Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Proactive Environmental Strategies: Managing A Corporate Culture Shift Toward Sustainability, Mark E. Calub

Master's Projects and Capstones

The roles and responsibilities of Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) professionals have expanded over the last several decades. Initially focused solely on reducing a firm's ecological impact, many EHS professionals are now tasked with managing a firm's cultural shift towards sustainability. EHS professionals need to develop proactive environmental strategies that further interconnect the environmental, social, and economic performance goals of the firm. Using a concept analysis and integrative literature review approach, the research examines the evolving role of corporate environmental management and evaluates strategic management tools for environmental compliance, environmental performance, and corporate sustainability. The research reveals that the role …

Warranty Period And Product Price Optimization For Remanufactured Products, Yuxi Liu

Theses and Dissertations

This study considers a remanufactured electrical product under a tiered warranty policy. Warranty is key in ensuring a good manufacturer—consumer relationship. Manufacturers hope to minimize warranty costs while consumers believe that good warranty promises better product quality and reliability. This Thesis presents an optimal warranty period from the perspective of a manufacturer to maximize the total expected profits, while ensuring sustained consumer relation. We use real data from a local company with a global supply chain to provide a numerical example.

Capstone Revival, Mary Mesele, Ruochen Lu, Quilin Jiang

School of Professional Studies

The capstone project is a culminating experience whereby students choose to research a topic that is relevant in their field of study and have been highly regarded as important learning activities. The capstone allows students to use research, analytical, problem solving and evaluation skills they have learned in the course of the graduate program. McGill indicates the benefit of the completion of a capstone project not only in gaining knowledge in capstone but also in learning how to apply the knowledge gained in other courses in the major (McGill, 2012). Currently, COPACE (College of Professional and Continuing Education) has three …

Predicting Intraday Financial Market Dynamics Using Takens' Vectors; Incorporating Causality Testing And Machine Learning Techniques, Abubakar-Sadiq Bouda Abdulai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traditional approaches to predicting financial market dynamics tend to be linear and stationary, whereas financial time series data is increasingly nonlinear and non-stationary. Lately, advances in dynamical systems theory have enabled the extraction of complex dynamics from time series data. These developments include theory of time delay embedding and phase space reconstruction of dynamical systems from a scalar time series. In this thesis, a time delay embedding approach for predicting intraday stock or stock index movement is developed. The approach combines methods of nonlinear time series analysis with those of causality testing, theory of dynamical systems and machine learning (artificial …

Predictive Analytics Of Organizational Decisions And The Role Of Rationality, Arash Barfar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

How can we predict key decisions made by organizations in the presence of big data and on-demand information? In this dissertation we exploit a large repository of B2B real-time transactional data with service quality indicators and present evidence that organizational decision analytics apply both rational and boundedly-rational (i.e. behavioral) economic models. The dissertation’s findings demonstrate that both utility and heuristic models, respectively, play significant roles in predicting organizational decisions on churn, a key decision in this context. In the presence of a large data set the assumed rationality of organizations appears to provide accurate predictions in uncontrolled experiences and selected …

Information Technology & Sustainability: An Empirical Study Of The Value Of The Building Automation System, Daphne Marie Simmonds

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the environmental and economic effects of green information technology (IT). Green IT describes two sets of IT innovations: one set includes innovations that are implemented to reduce the environmental impact of IT services in organizations; and the other IT to reduce the environmental impact of other organizational processes. The two sets respond to the call for more environmentally friendly or “greener” organizational processes.

