Business Commons^™

Women On Boards Annual Monitoring Report 2024, Center For Entrepreneurship And Innovation

Faculty Books

The AUC Egypt women on boards monitoring report is issued annually to track and monitor the presence and representation of women on boards towards meeting the goal of having 30% women on boards by 2030. The importance of improving representation of women on boards stems from the fact that it is one of the good governance pillars, in addition to the positive impact on firm performance and profitability. The National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030 has accordingly promoted for increasing the leadership roles of women and holding key positions in public institutions and companies, setting the target …

Unlocking Human-Robot Dynamics In Restaurants: Exploring The Mechanisms Underlying The Impacts Of Service Robots’ Social Cues On Restaurant Customer Behaviors, Yusi Cheng

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The rise of service robots (SRs) is reshaping service delivery, particularly in the dining sector where guiding and delivering robots are increasingly prevalent. However, understanding how customers interact with SRs and respond to their social cues in the dining environment remains unclear and fragmented. This dissertation aims to bridge this gap by comprehensively understanding the social cues of SRs and their influences on customer behaviors. Specifically, the objectives are to (1) understand prominent social cues and customer responses; (2) identify key SR-related social cues; (3) explore customer-SR interaction outcomes; (4) explain why certain social cues elicit particular customer responses; (5) …

Essays On Application Of Machine Learning To Financial Statement Fraud, Lin Xia

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation is composed of two studies, both of which revolve around the application of machine learning to financial statement fraud. The first study entitled, “Complementary Role of Algorithm and Theory for Financial Statement Fraud” investigates the nature of relationship of theory building research and machine learning algorithms. Recent research on financial statement fraud has seen an increase in the use of machine learning techniques. While some machine learning based studies build on variables from causal inference research, others claim that machine learning algorithms work better with raw accounting variables and thus cast doubt on the role of …

The Effects Of Brand Activism On Brand Performance, Lin Zhao

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Brand activism—the explicit demonstration of a brand’s sociopolitical beliefs—has become increasingly prevalent and consequential. Concurrently, consumers now hold higher expectations for firms to engage in sociopolitical conversations, driven by the rise of belief-drive purchase in consumers’ decision-making and the growing ideological polarization worldwide. The interaction of brand activism and consumer behavior presents unique potential for brands to gain competitive advantages while contributing to social welfare. This dissertation comprises three essays that examine the effects of brand activism through multiple understudied yet compelling perspectives.

Essay One investigates how brand activism influences consumer-brand relationships through both transactional and relational lenses. This research …

Overhead And Nonprofit Impact; Empirical Evidence From The United Way, Joshua Vanlaecken

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research examines the relationship between nonprofit overhead ratios and performance, specifically focusing on United Way affiliates. The study analyzes Form 990 data from 2010 to 2022, employing fixed effect regression models to examine the potential circular relationship between overhead spending and total revenue. The findings suggest that while current overhead rates are positively correlated with revenue, they may yield diminishing returns. Furthermore, population subgroups are examined by assets, overhead rate, and revenues spectrums to provide more nuanced insight. Interestingly, while not statistically significant within the overall population, increases in overhead rates may positively or negatively impact subsequent year revenue …

The Effect Of Alternative Work Regimes On Recruiter Productivity, Keith Sean Cogdell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines the impact of different work regimes, onsite, remote, and hybrid, on recruiter productivity within the staffing industry. As workforce models evolve, organizations encounter challenges in determining how these structural changes influence employee performance. Existing studies are often cross-sectional and rely heavily on self-reported data, limiting their capacity to capture long-term trends and contextual factors. To address this issue, the present research utilizes a longitudinal design with five years of recruiter-level performance data from a national staffing firm, which includes over 27,000 observations. Using Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as a framework, the study investigates how intrinsic motivation mediated by …

State Determinants Of Medicaid Fraud Convictions: Insights From Panel Regression Analysis, Kevin Patrick Krantz

