Other Business Commons^™

An Illustration Of Using Adaptive Data Mining To Develop Strategic Knowledge Bases For Student Retention, Pi-Sheng Deng, Abhijit Chaudhury

Information Systems and Analytics Department Faculty Journal Articles

Technological development has engaged educational institutions in fierce global competition. To be competitive in meeting the changing needs of today’s student population, educational institutions find it imperative to prioritize student retention efforts and to develop strategies that interact with students to effectively provide additional value and service. In this study we developed a two-module system: a decision tree for predicting a student’s decision to stay until graduation and an affinity analysis algorithm for identifying the relationship between student attributes and student decisions. We followed a three-phase-six-stage adaptive data mining cycle in developing a knowledge base for student retention strategies. The …

The Interaction Between Spending Policies And Asset Allocation For College And University Endowment, Ryan Erickson

Honors Projects in Finance

The analysis revealed better combinations of asset allocation and spending policy for college and university endowments that efficiently balance the desirable outcomes of stable spending in real terms against maintaining the purchasing power of the endowment over time (intergenerational equity). Using the variability and correlation of historical asset class returns, we created a forward-looking, projection-based, multivariate Monte Carlo simulation of individual asset class returns. The simulation incorporates the relationships between inflation and asset class returns, and the relationships among asset class returns. The projected time series of asset class returns produced a time series of endowment portfolio returns given an …

Cost-Aware Generalized Α-Investing For Multiple Hypothesis Testing, Thomas Cook, Harsh Vardhan Dubey, Ji Ah Lee, Guangyu Zhu, Tingting Zhao, Patrick Flaherty

Information Systems and Analytics Department Faculty Journal Articles

We consider the problem of sequential multiple hypothesis testing with nontrivial data collection cost. This problem appears, for example, when conducting biological experiments to identify differentially expressed genes in a disease process. This work builds on the generalized α-investing framework that enables control of the false discovery rate in a sequential testing setting. We make a theoretical analysis of the long term asymptotic behavior of α-wealth which motivates a consideration of sample size in the α-investing decision rule. Using the game theoretic principle of indifference, we construct a decision rule that optimizes the expected return (ERO) of α-wealth and provides …

Corporate Social Responsibility Within The American Craft Beer Industry: Environmental Sustainability And Community Engagement, Bradley Demild

Honors Projects in Management

Craft brewing and craft beer is emerging as an established business in the United States, with many states housing established regional breweries. As the United States looks to implement environmentally friendly practices in business operations, the goal of this report is to analyze the respective steps taken by the craft beer industry to achieve sustainability. Looking into environmental sustainability and community efforts holistically, the corporate social responsibly (CSR) practices of certified independent, craft brewers who are members of the Brewers Association of various sizes, lends insights into the current state of the industry. A combination of educational materials provided by …

Evolution Of An Enterprise Information System Toward Omni-Channel Retailing: A Case Study, Francis Varin, Abhijit Chaudhury

Information Systems and Analytics Department Faculty Journal Articles

This case study covers the evolution of an enterprise information system at a sportswear firm. Over time, the sportswear industry has moved from a single channel to multiple channels and is now progressing toward an omni-channel system for better serving their customers. This required a corresponding evolution in the firm’s information technology (IT) systems. But changes in an IT system do not work in isolation. To get the most from their new IT platform, the firm discovered the need to redesign their organizational structure, redefine IT’s role, and do strategic workforce planning. The paper describes, under fictitious names, how the …

Music March Madness: Predicting The Winner Of Locura De Marzo, Kevin Mentzer, Zachary Galante, Brenna Rojek, Rachel Cardarelli

Information Systems and Analytics Department Faculty Journal Articles

Each Spring, thousands of middle and high school students enrolled in Spanish classes vote for their favorite songs in the annual Locura De Marzo competition. This alternative March Madness competition gives us an opportunity to build and test models to predict which songs will win which furthers the Hit Song Science literature. Using decision trees and support vector machine (SVM) models we find similarities with the challenge of predicting the popular NCAA Basketball bracket including the importance of seed and the difficulty in predicting a “perfect” bracket

Virtual Water Flows Embodied In International And Interprovincial Trade Of Yellow River Basin: A Multiregional Input-Output Analysis, Guilian Tian, Xiaosheng Han, Chen Zhang, Jiaojiao Li, Jinjing Liu

Information Systems and Analytics Department Faculty Journal Articles

With the imminent need of regional environmental protection and sustainable economic development, the concept of virtual water is widely used to solve the problem of regional water shortage. In this paper, nine provinces, namely Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, and Shandong in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), are taken as the research objects. Through the analysis of input-output tables of 30 provinces in China in 2012, the characteristics of virtual water trade in this region are estimated by using a multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model. The results show that: (1) The YRB had a net inflow of …

Idea Co-Creation On Social Media Platforms: Towards A Theory Of Social Ideation, Pratyush Bharati, Kui Du, Abhijit Chaudhury, Narendra M. Agrawal

