Strategic Management Policy Commons^™

Corporate Crisis Management: A Contemporary Best Practices Template, Vivek Narayan

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper seeks to re-envision the crisis management framework used by organizations in their day-to-day activities. In the modern world, with exponential technological advancements, the social media age, and the 24/7 news cycle, crises have worsened in severity. Despite this, most literature on the subject is more than a decade old.

Incorporating past literature, this thesis demonstrates that society is in an “era of crises,” then defines and discusses the types and origins of these crises. It compares the topics of issues and crisis management before commentating on corporate and academic literature and ultimately previous 3-stage models for crisis management. …

Essays On Empirical Investigation Of Extended Warranties Of Consumer Electronics, Vasavi Rayachoty

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Extended warranties (EW) have gained significant traction as a powerful revenue stream for retailers, boasting substantial profit margins ranging from 50% to 70% (Bloomberg week). These warranties offer consumers peace of mind by providing additional protection beyond the standard manufacturer warranty and are to be purchased at an additional cost. By offering extended warranties, retailers can differentiate themselves in a competitive market, build stronger customer relationships, and enhance their overall profitability. However, effectively capitalizing on their potential necessitates a strategic approach. The extant literature is focused on studying extended warranties from the perspective of a consumer and lacks a retailer …

Essays On Membership Retailing In Omnichannel World, Aashish Pandey

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The retail industry in the United States has experienced significant and sustained growth, with sales surpassing $7 trillion in 2022, reflecting a dynamic and competitive landscape. This growth has been particularly evident in the evolution of retail formats over the past four decades, marked by a decline in the market share of grocery stores and a corresponding increase in the dominance of supercenters and membership clubs. Membership club stores such as Sam’s Club, Costco, and BJ’s have emerged as key players, offering consumers access to large quantities of goods at lower prices, albeit requiring an annual membership fee. This dissertation …

Three Essays On The Effect Of Scarcity On Consumer Behavior And Firm Performance, Pritosh Kumar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Studies have consistently shown that scarcity plays a significant role in shaping decision making. Under conditions of scarcity, individuals tend to behave impulsively, and firms are inclined to redefine their set of priorities and strategies, ultimately impacting their performance. Considering the scant investigation of the mechanisms and effects of scarcity in the supply chain management literature, this dissertation aimed to investigate the roles of scarcity in shaping consumer behavior and firm strategy in three essays.

The first essay investigated the effect of post-stockout scarcity disclosures on consumer responses to stockouts through the lens of product scarcity and signaling theory. The …

Nationalistic Media Obsession With Olympic Medal Counts: The Case Of The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Steve Dittmore, Kibaek Kim

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Faculty Publications and Presentations

Because Olympic medals are awarded to athletes representing an individual National Olympic Committee, it is natural for the media, and even the International Olympic Committee, to create a table indicating which nation has experienced the most athletic success. Problems, and even disagreements, arise when nations utilize different methods to count medals. The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, contested in 2021, provided a unique opportunity to observe how media organizations create a narrative around medal tables. American media outlets preferred to consistently show the United States at the top of the medal standings even though China had more gold medals for much …

“Because I Care I Risk”: How Ceo Free Market Orientation Affects The Extent And Type Of Income Smoothing, Mirzokhidjon S. Abdurakhmonov

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The executive political ideology literature suffers from a lack of conceptual clarity because social and economic issues are conflated. This has created an inconsistency in empirical findings with the theoretical predictions of the political ideology construct. In this dissertation, I identify a distinct economic component, free market orientation, based on support for economic individualism, competition, and property rights to reconcile these inconsistencies. Specifically, I argue that these indicators of free market orientation will have a unique impact on the way executives run their organizations. I develop a novel scale that measures CEO economic values that I term free market orientation …