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Medicaid is the largest public health insurance program in the United States, providing critical coverage to over 78 million low-income individuals, children, and people with disabilities. While Medicaid fraud has received extensive public and political attention, empirical research examining enforcement outcomes across states remains limited. This study analyzes state-level Medicaid fraud metrics from 2010 to 2022 to evaluate how structural and policy changes, particularly rising managed care enrollment and the implementation of the 2010 Affordable Care Act and the 2016 Managed Care Final Rule, have shaped enforcement outcomes. Using random-effects generalized least squares (GLS) and fixed-effects panel regression on a …

Esg Federalism: How State Regulations Shape Esg Performance, Kameron Eck

All Master's Theses

This thesis examines how state-level environmental, social, and governance (ESG) regulations influence corporate ESG performance in the United States. Using a panel dataset that combines state ESG legislation, firm-level ESG scores from S&P Global, and financial data from Compustat (2019–2024), I employ fixed-effects regression models to analyze the relationship between state ESG regulations and corporate ESG performance. The analysis incorporates firm and year fixed effects to account for unobservable heterogeneity across companies and time, while controlling for firm-specific characteristics. Additionally, the study investigates whether board gender diversity moderates this relationship. The findings contribute to the understanding of ESG policy effectiveness …

Youth Sport Organizational Leaders’ Perceived Strengths And Challenges Working With Volunteer Coaches: A Case Study, Hannah Swartz

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Youth sport organizations in the United States rely heavily on volunteer coaches to deliver accessible and developmentally aligned programming, yet little research has examined how organizational leaders perceive and manage this volunteer workforce. Existing scholarship has focused primarily on volunteer coach motivations and experiences from the coach perspective, leaving a gap in understanding the views of those responsible for recruiting, training, retaining, and supporting volunteers. Guided by the youth sport social-ecological model (NYSS, 2019), the recent USOPC Commission Report, and principles of self-determination theory (Ryan. & Deci, 2000), this instrumental case study explored youth sport organizational leaders’ perceptions of working …

To Compare Is Human: A Review Of Social Comparison Theory In Organizational Settings, Michael J. Matthews, Thomas K. Kelemen

Management Faculty Publications

Social comparisons are one of the most ubiquitous behaviors that individuals, groups, and firms undertake. In particular, social comparison theory is based upon the premise that actors are motivated to engage in comparisons and that decisions throughout this process impact employees’ core self-evaluations, team relations, executives’ behaviors, firm prestige, and more. However, despite the prevalence of the phenomenon—and thereby the frequent application of the theory in organizational studies—a synopsis of the theory’s underpinnings and extant findings remains absent. Here, we present a state-of-the-art review that summarizes the theory’s history and mechanics and critically examines how social comparison theory has been …

Effects Of Round-Up On The Environment, Sandra J. Marcu

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Many people around the world have used and still currently use Roundup but are unaware of the effects it has on the environment. Roundup is a spray on application weedkiller that is widely used around the world today both residentially and commercially. It enables its user to grow a garden or a field of crops with a no-tilling approach to eliminate weeds. It is a well-known and popular choice for killing weeds that has been around since the mid 1970’s (Oca, 2017). John Franz, a Monsanto scientist discovered that glyphosate (main ingredient in Roundup) was an herbicide or weedkiller, and …

Next In Line: Exploring Owner, Business, And Family Characteristics And Farm Succession Planning, Tucker Lane Bittick

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The growing average age of the American farmer raises concerns about who will be involved in the future agricultural economy. Efficient succession in family farms keeps farm values high, and farms that plan for succession have an incentive to invest more resources into the farm. Knowing what factors on family farms are common when succession occurs could help encourage earlier succession planning. The research questions were: “Are family, business, and owner characteristics significantly related to the presence of a farm succession plan on farms in the Midwest?” and “Are family, business, and owner characteristics significantly related to principal operators’ preference …

Integrated Valuation Of The Ecological, Social And Economic Benefits Provided By A Multifunctional Nature-Based Solution, Laura Costadone, Shan Zhang