Information Systems and Analytics Department Faculty Journal Articles

Innovation scholars have long been discussing social media as a rich source of information, knowledge, and new ideas, yet, whether or how social media can directly intervene with organizational ideation processes remains unclear. In this study, we investigate the impact of external and enterprise social media platforms on organizational ideation. Grounded in seventy-nine cases and adapting social capital theory in social media contexts, this study attempts to develop a theory of social ideation. Social ideation consists of social media-enabled mechanisms that generate social capital, enable multi-level social exchanges, foster idea co-creation activities such as idea sourcing, filtering, elaboration, and integration, …

Measuring And Unpacking Affective Polarization On Twitter: The Role Of Party And Gender In The 2018 Senate Races, Kevin Mentzer, Kate Fallon, Janet Prichard, David Yates

Information Systems and Analytics Department Faculty Journal Articles

This study examines how the Twittersphere talked about candidates running for the U.S senate in the 2018 congressional elections. We classify Twitter users as Liberal or Conservative to better understand how the two groups use social media during a major national political election. Using tweet sentiment, we assess how the Twittersphere felt about in-group party versus out-group party candidates. When we further break these findings down based on the candidates’ gender, we find that male senatorial candidates were talked about more positively than female candidates. We also find that Conservatives talked more positively about female Republican candidates than they did …

From Engagement To Empowerment: Project-Based Learning In Python Coding Courses, Mark Frydenberg, Kevin Mentzer

Information Systems and Analytics Department Faculty Journal Articles

Project-based learning (PBL) engages students deeply with course concepts and empowers them to drive their own learning through the development of solutions to real-world challenges. By taking ownership of and completing a project that they designed, students develop and demonstrate creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration skills. This paper describes two different software development projects, designed with a PBL approach, in Python coding courses at two business universities in the United States, in which students queried real-world data to answer their own questions and interpret the results. The authors contend that projects based on a PBL approach motivate students for selfexploration …

Blockchain Technology And The Current Discussion On Fraud, Linh Phan, Suhong Li, Kevin Mentzer

Information Systems and Analytics Department Faculty Journal Articles

Blockchain has received increased attention from both the academic and practitioner worlds. Numerous papers have been written on how blockchain works and its potential applications. However, few studies have focused on fraudulent activities on blockchain. The purpose of this study is to understand common issues and scams related to blockchain. A literature review was conducted to identify top security issues on blockchain. In addition, we collected tweets on blockchain fraud discussion from November 6, 2018 to December 31, 2008. The results of tweets analysis show that the most frequently mentioned words in tweets include scams, crypto/cryptocurrency, ICO, Bitcoin, Ethereum,combat/fight, Asia, …

A Preliminary Investigation Of Quality Metrics And Performance For Selected Institutions Delivering Technology Mediated Higher Education, Suhong Li, Kamel Rouibah, Hal Records, Robert Behling

Information Systems and Analytics Department Faculty Journal Articles

The 21st century has brought about significant change to both business organizations and educational institutions. One of the more important changes in delivering higher education is the development and growth of technology mediated higher education (online programs), delivered by both non-profit and for-profit college and university programs. These programs provide students with expanded opportunities to further their education and have enrolled hundreds of thousands of students in courses of study. This study assesses business school programs offering technology mediated higher education using five quality metrics: 1) external review and accreditation; 2) affordability; 3) admissions and graduation; 4) online students reviews …

Socio-Economic Sourcing: Benefits Of Small Business Set-Asides In Public Procurement, Timothy G. Hawkins, Michael J. Gravier, Wesley S. Randall

Marketing Department Faculty Journal Articles

Purpose

Small businesses are critical to economic health and encouraged in government spending by set-asides – annual small business sourcing goals that often are not attained. Little research has explored the negative and risky stigmas associated with small business sourcing.

Design/methodology/approach

This research explores reduced transaction costs of small business sourcing to government buyers. A survey of 350 government source selections reveals lower transaction costs derived from lower perceived risk of receiving a bid protest and via more efficient source selection processes.

Findings

Contrary to common bias, the performance level of small businesses is no less than that of large …

Electronic Reverse Auctions: Spawning Procurement Innovation In The Context Of Arab Culture, Timothy G. Hawkins, Michael J. Gravier

Marketing Department Faculty Journal Articles

Government e-procurement initiatives have the potential to transform local institutions, but few studies have been published of strategies for implementing specific e-procurement tools, particularly involving procurement by a foreign government adapting to local culture in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA). This case describes procurement at a forward operating base (FOB) in Kuwait in support of operations in Iraq. The government procurers had to deal with a phenomenon unique to the MENA region: wasta. Wasta is a form of social capital that bestows power, influence, and connection to those who possess it, similar to guanxi in China. This study explores the …

Federal Bid Protests: Is The Tail Wagging The Dog?, Michael J. Gravier, Timothy G. Hawkins, E. Cory Yoder

Marketing Department Faculty Journal Articles

The fear of receiving a bid protest is said to affect acquisition strategies, yet it has not been empirically explored. Based on the Public Value Framework and interviews with contracting personnel, this research tests a model of antecedents to and consequences of the fear of a protest. Survey data was obtained from a sample of 350 contracting personnel. The fear of protest is mitigated by having sufficient procurement lead time and by source selection experience, and increased by protest risk. Fear of protest increases compromised technical evaluations, added procurement lead time, and transaction costs, while it decreases contracting officer authority …