A Meticulous Food Safety Plan Today Avoids Handcuffs Tomorrow, Kim Bousquet

Journal of Food Law & Policy

In August 2010, thousands of people across the United States were poisoned by eating eggs unknowingly tainted with Salmonella enteritidis bacteria. Following a lengthy investigation, the owners of the facility where the outbreak began were sentenced to three months in prison. This is not a one-off case; poor food safety practices are responsible for several outbreaks and often end in incarceration. Filthy hen houses, diseased fruit storage, and negligent food processing may be the last thing we want to imagine, but these practices have much to teach today's food producers. This article first examines how poor food production practices can …

One Year Later: An Analysis Of New Horizons, Lancaster Richmond

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

New Horizons is a poultry farm located right outside of Nampula, Mozambique. New Horizons growth has continued to flourish since their merge with Frango King. Recently, New Horizons gained a shareholder and created a new partnership with Philafrica Foods. With these new partnerships, New Horizons is committed to maintaining their continuous growth over the coming years by leading with the importance of remaining unified in their mission. The process of integrating perspectives, enhancing managerial oversight, transferring valuable skills, and sharing valuable capacities, as are vital to a merger’s success. This process broken down to the simplest level, involves communication, transparency, …

Good Taste: Expanding Profits And Geographic Horizons Through Social Responsibility, Carly Cassidy

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

Ilusión+, otherwise known as Ilusión Más, is a socially-responsible wine enterprise founded by Pau and Gina Torres, a couple from Tarragona, Spain. In 2013, Pau was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a motor neuron disease which causes muscles to weaken over time and eventually atrophy (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke). In Spanish, Ilusión signifies hope and wishful thinking, serving as an optimistic name which embodies the resilient attitude of its owners (Word Reference). Ilusión+ selects wine from Spanish vineyards and distributes them in restaurants throughout the country under their brand and story. The company donates a portion …

Win In India: An Analysis Of Market Entry Strategy Into India’S Food And Beverage Industry, Grayson Greer

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to examine four different modes of entry when selecting a market entry strategy in an emerging market and learn how to succeed in the world’s largest growing market, India. The introduction chapter discusses the development of international business and why companies choose to expand internationally, honing in on market entry selection in emerging markets. Market entry strategy is broken down into two primary components: county or market selection and mode of entry. Chapter two introduces India as the emerging superpower of the 21st century and conducts both a PESTEL and Porters Five Forces analysis …

“Why The Anomaly That Is Super Bowl Marketing Is A Justifiable Investment”, Anthony Cole Brothers

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

By now, we have well established that the Super Bowl is the holy grail of marketing, the championship for the battle of the brands, and the ultimate showcase of creative prowess which determines bragging rights. This American phenomenon is the exception, because it’s the one time on the calendar where viewers are mesmerized by commercials instead of tuning them out as noise. There are critical strategic objectives which can be satisfied, revolutionizing the brand in the eyes of the consumer and drastically expanding brand awareness. We know the vast benefits that well-executed marketing schemes can have for companies, especially during …

Feasibility Analysis Of Recycled-Paper Fueled Agricultural Desalination Process: Design Of Recycling And Desalination Processes, Sean M. Street

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

While recycled-paper-briquettes have lower BTU ratings than wood, and fresh water is typically a low cost to agricultural entities, situations exist where economic and/or environmental factors may allow a recycled-paper-fueled desalination process to be viable for some specific agricultural entities. This document begins with a discussion of how water is priced throughout India before analyzing trends in the Maize futures market. By tying the two together, an opportunity is created for solution which the remainder of the document presents. Paper waste in India makes-up 50% of its solid waste country-wide; however, only a quarter of that waste is recycled - …

Do Investors Value The Required Stress Tests Of Financial Holding Companies?, Brendan A. Colligan

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper explores the value of disclosing stress test results to investors and market participants within the US financial system. Recently the Federal Reserve (“Fed”) expanded its required internal stress testing program, often referred to as the Dodd-Frank Act Stress Test (“DFAST”), to include bank holding companies (“BHCs”) with more than $10 billion in total assets. These BHCs were required to publicly disclose their results for the first time in June of 2015. Large BHCs are subject to another level of stress testing implemented by the Comprehensive Capital Analysis Review (“CCAR”). Large BHCs are defined as having more than $50 …