I developed and tested a preliminary model. The model applied the resource based view (RBV) of the firm (Wernerfelt 1984) the stakeholder theory (Freeman 1984) and included four constructs: (1) BAS implementation; environmental …

The Analysis Of Bdti In Tanker Transport Market, Zhisen Wang

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Research On Liner Shipping Schedule Recovery, Xiaye Tang

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Research On Shanghai Port Logistics Collection And Distribution Network Optimization, Chaoyang Gong

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Functions Of Strategic Liner Shipping Alliance Under The Market Downturn Environment, Zuwei He

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Arctic Northern Sea Route Prospects, Obstacles & Chinese Stance, Amit Sanwal

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Three Research Essays On The Effects Of Culture Across It Diffusion Within Social Networks, Organizations, And Hospitals, Yu Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on two research streams: IT diffusion and culture, and each can be examined in various contexts. Specifically, this study investigates IT diffusion through online social network use, knowledge sharing towards the general organizational information systems, and hospital information systems usage. In terms of culture, espoused national cultural values, IT occupational subculture, and organizational cultural variables are examined in the following essays.

Essay1: Espoused National Cultural Values and Online Social Network Use: Towards an Extension of UTAUT

Prior research has developed a number of models for examining the acceptance and use of technology. This paper extends the unified …

An Examination Of Service Level Agreement Attributes That Influence Cloud Computing Adoption, Howard Gregory Hamilton

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Cloud computing is perceived as the technological innovation that will transform future investments in information technology. As cloud services become more ubiquitous, public and private enterprises still grapple with concerns about cloud computing. One such concern is about service level agreements (SLAs) and their appropriateness.

While the benefits of using cloud services are well defined, the debate about the challenges that may inhibit the seamless adoption of these services still continues. SLAs are seen as an instrument to help foster adoption. However, cloud computing SLAs are alleged to be ineffective, meaningless, and costly to administer. This could impact widespread acceptance …

Continuous Monitoring Of Enterprise Risks: A Delphi Feasibility Study, Robert Baksa

Dissertations

A constantly evolving regulatory environment, increasing market pressure to improve operations, and rapidly changing business conditions are creating the need for ongoing assurance that organizational risks are continually and adequately mitigated. Enterprises are perpetually exposed to fraud, poor decision making and/or other inefficiencies that can lead to significant financial loss and/or increased levels of operating risk. Increasingly, Information Systems are being harnessed to reinvent the risk management process. One promising technology is Continuous Auditing, which seeks to transform the audit process from periodic reviews of a few transactions to a continuous review of all transactions. However, the highly integrated, rapidly …

Information Filtering By Multiple Examples, Mingzhu Zhu

Dissertations

A key to successfully satisfy an information need lies in how users express it using keywords as queries. However, for many users, expressing their information needs using keywords is difficult, especially when the information need is complex. Search By Multiple Examples (SBME), a promising method for overcoming this problem, allows users to specify their information needs as a set of relevant documents rather than as a set of keywords.

Most of the studies on SBME adopt the Positive Unlabeled learning (PU learning) techniques by treating the user's provided examples (denoted as query examples) as positive set and the entire data …

Assessing Learning Outcomes And Social Capital Formation Resulting From The Use And Sharing Of Internet Knowledge Resources, Regina S. Collins

Dissertations

Today’s “digital natives” use the Internet to address most, if not all, their learning-related knowledge needs. This research evaluates the outcomes of formal learning activities requiring students to use, manage, share, and consolidate Internet knowledge resources (such as websites, videos, and blogs) to achieve both individual and group learning. This research takes an integrative approach to learning, capturing learner cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal characteristics as well as the impact of the digital environment by evaluating the technological affordances of two different systems supporting such learning activities. This research also examines pedagogical modifications that would best integrate course assignments utilizing Internet …

Two Essays In Financial Economics, Kyle J. Putnam

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The following dissertation contains two distinct empirical essays which contribute to the overall field of Financial Economics. Chapter 1, entitled “The Determinants of Dynamic Dependence: An Analysis of Commodity Futures and Equity Markets,” examines the determinants of the dynamic equity-commodity return correlations between five commodity futures sub-sectors (energy, foods and fibers, grains and oilseeds, livestock, and precious metals) and a value-weighted equity market index (S&P 500). The study utilizes the traditional DCC model, as well as three time-varying copulas: (i) the normal copula, (ii) the student’s t copula, and (iii) the rotated-gumbel copula as dependence measures. Subsequently, the determinants of …