ODU Articles

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) offer multifunctional approaches to address climate change and environmental challenges, providing a sustainable alternative to traditional gray infrastructure. Despite their promise, widespread adoption remains limited, in part due to an incomplete understanding of their full costs and benefits relative to conventional infrastructure. Traditional benefit–cost analyses often overlook non-monetized benefits and the interconnected ecosystem services provided by NbS. This study introduces a methodological approach to quantify both the physical and monetary value of ecosystem services and co-benefits delivered by an NbS project. We applied an integrated valuation framework to a case study in Virginia Beach, VA, USA, where …

Accessibility In Hospitality, Marina Kearns, Reese Middendorf, Seonwoo Yoo, Kamran Ahmad, Matthew Olszewski, Krista Grant

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Accessibility in hospitality venues can present significant challenges for individuals with both visible and invisible limitations. Individuals may benefit from a range of physical and/or cognitive accommodations. At Johnson & Wales University, the Spring Tiefel Scholars have conducted in-depth research on different aspects of accessibility, including mobility, neurodiversity, sensory impairments, respiratory limitations, religious and cultural considerations, and access for the unhoused. Their goal is to help make Rhode Island’s hospitality venues some of the most accessible in the United States. To achieve this, the Tiefel Fellows collaborated with the College of Health & Wellness and other experts to develop a …

A Second Glance, Madeleine Gould

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Success in retail is designed, not discovered. This project followed the challenge of designing a comprehensive business model for a hypothetical retail store, Second Glance. The objective of this project was to accurately simulate the real-world complexities that retail businesses face. It required significant research as well as the application of everything the presenter learned in the Fashion Merchandising and Retailing major curriculum. To start, a situation analysis was conducted to establish marketing positioning as a retailer that specializes in preloved clothing. The target market consisted of 18–25-year-old fashion-forward college students with a low income. Primarily operating as an ecommerce …

Epicuria Food Hall, Gabrielle Tringali

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

Epicuria Food Hall (EFH) was developed to create a unique, community-focused dining experience in Manchester, New Hampshire. The initiative addressed common challenges in the dining landscape, such as consumer indecisiveness, group dining struggles, lack of sustainable options, and need for inviting workspaces. EFH introduced an experiential dining destination featuring 9 diverse food and beverage concepts. It emphasized collaboration with small business owners through licensing agreements to showcase established restaurant concepts while retaining flexibility for new ventures.

Epicuria Food Hall featured thoughtfully themed dining areas and offered engaging experiences such as cooking classes, flights, and a speakeasy. A commitment to sustainability …

Nirsa Student Referees: Exploring The Connection Between Sense Of Community And Positive Health And Well-Being Outcomes, Jacob K. Tingle

School of Business Faculty Research

Despite working in complex environments, which require managing antagonistic and abusive relationships, sport referees are essential to ensure fair and safe competition. Evidence suggests officiating can positively impact well-being and officiating communities provide social support. Despite those positives, there remains a shortage of qualified officials, which is compounded by aging referee populations. These concerns emphasize the need to attract young people and examine well-being benefits resulting from involvement in officiating communities. As such, the aim of this study is to help NIRSA professionals better understand how the community or social networks made through officiating intramural sports could better support student …

Corruption Perception, Institutional Quality And Stock Prices: Evidence From The Egyptian Capital Market, Rasha Elbolok, Gina Eltabei, Dina Hassouna

Business Administration

This study examines the impact of institutional quality and corruption perception on stock prices in the Egyptian capital market, with a focus on the post-revolution period from to . Using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) methodology, this study provides empirical evidence on the significant role of macro-political factors and firm-specific variables in shaping stock market dynamics. The findings reveal that institutional quality, characterized by governance efficiency, regulatory frameworks, and the rule of law, positively correlates with stock prices. Similarly, enhanced corruption perception control significantly boosts investor confidence, leading to increased market valuations. Firm-level factors such as Tobin’s Q and …

Salary Negotiation Dynamics For Athletic Trainers: Insights From Employers On Expectations And Organizational Influences, Julie M. Cavallario, Forrest Andrews, Kendallyn Johnson, Katherine Schalk, Cailee E. Welch Bacon

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Context

While researchers have previously identified that most athletic trainers (ATs) do not negotiate their salary, little is known about employers' expectations and behaviors relative to establishing and negotiating salaries for the ATs they hire.

