine the role and impact emotional intelligence has in conjunction with the challenges leaders face in reaching mission objectives. These roles and aspects were examined within the context of the United States Coast Guard, specifically how that plays out within both enlisted and officer leadership. The participants were grouped into three categories: junior enlisted personnel, senior enlisted personnel, and officers of various types of commissions. Many similarities were established based on categorization. For example, junior enlisted members largely favored teamwork, while officers largely felt unsupported and unempowered over the course of their careers. …