The Effects Of Quantitative Easing In The United States: Implications For Future Central Bank Policy Makers, Matthew Q. Rubino

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the effects of the Federal Reserve’s recent bond buying programs, specifically Quantitative Easing 1, Quantitative Easing 2, Operation Twist (or the Fed’s Maturity Extension Program), and Quantitative Easing 3. In this study, I provide a picture of the economic landscape leading up to the deployment of the programs, an overview of quantitative easing including each program’s respective objectives, and how and why the Fed decided to implement the programs. Using empirical analysis, I measure each program’s effectiveness by applying four models including a yield curve model, an inflation model, a money supply …

Monte Carlo Methods In Finance, Je Guk Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

Monte Carlo method has received significant consideration from the context of quantitative finance mainly due to its ease of implementation for complex problems in the field. Among topics of its application to finance, we address two topics: (1) optimal importance sampling for the Laplace transform of exponential Brownian functionals and (2) analysis on the convergence of quasi-regression method for pricing American option. In the first part of this dissertation, we present an asymptotically optimal importance sampling method for Monte Carlo simulation of the Laplace transform of exponential Brownian functionals via Large deviations principle and calculus of variations the closed form …

Using The Triple Bottom Line To Select Sustainable Suppliers For A Major Oil And Gas Company, Pandarinath Adarsh Sunkari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Companies have primarily been focusing on the financial bottom line i.e., on increasing profits by increasing revenues and reducing costs. With high energy usage and environmental change posing threats to the environment and business operations, companies are now considering sustainability. Since some global suppliers have low cost labor, Social well-being and human development has also emerged as major goals of a company performing global operations. Focusing on these three goals is termed the "Triple Bottom Line" (TBL). We study and explore the TBL benefits that could be realized by an oil and gas company by focusing on sustainable suppliers. A …

An Information Privacy Examination Of The Practices Of Pharmaceutical Companies Regarding Use Of Information Collected Through Their Websites, Shonda Dellena Brown

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Consumers have begun to take a more proactive approach to their healthcare by accessing pharmaceutical companies Websites to obtain health and drug information, support groups, rebates, coupons, as well as free drug trials. In exchange for these benefits, companies require consumers to voluntarily disclose information. However, research has shown that consumers continue to be concerned about how their information is managed, used, and distributed by companies, especially if accessed via the Web. To date, there has been limited empirical research to examine the actual online practices of companies when it comes to privacy, especially those of pharmaceutical companies. Using Delphi …

An Empirical Development Of Critical Value Factors For System Quality And Information Quality In Business Intelligence Systems Implementations, Paul Dooley

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Business intelligence (BI) systems have been widely recognized as a leading technology for many years. However, despite the high priority and importance placed on BI, there has been a significant lack of BI system implementation (BISI) success. BI systems are not considered to be conventional information systems (IS) and often rely on the integration of a complex information infrastructure. Consequently, the degree of information quality (IQ) and system quality (SQ) have not met expectations for BISI success.

This study was designed to determine how an organization may gain benefits in the context of BISI by uncovering the antecedents and critical …

Video Advertisement Mining For Predicting Revenue Using Random Forest, Yuan Hsin Huang

Open Access Theses

Shaken by the threat of financial crisis in 2008, industries began to work on the topic of predictive analytics to efficiently control inventory levels and minimize revenue risks. In this third-generation age of web-connected data, organizations emphasized the importance of data science and leveraged the data mining techniques for gaining a competitive edge. Consider the features of Web 3.0, where semantic-oriented interaction between humans and computers can offer a tailored service or product to meet consumers' needs by means of learning their preferences. In this study, we concentrate on the area of marketing science to demonstrate the correlation between TV …

A Pure-Jump Market-Making Model For High-Frequency Trading, Chi Wai Law

Open Access Dissertations

We propose a new market-making model which incorporates a number of realistic features relevant for high-frequency trading. In particular, we model the dependency structure of prices and order arrivals with novel self- and cross-exciting point processes. Furthermore, instead of assuming the bid and ask prices can be adjusted continuously by the market maker, we formulate the market maker's decisions as an optimal switching problem. Moreover, the risk of overtrading has been taken into consideration by allowing each order to have different size, and the market maker can make use of market orders, which are treated as impulse control, to get …