Objective

To examine employers' expectations and behaviors regarding AT salary negotiation.

Design

Cross-sectional.

Setting

Web-based survey.

Patients or other participants

413 employers who are in a role that requires them to negotiate salary offers with prospective AT employees and who have minimally hired one AT into the organization they work for accessed the survey from a random sample of 7,000 ATs (6% access rate); 324 …

Leadership In The Digital Economy: An Investigation Into How Digitalisation Is Changing The Role And Practice Of Leadership In The Australian Defence Industry, Rhogan Aitken

Theses

Digitalisation is a phenomenon that is transforming society and is the process that moves an organisation to become digital. Research was conducted on senior leaders in the Australian defence industry with the purpose of investigating how the role and practice of leadership was changing because of digitalisation. A two-phased qualitative methodology was employed. An initial Delphi study on 13 experts in digital transformation was adopted to gain consensus on key issues, with the results informing a second stage of semi-structured interviews with 32 senior leaders in the Australian defence industry. The results identified factors that were influencing leadership, including increased …

The Tiktok Miracle: Cracking The Code Of Tiktok’S Platform Strategy, Ying Hou, Yanli Zhang, Yiying Zhu

Department of Management Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This study decodes the winning platform strategies behind TikTok's rapid rise in the social media ecosystem, aiming to provide generalizable insights for companies in the platform economy. It explores how TikTok overcame the formidable network effects of dominant platforms like Meta and identifies the platform strategies that fueled its unprecedented growth. The study identified six key platform strategies driving TikTok's success: 1) Create a fun and immersive user experience; 2) Build network effects by supporting creators; 3) Harness human psychology in AI algorithms; 4) Foster viral dissemination via social Interactions; 5) Transform its weaknesses into strengths in competition; and 6) …

The Oprah In Me: Becoming Sidney O., Sidney Opal Young

Selected Full-Text Master Theses 2021-

Oprah Winfrey is a staple in American History and the world. She has infiltrated American media pop culture with a range of experience and expertise in various forms of media: television, literature, radio, Internet and film. Oprah has influenced popular culture. She continuously shared her ‘truths’ through her experiences and successes both good and bad making her extremely relatable. Oprah educates and inform the public about pressing issues in media and the world. Oprah has stood as an icon for many women, including me.

Consumer Experiences In The Secondhand Market: Finances, Frugality, Fashion, & Fun, Melissa Chasko Turner

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Secondhand apparel refers to clothing and accessories that have been previously owned, handed down, donated, or resold to others. They are a sustainable product because they are reused instead of being discarded into landfills. Consumer experience refers to the emotional and psychological responses individuals have during their interactions with products and services across all touchpoints. In the secondhand apparel market, consumer experience plays a significant role in product purchasing, and the unique aspects of retail entertainment serve as key motivators. Consumer-perceived risk refers to the uncertainty of adverse outcomes associated with purchasing a product. Purchasing secondhand apparel poses similar yet …

Service Guarantee Decision Of Online Service Providers And Market Implications, Aijun Lu, Fuzan Chen, Harris Wu

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

Online services face quality uncertainties. To address user concerns, Online Service Providers (OSPs) sometimes provide service guarantees, compensating users if quality falls below a predefined threshold. This paper analyzes how OSPs use service guarantees to navigate market competition and enhance revenue through game theory and queuing theory models. Key findings include the following: offering guarantees enable OSPs to increase prices; in monopolistic markets, guarantees are offered only if the service guarantee strength is sufficient, whereas in competitive markets, decisions depend on relative strengths and competitor actions. Surprisingly, slower response times under service guarantees can boost profits, especially when resource costs …

5g-Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance: An Improved Pbft Consensus Algorithm For The 5g Network, Xin Liu, Xing Fan, Baoning Niu, Xianrong Zheng

