Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
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- Creators: Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business
The surge of United States high-tech firms offshoring operations to China was driven by economic incentives of the early 1990s, low costs of labor, and ample access to an abundance of resources required in high-tech manufacturing. The dawn of the 21st century served as the advent of technological advancement and innovation in congruence with China’s rapid ascension as a prime high-tech manufacturing hub. However, increased allegations of foreign intellectual property (IP) infringement in outsourced research and development (R&D) and manufacturing on behalf of China’s state-owned enterprises (SOE) have evoked concern amongst international speculators, who allege China of weakened intellectual property enforcement and collusive tactics with state-owned enterprises in the cultivation of an anti-competitive marketplace. This thesis applies a trilateral approach to determine the optimal legal, supply chain management, and business strategies to safeguard the intellectual property of high-tech firms with outsourced operations in China.<br/><br/>Firstly, this thesis explores China’s rapid acceleration of manufacturing capabilities in tandem with nationalist initiatives, historical background, and subsequent influence cultural notions; aspirations in attaining global dominance as a high-tech innovator via nationalist programs and incentives. Succeeding is a comparative analysis of intellectual property between the United States and China, associations between intellectual property protection and economic development, and global intellectual property agreeance as set forth by the World Trade Organization (WTO). Following is a legal analysis of China, which assesses legislation, judicial structure, and litigation. Lastly, is an assessment of supply chain management in China, which assesses high-tech outsourcing practices, the vulnerability of intellectual property in research and development, instances of patent infringement, unfair licensing practices, and trade secret misappropriation.
The purpose of this thesis is to gain exposure to current supply chain research topics through attendance of four seminars. The first portion of this paper includes summaries of each of the four seminars that I attended. These summaries are followed by an analysis of sustainable Styrofoam alternatives with a focus on factors deterring widespread use of these alternatives. This topic relates to the first seminar I attended, presented by Dr. Karen Donohue from the University of Minnesota. Specific areas of Donohue’s presentation — the shift toward e-commerce, and consolidated shipping with reduced packaging— sparked my interest in available alternatives for a popular, but unsustainable, packaging material: Styrofoam. I primarily considered journals and articles for the second portion of this thesis, but I also investigated these alternatives through visiting manufacturer websites discussing available products, production processes, and other available information.
