Business Analytics Commons^™

A Capability Maturity Model For Artificial Intelligence Integration In Supply Chain Management, Lordt Becklines

Dissertations

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming Supply Chain Management (SCM), yet many organizations struggle to assess their readiness for AI adoption and to understand how AI capabilities develop across maturity stages. This dissertation addresses this gap by developing a Capability Maturity Model (CMM) for AI integration in SCM, grounded in Organizational Information Processing Theory (OIPT), the Resource-Based View, and related capability frameworks. The model provides a structured approach for evaluating an organization's information-processing requirements, resource configurations, and alignment needed for effective AI-enabled supply chain operations.

Using a design science research approach, the AI-SCM CMM and its associated assessment instrument were derived …

Beyond Words: A Systematic Multimodal Framework For Text, Images, And Extreme Helpfulness In Online Reviews, Alvaro J. Aguado Marin

Dissertations

Online product reviews have become increasingly multimodal, combining text with media-rich elements such as images. However, academic research has largely examined textual features in isolation, overlooking how visual content and its interaction with text shape perceived helpfulness. This dissertation addresses that gap by developing and empirically validating a comprehensive framework capturing how textual, visual, and contextual features collectively influence review evaluation. Grounded in the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and extended through the Text-Image Elaboration Likelihood Model (TI-ELM), the framework advances understanding of how consumers process content from both user- and business-generated sources. It also lays the foundation for examining emerging …

A Monte Carlo Analysis Of Cost Competitiveness Of Chinese And U.S. Fine Chemical Exports To Europe Under Europe’S Energy Crisis, Lin Luo

Dissertations

The European energy crisis, driven by geopolitical conflicts, has created a significant supply-demand gap in Europe’s fine chemical sector, necessitating reliance on imports from the United States and China. This quantitative study examined how energy, labor, and logistics costs interacted to shape the cost competitiveness of U.S. and Chinese fine chemical exports to Europe, using a Monte Carlo simulation parameterized with historical data from 2015-2023, to provide a probabilistic forecast of competitive outcomes. The findings revealed that while China holds a 76.55% probability of being the lower-cost supplier, its advantage is characterized by high volatility primarily due to its logistics …

The Digital Incorporated Worker Narrative: A Mixed Methods Study Of Digital Capital, Work Selection, And Outcomes In The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Tracie King

Dissertations

Digital technology permeates society and industry, making digital-ready workers necessary for firms of all sizes as a firm seeks competitiveness in the market (Bergson-Shilcock et al., 2023; de Ruyter et al., 2018; Gorski et al., 2022; Karaboğa, 2023; Kim et al., 2017; Qureshi Zia, 2019). Firms seeking digital-ready workers face a complex digital divide that creates a worker shortage (Bergson-Shilcock et al., 2023; Karaboğa, 2023; Qureshi Zia, 2019). This study aims to describe workers' work selection, work experience, and outcomes in a complex digital society.

Most digital divide research focuses on the individuals excluded from owning, accessing, and having skills …

Enhancing Interoperability In Geospatial Analytics Systems: Navigating Diverse Standards For Optimal Data Integrity, Justin W. Bennett

Dissertations

In this study, we explore the domain of geospatial analytics, focusing on how different geographic information systems (GIS) and technology solutions can better communicate and maximize interoperability. Central to our study is the impact of this interoperability on data integrity, which is critical for accurate decision-making in domains like urban planning, environmental management, and national security. Accurate decision-making requires modeling ecosystems that are easy to comprehend and are often intricate due to their physical or artificial nature and the diversity of geospatial parameters; therefore, it is essential to gather a comprehensive array of spatial and temporal measurements. We examine the …

Navigating The Landscape: Perceptions, Motivations, And The Journey Of Data Professionals In Implementing Data Processes And Procedures, Willie Rivers

Dissertations

This explanatory study investigates the motivations behind data professionals' willingness or resistance to implementing data policies and procedures, utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior and Psychological Ownership as frameworks. Through interviews with 21 data professionals, the research explains how factors such as perceived control, ownership, and attitudes towards data processes influence their motivation. The study tests key propositions, including the impact of perceived time burdens, bureaucratic procedures, and organizational expectations on data governance engagement. The findings underscore the critical role of control and access to information in motivating the adoption of data policies, providing insights for organizations aiming to enhance …

Shelf Space Strategy In Alcoholic Beverage Retail: Analyzing The Impact Of Shelf Facings On Sales Performance And Consumer Behavior, Jesse Core

Dissertations

The alcoholic beverage industry faces intense competition and regulatory constraints, making strategic shelf space management critical. This study investigates the impact of shelf facings on sales performance in the alcoholic beverage sector, focusing on how brand size moderates this relationship.

The study collected data from a regional supermarket chain in Arkansas using a quantitative pretest-posttest control group design. It found that increasing shelf facings for smaller brands significantly enhances overall modular sales, with small brand sales persisting even after reverting to their original facings. Moreover, the analysis reveals that brand size significantly moderates the impact of shelf facings on brand …

Successfully Scaling Digital Technology Ventures: An Empirical Study Of The Strategic Choices That Maximize Firm Value, Scott Morris

Dissertations

Our study aims to understand the choices managers working for subscription-based digital ventures must make at arguably the most critical juncture of their firm’s lifecycle. With few slack resources to repair mistakes, managers at these scaling firms must make decisions that are larger in scope and scale than in the start-up phase. Tradeoffs are often required as decision-makers face choices such as investing more resources in sales and marketing to drive growth or in product development to improve quality and add new products or features. In many instances, the question is whether to forego some growth opportunities to maximize profitability …

Forecasting Demand For Optimal Inventory With Long Lead Times: An Automotive Aftermarket Case Study, Chris Anderson

Dissertations

Accuracy in predicting customer demand is essential to building an economic inventory policy under periodic review, long lead-time, and a target fill rate. This study uses inventory and customer service level as a stock control metric to evaluate the forecast accuracy of different simple to more complex predictive analytical techniques. We show how traditional forecast error measures are inappropriate for inventory control, despite their consistent usage in many studies, by evaluating demand forecast performance dynamically with customer service level as a stock control metric that includes inventory holdings costs, stock out costs, and fill rate service levels. A second contribution …

Personal Data Privacy And Protective Federal Legislation: An Exploration Of Constituent Position On The Need For Legislation To Control Data Reliant Organizations Collecting And Monetizing Internet-Obtained Personal Data, Giovanni De Meo

Dissertations

In the past twenty years, the business of online personal data collection has grown at the same rapid pace as the internet itself, fostering a multibillion-dollar personal data collection and commercialization industry. Unlike many other large industries, there has been no major federal legislation enacted to monitor or control the activities of organizations dealing in this flourishing industry. The combination of these factors together with the lack of prior research encouraged this research designed to understand how much voters know about this topic and whether there is interest in seeing legislation enacted to protect individual personal data privacy.

To address …

Budget Gaming: Politics, Ethics, And Compensation, Gretchen Decker

Dissertations

Practitioners are frustrated with the budgeting process, frequently complaining that budgets cause undesirable and political behaviors in the organization (Jensen, 2001). One of the most frequent problems is budget gaming, which critics consider non-value added and frustrating. In a 2010 survey, over 95% of respondents acknowledged that budget gaming exists at least “occasionally” (Libby & Lindsay, 2010). Previous studies indicate budget gaming is frustrating, prevalent, and wasteful (Hansen et al., 2003; Libby & Lindsay, 2007; Neely et al., 2003).

I conducted an experiment to investigate organizational influences (organizational politics, compensation condition, ethics attestation) and their impact on budget gaming. The …