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

The consensus algorithm is the core technology of blockchain systems to maintain data consistency, and its performance directly affects the efficiency and security of the whole system. Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) plays a crucial role in blockchain consensus algorithms by providing a robust mechanism to achieve fault-tolerant and deterministic consensus in distributed networks. With the development of 5G network technology, its features of high bandwidth, low latency, and high reliability provide a new approach for consensus algorithm optimization. To take advantage of the features of the 5G network, this paper proposes 5G-PBFT, which is an improved practical Byzantine fault-tolerant …

Employers' Perceived Value Of High School Industry Recognized Credentials, Teri Harris, Mickey Kosloski, Philip A. Reed

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine whether industry-recognized credentials (IRCs) earned in secondary school led to quality employment and which IRCs should be integrated into career and technical education (CTE) high school courses. Using survey data from business leaders across the 14 nationally recognized Career Clusters (Advance CTE, 2024a), credentials were ranked by importance within five program areas (n = 257). Pareto analysis revealed 80% of respondents rated health sciences, family and consumer sciences, and agricultural sciences credentials highest, while business/marketing and skilled/technical sciences/STEM credentials did not rank in the top 20%. This research provides empirical evidence for …

A Systematic Literature Review On Resilient Digital Transformation, Examining How Organizations Sustain Digital Capabilities, Thira Chavarnakul, Li Da Xu, Zhuming Bi, Achyut Shankar, Gaurav Dhiman, Wattana Viriyasitavat, Danupol Hoonsopon

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

In an era marked by relentless technological shifts and market volatility, digital transformation (DT) alone is insufficient. Organizations must develop Resilient Digital Transformation (RDT)—the organizational capabilities required to sustain DT over a medium-term horizon—to navigate these challenges effectively. This study primarily aims to propose a guideline for fostering RDT. Drawing on the PRISMA guidelines and a systematic review of 77 peer-reviewed papers, this study identifies and synthesizes key targets and drivers across three core pillars: Technology, Organization, and External Environment. These elements collectively foster organizational resilience. Specifically, this study highlights how adaptability, innovation, and scalability form the technological underpinnings of …

Towards Dynamic Learner State: Orchestrating Ai Agents And Workplace Performance Via The Model Context Protocol, Mohan Yang, Nolan Lovett, Belle Li, Zhen Hou

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

Current learning and development approaches often struggle to capture dynamic individual capabilities, particularly the skills they acquire informally every day on the job. This dynamic creates a significant gap between what traditional models think people know and their actual performance, leading to an incomplete and often outdated understanding of how ready the workforce truly is, which can hinder organizational adaptability in rapidly evolving environments. This paper proposes a novel dynamic learner-state ecosystem—an AI-driven solution designed to bridge this gap. Our approach leverages specialized AI agents, orchestrated via the Model Context Protocol (MCP), to continuously track and evolve an individual’s multi-dimensional …

Feel Bad To Discard A Fashion Product: How Ai Designers Influence Individuals' Sustainable Consumption, Ha Kyung Lee, Dooyoung Choi

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This study explores how AI technology in fashion design influences consumers' sustainable consumption behaviors, focusing on emotional attachment to products. By comparing AI-generated and human-designed fashion items, the study examines how designer type impacts negative emotions about discarding products, mediated by emotional attachment. Results from two experimental studies reveal that designer type significantly affects negative emotions toward discarding human-designed items, but emotional attachment was not influenced by designer type in the first study. This lack of difference may be due to personal characteristics that moderate the effect. The second study found that individuals who perceive AI as human-like form stronger …

Exploring The Impact Of Value Co-Creation Through Ai-Driven Chatbbots On Customer Repeat Purchases, Dooyoung Choi, Jaeha Lee

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

Drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, this study explores how perceived value co-creation during chatbot interactions influences customer repeat purchase intentions through cognitive, emotional, and social responses to chatbots. A survey of 220 participants revealed that perceived value co-creation significantly affected repeat purchase intentions, with cognitive evaluations, emotional reactions, and social value serving as key mediators. However, the direct effect of value co-creation on purchase intentions was not significant. The findings suggest that while value co-creation enhances consumer engagement, repeat purchases occur only when consumers experience positive cognitive, emotional, and social outcomes. Therefore, it is crucial for retailers to incorporate …