Modeling And Simulation Of Evacuation Plan For Hancock Stadium, Nirmal Neranjan Weerasekara

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to use Modeling and Simulation of Evacuation Plan (MSEP) to support management to execute proper evacuation plan in case of emergency at Hancock Stadium in Illinois State University. Analyses of the research literature and evacuation scenarios are used to build a simulation system that will connect a description of emergency and evacuation situation with its context. It shows how an evacuation plan actually functions. The results of the study will help safety managers to understand the current situations of evacuation according to the specific simulation scenarios. The evacuation simulation is categorized according to the …

It-Enabled Coordination In Electronic Markets: An Experimental Investigation Of The Effects Of Social Communication On Group Buyers, Alexander Pelaez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Coordination, and the mechanisms by which coordination occurs, represents a significant area of study for economic research, and information technology. Technology enhances communication in both speed and quantity of information and when aligned with appropriate tasks can improve decision-making and task performance. Examining the effect of technology based coordination mechanisms on market platforms provides insight into outcomes as represented by buyer surplus and task completion as well as behaviors, such as network structure and emotional attitudes in economic experiments. Drawing on theory from economics and information systems, larger buyer groups should be able to obtain better prices and extract higher …

A Case Study Of Data In The Management Of Water Resources In The Gunnison River Basin, Colorado, Rhianna L. Williams

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

In the American Southwest, a growing population combined with climate change induced weather pattern changes are creating growing conflict for uses of the over appropriated Colorado River System. Water managers use a variety of tools and data to make decisions at the local and regional level which will impact access for future users. The purpose of this study is to understand how water managers use data and knowledge to manage current and future access to water resources in a water scarce region. A case study of the Gunnison River Basin located within the larger Colorado River Basin was conducted over …

Discourse As Social Process In Outdoor Recreation And Natural Resource Management: Arguing, Constructing, And Performing, Monika Marie Derrien

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation examines the language-based, discursive processes through which meanings and experiences are socially constituted in outdoor recreation and natural resource environments. Language use and discourse are seen as interactive, constructive processes, approached through the theoretical perspectives of argumentation, social constructionism, and performance.

Three qualitative studies, based in data collected at Acadia National Park and forest-related sites throughout Vermont, comprise this dissertation. The first study uses rhetorical analysis to examine the ways National Park Service managers and community leaders argue for the meanings and management of dark night skies in and around Acadia. The second study examines how national park …

Early Adoption Dynamics Of Private Sustainability Governance Initiatives: A Case Study Of The Marine Cultured-Pearl Industry, Julie Nash

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

We are witnessing a time of unprecedented human impact on the natural environment. Coral reefs, one of the most biologically diverse and productive ecosystems, are at the forefront of enduring these human impacts. Despite widespread recognition of coral reef degradation, counter measures have not reached a scale to offset the threat. The magnitude of this and other environmental issues call for a deeper understanding of the role the private sector can play in sustainable development.

In response to environmental pressures and the shortcomings of global-scale governance, private sustainability governance initiatives have developed. In the last decade, these initiatives have flourished, …

Mathematical Modeling For Platform-Based Product Configuration Considering Total Life-Cycle Sustainability, Tian Lan

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering

Many companies are using platform-based product designs to fulfill the requirements of customers while maintaining low cost. However, research that integrates sustainability into platform-based product design is still limited. Considering sustainability during platform-based design process is a challenge because the total life-cycle from pre-manufacturing, manufacturing and use to post-use stages as well as economic, environmental and societal performance in these stages must be considered. In this research, an approach for quantifying sustainability is introduced and a mathematical model is developed for identifying a more sustainable platform. Data from life-cycle assessment is used to quantify environmental factors; criteria from the Product …